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Corona (Lv.3) / Andrew > Corona: hey are you still alive or did you fall in a hole "I don't even know if my former guild is still intact and to be honest with you, with millions of other players around, there's strength in numbers." Was this really the partner that he wanted, though? Surely he could find someone more confident of their abilities. But right now this is what he had, so he'd better make the best of it."Huh, now that you mention it. I should probably check on my guild. They were all shouting in the channel before, so I muted it," Terrigan said and pulled up the channel in question again. The first message that popped up was one from another cat-like DAEMON who Terrigan didn't know well in person but certainly knew of. > LGDClaw : Rachel here. Bring me a soda, and don't die. In that order. Meet me in monster zones or something if you're alive! She sighed as she turned her attention back to Corona and considered her options. She didn't know when or if LGDClaw would reach her and Karista and her other friends seemed to be out of the game already. Maybe in CLOUDLAND. "Would you... Since the two of us seem to not want to kill each other for the time being, what do you say to teaming up on this floor and doing a quest or two? Just to get our levels up. I hate feeling this weak." Corona was pretty sure he'd been jokingly banned from the SENATE's channel before the revolution and wasn't unbanned, therefore he was unable to mass contact his guild. For all he knew, they could have rendezvoused somewhere and were building their ranks again. Corona couldn't help but repeat "strength in numbers." Turning back to Terrigan, he sighed and said, yet again flatly, "I guess that's what we need to do, huh? I wouldn't mind doing a couple of quests. Being low-leveled is rather intimidating, given the circumstances." This time, Terrigan did let a little relieved smile show at his reply. Corona pulled up a list of quests on his HUD, considering each one carefully. The direction that each was in would probably have some sort of gravity on reaching the next floor, depending on the location of the portal. Or portals. Everything was probably changed around from the game they formerly knew, but there are basic elements to an RPG that ICARUS was likely forced to follow. "It's very unlikely that there will be a portal in the town, but that's where we'll be able to buy supplies and perhaps low level weapon packs. However, that'll cost Spheres and we need to complete quests for that. There's probably limited resources in a hilly area so the quests in the Deep Forest will be the most challenging... but also the most rewarding." Terrigan considered that for a moment. She did have control over her own key, so she was not desperate. Normally, she might have wanted to play it safe and go for the hill, but she was really eager to get her hands on some better gear. Especially if it could mean an advantage against people who were slower than them. "Life's a challenge, right?" she therefore muttered. "I'm not afraid." And truly: she wasn't. At least not yet. "If we get a move on, we might get our hands on a good quest before these people who seem to stand around trying to choose a leader in their group or something." Corona nodded. "Yeah, I imagine if guilds have disbanded new ones will start forming and some real superpowers. Maybe we could be one of those..." Corona's voice trailed off in a grunt. He checked the direction of the forest once more and started off in that general way, Terrigan following in his wake like before. |
Lady Raptor // Master Spark May 25th, 2025 :: New York, New York, USA // Baltimore, Maryland, USA :: 2:06 pm EST Level 2 :: Fencer Class // Level 2 :: Animist Class Forever Alone, Surrounded By Wolves FLOOR 1: PLAINS Colette glanced at the words that appeared on her HUD, looking around the area a moment later. Plains. The place was aptly named. She could think of no name more creative than "Plains" for this vast expanse of plains. No, wait, she could think of a thousand names more creative. Oh well, she had bigger problems to deal with. It was nearing dawn in-game, though for her the sun had risen hours ago in real life. That meant that it was dark out and visibility was slightly restricted. Still, she could see other players appearing all across the plains as they too stepped through the portal. She opened up her friends list and sent a message. Group Chat Lady Raptor, Killer Ivy, Necrolord, Shadow Panther, Wargrár [Lady Raptor] I'm on the plains now. You guys around? Colette turned back to the man that tagged along with her. "I'm heading north now. You can either come with or run off into the sunrise. So long as you don't get in my way, I don't really care what you choose." "Well I can't say that I worry about your safety, heh..." Spark let out a wry, weak laugh. "You seem to be able to take care of yourself, but at the same time it wouldn't hurt. After all, I wouldn't really feel good about letting you go out alone after you helped me out back there. It wouldn't be right." He twirled his bell around in his hand, causing it to ring lightly and chaotically. "Besides, even if this thing isn't a sword or the like, I can manage. And my guildmaster seems to have things under control with the other members." He looked away. "Probably has more experience at this point than most players, I'd imagine." Spark checked his messages almost frantically with the tapping of his feet anxiously in time. He'd received a few messages from his guild mates, most of them assuring safety, advising that they get to the guild, and so on and so forth. Guildmaster Yukari only sent the one from earlier, but this was likely because she knew that the guild could handle itself. That might have even been her own way of ensuring his safety. But he didn't see a message from Kainz, which meant he was still having his Blue Screen of Death, was pissed off, or he was dead. None of those situations were really ideal, but he could handle being peeved at. "So be it," Colette stated after a brief moment of silence. She turned north and began walking. "I'm meeting back up with my friends. They're headed towards the Deep Forest area." With that, they both began walking in relative silence. ♫ϟ☮ϟ♫ As the two progressed, Spark felt a growing feeling of irritation. His weapon constantly tapped against his leg, creating a brief chime that quickly waned with each step. He considered unequipping it, but he didn't feel particularly safe walking into a place called the "Deep Forest" unarmed, especially since his class didn't have the best defensive stats. He also considered playing some light music, but it seemed like the best thing to do at that point in time was make conversation. "So, what's..." Spark hesitated, realizing that the woman might have responded abrasively, and even give him the cold shoulder. Considering the circumstances, however, it would have been justified. "...I'm Master Spark. Spark for short." Colette pushed a low tree branch out of her way, moving ever deeper into the forest. "As far as usernames go," Colette said, "mine's Lady Raptor." She made her way past a few more trees and into a small clearing. She looked around, taking in the environment. By now she should be nearing her friends, but she couldn't sense anything. Her detection skills sucked now that she had been reduced to factory settings. That also meant that she could sense enemies. Well, until they made a rustling in the bushes and leaped out at her. Colette ducked as the creature jumped past her, growling. "Oh, nice. Guess it's wolf time." As they stood there, the rest of the pack of wolves began to fill into the clearing from the surrounding forest. The circled the two players, looking prepared to pounce and, with them being only level two players, deadly. "Get ready to protect your arse," Colette muttered to Spark. She readied her sword and eyed the canines in front of her. From her count, there were six wolves around them. Quite the fair number. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He took his bell in hand and checked his Skills Menu. Skills: Buffs/Debuffs: 100% Cotton "Eh...well, better than nothing, I guess. Certainly beats the overly cautious route." Spark said in a bit of a huff. In truth, it was better than he was expecting. He cast 100% Cotton on himself, keeping a careful watch of the wolves. 100% Cotton was a beginner Buff move that increased the target's defense a fair bit. It had a rather short casting time, so he was in no danger of being interrupted, especially since the wolves didn't seem to register the move as a threat. Promptly after casting the spell, Spark leapt towards one of the wolves. It probably wasn't the smartest move, considering the number of them, but he did owe that much to Lady Raptor. And more, he needed a new class kit. He quickly found that the bell was far more like a small mace than anything else, mostly efficient in overhead strikes and general smashing. It wasn't ideal as he wasn't much of a blunt weapons user, but it was light enough that it betrayed the idea of being compared to one. He cracked down on the skull of a single wolf, with two others not missing a beat and pouncing at him. Unlike before, however, he was capable of handling the situation. Immediately after dealing his small bit of damage on the wolf, he duck rolled forward, keeping his focus on the same wolf, and attacking it from behind. He knew his damage output was low, so he his strategy was to deal several swift strikes to the wolf before dodging the others, which worked great for close combat. As Spark was occupied with his oh so deadly bell, Colette moved into the group of the remaining three wolves. They continued to circle her as they had the moment before, but three was a far more manageable number than six. Her eyes darted between the beasts, her sword held out in front of her and her shield kept in close. She felt she would have more maneuverability without the shield, but she could use the defense at this low level. The first wolf lunged at her, and she leaned back and slashed at it with her sword. It caught the creature on its side and sent it sprawling into a tree, but it was still alive. Its health bar had gone down to almost half, though, which was a good sign. She regained her balance and took the next strike, leaping forward and stabbing at one of the other wolves. It quickly moved to avoid the jab, taking a small hit to its backside that did very little damage. Before she could recover, the third wolf pounced on her, forcing her to the ground and causing her to lose her grip on her rapier. She was trapped beneath the wolf, her shield the only thing preventing it from clawing her open. It bit at her face, but she managed to keep it far enough away to prevent contact. As she watched its fangs gnash at her, the first thing she thought about would be how, if this weren't a virtual world, she'd probably have a face full of nasty dog breath right about now. That was the best thing for one to think about in a life or death situation against a pack of hungry wolves, obviously. "You know, wolves in real life aren't usually as feral as they're made out to be in these games!" Colette grunted, putting all of her strength into pushing her shield forward. She managed to throw the wolf off of her, quickly rolling to the side and grabbing her sword as she got back to her feet. In the time it took to do that, the three wolves had surrounded her again. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" She taunted, glaring back at the wolves. They growled at her, so she growled back. She had no dignity. She slashed at the wolves again, spinning on her heels to slice at all three of them at once. They attacked her, clawing and biting at her as she thrust at them. She couldn't keep track of all of the movements visually, but she kept up with them physically. A moment later, after having become a flurry of limbs, blade and teeth, two of the wolves had perished and Colette had sustained massive damage. The third wolf was on its last leg, but so was she, it seemed. She heaved, staring at the final wolf. It was bloodied and was panting heavily. It made one final lunge at her and she thrust her sword at it while it was air born, skewering it and finishing it off. When all was said and done, three items lay on the ground in front of her. She picked them up and added them to her inventory. 2x Item(s): Potion! 1x Item(s): Antidote! Level Up! You are now level 4! "Wow, two levels from those things. Nice." In the meantime, Spark was finishing up his own difficulties. Though his Dodge-and-Smash tactics worked, Spark found it jarring just how much time it took to deal a considerable amount of damage. It was too risky, and he had to register the mere prospect of getting hit as instant death. It probably wasn't the case, they were just wolves, but he was just an Animist. In fact, it was only because of the fact that his class wasn't ideal when it came to defense that he didn't sport hand-to-hand. Regardless, the first wolf went down. In most scenarios, this would have worked out for the better, but dealing with two wolves rather than three meant he would have to change his tactics. It wasn't all bad, though. Less wolves meant less potential damage, so he could get more creative and less defensive. He jumped back, held the bell behind him and placed his hand out in front of him. The remaining wolves didn't attack right away. Instead, they began to circle Spark, and he kept steady watch of both of them, rotating sporadically to keep an eye on one without losing focus on the other. Egal, at his PC, licked his lips as the tension mounted, his fingers tensed. Then, suddenly, they attacked. In what seemed like an excellently coordinated show, the first wolf jumped at Spark. He quickly side-stepped and swung at the wolf while it was still in mid-air. He missed, and just as one landed the other jumped, barely giving Spark time to catch his breath. He side-stepped, but only barely, with the wolf's fang grazing his cheek and his HP taking a small hit. Then the first one jumped again. A swing and a miss. Then the second. Miss. The first again, this time grazing his arm. The bell didn't have the length nor the power to make his methods work, and he was being slowly torn apart. Thus, Spark went old school, taking the bell's handle in both hands with his arms stretched outwards, similar to the way one would hold their weapon in Kendo. Man...who'd of thought that I'd be going back to basics after all this time, he thought to himself. Admittedly, he was having quite a bit of fun, even if he was struggling against two average enemies. Egal took a deep breath- or half of one, he was interrupted by the wolf's strike. Just as before, he side-stepped. This time, however, sent down the bell on the wolf's back, causing its jump to be slightly harried and its landing less than graceful. Without missing a beat, he stepped to the side, having kept a mental note of where the other wolf was going to be, and did the same. However, Spark knew that he would not be able to keep it up for long, as the two would soon adapt. Instead, rather than waiting for the first wolf to strike, he swung the bell behind him, causing the wolf that was attempting to hit him to fly backwards. Spark took this opportunity to run towards it and stomp on the underside of the fallen wolf's cranium. There was only one left, and even with a musical instrument as a weapon, Spark had an upper hand. The wolf ran towards him and bit into his leg. This actually made things easier, he'd always considered stationary targets to be the most ideal. He first kicked it in the head, following up with several blows to the body with the bell, and finally jumping and landing on the leg that the wolf was biting, ending the fight. 2x Item(s): Wolf Fang Level Up! You are now level 4! "Ye-heah!" Spark shouted gleefully and raising his fist in the air and jutting downward. "Whew, man that was fun." He turned back to Lady Raptor and said, "You okay? Sorry about not casting 100% Cotton on you. I barely had time myself." He put his bell away. "But you seem more than handy with a sword and shield." He looked down for a moment before saying. "...It's not really my business, but why are you headed to the Deep Forest?" "I'm meeting back up with my friends. I mentioned that back on the plains. Once we meet up, we'll probably grab a few quests and do whatever we can to level up and get some good loot to survive." Colette sheathed her sword and walked over to Spark, producing her two potions. She took one, restoring her health to full. It was disturbing that her health was low enough that a simple potion could replenish it fully. "Here, I'll trade you this potion for one of those wolf fangs. I have a feeling components will come in handy later on." Spark rubbed the back of his neck. "Did you? At the time, my mind was on..." He sighed. "...On other things. But yeah, we can trade. Personally, I don't need a potion, but I'm not sure how much good a wolf's fang would do me as this class. Unless it turned out to be some kinda hot commodity or something. Selling to NPCs would just get me chump change with as few as I have." Colette nodded, finalizing the exchange through her HUD. "Well, you'll need a potion at some point. Keep it 'til then." She placed the wolf fang into her inventory and turned back to the forest. It was quiet now, so she opened up her messages again. Group Chat Lady Raptor, Killer Ivy, Necrolord, Shadow Panther, Wargrár [Lady Raptor] I'm in the forest, somewhere. Where are you guys? A second later, a marker appeared on her minimap. [Lady Raptor] Okay, I'll be there in a second. She closed her menu while keeping an eye on the minimap. "Follow me, they're not too far." |
☠ Pirate Log 1 ~ LGDClaw LEVEL 2 // Warrior Class LGDClaw managed to come in contact with her fellow mates. Or shipmates; whatever she called it, they were there, lost as a puppy in a tin can. Well, at least to her, stuff like that made sense. In any case, left and right, she saw daemon after daemon smacking each other and even down right beating them to death, and for what? A key that Claw happened to own as well. Perhaps no one had confronted her because of her size? Well, whatever the case may be, she passed on everyone around her like water off a duck. Pretty soon she was eyeing face-to-face against a goblin who seemed to be interested in the flies that surrounded it. Ick, if she didn't kill this thing fast enough, she'd die of the horrid stench. However, despite that, it was time for action. She prepared her claws and her resounding base speed, and jumped. A mere moment later, she smacked the foe, right on the top of it's soft head, as the goblin staggered a bit, to regain it's balance. The monster retaliated by attempting to use it's main weapon - a club, to wound the cat before she got a chance to combo attack; but fortunately, LGDClaw evaded by the skin of her wiskers by simply rolling out of the way by doing a air-summer salt. Her next attack was sure to hit home, as all she had to do was run up to attack. The monster became more prepared this time, as it prepared it's attack. Soon, one can see that it appeared that the cat and the goblin attacked each other at the same time - which they ended up standing face to face. Shortly after though, the Goblin fell in defeat, as it was now destroyed. She then check her messages. Her guild was even more crazy. > LGDClaw: You guys still alive or did goblins get ya She slowly got on her warrior's starter armor, and as always, she disliked it highly. It also came with a starter sword, which honestly wasn't too bad, albit a bit weak for her taste. At least if she was a mage, she could of blew stuff up. But no, stuck with a sword. In any case, she sheathed her newly acquired sword away, and soon, she encountered the nearby portal. Her next stop: the forest. |
Rosalee Bennett // PumpkinXO >> Level 2, White Mage, Cloud Nine >> 25th May, 2025 >> Floor 1: Plains & Manchester, England Rosie had teleported before in CLOUD -- from Alto to Cirrus, but she had never really grown used to the feeling it brought. It was like that sickly feeling that washes over you as the elevator goes up and all you want to do is get off. The teleported was instantaneous though and the feeling was there and gone before Rosie could talk about it. Despite this she stumbled forward as the blue light disappeared from her eyes, falling to her knees onto the soft grass below her. She looked up, taking in the view around her. As a CLOUD city-goer, Rosie wasn't too familiar with the more dungeon-like landscape. The sights were wonderful, coupled with the cool breeze and the orange glow on the horizon, lightly touching the flowing grass around her. It was as if she was looking at a photo of somewhere foreign, like the Netherlands or New Zealand. The words "FLOOR 1: PLAINS" hovered in front of her for a moment before it faded away, alerting her where she was. "Floor one?" She made a face. ICARUS had said there was a hundred floors. How long would it take to get through the first floor? A day? A week? A month? She stumbled to her feet, remembering her new items that she had picked up on the way out. White Mage was what she could remember before she jumped through the teleporter. She held the staff up and with a swipe of her hand brought up the words 'Basic Wooden Staff'. There was nothing special about it, really. A box appeared on her HUD however, something she could only describe as an 'ability menu', her only option was a spell called 'Cure'. She waved the staff, hoping something would happen. She waited a moment, but nothing changed. She tried again, this time calling the word mentally. A white light emitted from the staff, falling over her own body, her fatigue from earlier disappearing and the green bar representing her health replenishing. "Oh! White magic must be healing abilities," she said to herself, smiling. Maybe she would use them on her new companions. Speaking of which, she turned to face them, her eyes meeting with no one. She was all alone... again. Where had JJ and Atreyu gone? |
Korori Hitomi >> Cosmic Ether 25th May, 2025 // baltimore city, maryland, usa o level 1, classless >> level 3, conjurer o unknown foyer >> floor 1; plains Loud, repetitive beeps echoed throughout the semi-empty, studio apartment. The irritating noise went on for a few minutes as it's owner struggled to rouse herself out of bed, but after those few moments a dainty hand came down on the alarm clock, finally silencing it. A small frame rose from underneath a galaxy-print blanket, dark brown eyes glanced over at the numbers appearing on the device, 11:45pm. A loud groan erupted from the woman's mouth as her body plopped back down onto the queen sized mattress, space blanket flying back over her head. A welcoming meow rang out into the open room, causing the girl to poke her face out from her blanket hide-out, a fluffy white face greeting her. "Good evening, Lulu." She said in a groggy voice as a thin arm extended out to pat the cat on the head. The small cat purred furiously and closed her eyes upon being pet, then jumped down off of the mattress and trotted off towards her food bowl, meowing continuously as she circled the empty bowl. "I know, I' know." The girl muttered as she rolled out of bed, her space blanket wrapped around her thin frame. She slowly trudged into the kitchen area of her apartment, which was only a few feet away from her mattress, grabbed the bag of cat food from inside a cabinet and took a scoop out for the hungry feline. "There, happy now?" She questioned the cat as the animal hurriedly scarfed down the food, not even minding the fact that she was being pet on her back. After taking care of the hungry beast, Korori turned her attention to her own stomach, which erupted in growls like a starved monster. The noises it made were no surprise to the girl, along with the sickening feel of acid eating away at her stomach lining. That's what happened to the digestive system when someone neglected to feed it, the organ found it's own food, that being the organ itself. The girl tossed back a few tums and began to rummage through her mostly bare cabinets, bagged rice and canned vegetables being one of the few things within them. With no luck in finding something easy and quick to make, the young woman turned to the fridge next. Inside it contained a few apples, mangos and kiwis that she swiped from the grocery store, some rice and vegetables she had prepared a few days ago and a pitcher of Koolaid with no sugar. With the limited choices, Korori opted for an apple, her nose turned up at the rice bowl that she was sick of eating. She bite into the sweet fruit and held it with her teeth while using her now free hand to fill a glass with water from her sink, her other hand clutched firmly around the blanket to make sure it didn't fall off. Once food and drink were taken care of, the woman slowly made her way over to her gaming center. Which was a computer monitor set on top of a nightstand with the tower underneath, a box full of books set next to each side of said stand with a mouse on one and a keyboard on top another. Korori plopped down onto a ripped up beanbag chair that sat in front of the setup, she sunk in slightly and once settled booted up the computer. As she waited for the machine to turn on she began to eat her apple that was still being held between her teeth. It was a pleasant experience to say the least as opposed to eating the same rice bowl that she had been for the past few months. Her previous diet of ramen noodles had betrayed her by sending her stomach into bouts of nausea and chest pains. By order of her doctor, Korori was to switch to a less processed grain, hold the salt, and include vegetables as well as fruits into her diet. However, being dirt poor didn't exactly lead to a very healthy palette of food. Her measly pay check was a little over enough to pay her rent, electricity/water and internet bills. What was left was to buy enough food to keep her alive, barely. With a flick of her wrist, Korori opened up her HUD, scrolling through the CLOUD fourms. They were all flooded with conversations about the new announcement that would be given today, in less than five minutes now. As the gamer sat there, she too began to feel the excitement that she had been pushing aside the past seven days. The day of the pre-announcement she was there, of course she was, CLOUD had become her second life. She spent more time in the digital world than the real one. Reality held nothing for her except bills, high expectations and misery. CLOUD held an endless amount of possibilities and enjoyment, the woman spent every available hour in the fantasy realm. So when she received the news of a new patch and a strange silver key appeared in her inventory, the girl couldn't contain her energy, instead she pushed the entire event out of her mind until today or else she wouldn't have gotten anything done that week. Now though, she could fully indulge in her digital world as much as she pleased. Korori had made sure to work overtime all this week at her waitress job so that she could take off the next three days, so to be able to enjoy whatever this ICARUS had in store for the community of CLOUD. Before beginning her digital experience, Korori opened up her message center. To: Aaron Re: Korori <<it's almost time! are you by your lappy??? >>duh of course i am. called in sick. deff not missing this :) <<good, i didn't want to be alone this time ;) >>lol i'll be there A smile tugged at the corners of the girl's lips, Korori didn't have many friends, but she was glad for the one she was able to snag. Brown eyes now stared at the clock across the room, "One more minute..." The girl whispered, her breath caught within her throat as she counted down the seconds in her head. Once she hit five her head shifted back over to the computer screen, hands hovering over her keyboard. "Four, three, two, on-" COSMIC ETHER IS NOW LOGGED IN. The digital world appeared on the monitor within a few seconds without Korori even having to login, a giant foyer on screen with millions of players in seats, the lights dim. "What the..." Korori stared at the unknown castle room with confusion, it seemed as though almost every CLOUD player in the world was there. Why were they all seated? What area were they in? The gamer liked to think that she explored just about every inch of CLOUD, but the foyer was not familiar to her in the least. She tried to move her DAEMON, but something had Cosmic locked in place. Korori quickly brought up a private chat channel. PRIVATE CHAT Korori minimized the chat and focused on the scene before her, waiting for this ICARUS to show and within minutes of her arrival in CLOUD, he appeared. The lights flickered on and an enormous demonic DAEMON entered the area, center stage.[Cosmic Ether] dude are you here? [TheVexedMan] yea what the hell is this place? is your daemon locked too? [Cosmic Ether] i was just about to ask you the same thing... [Cosmic Ether] damn, i'm excited about this update and all, but i don't like not being able to move [TheVexedMan] it'll be ok. maybe it's to prevent players from messing around while the update is being announced? [Cosmic Ether] yea, maybe... [Cosmic Ether] as soon as we're mobile, come find me. [TheVexedMan] sure thing :) "Greetings, CLOUD members! I am your host, ICARUS, and I officially welcome you to your new home! Today marks the day of revolution, the day that CLOUD truly changes the world. To celebrate this wondrous occasion, we have prepared something special for you, our members who have supported us for every single second that CLOUD has existed. CLOUD has always worked to meld the line between our online selves and reality and now, what we do behind a screen will have so much more of an impact on our lives than ever before." The fur on Cosmic's body began to raise, an uneasy feeling beginning to fester deep within her. PRIVATE CHAT [Cosmic Ether] aaron, i don't like the sound of this icarus guy... [TheVexedMan] oh thats just your un-trusting side showing. everything will be fine [Cosmic Ether] were you automatically logged in? [TheVexedMan] yea. i did think that was a little odd but with all this happening so fast i didnt really have time to think about it [Cosmic Ether] ... [TheVexedMan] really korori. i think everything will be alright After the last message was received, Korori was about to response, but ICARUS continued with his speech. She once again minimized the chat, but kept the cursor over top it for quick access. "You may recall receiving a special item last week; a silver key which is individual to your DAEMON. Your KEY is no longer just an item. It is your identity. Embedded within the coding of your KEY are your details, and not just your name and birth date. Passwords, bank accounts, social security numbers, credit card details... everything you have ever done is now recorded in one location. Just by equipping and using the KEY as a regular item, you can access all of this. And not just your own. By equipping and using another member's KEY, you are able to access their details just as easily as your own. As they are non-trading items, the only way to obtain another member's key is by killing their DAEMON." Cosmic hissed at the great beast before her, she knew this ICARUS was not to be trusted. The automatic login was the first tip of something being fishy, along with the locked DAEMONS. Swiftly her little paw-hands grabbed the unique key from the pouch fastened to her waist. The item was a thin, antique skeleton key, her username neatly engraved on it. She held it delicately within her paws, everything that she had owned, bought, created, all of it was now accessible through this small key. Korori stared at the screen, struck by an array of emotions that crashed into her like a tidal wave. What did this mean? Why would ICARUS do this and how was he able to? Was this even legal? The girl didn't have much to her name, but no matter what it was hers to own. She would let no one take what little she had. After this upsetting news it seemed as though the rest of the gaming world erupted in protest, but could do nothing about it. "Other important changes have happened in CLOUD. All levels have been reset to zero and all items aside from your KEY have been removed and deleted from all accounts. Your DAEMON has been reset to factory settings. All restrictions have been removed from all locations which means PvP is allowed in all areas aside from the CLOUDLANDS lounge, which will boot you out after an hour after entering. Also, it is now impossible to log out your DAEMON. However, if you are killed and your key is taken from you, you will respawn in CLOUDLANDS and you are free to try and win your key back." With this bit of information, Korori frantically opened up her inventory and character tab. The demonic DAEMON wasn't joking, everything was gone. The girl jumped up from her seat, keyboard dropping to the floor. "What the hell! All my time wasted! What the- arrrggghhh, damm!t, damm!t!" Korori raged in a circle for a few moments, ranting and screaming obscenities before settling back down in her beanbag, ICARUS' voice forcing her back to the screen. "Are you unhappy with your new world that I have so graciously given you? Fine! Come face me then! CLOUD has been converted into a new domain, a hundred story castle! Right now, the CLOUD you know resides on the first floor. Once you defeat the boss which rests within the new STORM dungeon, the stairs to the next floor will reveal, granting you new opportunities to protect yourself, or to make yourself stronger to defeat and take from others. I will be waiting for you in the hundredth-floor dungeon. Defeat me, and take back what you held so dearly, what you took for granted." "Yes I'm fricken unhappy!" Korori shouted at her computer screen, wishing so badly that she had a DREAMSCAPE or at least a mic. Her small hands balled up into tight fists, wanting so badly to lash out at the massive DAEMON. All she could do was watch and listen with the millions of disgruntled players. "A hundred stories and no logging out. How the hell are you suppose to get anything done in the real worl-" At that moment Korori's mind caught up with the real life crisis this event just created. Everyone's passwords, bank accounts, credit cards, social security numbers, their identity, their life was now ingrained into a single small key. Said key was able to be taken by any other user that defeated the item's owner. That meant that anyone could say, swipe the key of a multimillionaire and become one themselves, just by playing a game. "B-but that would be messed up..." The gamer pondered on the idea for a few moments, would it really be? That's kinda how the real world worked anyway, stepping on the toes of the weak and unlucky to make it to the top. This really wasn't all that different and on CLOUD, with every DAEMON back to factory settings, all players had a fair chance. Would it really be that wrong? Korori battled with the choice that this new epidemic presented her with. As the girl struggled with how she would proceed through the game, she noticed that the small key within her paws was changing color. It went from a plain silver tone to a beautiful dark, slate grey hue that emitted a slight glow. "What the..." Korori gazed at the computer screen, just inches from her face. ICARUS' eyes seemed to stare right back at her, or rather right at Cosmics'. "There is however, a catch. I have spread out amongst yourselves unique, coloured keys. These have been given out to several random, but now special players. These coloured keys are important for unlocking the doors to bosses and all of these coloured keys will be required to open the final door. To you players who have my special keys, I have given you no choice.” ICARUS grinned, showing the audience a set of silver keys, one of which looks extremely similar to your own. If you look closely, even your name is etched onto the side! “I have your key. Your identity is mine. Come and claim it back.” Korori's jaw dropped, "That bastard..." She really didn't know what else to say, the gamer was so strung out from all this craziness and from the decisions she would soon have to make. Quickly she brought the chat back up. PRIVATE CHAT [Cosmic Ether] aaron! are you listening to all this??? [TheVexedMan] yea... [Cosmic Ether] do you have a colored key??? [TheVexedMan]no. you? [Cosmic Ether] yea [TheVexedMan] damn [TheVexedMan] whats the plan? i cant lose my key. all my college funds... [Cosmic Ether] don't worry, i won't let that happen. we have to meet up asap. [TheVexedMan] wait your key is colored? that means [TheVexedMan] he has your identity... [Cosmic Ether] yea, i know. it's not like he got much anyway [TheVexedMan] yea but... [TheVexedMan] what are you gonna do without money? [Cosmic Ether] come on aaron, like i had any to begin with. don't worry about me, it's your key we gotta protect. you're the one with sh!t to lose. i'll be coming into some new cash flow as soon as cosmic can move. [TheVexedMan] korori [TheVexedMan] be careful [Cosmic Ether] aren't i always? With that the chat was exited out of, Korori's full attention on ICARUS, her hands readily hovering over mouse and keyboard. "So, which has become more important to you? Your online or offline self? Do you protect what you have or rebuild your identity from scratch? Thank-you for your time and enjoy yourselves at our new update celebrations. Have a nice morning, day, night and evening." The demonic DAEMON disappeared and in his place, a glowing beam of light. Korori immediately recognized the beam as a portal, just before being unlocked a message popped up on her HUD. PRIVATE CHAT [TheVexedMan] destination portal? [Cosmic Ether] you got it. [TheVexedMan] see you there cos A smirk tugged at her mouth, she loved when Aaron went along with the roleplay aspect of CLOUD, after all when Korori was in game she was no longer herself, she was Cosmic Ether. The gamer had just enough time to read the message before every DAEMON in the foyer erupted in panic. They all began running, raging and pillaging each other. Some clustered together, no idea how to react to the situation. Cosmic turned her attention away from those types of players and instead focused on the brutes attacking the unprepared. With a quick whip of her slender body, the dragon began to maneuver her way around seats and players, running on all fours. Normally she would fly, but upon seeing her empty inventory she knew that wasn't possible. Within just a few minutes the DAEMON had made her way over to a group of three, two medium fox inspired players that had ganged up on a panda cub. Though she was outnumbered, the players were too focused on the panda DAEMON they intended to attack. Cosmic slithered behind the two and attacked swiftly, biting and slashing at the back of one until his health dropped to zero. The now dematerialized player's partner jerked around quickly, attempting an attack of his own by swinging a silver key around. Cosmic was caught off guard by the weapon, just barely ducking in enough time to dodge it. With some swift key strokes, Korori equipped her own key and lashed out at the player. The glow from her colored key made the DAEMON stop in his tracks, a little awestruck. That was all the dragon needed, she lashed out at the two-legged fox with a few combos before striking down on his head. Pixels scattered everywhere and now that the threat was taken care of, Cosmic turned to gather the keys. You defeated XxJadeFoxX & PeachDrizzlexx 2x Item(s): XxJadeFoxX's key, PeachDrizzlexx's key Level Up! You are now level 2! Korori forcefully let out her breath, which she had been unintentionally holding the entire battle. Having your whole life ride on whether or not your digital self died made playing this game quite intense, even with everyone at level 1. The panda DAEMON that she had saved, shot up off the ground and began to express how grateful they were to be rescued, but Cosmic was already on the move, slate grey key in hand. She had thought about unequipping it, but the danger of being attacked with no weapon was too high. The dragon would just have to stay unnoticed to avoid others realizing that she had a colored key, but that wasn't too much of a problem, after all, Cosmic was only about three feet tall while standing. The odds of someone spotting her were slim, however, her speed was not what it used to be, so caution was extremely necessary. It wasn't long before someone noticed a slender figure wielding a special key, unfortunately for Cosmic, the player was quite large. The tiger DAEMON called her out and immediately began peddling after the dragon on all fours. Korori spotted the player chasing after her, abruptly stopping and turning to face the challenger. While Cosmic waited for the player to catch up, she equipped one of the silver keys that she had just picked up. Now the dragon DAEMON wielded two keys, causing the gamer to laugh as old memories from one of her favorite childhood games came to mind. The tiger stampeded towards the readied dragon and lunged once close enough. Cosmic side stepped, but her challenger was quicker than she expected. As soon as the feline landed back on all fours, a large back paw kicked out at her, catching the side of her cheek. Korori watched as her health went down the slightest, but reacted immediately, slashing at the DAEMON on screen with a flurry of blows. She was able to land a few good hits, but the tiger would not go down as easily as the fox players, landing a few of their own. The beast swung at the keys, blocking some of her attacks. Cosmic jumped back a few feet from her opponent, sticking out a pink tongue. The tiger growled in annoyance and rashly lunged again, this time the dragon slide under the big cat, cutting it's underbelly as she did so. It rained pixels for a few seconds before the player disappeared entirely. Cosmic smirked as she picked up yet another key, but it soon faded as she noticed that a quarter of her health bar had disappeared through the course of battle. You defeated Circus_Freak33 Item(s): Circus_Freak33's key "Ok, time to get the hell out of here." Korori turned her DAEMON's view to the glowing portal at the center of the foyer. She had enough keys for now, chances were that the players she had defeated had some money, some where. The gamer would live off of that until she could get her own identity back and if she needed more resources, well, there were millions of players that weren't able to log out. Plus, the panic in the room was escalating at a high rate, she could already see the bigger players grouping up and attacking the small ones, her being one of them. Dying was not on her agenda today and now she would play it safe. Cosmic unequipped both of her weapons and resumed her run on all fours, she weaved around legs and tails, hiding in the shadows and cracks when needed. It took some time, but finally she could see the portal. Of course, it was guarded by an array of low leveled monsters, maybe she could find some weapons or a class. The dragon decided that charging in was the best course of action, her sneak level was pretty much none existent so trying to... sneak was useless. She reequipped her keys and focused on a large, mutated, fiery red salamander monster. Cosmic charged at the beast, smacked it on the side of the face with one key and on top the head with another. The monster lashed out with it's tail, but Cosmic front flipped over top it's body, swinging down with both keys as she was about to land. Luckily the salamander dropped an item. "Sweet!" Korori shouted at the screen, hoping that it would be the Assassin Class so she could start rebuilding her character. You defeated fire salamander The gamer face palmed with both hands, "Oh no..." she mumbled. Korori had never had much luck with magical classes, not to mention she didn't really enjoy them. Being an Assassin was kinda her thing, not to mention went with Cosmic's character. How could she regain her master mercenary status while being a Conjurer? What did they even do? It was something the girl would have to figure out later. Right now wasn't the time to be discouraged about a class. Korori regained her composure, hands quickly settling back into their positions. Cosmic equipped her new class with haste. Now the dragon wore a typical witch hat, a double layered tunic and a simple leather belt with a pouch attached. Equipped to both her hands was a Weathered Cane. Korori knew that the cane wasn't going to be much help if used as a physical weapon, so she quickly checked her abilities and assigned a number to the one that she had, Stone.Item(s): Conjurer Class, 5 Spheres Level Up! You are now level 3! "Ok, let's see what you can do as a Conjurer, Cosmic." Korori focused her DAEMON onto the monsters around her, which seemed to have noticed her before she noticed them. Thankfully, it was only two monsters as many of them were already attacking other players. With a tap of the '1' key, Cosmic began to cast her only spell. As soon as she started casting, one of the monsters, a feral dog, registered her action, attacking her with it's mouth wide open. The beast got within a foot of the dragon before getting pelted with stones, it's health bar depleting considerably. However, that did not stop it's attack and it quickly bit down into Cosmic's shoulder. The DAEMON was pushed back some, but now the dog was within her little arms reach. She smacked the dog a few times with her cane, taking the rest of it's life. The monster shattered into pixels and through it's desecrated body leaped a zombified... cat. Cosmic didn't have enough time to dodge the small creature entirely, but was able to side step out of a direct hit. Instead the cat caught her arm with it's sharp claws. "Oh this is ridiculous! Damn, I want my speed back!" Korori shouted, her volume spooking the white cat that had settled beside her. "Sorry, Lulu!" She didn't have enough time to see where the cat scattered off to, but felt better verbally apologizing. The zombie cat was now right beside Cosmic, hissing through a decaying jaw. The dragon took the opportunity to smack it in the side with her cane, like a golf ball, flinging the monster into the air and causing it to land a few feet away. The beast took some falling damage and now Cosmic was able to use her Stone spell once more. It took only a few seconds to complete the action, the cat unable to make it back to it's target before being bombarded with stones. In seconds the monster busted into pixels. Korori let out a heavy sigh as she gazed at her less than half of a health bar. You defeated feral dog & zombie cat Item(s): x1 fang, x1 eyeball, 2 Spheres Now that she had a few moments to breath, Korori quickly opened up the private chat channel. PRIVATE CHAT [Cosmic Ether] vex, where are you??? i'm at the portal. [Cosmic Ether] please don't tell me you died... Nervously, Korori swirled her DAEMON's view in a full circle, looking for her friend in the hoards of players and monsters. A group of mutated rats in the distance was quickly making their way over to her. PRIVATE CHAT [TheVexedMan] hey sorry i was fighting off some players. this is really tough [Cosmic Ether] vex! thank goodness, i can't sit around this portal, i have a damn conjurers class, i'll meet you on the other side. be careful! [TheVexedMan] a conjurer? lol that will be interesting to see but yea go ahead i'll meet you there [Cosmic Ether] you better! Korori minimized the chat and Cosmic jumped through the glowing blue beam, within seconds she was transported to an outside area. Her HUD popped up with a message: 'Welcome to Floor 1: Plains.' "How original." Korori smirked at the lack of creativeness this ICARUS had, but was happy to be out of that overcrowded foyer. The gamer motioned her DAEMON to glance around at her surroundings, finding no safe place to hide other than the tall grasses that littered the entirety of the plains. Being so small, Cosmic was able to hide amongst the grass while sitting, bringing up her spell tab once seated. "Oh nice, Cure." She moved the spell over to the number '2' slot on her quicktab bar and proceeded to heal herself, health bar filling completely. "Well, at least this class won't be too useless." Korori muttered, thinking about what to do next, her right index finger pressing against her template while her left hand held an elbow. "I need to find a fighter type. Some brute strength would definitely be helpful." With that thought she quickly pulled the chat back up. PRIVATE CHAT [Cosmic Ether] hey did you get a class? No response. "Hmmm, he must still be in the foyer..." Korori felt terrible for leaving Aaron, but she knew that there was nothing she could have done. It would have taken some time to look for him with all those players, like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but still she wished that there was someway to help him. All she could do now was wait, which wasn't really one of her strong points. The dragon pulled up a quest tab, which had three new ones highlighted. Korori pondered on which one would be the safest, yet most fulfilling for Cosmic. She was alone, so entering a place titled 'Deep Forest' didn't seem like a smart idea. Little Town didn't seem very appearing either, considering the player only had 7 Spheres to her name, no where close to what an item would cost. "Maybe the village will have more quests and some low leveled monsters roaming around." Korori clicked the quest and made it her main objective. PRIVATE CHAT [Cosmic Ether] hey, when you come through the portal meet me at the village near Green Hill. [TheVexedMan] k That simple letter made the girl's eyes light up, it meant Aaron was still alive, he just must be very busy with staying that way. As long as he still had his key, Korori felt better about the situation, they had split before and did well on their own, she was confident in the boy's abilities to go solo. After all, before the update they were skilled mercenaries. Cosmic waited for a few minutes for her mana pool to regenerate and once filled, got up from her relaxed position and looked at the map. Coincidentally, Green Hill was the closet place from her location. "Sweet." The dragon DAEMON began walking toward her destination, cane leaning against her small shoulder. |
Kiernan & Korori / Rorschach & Cosmic Ether Floor 1: Plains The dizzying sensation that came from teleporting via dreamscape was something that Kiernan certainly wouldn't mind ICARUS taking from her. However for each second of discomfort it gave off a feeling of familiarity, unlike the unknown terrain that appeared around her. "Floor 1: Plains" the text hovering over her HUD read for a moment before fading away. "Cute name." She murmured to herself before examining her surroundings. The digital fields certainly were beautiful, but that wasn't what the thief was looking for. "A-ha!" Kiernan whispered in excitement under her breath. A tiny daemon was walking alone, back towards her, and from her apparel, part of a magic based class. It was the perfect storm. She could have gone without a useless mage starting kit, but their key would look nice in her inventory Starting a light sprint to catch up to the lone player, she quickly made her way to about twenty yards behind the stranger before opening her mouth to get their attention before immediately regretting it. Kiernan dove down at once trying her hardest to conceal herself in the deep grass. Damn it! She didn't hear me did she?! Rorschach's thoughts raced through her mind as she lay belly down in the pasture. The dragon daemon slowly made her way toward the Green Hill, cane bouncing lightly against her shoulder as she walked. She was becoming quite irritated by the lengthy grass that brushed up against her, some rebel strands managed to reach her face, tickling it slightly. It was at these times that Korori was happy to not have a DREAMSCAPE. She couldn't image having to deal with all these little nuances in game as well as real life, but she did wish to feel more apart of the game. That was the point of her obsessive playing, to lose herself within the fantasy world. The girl pondered on the idea of purchasing one of the helmets with the new funds she had acquired. Maybe once she reached the village she would find a safe place to hide while she shopped for one. The gamer's thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of a voice, off in the distance. Unfortunately, Korori also did not have a mic, so her only means of communication were through typing. Cosmic turned around to where the voice seemed to come from, pink orbs searched intensely for it's owner. "I know I heard something..." The girl's dainty fingers whipped across her keyboard at lightening speed. PUBLIC CHAT Cosmic Ether: who's there?! i heard you, so there's no use in hiding. show yourself, before i start pelting this whole area with spells! The text popped up in Kiernan's HUD which confirmed what she had been fearing. She slowly picked herself up from her hiding with her hands up as if she were surrendering. Using the speech to chat technology that was implemented in the dreamcast. Rorschach: eheheh... hey there cosmic, how are you? As the player emerged from the tall grasses, a scowl began to form on Cosmic's furry face. Dramatically she pointed her cane toward the girl as if it were a gun. Cosmic Ether: you!! Korori stared at her screen in astonishment, she couldn't believe who she was staring at, Rorschach, the girl who Cosmic had lent a considerable amount of money to before the update. The gamer had honestly thought that she would never look upon the DAEMON again and had written the loan off as a loss. Not to say that she hadn't previously tried to hunt the girl down to collect, but she was a very hard player to find. Cosmic took a step forward, adjusting her cane against the earth. Cosmic Ether: i'd be a lot happier with that debt of yours paid, but i assume you have no spheres to your name as well. The dragon DAEMON crossed her arms, annoyance plain as day on her face. Even though she was finally face to face with the one that got away, she knew the loan would not be paid. How could it? ICARUS had taken everything, from everyone. Instead of focusing on what would never happened, Korori redirected her thoughts to the now. Cosmic Ether: what are you doing here rorschach? A sheepish grin spread across Kiernan's face. There were only a couple of options that she had at this point. A) stay and see what cosmic wants. B) make a break for it and risk getting followed/hunter. C) try and take out cosmic and risk getting tracked down and taken out herself. Letting out a sigh she decided that option A was the most sensible of the three. Rorschach: nothing much... just trying to make my way to the Green Hill The dragon eyed her with suspicious orbs, foot taping against the ground. It seemed as though the two were heading in the same direction. Korori though for a few moments, I still haven't heard anything from Aaron... it's too dangerous to be out and about on my own, but can I trust her? The gamer didn't really have much of a choice at this point. Running around on her own with a colored key could become very bad, very quickly. She was going to seek out party members anyway at some point. The more people she had on her side, the higher her survival rate would be. Cosmic Ether: it seems that we are headed the same way. The DAEMON unfolded her arms and relaxed her stance. Cosmic Ether: i have a proposition for you. since you are unable to pay off that debt of yours with spheres, i will allow you to pay it off with time. from this point on you can be my new personal bodyguard. your debt is paid once we reach the 100th floor and defeat that bastard icarus. sound fair? Korori hoped that the girl would accept the offer, otherwise, she was really unsure of how to handle her. Now that she was right in front of the dragon, she couldn't let her get away with not paying her if the girl refused the deal. Damn it... Kiernan tapped her foot as she contemplated the deal cosmic had proposed. On one hand she could accept and be stuck with her potentially for the full 100 floors, she could try her luck and go for the kill, or she could... A grin spread across her face as she thought up of an idea. Rorschach: sounds good to me. whatever you want to do is fine by me. A smirk tugged at Korori's mouth, loving the fact that she got what she wanted and although the gamer was still very wary of the girl's true intentions, she was glad to not be roaming around in CLOUD alone in such a dangerous time. She had hoped that Aaron would have come through the portal by now, his company would have been much more preferred, but she would have to work with what she was given. Cosmic Ether: excellent. With a swift motion of her hands, Korori brought up the party tab and sent Rorschach an invite. While messing with tabs, she decided to open her private chat as well. PRIVATE CHAT [Cosmic Ether]: omg, vex, you wouldn't believe who i bumped into. remember the one who got away? [TheVexedMan]: ya [Cosmic Ether]: well i'm staring right at her! [TheVexedMan]: no sh!t! [Cosmic Ether]: right! all that searching and now, after this crazy sh!t, that's when i find her. what the hell are the odds of that? [TheVexedMan]: damn. wish i could have seen her face [Cosmic Ether]: lol. it was priceless. anyway, i found out a way for her to pay that damn debt of hers, so she'll be teaming up with us. when you get through that damn portal let me know! [TheVexedMan]: yea sorry dude. dealing with some sh!t while im here [Cosmic Ether]: just be careful [TheVexedMan]: always ;) The conversation only lasted about half a second, both players possessing very fast hands. Korori minimized the chat and focused back on the girl in front of her DAEMON. Cosmic Ether: so are you ready to move forward? i can heal you if your health is low. Rorschach: nah i'm fine. Kiernan moved forward past the dragon, but not before giving her a playful slap on the back of the tiny daemon's head. Rorschach: shouldn't be too much further until Green Hill... by the way you need to get yourself a freaking mic ;D Korori expelled an odd growling-like noise as she watched the girl smack Cosmic on her small, furry head, titling her hat forward. The dragon adjusted herself and ignored the assault, not wanting to give Rorschach the pleasure of knowing how pissed that made her. This was going to be one hell of an adventure. Cosmic Ether: yea, you don't gotta tell me. i'm thinking about making some investments once we get into town. The duo walked onward, the Thief leading as the Conjurer followed close behind. As they neared their destination, the blades that shot up from the earth shrunk in stature, a slight breeze rolling through them. joint post by Spiede & Ozymandias |
??? // RENU0xu >> Level 2, Black Mage, ??? >> 25th May, 2025 >> ??? & ???, ??? Renu led the way into DEEP FOREST, wielding his magic staff defensively in front of him. He would have felt more comfortable with a sword or shield or even bow in his hands but luck had given him a magic item. Of course, he was adaptable and would use this staff to its highest potential but it just wasn't the same as the cool metals and leathers of the physical weapons. Even though his luck seemed off, it gave Renu an excellent excuse to try the dark magics. He'd never given them much thought until finding teammates for raids or that one moment he tried being a magic archer. If he had a full understanding of them, maybe he would appreciate magic users more. Or even grow fond of the class! Who knew the possibilities that lay in store! Though his detection skills were abysmal, it wasn't hard to feel the eeriness of the forest and that it was full to the brim with monsters. Dark trees flooded the edges of the skinny path that lead them through the forest, their vision even darker than it was in the early morning dim light of the Plains. Flora around them rustled, a early warning that monsters were nearby, but nothing had ambushed them yet. Perhaps a great place to grind, but if the levels here were too high, they might lose their keys sooner than they thought. "Hold, mes amis." Renu held an arm out in front of his comrades, stopping and listening. His fox ears twitched and with a crunch and a snarl, six goblins came out of the bushes and surrounded them, brandishing crude looking weapons like axes and maces made from rusted metals. Like most low levelled mobs, their snarls were an indicator of low intelligence. Unfortunately for them, they were outnumbered. "Two each sounds fair, no?" Renu grinned, twirling his staff then raising it above his head, the ground underneath the two goblins in front of him erupting into flames. They squealed and targeted him, as Renu predicting, running at him with weapons raised and ready. He smirked, ducking underneath the first attack and receiving a mace to the shoulder from the second. "Comment osez-vous! Taking advantage of under equipped players by ambushing them! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" They paid no attention to his words, snarling and growling like the mindless beasts they were. Renu shrugged, thrusting his staff forward again to let loose another barrage of flames. They rushed at him again, this time Renu holding the staff offensively. He deflected the first attack, smashing his staff into the first goblin's face, giving himself enough time to dodge the second one, counter-attacking by setting the bottom end of his staff alight and thrusting it into the goblin's stomach. It screamed, receiving a 'burnt' debuff and its health slowly ticking down as it rolled around on the ground, attempting to put the fire out. "Meet your maker, fiend!" Renu rolled out of unburnt goblin's way, focusing the other by setting the ground underneath it alight, the goblin now attempting to put fire out with fire. A quick glance at his stats on his HUD told Renu he was running low on mana, one of the more obvious downsides of the Mage classes. He only had enough for another spell before he would have to start physically fighting in order to wait for his mana to regenerate. Renu jumped at the burnt goblin, brining his staff down as if it was a sword into the goblins head. The remaining health of the goblin disappeared, causing the goblin to shatter into pieces. Renu stood proudly, letting out a laugh. "I said I would best you, vous chose lai- urp!" Renu felt a weight at his legs, the goblin behind him sweeping him to the ground, temporarily winding him. Damn his low detection skills! He silently cursed how he had relied on them so much before, but now was not the right time to mourn them! The goblin lifted his mace, ready to unleash a devastating attack. Renu yelled loudly, pushing the staff upwards into the goblins face, pushing it up into the roof of its mouth. "Taste my fire, fiend!" At the end of his sentence, the end of the rod bursting into flames and into the goblin's mouth. It let out a wail before it burst into pixels. 2x item(s): Goblin Horn, Potion LEVEL UP! You are now level 3! "Excellent!" He laughed, picking up his spoils. "I will be back to my original level in no time!" |
2x item(s): Goblin Horn, Elixir LEVEL UP! You are now level 3! Samuel nodded to himself while picking up the drops. "Eazy-peezy." |
Adrian Mason Level 2 Warrior Kazuki Utada Level 2 Defender Floor 1: Plains Vision was flooded with a baby blue color as Equinox entered the portal, following his new companion. It was dizzying, teleporting. Different people seemed to have different reactions to it, some none at all! Adrian always became light headed from it, not as bad as when he first got a dreamscape, but it was still noticeable to him."Onward to Discovery!" Suddenly, ground was coming up at him! He landed in a combat roll, sword still grasped firmly. He stood up in the soft grass with the wind gently flowing in his face. He glanced around the field as more and more players made there journey through the portal. He snapped back to reality that people were soon going to attempt to murder him again (most likely, at least) He needed to find ATLAS, link back up! He scanned the surrounding area. He could have spawned anywhere in this open space! Behind him he saw what looked like a bull's head. He headed towards it, luckily turning out to be his partner. "Hey! ATLAS! We should probably bolt before the more angry people spawn... Where do you want to go? I figure we should stick together until things at least calm down a little, we'll stand a better chance..." Kazu took a deep waft of his new cup of coffee. For one who had just lost his livelihood, he was acting relatively calm. The café he resided in was relatively empty, and those who were there had their noses buried in either a book or a partner's face. None of them knew that he had a colored key, and he would keep it that way. The Japanese man sighed and returned to his seat at the table in the corner. He resumed watching his laptop's screen right as ATLAS tumbled out of the blue portal, landing in a crouched position with a loud thud. The Minotaur drew his two-handed sword and held it in both hands. Considering that it was proportional to his character, it was rather large. He looked at his new shiny armor and grinned in approval. "I like this. More of a threat." He gave his sword a practice swing or to and sheathed it across his back. Soon enough Equinox had found him and approached him. ATLAS went over his new map and studied the locations. "I think you're right...Let's head to the FOYER DUNGEON. It sounds dangerous, meaning less players. Hopefully we won't meet with very much resistance. In the meantime, see if you can scrounge up any help. I didn't really have time to have a friends' list." With that, he began to march towards the southern dungeon. "Wait! Equinox shouted going after him "The foyer dungeon sounds like where we just came from! I've been thinking maybe we should go to the hills instead? Sounds more challenging to rough it in the wild!" He caught up and walked with him awaiting a response. ATLAS began to ponder the idea. Hills...Much less enemies, I'm sure. Sounds too dangerous for most. He began to think of all of the Silent Hill movies, or the terrible, but scary, American horror films The Hills Have Eyes. "Sounds good to me. I could use a good challenge...I might need a change of avatar. Something not to obvious. I don't know about you, but I think we both stick out like sore thumbs." He gestured to himself. "I mean, look at me. I'm a Minotaur," and he looked to his scaly companion. "And you're you!" He laughed. "No offense, of course. I say we need to blend in a bit more." "Blending in is good but I've never been good at that... I'm just gonna try to look different. That way I won't look like the known key-holder I know I now am..." Equinox paused and stopped walking... "Maybe we should go somewhere different first though... with... less people watching..." He opened his map and set a marker in the hilled area. "Let's get going, I'll lead... DISCOVERY HO!!!!!" ATLAS grinned at his companion's excitement. "Good point." He began to march after Equinox, a laugh escaping his lips. "Adventure waits for nobody!" Kazu, on the Earth side, put in his ear buds and began to play travel music. Lots of instrumental orchestra, some folk instrumental from around the world, and of course the Proclaimer's 500 Miles. He began to hum the tune to the old song, paying very little attention to the world outside of CLOUD. As the pair of avatars got closer and closer to the hills, he realized that monsters were spawning around them. They were lucky that they hadn't been attacked yet. ATLAS leaned over to Equinox and whispered, "We've got company." He pointed ahead to a couple of cows. There was nothing out of the ordinary, with the exception that they had two heads, lacked skin, and looked angry as well. "Let's take these guys down quickly." |
Terrigan / Tegan |
Mathieu Blanc // Slay >> From Hell to Hell again >> 25th May, 2025 >> Paris, France He was sooo tired, the thing he wanted the most right now was a soft, comfy bed along with a huge meal waiting for him. But he was a creature of bad luck plus there wouldn't be anyone home anyway. His sister would come home late and he wouldn't dare to ask her for a good meal. She'd just get angry about how he had no compassion for others, was selfish and blah blah blah. And he didn't feel like listening to a lot of rambling, the girls were already too much for him. They always needed to comment on the latest gossip and their boyfriends. He felt like throwing them out of his car but he was just too kind. That's why he couldn't decline their invitations, girls had a knack for making you feel all miserable inside. But the time to part had finally came and he was so thankful for that. "That's the place Mathieu! Thanks a lot, you're a real sweetie!" Suddenly the girls became kind towards him, showering him in compliments and praising his patience with them. The same girls were absolute tyrants an hour ago, dragging him from shop to shop without any compassion for his poor self. He waved at them as they entered some house. As soon as they were out of the way, he turned the radio on and switched to his favorite channel. Finally, he could listen to metal without being constantly pestered. Feeling the wind blow against his face felt refreshing and that's why he rarely used the AC when he was driving alone. Noticing that the sun was starting to set, he looked at his watch. 5:49PM. He cursed, the time for the update was close. At this rate, he would miss the event entirely. And if he missed the event, Aisha would go berserk. The fact that the road was mainly empty helped him speed through rather easily. In a few minutes, he was at the feet of his apartment complex. He usually hated elevators but he took one because he had neither the time nor the power to climb the stairs. After some seconds that felt like hours, he was finally at his front door. He unlocked quickly and got directly to the computer. While waiting for the machine to turn, he went to grab some snacks. When he returned, it was completely booted up. Stuffing as much as he could in his mouth, he picked up his DREAMSCAPE and launched CLOUD. Deep inside, he was kinda excited for the update as well. Oddly enough, the game automatically logged him in. Maybe that was one of the new features they were adding? His DAEMON materialized on the screen, but not in the normal lobby. He was in a huge castle full of other DAEMONs listening to a huge one making a speech. Maybe he was late? Looking around, it seemed that everyone seemed uneasy and angry. This didn't look good at all. Opening up the HUD, he got Slay ready to perform one of his skills. Lion's Roar should do the trick. But, everything had disappeared! That was impossible! He had also gone back to level 1. He spent all this time mastering his skills just to lose them right now. That was just cruel from whomever did it. Even his items were gone, except from a random colored key. Come to think of it, he did hear the speaker talk about some colored keys. At the same moment, he heard a huge ruckus. Everyone had started to fight between themselves and he was completely oblivious to whatever was happening around him. Then he had a good idea, why not ask people around? "Yo guys! Anyone tell me what to do about my colored key?" Bad idea, very bad idea Matt. "HE HAS A COLORED KEY! TAKE HIM DOWN!!!" Suddenly, countless DAEMONs started charging on him. Those things only happen to me. He immediately got into fighting stance. He was no stranger to close combat and that actually put him at advantage since most users had swords or axes and the like. But he had no armor, some hits and he'd be done for. It sucked so much to not be really resistant. That's why he put all his money on armor usually. He jumped in the air, avoiding a DAEMON in the form of a beautiful witch and thus resulting in her hitting someone else. Then he noticed a blue portal. Thank god, it was used to teleport. He could get away from this place. Jumping high in the hair, he ran on the heads of multiple DAEMONs that were fighting. But two of them managed to corner him. He gritted his teeth. One of them had a dragon-like structure but the other one was just a human-sized cat. They both charged at him with their punches in the air. Typical beginner error, he used to do them. Spinning around, he kicked the cat in the face, instantly defeating him. Then he lunged at the dragon and hit him with the back of his left fist. However this one was way more resistant. A quick swing of his tail hit Slay and managed to get his health bar reduced by 40%. "God dammit." He was in a bad spot, his opponent's health was around the same as his. At times like those, his skills were pretty useful. At least he was still fast. He just had to make sure the dragon wouldn't resist to his next attack because his defense wasn't that great. The dragon, however, was quite impatient and lunged at him. He quickly avoided the impact and found an opening in his opponent's defense. "Take that, noob!" He launched a flurry of punches at his stomach and concluded with a spinning jump kick. You defeated ohmegass and fluffyfuff! Received : 1x Fighter Starter Pack Level Up! Level 1 -> 2 Without even waiting or equipping his things, he ran to the blue portal. Jumping inside, he let the dizzying sensation flowing through as he teleported to who knows where. A few seconds later, the words "FLOOR 1 : PLAINS" displayed on his HUD. He opened his inventory : Worn Gloves, Old Cloth and Rusty Dagger. Geez low-leveled items were the worst. He equipped his gear and started to look around. Not many people were around his spot. Good, he could use with a little rest right now. Other things could wait. CSS provided by Skymin |
Kai Song//Arathor Plains It was midnight again. It made Kai wonder exactly what it was he was getting into. If it involved him having to stay up this late so often, he didn't know how it would end up. Yet here he was, once again sliding the DREAMSCAPE onto his head and preparing to turn it on as the new day came. What happened next was indeed mystifying. Even as the system was booting up, he was logged on to CLOUD. Automatically. And what came next was the most mystifying of all. He appeared not in the CLOUDLAND lobby, as expected, but instead in what looked like a castle foyer turned stadium. It was HUGE. Even as he watched, quite similar to the pre-release event, hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of members appeared with him. Then, also similar to the pre-release, none other than ICARUS appeared in the center of the foyer. Excitement was welling up within Kai as he watched the events unfold. The members present might number somewhat in the early billions by now. He would not be at all surprised if the number included every CLOUD member. However, his attention was quickly stolen back to ICARUS as he began speaking. "Greetings, CLOUD members! I am your host, ICARUS, and I officially welcome you to your new home! Today marks the day of revolution, the day that CLOUD truly changes the world. To celebrate this wondrous occasion, we have prepared something special for you, our members who have supported us for every single second that CLOUD has existed. "CLOUD has always worked to meld the line between our online selves and reality and now, what we do behind a screen will have so much more of an impact on our lives than ever before. "You may recall receiving a special item last week; a silver key which is individual to your DAEMON. Your KEY is no longer just an item. It is your identity. Embedded within the coding of your KEY are your details, and not just your name and birth date. Passwords, bank accounts, social security numbers, credit card details... everything you have ever done is now recorded in one location. Just by equipping and using the KEY as a regular item, you can access all of this. And not just your own. By equipping and using another member's KEY, you are able to access their details just as easily as your own. As they are non-trading items, the only way to obtain another member's key is by killing their DAEMON. "Other important changes have happened in CLOUD. All levels have been reset to zero and all items aside from your KEY have been removed and deleted from all accounts. Your DAEMON has been reset to factory settings. All restrictions have been removed from all locations which means PvP is allowed in all areas aside from the CLOUDLANDS lounge, which will boot you out after an hour after entering. Also, it is now impossible to log out your DAEMON. However, if you are killed and your key is taken from you, you will respawn in CLOUDLANDS and you are free to try and win your key back." Kai stood up abruptly. Or at least attempted to. With a roar, he realized that his DAEMON had been area locked. All of that work, gone! How dare he reset Arathor back to the level one noob he had been!! As much as he may want to tear ICARUS limb from limb at the moment, nothig could stop him from speaking, so the speech went on. "Are you unhappy with your new world that I have so graciously given you? Fine! Come face me then! CLOUD has been converted into a new domain, a hundred story castle! Right now, the CLOUD you know resides on the first floor. Once you defeat the boss which rests within the new STORM dungeon, the stairs to the next floor will reveal, granting you new opportunities to protect yourself, or to make yourself stronger to defeat and take from others. I will be waiting for you in the hundredth-floor dungeon. Defeat me, and take back what you held so dearly, what you took for granted. "There is however, a catch. I have spread out amongst yourselves unique, coloured keys. These have been given out to several random but now special players. These coloured keys are important for unlocking the doors to bosses and all of these coloured keys will be required to open the final door. To you players who have my special keys, I have given you no choice. I have your key. Your identity is mine. Come and claim it back." With a double take, Kai noticed something. One of those keys... Were his! With quick movements, he opened his menu, and his stomach hit the floor. For sitting right at the top of his inventory was a nameless item, a key of a bright orange hue. The color almost made him sick, and probably would have had it been possible within CLOUD. With a jerk, Kai closed his menu. He was just a nameless face... He was quite sure that even his birth certificate was on that key now. There was nothing that he himself actually owned now save his laptop, bed, desk, and DREAMSCAPE system. When he wasn't Arathor, he was nobody. The realization was shockingly easy to accept, though. He felt firm resolution form in his belly as ICARUS snatched away his life. He would get revenge. He HAD been one of CLOUD's best players! And he now had the experience needed to know what to do! "So, which has become more important to you? Your online or offline self? Do you protect what you have or rebuild your identity from scratch? "Thank-you for your time and enjoy yourselves at our new update celebrations. Have a nice morning, day, night and evening." As ICARUS vanished and the area lock was released, Kai—no, Arathor—was up in an instant. Looking around at the chaos ensuing, he knew he had to get the heck out of dodge. He was about to start running when he remembered his wings. Despite the fact that his flight would be extremely limited, to the point where it was only really useful for large bounds, he leapt off of the stadium, and down to the floor of the foyer. The goblin that he landed on never saw him coming. Nor did the player that had initially engaged it. With a quick grin, Arathor was off, sprinting towards the familiar blue light of a Teleporter. He'd be relatively safer once through there. In a flash, he was through, accompanied by the brief sensation of falling that always accompanied a warp. When the warp had left him, Arathor found himself in a wide open area, which according to his HUD was called The Plains. He chuckled a bit at that. Here he was, back to square one. ICARUS had no idea what was coming for him. With a quick look at his map, selecting LITTLE TOWN as his destination, Arathor began the long walk to equip himself for the many trials ahead. CSS by DeathofShadows |
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http://i.imgur.com/hOOxGB0.pngAndrew; Corona llevel: THREE inventory: 7tork's Key class: FIGHTER I grudgingly agreed to continue our march into the Deep Forest. I was already tired of battling and, wel, moving in general. Around this time on a normal day free of ICARUS trolling, I'd be logging off CLOUD and settling into the newest episode of Hell's Kitchen with a beer in hand and another at arm's reach. Just another leisurely Saturday night. Of course I still have a project to finish... but that's for another less lazy day. Of course if I keep that mentality around, how can I know where I'll find myself in life? Constantly putting things to that backburner so I can drink and laugh at people getting their heads torn off by Ramsay does sound like a trip, but is that what I want out of life? How hard could it be to make sure the chicken isn't pink before you take it to the pass? I'd think every time someone screwed up the chicken, which happens surprisingly often. These were supposed to be professional cooks to some degree, Jesus. Yeah, that's how I'll spend my life. Satisfying. "I'm not really sure where we're going, you know," I admitted out loud, breaking from my thoughts as I cut down a thick vine hanging in front of mine and Terrigan's path. The Deep Forest resembled that of a real world rainforest, with an extremely dense underbrush with thickets my shamefully dull blade couldn't make a dent in, that gradually rose to a more spacious canopy up high. I previously suggested that Terrigan perform some sort of spell to float them up to the canopy so we could simply swing through trees, but her grave expression told me she was either afraid of heights or incapable of this magic. I assumed the former. Just before I was ready to run a fox out of a hole so I could retire for the night, I cut away another hanging vine that revealed a small clearing. I didn't think there would be any free space in this damn forest. Contrary to my feeling, I stepped over an enormous tree root and into the clearing. There didn't seem to be anyone else around, yet, but the center of the clearing was very obviously landscaped. The sod-covered soil circled around a small, quaint house that was as far out of the ordinary as could be, given the surroundings. I cocked my head, taking in the disgustingly cute purple house with pink trimming accenting a white roof. The main thing we both noticed - besides the colors that made me want to vomit - is that the house was rather small, shorter than even Terrigan. "I can't even begin to explain what could live there." I shook my head and gave a hollow chuckle. I stepped closer, careful not to ruin the meticulously-placed flowers that defined the path through the sod to the door. My "light rap" wasn't as light as I would have liked it to be as the house practically fell apart, but the door opened anyway and in its place was a small, pink nose attached to the long white snout of a rat dressed in a yellow skirt. "Oh, dear me! Adventurers have arrived!" The rat rushed back into the house, leading me to peer down and into the house. Before I could see more than a tea kettle on a stove smaller than my foot, the rat pushed an odd-shaped bird out the door - and by odd-shaped I mean it was FAR too big to be inside that house - letting it fall flat on its chest in front me. The bird held a rolled up piece of paper at the end of its royal blue wing. It peer up at me through a pair of ill-fitting goggles. I looked back at Terrigan and bit my lip. The rat stepped out of the house and cleared its throat. "Welcome, adventurers! This bird - his name is irrelevant - has been abandoned in the forest and can't find its way out. It's your mission to make sure he makes it safely back to the plains. You may not touch the bird, and he is defenseless so try your hardest to defend him." With that, the rat turned around and slammed the door in my face, leaving the bird to gather itself and stand. |
Terrigan / Tegan |
Kai Song//Arathor Small Town It was a good hour of walking before Arathor finally laid eyes on SMALL TOWN. It was, as the name had hinted, a rather small place, and the tall Arathor could not help but feel out of place. Now, it should be said that when it is said that the town was small, well... It would not be quite what was expected. It seemed that this town was populated not with Daemon, but a race of shorter, stockier humanoids. Arathor would almost go so far as to call them Dwarves, as their average height was around four feet; however, he found that none had the trademark beards or gruff expressions. Instead, it seemed these small humans were closer to elves in all but body size. All in all, it just made Arathor's brain hurt. After he had finally gotten over the initial confusion of the situation, he found that the town was actually furnished like any other. There was a blacksmith. And there an inn, though he did not expect to be able to fit inside, much less rent a room. Hell, there was even a tavern, alive with shouting and music! He'd stop by the blacksmith first: he'd see what he could get in the way of basic armor and weapons, then see if he could find a good grinding area nearby. He'd be sure to avoid other Daemon as much as possible, too. He wouldn't know who to trust, and who was out to get you, and woe to the individual that mistook him for an easy target! <><><><><><><><><><> Arathor straightened as he exited the last stop in his round of equipment-gathering, and stretched. He was traveling much lighter than he would have liked, but for what he had spent, the short sword and light studded armor was more than sufficient. He'd get more powerful gear after he'd had a chance to level up his needed skills to unlock them. Now, for the more pressing issue. To find an area rife with weak monsters that was out of the way enough to not be discovered all that easily by other players. A quick glance at his map showed a rather likely area, and not too far to the west of town. With a nod of affirmation and a small smirk, he set off. He had finally hit a steady rhythm, and had almost began playing music in his head, when he ran into the individual. It was obvious that she was an NPC, though she was unlike the others within the town. Aside from that, though, what made her stand out was the large question mark above her head. A quest? This early? Man was he one lucky son-of-a-gun! Quests were notorious for big XP rewards and tons of loot. Barely able to contain his excitement, he activated conversation with the NPC, whose name showed up as Sari as she turned to face him. CSS by DeathofShadows |
Rosalee Bennett // PumpkinXO >> Level 3, White Mage, Cloud Nine >> 25th May, 2025 >> Floor 1: Plains & Manchester, England Rosie, carefully manoeuvring herself through the plains, trying her hardest not to be seen by enemies (she had been spotted a few times, but thankfully with a few blunt smacks with her staff, she had defeated them, gaining a bit of experience, only enough for a singular level up). She finally found herself in LITTLE TOWN, as stated by her HUD. It indeed was small, in all aspects -- little houses, little shops, little notice boards, little people, though it did take up a fair bit of land. It had an archway saying "Little Town" and everything! As the townsfolk came into view, so did a few of the CLOUD members that had also made their way there. Rosie was paranoid, but they didn't seem too interested in her anyway. It wasn't like she had made it obvious she had a coloured key, and she definitely wasn't going to start now. A golden exclamation mark came into view -- something that indeed looked interesting. She shuffled a bit closer, noticing it floating about an NPC's head, the name Sari floating underneath the golden symbol. She approached her, seeming important, before she bumped into another player. "Ooh!" She said, stepping back and shaking her head. "Sorry! I didn't mean it! Please don't hurt me!" Arathor was the name above this member's head, and he was covered in studded armour, something far more impressive than Rosie's ratty mage cloak. "Sorry!" She apologised again, hoping this member wasn't as awful as the rest of the members from the castle. |
Kai Song//Arathor Small Town Arathor was about to activate this quest that he found when he was rudely interrupted, and by a player no less. However, something about the crimson haired demon like DAEMON wasn't as intimidating as he had expected. When combined with the fact that she was apologizing profusely, some may even say begging for her life, he realized she was no fighter. "You have given me no reason to harm you," he responded, smiling slightly as he turned to face the player, "nor do I care what type of key you may have. Your identity is none of my business." Now that he had the opportunity, he decided to get a closer look at this 'PumpkinXO', as the floating name prompt told him. She was about a head shorter than he, and seemed scared almost witless. Judging by the tattered clothing and lack of any good supplies, she had just wandered into town. Two horns poked their way through crimson hair, and small wings of bat-like origin sprouted from her shoulder blades. He was sure they were cosmetic; nothing like his own eight foot wingspan. Overall, he had to say that she looked quite unprepared for the huge battle that this game was about to become. At least, until some order could be formed, though that would take quite a while. His online self was what spoke next. The one that went on daring missions deep into dungeons to save stranded players. The one that could fly over the entirety of CLOUDLAND and still have several minutes of fly time left. The one that he had begun melding with. "Listen... Where you planning on taking this quest? If so, I would wish to accompany you. We could party up for a bit." He bowed slightly, then continued, "I am Arathor, previously the strongest solo player in the game." CSS by DeathofShadows |
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Adrian Mason Mathieu Blanc Venice, Italy Paris, France Equinox Slay Level 2 Warrior Level 2 Fighter Level 1: Plains He didn't want to get up at all, somehow the grass was surprisingly soft. However he had to explore the area and try to understand the point of these colored keys. This wouldn't have happened if he paid any attention to the speech, now he's stuck with no possibility to logout at the moment. After getting up, Slay let a wild yawn out. Bringing out the map, he checked the different places. The town was the best option as of now, surely he could gather more information there. After some stretching, he started to run to his destination. Meanwhile… Equinox readied his Rusty Sword and adjusted in his Rent Leather Armor. He wondered what drunk artist made up these enemies and even more who would actually approve them. Nonetheless, they were a threat, and needed to be dealt with as such. He turned to Atlas and said “I’m gonna charge em’! Don’t wait too long to join or I might have all the fun!” With that he sprinted forwards with his sword ready at his side. The place was surprisingly empty. Where did all the players go? Not that he really minded since his health wasn't exactly at the very high. But still, it would be more reassuring if he knew there were other players stuck like him. Matt sighed, these sort of things always had to happen to him. Then he noticed some guys fighting cows? Who in their right mind would take a cow as Daemon? He yelled to them. "YO!" Equinox brought down his sword on the enemy in front of him when he heard someone yell from behind him. His head twisted around to see where exactly the unfamiliar voice came from and whether or not it was hostile. He saw a small human with flamboyant pink hair approaching from the forests. He didn’t look harmful, very thin looking from this distance. Equinox was about to speak when he heard thumping from his left. He turned and swung his sword, sending the NPC enemy flying and defeated. “Stop right there and don’t move,” He said now heading towards this new character with his sword ready, “Not even a twitch. I will kill you… Now who are you and what do you want.” Good god, these people weren't familiar at all. He met people in the arena that were friendlier than those. Seriously? Is that how they taught these guys to welcome people? Geez. "My name is Slay, Daemon-wise of course. I find you guys to be extremely rude, I just called out to you and you threaten to kill me. What's with this attitude?" He took a short pause. "Anyway, I don't want anything from you, except informations. I wanna know what's going on with those colored keys." “Rude? Excuse me for being tense about a new person who could try and steal my entire life! I’ve got too much to lose and will hold onto it until my dying breath! And we don’t know anything about these colored keys other than that we were fortunate enough to not get them, and be able to keep our lives! Equinox stopped and took a few breaths, clutching onto his rusty sword tightly, still unsure of the new Daemon in front of him’s allegiance. “I want you to spell it out in black and white. Friend or foe.” Steal his entire life? What was this guy talking about? He could probably steal his equipment and such, but his entire life. "What are you even on about!? I can't steal your life, I don't even know you." Things were getting too much for him to understand. People attacked him because he had colored keys and now they were talking of life stealing. "I am neither. I just don't have a clue of what's going on." “Did you not pay attention to our forced ‘press conference’ or something?! The keys we all have contain all of your digital info. Bank Accounts, Official documents, all that stuff. Unless you have a colored one. Then it’s in the hands of a mad man in Japan. I’m not worried though, this’ll be over in a few days when there’s a police raid on his home or work, or maybe both! This breaks so many laws that Japan’s government will be all over this company.” Equinox stopped and thoroughly examined the Player in front of him. He didn’t look like he wanted trouble, nor could Equinox find a weapon anywhere on his character. He loosened the grip on his sword and spoke calmly “I’m going to go against my instinct and say you're not looking to harm us. You can tag along if you like but don’t try to pull anything funny or I’ll end you. Now what’s your name?” Now he was surprised... What was he going to do? This was just way too much to take at once. He looked at his interlocutor. "To be quite honest, no. I paid no attention to what he said." He looked down at his pockets. "Then I guess a mad man has all my data now." Sighing, he dropped his shoulders in defeat. There was no use picking fights against other users. "My name is Mathieu but you can call me Matt. What's yours?" “I’m Adrian, also known as Equinox. Don’t worry, Japan will crack down on that guy I’m sure, if not the States most certainly will. Next month, I’d bet this will all just be a bad memory, we might have to find a new game to play though,” He chuckled a little bit “So what city are you hailing from?” He put his hands on his sides. "That's kinda troublesome though." Matt certainly didn't like the fact that someone he didn't know had all his identity. No, he didn't like that at all. "Paris in France. You?" “Venice, Italia. Were pretty close I guess, at least relativity, but a drive away.” He took a look around his surroundings. The trees parted a tad where the mouth of a trail left the opening they were in. “It’s great just standing here but we should probably get on the move. We’re sitting ducks in this field….” Equinox probably had a point, it wasn't quite safe to stay in this place. "I was going to the nearest village, wanna come along?" He contracted his muscles. "And I'll get my identity back!" “Sounds good to me. Let’s get going then!” Equinox said “I can probably change my Daemon there and do some break-neck bargaining too!” |
ShinobiOnigiri AKA Raymond Hughes Kaatahui AKA ??? FLOOR 1: PLAINS The bright light of the portal forced Raymond to squeeze his eyes shut as he passed through. When the portal spat him out into the dark field he grit his digital teeth as he felt his body make hard contact with the ground and slide a few inches in a similarly unartistic manner. Wincing, he sucked in air sharply through his teeth and drew himself up. Looking around, he saw mostly darkness; his eyes hadn’t adjusted yet to the dim light the moon exhibited, and the bright light from the portal made it no better. From what he could see the area resembled one of the low level storm dungeons he had trained in when he first began to play. There weren’t too many monsters around, and being low level enemies, mostly didn’t have aggro ranges. “FLOOR 1: PLAINS” “Well they never were too keen on giving the low levelled areas great names anyway.” He froze as behind him sounded a hard thumping noise as the ground greeted another unknown body. Glancing around him, he saw that others had begun appearing in the plains. Guessing that there wasn’t a big chance that these players would be any less hostile than those he had left in that room, he decided it would probably be best if he vacated the area as soon as possible. Summoning his menu, he selected the map and glanced around as it loaded up in his HUD. There seemed to be several marked locations scattered across it. “What…? Wait I remember something like this from back then… Starters?“ Though Icarus had reset them all and basically put their lives in an extremely vulnerable position, Ray didn’t think he would leave the players without any way to begin climbing levels once again. Another several thumps Too much thinking, he needed to move. Selecting a marker at random, he closed his map and took off across the field, eager to get out of sight of the players. He was now heading to the location known as “Green Hill”. He needed to get the ball rolling quickly, but he supposed it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to pick up some levels along the way. "Hey!" A voice called after ShinobiOnigiri, and behind him came running another DAEMON. A girl it appeared, at least it seemed that way from her high-pitched voice and feminine DAEMON. She was a rabbit-like humanoid with bleach blonde hair and pink eyes. Her skin was light and her body tiny, and she was fitted with what seemed to be a Fencer's beginners kit. The poorly-made rapier on her hip confirmed that. "Hey! You!" She caught up to him, hands in the air as she approached, a sign she came in peace. Enough had been lost today for her to get hostile towards any DAEMON she found. "Are you going questing? Can we team up?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders at the question, trying her best to try and seem as passive and peaceful as possible. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the small body approaching him with a rather alarming speed. Slowing down, he reached a hand up to the ninjato strapped to his back and turned to face his aggressor. The higher pitched voice gave away the person’s gender… well at least their DAEMON’s gender. The rules of the internet stated that there were no females on the internet, and while he knew it to not always hold true, it mostly did. As she called out to him he began to draw out the sword, but stopped when she proposed a team up. Keeping his hand on his sword, he stood up a little straighter, but still watched the girl with narrowed eyes. “...A team? You realize where you just came from right? You think anyone coming out of that would suddenly just trust another asking for a team?” Her posture indicated that she bore no ill will towards him and her sword was sheathed, but he knew all too well how deceiving appearances could be, being a ninja at all…. but still. “... It also wasn't the best idea to yell out in a field full of players who were just part of a mob…” "I just... I mean," she gestured to her gear, "I never really played the RPG part of CLOUD. I was lucky enough to even get through that portal." She sighed, lowering her hands slowly. "All the more reason! If we stick together, we can help out each other! Get levelled up quicker, and if we ever get ambushed, I'm sure we'd have a better chance of getting out alive if there were two of us!" She pouted a little, trying to take full advantage of her avatar's cuteness. "Please?" Raymond kept his hand upon his sword but his guard was slowly lowering. The girl had a point; even if she had on starter gear and a blade, her DAEMON didn’t look anything like a fighter, more like someone who participated in fashion contests and just hung out with friends. Another factor was that he had pretty much just been told that his entire life was not tied to some stupid crimson key, and he hadn’t freaked out yet, well not visibly. There were too many things working against him at the moment and he just couldn’t maintain himself properly at the moment. The admittedly cute pouting look the girl was putting on really didn’t help much at all, either. After a few seconds of glaring, Ray sighed and released the grip on his ninjato, opening up the party interface and selecting the “Add Party Member” option. “...Alright fine, just stop looking at me like that…what’s your name anyway.” "Thanks so much!" She gave a cheer, stabbing the YES button to the party invite. Her name appeared in the top corner, but she said it anyway. "I'm Kaatahui! You can call me Kaata if you want. Or Kaat. Or Kat. I get called a bunch of things." She smiled brightly, clapping her hands together. "I can see you're... ShinobiOnigiri, but is ther anything else you wanted me to call you? That sure is a mouthful." She glanced out to the horizon, the plains extended as far as she could see. According to the map and her menu though, there was stuff out there. "Which quest are you heading off to? I can see three in he menu, but I have no idea what you have to do for them." He let out a short puff of air which one would take for a snicker and crossed his arms, his passive face taking over once more. "You can call me Shino then, rather plain I guess but now isn't the time for brainstorming names, now is it? I guess I'll call you Kat then, we can get more acquainted once I stop feeling like there are millions of players-.... actually nevermind." She didn't need to know about his colored key , and yet he had almost let it slip. Though she looked all harmless and cute, he had met far too many enemy assassins and warriors who had made their DAEMONS appear harmless while actually being strong as hell. Even if they were all reset, they still posed a threat, especially if they acquired the same class they had before, like he had. "I wasn't really paying too much attention when I picked a location, but..." He trailed off as he opened up his map again and searched for his marker. "It seems I chose GREEN HILL, so that where I'm headed, you can choose to follow or not. Either way I recommend we keep moving, because there are millions of other players spawning in around us from that room, and not all of them are as nice as you appear to be," "Let's go then!" ---------------------- |
Korori Hitomi >> Cosmic Ether 25th May, 2025 // baltimore city, maryland, usa o level 3, conjurer o plains >> plains; unknown village Korori was still torn on whether or not to trust Rorschach, but at this point she really didn't have a choice. Aaron was still dealing with players in the foyer and the girl had no idea when they would finally meet up. On any other day in CLOUD the decision wouldn't of been so stressful, but now with her whole life depending on Cosmic's survival, in game choices became as serious as out of game ones. Which really bummed the gamer out since CLOUD was suppose to be her escape. The small DAEMON strolled behind her companion, eyes locked on the thief's backside. Normally Cosmic would take the lead, but without her assassin class she didn't feel confident enough if the girl were to attack her from behind. So for now, she settled with following the gambler. It wasn't like it mattered anyway, who led and who followed. The players were both headed in the same direction, toward the same destination, which seemed to be approaching. Little flower patches began to dot the ground, the tall grasses now the height of a nicely trimmed lawn. Cosmic took a moment to survey her surroundings, taking notice to what seemed to be a large hill coming up. From the duo's position the decline of the hill was not visible to them, but they quickly approached it's peak. Right as Rorschach stepped on the top of the mound, a rumble could be heard from below her feet. Cosmic was only a few feet behind her and stopped in her tracks once she noticed the thief's confused expression. Before the dragonic DEAMON could ask what was wrong, slight tremors could be felt by both players. Followed by the shifting of earth. Korori watched the screen with a dropped jaw, for what she was witnessing was a monster breaking off of the earth itself! As if it was sleeping within the hillside and Rorschach had awoken it. The thief had swiftly jumped off of the creature before it fully rose from the earth, now she stood quite a good distance away from her partner. Cosmic eyed the beast that now stood in front of her as it eyed her back, a giant troll that had been merged with the hillside. On it's back was a massive patch of earth, with dirt, grass, flowers and pebbles all mixed in. It's body was stocky and built in it's upper region and slender in it's lower. The weight of the mound on it's back weighed it down considerably, causing it have a dramatic hunch. PUBLIC CHAT [Cosmic Ether] sh!t! rorschach! i need you to get its attention so that i can blast it with spells! Korori's fingers flew over the keyboard with lightning speed as she tried to get the other player's attention. However, when the gamer searched for the theif character on her screen, she found no one. The girl's jaw dropped and for a second she was motionless, before the approaching troll snapped her attention back into the game. "Fricken' duh!" She shouted to herself, beyond furious at the fact that she actually thought for a second that she could trust the gambling floozy. PUBLIC CHAT [Cosmic Ether] rorschach! if you're still in range, i just want to let you know that i WILL find you! With that last message, the girl redirected her thoughts on the giant troll that was now only a few meters away from her. The beast was most likely resistance to earth spells, so the conjurer was sh!t out of luck. "Damn!" Korori thought as she made the realization that her character was just too low a level to fight alone against such a creature. Thankfully, the monster was incredibly slow, so fleeing was a strong possibility. The girl began to rotate her in game view to try and find a place to run to, while simultaneously moving her DAEMON back a few feet to keep the distance between her and the troll. It took a few swivels of her DEAMON's head and some re-positioning before she was able to spot the drop of the hill that Rorschach had attempted to climb. As soon as the dragon had a clear shot, she dashed past the monster. Unfortunately, conjurers weren't that fast and the creature swung it's long arms out at her, catching a shoulder in it's attack. Korori watched as her character's HP dropped by a quarter, teeth grinding. Luckily, she was able to get past the monster, with majority of her health in tact. The DEAMON jumped over the hilltop, which now had a huge chuck missing from it. She tumbled down the mound and took some falling damage. Korori cursed Rorschach as she watched her HP drop more. The troll would have been a sweet monster to down and collect experience from, not to mention the items it could have had. The gamer girl would not forget this upsetting event any time soon, but for now she had to focus on getting to safety. Once Cosmic hit flat ground, she steadied herself. A heavy sigh escaped her player's mouth as the conjurer began casting the Cure spell on herself. This class was really starting to pay off, sure she had to pay attention to her mana bar, but it refilled constantly. As long as the girl didn't spam spells, she would be okay. Hopefully, Aaron wouldn't be much longer. With him she wouldn't have to worry too much about getting killed then and she could reserve her mana for healing him while he killed everything. After her health bar was full once more, Cosmic rose from her spot, scouting her surroundings with that tall neck of hers coming in handy. With squinted eyes, the DEAMON could faintly see what looked like a little gathering of buidlings off in the distance. Since it was the only form of civilization that the player had come across so far, she decided that there was really no other option then to go into town. She could lay low for the time being and wait for her partner in saftey. Maybe even pick up a quest or two while there. INVENTORY Spoiler:
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This RP has not received posts for two whole months and I have not seen anything in the OOC about it being revived, so I will close this IC until I hear word from the GM. If there's any questions or circumstances I don't know about, feel free to message me!
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