Vargas

The sound of flapping only grew louder as it approached from in front of Vargas. Removing his hand from the wall, he drew his sword as he prepared for what was to come. His sight was useless to him until the thing was on top of him, so he focused on the sound of the creature’s wings. Just as it came within striking distance, Vargas stepped away from the wall and dodged to the left, it's claws reaching into nothingness to attack him. Now that it was close enough he could see it was Giant Bat. It's body was huge, its wingspan at least four feet wide and its body must’ve been the size of a small child. Being able to see the bat only made it easier to attack. Steadying his blade, Vargas prepared to unleash his Lightning Fall attack on the creature. His Anneal Blade crackled with energy as he quickly stepped forward and slashed his blade through the creature’s body, dropping it’s health by more than half it’s health bar.

ID #86487

BD: 7 (6+2-1)

MD: 1 (2-2)

Vargas 380/380 - 31/38 (-8/+1)

Giant Bat 10/50

The cold, wet feeling he got from the cave only made Vargas wonder how scared the small girl must be. Though, as she was an NPC it was in her programming so it only made him feel mildly tense up with the need to find her quickly. Besides, the quicker he found her, the sooner he got out and collected his reward.

His hand trailed along the coarse rock wall. The rough feeling of each curvature and cut of the walls was extremely real. As was the design of the game, it felt exactly as it might in real life. Was the game designed to use a person’s own experiences as a basis or did Argus somehow actually input coding that would somehow mimic every sense? That was actually an interesting question Vargas would've loved to know before this death game had begun, but for now the main focus was to get stronger and escape.

The distant sound of crying dragged him out of his thoughts. “Hello? Is somebody there?” Vargas called out into the dark. He could hear the sound of sobbing lessen before a response came. “Please! I just wanna go home.” It had to be the girl. "Don’t worry. I’ll come to you.” Vargas called out in return. He picked up his pace as he delved deeper into the cave. However, the sound of flapping could soon be heard coming his direction.

It wasn't long before Vargas reached the cave entrance. His earlier thoughts that this was gonna be an easy quest when soon dissolved as he saw the cave. ”Well crap. The place is pitch black. I can probably see within ten feet of myself in there.” He didn't have a light source to help with this fact, but it was a second floor quest, so the mobs couldn’t be that big of an issue either way. With that thought, Vargas decided to enter the dark cavern.

After walking in about fifty feet, Vargas was having difficulty even seeing his feet, much less the walls. He moved to the side, placing his hand on the wall to help him keep a mental map of his movements. ”This might actually be a little harder than I thought.” Vargas muttered as he tried to move forward, deeper into the caves as he searched for the young girl.

Vargas made his way to the cave entrance that his quest locator was telling him he'd find the girl. He'd been approached by a NPC who asked that he help find her daughter. The woman had been so distraught at the time, saying how her daughter had been playing in one of the caverns with her friend when they'd been attacked by monsters. Her daughter's friend had been able to get away, but they'd gotten separated in the dark. Without hesitation, Vargas had said he’d help, which is why he was now headed there.

He was on the second floor, which was covered in a vast, mountainous region. He didn't worry too much about any mobs attacking him since he was of a decent level now for this floor. If anything, he figured this would be a fairly easy quest to complete. He saw the occasional passive mobs, like deer and elk, with every so often passing by wolves. For the most part, they ignored him, not seeming to care about his presence.

Vargas will go ahead and solo this.

Atzo- 7 - 3SP

Eatos- 10 - 3SP

Zero_lost04- 5 - 2SP

Vargas- 7 - 3SP

Hei- 6 - 3SP

Stryder- 3 - 1SP

Airi- 7 - 3SP

Lee- 6 - 3SP

Hydra- 1 - 0SP 

Solomon- 3 - 1SP

SulSus- 1 - 0SP

Aoda- 2 - 1SP

Ren- 6 - 3SP

Anthium- 6 - 3SP

With Eatos leading the way they made their way out of the town and onto the open floor. He knew it was gonna be a little while before they reached the Forest of Wavering Mist. It wouldn't take long to find the dark elf once they reached the outskirts of the forest since the mob resided in the center of the area at it's small camp. In the meantime, they had to travel across the plains that stretched between Delilah and the forest. Wanting to break the silence after having been walking for about ten minutes, "So what armour do you plan on getting? The leather coat or dragon cuirass?" He knew what the two chooses were since he'd done the quest himself. He no longer wore the leather coat he's chosen since he liked the bonuses that his current equipment provided for what he wanted to do. He still planned on altering it some but for now it was decent.

As they delved deeper into the jungle, the foliage grew thicker around them. Sounds could be heard from all around them making it hard to pinpoint their actual locations. The majority of them sounded like animal noises like monkeys and birds. Spotting some string hanging from a felled log, Vargas went to check it and found that it was silken spider web. Carefully collecting it, he put it in his inventory for later use. It'd be a good material for later use. At Hei's question of material grinding, Vargas simply nodded and looked around their surroundings. It wasn't until Hei brought his attention to the creature that Vargas even noticed it. He wasn't quite sure what it was. The the long arms and claws made him think of a sloth but it seemed to be moving around more actively than a sloth normally would. Shaking his head, Vargas responded, "No idea. Though if we want to fight it I suggest we be careful so we don't find ourselves overtaken." With that said, he drew his Anneal Blade from its sheath.

ID #84801

LD: 16 (15 + 1)

+1 T1 Material -> 2 T1 Materials

Everyone was seemingly very tired of the long standing combat. Rather than being a walk in the park it seemed to have become a hike up Everest. Everyone seemed on edge about it, with Hikoru becoming frustrated about his attacks not landing and Anemone even acknowledged it for everyone. The planning was a bust. Probably didn't help that he was such a low level and didn't even deal enough damage to help cover the mobs health loss. Still, he was trying to make up for it by dealing what he could. It was decent damage, just not great. With everyone feeling put out about the fight, Vargas decided to attack once more with the energy he did have left. Drawing his blade, he started the initial movement for his Snake Bite sword art. Before long, he was charging forward to attack the bear, his sword shining with the sword art activated. Releasing the attack, he cut down the bear causing it to breakdown into a multitude of fractal pieces. With the last bear gone, Vargas sheathed his blade once more and looked at the group. "Well that's finally over. I guess we're headed back now?" he asked as he rejoined them.

-withdrawing-
It was time. Time to get the hell out of there before they lost another player. Most of the lower levels had already started to make their way out. There was no reason for Vargas to stay and though he'd thought fodder mobs might appear, they hadn't. Sheathing his blade, he turned away and ran while keeping his peripheral vision on the boss. It wouldn't look to good for him to get attacked with his back turned to the enemy. Especially with how hard that thing would likely hit him. Calling out to the others of his group who hadn't already made their attempts to withdraw, "Let's get out now guys. No point in staying. These guys should be able to take him without us. We'll only get in the way." With that said, he continued on his way, exiting the clearing and the battlefield. They'd already lost one player and the loss in moral from the group was tangible. The thought of losing another would only make it worse.

Vargas sighed at the mention of the quest that left a foreboding mark on his psyche. Why did it have to be this quest? Obvious answer, cause it was easy and life just wanted to torment him. The quest reward was decent for starting out, which would definitely be helpful to Eatos since she was still fairly low leveled compared to himself. Though, comparing himself to the front lines there was an even bigger gap.

Steeling his resolve he nodded his head, "Well you'd be right in assuming that. The quest involves fighting a dark elf..." he frowned slightly at mentioning the mob, "...but it should be fairly easy to deal with. It probably won't take very long so if you want we can continue fighting other mobs while we're here or even try to find a dungeon. I recently got my Howl skill so I should be able to draw aggro on to myself." At the conclusion of his statement he gave her a warm smile so as to make her feel comfortable about  having him.

Hei's wish to find some new ruins was understandable, but the issue there was the fact that this was the sixth floor. Players had already canvassed this floor completely awhile back. Sure, they could find newer ruins but they'd more than likely just to out to be spawning dungeons. There wasn't much they could do about it but it was better than nothing. He listened to Hei as he talked about how he'd met up with a friend that he'd known from the outside, which led to him meeting his friend's friend who his friend had met in the game.

When Hei returned the question back to him Vargas just shrugged his shoulders. "Mostly just helping other guild members with quests they wanted to complete so they can level faster. Helped Stryder with the <Let there be Light> quest, Eatos with <Worn out Welcome>, and Atzo with <Blood in the Sand>. Otherwise, I've just tried to grind for Mats and equipment to get stronger."

ID #82411
LD: 20 (19 + 1)
+1 Mat

Name: Iron Sword
ID: 82090
Roll: 12 CD; 4 LD
Item Type: One Handed Straight Sword
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +2 Keen, +1 Paralyze
Description: A simple iron one handed sword
Post Link: Link Here

A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he waited. "God damn. He better get here sooner rather than later or else I'm gonna make a jump to the fourth floor to cool off," he groaned as he wiped away the sweat. Opening his menu he unequipped the cloak, leaving him in his usual green shirt and black cotton pants and causing his ears and tail to disappear as well. He definitely needed a ring so that didn't happen. Though, perhaps it didn't actually matter. Were the animal traits really important to being a high Council member or not? He'd have to check with Atzo the next time he saw him.

It wasn't long before the platform materialized a player. The player was about 5'6" and wore a black cloak with a deep hood. On the hood was a bright red eye. The player greeted Vargas which caused him to realize that the newcomer was Hei. "Sup Hei. I figured we could roam the jungle for any plants and mobs we find. Should be able to get plenty materials here. We could always make a stop at the Ruins later," he responded as Hei approached him. 

Pushing off the wall, he led the way out of Krycim and into the jungle. Even with the dense trees and jungle canopy, the floor was fairly well lit. Light filtered in through breaks in the branches and leaves, giving plenty of light to see by. Looking around their immediate vicinity he wasn't able to easily spot any available materials. "So what have you been up to lately Hei?"

ID #82250
LD: 14 (13 + 1)

@Hei

Vargas looked around the settlement of Krycim, as it was his first time on the sixth floor. It was hard to see much beyond the outskirts of the village due to the dense tropical jungle setting that existed. The buildings were covered in vines that hung from the thick jungle canopy. As far as he could see, the only inhabitants were Amazonians, which only increased the deep jungle setting.

Leaning against a broken down stone column, Vargas waited. He and Hei had discussed going out and gathering materials for themselves as their own current supplies were running low. He'd chosen this floor due to its massive overgrowth of plants. Adding in the fact that their were plenty of mobs for them to fight here, they were sure to get a decent amount of materials.

Vargas shifted uncomfortably due to the humidity. He still wore his cloak everywhere he went so as to show the activity of the guild, but it made him feel hot. His fox ears lay flat on his head as he kept the hood down to allow for some air to cool him off. Their wasn't much wind blowing through the dense trees, so it didn't do him that much good. "Next time, I need to see about getting a ring or amulet so I can take this thing off," he muttered as he pulled at his shirt, trying to get some air flow going.

@Hei

It was rather perfect timing for him when he received the message from Eatos. He'd been wondering what he should do about getting to know his guild mates more. For the most part, he'd really only partied with Atzo primarily. The fact that she wanted help with a quest on the third floor was a little unnerving. He remembered doing a quest on the third floor a long time ago. The worn out welcome quest, which required he fight a dark elf, had nearly gotten him killed.

Shaking off the morbid memory he made his way to the teleportation platform. If this was the same quest he was going to make sure to end it quickly before he allowed himself to allow it to affect his mood. He didn't need a repeat of the last time he had traveled along the third floor. Though, last time he was only trying to check out what some of the floors had to offer.

"Delilah," Vargas said as he walked onto the teleportation platform. Instantly, he was overcome by the system graphics as he was transported to the third floor's main settlement. He soon saw the village of Delilah as the graphics dispersed from his person, revealing him stepping off. Looking around, his ears twitched as they listened intently and his tail flicked about casually. Spotting Eatos, he walked over to her. "Hey Eatos. Here I am like you asked." Catching her eyes in his he questioned why, why did those amber eyes haunt him every time he looked back into them. "What's the quest anyways?"

It wasn't too astounded to hear her response to his question. Helping one's guild was a common thing among players. At least, those that were in guilds and not solo players. Obviously, though, she responded in turn by mirroring his own question.

He thought about how to respond to it. Should he say what was probably expected or just state it as it was? Deciding it was best to go with latter, he started, "I guess I joined because it made sense to have allies I could probably rely on. Atzo just asked if I was willing to join cause he had a position that needed filling in the high council. So, I said yes since I saw no downsides to accepting his offer." Sure, it might seem weird to others but that's just how it was. He accepted an offer to join a guild at one of its highest rankings. 

@Eatos

So I'm looking to buy a pair of gloves with unarmed damage, preferably rare or perfect. I need two of them.

I'd also like to get 2 accuracy accessories.

I don't need all four items from one person so if anyone has one of the items I need that'd be greatly appreciated.

2 Unarmed Damage Gloves (Rare+)

2 Accuracy Accessories (Rare+)

Name your price.

It sucked he hadn't been the one to finish it off but at least their quest was now over. Though, just cause the quest was over didn't mean their day was. They still had a dungeon to try to look for, if one was anywhere nearby and hadn't already despawned. Speaking of materials, it'd be good for me to collect more. I don't have too many left after my last batch of appraisals, Vargas thought as he glanced around their surroundings. There were few plants and hardly any variety. There was a cactus, a cactus and, ooh, another cactus. If he could find some desert blooms or something like that he could collect it. For now, he was just gonna have to make due. Looking at Atzo, Vargas shook his head smiling, "Yeah, perhaps. Yours didn't seem to do much better though. Hehe. At least your damage output is higher though."

ID #82136

LD: 7 (6 + 1) [No Mat]

@Shield

He looked at Airi, the one who Eatos had just recruited, as she talked to Atzo. Ren was taking care of Anthium currently, more than likely discussing his division and perhaps convincing him to join as well. It was hard for Vargas to try to discuss anything with Eatos since they had hardly discussed anything before. His tail brushed up against her as it swung back and forth behind him.

"Yeah, nice to properly talk to you Eatos. Congrats on the recruiting too. Yeah, I know I sent Hei off to try to follow Stryder to Hydra, but...." looking around for Hei, he spotted him talking to Aoda, "...seems that doesn't appear to be the case. Oh well, he'll find his way or just get distracted again. So...I guess we should get to know each other some. Why'd you choose to join the guild?"

As he talked his ears would flick about uncomfortably as he felt out of place talking to her. Her amber eyes unsettled him, unsettled his memories. Without knowing it, his tail had slightly bristled as well for a moment but flattened as he calmed himself down.

@Eatos

At the mention of the deaf NPC and the temple Vargas interest became piqued. "Sounds promising. Didn't know you knew sign language. Though, I'm sure there's plenty we don't know about each other." Vargas said as he followed Atzo as he lead the way to the edge of town. The three headed dog walked next to Atzo as they walked. If I remember correctly, I think that thing is known as a Cerberus from Ancient Greek mythology. A Cerberus was actually the one to guard the gateway to the doors of Hades, Vargas thought, observing the familiar. Wanting to break the silence, Vargas began with the first question that came to mind, "So when did you get the Cerberus? I don't recall you having it anytime that I've seen you recently." Vargas still planned to get his own familiar, so asking about Atzo's might give him an idea of how to go about getting one. Especially if it led him to getting a specific one he might want.

It was another day for Vargas in his shop. The only difference was that he still had an appraisal order to fill out for Atzo. Last time, he'd failed every attempt. The only good thing out of the whole ordeal was that he hadn't locked the items. Grabbing them from where he'd put them away, he crossed over to his counter and set down the Mirror of Fear and Duelbane. Let's see what you guys got then, Vargas thought as he grabbed the armour, Mirror of Fear, and began the appraisal process. It wasn't long before it notified him that it was locked. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Duelbane and began the process again. Once again, it too was locked. 

He glared at the two pieces of equipment fairly upset. He'd been asked by Atzo to appraise these and all he'd done was fail; and he didn't just fail like yesterday, no, he locked them both. Sighing, he still had a couple attempts available so he grabbed the one-handed sword he'd been working on before. Not expecting much, he was flabbergasted at the fact that he'd succeeded on an item that meant nothing to him but failed Atzo's gear. "Why?" was all Vargas asked as he put the blade on a weapon stand before grabbing a new, untouched clawed warhammer. Instantly he was notified of it locking. The weapon was worthless to him so he threw it in his junk pile to be sold of to an NPC later.

Mirrors of Fear

Duelbane

One-handed Sword +1 Keen, +1 Paralyze

Clawed Warhammer

-6 mats

+19 Exp from Appraisals

+1 Exp from Basic two handed spear

Vargas watched for his turn as the others moved in turn. The battle seemed to have become game of hide and seek as the shark nipped at Shield's heel before diving back into the sand. Atzo tripped over the shifting sands, causing him to roll forward to get back to his feet quickly as he lost his sword in the process. So far, it appeared that the fight was a spotlight for Vargas to strut around and slay the beast as everyone else flopped about. 

Looking to Shield, he saw his eyes glint as he spotted the shark. "If you want sushi, then I guess we'll just have to catch this thing and chop it up," he laughed as he quickly made his way across the rippling waves of sand to where he could now see the grains lifting up from the creatures movements. Activating his sword skill, he stopped running and slid across the ground as he slid his blade into the shifting sands, cutting through the mob. The sand shark thrashed violently under his feet as it tried to escape its assailant. It wouldn't be long before it died if its reaction was anything to go by.

@Shield

Vargas looked at the solid stone ground from where he sat as he waited. Grabbing his tail as it flicked about he softly brushed it with his hand. The warm sensation that came from it was rather pleasant and calming. It wasn't long before his ears flicked in the direction of were he heard Atzo coming from. Looking up at the man, he got up brushed himself off casually. "I'm doing great. I assume you've been waiting on the floor for me since you didn't come through the teleported. Sorry, but yeah, I'm ready to try to get some loot and maybe see if we can find anything cool. Do you want to go straight through the city or out around the edge and work our way up to The Eye?" Vargas seemed pretty pleased at the idea of climbing to the peak of the mountain. Supposedly, there was a speculation as to a rare, powerful monster that would spawn at the peak, but nobody had encountered such a thing yet. His tail flicked from side to side as he thought about it. Either way, he planned on killing some mobs and getting some decent loot.

@Atzo

"Here we are I guess. Another floor to explore for the first." Vargas had just materialized upon the teleportation platform in Nimbus on the seventh floor. He looked forward to exploring the mountainous region that existed on this floor. There were definitely dungeons to be found in the caves that littered the rocky outcroppings.

The settlement, Nimbus, was a massive stone fortress snugly fit against the side of the gigantic mountain. The buildings were made of stone, either carved into the walls, like old Native American cliff dwellings found in the south west, or basic standalone buildings.

Opening up his menu, he found Atzo on his friend list and opened his options. Hitting the message icon, he started typing out a message.

On Floor 7. Gonna be waiting here by the teleportation platform so you can find me easily. Looking forward to hunting some trolls and giants. Let's see about finding ourselves a couple dungeons while we're at it.

With that, he walked over to a bench and sat down as he looked through his equipment. Spotting his damage potions he decided to pull one out and drink it. Rendering the rectangular glass vial, he popped the cork and gulped it down. He felt energized from the dark red liquid, though it had a faint taste of iron to it. It didn't matter too much though as it did help increase his damage.

-Seendom's Bloodrage

+3 DMG

@Atzo