Life

Life sighed, he figured a reaction like this would follow another embarrassing moment for her. It wasn't exactly fair though, that dragon was targeting her because she looked vulnerable, and it had an ability that neither of them knew. "Well it's not like someone could prepare to fight a target they've never fought before." He though for a moment, trying to think of a way to make her feel better about herself. "I think you're just having a bad stroke of luck. Maybe somethings bothering you and taking your attention elsewhere. Could be a number of things. None of which really can define you as unworthy of anything, ok?" Life squatted down to match her eye level since she decided to stay on the grass. "Just remember when you're on the front lines one day tanking blows that would totally murder another player, I believed in you." Life gave her a cheesy smile before standing back up. It was true, he did believe in her. All that was needed to be on the front lines was the attitude and passion to drive forward and become stronger. 

The next event in the quest chain popped up on his hud, this time it was floor three. Well no surprise there. He wondered how far it would go. Maybe up to floor five or floor ten at most he assured himself. "Yukō?" 

Selling
27*T1 materials for 2700Col from Simmone.
 

Life watched as the little dragon whimsied out some magic causing Yuki to fall and leave her helpless against the dragons aggression. Life grimaced at the scene, figuring the dragon would go after the smaller target. "Alright you hold it still." Life said as he casually walked over toward the dragon, ready to put it out of its misery until another player would come walking by to kill it when they accepted the quest line. 

Life walked up to its tiny body wrestling with Yuki's tiny body and activated one of his lower tiered sword arts, not seeing the need to waste the energy on anything big for no reason. Life brought his blade up slightly allowing it glow, then simply dragged the blade along its body as if he were swatting away a fly. Its body dragged off of Yuki's as Life's katana lifted it off and it exploded into data at the tip of his blade. "Well that's quite enough of that. You ok, Yuki?" 

 

Party
1 Life: HP: 540/540 EN: 24/54 -7+1
2 Yuki - HP: 180/180 EN: 16/18 

Life ID: 137677 BD: 6+3=9 Success
Zekkai 14*7=98

3 Zylara - the Quartz Hatchling Dead
HP: -3/175 (98-65=33)
MIT: 35 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 0 - DMG: 65
On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

@Zajcica

Life watched intently as the small girl nervously mustered enough courage to spill out the truth... until they were interrupted. A high pitched squealing could be heard nearby, no doubt it was the dragon they were looking for. This one seemed a lot more flighty than the one before, but it was on a higher floor so it was to be expected. Life didn't waste anytime, if he wanted to go back to their conversation he'd have to wrap up the fight quickly. Life grabbed hold of his Katana and dashed forward, unleashing his San Ge and cutting into its scaly hide. The hatchling jumped back, flying up into the air as its health dropped into the red, letting out cries of pain. "Aaaahh you're a tough lil guy aren't ya." Life said with a smirk as he watched it hover above him, out of reach. 

Party
1 Life: HP: 540/540 EN: 30/54 -14
2 Yuki - HP: 180/180 EN: 18/18

Life ID: 137672 BD: 5+3= 8 Success.
14*15=210 damage

3 Zylara - the Quartz Hatchling
HP: 30/175 (210-65=145 Damage)
MIT: 35 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 0 - DMG: 65
On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

@Zajcica

Life watched her concerned expression as she asked him a rather weird question. Would he be open minded to other peoples choices? That's an interesting way to pose a question. He thought to himself. Life twirled his finger through his fringe that rested on the edge of his jawline. "I don't really judge." He sighed and rested his back on his side, preparing himself for what was to come next. Maybe she killed someone in the past? Or maybe she stole for a living in order to help her parents? He wasn't sure what kind of question was coming next so he kep himself neutral. "As long as it's not something you'll regret telling me, I say go for it." He shot her a solemn look, he didn't want a potential new friend to begin to distance themselves because of something that they regretted telling him, or ended up hurting them from. 

Though It could be something completely non serious and they'd both be overreacting. 

@Zajcica

Claiming both, thank you thank you

Life cast his gaze along the riverbank, heavy rain falling on the flowing river, its raindrops danced in the river. Lightning struck off in the distance, and Life knew where he was supposed to be. He followed against the flow of the water, a thin fog now obscuring his long distance vision as torrential rain obscured his close proximity vision, perhaps in these kind of conditions it might be difficult to find a giant wyvern after all. Life gripped onto his modest Katana tightly as he ran, the wind against his back pushing him further ahead at greater speeds with each step.

He was getting closer, though the sound of rain crashing against treetops muffled it, he could hear it. The sound of the wyvern screeching with raw unadulterated power. Life stopped, his body seeming to protest moving forward in fear. Life looked down at his body, his arms shook, and his chest felt heavy. "No way... you've got to be kidding me." It seemed the environment was having its way with him. This was not something he usually felt at all. 

That's when he caught a glimpse, the silhouette of the alligator like wyvern came gliding through the seas toward him. Life tried to move, but his muscles felt too stiff, it were as if he was trying to move a mountain. A flash of light snapped him out of his funk as adrenaline surged through his body. As if his entire body instinctively threw him back as lightning came down just meters in front of him. "Too close!" He gasped, a feeling of urgency now fueled his movement. Life looked around, he had meant to take this thing on with another player as soon as he found one but it seemed the boss had now found him. 

Life withdrew the blade from his saya, a blue shimmer of silver-blue cobalt steel shone through the darkness of the night. Life frantically looked around as the beast came closer with every passing second. His eye widened as a dark figure came following behind it just further away. Had the rain not created a white outline of crashing water he probably would not have noticed them. Life shouted from the distance, hoping they'd hear him. "Hey! Mind helping me with this thing? I don't know if I can take it on my own!" 

@Hidden

Life poked at Yukis forehead as she drifted away in thought. "You don't have to tell me about it if it makes you uncomfortable. But we're party members now so I've got your back if you need help." Life smirked and gulped down half of his water in one go, not particularly trying to, it was just how much felt natural for him to consume in one go. He looked around for any signs of players and the leaned in to whisper something into her ear. "You wanna know a secret? This is the video game I've ever played." Life backed away and raised an eyebrow her, thinking making a secret out of something so trivial would lighten the mood and maybe make her smile. 

Life gestured to the bartender to come over to him before asking. "Would you happen to know the location of the quartz hatchling? Me and my friend here are looking for it." The bartender rolled his eyes. "Yeah thats a common one to get asked. It's just east of here about a ten minute walk once you're in the forest." Life nodded "Thanks friend." Life downed the rest of his water before turning his attention back to Yuki. "Wanna get going?"

@Zajcica

Life looked beside Lessa, just now noticing the furry canine which accompanied her, he thought it was a rather cute familiar, but it didn't seem to be too fond of him. Well, to be expected, it was the first time the wolf had seen him. He wanted to pet its fur but he thought that probably wasn't a good idea. She mentioned it was good to see him again, though the expression on her face said I completely forgot I once invited you to my guild. It was fine, It was two years ago, and it wasn't as though they had formed a friendship. 

Life smirked at her statement, sharing in the disdain for the perilous winding void that was floor ten. "Stygian river huh? Well at least I got a name for it now. Not like there's exactly anyone to go asking around for it though. And yeah, once you pass the first giant mushroom and glowing crystal the rest become pretty unremarkable. I was just trying to follow the sounds of flowing water and I ended up here." Life said as he gestured towards the gaping ravine behind him with his thumb, waters crashing to the depths below. "I'll take you up on that offer, I was pretty much ready to kick the bucket out of my wits with how lost I felt down here. Tell you what when I'm done I don't think I'll be returning, you'd have to be some kind of weirdo to want to frequent this place." Life quipped, it wasn't like she liked the floor so he figured she wouldn't take offence. 

Life backed away from the edge of the ravine, walking past Lessa and her familiar, trying to get his bearings on where exactly the next move was. "Whats the cute fluff balls name by the way?" Life mused as he took a glance back at the wolf behind him. Life had been meaning to do the familiar quest, but he didn't exactly know what kind of companion he'd want to go looking for. From what he could tell there was a path off towards more mushrooms, a path leading into a cave filled with glowing crystals, and a path leading into a dark cave. None of them seemed to particularly scream 'Stygian river this way'. "Hmm.. What do you rekon?"

@Lessa
 

Life slid onto a bar stool. "Just two cups of water please." Something about that sentence made him laugh for a second. It wasn't like he drank alcohol himself, it just seemed like the start to a bad joke where to people walk into a bar and drank water. "Sure.." The bartender said with a confused look. 

The tavern was mostly quiet, it was a small town after all. Only a couple other players just keeping to themselves and talking about leveling stuff, which always mildly intrigued Life to listen into but most of the time it was useless or redundant information. Life knew very well by now what he was doing and how to do it. It was just a matter of actually doing it. The bartender plopped the two cups of water in front of the two and shook his head as he walked off mumbling something about how he didn't get paid enough to be serving water to some wet behind the ears. Life raised an eyebrow at the man but simply ignored it and turned his attention back to Yuki. 

"It sounds like you have a really loving and supportive family, I'm happy for you. I'm sure they're looking forward to your eventual return. Just gotta get through this with the rest of us. Personally I only have my father, I worry about him sometimes because without me he has to manage the farm on his own... I know hes capable enough but still, It must be getting harder for him with each day..." Life drifted, thinking about how if he really was on Life support, how his father must be struggling to pay for it. But judging by how everyone didn't have their plugs pulled yet made him believe that it may be government funded, or at the expense of the company responsible for the nerve gear. Either way it was a disturbing topic to think about. "Sorry, I spaced out for a moment, did you say something?" 

@Zajcica

Life was going through a list of things to send off to his loved ones in the game before he kicked the bucket. I'll send my gear to Maiyuri, my Col to Mari.... And then he stopped, because that's all he really had to his name. But then he heard a familiar voice echoing behind him, a soft and comforting voice, asking him if he was ok. Life turned to face the noise, hands still in his hair. "Oh!" He threw out his hands before awkwardly placing them back on his hips. "Long time no see Lessa. Great timing, I have to say. I am completely lost, this is my first time on this floor ever and I'm trying to do this quest and I'm just straight up not having a good time." He huffed with exasperation, and an overwhelming mixture of emotions. 

Life was still dealing with the fact that this was his battle against his past, trying to move forward from the wake of the beast which killed him that day. But he did not die physically. Then there was his motivation to become stronger, to become someone people could rely on again, to ensure everyone went back home to their families and loved ones. And lastly, the frustration of not being able to find a stupid river because this floor was built like some maze out of harry potter.

Life paused to take in a deep breath and calm himself down and recenter before raising his eyebrows with his next question. "You wouldn't happen to know the whereabouts of a river filled with the blood of my enemies would you? I'm trying to do this scents of the wild quest line... hopefully you know of it?" Life stood at 6"2, wearing an armoured Yukata which appeared pure black in this dark environment. His katana was modest as all the craftsmanship was in the blade hidden within his scabbard, the symbol of fate was inscribed at the bottom which was in homage of his first katana. 

Life had met Lessa on numerous occasions, once in a bar with Alkor, once at a dinner party under the stars, once in the crossing fields when he was in a dark place, when they fought frosty the warlord, when Mari had her breakdown in public on floor three, and then again at the Molten Hydra battle. They weren't frequent run-ins, but it was enough for Life to be able to remember her. How would someone be able to forget someone like her anyway? Hopefully she remembered him too, or at least not negatively like some others had. 

@Lessa

                                                                                                                                                     <<Case of Wurms>>

Life walked leisurely through the streets of nimbus, floors sevens main district for players and NPC quest givers and merchants. His arm resting casually on the hilt of his katana as he made his way into a tavern. He was on a mission to find some more level appropriate quests for himself since he had completed pretty much all the low level quests with as many inexperienced players as he could find recently. The tavern smelt like oakwood and beer, the sounds of a crackling fireplace just off in the background.

Life walked up to the innkeeper and asked the usual. "Excuse me sir. I was wondering if there have been any rumors about, or perhaps some kind of work available for an adventurer?" The NPC looked up at him with a blank expression as it cleaned the inside of a jug. "Does this look like that kind of establishment to you, sir." Life blinked, never having that kind of attitude before from an NPC. "Errr, what?" The man sighed and pointed towards his green crystal, signalling that he was in fact a player, not an NPC. "Ohhh..." Life felt slightly embarrassed having completely mistaken the man for an NPC. Life laughed at himself for a few seconds while the bartender groaned as if it were the usual. 
 

"Sorry I don't usually make that mistake I just assume every bartender I walk into is an NPC." Life said as he slid onto the bar stool. "Listen I'm just looking for quests on this floor. Help a fellow player out?" Life said politely while holding out his hands. The player across him rolled his eyes. "Right, well I'll give it to you if you just get out of my tavern. There's a re spawning boss in the town of rig just south of here that will give you some exp the first time you kill it for the town nearby. It's not that tough, pretty easy actually. But the experience is decent." Life slid back off the bar stool. "Very well then. I'll take it and go. Thanks for the help, maybe I'll come back and buy a drink some time." He said playfully as he walked out. 

@Mari 

As they walked and talked they entered the of Taran, it was modest with stone pillars surrounding it as if it were to bring them protection. Life thought on what Yuki said, wondering why she'd ask something like that. "Well..." Life paused, thinking about the answer. It had been two years since he'd seen Maiyuri. It was hard to say what was going on between them now. "I have someone special sure. We loved each other and stayed together a lot. But... I wasn't in a good place. When I left for my two year isolation I told her not to look for me, and I haven't seen her since. I wouldn't put it past her to still be looking for me... but I don't know if I could face her again." Life spoke with great shame and regret. Knowing full well had hurt her deeply and would be responsible for whatever had happened to her. The village was entirely made of stone, and he made his way into the tavern, the place which he usually found quest information. "While we're here do you want a drink?"

@Zajcica

Life could tell that she was still a little shaken up. Hmm."I think that's a good outlook on life to have." Life paused before turning his gaze towards her. "Sometimes the world will weigh a tonne of crap on your shoulders. And you'll have no idea what to do with it all except lay down and let it crush you. But If you look at it closely you'll notice its just a pile of feathers, waiting for you to pluck out one at a time. When you look at it that way a large sum of issues become individual tasks that are much easier to accomplish." Life gestured with his hands stretching them out and then putting them back together as if it accentuated the difference in size of the issues. He thought maybe the idea was a little childish, but he knew looking at it that way helped him a lot. "I guess when It comes to the art of battle in this game though, nothing beats a good amount of practice. Of course there's always the chance for something to go wrong. But you can lower that chance significantly in the long run with the effort." 

@Zajcica

                                                                                                                            <<Lord Of The Seas>>

This was Life's first time on a floor higher than ten. After his two year isolation on floor eight he was ready to begin paving his way back up to the front lines. It just so happened Life's first time on this floor would be met with torrential rain and unwavering winds. "This floor sucks." He uttered to himself.

Life's usual attire did not suit wet weather well at all. He was draped in an armoured yukata which had leather bracing underneath the fabric protecting his vitals and extremities. However the ebon weave material itself was completely drenched within minutes of being on the floor. The clouds which blocked the skies cast a shadow over the landscape, causing both his gear and hair to appear pure black. 

He squelched his way towards a village nearby a river bank, hoping to get some relieve from the elements. It seemed the villagers had all taken shelter within their huts too, indicating that perhaps this type of weather wasn't common Just my luck huh. Life headed inside one of the taverns, his waterlogged figure dripping and soaking the timber below as he made his way towards a fireplace to warm up. As he knelt beside the fireplace he could hear the chatter of the various villagers and players that took refuge inside, though the amount of players were minute compared to the taverns on other floors. Probably taken off from the weather. He thought.

"It's that time again..." One of the NPC's spoke. "It will be roaming the seas again. Always causing trouble!" Another responded. Life's ears perked, this sounded like a quest to him. That was when another NPC burst through the front door, just as drenched as he was. "Someone please! I can't find my husband! He went fishing and hasn't returned since it started to rain!" The two NPC's which spoke earlier shared a troubling look towards the hysterical woman. An older fellow was the first and last to respond, his voice hoarse and guttural. "You know as well as we do that it's gotten him. Best comes to terms with it now. The lord of the seas takes no prisoners." The woman collapsed in response, broken down into tears. 

Life stood from the comfort of the fireplace, making his way over to the gruff old fellow. "Has this Lord of the Seas been bothering you for long?" He asked with concern. The man responded "Aye. Whenever the weather gets like this it wreaks havoc everywhere. We can get no respite from its terror." Life nodded, he'd accept the quest. "Point me in the right direction and I'll take care of it." The quest information popped up on his screen as the man spoke, giving him the rough location of where It could be. Finding a giant wyvern shouldn't be too hard. He assured himself.

Life walked past the sobbing woman and out of the tavern, almost as if he were being handed back to the thunder storm. This quest didn't seem like one he would complete alone, he needed help, that was for sure.
 

@Hidden

As they walked Life rested his left arm on the hilt of his blade, taking a more relaxed demeanor. "Being hard to hit and hard to kill definitely does sound like an annoying combination I'll give you that. Maybe I'll take some inspiration from that." Life smiled politely, currently he just wen't with a loose cannon style of fighting, kill or be killed. There was no harm in maybe considering more protection if he needed, right? After all, if they went to higher floors there was no saying if his style of fighting would be sustainable, some attacks were unavoidable. 

"Hey, don't get too discouraged after one little thing goes bad. Keep your chin up." Life poked at under her chin to flick her gaze back up to the road ahead before returning his elbow back onto his katana. "I was once the same level as you, you know. Just gotta work your way up one floor at a time." Their path converged onto the main cobble stone roads leading towards Taran village. Hopefully they'd be able to gather more information there. 

@Zajcica

I'll take this too

Thank you kindly

As Life materialized from the teleporter her took note to gather his surroundings. He was afterall still readjusting to the game and this would be his first time on floor two in two years. He remembered liking this floor though it wasn't anything remarkable and pretty comparable to the other nine that he was accustomed to. Life looked beside him to notice his new companion was still close by, still as determined as before to prove herself as a capable fighter. 

Life smirked "I'm sure you'll done fine this time around. Maybe you're just a little rusty. My first battle after two years I found myself on my back dodging for dear life. I almost got my ass kicked and considered running with my tail between my legs a few times. Though luckily I got my wits together and remembered a couple tricks to pull off that saved me in the end. I really didn't have much of a consideration as to how powerful that boss was I could have died.. though I suppose if I did I wouldn't really have any right to be where I am right now. So that has to count for something I suppose." 

 

@Zajcica

Life didn't know what came over the lady but she all of a sudden started attacking Life in a fury, throwing a mixture of small rocks and dirt at him. Looking for him? Why? Granted, this was a strange floor for anyone to be in, so I guess that may explain why she was so bewildered. But then when she calmed down, something about her seemed familiar... Did she say... "Oh.." It had been two years since Life had seen Maiyuri, he told her not to go looking for him, he should have known that she wouldn't stay put. He felt terrible honestly, he didn't want to feel responsible for whatever would have happened to her had something went wrong while she was looking for him. "For two years huh? Honestly..." Life cast his gaze to the side. He knew who she was now. It had been a long time but how could he forget a face like hers. Persephone.. 

No doubt she had been looking out for her while he was gone. "Thank you for taking care of her, I appreciate it.. But I had to go. I could feel myself crumbling at the edges for a while and I didn't know how else to handle it." Life paused, not exactly wanting to get too deep into those feelings he had left behind. "I don't know if she still cares for me the same way. But once I'm done regathering my wits for this game I planned to go see her again. Though I don't know if I could face her the same way I used to, she deserves someone better than me, someone that won't abandon her."  

Thread Complete

Each player gets 4 SP (3 for the quest, 1 per page)
200 Col (400 col per page evenly split)

Mari obtains <<Armour of the sands>>  +2 Mitigation +1 Thorns

End up in prison or dead? Life didn't know how to take those words. Sure in the real world murder was punishable, and the orange crystal was proof that she ended real lives.. but.. With the amount of hysteria and confusing that came with being trapped in a game with those features designed, can you really hold someone accountable for that? The were many player killers that refused to believe that people really died and just Pk'd because it was a feature of the game. Sure that could just be an excuse for them to kill, but how could you distinguish between them? Our lives were just data for them? Life stood there, taking in her words. On the outside it seemed like her was listening, and just playing it cool. But on the inside he was beginning to crumble again. What was the point this? No. He was adamant that it wasn't the case. The reason they kept them going was so that they could come out of it alive. Because their lives inherently held value. It didn't matter what your circumstance was, whoever you were you still deserved to live, you still deserved a chance at life. 

Life steadied his gaze, looking back up to retort Mari. He'd tell her exactly how he felt and tell her exactly what he thought her life was worth. That she deserved to keep living and she wasn't going to be punished for going a little crazy in completely unique situation. Life was just as much to blame for the deaths of players as she was, and he wouldn't be punished because his crystal was green? Unjustified. Life opened his mouth to speak, but she was already gone. He hadn't noticed that she had just walked away while he was lost in thought. "Yeah... be seeing you." He snorted to himself. With Mari gone he had no reason to stay in the devils sandbox and play around in the heat anymore. "I need to get out of here." Life took the last swig of his water, letting it dissipate into fine pieces of data and evaporate before turning towards the direction of the portal. Time to go.

Life stood sliently for a moment and thought about that point that Mari pushed others away because she had killed. Something that was partially his fault for pushing her to do and then convinced her she was a monster for doing it. Monsters didnt deserve friends or could be trusted to be around people who were vulnerable, was that why? 

Yuki thanked Life for his help, though it felt like he should have been thanking her for the company, it made things less tense. "Dont mention it. Like you said, you would have been just fine without me. Im sure you would have figured a way out of the situation if you needed to. You don't really seem like the type of girl to run and hide, or lay helpless and accept defeat. Am i wrong?" Life asked but he already knew the answer. Sometimes he had a bad habbit of trying ro read into people. "Apologies if that came off as a bit much."

As the sun set the two were nearing closer to the teleporter. Their journey wasn't over just yet, they had another dragon to slay.

@Zajcica

Life didn't really believe that things had been that uneventful for her, but it wasn't like he could tell either way. First Baldur, now Macradon, neither players he knew, he was really out of the loop. Though thinking on her lack of interest towards everything so far, maybe she was just so indifferent to the things going on that it didn't really matter to her or at least she didn't matter to her. It bothered him. She wasn't just hurt that Life was back, she also had to deal with Alkor leaving. She had a lot of emotions to handle, and to be honest he thought she was taking it well. Life closed his eyes before casting his gaze off to the side. He felt like he should probably tell her that she had a lot to fight for, to reassure her that things would be ok. That she didn't just have to be on the front lines because that's what was expected of her. But it didn't feel like the right time or place. Currently she was putting up with his presence and just opening up. Maybe another time. He thought.

"I wonder what things are like out in the real world... do you ever think about what our real bodies are like, just sitting in the place we left ourselves? With the amount of time that's passed, we'd have to be on life support right now... how much time do we really have left..." Life didn't know what came over him when he said that. It was a random thought, but much more disturbing then he intended. He was trying to avoid a difficult topic and ended up on probably one of the heaviest ones, at least for some people it would be. 

@Mari

Life found it funny that he and Mari chose similar paths of redemption, or rather ironic. They had different crimes and faced different punishments, yet dealt with it in a similar fashion. Perhaps when everything sorts itself out and he finally goes back to his family he'd be able to forgive himself. "Ah.. I see. No, I think you've misunderstood. The reason I'm down here helping players like you is because I have a lot to make up for. It's me who owes something to the players. Not you to I." Though there was slightly more to it than he wanted to admit. After watching his closest friends die, he was a little afraid of venturing to higher floors. Surely, it was normal to fear for ones own life, right?. Life spaced for a moment before refocusing his gaze back on the road ahead. The sun was beginning to go down in the distance, turning the blue skies a deep orange. He walked silently beside his partied companion, thinking about his past. 

@Zajcica