Bale Forest (Levels 1-8)

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The shouts and cries of the now-damned amongst Daertalmos Online's unfortunate playerbase faded into the distance as the soldier in blue exited the city's west gate. The by-now-familiar clinking of her plated faulds as she marched briskly into the wild was the only sound that now met her ears. It was strange, seeing the road so empty when just half an hour previously you couldn't have taken a step without tripping over some new player emerging from the shadows. It suited Aoife just fine, though. Even if there had been somebody to talk to, she wouldn't have known what to say to comfort them. Besides, she herself was worried enough as it was. The last thing she needed was somebody reminding her of all she now stood to lose. Leaving the city while everyone else was still getting their bearings was thus in her best interests.

That aside, there were also more practical reasons for her departure. For one thing, it probably wouldn't take long for tensions to rise in the city. Players, afraid of monsters, would band into guilds. Taking strength in numbers as their maxim, they would make quick grabs for power and authority. There was no telling how far and how fast things would escalate, but regardless, on her own, it would quickly become difficult to secure lodgings in an inn, monsters to kill to level up, items to use to protect herself, or maybe even food to eat. The only way to get those things would be to get them first, which meant time was of the essence. Therefore, she couldn't afford to tarry, even for a second. Her first priority would be to find some monsters to kill so as to get a feel for combat. After that, though, she'd need to find quests so that she could rapidly level up and-

"Excuse me!" Called out a voice from a short distance behind her. Turning around, she saw a man dressed in full platemail approaching her. For a moment, she thought it was another player, but upon closer inspection, realized that the individual speaking to her didn't have a nameplate displayed over his head. An NPC? He appeared to be some unnamed city guard. He must have been keeping watch over the gate. Was he programmed to seek out players leaving Faclarebal? Aoife stopped, allowing the man to catch up to her. "Sorry to trouble you, traveler. It's just that the road has been dangerous of late. My captain has instructed me to give anyone who attempts to enter the forest fair warning." Aoife opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated for a moment. It was an odd bit of sentimentality, but she couldn't help but wonder... How would Aoife, the noble paladin of her creation, upon whom she'd based her new image, respond to being addressed in such a manner? After all, if she was now bound to this world, she was little different from one of its inhabitants. It couldn't hurt to act like one.

"Do not be concerned. You are not troubling me in the least," She said politely, shaking her head. "Although, I assure you, I am aware of the forest and its dangers. They will not pose a threat to me," She added, lowering her spear from her shoulder and planting its haft firmly in the dirt for emphasis. The guardsman gave a nod, seeming relieved by her response. Yet, he also seemed somehow nervous, as though he had something more to say. Aoife cocked her head slightly to the side, prompting him to continue.

"Indeed, you certainly seem like you can handle yourself," He said, giving a slight, uneasy laugh. "But other wanderers like yourself may not be so well-equipped. There have been quite a few monsters sighted in the woods as of late. We've mounted operations to drive them back, but as of yet, have had little success... That being said, if you're going into the forest anyway, maybe you could help us?" Aoife gave a single, firm nod, accepting what was clearly a quest without a second thought.

"If it makes both your job and the road safer, I will do whatever I can. What is it that you require?" She said eloquently, falling into her newfound role with gusto.

"Well... recently, our supply caravans have been plagued by slimes. It's been a nightmare trying to get through to our outpost in the woods. If you could kill a few on your way to the forest and recover any items they've stolen, then report in to Captain Aken there, I'm sure he could arrange to requisition you some equipment as compensation."

"I understand," She said, placing a fist over her heart in a sort of salute. "Rest assured that your slime problem will be dealt with."

"Whew. That's a load off my shoulders. Thank you. You're a real lifesaver, miss. I wish you the best of luck."

"Don't mention it," Aoife replied, glancing back over her shoulder as she turned to go. "I'm more than happy to do whatever I can." With that, she once again shouldered her glaive, and continued walking down the road, giving a slight wave to the NPC as she went. Opening her character window again, she examined the quest that had now appeared there. It seemed she had to kill a total of 10 slimes, and recover 5 boxes of lost supplies. That didn't sound like it would be too difficult. Checking her map, she surveyed the area. The forest was right up ahead, so she supposed she'd probably be encountering her first monsters soon. But, before any such creatures could appear, she was accosted by an enemy of a different sort.

Once again, somebody called out to her from behind. This time, though, the speaker's words made it more than obvious that he was another player. "Hey! You!" Shouted a young man, prompting Aoife to once again turn about to see who was calling to her. This time, it was a fairly tall young man with golden-blonde hair sticking out from beneath a pointed green cap. Equally pointed were his ears, which, coupled with his fair hair and complexion and bright blue eyes, suggested an Elven heritage. His face didn't really match up with the usual appearance one would expect from an Elf, though, no matter how much his forest-green clothing screamed "Keebler." His facial features seemed a little too rounded and well formed, given how sharply defined most Elves' countenances were. Regardless, given the nameplate over his head, displaying the username "Licht," he was clearly another player.

Like she needed any more evidence of that after the next thing that came out of his mouth.

"Does the phrase 'Not Enough Cat-ears/10' ring any bells?" He asked, giving a cheeky grin. Aoife raised an eyebrow. Saying the odd phrase was familiar to her would be an understatement, as she still remembered all too well that particularly unfounded and baseless criticism of her armor design. She had addressed that particular "argument" - if it could be called one - already, and saw no point in discussing it further.

"Cat ear accessories are aesthetically inappropriate to my armor's design," She said dismissively, giving a slight, supercilious wave in the man's general direction. "Even were that not the case, such things would be utterly superfluous when you could just have cat ears to begin-" Just then, Aoife did a double-take, stopping mid-sentence to give a confused stare at her unwanted conversational partner. Why would anybody accost her about her armor's lack of cat ears, of all things, right after the announcement that the game they were stuck in could and would kill them? Didn't this person have better things to do? Come to think of it, why had that topic ever even come up in context, let alone here and now?

"...Hey, wait a minute, who even..." She began, but once again trailed off, too confused to think straight. Would an ordinary player really even remember that specific comment that just one online reviewer turned honorary contest judge had made about her gear? No, that matter aside, who would even think that it was even a legitimate criticism? "How did you...?!" She asked, her disbelief mounting as all evidence pointed to one conceivable answer.

"You!" She exclaimed bluntly, her eyes widening in surprise as she raised an accusatory finger at the unexpected individual standing before her. "You... you... you're that incredibly rude cat-ear-person...! How is it that you are in a place like this?! And... and how did you find me? Were you following me?" Now that she thought about it, those weren't even the strangest things about this situation. No, that honor would have to go to her last and most pressing question.

"And why are you so insistent upon my wearing cat ears? Are you ill? Surely, you are not a well person!"

Level: 1EXP: 0/42

Thoughts Color #F660AB Dialogue Color #B93B8F

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The city seemed somewhat deserted with more than half of its population gone. NPCs were the only ones left with a smile, but even their smiles seemed dulled and forced. Some players were so traumatized by the news, they tried to commit suicide. Of coarse, they simply respawned because it was not an attack from Vyrlo or his minions. Other players were in denial and suppressed the panic they felt. Then, there was the players who rejoiced at the news.

Kissa strolled down the street with a smirk on her face as she headed towards the Bale Forest. Her neko ears were perked up and she nearly skipped with each step. Indeed, the news of being trapped in the game was shocking, however it was far from devastating. In fact, Kissa was rather happy about the news. Life before had been pointless and mundane. However, now she had a reason to live; an objective in her life other than earning enough money to pay the bills. Any fear she should have felt was overshadowed by the ecstatic thoughts of her first mission. She wondered what monsters she might face, and how many it would take to level up. It wasn’t long before she was in the outer ring and nearly to the entrance to the Bale Forest.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice, from a player she hadn’t heard approaching. Instincts took over. Swiftly, she turned on her heel and brought her fists up, ready for an attack. She knew the town was a safe zone, but maybe when you are close to an exist another player could still attack. For all she knew, the invasion on the system could have deleted the safe zone rules, leaving no one in the world safe. With all the chaos that had just transpired, she was on her toes and ready for anything.

“Hey… uh… do you want to team up?”

It took a moment for her brain to process the question. Golden eyes stared incredulously at the player for a moment more before she let her guard down. According to the player-card he was the same level she was, however she couldn’t shake the feeling of intimidation. He stood nearly 8 feet tall, while she was only 5 and a half feet tall. The design of the Duneil was odd enough to cause apprehension in most. Gazing up at his face, she examined his features. Despite being tall, eagle taloned, and multi toned, he didn’t appear like a villain. In fact, Kissa could smell the scent of earth and flowers on him, as if it was built into his character design. Though, Duneil were creatures created by Vyrlo. Could he, or any of them, be trusted? There was no immediate answer to any of her questions and only time would tell. With that thought, she begrudgingly decided to answer his question.

“Sure.” It was simple, to the point. Once in the field, she would try to engage in conversation. Maybe the Duneil would slip up and reveal his true intentions. Shrugging her shoulders, Kissa turned and pointed to an NPC knight, just outside the city. “He gives quests.” The words were monotone as she spoke them, and she tried to conceal any indication she was still on guard. Without looking to see if he was following, she headed over to the knight. Compared to a regular knight, this one seemed so low in rank, we was nothing more then an errand boy.

“Oh good! I have been looking for someone to help me! I can’t leave my post but the damn slimes have ransacked the area and now our supplies are everywhere! Is there any chance you can help me? I see you have a friend, so maybe between the two of you you could kill 10 slimes and collect 5 Supply boxes?”

There was a small window that allowed for the player to select ’yes’ or ’no’. After tapping ’yes’, making the box disappear. “You catch all that?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder to gaze at him once again. His posture hadn’t really changed and didn’t indicate anything malicious. With no signs of being threatened, she started to wonder if she was just being hateful. Was it the sheer appearance he had to bring about this worry? No, even if he were a human or any other race, she knew she would not be able to trust them in times like these. Nevertheless, his large cyan eyes,slits for a nose, and horns did not make things easier. More than his appearance was the history of the Duneil. If the gods could go as far as to trap players, could they alter personalities of certain players who chose Duneil as their race?

When the Caithe Duine paused for a moment after Munio’s question his tail twitched nervously. Did he pick a bad person to ask? Or was it weird to randomly ask a stranger to work together? It wasn’t in other games, but were VR games different? Then the Duine responded positively and Munio couldn’t help the relieved grin that twitched onto his face. He followed his new companion to the quest-giving knight and listened as he explained the quest. When the Duine - the sign over her head declared her as Kissa, so he should start thinking of her as such - turned to him he pushed the Yes button as well. Step one of finding his way around this new world, complete. But what now? He didn’t even know what class Kissa was. Would she want him to support her or was she another mage? Well, all he could do was ask. “My class is a mage,” he said. “If we make a party I can heal you. I do have an attack spell too, so I can fight as well. What do you want to do?”

Kissa stood with a rather blank expression on her face.This could be a trap. She thought to herself, scanning his facial features once again. However, he didn’t seem to hold any malcontent or devious plans. If he was planning something, he was damn good at hiding it. She sighed and nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’m a Knuckler by the way.” She smirked while bringing up her fist, clad in leather gloves with small bronze spikes on them. They were far from intimidating, it was her only weapon, as of right now. “Alright, so I guess you will be my support?” She asked, turning back towards the entrance and entering the forest. The slimes clustered together only a few feet away from the stone path of the city. Taking a deep breath, she flexed her fingers. I can’t get hit. I wont show weakness in front of this guy! Don’t get hit! It suddenly crossed her mind that she didn’t know his name. Of coarse, she could just click his player-card again and look, but that wasn’t much fun. “I’m Kissa of the Fel Forest.” She stated, though it could have sounded like boasting to some. Her player-card wouldn’t show the title, since it was self proclaimed, but to her, it was a part of her. A part of who her character.

When Kissa paused again, staring at him intently, anxiety crowded back into his mind. He had to be doing something wrong. Then she agreed and told him her class, relieving the tension that was building up. Munio nodded and followed her into the forest. Slimes oozed all over debris and trees. They didn’t look too threatening, but he had to remember he was the same level they were. He opened up his menu and equipped his staff. How embarrassing it would be to go into his first fight without his weapon equipped! “Nice to meet you, Kissa,” he responded to the Duine’s introduction. “I’m Munio.” He hadn’t thought about giving himself a fancy title. Hopefully that wouldn’t make him weird. “Thanks for grouping with me,” he blurted. He remembered to send her a party invite after he said that, of course. He sent the invite, ears flat to his skull with embarrassment. “Ready?”

She bowed her head slightly to him. He seemed harmless enough and Munio didn’t really sound like the name of someone evil. Then again, most villains didn’t have evil names in games like these. They had pretty common names or names that meant something good. She pushed the thoughts to the side when the little message box came up, asking if she wished to join Munio’s party. After tapping the yes option, she gazed at him, just as he spoke again. Grouping? Who even says that? Oh gods, is he a newbie to gaming? Despite these thoughts, she held a small smile on her face and prepared for battle. Encountering another player had made her forget how exciting her first mission was going to be. “Yeah, I’ll go in first” she offered. Clicking around on the various slimes, she found a level 2 slime. Three hits should do it…Maybe four. She wondered, hoping to avoid getting hit herself. “You better not blast me Mage.” She warned before drawing back her fist and hitting a slime as hard as she could.
The pink slime tumbled across the grass, taken by surprise. However, it was quick to target understand it was now in battle and target Kissa. That was the only thing it was quick at. It hopped slower than a turtle back back over to her. It was almost kind of sad how slow it it traveled. Kissa snickered at the sight, readying her second attack. That was when everything went wrong and she lost focus.
While moving her fist up to attack again, she noticed a blob of pink jello like slime stuck to her knuckles. “Oh GOD! GET IT OFF!” She screamed, flailing her hands as far from her body as she could. “That’s disgusting!” She cried, jumping back from the slime’s headbutt attack. “HEY!” She screamed at Munio, her ears folded flat like an angry cat’s. “A little help!” She yelled, dodging another attack from the slime. She knew she couldn’t dodge forever, but the thought of hitting the blob again made her skin crawl.

Munio stepped forward to follow Kissa, only to misjudge his new body, falling to the ground again. When he recovered he saw his teammate freaking out about something. Was that a piece of slime attached to her hand? Didn’t it stand to reason if you punched something gooey and sticky some of it would stick to you? Confused by the extreme reaction, Munio blinked, trying to understand. He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to analyze the odd reactions of his teammate. It was time to help her. Carefully he circled behind the slime, not wanting to trip again. Pointing his staff at the slime, he cast his Aura Pulse spell. The blast hit the slime in the center, sending a spray of pink goo everywhere. He leapt towards the slime with the intent of slamming it with his staff, but he misjudged the distance and the strength of his new body. He landed feet first in the slime, stuck and unable to get out of the sticky blob. Instead of panicking, he raked at the slime’s insides with his sharp-taloned toes. While this did considerably less damage than hitting the slime with a spell or weapon would, the system still counted it as an attack, and he managed to get the slime to release him. Now, however, the slime targeted him. It bounced towards Munio, who found his feet sticking to the ground from the slime goo that was still stuck to him. It headbutted him in the torso, causing an unexpected amount of pain for something so squishy.

The slime continued its attempts to headbutt Kissa, which she continued to dodge. The creature was slow after all. A thump caught her attention, and she moved her eyes from the slime to Munio for a split second. She couldn’t think of what made him fall, but would ask later. Instead she decided to try and attack the slime again. If he was down, she was the only defense. Summoning courage, she prepared to make contact with the slime again, hoping it would kill it, even though she knew it was very unlikely due to her level. She closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. I can do this! Leaning down, she thrusted her fist towards the slime.
A blast of slime goo sprayed her from head to toe. Though it had no paralyzing effects, the Caith Duine stood stunned. The sticky jelly like substance against her skin sent a chill down her spine, making her hair stand up. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. This somehow made things worse. Particles of the slime slid down her arms and legs, collecting in the top of her boots and gloves. Her mouth opened but all that was uttered was a tiny screech like squeak. Her neko ears went flat against her head and panic started to fill her. Rapidly, her chest rose and fell and it almost appeared she was hyperventilating. What if this stuff doesn’t come off? Where is a bath house to even get clean Her mind screamed, repulsed at the idea of having to wear the grotesque particles for long.
Panic was shifted to rage in a fraction of a second. Her eyes scanned the slime cluster for the one they had been attacking. It wasn’t until Munio was being attacked by the monster that she found it. “Hell no! He is my kill!” She screamed in furry, darting over to the damaged slime. With all her anger fueling her might, she hit the slime. New goo stuck to her gloves, but rage instigate the continuous assault. “I hate you!” With each screeching word, there was another punch thrown. The monster froze for a second before bursting into pixelated crystals and dissipating. This did not stop Kissa though. She continued to punch the ground a few times where the slime had been, though there was no trace of him now. When he disappeared, he took all particles that had been knocked off. Due to her anger, it took Kissa a moment to realize that she was no longer covered in slime. When she finally did, her actions paused. She stood up right and gazed at Munio with her brows furrowed. “What the hell was that?!” She demanded in fury. People in the second ring of town could probably hear her screams. “You blasted me with that-” Her voice cut out, another shiver of disgust assaulting her spine. “That stuff..” She cringed at the thought of it touching her again.

Over each of the players the amount of EXP gained was displayed. 51 EXP ; 32 Copper for Munio. And a whopping 38 EXP ; 19 Copper for Kissa.

Munio caught his breath and raised his staff to block the slime’s next attack. Dang sticky slime goo! Then Kissa lunged at the slime, yelling something angry-sounding. Was he doing something wrong? Kissa had yelled at him to help her. He watched as the Duine punched the slime into a bunch of crystals, then punch the ground where the slime was moments before. Munio lifted his feet experimentally and to his delight found that the slime goo adhering his feet to the ground was gone. At Kissa’s screams he clenched his teeth. He was only helping her! He was about to protest when the rewards for the fight hovered over his head. A moment later the rewards were replaced by a banner declaring he had leveled up. As the banner faded, the news sunk in, and he grinned. He was doing this right! He glanced over at Kissa and found that unlike him, she hadn’t leveled up. Great. That probably meant she would start screaming again. “I was only helping you,” he said defiantly. Then, in a softer voice, he said, "But I will try to avoid getting the goo on you next time if I can.”

For a second, Kissa thought of replying, her anger swelling but stopped. It wasn’t really his fault and it’s not like it was still on here. Closing her eyes, she sighed and crossed her arms. “Yeah, I know.” She replied bitterly. It wasn’t easy to expel the anger, even when the logical side of her brain was right. But she tried. Her ears perked up a bit and she forced a smile, though it was pretty obvious it was forced. “I-” She stampered at the apology. It wasn’t something she normally did. Matter of fact, it was an extremely rare thing for her to apologies for her anger. People around her either excepted it and knew her well enough to know she was just a hot head, or they didn’t stay around long. That was other games though. She was stuck in this one and having a friend would be nice. A mage was pretty good backup too. “I’m sorry, Munio.” She finally said, as if she had been holding her breath while thinking. Him receiving more exp was irritating, but she knew how games worked. He might get more exp this time, but next she might get it. The money part was annoying too. That is when she smiled. Her golden eyes lit up as she gazed at him with a devious expression. “Well rich man, after this quest, you can buy me dinner” She snickered and winked. It was the best she could do with her anger. Even if it was a joke, it made her feel better and hoped it would show that she wasn’t a character that only felt anger. “How about we defeat the rest of those-” Her face contorted at the thought of the repulsive monsters they needed to defeat. “slimes.” She squeaked out, shivering slightly.

“I accept your apology,” Munio said seriously, glad that he wasn’t in the wrong. When she had paused and stammered, he had been preparing himself for an onslaught of more noise, but she had apologized instead. She was still recovering from her freak out during the fight, so it was understandable that she needed time to control her voice when she spoke. Munio was unaware how hard it was for Kissa’s apology to come out, and he was also unaware that her suggestion that he could buy her dinner was a joke, to which he nodded his agreement. He had earned more money and he had splattered her with goo when she had shown signs of hating it. “Well, one down, nine to go, right?” he said. “We got this.” With that he pointed his staff to another slime and cast Aura Pulse on it, dealing damage to it and lowering its resistances so Kissa wouldn’t have to punch it so much. Now that he knew more of what to expect, he would be able to fight better. More importantly, he would be able to do this teamwork thing that he had struggled with in the past. He felt he had accomplished his mission of making a friend.

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Fifteen Minutes Later

Veran barely rolled out of the way of the charging Boreorc, being careful not to get in the path of the second one as it too charged in the other direction. They had the turn speed of a snail, but damn could they chrage.

In his hands was the Bronze Bow. He had already finished killing the five Slimes he needed to kill, so now he had leveled up to level 4, and he put his STR to 16 with nine of the nine skill points he received. He dealt enough damage to kill the Boreorcs in three hits, and that was a third of the way done because each had an arrow sticking out of their chests, but they didn't hit anything vital, being stopped at the bone. He'd misjudged the placement of the ribs, so instead of piercing their lungs or hearts it thudded into bone.

He'd been playing at this game for the last minute or so, dodging or rolling out of the way, aiming but canceling before needing to roll out of the way of another charge. At this point, it was a stalemate and would go to the one with more stamina. Both sides had wounds to show for it. The Boreorcs, had the arrows in their chest while Veran had a glowing red hole in his side. It was the first charge he had attempted to dodge, but he got blindsided by the other Boreorc and got dealt 22 damage, including his reduction and was now down to 110/132 HP, though it didn't hit anything vital, it still hurt like nothing else he'd experienced before. For now, he was trying to keep out of their grasp to come up with a plan to stop one. Which was when he noticed one shaking their head after slamming tree behind him. He smiled. The plan was made, and it was time to kill.

He again, stood in front of one tree, and waited for one of the Boreorcs to charge at him. This time, he rolled out of the way but stayed close lining up two point blank shots. One for the heart and one for the skull. He fire the two shots in quick succession, killing the Boreorc before it could recover. A moment of celebration was needed, and Veran took that moment to smile. It was that moment that Veran forgot about the other Boreorc.

It charged, and would have impaled Veran on its spear had it not been for his reflexes where he narrowly moved out of the way of the deadly blade, but he still got a shallow cut across his chest for his troubled, lowering him again by 22, leaving him at 88/132. It did not end there, for the Boreorc then backhanded him in the same charge, sending him flying due to the beast's Strength. Though it only did 11 damage, the environmental damage of him slamming into a tree served to be an equal amount of damage as to getting hit by the spear, leaving him at 66/132 HP. Coughing up a bit of blood, he knew he might have fractured a rib from the impact. Not enough to impair his abilities, but enough to slow him down. So when the Boreorc slammed into a tree that was next to the tree he stood by, he knew that was his only chance to get a breather. He didn't want to risk pulling out a health potion and drink it in case the Boreorc recovered quickly and charged him again, so for the moment, he stood up to steady himself, which is when he heard the roar of another Boreorc in the clearing. A uninjured, fully rested, fresh, Boreorc.

Veran cursed his luck. He had another to deal with.

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xxxxx|| State of Mind ✧ Baffled |||| State of Mind ✧ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ||xxxxx
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Aoife stared at the man in green, the road momentarily silent as she pointed at him, and he gazed casually back, not seeming to take much note of her obvious indignation. She stared. He stared back.

Then, he grinned, breaking out in laughter and saying something about how he wasn't crazy. Had he not been listening? She had just told him he was crazy. Why did he take that as evidence he wasn't? That was something only a crazy person would do. But, since he was crazy, she supposed that made sense. She sighed piteously, shaking her head in consternation. This one might be past helping, but it was her duty as a Paladin, nevertheless, to try.

Oh, right, he also mentioned something about cat ears. He was still going on about that nonsense? She was about to chastise him for continuing to pursue such a futile obsession, but, to her surprise, he began moving without delay, walking right up to her...

...And then right past her, circling about several times and giving her a very intense stare, like someone appreciating a fine artwork. The paladin couldn't help but be a little put off by this, as she was ill used to being gawked at in such a manner. It was a bit creepy, honestly, but when he announced his conclusion, she supposed she could let the matter slide. At least he achknowledged the shortcomings of his prior verdict.

"Yes, yes. I do really enjoy the overall design. You sure made effective use of absolute territory, so I give you some extra points for that, and overall the armor, to me, manages to be very appealing to the eye without being revealing. I assume it's specifically a light armor?" The Paladin, pleased at having her work so highly praised, gave a single emphatic nod.

"The inner layer, gloves, and headpiece are all meant as light armor, with the other pieces of the set covering the most important spots with medium platemail," She explained. "Although the 'dress' is somewhat inaccurately named, since a skirt would have offered less protection and gotten in the way in battle, not even to mention the difficulties of maintaining personal modesty in such attire, it still doesn't sacrifice either practicality or the overall aesthetic due to the appeal of thigh-high boots. With braids in place of ponytails, that makes my absolute territory a natural grade S!" Aoife declared proudly, raising a single finger in a matter-of-fact manner, only to realize a moment later exactly what it was she'd just said. Her cheeks colored rapidly, and she quickly averted her gaze and looked away, clearing her throat rather loudly.

"Er, right... all that aside," She stammered, quickly trying to change the subject. "You still haven't said why you're here," She pointed out.

To his credit, he did answer her question without further delay. That should have alleviated some of the awkwardness she felt at having her assumed character inadvertently shattered. However, considering his answer began by utterly butchering her name and ended with him somehow finding it proper to chastise her for being rude, she found her mood little improved for her effort.

"EE-FAH," She said firmly. "You pronounce it ee-fah," She repeated, crossing her arms in frustration. "And I will have you know that I do not 'insult' people. I merely state facts as I see them. For example, you have a very silly hat. That is not an insult. That is merely me stating that the pointy green object currently sitting atop your head is laughable regardless of whether it is viewed either as a fashion statement or a means of protection." She nodded sagely, before clapping a fist into her opened palm and giving a sly grin, looking as though she had just unraveled one of the great mysteries of the universe. "Hmm, I think I may have an idea how you might be able to improve it, though. Maybe..." Her smirk broadened to the point that one could practically see the little lightbulb flicking on over her head. "You could try putting cat ears on it!"

About three things Licht was absolutely positive. First, Aoife was a nerd. Second, there was a part of her-and he didn't know how potent said part might be-that thirsted for appreciation for her costume. And third, he was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with how easy it would be to mess with her.

While his earlier assessment or her personal armor was not a falsified one, it certainly was not expected to flatter or otherwise make her feel as though he would vote for her rather than the cat-ening. It was simply said as a restatement that if it weren't for that particular set of armor, then she would have won Licht's vote for sure. Irregardless, she brightened up like a star and then chose that moment to lapse into a self-assessment of the armor and why, for whichever reasons, it could be considered S-rank in the absolute territory department. That was unfortunate and perhaps maybe fortunate at the same time, as Licht was secretly a hard-M rank.

"I see." the young man nodded with closed eyes, probably mimicking a number of characters in a majority of different shows at once. "You certainly do deserve praise in that regard. But it is regretful that I must mention that I have a preference to cat-ears, as you have already guessed by now. Absolute territory falls just below that. At least you tried, however. Some of the other competitors I was forced to look at tried to make due with the least amount of clothing possible. They did not understand the importance of how each piece works with each other to collaborate as one piece of artwork." Licht slowly opened his eyes once he finished his small rant (and it certainly was small compared to what he would have liked to say on the matter), sighing. "Again, you deserved at least second place."

Sadly, his attempt at finally stating what needed to be said was met with the worst kind of insult he had ever heard in recent history, that had nothing to do with cat-ears. She had decided, in her infinite cruelty, to bring up the subject of that one piece of his well-deserved beta testing gear, which he had earned for HELPING THE GAME BE BETTER (actually mostly screwing around and laughing at some of the bugs). She had more or less declared war by insulting his precious cap.

"You dare mock my fine piece of Haberdashery! Do you even realize how much time and effort went into designing this masterpiece? The elven people would be proud to see such a piece of headwear being displayed for all to see. IT IS THE VERY PRIDE OF THEIR RACE THAT I WEAR ATOP MY HEAD, GIVEN PHYSICAL FORM!" taking a deep, long breath in, he exhaled and apparently seemed to calm down.

"Really?" The Paladin asked skeptically, cocking her head inquisitively to the side. "That seems like a stereotype, if you ask me..."

"Elves don't even own stereos, so your point is invalid," He replied with a smug look on his face.

"You can't prove a blanket statement like that," Aoife protested earnestly, seeming to ponder the question intently before presenting her counterargument. "I mean, can you really say with certainty that what you just said applies to all Elves? It sounds to me like you're just being racist."

"...."

Had he been out-memed? Was this it? What is life, even? Many questions like these circled Licht's head as he tried to come up with a proper response towards this allegations. There was a noticeable pause before he had managed to finally decide on what he wished to say.

"....Yes. I can confidently say that elves do not own stereos. That is not racist, it's a 'fact'. And you said that you enjoyed stating 'facts' just earlier, did you not?"

Checkmate.

Aoife seemed taken aback, thinking about this statement for a moment. She placed a single finger to her chin, emitting a low "hmm" sound, like a computer processor being pushed to its limits. At last, her gaze returned to Licht, and she gave her reply.

"My most sincere apologies," She said, giving a humble bow. "I did not mean to sound discriminatory towards men in pointy green hats. As a matter of fact, I was unaware of the existence of such a subculture. I will do my best to keep it in mind from now on."

It was a genuine response that Licht gave to Aoife. One that involved a raised eyebrow and a clear look of confusion to follow. Normally one would take this particular action as some form of sarcasm, but Aoife seemed to get oddly serious about this and it did managed to confuse the not-elf. "Err, okay, you can stop that. It's weird. I'm sure nobody could really bother to care about a cap like that..."

He was being out-memed for sure. This was odd, very much so. Licht did not take well to people who took things literally, it would seem. But nevertheless, he would endeavor to become the Meme Master, a person worthy of the meme gods. Or something.

"So..." he kinda just stared at the girl until she raised her head again. "I think I should go or something.... I need to kill things for, uh, reasons? Though I guess I won't get past the rumored boss until I form a party, so I'll be waiting for a while, huh?" shaking his head as he realized he was beginning to mumble to himself, he sighed.

"Well, I can perhaps help you level if you want. I doubt they did much about powerleveling since the beta. Or I can just watch and wait. Listen. And see a young apprentice grow into a slightly bigger apprentice of the meme."

"Actually, I don't think increasing one's combat ability affects your physical size, either..." Aoife chimed in sheepishly, seeming almost sad at having to correct him so frequently. "Still, I have been told the woods ahead are dangerous, and given the number of enemies I must no doubt face to traverse the road ahead, any and all help I might be able to get would be most appreciated. If you are willing to assist me, then I shall accept your offer with gratitude." She gave another sincere bow, as though she were a knight entrusting her life to a liege.

She was doing this on purpose, wasn't she? I make one, no, two jokes about elves and stereos and now I am punished for it.

Narrowing his eyes, Licht opted not to respond to that comment. Instead he began once more walking to Bale Forest as he waved an arm as her cue to follow him, walking past the bowed 'knight' with seemingly little interest of the gesture. "We best be off, then. No telling how many people are steailng all the EXP," he said. He took a few more steps before suddenly remembering something important. "Oh, yeah. Parties. Those are a thing. If you would like to benefit at all from my slaughtering things, then we need to be in one."

Licht took this moment to open his menu, scroll down to 'Parties' and tap that particular button. When he was in that tab, he scrolled over to the 'Start Party' button and selected that, followed by the 'Invite' button. Since Aoife was right here, all he had to do was to highlight her and select her, which would then send a message containing her invite.

Alternatively, he could have simply highlighted her and scrolled to an "Invite to Party" button and pressed that, but he was too lazy to do the least amount of effort in this case.

Giving another of her very serious nods, Aoife opened her own player menu with a casual swipe of her hand, searching for the window she expected to see popping up at any moment. It didn't take long to highlight the transparent screen that had appeared in front of her reading "Join Licht's party?" and to hit "Accept." Appearing beside the red and green HP and SP bars visible only to herself in the corner of her vision materialized a second set of bars, with the other player's username displayed prominently over them. To her surprise, though, unlike her own name, which was quickly followed with "Level 1 Longarms," he was instead listed as a level 15 Blademaster. She raised an eyebrow. How had he gotten to such a level within half an hour of the start of the game? He'd mentioned the beta earlier... Huh. Maybe she'd lucked out in meeting this person who she'd only initially thought of as an annoyance. Regardless, his help would make things infinitely easier. Opening her own quest menu, she selected the only one that was listed there, pushing a button labeled "Share Objective" so that Licht could see her goals and her progress at completing them. After that, she turned about, nodding to the blonde swordsman and then turning her gaze to the forest beyond.

"Now that that matter is settled, I am prepared to depart with all haste," She said firmly, knocking her right hand to her breastplate in a sort of salute. "I look forward to fighting alongside you!" She declared, shouldering her spear and continuing her march towards the forest, with her new teammate in tow.

---

Level: 4EXP: 157/272 Thoughts Color #F660AB Dialogue Color #B93B8F

---

Kissa stood in front of the Knight NPC huffing. It was hard to believe that after only 9 slimes she was worn out and ready to go to an inn. However, she had only reached level 4 and, as she gazed at the NPC, was sure she wouldn’t get enough exp to level up. This is exhausting. I can’t believe how much of that I felt. On top of that, I can’t believe they made a game where your equipment hurts! The boots weren’t tight, however they were irritating her feet. She was sure if she wore them in reality, her feet would have blisters. She sighed, pushing the pain to the side for moment. Though she was still recovering, it was time to turn in her quest.

“Oh it’s you! How did you fair against those slimes? Were you able to collect the stolen supplies?”

A small message type box opened, revealing Kissa’s puny inventory bags. The supplies she had collected for the knight had taken up the rest of her bag space, not that there was anything else she could have filled it with.

“Yeah, I got ’em.” She growled, clicking each box of supplies, until she had given him all of them.

“Oh thank you! You really saved my neck. It’s not much, but here is something for my appreciation.”
Another small window appeared, displaying the rewards for her trouble.

-Quest Complete-

139 EXP gained2 Silver

Her eyes lowered to examine it. Was this some kind of joke? Killing the slimes gave more exp than the stupid quest! She didn’t even get an item? 2 Silver? That was pathetic. Her fist clenched as the window faded and she heard the small chime, indicating she had leveled up. Taking a deep calming breath, she decided to ignore the ’reward’. Maybe later in the game, it would be better. This was only the first quest after all. Glancing to the knight, who looked apprehensive about asking for another favor, she decided to move on to the next quest. After all, it was still too early to head back to town.

“What is it knight?” She sighed, prompting him to give her the next ridiculous mission.

“Well, I hate to trouble you again-” Kissa scoffed and forced her best friendly smile, despite envisioning herself punching the lame knight. “I was hoping you could kill 4 Boreorcs for me. I am supposed to do it myself, but I can’t leave my post and since the attack. The Captain is keeping all the good weapons for front line soldiers, so I am not even equipped for such a mission!. I will make it worth your while, this time. I found a nice rune the other day, and I’ll give it to you. Oh please, wont you help me? My captain is threatening to demote me again!”

Kissa bit back bitter words as she considered what type of rune she might be given. Even if it was low level, nearly anything would be of help at this point. Rolling her eyes, she nodded, accepting the quest and disregarding her better judgement.

“Oh wonderful! Just bring back the spear of each one you kill. That will also help us with weapons!” The knight cheered as she walked away, back towards the inner field. Before she got too close to the area where the Boreorcs were, she opened her inventory and character windows. As a starter package, she had received four Novice’s Health and Mana potions and one starter Agility Rune for armour. While battling the slimes, she had used all the potions she gained from battle, plus one of the Novice Health potions. That left her with only 3 Novice Health Potions in her inventory. Maybe trying to tank the Boreorcs, like she had done the slimes, wasn’t the best idea, since her character class was far from being a tank. She decided to equip the rune to her tattered boots. Though she doubted it would make them more comfortable, it would at least do something for her stats. She then assessed her stats. Moments ago her ribs, legs, and hands still hurt from the battle with the slimes.

But now, her health had been completely restored during the amount of time that had passed, since there wasn’t much to restore in the first place. She had been chugging every potion a slime dropped, as soon as she could. Now, the pain was subtle and felt like bruises that had almost completely healed. Of coarse, other than her feet. Turns out, armour was pretty damn uncomfortable when it was ripped and tattered like hers. With that in mind, she hoped to collect enough money to buy some at least decent gear. Pushing the strands of pink hair off her shoulders, she got ready to rush one of the Boreorcs. Just as she took a step,her attention was shifted at the sight of a player soaring across the field after an attack. The Boreorc swiftly followed, though missed his mark and hit the tree next to where the player had fallen.For a moment, she was stunned and perplexed. In normal MMOs it was rude to attack someone else’s monster, however he might be in need. She hastily glanced at his health. 66/132 HP Just as she managed to catch a glimpse of it, another Boreorc gave a battle cry in the distance. This wasn’t good. Even if she could kill the one he had damaged, if there was a horde, there was no way they could win without some teamwork. Then again, there was no time to invite him to a party. The Boreorc who had been attacking him was getting close to finding him again. Briskly, Kissa rushed the injured monster to at least distract it. “I’ll distract him, you heal yourself!” With that, she launched her assault on the monster. Jumping into the air for momentum and extra force, she slammed her fist into the back of the Boreorc’s skull as she came back down with all her might. It wouldn’t kill it, but attacking from behind would give her an advantage for a moment, due to how slow the creature turned.

Veran stood there for a moment, contemplating how much dying was going to hurt, but then something unexpected happened. Another player had jumped in, and gave a pretty hefty punch onto the new Boreorc's head. With that, and he encouragement, he took out one of his novice health potions and chugged it as fast as he could. A few moments after downing the entire contents of one, which tasted fairly sweet, almost like a mixture of honey and milk, and he felt himself mending. He felt his bones start to knit back together, and the hole in his side was starting to close up, the glowing red hole slowly growing smaller and smaller, until it was gone. His health read 132/132. He smiled and shouted towards the new player.

"Thanks!"

Before promptly drawing his bow again and rolling out of the way of the Boreorc that had hit him, letting his slam against the tree again, leaving it stunned, and firing another two shots at it, killing it, his shots penetrating the heart and forehead once again.

Well, thats my quest done. I don't think it be good if I left this girl alone though.

He turned to look at what she was doing.

The Boreorc turned and caught sight of its attacker, but she jumped back. Swiftly, she glanced over to see the player downing a potion. Good. Now that he is healed, I don't have to worry about him. Her attention was shifted back to the Boreorc. If he charged, she would be able to side-step him. There were plenty of solid trees for the monster to run into, and it looked like they weren't the most graceful of monsters.

With her knees bent, she watched as the Boreorc got ready to rush her, just as she planned. It was time to see what she could do. The monster charged with its spear ready to impale the small Caith. As soon as the monster was within attacking distance, she launched her fist into the side of it's head, knocking it off balance and causing it to fall to the ground. Her confidence was growing and she felt unstoppable, until she tried to draw a breath. The gash in her side was deeper than she had realized. The sensation of pain radiated all the way down her left side and nearly made her knees buckle. When she had been attacked by the slimes, it hurt, but this pain was on a whole new level.

The realization that she had not been breathing hit, and she gasped in an agonizing scream. Her hands clutched the gaping wound just above her hip. Panic seeped into her thoughts. Her eyes locked onto the hefty Boreorc who rolled in the grass trying to get up. It would take him another moment to get up, hopefully. Her hands shook as she tried to bring up her inventory. After a few tries, she managed to open it before snatching a potion. Her health bar wasn't too far down, but it felt as if the Boreorc had landed a critical hit. Her movement was paused by the decision she could not make. The Boreorc was getting closer to getting to his feet, or at least, he was no longer rolling from side to side. Kissa took steady deep breaths before she made a decision. Rushing, she stepped beside the Boreorc's head and kicked it as hard as she could with her right foot. It was surprising to see it had done damage, nearly half of what her fist normally did. A vicious smile spread across her face as she began kicking the creature several times. His HP was getting low, but rolled away from her and finally got to its feet. Kissa brought her fist up, disregarded the throbbing pain in her side, and prepared to attack the Boreorc ones more. One hit should do it...Maybe two. She told herself as she bent her knees and prepared to dodge an attack.

During this entire procession, Veran was keeping track of all that was happening, trying to find an opprotuinty to help in as well as recovering his SP by regenerating it. The moment when the Boreorc backed off again after taking quite the beating from the dimunitive Caith Duine was the point where Veran launched an arrow, which lodged itself in the front of its throat, burrying into the fleshy neck, severing its spinal cord, dealing critical damage and killing it instantly. It fell forward, dropping its spear and flopping face first onto the ground before shattering into crystals and dispersing. Veran slung his bow back over his shoulder and jogged over.

"Thank you, Kissa." The name of the avatar popped up as Veran got closer."I'm not sure if I could have dealt with both of the Boreorcs if I was still injured."

When the arrow soared passed Kissa, she jerked her head in the direction it had come from. She had not expected the player to stay, and had forgotten about him after he had taken a potion. However, she was now greatful to him as well. With the Boreorc defeated and pixalized, she pulled out the potion she had held before. In a small way, she still did not want to take it. She didn't have too many left, and felt that if she were to venture into town, she might not come back until the next day. Despite this, she knew she wouldn't be able to stand the pain much longer, even if it did slowly heal over time. Her neko ears folded as she took a large swig from the small bottle. The crimson liquid wasn't bad, but not good either. It had a flavor she couldn't place. With the numbing effects of the potion kicking in, she decided to reply to the player, who had obviously looked at her player-card. "Thank you as well. I guess I bit off a little more than I can chew." She paused for a moment, resisting the urge to introduce herself. It seemed a bit pointless, since he already knew her name. Then again, it wasn't a greeting through which he obtained the information. 'Yes, I am Kissa of the Fel Forest. It is a pleasure to meet you-" Her head tilted to the side as she waited for him to introduce himself. Even if she could look at his player-card, she felt it was simply polite, given the current circumstances.

Veran raised an eyebrow at her inclination, but he played along.

"Veran. It is a pleasure to meet you two, Kissa of the Fel Forest."

Veran thought for a moment.

"What brings you out here into these parts of the woods?"

She smiled softly, bowing her head when he finally introduced himself. At his question, she scoffed, pointing her thumb behind them, towards the city. "Damn Lame Knight can't do his job. He said if I collect 5 spears from these Boreorcs, he will give me a really nice rune." She shrugged her shoulders before looking down."Though, I didn't know they would be this difficult." In a way, she envied the hunter, simply for his class choice. Had she known she would be stuck in the game, she would have gone with a class she was familiar with and comfortable in using. Knuckler was a fluke choice that was chosen simply because she had never played a fighter before.
A thought crossed her mind as she gazed down at the soft grass. Her eyes lit up as she smiled at him, a broad coy smile. "Heyyy, you are a hunter. Maybe you could help me out? I don't have anything to give you, but I'll owe you one. I'll even befriend you, so you can call on me when you need. Come on, what'd ya say?"

Veran pondered her request. He thought about the merits of helping the player that helped him out. An eye for an eye, though, in a more positive way.

"Sure. Why not. He said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Great! Thanks!" She cheered, literally jumping with joy. Opening the menu attached to his player-card, she sent a friend request. "I only need to collect 5 spears, so it shouldn't be too hard for the both of us. I am a close up fighter, and you are ranged. We will be a great team!" She stated, though it was more to herself than him. She was sure he knew about the different classes, at least a little. He looked to be skilled, even though his level wasn't high. It made her regret her decision a bit more, but she forced it to the back of her mind. There was no changing it now, and no point dwelling on it.

Veran nodded, and opened his menu and accepted her friend request, and sent her a party request.

"Might as well right? At least we both get some experience and copper from the Boreorcs when we kill one."

Then the Drop screen finally appeared in front of him.



A soft glow encompassed Veran's body as he leveled up two more times. He looked at the numbers on his experience bar and saw they read 166/782.

Damn that scales pretty hard. he thought as he assigned his six stat points.

VIT 11 -> 12
ENG 10 -> 11
AGI 13 -> 14
END 11 -> 13
DEX 15 -> 16

The Vitality upgrade brought his health to 180, his Energy upgrade his SP to 120 and his Endurance allowing him to equip D- Rank armors.

Kissa accepted the party invite while bouncing on her toes. Her feet were still aching, but the excitement of parting up again flooded her. She watched Veran for signs that he was ready and noticed him adjusting something in his character menus. Tiptoeing over, she glanced at he window in front of him. It was stats. She had forgotten all about the stats, since most of the other games she played did them automatically."Oh jeez! I forgot all about that!" Her cheeks flushed a light pink in embarrassment. Quickly, she opened her own character menu and gazed at the numbers and stats. She had 9 points to distribute, and only one idea of where some should go. Hmmm, I know I need to add to agility. Maybe work on vitality and strength too? It would be nice to pack a harder punch to these things. With her mind made up, she distributed the points evenly between the three choices. When she selected apply, she noticed her HP bar had increased to 130 HP. It wasn't much, but ever little bit would count in the battlefield. Her physical attack had gone up to 48, which was a little disappointing. However, she was sure that a better weapon would help with that.

Closing the menus she gave a sheepish smile, almost apologizing for taking the extra time to work on something she knew she should have done before now.

Veran nodded, before starting off into the forest, with Kissa following behind him.

Ten minutes later

It was then, that she noticed a noise in the bushes, her ears twitching towards where the sound had come from. Turning on her toes, she faced the direction with her fist up, ready for attack. Her eyes focuses, but could not see as far as her ears could hear.

Veran slowed to a stop, his senses on high alert. He heard the trampling of bushes, and the snorting of Boars. Preferring not to take the chance of it only being normal Boars, he climbed up a tree quite deftly, having experience in doing so before. It also helped that the tree had quite a few strong branches for Veran to hold on to and they were all relatively close together. Veran finally got high enough to see what was ahead.

The thought of jumping in a tree was tempting as she watched Veran scale the tree. It was rather impressive and amusing to watch the human scurrying up the tree like a squirrel. She choked back she laughter threatening to break into the silence.

In the tiny clearing below him, there were four Boreorcs, and quite a hefty number for them to take on, especially with only the two of them and the small space for them to fight in. He was sure he could take out at least one of them in a single volley though, so that would even the odds out. He clambered down the tree again, dropping to the ground next to Kissa.

"There's four Boreorcs in the clearing ahead, but I'm pretty sure I can snipe one before the others realise what's happening. Afterwards, I won't be able to get another volley in too solidly until only one of them is on me. It takes too long for me to draw my bow, and the clearing's small size doesn't help with the distances the Boreorcs need to travel to hit us. I'm relying on you to keep them off of me so I can pick them apart. That okay with you?

Kissa noticed Veran descending the tree before she watched him land with a thud next to her. She listened tentatively to the report before pondering on the question. Not too long ago she had told herself tanking wasn't a good strategy to use, however in order to complete this quest, it seemed she would need to basically do that. With there being no other options she could think of, she decided to show off her false bravo."Hell yeah, I got this." She gave a playful wink and bounced on her toes. In the back of her mind, she hoped the agility boosts would help. If she attacked one hard enough in the head, it might give her enough time to attack another that might be near Veran. The only problem with this plan, was she wasn't sure how the Boreorcs would attack. Would they focus on the closest target, or go for whoever attacked it. Probably the second. In that case, all she had to do was run around attacking them right? This strategy gave her a little hope of actually winning. She knew she was fast, and the knuckles she had did decent enough damage. While she was running around, she would weaken them, and Veran would be able to make the finishing shot, as she took on a different one. This is going to work!

Nodding once again, Veran climbed up the same tree and this time pulled his bow out. In his hand he held three arrows, to fire one after another. He took aim for a few moments before letting loose his arrows in a rapid volley. Since he was aiming for center mass, they all hit their mark. The Boreorc dropped to the ground, dying and shattered into crystals as the other three Boreorcs charged at his tree, hoping to knock him off.

"Go Kissa!" he shouted before throwing himself off the tree branch towards the ground, over their heads and rolling as he hit the ground, but still sustaining ten points of damage.

Once Veran was up the tree once again, Kissa concentrated on any noise from his bow. As the first arrow was fired, her eyes moved to where she thought the Boreorcs would charge from. It didn't take long to lock onto their positions, for they were extremely loud as they traveled. I just have to keep them off him for a little bit. She mentally reminded herself as she moved closer to where the Boreorcs were coming from. Within seconds, she was face to face with three of the ugly beasts. A smirk spread across her face as she realized her plan was idiotic, but just might work.
Deliriously, she charged the Boreorc in the lead. When close enough to reach, but not get injured, she slapped the monster's spear. With the small opening, she slammed her fist into the middle of his face. One hit. Moving her focus to the one on the right, she barely dodged a jab by twisting to the right. As quickly as she could, she stepped in and punched it, in the side of the head. Two down. Jumping back away from the now infuriated monsters, she realized she hadn't landed a hit on the last one, and it was headed towards Veran.
Immediately, she ran after it, hoping to catch it in time.

As the last Boreorc charged at him, Veran shot an arrow at it, but missed as it a small deviation in the charge allowed it to sidestep the arrow, before Veran rolled out of the way and took out an arrow and stabbed it into the back of the dazed Boreorc's knee as it was stunned by slamming right square into the tree behind it. A quick three shot volley into its back finished it off as it slumped to the ground and shattered. Veran turned, to assist with Kissa's pursuers. He nocked another arrow and took aim. He just needed to wait for the right opening.

Kissa was grateful that Veran was agile and attacked the Boreorc she missed. When the monster burst into crystals, she turned her attention to the other two, who were close to attacking. Taking a deep breath, she decided to run for it, just enough to get them away from Veran and give him a shot. She swiftly jumped to the side and took off a few paces. The monsters followed, just as she planned. She launched a counter attack at the first one, however was still hit on her arm with the spear. Praying it wouldn't affect her attack, she started punching the one in reach. She landed three blows before she was hit again, knocking her HP down to 84. She winced at the seering pain, but landed two more blows. The monster froze and burst into pixels, leaving only one left.

Seeing his teammate get hit, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Kissa, for he knew that it must have hurt. Still, that didn't stop him from perforating the remaining Boreorc with a precise volley of arrows, killing it with three stuck in its back, in a small circle, a few inches in diameter. The beast promptly slumped over before shattering into a multi-color mix of pixels. With all of the Boreorcs dead, Veran slung his bow over shoulder and turned to Kissa.

1244 EXP ; 212 Copper ; 1x Novice Health Potion for Veran. 1203 EXP; 184 Copper ; 2x Novice Health Potions for Kissa

"How many more do you need?"

With the last Boreorc gone, Kissa sighed and knelt down. If she could bleed, her arm would have been covered in blood. Instead there was a small puncture wound in her upper arm. Despite the pain, she gave a weak smile to Veran. "Thanks. You know, I think I might get used to little scraps like this soon." She chuckled softly before tilting her head back. For the first time in a while, she appreciated the cool breeze and the shade of the trees. If there hadn't been so many monsters who wanted to impale her, she thought it would be a nice place for a nap. His question pulled her out of her relaxing wishes. She realized she had not gotten the spears. "Shit!"
Jumping to her feet, she rushed to where the two Boreorcs had been. There on the ground were two spears. As soon as her hand touched them, they burst into pixels and were added to her inventory. She then backtracked to the other bodies and got the others, including the two from the previous battle. With three of the spears, a small pop-up window appeared asking if she wanted to collect the Thick Fur Hide from each Boreorc, in which she clicked 'Collect'.
When she had all five spears in her inventory plus some crafting material, she gave Veran and thumbs up. "That's all of them." She huffed from all the running. "Thanks for all your help. I don't think I would have been able to make it on my own with the way they all attack at once."

"Not a problem." Veran said with a small smile, hidden behind his bandanna. He waved away the drop screen that appeared in front of him, deciding to assign his stat points later. "So I guess we'll start heading back now?"

Slowly but surely, the wound on her arm was starting to heal. She nodded, turning on her heel. Though she was weary of hunters, she was glad she found one. Turns out archers are amazing back up.

Veran nodded, mostly to himself and followed behind her, though he was still a bit guarded. He didn't want to be caught by any monsters unawares.