Leopold was standing stock still on a small hill covered in grass and shrubbery. He was staring down near his feet, intently focussed on something. His gaze was locked on a small patch of grass that was particularly young and green. One might expect that something was in the grass that was attracting his attention. Perhaps a strange insect, a dropped coin, or even a bland rock. Anything would be more interesting than that insignificant and common plant. But nope. Leopold was staring at the grass itself and seemed to be mulling over something. "I wonder if I could..." His stoic silence broke as he began to bend over and reach down towards the patch. His fingers drifted over the blades as he pinched one between his fingers. It was no thicker than his finger nail, while much softer. It had an almost sharp sensation to it when he dragged it against his finger. Tightening his finger against his thumb, he tore the single strand away, revealing a lighter section at the base. Standing straight again, Leopold held it up to eye-level while rotating it between his digits. It was just an ordinary blade of grass, same as real life. Folding it over near the end, it bent until a darker green crease appeared. When he unfolded it, the crease was still there and contrasted with the lighter color of the rest of the stalk. His interest was peaked by this cosmetic change, but his focus wasn't appearances on this day. No, he wanted to learn something far more useful. Something that his very survival could depend on; he wanted to know if he could make grass taste good. Lifting the strand up to his mouth, he placed it between his molars and gave it a gentle chewing. A planty taste permeated his mouth with a tinge of sweetness at the end. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. Just kind of bland. Leopold couldn't understand how grazing animals could eat it all day. It just really didn't offer much. Leopold thought on it a bit, but he wasn't hopeful. "So my options are dressing it like a salad. That seems easy, and probably the most likely way to make it good. I'll do that first. I could also cook it up... Maybe like spinach or kale? Soggy green blobs of leaves are pretty popular as health foods, so who knows, grass could be the next big thing. Lastly... eh, I don't even know. Fry it? Bake it? Pickle it? There's so many things I could do." Leopold may just seem like a curious person, but that was far from the truth. He would never consider eating mundane crap like grass if he didn't have to. Unfortunately for the man who had never been penniless a day in his life, he was completely broke in game. If he wanted to survive this damned hunger meter, he needed to make food from nothing... or in this case, grass. He just had to tap into the creative side to figure something out.
Being dirt poor was something Theoni was well adjusted to. In life before this game, there had more lows between the odd big scores, and those highs were very short lived due the illicit methods by which they were gained. So where the wealthy would enter this world and be distressed to find themselves hungry, thirsty and penniless - this was quite the norm for the mind behind the Faerin. Dirt ridden attire, matted blond hair with flecks of dried mud in it, she looked the very image of a destitute pauper as she wandered around this fantasy land. She ignored the odd looks her appearance attracted and ran away from any wildlife that looked likely to pounce her. The journey had led her to this small hill, the short female able to walk more leisurely as it was an elevated path which granted her more vision of the immediate vicinity. Nothing dangerous looking from what she could tell. However when she spotted someone ahead, Theoni did slow her pace and walk with more care. They seemed to be a short person like her. Did that mean they would be naturally friendly? Theoni was several chapters behind on where the Faerin were in this world's food chain. She liked to imagine that her being one elevated them right to the top. Which meant the guy up ahead was no threat regardless of his affiliations and intentions. Especially when he seemed to be eating grass. Wait. That was... not right. He even started to ramble out loud, something about improving the flavour? The nearer she drew, the more she heard but the less sense it was making. By now Theoni had made up her mind on the strange fellow - he was a certified lunatic. She guessed driven insane by a lack of food. Any reasonable person might consider a swift retreat, after all she approached from a blind spot and had not yet been spotted to her knowledge. This guy was chomping on grass and talking to thin air. It was fine to presume he might rabidly attack anyone that moved for food. Yet there was something in Theoni, a strange urge that dictated to the young Faerin that she must poke the bear regardless of the consequences. "Yo, grassmunch!" She beckoned to him, cupping her hands to the sides of her mouth to aim the shout. "What you just said there makes absolutely no sense. You know that, yeah? Complete, utter nonsense. The heck you chewing grass up here for anyway? Some sorta farm animal?" When he took notice, the female would wave her hand, though remained judgemental. This guy was definitely one of her own kind and in a way that made them part of the same gang. When he was off doing idiotic stuff like grazing on the top of small hills, someone might see it and think less of all Faekind. As Theoni had already decided they were the superior species in this world, that was quite the blow to their shared reputation! Especially if the person observing was one of those weird dog man types. Theoni had already met two of those and they had both been strange to put it politely. Just the thought of one of those mutts being smug about the actions of this lunatic indirectly associated with her boiled the Faerin's blood. It was a healthy hypocritical mindset that allowed her to ignore her less than presentable appearance also harming Faerin reputation. She placed both hands on her hips when she came to halt some paces away from the lunatic. "Think about what the tall people would say if they saw you doing that. In no time we'd all be expected to graze like a pack uh... uh...." Theoni's lack of experience outside the city stunted that line of thought. Not one to surrender the pace, she pretended that the sentence had been finished without a hitch. "What I'm saying is, we gotta prove we're the best and what you're doing, it ain't helping none."
Grassmunch? The voice had come from nearby so Leopold turned to glance at whomever it was, but he wasn't too concerned. Grassmunch wasn't his name, so they must be referring to someone else. As simple as that. Leopold did find it a little strange that the young lady was staring directly at him, but he had never met her before so there was no way she would speak so informally to him, a stranger. Perhaps he should have made the connection when she mentioned more about eating grass, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. There was no way someone as cut-- well, she was pretty dirty, so, as 'mildly cute' as her could be so blatantly rude. There must be someone else present that he hadn't yet noticed. The waving is where things started to get really weird. She was waving right at him. Was he blind? Was he seeing things? How could there be another person hidden nearby that he just couldn't see? Inversely, was she even real? How incredibly unlikely would it be for a tiny female to come harass him in the middle of nowhere? Neither seemed right, but the reality of the situation was nearly as strange. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to question the lady when she made a blunder in her speech. "Like a pack of... Oh! Cows. They sit around in prairies and eat grass. Deer too. I'm pretty sure they go around in groups and munch of foliage. I've also seen giraffes grazing on the tele, bu they tend to eat from trees. Silly me. I'm not sure they could even reach the ground. Lots of bugs too, locusts and the like. But can there be a 'pack' of bugs? That doesn't sound right. Oh, horses. They eat grass and can move around in groups. Did I get any of those right?" He had talked over her continued speech as he became hung up on the open ended statement. Her feigned dignity had eluded his sight as his mind raced to fill in the blank. His expression was relatively neutral as he waited a moment to regain composure and wait for a response. This didn't last very long as his cheeks reddened and his brow dropped into a scowl. "Wait just a minute. You were talking to me, weren't you?! How the heck... You can't just go up to a stranger and talk so crassly like that! Completely uncalled for..." Leopold was puffing, but he seemed to gain control of himself. "No, no! I'm a stranger to you! We don't even know each other, and you're sitting here lecturing me on my proactive decisions? So what if I want to eat grass. I'm doing it to sustain myself, and it's easily obtained. Imagine if I succeeded in making it a delectable treat! I would change the food industry in moments!" Delusion had gripped him as he overly hyped up his plan to feed himself. What was once desperation was now being touted as some grandiose ambition. Leopold was not the saint he was portraying. As his little outburst ended, he once more seemed to gain control of himself. "Besides, are you even one to talk? You think I'm making us look bad? I am a chef trained by the illustrious Shinobi, Hanzo Generico. My culinary skills are beyond your common comprehension. What have you accomplished aside from speaking in such a repugnant manner, while looking a mess? Some people..." As if to add insult to injury, Leopold stuck another stalk of grass into his mouth and began to chew it. He seemed content for the briefest of moments before spitting it out and sputtering a bit. "It really isn't good though..." Leopold was scratching his head in a dejected manner. It was hard to maintain his oh-so-holy facade when he was so dissatisfied with what he was doing, so he ended up looking to the girl with an expression that screamed 'help me.'
As it turned out, this guy was not a full on lunatic as previously thought. Just a few seconds in his presence made Theoni quite confident that at no point would he be devolving into a frothing madman and attack her. Rather, he just seemed to be someone with a few screws loose but overall harmless. He was even espousing views about how to approach strangers like an old timer. None of that talk was ever going to change her approach, she rolled her eyes at the lecture until he more directly called her repugnant and a mess. Not the best at taking criticism, Theoni scowled in response, though did glance down at her muddy clothes. Sure, she did look a mess but a deranged fellow chewing on grass had no business looking down on her. Strangely her feelings of malice towards the man for questioning her appearance quickly dissipated after he started to splutter from his latest hit of grass. He looked lost and helpless. Completely pathetic. A total chump! ... still, the other Faerin could not help but feel bad for the guy. Theoni sighed, shook her head and then approached the man to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Look buddy, we ain't strangers. We're the same kind! Us Faerin are basically all kin in this world! So when you got troubles or problems, so do I and vice versa! We're all tight-knit, you get me?" Theoni offered as advice to the man, all of it entirely made up on the spot. Something the guy had uttered had earned her attention. She could sense ambition in him, his self proclaimed culinary expertise and desire to revolutionize the food industry, if that all took off then she could stand to greatly profit by being an early supporter. He just needed a little push in the right direction. As someone with zero experience in cuisine, and next to no experience in Terrasphere, who was better positioned to advise him than her? "I dunno much about this training from Hans Gerry or whatever but if you're out here trying to cook up grass, you really have the drive to make it! Say, what if instead of wandering around munching on greens, we target some of those animal things you mentioned earlier. Like the uh, cows or long horses. I see plenty of big animals out here when I'm wandering around. I bet some of them would taste great once you cook them up!" Some of the especially large creatures were quite aggressive too. Theoni recalled a particular incident on a previous night where a huge reindeer or stag, she forgot what the people she was with called it, had attacked their campfire. The horned beast when killed and cut down to size could probably feed a small group for a few days... maybe, Theoni was not really sure how animals were turned into food. That was something other people did. Like this chump. "Yeah, like those angry creatures with the big horns. You ever seen one of them? Like Rudolph with a bad temper. I bet a couple of cooked steaks from one of those would sell like hot cakes. Sure its not as easy to get as picking grass, but its gotta taste better, dontcha think? How about it?"
Leopold felt his heart warming, a stark contrast to the resentment he had moments before. He was cautious when she walked up to him, but the reassuring words she shared really made him smile. It was so amazing that two strangers could set aside their differences, and offer help in times of need. The girl was a true beacon of hope for humanity, someone that Leopold was glad existed in the younger generations. He often found himself scowling at younger folks, and criticizing their lack of character, and whimsidasical actions. They lacked drive, devotion and, most of all, respect. This girl here might be rough around the edges, but this true show of characters completely redeemed her. Leopold even found himself being swayed by her words. This talk of hunting larger creatures was a little scary at first, but Leopold warmed up immediately when he realized he'd have someone to help him. He was completely incapable of fighting them on his own, but if she was willing to help him out of the goodness of her heart, then he would be more than willing to give it a shot. God knows it would taste better than grass. "You... you know what? I don't know what these Fren folk you're talking about are, but I think it's definitely a good thing to help people around you. You're not as bad as I thought you were at first, so I'd be more than hap-" Leopold's teeth quickly clamped down on his tongue mid speech. This was not a frivolous mistake due to yapping his jowls, but rather an instinctual response. The girl had mentioned something that drew out a deep seated fear in Leopold. More terrifying than even those slimes that he seemed to keep encountering. What she seemed to be speaking of was that damned stag that had run him off the trail, and nearly killed him and his friends, especially that dog man. He had been so spooked by her mentioning it that his jaw had locked up and he had snapped down on his tongue. The pain didn't even phase him as a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "N-no I think I'll stick to plants. I've been doing well enough so far, so I don't think we need to even think about hunting the..." His voice seemed to trail off and get lower and lower in volume. His gaze became downcast, and there was a faint shiver to his body as he spoke the final word to the sentence. "Ŝ̗̤͙̽t͉̖̰̫̜̳̟̯ͫ̔a̺͚̤͍̦̱̣͉͙ͤg̞̗͗͐ͧ." He may have been willing before mention of the horned beast, but now all hope seemed to be lost. If it had been a cow, or a fox, or even a rabbit, he could have easily been goaded into action, but the stag? Impossible. Fear of that aggressive monstrosity had been engraved into his very being. It probably wasn't even as bad as he recalled it, but it was the first scary enemy he had run into in the game, so it left a lasting impression that he couldn't really put into words. Sure, eventually he would be strong to the point where thinking of the stag would be laughable, but he hadn't even raised any of his abilities yet. He didn't have armo. He didn't have a weapon. Heck, he didn't even have a tamed beast yet, which was one of his primary goals. There was no way he was ready or capable enough to even consider fighting the stag. Luckily, the reassurances the girl had offered before were still having some effect. After getting over his initial shock, he took a breath, and thought it over once more. The stag was obviously off the table. There was no getting around that. But something smaller? Definitely a slight possibility. Let's see... A gazelle? Nope, way too similar. A beaver? Still a bit too large. Maybe a raccoon? Ye-nope. Still too big. A squirrel? Leopold's gaze hardened as he raised a hand to his chin and really seemed to wrack his brain. After concluding that a squirrel couldn't possibly kill him after several internal simulations, he came to a decision after nodding his head. "Hmmmm... What about a squirrel? I've heard they're pretty tasty," A blatant lie. "And they're easy to catch.," Also a lie. Those buggers are fast. "And I know how to cook them." The rich buffoon had never eaten something so lowly in his life. Once again, a lie, but he held a practiced expression of confidence as he spoke. He wanted to make the squirrel seem like a really well though target, so he did his damndest to hype it up without sounding fake. It's not like it would truly be that difficult, and meat was meat, it probably wouldn't be horrible, so it was worth a shot.
Theoni always had complete faith in her ability to do just about anything, but seeing the guy be manipulated to her way of thinking so quickly put her self assurance into overdrive. He was seemingly convinced by her act. All that made up kinship could be a good angle to press in the future if she met others of the same race. Getting a small army of chumps could be beneficial for her ambitions in the future, even if it just surmounted in them giving her their gold as charitable donations before she absconded to the next con job. However, just as the man halted in his appraisal, Theoni's own self appraisal stuttered as the other Faerin changed his tune dramatically. He seemed terrified. Perhaps this was part of the reason the guy had a few screws loose. Another new player she had met had mentioned being scared of the dire stag she had in mind, something about trauma from being trampled. It seemed a little ridiculous to her. Even as real as this experience felt, it was still a game... her only fear about getting outdone by the monsters of this area was the fact that it was a starting area. This was less about self preservation and more reputation preservation. After all, she had been helpless before when being chased down by a dire stag but now wanted revenge on the creature. What better form of a revenge by turning them into a local food delicacy? "...a squirrel?" The vanquished dire stag in her mind, a pincushion of arrows and magic as it lay dead, dramtically shrunk to a tiny rat-like creature with a fluffy tail. A single arrow piercing its torso. Those plates of steaks reduced a morsel of meat on a stick. This was a severe reduction and an extreme disappointment. Where had all that ambition from before vanished off to, had this crazy guy hoodwinked her when saying he was some great chef. "Really dude?" Theoni uttered with a shake of her head. The Faerin wasn't even sure if the animal she was imaging was even the correct one. She needed confirmation. She held out one hand, using two fingers to imitate a pair of teeth in front of her mouth. "The two teeth little tree-rats with fluffy tails? Those squirrels? Wouldn't you have to cook like thirty of them to fill a single freaking dish? That hardly seems worth the arrows, bro." The way he shivered when uttering stag suggested she needed to put off revenge until her potential partner in business. Equally, she was not going to be convinced to shoot for a few morsels. Theoni's eyes lit up as she realised this was potentially turning into some sort of negotiation, a true sign of a buddy business. This meant compromise, something Theoni was bad at but willing to let side so long as they up scaled to something close to stag level. She shook her head and then clicked her fingers. "We should hunt something bigger. That way you'll get more meat to cook with and more pay off. This only works if the time put in is worth the reward yeah? Unlike half the quests in that dumb happy village. How about uh..." Her limited knowledge of animals prevented an immediate suggestion. Though it did make the girl consider her ability, comparative to this guy who seemed meek in the face of a stag. She realised besides the mention of cooking, she had no idea what else he was capable of. "Well, how about we discuss our skills before deciding that? I'm an archer." Theoni stated, helping the other Faerin visualise her ability as she pretended to hold a bow and shoot arrows with thin air. "I can also use air magic in a pinch. My other skill won't be much use unless we're hunting magical things. How about you?"
"Yep. A squirrel." Leopold nodded his head vigorously as the girl continued to question him. He nodded his head once more when asked 'really' and finally, she even gave a skillful demonstration of what a squirrel was. "That's the one, mmhmm." "Hardly worth the arrows? If cost is an issue, just think about it like this... What is the most profitable food in the real world?" Leopold was going to use a skill that he thoroughly abused in the business world. He was going to asspull. "Street food! It's so obvious that I didn't even need a response. Things you can eat easily and quick. Greasy, heavily spice, delicious. Think tacos, gyros, crepes, hot dogs, french fries, even sandwiches. But do you know what the king of street food is? Kebabs. Meat on a stick. An ancient and still popular technique that is simple, yet successful. I don't know how much an arrow costs, but I can't imagine it's much compared to an entire, well spiced, roasted squirrel. Here's the kicker. Leave the squirrel on the arrow. It can be the skewer!" Leopold looked smug at how well put together his idea was. It had started as a cop out, but had evolved into a, meager, business opportunity. Sure, it wouldn't rake in bajillions, but the cost of the arrows used? Surely it would well cover that. One squirrel was a solid fist full of meat. If it was cooked well, that would essentially be the size of a burger, plus it would be unique. A delicacy for this fantasy world where people might suspend their apprehension towards wild meats. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to want to consider squirrels. Her eyes were clearly larger than her stomach. Why kill something bigger and scarier when they wouldn't even eat it all? Seemed like a waste unless they found a place to sell bulk meat. He could only watch on helplessly as she moved the topic further. She was already brainstorming what they could hunt that would be bigger. Leopold felt a pit in his stomach as he began to consider what she was saying. Who knows? Maybe she was a skilled fighter who could take down larger beasts with ease. In that case, Leopold would feel much more assured. The issue was that he had absolutely no idea how reliant he could be on her. It seemed she was on a similar thought trajectory as she broached the topic of skills. An archer? How neat. Leopold was instantly amused by the notion. Something so outlandish and quaint in the real world. "Wow, an Archer. I've never even seen a bow before, are you good at it? And air magic to boot? Dang, you must be really strong." Leopold was lost in thought, imagining what she was capable of. When the topic turned to him, he was caught by surprise. "Me? Oh, well... I have the uhhh shield. Well, the shield skill, I don't have a shield yet. I don't know where to get them, unfortunately. I also have ast-ast-aghhh, whatever it's called. Hint magic. The last thing I have is Beast Taming. I don't know how to use that one yet though. I can also do animal husbandry. That's one of my vocations, I'm really proud of it. I don't know how to use it yet though, so uhhh... I guess all I can really do is cook." Leopold was probably the least impressive potential combat partner that anyone had ever met. He didn't even consider how weak and untrustworthy he sounded with his description of his skills. As far as he was concerned, he had a bunch of separate abilities that he wanted. He didn't understand that they were quite disjointed in terms of 'class' archetypes. To his credit, he was an old man who had never played such games, so ineptitude was expected.
The female Faerin puffed out her chest and grinned when the other player mentioned that she must be strong. This was the sort of praise which had been sorely lacking so far in her adventure on Terrasphere. People had only been remarking about her being a nuisance, loud, rude, unruly and many more unpleasant comments which were truly uncalled for. The nicest remark that had been uttered frequently was that she appeared cute, often before Theoni had the chance to open her mouth and change the opinion. This guy had the right idea though. She was strong. Probably the strongest in this starter area judging by the merit of the other players she had encountered. Where everyone else failed to see her prodigious talent, this loopy grass-eating chef had gleaned the truth... something about that was wrong but Theoni ignored it for the sake of her ego. Her pride and good mood hit a rather sudden bump as the other Faerin went on to explain his skills. Besides being a chef he was... "Wait, what the heck is that skillset?!" exclaimed the female as Leopold finished his summary. She had expected something more than a kit which had so little defence and utility, those skills also requiring accessories like a shield or beast which this guy was lacking. Right now, he basically had all the value of a throwaway mook npc! The type to be killed off in the background of a battle scene, completely devoid of significance and only there to make up the numbers. "How in the... how did you even make it out here with that shoddy line up? You must've got some help to not end up monster chow, pal." Theoni could not be sure if there was any benefit to teaming up with someone as limited as this guy. He sounded about as useful as the Caenis meat shield she had met on her first login, and at least that guy had been knowledgeable of the world and capable of sneaking around. The chef was just... the young Faerin crossed her arms, her head tilting to the side as she closed her eyes to think out her options. "I dunno if you can even tank like this, so if we go hunting you won't be much use... you know a shield guy has to hold off the major dangers to a party, right? If you can't handle anything more than a squirrel then dude, you're gonna suck at your job!" Theoni grumbled, the hunting and cooking path to a quick fortune stolen away from her by this chump's ineptitude. It was still possible for her to take out creatures alone with her skills but a team would be able to take on larger beasts which would rake in more cash. As she cast a disappointed eye on the guy again, she thought back to his squirrel skewer scheme. Not because she thought the idea had any merit, but the manner in which the other Faerin had thought it up so quickly. "Though you seem pretty crafty, for a grass munch that is. Maybe we could catch something smaller and then... yeah... if we throw a buncha meat together from smaller animals and you cook it up, who's gonna know for sure that its not some crazy dangerous dire monster. I bet people would pay plenty to eat high level beasts. Whaddya think?"
