Jomei

Stepped from the river side cafe, Jomei made his way back through the town of Florenthia to the teleporter that would take him back to his current home on the eleventh floor. He would slowly walk the streets of Taft, his coat tails trailing behind him with every step, his eyes glued on the path before him. The composure he barely clung to almost held out as he neared the front door to his house, but that string snapped just moments before. Stumbling forward, Jomei met his front door with a thud, both of his fists colliding with the wooden entrance. His knuckles turning white as his fingernails

Yoriro was his name. A good name for a good kid who cared deeply for those important to him. Lips curled into a soft smile as the friend request was accepted, and the unknown name added itself to the small list of people Jomei could currently count on. Despite this friendship being mostly for business reasons, it was still nice to see another player on there. "You take care of yourself, Yoriro.. And don't worry, she'll be okay." Jomei could only hope that was true. This group he fought against.. that was months ago, possibly years? He could never keep count. Sometimes it felt like the day

It took a few moments, but eventually the other player plopped back down into their chair limply. Their eyes fixated on the center of the table, nothing in particular. Most likely mulling over the loss of Naru, and what he could further lose if he tried to get her back himself. Jomei remained standing for a few seconds after before joining him, sitting down once more. "I'm not telling you to stay out of it so I could claim all the glory.. I'm not in it for that. I just know what its like to live with that weight on your shoulders... killing another player. Even if they're in the wrong.. even i

It took the player a bit longer to look at the cloak to see if he identified it or not. When he saw the symbol, however, he dismissed it as never seeing it. Definitely wasn't Naru's, he said, and he'd never seen that symbol in his life. That was a relief on one hand, that Jomei didn't have to reveal to the poor player that the girl he was sweet for was part of a player-enslaving guild. On the other hand though, that meant that she was now in their clutches. "I may have a better idea of where she is now.. but you're not going to like it." Jomei said, emerald eyes filled with compassion as

The name of the other player who requested his help never came up, they were too busy talking over the details of Naru. So Jomei figured it might be near impossible that he would easily run into the man again. Keeping a keen lookout as he patrolled the village, looking into every group of players standing around or passing by, he found the player in the place he least expected.. but should have looked first; right where he left him. Now with a beverage akin to what Jomei had partaken in earlier sitting in front of them, mostly untouched, and their face buried in their arms. With a silent sigh,

With the quest completed, The Monkey King out of the way, and Sewallus on their trip back to the safety of Florenthia proper, that left Jomei to be able to investigate the mysterious, hanging cloak without any interruptions. The tree that had the fabric pinned to it was knocked over by the giant ape during the battle, but luckily enough was close enough for him to find. Lowering himself to sit on the broken bark, he wrapped his fingers around the handle of the dagger and shimmied it free. The weapon appeared custom made, with an orange tint to the sharp edge of the blade and red wrapping aroun

With nothing to keep the emerald duelist suspended in the air anymore, his body began to plummet. A small flip of his body an he hit the ground with a three point landing, letting out a huff of air as he made impact. A shower of data fragments littered the ground around him as they slowly drifted like a calm snowfall, immediately vanishing into the earth and not lingering long. As he rose to a full standing position, a panel appeared in front of him, congratulating him on completion of the quest, and offering any rewards associated with it. A heavy clasp on his shoulder, and he saw Sewal

"Hah! So you can hold your own after all!" Sewallus called over to the ginger after landing an attack, ignoring the request Jomei made about not using howl to draw the ape's attention. "Now its my turn, hyaa!" As the NPC's axe connected with The Monkey King, it gave off the image of a glass wall cracking. A small icon under the boss' health indicated a status effect, <<Shatter>>, which knocked down The Monkey King's mitigation a bit. Jomei chuckled, "Hey, that's a pretty neat trick. Should make taking them down a lot easier." As the ginger prepared a sword art, which he

"Once before I ran in fear of you, but not anymore! Fight me! I will stand tall for my people!" Sewallus shouted in The Monkey King's face, holding his axe up high for the ape to see. The burning, red eyes shifted to look at the man, nothing but a nuisance from its oversized perspective. Rising up onto its hind legs, the Monkey King would pound its fists into its chest, one after another. Each impact like an explosion, causing the very ground they stood on the rumble and quake. With rage filled eyes and razor sharp teeth, the monstrosity grabbed another tree, tearing the wooden giant fro

A cheery smirk crept its way onto Jomei's face as the morning's entertainment played out in front of him. Astreya briefly, yet in a friendly manner, scolding Nari for losing sleep. Two forces with completely different energies. Outgoing and boisterous against quiet and timid. The energy of a well slept individual powering over one who was obviously lacking rest. The ginger couldn't help but let out a small hum of a laugh. Astreya matched Jomei's excitement for completing this quest, expressing her true interest was the item drop that they would be rewarded for taking down the boss. "Well

A spot of burgundy caught the ginger's attention, just off the beaten path. Gently billowing in the breeze, a dagger pinned a deep red cloak to the bark of a tree. "Gotcha" he said to himself as he began to push towards the hanging fabric, carefully stepping over fallen twigs and bushes. In the end, it was not Jomei's silent creeping that needed to be worried about. No, it was Sewallus, ready for revenge. "Show yourself Monkey King! I have returned to exact my revenge! No longer will you torment the people of Florenthia!" With battle axe readied, Sewallus took a battle stance, ready

The trek through the dark forest was quiet, save for the occasional woodland animal's call, or a breeze rustling the leaves high above them. If The Monkey King was, in fact, nearby, they were able to keep themselves fairly silent for such a large beast. Jomei's attention, however, was not on the impending threat of the big ape, but on anything that could hint towards Naru's disappearance. Emerald eyes slowly scanned the brush for anything. Signs of a struggle may be tough to come by, since most trees and rocks were considered immortal objects, and weapons did not marks on them for long. Even a

It was not very often that an NPC would ask to accompany a player on a quest, especially one tasked with guarding the city. The forest was large, and dark, it would most likely take him twice as long to hunt down the ape if he were to do it on his own. This added an extra layer to the quest he wasn't sure he wanted to worry about, but the thought of being able to freely search for any clues regarding Naru's whereabouts as Sewallus carved the path for him outweighed any of the cons. Jomei accepted the guard's offer with a nod, "Alright. Thank you, I could use the help." "Alright, co

Of course, in the usual quest fashion, as Remington told Jomei about where to go next, the prompt for him to accept the quest popped up in front of him. With movements almost like instinct, Jomei brought a hand up to tap on the accept button, without pulling his eyes from Remington. He offered a determined nod before turning towards the opening to the tent once more, leaving the zoologist to their work. Back out into the open Florenthia air again, and away from the cigarette smoke that clung to the canvas-laced tent, Jomei began his search for the captain of the guard. A few curious quest

"I take it your Remington?" Jomei asked as he stepped into the main tent, ducking as to not hit his head on the canvas flaps. "All depends on who's asking." the white haired man said in response, not bothering to turn and face the visitor. Another cloud of smoke rose from in front of their obscured face, taking to the wind and slowly dissipating.. the strong smell lingering much longer "Jomei, I hear you're the one I need to talk to regarding The Monkey King." The sigh that came from Remington was heard loud and clear, and the silence that followed revealed his frustration wit

If Naru's last whereabouts were somewhere between meeting the NPC that would provide the quest and the quest boss' lair itself, then the best option would be for him to just take the quest. Sometimes the quest giver would take the players on a road less traveled, or even through passageways normally not accessible without following them. That, and if he had to take on the giant ape while trying to search for clues around its lair... he figured he might as well get the experience for it. Just because he was performing a selfless act of searching for this lost player, didn't mean he couldn't get

A chill made its way down Jomei's spine, like a jolt of electricity that hit him in the nape of the neck. The digital heart in his chest pounded as he began to narrow down on a possibility.. a far fetched one.. but possibly not as far fetched as he wanted to believe. Nearly sending his beer toppling over, the ginger placed both of his fists on the table and looked across at the player, teeth clenching together as hard as the expression plastered on his face. "Was Naru a crafter? Did she have a shop?" Confused, the man answered. Naru was a tailor, with a rather popular store on the s

There really wasn't much evidence to go on to tell what exactly happened to her, so the most logical question came to mind first. "Are you sure she didn't.. you know.." The player was quick to dismiss Jomei, spawning his menus so he could double check, for probably the fourth time today, that her name was still present on his friends list. They mentioned that they had even taken a trip to the Black Iron Palace on the first floor to check the Monument of Life, coming to the same result that her name was not amongst the dead. The only other thing that Jomei could think, before considering

"Alright, I want to help but.. I can't really understand what you're saying. Lets go sit somewhere so you can calm down a bit, and then we can start over." Jomei would place a gentle hand on the man's shoulder to reassure him that everything would be alright. Get the man some water, get Jomei something stronger; that was the plan. A nearby café, built up next to the river that ran through the town, providing some calming, tableside scenery for any that chose to dine outdoors. Jomei's eyes remained on the man as he caught his breath, composing himself so he can retell what happened with t

The Eighth floor was one not frequented very often by Jomei, though that could be said about many lands within the mysterious layers of Aincrad. Seeing the beauty that the Treant and Elvish people had managed to create, both alongside and separately in various parts of the floor, he wondered why he did not visit more often. Jomei had come to this floor in search of a possible new plot to put down his roots, at least wherever a towering tree had not already done just that. But what was once a visit out of pleasure and hopes for a possible new place to call home quickly became business.. possibl

<<Quest Details>> Isolation. Fear. A fight for ones own very life. Feelings the man knew all too well when we had been pulled from his normal life and tossed into solitude. For what reason? Simply revenge and revenge alone. A group made up of evil, cunning personas and murderers attempting to do nothing more than turn a huge profit, exploiting the crafting abilities of players who focused only on their art and not combat. A group that was turned on its head by Jomei and Lowenthal when the slavers had decided to kidnap two friends near and dear to them. He had ho

The shadow cast by the merchant's canopy slowly diminished as the sun continued to climb higher into the sky above. Exuberant shouts from the man sitting cross legged on a carpet just behind him about finely woven linens for sale, all while glaring daggers at the back of Jomei's head for taking up space that could be used by a paying customer. A slow bead of sweat trickled down the smooth jawline of the ginger as he looked out past the tents and buildings, at the clear sky peeking over the battered, sandstone wall that stood around the city of Fortaleza. Oy! Are you here for Nari too?" A

The voices of familiar players peaked over the sounds of battle as they strategized below, finding a way to push through the defenses of the Imperial soldiers. Most of their attention had been shifted to focus on the mass gathering of his comrades below, making the load of guards Jomei was stuck up against a bit lighter. One looked over the edge at the forming shield wall, barking out his own strategies to the other soldiers readying their weapons to combat the green-clad warrior. Their voices fell upon deaf ears as Jomei continued to push forward. Nihilim's Wrath scraped against the han

One could tell that Baldur took pride in the little slice of Aincrad that he called his own. Not only was it beautiful, but it was the perfect fit for Baldur's appearance and personality. He wondered if the teardrop island was originally designed with Japanese architecture in mind, or if it was a clean slate until Baldur painted his picture-perfect home onto it. "There have been plenty of events that pop up around the holidays that bring together all of Aincrad. Most, if not all, probably just scripted into the game's code or developed on the fly by Cardinal. None have really been able t

The bells of the Grand Cathedral broke through the silence of the night air. Limestone towers that contrasted heavily against the dark sky towered over the rooftops, always prominent and visible from almost anywhere in the city. Some believe that if someone found a way to climb to the very peak of the tallest of spires, they could touch the bottom of Floor Twelve above the clouds. If only such a feat could be accomplished, yet the story remained just that, a tale meant to satiate the dreams of imaginative players. Emerald eyes lingered not on the sight above them, but towards the ground