[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi4wMDAwMDAuVkdobElFMXZkWEp1YVc1bklFRm1kR1Z5LjE,/shangrilanf.lanf.png[/img][/center] [indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=black][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color] [hr] [color=896f40]“Don't worry about it kid, it’s on the house.”[/color] Dariel always had his principal ideals, no matter how much Arie got on his balls about how he was both financially stupid but also intellectually stupid. “First-timers always eat for free. That’s how you build brand loyalty.” he often told her with a wink. As he put down the washcloth at the bar’s counter he cracked his neck. It’s been awhile since he stepped into the kitchen personally. He was glad to be himself again and not just be stuck uttering the same boring trite. [color=896f40]“And it’s Dariel. Dariel Yaleioric.”[/color] The older man smiled warmly as he slinked toward the kitchen, [color=896f40]“Don’t go anywhere.”[/color] [center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210309/5689b6395b8279d1015505309adaa1f2.png[/img][/center] [color=gray][sub][right][color=#A84B5E][b]Location:[/b][/color] City Streets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color] [hr] [i]I am trapped in a video game world.[/i] The blood knight’s hysterical laughter at her self-depreciative joke made her roll her eyes, though her own words had echoed in her mind like a reverb; clinging to every facet of her mind. She hadn’t intended to visit the hot, humid tavern for lunch but Graves had essentially guided her to the building. She wasn’t sure why she felt so comfortable to say things that were better left private. It wasn’t “cool” to admit you never had friends or that your parents hated you, that you felt alone since pretty much forever. But she had basically told him how it was. He didn’t pry a whole lot and his insistence of [i]trying[/i] to offer Mystic Prophecy his help felt like the opposite of what Rael thought she’d do. Luci never liked her, so seeing her face after they had buried her two closest friends in a [i]video game cemetery[/i] was something she imagined would get her screamed at or attacked. Rael had thought back to that night. What would’ve happened if Benkei insisted on taking the left pathway? Would she be dead? Would they have had to bury Benkei and Kazuki instead? Mystic Prophecy was one of the tightest, most skilled groups that she had ever worked with. Aaganim and Enos being gone felt insane to her, but she wasn’t destroyed by it. She barely knew anyone in Pariah Online outside of people she knew in her university classes at Tokyo U who played the game. She wondered if those people were alive. Not that she was friends with any of them, but loss of life was something that she did not want to think about. No one should die. [i]She[/i] didn’t want to die. Rael took a breath as she entered the tavern, the sight of Kazuki and the others causing her an unease. [color=#A84B5E]“I’m getting something to eat.”[/color] She said, coarsely. [color=#A84B5E]“Find me later.”[/color] [color=2E2C2C]- - - -[/color] [center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjE5OC5EMkI0OEMuVTJsbS4w/creattion-demo.regular.png[/img][/center] [color=gray][sub][right][color=tan][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color] [hr] [i]How are you holding up?[/i] Benkei’s concern caught her off guard, but not enough where she showed it. She just looked at him as her hands rested on an open book. [color=tan]“I’m okay.”[/color] She responded, as she looked at him. [color=tan]“Just trying to figure out why… why Kazuki’s magic didn’t work.”[/color] She sighed, as she went to explain what she had been paining over. She knew he probably would find her some kind of heartless bitch for trying to find a logical understanding why Aaginim's body was not rejuvenated in a world of myths and magic. She remembered what the game attendant had said, but she did not particularly think Aaginim would have gone braindead from having his chest crushed and thrown on the floor. Benkei probably would notice the other books on her table aside an archaic library card as she looked down to the book she had been reading when he came in—the first volume in a series of medical diaries written or compiled by a Uron Keldt. [color=tan]“Magic still obviously functions correctly, so I’m trying to think about it from a logical point-of-view. Why did this known science no longer work. What do we not know about magio-physiological medicine? Problem is the books in Thorinn that I have access to on short notice aren’t exactly the best…”[/color] She sighed, looking back to Benkei as she reached for her tankard. [color=tan]“You must think it’s stupid of me to think like this…”[/color] [/indent][/indent][/indent]