[PP-F1] Joining The Fight (Macradon)

[Shirien 0]

Today Shirien was going about his usual routine. He had just gathered a handful of miscellaneous herbs from the surrounding forest of Horunka Village and traded them in for some cheap Col at a vendor. Using the Col he had obtained he happily walked himself to the local bakery and purchased their cheapest bread. Buying cheap food and a cheap room and just keep living was the summation of his life the past fifteen floors..He wore his usual maroon hooded shirt with his hood up which offered zero by way of protection and his rusted dagger was sheathed on his hip. He couldn't be less under-geared if he tried which was almost an achievement this late into the game if it wasn't just sad. He didn't particularly mind though as he bit at his tasteless food with no interesting textures. The tough bread kept his stomach satisfied if not his palette which yearned for something better. An idea formed in his head and he takes out a few berries from his inventory that he had scavenged and drops them in the dome left from his bite. With the extra flavoring added he bits down on his food while walking through the peaceful village. His may not have been an exciting life full of adventure and strength but it was a peaceful one that kept him alive and out of depression if nothing else.

Today looked like it was going to break his monotony though, as an unusual visitor entered the village. Occasionally lower level or undergeared players would visit and use the town as a hunting base but seeing a heavily armored and decently strong player was far more of a rarity due to the floor's number. Shirien didn't know what business the man with the two-handed blade had in this village but he doubted it had anything to do with himself. With that in mind he idly skirted to the side of the street so not to get in his way or bump into him. The last thing he needed was an enemy after all, then he really would be at risk of starvation for fear of leaving town.

[Macradon 0]

Glancing through the boards with papers attached, a new one would catch Macradon's eyes. This was quite the peculiar one as it wasn't really a quest, but rather a request for something done without no real reward other than being a nice person. He smiled and would skim through it roughly and get a route that would show him where he should start to find this person who needs a push, towards a right path and not over the castle. "Well, gotta go look for this ... person" he said and would walk towards the route that was stated on the paper. Macradon was on a day off from his blacksmith shop so he had a lot of time while the guild didn't need his attention either. Clad in his guild attire armor, Macradon wandered through the 1st floor as he always did when out on grocery shopping, but this time he had another errand. He was wearing his usual demi-greaves, vambraces, halfplate, pouldron and sallet helmet as well as having his sword strapped to his back. It wasn't safe going alone without any weapons anymore, the unofficial Laughing Coffin were loose and they seemed to be wandering through everywhere.

Entering the town of Horunka, Macradon had arrived just after reading the boards from the main settlement in the town of beginnings. He looked around through the slit in his visor on his helmet, trying to see if he could find this person he was looking for, not really knowing much about him, only the appearance of the fellow. He scouted around, quickly noticing this person he was looking for. "Found him ... check that off the list" he thought for himself as he would take a few steps towards the man. After just a few steps he stopped up like a frozen in his pose "How should I approach him" he thought. Macradon's attire might seem intimidating for even just overpowering for a floor like the first starter floor. He sighed lightly inside his helmet, trying to find a good way to approach the man. A quick thought sparked through his mind "Maybe just approaching him like I would with any other person I meet" he thought and would take three to four steps more before freezing again "What topic should we talk about" he thought.

He was trying not to panic from this, but he was just over analyzing things. He wasn't used to something like this, he wanted to help but didn't know how to help this way. The conflict that was running through his mind was shattered as Macradon just took a deep breathe and walked to the man "Hi there" he said, engaging upon the conversation "Nice to meet you" he continued "I'm Macradon, Vanguard commander of the Knights of Blood, good to have your acquaintance". Just as he finished that last sentence he realized that he had done a very bad introduction, too many words, too much merit behind it and too much weight for the man standing before Macradon.

[Shirien 0]

Shirien blinked and tried not to panic as the armored player veered course straight towards himself. He took a deep breath and kept his spine straight so he wouldn't shrink up as he was approached. Sensing the mood he stopped in his steps and faced the player who approached him. As the other player spoke he continued to chew on the bread in his mouth, buying himself time to think of a response as well as an excuse to not immediately respond. The title of 'Vanguad' seemed rather fitting to Shirien considering the armored status of the player. The main thing that set off warning bells to him was the 'blood' in 'Knights of Blood'. From name alone he would assume they were a PvP guild or at least somewhat on the dark and/or edgy side. The truth of the matter may have been completely different, but he tried to watch his words. Having processed the situation somewhat he swallowed his mouthful and extends his left hand for a handshake. "You can call me Shirien. I don't have any titles to give you, hope that's okay." He would have held out his right hand for the handshake but it was holding the bread, and he didn't want to get flour on the man's hand just in case. "What brings you to Horunka?" He questions curiously, "Not many people as geared as you stop by is all. Particular materials in mind or a miniboss?" He hesitates a moment before saying "Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but if you are here on a recruitment run for your guild, I'm not really looking, heheheh..." In the back of his mind he was praying this player wasn't the spoiled type in some MMO who will harass or hound people who don't want to join their guild. In either case his eyes easily told him this player could kill him by simply squeezing him too hard if they were outside of a safezone. Stats were everything in an MMO after all.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Shirien

[Macradon 0]

Macradon saw that the man looked at Macradon slightly scared. "Oh of course ..." he said as the only thing that was visible through is visors were his red gleaming eyes. He would pull up his visor, revealing a young face, some white hair tucked down under the helmet and the scarlet red eyes starring out. The man went for a handshake and Macradon would firmly take the opportunity to greet him with contact. "Good to meet you, Shirien!" Macradon replied "No titles are needed, I'm quite used to it down here" he said. Macradon would think about what would come out of this conversation, maybe a guild recruit, he smirked slightly. "What bring me here is ..." he said and quickly paused, he were about to tell about the piece of paper he saw on the bulletin board, but that would be a stupid idea as it wasn't the man himself who had made it.

"I'm on a day off on field work form the frontlines" he said "My original mission was finding new recruits ... buuuuut I'm bored to went on a stroll" he said. "Have you heard about the guild before?" he would ask. The guilds name itself did sound intimidating, but it was the leading frontline guild as of now as the Azure Brigade was slowly falling apart, which wasn't all that great because that just made boss raids more difficult. The KoB was in the lead, having many strong players as well as their commander to guide the citizen of Aincrad through all the 100 floors. "You seem to know this place better than I do, mind giving me a tour?" he would then ask, giving the man enough time before he would ask this question so he could answer the first question he asked.

[Shirien 0]

He tried not to seem too relieved when the man wasn't as intimidating as he had originally thought, even quite friendly it would seem. "Nice to meet you as well!" He says in turn before returning the favor and pulling back his hood as a sign of trust so both their faces were visible to the other. He couldn't help but give a soft whistle at the announcement of him being a frontliner. That identified him as a very important person after all. Time would tell if it was the truth however, say the right words to the right people and you get free meals and praise of course.

When quizzed on the name of the guild he couldn't help but say "I feel like I've probably heard the name but not the context behind it I think. Is it named after the 'Blood Knight' trope you see in books and such? Y'know 'Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose'?" He shrugs his shoulders and accepts the shift towards the second question happily. "Hm... I suppose I wouldn't mind. I don't have any plans." He gestures to a wooden building with a sign not far behind the armored player who called himself Macradon "Well, just behind you is the tavern I stay in. The beds aren't that great but the food makes up for it if you can afford it in my opinion." He makes a 'follow me' gesture and turns to continue the tour that he had requested. "There are worse places to stroll, this village is peaceful and rarely visited by outsiders. Especially at night." He shrugs his shoulders and gestures to his right as they passed a sweet smelling bakery. "This place has good treats but they can get a bit pricey. If you are strapped for money, on tuesdays the have a sale on this bread with sugar mixed in. It's no luxurious but it's tasty compared to the regular bread." He holds up his example of the regular bread and takes a bite, glancing back at the other player to see if he was being bored until he swallowed. "Ah, that building that is up the hill and stands above the rest? NPC Mayor's. The view is great from the top." The only way to reach the top however was to go from rooftop to rooftop, or jump inhumanely high. Shirien momentarily thought about saying it might not be a good idea to go up there so heavily armed, but then he remembered buildings didn't just crumble like in the real world.

[Macradon 0]

"Huh, I heave never heard of that trope before" he said with a wide smile while he scratched, or at least tried and was blocked by the helmet, the back of his head. But he surely remembered a close friend that was like that, Aincrad's Berzerker, Ssendom. "The context is quite simple though ..." he began "The Guild, Knights of the Blood Oath, serves as its says. Us guild members are Knights, we follow and execute orders given by our superior as well as act with honor and be brave frontliners. The blood is the common thing we share with everybody, everyone has blood inside of them, which tells us that we're all the same, we're all equal and all deserves to get out of this game. The oath is the one we swear when we are knighted, the sole purpose for our existences in the game and our goal in life as well as in game" he said with a honorable tone.

As Shirien would begin to give Macradon the small tour on this town, Macradon would listen to every detail the man would speak. "Hm ..." he commented "Aha ..." he said, trying to give some kind of response as having Shirien talk all the time would make the situation a bit awkward. Macradon would arrive at the what seemed like a nice village with its fair shares, as well as a Mayo living at the top of a hill, and it didn't seem accessable like all the other buildings, like they had to do something special to reach to that point. "So ... should we reach for the top?" he would ask Shirien.

[Shirien 0]

Shirien nodded in understanding as Macradon explained the background of his guild, patiently waiting for the explanation to end before he would speak again since it was clear they were fairly passionate. "Ah, I see. It sounds noble, that's for sure. I wish you and your guild the best of luck in the future." He says with a genuine smile to his face. It was decently heartening to hear that there were people as honorable on the higher floors. It was a far finer image than imagining it as chaos and PKers lurking in the shadows at every turn or that every tiptoe outside a safezone was a gamble of your life.

He didn't mind if Macradon didn't have much to say on the tour, it wasn't as if the place had a beautiful symbolic landmark to have a deep conversation about he mused. When asked if they should go to the top he paused and said "Well... If you don't mind standing out." He shrugged his shoulders, not particularly minding today. He was sure the entire village knew of him if not him directly at this point, so Shirien standing out for a few minutes didn't sound awful. "How good are you at climbing?" He quizzes while making a sudden turn and jump, a foot hitting a windowsill and pushing him further up. With practiced ease Shirien draws his dagger and raises it high and slams down, getting it caught in the weather vein so he wouldn't just fall back down, using his dagger to lift himself up to grab the building's top and pull himself up the rest of the way. While pulling his dagger free he says "If you go east the buildings get too short. We'll want to go west and a bit north." He explains while waiting to see how the other player fared, ready to jump down if need be. "Oh, don't worry about fall damage. Safe zone." He says matter-of-factly. On more than one occasion he had taken a ride down a hill from up high for fun.

[Macradon 0]

He would nod with a slight smile on his face "Thanks" he replied to the remark Shirien gave. Macradon would look over at Shirien when he asked if he didn't mind standing out. He quickly glanced over his armor as it already stood out a lot from what 1st floor players wore "Well ... I don't mind" he said with a chuckle. He would think why he should stand out more than he did before, when Shirien asked the question, Macradon was sure of what he wanted to do. "Back when I was level 5 or so, I climbed all over the floor og beginnings, but I think this armor might get to much in the way" he said and would take out his two handed khopesh sword. A curved sword, opposed to what two handed sword usually were in the game. Macradon had the only curved two handed sword, and it was a Demonic weapon as well, as unique weapon so to speak.

The hook at the tip of the sword could work as a hook to climb up the buildings, walls and such alike. "I think I can handle it" he said confident with his sword by his side. He made a grin when the boy made a point about fall damage "Oh I wont be scared, when the bosses can't scratch me, the floor can't either" he said out loud and would begin to climb up. Macradon would go back a few steps and would then use his charge skill to get enough speed to take a few steps up the wall, using the wall as his floor. Improvising from here, Macradon would swing his big two handed sword up over him and hook up onto and edge and climb up by his sword, repeating the jump and hook to get up to the roof. "Well, it does feel heavier" he said with a smile on his face and would do a few shoulder turns.

[Shirien 0]

Shiirien watched closely and curiously to see how exactly Macradon intended to climb up, watching the player's sword with a hint of curiosity while making sure to back up so they had room. When Macradon charged and successfully reached the top he chuckled and gave the heavily armored player some claps. "Stats really are everything..." He says with a shrug before continuing "Next we actually start working our way there." After that he breaks off into a sprint towards the edge of the building, kicking off from the edge of the roof and landing on the roof of another nearby building, slowing to a stop to give the other player a gesture to follow before running off to the next building which stood a bit higher. "Pretty impressive you can move around so easy in that armor, and I bet it does keep the beasties out, but do not underestimate gravity! All the mitigation in the world won't save you from a twenty story drop!" Thinking on it that was what teleport crystals were for, or maybe landing atop of mob would work. He quickly shook the thoughts from his mind though and kept his eyes to makes sure Macradon was keeping up as he jumped from roof to roof. He wondered if the heavy armor would start to drain his stamina faster or somesuch, not that experienced in such things.

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would try to follow the light equipped player though the roof tops, so much parkour going on, Macradon was not fully sure if he would be able to do what he used to do with his armor, though his body was quite used to the weight, maybe his jumping abilities weren't. He sighed as he would try to follow on. "I do not underestimate gravity, I've been against a freaking Bird Raid Boss that would grab one up into the air" he said with a rather positive and happy tone. He would jump from roof to roof, grabbing onto any edge with either his sword or his hand. Macradon would quickly grow tired from all the jumping and walking on the roofs with his armor, but his Recovery was helping him sustain his energy to keep on being active, it was tough but he would be able to do it.

[Shirien 0]

Shirien smirked as he noticed the other player slow down a smidge, not judging him for it, if anything it was entirely reasonable. With a deep breath and having reached the final rooftop he said "A bird, hm? That must have really suuuuucked! Did it at least come down now and then or was it hit and run?" He said absentmindedly and with a hint of curiosity. Soon though he gestured to the mayor's home and said once his question was answered or not "One last jump, let's get a running start...." He took a deep breath as he backed up and ran forward, kicking off the edge of the roof and holding his arm out, grabbing onto the lowest section of the roof.

He heaved himself up and looked back at Macradon, spending a moment in consideration before drawing his dagger and stabbing it between two tiles and holding out his arm over the edge. "If you don't think you can make it, grab on! You might need to pull yourself up, but I can keep you from falling at least!" He offers the other player as a kindness. If he risked it or not was up to him in his mind. Shirien figured that since he was in a safe zone he didn't need to worry about his own arm getting pulled clean off.

[Macradon 0]

"It came down occasionally ... to grab some of the fighters ..." he said, continuing on the roof tops. "One of the worst fights on any Raid I've ever been at" he said, remembering what tragedy there happened there. He sighed but would keep up his pace and follow along. The last jump seemed quite tall, so Macradon would quickly go through his inventory and shift out his half plate with his robes, giving him a lighter step and a much stronger jump. The black and green robes, covering his torso, his left leg and right arm, gave him enough dexterity to clear the jump. He would once again use his charge skill, this time also use his sword art <Straight> to give a last thrust as he ran up the wall with his incredible speed, the <Straight> sword art would kick in as his charge faded away, the sudden thrust upwards would giv him one last boost to get up to the roof. With the hook on his sword he would latch onto the rooftop, slowly climbing up from that as well "Seemed like I did it" he said, just slightly exhausted. He wasn't used to that much movement in such a short period of time.

[Shirien 0]

Shirien watched as Macradon hit the wall, thinking he wasn't going to make it until he used various abilities to change that. The hodded player made a quick 'hm' before taking his hand back and pulling his knife out of where it was anchored. With his weapon sheathed again he says while moving towards one edge "Well, good job in any case." His eyes scanned the horizon, saying to the other player "I normally only come up here at night, but you can see pretty far from here." From this rooftop you had a view of the entire village. It would be a simple effort to watch the NPCs and any players go about their business, and even outside of the village itself until the forest blocked the view.

Shirien hesitated a minute before going through his inventory and tossing some water to Macradon as a sort of gift as well as reward for keeping up with him. Shirien himself sipping his own drink after the exercise "Mm. Too bad physical exercise doesn't really do much for our stats." He says absentmindedly, figuring he'd have at least some form of boost after all this jumping and running if it was the case. The hand-eye coordination and other such reflexes was a decent boon in his mind however. While looking up from up high he remembered they had been talking about a bird boss and so he said "Ah, and that must have been an annoying boss. If you don't mind me asking, just for future reference..." He smirks to Macradon "Do heavy armor users take more damage from a fall than someone who is lighter? Same distance, of course."

[Macradon 0]

He wondered, did heavy armor players take more damage than those with light armor from falls? "I'm not really sure, Rohk never dropped us down from tall heights. And I've never taken fall damage before, I've never been at those heights where I could fall and take damage" he said, not really knowing about fall damage as he haven't experienced before, even though he was as high level as he was. "I've done a lot of climbing and falling, but never experienced falling damage before" he stated.

[Shirien 0]

Shirien nodded in understanding, shrugging his shoulders as he said "Fair enough, I for one am not about to hurl myself from a tower to test it in any case! Hopefully bosses don't suddenly start including sheer drops or bottomless pits." He shrugs his shoulders and stares back out at the view appreciatively. With a slight hum he takes out a bottle of water and starts to sip it once it was uncorked. While looking out into the wilderness he could barely make out a bit of brown which he assumed was a boar. He got a grin on his face as he held the cork tightly in his hand and drew his arm back. He gave the cork a hard toss once it had begun to glow a bit and moments later he saw the boar turn around and start charging towards town, only to turn around a bit later thanks to its AI. "It's a good thing that boars can't just sprout wings and get to you for revenge... not that the safe zone would let them." 

[Macradon 0]

He chuckled slightly by Shirien's comment. It was quite true that curiosity could give one a lot of experience, but it also killed the cat. "Well, at least it's bottomless, right? You will never get hurt by fall damage" he said jokingly as he would look around on the scenery that could be seen from up here. "Well, if Boars could fly ..." he said, thinking about the joke about flying pigs. This was quite nice, being able to talk to someone like this without thinking about much, maybe that was what held him back from seeing the lower leveled people as trash, they were people as well. 

[Shirien 0]

Shirien hummed softly in consideration before nodding "That would be well and good for the first few days I suppose. After that you start getting hungry and bored I'd wager." He chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders "Either way, I'd like to avoid pits of all kinds, bottomless and no... Well, unless there is treasure..." Memories of a game he had played filled his mind before he fond himself smiling and saying "I'd be very worried if boars could fly. It would probably be a joke mob that does a few zillion health in one hit despite being cute and/or cuddly!" He shuddered at the thought, always hating those types of enemies. His eyes scanned the horizon and Shirien asked "... Do the other floors have views like this?" He looked to Macradon curiously after his question.

[Macradon 0]

He smiled. Of course other floors had at least this beautiful a view. His smile grew even larger as this was an opportunity to bring this boy to other floors, eventually get him motivated. "Yes, other floors has this kind of view as well, without the need of parkour though" he said with a chuckle at the last bit. "I, myself, am very fond of the 7th floor, as I've been training on those floors a lot. The mountain range is beautiful and the lighting fits perfectly with all the hills, mountains and trees. A very beautiful floor. Not to discourage you to visit other floors like the 4th floor with the winter wonderland, or the floor just above this one with its nice hills and fields" he said.

[Shirien 0]

Shirien nodded in understanding as the other player explained, his eyes glancing upward and towards the tower that literally stood tall enough to reach the sky. He knew that it was the dungeon that lead to the second floor. "That's good. I was really hoping when I joined this game it wasn't going to be a 'ten unique floors and then ninety copy/paste floors' scenario when I bought this game." He scratches his head while staring at where the sky and the dungeon met. "... This might be the first MMO I wish had a cash shop. My kingdom for a few EXP boosts or easy gear." He sighed softly as he thought about the funds just collecting dust in his bank account. As well as the job he was likely long fired from. "I guess that means the big guy upstairs isn't after money or anything." He shrugs his shoulders and puts on a smile before saying "It... might be interesting to check out the higher floors sometime then. Should prove interesting at least... might want to look into a teleport crystal though." He would much rather be safe than dead. It wouldn't take a huge amount of effort for someone to just kill him and be done with it he figured.

[Macradon 0]

Macradon nodded "Aye teleportation crystals and safeguard potions are a good thing to have to stay safe" he said. Though there were a fantastic defensive measure, they weren't really anything Macradon brought with him when adventuring, only when he was facing something like a floor boss. He would look out towards the sun and everything that it shined upon "The first floor ... so simple, yet so more beautiful than the 14th ... he said" many of the floors in the game were beautiful, but some of them were also like graveyards, having their own charm, and others just showing death and apocalypse. Macradon would look over at Shirien "If you ever need an escort to the higher floors, just hit me up, aight?" he said with a smile.