Looking For A Challenge? (SAO) [Hiatus]

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________250 / 250 | LV: 1

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For a moment it felt as though Keiyo was frozen. His movements, his senses, even his conscious mind seemed to be paused. If he was able to think then he likely would have found the sensation, or perhaps lack thereof, to be unsettling. But as time began to pass he could feel himself reawaken. He could feel his feet within his boots and his hands within his gloves. He could feel the wind through his hair and air in his lungs. He could blink and turn his head, jump and crouch, roll his shoulders and take a step forward. He could even add two numbers in his head and think of words that rhymed. Simply put, he was a functional human being.

The first thing that Keiyo did after making sure that he worked properly was familiarize himself with the interface. His important stats, namely his health and level, sat in the upper right corner of his vision. After a bit of experimentation he found that he could call his menu by pulling on an invisible string. That was certainly convenient. The menus were pretty self explanatory. He noted his inventory had a few items already - his clothes, his weapon, and a guide book. He selected it, which caused the menu to fade and a tiny brown manual to materialize in his hand. He began flipping through the pages for anything interesting.

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________250 / 250 | LV: 1

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After a bit of reading Keiyo had a little more of an understanding of what was going on. This place was apparently called Aincrad. With nothing like magic available, everything relied on speed and skill. Notably, in the absence of something like magic, everyone had access to Sword Skills - abilities that activated based on stances and methods of using the various weapons. "So there's a little more to it than simply swinging a weapon around." The young man thought. He reached for his back and drew out his weapon - a classic, standard sword. The guidebook didn't specfically talk about what stances activated skills, so it had to do with experimentation he supposed. So far he was finding this game quite interesting. There was essentially no hand-holding, and relied on the player to think. "So that's all well and good... but what am I supposed to do? Just go and start killing things? There wasn't even an opening cinematic. This game feels kinda basic."

[falcon_tenou]

Lvl: 5
EXP to next level : 350/1200

A soft yawn slipped between Takeshi's lips as he awoke that morning . He had slept in a local inn that he had managed to get enough gold for the previous day. His black locks of hair falling everwhere as he slowly stood up and ran his fingers along his face. His 6'4" stature seemed daunting to most ,especially when he put his coat back on . "Ugh I slept too hard ... " He said to himself , well aware that in reality sleeping in the game world didn't really effect him . He spent so much time in this world it was almost real to him .

He slowly reached around the door and grabbed his strange coat with the many buckles , even if it hadn't really been the best choice for armor he loved that coat , it didn't do much for stats but it fit him well . His hand then slowly slipped around the back side and latched his katana at his waist line and his daggers as well on his belt ." I might as well go level so more .. " He said to himself as he headed down and out the main door of the inn . He had been up awhile yesterday grinding levels and finally reached lvl 5 which was how he found the sword he currently has

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________250 / 250 | LV: 1

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With nothing else to do except explore, Keiyo slipped his hands into the pockets of his dark brown slacks and began walking. The city was certainly massive. Buildings stood as tall as centuries-old trees and were spread far out to cover a wide diameter. If this was just the starting area, then just how big was this game world? He was admittedly impressed. While some aspects of the game seemed simple at first, there were other things put to a much grander scale. This was certainly not a beginner's attempt at designing a world. Perhaps he would have to be reserved in his judgement. What did he know about making virtual worlds, after all?

Eventually his feet carried him to a Northern gate out of the city. He had seen plenty of NPCs, but not too many other people. "It would take a hell of a lot of people to make a place like this seem crowded I suppose. I could have missed every online player and never even know." Putting aside those idle thoughts, he stepped out into a vast plane. A classic dirt path snaked through the rolling hills, out and beyond from where he was able to see. He let out a low whistle. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me." Keiyo unsheathed his hands and began venturing out into the field. He was eager to find what sort of creatures this game had.

[falcon_tenou]

Lvl: 5
EXP to next level : 350/1200

Takeshi had a dagger in his hand , spinning it slowly around his palm as he walked through what could be considered a starter field , most of the monsters were things like boars and chickens , all of which were level 1 -3 .nothing particularly dangerous to him or interesting really. The blue color of the names of the monsters told him none of them would aggro him randomly so he kept walking around , glancing about here and there in search of an elite mob of monsters , this area had a few and they were often lvl 5 -7 right up his alley for exp . He had noticed some random loot strune around from previous players , most of it not worth gold nor keeping . " Well this is fun ... I need to move on to the next area when i hit lvl 10 so i can work on floor one boss .. " He spoke to himself often to get his thoughts straight .

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________230 / 250 | LV: 1

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"Now we're talking." After a brief walk through the rather pleasant landscape, the lad found himself a small gathering of boars. They certainly looked vicious enough to be considered enemies. Given how most games went, he was ready to draw his sword and begin hacking away at them. Keiyo had gotten as far as putting his hand on his weapon's hilt before he paused. "This looks simple enough. It's a beginner area after all. But what if they have multiaggro or something? I don't know how I can draw one away from the pack."
He let go of his sword for a minute and decided to observe the situation a little more. They seemed to just mill about aimlessly, but stayed within a predefined area. The young man circled the group a bit to look for one that seemed to be straying from the pack. After going around twice, one seemed to do just that. Patience and luck, he supposed. Now Keiyo drew his blade for real. He dashed toward the blue-haired beast and took a swing at it, but it acted faster than he anticipated. It almost effortlessly dodged his attack and slammed right into him. With a yelp he was sent stumbling back. "Wha-? Are you kidding me?! I just got my a** handed to me by a pig!"

[falcon_tenou]

Lvl: 5
EXP to next level : 350/1200

His eyes glanced off to his left , a clearing off in the woods where there was a young man whom seemed to be new to the game and just got attacked by a boar. He let out a soft sigh as he shook his head slightly , debating in his head what he should do ,help the kid or let him do his thing . He shrugged it off for a moment before taking his dagger and flicking his wrist , watching it fly across the field and right into the boars neck, it instantly turned into small pixels then dust and blew away . His feet slowly slide along the ground as he walked towards where his dagger lay stabbed into the earth . As he passed he sad in simple terms to the man whom had been knocked down . Reflexes are everything ...anticipate it's actions .. " That was all he had to say as he pulled his dagger fro mthe ground and slid it back into a small sheathe on his belt

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________230 / 250 | LV: 1

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He was still reeling a bit from the suddenness of the boar's attack. He figured that any starting area would be little more than mindless swinging. A glance at Keiyo's health revealed that it wasn't horribly injured, but even a basic hit was nearly 10% of his health. A slew of mistakes or being ganged up on had serious consequences. He thought briefly back to the e-mail and its title. "A challenge, huh. They weren't exaggerating." The lad blinked and shook his head to focus. He'd never live it down if the first enemy he encountered trounced him. He tightened his grip on his blade and was on the verge of taking a step forward when the pig creature let out a squeal, them exploded into shards. "What? I didn't even--"
His thoughts were cut short as a man even taller than himself came into view. He retrieved his knife and was quick to begin lecturing Keiyo. He didn't seem condescending, but made it quite obvious that he was superior.
"Yeah. I'm getting the impression that things aren't as simple as they seem."

[falcon_tenou]

Lvl: 5
EXP to next level : 352/1200

"Not at all " He said softly in his deep tone as he turned and headed towards the way he came. He didn't really say anything else or even gesture as farewell. He had spotted a yellow name off in the woods . The yellow name indicated an elite monster and he needed to go hunt it down . His hand lightly laying on the hilt of his katana as he walked as if it were a hand rest for him . ( writer block )

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________230 / 250 | LV: 1

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"Man of few words, huh." He thought. Keiyo placed one hand on his hip and let his armed hand hang freely. "Didn't even mention his name. Are most players like him?"
The young man didn't really feel like he was in a position to judge anyone, though. The stranger didn't seem mean, just... distant. With a light shrug, he gave his sword a spin and took a tight grip on it. "Alright. No messing around. Even the basic enemies mean business." He eyed the small herd for another stray. After picking one out, he sprinted toward it. This time he was paying attention. The boar could definitely see him, so it would be able to read his movements. Keiyo tried a wide horizontal slice this time. The boar actually ducked under it and was already launching a tackle. This time the swordsman was prepared and sidestepped its attack. "I've got you this time!" He exclaimed as he swung a second time. He only nicked the creature on the rear though, and it barely let out a yelp. It was charging ahead and was getting ready to circle around to attack again.

[falcon_tenou]

Lvl: 5
EXP to next level : 420/1200
His hand slid along the hilt of his katana once before slowly taking it from the sheathe , glancing at the monster that stood before him . It was a kobold general, one holding a two handed axe ."hmmm .. " He said to himself as he stood there a moment . The name above the head was Jekel the axe general . " Haven't seen this one before .. " He said to himself as he spun his katana around his hand as he smirked . His legs pushed him forward , swinging a normal attack at the kobold .Their weapons clashed and they both stood their ground , shaking arms and sweat as the ground rumbled under them . " good .. " He said softly as he pushed hard once quickly , knocking the monster back a few feet with a stumble He flicked his wrist downwards and a black blurr erupted from his blade, half moon shaped that roared through the ground , rip[ping it up and sliding clean through the monster , spliting him in two before it shattered into pieces . " Gengetsu " He muttered as he stood there and a loot pile showed up . He slowly walked over and sighed as he picked up the loot . " only level 4 ... thought it was tougher . " He muttered and picked up a few things then opened his inventory to examine them . "hmm nothing all too good .. " He said to himself as he headed back on his way , searching again

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________230 / 250 | LV: 1

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The boar was closing in fast and Keiyo didn't really have any sort of plan of attack. It was quick and could dodge well. What could he do against this thing? Maybe he just had to catch it during its attack. The young man brought his blade in close and held it at the ready for yet another horizontal slide. He was completely focused on the enemy and was visualizing his attack. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a faint blue glow, but fought the urge to look with the enemy charging him. When it came within range Keiyo swung his sword fiercely. The result caught him off guard - his blade moved notably faster than when he hadn't wound up the attack. It matched the dodging speed of the creature and sliced through its body entirely. Shards sprayed at him and he instinctively covered his face, but he took no damage. When he lowered his arms to look, the boar was gone and had been replaced by a menu. A small bit of EXP and Col were his rewards. A moment of silence passed before he exhaled. "Is every battle going to be like this? This is... intense."

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________240 / 250 | LV: 1

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Keiyo sheathed his weapon and put some distance between himself and the plethora of pigs. He knew he would be doing plenty of grinding so there was no need to rush it. Besides that, he wanted to take in some more of the environment and reflect a little on what had happened. In particular he was wondering what had happened with his sword. What caused it to move like that? Given the speed of the enemies, it had to be essential that he mastered that technique if he hoped to stand a chance. His red eyes drifted across the landscape as he replayed the fight in his mind. He missing and dodging the boar and landing an attack, then prepared for a second strike. His pace slowed for a moment as he considered his second attack. "Wait. Was that a Sword Skill? Did I activate it by preparing my attack?" He wondered. Keiyo pulled out his sword once more and looked at it. He moved back into a fighting position and held the sword the same way. Sure enough, the blade glowed a few seconds later. He swung and it moved with blurring speed. "So that's it. Stances like that activate Sword Skills. I wonder how I perform others, then?"

The lad spent some time experimenting with different stances. Some were simple and practical, others were complicated and felt rather silly. He was met with mixed success, but by the end of it knew how to perform horizontal, vertical, and diagonal slashes. They would probably suffice for anything around here. All that mattered after that was practical experience. His next goal would be to take out boars in succession, or otherwise he would be at this way too long.

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________240 / 250 | LV: 1

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Now armed with knowledge, Keiyo wanted to see how he would fare against the boars. He came across another small group of them after he had traveled for a bit. So far it seemed as though they didn't attack in groups even when he was causing a ruckus, so the must be relatively docile. He further showed that he had learned from his mistakes by getting behind the enemy's field of vision. Once there he drew his sword and approached it carefully. The swordsman took a firm grip on the handle with both hands, then held it just above his shoulder for a moment. The now familiar glow enveloped the blade, then he swung down with a heavy cleave. A long red streak appeared on the beast's body, then it exploded into a cloud of shimmering shards. The spoils menu popped open to signal the young man's victory. A smirk appeared on his face. "I'm getting the hang of this now."

[Takarashi]

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Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀
_________________180 / 250 | LV: 1

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Several minutes and boars later, and the swordsman stood alone. He breathed heavily as the last spoils menu dismissed itself. Though he had figured out a few tricks to combat, he had a long ways to go before he was perfect at it. A glance at his health bar showed he'd taken a decent beating, but he would likely be in the red or defeated had he not figured out even as much as he did. "I still haven't heard anything about what the deal with this game is. No quest NPCs, no story prompts, no GMs. I like the battle system, but I dunno if I want to keep playing if this is all there is." He thought as he shoved the blade back into its scabbard.

With his health getting low, Keiyo figured he should start getting back near town. The guide book didn't say what you lost what you died, and he didn't feel like letting his freshly gained experience above all else to go to waste. He began walking back toward the city, unaware that a gray and white wolf had materialized behind him and was already charging at him.