Grave

I turned to face probably one of the most beautiful girls in Aincrad I had ever seen; soft blond hair and glittering eyes. I could not speak for a moment, my jaw threatening to slack off and drop from my skull, but I snapped myself out of my trance and paid attention to what she had said. "Yes... I probably could have done that a little less violently." I admitted with a nervous chuckle. "But I cannot stand to see crime, player-committed or not. Kind of surprised that was not a quest, likely just some kind of scripted event." I pondered, scratching my chin and watching a ragged leg disappear around a corner. "And besides, I am too used to using fists to solve everything. It is what I get for using Martial Arts." I explained, slipping my hands into my pockets, finally approaching the girl. "Anyway... sorry I stole your fun. You probably could have solved that problem much more nicely than me." I apologized with a chuckle and bowed. "My name is Grave, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Hm, I don't think they should be completely uncollectable. You should be able to have a chance to retrieve it by using your LD to actively search for it, but only once per consumable. And also, shuriken might not be the best idea, as there is a canonical Unique Skill, Shurikenjutsu which utlizes shuriken instead of throwing needles and knives, and the staff may have that in mind. If they confirm they don't, then I don't see why not :D Otherwise, the ideas both of you have posed are really awesome and I absolutely support!

Oh, and as for the Expert Mod, maybe it could be renamed to Ricochet instead?

Edit: Didn't notice the faint text where Ari stated the collection system D:

That poor cat had not lasted long at all. We both did immense damage with the Martial Arts Sword Arts, that it just couldn't keep up. I felt Husky tap my shoulder and I grinned under the draconic helmet, giving him the thumbs up. I peered at his health bar around his head height and noticed it was still slightly low, and I gasped. "Hey, hold still for a sec." I grasped his shoulder gently and placed a gauntleted hand to his chest, willing the <<First Aid>> skill to activate. I felt it trigger, but I knew there was only a chance it would work. I watched his health bar stay where it was, only occasionally topping itself up from his passive out-of-combat healing. "Damn, was hoping I could get you back to max quicker, better to be topped up in case something happens, right?" I released my hands from his chest and shoulder and sighed, disappointed I still had yet to successfully use the <<First Aid>> skill.

The trail we followed was familiar and much easier to trek than before, thankfully having a more downhill decline than to the Quest. "So, what do you say we have a drink to celebrate our victory and our friendship?" I asked with a grin, patting the player on the back as the jungle echoed with the clunking of my armour.

ID: 71266 | CD: 4

My eyes flicked questioningly to the snake that began curling around the maid girl sexily, and the right corner of my lips pulled back as if to say 'eesh...'. The player assured me I did not need to apologize, and I smiled widely; he seemed like a really relaxed guy. "I am glad you understand! She is a bit of a rogue, rarely does what I ask unless it has to do with cooking." I placed my finger under the weasel's chin and lifted her head to look at my. "Is that not right, you brat?" I asked Hikari with a chuckle and let her slack off around my neck once more. "The name is Grave, by the way. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." I extended my hand out to the player, and looked to the girl, offering her a bow as well. "Pleasure to meet you as well, Miss." I greeted her politely, before looking back to the male with the dragon.

Woah. She remembered my name? "Wow, I am amazed you remember my name. I do not think we spent much time together... I apologize for asking, but what was your name again?" I asked with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of my head nervously; I probably sounded rude at that point. She asked me if I was 'trying out pickup lines' and I coughed loudly, my face turning slightly stern. "No, I am not trying to get with you. I have a girlfriend, so not to worry. I asked because..." I pulled out the letter I had received from the old lady and handed it to her. "I just received a random quest from an NPC and she gave me this to give to another party member, so I was wondering if you would be interested in helping out?" I explained, motioning to tap the letter.

"A month or so..." I sighed and scratched my white helmet. "Yeah, I have been away for three or four months... so you are relatively new then, no wonder I have not heard about you yet." I admitted, before grinning widely. "But you seem like a strong guild, no?" I asked with yet another thumbs up. Finally we approached the elves, and they surrounded their leader with weapons, protective and wary of visitors. I raised a hand with the arrow and note to show I had received the quest from them and they all lowered their weapons. The elder greeted us and requested for our help, much like in the note on the arrow. "We accept your request, Elder." I said, and the elder seated himself, surrounded once more by the rest of the elves. "Alright Jonathan, let us go make firewood." I told him and beckoned him towards the forest behind the settlement, hidden away behind the Forest of Wavering Mist.

I watched Zandra skilfully take down her own bumbling ogre and I clapped as her glowing axe tore through the monster, emptying the once green bar around its head and shattered it into a glittering cloud of data crystals. "Congrats! He seemed to be... quite the dimwit." I noted with a chuckle, approaching the dragon-clad axe-woman, sharing armour in similar form to me, but opposite in colour and style. "Long time no see, Zandra! What is new?" I asked, removing my white helmet and placing one hand behind my neck as I tilted it to the side in an attempt to crack it. "You look even more badass than before. I have been away for so long..." It was true. I was getting rusty. I meant to get out into the field more, but I always found ways to procrastinate. At this rate, I wasn’t sure that would ever be on the frontlines.

I came around to the counter and noticed a black haired male sitting on one of the stools at a table and flicking through his invisible menu. He seemed... not depressed, but at the same time not happy. Like he was emotionless. I guess it could not be helped; SAO really screwed with some people. "Hi there!" I greeted him from behind the counter and placed an elbow on the glass case. "See anything you fancy? My meals are not all that expensive, so you do not worry about having little money if that is a problem." I assured him, knowing that some people who came to my shop did not have very much dosh to spend, while others came with their pockets full.

I jerked back and raised my hands in surrender when the player stopped short of stabbing me with that pointy weapon of his. He lowered his weapon and sighed, and I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, sorry about that, I did not intend to startle you," I apologized politely. "Oh, that is fine, I understand! Danger could be anywhere. Just as well you are right near the edge of the city, any further out and it could have been deadly." I agreed with the white haired boy with a brisk nod. "Oh, not really. I just thought I might say hi, you know? You seemed interesting, and I was curious as to your level." I told him with a sheepish grin, realizing now how suspicious such a long-winded answer must have sounded.

Sorry I missed this when it was first posted! D: Grave never got to meet Oik IC, but I'm sure they would have had an... interesting relationship if they did. You've done the site a lot of good, and I'm glad you were on the team. Without you, many of the new systems we have today would not be around. A lot of us are gonna miss you, Oink, and I hope to still talk every now and then on Skype :) Best of luck to you in whatever you do.

Main SAO Username: Grave

Game Building Experience: I was one of the main developers in the last version of GGO (before it was moved to the World Seed), so I played a major part in that, and I am currently in the ALO development team.

NON-SAO RP Experience: I was once an active staff member on another site, but only a minor role dealing with providing moderator support, weighing in on new system ideas and dealing out rewards.

General Scheduled Openings and Time Zone: Starting next week I'll be open at almost all times for roughly nine weeks (if there are issues I will let someone know). Timezone is GMT +8.

Why You Want To Help: I want to bring GGO back to life, since I found our previous version to be very enjoyable and I wish to add yet another dimension for the players of SAO to enjoy, and even new members who would prefer the GGO universe. I want to put my available skills into play and learn new ones to help me build other sites and/or games in the future.

Email to Contact You With: gravethrip@gmail.com

Discord Username and Number: (Will add later when not on school computers)

The exit to the wilderness was rather far away from the teleport gate in town, so I essentially had to make my way through the entire city to get there. However, on the way, I felt Hikari pop out from my shirt and perch herself on my shoulder, sudden pulling on my coat and squeaking at something behind me. I swung around with wide eyes and grasped the silly weasel, laying her across the back of my neck. I came face to face with two players; one with crimson hair and a menacing-looking dragon, and the other a young girl in a maid's outfit, with a snake curled around her arm. Hikari poked her head up and continued squeaking, obviously interested in the two reptilian creatures. "Oh, hey! Sorry about her, she gets excited when she meets other familiars, especially ones that are completely new to her." I apologized and chuckled, pointing at the creatures.

Jonathan answered my question, mentioning the 'Celestial Ascendants', a guild I had never heard of. "How long have you all been around? I have been living under a rock for so long, a few guilds have popped up without me noticing." I questioned him and sighed, rubbing the top of my helmet with a gauntleted fist. He beckoned for me to follow and I nodded, letting myself fall in tow behind him as he led us towards the settlement that had appeared. The player asked if I was a solo or a Knight. I smiled unsurely. "Well, I am a Knight, yes... but I am considering taking a small leave until I am higher leveled. The original second in command, Mack," I completely avoided mentioning Opal's previous status as Second, "Has been away for a long time, so it has stagnated. I feel if I pick my levels back up, I could help lead the guild." I explained with a somewhat guilty grin under my helmet. We finally stepped within the bounds of the small, settlement, and it seemed the people were waiting for us; a large group of Elves, including what seemed to be the leader, were gathered near the edge of the camp.

Explore this, explore that.

Search this, search that.

That is all I did. I had nothing better to do; meet new people, farm monsters, discover quests, occasionally overwork myself in my shop. It was the only thing I really could do, having dropped from frontline status... more painfully so since I had just hit that status before 'vanishing'. I had to get myself back up, complete quest after quest to get the skill points to raise my level. I had been left in the dust.

So why was I busy exploring the second floor? Because, as usual, I had nothing better to do. Of course, the shops were decent, albeit a little bit dark and creepy, but they were cheap and got their job done. I had just gotten images embroidered onto my coat a few days prior at a shop on the second floor. Not to mention, I had spent more time on the floor than almost any other, due to helping so many people with <<Breaking the Unbreakable>>. So the wilderness was a familiar setting.

I was about to exit the city when I noticed a player with vibrant white hair, seemingly low-leveled armor and a spear. He seemed almost too underleveled to even be up on the second floor, but I had learned from experience that appearances can be deceiving.

With a friendly smile, I approached the player from behind and tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey there!" I greeted him joyfully,

I sighed and sat back against the counter, wiping imaginary sweat from my forehead; I had been working on my crafts almost all day... and I had to admit they were not going all that well. I groaned and slid down to the floor, my back against the cool wood. Hikari squeaked and curled up in my lap, and my hand idly stroked her orange fur; I was overworking myself. I had just gotten back to work on crafting and leveling, and yet I was pushing myself. I had to take it easy, as Itzal had told me. I picked Hikari up and slung her around the back of my neck, letting the horned weasel lazily dangle down my chest. I headed to the sink and turned the tap on, splashing water over my face, before I spun around at the sound of my shop's bell.

@Wolfie

@Lessa Holy crap, you're pretty ^^ We have way too many good looking people around here!!

@Lycan Awh, I hope it all goes well with you two ^^ Best of luck!

I sat at the water's edge, my boots sitting beside me as I wriggled my toes in the enormous pond that took up most of the Twelfth Floor's city. I did not believe I had ever been higher than the Eleventh Floor, so I saw no harm in exploring. Besides, as long as I strayed away from monsters, just taking a nice stroll should not have been a problem. I heard a grunt behind me and turned to look at a somewhat aged man passing by. "Might wanna scram, high tide comes soon." He growled and continued on his jolly way. I gave him a thumbs up, to which he rolled his eyes irritably, and I quickly switched my gesture to that of 'The Bird' and scrambled to my feet, picking up my boots and heading back up to the road into town.

I sat with my back against the wall of a seemingly rowdy inn and dried my feet off, before slipping them back into my footwear. I slipped my hands into my pockets and began stalking back into town, peeking back down at the pond to see that it was, indeed, high tide. How that happened with a pond was a mystery to me. My attention was jerked aside when a screaming pierced the air in front of me.

"Thief! Get back here!" I heard, and a lithe, obviously poor man was running pell-mell for the exit of the city. With a sigh, I stepped forwards once more for good measure, making sure I was well and truly in the safe zone...

And hooked my thumb and forefinger under the deprived rogue's chin, lifting him up from the cobbles and slamming the back of his skull against the ground, purple sparks exploding from under him, a series of 'Immortal Object' notifications peppering the ground underneath him. My hand pressed close against his chest and I tore the sack of jangling metal from his palm, looking up to see a young girl heading towards me. With a smile, I threw the stolen cash to her and released the thief, letting him scramble away to the dark hole he emerged from. The girl had no words; she simply bowed her crimson-topped head to me with a bright smile and turned to head back into town. I sighed and scratched the back of my neck in shame; I probably could have done that a little less violently.

Finally taking this. Piggybacking @Wolfie

"Thanks a lot!" I called to the NPC as I left the building. Of course he could not understand me, but NPCs were so lifelike that it was only natural to speak pleasantries to them. I had gone to a cheap tailor NPC on the Second Floor to get two things embroidered on my coat; a white dragon on my back, and the Knights of the Blood Oath emblem on the inside of the coat's right breast. I was on my way back to the teleport gate to head to the Third Floor, when I heard a small group of low-leveled players chattering about a quest - a quest to kill the Wasp Queen. Whatever this quest was, it sounded very low-leveled and old. I was surprised I had not taken it previously. I continued to eavesdrop, overhearing them talking about killing a certain number of Wind Wasps to summon the boss. With a smile and a sigh, I thanked them under my breath and headed for the rolling hills, wanting to take this quest very quickly before heading back to Delilah.

Way too over-leveled for this, but I'm taking it again because my other thread's gone stagnant. Taking it with Domarus, because more people = more posts.

I folded my arms and chuckled as I watched Zandra deal with her opponent; he looked incredibly stupid with his sluggish movements and tendency to struggle with the logic as to why he missed his target. There was only one answer; Zandra was leagues above him.  Her armour glowed brilliantly in the evening sun as she darted away from the imbecilic ogre's attacks, before swooping in with a powerful slash and a shockwave for good measure. "Seems like you do not need any help." I called to her as she finished her combo on the monster, and I watched its grass green health bar rapidly decrease, almost to the halfway mark; she did an incredible amount of damage. I made sure to analyse her movements. While level did play a large part in the speed with which she depleted her opponent’s hit points, there was some degree of real skill involved too - there was still much for me to learn.

We continued to creep around the Colosseum, carefully watching every pixel for signs of danger. Itzal halted me and I stared at him, my helmet's golden eyes reflecting light onto his chest. "Wait, you are right..." I threw a glance across the sky and around the walls of the Colosseum, before staring at the ground. "Crap!" I shouted as Itzal pushed me aside and swiftly dodged out of the way as well, and a lithe, snake-like figure burst from the sand, hovering in the sandy air between us. "What the..." I grunted and focused my vision on the monster; the <<Amphis Serpens>> hissed at me and stared daggers into my chest... with both heads.

"Two heads?!" I exclaimed, surprised I had not noticed the abnormality previously. I locked my eyes onto the health bar and sighed in relief; it was little more than the flaming tiger, Byakko's. "It should not be too much trouble. I have decent mitigation and lots of passive healing, so I can still take a few hits." I explained to Itzal past the monster, before falling into a boxing stance. I could feel my feet shifting slowly in the recently upturned sand; evading and hitting were going to be slightly challenging, especially in my heavy armor, but hopefully Itzal could land a few easy strikes.

ID: 71111 | BD: 4 - 1 = 3

Party
Grave: 560/560 HP | 52/56 EN | D: 12 | M: 36 | Rec: 2 | CC: 1 | Reg: 18 | BLD: 24 | BH: 5 | Sand: -1 to EVA and ACC
Itzal:  840/840 HP | 84/84 EN | ??? | Sand: -1 to EVA and ACC

Enemies
Amphis Serpens: 175/175 | D: 70 | M: 45 | Critical Special - Twin Fangs: Strikes two highest hate players and poisons them with 20 DMG for 5 turns.

@Itzal

I nodded at Jonathan's analysis. "Correct. I want to be a Berzerk Healer; deal and heal damage, both from myself and allies." I explained with a grin underneath the dragon helmet. "I also plan on taking a few ranks in Heavy Armour. I need to be able to take a hit to survive on the frontlines in the first place, no?" I asked with a hearty chuckle, echoing within the armor. "Well, yes, we should have encountered something... but the quest I received said to visit a settlement near the Forest of Wavering mist, so maybe mob spawns are lowered to make our trip easier." I speculated with a shrug, shambling along the edge of the forest. I noticed the emblem that shone on Jonathan's shield and I tilted my head. "If you don't mind me asking, what is that symbol?" I questioned, slowing down slightly.

We both watched the tiger with careful, piercing eyes, regaining its composure and falling back into a combat-ready position, emitting a low, volcanic growl. We had to find a point when it was unbalanced, when it could not react fast enough to our attack. And Husky found it, watching the tiger step forward with its off-leg and rushing up to it, activating <<Acupuncture>> once more, as I used to do; the Sword Art had decently high damage, at an efficient energy cost. I watched Husky's fists lash the beast again, dragging the once green bar through the yellow and straight into the red.

Husky came back to my side, obviously confident I could finish the battle. Of course, I was just as confident; it was time to show him one of the highest level Sword Arts. While the monster was still regaining its composure, I switched in, my fist raised behind me as if I was going to swing overhead with a haymaker strike. My fist glowed an angry red, and a flame-like effect engulfed my armored fist; the characteristic effect of <<Falcon Jab>>. I quickly lashed forward in a simple yet powerful motion, my gauntlet striking the tiger's head and slamming it against the ground, where it lay motionless for a moment, before shimmering and shattering into polygonal crystals.

I retracted my fist and shook it for a moment, the flame effect dying off. A grey window popped up in my vision, displaying the item I had received from the battle; <<Tiger Rage>>. I dismissed the prompt and opened my inventory, materializing the item. It was a large potion in a grey-black bottle, shaped like a volcanic crystal. Within the bottle swirled a glowing crimson liquid, and it appeared to throw itself against the bottle in an attempt to escape. "Huh, feisty little potion." I mused as I turned around to face Husky. "Well... I guess we win. Shall we turn the quest in?"

+1 EN

ID: 71105 | BD: 9 | MD: 2 | CD: 12 (Missed the link box and clicked the button, sorry)

+2 Recovery EN 

Sword Art Used - Falcon Jab: 12 + 1 x 1 x 10 - 40 = 130 - 40 = 90 DMG to Byakko, Bleed Applied (10 EN - Finesse)

Party
Grave: 560/560 HP | 46/56 EN | D: 12 | M: 36 | Rec: 2 | CC: 1 | Reg: 18 | BLD: 24 | BH: 5 
[H: 1] Husky: 290/320 HP | 13/32 EN | D: 10 | M: 30 | THR: 14 | ACC: 1 | HM: 1

Enemies
Byakko: -63/150 HP | D: 60 | M: 40 | Critical Special: Burn - Half of damage dealt is burn damage

LD: 18 = +1 Mat, <<Tiger Rage>> (Received at end of thread)

I stared at the equipment on the kitchen bench. It had been so long since I last used the place... I had been out of action for so long, spending my days wandering the floors and sightseeing. But now... now it was time to work. Macradon had ordered three feasts and six alcoholic items from me, and I had to get them done. He was hosting some kind of event, possibly a KoB gathering, since the guild had stagnated without Mack's charisma and power to lead us. What kind of friend and guildmate was I if I could not put my two cents into livening the guild up?

I turned and smiled at the horned weasel on my shoulder, nodding to her and gathering my ingredients to begin a long day of work.

ID: 70950
Roll: 11 + 1 = 12 = Perfect (Macradon)
XP: 8

ID: 70951
Roll: 9 + 1 = 10 = Rare
XP: 5

ID: 70952
Roll: 5 + 1 = 6 = Good
XP: 2

ID: 70953
Roll: 1 = Critical Fail
XP: 1

ID: 70954
Roll: 10 + 1 = 11 = Rare
XP: 5

ID: 70955
Roll: 7 + 1 = 8 = Uncommon
XP: 3

ID: 70956
Roll: 8 + 1 = 9 = Uncommon
XP: 3

ID: 70957
Roll: 4 + 1 = 5 = Good
XP: 2

Crafts Left for November 18th: 0
XP Earned: 29
Total XP: 756