Height of Glory [Mission | Closed]

The city was becoming crowded with other players wanting to make their mark on the game or interact with others. After a brief encounter with another player, Areto was prepared to adventure outside of the Town of Beginnings and see what the rest of the world was like. Albeit for the first beta, they were rather limited when it came to where they could go, and the rest of the floors which was advertised by Argus had been cut off for use. Areto didn't really mind, though. This felt good enough in itself. With the wind blowing through his hair and the dirt path leading him to wherever he wanted to go, it was only a matter of time before he found something, or at least he was hoping. But after some time of walking through fields of grass and stopping to smell the flowers or even lay in them — he wanted something else to do.

Areto laid for a moment with his hands behind his head and stared aimlessly at the clouds. He heard the shuffling of boots in the grass and a shadow loomed over him for a moment. Glancing up in surprise, he met the eyes of an older man who almost looked close in age with his father. Sitting up and turning to look back at him, the man seemed to be waiting for something and Areto soon figured that he may have been laying in the place where he was trying to go. Stepping aside, the man stepped forward and took a position with the same kind smile on his face.

Must be another NPC.

They looked so life-like as though they could be real people that it was harder to tell everytime. Nonetheless, Areto struck a conversation with him and listened to the prompt that the man gave. A mountain?

That sounded like fun and climbing it would be even greater but he needed at least one other persona and Reveska wasn't going to help after he teased her. He wondered if that stranger from before would be any good at the moment. Probably so.

He accepted the quest and sat down on a nearby rock, waiting for someone to come by. A few minutes passed by and at some point Areto had fallen asleep only to be awoken by the sound of someone speaking. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he raised his hand.

"Over here!"

SEVYN

Areto hadn't expected to fall asleep while waiting for his new partner.

To be honest, he hadn't expected to be able to fall asleep in game at all. The rock wasn't very comfortable but he had the ability to fall asleep anywhere if need be. It wasn't a good ability but it did help out in a pinch especially while he was stuck at work or in class. While wiping the sleep away from his eyes, he blearily looked at the person standing in front of him. Were they a girl or a boy, he wondered.

At a glance, he would've said a girl with the soft facial features and short hair.

The mysterious cloak and way of speech did throw him off a little though in that regard. Nonetheless, boy or girl, this person seemed interesting enough. Once he was fully awaake and perched happily on the rock, he gave the other his full attention, only to find that they were already walking away. Areto hurriedly climbed off the rock and walked after the stranger who called themselves Sevyn. Well, that was a peculiar name. Why after a number unless it was supposed to be like Sven.

Should he call them "Sven" or "Sevyn".

"Well, I'm Areto, it's nice to meet you.. Vyn!"

A nickname would be a good idea for right now. Until he could fully wake up and commit to the idea of asking what the other's name was pronounced like. Crossing his arms behind his head, he stared at the mountain in the distance and let out a low whistle.

"So when did you first log into beta?"

SEVYN

Areto wasn't quite sure what to think of the sword that he was using. It was a simple one that he bought from the shop, not too bad, but a lot better than the shoddy one from before. The craftsmanship could use some work but he wasn't quite sure how he knew that besides the armor crafting license that he had gotten. But anyone with an eye could tell that the beginning weapons wouldn't really get you far. For one, they were rather eaten away at the edges as if rusted and the only thing that you could really do was hack away until the blade broke. Wouldn't that be tragic during a fight?

The new sword that he had was pretty simple. No markings or aesthetics to the blade and all. Just right for a novice who was going out on their first hunting mission. Once he caught up to Sevyn, he could've sworn that the other smirked at him. Did he say something funny or maybe he was laughing at him and not with him? Either way, it was good that he wasn't taking this too seriously. It was just a game after all.

Areto crossed his arms behind his head and hummed while the other talked. Wondering when he'd be able to get his shield.

He had the skill for it but not the amount of CON needed to wield one.

It would be much harder to defend without a shield and his dexterity wasn't high enough to warrant rolling out of the way very often. Glancing over at the other, he smiled wryly.

"Well, besides this quest, I haven't been on any others yet. It's mostly been because I've been trying to run around and make friends," he said. "Or y'know, collect numbers on my friends list."

Areto laughed wholeheartedly and shrugged.

"But hey, if this game is realistic as it seems, the monsters must be terrifying."

He touched his chin and stared upwards.

"We're climbing a mountain so there is bound to be something, right?" He asked. "Is there anything in the user manual?"

SEVYN

He wasn't very confident in his abilities to fight against monsters that were on equal footing with him. Though, that would only prove to be a hindrance when faced with monsters that would be at a higher level than him as well. But there wasn't any sense in being afraid of something that he wouldn't be able to control. If his abilities were lacking then he'd just have to get stronger and conquer that fear until they weren't lacking anymore. Improvement, was key when taking your time with something. However, Areto did take pride in being a judge of character and from the way that Sevyn spoke — he was either faking conviction or trying to believe in it.

Either way, it was admirable.

Areto stepped closer to nudge the other against his ribs and give a light-hearted smile.

"Sometimes being risky is the best way to do things," he said. "Making new friends or even experiencing new things requires some type of 'bravery'."

Stuffing one of his hands in the pockets of his pants, he hummed a tune and glanced upwards towards the sky. It wasn't totally true that he logged in by himself. He had a few friends that came along as well but where they were, he wouldn't know. Areto came to the conclusion that not everyone who entered beta would want to make nice with the other testers but it wouldn't be a good idea to be all by yourself. That would just hinder your experience.

"If you want, we can be friends," Areto offered. "Once we get through this mission, and when we succeed, we can add each other to our friends list and if by some tragedy we fail — you can hit me ontop of the head as much as you want."

The mountain was steadily growing closer and it was much taller than it had been when it was only a figure in the distance.

"Deal?"

SEVYN