[OP-F2] Expanding Horizons - Complete

[Whit 0]

Whit rolled his eyes as Elul slunked behind him again, her weird ability to be frightened by normal people kicking in. Whit continued to keep an eye on Sosouke, keeping him in his peripherals as he focused his attention on Opal, Hans, and the newly appeared Calrex.

ID:36578

LD: 5

Whit looked up, not wanting anymore suprises from the sky. He quickly scanned the rooftops, returning his neck back to its normal position when he was satisfied that no one else was hiding. His face resumed its previous grin, quickly looking around for something to do.

[Hans 0]

Hans couldn't help but let out a laugh as Opal told recommended his shop to everyone. "Nya ha ha! Opal, you flatter me." He grinned, folding his arms over his chest. "She's right, though." He nodded, indulging in the shameless self-promotion. "Come and check it out, hm?" Lately Opal had been the only one to frequent his shop. Although he appreciated her business, it wouldn't hurt to get more people interested.

Hans shifted his weight, growing disinterested in the group and their various topics of conversation. Another person introduced himself as Sousuke, a member of the Dapper Rogues. Hans' ear practically twitched when he heard the name, intrigued as he was indirectly meeting a guildmate. 'Come to think of it, I didn't know anyone besides Emerath...' He thought absently.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Hans

[Opal 0]

OOC: Soloing the Front Lines? Really now? lelz

Opal directed a smile at Hans and nodded, "Well, I am sure you could use the business! It's hard to find good merchants these days. If I ever re-open my shop, I'll be sure to let others know about the Alley Cat Stash." Taking a mild interest at Calrex and this Souske character, Opal squinted her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, "The Dapper Rogues, huh?" she questioned more to herself drawing in the name of the guild. She had heard of this guild a few times but not as prominent up runner for anything special. Her careless eyes looked over the group of players and sighed, "In any case...Whit and Elul, are you two just starting out on your adventures in Aincrad? If so..." she stroke her hand over the menu and delivered to each of them a friend request, "Should you ever need some help with a quest or something, if it within the means of my power, I will come help you both. It would be a good idea...to make sure you are safe when you are out of safe zones. If you plan on taking on mobs or something for combat experience, please don't hesitate to ask for help. It is better to stay safe and be alive to fight another day...." It was quite possible these young kids, should the front liners fail, be the next generation of players that will spearhead the later floors. It was imperative, that no more names would be crossed out on the Monument of Life. 

Scratching her brow with a manicured nail, Opal smiled towards Calrex, "Do you think any of this bunch here would be top soldiers one day amongst the elites?" a soft smile forming at both Whit and Elul, who knew what potential these young teens would have one day.   

[Whit 0]

Whit smiled at the idea of beating up baddies on the frontlines, and if Elul tagged along with her first-aid skill, then it would be easier and funner.

"Well I may just take you up on that offer one day. What do you say Elul, you did say you wanted the frontlines as a medic. Plus it could be fun, or atleast exciting."

Whit looked at the girl behind him, she really needed to learn how to work with other people.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex shook his head as he waved his hand, "Well, I do run a material gathering service, if you guys are ever in need. However, I think there's also a good handful of other players doing the same, some I believe even better than I have in the past."

Putting his hands back into his jacket pockets he glanced over where Emerath was hiding on the rooftops once again before responding to Sousuke with a friendly grin on his face, "Heh, well you do have a point there. Sorry for blowing your appearance."

With that he listened to Opal speak to the other two players, Whit and Elul. They definitely seemed to be fairly new to the game, likely they hadn't even done any quests just yet. It was almost like taking a step into the past, back when he was in a similar situation to the two of them. This train of thought was interrupted when the raven-haired woman asked him if there were any potential frontline candidates among them, "Well, I not really the best judge of character, so I can really say that you all do have strong potential to do so, as long as you work hard at it. It's definitely a long way to get to floor-clearing level, but if you keep at it I'm sure you'll make it. A lot of it is simply proving that you're capable of holding your own in a battle, but I'd suggest to make sure you keep a level head as well. This game sometimes will try to throw stuff at you which might corrupt your mindset, so for lack of better wording, don't lose your way, and be prepared for anything."

[Elul 0]

ID: 36784

LD: 4 (failure)

The idea of fighting on the frontlines was inticing, it would definitely be better than waiting in this prison. Elul nodded, "Th-that would be nic-ce."

That Calrex guy, he kept glancing at the roofs, but every time she'd follow his line of sight, nothing. Maybe he was just catious, either way it was starting to make her paranoid.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath had actually started to grow a bit bored watching the group stand around and converse. His head was propped up on one of his hands, and his legs kicked behind him as he waited for the group to either disperse, or move along. He kept noticing people in the group looking around, though nobody's gaze lingered on him for long. Nobody except one member of the group, who seemed to keep glancing right at him, though he was more careful about it than the others who were outright searching the rooftops, to what appeared to be no avail. Next time he saw Calrex glance up at him, Emerath gave a smile and a wave, trying to show that if he was, in fact, discovered, he meant no real ill will.

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke still wasn't convinced that they were alone here and and calrex kept glancing away as if to look towards Something at a certain spot on the rooftops he was sure he was looking at something but he couldn't tell what. He cursed the games mechanics for not being as simple as real-life and did another stealth check this time straight over the spot cal was looking at.

ID 36594 LD 18 Emmerath discovered

He saw someone materialize out of thin in the exact spot he saw someone disappear not to long ago and as he had suspected it was emmerath waving happily at someone. He wasn't sure what that was about but he gave a curt nod towards his guild leader before turning the others again.

"What exactly are you all staring at the rooftops for?" He asked pretending to be none the wiser.

 

[Calrex 0]

"Huh, I guess that mean's he's aware I was keeping an eye on him. Well, so far he hasn't shown any malicious intent, which is a good sign."

Calrex gave a small sigh of relief before he heard Sousuke speak, giving a small smirk before returning back to his calm appearance, giving a nod, "Oh nothing in particular. The architecture sure is an interesting design though. The creators really did a good job of simulating the feel of each of the floor's themes."

Putting his hands into his jacket pockets he gave a small exhale as he shifted over to the brunette's side, speaking at a volume so that only he could hear. He had taken note of the fact that Sousuke had looked towards the same area where the hidden player was located, and even seemed to give some kind of response or signal with a quick nod, "So, friend of yours?"

[Sousuke 0]

Calrex must have picked up on the fact he had nodded to Emmerath and spoke in the same low tone.

"Hes my guild leader he likes a stealthy approach to everything I map the areas out for the guild so we can tabs on traffic in and out of the cities to prevent the crimanals getting a foot hold in the region. So far they havnt gotten in to Kenya yet. I'm guessing he's out scouting again." He replied

It was nice to know he had some back up from cal and emmerath if things went sour.

[Hans 0]

• ID#: 37215
• LD: 16 (Stealth roll of 11. Emerath discovered)

Hans scratched the back of his head as the group around him continued their conversations, finished introductions, and so on. He was becoming quickly disinterested in the surrounding company when a small movement caught his eye. Drawing his attention towards the nearby rooftops, his yellow eyes flickered as he saw Emerath giving a light wave. Hans frowned in confusion, as the man's gaze was not focused on him, curious who exactly he was motioning to. With a small shrug, Hans gave a lazy wave of his hand to the group. "Well, I've gotta run." He said casually, not bothering to give any more details. "If you ever need any vouchers or wanna trade, you know where to find me." He grinned with his last statement, turning on his heel and making his way through the loose crowds.

After distancing himself a bit, Hans glanced over his shoulder before pulling up his menu and navigating to messages. He poked on a familiar name and typed quickly, pressing send after a few moments. 'Hey hey, are you stalking me~? ;)' Hans chuckled under his breath as he read over the message he sent to Emerath.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Hans

[Emerath 0]

Emerath was a bit surprised as he saw his quarry suddenly break off from the group. He raised an eyebrow, and looked back to Calrex and Sousuke who were close to each other. Emerath had a feeling that Calrex was telling Sousuke about what he saw, and he was fairly certain at this point that his cover was blown. Emerath gave a chuckle, "Well, it was fun while it lasted." He was a bit taken back by a sudden message popping up in front of his face as he read it over. He smiled and shook his head, "So Hans found me too? That might explain why he suddenly broke off. Time to go find him." Emerath stood slowly, before he broke off in a quiet run, and began to make his way along the rooftops in the direction Hans had gone. When he was able, he found a spot in the crowd where he could land without jumping on another player or NPC, and landed right next to Hans, walking alongside him casually with his hands behind his head and breaking his stealth, as if he had been there all along. To anyone besides Calrex, Sousuke, and Hans, it would appear as if Emerath materialized out of thin air.

"Hello there, friend. No, it wasn't stalking. Just a bit of friendly surveillance." Emerath smiled innocently at Hans, as if this was all completely normal.

[Whit 0]

Whit yawned, "Well, this is 'fun,' buuuut, I think I'm gonna go to the first floor, do a bit of material hunting." Whit waved by to Opal, "I may just think about that shop, see ya." He turned to Elul, "are you coming Elul? We could always stop at the fourth floor, have a snowball fight, find a place to get hot chocolate." Whit continued on, walking off, turning to see if Elul was coming.

[Elul 0]

Elul nodded, quickly following after the brunette before waving goodbye to the other players. Elul looked back at the Hans person, a ghost like person appearing out of nowhere. And that is my cue to never comeback here. The idea of the cold along with sipping on liquid chocolate definitely sounded better than staying in the city that seemed very dangerous, and Elul quite liked being alive, so she quickly followed Whit to the teleport gate.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Elul

[Hans 0]

Hans let out a light chuckle as Emerath approached him, and the man shifted his weight, placing a hand on his hip. "Nyeh heh, surveillance? You really are a rogue-ish type, eh?" He grinned mischievously, leaning in towards the man. "I was just thinking about getting out of this crowded place and doing a bit of...hunting." He wasn't sure what to call it, but he felt the term fit. Hans balled his hand into a fist, giving Emerath a friendly nudge on the arm. "You should come and teach me how to be all sneaky like that!" He had been thinking of how incredibly behind in levels he was, but hadn't gotten around to grinding out any levels himself. Maybe he could convince his guild leader to power level him.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a nod as he saw Whit and Elul take their leave, giving a nod to them as he looked back to see that the player Sousuke had called his guild master had finally landed down on the ground near the group, speaking to the man that Opal was chatting with earlier, "Fair enough. He certainly seems pretty good at that. If it weren't for my high vision and observation skills I probably might have missed him. Nonetheless it looks like he's decided to make his presence known."

Looking over he pointed with a tilt of his head over to the boy that was speaking to Hans, giving a friendly smile.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath couldn't help but chuckle at Hans. He always did like talking to the catty gentleman. It was interesting, because this man who he had thought was this uncouth, dirty guy turned out to be a very good friend to Emerath, in the end. He gave a grin to Hans as he said, "Well, since you asked so nicely, and have showered me in all this praise, I suppose I can teach you some tricks." Emerath looked over his shoulder back at Calrex and Sousuke as they walked away from them. He gave them a wave and a smile, knowing that they had seen his whole rooftop run and appearance next to Hans. Once done with that, he leaned over to Hans and whispered, as if they weren't a good distance away, "So who is the man in the blue armor? He seemed to have spotted me fairly quickly. A high level friend of yours?"

[Opal 0]

Opal merely watched as the events unfolded, her lips curved into a simple smile. There was nothing else to be done here and she sighed. She had hoped to get some one on one time with Hans, but the place had quickly become overrun with people. Thrusting a hand through silk of black, the woman turned her attention back to Calrex, "Well, that was something or another, huh? I should be going..." Although the horror of that statement was that she was feeling rather lonely, even trying to get back into the social standards of hers from back in the day. It almost seemed alien and foreign to her...so much had changed and how quickly it had become. Despite all that, she felt safer being alone these days. She dragged a hand over the curtain of black from her eyes, "Well, Cal. I guess I'll see you again soon...I'd stay to chat some more but I actually need to go visit an old friend...." It was a spur of the moment idea, it would be good to visit the Life of Monument after so much has happened. Shifting her body, the clad red and white garbed woman waved to the man in blue once more and was no longer in sight. 

<<Opal exits the thread>> 
OOC: If you Dapper Rogues ever wanna RP, shoot me a PM. :)  

[Hans 0]

Hans chuckled, going over a couple of options in his head on things he could get his guild master to help him out with. He had his eye on a couple of quests... He'd have to see about getting the higher-leveled man to carry him through a dungeon or something. With a small chuckle, Hans listened to Emerath's next question as he lowered his voice. Hans simply gave a shrug, keeping his voice down as well. "No idea. I ran into that lovely lady," Hans glanced back towards the dwindling group as Opal went on her way. "and became a magnet for other characters." He didn't admit it aloud, but he had a feeling the man in blue was much higher level than them, although how high he had no idea. Hans simply shrugged, shifting his weight and placing his hands in his pockets.

[Emerath 0]

Emerath shrugged, as he looked back over his shoulder again where Hans had looked only to see the lovely lady Hans had mentioned making her way and breaking off from the group. As Emerath looked back he remembered Sousuke was there as well, and he would have to make it a point to speak with him about who the man in blue was. Emerath found himself curious, as the man, despite his seeming high level, carried himself differently than most other Frontliners, if he was in fact one of them. But Emerath let these thoughts pass, as he gave Hans a solid clap on the back and said, "Alright then, my friend. The day is young, and we've managed to turn off your magnetism for the moment. Let's get this party started and get you some experience, eh?"