After quietly making sure that the injured player would survive, his attention had wavered back to his sustenance. When his food arrived, he had barely taken the time to inspect its quality before he was inhaling it. The taste of the food was remarkable. He followed his large bites with drafts from his tankard of mead, enjoying the somewhat bitter taste of the beer.

There was quite a crowd crammed into the Inn, some eating, while others stood idly around chatting. He had just been finishing his food when louder shouts than usual filled the room. A player was trying to skive off paying for his food, and while Travis usually tried to stay on the right side of the law he could understand the struggles of trying to maintain a decent level of gold. The prices of the food were ridiculous, almost four hundred gold for a decent meal.

The waitress who had taken his order earlier was screeching about thieves, and Travis took that as his cue to leave. He placed the appropriate coin on the table. The player was apologizing profusely to the jester, who he had seemingly collided with. After making sure that all his belongings were intact, followed the group out the door. For a moment he had thought that he had lost them, until he heard the explosions.

Travis was sure that being in a town kept you safe from being killed, but was sure that the rules changed for the rule breakers. The spell had hit a stall, and it was currently smoldering. He barreled down the alleyway where the Chef could still be heard cursing the player from the other side. Once free of the alley.

The Chef stood there spouting obscenities over the lost money. Travis pulled up even with him pausing for a moment. “How much did he owe you?” The mercenary asked nonchalantly.

There was a second where Travis thought that the Chef would instead attempt to turn his wrath on him. After a moment though he visibly deflated, looking downright depressed. “That’s the third one this week,” He replied, though not necessarily answering the question Travis had even asked. In response Travis opened his inventory, causing gold coins to appear. He pushed them into the Chef’s hand who instantly started sputtering about how it wasn’t Travis’ problem to begin with.

Travis shook his head with a slight grin. “Just take the money and leave him be, a lot of the players are having a rough time farming the gold that they need these days.” The tank raised a hand in farewell, before returning to a steady trot down the street. There was a slight grumbling behind him before the Chef finally conceding to return to the tavern.

Travis didn’t leave the city as much, and since the launch of the game had tended to prefer to be a solo player. When he reached the wall, he paused. Once he left here, he was fair game for the monsters. Sitting around and making armor could only keep someone busy for so long however. Without a backward glance he left the safe zone.

The flowers were beautiful, and sometimes Travis could hardly believe that they weren’t real. His senses begged to differ. After searching around for a moment, he could see the player standing in the middle of a rather large flower field. “Hey you!” He shouted to Sebastian, raising his hands to show that he meant no harm. “I paid off your debt, they shouldn’t be pursuing you anymore.” He voiced with a slight grin.

“The names Travis Ironhide, and you are?”

Colleen fixed Lance with her gentle, yet analyzing stare. He'd nearly used his real name, she realized almost instantly. She clasped her hands together in front of her, listening politely as he fumbled with his words. If her ears could move, they would've perked up. Work together? It seemed logical enough. Colleen had been too shy to offer actual teamwork to the few people she'd healed so far, but he seemed like a promising and pleasant companion. She saw his last remark about her abilities coming from a mile away.

"No, I don't really have any powerful offensive capabilities. Keep in mind that, like you, my skills are at their most basic. I have a basic attack, heal, and defense. So no, I'm not the most helpful battle buddy. I can patch you and your clothing up, but don't expect me to be taking on swarms of spiders and wolf packs alone," she responded bluntly and quietly as ever. Did she have a loud setting? Probably not.

Lance seemed nice enough. Colleen didn't want to leave town alone, Why not? Perhaps they could find more people to band together with. There was strength in numbers, and even more strength if each person had a different skill. Shy as Colleen could be, she was not stupid. She knew that for her to survive, she'd need friends. Hopefully, her healing capabilities would make her more friends. Perhaps powerful friends... she thought for a moment before wiping that thought away. Everyone started out weak. She was no different.

Lance listened to his conversation partner as she replied to his ill constructed statement.

He was about to reply, and remind her of the trade request. When a sudden new voice encroached on the conversation, Lance looked over to see a ambiguously dressed...fellow?, a person at least. Probably. They were asking about a group formation, it seemed people were thinking alike as of now.

"Uh, well..."

Lance began to reply to both people when suddenly shouts and various other action like sounds broke out around him. He looked back to see a person starting to run towards them. The man bumped into the busker and kept running, bursting out the door. Lance moved out of the way to allow the chef and waitress pass through, he didn't understand what was going on but wasn't sure he wanted to take on any magic wielding hostesses in his current condition. He looked to the colorful person who had recently approached them and was about to ask if he/she was alright when the doors burst open yet again. Two large bodies clad in armor presented themselves with another gentleman who seemed hurt in a different way. Soon people were charging yet again in Lance's current direction. The two knights began to chase the "party leader" through and down deeper into the inn. Things were moving fast. Lance had no idea what to say now.

"...I-I'm not a masochist..." he finally said starring blankly at the doors a fox seemed to have just run through.

He didn't want to ask whether or not that fox was the rugged fellow who had set up the invitation for monster hunting. With this game, he could guess.

Lance sighed out of confusion.

"A group sounds wonderful to me..." he said it a bit sadly now, maybe he was getting into more then he wanted...

Sebastian was still huffing and puffing by the time a player had approached him, calling out to him. Quickly looking up, Sebastian grabbed at the hilt of his rapier before realizing the man was unarmed and not looking for a fight. The player before him revealed himself to be Travis Ironhide explained how he paid for his meal, Sebastian rubbed the back of his head slowly feeling the heavy burden of guilt engulfing his core. "Jeez man, way to make me feel like an ass having someone else pay for me. The names Sebastian, Sebastian Castle and I can't go on knowing some guy had to cover my bill." He crossed his arms firmly, scanning the player in front of him a bit. By the way he looked, he couldn't be a mage so what was he? "Say, what kinda class are you? What are you doing today or for that matter what are you doing in this game? Got any responsibilities? A guild or friends maybe?" a smirk stretching across his face and a small glint in his eye as he schemed.

Sebastian paused for a second and thought wait, I can't just add this guy to my guild and expect him to not suck. Then an idea popped into his head, maybe this kid should take some kind of test before being asked to join his guild. Before fully giving Travis enough time to respond, Sebastian tossed an arm over the back of Travis' neck and began to walk in the direction opposite of the town as he spoke "Say, ever heard of 'the Rat King? It's this damn boss I keep running into at this little cave I train at, no one else seems to go there, but when this mob spawns I just can't take him alone. Would you help me? We can split the loot which I imagine must be nice for how hard this guy is. The spot is pretty far, and honestly a little dangerous to get to since you have to walk down this path that leads to a cave in the side of the Island's rocky base. Its all the way on the edge of the Island over there." Sebastian pointed far off in the east where the sun had already passed as it closed in on its highest point signalling it would soon be midday. " Look, we have an entire day ahead of us to farm and give time for this guy to spawn. As long as we hustle and can make it there fast and slay this thing, get some fat loot and live like kings. So what do you say! Party up?" Sebastian sent a party invite to Travis before he added with a smirk "Also, you're not afraid of the dark right?"

Brombrent had bearly finished with the message boeard, when he heard an explosion from the street he had come from a little earlier. A few momants later he saw a man running like his life depended on it, and it turned out he pretty much was. Hot on his heels, a larger man gave chace, he looked looked borderline insane with fury. Was that the chef from the inn? He'd seemd like such a gentle guy when he'd breifly spoken to him earlier.

His quarry lost down a bolthole-like alley, he settle on expletives to realease his pent up anger. Another player approached the chef, and handed over what appeared to be coins. Was that first player fleeing a debt, and was he now paying it? Or was this some sort of scam?

Selflessness was a precious comodity at time like these, and without plenty of it Brom doubted that they'd be able to solve this game. But he had to be sure. So, from a distance, he followed that last man to the city gates.

She arced an eyebrow at him. "I don't think whether or not you're a masochist means anything... but if you don't want a group, it's fine," she says quietly, moving as if preparing to leave. She seemed a bit sad at his tone. She was rather curious about what was outside the town. She'd also heard of other kingdoms in the sky, and she wanted to see them. She'd also heard of bandits and such running around, and she wasn't very eager to run into any of those, especially not alone.

She glanced at the sudden action made by the thieves, frowning a little. She may be broke, but she was at least honest. She folded her arms over her chest. Her basic robes were embroidered simply, but gracefully. Being a seamstress, she could decorate her clothing. It didn't add anything to her robes, other than visual appeal.

Bored by the inn now, Alex gleefully looked outside at the man running away who bumped into him, and gave a little clap at his performance, avoiding an explosion spell and someone jumping at him while running away from a Chef holding.... what is that thing? A Chef's Greatknife? Alex laughed at the current events and watched as a tankish looking character gave some gold pieces to the chef and walked in the direction of the man who fled without paying for his meal. Alex ran down to the chef and with a smile asked, "What happened?" The chef shook his head and said, "Once again someone ran off after a meal not paying for it, but then a man came down and paid for him," and Alex laughed as he ran after the tank, who seemed to be going towards a field of flowers where the other man was.

Letting the two men both have their word, Alex then yelled out, "Hey little man and scary guy #2! A rat king sounds fun!" with a bit of a laugh, walking down to the two of them with a laugh. Then after he got closer to the men, Alex said, "Alex Clubs, professional entertainment services at your service. How may I be of assistance?" with a smile, enjoying seeing people's reaction to a court fool wanting to join their party. Makes one wonder how Alex stays sane after all the events that had happened, after all, there have been players that had gone insane from the log out removal. The initial bloodbath was terrible, but Alex avoided it easily by pretending to be an NPC bard with a simple wardrobe change and a rare potion that removes players from being able to be interacted with for a short time, which is a blessing and a curse. But it only lasted a matter of minutes, and now Alex has no such means of hiding from PvP players.

This game has day-night system. It was a great feature in the sense of gaming achievements. Vision got impaired by the dark, while night time monsters lurked the field, obviously way stronger than normal ones. It gave of a sense of reality, and Ein was sure that she would’ve enjoyed it if not for this situation everyone was in. Suddenly the ‘cool feature’ turned into a death trap. There are some players who could survive in the night; they even used it for strengthening themselves. For most, though, staying out of it was the right thing to do. Ein was with the latter. Only, she still couldn’t bring herself to enter the city yet.

There was some spot around the city wall where monsters couldn’t see you if you hide within the thick bushes. Ein had found them accidentally when running away from monsters. These had been her camping spot at nights. Rough, but at least she survived.

Recently she tried to found some caves. It was warmer and, being technically indoor, felt a bit safer than in the open. Caves in games were screaming for ‘dungeon’. But she knew that in games, the first few meters inside was always safe. The problem was people who came and go into the caves, seeing it was a place to train up and hunt loot. Three of such caves she had found was brimming with people to the point that they bickered about killing distribution. Such carefree attitude toward potential death…then again, Beta players tend to have confidence in their knowledge of the game.

After the meal, she considered it lunch as the sun was already way up high, she took another trek she had never tried before. The area was brimming with low-leveled monsters. Passive ones. They stayed on their own business and Ein hers. It was cute, actually, some form of big, fluffy rabbit-cat hybrids. One of them approached Ein with curious look on its stupid face. She couldn’t help not to touch her hand on the head, petting it while cooing. Big mistake.

For some unknown reason it was registered as an attack, and the rabbit-cat thing hissed at Ein, its face turned into an angry scowl. She immediately took out her beginner oak staff and chanted the usual magic she used to run all the time.

Reinforce Armor: Wind

Wind element gathered on her armor, granting her increase in movement speed. The rabbit-cat attack slipped through the wind as she had already made her retreat along the path. Running forward with eyes half-closed, not paying attention to where she was going. The extra speed made her able to outrun the fast-looking monster. When she finally stopped hearing the monster’s growl, she was already…somewhere.

How far was it anyway from the city? All she could see was forest in the distance. Bad. Bad. BAD. Her body started trembling. If she couldn’t find a way back before night came…

Suddenly she recognized the cave opening near her spot. This was new to her, since it was the first time she had ventured so far. There was no one else inside, only the gaping darkness of the cave going farther and farther ahead. “Hello?” She called. Her voice echoed into the emptiness, but no reply could be heard. Then a few chirps. Sounded like bird’s…or hamster’s. “...Is someone there?” her feet unknowingly took her deeper and deeper into the cave.

"Jeez man, way to make me feel like an ass having someone else pay for me. The names Sebastian, Sebastian Castle and I can't go on knowing some guy had to cover my bill."

Travis laughed, perhaps one of the first few true ones since they had become trapped. “Well, it’s better to not have them pissed off.” Sebastian seemed to be a very charismatic person. He went on to ask Travis whether he had joined a party as of yet, his class and if he had interest in slaying a boss. The thought of good drops was enough to tantalize him. “No so far all I’ve done is solo, I was looking for the right group of people to come along.” He paused for dramatic effect. “With that being said, you look about right.”

Travis grinned somewhat proudly. “I built myself kind of tanky. I guess I’m a bit lucky that I did. It ups my chances of survival a good bit as long as I don’t do anything rash. My title is Mercenary though.” Sebastian seemed pleased with his answers, and soon a party invite lit up his HUD. He accepted, feeling somewhat relieved to finally have someone on his side. Make that two Travis thought to himself as he saw the form of the Jester bouncing through the flowers.

He tapped Sebastian on the shoulder. “Isn’t that the player that you ran into on the way out?” The jester seemed to be in good spirits and Travis nodded in his direction as he approached the two warriors. The mercenary couldn’t help but feel perplexed at the court fool’s words. He certainly was an odd one. Depending on his skill set he could make an asset to his party, and they needed all the help they could get to survive. It wasn't his call though, he wasn't the party leader. All he could really do at this point and see what Sebastian's verdict was.

Lance yet again was caught off guard, in no time at all it seemed two more people were gone from the building, once of which he was trying to talk to.

The somewhat confused boy looked over to the person who had healed him, she said something quietly and began to leave as well, or at least made it seem like she was going to leave.

"Uh, wait!"

he raised his hand to stop her but he saw she didn't actually move very much.

"Uhm...so, what do you think about grouping up..." he looked nervously from her to the door, he would be more surprised now if something else didn't come barreling through it..."I-I know it's a bit odd...considering what just happened..." he said referring to all the chaos that had surrounded them. "B-but...I would appreciate the alliance..."

Lance was still struggling to get the right things to say, all these people approaching and passing them in such...interesting, fashions made him a bit confused on where to continue, it seemed the people heading out were going together, and that meant they were probably already forming a group, of some sort...

maybe Lance could team up with this nice person here then they could move on to catch up...if that still seemed like a good idea, it was hard to tell who was actually dangerous around here. People all had a capacity for harm, but also an equal capacity for helpfulness.

She nodded. "Sure. I can't do much on my own," she said. It wasn't really admitting anything. Colleen's strongest ability at this moment was her heal. However, the small elfish girl was strange in her own right. She seemed emotionally detached. Cool, calm, and collected. Even when surprised. She scarcely seemed to notice the bustling about her. With such a level head, it was no wonder she'd managed to survive the bloodbath relatively unscathed.

In all reality, Colleen had hid throughout the bloodbath. That was when she'd been attacked by the spider. The sounds of a nearby battle had lured it out, and the kindly player that had rescued her was the victor of the previous battle. However, she didn't know this strange and complex connection. She'd never asked.

A smile stretched from ear to ear as the party accepted notification popped up on his HUD. On the top left he could now see the name Travis, along with all his stat information. The man was definitely a tank, Travis' max health was nearly double his own. "So.. tell me what your class doe-" before he could finish a sound, something Sebastian would describe as a 'shrilling ninny', sliced through his ears causing his head to snap back and look at the strange being that now bounded over to them. The Jester approached him and began greeting them rather formally, causing Sebastian to place a hand out for him to shake. "You're the miss I ran into at the inn yes? My apologies again, I don't think it would hurt to add another I mean after all I guess I owe you for earlier." he smiled again while thinking to himself well this is beginning to work out quite fine. Quickly he popped a second invite to Alex, before the trio set off down a dirt path leading from the gate of the city towards the thick woods ahead, which would be a rather dangerous part of the journey to the rat king. As they walked along, Sebastian stood in front and grew bored, trying to bring up something to talk about. "So how's the game been for you guys? What do you think of it all. I mean personally, I love it but at the same time I miss people in the real world."

As they were talking amongst themselves, they grew closer and closer to the Dark Forest ahead. A place filled with decently strong monsters, mostly medium sized spiders that held weak poison and were easily dispatched but occasionally the unlucky player could run into a queen spider. If caught alone, more often than not it would result in a death especially if the queen brought her young. The forest was also known for the high amount of PVPing that went on. If they ran into a group of PVPers this fight could get messy, they had no healer and this Jester couldn't have too many effective battle stats. How would they manage to fend for themselves against a large group? Sebastian figured they'd solve that if presented with the situation.

Before long, they reached an opening in the trees where a distinct path was laid. Sebastian stopped right before they passed the first tree and began to speak, more serious than he ever had before with a sternness in his eyes. "Listen, we might get into a fight in here depending what we run into. We're gonna have to cut through it there isn't enough time in the day to go around so lets just get this over with. Eyes peeled, mouths shut, feet moving. Got it? We don't wanna be caught off guard and we don't want any unneeded attention. So lets just get through with it. Travis you lead, Alex you get the middle I'll cover our rear." Sebastian unsheathed his rapier from his side and held it firmly in his left hand, ready for anything as the trio entered the wooded area cautiously.

Tanika was sweating from wondering aimlessly in the heat all day. She was beginning to realize how dumb her current job was. No one had any gold to spare on delivering messages. At least not for a while. Once the town started going back to how it had been before the Log-out Failure she could hardly expect to make enough money for a meal, especially with the prices of the inn, and especially with how much she needed to eat. She hadn't made a single transaction all day. It frustrated her. Her career choice hadn't been a problem until two days ago, luckily she'd managed to stock up about 5,000g between meals, but she knew all too well that it wouldn't hold up much longer. "Perhaps until the dust settles I had better find a different line of work." she said aloud.

Immediately she thought of farming. It was about the only option available. Any other jobs the town offered she lacked the skill set for. If she wanted a new skill set she'd have to get experience. Either that or wait it out until the town went back to normal, but she knew right away that would be a suicide risk. It had to be farming, yet the idea terrified her. She wasn't built for it. She wasn't strong and her health wasn't any more spectacular than average. In a battle state she was mostly defensive. If she were in a group she would most likely play the part of the distraction, or bait even. But she wasn't in a group, she was by herself.
What shit! she cursed.
A passerby overheard her, thinking she meant him. Excuse me?
Tanika looked him over. He was a big burly player with a rough face. She blushed.
Sorry. she said. The man just rolled his eyes and continued on his way. She noticed his pouch dangling from his belt, heavy. It chinked with every step.
Wait! Sir! He turned around, eyebrows raised. Do you know where I could go to farm?
The man looked her up and down, obvious surprise written on his face. I would think that a messenger such as yourself would have heard the rumors.
Tanika shook her head in response. I don't read people's mail. I just deliver it. But, even if I wanted to, there haven't been any deliveries for a while.
The man huffed. Well I should say so! No one has the coin to pay for a message they can deliver themselves. Tanika waited patiently. The man sighed.
Look kid, you don't exactly look like dungeon material. For hell's sake, you don't even have any armor. You're wearing cotton! The least ya' could do is pay for some decent leather. He stroked his chin, eying Tanika. But I know times are tough round here right about nows so how bout you head down to the forest with the spiders. I think its called the Deadly Forest or some'tin like that, maybe the Dark Forest. Yah, that sounds right. Its either that or the caves and I don't think you'd do so wells in there. You look like you need to move fast, aint so much room for manuevering. Naw, I'd say your best bet is definitely the forest. Just be careful though, kid. Them forests have lots of nasty spiders in'der. Theres Queens too. If I was you, I would head for the hills like yo life depends on it if one of them buggers shows up. Little flower like you'd prolly die. He turned and hustled off. Likely to the inn to lighten his pouch a little. Tanika didn't even have time to thank him before he had disappeared into the hustle and bustle of Cloudhaven. The fat man was right though, caves sounded like a death trap for a Runner. The Dark Forest it was.

Lance sighed with some relief. He was glad to have found a teammate, especially someone who could heal. He tended to get banged up a bit when he went off alone.

"So...uhm, could we stop at the shop first? potions are sort of a priority for me..." he rubbed the back of his head, his health was still low and if he went off looking for trouble, he would end up with more then he could handle.

"I-I could buy you something as well...I still haven't been able to repay you for the heal..."

He gave up any idea of just giving her money, it didn't seem like it would happen soon. Maybe she would appreciate some adventuring gear though...she would be needing after all

"A-After that I was thinking the forest...I need some practice with those spiders...I feel like with my luck I will get poisoned again and...learning how to defend myself from them is the best choice I think...some decent gold too..." he wasn't sure how interested this girl actually was in adventuring or anything of the sort, she seemed really...mellow, not the type to go off and have fun killing things. Sort of made him wonder a bit why she had joined the game in the first place, but he wasn't one to judge...

"Th-that sound good?" he was already motioning towards the door but he didn't want to just start walking away without her verification. It would feel rude to him...

Colleen continued to listen. In spite of her internal fear at leaving the somewhat safe haven of the town, she wasn't overly fond of this place. Her soft brown eyes were the only cue to her nervousness.

She had really only joined the game because a friend had urged her to. The day she tried it was the day the logout option disappeared. It had trapped her here on her first try. Some luck, eh? However, there was nothing Colleen or her friend could do about that. However, Colleen did wish her friend was here with her... it would be better.

"That sounds fine," she said in short answer. She really wasn't expecting payment, but getting out of the Inn sounded nice. She started towards the door, her robes billowing behind her slim frame.

Travis patiently waited for the party to be complete, and once the task was achieved they began to leisurely walk for a while. A slight breeze rustled his hair, and Travis sighed contently. This was so much more relaxing than working in the smithy all day. The trio continued to walk for a while until an entrance loomed in front of them leading into dark woods. The mercenary slowed to a halt, eager to hear Sebastian’s plan. Apparently there was a fairly dangerous mob because his new acquaintance’s demeanor changed quit suddenly. He informed them to be incredibly quiet so as not to draw mob attention if it could be avoided. Travis was to take point, as he seemed to have the highest hit point total out of his party with Alex next in line, most likely because the jester was squishier. Then finally with Sebastian pulling up the rear.

They were to keep a steady pace, weapons out, prepared for any attack. It seemed to be a pretty solid plan, and it was the best they had since they hadn’t brought any heals. “And in the event we do get attacked, I imagine I’ll stun them as often as possible. You guys just do as much damage as possible, I have two health pots. It should be substantial for any lesser battles. Your thoughts?” Travis inquired.

He unsheathed his sword and hoisted his buckler on his arm. "I'm ready when you two are," Travis paused for a second apparently deep in thought. " We must be cautious. I don't want to lose any teammates today."

He wasn't the best at expressing affection in real life, much less in a virtual reality. In all honesty he had been sort of a loner in the other world. Maybe his tendencies had bleed through into his avatar.

Tanika shivered. The forest ahead of her was nothing like the one she had found refuge in the last couple of days. It was dark, just like its name-sake, but in a very different way one might imagine darkness. There was a chill in the air and the ground was damp, making a sickening 'squish' with each step. Ahead of her the forest lay, sucking the darkness towards it, setting itself apart from the sun shining behind her. Like it had no effect on the looming forest. The smell of mildew hung in her nostrils as she passed the first group of trees into the forest, spider webs hung above her.
"Very Tolkein." she murmured to herself before snapping her mouth shut. Something might hear her and she couldn't run away before she had some gold to show for it. She crept through the forest on the balls of her feet, eyes darting left and right. How am I going to do this? I don't know how to fight. The deeper she went into the forest without contact made her more and more anxious. If she did run into something she was well beyond her GINGERBREAD ability. Ok, ok. Be smart. She tried to think of a battle tactic but it was hard for her to focus. She felt like she was in some trippy serial killer movie and she would turn around any second only to have a knife at her throat, or in this case, pincers. Ok. I can't stand my ground in battle. I'm not built for that and I can't take too much damage. What can I do? I'm fast. That's helpful for a getaway so long as I don't get surrounded. What else? I have knives, throwing knives. That could work. They're long distance. I won't have to get too close.But when she actually imagined herself doing that she almost had to laugh. How ridiculous was she? If she were to actually come face to face with anything how likely was she to remember her tactic.

Something rustled ahead of her in the leaves and she darted backwards a few steps, reflex already taking hold where most would have froze. A spider the size of a dog crawled forward, fizz gurgling out of its mouth and a strange guttural sound emitting from somewhere deep inside the creature. They both stood there for a second. Tanika bouncing on her toes and the spider clenching it's pincers, apparently surprised by her presence. Tanika was about to run before she remember why she was here. She needed the gold. She reached for a knife in her pouch, pulling it out with a 'clink'. The creature screeched and lunged at her, a thick fluid spewing out of it's mouth. Shit! she cried before dodging out of the way. The creature instantly reeled and lunged again. Tanika activated her HERMES ability and began jumping and hopping to avoid the creature's advances. When she saw an opening she threw her knife at the spider. It stuck with a thunk in its head and the creature stumbled forward.
Yes! Kill shot! Exhausted, yet proud, Tanika pumped her fist in the air. Above the dead spider a health bar appeared. A small 'beep' sound appeared and the health bar decreased.
-17pts hovered in the air above her and the spider squealed before standing up, as if with new vigor. Tanika's smile deflated. Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

The spider charged at her, oozing from the wound in it's head. She threw two more knives before darting out of the way, her foot sliding into the spewed fluids. Her shoe sizzled and a pain shot up her leg before she had time to jump away from it. Acid?! Are you serious? Acid spitting-spiders?! Why were people not spreading this information? Hadn't someone bothered battling the spiders before?
-34pts
Pissed, she threw another knife, not bothering with aim. It found its mark in the spider's eye with a popping sound. Blood and puss gushed out and the thing screamed, clawing at its face and stumbling around blindly.
-17pts
Tanika stepped back and a twig snapped. The spider's head whirled and charged in her direction. It was too close for her to dodge. It was going to ram her. Shit. she whispered before throwing one last knife. One last edition to it's helmet. She pulled the last knife to the ready but didn't get a chance to throw it.
Critical: -17pts The spider crashed into her, its entire body weight on top of her, scratching at her face. She put her hands up in an attempt to push the spider away from her. It dribbled acid on her hands and she screamed. The pincers were opening and closing, opening and closing, bare centimeters from her face. With a last ditch of strength she sunk the last knife deep under its chin. The thing wheezed like steam escaping a kettle before relaxing on top of her.
-17pts
Congratulations! Gold rewarded.
Tanika cursed. Yah, thanks. She pushed the monster off of her, breathing heavily, and yanked her knives out of its hide. The thing had taken a chunk of health from her. Nearly 50pts. She reached for a health potion, wincing at the movement before realizing she hadn't brought one. She looked at her hands. They looked like she'd stuck them in a furnace. Without a health potion she was done for the day, that is, supposing she could get back to the town before another monster found her.

"Good morning!" A female voice chirped, only to be muted by a dishevled woman.
"Shut it." Sentinel growled, pulling at her aching limbs. Sleeping in that hidden alcove was rough on her back, but at least it was safe.

Stupid AI, can't even tell the difference between day and night.

It wouldn't even be telling her it was morning if she had bothered to change the alarm settings but it didn't matter all to much. The lack of light easily gave away the evidence of night. The alcove gave her just enough room to stand without being seen and plenty of porous stone to scope potential targets through. Inwardly she chuckled, wondering if anybody else had thought of this idea.It was smart and profitable to stay hidden in a hard to reach place with fortification and not common knowing of. Hiding in a low-level dungeon in a high up alcove was probably the brightest idea she'd had since investing time to cooking skills so she wouldn't have to go into town so much. Sleeping in a taken house was just asking for trouble, on the ground one was vunerable to random PVPs and being in the trees any later than nine in the morning meant free target practice for anybody who wanted a shot. There was a small pooling of water in the deepest part of the alcove, tinged with a metallic taste but otherwise clean. She stretched within the confines of the alcove, peeping through one of the bigger holes to see if any late comers had shown up to farm the weaker enemies. She wouldn't make them targets, they were definitely to well armed for her regular rounds. She'd get them later if they still remained, when they were more tired and defenseless. She opened the HUD , sifting through her inventory. She'd collected 5,000 pieces of gold so far from her targets and some intermittent farming.

Not bad, maybe I'll be able to by some incindiary rounds soon...

Placing her rifle on her back, she looked out, noticing that the party had already past into the deeper parts of the dungeon, she jumped the few feet to the ground, landing softly on the dirt floor. She left as quickly as she could, making sure noone saw her or could initiate a PVP. It wasn't as easy for her to sneak around, as say, a rogue class player, but she did it well enough. Her trip was quiet, illuminated by the bright stars overhead that glimmered in the streams she passed through. Shaking out her hair she approached the town from the back, scaling on of the ladders to access the rooftops. Hopping across rooftops wasn't all that difficult, as the buildings were evenly spaced with only small walkways inbetween. The few people that walked the streets were tired, beligerent with drunkeness, or both. She snorted softly. Why would one drink in such a dangerous place as this? She'd rather have her wits about her than be prone because of personal troubles. Hopping down from a nearby awning, she walked into the bar.

If it wasn't for this place, I'd have no reason to leave the wilderness. I am certainly...thankful for the respite it gives.

Looking around, there was the usual crowd, a few newbies scattered here and there. The noise assulted her ears, the sheer volume almost as deafening as when she shot her rifle without proper ear protection.

"Oh man, you should have seen us last night! Eight hordes in a row and barely a hit point scratched!" A heavily armored knight shouted, raising his drink and gripping his companion, a mage, tightly. The mage seemed to growl something under his breath, staring darkly at the knight.

"I can't belive he's gone..." Sobbed a scantily clad warrior girl, her head in her hands. Her comrades tried to comfort her to no avail.

Straightening her tatical gear before sitting down, she placed her beloved rifle back into her inventory, quietly sighing.

A woman walked up to her, smiling cheerily and handing over a menu.

" Hello miss! What would you like to order today?"

Scanning the menu, placed it down after only seconds of reading.

"Tea. Also the chicken, with as side of bread." She said bluntly, forking over the menu as well as 500 pieces of gold. She sighed again, silently. She really wanted to have at least some variety today. She could pick up her usual routine of lizard and snake tomorrow.

Brel scratched his fur coat by the neck with his animal paw a few times, and then figured he can't stop. The brown fur started waving again as he ran against the wind towards the exit of the town. It was the most logic thing to do right now. At least, until the guards finally forgot about him. His real life personality was long forgotten in this place, he was not acting like himself. It seems like this game has actually made him somewhat cooler than in real life. That geeky little kid that played video games his whole life is now a teenager who just stole gold and got away with it easily. He enjoyed this much more.

Having adjusted to the fox's body, he was, jogging, you could say, towards the exit of the town. It was not running, it was more like a mixture of walking and running. A song was playing in his head that he had listened before the start of the new world. It was a song by a popular singer in the US, but his name had stuck to Brel at the tip of his tongue, he couldn't say it, nor think it, but he was trying to remember it so hardly.

As he maneuvered through the crowds of happy and sad people, he left the town, and with that note his speed fell. He slowed down to be a little bit more cautious not to get mauled by some idiot who misjudges him for a monster. That could happen though, but he wasn't sure there were fox monsters around the town. A beautiful view opened in front of Brel's eyes. Plains stretching around, cut off by the thick trees of the forest. Flowers decorated the ground as he stepped along the road towards the forest, not knowing what to expect. He hadn't been out of the town yet, and he sure as hell didn't know what's waiting for him in the forest. He was now regretting his choice of stealing that gold. He would at least be able to stay in town and ask for someone to help him out with some food, or drink. He was both hungry and thirsty. I could always cook some monster meat. No. No, that's wrong, that's just wrong. Or is it? I'm a fox now, I should be able to eat monster meat if it tastes good. His lust for food had a debate with his human instincts. He saw people outside of town. People fighting, debating, traveling, but nothing that would seem harmless. Stretching out his traveling path, Brel decided to circle around the road instead of traveling along it.

The forest was already close. He was lurking in the grass not far from the forest to see if there's anything or anyone inside there. At least, as far as he could see through the dark. The leaves up top covered it from sunlight, so only a few meters into it were visible. Sitting there for ten minutes, he was certain by then that there was no harm of going inside the forest. At least, not the first steps.

With a shivering body covered in brown fur, he entered the forest. His crimson red fox eyes seemed to be slightly illuminated in the dark, as he scouted around, watching out for trouble. Death was not a thing he'd like to experience so young. Upon entering the forest, he changed back to human form, just in case someone attacks him, that way he can defend easily with his dagger. He wasn't even sure why he entered the forest in the first place - for fun, or for money. Either way it was as good a place as any. Maybe he'd even meet some friends if he was lucky enough to come across people that were actually friendly for once. Most people here so far are like The Governor from The Walking Dead series Brel had watched as a child. They were like hungry wolves looking for food, except, they weren't wolves.

Speaking of wolves... As Brel was traversing the forest barely seeing anything, with only a little of dim light coming through the treetops, a gosh darn wolf leapt out of nowhere, now standing right in front of him, and growling like a rabid dog. His dark grey coat was well looked after, groomed, and even styled a little bit. His brown eyes though, pierced Brel's soul with the stare. A little bit bent legs showed that the wolf was about to attack when a whistle came out of the trees behind the wolf. "Easy, Melanie." He said. He came out of the bushes and trees behind from where the wolf leapt at Brel. It was a strange looking man. With a cigar in his teeth, a cowboy hat on his head, and clothes that reminded him of western movies - shoes with those spiky wheel things, a leather vest full of medals covering a shirt, brown pants also made from leather, but seemingly expensive. He also had one of those simple pistols from the sixty's, if his history was correct. Old little thing, but powerful. "She didn't hurt you, did she? I'm sorry, my name is Ben, and this fellow is Melanie, my wolf companion." The man muttered with a deep voice, petting his wolf a little on the forehead. The wolf seemed to listen to his commands, and even became happy at Brel somehow. The pet AI here was probably more advanced than that in real life. Which was a good thing. That means Brel can finally make his dreams come true of having a wolf pet.

"It's fine, sir. I was just a bit startled by the intimidating pet you have there." Brel answered with his knees shaking. If he was scared of a little wolf, what will happen when he faces an actual monster? "Excuse me, may I ask who are you? An NPC, a player?" He asked without knowing how to distinguish those two.

"I'm a monster... Nah, I'm just kidding, don't be afraid. I'm a player. A Hunter. I hunt food and sell it for money. It's quite a good way to make some extra cash before people figure out how to get off this forsaken island. It's growing annoying for me, I want something new. I want new meat." He spoke. It seemed like Brel touched a topic close to his heart.

"Could I buy something cooked or ready to eat? I'm starving." Brel asked scared, hoping to get a positive answer, since he hadn't eaten for a while now, and his food from the previous day was not enough to sustain for two days, so it was quite a priority.

"You know what? You're the first fella who didn't try to kill me once I met them. Here, have some of my hunted meat. It's raw, but they serve it raw everywhere, since it's the Flamehusk meat." The man said, handing a piece of meat from his bag to Brel. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do. Bye. Good luck, mate. He continued, as he whistled, telling his pet to come with him, and faded into the trees.

"I didn't even get to thank him..." Brel murmured to himself as he took a huge bite from the chunk of meat. The man was right, it wasn't something that needed to be cooked. It tasted good as it was. He was grateful to the man as his stomach was now full and up for action.

The trio made their way quickly yet quietly into the depths of the woods. Within less than a hundred yards, the trees now consumed almost all sunlight and gave rise to fungi dominating most of the ground near the trees. The path they walked down now was little more than a dirt trail players must've trotted down enough to wear away the grass but at least it helped show them which way to go. Sebastian could see shapes moving in the darkness around them, his head swiveled in all directs back and forth trying to see if anything dangerous was around them. A few times he managed to catch the sight of three or four skinny little legs pulling themselves back behind a tree or into the brush. Sweat began to collect on the back of his neck, his breathing was beginning to increase and paranoia was starting to find a home inside his head.

They continued in more when the sound of grunting could be heard mixed with feet clattering across the ground. Sebastian turned his head to pinpoint the direction of the sound before whispering quietly. "Come on, we have to find out what the is. It sounds like fighting, that could be someone who needs our help." Giving no time for either of the two to lead, Sebastian launched himself through a thick bush that lined the side of the path they were taking. Bringing himself into a thicket of branches and brush that took slight skill to maneuver through. When he finally wretched himself free of all the thorns and branches that held him, Sebastian stumbled out into a clearing where a young looking girl was placed next to the deceased carcass of a medium level spider, one Sebastian himself had never seen before. The girl looked a bit scratched up and worn down, but alive. "Hey you okay? I thought I heard a struggle you're not poisoned or anything right?" he examined the girl over a bit, she didn't seem like she had the equipment to be out here and from the lack of an actual weapon in her hand he was shocked. "You killed that thing with dinky little throwing knives? What class are you some kind of marksman or somethin'? Do you need a health potion or anything?". Sebastian placed his palm outwards and allowed a health potion to be removed from his inventory, appearing in his hand which he offered to the clearly injured woman with a polite smile across his face.