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Coryn02

The Death Game - IC

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This is the IC thread where the roleplaying happens. For the OOC where discussion about the RP takes place, please refer to this. Thank you.

 

 

In the not-so-distant future of 2022, a revolutionary new video game console using virtual reality helmets has been released. But these helmets, called NerveGear, are not simply ripoffs of the Occulus Rift. They allow for perfect immersion, called "FullDive," by intercepting all nerve impulses from the brain of the wearer. This essentially means anything you perceive with your five senses will seem real to you when you play. Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of the NerveGear, intends to revolutionize gaming.

 

The first massive multiplayer game ever made compatible with NerveGear is called Sword Art Online. SAO is an MMORPG developed by Argus, the Japanese video game corporation that also developed the NerveGear peripheral. The goal of SAO is to reach the end of the giant floating castle Aincrad, which is filled with 100 floors of monsters and traps. SAO also allows for the freedom to do pretty much anything you could in real life, from trading to crime. It is coming out of beta today, though most of its players aren't beta testers.

 

Ten thousand people of all ages connect, but once they've barely started to play, they realize they can't disconnect. Akihiko Kayaba informs the players that this was intentional and that anyone who dies in the game will be fatally shocked by their NerveGear. Nobody in the real world can disconnect them from the game either, or the same result will occur and sadly has already happened to some players. The only way anyone leaves now is if someone clears the final floor of Aincrad's dungeon. Akihiko also revealed that over time, the game would get progressively more difficult, until even the towns would no longer be safe to stay in. By extent, he advised we clear the game within the year, though he did not say why.

Edited by Coryn02

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Setting

 

(Note: This is a RP based on Sword Art Online, if you could not already tell. If you get too lost, you can watch the show online or on Netflix, read the wiki, or read the light novels to get a better grasp of the universe. It's not required, but it really helps.)

 

You are one of the unfortunate players trapped within the vast death-game created by Akihiko Kayaba. Just how long you will be alive depends entirely on what you want to do, though for now it's probably best if you get your strength up and help clear the dungeon. You could go into a trade later if your fighting skills are not up to par for the clearing group, but most players will probably want to go back to the real world as quickly as possible. So far, it has been two weeks since the first day. The first floor hasn't even been cleared.

 

The world of SAO itself takes place within the dungeon and intermediate areas, and everything is within the giant iron and stone fortress. You cannot see it from the outside unless you climb onto its outer surface. While the themed floors vary widely and sometimes change with the seasons, each floor has at least one town that acts as a safe area for players to rest and purchase equipment.

 

One of the most important mechanics of SAO is leveling. A player's level is an approximate degree of overall proficiency since it determines maximum Health and the number of Skill Slots. You also get 3 Level Points you can invest in Strength or Agility, which make you hit harder and move faster respectively (some Skills are affected by these as well). Experience is gained when a monster is slain, a weapon is forged, or an item is crafted, among other things. This doesn't only apply to players; monsters and bosses also have levels. If one wants to be totally safe, it's wisest to battle foes at least 10 levels weaker than you. As a general rule, you want to gain levels as quickly as possible. Player level is thought to cap out at 99, though nobody is certain of it because nobody is that strong.

 

By dragging their index and middle fingers in a top-to-down motion with their dominant hand, a player can open their menu, which is within a dialog box that floats in front of the player displaying information about that player. Other players can see a menu, though it is rude to look at a player's menu without their permission. While allied player health is always visible in the top-left of a player's vision along with their own, the menu allows a player to manage their Stats, Skills, Equipment, and Inventory (Shared, Guild and personal inventories between players). Any notifications will also show up in a similar window to the menu interface. A player's inventory will usually describe the item selected and display its durability. Weapons, armor, potions, and food have a percentage of durability that determines how much longer it will exist. Food durability decays over time, while everything else loses durability with use.

 

Skills are abilities supported by the system. There are Skills for pretty much everything, but you will probably be bad at whatever it is you're doing if you don't have it as an active Skill. In order to activate a Skill, a player must assign it to one of their Skill Slots. That Skill will then gain points every time it is trained, up to 1000. (Progress is not linear, it gets way harder as time goes on.) More use of a Skill grants more power with that Skill, and can sometimes even unlock other Skills for activation. A player only starts with two Skill Slots. Since one of those will be going towards your weapon (unless you plan to be harmless), a player only has one Skill to begin with. From what I could find out, at most, a player can only get up to 12 Skill Slots. The only way to reassign a Skill Slot is to remove its associated Skill, losing all progress you had in it. Because of this, a SAO player must be very careful in choosing what they will be using their Skill Slots for.

 

There are many different types of weapons that players can use, though most focus on a single weapon type. The different damage types are Thrusting, Slashing, Striking, and Blunt damage. Most weapons can deal at least two different kinds of damage to enemies and players. Due to the nearly infinite generation of new weapons, it is difficult to define what exactly the players can't wield. However, for the sake of simplicity, all weapons in SAO will fall into the following categories : Blades (swords, knives, scimitars, rapiers, etc), polearms (spears and staves), blunt (axes, maces, halberds, shield bashes, etc.) and ranged (throwing picks, and then bows and crossbows later). Unarmed combat counts as blunt for our purposes, and ranged weaponry always does piercing damage.

 

Note: Dual Wield was a Unique Skill only known to be used by Kirito. Nobody in the roleplay will have Dual Wield, so nobody will have more than one weapon out at a time. There are no mechanical or explosive weapons allowed. Ranged weapons will have to go through me first, and if it is a bow or a crossbow it won't happen (I plan to introduce those later).

 

Armor is unbelievably simple in SAO. There are two kinds of armor; Light Armor and Heavy Armor. Heavy Armor is stronger and made of metal, but is also much heavier and can be weak to Thrusting (just aim for the chinks in the armor to do more damage). Light Armor is made of leather and is for sneaky players. While it is not as effective as Heavy Armor, it's much lighter and allows the wearer to evade attacks more easily. Armor can also be dyed or have a logo printed on it, but only if it was crafted by a player.

 

Sword Skills are the main method of combat within Sword Art Online. They are specialized techniques that, once initiated, are carried through by the system with far more accuracy and speed than a player normally could. They are used both by players and monsters and, since attacking without them is usually ineffective, it's best to get the hang of them pretty quickly. Attacks without Sword Skills don't really do that much damage and, without the active Skill for your equipped weapon, you will not be taking down any enemies. Most basic Sword Skills are simple jabbing, slashing or crushing blows and, with higher levels in associated Skills, new and more complex Sword Skills soon become available. Some require a proficiency in more than one Skill to be used.

 

A select few Sword Skills are wholly unique and are only owned by a select few players for unknown reasons. These are called Unique Skills because their unlocking criteria are not common knowledge. If you get a Recorder and can move fast enough for the system to recognize it, players can even record custom Sword Skills. Quite apart from the cost of the Recorders themselves, a custom Sword Skill is usually very powerful and, as such, they are worth exorbitantly high amounts of money.

 

Sword Skills are mostly glorified battle techniques, and there are none which come close to what one would call magic. The closest thing to that would be a crystal, a large polished gemstone big enough to fit in the hand. Each of these come with colors that identify their single-use functions; deep blue for corridor crystals (for a group travelling all at once), light blue for teleport crystals, green for status curing crystals, and so on. Most operate by vocal command, and taking damage or dropping the crystal wastes it. Crystals have an activation delay, though. They are fairly expensive, and shouldn't be used frivolously.

 

Also in the category of non-magic recovery items are potions. They can be mixed fairly easily once you have the ingredients, and while recovery is not instant, they are usually much easier to come by. Potions also have a cooldown, unlike crystals, and are only used for health and status recovery (things like poisoning and paralysis). Potions can be used in any situation, where some of the more difficult areas of Aincrad may be no-crystal zones.

 

Aside from being virtual killing machines, players can also do other things like completing quests for rewards. There are, of course, more leisurely pursuits like dueling for fun or just taking in the sights. Safe areas are protected from player-versus-player combat, meaning nobody can die within a safe area. Beyond that, most of Aincrad will be made aware to the players as they adventure through it (the beta testers might recognize some things on the lower floors, though). We will also be coming up with our own custom floors, given that many of the floors in the original media are not elaborated upon.

 

Beta tester or not, you decided to party up with some other players, at least for the time being. You can also be one of the 10 or so players blessed by Sword Art Online with a Unique Skill that nobody else in the game can unlock. You are not obliged to have a Unique Skill, but I doubt any of us will want to pass up the chance.

Edited by Coryn02

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Rules

 

There are lots of rules, so please look them over. Do be aware that I expect that they will all be followed without exception.

 

1. Exception Rule : It is forbidden to use of any of these rules to get around the others.

 

2. Please plan your ideas for the RP, especially if it involves other characters or NPCs. Not only does it help everyone else incorporate your idea, but it can also improve the quality of your idea.

 

3. No powerplaying, godmodding, or modding. Period.

 

4. Do your best to keep interactions appropriate (as in PG-13), whether it is foul language or romantic relationships.

 

5. Please, PM the character sheets to me instead of posting in the OOC (or in the IC for that matter). We have an OOC now, you may post your sheets there if you want public criticism.

 

6. You may have no more than one character, and not everyone can be beta testers (no more than 25% of players within the scope of the RP is my current standing). Consider that only about 10 000 people got into the SAO release, but only 1000 or so were beta testers.

 

7. Keep the actions of your characters consistent with who they are. It is acceptable for a person to act out of temper once or twice, but when in doubt, read over your character sheet and follow it.

 

8. Don't make your character a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Make them believable, give them balanced strengths and noticeable weaknesses. Treat a character sheet like you're describing a person who actually exists instead of a fictional character you're making up.

 

9. Also, no pictures of characters from online (unless you drew it yourself for this RP). Describe the character instead of finding an anime drawing to show us. On that note, please don't make your character exactly like you. That would be too easy.

 

10. Don't go off in a corner and try to RP by yourself or with only one other person. It's a lot harder to make it work that way and it'll end up really boring with time.

 

11. Put « dungeon crawler » in the password section of your character sheet when sending it to me.

 

12. Please don't leave without announcing it! I've seen good roleplays go down the drain because everyone left and nobody came back. This is particularly important around holidays and breaks when people go on hiatus most. I have lots planned for this, going AWOL ruins it for everyone.

 

13. Make your posts legible, at least a paragraph (6+ phrases) long and with capital letters and punctuation and all that. This is a literate RP. I will not tolerate any chatspeak, this is not a chatroom.

 

14. Don't go off-topic. The OOC will only allow for off-topic once before it becomes a problem, and I won't tolerate any off-topic in the IC.

Edited by Coryn02

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Character Sheets

 

The stuff in the brackets should be erased before submission, it's only there to give you an idea on what to write. Please don't tamper with the sheet, keep it as it is. The Password category for every character sheet will be changed by the time it gets put in here, as you're supposed to know the password from reading the rules.

 

[B]Username :[/B] (Your forums username.)
[B]In-game name: [/B] (The name your character assumes as their own within SAO. This should be the only name that people call your character.)
[B]Name : [/B] (The name your character was identified by in the real world.)
[B]Sex:[/B] (This is the biological factor.)
[B]Gender :[/B] (This is how your character defines themselves.)
[B]Age : [/B](At least old enough to use the NerveGear, which is 13+.)
[B]Appearance :[/B] (Everything from eye color to hair along with their battle armor, what they like to wear, any accessories they bear, scratches and scars, skin tone, facial features, anything relating to how this character looks.)
[B]Personality :[/B] (How does this person usually act? What defines them as who they are? What do they like and dislike, and why? How do they act around friends, family and people they don't like? What is their favorite food to eat or activity to engage in? What's their sense of morality like? What do they like to talk about? Anything about this character that isn't so agreeable?)
[B]History :[/B] (What was your character's childhood like? How did those experiences affect your character as they matured? What made them want to play SAO? Who and what was important to your character in the real world?)
[B]Strategy :[/B] (You will need two Skills, one of which should be a weapon wielding skill. Unless, that is, your character doesn't plan to kill anything. What's the plan your character has in mind for the long run? How does your character play the game? Do they even want to clear it? What sort of weapon do they prefer? What kind of armor? What will they do as the roleplay goes on?)
[B]Unique Skills : [/B](Please try to keep these relatively balanced, and you can't have more than one. When in doubt, ask me if you're unsure. Note that you do not need a Unique Skill, but that they're sort of cool to have and fit with the story.)
[B]Password :[/B]
[B]Other:[/B] (Anything else that may need to be mentioned or could be relevant in the future.)

 

Accepted Characters

 

Username : Coryn02

In-game name: Mirage

Name : Catherine Graves

Sex: Female

Gender : Female

Age : 15

Appearance : Mirage keeps her straight black hair at slightly longer than shoulder length, with no bangs (she doesn't really like them because they annoy her). She has a round face and her cheekbones don't really show that much; her small lips and round eyes do not usually convey much expression (except maybe a smile now and again). Her skin tone is fair, and she has brown eyes. Mirage is a bit tall for her age (not by much) and is of a medium build. While her sister was the fashion aficionado, Mirage does have some tastes of her own. She prefers to wear clothing of a blue, white or gray coloration, and likes scarves as well if the weather is cold enough. Her starting outfit is a turquoise long-sleeved shirt beneath the starter's leather vest, and she wears black pants instead of the dresses and skirts that are commonplace among the few female players in SAO.

Personality : Catherine is a rather shy and reserved person in groups, and won't be the center of attention if it can be helped. She usually prefers having at least one other close friend or family member around, rather than being in a group with many people she doesn't know. She is always honest and  would rather have others take charge instead of her, as she suffers from a lack of confidence. However, this passive exterior is but one facet of her disposition. So much time of being around her friendly and outgoing sister has rubbed off on her; Catherine can also be surprisingly bold and determined when the situation calls for it (generally when she is alone and has to be independent). She is also a bit blunt at times, and doesn't always consider what someone else might think when she speaks her mind. Catherine's stress tolerance is not very good, considering she has lived in what is essentially a mansion for her whole life.

History : Catherine spent her early childhood a very happy young girl. Her father was the director of a major corporation that her mother worked for. Aside from them, Catherine had her twin sister, Sophie, as a constant companion. The twins essentially did everything together simultaneously where they could, but since their parents were generally busy the servants in the luxurious home they lived in were tasked with keeping them inside the property (a challenge in the making; they loved sneaking out together). While they remained close, Catherine and Sophie started becoming notably different at the age of 13. Catherine, being a bit more shy, acquired an interest in gaming, while Sophie spent most of her time out and about with her friends. Catherine was never comfortable around lots of people, but the mask of a video game avatar combined with the virtual reality of a NerveGear seemed to be a good way of simulating that. She was also skilled at coordination and reaction time, thanks to the piano lessons she had been taking for years. Her father granted her request for a NerveGear and a copy of SAO, thinking that its unique mechanics would help her acquire a bit of confidence (He also kind of wanted to play it, too). Once SAO started, Mirage nearly fell into the bandwagon of defeat and started to wait for the game to be cleared, thinking it would take maybe a week at most (Mirage has never played a MMORPG before). When she realized this was not going to happen any time soon, Mirage made up her mind to bring about her own destiny and marched straight out to the killing fields. She hasn't been back into a town for longer than a day since.

Strategy : Mirage's starting Skills are Two-Handed Assault Spear and Parry. Mirage plays SAO based on the central idea that while dying is too great a risk to take, one can still contribute in combat by keeping enemies at a distance. She picked Parry so that she'd be able to fight back and block at the same time. Mirage desperately wants to get back home, but since that's not happening any time soon she intends to learn how to fend for herself. At the same time, not having her sister around is making her exceedingly lonely, so she does plan to join a party at some point. Mirage starts with a regular spear and will move on to staves later after noticing her Unique Skill. She will decide on investing more in Agility because she wants to speed her strikes (spears are not much for knockback anyway). Mirage doesn't usually spend the night in hotels (she doesn't get much sleep), and only really goes back to towns to repair her equipment, sell unneeded items, buy potions, crystals and food, and maybe spend the night.

Unique Skills : Fusion Warrior - If the player is using a polearm of any kind, all Sword Skills that work for polearms will work in conjunction for that weapon. It only lasts for 5 minutes after it is activated with a polearm active, or if it is activated and a polearm is later wielded. It remains active until the player no longer wields a polearm or until 5 minutes have elapsed since the Sword Skill was activated, and cannot be activated if the player does not have a polearm to wield. It has a cooldown of 12 hours.

Password : Redacted

Other: Mirage is a very good pianist. Ever since she turned 10 her mother signed her up for piano lessons, and she has since been in a regional musical competition which she won second place in. She is also very good at making something up on the spot. When she was not doing homework, gaming or having fun with her sister, she could usually be found on the grand piano in the living room.

 

Username: Backup77

In-game name: Aster

Name: Akio Takahashi (western order)

Sex: Male

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Appearance: Aster is Japanese, and has deep brown, almost black, eyes. His black hair is short, and stick up in sharp, uneven tufts. He has a habit of running his fingers through his hair, especially when he's nervous, causing it to stick up even more. His facial features could be described as a bit feminine, as he has wide eyes, long lashes, a small nose, and a rounded jawline. His face is also very expressive, and he’s usually smiling. Though he has a slight tan, it’s obvious that he spends more time indoors than out. He's tall-ish, but sits with a slight slouch and tends to lean on one leg while standing, and he isn't muscular at all.

 

His battle armor tends to be described as 'elegant', as he avoids clunky-looking armor and has a fondness for capes and flowing cloth. The metal of his usual armor is a bright silver and looks thin and light, while the cloth is silky and a deep, vibrant green. His casual clothes tend to be in bright colors.

 

Personality: In general, Aster is bright and cheerful. Very much an extrovert, he’s almost always smiling when around his friends. He tries to look on the bright side of things, and often tries to cheer others up, or at least help them get through their pain. He cares deeply about the feelings of others, sometimes to the point of suppressing his own. If he isn’t happy but the people around him are, he’ll try to put on a bright facade to avoid bringing them down. This selflessness extends into other things, such as how he avoids complaining (except in a joking way, of course) or asking for help.

 

Though usually understanding of other's flaws and slow to assign blame, Aster does have a hatred for a few kinds of people. He can't stand cruelty or betrayal; he has a hard time confronting people, but he'll at least try to stop people from harming others.

 

Aster would never intentionally put people in danger, but he sometimes acts a bit too reckless. Many people have died in the death game, but no one he’s personally known. As such, it’s often hard for him to realize just how easy it would be for everything to go wrong. Though he’s generally not arrogant and doesn’t think of himself as good at the game, he does think of himself as good enough to not die. After all, if someone died they either must have done something wrong or they were unlucky, right? He doesn’t think of himself as unlucky, so things would have to be alright. In other words, he’s biased about certain things. He will admit that most deaths after the first month were accidents, but this makes him feel uncomfortable. It’s easy to apologize and say that what you did was wrong, but it’s difficult to actually realize that and change yourself. Aster tends to laugh off his own flaws and draw attention away from them instead of trying to fix them.

 

History: Akio was born and raised in Japan. School was difficult for him, especially math, as he found it hard to concentrate on the dull schoolwork. He got lower than average marks, and didn’t enjoy most of his classes. The exception to this was his English class. With something he actually had a passion for he did well. It let him communicate with more people, and he got lots of practice talking on forums and in chatrooms and such. His older brother, Hideaki, on the other hand, got good marks in all of his classes. Aster was never really envious of this; he understood how much time and effort his brother put into his school work, and was more unhappy about this because they never got to spend too much time together.

 

While at first he wasn’t interested in MMORPGs or even video games in general, a few years ago some of his friends got him to play some online games. Since then it’s been a hobby of his, so he’s quite familiar with how they work. He and his friends were excited for SAO to come out, and Akio was one of the lucky few who managed to order the game online. Disappointingly, none of his friends managed to get it. He decided to at least play around with it for awhile without them- there wouldn’t be any harm in figuring out how it worked and learning about the game before it came out, right?

 

Strategy: Aster’s goal is to clear the game with as many people alive as possible. What’s the point if everyone’s dead? At the same time, however, he wants to clear the game soon. He’s afraid of the idea of the safe zones not being safe anymore, and the longer the game goes on the more people will die. Just as importantly, many people, himself included, want to escape the game as soon as possible. As well, he also has a tendency to underestimate the chances of something going terribly wrong. Because of this, his play style leans on the more reckless side of things. He's often the one to suggest that they keep hunting when it maybe wouldn't be too wise to do so.

 

He carries a «One-Handed Sword» and a light triangular shield that's about two feet tall. While not too biased either way, he puts more points into dexterity. This lets his fighting style focus on switching with his teammates and familiar, and he tries to always be where he should be on the battle field. His two starting skills are «One-Handed Straight Sword» and «Shield», and he uses light armor.

 

Unique Skills: «Synergy» - Allows the user to connect with their familiar on a much deeper level. The skill allows special Sword Skills to be used. These can only be activated if the familiar is in an acceptable position for the specific Sword Skill to be used, to prevent the skill from going wrong. If successfully activated, the skills will cause both the user and the familiar to move, thus allowing for better teamwork.

 

A special high-level skill accessed by training «Synergy» is called «Harmony» . When «Harmony» is activated (by vocal command), the skill prevents both the user and the familiar from dying so long as the other survives. For example, if Aster’s familiar’s HP hit 0, it would remain there until Aster died, the skill ended, or the familiar was healed. The skill has a twenty-four hour cool down, and has a maximum activation length of one minute. The skill will also immediately end if Aster and his familiar are separated by a short, unknown distance.

Password: Redacted

Other:

 

Username: Narvix

In-game name: Nydedri

Name: Janele Royce

Sex: Female

Gender: Female

Age: 21 years

Appearance: With cropped, red hair, Janele has striking green eyes and fair skin, the only blemish being a smattering of freckles along her cheeks. Standing at 5’9”, she has a moderate build with a slender neck and long limbs. On the left side of her neck, a jagged scar runs diagonally along her flesh, the result of a particularly risky stunt during high school. Her facial features are more on the narrow and sharp end that accentuate her mean behavior. For her starting outfit, she has a dark purple long-sleeved shirt beneath the beginner’s leather armor and dark-colored trousers.

Personality: In the most simple of terms, Janele is rather mean. She is very blunt with her words, believing there to be no point in sugarcoating things. She’s rude and highly unlikely to think much of other people. However, there is a small flicker of sentimental empathy beyond her rough exterior. Of course, she doesn’t like mushy things and would rather avoid them. Seeing people cry makes her greatly uncomfortable and uncertain about how to make them stop. She won’t comfort you to comfort you, just to get you to shut up.

Usually the first one to try and boss people around, Janele isn’t afraid to lie if it benefits her in the end. Beneath her hard exterior is a woman who is very much afraid of dying. This fear drives her to be as brutal as possible in Monster battles. She won’t admit this fear to any random stranger. The only person who knows is the man who joined the game with her. The cause of this fear that undermines her rough demeanor? Her small child of three years old and not seeing her grow up.

History: Growing up with demanding parents has shaped Janele to be the studious sort in her early schooling years. After middle school and entering high school, she rebelled against her parents and became much more abrasive in manner. She caused trouble and dealt with the consequences while smiling smugly. She had a few hook-ups and, at 18, found herself expecting. While Janele didn’t have a specific “type” that she attached herself to, the father was certainly the sweet type with an underlying submissive demeanor. However, the submissiveness frustrated her and she made a point to try and help develop his sense of confidence. Thought she won’t admit it, the time spent helping him made her a more tolerable human being. Having a child only softened her further despite her still-harsh attitude.

When SAO entered its Beta Test, Janele jumped in and thoroughly enjoyed the experience so, of course, she got her husband to join. Unfortunately, the official release to the public didn’t turn out to be as wonderful as believed….

Strategy: Janele is more of a hard hitter than a rapid dodger, preferring to deal as much damage as she can in as few hits. As such, she has chosen to use Heavy Armor to up her defense. Two-Handed Assault Spear and Heavy Metal Equipment are her two starting Skills; the latter allows her to use Heavy Armor more effectively with each increasing level. Most of her level points go into Strength.

Unique Skills: Final Assault - In whatever series of slashes, jabs, and blunt attacks, Janele gains a speed and critical hit boost. During the duration of five (5) minutes, she gains a 2% critical hit increase upon activation if her health has fallen 50%; every additional 5% earns her a 3% critical hit increase. Her speed is boosted about 8% and lasts for three (3) minutes more than her Unique Skill. Cool down is approximately 45 minutes.

Password: Redacted

Other: Her husband’s name is Maverick Royce and has assumed the username, Ybyl.

 

Username : makenziec123

In-game name: Amanda Clover

Name : Amanda Clover

Sex: Female

Gender : Female

Age : 19

Appearance : Amanda has stormy blue/grey eyes that hide behind a pair of thick black glasses and hair that flows half way down her back in a wild, fiery red wave of almost-curls. She has pale skin with a few freckles dotting her face and her arms. When she isn’t wearing her battle gear, she prefers to wear a two-sizes-too-big grey sweater with a black flower print/design on it, black cargo pants, and black combat boots. She likes wearing loose and baggy clothes because she is very large busted and is also nearly six feet tall, so she feels like the baggy clothes help her blend in better. Her beloved Heavy Armor is made to look as much like one of her favorite anime characters, the Lily armor that Saber from Fate/Unlimited Codes wears. The armor consists of a silver breastplate, silver gauntlets, silver armored boots that cover the knee, a white, full dress-like skirt that comes to the knee with black trim, with silver plates of armor over the top of part of the skirt for added protection. Although the anime version of the armor does not have this, Amanda has added more protection to her back, arms, and head as well. All are silver.

 

(link to my drawings: http://storyspinner13.deviantart.com/)

 

Personality : Amanda is more of the strong silent type. She comes off as intimidating to strangers, especially if they meet her while she's mad, and she always seems to hold people at a distance. She is not afraid to sacrifice herself to save a friend, and she will always take the path that creates more work for her if it means the game will be easier for others. To her close friends, she is smart, funny, kind, and a little sarcastic when the mood strikes her. She has had a tough life, but not as hard as some others and she knows it. She loves sweets, but can’t stand any spicy food at all. She loves animals, especially wolves and tigers, but above all else she is obsessed with dragons. She draws a lot in real life, and these are her three favorite things to draw when she has the time. She’s not very close to her family due to a part of her past, but she loves them just the same. If she doesn’t like you, then you don’t yet understand the meaning of the phrase “glaring daggers”, and given that in this world there are few people to stop her, she is more than likely to try out a right-hook. Her sense of morality leans more towards good, but she also knows that sometimes good people have to do bad things to get by. She is very open minded and claims she will try anything once, but has a terrible fear of heights.

 

History : Growing up in the beginning was relatively normal for Amanda. She went to school, she had friends, she played soccer and she liked reading. But when she turned eight years old, her mom came home from the hospital with the grim news that her dad had passed away. Almost like a switch had been flipped, Amanda stopped talking. her friends tried to support her and play with her, but she just shut everyone out. She kept telling herself that if she wrapped barbed wire around her heart, then no one could rip it out of her chest again. Her mother and brother dealt with the grief in similar ways, leading to the rift which has now formed between the three of them. It also didn’t help that her little brother would get frustrated with her for not talking to him, so he would beat her black and blue, but only in places that wouldn’t show. It was during this time that she discovered her first video game, Pokemon. She fell in love with the idea that you could live another person’s life, and still experience all the same things. She kept buying and playing new games and upgrading systems, quickly becoming one of the most skilled gamers she knew (although that wasn’t many). It wasn’t until Amanda was about twelve that she began trying to come out of her safe little shell, and although she hasn’t completely broken away from it, she is no longer afraid to speak her mind and will always help anyone if she can.

 

Strategy : Amanda takes full advantage of her Heavy Armor to become a living tank, using Heavy Metal Equipment and Two Handed Sword as her first two skills. Amanda doesn’t plan to beat the game, not on her own at least, but she also won’t be waiting in the safety of towns like others will. She can’t expect someone to save her, she needs to save herself. She’s not some kind of princess locked in a tower. She prefers swords and other such heavy melee weapons, but she’s not opposed to using other weapons either. She hopes to get her skill high enough to unlock and then use the Two Handed Sword skill. If she had to pick a ranged weapon, she would try and build something similar to Ember Celica, the Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets that Yang Xiao Long wears in RWBY.

 

Unique Skills : Watch and Learn- Amanda explains this ability to other people as being like "the shadow Link battles in Legend of Zelda, or CopyCat/Sketch from Pokemon." It lets her copy an opponent or team mate's skill level with a weapon, then use that weapon in combat. She can either try to take the weapon from an enemy, or, if she has the item in her inventory she can try to duck back, switch weapons, then continue fighting. This ability can only activate if she has a weapon available to her, and only when her health is under 25%.

 

Password : Redacted

 

Other: She is a hopeless romantic at heart. Also, if you can’t tell, she is  total fangirl and loves nerding out with people.

 

 

Username : Epyon

In-game name: Naudleigh (Pronounced nod-lay)

Name: Alexander Rios

Sex: Male

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Appearance: Alexander is a fairly tall guy of latin descent, being 5'11 and he has a lithe but muscled frame that was earned through him playing soccer extensively through most of his life. His hair is as dark as the midnight sky, with dark blue highlights that he kept midback length and he has dark green eyes that had most girls swooning. In real life, Alex would wear a nice dress shirt with dress pants or a nice polo with jeans. In the game, he wears heavy steel armor that is surprisingly light and flexible as if it was an extension of his own skin with a purple cloak alongside a black steel coffin shield that is 4 ft tall and 2 ft wide with the image of a lion on its face. Across his left eye is a scar from when a cat clawed him out of fear when he found it on the street. His skin is a nice bronze color and he has the beginnings of a mustache and a beard that he keeps neatly trimmed. When he isn't smiling or angry, he has a bored, somber expression on his face.

Personality: Alexander is fairly laid back and is very witty, even in the most dire of situations. However while those who don't know him would assume he isn't mature would be surprised indeed to find themselves being scolded by him for foolish decisions. Those who do know him would say he is wise beyond his years. In addition, Alexander holds himself to a code of principle and honor that inevitably chooses the kinds of people he associates with. Alexander loathes betrayers and liars, preferring for blunt honesty than sugar-coated words in an attempt to spare feelings, as a result he is blunt and he cares not for whose feelings he hurts. He is not afraid to fight for what is right or to come to the aid of someone else but he will also try not to fight if he can help it, preferring to use words instead of force.  

History: Alexander grew up in a well off family, not ridiculously wealthy but neither were they living paycheck to paycheck. As the only son of a military father and a mother who worked as a surgeon, he was taught discipline and respect and he had graduated college with a bachelors in Medicine and an associates in Criminal Justice. In life, family, love and honor were all he cared about, if it would bring shame to him or to his family, he wouldn't do it and often would lash out at those who tried to pressure him. His groups of friends mainly included other sports players but he would get along with anyone as long as they didn't prove to be ignorant fools. He first got into video games as a way to relax and he ended up enjoying RPGs especially, so when SAO first came out, he jumped at the chance to get it, thinking it would be an awesome adventure... Unfortunately, he got more than he bargained for, much more.

Strategy: Alex has two skills, One Handed Sword and Shield, Alex was planning on joining one of the guilds once the dungeons were getting too difficult on taking alone but he preferred workting alone as it kept him from worrying about those with him and allowed him to better concentrate on staying alive. However he had to admit, it was lonely without comrades so he was beginning to frequent the cities more often. He tends to balance his experience points in a 2:1 ratio of Strength to dexterity. In combat, Alex leads with a shield rush followed by a shield bash that enabled him to set up for his strikes with his hand a half sword. Because of him preferring to be in the midst of combat or on the outskirts  making surgical attacks, he prefers heavy armor but his armor was forged by a friend so that while it had great defensive stats, it didn't hinder his movements so profoundly as the usual bulky armor. His desire to clear the game is probably the most profound of any of the other players for he wanted desperately to return to his parents.

Unique Skills: Vengeance of Blades. A combination of Slashing One handed Sword skills and the Shield skills. This skill permits Naudleigh to disarm and immobilize the target, enabling him to use as many combinations of the Sword Skills he chooses before completing the Skill with a shield bash that knocks the enemy away. To trigger the attack, Naudleigh jumps towards his enemies with shield leading and sword trailing behind him, both shield and sword will glow a purple light once Naudleigh begins the skill.  This skill is active for a mere 60 seconds and it has a cool down of  12 hours. However once Naudleigh joins combat with the target, nobody else can attack it, thus he has to be careful with whom he joins battle with. He also cannot use this to attack bosses if they are over 5 levels higher than he is.

Password: Redacted

Other: During his teen years, Alexander and his father were in a medieval sword fighting school and he has kept training until he was trapped inside of SAO. As a way to calm himself within the game, Alexander sings.

 

Username: Marcus Pheonix

In-game name: DM. Lance

Name: Ken Lane

Sex: Male

Gender : Male

Age : 17

Appearance : Lance is reasonably tall at 6.2ft and is quite thin. He has black hair that is reasonabally short on the left and back of his head falling just on his collar at the back and just loosely hanging over his ear on the left. He has orange highlights from about half of the hair length to the tips. The right side of his hair is very low, giving him a considerable emo fringe, hanging down to his chin and covering most of that side of his face. This is due to the horrific burns on that side of his body going from just above his right eye all the way down to his foot, occasionally spreading a little further towards the centre of his back and front at some points. He is still in possession of his right eye but wears an eyepatch to help cover the scars. With that exception he could be called handsome having a mature, chiselled look about him making him appear older than he is, he is clean shaven. His one eye is green and quite large, somewhat detracting from the mature look of his facial features. He wears thin leather armour, consisting of an ocean green sleeveless plate covering his chest and stomach, under it he has a black long sleeved shirt, with the left sleeve cut off. He also has a single shoulder plate on his right arm and a dark brown half cape and cowl that reaches halfway down his back. Underneath his right sleeve the burn marks are even more noticeable, until the reach half way down his upper arm where they stop abruptly, as if a knife has perfectly severed through them. He wears thin black pants, made of a material designed for ease of movement, his clothes wouldn’t be unfit of a thief or rogue character.

Personality : Lance is a nice person and when talking to people he always looks past appearances due to his own circumstances. However, he is quite shy and fairly reclusive due to his own appearance. When broken down he is a kind and friendly person who tries to have people notice him for his skills in game than his appearance. During personal moments of crisis he can be very calm and understanding due to his past experiences and contact with nurses and varying counsellors, providing a good shoulder to lean on. Above all things in the death game he dislikes it would be that everyone looks how they do in real life. He knows what it’s like to experience pain and loss and as such is less impacted by the death game than most. He is also confident in his abilities as a fighter, which adds to his lack of worry. As he’s frequently trying to improve his skills in his spare time in the death game he hunts for meats to sell to the markets and on creating skills with the recorder, he has yet to make any but he has ideas of what he wants. When it comes to peer interaction, he is gullible and generally suffers from severe peer pressure as he’s constantly trying to prove himself – he would willingly hold off a pack of mobs by himself if a ‘friend’ or someone he thought was a friend told him to, in those sense it makes him quite good at teamwork as he doesn’t argue but in other cases it makes him a doormat.

History : Ken had a mostly normal childhood, he went to school and hung out with friends, he also enjoyed playing cricket and many of his peers and family figured that he would grow to be a top notch fast bowler. Until he was 13 and an unchecked gas pump caused his house to burn down. During the evacuation the structural supports of the building collapsed and a burning piece of ceiling fell down onto Ken pinning him and burning his skin severely. Said piece of debris was also the factor that kept his father, who had been keeping him and Ken’s mother at the front, from escaping resulting in his death. Ken was pulled out and taken to hospital where his arm was amputated, culminating in a loss of an arm, and a father. Since then Ken and his mother have lived with her sister, Ken’s uncle and aunt, who provide Ken and his mother with a granny flat to live. Due to his horrific scarring he was frequently shunned and disgusted those around him, though some kids would say his eyepatch was cool. Ken sought solitude by playing online games where appearance wasn’t a factor, and he’d become quite good at playing a game one handed. He still frequented the hospital for checks on both his physical and mental health. Upon the announcement of the nerve gear and what it could do, his doctors had Ken test it and to his disbelief he found that the system would successfully render and produce an arm for him, acting as a physical substitute for the ‘ghost arm’ feeling. When the SAO beta test was announced the doctors managed to secure a spot for Ken as they were fond of the child and saw it as a way for him to experience life as a normal person, having full range of motion, no inhibiting features and the ability to interact with peers. When the official game came out Ken logged in at the hospital, unaware of the benefits that would provide for him in the real world.

Strategy : When fighting Lance prefers to be in the thick of the action, in order to show off his combat skills. His main strategy consists of overwhelming his opponents with flurries of speedy dagger skills. This combined with his fairly high reflexes and speed, as well as his unique skill makes him very effective when fighting 1v1 duels, it’s when fighting hordes of multiple enemies with superior ranged weaponry that he falters.

His starting skills were One handed Dagger and Leather Equipment. Instead of parrying he relies on speed and dodging. The exceptions of his combat style are when he’s hunting, taking on a more stealthy approach that better suits a dagger user, but usually he’s by himself when he hunts so he doesn’t try to show off his combat skills too much. His knowledge from Beta testing has led him to plan ahead and he knows which skills he wishes to unlock later in the game, things such as tracking, hiding, and sprint, though he has his eyes set on adopting some other forms of combat, such as martial arts or ranged should his dagger fail him. Due to his nature to be in the forefront of the action he wants to work towards clearing the death game, however he also takes enjoyment in having his arm back and tries hard to enjoy himself while he has it, as he figures that upon returning to the death game his doctors won’t be too willing to let him venture into the full dive world again.

Due to the loss of his throwing arm (his right) Lance learned how to work with his left, upon getting his arm back in SAO he fights and utilises his ambidextrous nature. This allows him to fight just as well with his left hand as his right, and oftentimes he will chuck his dagger from one hand to the other in order to startle his foes and attack their weak spots.

Unique Skills :

Shadow Flutter – A passive combat based skill. When fighting he can sometimes summon a projection of himself while dodging from his opponents attacks to draw the opponents attention, the afterimage will fade quickly though but it allows a moment of relent in a battle. This tends to occur more when he ducks to the left, as if the game were compensating for his lack of vision on his right side due to the eyepatch and hairline obscuring it.

Password :  Redacted

Other: He’s currently farming gold in order to purchase a recorder as soon as possible and frequently practices techniques involving his Shadow Flutter in the hopes of incorporating it into a skill at some point.

 

Username : Peelzies

In-game name: Orion Pacer

Name : Frederick Baldwyn

Sex: Male

Gender : Male

Age : 18

Appearance : Standing at approximately 5'11 with a lean and muscular build, Orion has short blonde hair that hangs out over a bright red bandana that he almost consistently wears, and blue eyes paired with a pale complexion. He has a well defined and pointed jawline, A prominent diagonal scar sits on his right cheek. He is generally inclined to travel lightly, and is most likely to wear flexible leather or lightweight mail, however he will wear most things without complaint. His starting outfit is a green, tight fitting long sleeved shirt under the beginner's leather vest. His pants are brown, simply enough.

Personality : Orion is an energetic and friendly fellow, not quite one for the subtle approach. He enjoys company, and is very extroverted. One thing Orion longs for is a pet, it is one of his ultimate goals to find the perfect companion in sword art online. He is very approachable and is more likely to share his old gear with lower level players than to sell it. He tries to keep an upbeat attitude in any situation, leading him to be valuable morale support to parties. The reason he has such an all around good attitude was the lack of color in his real life. He had a very dull childhood and early teens, and although it may be his life on the line, he has felt more alive than ever in Sword Art Online. Sometimes he is considered too cheerful, and those around him resent him for not taking things seriously. He often will be distracted by scenery or events taking place in his vicinity, as he is easily entertained.

 

Orion is extremely uncomfortable with sadism, unnecessary violence just for the sake of being violent. He completely understands necessities of the game, which in some cases may result in taking another player's life, but refuses to be a part of unnecessary violent acts.

 

Orion was never very good at empathizing with other people, and instead of trying to understand, he always makes his best attempt at cheering people up. Sometimes it simply doesn't register to him that nobody wants cheesecake after watching their party being slaughtered at the hands of a boss. He is occasionally much too kindhearted, and will share what he can't afford to. This often leaves him in tight spots, with no currency. It is not easy to break Orion's spirits, but should it happen he well almost definitely fall apart.

History : Frederick's childhood was a bleak one. He grew up in Bremen, Germany with his mother and father. He had no siblings, and only two cousins who lived in France, whom he had only seen twice. He went to primary and secondary school, consistently achieving high marks. He never played sports, but was interested in wrestling and MMA due to an experience with one particular group of teenage ruffians. He wasn't bullied much at all, so the situation was new to him. At 13, Frederick was jumped by a group of teenagers on his way home from school. He was beaten badly, but what truly left it's mark was the leader of the group kneeling down at his side and dragging a switchblade across his cheek, drawing blood and leaving a prominent scar, while laughing in his face. This spawned his deep discomfort with even slightly sadistic behavior. This and an otherwise bland childhood gave Frederick an overpowering wanderlust and need for adventure, as well as an urge to be stronger and tougher. This led him to turn to video games, and although they slaked his thirst for adventure for a time, he slowly grew bored with them. Then SAO was announced. At first it seemed like any old RPG to Frederick, but as he researched it he found that it was the first game to efficiently make use of the NerveGear system. With the disposable income he had been saving to purchase more games, Frederick purchased the NerveGear and signed up for the Beta of SAO.

Strategy : Orion's two skills are in Maces and Acrobatics. He wields a simple but extremely effective one handed flanged mace. He is exceptionally fast, with a punishing swing. His stat points are mainly devoted to strength. He wears light gear and relies on well aimed strikes to demolish his opponents. While he is an extremely effective and agile DPS dealer, he can't take a hit very well. Orion does not want out of SAO in any sense. He loves it. However, he wants to return those around him to their lives and families, so he works his hardest to beat the game.

Unique Skills : Reaver For 45 seconds, Orion deals exceptionally more damage, but loses his dexterity advantage. His reflexes are hindered considerably and he is far more clumsy with his fighting. He hits like a freight train, but recovers like a drowsy hippo.

The skill has a cooldown of 15 minutes

Password : Redacted

Other: Likes food. A lot.

 

Shelved Characters

 

This is all the character sheets whom, for various reasons, have been retired from the current roleplaying activities of The Death Game. If you want to reintroduce any of these, you must contact me and then wait for the opportune moment for their return.

 

Username : SUP3RSPAWN3R

In-game name: Aiurdae

Name: Takahiro Nakamura (Western order of names)

Sex: Male

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Appearance: He is slightly tall, about 5' 9". His eyes are bright green, and his hair looks like it is black. His hair is medium length, and his bangs are usually pushed off to the right to keep them out of his eyes. He is of light build, only weighing 113 pounds in real life. His face has a round shape to it, though this is because of his skull's shape so he does not look very "filled out". He currently wears a long, dark green coat with a dull metal chestplate undernearth it, as well as metal greaves and arm bracers. If in a cold area/floor he wears a fur-lined cloak over his normal clothes and armor. His current weapon is a slightly curved sword with a single edge and very little decoration. Later on he will aquire a semi-rare Swordstaff.

Personality: He is a little on the arrogant side, sometimes to the point of overconfidence in his offensive ability that he forgets what blocking means. He tends to be the first one in, but not necessarily the last one out. Around friends or people he knows he is optimistic about most things as well as a very "I don't believe in a no-win scenario" kind of person. He likes to be around people, though doesn't try to be the center of attention. He likes pressure, and performs better if there are odds to beat or something is at stake. He likes making jokes and making people laugh, but won't do any real physical antics (He's not that much of an extrovert). He dislikes people who slack off constantly, but not necessarily to a Borg-like "productivity machine" level.

History: Takahiro grew up around technology, since his parents both worked for the same tech company. Once the NerveGear came out he started saving up spending money to buy it. The idea of actually being in a game was amazing to him, and he managed to get into the beta release of SAO.  During his first few days in the game, he would check the menu every hour or so almost compulsively, as he refused to believe that the developer of the game could actually trap the players inside. He eventually grew to accept it, and started working on clearing the game. His prior knowledge of the game gave him a bit of an advantage, but his beta tester status got him excluded from quite a few guilds.

Strategy: His starting skills are <<One-handed sword>> and <<Sprint>>. His style of fighting is an offensive-based one, using large amounts of frontal swings and sword skills to wear down an enemy's defense. He uses movement instead of blocking if he needs to evade an attack.  He plans to become as skilled as he can and try to clear the game. He would much rather go with a guild or a party than play solo, but sometimes he will choose the latter. He focuses on the strength skill. He is also known for using paralyzing potions on his weapon if he gets caught in PvP, so as to be able to non-lethally stop them.

Unique Skills: None

Password: Redacted

Other: He has some basic programming skills that his parents taught him. He also is a complete failure at cooking, both in-game and in real life.

Edited by Coryn02

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Questions and Answers (Subject to change)

 

I figured it wouldn't be appropriate to call these frequently asked questions because most have only been asked once. Questions are in green, with my answer in blue.

 

Is my character allowed to use the same weapon/strategy/whatever as another character?

I'd appreciate it if you could be a bit more original with your ideas, but if it can work out, I don't see a problem.

 

How will original Sword Skills work?

 

The way I have it planned is like in new ALO: You must register a custom Sword Skill in order to use it, and you have to be fast enough for the system to recognize it as a technique (which is pretty hard). I added in the Recorder because the SAO series is woefully vague about how they are registered. At most, a player can only have one original Sword Skill at a time ready to use.

 

How do pets work?

 

Pets work essentially as they are seen in Sword Art Online. You can rarely tame a monster if you enter into combat with it and it shows signs of curiosity rather than aggression, at which point feeding the creature its favorite food will turn it into an ally that follows you and aids in combat (some have their own Sword Skills, but most have supportive abilities). They are generally very hard to get because the chance is very low and you can't have killed many of the monsters before (killing too many of one monster makes it impossible to tame one). Only some types of monsters are available for taming (they have to be small in size, somewhat adorable, and cannot be labyrinth bosses, quest bosses, or summons).

 

That is all the questions so far, as they come in I will update this section.

Edited by Coryn02

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Reserved.

 

Hooray! We're ready to go!

 

I don't really see a reason to be getting rid of posts, I reserved the ones I need.

 

EDIT: I changed my mind, expect a wipe here.

 

EDIT 2: Since the wipe is done (Thanks Sock!), I will keep this post here as an extra reserved post.

Edited by Coryn02

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A bellow echoed through the trees, causing a small number of birds to scatter into the sky with startled cries. A thud barely reached a few feet off the ground, the bulky body of a freshly killed boar pixilating as a pop-up menu window blinked into existence. As Nydedri huffed and wiped off her brow with the back of her arm, her halberd strapped across her back, she selected the confirm option and the window promptly vanished.

 

Glancing over at Mirage, she nodded once and proceeded to swipe her right fingers downward in the air before her, opening a larger menu. Scrolling through her items, she initiated a trade with the other player, offering half of today's spoils to the young girl. Once done, Nydedri began heading for the edge of the forest, intent to return back to the Town of Beginnings before it got too dark out.

 

The sun was setting, creating a wash of orange and pink against the blue of the sky. For all purposes, it was beautiful. However, Nydedri no longer admired the scenery and, instead, saw only the dark trap that it really was.

 

Leaves, twigs, and grass crunched underfoot, a faint breeze toying with the edges of her red hair as the creatures of dusk became alive. More than she would please, Nydedri would often find herself forgetting that this was a virtual world, that everything she saw, heard, felt, and tasted were merely created through technology.

 

So was the world of Sword Art Online or, for short, SAO. A stunning breakthrough in gaming technology. Once, she was excited about it. Now? She couldn't despise its existence enough.

 

Her Heavy Armor shifted with her movements, Ebonsteel (her halberd) tapping against the back and creating a rhythmic, metallic, sound. The weight and consistent sound distracted her mind for only a short while but, it was a savored reprieve. Thoughts of home eventually wormed their way into her mind, like they always did each night.

 

But thoughts were all she presently had. Home was unreachable, had been for a week now. Home was outside of this game, outside of this death sentence. She was stuck within by trickery, by glamor that trapped 10,000 fools. And she had trapped her husband alongside herself.

 

The Town of Beginnings was in sight, the forest at Nydedri and Mirage's backs. "Do you plan on joining me in the Tavern?" she asked, vaguely distant. Waiting only long enough for an answer, she continued walking, past the town's center where a large fountain and announcement board sat silently. She had posted a note on the board the day before, calling for a small group to meet her so they could explore the labyrinth that had been discovered.

 

It was informed that a labyrinth on each floor would lead to that floor's boss and, after success, a way onto the next floor. There were 100 floors, 100 bosses, in this death game. Defeating all of them meant freedom.

 

Defeating all of them meant going home.

 

The wooden door creaked as Nydedri made her way into the tavern, her green eyes immediately spying her husband, Ybyl, sitting at one of the tables. He lifted his head and smiled warmly at her, the expression not reaching to his eyes like it used to. He wore casual clothes consisting of a long-sleeved shirt and pants, his equipment stored away in his Inventory. However, he wore blue gloves that bore the lavender insignia of their guild, Lily's Thorns.

 

A week ago, her husband was Maverick and she? She had been Janele.

 

Blinking to dispel her troubling thoughts before her husband could see them in her eyes, she approached the table and sat in the chair to his right, laying a gentle kiss on his temple before doing so. "It seems your trek went well?" she asked him, swiping her fingers to call up her menu once more and unequipped her armor and halberd. As the equipment pixilated into nothing, a plain tank top and jeans were revealed. Though, like her husband, her gloves remained to cover her hands.

 

"More or less. One of the younger players almost lost his head while trying to one-up everyone," Ybyl replied, a sigh rushing past his lips. Raking nimble fingers through unruly, dark hair, he watched her with his brown eyes. "You didn't overwork yourself today, did you?" he inquired, faintly worried.

 

Nydedri shook her head, smiling in an attempt to reassure him. "I'm fine, Ybyl." A window popped up before her and she glanced through it, examining the offered drinks and food items for set amounts of Cor. Eventually, she closed it, declining the chance to purchase food or drink; hunger was avoiding her still and she wasn't in much mood for a drink. She caught Ybyl's concerned gaze and she tried to scowl, looking the opposite way to avoid it.

 

By now, others should have been arriving. That is, if anyone decided to take up her call for an expedition party. Hopefully, some would.

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Amanda strode smoothly off the field and away from her final opponent for the day- a head strong teenaged Rogue boy who had decided he wanted to test his steel against her own.

 

"Sorry about that." Were her last words as she slid her two-handed sword, Fire Lily- a sword that looked as if it were made from white opal, streaked through with red that could only be seen from certain angles-, back into the sheath on the back of her dress-like armor, flicking her fiery red braid back over her shoulder.

 

The boy just scowled at her and grumbled as he walked away, back to where a few other boys had been watching and waiting.

 

"I told you, dude. She hasn't been beaten by anyone in a duel yet!" She heard one laughing as his friend trudged back over.

 

If she had heard this in any other circumstance, Amanda would have given her signature little cocky grin that only seemed to come out when she was in games like these. In these worlds, you could live a thousand different lives, a thousand different ways with millions of friends and foes or with individual NPCs. These worlds went by different rules, much more fun rules than the ones of her own.

 

What she wouldn't give to wake up from this beautiful nightmare world now.

 

Only a three weeks ago, Amanda would have ended her days by doing her Algebra II homework and then curling up with a good book or a sketch pad (or the TV remote if it was a Wednesday.)

 

Only a week ago, Amanda had discovered that the idea of sitting and waiting for this game to kill her or for someone else to save her was not an option.

 

Only a three days ago, Amanda had discovered that you could duel against other players, not just boars and random monsters.

 

Yesterday, Amanda had been passing through a new part of The Town of Beginnings, looking for different dueling opponents when she checked the announcement board at a fair-sized tavern. The advertisement that caught her eye was about exploring the labyrinth that would lead up to the next floor. She got a room to sleep in and weighed her options that night in the privacy of the candle light.

 

She didn't want to die. She would have been content to stay here a duel against other players until someone else beat the game. It couldn't take too long, right? People beat games like this in a matter of days usually. Right? But she already knew what she was going to do. She wasn't going to let anyone die for her, no matter how scared she was. If anything, she was hoping to save some people who knew they wouldn't be able to do this the pain of trying to force themselves towards victory. This game wasn't full of hard-core gamers, she knew that. Most of these people were just ordinary, every day people you passed in the street without ever noticing. She'd had enough death in her lifetime already. She wasn't going to let anyone else go through that. Not if she could help it.

 

So, walking back into the safety of town and changing back into her everyday wear- combat boots, black cargo pants and a loose grey sweater with a black floral design- she went back to that tavern, checked the sheet again, and then looked around to see if the person who had posted the notice was here yet. Not seeing them immediately, she sat down and ordered a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner, deciding to let her hair out of her braid to tumble like some kind of wavy waterfall down her back while she waited. Maybe some others would show up too?

Edited by makenziec123

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Aster hated quests where you had to wait for an item to be randomly dropped. It was impossible to tell how long they would take from the start, but it was always a long time if you wanted something good. Take this quest, for example; he'd been trying all day to get a sword better than his NPC-made «Iron Straight-Sword», and had only gotten halfway through the quest.

 

He'd heard that, two days into the game, two players had been killed by the «Small Yellow Bees» that they were fighting. He wasn’t worried, though. Five days later, everyone had become much stronger, and he was working with three other players. Despite the bees’ tendency to swarm every once in a while, the group had no difficulty fighting them off. They were almost pathetically weak. Of course, this meant that their exp. and Cor drops were terrible, and it was boring to fight them. One or two good sword strokes would cause them to shatter into blue polygons, and they were slow for insect-type monsters.

 

After dismissing yet another exp. window, Aster checked the time. There was plenty of time left in the day, but they’d been killing bees for hours and it had become terribly dull. Seriously, who designs these quests…? To advance in the quest, a dozen of the rare drops were needed. Aster had so far gotten half that many, and the others hadn’t been having much better luck. The sun was beginning to set, anyway, so the diurnal bees were starting to spawn less often.

 

“I think I’m going to head back to the Town of Beginnings to drop off my vendor trash, anyone else coming?”

“There’s a bit of time left. I’m going to try to get another drop before heading back,” one of the others said.

 

“Alright. Well, the spawning’s slowing down a bit now, so if I leave then then you guys won’t have to wait. Sound good? Bye!”

 

The rest of them echoed his farewell as he turned to leave. There was some other reason that he wanted to get back to town around sunset… what was it? Ah, he’d remember once he got back. Probably. If he didn't, it probably wasn't a big deal.

 

Once he reached town, Aster sold his vendor trash to an NPC. It didn't take long, as the price was fixed and couldn't be changed by arguing (not that the NPCs would even be able to understand if you tried). He then went to check the announcement board for any updates- oh. Right, of course, that was it. The labyrinth entrance had finally been opened, so someone had been looking for a group to explore it with. That had sounded interesting- why not go? It had been open for a day or two already, so it was likely that all of the good stuff was already taken by the beta testers. Still, it would be cool to explore, and maybe they could help clear the dungeon. At the current rate it would take years to clear the game- well. Hopefully things would speed up a bit later, or they’d be stuck for quite awhile. Best not to think about it too much.

 

"Hey man, what's good?"

 

Oh, hey, it was Naudleigh. "Nothing much, I'm going to go meet up with this group that's planning to go explore the labyrinth. You busy?"

"Nah, mind if I come along?"

"Of course not, that'd be great. Let's go, then?" The more the merrier, after all. Plus, it would be more fun to go with someone that he already knew.

 

"Let's go."

 

 

The tavern wasn't very full, which made sense, given the time of day. Aster scanned the tavern for anyone that he might know, and spotted Nydedri. Ah. Lovely. Right, now that he thought of it the announcement had mentioned her guild (perhaps he should have paid more attention to it). Last time they partied they hadn't gotten along all that great. Nydedri had been a bit rude. ...Maybe they would get along better this time? Hopefully some other people would show up. He didn't want to be in a party that was too small if he had to talk to her.

 

For now he might as well go talk to her, though. “Hey Nydedri!” he said, walking over to her. He sat down at a different table, then turned his chair around a bit so that he could face Nydedri and Ybyl. “So, uh, you’re gathering people to explore the labyrinth, righ? I can come. Probably. So can Naudleigh.” Great, now I've annoyed her and she won’t let me come…

Edited by Backup77

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The ruckus in the tunnel is deafening, sword on shield and grunts of exertion intermixed with those of pain. Although they quickly subside, the blade of a longsword through the chest of a goblin. Once it shatters into the shards of light, an exp window pops up with the spoils of battle. Naudleigh grins and breathes deeply, he stumbled across a group of goblins and it took a while for him to kill them all. "Naudleigh, you need to take it easy." He says to himself, laughing weakly.

 

Naudleigh makes his way out of the tunnels and into the open sky where he feels a bit better. Like the other players of SAO, he longs to get home. He wants desperately to get home and hug his mother and father again. "One thing at a time, man... The game first, family reunion second."

 

He begins the trek to the Town of Beginnings a renewed spring in his step as he is close to leveling. He received some good equipment during the first week thanks to some spots nobody has touched and they have payed off already. Finally, he walks into the Town and seeing no reason to remove his armor and weapons, he keeps it on but he does sheathe his sword into his shield and he walks to the announcement board to see if anything new is happening. "Hmmm lets see.... Lily's Thorns? Nydedri is forming a party? Huh, this should be interesting..." He shrugs and grins, let us see what fortune holds for us. He thinks to himself. He looks to his right and he smiles when he sees Aster. "Hey man, what's good?"

 

"Nothing much, I'm going to go meet up with this group that's planning to go explore the labyrinth. You busy?"

 

"Nah, mind if I come along?"

 

"Of course not, that'd be great. Let's go, then?"

 

"Let's go."

 

He goes with Aster to the tavern and he waves to both Nydedri and the guy seated with her, as soon as they enter. That's probably Ybyl. "Hello Nydedri, what's new?" He nods when Aster says he can come partying to and grins. "If you'll have me that is."

Edited by Epyon

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(Very bad post in my humble opinion, next time I will do better.)

 

The Town of Beginnings. What an ironic name.

 

It was here, just a week ago, that Akihiko Kayaba told his beloved players that they were trapped in a game that could kill them. No disconnection, no hope for rescue, the only way out being the end of the final floor. Death in-game would mean true death.

 

The Town of Beginnings was named because it was the first settlement chronologically speaking, but this was the place where everyone's past died. A fresh start.

 

One of these players was Mirage; a young spear wielder determined to see her family again. She was not yet apart of a guild, though she regularly partied with a guild called « Lily's Thorn ».

 

She had just left a party with Nydedri, the leader of Lily's Thorn. After recieving half the spoils from their ventures, Mirage made her way into town. Mirage tended to avoid towns, since she didn't like being around crowds. But this wasn't a regular resupply for her constant hunting lifestyle.

 

Just the night before, a notice had been posted on the announcement board : The first floor's labyrinth had been discovered and a scouting party was searching for recruits.

 

Mirage was aware of this the day the notice had been posted because Nydedri had invited her personally; Lily's Thorn was the de facto leader of the clearing group right now.

 

Since she had accepted the request, Mirage was going into town to buy everything she could for the trip. She walked nto the nearest NPC shop. The shopkeeper beamed and greeted her. Mirage ignored the system-controlled program and brought up her interface by swiping her index and middle fingers in a downward gesture. Next to her own menu was a trading interface.

 

Mirage sold everything she had been looting from the Gray Wolves in the forest; pelts, claws, teeth, meat, and low-tier weaponry, armor, and accessories. This netted her a good infusion of Cor, that she then spent on potions, healing and antidote potions, some oil for her lantern, and a few loaves of bread. She thanked the NPC for its services as it cheerily bade her to come again.

 

After leaving the shop, Mirage walked through the bustling city towards the tavern established as the meeting place for the scouting party. A few groups of players were roaming the paved roads of the town as the sun set over the thick woods in the distance.

 

Generally, Mirage stayed out of towns because she didn't like being around others. Mirage spent most of her time in hostile areas battling monsters so she could become stronger. This was because she had no intention of staying in this world forever; she had something very real to go back to. But cooperation was sometimes necessary, and if she could personally ensure the game would be cleared faster, she would not miss that chance for anything.

 

Mirage stepped into the tavern. Inside were various groups of adventurers, much like herself. Most had picked their own tables and ordered food. The group that caught her attention was that of Nydedri; she was already at a table with Ybyl, her vice commander. At the table next to them were two young men; presumably recruits for the scouting party.

 

Upon seeing her enter the tavern, Ybyl smiled and waved at her. Nydedri gave an imperceptible nod. They'd all partied together a few times before, so they were acquainted.

Mirage went to their table and sat next to them. She interlocked her hands and spoke.

 

« So, what's the plan? »

Edited by Coryn02

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Amanda, after finishing her meal and listening in for a few minutes, left a bit of Cor on her table and then dusted away the crumbs for her face. Lightly stamping down on her initial talking-to-new-people-is-really-scary nerves by making a loose fist at her side, she put her long legs to good use and crossed the room in just a few quick steps.

 

She spoke quickly and quietly for someone who seemed to occupy so much space, but she spoke loud enough to be heard clearly; "Is this the group that is partying up to explore the dungeon?" She asked, eyes flickering from the woman that most of them had spoken to when they sat down (presumably the leader of the guild... Lily's Thorns, was it?) to the wall, to the table and a few other members of the group before they finally seemed to settle on the woman's face.

 

(huh. her eyes are really green. They'd be interesting to try and draw... I wonder if there's some kind of drawing skill I can develop here. I'll get sloppy in the real world if I don't. I wonder if anyone else likes drawing in this world...)

 

"Would it be alright if I sat down? I'd like to join you, if you'll have me." She asked, trying to make sure she didn't disappear off into her head again.

Edited by makenziec123

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This will be fun.... Nydedri thought sarcastically as Aster approached with a seemingly cheery voice. Naudleigh was with him, both taking a seat at the table next to her and Ybyl. Why did the most infuriating people she knew had to answer to her announcement? Why not anyone else? With a grumble beneath her breath, she struggled to bite back the sharp remarks she wanted to say in response; she needed the additional skill levels these two had to offer if she wanted to get out of the Labyrinth with Ybyl alive. "Yes, you both can come."

 

She pointedly didn't answer Naudleigh's question.

 

Mirage showed up next, getting straight to business. Nydedri smiled, approving of the young girl's matter-of-fact behavior. This girl she liked. This girl she wouldn't mind having around more often. However, before she could respond, another girl approached the table, somewhat shy. Nydedri frowned. The shyness would only prove to be a hindrance and she couldn't afford to take chances.

 

Maybe her fighting skills were opposite of her social skills. One could hope at least.

 

Motioning for the girl to take a seat, Nydedri cleared her throat and got down to the matter at hand. "Since you're all here, I can only assume you know what this is about. I want to take a moderately sized group into the labyrinth and find the Boss Chamber. The reason why I am recruiting outside of my guild is so that the map information can be spread much faster. Depending on how things go, I might set up a second expedition in the future. I want everyone in the clearing groups to know as much as possible to minimize casualties as best I can," she explained.

 

"Since this is the first labyrinth, no one knows what to expect so we'll need to be more cautious in our approach. No one is to go ahead on their own and no one is to be left behind. Remaining together is going to be important; we don't want anyone to be separated and possibly surrounded by monsters," Ybyl stated. Nydedri nodded in agreement.

 

Looking at everyone gathered, taking the time to examine their faces and attempt to read their emotions, Nydedri leaned back in her seat, folding her arms across her chest. With a frown, she continued speaking. "I know some of your skills and names, but not everyone's. You, shy girl. Who are you and where is your skill focused?" she asked abruptly.

 

Ybyl rubbed his face, hiding the wince behind his hand. "No need to be so rough, sweetheart," he murmured. Glancing at the other three, he smiled thinly. "Since we don't know a thing about the place, we don't yet know what the best approach will be. We're open to any suggestions and tossing around ideas. Once we're at the labyrinth, we'll decide on the best option. So, any thoughts?"

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Naudleigh merely smiles when Nydedri ignores his question. He chuckles to himself before shaking his head.

 

 

"So, what's the plan?" asked a girl who sat with Nydedri and Ybyl, her hands interlocking and he inwardly groans at the prospect of having two Nydedri's in the same group. Can some people just loosen up? He finds himself wondering.

 

"Is this the group that is partying up to explore the dungeon?"

"Would it be alright if I sat down? I'd like to join you, if you'll have me." asked another young woman and Naudleigh had to keep himself from jumping in surprise and he turned to look at her. Well, hellooo. He thinks as he pulls up another chair and motions for her to sit.

 

He clears his throat before he speaks, smiling at Ybyl to assure him that no offense was taken to the semi-harsh tone Nydedri is using. "With respect, Ybyl and Nydedri, even though this is an expeditionary force, I do not think it wise to go in blind. However I agree with nobody going alone. I think we should have two scouts while the rest of the group follows 7 paces behind them." He says. "Perhaps one other should run as liaison between the scouts and the main group."

Edited by Epyon

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Sitting down next to the boy who had pulled a chair out for her and lightly playing with the ends of her loose curls, Amanda listened and nodded her head as she listened to the conversation taking place.

 

Amanda gave a sort of half-smile at the directness of the question, glad for the bluntness that most of her friends used back in the real world. She shifted back into the cool confidence and familiarity of this, thinking how much like any other game this was right now. New face, new abilities. Evaluate, place in a group, head out into battle. Simple as that.

 

"My name is Amanda, I'm a Two Handed Sword wielder who uses Heavy Armor. My biggest strength in battle is melee and close-combat fighting, so if you put me anywhere put me in front of someone who needs a damage buffer." She finished, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

Briefly glancing around the table, Amanda didn't see any faces she immediately recognized, but she knew that some of them might recognize her from all her recent player v. player duels. She'd have to ask for introductions or something before they went into the dungeon.

 

Turning to listen to the guy next to her (huh. blue highlights in black hair. interesting choice given that both are pretty dark colors. I wonder if those are from the real world or if he added them in-game somehow?) and nodded. His idea wasn't bad, the only problem she could see with it was if the liaison were attacked going from the main group to the scouting party.

 

"If we follow your plan-sorry, I don't know anyones names. We can get to that later though-, I think we should have more than one liaison. We don't know if there are monsters that spawn out of walls or if there are delayed spawning points so that monsters appear behind you."

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Oh, good, more people. The announcement had been popular enough, then. He supposed that that made sense, given how well-known «Lily's Thorns» was. Actually, he wouldn't be too surprised if more people showed up, but then they'd have to turn them down or create two parties. They'd just hit the limit of six with the arrival of the second girl whose name he didn't yet know. Perfect!

 

Though, he wasn't all that sure about Naudleigh's plan. Splitting up at all... well, it seemed like something might go terribly wrong. What if the scouts got surrounded? What if there was some kind of trap involving a closing door? It sounded too dangerous. Still, seven paces wasn't all that far and having some kind of scout would be helpful. The question was, which option was more risky? The increase in efficiency wasn't worth it if it came with increased danger. His gut instinct went with 'stay together'. Might as well argue for that, then, even if he'd just go with whatever the other decided.

 

The girl, Amanda, seemed to be considering Naudleigh's plan as well. It was a pretty name, but Aster wondered about it. It was a common English name, wasn't it? Huh, from his experience most SAO names were uncommon names, words, or just whatever the user thought sounded cool. It wasn't that odd, though.

 

"Hey, Amanda! Nice to meet you, I'm Aster. Light armor, one-handed sword, shield, nothing special," he said. "Anyways, should we really split up at all? I mean, if we have two people walking between the scouts and the main party, then what's the point? We might as well just walk in a single-file line. I think that it'd be safer to stick together. There could be door-traps or something that try to split people off from the rest of the group."

Edited by Backup77

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"Nice to meet you Aster." Amanda smiled softly, then tried putting together her little "mind puzzle". Gears twisting and shifting, but she didn't have enough information. Her eyes went lightly clouded, and you could tell she was trying to work everything out in her head.

 

She held her chin thoughtfully and cocked her head to the side.

 

"Aster has a point. It would be much easier to figure out what we need to do in this dungeon if we all knew each others Skills. I think we are either expecting too much or too little from this dungeon. Given that this is the first dungeon of the game, it shouldn't be too difficult. Then again, given that this game was intended to be difficult for everyone- including the beta testers- it could be a pretty difficult starting point.

 

Her brow furrowed, and she began tracing something about on the table as if she could see some kind of... war map? A list of variables? It was impossible to tell if you couldn't see it through her eyes- it was like watching fish leap out of the water and into the foggy air to catch their prey... You could sense it more than you could see it. She was used to this, used to being a leader. It was like a second skin to her, rolling off her in waves that infected everyone around her with a determined confidence.

 

"If nothing else, we should all raise our levels as high as we possibly can if we haven't done so already. Then we spend some of our combined money on health items, each of us getting a specific amount while one person carries a cache of "spares" in case we run through our own personal supplies. I'm assuming that the person carrying the cache will be either our leader or our pack mule. If we stay in a single group, it would be wisest to send people seven or eight paces forward in shifts- those two people should probably have as varied a Skill Set as possible, that way they are more prepared for anything up ahead. Groups should be decided on before we enter the dungeon by the leader, as should shift numbers. Once you and your partner run your shift, then you move to the back of the line up until it's your turn and you're at the front again.

 

She stopped, blinking for a moment and hastily hiding her hands in her lap and looking pointedly at her combat boots. Instantly, that cool confidence was gone. Her concentration shattered by her own mind. She curled back up into the safe shell of quiet she had spent so long building up around her.

 

"A-Anyways, shifts can be coordinated by the group leader while our pack mule/medic/what-have-you stays with the main group, giving the cache to the group of scouts as deemed fit. It'll take longer, and we won't get to explore as much of the dungeon, but I think that might be the safest way. Also, we should try and stay out of side rooms if we can help it. Like Aster said, we could go into a room with hundreds of monsters and no way out."

 

She leaned back in her chair again with a sigh, eyes closed and not likely to open any time soon. She didn't want the "she's so weird what a freak" stares to be stuck in her head right now. Not when she had to go through an entire dungeon with these people.

 

"Sorry about that. Too much to think about without all the information I need. But anyways, yeah, that's what I usually did in my other games. So far that strategy hasn't failed me, but I've never played with stakes like these before." She finished, deciding it might be best to go back to not speaking unless spoken to again.

Edited by makenziec123

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Naudleigh nods when Aster pipes up. "Then perhaps just one liaison, and should the liaison be attacked, the scouts can fold back and the main group can spring forward to assist. However, I have thought of those traps and figured if one part of the group becomes separated, then we all fall back to the entrance of the dungeon. I do not want to lose any party members." He brings a hand up to his chin as he thinks. "While it may be safer, should we be attacked, we'll be falling over each other to meet the threat and that moment of confusion can mean the death of some. I do not want to risk that."

She's got a body and brains... Naudleigh thinks when he hears Amanda speak her idea. He does frown a smidgen when the idea of giving the cache of healing potions to the scouts or one person having them is brought up, but otherwise it's a more refined version of his own idea. When she finishes, the look he gives her is one of intrigue. "The one part of that plan I do not like is having one person with the cache; it should be distributed evenly, if the one with all of the potions is killed, we're all dead. But the two varied skill scouts would be ideal. Aster and I could be scouts, he's a bit quicker than me because of his light armor, but with my heavier armor I can take a bit more damage so I may be able to shield him while he destroys whatever attacks us. Other than that, we have the same skills."

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"No."

 

Ybyl closed his mouth, cut off by Nydedri before he could make a response to the others. "There will be no splitting of this group; no scouts and no liaisons. There are only six of us, too small a number to properly execute the plan you two are suggesting," Nydedri said firmly, pointing at Amanda and Naudleigh in turn. "Aster pointed out the possibilities of traps and, I would rather us remain in an organized formation rather than risking lives. This isn't a game where we can re-spawn. Every action has a consequence, good or bad. Heavy Armors will be positioned in the front, back, and sides while Light Armors will be positioned in the center. We stick together and, when faced with enemies, we fight as a unit that watches each other's backs."

 

Clearing his throat, Ybyl examined the other four players. "Let me get to an introduction. I am Ybyl and this is my wife, Nydedri. We are the Leader and Second in Command of «Lily's Thorns». I use a Rapier with Light Armor while she uses a Halberd and Heavy Armor. Now, that aside, I must agree with Aster and Nydedri. Splitting up is just too risky, even if we scout in shifts. Like Naudleigh suggests, the potions should be distributed evenly among the group. However, I don't believe we should spend all of our Cor on just Health Items. We don't know what type of status affects we'll run into so it might be wise to have a few items to cover the basics such as paralysis, blindness, stopped movements, and whatever else we deem more important.

 

"Nydedri is almost at level nine while I'm at level seven. While having higher levels is a good idea, it's not necessarily the best route to take. We don't want to waste much more time before getting to the second floor and neither do we want to use up too many resources before we get to the labyrinth. Perhaps spending the next few days to a week working on our levels would be good but, beyond that, we should start focusing on the labyrinth," the man explained.

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((I've had this ready for so long, I'm sorry!))

 

Mirage had to agree with Ybyl's perspective; they might think they are strong enough to fight the monsters in the labyrinth, but if they went in one by one there wasn't much keeping them alive.

 

"I have to agree with Ybyl on this. We don't know what we'll find in there, we shouldn't be taking any chances. Evenly divided supplies, and everyone goes together. We don't need scouts, we are the scouts. That's why we're here."

 

After a short pause to gather her thoughts, Mirage continued:

 

"I also bought some status curing potions of all kinds before I came here. That way we'd all have something to use when in the dungeon. But if you can help it, try not to overuse them. We might need them deeper inside."

 

As Mirage was about to go on even more to say what she knew of the dungeon, she realized that the eyes of everyone else were all trained on her. Never a fan of attention, she quickly blushed and stopped talking, pretending to be intensely interested in her fingernails.

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"As you will then." Naudleigh responds with a nod. He really had no expectation that his plan would be met kindly, so he wasn't surprised. "So we will go into the labyrinth in a phalanx formation. I would say it's as good of a plan as any with the little information we have." If there was one thing Naudleigh hated, it was not having any information on a venture. He wasn't a gambling man and with stakes as high as they are, he really would prefer having some more info. "Just to get it out of the way, I'm about to reach level 10."

 

Although, perhaps they can double their chances for survival... Naudleigh clears his throat before speaking again. "I have heard that there is another guild who has been searching for the labyrinth. The Phoenix Knights, I believe they are called. Perhaps we should reach out to them and see if they will help us?" He asks with a somewhat sheepish tone as if he's not trying to raise any ire. "There is strength in numbers, if I'm not mistaken. If we can get the Phoenix Knights to join us, their numbers should make it easier on us."

Edited by Epyon

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Ah, Nydedri. Harsh and uncompromising as always. How they had managed to not kill each other last time they partied was a mystery (more like 'how Aster had avoided being killed, if he was honest, because he was sure that Nydedri could take him in a fight). Ah, well. He supposed that it made her an effective leader, even if she was rude and difficult to get along with, and he had to agree with her on this bit. Sort of, anyway. This was serious business, but did she have to be quite so cruel? Amanda obviously had thought about that a bit, and had to have some experience with video games. Not that video game experience was rare or anything, but it still deserved a bit of respect, didn't it? ...At least the question of whether they were splitting up or not was settled. "Great, we've decided on something."

 

The Phoenix Knights? He wasn't sure that he had heard of them before. Maybe they'd been mentioned somewhere? Whatever. If Naudleigh trusted them, then Aster didn't think that he'd have a problem working with them. Obviously, increasing the group size would mean less mobs to fight and therefore less loot and exp, but it would be safer. "Sure, why not? We might as well go with another party. It's not like this is a hunting expedition where the goal is to raise our levels or something. If there's more of us, then I doubt we'll have much trouble with the mobs at all!" ...that sounded a bit too carefree. "I mean, we still shouldn't be reckless! We'll be just be safer. We could all still die," he backpedaled. "Anyway! Do you have a way to contact them? You've friended one of them or...?"

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Good. No one appeared to be fighting her word. Listening to the others as they essentially confirmed or detailed what had been agreed upon, Nydedri frowned when Naudleigh mentioned another guild. "Larger numbers would be a benefit but I would like to try and avoid people from just one guild. They're more likely to keep the map information to themselves in an attempt to use their members to fight the Boss alone. The information we obtain needs to spread through the floor as much and as quickly as possible. Unless you can vouch for their trustworthiness or figure out a way to attract many more people from various guilds, we'll have to make due with our small group," she replied. It was the same reasoning she didn't simply call upon her own guild.

 

Aster started rambling, certainly making an embarrassment of himself. Arching an eyebrow in curiosity, the red-headed woman sighed inwardly. As soon as this meeting was done, she would only have to deal with him for a little over a week, tops. Then, she could be done with his aggravating ways.

Edited by Narvix

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"Absolutely!" Naudleigh beams at Nydedri. "I know the guild leader and his lot are an honorable bunch, they are also allied with some other guilds as well so he will gather others to come with us. I shall go seek him out immediately!" He is now more ecstatic to get under way. His guild and some of their allies will do wonders for their little group, definitely will have an easier time with the sudden monsters that usually pop up in the dungeons, at least that's how it was in the beta.

 

 

"So we will go train as much as we can then? Where should the gathering place be so all of us can meet there?" Though outwardly, he seemed passive. Naudleigh was all but ready to run out to his guild HQ so he may have a briefing with his officers and men-at-arms. He should reach out to the guild leaders before he arrives at the HQ. The other guild leaders will come personally or send a trusted member to the meeting, he should also tell them to bring along 5 of their best. Gods know they will need the numbers.

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Lance ducked as the bull charged past him it's horns lowered. He rolled to the side chucking his dagger to his right hand. With a loud cry his dagger glowed and slashed across the side of the bull, the beast let out a loud moo of pain and faded away into pixels.

Lance bent down and heaved a loud sigh, as the <Quest Complete> sign flashed in front of his eyes.

Lance stood up and stretched, his arms raised above him, the sleeve on his right lowering slightly. Lance blinked and closed his left eye.

The completion screen suddenly became much clearer against the black of his eye patch that obscured his right eye as he read off the rewards.

"Exp... gold.... hmm whats this?" He asked curiously noting a strange item at the bottom of the list. He opened his eyes and tapped on the item listed.

 

A small jar materialised in his hand, Lance placed his finger on the top and experimentally wiped a small amount onto his sleeve. A light golden cream appeared from where he traced. Curious lance wiped it up with his finger and tasted it.

'If this was poison you're a real idiot,' he thought to himself. Luckily for him the moment he placed it on his tongue a delightful taste appeared, and no poison indicators next to his health bar.

Lance chuckled and slapped his forehead.

"Oh yeah I forgot this quest gives you an ingredient... ah how'd I forget?" He sighed.

Lance put the jar of cream into his inventory, just with that small amount he'd used up 10% of it's total contents.

 

He tapped the quest completion screen and received the remainder of it's rewards. A satisfying *bing* played and the level up screen appeared.

Lance clenched his fist in appretiation and clicked on it.

"Alright, level 10! This means I should be able to unlock a new skill," He said excitedly. He began browsing the list frowning at some and pausing at others.

"Hmm... parries a good skill to have... but at this level I should be fine relying on dodging and my armour. Weapon forging would be good to have... but same as parry I don't think there'd be many high level materials on the first floor, the purchasable equipment should suffice for now," Lance thought to himself, absentmindedly tapping his chin.

 

"Metal equipment, no. Hiding... hmm that'd be useful if I were a pvp'er, doesn't work on mobs. Searching... that could work. I think there was a quest on the second floor which required hunting down some bandits, would help with general farming as well, I could follow it to spawn points!" Lance said thoughtfully.

 

Satisfied, he tapped <Searching> and the level up screen disappeared. He then opened up his inventory, examining what he had on him.

"Well I've got that cow hide I needed for the blacksmiths quest, when he works it I should be able to get an arm guard... I wish we'd hurry up and beat the boss, floor three there was a really high level dagger for that level of enemies," Lance said dejectedly.

Turning towards the direction of the town he pulled his hood down slightly, covering his face in more shadow and walked off.

 

((How's that?))

Edited by Marcus Pheonix

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