Shirien

Shirien felt a sense of unnatural dread, like fear syrum was being injected directly into every vein in his body. He couldn't stop shaking as the wolf approached him. It wasn't even like he was overly scared of wolves, it just reminded him of when he was most terrified in his living life. He stood there petrified as the wolf started to stalk him, circling slowly as he remembered the snarling and the exposed teeth when he was just a child. He remembered calling for help and trying to run as fast as he could. "Why not run away? Go ahead and show how much of a coward you are and live to see tomorrow." taunted the voice. He couldn't tell if it was the wolf or not, but it was getting to him either way.

[ID# 58585]

Shirien: 20/20 HP | 4/5 Energy [-2 +1] | 21 Mitigation | 5 Damage | 1 Evasion
Action: [BD: 5] Miss! 

Fear: 5/5 HP | 1 Mitigation | 2 Damage
Action: [MD: 6-1=5] Miss!

Shirien was walking through a pitch black corridor when the door had shut itself behind him with surprising speed. He couldn't really believe he was going to do this without knowing the risks. If he made a wrong move in this game, he would be a corpse in real life and cease to exist in this one entirely! "You're afraid, aren't you?" Said a voice he recognized as his own. Suddenly the room expanded outwards into a well lit forest with a cave in front of him. Inside he saw two yellow eyes staring back at him. There was a figure inside he could not make out through the dark. "Of course not, why would I be? I have this upgraded dagger and armor, that'll keep me good and safe!" He says without thought, rationalizing why he had nothing to be scared of "You say that, but those are just there to hide your fear, to push it down and let you pretend its not there. Every step you take, every movement outside safety, you are cowardice incarnate. Just admit it and this will allll go so much smoother." He heard a growl as the eyes started to come closer. A large wolf twice his height was revealing itself to him with unnaturally piercing yellow eyes. Shirien felt like there was static in his mind, trying to recall an event from his childhood as he grit his teeth to try and not think about it.

Deciding that the NPC was not a threat Shirien walked past it with his weapon sheathed, his assumption clear as no proximity attacks or hits to the back occurred. He approached the left-most room first and took a seat. He had seen meditation before and heard it detailed in anime, but this was his first time actually attempting it. He crossed his legs and brought his hands together in front of him, putting the palms together as he took a deep breath and steadily tried to think of nothing but the blankness of his vision with his eyes shut. A minute later Shirien heard stone against stone and his eyes opened. The door had changed shape and color, now being yellow with the head of a wolf carved into it. He raised a brow as he stood himself back onto his legs as he dismissed the coincidence and entered into the room while drawing his dagger from its sheath.

Shirien took a deep breath to try and calm himself, using his eyes to overlap his mind's eye. He usually used this strategy whenever he was thinking of things he didn't want to think about. "Let it help me how?" Shirien asked to gather information. He had to center himself. This was a quest or an event, it had to be, there was nothing paranormal at work, it was the game's atmosphere giving him chills and forcing his thoughts to the surface. He kept repeating logical and calm words like that as a mantra. "Approach each door and meditate. Overcome what lies within, and you will be rewarded. Do that, and you will be rewarded. Both inside, and out." The NPC responded with vagueness. Looking closer the creature was like a standing shadow that was somehow in 3D. On its face was two white orbs for eyes and a crescent moon shape for a mouth. Shirien nodded in understanding, having a goal and a reward, even if he didn't know what the latter would be should he succeed. "Fine..." He says softly, not entirely pleased about the lack of consent that was put forward in this quest.

With an intense sense of panic going through his mind he started to notice his head was... echoing? All throughout the room he heard his own voice bouncing off the walls even thought his lips were sealed shut! "This has to be me dreaming... I've never dreamed this lucidly before..." he says before taking a breath and jumping, landing back on his legs his voice rings out through the room. "If this was a dream, I'd fly." Shirien swiped his hand and confirmed that he still had menus and he swiftly went through every option to look for an error in his memory, anything to prove it was false. He even checked the map only to be given nothing that would tell him how he got there or how to get out. The voices were only getting louder and more panicked until a new voice chimed in. "Welcome" The voice called to the player in the dream-like domain. Shirien's eyes looked to the... person as they kept speaking. "Don't be afraid, human, this place wishes you no harm. In fact, if you wish to leave, you need only step out. However, this place is meant to help you. You just need to let it." The obvious NPC explained while their voice showed no emotion.

Hours later his eyes started to crack open as a sense of restored stamina filled his body. Slowly pushing himself up he started to rub his eyes with the hand that didn't hold his dagger. It took a moment, but he realized he couldn't hear water. "What!?" His eyes shoot open and he pushes himself up onto his legs, the leather-clad player glancing around with fear and panic at the change in location, eyes shooting around for any indication as to where he was. "I've... Never seen this floor before..." He says softly as he realized he was inside a large skyscraper with four doors in front of him, and a massive hole in the building behind him. He approached the hole first to survey his location. All around the single tower was ruin. Smashed concrete, moss, and overgrown plants stretched out for miles. Looking closer to the base of the tower however, he noticed there was no bottom! A sudden sense of claustrophobia filled him as he realized the floor he was on was simply floating above the landscape! He started breathing heavily and turns his attention to the doors so not to get too caught up by the unrealistic view before him.

Shirien figured he should put his new armor set to good use, and with that in mind he hurried to explore the sixth floor in more detail than he had in the past. The jungles of this floor gave him a variety of creatures to fight and destroy, a major boon since it gave him experience in combat against a variety of creatures from serpents to spiders and even apes! In his excitement though he started to grow tired from the physical exercise and the usage of his sword arts. He figured that he should start heading back to town but then he heard something. He couldn't tell who or what it was, it was like a whisper but he heard no words. His curiosity was peaked, his eyes moving towards the sound of water where the voice had come from. As he approached he was alerted to the fact he had entered a safe zone. He wondered why exactly this area was to be considered safe out of the rest of the jungle but he saw an opportunity and took it. It was getting very late, most players were likely heading back to town to rest. "Guess this will be a nice place to camp..." He muttered as he moves to the nearest flat surface, curling up atop it and shutting his eyes with his dagger held tightly in his hands for safety.

I'll take this, why not? Heheh...

The hooded player watched as his hitpoints rose, a smile of relief crossing his lips at Mayuri's kindness, but he was still in a bit of a panic. He was breathing heavily, as his hand left the potion and he raised his shaking dagger for the elf's next response. Shirien was backing away to try and get closer to Mayuri but his eyes were stuck to the elf. He fumbled over a branch and fell backwards onto his butt with a surprised yelp. The moment of shock and surprise was not unnoticed by the AI who closed in and stabbed towards Shirien, a pointed scimitar piercing through Shirien's leg, effectively pinning him as his health dropped again and he reached for his potion a second time to gulp it down so he would not be at risk of dying. "H-help please~?" He says as sweetly as he could with the situation while trying to kick the elf off of him with his free leg. Fear almost felt like an understatement for what he was feeling as his nerves shot off at the feel of the weapon in his limb and the worrying sound of a lowering hitpoint bar.

[ID# 58541][BD: 1 Miss!][MD: 6]
Action: Critical Miss!! ((Fuuuuuu-))
Enemy Action: Hit

Dark Elf: 4/12

Shirien: 3/12 1/3 Energy [-2 +1]

Mayuri : 88/88 12/12 Energy

Shirien watched as Macradon hit the wall, thinking he wasn't going to make it until he used various abilities to change that. The hodded player made a quick 'hm' before taking his hand back and pulling his knife out of where it was anchored. With his weapon sheathed again he says while moving towards one edge "Well, good job in any case." His eyes scanned the horizon, saying to the other player "I normally only come up here at night, but you can see pretty far from here." From this rooftop you had a view of the entire village. It would be a simple effort to watch the NPCs and any players go about their business, and even outside of the village itself until the forest blocked the view.

Shirien hesitated a minute before going through his inventory and tossing some water to Macradon as a sort of gift as well as reward for keeping up with him. Shirien himself sipping his own drink after the exercise "Mm. Too bad physical exercise doesn't really do much for our stats." He says absentmindedly, figuring he'd have at least some form of boost after all this jumping and running if it was the case. The hand-eye coordination and other such reflexes was a decent boon in his mind however. While looking up from up high he remembered they had been talking about a bird boss and so he said "Ah, and that must have been an annoying boss. If you don't mind me asking, just for future reference..." He smirks to Macradon "Do heavy armor users take more damage from a fall than someone who is lighter? Same distance, of course."

True, HOWEVER!! It is an ability unique to Sinon. We cannot use a bow in that game nor can anybody else. IF you use that logic then the bow needs to be a unique skill.

Bows are pretty non-existent in SAO as far as I am aware. That said there WERE throwing weapons, so it is conceivable to us throwing knives or the like in my mind. Though, no such weapons are listed in the skills or anything for some reason.

I don't think it'd be hard, it could be the two-handed equivalent for daggers (listed as one-handed daggers hilariously). Like, maybe holding a regular dagger in your left hand (or right depending on your primary) for close combat and the right would throw new daggers. Though, that could be viewed as dual wielding, so maybe keep throwing weapons as a 'two-handed' light weapon skill so that they aren't being thrown off balance by a shield or such even though you are only using one dagger/dart/pebble at a given time. 

Kirito didn't do any fancy equip/unequip stuff, he just sheathed his sword, reached down, and drew his throwing dart and then threw it. Similarly he used a sword art WITH A PEBBLE.

Edit: Reading the above post, I see how that might be a problem....... From and RP perspective, not an actual mechanic perspective. You would RP out the actual weight distance issues, while systematically we could say they are a 'mid-range' weapon and not a 'long-range'. Functionally it would work just like any other weapon, but in character they are dodging and making distance while throwing their weapons or using them up close in an emergency. There is no need to make new systems to involve it.

Shirien nodded to Avilon in understanding, figuring he should try to speed the process a bit he moved closer to the kobold with his dagger at the ready for some cuts and stabs. As he approached however the spearman used its range to its advantage, making Shirien evade backwards or else risk being skewered by the monster! One of the disadvantages of using a dagger was the minimal range which made him grit his teeth and say "Tsk, his stick's too big for me to get close without a distraction." He warns his group with obvious displeasure for the virtual creature clear in his voice. He started circling the monster who had no hate to any player in particular, waiting for an opening as a hunter would before lunging.

[ID# 58440][BD: 5 - Miss!]

Shirien entered the shop only days after he had ordered two items from the clothing shop. He smiled and gave a wave to Ariel and Kimba. "Hello again!" He says happily while looking through her shop's inventory. He was in need of something to help him through the grind to tier 2, and didn't have much by way of money or materials. Still, her prices were fairly reasonable to him. "Hm... " He eyes one particular set of armor with mitigation before shaking his head and saying "I think I'd like a custom order again if that's alright!" He takes an order form and begins to fill it out. "Until my armor skill gets way higher, I think I'll wear tough armor instead of being all 'jump n dodge'. That should keep me alive until tier two I think!" He says with a positive outlook. "If possible I'd like it done in the next couple days, but if that's not possible I could give you some col to loan one of your armors until its finished? I plan to take part in that werewolf event." Placing his order on the counter he smiles with curiosity to the blonde owner of the shop before realizing something. "Oh. Are you still having the sale?" He starts going through menus as if to prepare some col to even the price if he could.

-3 Materials

Shirien waited for an attack that wasn't coming, vaguely hearing an apology along with rushed running. He was staring back at Mayuri with wide eyes until he realized the elf was upon him! It sliced its scimitar right across his chest, making him grit his teeth as a crimson mark was left in its wake, sending tingles through his virtual nerves. "Ahhh! That doesn't feel good!!" His rapidly dropping hitpoints seemed to agree with his assessment. He was struck down into the red with that critical strike. Shirien himself however was not one to get hit and not return it in kind if possible.

Before the elf had a chance to back away he lunged forward with his dagger, the blade stabbing into the retreating elf far less fatally. The elf's HP was knocked down an additional third, putting the elf almost as low as Shirien who was backing away quickly while going through his menus. With two hits, the elf was definitely aggroed to him. He whipped out his potion and got ready to use it should Mayuri be unable to finish the elf off. It would be an early use of the potion but it would insure his survival for another attack! He would worry about what Mayuri was doing later, far more worried about his real and actual death being a papercut away!

[ID# 5840][BD: 8][MD: 9] ((Slightly less cruel but still pretty dang cruel!!))
Action: Side Bite (2x1x2)
Enemy Action: Critical!

Dark Elf: 4/12 [-4 HP]

Shirien: 2/12 1/3 Energy [-2 +1]

Mayuri : 88/88 12/12 Energy

Shirien nodded while considering Takao's answers while they walked, Shirien restoring his energy with every step so he would be ready to go once they got to the boss. "Gotcha, a boss. Seems simple enough I suppose. And just the EXP you say?" He asks curiously with a slight hint of curiousness before shrugging his shoulders and letting his theories go. "It'l be nice to get some treasure I think... Anything would be a help I figure." He grins as he browses through his inventory real quick and then quickly reconsiders. "No... Save those for when there is actually a threat..." He glances to the higher leveled players as if to confirm to himself that he had nothing to fear from the coming boss. Having nothing better to do until the boss fight he glances around for anything worth looting in the dungeon. Some generic pots grabbed his attention and he quietly approached them and peaked inside only to find sand. He had no idea why the kobolds were storing sand when they had a desert outside, but it was what it was and he returned to the herd.

[ID# 58399][LD: 13 - Nothing]

Shirien listened with curiosity when the red-haired smith approached the group with an obvious, albeit effective, business strategy. A grin crossed his lips as he stood himself up and started to approach the player as well. "Hey there!" Shirien says in a friendly manner, pulling his hood back enough so that his eyes were visible to the other player. "Seeing how I couldn't pull the dagger free from the advertisement, I think I could use a silver weapon. Ah, my name is Shirien by the way." He spends a moment in thought. "I'd like the dagger to be serrated. Like, to cause bleeding. At the same time I want those little blades to be sharp so they can cut deep."  He thinks of a simpler way to put it and says after a second of thought "So two enhancements towards damage, and one towards bleed if possible... How much am I gonna owe you?"

After all pricing concerns were finished and his order finalized Shirien couldn't help but get a smirk on his face as he puzzled up a cheap and likely to fail business strategy himself. Well, not business strictly speaking since he wouldn't profit, but it would help him in the long run. He says just loud enough anyone nearby would hear "I don't have anything better to do until the boss starts up, so hey, as long as the material cost is paid, I would be willing to appraise items without charge. Naturally it only works for things under perfect, though." He shrugs his shoulders and takes a seat nearby, taking out his polishing rag and cleaning up his current dagger a bit with it. 

Shirien hummed softly to himself while moving through town, on his way to get some cheap meat for a meal when he noticed the glimmer of silver. A sense of greed lead him to move towards the flier. He gave it a very slight glance before trying to grab the dagger and pull it free. It didn't budge an inch and a second try made him assume it was stuck there by the system. "Tsk. Dangle another carrot why don't you." He says in frustration before returning his attention to the flier. "Hm... Werewolf... Rewards, now that's interesting... Silver weapons are more effe-" He stops and glares at the flier with scorn clear on his face. "I am a dagger user! This is a dagger! Was this made just to piss me off?!" He says far louder than he needed to before sighing dramatically and turning on his heel to where the meeting place was to be, figuring he would cool off on the way.

A good while later he was strolling up to the place where the werewolf was supposed to appear, waving his hand at the forming crowd. The hooded player happily said "Heeeey, how's it going? I only have one condition, if the werewolf bites me, don't kill me. It probably won't turn me into a werewolf, and if it does, that would just be awesome." He announces happily while considering the perks of such a transformation. Increased senses and built in weapons being the most obvious. He soon noticed three familiar faces belonging to Ebony, Niko, and Avilon who he was happy to shoot a smile from beneath his hood as he found a place to get comfy until the NPC started to speak. He figured it would be pointless to try and quiz it for information, it would tell them everything it knew in time.

Shirien smiled in thanks for Mayuri's kind reassurance while his eyes wandered the mists. He largely wished that it had been fear keeping him held down to the first floor. The shameful truth was that he had found contentment in being a parasite. Letting the higher leveled players clear the path for him and leave him simply gathering herbs to sell and eating food or sleeping in a cheap bed. He didn't have a tragic past or a mental scar, and that just made him feel more pitiful for his lack of effort until now.

Taking a deep breath he looked towards a nearby bush with wide eyes as he saw the slight glint of metal. Shirien charged forward towards the bush, the dark elf figuring out it had been discovered leaped from its leafy cover and into the open with a scimitar held in one hand, and a cloth sac in the other. The sac likely held the stolen items. The male elf wore dark clothing to match its dark skin as one might assume from the name.

Intent on getting the first blow off he closed the distance between the elf who swung first, the blade going over Shirien's head as he ducked and quickly slashed his blade across the thief's sides before backing out of their weapon's range. He hadn't done a huge amount of damage but it was a drop in the bucket, that's what mattered to Shirien. "You're up!" He says in a slightly cheery tone, apparently satisfied with his performance.

[LD: 17]

Dark Elf discovered!

[ID# 58343][BD: 8][MD: 4]

Shirien: 12/12 HP 2/3 Energy [-2 +1]
Action: Side Bite (2x1x2)

Dark Elf: 8/12 [-4]
Action: Miss!

Shirien knew his energy wouldn't last to the boss if he pushed his luck so he returned to the group and crossed his arms in satisfaction that he had done something instead of having all the experience fed to him. It was minuscule, but it was something at the very least. He watched and waited as Takao had his way with the enemies. Shirien appreciated the help, but it seemed a bit like overkill to him. He was used to games like this having some form of difficulty, so being carried through content just made him feel strange. Like he was missing out on what the people who designed the enemies had in store for him. Despite being twisted into a trap, at its core this was a game with a lot of people putting a lot of effort into it, he could tell that much. "Say, how do these things end? Do we all get a chest each or do we split a single stash of loot?" He asks idly as he didn't feel threatened in the slightest.

((Remember to give yourself a reward, Niko! It had exactly half your health, and you rolled a 20!))

Shirien grit his teeth as he was already seeing how this was going. He was weak, he would never think to deny it, but he refused to be carried entirely. It was a matter of pride more than anything else, even if he made no real impact he insisted that he contribute in some manner. "Well, time to play the actual role.." he mutters before slinking into the shadows and ahead of the rest of the group. He was visible to his party members but that didn't stop him. He figured that Niko and he deserved at least minimal action, so he found a straggling monster juuuust for him while Takao was busy one shotting everything. With his target in sight he runs up behind the monster and jabs his dagger clean through the monster's armor and into its spine, pulling back and to the side as he calls "Want to show this guy what you got, Niko!?" while waiting for any eventual counters if it didn't die. He still had just enough energy for an actually offensive ability rather than support.

[ID# 58336][BD: 9 Crit!][MD: 1]

Shirien: 20/20 (2/5) -4 +1
SA: Armor Pierce: 1x1x6 Stun!

Kobold Squire: 19/20 HP [6 DMG - 5 mitigation = -1 HP][Hate: 1 Shirien] [Stunned!]

Shirien couldn't help but grin at how modest she seemed to me. While trying not to stare at her beautiful clothing that made him look like a peasant he idly gestured to himself "That's far better than me. I've been a waste of processing power this whole time." He shrugs his shoulders and says while looking to the mist "But I'm trying to change that... at least a little bit." He raises a brow as out of the corner of his eye he sees her hand moving towards his, blushing softly until she pulled away and he kept his eyes forward, taking a deep breath. "That's true. As long as we keep close, this will be cake."

He froze with wide eyes when he felt a slight movement behind himself, momentarily worried he was about to get stabbed with a knife before he heard the sound of an item being used. Relieved he begins to breath again, slowly to not seem suspicious as he glanced back at the other player... To see her putting something away, but he hadn't seen what. It raised a few questions but none that had him suspicious. As far as he knew there were items higher up that could be used more than one time, but the fact she put something away to him meant that she certainly had something that was multi-use. Since they weren't in a party he had no way to know what the item had done really.

He shook distracting thoughts from his head and held his dagger at a ready position as he nodded, taking the lead since it was his quest. "I'm ready. Just... Uh... Make sure nothing stabs me in the back." He smiled, putting a lot of faith in her on that since this was going to be his first combat situation against a humanoid enemy for certain. While stepping into the mist he kept his eyes scanning all the horizons. He had considered a more stealthy approach but he didn't want to leave his partner in this quest to be the only one standing out. He was weak but he could take at least one hit he figured. At the moment though he was having trouble locating the elf in the hidden mists. Doubting that a thief would just suddenly reveal themselves in a grand fashion and make this quest too easy on them unless an opening was seen.

[ID# 58285][LD: 2]
((I was thinking that the dark elf thief will probably be using stealth, so I am LDing to look for them!))

Stats at time of RP
 

Shirien smirked as he noticed the other player slow down a smidge, not judging him for it, if anything it was entirely reasonable. With a deep breath and having reached the final rooftop he said "A bird, hm? That must have really suuuuucked! Did it at least come down now and then or was it hit and run?" He said absentmindedly and with a hint of curiosity. Soon though he gestured to the mayor's home and said once his question was answered or not "One last jump, let's get a running start...." He took a deep breath as he backed up and ran forward, kicking off the edge of the roof and holding his arm out, grabbing onto the lowest section of the roof.

He heaved himself up and looked back at Macradon, spending a moment in consideration before drawing his dagger and stabbing it between two tiles and holding out his arm over the edge. "If you don't think you can make it, grab on! You might need to pull yourself up, but I can keep you from falling at least!" He offers the other player as a kindness. If he risked it or not was up to him in his mind. Shirien figured that since he was in a safe zone he didn't need to worry about his own arm getting pulled clean off.

It hadn't escaped notice that he was being watched, but he shrugged it off easily enough. If anything he thought it was fair since he had done the same. He decided he'd keep his guard up just in case, doubting anything would come of it. It only made sense for himself to be suspicious he figured, considering the weapon and hood. Appearances were his first line of defense so he was glad that it was taken into consideration. People often try to avoid suspicious people and try not to cause trouble in his mind.

When the dungeon had been discovered by Takao Shirien gave a whistle and stared out into the distance at his claim. "Nicely done. Hate to be a shadow in the dark around you." He says cheerily before turning his attention to Avalon "Well, going by usual RPG rules..." He gestures to the two tanks "They charge in first, piss off all the baddies, and then we attack the baddies in the back when they are busy attacking the 'tanks'. You'll get used to it, just don't wander off on your own and we should be good I figure..." He glances to the tanks in wonder if they knew their limits "As long as they don't over extend themselves." That said he drew his dagger in preparation for any sneak attacks by the enemy, not that they could get past Takao's seemingly eagle eyes.

Shirien nodded happily when Avilon asked who he was "Yup yup, that's me. I can't say at my level I fit into a 'build', but I guess right now I am closest to a basic damage dealer." He pats the Good quality leather gauntlets he wore to indicate his light armor and draws his dagger. The dagger was the only piece of combat equipment he had that had enhancements. All three of the enhancements were used for plain damage. He didn't mind sacrificing creativity and build diversity in favor of survival up until he reached tier two. He figured by then he'd have enough SP to throw around that he could start getting more creative. "What I will be when this character is finished... Well... That's a secret." He chuckled softly, not wanting to be too predictable right off the bat. His eyes quickly surveyed everybody and he came to the confirmation that two of them could kill him with no effort at the very least, while a third would be impossible for him to kill at the very least. Concluding his strategic judgments he sheaths his dagger happily.

When Avilon mentioned being a scientist he raised a brow, momentarily about to ask if she was involved in nervegear at all before deciding that was odd to assume. There were many fields of study after all, not everybody in a labcoat took part in making sci-fi esque gaming systems. "Scientist, hm? That's interesting..." He tried to think of something to say, never having been a conversationalist, more of a listener and information gatherer. "Well, nothing wrong with learning everything you can. I try to do the same thing. It's better to know stuff you won't need than not know stuff you will need... Or something that sounds smart like that?" He shrugs his shoulders and says slightly suddenly "So, anyone against Takao being our leader for this venture then? I vote 'aye' for it." The guy had found a floor boss, he figured that he could find a simple sub-dungeon with ease.