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"I'm more than capable of teaching the game on my own," Wulfrin chuckled as he tried his best to lighten the mood. "I've followed enough players on their repetitive tasks given to them by Dorian, the single most unorganized mayor I've ever seen. Truthfully all my fishing time comes when I'm watching them stumble around picking up random rocks and flowers. Everything pretty much gets stomped by me these days, so unless we're entering the floors in the 20's, there won't be any need for back up. I'm deep in the trenches on the frontline, so this is a welcome change of pace." Wulfrin stood up

The dense jungle fell eerily silent as Astra forced his was towards the location of the screams. Eventually the jungle cleared revealing a small clearing with a small pond at its center. Next to the pond lay the body of a hooded figure face down in the mud. Several teeth and claw marks covered the body as the red digital approximation of blood soaked the soil, oozing from the wounds. Howls could be heard in the distance as a gentle rain began to fall. Lightning flashed providing a brief illumination to the now darkness filled jungle. Several wolf paw prints could be seen coming to and from the

"I'd say so," KnightinGale replied to the comment of the tank's durability. "They can definately take a beating, as for the wiping out of our own bars, I wouldn't have any idea. Until recently I was struggling just to navigate the damn menus." Eve continued to watch the battle unfolding intently as the combatants had become blurs. Keeping up was becoming a full time job as Eve's eyes flicked around the room as fast as she could will it. She now had a goal in mind. If she could approach such a level of durability herself, perhaps she could help get her sister out of here after all. Doubly

Wulfrin watched as Yuki continued to be thrown around like a rag doll. Her ability to absorb damage was insane. This was the first time he had actually gotten to witness these legendary feats of tankiness for himself, as the only time they had traveled together was briefly during the Callisto raid. From his understanding that raid party's biggest hurdle was keeping the tainted bear focused on their tank, which they cleverly managed to do by exploiting its hatred for healers. The two titans clashed their weapons with a harmonic clash of steel that caused several vibrations throughout the icy ar

Mike awoke to the sound of birds on his windowsill. The virtual, shining sun burst through the cloth curtains. For a moment, Mike thought he was back home. His smile faded instantly. Glancing around the room, Mike did not spot Arthur. Where did the old fart run off to now? he thought endearingly. One could imagine it difficult to call that endearing. But, surprisingly it makes complete sense to Mike. To himself, his judgement is flawless. But, that is not the focus. As Mike stood out of the bed, he noticed a piece of paper on the table. "Whoever wrote this, sure was in a hurry."

According to his newfound notes, Morningstar was headed for the Mausoleum next. He was cautious when moving between rooms. The silence of the library was eerie; he never really felt alone, despite not seeing anyone else around. The books in this room were unreadable, bound in thick chains that Morningstar could not break through. He hadn't opened a single book in the previous room, but now that they were locked up, he found himself curious. What secrets did the library want to keep from nosy parties like himself? At the back of the room, a sarcophagus lay where a bookshelf mig

He entered to a room that looked unfitting for a library. The roof was high, domed, and starry. Lanterns flickered above, replicating constellations that Morningstar could not name. In the center was an orrery. He moved closer to get a better look. The solar system was propped up in what he could only assume was an accurate representation (he knew nothing about space, really). The sun in the middle was a golden orb, about the size of a golf ball. The planets were still, but cranking the orrery caused them to rotate around the sun. The planets on the far end of the solar system moved slower tha

Winding halls made the cathedral a labyrinth. It took two hours for Morningstar and Florick to find a suitable library. Florick only stayed because he was unfit to take the path home alone, and he figured Morningstar would need help on the return trip as well. Of course, that wasn't the case. Morningstar didn't need a guide at all. He had a map, and he had teleport crystals. It wouldn't take much for him to get back to Angel's Point. Morningstar explored the library, looking for something that resembled a door. All the while, he tried not to interact with the NPC unless absolutely ne

"i figured it's just easier to keep moving than to stop," shikari mumbled to himself, as one final point in addition to everyone else's words. to the fox lady, he nodded, "i don't know how it happened, but it's best to settle it as though he was under some unique circumstances. got stuck in the loading screen for a good hour or so -- turns out, a good few years had passed in the time in between." he held no ill sentiment from taka batting his hand away. in fact, hearing the man lash out in grievance but made him smile. he remembered acting the same a long time ago, before he'd managed to

A laugh bubbled up within Jomei, snorting as he tried to keep the wine from spewing. Despite the exhaustion, the stress, and everything else this day threw at them, he still managed to genuinely laugh. Was the alcohol already masking the pain, so to speak, or was it the comfort of the company he kept. Both? Both. Wiping a small drop of drink from the corner of his lip, he looked to Lessa. “Sounds I need to go skiing with your family sometime.” he responded with a smile. “Though, I’ve never skiied in my life, probably not wise to do it while drinking.” Shifting his weight, he turned sli

The words came crashing like an avalanche of despair and realization that the past two to three years I’ve spent watching a loading screen of a video game that I would spend the rest of my life in. I waved my hand back, gently brushing the man’s hand away, though I knew it was in good faith. “Two… to three years. Two to three. Years.” I repeated to myself slowly as if I hadn’t heard it properly, but I did. My fist clenched around the baked pastry, white knuckled and depleting its durability by the second due to my vice grip. “I’m not scared!” I snapped back harshly towards t

The weight of the world dragged at Lessa's shoulders, and she worried she might collapse beneath the addition of Jomei's hands. Instead, she managed to draw in a long breath, and then she forced herself to meet his gaze. But the warmth she found there, and the pure, unadulterated compassion, nearly broke her. So she busied herself with counting the raindrops studding his eyelashes like tiny gemstones. When he smiled, she offered only a tight-lipped response, as if showing her teeth might be the final crack in the dam that held back... what, exactly? Tears? Grief? Longing? A colorful array of e

Left to her own devices, Tokki would try to use all the knowledge she had learned in the first training form. There wasn't much else to do than really to think on all this. At such a young age she has seen years of her life wasted away in a video game. She wondered how her body in the real world was handling the comatose state. Surely by now they had some medical care to people's physical bodies or else they'd all be dead. Her parents had to be administering her hormones. Hopefully this wasn't affecting their budget too much, she would hate having that burden. Her punches had started putt

Several agonizing hours later after only a few breaks Tokki would return to the master. "How much more of my time will you be taking up?" She asked with slightly rasped breath. "You're not even tired? We've been training all day." The girl would return a similarly serious expression that he had before they began. "Right, well, your last task will see some action." The breaking up of monotony of simple tasks would be nice. Perhaps she would have to fight someone of her level in beat them in a fight to earn the skill. Was this going to turn into a tournament arc? "For your last task, y

Through her practice, Tokki was beginning to realize that she was really not good with her fists. The master clearly wanted to train with her hands, though some lessons involved footwork. She wished to express that she would rather learn a style that involved footwork but also was afraid that she would get kicked out if she tried to question him. Also, perhaps covering her weaknesses would be helpful in the future. After the basic lessons, Tokki would have to undergo some endurance training. Since her transition she had made a long stride in her cardio endurance. "One good challenge for e

"I'm looking for the master who trains people in hand to hand combat." The girl would tell the monk as she approached. He said nothing to her but nodded in acknowledgement and ushered her to follower him with a simple gesture of the hand. "Thanks." A short walk through the courtyard would bring them to a small temple. Tokki had seen many like them in other games so her initial reaction of its grandiose design was slightly lost on her. Soon though she would meet with the head honcho, the supposed master of martial arts. "I wish to be trained in the ways of hand to hand combat." “I wil

Surprisingly, the top of the mountain was not the end goal in the this climb. Thankfully, the dojo she was meant to find happened to be only a little further than three-fourths of the way up. Tokki picked up the pace a bit, hoping to finish this walk for good now that she had been at it for well over two hours at this point. Was this walk meant to make her appreciate dedication? Did the monks think that only people who have the willpower to climb a mountain can punch other people in the face? She could prove that wrong pretty quickly if she wanted to but she was more of a kicker than a puncher

Halfway up the mountain, Tokki would decide to take a short break sitting down against a tree off the side of the path and looking out to the distance of the horizon. If only she had brought Agma or Serah, at least then she would have someone to talk to. The thought of messaging them to join her was tempting but at this point it would take them probably an hour to meet up with her unless she walked back down the mountain. That was out of the cards. After a couple of minutes, the maid would pick herself up and continue up the path. Of course the rest of her friends get their weapons unlock

Of all the annoying things that could possibly be available to do in a game, walking had to be the absolute worst. Tokki's current objective for the quest to earn the right to use her weapon was now "Walk up the mountain path." How uninteresting. Not even a guide to lead her up and talk to on the way. Not to mention that the girl also happened to be walking up the mountain in heels. That one was her choice but still. Walking up there fully clad in plate armor would be just as agonizing, she was sure. As she observed the scenery from the low point of the mountain, Tokki took in the sights

Megitsune watched the player break down, to which she dropped the smile she had. To be fair, she had no idea that this player didn't understand the rules that everyone in Aincrad were currently operating under and that he had only just arrived with them. The weaker of the three, she assumed, would ask them how long its been since they had been trapped. At this point the fox girl had lost count of the days. Did it really even matter? "Including him? Did Kayaba not teleport him to the square on day one or has he seriously not tried to log out after two or three years of being trapped?" Megi

"This is why I gather," Wulfrin sighed as he moved to sit next to the weeping player. "If I'm being honest, it wasn't that long ago I was in this same state. For days I'd approach the gates, trying to work up the courage to step into the wilds. When I finally got out there, and turns out I was worried for nothing." Wulfrin materialized a small picnic basket. Immediately the smell of fresh baked bread and pastries began to permeate the surrounding area. One by one he would hand out various treats and goddies to the makeshift party that had formed at the Monument of Life, a place Wulfrin ha

"that's... what i'd been trying to tell you." to be fair, shikari didn't really know what to expect, either, telling them about the truth that they were all stuck in a death game. so taka was taking this way harder than he'd expected. he knelt, wondering if he should place a hand on the other player's head before deciding to do so anyway, as though it was a gesture of comfort. "yeah. i know this is a lot to take in," he continued, looking up towards wulfrin and the fox-looking woman. "but i mean -- you two, we've been around the game for this long, haven't we? it's been about at leas