[PP-F1] Leveling Up (Oske, Ren)

[Oske 0]

Oske had just finished sending a PM to Ren, and adding him to her friend list. She stood in a forest, her head held high. She wore her regular clothes--the long sleeved black shirt with white markings, the short shorts with long socks beneath them... And, of course, she had her curved Petal Edge sword in her grip.

She stared out into the forest, watching as the sunlight dappled itself onto the ground beneath the trees. She stepped forward, and a wolf spawned. She immediately charged forward, making a reaver movement as she slashed at it. It burst into blue particles, sparkling as they fell into dust. She wasn't even tired yet.

[Ren 0]

With a small gesture Ren opened his interface, when suddenly a window popped upon his screen. "Oske..." he thought whilst he kept reading through the message. Not even a second was wasted after he finished reading the message, he was already on his way towards the meeting point.

As he was walking he couldn't stop pondering on the event that was about to occur, imagining every kind of scenario possible, getting himself distracted from the main reason that was behind it. Upon arrival his eyes were completely widened, he was shocked by her pressence, as the small rays of sunlight were slightly shaping up her features.

He took a deep breath, releasing the tension within his shoulders before he approached. "Hello there, Oske. I hope that I'm not too late..." he said with a confident and sombre tone, trying to hide the shyness which lingered inside of him.

[Oske 0]

Oske turned, her eyes glinting against the sunlight. “Oh, hi, Ren!†she exclaimed cheerfully, lowering her sword slightly. “So, ready to grind? Also, um… what level are you, exactly? Three? Four? I’m almost level seven.â€

She closed the box that appeared before her, telling her how much Col and EXP she had earned from the recent killing of the wolf. “Looks like you need some new gear, too. We can get that later.â€

[Ren 0]

"S...se..s...SEVEN?" he said with a piercing tone, chuckling a bit a after whilst scratching the back of his head, he was a bit nervous.

[slowly, he cocked his head to the side, evading Oske's eyes] "Ugh... well... yeah, lets say I'm arround level 4." he was too ashamed of himself, he couldn't bare to say it while looking in her eyes.

[Oske 0]

Oske blinked, then adjusted her glasses. "Okay, that's cool. Well, I laid it out so that we'll be walking down the path until we get to the first floor dungeon, where we can make our way through and up to floor two. It's mostly for leveling purposes--you could probably teleport to floor two if you want, but it's best to level up before you get there so you won't be facing monsters that are too big and bad."

She glanced in the direction they would be walking soon. "I made some boar meat sandwiches for lunch. We can eat it once we get to the dungeon, and we can talk on the way. Ready to go?"

[Ren 0]

[while cracking his fingers and joints] "Sure, I could use a little warm-up." he spoken with a self-assuring tone.

Using both of his hands he popped the collar from his black attire which he was wearing that specific day, suggesting that he was ready to proceed.

"So... can you tell me a few things, Oske? You've mentioned a few names within the message that you've sent me, some which i don't know." he questioned her while he slowly started walking.

[Oske 0]

Oske slowly started to walk forward, her sword at the ready in case a mob appeared. "Oh? Which names? I barely remember what I said... Sorry, I kind of have short-term memory loss. Would you possibly mean the name, 'Rage'?"

Her cheeks were a little red as she mentioned Rage's name, and her face contorted a bit to show slight anger toward this particular player.

[Ren 0]

"Hmm... I think that was one of the-" suddenly, he stopped speaking, the redness beneath her eyes craved for his attention.

"Ugh... what kind of sword do you have there, Oske?" he immediately tried changing the subject while he kept walking forth. Ren's eyes slowly turned foggy, concealing whatever feelings were lingering inside, either hate or sorrow.

His head started quivering, placing him back to his senses.

[Oske 0]

"Oh, this?" Oske said, suddenly brightening up again. "This is my Petal Edge. It's a speed type curved sword that I made a while back. I'm a blacksmith. This is my third sword. I made this shield as well."

She lifted up her shield, which had the pattern of a butterfly on it. It matched the color of her sword, chestplate, and boots. Her cape suddenly blew in the wind, and she narrowed her eyes. A wolf slowly spawned, then snarled and charged.

[Ren 0]

Ren quickly frowned his eyebrows whilst letting out a shattering scream "Oske, behind you!" which slowly echoed deeply inside the forest.

The wolf lunged behind Oske, his mouth was wide open, those terrifying razor-sharp teeth were stricking fear into Ren's heart. Not even a second was wasted, as he dashed by her, getting in between the small gap, while quickly raising his left arm, offering it to the beast.

His teeth had sunken deeply into his skin, the blood started gushing while Ren was reaching down for his blade.

[Oske 0]

Oske turned and hissed, "Idiot!" She then spun around Ren, slashing the wolf through the chest. It snarled and dug its fangs deeper into Ren's arm, then burst into blue sparkles. She let out a long sigh, sheathing her sword.

"Keep your sword drawn when in the fields," Oske sighed. "It's okay, you saved me. Thanks for that. Here..."

She held out a potion full of light maroon liquid--a healing potion.

[Ren 0]

Ren carelessly threw his sword on the ground while reaching for the potion. He clenched his teeth, sinking them within the cap before spitting it out to his side. Swiftly, he tilted back his head whilst placing the bottle upon his dry lips, letting the liquid slide inside his throat, gulpin it all down till the last drop.

"I'm sorry for that. From now on, I'll always carry..." he said before his eyes got stollen by the blade beneath him.

[Oske 0]

Oske nodded sharply. "Good. Also, if you're ever in a long battle, my familiar can lend you a hand. She can't fight, but she can heal." With that said, Oske flipped open a pouch on her belt, revealing a grayish pink rodent-like face poking out. "Her name is Pinkie. Anyway, let's keep going."

She continued to walk. "Who were you talking about earlier? Someone you didn't know that I talked about?"

[Ren 0]

Pinkie placed a smile upon Ren's face, he was simply astonished by the cuteness which the fragile creature was emanating, it caught him a bit off guard, as he wasen't aware that such creatures lingered within the game.

"Well you've mentioned two names, Rage and Lightfiyr. None of these names are familiar with my ears." he replied to Oske's questions, whilst he kept walking and staring towards the sky. "But if this is a topic that you wish to avoid, we can do that easily, Oske." he added a bit later, with a fair and gentle tone, trying to assure Oske that everything will be alright.

[Oske 0]

"Yeah..." Oske sighed, slipping Pinkie back into her pocket. "Well, Rage was... my best friend. I kind of fell in love with him, and then he got married to Lightfiyr, and it.... drove me crazy... I thought Lightfiyr was spreading rumors or something, but I did try to........"

Oske went silent. She could see the entrance to the dungeon coming up, but she had other things on her mind. Another wolf spawned, and she charged forward. "Crescent Cross!" she shouted. She performed a three-hit sword art skill, killing the wolf immediatly. "Well, that was a little... overkill..."

[Ren 0]

Baffled by those words, he couldn't even imagine the turmoil that was currently encasing Oske's heart. Ren was certain that she was strong, as the flame which drove her was still burning inside. He didn't had the power, nor the means to heal such a wound, so he decided that the only thing he could do, is to wait and hope that in time the scar will be able to close itself. As such, he will remain alongside her, comforting Oske with his mere presence, and kind words.

"He didn't had chance, though that technique was impressive, Oske." Ren said with a dull tone. "Even if you show me all those aces, which you keep underneath your sleeve, nothing will impress me more than the first time, and that was when I've first seen you, Oske." he added a bit after while keeping a face which expressed nothing more than happiness.

"Now then, let us see how much can you keep up." Ren said as his cockyness reappeard. Slowly he pulled out his sword, clenching on it tightly, as he started running towards the Dungeon.

[Oske 0]

"H-huh?" Oske stuttered as Ren ran ahead. She gasped, then chased after him. Her short legs didn't take her quickly to the dungeon opening. Her cape billowed in the wind as she rushed after him, lifting her sword and shield. She was lucky the no monsters spawned on the way to the dungeon.

"Careful!" Oske said once she was very close to the opening. "Monsters will start spawning as soon as you're in the dungeon!"

[Ren 0]

Twas a bit too late, as he was filled with thrill and excitment, the adrenaline is pumping hard through his veins. Oske's words were carried by the wind, reaching to his ears eventually. Ren's left foot was already upon the dungeon's floor, the other was a bit raised. His head was quivering as he cocked it towards her, a worrying expression was shrouding his face.

"Egh... Oske?" he said with a shattering tone, whilst a few red beams were slowly emerging from the floor, each of them taking the shape of a Skeleton.

[Oske 0]

"Crap," Oske cursed. She quickly spun around Ren and slashed at the first skeleton twice--a sword art. The skeleton ripped out its own arm and used it as a sword, slashing past her cheek. She hissed, jumping back and narrowing her eyes.

16/17

[Ren 0]

As he saw Oske spun passed him, Ren quickly turned noticing the Skeleton was heading his way. Swiftly, he rememberd his kendo classed, using the momentum of his body, he quickly lunged at the skeleton whilst performing a thrusting attack towards him, aiming directly at his head with his normal curved sword.

Because of high leveled skeleton, Ren's sword missed the skull, making him appear as he was fighting the air. "Be on your guard, Oske." he screamed from the top of his lungs, as he started dashing once more towards the skeleton.