[PP-F3] Solitary Struggles

[Telrenya 0]

And so the lesson continued. Telrenya naturally stiffened when the tip of Neo's blade pointed towards her, and her eyes flickered from the polished steel to his eyes to the hand he held up to demonstrate that he meant nothing aggressive behind the motion. Even with his calming gesture, it took a couple of seconds for the tension to lessen, and she gave a hesitant nod for him to continue when he paused. She stood up, standing across from the boy as he continued his explanations and the point of his sword drifted to accentuate different parts of the body. It was a lot to take in, but he was thorough with his words. The things he said and examples he gave made sense, and so she gave a small nod here and there to show she followed.

She blinked in surprise when he signaled for her to strike him, taken aback by the request. She had frozen up a bit, and it took his continued urging for her to put her hands up in front of her in response. "W-wait a second," She started. Too many thoughts were flooding her. She suddenly remembered when she had tipped the scales in that fateful encounter--the green cursor that flickered to orange when she had forced Adder's hand in a strike against her. The same color that typically made her anxious when she saw it spinning above a player's head. "If I hit you, I'll go orange, right?" She continued, her mind finally catching up with her surroundings.

A few fretful moments later, a thought occurred to her, and she seemed to have an idea. She instinctively pulled a hand down to open her menus, but paused before making a selection. Initiating a duel would be the perfect solution for their little training session; as long as they were careful with their damage output they could demonstrate single hits against each other without any repercussion. Before she could send off the invitation, however, a pang of guilt hit her. She wasn't concerned about Neo knowing her username as much as she was concerned about him knowing that she lied to him. If she had been wearing her mask, her emotional struggle would have been concealed save for her hesitant motion. But the silver accessory still hung at her hip, and it wasn't difficult to see the conflict in her features.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Telrenya

[Neo 0]

Neo, realizing his blunder, blushed a soft shade of red and said in reply, “Yeah, that was pretty dumb of me. Sorry.” He should’ve known not to push that kind of idea without thinking about the consequences. Of course a player would turn orange if they had attacked another player! A newbie mistake on Neos part. He also knew he hit a sensitive topic when Erin for a moment seemingly froze from the idea of hitting Neo. He should’ve asked more about her Player V Player background before even thinking of the idea of letting her hit him. God, his impulsive side was showing bright and true today, wasn’t it. Neo did have the immediate idea of initiating a duel after rethinking his idea. If they initiate a duel, then Erin wouldn’t have to worry about the repercussions of attacking him, and he could also while in the duel show her a couple of combos that would lead into a near guaranteed critical. Plus, some practice of battle patterns and such. But as soon as he was about to suggest the idea, he noticed that Erin already had her menu open. Neo grinned and said, “Great minds think alike, am I right? Go ahead and send the invite to me whenever you’re ready.” After saying that though, Neo more carefully examined Erin’s body language and expression. She seemed, fearful? Or was it, conflict? It covered her expression, and along with it doubt and guilt. What could she have lied about?

Then it hit him. The silver mask, the feeling of a familiar face staring right at him when they spoke, of course. It all made sense. Or, maybe it didn’t? Neo only had a slight idea of what was going on. To soothe Erin though, since she looked as if she caused someone’s death recently, he said, “Hey, Look. It’s alright. I understand your motives for hiding or doing whatever you did that made you feel guilty towards me. I’m not the one to hold a grudge. Don’t know if you know this, but I’m a pretty trustworthy guy. I’ll keep any secret that you need to keep, and talk about anything you need to talk about if you need someone. I mean, I don’t mind if you kept anything from me. Everyone has their reasons. Plus, it’s only an invite. I can just invite you if you want and just close my eyes for the entire duration of the duel if you want me to, if there’s something that’ll show up that’ll make you feel uncomfortable or guilty if I found out. It’s fine, really. You can tell me anything, and I’ll keep my mouth clamped shut.” He stopped for a moment, to regain his breath and composure, and finished by saying, “It’s your choice. Always has been, always will. So, what can I do to help?”

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

When Neo called her to attention, it seemed to snap Telrenya out of whatever realm of thought she had lost herself in. She turned her attention to him, hand still hovering over her menus while he spoke. Her bottom lip stiffened slightly after his words of reassurance filled the air between them, but after a few seconds more she couldn't resist a small chuckle that worked its way through her chest. She shook her head, smiling lightly as her nerves slowly drained. "No, you don't need to close your eyes." She provided an answer to the thought that had caused her to laugh. Her eyes fell back down to her menus and she began to navigate to the option that would send off a duel request to Neo.

Before pressing down, she lifted her gaze again. "For starters, my username is different." She sent off the invitation, which would display the name 'Telrenya', a prompt for Neo to select the type of duel, and finally a confirmation for him to accept or decline the duel and its parameters. The corner of her mouth lifted into a half-smile while she waited for the duel to begin. Pulling her rapier from its scabbard and letting her arm come to rest at her side, she pulled her free hand up to the nape of her neck. "Yeah, I guess I have my fair share of secrets. Probably better if they stay that way, for now." Half a chuckle escaped her before she rolled the wrist that held onto her rapier and turned her shoulders a few inches to put her dominant side forward.

(Rushed a bit at the end, sorry :'3)

[Neo 0]

Neo laughed along with her, enjoying the fact that she was indeed comfortable around him. Most people wouldn't or just choose not to be very comfortable around a solitary solo soldier like Neo, so it was a refreshing turn of events. As the option popped up into his menu with a cute little 'beep', he stared at her username for a couple seconds while raising one eyebrow. Telrenya, the message read, would like to duel with you! He looked up at her, eyebrow still raised in slight confusion, and asked, "Erin seems a bit far from Telrenya, doesn't it? Any story behind it that I can pick at for a little? Or is it just a nickname you and your friends came up with while you were out hunting or something?" Neo accepted the duel request and while Telrenya, he liked the name Erin better, probably began to answer his question, he twirled his Katana again and stretched out a little bit, his Katana tucked between his shoulders and his head behind him. As he stretched, he said to Erin, "Well, since you're getting ready to fight, I might as well too. I don't fight other players often, whether it be under controlled conditions or real combat, but when I do, I'll give you one warning." He then took his Katana from behind him and adjusted it so the tip was pointed toward the ground, as if he was one of the knights of the round table like in the old fairytales.

He then continued, saying in a serious tone, "My fighting style is going to be like none you've ever seen before. So, just be prepared for anything, as I adapt to the situation as it progresses and do moves that most people who call themselves 'swordsman' wouldn't even think of using." Neo then opened up his menu again and chose his intimidating preset, and after a quick flash of light around his clothes, he now stood there in quite the different outfit than he once started out with. Now, he had a long, jade green overcoat with an upturned collar, and his pants and boots were a sleek obsidian black color. His sleeves ended short, and his hands were now covered in finger-less gloves. He flexed his hands and adjusted his collar, saying in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Well, looks like I forgot to change my coat color. The coat itself isn't anything special, just me adding some finishing touches to it to make it look more important than it actually does." He then re-assumed his fighting pose from before, took a long deep breath, and then motioned with his hand at Erin to come right at him.

 

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

"Mmm..." She gave a thoughtful hum when he asked if there was a story behind her assumed name. She wished that the clover-shaped trinket hanging around her wrist underneath her light armor was the first thing to come to mind. Instead, after recent events, the face of a particular redhead--the real owner of the username 'Erin'--was where her thoughts first landed. Her lips pursed slightly, and her head shook just slightly. "Maybe another time. That's...kind of a long story too." While she could have provided him with a fairly simple explanation that wouldn't have really been a lie, it would have just led to more questions, whether Neo voiced them or not.

No, if this person was going to become someone she would fully trust, then she would tell him everything he would want to know, in time. For now, maybe she was being stubborn, or a little selfish, but she wanted to take the out that Neo had been willing to offer her.

Telrenya cocked a brow at his warning, followed shortly by a change in equipment and a combat stance. She took on half a smirk and raised her own blade towards the noirette, straightening her spine as she slid her boot back a few inches to widen her stance. Her free hand found the silver mask at her thigh and she gingerly took it between her fingers. Pulling the accessory up, it hovered beneath her chin for a few seconds while she spoke before she slipped it into place over her features, "Well, it's a good thing I don't call myself a 'swordsman'." She jested back, poking fun at her own lack of expertise with such techniques.

She filled her lungs with cool forest air, steadying herself for a moment. Speed and precision were two things that she had been getting consistently better with, but she was still lacking. If she ever wanted to be on par with Jomei or Aereth in the frontlines, she had to excel in those two areas. So, after a short preparation of her own, Telrenya darted forward to close the gap between them. She drew in close, feinting to the right before she quickly pulled back to the left and lowered her stance with a thrust forward, aiming the point of her rapier for the boy's torso.

[Neo 0]

Neo's eyes showed amusement as Erin didn't call herself a swordsman. He laughed under his breath, and looked closely at her when she slipped on her silver mask. He didn't see anything suspicious about it, no effect, no glow, and seemingly no stat increase. Just a mask. He exhaled and muttered a thank you to himself. Lots of players already had a bunch of enchantments on their armor and various weapons, which added unpredictable spins to their combat strategies and patterns that sometimes threw Neo for a spin. He didn't see anything immediately concerning when he saw Erin first fight, so he decided to just fight as if she had no enchantments. Neo, right before Erin began to go forward, said in a much more serious tone than before while tightening his gloves, "Well, miss Telrenya, I'm not just another swordsman either." His eyes narrowed as Erin exploded forward, surprising him with her extreme expulsion of speed. He really should've expected it, as female avatars in SAO had a overwhelming speed over most male avatars, being able to cover larger distances over a smaller distance over time. Neo kept his eyes on her, immobile and analyzing her movements and body movements to predict multiple different outcomes of which where she would go. He began to put one stratagem into action when Erin went for a feint hit starting from the right then swiping into the left, her rapier aimed directly at the center of his chest. Neo predicted this as one of the most likely outcomes, and adapted to it as such, albeit with slight difficulty from the amount of speed she had mustered up through her charge. He dug his Katana into the ground, narrowly dodging the blow and his hair being clipped as a side effect of a near late reaction. 

Neo was getting just a tiny bit lazy.

He had dodged the poke from her rapier by using the sword as leverage to pull him to the ground easier.The ground he dug into with his boots made a rough digging noise, then Neo slid right under Erin, making sure to cover his eyes to avoid looking like a perv with his non dominant hand. A lot of his combat attacks led with him sliding under players and monsters alike, so he had gotten used to covering his eyes. As soon as he had slid completely under Erin, he used his right hand to dig the Katana into the ground, deep enough that it would provide suitable leverage to suit Neo' weight. Then, once he had integrated the Katana into the ground deep enough, with a power filled grunt, he spun and swung his legs in a sweeping motion, attempting to catch Erins ankles and to trip her to the ground. Then, Neo would kick back up, taking a moment to take his Katana out of the ground and point it at the girl whom he had tripped to the floor, panting slightly. Not taking his eyes off her, he said in a matter-of-fact tone "Impressed yet?"

(First time doing a combat scene outside of another roleplay I do, in which combat is completely different. Did I do the do right?)

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

(Yeah! It's really detailed :3 And since we're not doing dice rolls or anything we can just make it up however we want)

She hadn't fully expected to meet her mark. If he managed to read her movements then he would likely be able to dodge, and even if she had dealt some damage, she was sure a counter-attack would be coming. If anything, she had predicted a sidestep, but instead Neo ducked beneath the tip of her blade, just narrowly avoiding the strike altogether. Her jaw tightened slightly, but before she could pull back to disengage from the failed attack Neo was already repositioning himself. The dirt churned under his cloak, and she tried to react as quickly as she could to the unexpected movement, turning and planting her left foot in front of her while she pulled her right arm back in a twist of her torso.

She pulled her right boot across the forest floor, trying for one fluid motion to turn herself around and face her opponent once again, but it had only traveled a few inches when Neo pulled around to collide with her ankles and knock her feet out from under her. The woman crashed to the ground with an involuntary grunt when her back hit the forest floor. Just before she could regain her senses and hurry to pull herself back to her feet, the point of Neo's katana hovered in front of her.

Telrenya's heart pounded inside of her chest, partially from the sense of danger, and mostly from the adrenaline that pumped through her when she was taken down. She let out a breathy chuckle, the sound hitting the thin metal before filling the air. "Not bad."

[Neo 0]

Neo grinned, satisfied with the reaction he had gotten from Erin. He knew this was her first time facing him, but he wasn't about to let the girl get off easy. She was no stranger to combat, but was definitely one who was not knowledgable to his own kind of spin on it. Neo would extend out his hand to help the girl up, sword kept in a defensive like position. He didn't want her to pull one of those cliches where she stabs him right through the chest or something saying 'never let your guard down' or some crap like that. Neo didn't operate that way. If you were down, you were down. Taken out of the fight, KO'd. You shouldn't be allowed to do something like that. It wasn't like you'd do that during a real fight, right? As Erin hopefully took his hand, he pulled her up and began dusting off his coat. "You alright, Erin?" Neo asked as he began to check over his equipment and gear. He immediately began seeing problems in which his type of clothing might hinder his mobility in combat and lead into unforeseen consequences. Neo then reopened his inventory, and swapped out the coat for a more jacket like article of clothing, which was dark green in color, and sleeves that ran up all the way to his wrists.

"If you couldn't tell by now, which I hope you have, I really like the color green. I think it suits me," Neo added as he adjusted the coat to his perimeters and shape. He dusted off his pants and boots, and after adjusting his new coat he turned to look back at Erin and began critiquing her fighting style. "Now, although you have speed and the gift of being more versatile and bendable than most male avatars, you lack a way of being able to use it as a strategic advantage, not just an attribute advantage. Speed, power, and even knowledge is useless without careful planning and skill. You've gotten the skill down quite well, but not the planning as much. Do you realize how often and how many players might use that feint hit combo on a daily basis?" Neo asked as he looked over his sword, checking its quality. Whatever her response may be, he would nod and continue on to say, "Well, for me after watching a whole lot of players and monsters fight, it's pretty safe to say that a lot of people use it. It's too predictable in real time battle. Any advanced player with a high enough level probably knows this. Now, I will say this though, being super predictable may catch a player off guard sometimes, as most do tend to over evaluate actions and movements and therefore ignore even the possibilities of the simplest moves. But, if you want to get to a point where you can be unpredictable without having to risk being really predictible, you should start with using your speed to your advantage. How about, I dunno, doing multiple fake outs instead of just the standard one? What about going for the feet and ankles like I told you? Perhaps maybe even disarming me before the real fight could even begin by going for my wrists? These are the outcomes you must be thinking about."  As Neo leaned backward and got into a stance in which he held his Katana in a dagger-like way, he added one more piece of advice, "I know this is gonna sound cheesy as hell, but you gotta expand your horizon. Look at the bigger picture. Think outside of the virtual box." He then waited for Erin's first move, his muscles relaxing to offer a more intensive response time and to make Erin think as if Neo was letting his guard down.

 

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

"Yeah." She placed a gloved hand in his to accept his help up. Neither of them had exchanged any actual damage, with her attack missing completely and him simply choosing to disable her. She took a couple of steps back, brushing herself off with her free hand and letting out a tiny puff of air through her nose in amusement when he mentioned his favorite color being that of more than one article of clothing he'd equipped thus far. She rolled her right shoulder while he spoke, already analyzing the short exchange and starting off with his feedback.

Behind the expressionless mask, Telrenya wore a frown and a furrowed brow. She felt a twinge of dissatisfaction when he pointed out the predictability of her approach, but she was only left with confusion and uncertainty the longer he went on. Her weight shifted to one side and her left had planted itself on her hip while the other hung at her side, still gripping her rapier. With a slight tilt of her head, she spoke up in a small voice. "So... Don't be predictable, except sometimes when being predictable is actually the more unpredictable thing to do." She had meant for the sentence to sound convoluted, but only because it matched her understanding.

She hung her head, giving it a small shake while her free hand rose to the back of her hood. "Mm, I get it, but I don't get it." She admitted with a tiny sigh. Maybe she really was getting in over her head with all of this. She never was one for complex strategy, planning, and analyzing. Hell, she had never even considered herself an avid gamer of any kind. Maybe James would be good at this sort of thing, but not her.

She didn't have long to keep feeling bad for herself, because Neo had already taken on another combative stance. She held back another sigh, brandishing her own weapon in front of her again. He gave her one last note, suggesting that she expand her thinking beyond basic or standard strategy. 'Getting creative, huh...?' She thought, eyes first scanning the boy's frame before they drifted beyond it. She straightened her spine, bringing one foot over the other in a slow sidestep as she began to circle around Neo while her mind continued to work. Whether or not the noirette turned himself to match her pacing, Telrenya put her plan into action as soon as it had formed. Her blade fell to her side as she leaned forward and her feet propelled her in another speedy assault. Once within range, her rapier pulled back in front of her and thrust downward towards the boy's ankles.

Beneath her mask, her eyes weren't trained on his feet. They had pulled up to watch his calculating face. Before the tip of her sword would make contact with his boots--or the forest floor, if she was correct in assuming he would manage to sidestep the frontal attack--the thin blade pulled aside. Her body was lowered with the downward strike, and she watched carefully in which direction he might move. Rolling her right shoulder to the front, she pushed herself up with the same forward momentum that had closed the distance between them, aiming to drive into his torso.

[Neo 0]

Neo made a concerned look as Erin explained her slight confusion to him. He nodded to himself, understanding that all knowledge comes with time, experience, and practice. So, he’d say before Erin went to her battle pose, “It’s alright. I know it might be hard to understand at times. But you’ll get it eventually. Just gotta keep practicing.” As soon as she began walking around him though, his mind went into a flurry of calculations and possible outcomes. Perhaps an attack on the ankles? Maybe a dash turnaround, and she uses her speed to propel herself around me and attack my front? Neo thought as soon as Erin stopped right behind him. He would begin to turn, his Katana swinging back with him, but then his eyes caught a glint of metal soaring toward his ankles. Out of Instinct, not of thinking, he tried to kick the blade out of range, hopefully also throwing Erin out of balance, open for attack. But, out of Neos surprise and frustration, she rolled out of it, turning to his blind spot and seemingly about to get a hit off on his back.

He swore audibly, and nearly twisted his ankle in trying to counter her attack and refute it, giving him time to refocus. But, Neo was only able to block the blow, the rapiers tip nearly making contact with his face before his Katana was able to intervene and block the blow. He struggled for a moment, unable to fully refute the blow, and after a few still moments, the rapiers point broke through his weakly made defense. The sword shot right towards Neos face, and he only had time to tilt himself slightly right in order to have the blade pierce his left should instead of making a kebab out of his face. Neo grunted in pain, the rapier making dull gut wrenching thud when it collided into his body. His eyes momentarily flared in anger, but he managed to regain his composure after he reminded himself that it was only a friendly spar. Erin might have thought she got the upper hand, but Neo wasn’t about to accept defeat yet. “You see,” Neo said as he used his free right arm to brandish his Katana so that it pointed seemingly right at Erin’s hand. Then he finished with a tone that displayed an air of authority, saying, “Sometimes to have to take some hits in order to deal the final blow.” Neo then shot his Katana right into the handle of Erin’s sword, not however causing any harm. The actions purpose was to hook his Katana onto Erin’s rapier. He then pulled backward, using his Katana to hook into the rapiers handle and probably rip it right from Erin’s hand. Neo pulled the sword out of his shoulder with his left hand, and held both so that they were crossed by Erin’s neck.

Neo, with suitably more visible exhaustion, said, “Nice try though. Your speed definitely helped in that situation.”

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya was able to not only disrupt his balance, but she pulled herself to his blind spot in a quick maneuver. Her heart rate quickened as she brought her weapon up for a decisive strike, but when his katana moved just quickly enough to catch the tip of the blade her jaw clenched in frustration. Still, she struggled against his haphazard defense, eventually overpowering the uneven placement of his curved sword. Veiled Dusk left a bright red, pixelated gash in the boy's shoulder after it sank into his avatar, and Telrenya almost took on a satisfied smirk.

Then the tip of Neo's katana crashed into the ornate onyx guard of her rapier, stopping the blade from slicing through her right hand. Instead, it hooked on the thin metal and yanked upwards, wrenching the hilt from her grasp. Her eyes widened, and before she could dig her heel into the ground to disengage the noirette held either blade at the base of her collar. Her jaw clenched again as she stood frozen in place. At her sides, her fingers curled into tight fists. Her breathing was a bit heavier with a still-racing pulse. Is this how easy it was for one player to take down another? Her mind's eye traveled back as she saw Jomei pinned to the ground, brother blades driving deeper into his chest as the black-clad man standing over them simply smirked in satisfaction. How easy had it been for him to cut down her brother?

Telrenya's eyes wrenched shut, and she pulled back from the cross-section of the two weapons, their blades narrowly grazing across the sides of her neck. She turned away from Neo without direction, walking a couple of paces across the forest floor until she stopped herself. A few moments of silence hung, and then she asked a question. "What level are you?" Her voice was as even as it had been before the second round of their duel. Good. It was rare for her to be so straight-forward, but the question was one she felt she needed an answer to. Her build was set up for offense more than anything--her weapon skill was maxed, and she had invested further to increase her accuracy. But Jomei's level was higher than her own. Much higher. And he had plenty of defenses that Death_Adder seemed to cut through as if they were nothing. She had always assumed his stats were simply out of their league, but...

[Neo 0]

Neo panted, dropping both weapons to the ground with a metal clang, the sound filling the momentary silence of the forest. Neos expression fell, and his usual relaxed face returned, albeit with a bit of pain mixed into it. He clutched his shoulder, wincing slightly in pain. Damn, she got me good, he thought as he let his body fall to the ground in a damp heap of small drops of blood and sweat. Neo didn't have to move that much ever since, well, that was a story for a different time. Point was, Neo was extremely impressed with Erins growth in just the couple of hours they had been practicing and sparring. Neo personally thought she had a knack for fighting, although she might feel the opposite. He did notice a few things that were unusual during the ending of their spar, though. Her face showed an expression of, what was it, anger? Frustration? Fear even? Her body language gave hints as well, her fists had balled up in white knuckles as he had taken over the battle and ended it. Something I did? Or was I somehow reminding her of something of her past? Neo thought as he brushed himself off. Or maybe just plain frustration of losing, not too uncommon, Neo thought as he took deep long breaths to rejuvenate his stamina and energy. His ears perked up at the sudden question of level. His face gave him away, solemn and slight disappointment showing true. He hadn't really done any true grinding for the whole time he had been here, only a couple player duels and those didn't give much exp. Only thing he gained from that was a better understanding of peoples behaviors and movements during battle. He had always relied on his skill to carry him out of situations, not just solely based on level. Sure, have a high enough level in this game and you're untouchable. But, power without skill was useless.

Still, having power along with skill would help his ass in some situations a helluva lot.

He looked up at Erin, while scrolling through his menu, and said in a frustrated tone, "I'm only level one. Its complete and utter idiotic how weak I am. I'm disgusted at myself for not taking leveling up more seriously." After his little rant, he got back up and put his foot under his Katana, kicking it up from the ground and catching it in his strong hand. He used the tip of said Katana to pick up Erins rapier, offering it to her in his left hand. "Here, I think this is yours," Neo said in a comedic tone as he tossed it back over to her, hoping she'd catch it before it smacked her right in the face. He then slithered all the way back down to the ground, sighing unhappily. The topic of levels was always a touchy one, no matter what MMO it was. People always thought of level being the only means of being good at a game. Neo tried breaking that stereotype multiple times, in multiple games. But, every single time he tried, he either was refuted and humiliated by higher levels who never even gave him a chance to battle, while others called him a damn beater if he managed to beat someone a higher level than him. Neo then looked back upward at Erin, saying, "Okay, one, I'm no exploiter or hacker. It's taken me a couple years to develop the kind of mind and coordination it takes for me to fight at the level I am at. Two, now I bet you're wondering a couple hundred things about me, or just what the hell did I do to get this kind of level in specifics, or maybe just some random stuff about me, whatever. Now is the time to ask. Go ahead," Neo gestured to Erin, saying, "Ask me anything."

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

(Yo, just wanting to point out there's no blood in SAO, and your character doesn't feel pain. Cardinal uses 'pain dampeners' so the most you'd get is like a tingling feeling. Also, she's still wearing her mask xD)

Level one. Telrenya could hardly process the rest of what he said, only barely bringing her hand up to catch the hilt of her rapier as she was partially turned to face him. She brought the tip of the blade to its scabbard, shoving the weapon to rest at her hip. She watched with a sidelong glance as Neo sunk to the ground, trying to offer her some sort of explanation. Was this the kind of person Death_Adder might have been? Simply a 'tactician', who could have his way with players like they were his helpless toys all because he knew the right amount of times to feint, or how to think outside the box while he was cutting down those who were weaker than him?

"If this is a joke, it's not funny." Telrenya let the sharp words hang in the air for several seconds before she turned, taking a couple of slow strides to the side and then turning on her heel to walk back the other way. "You think that's weakness?" Her heated thoughts began to spill out now, the volume of her voice steadily rising. "It's a weakness being able to bypass the one thing that's supposed to matter in this terrible place? How many other people can undermine stats and skills by knowing exactly the right time to sweep the legs?" She was practically shouting now, pacing back and forth while her breath began to tremble. "Is this what he does? Is this how he kills? I always thought if we could catch up to his level then we wouldn't have to be afraid anymore, but is that not how it works?!" The hysteric girl finally stopped her pacing, turning to face Neo proper as her left hand lifted to pull the silver mask down from her face. Behind it, her jade green eyes glistened with the tears that pooled at their corners while she stared down at him, a mixture of fury and desperation in her voice. "If you're not joking, then what am I even doing this for?"

[Neo 0]

Neo stared back straight at her, a stern glare unbreaking even under the fury of Erin. He calmly got up from his seat on the ground, and slowly walked toward Erin, eyes still holding their glare. He then took her by both shoulders and looked at her dead in the eyes. Neo saw hate, frustration, loss, guilt, all the things that had been in his own eyes once. Oh yes, he knew damn well how it felt. But he had managed to break away from his past and move on, not giving it a second thought. Erin on the other hand, seemingly used it as a motivation. Loss can be a great motivator at times, but in this way?

It only leads to weakness and weakness leads to injury, which only leads to more loss and more hurt.

Neo needed to get that through her head, along with a number of other things, before he could continue helping her in any other type of way. Once he snapped back to reality after a few moments of silence, he spoke in a controlled but annoyed tone, "This isn't just a game that focuses on numbers! It focuses on both Skill and Power! Too many people seem to think that either numbers or skill determine what the hell kind of player you are! I don't define people by that. I define myself and others by my skill, level, and my strength, not by just damn numbers on a screen or being able to trip someone in a damn SPARRING match. You need to learn that also. But It can be a weakness at times, yet you don't seem to understand that. I came here to help you, not by numbers but by strengthening physical skill and mental dexterity. Even with that though, without the power to back it up, it becomes damn near useless. So don't you even try telling me you being here doesn't make any difference in the whole scheme of things because it does." Neo looked down for a moment, taking a shaky breath, and continued, his own tears forming in his jade green eyes, "You don't think I've seen loss? Death? Somewhere in which I could've helped but didn't?! I wanted to, but I couldn't. You know why? Because of damn numbers and stats." He then dropped his hands from Erin's shoulders for a moment to grip them into tight white balled up knuckles, saying, "Skill and level go hand in hand, neither one can operate without the other. You're wondering why I can bypass the system like this? This is only the fraction of amount of skill I can possess with this kind of level. If I was a higher level like you I'm assuming, I probably wouldn't even be here right now. I'd be on the front lines fighting alongside people who also follow that philosophy. Do you really wanna know why I avoid teaching people I don't know well this method?" he stopped for a moment and then looked straight at Erin with a pained expression, saying, "The very small amount of people I had trained? They all had immediately ignored levelling up from that point on. Once they felt as if they have perfected this technique, they ignored level guidance systems and warnings and moved on to just fight the most powerful mobs or bosses there are at the time. I've seen it time and time again, both in SAO and in other games, how people just ignore the level system and end up dying." Neo then turned back toward Erin, he had his back turned to her for most of the time he had been talking to her, and then said in a softer, more fragile tone, "Point is, I've seen loss. I've made mistakes. Mistakes that could've been fixed with a higher level or more stats. You being here makes me happy. Relieved even. Relieved that you're willing to buff up both your numbers and your skill in order to be able to fight. So," Neo then looked straight into Erin's eyes, his jade green pupils speaking a thousand more words of care and concern for her than he could ever say, and then finally spoke, "Never think that any act of progression, whether it be in skill or level, be in vain. I don't want another person I know and care about dying from carelessness or by being unprepared and thinking that they'll just think of something during the heat of battle." 

He then did something very unexpected, but undoubtedly could lead to a very awkward situation if refused, and slowly tried to pull Erin into a comforting hug. Whether she accepts it or not, he would still say the same thing, "Like I said, I'm here to help. So, let me help you. Please. Don't be another one of my failures. I can't see someone else die again."

(Sorry if mistakes start appearing more often in my posts, lol. I've been tired for the last couple days and mistakes just slip right by me sometimes.)

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

She wanted to be angry. She should feel angry, she thought. Instead she just felt weak, frustrated, and bitter. The more Neo spoke, the tighter he gripped her shoulders, she just felt more conflicted, more lost. How could she ever hope to make it to the frontlines like this? Neo tried to tell her that there was a balance between the two sides--tried to instill some sense of hope in her that the effort she put in would be worth it. But Telrenya couldn't accept it, not now. Not after the feeling of progress had been so cleanly ripped out from under her.

She was not so ignorant to think she was better than anyone, or everyone. And after her recent doubts and uncertainties, she knew full well that she had room for improvement. But that--all of this--just wasn't fair. Then again, Aincrad proved to be a world that was far from fair. She did quests to gain experience and level. She built her avatar carefully in order to gain skills and raw power. Wasn't this supposed to be a game where everyone could stand on the same playing field? She wasn't gifted. She wasn't a strategist, a mathmetician, or a swordsman. She was just an art student who wanted to play a game with her big brother.

It wasn't fair. Why was she the one who was still here? The more her mind worked, the more her tears built up until they threatened to spill over. At that moment, she felt Neo's hands on either of her arms again. But this time it was different. An inviting pull, rather than a forceful squeeze. She caught herself with a half-step forward, feeling the boy's arms wrap around her along with more comforting words. Telrenya's shoulders trembled lightly, and she bit down on her bottom lip while her eyes squeezed shut, hot tears running down her cheeks. 'How pathetic.'

She stood there, arms still hanging at her sides while she cried. Her surge of emotions ran their course for a couple of minutes, and if Neo had still been holding her once her breathing had steadied and her shaking subsided, Telrenya would carefully pull away. She kept her gaze lowered, avoiding his eyes even after she'd wiped the lingering moisture away with the back of her gloved hand. After the heated exchange, she simply felt drained. Her mind was all over the place, wounds broken open. "S...sorry." She got out in a mumble. Just then, a small notification sound chimed between the two players. Cardinal brought up a display that hung in the air over their heads, declaring that the duel had timed out and announcing Telrenya the victor due to having a higher percentage of health remaining. Her eyes instinctively flickered to the message, but she only reacted with a faint look of disappointment before she turned her attention away from the banner.

[Neo 0]

After Erin pulled away, Neo felt just the tiniest bit more joyful. He had helped regain Erins composure, and that's really all he wanted and needed to know. He really couldn't stand looking at her in such sorrow like that. He couldn't stand to see anyone really in such a weak form. So, of course he had to do something. When Erin tried to apologize to him, Neo shook his head, wiping away his remaining tears with his jacket sleeve, saying,' "No need to apologize, Erin. Nothing was your fault. It was mine for acting that insensitive to you. If anything I should be sorry." He took one long deep breath, and just sat down right next to where Erin was standing. He ignored the notification, which chimed its loser tone for Neo, as he had been declared the loser for the least amount of health between the two. Nothing really mattered now. It was just him, Erin, and the rest of the world was a blurred out picture of trees, dimming skies, and far away landscapes. As he finally began to feel the effects of both physically and emotionally spending himself, Neo slowly began to lay down onto the ground, staring right back up at the now dimming sky. The sun would be setting soon, in which would follow the stars. Along with that, however, came the nighttime monsters, which happened to be much more capable than the simple ones that stalked the woodlands during the daytime.

But he couldn't just ask Erin to come back with him. Not in this condition. He wanted her to at least be in slightly better spirits before they returned to town.

So, he simply just laid there, eyes closed, his hair blowing in the wind. Neo would, after a couple more moments, wave at the spot next to him, gesturing to Erin to lay down next to him. To refute any argument Erin had against it, he'd say in a soft tone, "Just lay down here, okay? Just for a little bit. You don't need to talk. Just rest and calm yourself along with me." Neo would then turn back towards the sky, a dreamy look now painted across his face. Not an expression of one emotion, but of infinitely many possibilities. He just laid there, and just waited until Erin said or did otherwise.

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

"I think...there was a lot on my mind today that didn't help." She said in a quiet voice. What a mess this had been. Just when she thought she was starting to let things go and finally move on, her emotions got the better of her to tear her back down to square one. Out of all the times she could have broken down, yelled, and cried, it was in front of a boy she'd met not more than a couple of hours ago.

She had hardly noticed that Neo had lay down in the grass beside her until he waved his hand through the air to motion for her to join him. Her bottom lip stiffened, but she hardly had the energy to argue. She sat down in the grass, pulling her knees close to her chest and loosely wrapping her arms around her legs. She stared over her knees, past the trees that made up the forest around them and into the growing darkness as the last of the sunset's rays vanished from the spaces between the leaves they had been poking through.

She stayed like that for a minute before finally giving in and letting her shoulders gently fall back. Her feet remained planted flat on the ground so that her knees still bent and pointed towards the sky, but the back of her head carefully met the ground and she held her hands over her stomach. The grey-brown hood fell back with gravity, its edges collapsing around her head and allowing her dyed black hair to fall a bit more freely. The silence was welcome, and she felt a hint of relief that Neo didn't expect her to carry conversation. She was drained, embarrassed, and still a bit on-edge. Her eyes simply traveled over the virtual stars that began to twinkle overhead while she focused her efforts on easing the nerves that had built up throughout the long day.

[Neo 0]

Neo looked over at Erin, laying beside him in the soft bed of grass. He laid there, staring at the girl who had found peace and serenity in her spot. She looked like someone he had seen before, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He decided to explore this, but only after a couple more moments of small talk, calming silence, and trust gaining. After a couple more seconds, Neo finally spoke, in a quieter tone than usual, saying, "You know, my real reason for coming this close to the forests' end was to grind out some monsters, just like you." He turned over slightly towards Erin, to get a better look at her, and continued, "But, my point is, I'm pretty glad I ran into you. It's been a while since I've relaxed with anyone I actually liked. Times like these make me feel as if I can make it back." He clenched his fist and stared at it, saying in a hopeful tone, "That real life is only a hop, skip, and a level up away." Neo then looked upward, and smiled one of his most sincerest smiles he had in a while, since he ever entered this hellhole of a game. Neo then finished his point of by saying, "People like you make me feel as if we all do have a chance to make it." He then turned away, back to even sitting so that he was staring back up at the stars. The cooling air brushed his face and made his hair wave in the wind. He raked his green tinged hair, his eyes beginning to feel heavy and his mind blurring. Neo needed to take a break, but he couldn't just make Erin get up and go.

So, he simply just decided to wait for when Erin was ready to move on and tough it out.

To speed it up a bit more, however, he began to sit up, shaking his head fervently to hopefully get rid of the feeling of exhaustion infecting him. If Erin attempted to follow his lead, he would raise his hand in protest, telling Erin to just relax and let him take the mantle of control for a little bit. He then got fully up, stretching himself out. Neo then walked over to their abandoned weapons and picked them both up. He put away his Katana, the satisfying clanging noise filling the air. He walked back over to Erin, and knelt at her side. He slowly returned the rapier to her sheath. Neo then got up and walked over to a open space a couple feet away. He then started plucking branches from the ground, supplies for a fire, since he assumed they were going to stay there a bit. To break the incoming awkward silence, he called out to Erin saying, "So, you got a profession or something you do other than fighting? Someone like you must like to be busy and useful, right?"

 

 @Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

(Since we're coming up on two full pages, do you want to wrap it up soon? I'm fine either way~)

At the realization that neither of the players necessarily accomplished what they had set out to do that day, a tiny ironic smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. She gave a sidelong glance as Neo spoke, only to avert it back to the stars overhead once she noticed him turn to face her. A shy heat burned lightly on her cheeks at his words, and she found herself mumbling out a response. "There are plenty of kind people in this world, really..." Telrenya's bottom lip had stiffened, but with a small chuckle her expression softened a bit. "I oughta introduce you to my guildmates sometime."

Her eyes flickered back to him when he shifted, eventually watching as he protested her getting up while he picked himself up to his feet. She frowned, but gave up pretty quickly with a tiny sigh and turned her attention back to the dark sky overhead. When he walked away to gather materials from the forest floor and was no longer in range to motion for her to do otherwise, Telrenya propped herself up on her elbows and watched the boy. A short silence had passed, and then he asked her about a profession. She opened her mouth, about to supply an instinctive answer when she stopped to give it a moment's thought. Her Artisan shop was here in Delilah on the third floor, but she could hardly call herself a successful--or even active--Artisan. If she checked her skill level, she didn't think it had even surpassed the first rank as of yet. Her lips pursed, eyes drifting to the trees off in the distance as she replied, "Mmm... Not really. I did the quest ages ago, but I've hardly touched it since then." She admitted. "I've kept myself so busy with questing and stuff like this," She said, referring to the original intent of her outing, "that I haven't bothered gathering the materials for it." She tried to shrug it off as if it didn't bother her, but as if the guilt was determined to follow her wherever she went, she remembered how often she used her shop as an excuse for running off to train on her own. She always said she was working on her shop, or going out for materials, but instead she was putting on her mask and hunting for bandits and forest trolls.

[Neo 0]

Neo nodded, not bothered at all by the lack of work Erin put into her profession. To be honest, Neo hadn't even started that quest yet, just because the prospect of rummaging through forests looking for some well hidden items doesn't seem to turn him on in any way. He then walked over to where Erin was, rolling his eyes out of amusement when he had saw that she was nearly up, and dropped the pile of kindle a couple feet away from Erin. Neo then grabbed two nearby stones and began clashing them together, hoping for a spark to alight the pile of kindle. He grunted with frustration with each clash, his irritation rising to unsafe levels. He kept crashing them together, but nothing happened. Neo, after staring at the rocks for a couple seconds, threw them up into the air with a scoff of damaged pride. He then sat back down, raking his hair through with his hand fervently. Neo then turned toward Erin and said, in an embarrassed tone, "I-um-well-I-uh-I haven't gotten the hang of making fires yet, hehe." He then turned back toward the kindling, thinking. Neo then snapped his fingers after finally thinking of a solution. He unsheathed his sword and picked up one of the rocks once more. Before putting his plan to action however, he'd turn to Erin and ask, "Weapons don't break this easily, right?" If Erin answered no, he'd continue on without a second doubt. If Erin said probably, or a similar vague answer, he'd mutter, "Oh lordy, please don't let my literal only weapon break from smashing it against a rock like a damn neanderthal."  Neo would then take a deep breath, and then smash the rock against the sharpest edge of the blade. When they had made contact, sparks did fly into the kindling and begin to light it, but he had sliced the rock in half and cut into his own hand. He grimaced from the slight dull buzz of pain he had gotten from his injury. Neo sighed and laid back onto his back, saying to no one in particular, "Was it worth trading my hand for a damn fire?" 

He already knew the answer was no.

Neo then opened back up his inventory while on the ground next to Erin. He scrolled through the items for a couple moments and then pressed a button, which covered both of his hands in white dress gloves. Good thing there's no blood from wounds in this game. Neo thought as he tightened the glove on his injured hand, the left hand. He then looked back over to Erin, smiling, and would ask, "Anyways, got anything else to share? I'm all ears."

(Yeah, I'm kinda feeling we should end this thread and use the ending as a lead into another thread somewhere else so I can use a bit more imagination and improvisation from the new details in the next thread, but whatever you want to do!)

 @Telrenya

Edited December 23, 2017 by Neo