It...seemed like a good idea at the time.

[splinterself]

[So after getting the "Where is this, who are you, what is going on?" out of his system, Dirk Strider was purposefully and boldly exploring Mac Anu and was...kind of bemused by the fact that the city wasn't done up in purple and black.

...just saying.

He had ended up at the harbor and there he paused in his wan- purposeful exploring, as...you know what's incredibly distracting? Actually only having one self (at least for the time being) that he was aware of. Also the clothes. Also the fact that he still had no idea what the hell was going on, and, more importantly, what was happening with Roxy.

There was a certain irony in him spacing out just as badly as he did when he had multiple selves to juggle, one which was lost on the guy as he was spacing out, brooding.]

...

[Yeah, this was getting him nowhere. (And shit, the lack of purple really was throwing him off.) That was when he shook his head slightly, turned to the nearest person, and said:]

Hey.

[So verbose.]

Comments

[hoperaider]

Fair enough! [He grins and goes through the different fields...and only one type of dungeon doesn't have any sort of water with it. It looks like a Japanese dojo combined with steampunk, which fits given the theme. It's also a level 1 dungeon, which is good.]

This look alright to you?

[splinterself]

Yeah. It looks fine. Nice place to get a feel for the game and see if you learned anything from brobot. All those years of jungle predation has to have done something, right? [That was still one of his best moments ever, FYI.]

Anything else we need to do before we head out?

[hoperaider]

[He's not even going to dignify that question with a response.]

Well, I would suggest getting healing items, but we're sadly lacking in funds for that. With any luck, there might be some lying around in the dungeon for us to have on hand. We can head out right now if you think you're ready?

[splinterself]

Hell yes. [...ok, dampening the enthusiasm, bringing it to a cooler level again...there.] As ready as I'll ever be. Sure you'll be fine without your usual guns, though? That gun you've got looks more like Rox's thing. [Probably he is, but best make sure before there's a TKO.]

[hoperaider]

[Haha, Jake saw that! He waves his hand.]

My grandmother gave me lessons on general handling of firearms, so I'll be fine with the bayonet. It looks like it operates similarly to a shotgun in terms of aiming, and I haven't seen anything regarding ammo, so I assume that there won't be a problem with reloading. I just prefer using pistols.

[Okay, yes, guns being established as cool no matter what out of the way, Jake is going to enter the words! It's actually a really weird feeling being transported from the Root Town to the Area. Jake can't help taking a look around the hall they are in, admiring the architecture a bit.]

[splinterself]

[And he follows, and...fine, the hall is pretty cool, he'll gawk a little too.

It feels a bit strange being somewhere without the ever present Lil Cal, his best friend and the puppet who had gotten him out of a number of dangerous situations. All he had was a sword, and he could kick ass with it, but still. It see-...looked like puppetkind and fncysntakind wouldn't be getting any use today.

...Jake really had a point about that. Dirk couldn't even have 'it seems' or variations thereof in his action tags without feeling vaguely annoyed. (And holy shit he's on a fucking adventure with Jake. Holy shit. Holy. Shit.)]

This place definitely beats Derse. [Taps a wall with the tip of his sword. It's a wall. Seems wally.] You know, I still can't believe you trusted me the first time when I told you my story. [And yes, he's ready for STRIFE and all that.]

[hoperaider]

[He's not too worried about being attacked in the halls, since from what he's been told the monsters are usually in groups in the rooms. Aside from that, he and Dirk are quick to improvise on short notice.

Jake turns to look at him, blinking.]

Why shouldn't I have? You have never given me reason to doubt you, despite your trollish tendencies and constant trials of patience. Aside from which, I could tell you were being serious, believe it or not! It would be pretty idiotic, foolish, and downright bigoted of me to call myself any sort of friend if I couldn't recognize that.

[splinterself]

[Good god, that burst of sincerity temporary caused him to lose the ability to can and he can't. Please let there be a random encounter, he's having problems canning.]

It's just a pretty remarkable thing to believe, that's all. I wasn't expecting you to trust what I said, at least not that easily.

[hoperaider]

Dirk, you're my best friend above everything else. If I can't trust my best friend, then who can I?

[Well, he's going to get his wish, since there's a group of three monsters that has spotted them and are about to engage them in combat. Jake, thankfully, sees them as well, and backs up a bit, readying his weapon.]

Okay, we'll discuss this a little more when we're not under attack.

[splinterself]

[...phew.

Anyway strife. Being the melee guy Dirk of course rushes to keep them from his friend, the fragile long range guy who got his shit wrecked by a robot not too long ago. It's kind of how these things are supposed to work. If you're wielding a sword you don't chill in the back while they take out the ammunitions expect, waiting for them to get long enough for your attacks to reach. Well. Not unless it would be hilarious, in which case sure, why not. Chillax in the back like you're godcat and godmouse is getting its ass handed to it-

...right. Description. The monsters loomed. He slashed...not in that way, stop blushing, Jake. He slashed with the sword he was issued and immediately noticed that he wasn't doing as much damage as he was used to. Either that or the monsters were significantly stronger than the standard fare back home.]

English, am I the only one noticing something here?

[hoperaider]

[Thankfully for these two, Rookie Goblins have shitty health!

Jake, of course, sights and shoots the cretins. He focuses on the one Dirk is damaging, but he switches targets if he sees one trying to flank the guy. He notices the power difference as well, but he's not entirely surprised. It's just something to get used to, and more of an incentive to level up more.]

If you're talking about the fact that you're not slicing them in half like they're made of paper, then no, you're not. Regardless of the realism, this is a video game, supposedly, and our stats are pretty low. Therefore, it makes sense that we're not doing any significant sort of damage to them. We are level one, after all!

[splinterself]

Man. [He made a noise. It sounded suspiciously close to a deeply resigned sigh, one which was unsurprised, but...up until a few seconds ago had some amount of hope in it. Which obviously wasn't his domain because look at how quickly the hope of not having to grind (again) through using some cheat, loophole, level carrying mechanism due to them being imported from a different game, or Gameshark was dashed.

He continued getting his fangirl going and continued to slash the goblins together. SwordxGoblin OTP.]

Surprisingly, us being in a game hasn't escaped my attention...I know, it's pretty fucking surprising, but it hasn't. But there's still the fact that we already were in a game and I was kind of hoping I could skip grinding again. [Especially since there's more to do here than back home in a godforsaken apartment with nothing but his thoughts and a ton of robots for company.]

[hoperaider]

Obviously, The World decided to not give us such good fortune. It shouldn't be too terrible for us to regain levels, though!

[Whatever, Dirk, it's obvious that you can't look on the bright side of life, gawsh! Jake doesn't necessarily care since it means finally playing a fucking game with his friends.

Oh, the wonders of infinite ammo. It's a good chance to try out that skill thing he has! Don't think he didn't notice it when he was looking at his own stat page.]

Thorn Shot!

[splinterself]

...did you just seriously shout your fucking attack? [Oh. My. God.] Seriously, dude, warn me before you do that next time. I'm busy trying to fight goblins here and laughing's pretty distracting.

[hoperaider]

[Jake blushes lightly. Ruuuude, he's having fun.]

Pardon me, it was spur of the moment! If you're going to be distracted by your chortling, I may be tempted to smack you over the head with this thing!

[He's not yet sure if it'll be the blade part he'll be smacking with.]

[splinterself]

[...snerk.]

Man, I'm just saying that it's kind of distracting. That's all. It ain't nothing to get too worked up about. And hey. I'll shout 'smuppet ass' a few times while I wave this sword if it'll make you feel better.

[hoperaider]

What will make me feel better is if you kill the damn things!

[Jake is never going to hear the end of this, is he?]

[splinterself]

[]

Dude, I'm working on it. In fact, I'm actually kinda busy over here, all focused on killing these things and everything. Or at least I was before I got my attention diverted by someone I know. [And oddly, in a way, the multitasking makes him feel better. Slash slash stabbity is slashed a bit but in one of those minor ways, tis only a flesh wound, a graze, kerstab back.]

[hoperaider]

[:(]

Oh, and here I thought you were the king of multitasking. I stand corrected on that assumption.

[Okay, SP takes a BITCHING LONG TIME to regenerate at this level, which sucks since he doesn't have much to begin with. Whatever, just going to shoot at the fuckers.

Oh, score, first critical hit ever, and it's enough to take one of them down!]

[splinterself]

[Yaaay. He'd brofist you if he could, but this isn't the sort of RPG in which they're standing in a line or anything.]

No, my responder had a point about that. I've been trying to juggle too much bullshit lately and kept on getting distracted because of it.

[hoperaider]

Are you sure battling and talking is alright?

[Because seriously the last thing he wants to happen is Dirk getting killed. That kind of ruins the whole excursion and puts a hefty damper on his mood.]

[splinterself]

[I knew I should've saved that epic death icon.]

Yeah, I can talk and fight. I mean, what, it's just you, me, and these two guys. That's nothing. [Okay, fine, let's take out one more so it's not 27 tags on a level one grunt.]

[hoperaider]

If you say so.

[This is what happens when two talkative, lonely teenagers get together for an adventure. He takes down the other one with another Thorn Shot, since his SP has recovered enough to use it.

The room they're coming up to has two hallways they can meander down.]

Alright, what do you think? North or east?

[splinterself]

Let's head north. If there's nothing there we can backtrack.

[This next part is said almost absently.] I thought about heading north back home...to see Rox, I mean, but with everything going on it was impossible.

[hoperaider]

[Totally walking north, then.]

How were you planning on visiting her? [He's just curious about that.]