Zero

The young man continued to smile as listened to Crimsa, rarely did someone manage to speak to him for a decent amount of time without irritating him to some extent. His eyes followed her drink as she quickly downed it and his lips formed a smile as she scold him for self-loathing. He slightly laughed when he listened to her disregard his instability and scratched his head slightly embarrassed at how willing she seemed to side with him. Though he agreed that the people who left without hearing the whole story were idiots and fools, people jumped the gun too much. "You're right, people like that aren't worth my time. People like you on the other hand." The platinum haired boy smiled, the alcohol seemed to have affected both of them though Crimsa seemed more influenced than himself.

"Our past is what makes us who we currently are but doesn't control who we are to become? I can get behind that sort of thought." He found himself feeling less awkward with each passing moment, her accepting his bold advance only increasing his confidence. His index finger traced over the bar as he listened to her suddenly stopping when she ordered him and began to glare rather intensely. He turned bright red like before from the bluntness of her demand and quickly paid the bartender for their drinks. It was unusual for him to be blunt in those sorts of situations, however the confidence he had just gained thanks to Crimsa allowed him to move off from his chair. "I don't have a home since I tend to move around a lot, but I know an inn we can go to." He gripped the scarlet haired woman's hand and smiled at her. "I'm still pretty inexperienced, so please try not to be disappointed if I don't meet your expectations." He gently pulled her arm so her body would turn towards him and picked her up by her legs, raising her against his back. "I noticed the drink hit you hard so let me spoil you a little and carry you there."

Zero looked forward as he walked out of the tavern and up the stairs, holding her tightly. The outside air was still somewhat hot since the sun had not set just yet, the young man confidently walking towards a building built similarly to the bar. "You could never be a bother you know that right? You managed to talk to me this long without ever irritating or annoying me, instead you actually made me laugh and act boldly. Talk about letting myself get played with..." He glanced back at her and gave her a sincere smile, it felt strange for his usually serious or uncaring expression to change so radically. "I'm not mad about that, though... It's embarrassing to admit this, but I think I'm enjoying being toyed by you Crimsa-nee."

The platinum haired boy could not help but smile at the woman's expression when she drank from her glass. Her reaction to the drink's intensity was perfect and the way she enjoyed it was even better. "I drink here almost every day so I tend to know what drinks are best for certain moments." He glanced as two glasses were placed in front of him, now listening to Crimsa speak. He quietly grabbed one of the glasses and began to slowly drink from it, listening closely to the scarlet haired woman's words. He almost laughed when she mentioned thinking he was one of the people on the Front Lines who thought themselves some sort of hero and slightly shook his head. "No, I'm no hero. I used to fight alongside individuals who thought they were heroes, but me? Nah, I'm just a glorified killer. My talent makes me a good fighter, but a terrible human being." He stared at his reflection in the liquor and made a half-smile with his eyes slightly closed. "My title is Crimson Rain after all." The uttering of the name made some of the few players at the tavern to glance over at them, followed by their quick leave causing the tavern to become desolate. The young man finished up the first glass and let out a light sigh, hearing Crimsa explain herself to him.

"I won't judge you, in fact I daresay I admire that about you." His mind was now almost at complete ease from the drinking, his hand grabbing the second glass. He was about to drink from the glass when he felt the sudden cushion in her hand and blushed again like before, his current self was alright with physical contact but even that kind was still too much. "See? This is why I said I admire this about you. You've managed to completely throw me off, forcing me to numb my mind with booze so I can somewhat think straight." His hand felt Crimsa's chest for a brief second before shyly pulling back. "You're really intriguing... You know how to rile me up so easily it's embarrassing for me..." He admitted as he also leaned on the bar, quickly downing his drink and placing the glass down. "Alright, a deal's a deal... You notice how everyone banished when I uttered my title? It's 'cause I'm somewhat known on this floor for having a bad temper with people, people piss me off. They're annoying, pains that leave you behind... Except for a few individuals that is..." He shyly glanced at the bar then back at Crimsa. "I'm a bit of a violent beast, but there times when I find someone who can tame me and make my pain go away. I tend to look around for people like that a lot, lately it's been difficult though..." At this point the alcohol had done its job and allowed him to be more blunt and forward; he carefully leaned into her ear and gently whispered. "That means you by the way, I have a liking for big sister types..." He backed away slightly and scratched the surface of the bar trying not to meet her eyes, unsure of how she would take what he had just said.

What was with this woman and her consistent flirting. His mind could not maintain its calm as he observed her, her hand brushing the long strands of red hair to remove any sand from them. His eyes looked over the scarlet stream of hair, his mind wondered if her real hair was a long and fair looking as it was in the game. He moved his gaze from her hair over her hand then finally to her own eyes; the young man quickly turned to look at the bar's table when he felt he had been staring for too long. Crimsa's tease about his order made his alarming blush to continue and caused him to shake his head slightly. "I-I didn't mean it like that... I ordered the same thing out of instinct I guess..." He closed his eyes and shivered slightly when she whispered into his ear, it had been too long since honeyed words had been uttered into his ears the way this woman was doing. "Don't tease me so much Crimsa..." He accidentally muttered somewhat childishly, removing his coat and staying in his black and white shirt.

He leaned on the bar slightly when he listened to the woman's question. He could not help but smile slightly, amused someone still wanted to know stuff about him. "My story...? I guess you could say my story's one of misfortune to some extent. Whether it was in friendship, family or lovers, not much else to say since it's been the same in here." He glanced at the drinks that were placed in front of them and quickly picked up his, chugging half of it down without a second thought. "I'm a bit of a loner I guess, which is why I spend a lot of time here on floor 5. This floor is my territory in a way." His hands gripped the large glass tightly as he stared at its intoxicating contents before looking at Crimsa. He quickly drank what was left of his glass and immediately ordered two more, both him of course. "What about you? Mind if I ask a bit about you Crimsa? I'll be honest and say that normally people don't catch me off guard like you did, which I find...interesting. Tell a bit about yourself and I'll reveal a little more about me." He smiled slightly, the alcohol already kicking in and allowing Zero to relax as he always did when in a semi-drunken state.

Physical contact really hit him hard, specially with how smooth her skin felt. The young man tried to not react to it badly, but once again Crimsa managed to throw him off guard. C-cute? She called me cute...? He mentally repeated the question again and again, finding himself walking towards the tavern. A drink will do me good... I need to ease my mind a- His train of thought lost itself when he overheard her commentary on his physique, this caused his blush to persist and his pace to speed up slightly. He turned back to her when she mentioned not having any Col on her person and sighed slightly. "D-don't worry about it... I-it's my treat, drink as much as you like..."

He quietly walked the rest of the way, opening the door for her and sitting down at the bar. His hand called over the bartender and he immediately asked for two servings of their strongest liquor. "Hope you're a heavy drinker, because I kind of am..." He admitted somewhat shyly and glanced at her through the corner of his eye. It still seemed hard to believe that someone could have such a ridiculously sensual body, them he remembered someone that was quite similar to Crimsa and began to calm down realizing it was not that strange.

1 hour ago, Hataki said:

Name: Leather Jack of Retribution
Your Profession: Tailor
Your Rank: Rank 2
ID: #52289
Roll: 11
Item Type: Light Armor
Tier: Tier 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 Damage Mitigation; +1 Thorns
Description: An intricately designed leather jack. A thin layer of rugged chain-mail is sandwiched between two layers of thick leather. Hence, it not only protects the user from damage, but also inflicts damage on those who dares to attack them.

Approved

Nothing prepared Zero for what was before him, it was beyond his comprehension. His usually collected thoughts now ran amok, unable to keep themselves in check, and his usually composed appearance was now speaking volumes of how he felt. Normally, even under his current condition, he would quickly recover from the shock and put himself back together though that was under a normal state of shock. But this person, this woman in front of me keeps surprising me more and more... I didn't think it possible for someone to throw me off so much... He blinked with a surprised expression as she continued to act more and more boldly. He cleared his throat once she complained about the floor's weather, his floor's weather.

He was bright red when she began to essentially flirt with the young man. If his face became any more red one would think he was ill with a fever or if he were a cartoon character fumes would be coming out him. He stuttered incomprehensibly for a moment before regaining his composure and taking a deep breath, slowly letting it out. He slightly bowed when she introduce herself and quickly straightened himself, glancing away to avoid staring any longer then he already had. "M-my name is Zero... A s-sublime pleasure to meet you, Crimsa..." He could feel his face was still red as the early morning, but pretended not to notice, and pointed at a set of stairs leading into the sand. "As for a place to cool off, that tavern's a place we can go to..."

An average, dull day. That's what the platinum haired young man thought the day was going to be like, just another day of doing resting and most likely drinking. He stood quietly as he was in deep though, forgetting his surroundings, and did not take notice of the person walking up behind him. At first he did not feel the gentle taps on his shoulder, but did hear the person's voice. He blinked a few times before turning to the person, immediately noticing the light blush on her face and her bust. S-she's talking to me? He glanced around thinking she was referring to someone else, realizing that no one else was nearby and looking back at her. "A-are you talking to me Miss?"

His eyes tried to stay evenly on hers but could not help straying down to her blush, followed by her lips and finally her figure. He immediately forced himself to look back up and at her eyes. What's with her ridiculous bust, wait our measurements in here are our measurements in real life. In other words, that means this person His eyes found themselves staring at her chest again, his blush becoming more intense by the second. Looks like this in real life!? I knew women came in all shapes and sizes, but this is just... He blinked a few times as he continued to stare at her chest. "...insane..."

Zero looked at the failure of a craft Sinful held in his hands, but did not react to it badly. No, instead he slightly laughed and nodded in agreement. "That's a fine failure alright." He waved at the NPC as he opened the door and moved off from the wall. His feet quickly turned on their heels and quickly moved him out of the shop. "Well now that you got the basics down all you have to do is open a shop. Once you do that you can start making more things, though you may have a little trouble at first since there's a lot of Tailors around. So you might want to level up that Tailor fast." He glanced at the time on his HUD then back at the person in front of him. "So listen, I have to be going to take care of some business. I can see that you're done with your whole learning how your profession works so I'll be going before I'm late and I'll see you when I see you. Best of luck." He pulled up his coats hood and ran off, waving back at the boy.

-Zero has left the thread-

The NPC smiled as she witnessed the boy's interest grow and at how much he was enjoying the lesson. She grabbed the leather bracers once she was sure he had looked at them enough and gently pried them from his hands. " Now that you've got a feeling for how it should looked and be modeled, we can move on to the final lesson. She placed the leather bracers aside on the table and placed her hands back down on her lap. "When creating something always be sure to have in mind what it's suppose to be used for. In other words, be sure that it's purpose and appearance match well with one another. Though your client's tastes will also shape that in some ways, remember to make sure it has your special touch. She stood up from her chair and grabbed a sowing kit from the table, handing it over to him with a smile. "You have your own but consider this a badge of acknowledgement."

Zero quietly woke himself up, moving off from the counter, and stretched his back. "Finishing up, huh? Hope you learned something of use from the lady." He slipped his hands into his pockets and moved over to the door, leaning against the wall beside it. "Take your time to finish up, I'm in no rush."

THREAD COMPLETE

GM ROLL:

ID# 51418 LD: 12

Freya looked at the stands as she passed by, watching the merry faces and hearing the joyous laughs of everyone attending the festival. She glanced at the fox masked she had won earlier and slipped it on, stopping at a shop serving what seemed to a drink she had not tasted in a long time. “Is that sake…” She muttered to herself quietly and grabbed a cup, sipping it down and finding its taste to truly be something she had long missed. The young woman grabbed a bottle of the drink and nuzzled it against her face like a mother would do with her child. “It is sake, it’s been too long since we last met my old friend. I missed you so much. I remember when I’d sneak some of the bottles we had stored away and finished them on my own when I pulled all-nighters while playing Royal Road and when I first got into playing The World.” She cheered as she repeatedly kissed the bottle, quickly asking the stall owner if she could take the bottle with her. Her face lit up happily when the vendor allowed her to take the bottle, offering her a second, and swiftly ran off with two full bottles in tow.

“Ah sake, you would never betray me. I missed you so much while being stuck in here. I wonder if cooks could recreate you. Oh who cares, we can make it last a while since that man was generous enough to give me two bottles.” She ran across the crowds pushing and shoving all that got in her way as she headed for the exit, taking the top off from one of the two bottles. She immediately pulled the bottle to her lips and walked happily when she spotted a man struggling to carry fireworks, one of them falling off from without his notice. Freya carefully walked up to the object, putting away the second bottle in her inventory, and picked it up, contemplating whether to return it or not. She groaned realizing she could get something out of returning it and ran after the man. “Excuse me, sir. I believe you dropped this.” A charming smiled carving itself across her face as she held the roman candle up to the man.

The man blinked realizing what was being held out to him and looked at the young lady. He smiled slightly embarrassed and shook his head. “You keep young lady, as a thank you for your honesty. Plus I’m sure you can give that far better use than myself.” He chuckled as he continued on his way, leaving the young woman to keep the small firework.

She blinked a few times as the man with the fireworks walked away before glancing at her hand and holding the roman candle tightly in her grasp. She felt a little irritated at first but quickly calmed herself and sighed. “Guess it’s alright, this and his compliment are enough to sate my rage. Plus I always have you don’t I sake?” She smiled at the bottle, putting away the firework, and continued to stroll by the stand set up just a bit outside the settlement in search of anything else she could take with her. Soon her eyes spotted what seemed to be a cherry blossom tree in the distance, something she had not noticed earlier, and rushed towards it.

~Firework Acquired~

"Correct." The NPC nodded at hearing his answer and placed the leather aside. She waited until he had sat back down and placed her hands on her lap. "Now, when you're creating something you need to be mindful of what you wish to make it out of. The texture of the material if it's leather, cloth or fur will be different, always be mindful of what your customer requests. That was your second lesson." She grabbed a needle and a few more pieces of leather, quickly creating small leather bracers. "Your final lesson shall be inspecting these leather bracers, recognize the stitching patterns and the delicate touch required to create them. Never rush yourself when creating your art, patience is just as important as skill. As well as concentration, so no more running off." She smiled and held the leather bracers out to Sinful so he could look at them closely.

Zero laid his head on the counter as he watched the two and closed his eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap, kiddo. Try and not let this chance pass you by." He warned the guy and sighed, leaning against the counter completely.

Zero groaned as he placed his hand against his own face and shook his head slowly. He leaned against the counter and glanced at the NPC. "I assure you he'll be a good student, he's just overly generous... Please try to ignore that minor detail about him." He glanced at Sinful and covered his face again when he returned shirtless. "You're a real handful, you know that kiddo?"

"No worries, it's fine. Now let's start with your first lesson." The NPC turned to the table and picked up a sowing needle, holding it in front of the boy. "First we need to talk about the tool of our trade, needles. They aren't difficult to use once you get the feel of how they work, the difficulty is making sure the stitching comes out adequately and doesn't have any errors in them. If you can get a good blacksmith to make you a special one they can increase your odds of making a masterpiece when crafting." She placed the needle aside and picked up a piece of leather from the table. "Now, can you tell me what this is?"

He sighed when he realized the kid had almost actually given away his clothes and shook his head. "You're really something. Anyway, the shops here a plenty and they're all NPC owned so any one of them can train you." He scratched his head and groaned annoyed at the guy's apology. "Don't mention it kid. Now let's go into this shop and see if we can get the owner to take you off my hands." He gripped Sinful by his collar like before and dragged him into the shop. "Oi, I have a kid in need of Tailor training. Give him some tips and what not so he'll stop giving his stuff away to others." He pointed at the kid behind him and walked up to the NPC, a pretty little thing that greeted them happily.

"Tips? Oh I'd be glad to teach your friend the basics. Just have him come right behind this counter and sit down, we can get started immediately." She smiled at the both of them and stepped back, sitting down beside a table with leather and sowing needles.

He watched him quietly as he left and sighed, a familiar feeling setting in. He fell back onto the grass and closed his eyes. "Again... Got left behind again..." He opened his eyes and watched the clouds drift by silently. "Hopefully we can meet again... At some point..."

Zero sighed at the sight before him, there was kindness and then there were like this kid. He shook his head slightly before walking up to Sinful and grabbing his shoulder. "You're too nice for your own good, you know that? Come on before you hand someone your freaking clothes." He dragged the guy away and headed passed the shops that were lined up next to one another, stopping in front of one with high quality leather armor on display. "This place should be a good choice to find you a mentor. Just try to stick close and not put your foot in your own mouth."

A sense of relief came over Zero when the situation between them seemed to defuse, finding the girl’s rather appealing mature nature to cause him a form of delight. Her demeanor calmed down and she seemed willing to give him a chance, taking his hand and willing to start over. He noted her notice of the players who had been poking fun at her, but did not pursue further.

He found her change in tone somewhat adorable and how she retreated her hand away from his more so. “A sublime pleasure Jenna, glad to be acquainted with you.” The young man watched her quietly for a few moments before he leaned his head back on the bench and let out a small sigh.

His eyes watched the clouds drift by as the apology came, his mouth forming a smile without his notice. “Don’t worry, you were completely in the right on that.” He glanced at her and smiled more sincerely. “Besides I don’t mind getting scolded by an attractive young lady, but I do apologize once more for rudely sitting without asking.” He stretched his arms and sat up straight, facing her direction.

“The only reason you yelled is probably due to having to deal with idiots like the ones from a moment ago, looking down on you for your physical appearance and not giving you the time of day.” His words seemed like they carried more than just observations in them, like experience was also present within them. “If you want Jenna, I can just go and let you be. I’d rather not be a hindrance to you more so than I already have been.”

The young man remained silent when they bumped into the small female, watching the boy hand over his Col to her out of good will. He grinned slightly and gave the young man's shoulder a pat, winking at the girl. "Excuse my friend here young lady, he's a bit of an idealistic, self-less type so please accept his Col. If that's all, we really need to get going mate. See you around pretty miss." He gripped Sinful by his collar and quickly dragged him off, heading towards the town's market area.

The situation had not exactly turned out as he had hoped, finding the person beside him to be much more difficult than expected. He did not glance at her when she spoke, but simply leaned forward, hands together and fingers intertwined he gently rest his head on it.

“I really hate this place just as much as I hate the real world.” It was barely understandable due to the sounds of the passing crowds, then came the real problem with this girl. She turned to Zero and proceeded to scold him as if he were a small child.

His eyes turned towards her as she pointed at him and proceeded to yell at him, letting out a slight sigh. He gazed at the players that had been making remarks towards the small female and glared at them for a second before leaning back on the bench. He turned his head towards her direction and scratched his head. “I apologize young miss, did not intend to anger you or be rude.”

The platinum haired young man pushed his hair back and smiled at her slightly, offering his hand. “How about we start over? I’m Zero. May I have the honor of hearing your name young lady?”

He sighed at Jetra's continuos disbelief of him and opened his inventory. His hand scrolled over his items, selecting the unique weapon Three Great Beasts and placing it in front of the trap. "I'm not going to kill you." He gripped his chin and looked at his eyes. "I'm also not just leaving you alone. I really am interested in you now, that's not a lie."

"Don't waste your time with player crafters, most of them are busy as is without a kid coming along asking to be trained." He glanced at Sinful's clothes and scratched his chin in thought. "Yeah let's head to an NPC shop, some of them have programing that allows you to take a training course. It's what I did to get my Performer training. All that would be needed is finding an NPC shop..." He glanced around trying to spot a possible shop he could take the kid in front of him to. He snapped his fingers and grabbed the young man by his shoulder, dragging him off. "Come on, I know a place we can go to."

He blinked slightly from hearing her say she did not care if she died and scratched his head. He glanced down slightly as she seemed to vent out her frustrations but quickly looked up at him, the person before him who looked like a girl was actually a male. He laughed slightly as he realized why the individual in front of him had been acting in such a manner and slowly stood up. "So what if you're a guy? I could care less about a person's gender, if you see yourself as a guy I'll see you as one but if you see yourself as a girl I'll see you as a girl." He rubbed the back of his neck and stepped toward Jetra, patting his head. "I saved you because I can see that deep down you want to become stronger and live, you were strong enough to drive your blade through me and didn't hesitate to strike me. I couldn't let someone as amazing as you get killed off like that." He remained quiet and slightly blushed, embarrassed by his own words.