Saix

Surging forward the large lizard like creature seemed to pounce, jaws opening in an attempt to take a chunk out of the swordsman’s body, and Saix went on autopilot, relying on the reflexes he had developed thus far in the Death Game, bring his <> up before him in an attempt to use the <> skill to repel the attack, and stun his opponent for a brief moment to open for a counter attack. The blunt head struck his shield like a heavy punch with a clang and spark of contact. He could imagine the teeth scraping and gouging the metal for a moment, before the creature was knocked back b

Well, he had succeeded in getting the creature’s attention, that much was certain. Saix backed into the gloom of the tunnel, his eyes fixed on the approaching creature as it moved towards him, blunt lizard like head swinging back and forth as it came forward on muscular legs. Again, he was struck by the similarities of the real world Komodo Dragon. A second later, when the beast’s maw opened revealing jagged teeth, he decided it would be best to think about such things later. Rearing forward the large lizard lurched to a stop before him, jaws gnashing with annoyance, back arching and t

He had intended to lure the beast to him by inflicting light damage, and while his thrown attack had missed, the creature opened one sleepy eye, before abruptly pulling itself to its feet with a hiss. Saix’s blood froze for a moment, as he carefully watched the other two <>, prepared to run back the way he had come if more than one creature took notice of him. Though the other two spawns shifted where they lay, as though disturbed in their sleep, they did not awaken like his target. Speaking of his target, the blunt head of the <> swung back and forth, as though it were search

Tempted as he was to stare, realizing he was looking at a fantastical creature right before him that did not exist in nature, he forced himself to concentrate. Dipping a hand to his belt, and targeting the nearest of the trio, Saix slipped one of his throwing picks from the loop in his belt. Bringing the pick up to his ear and pulling back, he initiated the <> by mimicking preparing to throw a dart. His pick was illuminated in a soft blue light as the Skill was primed, and Saix held his breath a moment before abruptly releasing the skill and sending the pick flying. He cursed, no dou

Even with a plan in mind, he still proceeded slowly, every step taken cautiously as he strained his senses to the max hoping to avoid a catastrophic slip up. As he cautiously peaked his way into the first antechamber, he realized that his suspicions were correct as he beheld his first <>, which looked a bit more lizard like than he would have thought. The beast was a glimmering scaled creature that looked like pictures of Komodo Dragons he had seen in magazines, with the addition of rather stubby little wings that looked incapable of supporting the creature’s weight in flight. No do

Now he would have to be very careful, because if he slipped up and aggro’d more than one at a time, he could quickly find himself surrounded in a confined space with no option of escape. While he was confident that he was up to the task of defending against the attacks of one creature with his shield, he could not defend his flanks if he were set upon by more than one enemy. He would need to make use of his throwing picks to draw one <> into the tunnel at a time, finish it off, ensure his health was okay, before shifting targets. It would be dangerous work in less than ideal conditi

As it turned out he was correct in that assumption, and was able to make it to the Mountain Caves without too much trouble. He had stopped and waited for the occasional <> to step away from the road before moving on, but he had not felt as though he were in great danger. Once he had arrived at the caves however, things became quite different. The map data he had downloaded was only partially complete, and based on the look of things, the cave system consisted of several tunnels that connected larger room like caves. Judging by the size of these rooms, he imagined that the <> wo

His vision flashed white, before he found himself standing in the Main City of Floor 2, Urbus. Resting inside a great crater that seemed carved into a flat topped mountain, Urbus was surrounded by rolling plains that transferred into hills, before reaching the mountainous areas that surrounded the floor. Saix had already made his way around much of the area, and was well aware that the <> and <> spawns were not to be underestimated. However, he was relatively sure he could make his way to the caves in the nearby mountains without incident if he stuck to the main roads. Most roa

Stepping into the designated Teleport Gate Saix snapped himself out of his thoughts, and instead focused his attention on how he was going to accomplish this task before him. If he wasn’t going to involve his friends, well then that meant he was going to have to do it alone. He would have rather have used the combination tactics that the small group were developing, but he had started learning the game as a <>, he was relatively sure that he could handle one quest such as this on his own. He wasn’t exactly a slouch when it came to the Sword Skills in mind. With that thought in mi

He briefly considered calling up one of his friends, who would no doubt appreciate the Xp, and would make the task much safer. However, each of his friends were currently on the first floor, and he did not want to take hours to try and organize a party in an unfamiliar area. While he was willing to gather materials on his own, he was not going to risk his lower level friends on a task that would only benefit him, even if the resulting sword would be high quality. No, it was better to leave them to their own leveling safely on the First Floor.

Luckily enough for him, the data entry was rather thorough, no doubt a party had raided the area at least once, and tangled with the creatures. He had thought it would be an easy victory, quickly blazing his way through the area, however from the looks of things these <> would be only 2-3 levels beneath him. That meant they could be a serious threat if he attempted to take on more than one at a time in cramped quarters. He would need to exercise caution, or this trip would become much more dangerous than he had anticipated.

As Saix walked out of the shop, heading towards the Teleport Gate, he busied himself with perusing his <>, pulling up the Information Broker’s tab, and quickly scrolling down to find any information on <>. What he found was actually rather surprising. Though the creatures nested in the caves of Floor 2, they were actually higher level than most of the creatures one would find on the floor. Perhaps the cave system was meant to function almost like some form of miniature dungeon?

His sword moved with a blur, first a horizontal slash from left to right across the creature's chest region, followed by another horizontal slash from right to left at waist height. The skill wasn't done yet, however, as Saix spun a full circle on his heal unleashed a third horizontal strike from right to left in a blur before ripping to the right, and up in a vertical slash... As his skill finished a 2D square formed by the sword trail seems to fade away as Saix completes the one-handed straight sword skill <> a quick mid level 4 hit combo, sending their enemy reeling from the four li

Like a well oiled machine the pair smoothly switched to their new targets, intent upon mowing down any enemies that might have stood in the way. Thus far they had encountered little in the way of resistance, both were gaining moderate Xp, and had started the quest over leveled. These low level mobs presented little in the way of real danger, but were perfect for ingraining the various <> they would depend on to survive the higher floors into muscle memory. Upon 9Lives calling out for a <>, Saix leaped into the fray his sword glowing with a blue light as he primed his attack with

He darted forward in an instant, closing the gap to <> in a flash of leather and the crimson color of his cloak. His sword scythed upward in a single upward slash, cleaving through the squat mushroom like body of his target in a gleaming arc that was almost too fast to follow. A digital spray of red followed the attack almost like an arterial spray, as his momentum carried him past his target. He had time to play the cool cat by standing a sheathing his sword without sparing his target a backwards glance, before <> dissolved into a spray of polygons like a peal of breaking glass

He may have misjudged the distance on his previous attempt at <>, but this time he would do better, he had to do better, he couldn't afford to make mistakes like that in battle. Not if he wanted to survive and leave this accursed game. Crouching low and bent forward, and pulling his sword back he charged his skill, the second 9Lives pulled himself into a defensive position behind his shield, Saix released his charging <>.

In a sense he was lucky they had been facing so many spawns of <> today, for even without the assistance of the <> he knew the attack patterns well enough to be able to place the iron rimmed shield between his body and the incoming attack. Still, the impact of the blow as enough to rattle him. When using the <> Skill he automatically deflected the incoming attack, actually using the shield to block was something completely different, and new. It was even a little invigorating, he had just blocked an attack from a creature that was trying to kill him all by himself, without

Dashing forward at high speed Saix's crimson cloak seemed to stretch like a blur behind him as he launched into the One-Handed Sword Skill <>. Unfortunately, the attack failed to connect... Dammit, misjudged the distance..." He cursed, realizing too late that he should have used his second charge skill, the weaker but longer range Rage Spike... Still, though he had failed to actually draw close enough for the strike too land, having misjudged the distance, he had still managed to peel aggro of his friend, which was the main goal. Then again, he didn't even have time to parry, and in

Saix cocked his blade high over his shoulder, feeling the skill lock and build as 9Lives seamlessly slipped into the position of forward that Saix himself had been playing thus far. Being able to reliably hold aggro was a very important skill, one that a party or guild would depend on. Saix had never doubted 9Lives' ability to take on this role, but some players still had trouble with the concept of willingly endangering themselves by drawing the attention of an enemy. As his friend slipped away and called for the <> Saix released his skill, trusting in the second nature of SAO's Syst

"Young Red Dragons eh? This should be fun." The exuberance in his voice is clear and the swordsman smiles, his eyes practically flashing with excitement at the prospect of undertaking such a challenge. He had largely avoided the Caves on the Second Floor during the short time he had explored the area. Saix had been more interested in mapping his way through the various villages, his meticulous approach to gaming all but demanded he carefully clear each floor of quests. It was only because he was busy exploring each floor's Cities that he had even come to the 5th Floor. Sure this was a Dea

His sword hurtled downward in a diagonal slash that cleaved through the body of <> from top-left to bottom middle, before his sword could impact the ground, he turned his wrist and brought it right back upwards from the bottom-middle to the top-right, in a two hit combo that traced a Letter V from inside the creature's body, hence the name <>. In truth, it ended up being something of an overkill move, as the first hit alone might have succeeded in destroying the target. But as the <> burst into a scattering cloud of polygons Saix believed that their was no kill quite like

Perfect, they were doing perfect so far. 9Live's attack shifted aggro, and he was able to evade the retaliatory attack easily enough. That meant <> was in <> unable to move after activating it's attack skill. Of course, it was a very low level attack skill, no doubt the <> only lasted a few 10th's of a second, but learning to play this game meant learning to exploit every opportunity presented. Thankfully, he was close enough to strike already, and without the need to utilize a charge skill, so Saix cocked his arm back, readying his <> skill, his sword blazed blue,

Now there was a real bugger of a question. In Virtual MMO's like this, so much of a player's identity to others came from the various gear that was equipped. Even something so simple as choosing a color for a weapon would serve as a means to define him among his peers. Well, if that were the case... "Would crimson be possible?" He asks, rather politely as he glances towards some of the weapons on display. Yes, a crimson sword of this high quality would look very distinguished, no doubt he would cut a dashing figure with such a fine weapon on his belt.

The thorn covered whip impacted the shield with a flash of light and a clang of sound, before the perfectly timed <> drove the whip like vine back, the spike like thorn's flashing red then dissolving into a fine spray of polygons as the parry destroyed the natural 'weapons' at the end of the vine, stun locking their enemy for a precious half second. Saix dropped low, and stepped to the side hurriedly, not wanting to waste precious time and called out "Switch!" so that his partner might capitalize on the <> temporary stunned state. Between the two of them, he couldn't imagine any

Saix didn't seem to expect any more of a reply than the rather abrupt Agreed, but it didn't bother him. He merely focused on the nearest of the plant monsters and drew his Iron Shortsword. They had killed a few of the <> mobs today, and it seemed their work was not quite done. By his estimation, a further four mobs remained before he would feel comfortably moving to the quest marker and drawing aggro from the tougher <> that would drop the required item to complete his quest. Setting his feet, he banged the flat of his sword upon his shield with a resounding clash, drawing the