Humble Beginnings

Who?
The entrance to the cave was rigid and cracked, much as any rocky outcrop would be out in the wild, with a mouth more than big enough to fit a giant inside. Past the small ponds and lakes, the clusters of oak trees and bright, forest green bushes, far from any paths that stemmed out from the towns of Midgard, this particular cave entrance seemed to have been untouched by the advancements or acknowledgement of sentient thought, the perfect place for any of mother nature's creatures to dwell within and make their home for the ages to come. Well, untouched till now, as a small encampment laid outside the mouth of the cave system just out in plain sight, compromised of a small tent, a chest and a single stool that sat near a crackling fire, contained by a perimeter of small stones that surrounded bare dirt. A hooded figure sat on the stool with a rod in their hand, poking the end into the fire to shuffle the pieces of wood that fuelled the light. Every time the sleeve of the cloak he wore moved back to reveal their devilishly red skin, another hand of the same colour would reach over to pull the sleeve back over before returning out of sight. A sleazy, male voice snickered under their breathe, nearly obscured by the loud crackling of the fire in front of them, as they pushed the end of the rod further into the flame a few more times.

"That's weird. Surely I'm doing this right? The kobolds should have come attacked me by now?"

Pressing the rod's end deep into the pile of wood lit with fire, the figure pushed one last time with enough force to lever one of the larger logs of wood from out of the pit, lifting it from the pile and sending it rolling across the ground towards the entrance of the cave, all whilst still alight. As the log passed the threshold of the cave's mouth, the insides that were obscured by darkness were quickly revealed, exposing spikes that pointed from different directions of the cave's walls, and small shadows that moved past the flames from one side to the other as a blur of black that ran past. The hooded figure sneered under their hood and nodded their head, tossing the rod to the side onto the grass all the while staying put on the stool, looking deep into the mouth of the cave. The figures eyes stared deeply into the darkness of the cave, looking at everything he could see that was exposed by the light of the burning log, whose fire was beginning to slowly die out.

"...Little shits. They're waiting."

"D1d y0u 5k1p 7h3 tut0r14l 0r s0m3th1ng mate? Y0u'r3 w444y 0ff th31r 4ggr0 r4ng3."

A voice called out behind him, it belonged to that of a bandit. Bearing the typical clothing that came with it -- such as the red mask, ragged and baggy clothing dressed in red and brown, with a few clear scars across every visible limb whilst sporting an unkept hairstyle. Any information given to other players using the appraisal system or otherwise concerning data would tell them that it was a level 1 bandit through and through. Well... if it wasn't for their speech pattern of course. Making it all too obvious that this was in fact a player and not "Black Hand Bandit" as it suggestion on top of their name.

Turning their head back, the hooded figure's eyes stared right at the strange man behind him, the red glow shining within the dark shade of their cloak's hood hanging over the top of their head. Waving their hand off and rolling their eyes, the individual refused to acknowledge the other's voice in the area and returned their attention to the cave. Simply bringing their hand to the side of their face and snapping their fingers together, the tent, chest and stool shimmered in plain sight, their forms changing to reveal that there was nothing but large rocks and bushes in place. Wiping off their lap and pulling themselves up from the rock that they sat on, the hooded figure stepped back and faced their body in line with the 'bandit's before shooing them away.

"How about you talk normally you walking trash bag." The figure said out loud in a condescending tone.

Footsteps, every bit as thunderous with every step he took, reverberated along the cave walls and creating a loud echo. A large hand, nearly the size of a full grown man, rested on the edges of the cave, the large, monk-like giant crouching down slightly to peer over what the other players ahead of him, prayer beads in hand. "Calmness, we must act in a single breath...BUT WHAT THE HELL'S TAKING SO LONG, YOU GOD DAMN PLEBEIANS HUH?!" Nearly slamming his arm across the cave wall, his name came in full view to those around him, giving a name to large red giant as Doki Doki Love Machine, "the forum post had better be right for what he was charging," he retorted, having spent the last few hours scouring through whatever sites and online pages for any new information that could've leaked.

"Oi... That hurt. Shit like that could get you banned..." The bandit talked back, his body seemingly losing all will to continue on as he dived down, hugged his knees and started poking the ground with a stick he'd picked up nearby. Sniffling and groaning as he went on, the bandit eventually turned his head to the giant that had appeared further away from them before speaking up: "Why are you using the yell command... We're on a roleplaying server, shit like that could get you reported as well... Man this game suckz."

"Shutthefuckup. Why are you even here. I found this place first." The hooded figure scolded the bandit before turning to the giant that had appeared. "AND KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN. THESE KOBOLDS ARE GOING TO RUN BACK INTO THE CAVE FURTHER DOWN."

"Kobolds? Least of you're problems buddy, specially with a shit-show build you're running, better to save you the trouble of re-rolling right now before the PKs get their next fix." Shoving the hooded man to the side, Doki Doki pulled up his menu, equipping all manner of items and switching his equipment out in favor, "Lesser Ki, Meditation, Heavenly Aura." With the various incantations being used, Doki Doki's body began to glow in numerous colors, signaling that all of his preparations were ready for the dungeon ahead.

"SHIT-SHOW BUILD?! I'm only level one, asswipe. And the PKs can't do shit to a Humanoid character. Though I can't say the same for YOU." The hooded figure yelled back at Doki Doki.

A vivid bright pink light came swooshing down the dungeon in front of the two bickering players with a high pitch squeak following it. After a soft jingle the light bobbed up and down softly with a huff. "I didn't mean to be late," it shouted in a high pitched voice. "My petal bed was extremely soft, it took a lot to get out. I am sure we all know the feeling."

Looking closely it became clear that the being in front of them wasn't just a ball of light but instead a Fairy. A tiny red haired girl was flying with the aid of two large butterfly wings, a mini book in hand and most other details becoming lost with how small she was. At most, the fairy was around seven centimetres tall and with the bright light emitting off, Vall Xioscient was much more of a lamp than a player.

"Are the Kobolds been taken care of yet or have I arrived just in time?"

"These in-game mosquitos keep getting ANNOYING." The hooded figure screamed under their breathe, momentarily diverting their attention from the dwarf to begin swatting at the fairy with the back of their hand.

Suddenly raising himself and getting rid of the cloud of depression that loomed over him just moments earlier, the bandit clenched his fist tightly and raised it as he began to speak out loud and clear for the players around to hear him: "Despite the Red One's lack of hospitality, HEAR ME AS I SAY THESE WORDS: It's a new game and a new world around us, I suggest that we thus team up and clear the rabble that is before us." Extending his hand towards the cavern and the kobolds that laid before them, "If we work together, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE FRIENDS!"

A high pitch scream came off of Vall as the giant hand came swooping down towards her. In an utter panic she struggled to avoid the 'attack' and managed to get lucky as bold red letters appeared above her head; DODGED.

"Excuse you!? I am fairy! F-A-I-R-Y. Not some pesky mosquito," Vall shrieked as she flew back up. With her hands on hips she kept her distance just in case. "I am Vall Xioscient, newbie adventurer. I beg of you not to attack me... again."

"...I'm not sure if I'm all for the mobs thinking so, humanely. Freaks me out." The hooded figure said before swatting once more at the fairy.

Another scream and another close call as yet another DODGED appeared above Vall's head. "That's it, no heals for you! If you end up low on HP, don't come to me!"

Bringing his arm up one last time, the hooded figure swatted downwards towards Vall. However, his hand had just narrowly passed the fairy once again, another DODGED coming up above her head. Cringing at the many times he missed, the hooded man shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he looked back to the cave. "These bugs are real fast in the game. I hope it isn't as irritating later on..."

Feeling frustrated over the lack of response towards his requests, as well the aggressions made to the other players around him, the bandit lowered his hand that had previously been clenched -- grasping the sword resting on his hip and hilt before entering a battle stance. Without warning, he'd thrust the sword forth and into the red elf that had up until this point been griefing the fairy and been otherwise toxic to all the players present. "OI! Will you stop that and team up already? You'd hit the dirt otherwise, better off this way don't ye think?"

As the sword entered the red elf, the figure suddenly dissipated into mist that dispersed and rose into the air, disappearing from sight. With only silence in its place, another red elf stepped out from behind a cluster of trees, swinging a small dagger around their finger by a piece of rope tied around its end. The sly smile, long pointed ears, and slicked back hair fit well with the devious, glowing eyes staring at the gathered party. Arriving in a clean cut, black suit, the elf bowed his head and held his arm off to the side, closing his eyes momentarily before bringing himself back up to look at the bandit, the fairy and the giant nearby. For a moment after entering, a blue -1 could be seen rising above his head before disappearing, implying that the disappearance of the other elf may had something to do with it.

"...How rude. Killing a potential party mate isn't very nice. Maybe I should be reporting you for toxicity?" The new red elf sneered, "I'll assume that we're all here for the same reason, and that we've come to kill some Kobolds?" The red elf said aloud, halting his hand and allowing the swinging dagger to fall perfectly in his palm with its point to the sky.

"You started it mate... or... BAH! -- whatever." Raising his hands in the air like he just don't care, the bandit's body suddenly started to lose its shape as its skin seemed to melt like a piece of melted wax. But just as his body and clothing dissipated, it would evidently mold into another shape entirely as a hooded figure appeared in its place. The creature's clothing now sporting that of a long, black robe with navy blue color making up parts of it whilst obscuring his face and limbs with that of a golden skin. Unlike most players, this one didn't have a "face" per-say, but rather opted to go for the skull underneath or at the very least carry that of one. Besides these changes, the player carried that of broadsword behind his back -- a clear difference compared to the small sword from mere moments before. "But yeah, rough start but you're not wrong. I picked up A Grounded Infestation back at the village, was just about to start."

"Then let's do it together," Vall chimed in, trying to ignore the ever confusing changes in appearance between the party. She kept close to the giant, making her appear even smaller, not really trusting the others. It didn't change the fact of the matter that even though the quest was simple, there was no way Vall could handle it by herself. "If we keep fighting then the village will never get the quest done. After all, there's already so many of us taking this quest and not a single Kobold has been slayed!".

"Heh. Sure, 'Free XP'. As long as I stay at the back of the party," The red elf's sleazy voice suggested with a feint chuckle afterwards, "I did hear that there should be the right amount of kobolds in side this cave, so we're practically slaying every single kobold within. And it doesn't mean we'd have to kill 15 kobolds each, as all our kills will count for one another so long as we're in the party."

"Not too sure what you are implying here," Vall said to the elf. "My race has a lot of predators, luckily that has been proven here today. You can thank... whatever that decoy was."

"That decoy was never going to hurt you," The elf rolled his eyes, "If magical apparitions are a 'predator' of your race, then I've no idea what you're doing here, fighting kobolds."