The Kingdom of Eonis

[Bloodedge]

It didn't take long for the pair's new mount to reach the blacksmith, and Kou for one could not have been more elated to have reached it so quickly. 'Phew! I kept it together,' crossed his mind as he carefully removed himself from the beast's back. If nothing else, he could at least say it was an enjoyable ride, and the mount itself was most certainly living up to expectations and more already. "Nice, this is the good blacksmith!" Kou said when he got a look at which one they'd come to. "He's always got some great deals going." Interestingly enough, Kou didn't immediately move toward the blacksmith's shop. Instead, he continued to stand beside Miki and the beast she was on, holding out his left hand to the former as if offering it for support getting down.

[Apollymi]

Miki also enjoyed the ride to the blacksmith, though not for the reasons she'd intended to. Controlling this particular mount was way easier than she'd expected it to be given its status as a dragon of any sort, but it's also been pretty quick. That being said, she'd kind of enjoyed having Kou hang on to her, and more so than that, depend on her for the short period of time it'd lasted. "Hai, this one was always my favorite. And even if I didn't have the stuff for whatever weapon I wanted, he always had some pretty good grinding quests to get any necessary materials," she said of the blacksmith, their combined knowledge of this game seemed to be aiding them quite well in this world. Strange though this might have been, soon maybe even too soon, the boy dismounted but upon doing so, stayed near the beast with a hand outstretched to help her down. She let go of the reins and looked down at his hand, taking it to help in her hop down to the ground. She took for granted that she didn't need this extra help, but rather would accept it as a fairness in their partnership. "Arigatou na," she offered the lad thanks for helping her out in this moment and then placed her unoccupied gentle hand against the creature. "And you too!~" she mused, strangely she hadn't let go of the lad's hand yet, and hadn't seemed to have noticed this herself.

[Bloodedge]

"You're right. The only time I had to go looking for anything was when I needed to awaken a Legendary," Kou explained as he made an effort to move into the shop, but realized Miki's hand was still in his own. He stared at this meeting of palms with intensity and a reddening face. Without commenting on this, he pulled away and placed his arms firmly at his own sides while walking into the shop. There to greet these young ones was a large male with startling red hair and a beard connecting to his sideburns to form a strap. He was a hulking individual with a fire in his eyes to match that of the force, but what he wasn't... was the blacksmith Kou recognized. "Welcome ta' me shop laddie, lassie. What cannah do fer ye'?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that they'd both had similar experiences dealing with this blacksmith, and as such they had no problem coming to a consensus. What they did have a problem with however, was their still connected hands. Miki hadn't initially noticed, but did by the time Kou was aiming to pull away. She immediately let go as well hands firmly planted to her own sides as she tried not to think about it too much. 'I was just holding hands with a boy... accidentally?!' she had this thought and wished to crawl into a corner and die. Of course, she didn't say anything aloud and instead also followed straight into the shop. They were greeting by a hulking beast of a man with red hair and a fiery look in his eye. Beyond this he had a really strong Scottish accent. 'This isn't the guy who is normally here... he's huge!!' she thought looking to Kou for the first time and wondering if this was the Blacksmith he knew at any point. "Umm..." this was what came out of Miki's mouth initially. "We're just trying to gear up, for an adventure..." she stated leaving the sentence open for Kou as she figured he had more of an idea of what he wanted.

[Bloodedge]

When Miki looked toward Kou, he looked to her as well. A brief and subtle shake of his head showed his lack of familiarity with this blacksmith, but business would move on regardless. "Yeah. We're going to the Marsh Kingdom, so we need the best gear we can get," he said to the smith. Both of these Adventurers received strange looks, starting with Miki, who the blacksmith looked up and down with a gleam in his eye. If this seemed strange initially, it would be stranger yet when Kou received the exact same appraisal with the same expression. "You'll want somethin' made ta' order then. There ain't a thing 'ere li'ah fer now, but if ye' want... grab up some materials. Fer the lass, Sacred Tree Sap. Fer the laddie there, plain ol' Magisteel," said the blacksmith, though Kou knew well that there was nothing 'normal' about Magisteel at all. He looked at the grinning Scotsman with wide eyes, finding this to be quite the tall order... but he'd do his part nonetheless, as it was certainly going to result in something legendary.

[Apollymi]

An appraisal of her person took place and Miki looked at the blacksmith strangely. This was the second time, someone in this world had looked at her like that and it made her wonder if it was a strange bit of programming of the NPCs or if there was something going on she simply didn't understand yet. She was made to feel less awkward about this, when the same treatment was given to Kou as well. 'Sou ka, well at least it isn't because I'm a girl...' the young woman's internal monologue was interrupted within a few seconds as the blacksmith claimed he didn't have anything on hand to give them. He stated that in order for the pair of them to receive anything they would need materials, hers was Sacred Tree Sap and for Kou a bit of Magisteel. Both of these items she knew to be particularly rare, and she knew where they came from but it was still something worth being discussed. She turned to the lad with her and began to speak with a frown on her face that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, "Ugh, I remember reading that the Sacred Tree was in the Fairy Forest. I never went there before for obvious reasons but it seems pretty straight forward. Do you know where to find Magisteel?" she asked of the lad knowing that it seemed like their adventure to the Marshlands would be taking minor detour so that they could gear up properly.

[Bloodedge]

Miki was familiar enough with the Sacred Tree to at least know where it could be found. Depending on how this went, there was a very real chance they could be in worse danger than they would be going to the Marsh Kingdom. If they could avoid combat with Fairies though, their trip to see the Lizardmen would be that much easier for it. As for where Magisteel could be found, Kou understood only one thing, which he voiced only after turning away from the blacksmith. "Magisteel is made from Magic Ore, which only appears after long-term exposure to Superior Demons and other things in that range. Magic Ore is rare enough, but to find some that's already been turned into Magisteel... I have no idea. Dwarves can temper it properly, but this one sounds like he's only capable of working with it after it's been refined. We should probably do that first since it's likely to be less dangerous. Maybe we'll even come out with something that might help against the Fairies."

[Apollymi]

The bits of information that Kou had to offer were very interesting. Apparently in order for the pair of them to get what they needed they would have to deal with both the Dwarves and the Fairies. It seemed that the fairies were considered more dangerous overall than the Dwarves. "Hm, I wouldn't mind visiting one of the Dwarven cities. Honestly, as long as we don't pick a fight with the fairies that shouldn't be much of a problem," she said. Thinking about it she could at least agree to visiting the Dwarves first to see what would be required of them long term was a pretty good idea. "So Dwarves, then Fairies, then we gear up, then the Marsh Kingdom?" she said having a pretty decent understanding of their current set of required tasks. And though it had a bit more longevity than she'd intended, it still felt fun to get immersed in this new world.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm, yeah. The Dwarves shouldn't be too bad either. We should go to Dwargon! It's one of those places NPCs were always mentioning when I played, but I never went there." As the two worked out the specifics of their adventure plan, they would soon step outside and find the Ryuuko ready and waiting to be mounted. This time, Kou hopped onto its back first, taking the reins in his right hand while offering Miki a lift with his left. "Dwargon, Fairy Forest, Gear, Lizards. Sounds like a plan to me!" he said, content to begin moving atop the Ryuuko mount the moment Miki was situated.

[Apollymi]

"Hai, that place was always on my to visit list, but I hadn't gotten around to it... should be fun~" the girl mused as they made their way outside and found their mount still ready and waiting for them. This time, Kou took the front seat, and this was fine with Miki as she reached for his extended hand and hopped up behind him situating herself rather close to him. By the time the creature took off, she found herself holding on to Kou around his waist with her chest pressed into his back. This experience was altogether very different when not the one in charge of the creature, but she also expected this, though not how out of control she felt as the person in the back. That being said, she was of course content to travel this way for the duration of their trip.

[Bloodedge]

Taking off was much easier from the position of the driver, which was quite a relief for the young man who'd previously almost fallen off the Ryuuko. There was a rather unexpected hiccup though, brought about when Kou nearly lost control. The fault of this was none other than a sudden realization. 'What is this? It's... something soft...' he thought, coming to realize that Miki had taken hold of him to keep herself situated. Looking over his shoulder, he saw what he'd been feeling, and was most certainly not mistaken. 'Boobs on me!?' was the first thing to process in his mind, his eyes widening as a result before he quickly set his gaze forward. There wasn't much he could do; he had to keep moving and try to ignore what was happening behind him, though the speed at which the Ryuuko ran - and the slight bumpiness of the ride itself - was not exactly helping the situation.

Continue the Adventure Here.

[Apollymi]

Eventually a few days after having left the first time, a young blonde-haired young adventurer by the name of Miki would be returning to the Kingdom of Eonis. Such a place looked strange to her, as a realization but she walked along without a care in the world. But she likely wasn't alone, she was likely with the boy she'd partied up with in the earlier part of the game. Beyond that point, this place looked a bit different than it had when they'd first come through. There were people crowding around store fronts, practically throwing coin trying to get food. This caused Miki's brow to raise slightly. "That's weird... I wonder what happened here..." she said thinking about it rationally in all the time she'd spent playing the game Age of Eternity, she'd never seen this Kingdom in such disarray before. Thinking about it in her head, she began to get terse. 'This reeks of side quest.'

[Bloodedge]

Kou walked alongside Miki as they entered Eonis. He was also taken aback by the state of the kingdom, and exactly how much things had changed since they left. He wondered if maybe something had struck the kingdom since their last visit, but this was something rather intense for a single occurrence. "A food shortage? Maybe it's something worth helping out with. We still haven't gone to the castle. We could probably get a good bounty and help out. Besides, I'm hungry... and I'd rather not go to war over food while we're here. Might be best to see our blacksmith first and maybe find out what we're walking into while we get our gear."

[Apollymi]

Miki and Kou began their discussion about the potentially helping with a food shortage in the Kingdom. At the very least, the way Miki figured it, it was bound to be good for their reputation building and at the very least get the Kingdom on their side as they tried to make their way up the proverbial ladder. "Yeah, if it's a food shortage it might be better to get ourselves equipped first then offer up our help. So blacksmith, for weapons and background information, then to the castle to offer a bit of help to what ails the Kingdom..." she said giving them a list of tasks as they walked through town obviously headed back to the blacksmith they'd left the previous time. They had the materials he claimed to need when they'd met him, and now they could only hope to cover the weapon upgrades that would get them to the next phase of their lives here.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah. And then... to find something to eat. I haven't eaten since... Well, the last time we were here," said Kou. During their adventures, he'd hardly given any thought to the need for food. Once they settled down a bit though, he began to feel the hunger setting in, and it was steadily growing as time passed further. It wouldn't be long now. They had only a few, potentially small, tasks to complete before Kou would have his meal, and it all began as they set foot in the half-Dwarf blacksmith's shop. The red-haired man had been awaiting the return of these two, and hadn't expected their journey to end so quickly. However, he seemed nothing less than pleased when he witnessed the pair entering. "Ah, me best customers comin' back fer a wee spell. Lotta songs being sung o' the two Guildless Adventurers an' their Heavenly Puss! What cannah do fer ye now?"