[PP-F4] King of Icecream! (Night's King)

[Morgenstern 1]

It was in the evening on the fourth floor, the sun slowly beginning its descent down the sky in the frozen wasteland. the floor was vastly unpopulated by players as many wanted to escape its icy grip. The cold outside was almost unbearable for those without survival, but Jonathan had always enjoyed the cold. He  despised the fifth floor and its heat, and the fourth floor felt just right. Many frontliners were currently preparing for the upcoming boss raid, except for one. Lazily eating a cone of chocolate icecream. The tank was by no means the strongest of the frontliners, he was just the most childish and carefree. He liked to at least once a week and take a day off from the frontlines. Many players constantly moved to get themselves stronger, but Jonathan seeked to make the most out of Aincrad. He had to admit, when he put the helmet on, he wanted to escape his own reality. 

As he finished his cone, the waitress came over. The waitress, a dark haired brunette by the name of Valarie, didn't really like him. She was an NPC, programmed with an prejudiced attitude. He had brought many friends of the female gender in the place before... and she happened to think he was dating every single one of them. He had told her they were just friends of his, and one of them was even married, but she didn't believe him. "I think ill take another chocolate icecream before I go, Val" she shook her head and the scurried back into the kitchen. 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo was just coming back from a fishing trip and some monster hunting and decided it would be a good idea to take a break rom all of her hard work. Not long, but enough time to finally take her mind off of pushing towards the front lines. She knew a raid was coming, and sorely wished there was some way to spectate. For now, Neo was content with simply being the person to help provide consumables to people. She seemed to have gotten the hang of it quite quickly, and didn't mind being purely for utility for now. She walked into an ice cream shop, seeing as it appeared to be the only thing open at the moment. As she was greeted by a female NPC, Neo was told she'd need to wait to be seated. Neo took a seat in the foyer and thought about other things she could make in her restaurant.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

A small little bell would ring as another player entered the small restaraunt. The woman was told to take  at seat at the foyer while they prepared a spot for her. The woman easily caught the eye of him with a double colored hair. Her form was petite and her face portrayed  that of one who was a little bit younger than himself. 'I haven't seen her around here before. I would have remembered such a unique style of hair' Sliding out of his chair he would wave to the woman and say, "If you want, I wouldn't mind sharing my table with you. I don't bite... unless you're made of icecream!" Chuckling at his own bad joke, he would slide back into his chair and take another swift bite of his icecream. If she would join him at the table, perhaps he could convince her to go on a quest he had yet to finish on the fourth floor. He hated doing quests on his own. He knew he could solo the quest, he would just rather not do it. 

If the woman would proceed to accept his invitation, he would politely smile and say, "My name's Jonathan, pleasure to meet you!"

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo was waiting patiently at the foyer, thinking about what to do next, when a young man came up next to her. He was certainly trying to make light of the mood here, and Neo laughed in her head at his joke. Smiling, Neo accepted his invite with a nod. She walked over to where he was, taking a seat at his table. The server woman looked with a little bit of disdain towards the two of them, it seemed as though this wasn't the man's first time being here. Feeling that he was the more outgoing type of person, Neo figured she would let him do some more talking. She didn't want to toy with him, though she was curious to see how long it would take before he realized that she was mute. Getting a menu from the waitress, Neo began to look over it. She wasn't as interested in the food though, it seemed as though there was something else on this man's mind other than ice cream and Neo wanted to figure out just what that might be.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

He would be greeted with a nod as she would walk towards his table. Sitting in front of him, he would look over to Valarie who's face was quite unhappy. He never understood what the NPC's problem with him was, but he felt that he alone provided her paycheck. Valarie would come over, give him an evil eye before smiling to Neo and hand her a menu. The menu consisted of icecream, desserts, coffee's and cappuccino's. Jonathan raised an eyebrow, confused at the woman's  unnatural quietness. Most people would have at least spoken to aknowledge him already and started a conversation. "Um, yeah if you haven't been here before there's actually a chalkboard just over there with the specials..." He attempted to smile, but he was confused at this point. She wasn't saying anything. "Not really much of a talker there are you?" He chuckled. "Do you have a name by chance?" He chuckled, being confused and not knowing what to say.  He took a  bite of his icecream and continued to look at the woman. Was this supposed to be a joke or something? He would just play it out until he found out more. She would eventually run out her fun and begin to talk. 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Once she had her menu, Neo began to look it over. Being an NPC place, there wasn't much of interest on the menu. Of course, that wouldn't mean it couldn't still taste good. The young man pointed at a chalkboard with some of the specials on it, and she looked over for a bit before going back to the menu. There wasn't anything that seemed interesting there. With a look of contemplation in her face, Neo tried to decide what to order. With his first question, Neo gave a soft shake of her head. She was mute, of course she wasn't a talker. Not that he knew that of course. When he asked her name, Neo sent him a friend request which would include her name. With that sent, Neo pulled up the accessibility menu for the shop and ordered herself a neapolitan sundae. She put her menu down calmly and looked back up at the young man with a soft smile on her face, waiting for her food to arrive.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

He became more and more determined to get some kind of voice out of the woman as his questions were answered with simple gestures. As he asked her name, she sent him a friend request, the request coming from <<Neopolitan>>. "Neopolitan? I think that's a kind of icecream actually. Well, i am just going to call you Neo for short if you don't mind. Makes it a bit easier" She would sit in front of him, looking with a smile on her face. Jonathan felt that she was getting a secret delight at watching him suffer for her to say something. His father always said women were testy, but this was off the wall! 'Unless she is waiting for me to figure something out... She couldn't not be able to speak, could she?' "Going to ask you something Neo... Are you able to speak?" he said, his voice quiet and curious. He had never met anyone unable to speak, especially since he came from a rich manor way outside most of civilization. It was why when he came to Aincrad he didn't have the best social skills. Without words, the woman was quite charming, but that was a sentence he would keep to himself. He knew nothing about this woman yet other than her name.... 'How am I supposed to do a quest with someone if they maybe can't talk?

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo continued to wait for her food to come, and listened to the young man as he continued to talk. When he mentioned calling her just Neo, she gave a nod of her head. It was truly unfortunate that she had picked a username so close to her real name, though she really only had herself to blame for that. She glanced towards her friends list hoping to glean his name, but noticed that he hadn't actually accepted it yet. She also noticed that there was an offline section to the friends list. Opening it, she saw the a single name. The name of someone she had watched die. DOing her best to not show any emotion towards it, Neo quickly closed her menu and continued to listen to the young man. He asked if she couldn't speak, and Neo gave a shake of her hand in a so-so gesture. She technically could speak thanks to the game, but she didn't choose to as she couldn't stand the thought of accepting her fate of being stuck in this game. He was getting closer now, and seemed to be getting the hang of her silence. Neo was having a little bit of fun toying with him as her food came. She gave a nod to the server woman, and began to eat the ice cream in front of her. She wondered what his next question would be, now that he seemed to be getting put off a bit by her silence.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

As he looked down at the friends request and slowly pressed the circle, "Neopolitan" becoming a part of his friends list. so far he had found out her nae, and she either couldn't speak or just refused it. To communicate, he would have to proceed with the international language, interpretive dance. He reddened a bit, embarrassed by the thought of him dancing. He could play music, not dance to it however.... He shook his head and would watch as Neo would silently retrieve and begin to eat her frozen treat. 'the conversation is feeling just a little one-sided, but maybe I'll just find a different way to communicate. She could just send me a message if she really needed to say something important' He gave himself a calming breath. There was no point in getting mad about someone's abilities to communicate. This had just been the first time that he hadn't  known how to talk with someone. He and Itzal were close enough that they could communicate with hand signals and just knowing what the other would do. 

His hand would come up to scratch the side of his face as he became deep in thought with the woman's predicament. "The game gives every player equal ability for everything besides sexual traits which is irrelevant for 99% of in game content. Meaning, everyone has the capability of speaking in the game. You obviously understand what i am saying so language isn't a problem, especially with the translator provided by the game. That leaves you refusing to talk and just plain not knowing how.... If you aren't just completely faking, that leaves the one option.... Gimme a second..." He hadn't actually used his brain for anything besides combat strategy for at least the last month. That and alchemy research. "You're mute aren't you, or at least in the real world" He let out a breath of relief with having come to his conclusion. He was just waiting to be told he was completely wrong. 

He would smile, waiting for a gesture in response. 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo was eating her sundae, enjoying watching the gears turn inside the man's head. He had accepted the friend invite, and she saw that his name was Morgenstern. An interesting name, though she was one to think. He began to piece his thoughts aloud, and Neo could sense he was getting closer to the right answer and nodded along as he kept going. Eventually, he finally came to the conclusion she was looking for. As he let out a sigh of relief, Neo gave a nod of her head in acknowledgement to her situation. She quickly finished off her dessert, knowing that a slurry of questions would likely be coming soon. Everyone was always so curious about why she was silent, more so now that she could speak if she chose to. Though she didn't like answering the same few questions on loop whenever she met someone new, it was what came with having something so strange about her. She supposed it happened to everyone with an obvious quirk about them. The waitress came over and picked up the empty dish soon after Neo had cleaned up her mouth from the little that had spilled.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

As she nodded, he would smile, satisfied he had gotten it right. He would let the girl finish her icecream, Valarie coming to take her dish not without giving Jonathan a dark look. He hastily looked back to Neo, her seeming to wait for him to ask another question. He took a breath. After their conversation so far, only one question seemed proper. "Is your hair naturally two different colors? I noticed your eyes are the same way. Your hair is actually what made you stand out" It was true that it could be all vanity and with potions he could replicate her appearance after some trial and error but there was a chance it was natural. He was the only alchemist that he had heard actually cared about vanity effects. Of course, it was more of an off the scenes thing and he did it in his free time, but he still played around with it. 

The woman's bill would arrive in a black check book, set upon the table by the waitress. Before Neo could reach it, he would thrust his hand forward, moving it at a speed that those not paying attention wouldn't have been able to see it. Without even looking at the price he would tap the bill and then click the blue circle to pay before it would dematerialize in his hands. "We don't need really to worry about things like that" He would chuckle with a smile.  He sat back in his chair, intertwining his own fingers and tapping his thumbs together. He would ask the girl to accompany him on his quest on the floor. He would have to assure her that he could hold up for the both of them. 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Surprised at the question she was actually asked, Neo shook her hand in a so-so motion and began to type out a message to give a few more details. They were the kind of details that wouldn't be fair to make someone play the equivalent of a guessing game with. While typing up her message, Neo didn't even realize Morgenstern had taken the check for her and paid it in full. She sent the message, and looked for the checkbook. Not finding one, she assumed that the payments were automatic. Neo waited patiently for Morgenstern to finish reading her message, expecting more questions to come shortly after.

Quote

@Morgenstern

    To answer your question a bit more fully, my hair is naturally this in the game. I have it dyed like this in the real world, and it seems as though the game had that be my natural hair color in here. Guess they forgot to ask for hair color, and figured you would want to keep similar to the style you had outside of the game.

 

[Morgenstern 1]

To answer his question in more than a gesture, the woman would send him a message. this should be the point where he acted like he was illiterate. Smiling internally to his own joke, he finished reading and closed the message. "Understood. It really is interesting and gives you a different flavor than a lot of people in the game" Becoming embarassed instantly, he quickly added, "By taste I mean look... not like actually tasting by eating or something" He let out a nervous laugh before calming himself. "So got another question to ask you.... Care to go on a quick quest? I figured I needed to do it whilst I was in the area. It's called Night's King and you don't have to worry about level or anything. Its a pretty easy quest if i remember" Nights King was a mid-tiered quest if he remembered correctly. He was also not mentioning he was quite higher leveled as to not scare her off. If they partied up she would see it from his HP what level he was, but if they were partied she wouldn't decline most likely. Waiting on a nod or a shake, he would being to stand, prepared to head out the door of the building. While it was cold, he and his armor would be fine without any additional wear. He just had to put on the bracers, equip the sword and then his accuracy pendant because he would probably be providing the DMG and defense of the party. 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo listened as the man sitting across from her seemed to become quite embarrassed from giving a compliment to her. It made Neo blush just a little. Not many had really complimented her like that before. When he asked her to go on a quest, Neo shrugged in a 'Why not?' fashion. Even if it was a little high level for her, she could tell from his gear that Morgenstern wasn't really that low of level himself. Either that or he was taking a lot of care to look good in low-level gear. Neo never really understood that. She could see wanting to look good in your equipment once you weren't upgrading it so much, but when you know you'll be getting new gear relatively soon it made no sense to have it follow a fashion. With a mental shrug, Neo turned to smile at Morgenstern and sent him a party invite. No sense not being in a party if they were going out questing together.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

<<Items Equipped>>
1. White Edged Blade [T3 OHCS - Perfect] - Enhancements: Damage / Damage / Damage
2. Pendant of the Angel [T1 Trinket- Perfect] - Enhancements: Accuracy / Accuracy / Accuracy
3. Bialas' Bindings [T3 HA - Perfect] - Enhancements: Paralytic Immunity / H-Momentum / H-Momentum

He would smile as the girl would shrug, moving through her menu to send him a party request. He clicked the blue circle, a smaller health bar appearing under his own. By the looks of it, the woman was much lower level then he, but it really didn't matter. He had wanted her to take the quest with him as he just became terribly bored when he was lonely. Unlike Itzal, he didn't like being alone. He had respected Itzal and Hikoru for the way they were able to just go out and train levels alone. there was a  reason both of them were so strong, both on the inside and out. Hikoru had always provided wisdom when he needed it, even when Jonathan hadn't made it to the frontlines. Shaking his head to get the random thoughts out of his head he would smile to Neo. "Alright then, I think we are set" He would wave to Valarie, earning him a glare and Neo a smile. He would hold open the door for the dual hair colored woman. 

Outside, Jonathan would quickly equip his non-tanking combat gear, several effects and bonuses adding to his stats. The air outside was  cool, but the snow and wind were at a halt, giving them a quiet evening setting. He would begin to tow the woman to the edge of Snowfrost Town. he looked back to Neo, making a silent promise that he wouldn't let anything touch her. He would have failed as a tank and a friend if she even hit the yellow zone. "If you are completely ready, we can begin out. Its evening now, so hopefully we can get in and out before it becomes dark enough that its hard to get back" 

<<Party>>
@Morgenstern | 1370/1370 HP | 124/124 EN | 126 MIT | 16 DMG | 3 ACC | 6 HM | Paralytic Immunity
@Neopolitan    | XXX/XXX HP | XX/XX EN |  

 

[Neopolitan 0]

<<Items Equipped>>
1. Righteous Executioner [T1 Perfect Rapier] - Enhancements: Damage, Bleed, Paralyze
2. Gold Ring[T1 Trinket- Uncommon] - Enhancements: Accuracy
3. Duelist's Defense [T1 LA - Perfect] - Enhancements: Mitigation, Recovery 2

Neo followed as Morgenstern got himself up from the table. He had accepted the party invite and she noticed he had a lot more health than her. She wasn't too surprised by that, but secretly hoped that she would still be able to be of some use while they were on the quest. By the way he said not to worry, she figured that he was likely a tank for people and not just a damage dealer. She made sure that she had everything equiped and headed out the door that he held open for her. It was still quite chilly, but Neo had begun to get used to it. She really needed to see more variety of floors. She had been spending almost all of her time on this floor recently, and really wanted out of this frigid weather. Maybe a nice break on the beach would be in order, assuming there even was one that people had found.

<<Party>>
@Morgenstern | 1370/1370 HP | 124/124 EN | 126 MIT | 16 DMG | 3 ACC | 6 HM | Paralytic Immunity
@Neopolitan    | 380/380 HP | 38/38 EN |  14 MIT | 4 DMG | 1 ACC | 2 REC

[Morgenstern 1]

As Neo would come to stand at the edge of town with him, he would look back with a smile before beginning to move forward. As they reached barely outside the town they came to a tavern. The snowtopped sign read: "Long Barrow". He would push open the door, holding it open for Neo before entering himself. As he entered, his eyes ran through the scenery. Mainly NPC's were found drinking and talking with one another, with a player buried in snowgear to be found in the East corner of the room. He would scan the room further until eh would find the NPC also with a exclamation point next to his yellow cursor. He was a burly man with a full beard. He seemed to be almost the typical lumberjack. He turned to Neo. "I guess I'll do the talking. It should be quick, allowing us to move straight onto the quest itself" Jonathan would walk forward, the NPC's eyes moving from his friends drinking to him. "Ah, and who might you two youngsters be? I was just tellin' Benjamin and Scott here a legend if your interesting in hearin' it... I promise you, it is entirely true. Deep up in the mountains, lives a tall and pale undead king that lives within a fortress of ice and stone. It is even said that he has an effect on the room he is to weaken others. I would call it a hoax myself, if my wife hadn't been slaughtered by the blight" He looks over to Neo and Jonathan, his eyebrow raised high. "Say, you two don't happen to be warriors eh? I'll let you in on a reward if you go up there and slay that monster"

"What do ya say, you bring the crown of that monstrosity and I, Joramun will make sure its worth your while" Jonathan would nod, but Neo would be given the option to accept or decline it as she was the party leader. "Accept that, and we will be on our way" 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

The two walked to the edge of town, and Morgenstern let Neo through the door to an inn there. It certainly wasn't a high end establishment, and was mostly filled with NPCs. Neo nodded to Morgenstern, acknowledging that it was fine for him to do the talking. As the male NPC spilled his life story, Neo couldn't help but feel enraptured by it. It was a well written character that exceeded what her expectations would have been. As he turned to offer a reward for killing what seemed to be a high level creature, Neo felt a little nervous. She pressed the accept button, hoping that the young man could protect her well enough to keep her alive. She figured it would be best to stay out of the fight until the undead king was focused wholly on him. If she didn't, she would probably become mincemeat. Checking to make sure the NPC didn't have any dialogue left before letting them do the quest, Neo would head towards the exit to the Long Barrow and prepare for a possibly difficult fight ahead of her.

@Morgenstern

 

[Morgenstern 1]

He would watch as Neo would almost hesitate before clicking the button. She hadn't seen him in action yet to know what his skill points were in. As she did, Joramun would bow hubly to them before taking a long swig of his drink and wiping an accumulating tear. Turning, Jonathan let out a breath before following Neo out the door. As his boot stepped into the snow, a crunching noise was made and a print was made. This floor made it easy for tracking players and monsters if you knew what you were looking for. "Alright, he said the fortress would be found on one of the highest mountain" Pulling out a map made by Itzal of the floor he would examine it. All towns and important locations were premarked for him, making the job easy. Just a perk of having a scout as a best friend. He would quickly find the right area and draw the path that they would need to follow. He would then swipe right to flip it around for the girl in front of him to examine. "That's the path we will take... While on the way we should be pretty clear when it comes to normal mobs, its gonna be a halfway decent ascent. If we are confronted by any monsters however, no need to worry as most should be manageable by your level. If not, then I won't let anything near" 

Closing the digital map temporarily, he would begin to move forward, out of Snowfrost entirely. Although she was speechless, he didn't have the worst company by any means. Other than her unique version of beauty, he secretly found that her overexpressed emotions were kind of cute. something he wouldn't say aloud, but it would give him a form of amusement upon the journey. "Also if you get cold just let me know, I think I have a coat somewhere in my inventory... Maybe?" He frowned. he wasn't exactly sure. 

@Neopolitan

[Neopolitan 0]

Neo looked behind her as Morgenstern began to talk more. He pulled up what looked like a detailed map of the floor. Assuming it was just an information broker's map, Neo let him navigate it for a path. She had never had any luck with them before, always thinking they charged too much for their services. Once he flipped his screen around towards her, she looked at the selected path and nodded in agreement. She didn't see any problems with the path herself, though she wasn't as knowledgeable with the mountains of this floor. As they began to set out, Neo gave a shrug to his offer. She had been spending so much time on this floor she was getting rather used to being in the cold, despite what her outfit may say. It was a sad resistance she had acquired.

I really should get out to more floors, not going to learn much sticking to just this one floor.

@Morgenstern