Grave

And so, the battle of (half) wits continued, and I sighed as I slid my hands into my pockets.  We seriously weren't getting anywhere at that rate.  At least I learned the brown haired kids name; Koumori.

"K... Koum... Koum-ori," the name didn't agree with my British accent, but I guessed I could keep trying it out.  I also indirectly learned another player's name, Abalasster, when the big guy threw the remaining sword to him.

Talk of a duel rather surprised me, but also irritated me a slight bit.  They might not know it, but people can get extremely serious during a duel and go over the top, possibly even continuing attacking after the duel finished.  Thankfully, that hadn't happened to me, but I had experienced how serious one can get.  A duel I once had with a good friend and fellow Brit, Xion, when I was lower level showed me.  I started off getting good hit after good hit in, until he got extremely serious and almost lost it, clearing over half my HP in two hits.  They didn't know how risky it could be.

I happily obliged to be the first one out of the tent when the giant pulled the 'door' open.  I guessed it was my turn to separate Big Boy from his rival.

(*sigh* Fine XD The reason I was worried about level balance is because of one of my plans for 'Ol Rocky)

Well, usually when someone asked to help out, I would usually accept, but at the level I was, the baby wasn't going to do much.  I bet he thought I was picking on it just because it was a weaker mob, not because I wanted the NPC.  The latter was the correct one.

"I think I'll be good," I called over my shoulder, "If I start dying, you could jump in, but that hopefully shouldn't happen," I threw the player a smirk, before a second player joined the fray.  Well, I have an audience now.  Better not let 'em down, I told myself.

I realised my blade was still raised, and I was amazed that the child hadn't attacked yet... But that changed as soon as I spun around.  A round, wooden fist caught me in the ribs as I brought my weapon down, slicing through the baby's unused arm.  We stood there, still in our positions, the Ent's fist still in my side, my blade now by its leg.

<<Battle Healing>> activated, and I felt the area that received the baby punch heal somewhat.  I gave a sly grin to the little guy.

"You're screwed now,"

---

ID: 27258

BD: 6 = Success (2 DMG)

MD: 9 = Crit +1 (2 DMG)

CD: 12 = HP +1

Grave: 22/23 HP

Baby Ent; 6/8 HP

Don't you just love jumping in to save NPCs from little tree men?  I do.  Those little creatures are pretty bloody fun to fight... Not the BIG guys, no, they're pains in the ass.  The little guys, about the size of a primary school kid.  You know what I'm talking about now.

I watched as the young NPC - wearing what looked like a tailor's uniform - for the <<Martial Arts>> quest was getting his lights knocked around by a pair of long, thin, stick arms.  Those AIs had a habit of getting themselves in some real 'stick'y situations.  I sighed loudly as I tore Severance from her sheathe, the fine metal crying melodically against the thick leather casing.  The Ent seemed to notice me, as its tiny, emissive, golden eyes shot a piercing glance in my direction.

Notice me it did.  It left its useless prey and rushed towards me, bouncing along like a penguin with rubber balls on its feet.  Easy prey, were the first words that travelled through my mind, but as I carelessly swung at the wooden child, it ducked and swung a large, club-like fist at my gut.  To be honest, it didn't feel much more than a punch from a young boy, but it still managed to take away some health...

Health that appeared as quickly as it left, as my <<Battle Healing>> already began its rounds.  I gave a cynical smirk as I lifted Severance overhead, the cloudy sky reflecting off of her blade.

(Staying at level 6 for the thread, due to the ongoing level problem)

---

ID: 27230

BD: 2 = Fail

MD: 8 = Success (1 DMG)

CD: 10 = HP +1

Grave: 15/15 HP

Baby Ent: 8/8 HP

Let's see what crazy schemes this Brit can come up with... With assistance from Hirru and Golden

"Well, you see, we're almost there, and I don't want to have to come all this way again, so... We may as well eat bread, as crap as it is," I told her, trying not to sound like I was whimpering, "You know what?  What do you say I take us both out for dinner afterwards?  The meal's on me," I told her with a playful wink.

I opened my inventory and extracted two buns of cooked dough.  I'd only eaten one the whole time I was there, it was going to be better to share them out.  I turned to Jevi and called to her, "Catch," as I threw the bun in my right hand to her.  I sat my behind on the soft grass as I began to dig into my bread.

It was nice.  Eating (a rather crappy) afternoon tea under the setting sun with a girl... To be honest, it was the closest damn thing I'd ever had to a date.  As for Jevi, I had yet to know.

I nodded in agreement as the giant explained the downfalls of having the girl use a dagger.  He definitely had a point, but I knew from experience that not everyone put their first two Skill Points into a Weapon Skill; I instead invested them into <<Battle Healing>>, something that had saved my ass countless times.

Aaaand yet another quarrel began between the brown haired boy and Hulk.  I breathed out a heavy sigh and made my way over to them and placed my middle knuckle of each hand on their chests and lightly pushed, attempting not to seem hostile.

"Come on, guys, we're all adults here... Or, at least mature, I hope," I threw my last comment to the brown haired boy, unsure of his age, "We have an audience here.  I bet the guy with the dragon could hand all of your asses to you if needed, but I also bet he'd rather not deal with that.  Let's just leave the young one to her devices, than we can leave, gather our stuff and meet up at that café," I reminded them, and soon enough the giant turned away to attend to the girl.

I hung my head and breathed a long-kept sigh and backed up to the 'wall' of the tent, exasperated.  The hostility between those two was rather tiring.

(Sorry for having Grave jump in, but I really wanted him to interject somehow ^^;)

At the girl's mention of apple juice, I gave her a comforting smile, "I'm sure there will be some kind of juice at the café," I told her, and this time my attention was stolen away by the lighter brown-haired boy as he told me to not call him kiddo.  I scratched the back of my silver hair, "Yeah, sorry 'bout that.  Don't know the name yet, so I had to find some way to address you.  Soon enough I'll know your name though," I told him with a warm grin.  I turned back around to the big guy when he agreed (although rather reluctantly) to the plan.

Yeah, I was right to try and think of a better word than 'shop' for where he was taking us.  It was more like a stall, if that.  But the two swords he brought out were masterful and very beautifully crafted.  It seemed the man had an eye for detail.  I patted Severance behind me; she was all I needed, at least for the time being.  He drew a jian from one of the scabbards and held the handle out to the young one.  He was sure protective of her, that much I could tell.  It was going to be interesting to see what she picked.  The jian looked much... Swifter and lighter, possibly better for a young girl.  However, maybe even going a size down and forging her a dagger might have been better.

"Not meaning to be rude," I spoke up, "But if she doesn't seem to take to either - which I'm not saying she won't, she just might have a hard time choosing, because I know I would - maybe a dagger would better fit her caliber," I informed the large man, hoping he wouldn't feel insulted.

The brown haired boy recommended a café.  I had yet to actually visit a café in the game, and that might just have been my chance to do so UNTIL Hulk suggested they sweep past his 'shop', wherever that was, and then go to a place with some beer.  Right, someone wants coffee (or something similar, like tea or something) and another wanted beer.  Those two things didn't sounded like they would come from exactly the same place.

"Well, call me stereotypical, but I personally feel like having a glass of red wine," I told them before giving a sly grin, "But I don't believe the young lass would be welcome in a place with big boy drinks now, would she?" I threw a comforting glance over to the young girl, before addressing the big man again as I pushed from the wall and slipped back up the alley, "It's alright, I tease.  I say we sweep past your... Shop, was it?  Then you and I can drop in at a big boy shop and grab you some kind of alcoholic beverage," my focus flew to the younger-looking brown haired boy, "Then we'll take that over to the café kiddo over here mentioned, and we can get all cozy with each other then. Sound like a plan?" I made my way to the giant and looked up at him as I finished.

Yes.  I looked up at someone.  That was a strange experience.

I'd learned to respect this girl.  She wasn't the kind to take kindly to shameless - and somewhat meaningless - flirting, and that I respected.  She had a strong will, and those kinds of people make it far in life.  I decided from then on to not shamelessly flirt with her, except in horseplay... Well, I was going to try for that approach to my companion anyway.

"Couple hundred meters and we're there," I replied.  I was starting to question myself.  Had I done my study? Did I have my facts right?  Usually I trusted my gut on those things but... My gut was kinda empty, and this was not trustworthy.  As if reading my mind, my stomach growled at me.  I stopped like a stunned mullet and blushed heavily, looking nervously to Jevi, "Maybe we could eat a little before we get there?" I asked, scratching my chin.

Man, I made the worst impressions on people, females included.

(Sorry to jump in on the party like this! Grave could use some fun XD)

Ah... The sweet (un)taste of water, slowly trickling down your parched throat, like a waterfall in a rainforest.  Great isn't it?  And isn't it just greater when you notice something and spill your water all over your new shirt?  Oh, you haven't experienced that?  Well, for your information, I had already spilled three bottles of water, two on my old starter clothes and a third on my new Grim Threads.  You know what I hate even more?  They were the first three bottles of water I drank in the game.  Sometimes I can be an outright... klutz, for lack of using a naughty word.

Now, back to the main ordeal, I spilled my water when I saw a hulk of a man, pressing an equally hulk of an axe into the cobbles in a dark alleyway.  Sure, I was surprised by the axe, a rather uncommon weapon, but I was further surprised how bloody huge the guy was! I mean, jeez, I was six-foot and one, and this guy topped me by half a head or more!  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but he was still taller than me by at least two inches. Was it the hair maybe?

But continuing on, after discarding the wasted bottle and looking past Hulk, I could see three more figures; three more figures that were undeniably male, and they all seemed rather stricken... And I didn't think it was from the axe. I slid my hands into my pockets and ducked under the huge man's elbow, into the mouth of the beast... Well, maybe that wasn't a correct word to use.  It seemed that the tense aura everyone had been emitting had gone as quickly as it (may have) came.  In the minuscule cacophony within the confines of the cramped corridor (alliteration is fun!), I was sure they wouldn't hear my footsteps... But I stopped when I saw a young, blond girl just past them.  My lips formed an 'O' as I realised the past situation.

Few guys arrive, girl gets wrong idea, big guy arrives and also gets the wrong idea and readies his weapon to knock some heads - or more like split some skulls.  I weaved around a boy with light brown hair, then a guy with white-ish (or maybe silver like mine?) hair, then another brown haired guy with a red dragon across his shoulders.  I didn't want them to all suffer another bout of 'wrong idea getting', and thus I pressed myself against the furthest wall and addressed the group as a whole.

"Come on guys and," I turned my attention to the young one for but a moment, "Young lady... I hope most of you share my opinion in the fact that... Well, this place is rather cramped to have a chat, hey?  Come, let us find somewhere to get familiar with each other," my British accent stuck out like a sore thumb in situations where I was rather confident, like this one in particular.  I scanned the faces of my (hopefully) companions.  At that point, when I looked over that boy with the red dragon... He seemed familiar... Where had I seen him before?

Erroneous's drifts, though XD

I can't wait to see what other similar tricks Erron has up that good ol' sleeve and I better be in the next

I must say, I was actually surprised when Jevi (although reluctantly) agreed to have me support her. Once I felt her arm around my neck, I made sure to carefully place my arm around her waist, attempting not to seem like 'that guy'. I slowed my pace to help her along, keeping a slow rhythm to dampen her limp.

We were soon approaching my set location, and I could feel Jevi supporting herself better. I stopped and looked at her, "You all good now?" I asked, "Or do you need to lean on me for a little longer?"

"It's not good to tell secrets," I told her with a joking wink, "For now we'll just do some hunting on the way... Once we heal up, of course," I added at the end. I continued walking, looking back occasionally at Jevi. She kept limping, and I tried to refrain from offering to help her, but...

I stopped walking and let Jevi catch up. Once she had, I looked to her, "Would you like some help there?"

(No problem :P)

"I don't have much use for the material, so..." I opened a trade request to Jevi to send her both the material from our original encounter and from the slippery bastard I just removed. I sent it to her for nothing with a pleasant smile. Well, I thought it was pleasant. As Jevi approached me, I held out my fist to her and hoped against hope she would take the gesture.

I began to stroll across the plains towards the triangle of trees, Severance sheathed and my hands behind my head. I was unbelievably quiet, something unusual for me. Twice I'd made a fool of myself in front of Jevi that day. I would understand if she secretly disliked me. I was just hoping the 'surprise' was going to be enough to redeem myself.

I made sure to do my research on what I was going to show her. Without proper research, I was going to epically fail my 'display', but thankfully I had my plan all thought out. I was hoping Jevi would like it.

Finally Jevi had removed one snake from the equation; I was not going to let her down. I'd done bad enough in front of her, I had to make up for it. Before the snake could do any more damage, I swung Severance overhead and to my side, aiming for the serpent coiled around my leg. The blade cleaved through the spring-like beast, slashing my leg in the process, but the snake began to dissipate into blue data. Puffing, I looked up at Jevi and gave her an exhausted but content smile.

I noticed a grey box pop up in my view, displaying the Snake Scale and 50 Col I earned from defeating the serpent. I threw a curious look over to Jevi, my eyes asking 'What did you get?'

(You can get a Good Item or Mob Health x5 Col as loot, since you got 11 on the LD) 

---

ID: 26501

BD: 10 = Crit +2 (4 DMG)

MD: 8 = Success (1 DMG)

LD: 12 = 1 Snake Scale (Mat) + 50 Col

Grave: 6/15 HP

Jevi: 17/19 HP

Snake: *DEAD*

<3 Ya, Xion

"Yeah, comes in real handy, believe me," I replied, my British accent becoming more prominent with exhaustion. I noticed the grass shudder for a moment, though, but didn't alert Jevi in time before the snake leaped from the grass and began to constrict her leg.

She threw a nervous glance to me, and I shrugged back, before my eyes went wide, watching her bring her snake-leg down on a rock, sparking a memory. I'll tell her later, I decided. I felt a slithering up my leg and let out a sigh of exasperation as I went to scrape my blade downwards, but had already moved over to my other leg and sunk its jaws into it, thus my sword cleaved into my right leg. I bit my lip in pain as I threw Jevi a guilty glance.

---

ID: 26396

BD: 1 = Critical Fail

MD: 10 = Crit +2 (3 DMG)

Grave: 7/15HP

Jevi: 17/19 HP

Snake #1: 3/10 HP

Snake #2: 1/10 HP

I clapped my hand against the handle of my sword as I watched Jevi pull of a rather stylish sword skill. Not very often I got to see them, even from my own skills.

I could hear the grass shift behind me, and this time I was ready. The grass sounded like it exploded as the serpent pounced from it's hiding place. I side-stepped out of the way and aimed to slash at it, but barely missed its slippery body before it landed in the grass.

As a trade-off for the miss, though, I felt my <<Battle Healing>> activate, and some of my wounds healed up. I smirked, "About bloody time,"

---

ID: 26369

BD: 4 = Fail

MD: 5 = Fail

LD: 12 = HP +1

Grave: 10/15 HP

Jevi: 18/19 HP

Snake #1: 3/10 HP

Snake #2: 4/10 HP

As Jevi teased me, the snake jumped at me again, and I was quicker to react this time, grabbing the snake out of the air and clenching my hand around its neck. I heard her say that she didn't want me to die, and I smirked back, "Not planning on it, sweetheart," I teased. I dropped the snake and swung Severance around, collecting the snake and sending away like a golf club. I turned to Jevi and gave her a joke flirtatious smirk.

---

ID: 26301

BD: 6 = Success (2 DMG)

MD: 4 = Fail

Grave: 9/15 HP

Jevi: 18/19 HP

Snake #1: 3/10 HP

Snake #2: 7/10 HP

Jevi swiftly dealt with her snake attacker, sending the slippery creature through the grass, but mine came the opposite way. It launched itself from the grass and onto my arm, biting down hard once again. In numbing rage, I backpedaled to the nearest tree and slammed my arm against it, stunning the long, green creature and causing it to unhook from my arm. As it dropped I swapped Severance over to my left hand and swung her at the center of the snake, slashing through its scaly body. I jumped back, cradling my wounded arm as I gritted my teeth.

(There's not really much point in the hate system any more, as neither of us are going to attack the other snake, and neither of the snake's are going to attack us until someone, preferably the snakes, dies)

---

ID: 26297

BD: 6 = Success (2 DMG)

MD: 9 = Crit +1 (2 DMG)

Grave: 9/15 HP

Jevi: 18/19 HP

Snake #1: 5/10 HP

Snake #2: 7/10 HP

"Oh, p-pardon?" I stuttered as Shaya broke me from my trance, "Well, since I've had to change my surprise, I'm just thinking of how to carry it out," I told her. I had most of my plan thought out, but I wasn't sure if she'd like it that much...

Then she began to hum a tune. It sounded rather... Nostalgic, like I'd heard it before. Some time in my childhood... Had I met Shaya before, in the real world?

So I was right. She was nineteen-twenty. I wondered if she would mind my flirting... When she moved my hand out of the way, I was a little disappointed, but I flushed a little pink when she called me 'hun'. No one ever used words like 'hun' or 'sweetheart' with me, so it was a nice change.

We continued further into the forest, and I kept checking back at Shaya to make sure she was okay. The further we walked, the better she got. I was pretty relieved by that. The forest got darker as we travelled further in, but no way was I going to take us right into the depths. She would soon see her surprise...

I looked on as the second snake attacked Jevi. Two versus two, huh? I thought before a smirk crossed my face, Easy enough... 

Those few seconds of thinking costed me, though. I felt my leg become tight as the snake constricted it before sinking it's hooked fangs into my leg. Pissed, I reached down and grabbed the snake's head, squeezing it to stop its bite. I tore it away from my leg and dropped it before slashing around, sending it slithering into the grass. I looked over to Jevi to make sure she was okay.

---

ID: 26125

BD: 9 = Crit +1 (3 DMG)

MD: 9 = Crit +1 (2 DMG)

Grave: 11/15 HP [HATE: Snake #1 - 1]

Jevi: 18/19 HP

Snake #1: 7/10 HP [HATE: Grave - 1]

Snake #2: 10/10 HP [HATE: Jevi - 1]

Most would be stunned when asked how old they were, but for me it wasn't a problem, "I'm twenty four, and I turn twenty five in June next year. It's been about a month or so after this started in November, right? So I've got about half a year to go," I told her. I guessed she was only about nineteen or twenty, if that, "How about you? If you don't mind, I mean," I asked, unsure if she would mind me asking the question. I strolled past the treeline and into the forest, before looking back to see Shaya still hobbling along. Sighing, I extended a hand to her to provide a little bit of support.

When she took my hand, I could feel how small they were compared to mine and in proportion to the rest of her body. She was rather small all over, but that just made her all the more cuter.

When she blushed, I grinned. That was the reaction I was hoping for. I like making girls blush, especially the cute ones. I turned away from Eliza and looked out over the open fields, where Boars and all manner of other creature roamed. I had no idea what to try my hand at first, so I called over my shoulder, "So, what should we go pick on first?"