Crozeph

"To believe that one lacks restraint is cruel way to create a prison, a person can never know something until the feeling or the sight arrives" Elevated terrain, just what Crozeph was expecting. He slowly unsheathe his katana and pointed it forward, three enemies and they seem to not like his presence. "A shaman of some sort and a few underlings, this is going to be bad." He kept his eyes on them, it seems that both sides are waiting for the first blood and Crozeph is sure that they'll be the first to draw it. The shaman began growling, face hidden beneath its cloak filled of runic

"A stalemate, it would seem that he unknowingly ends it like that" the old man said, his niece sitting beside him as they both enjoy eating the mochi she brought in his house "then if he continues..." the girl gave a worried look, it was her who dragged him in the dojo, out of good intention to give her friend a bit of a healthy habit. "It's as you think it is, he would never move up his current rank. I myself is impressed but I also don't want to be unfair," he told her. "But remember this my dear niece, when the time comes that he can no longer ignore that other side of his quietness.

"Sensei! why do we even keep him with us? it's been a year and the only thing he can actually do is ashi-sabaki" a guy uttered as he sat beside a man in his mid fifties. He only gave a soft laugh to his student who seemed to have a very competitive attitude. For years his dojo has produced students who are worthy enough to compete but as their teacher he only wanted them to learn the discipline, how they use it in their own lives is their responsibility. "That is quite rude, he knows how to strike" he replied. He shifted his attention to the boy who sat quietly in a corner, legs crossed.

"Where the fuck is that teleport plaza?" He muttered, maybe if he wasn't being such a fine dumbass he wouldn't be separated from his group. He was having a hard time knowing the way back, this was his first time in this place an he needed to find them quick or else they'll leave him behind (maybe). He opened his mail that came from Hirru and tried to find it in his own map "damn it, Cardinal couldn't make a dumbass friendly marker in this map" he thought. After a few minutes of walking, shuffling, and scratching of his head, Crozeph decided to ask for directions. He turned around an

The performances continued, no one is still talking to him aside from the glances and nods from the women dancing and elderly people passing by. A few couples also enjoyed the view and joined with the dancing but not him, crows don't dance... they caw. He liked how everyone expresses their art freely, no puritans to ruin their inspiration and no filthy casuals roaming and commenting nothing but bullshit. He even saw others draw or paint, capturing the vibrant colors of fabric, sunlight, and adding a bit of expressionism in their craft. As this continued, Crozeph then tried to remember his

It was a blast for him, even though he's just standing near the railings of the bridge that connected Heavenly Palace to the main settlement. There was no indication of festivities and it seems that people would rather enjoy themselves with their art than bother anyone who looks like they don't want to be bothered. The graceful dances, echoes of melody coming from strings instruments, and the thump and boom of the percussions was something Crozeph missed. He was a musician, he tagged along with a few friends to learn sound engineering and this was at least a solace from what he was search

*These events happened before Crozeph joined the current scouting team* "A master swordsman living in the mountains? no we don't know." "A quest for katanas? I haven't heard anything." "Perhaps this isn't the right floor." "Try our new egg footlong sandwich!" "The cake is a lie?" A very unfruitful travel. This was a waste of time for him, not entirely but he thought it would yield results better than what he expected. He was going by a gut feeling that some kind of hidden quest was in there. The place had the perfect setting for it, a settlement built on a high ground, harsh

Seeing Mac have the wrapping wrap his teeth, Crozeph gave him a thumbs up and a smirk. He wasn't expecting Mac to pull it off but he did and he did it well. NIGHT and Hirru failed to gain the full trust of the children but that was to be expected, Baldur and Lessa did too and that leaves with him observing the people around them. "Are the children orphans? with these many people, I'd be weirded out if no one was calling them after talking to us." He thought. Crozeph hated how things looked like under the dazzling colors of the linens and the glimmer of the wares. Obviously the young ones

"Look for two people?" Hatsune asked, it seemed like an easy job and she wasn't sure if Crozeph was messing with them or not. "Yep, they're newbies under my care and after the boss fight I can't seem to pinpoint their exact location. I mean I could but I have some pressing matters to attend for now" he told them both. "I don't mean to be intrusive but what pressing matters are you going to attend to that you'll leave this job to us?" Zatsune was curious, knowing him, it felt like he is just trying to slack off using his col. "First, I gotta figure out this sword art changes. Second,

"Wait, isn't Batman already edgy?" he asked. Zatsune took one step forward, finger pointed at Crozeph as if she was really displeased by the statement "Batman? edgy? fuck no!" she told him. Crozeph gave in another thought "he does, a rich guy who is edgy-" Zatsune grabbed him by the collar despite being shorter than him. Hatsune quickly tried to pull her sister away "you uncultured swine! Batman is just dark and brooding!" she yelled. Crozeph tried to pry away her hand as he tries to give a reply "bitch that's what being edgy is" he told her. "Zatsune please, we need to find a job

"Ah it's the annoying twins of Yomi" Crozeph quipped as soon as he saw the two girls holding hands together. In his stay inside Yomi, he made quite a few allies that serves well in times of need. He didn't ask for them but they helped him a lot and one of those is the twins, Hatsune and Zatsune. He met when asked Night for a duel where the twins secured an are where they can duke it out with their awesomesauce katana. It was at that point where the people of Yomi finally acknowledged his existence, that there is a merchant inside who fought well enough. He lost the duel but people

"My lance is for piercing, his scimitar is for slash attacks, and her two-handed sword works both as a slashing and bludgeoning weapon" the boy with the lance told him. Crozeph nodded in satisfaction "well I guess I have nothing to tell you, work something out and you might just be able to use sword arts again. Try it out in the Stygian and make sure you're near the settlement so you can easily retreat." He waved his hand and was about to turn around when the group bowed and thank him. He returned the gesture and saw them talk to each other how to fight the mobs as they make their way to the S

"If you're not new to mmorpg stuff, you'd know the basics if certain weapons" he told them and before things could get awry, he warned the girl who has a two-handed sword on her back "Tartarus is no joke, I only manage to go in and out because I know the place quite well despite some spawning secret rooms. If I were you, I'd reach a certain level first before going in there and trust me-" he pointed at the large gate behind him "it's easy to move inside when you're alone, it's safer to be in there with a group but no one should be complacent no matter how much you want to go in there." T

Food... He has been eating before he even got to the meeting place, if it weren't for the bazaar triggering his hatred of too many people in one place he would be buying another basket of bread and two rolls of cheese to melt on it. Night already moved near Hirru as soon as the player found some children. Macradon even stood behind them as if he was trying to impress something "good cop, bad cop?" he thought. It would be nice if the children were a bit older, he himself wouldn't hesitate to be the bad cop and try to imitate Will Ferrell while he's at it. "Oh right..." He opened

Where is she... Crozeph nodded as Macradon and Night began thinking of what they should be doing now that it's clear they have no solid clue yet. He was looking for her and at the same time didn't like things that are hidden in plain sight. Amidst the bazaar's colorful wares and fabrics being sold, he saw a few children walking around as if looking for something for themselves "refugees..." he thought. The floor had been known to have some kind of conflicts in factions, nothing new, yet he felt a bit of indignation for those who unknowingly suffered and treated as "collateral" but enough

"We stick with the basics for now?" one of them asked. It was the first thing that he uttered, he was even trying to impersonate Baldur. The three players before him looked at each other. One was holding a lance for jousting, the second had a scimitar, and lastly the girl had a two-handed sword. "This is quite the trio, it eerily reminds me of a certain group" he thought as he watched them talk amongst themselves. Tartarus was never a pleasant place, he was simply numb to what it offers to anyone who dares to enter. The three players sees him as someone who was strong enough to take on wh

"She's not here..." His thoughts were clouded after scanning a few faces. This was unexpected for him, the lack of her presence. Usually she would be the one to jump in the front and tank all damage and that also means she's earlier than the others and claim her position as the paladin. He munched on his consumables, buffing his stats to raise his survivability. With the changes made to the system after the boss battle, Crozeph has been pushed back to his glass cannon build and with that he would always have her by his side. There's Baldur, Macradon, a green haired guy but she wasn't here

A very different approach After a quick visit to Cintamani to buy some essentials (not oil) he began making his way to the teleport plaza. It must've been quite an experience for someone like him when he suddenly realized another thing. He received the message, understood it's contents, bought what he needed, finally headed to the quickest transportation around... but there was no specific meeting place. ...and then the next message arrived. He stood frozen a few feet away from the portal, players around giving him wary reactions. A player with raven-black hair, wearing a pair o

It's been a while since his last visit, of course for business purposes. He and the shop owner named Bistro wasn't good friends, he sure hope he was a good customer. A step in and a quick look inside was enough for him to get that familiar feeling of going in the same place. He was like a cat, who would eat the same thing just to avoid getting poisoned and in this case, Cintamani was his go to now that his inventory is a hot mess, a steaming pile of dung that no one can dare to fix, not even the owner itself. He opened his menu and prepared the col, scanned the place for some extra purcha

*Ding* It wasn't the microwave, that thing cannot exist in a medieval setting. A place where everyone is back to the basics of using glorified sticks and stones to break bones. From there one can say that it is a notice, a notification to be exact. Someone has sent a message and despite microwaves not existing, instant messages do exist in this world, in Aincrad. Sleeping, sleeping again outside. Somewhere, somehow he ended up doing it again as if it was a relapse. Could this be one of those times where a person felt a loss and went back to a set of pathetic coping mechanisms? for h

A boy wearing some kind of bronze armor approached him, he was holding a lance for jousting. Crozeph wasn't how that would work but anything is possible in Aincrad as it follows the system. "It seems that the description for sword arts have been erased, I know most players have deviated from the basics but for us who relies on it, we are in a pinch" he told him. "Normally we'd do this as a group but we are scared to venture out or enter..." "So what do you really need?" He asked him to which the boy nodded his head knowing that Crozeph wasn't liking the beating around the bush. "We

"No" A quick reply to the group of players, Crozeph didn't want another "Shirogane Chosa"incident to happen where he helps one for the greater good. He may have no ill will against anyone now but he's not a hero or savior either. There's only one thing in his mind right now, get home to sort things out with his new weapon and the seemingly new system, nothing more nothing less. "Please we need your help, our sword arts seemed different now" Crozeph took a few steps away from them, he had the same problem too. Of all the things to happen, meeting fellow players who are struggling

Out of the prison for fallen angels the player goes, such a simple task... It would be a shame if he got himself involved in someone else's mess... Out of convenience to the plot... He stepped out, trying to take in a fresh set of air in an underground level. There may be no such thing as a floor debuff inhaling the scent but Crozeph knew that it always smells like a river filled with garlic and rotten pasta. He stared at it, the Stygian river, for many months or weeks as he wallowed in his own incompetency. Everything changed now though, he has Yuki, Jacob's Ladder welcomed hi

"Ah that one, paragon levels" he told them both "I'm guessing it's a way for that asshat Cardinal to create threats equal to all, like a nerf or something. Some players are progressing so fast they can actually shrug off any threat from floor 20 and below. Cardinal might've seen that as a problem in the future and decided to "nerf" it a bit." Crozeph saw it, his level got changed but there was another level shown beside it. Some perks where available and he got freebies but that's it, the health points are what gave him a concern. "It could pose a threat for glass cannons like me having l