Takao

Pools of emerald green had set their glowering gaze upon the technicolour tent and theatrics that surrounded it. It was that time again, in the never-ending nightmare of Aincrad, for another on-the-nose festivity to celebrate another holiday. He didn't dally for long before a small sliver of his wallet found its way into a box amidst others of its kind, and he stepped into the tent with a small wingless dragon trotting in behind him on all fours. As players began to gather, he had no doubts that many were like-minded, knowing fully well what these events had in store for them, or at least enough of an idea that some would come clutching their teleport crystals.

Takao moved up the stands, making sure there were other players between him and where he assumed the real show would start, and leaned back. He kicked one foot up onto the seats ahead of him, occupied most of the space in his proximity, and kept his gaze between furrowed brows centered on the focal piece at the center of the tent. Watching and waiting.

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Rank 5 - One Handed Straight Sword
Mod(s) Being Dropped: -
SP Refunded: 50sp
Cost: 50,000

roll

-

COMBAT RESULTS

"I'm alright bud," Takao said, absentmindedly scratching the top of his familiar's head. "Let's finish this up, we've got a long day ahead of us. I don't wanna stop after just doing this quest."

It was then that, from behind, he heard a loud howl. He didn't immediately think much of it but he did rise to a stand, turning to face the source. He was met with the sight of three wolves, not unlike the ones that he had just dispatched, all sprinting toward him and much closer than the original howl indicated. Takao took a heavy step forward between himself and Otoko, who scurried off someplace safe to the side whilst Takao's sword was raised.

The three wolves were evaded without particular issue though he found no opening to attack, each one surrounding him in such a way that evasion of one lead into the evasion of another. Then, another howl sounded from behind, and before he could turn, a massive set of jaws slammed down on his right shoulder. He grunted, squeezed the handle of his sword, and glanced sidelong at the culprit. «BLOOD BANE», the target of the quest, clamped down harder on him and growled beneath its grit teeth. Takao's eyes lazed toward his own health bar and he huffed.

"Here I was getting worried."

-

COMBAT RESULTS

Just as Takao recovered from his tumble, one of the pair of wolves was upon him yet again, launched in the air and coming down toward him. But, by the time he'd taken to get his footing back, «Ragnarok» was poised and ready to use a Sword Art. It was hardly anything special but with the modicum of health that remained within their bars, it was vastly sufficient. With the wolf mid-air, jumping toward Takao, he released the Sword Art and the first swing hit as the wolf was coming down, reducing it to crystalline confetti before it hit the ground, and then the second strike was turned and landed true on the remaining wolf. Both were torn asunder and rent into nothing more than fluttering ones and zeroes when his Sword Art had finished.

When the battle was through, he inhaled sharply and slowly rose to his feet. His familiar scuttled out from its hiding place, knowing better than to interfere with the battles that he was largely unfit to join.

-

COMBAT RESULTS

Neither of them, not the two wolves nor Takao, had made their move. There was an intense tension between them, strung tight like wires in a piano, ready to be rent asunder and cut in twain by the slightest provocative movement. Takao took careful steps to the side, moving ever so slowly, trying to find a better spot to launch his attack from. The wolves acted in kind, never giving him the opportunity, but never finding their own to attack Takao. Then, in a sudden and unanimous burst of activity, both parties struck at the same time. The wolves closed in faster than Takao did although through a master-class of practiced evasiveness, he evaded the first, then the second, and as he turned to strike them on the return, his improper footing dropped him to the ground in a heap. These sort of mistakes and failures were not something he was especially unfamiliar with, and thus by the time he'd hit the ground, the momentum of his tumble was used to put him back on his feet.

-

COMBAT RESULTS

By the skin of his teeth, Takao managed to force his body into motion before the canid monsters could spur themselves back into action. They'd be immune from another stun but still had more health than he could whittle down with a single, decisive blow, thus he fell back onto what he had available to him. «Calamity Disaster» was activated and he let it rip through them next, just as they were starting to stand, which sent them tumbling to the dirt path once more. This time, however, they were not kept down so easily. This time they struck back at him, one at a time, both avoided without much cause for concern. His movements were far from perfect but he had a practiced eye, one that identified the patterns of these creatures and, more often than not, decided the best course of action for evasion. They stared each other down in the brief, fleeting moment that followed, waiting for the other to make the first move.

-

COMBAT RESULTS

Takao's quarry on this endeavour laid before him, a pair of two wolves, spawned by the mission he'd taken that now rested comfortably within his list of tasks. He slid «Ragnarok» from its baldric on his back and tightened his gloved hands around its handle, shifted his feet into an adequate stance for the Sword Art «Tempest» to activate, and let it loose as soon as the creatures saw him. His blade ripped through their digital bodies, tossed them unceremoniously to the ground, and left them staggered and immobile, struggling back to their feet but to no avail. It wasn't much, not for a solo play, but it enabled him to minimize damage to himself, for the period of immobility that followed a sword art had overtaken him just as they were left unable to move themselves.

"Two more," He muttered quietly, speaking aloud to himself as his gaze to their health bars, running through quick and simple equations in his head to determine how much more it would take to put them down.

-

COMBAT RESULTS

Takao's journey along the beaten paths of the fifteenth floor had lead him back to the main settlement. Long untouched contact with certain brokers of information had served fruitful despite the dust that collected on their interaction, and he was guided to quests in the form of messages posted at one of the main settlement's gates. «Bane of Blood» was the quest's name but it was hardly befitting, not for a player of his caliber, depending on whose blood the quest spoke of.

Rather than linger, the information Takao was given lead him to equip «Ragnarok», his two-handed sword, in order to better combat the threat of multiple creatures. His build was adept at these adaptations to the solo lifestyle, where one player with a more focused skill repertoire might excel in ways he could not, he covered a broader swathe of utility, enabling him to tackle threats and achieve feats that might require a conglomeration of gears working in tandem.

The impesque, wingless dragon perched upon Takao's shoulder like an animated gargoyle perked up when his green-haired partner knocked Kityuisa down-- interested not so much because there was another player, but rather because of the other familiar whose hissing he heard. Scuttling down Takao's leg with all the grace of a blind cat devoid of equilibrium, Otoko came to a bumbling halt in front of the black cat, lurching forward to curiously sniff the feline. Meanwhile, Takao offered his hand out to Kityuisa following his unceremonious bump that sent her to the ground. If she took it, he would help her up, and if she didn't it would return to his side.

"I think this is a fair situation to apologize for." He said in response, even-toned without much shift in facial expression. "It's not my preferred way to break the ice, but I guess it works just as well."

His hands fell into his pockets and he briefly cast his gaze sidelong to the pair of familiars, namely his own, to observe the expectantly excited behaviour of the creature. It was more like an energetic puppy than a dragon, bounding in a half-circle in front of the feline, ducking its head down each time it came to a brief and fleeting halt, all in an attempt to spur the fellow monster into playing. When Takao was done watching his familiar harass the other, his emerald pools settled back onto Kityuisa.

"I'm Takao. You are?"

@Kityuisa

His familiar's excited response urged on their latest adventure, and in doing so, the duo found themselves traveling from the third floor of Aincrad to the fifteenth. They delved deep into the massive forest that shrouded the floor, and along the way, he encountered a Drakeling, whose presence was inconsequential enough that a single strike, via the Sword Skill «All Might», was enough to put it down. It was left, crumpled in a pile, until Cardinal rid it from Aincrad's digital plane and sent it scattering into the wind as polygonal, shimmering confetti. The creature's unceremonious defeat did little to bring Takao pause, and before long, he was back down a beaten path, in search of the true quarry for the day's hunt. Nothing special. Nothing difficult. But efficient. His inactivity has left a layer of dust and rust that he needed to shake, and it was not his combat ability that had stagnated. Plans, ambitions, goals, they all required more.

-

COMBAT RESULTS

"Sword Arts make it so that you don't have to have any actual skill with the weapons, so as long as you have points built into the skill, all you have to do is activate them and the Sword Art will automatically take your body through the motion. All you need is a little grit to get over the initial adrenaline from fighting." Perhaps it was a useless explanation and her apprehension from combat was not skill-based but preference, but once he started, he followed through.

"You could build into tank skills too and just let enemies kill themselves when they attack you-- but, anyway." He sucked in a breath, stopping himself from falling into the bottomless pit of discussing theoretical builds, and forcefully refocusing himself on the task at hand.

"Why don't we party up," With his attention fully focused on Astralin again, rather than dipping between her and his own wandering thoughts, he dug into his menu and inventory with practised motions, and equipped himself with «ʀᴀɢɴᴀʀᴏᴋ», his two-handed straight sword. "And you lead the way?" He said again to Astralin. Even though he had other things to be doing, this seemed like a diversion entertaining enough to leave him eager.

@Astralin @Cordelia @Joanne

Current Outfit

He was, much to his own surprise, back on the metaphorical saddle. There was no telling how long he would remain consistent, if even such a period of time was to be remarkable enough to not be considered a simple blip in his string of inactivity, but the train was moving and he would let it go wherever it pleased.

This time, it had taken him to the twenty-fourth floor, one that he was beginning to frequent in his adventures. There were a plethora of quests here that he hadn't touched and the prospect of new, difficult challenges had left him thirsting for adventure once more. Green eyes scanned the board, one of such present on most floors that held various assignments and quests that were not assigned to an NPC. These were the types that he preferred in recent times, the ones that didn't make him jump through obnoxious, scripted hoops that posed shallow temptations and tests against one's morality. Upon the board, a myriad of tasks had caught his eye, but the closest of them took place in the nearby colosseum, which was only a short walk away.

"Whaddya say bud, how 'bout we give this one a go?" His gaze trailed sidelong to the red, wingless, bipedal dragon that stood a mere foot or so tall on his shoulder, peering at the requests over Takao's head. Its guttural clicking of a noise of affirmation was all the more he needed, and the green-haired player bobbed his head in a nod.

"Alright then," Takao said, lifting a loose fist to his shoulder-mounted familiar, whose scaled fist bumped with his. "Let's give 'er a go." Takao turned and just as he did, he felt his body slam unceremoniously into another, coaxing a throaty grunt of surprise from his chest.

"Oh, [censored]... Sorry."

@Kityuisa

-

Using x1 Yui's Blessing. (+1 SP)
(2/5 remaining)

Gloved hands dropped to his pockets while his eyes set on the incoming rock that skipped and landed unceremoniously beside them, garnering his attention enough to make his eyebrows scrunch together in momentary confusion. Ultimately, he looked away, and settled his gaze back on Astralin. An unexpected snort and chuckle snuck up on him at her telepathy comment and Takao shrugged, dismissing the notion with the gesture.

"Lucky guess."

His head tilted at her explanation of purpose, that there was a garden rife with materials for the taking, but the potential threat of monsters made it more risk than reward. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by two others: one offered a simple introduction, to which Takao raised a stationary wave at half-mast to in response, and the other offered to join, to which he inferred the ultimate decision to Astralin.

"I've never heard of this garden place," He admitted, having honestly never heard of it, but then again he didn't often comb through quests on the first floor anymore.

"But it seems like we've got a decent party started then--" Takao's attention shifted then to Cordelia. "You in?"

@Astralin @Cordelia @Joanne

There was little for him on this level of Aincrad, the place that acted as the front stage to the announcement of the «ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ɢᴀᴍᴇ», and so seldom did he find himself walking the streets of a city still packed by thousands even years later. On this particular day he didn't roam the streets aimlessly, taking in the once-accustomed sights of a settlement whose familiarity had long since passed, and instead he had a purpose here. Twofold was his purpose here, one he had already fulfilled at the «ᴍᴏɴᴜᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ʟɪꜰᴇ», while the other required a greater deal of tact. However, as he neared the closest town gate, the expression that one individual wore upon her face as he passed had caught his attention, so he stopped and twirled about-face on one heel to face her.

"You look lost," He said, calm and even-toned, as emerald eyes to match the mop on his head settled on her shorter features.

"Like you're searching for somebody, but you don't know who yet." His head tilted slightly, recognizing that familiar look that many of Aincrad's low-levelled players wore when the fear of monsters weighed heavy. All too familiar indeed.

"Looking for a party?" Posed half as a question, half as a statement, his levelled gaze searched her face for a response.

A yawn escaped and emerald pools opened and focused on the wooden-slat ceiling looming overhead. They trailed sidelong to the sound of pitter-patter and settled on the little red draconic creature that scuttled closer. His hand lifted just as the familiar was within reach and patted down upon his scale-clad head. Adventures from a time long-since passed had brought them together and since then, he'd fallen into the quiet monotony of complacency and inactivity. To accompany his earlier yawn and ever-building internal monologue, he sighed.

"I'm tired of laying here." He said to the voiceless familiar, not just sitting up from the couch he'd napped upon but standing fully. He stretched his arms skyward, reached until his muscles tingled with euphoric satisfaction, and stretched side to side.

"I feel like I've been dead all this time. I'm bored of it,"

He rolled his shoulders and his head across them, then cracked his knuckles. Bare-footed steps took him to a nearby bay window and his gaze was cast out from the panelled glass panes. Midday or just about, nice weather as was usual for the third floor of Aincrad, with scarcely a cloud to be seen. The familiar had taken to all fours and skittered next to him, then hopped up onto the padded bay window seat.

"Whaddya say bud, how about another adventure-- for old time's sake?"

These unpredictable yet inevitable lulls were a force far beyond his humble understanding. The harrowing adventures that Aincrad had in store for the unfortunate populace trapped within her floating walls were not for the faint of heart and he was surely not of such descript... and yet, every so often, he would find himself back here. Staring at the same four walls. Wondering what he was doing here, wondering if it was all a dream he would wake up from, wondering if his presence made a difference or if he was merely a useless cog in a machine that did not demand his occupancy. He'd decided a long time ago that they were all useless questions, mindless philosophies that kept his feet firmly rooted rather than moving forward, yet he remained hung up on them all the same.

He kept up with news of the Frontlines and they progressed without him, slower than what an observer might have called the 'glory days' of the Frontliners, the cream of the crop, the pinnacle of their craft, but progressed all the same. He often wondered if it would be enough-- they were on borrowed time, after all, perhaps their leisurely pace was not a luxury, but their doom. Such thoughts were what got him out of bed in the morning, teased him out the door, but were beaten back by these pangs of nihilism ever-growing in the back of his head. He had a feeling, this strange, weird, inexplainable premonition with no basis, only baseless anxiety that something bad was going to happen.

He awoke shortly after though he didn't open his eyes. Rather, he settled into the pillow that kept his head propped up against the arm of the couch, basking in the warmth collected from his own contact. All those conflicting thoughts that got him out of bed and put him back in it were of little contest to a warm pillow and mid-day nap.

-

Using x1 Yui's Blessing. (+1 SP)
(1/5 remaining)

Using x1 Vodka. (+2 DAM/ -10 MIT)

Using x1 Herbal Tea. (+1 ACC)

I never wanted this fate for you, Death Adder. You were a good boy, but now you need to be put down. (also, death adder's purpose wasn't to stall. it was for storytelling, which i know is a foreign concept around here)

Thanks everybody! ❤

and you would've gotten a mention if you managed to change the rp-tavern channel's name shark sorry shark ❤❤❤ you're the best kid of them all

So my activity on SAO-RPG has pretty much dwindled down to nothing in the past few months. This is partially due to taking on more responsibility than I thought I could originally handle on in my personal life top of GM work, and also because time has deteriorated my interest in the site-- not to the fault of the site, mind you! The site has been a large part of my life for the past few years and I'd like to thank everybody, even those I might not have seen eye to eye with, for the opportunity to meet and have fun with you all.

Anyway, I figured I'd write up a quick little resignation to let the good people of SAO-RPG know that I'm officially and indefinitely stepping down from my role as a GM. There's nobody I trust more than the current staff team to keep the site as great as it's always been. Teion, Ruby, Ariel, Baldur, Aereth, (not) Calrex, Nocturn, Jomei, Sey, Morg, Zandra, and Stryder are all fantastic folks and members of the staff, and it's been awesome plotting the downfall of the site with you guys!

I don't really wanna ramble on too much here, so thanks once more for all the good times you guys! I'll stick around on the Discord for those spicy SAO-RPG memes! If I ever dip, you can always add me: Kris#0191

See ya!

Thread is closed due to inactivity.
(For future reference, the Asterios boss will not be making another reappearance. He has been retired.)

Participants Receive
10 SP
(8 SP from Posts, 2 SP from Event)

@Beatbox Receives:

@Hidden (screw you too broken @ thing) Receives:

i don't mean to brag, but i joined on july 4, 2015

A dry, amused chuckle rumbled in Takao's chest as he watched the scene unfold. He thought that the curve of difficulty for Sword Art Online was more like a rollercoaster than a scale, and it showed with these event battles that popped up on floors at random intervals. It was almost as if the game was challenging their feelings of safety, and perhaps rightfully so. It was a dead game after all, he mused. Without the proper buffing instruments normally afforded to a player prior to a floor boss raid, he found himself hindered greatly. The mitigation of the monster was stalling damage and its own output was impressive, even terrifying to a degree. What better way was there to deal with it than drink? Drink he did, via a flask spawned from his inventory, which invigorated his damage and stunted his unsystematic evasiveness. A poor choice perhaps, but more damage output would help bring the ridiculous thing down quicker.

Using Vodka. +6 Damage/-3 EVA
Using T2 HP Crystal. +240 HP

Welcome to SAO-RPG!

I noticed a few others had tried to help you, so I figured I'd throw in my own advice and let you know what you need to do to get approved.

Firstly, I noticed you added that your character was part of the first floor boss raid. Unfortunately, this was done on-site and has a thread that can be read and referenced. Because this isn't solely a story point, we can't allow you to have a character that wasn't part of it. He could claim he was, surely, but he cannot have historically been there, as he wasn't in the thread.

Secondly, your flaws and virtues need to have 3 traits each, and be a minimum of three developed sentences each. A developed sentence is admittedly a little vague, but I would recommend trying to write anywhere from 15-20 words per sentence, if we're quantifying it in a literal sense. Here's an exceptional example of what we might look for in a flaws(or virtues) field of the journal:

Quote

Flaws:

Stoic: While she has grown braver, powerful, and cultivated a strong will, Teion's time in Aincrad has taken its toll on her mentally. She sees herself as a warrior, whose only purpose now is to fight. She won't go out of her way to create friendships, mainly out of fear or insecurity of them waning away just as the others have. Instead, she puts on a strong persona--one she now feels very comfortable in.

Jaded: While not completely, Teion has grown desensitized to everyday life in Aincrad. At first, her outlook was much more positive, greeting each day with a smile. Nowadays she just keeps pressing forward out of necessity, working towards a far-off goal. There are still plenty of things that get to her, but her innocence has faded over time.

Inarticulate: In the event that Teion would speak open and honestly with someone, she does not have (and never has had) a way with words. In a fit of anger, she would likely say something she didn't mean. If she began to cry, she would probably crumble to her knees. Since she's very aware of this, she tries her hardest not to let her innermost feelings show.

Also, as a side note, you're missing the skills portion of the journal. You're given 5 SP to start with as a Level 1 character, which is enough to achieve Rank 1 in a single skill. Most people choose a weapon skill, but you're free to put those 5 points wherever you like!

If you're confused or need some other examples, I'd recommend taking a look at some other journals that have been approved. It's a good way to get an idea of what we look for before granting approval.

Takao's hands rose to cover his ears as the screech deafened the area, whilst simultaneously nearly being knocked off balance by the sudden torrent of wind that pushed against him. His habitual reaction to any kind of stimuli against him resulted in green eyes raising and taking note of where his health stood. It had moved, albeit barely, and still left him with a comfortable safety net of lifeforce. He had been given momentary pause by the screech, which had worked to stall his motions in favour of making an attempt to prevent the potential rupturing of his digital eardrums. Takao briefly considered if such a thing was even possible, yet he'd long since learned better than to doubt the level of detail within Kayaba's world.

When the screeching finally let up and the damage had been done, his hands dropped from his ears and flexed within the leather-wrapped Caestus. He took another mental note of where the monster's health had landed, yet abstained from attacking. His inaction had lead to missing his opportunity to strike, and he hadn't the mind to needlessly throw himself against the boss.

ID: 84447
BD: 1
Sword Art: All Might
Damage: n/a (-2 Energy)