Tyonis

When Neo went to sit down by the lakeside, Tyonis did likewise, perching himself on a rock with his legs kneedeep underwater. Even if he knew it was all fake, he did enjoy the sensation of the water against his legs. The fact he'd be entirely clean and dry the moment he stepped out of the water only encouraged him to, for lack of a better phrase, frolic in the shallows. He kicked some of the water up and skipped some rocks across the surface. His superhuman strength and speed allowed him to skip from one end of the lake to the other side if he managed to do it correctly.

"Huh. Skipping rocks has never been more fun," he grinned as he threw three in rapid succession, watching them all skim over the lake's surface. He looked up, spotting another large bird in the treeline. It tilted his head at him before flying off. As he watched, Tyonis realized it wasn't a hawk and shook his head. The wait continued.

Word Count: 168

ID: 102489
LD: 7 (Fail)

Tyonis grinned fondly as Neo gave her affirmation she'd be on the way. He typed back a message:

He closed the message just as a girl he didn't recognize strode up to him. He blinked owlishly at her queer greeting. "That was the most impressive frog imitation I've ever heard." He commented in a surprised deadpan as he held up one hand in a cautious wave, unsure of how to address the girl. Before he could continue further another man approached. He referred to the girl as 'Tsu' so Tyonis made a mental note. The stranger seemed to be quite confident and the liger at his side did much to enhance that image. Between Neopolitan, Tsu, and this man, Tyonis was seriously wondering if there were any normal gamers trapped in Aincrad. 

Then again, most normal people were still stuck in the Town of Beginnings, so this must have been par-for-the-course.

"Tyonis," he introduced, addressing both the man and the woman when prompted. "Looking to kill the Wind Wasp Queen when she respawns today. Could use the extra hands." He invited.

Word Count: 219
 

Tyonis meandered through the lake's shallows for a bit, still off-put by how every single time he lifted his foot out of the water, the sense of wet and cold would instantly stop to be replaced by a feeling of total normality. He reached down to another batch of cattails and pulled. He half-expected to fail only to be surprised by a success prompt. Huh, go figure, technique may actually play a part in how successful you are at gathering. He looked back at the time he spent trying to collect ore to unlock his Blacksmithing Profession. Kicking rocks was probably not the most efficient way of completing that quest, he thought with a grimace as he walked up to Neo and opened up the trade window.

"Look what I found! Not bad, eh?" Tyonis smirked, holding out a perfect cattail only to watch in horror as it shattered and reformed into a glowing orb labeled «Tier 1 Crafting Material».

Word Count: 163

ID: 102487

LD: 20 (LOL)
 

Sometime after «Feeding the Enemy» featuring Neopolitan,

Taran Village was surprisingly well-built and maintained for being the furthest away from the 2nd Floor. Tyonis half-expected it to be made entirely of wood, but it defied expectations. Every single building sported strong stonewalls with armored guards standing watch at the village entrances. It was here he was going to meet up with Neopolitan again. He'd sent her a message about a respawning Field Boss that was relatively well-known for dropping a stat-increasing item. Any gain was useful, and even if she'd dealt with the Boss before, he figured she'd be willing to go again just for the loot. Tyonis in particular had a Quest that would reward him with some much-needed Skill Points. Anything to boost his survivability was welcome. Just to ensure, he put up a notice on Taran's local bulletin board requesting one more member to their party. Better safe then sorry, Tyonis presumed. Hopefully someone would fill in before Neo answered him.

Word Count: 165
 

Quote

Tyonis

Level 04
» 80 HP
» 8 EN
» 4 DMG
» 2 ACC
» 0 EVA
» 17 MIT

Equipment
» [Perfect] T1 2H Assault Spear: +2 ACC | Bleed
» [Uncommon] T1 Heavy Armor: +9 MIT

Battle Ready Inventory:
» (5) Starter Healing Potions (+50HP)
» (5) [Uncommon] Tier 1 Health Potions (+40HP)

Skills
» Rank 1 | 2H Assault Spear
» Rank 1 | Heavy Armor

Mods
» None

Items Used
» None

Tyonis raised a brow then smiled apologetically. "My bad. You've got stronger convictions then I gave you credit for," he admitted as he watched her pull another cattail from the lakeside. "Most people, myself included, would use and abuse the living hell out of what SAO had to offer, deathgame or not. If was in your shoes, I'd be throwing a hoot and a holler." He folded his arms and addressed her fully. "Sorry. I won't poke at your pride again. We all live and die by what we believe in. And if silence is your way of throwing [censored] into Kayaba Akihiko's face, then more power to you." He grinned viciously. "The guy's a prick of the highest caliber, anyway." Tyonis added with a shrug. Rather then start to try and harvest another plant, he looked around, keeping both eyes on the skies and the treeline in case a Blood Hawk were to spawn soon.

Word Count: 154

If Tyonis was offended by Neo showing him up, there was no show of it across his expression. His Drill Sergeants had called him a worthless shitbag with no redeeming qualities and would get himself and his friends killed. He'd proved them wrong - granted that was all just a game to see how easily you broke down. If a recruit couldn't take few people screaming at him, there was no way he'd maintain his composure while getting shot at AND with people screaming orders at him. Instead, Tyonis nodded along while Neo slowly demonstrated how to harvest the cattails.

"So... grab it by the base, pull up, and twist slowly, am I right?" Tyonis asked as he walked toward another batch of cattails. "So," he began as he squatted down to grip a cattail with both hands. He just couldn't keep his curiosity at bay. "If I asked nicely, would you try and talk? Or is that opportunity gone forever, now?" He scowled when he pulled too hard and ruined the cattail.

Word Count: 158
ID: 102481
LD: 14 (Fail)

"Nice try!" Tyonis shouted out, clearly enjoying this more than he should have. For all the threat of death the GM tried to impart, there was no denying that this was FUN. Real combat had dirt, sweat, blood, and plenty of pain for everyone involved. But this was so clean it was difficult to really view it as a life-or-death situation. Slowly, he came to a stand, a vicious grin plastered across his face as he thrust at Boar Pup D. The spear penetrated straight through his target and it shattered into countless polygons before his eyes.

"My first kill in Aincrad. Huh." Tyonis remarked as the other Boar Pups sought to avenge their dead. Unfortunately, the victory window only came with a bit of EXP and no Boar Tusk. He closed the window and simply stood their as their attacks dealt zero damage. They were simply unable to overcome the statistical disadvantage. At this point, all tension was gone, and Tyonis was just practicing and growing more accustomed to the insane speed the Skill Assist System was granting him. He'd have to adapt his kinesthetic awareness to keep up.

Word Count: 178

Tyonis audibly smacked his lips and swallowed at the invitation. A Player-run restaurant? Hopefully, the rumors of Player-cooked meals were true. Stat boosting and delicious. He eyed his NPC-bought jerky with a mild expression of disdain and disgust before shoving it in his mouth just to stem another hunger pang. He chewed restlessly, thinking about better meals he could be having at the moment. Even an MRE would be preferable at this point - he'd even welcome the horrific constipation if he could just get a better sensation of taste and texture.

"Well, there is an old saying: Army folk spend most of their money on women, booze, and food. Mainly in that order." He paused. "Or men, if that's what they're into," he added, recalling a conversation he just had. "I need an excuse to spend all this Col. Might as well become a glutton. It's not like eating or exercise effects my real life body in this place," he motioned to the world around them.

Just for good measure, he took a shot at finding an edible looking plant to help Neo build her stock. He went up to a cattail and tried to yank it out, but his lack of finesse just ruined the plant. He sighed at the waste.

Word Count: 185
ID: 102475
LD: 3 (Fail)

It was slowly beginning to dawn on him that this quest may take awhile. If this didn't bode well within the next hour or so, he'd have to reconsider coming back another time. Most likely with a better idea on how to approach the quest. It didn't look like the quest had an expiration time, so theoretically he could leave it be indefinitely. A small chime indicating an unread message popped up and Tyonis looked toward the bottom left hand corner of his screen to see Neo's one word answer. At this point, he was just following her around, watching her gather while waiting for a Blood Hawk to spawn. With a raised brow, he shot Neo another appraising look. 

"Tokyo? Are you Japanese, then? Your English is spot on," he remarked in a grateful tone. "That or SAO has an auto-translator I'm not aware of." He loomed over her as she picked another plant. "Soo.... If what you are saying is true.. you can make food out of the materials I have..." He paused and licked his lips. "You know... I haven't had eggs and bacon in a long, LONG while," he hedged hopefully.

Word Count: 197

Tyonis read along Neo's reply with a raised brow. He'd abide by her request for the most part, but he thought it in his best interest to use text messages to get a fuller reply from her. When it came to small things, he wouldn't mind having a more one-sided conversation, but if he wanted to pick Neo's brain more, he'd need an appropriate medium. With that in mind, he continued to the second half of her letter and chuckled at her claim as an undefeated champion of charades. He'd have to challenge her at that. But he blinked then gaped at Neo's revelation. 

She could speak in SAO? How the hell was that even possible?! Tyonis stared at her in a new light. If their roles were reversed, he would have milked SAO for all it was worth. He wondered if she'd ever tried to sing? How long had she been able to speak before she decided not to? SAO was only released for a few hours prior to the GM announcement, so it couldn't have been for that long. Was she mute again? Or could she speak if she really wanted to? Would SAO allow it?

He pushed aside his burning questions to answer hers, though.

"Good guess, I'm a combat medic for the US Army," Tyonis affirmed as he tore his eyes away from the message. He still shot Neo a obvious expression of incredulity every-so-often. But he kept the message window open in case she'd want to give him a text instead of pantomiming her sentences. He remembered to always keep their Private Messages open and in the far bottom left hand of his UI, a lot like a makeshift chat window, just in case. "I'm stationed in Camp Zama now. About 30 minutes to an hour south of Tokyo. I transferred to Japan just to get a shot at buying a copy of SAO. Careful what you wish for, right?" He shook his head ruefully. "How about you? I met a kid from Britain some while back." He paused, another thought donning on him. "WAIT. YOU CAN COOK?!"

Word Count: 327

Tyonis made his way back out of the water, thankful that his clothes and body were actually still dry. SAO's realism was often offset by how unreal it could get. He was constantly being taken into its illusion, only to be painfully pulled out of it. He didn't even feel cold after emerging out of the water. He took a page out of Neo's book and took a better look around. He spotted a few tamable animals of the four-legged variety but no blood hawks. He did manage to catch a normal hawk swoop down at the lake and catch a fish, so they were in the right place. All that was left was to wait and see if a Blood Hawk would spawn. This was the part that could take awhile, he mused with a heavy sigh and popped another strip of jerky into his mouth out of sheer habit.

He turned to Neo and approached her while typing up a message.

WC: 220

ID: 102351
LD: 15 (Found Tamable Creatures but chose not to approach).

Tyonis whistled appreciatively at Spencer as he finished off the wounded boar. '...He was fast. Spencer doesn't look like he's trained in extreme hand-to-hand combat for a single day in his life. How did he manage to swing a mace like that?' Tyonis asked himself, utterly dumbfounded. As Spencer beckoned him to attack, Tyonis narrowed his eyes at the boars and his spear. He had a sinking suspicion that there was much more to SAO's combat mechanics than he first anticipated. He had chosen a 2H Assault Spear based purely on his real life experience - but he highly doubted Spencer had ever killed anything with a medieval mace before yet the young man swung it with the grace of an expert and at a clearly superhuman speed.

Tyonis exhaled, recalling a few lines in the beta tester informational booklet that explained Sword Skills and Pre-Motions. The Skill Assist  System was what the beta testers referred it to - it was SAO's way of making incompetent civilians mimic superhuman warriors. 

Tyonis eyed the remaining boars and at the tail end of his earlier exhale, he lifted his spear and charged toward the most central of the Boar Pups. He felt a foreign pressure begin to push his muscles in a certain direction and his spear began to glow a shade of deep maroon. Suddenly, his whole body felt several hundred times stronger than it should have been. It was so jarring, Tyonis almost tripped forward on his newfound strength. With a heave, he leapt into the air, then thrust at Boar Pup B from above.

He missed horrifically and hit the ground instead. A wave of energy exploded out from the tip of his spear, missing the other Boar Pups save Boar Pup D.

Tyonis landed on one knee, his eyes wide with shock and awe. "That was [censored] amazi-"

He immediately was mauled by the remaining four Boar Pups. Like before, their attacks bounced harmless off his armor and he knelt amidst them, clearly at a loss. The superhuman feat he'd just pulled off was painfully juxtaposed by how comical these creatures attempts at killing him were. "This is too surreal."

WC: 357

Tyonis kept Neo in the corner of his peripheral vision while he continued to cleave his way through the bush. He honestly hadn't thought his spear would be this useful out of combat, but it was making a great utility tool. This was probably why so many primitive civilizations relied on it so much, he mused. He saw Neo pause to harvest a few strange looking plants by the riverside. He eyed her and the cattail suspiciously. Was she going to try and make some food out of that? Tyonis sighed at the thought and comforted himself with memories of steak and lobster. Fresh Caesar salad. A steaming baked potato loaded with every topping he could possibly imagine.

He was so deep in his daydream that he didn't break out of it until he was ankle deep in what appeared to be a lake. They'd stumbled across the local watering hole. All that was left to do now was to wait and see what would come. 

WC: 166

"Looks like I'm not the only one with shitty RNG," Tyonis observed as Neo began to search for something to harvest. He didn't think her to be a gatherer or crafter, but then again, she did just jump 20 feet into the air and help kill a giant bird nearly twice her size so what the hell did he know? "Didn't find what you were looking for?" Tyonis half-asked half-teased as he led her through the brush and toward the sound of rushing water. He was looking for a hawk's prime hunting ground. What he'd seen earlier had proven his hypothesis. SAO was trying to recreate a working ecosystem on this Floor. Which meant the predators were bout to go hunting. The most obvious place they would be would be at an herbivore's watering hole or feeding ground. If he could catch them during their hunts, he could trace their flight paths back to their nests. 

He continued to bushwhack through the brushes. Now that he'd taken the lead, he didn't need to step around Neo so much and could make the path easier for both of them to trek.

Word Count: 162

"A Soldier is only as strong as the men to his left and right," Tyonis answered then clarified. "I'm a team-oriented person, yes. I suppose I could get by on my own, but you should never underestimate the usefulness of others. Humans have a pack mentality for a reason. I'll probably join a guild at some point in the near future. That or befriend three others to party with on a constant basis and build up our teamwork." He explained then drew his spear as a sounder of Boar Pups approached. Tyonis narrowed his eyes and counted five of them. Did the quest automatically adjust is difficulty because of their party size? He highly doubted a single level 1 Player could take on five Boar Pups. 

Tentatively, he inched toward them, wondering if they'd agro on sight. The answer was no, so he stepped back a bit and shrugged at Spencer.

"They might chain link," Tyonis warned. He wouldn't be surprised. Kayaba seemed to be a sadist after all. No normal person would lock 10,000 people in a god damn deathgame. Those sort of numbers eclipsed most war crimes. With a heavy exhale and a hardening of his eyes, Tyonis left forward and thrust his spear into the flank of one the closest Boar Pup, judging by the way it squealed and how its HP dropped to practically nothing, he'd almost killed it in one shot. Unfortunately it's cursor turned red alongside the other four. "Yeah, they chain link..!" Tyonis managed just before he was all but swamped from every side. He braced himself for death-by-mauling when he realized their tusks were harmlessly bouncing off his armor. 

"Huh. I guess this IS a level 1 Quest," he simply stood as each boar tried to drive their weight into him. It was a surreal experience, to say the least.

Word Count: 161
ID: 102322
BD: 5+2=7 (Hit)

Tyonis chuckled lightly after he read Neo's brief reply and accepted the friend request. "By the way, I retract everything I just said. We can't be friends. Oreo Cookie is the only ice-cream flavor worth eating." Tyonis declared, shaking his head sadly. The constant jokes with food references only made him feel hungrier and he opened his inventory to pull out a strip of jerky. It tasted bland and had the texture of wet cardboard, but it put an end to the constant ache. 'That's how I know this hunger pang isn't real. I guess I can subsist on flavored paper until the 100th Floor, so long as it stops annoying me,' he resigned himself with a sigh.

"So, I killed a giant bird, found some loot, and got a pretty girl's contact info! It's been a very productive day! All's well that ends-WHERE  THE HELL ARE THESE DAMN HAWKS?!" Tyonis exclaimed, loud enough to frighten the nearby wildlife into quiet submission. "Kayaba must be trolling me again." He shot a mock-glare at Neo, as if daring her to disagree. "He nerfed my hidden luck stat at character creation. I'm sure of it."

Word Count: 195

"Huh, that was probably the most eloquent conversation we've had since we met," Tyonis remarked as he closed the window. He narrowed his eyes at Neo somewhat mischievously and rather than reply immediately, he typed out a message and sent it back to her. He watched her with bated breath, wondering how he'd respond to his little joke.

Tyonis' brow waggled suggestively as he folded his arms and loomed over her, a [censored]-eating grin plastered over his face. "So, what'd you say, Neo?" He held out one hand. "I know I forgot to do this, but I think it's better if we did, anyway: name's Tyonis. You can call me Ty. I'll even buy you a necktie you can wave around to get my attention."

Word Count: 168

Tyonis flourished his spear as he came to a stand then set it on his back with a single hand and a few finger movements. He marveled at how easy it was. In real life, there was no way he'd be able to spin a weapon this heavy that fast and that accurately - not without years of practice. It was both invigorating and jarring at the same time. His brain told him what he was doing was impossible. Years of harsh physical training had subconsciously drilled his personal limits into his mind. He was always acutely aware of when he was about to push himself too far or if he wasn't even putting that much effort into an exercise. To be able to just... ignore that ingrained sense of kinesthetic awareness was...

Liberating? Frightening? He wasn't sure yet.

Neo's beckon shattered his reverie though and he joined her over by a half-buried treasure chest. "Eh? Oh, good eye, Neo. For awhile there, I was worried you had nothing but ice-cream on your mind," he chided and was vaguely aware he'd reminded himself of his own desire for better tasting food. "Ugh, nevermind. So, all we gotta do is kick this open and..."

Word Count: 205
ID: 102316
LD: 8  (F02x75) = 150 Col, (3) materials, (2) rare consumables

EN: 6+1=7

Tyonis could no longer deny what was in front of him now. He truly was in a fantasy world and stood utterly and completely captivated by Neopolitan's movements. His mouth hung open as the tiny, mute woman darted out of the bushes faster than an Olympic sprinter could ever dream of achieving, vaulted up over 20 feet into the air, thrusted out her rapier, and knocked a giant bird nearly her height - and undoubtedly several times her size if he included its wingspan - out of a god damn tree. 'That... should have been physically impossible.' He thought numbly as the bird unceremoniously landed in a heap at his feet.

"Huh." Tyonis tried, but the words failed to leave his throat. The bird writhed as it bled out. He could see a small lightning mark by its HP bar that indicated its Paralyzed status. It was the juxtaposition of realism and VRMMO UI pragmatism that brought him back out of his stupor. He readied his spear and lunged forward, trying to embrace the impossibilities that SAO and the Skill Assist System had to offer.

As he lifted his spear, he could feel his muscles tense and move in a way that felt both familiar and alien - as if he were being guided by some unseen force. His arms blurred, moving faster than they'd ever done, and the tip spear slammed down with the force of a meteorite over the squirming bird's skull. 

"DIE!" Tyonis grunted, his voice laced with bloodlust as he felt the creature's skull cave. It was a tone of voice he reserved only for the battlefield, against enemies he well and truly meant to kill.

Word Count: 229
ID: 102314
BD: Natural 9 (+1DMG)

Tyonis' eye twitched as the beheld the large bird of prey perched over a dead carcass. He was pretty sure most monsters shattered into polygons when they were killed, but maybe the Cardinal System was trying to replicate a sense of realism in its ecosystem by animating the predators actually eating their kills. It was fascinating to watch, if not nearly as gory as it should have been. Mother Nature could be a sadistic bitch at the best of times. It seemed like Kayaba was really pushing that ESRB rating. When Neo looked to him, Tyonis nodded in agreement. He was not one to back down from a fight unless he was clearly outmatched and he had an inkling that the two of them could take this monster down fairly easily.

Plus, he was pretty itching to stretch his virtual muscles after all the Quest grinding he'd done. He was definitely due for a regular monster encounter.

"Let's take it down before it gets a chance to fly up and over us."

Word Count: 172

Approximately two years ago,

Lyle Tealeaf's smithy was actually not nearly as impressive as Cerdic's. Tyonis had to click his tongue in annoyance at how cramped it was. But he should have expected as much. Cerdic was a Master Blacksmith and Lyle didn't seem to be nearly as skilled. The second tutorial quest was much like the first, and Tyonis had a sinking suspicion that almost all of SAO's quests would be fetch or kill quests. After Lyle gave his two-cents on how best to hunt for Boar Tusks, Tyonis made his way out, looking over his shoulder to regard Spencer with a chiding expression.

"It was a joke, by the way," he reassured wearing another grin. "So, now it's Boar Pups and their Tusks. We can go into the Southern Forest a ways and find them spawning there. Shouldn't be too much of a walk. Are you up for it?"

Word Count: 152

Tyonis took a brief scan of his surroundings. He listened intently for the sounds of wildlife and could pick out certain bird calls as well as other noises that were the sample of a strong and stable ecosystem. Something like this hardly existed in any part of the world he'd ever been in. This was what a forest would have sounded like if humanity didn't tear open over 9,001 holes in mother nature's backside. There was also something alien and unfamiliar he couldn't put his hands on. A particular call that he'd honestly never thought possible. Contrary to popular belief, most bird calls were staccato chirps at a rapid pace. This was 'too' musical. As if it were artificially constructed.

He leaned closer to Neo. "I think I hear something peculiar in the high trees just over the bush line. Let's tread quietly and keep our eyes up," Tyonis instructed as he slowly pushed through the bushes, careful not to disturb the natural stillness too much...

Word Count: 167

ID:  102312
LD: 6 (Fail)

Tyonis continued to let Neopolitan take the lead, though he would do his best to help the woman through the unbeaten underbrush if it seemed a bit too difficult to traverse without his assistance. His spear functioned as a very sharp walking stick as he used it to bushwhack deeper and deeper into the forests. As he was pushing through a particularly large thorn bush, he spoke up again. "So I heard Blood Hawks tend to stand out among the high trees, they're obviously blood red and a few times larger than a normal hawk, so it makes them easy to spot, though I heard they can be pretty rare," he began to explain. "They spawn where higher-leveled hawks do and where larger herbivores gather. I think it's to simulate an actual food chain."

Once more, he ended up talking about food. He could practically feel his stomach grumbling in real life.

Word Count: 154

Reward Summary:

Tyonis gains...

• (5) Tier 1 Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP)
• (1) Tier 1 Damage Potion. (+1 Damage)
• (1) Tier 1 Over-Health Potion (+50 Temp. HP)
• 2 Additional Skill Points
• 1 Additional Skill Point (20 posts)
• 200 Col (20 Posts)

Spencer gains...

• 1 Additional Skill Point (20posts)
• 200 Col (20 Posts)

Tyonis exhaled lightly, dispelling the heavy atmosphere and relaxing his expression as Spencer laughed a bit. "Yeah," Tyonis scratched the back of his head, looking quite awkward, "I got a bit too high on my soap box, there, didn't I?" He shrugged off his earlier mood and opened the door to the smithy, waiting for Spencer to step inside first. "As for the quest.... did you even read the beta tester's guidebook?" He asked incredulously then pulled out of his inventory. "It highlights all the basic quests on the first few Floors and even lists all their objectives. It's been really handy... wait..." he shot Spencer an accusatory glare. "Are you one of those assholes that calls Customer Service without reading the instructions manual first? Oh, I bet you are. Damn. Well, we can't be friends anymore." Tyonis declared and pushed past him to turn in the parcel and complete the quest, only to be prompted with the next in the chain. He smiled viciously at Spencer. "Oh Spence, guess what: there are three more parts to this!"

Word Count: 162 Thread Complete!