Mina

When words of a Christmas Party began spreading around throughout the whole of the fourth floor, Mina knew she couldn't miss the chance to attend it. Winter had always been her favourite season, and Christmas her favourite festival. With sumptuous food and boxes of presents to open, who wouldn't like Christmas, anyway? The whole of Aincrad was in a festive mood, streets were lined up with decorations and fairy lights, doors had wreaths on it; it brought joy to the damned situation they were all stuck in. The guild that was hosting the party was Guardians of the New Dawn, and there were some faces she knew in the guild, especially the leader. There was no harm attending, and when will she ever attend another Christmas party in Aincrad ever again? Shall take a break today before resuming hunting tomorrow!

Changing into a white flowy dress, matching herself with the pureness of snow, Mina made her way to the party venue. She heard chatters inside the small shop, which meant that the party had already begun. Bracing herself to the amount of people inside, she rapped on the door with her knuckles, before opening the door, the hot air from inside rushing out. "Hey there! I heard there was a party going on here?" She looked around, recognizing some familiar faces that she had partied with before. "Hey @Hestia, and hey @Pinball!" And there came a guy hollering out, promoting his eggnog, which Mina instantly recognize from his apperance and voice. "I'll have some eggnog, mister @Stryder" she adds with a chuckle on her face. She knew the party was going to be fun.

Here for the free stuff (bless me santa)

Have a merry christmas everybody!!!

"Yeah, I'm cool with that. Beats being here with nothing to do." Mina spoke up at Pinball's query, breaking her silence. A miniboss? Just what she needed to improve herself. She had to defeat this creature in order to be worthy of being in the frontlines, her only experience with a miniboss was on the second floor, and since then, she didn't exactly had much experience in defeating stronger creatures. The five-man team looked strong enough to defeat anything even though it was in low light conditions, and besides, each of them could look out for each other in case the situation turns dangerous. The rewards that they'll be able to get clearly outweighs the risk. In MIna's mind, at least. She had seen what Krysta and Pinball could do serve in battles, and Vigilon looked really strong, having a presence similar to someone she met before from the higher floors. She wasn't sure about Kaldui though, but since she was sticking with Vigilon, she had to be strong of some sense too. Mina brushed her hair slightly, her long black tresses billowing in the wind,  and she moved slightly closer to the group.

@Vigilon @Krysta @Pinball

It was at this moment that Mina heard a rustle in the bushes nearby. Having an ominuous feeling, she rushed towards Kaya's side and pulled her up a little, her sword still on guard. With a loud buzz, the hidden field boss appeared out of the bushes, it's height towering all three of them. This was the infamous <Wind Wasp Queen> boss, and it seemed like the amount of wasps they killed was just enough to trigger it's spawn. "You're right, Hestia," Mina turned toward the other girl, "This queen just appeared." This was the first time Mina had met a boss monster. With two bars of HP, she knew that it's attack pattern would change once it hit the next one. They had to be careful. Though with Hestia here, they could relax just a bit. How would low level parties fare against a creature of this caliber? "Hestia, can you taunt at it so that we can strike it without having to fear for our lives?" It was a little selfish to ask her to take all the damage, but her HP was the highest among here, and she was of the exact build to do it. 

<Wind Wasp Queen> HP: 50/50, DMG: 20

@Kaya @Hestia

"If our body decides to give up on us then I guess... we won't be stuck in here? We'll be dead." Mina said matter-of-factly, knowing that this was a possible outcome of the current situation. This was the cruel reality. Even if they wanted to stay here, to not go back to the real world, their body will still give up eventually. It lead to a very dangerous situation right now as there are only a handful of frontline players desperately trying to clear the game, and the rest were either afraid or had given up on getting out.  Mina had to be strong, her dream was the frontlines, and this quest was just a stepping stone towards it. Looking at the top right hand corner of her visual field, both her's and Simba's HP were full, and their energy bar too. Which meant that it was time to start hunting again. "Now, let's test out this skilled called <Rage Spike>, shall we?" Mina ran towards the middle of three Boar Pups, getting their aggression, before unleashing  the sword art, decimating all three at once, and getting two tusks in return. "Hey! This is a much faster way of hunting it! I'm done with the quest already!" She called out, waving the tusks to Simba.

@Simba

Hearing Stryder’s reply of giving him two more hours of sleep, Mina was prepared to lift herself off the window onto the roof before she saw a figure rolling off it, smack right onto the damp, hard ground below.  “So, you awake yet?” She peered downwards, chuckling to herself as she saw the male rub a bump on his head.  Thankfully in this world, falling off from height only resulted in your HP bar dropping by a little, although jumping off from very tall places could actually kill you. She recalled stories of players committing suicide by jumping off the edge of Aincrad, their mental strength succumbing to the fear of this world. Mina was strong, she had to be strong, as she had so much more to do back in the real world.

Bowing as she left the house, she made her way to the back, finding the male who had fell off the roof. “Let’s go, clumsy, we’ve a quest to do!”

 @Stryder

Vigilon was the male, and the female was Kaldui. Mina kept a mental note on their appearance and faces, they were of no harm, and in the future, Mina might actually seek help from them if there was a chance. Listening to Krysta, Mina nodded and agreed with her thought. Sitting around and talking wasn't of Mina's interest, not at this time. She wanted to do something to improve herself, her goal was the frontlines, and she didn't mind any sort of adventure right now. Especially when the night was still young. Sure, it'll be dangerous, but if they all went together, they were as safe as they could have ever been. Players didn't usually do night adventures as there was low light, which meant a drop in accuracy while attacking monsters. Besides, they could be ambushed unsuspectingly by them, or worse, player killers, greatly increasing the chances of them dying.

@Krysta @Vigilon @Pinball

Hestia was strong, so strong that with her one attack, she was able to decimate the creature with ease, when it needed both Kaya's and Mina's strength to bring down it's HP to the yellow bar. Mina watched on with their tag team movements, cheering as the wasp was defeated. After listening to Hestia's warning that the boss monster will spawn soon, Mina gripped her sword tight, looking around and guarding herself for any unsuspecting attack. A boss monster was one she hadn't met before, particularly at this low level of hers. The only thing she knew was that they had multiple HP bars, and that their attack patterns change when down to a certain HP bar. Mina hoped that it didn't come too fast though, with the exception of Hestia, they were low on energy level, which meant that they couldn't cast sword arts to defeat the boss quickly. Which equates to a long and draggy fight, and equates to putting themselves at a higher risk of dying. 

 @Kaya @Hestia 

"That's honestly how I feel too. Get close to the front-lines, clear the game, and go home safe." Mina mirrored his smile, stretching her feet out. "Die trying maybe?" She didn't mean to bring the mood down, but that was how she felt. Fight, or die trying. They were all going to die anyway. Her own body was probably hooked up to some machines in some hospital in the country, and even if they didn't clear the game, even if they lived here for all their life, it just wasn't going to happen. There was a time limit. One of these days, her real life body probably won't be able to hold on, and she'll be gone. Shattered into millions of polygons like the boar pups they killed. That was why she fought. Instead of having a mundane life, why not have a fulfilling one, and fill up the adventure log they had? For one, they were half done with this quest, and it was a step closer to becoming stronger and escaping this hell hole. 

@Simba

"Oh dear, you got to see where you're running!!" Mina chuckled to herself and pulled Kaya back onto her two feet. The redhead seemingly tripped over a rock, while dashing straight towards the wasps, effectively canceling her attack, leaving Hestia to defend for herself. Which she could, actually. Hestia could solo this quest easily, but she decided to help these two newcomers like Kaya and Mina. Maybe they just needed more people to clear the frontlines. The faster we did it, the faster we get out to the real world. I'm kinda missing home, actually.

As Hestia destroyed one more wasp, leaving one hanging, Mina dashed forward, her sword glowing as she released the sword art, her balance slightly off, but the system assisting her in three direct cuts which struck 12HP off the wind wasp. "One last one guys, let's do this!" The field boss will spawn sooner or later, Mina could feel it in her gut.

@Kaya @Hestia

Mina heaved a sigh of relief, about to go off after finishing the quest with Krysta and Pinball. It was hard work, and she felt her virtual muscles beginning to ache. Stepping out of the blacksmith's workshop, following the other two, they caught sight of two newcomers, whereby the blonde greeted the male. The new male apparently seemed to know Pinball too, and Mina could see that Pinball wasn't really that associated with him. Krysta's friends huh... Mina went forward, giving a smile and introducing herself, before stepping back, letting the friends talk. It was rude not to introduce herself, that was why she went forward, but her introverted self took over once more. Since the death game started, she had to make friends, had to pull herself out of her comfort zone to survive, but after a long fight with the Dark Elf just now, all she wanted was a long rest to her body and mind. Eyeing Pinball who detached himself like she did, she observed the situation, wondering what to do. Well, if it's going to be interesting, then there's no harm joining them.

 @Krysta @Vigilon @Pinball

Mina fumbled for a while before a notification on her visual field popped out. An accepted friend request from the male who's on the roof right now. She was glad to have made friends with him, someone with the same thoughts and determination to persevere through this current death game. He was a guild leader too. Someone who brings in people with the same mindset, defending and surviving to make it to the next day. A New Dawn? Perhaps that was what it meant. What a guy...  He had huge dreams, and Mina respected that. Wondering if he'll come into her room in the middle of the night, it was a cold night, her eyes started feel heavy, and she fell asleep not long after.

She woke up to the birds chattering and the insects buzzing. Taking a look at the clock, currently 6.30a.m, she forced herself off the bed, and equipped her combat equipment. Sleep wasn’t that much needed in this world, her real life body would have slept for weeks now. Peeking outside the window, she looked up and called. “Hey! You awake yet?” She had a quest to do, and she vowed to finish it by the end of the day.

 @Stryder

"Good job man!" Mina gestured towards him, asking him to come over to a nearby tree for a quick rest. "Let's rest till our energy fully recovers, before we one shot those beasts with our sword arts again. I figured out that <Rage Spike> was an AoE skill that we both have, I've never used it before, and maybe these Boar Pups will provide a good training for it." With an AoE skill, they'll be able to gain the Boar Pup Tusks quicker than before. They were close to completion already, 50% done, just 5 more tusks and they'll be out of here. Slumping against the bark of the tree, Mina heaved and played with her fingers. "So... what do you think about this 'death game' situation we're currently in?" Honestly, Mina was afraid. She was afraid of dying, of not being able to see her family and friends ever again. But she knew that to escape, she had to fight, she had to become better. Which was what she was doing now. 

 @Simba

Watching on as Hestia explained herself, before combining Mina and Kaya's plans, Mina was amazed at the tank player's skill and finesse. She was able to block most of the wasps attacks, while getting hits on them by using AoE sword arts alone. That was the true ability of a mid-floor player. Why was she here and why did she want to help Mina? She could have soloed the quest and one-shotted the boss if she wanted to. Or even... one shotted Mina or Kaya. Doubts began to stir in her mind on whether she had any ulterior motives helping them, but before it became worse, Mina saw Hestia's smile as she asked for them to attack the wasps. Poison. Being in this game clouds your ability to trust people, and Mina felt ashamed of thinking such bad thoughts about Hestia. Giving a bright smile in return, she dashed in, calling out. "My turn this time!" Activating her sword art, she cut the third wind wasps at it's vital points, destroying it immediately before it could retaliate. "One down, two more to go!"

 @Kaya @Hestia

Watching as he fell flat on his back from getting charged by another Boar Pup, Mina stifled a laugh and went forward, helping him up. The Boar Pup who knocked him down grunted and shook its head, seemingly taunting the male who didn't have that much experience battling. "You okay there?" she asked, before whipping out her own sword, dashing to take down that Boar Pup who knocked down her friend. "Of course I don't mind! What's a friend for?" Upon reaching the Boar Pup, she held her sword high, slashing it downwards, but the Boar Pup simply sidestepped her,  wanting to knock her down in return just like it did to Simba, but Mina evaded it's attack with her own sidestep. "Feisty little one, are you?" Since when did Boar Pups have so much aggression and finesse? Maybe it was a Boar Pup boss on it's own? "We'll have to kill it together, Simba!" 

 @Simba

Mina couldn't believe their luck when the chest was opened. It was filled with col, materials, and even a <Perfect> grade shield, which she knew Pinball would love. "I'll have 150 Col, 3 materials and the other consumable!" she replied after Krysta did. Honestly, she didn't really need a shield, her battling style wasn't suited for one, and besides, splitting things up equally were better than fighting to see who gets more stuff. "Sure, let's head back before it gets dark out here." Without night vision, it'll be harder for them to trek back to the main settlement if the sky goes dark. Besides, the fog in the forest was not going to make things any better. It had been a pretty lucky day for the three of them, with the Dark Elf appearing as soon as they reached the forest, and the quest loot drop, and the treasure chest. "Man, that was one hella adventure."

@Krysta @Pinball

OOC: That's good!! I'll RP with you if you ever want me to~ By the way, after your next turn shall we have three out of combat posts to heal our EN before fighting again?

Chuckling as he destroyed the creature in a single blow, but with no bonus item in sight, Mina gave him a pat on the back. "That was a good hit, but you can't catch up to me. Not if I get another one first!" She jokingly said, now her turn to show off her skills. Dashing straight towards another Boar Pup, she casted her sword art, three-hit sword skill <Snake Bite> , with the Boar Pup shattering into polygons after her third strike. It was fun to be in a party, even more fun when both of them were using the same weapon, where they could both see the exact same skills, executed by each other differently. "There it is~" Mina raised up a Boar Tusk, her loot from the Boar Pup she had just defeated. However, her energy was all used up, she had to take a rest before fighting again. 

@Simba

Watching as the NPC mother head to the storage room to pass a blanket to Stryder, Mina wondered if NPCs were that intelligent. From what she knew, you had to say a keyword, or something related to a keyword, in order to activate it's scripted dialogue and such. But maybe this world was different, NPCs had backstories and were made highly advanced. Well, if the creator could develop the NerveGear and Sword Art Online into something so amazing like this, NPCs must be a really simple thing to make. 

Mina chuckled at Stryder's words, following him into the room, watching as he opened the window. "Well, you're indeed lucky!" The night sky outside were filled with stars, something they couldn't see in real life because of all the light pollution at night. It was breathtakingly beautiful. "Enjoy the night!" she spoke, before adding, "Come in if you need to. It's cold outside." As she slumped on the bed, her sword on the floor by her side, she scrolled through her menu, adding the male into her friend list. 

@Stryder

Watching as Hestia charged in, decimating the wind wasp in an instant, Mina couldn't help but to be in awe at her. She was really strong, maybe one of the players from the middle floors? She, on the other hand, were the lowest of the lowest. Look at what floor she was at right now, floor 2? But that only gave Mina strength and served to push her further. Someday, I'll be strong too.

Moving towards the both of them, she slung both arms over their shoulders, chuckling. "Man, that was a tough little insect, was it?" They were only getting started, who knows how many more wind wasps they'll have to kill before the field boss actually spawns. But with the current party, Mina was sure they'll be able to easily defeat it. Looking further into the distance, she saw a bunch of wind wasps buzzing around, waiting to attack any unsuspecting adventurer who came across them. "Say, does anyone of you have AoE skills?"

@Kaya @Hestia

OOC: Oh man. I hope you enjoy rping with me though! 

Mina watched on as the pink haired male dashed towards the next Boar Pup, his sword glowing as he casted the exact sword art she had used before. With three angled slashes, the Boar Pup burst into polygons before it could even register what had happened to it. "Oh ho, that's it! Let's speed things up!" Mina chuckled as Simba raised his Boar Tusk up in the air. They were going to finish this fast. However, Mina's energy bar was still low, she could probably afford another sword art usage before resting. Maybe she should have gotten a <Perfect> weapon which granted her a +3 DMG instead of a +2 DMG. That way, she'll be able to one hit the Boar Pups while still saving her energy. Keeping that in mind, she took aim at another Boar Pup, charging forward, but the tiny pig sidestepped her and grunted. "Guess it's my turn to stumble, huh?"

@Simba

OOC: Maybe teaming up with people would be better instead of doing things solo!

"Oh yes, we do have to fight some more. At this rate, I'm guessing maybe 20 more?" The drop rate of these tusks were peanuts, just like the first quest. Thankfully, she managed to score hits on all the pups they came across, thanks to her trusty ring with additional accuracy, crafted by an artisan down the road of the Town of Beginnings. It was a costly 800col, but with perfect stats, it was worth it. Scoring hits were the most important in this death game. It's either a hit, or you get hit and die, and Mina certainly didn't want the latter. Spotting another Boar Pup, she dashed forward, her sword art gleaming as she shattered it into smithereens, hoping to get another quest item out of it. And there it was! What luck! Two out of five tusks. This quest was going well. "C'mon Simba! Let's do this! We'll finish it by the end of the day!"

@Simba

OOC: oh man, why are you quitting! Losing the muse?

That one tiny pig was able to hit harder than Simba, with him being startled, not knowing what to do other than parry the attack with his blade, but still sustaining damage. Mina took note of his motion, dashing it straight on to strike it with her blade. She wasn't going to let it charge it her, since it was still suffering from the knockback of Simba. Swing her sword high, she slashed it across the boar, with it shattering into millons of crystals. They were done with this one, who knows how many more they had to deal with? Just then, there was a bonus item popup appearing in front of her, stating that she had obtained one of the quest items needed. "Yes! 9 more to go, come on, let's do this!" It wasn't that hard after all! With renewed hope, Mina trekked on, spotting another boar pup. "There!"

 @Simba

Mina first caught sight of the sick daughter, looking very pale and faint, and Mina couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. Her heart ached at the whole situation, the mum wanting to cure her daughter but couldn't do so as she wasn't strong enough to obtain the medicine on her own. Mina swore to herself that she'll defeat all the Nepents lying around to cure the daughter, even if she died trying. Not even an NPC deserves suffering like this.

Moving onto the next room, it seemed like a storage room with a bunch of clothes and other stuff lying inside, and the the last room was the guest bedroom itself. Just as she was about to enter, she realized that she had to share the room with Stryder, and it made her cheeks turn a little red. She didn't know him for long, and it would have been really awkward if they had to share the room, but he spoke up before anything could happen to them. The male was probably thinking the same thing as her too. "Y-Yeah.. I'll take the room. What about you?" The bedroom was a really simple one, and Mina thought of giving him the pillow so that he could at least get a good night's sleep.

 @Stryder

With Kaya rushing in and striking the wasp dead on with her sword art, Thank goodness she isn't hurt, and Hestia taunting the busy bee with a Howl, it was Mina's turn to attack the creature. The health bar of the wasp was still in the green, which meant that they had to deal at least two successful sword arts to kill that creature. To spawn the boss though, they had to kill tens of these, so Mina chose to save up her arts for later, dashing in straight at the wasp, her blade locking on to the wasp's abdomen area. It was a flying creature, hard to hit, but it'll serve as training for other flying mobs. "Damn it-" The wasp, even though it seemed to be focusing on Hestia, evaded Mina's attack by flying higher, her blade missing the creature by a mere few inches. Her range of attack wasn't long enough, and their best bet was Kaya with her ultra huge scythe. "Ugh! Sorry!" She groaned, stepping backwards, allowing the red haired female to hit.

"That's a really cool scythe you've there." Mina gazed in admiration at the wonderful weapon, but she was satisfied with hers. With a wave of her hand, she opened up her inventory and equipped her combat equipment, everything dark as the night, complementing her two pigtails and her fair white skin. Hearing Hestia's words, Mina nodded her head, agreeing. "That is right! Let's get out there and defeat it!" Leading the way, Mina walked out of the main town's exits, nodding her head to the NPC gatekeepers responsible for guarding the city against orange players. That was one of the reasons she wanted to be stronger as well, to defend herself. She wasn't going down without a fight. After a long trek past the wilderness of the plains, they made their way to the dense forest, where her eyes immediately caught sight of a spawned <Wind Wasp>. "There it is, the minions! We have to kill enough of them for the boss to spawn." Gesturing to the tank player to Howl, Mina shouted and readied her blade. "Let's do this!"

 <Wind Wasp> HP 40/40, DMG 12

@Kaya @Hestia