Tailpin crossed the gate threshold and stopped while his perception based skills activated. It took a second or two longer than he though it would. The designers included temporary blindness in this game. That was thoroughly done, and dangerous. They would have to watch where they looked. Any source of light could make them blind for up to five seconds or so. The dark was not as absolute now that his skills were active but absolute darkness descended all too quickly at the limit of his spot range. He equipped his bow and both quivers. The system allowed both a back quiver and a hip quiver but the hip quiver replaced his sword. He would have no hand-to-hand defense but he had the option of using his unlimited training arrows for most battles and his upgraded arrows if a stronger target presented itself.

"You're right, Emp. Stay between Re and me unless I give you a direction and watch for targets of opportunity." Tailpin said as he swept his gaze from one side to another before proceeding along the road. It headed east as far as he could see but they weren't going for distance tonight. "Re, keep an eye on our six and keep us from being surprised. I'll focus on pulling the monsters near our path. Though... it doesn't look like anything is close to the road. Let's keep an eye on that. If all monsters on this Floor avoid the road at night then all the players need to know that."

He pulled a training arrow from his back quiver and nocked it to the string but kept it pointed into the dirt of the road. The walk along the road was dull, though creepy. The night was quiet but the breeze continued to caress the plains. It seemed like the wind never stopped in the flying castle of Aincrad and it seemed to whisper sometimes, but he couldn't pick out any words. At last, after carefully following the road and neither seeing nor hearing anything dangerous, they reached the place where they had planned on beginning their rough country trek. Looking at his companions he found himself a little envious. They only had to really watch the small area around them. But, Tailpin had to notice enemies when they were far enough away for him to make a difference with a bow. He swallowed that feeling down deep inside and held it tightly.

"Here we go." He said softly. There was no telling how nightfall would change the monsters and he was still only level two. Though, that would change tonight.

Tailpin stepped off the packed dirt of the road and onto the grass of the rolling plains. There were many low hills and shallow depressions. They weren't much of a problem but they created blind spots that could hide dangerous monsters. He kept his body low and his bow up with his eyes sweeping over everything and jumping to examine any movement that stood out. They had covered almost a hundred feet of plain before Tailpin suddenly stopped and clicked his tongue once, sharply. There was something up ahead in a depression.

"Wolves. Two... three... no, five." He whispered softly as he counted.

He raised his bow and pulled the arrow back to full draw, setting his sites on the wolf farthest away from them. He steadied his breath and prayed that the AI was just smart enough for this to work. Then he loosed the arrow. He pulled another, managing to nock it without looking just as the first arrow hit its target. The wolf's health dropped into the yellow. The other wolves turned to look at the wounded one. He pulled the next arrow back and loosed it at the same wolf, dropping it into the red. The whole pack was running in their direction by the time the third arrow hit, reducing the wolf to azure shards.

"Four incoming, three shots each, two at 12 one at 10 and one angling for 3." Tailpin said, speaking as sharply as he jerked the next arrow back. Three arrows per wolf meant that he had to fire fast. The distance between them wouldn't last long. He aimed at the two that were approaching from 12 o'clock and fired as fast as he could. He only managed two more arrows before the wolves closed the distance.

*Ikanus watches the wolves his cloak billowing out behind him as he softly moves to stand beside Tailpin. He slowly gets into an attack position causing Anubis to start growling lowly. The jackal seems to tense up his eyes, still glowing, stand out in the night. Ikanus watches the wolves get closer and closer until the one at the 3 o clock is close enough for him to launch out with a sweeping move hitting the wolf into red, but leaving it there, as if he is leaving the kill shots for the other two. Anubis seems to get out of attack mode and moves around the players, apparently he is now in healing mode. Basically, he is tanking right now so that tailspin and emperor can get the majority of kills while his pet is acting as healer. Even though his character is built for damage, he is handling it fairly well.*

@PyroDash888@KabenSaal

Cin was brought back from his wanderings, as Sapphira asks him what he'd like and is about to respond when the maid grabs Sapphira's ears and starts yelling at her. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose again, as he considers how to respond to the situation at hand. He's tired and decides to take the easy route, and screw the consequences. He steps around Sapphira, and reaches up to pinch and twist one of the maid's ears. If she wanted to convince someone of the perks of an item, attacking someone isn't the way to do it. As an attention grabber however, it works wonderfully.

"Thank you for your time Sapphira, sorry for staring, my mind had wandered back the world we were born in. I am trying to ascertain the viability maintaining my current primary weapon, a halberd, looking to see if you have anything better gear than what I'm wearing and considering picking up a back up weapon. And you," I address the maid, unsure of what to call her. "Please cease and desist. Your actions seemed innocent and cute at first, but they are rapidly approaching abusive behavior. I have business with the person you seem intent on harassing, so I have a vested interest in stopping your ill considered behavior. Also, I am to tired to care if my methods cause you any inconvenience, so unless you want to see how inconvenient I can be please consider this a polite request for you to find a better way to communicate in the future."

If the maid lets Sapphira go, I will release her ear and step back, indicating that I don't intend to cause any further harm. If the maid does not back off, I will grab the nearest hand still gripping Sapphira's ear and begins squeezing the wrist, until the maid lets go. If she retaliates, I'll shrug it off, it's not like she could really hurt me here in town.

"No worries," Mai'lo said, waving away the apology. "Come here. Have a seat and take a moment. Eat something, we're buying." He signaled one of the servers and ordered another round of drinks for the table and plates of food for himself and the new girl. Might as well take his own advice and eat something.

"What's your name?" He asked, gently, after she was seated and food and drink had been served all around. "I'm Mai'lo. That's Kip, Delcastle, and Bulwar. Last two are brothers as I understand it."

No reason not to help someone else in distress. He was starting n to feel a bit ashamed of himself as well. It was horrible, but people were going to die in this game. Kayaba made certain of that and there was nothing he could do about it. Falling apart wouldn't do him or anyone else any good.

He tucked into his food and waited for the girl to calm herself down and start talking to them.

@Tracyarmav

Sapphira scratched her head in embarrassment.
"Ah... well... I haven't actually bought anything yet. I've sold almost everything I got from the starter town at the local NPC merchants here just a few minutes ago." She shot him an apologetic look.
"But I can try to advise you as much as I can."
As Cin addressed the fox-maid, Skyra frowned. "Don't be mean...", she said in passing while looking at a couple of menus.
"Anyway, you wanted to know whether it'd be good to keep that weapon of yours, right? Well, currently you can't get any better weapons, but I met a blacksmith a bit ago, I can give you the contact information. Blacksmiths can upgrade your weapons. Currently your weapon is an iron halberd. Get the blacksmith a couple of iron ingots, a bowl of firesalt and a long plank of either oak wood or ash wood." She smiled.
"As it happens, firesalt is more or less rare at the start of the game, but I have a couple of bowls on me that I haven't sold yet. So, I can offer you to buy one right now, if you want."
Her head tilted in a peculiar way, which was more or less her vendor smile.
"For your secondary weapon, I can suggest this dagger here. It's a stage 2 item I managed to grab from one of the NPC by pure luck... uhm... I mean skill, of course."
Her hand, as quick as a flurry, pulled out a pretty shiny looking dagger and offered it to Cin.

Nena didn't seem to notice or care that her ear had been grabbed. However, The foxgirl seemed to get into her merchant speel, so Nena simmered down and watched. It was a pretty interesting thing to watch, with her talking about blacksmiths and Nena being a blacksmith. Mats where rather hard to come by right now, since there was not an economy yet, nobody farmed in large numbers, and the Mats where rather poor when they did drop. Still, the few weapons she had made were rather interesting and made her want to get to the really high levels and start making swords from the scales of dragons, and crap like that.

So, Nena just stood there, watching the trader and the other person, and learning. She had yet to make her own weapons or armour, so she didn't really relate to how much work it was to get the stuff together for a blacksmith to make a single weapon. Nena had a new appriciation for people now, but anything times zero was, unfortunately, still zero.

@PyroDash888

I listen carefully, taking mental notes as Sapphira spoke. I regret that I had approached her to late to update my gear, and am slightly annoyed that I'll have to take my Halberd to a smith to get a better weapon made, but that's what I get for choosing such a unique weapon. I consider the ingredient she's offering and decide to take her up on that offer at least. She offers a very nice dagger, but that's a tad small or what I had in mind. I was looking for something that could replace the Halberd, if it broke in combat or if I ever reached a point where I couldn't upgrade it any further. Still, a stage two anything wasn't something to be passed on lightly... No, someone else would be able to use it better than me, my stat's don't really fit the weapon so I'd just be wasting it's potential.

"I'll take the Firesalt, and the contact info, but I've built the wrong stat's to use the dagger properly, so I'll let someone else use it. "

I open a trade window, and move several pieces of gear that are slightly better than the starter gear, but all buffing the wrong stats for my build, from my inventory into it. A pair of bracers(heavy), two helms(medium, light), and three pairs of boots(light, light, medium). I looked to Sapphira to see if she was satisfied with the trade or if she wanted more, since it was apparently a rare ingredient.

"Are these worth a bowl of Firesalt? Oh, and would you be willing to accept a friend request, so that I can find you again if I need something else later or will you be setting up a permanent shop somewhere?"

"Aye, you're more than welcome to join us in our loot, the extra help may aide us in taking down some of the tricky mobs we had trouble with this morning." Whilst still not fully trusting in the skills of the other players, he was more than willing to give someone a shot. He quickly factored in the added cost of making sure he had extra emergency supplies for them to make sure everyone was safe; he was really not in the mood to have someone die on their adventures.

Bulwar had a slight chuckle once his brother helped the girl up to their table and tried to pacify her. He quickly saw the oncoming of an anxiety attack however, and figured it was linked with her tripping and losing some of the items. He quickly added up the costs of all she had spent, pulled up his menu and brought out a bag of coin and some loaves of bread; pushing the items over to her. "There you go, that should cover everything you lost and then some, right?" His smile was genuine, meaning no ill or to have the girl owe her at all. "It's on the house, call it a good deed or what have you, I just didn't want to see you cry."

Delcastle continued to smile at the exchange of gifts to the other players despite the number crunching in his head. The days earnings had nearly dried up with little to spare, and that was never good for business. Morning would come early and find the brothers ready to march. For now, the guests at the table needed to be brought into the fold. Talking time was over now. Delcastle cleared his throat to get everyones attention before speaking. When all eyes turned to him he met the gaze evenly one by one. "As you may have already guessed, Bulwar and I are familiar with this place. We are also familiar with the current floor in its entirety. Tomorrow morning we will be leaving bulls run and venturing north to the forests. We are strictly gathering materials, experience, and items. All of you are welcome to join us but we have rules."

A few flicks of his wrist brought up the party menu and an invite was sent to the other others. "We are the World Walkers guild, or will be once we create it. If you want to live comfortably, join us in the morning. We will provide you with what you need to survive so long as you do as you are told. On the road you will engage no monsters even if Bulwar and me do. Watch how we fight and learn to be a part of it. He cannot protect you if you are out of position." His look was stern for such a seemingly lighthearted condition but all those gathered understood he spoke out of concern. Nobody needed to die if they followed the combat rules of the duo. "Any crafting materials found will be given to me, gold can be distributed amongst yourselves but a portion will go to Bulwar who is in charge of living expenses. I ask each of you to consider a different crafting skill so maximize market coverage. Bulwar is a blacksmith, I am an alchemist and leather worker. Rooms will be covered tonight on our dollar as a sign of good will."
Delcastle drained what was left of his mug in short order and slammed the cup down on the table with a grin.
"I will see you all in the morning outside the north gate." With that he rose up and found the inn keeper, purchasing a room for himself and Bulwar to share, while the others were given separate rooms.

[Day 2: Morning]

The sky was just starting to light up when Delcastle and Bulwar arrived at the northern gate as instructed. Both had discussed a proper route and expected monsters to find before they fell asleep, the main ones were Wolves, bears, deer, and any boars they could find. Leather and sharp claws were needed for crafting, while the deer and boars provided meats to cook on future trips. Delcastle had used up his supplies to make one more set of leather armor, all 3 players would be given their own set if they arrived, weapons would come later. Potions had been stocked up and a few lesser armor potions were given to Bulwar, while a single potion of attack was kept with Delcastle.

"Today begins the adventure Bulwar. World Walkers takes its first step. Let us hope it is profitable." The lucerne rested on his shoulder comfortably as he crossed both arms over his chest, waiting for the other players he had invited the day before to arrive. If they made an appearance then they could cover twice the ground in a single day, potentially two full loops of the zone he had labeled 'the overflow'. The area was home to a couple elite bears and a few wolf dens. They would be going in a direct route across the open fields north till the forest came into view. After that, they would have to follow the random mobs on patrol of the forest to the destination. Delcastle couldnt contain his grin at the thought of riches.

[Day 1: Evening]

Sapphira shoved the braced back towards Cin, then she accepted the trade offer and shot him a friend request enclosed with the contact details of her blacksmith.
"Alrighty! Thanks for doing business with me!", she waved and smiled happily and then turned to Nena, grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to the inn.
"You're fun, you're coming with me. I need someone like you to cheer up one of my teammates, if I can find her again. I shot her a friend request, but I don't know where she is right now."
For people watching the whole ordeal, it looked crazy. A tiny fox-girl dragging along a tall fox-girl who looked to be almost two heads taller.

Nena watched, rather enlightened by what she saw. Being nice and helpful seemed to get you free stuff. And while Nena didn't like people, free stuff was always good. But then, her collar was grabbed by Sapphira, and she was dragged off, because she was apparently 'fun' and that would cheer up one of the teammates.
"Can't it be for a semi-serious reason, like because I am a Blacksmith, or a cool fighter, or something?" She asked. it was quite embaressing, being pulled by a woman so much smaller than her, but Nena didn't bother to try and fight it.

[Still Day 1, Evening]

Sapphira stopped the dragging for a moment, turned around and frowned at Nena. "It is serious! She is in serious threat of, like, suicide and stuff. She majorly depressed about being in a life-or-death game." She herself smirked. "I, myself, am not bothered at all, but some of us are, now come with me."
While she lost the grip on Nena's collar, she still walked forward and at the same time, she shot a message to Cinera.
"Hey, where are you? Are you well?"

@KabenSaal@DestinyStar

Day 2 Morning:

When Mai'lo woke the next morning he wasn't sure what to expect. Could he have a hangover in a virtual world drinking computer generated alcohol? He hadn't even been positive that it was possible to get drunk but he had certainly managed that. After the group had gone their own ways he had stayed at the table drinking well into the night before seeking his own bed. The memory was hazy, like a layer of fog had covered his eyes. He was pretty certain he'd found the correct room at least.

Deciding he'd wasted enough time he carefully cracked open one eye and took stock. He hadn't made it to the bed and was lying on the floor next to it. Luckily the brain searing agony he expected from the bright morning sunlight shining through his window didn't come. So, cautiously, he sat up.

When the urge to vomit didn't hit he stood.

Stomach still cooperating, mouth slightly dry, back a little stiff and sore from a night spent on hardwood.

"Not bad," he muttered and quickly gathered together his belongings. The empty sheathed to his sword was strapped to his back and he checked his new weapons in his pockets, still unwilling to bring out his primary weapon unless it was necessary. The thing was risiculous, and a drop he'd gotten from a particularly tough monster just before the Plaza and announcement from Kayaba.

That done he headed downstairs to meet up with everyone else.

Finding no one in the common room he checked his map for party members. Bulwar and Delcastle were both standing at the North Gate so he paid his room up for a week, settle the empty scabbard on his back more comfortably and headed out the door.

"Morning," he called as he approached them. The walk through town had been quiet. It was still early and a lot of people appeared to be sleeping in so he saw that as a good sign for them. They'd be able to get a lot done with less people competing for the same EXP and drops.

He came to a stop next to Delcastle and crossed his thick arms over his chest. "Think anyone else is gonna show?"

@Zelosse@Sif@ladytale

Day 2 Morning:

Kip had stopped at just the one ale, as she didn't want to ask someone else to get her one and she couldn't sweet-talk the NPC waitress into giving her alcohol. Thus, when she went up to bed, her mind had been clear; she had stayed up a few hours more, thinking.

In the end, she decided that joining up with Delcastle and Bulwar wasn't for her. From what she had heard, they had a structured, planned out attack pattern, and that was about the opposite of her. Her main strength in this game, she felt, was her spontaneity. She was unpredictable, crazy, the wild card.

Swinging her legs out of bed, Kip sat up and stretched, then opened her menu and switched out of her nightclothes. Eyeing her gear critically, she decided that it would do, at least for now. She might have to upgrade soon-ish. Eh, she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

A quick sweep of the tavern showed that Delcastle and Bulwar were gone. Mai'lo too. Shrugging, she sat down at a table, ordered breakfast, and pulled up her menu to shoot off a PM to Mai'lo.

I've decided not to take up the Muscle Brothers on their offer. I doubt their playstyle and mine would compliment each other; as far as I can tell, they follow a plan, while I'm, well, anarchy. If you see them, can you let them know?

@pockets

---

TsuMeTai rose with the sun. Ordering a cup of coffee from the inn that had housed him for the night, he drank it quickly, payed, and went outside. He wouldn't stray too far from the city walls, but he needed to learn an entirely new playstyle. Checking his potions, he decided he had enough and walked briskly towards the gate. Before he left the safety of the city, however, he sent off a quick message to Cin.

I'm heading out to do some training. I've a new weapon, a scythe. If you want to join me, come find me.

@Tracyarmav

Mai'lo blinked when a message window suddenly appeared in front of him and after a moment hesitation he reached out and tapped the button to open it

After reading the message he nodded to himself once and turned to Delcastle.

"Kip won't be joining us. Her concern is that your strict plan won't mesh well with her fighting style and I have to agree. That might work for the two of you but not everyone had that kind of mind set. So keep that thought in mind when we go out."

He looked around for a moment before shying l shrugging and clasping his hands once together with a loud retort.

"Well are we going to head out? There's EXP and loot to collect out there. Speaking of, how do we intend to divide said loot?"

@PyroDash888 Day 1, Evening

I accept the friend request and return my own thanks for her dealing with me, despite having other business to attend to. Then I head to the Inn for a light supper and a good night's sleep.

Thank you miss, and good night!

---

@LadyTale Day 2, Morning
Cin woke slowly and stumbled out of his room and down the hall to the stairs. He'd only just remembered to change out of his night clothes before leaving his room. He tumbled down the steps, his sleepy brain misjudging the stairs, and crawled into a chair, asking for some hot breakfast, or trying to, but mostly just groaning. As one of the waitresses bounced over with the morning meal and hot coffee, Cin belatedly noticed the table was already occupied by a girl that looked vaguely familiar though his foggy brain was little aid in recalling anything about her. He mumbled hello, realized he'd mumbled it, coughed, and tried again, this time managing a raspy greeting to his fellow player.

Mornin', mind?

He was trying to ask if Kip minded him joining her for breakfast, since he already had. If she said no, he drag himself and his breakfast over to another table, rasping an apology. He hadn't checked his PM's yet this morning so he didn't see Tsu's invitation yet.

Nena heard that the friend was getting down with the fact that the game was LoD, and she had to admit it was quite bad for some people, with things to live for on the other side. But, for the others, it was heaven. How was dying when you die any different to normal life, after all? So, Nena followed out of her own choice rather than being dragged along, stroking the fist wraps she had as her weapon.
"You know, I picked blacksmith and unarmed so I could eventually re-create the Beowulf set from Devil May Cry 3. I think they look amazing, and pounding some monster into the dirt with them would be a great thing" She told her new foxy friend. "And yes, getting joy from pummeling the crap out of vertual monsters is wierd"

Day 2, morning: @Tracyarmav

"Sit with me if you like." Kip shrugged, taking a bite out of her sausage. Not as good as real life sausage, but not bad, either. "I don't care." She cast an amused look at her breakfast companion. "Late night?"

@LadyTale Day 2, Morning

Thanks, sorta, but mostly just didn't sleep well. You?

The coffee helped immensely, at least with the scratchy voice, though it and the pancakes left something to be desired in the taste and texture departments. Cin hoped the quality of food would improve as they got to new levels. That meant they'd have to finish this level first of course, but that wouldn't take long. With 10000 players, and every one in ten of those a beta tester, Cin was certain that the first few levels would go by quickly.