Astra

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

Astra sat relaxed and immersed in his book, sitting in the reading nook within Ciela's house on Floor 22, in which he resided. He found himself caught up reading the novel "Utopia" by Thomas More, an older read, but one that captivated him. Hm, the idea of a real utopia. An ideal world for everyone...If only we could make Aincrad something like that. He pondered on what it would take to make such a dangerous and cutthroat virtual world one that was accepting for all, that is until a new message notification caught his eye. Astra brought up his menu and opened up the message he received from Wu

Astra dug his heels into the ground as he faced the last boar standing amidst the group. Siren had recently struck her target with poise and rationality, and now only one boarlet stood amidst the gang. The novice swordsman had missed a lot of these nimble boarlets recently, and it definitely started to give him some stress; but he wouldn't let that take away his focus and resolve. Siren's nudge gave Astra the push he needed, and he was ready to strike once more. A solid "Thanks!" left his mouth, and he made his moves. With his left hand gripped tight around the handle of the sword, Astra

"Thanks, I'm pretty eager to learn," Astra said as Wulfrin began to prepare for the training at hand. Astra couldn't help but dwell for a moment on Wulfrin's comment about learning quickly when your life is on the line. It brought Astra back to the first day in Aincrad, when every player soon learned how high the stakes were. The visage of a fallen friend had appeared in his head, and the youth couldn't help but think about how he wasn't able to save his friend. He tried to learn quickly, with someone's life on the line, but he just wasn't good enough. Astra shook his head in an attempt to rem

With how quickly Nymoria and Wulfrin dispatched all three of Cerberus' heads, Astra was in awe. Nymoria took the first head down with incredible poise and skill, and Wulfrin finished the rest off with no hesitation. There was a part of Astra that wished he could've helped take down even just one of the heads, but he knew that would be a waste of energy and effort. His damage output wouldn't be nearly strong enough, he could potentially catch the ire of the beast, and today he was seemingly off of his game - missing attacks left and right. There was a sense of relief, however, when the mo

Astra couldn't tell if he was losing his mind due to being in the sun too long, or if he actually heard the water monster laugh at everyone who missed their attacks. Is it...Is this thing mocking us? The last thing Astra needed right now was to be chided by an oversized wave that interrupted the supposedly relaxing day at the beach. He felt his ears start to get a bit hot, and frustration set in. "Alright, let's try this again," he said readying his spear. The now-frustrated Astra rushed back towards the Summer Wave, splashing through the water as he made his way closer. Trying to run th

Astra found himself sifting through the crowd gathered at the coliseum (pit?) a little before 4pm, hoping to find a good spot to observe before the next match started. It had been a little bit of time since he'd been back in the Town of Beginnings, but knowing the tournament "Clash of Blades" was about to start? He certainly couldn't miss an event like this. Seeing some of the frontliners and other top combatants of Aincrad go against each other would be an incredible rush, and a chance for him to notate some of the strategies that they use in battle. I mean, after all, if Astra's going to get

"Bliss!" Astra called out while they hurtled through the air, landing roughly into the sand below. Astra skidded along for a bit before rolling to a halt in the sand. Oof. Getting thrown in the air and into the sand was not on my Bingo card for the beach party. He stood up and looked around at his beach companions, Bliss and Cobean. It seemed as though they were up and wielding weapons, ready to confront the new mobs that had spawned into this beach party. This day just started to get stranger by the second. So much for relaxation. Astra made his way over to the weapons rack and assessed

Astra watched as Wulfrin's shadow returned to its owners feet, bringing about a quiet calm. His stance was weak? Not the worst criticism for his early foray into swordplay. He'd certainly made some strides since his first day in Aincrad, and that memory would still linger at the back of his mind. One thing that certainly helped Astra as he tried to improve his sword skills was watching other players, such as Wulfrin, and their myriad of tactics. From stance, to form, to the way they flourish the blade. These were all things that needed to be considered when wielding a sword, and performing suc

"Great, if this isn't hell then I can only imagine what it'll actually look like," Astra said as he donned his new temporary equipment. "Sure thing, thanks for letting me use it for now." When the new armor was equipped there was almost an instant relief from the heat. Astra couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh as his body temperature cooled down. If he was looking to proceed through higher floors he would need to be more aware of potential environmental dangers. This world wasn't so simple that each floor was just a change of scenery, and he almost learned that lesson the hard way.

In the heat of the battle, Astra had hardly noticed that he was taking damage from the environment. It wasn't until he had missed his attack on the Hell Hound, and Nymoria had finished them off, that the pain started to set in. It felt like a weighted blanket of fire was being placed onto his skin directly, wearing him down and nearly bringing him to his knees. Astra stumbled slightly, and planted the blade of his sword in the ground to hold himself up. The burning sensation wasn't subsiding, but the most worrying thing he noticed was his HP being brought down to a mere 5. If he didn't act qui

"I've done a few quests, but essentially just basic ones so far. I'm looking to take on more and improve my skills, hence why I'm here" Astra replied to Nymoria as she asked if he had done many quests. It's true that he's seen some action before, but not nearly as much as Nymoria and the other skilled players that occupied Aincrad. The quests he'd done so far were pretty much just the basics, with a few others thrown in for good measure. Essentially Astra was still in his "training arc", but was hoping he'd be moving on from that soon. The two walked through the underground caverns in a

Astra felt content that Nymoria was a bit more at ease with his outfit after he took the coat off. Anything to ease the mind of his companion would be helpful, as he didn't want to distract her while they were focusing on the task at hand. After all, there would be some battling coming up for them, and it would already be hard enough for Astra to stay safe at his current low level. When Nymoria was laying out the outline for the quest, Astra nodded along as he listened. Three hellhounds on the way to Cerberus, got it. Astra wondered if even those hellhounds could do significant damage to

As Nymoria bowed during her introduction, Astra followed in suit by offering a small shallow bow in return. He wasn't entirely sure if it was proper etiquette, as most of the time he would wave at someone when greeting them, but figured that it wouldn't hurt to try. The last thing he wanted was to potentially offend his new companion. "Nymoria, that's a really nice name. It suits you well!" The snow haired young man couldn't help but compliment her chosen name, and wondered if it had any relation to their name on the outside world as well. Astra often found himself pondering people's chosen us

Astra watched as the player he was speaking with communicated back with him via sign language. Even with her signing her words, Astra could still hear a voice in his head, thanks to Cardinal's translation system. He was thankful for this, as he really only knew how to sign a few words, even though it was something he had always wanted to learn. He couldn't help but marvel at the capabilities of the Cardinal's translation system. This world could be full of hardship and strife, but new experiences were always aplenty, and for that Astra was grateful. When the player had expressed their co

This very well might be Hell. Astra wiped beads of sweat from his brow as he traversed the craggy pathways of Floor 9, heading towards the settlement on top of the cliffs in front of him. This was his first time on the volcanic floor, and he certainly felt like the setting was anything but welcoming. Molten lava sifted through cracks in the rocks, below him were pools of magma bubbling and seemingly ready to burst. The sky was seemingly stuck in a perpetual state of red and black, and it was hot. Far too hot. If the freezing cold could chill your bones, then the heat of this floor would

"Of course you can," Astra replied to Bliss' lemonade request, as he sifted through the full picnic basket to find her drink. As he passed the lemonade over to her, he couldn't help but think about how it was such a heartwarming sight to see her enjoying the food and the picnic. A person like Bliss deserves moments like these, an escape from the fear and the stress that can come with daily life in Aincrad. The image of her just simply enjoying a sandwich while they talked was enough to let Astra know that this picnic was a great idea. Astra could tell that Bliss was still slightly concern

Astra sifted through the picnic basket and fished out two sandwiches, one for Bliss, and one for himself. He passed Bliss her sandwich before taking a small bite of his own. He couldn't help but remark on how delicious it was, but that was expected, because it was made by Ciela. "Oh wow, this is great! Ciela really outdid herself with this," he said with a smile. If there was one thing that could enhance a moment like this, it was good food. Delicious food and lovely company, what more could you really want? Initially he was a tad embarrassed when Bliss seemed concerned when he put his h

Before he knew it, Astra found himself in a party of four. This was going to be the crew that took on Wulfrin's Sharkbait training program, so it was probably best that introductions were made between the people who didn't know one another. Astra offered a wave and a smile to the woman whom he didn't recognize, with a "Hi, I'm Astra. Nice to meet you." When Siren had entered the hovel they found themselves in, Astra found himself a little more at ease. Siren had a hospitable warmth about her that was infectious. "Hey Siren! Ready for some shark fighting?" He asked, while wiping the small bits

The Forgotten Time King had already done some damage. Astra watched as Mina unleashed a combo on the foe, but still took some damage from a following attack. It took everything in him not to call out to the veteran player, and ask if they were okay. He knew from there reaction and their tenacity that they would still end up just fine, especially with what ensued. Mina and Morningstar performed a <<switch>>, something Astra hadn't yet done during his time in Aincrad. The attacks that Morningstar performed seemingly did a great amount of damage against the undead king. He continued t

Feeling recharged after the food, Astra decided to immediately jump back into action. His stomach was full and his desire to kill these boarlets was keeping him going for just that much longer. With this new boost from the food, and this re-ignited determination, Astra was ready to finish the job. His seemingly-longtime enemy, the boarlet he'd been focusing on, was still around and rearing on its haunches. It was as if it was taunting the newer player, as if to say: "you couldn't kill me if you tried". Astra had a rebuttal to that, because he knew he was able to kill a simple mob such as

Astra walked alongside Wulfrin and soon found himself at a familiar spot on Floor 1. This was where Wulfrin had taken him and Siren for the "The First Few Lessons" quest, where they had gathered materials and eventually fought some boars. The white haired boy could see why Wulfrin favored this location, as it was scenic and generally a calm spot. Astra didn't mind being back here one bit. As Wulfrin explained the basics of sword art motions and swordplay, Astra nodded along. The movements used to initiate sword arts were just as important as the attack itself, as they were the way to ini