Tutorial Dungeon [Q] | Page 2

Alpha anxiously watched as the man left the group to check the side room. She left her arm outstretched, as if she was attempting to grab his arm and had missed, the arm drooping down sadly. She winced as the footsteps grew farther and fewer between. "Maybe it'd be best if we all stay together?" she asked meekly, still exhausted from the initial battle. From what Trinity had just said, the side room could potentially be dangerous and, while she had wanted to follow the main group, she couldn't let the man wander in by himself. She gave an apologetic bow at the cat-girl and Trinity before moving along to catch up to the stoic man.

"Sorry Trinity and, uh, cat-girl!" she called, waving as she ran past. It was definitely safer and more sane to follow Trinity's route so at least she had the reassurance that they'd be safe along the way. They could meet up later anyhow, once Alpha made sure that her male partner didn't do anything to get himself killed (anxiously, she wondered if she'd be the one who got herself killed). Despite this being a game, everything felt horribly realistic and, as of thus, Alpha couldn't help but be a tad be wary about the idea of dying in the game.

"Wait up!" she called.

@Trinity

 

Group A: Mary & Trinity

The group had separated. Trinity did not seem to notice the split for a while. Eventually when they reached Room 2 she looked back at the lone Mary licking herself. Trinity blinked a few times, then laughed with a shrug. Adventurers through and through! They sure were frisky though going off into the side path right after she said what might happen. Oh well, she still had one companion and it would be fun to see how this all went! One vs a group? Not fair! Adventure was about handling the unpredictable though, so she went along with it. This was all about the experience!

"Looks like it's just you kit kat! Okay you ready to learn tactics in battle! It's fun kay?"

The monsters, this time a Cave Bat, Green Slime, Wolf, and a Goblin showed up from all sides of the room. Seemingly from nowhere!

"Remember that in battle you have to know the enemies weaknesses and use your strengths against them! Always pick the enemy you are built to fight and let your friends handle the rest! Teamwork! Yay!

Trinity closed her eyes and cocked her head to the left with a smile as the monsters encroached from all four corners of the room.

Group B: Roja & Alphabet

Roja would head into Side Room with the quick on her feet Alphabet right behind him. The cavern was almost entirely empty save for a bunch of little rocks and gravel laying around. Normal for a cave, but it was a bit more than usual. Also in the lower left corner of the room was a small gray bag tied with a thin rope. The sound of the battle in Room 2 was not able to be heard from this distance.

@Bloody Mary @Roja D. Yuki @Alphabet Chocolate

 

Alpha stared at the bag warily. The room was empty except for the tiny, inconspicuous grey bag at the corner. Despite her gut instinct warning her to stay away, Alpha couldn't help but watch it in childlike curiosity. Despite the danger it presented itself with, Alpha continued her intense stare with yearning in her eyes. She wanted to know what was in that bag. A few more seconds of staring broke down her inhibitions and reasoning as to why she shouldn't even go thirty feet next to the bag, let alone open it. Still, the fixation was palpable as she walked up and reached to pick it up.

Her eyes shone with glee. Maybe there'd be a rabid chicken in there, or fifty-five pieces of french toast, or maybe even a nickel or dime or something! She barely noticed her teammate in the room as she scooped the bag up. Her heartbeat thumped rapidly and she crossed her toes for luck with a grin as one of her hands went to untie the thin rope. This would be interesting.

@Trinity @Roja D. Yuki @Bloody Mary

 

Hidden

There was a slight haze of smoke in the Blue Bird tavern, it caused the mead to have an acrid taste to it which brought a slight grimace to Roland's lips as he forced it down anyway.

“Well what do you say?” Replied the old hag of a lady sitting directly before Roland.

What did she want again? Oh right, some dungeon. “So,” began Roland, “Let me get this straight, some new guys entered into a dungeon, bit off more than they could chew, logged off, and now you want me to run in and play cleanup crew?”

The hag smiled sweetly, or attempted to at least, “Yesssss, exactly Kitten. You will be their champion.... their savior!”

Roland frowned, pictures of a giant spider skittering across the edges of his memory, he had learned the price of playing the hero. Still the hag wasn’t what she appeared to be, it had cost him quite a bit of gold be he had learned of an old witch with incredible scrying abilities. While the normal magic system didn’t include such abilities there seemed to be a few exceptions for key NPCS. He was hoping he could use it to his advantage, and had come here merely to observe her from afar, it was unexpected when she had approached him regarding the quest.

Roland pensively tapped his finger on the wooden table, deciding whether or not to play his hand. He could accept her quest, and once it was done return and ask for the favor. However, if she didn’t have the abilities he was looking for it would be a giant waste of time. Really, he only had one option. Opening his mouth to speak, the hag interrupted him, “Yes, if you complete this quest, I will grant you what you seek boy.”

Roland couldn’t help but crack a smile, after all, it seemed his information was accurate. He quickly pushed himself up and outstretched his hand, “Then, we have a deal-“As soon as the words exited his mouth the entire room turned blue.

A pale blue light suddenly erupted from the center of Room 2, blinding the occupants briefly before the glow quickly faded away revealing that where Mary had once been standing, now appeared Roland whose eye’s fluttered due to the drastic change of scenery. “Wha-“ he muttered as he tried to grasp his new surroundings. He found himself surrounded by four lower level monsters and a blue haired girl that smiled eerily nearby despite them. Each of the monsters were a few steps away from each of the corners of the room and every one of them were swiftly moving towards his and the girl’s position. Forcing himself to take a deep breath Roland unsheathed his blades and tried to quickly analyze the situation.

He wasn’t sure if he could rely on the girl, from the way the hag had spoken he has assumed he was sent here to protect her. That left him, four versus one, and without any skills to take them all out in one strike. He quickly glanced at his opponents, “A bat, wolf, goblin, and slime.” He thought, “Likely the most dangerous for me will be the slime, at best it’s mass will slow me down, at worst melt my blades, luckily it should be slower than the rest.” His eyes glanced to the creature that was on the side of the room opposite of the slime, the wolf. “Perfect” he thought before turning to the girl and shouting, “Follow me close, we’re making our way to that corner, stand as close to the wall as you can!”

Wasting no time, he dashed forward towards the wolf, sword flying on either side of him. “These should be lower level monsters, and as such should go down with a single blow.” As he approached the creature he flicked his right wrist forward, aiming his blade to run against the side of the wolf as he streaked past it heading towards the corner it had come from. Once he reached the wall, he would spin on his heels and turn facing towards the room with the corner at his back, prepared to counter attack the next creature that reached him.

@Trinity @Alphabet Chocolate @Catharina

 

In a pixelated blocked glow, Catharina appeared in an almost deserted cave. It seemed to be a secluded side-track, with only her and a brunette. Oh, strange she was sure that the Quest had said there were two others in the party. Even her HUD said so. She had doubted her joining for a simple second before she had shrugged and jumped into the invite.

She had been under the impression that this would be a good first trial test. Simply jumping into things usually worked better for her. And she wasn't sure if this beginner gear would get her anywhere. At the very least, most people would have an equal worthless gear or they would be experienced players nice enough to actually help them. If needed, Catharina wasn't so sure. This was only a tutorial and hell she could handle a tutorial, practice rapier or not.

‘’Uhm, what are you doing?’’ Catharina smiled nervously as she watched the bag in the girl’s hand. Maybe it was because of this very first experience, or simply the mad shine in the brunette’s eyes, but maybe she had a bad timing appearing at this point. Perhaps she should have waited to start from the beginning. But you know what, too late for that right now. Catharina walked closer so she could see the little bag from up close. Even the bag looked a little bit cheap, must be because it was a beginner’s dungeon. All the bling and shine would be found under a gigantic dragon ass, that would fart fireballs greater than twenty smoke bombs in an airtight school. ‘’What is in there? Give me a peek!’’ She grinned, inspecting the tiny bag and the girl.

Just in case, she kept a hand on her rapier. She felt her heart throb in excited adrenaline. Just arrived but maybe they would already find some treasures. Perhaps a hidden monster for those greedy enough to pick it up? She had always enjoyed the image of an evil genie in a lamp.. or bag.

@Trinity @Alphabet Chocolate @Roland Rutledge

 

Group A: Roland & Trinity

Trinity would stare at Bloody Mary while the cat girl just stood there licking herself. The monsters were coming! Wasn't she going to do something? Don't be a spoiled sport! The tutorial was on! Trinity blinked a few times and realized that maybe the player had logged out and left her world. That sucked, did she not like the quest? That was rare, right? The frozen smile on Trinity's face grew a bit wider as a bright light engulfed the Felis and replaced her with another player! Roland! Oh, he was very strong. Too strong for this quest. Trinity would not have to teach him anything in here but, she did have a task to do here so she would do it.

"Oh hello there Roland! Welcome to tutorial dungeon! Remember that in bat-.."

As she repeated her earlier speech that was given to Mary. All the while the four monsters were incoming. Roland would not be waiting around though. He immediately went for the wolf enemy. His attack was much stronger then the specifically weakened monster was created for. Leading to a quick one shot. The wolf bled out onto the cavern floor as Roland headed for the now safe corner. He shouted to Trinity to join him but she did not seem to be listening to him. She was busy reciting her speech in a prerecorded manner. Meanwhile the monsters seemed to ignore her and were now set on coming after Roland. They were approaching in this order:

Bat- Goblin - Slime.

Group Catharina & Alphabet

Nothing would happen in the lonely cavern in the southwest... other then Roja disappearing and being replaced with a female player named Catharina. Alphabet would pick up and open the bag.

Inside was a Bounce Rock!. Alphabet gets to keep the item!

Bounce Rock! A small rock that can be thrown and bounces off the enemy and back to your hand. 3 Charges!


@Alphabet Chocolate @Catharina @Roland Rutledge

 

Roland’s sword passed through the wolf with little resistance as he sprinted to the corner of the room. “That was a good bit weaker than it should have been…” Roland thought to himself as he reached the other end of the room. As he turned inward, he quickly took account of his situation blinking in surprise as he saw what was before him. The girl, had remained standing there rattling off some greeting he had missed the majority of. “What are you doing?!” he asked before he noticed the monsters were seemingly ignoring her, heading towards him in shuffling manner. “Well that works, I guess.” He said in a resigned manner while holding up each of his blades in front of him.

“Not only are they weaker, but slower as well it seems.” Roland thought as he glanced at each monster in turn. Normally he didn’t have any real AoE attacks to use against a group monsters, but he had recently unlocked a skill that he had been pondering on. The flavor text described it as ‘a whirling strike used to take down the largest enemies’, however, upon practice he wondered if it had other applications. Considering the low threat in this area, it seemed the perfect opportunity to try out his hypothesis.

Grinning he moved forward, pulling each of his blade in front of him forming an ‘X’ pattern across his chest. The first monster before him was a bat that, luckily for him, hovered just a few feet from the ground. Roland wasted no time, as he slammed his right foot down before it activating his skill and launching himself forward into the air with a spin, shouting, “Whirling Dervish!” as he did so. Roland spun forward, horizontally from the floor, while extending his blades out from him in either direction and slashing one of them downwards at the bat beneath him leaving a blue hue in its wake. As he completed his spin, he touched the floor for a moment before bouncing up again into yet another spin, this time aiming his second blade at the side of the goblin on his way, once again leaving a streak of blue hue in the air. As Roland completed the second spin, he had run out of most of his momentum, and landed in front of the slime swords ready.

 

Alpha jumped back, barely containing a shrill scream which threatened to leave her throat out of pure surprise. As she had opened the bag to take a glimpse of the loot inside (a Bounce Rock), a woman with beautiful purple hair and an inquisitive look in her eyes had spooked her from behind. It took a few moments for Alpha to regain her composure before addressing the woman's question. "Uh, just a rock," Alpha stuttered, breathing in heavily. She looked around the room yet she could not find a speck of the man who had accompanied her into the dungeon. Then she looked back at the strange woman. "Who're you? Do you know where my partner went?" Alpha scratched the back of her head anxiously. She hoped the older man was alright but, considering how he had handled himself in the battle against the slime, she knew that she was probably worrying too much. Either way, regardless of the woman's answer, she looked at the entrance of where she had left Trinity and the cat-girl.

"My name's Alphabet Chocolate," she introduced herself, reaching out a hand in warm welcome. The rapier that the lady had grasped was something which inspired an ounce of fear and wariness in her. It was just a game, however, and Alpha once again calmed herself and gestured to the direction where her eyes had settled on. "The rest of the group is over there and, since there's nothing left here, do you want to meet up with them?" Alpha suggested. The stranger may be suspicious but Alpha knew she shouldn't be rude. She was going to go back to the group anyway; it was of little consequence to her should her newfound companion tag along. Maybe Trinity could explain to Alpha where her previous friend (the stoic man) had gone.

 

A unsatisfied hum came from the back of her throat. Boring, a rock. Nothing exciting about that. ‘’Hm, too bad. I suppose you can just throw it at something, make it useful.’’ She shrugged and stepped out of the girl’s personal bubble. Raising just one delicate eyebrow at the stutter, but she smiled it away.

‘’No clue, probably logged off or something. Pee or eating break, or whatever someone does outside this place.’’ Cath pursed her lips and let her hand fall of her weapon. Surely, there would be something like a map function? Games had maps, RPG’s had maps, this should have a map somewhere. But the girl here should know what to do in this quest.

‘’Alphabet?’’ Odd combination of words, she thought as she smiled and took the girl’s hand. ‘’Catharina, but Cath is just fine.’’ She gave a firm shake. Alpha seemed nice enough, the friendly type. She could definitely dig that, and her second name was Chocolate. How could she possibly hate sweetened cacao? ‘’Darn, my name sounds totally boring compared to yours.’’ She gave a short chuckle and listened to her new partner talk. ‘’Yeah! Let's do that, this room reeks of rocky disappointment.’’ Following Alphabet, she kept an eye on their surroundings. She wondered who the other party members might be.

 

Trinity finished her speech. Her head turned to she Roland shouting the name of a special attack and dominating the bat and goblin. The two monsters were destroyed and fell to the ground. Their tiny hp meters blinking and fading. He had special attacks already? Wow, the players were getting the hang of things quick! Trinity was beaming. She came over right up behind the slime. It's single eye was wide with fear as it had seen how easily Roland was slaying them. It turned and comically tried to escape. Moving it's slimy self across the floor in desperation. Trinity sidestepped to the left and let it pass as she giggled with her hand to her mouth. Then lifting her finger she said:

"Wooo, you are good! Now you are seeing the effect of being much stronger than a enemy! They lose the will to fight sometimes like the slimey over there. Monsters won't come near ya if you can just bonk them all hahaha!"

She heard footsteps. Alphabet and Chatharina had arrived from the detour! Catharina? She was not supposed to be in this dungeon? Oh well Roja must have went inactive as well. Trinity placed her hands on her hips as she would watch the slime keep 'running' it would try to get past where the two had just entered. Trinity wondered if they would let it run or kill it? Different play styles were always fun to watch unfold! Regardless how that would go, Trinity would point towards the path onward and fist pump.

"Okay! We still have a bit more to go so let's go adventurers to be!"

She began to hum the Terrasphere theme song as she headed down the tunnel.

@Roland Rutledge @Alphabet Chocolate @Catharina

 

Roland landed with a thud, as both the Goblin and Bat exploded into pixilated boxes upon death. Glancing at the slime in front of him, he prepared to lunge forward finishing his assault before he watched it begin to slowly ‘bounce’ away from him in fear. Roland let out a sigh of relief as he sheathed his two blades, the thing could run for all he cared. The blue haired girl seemed to find it amusing at least as her seemingly unphasable good humor infectiously filled the room.

This was the first moment he had to time to truly come to grips with his situation. It seemed that the old lady who had sent him here, hadn’t lied, this was clearly a beginner level dungeon, and he seemed to be tasked with escorting the bubbly blue haired girl out of it, which seemed easy considering the monster's had paid her no mind. What didn’t make sense was the fact that there should have been more people here.

As if reading his mind, he saw the two girls approaching the room blocking off the slime’s exit. For a slight moment it made him regret sparring the creature, but at least he could see what the two were capable of. Crossing his arms, he watched them deal with it, and after it had either escape or been slain he’d wave them down, with a friendly shout, “Hello there, I’m Roland. It seems I’m a replacement member! Feel free to lead on!” A quick glance at them proved he was much better equipped than they were and at this point, but he was content to merely tag along and play back up only when they really needed it.

 

Alpha stared in amazement of the purple-haired man as she had, once entering, laid witness to the purged scene of monster corpses around. Sometimes Alpha couldn't help but feel a little unnerved that the game couldn't just make them dissipate into loot and gold like other, simpler online games she had experienced. The disgust, however, was drowned by awe in the man's obvious skill in dispatching the enemies that littered around here. And then Alpha found herself staring straight at the slime at the door. She gulped.

"Hello there," she said meekly and, swallowing her fears,. She had that beast-taming ability, didn't she? Hopefully she could...disarm the situation before anything truly bad happens. She doubted it.

 

Trinity continued her wall through a much longer tunnel than the last one. The group would be walking for what seemed like over 10 minutes. The cave had grown quiet as well. The tutorial guide had stopped talking which was actually unsettling after how much of a chatter mouth she was up to this point. Trinity still appeared energetic but had completely stopped teaching the group. Finally after a long while. They would walk into a new area. This one had no other exits. It was a dead end. Trinity continued to walk all the way across the barren place. Her hand would reach out and touch the opposite wall. Her smile widened then as she twirled back to the party. Behind her was now floating letters that came out of the wall of rock. They were the same type of font as that used for the menus and game information.

GOOD JOB TRAINEE!

Trinity did a double fist pump and spoke.

"Wow, you guys made it here! I'm still okay too! This is totally the greatest thing everrrr!"

Then she stopped for a moment and made a shocked face.

"Oh right, right! You guys need to learn about big monsters! Like the one behind you! Sorry! My bad!"

Almost as soon as the blue haired mascot girl was finished speaking a loud roar broke out behind the party. A shadow of a giant bald creature was towering over them. Again having come from thin air. A large Ogre appeared! It raised it's spiked club over it's head to strike Roland from behind!

"That's called a back attack! When that happens yo-..."

Trinity began to teach again at a very bad time.

@Roland Rutledge @Alphabet Chocolate @Catharina