It had been a few months now since the 10,000 players learned that they were now trapped inside this virtual reality. Since day one Pipit took it rather hard, but on that night he vowed that he wasn't going to let this get him down. He was determined to survive until the end and make it out of here. Or at least that was what he said on the first night. 
Back those few months ago Pipit had been with numerous players on boss clearings and floor raids and other missions and he had grown stronger. 
When he was about level six he learned that he earned a class specific skill since he was a beast tamer. 

He was given a quest and when he went to check it out he wasn't alone. During that time he partied up with two other beast tamers and they each promised they wouldn't move on unless they each finished the quest with a companion. 
As they started the quest they all learned of the numerous number of beasts and other companions they could tame and train. The area they were in was full of creatures, big and small. The first one to tame their animal was a girl about the same age as Pipit. She made taming her beast look so easy and even though she was done she kept her word and stayed with Pipit and the younger player with them. 
Pipit was the next to tame his beast. He chose the dire wolf for an obvious reason from his thinking back in the real world but whenever he is asked about why he chose such a beast he gives them the ol, 'I chose him for the stats and attack bonuses.' 
Which was true...to a point.
But quickly after the younger boy with them chose a rather easy beast to tame, some kind of large bird, it's been a while and one can forget names of other animals. 

With each player a beast tamed the girl with them suggested they split up. But each of them exchanged and accepted friend requests and with that each of them went their separate ways.
Pipit quickly went to grinding exp and completing easy missions to help empower his new companion. The beast didn't seem to much care for Pipit at first but it must have been after he hit a certain level he became more loyal. He still doesn't mind sometimes however

Now here he is, on the 20th floor. Pipit wandered around the rather medival looking town for a few minutes with his companion at his side before he decided to take a load off and get something to drink or eat. 
He quickly spotted a pub and decided that would be a suitable place to get some food and drink. So he made his way to the pub..or cafe area and opened up the door and stepped inside. He made sure his little companion entered as well before he shut the door. 
The place was full of players and NPCs and it was...actually hard to tell them apart. Pipit only got a few looks and he quickly returned the looks with a smile and a nod. 
His companion stuck his tongue out and opened his mouth and proceeded to let out a few yelps of happiness. 

Due to his small size the yelps were rather high pitched and Pipit quickly bent down and placed his hand on the wolf's head. It arched its head back and stopped yelping and Pipit couldn't help but smile and let out a few laughs. 
After that he stood up and took a seat at a table by himself and his beast sat on its haunches on the floor next to him. A menu was laying on the table in front of him and after looking it over Pipit didn't see anything that he particularly just had to have. 
But during that quest to earn his beast he was given the recipe for a type of food his companion would like. Luckily during his travels he partied up with a young man who was something up a food genius...his cooking level was really high, and he made a few batches of the stuff for Pipit. 
So he opened his inventory and tapped on one helping of the stuff and it materialized in front of him. Little bits of meat and what not here and there on a small plate...Pipit thought it would be rather funny to have other people look over and think he was going to eat this kind of food. 

His companion was quick to notice the food and his tail started to wag rapidly. He let out small grunts and yelp of two as Pipit lowered the food onto the ground in front of him. The wolf instantly started to carve into the food in front of him, and of course, Pipit started to smile. After that the young man looked up from his companion and started to look at the players around the cafe. He noticed a few that stuck out in particular but...he saw no other beast tamers. 
But no matter. He was sure there were others out there, he just needed to keep looking. Always keep a positive outlook right?

At that moment Pipit started to think. He had heard somewhere that there was going to be a raid against the boss of one of the floors close to the one he was on. Was this the meeting place? He had only been on one or two boss raids before...but he didn't even know about this one. If that was even what all these players were doing here. They could all just be here to enjoy a good meal. Oh no..not a good meal. Just a meal.