[PP-F5]- <Earning a Living> Dragonslayers

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius had set out to the deserts of Floor 5. He waited by an oasis that was a short walk away from his destination: the ruins of some temple where dragons spawned. He needed their hearts to make him stronger armor than the ones he could get from Floor 2. He had set out requests for players to join him in getting the heart stones, and one accepted, saying that he was the only one Darius would need. Darius was ok with it as long as the person was good enough.

Darius sat cross-legged in the sand at the oasis, nearly a fifteen minute walk away from the ruins they needed to go. It would be a suitable rendevous point for the other player to get there to join him. His face was neutral as he sat there in his thick-hide armor with his tower shield and sword resting beside him as he looked at his reflection in one of the pools of water.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius walked over, tired as ever. The sand shifting under his feet slowing him down considerably and the dark circles under his eyes clearly evident. He made his way to the Oasis and found the one who had sent the request. Zelrius treaded over slowly, Miles the wolf following closely behind.

This brightened his spirits a bit knowing that the one who sent the request was probably not going to be too bad of a guy. Zelrius then turned his thoughts to his Indicator crystal and why it was yellow. The sight of a yellow crystal would scare the wits out of most people. Zelrius kept on thinking about it as he approached Darius with his light blue robes and wolf.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius heard the shifting of sand behind him, noting the approach of something. He turned his head over his shoulder to see a rather tired-looking PKer, the yellow indicator giving him away, and his familiar wolf walking next to him. Darius stood, turning to face the new arrival, leaving his sword and shield on the sand. "I assume you are here from my request. If not, state you business and keep your distance," Darius said, seemingly unfazed by the person's indicator as a PKer, his neutral expression eyeing Zelrius evenly, assessing his skill.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius smiled at the 'greeting'

"Hmph, Do not threaten me. You must've guessed by now I am a PKer, But apparently what you didn't guess was my level and strength. I can come as close as I want, especially if I am to help you. I am here because of what I assume is your request." he stated rather monotonely himself, taking not of the neutral stare. Zelrius took into account that this man was calm and collected which he liked. This game needed more people like that, not lunatics that ran around killing themselves.

"Well since we are here, I think we owe each other a proper greeting. I am Zelrius BlackFyre, Leader of the Blood Buccaneers, and This is Miles, my familiar. Who are you?" Zelrius asked holding out his hand for a handshake.

[Darius Verand 0]

"Darius Verand, temporary solo player until I find a guild I see fit to have my services; and your now-present ally," Darius said, reaching out to firmly shake Zelrius' hand. Darius then turned back to the water. More often than not, he realized, all of the strong players were PKers. He nodded to himself as he flipped through his mind to all of the high-levels he had met that had the orange indicator. "If you need a quick rest, feel free to. If not, we can set off immediately," Darius said matter-of-factly, seemingly completely unaffected by Zelrius' declaration of being a higher level and far more powerful than Darius. Darius knew this world was a dog-eat-dog place. The strong survive and he had no problem if a 'big dog' could kill him. It would just prove he wasn't worthy enough.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius nodded firmly. Then took into account his request for a rest. Zelrius looked up nervously at the "Fatigue" effect that was by his health bar for lack of sleep. Though normally it wasn't a problem for Zelrius since to him it was always there as he thought sleep was a waste of time. He thought it over and decided against the small rest.'

"I think I can continue on just fine" he said rubbing his eyes and began to walk around waiting for the other one to take the lead as he had no idea where they were headed.

"Well, What is the mission we have in mind, present-ally?" Zelrius said the last word(s) jokingly as it was a bit of a funny think to call one's self.

[Darius Verand 0]

Darius, seeing that the man didn't want a rest, went and gathered his equipment, putting his sword back on his belt and slinging his tower shield over his shoulder. He then started walking off in the direction they needed to go with his still-neutral look. "Our mission is to walk this way for a small time, kill drakes, take their hearts, and get me armor from it," Darius said as if fighting drakes was no big deal. They were only mid-sized, wingless dragons after all.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius shrugged. Drakes from Floor 5 of all places couldn't be that tough considering he had just got out of the Dark Jungles of Floor 6 after fighting an Ent (See SP-F6-7 just for Kicks) he considered a few wingless dragons wouldn't be any stronger than a giant tree. He walked on and followed Darius, the one he had just met. He then wondered about one thing:

"Will there be any... Complications... along the way? You know, like traps or other monsters and such?" Zelrius was terribly worried about it but he began to question just how Darius fared in battle. Considering how he walked and carried himself combined with the fact he was still alive on floor 5 was too worrying but sometimes the best of players failed. Miles followed closely behind, as always the sand silencing his little paw steps

[Darius Verand 0]

"Who knows. It isn't that far. Fifteen to twenty minutes and we should be there. It is an old ruin that the drakes spawn around. There will be makeshift roads and squares for us to fight on instead of this loose sand. We should fair just fine," Darius said confidently. He too wasn't afraid of wingless dragons. He wasn't afraid of much for his ideology didn't allow it. As they drew closer and closer to their destination, Darius' face seemed to grow darker and darker, as if something moody was settling over him as he walked on confidently. Zelrius would learn soon enough how Darius fought.