Hanzoku

He took a deep breath and set his feet, breathing in and out slowly as he calmed himself, let his focus sharpen on the task. His feet dug into the ground and he took off into a sprint, letting his momentum build as he transferred from an easy loping stride to a full out charge. The wolves looked up in surprise as he burst into their midst, sword drawn back as it glowed with his charged and ready ability. "<<Cleave>>!" he shouted as he lashed out, a slash of energy striking at all four wolves at once. However, he had misjudged his angle, and the strike only hit one of the wolve

The scruffy player straightened up and considered the material in his hands. Together with what he earned from his first wolf, he had enough to bring back to Landon already. But on the other hand, he really wanted to try taking on a group and see how well it worked out. Between his heavy armor and backup potions, it wasn't much of a threat, and the rewards from his first kill were addictive. He earned almost as much as his first quest had given him in about five seconds. It was easy to see how the game suckered players into being overconfident and greedy. At the same time, properly managi

Less wary of the creatures around him, Hanzoku decided to experiment and swapped out his shield for (ironically) the wolf-head pendant that he had bought in NIGHT's shop. While the THORNS effect had been nice, he didn't need the health regeneration that badly, and he figured that it was far better to severely lessen his chances of missing in the next fight - if only to keep them short and within the limits of his energy pool. While he waited for his energy to regenerate back to full, he had a lot more enthusiasm for searching for materials using his <<Forage>> skill, seeing th

Hanzoku slowly relaxed from his battle ready crouch and cracked his neck left and right. His pulse was racing, but his breathing was calm - there hadn't been time enough for any emotions to set in. The fight - if he could call it that - had lasted only moments. With the gear he had been given, it wasn't even a close match. Though he had been quite lucky that the beast had almost literally walked into his attack, its teeth were far from threatening, and he basically had had all the time in the world to fight it. He reached down and poked the glowing crystal that represented the monster's l

The wolf threw itself at Hanzoku in a rushing flurry, snarling and snapping. He could count its ribs, and its eyes were maddened with hunger - something only reinforced by the name that floated above it. He dove out of the way of its first change and came to his feet as it slid to a halt, panting and snarling as it threw itself at its intended prey in another frenzied rush, neglecting even the basic concept of self preservation. Hanzoku's hand tightened on the hilt of his weapon. Humble Aspirations. A weapon for a novice, one who strives to become more. Humble aspirations indeed. The weap

Hanzoku left the City behind for the plains of the first floor, winding his way around the wandering mobs. Having leveled several times from his first quest, he was no longer nearly as interesting to attack for many of the beginner mobs, who weren't normally that overly aggressive to start with. He kept an eye out anyway to avoid becoming the victim of a boar stampede or avoid drawing the ire of a wolf pack - even with his heavy gear, he didn't want his first combat experience to be pulling a full group of enemies down on himself. Though, if he was careful, he was fairly sure between his heavy

Hanzoku looked back and forth at the others, then at the alchemist, who was already industriously busy with whatever he had been doing before they came into the shop. "Actually, we're not here about ordering -" "Tut tut. Then why are you wasting my time, young man?" the alchemist said, pausing for half a second to frown at Hanzoku. The player paused, considered the other two men in the group, and shrugged at the relatively truthful statement. "Look, if we find those materials for you, will you have time to answer a few questions for us?" he said bluntly. "Ah! Yes, yes. And

Having prepared himself for the quest by securing his gathering skill ahead of time, it was time for Hanzoku to take the plunge and pick up his actual profession. He had asked others what was in demand, as well as looking for what advertisements were hung out and what felt right. At the end of the day, he decided to make something of his musical talents and see where that led. His decision took him to the a small street near the center of the Town of Beginnings. While it felt like it was off the beaten path, for those who knew what they were looking for, it was a short and easy walk from

In the interests of fairness, the students of the Shirajishi-ryū Dojo had spread their flyers high and low (quite literally in Aincraid), and a few had even made their way to the Town of Beginnings, and one of those into the hands of the man now walking his last steps on the long road that has lead to this Dojo. His armor is stained with the dust of the road, and he wipes the sweat from his forehead as he stands by the red torii gate that marked the beginning of the estate's grounds. He grimaces faintly as he notices the dock next to the gate - surely that would have been a lot faster. Though

<<Quest Complete!>> 300 XP <<Forager Profession Earned>> 1x Demonic Shard 2x Materials <<Thread Rewards>> 400 Col EXP Calculation: (Word Count / 10) * (Player's Tier) * (Group Factor) (3,894 / 10) * (1) * (1) = 389 Thread Summary Hanzoku +1,378 EXP [Total] | (300 EXP [Quest] + 389 [Thread Progression]) *2 [Recruitment Drive] +400 Col [Total] | 400col [Thread Progression] + 1x Demonic Shard + 2x Materials

In the clearing, the campfire's warm glow was a welcome sight. Giovanna sat next to it, finishing a bowl of stew as Hanzoku crashed out of the underbrush into the clearing. "Enjoy your stew. Hey, I found what you were looking for." he said, tossing her the Demonic Shard. She juggled the bowl and the shard for a moment before grabbing both safely and giving the dirty adventurer an annoyed look. "So you've found a Demonic Shard! You continue to impress me. I'll confess, you've learned all that I could teach you through this single quest. Trial by fire has always been my preferred style

His feet turned off the familiar circuit through the woods. Night was falling, and he had the fruits of his labor to show to Giovanna. Overall, it had been a long but successful day, and he think he had an idea of what he needed to look for in the future. "You know... I wouldn't have minded this game, even with permadeath. If it didn't mean risking our lives in the real world... it makes you cautious. and it makes you think. Most other games, the way to solve raid boss is to throw bodies at it. Dying in droves hour by hour to figure out its mechanics by pure brute force. Here, you have to

"Eh, sorry for giving you shit earlier. About the boss voices thing." he said apologetically as the sun sank down towards the horizon, casting the forests in shades of oranges. "I wouldn't actually turn you into something useless." "It was... not unenjoyable." "Well good! Maybe when I tank my first Kobold King, it'll give a rousing speech for its minions and shake with ominous laughter before attacking." "....Mwahahaha." "Haha, what was that?" he said, grinning widely. "...Nothing. Mwahahahaha." the voice said, trying to muffle its practice further. I'll give you

Hanzoku paused in his searching as he quest log flashed. Curious, he opened it, to find a third quest had joined the two he was already busy with. "<<Feeding Your Enemy>>, eh? What's that?" "the reward is a familiar. A pet." "Oh? And you think I need a pet?" "You are lonely. And unhappy. Studies show that pets make their owners happy." "...maybe I'll look into it." he said. The thought appealed to him - and he was glad that he hadn't had a pet at the time out of game. He had been thinking about adopting a new one when he got back from his vacation. His week

"Have you considered... therapy?" He snorted, then started laughing. "Ay ay ay... any therapists in the initial ten thousand? Who's still alive?" "... no." "Yeah. Believe me - yeah, I need therapy. Everyone does - or they're lying. Or psychos. I mean hell, there are PK, can you believe it? In a fucking death game, there are people who go out of their way to murder other players. I mean, PKs are generally assholes anyway, but its a hell of a difference between annoying someone for an hour by spawn camping their corpse and sticking a blade in them knowing their brain is getting ch

"There are... others like you? Like you were?" "Oh yeah. I mean, look - ten thousand players. A couple thousand died. A couple hundred are actively pushing upward. A couple thousand more are somewhere in between. Another couple hundred who took just enough risk to get a crafting class and settle in and making an economy run. But that still leaves thousands of people who just... drift. In fugue. Too scared to risk their lives, not enough to motivate them to take that first step. They're all over the Town of Beginnings, whole slums filled with bodies. Perfectly healthy, just... dreaming. So

The pause lasted longer. Hanzoku hummed to himself as he kept poking under bushes, behind rocks and in half-hidden corners. "But you willingly remain in pain. For years. Even now. This is illogical." "What's the alternative? For one, I was depressed as hell, and couldn't muster the energy to do... well... anything. But I can't die from being depressed in this world. I mean, you literally have no reason to move. You don't actually have to eat. Or drink. Or shave, shower, use the toilet, roll over to avoid bed sores. If you're depressed enough, you can just lie there! Forever." "B

"Why are you out alone now, mortal?" "Eh, you know how it is - everyone else picked up their skills a long time ago. I'm Johnny come lately and playing catchup. I'm sure if I asked, a high level'd take pity on me and tag along, but... eh, this is safe and they've got better things to do." "...you confuse me." "Oh? Why's that?" "According to your logs... you have not eaten a single item in game. Over two years in game. Are you not hungry?" "I thought you weren't Cardinal? Eh, you get used to it." "I'm not, but ...how?" "Funny thing, really. You see, Kayaba mad

"Abe was your friend?" "Yeah, one of the ones who died. Second day, about an hour after we stepped outside the gates. Stupid, really - I mean, any other game you'd laugh it off, you know? Boar to the gut, could happen to anyone. Of course, any other game doesn't microwave your gray matter for fucking up." "...no." "Ah, I don't blame you. Kayaba is the one who programmed you and designed the hardware. You don't want to kill people, its just the way the dice rolled. But yeah, Abe was one of the 'one in five died in the first month'. God, I remember that announcement. Really threw

"How are you so blasé about evil whispering in your mind?" "Oh! Funny story that. I spent most of an expansion in WoWoW III toting around a legendary weapon infused with the power of the Old Gods, and it would say the most fuc- er screwed up things. Ah, we'd get some good laughs in guild chat over it. Too bad ol' Timmy had to ruin it for everyone." "Who was this... Timmy?" "Ah, some kid. When I said that it whispered some screwed up stuff, I meant it - not sure how it got past beta and months of retail without someone saying 'hey, are we sure this is a good idea?' But yeah, it k

"Say the lines." ".... no." "Say the lines!" "Why must you persist in this, mortal?!" "Because! Now, say the lines or so help me, you'll get worked into a Demonic Toilet! It'll have HEATED SEAT I, BIDET II and FLORAL SCENT I for qualities!" "Player characters don't need to use the bathroom!" "Exactly! It'll be a monument to uselessness! Say! The! Lines!" ".... coughs I am the lucid dream...the monster in your nightmares...the fiend of a thousand faces! Cower before my true form! BOW DOWN BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH!" "Ahhh.... that takes me back. Good stuff.

Moving onward, the American player started humming to himself as the <<Compass>> led him to several outcroppings where he attempted to dig out materials ."Diggy Diggy Hole... I'm a dwarf and I'm digging a hole..." he sang as he lost himself in the repetitive motions of find rock, swing pickaxe at rock until the game registered that he'd 'exerted' himself enough and despawned the rock with a shimmer, leaving behind a loose collection of rocks to sift through for anything shiny enough to qualify as a material. In a way, it was sort of a moving meditation. Running the same 15 min

Hanzoku sighed to himself as he wiped his forehead. It was warm today, and he was on his second day of searching without finding so much as a material, much less a Demonic Shard. Yesterday he had started another quest with other players, giving him some interaction with other players to trade off with wandering through the forests. He lifts the <<Cursed Compass>> in his hand and stared at it. "So, what'll it be today? Under a rock this time? Or what about the base of the waterfall again?" He followed the path it described. "Actually, I wouldn't mind the waterfall. How Kayaba c

Hanzoku initially blinks at the monotone speech from Nymoria, then catches how the girl who approaches him is reading his lips to supplement any assistance the game is offering and makes sure that when he speaks that he keeps his mouth in clear view of her sight line as he puts two and two together. "Honestly, miss, I'd appreciate that a lot. I'm a lot better equipped now then I was a few years ago, but I have some boar-related trauma lurking for me out there, and it's 50/50 if I freeze up running into one or go berserk and try turning one into pulled pork. Having an experienced player th

The scruffy bladesman returns to retrieve the sound crystal, bowing politely to the shopkeeper and her feline assistant. "Excellent work, many thanks to you." he says, admiring the simple beauty of the prism. "I'll be using this to open my own shop sometime soon. I'd be honored to offer you a free song crystal - redeemable when I can make something at a useful tier to you." he says with a grin.