"Aristides. Talk more when there's less danger." Just as the words left his lips, he saw two wolves dive into both Rivers' and Futaba's skin. Rivers handled his swiftly, beating the beast to the ground with only a shallow-looking wound. Futaba on the other hand didn't seem as lucky. Aristides' eyes widened, ears going flat against his hair, and he charged the wolf that chomped down on Futaba's arm with claws outstretched. MASTERY ACTIVATED: MARTIAL ARTS - LIGHT STRIKES WEAPON: BARE FISTS His claws landed in a jab to the wolf's jugular, digging into skin and muscle until the beast released Futaba and gave a gurgling howl of pain. It didn't go flying like the other wolf. Instead it collapsed in a heap of fur on the ground. For a moment dread came over Aristides, before he remembered that this wasn't a real animal, and that this wasn't a real fight. Was it? Futaba and Rivers had cried out in what sounded like genuine pain. He wasn't in a rush to find out if they'd just been faking or not. Instead he knelt next to and held Futaba's injured arm lightly, clear concern taking over the reckless abandon that had been there a moment ago. "Are you okay, Futaba? Rivers? I...I have no way to heal you. Can you still fight?" The first wolf he'd slammed into decided it wanted revenge while Aristides' attention was elsewhere. The beast lunged with its paws this time rather than teeth--since that had gone poorly for it before--and managed to tackle him over while he was kneeling. Aristides only managed a surprised sound of shock before he felt the wolf's paws come down on his windpipe, silencing him and cutting off his air in one action. Oh. This hurt. They hadn't been exaggerating or faking at all. This actually felt like something was crushing his throat. His hands tried to find purchase on the wolf's chest, neck, muzzle, paws, but it was difficult when he was unable to breathe. If he suffocated in the game, what would happen? He would probably just come back. But it felt so real. Joyce, why did you send me this game?! "H---hel---!!"
Rivers heard thrashing and checked to see that Hanno Futaba had smashed a wolf's skull. That was impressive for a man of his size, but in an MMO, size probably didn't have anything to do with it. This was going well, all things considered. There was maybe only three or so wolves left and the trio of adventurers could easily handle them! They'd been right to turn and fight! Wait a minute. Rivers's eyes darted around. He couldn't find the remaining wolves. That...that was either very good or very bad. Futaba's yelling told him that it was the latter. Oh no. Rivers turned to see everything go to hell very quickly. A wolf had sunk its teeth into Futaba's arms just before Futaba could activate a defense mastery. Rivers's feet started running to help, but Aristides got there first and swiftly dealt with the wolf. Rivers slowed his approach. It seemed like he punctured the beast's throat. That was...impressive. Maybe Aristides's beast-like appearance had some advantages in the form of natural weapons. Rivers didn't mind though...the elf looked the coolest to him. Soon after Aristides dealt with Futaba's wolf, another pounced on him. Rivers started running again. Could he get there in time? The wolf was crushing Aristides's throat. No. He wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let his new friend get done in by some lameshit wolf. "OFFAHIM!" he yelled as he tackled the wolf. Sure...it wasn't the most elegant solution, but he couldn't slow down in time to muster any kind of precise attack. This would be good enough to get it off of Aristides though. Rivers tumbled with the wolf, as it tried to dig in its paws and snap at him. Rivers protected his neck, but couldn't keep it from biting onto his shoulder. "Shit! he howled. When they ended their tumble, he was atop the wolf and was able to push it off fully. As the teeth exited him, blood flowed from the bite marks on his shoulder. Damn this was lifelike. Rivers held the beast on the ground and prepared to finish it off, but some growling made him look up. Another wolf stared him down as he held this wolf's throat in his hands. That...that wasn't good. Rivers shot a glance over to his friends. He couldn't inconvenience them with this, but he didn't think he could finish off the two wolves alone. Regardless, this was the time when a hero would say something cool like "I've got this", but Rivers couldn't think of anything original so he just copied that. He was too tired to even think at this point. Those wolves had taken so much out of him. "Ivegotthis," he slurred in exhaustion. He nailed it. 10/10 perfect. Now everyone would think he was cool. @Aristides
"Grwah, th-thanks!" 'This hurts...' Hanno thought as he looked at his bloodied arms, seeing Aristides saving him, but then being attacked, making him try to move toward the Caenis, but his arms were completely wounded and weakened, so he probably wouldn't be able to help with physical attacks. Luckily, Rivers striked fast enough and was able to save the Caenis. "Ivegotthis" The Faerin smiled at their friends determination, Aristides would probably be standing on his foot again soon too. But Hanno didn't feel like he would be able to hit something in that conditions... His friends weren't with the best health too. 'Damn it, there's nothing I can do now?!' He clenched his fists, trying to keep hopeful, until he reminded himself of the third mastery he've choosen. Support. A faint light slowly faded in his hands as he hastly choosed his targets. Healing him, Aristides and Rivers. Their wounds began closing, giving back their stamina and will, but Hanno knew it wasn't going to be enough, though he felt his energies fading away, he needed to go a little overboard with his skills now. Breathing heavily, but still maintaining the magic, after the healing started taking effect, he focused all his energy on Rivers and Aristiles, Buffing their strengths. The Caenis would stand stronger and his ferocity would be come much more fiece. And the Human's tiredness would lessen and the grapple on the Wolf's throat would become almost immovable. Hanno's head slowly became numb, and his legs would shake a bit. But he did his best to keep standing.
Thirty degrees to the left, ten degree's north, take into consideration the speed of the wind... loose. The sound of a knocked arrow would soar through the air of the three new players, until a loud whine hit the air. A solid blow upon one of the wolves that had been lost sight of but that Lin had spotted from his vantage point. The Archer would call down below to the three as he knocked two more arrows onto his bow. "I would strongly suggest re-grouping together, if you come over to me I'll provide you some cover fire." Of course they didn't have to listen to Lin but would they really risk more danger? It was lucky that he had been traveling by the area when he heard the voices that were shouting out rather hurriedly. He hadn't expected to come across a live battle happening so near to his location but it couldn't be helped. There was no pick and choosing between where one would find a battle, so Lin just had to go with it. "Now then..." His bow was nothing but a beginner bow, his arrows were shoddy and hardly better than wooden ones, but they were no less harmful when fired. He took aim once more and spoke up towards Futaba. "You there! A little to the right if you please!" He hoped that the person would listen to his words, taking aim at another of the wolves as it suddenly began charging towards the person in question. He'd wait for a few moments, giving the person time to react before letting loose his arrow through the air. If Futaba had moved then the arrow would go on point where Lin wanted and swerve around to stab through the arm of the creature during it's momentum, causing it to trip and be flung through the air before crashing down. If Futaba didn't move then Lin would jump down from his vantage point, sacrificing his height advantage to move slightly to the left himself so he could get the shot in. Either way it was all about a difference of timing and cooperation between players. Figuring it would be rude not to introduce himself, he spoke up after releasing the shot; "I am known as Lin Bo, I'm still fairly new myself so you'll have to excuse me for budding into your business like this but I figured you could use another set of hands. Hope you don't mind!"
Aristides gave a desperate gasp for air as soon as the wolf went flying off of him, struck by Rivers and sent flying a ways off. He lay there for a few seconds filling his lungs back up and trying to clear the tunnel-vision that had started setting in as he'd been suffocating. Not fun. Not at all. There were still wolves attacking Rivers, though, and he couldn't stay down as much as his muscles were begging him to. Instead he pushed himself back up to a tightly-wound crouch, ready to spring at the wolf clearly about to pounce on Rivers. He couldn't let the man who saved him get killed, even in just a really realistic video game. Then a feeling spread over his body like warm tingles, and suddenly his muscles weren't crying out in agony, and his throat didn't feel as much as a tiny bruise on it. His eyes flickered to Futaba and the way he was shaking--almost as if he was exerting himself--and understood quickly: healing magic. So that was what it felt like. He managed another grin as his strength returned to him ten-fold. Okay, maybe if he had a healer on hand, fighting things like this wouldn't be as terrifying. "Thank you, Futaba." MASTERY ACTIVATED: HEROIC MIGHT - HEROIC STRENGTH WEAPON: BARE FISTS Aristides sprung like the beast his characteristics came from, fangs bared and a snarl escaping his mouth as he leapt over Rivers, over the wolf in his grasp, and tackled the approaching wolf to the earth with a blow so hard the beast's neck snapped against the roots of the trees and went limp. He turned back to the bushes, canine ears trained to more rustling noises in the bushes. More growls. More heartbeats. More wolves. At least four. Wait, no, five, and he could hear something else cutting through the air-- An arrow went flying through the air, struck through the bushes, and there was a whine as one of the hidden wolves ceased moving. Aristides jerked his head towards the trees to see their new ranged ally. There were a lot of people in this woods, weren't there. Not that he could really complain right now. "Aristides. Your help is...appreciated." His voice was still tight, either from adrenaline or a lingering memory of his throat nearly being crushed. As was suggested he moved from the bushes--and all the growling--towards when Lin was currently stationed, though he kept his eyes on Rivers and Futaba, should something happen while they were moving that he could save them from. Like clockwork another arrow went soaring towards a wolf charging at Futaba. Would it hit?
As Rivers struggled to pin down and finish off the wolf, he felt a surge of strength fill his body. His shoulder didn't hurt anymore...he couldn't even feel any stiffness. What was this? His eyes looked about for some answer. Surely it couldn't just be an adrenaline rush? This wasn't what adrenaline felt like normally. And there was no way the game would mess up that detail. Rivers turned his head quickly to see Futaba's arms shaking. Was it because of the injury he'd sustained? Or maybe it was exertion? But...he wasn't moving so what could be exerting himself on? Wait...magic...this game had magic. Maybe Rivers had been healed and buffed. Maybe Futaba had done that...that would explain what had happened. Given, maybe it was wrong for Rivers to assume Futaba had done it. Aristides could also have used the healing magic. But, the sound of Aristides whooshing over Rivers's back told him maybe he'd made the right assumption. Wait...he was in the middle of a fight...he should probably turn his attention back to the wolf. It hadn't scraped him a while...that was weird. Rivers looked back down at the beast he was wrestling with...it wasn't moving. Rivers's hands had been around its throat. Had...had he unintentionally snapped its neck with its newfound strength? That was pretty badass. Like...that was really badass. Rivers grinned broadly. This was so cool. "Thanks for the assist!" he called. Just then, an arrow whizzed by and struck down a wolf that had been hiding in the brush. An archer from afar called for them to regroup with them. That would be the best course of action, as it would limit the possibility that any of Rivers's friends would get hit by an arrow. "My name's Rivers! Thank you for the help!" Rivers turned his head to Futaba. "Let's go! We need to move towards the archer to clear his line of sight!" Hopefully Futaba wouldn't resist as he had when Rivers first suggested to retreat. The little man was quite stubborn. Rivers saw an arrow fly towards Futaba after the archer, Lin, gave a verbal warning. The arrow seemed to be aimed at a wolf approaching the small man from behind. Would Futaba hear it in time? Could he get out of the way in time even if he heard it? "Futaba! Duck!" Maybe Futaba would react instinctively and duck. Surely that was easier to understand than Lin's warning. Please move Futaba.
'I'm feeling numb... My muscles can't handle it anymore- ' Hanno's health was back, but his energies were almost completely empty at that point. He used way too much energy on every move he did to be able to strike as hard as he could, but now that overuse was affecting him. His joints felt numb, his breath was heavy. Even though his real body probably didn't move at all, he was feeling everything that he would feel if he was doing as much effort in real life. Hanno looked up, there was a wolf charging at him, Rivers and Aristides were too far. He felt he was done for, even if he had HP, he wouldn't be able to fight back. "Ah... I can't use defense-" He slowly raised his arm, preparing to do his best to fight back the wolf, even if it was just to buy some time to his friends. But suddenly, he heard someone saying something on the background. 'What..? Is this person talking to m-' He shaked off and tried to duck, though the tiredness of his body made his legs give up and drop him on the ground instead of simply ducking. But that still made him move out of the archer's aim.
"Dissonance..." as Lin spoke the words, he fired off the arrow through the air, the arrow would fly overhead of Futaba but to the common eye, split into three arrows rather than one. This made it confusing for the wolf to dodge and ended up taking the true arrow right through the jugular of it's neck. With a whimper it collapsed and began to bleed out on the ground, quivering in a shambling mess until it perished under the damage. The other two arrows seemed to be mere illusions cast by Lin, minor and forgettable. The Archer knocked three arrows at once upon his bow and let them loose, thudding across the ground between the three others and the wolves that wanted to tear them to pieces. This was mainly to establish a ground where the wolves would realize any further would spell death for them. If there was one thing that Lin was good at, it was lining up a decent shot, thus as he knocked another arrow onto his bow's string and pointed it towards the wolves from his vantage point in the trees, he effectively made the stance of 'Any closer and you'll die.' "We're not far from town, we should start heading there immediately, go a bit past the tree I'm upon and we'll move as a group. It's better to stick together rather than be apart - we'll only end up hurt if we are singled out. These woods are dark and frightful when you're on your own..." It's not as though Lin spoke from experience, rather he just knew off hand from what he had seen of the forest already. This was the beginner area but it also housed some less than friendly wildlife that would be more than happy to sink their claws and teeth into the lot of them. Lin waits until either all of them have regrouped at the tree or just a ways past it before he scales down the side of the tree, firing off the arrows he had knocked as another warning to the wolves before turning and beginning to start their trek back towards the town. "As I said before, the name is Lin Bo, I'm still fairly new so you'll have to forgive me if it seems like I was taking charge - I'm no veteran but I've served in a military before so I know some basic tactics. You could call me an aspiring strategist I guess." Brushing off some debris off of his white clothing he ponders for a moment, raising his voice in his curiosity. "What brought each of you to Terrasphere-- that is, if it's not too insensitive to ask, I know some have their own personal reasons behind it. I just couldn't help being curious. My own reason was mainly to escape my daily life, I prefer this fantasy world over the rather depressing atmosphere my country is facing currently. So it's a nice way to just, forget about my troubles, even if it's only for a few hours at a time." He stops short and raises an arm in front of the others had they been walking for some time. "Hm, seems there's a wolf-trap here, likely someone practicing hunting for the first time. We should be mindful from this point on, less we get a foot clamped by metal. Keep an eye out on the ground whenever you have the chance, at least until we're out of the forest's middle." Lin eases himself around the slightly camouflaged trap that had some leaves on it and continued walking, waiting for the others to perhaps give their reasons for coming along to Terrasphere.
The arrow did, in fact, hit the oncoming wolf with an interesting display of illusion magic, but Futaba definitely wasn't getting back up without help from that "dodge". If one could call it that. Skidding on his heels Aristides dashed back to where his poor weakened ally was and took him up into his arms with as much care as he could manage. More arrows soared over head, and he could hear the wolves in the bushes being either struck and frightened away or scared off. One way or another...the fight seemed to have come to an end. Thank God. With less rush--but no less speed, as his muscles still felt strong enough to carry himself at a quick pace--Aristides joined Lin and Rivers where they collected. He gave a nod of his head to Lin. "That could have ended badly. Thank you for your help." Aristides followed after Lin through the woods, having shifted Futaba from being carried in his arms to rest piggy-back on his shoulders. It was easier to walk like that. He had no problems with Lin leading them back to town, though...it was a bit odd to him how open they were. He didn't know many games where you would ask strangers "why did you start playing X"? Then again, not many games were as controversial, discussed, and incredible as TerraSphere was. Would he give a clear answer, though? The more people who knew he was looking for his sister, the more there might be to help him. But the more people who know, the more people who might learn who I am...in the real world... ...and I'm not ready for that. "A dear friend linked me the client, and quite frankly I needed the stress relief. I didn't know anything else about the game going in, though. It's more than I expected? Not in a bad way. Sort of." He chuckled weakly, ears going flatter as his nervousness shined through. Talking to people was not his strong suit. He'd been more comfortable fighting a pack of wolves, if one could believe it. Still, Lin had saved their lives, and Rivers and Futaba had fought alongside him like true allies. It would be rude to not say anything at all. His eyes caught sight of the trap as Lin directed their attention to it and he gave another nod of understanding. Unsurprising that people were hunting in these woods, given the abundance of mobs that were in it. Just needed to watch where he was walking, especially with Futaba on his back. "Is the town we're going to a place we can heal? Our...friend here seems to be out of energy."
Rivers breathed a sigh of relief as Futaba dodged the arrow. Okay...it was more like he fell down, but that was good enough. For a moment, Rivers imagined the arrow planting itself in Futaba's head and shuddered. He sprung up from his position over his kill and tried to take a step. Tried being the key word there. The buff had worn off by now, and Rivers really hadn't been paying attention to the amount of energy he'd been using...it'd been a lot. Continued use of Heroic Strength and Pierce had taken a lot out of him. So, he stumbled. But, Lin had told them all to retreat, and Rivers wasn't about to inconvenience someone who'd saved his life. With as much determination as he could muster, Rivers broke into a jog alongside Aristides who was carrying Futaba on his back. Rivers dug his teeth into his bottom lip. He focused on that pain instead of the fact that couldn't feel his legs. Before they reached Lin, Rivers turned to his allies. "Thanks for the help guys." They'd fought beside him as true allies and that was admirable. Of course, Lin had saved them and Rivers appreciated that. But Futaba and Aristides had gotten him out of a couple of close calls during that fight. That meant a lot more to him. Once they passed the tree Lin had posted up in, Lin joined them on the ground and Aristides shifted Futaba to his back. He walked at the front, leading them to Honeyhome. Along the way, he apologized for seeming forward or too controlling during the fight. Honestly, Rivers didn't mind one bit. He trusted someone who was willing to help them out. And he didn't want to think about strategy while playing the game...he just wanted to do big dumb melee things. Rivers simply nodded to him, still biting his lip to avoid falling over. But, it was a little weird that he was being so open about it. Weirder still, that he asked why they were all playing the game. What was Rivers supposed to say? That he was looking for an online girlfriend because he didn't have any dating experience in the real world and that was causing him problems? That seemed a little too...strong. These people weren't real-world friends like Zin and he didn't want to inconvenience them with his woes of real-life romance...or the lack thereof. So Rivers just gave an answer that wasn't a lie...but probably wasn't the whole truth. "I've been playing games for a long time and this seemed like a step forward from what I'm used to. When I got the email I figured 'why not?' Okay...I was pretty excited when I got the email." Then Lin stopped them and warned them to be ready for wolf traps on the ground. Rivers didn't want to question him but thought maybe he could elaborate on his plan. "Maybe we should walk single file then? If you keep an eye out, Lin, then we could all just follow along behind you." Rivers really didn't want to step on a wolf trap, but then, who did? He assumed the position at the rear of the line if they would agree to his plan, regardless, he fell a bit behind. As Aristides mentioned Futaba's lack of energy, Rivers patted his small ally on the back. "Thanks again for the buff, Futaba." Rivers didn't mention how much it had saved his ass, because that seemed incredibly unheroic. That magic must've really taken a lot out of him, as he was even more exhausted than Rivers was. Magic seemed dangerous... After walking for what seemed like forever, they made it past the treeline and could see the village in the distance. Rivers breathed a sigh of relief before visibly stumbling. Dammit, legs just a little farther. Don't make him look weak here. After a few wobbles, he was able to mostly correct and hoped that his allies hadn't seen him. "Looks like we're almost there."
Hanno spaced out for a while after 'dodging' the arrow, not understanding what was going on. He saw the arrows flying over his head and heard the yelps of the dying wolves before closing the eyes and spacing out for a bit... then he slowly felt being lifted and carried on someone's back... His eyes half opened, seeing the Caenis carrying him. That kind of reminded him of the first fight he had, where after helping out his best friend, they helped him to go to the infirmary. He smiled lightly feeling a little nostalgic, then began paying attention to the conversation. There was this new person called Lin, that apparently helped them. 'So he was the one that killed that wolf.' He thought, but didn't say anything yet, still trying to recover his breath. They were talking about the reason they joined the game, Rivers's reason was the closest one to Hanno's. He lazily nodded with another smile. And figured it was his time to talk: "As for me, I'm here because I've always played RPGs. And the heroic fantasies always fascinated me, so when I got the invite I decided it was a good way to put myself in the place of a hero in a fantasy world! Kind of a childish reason, but it's what make me happy!" The Faerin chuckled and looked at the Archer. "By the way, nice to meet you Lin! My name is Futaba, Hanno Futaba. Thanks for the help!" He said looking to his other friends. "Thank you too Rivers! You were great!" Hanno grinned at him and looked at the Caenis, wraping the arms around his head like it was a hug. "And of course thank you too Aristides!" He laughed happily, that game was awesome, he barely joined in and he already felt pain, tiredness, excitement, determination and more importantly... He firmed new friendships and ate a really TASTY FRUIT! 'I wonder what kind of food probably have in this town... I'm not sure, but-' He sniffed randomly at the air, making his eyes sparkle a bit. "Something is smelling great!"
Aristides followed Rivers' advice and began walking single-file behind Lin as they moved through the forest. With a bit more room to breathe mentally, he focused his sensitive senses back on the forest. Once more he could hear water and the rustling of small animals--nothing as large as a wolf, thank God--and smell the dew on the leafs. Futaba and Rivers had such pure reasons for joining a game that seemed to have more controversy surrounding it by the hour. Exploration, friends, even food...Aristides felt almost jealous of how much fun they were having. Or, well, fun they would be having, when they weren't drained from fighting off packs of wolves. Was he having fun? He hadn't been in a fist-fight since high school, and despite societal norms saying he shouldn't like getting into another one, even a virtual one, he had to admit it had been a rush. So, yeah, he was having fun. It just wasn't his core reason for being here. "Something is smelling great!" Aristides blinked and raised his head up, ears pointed forward and his nose twitching as he smelled the air. Wow, there was something sweet in the air, rich as maple syrup and thick as fog. No, wait, not maple...it was... "Honey?" Sure enough, right ahead the thick wall of trees before them gave way to a great clearing, and within its green pastures and sunny skies was the quaint little village of Honeyhome. Clearly a village that made its living off the land, all the homes were quaint, dainty little things surrounded by flowers and the delicious scent of sweets. The buildings were all ivy-covered walls and the paths were smooth stone. Every corner had a little bee-hive buzzing cheerily away as the townsfolk went about doing their daily do's--children running chores, farmers haggling their crops, bakers setting their wares on shelves to cool. So that's what that scent was. Mmm. As the little quartet entered the town not a single face gave them a cool or disgruntled look. In fact, all of them were offering kind greeting and nods. Probably because their wounds had healed up. If they'd come into town with huge bite-marks and bruised throats then their looks may have been different. Nonetheless, after that fight, Honeyhome village was a balm on their burns. Now they just needed to find a place to sit down and it would be heaven. "I...didn't expect everything to look so friendly. Are these NPC's? They look so real." Aristides hesitated for a moment as they passed a great steeple, curiosity stalling him before he kept walking. What sort of God did a virtual world pray to? The programmers, maybe?
"Thank you too Rivers! You were great!" Rivers gave a nod and smile to his small friend. It was so nice of him to say, but he didn't feel great. He felt beat up and strung through the mud and the pounding of his heart drowned out most of the noises of the forest. But, the adrenaline passed quickly. Beyond barely being able to walk straight, Rivers had a bit of a hard time keeping his eyes open fully. He hadn't wanted a nap in years, but a nap sounded heavenly at the moment. He really needed to work on his energy stat. With Arisitdes between he and Lin, Rivers let himself lag behind a bit. He was utterly exhausted and was really looking forward to taking a seat somewhere soon. But, he didn't want to collapse in the forest, at the very least. He didn't want to burden anyone with helping him walk. So, out of willpower, or perhaps stubbornness, he continued until Aristides mentioned something about honey. "We must be close then," he mentioned absently. Honeyhome was filled with the aroma of its namesake. If Aristides's nose was picking it up then it should be visual soon. And it was. In less than a few minutes after the Caenis mentioned the smell, they saw the village in its pleasant and quiet pasture. Rivers grinned broadly. This must be how sailors feel after being away at sea. The sight of civilization was so comforting after what they'd just been through. Together, the party entered the town and were welcomed warmly by the townsfolk. Everyone was so nice. At least, they were programmed to be so nice and it was a good feeling. For Theo, it was like being back home without all the sports-obsession and less than progressive ideas. "I...didn't expect everything to look so friendly. Are these NPC's? They look so real." "Most of them are, yeah. They're really impressive looking, but how they act's even more impressive to me..." he trailed off. "Oh, do you guys wanna add each other as friends? That way it'd be easier to meet up again and go on more adventures! Hopefully, with fewer wolves," he joked. Rivers opened his HUD and awaited their response.
The Faerin's ears raised and his nose twitched trying to figure out if the smell was really honey... And it was! "HONEY?!" Suddenly Hanno raised his head and opened his emerald green eyes widely, something that looked impossible to who saw him this whole time with eyes that always seemed to be closed. But all that excitement faded after his body giving him a slight cramp and numbness that made him drop on Aristides's back again. 'This low Energy status is a bother, huh.' He thought sighing. 'Even getting my ass kicked, I must say I had a lot of fun. But I need to be careful to how much energy I use next times, this isn't like normal RPGs that you can just spend everything and run away as you please.' Hanno considered, and looked at the Village, kind of expecting to see random NPCs walking around waiting to get engaged in a conversation... But it didn't happend, instead the NPCs greeted and welcomed them with smile. Those villagers felt so real, the look they had in their eyes were so expressful and lively. It was almost like you could go there, befriend them and talk to them like you could do with anyone else in real life. The Faerin got the feeling he should try to befriend a NPC someday, they seemed very friendly, even if they weren't actually real! Maybe they would give him a cake- But wait! Hanno shook his head. That wasn't the priority right now, they needed to recover energies. A question interrupted his thoughts as Rivers suddenly pulled a interesting topic, he knew he was in a virtual world, but he completely forgot that they probably wouldn't meet again if they didn't added each other. "Oh, of course! It will be great to have this much fun again!" He lazily opened his menu, sending a friend request to @Rivers Asteire, @Aristides and @Lin Bo.
"Add each other? Sure, um, hang on, let me open this." Aristides had to balance Futaba with one arm on his back to access the menu, but thanks to him being so small compared to himself, it wasn't that hard. Just like he'd seen Futaba do before he clenched his hand and opened it. Sure enough, the little menu opened up and displayed his health and energy. He sighed in relief. Not too bad. It much have been worse before he'd been healed, and it wasn't at a hundred percent, but it wasn't a dangerously low amount. Some time resting would fix that. Maybe. Did resting in this game work like that? Or maybe he had to buy a healing potion. Or find something to eat? Whatever he had to do. At least this village didn't seem to lack for things to eat. "And accepted. Though, Futaba, I think you and I are going to wind up sticking together until we find somewhere for you to get your strength back. Unless you want me to just...set you on an NPC's back?" Aristides grinned slightly, daring to joke around more now that they were in a safe place. "Let's find an inn, or something like that. I know all this honey smell is making me hungry."
