[PP-F9] Stalking the Apex (Kiru&Kalesh)

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh took a deep breath as he said these words, a sense of fear and worry going through him since this was going to be a new thing for him. "Floor 9: Vulcan Village!" A moment later a blue light surrounded him and sent him upward in space. He looked around and gasped as the rush of hot air blew past him, his eyes wide as he felt the unforgiving heat of the ninth floor! "Hot damn!" He says aloud with a slight sense of irony as he steps down from the teleport plaza and towards the city's gate. Anyone who looked could see he was not properly equipped. His coat was uncommon, and his sword was only a rare! He had a perfect mask but he hadn't put it on yet, not seeing any need when in a safe zone.

Before long of walking through the metal streets of the village he found himself nearing one of the large metal gates, Kalesh taking a deep breath as he trained his eyes forward. "Man... I don't know if I could last out there without Survival." He says softly to nobody in particular as he goes to his hotbar and grabs his mask which materialized in his hand as he debated with himself to head out or not. He knew why he was here, he knew how dangerous it was, but that is why he had a crystal, for if the worst ended up becoming the worst and still be salvaged. He took a long breath as he looks to the hot and lava filled area before him, by far the most intimidating floor he had ever been on in his virtual life.

He tapped his foot there on the border for several long moments before sighing and turning on his heel, wondering if he could find someone to go with him. Not because he was worried he would die, but because he wanted his mission to end successfully rather than just him wandering around like an idiot and getting nothing out of it at the end of the day. His eyes moved from left, to right, and back again as he scanned the streets of the floor for someone who popped out.

[Kiru 0]

My pale hand swept the bead of seat rolling down my forehead with a harsh and ninja-like movement. "Jeez, could it get ANY HOTTER?" I practically shouted, quite annoyed with myself for coming here in the first place and for the heat that dared to test my patience. This floor was by far my least favorite because of the heat. Knowing exactly how hot it was I still continued to find myself returning at least once a month for the most random reasons. This time I was on unofficial business and I was following a rumor about a dragon or something. I normally didn't listen to brokers but this one actually seemed just a little more interesting than the others. Apparently upon slaying a dragon you would a get a rare type of scale that could be fused with any weapon you owned to add an additional damage. IF this rumor turned out to be true then I could get stronger in no time and basically skip all the work. It would technically be cheating to gain this but I didn't care, this was a rare opportunity. And obviously the creator of the game wasn't above cheating so it was probable. The only problem with this was that I had no clue where it was, I didn't even know where to begin on this floor. 

Edited October 11, 2015 by Kiru
cats on the cieling

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh's eyes were drawn to the sound of a woman giving a slight shout, blinking as he took in her piercing eyes, ying-yang style hair, and her wonderfully pale skin. "No it can't..." Mutters Kalesh before gathering his courage and approaching the woman to ask "Hey, sorry to bother you, but are you heading out into the field any time soon? I was wondering if you could help me track down a monster... I haven't seen any signs of it on lower floors, but maybe somewhere up here I could find it?" He realized he was speaking vaguely and said "Oh, I'm looking for a dragon. I don't mind if it's a small one, or if we can't reach it, I just want to know where it sleeps at night." He smiles to the mystery woman. It was one of his goals in this game to slay a dragon. This was VR, he could actually see and feel what it felt like to be a warrior facing down a flame breathing dragon! Today he was scouting and searching, it wouldn't be until he was stronger and better prepared that he would hunt down the beast itself. For now though it mostly depended on the woman in front of him if he could. He planned to avoid monsters, but he didn't even have a hope of defending himself as he was on a floor this high.

[Kiru 0]

Clearly irritated at my current situation I began to bite the insides of my cheeks, something I did when I was anxious. This floor was somewhat familiar to me but when it came to finding an unknown creature I was clueless. The last time I was on this floor was when I was just exploring, and also happened to meet Zelrius. I was screwing around with jelly blobs when suddenly somebody ruined my fun. This boy was the most arrogant person I'd met at the time, but that was different now. Zelrius didn't race me in the fields for fun, nor did he steal my kills. Now he had no free time and it always seemed like something weighed on his mind. Looking back, it was a little sad. The both of us were so carefree and basically had the same personalities but ever since we got Azure back into action tings have changed, people matured, and no one remained the same. Tristan, for example, was once a guy who sat in the backs of bars and sang to women. He tried to serenade me once, it ended in me punching him but slowly that flourished into a type of romantic relationship of the sorts. Obviously that still wasn't the same, especially since he quit playing his guitar for people and tanked for them instead. When I first started the game I had no control over myself. I fought anyone and everyone who challenged me and made lots of enemies since I needed no friends. But, this wasn't the beginning of the game. This was a long time after that and by now I should know where a stupid dragon is. 

Suddenly, a voice cut through my deep thoughts. I glared at the player who interuppted my nostalgic memories and crossed my arms over my chest. "Nope." I replied when he asked me if I was headed to a field. I was hoping this would stop him from asking any more questions but apparently he had more to say. "I don't know of any monsters on this floor other than jelly blobs. Those have about eight HP so even you could maybe handle those." I said, continuing to listen to this player. Then, he mentioned a dragon. I gave him all my attention, hoping he would tell me where it was. Unfortunately he too was looking for it. "I'm trying to find a dragon too but I don't know where it is." I stated, but then remembered that I actually did see one once. It was the night where I stabbed Arekkusu because I didn't know it was him and also the night when we both had the bright idea that using his "charge" skill on me would illuminate the night and give him enough light to kill it. That ended up in me losing HP and the two of us running away in terror. I laughed a little to myself. "Actually...I do remember seeing a dragon, but it was dark so I didn't even try to fight it. It was by a broken down building. I don't think it sleeps during the night though so it might be nocturnal." 

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh he paused at the blunt one word refusal but kept going so that the lady had all the details, a smile crossing his lips as she got seeming closer to accepting the idea, and even gave him an awesome lead or two that he could put to his advantage. "That sounds like it might be our dragon then!" He wondered if she was hunting it as well, but he didn't know if it would even respawn if she did... Still, it was worth the risk he supposed if it meant he learned the location, or at least a location where a dragon roamed for if he were to try and hunt one himself. Worst case scenario he learned the type of environment they roamed in so he could track down a new one. "Any chance you could tell me or show me where this building is?" He smiled to her with hopeful eyes, utterly unaware of her past, her personality, all those things. She was essentially a stranger who had grabbed his interest!

"Hm... Nocturnal... Might want to invest in night vision in the future then" He mutters softly to himself while thinking about her words. The skill itself was decently useful, the lack of vision causes all sorts of issues when having to deal with it, there was certainly quite a bit of incentive for him to get the skill once his actual damaging skills were upped enough. At the end of the day, that was the answer to pretty much everything... Power. A monster here, a treasure there, some col now and then, all of them were spent and used in the pursuit of making him stronger little by little or more skilled and equipped. He had plans, he had goals, but needed more of all these things before he could fulfill any of them on his own. He took this all in stride though, to him it was decently second nature. That's just how these types of games worked, he didn't really think on it too hard.

[Kiru 0]

"Our dragon?" I scoffed, uncrossing my arms and taking a step closer with a threatening look. "Get this through your head: If you're after the rumor then I have no interest in sharing anything else I know about the dragon than I already have. I will not share the reward of slaying the dragon with you." I was not about to simply allow this red haired fellow take my earnings, even if he did help me. Things like this weren't meant to be shared, not even the slightest. It was practically the equivalent of letting someone else take the last hit in a boss fight. That person would get the last kill and a rare item only them could get. I looked the guy in front of and smirked. He reminded me if Tristan with his red hair and expression. The difference was, Tristan and I were friends and I didn't know the person in front of me. So sadly, I was not obligated to help him out in any way.

However, there was a tiny nagging in the back of my mind telling me to be nice, to give info. To help him, even though it wasn't a duty of mine. I sighed. "I have no idea where I was when I crossed paths with the creature. All I remember was a giant opening, sort of like a crater. At the top was a run down building with it's front blown out." 

I tapped the bottom of my chin and thought about his statement about the skill he needed. Night vision was already at the top of my list after grandmastering my dagger. I only needed one more rank until I could deal the most possible damage I could with the weapon. With the dragon scales I could do even more damage and could possibly become one the highest damage dealers other than Zelrius. 

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh blinked but stood his ground for two reasons, the first and most important reason was he didn't know what she was talking about, or how strong she was. Fearing the unknown wasn't really going to get him far since the very thing he sought was the unknown. So instead of cowering, he grinned and leaned in an inch. "Rumor? What rumor?" He tilted his head curiously. The second reason was that the threatening look felt hollow when used in a safe zone. Not like he had a drink for her to spike. Taking a breath Kalesh shrugs his shoulders, palms facing up in the air as he says "Well, whatever the rumor is, I don't care about what the dragon drops unless it's a roast, or steak or something. Maybe some dragon blood for a potion, or bones to make a sword." He looked to Kiru and said "If there is some rare or unique drop you can have it, I'm just in it for the fantasy." He turns, holding his arm out like he was starring in a Shakespearean play. "The knight stalks the dragon to its home, waiting for the moment it is at its weakest, when it is tired... and then he slays the beast for glory and honor!" He grinned widely and suddenly goes back to the usual mischievous tone he had before. "So yeah, I pretty much just wonder what dragon meat tastes like and how epic it'd be to shank one of 'em."

He eagerly absorbed all the information that Kiru mentioned "Opening/crater, building, blown open, dragon spotted in the area." He nodded as he set it into his memory and said "Might want to consider staking the location out, will need a sleeping bag..." He planned aloud, finding it much easier to memorize thoughts that are made tangible rather than imagined in a way. He then realized he had no idea which direction at all, and he had zero map data for this floor... "How much you want for your map data of this floor?" He asked curiously, essentially asking to be given every location she had been to on this floor.

[Kiru 0]

I looked at him, confused for a moment. Was he truly unaware of the rumor or was he playing dumb? I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at him, searching for any signs that he was lying. Overall he seemed like a very energetic person but I couldn't put my full trust in him just yet. So instead I decided to go with the flow for now and temporarily place my faith in this unknown player. Maybe it was his personality, maybe it was the hair. I interlocked my fingers and raised them over my head and leaning back in a stretching motion. "Well since I don't think you have the ability to deceive me I guess I can give you the bare minimum of the rumor I've collected from the info brokers." I stated and yawned, blinking a few times before continuing. "You get a rare salve or something that can me applied to any weapon to give an additional +1 damage to it. Of course it's super rare an the chances of it being true is low...but what if it was true? Only I would have it, making it a unique." I said, giving off a sort of serious vibe; this wasn't something I would simply joke about. I really did want that extra +1 damage. I was excited about this but the player in front of me however was not; all he cared for was the "fantasy of it" and the meat. "A dragon roast huh? I hate to admit it but I would love to try that. Oh well, If you get the roast and I get that +1 then I'm okay." I then thought about how it might taste. Like steak maybe? Or perhaps it tasted like the rare rabbit meat? Either way I was sure that it wouldn't simply be plain if cooked correctly by the correct person. Which rose a question in my head. "By the way...you wouldn't happen to be a cook would you?" I asked, hoping he was because anyone that knew me knew of my love for fine cooking and dining. 

"I recommend bringing a light with you as well, it gets pretty dark here at night, also bring extra food and make sure you have potions." I interjected, not really paying attention to the fact that this person didn't know me, and I didn't know him. I only began to focus when he asked me how much I was going to give him for my floor map data. "That's a thing?" Honestly, I didn't know what it was, probably the places I've been. "How about five hundred million col?" I smirked, knowing that not even Zelrius had that much, and it was way too crazy of a price to pay for a simple thing. 

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh smiled as the other played backed down a bit and doubted his ability to deceive, a very good thing in his opinion. "I don't lie to people. I might deceive and tell half truths now and then, but I am rather proud of the fact I won't tell a lie. If the salve drops for me, I am giving it to you." He shrugged as he looked up at the sky "I don't need to be unique, I might want to be, but I just want to be good at what I do." He stared into Kiru's eyes with a confident look in his own as he rests a hand into one of his jacket's pockets. "And I know, right? That's one nice thing about this whole situation, you can enjoy any kind of amazing foods and flavors without limit!" He sighed happily and said to Kiru with a slight shake of his head "Sadly though, no, I don't cook often. I know the very basics so I won't burn something, but I'm more of a fisherman. If you want me to catch a fish and then roast it on a stick I can do that for you?" He grinned as he said "I'm... Well, optimistic is too small a word. We hunt the monsters on the land and in the sky... But who hunts the monsters in the water?" He asks rhetorically "Pretty much nobody. Fighting such a beast in its element is suicide. But taking a rare monster out of the water and slaying it when at its most vulnerable? I can hardly wait for that." He was a man of many ambitions. It at least kept him motivated to keep fighting and surviving if nothing else, both being good traits in a game where you could die at any given time.

"I don't really have the spare col for potions and the like, but I keep a teleport crystal on me for emergencies... A light is not a bad idea, honestly..." He hummed while considering buying a torch before shaking his head "Maybe if I wasn't a two-handed weapon user that could be an option... Maybe for when sleeping I suppose I could make a fire." When she questioned if map data was a thing he nodded and her next words made a mischievous smile cross his face. "Oh, sorry, I don't have that much on me. The only thing I have that comes close to that would be my body." He grins, gauging her reaction curiously more than anything. "I gueeeeess I'll just have to map things out personally." He chuckled softly to himself