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[PP-F1] It's hard to grow without some help <<Pinball and Hestia>>


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Monizo took a deep breath as he sat up in the grass outside of the town of beginnings. He knew he was wasting time, but he was kind of nervous to do quests by himself, and he hadn’t seen Minick in quite a while. I got this new armor, I shouldn’t be acting like such a baby. I also don’t want to die either though. His normal method of playing games wasn’t so… tender. It seemed that the raised stakes had done quite a bit to mellow his intensity, maybe a little bit too much.  He had made the decision to start putting his effort towards leveling up and making a difference, but it was an awkward thing to balance. On one hand, he hated being useless, and he natural tendency was to push himself as hard as possible to accomplish his goals. On the other hand, he also had a natural tendency to avoid death as best as possible.

I should just go for it right? Yeah I’m gonna do it.” He stood up, stretched his arms over his head and made his way towards the quest board. The Town of Beginnings was large, so it took him quite a while to get to the board. On his way there he checked his inventory to make sure he didn’t need to stop and pick anything up, which was mostly a joke because he owned basically nothing. His armor was already equipped, he could feel the weight of his spear on his back, and his potions had not gone anywhere. It made him a little sad actually, his list of possessions was so short. This is why you need to do quests, how are you supposed to get anything more?

Shaking his head, he noticed the quest board coming into view. After a few minutes of skimming through the requests he located one that was asking for players to retrieve medicine from a ‘Nepent variant’. This looks tough, but I bet I could do it, especially if I could find someone to party up with me. Selecting the quest, he accepted the notification when it appeared in front of him. Now all he had to do was either find someone to go with him to fight the Nepent, or go on his own and try not to make any mistakes.

@Hestia @Pinball

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I walk through the town of beginnings wearing just a casual blue jacket, grey shirt, and long black pants. At my side being a familiar the size of a very large dog with hazel eyes. The lion having fur as pure white as the snow, and having wings as black as the night. The wings being fit to allow the lion flight. I continue forward looking through the town with my blue colored eyes as my black hair moves in the breeze of the wind. With the black hair having silver streaks through it. I glance at all the players curiously seeing the people walk about as i smile rather happily. Glad that everyone seems to be doing alright for the most part this day. Most just seeming to enjoy the weather that is all around which is rather nice since that means not many are in need of help on this floor. I prepare myself to leave the floor till i spot a player at the quest board as i then walk over towards the player with a curious look. So then why are you here today? I ask the person curiously.

@Pinball

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Pinball was in the Town of Beginnings again. He wasn't sure what kept bringing him back here. Was it the nostalgia? Was it the sorrow that had been sewn here? Was it to feel better about his higher level, among the noobies of the First Floor? He doubted the latter, but the idea still sat uncomfortably in his stomach. As he walked through the streets aimlessly, his spear used as a walking stick, he noticed two players by the quest board. A girl and a boy, though he couldn't make out their age nor the fine details of their appearences from this distance. One thing was clear, though; the girl was on a much higher level than the boy she was talking to. Men outnumbered women in this game, and to see such a higher leveled woman talking to an under-leveled man... he had his suspicions, as bad as that made him feel. He took a few steps closer, then stopped, leaning on his spear. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out what they were saying from quite a bit away. Pinball feared the worst. He had had a few encounters with people who used their appearences to gain an advantage, and he didn't like it one bit. 

This is a little sus, isn't ithe realized suddenly. He shot up with a start... dropping his spear. The weapon hit the ground with a loud smack. "Damn it, damn it, damn it," he repeated over and over. He snatched the weapon from the ground, waving at the two and doing a little spin. No alleys, he thought desperately. Act like you were just going on your merry way. Your fault for being such a crappy person and stalking them, damn it. Walk away. 

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Startled by the sudden appearance of the girl, Monizo took a half step back and turned towards her. I err uhm, I was just accepting a quest. He stammered, a little taken aback. The girl was a few inches shorter than Monizo, with black hair that seemed to have silver streaks in it. She was wearing a blue jacket that complimented her brilliant blue eyes, a grey shirt, and some black pants. These were things that Monizo had noticed as soon as he heard the girl speak to him. Although there was no way to know someone’s strength without being in a party with them, there was something about the girl that made him feel like she was a fair bit stronger than him. To be completely honest, I was trying to figure out if I should give it a go solo or try to find someone to party up with. It couldn’t hurt let her know what he was thinking, the worst possibility was that she wouldn’t offer to help him.

Well actually, the worst possibility was that she was trying to find weak players to PK outside of town. So, there was some very serious risk, but he didn’t like to think the worst of people. As these thoughts were running through his head, Monizo heard the clanging of something metal from a little way away. Looking away from the girl, he saw a boy with dark black hair snatching a spear from the ground before waving to Monizo and the girl before spinning around and looking for a way to flee. Err, do you know him? 

@Hestia

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I chuckle a little bit at the little stammering as i look up at you and gives a small pat on the arm. Don't worry i'm not some big monster that is going to hurt you. The name is Hestia. Tank of the Holy Dragon Alliance. I say with a cheerful and happy smile. Also a little joke title i give to myself that is not official is the Shield, and guiding hand of players. Since i patrol the floors for players like you who could be in need of some help with questing. I say happily not stating my reason which is a rather simple one. At hearing a clanging though i turn to see a boy as i glance at my familiar who nods as i whistle. With that the lion is chasing after the boy. Come on lets see what is up with that kid. I don't want him causing trouble for others if he is spying on others for some reason. I say with concern at that as i walk over towards where my familiar is trying to slowly force the boy back to where he was spying so i can just grab him to get the kid to talk.

@Pinball

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"Jesus Christ!" Pinball turned tail and bolted. There was a lion chasing him now. Pinball ran through the streets, zigzagging from door to door of the buildings that dotted the Town of Beginnings. The two players were still by the messenger board, but what he took to be the girl's familiar was right behind him, and gaining fast. Wait, it's a safe zone, he realized. He would have stopped right then, if he hadn't seen the opened door. With a rather audible smack, Pinball ran head first into the heavy oak door. Pinball fell backwards, a purple screen popping up in front of the door that read "Immortal Object". A rather startled NPC gasped, then turned around and went back inside. His hands immediatly went to his hands out of instinct, though pain wasn't a thing in SAO and his health wouldn't be effected in town. He opened his eyes to see the girl's lion above him. "Oh." He had just made things worse by running. Now he really looked suspicious. God damn it.

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Holy dragon Alliance, Monizo had heard of the guild before but he didn’t know much about them. It was always intriguing to see the roles that people chose for themselves. Inside the system of a game, any person of any size could take on any role. Shields typically attracted the hate of enemies because they had a higher capacity to mitigate damage, so the high damage members of the party could attack without being impeded. Monizo had never been very interested in the role, but he knew they were crucial to any party. Well Hestia, my name is Monizo. It’s nice to meet you. Their introductions were put on hold when Hestia sent her lion familiar chasing after the boy who had appeared to be spying on them.

After following the familiar a little way, they finally caught up to the boy. He was laying on his back looking up at Hestia’s familiar. A lion with wings was certainly a terrifying sight, even if they were inside a safe zone. Although his lurking had been kind of suspicious, he didn’t seem like someone who had been caught doing something bad, more like someone who had been caught doing something embarrassing. If lurking around people is a habit of yours, it might be best if you get a little bit better at it bud, he suggested. Hestia seemed intent on interrogating the black-haired boy, and Monizo was perfectly content letting her do whatever she wanted.

@Hestia

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It's nice to meet you Monizo. I say kindly with a smile as i walk to where my familiar managed to chase the black haired boy and sees him on the ground in front of a house. I shake my head and walks over and grips his arm, and then pulls him upwards as i then look in his eye with a calm, and collected gaze. Why not say your name, and why you decided spying on us was a good idea. To make doing that a bit more comfortable for you though my name is Hestia a tank styled build for the Holy Dragon Alliance, and the lion that chased you is Kuro my familiar. I tell the black haired boy as i keep my grip on his arm a iron tight one not wanting this player to escape if their intentions for trying to sneak up on people were of ill will, or some sort of setup for a player kill.Having heard recently of some player killing guilds starting to pop up with one being Titan's hand, so it is better safe then sorry to make sure such members are known to the public.

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Pinball scrambled backwards, his spear dragged along with him. So he had been right; she was with the Holy Dragon Alliance, so she was most definitely quite powerful. A tank at that, too. Pinball, going after a damage oriented build, would have a hard time getting past her (if it even got to that). However, she gave Pinball an out. "I- I wasn't stalking!" He pushed himself up, glancing at the white lion that had chased him. For a moment he wondered about how Mars' liger would act around it, but he shook himself out of it. "I'm Pinball. I'm with a guild, too - Guardians of the New Dawn." He brushed off his pants, picked up his spear, and straightened out his clothes. He didn't want to cast his guild in a bad light. Pinball's face was bright red, though those who were familiar with the teenager knew that it was a common thing that happened. He was about to say something else, but he bit his lip, too nervous to form the words. 

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He watched as Hestia grabbed the boys arm and pulled him up, so he was standing. She stated her titles, presumably to let him know that he was outmatched? Ahh so the lions name was Kuro. Monizo was interested in getting a familiar, but he knew that it would be a long time before he was strong enough to tame any type of beast. The boy stuttered a little nervously that he wasn’t stalking before stating that his name was Pinball and that he was with the Guardians of the New Dawn. Another guild that Monizo was fairly certain that he had heard of before. The boy seemed to be restraining himself from speaking anymore.

This whole situation was new to Monizo, so he wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it. In fact, he felt a little bit awkward. Well, err, I’m Monizo and I am not a part of a guild. He suddenly felt painfully aware of the fact that these players were far superior to him, which led to a feeling of anxiety at the thought of trying to catch up to them in level.

@Hestia

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Guardians?....Ohhhh you're that kid from the christmas party. I say remembering having seen you when that guild hosted that event. Well okay nice to meet you officially then Pinball, but seriously don't watch people from afar i thought you could've been with a PKer guild. I say as i pat him on the shoulder as i then turn to Monizo with a slight chuckle. Sorry about that Monizo i didn't mean to make you feel any awkward about these sort of things, but i do make it my business to fulfill my goal in Aincrad and my guild's purpose in Aincrad. To be for the protection of the people within this game. Which means trying to stop any suspicious activity, and helping out those we can. So then you needed help with a quest if you want to do so i could go along with you to help you out during that. I can protect you easily with anything. I say happily and cheerfully as Kuro leaves Pinball alone now as he lays by my feet.

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Pinball laughed nervously, his face still quite red. "Y-yeah, yeah, kid from the christmas party. The eggnog and stuff." He remembered he didn't actually do the eggnog thing, and shook his head, his gaze dropping to the ground. His hands swung at his side anxiously. The woman seemed very confident in her ability to protect the player, and she seemed to oppose player killings (though who didn't?). He wondered who she would react to him telling her a member of their guild was actually a killer herself. He had found out about it not too long ago, though he hadn't told anyone about it. Pinball's guild was against PKers as well, and he wasn't sure if even Stryder himself had been told about it. He shook his head again, looking even more uncomfortable. He was in a dysfunctional guild, to be sure. "Hey, Hestia," he asked carefully, his words slow and drawn out, "what level are you?

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It seemed that Hestia had met Pinball before, at a Christmas party? Apparently Monizo had missed out on a lot more than he even knew about. She expressed her desire to protect people from PKer guilds and any other generally suspicious activity. He was quite intrigued by her offer to accompany him on his quest, yeah that would be awesome, I think it would be pretty foolish to deny your help. I believe the quest stated that I need to go to the ‘Field of Bosses’ and fight Nepents until a Variant Nepent appears. Basically I have to kill them until they drop the item that is needed to complete the quest. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve probably done it before. He laughed to himself, feeling pretty confident that she had probably already done every quest that was available on the first floor.

Monizo found himself feeling equally curious about Hestia’s level whenever Pinball asked her. He had such a limited amount of experience in interacting with players that he wasn’t sure if it was normal to ask people to tell you their level or not.

@Hestia

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I mean yeah there was eggnog their. Didn't have any myself though. I say with a small shrug as i look at the boy, and then towards monizo with a smile. Yeah i've taken the quest before once, but i haven't found anyone to take it again with which is surprising. You couldn't believe how many times i've accompanied people on the first lesson quest, or second. I say in a joking tone with a chuckle escaping my lips. But yeah those nepents if you're going to be fighting them let me do you a favor and give you this to help you out. I say as i open up my menu and then inventory as i take out a golden cloak with the depiction of a ram in scarlet red on the back as i hand it to the player. I'm going to let you borrow this for the quest since i know finding things can be a huge pain. Especially when it comes to killing things to do so. I say as i hand over the item. When asked my level i just shrug and be honest. level 41 is what i am at. Can't do much damage in all honesty, but i can take a hit rather easily and shrug it off like you did nothing to me. I say just being honest with the player known as Pinball about how i am set as a player.

@Pinball

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The fisherman bit his lip, concerned. Level 41his mind echoed. He was only half that. Stryder, the highest leveled player in their guild, was only level 29. The two other leaders of the New Dawn were lower than that still. Hei was level 25, and Eatos was only level 18. Pinball himself was level 22 - making him the strongest member of the Guardians, excluding the leaders. If Hestia was a tank build, there was no way he'd be able to get past her. Even with freeze, he thought nervously. However, no matter who she claimed to be, Pinball didn't feel that it was safe to let her and Monizo go off by themselves. He knew his suspicious were probably unwarranted, but he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he let that possibility become a reality, however slim the chances of it happening are. Mustering up his courage, the timid teenager spoke. "H-hey, could I come with you guys? I've done it before, too. It was hell. If you can't deal too much damage, then I can help with that." He smacked the end of his spear on the cobblestone. "I can wipe about four of 'em out with a single attack... if I hit them.

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((I don’t know the stats for the cloak so I’m assuming it has loot die enhancements? Also, I haven’t actually fought anything yet so I’m not exactly sure how to begin the fighting part.))

Level 41, holy crap. I had no idea she was that strong. He was suddenly extremely pleased that the girl had decided to show interest in helping him. To his best knowledge, he had never met anyone of such a high level.

Monizo is clearly surprised when Hestia begins searching through her inventory and pulls out the golden cloak with the scarlet ram on the back. He adds it to his inventory and equips it over his light armor, It clearly has enhancements that increase the player ability to find loot in drops. Oh wow, thank you so much. I’ve been meaning to save up some col to get a few items that help with things like this, It’s just difficult to do when I haven’t been clearing a ton of quests.

Pinball seemed to recover from his embarrassment fairly quickly, he even asked if he could come along with them on the quest. Monizo didn’t have any reason to tell the boy no, and he seemed to be fairly confident in his ability to handle the monsters. I mean, I don’t mind if you tag along. Just let me take a shot at them too. I’ve been wanting to put my new weapon and armor to use. He looked at Hestia and shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t think Pinball would be able to do anything with her around anyway. I guess we should go ahead and head to the fields right? With that they were off, Monizo couldn’t help but feel excitement welling up as they got closer to the fields.

@Hestia

Edited by Monizo
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I don't mind you coming along Pinball more help means that we're safer. So come on lets get going it should be fairly easy to get this quest done with the three of us tackling this together. I say with a smile on my face as i look towards the other two.Also their is no need to thank me i'm just doing what is right Monizo. I say towards the player with a smile as i pat him gently on the shoulder as i then nod my head as i make my way towards where the quest should be. Which is in another town where it begins, and then into the forest nearby it to kill the nepents. Finding the group being rather interesting considering the people along with them. A person that seems to be a awkward mess, but seems capable with handling himself, and a newer player that seems to understand at least some things of how things go which is nice. Strange and not what i am use to but definitely a interesting change of pace.

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He nodded. A bit of a sigh escaped him, and he looked immensely relieved. "Thank you," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact. He knew he was coming off as shady to be sure, but Hestia knew him and his guild, and she seemed to be a very helpful person. Maybe his worries were unfounded. He shook his head, deep in thought. Even if he didn't expect her to be the type to do something terrible, he couldn't judge a book by its cover. There was always a chance, no matter how slim, that she would try to do something to the man, and that wasn't something he'd be able to handle. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance, but if she tried something, and he froze her... it'd give them time to run away. It wasn't as if she'd be able to keep up with them in such heavy armor. Pinball came to full awareness once again, and realized he had been biting the nail on his thumb. Hoping nobody was looking, he shoved the hand in his pocket, leaning against his spear. 

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Monizo grinned as they traveled down the path leading to the small village requesting help. He was rather excited to have people to travel with, and it was always nice to know that the people he was with were fully capable of keeping him alive. He would have felt bad if it were something more challenging, that would cause them to risk their lives trying to keep him alive, but he knew the mobs associated with this quest would pose them no issues. The only thing he really worried about was humiliating himself. The limitations to level one players such as himself were quite demanding, the stamina required to perform a single weapon art would force him to skip a turn in battle rotation. As his mind traveled down this path of thoughts, he realizes that he didn’t even know how battle rotations worked. What the heck am I doing out here. How did I let myself become so useless!

This was the state of his mind as the small town came into their view. So, how did you both decide upon your play style? I mean, being a shield sounds awesome, but do you ever get bored by it? I always imagined it would be more fun to try to do as much damage as possible. Of course, every party probably needs a diverse set of skills so they can handle each unique scenario. He realized he was kind of rambling and let his words trail off. They had made it to the small town at last. Do we need to speak to someone here or can we just head straight to the fields?

@Hestia

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I smile very happily hearing the question of how i came to choose what i want. The smile being from knowing that player is at least thinking and knowing that there is usually a reason to choose which one does. I chose to be a tank because as i said it is the path of being a shield. To be that sturdy wall to help players who get behind it to rise up to be stronger. To help them reach their goals, and to be the supportive figure making sure everyone can stay alive and safe. Since i know i'll do my best to not allow anyone to get hurt. Furthermore, i chose the path of a tank since it has been what i did my entire life. Helping out other people to the best of my ability and supporting them and raising them to make sure they're safe and happy. I say to the two players with me with a bit of a sad smile appearing on my face as i say that. Also being a tank is never boring since i know i am protecting the ones i care for with every fiber of my being, and i am fine with playing the support since my full build you could call it is that of a paladin. Healing and tanking being my business. I say with a smile on my face.

When we arrive at the town i nod my head towards Monizo and leads him over towards a home that looks to be very spacious, and having lots of blankets, pillows laid out along the floors with people laying in those spots. This being seen if you look through the window. This is where you begin the quest from getting it from this NPC who is nursing these people who are afflicted with the disease the quest mentions. That is why you need to kill the Nepent Variant since it can cure the disease these people have. I inform Monizo.

@Pinball

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