Steel

I'm honestly surprised he managed to freeze an ice monster. Steel thought to himself as he saw Pinball manage to do it. Pinball then seemed apologetic about it. Steel had an inkling why but he never let his focus waver when in combat so he just continued on with it. "Yeah, I got it." Steel said as he charged in with his katana. He charged up a sword skill Vertical Arc and slashed at the large beast with two powerful slashes. It seemed that dealing damage to a monster in 'frozen' state (as if an ice monster could get any more frozen) would cause extra damage and that was enough to send it toppling down. "Mission complete!" Steel said with a grin and a peace sign for victory.

"What's with that frown? Did you think you took the fun away from it all?" Steel said to Pinball. "While I will admit that I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to show off my ability as a tank, I'd rather be alive than look cool. That attack you did made it possible for us to get through this without being harmed. No shame in that right?" He said this with a grin. "Well, now that we've got some extra time, let's go explore some more or go drinking together. The job's over. Might as well have some fun. It'd be nice to get to know each other a little."

@Benjamin Bookworm

@Pinball

OOC: Shortest boss fight ever lol

Steel was walking around town wondering what to do as he was done for the day and now all he wanted to do was relax with his girlfriend if she wasn't busy gathering materials, doing a quest, or roleplaying the insane witch people had been starting rumors about. At the rate she's going, she might just scare away any potential customers. Might want to tell her to tone it down a bit. He thought to himself with a laugh. He had gotten used to her acting antics and even found it somewhat adorable but he could totally see why people thought she appeared crazy.

Just as he was thinking of her, he noticed her in the middle of some commotion. Counting Reinka, there were four females at the center of all this. The other three were a woman close to his age, a little girl who seemed to be in elementary school, and an NPC who was begging for her child to be found. NPC or not, he just couldn't ignore this and he walked over to the group. "Yo Rei." He greeted his girlfriend with a small smile before turning to the other woman. "Mind if I join in as well? NPC or not, I want to go save that girl." He said to the one who seemed like she took the quest. "The name's Steel."

@Reinka

@Dazia

@Vigilon

"Let me guess, you just thought I looked unreliable." Steel said after noticing the one of the two he hadn't met give Steel a analytical glance. Though he thought the assumption was a tad bit rude, he understood why he did that. He had to work with somebody he didn't know. Of course he'd want to know the capabilities of his party members. "Don't worry, my armor may look like leather but its heavy armor made of steel. My defenses are good enough to be a tank. This boss won't do too much damage to me." He tapped his armor with his fist, letting the sound of metal ring out. "By the way, the name's Steel, what's yours?" He asked with with a small smile.

"I'll go first. I'm the tank after all." Steel said as he began heading down the pathway which would lead into the caverns. "Ah right, we should set up our party and all that." Steel then sent party invites to the other two. "Let's finish this up quickly and then go drinking or something." He said with a grin. "Well, let's just hope we don't miss a bunch of times right Ben?" He said this with a bit of a laugh as he remembered what happened last time he was on a quest with him.

@Benjamin Bookworm

@Pinball

OOC: I am so sorry.... I really should have done this a long time ago. Just didn't know what to post for a bit and then forgot due to work.... sorry again...

"If I had to be honest, I don't know what my goal is. At the moment, I'm definitely not ready to be at the frontlines, both level wise and mentally. At the moment, I'm more focused on making sure I'm not leaving you behind. Well, perhaps we can take our time to think it through." Steel said in response. "We got a little under 80 floors still left to go and there are other ways to help the front line after all even if we don't fight. Well, the really powerful gear would be from up there though."

"So which floor do you want to go to after this? We can't go too high though." Steel asked after they had settled on going up to another floor.

"I also have some money saved up. I've only been paying with materials for my gear anyway." Steel said in response. "How much do those items cost anyway? If we can get more than we paid for it, we'll be able to earn a decent amount of money while earning some experience points. Who knows? We might be able to get a house."

"Yeah, let's hope we find a treasure chest at some point." Steel said in response. "And I don't think there's much of a lore book here. Not like we can leave and search it up online." Steel said remembering how there hasn't been much lore in this world revealed besides it being some extremely large castle floating in the sky. "As I go along, I'll definitely be raising my Mitigation stats but I'll try to raise the power of the thorns for some revenge possibilities."

"I'm pretty sure the cool part is just my usual face not showing much emotion or just a serious one which I guess can be mistaken as that. And my confidence is more a necessity so I won't fall apart as a tank." Steel said humbly though with a small smile due to being a little happy about being seen that way by Reinka. "You got a lucky catch? I'm pretty sure I used up all my luck getting you as my girlfriend. You're one of the most attractive girls I've ever met and on top of that, you're kind. Even before we really knew each other too well, you cried for me because you worried about my safety.

"Understood Captain-dono, I shalt keep watch over our surroundings." Steel said with his sword at the ready. One eye was on the map, the other on what was in front of him.

"From the sound of it, it seems like a field boss perhaps so I'm sure we'll get a decent reward for it. At the very least, we're getting some sort of reward from that merchant fellow." Steel said in response. "It's kind of weird how there's only three equipment slots. In normal RPGs, there's at least 5 or so equipment slots. Well, now I'm stuck on whether to increase my offensive capabilities or my defensive ones. The thorns were more to compensate on the lack of hitting my enemies thing."

"I will admit, I would become a bit concerned if I saw some competition but I trust you enough to not cheat on me. Since you fell for me not based on my looks but who I am as a person right?" Steel said with a light blush on his face. "And if the amount of competition gets out of hand, I'd just go and start a rumor about how there's a swordsman protecting her." He said with a somewhat mischievous grin. "I don't think I'm all that handsome either so I don't think women are going to try and catch my eye. On the off chance it does happen though, I'd just say that I'm already taken."

He then noticed the jealous tone Reinka had from the thought of it all. "Being jealous isn't too bad a thing, it shows you really do like me. Just try not to let it reach yandere levels..." He had seen enough anime to know where that would lead and it would not be pretty.

"Oh good, I wouldn't hast been able to keep that up forever to tell the truth Rei-dono." Steel said with a sigh of relief as he switched to how samurai talked in those period dramas he used to watch which if translated in English would have meant the occasional old English thrown in. "Thou art pointing to the south Rei-dono." Steel deadpanned. They had now reached the gate leading to outside the safe zone. "Well, let us go then."

"Not at the moment. Though to be fair, my current set hasn't seen much action. But so far, it serves its purpose well. I can hit hard and take on attacks well. And if I do take damage, I make sure there's some pay back." Steel answered. "Well, we'll have to see how it fares in the coming battles. Though I am debating on whether or not to use a shield to increase my defense or to get something that increase my fighting strength."

"What are you, the Cheshire Cat? And why am I Alice?" Steel couldn't help but retort though in a light tone and laugh. She then started talking about dressing as a witch while she was working in her shop before getting embarrassed about it once again. "I don't really mind seeing this side of you. I think it's cute." Steel said with a grin. "And I think you'd make a beautiful witch."

High School Shakespeare lessons, don't fail me now! Steel exclaimed in his mind before getting into it. "Wherefore fusty English? This doesn't fit with mine own samurai image..." Though he started it, he was already questioning it. "Well, alloweth us to paste the pillock so that the nobby looking one won't stay gutted. We can't be all mouth and no trousers after all." Okay, maybe he was getting a little too into it.

"Yeah, I'll be careful. I wouldn't want to leave you alone after all. It'd make you sad right?" Steel said with a small smile. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking, it's definitely a poisonous type." Steel concurred. "So yeah, I'll keep its focus on me and then you can land some hits in."

"Hahaha, I'd rather you not ruin your reputation by having you run around shouting something like a madwoman." Steel said in a light tone. "How about we just figure out a place for the two of us to meet up later. Since these are our real faces, we're sure to recognize each other once we see each other. There's no way I'd forget that pretty face."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Don't worry, I already know about your acting tendencies so I don't think you're crazy." Steel said, having expected that. "Well, others may think of you as crazy, that's probably how I heard those rumors, but it just becomes another thing for me to love. Maybe I should try my hand at acting so you have a role playing partner since you want to have some immersion." Steel said with a grin.

"Well, I managed to get my one handed straight sword skill up by a rank so my attacks are stronger and my skill repertoire is a bit wider." Steel said in response, not having actually thought about it. "Yeah, we managed to complete the objective albeit very quickly. And the rewards will probably help us in some way." He tried to be a bit positive.

Reinka was looking around for a treasure chest, only to fail and become dejected about it. "Yeah, let's look for one later. Maybe in an area that's not so dark."

"Don't worry about it too much, just go at your own pace. And I'll be here whenever you need me." Steel said in a tone of reassurance as he took hold of her hand again. "Maybe after we finish the quest, we can go to another floor and train a little there for a change of pace?"

"I'll take one sure but shouldn't you save the other one for yourself? What happens if the monster has an AoE attack that poisons?" Steel said in response with worry in his voice. "I haven't used any of my potions either so I should be fine in that regard. My first priority is keeping you safe." He said this with a serious tone.

"With my skill, being a bodyguard isn't out of the question." Steel said with a grin. "I just hope that our relationship will stay the same once we leave. Not that I'm doubting our feelings but we have our respective life styles with you being an actress and maybe a celebrity. Well, even if things get a little complicated, I'm still going to find a way for us to meet." 

"Oh? You finally set up shop eh? I'll have to stop by at some point. That explains the new rumors of a beautiful witch acting insane." Steel said said, remembering what he heard. Something about people hearing haunting chants from an odd looking store. "I assume you were roleplaying in there or something?" Steel said with a light chuckle. "As for me, I'm still not sure honestly."

"I have no clue. I was just using the sword skill Vertical Arc which makes me strike at the enemy in a V shape. Maybe there's something behind it but I don't know." He answered honestly as he sheathed his sword.

"I'm both hoping and not hoping we get a Mimic. That fight was boring." Steel said with a bit of a yawn. "The stone guardian didn't have much health. And I don't think I did that much training. I'm a higher level than you already and I just did some fights with bosses in the past by myself." Steel said in response. He then realized what he just said. "This was from before we met. Of course, I haven't broken my promise about not doing that sort of thing on my own." He said in a bit of a panic. He remembered how she was last time he mentioned something that made her believe that he could die.

"If you have that much confidence in us being able to beat down that monster, I'll trust in that." Steel said with a grin. "Okay old man, we'll take down that monster for you! Though I guess we should finish eating or else it'd be a waste of money." He said this with a sheepish grin before finishing up his dinner. "Okay, now I'm ready!"

"Thank you so very much! Here, I have something for you to help you on your journey." The man took out two Antidote vials as well as map data for them. "If you happen to get poisoned, drink these to lessen the effects and here is where the monster is." 

So it'll be a poison type monster. Steel thought to himself as that was said. "Thanks, we'll be on our way." And with that, the two were off on their way to the monster.

"Earlier, you had a look that felt like you were unsure when I said I'd fall for you in the real world." Steel said as they were walking through town. "I think it was fate we met and I'm sure we would have met even without this death game. Maybe it wouldn't have seemed as likely but I still think it would happen. Maybe I would've protected you like I did when we first met or maybe it was an accident." He listed a few more random possibilities. "Though I guess that doesn't matter now since we've already met here. Though I'm not complaining."

"You never know, it could be part of the chain of events. In some MMOs a rock slide happens to separate parties to raise the difficulty." Steel said in response. Of course, he didn't actually think that would happen in a beginner level quest when only two people could do it at a time. "Even if there's a low chance of it happening, I don't feel like taking chances. Besides, it gives us the excuse to stay like this for the time being." He said this with a grin as he squeezed her hand gently.

Eventually, they reached the end of the cave and found the jewel which was for some reason being illuminated despite the lack of natural lighting. "Well, found it. Maybe they expected us to think there's glow in the dark moss or something." He said as they walked over to the jewel. Steel picked it up and handed it to Reinka to hold for a moment before taking the hand that wasn't holding Reinka's and drew his sword. A large stone guardian dropped from the sky in immediate response to the jewel being taken. Steel just charged up a sword skill and slashed a V on its chest, causing it to shatter into data fragments. "Well, that was easy." Steel said with a small smile.

ID# 98932

BD 6

Steel:

HP: 300

Energy: 26/30

Reinka:

HP: 200
Energy: 20/20

Stone Guardian:

HP: 0/20 Dead

"Man, this thing is pretty big." Steel had gone on ahead and decided to do some scouting. Though not actually fighting the thing, he was able to observe it from a distance. "Maybe we have to target the legs or something to make it fall down? From its movements, it seems like a heavy hitter but is slow. I'll have to deal with that as a tank." He had begun self rambling before noticing that he was late for meeting up with his party members. "Ah right, I should probably get down there." He was going to be teaming up with Benjamin, somebody's he'd partied with before and Pinball, somebody he hasn't partied with.

"Hey you two." Steel said landed nearby them like a ninja despite his more samurai appearance. "Ben, how have you been doing since we last met? And nice to meet you Pinball." As he said this, he stuck a hand out for Pinball to shake.

"Let's get this done and then have a drink together or something." Steel said with a grin.

@Benjamin Bookworm @Pinball

"I guess I'll do the same. Haven't got a shop yet but it'll be useful." Steel said in response as he looked around. "I believe it'll it'll at least be noticeable. Maybe there's a dim light and then the jewel can be seen with it. For all we know, maybe the jewel is in the boss and it wakes up when we pull it out. Well, we just gotta be prepared for however it comes at us. I'm sure we can take it on."

"If the place ends up falling down, I'll just take you into my arms and carry you out of here bridal style." Steel countered with a light tone. Though he said this in a somewhat joking tone, he would actually do it if the cave caved in. He thought it'd be easier to deal with as physical stamina wasn't a thing in SAO and though not at his level of strength in real life, he was still confident in his strength level.

"Actually, keep on the accuracy pendant. If my guess is correct, we're not going to need to do a big search. My guess is that it'll be like that Aladdin movie. We find the jewel on some display, take it and then something bad happens like the cave starts crumbling or a monster falls out of nowhere." Steel said in response. "The ones who complained probably did because of the surprise attack in the dark on a beginner quest. That would explain the boss info I got...." 

"We probably just need to get to the end of the cave and we'll see it." Steel said with some confidence. He then took Reinka's hand again. "Wouldn't want you to fall again." He said with a small smile. "And on the low chance there's more than one path, it'd be best not to be separated." Thought he said that, it was more just an excuse to keep holding her hand.

"Virtual world or real one, you're just you. As I said, I don't know a thing about celebrities. So regardless of whether or not you were one, I'd still fall for you. My ignorance of pop culture and the like would have prevented us falling in love any other way anyway." He said this with a grin. "It seems you like the name, I'm glad I got that right on the first try." He then noticed the blush. "You doing okay there Rei?" He said with a slight hint of teasing. He wasn't that dense that he couldn't figure out why when it was so obvious. He just wanted to make use of her new nickname quickly.

"It makes me wonder they'll have on the menu next as a special." As Steel said this a middle aged man had walked into the bar. From the lack of player icon, he was obviously an NPC. And it seemed to be a quest giver. The man just happened to sit down at the seat next to them.

"I am Gatsly. I work as a merchant, making just enough to support me and my family, but lately all of my supply caravans have been destroyed or chased away by a ferocious beast." He looks down at the floor, "You two look strong enough to defeat it. I don't have much, but if you could slay the beast, I would pay you." 

So it's a search and destroy quest. Steel thought to himself though he kept eating albeit somewhat more slowly as he listened to the man. "What do you think Rei?"

"Winter just finished after all. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Some parts of the ground are a little squishy like mud but this is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've had to deal with." Steel said having practically ignored it until Reinka brought it up. To improve his physical ability in the real world, he had done a lot of running and mock battles while running on uneven ground so he was already instinctively moving so that it wouldn't hinder him and so that he wouldn't fall. "Stay close to me so that if you fall, I can catch you before you hit the ground."

Steel then felt a rock at his feet which he picked up and threw it forward, listening for a sound immediately afterward. The echos from the rock hitting something gave him some information. "Looks like it's just the snow melting. I can hear echos further down meaning that there's hard earth over there. So it should be fine after a bit. How are we supposed to find this gem anyway? I got a search skill but I didn't have enough points to get Night Vision."

"Fair enough. I'll make sure not to scream then." Steel said with a small smile. Reinka then mentioned stat changes. Steel did a short check and noticed no changes to his stats. "There's no changes in stats though we'll be hindered by lack of visibility." He said in response. "If anything, I'll be in front. I'll be able to protect you then." Steel said as he got in front of her, becoming her human shield. "And I'll be fine even if I do get hit. I have confidence in my defense and it's my role as a tank to protect those I care about from damage." He said with a smile of assurance.

"Don't worry, I won't die on you." Steel said, noticing her force a smile. Though he couldn't see her clearly, he could feel a sense of uneasiness similar to how she was a few days ago after he mentioned his gear was beginner level. "I promised you didn't I? That'd I'd return home to you each night. I don't plan on breaking that promise."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about your real name though I don't want to force it out of you. You can say it whenever you feel comfortable." Steel said in response with a small smile. "Well, this may be a good thing in this case but even if you did reveal your name to me, I haven't gotten the foggiest clue about American actresses so it's not like it would change anything between us. Though I will admit that I never thought I'd end up dating an actress. Not that it's a bad thing though." He then got an idea about a nickname. "As for a nickname, why don't I just use the first part of your username, Rei? Using a certain kanji, it means lovely and beautiful. I think it suits you."

"Not saying we'd be doing it all the time but maybe for a special occasion." Steel assured Reinka. "As long as we don't spend too much all the time, I think we'll be fine. And if we need more money, we can always go pirate mode and raid a dungeon or something." He said with a grin.

"I'll have the same." Steel said to the waitress while also ordering an ale he had become accustomed to drinking rather than the special. Not too long after that, the food had arrived and it was time to dig in. "This tastes pretty good." He said as he tried the salmon. "Have you gotten used to eating by now?" During Reinka's first meal a few days ago, she seemed to have some trouble trying to taste it.

"From what I figure, we're probably going to have a disadvantage doing anything in a cave with the lack of lighting. That's probably why she said to not give up and be careful. It'll be a bit more difficult finding this gem and fighting enemies in the dark." Steel said, thinking about their objective. "Yeah, let's be careful. Though I think we'll be fine since it's a cave on the first floor." They had eventually reached the fields. and were now walking around, trying to find a cave. "You'd think a cave would stand out among all this grass. Anyway, you think you'll be fine? What happens if the cave has a haunted house feel?" He said in a light teasing tone. Right after saying that he crashed into something that was was a large protrusion in the ground. "Looks like I found our cave. Why do I keep finding things by crashing or tripping over them..."

Steel just gave a warm smile in response. "While it did take me by surprise, I'm not at all opposed to being called that. I can feel your affection for me through it." Right after saying that, Steel was cringing at himself. He really sucked at this flirting thing. "i suppose I should think of a nickname for you in return..." He had started to think of something but had trouble with it due to Japanese not having many words of affection. "Normally in Japan, a couple would just call each other by their first names as people normally refer to each other by last name. Though I guess you'd be used to that already since you're from America. And we're all just using an in game name anyway so that makes it further obsolete..." He was inwardly cursing his own language for not having any proper nicknames for lovers.

"It's not that fancy of a place, it's just a normal bar like the one we met in." Steel said in response. "I'll look forward to seeing you all dressed up then. And I'll take you to a more fancy place when the time comes." He said with a small smile. 

While walking with her clinging to his arm became a bit more awkward, he didn't mind it one bit and just gave a small smile in response. "Well, it is March after all. That's probably the reason." He wouldn't be surprised if he smelled chocolate again.

The two of them had entered the bar and were now sitting in seats next to each other as keeping their hold on each other's hands would have been difficult sitting across. "Anything look good to you?" He asked as he scrolled through the menu.

"Judging from the last two quests, I'd assume that they'll try to ramp up the difficulty and give us a slightly harder fight we'll end up doing while retrieving something to help Hana finish whatever she's making. Since she's an artisan, maybe we'll have to look for jewels or something." Steel said as the two of them walked out of the inn. "Well, if the NPCs feel that real to you, that's a testament to the talent of the developers of their AI. The way they're set up, you can hold a basic conversation with them and they can remember you. Almost makes them feel human."

After a bit of time, the two of them had reached their usually meeting spot, the fountain. "Now that we've reached here, it really feels like it's started. Okay, let's look up." He looked up and found a woman in a nearby tree. "Now I'm wondering why nobody questioned her being up there." He was certain it was Hannah as the quest indicator was flashing. "Excuse me, Lyle had asked us to deliver this package to you. Are you Hannah?" He called out to the woman who upon being called, jumped down from her tree. 

"Ah, thank you! I was needing this to make rings." Hannah said with a smile as she received the package. "Ah, I forgot I needed a gem stone to finish it. I'm sorry to trouble you with this but could you go to one of caves in the field and get one for me?"

"No problem, we can take care of it." Steel said to which Hannah simply nodded and thanked the two before fiddling around with her tools to work on whatever she was doing. "I guess we're finding a jewel in a cave." He said to Reinka.

"Perhaps we just didn't notice her before this quest because she's an NPC. Especially in our situation, we're less likely to observe or talk to the NPCs unless we had a reason like a quest or if they came to us and are more likely to think about them as just part of the background." Steel said in response as he thought about it. "She may have been right under our very noses and we didn't think much about it. Well, let's try out all of our usual spots then. Might as well start at the usual water fountain. We seem to keep starting there all the time anyway." Steel noticed they kept meeting over there and Reinka seemed to like it? He wasn't sure but no harm in sticking with tradition. At this point, he had finished his meal before getting up and going back into the bathroom for a few seconds to put back on his gear. "Ready to get going?" He said with a small smile.

Reinka had asked him about calculating the amount of healing and energy used up in said healing. Steel was about to answer with some mental calculations but then she ended up answering her own question and seemed content with it. I couldn't even get a word in... He thought to himself with a sigh before going back to his normal self. "Well, at least for this quest, I wouldn't worry about it. That field boss isn't even going to drop me past 1/8 of my health. I swear it." He said with a grin. From what he heard it would only deal him a decent amount of damage the first attack and then a negligible amount the rest of the time. According to his calculations, it would take about eleven attacks to get him down to 7/8 of his health and they would have destroyed it by then. That's not even considering that the monster could miss. Yeesh, now I'm calculating... He thought with an inner sigh and small laugh. "I'm sure we have some time to do some dungeon searching. Let's get going then." He said after they finished breakfast. "Do you remember where that Artisan lady was?"