[PP-F1] Assessments <Itzal & Grimm>

[Itzal 0]

Quite honestly he was rather impressed by the initiative his apprentice was showing. Technically he was out because he had put his hands outside the border, but he was willing to let that go as it wasn't that far outside. All the same, he did reveal a slight weakness in that strategy by quickly slashing upwards at him, landing his second hit in the duel, and turned around so that he kept his attention on him while keeping his guard up. And then he saw his apprentice fall after landing. Normally this would be when he did something terrifying but effective to a player killer, but... No, he swore he'd never go easy on him. So rushing forward before his apprentice could get to his feet, Itzal thrust his sword forward through his apprentice's chest, and put enough force into it that would press him against the ground, his sword acting like a nail. Once he did this he kept it there for about two seconds before pulling the blade out of the ground and Grimm and sheathed the blade. "Alright. Let's see if our dinner is ready," Itzal said casually as he helped Grimm back up to his feet.

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald cursed himself mentally, he had tried something ambitious and it had not only lost him the match, but it had also not worked out in his favor. Ozwald knew that he didn't have the skills required to beat the man before him, but he was hoping he would be able to show more skill than what he had shown off right there and the tingling lingering in his wrist and chest proved that. "Let's see if your food strategy worked out." Ozwald stated looking towards the fire where the tin foiled food was laying in a pile of still smoldering coals. Ozwald let Are take the lead and walked behind him sitting besides the fire before talking again "I will do better next time." Ozwald didn't speak loudly really talking to himself more than to anyone else, but still uttering the words out loud. Ozwald's mask was seemingly made out of three iron plates, most would suspect that this was a stylistic choice, but each piece could be taken off separately allowing Ozwald to show more or less of his face if he wished. taking off the bottom portion revealed Ozwald's mouth and would allow him to eat and talk with less of a muffled voice.

[Itzal 0]

Along the way to the campfire, he heard the comment he made and paused a moment to look at Grimm... Very tempted to use a pun in regards to his name but very wisely held it back. "Don't underestimate your talents and skill. You fought rather well in our little spar. True there is much to learn, and those skills need refining, but beyond that you should be proud." With that he sat down and let Grimm open the food. In fact Itzal hadn't once touched the food or the tin foil save for handing them to Grimm to handle. He figured his horrible skill at making food was so bad that it would spread onto him like bad luck if he did anything to help in the process, even if it was to open it. However the food seemed to be decently cooked enough and Itzal took his rations onto his own plate. He watched Grimm take half of his mask off, specifically the bottom half and grinned under his shadowy mist. "Very creative, and thoughtful. It's a good skill to have," Itzal said before he began to eat himself. Given the fact that the mist covering his face wasn't solid, he could eat like normal with no issues and reveal nothing about his features. "Now then." He said in between bites. "From what I observed. We first need to work on changing how you think about your surroundings. This includes the environment. The game's npcs, mobs, traps and other such generated things. Other players. And finally your familiar. After that, we can work on other things such as combat tactics, stealth, stalking and the like." After finishing his food he put his plate and fork back into the inventory. "We'll also be going over specific scenarios to determine, and if necessary refine your logic and reasoning. I doubt your moral compass will need any tuning either, but it doesn't hurt to check."

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

it was a good thing that the two thirds of his mask that was left covered most of his face because he was definitely embarrassed by the fact that Are heard his mutterings and even complimented him ever so slightly along with that. Ozwald unwrapped the food that he had prepared for the two of them, dividing it up evenly before going to town on it himself, he had skipped breakfast out of nervousness. Ozwald nodded along with everything that Are was saying, all of it made perfect sense to Ozwald and were all things that he didn't have much skill in himself. Ozwald was ready to learn from his new teacher, and would do anything that it takes to do so. "Okay, so what's first?" Ozwald asked finishing his food and setting his plate down as well. Picking the bottom third of the mask up Ozwald slotted it back into place, a feint click could be heard to denote that it was firmly attached.

[Itzal 0]

Chuckling, Itzal stoked the fire before responding to Grimm's question. "Well first of all: patience. You're going to need to learn a lot of that if you want to master stealth and scouting. As for what lessons you'll start with..." Itzal took a moment to think about a good scenario he could use. "Imagine this scenario as if you were in the real world for a moment. Say that someone completely innocent, a stranger you don't know, was being held at gunpoint fifty feet away from you by a known mass murderer. You have a knife in your hands and Valentine tied up and gagged in front of you. The murderer tells you to kill Valentine, or he'll kill the innocent person. The distance is far too great for you to stop him, even with knife throwing skills, and he could easily kill the hostage, you and Valentine. In this instance you're secluded with no one around to help you. What would you do in such an instance?" Itzal, after dropping such a heavy scenario on his newfound apprentice after a small meal, took a drink of water for a moment. After that, he sat cross legged as he looked into Grimm's eyes awaiting an answer.

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald nodded at the remark that Are had made first, he wouldn't say that he was necessarily a patient man, but he was also by no means impatient so he figured that that problem would be very easily solved. Ozwald wasn't expecting the scenario that his new mentor had asked him to answer, it was a fairly staple test on a man's morality. Were they willing to kill to save a stranger's life? It seemed like a fairly simple question, but the answer wasn't so simple, killing someone you loved was one of the hardest things imaginable and letting someone else die for that decision was almost as hard. Looking away from Are's penetrating gaze Ozwald thought long and hard about the question before responding with an answer that he wasn't sure was right, if there even was a right answer in the situation. "I would ask them to take my life instead." Ozwald knew that he could neither take a loved ones life, nor he could he watch an innocent person's life be taken away for no reason at all, so this was the best solution.

[Itzal 0]

"The murderer kills you, then the hostage, and then Valentine without hesitation." Itzal says immediately before taking another drink of water, putting it down this time. He had no doubt that his apprentice would be at least a little shocked at the response he had just given, as well as how 'matter of fact' he was saying it. When Itzal had said he wasn't ever going to be going easy on his apprentice, he meant this in every instance... Well almost every instance. There were a few areas he needed to go slow burn on as opposed to full throttle, but still. Seeing Aldion fly back into the clearing with something in his claws, he simply nodded to the familiar as it dropped it on the ground, landed beside it and started to nibble the carcass. Returning his attention he asked: "Now why did you choose that solution? What was your reason, your thought process. What lead you to that decision?" A gentle breeze began to flow through, enough to chill players who didn't have the survival skill. Itzal wondered if this player had managed to attain that skill or not. If he didn't, then that would be on their to do list. If he did have it, then that was one less thing to worry about.

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald wasn't too terribly surprised by the statement that Are had made, the thought of the killer just killing them all had passed through his mind, but in his mind that was better than having to choose. "Well," Ozwald started taking a brief pause to collect his thoughts before continuing on. "I know that I would not be able to kill Valentine, that isn't the man that I am, but then blatantly telling the man the innocent man, who is probably someone's family, someone who is loved as much as I love Valentine that I want him dead. That wouldn't be possible either, and that is if the killer keeps his word, which I have no way of knowing." Ozwald explained most of his thoughts in one long drawn out sentence flowing out fairly fast and simplistically. "So I figured if I offer myself up, he kills me and then maybe leaves, or he kills us all which was already something he may have done anyway." Finishing up his sentence Ozwald looked out into the forest to see a small reptilian bird running out of it carrying not food, but rather a foot long stick. 

[Itzal 0]

A pretty risky thought process, Itzal thought. But not the worst one he could have come out with. Essentially according to what he was hearing, he would leave it up to chance, or fate, on whether or not the killer would be satisfied, or if he'd just kill everyone. Of course, that wasn't what he wanted to teach Grimm here. "Interesting. I want you to continue to ponder this scenario deeply and thoroughly. Each and every outcome you can think of. Which choices would be good or bad. What each choice would mean to you, to the killer, and to the victims, and so forth. And I want you to take your time thinking about it too. Whenever you want to talk to me about it, please approach me without hesitation on the matter." Itzal took another drink of water as he gave his apprentice a moment to ponder on what Itzal had just said. Patience was part of his training after all. And more than that as well. "Now then, I want you to-" He was interrupted however as Grimm's familiar burst from the forest with a stick. To this Aldion stopped eating and looked up. Only for him to become incredibly confused by what he was seeing. Itzal just started laughing at the sight.

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald couldn't help but laugh along with Are, his familiar was by far the most dense creature that Ozwald had ever met, and he liked it that way just fine. Standing up Ozwald met his familiar taking the stick out of its toothed beak. Ozwald brought his hand back, to any onlooker it was very obvious what Ozwald was about to do, Ozwald brought his hand back forward throwing the stick as far as he could. The cockatrice on the ground immediately sped after the quickly flying stick. "That should keep him distracted for a few minutes." Ozwald said sitting back down next to the fire. "What was it that you were going to say?" Ozwald asked wanting to hear what his mentor was going to say before the spectacle of his incredibly stupid bird interrupted their conversation. The chill in the air only got worse, but Ozwald was used to it, he did after all live on the fourth floor.

[Itzal 0]

With that rather humorous distraction out of the way, Itzal turned his attention back to Grimm. "I would like you to take the rest of tonight and just relax. Loosen up a little bit and let's engage in some casual conversation." Shifting to a more relaxed position he chuckled. "If you don't, you'll only succeed in building up stress and tension." Itzal opened up his inventory and began to scroll through it, looking for something in particular. "And mind you, when we write your schedule you will have a day every now and then to relax and take a break. That's something you won't have a say in the matter, save for what form of relaxation it is you wish to enjoy." Eventually he found the item he was looking for within his inventory and smiled under the shadows. He selected it and his guitar materialized on his lap. The guitar was black and had the image of a purple dragon flying on the surface. "So then. What pastimes do you enjoy? Any sports? Games? Anywhere you like to go? What do you enjoy in order to relax?"

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald agreed with Are on the first point that he made, it was very important to relax especially after training, besides Ozwald had already given his word that he would listen to Are's every command. Ozwald was surprised to see the guitar materialize out of his instructor's inventory, moreso just because he didn't peg most of the people who were trapped in this game as the musician type, but either way any form of music would be a welcome addition to the campfire atmosphere that the pair had created. Ozwald thought a bit about the final question that Are had asked of him, he didn't really do much for fun, he spent most of his time before SAO studying or volunteering. "I guess, honestly for fun I do work. I was a zoology major before. . ., and studying the books and about all of the animals in them was a nice past time. Oh and volunteering at the zoo in my home town, which was hard work but being around the animals made it worth it."

[Itzal 0]

Itzal began playing the song: Fall of the Magister from dragon age inquisition. He never played the game, but he came across the song at some point. He only played the musical half however since he was in a conversation. He wasn't about to break into singing and interrupt it. As he pulled on the cords, testing the sound and adjusting it, he listened to Grimm talk about his job in the real world. Curious now, as he didn't hear of many jobs that were, say, out of the ordinary and unique like a zooligist before, he listened as he talked about studying animals, volunteer work at the zoo. Itzal smiled as he thought of working with live animals. Before SAO he never would have even had the thought cross his mind, but now? "I've already scouted just about all of the beginner floors, and most of the intermediate. I know where most everything is. There are some pretty cool creatures, monsters and animals in this world. Have you taken the time to just be with them recently?" He continued playing his song, closing his eyes as the melody flowed beautifully.

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald smiled, though he did not know the song that Are was playing he thought that it was very well played and so enjoyed it. Ozwald had had his fair chance to see the unique flora and fauna SAO, and had even recently found an interesting book on evolution for some of the monsters in the game but he had never had the chance to enjoy them without them attacking him. "I can't say I have, to my dismay, but I have enjoyed the unique biodiversity that can be found on each and every one of the floors." Ozwald explained to his new mentor "How about you, what do you do in your free time?" Ozwald asked wanting to learn more about the man who was going to be teaching him how to fight and to use nature and it's surroundings to his advantage. Ozwald didn't really like the idea of working so close with someone if he knew next to nothing about them.

[Itzal 0]

As he transitioned from 'Fall of the Magister' to 'Nature's Light' by blackmore's night, he thought for a moment about how to answer his question. "When I'm taking a break to relax, I usually enjoy visiting beautiful landscapes I discovered in my exploration of the floors. Mountain summits are my favorite places to watch a sunset. Crystal clear lakes enjoyable in the summer. There's a place on the fourth floor where giant crystals exist outside of the caves, so when the full moon is out it's reflected off of the snow and shines through the crystals. Only happens on certain days, but it's breath taking every time." He watched Aldion fly back over to him, landing on his shoulder. The bird was staring at the other's familiar, as if concerned that it's lack of intelligence was contagious or something, which drew a chuckle from Itzal. "When I want to have fun, well that's another matter altogether. I'm an analytical person, and I am a gamer. So honestly I have fun interacting with npcs, going on quests, dungeons and the like. Basically any combat that doesn't involve me fighting against another human being whose intentions are only 'steal', 'kill', and 'torture'. Sometimes even enslave."

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

The response that Are gave was one that Ozwald liked, he completely agreed with him. The beauty that could be found in this virtual world was nothing to be scoffed at. Kayaba may have been insane when he locked every SAO player into this world, but no one could say he wasn't a visionary. "I can see the beauty of this place every day, and every time I am surprised. Even just my home on the fourth floor, is a magical place the way that the snow falls when the sun rises is a beautiful scene." Ozwald commented leaning back a bit more to set his gaze on the sky above them. "The fauna too, it is nothing like what can be found in the real world, here I can see creature's that god could never dream of." Ozwald was becoming accustomed to the world that he was trapped in, it had been a long and hard two years but with every day that passed, it was beginning to make the real world feel all that much more distant. How was anyone here going to go back to the regular world, leaving there house for a cup of tea, when for the last two years leaving the city meant almost certain danger and even death. Ozwald didn't know how his life would change, but he knew it wouldn't be the same. "I completely understand questing for fun. Combat is almost, an escape I guess. One that I definitely enjoy. Especially when it isn't with the deranged psychos." 

[Itzal 0]

Itzal smiled under his hood as he thought of all the sights he'd seen up to this point. All of the wonderful and marvelous creatures he'd met, played with and fought. All of the crazy adventure's he'd been on. Soloing the lower floors to gain strength. Meeting all of his friends. Meeting Velnia. His adventures with Ulises. Jonathan and his adventures as they sought out the dwarves. His misadventures with the inhabitants of the sixth floor. His journey with his guild, the Celestial Ascendants. All the many bosses and quests he'd taken on. All the countless dungeons. He couldn't explain it, but somehow it felt like all of that would be changing soon. The only question was, for better or for worse? "Speaking of combat, we should probably take on some quests together as well, and some dungeons, just to get you trained up more quickly." He was silent for a moment before asking another philosophical question. "Do you think us being trapped in this digital world is an entirely bad thing?" He kept his voice flat and monotone to keep his own personal opinion from showing, as he wanted to see how Grimm would respond, and how he would process the concept.

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Are wasn't the only person who was thinking of the past during the small lapse in their conversation. Ozwald may not have been out doing quests and killing monsters for more than just a few months, but he had been in this world just as long as everyone else, and he had just as many memories. Though none prior to a few months ago would have been considered dangerous. Ozwald's revelry was cut off when Are said that they should quest together, which was a wonderful idea, it would help him hone his own skills as well as be taught by Are while knocking a few quests out of the way. "I completely agree." Ozwald responded to his new teacher's idea. The next question though, caught him off guard, most people don't talk about the fact that they were trapped in this game, and fewer thought that it wasn't a bad thing. "Really it depends on what version of me you ask." Ozwald contemplated  a bit more, there were many different aspects of himself, and they all made him feel differently about the situation. "When this began my answer would have been yes completely; but now? Now it isn't that I think it is bad or good, it just is. I'm here and this is what it will be like for a long time to come. Is it bad? Not always, I have met people I love and I have shared laughter with many people, but at the end of the day, this isn't my world. This isn't where I grew up. I guess my answer would be no, not entirely bad." Ozwald looked up towards the sky as he finished talking the sun nearing the horizon as the day neared it's wonderful end. It was a sight of beauty, the sunset mingling with the snow. How could something so beautiful be bad?

[Itzal 0]

Not bad or good, just is. Not always bad. Not entirely bad. Three different answers for one question. He couldn't help but smiling before he started putting their cooking supplies away... By throwing them into the inventory via menu. "Our being trapped in this game, in my opinion, isn't bad at all. It's just a fact. The act of enforcing us to be trapped here is what was evil. While in this world, whether it's bad or good is what we make of it. A matter of perspective. For example, one can break down and commit suicide. Others can embrace this new world and live it to their fullest as they would exploring the real world. Some take advantage of the laws here and abuse it for their own selfish reasons. And others see it as nothing but a prison and seek to escape it. In other words: It's no different than real life, when you think about it." And with that, the last of the supplies were put away and he gestured for Aldion to fly over. "There are certainly major differences with the game mechanics allowing us to do things we normally couldn't, but people find their ways around that all the time. Just like in real life. The frontlines are nothing but politics half the time. Sometimes they run smoothly, sometimes they do nothing but argue and bicker. In the end, the similarities outweigh the differences." This time Itzal looked directly at Grimm's eyes. Or where they would be on his mask. "What I believe is so different about this world, is it forces you to acknowledge who you really are. Are you the type of person who will crumble under the pressure? Will you seek to be a hero and save everyone around you? Will you play the villain and take advantage of the situation and everyone in it? Or will you be somewhere in the middle and make your own rules? There's a status quo now, but it's not like back home. Not because it's a video game. But because you can't hide who you are anymore. And you have to either accept it, or succumb to it."

@Grimm Reaper

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald listened to the words that Are was saying as he placed the small plate that allowed him to eat back onto his mask, once again making completely obscuring his face with no visible way to see. There wasn't much packing up that Ozwald himself could do so he just whistled for his companion and familiar Ryoto to come back. By the time the small chicken raptor had come back to the clearing that the pair had set their camp up in Are had already practically finished clearing away the camp, the only trace of them being there being the faint impressions in the snow around where they were staying. "I know who I am, and who I want to be." Ozwald replied simply to the Are's final statement about this world making you show your true self.  Ozwald knew that he was a fighter, and that paired well with who he wanted to be, a warrior for all of the people who could no longer fight for themselves, a fighter in the name of all who had already lost the fight. This is what Ozwald would be.