Alexander Webb

A morbid way to say it, but that didn't make it any less true. It didn't exactly feel like he was making a lot of headway before this other swordsman arrived, and he did make a bigger difference. It was obvious he had the skills to show him how to be stronger, and if he ever did want to get everyone out of SAO, there were going to have to be times when he realized there was no doingg it alone. This wasn't a game he bought to play by himself, he bought an MMO, might as well play it as such. If for no other reason than not to waste the money he put into it.

Lex had to admit that it was nice to see someone doing something for a reason other than getting something out of it for themselves. He had seen some of it here and there, but it never really affected him in any major way. This guy was willing to train him, help make him stronger, for the sole reason of helping everyone else, which was something the teen could really get behind. He didn't seem like a bad guy, and while looks can be deceiving, he felt that charging into combat against advanced enemy AI without any sort of formal training was more dangerous.

Lex's posture followed suit, not quite as official, but he wasn't leaning anymore, "You sure do know how to give a satisfying answer, sit. Gotta say, plenty of people wouldn't be so direct. Considering the fact that in a few short minutes my skill improved exponentially with you giving me pointers, I think it would be in my best interest to accept your offer. I don't want to end up on the monument any more than the next guy, but at the same time..." He looked at the ground for a second, collecting his thoughts, "I would rather I show up on it than someone else. All the people on floor 1 that don't do anything, I wouldn't be so hard on them. Some people just aren't cut out for this kind of thing, I don't blame them for being static, trying just to wait it out, it's the same back in the real world. To me, I'm not fighting for myself, really, never been about that kind of thinking, I'm fighting for everyone else, I want to get them out of this place. I'm not in it for the fame, or the recognition, or the self-satisfaction of helping deal the final blow. Call it corny, but I want to be a hero. And just knowing that myself, to really feel it, well... That would be pretty awesome."

Name: Saint's Persuader

How did you acquire?: Treasure Chest

Link to Thread: Gotta start somewhere

Item Type: Longsword

Quality: Uncommon

Enhancements: Damage

Description: "The blade was gold, almost looking like it was made of the solid precious metal. The pommel and finger guard ended in saint fleurs, with a blue leather hilt. It looked like it belonged at the side of someone important, a leader perhaps?"

Looking down at the box, though, it was nothing but a designed part of the environment, which sucked severely, but was the case nonetheless. Guess I really didn't gt anything good through coming through here, he said, looking back over the field he had been slaying mobs in. I think a little more searching, then I'll be done for the day, starting to get a little peckish, he resolved before heading out to search once more. His ideas of becoming an alchemist only growing stronger in his head as he did, he had gotten mostly materials for that, and had ended up looking like a really good idea. Especially for the build h had in mind. While being a blacksmith was bound to be more profitable, Alchemists were always going to be needed, blacksmiths could get used up quickly once everyone is set with their gear, at least in his mind.

ID#23104

LD: 5

Lex's foot nudged the corner of something in the dirt, buried underneath the first layer, short bushels of grass grew over it, but it was obvious that something was there. Who could've left this here, the Gamer thought as he brushed the dirt off of it, seeing nothing but some old wood, something like an artisan would make. It was about the size of a guitar case, if not maybe a little smaller. Like a really long suitcase almost, but it didn't look like some suitcase, especially since it had been in the dirt for some time. He nudged it with his foot a couple more times to see if any item screen would pop up, or anything that would let him know that it was supposed to be here.

ID#23014

BD: 10

MoBD: 6 (miss because of evasion)

LD: 9

Lex could feel it, hiss patience would pay off if he could just land the next hit, that's all it would take. He circled the boar as it followed suit, the furry pig bolted forwards. Lex swung down, slicing the pig into bacon bits, but the tusk caught him in the foot, impaling it right before his attack connected. The boar exploded into data, leaving nothing behind but some boar's blood, probably an alchemical ingredient if anything; then again, he wasn't a blacksmith, and didn't know what the etiquette for cooling a blade was. Lex put the material in his inventory, and continued on, hoping to get some more done before night rolled around.

Boar: 0/6

Lex: 5/11

+1 material

ID#23011

BD: 1

MoBD: 5

The beast charged forward, it's pointed tusks ready to rend whatever they came into contact with, the pristine white data having not spilled blood yet today. Lex rolled to the side, not bothering to tempt fate with a poor sword swing as the one he would have had. He would rather dodge and have no repercussions than accidentally whip his blade through the air and disarm himself, then he would definitely have a difficult time killing the thing. Kinda hard to stab something with a sword when its on the other side of the field.

Boar: 4/6

Lex: 8/11

ID#23008

BD: 8

MoBD: 8

Lex leapt up from the grass, swinging his blade through the golden light of the setting sun, his steel swung true and connected with the beast. The red data spat out of the gaping wound as the beast retreated. The swine snorted as it dashed back, charging into the teen with it's own retaliatory blow, the new armor doing nothing to help him in the way of cushioning the blow, So much for that, he thought pessimistically as he prepared for another attack against the soon-to-be-pulled-pork foe.

Lex: 6/11

Boar: 4/6

The digital sun dipped the edge of the shining circle into the horizon, signaling that nightfall was fast approaching. Lex looked out over the grasslands, deciding that stopping now would be a bit of a bummer, might as well continue on with it all for a while. He wasn't tired, hardly got tired until 3 am rolled around, spending all day up until the wee hours of the morning trying to get 100% completion would do that to you. His circadian rhythms were probably more out of sync than his computer and the cloud when his internet was out. Spying a boar, he decided to give his new armor a test drive, and crept up silently behind it, preparing to strike deftly on the unsuspecting beast.

He was certainly a lot more... well spoken now, speaking in a tone that Lex imagined some of his subordinates tended to hear a lot. That isn't to say it was a bad thing, this seemed like one of those situations where using that kind of language just made it sound more official, like notarizing a paper. 

The offer was tempting, the man had batted his swat aside like it was nothing, all which the Gamer expected, but at the same time, it was a lot more... eye-opening than he had thought it would be. This guy obviously knew what he was doing, nobody could refute that; his skills were in a league that Lex could only hope to get into at some point, and having the help getting there would be much appreciated. But at the same time, the fact that he would have to go to someone else for assistance, even in something as important as keeping him alive, was a swift kick in the teeth. He had never been one for that, not in gaming, not in school, not in anything. People came to him for help, not the other way around.

He sighed as he considered it, rubbing his chin as he put his sword away. His posture shifted onto his right side, leaning on his leg for almost all of his support, and looked at the man, "I can't exactly refute that even with the little you taught me about the basics of swordplay made me better... but I don't see what you're getting out of this," he admitted with a rasised eyebrow, "Why take a noob like me under your wing? There are probably plenty of people that are more deserving of it than me," he asked with a genuine curiosity, probably sounding a lot more self-degrading than he actually intended it. Maybe it was just out of the kindness of his heart, but it didn't seem that way. Lex knew he wasn't exactly at the pinnacle of power and prestige, especially in game terms, not just socially. If this guy, Oikawa, was as high a level as he seemed to be, it almost seemed like a waste of time for him to be spending time showing some scrub how to swing a sword right. This should be way under his level of concern, yet he was doing it anyway.

She looked about as nervous as he was, and while Lex didn't know if it was for the same reasons, he almost felt better knowing he wasn't alone in his awkwardness, "Well, then let's head out, follow me," he said, waving his arm and walking out the door. He reached up to his shoulder, making sure his sword was still sheathed on his back, it looked almost like when someone would pat their pocket to check if their phone was still there, innocent enough, but odd to think that he would need to check if the long steel blade was still where it was a few minutes ago.

Lex walked out the large gate to the plains outside, making his way to an incline a few hundred yards out, and heading to the top of it, the land went flat once up there, and had a decent view of the massive city below. Lex looked out over the flat land, seeing that a few mobs were already prowling around, waiting for a player to waltz into their aggro range. Two Wolves and a Boar, simple enough, he didn't imagine any of them were going to be too tough to take down, but he was going to have to be careful; now that a player that was a higher level than him was tagging along, their strength was sure to scale somewhat, Don't get careless, he warned himself.

He looked behind him to the redhead, smiling at her, "Ladies first?" He asked with a chuckle, trying to relieve some of the tension.

Spawn x2 Wolves, x1 Boar

Wolf 1: 8/8 2 damage

Wolf 2: 8/8 2 damage

Boar: 6/6 1 damage

Lex: 11/11

(You control the mob you attack)

Lex set the glass down on the table, empty as he downed the last of it not moments before, he looked up at the girl in front of him, which he had to admit, was something he was not expecting. In the past, he didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to talking to girls, in fact, one might say that he set the benchmark for sucking at it. The teen's face flushed red as she smiled, "Uh, Y-yeah. The name's Alex Webb... which you could probably tell cuz of the--" he pointed to the name above his head, "Yeah... Call me Lex if you want."

He stood up from the bench seat, "So, I'm just thinking we head out into the fields around the town and kill any of the mobs that spawn," he glanced to her weapon, seeing that it was a dagger, "If a dagger drops, it's all yours, longswords for me... If we get any armors, you're fine to take it, I just got this thing a couple few days ago," he said, referring to the unique wolf hide armor he wore, the black leather armor looking vanilla, save for the wolf tooth necklace around the collar, and the pelt on the right shoulder pauldron, "After that, it's kinda up to you what you wanna do. I bought some food for dinner later just in case, but if you wanna head into the dungeon and go looting for treasures and better items that's cool too."

He was quite visibly nervous, looking like he was scared any second he might say something wrong, he knew that his social skills weren't exactly that of James Bond, but to this extent it was almost aggravating, Quit tripping on your words, moron, you beat Gherman in one go, you can talk to a girl for the day. He swiped his hand through the air, brinigng up the menu circles, and after clicking through a couple, a window appeared in front of the redhead with the party invite on it, "You have something you prefer I call you?"

It wasn't a normal thing for Lex to do by any means, looking for someone to party up with. It felt almost odd to the teen, who was never really one to go looking for people to be friends with or help him out, typically having that situation be the other way around. People came to him for help and comradery, but he knew that it was safer in a party, having someone there to watch your back went a long way. Not to mention it basically doubled any given day of grinding's efficiency. So the gamer walked up to the bounty board outside the local tavern that he'd grown pretty accustomed to, and put up a note hat he had probably spent too much time writing.

PLAYER WANTED

Partner needed for grinding on floor 1

all materials gathered will be split evenly,

as well as col gathered. Items will be divided

based on player specifications. See

Alexander Webb Inside for further details...

Bring the paper too.

Lex looked up to the simulated midday sky, the warmth of the sun on his face giving an indication that there was plenty of day left to work. Maybe if all went well, they could even head into the dungeon for a little while. He was curious what it looked like in there, and might be worth checking out for the loot alone. Either way, the gamer walked into the tavern, and after ordering a glass of water from the counter in the middle of the room, he went to the corner, where he waited patiently for someone to come in and see his name floating above his head, and match it to that on the paper.

ID#22519

BD:8

While he was disappointed that his build wasn't completely original, it didn't surprise him much. After playing both video games and tabletop pen and paper RPGs, you tend to get a general feel for what will work and what won't, even with only a simple understanding of the rules. SAO was different because of the "life or death" circumstances, but the premise remained the same, high damage + high survivability = not dying, which was a tune a metric ton of players could dance along to; probably a few doing the sprinkler, but there was the rare few doing a magnificent twist (that is to say making the build correctly). He pushed his dismay out of his mind, while his build may not have been as unique as he wanted, he could still monopolize the version making use of a longsword. He made a mental note that Battle healing was something he would want.

The commandants criticisms were pretty valid, he could feel the sluggishness in his swings, and he had to admit, while he had a general idea of where to swing, his timing may not have been up to snuff. He turned around, and rubbed his chin in thought. He took a couple swings, still not quite getting it. He stopped and looked down at his grip, adjusting it slightly here and there, trying to think about how to apply what Oikawa said. His face suddenly lit up, and he looked over to the other player, "I'm thinking about this wrong. I'm no swordsman, so I shouldn't think about it like a swordsman. I need to come at it from an angle that I see really well, video games."

Thinking back to his gaming experiences, there weren't many examples of games that had realistic swordplay. Not many, except for one, he smiled to himself as he got ready to attack once more, "Who ever says video games don't teach you anything?" he laughed aloud as he went for another attack. He was careful this time though, his posture and stance had improved drastically, not perfect by any means, but better than the first attack exponentially. His swing hewed down low, going for some kind of hit to knock the hopefully unexpecting player on his back. A man can dream, he thought as he went through with the swing.

Leveled up again... Wow

Lex: 7/11

ID#22512

LD:9

Lex swung his arm through the air, the small line of white and gray circles showing up in front of him. He tapped on the inventory screen, and brought up his own equip set, and replaced the beginner set with his new armor. As it appeared automatically on him, he almost felt a jump. For the first time in the game, he'd felt something significant in the way of improvement. Not something like HP, which scales no matter what in order to keep it fair, but equipment? That can break games, especially MMOs. Not like was trying to break the game, but on a going forward basis, it was good to know that his hard work wasn't all in vain. He looked on the ground for anything else that may be of use to him, but nothing came of it, feeling satisfyed, the boy continued on with his hunting quest.

Name: Wolf's Hide

How did you acquire?: Mob drop

Link to Thread: Gotta start somewhere

Item Type: Leather Armor

Quality: Uncommon

Enhancements: Evasion

Description: The leather armor is made from the hide of wolves, a few pockets line it here and there, with a bandoleer to hold any weapon that may be placed on it. On the right shoulder is a pauldron which has the silver fur of a wolf sewn onto it, it is its most defining characteristic.

ID#23107

BD: 10

MoBD: 8

Lex charged in, blade held tight in his hand, and he swung at the beast, catching it in the nape of it's neck with his sword, though not without getting nicked in the leg by it's front teeth. The creature exploded into it's data shards, and sitting in it's place once more was a simple material for his use in crafting at his disgression. He had to admit, he really liked the drop system. The way he went about it, there wasn't really a chance they would't drop something. While he ccouldn't really say that he liked being in the death game all the time, he had to be glad the mechanics were solid at least. He could be stuck in one of the many god-awful Commodore 64 games, now that would be living in hell on Earth

Wolf: 0/5

Lex: 7/9

+1 material

ID#22496

BD: 9

MoBD: 4

As Lex bent down to pick the plant from the dirt, he didn't see the wolf come up behind him, crouching in the grass, and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. It waited silently, ready to strike the moment the gamer rose from his crouched position. Lex got to his feet, the item successfully being gathered, and as he turned around to walk out of the small divot the plant had been growing in, he just barely managed to dodge the wolf. Blade in hand, the gamer swung at the beast, hitting it hard, but not quite enough to down it, the wolf landed on the ground, the red gash closing up as the texture for the fur appeared once more.

Lex Struck the beast critically for +1 damage!

Lex: 8/9

Wolf: 2/5

ID#22491

LD: 18

Lex Leveled up again!

Lex 3/9

Looking around, the gamer made sure that there were no more wolves in his immediate vicinity. His sight caught none, but he acted quickly just in case. Taking the potion he'd just gathered up, he dumped it down his gullet, letting it's healing properties wash all over him, "That pooch did a number on me. I gotta do better than that, otherwise I'm going to end up in a bag of Iams."

Moving around a little bit, Lex scanned over the hills for any kind of material to be gathered, hopefully some kind of alchemical plant of some kind or the other. He had considered going after that profession, as there was some pretty high prices for crystals and potions, and unlike armor and weapons, even the higher level players needed to get new healing items every so often. Plus all of his stock would be free for him to use if he so desired, making staying alive a heck of a lot easier. Much to his luck, Lex was able to spot one in the form of a small green plant, budding in the middle of some shorter golden grass, That looks good, he thought with a smile.

Lex recovered 5 HP

Lex: 8/9

+1 material

Lex drew his sword, taking a few steps back, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. While he was in charge of a lot of things, he found the commandant surprisingly mellow. While he wasn't sure if the thing about him dying was a joke or not, but he gave a chuckle all the same, "Wouldn't be just your luck."

When he asked him about a build, Lex got a smile on his face, he seemed very proud of his idea, but it was more so the topic he enjoyed. He was glad he'd finally be able to bounce it off of someone, especially such a stronger player, if he was lucky, which he rarely was, he'd probably seen someone who did something similar, "Well it's all based on this build that I made in Skyrim by accident. In the game, I was having problems with my survivability in combat, I had the damage that helped me to get that far, but I would burn through healing items like a madman. So I dipped a little into healing magic, something that gave me a decent chunk of my health back whenever I used it, and it was quick, able to be used in rapid succession. My idea is something very similar," he said holding up the sword and rock, "In the one hand, I have my blade, and the other, I have a crystal of some kind; like a buff or healing, seeing as how they're quicker than potions."

Feeling as if he'd sufficiently described the idea, he pressed the "accept" button on the prompt. After taking a few steps back, and taking a battle stance, he let a few seconds pass for Oikawa to prepare himself, "Alright, here I come!" he yelled, taking a very poor swing.

_____________________________________

ID#22440

BD: 3

Lex swings but misses horribly

Lex took hold of the hilt, trembling as he exhaled with relief, "Alexander, call me Lex if you want..." He pushed himself to his feet, and unexpectedly rose to above the head of the man standing in front of him. It was odd, when he was standing over him he seemed so big. Even looking down on him felt like it was the other way around. This guy was a tough customer, that was for certain, Lex was certainly glad that he didn't manage to piss this guy off, probably wouldn't have ended well.

"It's n-nice to meet you, uh, sir?" The teen said, trying to find the right way to speak to this higher ranking official. He had heard about the Azure Brigade while he was ding his research on guilds, eventually deciding against joining one right off the bat, too much regulation, not enough control over what he was doing, "I'm really sorry I threw my sword at you..." he apologized sheepishly as he put the weapon back in its sheathe. His sheepishness turned to curiosity as he recognized the fact that they were on the first floor, and judging by how he batted his sword aside like it was nothing, he was certainly belonging on higher floors, "Wait... Why are you on the first floor? I thought most of the guilds would be exploring and reporting on the higher floors."

_______________________________________

OOC: Oh sorry about that... I'm getting the abridged version confused with the normal one...

Lex stopped after a solid hew, faltering slightly with the foot he stepped out with. A look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked down at the hilt of his blade. He was holding it with two hands, he did it subconsciously, trying to add more power to it, "It's a one-handed sword, moron, use it with one hand."

He let go with his left hand, holding the sword down at his side as he looked at his open palm. He pursed his lips, looking at the ground around him a second later. Lex lifted a rock from the dirt, and clutched it tight in his hand, trying to mimic the feeling of holding an item in it. He nodded at the rock, agreeing with himself that it was th right size, and twirled the sword before he began swinging it around again. This time taking the caution to know where his hands were at all times.

Every few seconds, he'd squeeze the rock, like one usually would to use a crystal of some variety. From this one could tell that whatever style he was trying to work with was going to rely heavily on the use of items, healing ones by the amount of times he used it.

Lex took a particularly heavy swing, his one foot coming up behind his other as the sword pulled out from its own weight. He stumbled as the sword flew from his hands and into the air, looking on in horror as the blade soared towards another player. Blonde, wearing heavy clothes, decked out to the teeth in gear that was so much better than his was, it might as well be the dirt under his feet. I'm so dead, he thought as he considered that he might not appreciate having a sword hurled at him, even if it was an accident.

The Gamer stood just outside the starting town, his sword clutched tight in his hand as he swung it in the air, practicing his sword stances and swings off to the side of the road leading into the town. The digital sun shone down from above as it reached near midday, he looked up to the sky, and wiped the sweat from his forehead, pushing an exhausted breath out of his cheeks

Left, right. Parry to the left, counter right, evade. A mix of so many concepts that he hadn't really ever thought about when he was just simply sitting in front of a TV screen or what have you. Lex felt almost overwhelmed with all the information he now had to learn in order to fight effectively. There were countless examples in his repertoire that pointed out the fact that he could learn things quickly and effectively, anything from combos in a fighting game to general locations on a map in a sandbox. But those were simple, things that he could see, and check on constantly, something he himself could witness himself learning. Swordplay was different. It was an exact science, but unlike a math problem or science equation, there really wasn't a way to get it right. He didn't know if he was getting better, because there was always room for improvement, and being a low level didn't help either. He couldn't test out his build without the money to do so. His weapons and armor were lackluster, and he didn't have the money or resources to buy or make the alchemical items that made up the cornerstone of his intended build.

"At this rate, I'll be here until I'm 40. There has to be some kind of quicker way to learn this stuff..."

ID#:22839

BD: 10

MoBD: 9

The wolf pounced on Lex as he charged, biting down into his collarbone and holding tightly onto it. It shook its head back and forth as it rended his digital flesh and drained his HP. Lex wrapped his arm around the wolf's belly, holding tight as he rolled over, pulling his collar from the wolf's jaws, and stabbing the creature with his sword. The creature shattered into the data shards as the alert window popped up, showing the experience and money totals. A potion and 2 materials... Not a bad start. With this I can keep going.

Lex: 3/7

Wolf: 0/4

Gained 1 basic hp potion and 1 material

ID#:22384

BD: 4

MoBD: 1

The wolf reared back, sprinting forward on all fours, it tried to charge into Lex's legs to knock him ver, but just missed, as Lex dodged to the right. His sword sliced through the golden grass, missing the wolf by inches, but missing nonetheless. "Would you stop jumping all over the place? Stand still, Kujo!" he yelled at it as he charged in for another attack, hopefully hitting this time.

Wolf: 4/4

Lex: 5/7

ID#:22383

BD: 1

MoBD: 8

The wolf reared back for another attack, Lex tried to dodge, but the wolf's claws dug into his back. He swung his blade behind him, trying to hit the beast off with the hilt of his blade, the wolf bounced off of his back as his attack missed. It bared it's teeth as its eyes flared red, looking as if it was ready to go in for another attack. Lex steadied himself, knowing that if he started getting flustered, all that was going to manage was getting him killed.

Wolf: 4/4

Lex: 5/7