The Nexus

"Log In Confirmed... Welcome back to Atsam Online, Fotia.

The wind blew gently through the trees, as Fotia woke from inside the inn of Chebury, the town just past the Mage School and on the other side of the Warrior Training Camp. She stood, stretching.

She smoothed out her hair, red and black, slightly wavy, falling just past her shoulders. Her turquiose eyes scanned the room around her, and she straightened the blue set of robes she had obtained from fulfilling a quest for the innkeeper. A simple task of ridding the cellar of some large rats. It was no problem for a fire mage.

She made her way out of the inn, and down the stairs, toward the atrium area of the inn. She would glance around, seeing if anyone looked interested in giving her a quest, or if there might be a notice on the board by the door. Nothing yet. But that was okay.

She pulled out a red cover tome from her satchel, and flipped through the pages. She stopped when she found the tattered page, labeled Quests, and studied it for a moment.

"I need to find Erin, the stable keeper," she said to herself, and then closed the book. She raised her hand in the air, and cast a quick spell, a wave of fire rolling up her body, and giving her a slightly red aura once it was gone. A nifty little spell she had learned before she had logged off.

She put the tome away and made her way toward the inn door.";

"Log In Confirmed... Welcome back to Atsam Online, Lokier."

Lokier's body became a solid again. Sprawled out ontop of the roof of the inn, at least until his body obtained it's weight again.. Which would cause him to roll down the panels and off the edge of the roof.

This was not a great way to start your login, definitely not. The height was somewhat decent, as it may have taken him some time to actually get up there, but the fall did not take long at all!

The moment that he realized he was falling, and his eyes shot open, it was already too late. Just as the inn door open, his form would smack the ground in front of it. All he visually saw before it failed, was a flash of the red hair before him.

"Guwhaaaaaaa!" He yelled, writhing in pain on the ground. His vision was quick to return to him, but everything seemed blurry for the moment, but this was probably due to the goggles that he had pulled down over his eyes. They were quite dirty.

His satchel joined him, landing on his chest. "Ooumph." He laid there now, having stopped moving all together. Could his luck get any worse after logging in?

Fotia stood there, for a moment, as the person hit the ground hard in front of her. She thanked the Gods, that she had stopped for just a moment to look at her quests... or else she might have been right underneath him when he fell.

But, she couldn't help but laugh at him, as he yelled in pain. She placed a hand on her hip as she jut it out. She smirked down at him and said, "That's what you get, for logging out in such a bad location. I'm surprised your avatar's body isn't all stiff from where you left it." She said this in a 'matter-of-factly' way.

She pulled out her tome again, and flipped through the pages, until she found one with his picture on it. "And only a level 6 too... I guess you have to learn eventually, Lok... Lokier." She had to check his name again to make sure she was pronouncing it correctly.

Lokier laid there for a moment, staring to the sky, or at least it seemed so. It was hard to tell if his eyes were open or not. It would have been hard to tell if he were alive too, but his body was not vanishing, nor was his soul standing next to it with quite an angry face on, no, instead he just laid there.

Someone.. was speaking, saying words. It was all cool, as he was ignoring her, that was until she started sounding annoying. He ignored what sounded like rushing water and slowly sat up, tossing his satchel aside and prying the goggles from over his eyes, so he could cut her a hard glare.

"Only a level 6? Psh, I pull harder DPS than you do at whatever level you are." He retorted, collecting his satchel again with a sigh. He MAY have been talking out of his ass with that, but he was a warrior after all, and she looked to be some sort of magic type.. If anything he did offer higher melee DPS than she would ever hope. "Besides, we all can't choose the 'ideal'" Yes, he even did the finger quotes. " Log out spot." With this his tome was collected. The dark greens and blues of it were mostly washed and it seemed like the book had seen far more than its fair share of use.

He flicked through the pages, until he got to her picture, staring at it for a moment. Hm.. They had been playing for about the same time, in total, but she was level 10. That wasn't so bad. She was also a Mage, though. He was sure that she had obvious advantages in certain quests that were EASIER for her class than any other.. It didn't matter though.

She let out another laugh at his comment. "Oh? So much DPS, you say? I highly doubt that. Yeah, that's true if I decided to swing a stick at something, but if I really try, my magic would probably destroy you." She shook her head, stepping over him.

"Well, with the time you've played, and the level you are, I suppose I'll have the best gear in the game by the time you even hit level cap." She was taunting him of course. It was so much fun to taunt people. Especially when it hit the right buttons.

She flicked her hair and looked to the north, trying to decide the best way to take, to find this Erin person.

He rolled his eyes. "Pah, Better gear doesn't make the player, and magic is for those who don't know how to fight with strength!" But it did help.. He got to his feet and dusted his rear off, reaching down finally for his satchel. His brow furrowed slightly, now that he realized that his sword was missing. He slowly looked up, watching it slide right off and towards him.

It looked like it would end badly, but.. things actually turned out better than expected. He darted his hand up, snatching the sword out from the sky, and avoiding a potentially dangerous event. With a flick of the wrist, he tossed the sword up and caught it again, cutting through the air, and pointing it in the direction he was going to be heading. "Hah, have fun with your magicks, I have this stick here that is so much better than whatever you've got going on. Anyway.. I have better things to do than to waste time here with a know it all Mage" He said, giving a half wave to her as he inspected his blade. His overall appearance looked rough. It seemed like he had seen his fair share of misfortune and had been through hell and back in a basket of sand!

This guy was amusing... "Oh! Of course! I would hate to keep you from your repeated deaths and everything..." She was assuming that this was the reason he wasn't leveling so quickly. It was often the case; that, or he was just roaming around and doing nothing. But he definitely didn't seem the type to do the latter. Of course, the fact that he had fallen off the roof kind of confirmed her suspicions.

She decided to quite playing with him, and continued on, walking down the road quietly as she did. She would give a sigh every so often, thinking only of what she had for gold. Not even five hundred gold... If she was going to by a horse, or something, when she reached the appropriate level, she was going to have to do some hardcore saving.

"Now, for this Erin guy," she said, looking around her after she decided the gold was making her too depressed.

He tossed a glance back to her and lifted his hand again. Whatever, crazy Mage lady. What was it with Magic users that made them.. like that? They were usually so uppity on their high horses.. Same for clerics. Thoughts of this made him somewhat angry. He hated going through those beginning quests just to bail from being a cleric and pick up the sword instead.

He glanced to his weapon as he headed off to the far right, avoiding whatever path she was going to take.. Instead he was going to circle around and find Erin, at the stables. His sword was sheathed and he looked to his tome, opening it for the map so he could direct himself towards the location of the stables. Hopefully this would not be another fetch quest, but.. he had a feeling that it would be. They usually did not offer all that great in the means of items, but at least did give you experience with monsters.. He needed to catch back up, not that her pushing his buttons makes him want to level faster, but.. He had lost a lot of EXP from dying. He'd have to make that up.

Eventually he found his way back on top of buildings, taking a shortcut to Erin. It would take him no time at all to get there and talk with him. Soon he dropped down and moved around from the right side of the building, heading directly for the back side of the stable, to climb over and find where Erin would be standing.

She made her way around the corner of the wall, and spotted the stables just a little ways off. She looked off to the side, to see the warrior from before already making his way across the buildings in order to get there faster. She frowned, almost hoping she had been rid of him. Foul luck.

She walked up to Erin, completely ignoring Lokier completely when she did, and spoke to the stable master first.

"Ah, did, Vivica send you?" he asked, looking at her. He also glanced to Lokier when he drew close.

"Yes," she said, flashing a grin. "What do you need help with?"

"Well, I told Vivica I needed help with some equipment, but the fact is -- It's more than that. You see... Some wolves came up when I had set out my dinner, and stole it while I had gotten up. But, a ring was set by the food... and I think they ate it too."

"Wait... Why did you set a ring... and why did wolves..." she shook her head. This quests made no sense sometimes, so she really wasn't going to ask. She just inquired the basic info.

"What is this ring for? And where can I find the wolves," she asked.

"It was a ring to ask Vivica to marry me..." Erin said, rubbing the back of his head. "The wolves should be nearby... Their den is just on the other side of this stream."

"Oh! You are going to ask her to marry you?! How adorable!" Fotia said, throwing her hands together. "Of course I'll help!" She nodded at him, and turned to look at Lokier. "Don't you think you are a bit low level for this quest?" She would smirk before she turned to find the stream to cross.

Unlike some people Lokier did not question the logic of misplacing loot next to food and having an animal eat it. It was an animal and driven by primal need for food, and perhaps it thought the ring was something it could just take. It was a wolf! There was no real common sense with them.

He nodded at everything as it was explained. "Ah! No need to worry Erin, I'll get that ring back for you, so you can propose to Vivica!" He gave the male a thumbs up and glanced to Fotia, ignoring her for the moment before he looked back to Erin, so the man could mark on his map where the den was located.

Lokier enjoyed stuff like this, despite disliking large dog animals. They bothered him deep down, but he'd never show it. "I'll be back shortly then." He said and finally moved from the man. "Shouldn't you be off somewhere playing with your silly spells, girl and leave a quest like this for a WARRIOR to complete. Enchanting and magics is your thing, but killing and winning is mine! Your magic is probably just going to ruin that ring of his, unlike the precision of a good blade!" He did not know if that was possible or not, but.. If it was, well then. He would not be letting her do that. She was just going to have to deal with hitting it with her book or something!

He did not stand around and talk with her, instead he ran past her for the stream. Screw finding a bridge. He enjoyed taking the difficult way! Sometimes, at least. He had not yet even bothered looking up her name, unlike she had when she looked at his page.

She blinked as he ran past her. She watched him for a moment, before gritting her teeth. There was no way she was going to let that guy get the ring before her! She obviously accepted that quest first! She tucked her things away, ignoring his comment and running after him. They soon came up to the stream, which was moving rather swiftly, but there was no bridge in sight.

She stopped at the water's edge. She looked at it for a moment, obviously uncomfortable about crossing it.

Lokier stopped at the edge, but only long enough to remove his blade. While she was going to waste time there, he was going to see how deep a few steps in was and so forth.

After two or three times, he determined that the stream was shallow all the way across, but decided to back track to the waters edge to figure out what he would do exactly. There would be no issue with him crossing over, it only meant getting a little wet, and it wasn't like he couldn't use it. His armor and clothing were covered in dirt from his last few runs. He slung the water from his sword and re-sheathed it. "What's wrong with you?" He questioned, glancing to her. "Are you afraid to cross?" There was not really any sarcasm in his tone, it was a serious question.

Honestly he did not really know if she had any issue with crossing or not, and they technically was against one another in this, by some chance, but.. If he was going to become a great hero. He'd have to assist people like her.

While there was no bridge, there was a tall tree near the waters edge. He was pretty sure that three of his charged slashes could knock it over for her if that was the case.

"Of course not," she would reply, waving off his words like they were nothing. She pulled her satchel up a bit, even though she knew it was shallow by watching him. She would clear her throat, look around once more, and then step into the water.

Oh, how she hated water. She couldn't swim, for one, and she didn't like the feeling of wet clothes... So this might put her in a bad mood.

Halfway across, it wasn't so bad. She was already taking a lead on him. She smirked, just as her foot found a slick rock. And down she went, into the water, floating a couple of feet down before she resurfaced. She splashed around frantically, hair clinging to her head, and she stood up again, scrambling to the other side of the stream. Yes, that confirmed she was going to be in a bad mood.

She stood on the other side, frowning deeply as she began to wring her hair and clothing out.

He watched her as she blew his question off and decided to take her approach to it. A slight shrug came from him as he approached the waters edge, preparing to cross and get on with this quest. He hated fetching the item, but loved all of the monster fighting!

His thoughts were pulled from the monsters and even the quest, when she had fallen. He tried to keep a straight face, but it was difficult. With the robes and her hair, she looked hilarious. His hand found it's way up to his mouth, covering it so he could avoid from laughing. A snerk came through, before he laughed loudly.

"Oh, man, that is classic." He said, starting to continue moving, though his mistake was that he was laughing, and making fun of her. "You should be more carefu-" His foot caught onto a similar slippery rock and he went down, being pulled under too, though he was not as bothered as she was.

He came up, around near where she was. His hair clung to his head as well, but instead of him being mad, he continued to laugh as he pulled himself onto the edge and rolled onto his back. It was another 'event' in the long list of things that happened to him. He looked silly with how his hair clung to him and his goggles had become misaligned onto his head.

She glared at him when he laughed... but felt karma had caught up when he went down too. She watched him as he climbed onto dry land, and continued to laugh. How could he find that so funny? But, with him laughing, it made her want to laugh too. She tried to hide a smile, and let out a few breathy laughs before she pulled back that serious look.

"You really are an idiot," she said, reaching down and giving a quick tug to straighten his goggles, before she continued on.

When he felt like he was done laughing, then she started, and he would snicker again, before coughing.

He stared up at the sky, taking a deep breath. "That was rich.." He admitted, as she walked over and fixed his goggles. A slow smirk formed and he sat up. "Hey, wait!" He called to her, getting to his feet and running up to her. He was still dripping wet, not having bothered with wringing anything out. Her calling him a idiot was pretty much ignored. While he was hot-headed, you did not just go directly from laughing to being mad! At least he didnt!

"Uh.." He opened the tome, that magically, despite being drenched.. managed to stay dry, or at least dry enough to be read. "Fot..ia? Neat name." He nodded some, pulling his hands up behind his head once he put the tome away. "So what was that back there." He gave a small nod in the direction. "With the water and the waving." He pulled his hand around to mimic the movement.

"If I liked water... I would have been an ice mage..." she said, looked back at him. "Now, if you want me to throw out more insults to you... please, keep asking about my fear of water." She stopped for another moment, and glanced around.

"To be honest, I didn't get Erin to mark my map... And, I don't think you can handle this quest at the level you are at. So --" She took a deep breath, not believing she was about to suggest this. "Do you want to group on this?"

She liked going solo. It was more fun that way, because she could go at her own pace, and not have to think about someone else.

He looked to the sky, staring, after she explained it a bit more. "Ooh.. Right. Fire Mage, that makes sense, sorry." He waved his hand a little. "You know, I would have helped you cross, if you just asked." He thumbed back to the tree. "A few good hits from my stick and that could have been a decent bridge."

He entirely put that thought aside when she mentioned the lack of marking on a map and her not believing in his ability to handle this by himself out here, as well as her Looking to group. "I wouldn't have gotten the quest if I couldn't handle it!" He chuckled some, and mulled the thought over for a bit, returning his hands to behind his head as he thought. There was good perks and bad perks to teaming up, but the pro's outweighed the con's of it. "Sure, I accept your offer."

She rolled her eyes as he talked about being able to handle the request. But, she wouldn't say anything on it, but looked to him with a nod. At least she would be able to get this quest done without having to cross the stream more times than she needed.

"Right, so..." she said, making her way back to him. "Show me your map, so we can find this den. And let's hope this is over with quickly. I'm ready to go to the next area."

She placed her hand on her hip again, as she looked to him.

Lokier watched her for a moment, dropping his hands to his side, digging into his satchel and removing the tome. "It should be up just a bit." He explained, opening the tome and finding the page with the local map on it, drawing his finger along where they just crossed and where they were now and showing it to her.

"Yeah it seems like it's just up ahead." He turned and the map on the page slightly moved with him 'updating' it's viewpoint. "It's that way!" He pointed then would flip through a few pages, finding the party/group page, making sure it was marked that they were in one and set to go. "Okay then."