Laughter could be heard from everywhere in the pub as the two walked in. An old, smelly and loud bar with peeling paint, and what I hope is beer on the floor is the only way to properly capture the essence of “Old Man K’s Drink Shack” All around Void, where burly men shaking their pints of liquor and screaming “Cheers!” So much booze was flying around, just the smell alone could burn the noise, and you could forget about hearing anyone unless they were screaming right into your ear. Unluckily for Void, that’s exactly what his best friend Ryan did.
“PRETTY FUN ISN’T IT!”
“Not so loud Ryan!”
“WHAT!” Void just shook his head. As he looked around he got a more accurate picture of what Old Man K’s place was actually worth. “Amazing... my initial impression was spot on.” Pretty much. The pub wasn’t anything special. In fact, it was probably below average in terms of well… everything. “Wait was that rat...chasing a cat?” Void rubbed his eyes confused if what he just saw was real. “What the hell” As if to answer his question in the corner of the bar a tiny sign was plastered up and read in big read letters “BEWARE-OF MAN EATING RATS” What kind of bar was this?
“OVER HERE LOUIE...WAIT VOID NOW WASN’T IT?” Ryan beckoned over towards a table currently only occupied by a single man. The guy who sat there had wide shoulders that were covered by a thick metal plating with a snake engraved into it. The Snake's eyes were red and seemed to almost seep blood. Its scales were black contrary to the shiny white chest plate it was engraved onto. The man himself was around 6’8’’ and had dark, almost like the night itself, black hair. On top of the heavy metal plating he also wore shining gauntlets and thick leather pants. As Void got closer he could make out the man’s facial features. He wished he hadn’t. The guy’s eyes were pitch black, and when I say pitch black, I mean it. No light at all seemed to emanate from the dark pupils as if an endless hell was all that awaited anyone unfortunate enough to get stuck there. The guy practically oozed danger, evident by the fact that no one, even in this happy-go-lucky bar, went over to him to share a drink much less talk. If it wasn't for Ryan, Void would have never approached the dude.
“THIS IS THE GUY I WANTED YOU TO MEET VOID” a cold glare was all that the man gave Void causing a chill to run down his spine.
“Hello” Void said trying to start some sort of conversation.
“Good Evening” replied the man in an unexpectedly pleasant tone.
“So… Ryan what did you want us to talk about?”
“WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU. LET’S GO OUTSIDE!” Ryan screamed. Void was sure his eardrums bursted then and there. As the group got up, the bar went silent. All eyes were on the dark warrior to Void’s back, but the man himself seemed to give it no heed and just walked straight out. As soon as he did, the bar’s heavy atmosphere lifted and laughter filled the air once more.
“Ryan, what did you want to talk about here?”
“Oh. I just wanted you to meet this guy. Also, my name’s Sulphur in here.” *snicker* Void couldn’t help but let a slight laugh pass as he saw his friend bursting with pride as if he just solved some great mystery.
“Hey don’t laugh it’s a cool name”
“heh sure it is, I wish I could be an element too.”
“Shut up! Anyways, this guy is named Sol. He’s the master of this new guild called the RavenCore.”
“HUH?” Void was perplexed. This guy looked like a wanted felon much less a guild master.
“Yeah, I am” Sol said shyly.
“Don’t be freaking shy.” Void thought. “You're ruining your character.” In front of him was what looked like a demon, yet he was freaking blushing. Have you ever seen a demon blush. No! Cause they don’t. A picture popped up into his head of a demon trying to eat your flesh then going down to your nether regions and having their cheeks flush red. He quickly dispelled that idea, but it was still a weird scenario he was in.
“So… what about this guild?” Void asked inquisitively still trying to shake the picture of the bashful demon from his mind.
“He’s starting it up, and only wants a few military men involved in it. The RavenCore motto is to do whatever you want but help the other in the guild. It’s also limited to 25 people at the moment, since he doesn't want it getting over crowded.” Ryan, no Sulphur now, said with pleading eyes.
“So you want me to join, Mr. Element?”
“Don’t call me that! But, yeah, let’s join together.”
“Sure why not.” Void shrugged his shoulders. As he said this Sol’s eyes lit up and he clasped Void’s hands shaking them vigorously.
“Thank you! You won’t regret it” His eyes practically watering.
“Great” Void said to himself. “Now we have a crying bashful demon.”
“Hm?”
“Oh nothing.”
“Here let me invite you guys.”
“Please.” The familiar blue letters popped up in front of Void’s eyes again
Would you like to join the RavenCore?
"Yes" Void said without hesitation.
Congratulation Void! You have successfully joined the RavenCore
"So, how many members are currently in the RavenCore?"
"Including you guys, 12."
"Why us though?"
"Cause I wanted some reliable guys who are or where in the military" It sounded suspicious to Void, but he just let it slide.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
"Anyways I got to go now, see ya and welcome to the core." At that Sol turned into a blue pillar of light and flew off, signaling that he signed out of his capsule.
“That was one interesting fella.” Void said feeling an unbelievable amount of pressure being lifted from his shoulders.
“Huh?”
“Nothing. So what are you going to do now?”
“Well, I got to go help out my mom with some stuff, so I’ll be back on later. You should go level up.”
“How do I do that?”
“Just go beat up some rabbits outside.”
“RABBITS?!”
“Yeah, what about them?”
“No nothing, I just got this weird chill when you said beat them up.” (That’s right you better get chills! - RainbowRabbit)”Anyways see you later.”
“K. Have fun.” Once again, a bright blue light swallowed the person standing in front of Void leaving him all alone.
“Well better get going.” Void said to himself (like some kind of crazy person). As soon as the three left, a hooded figure appeared from the pub. No traits of this person could be seen save for the pair of blood red eyes illuminated under the cloak and a picture of a scythe taped to his or her back.
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”I guess I better start off here.” Before him was a field of rolling hills covered in clear green grass. It was a beautiful scene. Swaying grass and little animals scurrying about between their homes. Actually, let me restate that. It would have been a beautiful scene except for the fact that players were there. Instead of the swaying green grass and the scurrying animals, players were mercilessly slaughtering the helpless creatures as their blood stained the entire place red. “Ah. This is nice.” Void didn’t really care about the blood, actually this was like paradise compared to his training where people were constantly throwing up their previously meals and on occasion blood. Instead, he was just enjoying the breeze. As he got one more glance at Wilson’s creek, he sat down and began to watch the people. “Oh, so that’s how they run.” “That was a nice swing” While many players just decided to run out there and act like chickens with their heads cut off, Void decided to sit down and study their movements. He watched everything from which leg the rabbits place down first to how far they could jump away from their hunter.
After around 2 hours of this, he suddenly got up. Thinking he had a good enough understanding of how the rabbits moved, he decided to go out and try his hand at hunting them, with his beginner sword in hand he went out into the field. The rabbits were apparently called Springer Bunnies whose alone way of attacking was to jump up high and kick their opponent. They weren't the hardest prey to hunt, but for most beginners it could take them several minutes to hours just to kill a single one. Nevertheless, Void didn't have the problems other players faced since he had watched them for a good bit of time. Alternatively to taking a while to kill the creatures he was slaughtering the cute furry animals left and right. After around his 10th kill he heard a charming sound as a system notification alerted him of his current status.
You have leveled up!
“Great!” he thought. However, instead of marveling at his new level or even distributing his skill points he just went back to slaughtering the poor bunnies. He kept killing until his leather clothes were dyed red with blood and his sword was almost out of durability. By that time he had leveled up twice more putting him at a respectable level 4. He even managed to gather a small crowd of spectators gawking at the speed he was slashing through the monsters. Some looked at him with eyes of terror while others with eyes of admiration. Void didn’t care for any of it and just walked out of the field, of now dead animals. He even managed to gather some pelts and teeth which he could later sell to fix his sword and maybe even by a new one. All in all, it was a very successful first day. The only problem was the image he gave off. Without thinking about it he began to smile. This may have been fine in other situations but when you're covered in blood and smiling whilst walking through the streets, some rumors start to pop up. One of these rumors even caused him to gain his first nickname: BLOOD KNIGHT.
Extra:
"Hey Ryan, why do I get chills every time a rabbit falls."
"Shhh he's watching us."
"Who is?"
"The rabbit king"
"The rabbit king?"
"Yeah, it's said that whenever you kill a rabbit, the rabbit king might... tickle you."
"That doesn't sound too bad."
"Huhuhu the last guy who was tickled by the Rabbit king lost 2 limbs."
"What! Which limbs."
"Exactly."
Morale: Beware my tickles!!!!
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