[PP-F1] Meeting The Fighters [Beatbox, Macradon]

[Cyn 0]

As the virtual sun had begun to sink over the horizon, it casted an ominous orange and yellow light over the floor. It was times like these when players would usually start wrapping up their farming for the day. At least most of the players would. Not many high levels would be seen bothering the first floor mobs, and as the saying goes; the night is dark and full of terrors. Just a fancy way to say that the night mobs are generally a lot more aggressive then the ones that spawned during the day. Cyn could be found among the crowd of NPC's and players that were filing in the Town of Beginnings. Her expression was her regular serious one. Something that would often make her mistaken for an NPC, if it weren't for the green diamond icon that would float over her head in the eyes of others.

Finding the right street, Cyn would head down a small alley way. To an Inn she had preferred over the other, more popular ones. Only because it was far from the entrance of the Town, therefore it never had a lot of people in it. She never really did like being with large groups of people. Especially with people she didn't know. She felt more comfortable in places that never really had a lot of activity. Why this was? No one could know, as Cyn wasn't the most social.

Night had fallen by the time Cyn had gotten near the Inn. The street was dead silent, the only light coming from the faint lamps owned by closed market booths run by NPC's. Soon she turned into another, smaller street and went into a door to a smaller building. She gazed over the scene without saying anything. As usual, it was empty. The only activity was the NPC running the bar, and a few randoms sitting around the lobby. Cyn sat at the table, and ordered a drink...

[Beatbox 0]

"Today was just another day..." the blonde haired player said to himself as it were night after a log day of work, he let out a sigh as he was still rather awake, he didn't know what to do at the moment. He never liked drinking... but every so often he liked drinking just to know that he has the freedom in this world to do so. He wore his Append attire and went to an Inn that wasn't too overrun with players to get a drink. The last thing he had wanted was for a plentiful amount of drunks talking about his outfit and getting into a duel with a low-leveled player. He made his way into the bar and saw a couple of players already darted their eyes at the flashy player and he saw what looked to be Kasier... but something about her was giving him a vibe of... "this isn't Kasier." He sat down a couple of seats away from the player and called for the NPC to get him a drink, he sat there eagerly and patiently waited for his drink.

[Macradon 0]

Running through the door to the small tavern, a knight clad in white armor with a red trim covered with a green and black robe to minimize the colors of his armor, but just slightly. Adorned on his head is a helmet, a gothic sallet helmet, same color scheme as the rest of his armor, with a red cross on the cheek and a small tornado etched into the helmet's visor. "Excuse me, sir, but is there a room left?" Macradon would ask the man behind the counter. He had been searching all around the first floor, trying to find a place to stay. The inn he usually lived at had fully booked rooms already, and he didn't have too much time to waste on finding a place to stay, he wouldn't want to be a hobo for tonight, it wouldn't be too nice having one of the best Guild's Vanguard Commander live on the streets.

The man behind the counter went out into the back, Macradon's eyes would show through the slit of his helmet, the red scarlet eyes gained a green-yellow hue as he activated his <Search and Detect> skill to see what was going on behind the walls. Nothing seemed to be that major, they all seemed happy without any negative faces showing. Quickly before the man would return, Macradon's eyes would turn back to his scarlet appearance again, to hide off that he was visually eavesdropping on them. He would let out a deep sigh, he had been on the search for a place to stay for the whole entirety of the last hour, and he had not found any place to stay at all, it was infuriating. 

"Sir, we do have a single room left, but it's a two person room ... so it'll be expensive" the man said as he returned to Macradon. "I'll take it. How much for a months rent?" he asked the man "About 2000 Col per week" the man replied. Macradon would let out a chortle as he would find his inventory to look at his money at disposal, it was quite grand. "That's not a problem with money" he said with a snicker on his lips, though shielded by the visor of his helmet. "I'll find a table, so whenever the food is ready, I'll like lightly steamed potatoes and meatloaf, please" he said with a smile as he would pay the rent and the food "Yes, sir" the man replied to Macradon as he went back to the kitchen to give the order. On his way away from the counter, he would grab his helmet and take it off, he wouldn't be able to eat with it on. Underneath the helmet were his fair skin, his scarlet red eyes and his snow white hair.

[OOC: @Cyn @Beatbox I posted :3]

Edited November 7, 2016 by Macradon

[Cyn 0]

Cyn continued to sit idly by, enjoying her own solitude in this quiet little inn, when her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by another player. Her head darted up to see a blonde player stroll into the Inn. The player gave Cyn an odd look before sitting down and ordering a drink just a few seats away from her. Not knowing how to react to this, the girl simply shifted in her chair and opened her menu, pretending not to notice. But it didn't take long for yet another interruption to break through the girl's thoughts. This time it was louder though. She raised an eyebrow as a rather advance player rushed through the tavern's door and went up to the bar. Inquiring about free space in the inn. She looked him over for a moment, and concluded he must be one of those frontliners. Cyn hadn't seen many, but every once in a while a few would show up on the lower floors. Shrugging it off, the girl continued to scroll through her menu looking over her stats... Something about them though made her grimace. Maybe it was the fact she was so low a level? After all, they'd been stuck in this game for a few years now, and Cyn hadn't done anything to try and advance her skills. That was going to change though, hopefully...

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had received his drink not long after looking at the new player, but as he was about to take a sip, he had noticed a player step inside at a table... it was Macradon. Beatbox with a smile eagerly stood up and yelled out "Didn't expect to see you here Macradon." he giggled and walked toward the direction of the table where Macradon had sat down, and went to his table. "so, how has it been Macradon? you guys took down the 18th boss no issue? did anyone fall to the boss?" he had asked with a interested look. He honestly didn't have much to do at the moment and he didn't have anyone else he knew to talk to so he might as well socialize with a front liner he had been wanting to talk to for a while. "You might if I sit?" he asked him as he grabbed the top of one of the chairs waiting for his response before he pulled out the chair to sit down with his drink. He had his drink in his hand, and he hadn't drank it as of yet.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Looking over at the boy who greeted him, Macradon would smile in reply "Oh, hey Beatbox" he would start out with "Didn't expect to see you here either" he would continue. To think that Beatbox would roam the 1st floor wasn't anything Macradon had thought about, but who'd thought about Macradon roaming the 1st floor. Only his closest of friends knows that he lives on the 1st floor in the different inns because of his shop being on the 1st floor as well. "Oh yeah, the 18th boss was over with quicker than expected, which was quite a bummer. I had hoped that this boss had more fight in it after the new setup we're doing" he would say. "Oh yeah, I found the boss room, so there'll be a meeting not too far from now, maybe tomorrow, maybe you'll join?" he would ask Beatbox. 

Macradon was the one to find the boss room on the 19th floor, so he was the one to make a meeting so everyone would be able to know about the boss and be capable of and what it was about. Now, Macradon had done as much research as he could do, and even though he had done that, he didn't get that much information about the boss from what he saw inside the room. He saw no minions, no environmental danger, nothing. It was just the typical tank and spank kind of deal, which Macradon wasn't too fond with, but it was what they had to do to get further up on the floors. He had not much to say before the waiter, the same man behind the counter, would come with his food. "Here you go sir, steamed potatoes with meatloaf. Enjoy" the man said as he left the table again.

[Cyn 0]

Cyn couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation. After all, the guy in the white armor was rather loud. Or loud enough for Cyn to hear anyways. It was confirmed. He was a frontliner. They were just talking about the 18th floor boss battle. Apparently it was a success, and the 19th floor has finally been opened. And judging by the way he had worded it, the fight wasn't all that difficult to them. At this she couldn't help but chuckle a bit. The fights being easy gave her hope for the future at least. It seemed like they had the most capable people on the frontlines, and Cyn was hoping she could make it there one day. But of course she had her work cut out for her.

"Was it really as easy as you described it?" Cyn asked aloud, just loud enough for the two to hear her. She had her eyes focused on her menu, but it was clear she was still talking to them. She didn't really seem to care about interrupting their conversation, or the fact that it was probably very rude. She wanted to know more about the situation on the frontlines. The only alternative was going up there and exploring herself, and that wasn't going to be her option of choice.

"Are you guys really breezing through the challenges without casualties?"

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox smiled as he was recognized by Macradon, without much time he had sat in front of him to talk to him about the boss. In between him talking he had taken a couple of sips of his drink while listening to his words, the drink was rather strong and left a weird after taste, but Beatbox kind of liked it. After he was done talking he had spoken to him "Really? Well that's disappointing, I've heard that the past few bosses hadn't turned out too great... yeah... I heard the passing of some players that everyone had loved... that was talked about for WEEKS after their passing." he said as he looked back to his drink as he took another sip of his drink, as he swallowed his drink he had noticed the female that had sat a couple seats away from him from the bar "hm?" he said as he looked over to her. Beatbox smiled and giggled "I'm extremely new to the front lines, so I wouldn't know... Macradon is the one that knows majority..." he said with another giggle.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would shrug his shoulders at Beatbox "Yeah, many of us frontliners are beginning to get overlevered from all the time there used to be within each boss raid, but I wanted it to go faster, so I dedicated my SP into scouting capabilities, hence why the boss room has already been found" he said with a confident voice. They really had been steamrolling through boss raids without any casualties for a short while ... that was from the raid Boss itself. A strange person would approach the two at the table, and as Macradon would turn his head, and the upper part of his torso because of the neck protector, his armor clang as steel touched steel. Looking at this girl, roughly the same age as Macradon, would ask about the frontlines.

Starting out a reply, Beatbox would lead it back to Macradon, he was the one in here with the most experience, so why shouldn't he be answering? "Uhh, yeah. At the moment we seem to just steamroll through the raid bosses, but I think the 20th floor will set a huge margin on their power, probably a huge power spike each time we hit a tenth floor" Macradon would say "But it doesn't mean we dont' have casualties" he said. "Last time we had the worst fallen people were on the 14th floor's boss raid. The boss took down 2 people, while leaving many other Glass Cannons greatly damaged" he would say "Probably one of the worst raids we've had" he commented. "Though we have had casualties through the recent raids, but that was because of the player killers" he said with a lowered voice. "On the 15th floor, the two strongest players were assassinated and on the 16th floor, 2 other players were brutally murdered. The frontline is not a place for people who can't handle themselves" he would say.

Edited November 9, 2016 by Macradon

[Cyn 0]

Cyn would listen, her eyes still focused on her menu as the two men would try to answer her questions. From the way he had described it before, it sounded like the Frontlines weren't that much of an issue as of the moment. However, that quickly changed as soon as Cyn had asked. Apparently there had been multiple player killings in the not so distant past. Taking a sip of her drink, she finally looked up at the two. The menu glowing in her crimson eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that. After all, I'm sure teamwork is required to get through the floors. People turning on each other doesn't sound like it'd help the situation." She said bluntly. "And I'm sure seeing players like I probably insult you. The fact that we've done nothing in this game so far, when we could've been trying to help." She grimaced a bit. She knew it was going to change. "I don't plan to stay like that for much longer..."

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox finished his drink as they both spoke to each other about the front lines, Beatbox called over someone to retrieve the glass to refill it back up. As the glass was retrieved he looked back to the female and said with a smile "No no, players like you don't insult us. Heck we we're just like you at some point. We all grow eventually in levels... well, that's if you don't make dumb decisions... but becareful... I'd say there are more players getting killed by others rather than plain ole mob's and bosses..." he look back to Macradon and shook his head "Azure Brigade we're they? I never got to know them personally, but when the two died... well, that's all I heard about for WEEKS." he looked over to see that she had come back with another drink. Beatbox gave her a dashing smile and a wink "Thanks a bunch miss.." he giggled and looked back to the other female "Just becareful out there, and work hard to get up there in levels... it took me a long time before I finally got the money to buy equipment... the equipment I had we're mob drops..." he sighed as he missed those days as things were more simpler for him.

@Macradon

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would snigger lightly "You don't have to be sorry, you wouldn't have known. Just like I didn't know how dangerous the frontline actually was when I first joined" he would say with a nostalgic memory of himself joining his very first boss raid at the side of the Azure Brigade. Looking over at Beatbox who would do the same as he did, making her not feel too offensive towards the frontlines. Of course, there were frontliners who despises those who don't have the courage to make their way up to the frontlines. Macradon was like that at once, he hated those who haven't gone up to the frontlines where he was, but over time he had developed this empathy for the people of Aincrad. They weren't as adept in fighting as he was. He climbed up the ladder, all of it himself without help from anyone at all. Now, people had to hurdle up not to be killed by a simple boar.

Beatbox would mention the Azure Brigade, asking where they went "Well ... the last few members that were still a part of this disbanded. They left the fields of the frontlines, probably because of the moral hit they took when their two strongest players were assassinated. The only few I still know that are on the frontlines are the Ultramarine Knight and the Feint. At least those two were former Azure Brigade members" he would say. That was what he knew of them at least. "One of the remaining members of Azure Brigade is Tristan, the God Tank. He just couldn't take it anymore and is now vacating in the Azure Brigade's guild hall, staying there with his wife" he pointed out. 

Looking back over at the girl, Macradon would hear that she wanted to get stronger, which was a good sign for anyone, Macradon wanted to get stronger as well, he could do so alone and get stronger much faster, but it was more enjoyable to do so with other people as he could help those get up the ranks as fast as he got stronger as well. "It's nice to hear that you're on the right path" Macradon said and would continue "If you would need some equipment to get going, I have a shop here on the first floor. I'm beginning to support beginner players as well, those who want to advance through the levels. There's a discount at my shop that will help anyone below a certain level threshold, and you're probably below that, no offense" he would say.

[Cyn 0]

Cyn simply stared with her usual, serious expression as the two men would tell her the dangers of the frontlines. She had already heard this before from a number of other high levels in the past, but the recent events that these two described only continued to create a feeling about the situation she didn't want to stomach... Not now anyways. Ironically though, Cyn hoped she'd be able too face it one day. By then she'd be a lot stronger hopefully, and be able to stand against it. Hopefully...

"Equipment would be nice. However, I doubt I have enough money for even the discount prices. Right now anyways. Like I said, that'll change soon." She told them with her straight tone. Turning over to the window, she stared for a second before getting up, and moving to a seat near the two players. "I'm just glad there's people trying to help those who want to do the same." She told them. "I'm hoping to do the same as soon as I level up a bit. Looking for the right opportunity to do so, however. Starting off is ironically difficult. I'm sure you two understand." She said, staring at her glass before taking a sip.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had listened to Macradon speak about the front lines and about the Azure Brigade. He finished the second drink that he had gotten and said to him "Why were they assassinated? Do you know Macradon?" he asked him with a questioned look. "It's a shame I never got to meet them, I would have wanted to meet them at some point... but, it's very too late now..." he thought to himself with a sigh. He looked back to Cyn with a smile and said to her "If you need the money, I have a plentiful amount for you to get some equipment." he called for the waitress while listening to Cyn talk to give the glass back and refusing another drink. He looked back to Cyn with a smile and giggled "You could say that there's people that do so. I can't speak for the Knights of Blood Oath, but I am a part of a guild known as the Celestial Ascendants, you could say i'm a second hand man in that guild. And we strive to help out as many players as we can, while working on getting ourselves out there on the front lines. However I feel me and Hikoru are the only ones that would risk our lives at the moment to enter the front lines.... and trust me, once you get started its hard to stop from there." he said with a smile aimed towards Cyn with a wink.

 

@Macradon 

Sorry for the long wait!

[Macradon 0]

With a nod Macradon would agree "Right now, the Knight of Blood are also trying to help out lower leveled players who just delve and can't get themselves to go out into the fields. In my shop we have discounts to get them to buckle up and get outside without fearing death from monsters on the fields" Macradon would say "But I will say that some people will have quite the difficult start compared to others. Unlike most, I was prodigy when I started without even knowing it, but that was a lot of time ago, and times have changed. When I started to go into the fields, I didn't go out to the first floor and fight boars, no, I went straight to the second floor and fight those monsters up there. I'm not sure if it was just pure stupidity or courage, but I managed to really outdo most at that time, but I doubt anyone would be able to do that while the updates has been going through the game ever since" he would say, agreeing that start out at this point would be difficult.

[Cyn 0]

Cyn would listen intently as the two fighters explained themselves. It sounded like they were both pretty strong. Compared to her at least. Just by sitting there and hearing the stories. Stories about guilds she'd never even heard of before. Then again, Cyn rarely left the city, and she assumed most of the guilds were active outside of the safe zones. Beatbox would then go one and explain the properties of his guild. It sounded interesting to be sure, but Cyn was skeptical about weather its way was effective. She'd never heard about it though, and it was interesting to learn about these things. Granted she would've preferred to have known about them sooner. Perhaps then she wouldn't still be stuck in this situation.

"I still can't figure out how to use this thing." She responded flatly, looking down at her weapon. "Doubt it can even be called 'prodigy' worthy either." Cyn chuckled, before turning her head back up at the other two players.