[OP - F1] The Second Step

[Bjorn 0]

Bjorn leaned his head back against the cool wall, he was standing in the shadow of one of the gates to Starter city, which he supposed would be his home for some time. He was reflecting on the way combat worked, going over it in his mind, it hadn't gone as he had expected, and there didn't seem to be to much he could do to effect it heavily, at least not with his currently level of knowledge. There seemed to be turns at work, and perhaps skills that he needed. He still wasn't sure how to spend the skill points he new he started with, which was why the big axman would be found with a frown on his face as his axe leaned against the wall beside him and he started at the menu he had brought up. He could see he had made some col from the fight, and there had been a notification of it when he had won, he saw that, but still didn't see where to spend his skill points. The big man continued to work his way through the menu, one slid at a time, oblivious to the passerby that would occasionally shot him a look. Why was this happening to him? "What did I do to deserve to get stuck with this bulls**t?" he wondered absently as he continued to peck away at the menu, the frown deeping into a scowl. 

Edited August 15, 2015 by Bjorn

[Takao 0]

The brunet exhaled an exhausted sigh as he trudged along the dirt path that lead to the City of Beginnings. Despite the fact that the first floor was geographically the largest, it was still only around ten kilometers, which shouldn't have taken him the better portion of the day to traverse. The monsters between his destination and his starting point, which were the starting city and Tolbana respectively, weren't as much of a danger to his well-being as they were a hindrance to his progress at his level. The soles of his boots kicked up dirt and rocks as he tiredly dragged them along, only stopping when he stood just before the shadow that the gate cast. Takao's attention was drawn to the large figure standing beneath the structure, leaning against it in the shade. His first glance had informed him that the figure was tall, wielded an axe of some kind, and was seemingly quite upset over something. Curious as ever, the shorter teen decided to approach him.

"Er... Hey, y'alright there?" He spoke up once he was close enough for his words to be clearly directed toward Bjorn. "You look kind of... uh..." Another quick glance over his expression confirmed the thought, and despite lacking the right word for what he wanted to say, he finished his sentence regardless. "...Intense?"

[Bjorn 0]

The big man's scowl was directed towards the person that had interrupted him in his search for the right place in the menu, he looked the kid over a bit before grunting and replying, "Yeah, I'm just lost when it comes to the interface. To many menus, and I can't find my way around them easily. First game in a long while, and this sh*t happens. Didn't have a chance to learn anything, only just got around to learning to fight and I'm wanting to spend some of the Skill points I have. But I don't know how to do it." Bjorn swiped at the menu, causing it to run through several different ones, the scowl still apparent on his face. "This stupid sh*t should be more intuitive. Perhaps it is though, and I'm just to old for this sh*t." he let out a frustrated sigh and bared his teeth at the kid, "You happen to know how to do that?"

 

Bold is Speech and Italics is Thoughts.

[Takao 0]

Takao's eyebrows raised in surprise upon seeing the scowling expression directed toward him. The height different between them wasn't staggering now that he'd devoted a better look toward the man, but their overall size were in stark contrast to each other. Thankfully, he reminded himself, the size of a player's avatar had very little to do with their in-game stats. "Well-" His voice started to crack from the slight intimidation he felt, but a quick clearing of his throat prevented it. "The uh... the skill menu is under the first icon, should be the second option from the top. It'll only display skills relevant to your progress, so it'll probably just be the default stuff everybody gets and then combat related things."

[Bjorn 0]

The kid had seemed surprised, which immediately made Bjorn want to bark at him about not being so timid, he didn't though as he realized the kid was a civilian, just like everyone else here, and the fact that he fairly quickly provided him with an answer. He moved back to the original menu, jabbed his finger violently into the first icon and then the second option, he looked over it and the skill presented there. He pondered a moment rapping his fingers on the axe at his side with his free hand before shaking his head and bringing his attention back on the kid, "There are no two-handed hammers and maces at all?" he growled out before shaking his head, he would wait then, perhaps he would get a decent drop off of something he killed in the mean time. "Thanks for the help kid, I haven't played sh*t since World of Warcraft was a brand new game. All of this other than combat is confusing to me. And the fact I'm so f**king weak here is bothersome." He dropped out of the menu and proffered his hand, "I'm Bjorn."

[Takao 0]

Takao stood with his hands at his sides as he watched him navigate through the menu and glance over the skills, and felt a shiver run up his spine when the question was directed at him. "Uh... No, I don't think so. The only two handed weapons I know about are straight swords, spears, battle axes, and weapons that fall under the katana category." He had almost taken a step forward toward the city after having waited a moment, though Bjorn speaking up again stopped him before he'd even moved. He mentioned having played a rather archaic game of the same genre, perhaps the most popular of its kind during its time. Takao's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Wow, really? That game is really old. It was never really popular in Japan either, I guess, since I've only ever really read about it being popular in the west." At some point, and he really wasn't sure when, he'd stopped speaking as if he was talking to Bjorn and started talking more as if he was just reciting information to himself. When he saw the hand stretched out his way, Takao raised his own to meet it for a firm shake. "I'm Takao, and don't worry! Everybody started out weak, so it's nothing to get too frustrated over, y'know?"

[Bjorn 0]

Bjorn nodded as he shook the kids hand, "Yeah I don't suppose it would be popular anywhere but back home." he said in regards to Takao's remark on wow, it was disappointing that he had been right with regards of the two handed hammers, but then again it was encouraging that he was right about them not being present, which meant he knew something about the game. He shook his head at the kid and grunted, "Most people here weren't like me," he gestured at his own body before continuing, "I spent a long time working at my strength, and going from being able to farmers walk six hundred pounds across a ten meter field to not even being able to lift that, much less move with it is absof**ckinglutely frustrating. My size, my strength, and all other things out there mean nothing here. And I'm wasting away while I try and learn how not to get killed in this death game we have to call home." Looking Takao over he shrugged, "At least the translation software in this thing works well enough, otherwise I'd be truly f**cked." 

The man paused a moment to look out the gate and as he reached down and grabbed a hold of his axe, "There is to much for me to learn," He paused momentarily and looked the kid over once more, "How about you show me around and explain the basics of everything outside of combat to me. It'd be might f**king helpful. And I'd greatly appreciate it."

[Takao 0]

Takao slowly nodded his head along with everything that Bjorn said, though he had a difficult time empathizing with his issues regarding the translation of his size to in-game attributes. Although he'd never been very interested in fitness, he had managed a decent level of activity through his school clubs, one in particular having given him a slight edge at the game's start when it came to swordplay. "I uh... I can't really relate to that, I was never really interested in that sort of thing, but I guess I can see why you'd be frustrated. You're at a really big disadvantage with your size too," He said, mentally cringing at how he'd decided to word what he wanted to say. "-since your hitbox is larger than smaller players. But, luckily it's not difficult to get up to standard levels of strength."

When he'd requested Takao help show him the basics, his immediate response was to scratch the back of his head. "I could help you out there, I guess. What'd you want to know about?"

[Bjorn 0]

As Takao told him he was at more of a disadvantage than he already thought he was, due not to knowledge, but to his size, something he couldn't control, he had a mixed look upon his face, anger seemed to be warring with the disgust he felt for the game designers, before it simply settled back into a scowl. "Standard levels are still weak." he grunted out, flexing a bit absently before changing what he was speaking about, his mind turning, "I need you to go and f**king break it down barney style, I need to know everything. The lingo that is commonly used and its meaning." He paused as he considered the things that he felt were most pressing, "Guilds, the advantages to them, the friends list and how to use it." Glancing to Takao's weapon, armor and other gear he nodded at it, "I've heard of other players crafting things, I need to know how to go about doing that my self, and if there are any advantages to doing yourself rather than purchasing things from players over just grabbing loot from the mobs that roam about."  Opening his menu he jabbed at it, "Currency, I need to know anything outside of Col that is commonly used for trade, and the going price of things. And the common pricing used." he paused and stared at the menu a moment before adding finally, "And as you've seen the menu, I need to know how to work this sh*t for everything outside of equipping,"  the man rapped on his armor, "Skills and inventory. For instance, where is the music I uploaded before I started the game? It'd sure f**cking help having it playing in the background for myself." He stopped and looked at the kid expectantly, "I'm sure there is other [censored] I didn't cover that you'd consider necessary."

[Takao 0]

Takao stared at Bjorn with an ever distant growing expression that slowly glanced to the side as he continued on with the list of things he wanted explained. He was paying attention to everything that was said, with the help of the occasional cursing to shock him back into awareness, but the growing list quickly became daunting. It wasn't something that he thought could be covered in one sitting, certainly not by himself at least. An idea finally crossed his mind as Bjorn finished speaking, and he snapped his fingers to animate his sudden thought. Takao swiped his hand and opened his menu, then began to speak as he navigated through the options. "About a week after the game first starter, information brokers released a book to be bought by the players." Takao said as he held up his right hand, a small black book materializing directly into his grasp in the following instant. "It has all the information about the game's features, plus bits and pieces about other things too. There was some information about boss fights, but that's mostly outdated and irrelevant now that we're past them, but you might be able to take something from it anyways." The brunet continued to speak as he approached Bjorn and handed the book to him. "It'll answer all those questions too, way better than I ever could."