Megathread - Link Start: Maithe Woodlands | Page 4

"Players? Is that what you folk are called?" Amrita vaguely waved a hand around at where the other people were. Okay, so they already left, moving on to a different part of the forest. Wasn't hard to know what she meant.

Didn't know what they were playing, but whatever. Wasn't really any of her business what people were called, long as they weren't bothering her. And it felt right, to call them that. Like it was correct. "You're the first one I've talked to, that's for sure."

She scratched an ear. "Eh. So, you know how to use your magic then? And you don't know how to use your sword." The situation could be worse. He couldn't have a clue how to use either of them, and then where would they be?

@Verity

 

"Sort of..." From @Amrita's response, this confirmed that she wasn't a player, but rather an NPC. But for some reason, he felt that he wasn't talking to a fictional character in the game, but a living person who wanted to help him. Still, this made him a little uncomfortable not because of his suspicions at her, but that he was talking to an NPC.

While bringing up a panel and tapping it to use a spell wasn't exactly a way to use magic, it was better than his poor swordsmanship as he blushed red when Amrita mentioned it once more. "To be honest, I thought that using a sword might be an easy weapon for me to use in here."

 

Nothing could be perceived. Darkness and void reigned in the unknown.​

But then, there was sound. It was a strange sensation — a continuous, low hum that became louder by the moment, and at some point the noise became unbearable. She tried to thrash and scream, yet, none could hear or help her. Wait, her? Who was her? No, that didn’t matter. What mattered is that she wanted to fucking murder the source of that sound. Coincidentally, as soon as that thought crossed her mind the noise stopped, and then, pain coursed over her back. Her eyelids were forced open as her body collapsed on the grassy ground; Bright, oh so bright!

To anyone who may have noticed how the scene played out was very uncommon and awkward at the same time. Much like any player, a blonde woman materialized on the spot and started doing some fairly awkward positions. First, she flapped her arms as in a failed attempt at flying; Second, she spun both arms with so much force that the blonde eventually lost control of her balance and fell on her back. “It buuuuuurrns, ugh!” She cried out as light tried its best to murder-death-kill her eyes.

When the sun and the light it emanated did not feel so threatening, Ursa sat up. Her expression wasn’t that different from someone who was just dealing with one hell of a hangover and her complete mess of a hair did not help her looks that much either. The blonde stared blankly to nowhere in particular, shortly after glancing about the area. “ Where am I, again…?” No matter how hard she tried, the woman could not remember anything before waking up. “Ain’t gonna help with anything if I mull about here doin’ nothing, aye…”. After a long sigh, Ursula got up to her feet with much more control over herself this time around.

The blonde inhaled a great lot of air, puffed her chest and released the air with an energetic exhale “Alright, I’m good as new!” Said the one with her back coated with plenty of mud. “First, uh… Right, my name. I’m… Who am I, again?!” She asked herself, glancing over her surroundings once more. Considering her situation, it was unlikely that anyone could answer her question. Ursa scratched her chin, pondering on what to do.

“Oh well, I’ll make it work somehow!” The blonde rested both hands on her hip. “Second, let’s see...” Through the many glances she had done before, Ursa’s eyes followed the obvious trail on the Maithe Woodlands. Hopefully, these would lead to a village she could use to gather information. This place was not worth the time, she thought, as the blonde eyed a small slime before her with a confident grin on her face.

That confidence did not last long, for when her eyes locked on a chicken just a little farther, a chill ran down her spine as the vile creature flapped its wings menacingly. With discreet steps the woman was quick on her way to the village.

[Exit Thread]

 

"There's a bit more to using a sword than just swinging it around," Amrita said. "There are... stances. And grips, things like that." She made a half-hearted gesture with a hand that could have meant anything. As if she knew what she was talking about. That was the whole reason they were looking for someone who did know how to use a sword.

But just as they were going to continue along a path, a moist and heavy thumping sound caught her attention. An ear swiveled around to look for the source of the sound, which was coming from a bit behind them. Spinning around, Amrita saw a group of four slimes bouncing up menacingly, their normally large and adorable eyes narrowed in an angry glare.

Her hand immediately went for her crossbow, loading it. Though she did notice that she was running low on usable bolts. "Looks like we have some unwanted company," she said to @Verity. "Think you can use your magic for this?"

 

At least those words were enough to convince him that they needed someone to teach him about swordsmanship. Still, he can't blame her for it. With her current age, he guessed that her crossbow was her only defense despite her eyesight or health condition. And while he can still saw her as an NPC, he still doubted that she really was one due to her seemingly real emotions.

But just before he said anything, he quickly turned around to see the said adorable slimes coming towards them just as @Amrita noticed them. "That's not something you've seen every day," he said with a slight tone of confusion. The chickens were embarrassing enough, but slimes? He felt the developers might have a sense of humor when it came to designing these monsters.

Despite this strange sight, he decided to act before they can attack. "I can try. But I don't know if I can hold them out with it." He then pulled up the panel once more as he tapped on the same icon, which he then recited the same invocation as before. This caused another gust of the wind to blew behind them as it attempts to push the slimes away. Yet as Verity will notice, he saw their HP is slowly dwindled down in a small amount. "So that spell wasn't enough to damage them, huh?"

He wanted to use his sword, but thinking about Amrita's words made him reluctant to use it against the slimes as it will repeat the same event from earlier. Right now, he wondered if he relied on Amrita's crossbow a little bit.

 

Amrita scowled at the slimes as she took shots at them. Lucky for her that their bouncy motion was rather easy to predict, and their large bodies made inviting targets. The bolts she fired sunk deep into their jiggly bodies and stayed there, occasionally knocking them back a few paces.

@Verity was doing some fancy work with his magic, conjuring up winds with more words Amrita didn't understand. By his own admission, it didn't seem to be doing much.

One slime dissolved into an opaque blue puddle after she had fired enough shots at it, but she didn't think that she was going to be able to keep up this rate of fire. She was already down to her last half a dozen bolts, and the three remaining slimes were still advancing, though they did seem roughed up and delayed by the blasts of wind Verity was sending their way.

Clicking her tongue, Amrita looked around the forest clearing. If you couldn't hit hard, then you had to fight smart. Logs, mossy stones, the odd bird's nest high up in the branches, bed of thorns-

Ah yes. That would do nicely. She tapped Verity on the shoulder, pointing at the thorns. "Try and push them back there. If you can't hurt them, we can make the thorns do our work for us."

 

Have you ever woken up from a dream…

And you’re not really sure where you are and what you’re doing… Jesus this is the exact same thing.

Soft light flooded in from the swaying leaves of the trees above her, with one laborious breath she was born into this new world, into Terrasphere. All at once Sharara could see, feel, and experience the world around her; it wasn't an entirely new sensation, she had experienced VRMMOs before, especially with her RL job being so closely integrated into the video game industry. Not that any of that much mattered now, it wasn't like companies were chomping at the bit to get her to do designs for them.

She didn't want to think about it. For today she was Sharara, a new adventurer in the world experiencing a brand new game.

Okay lets figure this all out.

So since this was a VRMMO that supposedly let the player do anything, Sharara decided the first thing she wanted to do was announce her arrival. Being that she liked to roleplay her character, and the fact that the game seemingly encouraged roleplay through some of the systems she felt it was necessary to fully embrace it. Climbing the nearest easy to climb tree, Sharara found the sturdiest branch that she could stand upon looking out over the fields of monsters and new adventurers.

Look at them all trying their best, Sharara was determined to be the best of them.

Throwing her arm out like some anime character she brought it in pointing a thumb at herself. "HEY WORLD! Listen up! I'm Sharara Gatsu, you better remember that name because I'm gonna carve it on every mountain top and every valley in the sea!"

"There's not a damn thing you can throw at me that I can't take down! Remember my name! SHARARA GATSU!"

Such a boisterous claim for such a small cat girl.

 

[[OOC: Sorry for lateness. Been busy with the first week back at university.]]

It didn’t take long for them to be joined by their mysterious friend requester, another woman who apparently chose to be a fishermen based on her equipment choice. Huh, she hadn’t considered that such activities would be available, but this game seemed rather open about the world so in retrospect she really shouldn’t be.

”It was my pleasure @Capernaum, for travelling with new companions is half the fun of an adventure. I am Aceline de La Fontaine, though of course you may call me Aceline for short,” she said, returning with her own polite bow of greeting to the woman.

She returned her attention to @Luna, who inquired about whether they had already tried out the combat system. ”I’ve played with it some, having had the chance to battle a few boars and other low level monsters. I have some ways to go before being a master swordsman is all I can say: the automated systems can only go so far.”

 

One down, three to go. Yet, he felt that they were still outnumbered as the slimes continued their assault to the odd pair. In fact, he didn't know how many more bolts will @Amrita have left nor how long will he keep on using his wind spell. It was only a matter of time until he will be unable to continue.

But just as he tried to surrender, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to the old woman, who then explained about her new plan. He thought that she might be talking nonsense, but he then realized what she meant upon he saw the bed of thorns nearby. He had to admit, she just made a crazy idea for an NPC.

"I think I get what you're saying. Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Verity then tapped the spell once more and using his remaining energy, he chanted the spell and summoned another gust of wind, now attempting to push the slimes into the thorns. But considering he didn't time how long will the wind last, he prayed that this plan will work.

 

When it looked like @Verity had the idea, Amrita nodded in satisfaction and stepped back. Looked like it was working pretty well too. The three slimes couldn't push against the stronger gust of wind, though they were thrashing about pretty hard. The thorns were doing work too. Before Amrita's eyes one slime burst into pink goo, and the other two looked on the verge of collapsing as well.

"Great work," she said, clapping him on the shoulder. While the slimes were still held in place, she took the chance to scavenge some of her spent ammunition. A few were actually lying in the viscous puddle left behind by the first slime. She wrinkled her nose as she picked them out, giving each bolt a few flicks to get rid of any residual slime.

She rejoined the fight after grabbing a few more pieces of ammunition. Given how desperately the slimes were trying to break free of the wind, a good majority of her shots missed, but she still grazed the pair every now and then. Eventually one slime exploded as well just before the wind stilled, leaving one haggard looking blob of purple misery flopping on the ground.

Amrita was well and truly out of ammunition now. She turned to look at Verity. "So, then. That one's yours, I think. Try giving it a swing."

 

Having gotten that out of her system, Sharara jumped down from the tree (Landing on her feet of course. She was a Felin after all.) Now here she was in the forests and fields looking abroad of countless of low level monsters. Clearly there was only one thing to do in a manner such as this. Other players seemed to have the bright idea that attacking these monsters would be a good idea, in fact she could see @Amrita and @Verity fighting against some Slimes in the nearby distance.

Sharara wasn't that far behind in the thought process either, she was actually excited to start doling out some mob justice on all the monsters in the are and earning some mad exp. Some of the players seemed to have moved to the nearby village or whatever, probably to talk to NPCs or gather quests, but that wasn't really Sharara's bag. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be stronger than everyone else. Getting involved in a bunch of boring talk wasn't going to make her into a mighty warrior the likes the world had never seen.

As inadvisable as it might have been the small Felin had taken a build that didn't really compliment her racial bonuses or anything like that. In fact she seemed to have jumbled a bunch of masteries together that just felt good from a character design perspective. It was all about aesthetic, a small cat girl with herculean might was something that her player strove for. She wasn't there to tank, support, or control the battlefield, she was there to do as much damage as possible.

Of course... Every journey has to start with a few steps.

As far as which monsters to attack first, it was probably advisable that new players go in order of like Rabbits, Slimes, and then move on to Wolves and stuff as the final challenge. Being the overenthusiastic blowhard that she was Sharara skipped all that and started charging the nearest wolf that she could find.

This was not an advisable strategy as she was completely outmatched by it.

 

He was completely surprised that @Amrita's plan worked. Thanks to the thorns, one slime dissolved while the rest were left there to weaken them further, which she took care of the other one with her crossbow. And because of their current location, Verity didn't hesitate as he swung his sword to the last slime, which may cause it to burst in a gooey puddle and eliminating the threat once more.

Still, after this battle, he made him realize how the environment somehow either aid or impede at any given situation like this. At least this gave him some experience and insight about the game's mechanics. He then turned to the old woman and said, "I think that's the last of them. Thank you for your help."

He thought the slimes were his only problem. That was until he saw @Sharara Gatsu charging on a wolf nearby. He wanted to avoid any dangerous monsters until his character was stronger and well equipped, but he had a feeling that the cat girl didn't get the memo. "I had a feeling that wolf might be stronger than the slimes we fought?"

 

As @Verity took care of the last slime, Amrita spent most of the time picking up ammunition. A tiresome, tedious process, but it was unfortunately a necessary one, since she didn't currently have the coin to buy another set. She ought to try finding some contract work she could do, or perhaps fall back on old skills. Surely there was need for leatherworkers somewhere.

Satisfied with what she got, she turned back around and headed back for Verity. "Good work," she said, noticing the newest puddle of slime on the ground. "Maybe you've got some skill with the sword after all."

When he pointed out the young Felis girl nearby, the one who radiated the same 'player-ness' as Verity himself did, Amrita's eyebrows rose in alarm. One lone girl against a wolf? Were all these players crazy about charging into a fight they couldn't handle? "Looks like it," she said. Nothing for it, then. "We can't just leave her to get mauled. Come on," she said, making her way closer towards @Sharara Gatsu.

 

Darkness. Complete and total. It encompassed Raudra, and his every thought. It felt like he had no body, drifting through an endless void. It was quiet -- all except for a low hum that existed right beneath his notice. Steadily, the humming grew louder and louder until it was as oppressive as the darkness. Suddenly a light. It was no bigger than a small dot, but as the humming grew louder, so did the light. And just before it all became too much to handle, Raudra blinked into existence like all the other players before him . . . Well maybe not like all the other players.

"AAAAGGHHH!"

Raudra materialized into the forest, screaming. Upon realizing he was perfectly fine, he stopped and looked around to make sure no one had noticed that completely embarrassing display. He could hear far off shouting, which he assumed to be other players probably battling.

Seeing nothing else in the clearing he'd spawned in, Raudra began to walk aimlessly through the woods, all the while marveling at how intensely real the world felt. He looked down at his hands as if it were the first time he'd seen them, a stupid grin growing on his face. Before he realized it, he was running through the forest stumbling upon generic mobs like rabbits, slimes, and unusually aggressive chicken which he dealt with deftly with a couple of punches and kicks.

His excitement grew until it was almost unbearable, he shouted out for everyone to hear!

"I'M GONNA PUNCH EVERYTHING IN THE FACE!"

It was at that moment he finally saw some other people. (@Verity,@Amrita).

One in particular was obviously a player like him; a feline girl (@Sharara Gatsu), was about to fight a wolf. He grinned, literally brimming with uncontrollable excitement. This was awesome! With a sprint, he'd charge at the wolf laughing like a maniac.

"I'M GONNA PUNCH A WOLF IN THE FACE!"

 

Sharara was not having a good time against the wolf, not that that was a surprise to anyone present. She'd been all sorts of boastful and more than a little presumptuous that she could defeat the wolf on her own. If she'd just taken a moment to see what the other players were doing she would have noticed that it was smarter to pair off against these enemies. But she wasn't smart enough and thus she had gotten herself into some proverbial hot water.

It doesn't really matter how strong a person is or how big their sword is, a wolf is fast. They like to circle their pray and attack from the flank because unlike Sharara, wolves realize that's where most prey is weakest. The little felis girl was no exception to this rule, her slow swings were very obviously telegraphed and she couldn't react fast enough when the wolf did in fact flank her and grabbed her ankle pulling her down onto her back.

@Amrita and @Verity were making their way over to help but before they could actually get to Sharara they were interrupted by a streak of gold. @Raudra had charged the unawares wolf and struck it in the side of the head with his fist, all the while laughing like some kind of maniac.

That should have been Sharara, she should have been the one laughing like a maniac!

Thankfully the wolf turned it's attention to Raudra, snarling and orbiting the man obviously going to make another flanking strike, this time to a new target. This afforded Sharara the opportunity to at least stand after being knocked down, shaking her leg. after having it pulled out from under her.

The redhead puffed her cheeks in frustration, ears laid back and tail stiff and pointed up. "Hey! While I think it was awesome that you punched a wolf in the face you should know that that was my wolf! Get your own!"