[IC] Elder Tale. (Sanquin / EveIris)

[EveIris]

Kali nodded with his deduction. She didn't feel like dying and running all the way back, which would be highly likely since she didn't have a mount of her own. Chronos eventually moved nearby as he laid himself down, though he eventually disappeared, presumably back into Alakai's inventory. She followed him as they moved towards the entrance. She watched him throw the rock and it took quite a bit of effort not to laugh when it bounced off their shield, a part of her had wished he had thrown the rock at their heads, but perhaps that was a little harsh, real or not.

They began making their way over and she prepared herself. The goblins stayed near them looking a little puzzled when they couldn't find anything suspicious, however it was then that the fight started. Since they were far enough from the village it was a good opportunity to take them down. They could slowly clean up by doing this, however it would only get easier considering that they would be gaining levels too. Kali did her usual by healing him whenever he took too much damage. They had a lot more damage compared to the spiders however it wasn't too hard for her to handle since there were only two.

As they continued on she eventually picked up on the different types and their damage styles. Those without armor hit a lot harder and they were a lot smarter too. Some had hits that resulted in dizziness, though it wasn't lethal it resulted a pause on their damage output. Still everything was a learning experience, she enjoyed learning the littler things and it helped that the village was nice too. The houses were a lot smaller, though there was a strange smell to the place.

[sanquin]

At first things were going rather slowly. The goblins were easy enough to deal with, but it took time to lure only one or two away from the village. However as they killed more goblins, Alakai started to become a bit more daring as well. He learned their attacks quickly, and soon noticed that he didn't even lose a third of his health while fighting two at the same time. And, looking at the party window, he noticed that Kali was barely dipping into her mana pool. So after the first few pulls, the man started to lure up to three goblins at the same time.

And finally after about one and a half hours the goblin village was thinned out enough for them to start the main event. This felt like a good time to take a break. A single apple didn't feel like enough food to last until the afternoon, plus he wanted to train his cooking a little. Only two more cooking levels and he would be able to make a stew that gave more hp and mana regeneration for two hours. Luckily the goblins had dropped quite a few raw fish for him to use.

"Let's take a break. I doubt the goblins will respawn any time soon, and I really want to eat something." He spoke as he picked up the loot from the last two goblins he had defeated. "Better do that a little bit further away from the village though, as they might get attracted by a camp fire. We can also check what kind of loot we have so far." Apart from noticing the fish, Alakai had just immediately put everything in his inventory, to spend as little time as possible in between pulling the goblins. Today was all about leveling up as much as possible after all.

[EveIris]

Kali easily kept up with the heals, she took more notice on the kind of damage they did and the patterns they showed. She was glad that Alakai was beginning to pull more since she was easily keeping up. It was probably a wise choice to come here, since they would level up enough before they went to the ant dunes at night. That was going to be a lot harder since their numbers increased at night.

She arched a brow when he suggested a break, she wasn't even feeling tired, though he had a good point. They had cleared out quite a bit and it would take time for the to respawn. "That's a good idea, I've collected all sorts of gunk." She said with a grin, she loved picking up everything regardless if they were useful for not since she would always make a little extra when she sold them. She walked alongside him as they distanced themselves a little further from the village. "I'll make a camp fire," she said in case he needed time to work with his ingredients. Gathering some firewood she made a simple camp fire before she sat herself down. "Are we going to have something nice?" she asked him with curiosity. She was glad that they were further away from the village since she hadn't been fond of the smell.

Now that they were actually in the game experiencing all sorts of things she could feel and sense everything which was both a pleasure and a nuisance. "The goblins don't smell very good I hope it doesn't stick to my clothes," she said jokingly wondering if she could help him out with his cooking though she wasn't entirely sure since she hadn't any of the skill set.

[sanquin]

Kali went to make them a campfire, so Alakai decided to check his cooking skill and see what he needed. He could only make simple things for now. So cooked deer meat would have to do until he got to a higher level, when he could make things like curry, stew and soup. At least they wouldn't have to stick to just fruits and bread when they were in the wilderness. "All I have is a cooked deer meat recipe. But I have a good idea of what spices to use so it should be tasty." He replied to her as he put started unpacking the meat. "I plan to make quite a bit actually. Not just to get a higher cooking skill, but also to see what happens to food if you try to preserve it for a while in your inventory." Ingame food and drinks stayed fresh indefinitely, but maybe this world was more like the real world in that aspect. Or maybe the magical inventory would keep things fresh. Either way, it was a good idea to test it out.

Once the fire was burning, Alakai couldn't just put his cooking pot on and start cooking. The flames were still too high, so he would have to wait a little bit. Which instead gave them time to go over what kind of items they had found. "The flames need to die down a little first. So how about we go over the loot now?" He spoke, checking his inventory screen once again. "I think you picked up most items, but I have..." There was a lot of plain old junk like basic weapons, goblin ears and bones, so it took him a bit to search for the useful items. "10 times tattered cloth, 4 times leather scraps, 12 times Mackerel, light leather pants, light leather boots, two goblin shirts, and 80 gold." He finally spoke. Not too bad considering how they had killed 27 goblins already, and the fact that he had let Kali do most of the looting while he focused on getting the next group. "The tattered cloth and goblin shirts are for you of course, and the fish for me. So, what did you get?" With any luck, she had picked up a more rare item as well. Goblins could sometimes drop a health or mana potion, which would make farming even faster for them. Or even more rarely, a weapon or armour with a green name, which meant it was enchanted. Which they then of course could sell to other players.

[EveIris]

Kali nodded, though she was growing excited on the inside. "What you cooked yesterday was actually amazing, it was nice to have something so tasty especially after all the work we went through with the spiders," she replied. "Well if you can persevere food I'll probably keep a lot of it," she said with amusement as she prodded the fire with a stick. She was trying to get the fire under control since it was burning the food first, it would take a few minutes or so, but it was interesting to see since she could feel the warmth from the fire as if it was really real.

Turning her attention to him she blinked before she nodded, bringing out her inventory she glanced over to him giving him a sheepish grin. "Well it's good to pick up everything right?" she said as she glanced over at what he had. "Oh those are good, well uh I've got mostly junk. Oh, I picked up a sword, but the critical hits are kind of low. Looks like its made more for tanking," she said as she sat it down in front of her. "Um this seems kind of off but I picked up rotting boar meat?" she questioned as she pulled it out of her inventory though she turned her head when she caught how horrid it smelled. "Most of the gear is low level I'll probably sell it off. Oh! Want to try this? Preserved honey, has mana regeneration and a bit of health," she said as she offered both the rotting meat and honey to him. "You probably can't use it for cooking," she added on. There was also a rune that she had picked up but she had assumed that it would require some crafting ability, and they were high enough of a level for that stuff yet so she'd just keep it for later. Closing her inventory she let out a yawn, "Usually stuff from drops aren't very good unlike the dungeons, there will be a few items though I pretty much loot up everything so don't worry about it," she assured him. "Oh yeah hand me the cloth, I think I can do something with the tattered cloth," she said hoping that she could make use of them though her skill was still rather low. She'd have to constantly be working on it to make sure that she was leveling it as they went on.

[sanquin]

"Can't do anything with the rotting meat...and if I could I wouldn't want to. Using rotting meat for cooking doesn't exactly sound appealing..." Alakai spoke as he took the rotting meat, but then immediately deleted it. Some monsters dropped literally useless items. The rotting meat was one of them. Even shops didn't give any money for it, and with good reason in his opinion. The rune was a great addition though. And she too had picked up a few fish, and some more leather scraps. Those could be sold to players, as it was an early item for leather working. The leather armour he had found as well, as a leatherworker could de-construct them to get more materials. So far, everything that they could sell would be worth around 300 gold. A good start indeed.

Once Alakai had handed the cloth over, he started on cooking all of the fish they had gathered. He tried two at once first, and to his pleasant surprise it worked. So even though he was using the skill to cook the food, he apparently wasn't limited to one serving each time. So the second time he put 6 fish around the fire to cook, greatly speeding up his skill progression. Which would give them more time to fight after their break. "Since I'm still busy for a bit, why not try to make something with the cloth?" The man suggested, trying to optimize the time they had. He wasn't sure how long tailoring took, but if his cooking was anything to go by she would at least be able to do a little bit. Like preparing the tattered cloth into normal cloth, so it could actually be used to make something later on. Though that was about as far as his knowledge of the skill went, as he hadn't looked into higher skill levels.

Once all of the fish were cooked, Alakai's skill had gone up by 11 points. Each fish didn't quite give a full level, but it was still quite fast since the skill was still low level. Once he was done with the fish though, it was time for their actual meal. He took the deer meat and grabbed some seasoning, starting to prepare them as he waited for the fire to die down a little more. Then he put the cooking pot on, put some water in, and placed the meat inside. The first thing he wanted to buy once they were back in town was a grill so he could make grilled meat as well. Right now this would have to do though.

[EveIris]

She had to agree with the concept of using rotting meat, then again she wondered why it was even offered as an item in the first place. Then again she figured that it did make sense over why the the creatures were holding onto something like that. Either way he looked pleased with what they had gathered since most of the stuff could be sold. She was mostly happy with the rune since it was a great addition to their collection of goods. She took the cloth and watched him work at his cooking. Though he did suggest she work with her skills. "It'll take a while actually." Opening up he inventory she took out her basic starter kit along with the materials she needed. Depending on what she wanted to do, it took a requirement of time to do. Much longer than his cooking however the concept was simple. It worked as levels. She would have to create the basic material first before it could be used with simple materials, like straps or bags. There were also types of clothing that required enchantments which meant additional items that could be forged onto the material to give it unique proper stats.

"I guess I'll get started on this. Raise my level so that the next time this goes a lot faster," she said as she got to work. She was still working on the cloth by the time Alakai finished. Though she hadn't really noticed until he had called her out. Finally putting down the half finished cloth she saw quite a bit of food spread out in front of her. There was some fish and even meat. It looked good and actually smelled incredibly good. "Wow, this really looks good, I'm glad you didn't use any of that rotting meat," she said jokingly as she returned her work back to her inventory so she could get ready to eat. After this they would be headed back to the Anthills to continue leveling up and collecting goods for their secondary skill set.

[sanquin]

(Imo, though she should 'work' on tailoring, I don't see a reason why it couldn't work as a skill in a game. As in, after working on it for a while the materials change into the crafted item. :) )

"That's the problem with skills. They start out as a chore. But once you get them high enough they will become a huge source of income. Tailoring more so than cooking, actually. So if you keep at it, you will soon be able to sell things for a lot of money." Alakai replied. He was actually a bit jealous of her having picked a good money making skill, while he had picked one that helped more with levelling later on. Then again, if they remained a team they would be sharing most things anyway. So they could benefit from each other's crafting skills.

Alakai started on a piece of meat right away. The fish had more juices, so they would still be quite hot. And he didn't want to burn his tongue while eating, if that was still possible. It probably was though. One he had finished the meat he thought for a bit, looked at the sun, and thought again. "Seems we're a tiny bit ahead of schedule. And we haven't killed all goblins yet. Actually, I planned on skipping him, but maybe we can go and take out the goblin leader before we leave for the anthills. Unlike the rest, he should have a good chance to drop a magical item. And, if I recall correctly, it has a very low chance to drop a signal horn. In the game, you could summon three goblins to fight for you for a minute, with an hour cooldown. If that drops, we could use it to help in the harder fights." They were almost at the goblin leader's cave anyway, having cleared out most of the village already. So it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. And the rewards could potentially be incredibly useful.

Once the man had finished two fish as well, and once Kali had taken her share, he put the rest of the cooked fish in his inventory. If they were still good to eat once they were back, it would mean he could cook food items they found while adventuring, and sell them in the city. It wouldn't earn them much, but every little bit helped. Especially since he was aiming for a store-bought weapon at level 25. It would cost 3000 gold, so 6000 for the both of them. In the game it was a PvP starter item. The only one you could buy for gold. And after calculating the pro's and con's of several weapons at that level, he had determined that it was the best weapon to get without having to put too much time into it, even for PvE. Since you could make the gold while reaching that level. "I'm ready when you are. So, shall we go fight the goblin leader, or head to the anthills immediately?" Alakai asked Kali, not being able to pick himself. As both choices were about equally good right now.

[EveIris]

((Ah okay, that works too haha))

She was actually surprised that her skill would end up paying that much later on in the game. She hadn't really put too much thought into it when she had decided to go with tailoring. "Too be frank, I wanted it because I thought I could things that looked aesthetically appealing with good stats, I guess that really isn't the case since I haven't much control over how it looks," she admitted. It was a little late for that now since she wasn't really too interested in the other skills that the game had offered.

When the food had cooled off she went ahead and finished the rest, enjoying the taste of it. It was cooked well and surprisingly seasoned too. Still she had to wonder if she would miss the food she had back in the real world since she wasn't entirely sure of the options they had here. Perhaps Alakai could make it if given the right ingredients of course. Glancing up at him she wiped her mouth and thought about it. Taking out the leader sounded good, it was stronger and the drop items were a lot better than rotting meat. Though she hadn't really liked the thought of having additional goblins, not if they smelled the way they did right now. It was something she found herself getting used to in this game. "Yeah we might as well finish the boss off and head to the anthills. By morning we can try find a neighboring town, get some quests and grind a bit," she suggested. Getting up she returned most of her things back into the inventory before she began making her way towards the cave.

"Let's hurry it up then," she mentioned. Thankfully the cave was well lit by what she assumed to be were glow worms. It lit the way rather well and she had to admit it was a pretty sight for such a filthy place. "Who dares disrupt me!?" The walls of the cave shook with the booming voice as she noticed a dark figure standing at the back. There was a small fire and what seemed to be leftover meat along with a carcass on the side. The leader slowly stood up, showing off his large belly. He was a lot bigger compared to his lackeys, though probably just as ugly. "You ready?" she asked Alakai knowing it would charge right at them at any given second since it had heard them come in.

[sanquin]

Once both were done, Alakai put the fire out and scattered the charcoal a little. It might not make much of a difference, but this way he felt it would have less of an impact on it's surroundings. Plus it would leave less traces that they were even there. Maybe an unneeded precaution, but they couldn't know for sure in this strange land full of magic and game mechanics. The way to the cave at the back of the village was clear. They had killed at least 75% of the village by now, and the place looked rather empty. Maybe the other normal goblins that were still left hid themselves or something. Though the chief clearly hadn't done so. As soon as they entered a booming voice spoke to them. And at the back a goblin, at least one and a half times as big as the others slowly got up from the ground.

Kali asked if he was ready, and he just gave a grin of excitement back. The knowledge of being able to respawn had put his mind at ease, and because of that a goblin village chief like this didn't exactly scare him any more. Their enemy being two levels below them helped a lot as well, though. Since they had been able to take on the spiders, which were equal to or slightly above their level.

Alakai charged right ahead knowing that if he didn't do so, the chief would come to them anyway. And the cave was large enough for him to dodge and move around as much as he wanted. He started off with a normal kick to the chief's legs. Though it had already grabbed it's large wooden club, and blocked the attack. "Puny hooman, Krunk crush!" The creature bellowed, taking a step back and swinging it's large club at Alakai. In turn, the man dodged to the side, and started attacking once again. This would be a rather easy fight it seemed. At least compared to the spider boss they had fought the day before.

[EveIris]

Kali was more than pleased to be fighting such a weak and simple boss. He looked a lot bigger than she had thought he would be, however he was slower compared to Alakai. The fight was short and quick, because of his much larger size Kali had insisted he tried to use his lack of speed against him. It was easy to topple the the creature and gain the upper hand. He cried out when the final blow was dealt as his body fell limp. His mouth gaping open and his eyes rolled back and Kali could have sworn he suddenly smelled a lot worse being on the ground compared to when he was standing. Though his corpse stayed items appeared around the body as she moved over and began inspecting them. She was surprised that he had dropped a signal horn, though it wasn't an item they would need she wondered if Alakai would sell it or attempt to use it.

Picking up a few of the things she handed him the horn. "It was worth it, the loot is good." She said with a slight smile as she put the items away in her inventory though she began organizing it. "We should get out of here, it smells," she mumbled as she began walking back from where they had come from. "Hey Alakai, you should think about putting that item up in the auction house. It'll be worth a lot since it's a rare item, but if you decide to keep it, I think it binds to you, which might mean you can't sell it later on if you don't want it" she said. She had briefly read through it before she had given it to him, so it was worth mentioning. Plus she didn't think they would need the extra help with them leveling fairly fast. That and she was worried about the awful smell they carried with them. "We should get going now, we're actually making good time," she brought up though she was mostly waiting for him to call his mount. Since the boss had died a lot quicker than she planned that left them with more time to farm at the ant hills.

[sanquin]

Alakai looked at the item, scratching his head as he did. "I don't know...it can still be pretty useful. In the game the item would become useless around level 25 to 30. But as we've found out fighting isn't exactly the same here. Three goblins to fight for you for a while is a lot more dangerous here. And since we're aiming for as high a level as possible, as fast as possible, I think the extra help is more useful. I'll just keep it for now and see about selling it or not later." They had plenty of other things to sell already. With any luck some people in the city were already would be selling things as well. Like shoes and headgear they could use. As they didn't have either yet, apart from the starter shoes without armour on them.

Once they were outside of the cave Alakai summoned Khronos, and quickly got on. Kali seemed to have enjoyed riding him a lot, but it was still his mount. And at least for the moment, he didn't want to miss any opportunity to ride his tiger himself. It was too much fun. Though she could also take the reigns every now and then. And around level 25 they would hopefully have enough for her to buy something as well. The first mounts she could buy were horses though. Tiger mounts, and other such exotic creatures, didn't appear until after level 50 normally.

Once Kali was sitting behind him, he took off into the direction of the ant hills. Or at least, he thought it was the right direction. Following the path was easy enough, but now they were traversing the wilds. So it was hard to find your way around without a map and compass. All he had to go off was landmarks and the like, that he remembered from the game. "You know, the first thing we should buy in town once we get back is a map and compass!" He commented, his voice a little louder to counteract the wind rushing by. "First the anthills though! I think I'll be able to reach level 20 today, which means I'll get my first taunt skill! And you should be able to get level 18 I think!" After today they would most likely have at least a 3 to 5 level head start on most other players.

There were always players like him that were rushed ahead of everyone else, though he wasn't bothered with them. They were usually the people starting up guilds and eventually reaching the top of the playerbase with their guilds. Something that would keep them busy enough. What Alakai was worried about was the pvpers. No doubt there were also players that loved pvp, and with anything you wanted to do taking hours of travel time in this world, some of them might resort to pvp instead. Dying might not be permanent for players, but Alakai still didn't like the idea of doing so at all. The two of them being a team, and certainly a few levels ahead of the pvpers, put his mind at ease a little.

[EveIris]

Kali got on Khronos with ease though she didn't feel the need to hold onto Alakai too tightly she was used to the speed that he ran at. Still she couldn't help but enjoy the view the game world offered them. The sun would be setting in a couple of hours since they had gotten ahead of time. Smiling slightly she let out a content sigh. She couldn't wait to explore this world, she wasn't a huge fan of pvp or quests but she wanted the achievements. Doing certain things granted certain items or titles in the game. Some of which were incredibly rare. She laughed at hearing how excited he was, hitting level twenty was fast, she figured that the rest were probably around level 10 and beginning their climb whereas they were far ahead. Which meant they could explore places before they could.

Farming up at the anthills had gone a lot quicker than she expected. The managed to clear out most of them within a couple of hours and got additional items to sell. All that was left was to head back to the town and sell the goods.True to his word, he had managed to hit level 20 whereas she had hit level 18. With every level she could feel her spells growing stronger. She was able to heal more and a quicker time span though it was harder to keep Alakai full because his health was increasing with his level. Thankfully she would only have to worry about that later on since they were doing well as they were now.

She was excited about the money that was going to come in because they had been collecting throughout the day, her inventory was full. Buying a map and compass was a good idea too since they could move to the next town and continue with quests and stronger monsters. As they entered town she couldn't help but notice the fewer amount of players hanging around. She figured they were either out grinding or maybe they were at the tavern having a drink. "We should should go sell everything we collected and have an early night so we can leave tomorrow morning." She suggested to him. An early start meant that they could start the day at the new town with the quests, she wasn't sure but she didn't like moving around at night since she was aware that certain areas had a lot more monsters when the sun dropped. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of dying either, even if it was safe she was unsure of how many times one could die. They could all have a secret limit that no one was aware about.

[sanquin]

(Not -too- fast... :P There's still one more little thing that I planned before the skip. But after that we can skip a week or so.)

There were indeed less players in town. But at the same time, there were still plenty around. Some were recruiting for their guilds, others were still too afraid of going outside, and yet others were desperately trying to buy materials for their crafts. Those first and last ones were the smart ones of course. A larger guild meant more influence in a city of adventurers. Also more area they could cover, stronger monsters they could handle. A whole variety of things really. And the crafters wanting materials had realized that, if they weren't up for fighting, they could still get ahead in other ways. Even so, it seemed like at least half of all players weren't really doing anything. As they headed for the crafters that were buying, several people started flocking towards the two of them again. It had only been two days, but they were already recognized by the observant few. The tiger mount was rare, and they were one of the very few going out with a group smaller than 5. Plus, they were the first ones to come back from going outside. And back then there had been a large group that took notice.

"Yo! Two brave combatants going out without fear, how about joining our combat guild? We're planning to be dungeon ready within two weeks!" One asked as he reached them. A guild recruiter, clearly. But already Alakai was getting nervous again. He didn't like this kind of attention at all when you actually had to meet people face to face. "I uh...no thanks! We're...in a hurry, sorry!" Alakai spoke quickly before spurring Khronos to quickly run to their destination. They had just over 100 ant claws, 15 leathers, around 80 different food ingredients, and 10 copper to sell. Plus the 4 green items they could put on the auction house. He was glad that they had an auction house, as they could just leave the items there, set the price they wanted, and let the npc's handle the rest. No interaction with people needed there.

The crafting materials were sold quite easily. They were still rare, so the ones buying were willing to give a good price for everything, after a little bit of haggling. 3293 gold in total. Which already brought them just over halfway towards Alakai's goal. The four greens he put up at the auction house for a total of 900 gold. They were worth more in the game, but people still barely had any money. So the lower price made sure they would sell quickly. And finally they could go to the inn. Something Alakai wasn't looking forward to as no doubt there would be more people trying to recruit them to guilds.

[EveIris]

((Oh right haha alright.Lead the way :3))

Kali was surprised to be given the amount of attention they were receiving, she figured others would have gone out of their way and tried to level up. Well least they were grouping up, that would make leveling up a lot easier and the gear would be a lot better if they were to frequently go to the dungeons. She couldn't help but glance to the side when they were approached by someone. Immediately they were asked to join a guild, which was rather surprising since they had only been in the game for a couple of days. Turning her attention back to Alakai she took notice of how awkward he had replied him though she couldn't help but grab onto Alakai when Khronos began sprinting.

When they finally came to a stop they sold what they needed to sell, Kali however was ecstatic with the amount they had. She had completely forgotten about Alakai's behavior once they were given the cash. It was a strange thing she often did in games. Collecting money always made her feel accomplished, even if she max capped a character in other games she would still collect junk despite already being well off, because to her there was no harm in getting richer. In fact it made the game experience way more enjoyable plus she could buy whatever she wanted as well.

"We off to the inn?" she asked him seeing that they were done. The street lamps were lit but it was mostly empty since she figured everyone went ahead back indoors. "I hope they have a room, the inn was pretty packed the day before," she mentioned honestly. She could recall how packed the inn was the day before, though she did hope that a few people left town. Then again it was unlikely. When they finally reached the inn, she couldn't help but groan. It was as packed as the day before, in fact it seemed a lot more busy as well.

[sanquin]

The two headed to the inn, where once again it was packed with people. Many people were apparently still afraid to go outside, even though they would revive if they died. Though he didn't blame them. Most people weren't brave enough to fight all kinds of scary monsters when they had basically become real. To Alakai, this still felt like a game though. So maybe it was just a different mindset about the whole situation they were all in. Plus, some people were in groups talking to each other. So maybe they were making plans for the next day instead, choosing to spend the evening and night at the inn just like him and Kali had decided.

Alakai didn't order any food, instead opening his inventory to get some of the food he had cooked during their break. And to his surprise, it was even still warm. As if his inventory worked like suspended animation, time only starting to move again for the object once it was taken out. Which was a very useful bit of information, as that meant they only had to get food maybe once every two days. The rest of his inventory space needed to be kept for loot. He handed Kali some cooked deer meat as well. They would have to do with eating with their hands for now, but it was a lot better than eating the tasteless food from the inn itself.

As they were eating, a man in brightly coloured leather and cloth armour with a lute on his back walked up to the two of them, immediately patting Alakai on the back as he did. "Alakai, there's no doubt about it! I didn't think you would be stuck in the game as well!" Alakai blinked, looking at the man and frowning. "Ehm...do I...know you?" He asked slightly nervously. "What, did you forget your old pal Sam already?" The man asked, grinning widely. "Samuel? I thought you didn't buy Elder Tale!" Alakai replied, starting to smile slightly as well. "Got it as a gift from my parents for good grades. Add me to your friends list man, and introduce me to this lovely lady over here~" He turned to Kali, giving a slight nod. "Ah, well, this is Kali. I helped her during the early access days, and we levelled together a few times. Kali, this is Samuel, or just Sam. We used to be in a raiding guild together in another game." Alakai explained, not sure what else to say. "Nice to meet you." Sam spoke to Kali, deciding he could join them, as he sat on one of the empty chairs. "I'm a bard as you might have guessed. So if you ever need some moral support and buffs, give me a call!"

[EveIris]

The inn was somewhat loud from the chatter of people, though every table seemed to be taken. She however wasn't too surprised to find that not many of the tables had any food on them. Perhaps the others noticed that the taste was lacking or maybe they could not afford it since money was made by doing quests or killing creatures. Still plenty of players came to check how things were going with the other players. That and to find guilds since they seemed to be growing. They had managed to find a small table at the corner, it was close to the bar but she hadn't planned on having any drinks tonight. She watched Alakai take out some of his food though she couldn't help but grin. "Good thing there isn't a sign that says no outside food huh?" she teased him as she took the meat off him. She held it in her hands for a little bit, enjoying the tiny bit of warmth it provided.

She went ahead and ate with her hands, not minding it one bit. It wasn't too oily and she was positive that she couldn't get sick in this world. She tore into smaller bits before she popped it into her mouth, though couldn't help but notice how it tasted exactly how it did before. Like the meat had just been cooked. However she had noticed someone patting on Alakai's back, momentarily she stopped eating. She listened quietly seeing that the two knew each other in the real world. She smiled and gave a slight wave when he introduced her to him. "Nice to meet ya, Sam." She said as a screen popped up in front of her. She added him to her friend-list before she offered him a smile. "We sure will. Are you in a guild already? I see people scouting around, they did come up to us as well," she brought up.

[sanquin]

"A guild? Nah, not yet. I'm not making decisions that important on a whim. As most people have realized, we seem to be stuck in this world for at least quite some time. So I want to join a guild I actually like, you know." The man grinned and turned to Alakai again, prodding him a little. "How about you make a guild? I'll join you, and I think Kali would too. I'm sure I can find some more people as well." Alakai quickly shook his head at the suggestion. "Just thinking about it makes me nervous! I'm not the guild master type. I like small groups more..." "And planning every detail of dungeon encounters down to double digit hp and mana." Samuel chimed in, still grinning. "Well, if you do plan to join a guild or make one some time, give me a call. As for right now, I'm needed at the front gate in about half an hour. I agreed to tank for a party that's going out hunting crafting ingredients. See you two soon okay?" The man pretty much left as quickly as he joined them after that. Even though there didn't seem to be much haste behind his appointment yet.

"So...that was Samuel. The top tank in the guild we were both in in another game I played for a year or two called ArcheAge. I guess, as he said, I was kind of the planner behind the raids we did. Though it never felt that way to me." Back in that game he did all the planning ahead of time, since, just like during their spider boss fight, he tended to lose awareness about everything but what he was fighting if they were fighting any kind of hard enemy or boss.

"Uhm...anyway...I guess we'll be seeing him more often. I would feel pretty safe if he came with us to dungeons... So...ah...time for bed I guess?" He had finished his food already, and was taken aback enough about what had just happened that he didn't even realise Kali might still be eating.

[EveIris]

Kali hadn't really seen that sort of decision as an important one since leaving was fairly easy however it was a different case being in the game itself. Relationships would have to be built up on trust and there was plenty of smaller issues that came with guilds that now played a role when it came to joining one just as Alakai's friend pointed out. "Guilds do offer special bonuses, extra experience and items. Also there's the bank and auction house bonuses too." She casually pointed out though it seemed like Alakai wasn't keen on being a guild master. She didn't mind it either way since she mostly wanted to level up quickly. She waved his friend goodbye before she turned her attention back to Alakai.

"That's actually pretty impressive. I knew you played games before but you're fairly experienced huh?" she lightly teased. "It'll be good doing raids or dungeons with you for sure," she said knowing that he would plan it out in detail so they wouldn't waste time figuring things out. Finishing her food she went ahead and wiped her fingers on a napkin found on the table. "Oh yeah, we should sleep if we want to get a early start," she said with realization as she got off her seat. "I'll get us a room," she said having realized that she hadn't done so. She was back within minutes with a key as she motioned for him to follow her up. Again she had gotten a room with two beds since it was cheaper than two separate rooms.

"Sorry, I kind of got us the same room we had last night." She said once she opened the door. Making her way in first she went ahead and settled onto the first bed she caught sight of as she let out a sigh of content. "Do you think we actually need to sleep? I mean I notice how we can sleep but is it really needed?"

[sanquin]

"Ah...it's fine..." Alakai spoke. Though that wasn't exactly true. Once again they would be sleeping in the same room. And he was already nervous about it again. Rather explicit images popped up in his head as he saw Kali get into one of the beds. Swallowing hard he quickly pushed those images away, both for fear of being found out and of not being able to sleep for most of the night again. The man quickly blew out the candles on his side as to not reveal his bright red face to her, then got into the second bed.

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A full week passed rather quickly. Alakai and Kali kept up with their daily routine of leveling as quickly as possible. Sadly, once they got to the next area at the beach, it was already night. And since they had bought camping equipment, they hadn't been able to spend any time at the beach itself. But there would soon be time for that. Even though Alakai wanted to continue leveling as much as possible, he knew there were benefits to taking a break every now and then. So today, they would be going to the beach on a day off.

This was the perfect time as well. He was level 28, and had learned his threat buff. And Kali had learned a new spell and her healing had become quite a bit more powerful as well. His cooking had now reached the level where his food could give temporary buffs like a bit of hp regeneration, or a slight single stat boost. Which he of course used to give him regeneration, and her a bit more intellect. And Kali's tailoring skill had reached the level where she could make green items. They both had an almost fully crafted cloth set, apart from the chest which was still the same item they had gotten from the quest when they just began. And their weapons were now the ones you got from what used to be the pvp vendor. Their chest armour needed replacing as soon as possible though.

All this had been in preparation for the first dungeon. It was a level 24 to 27 dungeon. So they were ready for it. The problem was finding three other people to join them. Most smaller guilds had been absorbed by the larger guilds by now. 5 huge guilds and 8 fairly large guilds remained, along with a dozen or two small guilds of at most 15 people that kept in the background. The largest guilds had all tried to invite Alakai and Kali, or the wandering duo as people had started to call them. Though all offers had been refused. All those guilds wanted was the duo's reputation. Two people, barely staying in towns and always wandering the lands to train. Not just that, but succeeding in keeping up with the large guilds most likely. To the other adventurers, Alakai and Kali were a kind of prize to show off to others if they decided to join. That, along with Alakai really not feeling comfortable with being part of such a large group, resulted in their current predicament. Either find a guild to join, bet on the very small chance that they could find people for the dungeon without joining one, or giving up on dungeons for now. And Alakai felt that option three wasn't really an option at all.

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As he did every morning, Alakai was meditating on his bed. He had found out that, while meditating didn't seem to give any buffs, it did help his mind keep more calm. Which was rather useful since Kali was still oblivious to him being a guy and her being a girl apparently. At least he had gotten a little bit more used to sleeping in the same room or tent, so he was actually able to get a good night's rest now. Once he finished meditating the man headed downstairs to meet Kali and get breakfast. She was probably already done eating by now though. Alakai had made an arrangement with the inn keeper to share his method for food with actual taste, on the condition that the two of them could eat for free and that it was kept a secret. At least now the whole city could enjoy meals with taste. And the inn had basically become the place to get breakfast and dinner for every adventurer in the city. They had even hired more staff, at the request of adventurers, to open a 'meals to go' section. An idea that was entirely new to the people of the land. So Kali no longer had to wait for him to get breakfast.

Once downstairs he sat at the same table they were always sitting, a bit away from the busy crowd. A special table the owner had reserved just for them as a thank you for sharing Alakai's cooking method. "Morning. Ready for our day off yet?" He asked, looking forward to it himself quite a bit. They always had far too little time to just take in the sights of this magical world. But today it would be different.