Can't Catch Tomorrow [Endrin]

[Eadon]

Ever since the Apocalypse had happened, Eadon had never quite been able to answer the question that seemed to almost incessantly buzz in the back of his mind. Why him? As far as people went, he was about as far as you could get from your traditional computer gamer, let alone one of that strange subset of the gamer clique who played MMO games, as their game of choice.  Heck, loading up Elder Tales on his crummy old laptop on the morning of the Apocalypse, the date of the release of Elder Tales in the United Kingdom, had been the first time he had ever so much as installed an MMO game before. So really, it did beg the question. How did a guy like him, one who would rather be outside running track, kicking a football or going to a fencing class ever windup trapped in a game with a whole bunch of computer gamers? In the end, Eadon had decided on dumb luck as the most logical solution, and refused to think on it any further. If he did it would no doubt drive him insane sooner rather than later, so he figured it was best just to take things as they came and go from there. He couldn't do anything about what had happened, so obsessing over it served no further purpose, except for ruining his peace of mind. Still. It did suck. Maybe more than just a little bit. The only reason he had ever even considered playing the game, was because his friends had been badgering him about it for months. Apparently it was some big new thing, and if he didn't get it he was more of a dweeb than them. Somehow. Not that he was entirely sure how that made sense, but it had been their argument after all, not his. Glancing around, Eadon marveled at just how realistic the leaves on the tress and the sun glinting through the branches were. It was almost surreal to watch, as though the game designers had somehow captured some small part of the real world into this fantasy one. If he didn't know better, if he couldn't remember the real world, Eadon would be hard pressed to say that this one was any less real than the one he had come from. That was a thought best left alone, Eadon decided, shivering a little inside as though the light wind had suddenly picked up to include a more bitter chill. "This world isn't real," he mumbled to himself, "I should make sure to never forget that one little thing." Unlike many of the others, he had chosen to wait a while before adventuring out, instead choosing to explore the vast emptiness and ruins of the city they had started in. Some parts of it were eerily similar to London, from the real world. He couldn't bring himself to stay there for long though. It was stifling, the atmosphere morbid and sombre as some kind of eternal funeral dirge played through the town, making people appear utterly miserable at all times. Eadon kind of understood why they looked so gloomy, he missed his own friends and his own family as well, but it was no reason to stop living for the moment. They though, were just wimpy gamers.  After all. It was hardly surprising that wimpy gamer types would prefer to hide in town and avoid the scary monsters outside like the bubonic plague, rather than go and explore. Of course, that was one thing being trapped in a computer game had going for it, this particular computer game was seriously cool. Back in the real world everything had always been so dull. The world was mapped out, everything was governed and watched over by people and nations of all different stripes and colours. Here, the players barely knew what was past the starting city of London, let alone the rest of the server. It was like a whole new frontier, almost a whole new world, just waiting for him to go out and discover it.  Hence why Eadon found himself out following the path through the supposedly terrifying Windsor Great Wood, with nothing but a flimsy set of chainmail, a dodgy old sword and tattered book that the locals insisted on calling a grimoire, with a huge smile on his face. Heck, it was a game after all. He wasn't about to cower back in town with all of the other dweebs, when he could go out and have some fun and explore. Even if he died, he would revive back in the cathedral anyways. He had made sure to check that small tidbit of information out before wandering off on his own. Adventurous maybe, but Eadon was not quite at suicidal just yet. Despite his rather martial equipment, Eadon had chosen one of the spell casting classes when he had created his character on that first day. Having had no idea what each of the classes did, he had simply gone with the thing that sounded coolest. So, Sorceror it was. Spells of firey death and awe inspiring magic was hardly something to be scoffed at after all. "Geez, it's getting a bit hot out here," Eadon said to himself, uncaring of whether or not his voice traveled, "I should have bought some of the ice cream from that store..." Putting it out of his mind, Eadon went back to absentmindedly scanning the tress and path for movement. He had gotten sick of waiting around in town, and even if he died it was not like it was a huge deal. It was only a game, right? All he could lose was a few experience points, of which he had none in the first place. Whistling a tune, and twirling his sword in a way that was deceptively easy, Eadon continued along the path, wondering just when a monster would decide to come out and play. He was pretty curious to see just how well sword techniques from the real world translated into this fantasy one.

WORDS: 1011 TAGS: Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Hey. Figured a fairly generic opening would leave you with plenty of scope to enter in however you want. Looking forwards to reading a reply!

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

He needed to continue to level up. The combat experience he had obtained with Kaizer was not enough if he was going to make it in this world. If he was going to thrive and become strong enough to protect others from those that would prey on the weak and scared. If he was going to live up to the persona he had chosen as the honorable knight willing and able to shoulder any burden with unflinching fortitude. This may have started out with a game but they were trapped here with no apparent way back. He needed to start looking at it as a new world and a new life, a second chance to make something of himself, but in a world that he actually cared to do so. He wasn't trained in anything knightly, all he had to go off of were stereotypes that were surely inaccurate and the abilities this game gave him in combat, but that would not stop him. He could manage in combat and in essence being a knight was being loyal, kind, fair, honorable, and courageous.

He stood just off the path of the main road, clearing it of the low level monsters that he encountered as best he could. Though as a solitary tank it was a slow process as he did not do a lot of damage, but he also didn't take a lot of damage. Especially since he was getting the hang of using the shield. Though it still felt heavy in his grip, however he was managing just fine so far against these low level enemies.

Specifically he was hunting slime type enemies. He had figured out that he did more damage against them. It seemed that other Alchemists had the same boon. So perhaps it was a synergy bonus for having Alchemy as a skill, much like how some secondary classes would give bonuses to plant and stone type monsters. His bonus seemed to be against artificial life. Well, artificial in this world as technically everything here was once created digitally.

"Shield Smash!"

His voice echoed out through the woods as his body lunged forward, his shield moving to intercept the slime and slam into it with incredible force. The slime's amorphous body splattering around the shield as it's hit points finished depleting. The goop dripped off his shield for several seconds before the monster exploded as they all seemed to in this world, a constant reminder as to the origins of this world. Namely that it was still based off of a video game, even if it did not seem to fully be one anymore. He still wasn't sure how much of a game it was and how much of another reality though, it was something he constantly had mulling over in the back of his mind. However, his attention was often pulled toward more immediate and tangible issues and desires.

It would seem that his time of solitude would have a reprieve however as he turned around to see a young man walking down the road in his direction. Sheathing his weapon so he did not appear to be hostile to him he nodded at the young man. Unsure if it was befitting a knight character to wave in greeting or not to a stranger. He was thinking it was not, but he couldn't recall one way or another for sure on the matter. He did know bowing to random strangers was out of the question unless they had done something to earn it. Still, he would greet the young man, perhaps he could assist him in some way as well. People of the Land may not be handing out quests, but that did not mean there were no more quests to complete.

"Greetings traveler. How may I be of assistance today?"

(636 words/claimed)

[Eadon]

Eadon thought that the morning had been quite productive. Initially he had encountered problems in finding any monsters, but that had changed soon enough when a few monsters that the game identified as young pittered boars had stumbled onto the path. He had dealt with each one quickly enough, using a few economical swings of his almost club-like longsword to dispatch the beasts, before moving on to the next one, then continuing. The sun had risen up higher into the sky, flashing down through the clouds and the tree branches overhead to leave an oddly dappled light on the path itself. The big trees were kind of ominous, and Eadon was a little hesitant to go into them on his own just yet. While he had been fine taking on single enemies, he was not so sure how he would do against more than that at any given time, and straying from the path would be sure to attract more of them. A glance at his HP bar showed that even his current strategy wasn't really the best for leveling up, though. While he had succeeded in killing the boars quickly enough, they had not really been kind to his health. His mana was pretty high, but his health points were a whole lot lower. Probably a result of being a magic class, rather than a weapon wielding one. "I guess this sorcerer class isn't really designed to take hits," Eadon said to himself, brushing some dirt off of his chainmail armour, "at least I have some decent armour, I guess." Back in the city, Eadon had soon realised that most of the magic wielding classes were restricted to using only weak cloth armours, or in some cases leather. It had made him glad to have chosen the blacksmith sub class, which had the added side-benefit of allowing him to equip the more damage resistant armour he was wearing now. The young sorcerer figured that it would probably be a lot more difficult to solo the mobs without it. Even so, it would be good if someone else could take the hits. Apparently some of the weapon based classes had much higher hitpoints, and he had seen some of the big guardians and the like wearing heavy plate armour. The boars would probably find it a whole lot tougher hurting a guy like that, than hurting a squishy little sorcerer like himself. Twirling his sword around in his hand, Eadon laughed. Magic based class or not, some of the skills he had were pretty cool for swords. He had been using one called Inferno Strike to pretty great effect. The spell set targets he hit with his sword on fire, which had the added bonus of leaving some nicely roasted boar behind after he was done with them. If the sorcerer wasn't supposed to use a sword, then it probably shouldn't have awesome spells like that one, Eadon figured. This sword, though... Eadon shot it a glare, shaking the weapon in his grip a bit to see if that would get rid of any of its numerous weighting problems, imperfections and other shoddily made features. The weapon was effective sure enough, if dull and seemingly useless, but in all truth the sorcerer could not wait to be rid of it. Maybe he could replace it with a nice, better made one. Possibly even see if he could get his hands on a nice new sabre, or better yet a rapier. The stabbing and parrying fighting style more suited to rapiers was one he was far more familiar with, than this brute hack and slash approach to swordsmanship. No amount of polishing or cleaning would make this sword he had into a good one, or one suited to the style he had spent years learning back in the real world. It was a bit of a shame, but it was just beginners equipment. Apparently he could get all the way to level 100 in this game. By the time he reached those lofty heights no doubt he would be able to find, or better yet make, a much nicer sword than this one. Probably a better grimoire, too. Thie tattered old boo he had written his only spell into was in dire need of replacing as well. Distracted from his musing by some loud ringing sounds, and a few big crashes from e bushes up ahead, Eadon narrowed his eyes, bringing his sword back up into a ready position. Whatever was up there, it sounded a lot more dangerous than a simple boar would be. Suddenly, Eadon wished he had unlocked a few more spells. What emerged from the bushes was completely unexpected, however. A big, blond man, one who looked decidedly knightly in spite of the dirt and grime covering him and... what exactly was that green gooey stuff, anyways? Probably best not to ask, Eadon thought to himself with a shudder. Regardless, despite his big shield and outwardly threatening appearance Eadon was pretty sure he could trst this guy to not do something crazy like try and player kill him. At least he hoped so. He had heard all kinds of stories about player killers back in town, people threatening lower leveled players and taking their stuff, leaving them without even the beginners gear they needed to try and level up. The teenaged sorcerer had no idea why people would do that. It was just plain mean, and served no real purpose other than proving you were tougher than the other guy. Everyone would respawn back at the cathedral anyway. Eyeing the approaching stranger warily, Eadon tightened his grip on his sword, subtly bringing it up into a not so obvious ready stance. If this guy was a player killer, he would not go down without a fight. "Uh, hello," Eadon replied to the man's query, not letting his nervousness seep into his voice, "Umm. I don't think you can really assist me. I'm just out here killing monsters. Who are you, and why are you out here?" Eadon narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the guy, the look seeming to almost dare him to come up with a legitimate answer. You know. One that wasn't 'to kill you and take all of your stuff.'

WORDS: 1044 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Thanks for the reply! See where this goes. Eadon is a bit distrustful, since he;s a lowbie player on his own, and has no idea who you are. It seemed to want to write that way, at any rate. Looking forwards to your reply!

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

His eyes saw the shift of the blade and the tightening of the grip on his sword as the young man replied to him. It was possible that the kid would try to strike at him, but if that was the case he would find Endrin a harder target than some of the fresh players who hid in town. He was already becoming confident in his abilities and skills, having learned how to use his Shield Smash to decent effect. The moment the kid tried anything he would bash him with the shield, using the momentary interrupt to draw his own blade for the proper fight. Though he was hopeful that it would not come to that. While he did know that they would all just respawn in the cathedral he was adverse to killing another person. Even if it was in self defense. It served no purpose and was nothing but a waste of everyone's time and effort.

He moved his sword arm away from the blade in his hilt just to once more show that he was not looking to start a fight. He understood the concern but to just assume that everyone you met outside of town was looking to kill you was a horrible way to live. It sounded like one that stemmed from fear, and it was that mindset that needed to be purged. It needed a bright light to show people that this new world did not mean everyone was ruled by their base and selfish desires. Not everyone was looking to stab you in the back for the clothes on your back.

"Hello. I'm Endrin. And you are?"

He asked trying to keep things natural and peaceful. Just an exchange of names, there was no pressure and no ulterior motive to worry about. He was out here killing monsters, and had been. There was no one else around him so it was not a trap to lure in unsuspecting low leveled players into his clutches. Even his gear was nothing to special to look at. Obviously basic starting level gear.

His armor and shield were both made of simple iron, lacking even a design over it or any kind of markings. While it was maintained it was clearly worn and well used. There was no real serious damage done to it, at least nothing that would make it useless or ineffective in combat. At least any more so than it's already crummy stats made it. And while the blade was sheathed and not visible it was also of simple iron and make. The same stuff that every guardian that went sword and shield got. Though he had picked up a simple cloak just to keep the rain at bay, though that gave no stat bonus or defensive abilities at all.

"And like you I am hunting monsters along the road and exploring the low level region around London. I'm not actually from London so the area is new to me. Since I am not a scribe I can not make maps so I need to rely on my memory. hence me sticking to the main roads to kill monsters and just learn my way around the immediate area."

He kept his own tone calm, still not terribly concerned about not having his own blade drawn. Even if he died it would only bring him back to London. And if a fight broke out then he would just go from there. But he was confident that things could be salvaged here. Even if the young man seemed to believe that Endrin owed him an explanation for why he was there. When Endrin had been there first. But he could roll with it, he was sure there was no offense meant.

"Are you looking for someone to party up with? Combat does go a bit smoother with more than one person in it. Think of it as a design choice. Though if you would rather solo then I am not adverse to letting you continue on your way and wishing you the best of luck. Though I would warn you to not venture too far as the monsters can ramp up in difficulty the further away from London you get."

Though again that would be up to him on how far he wished to go. He would not force himself upon him. But another ally would be welcome in his leveling endeavors, and more friends in this new world were still a necessity. No man was an island, and positive changes could not be made by the individual. It would require the collective will of a group to make any positive and lasting changes to the city of London and it's people.

(787 words/claimed)

[Eadon]

When the guardian moved his hand away from his sword, Eadon relaxed a bit, loosening his almost vice like grip on his own weapon and letting out an audible sigh of relief. Turned out that this mystery guy didn't actually want to fight him after all. Which was good, because Eadon wasn't entirely sure how well he would have done in that particular encounter had it eventuated. Killing boars was one thing, but he was no player killer. Even in self defence, he would have a hard time killing someone, even with the knowledge that they would respawn safely. At least, he was fairly sure the guy would respawn. Or... Better not think about that... that he would respawn, were he to be the loser in the fight. Not that there would be a fight. Hopefully not, at least. He sincerely wanted to avoid fighting this guy. Hunting monsters was all well and good but picking a fight with another player, for no real reason, was a completely different story entirely. Now that he was no longer under immediate threat of dismemberment, the young sorcerer took the chance to actually look at the guy in front of him. He seemed well intentioned enough, and had obviously been out fighting monsters in the hopes of leveling the same as he had. A few years older that Eadon himself, the guy looked to be in his early to mid twenties and with gear just as beat up and shabby as Eadon's own gear no doubt looked. That the other guy was in the same boat as him, and not one of those scary power levelers, was a relief in a way. "I'm Eadon," he said in reply to the guardians introduction, voice notably friendlier than before, "it's a pleasure to meet you Endrin." In all honesty, Eadon was just as nervous as before but quick to put if out of his mind. In his short time here in the world of Elder Tale he had discovered a couple of things very quickly. First, the friends who had badgered him into joining the game in the first place were of course not logged in when the Apocalypse had happened, and thus not trapped in the game. Meaning Eadon had quickly found himself very much alone. The second, was that most people took one look at a relatively skinny seeming kid like him and never gave him a second glance. Of course, some people had tried to party him, but they had mostly been the gamer dweebs who wanted to stay in town all the time and not explore. This guardian was the first actually competent seeming person who had given the red head the time of day. Eadon wasn't about to brush him off or try and insult him if he could make a useful ally or friend, in this vast world he had found himself trapped within. Tapping his fingers idly against the hilt of his sword, Eadon listened as Endrin explained why he was out here in the forest, and cautioned him against going in to deep until he was a higher level. The teen glanced nervously further along the path at this, suddenly wary of just what monsters might be hiding out there in the vast forest. Some of them would likely be able to kill a low leveled adventurer like him in a heartbeat. "Thanks for the warning," Eadon replied gratefully, "I will definitely keep that in mind. Don't wander too far along the path, or the scary monsters will get you, got it." Figuring that responding in kind, explaining why he was out here as well and maybe offering some information of his own, Eadon felt the urge to speak. "I'm just here to explore, and hoping to try out some of my fencing techniques from the real world," he glanced at his sword in disdain, "not that I can really do much with this horrible thing. It's so unbalanced and bulky there's not much point, though the form still works I guess." Shifting into an en garde position, Eadon demonstrated, thrusting forwards with the sword towards an imaginary foe, with the long sword feebly attempting to keep up with his obviously much more trained movements. The sorcerer shrugged, as if to say 'see what I mean' before dropping the sword back to his side casually and grinning. Remembering his thoughts from before, about how he wished there was someone else to take the hits rather than his own squishy self, Eadon was pleasantly surprised when Endrin offered him a party. He had just met the guy, but if they were both out here hunting monsters then no doubt they could do so much more effectively as a team. Logic prevailed. If Eadon wanted to become more powerful, and explore further into this world he needed to be higher leveled. Partying with this tough seeming guardian would get him there sooner.  "I agree, hunting monsters as a party does make more sense, though I am probably just going to hold you back, I haven't really done much in this game yet" Eadon agreed, before looking away to hide a somewhat embarrassed expression, "I didn't have anyone to party up with, so I figured I would just go out and try to do some leveling on my own." Hopefully his new found acquaintance wouldn't think too badly of him for his lack of friends. It was a bit of a sore spot for him, his friends list in this new world was completely empty, and was likely going to remain that way, with his luck. None of the people he had met in this world yet seemed like the kind of people who Eadon would normally be friends with, so he had largely kept to himself. Not looking up, he flicked open his menu before sending a party invite to the guardian. Hopefully he would accept it. "Now, lets go find some more monsters to fight!!" Eadon said, a wide grin splitting his face with excitement.

WORDS: 1007 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Have another post. Feel free to drop some monsters into the next one. :)

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well Eadon. Do not fret though for this area seems to be safe from the higher level monsters. Which is fortuitous for us as I have heard stories about one guy that died by some level forty creatures in this very forest. Though I haven't seen anything that high, so I don't know how true such stories may be."

The fact that he didn't know was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because he hadn't run into them and was this still alive. However he also didn't know where they were, and thus where to avoid. But the areas he was hanging around in right now were generally fine for his level.

He raised a brow when the young man said that he was curious as to how well his fencing skills transferred to the game. It was a good question, but if he wanted to do that he rolled the wrong class. At least judging from his grimoire. Though he was wearing chain. So that was a new one. He watched as the guy demonstrated his abilities. He seemed to know what he was doing, but his body couldn't keep up. Kind of a shame.

"You may have better luck with spells. As for the swords..." His hand moved to the hilt of his blade which he would pat. "Well I seem to do alright with them, despite having no training in the real world with it."

His body just kind of knew what to do. Which was good or he would have been screwed. He flicked open his own menu to accept the party invitation without hesitation. Everyone was new to the world, it was nothing to be ashamed of. Endrin had been here just as long as Eadon had. They were all on even footing.

"Well there is no better way to learn how to function in a party than to jump right in. I assume you know your role in the party? And would you mind sharing your abilities with me? This way I know what you are capable of and we can work together more effectively."

He motioned to himself and his heavy armor.

"For instance I'm a Guardian. My job is to get the monsters to hit me instead of anyone else. I have a high defense and my class has several defensive abilities, taunts to draw attention, and interrupts to stop a monster from attacking. Currently I know Shield Smash which is an interrupt."

So hopefully that would give him an idea of what he could do, and then he could follow suit and then they could get to the monster hunting bit!

(452 words)

[Eadon]

Eadon had to suppress a shiver, at the mention of level 40 monsters in this area. There can't really be anything that high here, can there? He quickly shoved the thought and the spine tingling sensation to the deepest darkest corner in the back of his mind. Even if there were monsters that high in here, then surely they wouldn't be this cose the the town, where all the low level players were grinding. Right? Right. Eadon nodded subconsciously, glad that he had dealt with that in his head at least. There weren't going to be any super scary high level monsters coming along to kill him, anytime soon. "Why would you go and tell someone that," said Eadon half-jokingly, "I mean, this is a low level zone, right? No chance we're actually going to run into a monster as scary as that..." It was perfectly normal to be scared of monsters that could kill you in one hit, right? That was basic human survival instinct kicking in, no two ways about it. If there was one trick to bravery, it was not in denying that you were scared. It was in fighting even though you were terrified out of your wits, when the cause was just or if you had no other choice. A coward ran, when faced with fear. Bravery was all about standing your ground and keeping a smile on your face. Eadon was sure he would one day go hunting for said monsters. Not just yet, though. For now training up, making some friends and working out how the whole combat system worked was the plan. As far as he could tell, hitting a monster with a sword worked just fine. So did yelling out skills, and following through with the appropriate action. His body seemed to almost instinctively understand the correct gestures and sounds necessary for spellweaving. That said though, Eadon made a mental note to memorise them and not really solely on his intuition. Understanding how his own skills worked, and why was something that would no doubt prove immeasuably useful at some point down the line. Probably when he didn't have time to wonder why it worked that way, as well. Hence the memorisation before the fact. The forest had gone somewhat still. Almost as though it had paused all around them with a strange hush, while they conversed. It was surreal, in its own way. Almost suspicious, really, with how many monsters had been jumping on them only a few minutes prior and not too far from here either. Eadon eyed the undergrowth warily, almost as though he expected something to leap out. Just so long as it isn't one of those high level monsters, his subconscious reminded him, before he could snuff the thought out entirely. Great, I'm going to have nightmares now. Thanks a bunch Endrin, Eadon told said subconscious, eyes wandering back to the guardian in question. "Hey, just because this long sword is a completely unwieldy weapon better suited for brutes with no finesse whatsoever, does not mean I should not be using swords." Eadon huffed, looking somewhat upset at being told he shouldn't be using his favourite weapon. The gall of the guy, seriously. Eadon was not some kind of olympic talent, but he had won his share of medals for his fencing, and this guy wanted to tell him to rely on a moldy old book and spells to defend himself. Get real. Glancing at the weapon sheathed at the guardians side, Eadon suddenly had to resist the urge to hit himself over the head. Naturally enough, strapped at the side in its own sheathe, Endrin also had a long sword. While Eadon wasn't a huge fan of the weapon, it did not mean it didn't suit other players a lot better than it suited him. While he might prefer the more lightening fast rapier style of sword combat, it was not necessarily true of everyone. Everyone quite likely including the man he was now talking to. Here he was, supposedly trying to make friends, and once again his thick head and his complete obliviousness to how what he said might be interpreted by someone else had likely ruined things before they had even started. "I apologise. I have this horrible tendency to talk before i think. I do concede you may have a point..." Eadon finally added, willing to give maybe a little bit on his weapon choice, if only so as not to come across as completely arrogant, "That said though, I know how to use a sword better than most, and while not a widely played variant for my sorcerer class, the sorcerer does have a spellsword melee based variant that relies on contact spells, which are channeled quite well through a sword." Eadon listened attentively to the guardinas description of his classes main skills and uses, and what role it played in combat. It made more sense to him know why the man had questioned his choice of a frontline role, with a spell casting character. Eadon figured it would show good teamwork to enlighten his new party member on his own combat style, and what skills he possessed. "For your information, I currently have one skill, Inferno Strike," Eadon explained, smiling and trying to keep his tone easy to understand, "it is a melee skill which I can place on a weapon, and which then activates when i strike an enemy, causing fire damage and applying a burning damage over time condition to the foe." Hoping he hadn't offended the guy too much with his passionate defense of his sword wielding style of choice, Eadon again returned his attention to the still mysteriously quiet bushes. There had to be a reason it had gone so still, after all.

WORDS: 966 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: There ya go. Have fun!

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

"Well as I said, it is simply something that I heard. I have not seen anything that high level myself. But I thought it prudent to warn you in case you had decided to simply keep wandering further away from the city. I'm sure that we are fine this close to town. The highest level monster I've seen here is around level five or so."

So again he wasn't too worried about running into anything stupidly high here. If he had been then he wouldn't have been out here alone. He would have called Kaizer or something to help him out. Actually, he probably should give him a call one of these days, he hadn't heard from him in a little bit. Hopefully he was doing alright though. He probably was, he couldn't imagine otherwise. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

His lips pursed a bit as the woods seemed to grow silent about them. He couldn't even hear birds chirping anymore, which was unusual. A lot of the creatures in this area were animals, though there were some slimes. But nothing scary enough to cause all of the animals to be quite. It was a bit troubling and his eyes started to scan the treeline around them as Eadon defended his use of swords. It seemed like he had hit a nerve? That had not been his intent, rather he had just been trying to make a helpful suggestion. The Sorcerer seemed to have a quick tongue quickly insulting the weapon that Endrin himself had chosen and the people who used it. Quirking his left eyebrow as the kid went on, as if wondering if he was really going to insult someone who was trying to help him out here, the kid seemed to realize what he was saying and quickly apologized.

"It is fine, my own goal was not to offend but to offer my aid on what may help you with the skill set available to you. You are of course free to act as you like."

It was not like Endrin could do anything to stop him, nor would he want to. He didn't want to be one of those people who told people how they had to do things, if they could pull their own weight then who cared how they did it. And with this place being more like the real world than a video game he really didn't feel right pulling an elitist move and disbanding party or yelling at the guy over his choices. It was quite literally his life now, he could live it as he chose.

"That does sound like a nice skill. Perhaps you can share more of your skills that you would like to take in future levels as we move? I feel it may not be terribly wise to stay here for much longer."

The silence of the woods was putting him further on edge. To get everything to be this quiet it had to be big, or unnatural, or both. And he would rather not fight a losing battle for no reason other than their unwillingness to move before danger reached them. That would be foolish on their parts. So he began moving down the path back toward town, putting a hand on Eadon's shoulder to give him the smallest of nudges to coax him into moving before his right hand moved down to draw his blade. Should they be ambushed it would not due to be caught unprepared.

"Keep your eyes open. We may not be alone." He said quietly. Hoping that it would be enough to clue Eadon in about what was going on in his head. Besides, heading back toward town wasn't a horrible idea. At their level the hunting grounds right outside town should be sufficient to give them some experience with the ability to get out of harms way should something come that was beyond their combined abilities.

(661 words/claimed)

[Eadon]

"Well, I guess it might not have been true," Eadon said, relieved that the chance of super dangerous monsters was most likely significantly reduced, "I mean, the person might have just been telling you a tall story or something, or just exaggerating, right." Sighing a breath of relief at not having too badly pissed off his new guardian friend with his sword comments, Eadon grinned. Of course he could use whatever fighting style he wanted. His might be borderline crazy, but it was super amazingly fun which had to count for something. They were all trapped in a game after all. What was the point of adopting a boring, stand back and blast it with magic, tactic when you could beat them up with swords instead. It never would make sense to him. Swords were too much fun. Though, blasting with magic might also have it's place. He would have to think on that one. Maybe alter his plan a little bit to include a few ranged spells. Then again, if he did that he could inadvertently weaken his close range offensive capabilities... He would need to put some thought into it definitely. "I'm glad you approve, Mr. Endrin," Eadon said, "not to disparage your chosen weaponry. This particular variety of sword just doesn't suit someone like me anywhere near so much as it suits you." It reminded Eadon of an incident back in the real world, when he had made one of his first friends back in primary school. The girl had brought a jam sandwich for lunch, and he had gone on for nearly ten minutes about how much he hated jam sandwiches, and like peanut butter better. He smiled at the memory. He had not meant anything by it, just like now. His mouth was simply a few steps ahead of his brain in spitting out whatever it was he thought at a given moment in time. Eadon was completely useless at reading people, or noticing when something he might say could offend. That combined with literal word vomit every other sentence or so, and people tended not to like him very much. Either that, or slowly get used to his weirdness and love him for it.  Eadon shrugged mentally putting it out of his mind. He couldn't control the way he acted, as much as he couldn't control his heartbeat or breathing. It simply was that way. "So this shield bash skill of yours sounds useful," Eadon mused out loud, "If you hit a monster with that before I hit it with my attack, then it will stay aggroed on you even if I do a lot of damage to it. That sounds like the kind of thing that would be really useful in a party fight." The forest was peaceful, barely any sounds to be heard for what was likely a few hundred meters in any direction. Deceptively peaceful or not, he was suddenly feeling nervous. It had gone far too quiet for this area of the forest and the young adventurer had a sudden and almost violent urge to get back to a safer area and away from here as fast as feasibly possible. Maybe it was intuition kicking in, or maybe he was just freaking out because of the story. That was the most likely explanation, yet for some reason it still didn't quite sit right with him. Whatever logic wanted to tell him, standing here at this particular point in the road suddenly didn't feel even remotely safe any more. Eadon glanced around at the surrounding bushes and trees nervously, eyes darting into the gaps as though expecting something huge to leap out at them at any moment. Nothing did of course, but he was sure that if they didn't get moving, and get moving now, something would. "Moving sounds good," Eadon agreed hastily, quickly falling in behind Endrin when the other adventurer nudged him forwards, "as for skills, I am really looking forwards to taking some more of the melee based ones. There's ones called Fragarach Arms, Thunderbolt Crash and another called Icicle Impale that sound cool. I might take some more defensive stuff like Blink and Force Shield later too..." Eadon felt like he was rambling, mostly to try and fill the ominous silence, but couldn't bring himself to stop. Instead he kept talking the ear off of his new party member informing him all about the various first tier sorcerer skills, and the various benefits and drawbacks for each. The trick to being a spellsword, as far as he knew, was being able to have access to a good variety of weapon based skills and a few handy escape skills. You needed to be able to hit hard, and then either block the counter attack or get out of dodge before it could land. It was very much a get in, hit hard, then get out kind of play style. One he fully intended to master. Eyes leaping from bush to bush, and occasionally behind him, Eadon found the surreal beauty of the woods disturbingly creepy right now. Not even he was listening to what he was saying any more. He just didn't want to listen to that soul crushing silence any more. His grip tightened on his sword with each passing second, his sixth sense screaming at him that he should be anywhere but here right now. Narrowing his eyes, Eadon beat his subconscious thoughts back with a large stick. Even if something does come, I am going to fight it, I can't leave Endrin here to defend himself alone. Mind made up, the sorcerer's eyes went from nervous to a kind of grim determined look from one second to the next. His incessant flow of words grinding to a halt, Eadon suddenly blushed in embarrassment. "Uh, sorry about that," he said, apologising quickly, "I'm just nervous. Do you want to tell me about what skills you want to take?" Anything, to keep from thinking about just what might be lurking out there.

WORDS: 1005 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Ominous silence is ominous. Make what you will of it.  slightly tougher monster to fight could be interesting. :D

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

The silence was unnerving, but he was still confident that they wouldn't find anything super high level out here. That didn't mean however that they were safe. The longer the silence went on the more he thought that this might not be a big predator but rather something unnatural. Perhaps another slime like the one he had just fought? But then again one slime hadn't seemed to cause that much of a disturbance.

He only half listened to Eadon as he continued to list off every skill that he would have access too as he leveled, but he got the jist of it. He was really into melee combat. Which continued to make his choice of class seem curious to him. He wondered if Eadon had even looked at all of the classes before he selected his. Probably not he figured.

His thoughts however were interrupted by a disgusting squelching sound. Like someone squeezing a wet foam rubber ball, extracting all of the juices. It came from all directions and the bushes started to rustle around them. He knew the sound though and why the animals were being quiet began to make sense to him now. It was not a natural predator but rather artificial life. And a lot of them. By why so many?

"This doesn't look good."

He said raising his blade and moving so that his back was to Eadon's. With them coming from all directions and only one ability there was no way he could tank them all at once. Though his eyes flickered over to his status bar. He was close to level, and his next level would give him Anchor Howl which would help him to generate hate on all of them. They just needed to hold out a little bit.

"Alright, I can't tank them all, but the good news is I'm probably going to level up in one or two kills. If we can hold out until then I'll have anchor howl and I should be able to grab all of their aggro. So you wanted me to see what you could do with that sword of yours? Now would be your chance."

As he finished from the bushes three oozes came toward Endrin, while two of them came at Eadon. Narrowing his gaze his blade shot out at the closest one, ripping into it's form easily enough, but the wound seemingly filling in by it's amorphous body. However the hit point bar did lower.

"Just focus on staying alive. If you need to fall back do so!"

He called out before launching his next attack. "Shield Smash!" His shield hitting a second slime, stunning it for a moment while the third one slammed into his body with strength and force one would not expect from an ooze. His own hit points dropped a little from the blow. He tried to shift his body and shield to keep the majority of himself covered by it, but with the shield being so heavy it was still hard to move it quickly to react. But it was still better than nothing.

(517 words)

[Eadon]

The sound of squelching was the first thing to tear Eadon away from his rambling, his eyes instantly zooming in on the source of the strange noise. In this kind of oppressive atmosphere, even a twig snapping would have stood out like a sore thumb.  He didn't have long to think on it though. Suddenly, from what seemed like all directions, they were swarmed by a mob of slimes. Eadon dodged out of the way of a few attacks, barely managing to avoid them all with his hp bar still mostly intact. It was intense, and far more dangerous than fighting a few lone boars had been. Gritting his teeth against the fear, Eadon brought his sword up into a defensive posture, grimoire held loosely in his other hand. Slimes were another low level mob, but in numbers like this they posed a serious threat to the equally low level adventurers. The two were in for one heck of a fight, one that, had Eadon been into betting, he wouldn't have been backing their own side for. Endrin explained that all they needed was one or two kils against the mobs, and he would be able to use some new aggro generating skill. Well, it was a chance. A chance that they hadn't had before now. "Got it," Eadon said, forcing a smile onto his face that he most definitely did not feel, "I just need to kill a couple of them and we've got this then." Eadon watched as his guardian ally leaped into action against the new threat, swinging his sword and smashing into the enemies with his shield. Remembering the explanation about the Shiled Smash skill, and how it would draw down the aggro of the enemy it was hit with, Eadon waited to time his own attacks to land after the guardian cast his own skill. Eadon still didn't fully understand the aggro system of monsters in Elder Tale, but if it was anything like a school yard fight then he should have no problems. Bullies went for the loudest, most aggressive seeming enemy. And right now, that person was Endrin and not him. If he used a skill though, that could quickly change unless Endrin had a chance to build up some more aggro of his own, hence needing to wait. Rather than just standing there uselessly while his ally took all of the hits, Eadon decided to make better use of his time, quickly drawing a sigil in the air and sending it flying towards Endrin, yelling out "Seal of Aquarius," as he did so. While he had only drawn a fairly limited agility boosting buff, it would hopefully let the guardian hold out for those few more seconds that could mean victory or defeat. He probably should have told Endrin that he was a sigilmaker before, but now wasn't exactly the time to be discussing sub classes. When finally Eadon saw the Shield Smash skill land on one of the enemies, he leapt into action himself. Sliding from an en garde position, the sorcerer took a couple of steps forward before executing a thurst with the long sword, the blade moving dangerously fast. Shifting forwards and narrowly avoiding a gob of slime in the face he quickly yelled out "Inferno strike!" just before his now glowing red and ember spitting sword skewered into the gloopy mass of the same slime that Endrin had only moments before hit with his shield. It was impressive to watch the result. Already damaged, it kind of sagged over a bit, before bursting into flames and collapsing into a gooey puddle of yucky green stuff on the floor. Well that was one down. Eadon shuddered to think how many more they would need to take down. Should they run? No. The monsters would just follow them. They needed to stay, and fight them back. Easier said than done. Forced back onto the defensive, Eadon had to duck as half a dozen more globs of goop can spitting at him, a few striking him in vulnerable places. His health bar started to skid down scarily fast, even with his dodging a good chunk of the attacks. "Endrin, that skill you were telling me about would be really useful right now!" Eadon called out, parrying an attack, before delivering a well timed riposte, stabbing his still red glowing sword towards another slime, this one being lit on fire but not quite collapsing down into a puddle like the last one had. He couldn't take much more of this...

WORDS: 758 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Good swordsman or not, sorcerer's are still squishy. At least he can splat them nice and fast for you. ^^

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

He felt his body loosen as the sigil took effect on his body. Everything seemed lighter and he seemed to be able to move faster and with more finesse, if only just. Still, it was an improvement that allowed him to move his shield in time to block the next attack from one of the slimes. Though the ones coming from his rear that Eadon had not attacked were unhindered as both of them slammed into Endrin from behind sending him stumbling forward a few steps, his hit point bar dropping down again with each blow. He resisted his instinct to turn around and face the ones that had just hit him because he knew that at the moment he had aggro, but he also knew that could change quickly with no aggro generating skills. He probably should have started with anchor howl or cover. And it looked like Eadon's health bar was going down quickly. That wasn't good, but he needed to stay calm. If he lost his cool then they would both die.

His blade moved out slicing the first slime that he had hit with his his sword seeing as Eadon had dispatched the one that he had smashed with his shield with an impressive strike from his flaming sword. He was a little impressed by how much damage he could do with that sword. Though at this moment he still couldn't help but wish that he had some kind of area of effect ability. That was what they really needed right now.

The injured's slime's hit points were down to a sliver as he withdrew his blade. Slimes pounding into his back with slams and gobs of goop. His hit points were dropping, though not as fast as Eadon's had. But it was still a lot more attacks than he was used to taking. His eyes flickered over to his cooldowns waiting the last agonizing second for it to finish before calling out his attack again. Endrin just tried to hunker down behind his shield to try and block the attacks that he could, his job now was to last as long as he could while Eadon did the killing. Striking with the limited abilities and strikes he could, but not at the cost of his defense.

"Shield Smash!"

He yelled as he slammed into the almost dead slime, killing it before he heard a ding. His hit points and mana points going back up to full as he hit his next level. Alright! Now they had a chance! Spinning around to face the two behind him, leaving the one that had been in front of him for Eadon.

"ANCHOR HOWL!!!"

His scream ripped through the air all around them as all the slimes slammed into him as if Eadon didn't even exist. Now was his chance to do his thing without fear. If any of the slimes dared to attack him then Endrin would be able to show them why that wasn't a good idea.

"Now is your chance!"

(504 words)

[Eadon]

Things had been looking pretty grim for the pair of them, with Eadon' probably seconds away from getting swarmed and killed by what was left of the slimes and Endrin likely not far behind him in that. Gritting his teeth and blocking another glob of slime that came jarringly close to his face, Eadon felt more than heard the slime that the other adventurer killed slumping to the ground and the subsequent shock wave that came out from Endrin using his new skill. Blinking in the guardians direction, Eadon was impressed. Back to full health, and with only three slimes remaining, actually coming out victorious in this fight was not exactly a hard ask any more. Especially when all of those enemies had made the mistake of targeting Endrin, rather than the sorcerer. Eadon smirked, before leaping back onto the offensive. He realised his new found friends plan readily enough. The man had left a slime for Eadon to kill, choosing to face off against two somewhat damaged ones himself to hold their aggro while Eadon finished his one off. Eadon hoped to do one better. With a flurry of rapid fire thrusts and stabs of his long sword, the slime in front of Eadon quickly burst into flames, joining its kindred as a smoking pile of green mush on the ground. "That's one, Endrin," Eadon called out, letting the guardian know he had finished his allocated slime off and they were now down to only the two aggressors, "lets finish this." Three down, two to go. The embers on his sword slowly fading away, Eadon knew he would have to wait on the cooldown before he could use his inferno strike again. But he wasn't completely out of tricks, just yet. Not in this life. Spinning around so he could get a clear shot at the remaining two slimes, Eadon brought up his grimoire and sent a burst of magical energy through it, sending it flying towards the one on the left. Wanna be spellsword or not, he could still cheat. A little bit. The guardian was right, sometimes the situation did call for just a touch of more indirect magic than the kind he would usually prefer. Though he still had yet to perfect his style, this only being one of the very first times he had ventured out of the city, he was sure he could make something that would work just right for him with a bit more practice, and access to a few more cool skills once he gained some more levels. The blast of magic hit the damaged slime right in the center of its gooey green mass, seeming to halt it a bit in its tracks. By then, it was too late for it. While the spell had been zooming in on its target, so had Eadon. With a few quick swipes of his sword to the already sagging areas of the slimes green goop like body it also collapsed into mush. Not without a price, though. It had hit Eadon back square in the chest with a glob of acid, dropping his health bar down even more alarmingly. Clenching his teeth against the pain, and sincerely hoping that Endrin had another trick up his sleeve, Eadon shifted his eyes towards that last slime. He couldn't take much more, or he would be back at the cathedral very shortly. "Last one is yours," Eadon said weakly, before collapsing to the ground weakly and panting, his body aching with new pains and various injuries. He hated how weak he was in this world. Now there was nothing to do, but trust in his companions abilities to finish the fight and save him from the ignominy of dying to a slime.

WORDS: 626 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Sorry it's so short. Let's wrap this one up, hey? I'm sure you can't wait to claim all that AP. ;)

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

When the slime attacked Eadon the second part of his skill Anchor Howl would go off. The punishment for a monster attacking someone that wasn't Endrin or turning away from him while the skill was in effect was a powerful counter. Letting out a cry as his blade moved through the slime, dropping it's HP to near dead before Eadon had finished it off. However it seemed that the enemy had still managed to hit him. Endrin was apparently not fast enough with his counter to stop that, but there was only one slime left now, and his first skill was off cool down.

Nodding to Eadon as he said the last one was his he squared off against it. Grounding himself before launching his shield forward with yet another powerful blow. "Shield Smash!" He cried out, slamming into the ooze with all the force he could muster, and whether it was his slightly higher level now, or the fact that as an Alchemist he did extra damage against creatures like this was irrelevant. Because it was just enough to bottom out it's hit points. With all of the monsters defeated the world around them seemed to return to normal. He could hear a bird chirping and his shoulders relaxed. It seemed that they were finally safe.

"Well done. You kept your head under pressure and we both performed well as a team. I think we should be quite proud of ourselves."

He said with a grin. Plus he had to admit that had been kind of fun. He got to level up mid fight and unlocked the next one of his abilities. And it was actually pretty cool! He was kind of excited to keep leveling and see what other abilities he could unlock in the future. "Come on, we are not far from London now."

He swiped at the air pulling up his menu yet again and would send Eadon a friend invitation. Still looking to fill up his friends list and build ties the young Sorcerer proved that he could keep his head in a sticky situation, and despite his quick tongue he seemed to have a good heart. He had also been quick to apologize, which showed a certain strength of character. Most people will defend themselves to the bitter end, unwilling to admit they were wrong. So to do so on his own unasked spoke well for the young man.

Whether or not the young Sorcerer accepted the invitation Endrin would continue to escort him back to town. With both of their hit points low from that fight he felt that it was best to call monster killing a day for the time being. There was always tomorrow. It was a shame he did not have a healer ally yet, as healing magic would allow him to continue for so much longer. But he was sure he would meet one in time. Until then all he could do was master his own skills and learn his own limits. The limits of what one man could do.

(511 words)

[Eadon]

Still panting slightly from the battle and with his hit points uncomfortably low, Eadon was glad that Endrin had managed to finish off the last slime on his own. There had been no chance Eadon would have been able to do it, killing the first three slimes had been almost too much for him as it was. Hopefully it would be a good learning experience, though. His level would definitely go up, at the very least. The next time he ran into a mob of slimes, things would hopefully go down a whole lot easier than they had this time. Wiping the slime off of his blade carefully, Eadon found it a bit hard to avoid gagging just from the gross consistency of the green gloop. At least most of it had managed to not stick, because of the flames. Some small miracles, after all. Sword clean, Eadon quickly returned it to his sheathe, smiling at the compliment that Endrin had given him. He hardly felt that he had deserved it - he had come mighty close to freaking out, and had been reduced to completely useless by the end of the fight. Even so, they had won the fight. That was the important thing, when it actually came down to it. Nothing else mattered, other than fighting to the extent of your abilities and helping your friends when it was required. Hext time he would do an even better job of it than he had this time. Hopefully, at least. "Thanks. Though really it was all you," Eadon said, happy to give credit where it was due, "all I did was stick a few with a sword." That last shield smash had been completely awesome. Eadon was glad to have met this guy. Hopefully they would be able to party up again in the future. But... not right now.  Grimacing in pain, Eadon shook out his arm - still slightly burnt from the acid, and had to resist the urge to cry out in pain when he took a step forward along the path. His chest and one of his legs were hurting in all kinds of ways as well, though he knew he would just have to suck it up until he could get back to lodon and get the injuries healed up nicely. He was barely in shape to walk back to London though, let alone go after any more monsters.  This considered, he happily started along after Endrin when the other adventurer suggested returning. That was one thing that was most definitely on his shopping list, the minute he got back. Some health potions. Probably some mana potions as well, while he was thinking about it. While taking potions might not be exactly practical in the middle of a fight, afterwards they could prove all kinds of useful. Plodding along and feeling sorry for himself as he was, Eadon almost missed the friend invite that flashed up in front of him. Almost. Smiling goofily, he quickly hit accept. Now his friends list was no longer completely empty, which he counted as a definite step in the right direction towards making his mark here in Elder Tale. One friend would hopefully lead along the path to many more to come. Today had been a good day, of that he was sure. "It was great meeting you, Endrin," Eadon finally said, Just before they finally made it back to the city, "we should definitely party up again sometime. Anyways. Catch you around!" Leaving it at that, Eadon turned around and left the guardian standing outside the entrance. They would meet again, he was sure of it.

WORDS: 608 TAGS: Endrin, Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Thread, finish. Thanks for the thread, Endrin!

Template by Eadon of Log Horizon

[Endrin]

"Well I thank you for the compliment but I fear on my own I would not have been able to slay them all. While my defense and hit points are formidable my damage is rather lacking. Such is my destined place in the holy trinity." He said with a wry smile as he referred to the trinity of tank, dps, and healer. Sure there were support roles, but the Trinity was the foundation of most MMOs when it came to combat. And they had been for many years, possibly since the birth of the genre. That being said it was always nice to be appreciated.

He was pleased when his friend request was accepted though. He seemed like a good kid, and he was sure that in time he would grow to be a strong player and a formidable force. He was excited to see how his unique take on the Sorcerer class would end up. Though it sounded like he had a path in mind for his skills, so he suspected it would be quite formidable once he had some levels under his belt. Though he would need to remember that he was a glass cannon, even with his armor type. In the end he just didn't have the hit points to deal with a large amount of hits. And that meant he needed to control his aggro, let the tanks get a few hits in and really grab the monsters attention. But he would figure it out. Right now he wanted to let Eadon bask in their victory. Advice could come a bit later. especially since they were friends now.

It seemed that despite their little bonding time Eadon was more than eager to strike off on his own yet again once they reached London. Probably off to go resupply or just rest up. Both of which sounded like fantastic ideas in his book. Giving the young man another small bow of his head as his right arm moved up to his head as he suggested partying up again in the future.

"I think it would be an honor to party up with you again, and I hope to see you around in the future Eadon. Until then do take care of yourself."

And as Eadon ran off Endrin would open his menu and disband the party before making his own way inside the city. Potions were not on the agenda for him right now, but a bath was. And cleaning up his armor and shield. Slime could be a pain to get off when it dried unfortunately. But maintaining his equipment was something that needed to be done.

(441 words)