[IC] Elder Tale. (Sanquin / EveIris)

[EveIris]

Kali grinned at him as she waved it around showing off how much nicer it was compared to her other one. “Indeed and you know what that means. Better heals!” She exclaimed with excitement, still she couldn’t imagine if she used her staff to whack one of the monsters. Their items had durability and in game it was physically impossible to change an action mages used spells for damage so she made it a note to try hitting something with her other old staff. “Oh give me the legs I can add that to my current collection,” she stated before moving over to them to collect them into her inventory. She was surprised to hear that the items would be three times the normal price staring at the legs she shook her head wondering why anyone would ever think that they were rare. They were nasty little things and the thought of someone needing for any kind of reason was horrifying. They couldn’t be cooked or rather it shouldn’t. She lifted her head up in surprise when he mentioned that there was something to do. Watching him collect the items she tilted her head and placed her hand over her hip. “The quest?” she asked softly before tilting her head as she began to ponder about it. She had forgotten it since she was caught up with the fun of killing the spiders and healing Alakai. “Ah! Was it the clearing quest? Or the one to find an object?” She asked him before making her way over to him with the torch. “We might as well clear it up though, the experience is good and we might find treasure if we search the place thoroughly?” she suggested though she wasn’t too sure if they would. In some games rare gear could be found if they managed to unlock hidden quests, in previous games she had played she managed to unlock hidden quests by further examining everything so it wouldn’t be much harm, but she was fine with whatever Alakai wanted since they had been at it for a while now.

[sanquin]

Alakai handed over the legs, and put the rest away in his own inventory. "No no, it's an escort quest. There should be an npc somewhere here that, when you bring him back outside, will give you a reward. A cloth chest armour piece that looks like a finely woven clerical garment. It should have a 5 percent damage reduction and 2 armor on it, which will give an extra 1%. So 6% damage reduction total. One of the best starter light armors, not counting the first dungeon at level 24." First the man checked two of the rooms, which were both empty. Kali suggested combing through the entire place, but he was against it for a good reason. "We could, but that would just waste time. The gear we can find here will be useless to us in another few levels. And the plan is to level fast. So we should only take what we find on the way, sell valuable items to players to earn money, and mostly focus on leveling when we're out here. We'll be able to earn a lot more money from just killing monsters later on anyway." Finally in the third chamber Alakai spotted something. "I...think I found something." He spoke a little unsure. "There's a cocoon of some kind over here, and it's moving. And...well, by gaming logic a cocoon like that usually holds something quest related, or some trash loot." There was only one way to find out. Using his strength as a monk, the man ripped the silken cocoon away piece by piece. And, as expected, inside was a man. He looked like a farmer or miner, though not too muscular. Not only that though. He looked wounded as well. "Kali, he's wounded! Maybe you can heal him?" In the game, this npc had just been standing at the back of the cave in the open. So it was clear that at least not everything was like the game. The spiders had probably attacked and captured him.

[EveIris]

Kali blinked before frowning. “A escort quests huh? I always found those kinds to be boring,” she admitted. She remembered in past games there were quests where she had to escort people from point A to point B and if they were to take any damage they would drop dead and the quest would end in failure which of course meant she would have to redo the whole thing over again. This one however seemed a bit better, since they pretty much cleared most of the cave the journey back outside would be safe. “Well that sounds good, the item I mean. Not the babysitting,” she mumbled before stretching her arms out. She went ahead and began checking the rooms as he did, but found nothing interesting. “Level fast huh? We won’t be able to start any proper raids once we max levels, we’ll have to wait for the others unless they allow lower levels in,” she mumbled to herself. She wasn’t entirely sure if Alakai was on board with the concept of raiding since he didn’t seem very found of large groups of people. She eventually followed him to the third chamber watching him move over to what appeared to be a cocoon. “Oh ew. Don’t touch it, that could be fresh,” she mumbled as she watched him. She wasn’t really fond of dark caves and oversized spiders especially not after the boss they defeated. A man appeared once the silk was pulled away, he laid on the ground barely breathing which caused her concern to rise. “Odd, usually they don’t actually make someone heal the npcs.” She muttered before asking him to move out of the way. Crouching down she touched his body before lifting her staff slightly for a strong healing spell. She could not see his vitals. All she knew was that it said ‘Reyny Ames’ above his head which was his name. The moment she finished healing the man woke up, blinking with surprise. Quickly he sat up and stared at his hands before he burst into tears and practically threw himself into Kali’s arms which of course surprised her. “I don’t remember them getting physical either,” she whispered over to Alakai. “Praise the lords, I have been saved. Thank you, you have saved my life, those awful creatures managed to sneak up on me. I thought I wouldn't see the sun anymore,” the man cried out though Kali only glanced over to Alakai for help. She couldn't exactly say 'hey okay give us the reward,' could she? Not when he actually seemed to show how scared he was. The game was very different from the experience they were having now.

[sanquin]

(Couldn't you just have thought of a name? :P We're in this together remember? You can have your input as well. So when someone is unnamed or something similar, don't be afraid to just think of something yourself. :) ) "Sir, we were wondering, do the people of the land still give out rewards to adventurers?" Alakai asked, thinking he might as well ask this person directly. If the quest didn't exist any more he wouldn't leave this man in the cave of course. But it would at least give him an answer to the important question of quests still existing or not. "Wait...does that mean you're adventurers?" The man asked, looking more surprised about that knowledge than Alakai asking about rewards. "Ah...yes, we are. I think we're the first ones to come this far, right?" The monk decided to ask. "Well...not exactly. There have been adventurers before. But a month ago they all disappeared. Thank god that you people have finally returned!" The man, feeling better now that Kali had healed him, sat on his knees and gave the two a respectful bow. "As by the contract made between adventurers and people of the land, I will of course reward you two. But I don't have anything on me. My wife is an excellent tailor though, so I can offer you a set of clothes. Just, please don't leave me here." Alakai felt a little awkward now. The man treated him and Kali like they were nobility or something. No one had ever bowed to him before. "Ah, eh...please don't bow. It makes me feel uncomfortable." He spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't worry, we'll bring you back to your wife safely. And some new clothes will be just fine. Heck, we wouldn't leave you behind even without a reward. I'm just glad that the, eh, contract is still in effect. It would be hard to make a living for us otherwise." "Thank you kind strangers!" The man spoke, bowing once again. Alakai decided to help him up on his feet, as he still looked weakened. He then also gave the man a sandwich from a second lunchbox in his inventory, and one of his mana tea's. He didn't know if the regeneration effects worked for NPC's as well, but at the very least since this world was so real now, they had to eat as well right? It could help him regain some energy at the very least.

[EveIris]

Kali was more than thankful that Alakai had stepped in since she was beginning to feel a headache come on from trying to figure a way to get their reward. She hadn't really interacted with NPCs before, it was just a little strange for her. In game it was fine because she was well aware that they were computer generated and they usually said the same thing, but now that they were actually physically in the game it felt a little too real to assume they were just computers. She watched him bow and immediately felt awkward as Alakai did though she didn't say anything since he was showing his gratitude. "You must miss her huh?" she lightly joked before standing up as she held up the torch once more so the area would be lit. She was surprised that Alakai gave him food, she figured it wasn't needed by an NPC. "Hey, isn't that a bit of a waste," she muttered just loud enough for him to hear. She motioned for Reyny to walk behind her as she walked ahead to illuminate the path. "Oh how horrible rude of me. I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Reyny Ames." He said as Kali smiled wondering if small talk was actually possible with this NPC. "This is Alakai and I'm Kali," she replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you adventurers." "Hey Alakai.... was it the left tunnel we came from or the right?" she asked him having grown confused. SHe hated dark places and with good reason too considering her sense of direction was pretty much nonexistent. She was reliant on the map but whenever she accessed it it just showed her in some cave. It hadn't shown her the exact details of the cave itself. "Please don't tell me we're lost, maybe it was this one? No no I swear we came from that one," she replied as she paced herself over to the right tunnel before quickly moving to the left.

[sanquin]

Alakai shrugged at Kali's question. "Not really. My profession is cooking, remember? I can make better food than the starter ones already. I just need to buy the ingredients in town, which are pretty cheap. And we have the money now." Then he whispered the second part so the npc didn't hear. "Plus, I kinda feel not offering him food would make us jerks. It's like they're still npc's, but also people. It's weird." The three kept on moving, Alakai going in front in case there were already some respawns. Though even when they passed the resting area no monsters appeared. And then they came to a split in the road. And right away Kali started panicking. He wouldn't help but grin, putting a hand on her shoulder as she was pacing back and forth between the two entrances. "Don't worry, when we passed here I made sure to note from which side we came. Beside, I still remember what path to take from the beta." He pointed to the left entrance, and started walking again. "Also, reaching this point means that we're only another 10 away from the entrance, if we also had to fight in between. Meaning we should be out in five to seven minutes I think?" Then finally, just as they reached the small cave that held the cave entrance on the other side, one spider seemed to have respawned. That same spider Alakai had killed the moment they had entered the cave. "Seems this cave wants to pour a bit more salt into our wounds after that horrific encounter with the Queen Spider. Though for some reason, this one doesn't look so scary any more." Alakai spoke as he got into a fighting position, walking straight towards the creature and ready to finally finish this place of nightmares. Granted, he wouldn't by haunted by it as spiders didn't scare him, and this still felt like he was just playing a game. It was hard to see any of this as real after all, right? (I really felt like I should finish my post here, but feel free to have them all go back to the small farming village if you want.)

[EveIris]

Kali had forgotten that his profession was cooking, it meant he could just make more. Still she felt it was a bit of a waste considering how they wouldn't really benefit much from it. She didn't say anymore though, figuring that his point of appearing kind would prove beneficial to them. Eventually they would get used to it, she had to agree with how strange it was for a npc to communicate so naturally to them, then again it was even more strange that they were stuck in this game, capable of feeling pain. Kali shook her head deciding to ignore it for now. Pondering on it wouldn't be much help. Kali was beyond thankful that Alakai had remembered the pathways. The creature that had spawned back at the entrance was no match for Alakai. In fact he was able to finish it without any of her heals. The moment they were out Kali rejoiced by running ahead, "Oh the sky! The sky looks beautiful!" She cried out happily. She tossed aside the torch though the moment it landed on the ground it vanished into thin air. Soon she realized that because it was an item obtained from the cave and an items not capable of collecting it returned back to the cave. It was an interesting thought. "Our village is a about twenty minutes from here. " Reynes explained before pointing south. Since he didn't have a mount she figured they would be walking. She wasn't sure his mount could carry more than two since the most she had seen was 2 people per mount. Perhaps there were mounts out there but they were probably limited and extremely rare. She soon realized that they were headed the direction they had came from. As they began their walk Reynes went ahead to explain what kind of village. It was small but they made decent profits off their crops. When they finally arrived Kali took notice of the sun's position. She had woken up when it was during the day, she assumed that was morning time so they probably had a few hours before nightfall came. They passed by a few farmers who recognized Reyne and came over to express their concern over his absence. They also mentioned how worried his wife had been. Waving them goodbye he showed them to his house only for the door to slam open as a woman came out. She was dressed in simply cloth, but her eyes were swollen. Kali was surprised to see how realistic it all appeared. Running over to her husband she slammed into him wrapping her arms around him as she began to cry. Kali watched the scene unfold awkwardly before leaning over to Alakai. "They really seem so real," she whispered. After a few words were exchanged between the couple the woman finally took notice of the two strangers behind her husband. "Oh! Are you the ones who saved my husband?" she questioned.

[sanquin]

Alakai was more reserved when they finally went outside again. Though he too was glad they were. This whole quest had been an experiment. To see how this world worked, and how far they could go if they treated it like the game. So far, though seemingly 90% similar, some things were more like the world they had come from as well. Like the npc's, whom were far more like people now. And Kali agreed with him as they started walking back to the small village. "In my opinion, anything that can show honest emotion like that is sentient, and should be treated with respect. So until proven otherwise, I'll treat them as such. It still feels strange though." Once back at the village there was a happy reunion between the husband and wife. Alakai nodded, wondering what to do in a situation like this, besides just standing there awkwardly. "Ah, yes. I think it's highly likely that we're the first of many more adventurers. Though I'm not sure why others haven't come here yet..." "So you really are adventurers! The village saw you two riding through earlier, but we were unsure. Ah...my apologies, I'm just so excited to see my husband back." She bowed respectfully, then motioned towards their house. It had a stand standing next to the front door, though nothing was being sold at the moment. Probably because the wife was the merchant. And logically, who would be able to keep their shop open when they're worried about their husband? "Please, come in! Luckily I still have some clothing from before the other adventurers disappeared, so I can give you a reward of course. Though I'd also like to invite you to dinner, as a special thanks for being the first to return to our aid again." Alakai glanced towards Kali, as he still hadn't gotten much further than 'awkwardly standing there.' The npc's treated the two of them with so much respect, and apparently saw it as normal to give a reward when an adventurer did something for them. Not that he would complain, as they needed the items. But it still felt weird...even if you'd expect such a thing from npc's.

[EveIris]

Kali could only smile at the woman, she appeared to be eternally grateful for seeing her husband. It was hard to believe that they were mere computer programs. It got Kali thinking that if they were incapable of waking up from this world was it possible for their own data to be erased? That was a possibility, she hadn't the evidence to back it up but this was programmed by someone. Them being in the game meant that they were now part of a larger collection of data. Her head snapped up with surprise when she heard the woman exclaimed something about adventurers. She was confused for a brief moment having lost track of what the topic was until she explained her excitement. Kali thanked the woman before entering the small but humble home. The ceiling was low and it was a little cramped with the furniture, but she could feel how cosy it was. Glancing back she realized Alakai was still standing at the doorway looking a little awkward. Seeing him like that only brought a soft chuckle from her as she shook her head. "Alakai and I would love to stay for dinner, that is if you wish for us to. We would hate to intrude especially with your husband back," she replied casually only to see the woman flush with slight embarrassment. "Nonsense! You saved his life, making a meal for you is the least of my worries. Dear why don't you go wash up? I'll handle the reward. I've made your favorite," she mentioned. The man nodded before giving the two of them a sheepish smile. They thanked them and made his way upstairs. However Kali had caught onto what the woman had said. It seemed a little odd that she had prepared his favorite meal when she was unaware of him returning. Then again it could have been her overthinking, ever since she had gotten into this world she was overwhelmed by everything. "So what is his favorite?" Kali asked deciding to make small talk. They responded like normal people so she figured she could test this further.

[sanquin]

Alakai awkwardly followed inside. He welcomed the meal of course, but to just be invited into a strangers' house... Once inside though, a large part of that awkwardness disappeared. The family didn't have a lot and the house was small, but it was cosy. And they had a very lovely kitchen. And for the first time today, he had an itch he had every day when he was in the real world. The man loved cooking and eating good food. Ingame cooking didn't work like real life cooking. But this world...well, he wasn't even entirely sure if it was indeed the game world, or something else. And some things seemed to work like the real world. Alakai had planned on waiting with this little experiment until they were back in the city, but with such an opportunity he couldn't pass it up. "Miss, can I ask a different favour? I'm actually a cook myself, and I'd like to try a...special kind of cooking. I haven't been able to try so far, since we don't have the money or a kitchen. So...ah..." The woman looked confused, then chuckled softly. "My aren't you awkward. No need, make yourself right at home! We'll be eating together after all. But...are you sure? I want to thank you for bringing back my husband..." Alakai chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his arm. "Well, consider me borrowing your kitchen as a thank you then? It's okay if I can't..." The woman thought for a little bit, then finally nodded. "Well, okay then. But I want to watch. Because now I'm interested in what kind of meal an adventurer will make." Alakai then looked towards Kali, smiling a little. "I'm going to try how we cook where we come from. Maybe I can recreate some of the flavours." Both npc's now looked confused, though they didn't say anything as they only saw it 'weird things adventurers say'. In the beta the players also referenced the real world a lot. And to npc's, it pretty much sounded like a different language at those times.

[EveIris]

Kali was surprised to hear Alakai ask the woman if he could cook in their kitchen, immediately she grew rather excited wondering if he was going to try and make something edible and taste good. Even though it had been a day she felt like it had been ages since she had something nice. She was craving her favorite food, but she didn’t mention it. Since Alakai was still new with his cooking skills she figured it would take a while before he could actually make her favorite food, perhaps one day when his level was high enough she could request. “I’m kind of curious too over what you’ll make but since the kitchen is kind of small I’ll have a seat outside and relax. I am looking forward to it really,” she said happily before turning her attention to the woman. “Do you have anything to drink, I’m a little thirsty,” she said only for the woman to gasp. “Of course, go ahead and sit down and I’ll bring out something for you to drink.” She ushered Kali out of the kitchen to the living room. It was small but it had a table with 4 chairs which was convenient. Taking a seat, she leaned back and let out a heavy breath. She was tired, strange enough. Did they require sleep in this world like they did in the other. The woman explained where all her things were in the kitchen for Alakai in case he wanted to use them. She showed him her spice jars and where her fresh ingredients were kept before stepping back and letting him go on his own. She was curious over to what he would make since it was a first that someone had requested her for her kitchen. “Oh, please do let me know if you require assistance.”

[sanquin]

"Hmm, can I first smell the spices? I won't stick my nose in of course." Alakai asked, not wanting to offend. The woman looked confused once again, but nodded slowly. "I guess...but why would you need to do that?" "You'll see..." He replied with a smile. The man started going through all the spices available, and picked out 4 different ones that smelled familiar to him. They didn't look anything like the spices from their world, but as long as the smell was similar it should work. He then also gathered himself some lamb chops, peas, and potatoes.

Once everything was ready Alakai explained as much as he could to the woman. Though he still did everything himself. As he figured the npc's would also be used to the game style of cooking. He peeled the potatoes, spiced the meat, and got a pan and a pot ready. It took about 30 minutes to prepare everything after that. Lamb chops with potatoes and peas, and plenty of gravy. He divided everything in four bowls, and served them up on the table. The wife had already prepared the rest of the table, so they could sit and start eating.

Alakai had already tested the taste by then, so he knew that it tasted, well, like it should. It actually had teste, for starters. So he couldn't wait to see the npcs' reaction. Cooking was more fun when you could see other people enjoy it as well.

[EveIris]

Kali was growing bored with the waiting, though she could smell the light aroma of food in the air and though it smelled great she feared that it was just her imagination. Soon enough the woman had come out to set the table before rushing back into the kitchen to help out with Alakai. Within a few minutes four bowls were brought out and placed on the table. By then the husband had come down, his hair still a little damp from his shower.

When everyone was seated the woman spoke, immediately thanking the two for saving her husband and for preparing such a wonderful meal. Kali had gone ahead and dug into the meal though her mind was entirely wrapped around the fact that it had tasted way better than anything she had in the real world. She was completely shocked with the taste and though some of the food appeared to look like things she recognized the taste of them was a little different. Glancing up at Alakai she grinned, "You figured it out?" she asked knowing that the last time they had food here it was horrible bland. She was beginning to worry that that would be the only thing they would be able to taste for the rest of their time here.

The couple themselves were impressed with the meal and enjoyed it greatly. "I'll help clean," Kali suggested, it was something she did often at home so it felt a little weird not to offer her help and since Alakai had done all the cooking she figured it was fair for her to clean up. The woman however was frantic with the idea, immediately shaking her head when she heard her words.

[sanquin]

The couple were more than impressed. They were completely shocked. As they, too, had only ever tasted the 'game food', and didn't know any better. "What...what is this?" The wife asked, her mouth still full. She quickly swallowed and looked a little puzzled at the meal. "It...it tastes amazing! You have to tell me how you do this!" Alakai chuckled awkwardly, though nodded. "I guess I can write down everything I did. But the most important part is that you have to do everything by hand. When you use the...the normal method of cooking, all flavour is taken out for some reason. But if you do every step yourself the flavour remains." The wife nodded intently, determined to also start making such incredible meals.

After dinner, Kali wanted to help as well. Though this time the wife would have nothing of it. She insisted that she would do it on her own. In the mean time the husband decided to take care of the still unfinished business. "Adventurers, why don't you come with me. I'll show you to the closet you can pick your reward from. There are several different styles, but they're all of equal quality." He walked them into the storage room, where several large closets and some crates were spread around. He then opened the one closest to the door, revealing exactly 12 different outfits to choose from. The same amount as the classes you could choose from in the game. So most likely there would be one for every class.

Alakai had no trouble finding the one he needed. He still remembered what it looked like. It was basically a more fancy version of what he already had. And it wasn't ragged like the one he was wearing now. He picked it out immediately, holding it in front of him to inspect it. 10 armor, +5% damage reduction. Monk class only. Indeed class restrictions seemed to still apply for some reason... "Well...the one for your class should be in there as well Kali." He spoke, figuring she could find her own by inspecting them.

(New outfit: http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/337/8/d/ro___zen_by_phixuscarus-d6wl5rl.jpg )

[EveIris]

Kali wasn't really comfortable with letting her wash up alone since it looked like there was quite a bit of a mess, then again cooking good meals usually did leave a mess. Still she allowed the woman to clean up alone since she was rather stern about Kali stepping into the kitchen. She followed Alakai and the husband to their storage room. She was surprised at the amount of crates that were around and conveniently the one he opened had 12 outfits then again it was so that each class got one. If they were to do dungeons they wouldn't be as fortunate to get a piece of the loot as the loot varied from time to time on class. If they were in a large party and more than one person wanted it they would have to roll for it through the system. However she wasn't too worried about that, her subclass was being a tailor so that meant she could make better gear than what the game offered if she leveled it up high. It also granted her the ability to fuse special items or rare artifacts into the material to give additional stat points.

Kali went ahead to dig through the outfits, she lifted up the one for her class noticing how it was a little more modest compared to her current one. It felt light too, though she wondered if she would feel hot in it since it was rather long. Still she took it out and smiled at the man. "Thank you," she replied before opening her inventory. This one increased her mana regeneration by 8% and gave her 2% spell vamp. "We should be on our way though," Kali mentioned softly knowing the sun would be setting soon.

((http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/091/2/1/___commission_outfit_april_04____by_violetky-d7cj6xe.png))

[sanquin]

Alakai nodded. It was probably time to go, though they could take the long way around. It wasn't that late yet, after all. "Thanks for letting me borrow your kitchen, ma'am. But we should head back to the city. See how things are going there." The man gave a slight awkward bow with his head before heading outside. It was rather abrupt, and probably a bit rude if they had been in the real world. But the two npc's didn't say anything. Partially out of respect for the adventurers, but mostly because that's how it had always been. Adventurers always came and went rather quickly, as if they were always busy with their work of helping anyone who needed help. Which was indeed true when this was still a game.

Outside Alakai took a small whistle with a tiger emblem on it out of his pocket, and blew it. After a few seconds his large tiger mount came running towards them, roaring as it stopped in front of them. Alakai took a slight step back, feeling a bit intimidated by the large creature. But he knew he could trust on it not harming anyone. It was just a mount after all, not a beast from the wild. He jumped on it's back and extended his hand towards Kali just like last time, then turned towards the forest at a calm pace. This way they could enjoy the sights around them a little on their way back. "I finally thought of a name for him. Khronos. A tiger should have a powerful name, plus he saves us a lot of time with travelling."

[EveIris]

Kali wasn't sure why that felt rather exhausting. It wasn't so much of their home distressing her but the people themselves, they were strange to say in the least. They responded but their lack of knowledge over social cues were evident. Of course it didn't seem like such a big deal since players could still interact with players. Making her way out with Alakai she watched him take out his whistle as he blew into it. She couldn't hear anything though, it was probably at a volume she couldn't pick up. Soon a tiger came running towards them though it's roar was enough to get her to back away a bit with surprise. He jumped onto the beast with such ease that she had to wonder if he had already gotten used to it.

Reaching forward she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up onto the mount. "Khronos?" The word meant Time. It was an interesting name to say in the least. "Well I wouldn't be sure about how powerful he is since we can't use him during battle, but he sure is helpful. I can't wait to get mine. I heard you can get a pink ostrich! How cool is that! It'll look adorable," she said with glee though she wasn't sure if she could get it since it was rare. Some mounts were rare and they were given out as quest prizes. She hoped that wasn't the case though. "Oh um where are we headed now? The sun is setting so do we need to find a place to stay? Or should we head out somewhere," strangely she wasn't feeling tired despite their training so that meant they could probably carry on throughout the night.

[sanquin]

"As I just said, back to the starter city. I want to first see how things are going there. We can decide what to do after that." Information was always important in any game, if you wanted to stay ahead. If others had wandered outside as well, then Alakai might want to train some more just to be sure. Otherwise, it was probably better to get some rest and let everything that had happened sink in. And if they had gone out, maybe others were willing to share information of how this world worked. For instance, if you died or if you got resurrected in this world.

The trip back was a bit less uneventful than when they set out. Apparently monsters had decided to wander out of their normal area's a little. And now they were also close to the road. One particular group of low level goblins had decided to block the road. So the monsters weren't set to their ingame AI as Alakai had hoped. It meant they would have to be careful while travelling from now on. That being said, the small group of adversaries were very easily dealt with. They were only level 10, so they were very easy to beat.

The sun had fully gone below the hills, and it was getting pretty dark when they finally arrived at the city again. Though things seemed rather...quiet. No players just outside or at the gates. So Alakai thought that the other players hadn't taken action yet. Or most of them hadn't at least. Once they had crossed the bridge into the city though, they were immediately approached by a dozen or so players coming from all directions. "Some players came from outside! They made it back!" Someone shouted in the distance. News spread rather quickly it seemed. "How was it out there?!" "Is it dangerous?" "Did you meet the other group that went out?!" The two were bombarded with questions before they could even get off Alakai's mount. Though Alakai was interested in only one of them.

"Other players went out? When was this? And how many?" He asked. "Well, a group of six went together to scout the area, but they haven't returned yet..." Came as an answer. Alakai thought for a few moments, then sighed. "To answer some questions... Yes there are monsters out there just like in the game. Yes they will attack you. We don't know if you can die though...so I can't tell you if it's safe. And we didn't meet other players." Some players were frightened, others disappointed. But any information was still better than none at this point. "Ah, but if anyone is interested in going outside we found a buckler and some crafting materials to make armour." None of the players around them seemed interested. Though since word of mouth seemed to spread very quickly someone would probably come to them sooner or later. "Kali, how about we go to the inn and rest for a while? After that we can maybe go outside again for a little bit and train a bit more." Alakai said this as he was already riding his mount further into the city. He wanted to get away from the crowd that was starting to form around them.

[EveIris]

Kali nodded as she tilted her head to the side so she could get a better view of the trail ahead of them. She could feel the wind in through her hair and a part of her loved how fresh it was compared to the air she got at home. She lived in a small cramped up congested area, there was plenty of haze at times too which made the air horrible to breathe. Kali took noticed of the minor differences, as night came the temperature had dropped, some areas appeared to be completely dark and she wondered if they had to bring their own light to see around there. The monsters seemed to be moving around on a different course compared to the one they were during the day, thankfully they didn't' have any trouble dealing with them.

When they reached the city Kali was surprised to see the so many players come up to them. She had assumed they would have adventured out and find their own way, but instead they stayed in town. She couldn't help but frown at the idea, she knew that they were scared, but sitting around and waiting wouldn't do them much either. Glancing over to Alakai she let him do the answering knowing that if she were to answer she would state her disappointment in them and probably remind them that it was best to go and see for themselves. "Rest sounds great to me," she replied knowing that they had been out for quite a bit of time. She turned her head back seeing the crowd disperse once they were far enough from them. Once they reached the inn, Kali got off the mount and made her way into the inn, it was one of her favorite places to actually be (considering that they sol alcohol). Kali couldn't help but chuckle, she remembered spending quite a bit on the alcohol because her character could get drunk, the best part was everything was all fuzzy and strange though she wasn't exactly drunk. Making her way to the counter she had to wonder if they had to actually rent a room and pay for it? Usually inns remained as a save point or an area where things could be sold and repaired since players could log out. "Adventurer! I see you're in need of a room!" The man called out as Kali blinked with surprise. "Yeah two rooms actually, do we have to pay?" she asked, though the man simply laughed. "Indeed that was a good one. Yes payment must occur," he said. Kali was surprised with his emotion as she turned her head back. "Hey, shall we get a room? We can make it cheaper by getting one room with two beds or we could just sit by the bar and drink," she mentioned to Alakai, wanting to leave the decision up to him since she wasn't sure how long they'd be resting for.

[sanquin]

Kali was the one to step to the innkeeper. The Inn was actually pretty busy. Not a surprise, as apparently most players were too confused or afraid to go outside and see what this whole 'waking up in another world' thing was about. Alakai was thinking about other things though. Like where to go next, after they had rested. First they had to sell items of course. But considering how he wasn't soloing, what was the best place to level up? He was brought back to the matters at hand when Kali asked him about the rooms. His eyes widened a little, and his face quickly coloured red as her question sunk in. "E-erm...sleeping in the same room? Well...er...i-if you're fine with it. I mean...we're still practically strangers... Definitely drinks first though." If they were going to sleep in same room Alakai wasn't sure if he could even fall asleep. He had never had a girlfriend, let alone a girl sleeping in the same room as him.