Garou

Garou's jaw almost dropped as he kicked himself into the air, swinging at the creature as Zauis made quick work of it. "Holy-" Before he could say something vulgar, the monster cracked his back (almost) in mid-air. He fell to the ground, but easily got on his feet again. "-crap..." he finished instead. Now without its shell, the monster scuttled quickly, even missing a leg. Garou's HP: 10/17 Mountain Shell's HP: 5/20

The boy was surprised by Zauis' sudden mood shift, and his purple aura faded, the one long wisp that rose above him dissolving. Garou slashed out with Heaven's Beam and cut into one of the boss' six legs, slicing it off. He looked back to Zauis, eying his determination. "You sure are strong!" he called out, remarking on the ability of him to sustain the damage without flinching.

Garou looked back at the beast and glared as it attacked Zauis. Yeah, thanks! he wanted to call back to Zauis, but a lump formed in his throat. He almost choked as the intense power around him reformed the tail-like purple ray of energy swaying jerkily in front of him. So anger fuels this ability, huh? He jumped back at the boss and smacked it with the blunt end of his sword, his weapon glowing along with the aura the entire time. He hit its side and left a red mark, hopping back as it tried to strike him. Its tail almost stabbed him, but his purple beam wrapped around it and swung the entire

Garou gripped his longsword and got back up, a sort of fire almost burning in his green eyes. He didn't have time for this monster, and he was getting mad. Garou flexed out his wrists, his white gloves and chains falling to the craggy earth. Garou leaped forward at an amazing speed, swinging his blade wildly. "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEE!!!!!" A purple wisp came up underneath him, flickering almost like it was a poorly animated spike wagging back and forth. Garou went to work on the monster, peeling off the rest its shell. He landed past it, the ethereal purple... thing still flickering around h

As the light returned to the boy's vision, he rolled back and forth a bit coughing as he looked to Zauis. "My god..." Anger flushed through his body, remembering what the giant bug-like monster had done to him. He kipped onto his feet as the drool turned to foam. Garou raised Heaven's Beam high, blocking against the Mountain Shell's mighty claw. He still took damage, but he was still standing upright. The boy struggled against the beast's immense strength and was losing his guard, but he pushed back with all his might. Garou looked back to Zauis. "KILL IT!!!!" Garou's HP: 11/17 Mounta

Garou replied with a gurgling at first, his head swimming in confusion as he at last felt actually pain, his brain momentarily unable to differentiate Sword Art Online from reality. He shook his body as he regained his composure. "My... HP... is fine..." He struck his longsword down and used it to get back on his feet. Garou slowly stumbled over to the boss, only to get smacked directly on his head. For a few seconds the world around him went black as he drooled in unconsciousness. Garou's HP: 12/17 Mountain Shell's HP: 11/20

Garou slammed the ground hard and gave a soft moan, but got to his feet. He looked back to Zauis with a more serious expression. "Alright... Switch!" Garou turned to his opponent and sped off towards the enemy, swinging Heaven's Beam outwards. The Mountain Shell swung out its tail and caught him in the gut, bringing him to his knees. The monster was getting faster as it was losing more shell! Garou's HP: 14/17 Mountain Shell's HP: 11/20

Garou slammed the ground hard and gave a soft moan, but got to his feet. He looked back to Zauis with a more serious expression. "Alright... Switch!" Garou turned to his opponent and sped off towards the enemy, swinging Heaven's Beam outwards.

Garou hummed with annoyance as the boss struck Zauis, charging his blade to a purple glow once more. "Cyclone!" Before he could make his next move, the beast struck him with a vicious uppercut using its claw to his chin. Garou flew higher than he had launched the monster with his catapult slash and fell onto the hard rocky ground in an unpleasant slump. The boss pounced on him while Garou gave Zauis a weak, exhausted look. Garou's HP: 15/17 Mountain Shell's HP: 11/20

"Indeed we are!" Garou hollered past the racket of the boss hitting the tree, maintaining a relaxed, focused expression on his face. He ran at it and kept his sword thrusted outwards, ramming it through its abdomen with the full length of his weapon. It bucked him away, tearing down the tree in the process as he toed his way back to Zauis. "That was the second critical in a row," he chuckled. Garou patted the other player on the back as he took out his flask, dropping his longsword to enjoy some water for a few seconds. The boss forced itself upright again, parts of its shell hanging off wh

Garou bowed to the other boy with his left, white-gloved hand over his heart. "How delightful! You sure are stronger than you look! Perhaps we can get some tea and-" The monster clung to the tree and pounced from it sideways, flinging its claws at Garou in mid-air. He stared the boss down and brought his sword back up, muttering something just barely over his breath. "Switch..." Garou drove Heaven's Beam (glowing purple once more) up at the monster and sent it into the air. The boy then followed it 15 feet up and smacked it back down towards Zauis with a mighty yell. "CATAPULTAM ICTUS!!!!! (Ca

He nodded and smiled politely at Zauis, swinging his sword wildly above his head. Garou ran back in, yelling, "Switch!" He darted past a few swipes from the scorpion claws of the large beast, proving his heavy, reinforced-steel chains to be outmatched by his pure agility. Garou spun past a wad of acid the monster shot at him and raised his blade to the heavens. Heaven's Beam glowed purple as he charged his sword skill. "Cyclone!" The boy spun on his heels quickly, doing a spin attack with the sword on the same leg he had attacked before, tearing a real cut into the creature's hard leg shell an

Garou collected himself and spotted the excited Zauis, a boy like himself that he wasn't sure he met before. But at this time, proper introductions were not in order. Garou scanned the boss again for further details: its name was Mountain Shell, and it seemed to be foaming at its four-jawed mouth. The green spittle that slunk out of its hungry hole spilled onto the harsh ground below, eating small holes into the mountain before sizzling away. He almost gulped in realization. This thing spits acid! "Watch out for its spit!" Garou called out to Zauis, raising his sword with both hands as he c

After an hour of exploring the craggy terrain of Floor 2, Garou sat down to rest on an odd, very-wide rock. Why is it so hot in the mountains? He looked around, not a single blade of grass in sight around him. The purple-haired lad still insisted on keeping the chains around his body, so that didn't help his situation much. Maybe its time for Floor 3, he thought. With that, the rock underneath his bottom began trembling. Garou leaped to his feet and pulled his black hat tight onto his head. The rock he was once sitting on mystically floated upwards. For a second the boy thought he was dream

(Actually, according to the tutorial it must be 5 or higher to hit. I believe 8-10 is also a critical hit, or double damage (2 HP). Shark and Erroneous were discussing recreating the battle system (still D10 dice though), so combat is prone to change. Expect healing in battle as well ^^) Garou got Rage's message and choked back a cry of his own rage. You can't be serious! Rage, that's a death wish! He tapped Shanok's head. "Look! Rage and Ruby are commencing a duel to die! Rage doesn't want us to interfere and stay away from RyujinSeaLord!" Garou's words came out in a frantic hissed whisper

Garou nudged Shanok as he peered over a bush at the confrontation that was taking place. "Look... Ruby is challenging a duel!" he whispered excitedly, a hint of worry tinging his voice.

Garou nodded. He got up and began walking away. "Thanks for everything, guys. I don't want to get into anymore trouble as it is." He walked some distance with Shanok, and whispered back when they were out of eyesight of the others. "I'll follow your lead."

The boy nodded as he relaxed. "Gotcha. As far as I know, he could be a friend in disguise. Killing other humans isn't so great, anyway." He looked off to Shanok once more. "We already killed a boss today, and Amtrum is somewhere back there. What do you think we should do?"

Garou nodded as he looked at Shanok, getting into a seated position. "I'm not really happy about it either, but I can't complain. If I were to do anything more, I think a few heads would roll." The boy closed his eyes and began humming to himself, smiling as he waited for the next move to be made.

Garou scoffed and walked a few paces away. He didn't fancy taking orders, but he didn't want anyone to be killed either. He smiled at Rage. "I see that this is your affair, not mine. It is not my place to do meddling. If you require my assistance, I'll be over here." Garou plopped down on the grass and watched the other players' tense actions.

Garou sighed, not really able to explain why he took the both of them into a low position. Maybe I imagined it... He gave Shanok an awkward look. "Sorry..." he said to the other boy in the bushes. Garou stood up and looked over to Ryu. "Are you telling me to find this player?" Garou was calling out to Rage.

Garou identified the creaking noise as obvious trouble. Without really responding to Shanok, he instinctively leaped silently past him, clapping a hand on the other boy's mouth as he knocked him to the ground into a bush. "Sh..." he barely breathed, trying to remain as stealthy as possible. "We're the weakest here. If we get assaulted, we'd be the first to go." Garou whispered directly into Shanok's ear, and even to him it was barely audible.

Garou rubbed his chin in thought. "I never wanted to kill Ruby in the first place, I figured she didn't look the killing type. I would fancy challenging her to a duel, however. Perhaps there is something I may learn from it?" The boy froze when he heard the awkward noise in the distance. He could feel that something wasn't right.

When Rage sprinted at him, Garou almost instinctively struck him down with his blade. But as the other player approached, Garou's pounding, virtual arteries seem to freeze and his arms hung limp. The boy sighed. "We're all so young... We shouldn't be killing each other..." He fell on his backside as Rage patted him, feeling ashamed. His piercing green eyes looked at Shanok apologetically, sorry for going against his new ally's wishes. Garou also felt down about looking weak-minded in front of the higher-level players. Surely he must've looked like a bumbling idiot, playing lumberjack while liv

Garou broke his gaze from Shanok and began to laugh, shaking like a ragdoll. He chortled to himself violently until it became a nasty roar of deranged laughter. "You both play like this is some Stupid f#$!ing game..." the boy said dryly. "All we want to do is kill it seems..." Garou charged his own longsword with a skill and tore a nearby tree down with it in his rage. His eyes flashed dangerously as he looked between Rage and Ryu, then even at the battle-ready Clarence. The more he played SAO, the more the reptile side of his brain was in charge of his life. He was beginning to like it, an