Sorun

Sorun began hearing the noises of a struggle. Seems that while Hana had definitely taken the opportunity to attack while the boar was knocked prone, it seemed that the monster was lucky enough to dodge the attack just in time. That near miss wasn't the end of Hana's misfortune, however, as the boar chonkernaut proceeded to move backwards instead of forwards... "Wait...what's it doing?" Sorun thought. Soon, it tried to disarm Hana again, but she held onto her weapon firmly...too firmly, unfortunately, as the boar was persistent enough to not care that it lifted Hana off the ground, no, it went

Sorun had to hold out. He just needed to hold onto this rock for as long as necessary. Night called out for him to hang in there, for the monster had to let up at some point. Personally, Sorun was starting to wonder if this monster ever gets tired. If it does, it's either taking way longer than it should or its stamina is peerless. "Just keep holding on." He thought. "It won't be much longer now, just keep holding on..." *CRRRKKK!!!* Wait, that didn't sound good. Sorun opened his eyes to see that the rock he was holding onto was cracking under the pressure, and was separating

While Night was busy fighting off the big bad sand twister maker, Sorun struggled against the wind as he tried to reach for the solid stone with his free hand, hopefully before the force of the wind could blow the axe away and send him flying again. "Just...have to...reach the..." *Grapp!* Sorun's hand just managed to grab onto the stone before his axe lost its grip, and Sorun began to struggle to cling the rest of himself to the rock and out of harm's way. The wind and buffeting sand still were not helping, however. Every movement was a struggle and he was wondering if he could

If anything, Sorun was learning how certain enemies could find ways to easily turn the tide in their favor, such as disturbing the battlefield in order to make attempts to damage them less effective, by strategy, parry, or just straight up sending players into the air. This current situation was one such scenario. Sorun resorted to swinging his axe about, hoping its gap would latch onto something, as he dealt with the sands of the artificial sandstorm itself with his free hand. "I should've brought goggles or something..." He thought as the hot sands buffeting his face cause

Sorun continued to hold onto his axe with one hand while swatting at the sand buffeting him with the other, but soon he felt more than the wind and sand. He began to feel some turbulence. He opened his eyes to find that he wasn't attached to the earth anymore, he was now in the air. Seeing that fall damage was a thing, this was not good in any way whatsoever. He had to get down softly somehow. He was only level one, so fall damage from plenty of potential impacts wouldn't be good for him at all. There just had to be a way to escape a death caused by his reckless decision by getting h

There had to be a way to expose the stone somehow. Sorun figured if the sand could slide down, that maybe if he just held onto the handle of his axe, that he wouldn't slip if he used his free hand to try and get the sand to fall like the water of a flowing stream. Just a few swipes and he shook his head at the realization that it would not do. Then the monster began running circles around the edge. Sand started to move, both on the ground, and in the air. "Heh? What's it doing?" He thought aloud. Of course, this curiosity turned into a silent struggle when the winds of the

The location that the two players arrived at looked suspicious, almost as though it were an arena of sorts. Any player that was perceptive enough could tell that a boss lived here, preying upon anything it could. Of course, it was very likely that the tables would be turned here. While Sorun could easily just follow every step, he had to make sure he didn't hold the attention. He was even notified to try and seek out a rocky ledge to help the two players get out of the arena-like monster habitat for when the battle was done. Problem was, Sorun didn't exactly see any ledges just yet.

The player would explain a battle plan, one that was more defensive than anything on Sorun's end, while the leading player would take on the most of it and try to keep the target enemy's focus on her, not that he knew whatever the heck it was, he was just going in blind. While that was usually a horrible idea, especially in a case like this, he might make it out alive if he could keep his wits about him, know when to block and when to dodge, that sort of thing. It made sense. Wait for the right opportunity, and strike only when safe to do so. Sounds pretty fair. Sure, it was nothing extra or w

The person, being a player, proceeded to question Sorun's patience. "To be fair, I did kinda try to wait things out too long, so I kinda have to make up for lost time. Can't be going around left in the dust by everyone else to fall to just anything, gotta catch up so I don't stay behind forever...or worse, become a statistic." He noted. The player would point in the direction of the dustbowl and tell him where she was headed in case he felt like tagging along. The answer was right in front of him the whole time, he just never noticed it until now, and

Sorun's thought process was disrupted by someone telling him the direction of town. Oh, so he'd just wandered outside the safe zone lost in thought. Wonderful. At least he hadn't aggro'd anything too strong just yet. He blinked. "...And?" He didn't really have the best response, nor could he disagree with his chosen answer. He had to do something, but the question was what. Stretching out his arms and putting his hands behind his head, he resisted the urge to yawn. "I mean, it's not like I've got much to do in there...or, anywhere, really, seeing that I lack the level to

Sorun was taking a real gamble here, entering the fifth floor like this. Despite the gear he had, it wouldn't help him to survive attacks from level five monsters very well. If he could easily dodge the attacks, he wouldn't have too much to worry about, but he couldn't guarantee that he'd be able to. He walked around the settlement of Fortaleza for the time being, wondering if anyone knew something that could help low level players to rise quickly, to blast through the levels with speed, even if it could only deal with a few of them. He had to do something to get his level goi

Yeah, Sorun had hardly anything to worry about by the looks of things, as well as the words that were spoken. Oscar noted that he and Night were frontline level players. He put Night on a bit of a pedestal, but Night would deny it, noting that the two high level players had residence here...and how one of them ran a hot dog stand? Sorun squinted as he looked Oscar up and down. "So, you're the Wiener Man, then?" He remarked. What was that popular hot dog brand in the states? "Oscar Meyer"? That's the same name as this dude's name or username, Oscar specifically...and this player was also the Wi

Sorun heard the sounds of squealing, and attempted to get up. The smaller boar was gone, but the big fat pig was still there. How. The hell. Does something. That freaking big. Dodge an attack like that. So. Damn. Effortlessly??? While it made no sense that something like this ended up happening, there was really nothing that could be done to change it, but there just has to be some way for Hana to hit it...there has to be a way... Sorun then noticed that the big chunky boar was going for it again. Sorun stopped the attack with his axe. "Oh no you don't..

The dark haired girl noted that there wasn't any trouble, but the two players were going to start the beginner questline. "I haven't really tried it yet, but I'm sure it'll be worth it, even if it's just some extra experience to level up a few times...I'm sure it'll go smoother than yesterday, anyway." He answered. It's not like there will be a bunch of crazier-than-usual monsters waiting to get aggro'd in a quest like that, unlike what Hana did the other day... The green haired girl mentioned that she was the one who called out something loud, she was in need of help

It had been a bit since his ingredient quest turned escapade with his cousin, and Sorun had chosen to just take a rest for the day. After yesterday's events, he was gonna need some time, as he clearly needed some time to slowly readjust to his own cousin of all people. At first, being around Hana was being around someone who was both lucky and accident prone simultaneously and yet was somehow ignoring both due to personal reasons...and now? Now being around Hana was like becoming a damn moving target for anything that could aggro, every creature outside the safe zone had it out for her and any

What even was this struggle here? Sure, two of the boars had already been taken care of, but there were still two more, that no only was Sorun trying to leave alive for Hana to finish off and loot, but they had both proven themselves to be absolutely insufferable so far. So, naturally, Sorun was getting tired of this, and it hadn't even been that long. Once again, Hana's final strike was delayed because the big pig yet again knew how to throw her off(or, more accurately, her weapon), leaving Sorun to have to hold off the two boars yet again...and one of the two boars would trig

Sorun winced as Hana had another stumble, this time caused by the big boy. That fat piggy knew exactly what he was doing. Even if it were lore-wise rather than actual experience, this boar has definitely seen combat before. Whether it be from being attacked by players or NPCs, or by competing with other creatures, it had fought its way to the big size it had grown to. The two boars turned their eyes back to Sorun, and Sorun gripped his axe. He activated his sword art, hacking away at the big boy and knocking it back a meter or two. However, the moment he turned to de

Well, at least Hana is safe. Now he just needed to survive on his own end of the battle. It mattered not that Hana had a slip up and fell. As long as she was safe, it didn't matter. Sorun would normally ask her if she was okay, but the three boars were coming at him and he needed to strike now. He readied his axe and charged up his sword art, hacking away at the two lesser boars, killing one of them. The big boy caught Sorun's axe in its tusks, and tossed him behind. Sorun got up, feeling a bit dizzy. A quest update on his HUD dinged, notifying him that he'd completed his task

Normally, going back out into the wilds felt like a personal risk. This time, it hit different since his allies weren't strangers or acquaintances. The different feeling hit even harder when he noticed that Hana wasn't beside him all of a sudden. "Hana?" He looked to his left, but then he heard a squeal to the right. His eyes widened at the sight of his cousin pulling aggro on four boars. "Hana what are you doing?? You can't just attack the first thing you see!" He called out before pulling out his axe and rushing over to help. His Sword Art would hack away at the quartet of bo

Why was it always the roof...maybe it was because there were no telephone poles for her to climb up to, but there were probably higher places to climb up to, unless she got bored of those spots or something? There were always things that Sorun couldn't understand about Hana, but in his opinion, that was just part of her charm and a guy would be lucky to have someone like her. After Hana dragged Sorun over, nearly skipping as she did so, she opened the door to a tavern, and it was clearly a place where the best NPC-made food of the floor was, judging by the smell alone. A

Hana was more excited about getting a profession than Sorun thought she would be. Of course, then she brought up the potential help it could bring others, which made sense, for there was always a demand for consumable buffs among adventurers and frontliners of all stripes. The thought of helping others in this regard wasn't a bad idea at all, but now the two cousins just needed a good teacher to guide them in the game's process of how this profession worked. Thankfully, Hana was able to come up with the answer quickly. Sorun, of course, hadn't been paying too much attention to the thr

Sorun could only give a chuckle before considering his next response. "Well, I guess you're more yourself than you've ever been before, then. That's a plus, I suppose." He remarked. Despite her little quirks, Hana's true self was something to behold. More people should get to know someone like her, if not Hana herself. She'd probably be that one friend any sane person would never want to let go of, at least in his eyes. Hana would ask if Sorun had any plans. She was in luck, for he had something on his mind, not that he knew whether or not she was up for the task. "Actually, I

As Sorun was passing by an inn, something completely unexpected happened. Someone landed in front of him as he was walking, and his expression filled with shock as his jaw dropped slightly. His expression of shock would remain until the familiar face that landed was finished speaking. "Hana??" He exclaimed. "Why are you even-" His palm to his face, it all came clearly. Gaming was one of the ways she was able to become her true self, so of course she would take interest in a game the way it was advertised, but seriously, how was she among the ten thousand? Or was this just a ca

Sorun needed experience. Not just combat experience, but life experience too...well, as "Experience" could be in terms of this lifelike game's life aspects, he couldn't just do nothing but fight all day and night, the fatigue and hunger pains were making sure of that. He'd need a way around it all, he'd need a place to himself where he could not only rest, but still have a way to get ahead without going out and fighting for his life every day...he needed a place in the market. However, the Aincrad Market was a limited one, despite its Free Market economy. If he wanted a place in it, he'd need

"That woman sure drives a hard bargain..." Sorun muttered to himself. Yona sent him to become more experienced by partying up with players "more his level", "more his speed", or maybe other things of the like. However, he'd been searching for what felt like two hours for any aspiring nooblets to help out, but nobody at his level that he'd found was willing to step out. With a deep sigh, he continued on, wondering if anyone else might be willing to carry him through something because he couldn't find anyone willing to step out...maybe in the market districts in the Town of Beginnings might have