The time is 5:12 in the morning and you are tuned into TWN: The World News. Thank you for choosing to spend your time with us. We are your hosts, Aki and Tsumi, and we've got some big news! The World's got an exciting event up and running. There's one field out there for the next two days, that will spawn a random set of status effects on each player, and here groups of two to five players will duke it out against monsters for guts and glory. Two random positive effects and two negative effects will be cast on each character, evening out the playing field in one sense and giving out advantages in another. We've heard that a prize is available for the winning party. What is this mysterious reward? Well--

"That's enough of that."

Kashi jammed an invisible button, and the radio program closed. The Blademaster was looking for something to do and, no BBS posts interesting him, he decided to try out one of the fan radio shows. What a complete waste of time. The teen was a little agitated thanks to his boredom, and externally found the idea of a tournament redundant, considering the last one just ended a couple of weeks ago. But we didn't even catch the reward OR the keywords. How can you not like something you haven't tried?

Oh shoot. Forgot about him.

Because most tournament-like events turn out like the last one: a win by default, and then battles so crazy I can't even remember them properly. He couldn't even remember if he'd won. If he did, that reward he got was...misplaced...at the moment, so there was no proof. And he was not going back through the BBS swamp to search for the winners of that tournament.

The Blademaster stood, surprised that he was sitting in the first place, and walked off the steps of the Chaos Gate. There were some things he needed to buy before he set out again. Primarily, the Blademaster needed a few healing items for the trip, if he was going to go solo. Before he reached the Item Shop, he stopped in his tracks. I'm a part of a clan and I don't really know anyone in it? Now's a good chance to meet one of the other members. Bringing up the Clan menu through his status menu. Scrolling through the list, he picked out a Twin Blade's name and sent her a quick PM inviting her to a quest. He then returned to his earlier position by the Chaos Gate. Sitting on the stairs with his head resting on his palms.

((OOC: DX So short. No rewards, thankee. Just a friendly quest for me!))

It was a typical early morning in the Aqua Capitol. The Chaos Gate was humming about every fifteen minutes; the golden rings either gating people to fields or helping them arrive in the root town. West coast players were still asleep but the early riser east coast ones were starting to wake up and eager to play. Then there were those like herself who would log on in the middle of the night or early morning either because she couldn’t sleep or to beat the rush of players. Today, being the latter of the two. The female Twin Blade wanted to arrive before the city was full of players, giving her time to make her way across the root town and out of sight.

She strolled calmly past the shops, the ever present slight breeze in the root town making her bangs sway back and forth as she walked. Her first few times in The World, she had thought it would be nice to be able to feel the breeze blowing and be able to smell the scents of the grasslands and rainy forest fields; the Twin Blade always enjoying the smell of a forest after the first rain. Now having experienced what it truly would be like to feel and smell things within the game, thanks to accompanying the Eventide Crescendo on their last quest, she was glad it wasn’t a typical feature of the game. Those that were oblivious were the lucky ones, even if they didn’t think they were.

The black-haired female made her way along the tall two and three story brick buildings turning in to one of the many networks of alleyways the root town had to offer. Wooden crates, pipes and scattered small groups of people were always present in the alleys closest to the main part of the plaza. As you went a little deeper though, the people became quieter and more selective about whom they allowed in their presence. The real world had its fair share of questionable characters and the game was no different. She didn’t need to go too far in today to find the ladder she was looking for that would take her to the roof.

Grabbing the rungs of the ladders she quickly climbed the two stories to the roof. The city below was really starting to hum with players now and Talal was quite happy to be walking over to her perch high above. Sitting down, she stretched her legs out in front, crossing them at the ankles. It was almost time for the sunrise and this time she was in place and ready to enjoy it. The last time she was on the rooftops at sunrise, she had had her back turned and missed the glorious sight, or at least so she had been told that the Mac Anu sunrise was one of the better ones in The World.

Opening up a separate window on her screen, Talal decided to scroll through the BBS boards to see what kind of news and rumors were flowing. It had been almost a week, but there was still some chatter here and there about the fight in the root town between the Knights of War and the Eventides. Some were talking about the various members and it seemed the most popular topic was the explosion and the wall of fire that followed, having sent a whole line of Knights doing involuntary acrobatics into the river. Brown eyes passed over to the area of the waterway where the fight had occurred. She could just barely make it out from where she was, but the image was still very clear in her mind.

Going back to the boards, there was some mention of an event coming up with random positive and negative effects happening to each character in an attempt to even out the playing field. Well, that would prove to be interesting. The young girl was thinking she could use a bit of plain old monster fun after that field of horrors she had just returned from just a few days prior. What if someone recognized her name or her avatar? She was now labeled a cyber terrorist because of her affiliation with the EC; that in itself warranted her arrest with no questions asked. It didn’t matter that they were the good guys or not because no one knew the real truth. Nothing else on the boards really stood out as interesting so the teenage girl closed the extra window and went back to brushing up on her people watching skills.

It was just mere seconds until the sunrise and she adjusted herself so that she was in the perfect position to enjoy it. As the sun rose high in the sky above the city, Talal placed a hand perpendicular to her forehead just above her eyebrows. It was the brightest she had ever seen and being on the roof, she didn’t have any structures to shade her, the young girl taking in the full effect. There was no possible way she could look directly at it, that would leave her with nothing but irritatingly spotted vision for hours. Not to mention, she wasn’t exactly sure if the FMD’s would enhance the brightness into her normal vision. It would be just her luck to screw up her real world vision from playing a game. It would be like her mother always told her to not sit so close to the television because it would damage her eyes.

The sun had risen and the Twin Blade sat there on the roof, closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. It was the first truly relaxing moment she had experienced in a very long time. Her research to find a nice field somewhere hadn’t panned out too much, so she had to rely on what few moments life offered her. Opening her eyes, she reclined her position a little to enjoy a few moments of peace and quiet.

Ping

Her peace was short lived as the familiar sound of a flashmail made itself known. Talal was a little perplexed as to who it could be from at this time of the morning. Although, there were a few people she could think of that were similar to herself and frequented The World this early in the morning; none of which had contacted her since they had returned from the Juk prison field. She looked at the sender and didn’t recognize the name right away but the subject caught her attention so she went ahead and opened up the flashmail.

That seemed to be the way of the AoD clan. They reeled ya in but then didn’t throw any kind of welcoming party with cake and confetti. Talal had found out the hard way as to who a few members were. Baron and Shenmock had really been the only two to introduce themselves after she became a member. I guess it’s up to me to be the welcoming committee. Besides, I could use a fun quest right now.

The female Twin Blade got up from her roof top perch and brusher herself off. Not that there was any dust on her avatar, it was more or less out of habit. She made the brief decent down the ladder to the ground and exited the alley out into the mass of players. Her posture was calm and very uninteresting, doing her best just to look like everybody else. Who was she really kidding though; her avatar was probably one of the most basic designs out there making her look like a total noob to the game. The basic design of a pastel yellow short top with black three-quarter length pants and a white sash, being what was keeping her out of trouble on her many short jaunts through the city, or so she thought.

Walking past the shops keeping with the flow of traffic, she quickly arrived at the Chaos Gate and began to target the few players that were sitting around in the area. It only took a couple of targets and she had her questing partner within her sights. She laughed softly to herself remembering how she had just been thinking how basic her design was. Kashi was almost just as basic with his long-sleeve blue shirt that seemed to flair a little towards the cuffs and his dark-green pants. Looking at the combination of colors, along with his dark red hair, she thought that perhaps he would stand out more in a crowd than she would. Silencing her thoughts, she put on a friendly smile and approached the sitting player.

”Good Morning, Kashi. It’s nice to meet you.”


((OOC: No rewards for me on this quest.))

Massacre (noun): 1: the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder. 2: a general slaughter, as in people or animals. 3: a crushing defeat, especially in sports.

Annihilation (noun) 1: the act or instance of annihilating. 2: the state of being annihilated; extinction, destruction.
See: Annihilate

Kyu flipped through his dictionary, writing other unusually morbid definitions for the day's vocabulary work. English class was always dreadfully dull, especially learning it in-depth as a secondary language, but the young teenager focussed on the fact that he wouldn't need to learn any other languages, such as French, and that playing games such as The World would become monumentally easier with the extensive comprehension of the spoken word most commonly used in online games. As it stood, he was on the last word of the list, dehabilitate. While the definition didn't mean anything along the lines of death, destruction and/or other words in a morbid theme, it still fit into the general theme the boy took from his homework.

My teacher needs to stop wearing black clothes and makeup, Kyu thought to himself as he looked up momentarily to see where his teacher was exactly. It makes someone with that personality look downright stupid if they cover their face with white powder and black lines, especially if they're male like him.

The bell tolled in a series of pesky chirrups, freeing him from class and school simultaneously. Rising from his desk, he bid his teacher farewell and kept a brisk pace as he left the classroom and school building in turn.

Kyu turned on his heel, backpack slung hastily over his shoulder (he'd get chewed out for that later if his mother caught him doing that again), as he rounded the corner. A tall sports-for-brains stood in his way, blocking him from making it to the next corner he needed to pass before his house stood in plain sight. "Hey. You," he grunted in Kyu's general direction.

"Who, me?" he replied, unsure of whether this caveman was referring to him.

"Yeah, you. Does it look like there's anyone else here? You play 'The World', right?"

Yes, there is. School just finished, you twat was what he wanted to say to the hulking behemoth positioned in his way. Instead, he chose a more subtle approach. "Everyone plays 'The World' nowadays. Even you, in your cro-magnon glory, could see that," he replied. Expecting a look that expressed the dull mind probably running this overworked husk of a person, Kyu wasn't disappointed, or surprised. What surprised him, however, was the grunted clan invitation from this jock. A clan invite? I'll pass."

He quickly sidestepped the other student, rushing home as he checked his watch. It's already been twenty minutes?!? I'm going to be late for Rei's pickup!" Kyu reached the next intersection and turned left once again, making his way up the first set of stairs and through the unlocked door. A note sat on the table in the kitchen, where he immediately dropped his backpack and rubbed his shoulder (that strap was digging into his bone). Scanning the note, he realised that there was no need to rush around.

Kyu.

Your father and I are picking Rei up from day care today. We're going to take her to a friend's slumber party and then go out ourselves. Food's in the fridge, whip up whatever you'd like when you get hungry.

<3 Mom

The thought of a free weekend crossed his mind briefly, but that notion was wiped out by the torrent of signals screaming for him to log into The World and do his homework after dinner. Walking past the door, he pushed it shut and locked both deadbolts. Kyu then climbed the spiral staircase, and entered his room. He seated himself on the chair he always did, and booted up The World, logging in and placing the gaming apparatus on his noggin.

Kyin checked the BBS for any signs of party invitations. Most of the invites on the board were for either specific people, or put up by someone higher levelled. About to give up, Kyin instead noticed a message posted by a Blademaster.

Kyin pondered the possibility of going with this player, and almost decided against it. However, the words "any level" attracted him, being a level one, and so he quickly replied.

Kyin hit the "Post" button, and waited momentarily. Soon, there was a reply to the thread.

The rest of the post was directed at someone else named Ko Inuyasha. Kyin mentally jotted down the details of where they were, and logged into the Root Town Mac Anu.

The three golden rings drifted to the ground, sparkling dust leaving behind a tall blue Wavemaster. He could see two players chatting nearby that looked like the ones described in the board post, so he walked over to them. Hesitating a couple of steps away, he shuffled closer. "Umm, excuse me, uhh, I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you two Kashi and Talal? From the post on the board?" If they were, he'd be extremely relieved. If not?

Five seconds was more than enough time logged into the game with these conditions.

((No rewards))

Just like every other morning, Sabine woke early only to sit there and have nothing to do. Her mind was still on her work schedule, not the lazy schedule of being cooped up in a hospital bed with two busted up legs in casts. The nurses would be changing shifts in about another hour and then breakfast would follow soon after. Being in a private room had its advantages; mainly she had complete control over the television. Hitting the proper button on the safety bar of her bead, the mounted screen came to life with a local news channel.

Good Morning. You’re watching the early show and here is the weather for today. It will be another dry day with high’s in the upper 80’s and then tonight’s low in the mid 70’s. Wind gust at about 5 mph so if you’re working out in the yard today, make sure you wear a hat and drink plenty of fluids.

Clicking the button again and again, Sabine quickly ran through all the available channels, which were only about five or six local ones. It was all news or those early morning talk shows that never interested her, probably because she never took the time to actually sit and watch them. The news channel was doing nothing but irritate her even more for being out of commission. It was perfect construction weather and she wasn’t on the job site where she should be. Her dad hadn’t even had time to stop by to see her except for once, really late the day after her accident. All of his time was now consumed having to oversee both his job site and hers. Thoughts of how useless she was and how much trouble and stress she had caused her dad started to eat away at her calm exterior and put her in a really bad mood.

”I see you’re still keeping the early bird schedule. We’re about to do the shift change, is there anything I can do for you before I go?”

The night nurse was in a much better mood than her patient, probably because she was about ready to go home. The calm professional looking expression, that Sabine had grown accustomed to wearing, returned to her face while she considered her options. Spying her laptop, she wasn’t in the mood to check email or surf the web; those tasks had already been taken care of the night before when she was just as bored. The space age looking headset that she was embarrassed to even use was sitting on the portable bed table. She had only logged into The World one time when Corey had dropped her laptop off with the game already installed. She had created her character and roamed town a bit, but didn’t go anywhere or do much of anything; too concerned with someone walking into the room while she was playing and wearing the embarrassing piece of equipment. She had to admit, the graphics and the fact you could choose to view the game from first person mode as if you were actually there intrigued her.

”Actually, come to think of it, there is something you could do for me before you go. Would you mind pushing that bed table over here and then latch the door when you leave? It’s a shame you guys don’t have those ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs for the door handles like they have at hotels.”

She smiled and chuckled a little with the last statement while the nurse was busy setting up the adjustable table to fit over the bed just above her lap. The nurse was working the first night that Sabine had tried the game and had been the lucky one to walk in on her, making the construction forewoman turn bright red in embarrassment. As soon as the comment was made about the door handle sign, she knew exactly what her patient had in mind to occupy her time. The night nurse walked over to the door and began to exit the room with a smile.

”Have fun with your game. I’ll be sure to latch the door so you’ll here it when somebody starts to open it.”

The bed bound player of The World had already booted up and logged in, only waiting to hear the latch on the door before putting on the headpiece. The first few screens that popped up were giving her the options to check the BBS message boards and to see if she had any messages from other players. Not having played yet, she of course didn’t have any messages, but reading through the BBS might give her a better idea of the types of players she would run into.

There was a lot of talk about different fields and players looking for lost friends, and then there were those that were trying to form questing parties. She wasn’t usually one to just randomly join a group of strangers but in this case, she really didn’t have a clue how everything worked. A group would probably be the better was to start out, that way she could learn while having someone there to ask questions if needed. Now acting as her player character, Rowan, a female Heavy Blade dressed in what she thought was a fairly basic outfit had chosen through the character generator, she sent off a reply to a pair of players that was looking to form a team for some special fighting event. It sounded easy enough, after all how hard could it be to push a few buttons on a controller and make a digital character swing a big sword?

With the reply sent, now all she had to do was get to the root town of Mac Anu and find them. They were supposedly hanging out right near the gate so she didn’t think it would be too difficult to locate them. Selecting the proper option from the menu, the view went dark for only a moment until the Heavy Blade materialized in the Mac Anu plaza in front of the Chaos Gate. The trio of golden rings lifted and Rowan immediately began looking for the character known as Kashi from the BBS. She saw that one other player had already answered the request and was smart enough to ask what Kashi and his friend looked like, so she knew she was looking for two characters in very basic outfits, much like herself, and that Kashi had green pants and a blue shirt. It hadn’t taken long and blue eyes fell upon a group of three individuals, two males and one female. She used the targeting feature to confirm who they were before just walking up to them. She was about to meet her first three players of the game, Kashi, Talal and Kyin by their tags. She walked up with her usual confident stride and expression; she may be new to the game but she wasn’t new to life and showing confidence in oneself seemed to help others have confidence in you as well.

”Hi! I’m Rowan. Are you still looking for another team member for that event? If so, I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.

So, you decided to go, huh?

Kashi jumped on the spot a bit, surprised by the man's comment. Still sitting, he sighed audibly, drawing the attention of a player or two as they walked on past him. Yeah, I'm gonna go and take part in that event. It's a good chance to meet up with some new players, and a member of the Army. He hated to admit it, but Kashi felt like he didn't really belong in the Army of Darkness yet. He didn't really know anyone in the clan, and he hadn't done anything to prove himself in the clan. Maybe I can prove myself with this event, he thought. The idea of winning the event, two of the players members of the Army of Darkness, sent a slight shiver up and down his spine of anticipation.

Red hair moving softly in a slight gust, that same slight gust that always swept through the city, Kashi closed his eyes. Waiting for him was one of the harder things to do, partially because he would get antsy after a while. At least this wait won't be as long as the one at the morgue was, he thought, a small grimace blossoming on his face. The memory of visiting that morbid place, only to find that the invitation in the mail he had gotten was a farce and being practically interrogated by the manager of the creepy building caused the grimace to turn to a pout.

Wait at a morgue? When was this? Magras asked. He felt that the boy got into the weirdest situations sometimes.

Well, I don't really want to talk about that--

"Good morning, Kashi. It's nice to meet you."

Face slightly pale with the small shock he just received, Kashi tilted his head upwards to see who was talking to him. It was a woman, dressed in a yellow top. The sleeves ended in a strange angle at the elbow. The top had a v-neck style to it, and stretched from her shoulders down to above her waist. A beautiful white sash was tied around her waist, which stretched down from a knot on her left hip to about her knee. The pants the sash hung to were black, and cut in a similar fashion to the top. The contrast of the yellow and black made her character design, although it was slightly less basic than his, jump out at the teen. Her black hair hung down and kind of disappeared behind her. It appeared that it was tied, either in a ponytail or a braid (Kashi couldn't tell from his angle). Pulling up her little card of information that one could find by double-clicking a character's avatar (like in many other games), Kashi found that this was the lady he PM'ed about the event. Talal, level twelve, a Twin Blade, and Specialist in the Army of Darkness. Kashi was just a Private First Class (he had no idea what that meant, or when it was updated), and as such he knew that sitting while a superior spoke to you, standing, must've seemed very disrespectful.

Jumping to his feet, Kashi brought his left hand up in a salute to the Twin Blade. "Nice to meet you as well, Talal ma'am." Hand held up to his forehead, the Blademaster stood stock-still, waiting for her command to either relax or not. Laughter echoed in his mind.

You are such a tool! Kashi rolled his eyes, the man's comment in fits of raucous laughter not helping the situation. Realising that he had just rolled his eyes in front of a superior right after saluting brought a crimson flush to his cheeks. Mistake number one, right off the bat. Almost bursting out that the disrespectful gesture wasn't meant for her, Kashi was cut off by a Wavemaster that approached them.

"Umm, excuse me, uhh, I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you two Kashi and Talal? From the post on the board?"

I take it back. You're not the tool, this kid is.

Kashi looked at the Wavemaster. His name was Kyin, as his name tag implied. The player was decked out in a blue robe, the material stretching down from his shoulder to his feet. Juk waves adorned the garment, and Kashi had a feeling that the boy didn't know what they were. A small pendant hung at the exposed nape of his neck, and a pair of wooden sandals were on his feet. Blue eyes clashed with the light blue hair on his head.

"Yes, I'm Kashi, and she is Talal. Are you here about the event?" The teen thought that this Wavemaster was very timid, even though he was damn tall. Now that he thought about it, Talal was also taller than him. Jeez, I'm so short! Kashi gave Kyin his Member Address for a party, assuming that the man knew how to use it.

One more joined the trio.

This lady was dressed in a golden shirt, which covered her torso but left her arms and a part of her midsection bare. Where the golden shirt stopped on her torso, a piece of black material covered. A brown skirt and pair of shorts covered her legs, the different materials of each lending a different look to her. A pair of brown wristbands extended on each arm, the Rai wave on both of them. A pair of mountain boots finished off her outfit.

Once again, this player was taller than the Blademaster. She would've been the tallest of the group, were it not for Captain Whoadamnyou'retall. Kashi answered her question, simply telling her "Yep, we were looking for one more party member. I think we're ready to go off to the event field. I'll warp in and see what there is there. You guys can go get a few supplies and such and meet me there."

The keywords are Delta: Closed Forbidden Spiral.

"The keywords are Delta: Closed Forbidden Spiral. I'll see you all there!" Kashi handed his Member Address to the two ladies, thanking Magras for picking up on the keywords. He then turned around and left for the gate, cheeks flushing, embarrassed. Not hesitating at all, he quickly spoke the keywords, and warped to the event field.

The field was...weird...to say the least.

It seemed like Kashi was on a floating tablet. The stone ground stretched out in a circular shape, runes running around the outer edge of the ground. The sky was clear, with a few clouds. A doorway made of the same grey stone stood on the opposite side of the structure. Kashi quickly headed for it, when an alarm ran out.

WELCOME TO THE EVENT FIELD. PLAYERS WILL FIGHT MONSTERS AND OTHER PLAYERS TO REACH THE END OF THE FIELD. ROUND ONE IS COMPOSED OF FOUR GROUPS OF THREE MONSTERS. TASK: ERASURE. DEBUFFS INACTIVE.

Kashi jumped, scared to death. There was no time to confer with Magras, as four Magic Portals appeared around the north, south, east, and west ends of the disc. They all spun on their axes, and warped in monsters. Three Red Wyrms, three Swordmanoids, three Deadly Moths, and three Thousand Trees. The noise of players entering behind him ringing out, Kashi turned to them.

"We've gotta get rid of them! Take what you can, I've got the dragons!"

He rushed off to the first one, Ensui in hand, and prepared a Rue Slash...

As outgoing as she thought herself to be, Talal’s stomach was doing cartwheels over meeting someone new. She broke the ice, trying to keep and good show on her features that she was in perfect control...butterflies and all that aside of course. She had been so much more confident on her first quest, a little cocky perhaps. Then she ran into the PK’ers in her quest with Baron and then again with Takua. Ever since, she just hadn’t been the same. It made her feel uneasy to be around those she didn’t yet know, especially by herself.

Her greeting seemed to startle the Blademaster. He was expecting her…wasn’t he? A tilt of his head and a momentary pause, most likely targeting her to make sure who he was talking to. Smart move on his part the Twin Blade thought to herself remembering that targeting was always the thing she seemed to be forgetting, especially when she was in panic mode. That too was something she was trying to overcome. That’s all she needed was to freak out in front of someone else during a battle. Knowing her luck it would happen during this quest if she wasn’t careful. If only because the rest of the group happen to be of lower levels, leaving her to possibly be looked at as the role model of the group; if one was to look purely at levels that is.

Jumping to his feet, Kashi immediately saluted her. Why is he saluting me? Oh! Right, we’re both part of the ‘Army’ but still, salute me? I’m one of the newbie’s on the block still. Suddenly it hit the female Twin Blade that she must be a higher rank than the Blademaster and immediately her cheeks turned a bright shade of red from embarrassment. The fit of laughter that was just egging to be released was barely contained behind the polite smile she gave him. She had no intention on becoming anyone that would be considered in charge of someone else. The young girl had no clue how military stuff really worked other than you follow the orders of your commander. So does that mean that anyone that is a higher rank than you can be considered your commander? Chalk up one more thing on the board that was going to confuse her until she found out the answer.

He politely returned her greeting adding the word “ma’am” onto the end of it. After the salute, that was almost the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The fit inside of her was about to burst when he rolled his eyes suddenly for no apparent reason. Should she have saluted back? Was it something she did or didn’t do? All she could think was to keep it polite and not jump to conclusions just yet; another one of her wonderful traits she was trying desperately to overcome. Man, were there a lot of those bad traits hanging around!

”Thanks, but please, just call me Talal.”

She also wanted to tell him to save his salutes for an actual commanding officer, but their brief greeting time was interrupted with an almost too shy approach of a Wavemaster. The blue robe brought quick memories to mind of another Wavemaster she knew. Although the robes were much different, colors always seemed to have a way of connecting things or people. Kyin, as his tag would read, was obviously not as confident. Dark brown eyes studied his actions, movements and most importantly, she listened to the tone in his words. He seemed on the up and up, but she would still keep an eye on him. Hopefully, he wasn’t as shy during battle or they may not last long in this event they were headed into. During things like this, having a Wavemaster in the group almost insured that they would survive longer. Granted he was only a level one, but he could still play the support role with healing if nothing else. One last glance made the female Twin Blade wonder…what was with all the blue?

Kashi stepped in to respond to the shy ones inquiry. Just as he finished, the final member of their little quartet arrived. A female Heavy Blade approached rather confidently and she carried herself well.

Talal couldn’t hold in her chuckle anymore at Kashi’s unfortunate expense as he ran for the Chaos Gate and vanished. He looked rather uncomfortable or perhaps it was embarrassment, she wasn’t sure which or why he would be feeling either of them. Gathering her composure in front of the other players, she turned to see what they wanted to do.

”So, do either of you need to take a run by the shops before we follow Kashi to the event field?”

”Yes, I do. My last run wasn’t good on the wallet, so to speak. I still can’t remember where the place is, though,” he ended. The Wavemaster seemed to be embarrassed about his lack of knowledge. Talal responded politely, not wanting to increase his embarrassment, but rather hopefully subside it a bit and make him feel comfortable and part of the group. The feeling of belonging is sometimes a key element in whether a player is successful or not, and going into an event, she didn’t need him being wishy washy about that.

”Oh! That’s not a problem; we can all go together to the shops. I’ve already done my shopping for the event, but I always enjoy a little window shopping now and then.”

The Twin Blade remembered her first visit to The World and how lost she felt, she still did a lot of the time even now. The rather tall, blue clad Wavemaster seemed rather appreciative of her willingness to go along and show the way. His response accompanied with a bow that she respectfully smiled and returned.

”Really? Thank you! Many of the people I see around here are…not nice. I wonder if we’ll be able to catch up to Kashi, though. He seemed to leave very quickly.”

His thought was perhaps well placed towards the Blademaster. She had never participated in an event before and wasn’t sure how they worked. Would they be able to join him since the group hadn’t gated in as a party?

”Well, we’d better get a move on then and not waste any time. Are you coming along Rowan?”

The Heavy Blade had stayed fairly silent, looking rather patient to wait until their conversation was over to speak.

”Yeah sure. I’ve already got what I need I think, but I’ll tag along.”

The shops weren’t far from the Chaos Gate so their trip didn’t take long at all. Talal and Rowan stood outside while Kyin went inside to take care of business. They were getting ready to enter an event together and the Twin Blade knew nothing of any of the others in her group. Talal’s mindset started to take a noted shift. She had always been the lower level player of the group and wasn’t sure if she knew enough yet to feel like she could provide the answers or support they might be looking for. It was really a toss up as to what they already knew or didn’t know. They could be a veteran of the game for all she knew, that was starting over with a new character. It was starting to sound like a really bad idea to the girl, but she was already committed and Kashi was already gone. She couldn’t just leave a clan member hanging like that. It wasn’t right. But playing twenty questions with two players she just met may not be the best approach. It might scare them off and that just wouldn’t do either. Kyin didn’t take long at all and the trio was back on their way to the gate.

The Twin Blade made sure that everyone had the keywords and her member address before vanishing. She suddenly had an overwhelming urge to get to the field, hating it when her gut was overriding good sense. The trio entered the field practically simultaneously; just in time to here the announcement and watch as four monster portals opened at once revealing a hefty load of monsters. There was no time to explore the field or even get comfortable with it. Blades were already in hand at the sound of Kashi’s voice and Talal was giving out orders.

”Rowan! Do what you can with the Swordmanoids over there but be careful. Kyin! You’re on support and long range attack with those Moths. Don’t worry about Kashi and I, we’ll manage just fine and yell if you need anything.”

Her voice was loud, abrupt and very commanding. Hopefully they wouldn’t hold it against her but she had no idea if they even knew what to do or how to fight.

This was going to get interesting and fast.

Kyin was relieved that he'd found the right players, and wasn't talking to two people who would've most likely brushed him off. The way Kashi was slightly blushing made the young Wavemaster wonder why he was, since he didn't see anything peculiar or embarrassing happen from his point of view. Listening to the Blademaster reply, Kyin had to think a second. Well, I never heard anything about an event from the News Board, but it might be a player-sanctioned event. I'm here if they head out for it. He nodded shortly, an approaching player drawing his attention. He turned to see who they were.

This player was a Heavy Blade, and a level one like him. She carried herself confidently, a stark contrast to the way the Wavemaster was. Two colours stuck out when he looked at her: yellow and black. Technically, it was a colour and a shade, but the difference was ignorable. A yellow shirt covered her upper body, the article of clothing revealing a small piece of black...cloth, was it?, at her stomach area. Something the teenager had heard referred to as a skort was worn on her hips, looking like it acted as a sort of piece of armour for the area. Further analysis was lost on him as the conversation resumed,, Kashi running to the Chaos Gate after revealing the keywords. What was that about? The young Wavemaster felt he missed something of the conversation, looking at the Twin Blade out of the corner of his eye. Something made him feel that the Blademaster's escape had to do with her. It was probably founded on his gut (which tended to be wrong anyway).

Talal's question to the remaining two players brought a quick check of the inventory. While he had a fair bit of cash, he was almost out of items, not having a simple Health Drink on hand. He answered her question with a bit of an embarrassed tone. Remembering one's way around town was not always easy, and Kyin was a bit hesitant to admit it, remembering the first player he had asked directions from. Her offer to take him to the Item Shop relieved the boy, instilling the idea that not everyone in The World had no respect for the beginner.

As they walked through crowds of players, Kyin's thoughts moved to memorizing the route they were taking. The first shopkeeper they passed was what the sign called a 'Recorder'. Noting to check up on what that meant later, Kyin followed a step behind the leading Twin Blade, noticing that they turned right at the bridge and headed down a few steps to reach the Item Shop. The Wavemaster entered the shop excitedly, forgetting to express his gratitude.

The inside of the shop was big...and crammed full of goodies to buy. Items the Wavemaster never heard of sat on shelves, busy customers perusing the different sections. The Wavemaster headed to a small corner entitled 'Survival Solutions'. The items here seemed to be much more practical than the oddities held around the rest of the shop. Picking up a nearby basket, the Wavemaster filled it with different items: three small bottles holding a light blue liquid; two syringes full of a dark green substance; two small scrolls, each entitled 'Restorative' and containing a small amount of text to read; one blue sphere holding a dark blue gas, and three small, bright orbs. He brought the basket to the counter, asking the shopkeeper what each of the items was. "Well son, these bottles with light blue liquid in them are Health Drinks, 100 gold each. They restore the same amount of health that a Repth would. The syringes are Antidotes and the scrolls are Restoratives, fifty gold each. They cure different status effects. That dark blue sphere is a Mage's Soul, 500 gold each. It restores 100 SP- very handy for Wavemasters. Those small glowing orbs are Resurrects, 300 GP each. They revive a ghosted player. Always smart to hold onto a couple of them." The man stopped talking to punch in the numbers on an old-fashioned cash register. "Your total is 1900 GP.: The Wavemaster reached into his pocket, pulling out a one-thousand gold piece, a five-hundred gold piece, and two two-hundred gold pieces.

"Thank you for the explanations, sir! Have a good day!"

The shopkeeper muttered a "You too," before helping another customer. Kyin tucked the items away in his inventory - I should get some sort of satchel - and left the shop.

Bright sunlight blinded the teen momentarily, and he stood still with eyes shut tight for a second, before opening them and rejoining his companions. Thanks for waiting!" he said cheerfully, walking with them to the Chaos Gate. Once they reached the Gate, Talal handed the Wavemaster and Rowan a small slip of paper, with her name and stats on it. When Kyin slipped it in his inventory, it disappeared, adding him to her party. Is that a Member Address? I'd better give her mine, too. Before the young man could procure his Address, they were headed for the field. Nerves caught him slightly as the three golden rings enveloped him, but he closed his eyes and reminded himself that they weren't dangerous.

The three players warped into the field. Kyin's feet touched down softly on stone, and he looked around. Echoes of a loud voice rang through the cloudy skies, a doorway in the distance on the stone circle empty. "Do we head for that door?" the Wavemaster asked, being answered instead by Kashi.

"We've gotta get rid of them all! Take what you've can, I've got the dragons!"

Kashi's orders were followed by Talal's, the woman's orders being more specialised.

"Rowan! Do what you can with the Swordmanoids over there but be careful. Kyin! You’re on support and long range attack with those Moths. Don’t worry about Kashi and I, we’ll manage just fine and yell if you need anything."

When Kyin heard support, he immediately thought of healing, but the second half of the command directed him to attack the flying purple insects as well. He'd have to try to group them together first, before launching an attack.

Here we go, the rookie thought quietly. He raised his staff--

She didn’t have to wait long for a response. The player tagged as Kashi looked eager to get things going. He handed a note to the other female and herself as well. It was something called a member address according to her menu. Why didn’t he give one to the other guy?

Kashi was notably in a hurry, but it wasn’t making sense if they apparently still had time to go pick up items. The Heavy Blade had already stocked up on a few things when she toured through the shops, so she didn’t need anything. Before she could join him he was off and vanished through the gate.

The other female, Talal, was rather small framed and didn’t look like she had much strength to her. Rowan had learned early on in life however, not to judge people on looks alone so she’d just have to wait and see how the black haired girl managed herself. From all appearances, the Heavy Blade was the tank of this group which didn’t bother the woman at all. If it did, she had chosen the wrong class to play now didn’t she?

Talal was laughing to herself about something that had obviously happened before Rowan had arrived, but it didn’t keep her from moving on. Following the advice from Kashi, the girl dressed in an outfit similarly colored to her own asked about going to the shops. Kyin needed to do some shopping but couldn’t remember the way. Talal was polite and offered to go along. The very timid in her mind, young man was very grateful and it sounded like from his response, that he hadn’t had a good experience in The World so far. The Heavy Blade could see right away one possibility that he was having trouble with. There were a lot of people in the real world that liked to take advantage of others that are shy and timid. It only made sense that if they are like that in the real world, that trait would carry over into the game world. It was unfortunate but a fact of the reality they all lived in.

Dark brown eyes looked over at Rowan, who had kept pretty much to herself while taking in the persona’s of those she would be questing with. By first impressions, she had met three completely different types of people; a shy and timid one, a jittery and quick to act one and well the female she couldn’t quite put her finger on yet, at minimum someone who was enjoying her time in the game and that was solely based on her happy disposition at the moment. Not exactly the type of people she typically surrounded herself with but if it meant getting her feet wet in the game enough to understand it, well then she would survive. Who knows, they could be really great people and surprise her in the end.

Deciding it best to stick together, she chose to tag along to the shops. It was a quick and quiet trip to the quaint row of shops; no one really saying a word. Talal looked liked her gears were grinding away in her head. Kyin went off to do his thing while the two girls remained outside. The Heavy Blade considered getting to know the only other female of the group but figured they were in kind of a hurry and shouldn’t get a conversation going that might take longer than what they had to finish. It wasn’t long before the blue robed boy had finished and found the girls leaning against a tree. They quickly made their way back to the gate. Another member address was offered, this time from Talal. She really needed to find out what these things were for.

A trio of golden rings descended down on the party of three and they were off to the field. Immediately loud siren type sounds and an even louder voice was heard as the rings disappeared leaving the trio in a very odd looking field. It must be because it was an event field that it didn’t look like anything she had read about so far. They were on a circular kind of stone platform. A quick headcount told her there were 12 monsters positioned in groups of three around the field. Kashi was yelling at the trio as they arrived what he was going after and to take out the rest.

Finally, I get to see what this sword will do.

Talal came back with her own plan and basically assigned everyone to a set of monsters. It was something the brown haired woman hadn’t expected out of the girl, a commanding voice and attitude. It would be interesting to see if it would last and if she uses it to her advantage or not. It actually made Rowan relax a little not having to take lead of a group since it was something she basically did on a day to day basis. She was more than happy to let someone else hold the reigns for awhile. A simple nod of the head acknowledged that she heard the girl and the Heavy Blade was off and running. Reaching back behind her shoulder she grabbed the hilt of her Kikuichimonji and lofted it in the air.

The party was there, and before Kashi knew what was going on, the monsters were attacking. The Red Wyrms were closest in both level and range. Almost before he could begin moving, a plume of flame erupted in front of him from one of the monster's mouths. Having to go into overdrive in the first battle wasn't pleasant, nor was it a good indicator of the future. The boy jumped back, bending back and planting his open hands on the ground. Feet followed, the back flip used to launch him into the air. His Ensui was flying at the first Wyrm before anything else. "Rue Slash!" was called out, and the charged sword impaled the Red Wyrm's breast. An Element Critical flashed for the first hit of the skill, then the blade exploded in an aura of blue energy, acting like the physical animation of Cross Slash in a sense. The ensuing area of effect property hit the other two Red Wyrms for minor damage, and brought the initial target to critical condition. His Grunty's Sword was drawn at the same time he landed, running forward. The battle raged on around him, a torrent of water and ice engulfing a nearby Deadly Moth. Focussed entirely on his target, he dove forward. The teen rolled forward once hitting the ground, launching his feet up at the grounded Wyrm's head. He got to his feet, sliding to the left flat against the ground to avoid another eruption of fire. Rolling to a standing position, he quickly spun, back arched, to avoid a clawing from the third of the dragons. A stab through the breast and a forceful swing through the neck brought the first target to its death, head lopped off. The severed cranium rolled to the edge of the arena, teetering momentarily, before dropping into the cloudy blue abyss. That gave the teen an idea. While half of his foes were fliers, the other half could easily succumb to death via falling to it.

A Deadly Moth covered in water and skewered with ice approached Kashi, to beat him with its wings. He crouched down, holding his sword up as a guard. The wings having to flap closer together to hit him, they were both easily blocked. A spinning slash while he was rising killed the weakened insect. Cart-wheeling past a Thousand Tree's swinging limb, he retrieved his Ensui. The two remaining Red Wyrms unleashed a combined burst of fiery breath at him. Unable to dodge both streams of flame, he dove through the left one, pulling his Ensui out and returning his Grunty's Sword to its place in his inventory. The attack dealt quite a bit of damage, knocking the level nine Blademaster's health down to roughly half. Casting Repth on himself, he was knocked forward by a slash from behind. Snarling slightly as he spun around to deal with the monster, a clawing from behind floored him. Frustration settled in, and the boy, returning to his feet, had a slight change of plans. Whirling around, he leapt up, grabbing the Red Wyrm's head and pulling himself onto its back. Ensui held up high with both hands, he brought it down in a harsh stab through its back. Tearing the sword to the left, he repeated the attack on another location of its back, slashing to the right instead of the left. From there, he repeatedly stabbed the creature, sword plunging into dragon flesh, then being withdrawn, where the motion was repeated. The constant assault coupled with the extra weight forced the Red Wyrm to slowly fly lower to the ground. Kashi felt the change in altitude and executed his makeshift plan. Hopping up so the he was standing on the Wyrm's back, he raised his hand.

"Rue Zot!"

As the circular rune formed below them, he crouched down. Forcing as much weight and pressure as he could to his legs, he jumped. The force sent the Wyrm closer to the incoming icicles, which began to rise out of the ground. ELEMENT CRITICAL shone out as the Rue Zot impaled the beast, knocking it down to death. Stuck with pillars of ice through its breast, the Red Wyrm disintegrated into a pile of data.

A glowing red rune around him made him look to the last Red Wyrm. The creature was flipping slowly, the same magic symbol etched into the ground around it. Looking up, Kashi caught sight of a comet shuttling towards him. Unable to dodge the quickly incoming spell, he braced himself for impact. As the comet crashed down, he jumped back. The force of the spell colliding with the ground sent out waves of hot air that blew the Blademaster back across the platform. Landing on his back, he shook his head quickly before getting up again. A quick look over to Kyin showed that the man was open. Opening up an empty Flashmail, he sent a request to the Wavemaster for a simple attack. Waiting, one eye flitting about the battlefield to keep him on guard, he looked back to the Wavemaster, who gave him a curt nod. Here goes nothing. Throwing his sword, he was given the pleasure of watching the Red Wyrm fly out of then way, the sword nicking its wing. Almost yelling to the Wavemaster, he didn't have to.

"Rue Rom!"

The tornado of ice swirled into being around the Red Wyrm, catching Kashi's Ensui in the tip of the tornado. Kashi watched his sword as it spun, tip of the blade first, around the Red Wyrm. Waiting for the best chance he would get, he ran forward, the Red Wyrm's health dropping down to critical levels from the Rue Rom. As his Ensui passed by on the last rotation of the spell, he quickly grabbed it out of the air, changing his grip and spinning in a horizontal slash. The Red Wyrm fell out of the sky, health bar empty from the combined assault of the two players. Looking back, he nodded to Kyin in thanks, before scanning the field once more. Ready to cast supportive spells, he kept an eye out for any damage the two ladies might have taken.

((OOC: Thousand Trees: 3/3
Red Wyrms: 0/3
Swordmanoids: 3/3
Deadly Moths: 2/3))

Her stomach flitted with butterflies. Never before, in the game at least, had she taken charge of a situation and basically told people what to do. She just hoped she wasn’t wrong in what she did and that the players could handle the group of monsters she had literally assigned them. Kashi, she thought would be okay as long as he was careful, but the other two were still new to the game and Kyin didn’t seem too sure of himself yet. Then there was Rowan. She seemed confident enough in herself and was eager to give new things a shot, but she was also very quiet. A trait that Talal herself used to avoid confrontation with people. So, the question was…was Rowan confident or avoiding confrontation? An event wasn’t exactly the best way to get your feet wet in this game. Hell, this was her first one. It was neither here nor there at this point and she had work to do.

With everyone else headed towards their targets, Talal turned around to face her own. The female Twin Blade had never crossed paths with what was coming towards her. A quick target called them ‘Thousand Trees’, so right off by their name she wasn’t thrilled. Was there really anything in a monsters name? The trio of trees were big and they could move; much unlike the trees she was used to. Her Anshou rose up, blocking one of the arm branches that swung at her. It was a spur of the moment defense to do so, but she knew she was no match strength wise to try and block a tree. Falling back, rather ungracefully, Talal was knocked back on her butt. It made a small ding to her health but a bigger one to her pride.

”Humph”

She stammered to her feet quickly and took a moment to assess her situation. Being trees they were probably aligned with the Juk element, which meant Gan spells would work the best. Lucky for her she had a couple of those at her disposal. Vak might also work well since wood burns so nicely. The need for an instantaneous back flip away from another branch swipe had the Twin Blade already tiring of their tactics. It was time to get busy.

”Gan Don”

Large boulders appeared above the Thousand Trees heads, crashing down right on target. Lucky for her even if they weren’t like the trees back home, they were still cumbersome and didn’t move nearly as fast as the female Twin Blade. They were unable to move out of the way before the huge rocks fell upon the branches, snapping them off with a loud Crack! One tree took the majority of the attack and lost both of it’s limbs. The other just got bonked in the noggin really good. Kashi managed to elude the swinging tree branch from the third one, which made her glad to know he at least had his wits about him during battle, which was good.

Talal ran up behind the third tree with her Anshou in hand taking several swipes at the back of the tree; sap dripping from the cuts. She turned around right into the formation of a Juk Rom. Arms went flying to the side as the girl leapt out of the way, but she wasn’t quite quick enough and her feet got caught in the outer rim of the tornado filled with wood slivers, branches, bushes and other varying debris associated with the element. Just before breaking free, her leg got hit by a big chunk of something. The intended leap into a barrel roll ended up being a leap face first onto the stone floor. When she went to get up, the young girl just fell back to the platform. Looking down at her leg, her pant leg was torn near the shin and blood was soaking into the black colored cloth and leaving crimson colored droplets forming a small puddle on the ground. Whatever had smacked into her had done a really good job.

”Repth”

What was her problem? These things were only one level higher than she was, she shouldn’t be having this much trouble. Why did it seem like she was just not fully focused or something? It wasn’t like they were other players they which made her extremely happy. That’s all she needed was another battle against other people instead of monsters. She was supposed to be the welcoming committee for Kashi, not the scardy cat committee. Rolling her eyes at her own thoughts was never a good sign, but it happened anyway.

Once again on her feet, Talal needed to get rid of these things and stop playing around. She was guessing but since it was an event, the team was probably judged on several things including…time. Using her natural speed, she began running around and through the trio, slashing out as she passed by in a blur of motion. Slowly, her direction and attack methods moved them closer into a group and away from the rest of the others. Several passes were made in this manner and the trees were now almost huddled or as huddled as trees could get. Her brow furrowed while she contemplated her next move and switched out her weapons for the Enou set.

Another Juk Rom was sent out by one of the trees which this time she easily avoided. The Twin Blade had taken a one eighty in thought processes and movements and was now focused and determined. She only hoped the change in her performance had taken place before any of the other members had noticed she was stumbling about. Everything was perfect now and in the proper position…and she bolted

”Blazing Wheel”

Calling out for the attack where her body spun like a drill bit on high speed, her blades were held out at just the perfect angle. She spiraled through the trees with her Enou alight in a beautiful red hue leaving molten streaks on anything they touched. The bark of the two trees she hit ignited almost instantly and there was nothing they could do about it. The third tree was trying to back away from the flames, but she had already figured that into her plan. The two burning trees were almost nothing but stubs; all the greenery now turned into ashes and floated away and it was time to finish this.

”Gan Zot”

Stone piers erupted from stone platform beneath the trees almost like the field had been designed with a wicked twist. The largest shot out towards the sky right in front of the last tree as it back peddled away…to the edge. In its’ haste, the Thousand Tree had gone too far over the side. The scrambling roots tried to keep a foothold on the platform but alas it was made of stone. There were no breaks, cracks or dirt for the roots to wiggle into and secure to, and finally it fell over the side and was gone. The other two simply burned until there was nothing left and vanished into code.

A faint smile appeared on the young girl’s face that she had triumphed once again. Regardless of the thoughts that always seemed to stream through her mind on the ugly ways of being able to destroy things. Reality always had a way to screw up that mental image and give her a really hard time. Hoping she hadn’t taken too much time, she turned to get a feel for where everyone was. She was surprised to see Kashi already finished with his trio of Wyrms and headed towards the rest of the group to assist. Kyin and Rowan were still alive and kicking and practically done with their own as well. So it seemed her worry wasn’t needed after all. Talal joined Kashi and headed over to offer assistance and see what the next round was going to be like.


((OOC: Thousand Trees: 0/3
Red Wyrms: 0/3
Swordmanoids: 3/3
Deadly Moths: 2/3))

--and called out the name of the first spell thrown across the field.

"Rue Rom!"

A surging wave of cold energy rippled through the field, wrapping itself around a pair of Deadly Moths. Spiralling torrents of water careened around merrily, slashing through wings, abdomens and antennae of the giant insects. Cutting rivers of liquid sliced through flesh, tore off specks of skin and whatever else they could. Chunks of wing flew about in the tornado of Ruem. The young amateur Wavemaster even thought he saw shards of ice in the third Moth, the stupid insect having been careless enough to hover by the tip of the spell and receiving a fair share of hurt for its foolishness.

And yet, the impressive-looking spell seemed to only irritate the monsters.

A check of their health bars showed that the spell had dropped the main target to just under half, the other two still holding onto three-quarters of their points. He was too engaged in tactical studies, however, and when Kyin returned to actually paying attention to the battle, he found a Swordmanoid's blade approaching quickly. A quick quiet yelp and the instinctive swing of his Cypress Wand managed to barely deflect the attack from the humanoid. Caught between falling off the edge of the stage and having to duke it out with a monster higher in level and stats, the teenage newbie had no real choice in the matter. Gripping the staff as one would a baseball bat, he swung as hard as he could at the Swordmanoid. *CRACK* rung the sound of metal on metal, and the monster stumbled back. Taking the chance given to him, Kyin shifted his grip on the staff, swinging quickly at the monster's legs. However, the Wavemaster class was most definitely not meant for the sort of combat he was locked in, and the weapon merely bounced weakly off of the Swordmanoid's left leg. Before he could get impaled by that sword the thing was using, he was in the air, flying forwards. Smacking into the monster's hip, he wrapped his arms around it, dragging it to the ground. His Cypress Wand rolled out of reach, released during the reckless manoeuvre.

Pushing himself off of the ground, the Wavemaster took a couple of steps back. Turning to his right, he raised his arms in front of his chest, crossing them in an X to brace for impact. One of the Deadly Moths (one of two left) had caught him unawares, and the thing charged at him, body-slamming him to the ground. Health flashing in the critical range, Kyin's screen pulsed with a strong red colour outlining the border of his screen. He had no time to think, he was stuck between two foes. He did the only thing that seemed good enough to buy him some time - release another spell. This one was on his Wristbands, and they weren't coming off any time soon.

"Juk Rom!"

The air whistled softly, quickly upping into a high-pitched scream. The Swordmanoid and Deadly Moth were buffeted by the high-speed wind, as well as various pieces of floral debris no doubt drawn from the trees Talal was fighting. While in his own little protective bubble, the boy looked around for his staff. The blasted thing was rolling towards the edge of the course! Diving for it, he barely managed to catch it, right arm dangling over the edge, weapon in hand. The boy clambered back up to a standing position, surveying the damage done. Talal was spinning with either her weapons or the air around her set on fire, Rowan was-- gah! Wings made to beat down on him from the right, and he let his body drop down to the ground as quickly as he could, barely avoiding the first of the little onslaught. The extremely weak Swordmanoid had already meandered off to another target, which meant his only current problem was the insect trying to kill him. A problem which, probably like most in this game, could be more easily solved by violence.

*THWAK* *thwop* went the staff as the now beat-happy Wavemaster clobbered the flying pest over and over. Damage was not the point of the attack, he was simply trying to stall long enough to get the SP for a spell off. Kyin lashed out at anything that got into his field of vision (most of it purple), berating the Deadly Moth and keeping it from striking him. Checking his SP gauge during the beating, the boy found he had enough for a finishing spell, as well as one for an emergency, what he had been saving up for.

"Rue Rom!"

The whirlwind of water returned in full force, increasing the damage done to the insect about fifty-fold from the one-point strikes he was just doing. The life of the Moth drained out of it quickly, and it fell to the ground. He kicked the corpse, letting out a small huff of frustration, before it disintegrated. Returning to his scan of the field, a Flashmail popped up on-screen, sent by Kashi.

It seemed simple enough, not many ways to muck such a strategy up. He was sure he could discover one if he really tried. Looking over to the Blademaster, he found to his surprise that the man was already checking on him. This must be the signal, the teen thought. He gave a small nod, and the Blademaster threw his sword. Kyin raised his staff up into the air in cliche RPG-style and called out the name of the spell. A blue magic circle rapidly etched itself into the ground around him as a blue light emitted from the head of his staff. Over in the distance, he saw Kashi's plan take effect. In addition to the damage from the Rue Rom, the spell had the blade cycle through the air, slashing the monster as it went by. How did he even think that would go off so easily? He needs to plan a more efficient, simpler form of attack next time.

Casting an eye about the field, he looked at his SP bar. It was at about halfway to ten. The boy looked over to Kashi, gesturing for him to go help take care of the remaining monsters. When he was sure that no-one was looking, the Wavemaster collapsed in a slump, falling to his butt. The blue robe was shifted so that it covered all of him before he closed his eyes. There was nothing he could do now, not with critical health and no spells to cast. Just a break. He'd take a small break, heal himself and possibly the others, then get back into the fight.

Just a moment...

Metal clashed upon metal; brute force being both opponents primary weapon with the large shiny thing known as a sword just along for the ride. The trio of Swordsmanoid’s were probably a bit much for her first battle; the whole three against one scenario that is. The Heavy Blade though was used to the odds not being in her favor so the half smirk, half smile that crossed her face wasn’t really as out of place as it possibly should have been.

One of the monsters decided to go play with the Wavemaster, Kyin. He already had his own to deal with so Rowan knew she needed to be quick with the two that were left in case he got into trouble. A swift elbow to the face of her opponent and a side kick to the second one approaching, gave the Heavy Blade enough time to gather some tactical advantage. Her job in the real world had afforded her with an eye for positioning and ways of doing things to make them work. With any luck, it was going to come in handy during the current and future battles as well.

The large blade circled around leaving a large gash in the chest of the first Swordsmanoid. It screamed, something she wasn’t expecting for some reason. After all, this was a digital world where no one felt anything. Perhaps though, the programmers were just trying to make things a little more realistic for the players. The moment she had taken to ponder such a thing however, had given the other monster time to get in a strike to her back; its large blade leaving its own mark as well as taking a chunk of her health with it.

”Oh, you wanna take the cheap shots from behind do you? I see how it is.”

The event arena was notably not that big when you consider how many combatants were currently taking up space upon it. The somewhat round stone platform was either supported from underneath or somehow floating in mid air with a drop off to oblivion all the way around it. Rowan pressed her way towards the nearest Swordsmanoid, her Kikuichimonji swinging up and around so that the ending strike went upwards from the creatures groin across its chest. She carried the momentum around, turning herself in a three-sixty that ended with her foot firmly planted in the things chest thrusting it over the edge.

Turning, the Heavy Blade caught a glimpse of Kyin struggling with her rogue Swordsmanoid but still managing to hold his own with a few inventive and not so Wavemaster like attack maneuvers. She had to give the guy some credit. He was creative and a survivor and she was needless to say, impressed and a small smile crossed her face while she turned back to deal with her second opponent.

Several dodge and parries later, Rowan finally got in a damaging strike. The creature stumbled back so the Heavy Blade swept the leg and turned his stumble into a fall to his back and promptly shoving her blade straight down through its chest. Unfortunately, not before it got in a good punch to her jaw with its elbow knocking her head to the side a bit. Instinctively, she put a hand to her face to check the damage, forgetting for a moment that doing so wouldn’t help her in the least. All she had to go by was her health bar which now had taken a couple of good punches. Lowering her hand, the drop of blood on the back of it surprised her.

I’m bleeding? Wow! They’ve really added some good special effects to make it more realistic. This is great!

The Swordsmanoid slowly vanished while she watched the data particles float away and disappear. The woman stood and turned to go find her rogue monster only to find it had returned to avenge its fallen comrades. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blade flying through the air and a spell go off right near it. It appeared that either this group she had gotten herself mixed up with was either very inventive with their attacks, or very stupid, or possibly even both. She’d have to keep an eye on them.

Rowan swung and missed giving her opponent time to strike. The Heavy Blade ducked below the swing aimed to decapitate her. She stood and returned the favor only to be blocked. This, was it a guy a girl or an it?, was being rather resilient. She was actually okay with that. It made the fight a challenge; something the woman longed for on a daily basis, especially now that she was immobile and stuck in a bed for the next six months in the real world. Not that the physical therapy to get her walking again wouldn’t be a challenge but the adrenaline rush she would get from the game should help get her through it all. With that thought and the excitement filling her, Rowan circled around and left a large gash across the Swordsmanoid sending it into oblivion.

She looked around to see if the others needed help, noticing Kashi and Talal on their way over and Kyin… The young Wavemaster was sitting on the ground under his robe. Was he hiding? As she ran over to him, a quick check of his stats showed he was just about at zero of everything. She only had enough SP for one healing spell of her own which she probably should hang onto. Hopefully the other two could help the kid out in that regard. She planted her blade with a clank right next to him and leaned on the hilt. She spoke simply with a slight smile on her face.

”You alright there? You can come out now, all the monsters are gone. I’m not too sure but sitting in the middle of an event field doesn’t seem like a good idea. Come on, we’ve made it past the first round. You did well out there.”

A little encouragement never seemed to hurt when she was talking to her crew back home and she was impressed with the kids’ creative style considering the class he chose. It was early though and if he was already giving up then they were in a world of hurt. Something though about him didn’t make her feel as though he was giving up. The woman just hoped her feeling was right.


((OOC: All monsters slain))

Threats neutralized? Great. I’ll have to hustle to keep up with them!

The boy hefted his one-handed sword as he watched Rowan finish the last of her monsters. His gaze moved from her and the Wavemaster she was approaching to a new appearance - a pathway appearing behind the doorway. Bright and reflective, the air behind the door swirled softly, small steps made of clouds condensing together until they formed a descending spiral of stairs. Walking over to the edge, Kashi peered below. He followed the clouds down, spying another circular platform below them. This one was fairly blue, and seemed sort of…transparent? Kashi shook his head, blinking rapidly. Heights must already be getting to me, he shrugged.

Turning to face the rest of his party, he glanced across the stone tablet. The first person to catch his eye was their Wavemaster. What on earth is he doing? Is he scared, or away from the controller or keyboard? Looking to the man’s avatar in the little party bubble in the corner, the Blademaster found that he wasn’t marked as absent, but he WAS fairly low in the health department. And Spell Points, for that matter. Unfortunately, Kashi didn’t have many Mage’s Souls on hand (and the ones he had he wanted to conserve for a future round). He could, however, offer up a Repth to the player. The spell was cast, knocking the boy back down to nil SP. Bringing a hand up to his lips, he called out to his allies. “Looks like the next area is down these little cloud things. Is everyone ready to move on?” The boy waited until he got an affirmative from the other three, then he walked through the stone doorway.

Stepping on the first cloud, he noticed something a bit off. He felt a bit strange, like someone had splashed him with water. Strange, there wasn’t any water on me from the fight, he thought. I was sure that I didn’t get soaked by the Rue Rom…Looking down at his clothes, he frowned. They WERE dry. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling off. Glancing at his status bar, the boy noticed that he was afflicted with a status effect, Dek Raio. There were a few more symbols next to the Rai wave sign: a broken sword, a shield, and a black vortex. I think two of them are Dek Corv and Ap Vorv, but what’s the last one? These stat changes are really going to offset me. He tried curing the Dek Corv with an Antidote, but to no avail (he couldn’t even use it on himself). Trying with a Restorative offered similar results.

Noticing that he was still standing on the first step, the boy walked forward a couple of quick steps before turning around and apologizing. “I stopped because that door -” he pointed at the arch “ - messed with my stats and I was trying to fix them.” Remembering something those announcers said earlier, he voiced his thoughts. “I think it’s part of the event. Hopefully we won’t all get hit with stuff that’ll wreck all our offence!” he finished, chuckling nervously. Knowing his luck, things like that had a habit of happening. Turning, he walked down a couple more of the little clouds, descending them rather slowly. Kashi smiled as he realized he had just stepped onto CLOUDS without making sure he wouldn’t fall through. Those kinds of mistakes can screw you up later if you don’t watch out!

The smile pulled one of the fastest one-eighties in history. Quiet, you. It’s not like I actually fell there.

But you could’ve. I wouldn’t believe you’re so absentminded if I wasn’t here like this.

Kashi could have just punched him in the head. If he had a head. The raucous laughter in the background did NOT help the situation. Can’t touch me~! Can’t touch me~!

The words echoed through his mind over and over as he stepped onto the next platform. Although he could definitely feel a stone base, the floor was much slipperier than it should have been. Looking down, the Blademaster saw why - there was water covering the floor a good five centimetres up, halfway up his shoes. These are going to be a wreck once we’re off this stage.

Sounds from ahead diverted his attention. It seemed that this trial had a player-versus-player element to it. A Long Arm, Heavy Axeman, Whipmaster and Wavemaster were walking down similar clouds from the opposite end of the makeshift stadium, weapons all drawn and looking rather…battered. From what Kashi could tell, however, they did not seem to have lost any health, or at least recovered the damage. They were dressed in fairly generic clothes (well, for The World, anyway), with the Whipmaster wearing a white top hat and cape as his only distinguishing features. The Long Arm donned a funny-looking pointy red hat, the Wavemaster -- err, Wavemistress in a full black witch costume, and the Heavy Axe wearing a purple suit of armour and Viking cap. What’s with these people and their hats?

Kashi was addressed by the Whipmaster while Talal was by the Long Arm simultaneously. “You’re our next battle. Ready to begin?” He looked back at the two level ones, then at Talal, waiting for her answer.

((Whipmaster - Level 10, Flex Whip, Level 8 Heavy Armour Set
Long Arm - Level 10, Treeman Spear, Level 6 Light Armour Set
Heavy Axe - Level 3, Water Axe, Level 3 Heavy Armour Set
Wavemistress - Level 3, Fire Wand, Level 1 Light Armour Set

The battle will begin as soon as Talal gives the response, so actions and target designations are all yours. I tried to leave it relatively open for who can take on who.))

Looking around, one could say they had done well. All of the monsters were gone and everyone was still alive. On the other hand, a few were just barely holding on and whether or not physically was the only holding necessary, was still yet to be seen. The young Wavemaster’s actions confused the Twin Blade as she tilted her head slightly with a furrowed brow. Rowan surprisingly came out of the fight the best off, only having been deprived of about half her health. It seemed however that they had relied heavily on the magic part of the game, or at least three of the four had; all being close to zero in the SP department. It was a little early in the event though to be tossing out items as if they were candy, even if she did have a couple to spare. For now, she’d play the wait and see game.

Kashi took care of the boys’ health with a quick casting which was good and it looked like Rowan was trying to do her part to help her fellow teammate. In turn, Talal tossed the woman a Health Drink. At least they should all be at full health going into the next level. Another glance around the field and for the first time, the girl noticed the crowd along the outer edges. She didn’t like being the center of attention or a spectacle. That part of the equation of being in an event had managed to avoid her radar when she had agreed to do it.

Gah! Why do I always jump into things without thinking?

She watched as Kashi had beaten her to the punch of getting the heck out of dodge, or at least this particular part of the event. The girl had hoped that possibly they would exit into a waiting area for the next round but peering down, the next round was already waiting for them. Nodding to the Blademaster, she followed to find a set of stairs built out of clouds that led down to the next circular level. It practically looked see through like a piece of glass.

Even though Kashi had already descended a couple of the puffed stairs, he stopped and Talal thought she saw him taking an Antidote or two which confused her until he spoke about the status effects from walking under the archway. She pulled up her menu and confirmed what he was saying. One wouldn’t affect her since she didn’t have anything that used the Rai element but the others were opposites if she remembered correctly. Basically it meant they were just given a boost of Physical Defense but their Physical Attacks had been weakened. So in essence, they would be able to defend themselves better but it was going to take more hits to down their opponents. The Twin Blade wondered if their opponents would have similar status effects on them. It would be nice if they were the same, just to make it even on both sides. The last of the effects though, the girl wasn’t sure about and supposed she’d find out in due time.

Shrugging, she put away her blades so that she could use her arms for balance while her nerves kicked in due to the fact there were no guardrails, handrails or even a nice little rope to hang onto on the way down the stairs and heights were not her best friend by a long shot. Shakily taking the first step, she knew they would hold her if only because Kashi had already done it, but that didn’t help her either at the moment to calm down. Staying focused would be a very good thing right about now. No way did she want to let on any of her fears to all these new acquaintances. They didn’t need to know what made her tick. One never knew when acquaintances could turn on you and become enemies. Kashi might be a different story if only because he was part of the clan, but she still didn’t really know him which meant there was a major trust issue still. Stopping for a moment on the third stair, the black haired slight female closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Just get down the stairs and take all your nerves out on the monsters. Yeah, that’ll work….I think.

Finishing her descent, Talal touched the first foot down with a splash that made her look down. It was no wonder the platform looked like glass. It was covered in a thin layer of water that created that nice shiny image of something smooth.

There was no time for catching up and team camaraderie once everyone reached the platform as another group of players had come down in similar manner on the other side. Were they to fight as one large team? Where were the monsters? A quick overview of their attire and the girl wondered if they had done that on purpose just for the event or something to make them look like more of a team. It was then that two of them, the Whipmaster and the Long Arm spoke together addressing both her and Kashi at the same time.

WHAT! NEXT BATTLE! THEM!

Hands went immediately to her sash and pulled the weapons of her class from their stored location. Shock and a whole lot of fear washed through the small girl to the point that shivers were being sent up the spine of the girl behind the monitor as well.

No. It can’t be right. Monsters, we were fighting monsters. No one said anything about fighting other players. We’re going to lose. I can’t do this. I can’t kill another player even if they do come back to life with a simple resurrect potion. It’s not right. I can’t. I just…can’t. Not after…

She looked them over again before speaking trying to keep herself from hyperventilating from the futon she sat on back in her apartment. Her team was counting on her. She was being somewhat looked at as a leader if only because of levels. A position she really wasn’t all that comfortable being in. In all actuality, she looked to Kashi as the leader of the group. After all, it was his idea to enter the event in the first place. He should be the leader. A look to the Blademaster found a set of eyes staring back at her just waiting for the go ahead it seemed.

The dark brown eyes that starred back at him however couldn’t hide the fear she was feeling until she closed them for just a moment and took another deep breath. This was just an event, no one would die forever. These funny dressed players were not the PK’ers she had met on one too many occasions already in The World. Finally however, the only thing that seemed to justify what she was about to do in her mind, was the hope that they were just here for the event and not a group of crazed lunatics that enjoyed killing other people for fun.

Slowly opening her eyes, she gave the Blademaster one last look that she was as ready as she was going to get and didn’t even bother looking back at Kyin and Rowan; too afraid she’d loose what composure she had managed to muster. Turning her head back at the group in front of them, she was calm and straight to the point.

”If we must.

Both wrists turned making her blades spin once to get positioned firmly in her hands.

Let’s dance!”

Eyes narrowed on her target and before she even had finished the last word she was charging towards the Long Arm. Only she knew she was attempting to bravely face one of her biggest fears so far in this game.

But was she brave enough?