Saix

With her full attention focused on <> before her, Ayane maneuvered herself into better position. <> was a charger, it only had the single attack. If she tried to engage it on uneven terrain, she would make the battle harder for herself as she would be unable to move around freely. It would be best to start her attack from an angle that was relatively flat, and left her plenty of room to maneuver around, so that she might better make use of her agility to avoid the <> powerful charge attack. While it was true that as far as enemies went it was pretty weak, requiring only 2

Taking a moment to let the stress of combat fade, Ayane calmly opened her loot table to check if her kill had yielded anything. To her surprise, it seemed she had received double hides for this kill. She would only need 3 more. With that thought in mind, Ayane surveyed the area around her, finding the nearest <> and moving into position. As far as enemies went, <> was pretty newbie friendly, with only the single charge attack, and a docile nature that would only go into attack mode if it was struck. That struck her as being pretty kind considering this was a Death Game that ha

Again she rushed forward, putting her all into the attack, the dagger flashing as she perforated the <> throat with her trio of stabs, with each stab she gave everything she could, putting all the weight and force she could muster to speed the movement of the skill. <> blasted into the creature's HP bar, as a fountain of red polygons colored the world in a flash that looked like a digital arterial spray. Her porky target's health bar dropped even further, dipping into the red zone before disappearing completely as the <> exploded in a prismatic star burst. She had succeede

With a harsh squeal, the piggy beast launched itself towards her, little hooves tearing at the grass as it charged headlong into her. Calmly she waited, counting a quick second before kicking off hard and launching herself into the air. This was not using the <> skill, this was simple muscle memory kicking in, she had no need to engage the System Assist for something this routine. Like a dancer she twisted in the air, into a side ways somersault that carried her out of harm's way as the <> charged by her. It was an amazing scene of grace, one that went unnoticed as she had gone

<> placid blue eyes flashed red as it squealed in it's piggy rage, her blade had bit thrice deep into the folds of fat and muscle that made up it's stocky neck. Glowing red polygons fountained like blood, and Ayane quickly back away, her dagger held low before her as though she were trying to imitate the knife boxing she had seen in movies before becoming trapped in the game. She felt so alive, so powerful... To think that she, a girl who could no longer even walk outside of this game, was doing battle with a beast over a meter in length with wicked sharp little tusks. Truly, SAO was

A pale purple glow suffused the plain blade of her <>, and the System Assist kicked into gear. Suddenly she was moving forward of her own accord, the blade held low and ready as she darted in. But the truth was, she was only half under the control of the system, she had stumbled upon that the first day she had started trying to activate the Sword Skills. Armed with that knowledge, she pushed herself into the skill she had practiced so many times. It was risky doing so, she might mess up activating the skill if she pressed too hard, but when it worked... Her blade flashed, once, twic

Walking further, so that she might engage her target alone, without having to worry about other players showing up and trying to hog Xp in her hunting ground, Ayane unsheathed the <> at her waist. Little more than a crude iron blade, with a short crosspiece and plain wooden handle, it was far from threatening. Yet the weight in her hand was comforting in a sense, as though it signified her decision to fight for her own survival. Setting her feet, she silently assumed the posture she had practiced so many times on the cluster of targeting dummies that sat right outside the walls. Cent

Given the experience, she was almost glad to slip outside the great wooden doors, into an area where she might enjoy solitude for a brief respite. Here she would not be bothered, she could relax and not worry about having to deal with the unwanted presence of others. Taking a short walk, she meandered the roads that led across the open hills, stopping every now and again to observe a battle between players and <>. From what she saw, the <> had a single attack, a powerful charge. It was a fast attack, one that might knock down the player. It was also rather predictable, with a

Hurrying from the shop, Ayane rushed through the crowd towards the city entrance. At first it was rough going, so many players amassed together it made moving through the crowd a chore, but the closer she got to the exit, the more the crowds thinned. Most would not dare venture outside the city, instead taking shelter in the area where their health would not be reduced. So the exit was never really that popular an area for the players who had resolved to wait out the Death Game to congregate. Ayane preferred this area over the Plaza, as she felt it easier to breath without the constant pre

Since this was an MMORPG, even if it was technically a VRMMORPG it couldn’t be as simple as simply saying ‘I want to be a tailor’ so shortly after the explanation, Nimue proceeded to give her a task to complete. “All tailors will need materials in order to craft their items player. You should look for materials from available sources. In the fields outside the city, you will find plenty of <> wandering the hills. Slay enough of these <> to harvest 5 <> and return to me so that you might make your first crafting attempt.†A very sensible and straightforward reque

A few moments of conversation later, Nimue had explained the basics of the tailor profession, which was altogether simple really. By gathering materials, either in the wild, purchased from other players, or purchased from NPC shops; a Tailor could then use a crafting table to create an item. Tailors were able to use hides from beast type monsters, as well as harvest and refine silk and other types of fabric from Insect, Spider, and other monster types which could then be refined into higher quality material which would then be turned into useful clothing articles through the act of crafting,

Ayane waited patiently as Nimue greeted her, and explained a little about the shop, before she inquired out loud. “How does one become a tailor?†Quests in SAO were interactive, they required instructions on the behalf of the player, to build a more immersive experience. As a cutting edge software and technological interface, the complex AI that maintained SAO made Nimue’s ecstatic reaction seem all the more realistic, even if the facial recognition software made some of the expressions seem a little too overdone. “Oh are you interested in learning the way of the Tailor player? How

Memories of clutching the armrests of the chair that was her prison threatened to rise up, and she forced them back down like bile. Turning her focus to what was really important, she scanned the overcrowded area for the small shop that she had marked on her map back before the fateful moment where the GM had triggered a teleport to the Plaza and the game that should have been harmless fun had become a Game of Death. It took her a moment to find it through the sea of aimlessly wandering players, and even longer to navigate her way across the Plaza, but never the less she was able to make her

That made her choice ultimately easier. Since she was alone, a solo player, she would have no one but herself to rely on. The Tailoring Profession would allow her to continuously improve her defense by crafting her own equipment that would be of higher quality than the items she could purchase from the various shops she had thus far encountered. So she had left the ‘safety’ of the Outer Rings of the City, and had come to the Central Plaza, where Kayaba Akihiko had made his awful declaration that SAO would be a Game of Death. She had mixed feelings coming back here, this was a place whe

Ayane had decided that this would not be her fate. She had used the time to work on her skills via the training dummies scattered around the perimeter of the city, learning to use the various Sword Skills that were so very important to survive in this world. Only when she could use the first few skills available to her as a Dagger User by reflex, engraining the moves into her subconscious muscle memory, did she feel comfortable in leaving the City. But before she would do that, she would be in dire need of appropriate equipment. Since she would not be using a party, and had no friends to t

When Kayaba Akihiko had made his declaration, thousands of players had milled aimlessly, Beta Testers had struck off on their own to become more skilled, and the rest had tentatively made their way into the game. But they had moved like a plague of locusts, taking quests as fast as possible, farming the monsters around the city. The monsters would respawn, but they would do so slowly, and more and more unprepared adventurers were forced to move outside of the safe area around the town, and move deeper into more dangerous areas where they would face off against higher level monsters. The res

Alas, it wasn’t quite that easy. With so many crammed into the Starting City, and the players dedicated to completing the game having moved on to higher floors, Starting City had become a trap. Those that tried to stay, tried to ignore the situation, or simply gave into their grief and lost hope, would eventually find themselves left with nothing. No Col, no resources, no way of staying in the relative safety of the City. They would be forced to start trying to scrape together a living. That meant either trying to play the game, or preying upon one another, as SAO was a MMORPG, and resou

The press of bodies around her left her uncomfortable, the crowd setting her on edge and grinding on her nerves. She hated crowds and would rather have stalked the streets as a solitary shadow. Alas, that simply wasn’t possible here. Starting City was plagued with an out of control population. Almost 5,000 players pressed together like a giant aimless herd. She supposed she couldn’t hold that against them, fear was a difficult enemy to face, especially when it crushed a person’s spirit and left them hopeless. Ayane was well acquainted with that feeling of hopelessness. That was th

Saix watched the petite young blacksmith work with fascination, noting the forceful hammer strikes that made the process seem so realistic. When he had looked at the profession information, he had dismissed most as being a watered down grind. However, the proof before him showed that it was anything but. While no doubt smithing was more complicated when you had the hammer in your hand in front of a real furnace, this was very realistic none the less. When the sword completed before her, and she lifted the blade to catch the light, he blinked. It had turned out even better than he imag

«Ayane» The Jagged Wind • Profile • » Username: Ayane » Nickname: Jagged Wind » Real name: Karin Maeda » Age: Seventeen » Gender: Female » Height: 5'5" » Weight 100lbs • Description • Karin was always an athletic young woman, at least before the automobile accident that left her wheelchair bound and paralyzed thanks to four crushed vertebrate in her lower back. Standing barely 5'5" with a slender build with modest curves, she is sometimes mistaken for being younger than she actually is. Her large almond shaped eyes and short hair further emphasize her youth

The sadness in her voice seemed to catch him by surprise as he listened to her explanation. He paused for a moment, trying to think of what he might say after her wistful tone. "That doesn't make you any less real." He said finally, after mulling the idea over. "Right now, if I were to touch you I would feel you, as though you were flesh and blood." He points out, his brow screwing up as he ponders how best to stay what he feels. "Flesh and blood or pixels and polygons, it doesn't really matter. We are both alive in this digital world." He said, before abruptly realizing how strange he

Fascinated at seeing the Smithing Profession first hand from someone who was not a player just learning the Crafting Discipline, Saix did not need to be asked twice. He was quick to follow her, though at a safe pace as he made his way down the stairs. There he found Pepper, already working the furnace were she had deposited the 3 <> and was in the process of smelting them. He recalled that she had mentioned needing to remove the bubbles, and figured that this was the vital process she had been referring too. "Fascinating... The crafting process is much more realistic then I had thou

COMPLETE

Roughly One Hour Later: Starting City The journey back to Starting City had been without incident, by sticking to the main road the duo had managed to avoid any encounters with <> and other common monsters of the First Floor. Between Col and Experience Points, the day had been a very profitable experience. No doubt they would be able to afford to eat well tonight, treating themselves to something a little nicer than their normal Crust of Bread and Water. It was hard work trying to stretch their money to last longer, but as they spent more time on the battlefield, their fortune was

Saix blinked at her response, before making a pacifying gesture with his hands and looking quite sheepish. "Ah, sorry miss, I didn't want to be loud and disturb you if you were doing something important." he said, before scratching the back of his head. Truly the NPC's in SAO were amazing, he could not think of another game where reactions were so life like. "Yes, Ms Pepper, I was able to retrieve the three <>, and have brought them back." he added. And boy had that not been as easy as he had anticipated. No matter, it had all worked out in the end. A quick flex of his hand opened