Open Eastern Brisshal Training in the woods

[Thousand Swords]

100 / 100

[ 100/100 ]SP

Thousand, despite his first day playing the game having gone lopsided with meeting a stranger had not yet been told to stop trying to play the game so he logged back in after he finished his cleaning list at home. His character reforming from thin air out in the woods as he had left it. He did not have the gold nor desire to stay in a town full of strangers and since he could log out without leaving his 'avatar' behind the woods seemed like the best place. Frame leaning back in the grass as he enjoyed the slowly warming morning breeze. The game was a great way to get away from people, that much he could agree with for moments like this.

"Alight, lets try to get this 'mastery' thing trained up so I don't accidently kill myself from running off another cliff.~"

Shifting and moving to stand back up so he could get his full list of stretching done. Toe touches, leg stretch, and the sort before he relaxed his breathing and looked at the clear-ish path before him. The trees and nature having been moved out of the way by something or another some time ago and leaving only roots and the sort that he had to worry about rather then weaving around trees. Moving his frame into a running start pose before he kicked off and fell right onto his face within the first three steps. His face blank as he looked back to see his issue was a root that was directly in front of him.

"Ok, MAYBE walk the path a few times THEN try to run it... walk before you can fly..."

Sighing as he rose back to his feet and dusted himself off before walking the path he wanted to try and run. Eyes darting around to each detail or obstacle. Each root that grew above ground, any rock he figured he could move to the side he would take the time to do just that to make things less difficult. The few bends in the path noted in the back of his mind as maybe eventually he would try to run it with his eyes focused on something else. Yawning as he turned back around at the end of the path to return to his starting point.

"Ok... This time we got this!"

Kicking off from his starting point as he began to try and clear the route without issues. Anyone watching would see him failing more times then anything, a lot of times at the same area but each time he would get back up, dust off, walk the full length and restart from the beginning. It was his day off, and he had no plans to go outside in real life so until he got it right entirely he was not going to eat lunch or log off less it hit night time. He hoped though that it would not take nearly that long but his constant fumbles or trips broke that hope slowly and surely.

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Considering the amount of practice some masteries needed, Ruby sometimes wandered in the beginner's area just to make sure she had a way to put some practice on new skills and sometimes just to chill. Her quiet path, however, was soon interrupted by the sight of a man trying to do all sorts of stunts and failing in the process.

At first, she simply hopped on a treetop and watched patiently, swaying her tail once in a while, yawning at a moment it started to be way too repetitive, and eventually realizing that while a few minutes ago it was pretty amusing, now it was becoming both concerning and boring.

"You will dry out of energy if you keep doing that," Ruby warned, swaying her tail and making the bells attached to it ring gently, jumping off the tree top and landing on her feet, twitching her ears.

"What are you even trying to do? Is everything alright?" She asked.

@Thousand swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

80 / 100

[ 60/100 ]SP

The sudden voice of another person would lead to yet another stumble as Thousand moved away from the voice and ran face first into a tree as a result. His frame slowly falling backwards as he could only sigh internally before trying to get himself back up and try to find the person's feet so he least was looking in their direction but would not make eye contact.

"I'm trying to get used to moving at this speed, Even when I ran in real life I was never this fast..."

Rubbing his nose a bit as he moved back to his starting point to try and restart again. Even if the person was telling him he would burn out he learned better from pulling an all nightery or death march then taking his time. That and he only really had today free to play and he wanted to least try combat soon but was still trying to adjust to the basic things. As he got back to his start area though he would not rush off right away.

"Unless im going about this wrong for training... what was it called... Dynamism? the foot icon mastery..."

His tone this time was more monotone as he double checked his nose to make sure it was not broken while waiting to see if the woman had any advise. He waited all of a few seconds before he would least try to make the run again, this time getting slightly further then his best only to get arrogant and tripped on a root and fall into some grass and a puddle of what he hoped was mud made with water. Way to realistic, as he slowly rose and used a sleeve to wipe his face while returning to his starting point.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby winced and frowned seeing the man running face first on a tree, and she approached now more out of concern than out of curiosity. So far it seemed like he was fine though, so it was mostly a matter of listening what he had to say.

At the explanation, Ruby nodded with a small smile. No wonder he was doing all those stunts out of nowhere.

"There isn't really a wrong way to go about it. It kinda depends on what you do with it. Your playstyle, I mean." Ruby said, raising a finger and swaying her tail.

"For example, some people focus on teleporting at short distances with it. Others prefer to simply use its raw speed. I, myself, try to quickly trace a path that I will do before actually doing it. If something comes up in the way, I try to improvise a dodge or something." She said.

@Thousand Swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

85 / 100

[ 60/100 ]SP

Action - Recovery
1d20 (5) = 5
Recovered 5 HP​

"Playstyle? How does one even teleport...? That is like that magic stuff that also makes on sense... I was not given a spellbook or incantation list, or a fancy tattoo to cast spells from..."

His words a monotone mess as he stopped back at the start point to respond to the words. He had no idea what anything meant and clearly had no real 'imagination' as it seemed from him going the most basic route of just going faster with the mastery. scratching the back of his head as he sat down on a rock nearby and got out some jerky he had paid for the other day to take a break enjoying.

"This game is really starting to seem like the worst possible choice of first game to play... Maybe I really should have started with those old arcade systems in the abandoned building on the edge of town..."

Moving his feet cross legged as he chewed on his piece of jerky and reached into his backpack to get a wrapped one to offer to the other person because 'sharing is caring' as he told the kids at the daycare. Some might find him odd, as most would have stored it in the UI inventory, or mistake him for a locked player as he heard a few call him last time he crossed a group of players. To him though he had no idea how to store things in the UI much less get them back out but filling a camping bag he could do.

"Anyways... Um... is that attached? Or I guess you would not be able to move it if not..."

His focus and free hand pointing to the tail, not yet noticing she also had ears since he never looked higher then her neck. Yes he knew it was not respectful to not look people in the eyes when talking, but he got yelled at by people for staring at them with his blank gaze more times then anything so just stopped and dealt with the every so often yelled at for not doing the eye contact. The lesser of two bad choices when no good choice was given to him yet.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

"With magic, yeah. But dynamism is a specific kind of mastery that helps to enhance others, so its utility is based on how you handle your other skills." She said with a nod. "A magic-user with dynamism would usually teleport, someone leaning more to physical stats uses it to enhance their speed, for playstyle compatibility." It was complicated to explain, especially since this game didn't have the skill tree that one would expect from your everyday VRMMO. Instead, it was a bit more intuitive but much more free, it was rare to see someone with the same skill set as another.

At the mention of the game being the worst one for a starter, she smiled sheepishly and approached more. "This is your first game too? It was mine, four years ago as well. It ended up being interrupted a week after I started playing, and after that, I got really excited about games. So I'm pretty good nowadays." She said, smugly before a question caught her off guard.

"What? Of course. It is my tail, how else it would be there?" Ruby said, frowning and crossing her arms at the weird question. For emphasis, she turned around and swayed her tail, revealing a small opening in the back of her qipao for it.

"See? Super attached." She even tugged it a bit, showing it wasn't simply going to be plucked off her spine.

@Thousand Swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

99 / 100

[ 55/100 ]SP

Action - Recovery
1d20 (14) = 14
Recovered 14 HP​

Thousand had not meant to make the female mad, the change in her voice was enough for him to lower his head a bit more and focus back on the ground. People skills made little sense as there was no guide, or standard way to go about things. Mumbling to himself about how maybe if he ever tries writing books he would pick that as his first. Shifting to get ready to run once more after he spoke some words.

"I just want to get used to moving faster then I normally would in real life for just walking..."

Kicking off from his starting point and keeping his focus on the area around him as best he could, well until he was side slammed by a lunging wolf and was sent into a ditch along with it trying to bite him. His face filled with annoyance, why could he not just get ONE damn run without SOMETHING fucking him over! Hair flared up as he kicked the wolf off so he could roll away and get back on his feet to draw his two swords. Eye twitching from his growing anger.

"I just... want to FUCKING RUN WITHOUT GETTING KNOCKED DOWN, STARTLED, OR FUCKING AMBUSHED BY SHIT!!!"

Right hand spinning the blade to hold it backwards as he lowered his stance to the ground and twisted his body slightly, aiming his upper body towards the wolf as the two of them circled each other at the bottom of the ditch. he had enough with things going against him so indirectly, if the game wanted him out then boot him or something, if people disliked him they needed to say it. God he hated reality and fantasy at this moment.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

"If you just want that, then the basics should be enou-" Before she could finish her sentence, a wolf appeared out of nowhere and that startled Ruby. Jumping off her feet, she drawed her Jian seeing both the starving wolf and the angered man as a threat.

Of course, the wolf was a bit more threatening for being canine and a mindless beast.

"You will get used to it!" Ruby warned, blasting off in speed to attack the animal. But wolves never worked alone, and suddenly another one lunged at her from a blind spot.

The wolf struck against her, making both of them roll on the ground while Ruby tried a maneuver to get back on her feet. Her aura surged, warning the man to hang in there because more of those would show up.

The second wolf growled, baring its sharp teeth before pouncing again, but this time Ruby was attentive, twirling and making her bells ring while she slashed the side of the creature as a counter strike.

@Thousand Swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

84 / 100

[ 45/100 ]SP

Action - Recovery
Normal Attack
1d100 (82) + 10 + 5 + 20 = 117
117 damage to Wolf A
---
-15HP wolf retaliation​

Frames moved in sync between himself and the wolf, both towards one another and only one was going to be walking away from the trade of blows. it came down to who was more willing to live or more determined to bring harm to the other. In this case, as the claws of the wolf cut across his chest it seemed Thousand would be the one walking away. Hand tightening before he slashed with both swords and the two foes ended back to back.

His weapons both covered in blood as he stood up and turned to the wolf, his focus a mixed emotion cocktails as the wolf fell dead from the cross cut. It was his first time killing something, and where he had read some people felt something akin to sorrow or the sense of being alive. Thousand felt nothing and it was more then fine as he looked for the other wolves whistling happily as he spun his swords in his hands.

"Here little doggies, fresh blood and meat here.~"

His hand, while gripping his sword would dig into the claw mark and force it to bleed more as he felt the pain but only had the desire to laugh some. This game was bringing out a different side of him when he was forced to fight, and god he was loving it. All his brain was telling him was to endure and inflect more, to fight tooth and nail against each challenger and be the reckless one that walks away from it. Another twisted laughter escaping his lips as the remaining two wolves and alpha stepped into the makeshift arena.

Sword pointing to each as Thousand began to sing 'genie many moo', being his spin of the old pick one target as he set his focus on the Alpha and gave a side glance to the other person. A wide twisted grin across his face as he made eye contact for the first time since meeting the beast folk woman.

"You mind if i take the big one alone?~ I need to do some venting.~"

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

145 / 160

-15 HP from Wolf

The slash on the creature's side brought it down immediately, though it was at the cost of a bite on Ruby's shoulder, who winced before back throwing the wolf away of her. She held her throbbing shoulder with gritting teeth.

She wasn't quite sure why the guy was acting so cocky about the wolves, but she supposed he was just a little crazy. Not that she wasn't into combat, but that was completely beyond what she did herself.

"If you want to-" She frowned, looking at the big guy, coming along with other two wolves.

She shook her head. "I will grab the small ones then." She said, bracing herself while the two wolves charged at her direction. Her Jian brimmed, reflecting the sun. It was time for a crimson dance very soon.

Rolls

Heavy Attack
1d100 (67) + 10 + 5 + 25 + 20 = 127
127 damage
You cannot move this cycle
Slash Weapons | Crimson Ruby | 558C1

Killed Wolf B. Wolf C and D appears.

@Thousand Swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

59 / 100

[ 35/100 ]SP

Action - Recovery
Normal Attack
1d100 (13) + 10 + 5 + 20 = 48
48 damage
Missed Alpha (DC 45 roll) -4/4LP-
---
-25HP Alpha wolf retaliation​

Thousand laughed as once the two smaller wolves moved away he would start to pull the Alpha away from the pack enough that should they change targets he could react, but for now most of his focus was on the big wolf as he spun his weapons in each hand and chuckled some more. The idea of death a fun concept to him in a game, wondering how it felt with settings turned off but he be damned to go down without a fight as he rushed forward.

As he swung both swords he could only curse under his breath as he got a claw to the back and watched the wolf evade both swings. But then, he just resumed his laughter, each attack bringing him closer to death and allowing him to feel like he was actually alive. Yes it hurt like hell but the adrenaline in his system was enough to keep him from tumbling over, that and his countless times getting beaten to near death in real life also helped relate to the pain.

"Ouch, That one actually started to hurt ha-ha.~"

Moving to face the Alpha once more as he got his two weapons ready once again and took up a different stance then before. Both held upright, one to his left hip, the other over his left shoulder. he had some practice with weapons but dual swords was still a learning process with him as he focused on wanting to slash the wolf into ribbons and started to manifest spectral swords causing a raised eyebrow before another grin.

"Ok so strong desire for magic is the catalyst, good to know I suppose.~"

Switching stance slightly as the blades made a small ring around him and he got ready to trade blows with the wolf again, hoping this time he could land more then just swings against the air as he did not expect to withstand more then two or three more attacks from the wolf watching his health bar slowly begin to blink red around his vision. he also only had about three more swings in him before he was exhausted, so each hit or miss at this point mattered.
@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

130 / 160

-15 HP from Wolf

Blasting off at her direction, Ruby had all the chance of the world to brace herself and prepare a counterattack- However, seeing an even bigger opportunity, Ruby remained still and waited for the wolves to approach enough. As soon as they were within reach, the cat girl twirled and slashed widely with her Jian's blade, slicing a wolf's face in half while the other opened the side of the beast and made it fall heavy on the ground.

This came at the cost of the heavy wolf falling on her body, and making her trip before she managed to push it out from the top of her with a huff.

"Ugh-" Ruby groaned at the pain, and the other guy still seemed all pumped about fighting, something that she could understand in a way, since her mind always turned something off when she needed to confront something or someone.

But at this point, he was going to suicide.

"Hey! Stop being an idiot, you will get yourself killed!" She warned.

Rolls

Heavy Attack
1d100 (80) + 10 + 5 + 25 + 20 = 140
140 damage (Double of DC, -2 LP)
You cannot move this cycle
Slash Weapons | Crimson Ruby | 558C2

Killed Wolf C and D.

@Thousand Swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

34 / 100

[ 25/100 ]SP

Rolls

Normal Attack (Slash)
1d100 (47) + 0 + 0 + 30 = 77
77 damage
Hit Alpha (DC 45 roll) -3/4LP-
---
-25HP Alpha wolf retaliation

Thousand was not in much of a mood to listen to the girl's warning as he rushed towards the wolf and this time traded blows with it, Grinning like a lunatic as the teeth dug into his right shoulder while his arcane swords impaled the wolf and the two once more broke away from each other and circled again. All that crossed Thousand's mind was how fun this had become, the risk of death at his heels as his right arm gave out and let go of his second sword.

"Well, guess we go one handed then.~"

Left hand gripping his remaining weapon tightly as he forced his right hand to wave and summon more swords to float around him. His focus slightly breaking to see the girl had already took care of the other two wolves only made him go from enjoyment to annoyed. She did not look like much a fighter but was already done?! Growling as he spit some blood out and aimed his sword at the alpha.

"Another trade, Let's fight until we drop dead ha-ha.~"

Thousand had a death wish, he hated life and fighting to the end felt like one hell of a way to go. Sure this was a game and he would respawn somewhere else but the feeling of death was what he was curious about. How far could he push his physical form before it buckled? How much could he endure until it was to much? How strong was he truly when each strike truly mattered? Another twisted laugh as he took up stance and watched the wolf get ready as well.
@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

105 / 160

-25 HP from Alpha Wolf

"Hey! Stop being crazy!" Ruby yelled, charging in the direction of the man and the wolf, stumbling her way through to try and get to him as fast as she could.

Her heart started racing, what the hell that guy was trying to do, get himself killed? The wolf was mauling him and they were exchanging blows recklessly. At some point that would get to a point of no return and Ruby couldn't allow that to happen. She didn't know how many deaths this guy had in his account.

With her blade shimmering with the energy of the Fallen, Ruby went in a reckless abandon herself, trying to get rid of the wolf as fast as possible to see if she could keep that guy alive.

The blade sank into the beast's flesh, making it roar enraged before it slammed its giant paw against her side, opening three cuts on her ribs while she was knocked away. Her teeth gritted, immediately regretting her attempt, but there was no time to heal or lament, it was time to continue fighting.

Rolls

Standard Attack
1d100 (19) + 10 + 10 + 25 = 64
64 damage (-1 LP)
You cannot move this cycle
Slash Weapons | Crimson Ruby | 558C3

Alpha Wolf
2/4 LP

@Thousand Swords

 

[Thousand Swords]

-66 / 100

[ 5/100 ]SP

Rolls

Recover
1d20 (15) = 15
Recover 15 HP
-Twice activated-
Burst Attack
8d20 exploding (7 + 13 + 15 + 14 + 12 + 3 + 15 + 9) + 30 = 118
118 damage (Explosions: 0)
Gain the Vulnerable state
Hit Alpha (DC 45 roll) -1/4LP-
---
-100HP Alpha wolf retaliation

Thousand heard her words, had he been in the real world he would have stopped everything and profusely said sorry, but here he wanted to be free from that annoying shackle. So he shut her out and kept laughing, kept pushing his body as far as he could as he rushed forward knowing with the wolf now angry this was going to be the last trade of blows he could get in even if he 'played smart' as some would say. So why bother going down without going all out?~

A slow steady breath as the girl rushed to try and save someone who did not want to be saved, a steadied grip knowing this was the last moments. Was he an idiot, was he crazy both yes, but he was never felt this alive. Coughing up blood as he reached for his other sword and placed one in his mouth. he watched some character in a old show do it, why not try in the end for the kicks and giggles?

Pushing every muscle, every magic formed blade to join his suicide run against the alpha. Blade after blade, slash after slash he tried and carved up the wolf as best he could in his final moments seeing the claw coming down on him almost in slow motion. He regretted nothing of the fight, nothing of his time in the game so far, just his real life in those fleeting moments before everything would go black around him as his eyes closed. Life was a bitch, but least he got to live it in those final moments with this game right?

~First death~​

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby staggered, watching the man simply deciding to go for the reckless route once again and finish both the wolf and himself off. She stared at the situation unblinkingly, holding her breath through most of it while unsure of what to do with the situation unfolding in front of her eyes.

She had plenty of things she could try to do before he decided to get himself killed. But now that he was completely destroyed? Mauled to death? She had no idea of what to do.

Backing away for a moment, Ruby frowned at the sight of the big wolf and the man dead together, and-- If he was a lander, she would've at least tried to do something. But since he was a player, he most likely would respawn somewhere very soon.

With a sigh, she simply ignored what happened, pushing away her thoughts and focusing on doing the best thing she could do:

Leave that place before other wolves appeared.

@Thousand Swords