[PP-NK-F6] Not-So-Lazy Sunday <<Feeding the Enemy>>

[Teion 0]

Teion paced back and forth across the floor of Forged by the Sun with a look of concentration stuck to her face. Her blacksmithing shop was quiet this morning, but that was the norm lately. Rather than her refusing to craft, however, she blamed her getting fewer customers on her newfound habit of leaving the shop at irregular hours. Over the past three days alone she'd spent hours contacting different information brokers to get details on certain monsters and floor environments. Ever since Beatbox had planted the idea of getting a familiar in her mind, she'd had an idea nagging at her.

The blacksmith finally stopped herself, planting her boots flat on the stone floor of the forge and hastily opening up her menus. She scrolled down to her friends list and tapped a few buttons without hesitation. It had been about a week since she had seen the blonde, and Teion couldn't quite explain the anxious knot in her stomach at the thought of contacting him again. The woman typed out her message, hovering over the 'Send' button for a few moments after she had finished before lightly biting her lip and pressing down. "Alright, fingers crossed!" She breathed out.

'Hey,
There's a quest I want to do, want to go together? It's easy, so I'll be fine if you're busy.
-Teion'

@Beatbox @Soredell

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had sighed as he laid down on his bed, not only did he change his look to something else, but just the other day... he had changed back to his normal look, meaning his buttercup Teion wont be able to see his old look. But, a part of him is kind of relieved that she isn't going to be able to, it was a rather stupid change back to his old style of clothing in which was honestly really really stupid. Then out of the corner of his eye he had spotted that he had received a message from Teion asking him if he wants to go on a quest with her to do something, in which Beatbox obviously wanted to go do, he opened a PM and messaged her back:

Quote

To: Teion

On my way buttercup~

He messaged with a chuckle as he had gotten up from his bed and moved on to the teleporter to move on to a lower floor, once he had moved down to a lower floor he had made to Teion's location and placed a knock upon her door "Thea...? Are you home?" he asked.

@Soredell @Teion

[Soredell 0]

Soredell sat on an open field looking over his most recent loot. Nothing significant or eye catching. "Hmph. That was a bit of a disappointing loot grind. Nothing good, and just wasting energy and time. Whatever." he says to himself out loud, deciding it was best to call it a day and get back to the nearest town, which thankfully wasn't very far away. With a grunt, he gets up and begins to make his way to town.

After the short journey to town, Soredell notices that he's gotten a message from someone. Opening it up, he reads the message, surprisingly by the blacksmith @Teion. "Eh, what the hell, why not?" he says to himself before sending a reply to the message.

Quote

To: Teion

No worries. I'll meet you at your shop.

- Soredell

After the message was confirmed to have been sent through, he made his way to the warp gate, and being transported to the right floor in a flash of light. After arriving on the right level, he made is way to Teion's store, where he saw another person there, @Beatbox. "Hey there." he says to him.

[Teion 0]

The light pinging sound rang in her ears as she received a message, causing the woman to perk up and quickly open her interface to read it. Before she could get to the notification, however, a second alert chimed and caused her fingers to move a bit faster. The blacksmith tilted her head in confusion as her interface showed her new messages from two different players. Opening up the reply from Beatbox, Teion's cheeks went hot at his casual pet name. She left the message be after reading it, scrolling over to the next. "Huh?" She mumbled to herself after reading Soredell's response. The girl checked her sent messages, cobalt eyes traveling to the recipient when she froze up for a moment.

After some mental debate and more pacing around her shop, a knocking on the heavy wooden door gave her a start. When a familiar voice called out her name rather than the username that appeared in her menus, Teion hurried to greet Beatbox. A small smile rested on her face to mask her nerves. Once she pulled open the door her eyes drifted from the blonde swordsman to the silver-haired katana-wielder that looked as if he just arrived. "Oh, hey," She said simply, stepping outside and closing the door behind her. She saw no point in hanging around in her shop if she was planning to go to a different floor for the quest.

"Um, this is...Soredell," She said to Beatbox, gesturing to the silver-haired man. She had a temporary moment of panic before recalling his name, but tried her best to recover. "And this is Beatbox." Her introductions were brief. "I wanted to go to the sixth floor to complete the quest." Her choice of words was rather awkward, not quite leading the group and not thinking to give any other details. Her mind was preoccupied. While she hadn't intended it to be a date or anything, she hoped that Beatbox wouldn't mind another player joining them.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had looked over to the other player that had arrived next to him, "Hm?" he had let out for just a moment wondering who the figure might be, it was a masked figure, he honestly didn't know why this player was here, and by the looks of the player he doesn't seem to be all that strong "May I help you? I don't think I have ever met you before." then at the same instance, Thea had opened to door to great both him and this new player which was revealed to him as "Soredell". Beatbox had taken a quick glance at the player and back to Teion, he wasn't aware that another player was going to accompany them today as Beatbox had something planned which now is going to be scrapped for another day. For now, Beatbox was going to be nice, he faced the player and placed a hand over his heart and bowed before the player "The name's Beatbox, its a pleasure to meet you Soredell, I was unaware that you'd be accompanying us today." he had mentioned before straightening himself.

@Soredell @Teion

[Soredell 0]

Soredell looks over the man next to him. From what he could tell, he was high leveled, potentially part of a guild that was part of the assault team even. "Uh, yeah. I got a message saying to come-" Soredell says in response to the man's question before @Teion opens the door. "Hey there Teion. I got your message, good to see you again. So what did you need?" he asks after Teion introduces the two to each other. "@Beatbox huh? Well its a pleasure to meet you too. As you already know, my name is Soredell." he says, extending his hand to him after he finishes his bow. "Yes, I will be accompanying the two of you today, as to exactly why, I am still not sure at the moment. Teion here had contacted me asking to meet her here and help her with something, but I wasn't aware that it wouldn't be just the two of us, much like you." he says, waiting on a response from the both of them.

[Teion 0]

'Crap.' Teion resisted the urge to bring her palm up to her forehead as the two players were obviously confused by the other's presence. Not only that, but Soredell was understandably confused by the invitation. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest course of action, but rather than explaining the situation to the two players and admitting her mistake, Teion would ignore the confusion and hope for the best. She knew she would have to talk to Beatbox later and explain everything, but she wouldn't have the opportunity for quite a while. All she thought she could do in the meantime was try to keep things under control and get this quest finished.

"Extra experience." Teion's responses grew more brief as she tried to come up with a reason as to why she would have invited Soredell along.  The words had left her rather blunty, and while the lack of enthusiasm was not unlike her, she almost felt like her monotony was acting as a defense mechanism. Either way, she felt it was a better response than meeting the confusion with silence. Without any further explanation, the violet-haired blacksmith began walking back the way they had both come towards Armadillo.

[Beatbox 0]

He had no problem with this player coming along, its just why did Teion invite another player over when he had enough brute strength to take down monsters, bosses, and even help her with anything else she could have needed. However, that was not on him to decide really. However, even if Soredell comes off as a friendly person, he could still be a threat to them and not know it. Beatbox would be keeping an eye on him as much as possible, the last thing he needs is to deal with another player that is a little messed up in the head. He sighed and looked back forward to Teion "So... what is this "Extra Experience" that you are talking about? If its dungeons, I coulda helped you out alone due to my sheer strength in comparison to this floor and ya know that." he said with a chuckle "I'm not trying to come across as rude Soredell, just trying to understand this through." he said to him before looking back forward.

@Soredell

[Soredell 0]

Although it wouldn't be obvious to either @Teion or @Beatbox, thanks to Soredell's hood and 'mask' which was really just cloth wrapped around his mouth, leaving only his eyes exposed, Soredell frowned. If nothing else, this was a confusing situation to be in, being invited to help Teion with whatever she needed, but also finding out that there was another person invited who knew Teion more than he did, essentially making him a third wheel in this whole thing, and not even knowing what exactly he needed to do. Soredell bit his lip at Beatbox's comment, which was thankfully hidden under his mask. He knew he wasn't in the best place at the moment, and that there was only so much that he could do at his current level, but he didn't need a reminder of his usefulness at this stage of the 'game', or lack thereof. "Yeah, understand this through. Whatever." he says in response to Beatbox. "Alright, lets just cut the crap and get on with the show. What did you need from the two of us Teion?" he asks, wanting to know just what the hell they were going to be doing.

[Teion 0]

Teion nearly froze up after Soredell's words reached her ears, but the woman continued walking ahead of them. She remained silent while several thoughts and feelings circled around inside of her, causing the knot in her stomach to pull a little tighter. "I'm doing the familiar quest." She said flatly, just loudly enough for the men to hear her. She had planned to explain on the way about all the planning she had done. The floor she had picked as the most likely place to find the creature she wanted to have as a familiar. The consumables she gathered to boost her luck in successfully taming the animal. Now the atmosphere was tense, and Teion had no interest in pretending that wasn't true.

"It'll be on the sixth floor." She continued to speak with a dull tone. "If you don't need anything in that area, don't worry about it." She wasn't sure how her curt explanation would be received, but she felt unable to respond any other way. She had only traveled with Soredell a handful of times, so perhaps to him she was coming off as unfriendly as always.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had looked back to Soredell, he could obviously tell that he had gotten a little upset from his previous comment, he had sighed and placed his curled finger upon his forehead on his mistake that he had made. He had looked back to Teion, and stated after her location to find a familiar he had said with a small smile "Let me guess... you're going after a sloth familiar hmmm...?" he had said with a chuckle "Truth be told, I found Ocarina on floor 6, I know a little bit on where the small little animals are." he had said before looking back to Soredell, he needed to get on better terms with this player. For all he know's this could be a future wielder of a unique skill, he had sighed and opened his inventory looking through to find any sort of item he could use as a present and only could find one item he could give: his Performance Note Pin, it could give the player a good source of income, so he had said screw it and presented it to Soredell "So sorry, I didn't mean to push any buttons. Please accept this gift, it should help you get a early advantage on getting some col."

@Soredell

-----

Giving: Performance Note [T1 Perfect Trinket - Enhancements: Prosperity III]

[Soredell 0]

Soredell nodded his head in understanding. At least now he knew that the party's goal was; to find a familiar for @Teion. He had heard rumors of players with animal companions known as familiars, and had seen even fewer with familiars out. He made a mental note to himself to do some research on this 'familiar quest'. The term familiar wasn't alien to Soredell, he had played Dungeons and Dragons when he was younger, and continued to play until of course, SAO came along, so he knew what they are. He also grew a tiny bit of respect for the game for keeping true to certain classic RPG elements, doing the genre justice. It would of course be better if the game didn't come with the added bonus of certain death, but that wasn't the point.

Soredell continued to have a frown on his face, although he was covered by his hood and cloth around his mouth, still a little bitter at @Beatbox's comment, although he doubted that he meant any offense by that. Soredell snapped to a more neutral expression when Beatbox addressed him directly. Looking up, it was obvious that Beatbox was regretting his choice of words, with Beatbox apologising, trying to repair the bridges, as the metaphor goes, by giving him a pin. He initially hesitantly accepts the pin, and inspects it, looking at its aesthetics, as well as its stats. His eyes widen at the stats listed. 'Holy crap. Prosperity III. If I can get kills while using this, I'll be rich soon enough.' he thinks to himself, before giving a small nod to Beatbox and muttering "Thanks...", loud enough for only Beatbox to hear him.

[Teion 0]

Teion allowed herself to let out a steady breath as she caught pieces of the exchange behind her. The tension in the air seemed to have calmed a bit, and the woman's nerves along with it. She turned her head and spoke over her shoulder in response to Beatbox's assumption. "Hmm, yeah. Floor six should be the best bet."

Before much longer, the trio had reached Armadillo, and minutes later found themselves at the teleport gate. The blacksmith continued to lead the way, stepping forward and speaking the name of the sixth floor's main city before the system whisked her away.

Teion took a moment to make sure all three players were present and ready to go before she began walking through Krycim towards the city's edge to leave the safe zone. "Oh." The woman perked up slightly as she remembered about the item in her bags. "Sorry, one second." She stopped and opened up her menus. Selecting a crystal and food item from her inventory, they materialized in her hands. "I nearly forgot." She mumbled before applying the stat bonuses the items gave.

Items Used:

Spoiler

• Homemade Rice And Beans +3 LD
• The Forest's Calls - Familiar Call

 

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had placed a hand upon his hip as he had looked towards her with a smile "Jeez Teion, one more step and you woulda forgotten' your buffs. That would have lead to a disastrous day." he had chuckled, then had looked back to see Soredell's eyes widening to the gift presented to him, then trying to play it off cool, he chuckled and said to him "Its no problem, let me know if you need anymore equipment that you may need. I have the spare col I can hand off." he had said. Without a moments notice, before they had knew it... they were on floor 6, lookin' for a sloth. He had looked around, it had been a while since he had been on this floor... matter of fact, its kind of refreshing to see a floor like this. He had his sword sheathed at all times at the moment as he knew that the party wouldn't go out and immediately fighting mobs for the day before finding any familiars.

@Soredell

[Soredell 0]

Soredell silently follows @Beatbox and @Teion as the trio journeys from Teion's place to the city of Armadillo, stepping into the warp gate and teleporting straight to the warp gate on the 6th floor in a flash of light. He steps out and continues to follow the trio. At least he knows now what the group will be looking out for, a sloth familiar for Teion. As to why she would choose a sloth of all potential candidates for familiars, he could not surmise, but it was her choice after all, and he didn't have any right to critique her choice, out loud at least. As the trio walks, he keeps his hand on the pommel of his katana, in the event that they do have to fight mobs, although that situation seems unlikely. Looking around the forest as they walk, he sees a variety of jungle dwelling mobs, but nothing that poses a threat to him. As they walk, he glances up, and spots a flying creature of some sort. It hovers long enough for him to identify it, not using the system, but from a distant memory. 'A psuedo-dragon...' He thinks to himself. He remembers the term from is time playing D&D. The creature soon flies off, Soredell staring at the spot where he last saw it for a moment, before continuing his walk.

[Teion 0]

Teion almost gave a pout at Beatbox's words, but held back as they started out into the jungle. The three players distanced themselves from the main city at a steady pace. As the woman continued walking, silence began to hang over the group, with only the sounds of the environment and their own footsteps against the foliage. 'If I did my research right, this would be the most likely place to find them...' She thought with a couple of light taps to her chin. The blacksmith turned her head to address the blonde. "I'm surprised you found Ocarina here, though. I wouldn't think foxes would be native to a jungle like this..." Her eyebrows narrowed slightly while her attention turned back forward. Hearing her own words, the woman was beginning to doubt that her reasoning would hold up. For all she new about this game, she was just as likely to find a sloth in a tundra as in a jungle.

@Beatbox

((idk if you guys wanna do some combat or somethin'. Feel free to start some shenanigans, we got another 15 posts to go))

[Beatbox 0]

They had traveled far into the jungle looking for what he assumes a sloth but he had looked around and he could have sworn that Sloths had been here before, but who knows maybe they have just simply moved somewhere else, or had been slain by players... who knows at this point. Beatbox had looked back to Teion regarding her comment that she was surprised to hear that he had found his current familiar Ocarina here. "Wwwweeeelll... lets be all real here, this game isn't as you would say... realistic, but I would assume that there are sightings of actual foxes in actual jungles out in the real world, however I am just not aware. I may be a man of information, but I am not very informative about the world outside ours at the moment, it's all escaped me at this point. It's kinda hard to remember some things now that years and months have passed in this game." he had said as he looked forward with a dull and blank emotion, kind of almost like he's depressed that he's having fading information about the world outside the games.

@Soredell - Lack of muse, but back to postin'

[Soredell 0]

Soredell isn't keeping track of distances or time that's elapsed since they left the city and begun searching the forest. But he can guess that by now, they're deep into the jungle, a sizable distance away from the town, and everyone else. It couldn't have been too long since they left right? Right? In the middle of his thought, he does notice the silence that has fallen over the group, but he doesn't say or do anything to break the silence. Thankfully he doesn't have to. The two get into a discussion about foxes being found in forests. From whatever external information he knew about the subject, he didn't remember there being foxes in jungles. Woods and mountainous areas perhaps, but nothing about forests. That was how it works, in the real world at least. But here the tables are turned and everything they knew is wrong. If Kayaba was up to it, or drunk, he could have polar bears on floor 5 or 9, the hotter levels on the lower floors. He was the 'god' of this world, and he could do what he wanted. "As far as I know, foxes don't inhabit 'jungles' per say, only really in woods and mountains. But its not like we have control over what flora and fauna goes where." he says, continuing to walk, looking out for anything.

[Teion 0]

"Mmm," Teion mumbled in response. The woman opened her inventory with a few quick motions, summoning a blue ribbon that appeared in her hand after tapping on its icon. She reached both hands behind her neck and used the vanity item to tie her hair into a low ponytail. Although the Survival skill provided a good buffer against environmental effects, it didn't negate the weather. 'I hate the humidity.' She left her complaints to her thoughts.

As they continued walking, there were quite a few small animals inhabiting the floor. Teion spotted several varieties of birds and lizards, the majority of which were weak and passive. Regular monsters wandered around in the distance as well, but as the group hadn't directly crossed paths with any red creatures, they didn't bother getting into any fights just yet. "Hmmm..." She mused again, her eyes trailing across the various wildlife she could see. "Do you know what kind of rules the game has on what type of monsters you can tame?" She continued facing forward when she spoke, not specifically addressing one player over the other. As with other MMOs, she assumed the game classified each monster as either tameable or not. The woman had seen only a few familiars, but they had varied from a fox to a little dragon.

[Beatbox 0]

OOC - Jesus christ Soredell, I am sorry for waiting too long to post on this thread, i'll be able to finish this up.

Beatbox had known that Foxes don't really inhabit jungle environment's in the real world after thinking it over for a bit "Well if it's anything to really take home after playing this game, in all honesty is that this isn't what you say... realistic." he chuckled for a bit before looking back to Thea in which she had asked what the limitations were for familiars. With a smile Beatbox had looked back to her and said "Well this game has a plethora of familiars you can tame, the only ones I have heard is one's that take a humanoid structure, except for monkeys, pixies around that form I assume." He had looked around for a bit, he thought in his mind that he could find a dungeon real quickly in between finding the familiar she needs. However Beatbox was unsuccessful. With a grin he had shook his head plastering a smile as he was spending time with Thea to say the least today.

@Soredell

ID: 84244 - LD: 12 [Nope.]