SAO: The Trials In My Head O/A4

Favorite Active Character?

Aubrey Dye	14.3%	[ 2 ]
Tetsuo Hayashi	14.3%	[ 2 ]
Aruda "Alder" Shiro	28.6%	[ 4 ]
Kyuusei Nakiato	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Arashi Junsei	14.3%	[ 2 ]
Nagisa "Friska" Wakahisa	7.1%	[ 1 ]
Yutu "Ryder" Akari	21.4%	[ 3 ]
Kanti Masuro	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Total Votes:			[ 14 ]

[Always A Lark]

«Ryder»
〈 Yutu Akari 〉xx
X
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Stamina【▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓】

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’In retrospect, maybe a two-handed axe was a bad idea for a first weapon…’ Ryder mused, hefting the oversized weapon while trying to keep from tripping over him own feet as he dodged around the mushroom creature he was currently focusing on. It was proving to be difficult to get both his agility and the sword skills to mesh together while on the ground. He crouched, allowing the axe to begin to glow and the slim to turn on him again before springing forwards while swinging the axe in a low arc. His attack made contact, sending the slime flying several yards before shattering on the ground as he scowled after it. His movements were still too slow.
Sighing in aggravation, Ryder let the head of the axe drop to rest on the ground before leaning forward slightly to rest his chin on its heel. The axe, while it did do a good deal of damage and sent targets flying, was a bit unwieldy in all honesty. It came up to just below Ryder’s chin and probably weighed almost half as much as he did. Maybe it would be better once he got a horse, or whatever critter that was available to ride in these lower floors. Or it could all stem from the fact that it was a clunky starter weapon that would probably need replacing before he even managed to advance onto the second floor. Either way, any fast moving targets like the boars or the team attackers like the wolves would a problem without some kind of backup or a mount until he managed to grind out his skill sets a bit more.
He pushed the handle of the axe away, allowing his head to hang for a moment in dejection before the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps and fighting caught his attention. Jerking up his head and turning towards the sounds just in time to see some freakishly tall guy come flying at him while getting tackled by a wolf. He jumped back, giving the two space while scrambling to get his axe up while mentally chiding himself for letting his guard down out in the field.
After a second Ryder lowered his axe, watching the giant fight off the wolf with a mildly impressed expression on his face. ’Guess he can handle himself then,’ he though absently before letting the axe drop completely and leaning onto the handle once more as the other man finished off the wolf and began to speak. He only half listened to the spear wielder’s words as he gave him a good once over, humming a bit in acknowledgement as the other man spoke. “Uh-huh, yeah, thanks for the help,” He replied absently, eyebrows crinkling a bit when the spear wielder said something about propelling himself off walls. Who does that? Like, really? Jumping off wall to save people…How did he even get up on the wall?
Ryder paused, looking away from the other player’s spear to actually make eye contact before voicing his question but the words died on his lips as the other man kept talking. “Whoa, hold it there, buddy. Who are you calling short?” He scowled, face reddening from a mixture of embarrassment and rage at the comment. Who was this guy to go around making remarks about his height and weapon handling capability? Just because he was freakishly huge did not mean everyone else was short, damnit. He took a step closer to the taller man, one hand holding his axe by the heel loosely so it didn’t fall in the dirt while the other came up to jab accusingly at the spear wielder’s chest. “I’ll have you know my height is perfectly average! Tall even, for a g- person from where I’m from,” He growled, stumbling over his words for a moment as he caught himself and trying to cover it up with another jab at the guy’s chest. “And I am perfectly capable to handling my weapon, thank you very much. I’m just… still working on my technique, that’s all.”

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Level « 1 »xxxLocation « Outside of the Town of Beginnings »xxxCompany « Some giant... (Valiance)»xxxMood « Impressed Flustered Miffed »x
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Ooc:

[Duke Henry]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxH M M ,..N E E D S..M O R E..S A L T .

Listening intently, Valiance looked over the shorter player as he was being berated for insulting the player's height. He recalled the player's technique when he was watching from the wall and he didn't think that a two-handed axe was the most effective weapon for the type of fighting he saw the littler player attempting to use. A heavy hitter probably wanted to have as great a reach as possible so as to build momentum for their strike with a sword skill; the fact that Ryder had to poke up at him just confirmed that issue. The height played into that, but it wasn't the only thing that Valiance saw as an error. Trying to use a heavy weapon in a speedy fashion was poor use of the weapon's ability, he thought the other player could have used something with more speed, like a one-handed sword or a rapier.

"Tell me that all you want, your technique was fine, I could see that when I was sitting on the wall. It's the weight of your weapon that's literally slowing you down."He twirled his spear around then planted it into the ground before him. There were not any monsters he could sense for ten yards, and so he wouldn't need his spear on hand at that moment. "I'm sure you wanted something heavy hitting to balance out your agile attack pattern, but I see a lot more potential out of you with something one-handed. A sword would be a better fit, hell, an axe still if you are so fond of using axes."

The spearman looked above the young man and saw the name "Ryder" on it. A bit unusual, but then everyone liked to choose all kinds of names in these games. Opening up his menu in front of him, he popped open the friends list and sent a request to Ryder then a party request. "C'mon, I can show you a technique or two at least. I'm an agility based fighter too and I've played a lot of games like this, so I could give you a pointer or-" An alarm rang in his ear as he could hear three, no four, no six blips within ten yards of them and getting closer. Grabbing his spear, he swung around so that his back against Ryder's back as he looked around for the targets. One-by-one, six wolves came from the tall grass, their red eyes glaring menacingly and their fangs bared for the flesh of players. "Damn. Guess those three I took down were just a part of this bigger pack."

Valiance felt his heart pounding in his chest at the sight of the wolves surrounding them. Alone, a single player would have difficulty taking on all six, but with the two of them they could possibly beat them at least with several scratches from the enemy. "Well, guess we're gonna get tested out now. Let's see if you can handle something as fast as you, and maybe we'll get to trade techniques. Eh, partner?" He smirked and then winked with those stunningly blue eyes before leveling his spear at the wolf before him. With a roar, he charged into the fray, the blade of his spear glowing blue...

| Valiance| |Level : 1| |Company : Ryder(Yutu) |
| Health : 250/250| |Stamina : 100/100 |
| Primary Skills : Longspear 1/1000| |Longsword 1/1000| |Tracking 1/1000 |
| Secondary Skills : Cooking 1/1000| |Herb Gathering 1/1000| |Horseback Riding 1/1000 |
| Location : Floor 1 - Outside of the <Town of Beginnings>| |Mood : Excited and nervous| |Status Effect : None |
| OOC : |

[Always A Lark]

«Ryder»
〈 Yutu Akari 〉xx
X
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Stamina【▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓】

•.• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •.•

X

Ryder scowled, drawing his hand back to rest it on his hip as he considered the taller man's words. Okay, maybe he was right about the weight slowing him down, but that didn't mean that he should be giving up on the two handed weapons. They were so effective, when used correctly, and there had to be a reason they were listed under the <<Mounted Combat>> class. His expression only darkened at the mention of getting a different weapon, the good intentioned suggestion of the other man sounding more like a challenge to the axe wielder than friendly advice. "Yeah, it's a little heavy on the ground," he snapped, mouth puckering around the words as if they were bitter on his tongue. "But the weight and the reach will be important when I get a mount. I just have to figure out how to work it on the ground."
He paused, brow furrowing as a friend request then a party invitation popped up in front of him with a cheery little ping. Valiance, huh? What is this guy playing at?' His finger came up, hovering for a moment over accept and decline options on the party invitation. It could be useful, being in a party with another player, but it could also be a hinderance. Ryder glanced up from the invitation to give the spearman another, more critical, once over. If the other man were slow or lazy he would undoubtedly slow Ryder down, but judging from how he had take those wolves down earlier he seemed capable enough. The spearman was direct that was for sure, which Ryder appreciated even if it did irritate the hell out of him at the moment, and unless this Valiance guy was a beta tester he certainly had the skills to go far in the game. This giant guy could be a useful companion, not just in combat but also to judge his own skills against.
He tapped the blue accept icon on the party invite, only to be faced with the friend request. This was going to be a lot tougher of a decision. In theory it couldn't hurt, it would allow him to keep track of the spearman once they disbanded their party, but Ryder had tented to avoid gather friends in other MMOs he had played in the past and things had worked out alright. Besides, a ten minute conversation about how incapable he was with his weapon did not a friend make. It would probably be smarter to wait, turn the request down now and maybe ask himself later. He still had no idea if he could even unfriend people in this game, and if Valiance ended up being a burden he didn't want to be stuck with him...
""What? Hay!" Valiance's sudden movement to stand behind him caught Ryder off guard, startling him out of his internal debate of whether or not friending the taller man would be a good idea. He glanced over his shoulder at the other man's back, hardly having time to register what was being said before the sound of the wolves moving out of the tall grass fought the situation into perspective very quickly. Closing his HUD and snatching up his axe, Ryder fell into a low crouch, choking up on the handle of the axe enough to allow for free movement of either end of the weapon while widening his stance. He could feel the cold rush of adrenaline hit his system as the first wolf stepped out of the grass in front of him. It did not look friendly, nor did the others that followed close behind him as they were surrounded. This turn of events did not look good.
He glanced back at Valiance at the sound of his voice, just in time to catch the wink, and choked back a laugh. "If we don't die, you're going to owe me a meal for that, you creepy yeti" he called, tossing the other man a rather rakish grin over his shoulder before lunging at the wolf advancing in front of him. The blade of the axe glowed as he swung, making contact with the creature's shoulder and sending it to the ground with the blade still stuck in its shoulder. Panicked for a moment, Ryder jerked the axe free and swinging around as the second wolf sprang. He jabbed at it, catching it on the muzzle with the heel of the axe and stepping around to the side of the beast. He raised the axe, bring it all the way up over his head before brining it down as hard as he could managed into the wolf's back. The wolf shattered, and Ryder felt an unexpected, but not unwelcome, surge of glee at his successful attack. Maybe that was how he was supposed to be using this stupid axe.
However the momentary of joy was cut short as a sudden pressure on his throat sent him stumbling back. While the axeman had been distracted with his small victory another of the wolves had made a lunge for his back. While it had missed its mark, the wolf now had a firm hold on the back of Ryder's cloak and was trashing and pulling at it violently. Swearing viciously at the beast he turned, one arm flailing at the fabric trying to gather as much of the cloak around it as he could before pulling back to relieve some of the pressure on his throat.
"Stupid, mangy filth-dog," he growled, adjusting his grip on his axe with one hand and swinging at the wolf at the other end of his cloak. "Lemme go-Haah!" The end of his sentence trailed off in a rather unmanly squeal as pain shot up his leg. Forgetting the wolf on his cloak, Ryder turned as best he could, eyes widening at the site of the wolf he had injured early snarling up at him with its teeth securely fastened to his upper calf. Panic pooled in his stomach, cold and oily, at the sight and for a moment he seemed at a loss of what to do. It all seemed far too real for a heart stopping moment; the pain in his leg, the pressure on his throat, the feel of the axe in his hand as his grip slackened, the sound of his maybe-friend fighting just as hard as he was only a few feet away.
Another sharp tug on his cloak snapped him out of the momentary stupor and caused him to drop the loose hold on the fabric and take his axe back up in both hands. He would be damned if he let himself be killed on the first floor by a starter mobs no less. Ryder hefted the axe, snarling back at the wolf on his leg with bared teeth, and swung at the beast being carful to avoid chopping off his own leg in the process. He missed however, a particularly sharp tug on his cloak pulling him off balance and sending him to his knees. The pulling on his cloak seemed to intensify once he was on the ground, to the point of starting to feel more like being choked than an uncomfortable pressure on his throat, leaving him gasping as he choked up on his axe and started to gracelessly swing at the head of the wolf on his leg with his axe not even seeing to bother with sword skills in his momentary desperation. "Val," he wheezed after a moment of deliberation on whether being so lame as to die on the first floor, or asking his party member for a hand would be more wounding to his pride. "A hand, if you've got it!"

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Level « 1 »xxxLocation « Outside of the Town of Beginnings »xxxCompany « Valiance »xxxMood « Crapcrapcrapcraaaaap! (Paniced) »x
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Ooc:

[Cthulhuchuu]

xxxxＬＯＧＩＮ： xxxxxxxxxFriska
xxxxＰＡＳＳＷＯＲＤ：xxxxx✻✻✻✻✻✻✻✻✻✻✻

xxxxxxxxxxxxx. . . L O G I Nxx S U C C E S S !


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxconnecтιng тo ѕerver . . .

.

Her hands fell on her hips, staring intently at Kyuusei as he stared right back. "That's right, no more short jokes for me. Not in THIS game." A grin grew on her face as he seemed to stumble over his words, of course it didn't last long once he mentioned her choice of avatar. Friska scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest, "Don't look at it that way. They were just a few slight alterations to basic features. It's not like I went and picked an awestruck design to catch the attention of others. Who would want to group up with a child?" That was the sad part. In previous games Friska had struggled to find parties to assist with quests due to other players not wanting to associate with small children. She groaned and put a hand over her face as she shook her head at those memories.

She tightened her fists and threw them down at her sides, "You only wish! I'll have you know that I actually altered the default outfit to cover more than it originally did. Games these days don't like dressing a female avatar properly." A growl escaped her throat as she tried to rid her face of the embarrassed red hue that covered her cheeks.

Darting her gaze out at the players walking around them she was quick to relax her stance and turn her attention to the menu alert that appeared in front of her. A Friend Request from a player called Kyuusei. "I still don't understand why you use your real name in games. It's dangerous, especially for people like you," she muttered, her voice not as full of energy as before. It wasn't a scolding tone, or one of concern, it was just a bland matter of fact sort. Choosing to ignore his comment about how they met in real life she continued, "I told Bre to meet me in the center of town. I figured there would be some sort of landmark that would be easy to find like most MMOs. Our best luck would be to start there. It's a fountain, isn't it?"

Location: Town of Beginnings || Current Objective: Head to the fountain~ || Who I'm with: Yep, it's Kyuusei. Oh boy.

[fearabyss]

†xxxxxx★xxxxxx†xxxxxx Ҟɑɲϯi ✘ Ɱɑϯsuɍø

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M o n k ✘ L e v e l 1
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☆★☆★
Where: Outside Town of Beginnings
With: Ryder & Valiance
Mood: Concerened
☆★☆★

Green slime splattered across the grass before shattering like glass and evaporating into the air, leaving only a chained blade stuck in the ground where it once lay. A white haired young man yanked at the other end of the chain and whiped the blade back into his hands before throwing it laterally at a mushroom bouncing through the grass a few feet away. The monstrous fungis fell sideways upon impact, boucing back up like a weighted balloon. Turning to face the boy as it rose, a mouth ripped open beneath glowing eyes and hissed a fierce warning as purple ooze sprayed out. Kanti cocked the blade back and whipped it at the mushroom again but missed the mob as it jumped sideways and spat a glob of ooze at him. Luckily he was good distance away so the glob only landed at his feet. He flicked his wrist hard to make the chain slither through the air, slinging the blade at the end sideways into the mushroom, then grabbed for the middle of the chain and with all his strength pulled the monster into the air and slammed it on the other side of the grass and shattering it into light.

Geez grinding is a lot harder at the beginning when you actually have to work for it, he thought as he wipped his brow. He had taken down several slimes, wolves, and mushrooms and was really starting to get the hang of his weapon, the trick being to focus on the movements of the wrists and fingers to manipulate the chain. With and inventory of noob loot and bit of experience he figured it was about time to see what the markets had to offer. Turning around he noticed the ooze the mushroom had just left still bubbling in the ground and bent down to examine it. Nasty stuff it looked like as it ate at the ground and blades of grass he threw in. "This game is pretty detailed, gotta remember to be careful once the mobs start getting stronger," he muttered to himself as he watched the ooze fade away and leave a patch of dirt behind.

<Green Slime x7, Wolf Hide, Wolf Meat x3, Fungus Spores x4, Mushroom Cap x3> Kanti read through the HUB of his looted inventory to see what he could sell at the market as he made his way back to the <<Town of Beginning>>. He wondered how in depth the item system was in regards to crafting and usable materials for the different classes, once he got the hang of the game more he planned to look into the character abilities to find which ones would suit him. The boy's thoughts were interrupted by the ravenous barking of wolves and what sounded like gasping coming from up ahead. As he approached he saw a monstrous man wielding a large spear bowling through wolves like ragdolls and a smaller young man who seemed to be in a tighter position with two wolves attacking from both sides. That's not very fair, he thought as he watched and wondered whether to lend a hand or just observe the skills of some of the other players in the game, though he quickly decided on the initial when he saw the boy go down and being torn both ways by the mutts. Pulling his weapon out he ran toward the wolf at the boy's leg and whipped it over his head across the wolf's body, wrapping it around as he grabbed the chain and pulled tightly to get the monsters attention. "I've found taking these things on one at a time is a bit easier than all at once, keeps the odds in your favor," he grunted as he tighten the chain around the wolf's body to get it to let go.

■■■■■■■■■■ ▄▄▄▄▄ 87% Healthxxxxxxxxxxxx ■■■■■■■■■■ ▄▄▄▄▄ 74% Stamina

Ooc: Hope you don't mind Kanti jumping into the fray, everyone else seems to be grouped up so I had him join one : P

†xxxxx†xxxxx†xxxxx†xxxxx†xxxxx†xxxxx†xxxxx†
☪ ═════════════════════════════ ☪

[Duke Henry]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxH M M ,..N E E D S..M O R E..S A L T .

There was pounding sound. The sound of your heartbeat, the ticking of each moment slipping past you even as your eyes see everything in slow motion. This is what Valiance was experiencing as he sent his spear all the way through the body of a wolf who savagely charged at him. It was the adrenaline, the fire in his veins that felt like burning vodka surging from his heart. He had played many games, but none seemed to come even close to the experience SAO was delivering at this moment. Not even ten minutes in and he had propelled himself off a wall into the wild, and was now fighting for his life against a pack of wolves alongside another. This is what he was missing, this was what he was now craving.

A set of snapping jaws caught him off guard, but he raised his arm just in time for the wolf to catch his armored forearm and start biting down on it like a pot roast. It hurt, it really did hurt, but he had to fight through the pain, had to let the adrenaline run through and goad him on with dragonfire in his heart. His feet pushed as hard as he could and he could himself fall forward and onto the wolf that had been so hungrily biting onto his arm. The wolf was pinned under him, jaws still wrapped around the armored forearm as Valiance's spear glowed again and he brought it down into the wolf's chest repeatedly. Diamonds of red light dotted the wolf's underbelly until it shattered into a million pieces under him.

Valiance stood, his left arm covered in bites and slashes from the wolf's fangs as the third wolf rushed him. His tracking only picked up two wolves left facing Ryder, but it was still enough if Ryder didn't use the axe effectively. He had to conserve some of his energy in case Ryder needed help with the others. Both Valiance and the wolf bashed into each other repeatedly, taking damage from the swipes they threw to whittle the opponent away. An overextended snap at Valiance was more than enough for the dragoon to capitalize on as he returned the snap with a thrust of his spear right below the wolf's ear. The animal froze for a split second before shattering and Valiance turned his attentions towards the fight his partner was still engaged in.

The sudden appearance of the chainwhip around one of the wolf's neck was unexpected but not unwelcome. Another player had come into view, but he had no time to greet him while there was still a wolf choking Ryder. Now that he only had one target to worry about he focused all his energy solely aiding his new partner. Spinning his spear up into his hand, the entirety of the weapon glowed blue as he activated another sword skill. A heavy grunt of exertion came, followed by his spear flying through the air and at the wolf. The spear impacted heavily upon the wolf and with a yip it flew several yards away before pinning to the ground and then exploding into shards. Now Valiance stood without his weapon, but he did not for long. His feet carried him as quickly as he could to his spear which he easily pulled from the ground and leveled it at the last wolf, ready to jump into action to help the helpful interloper.

| Valiance| |Level : 1| |Company : Ryder & Kanti |
| Health : 175/250| |Stamina : 25/100 |
| Primary Skills : Longspear 2/1000| |Longsword 1/1000| |Tracking 2/1000 |
| Secondary Skills : Cooking 1/1000| |Herb Gathering 1/1000| |Horseback Riding 1/1000 |
| Location : Outside of the <Town of Beginnings>| |Mood : Exhilarated, Nerve-wracked| |Status Effect : None |
| OOC : No worries! The more the merrier! |

[Norse Battle Cats]

XAubreyXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXThe Amaurotic Distiller
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▶ [ I was BLIND... ]

Aubrey would play herself cool as the man in front of her would speak. It was certainly a different experience seeing someone and watching their mouth move as they spoke. So many new experiences! The man would turn around towards her and suddenly a username would appear above him. He had chosen the name "Arashi" for his call name. The name was familiar to her. Maybe one of Nagisa's friends? She had mentioned something about playing in other parties before. But that wasn't nearly as important as what Arashi would say to her. "The graphics are great almost exactly like the real thing." In that very moment Aubrey's eyes and whole face would light up with joy. She wold turn around to view the beauty of the world seemingly dazzled by the whole thing before returning back to him. She would them stare at him for quite a while just taking everything in. She didn't even pay attention to the fact that he was talking to her until he said her name. "Huh? oh. uh... Hmm... You seem familiar..." She Said to him after analyzing his features a bit. There was something in her head that was making a connection. Aubrey would heave a small sigh and close her eyes in a slightly disappointed manner. She then reached up and put her hands on his face, cupping both of his cheeks. She would then move her hands about his face to "see" him the same way she would outside. Suddenly it clicked. She opened her eyes wide and gasped in a bit a shocked way. In that instant she would grab his wrist and begin to drag him towards the fountain in the middle of town. "Come on! Lets go!" Aubrey exclaimed in a determined way. This was indeed the same man that she had met. What a stroke of luck that the first person that she met be someone that she actually know! However, the possibility that this was a customized avatar had never even crossed her mind.




[ ...but now I can SEE. ] ◄

◆ Floor: 1- Town of BeginningsXXXXXXXXXX ◆ Company: Arashi
◆ Thoughts: Oh. My. God. LOOK AT ALL THE THINGS.
◆ Level: 1XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ◆ Status: Perfect

[Always A Lark]

«Ryder»
〈 Yutu Akari 〉xx
X
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Stamina【▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓】

•.• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •.•

X

The sight of the chain whip wrapping itself around the wolf tearing into to his leg was very confusing for a moment before Ryder caught site of the unknown player at the other end of the the chain. Well, at least he wasn't starting to see things because of the pressure on his throat cutting off the oxygen to his brain or anything. Nope, just the result of him being lame and needing to be saved by two people. He was never going to live this down now.
The wolf reared back awkwardly, releasing the axe wielder's leg in the process as it strained against the chin to get all four paws back onto the ground. Without missing a beat, Ryder had the injured leg pulled away from the wolf, getting his feet back under himself as he twisted around, hunching over into a crouch to try to reduce the pressure of the cloak on his neck. Seeing an opening he strained against the pull of the fabric, ignoring the pressure and lack of air for a moment to aim a last wild swing at the other wolf as it started to turn on the other player. The blade of the axe glowed, as much to the smaller player surprise as was the sudden release of the cloak behind him, before hitting its mark and burying itself into the side of the wolf. The beast shattered and Ryder fell forwards into the grass face first, arms and axe still extended over his head from the swing.
He laid there, not bother to even try to get back up for a few moments, with his heart thundering in his ears and sucking as much air into his burning lungs as possible. This game was almost too realistic in how much detail they seemed to have put into how you are affected by the damage you take. His injured leg throbbed in time with each heartbeat, but seemed to do so less and less as the seconds ticked by and, now out of combat, his health began to regenerate itself very, very slowly.
Taking one last deep breath, Ryder pulled himself up with as much dignity as he could muster. He face burned, whether from the embarrassment at having to be saved or exertion of the fight it was hard to tell, but he was going to assume it was from the latter. He glanced over at Valiance, giving him a quick once over while checking to make sure that he was still in one piece and not about to keel over or anything, before checking the new comers as well. Satisfied that they both looked healthy enough, he moved on mentally to the next issue at hand.
'Thank you's' had never been his strong point, and the fact that he had needed to be saved like the damsel in distress he apparently was was not making putting together a good way of spitting out his gratitude any easier. "So, uhh...Thanks, err...Thank you," he looked between the two taller men quickly, trying to be inclusive to both of them with his thanks. "Both of you that is...For saving me I mean." His had to drag the words out, sounding uncomfortable and more than a little embarrassed as he did so. He opted against bowing to the two of them, the motion still unnatural to him even after 5 years in Japan, unsure if it was the proper etiquette or not within the game. Instead he offered a nervous laugh with an awkward smile as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

X

•.• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •.•

X
X
X

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Level « 1 »xxxLocation « Outside of the Town of Beginnings »xxxCompany « Valiance & Kanti»xxxMood « Embarrassed & Relieved »x
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Ooc:

[Sypher-Anthem]

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ "One should always strive for Greatness
XXXXXXXAnd I won't stop until I've achieved It! ▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

XXXX╔══════════════════╗
XXXXXXKyuusei Nakiato Lv:1
XXXX╚══════════════════╝

Kyuusei's Theme ^^

"Well considering we're supposed to be grouped together for life, I guess I lucked out."Kyuusei would start, referring to his parents decision. The two really didn't talk about that arrangement much, instead spending their time on games whenever they did have to put on the facade of dating. Wanting to let a high income company put a headquarters in their province was one thing, but why did his father feel the need to add of a stipulation like marriage. His family hadn't gotten by so long by always looking out for the people and while the last election was closer than expected they were still voted into office since the public still thought they were fit to lead. So why endanger that by aligning themselves with any company. Kyuusei gave up on figuring out that line of thought, assuming himself to young to father his fathers reasoning. "Either was I'm surprised someone who blushes as much as you would go with something like that anyway even with the little alteration you did make to that outfit."

"I still don't understand why you use your real name in games. It's dangerous, especially for people like you,"she would say though not with the concern that usually accompanied the words she spoke.

"People like me? It's not like I just broadcast it to the world. Plus its too convenient. The kanji for my name are the same for actual word Salvation. There's no way anyone would make the connection." He would say seeing the acceptance notice pop up for both requests as well as her name appear under his in the upper left hand corner of the HUD.
He shouldn't have been so confident of this, but it wasn't like the male made himself a public figure. At the moment he was just a normal college student who happened to have a little more money than others, be engaged, and a famous last name. Friska would go on about where to meet Aubrey and she had the right idea for a meeting place. "Yeah, It's a fountain. If you go out of the front gates then you can't miss it." He would say starting off in that direction through the crowded streets. If Kyuusei had to give one complement to his companions new avatar, it was that she was taller and thus he would have to hold onto her hand to not lose her in the crowd. The streets were clumped considering they were in the market place and many players were in a hurry sell what they gathered and start making progress. So considering she's not on your friend list do you even know what she called herself, or do we not even have a username to go off of?"

Location:Town Of Beginnings->Heading to the Fountain
Company:Friska
Mood: Confident
Status: None
OOC:

Hp: {▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇}xx✞ ✞ ✞xxStamina: {▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇}

[fearabyss]

†xxxxxx★xxxxxx†xxxxxx Ҟɑɲϯi ✘ Ɱɑϯsuɍø

╔══════════════════╗
M o n k ✘ L e v e l 1
╚══════════════════╝

☆★☆★
Where: Outside Town of Beginnings
With: Ryder & Valiance
Mood: Cheery
☆★☆★

Kanti watched as the dark haired young man regained himself and destroyed the wolf that had been assaulting him, apparently with some sort of sword skill to Kanti's amazement. He was dazzeled by the glowing axe as it destroyed the beast in one fell swoop, so there were skills to increase the power of the player, even the larger man seemed to power up his flying spear with the same skill. He really should have payed more attention during the introduction quest...well he'd definitely planned on getting one of the user manuals he had seen being passed out back in town. Yanking the chained blade from the ground the wolf had once been back to his hand, he hitched the weapon to his side and turned his attention to the Ryder as he thanked him and Valiance. "Don't mention it, couldn't just sit back and watch those mutts play dirty" he smiled and nodded before looking up at the taller man beside him,"Though I'm sure you didn't even need my help with this guy around," he chuckled as he lightly tapped Valiance's chest with the back of his hand before catching a glimpse of the boy's leg that was dimly glowing with red holes where the wolf had its grip. He wondered if it hurt at all and just how realistic the game could get in terms of danger, although the worst he had got so far was a tackle from a mushroom or a scrape from a wolf he had no idea of the danger they would face in the near future.

"New players have to look out for each other right? Seems to be the smartest thing to do around here," he spoke to both of them, pointing to small group of wild boar mobs passing in the distance. "Althooough~" he cooed as he stepped over to Ryder, "If you're feeling a bit appreciative, maybe you could return the favor by telling me how you used that skill earlier," nudging him playfully with his elbow. "I'm Kanti by the way, it's nice to meet the both of you," he bowed slightly to the both of them, although he could clearly see their names floating above the health bars besides their heads he preferred to stick with proper introductions out of respect.

■■■■■■■■■■ ▄▄▄▄▄ 87% Healthxxxxxxxxxxxx ■■■■■■■■■■ ▄▄▄▄▄ 74% Stamina

Ooc:

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[xAwakeningx]

xxxxxxxx Arashi gave the girl in front of him a weak smile as she got overly excited, At least to him she was. Her eyes lit up and she seemed to stare out for an unusually long time before fixing the stare on him.' She's a weird one', He thought to himself as the girl continued to stare at him, what was she thinking? "Huh? oh. uh... Hmm... You seem familiar..." she said to him. God was she the girl he had met once before. 'One of kyuusei's friends right? No the friend of the small one' then it all hit him hard as she stepped forward with her eyes closed and placed her hands on his face feeling it up and down."God, your the blind one", He couldn't help but let out as she grabbed his wrists and told him let's go.

xxxxxxxx He knew he should have customized his avatar a little more then what he did. All he really did was make himself slightly taller and adjusted his hair style to be more shaggy. Well that and made sure none of his yakuza tattoo's were on his avatar. The last thing he wanted was for him to not be able to party with people because they felt he would do something to them. I mean seriously did they think he was going to find them in real life if they sucked at the game? He had more important things to do. Like watch the stock market and pick up women. 'I have a very fulfilling life' he thought to himself as he was being dragged around by this girl whom he had only met once in a video game very little people even got to play. 'So fulfilling' he thought as he sighed.


xxxxxxxx "Can you atleast tell me where we are going", He said to Aubrey as they navigated The Town of Beginning. He knew he was going to meet up with Kyuusei a little later but they had not set up a meet place, But if Aubrey was here that meant the runt was here too. 'joy miss I'm normal height is here'. At least he knew and got along with Kyuusei but he didn't know about this other girl he liked to run around with they had met a few times and he still wasn't sure how he felt about her let alone playing games with her.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Health: █▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌
Stamina: █▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌█▌
With: Aubrey
Mood: Why?
Arashi's Theme

[Duke Henry]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxH M M ,..N E E D S..M O R E..S A L T .

Finally, the last of the wolves were defeated and Valiance could ease up on his stance a little. He reached out with his tracking ability to sense if anymore mobs were lurking in the tall grass around them and he luckily could not detect anything coming in around them. At least, nothing within the ten yards that he could sense out to.
Sliding his spear onto his back, Valiance finally relaxed completely before looking himself over to check his injuries. The worst of it was his left arm that was covered in bite marks, those injuries still glowed a bright red, but were slowly healing. One of the wolves had been ramming into him during the fight, but he doubted that any kind of bruises would form from that. Overall, he was in much better shape than Ryder.

His eyes fell upon the player who had come to aid them. First was the strange weapon that had been wielding, very untraditional to MMOs. Ryder's thanks surprised him somewhat, but the new player's tapping on his chest caught him off guard even more. The fact that he seemed to somehow think of him as reliable was interesting. Ryder seemed to think of him as some kind of giant creature akin to a yeti while this newer guy seemed impressed by his skill. "Don't worry about it little buddy. It wouldn't be very nice of me to leave you to the wolves since we're in a party." He reached out and patted Ryder on the head then stepped to the side.

"New players sticking together is fine and all. However, the strongest groups will inevitably emerge from the pack and be able to advance onto the dungeons before everyone else. People will eventually turn on each other to be part of those strongest groups." That was an unspoken rule of MMO games or anything really. Valiance remembered how various cooks working for his father would come to him to try and learn some advanced techniques. None of these new cooks were his friends, nor did they care anything at all for helping Valiance become a better cook. They only cared for their advancement. This was something he needed to be careful about here in SAO.

Kanti bugging Ryder on teaching him how to use sword skills seemed to confirm his theory on how people thought in this game. At least it was about a basic skill so it wasn't exactly like his theory, but he was still fairly wary about it. For now, he'd try to be polite at least. "I'm Valiance, and this is Ryder. Thank you for assistance."

| Valiance| |Level : 1| |Company : Ryder, Kanti |
| Health : 185/250| |Stamina : 40/100 |
| Primary Skills : Longspear 2/1000| |Longsword 1/1000| |Tracking 2/1000 |
| Secondary Skills : Cooking 1/1000| |Herb Gathering 1/1000| |Horseback Riding 1/1000 |
| Location : Outside the <Town of Beginnings>| |Mood : Relaxed, Cautious| |Status Effect : None |
| OOC : |

[Norse Battle Cats]

XAubreyXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXThe Amaurotic Distiller
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

▶ [ I was BLIND... ]

Aubrey had rushed to the fountain as fast as she could, though it was a bit difficult to move through some of the larger crowds. All the while pulling Arashi behind her. She didn't even stop until they were there. Aubrey would make a fairly sudden stop, nearly being hit by passers that weren't paying attention. "Can you at least tell me where we are going?" Arashi would state in a bit of of an irritated manner. After staring at the fountian for quite a while she would spin around and face him. "Right here silly!" Aubrey retorted before sitting on the stone edge of the fountain dipping her hand in the water and watching it ripple. Aubrey was amazed at the physics engine of this game. Even the textures were something to marvel at. Everything was so real. Even the graphics were life-like, assuming that what he said was true. "Nagisa told me to meet her in the center of town. She said that everyone should meet here." Aubrey would say looking back over to him. There was a simple innocence in her voice almost that of a child. She then put her finger to her chin. "She mentioned trying to find someone else... Kaze, Kuusou, Kyuukei?" She figured that it would be helpful to Arashi if he knew that. Though, Aubrey couldn't really remember him name! It was right on the tip of her tongue. Why were Japanese names so hard to remember!? The only reason that she remembered Arashi's name was because it was his display name floating above his head.




[ ...but now I can SEE. ] ◄

◆ Floor: 1- Town of BeginningsXXXXXXXXXX ◆ Company: Arashi
◆ Thoughts: Oh. My. God. LOOK AT ALL THE THINGS.
◆ Level: 1XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ◆ Status: Perfect

[Always A Lark]

«Ryder»
〈 Yutu Akari 〉xx
X
HP【▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓】
X
Stamina【▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓】

•.• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •.•

X

Ryder snorted, giving the smaller of the two taller players a dubious look. ”I don’t know about that,” he replied skeptically, eying Valiance as the other player tapped him on the chest and working very hard to keep the cheeky grin he could feel tugging at his mouth off his face. ”The Yeti may be large and imposing, but I’m still not sure how useful he really is.” This wasn’t quite the truth, Valiance had already shown that he could be very useful in battle with the way he had handled himself with those wolves, and he had taken the initiative to help him out just moment before when he had been in a tight spot. However, Ryder still couldn’t quite figure out how helping and partying up with him would benefit the taller man. His personal gain was obvious, the other man had already saved his skin twice and it was obvious Ryder was going to need someone else to give him a hand until he got the hang of his axe if not until he managed to get his hands on a mount, but aside from the experience Valiance was getting from fighting there didn’t seem to be much in it for the spear wielder.
The remark on his size earned Valiance a particularly nasty look form the smaller axe wielder. ”I am not short, Valiance!” Ryder growled, swatting at the hand patting at his head but without putting too much effort into actually landing a hit. No need to cause any more damage to the his already injured party member. ”Keep it up and I’ll have to cut your legs off so you’ll be as tall as I am.” He wiggle his axe a bit to emphasize his words, but didn’t bother lifting it from the ground. Instead, he swiped his hand though the air in front of himself, opening his HUD to take a second look at the still pending friend request.
His finger paused, hovering over the red decline icon once more as Valiance made quick work of pointing out the flaw in Kanti’s ideas of working together. Everything the taller man said was true, as unfortunate as it was, but the fact that a seemingly outgoing individual like Valiance would have such an insightful and cautious mind set was a bit of a surprise. Maybe this yeti wasn’t as trusting and naive as he had first appeared, even if the response seemed to come off a bit harsh to the axe wielder. Kanti didn’t strike him as being manipulative or out for himself more than any other player would be, He just seemed very young and optimistic about the ways of the world.
Ryder tapped the blue accept icon on the friend request quickly and closed his HUD just as Kanti turned his attention on him. The sudden invasion of his personal space caused the smaller player to take a half step back, hand coming up reflexively to try to catch the offending elbow. ”Shouldn’t my thanks enough appreciation for you?” He arched an eyebrow at the other player, one corner of his mouth twitching up a bit in the beginnings of a smirk. He paused, weighing the request for information on sword skills for a moment before deciding it would hurt too much to tell Kanti at least some of what he knew. He waved a hand absently towards Valiance as he introduced the both of them, trying to indicate ‘what he said’ and ‘thanks’ all in one motion before continuing. ”You just have to envision yourself using your weapon the way it is supposed to be used, and try to copy that movement,” he replied, keeping the response honest but without going into much detail. ”When your weapon glows blue you’re good to go. Its like the games way of making sure everyone who uses their weapon can use it, or something. Though, don’t ask me how you’re supposed to use your weapon, because I have no idea."

X

•.• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •۰• ● •.•

X
X
X

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Level « 1 »xxxLocation « Outside of the Town of Beginnings »xxxCompany « Valiance & Kanti »xxxMood « Curious & Calm »x
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Ooc: Sorry this took so long, Easter is a several day long event at my parent's that has a knack for eating up any and all spare time. :[

[fearabyss]

†xxxxxx★xxxxxx†xxxxxx Ҟɑɲϯi ✘ Ɱɑϯsuɍø

╔══════════════════╗
M o n k ✘ L e v e l 1
╚══════════════════╝

☆★☆★
Where: Outside Town of Beginnings
With: Ryder & Valiance
Mood: Cheery
☆★☆★

Kanti couldn't help but laugh to himself at the banter going back and forth between the two. Although the two had only just met and their words were probably more personal than friendly, mostly those of Ryder, he could easily believe they had known each other previously outside the game or had been together for quite a bit, although the latter probably wouldn't have made much since seeing as the game just got released. His brow arched in curiosity at Valiance's words regarding players turning on each other as the game would progress for power and dominance, although this new world was still only a game it was not hard to believe things of that nature occurring at some point, especially with everything being as realistic as it was. As the thought crossed his mind he remembered previous MMO's where groups of high level players would join up to take advantage of their power and place themselves higher above the rest, which always irked him to no avail and was the reason he prefered to solo. His mind also trailed back to his early high school days where the older/bigger kids used to bully him harshly for his rural origins. Those that abused their power and strengths to harm others for no reason, just for their own gratification was something he learned early in life that he could never forgive.

"I think you're right about that, there are those that will do whatever it takes to get ahead," he began as his fists unconsciously clenched tightly from his thoughts,"But power really isn't everything and that doesn't mean we all have to stoop so low...Groups willing to help and protect those around them will also emerge to challenge them. I think that's were the real strength lies." he smiled softly to Val as his grip eased. He wondered which side these two players belong to on that argument, if any at all. He pondered over his words for a second and truly hoped he could find a group that shared his ideals that he could find his own place within, something he would soon find to be crucial in this world that was going to be turned upside down. Kanti sighed and rested his hands on his neck as he shook off the serious atmosphere,"I suppose they're free to do as they like though, so long as they don't hurt anyone. Otherwise they'll have to answer to me," he grinned, feeling like the heroes in other games ready to stand up to any foe that he was typically fond of.

He turned his full attention to Ryder as he explained the skill, which seemed far simpler than he had thought it would be, though it was just the gist of the basics he missed during the tutorial. Hmm, use your weapon the way it's meant to huh? he thought to himself as he stroked his chin. It made sense as it gave the full experience of fighting for the player, which would probably explain the reason he wasn't aware of the skill seeing as he had no previous knowledge of how to use his own weapon. "Sounds simply enough. Thanks, I appreciate the tip! That'll definitely come in handy around here. And I'm about as knowledgeable about this thing as you are, just the luck of the draw I guess," he chuckled as he patted the chain-whip strapped to his hip. He glanced at the boys slow regenerating HP bar floating next to him before swiping his hand to pull up his Inventory and scrolling to the top of the list to find the few newbie items Emi had given during the tutorial quest. Tapping one of the bars, a small red vile manifested into his hand which he tossed to Ryder "It's not much, but it'll speed up the process," he smiled and nodded as gratitude for the shared information.

■■■■■■■■■■ ▄▄▄▄▄ 90% Healthxxxxxxxxxxxx ■■■■■■■■■■ ▄▄▄▄▄ 79% Stamina

Ooc:

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