[PP-F01] So this is a thing? <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>>

[Havok 0]

Taro rubbed his eyes and sighed. He had finally worked up the courage to head out. It was no easy feat, as he had been far too terrified in dying, leaving his mother alone. However, if he never got out of the game, well he was basically already dead to begin with. He would just take it slow, play is smart, and depend on knowledge he had built up in other games. Admittedly, he was often interested to playing with magic in those games, generally a paladin type really. 

But that was not available here, not in the system so far. Instead, he had gone for a dragoon fighting style here. The feel of heavy armor with a hefty spear, it felt right, but he still had so much to learn and do. Luckily, his time at the cafe had proven fruitful. A friend of a friend of a friend had mentioned that there were often players willing to help new players through the early quests. Someone had passed along the word that Taro was hoping to move on and upward and said friend three times removed had arranged for a gentle soul to help. 

So he stood just outside the entrance to the man's workshop, waiting for this mysterious kind soul to help him. It would be fun to begin. 

[Domarus 0]

Domarus put down the tools of his craft with frustration.  Or, more accurately would be to say that he threw them across the room with a roar of rage, causing them to shatter into crystal.  Keres ran over swiftly but wisely waited a moment for Domarus to calm down before saying anything.  The brown haired girl loved getting beaten by Domarus, but it wasn't any fun if she felt no pain.  The system had updated, causing Domarus' tools to be utterly useless to him.  He was going to need to take a breather.  Not only this, but now that his guild was set up he needed to find new players to join it and pronto.  At the same time he wanted to start saving up col for a guild hall.  This was a needed feature that they required if they wanted any headway at all.  Thus the main thing he should focus on would be grinding monsters from here on out.  Every day he needed to kill as many as possible.  He stood up straight.  Domarus breathed for a moment, pleased that the system prevented such sounds from exiting closed doors.  He looked up at Keres.
     "What is it?"  She grinned hopefully when she saw his reaction.
     "There's a player approaching our shop.  I spoke with someone yesterday about you helping him get on his feet and we scheduled today.  I thought that since you needed players-"  She was interrupted when Domarus shot an arm out, grabbing her by the throat and pressing her against the wall, causing her to grin with excitement.  Ah she missed this.
     "YOU WHAT?!"  
     "You need members for your guild.  Whether you like it or not you'll need to accept every offer you get.  You need the reputation.  You told me this."  Domarus growled, glaring at her with hatred.  Keres was his only friend, but her fickle mind could get on his nerves on occasion.  Still she was right.  She knew he could get like this, and she knew that if he put too much pressure he'd accidentally turn orange.  She was the only one who knew how to defuse him.
     "Next time.  You tell, me, first."  He let go, dropping her onto the ground.  She brushed her maid outfit before following Domarus out of the crafting room and into the room with the counter.  He opened the door and saw a player standing there in front of him.  His face, posture and eyes held none of the anger prior to this, despite the fact that it was there.  He smiled to the player, holding his hand out for the player to shake.
     "I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that you are the player I've heard about.  The player who needs assistance, correct?  My name is Domarus.  This is Keres."  Keres bowed to the player.

@Havok

[Havok 0]

Taro blinked to himself as the man emerged. He...was taller than he expected. Which was weird. Taro was used to being the tallest around, an ode to his father's Scandinavian blood. Yet all the same, Domarus extended a polite greeting. It was apparent he was no schlup either, as Taro could sense the raw power he red haired man had. It was not the strongest, the spearman had met a few frontliners over the years, but Domarus was certainly no newbie. That he was willing to help a newbie, it meant a lot to Taro.

"Thanks for agreeing to help me! My name is Havok. It's a pleasure to meet you both."  He too bowed his head, smiling with unadulterated joy for the first time in a while. He adjusted his pauldrons, a new purchase, as he looked over them both. He could fit in with these two for sure, they seemed quite nice enough. And the Lord knew they were not something foul like an Orange player. 

Still, adjusting his plate [vanity only sadly save for the shoulder part], Taro fidgeted with his heavy spear. "I am...not exactly sure what we should be doing. I heard the quest giver is around these parts, but I just...just getting started, ya know? But thank you again! Am eager to get to the frontlines, I have hidden down here too long!" 

@Domarus

Edited October 22, 2017 by Havok

[Domarus 0]

Shock was the first reaction Domarus received.  Given the height of this player, it was most likely because he was used to seeing someone shorter than him.  Domarus didn't care how tall this player was, nor did he care about his name.  To him?  It was something to register in his memory so that he knew more players.  He disliked having a disadvantage and you needed to know who was a threat and who wasn't.  The name Havok he sent down to quite a low area on his list when he noticed that this player was of a very very low level.  The player then replied the greeting, bowing his head and shaking Domarus' hand.  To their surprise he said nothing about Keres' maid outfit.  Most people did.  That is to say, Domarus showed a very small amount of surprise, when really he was indifferent about the matter.  Whether a player was shocked, angry, unsettled or indifferent as well could tell him a little about his personality, but not enough to matter.  He seemed unsettlingly joyful at meeting them, of course it could easily be that he had met players for once.  
     "So then.  What is it that you need help with?  A quest?  Dungeon?  Mob grinding?"  When the player began explaining what it was he needed, he, didn't.  He told Domarus right off the bat that he had no idea what he was doing.  It took much effort not to show it, but he was screaming with frustration, annoyance, and a very pissed off vocabulary.  Great he thought.  Another hopeless idiot who can't determine left from right.  Why oh why was he stuck with these lately?  Nonetheless he needed guild members, and a good reputation, so instead of giving this player a lecture and lesson of a lifetime that would most likely change the rest of his life, he would do his best to encourage and aid this hopeless player, and maybe, just maybe get him strong enough to stay alive and join his guild.  Domarus chuckled at the last part and clapped the player on the back.
     "Glad to hear that you're eager to get out in the world and get stronger, but how about we take this one step at a time then eh?  I'm going to assume you are talking about the quests for beginner players.  If this is the case then you've passed him.  Come on, follow me,"  he said as he walked outside.  In the broad daylight, his black jeans and T-shirt were clearly visible to Havok, as well as Keres' maid outfit.

@Havok

[Havok 0]

Taro smiled broadly when Domarus spoke about the quest giver and the directions to him. Not too many people seemed eager to help lower level players, despite this being their effective real life...the old fashioned gamer mentality had slowly sunk in. There were those that got the game, the setting, and the system...and then there were those that did not. Sure Taro gave the impression that he did not, and that was fine. Better to have people want to help and think he was helpless than have expectations placed on him. 

"Say Domarus, you said the quest giver was back a bit? Are you saying I completely walked past it? Oh my...I've not been this embarrassed since my younger sister walked in on my manga collection. Keres would have felt at home with my collection, hah! But that is a story for another day! Thank you again so much for helping out. I just...I do not even know how to get started. This is nothing like the mobile games I used to play while in class, you know?"

Maybe he was being annoying, maybe he was simply being friendly? Taro couldn't tell really. He was just a chatter box until getting to know someone, but fortunately, Domarus seemed like the kind of guy who would be a long term fit. He was quite friendly enough, to say nothing of his friend Keres who drew some sideways glances while they walked on. 

@Domarus

Edited October 23, 2017 by Havok

[Domarus 0]

Expectations were placed on him before Domarus had even seen him.  He expected even new players to have an idea of how to get through the game.  Did he not pay attention to the tutorial?  All of this time and he didn't even bother to talk to players inside the town and get some info on how and where he should get started?  This was utterly ridiculous he thought to himself.  Still he had no choice but to continue the facade that he didn't mind the player's complete and total ignorance on one of the most basic functions in the game that he had access to the entire time he was walking over here to find a player who could show where to find the quest giver in the first place.  A map.  Every player had a map they could glance at, and any activated quest left a marker on the map.  For crying out loud Domarus knew where this idiot npc was and he didn't have any marker.  He listened in on the player's words and upon hearing about the manga collection and hearing Keres' name he knew she'd react.
     "And how would I feel at home with your collection?  Master Havok~?"  She was hoping to get a blush or something from the player.  However when he mentioned mobile games Domarus almost groaned outwardly, though he didn't.  Actually he almost punched the player right then and there.  Mobil games?  [Censored] this was going to be a very, very long day.
     "So wait, you've never played an MMO game?  Do you at least know the terminology?  Also, if you look carefully, you'll see that you have a map in your hud.  If you see that blinking light?  Those are markers for any active quests that you have.  Every player who starts has this quest active unless they turn it off.  While we walk over to the npc, what do you know and don't know about MMO games?  Because...  Mobile games are indeed completely different from an MMO.  For one MMO's are far more developed, have a larger variety, and are better in general in every way.  At least in my opinion.  Did you play any games after school?  At home?"

@Havok

[Havok 0]

Taro almost answered Keras...almost did. His mind went to a dark...inappropriate place immediately. That collection of manga had been a special one, one he had grown through years of careful collecting. It had taken too much negotiating with older friends, a couple neighbors...

Taro snapped back to the present with Domarus' little rant. It seemed his patience was strained, subtly. Was the story of mobile games too...offensive? Anders had long said that pretending to be an idiot and surprising people with moments of ingenuity, well it was superior to having expectations and failing to meet them. This was at least in the beginning. Perhaps this tactic had been off. Backing off his statements some, he answered Domarus' questions.

"Well, I would not say I never played any Massive Multiplayer games. I just tended to drift towards mobile games in recent years. I particularly liked the monster collecting games. I actually ended up being in top 20 guilds in two games, achieving top 2500 personally which was 93rd percentile in one, and top 1700 in the other, a top 96th percentile there. And if you go back years before that, while I was living in the United States, I played a popular retro-style game that was browser based. It was a strategy game that all of the trappings, time gated resource renewal, twelve plus hour attack times, etc - it had all those elements before they were common place. Twice I was in a group that ended top on the competitive server, out of 450,000 players. I personally ended up in the top 115 in both, and our greater alliance, we were the predominant force on two different server."

By the end, his voice was a little strained. It was not that he was angry that the man had taken to his charade, just...the insulting of his intelligence - his own fault or not - irked him. "So, MMOs on the whole are a bit new to me, yes. But I dabbled in Crossreign for a time. Does that answer your questions?"

[Domarus 0]

Keres watched Havok carefully as he seemed about to answer her but didn't.  She watched as he seemed to have drifted into his thoughts, disappointing her slowly until he dismissed it entirely and turned to Domarus to listen to him.  Keres was disappointed but it only came out as a very soft and quiet sigh.  Domarus had been watching him, noticing how while he seemed everywhere thought wise, he had some amount of self control.  Interesting.  Domarus would notice how Havok seemed to begin thinking to himself.  He knew that face as he made it himself when no one else was around.  Calculating.  Restrategizing.  It wasn't nearly as intense as Domarus' own, but he couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking now.  Then he began explaining how he had played MMO's in the past, just drifted towards mobil games like monster collecting games as of late.  He pushed further, stating how he was in the top twenty guilds in two games and gave excess details for that as well.  Almost as if he wanted to prove something to Domarus.  Hah.  If this player had played the game Domarus had, and if he knew Domarus' username, he would know that he had quite literally took control of the entire MMORPG and that no one could do a single thing about it.  The game died of course but he didn't care.  He used it as a testing ground.  What happened to the site was of no importance.
     "So you were in the top twenty of a guild huh?  Well congrats for that my friend!  Since you have played MMOs before we can skip some of the terminology tutorials.  However while I don't doubt your skills or intelligence, it's a good thing to remember that SAO is a far different difficulty than any other MMO you've encountered.  It's you who moves and acts, not an avatar you control by moving your fingers on a keyboard.  It's you who gains fatigue, not the figure on the screen.  And it's you who will be charging at massive demons, player killers, and other threats that would steal your life in a heartbeat.  In other words, caution is important."  He clapped the man on his back with a grin.
     "Luckily for you, there are players willing to back you up eh?  So you seem to prefer guilds, if I'm reading into it correctly.  Was there any you had your eyes on currently?"

[Havok 0]

Taro nodded as Domarus spoke on, reminding him of the the struggles he likely face in the near future. He was right of course, Taro knew that. He knew that the melee actions and attacks were based on him actually moving, not just inputting a command or letting a macro run in the background. There would be no logic coding to game abilities, there were likely no untapped exploits to take advantage of, let alone something game breaking. Hell, even his chance of survival was dependent on his gear, his ability to level up, etc - he knew all that. But Taro guess, if he hearing it again and again was necessary, likely it meant that it was something one could forget in the moment. 

"I understand, thank you. It is a breath of fresh air like I said, to have someone know what they are doing and being willing to help. And yeah, there's a couple guilds I am looking at. One in particular, has some players I used to play with. Not sure if they remember me, and I wasn't that strong of a contender or anything. Yet, those are the people I am chasing, again, you know? I only hope to get to their level."

[Domarus 0]

Domarus listened to Havok as he mentioned what a relief it was that Domarus was assisting him with this quest.  He then mentioned how he was looking at a particular guild but would not specify which guild that was.  All he would tell Domarus was that he knew one of the players in the guild.  While he wasn't sure if said player would remember him, he wanted to get to their level.  So he was another player seeking strength and an old acquaintance of some sort.  At least he had a goal other than becoming strong.  He watched Havok for a moment before turning his gaze back to the area around them.  
     "Well I hope things work out for you and that guild.  There are a few new ones out, but the biggest known guilds are currently Knights of the Blood Oath, Spectral Coalition, and Celestial Ascendants.  All of them falling apart in their own way.  I'm hoping to unite all the guilds and players once my guild gets strong enough however.  I also hope you find the person you're searching for."  He looked up into the sky and gave a sharp whistle.  In response, there would be a red flash above before Rhozarth, his flaming dragon, shot down with much speed and force, stopping himself from crashing into the ground at the last second and hovered in front of Domarus.  The dragon didn't bother looking at Havok.  It had already watched the player from above and wasn't impressed as of yet.  Rhozarth was a very proud creature after all.  The flames licked his scales continuously, the dragon always on fire.
     "Why don't you help us find some materials.  Let's help Havok get this quest completed."  Rhozarth began to fly into the forest while Domarus began to search for materials.  Domarus turned when he spotted two materials and picked them up.  He then held his hand out to his side, without looking, and took hold of the materials his dragon brought for him.  He turned to Havok and handed him the materials.
     "Four out of five then."

ID#  90063  CD:  11  LD:  14+3=17  @Havok:  4 MAT

Edited October 28, 2017 by Domarus

[Havok 0]

Taro nodded to himself as Domarus talked. Celestial Ascendants was definitely a guild he was interested in. It had Shield and Beats both on their rosters, and they had a good, very good reputation with newer players. However, that was a story for another time. "You say they are falling apart? How do you mean? Were there some deaths in their leadership, or is there some kind of betrayal or drama among the rosters? I had not heard anything in the starting area about any kind of problems. Maybe we were just insulated against the world there, but I would think that kind of information would become public knowledge quickly enough, you know?"

Taro nodded as Domarus motioned for them to start looking. Taro was...really bad at that. He had never good luck in luck swings, having to focus his gear in other games on sustained efficiency and less on burst. This was no different as he just could not find anything for the life of him. Domarus' luck was much better and almost had the quest over. It was good to have friends. 

 ID# 90120 results: Loot: 2

 

[Domarus 0]

Domarus listened as he had asked about the manner of how the guilds were falling apart.  He went over his own personal thoughts of betrayal, deaths, drama, and how he hadn't heard any of this himself.  Players could be pretty ignorant he knew, so he'd try not to judge the player too much.  Especially since he didn't have informants of his own.  Aereth had once been a member of the Celestial Ascendants, so he knew where things had started off.  After that he'd been asking certain players to keep an eye on the guild, sending him information when something worth of note had occurred.
     "From what a friend of mine told me, one of the paladins keeps himself separated from the rest of the guild, including the other paladins.  And when he doesn't seclude himself he's withdrawn in his cowl and is rather cold to others.  One of the paladins only shows up on the rarest occasions and even then doesn't do anything.  Not only are they inconsistent and inactive, they also don't work with each other as well as you'd think.  I've watched a few of them fight and they all do their own thing rather than work as a team.  As for the Knights of the Blood Oath, nobody really cares about them anymore.  They give a lot of talk and make themselves sound important, but they really aren't.  Not to mention several of them are inconsistent as well.  Finally there is Spectral Coalition which has all but fallen apart.  A friend of mine told me that two of them went off the grid.  One of them is doing his own thing, and the last one is Calrex, who doesn't do much other than boss raids nowadays."  Domarus sighed as he stretched his arms.
    "In addition to these, they all have one goal only.  The Celestial Ascendants wishes to train new players, but they have received no such thing.  The Knights of the Blood Oath wish to fight on the front lines, but everyone strives for that regardless.  And the Spectral Coalition is nothing more than four players who see themselves as a family.  One of them had murdered several players as well."  Domarus spotted one more material and handed it to @Havok, gesturing for them to head back as it was now time to craft the item.  He whistled and Rhozarth returned to his shoulder as they began the stride back.

ID#  90275  CD:  1  LD:  13+3=16  +1 MAT

All 5 Gathered

Edited November 1, 2017 by Domarus

[Havok 0]

Taro happily listened to Domarus give the political run down of the various guilds and their situations. The more he spoke, the more his mind kind of became convinced. "You know, the Celestial Ascendants definitely sounds like my speed. Especially given I am new player and finding my way here, you know?" He just had no luck finding the materials. Domarus' early success was a pleasant surprise, and it was something he just wish he could reproduce. Regardless, he needed to move forward and catch those he chased. "And I just, am grateful for your help. I know I said that a couple times no-" Taro was interrupted as Domarus reached over and found the last of the materials. "I guess that means we are...kinda done here? No that is five materials, we are done after all."

Domarus didn't give him much time before turning on his heel and walking back to turn the quest in. Running a bit after him, Taro finally caught up long enough to ask a question. "Of those guilds, would you suggest Celestial Ascendants as the likely fit for me?"

[Domarus 0]

Domarus listened as Havok stated how the Celestial Ascendants sounded like his kind of guild.  The weak draws the weak he supposed.  However even if he was joining that guild, there was always the chance that once he grew stronger he may seek out other guilds to join.  A guild he could actually work with that made him stronger.  Domarus was seeking to own that kind of guild.  He needed more members however....  So far things weren't going as well as he hoped.  He needed more allies in order to start strengthening the bonds and limits of his guild.  Once they were strong enough to be noticed, he was certain that they would receive more players than before.  Thus he shrugged in response to him.  He wanted to appear like he wasn't upset at him for joining those players.
     "It's impossible to know until you try it out.  At any rate if it doesn't work out for you at any point, my guild's always open.  Though hopefully you won't be given a reason to leave them," He said with a grin.  The player then began to thank Domarus for what he was doing when he handed the last material for the quest.  He nodded in answer.
     "Indeed we are.  Now we'll have to head back and work with the npc to successfully craft an item.  Or rather, you'll have to.  And out of those particular three that I've mentioned, yes.  Spectral Coalition is very private, and most of them have vanished anyways.  The Knights of the Blood Oath is essentially the military in Aincrad, and don't treat others well.  Well, maybe one or two of them do."  He refused to talk about the Celestial Ascendants however.  He already described how they were falling apart, any more and he'd be insulting or degrading them.  And he couldn't afford to be seen as someone like that.  Especially to the lower leveled players who haven't formed their own private band yet.

@Havok