Dellis

He nodded, silently, without speaking a word. This was Akua's time to shine, not theirs.

He crouched down so the familiar couldn't see him, and waited, peering intently at the girl and the familiar.

*I'm sure it'll all go well.* He thought.

*Sometimes you're right too, once in a while.* Thought the little lizard on his shoulder.

Dellis cleared his voice, looking at the girl with the hood on. He couldn't see her very well under the hood, but she seemed quite young. Maybe twelve, thirteen years old. So young...

*She seems quite shy...* he thought. *I hope she didn't mind me barging in on her quest.*

He smiled at her.

"Sure! It's right here on the first floor, in starter town. It's here because I mainly craft weapons for beginners like you. Higher leveled players can fend off for themselves, mostly."

He paused, looking worried at the monsters, which hanged around, trying to find their targets, that were now safely hidden in the bushes.

"If you want a weapon or armor, feel free to stop by. I need materials to work, though, and I'm running quite low on them at the moment, so if you want anything forged we'll have to seek for those." He concluded.

He turned to the girl.

She seemed to be a bit shy... and yet, most new players were like her. It needed some time to realize you couldn't be alone in this game.

"I agree, making a party will help us much." He said. Send us the invitation, and we'll accept it right away." He nodded.

"By the way, I'm Dellis, Blacksmith Shopkeeper. Pleased to meet you!" He paused for a second, fiddling with his swordbelt, where no sword was attached, though. "I hang around the first floor helping new players get by. It's not always that easy to understand how this game works." He concluded.

Thanks, both of you!

Well, pleasure to meet you Nikki. I am REALLY sure we've never met before. Right??? xD

Ah, Keith! I've seen you around too a couple of times, in chat and off topic posts. You seem to be a good guy. Let's RP together sometimes! Thanks, you're really kind, I'll sure do!^^

One of the two little girls pulled the other into a bush, effectively hiding both of them from view.

Which had the quite unexpected effect of making Dellis become the target of all the remaining monsters.

"Woah... that was not accounted for... If I don't get away from this i'll be soon having a bad case of deeeEEAAA---" he started shouting, interrupting himself as he tripped backwards and fell into the shrubs himself.

"Well... that worked better than expected." He commented. He turned to face the two girls hiding in the bush. "Are you both okay?" He asked.

Dellis looked at the little girl, and then at the direction she was pointing at.

He nodded. "Okay, then, let's get moving. If we stall too much, she's gonna get away." He warned.

Izzy stood on two legs, on his shoulder. He looked at her. "Izzy, can you track her?" She asked the little lizard.

*I'm no dog, you idiot, i'm a mighty dragon!* thought the little lizard.

"Ah, don't be so uncollaborative, Izzy! You're evil." He joked to the little pet.

He turned to the others. "We're quite close to her, it seems. Our chase is almost at an end." he stated, waiting for them to move.

Dellis had been strolling around floor 1 for quite a bit. He had decided he wanted to help new players learn how to fight, and help them in their first quests. That way, they had a higher chance of survival, and that was all that mattered to him.

Plus, this way, he could make some friends.

At the time, he was near Horunka Village.

*It's the place where the "Secret Medicine of The Forest" quest is...* He thought, idly.

Izzy was disquietly moving on his neck, seemingly aware of something he wasn't.

"Uh, Izzy, what's up?" He asked the little lizard, looking around.

He saw two girls, attacked by some mobs. Nepentes, it seemed.

*They're probably doing the quest...* He thought.

"Oi, you need help?" He asked, as he bashed into a nepente with his shield, shattering it into pieces.

"This quest's quite unfeasible for solo players." he concluded.

Thanks Oske, you're very kind to say that!^^ I try to maintain a cheerful personality, so that it's pleasant to have me around. I love to make people smile xD

Anyway!

I'd like to roleplay with you too, sometimes! I've been stalking your RPs (yes, i'm an RP stalker - oh wait, i already said that xD), and I must admit you RP quite well!

I enjoyed very much reading your "Beginner's Blade" and "Blades of Dreams" posts, and grown to be very fond of your npc Pepper. She's a good character, i like her! xD

Well, what to say... feel free to come to my shop when you've got time - it's in my signature! - or drop me a PM to organize for a RP. If you don't, i'll do it! *evil laugh*

See you around!^^

Ahah, sorry about that Shard! xD

Sure^^ I look forward to RPing with you. I'm sure our RP will be quite fun! You're a good Roleplayer, that much I've seen from stalking your posts. (Yes, I'm an RP stalker, pleased to meet you xD)

That would really be quite awesome, and I hope Erron listens to your proposal. In the meantime, let's see what they do with this one, which might make for a good transition, till we have yours in place.

As for Crystal prices, I've thought these healing crystals to be "poor" grade. As you can see, they heal 1/4th of all the HP, while crystals in the series heal a lot. That's why they're not that pricy!

While teleporting crystals, well, I believe it's fair one per RP average. RPs in this forum can take quite a bit to be completed! So, even if maybe not really adherent to the story, it's gameplay wise acceptable.

Obviously, GMs can modify prices every second, if they deem them to be unfair, so it's not really a problem!^^

Any roleplay, actually, as long as I can RP. I tend not to prefer too dark or too sci-fi settings, buuut i'm open to everything.

Dellis had decided not to participate in the fight, since he had noticed their levels were pretty low, and wanted them to get the experience from the fight, so they could level up faster.

He kept a close look on the combat, though, so as to avoid anyone getting hurt.

As he expected, though, the other two made quick work of the Cobra.

"You fight well, you two. Good work." He congratulated them.

At the same moment, another player arrived from the field.

"Oi, Akua! I'm here!" She shouted.

He turned to wave at the newly arrived girl. "Good day. You're here to help Akua too, I assume. You're a bit late, though, we've already found..." He turned

"The feline..." He concluded with a dismal tone, as he noticed the Leopard had ran off while they weren't looking.

"I guess not, then." He smiled.

"Akua, how are your tracking skills? You should be able to track a specific monster, if they're high enough. That could help us a lot." He asked.

Glad to have you here, shark. From what I've seen, you're a good admin, one of the best. You've always been there to help when I needed you, and provided constructive feedback on various ideas on the support section.

Well, what to say, we need more staff like you. Hope to RP with you, sometimes!^^

DUDE YOU ARE MY IDOL

Ahah, thanks Haru! xD You too buddy!

I can try it! I've got android. I just gotta find the links xD

I'll post some screenshots so you can see how it works^^

Hey guys and girls, I'm Dellis.

Yes, I know what you're thinking, "why did it take you so long to introduce yourself? It's more than a month you're here on SAO!"

Well, what can I say, I do things like these on a whim, and so a long time may pass till i feel i'm in the mood for introducing myself. Plus, that way I can think over what I want to say in my introduction -- oh well, i'm digressing now. Onto the matter at hand!

Name's Giorgio Indelicato. Yes, I'm Italian. Pizza, spaghetti, macaroni, and the like. Berlusconi, too, but luckily he's no more our Prime Minister, so scratch that.

The name's a little weird. Giorgio comes from the greek Georgòs, which means Farmer, and Indelicato means roughly Rude.

Hi, pleased to meet you, I'm Rude Farmer.

... That sounds ridiculous. Plus, i'm not rude!! u.u

Well, what to say.

I'm 22, almost 23, studying law to be a Judge. I love to read manga and anime, but of course we all do or we wouldn't be here, aaaand i listen to many kinds of music. The one I love the most, though, is Italian singerwriters music.

For instance, Guccini.

This is a song he's wrote and sung himself, which has quite a deep meaning, and is his flag song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2W11raDXb8

Aaah, but I digress once again, we're not speaking about Guccini here, we're speaking of rude farmers.

Well, what else to say, I'm quite proficient in english (or I wouldn't be writing here, I guess), and studying Japanese. I started mainly because i hate to wait for translations xD.

I absolutely love to RP, and i've done that in many forms. Tabletop RPGs, Forum RPGs, MUDs, and even Live Action RPGs! (Don't ask what they are, you're gonna laugh and I want to retain some kind of reputation here. I'm a seeerious, quiet, smart guy, not one who could do funny things like LARPS.)

I've been a master in tabletop rpgs for, something like five years. I've started playing them when I was 11! The youngest player of D&D I know. That's a record, right? xD

Anyway, I guess that's all. Questions? Answers! xD

"Hmm", uttered Dellis pensively.

"With that fur, it's not gonna be hard spotting her in the wild." He stated. "Plus, if it's big, he won't be able to hide very well. I think we've got already two big advantages."

Izzy was looking around warily.

"What's up, pal?" He asked the little lizard. She didn't seem to react.

Shrugging he went on following Akua.

"It shouldn't be long till we get there." He stated.

"Okay Izzy." He sat in front of the lizard, which strangely seemed very serious at the moment. "Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna feed you the croissant, and hope something happens. I don't know why I'm trying that again, since i've fed it to you countless times. Still... something tells me this is the way."

Izzy stared silently. *And that's why this time it will succeed.* she thought.

He picked up Izzy's half of the croissant. "You know Izzy... even if this doesn't work... i know you're still my buddy. I don't need a stupid pet bar, or anything else, to know we're companions. You've been with me countless times. We've lived together this world, and we're gonna keep doing that, somehow, even when it ends." He said, understanding it was true the moment he said the words.

"And that's why... you deserve this half of croissant. And I deserve the other. We're companions, and we share. Everything."

And with that words, he gave the half of the croissant to Izzy.

Izzy gulped it down, as Dellis did.

As a sudden light began to shine from Izzy's body, he suddendly understood everything.

He understood why Izzy loved cream croissants, he understood why giving them to her hadn't worked before, he understood everything about her, and she understood everything about him.

It was because of the love.

A bond between two people... not between a pet and his owner, but between comrades... comes from love. No one can force it, no system can, no food. It's a matter of heart.

And as Izzy's body grew, and transformed, in that blinding flash of light, he knew he had it. And that Izzy had it. She was no mere AI, no mere data. She was a person, somehow, just like him.

In front of him, on the ruins of what once had been a crafting table, stood something with bright brown scales.

They seemed to glisten, and shine, in the sun that was setting behind her in that fine day of Spring.

They were brown, with green streaks all over them, luminescent in the little light that there was.

Standing on her four legs, as high as Dellis was, she uncoiled her wings, occluding the sun behind her, the sunlight shining through her wings.

"I knew you could do it, Dellis the Hero." Said Izzy, the Cave Dragon.

He understood her completely.

Many spoons of mustard, tons of eggs, and strips of bacon later, Dellis was exhausted.

He slumped back on the chair.

Izzy waited for a second patiently for him to raise again, and then noticed something was wrong.

*Hey buddy... what's up?* She thought, looking at him from the table.

He wasn't moving.

*Oi... you aren't offended because i've thrown mustard all over the shop, are you?*

He just sat there, with his head reclined forward.

Izzy stared at him worried.

In the silence, he suddendly spoke.

"... Hey Izzy, I'm a failure, right? ..." There were tears in his tone.

The little lizard looked at the distance between her and Dellis' legs, then decided not to worry about it, and jumped.

She landed on his knees, and immediately went to his shoulder. She could feel his sadness.

"... I wanted to be a real partner with you ... help you, get to the end of this game with you. For a moment... I thought I could be the main character of this game."

He paused, tears streaming down his cheek. "But I guess I had it right to begin with... Someone like me can only help others... not do grand things."

He paused, Izzy preoccupiedly licking his chin.

"I'm a secondary character in my own life." He sighed, weeping involountarily more tears, but doing nothing to stop them. "It's always been that way, and always will be."

"Don't say that... It's not true. Do you have any idea why I went with you?" Asked Izzy.

"Ssssshhh... ssh-ssssh ssshhh. Sshh sh sh sh shhhhh", Dellis heard.

"What do this have to do with Pumpkins?" He asked, a small, timid smile forming on his lips.

*At least it made you smile, even if you don't understand a word of what I say.* She thought, a bit relieved.

"I just don't know what is my place in this world..." He said, again.

*Well, I do.* thought enigmaticly the little lizard. She ran down to the backpack, and took a cream croissant from it.

"Help yourself, buddy, it's the least I can do." Said Dellis.

*It's not for me.* Thought the little lizard.

She did not so much as take a bite off the croissant. She brought it to Dellis, and put it in his lap.

He stared speechless.

"I... I..." He stopped, trying to find the words. "... Thanks buddy. I needed it." He picked it up, caressing Izzy with his hand.

...

...

He divided the croissant in half.

*... Maybe you've GOT some brain, somewhere, then.* Thought happily the little lizard.

He took the loaf of bread, smiling happily.

"Thanks!" He said, taking a bite off of it.

"Well, it's only right that I give you something of mine to pay my bread debt," he joked.

He opened his inventory, at the same moment rummaging through his backpack. He didn't remember where exactly he had put them.

"Ah, here they are!" He took out of the inventory a small, blue, worn out box.

He opened it, and took something out of it.

He dangled a Cream Croissant in front of the girl. "Here! eat it, it's good. I always bring with me some. Izzy seems to like those a lot." he said, handing one to the small lizard that had nestled on his shoulders till then.

Izzy guzzled it down in one go, then stared with expectancy at the blue box, which promptly Dellis made disappear once he got her look.

The little lizard decide then to settle for the one that Dellis was about to bite, since he had finished the bread Akua had given him. In a flash, it was gone, and before Dellis could say anything, she gulped it down.

"HEY! You thief lizard... that was mine! Next time you do that, I'm gonna cook you in a plate!" He protested.

He quickly turned to look at Aqua, hoping she hadn't laughed too much. "Sorry about that, she's a bit unruly. I haven't tamed her completely yet, she just kind of follows me."

Akua then answered his question. "I think I've only decided on feline, however I have seen this one, particularly elusive looking one that looks pretty unique to the system."

He frowned. "Unique? How so?" He asked, pacing forward towards the area she had pointed.

"That was evil Izzy!" complained the blacksmith, with an high pitched tone. He removed in shock a worm from his nose, and flung him towards the grass.

*You deserved it*, thought the little lizard nonchalantly.

"Hmm... I've got to find something that you might eat..." He thought.

That moment, a little notification popped up in his UI.

*A new message? That's strange... who could it be from?*

The sender was Akua. He had never met her, but he had noticed her trying to tame her pet.

*Maybe she's noticed I was trying to tame Izzy...* He thought.

He opened it with haste.

*Let's see if this friend of yours is a bit more clever than the anchovies in your head.* Thought Izzy.

The message read...

Hi Dellis! I see you're trying to tame a Lizard! Have you tried with boar meat? Many monsters like it! Good luck!

He stared speechless at the message.

But of course! Boar meat!

*... okay, she's smarter than you, but still, no game.* Thought the little lizard.

Oblivious, Dellis opened his inventory and put a chunk of it in front of the little lizard.

Dellis stared at Izzy.

Izzy stared at Dellis.

Dellis stared at Izzy.

Izzy stared at Dellis.

Izzy shoved the meat down from the table, and that shattered in blue pieces.

"Hey! That's pricy, you know! What was that for??" He asked.

*I'm not 'most monsters', if you haven't noticed. And I know you can do this without help.*

Dellis stared at the lizard grumpily. "You're evil, you know?"

*Totally. Now, are you gonna come back with eggs, mustard, bacon and The Great Lizard knows what before you decide to use that head of yours?* Thought the little lizard.

"I know!! I'm gonna try and feed you some MUSTARD!!"

*Aaaand why do I exactly bother asking such things?* Thought the little lizard, once again.

Dellis looked at the spot which Akua was pointing to.

"Well, it seems like a good spot." He said, starting to move towards it.

"So, what kind of familiar were you trying to take? You only decided it's gonna be a feline, or have you got a particular monster you've already met in mind?"

He stopped casually in his tracks, suddendly remembering something important.

"Ah, did you remember to bring with you some food, right? To tame the familiar, that is." He asked to the girl.

Dellis was slacking in his tent, trying to get his pet lizard to eat something, and tame him, when a little notification started flashing in his UI.

*A message? That's strange...* He thought, touching it with his finger.

It was a party request.

It seemed a girl named Akua had sent him a party request, to help with a quest named "Feeding the Enemy".

*That's the familiar quest... ah, I remember now, she's the girl I've seen here on floor 1 speaking to the Gipsy. Probably she needs help with taming a beast...*

He opened the tracking window, and set off to follow the footprints.

In no time, he had reached her. She wasn't that far from starter town.

He looked around. There was another girl there, probably someone who she had sent an invite too.

He approached the little girl, waving his hands.

"Hi Aqua", he begun, closing in, "You sent me an invite? You needed help with the familiar quest, if I remember well." He said, smiling.

That moment, the other girl spoke. "Aaakuuuuaaaa!!!" She shouted, running towards her.

*She must be a friend of hers, I guess.*

"Nice to meet you. I'm Dellis." He introduced himself to the new girl. "Are you here to help her too?"

Hours later, they were back once again. It was starting to get late in the day. Afternoon had almost ended, and neither of them had eated anything yet. Well, no, really Izzy had, but Dellis was just too distract to notice it, ending this painful sequence of trial and errors. More errors than trials, actually.

"So, Izzy! I've went and bought with some Col. a good bit of worms at the fishing store." He slammed on the table the worm can.

*What... should... THAT... be?* Thought appalled the little lizard.

A wriggling, alive mass of worms started climbing one on top of the other to get out of the can.

*You're NOT honestly expecting me to eat those poor things.*

Dellis looked, shocked.

*Ah, you've realized that no one in their sane minds would want to eat those things?* Thought the little lizard.

"I didn't understand they were alive!!! The shopkeeper didn't tell me! Oh, no, Izzy don't eat them please! They deserve to live!" He shouted, bending to pick up the can.

*No danger I will. By the way, I redact everything, I thought your brain was actually capable of conscious thought. And you say I'm the AI.* Thought the little lizard, smacking the can with her tail and jumping into the backpack once again.

"Aaarrgh!" Shouted Dellis, all the worms flung on him in the process. "Heeeelp!" he pleaded.

*Freedom!* Thought every single worm of the can.

*Aaaand that's a four croissant mistake.* Thought the little lizard in the backpack, eating four in one go.

*If this keeps up, you'll be left with no croissants at all.* She thought, casually guzzling another down and happily taking advantage of the distraction the worms provided.

"Back at square one, I guess", sighed the little blacksmith, yet again slumping on the chair, while the little lizard took her place upon the table.

"I just can't imagine what I should give you to eat."

"That should be simple, what would you eat?" Said the little lizard.

"Shhhh...Shhh..." Heard Dellis.

"Maybe worms..." He said, much to himself.

*I really, REALLY hope you can't understand me.* Thought the shocked little lizard.

"I've decided! I'll just go and find all the worms I can find."

*I've changed my idea. I'm gonna try and find some partner which has actually a brain that's not made up of flies, worms and anchovies.* Thought sarcastically the little lizard.

Unfortunately for her, Dellis had already grabbed her, and set off trying to find something to give her to eat.