Black

Black would grunt vehemently as he was clawed and kicked back like a ragdoll, his body being blown back into cracked wooden benches meant for the people who attended the churches service. He gripped his chest as he looked to the rest of his squad who's health bars were not affected. A pained twitch of his cheeks left him as he thought of the girl who had passed. The splintering chill of shouting and crying... Screams. Black blinked his eyes as they started to water. He wondered what the hell was happening as he stirred back to conciousness. All of the shouting sounded familiar, but where was Mina's? 

He felt his heart stop. The other death was a stranger. Impersonal. Easier to shrug off. However, this one. It clung to him like the way @Mina clung to his arm as she first entered seemingly afraid. Black watched her rose petal like hair burst into a luminescent array of splendor as his eye twitch with a tinge of hopelessness. He couldn't believe it. They had only begun to adventure together and he planned on bring her along more trips. Cooking amazing food for all his friends. 

Black slid his forearm across his face and squinted at the demon with animosity. He looked to Hazado, the lone T1 survivor of the first squad. That was the first man to help Black out when he was just a level one. He watched him fight on relentlessly....as relentlessly as Mina did. "Give him hell, Rhino!" Black shouted out in encouragement.

He reverted his gaze to the second squad, each seeming to go on an all out offensive. Black would become inspired by the second squad's fervour in combat as he charged forth to drive his sword into the Demon's eye with enough wrath to decimate the weak as the winds of rage blew past his feet. 

"COME ON, SECOND SQUAD! STAY IN THE FIGHT! WHOSE WILL WILL BE BROKEN FIRST? OURS OR THE ENEMY? DON'T GET SLOPPY! IF YOU GOT TO HEAL, HEAL. NO IN SECOND SQUAD DIES TODAY! " Black turns the bloodlust in his eyes to Miraak. "YOU HEAR ME? -NO ONE-!" Black promised as he twisted his blade inside the demon. 

-

ID 110339: BD: 2 (+5) (+4) = 11 

-1 HP to Miraak

Black would have gone into damage control mode after seeing even more health leached from his friends and gifted as a boon to this demon that stole the essence of life from an innocent kid. Half of the first party was decimated. He saw one of the heavily wounded port out.

“Why is Mina still there? [censored]. Can’t one of you get her a crystal to get her out of here?” Black gritted his teeth. “Damn it...never again. We aren’t being cheap. Everyone has to have a TP crystal. “ He looked to his own party, analyzing their health bars and demeanor. “Who is this squad is without a TP crystal? I need to know now. We’ll get you taken care of. “

As Black’s eyes looked over at Dustin’s waning health, he grew concerned as to why he was still fighting.

“Hey Dustin, good [censored], but chug a potion man. [censored] rolls downhill for all of us if you don’t. “ He inhaled lightly as he considered his attacks and the amount of aggro he must have generated.

“Alright, I got to keep the pressure up.” He squints down at the demonic entity and brandishes his blade with sharp animosity. Rage crackled from his wakizashi as he ran his curved sword across it and ripped a violent paralytic overhead surge through the man's shoulder blade, digging his blade in deep. Though, the paralytic surge would take no effect, it would be symbolic of the silent rage boiling within Black. 

"Come on you coward. You want to take as many of us down as you can? Fight me. Demon to demon right now. I'll show you what the gates of hell really look like."

 ID# 109907 results:

Battle: 8 

- 1 DMG to Miraak +2 Hate from Miraak

Black was intensely angered by how the tide of battle had shifted from tedious to a tragedy in a matter of minutes. This was war. Only thing was instead of brass invading bodies, here it was scorching fire and sharpened steel. The ignited fireballs exploded like bombs in Baghdad and littered the church with embers as the demon had unleashed his unbridled anger. 

Black glazed through the smoke effects to look at the party menu. That was like being consumed from Ifrit's hellfire. Everyone's health fell into the yellow zone, but the panic emitted from Domarus's squad was tragic as the beast lifted one of the brave souls in the air and snapped her neck. 

The stoic Marine analyzed the outcome. By Sunova healing Mina, the pink haired woman was spared. At least, temporarily. However, their healer...she died in valor. Her name will be imprinted honorably on the monument. 

Black noticed that another, Dazia...was as close to death as Mina. 

"You two need to teleport out now, if possible. Don't let that healers sacrifice be in vain! Live to fight another day!"

"Everyone needs to heal. I land enough blows on this bastard. If he wants to come at someone, then come on, let it be me you pathetic piece of s***." Black hissed as he drank his potion. " Don't panic. Fight smart. Be conservative and don't take risks. We need to be ready if he follows up with another attack like that. It's going to be okay!" 

Used 1 Starter healing potion. +50 HP 
 

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The tiny tyrant went on a rampage as Black uttered the phrase that should never be spoken. It was like cracking away at the layer of trust over an unspoken agreement. However, she drew first blood by calling him fat. It's only right that the battle hippo get to make fun of the wee rider. Her bells and out like a million baby rattles as she shifted into war mode.

Black had to take several steps back. This woman was going to be the death of him. Her spontaneous fury was unmatched.

“Wa..wait. Now hold on..we can talk about this. I know you feel a little sensitive about your uhm...condition.” He couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. “No come on..wait!”

He had to protect himself. He looked around for something anything to defend himself or appease the violent woman. That's when his hands that clawed behind him found something wooden. And he pulled it up from the ground and hoisted the heavy object like a shield.

It was a shiny treasure chest. “Please no! I..I found a chest! See? Shiny~”

@Mutsu

 ID# 108790 results:

Loot: 18

Treasure chest found!

Black anticipated sustaining heavy injuries along with his group that had set up the offensive line in the center of the large arena. His squad maintained their resolve but noticed their forces weakening over time. The pressure began to grow as more stress was put on the healer and he had to maintain his duties as a tank. He surveyed the field and observed Cosi switching tactics. Black chose to swim with the tide and stick to his weapon as he focused on garnering the demon's ire. The heavy sinking feeling was almost punishing in it's own right as if bound by shackles that sought to bind him to the earth. However,  he resisted oppression and trudged through the church as if he was wading through a deep sea. "Come on, we're fighting alongside the frontliners. Not all the demons in hell can overrun us!" He cried out as he landed an overhead strike upon Miraak's collarbone. "You're pathetic...this little tantrum you're throwing...I can't even tell if you're an angel craving chaos or a demon seeking peace...but hell even the Devil weeps when he remembers he once had wings." 
 

"Everything is just one big game? Sounds like maybe you'd make a perfect campaign for VRMMO's. Life is just one big game! " Black declared with excitement. "Though, you know...Kayaba has [censored] game design. He could have at least gave us three lives. The b******d.." Black grumbled as he kept chewing on his comfort food. "I'd actually complain more but hey good tasting food everyday is usually pretty expensive..and hell Col is easier to get than grocery money. I think if that system wasn't around, I'd be mad as hell." Black states with furrowed brows and cheeks puffed out full of food thereafter.

However his display would taunt the girl. "Hey...why are you staring at me like that?" He blinked with bewilderment. Before his spidey senses could tingle she was upon him like a panther in the forest. "Gahhh! I thought you'd be full already tiny!" He squirmed as items were being plundered and extravagant dishes reminiscent of an Asian buffet streamed out. "Nooo, my foooood! Wow..you just have a knack for being an orange player. Raiding me already!"

@Mutsu

“That's just sick. I see how it is. This is like a carnival game to you and you're trying to whack me to get the most points. You thinking Kayaba will give you a high score on the leaderboards or some special achievement?” He chuckled as he casually walked through the forest, trying to study the different array of items he could pluck to use as ingredients in a tasty dish.

The loud pounding in the forest made Black wonder what was going on. He looked perplexed as he didn't know any mob in the area to make a noise quite like that. Hopefully there wasn't some secret encounter he didn't know about. However the jingling of bells would offer some semblance of relief as she came back to refute his claim of the awesomeness of animals and ridicule those long dead.

“Well, if that's how you’re gonna be. I guess that calls for more comfort food!” He grins widely. “Hmm...I wonder if there are mechanics in the game that will make you fat if you eat too much.” He stated as he pulled out some teriyaki chicken. “Well, only one way to find out!" As he began to munch on his food, he swallowed and gave Mutsu a goofy grin. "Hey..battle hippos have to eat a lot...you know..burning energy in all the battles..it really wears us out!"

@Mutsu

Black was simply happy that the battle had been dealt with and fortunately the man would have gained enough experience to become boosted a level or two after their adventures which would reduce the threat of him dying on the beginner floors. Fortunately, Black's strikes landed when they needed to or else this would have became a long and drawn out fight. "Heh, no worries man. I felt just as useless when I started out the same as you. Someone else helped me, but hey look at me now. You'll get there with enough patience. " He reassured the young man. "Do yourself a favor with the money you get from this and buy yourself some armor at a shop. It's a worthy endeavor. You'll also want to do a quest called Gemini. It's good for getting that concentrate ability. I also tend to recommend getting yourself a familiar as well. They are quite useful. " Black paused a moment to hear out the man's question. "I'm hear just enjoying the ambiance. It's good to travel. I also am a chef and certain ingredients you can only get on certain floors. I'm actually a pretty high ranked chef, I might add. So, if you're ever in the market for buffs, come swing my way. I'm near the waterfall of the sage on the sixth floor. " Black produced some sushi rolls from his inventory. "I make a bit of everything from different nationalities, but my favorite thing to make is sushi. " He states as he beams with delight and enjoys a bite. "Not part of any group, but I know a good amount of people. Thought about getting a group of tier ones to band together. Help them out with stuff. Generosity goes a long way. You should get to know Mutsu, Kirbs, and Hydravion maybe..oh..and Vally, too. They are all close to your level." 

@Cr0wnS

Black chuckled as Kirbs mentioned the potential of popularity and even gave him a bit of free advertising with her word of mouth. He couldn't help but laughed at how she pointed out his ridiculous meal, but he felt it fit. “Yes, of course I know what a meat shield is...and yes this isn't quite it..but I’ve been trying to get enough beef to take to those blacksmiths so they can make me a meat shield, but they keep saying that's not how it works! I think they just aren't a high enough rank yet. I'm going to go see Macradon. “ He huffed, determined to bring meat shields into greatness. “Ohhhh, a big Chef knife sword and a shield made out of meat! It'd be perfect!”

Black then hears Dustin's counter about how a shark made out of sand would be awesome. “You know...speaking of sand and cookies..I actually went to volunteer out in Haiti...did you know the people out there were so broke they legit used to mix sand with water and let it dry out on cement and eat them. They were called sand cookies and they sold for like a little less than a dollar. True story. Crazy how much food Americans and other people waste. “

Black then looks to Mutsu. “Though I hear it's not that way in Japan. Hell..even the sumo wrestlers don't waste a drop. Maybe if I feed you enough you can compete!”

Suddenly he got smacked in the head. Of course he would. It wouldn't be right for him to expect to be safe. Not around Mutsu. Great thing these hits didn't register in real life or he would probably be in a coma.

@Mutsu @Kirbs @Dustin

Vengeance was hers as the pipsqueak pummeled him to a pulp. She had no concern for his well being or safety. "You know...I read about these abusive relationships in a pamphlet once...this keeps up and I'm gonna have to call a GM." Black chuckled lightly. "And what's with your dude anyway? Isn't Kayaba from Japan? I thought you guys were known for being smart. Kidnapping and killing off thousands of people from all the different nations...that's..given him more red flags than ISIS. I just hope Japan's police department know what they are doing. They piss this guy off and he'll pull the plug on our a**es. "
 

Black then began to munch on a delicious rice cake. "Hippo...hmmm...if we're talking water creatures...I'm a big ass megalodon. That's like a super shark. Definitely a megalodon or maybe a kickass dolphin. Ohhhh, you ever watch that documentary about how corrupt seaworld was with those animals that kept eating their staff? " He'd exclaim as he spoke in an excited manner.

@Mutsu

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"Didn't no one ever teach you that attack dogs are no good when keep a muzzle on them?" Black rebuffed with a light wave of his hand. "Anyway, enough chit chat and complaints. You're more than welcome to message a GM or I don't know...it's a game so just.. mute me...just not during the combat phase. " He instructs as he moves in towards the enemy and keeps his Assault Band, Ruby Armor, and taunt ring active for this small tour of duty. He was aware that most enemies he encountered he could only damage with his thorns. He simply focused on maintaining hate and paralyze would actually counter his desires for this battle.
 

"So, I'll tell you like a good fighter names Hazado told me. Just make sure you wait for my signal to attack. Things can shift at any moment if you get too overzealous with the crits or if I had too many to drink before work and can't hit the blind side of a barn, but I picked up this little beauty from an Artisan shop on the forth floor that I highly recommend. Take care of your gear and it'll take care of you. Even Mutsu knows how a simple item can turn us from blind bats to striking things down so accurately you'd think we were knights of the round table."

As they entered they would encounter the beastly dragon's lair deep inside a mysterious cavern. It's scales would shimmer in the small array of artificial lighting produced by the game.

"Alright, I'm first at bat. Let's wake up our sleeping dragon." Black states as he strides up to the beast. It was far more different than playing any third person MMO. He was literally staring a dragon in the face. He wore a smug hunter's grin as he clobbered it over the head with his curved sword. "Rack time's over, motherf*****.." He chuckled sinuously. "God that does way better than any anger therapy session...now guys, you can come in and get a hit in if you wish. However, be warned. Get a bit too overzealous with the crits and..." As he faced away from the dragon a big claw would embed itself in his back and the claws would poke through his abdomen in a grim manner as he smirked and thumbed back to the beast. " He'll do a real number on you." The beast would wail as he was hit by thorns. "Oh, look at that...his screech was an attempt to buff me by reducing my evasion. I guess he really has a penchant for pain.  It'd be bad if that hit you guys though. So be careful."

# 108334 results:

Battle: 4 (+3) = Hit

MOB: 6

LD: 19 - Screech activated. No evasion for Black.

-1 HP to Dragon

-18 HP to Dragon

-10 HP to Black

Rhaegal - the Emerald Hatchling

HP: 106/125- MIT: 25 - ACC: 0 - EVA: 0 - DMG: 50

Black 386/400 40/40 EN 3 ACC 18 Thorns 1 Taunt 1 Recovery 36 MIT

@Vally

@Mutsu

The cacophony of clashing blades illuminated sparks among the battlefield. The sinuous serpent of sin before them had molded his body into a rather demonic form. He was highlighted by strobes of eerie red light and the player's would retaliate with a seething hatred. His voice had changed and he had become more cocky in his tone. He spoke of controlling his demons to do his bidding. 

'Wait...did that crazy fool just say we...yep..now he's lost it. Time to put him down' The Marine thought as he huffed and watch the enemy take all manner of blows before simply healing a portion of damage he had received. Black's eyes gleamed with realization that the attack from the paralytic blade failed to ignite an effect on the enemy. "The bastard is immune to our paralyze abilities and stuns.

"Alright, we're switching tactics. Don't worry about the stuns and paralytic abilities for now. Focus on pure damage DPS, Vigilon and Kyoto. Cosi, you and I will keep up the hate as usual. Krysta, let's get Vigilon topped off. Dustin, every now and then, switch off of damage and opt to heal others in the event of an AoE. Krysta won't be able to heal herself as she heals others, so make sure Doc is taken care of." 

After he shared words with his squad, he watched the beast entice them with power that rivaled the tier 2 players and even the tier three players as well. His eyebrow wiggled with amazement at his new stats. "You really think this [censored] impresses me? I've been stopped fighting my inner demons. We're on the same side now. " The Marine smirked with a devilish grin. "You're just scared...but don't worry...even when I was born the devil said...Oh [censored]...competition." With a confident grin, Black surged this illusion of demonic power and redirected it towards the man, only to have it vanish before his eyes. "More cheap tricks? Well, that's alright. If the Marines wanted me to have a demon overlord they would have issued me one..problem is..they're too soft...even the Devil was once an angel. You probably wouldn't want any of us on your side anyway. We'll dance with your demons and let them lead, and as soon as you think you're in charge, we'll make you bleed."  

Player Stats

 

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Black grumbles at the spider as it stares at him with malicious eyes. “Gah...this freak show...holy hell...why would they put a thing like this in a virtual reality game! This is crazy! Who the hell likes fighting big ass spiders!” Black grimaced as he scooped up his shield. His body laid in the dust as Mars lept up with a devastating blow that ruptured the spider's face and sent it spiraling. “Damn...way to throw a haymaker...I might have to place bets on you in the boxing ring.” He laughed as he watched the events unfold. The spider got launched to a crippling portion of it's health as lays down on it's back.

Mars then calls out to his partner. “Of course it's possible, but you're the one I gave all the good buff food to.” Black says as the spider leaps at him and he switches his sword art to a fell crescent to stun the beast. “Got to go for the big money, right?”  He chuckles.

@Mars

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Black wears a evil grin at Mars at he recognizes the man begins to detest Black stealing his luck like some sort of crazed luck vampire. “Leeching luck is what I do. Of course, it's give and take. I mean...you don't think that Prosperity Food didn't come with a price. When you ate that, you sold your soul to the Goddess Fortuna in exchange for her blessing of luck.” Black states as he tries to spook the man with his own made-up lore. “Or perhaps it was a gift from the Demon King of Greed...one could never know for sure.”

Black recoils back to watch the devastating supply of energy being rained down on the villain. “Hmm neither a crit not a miss...guess I'm not a thief at all. Funny how my luck turned out. “ Black laughed as he walked past Mars.

“Aye, next enemy. If you miss this one, then we know you're cursed.” Black states as he finds a large cavern spider. “F..fu...goddamn spiders man!” Black leaped back, swinging and missing as it jumped on him and began assaulting him by lunging to bite him. "Oh, [censored] no, get this [censored] away man!"

@Mars

Black begins to set up camp within the dark caverns. The dampness makes the environment have a frigid chill to the wind. Droplets of water cascade from the ceilings before bursting upon the soil into a rainbow of light.

Vibrant colors of flora adorn the edges of the caverns to add some semblance of tranquility as Black examines the area. “Whoa...this place is crazy...it's almost like the caves in some Elder Scrolls game…” He blinks as he notices the stalagmites. “I hope those things don't...fall and hurt people. That's one way to a closed casket funeral.

His vision shifts as he notices tall pillars being formed out of the stalacites. Far off there are homes born out of the rock and walls. “ Huh..don’t see that everyday.” Black murmurs as he begins to carve his spoon into his meal. Enjoying a delicious dish of Teriyaki Chicken and shrimp fried rice.

He'd be sitting outside of a cave in heavy armor. One could tell from the scene that he was a tank and was simply looking for a extra layer of support before going out and grinding the enemies that lurked within.

Lvl. 25 Black:   - HP: 500/500 // EN : 50/50 // MIT: 99// DMG: 2// THN: 36// E VA: 0 // ACC : 1// PARA : 8-10 // Bleed 8-10 // REC 1 // REGEN 10
@Neopolitan

Black jitters with glee at the man's disbelief in him. He began to wonder if the man would eventually overtime buy into his superstitions.  “Fine, don't believe me. Maybe this will make you a believer. “ Black would state as he mumbled some mumbo jumbo incantation and waved a hand over Mars. “Behold, my dark magic taught to me by the dread lord, Hestia, of the Unholy Dragon Empire! Let it fill you with my strength!”

Immediately afterward, Mars’ fist would illuminate with a cacophony of splendid power. “Yes...yes! Embrace the darkness within you. You might believe it is the system guiding you. But this whole time it's been me.” Insert maniacal laughter.

Black watched as he criticized the beast and mentioned something about another floor. “Oh, those are on color 23? Hmm..morr Dark Elves? I love this death game! Woo!” Black cheered with excitement as he was stabbed in the gut.

“We will kill you! The council may have cast me out, but you bastard's have been destroying our nation, now die!”

Black winced at how...human the creatures seemed to behave. “Wooooow, sick immersion!” He grinned before swiping a sword the beast and missing. “[censored]...going to need some of that power back…” He muttered Mars as his regen began to heal him.

@Mars

“I mean...I like to think I'm more of a lion or a dragon...maybe even like a badass wolf. Something with fangs and claws. They eat a lot too. Now, if we're going to relate me to a fatbody like a hippo. Wrong branch. May want to look up the chair force. Or...since Hippos love the water...maybe check with your little Navy buddies.”

Black laughs lightly, then gets a different image in his mind at the idea of side saddle concepts. “Ohhh, that old fancy weird [censored] where you look like you want to hop off at any moment. Stick to stabbing how you used to...familiars in this game are small enough. I think you'd be the only one able to ride them...if ugh..you didn't have so much weighing you down.” Black grinned sheepishly.

“Of course, of course. “ Black said in response to Mutsu. “ And Black men can be samurai. “

Black pouts at her last response about smothering him. “Somehow I don't think that involves the right set of pillows I was hoping for” as he goes to gather more materials.

@Mutsu

“Why a battle hippo?” Black giggled in response to such a proposterous animal being taken into battle. “Actually...nawl, that's a pretty good choice. I saw how powerful those teeth are. I also saw a YouTube video of one getting crazy pissed at this SUV and chomping the whole hood off. It was crazy. “

He then considers her question. “Wait a second...side saddle is a thing? So what are you just hanging off at that point?” He laughed picturing someone hanging off the side of a mount for dear life.

She flicks him on the nose to which he stares at his nose in a cross eyed fashion. “I mean..as if you were having trouble giving me a nosebleed. That's cheating…”

“Ohhh, cowboy stuff is fun. Especially the outlaw stuff. Like the old school red redemption games! Loved that stuff!” Black then taps his chin. “Oh! Or Fallout series...I guess this world is like a medieval fallout, I suppose.”

He then looks as she searches for treasure. “Ha, greedy goblin. If you wanted to search for treasure, I could have helped. They call me the Lucky Devil for a reason, you know! I stay ready with lucky gear and food!” He flashes a smile. “And yes, please don't PK me...although, it would be an honorable death for a Marine. “ He then blinks. “I wonder if you get a purple heart for that…”

@Mutsu

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Black scrutinized the other player. He knew this was a fight or flight moment. “Come on. Don't feed the fear.” Black said encouragingly as he tested August's resolve. He wanted Cr0wnS to most of all recognize that the games mechanics were different from how unpredictable the real world was. Once you recognized the patterns, the game itself was very much so predictable and able to understand. “It's just like solving a puzzle or a dance. I take 3 steps you take one. You'll get a vibe for it.”

Black watches as the man's sword charged up. “Great. Now don't just try to hit the target for your sword art. Strike through them!” Black announced. “The game assists and guides you through it. You’ll be fine. “ Black watched as he sliced through the wasp with a pretty accurate strike.

“Alright, great, now it's time for the fatal finish. “ Black smirked as he rose his sword in the air and it glowed red before he slammed it down into the wasp. With flickering red health, the wasp made it's final stand and stung the player, only to be ripped apart by his armor's thorns.

Black decided to pull out a vanity song crystal and play the FF7 combat victory song to celebrate the win and exp.

@Cr0wnS