Complete Eastern Brisshal Crumbling

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno's head was throbbing as he stumbled out of the tavern the Lion Arms gathered everyone they could to speak about the game, mostly to newcomers. Hanno did join it in the hope to find out more about what happened in these four years, but he didn't expect to be hit that hard. His hands trembled to hold the list, looking at it with quivering lips while he forced his legs to move and to take a seat on a bench, placing his enormous shield aside while he looked at the list over and over, reading it again and again, not believing on what he was seeing.

From the list, the only one that wasn't a surprise was Sean, who thankfully seemed to still be alive though not confirmed like Blank and Magi, who he didn't know much about.

But Bradwynne was unexpected. Seigi, someone he has met once, and her expressions at their talk four years ago suddenly became clear to him. Ivan and Corvella... Both dead.

He felt a lump in his throat, and his eyes became watery instantly, with a hand reaching on his face to rub it. Did that mean if you died after being unlocked you were gone for good? Of course, just being UI Locked meant you were dead outside, but inside as well? No respawn? No nothing?

Another pang of pain struck his mind, reminding himself of Corvella and their time practicing their shield techniques as part of the Witch Ops training, of the brief time he worked at the Curry House. It felt unreal, he hoped that was a lie.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Few wonders in the real world could match the beauty of a classic-styled, realistic simulation of a world. And for Fiora to think anyone would be unhappy in a land like this, at least it's players, since NPCs were NPCs anyways...

That all seemed to be whisked away from her once she almost stumbled upon a small frame with a shield larger than life, and certainly it had to be the reason for him to not as much as notice her passing by. "Careful, idiot!" She called out, despite the lack of collision, or the fact she couldn't even see him with how different they were in size alone. Fiora barely made it past all that with a sore look, exhausted from walking around in circles. Chasing rabbits was enough of a task for a newbie like herself, but adding up the time spent traveling all the way here, it all seemed to add up. By the time she made it through her own UI to take a peek at her need meters, Fiora took notice of where her legs carried her over: not that far away, but quite near an occupied bench with that same person from before, only now she actually got to see their features, the crystal watery eyes that didn't fit a player. She bit her tongue, unsure if she should or not- Fuck it.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. Are you uh- You know, a player?" It felt so awkward to say so, and her own voice stumbled at that sentence alone in a way she never imagined possible. Before awkwardness could take hold of the exchange, she quickly took a seat, albeit with a fair distance between the both of them. "Right, I'm Fiora. Names don't come up until someone introduces themselves, right? Way too inconvenient for a game. Who are you?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Listening to someone called him, Hanno averted his face from the the paper to look up at Fiora, looking at her for a moment before looking away and quickly wiping his eyes and putting the paper away. "Y-Yell at me?" He asked with a brief confused frown, not even realizing someone had yelled at him.

With clean eyes, he looked up at her once again. "Player? Yeah, I am." He said, looking up at her and recomposing himself.

"Fiora. My name is Hanno." He introduced himself, tucking the list deep into his pocket and reaching for his shield.

"You... You need help? What's up, buddy?" Hanno asked, now curious about why the woman was talking to him. It wasn't uncommon for his shield to catch attention and he get questioned about it. But generally everyone was quite straightforward about it.

It didn't seem this was the case though, her eyes were completely locked on his.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

If he tried to hide something, then his first mistake was to look away like that, the dead giveaway making her squint for a moment. Fortunately, he didn't hear her outloud earlier, but that only peaked her curiosity even further once he proved to actually be a player, emerald eyes tracing over to the list he physically held. Wasn't it an item? Couldn't he just de-materialize it into the inventory? No, he chose to put it on his pocket instead.

"Well I mean, I suppose I'm kind of hungry and don't know exactly what's the best to eat to charge up the meters, but no that's not it." She admitted, sharp eyes like daggers paired with a rose of her hand and an almost accusatory-like finger pointing lower, at his pocket. "What's with the paper you got there, and the look like you just had a bad case of RNG. Shouldn't be crying over a game, you know?" That same hand retreated to her neck, fingers coated on cloth and plate scratching at the back of it. "Come to think of it, everyone in this game act like weirdos, but you look like you are having a rough time so I just- yeah." Were they all roleplayers or something? Everyone seem just too invested on it, at least some of them sure acted like it, and the line between what's real and what's not just kept making it harder for her not to be pissed off every five minutes spent on this place.

Just then she perked up with a bright smile, giving Hanno a smack on the back, a bit rougher than intended but hopefully he could take it (and forgive her for her dumb strength while at it). "Va bene! Why don't we go and eat something? I heard the food tastes real good on this game. Come on, least I drag you around." A no for an answer wouldn't sit well with her, and she kind of hoped he wouldn't turn down her offer that quickly, not unless he wants to see a bitchy frown out of her, that is.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"This paper is an important list." Hanno said a bit more serious than he intended to sound. Truth was that he would usually just be laughing along with this weird lady that suddenly appeared, but for the first time in a while, he could say that he was 'devastated'. "I am not crying over a game either. And you shouldn't treat it just as a game unless you want to get yourself killed, buddy." He warned with pursed lips, looking at the pocket where his list was again and holding a breath.

He mostly ignored the part he was being called a weirdo, something that once again he would usually just laugh it off. His mind started wandering somewhere else, and he stood up with his shield to almost set off without a warning, with her voice muffling in the background before he felt a smack on his back.

If anything, his HP meter vibrated at the impact, but he had plenty of it plus his defenses to make up for any of it.

"What?" He looked at her, up and down before quietly nodding. "Yeah, food in this game is amazing. I know a place." Hanno said with a nod.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

His reaction dissuaded her from pushing sarcasm any further as her smirk faded onto a frame of seriousness mimicking his own, an eyebrow curiously perked once she exchanged glances to his pocket and right back at him. "Care to explain?" She inquired, in a fashion not so different to an actual lander, in comparison to the upbeat gamer attitude of earlier. His warning left something for her to ponder about, eyes dropping as she spared a second to think twice what to say, right before emerald eyes rose to meet his own yet again.

In a moment's notice he spaced out and stood back up, almost as if possessed by something or someone, yet thankfully her well-timed smack snapped him out of that short-lived trance, and just now she could get a peek at his HP bar and the vast difference with her own, a detail she couldn't just ignore once she stretched herself back up.

"Then I take it you are standing up to take me there, right?" She smiled, not ready to give him a second to answer before playfully shoving him towards the cobblestone path "Come on, I'll pay for my own, I bet It ain't that expensive anyways."

The void left in-between their chat only made her purse her lips together, expresionless despite clearly wishing for the opposite. Why was her heart racing this hard? She knew the answer, and yet refused to imagine there wasn't more to it than met the eye, specially with how little Hanno seemed to be willing to share.

"I heard rumours about it. A regular on a bookstore I used to go at completely disappeared one day. Big gamer, started to act all weird a week or so before I didn't see him ever again." She said, keeping her eyes ahead with a slow step to follow his own pace. "I'll pretend it is true and you ain't just making this stuff up. Why are you playing then? Ain't afraid of losing your life to a game or do you just feel like you owe something to someone behind a screen?" Genuine curiosity slipped past her coarse tone, hands ending upon her waist.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"You know. Die once, too bad, die twice, oh my, die thrice, you are a goner outside." Hanno traced a thumb on his neck, with his tone actually turning sharp for once, something that he immediately felt guilty about. He looked away for a moment and then shook his head, looking at the woman while stopping on the cobblestone path, unsure of why she insisted on talking to him when he wasn't feeling the best and after he already told her he would bring her to somewhere to eat.

Slowly, he realized that this was probably how people that got pissed off at his attitude felt.

"Lissen, buddy, if you want to know-" Hanno tucked his hand into his pocket again, pulling out the list and starting to show it. "Sean? See this name? This guy is my friend, I've met him four years ago and when he got locked in this game, I've went to his house myself with another guy and Brad. Brad, who also happens to be in this list." He tapped on 'Bradwynne' written in it. "What did I find out when I got there? Sean was dead, and his family was devastated. A goner, but in here? He is still alive, walking around and just fine, in this game that is... Both marvelous and fucked up." He gritted his teeth. He hated and loved this world at the same time, a goddamn dilemma he had to face now that it was back.

"After being out of this game for four years, I can only wonder how all of these guys are, and some... Some I can't even find out, because they are dead out of here, and dead in here too." His voice shook for a moment as he tapped on Corvella's name, with his lips quivering.

"I'm in here to make sure this won't happen to anyone else. Because people keep playing this fucked up game, because I like it too, for some reason. And to give company and news for those who are unfortunately stuck in this hell hole. I don't even know if they are really alive, I just... Believe they are. In here, in a way or another." He swallowed.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Between the cutthroat gesture and his voice she felt like mixed signals were coming, and that rhyming on what should feel like a threat? Not half-bad! She couldn't help herself when she could only rise her eyebrow in clear confusion, trying to piece together what exactly that was about, despite the clear relation here and there. Death kept being a theme around him, huh?

Finally he gave in, an attitude pulled up as quick as that list did once again and only now she could get a clear look at all the names on them, yet her attention span tracked back to Hanno once his words held greater relevance than the very names themselves, and with every word he said, the deeper her frown became. It wasn't until the name 'Corvella' that all of that strength felt like glass infront of her.

"This sounds like some kind of super elaborate joke to me. I really want to think that's the truth and I'm an idiot for falling for it." That would be better than to accept the reality that people were dying inside of a game in the first place, and yet that clashed with everything she considered logical. Fiora shook off her head, a hand ending up upon his shoulder, both to stop him for a second and to give him a firm squeeze. "You love this game, don't you? Four years and you still logged in the second you got the opportunity to. Eh, I kind of get it." A firm pat followed, right as a warm smile pushed the corner of her lips upwards. "It feels so real, so fucked up too. First time I landed here I hit myself against a rock and never had a worse headache in my life. I felt cold in the middle of the night, even had to stab a wolf through it's skull to come out alive of the spawn area. I stank of blood, almost wanted to throw up even." It scared her shitless to remember Eastern Brisshal at midnight, without any light source and just a sword to deal with things twice as big as the pointy iron stick.

"But it felt better than anything out there. Felt alive like I haven't been in years. I guess that's what motivates people to play. There's nothing better than to live your dreams to the fullest. But I guess I'm just too hooked up to let go of it now. So are you." Calling it an addiction wouldn't be wrong, but was it a good way to define it?

The sincerity he spoke with didn't felt fake whatsoever, and that's what left her most uneasy, chewing at her own lip while trying to get the bigger picture pieced together. She wasn't a stranger to con-artists, but Hanno here had genuine concern for others, and clearly for the ones on his list.

"You ain't gonna stop it though. people will keep dying, if we can really call it like that. But hey, at least you made me an extra bit paranoic now, so I won't be slacking with low level mobs now that you confirmed it to me." She shrugged, doing a quick gesture forward to keep them moving, closing her fist and opening her UI moments after. "But you are the experienced one here, and you say they are still around somewhere. So I'll get stronger, I'll help out the newbies like me, and I'll see if I can help you get to the bottom of this all. Sounds like a fun little quest to me. Who knows, maybe we can bring them back with some special revive item." Careless optimism bled from her as she closed her UI and gave another glance back at Hanno.

"Cheer up. We will find this 'Corvella' from your list. Game's still fresh, got plenty to see now after four years, so why don't you try and enjoy the part of the game that isn't death and despair, eh?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Fiora spoke of a lot of things, some that Hanno could agree, but a lot of them he could only hope she was joking. "I can find some of them, but..." He sighed.

"Corvella will never be found again. She is dead both outside, and both inside of the game." Hanno said, gripping the list tighter. "There is no more solution for her." He said, holding a breath and feeling tears starting to try and roll down his cheek, but he was quick to wipe them out, looking up at Fiora and sighing.

"That's not how it is, buddy. It isn't all shiny and beautiful. I like this world and the people in it, but what happens here? I don't like it. People are dying, it may look fun and even a relief to finally be gone from real life and spend the rest of your character's life in a fantasy world, but still-" Hanno clenched his fist.

"I honestly thought that during these four years, everything was in a timeless limbo. But it seems everything just continued as normal. This world... It feels too real. I can't ignore it." He frowned. "How even the weakest VR devices run this world, Fiora? How does this happen? My first VR device was so bad that it barely ran other games, and yet, this super realistic one worked just fine." Hanno said, pursing his lips and being unsure of how the hell this whole thing worked. It was so complicated.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

A hand reached out to stroke her chin, some part of him still held hope, that much was true to her, but Fiora just couldn't accept this person was completely gone, and her own eyes went from a squint to a frown once thoughts cleared up and he came up with his own answer,his own share.

"But still what?" Fiora said, jarred words puncturing like spears. She folded her arms under her bust. "I ain't gonna lie, it sounds like a one-in-a-million offer. People come to this game not knowing they can truly die, that's the real problem here you should be worried about: how to get the message to spread to newcomers like me." She couldn't avoid the logic behind his questioning though. Fiora hummed to herself, her voice losing that sureness of earlier. "It's true, I mean my setup ain't that great either and it runs this game somehow..." Doubts washed over, a hand pointed right back at Hanno. "But this all already doesn't make much sense, and yet you assume people are gone forever. Sure, you may not be able to bring them back to the real world, but what about this one?" Her voice peaked, one step forward as if to assert herself in both speech and mannerism.

"A lot of strange things that shouldn't be are happening anyways. What's to say you can't bring back the dead somehow? Maybe it's not a regular skill a mastery has, but there has to be some way around it." She turned to glance around for a moment, vulnerability visible through gritting teeth, and a glance that spelt secrecy. "Did it never ocurr to you that gods might be real here? That's kinda the trend around fictional worlds at least. Super powerful entities and all that, and religion seems to be spread like wildfire around here." Her own words almost affirmed her beliefs, determination apparent behind her emerald gaze.

"What if they can bring people back from the dead if we ask them? Maybe, just maybe, we can revive the ones who died in the game." That still didn't solve the problem of their dead bodies in reality, but what could Hanno really expect?

Isn't to see them thrive in such a fantastical world not enough of a reward on it's own?

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno listened to what Fiora said, with his expressions softening as she continues to speak. He cleared his throat, correcting her. "There is a limit of 10 minutes to revive someone" Hanno said, rubbing his arm and looking down for a moment, then peeking up at her.

"I think rather than trying to recover someone who is gone for good, I would want to make sure who isn't gone to stay alive." Hanno said, crossing his arms, feeling a vague guilt seeing that the woman remained optimistic.

"Listen... Sorry. I think this isn't going anywhere. I really don't know what to think about it anymore. I just want to do the right thing." He scratched his head, feeling the pain in his mind intensifying and letting out a brief sigh.

"Let's go to that tavern I spoke of. I can at least help you to get used to how things work around here." Hanno said, gesturing for her to follow.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Fiora hummed, giving in to a sigh of defeat. If Hanno wanted to chip away at her spirit, it certainly did so with these simple words. Here she thought healers would be the answer. "Guess that settles it. But I doubted it would be that easy." She admitted,

An inquisitive stare followed a half-smirk once he went out, body language being enough of a tell past his words that, clearly, even an experienced player such as himself didn't have much of a clue. Hasn't the game been going for a long while? To see a veteran like Hanno clearly willing to play hero and put himself in the face of danger having not a single idea was concerning to say the least, fatalistic if she took it as the worst scenario.

"I get it Hanno. You do what you think is right, and I'll try not to end up in your list. Hopefully we both end up somewhere better than square one." Fiora smiled, rolling her eyes once she turned back to face the road at the suggestion to get to the tavern, which frankly, was high time considering she could start to feel herself getting hungry from the mere thought of it! She should probably log off and get herself some tart, but the promise of information kept her going, at least for a bit longer. "Alright, so what are the limits around here? What should I aim for while I try to work on my masteries? And do you have a rough idea of where it would be a good place to start off? I'm not going back to spawn, that place has a serious case of idiots running around." Idiots, newcomers, newbies. All the same bunch to her, since everyone seems to run like a clueless chicken on their first few moments of arrival. "Although I don't think you can answer that, if the world changed as much as you said it did. Guess just getting the 'do's and 'don't' would be enough." She nodded, moreso to herself than at him.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"It is never that easy." Hanno sighed along, shaking his head and looking up at Fiora. "Yeah, I would rather if you didn't end in any doomed list. Or anyone, for that matter." He pointed out with a nod. Getting to square one was something he has been doing in the last few days considerably. It has been so much it has become annoying in a way.

As she started voicing her concerns and questions, Hanno found their way to the closest tavern, pushing the door open and gesturing for her to follow him to a table, one near a corner with a window almost next to it.

He took a moment to think about her questions, finally responding... "First of all, there aren't really limits. Unlike other VRMMOs, Terrasphere doesn't really have levels or skill trees, so a lot of things are... Learned, gained, or created. I don't think I've ever seen someone with the same set of skills someone else had, for example." He said, waving his hand to catch the waiter's attention, who quickly approached and allowed them to ask for their order.

After asking half of the menu to eat, Hanno continued with the conversation.

"If you don't plan to keep doing things in Eastern Brisshal, and you are already secure of your skills, I think Western Brisshal would be a good idea. Just try to avoid orcs for now, but goblins and bandits are manageable." Hanno suggested.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

"You can't stop that, but neither should you try to really. If people got the message, they would stop playing after dying twice." She mused outloud, dismissing her words with a wave seconds after. It took a lot for her to swallow that back, a sigh expressed itself as a wordless apology only she knew, a morse code of it's own.

Finally they made it inside a tavern, stereotypical to a sense, but the warmth and cozy feeling it brought was unnatural to the few bars she's been to. Hanno made haste for the window table, a lithe smile upon her lips followed. Her favourite spot in reality and fantasy alike in any establishment.

She hummed outloud, practically a quirk on it's own at this point when dealing with answers that left more questions standing by. "Huh, so that's why you only go around with a shield? Makes sense now if you can create your own combinations, and why the game's been letting me do whatever I felt like. Now I'm glad I got auto assist off, felt it would get in the way." And it sort of did for the first two seconds she could experience them. The freedom of movement came with a lack of clear guidance though.

Fiora blinked in surprise seconds after at what exactly he ordered, resting her elbows over the table soon after. "Someone's hungry, eh? That's like, a whole buffet you are asking for. Well, not like I'm complaining, I should have logged off earlier for a snack but this sounds promising." She licked her lips with crystal clear anticipation and a glitter on her eye that spoke volumes on her own appetite.

"Well, I just need to replace a few armor piecs, see if I can get myself something cooler to wear, and give it a try. If I'm lucky, goblins should be the easiest to deal with from these two. Less chance of finding a ranged enemy among these than bandits." She concluded, right on cue for their buffet to arrive on quite the round plate that almost covered the entire table itself!

And Fiora found no reason to hold back at that point, going for the ribs first and tearing off a chunk with one bite. "Hmmm. Damn, thish ish guud." And realization hit with a delay, eyes dropped down to her meal once these words made their way back to her head- It tasted good, way too real, one could tell from sight or tastebuds alone it's medium rare. "...Anyways, what's the plan after this? You gonna chase after the people on your list and see whose still around in the game?" Fiora leaned back on her chair just then, wiping her mouth clean. "I ain't about to tag along but I could always drop you a message if I find any of these names while I play. No promises though, I'm not that lucky." She gestured back at him with her right hand.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Pretty much, yeah." Hanno nodded in reply to why he walked only with his shield. "Truth is that my weapons are my fists, the shield is just to make sure I can protect others and myself. Not everything can be done with just arms and legs." It was much easier to defend or cover someone when you walked around with a shield that had the size of a goddamn door.

At the mention of his buffet, Hanno chuckled. "You are talking about the fearin that eat the most in this planet." He said, soon watching the food he ordered coming with greedy eyes, already getting his hands on the toasted bread and sinking it in a meat broth before eating.

"Getting something cooler to wear, huh? I would recommend finding someone to craft you something. There are plenty of these people around. It was how I got my shield, actually, someone crafted it and I poured dissonance's essence on it." He explained.

Taking his mug to drink, he pondered at her question while pouring more of the drink down his throat.

"Probably." Hanno nodded. "This, and continue to protect others. I plan to increase the list Levi gave to me." He said, tapping his pocket. "Any help would be welcomed though, buddy. So thank you! What do you plan to do though?"

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

"Best defense is a good punch to the face. No one's got a plan for that one." She smiled, content with his approach to say the least. "I'm surprised you can carry that thing and still get a good swing though. Just shows there is some muscle on you all shorties." She chuckled, as if the height difference weren't noticeable enough between both. On a strength contest though? Boy she didn't want to find out for her pride's sake.

Mischievousness took over her, teeth baring as she flashed her canines and did her best to eye him up and down. "Really? A fearin? I thought your people would be way smaller than that, like the good ol' gnomes" It was hard not to draw a line between 'short human' and 'fearin' at this point, if Hanno is something to use as a standard on their people. "Hey pass some of that." Whimsical in tone as she was in body language, pulling the half of her rib forward and leaning against the table as best as she could to dip it right into his meat broth, only to pull back with a few stains from pressing herself against the food, a sluggish bite followed, eyes across the ceilling as the food critic in her surged, right before she wiggled the stripped bone on her hand back at him. "I can't believe that I'm eating fake food and it still tastes this good. You weren't kidding, I'm gonna hate myself for eating instant noodles tonight." It felt different to home-made meals even. Not even her mother could cook this well, and bars, the equivalent of a tavern on Terrasphere, were vastly overshadowed by the later.

"Dissonance's essence? I don't know what's that, it looks like you tore apart an abomination and cut it's torso into a shield. But if a NPC can craft me something like that, I'm in. Don't like to rely much on other players if I'm honest." Present company excluded of that. Hanno was way more chill and levelheaded than she gave him credit for on first glance.

At the quick gulp he took from his mug, Fiora got reminded of her own and swiftly picked it up, eyeing the foamy contents for a second right before she took a swing and gently slammed it back on the table... 'gently.' "Well let's hope we don't get to make it any bigger. Less names, less death." Courteous, or at least she hoped it came off that way. Honestly? If people were dying, it's on them for playing an illegal game with so many red flags all over the place. "What I plan to do?" Her voice distanced itself, almost disconnected from her lips. The question caught her off for a second, the answer already poked the back of her head and yet she simply feigned a smile and rose her mug for a moment. "First, to beat you in a food contest. Second? What we do in every game: grow stronger and stronger and play every single world event out there." The competitive spirit within her soared high for the moment, only to humble back to earth in a more comprehensive tone as she added. "Maybe enjoy the views too. It's not like other games were the world is empty and all that. There is a lot to see and do, I can't imagine how many quests there are out there, but just sitting down under a tree feels like a new experience to me." She explained it, taking a chug down from her drink.

"I heard something about factions too, but I got no idea what's all that about, only that they are all looking for recruits. Know any about that?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"I am rather tall, you could say. But I'm still as small as one would expect from a Faerin. Some are just... Extremely small. I ain't a gnome tho" Hanno said with a small smirk, taking a good bite of his food and drink while he listened to the woman speak endlessly, passing a portion of food that she asked for and watching her eating with a voracity that felt very familiar to him. "Hella, if Ghast was awake, we would close this place down in half a minute." He chuckled. "The fake food of this game is amazing, yeah. And the crafters too, mind you. Dissonance essence was something fun I got from a certain monster... And the rest, was a buddy of mine." Hanno explained briefly.

His eyebrow then rose at the mention of defeating him in a food contest, something that he simply shrugged. "Getting stronger and grinding some levels is nice around here. But making friendships is the best part. Everything is pretty real in here, and of course, the bonds become just as real thanks to that." It was something unique about this place, compared to the rest of the MMORPGs.

"Most of the Factions are looking for new recruits. I've been considering Lion Arms myself, considering the one I used to be part of seemed to disband after these four years." A sigh escaped from his lips. He would miss Monster Hunters.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

"Well you still pretty small by most standards, but I guess I'm a bit too tall if we really gotta be judging sizes." She chuckled, setting down one rib only to pick up another to stuff her mouth with while he spoke. It left her lips as soon as she set herself to talk with a smirk lacing her features. "Hey now, this might be my favourite place in all Terrasphere and you gonna get it closed down already? Damn my luck." Playful and with a pinch of melodrama on her voice to seal the deal upon the oh so atrocious act of feasting the tavern until nigh a crumb remains. "Guess I really need to check out with a crafter. Fuck, I really don't wanna..." Her voice carried on, drowsy and exhausted from the mere concept behind the task, until an idea sparked the life back on her and she leaned towards the table, elbows against the wooden surface. "I know, what about a player with magitech or alchemy? Could these count as crafters?" Not the worst assumption, with how much freedom Hanno said the game had, maybe they could do more than just basic items fit for a MMORPG.

The concept of friendships feeling 'real' inside of a game... A sulky mood took over her for a second, former experiences flashed between her eyes, her left hand headed to scratch the back of her neck to grant herself some relief from the stress bottling up on her spine. "I suppose? But I mean, you would need to get strong in the first place before making friends. Could meet all sorts of scumbags just ready to kill you or something just to steal your stuff. Dunno how often that kind of thing happens around here though." She tried not to think much about it though with the topic of factions so inbound, specially with all the boards around that keep promotioning the Lion's, just the one Hanno probably had most info about.

"Well if you do join, tell me if it sucks or not. I'm probably not touching anything related to the Lion's. All word I heard makes it feel like the goody-two shoes uptight group."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Hahaha, I said we, not me. Don't count yourself out." He gestured at himself and Fiora, shaking his head in disapproval at her attempt to get herself off the hook.

"Magitech, alchemists, arcanamancers, and even just someone that happens to know craftmenship. You don't need a mastery for that. I for example know how to cook, so I just do. Someone with arcanamancy or something similar has more tools to craft though." He explained, hoping that what he was saying made any sense for the woman.

"You are still thinking of this too much as a game. This is just like the real world, people just happen to cast fireballs and have herculean strength." Hanno shrugged.

Hanno lips then pursed at the mention of PKs. Or just murderers in general. He hated people that murdered Landers as well, treating them as nothing just because they were "NPCs".

"Haha, sure buddy. But like... keep this in mind: no matter what the factions tell about each other... they all have their own wonderful people and values. Even if you join one, try to be in good terms with everyone." Hanno said, taking a deep chug of his drink.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

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"Me?" She pointed back at herself, pulling the worst attempt at disbelief she ever had, and a smile tugged her lips to fully betray her while at it. "Naaah. Clearly you gonna do that all by yourself while I watch, I wouldn't do such a terrible thing to such a prestigious establishment." Oh now she was bullshitting, waving her hands in surrender, smug-like energy chalking her body language.

"Wait you know how to cook? Damn, you gotta teach me one day, I doubt I'll find instant noodles around Terrasphere." She chuckled. The concept felt funny and confusing alike, yet nothing out of the ordinary compared to everything this place has shown her so far. Actions didn't felt hardcoded, all the opposite. Where there even any invisible walls in this game even? "I took arcanamancy myself, but I haven't been using it for much but spam swords at things lookin' at me ugly. I should probably get more creative. How about your skills though? I doubt you just punch and shield everything you see, that would be boring at the long run." She pondered.

The implication that this could be more than just a game was baffling, a frown crossed her mood for a second, cut in half by Hanno's insistence, yet their previous talk shred some light- To deny it would be stupid of her. "Yeah, just with small people, cat people, elves and no electricity. You probably right though, but I mean, these people around us? NPCS. They are just real well coded, and creepy. The whole world is fake. I don't know..." The harder she tried to wrap her head around it, the less sense everything made, almost headache-worthy at this point as she rubbed her forehead.

"Hah." She exclaimed, taking a swing from her mug, a pleased sigh broke past her lips. "Is there only PvE around here? I know PvP is deadly and all but, just for the sake of fun? I'm sure this game has a bunch of people ready to clap eachother's faces. Dunno about you though." Doubtful, at least the answer she could expect wouldn't be so satisfying, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. "I don't think I'll join any faction to be fair, but if anything I might give yours a look. Can't say I wouldn't mind having someone with a shield like that nearby."

@Hanno Futaba