[PP-F1] Rhythm of the sword <Itzal and Beatbox> Completed

[Itzal 0]

Once again Itzal was on the first floor.  This was going to be his last day training by himself.  He would be helping low level players as usual, especially Alisa his apprentice, but overall he was finally ready to move solo training to a higher level.  And now that Teayre had finally finished his oblivion ring he wouldn't have any issue with fighting monsters.  The combination of Niger Natio, Retributor and Oblivion ring would be a force to reckon with.  Itzal was a fast thinker and loved the concepts of strategies and tactics.  He could adapt to most situations and with Ulises he could be aware of everything going on in the battlefield at once.  However.  Before he continued his training he needed to get some breakfast.  He found a restaurant a while ago with all sorts of breakfast foods that he had never even known about before.  Ever since he had breakfast there.  Until a few days ago that is.  He discovered a new restaurant owned by an actual player.  And the food was amazing.

As he walked in the npcs noticed him and smiled.  Despite the dark and imposing appearance they had learned his personality and had become friends of somewhat.  But the owner and Itzal had become closer since she was an actual player.  As he sat down Alice looked at him and smiled, making her way over.

"Hey Itzal!  How's it going?"  Itzal pulled down his mouthpiece but kept the hood up.  He liked the mysterious look it gave him.

"I'm doing fine Alice!  How's the shop going?"  She shrugged.

"It's going.  You going to order the same thing?"  Itzal shook his head.

"Surprise me."  She smiled and nodded before walking back behind the counter.  Itzal leaned against his seat, wondering what would happen today.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Itzal

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had found himself at the first floor again despite the fact that he did not want to travel much of anywhere else as of the recent, he found himself at this new restaurant, he didn't really care for eating or drinking however he did buy a drink or two just to be polite and be able to sit here without much problem. He had looked out the window's for quite sometime and had been petting his familiar to keep himself somewhat happy. He had been thinking about why he hasn't shown his face in months, and all the equipment that he had, it wasn't too too great. 

As he was pondering on his life here he had noticed a guy walk into this restaurant that had removed a mouthpiece with a hood up, it was clear he had never seen him before and he was almost intrigued on how he looked, but he stayed in his seat and went to look back out the window, he leaned back in his chair and looked down at his familiar once again as he spoke: "We had a lot of good times here haven't we Audio... back when I was still in a guild happily making friends with all of them..." he sighed and petting him softly "But good times never last that long does it..." he said with almost a crack in his voice trying not to get too upset in the public's eye.

[Itzal 0]

Nothing ever passed unnoticed under Itzal's eye.  Training to become a scout he had practiced until he reached the point where his eyes scanned his surroundings as well as his ears listening for everything without even knowing it.  Thus when he heard a voice that was clearly not an npc his eyes quickly scanned the crowd underneath his hood.  He spotted a figure with blonde hair stroking a small fox.  A familiar he thought.  Definitely a player.  He analyzed him and from the player's posture, seemed a little depressed.  He wondered why he was so down.  He noticed that Alice was watching him and when he turned to her she gestured to the player.  Itzal looked back then gestured to his outfit, indicating that it would be hard to help someone out with the appearance he had currently.  He wouldn't switch to his Twilight cloak either in public since that was just rude and inappropriate, despite the fact that nothing was shown besides a flash and bam different outfit.  She shook her head and continued her cooking.

Itzal wasn't the best at things like this.  Ulises however became interested.  So there's a player who seems depressed.  Sitting by the window.  And we're just going to, what?  Sit here staring at him?  How creepy would it be for a hooded man to walk over and just sit beside you?  I'd be more nervous if the hooded figure stared at me the entire time saying nothing.  Hm....  Good point.  Alright let's do it then.  Itzal nodded to Alice before rising to his feet and making his way over to the player's table.  He didn't have Velnia here so he had to preform the usual way to win over a familiar's respect.  After all, most familiar would be protective of their owner.  Itzal pulled out a rabbit leg that Velnia caught and showed it to the fox as he sat down opposite of the player.

"You look a little down.  Something bothering you?"

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox after a while noticed that the cloaked figure had been looking at him not for a long time, but for a brief time. It didn't weird him out, but it did get him concerned for himself, its not everyday a cloaked figure just stares at you in a restaurant. He had continued to pet his familiar and looked out the window very briefly thinking to himself: "I wonder what that figure is thinking about...? Is he thinking of coming up to say hi, or another agenda? Either which way I shouldn't be worried about it..." he sighed as he looked back down to his familiar, and to his surprise the hooded figure had walked up to him and presented Audio with a Rabbit's Leg. Audio had sniffed around the leg for a bit before wanting to take a bite out of it and barked at the hooded figure in a tone that says "thank you". The hooded figure sat opposite to Beatbox and asked him if he was alright, he gave a grin and thought to himself to not lie and say that "I'm fine" because he knew he'd be lying. He looked at the hooded figure and told him: "Well... not exactly... more of a group of things has been bothering me. Its led to me keeping myself away from the public's eye for a while." he looked down to his familiar and petted him.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal watched as the Fox barked a thank you and allowed the smile to show as the cute animal began to nibble the meat.  Velnia may have caught it, but Alisa had been the one to cook it.  It wasn't perfect of course as she was just beginning but it was better than Itzal could ever acomplish.  He pushed down a shudder as his thoughts turned to his meal gone wrong in the real world.  Ever since he kept himself away from cooking utensils.  Evidently math wasn't everything when it came to making food.  He listened carefully to the player and was happy when he didn't lie.  This player was one of the few who didn't hide his struggles but was willing to openly share.  Itzal nodded.

"Well sometimes it's good to get away from crowds.  People can judge or tell you how to live.  You might have too many voices talking from every direction and simply need a break.  I understand and agree with all of these reasons."  a gentle and understanding smile spread across his face.  "I also know that sometimes you need somebody to just listen to."

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had smiled as Audio was nibbling on the rabbit's leg that he had presented him, and Beatbox let out a giggle "My fox is super friendly, it'll love anyone..." he said with a smile. He thought to himself for a brief moment as he thought about the times he spent with his old guild, girlfriend, and old friends. He realized he doesn't know where any of them were which worried him a bit as he worried that they may even be dead, however he has no real way to find out if there alive or not since some has been removed from his friends list. He had a tear for a moment but Beatbox shook it off and tried not to get anymore upset than he already is. He looked back to the hooded figure and saw that he was happy, he must have been happy that I decided not to lie and say that "I am okay."

He had listened to the hooded figure and had a faint smile on his face and said to him "I honestly put myself away to honestly pull myself back together... I don't really have many people to listen to as of the recent, well... I used to at least. I'm sure everyone has at least someone to listen to... even if its a familiar or a voice in your head, its nice to have at least someone or thing to talk to... that's why I have this little fellow..." he said as he petted his familiar. "Sorry... I haven't introduced myself yet... my name is Beatbox, and this fox is Audio, obviously my familiar." he said with an extended hand.

[Itzal 0]

Ulises chuckled when the player mentioned voices in your head as he was literally that and more.  Ulises had come into existence after Itzal entered the game.  The two met for the first time during the quest calming the soul, where Itzal had to fight his four inner demons.  Ulises had been the last one and was based off of anger that had built up over the years that Itzal had continued to bury.  After the quest however Ulises and Itzal began to co operate and work together in most instances.  When the player mentioned that he no longer had friends Itzal reached his hand forward.

"Well you have one now."  he heard Beatbox tell him his username while they shook hands.  "Nice to meet you Beatbox.  And you too Audio.  I know a purple dragon who would love to play with you."  he turned to Beatbox.  "I'm going to believe it's safe to assume you love listening to music?  Maybe You,d be interested in buying a few songs from my shop once I've opened.  Although I'm still deciding on what would be the proper price."

OOC- no seriously I haven't a clue

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had smiled a bit when the hooded figure chuckled after I stated "a voice in your head..." and thought to himself "Does he speak to himself in his head like I do? Or is that he has another personality...? Either which way its roughly the same..." and gave a slight giggle after he was done. He shook his hand as he learned his username "Itzal". He gave a smile after he told him "Well you have one now."  and giggled when he mentioned that he had his own familiar as well. "Audio loves other familiars, he doesn't get to see them very often, but he does like seeing new people and other familiars" he said with a smile on his face. And gave a chuckle when he mentioned if I like music and if I would like to buy songs, "Music? Well of course I love music!" he went into his inventory and selected his "Vanity Violin" and brought it out and showed it to him, it was a black violin with an elegant design, "I would love to get more songs for this, but I just can't find a good store to find good music to play, and honestly music is an honest mystery with price, absolutely no one knows how to price music as no one knows if they'll even like it... but I am sure you are going to make amazing music!" he said with a smile.

[Itzal 0]

OOC- Dude, Beatbox' guesses are so accurate it's scary O_O

Itzal chuckled.  "Well in that case," he said while he pulled out a recorded crystal.  He was going to place this on the shelf for players to listen to while in the shop, but why not?  "Here.  I assume you've heard of Lindsey Stirling?  This is one of her songs.  I honestly don't know how I managed it, but I was able to duplicate-ish the sound of the violin with my guitar.  Took a lot of tuning but I got it right in the end.  Here, listen."  He placed the yellow crystal on the table and played the music.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGCsyshUU-A

 

As the music played all conversation stopped in the room as all npcs and players listened to the music.  The music was almost perfectly accurate to the original and therefore tug at everyone in the room.  When the song ended Itzal was surprised when the place erupted into clapping and cheering.  Itzal blushed slightly, pulling his hood in a little tighter.  He caught a look from Alice and blushed even more as she winked at him.  He pushed the crystal closer to Beatbox.  "Anyways, you can play the song over and over again since it has no buff.  This one's on me, free of charge.  When I have my grand opening you'll be one of the first to know I promise...  If you don't mind me saying, it's not good to hold a burden by yourself.  You don't have to share now, or even to me, but if there's something weighing you down I know from personal experience that while music can make you feel better it isn't permanent.  You need to handle the problem as soon as possible."

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox's face lit up when he heard the musician that he had chose and gave him a huge smile "I know who she is, she is one of my favorites!" and after hearing him describe the song Beatbox then said "I would love to listen!". Itzal had turned on the music device and Beatbox had a smile on his face as he listened to the song. He had noticed that within a few seconds of the song all conversations that were nearby suddenly just stopped and everyone was listening to the tune of the music. Beatbox was almost as embarrassed that everyone was looking at this direction, but he attempted to shrug it off and pretend that not everyone was looking at our direction. When the song ended, everyone around was clapping and so was Beatbox, he certainly enjoyed that tune. "Are you sure you just want to give it to me for free?" he said with a little concerned face that changed to a upset look as Itzal told him the last part. "I understand that I have to deal with it as soon as possible, however I have been dealing with it for the past few months... away from everyone and I still feel really bad about it... and there's more than just one thing that bothers me... its more of a cluster of things that bugs me to no end... its been bugging me since I've entered SAO and even before then... I just can't seem to let go of it... do you know this kind of feeling...?" he asked him with a tear in his eye.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal watched as Beatbox was finally on the verge of opening up.  He felt sad for this man and understood his pain.  Slowly he pulled his hood down, his eyes showing sorrow.

"Personally I haven't had any friends until this game.  But that doesn't mean I haven't made many mistakes.  When I was little I discovered that I was amazingly skilled with math, coding, graphics, etc.  This drew the attention of the bullies in my school.  When I started escaping them every time, they got the bullies in nearby schools to help them out.  So I was targeted from every direction.  I wanted to protect myself.  So I shut myself off from the world, and therefore my adopted parents and sister.  I locked myself in my room and spent every waking hour studying coding and hacking skills, as well as delving into every video game there was.  In doing so I disconnected from the world and my family.  My parent's were distraught.  But."  He choked at this part.  He still had a hard time believing it.  "Aimi, my adopted sister, would always come in and watch me play.  She didn't even like video games, found no interest in them.  Yet she kept staying with me...  I hurt my parent's in a way I can never fix.  And yet she forgave me for everything.  And before you can ask about them being adopted, my parent's were brutally murdered in front of me when I was six.  When the murderer was caught he said he killed them because he could and he thought it fun."  He took a deep breath as he felt tears of his own begin to form.  "I would have become a pker long ago in this game if I hadn't made friends Beatbox.  We need to help each other to live in this world."

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox was surprised that he had lowered his hood this early meeting him, and stayed silent while listening to his story, and he was almost teared up while listening to his story and wanted to even give him a hug, but he had respected personal space and didn't budge to do so. "She must have really cared for you Itzal... she would have done it even if you would deny her of doing so..." he said before he said the fact of his parents being murdered and looked down for a moment to gather his thoughts and looked back at Itzal "That's just wrong... that's inhumane... people that do stuff like that..." he said before changing his tone for a bit to say this one line "Should be burning in hell." he shook his head and lightened up and said to him "Friends make up the family I never had honestly... and having some leave me is about the same as family members leaving me... but in my case I grew up with an abusive father... not physically but mentally... and he never saw the error of his ways, and would even yell at my mom the same way he did with me... it doesn't help how I had bullies on my back too... I hate how people can do that for fun, it ticks me off to no end, and it only brings me sadness every time that I think about it... the only difference is in the past I never had a friend that would listen to me no matter what, and I was honestly on my own..." he said with tears running down his cheek.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal listened to Beatbox finally open up and share his pain.  He didn't tell Itzal what happened recently but he shared a big root of the problem.  He lost friends.  As he described his abusive father Itzal felt more and more sorry for him while Ulises was wishing that Beatbox' father was here so he could punch him in the face.  It was typical for Ulises to get angry for these sorts of things but it wasn't a bad thing either.  Anger came from when something you cared about was in danger.  Beatbox was already his friend in Itzal's mind and that meant that if someone or something threatened him, Ulises would get angry.  He watched the tears go down Beatbox and stopped fighting the tears in his own eyes.  He was grateful that all the npcs had chosen to ignore them now that the song was over.  This was a little weird to see.  He placed a hand on Beatbox' arm, giving a comforting squeeze.

"You're not on your own anymore Beatbox.  You've won a friend today and I'm never going to leave you.  Come to me anytime you need someone to listen ok?"  As he said the last line he opened his menu swiftly and sent a friend request.  "And is it alright if I called you Beat?  If you need any favors either just pm me.  I'll be glad to help in any way I can.  If you lost someone in SAO, when I get the tracking skill maybe I could help you with that."  He straightened his composure as Alice began to walk over with Itzal's food.  As she laid it down she looked at Beatbox with a gentle smile.

"Well it's about time!  I've seen you in here a while sitting her and staring off into space.  It's good to see you open up to someone!"  She turned to Itzal and gave a gleeful smile as he paid her the appropriate price and walked back to the kitchen.  Itzal couldn't believe his luck.  Quiche.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox felt a little more relieved that he told his story instead of keeping it to himself, even if he just met Itzal he knew from the way he talked and acted so far that he is a friend. He couldn't help but think of the anger that he got through his father and how he never really wants to release it because he worries that the pain that he could start by doing so. He shook of those thoughts and looked back to Itzal and to Beatbox's surprise he started crying. "Itzal is... crying?" he thought to himself, he was shocked to see that he had placed his hand my arm and he gave a faint smile in response. "Okay... I'll be sure to contact you if I need someone to listen to..." he told him with the faint smile that he had. The friend request was in front of him and of course Beatbox had accepted it without question. "Yeah its okay to call me that, I don't see how it could be rude. Well... from the looks of it, the other people that I don't talk to anymore just seemed to just fall off the earth, as in I don't know where they are period. However, they're lost memories at this point." he said with an upset look. He looked to Alice and gave her a smile and said "Sorry about that..." and gave a giggle. Beatbox looked to his familiar and the fox had already had ate and was asleep on Beatbox's lap and he pet his familiar with a smile.

 

[Itzal 0]

Itzal nodded with a smile.  It seemed Beatbox's issues were going out the window now.  Most likely they would return but with a good dose of friends he shouldn't have much of an issue.  And Itzal had no intention of just leaving him.  In fact he hoped that Beatbox would be interested in joining his guild once it formed.  At that point it should be easy to meet new friends.  He was sure that Beat would go along very well with Alisa.  And he was certain that Alisa would cuddle with Audio like there was no tomorrow.  She loved cute things and that's why Itzal was eager to introduce her to Velnia once he found her again.  Kasier mentioned how she'd be willing to help him find her so with her help it should go smoothly.  "Good to hear Beat.  I'm glad to have another friend.  So now that the mood is a bit lighter mind if I ask a few questions about you?"  He didn't ask his questions yet since that would be rude, despite that other players had done that with him many times, particularly Adhae.  Not that he minded, but other people do.  Best to be safe than sorry.  Itzal lived by caution and since he was a scout that caution was usually doubled.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox nodded back with a smile and liked the new friend that he had met, he knows that he means no harm and he seems to be on the same boat of making friends as Beatbox is. Beatbox certainly missed his old guild, he hates how it was disbanded not too long ago but it wasn't his technical fault on the guild being disbanded. He thought about all the people he met in that guild and thought of them as friends, however they all supposedly went off to do their own thing and... well Beatbox hadn't seen them since. He let out a giggle after Itzal asked him if he could ask him a few questions and said "Go ahead! I mean you just met me and don't know much about me other than I had an abusive father and have lost friends." and gave him a smile and continued to pet his familiar, as the familiar woke up the red haired fox climbed up Beatbox's shoulder and climbed on his head and curled up on Beat's head and fell back asleep. Beatbox let out another giggle and said "Audio does this all the time, even if I am walking outside town he'll still fall asleep on my head, he sure is something..." he said patting his familiars head.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal smiled when Audio jumped to a comfortable position on Beat and fell right back to sleep.  He shrugged.  "Everyone has their quirks.  Velnia is obsessed with food and eats it whenever she can.  If I didn't stop her she'd eat all of the floor's food and still be hungry."  He shook his head with a chuckle.  "Anyways, questions.  What's your favorite color?  How old are you?  What build are you shooting for?  What do you want to do, in this world and in the real one?  What did you love doing most in the real world besides music?"  He stopped there.  Unlike Adhae he actually placed pauses in between his questions so it didn't feel like he was bombarding his new friend.  He wanted to know much about him but he knew that although Beatbox might tell him truthfully and in great detail, nothing would show his personality more than just plain old being with him.  That was what Itzal was looking forward to.  Still he didn't like going somewhere with little to no information at all.  In fact he hated this.  It was another part of his cautionary side.  It made him nervous when the group he was with would just charge in without caution.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox giggled at Itzal's smile to Audio sleeping on my head, "Your familiar must really really love food, this little guy doesn't eat too too much, about once a day seems to be enough for this little booger" he said with a smile. Beatbox had listened to his questions about him and told him with a smile "My favorite color is Red, I don't know why, it just seems to be the color of my choice. I am 18, pretty young but I have seen enough to be older at least in maturity... my build? Well, I am just full on damage, you could say I just like produce damage and get battles done and over with, I really don't like fighting in this world, but I must do so... and I rather get it done quickly... eh, in this world I have a crazy dream about being a Frontline player, however to me that's just a silly dream... I don't think it'll ever happen honestly. And outside world, sure I have an interest in Music, but I like producing art all the time, I used to draw like no one's business!" he said with another giggle. "So... what about you? Same questions, I was going to ask the same questions you were honestly!"

[Itzal 0]

Itzal raised an eyebrow with a smile.  "You draw?  I'll make you a deal then, I'll give you discounts at my shop if you give me an incredible drawing along with your payment.  It'll be a small discount of course but still a discount.  As for my answers, my favorite color is silver, closely followed by purple.  Not bright purple but a deep purple.  I'm twenty one years old but of course I look like I could be seventeen.  I'm technically a dps but I'm more of a scout than anything else.  I want to help the frontlines find the bosses faster, help them find dungeons and sub dungeons, gather materials to individual players.  And I also thought of a way to fight in the front lines without actually risking my life like crazy.  I stay in hiding and if a player is in desperate need of help or is low on health with no healers nearby, I charge in, switch with them, push the monsters back, and when they recover I jump back and let them continue fighting.  I personally think it's perfect.  In the real world I want to develop games like SAO, minus the 'you'll die for reals' part.  More importantly I want to create the mechanics in a way that EVERYONE will enjoy.  Certain areas that allow pking and several areas that can't such as fields players can fight mobs in and not be attacked by players."

[Beatbox 0]

"Yeah I draw, I wouldn't say I am the best... but I still do. Heck a small discount is still a discount, just PM me at a later time and I'll do it." he said with a smile. He was shocked to hear that he was 21 as he totally looks like a 17 year old "Really? You're 21? You surely don't look that way at all!" he giggled. Then again age doesn't mean you have to look like this, this, or this... everyone looks differently and sometimes looks doesn't always have to fit the bill. "That doesn't sound like a bad strategy, its just I don't like the situation we are all in within this game... its generally unfair and we only have one life to get through this game... well... also how long our real bodies can take it before we could potentially be free... game design doesn't sound too bad, hell the creator of this game made something beautiful and quite scary after our first day here... I still am upset about the whole being trapped here... say... do you think we'll all be able to leave here? I mean think about it, we as players have only seen around 18 floors so far... we still have 82 to go... and god who knows will be waiting for us on the hundredth floor... hell it could even be a suicide mission... " he said with a worried look on his face.