Lavay

With a great big yawn Lavay woke up in one of the inn beds. For the briefest of moments, he though perhaps that all of this had been just a dream, and he was waking up in his bed back in his house. However, as blurry eyes broke way to the still unfamiliar setting of the SAO game he let out a small sigh. "Ugh, guess it wasn't a dream after all." He grumbled to himself as he was reminded that he was in fact still stuck in this death game. "Whatcha gonna do though..." He thought as he sat up. Pulling up his menu he checked the time, and luckily, he had not over slept his meet up with his friend, and partymate Dani.

Taking a few minutes to toss on his gear, and what not. Which of course was as easy as clicking a few buttons he then made his way down to the main room of the inn. Sparsely populated by the handful of AM drinkers Lavay kind of chuckled to himself. "At least, with the fake alcohol that doesn't get you drunk it also has the courtesy to not give you a hangover." Still last night as he drank and chatted away with his friend it was almost like he was just sitting in a bar with his buddies getting tipsy off the nostalgia and taste alone.

Waiting by the door, as soon as the boxer arrived Lavay planned to greet her with a big dumb grin on his face and a wave. Also known as his typical greeting for anyone who is at least an acquaintance to him. Though he wasn't much a morning person the anticipation of the quest today had him pretty excited given that he was still riding the high off of their last victory which jumped him up 3 levels and he hadn't even attacked anything.

@Daniella

"I second that decision." Lavay said in response to Dani's comment. "Although, I'm definitely still bummed that it is for the taste and good memories." Laughing to himself he stretched letting out a long yawn. "You sure there isn't as a way for it to replicate actually getting drunk, because I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need that before we're done here in this game." There was no question that the realization of all of this was still hitting him, and there was nothing like a nice large drink to help someone through those kinds of times.

When Dani talked about her quest and skills it didn't come to any surprise that the boxer would want to be famous for her fists even if she did possess some other rather impressive attributes. "Hey, I've got no doubt that you can do it after all anyone who can punch materials out of trees is surely on the right track." Lavay chuckled as he contemplated his own skills. "I honestly haven't given mine much thought..." Especially given this strange dance he was doing to remember that this was both a MMO game as well as real life with real consequences. "I guess I'll probably just keep it simple right out of the gates focusing on my weapon and armor. I suppose you really can't go too wrong with that." Shrugging he would have to do some actual research on it later.

Just as the boxer commented on the blacksmiths location the shop came into view. "Huh, ya no kidding. This is even easier than I thought." Lavay then walked up, and entered the shop. Yet another old man who looked shockingly like the alchemist was tending to a smith only poking his head up one the door shut behind the warrior. "Hey there..." Pulling up his inventory Lavay pulled up the trade with the blacksmith while saying. "...We're hear delivering a few potions as part of the quest from the alchemist." Lyle smiled, and nodded accepting the quest as complete. Yet another quest complete icon popped up on his screen drawing a slight fist pump out of him as he turned back to Dani. "Wooo, guess that's that, huh... bar time?" He had a giant grin on his face after asking the question.

@Daniella

When Dani turned to inform him of her success Lavay clapped his hands while chuckling. "Never doubted you for a moment." As much as it may have sounded it he wasn't trying to patronize her this time. In fact, he was really proud of her, especially after how hard they had to work to find all the materials. A prideful feeling that continued to swell as the quest rewards popped up in their inventory. As his finger lifted to click accept the warrior kind of laughed to himself, as there was a strange sense of accomplishment that filled him. Even though they had not fought anything, nor did they actually work that hard or long there was just something that hit him. It was the feeling of success the feeling of taking his first step into this new world that he would call home.

So, caught up in his own thought Lavay had completely missed the old man telling them that they had one smaller task to accomplish. It wasn't until the boxer commented that he returned to the world. "Huh, oh... ya!" Scrolling through his inventory he says the items. "Not a bad point to start from at all." Smiling he gave old man whiskers a small wave, and opened the door for Dani on the way out while playfully saying. "Ladies first."

Once outside Lavay pulled up a map of the town, and quickly found the blacksmiths shop. So, looking over to his partner he smiled, and said. "Well, then quick errand boy mission, and then it's drinks time, right?" Smiling he started walking in the direction of the shop. "Speaking of which did we ever decide if it was going to be just one drink or two." Winking to her he made sure to keep the tone extra light as he was really looking forward to not just the free drink, but hanging out with her as well.

@Daniella

Clearing way for Dani, the warrior propped himself against the wall as he watched her brew the concoction. Lavay's eyes shot open then the little explosion happened. "Holy sh..." He shouted running forward. "Are you okay?" Waving his arms about he started coughing as well from the large plume of smoke that had emerged from the girls work stations. Eventually, he found the poor girl in all the smoke, but before he could say anything his words were cut off by the boxers warning, and this time instead of stoking the flame he held up his arms, and simply back up just lightly chuckling to himself.

Leaning back against the wall. Lavay instead just simply stated. "I'm sure it was just that workstation try mine instead." Looking to the old man the warrior said. "That's what it was right, just a faulty station." Unsure of the NPC's ability to embellish the truth he just opted to leave it at that, and just silently cheered on the boxer as she started to make her second try at the potion. Still despite it all he couldn’t help the little chuckle that kept creeping out of his mouth every few seconds or so. As much as he really wanted to be supportive the whole damn thing was just too funny to not laugh at. Hopefully Dani would feel equally lighthearted about it as soon as she had successfully brewed one of the potions.

@Daniella

Lavay smiled as the boxer sounded like she was about to pay him a compliment, and in a way, she still did it just wasn't the one he was expecting. "Hah, ya caught me. Do you think that they have profession housewife around here?" The quizzical look on his face only held for a handful of seconds before he burst into laughter. Luckily by the time the old man’s hut came into view his laughing had finally stopped. Especially at Dani's next comment which made him reach for his stomach. "Gee, thanks, I WAS hungry before that." Chuckling he shook his head. "Besides that's probably the baker that does that this guy is an alchemist so he probably uses you to make potions."

Upon arriving like the conquering heroes that they were Lavay smiled and gave a confident nod to the player who were about to embark on this quest. Simply choosing to ignore his partners interesting comment on the old man he instead responded to the NPC. "Oh, it wasn't so bad, and..." His voice changed from normal to really light mumble as he turned to Dani. "...why the hell am I making small talk with a computer again." He said behind a layer of chuckling.

Fortunately, the old man didn't seem to catch on to Lavay's lack of being able to the difference between people and the NPC's. Instead he began his instruction on how to make the basic potions, and the warrior listened intently before looking over to Dani. "Alright, first times a charm then it's drinking time!" With that said he began the process which turned out to be quite simple luckily as the materials slowly transformed into a potion. Sure, enough it was just any potion it was one of rare quality. "Hah, ya that's what I'm talking about!" Once his was finished he looked back to the boxer and waved her on. "Guess you're up."

@Daniella

Holding his hands up Lavay just laughed. "Hah, I swear it wasn't me, I didn't actually expect that to work." The funny part was he didn't know if he had done anything, but that being said he didn't mind her pondering that fact either. So, with a wink he was quick to shift topics when she suggested that they get out of here. "Sounds, like a great idea to me. I guess we'll take the stuff back to the old man first then settle up the bar tab afterwards." With some light chuckling he sheathed his sword, and followed the boxer as she made her way out of the forest.

Looking to Dani as she turned around Lavay kept grinning, because even though this was just a stupid gathering quest that probably took them way longer than usual it was his first victory in his new home. On top of that it looks like he ended up making a good friend in the process, so there was not on the sense of accomplishment, but the rewarding feeling of winning someone over. Of course, the boxer's point was valid they weren't quite finished yet. "Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. I'd assume it's just going to be some little trinket. I've uh... never been the super handy type, so let’s at least hope." He laughed nervously unsure of how hands on the crafting portion of this game was.

With the town of beginnings in site again as they cleared the woods Lavay's smile only grew. "Welp, no time like the present..." He said before starting to pick up the pace. "May as well hurry up get this over with quickly, so we can be back at the bar in no time." He wasn't sure if it was just the placebo effect or not, but strangely he was getting hungry and thirsty just from the thought.

@Daniella

Naturally, the overly oblivious guy missed her blush, and other reactions to his physical contact. Although, Lavay was happy to hear that she was proud of their little team too, and he verbally confirmed it with a "Hell ya we are." Giving her one more little wink his eyes shifted forward as they continued to move towards their next target. He ended up giving her another little smile as she agreed with his plan to relax if either of them took some damage. "Yup, no sense in rushing anything since we're apparently going to be here for quite a while." With a small friendly nudge, he hoped that she wouldn't focus on the scary parts of fighting. Her final point just before the fight caused him to wonder what she was like before all this, but before he could toss out another guess she was already on her way to attack the boar.

---

After turning himself into a human shield Lavay pulled his sword back for a killing blow. However, before he could swing the boar completely by passed him going for the girl. It was weird watching aggro mechanics work from a 'real life' perspective, but it made sense given that it was an mmo. Turning around he tried to warn the girl, but the boar had already knocked her down. "Oh shi..." He said as Alice's health bar continued to drop. "Hold on I've got it!" Pulling his sword back the two-handed warrior was about a half second to late at the creature tried to pounce on her while she was done.

Fortunately, Alice was on her toes enough to put the spear between her and the boar. The second the creature hit it, it quickly exploded into the now familiar blue crystals. Looking down at her his first instinct was to check her wounds as he was still struggling with the lines between real life and game. However, when her first comment was about a lack of loot Lavay's concern slightly washed away, and instead of helping her up he plopped on the ground right next to her. "Ya I think a break is probably a good idea." He paused a moment clearing his throat. "You had me worried there for a bit. If we have to fight another one how about I take the hits." Rotating slightly, he smiled at the girl it was evident there was still some concern in his eye as he say her health had been dropped to nearly 50%

Once Alice initiated the trade Lavay quickly hit the accept key, and said. "Appreciate you sharing, apparently both our luck sucks for getting bonus stuff... Oh speaking of which did you get your tusk yet?"

Unable to restrain himself Lavay joined along in his partner's laughter. "Heh, yup. Can't argue with that." Rubbing his head as though the object had actually hurt he continued chuckling for a few moments longer as Dani attempted to try the same thing. As soon as the boxer's fist hit the tree the warrior made sure to cover his head as he wasn't sure what the potential risks of brain damage were in the game. Of course, regardless it was usually a good idea to keep that kind of damage to a minimum.

Once, clear of the danger zone Lavay joined the girl in looking up at the tree, and he couldn't help lightly laughing at Dani's play by play commentary on if it was going to drop or not. Looking back down at his partner he caught her sigh, and he genuinely felt bad for the girl. "Yah, there is no question this is pretty tedious." Giving her a light pat on the back he attempted to boost her confidence. "I have no doubt that we'll get your final piece soon... as a matter a fact I bet..." He started walking around a large tree while continue. "...it's right about, HERE!"

Sadly, as the man pointed to the ground on the far side of the tree stump there was in fact nothing there. "Damn, I thought for sure that was going to work." Lavay claimed with a half laughter while returning to his partner. "What... I, uh... meant to say was that it's TOTALLY going to be in the next place you look! Yah, that's what I meant to say." Despite the, on the surface, frustration that went along with all this fruitless searching he was actually having quite a bit of fun out here just shooting the stuff with his partymate.

@Daniella

When Dani made the comment about him turning in his armor for a gardener’s outfit Lavay completely lost it. "Hah, I told ya, maybe I'm just finding my secret calling here." Removing the large sword from its sheath on his back still laughing intermittently, he asked. "So you think I should trade my sword in for a pair of garden shears and shovel as well?" 

Leaning the tip of the blade down Lavay propped himself against the large weapon as it sunk a few inches into the digital earth beneath his feet. From here he silently observed Dani's next attempt at trying to find some materials, and while her efforts again proved fruitless her attempts never lacked effort. Something that he made sure to call out with a double thumbs up to the boxer. "Hey, A for effort!" Her simple yet telling followed up comment caused a brief chuckle to escape his lips. "Luckily, I'm pretty sure there will be plenty more to this game then just finding namely materials in weird places, or well at least I hope so." In all honesty, he wasn't all that sure what the game had to offer outside of the standard MMO tropes that had been advertised.

Looking around Lavay couldn't really see any other obvious spots where something might be hiding so pulling his greatsword out of the dirt he smirked towards Dani and said. "Hmm, maybe I can something a little unconventional too." Pulling his sword back he aimed at making a hard chop at one of the nearby trees attempting to cut it down. Heaving all he had into the swing his blade crashed into the tree and a purple little indication came up saying "Immortal Object." Tilting his head, the boy started to say. "What the..." However, before he could finish another large fruit fell out of the tree and bonked him right on the head. "Ow!" Looking down at the item that had just fallen Lavay looked over to his partner and chuckled. "I probably deserved that, anyway here's another."

@Daniella

Right after Lavay brought up his concerns the boxer's unusual approach to finding materials bore fruit... literally. Looking up he half laughed, and said. "Huh, I was, uh... not expecting that." Balling up his fist he smirked to Dani and said. "Well, if it’s that easy I may as well give it a try too." With that the man punched the trunk of the tree with his left hand as hard as he could, and sure enough another piece of fruit fell. Attached to the item was the marker indicating that it was his 5th and final material for the quest.

So, pick it up the warrior playfully waved the item towards his partner just before it disappeared. Then in an, oh so smug, yet still lighthearted tone Lavay said. "Well, you know what that means right." Lifting his fingers to his face he pretended to comb a nonexistent beard as he started to think over his drink options. "Let's see here, normal I would’ve said that I would like a shot, but there really is no point to that if you can't get drunk. So, I guess my options are between a nice tall bear or some sort of fancy top shelf liquor." Continuing to chuckle he eyed her up and down gauging her reaction. "Yah, know it's no rush I have time to think about it anyway."

Giving Dani a little pat on the upper arm he rotated around seeing if he couldn't continue finding the materials for the girl. As fun as it was to poke at her Lavay still had full intentions of helping her out. Although, before he could look too much farther the boxer began to talk about her own awakening here. "Hmm, perhaps I'm not the only one lost sometime interesting..." Listening to the rest of what she had to say Dani's words ended up bringing quite the smile to his face. "I sure hope so, it sure as hell would be not only tough, but just flat dangerous to go at this alone." It brought him comfort that he had already started to make a friend in this strange new world that was to be his home.

@Daniella

After Lavay picked up the plant and started to brag Dani's reply cause him to completely shut up for a minute as his face turn incredibly red. When the mushrooms pixelated and disappeared into his inventory he stood up nervously scratching his head. "Heh, uh ya... I um... didn't think about that one..." Just laughing out of embarrassment he thought to himself. "Damnit... please just kill me now..." He didn't mind the flirting, but the fact he hadn't even picked up on any of that until her comment had him feeling incredibly stupid.

Continuing to walk along just hoping that this little conversation would fade away he quickly panned around completely unaware of her staring. At least just as they came to a stop at the clearing another little indicator went off on his HUD as he turned off to the side finding yet another of the items they are looking for. This time it was some sort of rock, mineral or whatever. Holding it up he finally had enough confidence to make eye contact with Dani again. "Hah, look what I just found!" Fortunately, the charismatic guy usually didn't have trouble reengaging in a conversation with someone even after something embarrassing. "Ya know I'm kind of excited to see what round you buy for us."

Never one to shy away from a little playful mockery Lavay smirked to the girl, or at least he smirked until she made her final point. A somewhat sullen look fell over him as that was one thing he hadn't even thought about. Perhaps the initial shock of being trapped here, and then the subsequent shock of realizing he had been out of it so long he completely forgot about what his friends, and his girlfriend were doing now. "I well. I..." He stammered slightly as he tried to put some words together still processing it all. "I did have one..." He ended up mumbling as he thought if she was even still waiting for him at this point. Turning back to his partner for the first time he had an expression that wasn't joy, cockiness, or laughter. 
 

ID# 86194 results: LD: 15 (Need 11+)

((3 of 5 Found))

@Daniella

Lavay was far to oblivious to notice Dani's blush especially with his head down looking for these materials. At least until she grasped his arm, and spoke. Turning his head around he smiled. "I couldn't agree more, you're a lot of fun to hang around..." He paused a moment laughing lightly as he caught one the markers signaling he found one of the materials behind the girl. "Speaking of which whoever finds their five first gets their first round payed for right?" Since they were stuck out here searching for this nonsense the competitive and lighthearted guy felt it would be fun if they put some stakes on the line.

Hopefully she excepted his wager, but regardless Lavay would give her a pat on the arm as he walked by her. "Cause I'm pretty sure I just found another one." Laughing he bent down to pick up another plant this time it was some sort of mushroom like thingy which caused him to look over to his partner and sarcastically state. "I dunno I may look like a blacksmith, but with all these damn plants I'm finding maybe I should take up gardening." Unable to hold a straight face throughout the statement he simply laughed standing back up.

Once up Lavay moved deeper into the forest motioning Dani to follow him. "Come on, I think you're right we'll probably have better luck here. After all you don't want to fall too far behind." With a playful wink, he turned around slowly meandering into the wooded area.

Listening to Dani's words definitely had him kind of pumped up. "Heh, I know what ya mean. While I never boxed or anything I did play a lot of contact sport in high school and college. There's nothing like taking someone down." Smacking his fist into his open palm he had an excited look in his eye. "Hey, maybe once we find this stuff we can beat some stuff up." A large grin showed on his face hopeful that she would take him up on this offer.

Once hearing her response, he went back to searching around the area only looking up again when his partner commented. She had a point about the area being picked over it made sense given they were right outside of the gates of the major city. "Yah, sounds like a good idea. I'm sure this place has been picked over hundreds of times." Moving in the direction of the woods Lavay kept looking around to see if perhaps there was one more over looked item on the ground.

ID# 86179 results: LD: 2

((1 of 5 Found))

With a sigh, he didn't find anything as the woman's words were correct. However, his disappointment of not finding anything was overridden by the girls next words as he nervously laughed. "Heh, uh, thanks. Used to be even better a few years ago, but I do my best to keep in shape." Resting his hand on his stomach while it was still fairly flat he did miss the six-pack of his college days. His trip down body nostalgia was cut short by Dani's next offer, and with a smile he nodded his head. "Sounds like a plan. I could definitely use a drink after all this looking around. Especially after the rate we're going at." Even if it didn't get him drunk a nice cold beer sounded perfect especially if it was with some good company which this girl so far seemed to be.

@Daniella

Snapping his finger Lavay jokingly yelled out. "Damn..." Unable to resist laughter he paused a second before continuing. "You mean I could have been swinging around a bad ass sword all this time... Man I apparently failed at life." Shaking his head and continuing to chuckle. "Looks like I luckily got a do over starting out again here." The best way he could cope with things was through joking, and seeing silver linings a skill that he had used to get through several other rough experiences in his life. Of course, nothing quite on the scale of being trapped in a game, but seemingly just as troublesome at the time.

When Alice informed him that she would happily keep this promise as she really didn't have much else to give Lavay smirked saying. "Sounds, like we're on the start of a grand adventure then..." Lowering his head he chuckled at himself. "Sorry, guess I'm starting to get into this character stuff too much, but what I meant to say is it will be good to have a friend to progress through this game with." There was no question we quite early on attaching the friend tag to the girl he had just met, and knew very little about. However, everything had to start with a first step, and why not assume that they could become as such.

While the pair walked towards the gates Lavay completely missed the hesitation in her words, and the body language emitted by Alice. "That's true, and I can only imagine what we'll be capable of at high levels. They may never be able to pull me out of here if I get to become a Jedi or something." Chuckling to himself he continued. "...it really is quite the unique experience." Looking over he was about to ask what she meant by 'like more' but as the gate approach the little warning popped up on his HUD that they were about to leave the safe zone, and instead he decided to look over and comment. "Well, then ready to go kill us a boar?"

"Heh, ya. At least they had the courtesy of making it as realistic as possible before trapping us here." With a light chuckle, he stood back up and a smile showed on his face as the girl, Alice, seemed quite pleased to be here. Hopefully, he could adopt that attitude in time, but all of this was still so new to him that he wasn't quite there yet. Still, he wasn't about to bring her attitude down. "I know what you mean. If you swing a sword around in real life they kind of arrest you, and stuff like that. Ya know not fun stuff."

When the girl revealed the quest Lavay held a thumbs up to her. "Sounds like a plan." He then playfully winks her way. "...and I'll hold yah to that help." Again, his tone was lighthearted, and while he certainly hoped that she was return the favor he was just excited to fight something. The quest she was sent on seemed pretty run of the mill for an early MMO quest making this experience even more surreal then is already was. 'Who thought I'd be really doing the stupid kill X creature and bring me Y' He thought to himself chuckling.'

Alice's choice of weapon sort of caught him off guard as he wasn't expecting someone so small to go the two-handed route. It made him even more intrigued about her as he replied. "I use a two-hander myself..." Patting the large sword that appeared on his back. "...Although, I opted to go with the Greatsword tree. It just... felt right." He chuckled a bit before extending an arm. "There's no time like the present let’s get the show on the road."

Once the two had begun setting out Lavay decided to fill the short journey to the gate with some idle chat. "So, what about you? What's your favorite part about being here? You seem more eager than most."

Now that he had been back around and conscious for a couple days Lavay started to acclimate himself to his new 'home' where he was to spend the next who knows how long. After doing some digging he found out that most people either make their living through adventuring, crafting, or some combination of both. Adventuring was going to be a natural given for him, but there was no sense in not at least giving a craft a try. Worst case scenario if her either sucked at it or it wasn't profitable he could always just double down on his adventuring. The nagging question for him was which profession should he choose.

"Hmm..." He mumbled to himself looking at the board. "...Blacksmithing looks nice, but alchemy keeps you alive maybe..." Lavay's words were cut off as he staggered forward a step from being bumped into. "Hey!" Looking over he didn't see anyone until his eyes lowered enough to see the small girl on the ground by her feet. His serious face quickly turned into a smirk and even a chuckle as the girl started stammering. Extending a hand towards he spoke in a welcoming manner. "No problem at all. I'd actually love to go on a quest it'll give me time to think on which profession I'd like to pursue." Pulling the girl to her feet if she accepted his hand he then returned the greeting. "I'm Jim... I mean Lavay... damnit... I keep doing that." Putting his head in his palm he kept forgetting that they were in fact still technically characters in a game.

Shifting his head around looking down the various streets until he eventually returned to her Lavay nodded his head. "It sure is. I can't believe that it’s all technically not real." Of course, the consequences of this world were just as real, but there was no sense in bringing that up. Kneeling down he scooped up some sand from the street letting it run through his fingers. "If there wasn't so much on the line I think I would have really enjoyed this place..." Again, he caught himself sort of day dreaming and talking to no one so returning to Earth or well at least this world he continued. "Anyway, I'd love to help out and do a quest. What do ya have to do?" He was quite excited to go on another quest, and maybe this one would even involve killing something.