Astra

The longer he spent in the jungle, the more he began to feel...Constricted. It was as if something was wrapping itself around his throat, making its way to his heart and his brain, and wrapping its tendrils around them as well. His legs began to feel slightly heavy, and his movement began to slow. Even if his instincts were screaming at him to turn around and make his way back to Krycim, he would grit his teeth and keep trudging forward. With each step, fragments and images of memories came flooding into his head. He was suddenly standing in the Town of Beginnings again, right on the fir

Astra took his steps into the jungle biome of Floor 6, with Wulfrin's words reverberating in his head. He was here to continue his training, hone his virtues, and meditate on them, something that Wulfrin suggested to him in prior teachings. With the dangerous situations he's found himself in, the white haired youth could use some time to clear his head and gather his thoughts. Luckily for him in most of those situations he had friends with him to guide him, protect him, and vice versa. Astra felt that someone could only ever be as strong as the good company they keep. For now, he was alone. Ma

Astra nodded along as Wulfrin explained the next steps, giving him a thumbs up to show that he understood. "AOE attacks, got it. Let's do this!" The blade of Astra's sword began to glow a brilliant azure, with trails of particles that looked like stars as he made his way to the wolves. He positioned himself so the wolves were almost in a line right in front of him, so he could leap forward and perform quick slashes to injure them. He performed his move, with both of his hands on the handle of his sword, and attempted to slash at all four of the wolves. He landed on the other side of the

Astra watched as Wulfrin released a barrage of attacks into the Monkey King. The beast looked injured at this point, and it probably wouldn't take long before it capitulated and died. Wulfrin had let Astra know that it was his turn next, a chance to strike the beast while still reaping the benefits from Boreas' buff. The novice nodded at the shoutout, and prepared himself to attack once again. Making his way back to the Monkey King, Astra readied his sword, which had begun to radiate with light once more. He dashed in towards the legs of his enemy and tried to let off a few slashes, hopi

After Astra performed his usual clown act, he changed back into his casual clothes and began to read to the kids at the orphanage. Generally, the books he read to the children were books that they had picked out, and he didn't mind that. He would read some chapters, and let them read as well, and if they had trouble reading, he would try to teach them and coach them through it. The time had passed, but out of the corner of his eye Astra had noticed one young person who wasn't taking part in any of the activities. She seemed to be hiding around corners, and hiding in the shadows. This definitel

Astra woke up in the morning with a bit of an extra pep in his step. He went through his normal morning routine, eating a small breakfast, showering, getting ready for the day. From there he knew he was going to make his way to the orphanage on Floor 1, where he would normally spend his free time in the past, and got dressed to head there. The white haired youth was adorned in his casual outfit, a black turtlenecked shirt with some buttons on the collar, covered by a white closed vest, and some black pants. In the bag he had carried with him he had all that he needed for the day, his clown cos

There was a pretty big feeling of excitement that Astra would be opening his first chest in Aincrad. At least one that he looted himself. Still, couldn't be too cautious, even on the beginner floors. As a precautionary measure, Astra drew his sword and spun it in his hands, before tapping on the top of the chest with his blade. He waited a few seconds, and nothing seemed to happen - which is what he was hoping for. "Perfect, not a mimic!" He sheathed his sword and bent down to open the chest, lifting the top slowly. He had hoped that maybe there would be a glow or a shine coming from the

"Glad to finally put those boars to rest, and finish up that part of the quest. Thanks for all the motivation and help, you guys. I almost lost my cool in certain moments", Astra explained to his comrades as they made their way back to Lyle's shop. Wulfrin took point when it came to interacting with the curmudgeonly blacksmith, switching between the appearances of Astra and Siren. Truthfully, Astra didn't mind Wulfrin handling the talk with Lyle, as he preferred to talk to people who were a little less...Rough. The real important part was where they ended up next, and based on Wulfrin's

The journey towards the aforementioned Monkey King ended abruptly, when a roar shook through the trees and caught the attention of the adventures. In a short amount of time they found themselves on the Monkey King's turf, with the giant demonic looking ape-creature huffing and looking down upon them. It started to drag its massive clawed hands through the ground below, clearly focused on the pray in front of it. Astra found himself a bit surprised at the size of the beast, but not entirely rattled. He couldn't shake Wulfrin referring to the monster as "Donkey Kong", and that calmed Astra's ner

This was it, the fire in his heart and head started to burn with the fury of any infernal demon from the layers of hell. Astra wasn't letting this thing get away anymore. He was fed up with its evasion and guile, and there was no way he'd continue to fail to kill it. The boarlet reared on its haunches once more, squealing and focused on both Wulfrin and Astra. It kicked up some dirt and mud, and lowered its head to show its small horns. It was clearly peacocking in front of Astra, who has been tangoing with it for some time now. He wasn't going to let this baby boar showboat or get its w

The face-off between the two continued, and the tension was palpable. Siren was calculated and quick with her kills, Wulfrin didn't need to kill the boars, and yet Astra stood still facing his last boarlet. It was clear that the struggle was very real on this day, but Astra wasn't going to let that crush his mood. Once more, Astra moved in to attack the boarlet. In a quick flash...Oh man. My, oh my. Astra swung his sword once more, hoping to finally send this baby boar to hell, but alas, it was another miss. It was hard to tell why and how Astra missed. Did the boar dodge? Did Astra mist

The frustration continued to set in, as Astra continued to miss on his attacks against the small creature in front of him. It would probably be worse if the boarlet was wholly focused on him, as over time they could do some damage, but Wulfrin's aggro gathering was still working. Astra took a moment to collect himself and his thoughts, before working his way towards the boar once more. To some outside observers, it would almost seem like he was going through the motions, but Astra made sure his strikes were calculated. There just wasn't much success, and he clearly had some things to wor

Astra took on his teammates words of encouragement and braced himself to make another attack. The boarlet looked between him and Wulfrin, who was maintaining aggro, wide-eyed and seemingly frenzied. Fighting these little scamps felt like such an arduous task at this point, and even with his most planned attacks Astra found them to be incredibly slippery and hard to hit. He was determined in the end, though. There was progress to be made. Maybe it was the pressure of moving on to the next part of the quest, maybe it was the pressure of finishing off this damn boar, or maybe it was Maybell

With the party invite sent by Boreas, Astra promptly accepted the request. "Hopefully I can contribute to the fight, I'll do my best at least," he said with a prompt nod towards his companions. Not long after an NPC who introduced himself as Sewallus approached the group, and offered to lend his hand in the battle. Astra was certainly open for more help, but was certainly worried about the risk of the NPC getting deleted. As Wulfrin led the way through the lush forests of Floor 8, Astra listened to his gameplan. It was a solid plan, and hopefully they'd be able to get the necessary stuns

Astra could tell that there was still some concern in Bliss' voice as she spoke to him, and maybe there wasn't much he could say to make that go away. He could however, do his best to give her reasons not to worry. Astra moved Bliss' hand that was holding his over his heart, with his hand firmly (but softly) over hers. "Heh, yeah, too much heart. You could say that." He locked eyes with her once more. "To be honest, it's felt a bit stronger since I met you. So I think I'm in good shape," he said with a soft smile. He placed their hands back down to the blanket, but still made sure their finger