Noah’s eyes blinked several times as they adjusted to the light of the summer morning sky. He had found himself laying on a bed of twigs and flowers. As his head slowly lifted he tried to make sense of what was going on. He had just logged in for the first time to this new game. While he had played these sorts of VR games before it was always an adjustment. “Tch...guess I should try to figure out what to do.” Noah had read up on the manuel a bit but still had to figure out how to play this character that he created. He opted to go for the rogue mastery, it was by far one of the more flexible masteries, he could use it for not only some fighting but also by pickpocketing, and even breaking into places. All valuable skills in a game such as this. Noah brushed himself off and started to go deeper into the woods. If he was to really get anywhere in the game, he would need to learn the basics of the rogue’s skill sets. The root of the rogue’s skills was that of sneak and speed. Practicing on docile creatures in the forest may prove to be the best. Noah found a herd of deer and slowly crept, sticking to the shadows and trees. While his footing was not awful he kept stepping on twigs triggering the deer to scatter only to regather deeper in the woods. This went on for a solid forty minutes or so until Noah was nearing the end of his stamina and patience. “Damn deer, I’ll never get the hang of this.” He slouched on the base of a tree and let out a deep sigh as he tried to gather his thoughts in the silent woods.
A voice would appear from nowhere only scant inches behind Noah as Dempsey finally decided to stop toying with the newcomer and reveal herself. she'd been silently following behind him for a few minutes now, and came to the conclusion that ending her little game before she broke out in the giggles would be the best course of action. "You need mastery points. After you invest a few hundred, your body just starts to know what to do. It's really hard to explain it any better than that, but that's how it works." She stepped out from behind the tree she'd been creeping toward and using to obscure herself from his line of sight. She offers a laughing smile and a handshake as she continued. "Practice does come into play though, so you have to train yourself too. Just knowing how to do it doesn't help if you don't know what techniques to use and when to use them. You can just wing it, sure, but practicing like you're doing will go a long way to making those mastery points really count when it matters." The woman came into full view now, a short, curvy, and athletic Felis with long, pure white hair covering her head, ears, and tail. Her yellow feline eyes were wide with mirth and fun at the moment, but one could easily imagine those same eyes narrow and filled with murderous intent. Perched on her shoulder was an equally snowy white dove with red eyes that peered about the scenery with the closest thing to disinterest the simple mind of a bird was probably capable of.
As he sat there slowly giving up on his choice of character he heard the soft voice of a female from behind him. Quickly scrambling to grab the simple starter sword given to him as a starter weapon he scanned the dense woodlands around him. “Who’s there?” The voice seemed to be giving him advice rather than threats, which was a good start at least. He heard that this game allowed pvp and that there were groups of people that lived off that kind of thrill, Noah at the moment was not one of those people, especially at the trash level that he was currently. The woman spoke of mastery points? Those rang a bell, he did not fully know what they were but he heard or saw that term somewhere. While he tried to learn a bit about the game before starting, Ethan was also rather eager to get started. The woman finally made her appearance, she walked right from behind the tree like some ninja. Was she also a rogue? Her footsteps were so light, she stepped on twigs and they did not snap. Whomever she was, she was dropping some sage like advice on this nooby. She was rather decent looking, at least for half animal women go. Noah was not one to bat an eye twice at a lady, but he could make an exception for a lady that appeared out of thin air. He stood up and brushed his toosh off from the dirt that had gathered by leaning on the tree. He let the woman’s words sink in for a brief moment before opting to speak, not leaving too long of a pause in their conversation. That was something that Ethan would do, leave long pauses and make things awkward, no Noah was going to be a different man, a more charismatic man. “Hmm.. so you’re saying that while what I’m doing right now really will not net me any immediate reward it will pay off in the long run? Sounds like weight lifting in the real world.” He took a few steps closer to the woman, though his steps were met with the snapping of twigs. “So, should I continue froleking through the forest chasing after deer like this or is there a better way to learn the arts of a rogue….perhaps from a fellow one?” He gave the woman a sly glance indicating that he speculated that she was of similar character build to him.
She raised a hand as if to ask for a moments silence, then continued on her impromptu lecture "Mastery points don't work like experience in typical MMO games. You get a little bit of them for literally everything you do. Kill a dragon? That's some MP. Eat a sandwich? 2Mp. tie your shoe, that's one MP. Practice like what you're doing is not wasted time at all, but your skill won't actually improve until you enter your menu and spend the mastery points you've earned. Please please Please tell me you didn't skip the tutorial dungeon like literally ninety-nine percent of the people on terraspehere?" She crossed her arms, tilted her head to the side slightly, and flicked her tail back and forth almost impatiently. She wasn't actually upset nor disappointed, as she herself had blown past the tutorial section after stuffing her face with free food and drink at the welcome fair that took place the first week Terraspehere was live, but she felt like toying with the new player a little, and didn't have anything better to do that day. Also she had witnessed first hand what would become of the unprepared adventurer here, and a part of her was empathetic. She continued without waiting for a response of any sort with another bit of information, this time as obvious as it was important; "Also, you're going to want to get a serviceable set of armor and a weapon. People spend their gold on all the wrong things when they start out, and collectables and vaity items don't do you any good at all when there's a 20 foot tall mantis trying to eat you." She would trail off thoughtfully until a fun fact occoured to her, which she felt the need to share. "Speaking of which, when you're out in these woods, keep an eye in the trees. There's giant snakes called the Adecus Longdragon that like to drop on people out of the trees and ruin their day." She paused, allowing the man a chance to reply finally. @Noah Krane
Noah listened to the cat woman’s advice. He scratched his head trying to completely wrap his head around the whole process. It seemed that really doing just about anything could net him these points but certain actions could get him more points than other actions. Well perhaps he should just stalk these deers a bit more then? Though an animal or creature that was not as alert as the deer might have made better practice on, perhaps something like a cow or a sloth, a sloth would not even be much of a challenge though to be fair. Perhaps he should leave this forest and just head to a city, sneaking and stalking creatures might need to come later, before he could sneak up on them he would need to observe better. A city would give him ample places and opportunities to stalk and people watch. There were rooftops, alleyways, and large crowds. He would get this girl’s advice on the matter, though she did not admit to having any special rogue skills he still speculated that she held some sort of sneaking based abilities. “Tutorial dungeon? Where is that? Once I made my account I really don’t remember much else, next thing I knew I was laying in the middle of this forest and that is when I decided to go get some experience chasing these deer around.” What was this dungeon she was talking about? While most MMORPG like this one held dungeons, challenges, or instances, whatever that particular company opted to call them, Noah had yet to come across one. If there was a tutorial one surely that meant that it was to teach the players the basics of the game as well as give them some standard gear and weapons. Really that was just what Noah needed, something to get his feet wet, hopefully not literally since water could ruin these basic leather shoes and while he has the leather working skill, he has yet to learn how to use it or anything else. Ms. Catlady dropped another tid bit of advice, Noah needed to invest in some decent armor, something that he already knew. While some games had quest lined up at the start to prepare the new members Terrasphere was all free form, quest were really not set in stone and just waiting for the players. The players themselves had to seek out quest and discover them through interacting with the world around them. Noah really had not seen any settlements since running around in the forest, so he had not had the chance to get any sort of merchant that could sell him armor or a decent weapon. His items right now were more or less trash. The sword he had would break from too much strain and the leather clothing he wore might as well be made of cheap cloth. Noah let out a rather loud sigh. “Yea.. I figured as much, though I was not really dropped in the most convenient place. Plus following those deer around probably only got me further trapped in this forest. Is there a built in teleporting device into the game’s system that allows players to fast travel to cities? Or at least to inns like other games? I haven’t killed a single creature yet and really only have the gold that was given to me at the start of the game. Which is a poor amount at best.” Perhaps it was luck that he met such an informed and willing to mentor person catlady right off the bat. Who knows if he had not met her he might be digesting inside one of those snakes’ stomachs that she mentioned right now. He really did not want to start the game off with a death right away. He heard that is how you get behind in the game from all the penalties that comes with it. “So these snakes...are they at least a lower level for players like me to fight and gain some experience or am I shit out of luck if one were to fall on top of me right here and now?” He stood there waiting to hear what the wise cat had to say while also looking like a sad, dumbfounded, old man that he had chose to be when creating this character. Once he could get the swing of things then it might get better for him...key word might. @Dempsey Fabijain
She raised an eyebrow at Noah's question in regards to the dangerous snakes and remarked "They are.. Very dangerous, to put it gently. Scarce, as most large apex predators go. Usually at least 4 meters long, and can be as big around as this here tree trunk" She would pat the almost two foot thick tree to her left to provide a frame of reference for the young adventurer. "If you see one, you'll know what you're looking at, and don't try to fight it. even I would be hesitant to take one on by myself. As for fast travel, there's a sort of way-point system that connects the major cities, but beyond that, you have to hike it on foot everywhere. I hear mounts are coming out someday, but who knows when that'll be." She pondered for a minute before continuing. She was never one to pass up an opportunity, but at the same time it was always irritating dealing with guys who misread her motivations as being interested. Maybe she'd get lucky this time, and this guy would be gay. At any rate she shrugged and continued; "Now, I'm not quite ready to head back to town yet, but if you want to stick close for an hour or so while I'm gathering materials, I can make sure you get back to civilization in one piece. I will, of course, be requiring a favor in return someday, but nothing sketchy. As you probably already guessed, I have the rogue mastery as well." She looked Noah over to make sure he was still paying attention before she continued. More than once she'd been "I'm not a thief in the typical sense, but the skill set suits me... it's fun being so mobile and unrestrained. Helps a lot in dungeons when a group needs to know what's up ahead, or there's a nice squishy caster that can be dealt with quietly. So? What do you say?" She punctuated her statement by shrugging her heavy pack and adjusting a couple straps. While it was always good to be prepared, she seldom enjoyed having to carry around said preparedness everywhere she went. @Noah Krane
Noah hung onto her words like a baby to its mother’s. It was a blessing to run into this woman for sure, while her being a woman was semi off putting for the sole fact that she was not his type in more ways than one, he did often find it in the real world that women were easier to deal with than men. As she spoke on the stature of these huge snakes, Noah, made a mental note. Don’t fuck with the Adecus Longdragon, even if you are not a total nooby. Perhaps one day when he was better skilled at the sword mastery, he could take one on but that also required some decent items, which he was definitely short of currently. It was a bit of a shock to think that a player that seemed so knowledgeable and pretty used to the rogue’s skills was still wary of these snakes. Why would they have such strong creatures in the new player start zone? More importantly if there was such strong creatures right here in the start zone, what was waiting out in the actual real world? As the lady offered to let Noah tag along his eyes lit up like the winter stars. He clasped his hands together and leaned towards the woman. “Really? You wouldn’t mind letting a lowly noob like me tag along? Bless you...bless you kind woman. Any bit of advice you can give me would just be greatly appreciated! I can’t tell you how amazing this would be! Perhaps I can walk out of these woods as at least a novice rogue!” It was obvious that he was excited, hopefully this kind of attitude did not turn off the lady, sometimes he could get a little worked up, some thought it was cute, some thought it was annoying, it was a coin toss. He did not care about the favor that he owed, at least as long as it was nothing too scandalous… “Yea..I picked this skill because of how flexible it was, unlike the other ones out there. I’ve never really played a rogue class before though, so this should be interesting…” Noah must have looked like some sad lonely puppy that was getting his first ounce of attention. This would be an interesting hour or so, if he did not scare off the lady that is. He walked over with his hand extended to offer a formal introduction. “I’m Noah Krane by the way, who might I have the honor of calling my temporary master and possibly friend?” @Dempsey Fabijain
Dempsey listened and nodded as the man spoke, then finally introduced herself properly as well. She noticed that the man seemed confident and sure of himself, but not to such an extent that ego and bravado might become a liability someday. That attitude would get him a lot further than he currently seemed to think it would. She wondered to herself how far he could go with just a little guidance and some encouragement. "I'm Dempsey Fabijain. Don't... um, first, don't call me master. That's just.. I get the flattery angle, but it's weird. I've been playing for a while now, but in the big picture we're all just getting started, so why not stick together, right?. So tell me what else you do? I'm also a martial artist and an alchemist." She didn't want to get too in depth, but she felt that in the spirit of quid pro quo she should tell the man what she was all about since she'd asked him the same. She found she preferred traveling with other rogues, as one could be as stealthy as they please and it would be for nothing with a warrior in full plate armor five feet away doing their best to sound like a walking drum set. On top of that, she was happy with her own skill set, but she realized there would be gaps and shortcomings in any players skill set. She waited patiently for him to reply while she peered around the surroundings, idly wondering where her dove took off to. Normally it loved showing off for strangers and it had been uncharacteristically quiet. She shrugged mentally as she scanned their surroundings out of habit. @Noah Krane
“Nice to meet you Dempsey...If you don’t mind me commenting, that’s a rather peculiar name. Does it have any sort of meaning attached to it or did you use the random name generator feature?” It was a bit different of a name, Noah had only ever heard of one other person with the name Dempsey in his life and that was some guy from grade school last name. Hopefully that did not offend her but she did not seem like the type that would take too much offense to that question, at least so far that’s how she came across. Before she was given a chance to respond to his question, he responded to her’s. “Ah very cool combo, wish I did something as creative. I chose to go for leather crafting, one-handed slashing, and of course rogue. Figured leather crafting could net me some gold while also letting me keep myself pretty well geared. The one-handed sword was for attacking purposes. I almost went a magic route but figured that was too flashy for a rogue, at least right off the bat.” Perhaps this chick could help Noah learn more about his sword skills or even where to go to get leather crafting recipies, he started with none and would like to replace his outfit sooner rather than later, especially if giant snakes would be falling from the trees on top of him. Noah noticed that Dempsey’s attention was not fully focused on him it seemed. Her eyes kept peering off into the woods as if she was trying to find something or had become alert to something that had found them. Noah turned around to match where her gaze was aimed towards. As he peered off into the green abyss, he quietly whispered to Dempsey in fear that there was a beast stalking them right now. “Is something out there Dempsey? Is it one of those giant snakes you were talking about?!” As hard as he looked he could not really see anything that was out there, even the deer he was chasing had already moved on to another part of the woods. If there was one of those giant snakes, surely it could not move fast due to its size and the two of them could escape? @Dempsey Fabijain
She looked placidly back to Noah, shaking her head at the talkative man. "There's nothing. I was just keeping an eye out. It just seems like every time you're not really paying attention is when something decides to wander by and try to eat you, or whatever. Sorry man.. I'm not trying to make you paranoid. Just a habit of mine. Those longdragons aren't too common around here, but they do show up from time to time. " She shrugged and continued unabated. "No real significance to the name. I just heard it somewhere and when I was doing my creation, I had a look at myself and decided I looked like a Dempsey." She perked visibly at the mention of his leather-working mastery though, Vaguely regretting she hadn't chosen it for her self, if she was being completely honest. She explained a little more about how things were here, preparing to lead into a bit of a sales pitch "So, You can find a good set of beginner recipes for sale in Stokbon. The shop isn't super hard to find either. I happen to have a crafting recipe you might be interested in when you can make blues though. I think it's only something to the effect of 100 mastery points to get there." She swiped and poked at her left palm, until a friends request was superimposed over Noahs field of view. She wasn't about to just hand the thing over to the first friendly stranger that strolled by, because it had cost her a fair amount. She bought it specifically so she could make sure whoever did end up owning it either reimbursed her or owed her a considerable favor. "Let me know when you get there and we can talk more." @Noah Krane
As his attention returned to Dempsey, he nodded in agreement. It seemed that things had a knack for attacking the moment that your guard was down. Though this statement could even be applied to real life. Just when you think things are going well and you’ve finally found your flow through life, something dramatic happens, your car breaks down, you lose your job, you get seriously sick, or one of the other million things that can happen to you happens. He was a bit relieved to hear that those longdragons were not common in these parts, in fact he was started to think that if they were, he would have been dead a long time ago. Why he feared death so much was still a bit silly, it was a game after all, not like he would die in real life like those people that got stuck in SAO. Though that was always lingering in the back of his mind when playing these games. “Ah well, regardless it’s a name hard to forget. Which is a pro and a con I guess.” He let out a halfhearted chuckle at that comment. He noticed though that the mention of his skills seemed to draw some interest to the female. Her cat-like ears twitched slightly, perhaps this indicated curiosity like it did with cats in the real world. “Hmm Stokbon? Is that one of the larger cities? I really don’t know much about this world, so obviously I’m not too familiar with what is what. Though I guess I should check it out regardless if there is some decent beginner items there.” It seemed that Dempsey may have alternative motives behind her friendliness towards him, at least when it came to giving information about the leather crafting skill set. She began to discuss some recipe that she was interested in getting made but had yet to find a crafter with enough skill to utilize it yet. Perhaps Noah could make this turnaround and work for him as well...If he could get the mastery up to 100 then he could make this item for Dempsey. Not only would this make her more likely to befriend him but he would also get to utilize this craft for himself later on down the road. While out of his three masteries, leather crafting was the lowest on his list to train, he might have to switch up his strategy. Dempsey seemed to not be totally annoyed with Noah, seeing how she ended up sending him a friend request right then and there. He quickly accepted the invite and furthermore sent her a party invite in return. After he did that he filtered through the screen until he found the information on his mastery points. It looked like he was actually close to having 100 points to use...He could use that towards the leather crafting and return her the favor of helping him out today pretty quickly. “Hey Dempsey, it looks like I almost have 100 mastery points already. What would you say that if I was able to hit that 100 mark with you this afternoon that you let me make that item for you? I’m not sure if I have the required mats though, so maybe we can split the mat cost for the first one, seeing how you would have to give your recipe over to a semi-stranger.” He felt that his offer was reasonable. While he was really getting the most out of this bargain, he would be using a chunk of his gold to get some of the mats and would waste the first bit of his mastery points on leather crafting and not something more useful like his rogue skill or one handed weapon slash skill, both of which would help him in the pvp and pve environment of the game, but raising this skill could get him some gold. While he did not know how long Dempsey had been playing or how many people she knew, but if she had not come across any leather crafters yet that could use this skill, then perhaps he made the right move getting it. If there was not many around then that would make him in high demand, right? @Dempsey Fabijain
She pondered his words carefully before offering a reply of her own. much like Amane, these new players seemed eager to please and much more easy to deal with than her peers. Maybe that wasn't the right way to put it, but negotiating from an inherent position of strength did have it's appeals. Again she saw opportunity to plant an early seed and reap benefits later on. A potential future partner in crime would be a boon to say the least, and of all the players she'd met so far, only the young Alphabet seemed to be able to keep up with her in terms of stealth and combat prowess. This man had potential though. An open mind, a willingness to receive instruction and a skill set that was nothing if not complimentary to her own. Most importantly, the newcomer had been focusing on her words and not her unnecessarily large bust the entire time. He was either not interested in women, or had an impressive amount of self restraint. All he needed was a bit of guidance, and this one too could be molded into a dependable ally, which she was sure she would need many in the coming unknown trials ahead. She broke her momentary silence with an offer; "Let's discuss some other, more long term arrangements. First, Come back to Stokbon with me. If you've never been there, You need to see it. Biggest city in the game, by far. If there's an NPC vendor for something, they have one in Stokbon somewhere. You can get low level potions, food, boarding, take and posts quests... all of that. It's where most players call home when they're not in the field doing whatever it is that they do. I don't suppose you've eaten since you've logged in if you didn't know any of that already. Eating is important, because you get a bunch of nasty penalties if you go too long without food." She paused to make sure the man was following along with her speech. the white dove on her shoulder was completely disinterested now, and was perched atop a shoulder strap and busily grooming itself. She paused for a moment to glance at the thing with a faint smile before continuing. "After that we can do some light sparring, and I'll show you to a flop house a lot of the new players use. It's cheap, but it's a safe place to log out for the day, and they sell some basic consumables there too. word to the wise though, pay for a few days in advance; they get booked pretty solid sometimes." She paused again to get to the meat and potatoes of her pitch. Maybe it was too soon to be throwing such a bold suggestion around, but fortune favors the bold, she mused to herself. "I need like minded individuals, and you need someone to support you until you can stand on your own two feet. I've been humoring the notion of starting a guild ever since the system was announced; A place where people like you and I can seek out like minded allies. It's a pain, adventuring with those who have no appreciation for stealth and subtly, and by grouping in larger numbers, we can expand our strength exponentially. I don't want an answer right now, or even today. I just want you to think about it while you get your bearings here in Terraspehere." @Noah Krane
Noah waited to hear the response from Dempsey, it seemed that curiosity was a trait that she possessed. Perhaps his willingness to actually try a quid pro quo style of trading made her interested. He could not expect her to just drop these bombs of knowledge and give him a rather interesting recipe to boot without any reassurance that the man was not going to scam her. It might have been too early in the game to try to go that route but it was worth a shot. While he would lose out a small bit of gold at the start of this venture it was possible that he could make a penny or two in return. As the woman pondered, Noah realized that there was a small little white bird resting on her. When did that get there? It was rather cute, not dangerous looking or skittish, perhaps this bird was her pet or something? Noah wondered if this woman was hiding the beast taming mastery if that was the case. He almost got that trait but figured that he would wait to see how the game’s mechanics were before choosing something that boxed in. After a moment or two of silence, Dempsey, finally broke her pondering. While he could not be mad at the woman for denying him the chance so soon, she did make it up by giving a bit more advice. It seemed that Stokbon was the city to go to in order to get some supplies and make some quick gold. He would definitely have to check out that city as soon as he got the chance. Perhaps at the end of this little training and mentoring session Dempsey would escort him there or at the very least point him in the direction that he needed to head towards. “I think I would like that trip very much. Having a guide beats wandering aimlessly through this forest.” He chuckled a bit at the thought of having to use moss to find which way was north and south, though who’s to say that the moss grew the right direction in this world. For all he knew the moss would grow southeast or something. His stomach let out a small growl, it seemed that he was getting hungry without even noticing it. All that deer chasing must have worked up an appetite on him. Most games started you out with a few pieces of food and water, perhaps this game did as well without him even realizing it. Or would he have to purchase food from the stores and make sure that he had some on him at all times? “Now that you mention it I am getting a bit hungry...perhaps we could make our way to this flop house if it is nearby? I’d love to hear more about your idea for a guild over a nice warm chicken sandwich or a pint of beer.” Her idea was interesting. It reminded him of thieves and spy guilds that he had ran into on other games. While they were always fun to be in, they normally lacked real fire power and were at best used as hired hands by other guilds that lacked the skill sets that rogues could offer. This was a blessing and a curse. It made their skills marketable, which could bring in revenue but it also made it hard for them as a group to do major raids and events without having to partner with other guilds. While he really did not know too well how the mechanics of the game worked he had to assume that they would be similar. “Hmm.. I think I might be interested in a guild like that. Honestly I was planning on building this character as more of a treasure hunter/ scout/ spy kind of build. So really the skill sets that you are looking for are found in abundantly in those kind of job sects. My only real concern with a guild like that is what your endgame might possibly be. I’d think that you’d want to recruit some muscles that are not as talented at the skills of stealth as you or I. I would make raid and dungeons rather tricky with a whole bunch of DPS, which I typically feel rogues fall under, though there is always exceptions to that statement.” @Dempsey Fabijain
She nodded, understanding the mans misgivings completely. It was an issue she'd struggled with herself at first, before deicing that this game was flexible enough that people didn't have to adhere to classic MMO group formations in order to succeed here. She waved a hand to the man, indicating that he shoudl follow, and spoke as she walked. "The first thing you need to do is forget everything you know about old-school MMO games here. things don't work that way; not in Terrasphere. Sure, there will be a time or two where we need to hire a meat shield for this and that, but in this world, It's really a niche role more than a crucial component to a successful group. For almost everything, players like you and I will be better off in a more selective crowd where our talents can really shine. No need for giant swords and thick armor. Shadows are our armor, and silence our blade." She glanced over her shoulder back towards Noah, making sure she was following her, both in the conversation and also literally following her, as she pulled up the map on her interface and pointed the two in the correct direction that would get them back onto the relative safety of a main road, and then onward to Stokbon. The trip would take quite some time and give them both a chance to discuss many things further. She had covered all the major points she wanted to discuss with the man, but she also wanted to keep him talking, if only to get a better idea of the kind of person she was dealing with. Anyone would seem like they were upstanding and eager fellows in the face of personal gain, after all. She pondered for a moment on her next line of conversation. There was much this one still had to learn, but she didn't want to come across as scheming or overbearing, so she simply changed the subject to something a bit lighter. "once we can sit down and you have something in your stomach, we can talk more business. Tell me more about you. I don't care to learn about who you are or what you do in the real world, because I find it to be terribly distracting and usually boring. Tell me what you hope to accomplish here, and what your goals are?" She brushed aside a sapling as she walked, careful that it didn't snap back into place and strike the man behind her. This was good. An open ended question that will keep him talking for a while at least, while she quietly compiled more information on the man. @Noah Krane
It seemed that Noah’s thoughts were not completely applicable in this game’s environment. While it was standard practice in most MMORPGS for you to be grouped as a tank, damage per second character, or healer, in Terrasphere its must have been a different song and dance entirely. This not only intrigued the man but also made him wary. If this basic concept that had been around the MMORPG and basic tabletop RPG for the past hundred years or so was not following the same cookie cutter method, what else was different? The way one earned experience was already itself a bit different, he never heard of a system that gave you points for just eating a sandwich unless you were a cooking based class. Perhaps he should forgo any thoughts that he had about MMORPGs currently and just embrace Terrasphere as a brand new behemoth. “So Dempsey, if what your saying is true, then I guess by placing some of my mastery points in the weapon mastery, I’ve opened up the option of not just being a simple rogue. Furthermore, say I opted to use my last two masteries in specs such as let’s say guard and berserk while focusing my armor mastery on heavy armor, I could become a light-footed tankish rogue? That really does change the game, it’s not only going to make the PVE based content much more flexible and unique but it will make PVP more deadly and dangerous. Never knowing exactly what your enemy will be capable of is a risk I’ll have to keep in the back of my mind whenever I’m in that situation. Perhaps it would be best for me to disclose some of my masteries or at least their skill levels from people until I can fully trust them just in case things are not as cut and dry as they seem at the service level.” He scratched his small scruff on his cheek as his thoughts pondered. Dempsey was bound to think that this man before her was a paranoid wack job, who thought way too in depth on these kind of matters. As the two started their journey through the forest, Noah made sure to keep his eyes wide open for any sort of creatures that might have been lurking. Since her mention of the longdragon, his brain was now alert to the possibility that there were other threatening creatures out there and not just deer and rabbits frolecking through the forest like a disney movie. They walked in silence, Noah trying to mimic Dempsey’s footpath, trying to avoid making any unnecessary sounds along the way. Obviously he was not as skilled as she was but he was at least keeping the twig snapping to a bare minimum. Perhaps by the end of the day he would have at least gone up a tier in the rogue mastery. He already had enough mastery points to dump into a single field and raise it to the trained level, but was it wise to waste them all in leather crafting like he just proposed? Dempsey was not willing to hand over that recipe right off the bat so he shouldn’t be in any rush to dump those points in leather crafting. It might be wiser to raise his rogue skill to trained and get his one-handed sword up a tier first. That way if a monster or enemy player did show themselves he would be able to do something rather than look like a fool waving his sword around. After a minute or two of silence Dempsey posed another question on Noah. What was he after in the game? He really did not think too much of that when he started his character to be honest. Really he modeled the man after somebody he was once attracted to in college, one of his teacher’s aids. While the looks were not a hundred percent the same, the attitude he was going after was. It also happened to be the opposite of Ethan’s own personality. In Terrrasphere he was going to be somebody that was not a loner, not a coward, somebody friendly, somebody brave, and somebody charismatic. Of course though Dempsey probably would not be interested in hearing such things though, she already made it clear that the she was not interested in his normal life, which was what greatly affected this persona. Noticing that he was taking too long to respond, Noah finally gave an answer to his tour guide. “That’s a hard one to answer haha… I guess you could say I’m aiming to be a treasure hunter of some sort. Gain fame and notoriety to an extent and became rather wealthy in this world. Almost the opposite of my real self haha…” He mentioned his real world self, just like she asked him not to, damn it! “Ahhh… sorry I mentioned my real world self there a bit didn’t I? Well umm I guess… I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a solid group of friends that can help make this a bit of a fun adventure you know? How about yourself Dempsey?” Whether or not that was what the woman was asking about or wanting to hear that was about all Noah could muster up. Perhaps once he heard her answer he might be able to give her more information that she might have been looking for out of that question. @Dempsey Fabijain
