(As of this point, signups are closed to newcomers. People who have already signed up are free to make a second character if they would like, though.)

 

December 7, 2022

 

A small village near the boss tower on Aincrad's first floor was now bustling. A meeting was to be held in a few days, and many of the strongest players in SAO had gathered to prepare. Players gathered around the town to chat, trade items, exchange stories, and form new parties. Seeing this could almost make someone forget that everyone in the castle was currently trapped in a death game... However, these players had arrived in order to finally make an effort to end the unnecessary deaths.

 

Within the town, players were mostly populating the areas in the marketplaces. The streets near various stores were packed with the highest level players in the game, all trading tips and buying new supplies. A new quest had been discovered being offered by the town blacksmith, and many players were crowded around his store as a result. The circular, open-air meeting ground in the center of town was also crowded with players who were trying to form parties, hear rumors about new quests, and a group of mischievous teenage boys trying to flirt with the girls they met. Regardless of where they were, players could hear voices echoing off of the buildings and structures throughout the village.

 

Keimei was lying down on a bench in a small park on the edge of the town, staring up at the sky. She wasn't like most of the other people in town. She hadn't managed to form a party yet. She was all alone. She sighed, staring at the ceiling high above her head. I should probably go do a quest soon... I need to keep up with my training so I can go on the boss raid. I'm not going to let that chance slip by. She thought to herself, although she didn't really move. She was too busy lost in her own thoughts to do so. I wonder if I'll ever end up in a party...? It seems like everyone else is in one at this point. I doubt I can keep going solo for much longer...

"No duh I want some action. Like I'm just gonna sit around!" Puawai said excitedly. "i'm not gonna sit on the sidelines while you have fun beating the crud out of these enemies." Puawai concluded. "And stop underestimating me. It's annoying." She said flatly. Seriously though, that got old quick. If he wanted to know what she could do, a quick non lethal duel would be quite fine with her.

~~~~

Ryonne gestured towards the forest. "Right about now sounds good to me." Ryonne said. He was pretty happy with this conclusion. After all, this would very quickly get him not only the food he needed, but some potentially good materials he could trade to a blacksmith or drug mixer for some decent equipment or potions. And he didn't need the money anyway. For his lightweight equip, no shield, and curved blade build, he had the best stuff one could buy on the floor.

"Excellent," Shirai said to Ryonne, and he immediately walked forth into the woods. From what he recalled, the enemies here were relatively low leveled...but often spawned in groups. Even low level enemies became an enormous nuisance and a deadly obstacle if they got together. You can only focus on so many mobs at once....and if enough hit you, you're done for.

Shirai could already see it. That last hit turns his body bright blue, and his body would explode into hundred tiny polygonal triangles. His name would be scratched off on the slab in town...and that would be it.

"I want to battle, too." Keimei told her party members. "It's boring to just sit back on the sidelines... Besides, I could use the experience, right? I'm not a beta tester like you three are." She explained to the others. "You think I'd be able to take on these thieves... Right, Aether?" She asked the one who had experience in this quest, hoping that she would agree. Keimei wasn't one to sit by and let her friends do all the work, and she didn't want the others to doubt her skill just because she hasn't played the game as much as they had.

She turned to look at her. Eying Keimei up and down, the girl finally nodded.

"You have...a chance. if you are supported and have your back watched, you should have no problem with this quest." Aether yawned. "we should get this over with, I'm getting tired and I don't want to miss the meeting, whenever it is..."

She turned to look at her. Eying Keimei up and down, the girl finally nodded."You have...a chance. if you are supported and have your back watched, you should have no problem with this quest." Aether yawned. "we should get this over with, I'm getting tired and I don't want to miss the meeting, whenever it is..."

"Then we move. You three, give me some ground cover, Aether, you know the drill." Abisk let into and climbed a near-by tree, rushing to his next position among the leaves and branches. "Don't bother going to the location where the ambush is, circle back and head straight at the camp from another angle. Unless you all want to try running on trees."

(Sorry for not posting anything for a while (not sure you really cared though ))

Walking around the forest for his new quest Noriyuki  saw a player in climbing in a tree talking to some other players. While running to then he screamed (Noriyuki Was not the smartest person..) ''Hey are you guys doing  the same quest as I am?'' 

Just as Keimei was about to go in for the ambush alongside her partners, someone suddenly began to shout at them. She jumped up a bit, startled by the loud noise. She noticed another player rushing over to her group, and quickly tried to get him to quiet down. "H-hey, quiet down a bit." She whispered. "We're probably taking the same quest... We're about to sneak into a camp that a group of thieves are staying at. They've got what we're after. If you keep quiet and follow us, then you can join us if you'd like..." Keimei offered to the boy.

Abisk stayed quiet as he climbed the trees, hearing the yelling boy was a cause for concern... but the yells had in fact alerted and lured the enemy to them. On the floor, a number of NPC's began to fill in around his team "Damn!" He choked on the word. "h-How can I...?"

while whispering  ''I'm sorry''  Noriyuki  thought to himself: Finally a party i can join! And as he was about to say yes a bunch of Npc's being to apear out of nowhere. ''Ow that's why we needed to be quit'' he said to himself. as he took his sword.

Aether stood there, calm as could be. She rolled her shoulders, hand going to her katna. Named after the legendary blade of Japan, Kusanagi, the Grass-Cutting Sword, it seemed to whisper as she drew it from the sheath. A blue glow enveloped the blade, and like a flash she struck. Two. .three blows, and the Thief exploded to shards. The stoic girl turned with blade held down, and waited...for two seconds, before she cut down a second.

"I did this alone." she took a moment to slaughter a third. "Together this is child's play."

Aether stood there, calm as could be. She rolled her shoulders, hand going to her katna. Named after the legendary blade of Japan, Kusanagi, the Grass-Cutting Sword, it seemed to whisper as she drew it from the sheath. A blue glow enveloped the blade, and like a flash she struck. Two. .three blows, and the Thief exploded to shards. The stoic girl turned with blade held down, and waited...for two seconds, before she cut down a second."I did this alone." she took a moment to slaughter a third. "Together this is child's play."

"Yeah, but it's far from fun." Abisk slammed down from the tree onto the NPC's, catching one with his down-stroke, he charged and unleashed a upward slash to another, shooting it away. "Easy isn't my friend, normally..."

Alistair had to think about it for a second before answering. “I am…” He paused, before smiling. “A tank!...I think. Yeah. Tank.” Alistair said. He took out his hands from his pockets, showing off his claw gauntlets. “I fight with these. I’ll also Howl to attract enemies to myself to give others a chance to heal and recover. I can pick locked chests and stuff. I also have Straining, so I can hear sounds from further away. That’s how I manage to narrow down your music by the way!” Alistair said as he got his hands away. “That’s all I know.” He looked around. “If we’re going to be part of the teams that encounter the boss, we should get going before the meeting starts without us, no?”

It was a well known fact that being lazy was not a good thing. This did not really affect Justin, in real life, for he was far too lazy to actually care. However, within the world of Sword Art Online, he couldn't afford to be as lazy as he normally was. One of the effects of this, was the fact that he was currently strolling through town, looking for a certain quest he had heard mentioned.Unfortunately, he didn't know who the questgiver was. Which was why he was walking around aimlessly, tossing his dagger in the air, and then catching it. Catching it, that is, until he accidentally bumped into someone as he was reaching for a throw gone long. The dagger fell onto the ground, promptly followed by Justin. Picking himself up and dusting himself off, he looked at the person he had bumped into, and started to quiver. "S-s-sorry about th-th-that, mister," he stuttered out. Seeing someone this tall frightened Justin.(I hope this is alright! If not, let me know!)

"You're pretty great at this whole stealth thing new guy!" Puawai shouted to Noriyuki as she jumped out from the shrubbery. She was only teasing, it didn't really matter anyway. These low level thugs were nothing to them at this point. She pounced on one, jabbing them in the throat. The Sunny Monk smiled brightly as she swept with her legs, bringing the enemy to the ground. She quickly stomped down on his chest, and he burst into digital blue diamonds. She cracked her knuckles as she glanced around for the next one.

~~~~

Ryonne walked alongside Shirai into the woods. He did not bring up any conversation, he did not particularly want to get to know anybody at this point. Until he could see that they were trustworthy and strong, then he simply couldn't. You never know when someone could die in a game like this, particularly those weaker-willed individuals. Suddenly, Ryonne heard something around them. A wolf sprung from the bushes nearby, but Ryonne did not hesitate, quickly pulling out his blade and activating a downward swinging sword skill. It cleaved the monster in two, obliterating the enemy from the game. "Careful. There are bound to be more." Ryonne cautioned his partner, and he got into the combat stance he had adopted over the course of the game.

"I'll be on my guard," Shirai murmured a reply, his arm going to his scabbard. He slid his blade out and moved his other hand to grip the handle, thus giving him better control and a wider range to protect himself.

Seeing as his Search skill was still fairly low, he wouldn't be able to detect the rest of the pack just yet. The first one was just being too hasty, so likely the other wolves would lay low, having learned from their fallen member's mistake.

Shirai heard a growl and watched as two of the beasts leapt out from their spot in the underbrush. Level Two Direwolves his HUD said to him, though just reading their names was limiting his time to react. 

 

Shirai immediately moved forward with his right foot, putting all his weight onto it, as he moved his sword arm back. The system detected the beginning of a Sword Skill, and so his blade fired up with a blue effect. He immediately launched forward with his left foot; swinging his arm at the same time. The Horizontal skill activated, slashing the two beasts in one go and rendering them into explosive blue polygons.

Ryonne launched back into battle, dashing straight past where Shirai had just disposed of two more wolves. A wolf pounced towards him, but Ryonne pulled out his blade and deflected the beast. Another charged at him from a similar hiding spot, and Ryonne quickly slid away, before lashing out at the wolf with his sword, connecting but not killing it. The first wolf came back, biting him on the shin. "Agh." Ryonne grunted, slicing down with his sword, slicing the beast in half. The second one came back, and Ryonne sliced through it before it even had the chance to strike at him.

Keimei quickly drew her rapier, and stabbed through one of the thieves that was trying to attack her. A few more slashes, and the enemy quickly dissipated in a shower of colored crystals. "Wow... They really are easier than we'd thought." She sighed, staving off the attacks of another. After a few more of the thieves were defeated by the group, the attack ended. "Now then... we needed to get an item, right...?" Keimei asked. "Um... miss Aether, you've already completed the quest, right? Do you know where it is? I figured it would be at their camp."

Shirai was forced to back up along with Ryonne, seeing the mass amount of wolves that were coming onto them.

"I've never heard of packs this big!" Shirai yelled to Ryonne, momentarily glancing at the other player just as another wolf leapt for Shirai. He gritted his teeth and lashed out, slicing the wolf along its muzzle. Its bar dropped, showing only a tiny sliver of red health.

"Die dammit!" He yelled, slicing once more.

It was a well known fact that being lazy was not a good thing. This did not really affect Justin, in real life, for he was far too lazy to actually care. However, within the world of Sword Art Online, he couldn't afford to be as lazy as he normally was. One of the effects of this, was the fact that he was currently strolling through town, looking for a certain quest he had heard mentioned.Unfortunately, he didn't know who the questgiver was. Which was why he was walking around aimlessly, tossing his dagger in the air, and then catching it. Catching it, that is, until he accidentally bumped into someone as he was reaching for a throw gone long. The dagger fell onto the ground, promptly followed by Justin. Picking himself up and dusting himself off, he looked at the person he had bumped into, and started to quiver. "S-s-sorry about th-th-that, mister," he stuttered out. Seeing someone this tall frightened Justin.(I hope this is alright! If not, let me know!)

 

Alistair blinked and turned around, feeling someone bump into him from the back. "Oh it's alright." Alistair said smiling. He noticed this player was frightened. Alistair tilted his head. "Hey, you aren't hurt, are you? You look as if you've seen a ghost. I know it's been a while since we've been trapped in here, but surely you aren't still in shock?" Alistair asked in concern. Something gleamed on the floor, upon a look he saw it was a dagger. "You dropped this, yes?" Alistair asked as he picked it up, the claws of his gauntlets causing a tiny click upon contact. He smiled down at the player as he offered the dagger. "Here you go. My name is Alistair, by the way." Alistair said as he gave a small bow as he presented himself. He was tall, but that was only a height. His real form, in the human world, in his home, he was too weak to even leave the house. "May I know your name?"

''with all this fighting I forgot to introduce myself'' Noriyuki said to the group '' The name is Noriyuki, nice to meet you all! And seeing how we're of to such a great start, I say you guys lead the way and I'll follow''.

Aether sighs.

"I do not know. The male item is different then the female items." She sheathed her katana. "But yes, it should be at their camp."

Aether sighs."I do not know. The male item is different then the female items." She sheathed her katana. "But yes, it should be at their camp."

"Not likely anymore. look, they moved their position." Abisk sounded off. "They likely sent that team to hold us off and then moved. According to the mapping data..." Abisk opened the map of the area. "There are a few other rumored camps near by. Considering where we are..." He pointed to the diagonal right. "They likely moved to the camp that way. If we run, we might catch them, though. I'll run ahead And hold them from advancing." With that, Abisk took off running after the bandits, where ever they might have been and gone.

"Nice to meet you, Noriyuki." Keimei smiled at the newcomer. However, Abisk quickly ran off, leaving the others to chase after him. "Let's hurry, everyone! We can't let him go and fight them on his own!" She told the others, then followed Abisk, hoping to catch up in time.

 

As Abisk said, the bandits were moving ahead to escape from the group. They all laughed about how confused the party would be when they arrived at the camp, only to discover that they were all missing.

Aether said nothing at first. Once Abisk was gone, she shrugged.

"It was the camp to the left."

 

She started walking.

Eventually, the group came across the bandits who had escaped.

 

"Huh? How did you figure out we're here?" One of them asked, confused.

 

"It doesn't matter. We'll take them down easily." One of them, who seemed to be the leader, informed the rest. There were only around ten left at this point, and all of them attacked the party of players who had arrived to defeat them.

 

Keimei ducked under one of their attacks, and quickly lunged at the bandit, stabbing him in the back with her rapier. After a few more quick stabs, he disappeared into a shower of blue crystals. Another one swung an axe at her, and managed to hit, but she recovered and stabbed back, defeating this bandit as well.

Eventually, the group came across the bandits who had escaped.

 

"Huh? How did you figure out we're here?" One of them asked, confused.

 

"It doesn't matter. We'll take them down easily." One of them, who seemed to be the leader, informed the rest. There were only around ten left at this point, and all of them attacked the party of players who had arrived to defeat them.

 

Keimei ducked under one of their attacks, and quickly lunged at the bandit, stabbing him in the back with her rapier. After a few more quick stabs, he disappeared into a shower of blue crystals. Another one swung an axe at her, and managed to hit, but she recovered and stabbed back, defeating this bandit as well.

"Suck it Aether, I got this on lock."  Abisk said in reply, the enemies numbers were small, but enough to prove some fun. The first one rushed in, spear in hand, but Abisk slashed at it's point, pushing it into the ground, and shoulder-checked the NPC, then followed it up with a stab and an upward cleave, shattering the enemy into crystals. Next, a team with axes tried a downward strike on him, one got him on the shoulder, but the other he was able to knock away. With the both axemen in movement, Abisk let loose a slashing sword-art, cleaving through them both.