[PP-F9] Guardian of Firraaaaaaaaah

[Shanok 0]

Shanok was waiting for his friend Miaki in the village called Vulcan Village on the ninth floor. He had recently heard about a quest near that village and sought help from his friend knowing that he'd definitely help him out. While he waited for Miaki to arrive, Shanok checked his equipment to make sure everything was right and that nothing needed repairs done. He had also packed food since he heard that to get to the mighty Cerberus' lair it would take two days. He didn't particularly enjoy the idea of sleeping in heat but it was something he was ready to do if it meant getting some good loot.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki received a request from Shanok to venture out and help him with a quest on the ninth floor. He heard that their would be a strong need for traveling and of course some form of combat no doubt. The young man showed the quest information with his wife Nikki and she set forth to help make the proper preperations. Namely attempt to make for him a few meals to take on the journey. However, her attempts were rather... combustible and required his immediate assistance at one point much to his darling wife's protest. Together they compiled a nice arrangement of small meals to take on his travels. Seeing everything in order they said their farewells and Miaki left for town to take the teleport gate to the the ninth floor. Soon as he got their he remembered the heat of the floor and was starting to regret his choice. He would have to take care of that on his way to the meet up point with Shanok.

Miaki opened his GUI and used the map display to navigate the streets while simultaniously cycling thorugh his inventory to find something more suitable for the volcanic wasteland. Alas, nothing was found but a conivently placed tailor fixed things up for him. Instead of the black turtleneck and slacks he wore soot stained pants with a tan button down vest.

Making his change of clothes, Miaki quickly found his man and gave him a subtle wave. "I hate this floor already." He said in greeting.

[Shanok 0]

Shanok waved back at Miaki, "I hate this floor too, I'd take the fourth floor's temperature over this one's any day" he said. He looked at his friend, he seemed ready and well prepared, "Anyway, I didn't expect you to get here this fast, we might be able to cover more ground than I had anticipated today" he added as they started walking down the city, heading towards the southern exit.

As they were leaving the city, Shanok realized that the farther away to get from it, the stronger the heat got. He could feel his cuirass getting hotter, and he didn't like the feeling. He really couldn't stand heat, he, by far, prefered cold. "Well, we've got two whole days till we get there, might as well find something to do or talk about while we're on our way there, don't you think so?" he asked his friend as he turned around to face him.

[Miaki 0]

Marching out into the wasteland trying to navigate the obstacles made it clear that this would be a long journey. He kept patting his brow with a handkerchief wondering if it was doing any good. Miaki was used to the fridged outskirts of the fourth floor and the barren waste that too many fools overlooked by the idea of a winter wonderland. They wouldn't last long if they faced the real cold. The sub-zero conditions with bone chilling winds. The thought of the floor brought a mild cooling to his body. He listened to Shanok for a moment then recalled the man's forge.

"Oh right, you have a forge on that floor as well so the cold his a bit more welcoming for you too." Miaki commented. He took a deep breath and cracked his neck. "Indeed we do have quite a lot of free time. You mean to tell me we can't rant about how much we hate this floor the entire time? Here I was coming up with some rather colorful words of what to say about this floor and the designer who came up with the quest for it. Geez if I had the guy right here now I'd beat his a--."

[Shanok 0]

"Beat up the guy who designed this floor? I'm up for that if you need my help" Shanok said jokingly, as they obviously couldn't beat the guy who made the floor, since they were in a game and not in real life. The two man kept walking south till it was night time and then decided to set up camp for the night. Shanok opened up his inventory and set up his tent next to Miaki's. "We don't really need a fire do we? Even at night it seems to be really hot" he told his friend. He then looked at him a with a more serious expression, "Want me to take first watch?" he asked his friend as they both knew that sleeping in the wilds was dangerous, as PKers could come onto them and kill them while they slept.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki laughed at the thought of meeting the level designer in this world. "Help?" He said with a hearty laugh. "Hell, I'll let you take the first swing at him!" They continued joking back and forth for a while about how they would beat the ever loving tar out of the guy and make him regret the day he was born. Eventually they decided to set up camp within a small formation of rocks. A small haven it looked like with a small entrance that almost perfectly concealed their location. They had both set up tents and Shanok questioned the need for a campfire. "Yeah, its definitely not necessary. Maybe just keep a torch close if you have to get up in the dark." Miaki looked at the tent he had just made and at the opening. "I'll take the first watch I suppose. Im not quite tired yet. Im actually more hungry than anything." He opened up his inventory and retrieved a sizable sub he had made that morning. He got a second one out and tossed it to Shanok. "Here catch! We made a little extra."

[Shanok 0]

"This seems like a pretty safe spot for camping, it was hard enough to fit through the gap to fit in here, I doubt any other player would suspect that there's a place like this in here. Heck, even we wouldn't have found it had we not seen something shining at the entrance and it turned out to be nothing, such a shame" he told his friend somewhat disappointed. Miaki then threw something at him without notice, telling him to catch it, which he did. "What's in here?" he asked himself while removing the wraping paper around the object, "Oh, food! Thanks, I was getting really hungry here" he added. "Tomorrow, you'll be eating what I brought" he said as he took a bite out of the sub, "Wow, it's really good, did your wife make this?" he asked Miaki while still eating the sub.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki began to peel back the wrapper from his own sub and take in the satisfying aroma of ingredients put into it. It was a perfect blend that you couldn't find in any NPC run establishment on any of the floors. No, no. This was the work of a master of the culinary arts. That's right! This sub was created by the <<Sub God>>, Miaki Murakami (and his loving wife Nikki Styx)! "She had some help." He said as he took the first bite. The explosion of flavor in his mouth made him began to cause his taste buds to water. "Oh yeah, made it just right." He said taking another bite. "In all honesty Nikki is still.... developing her skills in cooking. She actually warned me when we first got engaged that she can't cook or do anything like that really." Miaki shrugged. "Not that I mind. I like doing it and I didn't marry her looking for some chef."