Dustin

Dustin’s eyes fixate on the monster, his hands glowing as he smiles once again. This time it dies. It’s health is lower than every time I’ve hit it. Should be able to finish it off with this sword art. He runs the giant monster down and slams his fist into the back of it’s leg, moving up to the front of it. His leg shoots up and hits it in the nose, shifting his weight to make the change in direction easier on the boy as he jumps up and punches the thing in the chest. “One more hit.” He lands, throwing all his weight and strength behind the last punch, aiming it right under his belly button. The snow beast lets out one final roar and then explodes into blue pixels, dropping the item. 

His leg pushes into the ground, throwing him up and back so he lands right next to the ladies who helped him kill the monster. His hand extends out towards Katagawa with the item, and his other towards Mina for a high five. “Sorry I couldn’t offer you more, but that’s all I’ve got for this quest.” He turns to the girls, stepping forward to address them both at once. “Still, thanks for helping me out.” He smiles, giving them both a thumbs up.

[H: 1] Dustin: 400/400 HP | 18/40 EN | 10 DMG | 14 MIT | 1 ACC | 2 EVA | 4 BH
[H: 2] Tricolor_mina: 280/280 HP | 20/28 EN | 3 DMG | 23 MIT | 1 EVA | 1 KEEN | BLD 12 | BH 2
[H: 3] @Katagawa: 280/280 HP | 14/28 EN | 7 DMG | 8 MIT | 3 EVA | 9-10 PLZ | 2 BH | 5 VMP(D)

 Snow Beast: 0/250 HP | 160 DMG [BLD: 0/2]

Dustin’s eyes scan the area. There were a few people around, none he recognized, but he wanted to be safe. He didn’t know what kind of Connections the man had, So for the moment, he kind of ignores Hestia’s question. Cutting through crowds of people and talking about plans was an easy way to make those plans public. Though the entire time he felt he was being rude. His anger towards himself for blatantly ignoring the woman festered, but it had to wait. He could tell her when no one was within earshot. No one can know what he plans to do other than the people he wants to know.

After a decent time walking both in town and in the field, they get to the point at which a private conversation could be held. “You know how I told you my brother was murdered?” He asks, not waiting for her to respond, “I found him and I want to arrest him.” He notices movement out of the corner of his eye, a giant ape feeding on the ground of the jungle.

Its dark gray fur in stark contrast to the kaleidoscope of foliage on the ground. Its sheer size strikes awe in the Boy in the blue hood’s heart. I’m gonna kill it. A grin of pure tenacity connects his cheeks as his hand begins to glow green. “This can wait right? Let’s kill this thing!” He launches in and stops on his foot a moment before hitting it. Its twitchy movement spooked Dustin enough to keep him from attacking. Apes often moved erratically especially when angered or startled.

[0]Dustin: 420/420 HP | 40/42 EN | 11 DMG | 14 MIT | 2 EVA | 1 ACC | BH: 3

[0] @Hestia: ?

Monkey King: 250/250 HP | 50 MIT | 240 DMG (On MD rolls of 9 or 10, the Monkey King will Pick up a tree or large rock and throw it at the party, hitting and stunning them all for 120 damage.)

The boy spins, his hood still over his head, but only halfway. His face forms a cocky smile, his eyes still relaxed as he walks. “I’m hoping I can kill it quickly, but who knows.” He throws his hands up to his sides with a little shrug, drawing attention to his gloves. “I’m gonna punch that stupid ape so hard it’s gonna explode.” he walks faster, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a cookie, reaching back towards Hestia. “Eat this, it’s tasty.” He focuses on his map for a moment, trying to determine where the monkey would be placed. His face turns the gate and says, “Apparently he’s out that way, so let’s go.” He pulls out another cookie, taking a bite and studying the quest listed. His eyes look glazed though, like he’s looking through the window rather than at it. He looks distracted from the current quest. “I’ve gotta ask you for help with something after this.” He says, as if it’s an afterthought.

@Hestia

Ryoko had explained how she thought Dustin was cool and Dustin chuckles for a moment. “Guess I am smarter than you.” He sighs and grabs all the pink bears. He knows they’re her favorite and he likes them too. “It’s whatever though. The past is the past. So on and so forth.” His arm stretches out as he puts the pinks in front of her. “Sorry for getting real sappy and emotional. I didn’t mean to ruin the da-...” he cuts himself off, making it sound like he said day. If she doesn’t think this is a date then I guess it’s not. He pays the waiter and grabs the gummies.

”I paid for it all, so that means we can head out. Let’s go, where I wanna show you looks best at sunset.” He stands up and starts running, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him. Like a truck pulling a fully functional car, he speeds through the town, but his movements made carefully to keep her from falling or not being able to keep up. “It’s not too far, but walking from here should work.” He remarks, approaching a hill that most every player has seen. “Ordinary Hill right?” He pauses.

@Ryoko

Spoiler

114628	7	4	10	10	Dustin		Crafting T3 Helmet	2019-04-12 07:48:43
114627	2	9	12	7	Dustin		Crafting T3 Helmet	2019-04-12 07:48:23
114626	2	4	9	8	Dustin		Crafting T3 Helmet	2019-04-12 07:47:38
114625	4	10	20	6	Dustin		Crafting T3 Helmet	2019-04-12 07:47:06
114624	3	1	11	5	Dustin		Crafting T3 Helmet	2019-04-12 07:46:45
114623	2	7	6	6	Dustin

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Dustin pulled his head up, looked at her, squinted a little and sat up. “That’s just not true.” He takes a sip of his coffee as he looks at her. “You were always cooler than me.” He looks at the gummies. Examining the colors and their grouping, pulling them out and putting them in circles. “5 purple, 10 red, 6 green, 17 yellow, and 30 pink...” he looks in the bowl and pulls out a single orange. “This was me in class. Those purples were you and your group. The others were everyone else.” He starts lining them up in a specific order: purple, red, yellow, pink, green and then orange. “This is how everyone in class saw the hierarchy. The purples saw no one above them, so some of them didn’t know about it.” He picks up and eats a pink one. “Another thing is, because no one looks down, you tend to not see them as people. You guys were different. Every one of you saw us as just as cool, but you were wrong.” His eyes move back up towards her. “You guys were so cool, you didn’t care I was a prick, or a fool, you still tried to speak to me as an equal.” his eyes move away from her and his hand moves up behind his ear, “That’s why I’ve had this major crush on you since Freshmen year.” He struggles to look up at her again.

@Ryoko

Dustin had fallen asleep on the ground by the time Hestia had teleported to the right floor. Coincidentally, someone trips over his foot and wakes him up. “Fah moh mihn...” he mumbles as he lay there on the ground not too far from the teleporter. Sleeping on the floor in the middle of town wasn’t entirely new for the boy, he’ll the first adventure he had ever taken he did it multiple times. Sleeping was his best pass time now that reading was out of the question. He was aware enough to hear people talking and he groggily sits up, barely examining the area around him before his eyes fall on a woman next to a familiar. Is that Hestia and her familiar? His eyes open just a little bit more, giving him access to a few more details. That’s her. His right arm pushes on the ground as he pulls his knees under him. “Hey Hest... Hestia.” A yawn breaks his sentence. “You came I guess. So we have to go kill that thing now.” He lazily pulls himself up to his feet and scratches his head. His body shifts away from the teleporter and then another direction. He was obviously lost. “I knew where it was before my short nap.” He just shrugs and begins walking towards one of the exits. “Each floor is a big circle anyways, no matter what we’ll eventually find it.” A simple viewing of the map could tell him where to go, but he was too tired to even bother.

@Hestia

Dustin walked into the shop his guildmate owns as he thinks for a moment. I need to be able to take a few more hits that I can right now. He walks back to the order section and begins to fill out a page. “So, I’m guessing this might take a while to make, you take your time, I understand.” He slips his hands into his pockets and looks at Hei. “Anyways, message me when you get it done and I’ll swing by to pick it up.” He smiles, walking out of the shop now that his order had been placed.

-550 col

Dustin was confused as to why he was on such a floor, he had travelled far and reached the eighth floor. What is this stupid floor? Why is everything in a tree? Upon asking someone, a stroke of luck put the right NPC in front of him, and he got an answer. Hearing about a difficult field boss he smiles and things for a moment. I know just who to call. He opens his menu, navigates through to the menu to the friends list as he clicks on the name of a person he liked to think of as an ally. He pulls his hand up and selects the message option. 

He closes the menu and hopes for the best as he sits on the ground, waiting for the lady he had fought with a few times before. Was he really going to ever make it to the frontlines? Could he really get strong enough to compare to Hestia? The worst part was, that wasn’t the only thing keeping him down. I can’t go and kill him, then I’d be just as bad as him. And I’d lose my guild. His hood over his head like he was hiding the pain in his mind by adding layers to his head, it was like a kid hiding from the world.

Dustin’s attack had actually done a good amount of damage, but after moving backwards an axe came slamming into his side throwing him away from where he was aiming. At the point of landing the boy stumbled a little. He appears to be confused for a moment, and he manages to focus on his two friends. Namely Jinx, as he turns back to the monster. “Of course I’m... okay.” He holds the red mark on his chest that begins to shrink gradually. His hands start to glow green as he walks towards the monster, then the silver haired girl shouts at the thing and it catches Dustin off guard. He jumps a little, probably as a result of being thrown by an attack, but he shakes it off, not even realizing he had released his sword art. “Whatever happens Jinx, just don’t get hurt while we’re out here. Let’s try and do this quickly, I can’t keep up these attacks for too long.” He reaches back and pulls his blue hood up. His black shoulder pad contrast against the bright outfit he wears every day. “Let’s do this.” He remains serious and stands in a more serious stance.

Dustin smiles for a moment, Jinx wasn’t happy about the last statement and it was obvious. He reaches up and flicks her in the forehead. “Don’t get so serious. There are things in this life we can’t control, people grow apart, arguments happen, fights happen.” he stands up tall and proud. “The best we can do is hold on as tight as we can and have fun while doing it.” He turns and looks at the girl a weak smile on his face. His look soft and his face gentle, as he turns around. “You have no idea how much this little excursion means to me.” His hood moves up as he pulls it, hiding the truth under his hood. He had already found out where he is, this was just a question of whether or not he should.

”I’m going to arrest him. I have connections to the APD.” His eyes fall to the snow. Guess she will hate me once I throw him in a cell to watch him rot. I wish he wasn’t alive anymore. I wish I could run my fingers through his ribcage as his heart stops beating. He balls his fists, looking out towards the nearest monster. The white snow began to shine so bright it hurt his eyes as he looked out.

@Jinx

Dustin’s friend had just told him something in return and it meant the world to him. Tears started dripping from his eyes. “But this prick took everything from me.” His voice waivering even more. “I can’t just let him get away with what he did, but I can’t just throw the guild away.” He looks up at Jinx... his legs almost move on their own as he pushes off the ground and pulls her into a hug. He couldn’t help it, he just needed to hold something, his whole reality was shifting and maybe this would be the thing that kept him sane. “This man deserves what’s coming to him, but I won’t be the one to kill him. I can’t lose this guild.” He releases her and steps back. “We’re all weirdos but we’re family.” He smiles, wiping away the pixels meant to be tears. He pulls out a cinnamon stick and slides the end into his mouth, holding a cupcake towards the girl with silver hair. “Thanks for the help. It means a lot.” He looks her in the eyes. “If I ever start pushing you away, go ahead and kill me.” He smiles.

@Jinx

A few suits of armor moved around in the courtyard and Dustin couldn’t help but smile. “You guys ready for this? Cause I sure as hell am.” His left leg pushes into the dirt as he clenches his fist tightly, it begins to glow yellow and he runs towards the monster, stopping just short and letting his arm’s inertia carry the weight of the punch, only throwing in his strength at the end when his fist collided with the thing. “HAHA!” A moment of pure joy as the boy’s hand is pulled back into his regular relaxed fighting stance. The wraps he had bought from Stryder’s store were doing a lot of the work, along with the system, but still Dustin felt like he was in complete control. So this is what it’s like to be useful, a rush of ecstasy mixed with a slight sense of responsibility. I like it. He slams his foot into the ground, pushing himself back away from the axe wielding faceless being. I wonder what that would’ve done if that monster was a little weaker. He chuckles. “Just a little more damage than before, right?” His smile almost innocent in how pure it is. He was never happier than when he had an enemy in front of him. Especially when that enemy’s HP dropped significantly after just one hit. “Maybe this time I’ll get to take a few hits Jinx. Who knows? Why not have a little fun?”

Dustin watched the monster intently, his focus on the beast’s eyes as he thinks of how to kill it. His sword begins to glow green as he draws the blade back and launches in. That’s when Jinx collapses to the ground and Dustin’s attention get’s pulled away from the dragon. Sh*t, I can’t go and let my tank get hurt. He spins his foot and falls onto his back, stopping himself just short of the dragon who then rushes towards the silver haired tank and claws at her. The monster’s HP drops down to 0 and it explodes into blue pixels. Jinx. He stands up as fast as he can, running over to her. “Hey, it’s over, you can take a break. Close your eyes and breathe.” He begins to panic. He’s seen people in pain before, both emotional and physical. She was obviously on the verge of going insane, but she kept fighting through it like a stubborn ox. “Damnit Jinx, if you break out here Stryder’s gonna kill me.” A soft murmur escapes his lips as he looks up at Arabelle and tilts his head, his face reading his exact thoughts. What do I do? Do I give her space? Do I help her up? He calmly and slowly stands up, backing away from her careful not to make any sudden movements. Is she having a panic attack? Is she going insane? This is gonna be problematic. Two cupcakes materialize in his hands as he holds one out towards Arabelle. “Might as well eat while we wait.” He tries to smile, though he is obviously worried about the girl who had helped them by being a great tank.

Dustin leans back into his chair and smirks. “Sorry about that. Was it too abrupt?” He doesn’t know what to do, so he grabs the coffee that was just set down. Was I just a prick? Oh man, did I make her feel weird? Oh boy, oh man, oh god. Dustin’s eyes dance around as his face turns red. Hiding things from this girl was impossible for him. The secrets practically jumped out onto the table and sang their meaning as he kept his mouth shut. He was flustered again. He wanted to talk, but couldn’t. How could he follow up such a comment? He couldn’t play it off like he didn’t mean it, that would be rude. He can’t just up and leave, that would be even worse. Way to go you idiot, you already messed up. Why are you so STUPID? If this were an anime, a chibi version of himself would smack him in the back of the head, but this wasn’t an anime. He had to figure something out and quick. His nerves were on the fritz as he thought of the correct way to continue. I should just ignore it, right? Or should I just explain to her that I really like her? God, why is this so hard? He drops his head on the table, and groans. “I’m an idiot.” He says, absentmindedly.

@Ryoko

A new player had shown up, blue hair and looking older than Dustin. Well, more mature. Having been accepted, Dustin smiles like a cocky child and points to himself. “The name’s Dustin.” He laughs a little. Pulling out cookies and offering them to the others. His eyes fixated on the guy with blue hair. “Don’t worry, they’re amazing.” He holds the cookie up. Then he turns and leans up against the wall. “Well I’m ready when you are.” He waits for the others to do anything, but notices someone in heavy armor standing nearby, so he decides to approach.

”Are you looking to hunt down the butcher of the sands? Because those two over there are helping me with it and I wanna make it an even number.” Another cookie materializes in his hand and he holds it up to the player with armor. “Whatever you decide, Take this cookie.” He offers.

@Sey

“I’ve mostly been fine, lots of guild stuff going on.” Avoiding something Hong obviously on his mind, Dustin didn’t want to worry the girl he had invited on yet another date. “Yeah, martial arts can be fun, but only if there’s someone in front of you that you can beat up on. Maybe one day you and I can go on a few adventures together.” He smiles. Dustin had heard about a few players traveling between floors, finding date locations and stumbling across the most romantic settings. Dustin wanted to show Ryoko this world, and he wanted to see most of it with her. “I have somewhere to take you after this.” He says, looking serious and blushing. I want to show her Kadin’s spot. He liked the beautiful view, so maybe she will too. He looks at her and thinks for a moment. “I want to show you a spot someone once showed me.” He leans in towards the girl and whispers, “It’s the most beautiful thing in the game... second only to you.” The compliment rolling off his tongue like any other saying. He knew he didn’t deserve to have this girl by his side, but he wanted to.

@Ryoko

Another tale of a boss had graced the boy’s ears as he was tavern hopping floor to floor. The sole reason he does so is to try and find out about these things. He pulls up his blue hood and makes his way out into the desert, knowing full well he might die on this excursion. I know this might not end well, but I have to try. The story will make this all worth while. He struggles to make it through the sand and rocks but he makes it to a small area where he decides to take a break. No sand blowing or need to keep going right now, shouldn’t be too far from here. He stands up and begins walking again after a few minutes of resting until finally, the boy comes across another player. He had gone full circle and ended up back at town, despite not remembering a turn at all. “Hey, you going and looking for that field boss? Mind if I tag along?” He shouts to the other player in hopes of being dragged along on the adventure of a lifetime. Sending a message to a friend about how he was going to be doing something dangerous, Dustin finally settles in and gets ready.

Dustin had been walking around on floor one, after replenishing his seemingly endless is ridiculously expensive supply of snacks at the fancy shop a friend of a friend owns. He had decided to cut through the main area of town to get to the field and farm for col. That’s when he noticed the two females close to the ToB and he tilts his head. For some reason these two stuck out more than the other players in this area. Maybe it was the tail. Yeah that’s it... The boy makes his way over to them and smiles. “So, are we having some kind of party here? Because I brought snacks.” He immediately pulls out cookies and cupcakes, offering them to the two women he was now interacting with. “Wait, miss... Krysta I believe it was. Weren’t you in the fight against the priest?” He brings it up, hoping not to strike a nerve or tear open any wounds. He had heard some people hate talking about it, but Dustin never minded. The story was a triumph against all odds, and he was proud to share it with the other players...

@Elouviana Zashira @Krysta

Dustin looks down at the girl and shakes his head, taking a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry, let’s go stuff out faces.” He smiles walking into the café and over to a table, sitting down and waving over a waiter. He looks back towards the girl and smiles. “So, what have you been up to recently?” He asks, trying to get a conversation going, his nerves having settled to normal. His blue sweatshirt comes off, revealing a basic black shirt as he sits and smiles. The boys in class always bugged me. Everything they said was crap. “Ya know, some of the kids in class were *ssholes. That’s why I was always quiet, because they took every chance they could to cause trouble and as you know, fighting in school was a problem for me.” He looks up at the waiter who had just arrived and smiles. “A bowl of gummies and a black coffee. Plus whatever she’s getting.” He leans in closer and looks at the girl. “Some of them were planning to jump one of the Freshmen back in Junior year, so I helped the kid out.” He smiles innocently like he had actually won the fight. He got his butt kicked and most of the kids in school knew that much. What they didn’t know is the older kids had the advantage, but the Freshman had managed to get away thanks to Dustin, and Dustin never heard about the kid after. Wonder what happened to the boy.

@Ryoko

Dustin was watching the way he expected her to come like a hawk. The nerves of being on another date with the girl he had spent so much time crushing on held his attention over that way until arms wrapped around his neck and he heard a voice he knew all too well. His face remained the same, almost as if the surprise hadn’t surprised him at all. After a while of hanging out with Enna, surprises like that won’t get me anymore. He had stumbled forward from the weight of someone jumping onto his back, but he hadn’t gone too far, so he straightens up and kneels down to let the girl get back on the floor. “Just a bit nervous. You?” He returns, turning around towards her as he thinks about what to do. “You look nice.” Flirting wasn’t his strong suit, but flirting wasn’t required here, so he could at least relax a little. “I’m kind of surprised you came on this date, after all, it has been a while. Sorry about that.” His apology looks sincere, like it was from the bottom of his heart. Mostly because it was. He felt like he owed her some sort of explanation for why he hadn’t spoken to her since the last date. Maybe just bringing it up will sound like an excuse, if she asks, I’ll tell her the truth, if not I’ll tell her later. He opens the door to the cafe and holds it open for her to go through, just gotta remember to be a proper gentleman. He smiles at her. It truly was a mistake not messaging you right away.

@Ryoko

Dustin sat in the tavern by the center of town and thought for a while. Should I ask her out again? Did I miss my chance? He opens his menu and navigates through his short friends list and sees her name. His finger falls down and selects her name as he starts to type up a message.

Clicking send, he begins to get worried as the message is sent. In his memory he hadn’t done too well last time, and he was already feeling bad for not contacting her again afterwards. He put on a more dapper attire and stood up and walked towards the teleport pad. I could pull out some bull crap excuse, but that wouldn’t be good. I should be honest with her. he steps up onto the platform, shouting the command to get to the third floor. He opens his messaging system and sends the name of the tavern they had met in on the first date, maybe getting her a snack would help keep her from being upset.

Dustin looks at where the bear had died, and then over towards Jinx. One day I might have to leave the guild behind, but the problem is, if I get kicked out, I might have to fight her. His eyes move down towards his hands. I couldn’t fight any of them. Let alone her. He looks back up towards her and just falls backwards onto the ground with his arms out. Looking up at the sky he sighs and starts talking, “One day the rest of the guild might hate me. Hell, I’m probably gonna hate me.” He talks in a different tone than before the fight ended, and his words were obviously from the bottom of his heart. “My brother was murdered as you know, and for a while, I couldn’t do anything about that.” He sits up and looks her in the eye, “I’ve found him, and I’m scared of what I might do.” Pain in his voice, like Jinx never would’ve heard in his voice before.

His eyes begin to well up. “I’m scared I might try to kill him. I wanted to, for so long. You don’t come back from that. And I don’t want to lose the family I have left.” Of course she might not know he means the guild, but he didn’t know how else to explain it. They are the most important people to him, but he knew he wanted to tear the man’s head off.

@Jinx

Dustin stands and looks towards Hei and Jinx, finishing his cookie and slipping his hands into his pockets. The boy was still pretty unsure of what was going on, but he figured eventually he’ll understand. “So, should we get this show on the road?” His smile much more lively now that he had eaten. His blue hoodie and brown pants were showing now that he had abandoned the cloak he used to always wear, nothing else apparent on him except for the shoulder hei made him all that time ago, and the chain from the bottom of his jacket into his pocket. His brown hair gently danced in the wind as he began to walk down towards the area. “Come on slow pokes, it’s not like we have all day.” The usually smug comment sounded more sarcastic from the boy than most uses, and yet, he still sounded like a prick. “If there’s more to explain, then you can tell us on the way.” His back turns towards the pair as he continues on.

He stops abruptly and turns towards Hei, giving him puppy dog eyes for no apparent reason. “Can we get ice cream after? Please? I’ve never had real ice cream.” his begging made it seem like he was gonna throw a tantrum if Hei says no, and who knows what’ll happen that’s how this turns out?

@Hei

Dustin had arrived and the girl with gray hair looked at him and questioned why he was there. To be entirely honest, Dustin doesn’t know the answer to that himself. “I’m here to see my friends.” He says, like Jinx is weird for not assuming that’s why he was here. He looked back at her and smirked for a moment, then getting a bit more serious. “I’m only here because Hei invited me.” The boy sits down outside the door and looks outwards. “Just grab me when you need me, I don’t need the details, just tell me what to kill and I will.” He smiles, pulling out a cookie and chewwing on it, holding one up towards Jinx. “Sorry, I only brought one extra and Jinx is a lady.” He apologizes to Hei, hoping he won’t ask for any of the other snacks Dustin has on him. Dustin would give Hei a snack if he asked but he was already eating and would have to stop to grab another snack.

@Hei