"Any chance you were able to pick up any work before we left? I know you probably told me, but you know how my memory is." Ruby said with a laugh, resting near the campfire as Knight got himself situated after logging back in.
"Typical Cooks.." He said with a teasing sigh. "Claim to be a Dean's list student, but can't remember what she did the night before."
"I coulda left you here." Ruby pointed out.
"Fair point." Knight said, with a solemn nod. "But, nothing major. A couple of the vendors had a couple kill quests that we can turn in whenever we get back to Aileshard, and I got a mission from the Hunter's Guild to clear out a Creep den on the way to Morgritte - it's only a little out of our way."
"Sounds like a plan, share the map with me and we can head out when you're ready!" Ruby said cheerily, hopping to her feet.
"Alright… Sent, there we go. After you." Knight said politely.
After inputting a couple of commands on her inventory screen, a translucent map overlay appeared in front of Ruby, only visible to her, so that she could navigate alongside her friend. Another couple of keystrokes later, and their campsite poofed into pixelated dust. De-summoned, since they wouldn't be coming back to this spot before it vanished on its own anyways.
It was a shame, but it was another one of those things that just made sense in terms of how the game ran. What was the point of going to all the trouble of making Remnant a fairly deadly place outside of the cities and off the roads, if you could just chain campfires together and bypass it all? Still, it would have been nice to be able to reuse the item to summon the darned things..
"Doesn't look like it'll take too long to get to the Creep den. And we can probably just pick up the kills we need for the other jobs as we're going along." Ruby said, orienting them in the right direction as she began to march.
"Yep, that's the idea. Looks like we've got about an hour of walking or so, better get to it." Knight answered, falling into step behind Cookie.
=^v^=
"Never gets easier, huh?" Ruby huffed, holding her sword out in front of her warily. Her right arm tucked in close to her side to protect her flank as Ruby glanced between the three Beowolves who were advancing on her and her friend.
"Nope! Which, honestly, I kinda like." Knight answered, shifting his stance to track the Grimm moving to the pair's left side. Ruby had her focus on the center one, while keeping an eye on the rightmost Beowolf as well.
"Two silver says I drop two before you finish one." Ruby offered, sending a quick grin over to her friend.
"Not a chance, Cooks. We both know that's easy money for you." Knight shot back with a laugh. His sword was held low, with the point nearly touching the dirt behind him. At the first sign that the Beowolf he was focusing on twitched forwards, he was in motion.
His blade came up, with the flat of it facing outwards. Deflecting the Beowolf's claws and arms away, Knight whirled around and sent the edge of his two-handed monstrosity of a sword cleaving into the beast's chest.
Ruby heard the howling from Knight's opponent, but didn't so much as flick her eyes over. She had her own problems - namely, the other two Grimm trying to turn her into a meal. Luckily, her shield arm was quick and her footwork was quicker, honed by lots and lots of virtual practice. Ruby took one half-step backwards as she deflected the Beowolf's claws away from her body before retaliating with several lightning quick jabs around the protective instrument.
Though the way she played her class didn't have the outright highest damage potential, Ruby was quick and could outlast just about anything. Knight may have hit a lot harder, but she moved a lot faster than he did, even with her heavier gear.
Whirling like a dervish between the two creatures, Ruby bled them dry without a care in the world. She'd done this hundreds of times before, at least, and the fight was over before she'd even really had to exert herself that hard.
"Okay, I almost had you that time." She heard from over her shoulder, and grinned. Knight had just put the tip of his blade through the back of the Beowolf he was fighting after knocking it to the ground, and with that, the fight was over.
"Suuuuuuure. Whatever you say, Knight." Ruby teased, sheathing her sword and collecting the few items that the creatures had dropped.
The next half hour, or maybe a little longer, was a slog. Ruby and Knight chose to walk the more dangerous route, staying off the main road so that they could farm some experience and pick up the kills they needed for the jobs that Knight picked up.
It was kind of an unspoken quasi-deal that they had, at that point. If one of them had a job, and the other was helping with it - they split the rewards if they could. If the reward was an item, the quest-holder got to keep it, and would pay the other back in another way. Paying for gear repairs, restocking their potions, or just outright slinging some coin their way.
Still, though, this was tough work. By the time they had cut down their sixth group of monsters, the pair was exhausted. "Maybe.. Maybe we take the road for a bit." Ruby huffed, pausing to catch her breath after sheathing her sword.
"Lucky us, that was the last wolf we needed." Knight said with a tired smile.
"Oh good. Now I don't have to convince you." Ruby chuckled. With her virtual muscles protesting fiercely, she led the way back to the road with the aid of her map overlay.
"So.. That nest isn't too far off, but we should probably rest up before we hit it." Ruby suggested.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too. I mean, we might be able to take it on like this, but why risk it?" Knight followed up. "That respawn penalty is a bitch, and we're both still bound in Aileshard, right?"
Ruby nodded at that, orienting herself properly before marching off once more with her friend in tow.
"Like you said before, though - it makes sense. I don't wanna get fried just 'cause I need to get revenge on some stupid Beringel." She mused, eliciting a little laugh from Knight.
"Definitely not worth it, yeah, I agree." Knight answered back, scrolling through various things in his user interface as they meandered. Both he and Ruby could rest up and move faster, but neither of them were really in much of a rush.
Some players wanted to grind as hard as possible, as fast as possible, and Min-Max their builds as efficiently as possible.. But that wasn't their style, and Ruby thought it was what helped them get along so well.
She didn't believe in whatever Zen Buddhist crap that said the destination was actually the journey, or whatever other nonsense Confucius and his contemporaries drawled out, but Ruby was playing WAR to have a good time - and playing in a super technical manner just wasn't fun for her.
"This looks like.. Yeah, this is just about the spot." Ruby said, after a calming ten-minute walk. Not that either of them were stressed - or at least she thought that Knight didn't look stressed - but it helped them refocus.
Turning to the left, Knight followed his online battle-buddy back into the thickets. "So, the job mentioned-." He paused, grunting, as he stomped his way through a bush after Cookie. "-they generally roam pretty close to the road, so this shouldn't take too long."
"Yeah, I'm hoping it wo- ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Ruby began to answer, before finishing with a shout and stomping her foot on the ground in frustration. Racing up to meet her, Knight furrowed his brow as he looked around.
"Uhh, Cooks? What's wrong?" He asked, confused. "There's nothing here."
"That's the point!" Ruby growled, stalking around the clearing. No Grimm bodies, but there were slashes through the trunks of several trees - both from claw and from blade - and there were wisps of ice crystals drifting through the air.
"Look at this!" She huffed, going over to look at patches of frozen earth and rock, peer at the destroyed foliage, and generally just angrily stamp around like a petulant child. "This was her, I know it."
"'Her' who? Oooohhhhh, you mean your crush?" Knight asked with a snicker, drawing a groan and lots of grumbling from Ruby.
"I don't even know her!" Ruby exclaimed, exasperated that seemingly everything she did was being misinterpreted.
"Mmmmhm." Was all Knight replied with, shooting her a smirk as he turned back to the road.
=^v^=
Despite making good time on the road, it had taken Ruby and Knight another full day's journeying to get within sight of the city's walls. Though the time they spent was put to use well, collecting materials and racking up a level for each of them. Though leveling didn't give them a huge boost in stats, it was a sign that they were a little better than they were before, and both Ruby and Knight were pretty grateful for it.
A bit more health, a little more efficiency with their skills.. It all mattered in the long run. Though each of them still had to practice a lot so that their weapon and crafting skills wouldn't decay over time, knowing that their base minimum had been raised up a notch was a relief.
"Morgritte. Finally." Knight said with a sigh, as they passed under the large stone archway leading into the city. "Took long enough, but it was probably worth it."
"I agree." Ruby said, with a contented hum while taking in the sights.
If their last home in Aileshard was akin to a decently sized city, Morgritte was closer to a proper metropolis. Being of the same nation, Vanthamp, both cities held the same vibe. Stone castles, simple and sturdy construction, knights on horseback and heavy armaments. Their people were stalwart defenders, who won their fights by weathering their foes assaults.
"Hey, I know this is sudden, but if ya don't mind - I've got some friends who are bound here. They said they'd be meeting by the 'Spawner. Want to come with?" Knight asked.
"O-oh, uhh.." Though conflicted for a moment, and letting her inner introvert shine through, Ruby hesitated. But.. She liked Knight, as a friend. And more than that, she felt she could trust him. Besides - this could be a good thing! "Sure, lead the way."
The 'Spawner', short for Re-Spawner, which was slang for the Crystal of Rebirth that occupied the central plaza in each city or town, was what players in WAR set as their respawn points. When someone died, they came back to life right by whichever one they had set in their character options, assuming they chose to re-bind from their starting location. Since with the two-hour death timer, respawning in the field wasn't an option, the 'Spawners were very important features of the game.
"Let's see.. They should be right around here." Knight muttered, looking around the plaza.
"Hello, Knight!" Called out a cheery, bubbly voice. As Ruby turned, she saw a big smile go over her friend's face. Through a light screen of other players, the young warrior could see what was clearly another fighter approaching them with a bright smile on her face. Wearing amazonian armor, and with a cascade of lovely red hair kept in a tight ponytail waving behind her as she walked over.
Behind her trailed two others, one with orange hair the color of a summer's sunrise - waving her arms wildly as she told what must be a very animated story to a more stoic male, with braided hair and an almost purple streak through one of his bangs.
"Cooks.. Meet my girlfriend, and a couple of her classmates." Knight said, both proudly and with a little bit of sheepishness.
[A/N]: Introducing, Pyrrha! And the rest of the gang, but she's the happiest one to see Jaune. Also, I was struggling a bit with how to describe Morgritte in-story, since I can't just say 'picture medieval Brittania'. But yeah, that's the vibe it has. Stone walls, sturdy castles, you get the picture. Also, I'm sorry for the wait on this. Hit a bit of a writer's block, but things seem back on track now!