The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, its beams of light just speaking up showering the world in illumination and causing the sky to dance in a foray of beautiful colors. Fiery oranges, reds and yellows danced across the horizon as if placed there by a master painter. As the gift of illumination fell upon the world below it was shaken from its slumber as the light chased away the darkness of the night before, birds rustled in their nests before taking flight, their chirps hanging upon the air as they flew in search of their first meal of the day, deer rose from their slumber and began the search for the perfect patch of grass to turn into their morning breakfast. With the animals of the world, so to began the day of their human counterparts, rising from their beds and beginning to set about their daily routines, blacksmiths lighting their forges, shopkeepers checking their inventory before opening for the day, farmers setting about the tasks their livestock required such as milking their cows, feeding their pigs. With the rising of the sun found Joen Panelis, a new Yladian player to the world of Terrasphere, up and doing the very thing that had driven him to come to this world, adventure. The sound of branches snapping and leaves being crushed underfoot could be heard as Joen made his way through the forest looking for something, anything really, to kill. He wanted to test out the new skills that he had chosen for this world, when he suddenly came to a stop the sound of a bush moving and its leaves rustling could be heard not to far to his right. Turning his attention in that direction Joen brought up his in game spell menu just as a wolf stuck its head out, its upper lip curled back and the jet black fur upon the back of its neck up as it snarled at him. Joen could barely contain the excitement and admittedly small amount of fear that was welling up inside of him "Well they definitely made you look super realistic didn't they", clicking on the button for the only spell that he had in his Pyromancy class as he allowed the games automatic system to take over and he chanted the small mystic phrase needed for the spell, fire crackled in his right hand before it fizzled out and a look of surprise crossed over Joens face "Oh crap, wasn't expecting that"
Aalam was sitting in a tree watching the sunrise as its light broke through the morning gloom. It was a beautiful sight it was one of the few things that he took joy in on Terra. The world was a fantastic place but it the moments like this the simple moments that made it just the more enjoyable. While he was doing that, however, he was making a few more arrows. His supply had run a bit low over the past few days, and it would do no good for him to be caught out of a town unprepared. He would have been content to stay up in his tree and just watching the horizon when a cluster of birds seemed to take flight. Well, that meant that is free time was gone making his way to a lower set of branches on the tree and pulling an arrow from his quiver and taking his long bow off his shoulder. Aiming at whatever was making that much noise as it made its way through the forest. However it seemed that he had to out his arrow away, it wasn’t a monster, hell it wasn’t even a wild beast it was a player. It also seemed to be a new player at that the man barely had any good gear just the basic by the way he was dressed. Why in the world was he out here, he almost turned away and left him to his device, but then he remembered the wall. Damn, there wasn’t much of choice now was there. So he followed him for a while to make sure that he wouldn’t get himself into too much trouble. However he did it form the tree line making sure to say out of sight, it was a good thing that he had decided to do that. For no sooner than he started to watch the newbie did a wolf appear out of the undergrown, and it seemed that his spell had failed. Drawing a beat on the wolf as it starts to move to attack him, waiting for the right moment, so that just as the creature jumped, he put an arrow on the beast side. A following that one up quickly with two more, killing it, making his way down from the tree as he walked over to the corpse. Speaking over his shoulder at the mage ‘So what is someone like you doing all the way out here?”
Joen watched as the beast slowly advanced on him, the yellow eyes of the wolf piercing through him as if they meant to burn a hole through to his very soul, its lip curled back saliva dripping from its slightly yellowed fangs as step by step it drew closer and closer to his prey. Joen never took his eyes off the beast as he was afraid that if he did, in that moment it would spring upon him tearing into his flesh and ending his adventure before it had ever even really begun, but to his credit he stood his ground a step back was never taken. His hand balled into a fist as if he meant to punch the fearsome beast the moment it lunged at him, Joen narrowed his eyes and readied himself to cast the spell that had just failed him once again and hope he was fast enough to get the beast before it got him. As the beast lowered its body and pushed off the ground with its thick back legs propelling itself through the air towards Joen an arrow struck it in its side before only a second after the first another two struck its side as well causing the beast to crash into Joen knocking him off his feet but otherwise unharmed. As Joen crashed onto the ground with the large beast on top of him the wind was forced from his lungs forcing him to lay there for a second attempting to regain the ability to breathe. Once he was able to do so Joen conjured up all of his strength to lift the carcass of the wolf off of his body and letting it fall onto the ground next to him before he rose to his feet and brushed the dirt off of his robes, looking around for his rescuer. He was a rather tall human with long messy hair and a bow slung over his side, Joen grinned from ear to ear as he bowed to the human and chuckled "Thank you for your timely intervention my good sir, I am Joen Panelis and today is my first time in this amazing world. As you could probably tell haha, I was out here looking for beasties to slay and help me become the Sorcerer King of Terrashphere hahaha", turning his back on the human Joen looked aroun before once again turning to look at the man who saved him "I know this is rather rude to ask of someone you just met but would you be willing to show me the ropes on how to survive in this world?"
Aalam was a bit impressed with the boy’s courage he stood his ground and had to refuse to bend even in the face of what might have been dead. He had courage if nothing else and that was something a player would need if they were to survive in Terra. His shot was less than perfect. However, he had messed the beast heart and as a result, had to follow up with the second and third shots. It was sloppy of him to mess up like that; he should have shot the thing dead center when it had poked its head out of the bushes Examine the beast that lay at his feet, it was a large wolf bigger than normal, but if it was only this size, it should have attacked. This creature was bold, much bolder than it had any right to be. Something had pushed this beast out of his typical territory. Turning on investigation mode as he looked at the beast parting the fur to look at the skin underneath, it was scarred heavily. And there were both fresh wound and old ones; he was right something had driven this creature out form its territory. This was something that he was going to have to look into. Pulling his arrows out of the creative side making an effort to try and keep them in workable condition. It would do no good for him to be losing arrows for far from the next town. The wood set that he was supplementing his supply with was a bonus, but he would need proper arrowheads. Placing the back in his quiver before getting up and looking at the lad, he wanted to be the Sorcerer-king of Terra. Well, he had seen impossible things done before so he was going to burst that dream just yet. That being said however that was a few things that he should let the newbie know. “You need to turn your pain setting to realistic the help with the battle. You want to avoid as much pain as possible knowing that each mistake could lead to pain, it motivates”. Taking an arrow from his quiver and using to point away from the both of them in the same direction that the wolf had come from. “Something drove the breast to come out here you and I are going to find out what that thing was and then we are going to kill it.” Placing the arrow back in his quiver as he started to walk towards the brush calling over his shoulder. “This is how you will learn.”
Joen watched as the human strode over to the carcass of the beast that he had just slain, everything about this man from the air about him to the way he walked told Joen that this man was a experienced player who had been around for awhile, someone that Joen could learn a lot from. Slowly Joen made his way over to the corpse of the beast and repeated the same gesture that the human had made, bringing his index and middle fingers up to his temple allowing him to activate the investigation mode of the game. Bending down Joen moved the fur of the wolf his eyes opening slightly in surprise when he discovered that he could see scars covering the body of the wolf, not just scars but fresh wounds as well, it would appear that this wolf had been in a fight with another creature not to long ago and lost. Rising to his feet Joen listened as the human spoke about changing the setting of the games pain sensor from simulated to realistic, while in theory he understood the concept behind the humans words, if the pain he received from an attack was realistic it would motivate him to get better and there for lower the chance of getting hurt just like he would in the real world. Nodding his head slightly Joen accessed the games setting once again and accessed the pain setting before toggling it into the realistic mode before closing the menu once again. Once he had done this Joen took a deep breathe in and exhaled slowly, knowing now that any damage he received would make him feel the realistic amount of pain made him slightly nervous but at the same time it added to the excitement of the game. Turning his attention back to the human before him Joen listened as he said something had driven the wolf from its territory and that they were going to hunt it down and kill it, nodding his head slightly as that theory made sense and would have explained the wounds that they found on the wolfs corpse. Joen turned and slowly began to follow the human male before calling out slightly "Do you have any ideas on what kind of creature could run a wolf from its home?"
Aalam slung his longbow over his back as he started to make his way further into the forest, as he wondered why he was even doing this. No one was paying him to help this newbie out; hell he wasn’t also going to be able to cash the corpse in for anything. This wasn’t something that he had planned on doing today; it was supposed to be a quiet day of drinking and arrow making. He could mark it up to an after effect of all his time that he had spent on the wall. Well, he would have to stop doing this it would not be good for his working relationship with other people. He did see the boy look like he messed about with his UI, so there was the possibility that he had changed the setting that was good he was listening to advise. As for what creature was doing this, he had no idea. ‘No I do not but judging by the distance in those claw marks it might be anything from a tiger to a something that might be able to kill us.” However he wasn’t about to tell him to take his skill of target, and on to free form, he was still too new if he needs to get to use to their activation the feelings that came with their use. If the man was unable to use his primary abilities, then there was a good chance he would be unused to the drain that accompanies them. He could see how much investigation mode was taking out of him put just having it on and he was a fully ranged fighter at least he had the energy to spare, but he wasn’t it was going to take a chuck out of his energy. “Watching your energy usage, the lower it gets the more you feel it. It can even lead to you falling unconscious if you’re not careful. With what we are hunting it could lead to your death.” Taking his advice only turning it on when he thought that he was losing the trail, making his way deeper into the forest. Altering the route a few times to make sure that they remained downwind, it wouldn’t be all for naught if their scent were to give them away. It took him some time to track the general location of where the beast had come from, but from what the judge was halfway there he stopped and turned around to look at that man holding up a hand. “I am leading you in a fight, but I have no idea of your skill or even your name. These need to be fixed you will tell me about both before we go any further.” Leaning against a tree as he waited for the man to answer he needed to know to make a proper plan, or at least have an idea on how they were about to battle whatever they found.
Joen followed the human who had saved him from the wolf deeper into the forest and just from his posture he could tell that this human had seen many things and been in countless battles. This player was someone that Joen could indeed learn many things from, granted Joen didn't possess any skill in tracking or have a Mastery that would allow him to use a bow but the advice that he could receive to help him survive in this world would be invaluable. As he listened to the male Joen nodded his head and readied himself to battle whatever kind of creature they came upon. As they made their way through the forest Joen reached up and placed his index and middle finger to his forehead once again ending the investigation mode that had been slowly draining his energy and nodding his head when he heard the humans words about his energy "Keep and eye on the Energy gauge, got it" Joen continued to follow the human attempting to be as stealthy as possible and for once he was actually succeeding when suddenly the human came to a halt and turned around to look at him, Joen wondered how long it would take the human to ask him what his Masterys were "I am a Yladian Sorcerer, I chose Pyromancy, Hydromancy and Illusion Magic as my Masterys. My most powerful skill is my Illusion Magic"
The was magic base, and yet he had allowed the creature to come that close to him the boy was taking a risk that he had no right to do. However, that was a problem he didn’t use magic did like the drain on his body. He was aware what the right illusion would be able to do so he though ups a plan; it was something that would require the Yladian to push his body almost to that point of exhaustion that would be good. He would learn what it meant to fight in Terra truly. Turning back around and lead him towards a hill that hid a cave. It seemed that whatever had pushed that wolf out this area had come out of that cave; there were a collection of bones littering the entrance. Taking out an arrow and drawing of a rough sketch of the cave and the area right in front of it. Marking an X about a few meters from the entrance, if the mage were able to do this job, then there wouldn’t be any problems. “This is the plan; the wind is blowing towards you so I will go climbing one of those trees and soak a bloody arrow where this X is. I want you to cover that arrow in an illusion to make it seem like it is a wounded animal. When the beast comes out, I will put two arrows in hind leg stopping it from being able to run away. Once it has been pin the rest is up to you to kill it, I would suggest either burning it alive to drowning it your choice. Best of luck.” Aalam made his way back down the hill and taking a wide berth to stop his scent from being carried on the wind and alerting the beast before climbing one of the taller trees. Making sure he had a good sight on his target, taking an arrow out of his quiver and running the head across his palm. Making sure the cut was deep enough to draw out blood soaking a piece of cloth in it before taking his shot. Wounding it around the shaft and nocking his bow, the arrow needed to land just far enough that the mage would be able to get a good shot. Pulling the arrow back to his cheek before letting it fly watching it travel through the air and drive itself into the ground, drawing the next two arrows from his quiver. It was the mage’s turn now.
Joen watched the humans facial expression as he explained his Masterys and could see the small look of confusion on his face as to how Joen was playing. He knew that as a magic based character that he really had no place in close combat but it just sort of happened, although he had to admit that he would from now on take this world a little more seriously. As the human turned and started to make his way through the forest once again Joen sighed slightly and proceeded to follow him once again. It didn't take long before the duo of adventurers found themselves at the entrance of a cave, from where he was standing Joen could only see so far into the cave as the deeper depths were shrouded in a darkness the likes of which Joen had never seen in his life. It was as if the very essence of darkness had settled into the cave radiating a blackness that seemed to drawn in and devour all light around it. As he stood there Joen surveyed the area around the mouth of the cave and noticed that it was littered with the bones of long killed creatures, however it would seem that it wasn't only animals that had fallen prey to whatever lived in the darkness as his eyes picked up the sight of a human skull among the rest of the bones. Inhaling slightly Joen scrunched up his nose at the foul odor that radiated out from inside the cave and shook his head slightly as his mind ran wild with imagined horrors inside that could have been creating that stench. Joen ripped his attention away from the cave and its mysterious inhabitant when his companion began to speak to him. Joen stood there and listened to his companions plan and nodded his head, it did seem to be a decent plan and would help him get stronger in this world. Nodding his head Joen moved so that he was in position, he made sure to stay down wind so that the creature within wouldn't be able to smell him and waited. It didn't take long for the arrow to find its mark and Joen flicked opened his spell menu and swiped over to his Illusion Magic category before clicking on the Illuisonary Creature spell, the games assistance program taking over and forcing the mystical incantation from his lips. Once the incantation had been finished the air around the arrow began to shimmer before it took the form a of a lamb that was laying upon the ground with a wound upon its back leg appearing unable to move. Joen dropped down to a crouch and shook his head, his breathe that would have normally been coming easy was now a little more labored, his body felt heavy and drained. Looking down he checked his energy meter and noticed that it only had a quarter of its bar left causing Joen to closed his eyes and sigh slightly "So this is what happens when your energy gets low huh?" shaking his head Joen turned his attention back to the cave and awaited for its occupant to come out to feast on the fake bate.
Aalam was a bit impressed to see who well the mage was able to follow his plan; it took him only a few second to but an image over the arrow. Just from looking at the lamb he would not have been able to tell that it was an illusion if he hadn’t just sent him to cast it. Even when he turned on investigation mode, he was unable to tell that it was a fake. It seemed he was able to make his magic work under pressure, but he should have also felt the drain on his body from that ability. He would get used to that feeling in time and know how much he would be able to push himself in the future. On the plus side the more that he was able to drive himself the more he would be able when he needed it. However, he still needed to focus on the task at hand there was a creature in the cave that would be attracted to the smell of blood. Pulling out an arrow and holding it in his teeth as he readied his second one. Nocking his arrow back as waiting watching to see when the beast would come out of the cave. He sat there and waited to watch to see any sign of movement. When there he spies something just on the edge of darkness, it was a small movement, but there was something there. Focusing his attention on that spot as he saw a tiger come into view but this was not just a regular side creature no it seems to be at least bigger than the average size. What also was weird was around the tiger’s mouth there appeared to be some foam. He did not like this if there was the possibility that the creature was infected with a disease then he needed to kill it. Aiming for the beast hind leg, waiting for the best possible moment before he released the arrow, letting it fly from his fingers. He traced the path of its flight watching it slam into the leg of the tiger and then his second arrow was in the air and flying. It followed the same path of the first and pushed all the way through the beast leg to come out the other side. That would cripple it; it was now the mages turn to get the job done, however, he nocked an arrow just in case the mand missed.
Joen continued to crouch behind the rock that was serving as his cover, tilting his head slightly he noticed the luckily the wind was staying in his favor keeping him down wind from the creature that had made that dark and foreboding cave into its lair. As he knelt there he closed his eyes for a moment and tried to rest slightly, that last spell had taken quite a lot out of him and not his whole body felt rather heavy. It surprised him how realistic the sensation of physical exhaustion felt in this game, whoever had created it had definitely wanted its players to feel as if they were actually within another world. Opening his eyes Joen ripped himself away from his thoughts and back to the simulated reality of the game he was in. Just at that moment Joen noticed the stirring of movement from within the cave, the creature within had taken the bait and was making its way out to get its easy meal. As the creature stepped into the light Joen knew exactly what it was, a rather majestic tiger. Joen could see the powerful muscles flexing under its skin with every single step that it took, the bright orange of its fur only interrupted by the black stripped pattern that instantly gave the creature away to anyone who had ever visited a zoo in the real world. Every little kid had at one point in time been fascinated and captivated by these powerful creature and he had been no different. As he crouched there Joen noticed something that wasn't quite right about this tiger, it had foam protruding from the corner of its lips. Shaking his head Joen sighed slightly as he knew what that foam meant, it was a clear indication of rabies, with the amount of detail that the creators of Terrasphere had put into every other aspect of this game he had to assume that the disease in this game was just as deadly as it was in real life. As Joen admired the creature his thoughts were interrupted by an arrow the flew through the air and strike the creature squarely upon its right leg and not a second later a second arrow pierced the tigers same leg crippling it. As the two arrows found their mark the creature let out and incredibly loud roar of pain and Joen knew that it was his turn to go into action. Rising to his feet Joen spun around from behind the rock and stared at the creature, he could seen the pain in its eyes but it wasn't just pain, there anger in them as well anger at having been attacked. Joen moved to flick open his spell menu before shaking his head, he wouldn't survive in this world if he didn't learn how to memorize and cast his spells at will. Joen watched the tiger as his mind raced trying to think of one of the spells that he had used frequently "Alan du igira igira nal!" raising his hands Joen watched as a raging fire flared to life before taking the form of a stream that washed over the tiger and engulfed its entire body. After a couple of seconds the fire died off and Joen dropped to his knees breathing heavily, sweat rolling off of his forehead "Okay, that sucked"
Aalam was watching and waiting he had done his part, and now all that was left was for the mage to finish off the beast if he had any real talent in the path that he had chosen. Flicking his finer as he released the tension on the string, the beast was a making enough to make noise to wake the forest, but it wasn’t moving. It seemed that his shot had not been too bad it was struggling to move, but anything pressure was, but on that hind leg, it just crumpled to the ground. Pulling the second arrow of his quiver and activating his incognito as he made his way back down the tree and closing to the beast. He made sure to keep himself downwind. He needed the tiger to keep looking in his direction if it moved back into the cave there was a chance that the mage would miss the target. However it seemed that he did have to worry for much for just as soon as the thought had entered his head did he see a steam of fire hit the creature, covering its entire body in flames burning the flesh off the beast. It was dead and gone in a matter of seconds, walking out of the treeline and letting his stealth fall away. As he made his way towards the skeleton to look at the bones, it was indeed a large creature. Giving the bones a poke to make sure that is was dead for making his way back to the hill that the cave was under. There was still a mage that he needed to see too, resting his bow on his shoulder and taking the arrow out of his mouth and placing it back in his quiver. Taking over as the man was kneeling on the floor it seemed that he had gotten the feeling that came with using skills. Leaning over the man as he caught his breath, it seemed that spell to a lot out of him. “Well, it looks like you go the job done, congrats and welcome to Terra. I would suggest you get yourself back to a town and don’t go out along with our getting some practice.” Watching the man for a bit longer before starting to head out back into the forest there was still some more arrows that needed to be created. Stopping just at the treeline to look back at the man. “Best of luck Sorcerer King of Terrashphere” Turning on his stealth and disappearing into the brush.
Joen continued to stay where he had been upon his knees looking at the smoking skeletal remains of the one powerful creature, it had amazed him that he had been able to do something like that himself and the pride at his accomplishment forced a smile to spread across his face. Just from hunting down this one creature he had been able to tell this this world was going to offer countless adventures and even more senses of wonder before his time here came to an end. Joen watched as the smoke that rose from the skeleton floated off into the air before nodding his head and slowly rose it his feet. That last spell had taken quite a lot of energy from him and he would be feeling its effects for quite some time he imagined. Lifting his head Joen watched as his human companion made his way over to him, lifting his hand he displayed a victory sign with his fingers while he hummed the victory theme from final fantasy seven and chuckled softly. Joen listened as his companion congratulated him on his successful slaying of the beast and welcomed him to the world of Terrasphere, a broad smile spread across his face when the human called him the Sorcerer King of Terrasphere causing him to nod slowly "Indeed, until we meet again archer" and with those words Joen turned and set off back in the direction of the closest town as the two adventurers went their separate ways.
