Simba

Simba felt Liebe's arms around his waist and her head on his shoulder, but he had no idea how to respond to them. "I cannot really speak for myself. I am not even that high of a level. As a matter of fact, I am only level eight. I still have some training to do, but I also have a ton of quests to begin and finish as well." He knew the feelings that Liebe were going threw, but he never really experienced the fear of really dying to any of the monsters here. There were multiple times where he acknowledged how strong monsters were, but he was not the type to withdraw from a battle. "They may seem scary at first, but as soon as you pack in some gear, I believe you can do wonders for the players of Aincrad." He did his best to reassure her, but also had to keep her hope realistic.

"A lot of things seem impossible. You thought you could never walk again, right? Look at you. Standing tall as ever. Well.. not that tall, but I am sure you can find a way to destroy those boars. They aren't scary.. They may look like it, but as long as you got the right equipment, you can do anything." He smiled at her, but he had no idea if she was going to be alright on her own. But he kept a calm composure.

@Liebe

'Liebe, you are the type to just hang back and help the others.. There is a group of people who are determined to help the lower levels. Speaking of low levels, I am still only level eight. I need to start picking up the pace..' Simba never really helped others when it came to the game, because his goal was to just focus on the main objective at hand. There were players he had met along the way, but they never left a lingering impression for him to care about. Abyss is one of the few players who have left an impression on him, but it was not a good one. He could hear the difference between someone who is genuinely laughing, but he felt Liebe possibly being afraid to die in this game.

Simba smiled and glanced up the sky with Liebe, "Not many people out here have the guts to really fight anything here. It is scary. A simple boar could simply end your life and there is nothing anyone can do to bring us back. But there are a few players who are determined to win the game and free us all. So it is okay to be afraid of fighting for your life. It is normal." He responded. Simba knew he had to quickly catch up to the other players, but he has been holding himself back and could not find the motivation to get himself outside of the second floor. "Surpass him.. You can do it. We just need to have a positive attitude about it. We will make it." He smiled.

@Liebe

Surprised with the response Simba received from Liebe, he did not make an effort to show any signs of emotions, but he kept his emotions separate from the game. Afraid of allowing his emotions to jeopardize his mission at hand. 'A car accident that severely injured her.. The one thing Kayaba has done right. Giving people the ability to do the impossible.. Tch.. Still a false hope..' There were not much he could offer to make light of the situation Liebe was in, but he could still do his best to keep his friends alive, even if she was the only one on his list. "Our bodies.. By now, the doctors and nurses are probably doing their best to keep our bodies from going critical. I have seen a ton of players passing out and they never really came back to their senses.. Wondering if that will happen to us." He replied, but shook his head. He was not going to allow negative thoughts to flood his mind, so he made sure to keep his thoughts together and look forward.

"There is still a lot of work to do before we can get out of here. I know we can do it, but we just need to make sure that we all fight through this trap together." He announced, but he was not sure if he is doing the best he could. There were still much more for him to do before he could progress further into the game and fight alongside the front-lines. "How have you been adjusting to your walking? It seems like you have not really done much in the game." He said, as he could tell by her standard equipment.

@Liebe

Watching as a snowflake slowly fall onto Liebe's nose, Simba's eyes met with hers and he felt her hand on his. "Am I nice? I did not think I was seen that way. I am always to myself, so I don't really watch out for other people." Simba lowered his guard, feeling like he could trust Liebe. 'She really does not seem like she is really baiting me into anything. If anything, she does not really have any levels on her.' He watched as the friend request window slowly fade in to his Heads Up Display. He hoovered his hand over the accept button and smiled, before pressing against it. "There you go! Now we're friends. I can check up on you here and there, to make sure you are doing fine." He responded, before swiping away the window.

He shoved his free hand into his pocket and let out a hot breath of air. "I got really excited over the game when I first heard about it. I was waiting in line for it with my fr--" He paused for a moment, knowingly that he was alone when he bought the game, but he wanted to put up a facade that he was not alone. "My friends.. I have not been able to find them though, so I hope they're doing fine. How about you?" He asked.

@Liebe

As the snow petals fell around the settlement of the fourth floor, Simba glanced up at the dark sky and smiled. "No, I don't think I am afraid of much in here. Kinda get used to the emotions players give off after a while. So you should be good." He shut his eyes and moved his chin down, before turning to face Liebe. "It is nice to meet you, Liebe. I go by the name of Simba on here, so feel free to use that." He responded, as he watched Liebe jump out of her seat and sprint ahead of him. His soft red eyes met with Liebe and watched her turn the corner. He stopped for a moment to think, but had nothing to really do. He still had to keep his guard up, so he stood up and dusted the snow off his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets. He let out a sigh, as a ball of hot air exited his mouth, he made his way towards Liebe.

"Yeah, yeah.. I'm coming." He responded, watching the cup burst into thousands of polygons as he stood right in front of her. "Now what are you up to?" He asked, keeping his hands in his pockets, as the snow slowly pile around them. He watched as the snowflakes danced around the two players, as he listened to other chatters that were going on nearby. The natural lighting of the moon made some of the snowflakes glimmer, causing Simba to grow a smile grin on his face.

@Liebe

The black-haired male wandered through the snow-covered forest of the fourth floor, watching his footsteps slowly fade away, as the snow begin to pile up. There were tons of other plays moseying their way into the main settlement and Simba had enough of wandering around outside the safe zone. He shadowed the other players, as they all collapse into a cafe nearby. He took a deep breath and sighed, before taking a seat by the benches that were somehow not frosted. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the bench and shut his eyes, but before he could feel relaxed, he felt a presence right beside him. He opened one eye to peek over to see a player beside him, sipping what seems to be a cup of tea. 'Tch.. Out of all the benches, you choose to sit beside me?' He thought to himself, but was not trying to create enemies with any other players.

He sighed and looked over at the player beside him. "Can I help you?" He asked, knowing full well that the player was a regular player, but at the same time he kept his guard up. Simba heard of players being baited out by lower leveled players and he was not going to die here. Not until he reached the end game and is able to return home with the rest of the players. "You seem to be enjoying yourself. I am just here to admire the snow." He added, trying to see if he could get information out of the player.

@Liebe

Baldur these polls don't annoy me :c

@Vigilon

I shot my shot, so I am not sure if this is good. My ps is garbage..

As the time slowly passed, Simba slowly got tired of locating the mother, but he wanted to get the quest done as soon as possible. He began sprinting around town and taking glances over players' head to see if there was a diamond hovering over their heads. 'This is starting to get boring.. The more I run around, the more of an idiot I look. I need to quickly find her.' A ping goes off on his HUD and he stopped in his tracks. He tapped on Benjamin's handle and read the message and sighed. He checked the map and saw that he was not that far from the town square. He took a deep breath and began sprinting toward the town square, hoping to quickly end the quest.

His eyes met with his two party members and spotted the little girl, holding onto her mother. 'It seems like we are finally done with this quest, I need to get some sleep done.. Are maybe finish the rest of my quests.' He stood behind Benjamin and Ell, as they are ready to finish up the quest. Before Simba could leave the party, he felt like he had some unfinished business with the them and hesitated, as the rewards are being passed out.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

Taking one step back, Simba nodded his head in agreement. 'Okay.. This is a quest.. These are non-playable characters, so they are scripted to follow a certain path..' He started off at the fountain where the quest began, but there was no sign of the mother anywhere. There were several players around the center, but he could not spot any of the mother running up to them. 'Could it be a quest that is timed? It is dark out right now and maybe the mother is not out here.' He made sure to check for his party members to see if they were still in town. He sighed in relief, seeing that they are alright, but he continued to search for the mother. 'I don't even have the child with me.. I will have to make sure to meet up with Benjamin as soon as I find the mother.' He quickly continued to search around.

Keeping himself distant with his other party members, Simba listened to their conversation from afar. The day slowly ended and the night was young, the trio still had to locate the mother for the quest to finish. 'Hm.. Maybe the mother moved elsewhere, so the quest did not seem so repetitive.. Moving from one place and back to the place you received the quest.. She should have not strayed too far.' He took a step forward, as they entered the safety of the town. "I don't think I have much of a choice. We should quickly find the mother and turn in the quest as soon as possible. We don't want to drag this out longer than we should. We should message each other as soon as we find the mother." He suggested.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

Listening from afar, Simba kept his distance away from Benjamin and the NPC. He kept his arms crossed and his eyes shut, so his focus is on the two and if anything were to emerge from the caverns, he would be able to support Benjamin. 'These two will be useful allies if I need any help with anything, but for now, I will have to be grinding on my own, but it'll be fine.. I know it.' As soon as Benjamin was ready to go, Simba led the two outside of the caverns and stretched out his arms and slowly taking in the sunlight that he was deprived of. "Seems like we are all okay. We should get going, before the day ends. Don't want to engage baddies during the night. I had enough of the dark today." He announced toward his group members, before heading ahead without them.

He made sure to not stray too far from his teammates, so he always kept his eyes out for them, but made sure there were no monsters roaming toward them. 'Tch.. This NPC is just going to be reset and head back into the caverns anyways.. Can't be too attached to them.. Anyone.' He sighed, as he waited for his allies to catch up. There was more to what Simba could do, but he had to grind his level through the quests and meeting people on the way to help with his own goals.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

The sound of weapons clashing against something, but Simba could not tell distinctively that it was someone who hit anything. 'Could it be Benjamin..? Maybe he landed an attack on the Giant Back.. I stunned the damn thing, so we should be fine. If I could just de--' Before his thought could be finished, Benjamin yelled out toward Ell, demanding him to finish the Giant Bat off. Simba kept a good grip on his sabre to back up Ell, if he were to fail his attack. Suddenly a small golden light appeared, causing Simba to flinch, but he kept his cool. 'A bleeding effect, huh? That is an interesting enhancement for a weapon..' He watched as Ell head out toward the caverns, but Simba glanced toward the Giant Bat. He was still able to make out the figure of the Giant Bat, but it was his first time watching a monster bleed out.

He sheathed his sabre and watched the light go out of the Giant Bat's eyes. Before he knew it, the bat shattered into thousands of polygons and his eyes glimmer as they start to fade away. "Looks like Ell is a little fatigued right now.. We should go find the girl as soon as possible. It is going to be difficult, so it might take us some time." He said toward Benjamin, as he stood up and attempted to look over at Benjamin.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

A grin slowly formed on Simba's face, as his party members continued to praise him for the final attack. 'These two aren't so bad after all.. I have to make sure to keep these two alive.. For my sake.' Although the area around them were dark, his hearing seemed to heighten as he lost his vision of the surrounding area. He could hear the flapping of the Giant Bat, but was still unsure of where he should strike. He kept a close look on his allies health, but he also needed to make sure he did not extend to far out. 'I don't think these two were able to land a single hit on the bat, I should attempt to do something on my own!' He tightened his grip around his sabre and engaged forward.

His eyes showed a small amount of killing intent, as he got closer toward the Giant Bat. He activated his sword art, Horizontal Square, starting with a slash downward. The Giant Bat lowers its flight, giving Simba another opportunity to slash its side. He did not allow the Giant Bat to react, slashing upward at the Giant Bat. He used all his force to land a finishing concussive blow to the Giant Bat's head, stunning it. "I stunned it! Dog pile it!" He shouted toward his allies. 

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

'That was it.. That was a super critical from the both of them.. That is such a high expectation for me to make. If I can land a critical, I can kill the injured Giant Bat. I can also damage the other one with an AOE attack..' Simba began to feel the darkness close in on his vision, but he could still see the figure of the Giant Bat in front of him. He kept an offensive stance, but was losing the vision of the Giant Bat quicker. He had to quickly think of his feet, before he had to charge in blindly. The darkness felt like a cold grasp around him, but he was not sure if it was affecting the way he is during combat.

His eyes gave off a green tint, as he activated his sword art, Snake Bite. He immediately rushed toward the figure of the Giant Bat and took down. He held his breath for a second before slashing upward toward the Giant Bat and pulled his sabre to the side. He finally ran his sabre through the Giant Bat and stood still, hearing the shattering of the Giant Bat. He grew a grin on his face, before standing up and watching the polygons slowly fade away. "One down, one to go!" He shouted toward his teammates.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

Combat in the darkness was something he had not experience, but it was not as bad as he had though. 'I could see that Benjamin lost a bit of health, but he was able to stun one of the Giant Bats. If I had some sort of damage enhancers, I would be able to finish off the injured bat, but I had already taken the tier one potion from Benjamin.. Ell is also having a hard time connecting his attacks..' He shift the weight of his body to his other and felt his surroundings and there was nothing in his path. He sighed, but had good footing, as the caverns were not as rocky as he had initially thought.

He took charge and saw the figure of the injured Giant Bat and leaped to strike. There was a shine on Simba's sabre, but as his weapon drew closer, the Giant Bat dodged his attack. His vision was getting hazy and he quickly dashed back toward his party members. 'Heh.. This is actually pretty hard.. Ell did suggest something good, but I doubt the system allows that.' He took a step back and stood his ground, "Ell, I like that you are thinking outside of the box, but I highly doubt that it will help us. It will probably reset their aggression and they will slowly regain their health back before he can drag them out. We have to fight them here." He replied, as he tried to gather a plan.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

Before Simba could reach the Nepent, a sword flew past him and stabbed the injured Nepent, against the ground. He stopped and took a step back with amazement, before Zicko came back into frame and retrieved his sword. His eyes glimmer, as the Nepent explodes, leaving nothing behind. 'There was no way that could have landed if it was real life.. Maybe the combat assistance helped with targeting..? Maybe he is something else..' He had questions, but there was no time for him to linger around to ask, as a loud screech is heard from behind them. His eyes met with Zicko and watched as he ran off towards the woods.

'This must be the creature that is holding the medicine we are looking for.. There is no time to waste.' He quickly began sprinting toward Zicko, clenching his sabre as tightly as he could. His mind still lingered on the thought of why he only made one attack while Zicko only missed one. He sighed, as he placed both his hands on a log, lifting himself over, performing a dash vault. As he slowly caught up, he caught a glimpse of the Nepent Variant and a grin formed on his face. 'There is no way I can miss my attacks.' 

@Zicko

Before entering the cave, Simba began to equip his necessary equipment. He examined his two concoctions and nodded his head, but the damage potion was otherwise useless to him. 'This potion which increases my maximum health should be useful, but I will keep it ready when I need it for a later battle.' He tapped onto his leather cuirass and his sabre, as the equipment slowly materialize onto his body, he took a deep breath and sighed.

Benjamin seemed to charge straight into the dark, but without Night Vision, Simba was basically staring at nothing. The sound of nothing clashing gave Simba the indication that no attacks were landed at all. 'Okay.. That would mean that Benjamin and Ell currently have no Hate levels, but that also means that we are attacking something. It could be some large creature, I have to be careful.' After things seemed to calm down, Ell took his chance against whatever was hiding within the darkness of the caves. Simba gripped the handle of his sabre and made small movements toward the sound of his party members.

He took a glance at his party member's and none of them had lost any sort of health, so Simba took the opportunity to engage at the darkness, hoping he could take a hit at the enemies. Without any hesitation, Simba quickly took a shot at the dark and he felt his sabre drag across a large surface area, he quickly pulled his sabre across and quickly dashed back toward his teammates. "Looks like they will start taking a shot at me!" He shouted toward his allies.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

Quickly turning to face the injured Nepent, it was below fifty percent already. 'It seems like Zicko is experienced in his combat.. I have yet to see any players who know their way around the battlefield, but I can't say much, I don't have any experience either..' Simba caught the glimpse of Zicko looking toward at him. 'Not a word, huh? Seems like he is more of the getting things done and walking away.. Alright, I can work with that.' He nodded his head and began to sprint toward the dying Nepent. He dead stopped in front of the plant, which seemed like it was trying to slowly flee into the forest.

His energy recovered to the max and he glared straight at the Nepent, preparing to impale his sabre into the plant. But it suddenly grabbed onto the trunk of the tree and escaped his final jab. 'W--Wait.. What?' Simba surprised about the unexpected escape, he quickly ran toward the Nepent. He turned around toward Zicko and motioned him to come after the Nepent as well.

@Zicko

His eyes widen as Zicko is slammed against a trunk of the tree, but it seemed like he brushed off the injuries like it was nothing. 'Man.. This guy is pretty good, but I can't always let him take the hit for me, but he also is wearing heavy armor. He is capable of handling himself.' He kept his eyes on the battlefield, but without realizing it, a Nepent snuck up behind of Simba and without any time to react, he was about to take damage head on. Suddenly Zicko appeared to repel the attack from the Nepent, causing Simba to take another step back. 'Tch.. This is getting annoying..' He glared at the injured Nepent and proceeded to engage the plant-like creature.

Without any hesitation, Simba quickly engaged the Nepent and with his Recovery, his energy raised up a point. 'If I activate my Rage Spike, I should be able to kill the both of them right here and now.. Then again, I need to save energy for the final Nepent.' He swung his sabre across the abdomen of the Nepent and he pulled right through the other side. "Other down.. One more to go.." He whispered to himself.

@Zicko

The second Nepent went down and it was toward Zicko once again. 'This is embarrassing.. First I get dragged along in this mission, because some NPC is trying to find some stupid medicine.. If only there was a concoction that would boost my accuracy, I would not be missing these attacks..' He took a deep breath to calm himself, but being calm was not going to help his situation. There were two Nepents standing and Zicko had already taken fifty percent of the monsters, but all Simba did was miss his attacks. The Nepents did not attack the two, but he was sure that they were going to aim for Zicko. 'His hate level is high at the moment, if we can take it out, he won't lose anymore health.' Simba readied his weapon and prepared to engage.

He charged straight toward the third Nepent and swung his sabre as hard as he could. He felt his sabre enter the head of the Nepent and exit through the other side, reducing its health points down by five points. As he pulled back, the Nepent retaliated and used its vine to slap toward Zicko, but there was no way Simba could stop the attack. He quickly turned toward Zicko, but his health was still health. 'Heh.. This guy is tougher than he looks.'

@Zicko

Simba turned around to see the man that he had met before, but he had to keep his head focused on the Frenzy Boar. "Are these little piggies tough? The little snow flake can't handle them? Do you need some help with them?" The man continued to taunt, but he took a deep breath and allowed the Frenzy Boars to reset their positions. 'There are only three of these boars left.. If I can find a way to focus my attacks on all of them, I might be able to attack them all.' He stopped for a moment and realized that his second Sword Art was what he could use to engage the Frenzy Boars all at once.

Without any hesitation, Simba activated his Sword Art, Rage Spike, unleashing ten points of damage to each of the Frenzy Boars. His energy dropped dramatically, as he used up half the energy he had left. He began to pant, but it was not over yet. The Frenzy Boar charged straight at him, slamming its head against his chest, sending him back a few meters. His health dropped thirteen points of health, but he continued to attack. He engaged once more, activating his Rage Spike once again, depleting all of his energy, but with the help of Recovery, he regained one energy. One of the Frenzy Boar burst into polygons, as it passed on. A loot window appeared, giving him a tier one crafting material.

WC: 242

Simba took a look at his equipment to see if anything changed within his stats, but everything was in top condition. 'There was a patch, huh? I must have slept through it.. If his potions were nerfed, I bet mine were nerfed as well.. I am going to have to check back on them.' He continued to check the stats of his party members and saw that it was good enough to fight, but if things get out of hand, they might have to attempt to escape. "I am clear. I don't need anymore buffs. I should be doing enough damage.. But get ready for the debuff.. I don't have the Night Vision skill, so it'll be tricky to get around." He announced, as he glanced at his party members/

He heard Ell say he was a low level scrub and a grin appeared on his face. "Even if you are this low level scrub, it does not mean you do not belong here, Ell. I am a few levels behind Benjamin, but that won't stop me from trying to deal some serious damage to whatever is at the end of his cavern." He affirmed, as he tapped onto Ell's back. The party was slowly approaching the cavern and Simba was more than ready to engage in battle with the creatures within.

@Benjamin Bookworm @H3LL0

Now that Zicko's hate is way above Simba's, he had to figure out a way to wipe out the Nepents as quick as possible, but it was not going to happen if he was going to constantly miss. 'Tch.. No way I am able to take on anything else if I continue to miss like this.. Zicko's health is looking good, as his mitigation stats are a lot higher than mine. I should be able to worry more about myself.' Simba clenched the handle of his sabre as tight as he could and began to rush toward the Nepent. The injured Nepent was already Zicko's target and he was not going to attack someone's target, but he also had to prove that he could do more than miss his attacks.

He took a giant swing forward, but his attack fell short once again. His anger increased, but he quickly took a step back. 'Why am I constantly still missing my attacks? My accuracy bonus is not helping either, but if i substitute the stats for all accuracy, I will lose out on my evasive bonus.. I need to plan out what to do here.. Zicko seems to be handling things on his own, but has yet to take any damage, so he should be fine.'

@Zicko

His eyes glimmer with the polygons as the Nepent that Zicko struck, bursted into tiny diamonds. 'Hm.. He activated his Sword Art, but I don't think it was necessary.. His energy should be low and he can't use any skills as of now.' His attention immediately goes toward the Nepent that is running toward Zicko. 'D--Damn it! His hate level is currently higher than mine at the moment, if I intercept the attack, I should be able to kill another Nepent with ease!' Simba took a step back and focused his sabre onto the head of the Nepent. He took a giant leap and charged straight toward the Nepent without hesitating.

His sabre was close to reaching the Nepent, but he missed once again. He tumbled toward the side and the Nepent swung its vine toward him, but he quickly took a step to the side and dodged the attack once again. 'I am not landing my attacks.. This is going to be really difficult if I continue to miss my attacks.' He jumped back onto his feet and signaled Zicko to engage once again.

@Zicko