Bjorn

As Takao told him he was at more of a disadvantage than he already thought he was, due not to knowledge, but to his size, something he couldn't control, he had a mixed look upon his face, anger seemed to be warring with the disgust he felt for the game designers, before it simply settled back into a scowl. "Standard levels are still weak." he grunted out, flexing a bit absently before changing what he was speaking about, his mind turning, "I need you to go and f**king break it down barney style, I need to know everything. The lingo that is commonly used and its meaning." He paused as he considered the things that he felt were most pressing, "Guilds, the advantages to them, the friends list and how to use it." Glancing to Takao's weapon, armor and other gear he nodded at it, "I've heard of other players crafting things, I need to know how to go about doing that my self, and if there are any advantages to doing yourself rather than purchasing things from players over just grabbing loot from the mobs that roam about."  Opening his menu he jabbed at it, "Currency, I need to know anything outside of Col that is commonly used for trade, and the going price of things. And the common pricing used." he paused and stared at the menu a moment before adding finally, "And as you've seen the menu, I need to know how to work this sh*t for everything outside of equipping,"  the man rapped on his armor, "Skills and inventory. For instance, where is the music I uploaded before I started the game? It'd sure f**cking help having it playing in the background for myself." He stopped and looked at the kid expectantly, "I'm sure there is other [censored] I didn't cover that you'd consider necessary."

Bjorn nodded as he shook the kids hand, "Yeah I don't suppose it would be popular anywhere but back home." he said in regards to Takao's remark on wow, it was disappointing that he had been right with regards of the two handed hammers, but then again it was encouraging that he was right about them not being present, which meant he knew something about the game. He shook his head at the kid and grunted, "Most people here weren't like me," he gestured at his own body before continuing, "I spent a long time working at my strength, and going from being able to farmers walk six hundred pounds across a ten meter field to not even being able to lift that, much less move with it is absof**ckinglutely frustrating. My size, my strength, and all other things out there mean nothing here. And I'm wasting away while I try and learn how not to get killed in this death game we have to call home." Looking Takao over he shrugged, "At least the translation software in this thing works well enough, otherwise I'd be truly f**cked." 

The man paused a moment to look out the gate and as he reached down and grabbed a hold of his axe, "There is to much for me to learn," He paused momentarily and looked the kid over once more, "How about you show me around and explain the basics of everything outside of combat to me. It'd be might f**king helpful. And I'd greatly appreciate it."

As he continued down the rocky path Bjorn's stomach grumbled, reminding him that despite this being a virtual world, he still required to eat. This brought back thoughts of how his body was wasting away somewhere in a hospital bed. Taking a breath and letting out a long sigh the big man shook his head and moved off the rocky road, up into the mountainous terrain to the side of it until he found a small outcropping that would shade him from the sun as he ate. He had some bread and water, nothing more filling or nutritious to eat, but he supposed it didn't matter much either way, after all, if it didn't buff his stats it didn't really matter, it wasn't like he needed to worry about calories or macros here, they didn't matter. He sat and unhappily munched on the bread, alternating between taking a bite of the bread and drinking from the flask of water that he had materialized from his inventory. Even though it was all virtual, it felt nice to have something in his stomach, and it still felt nice to be off of his feet for awhile. 

Ah he continued on his way he continued to watch about him, occasionally checking his map to see that he was indeed nearing the site of the quest, which also conveniently was the location of the 2nd floor dungeon entrance, which was something he had to keep in mind as he continued on his way. He found a small path that made the going easier and started down it, eyeing the sides of the rocky terrain and wondering where it lead, the map didn't show the path, but then again that might just be him not knowing how to use it properly, much like most of the interface the game relied upon. Apparently there was even a guide for the game going around, at least it had been mentioned, but he hadn't seen it or found out how to access it yet, not that it mattered, he hadn't any need of anything really, he was saving the skill points he had for another use, he already knew how to equip and use things, so there wasn't much more to it was there? Well he wouldn't know in any case what he was possibly missing out on. 

If there were players looting materials in the area, as he had seen from the already looted location he had found, then that meant that there was materials in the area to loot, obviously. But it also meant that while he was traveling he would need to keep an eye out for any more locations that might provide something of value, whether it was a tree, ore, cotton or something else that he hadn't yet considered might be around every corner, and free materials that didn't involve combat was something he wouldn't pass up. It wasn't to long as he was traveling that he ran into another small group of players, these ones doing what he had thought of doing himself, gathering materials from the floor. The looked at him for a moment as he watched what it was they were doing before going back to what they where doing and attempting to hurry on ahead of him. With a shrug he decided it wasn't worth the conflict, besides he was here for a quest and not to gather materials, and it was something he should get on with. He hurried on down the way the map indicated, keeping an eye on the players behind him as he moved forward and making sure to pay attention to his surroundings for mobs that might lay in his path. 

As he continued to travel he noted that there was an outcropping of rock that looked odd, he quickly moved closer to take a better look at it, only to find that while his first suspicion on what the rock was had been correct, the fact was another player had already gotten to it, removing what appeared to be all the removable ore and leaving just the general shape and look of it there for others to find. He quickly looked about, making sure that there was no one near by and then continued on his way, having wasted some time and putting him behind in his journey, though it seemed that he was doing that plenty enough as he stopped to watch different things that happened already, at least this time he had been looking to see if he could improve himself by finding more materials, where as previously it had been mostly a total waste of time, even if it had been necessary in his eyes. 

ID: 27793
LD: 3 (No Loot)
 

While this interests me greatly, I can't accept personally. At least not yet, Bjorn isn't the type of guy that would do something like that as of yet. Perhaps in time, depending on how things go. After all, how long does he really have after wasting away for god knows how long when he comes back out of VR? How weak and pathetic will he be? Would he ever recover? 

In any case, I hope that you find someone willing and able to help you, and in the very least look forward to reading about your attempts. 

Unless your already in a battle, or you were intending to stay at that level when you started the thread, then I would just go ahead and use your new level. If your in battle, I'd avoid leveling until after the battle. Of course this is just my opinion, and I have no idea what is customary as I'm fairly new myself. 

As he continued his travels he stopped to watch another group of players argue about something that had dropped during their latest battle, he simple watched them as they argued before they slowly came to a stop as they realized they weren't the only ones there. The quietly talked amongst themselves before deciding that it would be best to head back to town before continuing their discussion, which was wise in Bjorn's mind, after all in town they couldn't kill one another and they were safe from others that would kill them for whatever they had dropped. He didn't say anything as they passed him, merely nodding his head to them in acknowledgement as they quietly watched him. He watched until they dropped out of sight around a rock outcropping before he started on his way once more, there seemed to be so much anger lately, of course he couldn't blame people, they all likely simply wanted to get to the end of the game, and get out. Good gear would help a long way towards that, as would leveling. But they should all be helping each other, and he knew that wasn't the case, he had heard of player killers and robbers as well. It wasn't something he was able to understand, why would you kill others when it meant actually murdering them? Did they doubt that this was a game? If so why didn't they just go die and find out themselves? He wouldn't be able to grasp their logic, and he knew he likely didn't want to, after all it may be as simple as they were those type of people, and he was stuck here with them and no way to deal with them if they came after him while higher leveled and geared than he was. 

The travel was uneventful, he avoided the enemies he saw, though he did stop and watch as a group of players fought off a pair of wolves, waiting and making sure they didn't actually need any help before he continued to head down the way that had been indicated. The two had fought the wolves off fairly easily, despite they both appearing to have been wounded, the wounds were superficial according to their health bars. It was interesting that the wounds faded quickly, leaving a whole avatar for the people, even before the hit points had returned to full, he supposed it was better than looking at a body of grids when one took major damage or something similar, though he wondered if it was to give people a false sense of security so that they wouldn't worry about it until something happened that showed that they should, like a dismemberment, or simply not noticing their health being low. He could wonder about this stuff all day, in fact, he generally did, after all there was little else to do other than a few quests and some combat, but that wasn't why he was here now. He would concentrate on watching his surroundings, and stop his mind from wondering. After all, he wanted to avoid all combat, and being ambushed was not something he relished the idea of. 

Finally accepting the quest the big man turned from the board and started out of town, passing other players that he nodded to on the way through the stone gates of Urbus, which was the main settlement he had arrived in on the second floor. As he went he pondered how many others that were here were anything but civilians that had joined the game as a normal thing, after all they where the only type he had meet so far, but he knew that didn't mean that they were the only ones around. Still finding anyone else would be a nightmare in this world, everyone was all spread out along the open floors, and many didn't seem to be very forthcoming with their previous lives, hell most of them didn't even seem to want to consider them at all, preferring to pretend like nothing was wrong or the world had collapsed outside of the game. He followed the quest marker on the map, seeing that he would have to hike several clicks through the forest before he would reach what was the site of the "unbreakable" boulder. He already knew that was false, after all one wouldn't give a quest with an reward, nor would others have mentioned having completed it by breaking the boulder. Of course he wished now that they had been more specific than saying "by hitting it." when he had asked how to complete it. But then again he could figure it out when he reached the stone. 

The big man found that there were a surprising number of quests available to him, most of them were to dangerous for him to take, or simply tedious tasks such as gathering things, transporting them to other locations for the npcs and similar stuff, and he quickly dismissed them from consideration. Besides all of that he was really only there for one reason, and that was to complete the quest he had heard about before heading back down stairs to continue to level, and eventually face the boss on the bottom floor. It didn't matter that others had already dealt with it, he wanted to do so himself as well, to prove to himself that he was capable of doing so, and to get used to fighting boss type monsters so that when he finally caught up to those on the frontline he would be able to participate and help in a meaningful manner. Reading over the quest itself Bjorn shrugged, it didn't seem difficult at all, go out and find the location, break the rock, head back in from the location and turn it in. The reward for it was the ability to use unarmed combat, or at least to rank it up so that it was a useful ability. It didn't seem to difficult, and from what he had been told by others as long as he watched where he was going, it wouldn't involve any combat, which was beneficial in that he wasn't exactly looking forward to dealing with creatures from this floor as of yet. The fact that he was alone still, with no friends was somewhat worry some, but the fact of the matter was, any friends could make would simply be babysitting him,something that he didn't begrudge them for not wanting to do.

Due to the fact that the current frontlines where on floor 11, Bjorn didn't have to trek through the dungeon and fight the boss on that floor to get to the second. That meant that he could proceed with a quest that he had learned about from several other players on floor one. He arrived from the portal and took in his surroundings, it was most assuredly different than the first floor,  what with the small city that appeared to be built in a crater of the mountainside they were currently located on. He knew the quest was a simple one, and he knew the location to pick it up as well as where to head to complete it. He used the publicly available information to locate the quest board, and there he grinned as he selected the quest he wanted and accepted it. If nothing else, this would allow him to feel stronger about himself, even if it didn't actually effect his strength in the game. 

I'm accepting the quest.

Bjorn was done for the day, he would head back to town to spend his skill points, he had gained some and wanted to be able to utilize the world better. He was tired of being so weak, he as sure it had something to do with the skills, but he still wasn't sure what it was that he needed to do to get them spent. It was all a bit to much for him, especially as he hadn't played any real games like this ever. Of course that was the same for most of the others, but he hadn't really played much of anything for the last 17 years, only occasionally enjoying a video game here and there, and then it was always something like Call of Duty, Battlefield and other shooters more often than some weird rpg. He wished he hadn't let the allure of a fully immersive virtual environment pull him into the game, but that was in the past and something he had to leave behind. He began the long trudge back to the town, nearly four clicks out, new armor, levels and materials hopefully bringing him success in his future endeavors. 

Summary
Bjorn: 400 Col + 3 Material + 1 SP + Lamellar Armor (Good Quality)
 

Thread Complete

What was going on in his mind as the big man took another deadly blow wasn't what he had expected, it had turned off essentially and he stood swinging his axe at the boar as it came forward, it wasn't that he had accepted his own death, as it was unlikely he could out run a boar, it was more that he knew that the best way to deal with this opponent that was even lower on health than he was, was by striking down upon it with his ax. A single hit was all that was needed, regardless of how strong or well it landed. As the man swung at the boar that had decided it would do the same thing he let out a sight of relief as his ax impacted on the beasts flank, driving it to the ground and causing it to pixelate and explode into vapor as it was defeated. The victory text came up, showing a gain of a single material, experience points and a new level, that refilled his hit points to his new maximum. The man let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and turned his travel back towards the city, and safety. That was enough hunting for one day. 

ID: 27736
BD: 8 (1 dmg)
LD: 10 (No Loot)
Bjorn: 3/9
Boar: 0/5 (-1 dmg)

The boar showing a lack of care that only something artificial, or a berserker would for its own life stood in the same spot as it took the blow and used its position to its own advantage. It struck forward, driving its tusks into the mans crotch area, landing another vicious blow. This time it was the mans health bar that dropped, this time dangerously low, down to just a third left. It was getting into dangerous territory for the man, and the boar seemed emboldened by its opponents dropping health, not bothering to move out of the way or to be wary in the least, it stood in the same position it had landed after the blow was struck, readying its self to strike at the man once more. 

ID: 27735
MD: 10 (3 dmg)
Bjorn: 3/9 (-3 dmg)
Boar: 1/5  

The man grunted, the pain still light and barely there despite the type of blow that had landed, was still a cause for concern. After all death here was death in the real world, something that he didn't want, especially as his body would not appear to be nearly as well off as he had left it. With the thought of an emancipated corpse fresh on his mind he charged the boar, swinging his axe down at the beasts back as he went. It didn't seem to anticipate the action, and didn't move in time to avoid the blow. It landed clean, though it did little in the way of damage, as the man could see the boar was still standing, despite the boars health bar dropping. 

ID: 27735
BD: 8 (1 dmg)
Bjorn: 6/9
Boar: 1/5  (-1 dmg)

The boar had decided on its own best course of action, one that it hadn't used in the fight up until then, pawing at the ground as if it was going to charge, even moving forward several feet before stopping and jumping backwards to its starting position. The man seemed to be unfazed and ready the first several times that it repeated this activity, but on the third time the man took the bait and swung, the blow if it had been an actual charge would have landed across its snout, and caused some good damage. But it had missed as the boar jumped back, and the man was unable to react in time, his side wide open to the boar as it finally did charge for real this time. It lashed out with its tusks, slamming into the side of the man and causing a very nasty hit that registered a a strong critical, and would have killed the man if it had been in the real world, as it was it still took nearly a third of his health in one blow. 

ID: 27734
MD: 10 (3 dmg)
Bjorn: 6/9 (-3 dmg)
Boar: 2/5 

The red clad man was watching the boar, moving the axe back and forth as he had previously, held only lightly in his hands so as not to keep his self from swinging in a proper manner. There wasn't much he could do about the fact that the boar kept fake charging, and while he didn't fall for it the first two times, on the third one he stepped forward and swung in a large arc that missed the boars snout by several inches, leaving himself completely open. The man trusted in his new armor to keep him safe, something he shouldn't have done, but lack of knowledge was always a problem, as this proved. 

ID: 27734
BD: 5 (0 dmg)
Bjorn: 9/9
Boar: 2/5

Skype: Zackary Allen Musgrove.

I'd appreciate being added to the group. 

The boar had jumped back, away from the man's nasty axe, ready to strike out once more. It leapt forward swinging its tusks in a vicious arc, it appeared to have struck the man from an outsiders perspective as he stumbled back. But the boar knew its strike had missed as it had not felt the impact on the mans body, while it had been close the man had been able to react fast enough to keep any real contact between its tusks and his body from happening, frustrating the boar once more. It turned quickly once more, tearing up the ground to face the man. 

ID: 27733
MD: 2 (0 dmg)
Bjorn: 9/9
Boar: 2/5 

The newly armored warrior barred his teeth as he deftly dodge the boars swinging tusks, he followed it with his eyes as it continued past him and turned to face him, ready for the attack it knew he was about to launch. Rather than strike swiftly, Bjorn moved forward slowly, each step deliberate and solid as he did so, an old movie theme song playing in his head. The combat was much more of a game for the man now, and he could think of other things easily instead of focusing solely upon the fight at hand. His arms moved the axe up and down and a bit side to side as he advanced, attempting to keep the boar from knowing what he was doing. It worked, as he got with in reach he swung the blade in an arc at the boar, level with its head, and while it jumped back, it was not before the blade of the axe had scored a blow across its snout. 

ID: 27733
BD: 6 (1 dmg)
Bjorn: 9/9
Boar: 2/5 (-1 dmg)

The boar recoiled for just a moment in surprise at the unannounced attack, it quickly turned it's body to face the attacker and squealed out an entire breath out as it pawed the ground and tossed its head side to side. It saw the axe wielder standing tall and proud before it, the weapon that he had used to damage it sitting lightly in its grasp, it stared back at the man a moment before charging forward and attempting to gore him, swinging its mighty tusks to the left and right as it came close to the man to no avail. It jumped light on its feet, spinning as it did so to face the man once more, ready for the retaliatory strike it knew was coming. 

ID: 27732
MD: 5 (0 dmg)
Bjorn: 9/9
Boar: 3/5

The ax man didn't have to spend very long to find what he was searching for, a large boar, around the same size as the one he had previously defeated, was pawing at the ground underneath a tree. In the real world Bjorn would have said that it was looking for truffles, but in this world, it was likely simply programmed actions that would repeat regardless of success or failure, simply to keep it from standing around waiting upon players. Rather than being intimidated or worried about the size of his foe, or the damage it could cause, he stood and charged into battle, quietly this time, no need for a warcry to pierce his lips and the silence as he pounded away at the ground ahead of him. As he neared the creature he took a swing, starting with the axe head down low, and pulling it up and across his body. His blow struck true, striking the boar in the neck and causing it to recoil. 

ID: 27732
BD: 9 (2 dmg)
Bjorn: 9/9
Boar: 3/5 (-2 dmg)