[SP-F01] Earning A Living

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Vandal wasn't too happy. That wasn't surprising though, Vandal was never really all that happy. Maybe it came from being the only adult he had seen in this damned game so far, and that he was surrounded by children, but never the less, Vandal wasn't too happy. Luckily he didn't have time to dwell on it, because he had other, more pressing, matters to attend to.

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Thus far he had kept to himself, waiting to see what would happen. There was simply no need to rush out into the game just yet, not until he had time to access the situation. But after weeks went by with no rescue from the outside, and players meager starting Col began to dwindle, players were forced to realize they were on their own. That meant suddenly it was important to start leveling to survive this world, and that gaining Col would be essential.

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Thankfully Col wasn't all that hard to come by, not in an MMO with a crafting system in place. That meant Vandal could play the game while maintaining his own equipment. He had planned to go the generic warrior route anyway, so being able to forge his own metal arms and armor would just make his job easier, and let him sell some stuff on the side. That meant taking the initial Blacksmithing quest to pick up the profession. Oh goody.

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He had passed by the starting NPC for the quest several times, just never paused long enough to initiate conversation. Well, this time that would change. It took a few minutes to navigate the crowded central plaza, which filled with other players who had never left the Starting City yet. But Vandal was in no particular hurry, yet anyway. Trying to rush his way through things would just result in mistakes, and since this game had suddenly become a game of life and death, mistakes meant death.

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Having reached his destination, Vandal stopped, and waited. The burly little NPC before him was in the middle of his spiel about Blacksmithing, and it took a few seconds for the game to register his attention. As far as introductions go, it was pretty basic, just some basic info about how Blacksmiths used raw materials, in the form of metal ingots, to forge armor and weapons. Once he had stood through the entire pitch, the option to take the introductory quest popped before him.

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Vandal frowned and studied the pop up before him, looks like he would need to go out and kill a few Kobolds on he far side of the map near the entrance to the dungeon leading to the second floor. Kobolds drop iron scraps, which can be combined into Iron Ingots and used to smith. Pretty standard stuff as far as MMO's went. For a moment Vandal considered his low level and gear, before deciding it shouldn't be too great a risk.

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Most enemies on Floor 1 were the Frenzy Boars that roamed around the hillsides. They would not attack unless he attacked first, and could be safely ignored. Once he closed in on the entrance to the dungeon he would see Kobolds, lesser versions of the main spawn inside the dungeon. These Lesser Kobolds were about his level, and were not equipped with the heavy armor and weapons of the Greater Kobolds inside. So, a challenge, but nothing too dangerous even while he was solo.

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These Lesser Kobolds would actually be solo spawns, because even a death game like SAO tried to be noob friendly. It struck him as an effective tactic, show the players on the first floor a little slack, so when they went into the dungeon and made it to floor 2 the sudden spike in difficulty curve would murder them. Bleak humor aside, the sooner he went out to kill these things, the better. He wanted to get to work trying to get some better gear whipped up. He was tired of looking like a noob.

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It was kind of nice having a goal in mind after all these weeks of just waiting to see what would happen. It wasn't like Vandal to laze around, and the change of pace did wonders to ease a bit of his frustration. All day, every day, surrounded by children like some kind of retarded Lord of the Flies Orgy of Darkness. It was enough to piss just about anyone off, and it only made things worse that Vandal had yet to run across another adult. What the hell, he would have thought he could find at least one other 20 something in this whole bad situation.

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Hopefully swinging his sword against something would go a long way towards helping to improve his mood. These Kobolds were likely going to have more health then him, but at least he could face them one on one, and not have to worry about getting surrounded by a mob of monsters that were all stronger then him. Besides, maybe he was weird, but there was just something fun about facing an opponent that was enough of a badass to take you out.

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Stomping his way out onto the plains he pulled up his map, checking the route, and started off on his adventure. Sure, he was heading out into the unknown to face monsters that could very well kill him. But at least he was getting away from that damned town that was packed full of those damned kids. If anything he could enjoy the outdoors free from all the racket of the sea of raging puberty. Besides, with the exception of roaming around facing Frenzy Boar on his first day of the game, he really hadn't got the chance to play around with the combat system much.

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The First Floor may have been the biggest, area wise anyway, but it still didn't take Vandal long to make the hike out to the entrance of the Labyrinth. He wasn't about to head in there yet, he knew for a fact that the Ruin Kobold Soldier that he would find was a much tougher opponent then he was ready to face just yet. But outside here, he could come across the solitary Ruin Kobold Scout, which was a much easier opponent for an under geared player just starting out try and face down. he didn't particularly care where his Kobold kills came from, he just needed the 3.

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Standing near the entrance, Vandal slowly surveyed the area, taking note of the nearby hills and trees, before a slight movement caught his attention. There, crouched near a rock outcropping, was the lean rat like form of a Kobold Scout. Roughly 4 feet tall, and wearing patched leather armor, it held a dagger in hand and seemed in an animation loop that had it looking this way and that while crouched. As far as 'scouts' went, it seemed a pretty normal rogue type enemy found in just about any MMO.

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Vandal smiled a particularly not nice smile that seemed to promise bad things for the unfortunate scout. Reaching up over his shoulder, he took the handle of the Starting Broadsword that was sheathed across his back, pulling the large two handed sword free. Oh yeah, he liked the heft of a weapon like this in his hand. Once he had the time and ability to craft a better one it would be perfect. There was just something about having a huge blade in hand to batter the [censored] out of his opponents that felt good. It might not have been an M4 Carbine, but a Marine had to make do with what he could.

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Taking his sword before him in a two handed grip Vandal charged into battle, aiming to get the first hit of this little encounter and get things started. Cocking his sword to the side, and twisting hard at the hips, Vandal let the Sword Skill take over as he released the <> attack, a broad spinning slash aimed at the Kobold Scout's midsection. But weeks of sitting around Starting City had taken a bit of a toll on Vandal, because he misjudged the distance, and his attack barely missed.

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Unwilling to give up the advantage that would come with landing the first attack, Vandal brought his sword up and then hacked downward, deciding to forgo the use of the Sword Skills and rely on a little old fashioned brute strength. He put his back into the slash, as though his opponent were a nail he was trying to drive into the ground. But again the attack missed, the heavy blade feeling awkward and unwieldy in his hands without the system to help.

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More than a little unhappy with the state of the battle, Vandal brought the heavy sword back and then thrust forward in a two-handed thrust, hoping to drive the blade clean through the annoying little creature he just couldn't seem to hit. Again, not even close, the little bastard was just too damned fast. Gritting his teeth, Vandal backed away, knowing the little dagger wielding bastard might attack at any moment, but needing some distance to rethink how he was going to handle this. If he couldn't hit his opponent, how was he supposed to kill it?

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Watching the enemy draw the dagger back, Vandal figured that an attack skill was about to be released. Sword Attack Skills were fast, way faster then he could just dodge, but he did have one advantage. Angling his sword before him, he waited... And when the attack launched, he thrust out, his idea to let his superior range impale the bastard before it could get close enough to attack with that dagger.

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It had been a good idea, and it kept the creature away from him, but it hadn't done any damage like he had hoped. At this rate he was going to be out here all goddamned day. Gritting his teeth, and lifting the sword, he stepped forward and chopped down savagely, hoping that maybe this time he would get lucky and finally hit the little [censored]. Finally, the heavy blade struck flesh with a hollow thunk, dealing some much needed damage.

Vandal: 9/9

Kobold Scout: 7/8

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Stepping back, Vandal cocked his sword outward, waiting for the inevitable counter attack. He had the reach advantage and even though his sword was slow and awkward, that meant something. If he could keep driving it back when it tried to dart in for a dagger attack, he could outlast it. He just needed to keep his head, watch patiently, and react with as little needed movement as possible.