Meet up, but first... something to be determined.[Closed]

[Titus]

Stopping back in town Titus went about the various stalls in town, selling the random drops he had gotten from his fight. Pocketing the money he headed over to a weapon shop, perusing the wares some of the prices surprised him at how great they were. Perhaps these were raid drops... in any event he was a long way from needing any of them. He had stuff he needed to do, as well as a curiosity that he was deciding whether or not he wanted to fulfill. In this world there was death, but not a death that was permanent, at least it didn't seem to be. Looking back at the cathedral as he walked back to the front of the town, stopping at the main entrance, asking one of the NPC guards to let Lu know that she could meet him at the cathedral. Once again he found it odd how human like they acted, he had heard the talk that they were actually human as well. And the more time he spent around them, the more accustomed to the idea he became.

"Hmm, maybe they have other uses..."

Turning and heading back out of town into the farming zones he had left not long ago Titus searched about for something to help him. Sitting down to wait for a mob or two to spawn Titus continued down his previous line of thought. Death did not seem to be the end in this new reality, but if there was no cost did that mean they were all perfect immortals. He knew there was still a loss of exp when you died but that was nothing big. That was a normal game mechanic that had transferred over when everything had changed obviously. He wanted to learn what it meant to die in this world, what it felt like, his eyes opened as he heard a rustle not far from him. A brier weasel shimmered into existence not far from him, its beady red eyes latching onto him after not to long. Sitting calmly Titus drew his sword, slicing it through the air before him, a blade of wind tearing into the weasel taking some of its health while instantly aggroing it to him. A spatter of spikes caught him in the chest causing him to hunch a bit as he sat on the ground before sitting up straight again. He had forgotten about the pain, glancing at his health bar he saw that it was already at half. Half... half of his life was gone, his eyes went back to the weasel which was readying another attack. Breath in, breath out, he felt like he was having to forcibly calm himself. Telling himself again and again that he would just respawn, it would be falling to sleep and then waking in the cathedral. A second of pain and then he would have his answer, with a crack another flurry of spikes hit him. His eyes seemed to leap back to his health bar, a sliver of the bar remaining blinking a bright beautiful red. The flashing continued as he looked back at the weasel, watching it rear back in what felt like slow motion.

"Just a game, just a game, just a game... you'll come back, you'll come back........"

His breath was heavy as the spike tore free from the weasels tail and flew in a path that he felt was directly aimed at his head.

Death...

The spikes glittered as they flew through the air...

Death.......

The leaves rustled about him....

Death................

His breath caught in his chest.... he couldn't breath!

LIVE!

The world seemed to freeze before him, his death gently drifting before his eyes, seeming to want to tenderly welcome him into its clutches. And Titus moved.

"GRAAAAHHHH!"

Calling out in a mix of emotions he activated Blink subconsciously, his body disappearing from reality and reappearing meters to the right. The spike thudding into the trees where he had just been, and with no hesitation he turned and lept. A volley landing where he had just been, and slipping through the trees Titus sprinted along so confused by the mix of emotions flowing through his head. Anger, regret, happiness, sadness, glee, terror.... just a game.... just a game. The words echoed through his head as he blinked out of the zone, leaving the death behind him. He knew... he was sure, he had every assurance that you came back after death, but why, why was it still so, so terrifying. Stopping where he was, back at the front of town he stood there panting, feeling a trickle of water he touched his face. Wet, from tears he had no doubt, wiping what was left of them from his face Titus walked back into town, his mind still a mix of thoughts and emotions. Arriving at the cathedral he sat down on its front steps, looking over his shoulders as he heard the large doors open. Some random adventurer walking out to meet a group of waiting friends, welcoming her with laughter and hugs. Looking away from the group as he wondered to himself again....

"That easy eh... dead. And then back, that easy."

He wasn't sure if fearing death made him more human, or less human in this world... damnit. Thumping a fist onto his thigh as he sat, grinding his teeth a touch as he waited, of course he should be afraid of death. If he was ever in a party and was more than willing to go and die and go back to respawn when people were counting on him, what use would he be. Sitting back with a sigh he looked up at the sky, it was a cloudy day.... Titus knew he would eventually die in this new reality. And just like all others that died and returned here so would he, but going willingly to his death... that... he would never do.

"Huh... I wonder what Lu is up to."

A small smile on his face, even though it didn't reach his eyes, it wouldn't due for him to look unhappy after his first successful fight with the party.

Word Count: 1027


Luiniel

[Luiniel]

For Lu who had experienced all of that before it was nothing new. Fighting along side other strangers was the way the world worked now and something to get used to. What made it fun was knowing that you could count on them and in the end making a few more friends. After every excursion into the field she made sure to add those who were willing to her list. That was how she knew where Titus was at the moment despite having parted ways. She could only assume that with more money and power he went off to go purchase new tools to help him farm.

Placing a hand lazily on the hilt of her weapon, she casually strolled through the town giving it a once over. There were still quite a few low level stragglers who had yet to go out into the wild and get experience. There was a spring in her step as she waved at a few passing adventurers, her previous excursion having bolstered her mood. 'If only it had not ended so soon.' she thought to herself as she stopped for a second.

Out of the corner of her eye she thought she caught something odd. Titus was at the cathedral, which there was often very little reason to be there unless you died. Scrolling through her menu's to confirm that what she saw was correct, she frowned. Inwardly she felt like a creep for stalking what people were doing on her list but she was bored. Deciding to go see what was up with him, she broke into a full on run.

She could remember the first time she died. It was terrifying and there was no one there to greet her when she woke up. Even if she didn't really know the guy, she didn't want someone else to experience a similar fate as she had. For several minutes she ran until she came to a screeching halt, sliding along the ground for a moment. Once she took in the sights around her she noticed him sitting on the steps. 

"Are you alright?!" she instantly asked. Stomping closer to him, she stopped just before him not really aware of personal space at the moment. "My friends list said you were here. Did you try and go it alone out there and die?" she asked. Lu was a different sight to behold at the moment as she wore a simple loose fitting kimono top and hakama that matched it. It was the figure it accentuated that made her stance so awkward as she leaned forward in front of him.

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[Titus]

The smile slipping from his face for a moment before it returned quickly. With a shake of his head at your question, his eyes drawn to her cleavage as she leaned down to look at him. Pointedly looking up at her with the smile he finally spoke, standing as he did he got a better look at her now that he wasn't really thinking about a fight or dealing with mobs. Gorgeous girl, great chest, warm smile, pretty voice and she legitimately seemed to be a happy person. She was literally a breath of fresh air to him after what he had just stupidly put himself through.

"Not really, nearly let myself get killed and it was a bit of a tough moment... not really sure why though. Hah! You'd think in a world where we can't actually die I would be less afraid of death."

Rubbing the back of his head with a bit of awkwardness on his face, he really didn't know why this had all effected him this much. Pointing at a weapon shop not to far from the cathedral as he began walking.

"I was planning on picking up some new gear before we headed back out to the fields, that is if you are still interested in grinding some more."

Beginning to walk towards the shop sections Titus does his best to get his mind out of the thoughts from earlier. He knew it was time to get a new weapon at the very least, as well as picking up a set of armor. He had seen some options on the post board near the center of town that you could have your gear made by adventures. For that he would wait till he was a higher level, no need to have someone put a bunch of time towards a set of gear he would out level in a day. Looking at Lu again as he walked, she was quiet the woman wasn't she, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He knew that the bodies that they were all in were their IC created bodies. He had kept his own at his IRL height due to habit, but the hair and eye color were different at the very least. He had no real way of knowing her actual age without asking, and he wasn't really sure what the proper way to ask someone that was. Scratching his head again as looked back at the shops he was approaching the grin reappearing on his face, this world still had a lot of interesting people and things left for him to try to work out it seemed.

Word Count: 441

Luiniel

[Luiniel]

There was a long pause as she tried to process what he was saying to her. Titus almost let himself die? Was he so curious about the systems resurrection that he had to test it first hand? Lu had never encountered anyone who actually wanted to see what it was like. Though if he was so inclined she had experience with it first hand and she could tell him what it was like. Sighing quietly, she nodded as he spoke, finally coming back to the present moment.

"It's not exactly a walk in the park here either. Sure, we come back but the process.." she said. She trailed off as she tried to remember what it was like in exact detail and realized that it was all coming back to her a bit hazy now. Was it the longer that you went without dying you started to forget what it was like? There had to be some consequence to dying here, they couldn't be truly indestructible.

She smiled brightly at him though, it seemed his determination was not halted by his experience. Nodding her head, she patted her katana lovingly. "Nowhere else I would rather be right now." she said with a chuckle. "Not a bad plan though, upgrading before you're ready for it. That way we won't have to come back for a bit." she praised. When she first started she sort of jumped the gun and ran off waving her sword at whatever she could find.

"When I first started I was not good. Sort of like a dog chasing after a car. I fought everything I could find." she admitted. Which reminded her, they should be hunting special mobs this time. "So there are these Halloween mobs we should hunt. They give a special reward if we hunt enough of them." she said.

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[Titus]

"I think so too, but it may be a bit of a change up for me. In any event what you said is true, there really is no place I would rather be than this world."

Stopping at a weapons store Titus stepped inside, nodding a hello to the teller at the desk he looked over the weapons on sale. Running his fingers along the edge of a few blades as he passed them by, arriving at the two handed section. Stopping in front of the mix of long swords, spears and axes Titus felt an idea growing in his mind. Waving his hand in front of him to bring up his UI he searched for the skill he had in mind. Finding what he was looking for he looked over the requirements as well as its benefits. With a small smile he closed the UI and then left the two handed section, finding a one handed straight sword, a katana as well as a set of chain armor. He would equip the swords and test them when he was out in the field, storing the chain armor till he unlocked the skill to use it.

"Well then Lu, I'm all set. Though as an aside I have no idea what mobs we should be grinding for Halloween. So if you would lead on?"

Taking a look through his inventory quickly, a little sad to see what once filled with items so empty. With a small huff he closed his view port, another smile growing on his face as he followed Lu away from the shop. An empty inventory was just the offer to fill it up once over again in any event.

Word Count: 281

Luiniel
 

[Luiniel]

Quietly she watched him shop for weapons, she offered very little input. That was how she was taught after all, allowed to make her own choices and play them out. There was a smile on her face by default as she was just happy to have someone to hang out with again. When your guild went dark it sort of got lonely; her friends list was quite barren or inactive as well. Titus seemed like a decent person to spend time with so long as he didn't get himself killed for real this time.

"Others sort of panicked when they woke up here. I feel like Elder Tale is more of a home than the other world was." she said. It sounded slightly sad to hear it aloud, who here did not want to go back home? She was among those who were perfectly fine with their fate. She would stay here in this world for as long as she could and not give another thought to the previous world. That was much harder done than said however.

It was sort of a personal question she wanted to ask next. She had no idea how to do it, was it really that much of a personal question though? While knowing a character name was great, could you truly be friends with someone and not know who they were really?

"Can I ask you something personal? I assume Titus is not your actual name. I make it a habit of knowing the people I fight with, actually knowing them." she said poking the end of her index fingers together. She didn't want to seem like she was prying. "You don't have to answer if you do not wish to. I wouldn't be bothered. It's just sort of nice to think of this stuff sometimes so we do not lose it entirely." she said.

Wandering towards the gate, she waited for the answer but by no means did she stop talking. Those who ventured anywhere with her noticed it soon enough- she had a lot to say. "I am uncertain that it is wise to fight those monsters any more. But I do know what we could fight. There are goblins in the area. They offer a more engaging challenge. They think and react to our abilities." she explained. 

It just so happened that she even knew where to find some as she fought them before. Hanging a right after the exited town, they would walk for about fifteen minutes until they came to the side of a hill. Along the hillside there was a small entrance that had bones laying in the mouth. She pointed with the hilt of her sword to the bones that warned them of the zones occupants.

"Give me a moment, I will draw them out." she said with a serious expression replacing her smile. Disappearing for a few minutes into the cave mouth, there was an eerie silence. The sound of wind passing through the entrance covered any foot steps, making a whistling sound. Yet after a few minutes the distinct sound of swords clashing carried back to the entrance where she asked Titus to wait.

In a flash a smaller figure emerged from the darkness, katana in hand. Coming to a skidding stop right before Titus, she rotated on heel and held her sword at the ready. Right behind her two goblin's emerged from the den with their clubs in hand. Both of the mobs were around level ten. This was so that there was a bit more challenge and she didn't feel the need to sync down to fight this time. 

"I am battling with my full stats this time. They will summon reinforcements shortly." she explained before she charged in. The sound of her sword clashing with the metal fragments on their clubs rung out as a melee ensued. 

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[Titus]

Listening quietly as he gathered his items and they left the shop the smile on his face widening as she spoke about how she felt about this world.

"I know exactly how you feel, even before the apocalypse this place was a home for me. To me it was almost like a dream come true to arrive here, though I admit it also felt like a nightmare for a while. But this is our world now, and I think it is a rather beautiful one."

Pausing as she asked him for his name, a small smile on his face as she stood there asking him. She was rather nosy, perhaps in the best of ways though for someone like Titus. Or rather someone like Nick, weird that was his name wasn't it. She was right, perhaps he would forget his name sooner or later, he had grown used to calling himself Titus. Looking up at the sky as they walked out of Londinium back towards the fields, it was a cloudy day as usual. Following her to the right as they left town Titus was still thinking about what she said, his mind going from a mix of thoughts to calmness as he looked about himself once again. Arriving at the hill, the small cave opening appearing before them with bones scattered about the entrance.

"Gotcha..."

His words lost as Lu headed quickly into the cave, it was time for him to get ready as well. Snapping his inventory open Titus switched out his old katana, leaving it in his inventory, perhaps he could find a use for it later. Equipping his new straight sword to his right hand and his new katana to his left, double checking that his new skill was working. Tossing the swords back and forth between his hands, glad to see there was no debuff, this was gonna be fun. 'Inferno Strike' came to life on the straight sword, while he left his katana empty for 'Fragarach Arms'. Lightly spinning his swords in his palms he waited quietly, Lu's question still on his mind. His revere was disturbed as she came dashing back out the entrance, followed quickly by two goblins. He was glad he had leveled up and wouldn't hold Lu back as he had done before. Just before she charged in he called out, glad to tell her at the very least who he was.

"Nickolas, that's my name, Nick for short if you would. I'm not sure how much longer I'll remember it, so if you would, would you keep it in mind for me?!"

With that he dove forwards into combat, jumping above Lu and the two goblins, slashing across them as he activated "Fragarach Arms". The blade of wind slamming into the two of them, landing behind the group he lashed out with his straight sword. The skill 'Sword Rain Flurry' seemed easy to call on, his body following the motions smoothly for the full animation. Glad that Lu was holding the hate from the two goblins he targeted one with the five strike. DoT being applied again and again as he struck one of the two goblins, the low dmg per hit, but the high dps keeping it from reaggroing onto him. Stepping back from the fight to let Lu combo as he waited for sword flurry to come off cool down. He raised his katana charging up a strike for a second or two longer, making sure it'll hit harder than his basic attack. One golbin was left at 75% from 'Fragarach Arms', the second was at 50% dropping slowly due to the DoT from 'Inferno Strike'.

Word Count: 609
Mentor bonus on this post and forwards = 1.25xAP

Luiniel

[Luiniel]

There was a smirk beneath her face guard as she engaged the goblins. Another person who felt like she did, it made her feel less weird. There was nothing about this world that wasn't captivating. Every swing, thrust or parry made her feel like she was living a dream. But what about the people they left behind? Was it selfish of them to want to stay here and leave those people to wonder about them? She thought about it all the time honestly- but in the end her selfish desire won out.

Distracted by her own thoughts, Lu took a goblin club to the face that sent her stumbling backwards. Luckily when she fought she wore a helm so there was nothing too serious going on after the strike. Her head felt like she had been clobbered by a two ton bag of bricks though, lovely feeling really.

Reacting out of anger, Lu's body coated it's self in crackling lightning which increased her speed. Drawing her other katana from her belt, she quickly struck <Goblin A> who was at 50% with a dual auto attack. She was not thinking at this point, simply doing as it seemed Titus was the same way. When you went into combat you became a different person- at least she did.

The goblin in the back started to edge backwards towards the cave once more. He was going to alert his friends inside the cavern and bring more goblins down upon them. "Titus, the back row." she called out as she pointed her katana towards the runner. While he saw to that, she would deal with his friend who seemed too stupid to try and run. "Shunsen" she cried out suddenly as she slashed the goblin before her with a quick swipe across it's torso. The mob jumped back in shock, holding the wound which gave her a moment to press back.

That same devious look in her eyes manifested it's self as a mirage before the goblin. Two more Luiniels split from the first in an effort to confuse the goblin even further. With that, all three of them charged back into the fray, a flurry of swords and clubs swinging to and fro.

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[Titus]

His palms were warm, the swords hilts were slightly slick with sweat, rough fabric, perhaps sharkskin was actually used on the katana, or at least this worlds equivalent. The hardwood handle of the straight sword a bit more slick in his right hand. He wondered if you could actually drop a weapon mid combat, thinking back on his testing he remembered that it was indeed possible to become disarmed. Hearing a call from Lu as she was fighting the goblins as one of the two split away from the fight back towards the cave.

"Gotcha!"

Having charged his basic attack Titus didn't want to waste the bonus damage, using his blink to catch up to the retreating goblin. Chopping into it smoothly, dropping it from 75% down to 45%, with his charged strike. Taking a counter attack from the goblin left him at 80% health, man was he glad that he had leveled, even if it had only been a bit. Slicing back and forth across the goblin, feeling some sweat run down his forehead as he spun, dodged, sliced and stabbed. Titus remembered when he was making the decision upon working at this class, it was something that would be based around his skills and equipment. Which brought to his mind amidst the combat the weapons mods he had been ruminating upon. Magitech, ducking beneath a swing from the goblins club, Acrobat, the subclasses name ran through his head as he vaulted back over the goblin his katana snaking out from him mid leap. Slicing across the Goblins head as he passed over it, a chuckle rising to his lips as he landed, a glance at his cool downs revealing what he needed to use on the much weakened opponent.

"Hehe..."

Striking with his straight sword again Titus swept through the five strikes of 'Sword Flurry', driving the Goblin to the brink of death. Applying DoT after DoT of fire damage to the Goblin, which left on only just a few percent of health as it was quickly succumbed to the flames. Shattering into the particles he knew to well, some gold falling to the ground as it died. Shattering... was that the way it would look when he died, he would just disappear and then somehow reappear at the Cathedral in town. He had let himself have a close brush with death, but no need to try to welcome it any time soon, Lu was counting on him to help. He'd be damned if he let himself go and die while his party mate needed him.

"Runner down!"

Word Count: 430
Luiniel

[Luiniel]

It was nice that even without asking for it he would report the status of his enemy. Sometimes when she fought others would get so busy she would lose track of the field and have no idea who was fighting what. Her battle would finish up without too much of a hassle, she only lost about twelve percent of her health in the fight. After that she would turn to face Titus and see how he was doing.

It seemed that he had not sustained any damage in this round which meant she did her job correctly. "Enjoying yourself?" she asked with a laugh. She knew that the first few times you engaged in real battle with an enemy were often fun and memorable. Her first battle was with Treants and NPC Heretics, there was no fond memory there for her.

"I saw a lot more foot prints in this area than normal. We should probably be care-" she started but then heard foot steps. It sounded like several pairs of tiny feet were storming out of the small cave entrance that she had found the other two goblins inside of. They had a choice to make right now; run or stand and fight them. Whichever choice they made she was alright with as she had no idea what to expect.

"It sounds like at least five of them. We can stand and fight or we can run. I'll leave the choice up to you, feeling brave?" she teased as she now held both Katana's out and at the ready to skirmish with the goblin menace inside of the cavern. Her mind drifted back to the fact that he had almost died earlier and didn't allow himself to go through with it. Would this be the moment where they took on too much?

Taking a step in front of him she got into a combat stance as she waited for the first goblin to emerge from the cavern. "You know if you do not wish to fight this many I would not blame you. I have no idea if we will survive or not." she explained.

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