[PP-F1]Brave New World (Takao) -Completed-

[Red_Rose 0]

The long road that stretched out from the main city seemed to have no end in sight. It just went on into the fields and forests that made up this floor, almost threatening to go on forever. If Red hadn't looked at a map earlier she might have sworn it actually did. Fortunately for her this floor did have an end and a finite amount of space meaning she could eventually cover it all. And if it wasn't so big it wouldn't be as scary, and therefore was able to be conquered. That was the plan for the low leveled player now creeping along side the road. That player was Red_Rose a non gamer who had become trapped like everyone else here in Aincrad. Her reasoning for being here was silly, and she hated games, yet here she was.

 

Despite everything though, she had to admit that this was pretty cool. Red had remembered the stories from her childhood of brave warriors fighting monsters and doing noble deeds. They had of course all been fables, but this place made her feel like she was in one of those little stories. Even now she gripped her chipped and dulled spear tightly prepared to enter herself into these stories and become a hero, or something. It was strange though, never in her life did she imagine holding a spear for real. This wasn't like back at home when her boyfriend had bought that set of "Ninja Swords" that sat looking trashy on her book case. This was a real spear, though chipped and dulled by forces unknown, it was still real, and she really needed to use it to kill things. A smile crossed her lips at that thought. "I need to kill something" She muttered not believing that she had actually said that. That however was the name of the game in Aincrad. Kill and become stronger or wait to die. And she had already wasted too much time.

 

She flicked her golden hair carelessly as she veered off the path heading towards the shade of a few trees. A small group of boars wandered not far off, grazing on digital grass. Even they looked really well rendered. 't have much in the way of gear or skills. In fact all she had was starter gear which offered no bonuses. Her clothing was nothing more than to hide her shame, and her sword was hardly better than a wooden stick. But many others had come through her claiming these boars for their experience and pelts. They were supposed to be easy and farmable, providing a bounty of low level experience and col. The only problem, she had never fought before. The last little while had been spent in the safety of the city, if one could call it that. She browsed vendors, stayed at shelters and generally had achieved nothing. A sad state of affairs really. Luckily she had become bored with that and now wanted to do something else, learn something new, and advance to a new floor.

 

She neared the trees, still smiling confidently. These were just boars, low level easy kills. Everyone here had managed to beat them down, everyone but her. Now though she was going to join the ranks of Aincrads warriors and slay one of these beasts. Once she hit the trees she turned to look, quickly spotting a boar off on its own. "Perfect!" She said with a smile before approaching the sprite. It wasn't so big, maybe 3 or 4 feet at the highest point. It even seemed oblivious to her approaching it. Perhaps it was because she did so quietly and carefully making extra good use of her sneaking. Or maybe she just hadn't entered its circle of agro yet. Needless to say the moment she was within 20 feet of it, things changed quickly. The boar stood up staring her down, and quickly charged. This sudden change in behavior had caught Red off guard and she was quickly knocked down by the beast. She let out a cry of anguish as she fell onto her backside, while the boar charged right on past her. Above her head her small health bar ticked away indicating she had just received a point of damage. This was going to be harder than she thought.

 

Still she was quick to rise to her feet and face the animal again, and like before it charged. This time she swung her sword at it when it neared , but it still knocked her over as it barreled through her. She would definitely need to try moving around more if she wanted to live through this. Luckily she had managed a hit as well, dealing a clean 2 damage strike to the animal. This did not seem to be enough to kill it as the boar turned sharply and charged again. Red had not managed to get to her feet this time and could only raise her spear in front of her as she awaited the beasts attack.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Red_Rose

[Takao 0]

"Alrighty... What should I do now that I'm goin' solo again...?" he muttered quietly to himself. His gaze was set on the ground as he walked and his hands were dug deep into his pockets. Truth be told there wasn't much of a difference between his being a literal solo player currently and a week ago, when he was still "in a guild", however inactive it might've been. "Well, I guess nothing's really changed." A shrug rolled across his shoulders and he let his mind wander. His routine for the day had been finished hours ago, which had unfortunately left him with an absolutely dreadful amount of spare time to kill. The brunet cast a sidelong glance to his draconic familiar that walked alongside him, who returned the glance with one of its own. "How about we could stop by a restaurant or something in the city and grab a bite to eat? I know the stuff isn't great, but " he said to his companion, who shrugged its shoulders in response and returned its glance forthward. Their journey from Horunka to the City of Beginnings had taken considerably longer than normal given their leisurely pace, though it had afforded him the chance to be alone with his thoughts for a while.

Takao glanced aside and slowed his pace to a halt upon seeing a sole player approaching a boar from behind. Upon focusing on her, it became clear that she was equipped with the bare minimum of gear that was provided to a player at character creation. Her cautious approach coupled with the starter gear had quickly lead him to believe that she had just decided to start down the road of a fighter. Plenty of people before her had made the jump and succeeded, although plenty had failed as well, which was likely what prompted Takao to approach after watching her sustain that first hit. He called his familiar up onto his shoulders, where the knee-high beast was usually perched, and started across the field.

Whoever the girl was, she didn't seem entirely incompetent when it came to combat. After taking the hit and clearly being startled, if he were to judge by her cry of anguish, she still managed to land a clean hit on the monster. Despite the damage she dealt the monster was unfazed, as they usually were, and it resumed its charge. Takao had managed to traverse the distance between them quickly enough to intervene, and rather than allowing the monster to land another hit, the brunet had opted to find a comfortable spot for the sole of his boot to rest on the monster's broadside. He punted it aside with a quick and swift motion, and while the damage he dealt couldn't have been farther from debilitating, it had bought them enough time to prepare for its next charge. He turned his attention to Rose and offered out his left hand as a gesture to help her stand. "Head's up, it's on it's way back." he said, offering her an easy and amiable smile.

- -

» ID : [[ 30794 ]]
» BD : [[ HIT (2 + 3(ACC) + 1(Concentration)) ]]

[Red_Rose 0]

(ooc: So This thread is not for loot or anything from the boars. its just RP. so yeah if you want to one hit them go for it. Its just fer RP purposes.)

Red closed her eyes as she waited for the hit. It was at that moment that she heard swift approaching steps, followed by a hard thud. It took her a second before she opened her eyes and saw the man standing in front of her. He looked friendly, with his short neatly tuzzled hair, and gentle smile. He even had a hand outstretched to her, as he casually mentioned the boar was coming back. Red blushed a moment before reaching up to take his hand as she got to her feet. For a moment all she could do was look at this stranger who had helped her. Her current task and the boar were temporarily forgotten, and she blushed a little deeper realizing she was staring. "Thank you..." She managed to stammered looking away and noticing the animal again. The sudden rush of panic surged through her as she suddenly remembered what was actually happening. "Right, Sorry" She said as she raised her spear.

 

With her spear lifted she turned her body facing the charging boar. it was nearing with surprising spear and she needed to attack it. Clearly just swinging at the beast was not going to have an effect, so she would need to act with a little more control. Red did have a spear, so perhaps a jab would work better than a swing for now. The biggest question was how to do it. She had seen movies before where people used spears to fight. They often pulled the weapon back while using their free arm as a guide and striking with the weapon running parallel to their outstretched arm. Now was the time to try.

 

In a hurry Red turned exposing her free side to the boar and holding out her arm towards it. With her feet still unsteady she pulled back the spear, and thats when she felt it. It was like a click, and suddenly she was moving more fluid, like she was guided. This wasn't her, this had to be the system acting through her. Perhaps this is what people talked about with the system assisted attacks. It suddenly made sense, obviously the other players here had no combat experience with swords or weapons either, so the system would make up for the lack of training and experience. With this in mind She decided to relax and go with the system on this one. As the boar neared she felt her body tighten, until she stepped forward thrusting her spear hand at the boar, driving her weapon deep into its center mass. The creature stopped dead in its tracks before exploding into a shower of pixels.

 

Red cheered jumping up and down a few times with excitement before turning back to the man who had saved her. Her blush returned for a moment as she averted her own green eyes. "Thank you again. I think I would have been in trouble there if not for you." She held out her free hand for him to shake. "Call me Red." She said with a smile. So this is what a hero looked like in this game she thought happily.

[Takao 0]

[I figured it was goin' down that way, but I added the roll just in case.]

Takao's smile persisted as he helped her back up onto her feet, his hand only returning to his side when he was certain she had regained her balance. He glanced sidelong to the boar that seemed as eager as ever to return to trying to impale its blonde haired assailant, as was the usual desire for this reality's more violence-prone inhabitants. His glance shifted from the boar to his own familiar, a monster not unlike the boar itself, and found himself suppressing the desire to chuckle as the thought arose of comparing his mischievous and fun-loving companion to the seemingly mindless drone of a boar. Slowly, his gaze returned to the woman that was quite a bit shorter than himself, and the brunet immediately took notice of her staring. At first his eyebrows raised and his head tilted slightly to the side, and had he been any more animated with his expressions, a line of question marks might have appeared above his head. A faint tinge of colour appeared across his face as a result of her fixated attention. "You're welcome." he said as his smile returned to overtake the puzzled expression from earlier.

She tensed from panic upon returning to the realization that his apparent saving her was a temporary ordeal, and the looming threat of the boar remained. Dispatching the monster probably wouldn't have given him much trouble, or so that was his belief, yet he wouldn't have done her any favours if he spared her from the experience in its entirety. His intervention had left little more than a minuscule dent in the monster's health, which left the brunt of the work to be done by her hands. Takao stepped aside to give her space as she resumed her battle, yet he still stood ready to intercede again should he notice the situation go awry.

The brunet watched with folded arms and his slight habitual smile as she activated a sword skill and ended the boar rightly, reducing it to nothing more than translucent polygons that signified her victory. Takao exhaled a low-toned whistle and applauded after sharing a glance with his familiar, who nodded as a means to wordlessly express its approval. "Nice!" he said, his smile growing upon seeing her excitement.

"Ah, no worries, I'm glad I could help out! I'm sure you would've been fine though, y'just had a bit of a rocky start." His glance moved down to her hand and he extended his own to firmly shake. "Pleasure t'meetcha, Red! I'm Takao."

[Red_Rose 0]

Once again she found her hand in his, though this time as a greeting. After a moment she released the hand shake and smiled again. He had been humble about saving her, she had no doubt in her mind that she might have been toast without him, yet he allowed her to keep some dignity. "It's a pleasure to meet you Takao." She replied with a slight nod of her head. Red made a mental note to make sure to add him as a friend before they parted ways, after all one could not have too many friends here. Her gaze now traveled to the animal that was perched on his shoulder. It was an odd looking creature, certainly something she had never seen before, and one that didn't exist in real life. "I like your... friend?" She said with an unsure gesture towards the creature. Somewhere she had heard someone mention something about familiars, perhaps this was what they looked like, if so she wanted one. On the other hand she had heard people mention things about Parasites, though she was certain those were just stories.

 

"So, these sword arts... They activate when you do the right things I guess?" She asked raising her spear again and moving back into the same jab stance she had adopted earlier. Again she felt the trigger of the system as it activated the ability a second time. The follow through was identical, aside from having no target to aim at. It was a neat system and she wondered how many other moves she would have access to.

[Takao 0]

Takao followed her gaze and looked to the familiar out of the corner of his eye. The monster had become such a normal part of his daily life that it hardly seemed off to have it laid across his shoulders, its weight supported by the sword over his shoulder. The red impish dragon looked to be largely uninterested in the goings-on around it, yet the occasional flick of its ear suggested some amount of attention. He chuckled lightheartedly at her uneasy gesture upon centering his gaze back on her. "This is Otoko," he said, briefly motioning toward the tamed monster. "I dunno if friend is the word I'd use. More like a pain in my bu - erk!" His words were cut off by the monster's tail suddenly whipping around his neck and slapping him across the cheek. Like all damage in the game, Takao didn't necessarily experience any pain, and instead was interrupted by the surprise. He cleared his throat and rubbed the side of his face, which now sported a tail-shaped red mark. "He's my familiar." he said, finishing his thought.

If he hadn't already come to the conclusion that she was new to combat, her question regarding sword arts and the testing of one in front of him certainly drove the point home. He nodded as she replicated the sword art she had used earlier. "Yup, it's called a "Pre-Motion". They're activated when you position your weapon in a certain way, 'n then the system takes over." His arms had moved to fold over his chest once more as he spoke. "So, you're new to combat then, huh?"

[Red_Rose 0]

"Pre-Motion." She repeated as she pulled back allowing the system to guide her through one more strike. Red couldn't help but wonder how neat she looked from the outside as she expertly thrust her spear at the imaginary target. Of course she was no expert in such things, but the system was, and with practice she could learn to tap into it whenever she needed. This also of course raised the question of how many moves were there, and how did they activate. In a way it was kind of exciting to say the least. "Well, im new to all of it really." She stopped playing with her weapon for a moment and looked up at Takao with another small blush. "This is kind of my first real game." she felt embarrassed now by how noobish she sounded. "This copy of the game was meant for someone else..." That sounded even worse. Now that she said it out loud she really could see how out of place she was.

 

She allowed another moment to go by before changing the subject. So how do you get such a cute little familiar?" Her attention now returning to the small creature on Takao's shoulder. Red had wondered now if this was a special reward for buying the game early, or even a special edition of the game. Or maybe it could be bought in a shop somewhere. If that was the case she would start saving now for one. "And on that note. Id like to buy a shield, and maybe armor. got any recommendations on places?"

[Takao 0]

Takao glanced aside as she went through the motions of using another sword art and idly checked their surroundings. His extended periods of time spent delving into the combat of the game had left him with a certain amount of paranoia, which at the moment only translated into watching his back. Monsters were rather prone to just spawning in, after all. He glanced back to her as she voiced her answer, and his eyebrows raised in surprise. The hints of her embarrassment were there and hadn't gone unnoticed, yet he hadn't made any effort to comment on them. "Wow, no kidding?" He huffed out a breath as his face returned to its less surprised and more pleasant expression. "What a place to start out, huh?" he said, nearly dissolving into a fit of lighthearted chuckling at the thought. His intention wasn't to mock her misfortune, but rather to try and lighten the situation with a bit of ill-placed humour. He cleared his throat and attempted to move the conversation away from the subject of their roots of their entrapment. "I'm kinda impressed that you were able to use a sword art without any experience though... really impressed, actually. Most people that're just startin' out don't typically know how to use 'em." he said, offering up another smile before the attention shifted to the topic of familiars again.

"They're pretty easy to get, actually. There's an NPC that wanders around in the starting city, and she'll tell you that you can tame monsters if you feed 'em. Afterward, you get a quest called "feeding the enemy", and you can pretty much go to any floor and tame most monsters." His left hand rose to rub his familiar's head. "If you're lucky, you can get a rare familiar that buffs you - like Otoko here. He gives me a passive accuracy bonus." The familiar's interest was piqued as he was given praise, and as a result he sat up on Takao's shoulder and puffed out his chest. "And a passive headache bonus, too." He mused, silently happy that his thoughts were safe from his familiar's harmless wrath.

"Hrm... Well, Mack's one of the better blacksmiths that're active right now. He likes helping out new players too- ...although he might be a tad busy making equipment for the boss raid... I could introduce you to him anyways." he paused for a moment to mull over the question a bit, considering other potential options, although his answer seemed to stay more or less the same. "For now though, I do have a shield I can't use, though the enhancements might not be exactly what you're looking for. You can have it, if you'd like."

[Red_Rose 0]

Red laughed lightly with Takao. It was funny that of all the games she could have started in, that she ended up here. This was probably the worst place for a noob like her, considering that her life was on the line. But at the same time, maybe it was that kind of dire scenario that would allow her to succeed over others. It did help meeting people like Takao, who were nice enough to help her along. At the very least his kind words were certainly enough to give her confidence. He had complimented her on her ability to use the sword art ability, causing her to smile with pride at her achievement.

 

Before long the conversation changed back to the familiar. According to Takao there was a quest to get them, and it allowed you to tame almost any creature you came across. This of course meant that there were dozens if not hundreds of options for creatures to take. Some would even give her bonuses to her skills. Red cast a casual glance over to a nearby heard of boars and wondered what kind of buff something like them would impose. Possibly defense or maybe with their powerful sense of smell a bonus to searching. She wanted one now, not necessarily a boar, but a familiar of her own. Anything that would offer her the chance to get better and survive.

 

"Mack, the Blacksmith." She repeated after Takao explained where she might be able to get some gear. It was a shame that he was currently busy, meaning she would have to find alternative means to getting gear, or go without for the time being. Red didn't have too much time to think on that before Takao offered her a shield that he had. She looked up at him a moment, confused and unsure of what to say. Was he actually serious, being willing to lend her gear till she could get her own? If so it would certainly help her along the way. "Are you serious? I mean yes Id love that." She blurted out before she could do anything else. "Id take really good care of it, and make sure you get it back as soon as I get my own."

[Takao 0]

Takao nodded his head as she repeated the name. He didn't know the blacksmith all too well, as they had only ever met on a few occasions, yet he was still the best that he could easily contact. "Yup. I think he moved his shop up to the fourth floor recently." The word "shop" might have been a tad generous, given the simplicity of it in reality. Describing it as a tent would've been more accurate, if not a little more condescending than he cared to sound. The frigid climate on the fourth floor made the change in locations a bit strange, but he was sure that there was a reason for it.

He glanced down at her confused expression, and had opened his mouth to say something before she suddenly spoke up. Another fit of lighthearted chuckling escaped while he called for his menu to appear. He navigated to his inventory and spawned the item in question, which materialized into his hands as a bright blue light. It took the shape of a heater shield, and after the spawning process had completed, the finer details became more apparent. The outer surface had a brushed steel texture beneath the faded grey and green coloured decoration. Sitting in the middle of the shield was a simple eye design. Literal examination of the item would reveal its name to be «Lex Talonis +3», a "perfect quality" shield that granted the user six points of damage mitigation, and enabled the chance to paralyze targets.

"It's all yours," he said as he offered the shield to her. "It's better in your hands than mine, since I really just can't use it. Mack trades items too, so you could trade that one in for something that suits you better." He glanced down at the shield that hadn't been in his possession for long, now only a relic of a failed attempt at changing his build. 

Edited September 12, 2015 by Takao

[Red_Rose 0]

Before Red could really say anything else, Takao went and pulled up his menu. That was something that she herself was embarrassed to say that she had only recently learned to do herself. A moment later and a shield had materialized in his hands. Its design was both simple and elegant. It was a traditional looking heater shield, with the obscured diamond shape that allowed for great protection while maintaining maximum mobility. Its grey and green paint looked scuffed ad faded as if this shield in particular had seen many battles. And in the center sat a single painted eye, almost like the eyes spots of a butterfly that would lure the attack of other creatures thus sparing the insect from direct physical harm.

 

Red hesitated again before reaching out to take the shield that was being offered. In her grasp it felt heavy, but at the same time it felt sturdy and secure. Once in her grasp she wasted no time in equipping the item so that it appeared on her free arm opposite her spear. She took a moment moving her arm around, rotating it left and then right getting a feel for the new item and its weight. The shield itself boast a 12" by 26" profile, which to her reduced size felt bigger than normal. However with the system assisting her it soon began to feel light and natural. "Th-Thank you." She stammered, now unsure of what to say in such a scenario. He had told her she could trade it in for one that suited her better if need be. "I'll pay you back for this. I promise." She managed to say as she opened up her menu and sent Takao a friend request. "I Don't have anything to offer right now, but I will don't worry." Through all of this she had the biggest smile accross her lips. With a shield like this she stood a decent chance at getting past the first floor, and moving onto better things. The thought had crossed her mind of how jealous her Ex would be if he could see this now.

[Takao 0]

Takao's small smile began to grow as he watched her examine the shield, which was of exceptional quality despite its rough outward appearance. It had been crafted by one of the best, if not the best blacksmiths that sold equipment, so it definitely reflected the craftsman's skill. He held the shield steady as she hesitated, and released his grasp on it when she took it from his hands. It looked to be a little large for her stature, though he had been rather specific when ordering it, so it had been crafted to suit his height. Before long she was able to adapt to the size, and it hardly seemed all but out of place.

"Welcome." he said following her stammered response, a widened smile accompanying his words. He glanced down at the floating prompt that appeared after she sent the friend request and raised his hand, tapping the confirm button without hesitation. His attention shifted from the menu as it closed and settled back on Red. "Well, if you really want to, I won't like... stop you or anything. It better be good though, that thing was expensive!" he said, exaggerating his jesting tone with a brief fit of laughter. With the new addition to his friends list, it would make contact between them much more convenient.

"Oh, 'n hey, if you need help with some hunting or quests or somethin', lemme know! There's a lot of 'em that would help you level up quick, and I wouldn't mind helping you out, even though I'm not much of a tank." His grin persisted as he offered his help. He had plenty of confidence in his ability to help with the lower leveled bosses, though with the recent changes, that confidence had wavered slightly for the more dangerous quarries.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red smiled at him, laughing a bit at his comment about not being much of a tank. "Thats ok. Because I will be a tank for us both then." That was her goal, to be a tank. It had been the position her ex hated the most. he used to say it was so slow and pointless. So now she wanted rub that in his face when she became an amazing tank. More importantly though, Takao had accepted her friend request. Making him the first person in her hopefully soon to be long line of friends. He had also offered to help with hunting or questing. While to some this would seem like a simple invitation, to Red this was him going above and beyond the call of duty. This was a man who was actually willing to help better others. "I'll keep that in mind, and If you ever need me, please don't hesitate to ask. I am in yer debt after all now."

 

After a moment or so she raised her spear again, this time with the shield in her other hand. Red wanted to see how it felt to perform the Focused Strike with the added weight and balance issues of the shield. Sure enough as she expected the system did not trigger the same way. Now instead of simply pulling back her spear arm, she needed to push out with the shield as well. With both of those moves completed the system triggered and she followed through the motions from before. She was impressed with the level of detail in this game, where simply adding new equipment would change the way things worked all together.

 

Red gave one last satisfied smile before looking back to Takao. "Would you mind hunting a few of these low level boars with me?"

[Takao 0]

Takao's wide grin settled into the habitual smile that usually occupied his face. "Really? Sweet, dude!" he said in response to her declaration to take on the role of a tank. "I have a lot of respect for tanks, it's really noble of somebody to put themselves in harm's way for another. Support roles too for that matter. It kinda makes me feel a bit selfish for focusing on damage." He only knew of a few tanks of respectable ability, and they were the few that made up the team tasked with taking the boss's damage for the upcoming raid. Every role was vital and their success hinged on the cooperation of each team, but it didn't help his opinion on the matter. "If that's the case, I might be asking for your help a lot." he said, his hand raising to rub the back of his head. "I'm kinda useless without a tank, plus you make good company."

He watched her shift in weapon usage with the addition of a shield. He knew so little when it came to sword arts that utilized spears as their medium, so his observation was close. It couldn't hurt to memorize the movements in case he ever came across something that used spears, which was bound to happen eventually. The shield didn't seem to be giving her any issues, judging by how she was able to activate the sword art regardless of its hindrance. When she turned back to him, his smile grew and he nodded. "I'm game. Let's do it!" he said, momentarily turning his attention to his familiar. He made a simple gesture with his head, and the monster huffed out an irritated breath before hopping off his shoulders. His hand moved over his right shoulder afterward and grasped the handle of his sword. He pulled his arm forward to draw the slender blade from the scabbard and held it out to the side.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red smiled at the thought of being asked for help, especially as a tank. Naturally she would be more than happy to be there whenever he needed. "Just let me know, and I'll be there for you. It is the least I can do to repay you." She said happily before returning her gaze to the field of boars. The one that had been killed recently had returned, obviously it respawned while they were talking. She wanted to try out the new shield and see how well it would work for tanking. Basically she wanted to get hit and see how little the beast could do now. Alternatively she wanted to see how a swordsman worked in combat, the way they moved, even the speed at which they went about their attacks. She had often heard that they were fast, and those without shields were faster still.

 

"Would you mind if I tanked, while you attacked?" She asked looking more determined now than she had. She knew she could anger the NPC enough to fight her, or gain agro as others called it, and with it focused on her it would be easy for Takao to kill it. Red wasn't sure of his level, or even if he would gain anything from fighting creatures this low, but if he was willing to waste a little time and help her learn her battlefield role a little better then that would be great. "And Don't be afraid to tell me what to do either. I'm still new so I need all the guidance You can give."

 

With that she raised her shield again, and this time rather than attacking the air like she had been doing she charged the boar. Running with a shield was different too, more difficult. Clearly the downside of using these items was a decrease in agility, while the upside was a beautiful rise in defense. Despite taking longer to reach the boar, she was soon within its range, and it followed its previous pattern. Moments later it had charged and Red met its attack head on holding the shield out in front of her to stop it.

[Takao 0]

Takao silently nodded his head and followed her gaze to the field, where the slain boar had been replaced with one of the exact same description. The variety of monsters that lurked around on the various floors were usually quite diverse, but it seemed that in traditional fashion for games of this genre the first monsters that a player was intended to fight were rather unimaginative. He certainly wouldn't complain about combat on the lower floors though, given how dangerous combat could be on the higher floors.

He cast a sidelong glance to her as she set their formation, with her doing all the damage-taking. "Sounds good to me." he said as his wrist rolled, giving the sword in his hand a quick twirl to get a feel for the weight. The brunet took a few small steps backward just before her charge. "All you gotta do is be the closest thing to 'em when they spot us. You won't be able to hold their aggro for long because of the game's «Hate» system, so I'll be sure to take them down with the first hit." As she moved, he and his familiar followed close behind. The moment she blocked the boar's attack, he shifted his weight onto his right foot and positioned the blade of his sword across his shoulders. The motion was smooth and practiced, as if he'd done it a hundred times before. The tug of the system fighting for control of his body was felt, and upon releasing it to the system, his blade was carried forth with impressive system-assisted speed and power. Having come from the side, his blade was able to cleave into the monster's neck, nearly severing it with the simple strike known to him as «Vertical».

The post-motion rigidness took over while the system relinquished control over his body, which meant he was stuck being motionless for a moment. "The tanks on the front lines have a couple skills called "Howl" and "Fighting Spirit". They're used to generate more hate to keep monsters off the DPS and support teams." he explained. He rolled his shoulders after feeling control of his body return. "I'd recommend putting points into your armour proficiency skill first though, or maybe even block."

[Red_Rose 0]

Takao destroyed the boar in an instant. His precision with the blade and speed of attack, proving to be far too much for the creature to handle. Moments later it disintegrated in a marvelous blue light. Red smiled at the success of the attack combo, her blocking and him attacking. It seemed to be a very good and reliable strategy. he had now taken the chance to mention to her about hate, and hate generating abilities such as howl. At the mention of these her interest was peaked. "So If I am able to generate more hate, both passively and aggressively, then creatures will focus on me first? She asked so that she could confirm her thoughts. She would definitely need both of these abilities then in order to ensure her usefulness on the battlefield.

 

Takao also mentioned the block skill, which was exactly where she was going to be spending her next set of skill points. No doubt it would help her greatly in soaking damage and protecting others, and herself. Red nodded now, showing that she understood what he was explaining to her. It all made a lot of sense, and wasn't too difficult to get. If her role was tank, then her focus should be on defensive abilities. She almost regretted spending points in her spear now, though it was a needed skill if she wanted to survive.

 

Moments later another boar wandered over. It passed by fairly close before falling into an agro stance and charging at Takao. Red caught sight of it and quickly moved to intercept, smashing her shield into the front of the boar stopping it in its tracks. Thats how a tank should work. She thought as she strained against its strength. A tank puts them self between the DPS and the threat.

[Takao 0]

His posture straightened following the system's abandonment of its control over his body, and his gaze settled back onto her after the colourful fragments of data disappeared into oblivion. "Yup, hate is tracked between individual monsters, so it's the player that holds the most hate with them that it attacks." he nodded before elaborating further. "Howl is an active skill that generates a lump sum of hate when used, which makes it a good skill for tanks to use at the start of a battle. Fighting Spirit increases the base amount of hate you get when you attack, and I'm pretty sure it increases the amount you get from using howl too." he said. His knowledge on the subject was sketchy at best, given that hate wasn't a mechanic that he often paid attention to. Consistently hunting as a solo player meant that all of the monster's eyes were usually on him regardless, and although he knew of the skills and their purpose, his experience with them was next to nonexistent.

Takao followed her gaze as the previously unseen boar drew closer and began to charge. His feet shifted apart and his legs tensed to prepare to evade, yet Red stepped between them and intercepted the monster's charge. His posture momentarily fell lax until he heard the sound of the boar colliding with the shield, which prompted him to hop into action. He tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and moved around to Red's left side. He placed his left hand on the pommel of his sword, whose longer than average hilt length permitted such a grip, and crossed his right hand over his left. He swung the sword around without the use of the system this time, and instead used a basic attack and his own skill with the blade to angle a slice diagonally at the boar. The motion was specifically angled away from Red to avoid the chance of unintentional friendly fire, and despite the lack of system-assistance, his base damage was sufficient enough to destroy the monster.

His left hand released his blade and he stood back up, free of the post-motion rigidness that would've overtaken him had a sword art been used, and he returned his attention to Red. "So, if you don't mind me askin', how come you chose this game to start with? It's kinda..." he said, his voice trailing off toward the end as he mulled over his next words. His off hand rubbed the back of his neck as he felt the urge to laugh flare up again. "Kinda hardcore, I guess." he finished. Although it hadn't been known at the time of the game's release, SAO had turned out to be one of the most "hardcore" games that a person could find themselves involved in.

[Red_Rose 0]

((OOC: I am so sorry.. I thought I clicked send on that post, but i must have messed up somewhere.))

Red watched in amazement as another boar suffered defeat at Takao's hands. Before he asked her about her reasoning for being here. Red blushed furiously as her thoughts drifted back to that morning, and her anger. In truth she was here for the stupidest of reasons, she didn't even like games. "Well, I mean." She stumbled around her words for a moment before letting out a sigh. "I was originally getting this game for my boyfriend, but I caught him cheating on me. So after I threw him out I logged on to spite him." She held on a second before continuing, half expecting him to think she was crazy. "See Sword Art Online was so hard to get I knew he wouldn't have one, so I was gonna rub it in his face." She smiled weakly now, as she realized how childish her reasoning sounded.

 

"I honestly was not expecting anything like this, though I dont think anyone was." She wondered now if she knew what she was walking into with this game, if she would have just gone shopping instead. The scary thing was that she might have logged in anyways, perhaps out of spite, or even as an escape. "How about you? I mean your pretty good, SO you must have some sort of background in games?"

Edited September 18, 2015 by Red_Rose

[Takao 0]

[[No worries! I've had that happen to me a few times, it can be a real pain sometimes.]]

His head tilted slightly to one side as she began to stumble around her words, and his expression was quickly replaced by the frown that set in after hearing her further explanation. If he were to be honest with himself, it seemed like a perfectly legitimate attempt at revenge. Perhaps it was just his rather childish outlook on things, but if he had been in the same position at the time, he couldn't imagine a worse fate than knowing somebody else was enjoying the game instead. Well, losing a girlfriend would likely be up there on the list too if he were listing things that were relevant, but even so.

"Ah... I'm sorry to hear that, he sounds like a real jerk. If it's any consolation, I think it was a good attempt at least. To get back at him, I mean." he said. His hand raised to rub the back of his head, silently wondering if that had sounded worse than he thought it did. "It is a pretty sweet game though, if you put the whole... death part... aside. I'm sure he'd be mad envious of the good bits." he shrugged slightly and huffed out a breath. Despite the rather unpleasant consequences for failure, he still did his best to maintain a positive outlook. The conversation shifted his way, which brought his smile back.

"Oh yeah, of course. Me 'n my... uh..." he said, pausing for a moment as his thoughts caught up with his mouth. "My and my best friend would play this kinda thing all the time - like, roleplaying games I mean, not virtual reality stuff. We bought this game and started it together, and uh... yeah." His jaw set as he paused again, and concluded his thoughts a short moment after. "I guess you could say I've got a bit of background in games."