[OP-F1] <<Blades of Dreams>>

[Miaki 0]

It had been several weeks since Miaki had started this death game. He could still remember the horror filled nights of the first few days when the only place players could sleep was the inns found in the town plaza. The cries of others made the scene such a horrifying sight. Miaki wouldn't succumb to these fears and drove forward with a determination. No sitting around was only going to make things worse. He'd spend his days out exploring, killing weak mobs, and talking to the occasional passerby that didn't look entirely depressed. Last night in the tavern Miaki heard about a quest discovered that granted players with a sword custom-made for the wielder. This was something Miaki wanted desperately. Something to hold on to and make part of him. A weapon, crafted to reflect himself and become a symbol of his drive to survive in this world. He went to bed that night with a new found strength and slept soundly. He awoke early, had breakfast downstairs in the tavern inn, and set out to start the quest he was told about. There was only one problem..... He had no idea where it started and was completely turned around in the large city.

Miaki walked around corner after corner taking random paths on a whim. Frustration started to get the best of him. He had been looking around for the starting point of this quest to no avail. He had heard that it was some weapons shop run by an NPC named Pepper but he knew nothing else. Wishing he had asked more questions to the players who told him last night Miaki made a deep sigh. Rounding about into a small courtyard with a fountain and some benches, Miaki decided to take a moment to sit down and gather his thoughts. Picking a bench with shade from the now rising late morning sun, Miaki sat down facing the fountain.

"Gah! Why can't I find this stupid place? I must have tried several shops and none of them were the right one." He flick his wrist opening the HUD and brought up a map of the city. He checked where he was then waved the display away. "What I really need is someone who knows their way around and would help me with this quest. Pft! Like that is gonna just happen." Miaki leaned back on the bench more and put his arms behind his neck. "Most people are too scared to leave the safety of the town inn, let alone leave the safety of the starting city." Miaki sat there thinking. Maybe he should find out how to send out a notification calling other players to party up and complete quests. He had seen similar ads before but never did anything with them. Heck, up to this point he hadn't even been in an official party yet. Sure, he talked to the random person in the inn's tavern or some wandering player outside of the city. But none of them seemed interested in forming a party. With a deep breath Miaki watched the water spew out of the fountain.

** Edited for spelling errors.

[Cinder 0]

Cinder approached the fountain that the man was sitting in front of, not making eye contact as he placed his hands in his jacket pockets, leaning back on his heels as he stretched.

"Gah! Why can't I find this stupid place? I must have tried several shops and none of them were the right one."

Cinder smirked slightly, out of the man's view, as he listened to the conversation he already knew the man was going to have with himself. Eavesdropping, he pointed two fingers in the air and slashed down gently, his main systems menu appearing, buttons labeling the various tabs he had access to. He moved his finger over the <> tab before tapping it. The menu extended as a scrolling menu appeared to the right of the tabs. Taking his two fingers, he scrolled the menu up until the item he was looking for appeared. <>. He tapped it softly, and the button flashed orange. Appearing out of thin air was what looked like a modern day cigarette, but only different, this had no filter, and it looked to have been rolled by hand, not by machine. Gripping the <> between two fingers, he cycled through the menu again, this time, tapping a different item; labeled <>. It's exactly what you think it'd be; a box of matches appeared out of thin air, and with a tap on one of the sides, a match fell out into Cinder's empty hand, and the counter on the side ticked down a number. Taking the tobacco, he placed it between his lips before striking the match against the box. The flame ignited as he pressed the tip of the tobacco inside the flame, the end going up in a small burst of flame as smoke filled the air around him.

Cinder was a taller man, sitting at a good six feet, he was taller than most, but thin. He wasn't one for large size, and he preferred it that way. He wore black leather pants, and a pair of matching boots. His top was a grey tunic v-neck, and a black leather jacket with grey speckled fur lining the collar and handcuffs. Underneath his jacket, on the front left side, attached to his chest, was his <>, his primary weapon for most engagements. He liked to keep it hidden, giving him whatever advantage he could over anyone who was going for an attack. Running a fingerless gloved hand through his medium length dark hair, he inhaled on his <>, digital smoke filling his fake lungs. He exhaled, the sensation of smoking purely mental, tricking his mind into believing that nicotine was being added to his body.

"What I really need is someone who knows their way around and would help me with this quest. Pft! Like that is gonna just happen." Miaki leaned back on the bench more and put his arms behind his neck. "Most people are too scared to leave the safety of the town inn, let alone leave the safety of the starting city."

Cinder waited to see if anything else was going to be said, and then after a moment of silence he opened his mouth. "Have you tried the <>?" Cinder asked, not taking his red eyes off of the spraying fountain, the tip of his tobacco roll flaring as he inhaled, smoke filtering out of his nose gently.

[Miaki 0]

"Eh?" Miaki sat up a little and turned his head in the direction from which the voice came. He saw the tall man in leather who was smoking some tobacco and puffing the smoke into the air. Without answering, Miaki waved open his map of the city. After confirming his location yet again and the places he'd been to already, he realized he had not been to the <> yet. He chuckled to himself about this fact and began to stand up.

"No I have not." Miaki adjusted the coat tale of his olive green tunic worn underneath the light-brown leather jacket he worn then fixed the straps that held his basic <> in place. He did this all while approaching the player dressed in black. When they were close enough, Miaki extended his right hand to greet the man. "I suppose I should introduce myself. The name is Miaki. And you are?"

[Cinder 0]

"I suppose I should introduce myself. The name is Miaki. And you are?"

Cinder watched as the man extended his hand out towards him. Turning around to face him square on, the <> still between his lips, he gripped his hand, shaking it. "Cinder, nice to meet you." After the hand shake, he pulled the tobacco from his lips, exhaling a large amount of smoke into the air before looking past Miaki towards the <>. "I'll gladly help you on the quest if you want, I'm getting a little tired of farming mobs for right now, the change in pace will be relaxing."

[Miaki 0]

The two players firmly shook hands. "Cinder, nice to meet you." Miaki watched Cinder take another puff from his <> and puff smoke into the digital space around them.

"I'll gladly help you on the quest if you want, I'm getting a little tired of farming mobs for right now, the change in pace will be relaxing."

"That'd be great. I've had my fair share of simple exploration and killing mobs and really want to find out about this special crafted weapon." Miaki swiped two fingers down, bringing up the HUD and sent a party invite to Cinder. While doing this he began talking again. So the <> is that way right?" He stuck his thumb in the general direction of the Eastern part of the city. "I've been there before but don't know where the shop is. Mind leading the way?"

[Clarence 0]

I quickly sheath my daggers and walk toward the <>, hearing about a new quest there."Now if I were a quest where would I be....." I mumble to myself as I walk around, searching for the quest.

(OOC--> Here is a little description for my character for you guys). I'm standing there, in the middle of the road, standing Five feet Eleven, brown hair, and bright purple eyes. (OOC ->Purple eyes is possible, its a genetic disorder). I'm wearing a green undershirt with a brown vest on over it. A black fedora on, on my brown hair. I'm wearing dark blue jeans and Black shoes. My primary weapons are dual black shadow daggers on my sides with sheaths.

I'm walking along the roads and I hear a couple of people to my right talking about a possible quest."I've been there before but don't know where the shop is. Mind leading the way?". I start walking toward the couple, hoping I could join them. "Hey is there room for someone else?"

[Miaki 0]

"Hey is there room for someone else?"

Miaki turned around and saw the approaching player wearing a black fedora. "Certainly! Why not?" He extended his right hand to greet the approaching player. "I'm Miaki and this here is Cinder. I was just seeing about finding the shop and getting started. You're more than welcome to party up with us."

[Cinder 0]

A systems panel opened in front of him, floating in thin air as words displayed across the screen, Player Miaki has invited you to join a party, do you accept?, below were two icons, the same two icons that appear in every yes or no option selection. Hovering his hand over the blue button with a white circle in the inside, he tapped. The screen flashed slightly and then collapsed as a new name appeared under his in his Heads Up Display, or HUD for short. Next to his name, a green health bar grew and extended underneath his own, giving him status feedback of his newly found party member.

"I've been there before but don't know where the shop is. Mind leading the way?"

Just as Miaki began pointing in the direction of the <>, and before Cinder could respond, he watched as the newer man approached, a fedora on his head, and a bright green shirt covering his chest underneath a leather tunic. "Hey is there room for someone else?" Cinder just tossed a shrug, the tobacco roll still lit in between his lips as he inhaled again, the tip flaring like a real modern day cigarette back in the real world. Smoke rolled from his nose and mouth as Miaki introduced them both.

"I'm Miaki and this here is Cinder. I was just seeing about finding the shop and getting started. You're more than welcome to party up with us."

Cinder looked at both men, and couldn't help but crack a smile. To them, it looked as if he was excited to finally have a party, but really, Cinder was just excited to see what became of the day, treating the game as more of a tv show then a VRMMORPG that could utterly send ten-thousand people to their graves.

Taking a step past them both, his left hand in his pocket, and the <> in his right hand as smoke trailed off behind him from it, he turned around and took a couple steps backwards to speak to them both, before faceing forward again, heading into the <>, "Well, let us get started shall we?" Cinder inhaled one last time, finishing off the stick of tobacco, the tip flaring up as he flicked it to his right side. What remained, shattered into tiny rainbow pixels as it collided into the ground. Taking his right hand, he placed it in his pocket like his left, keeping a third eye on everything around him.

[Clarence 0]

"Hi Miaki and Cinder, I'm Clarence." I smile and turn around a bit to start walking toward the <>. I notice Cinder's cold like attitude toward me but I play it off like nothing happened, not wanting to upset them and already get kicked out of the party."So any idea where this quest giver is, I've had terrible luck in finding it." I ask, hoping there was some info on it.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki pointed to Cinder with his thumb as they started walking into the the <>. "I was hoping Cinder new exactly. But it shouldn't be as hard as I was making it out to be." Miaki adjusted his light brown fedora and waved open his GUI, bringing up a map of the city. "What I was doing was checking out each place marked on the map as an NPC weapons shop. But there are many in this massive city. However, Zooming in on the <>. "I've noticed only a few shops. I suspect that it should be easy."

[Cinder 0]

Cinder approached the busy paved street of the <>. There were more NPC's than players, hardly any at all actually. He was looking for one particular NPC, Mrs. Pepper it seemed. That was where they went to start the quest, and from there, she'd list what was required for the quest owner. For some reason, in this game, people's quests varied in objective and time, its like the game adjusted off of the player based on who knew what information. He always assumed that there were artificial intelligence monitoring them, but he didn't expect the creator of <> to go to such an extent to vary the quests. It was rather exciting really, no one ever had the same quest, unless they shared it of course, and it was all thanks to the little computer fairies that he knew were floating around somewhere.

Stepping over to a lowly <> NPC, a name and cursor floated above her head, the white letters spelling out <>. Cinder held out one hand to her, "Is this who you two are looking for?" he said, looking at both Miaki and Clarence. He tossed a smile at them both as he placed his hands in his pockets, leaning back on his heels slightly.

[Miaki 0]

"Is this who you two are looking for?" Miaki heard Cinder say gesturing to the smiling NPC named Pepper. Miaki nearly bursted with excitement at their find. The NPC waved to the three players, greeting them. For a moment Miaki was surprised at how lifelike this particular NPC was. It would seem that in <> some players were just more important that others and thus given more attention. This wasn't a new concept. In many MMOs, some NPCs just existed to make areas appear more active and populated than they actually were.

"Alright, time to get started." Miaki said while approaching Pepper. He engaged the cute blacksmith who talked about setting up shop here in Aincrad and trying to make a living. Miaki asked her different things and she returned with seemingly unscripted responses. 'Man, Kayaba. I'll give you credit for making her seem real.' He then asked about getting a custom-made blade and how much it would cost.

"Oh I'd be happy to make you a specialty blade. What kind do you have in mind?" Pepper asked. Miaki told her he wanted to a silver <> he already had a name in mind for it when he finished the quest. When he acquired this dream sword, he'd name it <> based off of an old handle he went by in other games. Pepper nodded as Miaki told her what he had in mind then gave him a list of materials to find. Miaki's GUI appeared and noted the starting of the quest. The display read:

New Quest Available

Blades of Dreams

Materials Needed:

<>

<>

<>

<>

"Sweet!" Miaki shouted throwing his fist in the air. He turned around to face Cinder and Clarance.

[Clarence 0]

I smile at the other two, with Miaki's almost childlike happiness in finding this quest giver."Finally, I could of sworn I checked this store.... oh well, well now to do this quest!" I smile and start moving toward the entrance of the shop. I smile back at Cinder."I know where we can get the Iron Sand and the Bones, any idea where the silver is guys?" I ask the other two, hoping they had a answer.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki's eyebrows furrowed at the question. "Not in the least. Sounds like something that would be likely a rare drop or loot from a dungeon." He looked over the list again. "The other items seem moderately easy to get. Leather? Bones? No problem. Im not sure about the iron sand or silver....."

[Cinder 0]

"Sweet!"

Cinder watched as Miaki through his fist into the air in victory. Merely viewing from the sidelines as the two began their quests, reading through the description of it. They'd need materials, or "mats" for short, to help obtain this "special" weapon thats rewarded at the end of the quest; something that never really peaked Cinder's interest.

"I know where we can get the Iron Sand and the Bones, any idea where the silver is guys?"

Cinder actually pondered that question himself, and thought of the various creatures he's fought before, and if any had dropped <>. Recalling back, he knew of some miners that would probably be the most likely bet, and even if the miners didn't drop any, the item <> could probably be found lying around; potentially guarded by an elite monster.

"Not in the least. Sounds like something that would be likely a rare drop or loot from a dungeon." Miaki looked over his list again. "The other items seem moderately easy to get. Leather? Bones? No problem. Im not sure about the iron sand or silver....."

Cinder opened pulled his right hand from his jacket pocket, slashing two fingers down in front of him to bring up the systems menu. Cycling through the menu's to his map information, he began sliding his hand across the smooth holographic surface to move the map to the particular section he was looking for. After locating the mine, he pressed he share icon with the rest of the party, offering up that particular portion of map information to the newly found party members. This is old content anyway, not like selling this information would be of any value at this point, he thought to himself before speaking, "Here's the portion of the map information for a mine up north, there's no gurantee that we'll find <> or <> there, but it seems like the most likely place it'd be. <> and <> I'm sure we can grind on our way there."

[Clarence 0]

"Here's the portion of the map information for a mine up north, there's no guarantee that we'll find <> or <> there, but it seems like the most likely place it'd be. <> and <> I'm sure we can grind on our way there." I open up my map and add the data into my existing data. I slash two fingers down, pulling up my interface. I start scrolling through the map, finding the section I was looking for. I quickly zoom in on <> A secluded beach only high level detectors/ tracers can find.Hey, I'm gonna be doing them a favor giving it to them. I open up my map data share screen and send it to the two others in the store with me."Unfortunately for us the Bay is opposite the mine by a lot, we have a long hike before we can get to both. Also, the Bay has some somewhat high level monsters. Even though if you sneak around them they can't tell you are there at all, I would say we have about a days hike all together to get everything." I finish, looking at my party members for their input.

[Miaki 0]

Opened the updated map information from both players and started scrolling through it. He checked the places mentioned and nodded his head while reading it. The area was rather risky but he had done fine on his own expeditions and recalled how well he did fighting a level 3 quest boss recently. He moved his two fingers across the interface and brought up his inventory. He had the supplies needed for atleast a 4 day expedition and had a decent skill set for himself and his level was high enough. He wasn't sure about where Cinder and Clarance were compared to him but he deduced from their demeanor and appearance that they were well off as well. They both stopped talking and seemed to be looking for a response.

Miaki examined the two points they both indicated. "The bay sounds like it will be more rewarding for all of us, not just in experience but in mats and possible loot." He flicked his wrist, discarding the GUI. "I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to leave now. If there are no objections..." He held his whole arm out toward the city gates. "Shall we?"

[Cinder 0]

"Unfortunately for us the Bay is opposite the mine by a lot, we have a long hike before we can get to both. Also, the Bay has some somewhat high level monsters. Even though if you sneak around them they can't tell you are there at all, I would say we have about a days hike all together to get everything."

Cinder took in the shared information, watching as his map flashed, and the new region highlighted with various barriers and markers. <> hovered neatly in the center of the area, indicating the name of the region. Hmmm, thats a new area, I wonder how he find such a place? he thought to himself as his map expanded, this death game has a lot more to offer than expected. He pondered the two positions, looking over the bay intently as he studied the layout.

"The bay sounds like it will be more rewarding for all of us, not just in experience but in mats and possible loot." Miaki flicked his wrist, discarding the systems menu in front of him. "I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to leave now. If there are no objections..." Miaki held his whole arm out toward the city gates. "Shall we?"

Cinder looked between the two of them, then scrolled through his inventory, double checking his supplies. He mostly wanted to ensure he had enough <>. It was getting close to that time when he'd have to go repeat the quest for another stash. Cycling through his inventory, he peered at the quantity numbers, and then closed out the menu with a wave of his hand. He then turned towards Miaki and Clarence, nodding, "I'm perfectly fine for the trip, ready when you are." He thought it best that Clarence lead the way, seeing as how he was the one who had found the region, and would have a better understanding of its whereabouts and how to get there; he decided it was best to just follow along on this one.

[Clarence 0]

"The bay sounds like it will be more rewarding for all of us, not just in experience but in mats and possible loot." Miaki flicked his wrist, discarding the systems menu in front of him. "I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to leave now. If there are no objections..." Miaki held his whole arm out toward the city gates. "Shall we?""I'm perfectly fine for the trip, ready when you are." Replied Cinder. I open up my inventory and look through my stock.Okay, I've got enough potion from my shop for at least a three day journey, food and camping gear is good. I think I'm set. I think to myself."I'm ready to head out. I'll lead the way to <>, now another warning, the bay attracts a lot of high level attention, the only way to find it is to track a monster into it, and the mob that walks into the area can only be tracked my high level trackers, or high level fighters. So we are in for a lot." I say and head out toward the bay.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki started to follow Clarence out of the city as he explained how the <> was a dangerous region. Fortunately he was a high level tracker and Miaki had gotten rather skilled in combat himself. He didn't know much about Cinder yet but he could tell that he knew his way around a fight. The three men armed to the teeth and a high level average among them exited the city gates and started walking towards the bay.