Gold @HOME: Neo Hackers

Welcome to the @home of the Neo Hackers. Here, its designed pretty much like the real world version of the HQ.

>Ten gated in

"So what exciting area could this b-" Ten was saying in a jovial manner until he saw the @home. "It's.... exactly like the outside. I feel really creeped out right now." Ten tried to get his unease off his mind and simply stood a couple of meters ahead of the Chaos Gate.

Sho spinned around in his chair and faced Ten. "It's alright Ten, this is our @home. Here, you can upgrade your weapons and equipment beyond what you could normally. This includes very rare items as well, and you can customize your own motorcycle too. This also is where we can analyze data of AIDA that one of us has Data Drained." Sho said happily to Ten as he walked toward him. "Besides, it about time I upgraded these." Sho said calmly as he showed off his trusty Dual Guns in-front of Ten. "So, what do you think?" Sho asked Ten politely.

Spoiler:

"Hey hey, not bad!" Ten remarked. "Interesting set you got there. I'm not a fan of the blades in the front, but to each his own." Ten then drew his own gun, Coolidge,

Spoiler:

and pointed it at Sho's face. "How good a shot you think are? I can tell you, this baby's a killing machine. 13 round capacity, millions of design customizations to insure quality, and a few in-game upgrades for an extra touch."

Sho raised an eyebrow as he was impressed by Ten's gun. "Well, this is actually a hacked weapon that can shoot 20 rounds currently, and it acts as a pair of swords. However, I'm going to upgrade it so it can shoot 30 more without reloading. Believe it or not, this is one of the two gifts my Epitaph gave me. The other was a deadly scythe." Sho explained to Ten. "Origially, I started out with a Quincy bow and a Seele Schnider." Sho added honestly.

Ten lowered his gun, his eyes widened, "Fi-fifty rounds... in each gun... and they act like swords..." Ten repeated to himself, as if in shock. "This Epitaph of yours is perhaps the most generous and most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of." Ten looked at Sho with a 'braced for bad news' look. "Now, don't hold back," Ten began, "what the hell does the scythe do? Enable a million slashes a second and blow up every surrounding player?"

Sho laughed at Ten's comment. "No, it just replenishes my HP by the same amount of damage I inflict on my enemy with a swing of the scythe." Sho explained politely as he put his guns away. "Your Epitaph is still awaiting his call, but he will awaken when you're ready." Sho added honestly.

"Awaken when I'm ready? Sounds nice, but... uh... I'll take the 'abstain from being death incarnate' diet." Ten replied, still baffled by Sho's extreme weaponry. "But, just to keep the conversation flowing, tell me how your Epitaph awakened; I'm pretty interested."

((logging off. It was good today))

"My Epitaph was really hard to awaken, because he's really stubborn. Anyway, when I first encountered an AIDA, it latched itself to me and tried to possess me. Fortunately; Skeith wasn't going to let that happen, and he destroyed the AIDA that was attempting to possess me." Sho explained calmly to Ten. "He's not as stubborn as he used to be, and even he's taken an interest in you. When Magus decides to finally awaken from within you, he'll give you the Lost Weapon 'Silent Jade'. My Lost Weapon is 'Ticking Death'." Sho explained as he brought out his scythe.

Spoiler:

"It's believed that the Lost Weapons can be only upgraded at Hidden Forbidden Sacrament. Oh, and if you were curious, many of the areas with Hidden Forbidden in their names are indeed Lost Grounds. Destroyed Forbidden Holy Ground is the ruins of a Lost Ground that was once known as the Hulle Granz Cathedral, but a certain conflict destroyed most of the cathedral and left the Lost Ground on a cliff. Many of the Lost Grounds are places that were mentioned in 'The Epitaph of Twilight', which The World was purposefully based on. I've gathered as much of the Epitaph as I could, but the poem still remains uncompleted." Sho added to Ten, hoping to strike his interest in The World more.

"Sounds interesting, but I pretty much never face certain death, so I think I'll be staying away from this Magus thing for a while." Ten replied in regards to Sho's Avatar acquisition. When Sho finished explaining the story of the Lost Grounds, Ten gave him a light punch and stated sarcastically, "C'mon, I don't need the whole game's lore explained to me. Some of us actually read that crap when we start a game." He chuckled at his own "wit," and said to Sho, "I've heard a very select few rumors about the Epitaph, but I was never really interested in it. Are we going to need to find the rest of it to kill E?"

A voice echoed into the area. It was coming from the (lore or w/e)
"No, we won't need the rest to kill E, but we will have to get stronger"

"He's right, we all need to strengthen ourselves. Personally, I think that finding the other five Epitaph users would be the best option. Anyway, I wouldn't mind training you on your time." Sho said calmly as he got the Guild Grunty to use Cheat Alchemy on his Dual Gun, allowing a total of 100 rounds. "Alright, I've definitely maxed out my guns... Oh, why don't you give Cheat Alchemy a try, Ten. You can use this for infinite cheats." Sho said calmly as he gave Ten a black card with a neon green honeycomb design printed on both sides.

Sho gave Ten a Cheat Card!

"This Cheat Card allows you to have unlimited Cheat Codes which are used to upgrade equipment beyond the system's limits. Right now, I'm going to work on stabilizing Tartarga. When I'm done we'll be able to officially explore the entire town." Sho explained calmly.

"Yeah, as nice as that would be, I think I'm going to turn down the offer," Ten said as he put the Cheat Card in his back pocket. "As for finding others, I can give a mild attempt at that." Ten began to explain, "I've never been one for advertising, but I might find a way to slither the word around."

Ten tipped his hat and smiled, "As for trainin' me, I think I'll have my own go at that. I have ways to buff my already fantastic self up even higher."

"That's great Ten, and I'm glad that you're so willing to help. I think I already know who the Tarvos user is, but I believe that Magus will awaken very soon. However, it all depends on the strong emotion that you feel." Sho said calmly as he awaited further orders from Cross in the meantime.

A voice echoed again to Sho and Ten.
"Come to the Serpent of Lore" He said. "We will plan our next line of action here"

"Follow me, Ten. It's in the back." Sho said as he walked towards a narrow hallway. If Ten followed him they both would end up in the Serpent of Lore.