Miaki

"Kyaaa!" With a final flurry of stabs from his <>, Miaki dropped the last of the health on the <>. It's growl was cut off by the sound of glass shattering as the beast exploded into infinite fragments that started to dissipate. Miaki sheathed his weapon and noticed the dark wooded region start to get lighter out. He looked up and saw the sun starting to peek up on the horizon. The rising of the morning sun marked the end of Miaki's late night expeditions beyond the safety of the wall in the <>. It had been a month since he found himself trapped in this death game and he had what some would call an erratic sleeping pattern. In truth this was not due to his being in SAO but something he kept to in the real world. And so with the sun starting to peek out, Miaki decided to head back to town a short run away.

Not much later Miaki ran through the city gates and saw a few people starting to move around.

Miaki looked at the new player armed with some kind a laser rifle or blaster, he was still trying to transition from thinking all about swords to firearms. He realized he hadn't handled a firearm in ages and wondered about that.

"Hey, how's it going." He looked the player over. "Been in this area for a while?"

Greetings to you Rzrael! (A totally awesome name by the way!) I can agree with the whole hype issue between AoT and SAO which can kind of ruin things. I personally just came across SAO completely by accident and had no idea how hyped up it was (not to mention I was way behind everyone else). Looking forward to seeing you in action in here. Also, you could probably submit a picture to one of the GMs and they can make that your profile picture or you could just leave it in your signature.

Haijimemashite! (Nice to meet you!) Welcome to this death game called <>. I'd love to see you throw in some folklore inspiration into the mix. Great to have you join us.

Greetings and salutations! Well met indeed! You used all my favorite ways of greetng a person! I read through some of your profile and I'm excited to RP with you. Especially to a binge SAO viewer. I must say that it is one of the best ways to watch an anime. Message me if you have questions to which I'll try and help with. I'll also jump in your OP I just saw you open nice I get to my next location. If you want to do a RP with a goal in mind whether it is character development, prior to learning about SAO becoming a death game, or whatever, let me know.

Excited to have you!

Miaki looked around them trying to get his bearings to one place he saw in passing once before. "There is one place I've heard of that has a great view of the city as well as great hot drinks. I don't recall the name but I know where it is. It's in one of these taller buildings on the north end. It would be my pleasure to lead you there." With that they started walking toward the <> of the populous city on the first floor.

"Let me help you up." He said as he offered his hand to her. "We should probably move out from the middle of the street. My name is Miaki. What's yours?"

Miaki cleaned up camp which was a simple task that took less than a minute. Wouldn't be able to clean up so quickly in the real world. He switched back to his being clad brown. Adjusting his fedora he looked down at Eryn. "Then let us be off!" Miaki lead Eryn in toward the location marked <> on their maps.

Miaki accepted the crystal and looked at it with interest. He tucked it away in an inner pocket of his jacket and looked back at the two. "Thanks. I'm not too concerned. I'd like to say that I have a good judge of character. Plus I'm used to having to get out of a bind fast. That's why I always have one of these handy." He held up a teleportation crystal in his left hand. "Always as a precautionary. I've never had to use one but you can never be too safe."

Miaki glanced over where Kane was now looking. 'This guy's head seems all over the place today.' He saw the person in glasses and a pretty sweet mustache. Something he at the age of 21 had yet to pull off properly and rubbed where chin hair would be if he wasn't clean shaven before starting SAO.

Miaki, now a bit far ahead of everyone else, turned around and started jogging in place. "Whats the hold up? You're gonna get tagged if you don't pick up the pace." He continued to jog in place watching everyone else start to join in the fun.

Miaki had heard about a new area that was as the information broker put it, 'That's no moon. Nor a floor.' "Teleport. Death Star!" He vanished in a shimmering light and found himself on what appeared to be a starship of some kind. It reminded him of those old Sci-Fi movies his parents loved. He started walking around exploring the ship.

"Aww!! I'm tagged! Teehee! Miakiiii-sama? I WANT TO CHASE YOU NOW!!"

Completely obvious to everyone else now, Miaki smiled and chucked a small sweet he had hidden in his right hand at Haine. Soon as she caught and was distracted for a fraction of a second he started slowly stepping away then turned and started jogging but not as fast as before. "Fine then! You're it!" The BGM Miaki heard from being in the area he was in changed as he started to run away.

Miaki dashed forward and grabbed Haine with a bear hug from behind. "Now where do you think you're going little missy?" He started laughing as he spun her around once while he still had a firm hold on her for the moment. He made sure to have her waist since they were the same height and she'd be able to run away rather easily, especially given how much she was wound up. She could probably break free rather easily but Miaki was gonna make sure she atleast worked for it.

Miaki pointed at Edwyn. "Now you've got it! The answer is in the question. What makes you happy? What makes you feel alive? For everyone its different. Some open up shops and take up professions. So go for strength and endure the hardest trials to test their mettle. Others simply live day by day in sheer bliss. Not everyone gets it though and they live in insecurity and fear. It takes people like us-" He said pointing at the himself and Edwyn. "to try and be that beacon or banner for others to rally behind."

Miaki walked carefree about in the market place and in the corner of his eye noticed a strip of black cloth somewhat out of place. 'GOTCHA!' He thought has he got closer. "Oh dear. Where could she have gone?" He leaned against the barrel next to Haine. He slashed his two fingers in the air and shifted around his inventory. A slight glint sparkled in his eye. "Gee. Whatever am I to do with these sweets I got from the 6th floor today?" He said suddenly eying where Haine was hiding.

"Given time SAO could be come a really nice place to live."

"I take it this must be your first full dive using the NerveGear. Sorry it had to be like this." Miaki turned and looked out at the dungeon tower far off in the distance and the next floor it reached far overhead. He had a hard time coming to terms with the realism of Sword Art Online when he first was getting himself off the ground. He shrugged."Still. The real world. This world. I stopped trying to distinguish the two ages ago it seems like. Life isn't bad here at all. It's pretty sweet actually. With a sword, spear, or axe in hand one can take themselves to such places they only have dreamed of before. I've never felt more alive than I have here in SAO. Its the adventure of a lifetime." He realized he was starting to sound like he was giving a motivational speech or something. He scratched the back of his neck before turning back to Edwyn. "Keep on living is what Im trying to say I suppose."

Miaki chased after her and thought he saw her dive behind some vendors but turned his back to them using his hand forming a visor and searching in the complete opposite direction.

"I will find you my pretty and your little wolf too." He searched around for Haine playing dumb to her being somewhere behind him.

(OOC: I couldn't help but make that reference even though Im not a fan.)

"Throw licorice at me will you!?" Miaki waved his fist about wildly. "I'll show you cheetah speed!" He yelled while picking up his pace.

"Yeah, no problem. Remember the teleport gates are on each floor and lead to the main city on each of them. Cities are completely safe. In fact when we get the seventh floor clear, it's common practice to have a bunch of people rush the floor and have a floor clearing party." Miaki had yet to attend one since getting in SAO but heard they were a lot of fun.

With a final slash Miaki finished off the oversized plant on the 6th floor. Sheathing his blade, Miaki decided that it was time to return to a lower levels for the day and loosen up. He pulled out a teleport crystal and said, "Teleport! Starting City!" and in a shimmering blue light he vanished from the jungles of floor 6. He appeared in the first floor town and check the time. "It's still early... Okay then, let's see who is on this floor."

Opening up his friends list, Miaki marked a few people and rechecked the map of the first floor to see if any where around. He saw two of the blips which were labeled <> and <> close together! one following the other over some distance it looked like. "I wonder what those two are up to..." He marked <> and in his vision saw a path to follow to reach them.

He changed his usual old western inspired attire to something lighter and loose to increase his speed at reaching them. He unequipped his weapons and armor and changed to grey sweats and a T-shirt. He adjusted his glasses and started running through the path shown in his vision leading to them.

Not much later he found them. The two girls were now chasing each other around while two guys were close together. He remembered one to be Ed, a new player Miaki was helping recently. The other all dressed in black was completely new to him. He looked back at Haine and Elyth running around and shrugged. 'Time for some fun.' He thought and then started running toward the girls yelling in a playful tone. "Hey! What do you think you two are doing?" He started to pick up his speed a little.

When I first watched this episode in Japanese last year, the fight scene at the end between the first organized assault team and the Kolbolt King was what made me realize I wasn't going to get any sleep and would watch the entire show til it was done. The stakes were first shown here as we realized, to quote Shinji from Fate?Stay Night: "PEOPLE DIE WHEN THEY ARE KILLED!"

Far as the English dubbing goes, I think this one was very well done.

"Any good ways to get COL, gear, or simply level huh?" Miaki thought about it for a moment. How exactly did he get started in SAO? He did a lot of things in the beginning but had a difficult time thinking about how to tell someone.

"Well when it comes down to it, the best way to level gain COL is to just get out there and do something."" He said this while waving his hand over the field beyond the city ways. "Far as gear goes, there are some quests that have item rewards but you can find some pretty sweet stuff in the markets on the other floors. Remember you can visit the other floors that have been cleared even at a low level. It just wouldn't be safe to go looking for trouble unless you have some protection. I've seen many players get along just fine on the upper floors. They stay away from monsters and the dungeons and do well for themselves."

Miaki spun around, trying to get his bearings. The mist was closer than it was before and still a thick red fog hiding everything beyond. The water around him was crimson red. Like blood. He looked around for something. Anything to direct the anger to. The was nothing there. Then he started to see something in the fog. Just beyond the veil. Multiple outlines of people he thought he knew. People he felt angry towards.

YOU DON'T LIKE THE RAINBOW CAKE?

I believe I may have upset her...... -stands out open arms with blade sheathed- I accept all the lashings I deserve for upsetting you Eryn.