[PP-F1] <<Earning a Living>> [Lavay]

[Alice Irving 0]

Alice sighed. With the amount of people with various professions she had seen about, she had decided to finally attempt to get her own. Weighing her options, she eventually decided on becoming an Artisan. She had quite enjoyed trinket-making and various other creative pursuits in her old life, and so decided to do the same in this life. While the were many new things she wished to try, which she most certainly couldn't before, she did wish to keep some of her hobbies from back then, and so decided to make a job of it.

Unfortunately, Alice's attempts to find a teacher for an, in her mind, adorable artisan-in-waiting, had proven fruitless. Slumping somewhat, she looked around, until her eyes finally rested on yet another Artisan's shop, and she quickly made her way towards it. Surely someone would be willing to teach her, it was just a case of not giving up...right?

A bell chimed at the opening of the door, and before the shopkeeper could even greet her, the aspiring Artisan launched into how she desired a teacher, and whether he would teach her, and everything else even tangentially related. A few moments later, she was hurried out of the door with a quest to return with the tusk of a boar to create a ring. It took the fluffy-haired girl a moment to process what had happened, that she had actually succeeded, before hopping on the spot and letting out a squeal. A couple of passing players turned towards her with a raised eyebrow, but she paid no heed to them. Instead, she immediately started wondering whether being an Artisan was the right option for her. Blacksmiths could make their own weapons after all, and tailors could make armour. All Artisans could do were make trinkets to boost people somewhat, but they weren't as useful as-

Alice fell to the ground. Without even realising it, Alice had started walking as she mumbled to herself, on auto-pilot to one of the notice-boards. She was scared to take on foes by herself. After all, she was only level 1! Her body had started heading towards somewhere she could put up a notice, to recruit another's assistance in the wholesale slaughter of random mobs in hope of looting one of their tusks, until she found herself on the floor. Groaning somewhat, she looked up to what she had walked into. Another player. Tall, with short brown hair and what looked like green eyes from the ground. She wondered if she would even reach his shoulders.

 

The girl stammered for a moment when she realised she had walked into him, and immediately placed faith in him to be nice. "U-Um...would you...perhaps like to um, go on a quest with me? Sorry for bumping into you by the way! I was just um, not really looking where I was going and uh...yeah...I'm Alice! Um...w-what's your name?", she questioned, a sheepish look and a nervous grin on her face as she looked everywhere but at the player she had walked into. "Th-The um...the starter town is...very pretty, isn't it?", Alice continued, attempting to deflect from her clumsiness. 'Please don't hate me, please don't hate me, please don't hate me...'

[Lavay 0]

Now that he had been back around and conscious for a couple days Lavay started to acclimate himself to his new 'home' where he was to spend the next who knows how long. After doing some digging he found out that most people either make their living through adventuring, crafting, or some combination of both. Adventuring was going to be a natural given for him, but there was no sense in not at least giving a craft a try. Worst case scenario if her either sucked at it or it wasn't profitable he could always just double down on his adventuring. The nagging question for him was which profession should he choose.

"Hmm..." He mumbled to himself looking at the board. "...Blacksmithing looks nice, but alchemy keeps you alive maybe..." Lavay's words were cut off as he staggered forward a step from being bumped into. "Hey!" Looking over he didn't see anyone until his eyes lowered enough to see the small girl on the ground by her feet. His serious face quickly turned into a smirk and even a chuckle as the girl started stammering. Extending a hand towards he spoke in a welcoming manner. "No problem at all. I'd actually love to go on a quest it'll give me time to think on which profession I'd like to pursue." Pulling the girl to her feet if she accepted his hand he then returned the greeting. "I'm Jim... I mean Lavay... damnit... I keep doing that." Putting his head in his palm he kept forgetting that they were in fact still technically characters in a game.

Shifting his head around looking down the various streets until he eventually returned to her Lavay nodded his head. "It sure is. I can't believe that it’s all technically not real." Of course, the consequences of this world were just as real, but there was no sense in bringing that up. Kneeling down he scooped up some sand from the street letting it run through his fingers. "If there wasn't so much on the line I think I would have really enjoyed this place..." Again, he caught himself sort of day dreaming and talking to no one so returning to Earth or well at least this world he continued. "Anyway, I'd love to help out and do a quest. What do ya have to do?" He was quite excited to go on another quest, and maybe this one would even involve killing something.

[Alice Irving 0]

Alice gave a tiny "Eep!", of half-fear at the hand that was extended to her, before realising it was an offer to help her up. "Ah, profession? That would actually be...a great idea to think about!", she responded.

Placing one hand on Lavay's wrist and one in his hand itself, the spear-wielder pulled herself up. Now that she was standing, she could see that she indeed barely reached this player's shoulders. He was tall. Were people usually this tall? Even her father was only 5'10". Was this man one of the fabled '6 foot tall men'? She had no clue. At his flub, a couple notes of laughter left her, before she took her standing position, both hands behind her back and one leg crossed over the other.

"Well, maybe. But it definitely feels real! That's great, I think. I'd hate to be here if it felt fake", the poofy-haired player replied. Her eyes followed the sand as it drifted through his fingers. Everything about it looked exactly the same as real life. 'How much money did they even put into this...?', she wondered, before her thoughts were cut off by Lavay's musing. "O-Oh, well, I'm...actually kinda enjoying it here, if I'm honest. There's...plenty of things I can do here, that I can't do in real life, after all!"

'Like walk.'

Alice shook the thought out of her head. This was her world now. Here, she could walk. She could dance and run and jump and walk and everything else involving the use of legs. 

Once again, Alice's thoughts were cut off by the tall brunet. "Oh, well, it's um...it's actually related to professions. Earning a Living is the quest name, I think. I'm planning on becoming an Artisan, you see, and the one teaching me has sent me out to kill boars until I get a tusk. Then I'm gonna make a ring from it! Um...I guess if you help me out with mine, I can help you out with yours when you decide?", she offered, looking up to Lavay. 

 

"A-Anyway, how do you fight? I'm...only level 1, unfortunately. But I can still hit pretty hard! I do 4 damage, right now. And 8 if I use Heft! I use a Two-Handed Assault Spear. How about you? Let's start walking to the gate, too.", the spear-wielder stated, turning on her heel and practically bouncing towards the gate. 'I have a friend! This is wonderful!'

[Lavay 0]

"Heh, ya. At least they had the courtesy of making it as realistic as possible before trapping us here." With a light chuckle, he stood back up and a smile showed on his face as the girl, Alice, seemed quite pleased to be here. Hopefully, he could adopt that attitude in time, but all of this was still so new to him that he wasn't quite there yet. Still, he wasn't about to bring her attitude down. "I know what you mean. If you swing a sword around in real life they kind of arrest you, and stuff like that. Ya know not fun stuff."

When the girl revealed the quest Lavay held a thumbs up to her. "Sounds like a plan." He then playfully winks her way. "...and I'll hold yah to that help." Again, his tone was lighthearted, and while he certainly hoped that she was return the favor he was just excited to fight something. The quest she was sent on seemed pretty run of the mill for an early MMO quest making this experience even more surreal then is already was. 'Who thought I'd be really doing the stupid kill X creature and bring me Y' He thought to himself chuckling.'

Alice's choice of weapon sort of caught him off guard as he wasn't expecting someone so small to go the two-handed route. It made him even more intrigued about her as he replied. "I use a two-hander myself..." Patting the large sword that appeared on his back. "...Although, I opted to go with the Greatsword tree. It just... felt right." He chuckled a bit before extending an arm. "There's no time like the present let’s get the show on the road."

Once the two had begun setting out Lavay decided to fill the short journey to the gate with some idle chat. "So, what about you? What's your favorite part about being here? You seem more eager than most."

[Alice Irving 0]

Alice nodded quietly at Jim's mention of the creator's courtesy. She was glad he was smiling. It showed that he did not, in fact, hate her. The offer to assist her with the quest told her that too, but a smile always helped. She nodded again, this time a small giggle escaping, at how you couldn't swing a sword around in real life without getting arrested. "Well, I suppose that depends on where you do it. Things like HEMA clubs have swinging swords around as the whole point, after all!", she responded, a brighter grin spreading on her face.

A stuck-out tongue came in reply to Lavay's wink. "And I'll keep to it! No point making promises if you can't keep them, after all! Plus, it's not like I have anything to pay you with, so my help is kinda all I can offer, really", Alice explained, her cheerfulness quite clearly dominating her image. 

Alice pushed herself up onto tiptoes as Lavay moved his hand behind his back to pat the blade. "Ooooooooh...I um...I couldn't see it from down here...", she replied sheepishly, looking down to the ground with a small, embarrassed smile. However, she quickly bounced back at his words, making her way to the gate alongside the taller man.

While she had been expecting the journey to the gate to have some chatter, Alice certainly hadn't expected the question that Lavay posed first. She gulped, almost audibly, and looked down to the ground once again. "I uh...like I said, there's things I can do here that I...can't do in real life. More than the usual stuff. I love the whole living-in-a-fantasy-world part, but...there are other things about it I like more."

[Lavay 0]

Snapping his finger Lavay jokingly yelled out. "Damn..." Unable to resist laughter he paused a second before continuing. "You mean I could have been swinging around a bad ass sword all this time... Man I apparently failed at life." Shaking his head and continuing to chuckle. "Looks like I luckily got a do over starting out again here." The best way he could cope with things was through joking, and seeing silver linings a skill that he had used to get through several other rough experiences in his life. Of course, nothing quite on the scale of being trapped in a game, but seemingly just as troublesome at the time.

When Alice informed him that she would happily keep this promise as she really didn't have much else to give Lavay smirked saying. "Sounds, like we're on the start of a grand adventure then..." Lowering his head he chuckled at himself. "Sorry, guess I'm starting to get into this character stuff too much, but what I meant to say is it will be good to have a friend to progress through this game with." There was no question we quite early on attaching the friend tag to the girl he had just met, and knew very little about. However, everything had to start with a first step, and why not assume that they could become as such.

While the pair walked towards the gates Lavay completely missed the hesitation in her words, and the body language emitted by Alice. "That's true, and I can only imagine what we'll be capable of at high levels. They may never be able to pull me out of here if I get to become a Jedi or something." Chuckling to himself he continued. "...it really is quite the unique experience." Looking over he was about to ask what she meant by 'like more' but as the gate approach the little warning popped up on his HUD that they were about to leave the safe zone, and instead he decided to look over and comment. "Well, then ready to go kill us a boar?"

[Alice Irving 0]

Alice laughed once again at Lavay's words, a small grin forming on her face once again. "I dunno, can't have done that bad if you could actually afford SAO! And the Nervegear, too. But yeah, I imagine a lot of people have gotten a do-over here...", she stated, trailing off somewhat wistfully at the end. 'I know I have.'

At the next words to come from her newest friend, the fluffy-haired player smirked. "Grand adventure indeed! This is how all protagonists start though, y'know? Maybe we'll end up being the ones to get us to the top floor and escape! Gotta start somewhere, after all, and if you're just starting then of course it's small!", she responded, a spring returning to her step. "But yeah, it'll be nice to have someone to progress with. Who knows, maybe we'll end up in a guild!"

Alice was halfway pleased that the brunet hadn't noticed. At least then she didn't have to deal with potentially making him feel guilty for bringing it up. "Yeah, we should be able to do all sorts of awesome stuff! No magic though, so probably not much chance of that. Although I'd already have to be pulled out of this anyway", she agreed, looking up to him. "Definitely unique...and yep! Can't wait to kill my first enemy!"

 

With the first time stepping out of the walls of the Town of Beginnings, Alice's eyes widened. She hadn't seen it before, but stretching out over the horizon was vast grasslands, populated with everything from Boars to Dire Wolves to the insect-type monsters she would rather stay away from. Pulling her spear from her back, Alice looked down to it, and her cloth armour. She needed to be careful. She took a deep breath, then let it go, before looking up at Jim. "I'll hit first, okay? I'll start with a Heft. If I hit, use a normal attack. If not, use your strongest Sword Art."

With the strategy set, Alice pointed out a boar within running distance. With another deep breath, she sprinted towards the creature, spear held diagonally across her so she could transition into her Sword Art as early as possible. And she did. The moment she got close enough, the spear-wielder felt her body carried through the movements, the tip of her spear rising across the creature and leaving a wonderful red grid across it, marking where she had struck. She saw its health-bar rapidly transition from the 10-health it previously had down to 2. Wonderful!

And lucky for the girl, her strike had thrown the creature off balance, causing it to tumble to the ground as it came rushing towards her, skidding past almost comically towards Lavay. As she saw it go careening past, Alice let out a breath. She was glad she had managed to land a hit, but just as happy that she had managed to avoid getting hurt. She didn't even know if you could feel pain in SAO, but she didn't particularly want to find out.

 

Action: Heft 4x2 = 8 damage

Roll ID# 86178

BD: 7 (Hit)

Roll ID# 86180

MD: 1 (Crit fail)

[H:1] Alice Irving: 20/20 (0/2)

Boar - HP: 2/10

Edited June 22, 2017 by Alice Irving

[Lavay 0]

Lavay chuckled as his partner appeared to be into the whole grand adventure thing. "Nice, nice..." Raising his fist up he cheered he chuckled. "I have no doubt that we will give that finally floor a run for its money. We'll do it one boar at a time." Her offer to join a guild together brought quite the smile to his face even though he assumed she was just mostly being pleasant. "I wouldn't be against it. Although, it would have to have a cool name, and hey if we can't find one we'll just have to start our own. I was in management after all." Leaving the statement at that he didn't really desire to go into his old crappy job, but it was worth bringing up for the laugh.

As the pair made their way out of the safe zone Lavay shrugged at her initial comment while drawing his blade. "I was never to big on magic in games. Anytime I did play a magic user I was always some type of healer." Tapping the flat of his sword he smirked. "So, I'm just fine with swinging a blade." Alice's final comment drew out a playful laughter from him as he gave her a little nudge on the shoulder. "That's of course if I don't kill it first." Giving her a little wink he propped the large blade against his shoulder and followed her towards the boars.

With their first target picked out his partymate throughout some instructions which Lavay returned with a head nod. "Sounds like a plan I'll back you up." Pulling his sword around he began slowly jogging behind Alice giving her enough space to do her thing, but he was close enough if she were to get into trouble. As she made her strike he called "Woooo, you go gurl!" One of his many compliments he would issue to people that usually was followed by some laughter.

The real comedy came however by the boars failed attempt at striking her which resulted in the creature falling to the ground right in front of him. "Don't make it too easy on me now." Lavay chuckled as he pointed the sword downwards and jabbed it into the creature. So, in the most anticlimactic first kill ever the creature exploded into blue crystals which quickly faded as and a loot icon popped up. "Hey, cool looks like we got some bonus col. 80 in total. Not to bad for a first kill." Looking over the menu he noticed that it said he was the only one who received the loot since he got the killing blow. "Huh, well that doesn't seem very fair you did most of the work..." With a few flicks of the wrist he selected her party icon and initiated a trade for 40 Col. "There we go, fair is fair!"

Once she accepted the trade Lavay proceeded to ask. "So, did you get the quest item you needed or do we need to kill some more? Actually, even if you did get the item would you wanna kill a few more these things were cake." He felt the adrenaline coursing through him there was something exhilarating about doing this stuff with actual risk and of course reward.

 

ID# 86182 results: BD - 6 (Hit)

2 HP - 4 Dmg: The Boar Dies

ID# 86183 results: LD: 18 CD: 4 (50 Bonus Col)

30 Base Col + 50 Bonus Col = 80 Col

 

Traded 40 Col to Alice. So they both have 40.

@Alice Irving

Edited June 23, 2017 by Lavay

[Alice Irving 0]

"Yep, one boar at a time! And eh, who cares about old lives? If we judged eachother here based off what we used to be, then I wouldn't be next to ya", Alice responded, tapping the wooden haft of her spear against the floor while looking up to Lavay. "And if we end up in a guild, it'll be the best in every way! Name, strength, all of it. Just watch", she finished.

Alice hadn't said anything in response to the comment on magic, but did smirk in response to his jab about him killing it first. "Yeah, we'll see. Don't get your hopes up though, just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't hard", she retorted, stilling grinning.

Another grin broke out at the encouragement that the fluffy-haired girl received from her greatsword-wielding companion. It was nice to receive encouragement from someone on her capabilities. While she did wonder whether she had done a good job, even with that amazing swing, Lavay's encouragement backed her up on it. Turning around just in time to see the boar burst into blue shards, she grinned at the mention of the 80 col. That was certainly a decent amount, though her face dropped as she checked her inventory to find...nothing.

And then a trade request.

Gleefully accepting the request, Alice confirmed the trade before looking to her inventory once again. She beamed at the sight of it. Though it wasn't much, it was something. It was progress. She was glad to finally see some. No boar tusk just yet, but at least she had some col now. She wondered when she'd finally be able to buy a perfect weapon. "Thanks! Although maybe you should've kept a bit more, since, y'know, you're helping me with this quest."

At Lavay's question, Alice shook her head, hair bouncing and swaying hypnotically as she did so. "Nope, not yet! But that just means more boars to kill, more col to get, and more XP to get! And more time to get to know eachother, too!", she replied, sticking her tongue out and raising a finger on her free hand, as the base of the haft met the earth once again.

"Now, we're both undamaged, so let's find another one...", the spear-wielder started, looking around the plains once again, eyes squinting against the sun. "There!", she called, pointing out yet another foe. Although she couldn't start off with a Heft this time, she still had some amount of confidence. After all, it was two versus one!

This time, Alice decided to try putting some technique into her strike. Sprinting towards the next enemy, she held her spear with the tip slightly to the side, and pointed to the ground. As soon as she got within range, she swept it to the side, taking the boar's legs out from under it. As it tipped to the side, she swung back again, putting a lovely red mark on its underside. "All yours, Lavay!"

Action: Attack Boar 4x1 = 4 damage

ID# 86196

BD: 6 (Hit)

ID# 86197

MD: 1 (Crit fail. Again)

[H:1] Alice Irving 20/20 (0/2)

Boar - HP: 6/10 - DMG: 3

[Lavay 0]

After initiating the trade Lavay was pleased that Alice accepted the offer although as she attempted to say that he should keep more the two-handed warrior quickly cut her off shaking his head. "Naaah, we're in a party so it should be split evenly. Also, you already said you would help me out later so we're already even." A good-natured guy at his core the equality in revenue made him happy especially since both were just starting out, and really didn't have anything to their names.

When Alice revealed that she didn't get the item, and agreed that they had to keep killing a smirk formed on his face. "Hell, ya that’s what I like to hear. Conquering this place one boar at a time!" Raising his fist Lavay spoke in an excitable tone cheering the pair on. "Besides we also need to keep killing these things til you get a kill." Again, he winked playfully to his partymate giving her a pat on the back.

Now that their next target was found Lavay watched at the girl performed another strong attack this time using a little more finesse to knock the creature to its feet. "Nice one, it's not easy to trip up a 4-legged creature." Nervously chuckling he thought to himself. "Goddamnit, you are such a nerd referencing paper RPG's" Shaking the nerdy thoughts from his head the two-handed warrior followed up behind the girl, and a grin quickly erased the nervous look as he saw the creatures health bar. "Ooo looks like I get to have some fun with this one." Just as the boar recovered Lavay reached back his large sword began glowing gold and slightly shaking. Then just as the boar when to rush him he plunged the sword forward hitting the creature center mass and instantly exploding it in the familiar blue crystals.

"Okay, that was fun!" Lavay yelled as the loot window popped up this time it was a measly 30 col. "Aww man no bonus loots this time." He grumbled as he opened the trade window up to transfer half again. Looking over he smiled. "May as well keep going at least until one of these things touches us." Chuckling he concluded. "Besides we need enough col so that we can celebrate this victory over some food and drinks." After saying that he hoped that his statement wasn't too forward it was just that he was having fun hanging around this girl.

 

ID# 86198 results: BD: 7

Used 2HSS Art - Straight for 8 Dmg. (0/2 Energy)

Boar Dies

 

ID# 86199 results: LD: 5

No Bonus Loot. 30 Col Drops

Traded 15 to Alice

Each of them has 55 Total now.

Jim: 20/20 HP - 0/2 Energy

@Alice Irving

Edited June 23, 2017 by Lavay

[Alice Irving 0]

"Well...okay, if you say so", Alice replied to Lavay, shrugging. A small grin appeared on her face once again. He definitely seemed to be a nice guy. Someone she wouldn't mind spending time with. She was definitely enjoying her time with the brunet so far, that was for certain. He had a confident air around him, one that filled her with a similar amount of confidence, backing up her natural optimism.

At Lavay's continued mention of the 'one boar at a time' path, Alice nodded, hair bouncing as she did so. It wobbled slightly, almost like jelly, as her head stopped moving. However, at the seeming challenge, her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened. A smirk spread across her face. "You're only getting the kills because I'm letting ya! You wouldn't get any XP if you didn't get a hit in, after all", she retorted her, looking up to him with an amused expression.

With the fight finished, the pint-sized player pouted at the lack of extra loot, though it was quickly alleviated by the addition of 15 more col. "Well, I guess it's an excuse to keep fighting more...it's kinda got a rush to it, don't you think? The possibility of dying is still really scary, but...fighting has an exhilarating feeling to it as well, I think", she stated, one finger gently pressed on her ever-so-slightly glossy bottom lip. "Oh, um...thanks for that, by the way. About the knocking over the creature. Getting praise is...kinda nice", she finished, cheeks tinted slightly before she looked around to scout for another boar.

It didn't take Alice long to find their third opponent for the day, and she tapped her spear against the ground once more. "Third boar, coming up! Let's see if we can't get a tusk from this one!", she cried, before once again sprinting towards her newfound foe. With her body low to the ground, the spear-wielder held her weapon out to the side. Once within reach, she swung horizontally, passing the tip over its face. The beast stumbled to the side momentarily, face marred by the red gash, before it swung its tusks at its attacker. This time, the attack finally connected, and Alice felt a tingle run up her body as she had her own wounds put into her. 'Well at least it doesn't hurt...', she thought as she hopped backwards, the spear preventing the boar from charging her. 

 

Action: Attacking Boar 4x1 = 4 damage.

ID# 86222

BD: 7 (Hit)

ID# 86223

MD: 8 (Hit)

[H:1] Alice Irving 17/20 (0/2)

Boar - HP: 6/10

Edited June 23, 2017 by Alice Irving

[Lavay 0]

"Heh, ya... Suuuuure." Lavay responded in a half joking half mocking tone to Alice. Giving her a shining smile, and wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the next victim he continued. "I guess I should be thanking you for allowing me to get all those kills." Giving her a pat on the arm he released her from the hold, and made sure to offer a wink. Then just as a precaution in case she thought he was being serious he added. "I really think it just come down to the fact that we are an unstoppable team!"

Alice's next comment about the death being real slightly brought his expression down, because for a moment there he almost forgot that this wasn't a game. "Don't worry, the second one of us starts to take a little damage we will be sure to stop, or at the very least take a break, okay?" Holding a confident look on his face he nodded to her while holding a thumbs up. "That being said, I really don't think we're at much risk so long as we're smart about it, and keep fighting them one at a time." Turning his head around looking at the fairly docile creatures he felt his composure slip just a tiny bit as he wasn't exactly sure of their aggro perimeters. Luckily, or well unluckily Lavay let out a bit of a sigh as she brought him back to his nerdy comment he made earlier. Although, it at least appeared as though she didn't catch on, instead taking it as just a generic compliment. "Hey, it's praise well deserved after all you have yet to even by touched by one of these things I'd say that speaks to your skill alone." Chuckling to himself he unwittingly made a claim on her real life. "With nimble moves like those you must be like some sort of Gymnast IRL."

With their third target insight Lavay held back a little further this time letting her do her thing a large smile was on his face as he cheered her on as she rushed off. "Wooo third times a charm. Get it!" His wide smile quickly changed into a look of horror though as the boar’s tusk ran along her body. "Oh no." He thought sprinting over to her. "Are you okay!?" He had forgotten for a moment her health bar was visible on his party screen and saw that she had plenty of HP left. Still, a very eerie, very surreal, and scary feeling crawled into his head as his partner was literally hit for a 1/7 of her true life.

That thought now burned into his head Lavay put himself in between the Boar and the girl slicing at it with his sword. As another red gash appeared on the creature the warrior yelled. "Ya, that's right if you're gonna hit someone you better make it me!" No idea if the pile of pixels would respond to taunts he figured it couldn't hurt.

@Alice Irving

 

Action: Normal Attack 4x1 = 4 Dmg

ID# 86255 results: BD: 6

Boar: 6 - 4 = 2 HP

Edited June 23, 2017 by Lavay

[Alice Irving 0]

Alice rolled her eyes at Lavay's tone, but practically jumped as she felt his arm around her shoulder. That certainly didn't help the blush that had been on her face. She had no idea how to handle physical contact, and especially in a way that was as...intimate as having someone's arm around your shoulder. The most she'd ever been held before was being moved from her wheelchair to something else, and as she'd gotten used to doing it herself, even that had stopped. It took her a moment to realise she hadn't actually been touched in almost years, and decided to let it keep going. At least for now. It had been years since her last human contact, after all.

The fluffy-haired girl was surprised, and even a little disappointed, at the short length of the contact. However, she hid it by rolling her eyes again. "We totally are! The best team."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea", Alice said in response to Lavay's first comment, about taking a rest after taking damage. "Again, good idea. If we need to rest, we can just wait outside their aggro range. I think it's pretty small, since we're only on the first floor. Most of 'em actually seem kinda docile, up until we attack them. We should be fine", she finished.

At the continued praise, the spear-wielder smiled. "I um...well, thanks, I guess. And...no, definitely not a gymnast. Far from it", she responded, looking down to the ground once again. "Wish I was capable of that..."

Alice gulped as she held the spear between her and the boar, not taking her eyes from her opponent as Lavay joined her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't take much HP off. I'm...I-I'm fine...", she replied, shaking slightly. The very tip of the spear was visibly trembling.

The damaged girl watched as her partner placed himself in front of her and took a swing at the boar, taking its health down to 2. 'Okay, I can do this...I just gotta hit it before it hits me and...'

Before she could finish her thought, the boar rushed forward, dashing through Lavay's legs towards Alice. Instinctively, she raised her spear to defend herself. The creature leaped, crashing headfirst into her and sending her sprawling across the ground. She landed on her back, weapon fortunately still in hand, as it seemed to be following up its attack. Immediately, she braced the spear against the ground just as it leaped once again and impaled itself on the iron head. For a moment, she thought she'd somehow failed to do enough damage. However, that worry was quickly alleviated as it burst into blue shards, floating into the air.

The fluffy-haired girl gulped once again as she watched the loot flash up on her screen. 30 col. She sighed. "Of...o-of course we wouldn't get any good drops after that...j-just our luck...", she muttered to herself, more than to Lavay. Her voice was shaky, her chest was visibly rising and falling, and her spear was practically jumping in her hands, even as she tried to lighten the mood. 

"L-Let's um...lets take a break", she finished, initiating the trade with Lavay to give him his 15 col.

 

Action: Attacking Boar 4x1 = 4 damage

ID# 86264

BD: 7 (Hit)

ID# 86265

MD: 10 (Crit, +2 damage)

ID# 86266

LD: 2 (Nothing)

[H:2] Alice Irving 11/20 (0/2)

Boar - HP: 0/10 

Loot: 30 col (15 each)

Edited June 24, 2017 by Alice Irving

[Lavay 0]

Naturally, the overly oblivious guy missed her blush, and other reactions to his physical contact. Although, Lavay was happy to hear that she was proud of their little team too, and he verbally confirmed it with a "Hell ya we are." Giving her one more little wink his eyes shifted forward as they continued to move towards their next target. He ended up giving her another little smile as she agreed with his plan to relax if either of them took some damage. "Yup, no sense in rushing anything since we're apparently going to be here for quite a while." With a small friendly nudge, he hoped that she wouldn't focus on the scary parts of fighting. Her final point just before the fight caused him to wonder what she was like before all this, but before he could toss out another guess she was already on her way to attack the boar.

---

After turning himself into a human shield Lavay pulled his sword back for a killing blow. However, before he could swing the boar completely by passed him going for the girl. It was weird watching aggro mechanics work from a 'real life' perspective, but it made sense given that it was an mmo. Turning around he tried to warn the girl, but the boar had already knocked her down. "Oh shi..." He said as Alice's health bar continued to drop. "Hold on I've got it!" Pulling his sword back the two-handed warrior was about a half second to late at the creature tried to pounce on her while she was done.

Fortunately, Alice was on her toes enough to put the spear between her and the boar. The second the creature hit it, it quickly exploded into the now familiar blue crystals. Looking down at her his first instinct was to check her wounds as he was still struggling with the lines between real life and game. However, when her first comment was about a lack of loot Lavay's concern slightly washed away, and instead of helping her up he plopped on the ground right next to her. "Ya I think a break is probably a good idea." He paused a moment clearing his throat. "You had me worried there for a bit. If we have to fight another one how about I take the hits." Rotating slightly, he smiled at the girl it was evident there was still some concern in his eye as he say her health had been dropped to nearly 50%

Once Alice initiated the trade Lavay quickly hit the accept key, and said. "Appreciate you sharing, apparently both our luck sucks for getting bonus stuff... Oh speaking of which did you get your tusk yet?"