千本桜　夜ニ紛レ　君ノ声モ届カナイヨ

Lvl 1 [Tactician]

[sanctummilitis]

With such enthusiasm, Morgan had concocted a new strategy - it brought a smile to the surface to view him so assured with the plan which had constructed itself so neatly, so rapidly.

In following his lead, she did as instructed - surveying the area, which supported his deduction; as much as they outsiders had such limited access to the terrain without jeopardy of incident, so too would the hats surely.

And taking into consideration other factors, what she had witnessed was a demonstration of Morgan’s qualifications as a leader. With mirrored enthusiasm, she nodded, evidently content to follow through with the plan.

Sword between her armoured palms, fingers would tighten themselves about the hilt. And while her strength would be but a fraction as it would have been if wielding Excalibur, she would put all effort into the follow-up to Morgan’s attack so not to waste his own.

“An excellent plan, I’m happy to see it through with you. Please launch the attack whenever you’re ready, and this blade will be there to execute all which stands against us”.

[vagranttactics]

“ Then we have our plan! “ Morgan would say as he clapped his hands happily. Finding the end point, or at least as close as possible to along the area where Morgan suggested where they stood, he would stand behind the girl as she aimed her sword at the ready as he looked around, examining the perimeter to see just how many enemies were around.

As he seemed to gain an understanding of their surroundings, he’d nod his head and give Saber one nod of the head to indicate his readiness before aiming his hand out at one of the Merlocs, and quickly firing off a weave of two fireballs, both hitting their mark.

All of a sudden, as they were aggro’d they would let out that weird.. gargling noise before they would stumble forward through the swamps. They seemed to have been following straight into their trap as they had taken the very basic front means of approaching them, while some were slowing themselves down with being bogged into the swamp mud. 

“ It looks like it’s working! And this is where you come in, now! “ 

[guardianxwitch-blog]

“ teaming up? ”  she’s not entirely opposed to the idea or anything.  [ Tacticism ] seems nice enough, and she could do more with help than she could alone.  she just wonders what he would want help with, that’s all.

“ did you mean teaming up to take on areas?  or do you mean some other kind of help? ”  actually, lyra’s not sure what other kind of help there is in an mmo, now that she thinks about it.  “ i suppose if we team up, we can likely get more results and take less time doing so. ”

“ so, did you have any specific areas in mind? ”  it wasn’t like they really need anything in particular in the moment, unless he did.  she herself mostly wants to grind for money.  she won’t be comfortable until she can achieve close to the same lifestyle she’s accustomed to!

[vagranttactics]

“ Well, I suppose teaming up first just to know that we’re working together, and think of a mutual goal along the way for the time being. From what I seem to understand there’s a considerable amount to do all here at once, and not a lot of time to do it in one day. So we should split things up evenly to decide what we need to do that takes precedence over all else. “ 

“ In this case, I believe acquiring funds for better equipment and these handy potions are necessary. From what I know, there are many people here willing to buy things like toad skins for a hefty price so we can acquire those. 

Also for some reason, defeating some enemies also drops currency. I’m not sure what they need it for but that is also another way we can acquire some. Then we can work on improving ourselves with that in mind. Does that all sound reasonable? “ 

[jiraiyagaru-deactivated20160116]

It is true that they should just stand around in an area where enemies might spawn.  Yosuke’s not eager to get into another fight with a pack of wolves either.  He’s not sure whether Morgan could defend himself from being attacked if left to walk to the nearest hub alone, so he might as well walk him back.  It’s not like he had any obligations after all, and the excess free time was beginning to get boring.

“Yeah, let’s go.  I think we need head East from here.”

While walking in that direction, he asks, “So why were you out here if you didn’t know how to use any of your skills yet?”  Because he can’t imagine someone just deciding to walk into danger unarmed without any reason.  

[vagranttactics]

Right, East, that seemed like a good idea. Following beside Yosuke to get out of the danger zone as fast as possible, he’d listen to him ask on behalf of his inability to play this game properly, Morgan letting out a rather embarrassed laugh at mention of that. 

“ W-Well.. I needed to complete the quest! So.. I simply wandered out here to do such that but.. I wasn’t aware it would be this hard. I didn’t have a proper weapon with me and I didn’t know I could do that so.. it became so much harder. “ 

“ But at least now I know for the future! So that’s all that matters.. right? “ 

[sanctummilitis]

Lights Out

[sanctummilitis]

His condition had deteriorated rapidly; worryingly so. From what she had determined, those few remaining rows were all which determined their lives. She could conclude so soon that he’d witnessed so much, and within a short span of time.

Her hand reached out, very slowly - not to startle him again, if he’d been scarred by the events which had unfolded before him. And upon one knee was she propped, to offer protection, comfort - whatever there was that could be given.

“I don’t know…” The reply was hesitant; begrudged that she had no explanation for him. “They appeared without warning.

I cannot tell if this is another task from those in charge, or a malfunction. But Morgan… please, I need you to hear me. We cannot stay; we must find shelter. A safe base away from those creatures, and to find any others that might be salvaged.

Merely viewing the monsters from this phenomenon appear to have a drastic effect on us. I do not wish to leave others out there to face them, even the civilians. Although I’m afraid… that fighting them might destroy us.

Let me help you to somewhere secure”.

[vagranttactics]

Morgan wasn’t aware of the new bar that had appeared called sanity, but it was rapidly dropping. After all he had seen at once and all he had to endure just to even stay alive right now was taxing on the young tactician’s mind. He could feel himself slip further and further from any semblance of reality, only managing to slow down his decay as Saber began to speak to him.

It wasn’t enough to completely calm his nerves but it would at least halt the progress of his sanity bar decreasing, knowing there was at least someone here whom he could trust. It was just enough for him to steadily nod his head at the king’s words. 

Somewhere safe.. that was the plan wasn’t it? He would shakily get to his feet before stumbling over to Saber, trying to calm his nerves and take deep breaths still holding onto himself. “ S-Secure.. secure.. se..secu-- “ A sudden noise would nearly cause him to scream as he looked over at what was just a can being knocked over. As his eyes twitched and watered, he’d look back at Saber. 

“ Se.. Secure..! S-Safe..! S..Save me..! “ 

[jiraiyagaru-deactivated20160116]

Yosuke remembers someone shouting into chat, seemingly have a conversation with themselves and causing his HUD to tell him of a new message every few seconds.  He ended up muting it in annoyance for awhile.  “Oh.  That was you.  Yeah, just use backslash username instead of shout next time.  Please.”  

It seems like everyone gives the normal names, so Yosuke’s not sure what the point of usernames are here.  It’s not like he particularly minds, but it’s different from normal online behavior.  However, people didn’t usually stand face to face online.

“Yosuke.”

[vagranttactics]

“ Right, I’ll be sure to do that next time! “ Unaware of his annoyance with him on the matter would Morgan nod his head. Being able to speak with others in private seemed like a much better idea to him anyways, so he’d have to keep that in mind next time he wanted to make sure he was speaking with someone about something important. 

When told his name, Morgan would nod his head in earnest. 

“ Yosuke! I’ll be sure to remember that! Well, I’d suggest we take this conversation elsewhere lest any more wolves appear.. I don’t quite think I have much left in me to fight off anymore..! “ 

[sanctummilitis]

Not once did she hesitate in following his lead; to lag behind was to fail him, as their current leader as part of the endeavour. Though struck all the same had she by the foul odor lingering about the swamp, forcing a gauntlet to conceal the bottom half of her face. Once more, following his example of tolerating the stench.

Her reaction subdued behind his affliction; they’d both been overpowered unexpectedly. To counter that was their first battle, while the second quickly manifested in the form of the bodies loitering among the environment.

“Attacking recklessly with the risk of becoming immobilized will leave us at a disadvantage if reinforcements come. Until we can be certain of numbers, I believe the former option is our best chance".

Her eyes were upon the task of scanning the immediate view right after inputting her opinion, The appearance of the monsters offered the impression that they might not be as mobile as their duo, though allowing that assumption to cloud judgement would lead to carelessness all the same. With Morgan on the front line, that wasn’t a risk to take.

“We should scout the area, see if there Might be anywhere from which we can attack while they remain in sight. If it’s not the case, it would be safer for only one to attack; it’ll spare the other from the possibility of becoming stuck”.

[vagranttactics]

“ Hm.. “ Not ignoring what Saber was speaking on would Morgan nod his head, doing the same as he looked upon the area carefully making sure that no possible advantage the two could have would go to waste. It was so damn thick int he swamp though, whether it was trees or it was the bog waters it all really only gave them one way to mo--

Wait a second. A light bulb practically flashed above Morgan’s head as he spun around towards Saber, looking rather eager about this prospect. “ Actually, we can use the limited space here to our advantage! Look around you! It’s clear there’s only so few paths we can take before getting stuck or trapped, correct? “ 

“ Then that’s what we’ll do! We’ll grant only one outlet towards giving them a means to advance on us. If I can strike at them for a range, I can force them into the range of your blade before they’re quickly cut down. They will be practically lining up for their inevitable downfall!

And even if they were to attempt an alternate route, attempting to bypass this much swamp water and thickets would slow them down considerably, giving us more than enough time to be aware of their presence and to eliminate them! Like a hole filled with meat, we’ll stockpile all we need in one convenient location! “ 

[jithrill]

“There you go. That’s the spirit~” he chimed in that sing-song voice of his which never quite seemed to take anything too seriously. Jil walked up to Morgan and slung his arm around the young man’s shoulders, pulling him in for a word of advice: “You can take your time with these things no matter how urgent the quest-giver comes off ‘cause it’s just a game. No pressure, all the heroics. Pretty sweet, huh?”

[vagranttactics]

No pressure and all the feeling of heroism he wanted.. it really did feel like a story at that point. Like he could come up and pick back up things that he had left behind without worry. There didn’t seem to be much danger in these kinds of things so it seemed quite relieving. 

“ Doing things at one’s own pace.. yes, I quite like the idea of that. I think then that this game and I should be on good terms if it allows me the freedom to do as I will at my own leisure like this! “ 

[biashacker]

Would they ever put in decent quests? These were actual questions. At this point the rewards for quests were so dull it was better to just grind enemies and sell the drops. Of course it wasn’t like they exactly needed the drops anyway, since this game used their [Actual Bodies] as opposed to full [Digial Avatars]. They weren’t fighters, and the [Nokia Brick] did far more damage than it ever should, so they were honestly. So, when approached by the male asking them of how to get weapons, they had a very simple answer.

“Not quests, that’s for sure.” the older male said.

“Here. Take… this. Shiro and… nii have… no …. use.” the girl chimed in, pulling from the bag behind them a full on spider’s leg, and handing it to the boy.

[How cruel are you? Did you just rip this off a spider? I guess you can stab something with it but why??] read the description.

[vagranttactics]

Morgan would watch with curiosity as the two began to converse with each other over the matter, before the girl would actually be rather helpful to Morgan and offer him a free weapon. Oh, how generous! He’d eagerly hold his hand out for such a thing when his bare hand made contact with a rather hairy appendage. Only when did he hold it in all of its size did he realize what it was, before promptly dropping it to the ground and 

“ AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! “ 

[jithrill]

“Well, sophisticated games allow you to escape from your own personal reality. The more believable it is, the easier it is to get sucked into it. It’s like a mega-book.”

To be fair, this game in particular takes a hell of a lot more work than the others.

[vagranttactics]

“ I never quite thought of it like that.. I suppose because it’s not on paper I hadn’t realized it.. “ Rubbing his chin at the thought would he look rather thoughtful on the matter. 

“ I guess I can get into this game a lot more like that, then..! If I think about this game like that then this should be a lot more enjoyable. I just have to think of myself as the hero of the story I suppose..! “ 

[felinegourmand-blog]

Meracle’s a bit in awe: studying something for that long is really admirable! “Wow, that’s so cool! You must be amazing at it!” He seems pretty modest, but she thinks he must really care about it a lot and that he must really deserve the title.

Hearing about Ylisse amazes her just as much. Such a big place with so many people, it must be wonderful…She tries to imagine what it must look like. “It sounds incredible! I hope I can see it some day!” She’s happy for the offer.

He asks about spaceships and she has to think for a moment, trying to figure out how to describe them. “Yeah, they’re like, boats that fly through space like it’s water! And they can take you from planet to planet!”

[vagranttactics]

“ Aha, well, I wouldn’t say amazing! After all, my mother is whom I take inspiration from. She’s level headed, knows how to plan out a fight effectively and is my motivation to be the best I can be! “ He’d say with a rather firm nod. Being complimented like this was a nice feeling to have though, and he wanted to be humble about it, but it was a bit hard to. He didn’t often receive these from other people. 

When she begins to speak about how they’re ships that just.. fly in space, Morgan would look forward and then look upwards before pointing to the sky. “ You mean.. space as in the space up there..? Is that even possible?! “ He’d ask, sounding quite shocked about that. 

“ That sounds far more amazing than anything I’ve ever heard.. is that even possible..?! What if you hit a star? Is there even food up there? And other planets..? “ 

[guardianxwitch-blog]

“ well, i’m not sure you’ll get strong enough to lift up trees and boulders.  but i know you’ll do more damage against your enemies and such. ”  lyra can’t help but crack a small smile when the boy winces at his own thoughts and puts the potion back.  “ i’m… not quite sure how it tastes.  i suppose i’ll find out when i drink one. ”

she doesn’t feel comfortable using up all her money on potions, so she only takes two small health potions.  “ i guess i’ll take these, myself.  it’s probably best to start with the basics. ”  really, if her budget was like what it was at home, she could buy half the store without batting an eyelash.  actually counting out how much she could afford wasn’t something she was used to.  the simply grueling problems of being rich, she supposes.

“ i suppose it is odd to think about.  we need money to buy potions, but the best way to get money is to go out and fight monsters.  i suppose that’s what sleeping is for. ”  money grinding in real life sounded very boring and time-consuming, however, especially the sleeping part.  but it wasn’t like she had much to do anyways.

[vagranttactics]

“ Well, that’s a bit more relieving I suppose. It makes me wonder when it would be ample time to use them, however. If they don’t last forever then I’d need to save them for important moments, wont I? “ Although therein lies the problem where if he never uses it because he feels there’s a much more important time to use it, then it simply goes to waste now does it? He looks at it for a moment before putting it back. When he has the money to actually afford it he’ll pick it up.

Looking over at the other who had spoken with him and seeing how lenient they were with their own spending, he’d see that they were at least in similar situations with their current funds. But from the looks on his screen, the numbers under his blue bar were a lot larger than the ones on his red one. That probably meant he should be going for the ones that said ‘mana.’ Rubbing his chin, he’d decide to go for two blue and one red. That would be good! 

“ That is true.. it’s kind of a funny cycle, isn’t it? We need potions to fight monsters to gain money to buy more potions to fight more monsters..! Well, there should be some in between where we can use the money for others. I might see if that’s possible actually.. would you like to help me? After all, I’ve come to learn teaming up with others is the key to success! “ 

[sanctummilitis]

Lights Out

“Morgan!”

The cry to a familiar face came out more startled than she would have intended, but scolding herself over it can be saved for another time. Firstly Excalibur, and then the sword granted as a replacement - robbed by whatever villainous antics those in charge were up to.

Silver boots charged across the earthen path, to close the distance between them. During the last swarm of unusual monsters, he had been an ally - but this time, it was a mixture of fear and confusion which led her to him. All displays had been eradicated, and them left with nothing in-hand. Only the terror of hearing monstrous howling from nearby.

“Thank goodness you’re alright. Have you heard any information about what’s happening? Dusk arrived much earlier than yesterday. I feel only dread; the atmosphere transformed maliciously and I’ve no weapon to fight with if trouble is brewing“.

[vagranttactics]

Morgan laid sitting down with a nearly broken book in his shaking hands at the sights before him. He had awoken the day to the startled screams of the inn hostess being devoured before his very eyes and soon he would have been on their list if not for some clever thinking. Barricading the door back to his room as he found escape through a window would he see the madness ensue over in the city.

He had lost track of how long he had been running for from all sorts of monstrosities after him but he eventually found a moment’s peace to collect his thoughts. And simply put, his mind was telling him this was hell. He wasn’t sure how long he had been resting for or how long he had been sitting. Some how, having been this safe for now was beyond even him. 

“ ... What’s going on..? “ He’d whisper out, his voice clearly shaken as he looked up at the King of Knights, his eyelids trembling and his palms shaking just as badly. “ What’s happening here..? I thought everything was.. “ 

[felinegourmand-blog]

Never heard of Symbologists…He must be from pretty far away. Well, after all, if there’s anything she’s learned on her journeys it’s that space is a huge place! They could be anywhere right now.

“Oh! You can?” She stands on her toes and peers up at him. “What’re you called, then? …Do you know?” She tilts her head. She wasn’t able to remember a lot about her past: maybe he was the same? In any case, she’s definitely curious.

“Ylisse…” She chews on that for a couple seconds, grumbling thoughtfully a bit. Her next words are decisive. “Never heard of it, but it sounds pretty! It must be a nice place!” She smiles happily. She thinks he might be homesick, so she kind of tries to cheer him up.

“I’m Meracle Chamlotte!” She sticks out a tiny hand towards him. “I…Well, I don’t know where I come from, really…But I live on a spaceship with my friends! Well, lived, I guess.” The thought’s kinda weird, but she still smiles again.

[vagranttactics]

“ Well, I’m a tactician! Or at least, one in the making. I’ve been brushing up on how to be one ever since I was young. So I’m not sure if its fair to call me one yet but.. oh well, it’s the simplest thing to call me, really! “ Giving a nod of his head as he looked at her would he smile at presenting himself as a serious individual when.. in reality he had quite a bit to go. 

When she makes mention of how Ylisse sounds like a pretty location, he’d smile and nod his head at her, throwing his arms out for emphasis. “ It’s quite a large location as well! There’s quite a lot and its always quite busy. Perhaps one day I can show you what I mean if I ever get the chance! “ 

“ It’s a pleasure to meet you, Meracle! “ He’d say, taking her hand and shaking it a bit. The name of a spaceship confuses him for a moment as he tilts his head at her. “ Spaceship? I don’t quite know what that is. Is that something akin to a boat? “ 

[jithrill]

“Yeah?” Jil let out a yawn. He rolled his neck from side to side, tugged at his arm until he heard a pop! and groaned. “I wish I felt better that fast. I always need a good night’s sleep after a day of running around smacking things.”

[vagranttactics]

“ Although I feel its a bit odd. If this is supposed to be a game, you would think we would not need rest like this. It almost seems as if we’re still living our normal lives but.. not in a game. I think? “ This was all still rather new to the boy, give him a bit.

“ It just feels funny how we’re doing things like eating and sleeping! It makes me think of this as just how things are. “ 

[sanctummilitis]

Taking the role of the vanguard to increase their chances of a decent haul came about so naturally, and with her previous role as Servant defending a Master, she could apply the very same towards a party leader in this landscape. Blade between her silvered hands, the digits relaxed following the momentary squeeze of resolve bubbling preemptively to the imagined scenario of dealing with their adversary.

“That sounds like a fine plan of action. It appears to be one of the nearest locations to here - presumably the enemy must be weaker, if stationed in the location closest to the area wherein the residents mobilize”.

Swift was her movement in averting sight towards the region in question - still the prospect of combating hats seems peculiar, but then so was their entire predicament.

[vagranttactics]

“ Right! So then that sounds good! I think. “ Rather unsure of himself, all he could do was go towards the location itself and pray to whatever higher being there was that it was a suitable enough spot for them to hunt for these hats. A short walk there through some forest and some idle mobs and the two would get there and would be.. quickly overwhelmed by the stench of it, Morgan plugging his nose up.

“ Eirgh..! This place wasn’t as smelly as I thought it would be.. “ He’d say as he looked around the area. Giving it a quick look over, it seemed there were some odd, standing yet fat and stubby lizard people, simply walking about. It seemed that the quest sheet said that these would be suitable for hunting. 

“ ... I think that’st hem. A-Anyways..! Since we’re in a swamp I don’t think we’ll be doing a lot of moving so.. lets either find ground where we can stand comfortably.. or simply attack them right there and put us both in their situation of being stuck. Honestly so as long as we’re on even footing with them no matter what we’ll be alright.. I can attack from a safe distance but you seem to be using a sword so.. “ 

[jiraiyagaru-deactivated20160116]

Adding someone to your friends list was an easy way to keep in touch, however it seemed like [Tacticism] was oblivious to that aspect of the game as well.  Yosuke points above his head to where he’s pretty sure it should say his username.  

“You might want to toggle usernames on.  It should say mine right here.  And yes, I am Jiraiya.  But if you have that on, you’ll be able to see every player’s username floating above their heads.”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he wonders how much of the tutorial he should bother recapping.  It seemed like [Tacticism] missed a lot of the crucial stuff.  He half expected this guy to get ambushed by wolves again as soon as he turned around.  

“You know how to add friends and use the message system, right?  If you input backslash Jiraiya, you can message me.  Like…”

/Tacticism: like this

[vagranttactics]

Well, it was more like the name was foreign but he could see it above his head which was good. He’d look at his weird on eye kind of thing to see how he was apparently talking to them and messaging them in private. He tapped his open palm as he looked at this, nodding his head. 

“ Oh wait I know about that! Well I mean, sort of. I’ve had people tell me about, or talk to me through this. Although I used the shout command to respond back since I wasn’t quite sure what to do. “ Which meant everyone could hear what he was saying but not what the other party was saying.. kinda made things awkward. 

“ Well, these nicknames aside, I would rather use our actual names as I think that would be easier to remember! My name’s Morgan, what about your’s Jiraiya? ... Unless of course that is your real name to which I can easily just use that. “ 

[jiraiyagaru-deactivated20160116]

Weaponry.  It appeared to be a rare commodity in this world.  Yosuke shakes his head.  “I haven’t found any other weapons.  I wouldn’t be using the starter ones if I had.  I wonder why they didn’t give you a sword to start with then.  It seemed like they just knew what to give me.”  Honestly, that was a little disturbing now that he thought about it.  That’s not information that most people knew about him.  Maybe it was a lucky guess considering how dual wield builds existed in just about any RPG.  That didn’t explain how his starter skill was one of his persona skills though.  He can’t imagine where they got that information in order to program something like that in.

With his aches starting to dull, he starts to stand back up.  “Anyways, I don’t really use swords, so if I find one, I can let you know.”

[Jiraiya would like to be your friend!]  

[vagranttactics]

“ Ah, that’s alright, then! I’ll be sure to find to find one later if possible. “ It was nice of him to think of him like that. Although he would admittedly feel bad if he were to take something from him without offering anything back. He just had to be careful on that regard. Seeing how he used knives, if he needed to, he could find some for him! Morgan would blink in confusion over the box that showed up on his screen though, staring at it for a bit. 

“ ...

Oh wait, are you Jih-rai-ah? “