[F3-PP] Mirrored Masks, Changed Fates -Arc and Myself-

[Domarus 0]

Domarus was once again out and clearing the forest of monsters.  He needed to grind for levels and so far the only ways were quests, dungeons and mob grinding.  So far, dungeons were not an option, and he would be returning to questing later on.  For now he would focus on combat.  He wanted to see how long he could keep his energy up after all.  So far he'd been focussing on the larger monsters who were balanced with his level.  Being a minotaur based forest, they had all been minotaur's, meaning he'd been focusing on ax to ax combat.  The difference is that the minotaur had a one handed ax while he had a two handed one.  The monster he was fighting currently seemed to have some level of intelligence, adapting to Domarus' strikes.  At the same time there seemed to be an npc behind it that it was guarding.  Perhaps it was a random quest?  To be honest Domarus didn't really care.  If it was he'd accept it, otherwise he'd keep slaying monsters.

Domarus swung his ax from below with much force, but the minotaur managed to dodge it rather easily and struck from above.  It was Domarus' turn to evade, both of them equally and exceptionally fast, in both physical prowess and combat based reaction rates.  The battle continued, escalating quickly.  To him it took a while.  To an outside observer however, it may have seemed extremely fast, and over with quickly.  After he had slain the monster he glanced at the woman.  She began thanking him, urging him to come closer.  He glanced at Rhozarth, commanding him to scout out for any additional monsters he could slay.  As Rhozarth did so he walked to the woman to see if it was a quest.  Suddenly the woman's eyes narrowed evilly and charged at him, her cursor turning orange.  Domarus didn't hesitate to cleave her in half.  To an outside observer, depending on how perceptive they were.  It may have seemed that she was a normal player that he just killed, or they could have seen the red cursor above her head.  Note:  

Domarus is in his Hopebreaker armor

@Arc

[Ashrah 0]

Vanguard spent the few hours after the initial Dragon Hatchling quest to do some research. The second floor had several new quests as well, in addition to the chain quests seemingly added in response to the players clearing the twentieth floor. Aincrad seemed to be responding to their determination with a vile, strategic mind of its own.

Survival moving forward would require a strong, cunning mind, some level of teamwork, and sheer luck in some cases. It was difficult as even the weakest of mobs transformed into pack animals, banding together and culling the weakest remaining players in Sword Art Online. 

The armored player made it his goal to seek out a way to fight back.

When he walked past another player and an NPC in the throes of combat, Vanguard stopped short when something strange happened. If he had been slower on the uptake, he might have missed the blink- green turned to menacing red as the woman lashed out, and to her dismay, the man proved much, much stronger.

A single blow lay waste to the errant foe, scattering her data to the wind.

Vanguard stopped only long enough to be sure the other player was unharmed, and that the AI did not have any friends to finish what she started. This is really none of my business, he thought as he turned to continue along his way. 

That their armor was similar did occur to him, however. I wonder if he found that quest, as well? It was strange; when he had come across that armor, it was from a system generated quest somewhere on the higher floors. While it was possible they did the same quest, Vanguard was certain no one else bothered to search the fringes of the more dangerous parts of Aincrad.

It was bad for their health, after all.

"They're becoming more bold lately," the armored player called out, his voice distorted and unrecognizable. "And getting better at it."

He invited the other man to speak to him, which was rare for the loner.

@Domarus

Edited August 15, 2017 by Arc

[Domarus 0]

Domarus stared at where the npc woman had stood.  The game's system was pathetic.  He had been alone this entire time and it couldn't give him a decent fight with that?  Aincrad, Sword art online.  It was a joke, a trash game.  He'd played far greater ones than this.  However since he had no choice but to play the game, he may as well learn to live with it.  Still, this was a very large issue.  The fact that the system lets players fight mobs this weak instead of keeping them at a player's level would make some cocky.  Then again he thought, he didn't really care about the stupidity of others.  The weak were culled with time and age, or their own idiocy.  In the end the weak were there only to serve the strong.  For the strong would crush the weak and take advantage of them.  On the off chance someone good rose to the throne, it was nearly always short lived, only to be replaced by someone just as bad.  Then he could practically feel Rhozarth warning him about someone approaching.  He turned and saw with great surprise that someone had the exact same armor as he.  The man's words made it clear that to him it seemed the girl was a player.  He was very wrong in that aspect.  He then gestured for him to talk with the man.  Domarus waited until Rhozarth gave the signal that the man was alone before walking slowly to the man, sheathing his blade.  Each step heavy against the ground as his visor flashed for a brief moment.  He stopped about seven feet away from the man, remaining silent as he waited to see what this individual wanted.  He hadn't been there long or else Rhozarth would have noticed.

@Arc