BZPB: Another Birth

My name is Elk, and I am not a hero. I want to do good, and I like to help people, I really do. The fact of the matter, though, is that I'm just not up to the kinds of horrors that heroes have to face in this game. I can't find my own strength, and depend on others to help me. Well, I depend on one other person most of all, I suppose. Oh, would you like me to tell you about her? Okay. We first met here, at this very area...


Logging In: Elk
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Class: Wavemaster


The first time I logged on, a technical error hit me in the worst way. Instead of getting sent to the usual starting area, I got dropped off in a medium-difficulty area whilst my character was at a green Level 1. I promptly realized that my single starting spell - On Kasta - Was going to be completely and utterly useless.

Indeed, before I'd been there very long at all, a Nether Koi jumped out of its portal and lunged towards me. I fell back, carved branch of a staff held up protectively. I was blocking a strike that would never come - For with a gurgle, the two halves of the Nether Koi flopped past me, already disintegrating into data. As I opened my eyes cautiously, I saw her before me.

My savior was feline, with purple and white fur, a medium-length tail, and elongated, rabbitlike ears. What struck me most, however, were her eyes: golden orbs that seemed to peer into my soul, searching for something I could never guess at, her black, slitted pupils flicking occasionally to inspect my prone form. Every once in a while, her whiskers would adjust slightly, or her ears would twitch at a faint noise.

She wore a set of jade green plate armor, as well as tanned leather chaps and gloves. Carried in one hand was a knightsword slightly longer than her forearm, while on the other arm was a brass-colored shield that matched the many buckles and clasps of her armor. I recognized her Class as a Blade Master, but she didn't look like any race I'd ever seen. It was easy to be intimidated.

To explain part of how my already timid nature was now overblown into panic, I was naturally short. Most of the people I've talked to outside of the game, up to half of the girls I talk to every day, at the least can look right over the top of my head. But even given how I compared to most people, I was stunned. It was plain to me that I would barely reach this Blade Master's shoulders standing up, and that was being highly optimistic. Her physique was lithe, almost awkward; but that lanky, lean frame, on that overly-tall height, seemed so unimaginably elegant to me.

For a while, the only sound that could be heard was the area's music. Not a word was shared between us for several moments. I was too scared to get up, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I knew that PKers could be lying in wait anywhere, eager to take out anyone in this strange game. Some wanted a challenge, some just got their kicks terrorizing newbies like me. And if this Blade Master could kill a Lvl. 15 Monster in one hit, I wouldn't stand a chance.

As I watched, a smile grew on her face. "You seem like you could use some help," she said in a voice that carried a feeling of gentle strength. "Why don't we form a party?" She held a hand out to me. "Unless you're comfortable down there in the mud." Were it not for that beaming smile, I could have gotten a distinct impression that she was poking fun at me. Considering how mud-splattered my robes were, she had every right to bust out laughing at the sight of me.

For a beat, I was too shocked to respond. But when my senses came to me, I gave a smile and a nod. I gladly took her hand to be helped up, and soon after our group was formed, I told her my name.

"Elk is a really nice name," she said. "Mine is Mia."

If you remember me, I'm Elk. The game I've been playing for a few months, now, is not BZPower Battles proper. We're on the Incarnate Server - A sort of proving ground for the inhabitants of BZPower itself. It can not be affected by anyone who's not able to connect from BZPower directly, but in return, we can only reach the Multiverse that's most well-known if we can prove our mettle on this Server, and then be sent out to experience what lies beyond our scope of knowledge. This does not, however, mean that the Incarnate Server is devoid of danger. Rather, it is one of the most dangerous planes of existence in all of reality. No one knows who the creator is, but it is known that he or she gave rise to something wonderful...And while it can also be so, so terrible, I am forever thankful to this amazing training area. It allowed me to meet the best friend I've ever had.


When I Gated into the area with Mia, she didn't tell me what we were looking for. She just started walking into the grass, occasionally kneeling down to look at the plants growing in the soil. I myself had never seen this area before, but since my current Level of 13 and Mia's Level of 32 were both safely above the suggested Level 8 for coming here, I didn't worry about any monsters we'd run into. I simply looked around at the beautiful scenery.

The sloping, rolling hills and wide-open plains seemed to go on forever, covered in tall grass and a variety of flowers. In the air, large globules of pale green and gold light hovered low to the ground, barely above the tips of the grass. I assumed that Mia had come here to find potion ingredients - Her main profession was Weapons Crafting, but she made potions from various ingredients as well. For the most part, the latter was simply so that she could sell a product to get money. That money usually went into buying new materials for her primary craft, or for buying equipment that was available and she wouldn't be able to make soon.

That was how we both got our present weapons at the time - I still remember, I had a Level 18 Staff called Hammerne, and her Level 19 Sword was called Hazy Cleaver. I was so, so thankful for the weapon, but she insisted that I not try to pay her back for it. To me, it was only right to do something to thank her; but with how emphatic Mia was that it simply made her happy - Being able to craft a weapon that suited me - I decided to leave it be. Now thoroughly bored, seated on the ground, my gaze started to roam all over the area. I don't know what possessed me to glance down at my right hand, but I know there had to be a greater reason for what I saw to stick in my mind, and make me want to look closer.

Plucking a stem from the ground, I carefully looked at the plant rested in my palm, turning it over occasionally. It resembled a cross between a cattail and a tiny grain plant, but with an emerald-green stem and little bright gold-tipped seeds at the top. It looked so beautiful, but before I could inspect it much closer, I heard footsteps approaching. As I turned to look, I saw Mia brushing her knees off as she walked over.

"I guess it's not here," she said with a sullen sort of tone, one that she seemed to half-heartedly be trying to disguise. "Sorry to drag you out - ..." Immediately kneeling down once she reached me, Mia looked down at my hand, stunned. I went to speak, but before I could say a word, she gently lifted the plant from my hand. She sniffed at it, smiling - A completely different mood from what surrounded her before.

As I watched, she reverently tucked the plant into her beltpouch, and looked back at me. "Um, Mia," I began cautiously, "What exactly was that? I've never seen that plant before. Is it for a high-level potion, or - " I stopped as Mia got closer again. She hugged me tightly around the shoulders, pulling me close. Startled, I managed to return the hug despite my growing confusion.

Eventually Mia pulled away, with a slight wetness in the fur around her eyes. "It's called Aromatic Grass," she said, "And it's one of the game's useless items, I suppose you'd call it. It can't be used in crafting, and it barely gives you experience for harvesting it." She sighed softly, with a faraway smile on her face. "But...It reminds me of someone. Someone who was very kind to me. I don't remember anything about him, other than little things like that he would collect Aromatic Grass for me." She stood up, and offered a hand.

I let myself be pulled up, unsure of how to respond to Mia. Before I could make an attempt, she asked me softly, "Do you...Think I'll remember more about him, someday? If I keep collecting all the different kinds of Aromatic Grass, all over the Incarnate Server? Do you think I might be able to meet him, and introduce him to you? For some reason, I think you and he would get along very well." She looked at me, with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

With a smile, I finally responded. "Of course! I definitely think it can help jog your memory! And I think if we look through the Server, and maybe the worlds beyond it...Yes! I think we can definitely find him someday!" To this day, I don't know why I still believe with all my heart. But I know that what I said had Mia practically jumping for joy.

And one thing that will never change is that, if I can make Mia happy, it's worth it.

Hello, my name is Natsume! I'm pretty new to this game, I've only been playing for around a month. But I've met so many fun people! Including a Wavemaster named Elk and a Blade Master named Mia. They've helped me so much, they're awesome!


Name: Natsume
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Class: Twin Blade


When I first entered the game at Anyuma, I was astonished with how pretty it was! It looked like a cross between BZPower's more historic streets, and the city of Venice! Tall, homey apartment buildings, and the entire city was built around a system of canals. The city music was so peaceful, and it blended really nicely with the sound of water babbling below.

The only problem was increasing my level. What equipment I had was stiff leather armor and a pair of jack knives, basically. I wanted to level up, but before I could get to a reasonable area, the city music picked up the pace, and players all over drew their weapons. "Wh-wh-what!? What's going on!?" No one stopped to tell me, but I figured out by myself soon enough. Abruptly, a huge creature that was designated as a Hobgoblin trundled out of the alley nearest me! Raising his club, he hooted madly and prepared to bludgeon me.

I was ready to fight the Level 6 Hobgoblin in futility, before a burst of water knocked him clear down the street. There, some kind of feline character - Her black and green knightsword drawn - Engaged the Hobgoblin in combat to ward him away. I found a hand offered to me, and let myself be pulled up. Stood before me was a young man with jawlength, straight silver hair, a dark gray cap with a white brim and a red jewel set above his brow, and dark gray robes striped with white. He carried a staff of amber crystal, with a spiralled, widened head carrying an ochre gem.

He asked me, "Are you alright?" I nodded, a bit stunned. "Good, my name's Elk. You should join mine and Mia's party - It's Rampage Day, when monsters from a random low-level area are able to enter the city. It happens unpredictably, so I guess you just got a bit of bad luck. May I ask what your name is?" As I went through the process of joining their group, I introduced myself gladly. "Natsume? That's a really pretty name! I think we'll get along great!" I couldn't agree more.

When I met Mia after she dispatched the Hobgoblin - And I promptly jumped to Level 4 from the shared experience - She gave me a smile. "Nice to meet you, Natsume," she said. "I'm glad we could help you out." It was a strange experience, talking to her. I still don't know how you edit a character to look like that!

Soon, we set out to get my level higher. Mia also told me that she knew of a few blade pairs that she could craft for me, given the right materials.

I felt like the luckiest girl in all of the Incarnate Server!

Wow. That's a lot of chapters to read. For now:



Until I read them all and am able to review! In other words, REVIEW PENDING!

Well, I'll wait until you have some time to read through them before I post the next chapter.

I hope the overall story is to your liking.

Positives: Very interesting story. Interesting characters, and unique method of storytelling.

Negatives:

Remember, not everyone is as familiar with the .hack universe as you are. If you don't plan on explaining everything, make sure to put up a "Google it" disclaimer.

he game I've been playing for a few months, now, is not BZPower Battles proper. We're on the Incarnate Server - A sort of proving ground for the inhabitants of BZPower itself. It can not be affected by anyone who's not able to connect from BZPower directly, but in return, we can only reach the Multiverse that's most well-known if we can prove our mettle on this Server, and then be sent out to experience what lies beyond our scope of knowledge.

.....Hm......
No offense, but I really hope you know where you're going with this. I hope you have a full understanding of what the Users are, the BZPB multiverse is, and what the .hack universe is now that you are melding all three out of nowhere. I do not want this RPG to become 20,000,000 times more confusing to people than it already is. We have enough difficulty getting regular members to post frequently without losing themselves, let alone newbies.

Make sure they're compatible. I think I get the gist of where you are going, but still.

I have a plan of where I want this to go, and how it will reflect on the RPG itself. I can't share everything now, but I plan to make minimal changes to the overall nature of the RPG. Basically, the story of the Incarnate Server does not change our characters, the nature of the Users, or the nature of the Multiverse.

I'll go ahead and post the next chapter.

~ ~ ~

You're talking to Natsume! Once I joined up with Elk and Mia, I found that the Incarnate Server was ten times more fun than I ever thought it would be! We made an excellent team, and we still make an excellent team, I'll have you know! The only problem is, well...It doesn't involve Elk or Mia at all. It's all me. Well, kind of.

The thing is, I have an odd problem. Even though Elk gave me Spiral Edge, a Level 37 Blade Pair, I somehow keep ending up with these rare, but not quite as rare weapons in my inventory. Doublethorns, Qilin Antlers, Betelgeuse...I'd be fine with them appearing there by accident, so long as it wasn't causing problems to others. The thing is, it's causing big big big problems for others. T ~ T

From what other people have been telling me, when I see a rare Blade Pair in front of me, there's nothing anyone can do to stop me. They've told me that I PK anyone who's in the way of me getting that weapon! I mean, I like collecting them and all, but I don't even remember a single thing about attacking people for them! Apparently, there's been talk about setting up a reward for the 'Edgemaniac' that just assaults people out of nowhere and steals their Blade Pairs. I seriously have to figure out how to stop this!!

If I had to guess, there's either a hacker/stalker after me, or that witch Helba is playing a prank on me. She's picked on me every game I try to play, so I wouldn't put it past her to be involved in this game too! I just hope I don't get in trouble before I can put a stop to this!

I need to log out, get a Dr. Pepper, and think this through calmly and sensibly

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO BE BANNED!!!!! DX

Okay logging out now thank you for listening.

Seems like a good story. Confusing a bit, though.

If I read Klak's review right, it's probably cause I don't play/watch .hack

Yes, I was worried about the concept being hard to follow. I have a large backlog of chapters written, so I hope that it begins to read more coherently as it goes on. I'll work on making it less confusing as I write new chapters. Thank you for the review, Ynot. Here's the next chapter:

~ ~ ~

Hi, Natsume again! I got to thinking about this guy I met while in Elk and Mia's party. He kept to Net Slum Tatarga; he always calls it his 'hometown', which seems odd to me. He's a Flick Reaper named Zelkova, and he's a pacifist from this Guild called Moon Tree. He's really nice, and he runs the shop in Moon Tree's @HOME! There's a reason for that, which you'll find out if you read this entry. You should really pay him a visit if you're around!


I was honestly amazed when I first got a look at the place. It was a city mostly built upwards instead of outwards, with a tight cluster of spires built around a huge central tower. Connected to each other by a bunch of walkways, the entire city is in the clouds. That's because it's built atop a huge frickin' turtle that flies!! I know, right? It's crazy! But there's a huge perimeter wall around the city for safety, with rooms that you can look out from.

Monsters can never enter the Net Slum, not even during Rampage Day. As well, you're just out and out prevented from even issuing a friendly challenge to other players for a duel. All you can do is visit the local Guilds and look through shops. But both of those are so much fun in and of themselves! You can find a ton of rare items in the shops, as well as a huge mashup of cuisine to try! Plus, you never know when you'll meet the Guild that's right for you.

During the first trip I was there for, when Mia and Elk headed there to look through the shops, we came across a kid who was looking through a vegetable stand. Mia instantly seemed to recognize him, and walked over. "Zelkova," she said, "It's so nice to see you! How is Moon Tree doing?" He looked up at her and smiled. Neither Elk nor I had ever seen this guy before, so we did say hello, but we mostly stayed back while Mia talked to him.

Zelkova had fair skin, a head of short, slightly messy silver hair, golden eyes, and a pair of twisted black horns atop his head; no one's quite sure whether they're a hack, or whether the horns were a special accessory the kid got from a quest. He wore white clothes, a lot like Japanese monk's robes crossed with a more casual outfit; black sigils were embroidered on its chest and sleeves, and around his waist was tied a tesselated, pale blue obi sash. Across his lower back was strapped some kind of weird box or something, an elongated hexagon of black and bronze, with wide purple ribbons hanging down below the two horizontal points.

What I noticed most about him was how softspoken, but confident he was. He was one of those guys who you could tell was sure of himself. Zelkova was really quiet and kindly, and you could just tell it wasn't for being shy or pessimistic - He was just self-assured enough that he didn't feel a need to run his mouth. I liked that, honestly. Once he had the vegetables he needed to buy, Zelkova invited us back to his Guild's @HOME.

Every Guild has an @HOME. It's basically a miniature, contained server that acts like a classic Guildhouse, and is free for them to decorate, invite visitors, and sell from. Moon Tree's @HOME was particularly nice. The entrance was a sort of courtyard garden, with tons of fruit trees, vegetable and herb and flower patches, and a number of potion and cooking pots. We found out later from Zelkova that all guests were free to use the resources in the courtyard, so long as they put something back, like planting a few seeds in the gardens.

Once we entered the well-lit main room, we found a handful other members of Moon Tree. One of them was a girl named Tabby, a Tribal Grappler who styled her character after a catgirl - Complete with ears and a ponytail that curled up with a shape like a cat's actual tail. She had a skimpy pink top and a pretty amazing figure, and was so nice! She was delighted to see Mia there, and purchased a couple of potions from her before rollicking out of the room in what I guess is always her usual mood; every time I've ever seen her, she's been super chipper!

The main room was really nice. It had a ton of couches and woolen floormats, and the tables were made out of the nicest wood and crystal I've ever seen. Zelkova insisted that we allow him to fix and serve us some tea while he explained the story behind the Guild. "I'm the commander of Moon Tree's first brigade," he said, stunning both Elk and myself. "Moon Tree has over 1,000 members, over 700 of which are pacifists who seek protection by members of our Guild who are so inclined to look out for others." He gave a chuckle, carrying over a tea set crafted out of intricately painted porcelain. "I've tried to get Mia to join so many times, but if she doesn't want to commit to us, it's no business of mine to push the issue too far. Whatever makes an old friend happy is fine by me." He fell silent then, pouring out some green tea into our cups.

As we drank, Mia narrowed her eyes playfully at Zelkova. "Really, now? You're going to leave them hanging without telling them your whole story? If you won't tell them, I will." No response. "Don't think I won't!" He just smiled wider, enjoying his tea in silence. Mia chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, I guess I have to be the frank one. Elk, Natsume, the actual complete story is that Zelkova isn't just the first brigade leader of Moon Tree, because the first brigade leader automatically holds the rank of Guildmaster." Both of us nearly choked in unison. Zelkova just kept smiling away, looking like he was about to crack up at our faces. "He's also the leader of the entirety of Net Slum Tatarga." At this surreal revelation, the two of us just slowly turned our heads from Mia to the unassuming young man across from us.

With a chuckle, Zelkova set down the cup of tea in his hands. "Yes, it's true," he said simply. "I just prefer not to make this common knowledge. It's much easier to go out and see what my Guild and what the Net Slum need from me when I'm not seen as a figure of prestige. Most of my Guild think that the other brigade leaders and I answer to a mysterious Guildmaster. Very few of them know that I'm their leader, let alone the leader of Net Slum Tatarga. Please, I ask that you don't go around revealing my rank." Picking up his tea again, he calmly sipped.

I was first to speak up. "Trust me, I promise not to let it slip! Your secret is safe with me, Zelkova!" Elk nodded in agreement, quietly drinking his tea. The grateful smile on Zelkova's face sort of made me feel all fluttery in my chest. Like I'd just done something really really nice for someone, something that I didn't completely know was going to happen, you know?

Little did I know that Zelkova was going to repay all of us in kind, very soon.