[IC] ✲ Thalam Online ✲

[stone]

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"Where is that freshie?" Coach Croch screamed.

The line of hulking crewmembers were silent. They knew better than to get on Croch's bad side. His temper was known all throughout Dronk University for its explosive power and unpredictability. Only one student had the power, the courage, the pure MANLINESS to address Coach Croch: Devon Doralt.

"I got it, Coach," he uttered in a southern drawl. "I'll set that weakling straight." Devon took a step forward and faced his coach. Coach Croch was big, but Devon was bigger. A moving wall of pure power, the Doralt name was feared by crews everywhere. He had it all. 195cm of height. A 200kg back squat. A 5'13" 2k time. Anything he wanted, he would take. Gold medals at the Head of the Charles. Championship lifting rounds. Virginities of sorority girls. And now, he would be taking this freshman's soul.

"You better get that freshie's ass to practice immediately! You have my permission to take away whatever's keeping that fucker's ass!"

"Alright, Coach. I'll be right back." Devon began jogging towards the dorms.

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"What the hell is this?"

Devon stood in the entrance to the absent freshman's dorm. The weak lightweight was lying in his bed, hooked up to... something. It looked like the noodle-boy was lying in bed with some sort of contraption strapped to his head. Several wires extended from the headset to a computer next to the bed.

He stepped up to the bed and poked the small being. No response. Devon straightened, wound back, and delivered a blow that could knock over a horse. The freshman jolted awake and screamed.

"What are you doing?"

"Aah! Devon! Uh, I was just... sleeping!" The pint-sized mortal said.

"Sleeping? With this helment on? And all these wires?" Devon poked the computer suspiciously.

"Um, yeah! It helps me, uh, sleep better! I can prepare for practice better like this!" The freshman was sweating. Devon could smell it.

"Really? You can get more out of sleep with this?" Devon looked at the computer.

"Yeah! Uh, I'll just... um... head to practice..." The fragile soul stood up and made for the door. Devon caught him by the shirt collar and lifted him up.

"This. Give it to me." Devon pointed at the headset and computer. "I'm confiscating it until you come to practice on time."

"Uhm, that's my..." The puny person cut himself off when he saw Devon's face. "You'll give it back... right?"

Devon smiled widely, showing a full mouth of white teeth that would make a shark jealous. "We'll see."

After all, whatever Devon Doralt wanted, he would take.

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Devon was confused. He registered an account, purchased a subscription, and logged in. Contrary to what he had said to the freshman, he was likely not going to be returning the computer and headset anytime soon. After all, if it helped with his sport, what good would it be in some weak lightweight's hands? It would be much more beneficial to the team if Devon used it.

He had sped through the character creation as fast as he could. The random button was his savior. He wanted to get to the training as fast as possible. But what he saw when he entered the world within the headset was not at all what he was expecting. Bright, flowery fields and a bustling town greeted him, not a racecourse and times. No weights, no numbers, nothing.

Well, there were numbers. His HUD was there. He sort of understood what it was. He had played a few video games when he was younger- FFVII was the one he remembered most. But why would he need a healthbar to train?

No matter. It must've been one of those newfangled "gameification"-type training things, meant to challenge the user and motivate them by providing rewards in-game for training hard. Well, Devon Doralt wouldn't be last. He would never be last. And so he continued on into the world of Thalam Online to get gains, women, and fame.

As a mage.

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He finally located a slime after much cajoling. Eventually, he realized that, however realistic she may be, Tu Tauri Al was just a computer. Her responses were realistic, but scripted.

He hid behind a bush nearby just outside of town. A level 1 slime. It would be easy. His smaller frame ingame helped him hide much better than in real life. He jumped up with a roar and swung at the slime with his staff.

[Haha]

@aviaire@Cu Chulainn@Yankee
_____________________________________________________________________________________

The blue slime that the loudmouthed rogue, bubbly cleric, and smug warrior faced off against was a very long-winded fight. While the rogue of course had the lead in damage, this was mostly due to the warrior's constant commitment to holding the slime's attention. The cleric would come in somewhere towards the middle of the battle, swiftly casting a smite to chunk the poor thing's health a fair bit and giving the warrior a break. But there was of course shortcomings, the rogue attempted to flee from combat the first time and failed magnificently - falling and tumbling away in good measure before regaining his energy to reenter the battle once again. The warrior would also have her share of rough patches as while she did land the first few Shield Bashes, her later attempts would be gracefully evaded by the slime as he mocked her attempts to stun it. The cleric was steadfast however, standing her ground and literally exhausting herself to her character's limit to get every bit of damage possible on the over-leveled slime they faced. But we should not pull any credit away from the tank, as she literally towards the tail of the encounter willingly faced both of her party member's damage assaults for several attacks. She would only cease this action as her stamina reached it's limit, and she coordinated with her party to break from combat to regain stamina at a final attempt to stun the slime. The rogue, now reinvigorated would release his full combo on the slime finally getting it down to its final bits of health - though it was the exhausted cleric that would get the final blow on our poor slime boy. All the while this action unfolded, two new party members joined the party - the warrior party leader coordinating to move to their location after they looted the slime. The results?

Battle Rewards

+ 1 Level Rogue
+ 1 Level Warrior
+ 1 Level Cleric

Drops: Slime Jellies (Party Drop)
Slime-Covered Tunic (Neres)

Level : 1 Health 50 // Mana 50 // Stamina 50
@stone

Meanwhile, just outside of town was an unassuming green slime. And while he was on his slow stroll of grass consumption, he would suddenly be assailed by a terrible person with little understanding for the game. Initiating combat with the small amorphous creature was reacted with that of it defensively bouncing away from the blunt force of wood lashing upon its side with no finesse, the slime's vision teared up and the surface of it's gelatinous body shook violently in fear for a brief moment. But then he stood his ground, an angry expression developing upon it's face as the slime's body shrunk and expanded quickly as it leapt towards the freshly created character offensively.

The fight was on!

[stone]

From a distance, it may have looked like a small, white-haired girl had just ran at and challenged a small slime. However, in Devon's mind, and epic battle was being waged. He smashed his staff into the slime multiple times, before being blasted in the face in retaliation. "Gah! Damn you!" He smashed it again multiple times before taking another blast. "I will have you and your slime family for lunch!" This was getting hard. Devon knew that he wasn't actually sweating, but the VR was so realistic that he couldn't help but feel exerted. And this slime... this fight was so difficult! It was almost certainly some sort of mid-level boss. No matter. He would destroy it and reap the rewards. He hit it again and took another sliming. Only then did he notice the tiny arrow pointing towards the bottom left of his vision. A small icon, glowing. He activated it. Blue sparks shot from the tip of his staff and blasted into the slime, damaging it far more than his strikes had. "Ahaha! I am a genius! I have unlocked the secrets of this-gAAgh!" He was interrupted by another shot to the face. If anyone had cared enough to watch a far corner of the early-level Bellview fields, they would have seen a small girl triumph over the tiniest victory. But nobody did. The tiny female finished blasting the slime and collecting its drops, then collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. "Oh man. I'm spent.". Devon looked at the blinking icon in his HUD. "What? 1/5 slimes defeated? Are you kidding me? I need to do that... uh... four more times? Is this game insane?" Internally, however, somewhere in the deepest, darkest recesses of the hulking rower's mind, a tiny spark grew. Devon Doralt could hold affection for no man, but this was as close to fun as he had ever felt. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't be too much of an issue if I played a little longer. I am sort of exerting myself here." He tried to push away another thought in the back of his mind, but it persisted. He resolved himself. Devol Doralt never shied away from the truth. "I suppose I'll need some... some help with meeting this goal." RELICA IS LOOKING FOR A PARTY

Online DevonDoralt132 Class: Mage Level: 1 40 // 40 // 10 Basic atk x9, Magic Missile x6 Stats & Info Body: 3 Spirit: 9 Tech: 3 Equipment: >Basic Staff

[Rob]

The character Alex was forced to play as was Daisy, an embarrassment to his Greenskin kin due to his kind, fun-loving, and non-aggressive persona. As a child, he would frequent the nearby flower beds and appreciate the scenic view beside their village. He was eventually exiled from his clan and forced to wander the world without a purpose. Daisy would soon learn his knack for what he perceived to be pacifism. As a self-proclaimed envoy of peace, he would intervene when he could and put to an end ongoing disputes before they escalated any further. Strangely, he achieves this not through words, but force.

..........

It was launch day and Alex couldn't find it in him to feel excited. It was hard to blame him given the circumstances he was in. There he was, an oaf of a character with a personality he had to portray. Alex had zero information on his boss' character or if there were others like him. His boss did mention that he would always be watching; even if that was a bluff, Alex had to regularly submit recordings of his gameplay.

With no other choice, it was time for Daisy to take over. Upon hearing the quest given to him, Daisy immediately replied to the NPC before heading in deeper inland to begin his hunt.

"Miss Tu Tauri Al, leave it to me! I shall put an end to this slimey plague and restore the paradise that is Bellview."

It was stupid and an exaggeration, but Alex couldn't risk it. He had to put on a show; messing up this early on wasn't an option. Although appearing carefree as his avatar skipped across the grassy plains, Alex was already reading the chatlogs to get hints in how to finish his quest in an easier manner. While stopping to smell the flowers around him, Alex used this to gather information from other players.

The lower level slimes were located far from the shore; that's where he needed to go. A hop, skip, and a jump later, he found himself facing a Green Slime. With weapon in hand, he charges towards the unsuspecting slime, hoping to bludgeon it to death.

"May your sins be forgiven in the afterlife, gelatinous one!"

Although not apparent, Alex was cringing on the inside. And if you were curious, aside from the tasks given to him by his boss, there were several optional ones. One of which was to start each fight with his a reckless charge. Why would Alex do something so stupid? Well, the more optional tasks he accomplishment, the better his reward becomes.

It was sad, but he wanted the money.

..........

As he ran forward, Alex noticed one of the recent messages in the global chat. It was regarding a party request, it was a player who een by the name of Relica. This was exactly what Alex was looking for.

DAISY SENT A INVITE TO RELICA TO FORM A PARTY

[ERode]

Party 3's Misdeeds, Part 1

@stone@Rob
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Instead of non-chalantly approaching his target from a blind spot, Daisy succumbed to his orcish tendencies and charges forward. "Peace for Bellview!" He screamed as he smiled before relentlessly assaulting the slime. Three solid blows made its mark, dealing a total of 14 damage.

The slime splashes and spasms under the relentless assault, it's viscous tendrils lashing back to deal 4 damage!

"Kekeke." Daisy smirked and bit his lip as the slime retaliated with a lashing of its own. There was a reason why Daisy, a cleric, chose to get up close and personal. Despite his claims to support pacifism, he was somewhat of a masochist and sadist; he just didn't know it yet. It was probably some weird orc thing. That was the story Alex had to stick to. Although idiotic, this was again one of the many optional traits he had to incorporate to his character.

The slime wriggles, disturbed by Daisy's deviant kinks.

Magic Missile! 3 times! 5 Damage!
“Puny slime!”

The slime recoils as magical bolts strike its body, bending parts of its slimy posterior outwards. On the rebound, bits of slime shoot out, the weirdly salty, warm pellets slapping Relica for 6 points of damage.

"Agh! Fuck off, slimy bitch!" Relica casts Magic Missile again three more times.
9 Damage.

There was less material on the rebound this time, the slime evidently not feeling very happy with all this verbal abuse flying in its direction. Only 1 point of damage flew out at Relica, landing right in her potty-mouth.

"Agh! Won goph in mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!"
Devon marveled at the realism of the VRMMO. It felt like the weird gunk had actually entered his mouth. He just wished that the developers hadn't made it quite so realistic.

Whether or not Daisy was aware of how he was judged by the slime was no longer important. After all, dead slimes tell no tales.

With a large grin on his face, Daisy continued to bring down his cudgel against the gelatinous beast, dealing a whopping 8 damage.

"Peace for Bellview!" He roared in excitement.

But the slime was not dead yet, and parts of the slime that were dislodged by Daisy's berserking frenzy splattered against the orc's body. Smoke and searing sensations of not-fun-feeling was all the cleric needed to know: the monster's body was caustic and it was melting his flesh...for 2 damage.

“Let’s get this thing right outta here!” Relica blasted the slime with the last of her magic. 19 damage!

With the rest of its mass compromised by raw magical artillery, the slime dissolved, just a sad puddle of water.

"We did it!" Relica laughed and jumped. Internally, Devon also felt great joy, strangely.

Battle Rewards

+333 EXP

Drops: Slime Jellies (Party Drop)
Poison Dagger (Relica)

Party 3's Misdeeds, Part 2

@stone@Rob
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The brother of Green Slime, Red Slime, has come to take their revenge upon the green bastard and the white midget. With crimson veins popping out of its gelatinous form, it charges the two adventurers!

After their first encounter with the slime, Alex needed some time to recover both virtually and mentally. Daisy was a difficult character to play and the array of peculiarities he possessed didn't make this easier.

Unfortunately, Alex's rest was cut short as another slime made its way towards them.

.......

Back to his feet, Daisy rushed towards the red slime and met it halfway. He was ready to take the brunt of the monster's attack, but prepared himself to strike back. With cudgel in hand, the Greenskin was ready to deliver another thrashing via autoattacks.

"Agh! Let's go, matey!" Relica jumped to her feet and rushed at the slime swinging.
She jumped and landed with a soaring smash, dealing 26 damage in a massive critical hit. "Eat plank, landlubber!"

Midway charge, Daisy tripped and landed flat on his belly. But this did not stop him from attacking. Although poorly delivered, the strikes hit their mark, kinda, dealing 6 damage.

A singular blow! Shoulder to shoulder, the combined might of Relica and Daisy almost bashed the Red Slime into half! But deep as they were in the gelantinous matter, thick tendrils wrapped around them. The creature, though not unphased by the melee strikes, grappled the Terrible Two regardless, squeezing like an anaconda. Emboldened by her success, Relica managed to pull against the tentacles, receiving only 9 damage, but Daisy had his head stuck inside the main mass of the monster, taking 12 damage as he struggled to breathe.

Relica staggered back from the tentacles, coughing. "I'll send ya to Davy Jones's locker!" She fired 3 magic missiles, dealing 11 damage.

But there was no escape, not from the Red Slime's slimy stranglehold. Just as Relica managed to pull back, the tendrils lashed out again, this time twice in number. Her throat constricted, she suffered 18 points of damage.

"Arghbghl!" she screamed. This was way too realistic for Devon's liking. "Grghlrhph!"

Despite his head embedded within the red slime's main body, Daisy remained calm and chanted. Unfortunately, all you could hear was gurgling.

"Horreh righ! Brangcuh mra frrrs!"

Bright lights enveloped both the slime and Daisy's head, dealing 3 damage. Given how insignificant the damage was, Daisy turned back to his weapon, bashing it against the slime around his head, dealing 7 damage. Hopefully this was enough to get it off him.

With how the battle was going on, Alex couldn't help but feel a bit stressed. It was probably the dumbest thing he'd done in a while.

The Red Slime burbled and bubbled, but the death-grapple only grew fiercer as its jello mass began to harden, tightening over Daisy's head. It truly was like an anaconda, its grip growing stronger the more its prey struggled. This time, 16 damage was dealt to the captured Cleric.

"Eaghlb blagh, mhjlbak!" Relica tore her head away from the tentacles and raised her staff. "I'm sending you straight to the depths! No quarter for you!"

Three bolts of magical energy soared from the staff and blew the red slime to smithereens, sending bits of it everywhere. Relica stood in the remains of the slime, showered in red goo.

"We did it! Again!"

Battle Rewards

+666 EXP
Relica & Daisy Level Up!

Drops: Slime Jellies (Party Drop)
Green Moss (Relica)

Party 3's Misdeeds, Now with more people

@stone@Rob@ERode@Heyitsjiwon
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With the death of its two younger brothers, Blue Slime rises up from the resting adventurers, ready to glomp them both and harvest their souls to resurrect its fallen brethren. But lo and behold, out of the woodwork, three other adventurers pop outta nowhere, a savage light in their eyes as they prepare for messing slimes up!

Vasilisa, at the forefront, immediately drops his cudgel like he drops his Smites, smashing into the monstrosity with holy fervor and a desire for getting optimal damage out. With a clap of thunder and a clap of wood, 33 damage befalls the bumbling creature.

Stunned by the ferocity of the initial onslaught, the blue slime reeled back, lashing out with a gelatinous whip that dealt 1 damage towards the beefcake cleric.

Not giving the ominous blue slime a chance to recover, Daisy summoned a flash of holy light, striking the creature where it stood.

"Punish this fiendish foe! Smite!"

As soon as the bolt of holy energy crashed into the slime, two blows from Daisy's cudgel immediately followed. All in all, dealing a total of 15 damage.

Another terrific blow from the orc man, but once the initial shock of the impact wore off, the slime was quicker to answer. Gathering up its tendrils into one thick lump, it clobbered Daisy on the noggin, sending the cleric tumbling back as 13 damage was dealt to him.

Relica shot 3 small bolts at the slime, dealing a pitiful 8 damage. "Damn!"

Lothair followed up on the party's vicious attack with a wave of magic missiles. Though, it appeared that they did limited damage with a measly 11!

The missiles streamed through the air, impacting parts of the Blue Slime's body, but whether through resilience or skill, only the outermost parts of its form was damaged. It slipped and slid, rolling away from the brunt of the arcane blasts, before salty streams of slime thrust upwards towards the twin mages. Two bolts caught Relica right in the gut, dealing 13 damage, and Lothair received that same amount, but managed to ward off some of the hurt with his abs, taking only 12 damage as consequence.

The damage was slowing down now. With his mana exhausted, Vasilisa came in with the cudgel, slime splattering in the wake of his wide swings, 8 damage dealt.

It was clear now, that the Blue Slime must have had nanobots inside its body, hardening upon physical trauma. Gathering its newly hardened self like a spring, it shot out in a full body tackle that sent Vasilisa into the dirt to nurse 17 points of damage.

Relica roared an angry roar. Coming from her small frame, it didn't sound like much more than a shriek. Nevertheless, her magic bolts, seemingly emboldended by the shout, shot forward with increased power and dealt 22 damage.

The bombardment of magic missiles didn't cease as another wave hit the slime for 23 damage!

It must have been all the salt from losing her dagger to some 12 year old manchild, because Relica's bolts struck with much greater efficacy this time. The Slime vibrated unpleasantly as well, before spitting out a great wad of goop that covered Relica's body with its taint. Only 3 points of damage was dealt, but the emotional damage must be way greater.

Lothair, striking with even greater power than Relica, tore the creature's body up with spiritual might as well, and even managed to roll out of the way of the Blue Slime's slimy axeswing. Good thing too. He would have been beheaded otherwise.

Even though he was pushed back, Daisy maintained his cheerful disposition as he simply chuckled in response to the blue slimes attack. "KEKEKE!"

Despite their numbers, the blue slime was still able to hold its own. Daisy knew that they had to remain relentless with their attacks to finish this as swift as possible. Alex on the other hand knew that they had this in the bag. They just had to put on a show.

"Begone, fiend!"

Wood met slime as Daisy continued the beating he was dishing out.

Wood met slime, and it was clear that wood was winning out. Desperation seized the creature now, as it madly swung its tendrils. They left welts upon Daisy's green body, but the fortitude of an orc could not be underestimated. 10 damage was dealt towards the lad, as he shouldered on through the storm.

Lothair casted his final set of three magic missiles to try and burst the slime into submission, landing 18 damage.

In its death throes, the slime unleashed its most powerful attack yet, a dozen slippery spikes piercing into Lothair's body like shrapnel. A devastating 33 damage was dealt towards the mage, but before any further retaliation could be had, Vasilisa stepped up.

A stomp on the withered slime, then another, was enough to seal its fate, as it dissolved into nothingness.

Battle Rewards

+1000 EXP

Drops: Slime Jellies (Party Drop)
Green Moss (Lothair)

Party 3's Misdeeds, Max Capacity

@stone@Rob@ERode@Heyitsjiwon[@brwntwn
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Wibble wobble went the next Blue Slime. Twas nothing for this party of trained adventurers now, and with the addition of a new warrior, the demise of the creature was practically assured. Honestly, inevitability was becoming quite a bit boring for Vasilisa, but the muscled Cleric would do his job regardless.

Rushing up as the vanguard, he cleaved into the blue slime's body with divine force, blasting 32 points of damage into its viscous form. It retaliated, of course, but the attack patterns were simple enough to track now, and the cleric blocked the brunt of the whipping strike with his bicep, receiving only 9 damage as a result.

Rageblade finally had herself a party and their party had themselves a mob to deal with. It was just a slime, but they didn't really have any other choice.

Charging in with sword and board, the little warrior ran to the aid of the muscular cleric. Well, if you think about it, it didn't seem like she needed help, but Rageblade wanted to be of use.

With a mighty swing of her shield, she bashed the unsuspecting slime before pummeling it with two swift blows, dealing 9 damage.

"YAAAAAAA!" she screamed loudly.

Rallied by the screams of their new comrade, Daisy join into the fray, trying his best to run like a gorilla.

Two bolts of holy energy were let loose followed by a heavy swing, dealing 21 damage.

Recovering from the stunning shield bash of the midget, the slime wheeled around just in time to receive Daisy's heavy blows. Like a jello, it wobbled, before springing up to dunk the orc on the cranium. Before it could land atop Daisy's skull, however, Rageblade intercepted, shield raised like an umbrella to deflect the blow. The impact shook up her pudgy arms, but resilient as she was, the Warrior only took 8 damage.

Relica blasted with missiles, dealing 12 damage.

Lothair follows up with his own wave of magic missiles! Dealing 11 Damage.

For their troubles, Relica and Lothair got a couple of slime bolts splashed in their way. Their experienced helped them just as much as it helped Vasilisa: this pattern had already been seen before. With a duck and a dodge, the two mages evaded the brunt of the damage, taking only 4 and 6 damage respectively.

"Ahaha! Begone, puny gel!"

Vasilisa took advantage of the distraction that the arcane artillery offered. Slipping behind slime, the cleric mimicked all the backstabs that the edgelords populating the field did, and struck for critical damage! 18 hit points was chunked off the slime by that blow, and it went porcupine mode in response.

There was no dodging this attack; the cleric simply grinned and bore it instead, receiving 12 damage in exchange.

Whether it was overkill or not, there was no denying that the slime was about to die. Since this was a game, there was no reason to feel remorse or question one's morality.

With 3 continuous stabs, Rageblade dealt 10 damage.

As death neared, the slime fought with greater valor than before, its viscous body spreading apart before blanketing Rageblade entirely. Within the jello prison, the warrior could feel their skin begin to burn, as 34 points of damage was dealt to them.

Daisy was pissed, so he slammed his cudgel hard. Three times. Dealing 6 damage.

The slime continued to spread, sticky tendrils wrapping around Daisy in retaliation. The orc cleric's flesh began to smoulder as well, digestive fluids searing into him as he received 26 points of damage.

Lothair continued his magic missile barrage and dealt 18 damage on the slime.

And yet, the slime's mass only ballooned further. Now, splattered parts of its body spread out and reconnected, before snagging onto Lothair's ankle and dragged the mage down onto the ground. His body too was soon overwhelmed by slime, gradually breaking his body down. 43 damage was deal swiftly and painfully, with plenty more to come.

Relica blasted it for 22 damage! ...And then took 38 in retaliation.

Leaping into the air, Rageblade raised her shield before slamming it down smushing the slime, dealing 2 damage, simultaneously stunning and slaying it in the process.

With that the slime creature dispersed, melting into the ground from once it came.

Battle Rewards

+1000 EXP

Drops: Slime Jellies (Party Drop)
Slime Covered Tunic (Vasilisa)

[ERode]

@ERode@Silverpaw@Kinith@Heyitsjiwon@Seirei No Hai
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Basically, after much poor attacks and violence and slime matter getting on everyone's hair, as well as a truly misfortunate disconnection that left everyone frozen in movement for what felt like a day, the Blue Slime was finally vanquished by the vicious, desperate staff strikes of one Lothair. There was no glory in the end, only a sense of relief as the party of five finally realized that hell was over, and they could go on, to...what? Attacking more slimes?

Battle Rewards

+1000 EXP
Everyone Levels Up!

Drops: Slime Jellies (Party Drop)
Slime Covered Sword (Vasilisa)

[Rob]

Daisy was overjoyed with their recent victory over their slimey foes and decided to celebrate with his party before going for another one; he was one away from completing his quest.

Strange enough, a notification popped up in his overhead display. It was a direct message from Toroawayu.

Toroawayu: Scuzzlebutt.
Daisy: Scuzzlebutt, but this early? What brings a throwaway into my DMs?

Private Message

Scuzzlebutt was the first safe word Alex and his boss agreed upon. Only after it mentioned could he break character in game. Well, at least in chat. He'd find out the next one in a day or two.

Toroawayu: Not sure how much you messed up to get the boss to intervene this early.
Daisy: Wait.
Daisy: What?!

Private Message

Alex was at a loss for words, but he couldn't let Daisy show it. He was already on thin ice, he couldn't risk messing up anymore.

Toroawayu: No point in discussing this any further. Ditch the righteous sadistic and masochistic pacifist. Go with persona delta.
Daisy: What?! It hasn't been a day yet?!
Toroawayu: Beats me; boss' orders. He has big expectations bfor you. Scuzzlebutt, Alex.
Daisy: Damn it. Scuzzlebutt.

Private Message

And that was it. Alex was Daisy again, but a different Daisy. For how long? He has zero clue. The only thing that he was certain of was that it was going to be a long night.

[Yankee]

_{@Versa@Cu Chulainn@Aviaire@RC3}

"Uuuugh," Mimika groaned, letting herself sink down to the ground as the blue slime she, Neres and Ukkonen had been fighting finally collapsed into a mass of... well, slime. That enemy had been tough, was Thalam Online secretly a game for hardcore players? Well, it had been three times their level. Once the party found a way to work together and determined it's pattern, it didn't take much longer for it to go down. Still though, a lot of HP! Mimika had flopped over for dramatic effect even as the ping! of a level up made itself known in front of her and her HP slowly returned. [Neres]: lets kill lower level slimes after this; [Critakill]: Uh, you guys finished with your slime? [cherryblossomblues/Mimika]: after we kill this slime and help u w urs we gon find sum green 1s After a quick visit to the in-game chat - something Marcus found kind of redundant at first (considering they could just talk face to face with their characters) but now quite liked - the trio made their way back to the beach and their second target: another powerful slime. ...only, Mimika didn't so much as lift a finger once the entire party came together to finish off this slime. She sat herself down again and watched from the sidelines. In her opinion, that first slime had taken way too much of her HP. Sure, she was fully healed now, but wouldn't it be more effective just to soak up EXP while the rest of her party did the hard work? Besides, she wouldn't be that much help until she got the ability to heal. "Gooo~ Fight on, party~" she chanted with somewhat sarcastic cheer.

Online cherryblossomblues Class: Cleric Level: 2 110 // 120 // 110 [no action] Stats & Info Body: 5 Spirit: 6 Tech: 5 Equipment: >Basic Cudgel Inventory: Slime Jelly

[Cu Chulainn]

@aviaire@Yankee@Versa@RC3@stone The first slime was a piece of cake! It took too long, and it clearly wasn't the most optimal enemy to attack, but to Ukkonen it was both a life lesson as well as a nice way to level up. In any case, he was sure that the next few slimes would have been a piece of cake with this new party of his! All they had to do was aim for the lower-leveled ones and head back to town, and this tutorial quest would be over in no time... If only they hadn't invited more people to tag along. What was worse is that they were both Rangers who had trouble bursting down a Blue Slime together. All Ukkonen wanted to do was kill the lower-leveled ones so he could level up faster, but the goodwill that came from the leader of his party lead the team to inviting more people. What Ukkonen thought was his three-role dream team turned out to be a much more sluggish experience. The time they were taking against this one blue slime was enough for the Rogue to briefly join another party and finesse one of the newer players for their weapons before joining his original party once more, only to find them still fighting the same slime. Sighing in irritation, Ukkonen acted in muscle memory, positioning himself behind the slime once more, and delivering his usual combo. What surprised him however was how much damage he was dealing with just one of these Poison Daggers. The sight of this damage gave Ukkonen a sudden realization: If he could deal this much damage in such a short amount of time on his own, then dealing with the lower-leveled slimes solo would be easy! He did not have to be held back by the expectations of his party anymore. All he needed was to upgrade his gear and continue grinding these slimes until he was at a level where he could be comfortable enough in soloing the rest of this starter zone... "You all are just slowing me down! I'll see you guys later, when I get your stupid hats!" And with that, Ukkonen left his party in search of greener pastures... or greener slimes.

Online ukk0nen Class: Rogue Level: 2 107//103//108 Stats & Info Body: 6 (+1) Spirit: 3 Tech: 7 (+1) Equipment: >Basic Dagger x2 >Poison Dagger

[dragonpiece]

Tony took the swing with his shield towards the slime everything was going to work out. Then in a spectacular way tony missed the very slow slime. Tony then began to go into a drunken panic and ran away. He thought he was going to kill it with ease because at the end of the day it was a slime. But Tony had made the mistake of underestimating the slime. He swore he would come back tomorrow and defeat the slime for good.

With that Bob logged out and slept the rest of the night away. The next morning he stumbled to work with a nasty hangover. This has become a semi-regular occurrence which led to some of his work friends going out of the way to be loud around him in the morning, but this was all in good humor. John has been messaging Bob throughout the day asking if he enjoyed the game how far he got. Bob decided to just tell him he was too drunk and passed out on the floor of his office. He felt that if he said he rage quit against the first enemy he would never live it down. As the day wrapped up he went out with some work friends.

Some of the guys got together and decided to head over to a Dave & Buster’s. Bob designated himself as the responsible one for the night. They played games, eating food, and downed enough alcohol together that he thought they might puke in his car. After getting them all home and apologizing to some of their wife's Bob finally went home. He prepared himself to play and started.

Now being sober this game looked even better somehow. But Tony was in a hurry this time so he didn’t take the scenery in very much. He started to head to an area the quest pointed out. As he looked at the slime he started to kinda just hit it, he used his skills. Missed a few times but it was pretty standard affairs all things considered. At the end Tony was a little tired. He has came to the conclusion this might not support solo gaming that much at the start. After completing the quest he began to enter town.

[Haha]

Quest Complete!

<sup>The new players have completed the incredibly easy and achievable goal of collecting the slime jellies outside the town of Bellview. As the final item enters their inventory and the parameters are completed, the user interface that displayed their progress changes to a small three-dimensional arrow that steers them towards the stone walls to that very town. The countless players around them who chose to do things such as; continue farming slimes, adventure out to the further areas from the town, some even decided to forgo combat completely and begin their summer beach episode where some of the players had begun.

Nonetheless, the game systems would make players' next objective plain and clear for them to follow.
Head to Town.</sup>

"Get your hot bread! Fresh hot bread right outta the oven!" A small girl no older than twelve shouted, she was dressed like a commoner, which in this part of the region wasn't very ugly - simple clothing that was comfortable rather than rags and patchwork. Her little black shoes stepped on the brown laid brick floor below, small little clacks would be heard as she carried a small crate of her wares within her small arms. Her bright blonde hair stood out, many of these NPC models had darker shades of hair, perhaps she was a foreigner? Nonetheless the peppy girl stepped up to any who entered the district offering the snack for a small sum of copper.

"Oi-oi-oi, Angie. Makn' sure t' target th' huge ix of adventura's, I haven't seen th' many in m' years bein'ere - Not e'en back'en th' demons 're round! They'a prob'ly deperate f'anythin'." A heavily scarred dwarf missing his right eye spat out as this bread merchant passed, directly hastily at her. His bronze-red hair told those who were educated that he was a fireborn, and one that had seen battles in the past albeit. He stood in a mud-stone hovel in the shopping district, an anvil at his front, a forge at his back, he was the town's blacksmith - and likely a seasoned and respected one with a face like that.

"You know I can't understand a damn word you say old man! Half the **** that comes out of your mouth is just gibberish, it's not even a dialect at this point - I've heard dwarves talk before, so don't even try to correct me! But yeah, I know to target the adventurers, that's why I'm in my good garments. My mom even washed them with flower oils so I smell nice - so relax your old bones, and go back to hammering iron." Angie flashed a smile, the young girl was a seasoned merchant - eloquent when talking trade with well-mannered speech and emitting the youthful cuteness that attracted customers. The other side of her though seemed to be a quick-witted and cunning opportunist, her mind was sharp and guided, clearly well above her years.

---

"I really hope these damned adventurers are capable, the ranks are getting smaller and smaller every year because of these werewolves. Sharlotte, status report!" Tu projected her voice to woman that was a good foot taller than herself, though the superior's voice seemingly snapped the woman from the daze of attention she had been in prior.

"Y-yes ma'am! The lycanthrope reports are increasingly rising in the northwestern and northeastern regions, though the immediate western and eastern areas are being kept in check with help from the native clans! Also, the coast is being kept clear as well - though, this is only due to the rise of piracy within the Cruel Sea to the south! Rumors of ghost ships, skeletons, and other undead-ilk seem to be on the rise but not the degree of needing the guard look into it as of yet!" Sharlotte's words snapped out quick and articulate, making sure every detail she needed to get across was achieved in one fell swoop. She was a scout, not really a fighter, but her senses and ability to obtain knowledge were admired by Tu herself. And as such, the Barracks Keeper trained the tall girl directly under herself in hopes of future prospects.

"Very good. Your new mission will be, gathering a few promising prospects and - scratch that, just find a good area in town to gather some talent. Stand near the Guild, or near the shops, even both - pretend to be a town guide or something. Shepard them down here to the barracks so I can get them to work and make our lives easier." Tu directed, sitting at her wooden work desk, the young scoutmaster clasped her hands together and nodded Shar off to do ask was asked. As the tall girl quickly vacated the room, quietly closing the wooden door behind her, Tu smiled mischievously and stood from her chair to turn and look out from the large window behind her very scarily - brooding.

[Cu Chulainn]

Interactions: NPCs Ukkonen yawned as he made his way into town, spinning his newly attained poison daggers in his hands. Once he reached the town's gates however, he decided it would be best to put away his weapons. He's heard that the NPCs of this game were quite advanced, but he did not want to test the patience of the guards, especially when he's trying his best to save his money at the moment. As he entered the town, he was impressed with how lively it seemed, although it did not surprise him too much. The combat was quite advanced after all. As much as he wanted to try interacting with one of these NPCs, Ukkonen knew turning his quest in as soon as possible and getting the reward was paramount, both so that he could progress through this game faster and so he could have more coins to buy better gear. To him, it was important to stay as ahead as possible especially if he wished to top the PvP rankings at some point. Ukkonen did his best to avoid any other NPCs as he searched for this "Tu Tauri Al" so that he could turn his slime jellies in as soon as possible. Although at the same time, it didn't hurt to keep an ear out for any information he would overhear regarding a "Thief" class. According to that one chat mod, Ukkonen had completed a prerequisite needed to take on a new class, and any potential class advancements were more than welcome to the ambitious rogue...

Online ukk0nen Class: Rogue Level: 3 108//103//111 Stats & Info Body: 6 (+2) Spirit: 3 Tech: 8 (+3) Equipment: >Poison Dagger x2 >Green Bandana Inventory: >5 Slime Jelly >7 Copper >Basic Dagger x2

[Heyitsjiwon]

Lothair - Level 3 Mage - Eastern Imperial

Lothair continued his way to the nearby town as the arrow indicated. Thankfully, it seemed that the game was willing to hold people's hand through navigating this new world at least a little bit. Imagine if they had to figure out where everything was just by world of mouth with no UI guidance... suddenly Lothair wished he had been a part of the boy scouts when he was younger, but regardless, Lothair followed the direction of the arrow so that he could meet with the NPC to hand in his slime cores.

However, once Lothair got to the city, he was met with a wave a people, players, NPCs, new sights.... everything. He was a bit dumbfounded as it became clear that finding this Tu Tauri Al would be harder than what he initially expected with all these people running about. In the corner of his eye, Lothair caught the sight of gold, fluttering through the chaotic streets. Turning his attention to it, he noticed a little girl peddling bread. Lothair remembered the info he heard about food helping with temp stats... plus... maybe there were secret stats like hunger as well? If your character didn't eat, then they started to suffer negative modifers or something. Regardless, Lothair approached the young, blond haired girl ... maybe she would know some stuff and help out a customer and asked "Excuse me, Miss. How much are you selling your bread for?"

[brwntwn]

While scanning through the Thalam Online Wiki page, Rageblade made her way back to Bellview. As far as slimes went, she didn't really need anything else. A tunic would've been nice, but the effort needed to solo a Blue Slime wasn't something she wanted to exert; it wasn't going to be efficient. The spoils from her first hunt was fruitful was more than enough: 1 level gained and almost close to a second one, a new sword a bandana, and some copper.

As soon as she returned to Bellview, Rageblade turned in her quest and headed straight for the merchants and vendors, hoping to see what they had for sale.

[Aviaire]

@Yankee Overall? Things were going well. Neres wasn't quite level three yet, but she would get there soon. That didn't matter though - because she had obtained the most powerful item of all. A really nice hat. Sure, she hadn't gotten it herself. She'd just traded Mimika for it. It was a joint effort, though. It was their combined effort that had gotten them that hat. The fruits of their labours had ripened and god, they were good. She couldn't say the same for the tunic she had, which was more sticky than any item of clothing should ever be, but it gave her stats... "Woo! We did it, Mimika!" she said, throwing her arms up into the air. It was still bewildering how she could move so effortlessly. "Without that other guy, too!" In her vision, the arrow indicating her next objective popped up. "Oh, we should... follow this, right?" So she did, and soon she found herself in the town of Bellview. She was impressed once again with how alive it was. There were many people, a lot of them selling various things. But Neres ignored them all, because she had no money. Thalam Online was a truly realistic game. The arrows continued all the way up to the barracks, where the aptly named 'Tu Tauri Al' was waiting. "Oh. That was surprisingly easy," she said. Without caring for consequences, she opened up the door and walked in. Time to hand in that quest!

Online N3R3S Class: Warrior Level: 2 112 // 105 // 105 [actions: -] Stats & Info Body: 8 (+4) Spirit: 3 (+2) Tech: 5 Equipment: >Basic Sword >Basic Shield >Red Slime Hat >Slime-covered Tunic

[ERode]

Five Blue Slimes and three levels later, Vasilisa strode out of the killing fields like a man on a mission, carrying a hefty amount of equipment under his arms. His cudgel banged against his thigh as he speedwalked through the slime-infested plains, avoiding the migration of players towards the barracks. Quest completion could wait a bit. Right now, he had actual work to be done. Work along the lines of cleaning up these shitty, slime-covered clothing. Thankfully, the beach was close by enough that the walking wasn't actually that bad at all. Removing his own clothing as he approaching the pristine waves, Vasilisa plopped down his gear onto the sand, before taking the first item out from the pile.

With Slime-Covered Tunic in hand, he began dunking it in and out of the salty waters, scrubbing away at the blue slime that clung onto it. Of course the cleric had seen other players walk by wearing their slimy tunics without a care in the world, but ugh. That just looked terrible!

...

Would be a good chance to see slime got wrecked like slugs did with salt too. That was always a consideration.

[stone]

Devon had learned quite a bit during his time out in the fields. The sheer beauty of Bellview's wonderfully rendered environment had blown him away when he first arrived. The color, the sounds, the smells. It was all... A fucking lie. The moment Devon had initiated combat on an unsuspecting green slime, he had paid the price in blood. The small, puny being was actually a demon in disguise. But, he had triumphed and won his prize of a poison dagger- Only for it to be stolen away by the heartless scoundrel named Ukk0nen. Who takes things from other people like that? It's not morally right, Devon thought. His self-awareness, of course, was unparalleled. He cleared the quest with the help of four other wonderful adventurers, then bid them goodbye. He could not stand to rely on others too much. He was a man, and the definition of manhood was to push others away, deny support from friends, and live out one's days in solitude save for immediate family. As he followed the arrow back into town, Devon wondered how else he could get equipment and money. Beating things up was fun, sure, but he already did that in real life. He needed something new, something fresh. He followed the arrow to a large building. The barracks. It pointed inside. Seeing another player approach the building, Devon scurried to catch up and slip in right after.

Online DevonDoralt132 Class: Mage Level: 3 105 // 111 // 103 Stats & Info Body: 3 (+2) Spirit: 10 (+1) Tech: 3 Equipment: >Basic Staff >Slime-covered Tunic

[Yankee]

_{@Versa@Aviaire@ERode}

Mimika held a much different opinion to her party leader. She found the first few hours in the game to be a complete mess. She'd nearly died more than once against the slimes. One of their party members had gone AFK, and the other was a tryhard who kept coming and going as he pleased. That rogue was useful in helping them all finish the quest, but it was clear he was only out for himself. Well, not like I'm really that different, Marcus thought to himself - although, fighting with Neres and finally getting that red hat drop had been genuinely fun. "Yay~ Progress!" Mimika similarly tossed her hands up into the air. She'd done a few extra slime hunts with that Ukk0nen guy before he left them, so she'd finally made it to a level where she could actually heal people. Time to set up shop somewhere. Partying with Neres and Chrys was fun, but Marcus had other plans. Once the group had followed the arrows and gotten into town proper, Mimika stopped them briefly. "I'm gonna explore solo a little bit. I'll meet back up with you guys later." With that, she took off on her own. Bellview was really cool to walk through. It was like some kind of medieval fantasy town, brightly colored and bustling. Mimika hummed as she skipped along the cobbled streets, pausing every now and then to ogle the food vendors or window shop. Sadly, she didn't have any money at the moment. When she turned in the quest, she'd get some, but now... Ah, oh well, hopefully I can offer my services to some of these schmucks soon anyway. The girl nodded to herself, though her reflection in a shop window caught her eye. The cleric approached it, giving herself a once over. Literally nothing had changed since the character creation screen, except now she had a bitchin' red staff. Oh yeah, I should ditch the cudgel, she reminded herself as she stared at her reflection. Seriously, she was super cute. Mimika struck a few poses and made a few sexy faces at herself, though after a moment a blush bloomed on her cheeks and she quickly stepped away. Jesus I'm acting like a perv. Gotta get my head back in the game. [Vasilisa]: @cherryblossomblues you know about businesses and shit? The sudden ping spooked Mimika and she nearly dropped her staff at the notification noise. A few people, she didn't know if they were NPCs or players, snickered as they walked by and she stuck her tongue out at them before opening up the chat window. [cherryblossomblues]: ya I know about businesses but I need moneis i haven't got 1 **** copper coin yet im a healer I will heal 4 $$$ okay guys this goes for everyone also I sell pics cashapp @cherryblossomblues hmu No, the young man behind the VR goggles did not feel ashamed in the slightest to type that out for other people to read. [Vasilisa]: meet me in a dark alleyway somewhere Uh, what? he thought. Did Mimika entice some loser into wanting erotic MMO roleplay already? It wasn't like Marcus hadn't done that kind of thing before, but he usually didn't get any bites this early. Still, money was money. With a wry smile on her face, Mimika typed in a quick reply before locating this "Vasilisa" person on the mini-map and making her way towards them.

Online cherryblossomblues Class: Cleric Level: 3 110 // 130 // 110 [no action] Stats & Info Body: 5 Spirit: 7 Tech: 5 Equipment: >Red-Stone Staff Basic Cudgel Inventory: Slime Jelly x5

[brwntwn]

Level 2 Warrior - Rageblade

Rageblade's plans of quickly turning in her quest and visiting the town stores didn't go as planned. It was simple at first given the arrowhead that was slightly infront and above her. Based on how games worked, players just had to follow, and follow Rageblade did. Unfortunately, the spring in her step lost its momentum as she met not the NPC she was looking for, but a crowd. They were players, other NPCs, or a combination of both.

"Yeah, probably both" Rageblade thought as she struggled to get through the people in front of her. If it wasn't hard enough, the fact that she was so small made in difficult to actually see what was going on; honestly, she didn't even know what building she actually went jnto. Her breathing started to become rapid and shallow; Max's anxiety was acting up. This didn't primarily stem from an in-game event, but a pre-existing problem Max was facing.

Max never really had this problem before, but after he quit his job and shutting himself out from the rest of the world, this was practically his reintegration to society; a virtual and mostly artificial society. Nevertheless, it didn't matter to Max and sadly, Rageblade was the one who had to deal with it.

Although dormant, Max was slowly becoming restless, causing Rageblade's HUD to glitch out a bit. She knew this wasn't something that would resolve spontaneously, so she did what Max always did: avoid the triggers.

Leaving the completion of her quest behind for now, Rageblade rushed forward in a blind near-panicked state and only ceased upon crashing through a set of doors. Tumbling forward and finding herself laying on her back, Rageblade had managed to calm herself down. There were still a few people around and it wasn't necessarily quiet, but it was certainly better than a few moments ago.

It only took a few blinks before Rageblade managed to pull out a mini-map in front of her.

"Vendors and merchants, huh?" she whispered to herself in what probably was a pleasant surprise.

Slowly getting back to her feet, Rageblade regained her composure and was back in track.

"Sirs and madams, good day! Anything good for a novice warrior? Whatcha got?"