Complete Private Isulus Worth Fighting For

[Ash Vargold]

Yeah, I guess. When I decided to pick spirit magic all those years ago, I didn't really think about where I'd end up with it...

Ash rolled his eyes at Hanno's jab, but he still smiled at what was obviously meant to be a joke.

It's not like I refuse to eat vegetables, Hanno. I just...

He paused, following Hanno's gaze down towards his tail which was... ah. That traitorous furry appendage, doing... whatever it did. He glared at it as if he could somehow intimidate it into stopping its wagging - and it did, though mostly due to the way his happiness faded. He coughed in a vain attempt to hide his embarrassment.

...um. Sure, I'll try it. Probably cleaner than the water, anyway. If you grab that, I'll go get a couple of plates with a little bit of everything.

Really, he was just glad to have the excuse to step away for a moment and get his thoughts back in order. There was always something about those instinctual responses tied into this avatar - things he didn't even think about until something drew attention to them, at which point he became hyperaware of it all...

I think there's a few spots over near the door. Meet you there in a bit.

And off he went, ready to load up a pair of plates...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Right? I mean, I wanted to be a healer back then, but look at me now. I need healers instead." Hanno chuckled and shrugged. "Doing some investigative work using spirits is really fitting to you though. If there was a series of that, I would watch."

And probably there was, but instead of being in a cool fantasy world, it was in a funny spooky house in real life, in some random questionable show.

Hanno really tried to suppress a grin when he saw Ash glaring daggers at his own tail, something that made him want to pat him even more, which was a proof that the faerin was the only one with behavior issues between the two.

"Sounds like a plan, buddy! I will catch you soon." He winked, darting off to seek for whoever had some mead.

Turned out his luck was even greater, with the bottle belonging a Lion Arms table. Slipping a talk or another, he soon managed to snatch a half full bottle to himself, grinning when approaching Ash and the table he had set once again.

"Wow! Now that's what I am talking about!" He licked his lips, seeing the plates so full that even his shield rumbled awake.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

What, like reverse Ghost Hunters? I'm not sure I'd consider myself the type...

Still, the thought hovered in the back of his mind as he went to load up a few trays. What did Hanno even like, anyway? He wasn't sure, so he made sure to get a bit of everything on there without feeling like he was taking more than their fair share. There was only so much of the fresh stuff, after all.

It wasn't long before he found his way to the table, carefully balancing a tray in both hands. There were some few things about this avatar being as oversized as it was, he supposed...

He was already beginning to eat when Hanno returned from the Lion's table with the bottle. Even though he still wasn't one for the smell or taste of alcohol, there was still just enough of that sweet honey smell to pique his interest. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad...?

Looks like your mission was successful. I wasn't sure what to get for you, so I went for variety.

He nodded towards a pair of cups on the table before resuming his eating. He got hungry in game pretty quickly, lately...

So, how did it go with the Lions, anyway? I heard something about... fighting monkeys?

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Hella it was, but yours was even more successful!" Hanno beamed, finally taking a seat and pushing the bottle to the center of the table, being quick to grab two cups and start filling them up without any restraint, having the liquid nearly overflow.

Hanno shrugged. "Man, I'm not really that much picky with food. Being a glutton and a chef myself, it is hard to be too selective." Especially when you had to taste everything before actually putting it in a plate.

When the question about the monkeys came up, Hanno rolled his eyes. "Honestly? At the time my emotions were going kinda crazy because of that fever, but you could say that we had to deal with apes through all the expedition. Those guys are relentless, attacking us all the time and even kidnapping a girl from the Adventurers Guild, can you believe in that? She was lucky we were there to rescue her." He sighed, shaking his head.

"There was this big monkey too, with a brain exposed in a glass on its head, something straight out of a horror movie, I tell you." Hanno frowned with a disgusted expression, being quick to move on from that topic.

"How about on your side, buddy? We were lucky to have you back all of us up."

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash was a little careful as he took one of the overfilled cups. Why did Hanno have to pour so much? Now I'm gonna worry about wasting it...

He carefully lifted the cup to his mouth as Hanno relayed his story of the battle with the apes. The mead was less sweet than he expected, and it still had that sour alcoholic taste, but... well. It was better than beer, at least.

Yeesh, sounds like a nightmare. I can't believe Terrasphere decided to make Mojo Jojo a reality.

I was thinking about helping out the Lions, actually, since you and Harlow and a few others I recognized were over there, but... well. That sort of thing is technically what I'm trying to avoid.

Drinking mead was also a good way to keep Hanno from reading his vaguely embarrassed expression. Though apparently little could be done for bits of anxious canine body language showing the same. Those words certainly felt hollow, considering how he'd charged in against the Matron, but that was before all that happened...

Helping the MIT was... interesting, I guess. I think I spent more time trying to break up fights than I spent doing any actual "science". We had to straight up lock up a few people just so they wouldn't hurt others.

Ash set down his mug and rubbed his chest with a grimace.

Even got zapped by some magia that was flinging abuse around like Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen. That was... not great. I should probably talk to her, but... I've kind of been avoiding her...

It hadn't even hurt that much, but the fact that he'd apparently incited someone to attack him kept bugging him. Back to sipping the mead Ash went. He was starting to wonder if he was getting used to the taste of alcohol, considering how often he seemed to have it in game. Hopefully that wasn't going to be a problem.

...the mead really wasn't bad, though...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Yeah. Honestly I never thought of Mojo Jojo as something scary, but after seeing a real one. Nevermind that crap! I never want to see a smart monkey ever again in my life!" He exclaimed, making a monkey beastgirl nearly choke in her drink, shifting to glare angrily at him.

Hanno rose his hands. "Uh, sorry." He cleared his throat.

He couldn't help but raise a brow at the reveal, however. "Avoid us? Why?" He asked, having a few guesses but not wanting to assume anything.

The mention of how things were going with MIT made Hanno scowl a bit, taking a sip of his drink and already snatching some chicken pieces from the portion.

"That's some... bad deal buddy. Things were really that bad? Well, I guess you guys were in contact the closest with the fever, so losing yourself out of control is easy, I guess." Hanno rubbed his neck, still feeling some after effects.

He then nodded in agreement. "Probably you should. Maybe she is feeling just like you right now? Except regretful. Y'know, maybe you two could even be friends after going through all that together." He grinned.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Well, you know... the Lion's creed isn't quite so fatalistic as the Explorers', but there's still that expectation of... heroism, I guess. Throwing yourself into the fray for the sake of others, even if it could kill you. As a person who's trying to avoid dying, well...

Ash leaned forward, resting his chin in one hand while he pushed unidentifiable green glop around on his tray. To be honest, he'd been torn on his feelings about the Lions for a while. In a lot of ways he admired what they were doing - making an effort to keep the peace in a game that had become way more serious than it needed to be. But at the same time...

Though, well... I feel like I was in just as much danger with the MIT than I would have been out on the field. I didn't realize how much of a powder keg the faction would be without something more acceptable to vent their anger at.

Really, I'm not sure how much of my anxiety was because of the Fever and how much was just how chaotic everything was...

...well, except for that weird moment at the end. But that wasn't important.

Ash shoved a lump of mysterious food goop into his mouth. Despite it's appearance, it tasted fine, if a bit oversalted. The idea of approaching Tristaria again still made him anxious in a more normal, non-feverish way.

...I probably should. But... well, getting zapped aside, she was aggressive in... some other ways. And it's not like the Fever put anything in your head that wasn't already there, right?

...you should have seen her when she started shouting about how people should "become Magia". That was... something else.

Despite his anxiety, he couldn't help but smirk a little at the memory. Or maybe it was because he'd been so addled by then that it seemed way funnier than it actually was...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Oooh, I get what you mean." Hanno nodded, finally understanding the reasoning behind the 'avoiding'. "If it is just that, then it is okay. I thought you had a problem with someone from Lion Arms." He said with a grin. If there was one thing that he already expected from Ash, was the fact he wanted to preserve himself, and he was very valid and justified for doing so.

Hanno couldn't really blame him, and in fact, he would rather him go further and just log off for good.

"Honestly? The anxiety could be about everything. You and MIT had all the responsibility of saving us from the fever, after all, it is a lot of pressure to take, and on top of all that fever happening--" Hanno sighed and shrugged. "It just made you guys go even more nuts than one would already be at the same situation."

Crossing his arms, Hanno tilted his head and pondered about it, nodding vaguely.

"I mean... Yeah. That sounds like she already had some weird thoughts in her head... But... Becoming Magia? She is some sort of Magia supremacist or something?" Hanno huffed a laugh.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Oh, no, I've got no problems with the Lions at all!

Honestly, if I didn't know more about this game I would have probably joined them by now. What I've been doing over in Eastern Brisshal doesn't seem too different from what they're doing over there - I've crossed paths with bluecoats more than once.

Mead, Ash decided, was dangerous. He'd already gotten halfway through the cup somehow. Hopefully his avatar wasn't a lightweight, and that the uncomfortable warmth he was feeling was just the hot and stuffy temperature of the mushroom.

Yeah, it did get pretty rough, but... I'm glad we got through it, and that it worked. Especially when it started locking the log out feature for people. That was scary.

He didn't need the Fever messing with his emotions for that to set him off...

And yeah, I have no idea what was up with that! Magia are a pretty interesting racial option, but there's nothing that makes them better than any other option. It's not like you can easily change your character after making it anyway - I'd probably have made some changes myself if I could. Not being so bloody tall, for one...

He snorted, tail lashing once more as he went back to eating. Being too tall wasn't the first thing that came to mind, but he didn't really want to out the whole gender thing. That would just be intensely awkward after all this time. Even if it was his own fault he'd ended up in this situation.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno grinned. "I didn't meant with Lion Arms itself, but rather with someone in there." He said, trying to make it clearer. "I could see you in a blue coat though, granted, it would be at the cost of changing your clothes a bit. Which would be a shame." Hanno shrugged.

The faerin then reached for his drink, taking a good gulp of it before tossing another piece of food into his mouth, humming cheerfully at it and frowning. "Honestly... It seems like these UI lock mechanics are happening more and more..." He said with a serious tone.

"This game has some sort of fetish on keeping us locked in here, that's the only explanation... Or well, it is just its true intention in the end," Hanno muttered, frowning and crossing his arms.

"Yeah! Magia is just another race, like any other. Though I have the impression that one could turn into a Magia, yet a Magia wouldn't be able to turn into another race." Hanno took a guess, unsure of how the creation of those creatures happened at the end of the day.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Well, Metaventure locked people in when they were "in combat" too, but I'm pretty sure most VR devs learned from that particular fiasco...

He paused a moment, then made a face.

...who am I kidding. Looking at Terrasphere, they didn't learn shit.

I don't know that much about Magia, beyond them having racial traits that can mess with speech patterns. That was something Terrasphere wasn't doing before, for sure...

He picked up the cup of mead and made a spirited attempt to finish it off. This time he didn't make a mess, but he still looked a little ill afterwards. He sighed, and set it aside.

Mystery upon mystery. Four years of wondering if it was even real did nothing for my curiosity, I guess.

At least I know enough to take breaks now, and mostly avoid going all in on things.

...including the overly-melodramatic speeches, I hope.

Ash smiled weakly as he picked the last of the meat off his plate. Most of the gnawing hunger had been sated, though he still wasn't sure why it had gotten worse. Maybe it wasn't just Magia getting messed with now. That was a scary thought.

...well, I'm going to return these dishes, and then I should probably log out and eat some actual dinner. Can't live on virtual glop, as convenient as it would be.

It was nice talking, Hanno. Stay safe out there.

He stood up with a stretch, then picked up his dishes. He gave Hanno one last nod, then retreated with his dishes, his tail wagging behind him as he went.

@Hanno Futaba
((I think we're good to wrap up to get that fancy reward.))

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"No, I think they learned a lot," Hanno said, with a very serious tone in his words and face. "... Much more than they should have. And that's why this sort of thing keeps happening... They are plotting something, something we can't know but it exists." He huffed, listening to Ash quietly and nodding along about the mysteries, with a smile cracking on his lips at the mention of overly-melodramatic speeches.

"I will take your place on that if you want," Hanno said, with his plate still having some food when Ash was done and ready to go.

"Sure man, have a good night." He grinned at his buddy, giving a friendly salute as the man left, though his eyes lowered to see the fluffy tail wagging, making the faerin mesmerized for a moment, only snapping away when some random group of Lion Arms blocked the sight by passing in front of Hanno.

He leaned away. "Good boy." Hanno muttered, averting his eyes and chugging down his drink, brushing the silly thoughts off his mind and finishing his meal.

@Ash Vargold End!