[PP-F1] Dante's Bar

[Morningstar 0]

                                                                                                                           Town of Beginnings - Floor 1

Silence was rare in the Town of Beginnings. If you looked hard enough, however, you could find it.

That's just what Morningstar had done. Somewhere between the market and housing districts, he found an empty street. His raggedy brown cloak was draped over his shoulders, shading him from the sun. He missed his old green one but did not regret giving it away. After all, the elf he had lent it to needed it far more than he did. 

He swiped his hand, his menu popping up in front of him. He liked quiet places but still enjoyed the company of others. Cycling through his small friend list, he read out some names. He had not heard from Rebekah or Bahr in a while. Julius was a little strange. He tapped his finger on Joaquin's name, opening the messaging system.

Morningstar: wyd?
Joaquin: about to start combat
Morningstar: that's so unlike you

Morningstar's last message was sarcastic. There was no fight that his friend was not willing to take and, unfortunately, his guild dangled them in front of his face at every chance they got. They saw each other about once every couple of weeks (if even that). He shrugged off the thought, walking down the street and towards an area he had never been to before. There were a few people lounging outside a tavern but not enough of a crowd to bother Morningstar.

"This place any good?" Morningstar asked.

One of them, an older fellow, looked up at him and chuckled. "Dante's the best bartender in the city if ya ask me."

Morningstar smiled, patting him on the shoulder. Then, he wandered inside, picking a seat at the bar. Rustic was the word that he would choose to describe the place. It was warm, homely, and had the head of a giant boar framed above where he had chosen to sit. A fireplace burned on the right side of the room and facing it was a group of chairs and a well-cushioned couch. There was a space in the left corner for table tennis and, while it caught his eye, he would save it for another time. There were five other customers in the room and they were split into their own separate conversations. Morningstar eyed the contents behind the bar. Dozens of drinks that he had never heard of cluttered the shelves. Aside from that, it appeared cleaner than he was accustomed to. He was used to the bars in towns like this being on the less orderly side. It was a nice change. Out of the corner of his eye, Morningstar could see a beautifully-crafted silver rapier leaning beside a door that he presumed led to a room meant for employees.

The blonde waited, curious to meet the bartender the old man had called "Dante."

Spoiler

Morningstar | Lv. 28 | HP: 560/560 | EN: 89/89 | DMG: 20 | ACC: 4 | MIT: 66 | EVA: 1 | 2 BLD | 1 PAR

Gear:

• Meteor | Perfect Two-Handed Straight Sword
  +2 BLD
  +1 PAR
• In Noctem | Perfect Light Armor
  +36 MIT
  +1 EVA
• Lexa's Light | Perfect Trinket
  +3 ACC

Skills:

• Straight Sword | Rank 5 | Precision | Stamina | Ferocity
  +9 DMG
  +1 ACC
  -2 ENG per attack
• Light Armor | Rank 5 | Meticulous
  +30 MIT
  -2 Stealth
  +1 DMG
• Searching | Rank 5 | Night Vision | Detect
  +5 LD
  +5 Stealth Detection
• Survival | Rank 1
  +10% to healing effects
  +Immunity to environmental effects
• Charge | Rank 1
  +5 DMG (when activated)
  -1 ACC (when activated)
  +2*tier ENG cost to activate
• Energist | Rank 1
  +15 ENG

Combat Mastery:

• Damage
  +9 DMG

Combat Shift:

• TECH Specialist
  +4 to multipliers
  +3 to ENG cost

@Xlearsight

Edited February 8, 2023 by Morningstar

[Xlearsight 0]

A loud yawn sounds out from Xlear as he enters the tavern a few seconds later. He looks around with some interest, taking the time to take mental notes. Before everything happened with the game becoming deadly, he was underage and therefore, couldn't drink. It wasn't something he worried about too often, but he was a tad annoyed when he'd always hear from Genma and Haruto bragging about how they always had the "good stuff" at home. They even teased him for a while when he explained to them that his dad would surely kill him if he found out about him drinking. So the thought of even looking at a bar made him nervous. If now was a good time to try it out, he'd go for it. He could rub it in his friends' faces later. He walks further inside to take a seat for himself at the bar. The white-haired greenhorn of a player had a rather mischievous glint in his eye, the kind one would know when a younger person has the notion they are doing something daring and getting away with it.


 

Quote

Xlearsight | Lv. 1 | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 2 | MIT : 6

 

[Morningstar 0]

Morningstar turned his head upon hearing the sounds of another player taking a seat at the bar. His initial assessment of the man was that he was inexperienced; it was possible that he had never left the walls of the Town of Beginnings at all. Morningstar held no judgment towards the stranger. It had not been long since he was in that position himself. The player had snow-white hair that puzzled Morningstar. He was sure that it had been dyed. Either way, he thought it suited him well.

His attention returned to the bar, noticing the door to the back swing open. Out popped an older gentleman in the strangest outfit that Morningstar had seen in a while. It was as if he could not tell whether it was time for a vacation or a shift in the office. His robe was flowy and covered with a floral pattern. The sleeves fell to about his elbows and it looked quite comfortable. He had chosen a classy white button-down as his undershirt and completed it with a jet-black tie. He adjusted his glasses to get a better look at the pair of new customers.

"What can I get ya, lads?" Dante asked.

Morningstar glanced over the incredible amount of options. He had no idea what was in any of Dante's drinks.

"I'll take a Nimble Lotus," Morningstar replied.

"Wouldn't be my first choice... to each their own, though. You?" Dante's eyes were now on the white-haired stranger, waiting for his order.

Spoiler

Dante, The Bartender

 

[Xlearsight 0]

"I'll take what he's having too, sir!" Xlear sits patiently and takes another cursory glance around the tavern. While this wasn't exactly the place to be thinking about fun, he had a slight interest in learning how other bars looked on the higher floors. He was still in the process of getting things together before he eventually leaves the town to start leveling. His friends were both shaken or complacent about the whole situation they were in, but he wasn't going to make them leave if they didn't want to. That would cause complications later, something he might regret. Taking his mind off that thought for now, he looks over at Morningstar and smiles. "Don't think I've seen you on this floor much, are you climbing the floors? I gotta ask, what's it like up there? Also, any uh..PKers to look out for?" He looks around to make sure no other players were inside that could be listening in. He didn't want that info to get out and potentially scare everyone on the floor even more.

[Morningstar 0]

"Coming right up," Dante said, turning from the pair to grab a few bottles from the shelves behind him.

The stranger began speaking to Morningstar, a hint of enthusiasm in his voice as he curiously questioned life on the higher floors. The blonde obliged his questions, interested in his new acquaintance as well.

"Each floor is different. They all have individual histories and themes to them. I'm sure you've already guessed that the difficulty of the monsters is consistently increased as you climb but if you stay within the safe zones, even you could take a look," Morningstar smiled back at the man, "as for PKers, I haven't run into any. Things have been quiet lately in that regard."

He tapped his fingers against the wood of the bar, watching as Dante filled two glasses with odd liquids. The drinks looked awfully green.

"I'm not down here much these days, so it's no surprise that we haven't met. I'm Morningstar but my friends call me Star," he said.

With a clank, the bartender placed the drinks in front of the men. They were strangely green and he realized why Dante had mentioned that it was not his favorite drink. Frankly, it looked unappetizing. That being said, he had already ordered it and so he felt like he had to drink it. He took a sip.

"It tastes like... grass," Morningstar said, displeasure on his face.

"Correct. With a bit of lime, of course," Dante returned.

Morningstar shrugged, taking another sip from the horrid concoction. "You know, I expected you to be an NPC."

"As you can see, I'm as real as the two of you," Dante wiped down a glass with an old cloth, smiling wide.

"Why open up shop out here?"

"I like the quiet," the old man winked.

[Xlearsight 0]

"I see. Good to know, thanks for the tip. I'll have to pay attention as I climb the floors then." As the bartender returned with their drinks, Xlear eagerly grabbed his and took a sip, while listening to Morningstar and letting him speak. The grassy flavor of the drink reminded him more like the tea his father would make for everyone when they weren't feeling well. Not exactly the best thing in the world, but it reminded him of home. "Good to meet ya, Star. You can call me Xlear. As you can probably tell, I'm a newbie who finally decided to get off his ass and help push this game along. I'm tired of just sitting here. I don't want to say I'm...well bored, but it's something close to that. Oh, by the way, sir, thanks for the drink!"

To further show his appreciation for it, Xlear proceeds to down the rest of it.

[Morningstar 0]

Xlear was quite enthusiastic for somebody who had just consumed a grass-lime hybrid drink. Nonetheless, Morningstar liked that the man had goals. His words brought back memories of his first days outside of the Town of Beginnings' tall walls. Memories of the first people he had met during those early days. So much had changed and yet, so much was still the same.

The bartender nodded to Xlear's graciousness and turned from them to clean off a few dishes that had piled up. Dante was an odd fellow. Morningstar was having trouble getting a good read on the old man. The blonde eyed the shelves, noting down all of the strange liquids that lined them. They were all awfully bright colours and he feared drinking many of them. He glanced back down at the drink menu and this time ordered something different. Upon hearing the words "Orange Fizzler," Dante turned around. His face lit up as if he had been waiting for somebody to make that order all day.

"Coming right up!"

Morningstar, surprised by the man's excitement, jumped. Not a minute later, the drink was in his hand. He took a sip, expecting the orange-coloured drink to taste like oranges. It tasted like limes, again. His eyebrows furrowed. Dante reeled over in laughter upon seeing Morningstar's confused expression. Morningstar took another sip as if his tastebuds had tricked him the first time around. They had not.

"Yes, yes... it's a lime drink," Dante said, regaining his composure, "that's the joke—they're all lime based!"

Morningstar squinted a bit, the lack of understanding obvious in his eyes.

"I really expected more of a laugh out of you," the bartender said, shrugging as he walked away.

It took a moment for the confusion to settle in Morningstar's brain. Turning his attention back to Xlearsight, he finished off the remainder of his weird drink.

"If you want, I can take you out into the fields and give you a hand with leveling," Morningstar said.