Dwargon

[Bloodedge]

"Well... it doesn't seem like there's much of a choice now. This world is about as PVP as it gets," Kou commented, thinking there was nothing closer to a player versus player experience than what they were presently doing. This was especially the case when considering that the other players who'd disappeared from their world were surely here, as they discovered with certainty when meeting Gowther the Dwarf King. Speaking of the Dwarf King, it wasn't long before they were inside Dwargon and approaching the king's castle. It would be mere moments after they set foot inside that they would be met by two rows of castle guards kneeling to mark their entry, and Gowther himself stood before his throne. "Good work, both of you. More of my men survived than anyone expected since the attack reached all four corners of our border. You deserve payment, I think. What would you have?"

[Apollymi]

"Fair." Miki said about the world they were now part of. Still, she'd come quite a long way from picking a game to play as a nice solo adventure. She'd gone against many of her own general principles of gaming to end up in such a situation as the one she was presently in. Even so, she quite enjoyed this new experience, more than any others she'd had. As they set foot into the King's Castle, they found a very different reception from the first time they'd entered. In fact, Miki took in the sight of the two rows of kneeling guards and her eyes widened. She managed to look only sightly uncomfortable by the random change in hostility towards them. 'Hm, that tune changed really quickly... it's kind of unnerving for them to suddenly like us.' she mused.

They were soon greeted by King Gowther, another player and the one who'd assigned them the quest of helping him quell the fighting which was plaguing his lands. Of course, his statements about the survival of his people, pleased Miki to no end. She was indeed just the sort of person who would be helpful, despite the look of her face in most cases. Beyond this he offered them something in exchange for their good work. Given this Miki began thinking, there were many things she could ask for, as payment but mostly she wanted her stay in this world to be as smooth as possible. With this in mind, there was only a couple of things she could think to ask for, and after a few moments she voiced this thought. "I... can't speak for Kou, but personally I want some information. I wish to know, how to go about creating a guild and a few moments of your best runemaster's time. I'll take that as payment..." she said, she didn't really want anything material and wished only to live as comfortably as possible while being in this new world. As such she asked for things which would help her cement her own independence and that of her party member. She also felt she phrased her request, in such a way that Kou could add his own demands, as she wasn't about taking over his choices during this time they spent together.

[Bloodedge]

Kou silently observed the actions of King Gowther, who offered the pair their choice of a reward. Miki spoke up first with a request for information, first along the lines of what Kou also wondered, but also regarding the knowledge of the land's greatest Runemaster. The latter request actually gave Kou an idea, as he hadn't considered his own request at the time. "Actually... yeah. I'd much rather start a guild than join one, especially in a world like this. And while we're talking about Runemasters... I could use a few words with a Jeweler."

With the two Adventurers' desires out in the open, Gowther stepped forward and stroked his chin. "To create a Guild, you must have the acceptance of no less than five leaders of major factions. You've done my city a great service, and I won't soon forget it. If you produce four others, I will vouch for your Guild. Allow me some time to arrange a Runemaster and Jeweler. You may rest in Dwargon tonight. In fact, my men are already gathering to celebrate your victory in the drinking hall," Gowther announced. Kou heard the end of the king's speech, and thought to question it immediately. "Did you just say... drinking hall?" he questioned. "Yes, of course. They're Dwarves. They drink. Enjoy the festivities."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Miki's question was one which Kou shared at least in some respect. Though he hadn't quite gotten as far ahead in his thoughts as the girl, he agreed with the knowledge she wished for. What he did beyond this, was add his own request for the time of a Jeweler. In thinking about this, Miki took time to realize the pair of them could be very wealthy and well-armed in a very short amount of time with the knowledge they requested. A smile crossed Miki's face as she was given the information she requested. According to the Dwarf King Gowther, they needed the backing of five of the major factions to create their Guild. This task seemed a bit daunting at face value, even while figuring it was possible to count on the Dwarves for support. 'Dwarves, for sure. Fairies maybe. I suppose we'll have to do a bit more adventuring to find some others willing to bet on us. Probably can't count on the Lizardmen, considering we thwarted their army...' her mind wandered along this topic even as it was mentioned that Gowther would need time to summon the people they wanted to talk with. In the meantime, it seemed that they were being offered a place of safety and beyond that a celebration with the Dwarves in their drinking hall. "Drinking Hall... Dwarves drink... right. Just make sure I don't wake up in a steel cage..." Miki said somewhat sarcastically, but she didn't mean this harshly. "Looks like we're drinking with Dwarves," she said with a gentle shrug, she didn't really mind this. In fact every form of media she'd ever seen them in, made it look like Dwarves were having the most fun in such situations.

[Bloodedge]

"Drinking Dwarves... I'm getting a weird Irish vibe from all that," Kou said, though he was content to partake in this celebration while recovering from his Mana exhaustion. He didn't waste much time before beginning to move out of the throne room, but he did stop prior to exiting to bring up one thing. "Oh, and since we're good and all... Lay off the Fairy Queen, yeah? Almost forgot we were ambassadors there for a second," he said with a wave to the king. Soon after, Kou was setting foot in a room that seemed to boast the design of a grand dining hall, albeit with an abundance of alcohol in kegs across the walls. Just as obvious as the walls covered in alcohol was the slew of Dwarves merrymaking at and around the long dining table, cheering for their saviors from the moment even one of them became visible.

[Apollymi]

"You're right..." came a statement of agreement from Miki. She couldn't help but find the last words spoken by the lad to the Dwarf King to be funny. She looked towards the man as they left and nodded. He would probably do well to leave the Fairy Queen alone, or at the very least not end up with her in a cage within his Kingdom when she stopped by for a simple drink. Of course this pair of adventurers would soon find themselves in the drinking hall. And the room certainly lived up to the name by virtue of the amount of alcohol lining the walls and even the the layout of the place, which was much more like a dining hall with room for gathering. Merrymaking was already underway and as Miki had a look around she had to stop herself from whistling in appreciation. "Whoa, this place is huge! And... pretty full," she murmured within the cheering and roars for the pair of them which rather suddenly occurred. 'Ano this is a lot of attention...' the girl couldn't help but think that such social situations were generally outside of her norm. 'I guess now is a good time to try for normal...' she anxiously considered biting the corner of her lip as she tried to avoid the angry face of her thoughts settling in.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah... full. Definitely full," Kou replied. He was somewhat taken aback by the quantity of Dwarves polluting the 'drinking hall' at present. If he didn't get to see for himself exactly how massive Dwargon was, he'd have wondered if the entire city was packed into this one room. Interestingly enough, the Dwarves currently around the Adventurers were almost all familiar faces to the lad; they were mostly the soldiers that had been saved recently. Even more interesting was the time in which the Adventurers' quest registered as complete within the Nexus. This didn't occur until they were stood before the celebrating Dwarves, but they passed the level 20 threshold and moved up to level 25 in one shining moment. The glow produced by this effect caused the Dwarves to cheer again, hailing chants of 'Heroes' over and over while pushing massive mugs of ale, each the size of a human torso, toward the pair and aiming to shove them both - together - into a throne at the end of the long table. "Heroes! A round for the Heroes in the making!" shouted the drunken Dwarf who managed to plant Kou in the throne on its right side.

[Apollymi]

Kou's repeating of her statements made Miki giggle. But as they entered into this hall properly and took in the sights, their completion of the quest finally settled and both were encased in white light. Miki looked at her own stats and couldn't help but feel quite proud of herself. "Yosh! 25... we're making pretty good pro....wup!?" Miki's would have been normal speech was brought to an abrupt end by her movement from her place of standing into the throne at the top of the table. The dwarves around this place looked like many of the ones she'd saved on the battlefield even so, she didn't expect to be so randomly moved. Against the left side of this throne she found herself sitting dangerously close to Kou, her face flushed with this realization. 'I know Dwarves are pretty big and all, but why did they sit us so close!' her mind raced uncontrollably. Of course, the call for drinks made her gasp with pure surprise. Of course, she'd expected drinks but their hosts were already a bit drunk. "Uh... they are already drunk... and they called us heroes..." she said, a tiny bit of apprehension in her voice as she mentally prepared herself for the drink that was coming her way. 'I can't turn down drinks huh? But... he's so close... I don't know how to behave...' her mind shuffled through sentences as she sat with strange anticipation.

[Bloodedge]

After being placed in the throne, Kou rather quickly realized there was someone else occupying it with him. Of course, it was none other than Miki. His eyes widened right away, yet he kept his gaze averted. 'Ah, shit! How is this worse than the mount!?' he screamed in his mind. There was the presence of two massive mugs on the table ahead of them, but Kou couldn't bring himself to focus on even the great size of the Dwarves' beverage containers. When Miki spoke of the Dwarves' drunkenness and their reference to the pair as heroes though, he managed to look at the mugs. "O... Of course they're drunk; look at these full kegs they put out! But... why are we like this!?" he said aloud, still failing to make any level of eye contact.

[Apollymi]

There was something going on in this throne at the top of the table. There was now, a set of large mugs sitting out before her and Kou and both of them seemed just well enough to speak on this matter. Miki noted that the lad hadn't looked her direction at all, but she only noticed this because she glanced in his direction a couple of times, only to quickly avert her gaze, that light blush still applied to her face. 'Ugh! What am I doing... he probably doesn't like me very much. I mean he trusts me though, right? So we should like, be friends...' she thought to herself rather quickly, her expression not quite as stern as she normally would have been. 'I've never really done this sort of thing before... I don't know what to do,' her musings went on for quite some time. Even so, she managed to remember the conversation at hand. "They are kegs, I don't even know if I can lift this..." she commented softly. As for why they were sitting the way they were, she could only make guesses. "Well, it is like a spot for the guest of honor. And that's both of us right... so we share the seat? I mean... if you want to..." she added softly. Miki had no issue moving if it would help this lad out. She was quite embarrassed in this particular situation, and still hadn't really managed a moment of eye contact, though she found herself now seeking it a bit unconsciously, she needed confirmation one way or another of how he felt in this moment.