[OP-F1] The Embarrassing Spoils of War

[Xion 0]

Xion sighed as Opal almost stormed off in a strop "For someone that looks older than me she acts like a child..." he said, to nobody in particular, before turning in the opposite direction of the woman, and towards Takao. Xion  listened as the man explained his relative absence, saying that he had been doing some scouting. "Oh yeah" thje tank said with a smile. "The lead group unlocked the 11th floor didn't the-" His sentence was cut short by the appearance of somebody, a ginger haired player with an Irish accent, seemingly scolding...or maybe challenging Mack so that he would put Shirosu down. 

 

"Don't worry, she's ok. I'm sure that Mack has no malicious intent, just wishes to embarrass the girl a little" he said, looking up at the man. He looked like a higher level player, probably around Takao's level. 

[Grave 0]

"If it's a free-for-all, I'm staying out.  Two ranks in <<Martial Arts>>." I called to Beoreson when he suggested an FFA.  It took me a few seconds to realise that Opal had snuck away; obviously due to Xion's presence.  I didn't pay much mind to Takao, albeit giving him a friendly wave when I came into his field of view, before taking off after Opal.

She was... Smoking?! Usually women who smoked turned me off, but Opal was a whole different story.  I took position beside her and gave her a light nudge with my elbow. "What's up?  You're looking nice today." I complimented her with a smile before looking back out to the gathering. "I think Mack might have gone a little far." I said under my breath, half to Opal, half to no one in particular.

[Shirosu 0]

Little by little a grin started creeping onto Shirosu face and finally she burst out laughing, not caring that she was on Mack's shoulder any more"Oh my goodness guys" She gasped, trying to catch air between laughing bouts" Is everyone high strung today? You're all making quite a deal out of nothing much, just complaining, disgruntled girl being carried around on a guy's shoulder" She wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye before continuing," No need to get all defensive, do i wanna try and beat Mack up? yes. Am i going to succeed? no, but either way i'm in one piece and fine." When Mack told her to wave and that she was a soldier now she sighed,"That was quite a bit of work into becoming a soldier, especially with this fiasco"

[Mack 0]

"Deal," Mack said, offering his free hand to Takao to shake as Beoreson came loping up to try and insert himself into the duel. Mack was on the verge of telling him off when another player whom Mack hadn't met also inserted himself into the situation. Surprisingly, it was Shirosu that gave that guy a piece of her mind to explain the situation.

"Guild business, the only thing being harmed is Shirosu's dignity. Speaking of Guild business," Mack continued, coiling his legs beneath his body, wrapping his hand around her ankle in the process. With a sudden upwards push with his legs he propelled Shirosu into the air, using his grip on her ankle to impart a spin on the toss. As the silver-haired woman fell back to earth only to be neatly caught by the blonde blacksmith.

"This is princess style, Princess," Mack said in an offhanded tone to Takao, indicating the way he had caught Shirosu. "And no, this isn't a free for all Beoreson, make yourself useful," the Grandmaster said, passing Shirosu unceremoniously off to Beoreson before opening his menu and sending the duel request to Takao. "At your leisure."

[Beoreson 0]

Beoreson throws the girl over his shoulder. The warrior was almost as strong as the blond soldier, the only difference being that Mack was a few inches taller and, looked like he might be on some training "Enhancements". Beoreson looked to Shirosu and said, "Evening, my names Beoreson and, I just got kicked out of a fight for some reason that is above my current understanding." He starts to walk away then, remembers the girl he was carrying. "Hey Mack, what am I supposed to be doing? Other then, carrying this person. Do you want me to walk around?" asks the warrior.

[Opal 0]

She stood by more alone and by herself while she was smoking, despite it having a lavender scent, it was an old habit for her to be away from non smokers as much as she could. Old habits were hard to kill. As Grave came by once more, he nudged her elbow with his. She was in the midsts of exhaling a purple plum of the calming stick before waving it around in the air with a startled hand and then passed her cigarette to the other hand, "Oh [censored]! Grave...Sorry..." she said waving the lavender scented plume around from her, "Oh...well..." she looked onward as to what was happening over by the commotion, her heart almost leapt out of her chest when Mack threw the woman into the air, "Oh thank God...she didn't crash to the ground." 

As that conversation was going on, Opal simply smiled at Grave from his comment, she was too bothered right now to be flirting with anyone and she only knew this guy by name alone since it was in the Guild's listing, "Damn right he did. Ugh! Chauvinistic bastard. Just because you have power doesn't mean you need to flaunt it..." she said lightly grinding her teeth. Then she watched as Shirosu was passed over to Beoreson so Mack could get the duel set up with this Takao guy.

"Jesus christ...BEORESON! Kindly put the woman down, yeah? She has feet she can stand on and Mack has already proved his point to everyone here. So let her be, would ya?" 

She looked back to Grave with a smile, "Testosterone thinks they can do anything they want to women." Absent mindedly she inhaled once more from her cig, the ashes spilling off like lilac colored petals around her into the wind as she slowly exhaled that cloud of light fragranced lavender, "It's not like a real cigarette, ya know? It doesn't have that awful scent. But it does have calming properties, this is my first batch. When I get a little better, hopefully I can make some stronger ones." Alchemy was a lovely thing. 

[Vasth 0]

Vasth stood off to the side, he looked at Opal and Graves who are having a chat, he worked over and sat next to them a few meters away not saying a word, he looked at the two, he didn't want to interrupt the two, So he stayed silent. He looked over at the Man called Takao getting ready to fight Mack, Mack threw Shirosu to Beo. Vasth sighed. He listen to everyones reason and Vasth wasn't really bother to even choose,So he stayed out of it. Vasth yawned and closed his eyes.

[Xion 0]

Xion watched as Mack threw Shirosu in the air, almost expecting the girl to fall flat onto the floor, luckily that was not the case as the blonde warrior caught her, before handing her over to beor. "Bloody hell Mack, the idea was to embarrass her not give her a heart attack!" he said, with a smile, shaking his head. 

 

He then walked up to Beor, who was carrying Shirosu. He then gently took the medallion from around her neck, holding it in his open palm as he swiped for the menu to appear with the other. Xion went through a few menus, altering a couple of things before closing it and looking at the medallion. It was a crimson dagger, the symbol of recruits, the lowest rank in the Blades. Xion smiled before touching the Medallion, which glowed for a second before turning into a crimson sword, the symbol of soldiers, recruits who have proven themselves capable of handling themselves on the field of battle. 

 

"Congratulations Shirosu, the first soldier in the crimson blades" he said, as he handed the medallion back to her. 

[Shirosu 0]

Shirosu screamed, not loud, but it was an unmistakable sound of a totally freaked out person who believed they were gonna hit the ground, hard. In mid air at least she got a good view of a couple of roofs before the decline and closing her eye tight she prepared for impact. Next thing she knew Mack had caught her and was holding her like, well, princesses style. "What the Hell!" she yelled up as the man before he tossed her over Beoreson who wasn't much better then Mack and she ended up on someone's shoulder, again. "Can you put me down Beoreson?" she asked, really, really hoping he would, but net thing she knew Xion, one of the council members walked on over, took her little guild amulet and changed it into the crimson sword of the solider rank. "Oh thanks...."She said giving a little grin, then finally gave up on any possibility of herself being able to walk by herself today and simply slumped overdoing her best to get comfy for the next while.  

[Takao 0]

Takao glanced over the crowd that continued to grow with each passing moment, and had even begun noticing a few familiar faces showing up. Jomei had showed up, which he found incredibly unexpected, yet he refrained from greeting him just yet. The brunet watched as Mack tossed Shirosu about and maintained the same slight smile he had on his face since it grew shortly after stepping forward, despite her apparent frightened screams at being thrown around. He silently watched as Mack transferred her to Boereson, and then glanced down at the duel prompt that appeared in front of him. After reading over the menu he'd only ever seen once before as part of a quest, Takao pressed the confirmation button. Between the two, a large semi-transparent window appeared with the word "DUEL" hovering above, and the names of the two participants on either side as well as a counter beneath it.

"I've never actually dueled against player before. This should be fun!" Takao said as his feet shifted apart, very similar to how he would normally take up a stance before combat, minus his sword. He glanced to the timer as it counted down, now in the single digits, and quickly returned his attention to Mack as he prepared himself.

... 5 ...
... 4 ...
... 3 ...
... 2 ...
... 1 ...
START!

The instant Takao heard the counter finish, he advanced on Mack. The short distance between them was quickly traversed and Takao claimed the honour of the first strike for himself. He stopped his advance just short of tackling the much larger and considerably more formidable looking opponent and pivoted on his left foot. His right knee raised about in line with Mack's height, and in the following motion the entire leg whipped forward toward his side. To anybody familiar with the reverse hook kick that he was utilizing it would be rather clear that his form was off, and gave off the impression that he only had very basic knowledge of the martial art.

- -

» ID : [[ 30072 ]]
» BD : [[ HIT (6 + 3(ACC)) ]]

Takao: [[ 3/3 ]]
Mack: [[ 2/3 ]]

[Mack 0]

OOC: Takao and I will go through the duel, everyone else can jump in wherever. Don't worry about posting order for this, or else the duel will take forever.

ID: 30201
BD: 3
Mack: 2/3
Takao: 3/3

As the timer ticked down to the start of the duel with Takao, Mack rolled his head around on his neck which produced an audible cracking sound. This was followed by the burly blacksmith rolling his shoulders around to pop those joints before lacing his fingers together to crack his knuckles. As the final few seconds before the start of the duel ticked down, Mack dropped into an easy fighting stance adapted from Krav Maga with his right foot slightly back and his fists up near his head and waited for Takao to make the first move. When the brown-haired warrior launched a snap kick, the smith went to lower his left arm to deflect it, but he hadn't counted on the speed of Takao's strike and the kick struck true.

"Not bad," Mack rumbled appreciatively, faster than I would have thought. But, I bet you can't do it again."

[Jomei 0]

"Guild business huh..." Jomei shrugged his shoulders and took a step back. "And, guessing since your name is Mack.. and if Piera's information is accurate.. You guys are the Crimson Blades..I may not be fond of the idea of manhandling a girl as a form of embarrassment.. but.. not my place to say anything." He let out a sigh, he did not want to stir any bad blood between their two guilds. Shortly after Jomei spoke, the girl over Mack's shoulder began to, somewhat, scold Jomei and the others for making such a big fuss over it. I don't get whats up with these people, he shook his head. "Well, if you wish then lass.. I was just raised knowing thats not the way to treat someone, but I have no say in the matter." It was then that the girl was tossed into the air and caught again by Mack, quite a flashy move it was. He then passed the girl over to another player, most likely another member of the Crimson Blades. It was then he realized that Takao was planning to duel Mack for some reason he must have missed, probably for the same reason he approached the group. As he turned his body to walk away, he spoke softly to Takao, who was facing the opposite direction, "You got this lad." Knowing best to not get in the way, Jomei stepped off to the side to watch the bout, backing up to where the gray haired man and the woman smoking stood, another sitting off a few meters from them. 

[Takao 0]

Takao's foot returned to the ground after following through with his kick, the momentum of said kick having spun him back around on his pivotal foot to face Mack. The larger player's words entered his ears and brought a slight grin to his face, and before he could muster up a response, his body was already moving again. "I'll take you up on that!" He said with a strained voice as he repeated his previous action, though this time switching feet and pivoting around on his right. His left knee rose and his body and hips twisted to add additional momentum to his kick, which was aimed at Mack's opposite side this time around. His gaze momentarily set on Jomei as he spoke, though it only lasted for a split second before he was forced to turn with his kick. Much like his last, this one also lacked notable amounts of grace or practice despite him possessing the necessary flexibility, further demonstrating the brunet's inexperience with the martial art.

- -

» ID : [[ 30203 ]]
» BD : [[ HIT (5 + 3(ACC)) ]]

Takao: [[ 3/3 ]]
Mack: [[ 1/3 ]]

[Mack 0]

ID: 30206
BD: 9 (8+1)
Mack: 1/3
Takao: 2/3

Even though he was ready for Takao's speed, this time, when the brown-haired warrior changed his gaze at the last moment the trajectory of his kick changed just enough that this one also managed to slip in under his guard. The hulking blonde grunted from the impact, but as the brown-haired fighter was pulling his leg back, Mack advanced into the opening and hooked an arm under the leg Takao had just used to strike him, keeping him from putting it back on the ground and leaving Takao in a very precarious position. Had Takao been Koumori, this would have been where fist met face. As it was though, Mack had no grudge against Takao and their Guilds did have a friendly alliance. So, rather than drilling Takao in the face with a fist, Mack hauled back and delivered a straight cross to the guy's body before turning him loose.

[Beoreson 0]

Beoreson had heard that several people wanted for him to let Shirosu down. He also was watching the two fight. Beoreson looked to the blond soldier and, said to him,"Mack, do you still want Shirosu to be carried around?"  He then, turned to Opal,"I know she has legs. I can't let her down without Mack's permission as he told me to carry her." says the black haired man, with a shrug. He had already forgotten he had the girl on his shoulder. "Oops, sorry forgot you where up there." says the man as he balances his shoulder.

[Takao 0]

Although Takao lacked significant experience with martial arts outside of fencing and swordplay, the game's stats and parameters did an exceptionally good job at making up for it. Fighting an opponent with more traditional experience came with its own difficulties, which Takao quickly realized after feeling something solid keeping his leg from returning to the ground. His body moved instinctively after watching Mack's arm cock back for a punch and shielded his face, though the punch landed on his chest instead. He stumbled back after his foot was released but caught his balance just before tripping over his own feet and shifted his legs apart again. "I'm really glad this game doesn't simulate pain, 'cause I bet that would've hurt like crazy."

- -

» ID : [[ 30203 ]]
» BD : [[ MISS (1 + 3(ACC)) ]]

Takao: [[ 2/3 ]]
Mack: [[ 1/3 ]]

[Mack 0]

ID: 30228
BD: 8 (7+1)
Mack: 1/3
Takao: 1/3

"Quite a bit, SAO doesn't give credit for real world experience or this would be a very one sided fight Takao. No offense intended," the hulking blonde man said, shrugging his broad shoulders and then pressing his advantage. Taking two quick forward steps he wrapped an arm around Takao's neck and pulled the brown-haired warrior down and then drove his right knee into Takao's chest. It would have been a rib breaking strike in the real world, as it was in SAO there was just a ton of knockback and a point of damage was dealt to Takao. "Two-two, all tied up Takao."

[Beoreson 0]

Beoreson looked to Opal,"He isn't answering me, sorry." He also, looks to girl on his shoulder,"Sorry, but I can't put you down in till Mack says I can." He stands and, watches the fight go on and, grunts at the whole fiasco. "Why is this fight happening?" asks the warrior as he watching the whole thing go down. He readjusted his shoulder so that it is not as raised and, that it is slouched a little. He stands a little bit straighter as well. The warrior looked around to see if anyone was going to do anything other then, watch.

[Takao 0]

"None take-" was about all Takao managed to breath out before Mack stepped forward and found an unpleasant spot to place his knee. Takao instinctively sucked in a breath of air as the joint made contact, and a clear sound was made from the strike, yet the pain he had been anticipating never came. With his very narrow selection of strikes already exhausted, Takao opted for the usage of the only other non-sword related martial arts technique that he knew, which involved grapples and throws. With Mack's arm still close enough for him to grab, Takao grappled the limb and turned his back to the larger player. He placed Mack's arm over his shoulder to be used as leverage while his own back served as a pivot point, and only with the additional of stats and their avatar's deceptive weight was he able to roll the blonde man over his shoulder and onto the ground. Takao released Mack's arm upon throwing him to the ground and took a step back to right his posture. "Looks like stats win this time. Nice fight though, that was close!" He said as he offered his hand out to help Mack back up to his feet.

- -

» ID : [[ 30229 ]]
» BD : [[ HIT (8 + 3(ACC)) ]]

Takao: [[ 1/3 ]]
Mack: [[ 0/3 ]]

[Vasth 0]

Vasth listen as the two warriors fought each other, Vasth chunked a bit as he listen each of them miss many finishing blows. Without opening his eyes as Takao strikes the winning blow, Vasth said to Opal and Graves "Well Takao won didn't he?" As Takao did a arm throw on Mack. Vasth eye remained closed as he wait for the whole crowds comments.