[PP - F1] The Floor of Beginnings (Izeas!)

[Takao 0]

A long yawn was drawn out as Takao rested himself against the top of a waist high stone wall. The first floor wasn't a common location to visit, especially not after completing his own daily tasks of grinding and questing, but every once in a while he'd take some time to himself on the first floor and check to see if anybody had ventured out of the safe zone. There were a few unfamiliar faces in the distance, battling away the wolves that resided in the Field of Crossroads. Nobody seemed to be in any danger, "Not that I'm the local authority for that sort of thing anyways." he thought in amusement. Not many of the thousands of players that had left the safe zones paid much of a mind to the lower floor's monster fields, it seemed they were mostly interested in the higher floors for their fix of grinding experience.

 

Takao stretched his arms skyward, huffing out a breath as he hoisted himself up onto the wall and crossed his legs. A swipe of his hand and some skillful, practiced navigation of the menu produced a sandwich packed with several different ingredients into his hand. The brunet dug into the sandwich immediately, wasting no time in beginning the process of devouring the digital delicacy. All in all, this wasn't too different from what he intended to do on the third floor after grinding, so he wasn't too bothered. The scenery was similar enough.

[Izeas 0]

Hugo was running around the starter zone, trying to figure out what to do next since he had no plan. He tried to talk to almost all the people he could pass by but most of them were still in shock and didn't have any answer at all. The rest were as Clueless as Hugo. He figured that those who knew what to do had already left probably. But he wouldn't give up because of that. He kept laughing around and as loud as he was, people would recognize him and Believe that he was an annoying prick.

 

He ran around and saw this strange guy who was surprising calm. He looked rather normal but he was Confident in a way that Hugo was looking for. Someone who knew what they were doing. The man was leaning his back on the wall and eating a sandwich. Hugo ran up to him and said: "Oi! Freckle-boy! You look like you know some stuff. What about telling me where to start off?" Hugo said in a cocky way as he striked a pose.

[Takao 0]

Takao was enjoying the moment of quiet of the first floor, which was usually rather busy. The sandwich was a perfect way to wind down after a few long hours of hard grinding, which was likely why it had begun part of his daily ritual. The distant sounds of running caused a slight twitch of interest from his ear, but he was much too focused on eating to notice straight away. It wasn't until they continued to draw closer and closer, until there was somebody standing in front of him. He looked up from the sandwich just in time to watch him strike the pose and speak. "Freckle boy..?" Takao echoed as one of his eyebrows raised. He snorted out a laugh and wiped his mouth with the back of his glove. That was the first time he'd heard that. "So you're just comin' out of the safe zone then, huh? Well, the best place to start is usually with some boars to learn the combat system." He slowly rose to stand, sandwich still in hand. "It can be pretty tricky to get the hang of. I can help ya' out if you want."

[Izeas 0]

Hugo saw the man standing up. He didn't look like anything special to Hugo but since he looks so Confident, something just stands out about him. Hugo inspected the guy as he stood up. "Another question, freckle." Which was the nickname Hugo had given the man. "Where do I get the food except for shops? It looks delicious." He said while concentrating on that sandwich in the hands of the man. Hugo almost began to drool of the thought of food at this time of the day. Well, any time of the day. But he snapped out and focused on the guy again. "I'm Hugo! The one who will beat this game. The best there ever was! Who are you exactly?" Hugo asked the man.

[Takao 0]

The brunet glanced down at the sandwich in his hands, and then back up to Hugo. The nickname didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. In fact, the entertained look on his face might have suggested he even liked it. A broad smile appeared on his face at the question of the sandwich. "I get these at a café on the outskirts of Delilah. It's a village on the third floor, the one you teleport to when you use the warp pads. They're pretty cheap and really good. Want one?" Takao offered. He took a bite from his sandwich as Hugo introduced himself and swallowed before he spoke again. The proud proclamation brought the smile back to his face. "Well, it's nice t'meet ya' Hugo. I'm Takao."

[Izeas 0]

"Yeah sure! Give me one already." Hugo said as he started to smile and laugh of excitement. It was the first SAO food he was going to try out. He grabbed one that was handed out by Takao and gladely took a first small bite. He chewed it for some seconds Before he started to laugh again. He took bigger bites and finished the whole sandwich in a minute. He clapped his belly Three times to signal that he was full and he liked it very much. "Delicious! Gotta get more of those." Hugo stated. He then sat down with his legs crossed and was ready to talk. "So these boars are the target? How do I fight them? Do I have any skills or something?" Hugo said and looked up to Takao. "Oi Takao. Nice name. But I'm still going to be the best. Wanna join my future Guild?" Hugo said and smiled.

[Takao 0]

Takao navigated his menu with practiced accuracy. He entered his inventory and retrieved one of the sandwiches, which he gladly offered to Hugo. He ate his own sandwich at a much slower velocity, savouring the taste at his own pace. Since his had already been about half eaten by the time Hugo had approached him, the two finished at about the same time. His response was a nod of his head and broad smile, until the topic of the boars arose. He leaned against the wall beside Hugo, who had opted to sit, and folded his arms over his chest. "Well, you've got two basic means of attack. You can either just hit them with your weapon, or you can use sword skills. They're assisted combat movements that you active with certain "pre-motions"." Takao pushed off the wall and took a few steps into the grassy field that the barrier separated from the main road. He reached for his back and pulled the slender blade free from the scabbard with ease. "I'll show you what I mean. You basically just position yourself in a certain way..." Takao spoke as he moved. His feet were spread apart about shoulder width, with his left foot forward and his right a few steps aside and pointed at a forty five degree angle. He raised the blade and placed it across his shoulders, hovering just barely an inch over his clothes. The blade began to hum and whir, then erupted into a bright green glow.

 

"When you've done the pre-motion right, this'll happen. All you have to do is let the system take over, and it'll complete the combat action for you, like this-" Takao did as he'd said and allowed for the system to take over. He launched into the air and swung his legs over his head to position himself upside down, then threw his weight in a circle with his legs. His blade snapped forward and sliced through the air in a rapid spinning motion before Takao landed on his right foot. It took a short moment before he turned about face to Hugo. "Then you have two parts after this one, the post-motion and the cool down. The post-motion kinda freezes you a bit, which can leave you open for counter attacks. The cool down is just how long you have to wait until you can use the sword skill again. It's displayed as a timer on the bottom left of your HUD."

 

"And uh, 'bout the guild. I kinda have something in mind already, so I'll have to pass. Sorry."

[Izeas 0]

Hugo stood and tried to concentrate on the explenation that Takao had given him. He was mesmerized by the movements of Takao's attack and the effects that could be seen like the green glow. Hugo's Eyes opened up and became really big and at the same time, his mouth expressed a feeling that couldn't be mistaken. He was happy, really happy that he got to play this game. Everything here amazed him even more and more. "I want to try it out myself!" Hugo said as he pulled out his dagger from his back. He ran up to the grassfields and began to swing his dagger. "So these are just simple auto's?" Hugo asked while running around with his knife. There wasn't any monsters to hit but atleast he tried to imagine that there were things to kill. Hugo stopped for a brief second and tried to position himself. He kneeled down with his right knee and held his dagger horizontally in front of his face with his right hand.

 

( http://static.zerochan.net/Leon.(Unlight).full.964105.jpg )

 

His blade began to slowly but surely glow in a Purple colour. Hugo's Eyes opened up once again because of amusement, "Hey Takao! Look at this!" He screamed while having a lugh. Takao said that afterwards you should let the system take over, so Hugo just relaxed and didn't focus on anything. He just tried to Think of a target to aim at. The system took over his actions and Hugo jumped forward. He took a big leap in air and rotated 360 degrees and when he landed, he meda a horizontal slash with his dagger. Afterwards his movement stopped and Hugo regained Control over his character after the post-motion was done. It felt like a good Dream that have come true. He turned around to Takao again and ran up to him. "How do you Think I did freckle?" He said and pointed his thumb towards himself and made a wink with his right Eye.

[Takao 0]

Takao idly twirled the blade before lifting it up to his back and sliding it into the scabbard on his back. He turned to Hugo and chuckled lightheartedly at his amazement, moving slow back to his position against the stone wall that acted as a divider between the plains and the dirt road. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his weight again it as he watched Hugo swing his weapon and give positioning himself a try. Takao wasn't keen on many dagger sword arts, mostly only familiar with swords and spears, though Hugo seemed to know enough to initiate the sword skill on his own. "Yep, they're just the system guiding you. Y'just let go and it'll do it for you, they usually land on target." Takao scratched his cheek, deciding to keep the fact that landing on target wasn't always a good thing to himself.

 

He perked up at the mention of his name and watched Hugo complete the sword skill, earning a round of applause and a cheer from Takao. He took a few steps closer as Hugo ran up to him and held his hand up for a high five. "Nice! That was awesome for your first try. Hey, you wanna try taking on a boar or something real quick?"