Knee Deep [SP-F4](Complete)

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius had just went 0/2 in his crafting attempts. His skill level prevented him from doing any more today, so he thought he might as well go search for more materials. He wasted two on his failed experiments and would need to get them back if he wanted to stay even in his expenditures. He had no heavy cloak, but that did not bother him. The cold did not bother him. The cold was the one thing that was always there, deep within his soul. Hidden beneath the inferno that was his anger. He locked his workshop, picked a direction that led out of town, and walked. He did not care where his feet took him as long as they took him somewhere. He went where the wind blew, where the birds nested, where there was life of an inhuman kind.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

He walked on. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. He set a grueling pace for himself, shifting through the knee deep snow that filled the map. Not that it was always knee deep, in most of the populated areas however. Out here though, in the wilderness, the snow was thick, cold, and as you trudged through it it sapped your strength. Of the weak, anyhow. The cold was something that was Darius' and Darius' alone. It was his anchor, his cooldown. It was how he put his temper in check: by pain, by cold. He stopped for a moment, watching as his breath filtered through his helmet, spiraling into the air and away, heading to who knows what. Was that really sky up there? No one knew what it really was since no one had ever been there. Darius grunted and continued walking.

[Darius Verand 0]

Walking was good. Exercise was good. The cold was good. Everything he was doing was good. It brought his mind away from dark thoughts. It kept him sane. That is why he trudged on, grueling and strong. His pace was harsh, but this was no marsh. The snow, though not for show, parted to Darius like dirt to a hoe. Steady as he was, steady as he goes. Ready as ever, dropping mad prose. He stopped again, his mouth tugging upward. His mind was a wonderful place. When he let it flow freely he often thought of rhyming, of poetry. He wondered that if he had been in someone else's life, or had gotten different chances, if he could've been a different person. Someone less old. Or maybe this was fate and fate wasn't possible to escape from. With that in mind, thinking of things that were kind, he trudged on.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius had been walking for some time. The afternoon slid into night, and with that it gave him little fright. Night was beautiful, unlike any other. It was like a caring mother, caressing you in darkness, the sounds becoming pure bliss. A world away, something fresh for which you do not have to pay. If you listen, and listen well, you can discover something, no worse than heaven or hell. It was the world, the one in which we lived in. Or was it a world? Or was it a game. Sometimes no one knew, sometimes some thought they did. He stopped again for a moment, looking up at the crescent moon. He stood there, pondering for some time. He might as well start looking for materials. He might not as well waste the entire night, no matter how beautiful it is. He began searching.

ID: 49522
LD: 16

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

He searched, sidetracked by his thoughts. It was a wonder when he spotted a hole in a tree which had a nest. In that nest there was a single egg. Darius took it in his hand. The potential for life, which was going to be squandered for a potion. It was almost too cruel to do, but Darius almost cared. The material was added to his inventory and he kept walking. One thing he truly missed from the real world was music. Aincrad only had half of what he wanted. It had classical; violins, flutes, trumpets. The original instruments. It did, however, not have rock. It did not have metal, screemo, everything that quelled his anger like a beauty and a beast. The fast beat, angry words, and raging sols were a part of his soul that he craved, and if he ever escaped from this dungeon that would be the first thing he would revisit. He kept on searching.

+1 to Darius' Material Find Count (1 Total)

ID: 49523
LD: 19

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

And so Darius trudged on, through that knee deep snow. Talking to himself, being a rather funny show. Sometimes he was the only he could talk to, and only one that thought too. He was a loner in this world. Over and over he was hurled; through one challenge then the next. Alone, truly and utterly alone. Sure he had associates, but no friends. He had those he was fond of, but truly, could you call them friends? He shared nothing in common with them, no secrets, no free time. That was all his. His secrets were his. His time as his. Everything of his was his and he was loathsome to share it. He didn't want to share it because he had shared it before. He had shared it and those he had shared it with treated him li- Darius was brought from his thoughts a pinecone fell and hit his head, making him look towards the tree where there was an opening oozing sap. He walked up to the tree, scooped some of the sap up, got the material count for it and kept walking. He kept searching.

+1 to Darius' material find count (2 total)

ID: 49525
LD: 14

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius kept walking, kept thinking, kept contemplating. His mind was a whirl of thoughts and emotions. It is what happened when you had you and you alone. You could only talk to yourself and you become your best friend. It wasn't as if he didn't want to make friends... It was just hard to do. It was like trying to speak to someone speaking another language. There was that large barrier between you, but you want to break it, but you can't unless you learn how to cross that barrier. Darius' barrier between him and potential friends was his past. It was Darius himself. How you could pass the person in order to get through the person was beyond him, and as he thought more about it, he was oblivious to the world around him, missing the potential to collect materials. He kept searching though.

ID: 49526
LD: 17

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius didn't even know what he was thinking about. He could never remember these little bouts. He sometimes, when in his right mind, thought about if this was him going insane for a brief moment. A brief moment of intense passion and thought. A brief moment of true clarity that was lost when he went back to sanity. Maybe he should do this more often. His clarity in insanity seemed to bring him massive luck when finding materials. When he wasn't fully intent on searching for them like his life depended on it he seemed to find them more and more often. The reason he thought this was because he came across a a strange plant, one which is native to the fourth floor. He plucked it, adding it to his material count. He then went back to his thoughts, continuing to walk and think, searching as he went.

+1 to Darius' material find count (3 total)

ID: 49527
LD: 12

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe his rambling wasn't helping him, as he walked past another potential material, rambling on to himself about how unfair the real world had been. About how unfair this world was. It was so difficult to start, and it grew more and more difficult, no matter how strong you got, the game always got stronger with you. That is why the entire game was cruel! Was it though? Was it really cruel, or did Darius just think so because he had bad luck. Maybe the game itself was meant to cultivate confidence, sprouting into something wonderful, something powerful! Or maybe it just was a way to leech your confidence from you, crushing you underneath its massive heel unless you had the strength to face it. Darius kept searching.

ID: 49528
LD: 13

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

In his search, whether for the unkowable truth or materials, Darius came to the conclusion that he did have the strength to face this world. It was what he was doing right now: facing it. He was tackling it head on, trying to find materials so that he might further himself. So that he could become stronger. Not that he was having any particular luck as of now. He hadn't missed any materials, just hadn't came across any this time. As he walked he wondered how long he had truly been walking for. When he was like this it was impossible to tell the time. impossible, Darius would tell you. He looked up to the moon, seeing it had crept farther through the sky. As he stopped he felt exhaustion in his legs. He wondered how long he had been truly walking. He turned around, walking back the way he came, searching all the while.

ID: 49529
LD: 11

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

He was slowly coming back to his senses. Slowly regaining sanity. Slowly losing clarity. It was a price to pay, having clarity. It came to you in few, scant times, only to disappear when you think you know the answers to the universe. Now that he has calmed down, Darius could truly feel the exhaustion in his body. The cold too. He was resistant to the cold, but not immune to it, and when you stomped around through it for god knows how long he started to get a wee bit chilly. That would not get a whine from him though. He was too dignified and stubborn to complain, so he trudged on through the knee deep snow, looking for materials all the while.

ID: 49534
LD: 7

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

And yet, look as he may, he still found none. He trudged through the snow, following his footsteps back. Now that he was in his right mind, he noticed how zigzagged his path had been, evidence attesting to his wandering mind. It was not as if he truly wanted to be this way. A broken mind had its own unique way of fixing itself, or more specifically, holding itself together. Having to stomp and ramble madly to the trees and snow seemed like a small price to pay. Looking up to the horizon he noticed smoke trails drifting through the air. He was almost back to town. It was going to be a sight to behold, so he trudged on, looking for some last minute materials before he made it into town.

ID: 49580
LD: 3

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

{13}

As he trudged closer and closer to town he gave up his search. He would most likely find nothing this close, as it would have been preyed upon by any number of other members. The only way to find really good stuff was to go far, far away from towns where people rarely go. Even then, though, there was little chance that you would find something. It was just how it was. The game didn't ever consistently reward those who work hard or those who don't. It just rewards some and not others. Or so it seemed. Darius worked increasingly harder and harder yet he was barely ever rewarded with anything, getting the scraps of the bucket. It was how life was. It wasn't fair.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius made it to the inn. His armor practically frozen, the joints becoming increasingly harder and harder to move. He awkwardly opened the door and hobbled to the innkeeper. He asked the portly man for a large bowl of soup, a loaf of bread, and hot chocolate. When he had gotten his food, he then ordered a room, retreating to it. Only when he was alone did he unequip his armor, revealing his face and body. Both were pale, having rarely gotten sun since he joined Aincrad. He always wore his armor. It was his protection in more ways than one. He sat at the small desk besides the bed, laying into his food with a frenzy. The warmth of it all did wonders to his body. It was almost like ecstasy.

[Darius Verand 0]

{15}

After finishing his food, with a satisfied sigh, Darius would climb into bed. In all reality, it wasn't the nicest he has ever slept in, but when you spend hours walking in the cold anything that has a mattress and sheets was amazing. He drifted off into a deep sleep, laying like a rock. He normally turned in his sleep, or fidgeted, but this night he did no such thing. He did not even dream. Not that he normally dreamed... or maybe he did and didn't remember? Regardless, it was as if he hadn't slept at all, waking late into the next day. He had probably slept nine or ten hours, which was three more than he normally did. Sleep was for the dead. Darius didn't have time to waste a third, or even half of his day sleeping.

[Darius Verand 0]

{16}

Reflecting on that belief, and that he had wasted enough time, Darius went downstairs, got a meager breakfast of some fruit and mixed nuts, and left. He had to make up for lost time, so he was determined to go and search for more materials. It had basically been his life for the past week. Unless he got the materials for his equipment by searching endlessly, there was no way he would be able to go to the next step of fighting monsters for materials. He knew for a fact that the rate that he got materials at would easily quadruple, and with his new profession, he would need it to do just that. He couldn't spare materials to go crafting because he needed them for equipment so he could then farm materials to use in crafting. It was a vicious cycle.

[Darius Verand 0]

{17}

Eating his lunch as he went, Darius left town. He only needed one more material to be able to order his first item and he was determined to get it. If he didn't he would be put back another day, and that was something he could not afford. He jogged along one of the shoveled paths out of town, randomly turning off of it into the deeper snow. Most people came to this floor to make snowman and have snowball fights, and for good reason. It was one of the only floors so far that had snow and monsters that weren't entirely life threatening. It was a good place to be, Darius thought, as he began searching the snow for materials.

ID: 49585
LD: 6

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

{18}

For his first hour of searching, Darius found nothing. That didn't bother him. The midday sun was high in the sky, making the air a perfect combination of cold and warm, being a blessing to those who preferred this climate. He was clearing his head of lingering thoughts of the night before. He was unconcerned about his brief bout of insanity. It happened occasionally. It was just part of life. As he searched, some overhead clouds swept in, letting loose a light snowfall. Snow fall was nice. It was beautiful, soft, and gentle. It was one of the most peaceful things in the world and Darius could honesty say he enjoyed it. He continued looking for materials.

ID: 49586
LD: 11

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

{19}

But yet again Darius found nothing. Searching for materials was starting to piss him off. Sure, there was no risk to yourself, but you searched for two days straight and you were lucky to find two. It seemed that Aincrad, and the creator, his excellency, maker of this, Akihiko, decided to spite Darius specifically. He was so close to getting what he needed, yet he was so far. It seemed like he would have to search for days more in order just to find ONE material. That one material was all he needed to unlock the flood gates to victory. With a fierce determination to find this last material, Darius searched zealously.

ID: 49587
LD: 16

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand

[Darius Verand 0]

And with that zealotry pushing him, Darius found a material. A rare tree, the wood being harvestable for materials, was what came to his aid. It was what saved him. A tree. Carbon in a wood form. Hallelujah! May the creator, his excellency, the maker of this world, Akihiko be praised. The bastard decided to give Darius a spot of good luck right after he had spat on his name, saying that Darius had no luck at all. That's what the universe did. It enjoyed very much to prove Darius wrong in every aspect of his life. It was truly wonderful to know that the benevolent force that made up everything was against you. Very comforting, like a kiss on the cheek after a long day. Darius continued to search.

+1 to Darius material find count (4 total)

ID: 49589
LD: 15

Edited February 28, 2016 by Darius Verand