Private Eastern Brisshal Of Weapons and Choices

[Hyakin Heliodoros]

Honeyhome was a little less than a village and yet it was a sprawling place that somehow had enough space to accommodate weary travellers and new starfallen. It had inns, as well as rooms and homes for rent. After logging in to the game and ‘waking’ up on the simple bed in room he rented out the night before, Hyakin went towards the General Store in order to get himself some actual armour and weapon.

Sure, he had a startling strength which allowed him to literally kill people with it, but he is going to be a knight and thus, needed the armour and weapon for that. While armour was actually a very easy thing to get at this stage, weapons were a thing that stumped him a bit.

Because from his skills, he had a really wide range of weapons he could use, even while taking into account the look he wanted to go for, that is, a knight. And yet, he wanted that perfect one.

“Hmmm…” And so, the tall man stood before the display of simple, yet wide array of weapons. He stood and pondered, looking at one, then another. There were maces, swords of various lengths and widths, polearms, hammers, and knives. There were also other types of weapons and yet, somehow he simply knew that using them would.. Not be good. No, somehow, he knew which of the swords he could use and which polearms he would struggle with. Not to mention how he did not even glance at the area with the ‘magical’ weapons, like staves and the likes.

Overall, there was a truly wide, wide array of weapons. None of them were of really great quality, they all were obviously ‘starter’ weapons. But there was almost everything one wanted and their prices still made it so that.. He could only buy one.

Hyakin had talked with the seller and did hear that many of the weapons were in fact supplied by ‘starfallen’. And he could see himself for example giving his old weapon for free once he got a better one, for future new players. He was also informed that they could touch the weapons and sort of try them out, but that there was an employee nearby to make sure that they did not ‘magic away’ the weapons. Which was probably in-game explanation why one couldn’t just simply steal thing and to protect the economy.

The huge human walked to the side, so focused on the weapons that he could bump into someone.

 

[Erick Stryker]

Unlike most of the folks he met, Erick had no interest in weapons from the start.

The game in no way forced martial abilities onto a player, and in many ways, it left the door open for them to craft a skillset that did not rely on them at all. While it might be more difficult in the long run, it was entirely plausible for someone to get strong focused entirely on magic. Erick's intention when he handpicked his skills was to keep others alive. As he learned more about the game, he realized just how valuable that sort of skillset would prove to be.

He had been given a 'focus' for his spellcraft by Ash during his first visit to Honeyhome, but as he gained strength and his powers flourished, the chipped gem tied to the end of a stick failed to channel the amount of power he had become capable of harnessing to its full potential. He doubted that anything he might find in the beginner area would serve as a proper replacement, either.

But that was not what brought him back to this place. The things he learned in Dunnstads about the pain limiters made him even more aware of the dangers that the world of Terrasphere posed. There was a very real chance that the things Ash told him about the "three death" rule were true, and if they were, he had to make sure other people were on their guard and prepared to face that truth, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Honeyhome always greeted him with the crisp, fresh scent of warm apple pie. The dash of honey baked into the crust was a signature that perfectly complimented the name of the small village. His lips turned into a smile unbidden as he passed one of the children at play, and he waved to a woman in her window busy placing a pie out to cool on the window sill.

There were always new Starfallen here, and that abundance of adventurers served as a hub for new information. Whispers about the game spread like wildfire. Instead of contributing to them and hoping for something to stick, Erick decided to at least browse the equipment store's wares, if only to have something to do.

That was around the time he accidentally bumped into @Hyakin Heliodoros . "Ope, 'scuse me," he murmured out of habit.

 

[Hyakin Heliodoros]

Moving from one weapon to another, he ended up closer to the magic-users weapons and ended up bumping into someone. Or someone bumped into him. It was a bit hard for him to know.

…And he was not sprawled on the floor.

A mellow voice apologised; it came from lower than higher.

Hyakin blinked once, twice, thrice and then looked down, feeling just how bizarre it was. Yes, he sculptured his avatar to be big, tall, wide and strong. And yet, many, many years, habit made this unexpected. As unexpected was the fact that his balance was not thrown off from just that, like would have happened were he in his real body.

The person he bumped into was shorter, leaner. And beautiful, in that perfect way like any game character: lithe build with lean muscles, pleasant facial features, natural blue hair, green eyes (with the slightest hint of grey tint in the green colour). ..He probably should stop staring at him now.

“Oh, no, not at all young sir!” Hyakin’s voice was not too loud, even though it was energetic. “I too was focused too much on weapons and not paying enough attention! I hope I did not cause any inconvenience?” He asked taking another look at the shorter male, trying to see if he did not cause any bruise. Just in case.

“Getting your first weapon is sure not easy.” He shook his head with a soft smile, eyes dancing with excitement. “If only I had more money I would take one of each! That I can use that is. Alas.” Again, he sighed, as if deeply saddened by this. And in a way he was. It was a thought for the future, once he was richer. To have one weapon of each type until he will find which one he likes the most and invest further fund and materials into one.

 

[Erick Stryker]

Growing up in the Midwest, several things were commonly accepted as a rule of nature. The obesity epidemic everyone recognized but no one acknowledged (and he doesn't talk about it, because it's rude!), taking turns in the grocery store real slow (just in case), and "lemme just slide past you right quick." Those unflinching cultural norms culminated in many accidental collisions with larger people that had taught him how to mitigate much of the resultant damages, if any.

Thankfully, though the larger man was foreign to those customs, the lessons they taught the blue haired boy served him well as he dug a heel in and took an extra step backward to catch his balance. He voiced nothing of his surprise or the impact, instead managing a smile and ruffling his hair nervously. "Nope, nothin' like that!" he assured the other Player warmly. At times, too nice, because he was immediately baffled when he was called 'young sir.' How much older than him could this guy be? "Just doing a little window shopping."

When the man commented about looking for his first weapon, Erick smiled. "Oh, now that sounds like a conundrum," he glanced at the many wares, basic though they were, then back at the man. "Do you know which weapons you're capable with?" he asked, referring to which skills the other player had opted for masteries in during character creation. "That might narrow things down a little bit and make the decision just a bit less difficult."

Erick saw a social situation and took the bull by the horns. Meeting new people and talking with them was a major part of this type of game, and now that he was a bit more knowledgeable about things happening in Terrasphere, helping others to learn and get stronger seemed like the obvious course. His mind was a bit one-track in that way, at this point.

 

[Hyakin Heliodoros]

Luckily, nothing bad happened. No one was hurt or really bumped. That was a relief. Hyakin then nodded, looking understanding. “Ah, window shopping.” Widow shopping was great and horrible. Horrible when your wallet could not buy the amazing things you could see.. Or when you could not make use of those things.

In-game he suffered from the first problem: lack of currency. The gold after all had to be spent for accommodation and food – delicious, wonderful food that he could eat with no problem – but he was getting sidetracked.

“Yes, but even that does not narrow the scope that much.” Hyakin offered a wry smile and then gestured to the racks of weapons he could use. “I can use most polearms and swords.. All maces, shields, axes, knives and hammers… Which is still a lot. And my money is limited. Hence my dilemma.” The large man narrowed his eyes before decisively nodding, having clearly come to some decision.

“As a future knight, knives are not going to be in my arsenal.. Aside maybe for skinning pelts. So for now let’s shelve them.. but that still leaves me with way too much choices. Not to mention that I’m not sure just what is the difference between some of those that look the same, cost the same and yet have different names.” He ran his hand through his hair in slight frustration.

“….And I am not too sure about how to keep gear in good condition. Oh, right, my most sincere apologies!” Suddenly, the tall man exclaimed, giving a sheepish smile to his conversation partner. “I rambled and have not even introduced myself. I am Hyakin Heliodoros, pleasure meeting your acquaintance.” He gave a curt nod for greeting and stretched his hand for a handshake, giving a bright grin to the shorter human.

 

[Erick Stryker]

"Uh, honestly I don't know a whole heck of a lot about weapons myself," Erick answered honestly. There was a pause as he considered the different tools, each of them useful in its own way. Each of them served a different purpose. It was almost like Players themselves and the roles they took on. Every decision was a different branch in the path of fate, a choice that ultimately dictated who they would go on to become after that moment. When viewed that way, he absolutely understood the difficulty of such a decision.

But even without that consideration, there was the matter of money. "Yeah, I completely understand being broke," he murmured, not so loudly. It wasn't as big of a concern in this world, admittedly. It was easy to get a quest or kill a few enemies to put together a small pittance. They could arm themselves, provided they had the means to do so.

Which meant as a melee combatant, without some kindness from strangers, it became a vicious cycle of not being able to do much.

Ah.

"Here, you know what, let me get that for you." Erick reached into his pocket and offered the man a few golden coins. He wouldn't take no for an answer on this point. Without a weapon, the only certainty was death, and death wasn't something he liked to leave on the table, even if he didn't know someone all that well. "I can't help you make a good decision, but if they're all around the same price, I can at least foot the bill. After all, if you go unarmed and I had the opportunity to prevent it, whatever happened to you would be my fault. I can't have something like that on my conscience."

For the most part, people in this world for the first time weren't fully aware of the dangers surrounding death. Erick was.

He blinked several times when the other Traveler extended his hand and gave his name. "Oh, yeah, nice to meet you, Hyakin," he replied. "Name's Erick. I'm pretty new around here myself, but I use magic as a weapon, so I haven't really needed to worry about buying gear yet."

@Hyakin Heliodoros

 

[Hyakin Heliodoros]

Hyakin accepted that the fellow Traveller apparently did not know a lot about weapons. Especially as he was a magic user and their weapons were of completely different types. After all, you do not use the 'catalyst' types as whacking or slicing weapons. And of course, he nodded solemnly at the mention of 'being broke', it was something which seemed to be true no matter what VR game it was; though the economy in Terrasphere from what he had seen so far was reasonable.

And as the smaller male offered financial help, Hyakin got flustered and quickly rose to object. But the other Player was stubborn, like hitting a steel wall. No matter what he said, he was rebuffed. And worst of all; it was a rational and kind rebuttal. And with a poke at his pride, Hyakin who wanted to be a proud but not arrogant knight, could only cave in, looking still somewhat flustered.

"I… Very well. You have convinced me." But, and that was important, he was also touched by the gesture. Such kindness, such intelligence to counter-argument all he said and convince him to do in fact take the money – for the moment. Because…

"However, this is merely a loan mister Erick. A loan." Hyakin repeated again, as if daring the seemingly younger man to disagree. "Which is also why we should become friends!" This was the moment where he clumsily opened the interface and sent a friend request to the Player before him.

And then with slightly grumpy, but also thankful face, he also took the currency. Hyakin glanced at kind Mister Reick's weapon, if it was visible, and at those on display.

"I… Am pretty sure that those that delve into the mysteries of arcane and divine have to upgrade their gear too." He spoke then shook his head and smiled, stepping towards the weapons, his eyes gleaming as they looked between the assorted equipment and the unfortunate kind soul that he would do his best to keep hold on.

"Anyway, since because of your kindness, my purse strings are less tight, may I further ask for assistance?" Looking excited, Hyakin made a striking pose. "Please help me decide which weapon looks more epic and knightly in my hold. Your point of view is different from mine... You can see me fully!"

 

[Erick Stryker]

Erick chuckled at the sudden and emphatic assertion that his offer was merely a loan, and well, he wasn't going to say no if someone wanted to pay him back. That was just a stupid thing to do no matter which world he was in. "Alright, alright," he grinned. "You win. We'll call it an IOU."

After he spoke those words, Erick opened his UI and accepted the request, only slightly more quickly than it had been sent.

"I… Am pretty sure that those that delve into the mysteries of arcane and divine have to upgrade their gear too."

"We do," Erick agreed while looking over the myriad options available. He reached into his effects and withdrew the Focus that was gifted to him by Ash. "I just happened to get lucky and got a roughshod focus for my magic from someone as soon as I got to Eastern Brisshal," he said, then stowed the item as easily as he had fished it out. He did all of this without looking up.

When the other man asked for further assistance, Erick was perplexed. Wasn't he already helping the man? Was Hyakin worried he was just going to walk away without seeing this through, after going so far as to pledge money to the effort?

Or maybe he hadn't realized that Erick was already committed to helping him. #JustCulturalDifferences

"Yeah, sure," he replied after a moment. He folded his arms and leaned back a bit to give the man some room to... do epic and knightly things? "Though I'll be honest, my metric for epic and knightly is pretty much what I've seen in pop culture and Disney movies. Heath Ledger was pretty great in A Knight's Tale," he added, for clarification's sake.

@Hyakin Heliodoros

 

[Hyakin Heliodoros]

Hyakin let out an impressed whistle at the sight of the weapon he pulled out; a focus that looked different from those in this shop. Yes, there were few scratches here and there, but it also looked more fancy. It was inert right now and looked mostly like some weird ring? For moment, that coolness factor made him envious. But soon he pushed it away. "That's great news. I will remember this and once I am more experienced, I will bestow my former weapon onto a new player too. Yes, that sounds really good." The man nodded to himself, already imagining this.

Hearing the assurance of help, Hyakin flashed him a smile and then took out a weapon from the stall; it was a rather large sword. The two-handed sword was, well, basic. But huge enough that he could use its flat sides to simply crush and the sharp sides to cut. It did fit well with his large build… but it also was two-handed and he needed a shield too. Something to think on.

"I absolutely do not know that movie!" The taller human exclaimed, with absolutely no shame. "I will look it up… But if the knight is cool, knightly and chivalrous, then he is a good example!" Looking around, he made a thrust at the air and then a swipe.

…He liked the long reach. But it being two-handed was bit of a problem.

"How was it? Cool? Scary? Awesome?" After getting the impressions, he put the sword back and took a mace. Single-handed mace. Good crushing weapon. He could also hold shield with his other hand. Again, he made few movements; though he noted that the spikes made the weapon look bit too intimidating. With gore on it – it probably would look too scary.

Still, he took a shield and put it on and stood with shield and mace and raised the mace trying to look cool.

Then he put it away and took a sword. The single-handed sword could also be technically a two-handed sword. It was a normal sword, useful for slashing and cutting but not smashing.

He straightened his shoulders and struck another pose.

"What do you think?"

@Erick Styker

 

[Erick Stryker]

Erick blinked when the man mentioned he had not seen the movie, but he realized that it tracked a moment later. It was an early 2000s flick and most people these days didn't like cult classics. He was from a rural area and his parents were big into pop culture from the 80s and 90s. Ledger was most famous for his role in the Dark Knight as the Joker, and even that, most people in this day and age only knew about purely out of obscurity.

What made the comment funnier was just how not knightly and chivalrous the main character of that movie was. By that metric, it was not a very good example. He didn't bother to mention that point though. At his age, the only people who worried about Knights and Dragons and swords and shields were kids who played lots of dungeons and dragons. He was not one of those.

Then, Hyakin thrust his weapon into the air. Erick snapped out of his thoughts and watched the man, not sure exactly how to judge the movements as "cool." They clearly had very different ideas about what that word meant. "It was..." his voice trailed off, and he tapped his chin thoughtfully.

The weapon was not fantastical by any means, or exciting to look at. It didn't really fit the paradigm for what Erick considered "scary," so the best he could say was... "...it didn't really look like it would be all that useful, honestly," he said of the two handed sword. Then again, his own roles involved support. For him, not being able to protect himself and others as a primary function made a weapon practically useless.

Then came the mace. His own imagination was not quite so vivid as Hyakin's, so when he thought about how it might look in a fight, he couldn't quite determine how it made him feel. He just knew that it wasn't what he expected when he heard the word "knight," so he quietly shook his head.

He supposed that his ideal pairing would have been a sword and shield.

When the other man struck a pose with said items, he snapped his fingers. "Yeah," he pointed at Hyakin. "That's it. That's what I think when someone says "Knight."

@Hyakin Heliodoros

 

[Hyakin Heliodoros]

Hyakin ginned when the other agreed with him, seemingly glowing with happiness. Yes, shield and sword will be his weapons. So knightly, so very obviously knightly, that it was the best possible choice.

…Which actually meant that with his own gold he would have been short on the money. Because those were two things, instead of one and he had splurged on armour earlier. And he felt so stupid now, because shield was not part of armour, but actual weapon that could be used to defend.

With that in mind, he also immediately took into account that whenever he chose to upgrade weapons, he would have to use twice the money. Because of the shield. It was good to know for the future when he will be keeping eye on his gold.

His face twisted in a slightly pained grimace before he sighed and bowed to Erik.

"Without you I would be in a bind. Thank you." He then straightened his back and touched the shield and sword again, as if making sure that those were the ones; there was a smaller shield but he wanted this bigger one. And this sword was alright.

In distant future his weapon would be surely much better; glowing with the light of High Quality, but for now, those were perfectly serviceable.

"…Actually. As you know, I'm still new.... Is there a place one can go to get some daily quests and the likes?" Sure he had the literal questlines, but he was not sure which to choose and the line towards Erik grew stronger. He must have picked up a social interaction questline.