@ZelosseSmarter'n'meDay 14 SunsetThe sunset was splendid. It looked like the sun was setting an ocean of diamonds on fire. Gorgeous crimson and violet danced with ruddy orange and the purest gold over the deep lake that covered the southern portion of the first floor. Such a magnificent view, only good company could make it better. It was a pity that the only company around were the snakes, lizards and flies. Still, it had been a grand day for hunting.
This player had been keeping the snakes, in particular, company for a day or two. He had seen a few other players come across the bridge to this island. He had seen some run back toward Bull's Run and some died before having the chance to teleport. One managed to craft some good armor for him before returning to town. But, the others just kept picking fights without learning how to dodge properly first. It was a shame that so many of the young were being cut down, but it was their own choice to ignore how far they were from town and their arrogance that led to them underestimating their enemies. The worst sign of their weakness was that they didn't know how to watch and wait before attacking.
Sadly, many of those who underestimated the giant snakes did so because they saw an old man beating them. They didn't wait and watch. They didn't stop to think about the gear the old man had or how he fought. They simply assumed that the old couldn't fight well. Thinking like that, their guard was down when they encountered their first one. Several hadn't lived long enough to even get their guard back up. Yet, to a man, they had all moved away from where this old man was before picking a fight. This world was taking a toll in blood that was far too high. But, life did the same to those who took its dangers lightly. There really was no difference.
The old man on the island stood up straight and as tall as his six feet could handle and spotted two large water snakes that had just respawned about ten meters ahead of him. Their bodies were about a foot wide and they had pronounced fangs. They were about twenty feet long too and they liked to spring out of the water in sudden lunges. They were also level 13 monsters. Though, they were tricky too. They only attacked when prompted by loud noises. Until then they stayed just under the water surface and blended in with the large floating lilypads that hugged the shoreline on the whole south side of the island.
He cried out his challenge, the third version of it since he started that morning. "Do you measly spam-bots know why you can't beat an old man? It's cause you're not smarter'n'me. Why is that? I'm Smarter'n'me! That's why!" He finished with a derisive cackle, finding his own joke too funny to ignore.
The serpents began to move, reducing their visibility from the surface, as they coiled underwater. Then they lunged, snapping forward one after the other, breaking the surface of the water with a violent explosion of spray. Then they slid to a stop on land. The first one to lunge stayed still for a moment before dissolving into azure sparkles. The other one looked around for its prey, swinging its head right and left. Then it was driven into the dust by a blunt skill from above and decapitated by a sword skill before it could recover. A moment later it joined its companion in the twinkling blue of destiny's middle finger, raised high with its back to the world.
Smarter'n'me was done here. Those were the last two that he intended to fight for awhile. He wanted to check out this gorge to the north. Fast and tricky enemies were one thing he was used to. Up there, there were supposed to be armored enemies with high hit points. That would be more interesting than this place. It was becoming depressing since he never saw anyone pass him victoriously on the way back to town from that second island. He turned to the north and began to lope along toward the bridge. His strides were gentle jumps and they each carried him about eight feet or so at a swift ground eating pace. He wasn't interested in the end of the gorge close to town. He was guaranteed to be too strong for that bunch. He had heard about more powerful monsters at the eastern end of the gorge but that the place was a little bit of a maze and people kept getting lost. He didn't have the time for that.
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Day 16 Sunset---------------------------
Smarter was living up to his name. He had managed to find a route through the rough cliffs and jagged mountains that seperated the gorge from the lake. There was a mountain path but it was rugged and only went to the middle of the gorge. After that he had to swing around a mountain and follow the edge of the gorge east. The ground was loose in places and the going would have been really slow if he wasn't jumping the whole way. There were monsters there, annoying flying versions of a giant ant that kept trying to mess up his landings and a bunch of crawling beasties that weren't fast enough to catch up. But, he made it through without too much trouble. The poor things were only level six or seven after all for the first half of the trip.
The journey through that rough terrain took a couple days but it would probably have taken another few if he had tried to go through the gorge like everyone else. Still, it was hard going. Even in his prime Smarter would have been unable to maintain this pace. This VR gaming had some serious perks. It was a pity that so many young brats were cluttering it up.
He avoided battles as much as possible and only slept a few hours. He hadn't been able to sleep for more than four or five in years anyway. And so, he arrived at the eastern end of the gorge as another magnificent sunset was painting the land with its glory. It was a beautiful sight and he still had some stamina left so it was time to go looking for what kind of prey was to be found. He jumped on top of a tall boulder to survey the landscape and took a searching look around, for all the world looking like a spindly scarecrow in snake leather tights trying to do interpretive dance... or yoga.
Smarter'n'me finally spotted something interesting. Not pleasant, but interesting. That beard was visible even at this distance and only one person in this whole binary world would dare wear it. It had to be him. That goat-faced-rat-nibbling-son-of-a-barber's-jilted-teenager was in for it now! Beating him here. Pah! Smarter jumped down and fell into a leaping run, headed straight toward the other old man, his own beard rippling in the wind in spite of being shorter and better trimmed than that of his quarry.
From a long distance off he could be faintly heard shouting. As he came bounding closer his endless stream of improvised profanity could be heard quite clearly. "You claim-jumping-son-of-a-bird-dog! You're so dumb that you licked a fire hydrant with your back end by mistake and still got stuck! How did you get the first three horrors of the world free long enough to get here before me you jack-rabbit-kissing-sack-of-excrement-water!"
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TailpinDay 16 AfternoonSo, Tailpin moved through the market, stall by stall. He bought a little here and a little there. When it came to antidotes and other remedy items he stuck with venders since the quality was always stable and reliable. For healing potions, though, he went with players. Those who seemed to be more established as business owners but had lower quality potions didn't claim much of his coin even though he never just window shopped. He managed to locate a small stall with above average potions that had been pushed out of the best spots and just inside the mouth of an alley by other player stalls. The stall owner, Frag'u'Berrymuch, knew a lot more about potions than about business.
Their conversation was brief but by the end of it the name of World Walkers was known to the shopkeeper and more than fifty potions had changed hands along with a sizeable pouch of coin. Tailpin didn't know enough about business management to advise the shopkeeper much but he did drop a hint about his name's marketability. The shopkeeper, an avid player of first person shooters before falling for the hype about SAO, decided to go by a couple nicknames and get a sign for his stall. And so, as the archer walked away with the highest quality potions he could find, Frag and his newly named store "Fragberry's" were hard at work with a future that might be a little brighter.
Tailpin was not confident in his advice but making a contact for World Walkers was always something that the Guild Leader should know about. Especially since the potions were about 50% better than standard and only cost 110% of the vendor version price. He paid 120% without Frag noticing. He racked off a PM.
DELCASTLE, NEW BUSINESS CONTACT.
PROMISING POTION BREWER
NO BUSINESS SENSE. GETTING PUSHED OUT
"Frag'u'Berrymuch", GOES BY FRAGBERRY OR FRAG
ALLEY MOUTH MARKET STALL ALCHEMIST SQUARE NORTH SIDE
IF YOU WANT TO CHECK QUALITY WE CAN MEET UP ANYWHERE YOU WANT.
I HAVE SAMPLES.
Tailpin moved on, purchasing a number of teleport crystals and other simple supplies. He also purchased some player made travel rations. It seemed that they were large crackers but they had a number of flavors that was ridiculous. The man had actually managed a celery flavored cracker. It was odd. Still, he purchased a number of the snacks that looked to be more satisfying flavors and then moved to the central square to take stock. He still had a serviceable amount of coin left but not enough for more arrows or anything like that. JIC supplies were still pricey. But, he still had a lot of unsold loot. Hopefully, Delcastle would find a good value buyer or a craft that needed that kind of material. Though he had little faith when it came to the hide. "Dirty Dog Fur" didn't look like it had much real value. Though it did seem to have an attribute. "Greasy" didn't sound very beneficial but it might have some use elsewhere.
With that thought slowly taking root in his mind, Tailpin sat on the ground with his back to a building and began to think. His skills were most of what was on his mind. Refining hadn't proven very useful yet, though it probably would later. He hadn't even tried Synthesis since he had only been collecting the two types of component. He pulled out a piece of Poisoned Flesh and took another look at its description.
"Toxic, huh." He mumbled aloud as he held the rigid lump of green material in his hand. "Toxic and Greasy." Maybe those would make for some authentic American food. The thought made him grin. But there had to be a use for them. He just had to find out what.
Red Gypsy