Jomei

"Honestly, you just have to-" Nari had asked Jomei for advice on how to make it to the frontlines. His answer probably wouldn't differ much from anyone else's, but he was more than happy to share some words of wisdom. That is... if she had stuck around to hear the answer. Catching a glimpse of Astreya, she ran off to greet her, most likely to talk about their respective victories. The corner of his lips stretched into a small smirk as he shook his head. "Eh, I'll tell you next time." Probably wouldn't be the last time he'd see her, especially since he figured he would stick around for th

It would seem reminiscing a bit about her life outside of SAO was a bit tough for her, for whatever the reason may be. They all had family and friends on the outside that they missed and wish they could get home to. If this were simply a situation like that, then he knew what Nari was feeling all too well. If it was something more that troubled her as she spoke of her teacher, well, Jomei would not know for sure. "Yeah, I kind of guessed you had some sort of real world training with those moves." he said with a small laugh, hoping it would help pull her out of her bad thoughts "I've neve

The ginger let out a small chuckle as Hirru called for a sword art with the shatter element, followed by a chance of plans to focus on damage. "Or, I could just do both." All of Jomei's technical sword arts did the same amount of damage, on top of the other handy debuffs they placed on his target of choice. Luckily for them, they were also the heaviest hitting attacks he held within his arsenal. It would have made a world of a difference if he had saved his Charge skill for this attack.. but at least he could lay on two devastating attacks in a row before they reset and strategized

Stepping off of the mat and out of the dojo, the ginger let out a heavy sigh once away from the other combatants. Confidence had emptied out of him faster than a bucket with a hole in it. It was a fair fight, and an exciting one at that.. but he hoped to at least make it to the second round. He turned a chin over his shoulder to look at the other combatants, some in particular, before making his way back towards where the spectators were gathered. A face unfamiliar to him, covered in thick facial hair greeted him with a mouth full of noodles. Despite the rough introduction, Jomei offered

"Koga I'm.." he started, an air of silence passes between them as he shook his head, wondering if small words would really make a difference, "I'm so sorry to hear that." Jomei had closed the small distance between himself and Koga before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad to hear she isn't dead, your sister too of course... But that still doesn't make what happened any less hard to deal with." His gaze trailed off from Koga, keeping to the path before him, unable to stifle a large sigh. Jomei and Telrenya's split definitely wasn't easy, but he could not even imagine how distraug

The sound of metal scraping against the inside of its scabbard seemed to echo out around him as the ginger ripped the darkened steel blade out. Knowing that Hirru had his back, as much as he physically could, was comforting, but was it enough. They both knew the odds were not looking entirely in their favor, especially with only one of them being able to deal damage to this thing. The images of those he cared for, those he deep down felt he had failed, beating this boss would symbolize moving past that. It was that thought of pushing past his failures and using them to grow as a person that ga

For a short moment, the Irishman was unsure his blade would connect. Nari was small and fast, and while Jomei had speed on his side, he was a much larger target. Each of their blades swung towards each other, but seemingly in the last moment, Nari's attack faltered. Jomei's blade continued through, striking her in the side and knocking her off balance. Don't get cocky don't get cocky he said to himself over and over in his mind. The woman was quick to return fire at Jomei, and with a large bound, she managed to leap past Jomei and strike him in the back. He felt the blade crack against h

Lips parted into a slight grimace at Astrya's response, "Sorry. Bad joke on my part." He nodded in agreement with her, "No, you're right.. Being able to be at the front helping everyone is really what its all about. That's the whole reason I had joined the raid party as well. That, and to fight along side my friends. Couldn't be getting left behind by them." He said with a chuckle. Though, he refused to add that most of those same friends who fought with were now gone. He could tell Astrya was determined to make it to the frontlines, and honestly, who was he to try and sway her decision. A smi

That quick reaction time of Nari's allowed her to anticipate Jomei's over head strike. Bobbing and weaving out of the way, the wooden blade passed over Nari's head. Jomei felt his muscles tense as he was quite open for a counter from the woman, but she chose to instead create distance between the two combatants once more. It allowed the ginger to take a quick breath and re-center himself. Who the hell is this girl? Her natural skills are amazing.. A few strands of his ginger hair came free from their confinement behind his head. The orange strands fell in front of his face, swaying in the

Crack! Nari's wooden blade smashed into Jomei's side a she managed to dodge his and open herself up to get past his own defenses. He grimaced, despite feeling nothing more than slight tingling sensation at the point of impact. The pained, grit teeth turned into a grin, "Lucky hit." He reset his form, knocking Nari's blade away and shuffling back towards his starting position. The ginger shifted his grip of the wooden blade, grabbing the handle with both hands and holding it at a slightly askew 45 degree angle. Note to self.. katanas don't work well as rapiers.. Most of his sword skil

Approaching the opened dojo where the first round of the tournament was to take place, Jomei was finally able to place a face to the name of his opponent. The violet haired girl, who stood more more than a foot shorter than the tall ginger himself, stood on the opposite side of the mat, leaving a space across from her for him to ready himself. He offered a kind smile to her as he entered past the open panels of the dojo. With a bokken shoved into the belt of the hakama he wore, he placed a band around his wrist and used both hands to retrieve all of the long tufts of hair he normally wore in f

Jomei smiled at the girl's greeting. It seemed one of her reasons for wanting to participate in this tournament was to try her luck against some of the other frontliners. Help give her an idea of whether or not she would be ready soon. With a chuckle, the ginger responded, "Well, hopefully you'll have plenty of opportunities to try your luck today. But I wouldn't rush yourself to the frontlines until you're sure you're ready. It doesn't really have its perks, but I guess knowing you were one of the ones to beat that boss and unlock the next floor is nice for bragging rights." Taking a sm

Death always found a way to creep into their lives, one way or another. Usually of illness or old age, it was a bit less common for a friend or family member to perish in some brutal way, for most at least. That was in the real world. The life of a SAO player was surrounded by death, and never a peaceful one at that. The Monument of Life stood to prove that none of them were safe from the dangers that lurked within the many layers of this floating tower. However, at the same time, it connected them all, brought them together to fight for the same purpose; to clear the game and tell Kayaba that

"Three brothers? I had no idea you had siblings." he said with a cocked brow. It was always nice hearing tidbits of his friends lives outside of Aincrad, though noted as taboo to give away too many details. Honestly though, it wasn't like they were going anywhere anytime soon, so revealing things about themselves was harmless. "I wasn't blessed with any siblings.. or cursed, depending on how you see it." Lessa had given into the offer to share Jomei's drink with him, though her thoughts on what rested within the fruit punch was definitely different than Jomei's opinion. A small laugh bub

Despite it being a topic of conversation multiple times these past few months, Jomei still had yet to visit Baldur's home. It seemed rather grand, from what he and Macradon had mentioned. It was in the cards to drop by at some point, but this tournament just gave him a better reason to. Even the event itself was exciting enough, a Valentine's Day tournament? Such a weird combination, but really takes the romance aspect out of it. The most intimate thing they'd partake in was meeting with a single opponent in combat.. unless he won, of course. A dinner date with someone of his choice.. Was he e

The ginger nearly stopped dead in his tracks after hearing what Koga had to say to him. With just a simple apology about letting a bit of humanity spew from his mouth, Koga was quick to correct him. Not only correct him, but prove him wrong. If Jomei were a more emotional man, he probably would have teared up at the speech Koga gave. The first time really meeting this man, having this heart to heart, and Jomei already felt a sense of hope restored within him. Eyes closing, his lips stretching into a small smile. "Thank you, Koga. It may not seem like much, but I think I really need

Tournament of Thirst you say? Sign me up!

It was beginning to seem like a reoccurring trend, hinted at by the faces Jomei saw and Hirru's reactions to the ones revealed to him. These were not happy memories, as one would expect in the Forest of Memories. No, these seemed to be manifestations of their failures in life painted out on the blank canvas of a misty mass right before them. His companion seemed just as ready to be rid of this monstrosity as he was, the memories probably too painful to bear one after another. The name he spoke was unfamiliar to Jomei, yet, instinctually, he turned back to the creature as if he were able

Koga seemed just as unsure about what the future had in store for him as Jomei was. Though, his views on the life he once had outside of Aincrad did not seem ideal. However, he did seem a bit more confident about finding his purpose within this world. In the grand scheme of things, there really was not much other purpose other than fighting their way to Floor One Hundred and getting the hell out of this game. Koga's answer was interesting to Jomei.. for it seemed that he was rather certain of a future, mundane life in the real world but was gung ho about pushing forward, beating Kayaba's death

Turning his chin to face towards the figure amassing before them, Jomei's olive colored eyes focused on the details of the faces within the mist. Brows lowered and arms crossed, he kept a careful eye on each of the faces that emerged from its bulbous body, features becoming a bit more discernable before fading back into the mist. It was disturbing.. but also interesting to say in the least. After a moment of staring, his head shook. Hirru had seemingly recognized a few of the faces, more than just vague familiarities. His tone of voice hinted that he was a bit more sure of what he saw th

A long drawn out sigh passed through Jomei's nostrils before shaking his head. "A cruel world like this? I bet it will be back here again by sun rise tomorrow." The trek back through the labyrinth at this dark hour was difficult, but not impossible. For a short while, they were able to follow the same spiral marks Hatter and Vex had drawn, though they seemed to come to an end after awhile. It was probable that the marks left by players erased themselves after a period of time.. would make for quite the messy canvas if all of the marks drawn by the players who wandered these tall, grey sl

A simple hum in agreement as he nodded his head, the red-head followed along. The quest's parameters didn't seem to mention anything of a select person to speak with who would lay out the path and plan for the players to follow. No, it seemed they just needed to gather information on the Cerberus while wandering the town. Added a bit more of a natural feel to it, he supposed, and with the amount of NPC's wandering the streets at this hour, they should be able to find out what they need in no time. That is.. if the first man that Lessa tried to talk to wasn't jittery and unwilling to speak

Koga's sword connected with the creature with a loud crash. The trembling sound did nothing to affect Jomei and Koga, but the Daburu seemed to shudder upon impact. The tiny, burning coals for eyes darkened for a moment, revealing the heavy pain it endured after the two players laid into it.. but the toothy grin it wore was never changing, still stretching ear to ear. Even when clinging to a tiny thread of existence, as if knowing it had fooled the players for short while brought a smile to its face. Daburu's head hung low, stunned in place thanks to Koga's quick thinking. Seeing a clear

Eyes pinned to the three other players as they scrambled away towards the malformed visage of Taya, Jomei made sure they were far enough away and not trying to engage in battle with it. "I fucking told you!" the player who had tipped them off to this creature shouted back as they turned a corner, his voice bouncing off the walls and trailing off the farther he ran. Koga's call for help pulled his attention back to the matter at hand, the gangly monster pulled straight from a horror movie. "Right, on it!" he shouted as he turned around. A cold sweat trickled down his jawline as he looked i