game or life

"Easy now; remember still getting used to this." She warns but he laughed typing 'sorry sorry' since he was already excited because of this. Knowing the outcome of this was really something else. That or figuring out what else they should do during this time.

She had 3 picks for her next ability and she could only choose one.

Powershot: fires and arrow with more power than a regular attack (one and a half times as much power.)

Multishot: fires a volly of arrows onto a group of enemies (groups are more than one of the same type of monster)

Bow damage+ : five points of attack power when weilding a bow.

She looked at her options and tried to decide which 9ne she was going to pick.

They all were pretty good but knowing she could only pick one, she had to choose carefully. After thinking about it, she decided to get the Powershot to help with her journey. She knew or hopes of picking other things in the future.

ooc: interesting.

Bic: when she made her pick she followed him to the town to sell their monster parts and see if they can buy better armor.

Corpse dealer: hmmm I can pay you 2 coins for each slime essence and 5 for each bunny horn. Coming to ohh 70 coin for the lot.

That made enough coin for them to get the weakest armor in the game padded cloth replacing their rags and equipping the cloth gave them both 2 defense points. They even had enough to buy one medical herb. It was for times like one of them gets hurt in a battle they can use it to recover some hp. A good simple start.

"Aaand that does it" he typed and the. He sent another remssage right away " this is pretty much the whole game. We explore fight monsters sell their parts and buy gear and items to grow stronger on top of our experience level. "

"So it's basically like a large world to explore while leveling up and gaining experience?" she types seeing him respond quickly back.

"Yeah. It's something like that. Trust me, you'll get the hang of it later down the road." he types.

Her timer went off and she typed she was going to bed "and don't you dare play without me" she said and she logged off.

The other heros had a much smoother time all were still playing and getting stronger while building up their characters and gear. He didn't play but it was hard for him to resist so he played other games. He decided to stay logged in and talk to npcs to find out more about the world so he could potentially find quests he could share while he explored he found special npcs made for each hero to interact with. He couldn't talk to the bow npc but it seemed it was designed based on the questions that the player was asked about their interests. He did talk to the shield hero and learned it was a repeating quest giver designed to help them find missions and events that would give them hero specific quests and rewards. He made notes and looked st his clock discovering he had been playing for another two hours and didn't level up at all.

She woke up and logged into their chat room and set it to the side and logged into her hero. She found him waiting in both and he was in town traveling in circles.

"I'm here you better not have played without me."

"You know I did but I didn't level. I found something."

"What did you find?"

"Hero trainers. They give quest options based on your level and game history to help you grow how ever you wish. The worst part is they don't respond to anyone but the hero who is supposed to be trained by them."

So... did you quest or not?"

"Not. I looked around for information."

"What did you find out?"

"There are lots of villages and places all with hero specific quests and some situational quests based on what faction you join."

"Faction?"

"Apparently this world has lots of groups that are contesting the land in the story and there is a faction for every hero but any hero can join any faction. Some factions are rivals and if you do favors for one your reputation with the others can be effected too. Going up or down based on the alignment of the factions."

"And.. we can change things if we want to effect the outcome?"

"Yes I'm glad you caught that. The story is something g you have to figure out so talk to every npc you meet because you might get clues to quests or actual quests." His last message was misspelled and it was because he was rushing 5o get as much info out as he could so she could learn as much as she can.

Ooc: if you want you can ask questions I'm still trying to think of names for things. I've been treating grandmas feet morning and night to help her recover from alot of nasty buildup. She's not ill but her feet are improving almost too fast. We are hoping to get her into a podiatrist to test if one of her nails has a fungal infection. In the meantime I'm making spa water and massaging her feet and scraping the buildup off while rubbing aloe and eucerin on her feet. I get to use my feet magic again. Also tomorrow is the anniversary of my dad's death. I mostly death with the pain today by putting aa long post up. I more the day he lost his fight for life more than the day he passed.

ooc:I see. I hope things go well for you and sorry to hear that. You know he's not suffering anymore but he wouldn't want you to be sad like that. *worried*

bic:"So it's a new world of chance. You won't know what is happening till later on. Maybe in another point of view but during the traveling process right? I guess we can think of something else later on that time so it shouldn't be too bad." she mutters thinking about it a little more but tries to figure another point as he types another reply.

"Well, we will during the traveling of this world. We can get more information for our characters and so on. I'm already excited about this and I can't wait to see what we can find!" He already was excited and it leaves him wondering about it himself. This was just amazing and it leaves him thinking about it. Maybe the adventure will progress in the time being.

ooc: grandma helped i spent most of the day with her today is the actual anniversary but I death with the misery yesterday so I could function today. Its okay I'm okay and ill feel better tomorrow.

Bic: they were working hard to fight as many monsters as possible. They went into the field around town to get used to their new abilities and her powershot was strong usually requiring one hit to take down her target. This made it easier to win but she noticed the skill was building a meter on her screen every time she used it.

His shield slam was offensive and defensive at the same time. He could deliver and attack while the computer damages him as if he were in a defensive stance. That meant he could use offense while still taking less damage. His character would run up into an enemy with his shield raised and smashed into the enemy it was about as strong as a regular attack but when he got targeted and hit the damage was the same value as if he was blocking. She noticed that it never seemed to crit in fact it never ever crit and the enemies seemed to attack him more often after he used it.

That worried her. He could take the hits fine but he was getting worn down so she called a break.

"Let's go back to town and rest and keep going."

"You sure we can go one or two more fights before I need to."

"Yes you can but what if we get into those fights on our way back?"

"Good point okay then let's go we can sell our corpses and visit the inn"

"Let's go" and she turned and headed straight to the town. She didn't want his character to die and she didn't want him to feel like he wasn't good enough. She knew they were close to leveling up again but she didn't want him to keep fighting relying on the level ups to heal. He wouldn't stop if he did.

After selling their corpses and collecting the coin they go to the inn and rest. She noticed that they had enough coin after only a couple fights making this a good place to stay until they get all the highest gear this town can offer. This was his habit im these games and she liked it because eit was playing safe.

She was able to go to a weapon shop and look around seeing a travelers bow and noting it was better than her starting bow. She didn't ask for it but he knew she wanted it and they bought it.

"Are you sure?" She didn't want to put him out.

"Yes I'm sure we still have the herbs we bought."

"But what about you don't you need a better sheild?'

"I'm fine ill get one later after we get more herbs and armor." That wasn't much grinding for them and she knew it would be an hour of play to get all the things armor and a new shield for him and armor for her so she was happy to get a new bow.

ooc:Oh alright. I just hope you will be ok.

bic:For now, they would be alright for the time being. Maybe after exploring a little more, they could find more enemies and still gain up levels for each other. That seems like a good idea to go with right now.

Ooc: I am doing okay the worst passed and grandma still is helping. I'm struggling to find work and I'm trying not to become stigmatized about work due to the mask situation. Its hard enough for me to breathe without a mask with no exertion put a mask on me and I feel like I'm suffocating on top of that put it on me for more than 2 hours it rots on my face and the fine fibers go into my lungs and choke me. Add exertion and I'm having even more breathing problems. All because some computer told a bunch of power-hungry cowards lied to the world... I'm not trying to be negative I'm just explaining my mental situation. I do feel better and I am okay.

Bic: after returning to the fields they started to grind once more and sure enough after a pair of battles they were at the next level. Putting their attribute points into their character was essential and they always remove a skill point to add to their abilities or enhance abilities they already have each ability had 3 different levels of development and for now the second tier was not available.

He picked his next ability one that temporarily reduced the damage he takes by 25% for 5 turns he was so excited his messages were garbled and badly misspelled forcing her to either ignore him or ask him to repeat what he said.

She once again had to pick between the two remaining skills. As she looked at her screen she saw that her base attributes increased every level and all of them increased as well she asks him if he noticed and he said that it was normal across most games to do that. Dungeons and dragons made you pick every little change and took a long time to level up.

ooc:could be side effects due to you having covid and all. I understand. Things in the world are hard either way. Do you need time to rest up for the night?

bic:"Do you think we are doing alright?" she asked while checking the things they had moments later.

"I think we are. If we keep this up we should be just fine." he said.

ooc: I've been like this all my life I never liked masks as a kid. I was born with asthma I feel no different after covid than I did before. If anything I feel stronger cuz I haven't gotten sick since I had it. I usually get sick once or twice a month with my breathing issues and bad diet.

Bic: she noticed that he was trying to rush and get as much done as possible and it was hard for him to as slow like this. She tried to make decisions faster and as she started getting used to the controls and the pacing she noticed that having it turn-based meant she was able to control the pace of the fight.

The monsters and he always selected their actions right away she took her time to think first. Sje didn't have to since most of their fights were against rhe same weak monsters and while more could show up making a tough fight the fights were mostly small and she started to slowly memorize how much damage she could do and which monsters were stronger.

He told her to always attack the stronger monsters to take them down first but sje noticed he took less damage if she took out the weaker ones before they could hit him too many times. He never complained about her pick unless she killed his target and he would only complain to tease her and receive his tension.

Sje soon figured out that he wanted to attack the weaker ones that he could take on alone while she took out or weakened the strong ones so he could finish them off. They leveled up again and this time she gained a new skill slot that would effect her arrows she could pick a damage modifier making her arrows hit harder or an element modifier to cause elemental damage, or sje could pick a out different arrowhead tools. (Basically like Hawkeye from avengers or green arrow from DC) she had to pick one and this she seemed to put off until later. Which could be dangerous moving ahead.

ooc:Hmmm I see

bic: "Are you getting it or need time?" he types to her that she was thinking then replies,

"Naw, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Never expected it to be like this."

"NO worries, you'll get the hang of it soon." he replies smiling.

"So... do I get points every time I level? She asks because she must have been saving them up and not spending them.

"Yes? But I thought that was obvious. Is that why you didn't pick yet?" His reply looked okay to him but she felt foolish and left an emote for a sweatshop.

"Oooh. Well yes and if you don't like you picks you can change them at a goddess statue." She couldn't believe any game could be this free with character customization and she decided that she would try to figure out how different abilities interact and work together.

"Goddess statue?" she types confused that he sees that to reply back.

"Yep. If you find one in the game then you can change or update your stats. It's not that hard." he replies back that leaves her thinking for a second.

"Then, do we need to pay a toll or something in order to have them changed?" she replies back.

"Hmmmm, I don't think so. I can recheck to be sure I guess."

As he checked (by testing the commands) he looked but didn't progress once he had his answer.

"Yes" he typed back "it seems for every slot you have to pay but it looks like a few battles can reset several skill points. About as much as buying better weapons or armor."

He let her think about it and she guessed it was okay more battle meant more experience for leveling and he was keeping the pace slow to keep the battles easy. She knew he really wanted to go off and probe the battle difficulties and monster levels. Also he would always take them closer to the forest. She noticed 5hat more monster appeared nearer to the forest and farther away from towns.

"That makes sense alright then." She types to him as he agrees with her.

Under the eaves of the forest they stumbled onto a new type of enemy a toad it was huge and as soon. As it saw them it attacked before they were ready.

It got the first move and hit him because he was in the front. Cuaght off guard he took a full hit and stumbled missing another turn after the initial attack it was her turn and she used her powershot making a hit and severely hurting it. She saw its name change fro. White to red showing it was low on health. She didn't one shot it but it was definitely weak. There was only one and since his turn was skipped it wa she frongs turn again and it hit him as he stood up and got ready. That made it her turn again and she used a regular attack finishing it off.

"Nice one" he typed and put an embarrassed face on. These sudden encounters where the enemy strikes first seemed to only happen with monsters with high agility like the frog. It was nearly as fast as her and since she needed agility for her accuracy and attack power she put alot of points into it. The frog dropped a treasure chest revealing an herb and she quickly used one on him. It helped but he could use another since he wasn't full.

"Thanks but here let me help."

"Thanks I'm not sure why that thing hit so hard did I get crit?" He typed and she nodded. She saw the damage he received had a highlighted outline and it was bolder.

"Yes it did its lucky it hit you and not me."

"I'll say I doubt we have the coin for a rez"

"That's pretty interesting but sure. I guess we really got through a lot now and it's helping us while traveling through this game." she types to him seeing the message he was tying.

"We were lucky which is good so it's no biggie. I figure why not?" he types back.

"Well, what should we do now? Should we go ahead and just work on what we can do." she types minutes later.

He guessed she was multitasking or something was distracting her as she gamed but he did that too sometimes. He did know if he wasn't here she would get distracted and take it even slower. It was hard for him to play games at other peoples face and it was hard for him to not fight monsters all the time.

The game server seemed to deal out the same rewards to them as if they were alone and not together mea ing that the rewards were tailored to each hero. Apparently they expected the archer hero to need to heal herself alot so monsters would drop herbs she didn't really need to use on herself. She shocked them up knowing she would need to give them to him out of battle or use them on him during a battle.

He got mostly coin and exp but he also got items they couldn't use and didn't seem to have a use. She asks about it and he revealed he didnt think much of it except maybe some sort of crafting system. "...or maybe just stuff to sell for coin like the monster parts that have the coin value next to them."

"Yes but they don't have a coin value all it says is "reagent." She typed back and that seemed to get his attention because he didn't type back for a few minutes.

"Wait that means its an ingredient of some sort. So there is definitely a crafting system... crap..."

"What?"

"We can't sell everything we collect. We won't know if we need things for crafting... "

"Soo... we have to rely on the coin from battles.. okay we can do that but won't that take longer to get the things we need that way?"

"No it won't. I'll see what info I can dig up but I'm sure we will be fine" that meant he was going to see if anyone talked about it.

They logged off a few hours later and didn't get very far. They did get used to the fights making them less intense and they discovered that the ravens gathered in 3s or 4s under the eaves instead of solitary like the field. She began to suspect that the father away from towns the tougher the monsters were and there were more of them. Sue knew now why he wanted to go so far away and that was to fight as many as possible.

Even after doing her homework, she went back to studying up on the game. So far, she found it pretty interesting even if her mind was distracted a bit. Maybe she can read up on more simple tasks to make this easier or try something that should help her along the way. Either way, she will work it out and figuring a plan out. She already was reading a book for that.

As for him, he was already studying up and trying to find out more about this game himself. So far, he already wanted to learn even more.

Tjey both agreed that now they could figure out how to fight they went their own ways to play their way. He vanished into the woods and she went to town to get better armor.

He was coming back to town very quickly needing to heal and she noticed he was stronger. He leveled up a few times and added a skill for automatic hp recovery it wasn't very strong yet but 10% hp at the start of every turn was maybe good for him since he had alot of hp. She also noticed that he had a new set of travellers clothes as opposed to the cloth armor they bought before. When she asked him about it he said it was a rare drop from the horned rabbits and he got it by chance. He was planning in buying them anyways but now he could put the coin he got I to a better shield and raise his attack and defense.

They were doing their best in working on something but they were still working with upgrading and trying to get even better with whatever they could do at the moment. However, they were still upgrading and progressing in something.

After getting the strongest gear and stocking up on items in the town it was time for them to part ways. The hero quests were meant to be run alone a special experience for each hero. Also they were set up to challenge the hero and teach them ability. She had a longbow and stonetipped arrows that dealt more damage than her shortbkw and stick arrows as well as a leather tunic with leggings and boots even a pair of gloves. It didn't cost much so she could stock more herbs and antidotes she was ready for anything. She eventually picked the multishot skill for groups because he warned her if she didn't she would be ganged up on and taken down quickly. When. She used it she noticed the weakest enemies were killed and the stronger ones were weakened. Her experience level had something to do with that being stronger than most people who stick around the first town.

He required armor and saving up was hard for him he also had to rely on her for damage only able to hit one enemy at a time himself and she was happy to help. He eventually found mail made of scales and a shield made of a turtle shell. They were the strongest and he had to grind all night without her to save up for it.

She pouted because he played without her and leveled up more than her but when she heard it was the only way he could get used to the character she relaxed and forgave him. He didn't grow too much stronger but she did notice IF he got hit it only did one or two damage points. Mind you if. His defense was so high he was missed alot of the time. If she was targeted she was hit and hit hard and it just didn't seem fair to her.

She challenged him to a duel and used her powershot on him and her attack was sting enough to hit him and deal half as much as if she hit a monster so she was satisfied that he didn't break the game. He told her afterwards that she could only hit him because her attack was higher than any monster they had run across earlier 2 or 3 times depending on the enemy.

She pouted and didn't type back but she did make him tell her what skills he got. He didn't want to get any new skills until he finished his hero quest in case a reward was a skill.

Now they had to log off and she stretched out and started to do her daily things.

He logged off and went to another game. He did play alot of games and keep himself out of trouble.

For the while, both of them were still planning on thinking about their next adventure but for now, this was good enough.