Oza's Story

Oza, in his smaller form since he had just been doing a job, watched as the people came and went from the Guild. One of Oza's hobbies was people watching after all, when he was not battling super viruses on the internet, stopping cyber entities from taking over the world, and general monster slaying. Actually, he had been looking into clues into a new strange sequence of events he had been encountering, monsters being virtualized into Cyber Space, and a key word "Lyoko" popping up every so often.

But among all the people, someone stood out from them all. Someone who seemed lost, but not lost. Confused, yet clear. Out of place, perhaps, but also in her place. At least that was what the materialized AI, Oza, percieved. Something about her was definently different from the normal people here. Oza secretly and temporarily accessed the secure, private database of Adventurers, and discovered she had yet to register.

"Well, I guess I know how to introduce myself then" Oza said, as he settled on his younger form. He could make himself appear older as well, but the bigger he was the more energy he used, or the weaker he got, so he preferred his younger, smaller form. The older form was useful for parties, formal gathering, and undercover work though.

He then moved himself down to the floor below, and walked up to the woman who he had spotted. "Excuse me miss, so you need some help?"

At a relatively small radius to her a footfall from Oza nearby would have an infinitesimal psionic creature clad in carbon allotropes levitate off from between crevices of the boards to scurry away. The small mote of black dust alerted more as it traveled and the black dust she constantly shed slowly reversed its flow. She turned to look with a slack interest even as her gauntleted fist pulsed once. Her reflexes were not one of a peacekeeper instead the kind that sprang from restrained blades of a warrior engaged to total war. Her tensed muscles embossed through the thick metal gauntlet smoothed as she relaxed.

Smiling and brushing her red hair behind her horns she had a smooth mid-range voice, "Hello, humankind! I do! I have heard this adventurer guild pays for work against umbralkind and tainted. A few individuals got service for free until I found out. I am looking for training in the arcane but the college needs currency my people do not use."

Away from the door she looked behind her reflexively instincts initially unwilling to turn her back to the open. A sharp red draconic tail appeared from under her armor with scales that matched the ones on her face. It pushed upward through the back of the armor as if weaving around it. It moved side to side in a slow sweep the end pointed upward.

Although the way she spoke was a bit strange, Oza managed to understand what she seemed to be saying. His form was currently a boy whose height was not even up to her neck, but he had a reliable atmosphere about him and he started walking backards while gesturing her to follow.

"Yes, yes. The Adventurer's Guild is an organization of this planet, Origin. It's members hunt down all sorts of monsters an abnormalities that are a threat to people in the more developed lands, and also go out into the more wild and dangerous areas to thin their heard. Additionally, the materials harvested from monsters are a major export and the good stuff sells well. The more dangerous the monster, that usually means the materials are better, so they sell more. And college...do you mean Astrius Academy? I see I see. Well, you can certainly make money here. You can also take things called Quests here for additional bonuses, and by joining the GUild you can get access to special privlidges and resources as you increase your rank, by defeating powerful monsters and completing quests. Some of these can range between stuff like undead, ".

As he explained all that, the boy who appeared fully human led her right to the counter. In truth, he was an AI that was able to materialize in the real world, and had no set age or form, but he had decided to use a specific form and itneracted with people normally because his programming was more...organic...and he also had emotions, real emotions, and not just simulated emotions.

"Its a rather simple and easy process. That said, you called me humankind...does that mean you are not human?"

Red hair bobbed as she nodded but held eye contact, listening attentively while following, eager to hear how the world worked outside the confines of bulwark. Her eye was less discerning than the Jinhai and couldn't tell that the boy wasn't true humankind. He looked about right for a human anyhow. They had different organizations of individuals but some larger groups among their kind. At home Myrkul minded the whole and he included her by unexpected birth then into training without so much as a comment let alone having to apply for it. They were all separate here taking jobs as they came in not by any organization at a whole.

While passing a window she glanced at the sky. It was odd that everything was so flat. The sky was basically unused and there was a whole lot of earth underneath, this gyre had to be huge floating in the empty phlogiston just like in the history books!

Each wrist grabbed in turn she pulled back her armor that unwove metal and dusty black threading at the fingers. The gauntlet's thick metal on her one arm sloughed backward in thick strands without audible complaint.

Her porcelain red-nailed hands now gesticulated, "Well, I'm from the Black Storm. It's a place Celestialkind sealed in the forebears of our overbeing Myrkul's Vein. We only just got out. Mother said there was some archmagus they call the Fallen Emperor inside that made her and my aunts, Mada, as astral constructs. It's a long story in between. Anyway, after mother matured she found a human that Myrkul thought was worthy to try to make a new Mada. Then father tried to leave when I was born after mother found out he wasn't human."

She rubs her horns then shrugs, "She said he wanted to steal a dragonkind Mada. He didn't survive mother so I never met him. So I'm half Mada and half red dragonkind but I'm not compatible with the wellspring. That means I'm attuned to the arcane not psionics. Myrkul's Vein tasked me with destroying Umbralkind and Tainted that kept self-summoning so the Undead should be good for me."

The description came fluid and without hesitation in light of Oza's otherness. She mostly noted things like asking later about at least enough training to re-engram her sword. The matter of factness contrasted in her demeanor that her emotions came more muted than Oza's own. Her face mostly showed the bright eyes of curiosity as she blithely described her mother slaughtering her father. Though she hadn't said so the ancient red dragon's seared black skull was mounted to a wall in the dining room back home.

A pantomime of rubbing two fingers together over a coin her eyebrows raised, "You know, I read in old books how a market's supposed to work. I have a lot of questions still! Do I get a bed to use if I'm approved? I'm almost out of food and I still need somewhere safe to sleep eventually."

As Oza moved about and showered her around while listening to her questions and responses, he couldn't help but notice parts of her story had some level of indications to it, and tried to take it into play. He listened and learned, while he reflected upon the information he had learned and gathered.

"Black Storm huh? And dividing a Celestial Realm, or cutting it off, wouldn't be easy. Well, perhaps if you had the Demon King Power of Degregation, you could erode the connections for a short time, or if you were some powerful god or being then maybe...ahh, you sound kinda new to this planet so let me tell you. A Demon King is a being born with a special mutation or something in them that gives them access to terrifying power. Supposedly they are immortal because while time can erode everything else, a Demon King is even more erosive if that makes any sense, and therefore is unaffected by time. Anyways, supposedly a new one awoke or revived recently, but since nothing has really happened yet such as large scale disasters, its possible the one who awakened the power might be a nice person".

As he followed with that line of though, he realized something and lightly tapped his head with his knuckle.

"Oops, sorry. Got a bit off topic. Anyways, as for Undead there are certainly a large number on Origin technically. This is for a variety of reasons. Origin has a strong connection to the Void, and also rests on a junction of power Arcane Leylines that run throughout the universe. As a result, sometimes mana can build up in a corpse and cause it to rise from the grave, othertimes energy from the void can lead through and cause corpses to rise. A lot of them are weak smallfry, but there are dangerous ones. Liches, regardless of rank, can be especially dangerous as they can use magic and often have intelligence beyond normal undead, and sometimes people....ahh, oops. I am getting carried away with a single topic. Oh, do you want to register now, or would you like to see the other facilities? The training room here is great!"

As he said that, he looked over to a large pair of doors by the side. Though when she mentioned some other things, Oza stopped himself before he ran off ahead.

"What questions exactly? As for beds, didn't you say you were going to the Academy? Every admitted student there gets a Dorm Room for free, though if you damage it or blow it up or send it to a parallel universe or other things you gotta pay for the maintence and repairs. I should know, I am also a student there....ah, but I never sent anyone to an alternate dimension or anything! Anyways, there should also be places to get food at the academy as well...but if you are looking to shop, not only are there student run stores by the best of the best craftsmen at the Academy, Millenium Plaza in this city also has fantastic shopping opportunities!"

Chormynth raised an eyebrow, "Well if this Demon king hasn't started anything major to threaten humankind there's no reason to go bother a strong Abyssalkind. So, doesn't the university have to be paid to give training? We don't use any money so I don't have any. What do your tasks pay in? I guess could ask for a cognizance crystal vault or something to get manifestation resources to trade. Myrkul's Vein is really occupied preparing to repel Aetherkind again. They contained us because they failed to wipe us out so they might come back. We have the same problem as origin in the Black storm because of all the voidfluid. Umbralkind just manifest out of dark corners and wanderers getting in but can't get out end up as undead."

She clacks her teeth, "We ate the heavenly host and few Abyssalkind they sent. Since then a few solar and other heavenly sorts that got too close. The lesser Overbeings aren't really the ask questions first kind of creatures. Maybe they did use an Abyssalkind to bottle the storm but there's nothing beyond the wall outside the egress as far as we've flown. In the end Celestialkind did manage to end the fallen emperor I guess but we have a new one now."

As she went and Oza answers her questions Chormynth makes periodic notes to her metal ingress without looking at the page. With a pale finger she traces a line along the surface where she mentally dictates notes and images for it to record. The back of the ingress is an ornate metallic design of interlocking vines. Though reverse contents of vellum-looking sheaves often differed wildly as she flipped 'pages' physically in various cardinal directions.

The muscular woman shrugs and scatters black dust once more from the hem line of her armor, "You know, Origin is really in the fringe so it would take a while to get anything here. Just to get here I had to get psychoported in. Unless you have a gate to Genesis?"

She nods then looks at the gauntlet on one arm, "So I guess I will register now I'll need the resources. If I went to university I don't want to let my affinity for pyroclast to fade because I'm not using it. At least until I can build an engram for it on my own."

"Makes sense, I suppose. No need to fix something that is not broken. Probably why they are investigating, and not calling a crusade though. They probably want to be cautious just in case, but I think they probably would like it and prefer it if it ended peacefully and without issue".

And Oza said that, he looked around and noticed the others taking note of them. A few did not seem all too thrilled, but they were a minority.

"Don't mind them, they are a minority. Also drunk. Anyways, there are people who tend to be mindful of the competition in various ways. Now, there are more then just undead here, just to keep in mind, and also there are monsters out there with strange abilities and such. For instance, there are some monsters that are able to use your own strength and attack power against you. There are also certain monsters that are strong against certain types of attacks, and other monsters capable of using Tactical Based Magic...magic that is used tactically rather then through raw power, which are capable of taking out people far stronger then them".

As Oza explained all that, he led her to a desk to register. There was a receptionist right there, papers ready and wtiting utencils set, as well as a crystal orb on the side.

"Ah, the name of the currency on Origin is Rozans by the way. It is primarily a coin system, but adapted dollar versions as well over time, and then also digitalized currency. A small copper Rozan coin is a one denomination. A large copper is ten, a small silver is one hundred, a large silver is one thousand, a small gold is ten shousand, a large gold is one hundred thousand, a small platinum is one million, and a large platinum is ten million. Oh, there is also the rare mithril coins which are one hundred million, but honestly, mithril and platinum are mainly used by companies and nations. Ah, but there are clear exchange rates. Also, Origin might seem on the fringe, but its kind of a unique situation. Its exceedingly easy for individuals to get to via shuttlecraft, portal networks, leylines and such, but larger groups like armies would have some weird issues. It is believed that this is due to one of the notable figures of Origin, the being of the Void, Ruuka....ah, he is the one that sometimes makes Origin's third moon disappear and reappear".

As he said all that, the reception would begin to help Chormynth register with the guild, though he eyed Oza again.

"You need to stop your habit of overexplaining things".

"I can't help it! Details are important!"

Chormynth tapped her chin then shrugged at the worker behind a desk, "It's okay Jinhai talks a lot to the Mada otherwise we go stir crazy. I want to know about these tactical creatures when I'm still not very versatile. I need to learn everything how else am I going to get details?"

She looked at Oza and sighed rubbing her eyes, "Though I guess I'm going to have to buy clothes or a pack or something then. My armor doesn't have pockets to keep metal coins in. If this Ruuka is moving stuff around it explains why I'm getting tired just trying to call home. I think I'm actually going to have to sleep."

The focus returned and pointed at the receptionist again, "What information do you need from me to sign up?"

"Oh okay good. Its just, Oza tends to get a bit energetic".

"Hey. I am perfectly normal".

At those words, the reception just gave him a cold stare.

"Yeah, okay. You're right, I was stretching it with that one".

"Just...make sure you dont go telling stories about how you slew a few ogers again. We dont want the young new adventurers to think that people of your size can normally do that".

"Yes yes...and I mean, to be fair, when I started they were too busy picking on a poor, defenseless civilian to notice me".

After that conversation, Oza then turned back to Chormynth.

"Ah, yeah there are some species that are affected by it. Its really bad for werewolves if it appears unexpectedly as a full moon. As for the registration, more information allows them to help you better, but generally what people put down is Name, Age, Place of Origin, what they are good at and not good at, and a few personalality traits or notes. The reason for that last one is that if an emergency quest comes up, if they are pairing people into teams, they like to avoid asking people who wont get along to be in the same team. And I dont mean like, rivalry or what not fighting. I mean more like 'They will try to kill each other and mess up the quest' fighting".

As he said that, the receptionist handed her the paper and glared at Oza again, though the tone of her voice suggested she really wasnt too upset or annoyed but joking around a bit too.

"Oza, are you trying to take my job?"

"Nah, I dont wanna sit behind a desk all day. There is too much fun to explore! I heard, recently, they uncovered a cave full of gemstones that sing or something, they mentioned resonance and all that. Oh, right! Nearly forgot to mention this Chormynth..." Oza replied, before then addressing Chormynth again...and, pronouncing her name the exact same way she did without even minor hicups. "...but there are also places you can buy and sell equipment in this building even. There are stores elsewhere in the city, like on Millenium Plaza, but they also exist all over as well as in here. There is actually a bar somewhere around here even, but I don't go. Not that I cant drink, but it does nothing for me and I cant enjoy it the way people usually can. For the record, since you are new here, the official Origin Drinking Age is...well, it changes on the region you are in, but it is usually around 13-15, which was the age one was considered an adult for thousands of years now in their culture. However, people under the age limit are allowed to drink provided they take a test that scans their genetic and physical abilities, and determines they are capable of handling alcohol....I am getting off topic again, aren't I? Or, did I already manage to answer all your questions?"

Chormynth looked at the page pressing her finger to it as if expecting something to happen. When nothing impresses from the page she picked up the writing instrument. Used to psionic interfaces she balked upon realizing paper wasn't connective in nature.

"Uh, I don't know how to write... ah... with my hands? I'll have to use my Ingress," Said the warrior peeling off a thin plate from her hip stuck to it like glued metal.

Hardened with a flick the ingress popped out vellum pages from brushed metal with a twang. Black and steel ivy backing placed on top of the page where the vellum above it faded in the writing. Only the text was now in Loross a tongue of archmages long dead and gone. Finger pressed to the pages the ingress transcribed underneath it. Words below it in the tongue near it though Chormynth herself added concepts in Loross.

Words form in the blanks under her gauntleted fingers at speaking, "Well we are all children of Myrkul. So my name is Chormynth Myrkul of Nuria Myrkul. We are from the Black Storm contained by the Bulwark created by the solar Ophaniel. I use pyroclast to specialize in umbralkind and risen tainted. Undead, you call it? I'm not very versatile yet but I don't usually need to sleep as long as I'm not overexerted or injured. I'm good at keeping watch."

Faint scales on her face face pucker as her eyes lit and tail twitched while she made a note, "Dislikes? I had a few male humankind try to touch me while I slept outside. I set them on fire and watched their spirits burn. I am only touched that way by the leave of Myrkul. I'll work with aetherkind but I don't have to like them. Celestialkind, Demonkind, Outerkind, those kind of offenders."

Heavy metal on her left arm flexes as her attention engages it. Floating to the surface thick plates and heavy cord of ferroplasm sinew. They arrange in a leap from her arm until a completed weapon launching straight at the floor. At full assembly it stops a hair's breadth from the floor. Delicate ferroplasm weave of the matching brigandine gauntlet now shown under missing weapon. She let go to which the weapon unfurled its guard swirling in place on its point. The weapon's thin fronds looked much like a flower in this position the haft an off-silver center. Only the redness and sharp tendrils stared in turn at Oza as it rotated upright in place. Inside the artifact weapon an animalistic sense of the world. One whom had senses instinct said that Oza wasn't humankind. While not direct hostility the pointed deviance expressed its displeased attention. Interlocking plates expressed the blade's mild animosity in more audible form. Thrumming red light pulses through them from inside with harsh sawtooth tones. Any detailed sense of the active arcane weapon gave the impression of potential. That her mother had loaded a pebble into artillery so her child could propel it.

She gestured at it while summarizing the text, "Aunt Sybil made pyroclast to be upgradable. Like Mother's. I'm attuned to the arcane and they can't teach me how to make engrams for it. I guess I could go to the market to see if the market has someone that can make engrams for my weapon. Our overbeing had enough trouble making the current one and I still can't regulate it. Not much more than keeping it from putting spellplague in things that aren't undead."

Hair behind her horns using a free hand it bobs with the eye toward the wooden structure, "The power to design them is way over my head for now. The unliving suffering from combustive spellplague suffer turning animus into ether. It's heatless but I won't burn your matchstick houses or anything."

She looked at Oza with a smile, "Well that should cover it, Oza. You're pretty good at pronouncing my name you know! It's Loross. You know I tried some wine we scavenged from a trapped planar traveler once. The books I read had humankind enjoying the drink. None of the Mada could get drunk and I guess I only wobbled a bit for an hour after two bottles. We thought wine has an interesting taste though. I'm old enough for drinking by that marker now anyway. I'm not sure how long a year is though."

Offering a hand to shake she said then turned to the receptionist, "You've been a great help for your answers, Oza. Thank you! Is there something else you need to know?"

Amazingly, and quite worthy of praise, the receptionist did not flinch at all in reaction to anything that Chormynth did or said, and just made sure the form was filled at accurately and properly. She was a well trained and experienced receptionist who had seen people explode with other people emerging from them, Undead Cyborgs attempt to invade for one reason or another, and watched dragons get drunk at the nearby bar, and even stood up to those dragons when they got too drunk and caused a ruckus, and succeeded in throwing them out.

There was a long standing rumor that one should not mess with the receptionists of the Adventurers Guild, because they had the qualifications to deal with adventurers. Her ability to persuade people was one that should not be underestimated.

In fact, she even made a comment.

"Hmm, that sounds fine, but you shouldn't burn them alive if it was a genuine accident, or if it was harmless or maybe even an attempt to help. You know, like pulling you out of the attack of something dangerous they thought you might not be able to survive, or maybe jsut because they didn't want you to get hurt unnecessarily. Just to clarify".

Meanwhile, Oza just nodded and then looked around.

"Yeah! A few things, but first off, have you met any Digikind yet, Digital Beings? And also, do you need someone to also show you around to other places so you don't get lost? Oh, oh! THe way you wrote just now? Can you use it for computers as well? Holographic interfaces? Can you use it to write on people?"

Oza ended up getting a bit energetic and curious.

Chormynth sighed and nodded at the receptionist, "Yeah, I know. I won't just set people on fire in battle for moving or protecting me if need be. I was sleeping in the forest and they started fondling me without permission. That's not going to happen. Unfortunately for them I was stronger than they are."

The molten eyes look outside and wince at the brightness, "I don't know how you sleep well when it's so bright half the time."

Then she eyed her book then Oza, "Well I don't think I've met digikind. We don't have a qualifier for that at least the last time I checked the ingress. I'm too tired to check with Myrkul right now. I know computers are supposed to be digital. I guess they'd be a subtype of essencekind from some element or another?"

A lift of her tablet off of the application reveals an elegant script of all responses in common. The black was particularly flat and regular the paper transmuted into an abnormally back microstructure. Some of the creases had even ceased to exist.

She pats her armor twirling a small curling pattern with a finger as motes follow the air patterns, "My tablet can transmute physical things but since I'm not a true Mada all my motes act for themselves. Writing on people would work I guess but they would have to drop innate resistance. I don't know what holographic interfaces are but it doesn't sound like it. I'd have to be a Mada for it to work on the digital machine things."

She makes a small bow and the sword dips in toward her, "I'd appreciate a tour to other places though, Oza, thank you! I can map by connecting to Myrkul but it's very tiring. I'll have to get some normal maps. I'll at least have to record here so I can always make my way back."

Though the light hurts her eyes a bit she looks out the window for a moment toward the horizon. With a touch to the small red ferroplasm rose on her choker she reaches out toward the overbeing so she can at least record the guild hall. As it glows she can see the titan worm look her way from over the horizon a creature curling around the mountain of Genesis a mountainous being itself hovering in the endless sky above. Small fireflies in the dozens from scrying points infest the area for a short moment while Myrkul takes in the receptionist desk and adds to the Almanac. The black lines on Chormynth's neck get just a little longer with trembling fingers breaking her connection. Fading dark circles left her looking a little peaked and pale and she took a deep breath to gather herself.

"Oh no, if they were fondling you while you were sleeping, by all means incinerate them until there is nothing left but ash" the receptionist reply without any break in her personality, demeanour, or anything. However, it was that lack of reaction that even scared Oza a little. Well, Oza knew he was not in danger, but that did not stop him from understanding that right now it might be dangerous for him to talk until a conversation change, being a boy (technically) himself.

Well, he was a Materialized AI who lacked any ability to reproduce with organics or those impulses, but he did have emotions like joy, fear, and embarrassment. Though, given he could change his appearance whenever he wanted, that last one was usually tough.

As Oza was about to talk though, the receptionist beat him to it.

"Eh? So you don't know then?"

"Hey, dont steal my moment".

Oza pouted towards the receptionist a bit, before turning and facing Chormynth again.

"Actually, I am a Digikind. I am a materialized AI, which means an Artificial Intelligence created in a computer that gained the ability to materialize in the real world. And I can do all sorts of stuff, like this!"

Suddenly, as he waved his arm quickly, suddenly it seemed to "digitize" and then reformed as a sword. He swung it around a few times to show her, and then returned it back to normal.

"There are Digikind who cant materialize, and Digikind like me who can. The most basic and well known examples would be the creatures known as Digimon, but its not exclusive to that. And also..."

He put out his arms and pressed his thumbs and index fingers together, before spreading them out by moving in opposite directions and seperated them. However, a holographic screen appeared in front of Oza, and one of the things he brought up was a map of Hayslem City.

"And this is a holographic interface, though there are various variations and such so some will appear and operate differently then others. Anyways, any preference on types of areas you might want to see first? Like where people tend to casually gather to meet or hang out or relax, or any famous spots, or good food places, or the like?"

Chormynth nods at the receptionist then looks askance for a moment as Oza complains before the molten eyes meet Oza's. One eyebrow raised she leans back and forth once to inspect him closely then stood up. Her tail idled instead of swishing about idly while taking in Oza's description of his kind. Uncle Jinhai could make snap decisions about people since he could see more about them Oza just looked like a regular person to her. Though her mote's implicit aetheric senses considered him to have a spiritual essence but it was a little too uniform wasn't it. Perhaps they couldn't make sense of what he was but she couldn't make a concordance to assess the problem.

Hers was a short sigh but not a forced one and shrugs, "I haven't used a computer yet though uncle Jinhai keeps reading manuals for them. He seems fascinated by warranty cards. I guess we'd call you an Essencekind like elemental creatures? Uncle Jinhai is kind of like you."

A pointed tail curls around her front and she squeezes it then shrugs, "He's all motes and psionic potentials and the Mada are half and half. I just have a blood full of very confused ichor channeling dragonfire."

She eyes the sword and the map pointing her tablet at it, "The digitizing is very flexible! Aunt Sybil would know more than me about them. I just use my sword."

Tablet turned toward Oza it showed a grayscale relief map of the city sticking up from the page. It pulsed with small tides of motes moving to and fro through the streets hesitating a moment too long turning down each street as if lost. Slightly smaller in scale it actually showed Chormynth's path from forest, to university, then to town pulled out of her memory.

A rumble from her stomach voiced her body's concerns, "Ah, I think I'd like some food first then to see somewhere to relax. I've been up too long."

"Hmmm....I suppose thats true, though in a way, a lot of organic life could be considered an elemental essence and such. But yeah, if you know a few tricks it is amazing what you can do".

As Oza said that, he looked around the map and highlighted certain places, as well as then looking over at the Guild cafeteria.

"So where do you want to go to eat? There is a place here at the Guild with some good, quick stuff. There is also a few places at the Millenium Plaza, and also a few places downtown as well as uptown. Well, there are a lot of places really. It would take forever to list them all, partially because some have a habit of phasing into and out of reality. Anyways, what food do you like? Have you ever tried pizza? Pizza is some of my favorite. I mean, technically AIs dont need to eat food, but I can, and I can taste it, so....I am rambling again, aren't I?"

As Oza delved into his habit of rambling, he managed to stop himself before he went on even longer and looked at the map.

"It shouldn't be too much of an issue of finding a place you like though, given all the options".

Merian walked into the Adventurer's guild and just called out to anybody who cared, "Soooo where do I look at jobs? I hope something fun is here..."

Merian wore a standard Santa hat, a shoulderless and strapless Santa outfit with a thin strap red bra underneath. She had on a light pink pair of panties. Why is that relevant? Well her "skirt" ain't that long. She also has candycane thighhighs on.

"Looking for jobs, eh?" a voice called over to her. The voice was behind the bar counter, but for all appearances looked like a young boy. "Well, it just so happens there is one right here, if you are interested. If you check out the board, you will see it too. Nothing too severe, but as the new bartender here, I have invented some new drinks, and could use some opinions from various adventurers about their taste and such".

As he said that, he took out several glasses and looked back at the amazingly well kept stock of alcohol present.

"So what do ya say? My name is Oza by the way, pleasure to meet you".

"Well drinking sounds right up my alley, I'll take that. Name's Merian!"

She happily walked on over to the kid at the bar and looked him up and down, "Kind of young to be working in a bar, eh? You look like you're underage. Ah well. If ya got good drinks, I'll drink 'em. So what do ya got cooked up today, chef Oza?"

She then eyes the different glasses of alcohol with eagerness in her eyes to try something new and not boring.

"Underage? But this is my twelve year old form. Oh, I see...you dont know...the drinking age on Origin is 11, unless you are deemed physically capable of drinking younger through some test or whatever" he replied, and heard the request of hers. "Oh good, I needed someone to test these actually. See, I am actually a manifested AI, so I cant guarentee my tastebuds are the same of a normal person. So, how about....ah! A Firecracker!"

After thinking of what to make, he took out one of the latest imports, Alto Wine, along with Wyvern Whiskey, and began to pour the two into a glass, mixing them with extreme care. He then added some Arcane Ale to balance it out, and then stirred it up before giving it to the customer.

"Alright, this is the FIrecracker. It has quite the kick, but it might suit your adventerous tastes Merian".

"Underage? But this is my twelve year old form. Oh, I see...you dont know...the drinking age on Origin is 11, unless you are deemed physically capable of drinking younger through some test or whatever" he replied, and heard the request of hers. "Oh good, I needed someone to test these actually. See, I am actually a manifested AI, so I cant guarentee my tastebuds are the same of a normal person. So, how about....ah! A Firecracker!"

After thinking of what to make, he took out one of the latest imports, Alto Wine, along with Wyvern Whiskey, and began to pour the two into a glass, mixing them with extreme care. He then added some Arcane Ale to balance it out, and then stirred it up before giving it to the customer.

"Alright, this is the FIrecracker. It has quite the kick, but it might suit your adventerous tastes Merian".