Valther cupped his hands in the stream, the cool wisps and bubbles of water rushing across his wrists and into his palms, and he lifted them out, the stream still clinging to him as he raised his hands to his lips and poured the water through them. He drank slowly, savoring the chilling sensation of the water running down his throat. He gave his hands a few idle flicks before slipping them into his pockets and standing, heading down his own trail along the bank of the stream.

The sun filtered through the thick canopy above, glittering against the swelling and unraveling stream that accompanied him on his journey through the forest. The only thing that could make the stroll more peaceful would be the weapon at his side; without that he could truly rest, but Val couldn't stop the paranoia that some kind of fishman might leap out and stab him with a spear at any moment.

He felt something thin and stick-like at his foot and he halted quickly. Peering down at the earth, he lifted his foot. A strange sight laid there; a blue rose, swaying gently in rhythm with the stream. Crouching down, Val admired the little rose. It wasn't just a blue-ish purple or white, it was bright blue, like the sky through the leaves above. With a soft smile, he grasped the hilt of his sword and slid it out quietly so as not to disturb any wildlife hiding in the treetops.

Holding the edge against the stem of the rose, he drew it back and forth until it broke through, and he lifted the rose to his nose, taking a deep whiff from it. It... smelled like the perfume his mother always wears, sweet, yet gentle. Sheathing his weapon, he continued to sniff at the flower as he continued on his journey. If only his mother could see this... and be able to walk beside him...

Valther lowered the rose and sighed. She could never walk with him again. Val pressed his thumb against the soft petals at the tip of the stem, rubbing them gently as if searching for emotional comfort. Suddenly he looked up and stared at the leaves.

Maybe she could... all he had to do was buy a second headset for her... and give her Terrasphere.

With a wide grin, Val slipped the blue rose into one of the holes in his shirt and continued on, hands in his pockets and a pep in his step.

@Manta

 

Ella wasn't a fan of the forest. She was a city girl, and had never been healthy enough to enjoy hiking or anything similar. The closest she had ever gotten was a vacation when she had been much younger and still living with her parents. They had gone to visit a cabin in the woods, but it wasn't like she had been allowed to leave the cabin in her condition. This was the first time she had walked in the woods, by herself, without worrying about fainting. She was still about as weak as you could get in this game, but that was so many times stronger than she was in real life already.

She gripped the handle of her spear, continuing to wander. She had only just started this game and still had no idea what exactly she was doing. What she did know was that the character creation had been some of the most fun shed ever had. She would make herself in this game the exact opposite of herself in real life. She would be unbelievably strong and people would marvel at her strength rather than coo at her weakness and how cute that apparently made her.

She continued to walk through the forest, her eyes wide as she took in all of the foreign sites and smells. She finally came to the crest of the hill she had been walking up to see someone else up ahead , walking with their hands in their pockets. NPC or other player? She didn't know, but she knew that she needed someone to help her out with this game. She was extremely popular in the real world, so it shouldn't be too hard to make friends with someone else here. She took a step forward, her heel getting caught in a little gopher hold that she hadn't noticed. She fell forward and started tumbling down the hill, shrieking.

 

Valther whistled casually as he strode along, the blue rose in his tunic almost swaying to the tune and beat of each step. He had to refrain from dancing along to the song he'd suddenly created out of nowhere and played in his head, lest he look like a total dickhead. Soon the stream branched off to the right and Valther parted ways with his travelling partner, heading further into the forest, watching the earth more carefully in case he almost killed yet another strange piece of nature.

As he traveled further, the landscape began to rise in a gentle hill, not too steep to walk up but definitely a bit treacherous to head down. One slip and you'd rolly-poly down to the bottom of the hill in no time. Speaking of which... Val glanced up at the top of the hill, raising his hand to block out the rays of sun that glared through the large gaps between some of the trees, as if holding him in a spotlight. There was a player at the top, with scarlet hair... Alia? No, she was much too tall to be Alia, but it was definitely a girl. Player? NPC? Val couldn't tell; you could never tell who was a player until you struck up a conversation with them.

Val's eyes flew wide and he rushed to the foot of the hill as the girl stumbled over something near the top, tumbling ass-over-heels down the hill, shrieking in an ungodly manner as she went. Planting one foot against the hill and keeping the other flat on the earth, Valther held his arm out to his side, watching her tumble further and further, all manner of grass and leaves and twigs finding home in her hair.

Val let his arm slacken a little as she made impact, before holding her firmly where she was, his arm around her abdomen carefully, letting her sit on the earth, still and dazed. He couldn't help but snort at the groggy state the girl would likely be in from taking such a stumble down the hill.

"My my, you sure know how to make an entrance," he teased her and stood tall, letting her sit on her own, and he extended a hand down towards her for her to take when she felt coordinated enough to stand on her own two feet. "Name's Valther, hope you had a nice 'trip'."

@Manta.

 

Manta continued to shriek as she was caught, going on for another ten seconds or so before realizing that she wasn't falling anymore. She sat down on the ground, holding her waist as she felt the contents of her stomach still roiling around. She groaned and looked up at the guy that had caught her, likely saving her from hitting her head on one of the numerous trees. She really wanted to tell him how bad of a pun he had just made, but she was pretty sure that if she opened her mouth he would need to buy himself a new pair of shoes. Not the best way to make a first impression, on top of her literally falling into her arms.

If this had been in real life she would undoubtedly be dead from a fall like that, not just bruised. Her bones would have shattered and the jagged pieces would have cut through the rest of her skin and organs, causing... She cut herself short. If she continued that train of thought she might just throw up. She looked up at the man, taking in his facial features this time. He was literally like something from one of her daydreams. She didn't think she had ever seen anyone so cute looking. If only her fans looked like that, maybe then she wouldn't still be single.

She put her head between her knees, an old trick she had learned. It helped when she felt like she was going to faint or throw up. After a few moments she lowered her knees and raised her head, slowly getting onto her feet shakily. "Thats what im told by my fans." She mumbled, looking down, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. She looked back up. "I'm Manta. Im kind of new to this whole game. And hiking too." She said, trying to make excuses for her very ungraceful fall. she reached up and started to pull the leaves and twigs out of her hair, brushing it clean with her fingers.

 

Val massaged his temples gently to ease the sound of the girl's shrieking from his head, the screech grating against each individual cell of his brain. He kept a close eye on his female 'companion' as she held herself back from hurling all over his boots, and he took a cautious step back in the case her efforts were in vain. "Yes, please, take your time, I can stand here all day," he scoffed and folded his arms, but rather than scowling simply smiled down at her in a jesting manner.

Finally the girl stood up after what seemed to be an internal series of 'gastric exercises' to ensure the contents of her stomach stayed under lock and key. Val couldn't help tilting his head and cocking an eyebrow at the girl's strange statement. "Your 'fans'?" he asked and chuckled, a cheeky smirk coming to his lips. "I apologize, I wasn't aware I was in the presence of a pop star or something," he joked and tapped his foot against the ground, still confused as to what she had meant by the word 'fans'. He snickered as Manta introduced herself and began to pick her hair clean, and he couldn't stop himself from reaching forward and assisting, not touching a hair on her head but instead retrieving the leaves and sticks that stuck out the most, so as not to invade her 'bubble'.

"How quickly I've gone from beginning to mentor, then," he explained with a wide grin and held his hand out to Manta. "I joined just over a couple weeks ago, and boy, you would have cringed if you saw me swinging a sword," he groaned and wiped his hand down his face slowly. "But I have a bunch more experience in my pocket thanks to a lovely bunch of players kind enough to show me the light... and some not so kind, but that's another story," Val winced and groaned at the memory of Kohaku and Lemming, shaking his head to clear his mind. "Come with me, I can teach you a few things. I'm not the best, but I'm the only help around here it seems."

@Manta.

 

She supposed that all good looking guys were dicks. That was just a law of nature. Right off the bat she didn't like him. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, and his making fun of her holding back from throwing up. She was used to throwing up, she could handle it. The taste was the worst part, and having to rinse her mouth out didn't actually get rid of it all. Still, her holding back had been mostly for his sake. Maybe she should have just thrown up on his shoes. She glared at him, tempted to prod him with her spear, but then realizing that she had let go of it in her fall. That was probably for the best as falling down a hill while holding a spear would probably end in a lot of puncture wounds and extra bruises.

She scrabbled around in the leaves around her for a few moments before pulling out the worn, rusty two handed spear. By this point she had decided that prodding someone who was offering to help you was probably not the best idea when you actually had no idea what you were doing. And she really didn't feel like quitting the game and going back to lying in bed feeling sick. She smirked at him. "I'm already cringing inside, and it isnt from your fighting ability." She looked him over, noting his height. Maybe she wasn't the only one compensating, not that she could be certain.

"I would... appreciate some help. Not that i need it. Its just a bit lonely playing a game like this by yourself." She said, looking away as he helped her remove some of the leaves from her hair. She didn't mention or explain the comment about her fans. This was different from the real world. Plus, she didn't want to give out that sort of information. She wanted to be a different sort of person here in this new world. She frowned and looked over at him. "Thanks for catching me." She said grudgingly. Maybe if she was nice to him he would be nice back. Regardless, he had done her a favor catching her, despite the bruise on her abdomen. Better one there than a hundred more all over. She leaned on her spear, giving him a small kind smile. "Lets find something fun to do."

 

Valther tilted his head curiously as Manta stared him down, glaring at him as if he'd just slapped her. Had he said something wrong? Maybe my jokes were a little too mean... he told himself but didn't say a word. Maybe watching his mouth around this girl was a good idea. She seemed to be lost, like she was missing something, and Val soon realized what she was looking for; she was totally unarmed. Judging by her confusion, she wasn't a fistfighter either. Val watched as she scoured the leaves laying scattered around the grass and retrieved a long spear with a crudely-made tip. Valther winced as he imagined how that would feel entering his stomach. Valther smirked as Manta made her own snide comment. "I had that one coming," he chuckled at his own expense.

Valther smirked and raised his hands in surrender as if to say 'whatever you say'. "Well, if you'd appreciate some help, then I can certainly give it to you," he added and flashed a more toothy grin. Manta thanked him for catching her and he couldn't help bowing. "My pleasure, wouldn't be fun if you hit the flat at one hundred miles an hour and gave yourself a virtual concussion," he jested before rubbing the back of his neck and averting his gaze. "I... hope I didn't hurt you when I caught you though. You were going down pretty quick and my arm hit you pretty hard," he admitted quietly. He watched as she leaned on her spear and gave her suggestion. "There are lots of fun things we can do here, just follow my lead," he offered and began to head off, beckoning her along.

"What masteries did you pick?" he asked, turning around and walking backwards so he could look her up and down. "You seem too... athletic to be a mage of any sort, and I doubt magic would work very well with such a large weapon either. I assume you took some more physical masteries?" he asked with a soft smile, trying to analyse her. "I have experience in both magic and the blade, so I should be able to give you a few tips, as long as you're not a crafter," he added with a gentle laugh, and turned around to watch where he was heading. "Ask me anything and I'll do my best to answer."

@Manta.

 

She was surprised. He had taken the jab at his appearance remarkably well, just laughing it off. Maybe he wasnt as much as a jerk as she had first assumed. She smirked teasingly. "Someone as weak as you could hurt me, even with gravity giving you a hand." Her smirk shifted to a smile as she let the spear fall to her side. She looked down slightly. "I am.. a little bit new here if you couldn't tell." She thought to herself for a moment as he asked her what masteries she'd picked. She couldn;t remember the third off the top of her head.

"Polearms and berserk. And the third one had something to do with shouting at people..." She replied to him, running hand through her hair. "I dont actually even understand how to use them though. My mind was on other things when i made my character." She explained. She shifted on her feet before following him as he led the way. She walked in silence for a while, formulating questions in her head. "So... How do i use these mastery things? Are they passive abilities of sorts? And how can i get a better spear than this crappy one? And where are the things to whack?" She asked in a rapidfire manner.

"I just dont know what im doing at all." She mumbled confusedly, looking down at the ground again as she walked next to him. "Just that im trying to go a full melee, full strength build. If builds are even a thing in this game." She paused and gave him a suspicious glance. "And why are you so helpful? Arent gamers supposed to be toxic and rude?"

 

Valther snorted when Manta made another jab at him, allowing her to keep beating down on him; he did sort of deserve it. "Heh, well I guess I should be glad that I'm 'weak' then," he responded kindly and smiled, accepting the insult as it was. Valther nodded understandingly when she mentioned that she was new. "Yeah, you mentioned that. I'm in no rush, so we can take our time with things," he added and smirked. "It's fine if you can't remember much."

Val listened as Manta listed off her masteries as she could remember; so she definitely was physical, no magical talent at all. Since he used his magic to augment his sword, there was only so much he could teach her about raw physical combat, but he was sure it would be enough of a push. "Hmm... like some kind of... battle shout, I guess?" he asked and tilted his head curiously. "I've heard of similar things in other games... most of the time they just draw the enemy's attention but some games feature shouts with other buffs, debuffs and sometimes just raw power," he mused and nodded when she asked about the masteries. "In your case, two of those would be passive. Your spear mastery will passively increase your ability with the spear, and I assume berserk, if I'm thinking correctly, will activate when your health gets low," he explained and sighed. "As for the third... I guess the best is just to try it on an enemy. I know nothing about shouts, so you'd just have to see for yourself, just will it to work and hopefully it should work."

So many questions, Val was beginning to suspect that she wasn't just new to the game, but was new to all games. "Well, I'm sure in the big city you can find NPC stores... maybe there are player crafters here too, if it's like any ordinary RPG. I actually need to find some equipment myself too, so maybe you should accompany me sometime," Val offered with a wide grin. "As for whacking things... we can just wander around, maybe we'll find a big cat, or a walking toadstool. Or something, who knows what you can smack in this game," Val suggested and laughed loudly at himself, being so ditsy about the game.

"Don't worry about it, we can start from the very basics if we have to," Val smiled softly, and cocked his head. "Do you at least know how to open your HUD?" he asked, raising his palm to his eye level and showing her the motion in case she didn't. "Of course there are builds, just nothing official of course. It's really just 'do as you please'," he explained simply. Val stopped suddenly and cocked an eyebrow. "You obviously haven't played that many games, especially not RPGs," Val mused and chuckled. "It's hard to find an inherently toxic player in an MMO, so no, we're not all toxic."

@Manta.

 

"Yeah, thats what it was. I didn't want to do magic, so i picked between everything else." She frowned and copied his hand motion as her HUD opened in front of her. "Oh. So thats how you log out." She inspected the rest of the menus options before exiting out of it. She looked over at him as they walked. "It seems to me that your pretty new here too, judging from you saying should. I guess we'll figure some of this stuff out together." She glanced around, noting the lack of anything besides Val to whack. Maybe she could shout at him and see if it worked.

She didn't particularly like the idea of shouting at the person who was helping her though. And who knew if the system would count it as an attack, or if there would be some sort of consequence to it if the system did see it as such. Maybe she could try to buff him or something? That way even if she did actually do something that counted as an attack she would have a good excuse.

She opened her mouth and let out a loud, high pitched shout. Her voice had always been the strongest part of her, and it proved no exception here. She stared at Val. "Did something happen?" She asked inquisitively. She had been attempting to boost his morale and energy a little bit, but she couldn't tell if anything had happened or if she had just looked incredibly stupid, shouting randomly at him. "This is my first virtual game. I dont really know anything about how they work." She said, making an excuse just in case it hadn't worked.

 

Valther smiled curiously. "I'd like to ask... why not magic?" he inquired carefully, doing his best not to accidentally insult her choice. He had no problems with it, but the way she said it made her sound like there was some deep-rooted hate for magic... or just an overbearing love for physicality. "Yup, no SAO redo, we can log out here," he reassured her, recalling the stories of the VRMMO that ignited the government's campaign to axe VR gaming. "Yeah, this character's just a couple weeks old actually. Still learning the ropes myself, but I at least have enough experience to teach the basics," he explained and rubbed the back of his neck nervously; he didn't want to seem arrogant for the stage he was at, but at the same time avoided seeming useless.

Valther stumbled towards the side, veering away from Manta as she effectively shouted in his ear. Covering his ears and shutting his eyes, he tripped over his own incredibly long legs and toppled to the leaf-matted earth, landing firmly on his rump. Pouting up at Manta he folded his arms childishly. "Jeez, give a guy some warning before you decide to chew his ear off," he groaned and stood up unsteadily; getting back up to his feet was a mentally taxing task, due to his unfamiliar size.

Shaking his head to clear the ringing left over from her almost squealing shout, he raised his palm to his face to look over the five stat wheels that displayed various levels. His stamina gauge, the yellow ring, was pulsating, and the lightning bolt symbol within glowed a stunning yellow. "I'm going to assume that means a stamina boost... congratulations, you just supercharged a mage," he jested and lowered his HUD. "Although... at beginner level, I doubt that'll help all that much, might help with some stamina regeneration though, so don't count it out."

Valther

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Conditions
Morale Boost - Increased stamina regen.

@Manta.

 

Manta was feeling pretty comfortable with Val, so she didn't feel as though she needed to keep her out of game situation to herself. Well, at least not the part that pertained to why she wanted to go a full strength build. She looked over at him. "I trust you to keep this to yourself. I know we only just met, but i have a good feeling." She said, as weird and likely stupid as that sounded. "Outside of this game i have a lot of health problems, and im pretty weak. Make that very very weak. So i wanted to experience what it was like to be extremely strong and powerful in that sense. I dont have a hatred of magic or anything, its just that for now thats what i want. Maybe ill get some magic later on. I havent seen any of it used, but it seems pretty cool." She paused and looked down a bit embarrassed. "I used to daydream about having cool powers."

She giggled as he fell over from her shout. "Falling for me already?" She said in a lighthearted, joking voice, giving him a playful, almost flirty wink. She got a little bit more serious, although still keeping a happy smile on her face. "I'm glad it did something. Yelling like that is kind of embarrassing, but especially if it turned out that it didn't do anything." She glanced around the forest. They had stopped walking now, and she turned to face him fully. "Would you like to find something to whack? Or maybe just show off some of that magic you mentioned? Im not particularly excited for combat, but i wouldn't mind testing out my other abilities. That berserk one sounds fun..." She said, muttering the last part, possibly hinting at her slightly masochistic tendencies.

 

Valther raised an eyebrow when Manta expressed her sudden trust in him. "That's a pretty overused line," he mused softly, before listening to what she had to say. His eyes went wide as she explained her frail real-world condition. "Wow... that's gotta be real hard... so that's why you went with everything physical," he muttered quietly, scratching his chin in thought. "That makes a lot of sense... and mages are typically considered frail too," he added, still directing the comments more towards himself than Manta. "Well, I hope you become as strong as possible, Manta. It would be an honor to fight alongside someone with such incredible raw power," he complimented her and halted for a moment to bow.

Valther shook his head before giving her a cheeky grin and a subtle wink of his own. "Maybe just a little," he returned the favor. It was true; she was really cute and quite amusing, he couldn't help being a little attracted to her. And she certainly seemed sweet when she wasn't being cheeky like a warlock's pet imp. "Yeah, it certainly would have been embarrassing if it failed," he chuckled lightly, the scene playing out in his head. "Yeah, lets go whack something. And... are you sure you wanna do that?" he asked and tilted his head. "Technically berserk should be more of a failsafe, in case your health gets low... not sure it's intended to be intentionally activated," he rubbed the back of his neck, wondering really what secrets she was hiding.

Turning away from her, he scouted ahead, carefully watching the treetops and the dips in the earth for any whack-able beings. He grasped the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly and calmly, the leather hissing against the iron as the blade left the housing. Hiding in a gentle dip in the landscape, Valther spotted a medium-sized bear; not small enough to be a baby, but not one of the big boys either. Val ran his fingers along the length of his blade and whispered an incantation, the fuller of the sword filling with hissing flames. "Discutio," he whispered afterwards as he held his left hand up towards the sky. The moisture in the air congealed into a slowly rotating ball of ice crystals, the frost fanning out and spiraling around his hand.

Swinging his blade, he shouted a third incantation and the flame leaped from his blade, licking at the air above the bear and drawing its attention; irritated and bloodthirsty eyes lifted up to stare Val down murderously. "Come on, ya bastard," he taunted the creature, and it rushed him, growling menacingly as it went. Concentration on keeping the blade still lit, he swung again, repeating the incantation, and the blade of flame that lashed out struck the bear in the shoulder, singing the fur and flesh and causing the creature to stumble, and he allowed the flame lining his sword to go out to conserve mana.

Sidestepping the disorientated bear, he pushed his other hand straight forward, launching the crystal orb at the animal, and it exploded on impact, coating the beast in a thick layer of frost, and daggers of ice sticking into the hide on the bear's right side. Turning to look at Manta, he tilted his head towards the animal. "Test out that spear of yours, maybe a shout if you can. Just don't bloody hit me with it, will you?" he groaned and motioned for Manta to take the lead.

Valther

100 HP

MAX HP

63 EN

MAX EN

Conditions
Morale Boost - Increased stamina regen.

@Manta.

 

Manta smiled at him. "Well, a spear is one thing, but bashing things with berserk fervor from being injured? Sounds pretty badass. And then you combine that with the spear and you have something truly awesome." She stated, as though she knew what she was talking about. In theory it would work. But then again it was her theory and she knew next to nothing about this stuff.

She followed him sneakily as he scouted out an enemy for them to fight. she nudged him gently and whispered into his ear, her warm breath caressing his ear. "Ill take the hits. You just do your magic stuff." She whispered, her hand gently gripping his arm, lingering for a moment before letting go and backing away a bit, waiting for Val to make a move. She stared as he summoned ice and fire. She had believed him when he mentioned his magic, and this was a video game, but at the same time she had had that doubt in her mind. The game being virtual, it had seemed quite lifelike up to this point.

She stepped in front of him after he had done his attacks, planting her spear in the ground in front of her. Who cared if he had said the berserk was a failsafe. She was sure as hell gonna be testing it out, even just a little bit. It was only as she was staring the bear down that it occurred to her that taking a bears charge head on was probably not the best idea. The bear roared and rushed her, and she squeaked, gripping her spear and looking away as though that would stop the bear from head butting her.

The bear slammed into her, knocking her and her spear to the ground, her grip tight enough that she didn't lose the spear. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and ignoring the throbbing pain in her side. She was different here. She wasn't powerless anymore. She got to her feet unsteadily before rushing the bear herself, feeling a newfound strength and speed in her movements. She stabbed her spear into the bears side, the tip embedding itself into the icy side of the bear, the spear coming right out and leaving a gash in the bears side as it reared back on its hind legs and roared at them.

75 HP

MAX HP

85 EN

MAX EN

 

Valther shivered as Manta caressed his arm and whispered to him almost sensually. They were simple words but the way she had said them sent a buzz down his neck. Shaking his head to clear his head - and the warm blush that had snuck onto his cheeks - Val stood back and allowed Manta to take the lead. And by 'lead' he meant deliberately take an attack for the sake of trying out her skills. Slapping a palm against his forehead he stood back and planted the tip of his blade into the earth, folding his arms as he watched the scene play out.

As Manta was knocked to the ground, Valther swept his foot behind him to take a ready stance, whispering an incantation and summoning a small flame into his palm in case the situation went to hell. Thankfully, Manta skittered back onto her feet, although clumsily, and readied herself carefully. She was certainly much more coordinated with her attacks and balance than Val ever was at her level. It seemed she just had a natural talent for combat, unlike Valther... and she likely matched her avatar's height closely to her own. Although Manta had a grasp of the situation, Valther kept his spell at the ready, whispering the same incantation to add 'fuel to the fire', the ball of flame growing in size and intensity

Val watched as Manta's spear struck the bear hard in its weakened side, skewering it like a shish kebab, and Val changed his plans. Extinguishing the flame, he ripped his sword from the ground and charged forward, swiping his hand down the length of his blade and whispering "Gelidus..." as he went, a line of ice shards crystallizing along the fuller of the blade and wisps of frost spiraling from the edges. Sweeping past the bear as it reared up on its hind legs, Val swept his blade across the bear's back, just under the nape of its neck, and the frost soaked from the blade into the fur and flesh of the beast, freezing the creature's back and neck solid. Shoving the now empty blade into the earth to anchor himself and eliminate momentum, he spun back around and slammed his palm into the frozen body of the bear.

"Crepitus!" Val shouted as his flesh made contact with the bear, and a small-scale explosion issued forth from his palm, shattering the ice from one end to the other, destroying the major organs of the bear's body and severing its neck in one blow. The detonation rang out loud, bouncing around between Val's ears for a couple minutes after the explosion, and the bear's half-body fell limp against the grass.

Valther

85 HP

MAX HP

38 EN

MAX EN

Conditions
Morale Boost - Increased stamina regen.

@Manta.