[Other FULL] «Sword Art Online: Sanctuary» [IC][T]

[<Challenger>]

Taka the Lovable Poet: Level 14 - 37% Exp - 2900 Col

Taka, although a bit bruised, and more than a little battered, was aware of Lacy's call for him. "Taka!" The warrior-poet watched as she was attacked by the beast, much to his disgust. That monster is attacking a lady! Rage built inside the warrior as he watched her. Although she could handle herself in the presence of the beast, she was still bashed into the floor. "NO!" Taka roared in frustration. He was nowhere close enough to rush to her defense immediately, and even if he was, his health and stamina would leave him as a target.

Normally nothing went through the fighter's mind with the exception of the possibility of a wonderful fight, the possibility of finding his princess, and the possibility and writing of a song. Before he had viewed this 'adventure' as it had been previously conceived...A game. But in this moment in time he began to actually think. Fatality was an option. He could lose friends. Why...Even Ragnorak, as mighty a fire as he is, could die. Taka himself could perish. The thought hit as hard as the Tauros's hammer...

But that was a thought for another day. He noticed Godot giving a little speech to the rest of the party on the other side of the cavern. After a small skirmish with the beast, he was knocked aside, and his sword dissipated. Damn...A sword destroyed. A shame. Taka was extremely attached to Poetic Justice, and although he knew it wouldn't last forever, he would cherish it for as long as he could.

Godot stood up and managed to toss a potion towards Taka, who ran after it an caught it. He gave the lad a thankful nod, and unstopped the bottle. He chugged its contents and watched as his health bar went from 'Damn, you're dead!' to 'You'll be fine if you aren't stupid.' Sadly Taka can be a bit stupid in the middle of battle, but he wouldn't throw away this second chance. He heard Godot call out, "You guys ready for an all-out assault? Because I'm tired of this Tauros' crap."

Eager to get back into the fray, as usual, Taka retook his battle stance, buster sword held out in front of him. As he was about to charge, he heard a cry from Rikuto.

"I'm assuming you plan on attacking all at once. My spear won't even scratch this monster, but I have a plan to make an opening for you all to rush in. Don't worry about me, my armor and shield are the kind of quality you'd see on the highest level front-liners." The man seemed confident in the quality of his gear, despite his low level. He couldn't help but grin at the man's courage. He's brave...I respect that.

The Golden Tauros drew closer to the tank, forcing him to hasten his speech. The man turned to Godot. "The reason I agreed to come here was so I could tell you something, but you don't seem to care much for your own life so I figured that I had to do what I could to make sure you got out alive so I could tell you." The two obviously had a close bond. "But I want you to understand why I'm doing this in the hopes that maybe you'll go along with it. Princess is dead, and in her final message to me she said, 'don't give up and keep fighting.' I've gotta honor that wish somehow." Respectable final words...Will mine be any better? Taka marveled at the man's will, despite his obvious reluctance. He wanted to be here as much as a fish wanted to be out of water.

"Wait for my signal! For this to work, you can't be near me until then!" Rikuto said to the group before starting his plan. Rikuto charged forward, calling, "Hey, ugly!" He began to create a diversion worthy of a master. After a momentary clash he called out, "Not yet!" After what seemed like an eternity of clashing, Rikuto drew the Tauros's attention long enough for the others to attack. "This is your chance! Take it!"

Taka needed no further encouragement. He launched forward in a blind fury, a fire burning behind his eyes. The distance between himself and Tauros was rapidly disappearing. He called out to his companions, "I hope this works!" For once he was speechless. He leaped into the air as sword began to glow green. His brought it down quickly, activating Earth Shatter. A small fissure opened up underneath the beast, and his foot disappeared within. While it was still focused on Rikuto, Taka swung his blade at the beast's unburied leg. The hit was solid, but it lacked the power he needed. In attempt to increase the attack's strength, he stabbed forward with the blade instead of the typical hack n' slash strategy. The blade buried itself deep within the beast's leg. Taka let out a cry of victory. The blade was deep within the leg, and was sure to cause some impediment, but it wasn't going to come out any time soon.

Taka knew that he was relatively useless without his sword, but he WAS particularly agile without it burdening him. In case the Tauros had decided to target him he took a evasive stance, ready to dodge an attack that came at him, if one should come. "Over here, beast! Come get me!" Hopefully the distraction would prove useful.

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Lacy
Player level 13
Floor 2: Cave​

"Drink a potion." was the first thing Lacy heard after being drilled into the ground like that. Godot had pulled her back on her feet and it was then when she noticed that her HP bar had reached the yellow zone. "We're offering you our lives, so don't hesitate to use us to our fullest." He said as he left to Ryuusa's side. Godot said something to him too but Lacy was too busy searching in her backpack for a potion. Once she found one she remembered that she has a sword art that can only be activated when she's in the yellow zone.

"You guys ready for an all-out assault?" Godot spoke loudly. "Because I'm tired of this Tauros' crap." Lacy nodded in agreement while holding the potion but not using it. Ryuusa said to wait for his signal before attacking and that is what all of them did. As soon as Ryuusa shouted "You guys ready for an all-out assault?" Godot spoke loudly. "Because I'm tired of this Tauros' crap." Taka started attacking. Lacy ran towards the Tauros and only slashed him a few times. Still wondering what that sword art could do and if it would kill the beast who also had hit the yellow zone on it's HP bar.

"Over here, beast! Come get me!" Taka shouted to distract the Tauros. It then hit Lacy, she now knew it's weakness. "Guys I have an idea!" she said as she ran closer to Godot and Ryuusa. "He can only target one person at once meaning that he can't try dodging our attacks when one is distracting him just like Taka is doing right now. I suggest we finally start working as a team now." Lacy said with a promising look on her face. "I think it would be best if Godot would attack right now." Lacy said drawing out her plan in the air. "Then after Godot attacked, Ryuusa should run to Taka's side to protect him from the blow from the beasts hammer with his shield. Then Ryuusa is the next to distract him so that Taka is able to attack him as well while Ryuusa has it's attention." Lacy shouted loud enough for Taka to hear.

"... after that I'll do the final blow with a sword art that I have never used. I don't know how much damage it does but it must be something if I have to be in the yellow zone to be able to use it." Lacy smiled at both of them. "Now, let's do this! No buts, just fight!" Lacy shouted encouraging.

-------

«Cloak of courage» [Not finished] [Unequipable]
«Hair dye: Violet» [not used]

​

 

[Genkaku]

Duncan Graeme [Dunkster]


Duncan quickly dodges to the right as a salamander warrior strikes with it's sword, Duncan then counterattacks with his dagger and stabs the warrior three times taking out atleast one third of its health. The salamander warrior then lets out a screech and hurls the blade at Duncan a second time, Duncan barely able to dodge the attack looses his footing. The salamander then quickly charges at Duncan and hits him three times but when it was going to strike a fourth time Duncan was able to get up again and dodge it, he quickly gets into position to use one of his sword arts and shouts. "En Garde!" His dagger starts glowing in a light green color, he then runs up to the salamander warrior and hits it with his sword art, making it explode into thousands and thousands of small shards that slowly disappeared with the wind.

Duncan looks at his health bar and notices that it has already gone down into the yellow zone so he takes his index finger and middle finger together and swiped downwards with his right hand, he then opens the inventory tab, searches for a potion and clicks the materialize button to summon the potion right into his hand. He opens it up and starts drinking it to restore his health. When he was done drinking he checked to see if he had gotten any cool or good loot, there was unfortunately no new cool items Duncan could use but he noticed he had gotten a new message in his inbox so he opened it.

From: ???
To: 1000+ players
Subject: Floor 2, Boss room.

-----------------------------------

Greetings, everyone within Sword Art Online. Speaking here is the founder of the second boss. As my name is not important, let's get to what really matters.

I came up with a strategy to defeat the second boss. It's name is «Baran». Baran the general Taurus has the same ability as most of the Taurus on the second floor which is «Numbing Impact» except that «Baran» has a wider striking range. I know this information because my dear friend entered the room without knowing that it was a boss room. He send me little information before he died. May he rest in peace...

To progress to the third floor we need to defeat this boss together. I ask of everyone to finish what you're currently doing and to come to the door of the boss room. The location should be marked on your map. I'll be waiting there for all of you who wish to fight this devilish monster.

Duncan quickly skimmed through it and then opened his map, it did seem a little bit suspicious that the person didn't write his or hers name but didn't want to miss the second boss fight after what happened last time. So he hurriedly closed his menu and started running to the location where everybody would meet.

​

 

[ShinyDiamond]

Robin - Lvl 12
Floor 2: Road To The Boss Room
HP: 100% - EXP: 2% - Col: 341

​

While traveling on his way to the located boss room, Robin kept skimming through the message that had information about the boss room. Messages without the sender's name always gets Robin suspicious. It's not that he doesn't trust the sender, more that he doesn't like what he is feeling about this. Last time he was in the boss room, someone was killed by a player after the boss was defeated. It's possible the same thing could happen again, which could be soon. Maybe... This sender could be that same PKer from before... It's a strong possibility, but just a possibility.

To stay in full strength for the upcoming boss fight, Robin sneaks past the monsters to avoid battles. If he's going to fight the boss, avoiding these monsters is the best chance he has. This whole situation is still bothering him, but he can worry about that when he comes to it.

After sneaking past all the monsters & arriving at the boss room entrance, Robin did nothing else but gaze at the door. It's amazing how much work they put into this game...even if their intentions were insane. While Robin is waiting for this battle to kick in, he could skim though his inventory & prepare himself. As he does, he adjusts his hood to cover his face. He has no intentions to get friendly with anyone, at least not until after the battle. This whole thing is still fishy though... Robin should keep watch for any trouble, just to be safe.

 

[machomuu]

William Danielson||Godot
Lv. 14||Floor 2​

Godot's words seemed to have rallied the troops. It seemed that Rikuto was finally going to go on the offensive. That was certainly a +1 to Godot's confidence; maybe Kagome was rubbing off on him. Then, suddenly, Ryuusa called out to him. "The reason I agreed to come here was so I could tell you something, but you don't seem to care much for your own life so I figured that I had to do what I could to make sure you got out alive so I could tell you." That seemed like something Kagome would say. And did say. Only the context was directly opposite since she put a sword to his neck. It almost made Godot chuckle, but at the same time it made him feel a bit embarrassed. Ryuusa was there to make sure that Godot would come out alive. If someone who rarely fought as much as Ryuusa came to a battle of such magnitude to protect him, it certainly said something about Godot's lifestyle. And Ryuusa's bravery. "But I want you to understand why I'm doing this in the hopes that maybe you'll go along with it. Princess is dead."

Suddenly, it was as if time slowed to a crawl. Princess is... it was difficult for Godot to even grasp the concept of her being dead, she was so young. No...no that doesn't make sense, she... Godot scratched his head wildly. We agreed that I would be the one to kill her. How was she feeling? Was she alone? She must have been terrified, absolutely terrified. He dropped his battle stance and looked away from the monster. Why didn't she call for help...why didn't she ask to be protected? If she had, she- His eyes started to well up, but Ryuusa continued on. "and in her final message to me she said, 'don't give up and keep fighting.' I've gotta honor that wish somehow."

"...Princess said that?" Godot wiped the tears from his face. "Heh...that little girl really grew up compared to when I first met her." He sniffed and smiled. "I guess she wouldn't want me like this then, would she. I don't think anyone would." He chuckled. "Man...those words never really have as much weight as when you hear 'em in person." Godot tightened his grip on his weapon. "But I'll save this. I'll save this anger and sadness for the bastard that killed her, PK, NPC, or otherwise. But I have to respect her words. Wouldn't do me any good if I just shut down right here, now would it?"

Ryuusa barked orders and charged into battle. The man was surprisingly brave, all things considered. Not just for his sudden paradigm shift, but also the mere act of coming to a battle such as this. In fact, it was because of him that Godot was able to restrain himself. The two'd only met once, but he could tell now that this man really cared for Princess. He deserved quite a bit of Godot's respect for his dedication.

Though Godot did wonder how well his plan was going to work with Meister's Soul. He could use it for basic fighting, but for a boss such as the Tauros, he would probably need Santa's Cane. This bothered him, because this meant that he would be slower thanks to the weight of the cane. Not that this was a problem, it wasn't cripplingly heavy, but it was a far cry from the speed granted by his sword. Regardless, Godot readied himself, wielding the axe with both hands and taking something of a wide horse stance.

"This is your chance! Take it!" Ryuusa yelled. Godot started towards the beast but, surprisingly, it was Taka that leapt forth, taking advantage of the Golden Tauros' aggro to take down the beast, rather strategically, before once again drawing his attention and leading the beast away before Godot had a chance to attack, himself. Lacy approached him and Ryuusa, saying that it would be best to take advantage of his distraction and attack while he's aggroing someone else. Godot chuckled and said, "Saving the final hit for yourself, huh?"

He turned his attention back to the Tauros. "Fine by me, you're orders are my command" Godot unequipped his weapon and sped towards the beast, unhindered by the extra weight. He leapt once he was close enough, careful not to get hit by the monster's hammer. Once he was high enough, he tried a risky move. Admittedly, the cane wasn't all that heavy, certainly no buster sword, but it was enough to pull him down. He equipped the cane once again and used the weight to spiral down, flipping several times before crashing into the beast's head. This inflicted notable damage, and the aggro had switched to Godot, who had just tumbled down to the ground. He was off his feet, but the beast seemed ready to strike the warrior down. It reeled back its hammer in preparation for an overhead smash, and Godot smirked. He pushed himself forward to place himself between the legs of the beast, taking advantage of it's oncoming strike to take some shots at his legs with his weapon.

He took note of Taka's sword and tried to pull it out, but to no avail. He unequipped his weapon and tried to pull it out with all of his strength. Slowly but surely, it made its way out of the beast's leg...but the beast wasn't going to wait for him. It finished its strike, slamming the hammer on the ground full force, sending a crashing earthquake-like rumble about the dungeon causing Godot to lose his balance. Luckily, that was enough to allow the sword to drop out. He did his best to throw it towards Taka. Of course, considering the weight, it didn't go far.

Godot then made to get away from the Tauros, but it wouldn't have that. It stomped, sending its right leg down on Godot's left leg, crushing it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Godot sent out a cry in pain. The fact that pain was not felt in SAO did not take away the pain felt from the shock of having his entire leg crushed. He felt every bit of it. He felt the cracking bone and snapping ligaments, among other rather gory details. Even though the game didn't display the gore and just showed a beautiful array of floating pixels, Godot's mind painted a completely different picture. On top of that, his life took a staggering hit, and he was helpless against another attack.

 

[Geras]

Rikuto Yuuto Sato // Ryuusa Lv.8
Lone Tree Dungeon
In store: Floor 1 - Kouki, Floor 2 - Closed (Special Item: Berserk Ring / 2000 col)​

Rikuto smiled as the others began their assaults on the Tauros, glad that his plan worked and glad that he could still move his face during Thunder Burst's stun. The stun soon wore off and he was allowed to rejoin the battle, which seemed to be reaching its climax, only to be approached by Lacy. It seemed that she had realized the boss's inability to focus on multiple targets that he had exploited for his plan and suggested they use it for a sort of aggro-switching chain strategy. The initial distraction was as far as Rikuto got in terms of a plan and he had been relying on someone else to figure out where to go from there, and this plan sounded good enough so he agreed to it.

Taka had been the first to attack after Rikuto's distraction, crippling the creature's movement. Next up to attack was Godot, with an impressive and honestly kind of showy spinning strike. According to the plan, it seemed that he himself was next up to draw the creature's attention. However, Godot made an attempt to retrieve Taka's blade, which Rikuto realized they would not be able to continue the chain without and in the process found himself under the Tauros' foot. This was not good. The other the creature's leg was still in the fissure Taka had created, it still had its hammer and fist to deal a finishing blow to Godot with.

Forgoing the chain plan, Rikuto rushed to Godot's aid. He'd already told Godot what he had to and didn't really need to protect him anymore. Princess' last words didn't demand being a hero either. But he couldn't just let someone die in front of him when he was the one holding the shield. That was simply a question of human decency. He was pretty sure nothing but the downward slam had a chance of killing him through his shield anyway, so there weren't many reasons not to go.

Rather than use its hammer or fist, the Tauros simply lifted its foot again for another stomp to finish off Godot. Damn it, unless it lifts its foot high enough, I won't be able to get under the foot and block the hit, will I? He considered rolling to get under the foot, but that wouldn't work with his shield. Not having any more time to waste, Rikuto rushed to Godot and slid feet first like a baseball player when he got close enough. In his slide he kicked Godot to the side a little, but there was no way a kick from someone his level could take the remainder of Godot's health.

The Tauros' foot came down quickly, giving Rikuto no time to assume a proper stance. The best he could do was get into a kneeling position before the foot came crashing down on him. "Ngh!" The hit had dealt more damage through his shield than he had expected, even considering his bad positioning. "Godot, if you've got enough potions to hand out to everyone then I assume you've got plenty. You'd better drink one before this monster tries something else!" Rikuto realized that he couldn't defend from anything else in the position he was in, but how would he get the creature's foot off of him to allow him to get into a proper stance?

A novel idea occurred to Rikuto. Pulling his spear back at an awkward angle, it began to glow yellow, signifying the activation of Lightning Thrust. After three seconds, it shot straight through his own shield into the creature's foot. In reaction, its foot lifted. For a moment, Rikuto wondered if his unlikely idea worked, but he soon realized that it worked for a different reason than he'd thought. For a moment, he entertained the idea of these monsters experiencing pain unlike them, and he imagined his attack to feel like stepping on a thumbtack to the creature. However, all he had done was draw the creature's attention back to himself. The Tauros was simply performing another attack against him, apparently another stomp as its hammer could not hit him properly from such a position. The foot lifted higher than before, the AI probably adjusting for Rikuto's higher health. Fortunately, this still worked to his advantage.

Once Rikuto was given more room to stand, he assumed his defensive stance. However, the foot did not come down, and instead the Tauros stepped back. Rikuto lowered his shield for a moment to see what was happening behind it just in time to spot the hammer swooping from the side in another swing. Quickly doing as he did before, he moved his shield to defend against it while planting his spear into the ground for stability. Unfortunately, if it followed the pattern it took against the earlier attacks Rikuto had blocked, that meant that next up would be the downward slam. He guessed correctly, and the beast began to lift its hammer. Now Rikuto had a way to defend against it, but there was no telling how much damage Rikuto's Thunder Burst would do against Godot, who was in critical condition and still next to him. It probably wouldn't be enough to kill him, but he wasn't sure he was willing to take that chance.

There was a chance he was less willing to take than even one that could possibly kill Godot, though. No matter what, he couldn't let himself die before he reunited with his family, and he wasn't sure if he could survive the full force of a downward slam. He had to use Thunder Burst. As he began charging the sword art, he shouted out to the rest of the party. "Somebody move Godot, now!" Last time he only had 6 seconds after he began charging before the hammer hit his shield. Fortunately, the blast would only reach six feet around him, so someone could probably move Godot far enough in that time, but they would have to hurry.
​

 

[DeathofShadows]

(Hope no one minds my jumping in.)

EDIT: (Never mind. Changing course entirely.)

<<Dragon>>
Into the Mountains

Level: 11 | EXP:000000 | Guild: N/A | Col:1000 | HP: 100%

Floor 2 - Field

---

A gentle breeze blew through the hair of the one called Dragon. A nice day, but not the best possible for grinding. It was slightly overcast, still, and the ground had not yet dried from the recent rainfall. Still, it would have to do until he could get into that boss chamber.

He hefted his large, double handed axe to his shoulder, and set off deeper into the mountains in the northwest of the map. There were sure to be few players here, and most likely fewer PK'ers. A prime place for monster hunting.

Of course, the fact that he was alone made him a more likely target... But that was what he wanted. He could join a party when he needed to, but for now, being solo was beneficial. Just a man and his thoughts. And his war axe. And several nonaggressive goats that apparently had decided to walk the same way he was.

That is, until the deep roar sounded from nearby. He was really lucky today. It was rather rare to spot an Ursa this low in the floors. The monstrous bear plunged out of the bushes, slobber drooling down its long, deadly fangs. Its claws dug deep furrows with every step. Overall, it was about twice his height standing, and chances were it had the power to knock him on his back, heavy armor and all.

Not that it would have the chance to. As it neared him, he swung his great axe, and the blade collided with the side of its skull. It was thrown, but by no means dead. Growling menacingly, the Ursa stood on its hind legs, towering over him. The red area on its face where he had hit glowed slightly. There was his opening. He had managed to half-blind it with his initial strike.

Beginning to slowly circle around it, being sure to avoid the three inch claws that it was swinging around, Dragon mentally prepared his best move: Double Piercing Strike.

His axe glowed the bluish white that signaled the move was ready, and he charged. The attack was swift as ever, thanks to his days spent training his STR stat, and when it was over, the Ursa fell, and exploded into the many pixels that signified death.

It turned out that he had been luckier than expected. The beast had dropped a helm that sold for quite a bit. Of course, it was not as good as the one he currently had. He had spent just about all of his initial Col on the best suit of heavy armor he could find. He was sure there would be better as he continued, and Kayaba only knew where all the rare drops could be found.

With a grin, Dragon dismissed the rundown of his gains, hefted his axe again, and continued on.​

CSS by DeathofShadows

 

[<Challenger>]

Taka the Lovable Poet: Level 14 - 37% Exp - 2900 Col​

Taka, now weaponless and defenseless except for his agility, watched as his companions moved in to strike the beast, and Lucy gave a comment on the beast's single-targeting system. Yes...I see... He watched carefully as Godot darted between the beast's legs after dealing a significant blow to its head. He bravely attempted to remove Taka's sword out of the beast's leg. That fool! His strength parameter isn't nearly high enough! As skinny as Taka was, his strength had gone far above that of the average player's, but that's to be expected from a man who carries six foot swords everywhere he goes. Godot actually managed to remove the sword, and tossed it a considerable distance.


Taka took off instantly, eager to be reunited with his blade. He heard Godot cry out, but couldn't take the time to worry about it he were to be of any use for much longer. He reached Poetic Justice and scooped up the buster blade, hilt in both hands, and looked up to see Ryuusa standing with his shield raised up above his head guarding an injured Godot. He cried out, "Somebody move Godot, now!"


If he has single aggro... Taka raced forward as fast as his legs could carry him. "Hold on! I'll distract him!" With the Tauros's back to him, he was free to race up his back. Poetic Justice began to glow golden as his sword art was being activated, without the signature shout of 'Taka RISING!' His blade, now lighter than a rapier, was brought up over his head. "Get him out of here, Ryuusa!" He slammed the blade down on the beast's head, causing him to rear his head back in pain. The beast attempted to reach back, grabbing for the bard. Taka acrobatically dodged the hand with a backflip and hit the beast's hand, causing it to roar even more. He gave a loud battle cry as he left off the front of the beast's head and gave a spinning slash across its face. "Take THAT!" He held his sword straight ahead and managed to carve a line into its stomach. Instead of hitting the ground the Tauros grabbed the assailant and stared him in the eyes. Dammit...Dammit...Dammit. Taka had not anticipated such a quick reaction from the cumbersome beast. Poetic Justice was firmly clasped to his side, but there was still one more use of its lightened state. Taka could feel it.


The beast raced the hammer in preparation to bash the annoying player in the head. Come on...Come on... Taka quickly worked on loosening the golden monster's grip. Slowly, but surely, he could feel the blade working loose. The hammer was getting higher and higher. Come on! Come on! He grunted with effort. It's almost loose! The hammer descended. In a Hollywood-esque ending, Taka managed to free his sword at the last second and used the last use of his sword art to block the hammer fall, this time with success. He fell and landed on a knee, his blade held out in his right arm. He looked up and gave a grin. I look so cool right now.

 

[DeathofShadows]

<<Dragon>>
A Chance Meeting(?)

Level: 11 | EXP:001750 | Guild: N/A | Col:1075 | HP: 97%

Floor 2 - Field

---

It turned out that the lightly forested mountains weren't the best monster hunting grounds after all, if the last hour had anything to tell him. Past the Ursa he had killed upon entering, he had only run into lower leveled monsters such as wolves and the occasional giant spider. His expertise and knowledge of them proved to be beneficial by more than he had expected upon entering the area; he had barely been injured throughout any of his battles.

However, unless there was some special boss in the heart of these mountains, which was still a possibility, the day and a half he would spend getting back to the nearest town would be rather lackluster. What he would give to meet something interesting...

<><><><><><><><><><>​

Of course, the man currently resting in a nearby copse of trees was just thinking the same thing. Dressed in simple armor, consisting of a chain mail shirt and leather leggings, the man was nothing formidable. The only weapons he carried with him were a dual set of identical daggers, yet judging by the way he deftly spun one of these into the air, catching it upon its way down, he was more than proficient with them.

Of course, the one thing that most likely made him stand out was the rest of his outfit: a long cape and a magician's hat. The cape was black on the outside, and a soft red on the inside; the hat bore a similar choice of colors in the form of a red ribbon around the black hat. These items were the player's most prized possessions, and not a spec of noticeable dirt was on either.

The player stretched and stood up, and stopped for a second. With a wry grin, he sheathed the dagger in his hand, and set off in the direction of Dragon.

<><><><><><><><><><>​

Dragon had been walking for less than ten minutes when he first felt the sensation that he was being watched. It was more nerves than anything, as it had been a bit too quiet for an uninhabited area. He brushed the feeling aside, keeping his eyes out for any more monsters.

What struck him as odd was that there were no signs at all of even the lowliest monsters, even though the respawn time had passed not too long ago. Perhaps there was-

"Ho there!" The voice slit right through Dragon's train of thought. He whirled around to face the speaker, axe in his hands. He was surprised to see a middle aged man, most likely in his mid thirties, sporting a cape and magician's hat. His face was rather average, despite the twinkling blue eyes and goatee, and he stood at approximately 5'7".

"I, good sir, am Enigma. Officially, I am a master magician, however, limitations of this game have forced me to resort to... Less effective ways of obtaining a salary. Perhaps you may be able to assist me?" The man took a deep, showmanlike bow as he introduced himself, and seemed always to be wearing a playful grin.

Dragon narrowed his eyes slightly as he spotted one minor detail: the red player marker. He knew how this Enigma individual got his so-called "salary." And he was not the type to consort with a Player Killer.

"I do not consort with your kind," Dragon stated bluntly. "Nor do I want anything to do with your 'income'." He turned around and continued his march into the mountains. He was well aware of the fact when Enigma fell in step next to him, though he remained expressionless.

"Quite a fine day, indeed. Although I must say the quarry here is quite dissapointing. It makes one wonder whether it is so to dissuade individuals from journeying further..." It seemed Enigma was quite the chatterbox. Just great for him, the quiet, withdrawn type.

Dragon sighed as Enigma continued babbling on about his career as a magician, and of his acclimation to the SAO world. According to him, he was an unmatched thief, and a master of the arts of stealth. At least the strange man seemed content enough with a one sided conversation. He was sure that any more of this constant noise, and he would snap. This was going to be quite the long day...​

CSS by DeathofShadows

 

[machomuu]

Retrospect - One Day After The Battle With Illfang

William Danielson||Godot & Kagome
Lv. 13||Floor 2​

Godot and Kagome, after having taken care of whatever business they had after their confrontation with the first floor's boss, Illfang the Kobold, made plans to meet in a cafe in Urbus. It was important to both of them that they meet, as the two of them had only met up twice, and one of those two times resulted in a duel that ended with Kagome winning thanks to a surrender by Godot. But as it stood, he knew next to nothing about her, and she knew little about him. It would seem surprising to an outsider, as the two very readily referred to each other as brother and sister, and even through the "L word" around to and fro. This was mostly due to Kagome being very affectionate little sister.

When the time came, the two met with each other at a cafe called "Brewsters". After being seated, Godot immediately noticed a huge grin on Kagome's face. He'd never seen someone so happy. He smiled back and said, "Hi."

Kagome chuckled a little and said, "Hi." She then quickly dropped her smile and sat up, as if she'd remembered something, then set her arm on the table and pointed at Godot, with a far more serious disposition than she'd had only moments prior. "Hold on a sec. Before we start the B&S session, we nee-"

Godot tilted his head and interrupted. "B&S? Not really sure what bull feces has to do with this." Given that they'd been given outside seats, Godot looked towards the building and squinted his eyes. "Don't tell me this coffee is just water with fecal matter mixed in." Kagome relented slightly out of disgust. "I gotta say, you really know how to pick 'em, Kago-"

Suddenly, Kagome slammed her hands on the table and stood up, yelling, "Stop right there!" Some heads turned in her direction, but the two paused for long enough that the crowd lost interest. "That's just what I wanted to say. We can't go by our online names, what type of brother and sister would we be if we called each other by alias'."

Godot nodded. "I suppose you have a point. In that case, let's take this from the top." He put his hand out for a handshake. "I'm William. William Danielson. It's a pleasure."

Kagome looked down at Godot's hand and asked, "What are you doing?" Godot opened his mouth to answer, but Kagome spoke first. "Who greets their sister with a handshake? What, do you think that when a mother comes home from the hospital with her child and her son wants to see her he just gives her a handshake? No! He cradles her in his arms and tells her that he will love her always."

Godot rubbed his mouth with his hand and said, "Yeah...I'm not sure that's how it works." He chuckled a little and stood up. "On that note, I want to check something." He walked over to Kagome's side of the table and, curling his forefinger under her chin and raising it, crossed his lips with hers. At first, Kagome was unsure what was going on, standing in utter confusion. It made sense, Godot was her brother; a kiss from him was so out of nowhere that she couldn't even register that it was happening. When she finally did come to grips with the situation, her eyes widened and she reflexively backed away from him, pushing he chair back and causing it to screech across the ground.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-" Kagome, flustered, found her tongue tied and unable to ask the obvious questions.

"Why did I do that?" Godot asked Kagome, whose face was as read as a cherry. She nodded furiously. "Because I wanted to check something. I'm pretty sure I told you that before I did it."

"Th-th-that doesn't explain anything!" She responded. "Brothers and sisters aren't supposed to kiss like that! It's taboo!"

Godot returned to his seat. "Exactly my point, little sister." He motioned for her to return to her seat as well, as she hesitantly did. "Did you feel anything in that moment?"

She looked away for a moment, thinking to herself. "Not...not really."

Godot spread his arms out as if to signify his point being made. "And that's just it. I'm going to be honest, I find it mystifying that we can feel so close having only encountered each other two times, one of those meetings having been far more brief than the other." He rested his elbow on his table and his fist on his chin. "It made me wonder if those feeling were reciprocal. It's an unnatural bond that we share, and I wanted to confirm that it was a legitimate familial bond, and not something else."

Kagome seemed to be somewhat shocked, but not long afterwards, she put on the grin that she had when they'd arrived. "Who knew that I would be graced with such a brave, stupid brother." It seemed strange that she smiled like an idiot and called him names. "The name's Natalia Silverlock." She stared at him expectantly, unable to hold still and swaying to the left and right out of excitement. Godot started to wonder if that "Cute Little Sister" persona she'd dawned in the boss' lair was just an act.

"So..." She said. "C'mon, tell me about yourself! What were you like as a kid? Do you have any other siblings? Where were you born? What do you do for a living? What's your sign? What's your favorite food? C'mon, C'MON! Let's get this B&S- Brother & Sister- session on a roll!" Godot scratched the back of his head knowing feeling as if he were in for more of an interview than anything else.

"Well...where do I start?"

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Boss event!!
December 25th; 4.56 pm​

The hooded player looked around at the crowd, watching how it was growing bigger as time was passing. Once the number of players arriving started to increase slowly, she took her place in front of the crowd and cleared her throat to make sure they could hear the words she was going to say loud and clearly.

"We've gathered here, on this exact place to defeat the enormous monster known as "The Taurus King Asterios". His weapon is a large Hammer and his secret weapon is thought to be a Sabre." The hooded player knocked on the door behind her and stared back into the crowd. "I got this information from someone who thought he could handle the boss himself. He send me a message before he was brutally killed. May he rest in peace..." As the hooded player took a short pause to breath, the crowd started to get noisy. She raised a hand to make them quiet again and wouldn't speak any more more before it was indeed quiet.

"Please my friends, remember that once you die... you won't respawn. This is NOT one of our ordinary games. Dying here means dying for real. Don't make foolish mistakes like my friend did. You are NOT alone. We are together in this and so we should help each other out when possible." The hooded player turned her back to the crowd and took a view at the beautiful drawings in the door. After a few minutes she started to touch it.

"I have a few rules before we open the doors." She spoke strictly. "No one will sacrifice other players, not even if it means victory. No one will play being a hero, this kind of act doesn't work around here and not anywhere. The last one is... don't die." She turned back to the crowd and revealed her face by pulling off her hood. "You may know me as the woman that Saito fight with in his last few moments. The woman who led you to victory on the first floor, however, I don't want to be known like that. Consider me a friend." She stepped aside as the doors were being opened.

"Be careful inside. Please work in teams so that we have each other's backs."​

 

[Turnip]

Turnip
HP 100% | LV. 14 | XP 70% | Col 9417
Location - Floor 2: Urbus​

With a crash, the armoured figure burst through the doors of the dungeon. The resounding clatter of his armour and helmet crashing against the stone floor reverberated through the room, and drew attention to the fact that the warrior had just dived in and landed flat on his face.

"AUGHB, I'M LATE DON'T START WITHOUT ME THERE WERE THINGS THAT- there's nobody here."

Luckily for Turnip, the room he'd burst into was completely devoid of life. Instead, another door led on to another room; presumably the one that actually had access to the boss room as opposed to this one, which he guessed was a sort of porch. Or whatever the dungeon-equivalent for a porch was, anyway. Sighing in annoyance and slight pain, Turnip let his head drop to the ground with a clang before slowly bringing his body back to a standing position. It was time, then, for him to make a less embarrassing entrance. Or… well, from his point of view. It was still an embarrassing entrance, just from the kind of embarrassment spectrum that the vegetable-themed warrior wasn't particularly sensitive too. This, in turn, led him to believe his next actions to be somewhat grand.

"BAH BADA BAH BA- BADUP BUP BAH!" In through the doors barrelled Turnip in a forward roll, burbling some kind of odd, gravelly, trumpet-like tune before springing to his feet. "Action roll!" He cried triumphantly. "Was that good? Did it look good? I thought it was good. Never fear! Turnip's here! Isn't it clear? That I'm a… deer…?" The armoured figure paused for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that'll do, screw it- alright, people. Players of the video games. Erm… well, I guess I should ask: this is the boss battle place, right? Better not have screwed that up, bloody hell."

 

[Turnip]

Turnip
HP 100% | LV. 14 | XP 70% | Col 9417
Location - Floor 2: Urbus​

"Bravo! Quite the entrance, chap!" The caped man said. Not exactly the reaction that Turnip was expecting – although to be fair, that implied that Turnip was expecting any kind of reaction from his masterful display of nonsense. The player, Enigma, approached, and as he clapped Turnip on the shoulder the armoured figure twitched slightly, just about resisting the urge to draw his sword. Even with such a blatant approach, contact sent defensive instincts exploding in his mind – why people needed to be so bloody physical about things was beyond the vegetable-man, as was adaptation on the matter. Thankfully, Enigma had fairly quickly removed his hand of his own accord, instead bowing in front of the armoured figure.

"You seem like my kind of man! Enigma, extraordinary thief and master assassin, at your service!"

"Hey, 'sup!" Turnip greeted with a jovial wave. "You seem like a wonderfully classy bastard – one little concern: try any of that PKer crap and I'll bloody kill you, alright? I'll need a damn good explanation before I can trust you, so come back once your mark's faded. Toodles."

The armoured figure stepped slightly around Enigma, glancing to the door of the boss room. The man was interesting, but Turnip wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Enigma was innocent until proven guilty – the mark wasn't quite enough to prove murder over manslaughter or self-defence – but the vegetable-themed warrior would be damned if he wasn't a little cautious around potential player killers.

"But yeah," Turnip called to the door. "What's the deal with this organised gubbins? Just sayin', a Saito Mk. 2 would suck arse pretty bad."

 

[ShinyDiamond]

Robin - Lvl 12
Floor 2: The Boss Room
HP: 100% - EXP: 2% - Col: 341

​

Waiting time was over. A figure appeared before the crowd, giving a speech before the battle. The next boss was a Taurus, Asterios. Since his time in the Beta Test, Robin knows the boss's moves & patterns. Although that was proven not to be accurate, like with Illfang on the first floor, so it is likely to assume all bosses have some changes to how they fight. At least, the bosses Robin faced before the official release.

The figure, who had a hood on but likely sounds like a girl, continued to speak, informing everyone about the boss's weapon & secret weapon: Sabre. Since Illfang, that secret weapon might not be a Sabre. The rest of the news was shocking to Robin... The player who retrieved this information was wiped out by Asterios. He thought he could handle it by himself. That idiot...!

​

As soon as the woman quieted down the crowd, she reminded us about what happens if we die in the game. Her inspirational speech, the way she rallies us all. She's someone I'd follow in the battlefield.

She explained to us the rules of this boss fight. That part about not being a hero, Robin isn't like that. Though he won't just stand around & do nothing. That's what he's always stood by. As the woman removed her hood, Robin recognized her as the one who led the charge in the previous boss battle, also the one Saito couldn't get along with before he...

That aside, the leader (she was born to be a leader) slowly opened the doors & cautioned everyone. Robin walks towards the door, removing his hood, ready to put his life on the line. As he entered, he spotted a familiar figure who missed the whole speech... Turnip sure can make an entrance.

​

Turnip looked like a fool giving his own speech to everyone. Robin couldn't help but sigh in disbelief. Is he like this in real life, he wondered. His speech was responded by another player; caped of sorts, but Robin didn't bother to pay attention to this circus & focused his attention to the dangerous matter at hand.

​

Asterios. The name itself is frightening. But a little fear is normal for everyone. This fight is only one of one-hundred battle everyone has to go through, & Robin is going to face each & every one of these things, until he got back to the real world, back to his true life.

 

[DeathofShadows]

[This had better not die.]

<<Dragon>>
"It's showtime."

Level: 13 | EXP:000520 | Guild: N/A | Col:2575 | HP: 100%

Floor 2 - Dungeon - Boss Room

---

Dragon set his jaw as a hooded player, the apparent leader of this expedition, slowly opened the doors. His eyes scanned the dark room as he took a firm grip on his axe, hesitating a brief second before stepping into the room proper.

It was very similar to the first floor boss room, from what he had seen of it, though there was no throne at the end of the room, and it was shaped more like a gladiator arena than the great hall the other had been. At the far end of the room was a portcullis, something synonymous with the growing Roman theme, where he assumed the portal to the next floor lay. Another scanning of the room revealed no more.

The silence was particularly disturbing. In the first boss battle, the boss had showed itself the moment the vanguard had entered the boss room. The fact that this one was taking so long made him shiver, and grip his ade even harder.

<<>><<>><<>>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>​

Enigma, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself quite well. A grin dominated his face as he walked, if it could be called that, into the room. His poise was that of a predator stalking prey, and the way he slowly twirled one of his knives was reminiscent of a murderer waiting for the final moment, but his visage threw it all off. Not many people could tell, but he was ready. He would take out his target, and that would be that. The boss was secondary, unless it targeted him. His eyes flashed with glee at the thoughts flowed through his mind.​

CSS by DeathofShadows

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Lacy
Player level 15
Floor 4: Lobria, Lotus inn.​

"Geez... why is this item so hard to handle!" Lacy whispered to herself as she tried finishing her beloved cloak with the golden wire she got from the «Golden Tauros» last week. Fighting that boss was too hard. She wasn't going to let Godot's, Ryuusa's, Taka's and Ragnarok's hard work go to the trashcan. This item required a really high sewing skill level and even though Lacy's sewing skill was already pretty high... it wasn't high enough. The item had 21% of success when used on the cloak but Lacy kept falling on that other 79%. "Please succeed... please succeed..." Lacy brought the needle with the golden wire to the cloak again and a loading bar appeared in front of her... again. Before the green could even hit the other side of the bar, a message appeared in front of her... again...

Sewing failed
Number of tries left: 1​

​

Lacy sighed and put the cloak and golden wire away for a bit. She lifted her right hand to open the menu bar and took out another item of her inventory, the violet hair dye. She went to the mirror inside her room and looked at herself. "Well... bye bye blonde hair I guess..." Lacy opened up the item and added it to her hair. Lacy had to protect her eyes from the intense light that came upon her hair. The light faded after a few second and it was safe to look again, so Lacy did. She was surprised by how well this color suited her. Lacy still thought she looked quite young though so she decided to do something about that. She took out her blade and lifted it up towards her face. "1... 2........ 3!" Lacy gently cut off her beautiful long strings of hair.

She watched as her hair casually touched the ground and immediately dissapeared into pixels as they did. Lacy didn't dare to look up at the mirror. The last time she cut her hair short it looked horrible and she was bullied because of it. She carefully started to look up towards the mirror as she clenched her fists. She really hoped she hadn't made the wrong decision. Once she finally faced the mirror, she was stunned. Was she expecting this? No. Was it surprising? Definitely. Lacy actually looked more mature. For once she was happy with the outcome of her decision.

Lacy smiled bright and played a bit more with her hair until she remembered there was still a cloak she had to finish. "Okay... one more time..." Lacy took out the golden wire, needle and cloak out again and sat down on the bed. "Please don't fail on me now..." Lacy took a deep breath. She stared at the cloak as if it had offended her, in fact it had. She brought the needle carefully to the cloak again and once again the loading screen appeared. The sound of Lacy's heartbeat was loud and clear at this point. Then... finally the relieving message appeared in front of her.

Sewing succesful​

​

The cloak on Lacy's lap started to shine a silver color. Seconds seemed minutes for Lacy as she couldn't wait to try it on. Finally the cloak started to take it's own color again. "Oh my! This looks neat!" She stood up and got rid of her old, worn-out, armor before trying on the cloak. She also had a few armor part ready for her chest, shin and knees. She ran towards the mirror to check it out and was more than just happy about the finally finished cloak. At this moment she didn't look 16 anymore... Her sister wasn't going to recognize her now!

-------

«Cloak of courage» [equipped]
«Hair dye: Violet» [not used]

​

 

[Data_Error]

Aria
Lvl. 12 | Exp. 35% | HP. 100% | Col. 976
Floor 4 - Lobria, Market​

Aria turned over and studied what had to be at least the sixtieth spauldron in the fourteenth store she had been over today. Sure, the durability numbers were strong - and that was the most important thing - but it twisted itself into a horn at the shouder-tip and was cast in this horrid, dark purple color that screamed of overreaching for aesthetics' sake. And the price point wasn't doing anything to win her over, either. No, this was not a piece of armor worth committing to. Aria set the item back on its shelf, dispelling the information window which had been hovering just above it.

"Please, come back again," she could hear from the shopkeeper behind her. Aria didn't even turned to respond - no point, really, unless she wanted to end up having a looping conversation about nothing in particular. Sometimes that was good for a chuckle, but right now, she was just too exhausted. Nearly three hours in this marketplace had turned out to be a bust. Everything out of the NPC shops was either too expensive, looked odd, or was on par with something you'd find on the lower floors. She shook her head and pulled a map of the city out of the menu hovering just in front of her chest. One of these days, it would really pay off for her to find a player with a decent blacksmithing skill, or even build it up herself.

For now, the next armorer.

Aria wasn't even halfway to the next stop when she smelled that distinctive odor that came off the smithy furnaces - sure enough, on her right she was able to spot a wooden table covered in a rough tan cloth and lined with a small selection of blades and armor. It was hardly surprising that she had missed this shop tucked in amongst all the others - all the indicators on her map tended to overlap and mesh together in this area.

It wouldn't hurt to take a quick look - a shop that size would take but a moment to comb, she decided. But the instant she took a step toward the short, stocky man and his wares, she was cut off by another player in front of her, crossing less than an a foot in front of her nose.

"Pardon," she muttered reflexively, wrinkling her brow in irritation. In actuality, she would have liked to keep walking and barge straight into the other player for no reason other than to make a point, but showing such aggression within city limits was pointless at best and could earn her a notice from the system at worst. So instead, she was forced to walk slowly behind this other person, who luck would have it was going for the exact same shop, and then watch as he investigated the single set of shoulder armor on the table.

Lovely.

Aria sidled up to the table and, ignoring the shopkeeper's automatic greeting entirely, took to examining a set of metal faulds which she knew full well that she would not be purchasing today. Pretending to ponder its value, Aria crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, throwing a glance sideways at her fellow shopper every few seconds. This went on for half a minute, then another full minute, going on two. Her well of patience was deep, but not infinite - she could hardly stop herself from letting out a shallow breath and shooting an glare at the other player.

"You just pack up and move on."

A pause. For the next instant, she wasn't quite certain whether she had simply thought such a thing or, by some terrible mistake, said it aloud. In the seconds following, it became abundantly, terrifyingly certain that she had. Feeling light-headed, Aria spun her attention around, pretending to look for the source of the affront, praying against hope that this other player was even the slightest bit gullible.

 

[ShinyDiamond]

Robin - Lvl 12
Floor 2: Marome
HP: 100% - EXP: 87% - Col: 1341

​

"Breathe in...breathe out... Breathe in...breathe out..." Robin was meditating on his own in the small village of Marome. He has been focusing his mind, body & spirit for some time now, since floor 3 opened. Ever since another PK at the floor 2 boss, Robin has been thinking about how to prevent these sort of incidents. The only thing that keeps coming to mind is to guard the target. It's not good enough. Just being there isn't enough these days to protect the innocent.

7 PM. It is New Years Eve. Starting tomorrow, Robin & everyone will be stuck in this game for the rest of the year & maybe more, spending the holidays without your family. Spending time with friends & families wasn't Robin's thing. They're too celebratory & jolly. Perhaps he could train around midnight & let the time passed. For now, he could browse some stores for new weapons & armors. The new floor, Lobria, might have some interesting stuff. With that settled, Robin stood up from his room in the inn & headed for the Teleport Gate in Urbus. He made sure to avoid the monsters in his way, taking down a few that he couldn't avoid. Once he reached Urbus, he walked up instantly to the telelport gate without stopping. "Teleport! Lobria!"

Urbus slowly disappeared before Robin's eyes as he teleported to Floor 4, Lobria. When he arrived, the only thing he noticed was the large wall. It was like a reminder that they're all trapped in this game, with the only exit being above. Robin looked around & began walking to the direction of the markets.

Mamoru - Lvl 15
Floor 4: Lobria
HP: 95% - EXP: 35% - Col: 2753

​

Everything looks so festive. The sky is dark, so starry it is. I wonder what kind of weapons they sell here, or what food they have here. Well, I should just check it out already! I head over to one of the restaurants close by, order me some crispy fries, & chow down. Yummy! I can't get enough of this crispiness!

"Now, where should I go next...?" Maybe I'll just look around & see the walls. Most people aren't interested in walls, but I wanna see what this wall is all about. I finish my fries & run towards the wall, avoiding obstacles in the way Mostly people. "Excuse me! Comin' through'! Just going nowhere!" These people sure are weird the way they look! Robin's no different. He has that white hair. How does he keep it white & weird?

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Lucina
Player level 17
Floor 4: Lobria​

Lucina slowly opened her eyes as the noise outside woke her up from her nap. She investigated floor 3 last night to see if there was anything useful around but the all-nighter was all for nothing as she couldn't find anything but trees, monsters and even more trees. Her legs were sore when she finally arrived at the inn this morning. "... I feel like I slept an entire day..." She got up and looked in the mirror. Her long dark blue hair looked like it had been attacked by a raven. All she could do is sigh and brush it with her fingers until it looked normal again. She lifted her right hand to open her inventory and equipped her armor before leaving the inn to see what's outside. Lucina didn't feel like partying but a human's mind could change after seeing some of her friends. She wondered what Godot had been up to as she hadn't seen him since he kissed her at christmas eve. What was the deal with that anyway? She really had to hear him out about this. She didn't worry much about the rest as she saw them almost every day except for one other person.

Robin. Lucina hadn't seen Robin since the boss fight which was almost one week ago. It's not like she was worried about him but it was something that crossed her mind since they had spend an awful lot of time together... not sure why though as it always seemed like Robin was annoyed by her company but felt like he considered her as a friend anyway. Or not...

Lucina made the first steps outside and the first thing she noticed was the cold. She remembered she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday and thought it would be a good idea to make herself a sandwhich or something. So there she went, she walked towards the NPC stores while yawning. It took her a while to notice she wasn't wearing her cloak and hood though... How did she notice? Because some guy had to whistle. He just had to make Lucina feel uncomfortable because, why not? It's fun, right? Lucina quickly kept on moving towards the stores and tried to ignore it as much as possible. Putting on her cloak right now would end up in everyone knowing that there was actually a girl in that hood instead of a guy. She had a reputation to think off or else guys wouldn't let her fight on the front lines anymore.

------
«Lucina's white dress» [unequipped]
«Falchion» [equipped]
​

 

[DeathofShadows]

<<Dragon>>
Welcome to the Fourth Floor

Level: 15 | EXP:000650 | Guild: N/A | Col:1503 | HP: 100%

Floor 4 - Markets

---

It was several weeks after that first boss raid that Dragon had participated in. They had made it to floor four, and Dragon had begun falling into the rhythm of the game. Today, he was browsing the local stores and blacksmiths. In fact, he had been considering a pair of gauntlets that would boost his damage for his battleaxe.

"You should just pack up and leave."

He had not noticed the player next to him. She seemed to have not meant to have said that, judging by her flushed expression. He merely raised an eyebrow as she walked off.

Dragon returned to his browsing, but the recent encounter bugged him. He could still see the player storming across the plaza. He sighed, and purchased the gauntlets, quickly jogging to catch up with her. Once he had, he fell in step next to her.

She had a strong aura about her, from her sharp features to her stiff posture. She may not be the tallest around, and was about a head shorter than he, but by no means was she short. Were there classes in SAO, he'd almost say that she was a Paladin type, judging by her gear and almost aristocratic air. The thing that caught his attention the most, though, was her eyes. The blue shade was an interesting variation, almost silver, and seemed to miss nothing. Framing them was a few locks of shoulder-length hair, the rest braided in the back of her head, most likely to keep it out of the way during combat.

"No hard feelings," he said, half-smiling, "alright?" After a brief moment of thought, he offered his hand, adding, "The name's Dragon."​

CSS by DeathofShadows