[PP - F1] Slowly progressing...even more. (Adhaerere, Verus) COMPLETE

[Adhaerere 0]

 She checked her stats as he did, finding the additional skill point and putting it in Heavy Armour, again. Just two more. They would get there eventually."That's what you're supposed to be doing, dork. I'm the one who takes the blows, not the one who kills the damn things. You should learn to do more damage than I do." Then she guffawed as he dropped the sword, having to cover her mouth. She had to bend over as she laughed, holding her stomach. Some tears from the continuous laughter squeezed out of her closed eyes. Served him right.

 It took a while for her to calm down, but she ended up standing straight again. She wiped the moisture from her eyes, and smirked. She decided to ask him another question. Her laughing made her forget that he hadn't responded to her other questions. "What's your real name?" She didn't feel protective of her own real name. It was as much a part of her as this body, which was transferred into the game now. Why not her name too?

Edited June 12, 2016 by Adhaerere

[trenttrent20 0]

"It figures that you're used to taking a pounding." He retaliated as she began laughing, grinning soon after, knowing he may have gone a little to far into making a joke. However, the sword drop was truly funny, but he could not show that he could laugh at himself this early on. He would fully open up later, as it had only been a couple days into the game. "I kid, I kid, but yeah I guess it will be my job to deliver the final blows. Just a few more levels and I'll be dishing it out even more." Verus made a fist and pulled it towards his body, in a motion that symbolized the future score he would get. When asked about his age, he replied quickly. "Dillon." It was spoken simply and pure, not a trace of a second thought about it in his voice. He had not cared about if his name would get out or not, as it was just a name like any other persons. "You look like...like a Denise. No wait, a Shelly. Definitely a Shelly."

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[Adhaerere 0]

The retort had made her laugh even more. 

"Dillon? That's a nice name." She laughed as he tried to guess her name. "No, no. No way. I'm no Shelly. My name's Mallory. Mallory James." She smiled. "It's a plain name but it's the only one I have." Her smile softened as she spoke these words, and she slung her axe over her back once more."What's your favorite food? And actually, what's your favorite sort of drink?" She brought her hand up to her eye, wiping the last traces of wetness from the corners. She began walking again, falling in step beside the shorter boy. "And how old are you?" She looked at him as she walked, skilled at keeping her pace straight while she looked at a conversation partner. Years of talking like this had caused it to be a habit. It also allowed her to speak in a soft, friendly tone, one that most encouraged people to respond. 

[trenttrent20 0]

He slightly felt like he was being talked to like he was a second grader, but he thought not much of it as she continued to question his life. Verus would have never pegged her for a Mallory, it was an ancient sounding name. One that reminded him slightly of an old actor or severely old widow. It was a nice name nonetheless. "Pleasure to meet you miss Mallory James." He did a slight bow and followed at her side, quickly chirping in when she spoke of food and drink. "Simple sushi has always been my favorite since I was very young. The hundreds of variations and taste it brought was always delightful." He smiled, thinking back to the good gas station sushi he was able to afford. It was never anything spectacular, but it always left a good taste in his mouth. "I'm not one for sodas or the like, but I've always been fond of tea, with the all-time best being Green Tea, of course." His boot lacing felt slightly off, and he stopped for a moment, crouching over to retighten his footwear. "I turned eighteen maybe eight months ago, somewhere around there. It all seems fuzzy now trying to remember it." After his boot was at his desired tightness, he stood back up and looked to the lady. "Alright let me guess, thirty-eight, no thirty-seven." 

[Adhaerere 0]

 She laughed as he bowed, and shoved his shoulder, trying to off balance him. She was a good listener, and so was happy to hear him talk more. As of now, she thought he had spoke more in these few moments than he had before in one stretch. She smiled, pleased. "Sushi is good, and you mighta guessed that I liked tea too. Black tea is my favorite though." She stopped as he did, and looked down at him as he fixed his shoelace. She set one hand on her hip. Once he stood up, she listened to him, and laughed hard. "Am I really that old looking?" She reached out her arm to push him again, teasingly. "No, I'm 28. You overshot by ten years, squirt. But I guess I can't put it past you, you're not mature enough to be able to tell how old people actually are."As she spoke this last sentence, she turned away, and adopted a ridiculously posh and old accent, drawing out every vowel and barely speaking the consonants. She tossed her head to one side, accidentally getting hair in her face. She stood there, hands on her hips, hair in her face, trying to look superior and failing. Once she felt she had done that enough, she pushed her hair out of her face and pretended like nothing happened, continuing to walk, with him or without him. 

 "What sort of dreams did you have in the real world?" She asked this question in past tense, as if saying those dreams were never going to happen. It was a possibility. "And what kind of trouble did a kid like you get into?" She said this one a little jokingly, smiling softly. 

[trenttrent20 0]

He quickly drew his sword after her replying to a few of her replies, looking towards the wolf for a moment. "Well grandma, get your hair out of your face, we got a challenger." He chuckled after looking back to see the twenty-eight year old trying to act all cool. It was a good sight to see, her covered in her own wall of hair while he was about to dive in. "I'll tell you more in a bit hun, I can't talk about personal stuff for too long." Verus nodded at her and pointed at the charging wolf with his sword, sun glimmering off of the blade just slightly. "Now be caref-" The wolf had jumped into the are and lunged at Verus before he could finish his sentence.

ID#61412 results:

Battle: 9

Mob: 4 

Wolf HP: (2/6) (-5 due to crit and skill, but essentially minus 4 due to its MIT)

Verus HP: 12/12

-1/3 energy-

 

He quickly thrusted his sword upwards into the belly of the beast, blade glowing bright purple while doing so. Verus had activated his Rip Rivine Sword art in a moments notice and pierced right through the back of the beast, holding it up on his sword for a moment before kicking it off the blade. "Filthy thing should know better. We aren't casual players."

[Adhaerere 0]

 She laughed, impressed with his skill. "Nice one. Now let grandma have a turn." She quickly pushed some last few strands of hair out of her face and got her battleaxe in her hands. She went to go after the wolf, trying to activate her skill. 

ID: #61413

BD: 3

She missed.

 Her axe glowing red she charged after the beast. It didn't move much, actually, but her hair had gotten in the way of her judgement. At the last moment a strand of it got right in her eye, and she jerked back, quickly reaching her hand up to pick it out of her eye. It hurt, and she had missed her skill, the axe landing in the ground not in the body of the beast. She finally got ahold of herself, and backed up. "Sorry." 

Damage Dealt / Received (Wolf, Adhaerere)

        Wolf: Health: 2/6 (-0) = 2/6

        Adhaerere: Health 12/12 (-0) = 12/12

Energy: 1/3 remaining

[trenttrent20 0]

"You'll get it next time don't worry." He smiled and walked over to her axe, tapping on it with the hilt of his simple Rapier. "It'll all come with practice..." His voice trailed off as he slowly walked over to the wolf who began to circle around him. The animal quicky tried to swipe at Verus, but fell short, missing by a wide margin. "Poor thing." Verus activated his favorite skill, Rip Rivine, and cut two giant gashes into the neck of the animal before it had time to react. 

ID # 61415

Battle: 8

Mob: 2

Loot: 12

Wolf: 0/6

Verus:  12/12

-0/3 energy-

He did not care much to watch the explosion of this conquered enemy, and turned around before it disappeared. This one came easy to him, and he was ready to level up to be able to take on more animals. "How much Col do we have so far Adhae? You need your armor already." He traced it out in the air towards her, closing one eye to draw it better. "Shouldn't be much longer." An additional thirty Col was added to his amount as soon as he finished talking, and he could only assume that he was able to loot the dead wolf.

[Adhaerere 0]

She looked a little dispirited, feeling unhelpful by missing her shot. She shrugged it off, and came up to him, looking at the particles. She saw him turn away and realized he was trying to seem cool, and refused to acknowledge it. She swiped up her screen. "I have about 620 Col. You?" She closed her menu and stuck her virtual hands in her pockets, her axe already on her back. She smiled a little as he traced it on her. She could imagine the weight of the heavy plates on her shoulders, chest, and back. They would be cool against her skin, the straps holding it together feeling slightly rough but not uncomfortable.. She realized she'd been daydreaming, and brought herself back to the present. "I still need the rank I think. Or maybe not. We'll find out." She shrugged, and started walking again.

"What do you think your favourite thing about yourself is? Personality wise or physical?" 

[trenttrent20 0]

"About the same." He sheathed his sword and and crossed his arms, listening to her talk. "It won't be too long until you get the five points. How many do you have in your heavy army skill now? Just a couple or...?" His arms fell to his side and continued walking with her. They must have circled the town a dozen times now, just picking off the straggling monsters they could find. They had beat down a considerable amount together, and in all honesty, he thought it was pretty fun. Other than the times he got stabbed or mauled, it was somewhat enjoyable. 

"You know, I honestly don't know how to answer that question." He had taken some time to reply to her asking, and could not come up with a single thing. Verus could not decide whether it was a good or bad thing that he could not decide. A few things popped into his mind but he wasn't  so sure on what exactly stood out. He pulled up his menu and searched around for something, materializing some bread after he had chosen to eat some."Hungry?" 

[Adhaerere 0]

 "All of the new points I've gotten as we killed things on this adventure, I've put into the Heavy Armour skill. That's just three. The other five I got when I started out, I put into this puppy." She reached back and patted her axe gently, taking care not to touch the sharp ends. "If it's the same as the weapon ranks, it should only take two more to get the first rank. Then I can maybe wear the armour." She smiled, genuinely happy at the idea.

 She nodded, accepting his answer. "That's a good an answer as any. Maybe your favorite thing is your indecision." She smirked, and then looked at the food in his hand. She hadn't realized it, but she was very hungry. "Oh, yes I am." She scrolled through her own menu and pulled out some bread, sitting down with it and patting the ground beside her. The spot they had stopped at was one with a great view, looking out over a wide lake in front of them, surrounded by the rolling hills. The sun was only beginning to descend on the horizon, right over the lake. It was beautiful. "I don't think I've accepted that we're in this place yet. Inside the game. Stuck here," She said as she ripped a hunk of bread off of the loaf in her hand, and waited until she'd chewed all the way to continue. "I'm sure I'll realize it at some point and go into shock for a few days."

[trenttrent20 0]

Verus had already devoured his first loaf before Adhae had started with hers, stuffing as much as he could in his cheeks. "Warblauhgh-ablegarg!" He quickly swallowed and sat down, crossing his legs. He set his elbows on his knees and leaned his head into his hands, listening to her talk. "This is our...home now I guess. Right here on this patch of dirt." He snorted slightly and replayed some of her sentences in his head. So she was in fact getting ready to purchase the armor soon. It was great that she was doing so, as he had diverted his attempts in armor until a later time. "So, how's the fake bread taste? I couldn't really tell. It was gone rather fast." He ended up patting his stomach and leaning backward, putting his weight on his hands. 

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[Adhaerere 0]

 She smiled, and shrugged. "Tastes like the best bread I've ever eaten." She put another piece in her mouth, staring at the skyline, watching the sun approaching it. Soon it would dip below, and shroud the whole world in darkness. As she did, almost subconsciously, she broke off a little piece of it and handed it back to him, turning to look at his face as she did. "Here, if you promise to eat it slowly you can try." She smiled faintly and turned back to the sky. She knew her hair, red as it was, usually got even more vibrant as the orange glow of a setting sun reflected off of it. She wondered if this fake sun did the same thing. Her eyes started watering from keeping them open so long, so she blinked and turned them away, quickly eating the rest of her bread. "I wonder what's happening to our bodies irl." She frowned a little. "There's nobody who would notice I wasn't awake, except maybe my job. But I have a few days off." She drew her knees up to her chest, and turned her head to look at Verus. "Is there anyone who would come check on you?" He hadn't answered many questions about his family, and she thought this would be a good chance to ask him about it.

[trenttrent20 0]

"Possibly my dad, but not for a day or two." He quickly accepted her token of bread and put it away fast, rethinking what he just did a second ago. "Sorry, it's just a habit for me to eat really fast." The bread to him tasted very mild and bland, not much flavor to it. However, it was bread, so there was a solid reason for lack of distinction from his taste buds. He had not really thought of what was happening to his actual body, and honestly he was fine with no thinking about it. Everything would all end up okay, or so he hoped. "I bet you'll have someone come for you. I mean, hundreds of others are under the same situation right now." The sun shone bright, and he guessed it to be almost midday. It was warm outside but not too hot, with decent cloud cover overhead. Verus did not really know what to say, so he just sat there and played with a few blades of grass, throwing them to the side after he was done. He lifted up his left arm and gently fell backwards, semi-long hair spreading out on the ground as he stared up at the deep blue sky. "It's nice isn't it?"

[Adhaerere 0]

 "I guess," she responded, thinking about who it would be who came for her. Would the police go around and knock on people's doors, searching for people trapped in VR? Would some not be found soon enough? She got lost in this, but eventually internally shrugged the thoughts aside. Though the thought of dying of starvation in the real world and not knowing it in game would linger at the back of her thoughts for some time in the future. She held her knees in both of her arms, and rest her chin in between them, staring at the sky. Verus' comment broke her from her reverie. She lifted her head and turned to look at him, scooting over and crossing her legs once she was facing him. "Too nice," she said, though that's all she would say before she reached out and poked his unprotected stomach with one finger. "Alright, enough sitting around. We're either going to do something productive or you're going to answer questions, nothing else." She smiled softly and waited for him to agree to one or the other.

[trenttrent20 0]

But laying here doing nothing is niceeeeee." He let out a semi-loud grunt and rolled over onto his stomach, looking away from her. His eyes focused on a small lake nearby and watched as some mobs were surrounded it. "There." He sluggishly lifted up his left arm and pointed at the pond a decent ways away. "Take me there." They had been fighting for so long and all he wanted to do at the moment was bask in some lake water. "Better yet, carry me there. Put all your points into strength. It'll be worth it. I'll feed you in...in bread." He quickly opened his menu and summoned a loaf of bread, holding it up in the air. "This is an offer you can't refuseeee." The ground beneath him was warm, mostly because of the sun beating down. It had been a good day, he had gotten some skill points and got to further know his partner, Mallory. 

[Adhaerere 0]

 She stood up, and came to a decision. A mischievous grin began to spread over her face, but she did her best to keep it down. "Ok. I'll carry you to the lake. Get up." She nudged him with her foot, trying to prod him to stand. Once he did, she bent down and did her best to sling him over her shoulders.

ID: #61424

CD: 8

 She managed to do it, huffing and puffing as she heaved him up over her shoulders. His legs were on one side of her shoulders, and his torso on the other. She had to hunch forward just a little to keep him on there, but she did it. She started walking down towards the lake, her steps a lot heavier due to the extra weight she had on her back.

 Once she got to the lake, she stopped beside it. But she wasn't done yet. "As you ordered, sir. To the lake." She turned, let go of one side of him, and sent him falling face first into the water. 

(( :^) ))

[trenttrent20 0]

"Oh thanks Adhae this really means a lo-" He grunted as he was picked up and thrown onto her shoulder, making an 'oomph' sound as his stomach made contact. "Really nice....of you..." Verus really didn't weigh all that much, but he was surprised she was able to do it. He had hope she was taking him to the lake, but could only see the backside of her boots as she walked forwards. It was a weird way to view the world, eyes forced down and staring at the backside of my new partner. Adhae seemed to be struggling a bit, making enough grunting sounds to question whether she was able to do it. "You alright there Adha-" His voice was cut off as he was dropped right side first into the water. This caught him by surprise and he his the shallow part of the water, shoulder digging straight into the ground. 

Verus HP: 11/12

"Rude..." he mumbled as he sat up, pushing his shoulder back and forth until it felt right. It may have seemed like he didn't want to be in the water, but that was his plan the whole time. It was nice and mild, just as he had hoped. He reached his hands down to unstrap his sheathed rapier from his side and handed it to her, making sure it wouldn't ruin in water. "Thank you for the ride miss."

[Adhaerere 0]

 She got splashed as he fell, and she stepped back quick, laughing underneath her hand. Then, she was startled as she heard a ding from the corner of her screen. ...It was the level up sound. Her eyes widened, and she looked to Verus, then the xp bar, then Verus, then the xp bar. 

ID: #61426

CD: 9

 She went into the water, seized his foot, and dragged him out again. She knew how much he weighed, but somehow her strength was too much for him, and he went flying out of the water. She laughed, but quickly went and picked him up again, and went to drop him in the water again. She practically threw him down into the same place, and looked expectantly at her xp bar. Nothing happened. She was thoroughly confused, but would offer no explanation to Verus as to why she did this again. 

[trenttrent20 0]

As quickly as he was thrown into the water, he was dragged back out again. This time, he was dropped with much more force, except it felt as if he was pushed down this time. A much larger splash had followed, and a slight indentation of his body was left int he rocks underwater. He landed with a grunt, but was muffled as his face went under. He pushed himself back up, wiped his hair from his eyes and coughed up a little pond water. "I'm pretty sure this is bullying now."
 

Verus: 14/16
 

He paused for a second, noticing that his health bar had increased since he last saw it. "Did we just level up by beating me up?" He laughed and stood up, trying to ring out some of the water from his now soaked shirt. He was tempted to just take it off but figured the cool water would feel good for a while. "Well...thanks for that." After picking up and fixing his rapier back in place, he pulled up his menu and allotted the skill point to where his others were put. "So, what now?"