Nikki Styx

The market was busy today, as it was yesterday, and as it would be tomorrow. It seemed everyday that Nikki came here it would prove to be too crowded. Though today things were different. She hadn't come here to trade supplies or deal with vendors. Instead she needed help. She had been camped out near a crafting table waiting for someone with the blacksmithing skill to come by and use it. Some would wonder if she had ill intentions waiting for a smith, but her intentions were pure. She needed help getting a new shield, and she needed a smith to forge one for her.

Many people had come by, many people had used the table, but none had the skill she required, either that or they simply did not look like the kind of people she should inquire for help. Again this was another problem with the city, all these low level crafters couldn't do what she actually needed. Nikki let out a sigh as she continued to lean against her spot on the wall. She had been watching for several hours today alone and boredom was starting to over come her. A single thin braid of blue hair hung from her raised hood and she twirled it absentmindedly as she waited.

occasionally she would open her menu's and look over things, such as her skills, stats or even recheck her inventory. It was while she was doing this that she noticed a figure drop down from a nearby roof and approach the crafting table. This caught her attention as she looked around her open window watching him with interest. Another figure joined him and the pair shared a brief conversation before the first person began to work on the table. She couldn't see from here what was being made, but considering how many different menus he had to actually go through she figured it had some difficulty.

Nikki closed her own windows and prepared to cross the narrow stretch of open street to speak with the crafter, but hesitated when a third person joined them. He called one of the men captain. Nikki froze for a moment considering her options. Captain meant guild member, and high ranking guild member possibly even leader. This could be both good and bad for her cause. They could be leetists and shrug her off, or even become hostile towards her. Or on the other hand they could ask her to join their guild and help them if she wanted help. She contemplated the second option for a moment. It really wouldn't be so bad if that happened, as unlikely as it were. After all she had been alone for some time and did want some company.

Nikki lowered her head for a second and sighed. There was no harm in at least trying to get help now, and besides maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "OK," she thought to herself. "Time to do this." She pressed herself off the wall with her hands and crossed the street, making sure to approach the men slowly. Despite her slow pace she still managed to reach them rather quickly, and stood behind them for a few moments before finally speaking.

"I'm sorry to bother you Gentlemen, but I could use some help."

((OOC: I hope this is ok, If not I can delete it right away.))

The part that actually made me cry was in the anime right before Kirito fights Heathcliff, when he is saying his goodbyes, and reassuring his friends that everything will be ok. it was heartbreaking, and I almost wondered if he was doing it more to reassure himself that everything would be ok.

Klein was by far my all time favorite character. He just seemed like a such a nice person, someone I know I would have loved to have actually been able to meet, if SAO were real.

The young woman stood for a moment, debating whether or not she should continue on. So far she had had little luck with the boars, missing many of her attacks and even sustaining a minor wound. It stood to reason that things were just not in her favor. Still She had managed to kill 2 of the 6 and that was a good start. Maybe, just maybe her luck would improve. Of course that's when Nikki noticed one of the boars was unaccounted for. She pulled the first, snuck up on the second, avoided the cluster of 3, so where was the last one?

Her question was answered almost immediately as she felt an impact from behind. It was sharp and fast and she knew instantly that it was her missing boar. It had been lucky and wandered around, and just now entered into agro range. She fell to the ground struggling to turn over and cast the animal off of her. She could hear it squealing loudly in her ear as it tried to keep goring her. She let out a small yell before turning sharply on to her back beaming the creature with her shield and knocking it onto its side.

Nikki stood up quickly, her health had dropped another 2 points but she was still going to be fine. She could see the animals health too, turns out she had managed to cause it 2 points of damage with her shield as well. It had been a level 1 so that meant it only had one more point of health left. Still considering how terrible her luck had been she decided to opt into a defensive stance and try to score a retaliation against its next attack. She didn't have to wait long for the boar to stand up and try again. It took only a second to recollect itself and charge her, but this time she was ready. With a steel gaze she held her ground and prepares for the assault.

The boar collided with her shield giving way to another pushing match. Nikki had not managed to retaliate against the creature, but instead held her ground, opting instead to take the Healing bonus and try to out muscle the animal. She pressed hard against it, though still saving no ground as she slid backwards on some loose dirt. She needed to do something fast now though, if she continued to slide back she would be pushed into the agro range of the other 3 boars. There really was only one option for her and with a fair amount of grace she spun to her right allowing the boar to slide free of her shield and dart past her.

She took a second to reface the animal and take a few steps back. It had agro locked on her now, she had caused it enough damage that it couldn't lose interest in her. This meant she could lead it away from the herd and deal with it a little ways back. She was prepared to deal with another attack as soon as it charged.

Americas Funniest Home Videos (Atleast the early seasons) has been ruined for me by this man.

I am a little leery about this topic, it has the potential to explode, but seeing as everyone here is acting very kindly over it, I don't see the harm in joining in.

I am A pagan, I have been for a very long time.

I also believe that all faiths are the right path, so long as you generally try to be good to one another. I Believe that the concept and belief of god was born of love, And in that I believe that there is no harm in Devotion to one religion over another so long as love exists.

I sense a lot of unneeded hostility on this topic.

I can certainly understand why it upsets people, Its not like PoF where you just make characters hook up. They need to develop an grow and if bonds form then so be it. We cant force them.

On the other hand I think Shen might have simply been innocently trying to just do some plotting ahead of time, with no disrespect meant. Its probably all just a misunderstanding.

I do however think this has gotten way out of hand and gone way too far for what it really is. I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't mind seeing this topic locked up and left alone.

Holy Freaking wow... I want it.

I like yer intro rage, its a pleasure to meet you. Hope to see you around the rp and maybe we can thread together.

She was going to try attacking with her combo strike again. She prayed that it would land this time so that she could finally get some control over the scenario. The boar itself began pawing at the ground again preparing to attack. It was of little concern now as Nikki was in range to strike. All she had to do was land 2 hits. @ strikes to do 4 damage and end this miserable creature. That couldn't be so hard could it? She crouched down again, and in a flash leapt foreword, striking at the boar again.

In a flurry Nikki exploded landing strike after strike. Each one hit for critical damage, which given her level was devastating to the small boar. After all was said and done Nikki had landed a full 5 hit combination, striking the boar in its face and chest respectively. It had been the fastest and most accurate she had been ever, and even the system seemed to lag a bit as the boars health depleted to nothing. Even she had to stop and comprehend the damage that had been done, having not believed it herself.

Still as the beast vanished she couldn't help but feel the surreal effect of doing so much damage so quickly. She had to be careful now and not let this go to her head. This had been an extremely lucky show and was no real indication of her power. If anything she could get herself killed banking on doing this again. Despite it all Nikki continued to feel a sense of pride though.

Nikki rose back to her feet. She paid no heed to the injury as one could not feel pain in SAO. Still this was certainly not her day and she could tell that luck was not on her side. All things aside though this boar would not go unpunished for its crimes of goring her. She had taken 2 damage, but her battle healing would fix that soon so long as she just blocked. A smile crossed her lips as she crouched down keeping her shield up and her eye on the pig. It wouldn't hurt her again, and soon she'd add its loot to her inventory before moving on to finish its friends off. The boar soon charged and Nikki held her ground digging her feet in and bracing her shield.

It had happened again. Another failure. This time the animal had run right over her, tossing her easily to the side. Nikki hit the ground with a thud, sending up a cloud of dirt. What the hell was wrong with her today, she couldn't win to win. Luckily her battle healing had triggered due to her inactivity, and she had actually gained a point of health. Still she wished to have avoided damage all together.

Nikki stood up now dusting herself off. Anger was welling up inside her as she turned to face the MoB. It had already turned so she lost the chance at a rear strike., that was a damn shame as now she had to kill it slowly again. A small frustrated sigh escaped her as she began walking towards the boar again.

Hmmm.. Hard to say, though I think Ill clump myself in with either the Lawful Neutral or the Neutral Good.

So Im an MTG (Magic the Gathering) player, have been for over a year now. I'm curious if there are any other players on site, and if so what kind of Deck do you play use.

I am using a Red/White Boros Deck that plays like a Rakdos. The mechanic is to kill all my own creatures to either generate more, or generate infinite health to win the game.

Its alright. Everyone makes mistakes.

Hmmm My favorite food is.... Bacon.. hands down without a thought. Bacon, Bacon, BACON... I could eat it on everything. I love thick cut, thin cut, peppered, maple, all of it... I'm drooling just thinking bout it.

Nikki could see that without intervention the male player would have been in a lot of trouble. He had no weapon equipped, and from what she was able to hear he was unarmed. That was a very big problem in SAO. There were however many reasons for being unarmed, assuming his hand to hand skill was high it may have been a preference of his, or the more likely scenario, his weapon broke. The female player seemed very competent with a blade and was able to dispatch the boars in a fairly easy manner. Still Nikki felt justified in helping considering how many players had actually died to herds of boar so far.

A small blush crept across her cheeks at the girls words. No one had ever called Nikki a hero, in this or any game. It felt good but tat the same time she wasn't sure what to say in response. In comics someone would always respond with something cute or clever, or even dutiful, but she had nothing. This would prove ok as in a flash the girl sprinted to the side to intercept another boar.

Another boar charged and Nikki met it with her shield, pressing the steel disc against its face. One thing she had noticed was that boars, despite having low attack and generally being weaker animals had the ability to push people around pretty well, and she was no exception. Her feet slid easily on the loose dirt until she jabbed it sharply and pressed it to the side. The boar fell over with the combined hit and lack of balance, it rolled over a few times and then stood to its feet, falling back to the outside line to attack again.

Nikki took a second now to assist the male player who was still fighting with the boar. He had it held in such a manner that a crit was easily achievable. She approached quickly, taking aim and jabbing the boar neatly in the throat. The critical hit succeeded and the boar pixelated like the others had. "Nice hold!" her voice was triumphant and full of life. With three players here these animals would be no problem, so long as everyone was careful.

Moments later the female player returned positioning close to Nikki. The plan now was to watch each others back giving them a better chance of removing the remaining boar without incident. The pair should have agro now, if not from all the remaining boar then most of them. Nikki knew at least the wounded one had agro on her, and she could see it circling along the outside of the fight. "Right, not many to go." Her response was cool and collected, she had no need to panic not now or ever. Soon this would be done, and soon they could rest.

With both wasps dead, the scenario seemed a lot safer than it had been, though in SAO things weren't always as they seemed. Strangely enough, things had not gone too bad, not too bad at all. Even though Daeron was hurt, not to badly though, She was still fine, and the other players seemed alright, and not too eager to fight, perhaps this would be ok too. Still Nikki was not going to lower her defense so quickly, not to new people, she had no interest in getting killed out here like this. She did stab her spear back into the ground though allowing her a hand free for introductions if necessary.

The newest player had gone mentioned that they needed to be more careful if they intended to survive. This was true and a pang of guilt shot through Nikki as she thought of her injured partner. If she had been quicker or just better she could have kept him from taking damage, that was her job after all, as of this immediate moment she was a tank. On the other hand the other player had limited room to talk as she had charged in herself stealing a kill that rightly belonged to other players. If they had been PK'ers Swift could have found herself in trouble as well.

There was also the question of the original player that had followed them here. She seemed to want to vocalize her dislike of what had happened, but seemed to be stuck on words. The other girl had also asked about joining up with the group. Nikki's first response was to say something snappy and mean, especially considering the girls lack of enthusiasm. Then again she was not the part leader and could not extend or deny requests, that came down to Daeron. Considering how he had protected her, she knew he was someone to be trusted at least for now, so she would go with his judgment on the matter. That aside she wasn't letting this other girl get away Scott free either.

"Less reckless? If we had been intent on those kills we could have killed you. If you want to survive you need to be more careful."

Nikki turned her attention back to the player who had followed them. She felt bad not having waited for her after having accepted the party invite. "Im really sorry we left you. I wasn't sure if you had any interest in joining us or not."

@ Rayne: <3333333333 Skrillex fer the win lol

Right now im listening to Not Falling by Mudvayne

I also agree on decreasing the difficulty of the system, it honestly took e a good few minutes and read through to understand what was being proposed. (However that might even be cleared up with better wording I don't not sure so please don't quote me on that.) Now that I understand it however it seems simple enough.

I do however love the way damage is calculated by level, and adding the hard 10 roll crit modifiers is fantastic. So if we keep nothing else of the new system then by all means lets keep the damage calculation formula as it is truly inspired.

It had been a wonderful day. The sky was clear, and everything seemed to just be great. The air smelled sweeter, the birds sang nicer, and even her sandwich tasted better. As far as Nikki was concerned it was just one of those good days. Or rather it was until someone's scream cut through the fields like a knife. It had been so random and out of place that at first she almost ignored it, half believing it to be a simple bug in the game. But something inside said that she had probably better go look anyways.

She had been scouting and clearing boar in the area for loot, and to her knowledge the only things that were in the direction of the scream were a few isolated boar herds. Quickly Nikki deposited her non essential items into her inventory and gathered her gear before setting off at a run towards the nearest herd of boar. She knew it had been just over the nearby hill, but when she got to the top of it she saw something she hadn't expected. A man, A woman, and a scattered handful of boar. This was a dangerous situation.

She stood at the top of a nearby hill evaluating the situation. She already knew she would help them, but she needed to make sure she did it right. She had counted 7 boars in total for that particular herd. It was certainly sizeable, and if there were a few level 2's or level 3's in there it could prove more than dangerous for the pair caught in its midst. Despite her level she knew that if she got stuck in the middle of that agro storm it would be trouble as well. But time seemed to be running out for the pair. The male had no weapon equipped and the female could only do so much. It was now or never.

Nikki charged as the male leapt foreword grabbing and stalling one of the boars. She would have to move fast now if she wanted to help. She activated her sprint ability and raced towards the group as fast as she could. Another beast had circled around behind them and had begun to charge at the female player, this is where Nikki would intercept and make her stand.

She raised her shield at the last moment as she collided with the boar at full speed, effectively intercepting its attack. A clang rang out like a bell as the boar bounced off of her shield, skipping along the ground until coming to a stop and pixelating right in front of everyone. She had managed a critical hit shield bash off of a sprint. In other words it was super effective. Nikki stood up standing at the female players back watching another pair of Mobs approach from behind.

She looked over her shoulder towards the male who was still holding the boar. "Do you have a weapon?" She asked hurriedly as she prepared fro another assault.

I hate Bob Saget. When I was little I had a dream about him being a super villain. Honestly I know it sounds silly but I never got over it. If I see him I start to shake.

Right now Ive gotBun Demby Skrillex playing.

How will the system work to add in thongs like shields or other items or skills that grant higher levels of defence? Might I suggest adding modifiers to combat rolls for defenders with increased defence. Ie. Shields grant an automatic plus 2 to defending roll.

As Nikki neared her target boar she was able to view its stats. It was a level 2 monster, which did nothing for its attack, but did afford it one extra hit point. She smiled to herself knowing that if anyone here could do it, it was her. She took her time approaching it, working hard to stay out of the detection range of the other animals. Her goal was not to pull this one away, but instead to attack it flat out with her combo attacks, and rather than rely on her shield she wanted to try and evade its retaliations using her high level of agility.

The boar continued to ignore Nikki as she approached it, and even turned its back on her entirely granting her the chance to double her damage while performing a backstab. She couldn't believe her luck as she stopped a few feet from the boar. She could hear it breathing it was so close now, one thing was for sure, it was not the most observant of creatures. She crouched a few more moments before leaping into the air towards the beasts hind quarters with her spear in front of her.

The attack had been an incomparable failure. She had the perfect opportunity to kill the boar in one shot, and instead she missed all together, but not only that she landed hard on the ground next to the boar. Naturally this triggered its agro and retaliation, which resulted in it landing a solid attack across her midriff. Nikki gasped in shock as she rolled away from the boar, eventually getting to her feet. she crouched down again holding her shield out in front of her as she prepared for another attack from the animal.

Id love to have Asuna. Count me in please.

Right now...

Im listening too...

WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY????????