Astra

Astra took his steps into the jungle biome of Floor 6, with Wulfrin's words reverberating in his head. He was here to continue his training, hone his virtues, and meditate on them, something that Wulfrin suggested to him in prior teachings. With the dangerous situations he's found himself in, the white haired youth could use some time to clear his head and gather his thoughts. Luckily for him in most of those situations he had friends with him to guide him, protect him, and vice versa. Astra felt that someone could only ever be as strong as the good company they keep. For now, he was alone. Ma

Astra nodded along as Wulfrin explained the next steps, giving him a thumbs up to show that he understood. "AOE attacks, got it. Let's do this!" The blade of Astra's sword began to glow a brilliant azure, with trails of particles that looked like stars as he made his way to the wolves. He positioned himself so the wolves were almost in a line right in front of him, so he could leap forward and perform quick slashes to injure them. He performed his move, with both of his hands on the handle of his sword, and attempted to slash at all four of the wolves. He landed on the other side of the

Astra watched as Wulfrin released a barrage of attacks into the Monkey King. The beast looked injured at this point, and it probably wouldn't take long before it capitulated and died. Wulfrin had let Astra know that it was his turn next, a chance to strike the beast while still reaping the benefits from Boreas' buff. The novice nodded at the shoutout, and prepared himself to attack once again. Making his way back to the Monkey King, Astra readied his sword, which had begun to radiate with light once more. He dashed in towards the legs of his enemy and tried to let off a few slashes, hopi

After Astra performed his usual clown act, he changed back into his casual clothes and began to read to the kids at the orphanage. Generally, the books he read to the children were books that they had picked out, and he didn't mind that. He would read some chapters, and let them read as well, and if they had trouble reading, he would try to teach them and coach them through it. The time had passed, but out of the corner of his eye Astra had noticed one young person who wasn't taking part in any of the activities. She seemed to be hiding around corners, and hiding in the shadows. This definitel

Astra woke up in the morning with a bit of an extra pep in his step. He went through his normal morning routine, eating a small breakfast, showering, getting ready for the day. From there he knew he was going to make his way to the orphanage on Floor 1, where he would normally spend his free time in the past, and got dressed to head there. The white haired youth was adorned in his casual outfit, a black turtlenecked shirt with some buttons on the collar, covered by a white closed vest, and some black pants. In the bag he had carried with him he had all that he needed for the day, his clown cos

There was a pretty big feeling of excitement that Astra would be opening his first chest in Aincrad. At least one that he looted himself. Still, couldn't be too cautious, even on the beginner floors. As a precautionary measure, Astra drew his sword and spun it in his hands, before tapping on the top of the chest with his blade. He waited a few seconds, and nothing seemed to happen - which is what he was hoping for. "Perfect, not a mimic!" He sheathed his sword and bent down to open the chest, lifting the top slowly. He had hoped that maybe there would be a glow or a shine coming from the

"Glad to finally put those boars to rest, and finish up that part of the quest. Thanks for all the motivation and help, you guys. I almost lost my cool in certain moments", Astra explained to his comrades as they made their way back to Lyle's shop. Wulfrin took point when it came to interacting with the curmudgeonly blacksmith, switching between the appearances of Astra and Siren. Truthfully, Astra didn't mind Wulfrin handling the talk with Lyle, as he preferred to talk to people who were a little less...Rough. The real important part was where they ended up next, and based on Wulfrin's

The journey towards the aforementioned Monkey King ended abruptly, when a roar shook through the trees and caught the attention of the adventures. In a short amount of time they found themselves on the Monkey King's turf, with the giant demonic looking ape-creature huffing and looking down upon them. It started to drag its massive clawed hands through the ground below, clearly focused on the pray in front of it. Astra found himself a bit surprised at the size of the beast, but not entirely rattled. He couldn't shake Wulfrin referring to the monster as "Donkey Kong", and that calmed Astra's ner

This was it, the fire in his heart and head started to burn with the fury of any infernal demon from the layers of hell. Astra wasn't letting this thing get away anymore. He was fed up with its evasion and guile, and there was no way he'd continue to fail to kill it. The boarlet reared on its haunches once more, squealing and focused on both Wulfrin and Astra. It kicked up some dirt and mud, and lowered its head to show its small horns. It was clearly peacocking in front of Astra, who has been tangoing with it for some time now. He wasn't going to let this baby boar showboat or get its w

The face-off between the two continued, and the tension was palpable. Siren was calculated and quick with her kills, Wulfrin didn't need to kill the boars, and yet Astra stood still facing his last boarlet. It was clear that the struggle was very real on this day, but Astra wasn't going to let that crush his mood. Once more, Astra moved in to attack the boarlet. In a quick flash...Oh man. My, oh my. Astra swung his sword once more, hoping to finally send this baby boar to hell, but alas, it was another miss. It was hard to tell why and how Astra missed. Did the boar dodge? Did Astra mist

The frustration continued to set in, as Astra continued to miss on his attacks against the small creature in front of him. It would probably be worse if the boarlet was wholly focused on him, as over time they could do some damage, but Wulfrin's aggro gathering was still working. Astra took a moment to collect himself and his thoughts, before working his way towards the boar once more. To some outside observers, it would almost seem like he was going through the motions, but Astra made sure his strikes were calculated. There just wasn't much success, and he clearly had some things to wor

Astra took on his teammates words of encouragement and braced himself to make another attack. The boarlet looked between him and Wulfrin, who was maintaining aggro, wide-eyed and seemingly frenzied. Fighting these little scamps felt like such an arduous task at this point, and even with his most planned attacks Astra found them to be incredibly slippery and hard to hit. He was determined in the end, though. There was progress to be made. Maybe it was the pressure of moving on to the next part of the quest, maybe it was the pressure of finishing off this damn boar, or maybe it was Maybell

With the party invite sent by Boreas, Astra promptly accepted the request. "Hopefully I can contribute to the fight, I'll do my best at least," he said with a prompt nod towards his companions. Not long after an NPC who introduced himself as Sewallus approached the group, and offered to lend his hand in the battle. Astra was certainly open for more help, but was certainly worried about the risk of the NPC getting deleted. As Wulfrin led the way through the lush forests of Floor 8, Astra listened to his gameplan. It was a solid plan, and hopefully they'd be able to get the necessary stuns

Astra could tell that there was still some concern in Bliss' voice as she spoke to him, and maybe there wasn't much he could say to make that go away. He could however, do his best to give her reasons not to worry. Astra moved Bliss' hand that was holding his over his heart, with his hand firmly (but softly) over hers. "Heh, yeah, too much heart. You could say that." He locked eyes with her once more. "To be honest, it's felt a bit stronger since I met you. So I think I'm in good shape," he said with a soft smile. He placed their hands back down to the blanket, but still made sure their finger

Astra sat relaxed and immersed in his book, sitting in the reading nook within Ciela's house on Floor 22, in which he resided. He found himself caught up reading the novel "Utopia" by Thomas More, an older read, but one that captivated him. Hm, the idea of a real utopia. An ideal world for everyone...If only we could make Aincrad something like that. He pondered on what it would take to make such a dangerous and cutthroat virtual world one that was accepting for all, that is until a new message notification caught his eye. Astra brought up his menu and opened up the message he received from Wu

Astra dug his heels into the ground as he faced the last boar standing amidst the group. Siren had recently struck her target with poise and rationality, and now only one boarlet stood amidst the gang. The novice swordsman had missed a lot of these nimble boarlets recently, and it definitely started to give him some stress; but he wouldn't let that take away his focus and resolve. Siren's nudge gave Astra the push he needed, and he was ready to strike once more. A solid "Thanks!" left his mouth, and he made his moves. With his left hand gripped tight around the handle of the sword, Astra

"Thanks, I'm pretty eager to learn," Astra said as Wulfrin began to prepare for the training at hand. Astra couldn't help but dwell for a moment on Wulfrin's comment about learning quickly when your life is on the line. It brought Astra back to the first day in Aincrad, when every player soon learned how high the stakes were. The visage of a fallen friend had appeared in his head, and the youth couldn't help but think about how he wasn't able to save his friend. He tried to learn quickly, with someone's life on the line, but he just wasn't good enough. Astra shook his head in an attempt to rem

With how quickly Nymoria and Wulfrin dispatched all three of Cerberus' heads, Astra was in awe. Nymoria took the first head down with incredible poise and skill, and Wulfrin finished the rest off with no hesitation. There was a part of Astra that wished he could've helped take down even just one of the heads, but he knew that would be a waste of energy and effort. His damage output wouldn't be nearly strong enough, he could potentially catch the ire of the beast, and today he was seemingly off of his game - missing attacks left and right. There was a sense of relief, however, when the mo

Astra couldn't tell if he was losing his mind due to being in the sun too long, or if he actually heard the water monster laugh at everyone who missed their attacks. Is it...Is this thing mocking us? The last thing Astra needed right now was to be chided by an oversized wave that interrupted the supposedly relaxing day at the beach. He felt his ears start to get a bit hot, and frustration set in. "Alright, let's try this again," he said readying his spear. The now-frustrated Astra rushed back towards the Summer Wave, splashing through the water as he made his way closer. Trying to run th

Astra found himself sifting through the crowd gathered at the coliseum (pit?) a little before 4pm, hoping to find a good spot to observe before the next match started. It had been a little bit of time since he'd been back in the Town of Beginnings, but knowing the tournament "Clash of Blades" was about to start? He certainly couldn't miss an event like this. Seeing some of the frontliners and other top combatants of Aincrad go against each other would be an incredible rush, and a chance for him to notate some of the strategies that they use in battle. I mean, after all, if Astra's going to get

"Bliss!" Astra called out while they hurtled through the air, landing roughly into the sand below. Astra skidded along for a bit before rolling to a halt in the sand. Oof. Getting thrown in the air and into the sand was not on my Bingo card for the beach party. He stood up and looked around at his beach companions, Bliss and Cobean. It seemed as though they were up and wielding weapons, ready to confront the new mobs that had spawned into this beach party. This day just started to get stranger by the second. So much for relaxation. Astra made his way over to the weapons rack and assessed

Astra watched as Wulfrin's shadow returned to its owners feet, bringing about a quiet calm. His stance was weak? Not the worst criticism for his early foray into swordplay. He'd certainly made some strides since his first day in Aincrad, and that memory would still linger at the back of his mind. One thing that certainly helped Astra as he tried to improve his sword skills was watching other players, such as Wulfrin, and their myriad of tactics. From stance, to form, to the way they flourish the blade. These were all things that needed to be considered when wielding a sword, and performing suc

"Great, if this isn't hell then I can only imagine what it'll actually look like," Astra said as he donned his new temporary equipment. "Sure thing, thanks for letting me use it for now." When the new armor was equipped there was almost an instant relief from the heat. Astra couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh as his body temperature cooled down. If he was looking to proceed through higher floors he would need to be more aware of potential environmental dangers. This world wasn't so simple that each floor was just a change of scenery, and he almost learned that lesson the hard way.

In the heat of the battle, Astra had hardly noticed that he was taking damage from the environment. It wasn't until he had missed his attack on the Hell Hound, and Nymoria had finished them off, that the pain started to set in. It felt like a weighted blanket of fire was being placed onto his skin directly, wearing him down and nearly bringing him to his knees. Astra stumbled slightly, and planted the blade of his sword in the ground to hold himself up. The burning sensation wasn't subsiding, but the most worrying thing he noticed was his HP being brought down to a mere 5. If he didn't act qui

"I've done a few quests, but essentially just basic ones so far. I'm looking to take on more and improve my skills, hence why I'm here" Astra replied to Nymoria as she asked if he had done many quests. It's true that he's seen some action before, but not nearly as much as Nymoria and the other skilled players that occupied Aincrad. The quests he'd done so far were pretty much just the basics, with a few others thrown in for good measure. Essentially Astra was still in his "training arc", but was hoping he'd be moving on from that soon. The two walked through the underground caverns in a