[PP-F1] A Life Worth Living <<Making Vows>>

[Itzal 0]

"Never mind, it wasn't a thought worth saying is all. Reconsidered it the second I opened my mouth." He said in response to her inquiry. It wasn't too much of a big problem in his eyes at least. People had social issues from time to time... Especially when they were trapped in a life or death video game surrounded by player killers, monsters and bosses, choosing a life in which you hunted the hunters in order to keep others safe while disguised as someone that many other people now despise, having lost connections to all friends and family for so long you feel isolated from the world. Well disconnected from everyone but Zandra now that is. When she pointed out that only the largest wedding could fit someone of their strengths, he almost laughed, but it being an honest and happy laughter. Not one of mocking or joke. "I hadn't thought of that! Man, sometimes I forget how powerful we've become in this game." It was kind of scary how powerful you could be in a video game actually... When he heard Macradon. "Macradon? Yeah he's a good person. Haven't seen him in a while but he's a good man." Upon hearing that she wasn't gonna tell him who the rest of her invites were he gave a look of mock hurt and held a hand on his chest. "Whaaaat? You won't tell your future husband whom you are inviting? Truly you cut me to the core." Itzal had always been someone who attempted, and failed, at making funny jokes. Sometimes he tried a little too hard. When she finished he smiled and nodded. "You know me. As long as they've changed and actively seek to become better, I have no qualms with them joining. You can't judge a book by it's cover. Gotta know the motives, the personality, the hurt and pain. Everything that makes them who they are."

@Zandra

[Zandra 0]

It seemed like Itzal didn’t wanted to talk about it, so she let go. They needed to focus on the wedding planning now after all. It seemed he hadn’t thougth about how strong she and he was. She guessed that they was probably one of the, if not the, strongest couple in this game of death. Even when you figth for your life and see death, there is still love. Like the one she felt towards the man beside her. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek. ‘’Nope, I wont tell. That is something you will have to see on the wedding day. As well as I will see who you have invited will be a surprise to me. Since there wont be a limit to how many we can invite, the more the merrier.’’

She looked at the floating menus.

‘’So, we have decided place and that who that will come shall be a surprise.’’ She scratched her neck. ‘’What kind of food, and what buffs we need to decide as well. I think I would like some cold drinks and maybe a fruit salad. Hmm. What do you think about that? And wedding cake, do you want one?’’

 @Itzal

[Itzal 0]

He smiled under the hood when she kissed his cheek and gave a chuckle. "Oh you and your fun. Alright then, I trust you completely after all. I guess I should think of anyone I've ever known or been friends with since my days in the Celestial Ascendants. Since I'll be attending the wedding as myself and not my alias, I see no reason to hold back." Aldion cawed in agreement, causing Itzal to laugh a little. The two had come a long way since he'd found the raven in the snowy forests of floor four. Back then he could only give a general 'yes' 'no' or 'the hell are you saying' response to his owner. Now, the two had learned so much about one another that, like with Velnia, he could practically communicate with his companion. It also helped that he taught Aldion human vocabulary, making it easier for Aldion to understand what was going on. Explaining the concept of a wedding was impossible though. At best Aldion understood that Zandra was unofficially with Itzal before and after this they would officially be together, and even that vague concept was confusing for him. Itzal felt he should approach it by using the concept of mates, but that would come later.

Then came more decision making...

"...Well, since we'll be having three buffs from the banquet..."  He took a moment to ponder their options, running the different enhancements and what they provided, as well as which enhancements players would likely have when entering the raid. "Since we're planning to have the wedding before the raid, I recommend we choose Probiotics, Antioxidants, and either Accuracy, Evasion or Mitigation. I suspect that players will automatically shoot for overhealth and protein for this coming raid boss, as well as getting themselves evasion and mitigation buffs too. So I feel we should provide everyone with the Probiotics in case the boss has a DoT, and Antioxidants. That way we'll know what status effects it can land before they actually affect us. As for what food..." Itzal took a moment to think about this and process, putting a hand on his chin while tapping his foot. "Since it's a 'banquet' as opposed to a feast or snack table, we should provide a variety of foods. In my time here I've explored many, MANY different food places and tried many things. I think we should pick the best of Italian, American, French, German, and Japanese foods." Itzal lifted one of his hands and pulled one finger out after the other as he listed the different countries they should use food from before continuing on to explain why they should pick those countries. "Italian for pastas and calzones. American's for their appetizers like salads, tater tots, mac n' cheese, etc. French for fancy foods and deserts. German for their chocolates and candies, and Japanese for something familiar and traditional. And yes," He smiled and kissed her back on the cheek, not afraid to let his nerdy food side show. "I'd recommend a cake. Any particular flavor you prefer?"

@Zandra

[Zandra 0]

Zandra listened as Itzal mentioned all different foods he thougth they would take. Her mouth pouted a bit as he was done. She thougth a bit before she opened her mouth and started talking. ‘’Probiotics sounds good. Well, if we are going for a smorgaboard type of food, we must have prince s… ehm… no… what is it called? Right, we need cocktail sausages, meatballs, potatoes, some different herrings, bread and butter ofcourse and some different kinds of cold cut meat.’’ She refused to not having food from her country of birth on her own wedding if they decided to have food from different countries. Well, she didn’t blamed him for not mentioning any Swedish food, after all that was the thing about her the fewest players in her knew. Even fewer then that knew her real name. ‘’Hmm, and about the cake. If I can pick the cake I know which one. There is a café called the hungry cake. Their blueberry cake is the best I have ever tasted in here. I vote for that.’’

As the food decision was going on, Zandra started to think of a choice that was much more important then the choice of food. Because as the food would be good for many people, that thing you can get from chefs as well. This thing was a once time pick. She felt her hand be a bit sweaty. She had always had hard to taking important decisions. The decision to actually merry the man beside her, she was thinking about it for several weeks before deciding. The other choices for the wedding was pretty trivial compared to that. Also, how did she wanted the ring to look. Her hand crawled into Itzals without her thinking about it.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Zandra

[Itzal 0]

A black cloaked man with the edgiest of edgy looks face palming himself under the hood would have been a funny sight to see. If he actually did facepalm himself but he didn't, even if barely. "Ugh, I forgot. Sorry, yeah. Don't worry we'll make sure we get the best foods from your country as well." He made a mental note of the different foods she suggested as he pulled up the foods menu and began writing down everything they would add to the wedding... Man, this was going to be a huge feast. He hoped she'd invite enough people to consume all of this. Even if it was a game, he didn't like wasting stuff. "Blueberry cake huh? I've never tried that before... I look forward to it," he said to her with a smile as he selected the player shop and cake accordingly. Great thing about this quest was that any Official player shop that connected to Aincrad's system could be accessed and ordered from quests like this.

As he punched in the long list of Italian, French, Swedish, German, American and Japanese foods, he felt Zandra's hand gravitate to his. He smiled softly as he took her hand quietly. He honestly never thought he'd be here again. At first because he loved Kasier with all of his heart, and he never wanted to cheat on her. After she died, he didn't think the pain would go away for him to ever even consider remarrying. But now... Now he was here, about to marry this wonderful woman. And he couldn't be happier. Once he punched in the selections, the screen shifted to the wedding rings. "Thank you, Sandra... For everything."

@Zandra

[Zandra 0]

Zandra smirked as Itzal apologized. ‘’Yeah, you better.’’ She said as he said he would get the best food from her country. She was thinking of mentioning surströmming as well. But no, if they had that, no one would even get near the wedding area, because of the smell. Her thougth went back to the first time she ate it herself. As someone that can eat most food, she could get down that fish. She even had to spit it out.

‘’Yupp, blueberrycake. When I was visiting my parents, they had tons of blueberries out in the forest. I used to go out, pick and eat blueberries for an hour or so. Then back in and made a cake. Or on second thougth, I think pie is a better word do describe it. But cake works too. I just love almost everything blueberry.’’ She said with a smile as memories of all different blueberries from the real world came back. ‘’Pie, jam, ice cream, yoghurt, juice. Yeah, there is a long list. You will have to come visit sometime when we are back.’’

Zandra saw the screen shifted to wedding rings and Itzalk said something that made her surprised. ‘’Thank me? What do you mean Felix, you know I am always here for you. Thank you as well.’’ She said and put her forehead on his. ‘’We will get thru this. Together.’’ She ingored the priest. He was just an NPC so not like it mattered what they did. He can wait.

 @Itzal

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Zandra

[Itzal 0]

Listening intently to his fiance's story about her home and the mass number of blueberries they had there was a real joy for him. She didn't really talk about home too much, as he didn't really either, but that just left this mystery of what their homes were like, and a silent excitement to see what their lives were like when they returned home. Of course, the first thing Itzal needed to do when he returned was apologize and catch everyone up on what his new life was like, and then immediately afterwards try and contact his wife so that they could meet up and meet each other's families. Sure they wouldn't be married in real life, but Itzal considered this to be a genuine marriage. The two loved one another and would be living together now. Why wouldn't it be real marriage? "Oh I am definitely looking forward to visiting when we get out of here."

Ironically she didn't need to worry about ignoring the priest, as it's programming recognized the moment they were having and just smiled warmly as he waited with perfect patience for the two. Itzal smiled brightly. "And I'll always be here for you." After a moment or two of quiet embrace, enjoying the peace and quiet, and just being close to Zandra, the two of them returned their attentions to the wedding ring. They had already picked out some ring designs previously, so all that was left was choosing the buffs. "Well," Itzal said as he inserted a picture of their choice of design into the image slot, "I'll be getting the 'Strong Will' ring enhancement. It's a bit cliche, but for a DPS it's really the best option available to me. Which one did you decide on?"

Wedding Ring (spoilers!)

Spoiler

 

ZANDRA'S RING

 

ITZAL'S RING

@Zandra

[Zandra 0]

It still felt kinda weird. To stand next to Itzal preparing for marriage. Or now, weird wasn’t the correct word. More like unexpected. Her only previous relationship ship based on love was with Jomei. And after that, she thougth she would be alone for the rest of her time in here. Like, who would ever want to be together with someone that have stood up for a player killer. Yes, she had been together with Avilon for some time. But it was most a sexuall relationship. Also she had disappeared, left no trace of herself. She leaned a little closer to Felix to feel the presence of another real human. They was still digital bodies in a digital world, but it was still a difference between real players and NPC’s. ‘’To be honest, I don’t know. Been thinking about this a lot. If this was a year ago, I wouldn’t hesitate and just got for Strong will. But Im not a damage dealer anymore. My build is switched to support and cleric style. But I thanks to my level, I have enough health to last a whole battle, and my mitigation is kinda high as well. So Resolve and Resilient seems not really worth it, specially since I wont be a tank but almost have stats equal to tanks already. But as support I wont even gain hate. So I guess Im chosing between Driven and Affectionate. Because losing you would be the worst outcome of a battle.’’ A faint shadow of wetness appeared in her eyes as she thougth about losing Felix. But she quickly blinked a few times and it was back to normal. She had always had trouble with choosing and deciding when it comes to choices where you choose one time, then you cant change it. She looked at him to hopefully get some guidance. ‘’Can you help me decide?’’

[Itzal 0]

Noticing her leaning towards him, he leaned towards her in kind. At this point they were no longer at arms length, only connected by the touch of each other's hands, but side by side. As they would always be from this point onward. Itzal smiled as the thought reminded him of a song. Perhaps he should play it and record it into a crystal for Zandra. Not as a wedding present, no. He'd have to choose a truly special song for that. As she asked him for advice, he had to resist the urge to bring his hand to his chin in thought. Given that most of his time in this game was spent processing information, pondering thoughts and suggestions, strategizing, etc., this was becoming a bit of a bad habit for him. Spending more time thinking rather than doing. Except when he was out on the field taking down pkers that is. "...I would suggest going with driven if you're thinking of those two. If you aren't careful, you could end up sacrificing yourself for me, which would just create the same scenario only in reverse. Besides we have teleport crystals so as long as we aren't reckless we can always jump out of a boss fight, or a fight against player killers in my case, before the final blow is made." Itzal already kept healing potions stocked up in his home, right beside where he teleported. Just in case he was hit with a DoT before teleporting out, so that he could ensure his survival. "And seeing as how you wish to become a support build, energy will be vital for you to possess. So I would go for driven."

@Zandra

[Zandra 0]

Zandra stood beside Itzal in silence. For him the ring choice was simple. For all dps players, the damage ring was the obvious choice. There was a set amount of sources you could increase your damage from, this was one. Well, maybe she should go for that ring as well. Even as a support, you will probably go the dps road every now and then in combat. It isn’t always that your friends need support. But no, she was judged by so many about her choice to support a player killer, she needed to change that look on her. She wanted to truly be someone that you can cover up behind, that you can rely on. She nodded to Itzal. ‘’Yes, you are right. I will focus on optimizing my abilities as a support player, and since there is no way to reduce the energy cost for first aid skills like there is for sword arts, I will need as much energy as I can get.’’ She gave him a hug as she felt her heart rate increase. ‘’This is quite exciting. To be max out my build so I will be able to stand by your side thru the whole fight.’’ She then turned to the priest. ‘’I choose the driven enchanment on my ring.’’

 @Itzal

Cost:
-Large wedding: 3,000col
-PK access: 1,500col
-Banquet Table: 2,250col
-Zandra's ring: 2,000col
-Itzal's ring: 2,000col

Total: 10,750col

Edited September 21, 2020 by Zandra

[Itzal 0]

He could see the gears turning in her head as she thought carefully about which of the rings she should choose. He understood her struggle to be honest. Itzal didn't have much to worry about because... Well he'd been trying to be an all out damage dealing dps player for quite some time, but. Honestly he was having a hard time with it right now. What with his sword skills doing zilch, and not getting his hands on any damage amplifying gear, he needed all the boosts he could get. Zandra on the other hand, was going for a supporter role. Even still though, if she really wanted to be a supporter, driven was the one to go with. She could help Itzal easier yeah, but unlike affectionate it would help every player around her. In the end she chose to go with driven and gave him a hug in excitement. Even declared her excitement. Chuckling, Itzal hugged her back. One of the benefits of being around the same height was he didn't have to worry about bending over or leaning back when hugging her. They were complete equals~

"Yeah I know what you mean. I'm close to getting everything I need for the stealth skill and it's mods. Together there's no one who could hope to beat us." He smiled and took her hand as they returned their attention to the Priest to fill out all the details for the wedding.

Thread End!

@Zandra receives +2 SP & 200 col
Itzal receives +1 SP & 200 col

<<Saying Vows>> Unlocked!!

Selected Options:

Wedding Size: Large
PK Access?: Yes
Food?: Banquet Table
Zandra's Ring: Driven
Itzal's Ring: Strong Will