Ruus

He was satisfied that he was learning. Coming out on this journey and meeting an ally, someone who didn’t mind explaining how things worked was most definitely going to pay off in the long run. Just being out taking in the environment, and learning skills was fun. ‘I should have done this sooner’ he thought. 

“I’ll just have to keep practicing then and become stronger.” He sheathed his sword and turned towards the direction they had been heading before the panther attacked. “I guess they become second nature the more repetition you get with them. As I level and unlock more sword skills I’ll be able to learn them and use them on the battlefield with no problem.”

"Ah, so I should have access to these Sword Arts then. " He moved his hand and activated the menu. He swiped his hand to the left to browse through pages before finding the page with the list of skills available.  

'Vertical, A simple sword art slashing vertically.'

That seemed easy enough he though. He drew the basic iron straight sword from its sheath and held it with one hand in front of him. The blade was light and sturdy to be beginner sword. He knew the item wasn’t worth anything, and quality wise it wasn’t a very good weapon. But it was what he had for the time being.

He spread his feet shoulder width apart to center his balance. He raised the sword so that the guard was eye level and swiftly swung the blade down vertically. A blue hue outlined the blade as it descended, cutting through air.

"So thats what a sword skill is then?."

The fight didn’t end on as high a note as it started for the panther. The first attack the creature landed would be the last. Stryder finished the beast off with a spinning kick that sent the cat tumbling backwards into a tree and dissolving into virtual fragments.

"No worries, glad you are ok. It was a very skilled fight if I had any doubts about martial arts as a primary means of self defense you cleared those up."

He noticed a deposit of Col in his inventory. This must have been the reward Stryder had got from the fight. "You really dont have to do that. You earned the Col, I couldn't even help you. It should be yours."

He was dissapointed in himself for not being able to help. He knew he wasn't strong enough yet but he would work on that. He would make sure he got strong enough and was able to help. He would return the favor some day and put himself between the danger and his new friend.

"What was that awesome looking attack you did to stun the panther? It didn't look like a normal attack."

Ruus understood, this isn't a game like the others. I mean it is a game and all but the choices you make here in Aincrad, affect your well being back in the real world. They had been led to believe that you share your final breath with your virtual character. If you died here, your body and mind would shut down as well.

There was still an aspect of fun to this world to Ruus though. Sure it was serious, sure you had to be cautious. People, creatures, NPCs if coded incorrectly could all be very hazardous to your well being. But this was still a game, there where fairy tale elements to the game, dragons and creatures that didn’t exist back on earth. You could fight with swords and skill instead of guns. For the most part people had the same purpose here, fight for themselves, the people they loved and a way back home. A man with a purpose could be a dangerous man.

Ruus nodded in acknowledgement to Stryder. "Well said." he thought as the man in black continued to fight the creature. His hands moved like missels, swiftly, precise and devastating. The beast appeared stunned and weakened after Stryder's last attack. Something about it seemed different as well Ruus thought. It wasn’t just your run of the mill standard attack, it looked more powerful and elegant at the same time. He would have to ask Stryder about that after the fight was finished.

The roar had caught Ruus off guard. The piercing cry echoed off the trees as the beast leapt forward. Ruus went for his sword, his hand gripped the sheath and he started to draw the weapon from its holster. This monster would be twelve times his level or more, there was nothing he could do for Stryder. He released his grip on his sword and let the blade fall back into the holster.

"I'm sorry, I would help but I don’t think I can. " He responded to Stryder as he ordered him to stay back. This was one order Ruus intended to honor. Not jumping in the fight went against every moral instinct Ruus had, he always played a tank character, his job was to shield friends from harm and he couldn’t even help the one person he had any type of interaction with in this game.

Ruus placed his back against a tree and watched as Stryder held hand to paw combat with the sleek black predator. The cats movements where fast, but the fighter moved with as much precision. Stryder threw a fist at the beast but it failed to find its mark, the big cat retaliated, claws raked virtual flesh but the stoic fighter didn’t wince or flinch he simply held his ground.

"Just make sure your alright, if you need some sort of distraction let me know I will do what I can. You can beat this thing!" He exclaimed in encouragement.

"No that’s fine, we don’t have to attract any trouble we don’t need. I mean dying in real life because I was to reckless isn't exactly how I had planned on leaving this world. I would at least like to have a fighting chance you know? I am mainly just here for conversation and moral support."

Ruus kept pace with the martial artist. The heavy iron armor creaked and groaned with each step. A new set of armor, kite shield and a decent weapon, these where things he needed, or wanted prior to trying to engage a hostile creature. Well he didn’t need a kite shield, any shield would do. He just preferred the look of a kite shield over a buckler.

"So you don’t have to fight a monster for the creature. You just have to feed it to tame it. Seems easy enough, have you decided on what type of pet you want.?" Ruus asked Stryder, hoping all of the questions wasn’t starting to bother him.

Ruus smiled at Stryder as his mood quickly changed. The grind could be boring alone, Ruus knew this from other MMORPGs he had played in the past. It was always nice to have someone else accompany you and help break up the monotonous task.

He scratched the back of his head as Stryder explained the Martial Arts tree. It seemed like a fine way to play the game, there fists being the weapon. Ruus just couldn’t understand why someone would want to fight a spear-man for example with fists. The reach advantage alone would be a lot to overcome. A competent fighter though could probably make up for the disadvantages and even capitalize on the advantages, reach goes both ways, if the martial artist manages to get inside the long range of the spear he would have the upper hand.

He followed closely behind Stryder. His eyse scanning the terrain as they entered the forest. The tree coverage provided some shade and much needed relief from the heat. The heavy iron armor was like an oven in the direct sunlight so any relief refreshing.

"So, are we hunting anything specific? Is this a quest or just a mob grind for a specific drop? I know in some other RPGs you have to farm the specific mob to get the drop you want." Ruus asked.

He released the hilt of his sword and extended his hand out to Stryder. "Ruus, nice to meet you as well." He responded in greeting.

"I'm new around here, when you say familiar I guess you mean one of those pets I see people walking around with?" Ruus knew what the term meant, but in other games a familiar was most often associated with a type of magic and sense there was no magic in SAO it had to be what he thought was a pet.

This could potentially be a good opportunity for the both of them. It looked like Stryder wanted someone to accompany him on this quest or farming session, and Ruus needed to meet some of the players and help with any questions he could come up with.

"If you want some company I can come with. I don’t know how much help I would be, I'm still a low level an all. But I can at least keep you company if you don’t mind doing most of the fighting. Speaking of, where are your weapons.?"

He made his way through the town of beginnings, the sun beat down on the busy metropolis as its citizens went about their normal day. Sweat beaded on his neck from the heat, if
only he could cut his long black hair he thought. An audible thump could be heard as his boots struck pavement below him, and his iron armor squeaked with the movement.The city was beautiful this time of year, he had been limited to the areas of Aincrad he had been exposed to so far, but the city was never dull.

He approached the gate that led to the grassy fields outside of the town of beginnings and stopped in the massive archway. He took a deep breath, his chest sinking in with the
inhale and out with the exhale and turned his gaze on sea of grass in front of him. He took another step once satisfied that he was in no immediate danger, once outside of the
town a player could be attacked by most anything so you could never be to careful.

That’s when he noticed the man in all black, his back against the wall just outside the gate. The man had a green indicator above his head so Ruus was comfortable approaching
the man. Still one could never be certain, his fingers losely grasped the leather hilt of his sword.

"Is everything ok?"Ruus asked the man.

Profile
Username: Ruus
Real name: Tyler Joseph
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Height: 6’0

                                            About: History/personality

The hum of the fan bounced off the walls in the tiny apartment. Virtual RPGs had been around for some time now but Tyler still spent some of his off time from school on the old desktop computer his Dad had given him years ago. He had spent several days pouring through old code for one of the biggest MMORPGs in the twentieth century World of Warcraft with his friends to build a private server they could play the old game on. He was a gamer through and through. If he wasn’t in class, he would immerse himself in a virtual world to escape the day to day frustrations of being a young adult.

He grew up a single child to a medium income family in the deep south, USA. The only things to do as a child in his town was play sports, often the most important pop culture event, and play video games with friends. He spent a lot of time doing both, his dad had been a gamer and had passed down the interest to his son. But Tyler also enjoyed staying active in the small community. This meant spending his Friday nights in high school on the football field, and weekends with a controller or VR headset on.

After high school, he moved to a small town to attend college with the intent to major in computer sciences. He stopped playing sports and spent more time playing games with friends that had either moved to school with him or that he met on campus. His days would consist of class and nights would be spent playing the newest game or building old computers and servers to play old games. He had a tight group of friends that he was loyal to and he enjoyed that comfort very much.

“Taunt” He yelled into the microphone, louder than intended. “Groups one and two move to the platform.”

They had spent all afternoon trying to clear on of the original raids in the game. He was playing a tank, a role he played in most games. He liked the responsibility of having the groups success rate on his shoulders. He also liked the way the class played, he liked to get in close to the target and anticipate the fight so that he could defend the other members of his party. The raid ended after they had cleared the boss. The game was rather fun even if it was an old game that they had to play on open source code.

Tonight, was the eve of the release of the most anticipated game in MMO history. He had pre-ordered SAO and it was supposed to be delivered tomorrow. He had already made plans with his group to log in as soon as the servers went live so they could get a head start on leveling. The plan was to get a group together; he would tag and tank monsters while the rest of his group focused on keeping him alive and DPSing down the targets. This should get them ahead in XP and then they would start doing quests. It had all been planned, or so they thought.

                                                          Virtues:
 

Loyalty:

Loyalty is essential to every relationship we have in life that matters. The loyal person acts for and stays with and remains committed even when the loyalty can be personally disadvantageous or dangerous. Ruus is fiercely loyal to a person or cause that he believes in. His loyalty is not easily gained; he believes you must earn his respect and trust. But once he has decided to take up someone’s friendship or cause, he will not turn his back on that effort until the task is complete.

Analytical:

Analysis is a detailed examination of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation. Ruus has always been able to quickly analyze a situation and find what he believes to be the best solution. This has helped make him a good strategist in combat or when a problem presents itself. 

Courage:

Courage is the ability to choose the point between cowardice and recklessness in any circumstance. Courage can take many forms, courage to do what’s right, courage of facing a personal fear, courage to endure physical and mental pain or the courage to push forward in a difficult situation. Ruus has always been the guy in the group not afraid to try things first or put himself in front. This often led him to picking tanks in MMO’s so that he can put himself between the things intending to hurt his friends.

                                                             Flaws:
 

Blunt:

Ruus has always been straight to the point. This has often caused issues with friends and family. He tends to say what is on his mind, often without a subtly touch. He doesn’t intend for people to get upset by the things he may say or do, that’s just how he has always been.

Impatient:
Patience is not a virtue Ruus has ever had. He is a doer and as such he doesn’t like to sit around and wait for someone or something to come along. This has often caused problems with him rushing into a situation and having halfheartedly or prematurely and rely on his ability to analyze and make the corrections necessary.

Stubborn:

Ruus is bullheaded and unyielding at times. If he believes that he is right he will always argue his case. Once he has been given a task or purpose he is determined to carry it out to the end. 

Profession: (Leave blank until the Earning a Living quest has been completed.)

Skills
Non-combat:


Passive:


Combat:
Charge

Weapon skills:
One-Handed Straight Sword


Inventory:
Weapons/Tools:
Iron Straight Sword, Iron Breast Plate.


Roleplays:

F1-PP) Finding a friend (Feeding the Enemy)



Relationships (optional):

None currently.

Col Transactions:

+360 Col (Stryder, Finding a Friend (Feeding the Enemy) )