A crunching noise sounded from Vlad's forehead, the rejected tin can falling to the bag which held more of its kind. For some reason he accepted his foster father's idea of doing some work until he was able to get in the local school. What was that reason again? Vlad contemplated the thought as he examined his dirt covered clothing. Letting out a sigh as he grabbed for the tattered remains of a newspaper to add to his collection, he was pretty sure it had something to do with not being a burden. He snorted at the thought, it amused him that only a few months ago he would have told someone to stick it up their ass if they suggested for him to pick up litter. Well, at least he was being paid for his work, he shuttered to think himself to be so caring to do it for free.

Don't worry Vlad, soon the center will have you hugging tree and asking people to stop eating meat. While a cynical as always, he was generally thankful for the treatment he received to help for his addiction. Although he didn't agree with some of the view point of the therapy which seemed to be slightly biased towards being more of an angelic robot than a person.

Vlad found amusement in kicking another can as he moved to the garbage trunk that his boss stood waiting at. It was a pretty simple system, you collect trash, they measure its weight and you get money based off that. Vlad passed his bag over as he examined how badly he managed to cover himself in filth this time. Since it was a weight based system the best way to make profit was finding the heavy stuff. He had gone down some inclines into the nearby ravine in search of the best prizes which usually consisted of old car parts and furniture. With only an hour left after hauling back part of a stove he decided to take it easy, just walking the perimeter of the ravine for cans and paper.

A couple bills waving in Vlad's face brought him back to reality. “Nice work boy,” His boss seemed to enjoy calling him boy with a thick accent. If it wasn't for the money Vlad would be happy to insert a fist into the chubby man's face for the remark.

“Thanks sir, I do my best.” He pocketed the money without counting it. It didn't really matter to him since his family made it clear he was staying with them until he finished high school. Ah, High School. He dropped out shortly after he entered it for the first time in order to made more room in his life for what he used to consider important. Stealing and drugs were the major occupier of that old time. Not something that Vlad missed, or ever wished to return to.

He made his way home in the afternoon sun, judging it to be about four o'clock. He had posted recently on the BBS in response to a Wavemaster looking for a party. It was a good chance for Torque to continue the progress he had made a few nights ago. Plus Vlad didn't have anything else to do during the evenings. Returning home, he gave a shout throughout the house. Hearing nothing in reply he assumed his foster parents were out and about. He made his way through the house in the standard list of things to do:

Shower, Tidy up the area listed on the fridge note, Eat.

He sat down at his computer with half eaten ham sandwich in hand. A quick check over the BSS showed Wavemaster Zeich had responded with a message to meet in Mac Anu. Well, no time like the present. Vlad finished the remainder of the sandwich in a terrifying bite as he searched his room for his headset. Finding it buried beneath some underwear he questioned the condition of the device. Locating a stick of deodorant nearby, he swiped it on the rim of the device. Problem Solved.

Giving one last stretch before sitting down at his computer, he planted the headset on as he reached for his controller. Entering The World, now twice as minty fresh as the last entrance.

Loading....

Loading Complete....

Torque stood in the world for the second time, now slightly more experienced but still a beginner. Zeich didn't exactly post where he wanted to meet, so Torque just headed to center of the busy root town. Of course, he wouldn't even know that Torque was Torque unless he approached close enough to get the name identification. In the end, if Torque arrived at the location first he could just keep his eye out for....a Wavemaster named Zeich. Torque shook his head as he moved to the bridge that overlooked the marketplace of the root town, hoping that some kind of divine luck would put the two in the same place.

Torque leaned against the railing and surveyed the crowds of people before he remembered the first post of mentioned a custom character. Well, at least that narrowed it down to newbie, custom, and Wavemaster. How hard could that be to spot?

==Real World==

Sigmund yawned as he leaned over his latest school assignment, scribbling down notes out of his history text for the test coming up in a few days. Facts on the western civilizations of Europe were laid out in messy handwriting along the page, with the occasional doodle on the margins. The boy’s pen skimmed across the page in awkward, uncoordinated strokes as the student glanced out of his apartment window. He had been fortunate enough to get the room at the front of the building, so he could gaze out over the expanse of the street and at the people who walked the sidewalks below. None of them attracted more than a casual glance though as Sigmund’s eyes wandered to his laptop, sitting on the desk beside his textbook. His hands fidgeted towards the keyboard out of sheer habit, but a quick flash of discipline sent the boy back to his notes with a sigh, wishing that he was done studying. He had a night of gaming planned, but if he didn’t have his studying done, his mom would be very reluctant to let him anywhere near The World.

The World. Sigmund smiled as he thought about his first opportunity to go to a field with his customized character. It had been two days since he had received the game as part of a contest, and he had only gotten time to log in and purchase a few extra staves for his character. He was excited at the thought of putting Zeich to good use, nuking monsters at a distance with powerful spells before they could get close enough to touch him. The thought of wielding so much power at once was an appealing one, and again Sigmund wished he was done with his studying for the night so that he could log in. Unfortunately, he still had another ten or so pages left in the chapter to take notes from, and the text was small print on large pages, so what seemed like a simple assignment dragged on a lot longer than it should have. Still, the boy pressed on, writing a bit faster to try and save some time. His handwriting was a bit harder to read, but it was legible to the point where he could use it for studying.

Finally, after an additional hour of work, Sigmund set his pen down with a sigh of relief, setting the notes to the side and closing his textbook. The materials were all placed in his bag to be transcribed in a neater format during a boring class the next day, and the laptop was slid sideways so that it sat in front of the boy. Sigmund quickly booted up the portable computer and let the loading screen go by, digging through one of the drawers in his desk for his headset. The device was quickly plugged into one of the side ports of the laptop, and soon Sigmund was logging into The World, the login screen passed in a quick flurry of keys.

==The World==

Rings of golden light appeared in Mac Anu’s main plaza, shimmering in the low sunset as Zeich appeared in the game for only the second time. Murmurs of interest and wonder accompanied his appearance, but the Wavemaster had come to expect it after the first time. After all, he had won the custom character contest and certainly looked a lot different from the other players around him. Gray fur was ruffled by a soft breeze floating through the Root Town, golden eyes stared at the various players gathered around the plaza. Many of them were going off to the Chaos Gate that floated behind the wolf-like Wavemaster, going to a field for adventuring with their friends. Zeich, on the other hand, had another destination; he had to find the partner he was going to spend the day with instead. The man’s name was Torque, and that was all the wolf had gotten out of it. He’d have to do a bit of a search, or use the alternate shortcut. He did want to test out the Flashmail system anyway.

With that, Zeich moved over to one of the buildings surrounding the Chaos Gate’s plaza, leaning against one of the walls with his tail wagging side to side in excitement. His golden eyes moved back and forth as one or two players approached him, asking about his character design. Some thought it was hacked, others knew about the character contest and congratulated him. Zeich grinned in approval, enjoying the attention, and hoped his partner wouldn’t hurry too much. After all, what was the hurry?

Torque scanned over the crowd for what seemed like the filth or seventh time before finally giving up hope that he would simply be able to pluck his partner from the mass of people. He sighed as he pushed himself to a standing position, it seemed divine fate wasn't on his side. Or was it? A ringing blasted through the depressing atmosphere that hung around him, notifying that he had received a flashmail. The mail identified in the subject line that his partner already had a solution to the problem at hand. He popped open the mail and read through it in a hurried manner, noting the meeting to be at the Chaos Gate plaza. Convenient since they could simply meet and head out. Torque smiled as he took a glance back at his newly earned Meteor Axe, making sure it sat tightly holster to his back. The weapon had been a reward from his first journey, and he was eager to use the large two-handed weapon in combat. It would hopefully prove to be much more of a smashing success than his old one handed Hatchet.

Everything was in place, and with that Torque headed to the Chaos Gate plaza at a brisk walk. The sounds of his armor once again filling his ears, a percussion instrument of smacking metal and brushing leather. Torque managed to follow the flow of player, many of them seemed to be on their own way out with their mates already in tow. Keeping his eyes out for a character would fit the description of custom and Wavemaster as he kept a watchful gaze on the players around him. Entering into this plaza's main courtyard, it was clear who his partner was after a scan of the surroundings. A wolf-like Wavemaster stood against one of the walls with a crowd of people surrounding him, most likely curious in his appearance. Torque shared the same thoughts as the onlookers, he had gone through almost every nook and cranny of the creation creation and hadn't seen anything even close to how this player appeared. I am not going to get anywhere standing around, he reminded himself.

Torque moved in, not having the patience to wait for the crowd of people to break, he ended his stride behind a smaller player who quickly noticed that a shadow had been casted over her. Turning to stare behind her, she was greeted by the stomach of the Heavy Axe, then looking up, she met his face staring down at her. “Excuse me if I am interrupting but I have business with the man.” He explained as he plucked the stunned girl from her spot and deposited her off to the side as he moved in to take her place. “Zeich, I assume. I received your flash mail shortly ago and hopefully you have not been kept waiting long.” Torque gave the regard of waiting only in words as it seemed the Wavemaster hardly minded the attention he was receiving. Hopefully, he would be just as eager to head to a field, otherwise Torque feared that it would be some time before all of the people surrounding him had their turns at 21 questions.

His fears were quickly resolved when he received a party invite request, accepting it he moved toward the gate before his partner could give a cry from being snatched from his adoring fans. It was the time to get out of the root town, and into

Δ Soft Moonlit Grasslands

The rings descended upon the Heavy Axe and Wavemaster whisking them away to the field. The final sounds from the root town being a chorus of “Awwwww...” from disappointed crowd.

Loading......Loading Completed.

As Torque opened his eyes, a twilight field filled his vision. It was indeed a grassland as the keyword defined, but the state of time in which it sat eternally frozen were both beautiful and alienating. A forbidding silence hung in the air as if even the wind feared to blow in case it broke the delicate image that lay before him. Torque felt like a ghostly presence to the place as the moonlight transformed the white of his robes to an eerie pale glow. Finally breaking the silence as he turned to his partner, “I hope you don't mind being snatched away, it was a rather rude introduction, I admit.”

Zeich stumbled as he was transported, surprised by the sudden change in the field. Where a moment ago he had been surrounded by people admiring his customized character, he was now in a large, moonlit field, the pale glow covering him in its light. The invite had been sudden, and he hadn't expected to be tugged from the Root Town so quickly, but he good-naturedly let it slide as he turned to his partner. "Nah, you're fine. It's best I got out of there before I started liking the attention too much anyway."

"It is certainly an interesting character design, haven't seen anything like it before to be honest." Torque responded, he was glad that his partner wasn't upset about the rude pull from the root town.

Zeich grinned, showing pointed teeth in his muzzle. "Well I'd certainly hope not, I won a custom character contest. Shouldn't be more of me wandering around."

Torque stratched his chin as he looked Zeich's character over. It was defininately a work of art, he could see why it would win a contest. "Well I don't think you should have any fear in that. Now what kind of experience do you have with the game?"

Zeich scratched at one of his pointed ears, slightly embarrassed as he responded. "Well, to be honest... this is the first field I've been in."

"I don't really know how much you have read over the manual, but being a wavemaster you should take a look at the elemental properties of monsters, as well as knowing your role in a party." Torque tried to recall the information that he had seen which pretained to a Wavemaster class. Zeich nodded, his tail wagging softly behind him, tapping his staff on one shoulder in a slight fit of impatience. He had to admit, the game designers had made his character very realistic.

"I know how my class works, I just have to actually put it in action. I'll be fine." Torque let out a laugh, giving a warm smile to Zeich after to show that it was not a response of mockery.

"Then lets make our way around the field then. Best to get some experience before being locked in a dungeon together." Torque unsheathed his weapon, bringing the large metal axe to rest on his shoulder. "Lead the way, for I wish this to be your first adventure, with your own steps in the lead."