Creius

Nathan smiled softly as the party request popped up in front of him. It had been so long since the last time they had seen each other and it was a bit reassuring to see that Jonathan had survived so far. Without a hesitation, Nathan hit the accept button. "I soloed that quest quite a bit ago, it is not terribly difficult. I would gladly come along with you." The small HUD indicator for their party popped up, displaying their names and health. It was a slight reassurance to have someone that he knew well enough again. Nathan was more confident than ever in his abilities, all he had to do was play safely, but having a companion would be nice. The world of Aincrad had slowly been consuming him as he spent more and more time alone. "I understand what you mean about soloing everything, though. Mostly, that has been what I have been up to. I head to various floors and complete quests, my shop has also been occupying a bit of my time, though business is slow." Nathan began walking down the roads of Urbus with Jonathan, towards the fields where the wasps resided. "How have you been progressing?" Via the party indicator, Nathan could tell that his partner's health was rather low; therefore, his level was low. Nathan would do his best to fix that if he could, though. He was not going to lose a potentially good friend to this game, not anytime soon at least.

Nathan was walking through the town of Urbus, looking for something to do since things had rather been slow. He needed to hunt for materials but doing that over and over again only proved to be a bore, which was a shame. Deep down, this was like any MMO where there was tons of grinding but the world seemed too beautiful to waste so much time on such an act. He sighed softly and kept on walking down the streets. The streets were rather empty, most players either in the fields of the floor or simply on a higher floor by this point of the game, so it was easy to spot every single person he passed, something he liked to do out of habit just as a safety measure. To his surprise, though, he spotted someone that he recognized. They were off in the distance a bit so Nathan was not quite able to gather any details on the player, but something seemed familiar about them. As the distance between them closed details became easier to pick out and, slowly, the picture was built. Nathan's eyes widened and he jogged forwards because he had to know at this point. Slowing to a walk as he came up behind the player he became most certain that he knew who it was. "Jonathan? Is that you? What are you doing here? What have you been up to? Any idea what happened to Brax?..." There were so many questions to be asked since they had split up for months and had not seen each other. Jonathan had probably been the closest thing to a friend Nathan had made in his entire time in this world just because he had been so willing to work with him. However, just as he had thought, he had gotten stronger even without help. He still remembered that day so long ago when they had met. If anything, he would love to meet that woman again to apologize as well as show her that he had done well without guidance. That it was not impossible. The past slowly dissolved around him as he brought himself back to the present and he was now in front of Jonathan, looking into his eyes. Only moments had passed since Nathan had encountered Jonathan again and the past had briefly consumed him. "Oh, never mind that. What are you doing in Urbus? I'm looking for something to do and you seem to have something planned already. Would you care if I tagged along?" He was hoping that whatever it was, Nathan could help. He wanted to make up for the dissolution of their group in any way possible.

((Awww xD Your character believed in me and look at what happened! Honestly though, fighting lootable mobs isn't worth it compared to how quickly you could just scavenge materials imho, especially since the drops that might be worth fighting them are stupidly hard to get with the high LD xD.))

Nathan watched as the Dark Elf's health bar kept dropping, the bleed taking effect. Seeing that the battle was now heavily in his favour, Nathan stepped inside the Dark Elf's defenses and raised Bloodletter. The deadly blade adopted its crimson hue as the sword art system was activated once more and, with three deft thrusts into the torso, the health bar of the poor mob plummeted to zero. The Dark Elf kept reeling back, stumbling from the extreme damage, then froze mid-stumble and glowed for a second before shattering into pixels. A small victory window popped up, indicating all the loot that Nathan was able to obtain. Watching as the pixels dissolved into the air and sending the small box that indicated his victory away, Nathan looked around for his companion, the blacksmith, just to make sure she was fairing well enough.

Nathan's eyes widened slightly as she called him a dork and suddenly the awkward atmosphere was dissipated and nothing seemed to have happened. Maybe he had been wrong in his assumptions, as if he would know. Maybe she was toying with him, realizing how unskilled he was in social instances, but that suspicion passed quickly. The suspicion ended up passing because almost immediately she was back to her jesting manner. He opened his mouth to reply, hesitated, then said, "Of course I do not keep up with a dairy, no one has time for that in this game. Plus, who would want to reflect back on what happens in this death game? The Monument of Life is all that one might want to reflect on..." In truth, he kept a journal in the real world but that was because he wanted to capture whatever idea, or ideas, flew through his head that day. Time was not something to be wasted and here he was, stuck in a game and wasting a lot of his life with the potential of losing it. His musing was interrupted by her whining about how far they were from his shop, snapping him back to where they were. He looked around and realized they had made the walk into the market district, familiar shops and kiosks all around. "Oh, it is not that far away. A few more minutes walk at most." Nathan scanned over the crowd, searching for any sign of his own shop's sign, and saw the golden emblem of his shop just a couple city block's length away. He pointed towards the sign and said, "Over there, see the golden sign? That is my shop, The Gilded Hide. As I said, it is not that far away."

This is kinda cool xD I managed to get 7016. Kinda proud of that. Gonna go waste more time

Nathan kept his eyes steadily on the woman as she assessed him, watching the Katana to as it moved in her hands. When it was gone, as well as his own blade shortly after, his eyes came back up to her's and he gave her a steely gaze. He wanted that information. No, want did not adequately describe his desire. He held a craving for that information. As long as it would help him in his endeavors he would listen to this woman's words. Mentally, plans flew. Back and forth he began considering just what he could do in order to destroy his chosen foes. There was a great chance he would be tremendously outnumbered in every fight which meant he would need to get much stronger. Keeping his eyes on her he once again evaluated her and guessed that she would be able to help him with that issue. She could prove a most useful ally, maybe to a point where he could use her to further his plans. That was thought for later, though. For now, he would have to act as an obedient mercenary who would do just as she asked. One day, he planned to turn the tables but that was far off in the future.

His thoughts were brought back to the present situation when she began describing the current situation to him. The torrent of information worried him slightly, this was a terribly thick mess he had managed to get himself into but he would see the issue through. There was no backing down, especially now. With that resolution the steely gaze returned and determination filled him. These killers would submit to him one day and the entire underworld of player killer guilds would whisper his name in fear. He now had the resolve for the task. All he needed at this point was the task itself. This was when the woman began to describe a specific group. His hand fell to Bloodletter slightly as she mentioned that he could potentially be the leader of this group. He relaxed when she said he was much too weak. She was right, though. She could easily destroy him in a fight if she so desired. He had never heard of this Titan Hand but if they were player killers and she could provide him with the numbers to take the fight further he would have to help if he truly desired to accomplish his goal. He stepped forward and took her hand firmly in his and shook it, staring deeply into her eyes. He did not trust her at all, there was something in those eyes. He needed her, though, and it seemed that she needed him as well. Until he was stronger, he would just have to keep it this way. Once he was strong enough, he was certain he could terminate this temporary relationship and build something greater. "I do not need to be a hero. I just need to be strong enough to accomplish the coming tasks. Tell me, what exactly do you need me to do? Just tell me when and where and I will find this leader you so strongly desire to see terminated." He released her hand and held the gaze, waiting for whatever details were to come.

The Dark Elf quickly closed the distance spacing the two adversaries and thrust forward with his cutlass. The blade sailed forward, aimed at Nathan's center of mass, and came upon its target in a blink of an eye, just barely giving Nathan the time to react. With a small step to the side and bringing Bloodletter up, Nathan caught the cutlass on his own blade and pushed it away from his body. Now in safety, Nathan took advantage of the position he was in and how close he was to his enemy. Taking a step forwards and bringing Bloodletter up the length of the cutlass, Bloodletter began to glow its red hue as the sword art system was called upon. Once Nathan reached the hilt of the cutlass he pushed the blade down so his opponent's torso was wide open and he released the sword art. Bloodletter flew forwards and, before the Dark Elf could react, had pierced the foe six times in the shape of a cross. The enemy was sent reeling from the extreme damage that it has just sustained, its health bar dropping past the three-fourths point and into the red.

The bright red blush on her cheeks was easily seen by Nathan and the disappointment was obvious in her stance and the way that she hid her hands. He cast a glance down at the hand she had been holding, a small frown coming upon his face. He truly had not felt anything but obviously that had been the wrong answer. Bringing his eyes back up to her almost immediately he grasped at what to say. This was one of his failing points, socialization. He could chat politely with a guest or associate but this was not such a circumstance and this situation seemed to be calling for some delicate care. His interactions with this woman had gone well beyond what he was used to, maybe he had just as much to learn from being with her for however brief just as much as she had matters to learn from him. This was an issue to him, though. He was used to being able to tackle problems and resolve them easily but this was an area that he was just now realizing how woefully lacking he was. The awkwardness built up for a few moments, her quietly muttering how it had just been a jest. Surely she did not take him for an idiot because it obviously did matter on some level and if he were not so unskilled socially he was sure he would be able to figure out what the problem was. After those few moments she once again picked up on the jests and even poked him in the side, but it was obvious that she was disturbed in some way. He frowned slightly as he looked at her. "Are you sure it is nothing serious? I am truly sorry if I said something wrong." His frown developed a bit more as he tried to figure out what he could say that might alleviate the situation. "Um... Your hands were soft, they were pleasant enough to hold." His best hope was a compliment, in his previous experience everyone enjoyed being told something about them was nice. That was the only solution he could come up with, though.

((I'm a patient being :P Plus, I did a bit of poofing over this thread's time so I can't really complain))

Nathan darted forwards and thrust Bloodletter towards the dark elf quickly, the blade approaching the elf's torso. Nimbly, the dark elf stepped to the side and out of danger from the coming attack. The elf stepped forwards then and brought his blade up above his head. In a blink of the eye, the blade came down towards Nathan. Just as quickly and easily as the elf had, Nathan dodged the attack with a roll out of the way. He picked himself up and looked over to his opponent who was approaching Nathan, swinging his blade from side to side slowly as the rhythm of battle was set.

((Gonna keep fighting stuff. Sorry about the slow reply))

After the last of the wolves dissolved into pixels, Nathan turned to see what had happened to the axe-wielder who was accompanying him. He saw her a bit off in the distance, most likely scanning for any harvestable materials. With a slight nod, Nathan went to sheath Bloodletter when he heard something whistle through the air behind him. Nathan hit the ground in a roll as quickly as he could and slashed out behind him with the rapier. There was no solid contact, only a quick rustling of feet through the grass. Nathan picked himself up out of the roll and looked at his adversary and saw it to be a dark elf wielding a cutlass in his right hand. The dark elf's bright red eyes stared deeply into Nathan's as the two began circling each other as the duel initiated.

((RIP xD I'm so used to being by myself that I saw combat rolls and thought I'd already attacked. Yeah, I knew about the energy. Just a mistake. Oh, and the LD would only be for same hate. Not just in general of course xD))

Nathan watched as the blacksmith made short work of the pack of wolves, each one falling beneath her battle axe swiftly. He shook his head, ashamed of having to rely on her since he had missed his attack. No matter, he would just have to do better next time. He scanned the horizon for more mobs which they could hunt and noticed the small gesture from the purple-haired woman. Not one for words, nothing wrong with that. He nodded slightly to her and noticed another pack of wolves off in the distance. He gestured towards the pack and then darted off towards it.

As Nathan got closer to the wolves he accessed his sword arts and Bloodletter began to glow once more. The snarls of the wolves filled his ears as he pressed closer, to the point that he could have reached out and touched any of them. At that moment Nathan released Sweep and in two swift horizontal slashes the Wolves' health bars began to decrease. Immediately the wolves turned on him and each leapt forward, taking a bite out of his armour. His HP barely took any hit but the same could not be said for the wolves. One by one the pack dissolved into pixels as thorns took effect, leaving nothing behind but a small window indicating the loot dropped by the mobs. He turned over to the Blacksmith to see how she was fairing.

Nathan watched a bit wide-eyed as they pulled out crystals and crushed them between their thick hands. The fight had most definitely just gotten single-sided. What had he been thinking? It was a two versus one and he had no way to heal besides his battle healing ability and, while he trusted his ability to dodge greatly, he doubted he was able to dodge forever. He was going to get hit and unlike them he was incapable of keeping his health up on a consistent level. He messed with his grip on Bloodletter and looked down at the blade as Purge began to speak. There was nothing to it but to fight his way out, that was the only way out of this mess he had gotten himself into. He looked up as Purge was about to announce the coming death and saw a figure drop between the two brutes. Even from the distance between them Nathan was able to tell that this woman was dangerous. The atmosphere created by her dark attire and the relentless glare of her eyes unnerved him and he was unable to shake the feeling. He did not allow the feeling show on his face, though. Showing weakness would only hurt him at this point and he realized that so he just stood there stoically and awaited whatever events that were to be.

Everything happened quickly after that, in a flash the assumed enemy put herself between the two brutes and him and sent the two flying with one attack. Nathan watched and tested his grip on Bloodletter once more just to make sure he could fight if necessary. He was feeling a bit uneasy about this woman and had yet to decide if she were friend or foe. When she casted a look to him and asked if he were alright he tersely replied, "Yes," and watched her scare off the two killers. He debated whether to chase after them or not, knowing full well that death was a good possibility. A few hundred paths went through his head quickly and he turned his attention on the woman in front of him. He realized the potential of ambush and/or a larger group was highly probable, even without her pointing out so. And the fact that he was most likely marked was kind of a given, he had just attacked two members of what was obviously an organized group. He would just have to get stronger and deal with any attempts on his life. What he had not realized was the fact that there was a turf war going on, this news rather unexpected as it passed from the woman's lips. Such a war meant there had to be quite a bit PKers out there and it made Nathan wonder just how many players died daily by another's hands. His teeth ground as a small anger built up in him. Someone had to do something about that and, if it were to be him, he would have to get a lot stronger. He looked up and met her eyes with a cool look, the anger having passed momentarily. "I may be one player right now but one player can be quite a threat if they're strong enough. Give me the time and these player killer guilds will rue the day that they raised a blade against another player. They are nothing more than animals in my eyes and I will slaughter them as such." Quietly, he took a breath. He was quite a bit angered at the slaughter he had witnessed that day and the cry for vengeance kept returning. His eyes fell to the blade in her hands and he watched the katana carefully, not entirely sure what to make of its presence. Surely she was on his side if she had attacked the PKers and she was quite strong also. Maybe she could help him. "Plus, there are bound to be others who would not stand for the injustices I witnessed today. There will be more who would stop any others from being killed in cold blood as such. You seem to know quite a bit about these player killers, maybe you could help me?" There was a momentary suspicion as a small realization hit him. He discarded the thought, though. Surely she was not affiliated, it was most likely just common knowledge. She might seem dangerous enough to be a player killer but she was still green. If he spent more time in towns listening to rumours and gossip maybe he would have the same knowledge. "You have no obligation to, I can do just fine on my own. I always have."

((Sorry, might be a bit slow as I try to get accustomed to RPing again xD))

Nathan ran out of Delilah village to where he had told Teion they would meet. He was running a bit behind and honestly would not have been surprised if she had already started hunting without him. As he ran out of the gates and into the fields he noticed the woman swiftly cutting down a small group of mobs in a swift attack. He drew Bloodletter and approached her slowly across the prairie. "Good day, thanks for coming out here with me." With that said he turned to the wilds and noticed another pack of wolves not too far away. Quickly he darted forward with his rapier, it glowing its blood red hue while the sword art was charged. The pack of wolves turned on him and Nathan released the sword art. In two swift motions, Bloodletter passed through nothing but thin air, narrowly missing the closest of wolves but still not hitting anything. Nathan stepped backwards away from the wolves and watched as they came down on him. The wolves came down on him together and Nathan had to duck and roll in between each savage beast as he dodged the relentless attacks. After what seemed to be forever but was actually only a few seconds, Nathan was able to roll away from the pack and make enough distance where if they were to attack again he could counterattack. This time the wolves stayed back a bit and began circling the two players as they waited for the next move.

Jazmyne received a small. uncaring glance as she slapped Nathan on the back, not really accustomed to friendly mannerisms. He had no idea why she had slapped him on the back in such a jovial way, it hadn't hurt but it was a tad annoying. What he did understand was that she was truly trying her best to annoy him. While she was secretly resolving herself to pestering, or at least what he saw as pestering, him for the day, Nathan was resolving not to betray any annoyance and fuel her fires. Now it was a contest around whose resolve was stronger. Thus, he did not rise up to her saying that he was dating scorpions and left it at no comment. He simply gave her a withering look that indicated at the stupidity of such a remark. "No one dates scorpions, simple as that. Now stop acting like an idiot," almost seemed to be conveyed by the look. When she moved on to his lack of returning the high five he listened as she mentioned how his dead mother was more skilled at the social interaction than he was which, sadly, was probably true. He turned his head to look at her and noticed the lit up eyes that indicated a passion and, considering her previous words, that passion was directed towards his annoyance. "I'm sorry that I was incapable of returning your gesture," he said simply and moved on.

After showing her how the skill system worked and closing the character info windows he realized just how close she was to him. He looked at her suspiciously as she pressed herself against his side. A mischievous look came across her face and instantly he began thinking about what she could possibly be doing. It didn't take long for him to figure out as she outright told him. Nathan sighed softly at her question and further comment on his liking of guys. He truly had no idea where she got that idea but no point in trying to refute it, she would most likely just persist. He shook his head slightly to her question. He was pretty sure his mother did not count as an answer to that question so he did not even bother. Then he felt her smooth, thin fingers slip into his hands and tightly squeeze his hand. He could feel her warmth as their hands were clasped together, binding them for that moment. And he felt nothing. "Um... Not particularly. Not that I have anything against you but... Am I supposed to like it?" He looked at her blankly as they walked down the street, still hand in hand.

Nathan entered his shop and immediately went to the crafting room, intent on making that item for the customer. He pushed open the door and grabbed leathers from the storage and began working as soon as he could. Once again, item after item, he did not find anything he deemed worthy of his customer. With a sigh, he went to the front room and took one piece of armour that at least somewhat resembled the order. He would give some money back since it was not what the customer ordered, that would make up for the not quite perfect craftsmanship. He set aside the order and took out some Col that he had gained from the order to make up for the price difference in the item quality. All that needed to happen now was for the customer to come to the shop and retrieve it.

((-Lesser Defensive Measures -1700 Col to @Kalesh))

Nathan heard the usual ringing of the bell that indicated the entrance of a customer so he left the crafting room and walked behind the front counter. He pet Hector idly while he listened to the request as it was given to him and watched as a sack of Col and leather settled onto the counter. With a nod, Nathan took the payment into his inventory and took note of the exact specifications that the customer had given, noting the size the armour had to be as well. "I will get right on this and get your item to you as soon as I get it made." Nathan turned around then and went back into the crafting room, taking out the leathers he had taken into his inventory and put them with the rest of his leathers that were stored in the shop. He kept a bunch, though, so that he could go ahead and craft the man's armour.

None of the pieces of armour turned out quite correctly, a slight disappointment to Nathan's business standards but there was little he could do little about that. He exited the crafting room and looked at the customer that he had left just minutes ago. "It might take me another day or two to get an item that I deem worthy of selling to you. Just come check in tomorrow or the day after and I should have it."

((+2700 Col and 7 Materials))

((Will fluff out later, busy at the moment but wanted to get the rolls in xD))

Nathan darted through the trees and scanned for any signs of life that the player killers might have left behind. The trees flew past him as he delved deeper into the forest, unknowingly into the arms of the very people whom he was chasing. The darkness grew around him as the edge of the forest fell behind him and there were no obvious signs of his prey. They had hidden their tracks fairly well, adept at the sneaking and hiding skill undoubtedly. He slowed to a jog so that he could take more time to inspect his surroundings, hoping that there would be some sign of anyone from the group of player killers. He was looking out to his side, deep into the forest, when he heard two heavy sounds in front of him, about thirty meters out. He stopped immediately and looked forward at the two ambushers in front of him. A momentary rage gave way and clouded his vision as he realized these were the men that had needlessly killed that young boy, which one of the brothers noted at. He cast his face down as he tried to control his anger, the man's taunting about the child's death not helping. He just saw that horror-filled face, a face that condemned him for not acting when he could have. As he dealt with the rage the two took a step forward in unison and he snapped out of his emotions. He could not help but grin as the blinding rage subsided, a grin that held a slight insanity to it as the bloodlust returned. "Oh, it's you two beauties. I am actually really glad I ran into you." Nathan looked up at them, the grin wide on his face. The look was unnerving, so much so that the two brutes hesitated and stopped as they listened to him speak. "As for this "common rapier", it prefers the name Bloodletter." He brought the mentioned blade up, holding the tilt in one hand and the tip of the blade in the other. "Remember that if you would not mind. I just figured I would pay you for what you did back there." The blade slowly fell to his side and he took a slow step forward. "You two seem to relish in pain and suffering so I guess payment in such would be suitable." Another small step forward. "I doubt you two fully realize what it means to take a life, to watch the essence of someone wash out of them." Again, a step. "To have the blood of a countless many all on your hand." Again. "Death is novelized in this game." One more. "No where near as dramatic as the reality." Another. "But I will do my best to demonstrate it to you." A larger step. "To you, I am a demon." A second. "The devil." A third. "Diablo, Thanatos, Ankou, or Yama." Another. "Whatever you may call him, that is me." One more. "But," a small pause, "most importantly, I am redemption." The antsy one, known as Purge to those that he spoke to, seemed to not like Nathan's monologue. As soon as the last words were uttered he darted forward and thrust his ebony spear forward. Contemptuously, Nathan parried the attack to his side. These two brutes were not dealing with some push over. The attack, having broken the ice of combat, incited Nathan to dart forward quickly. Bloodletter hissed down the shaft of the spear and glowed its blood red color as it approached its target. The second brother turned to stop the attack but Nathan had already closed the distance in less than a second. Pushing the spear to the side a bit he took Bloodletter and unleashed the Quadruple Pain sword art. Bloodletter eagerly dove into Purge four times in quick succession, once in each shoulder and twice above the thighs. The effect of the attack was immediate, and most definitely not death. No, the shocked look on Purge's face showed the true effect. The spear hovered in midair, its wielder unable to move his arm at all now, and Nathan rolled under it, fully expecting the other brother's retaliation. Sure enough, there was a loud yell and a louder crash as Purify's axe slammed into the ebony spear that was in suspension. Without hesitation Nathan darted forward, Bloodletter gleaming once more, and slashed out twice at the two brothers and caught them both in the AOE attack. Knowing that the stun would be wearing off soon, Nathan darted backwards, well out of range of the spear. Once he was in a safe range he flourished Bloodletter and waited for the two brother's to come at him. A two on one combat would be difficult, but Nathan was sure it was doable, especially if his armor did its job. The two brutes charged him, the spearman in front and the axe behind. The spear, once again was thrust at him and Nathan dodged the heavy attack with ease. He brought Bloodletter up, about to bring the blade down on the head of Purge when he noticed a movement. Too late, he tried to dodge out of the way of the axe as it came down but the head of the weapon caught Nathan in the side and sent him crashing into the ground. Purify stumbled backwards, though, a sudden effect catching him by surprise. While Nathan's health dropped a bit from the basic attack Purify's health dropped more as the thorns dealt its damage. Nathan took the chance to stand up and saw the spear coming at him once more, aimed at his gut. Nathan parried the strike, knocking it to the side, then stepped forward, Bloodletter gleaming in his hands as it thirsted for blood. The blade sailed forward and quickly struck the spearman in the chest three times, sending Purge backwards towards his brother whom had already recovered from the thorns damage. It was then that Nathan wondered if he had the energy to fight two players at once. He very well could output the damage too, especially with the added damage from bleed and thorns, but it was a tiring process to deal heavy blows.

Nathan was unable to leave but nor was he able to help. Instead he just sat there and watched as the entirety of the small group was decimated. Slowly, one by one, all the older players were slaughtered. Two of the brutes hesitated as they approached the last one, a small boy. For a fraction of a second the glimmer of hope that the boy would be left alone, scarred as he may be, and be able to live was in Nathan's heart. That hope was quickly dashed though as the two brutes argued over who would get the kill. Nathan actually winced as he saw the black spear thrust forward and impale the young boy, picking him up off the ground as the spear was held up. It had been a slow attack due to the weight of the weapon but the child had not dodged it. No, now that young child sat on the end of the spear and had to watch as his health slowly depleted to zero, horror in his eyes. The worst part was that the two large brutes who had done most of the work in the massacre seemed to be enjoying parading around their prize of a dying boy. Nathan stood up, knowing it was far too late to do anything but he knew that he could not just stand by and watch as the men carried on such sadistic work. He drew Bloodletter and began his descent on the group of black robed figures. Right as he took his first step he stopped and watched as the young child slowly dissolved into the pixelated polygons of death. Nathan's mouth sat open as he watched, unable to comprehend how anyone could find joy in such fiendish acts. As he stood there, unable to comprehend what had just happened before his eyes, he watched one robed figure approach the two brutes that had done the most damage and proceeded to drop large bags of Col as payment. Nathan scowled as he realized they were just petty murderers, men who relished in the act of murder and were pleased to be paid for it. There was no honour in such kills, no great sense of accomplishment from slaughtering innocents. Those type of sadistic men disgusted him and anger slowly built up in him. Slowly, each player took their share and then disappeared into the shadows, leaving the scene of the massacre behind for Nathan to stare at.

Nathan stood there, shamefaced for a second. He had spent so much of his time recently training to become stronger and he had done nothing to help the group. What if he could have been the deciding factor? Maybe he could have saved that poor young boy who had died way too early. With a disgusted groan Nathan sheathed Bloodletter and walked down the slope to where the massacre had taken place. There was nothing. No sign of the players' existence. No blades, no corpses, no smells, not even a single pixel that would hint at the fact that they had existed. They had been wiped off of Aincrad as easily as he could have thrown a piece of trash away. Deemed worthless and discarded. The anger slowly grew, becoming a raging fire in him as he looked around the empty scene of the massacre. How had he allowed such an atrocity to occur? He could have stopped it but he had simply sat idly, watching as a group of innocent players were slaughtered. He had hesitated and watched as they had all been killed just because he was not sure they would protect his back and result in his death. He felt no pity for himself for having witnessed such an act, there was only disgust at himself. Slowly something built in him, something he had not felt in a long time. Bloodlust. Those player killers, they deserved to die. They were trash, nothing but corpses in his mind. They already lacked a soul evidently, he would be doing their bodies a favor by burying them. He sat there, seething for a few seconds. He would not forget, not now and not ever. If necessary he would hunt them down outside of this game to make sure that justice was reaped, however it was done. The sounds of boars spawning in roused him from his thoughts and he looked around, making sure he was still safe. Looking behind him, towards the safe zone, he made a split second decision. He turned to the forest and ran into it, intent on finding at least one of the player killers and giving them as well deserved of a punishment as any criminal deserved. As he entered into the shadows of the forest he scanned from side to side and drew his rapier, Bloodletter singing as it rasped out of its sheathe and seemed to sense its master desire for someone's untimely demise.

Nathan looked at her blankly as she told him to lighten up and mentioned how she was there with him since that was definitely a cause for joy. For all he knew she was going to do her best to antagonize him just for the fun of it, it seemed to be that way thus far at least. Though she was tiring, he was kind of stuck with her it seemed so he would tolerate it for now. He had been kind of hoping that his emotionless staring would steer her away, it usually kept most people away, but she stayed. He noticed her staring at his face intently, even going so far as to squint at him. He had no idea what she was looking at but whatever it was she seemed to discard the thought. Then she asked the most ridiculous question ever and she got a look that told her so. He was not exactly dating material and he realized that, it was hard for him to connect with others so he just stayed away. "No, Hector is my scorpion," he said succinctly and kept walking on.

Nathan opened his mouth to reply when Jazmyne grabbed his hand and pulled it up and proceeded to slap it. He looked at her in bewilderment as he took his hand back and saw her sticking her tongue out at him. This woman really did seem to enjoy messing with him. All the more reason to not react then, no point in fueling the fire. "Okay... I do not believe that was entirely necessary. As for your question, that is difficult to answer." He looked up a bit, contemplating the best answer. "You do not need to worry about how you use the weapon, the system takes care of it for you, especially the sword arts which are entirely system. You just... Attack and the system compensates so that it is a fair enough attack. It takes time though to get more proficient with the weapon so that it deals more damage." He swiped his hand down and moved through his menus to his skills. He indicated his weapon skill, which said Apprentice next to it and then indicated other skills in the list. "If you look, there is a ranking system in the game for skills, much like any MMO. So, to get better with your weapon you have to work at it but as for the basics, they are covered by the system. You just provide an input." He closed up his menus and looked over at her, wondering if that answered her question.

((Just gonna slip in my rolls for the day))

Nathan walked into the shop once again and headed towards the counter. After petting Hector he opened the crafting room door and entered the room. Once in the room he went over to his material shelf and grabbed quite a few materials to be used in that day's crafting. With materials in hand he headed over to the crafting table and took up his needle and thread. He worked the needle and thread through the materials and was rewarded with three items and two failures. Two of the three items were fair enough, nothing seemingly special. The third was quite a bit special, almost perfect in structure.

It had been a quiet day out on the first floor, not much going on at all. The sky was a clear blue with no clouds to be seen and the sun provided a nice warmth that would make most smile. None of it quite fit with the horrors that Nathan was going to see that day but at the present moment, he felt content. He was laying down in the grass out in the fields, quite a bit away from the Town of Beginnings but he held no fear of monsters. The mobs of the first floor were beneath him now thanks to the rapid levelling that he had gone through. In a matter of weeks he had gone from struggling with a basic boar to soloing the lower level floor bosses and he was quite happy with that. Today, though, he did not plan on farming or grinding. Today he planned on relaxing. However, as with most plans, that is not what ended up happening.

The sun washed over his face as he lay there, right on the edge of a forest. His eyes were closed as he bathed in the artificial sunlight and he just listened to the world around him. He could hear the movement of animals in the forests and the snorts of boars a little farther out in the fields where he was and, occasionally, he could hear players fighting said mobs. All in all, he was having a pleasant time just laying there and not worrying about anything. Everything felt right at that exact moment even if the world around him was truly wrong. At that moment he did not worry about death or hurrying up to get to the frontlines so that the game could be beaten. The only thing that he was worrying about was a small lump of dirt that was not quite even with the rest of the ground and had been bothering him. He shifted slightly and sighed, rather content with life and happy to have the ability to just stop and breathe.

It all began a few hours after he had begun his nap-like relaxation period and he was not entirely sure what was going on at first. While he lay there he suddenly noticed how his ears were picking up the sound of steel on steel. That sound was most definitely not something he found natural to the game but he did not let himself worry. It very well could just have been a duel between two players who had gotten a little bored and antsy and needed to do something. That is what he told himself until the first scream reached his ears. Instantly his eyes snapped open and he picked himself off the ground and tried to detect from which direction the scream or clashing of steel had come from. Another scream. Nathan ran forward, towards the sound, and did not stop until he came upon a most horrific scene.

The group had probably been partying together to try and catch some easy monsters on the first floor for some drops. That would have been Nathan's guess at least since they seemed to be a lower levelled party from the equipment that he saw. The other group though, he could tell nothing about besides the fact that they were malicious, as obvious not only from their actions but the atmosphere. The entire second group was clothed in black robes, hiding their equipment from his view so that all he saw was the wide variety of weapons that they used. The clashing of steel that Nathan had heard was the sound of the two groups meeting in combat and the scream was probably the helpless looking girl sitting in the back of the farming group, probably just having started out on her journey. He watched as the two groups fought each other and saw the reasoning for the girl's screams almost immediately. One of the black cloaked fighters parried a blow and immediately riposted, his blade sinking into the other player. A look of disbelief came across the young man's face and he disappeared into pixels.

Nathan's eyes widened as he witnessed this death but he could not will his feet to move forward as he watched the player killers proceed to hound on the rest of the group. He stood there helplessly, not knowing if he could trust the players he wished to save with his life nor if he could actually beat the player killers. He just stood there watching, plan after plan flying through his mind as he tried to come up with some way to help the poor group of players.

((Funnily enough, my character hates desert's xD Issues in his past that I've hinted at in a few threads, especially my <<Calming the Soul>> so sorry. He wouldn't willingly go there.)

Nathan was a bit shocked by the rapid acceptance of his proposal and watched as she accessed her menus. Shortly afterwards, a small window popped up indicating a trade of funds and Nathan hit accept. She had given him 1,200 Col as payment so mentally he guessed that meant she owed him five materials if he were to try and stick to the real price. He swiped his hand down and accessed his menus and sent a trade offer to her to give her the armour that she had just put a down payment on. Now that he had the Col and had given the armour he had to think of some place to go hunting for materials. "Mmm, how about some minotaurs on the third floor? Could also take down some nepents as well... And if we get especially bored, I have been thinking about taking on a dungeon if you think you're up for it. I'm certain I could solo it but I guess company might be nice if we were to find one." He reached under the counter, Hector crawling up his arm and onto his shoulder while Nathan waited for a reply. Hector was a useless familiar in terms of buffs but he was always nice to have around on small excursions for materials. With his familiar on his shoulder he looked up at the woman, waiting to see if she would accept his proposal of a hunt.

((+1200 Col to Creius. -1200 Col to Teion. -Sandstorm from shop +Sandstorm to Teion))