(OP-F1) <<Stress Relief>>

[Aeternum 0]

Aeternum stood in the middle of a field, determined to get his mind off of current events. He stretched, yawning at the same time, and mumbled, "Perhaps I could... I dunno, dance?" The very thought made him laugh, but still, why not? He unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into the ground, propping it upright. He then removed his eye patch, which he had almost forgotten he had been wearing, and placed it on the sword. He looked around and, upon assuring himself that there were no other players nearby, started shuffling his feet.

He felt awkward, and knew his movements were far from perfect. He continued with this, throwing in and taking out certain dancing elements, until he got frustrated and sat down. The grass felt nice, which made him feel a little less angry. Aeternum realized that he had only succeeded in making himself more tense, and punched the ground. Today was not the best of days.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a yawn as he made his way across one of the fields on the first floor, his hands in his jacket pockets. He was dressed in the combat outfit that Teayre had helped him pick out, adjusting the simulated fur on the collar as he looked around, "Man, I've been having no luck procuring materials recently. I've really gotta work on figuring out the spawning system for then if I'm going to keep my hunting gathering service going."

 

"I've tested both time and distance, but both don't seem to be a constant. I wonder if there's a more complex algorithm that SAO is using for it."

 

He looked as he heard of a sudden the sounds of grass being rapidly trampled on, seeing another player...dancing? He looked over for a bit before he saw the player plop down on the grass, punching it with his fist, "Hm...not exactly normal behavior. Should I go see what's up?

 

He adjusted his sword on the back of his hip as he walked over, "Hi there, having some trouble?"

[Aeternum 0]

Aeternum stared at the player for an awkward amount of time before saying, "Trouble? No, why would I be having problems?" He sighed, the player must have seen something he had done. Aeternum stood up, "I am fine, I guess, just chilling in this here field." He felt his face heat up, and finally managed to say, "How long were you watching me? Don't tell a soul."

Aeternum realized that his day might just be getting worse. He frowned when an annoying thought entered his head. He even took off his eye patch, and still didn't see this guy. Did he have stealth abilities? If so, Aeternum would have to ask around to learn more about them.

[Calrex 0]

"Trouble? No, why would I be having problems?...I am fine, I guess, just chilling in this here field."

 

"Oh, fair enough. The first floor does seem to be the place to be for relaxing right now."

 

"How long were you watching me? Don't tell a soul."

 

At the new players reaction Calrex couldn't help but give a small laugh as he gave a calming breath, "Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me. I'll probably forget about it later anyway. In any case I only caught the tail end from what I could tell."

 

He scratched the back of his head, thinking he forgot something, "Oh yes and where are my manners. Calrex, nice to meet you..."

 

Extending a hand in greeting, Calrex put on a friendly face to greet the player.

[Aeternum 0]

Aeternum listened to this player introduce himself, and quickly began to shake his hand saying, "Joyce, and thank you." He stopped shaking the players hand and quickly retrieved his sword and eye patch, putting the patch on and sheathing the sword. He looked around awkwardly and said, "I'm glad it was just you who saw, I could not handle the shame of having other people see me."

Aeternum changed the subject as best he could, "Hey, do you have a stealth skill? Because I was ninety nine percent sure nobody had been nearby." He was curious, and hoped that such a skill existed.

[Calrex 0]

"Joyce? Pleasure to meet you."

 

"Why am I sounds so formal? Weird..."

 

"I'm glad it was just you who saw, I could not handle the shame of having other people see me."

 

Calrex nodded as he retracted his hand after completing the introductory shake, returning it to his jacket pocket, "Well it does seem to rather uncrowded today. I wonder if it's because everyone is preparing for the boss raid. I wouldn't be too sure."

"Hey, do you have a stealth skill? Because I was ninety nine percent sure nobody had been nearby."

 

"Stealth...skill? No I don't have anything like that, although I do believe that one exists. I just might have been out of your field of vision or something."

 

He put a hand behind his head as he leaned slightly to the side, "In any case how's the game been treating you so far?"

 

"I'm not really sure what kind of topic I should start with. Oikawa seems to do well with that question, although I'm sure the results could be mixed."

[Aeternum 0]

Aeternum sighed, saying, "Not well, this game has caused me some... issues." He laughed, trying to lighten his own mood. "It is a pity," he said, "that I had never heard of the stealth skill." He figured he could keep talking to this player for a while, and said, "You seem like the game is treating you well, am I correct in that assumption?"

Aeternum adjusted his eye patch, and realized that he had finally adjusted to wearing it. He had gotten past depth perception, and now he had made a habit of adjusting it regularly. Pleasant, but he may want a new eye patch soon.

[Calrex 0]

"Treating well I guess would be a matter of opinion. It's given me a lot of ups and downs so far, but I'm alive and from what I know the people I care about are, and for now that's enough."

 

Calrex relaxed his stance as he observed Joyce's features. It seemed that he wore an eyepatch, but for what reason he wasn't sure. He had just seem him without the eyepatch and his face looked perfectly fine. "If I may ask why do you wear that eyepatch? It didn't seem like you had an particular problems before without it."

 

He adjusted his sword so that it sat more comfortable as he took a quick glance around the area. The field did seem a lot less populated than Calrex expected it to be.

 

"Maybe my guess was right about that boss raid. Other than the people who have chosen to stay within the safe zones, I don't see many other players around."

[Aeternum 0]

Aeternum looked away before taking off his eye patch. He looked back at Calrex, saying, "My eyes are different colors, as is obvious if you look at my eyes. I wear the patch over my left eye because it is red, which is an odd eye color." He put the patch back on, feeling slightly proud that he was able to show his eye without feeling made fun of.

He smiled and said, "I am surprised you did not notice immediately. A lot of people tend to notice my eyes, at least in real life. Though, it didn't bother me as much then."

[Calrex 0]

As Joyce showed him his heterochromatic eyes Calrex's eyes widened in surprise for a second, "I see. I've seen articles and webpages about heterochromia before in both humans and animals, but this is the first time I've seen a person with them personally."

 

"I am surprised you did not notice immediately. A lot of people tend to notice my eyes, at least in real life. Though, it didn't bother me as much then."

 

Calrex gave a smile as he put a hand in his pocket, "I'm not sure what people thought before, but that's a fairly cool trait you've got. I see a lot of people, but I guess I don't really notice any standout features unless I get a really good look at them."

 

"His eyes kind of remind me of a character in a fighting game. Of course he was part-vampire so I guess that would make a little more sense."

[Szuriex 0]

After roaming the streets of the City of Beginnings for hours, Szuriex was beginning to feel a sharp pain behind his eyes. This was most likely caused from the constant channge in light levels as he walked in and out of the shadows formed from the countless buildings he had passed on his way through the city proper.

"I need to get some fresh air, the city is awesome but it's giving me a headache..." Szuriex thought as he consulted the map menu, searching for the nearest gate. Luckily he was only a few blocks away from the nearest of them. Closing the menu, he headed off in that direction at a leisurely pace while pinching the bridge of his nose to alleviate the pain.

A few minutes later he passed out of the gate and into the fields beyond. Without opening his eyes he wandered off in a random direction, hoping to find a quiet place to rest at.

Instead, after a few minutes walking. He heard voices...

Opening his eyes with a grimace, Szuriex spotted two other players having a conversation in the middle of the field. Having been by himself for the last few hours Szuriex would welcome some company.

"How's it going boys?!" He called out as he approached with his signature two fingered salute.

Maybe he'd found a decent way to relax after all. Now if only he could be rid of this damned headache...

[Aeternum 0]

Aeternum had started to speak to Calrex when a new arrival appeared. He smirked and said, "Seems I am a people magnet." He turned to the player and said in a mildly friendly tone, "Hey there. How are you on such a mediocre day?" He inwardly shrugged, not caring about his unique wording of his sentence. How many others might show up? Aeternum did not know, but hopefully not too many.

Aeternum returned his focus to Calrex, "So, tell me something. This may seem out of the blue, but how long do you think we will be stuck in this game?" Truthfully, Aeternum had forgotten how long the death game had lasted sofar. Did it matter?

[Calrex 0]

"How long we'll be stuck? To be honest I'm not really sure. I only know that we've gotten up to the tenth floor. Going by the rate we're at I can only suspect maybe a few months, maybe more. It really depends on how fast we can start clearing them."

 

"Better to make do with what time we've got than try to hurry and get out. Rushing this kind of endeavor might result in getting more people killed that we should. I'd rather not risk that."

 

Calrex turned to see another new player walk on up to him and Joyce, giving a two fingered wave. He gave a friendly nod with a welcoming smile as the player got into conversation distance of them, "Doing alright so far. Nothing too eventful today on my part."

 

"Two fingers instead of a while hand. I've seen people do three sometimes, almost like a fan, but two I believe is not as used. I might have seen it a couple of times. May this guy is trying to stand out from the crowd? Ah, I won't be nitpicky about this. People have their preferences."

[Teayre 0]

As Teayre set out from starting city, Beleram letting out a screech high above her, she looks around and notices a familiar blue headed player chatting to another player with an eye patch in a field.

 

"I wonder who he is..."

 

Shrugging she calls to Beleram and points to a tree,  the eagle cocks its head at his master before flying off into the tree and began to watch the scene himself before flying above Calrex and hovering above his head. Leaning against a tree herself, she rolls her eyes as she notices the another player giving a two fingered salute as a greeting.

 

"Oh my... That's a new thing, it never works though... I wonder if we looked like that at those levels... I probably did, so glad I got this outfit though."

Twirling around in her slightly tighter high necked outfit. the long sleeves billowing out her bracelet twinkling in the sun. Sinking low as  she begins to creep forward keeping her footsteps off the crunchy autumn leaves that spotted parts of the floor, creeping up to Calrex silently praying he hasn't spotted her she places her hands over his eyes, her arms resting on his shoulders. In her deepest voice she mutters.

 

"Guess who."

 

ID:13265

LD:16