[CLOSED] The White-Haired Kid's First Appearance

[Angelo]

The sun just began rising from the horizon when Angelo reached the edge of the city. With his emerald eyes, he gazed at the fields before him and realized what it meant to live in this world. Exhaling slowly, he took a deep breath before setting off into the field. His sword was fastened at his side; his beginner equipment equipped over his clothing. All he had were three potions. Kou estimated a good two hours before he would be unable to fight anymore. Angelo kept jogging away from town, eager to encounter his first monster. It wasn't too long until he spotted something: a lone boar partially hidden in the long grass eating. Thanks to his Detection talent, Angelo was able to spot the monster.

"Okay.. how to proceed?" Unsheathing his sword from its sheath, Angelo quickly closed the distance between the two. Once he was close enough, the boar looked up suddenly at him, realizing it was about to be attacked. Grunting as angrily as it could, the boar charged at Angelo while he did the same to the boar. Just before contact, he sidestepped just enough to miss the tusks impaling his body and swung his sword hard, creating a wound on the side of the boar's body. "Too shallow.."

Angelo planted his feet into the grass as he waited for the obviously enraged boar to charge at him again. Once close enough, he jumped straight over the boar while wildly swinging his sword below him, grazing the boar across its back. A screech came out of the boar's mouth as it turned around quickly and charged at Angelo from behind. Just as he landed, felt the sickening squilch of the tusk entering his lower back before being thrown a few meters. Angelo rolled around in pain before coming to a stand still. He got up as fast as he could before the boar could get him again and barely managed to roll away in safety. Getting back to his feet, Angelo pointed his sword directly at the boar.

"I'm gonna get you!" he said with a grin as the boar charged at him for the final time. Angelo shouted as loud as he could before plunging his sword into the skull of the boar. It managed a small shriek before shattering into tiny pieces.

Approximately 1/4 of his health was gone from that one attack. Angelo collapsed onto the ground as he regained his breath. His heart was pumping fast as the adrenaline building up within his body slowly calmed down to normal levels. "One down, a few hundred left to go.."

He laughed before standing up and searching for his next target.

[Inugami]

Eyes turned skyward, Inugami tried again to look at the yellow marker that showed his current player morality. It was a stupid thought, never before could he see anything above him, and again he did not see anything now. Here he sat, out in the open outside the beginning city. The only other few players that came near gave him a wide birth after seeing the crystal marker. The merchant sighed, not really feeling like trying his best to work his way back through the town towards Back Alley Trap. Still, he could not stay here forever, there might be a couple righteous folks out and about that would like to see him imprisoned until the color changed.

The spear-man rose, dusting off the imaginary dirt that he felt stick to his backside. Nearby he could see a half dozen players scattered about in the early day trying to get a few quick levels in before the rest of the ten thousand players began their business. Mid-day you could hardly get a single boar to your name, the spawning rate far too slow for the massive number of players. Quietly he singled out one of the other players, a white haired youth about the same age as himself. Using the pole-arm as a walking stick he neared the other who looked busy trying to find another boar to kill.

Without a word of greeting, Inugami found himself standing five yards out waiting to be noticed. For the time he would take caution with surprising other players, giving a small wave when the other's attention was finally upon him. The jeweler searched for words that show that he meant no harm, but the only thing that escaped his mouth was, "Howdy."

[Angelo]

Angelo turned his head left, then to the right. No boar in sight. The wind was light, and he could fly a kite. The day was bright but Angelo wanted it to be night.

"Enough of that already.. time to actually get to work." He turned around 180° and came face to face with a brown-haired teen around the same age as himself. Probably.. don't know too much about age in the virtual world, but he could be a little bit older?

The other person greeted Angelo with a small wave and a single word not too familiar to Kou's vocabulary. He seemed friendly enough however, so he waved back and smiled, repeating the same phrase that was said to him. "How-dee."

Angelo lowered his weapon as he stared back at the stranger. Nothing happened between the two of them for a while, so Angelo just proceeded to look for another boar. He could still feel the teen's eyes on his back. By luck, a few meters to the east, the grass started glowing as a boar spawned. "Qué suerte!"

That means 'What luck!' for all you non-spanish-speaking people out there. Anyway, back to the story, Angelo drew his sword and held it behind him diagonally. He immediately charged as fast as he could at the boar, which noticed him and squealed as it charged back at him. At the last second, he side-stepped and swung his sword, making a deep slash within the boar's hide. Angelo immediately turned around and charged at the boar before it could and stabbed it in its back. It cried out before shattering. Sighing, he stood up straight and looked around. The stranger was still there, still staring. What was Kou supposed to do in this sort of situation? What he decided was to just stay silent.

[Angelo]

"I'll just keep fighting these boars until I level up.. The items I get from these boars would help me later on anyways."

Taking his eyes off the stranger, Angelo opted to instead focus his attention on boars. Angelo looked around, seeing other players far off in the distance fighting their own enemies. Seeing how it was soo close to the Town of Beginnings, it was no wonder this place was one of the most hunted spots for beginners. If he wanted to find more monsters, he would have to level up quickly and head over to the next area.

While Angelo walked in search for his next boar, he tried to discern any eye-popping movement in the grass that may alert him to a possible boar or a little nepenthes. The latter's name was something that didn't match the monster it was. The Little Nepenthes was larger than a human and looked like a mutated Oddish. It would be nearly impossible not to spot in these plains. Kou didn't even think there would be those monsters appearing here. The more he thought about it, the more sure he seemed. "Boars it is.."

A few minutes past since he began his search for the third boar and Angelo was quite a ways from the town. Here, with nothing but nature surrounding you, it makes you really think that this is in fact another world. Just as he past over a small hill, he saw a couple of boars fighting each other for territorial rights? Or at least that was what he assumed they were doing. For all that matters, it could have been a fight over a sweet roll or one of the boars was lollygagging and the other one didn't like it. In any case, Angelo thought it was a good opportunity to fight against two at the same time. So without further ado, the white-haired teen began running down the hill to get closer to each of the boars.

[Inugami]

Inugami was bewildered by the seemingly lack of care that the other had shown towards his moral indicator, after all he had very recently attacked an npc for no other reason than to move along for his own personal gains. But with only a mockery of his greeting in return, the jeweler watched as he was ignored. That put his mood much quicker to the wrong side of the spectrum that you wanted to deal with. But he took a few small breaths as he followed after the white haired player, calming himself from doing anything drastic.

Again his spear was more use to him as a walking stick as he followed behind at a much slower pace. Inugami had just barely broken over the crest of the hill as the other began running down, and after a short moment to see what he was looking at an evil smile broke out on his face. The Japanese jeweler brought his middle finger and thumb to his mouth, blowing skillfully to produce a shrill whistle. Both of the boars at the bottom of the hill stopped their battle in confusion at the noise, and their first sight was the player who was running towards them.

With his spear planted in the grass, Inugami chuckled as he started down the hill slower before breaking into a run of his own. Rather than strait he ran around, flanking the boars and waited to see if he would need to help.

[Angelo]

"How should I proceed?" Before he could think however, a sound behind him startled both Angelo and the two boars fighting below. They both turned their angered faces directly at him.

Uh-oh..

His previous options were to either go in and give them a direct confrontation, which would most probably end in a 1 versus 2; a ranged attack from the outskirts to kill one, then the other; or him focusing on killing one boar waiting for the right moment to attack. Angelo knew he did not have ranged weapons on him, so that option was out. A direct confrontation would also be a poor choice because that just puts him at a disadvantage. That left him with the better 3rd choice.

Instead, the boars began running at him, which left option 3 in the dust.

Option one it is..

Brandishing his sword, he furrowed his brows as he began slowly moving towards the left side. The boars in turn angled themselves slightly so they would still run into him and hopefully impale the level one character. At the last second, Angelo sidestepped but went too far, unable to counterattack with his weapon.

"This is.. annoying." His blood pressure and adrenaline levels were rising and Kou could feel himself shake slightly. Both of the boars turned around and began their relentless charge towards him, albeit them butting tusks every once in a while. Angelo charged directly at them, jumping over one of the boars to deliver an overhead attack. Although wounded, it only seemed to get even angrier at the fact that it was injured. As soon as he landed, he made a dash away from them so he could collect his thoughts.

This scenario is a bit different from the one on one I have been doing, but it doesn't seem that much more difficult. I just need to be cautious of my surroundings. He checked his health bar and bits of various other things. "How do I activate my Sword art? Ahh this is really really-"

Turning around completely so as to face the two enraged boars, Angelo dodged to the left as the first one passed and dodged to the right for the second boar, giving it a nice cut on its side as he passed. Now both of them were close to death. All he has to do is deliver a fatal blow to each of them. As the latter boar stopped in its tracks to turn around, the teenager jumped into the air, shouting as loud as he could as he brought down his sword directly into the boar's back. It squealed for a moment before shattering to death.

An image flashed into his mind as he looked up at the remaining boar. His sister, clad in protective gear was holding her heavy shinai, pointing it directly at his head. He was on the receiving end, clad in his own gear mirroring her stance. This was a scene from the past when he was still practicing the art with his sister. He was a bit more experienced than she was at the time, but by now, she is probably far more skilled than he was. Angelo snapped back into reality when he was struck by the boar. Grunting, he was knocked back a few meters rolling in the grass just like the first time he got hit. Recovering quickly, the injured boy took on a traditional kendo stance as he faced the boar head on. Just as the boar jumped to impale him with its tusks one final time, Angelo stepped forward and delivered a headshot to the boar. "MEN!"

That was a kendo term for hitting the head, just in case the reader did not know. With the battle finally over, he crumpled down on the grass, staring at the sky. He took out a health potion and popped it down his mouth. He still had enough health points to take one more hit, but he did not want to make that chance. Sighing as he saw the clouds pass by, he let his thoughts roll through his head.

And I still have to find my sister, wherever she is in this world.. I just hope she is safe. Kou, or rather Angelo, had to get stronger so he could advance in this death game.

[Inugami]

Clap, clap, clap. Rung out as Inugami smacked his two hands together in applause. Two whole creatures dead and in quick order as well. There were not many players that could do that before leveling up a couple times, so either he was a beta tester or accustomed to fighting from outside of the game. Given the use of the word Men, he figured it would be the latter. Still however did kendo help with those leaps was a matter that the jeweler did not bother himself with.

He stayed there, not speaking for a short time. Watching, waiting to see if there was any reaction. However he could not stay silent long. "Figured I'd make things a bit more fun for you." Inugami said. "I am amazed that you did not resort to using your art though, most newer players would have panicked and dealt with the cooldowns." He spoke knowingly, having watched people for pretty much the entire night having not entered the town or slept. A yawn tried to break through his jaw as he remembered that fact, but with a tightening of teeth it did not escape.

Inugami closed the distance between them, spear still in hand but not actively pointing towards anything except the floor above them. "Maybe try something a bit harder? Wolves were a great deal of practice last I tried, and the Little Nepenthes give drops to make food items that always seem to be in demand." He spoke cautiously trying to gauge whether or not the other player would actually say anything about his morality mark this time, especially after such an aggressive move from before.

[Angelo]

The sound of clapping could be heard in the distance. Angelo sat up straight, trying to discern from which direction it came from with his ears. He turned his head and saw the same person from before. He tilted his head, his white hair shifting ever so slightly.

Hmm, I guess he followed me.

To answer Inugami's thoughts, Kou was indeed a beta tester and was accustomed to fighting from outside of the game, although he only played for 5 days before the official launch and he hasn't practiced his family's martial arts in a long time. He was however in the Kendo club so that's where he got the kendo shout from earlier. Of course, neither Angelo or Inugami would know this sort of 'Out of Character' information, if only to satisfy Soma's curiosity.

When the older-looking teenager spoke how he wanted to make things more 'fun', Angelo frowned. Kou really wanted to wait for an opportune time to attack rather than all out battle like option one was. Truth be told, although Kou was a beta tester, he had no idea how to activate his sword art yet. If only he read the Guide book compiled from information given by the beta testers, he would have realized how to do things much earlier and easier.

"Haha.. I.. actually don't know how to use my Sword Art. Is that kind of strange?" Angelo raised his hand to scratch the back of his head as he spoke. He nodded in agreement when the stranger told him about the wolves. "That was going to be my next objective yes. I had hoped to level up first before fighting the wolves though."

Angelo walked forward as well, stretching his arm out for a handshake. "My name is Angelo. Nice to meet you."

If only Kou knew what the yellow marker meant as well.. READ THE GUIDEBOOK NEXT TIME, WON'T YOU?!

[Inugami]

An inquisitive look covered the face of the jeweler, not wanting to say what was on his mind on the absentmindedness of the other player to not know how to use the sword arts. And yet he was still out here fighting. Maybe he should feel a bit bad that he had ruined the other person's plan, but there was no pang of remorse or guilt. "Did you not read the guide book? Or the help menu. Or even tried looking at your skills yet." Inugami asked while unsure that someone would have neglected to familiarize themselves with the menus before stepping out of the main town on the floor. "Your art description is just a tab away from the talents menu, and if you want I have a player guide that you can have." He wanted to wait for a response before taking out the book, granted he could toss a couple hundred of them over the edges of Aincrad and still have plenty of money to spare.

"You could be right about the wolves though, definitely take your time on them. We had some issues with a forest full a while back." Inugami said in reference to his time with Cross and Janeiro. "If you see an old man in the woods, I suggest leaving." He was going to say and bring back a large group of people with you, but who knows how many people were now participating in that quest after he released the information he could pertaining to it.

"Inugami. Craftsman. And likewise to you as well." The merchant responded to the greeting as he took the hand in a light shake, his spear leaning against his shoulder as he did so. "Care for just a bit of company then? I don't plan on fighting anything, but if you want I can tag along and help." He offered to alleviate his boredom. If all they were going against were boars, then he might take a stab at one or two every now and again, not really in the mood for the constant grind that many other players were forcing upon themselves.

[Angelo]

As the brown-haired teen talked to him, Angelo opened his dropdown menu and accessed the tabs he mentioned. Listed on that menu was a single sword art titled 'Delta Cross'. Reading its description took a minute but after he understood what he had to do, he really wanted to try it out later.

"No, I have a guidebook."

Angelo nodded when Inugami wanted to tag along for company. To be honest, this was his first time when he actually 'killed' a living being. In this nightmare of a death game, it was all he could do to stay calm. His fingers were trembling slightly though, something Inugami would have noticed when they shook hands.

The boy looked around and stared at the afternoon sun in the sky. There was plenty of light in the sky to last a few hours. Angelo proceeded to walk in search of more boars or even a wolf. It didn't take long, but the wolf came into view, lunging at a boar before killing it with its teeth and claws.

"Whoa," he involuntarily voiced. This made the wolf, look up and stare directly into Angelo's eyes. Fear gripped him as the wolf snarled. Paralyzed, he couldn't do much when the wolf came charging. Snapping out of it, although Angelo was still shaking, he brandished his sword and with a two-handed grip, raised it above his shoulder, pointing it at the wolf.

His sword slowly became hotter while the blade itself turned into a glowing red. What happened next seemed like his body went on autopilot.

[Inugami]

Inugami could see that the other player was nervous, felt it too as their hands met. Most people would be given the game that they were trapped in and the consequences of it. He himself only just recently found the courage to step out of the town of beginnings, but a quick toss of him into the fire had loosened a bit of what some would say was his common sense. Probably had something to do with meeting a Norse wolf god on the first floor and successfully slaying it.

Still the jeweler was cautious, watching carefully as his new companion took the lead in looking for a hunting target. Inugami had seen the wolf first, the swaying of the grass just a small bit off from the rest of the area. Thankful again for his detection skill, the older male of the duo held his spear in both hands, but not pointing towards anything for the moment.

What he did not expect was the creature killing another, but as the boar broke into the familiar pixels Inugami was not sure of why it had done so. Some predatory programming perhaps? A sharp point lowered to meet the wolf as it turned its mug towards them, but with his partners sword glowing Inugami did not strike out immediately. No, he waited for the creature to begin pacing towards them, and with fangs snapping and claws pointed at Angelo before taking action. With a rotation of his spear to build momentum the spear crashed down onto the wolf's snout, bringing it crashing into the ground. However the blow had been dealt with the blunt staff part of the weapon, so the damage done was barely above ten percent of the creature's health. "Are you going to use that?" Inugami asked in reference to the art. "Or do you still not know how?"

[Angelo]

Inugami came up and slammed the wolf into the ground. As if to answer his question, Angelo activated Delta Cross. He immediately thrusted and pierced the top of the wolf's back before coming around and slashing its back horizontally. He finished the technique by slashing the wolf from head to tail, creating a red cross on its back. Without a chance to move, the wolf crumpled to the ground and shattered.

"That.. that felt strange. But good." It had seemed like having a support on your side seemed exponentially easier compared to fighting by yourself. Angelo took a mental note to himself as he turned around to face Inugami.

"Thanks for the help." He went into his menu and brought out the guidebook. Taking a small peek at the map, Angelo looked back up to Inugami. "It seems like the town of Tolbana is this way.. and I want to check it out."

[kyotori]

Jacob, aka Kyotori which would be his game name, would have been there when the GM announced the basically kidnapping of everyone here. This didn't bother me though. It just meant that I would have to keep a close eye on everyone and keep my sword at the ready. Nothing else I can do at this point.. I would let out a deep sigh as I had my beginners leather armor equipped and my beginners long sword. All I needed was a shield to allow my Sword Art. A handicap I know, but the Sword Art itself is very efficient. He would see the two fight the boars and everything else that had occurred and would keep his hand on his sword handle. He didn't know who he could or couldn't trust at this point and of course this game will allow player killings because what type of MMORPG doesn't allow PKing. Me myself won't PK unless forced to do so or because they simply piss me off, but other than that I don't see a point in it. I would locate a boar in the plains as well for I needed to get some sort of drops for armor equipment even money. I need something. My right hand would grip tightly on the handle and would yank the sword out of the holder and would firmly hold the long sword in my right hand. It is sort of unorthodox for a swordsman to use a sword in his right hand, but oh well. As the hilt rested in my palm, the sword itself seemed fairly light to a real sword so swinging this thing might prove to be easier, but the stats restrict this speed for the stats show how fast one is. The boar would spot me as steam would ignite from his tusks with his back left leg revving up to begin a charge. The boar would then charge at me with all its might and would arrive at my location, but I would move my right foot and turn to the side as I jumped back as well causing the boar to miss completely. As the boar stopped, I would land firmly on the ground and then would charge at the boar. The boar would turn to his right and see me coming and would begin to slowly trought at me then would increase in speed. However I would arrive at the location and my sword would swing down on the boars neck cleanly cutting the boar decreasing its health to half.

"W.. What?! How did that not kill him?! Damn.."

The boar would stop as it squealed then would turn as more steam ignited from his snout. Then would charge at me. I would jump to my right only to be nicked by the boar in the leg decreasing my health to 7/8 of my current health. I would frown as my health took damage and that bothered me. As the boar began to pass me after hitting my leg, I would land and would blast forward as my sword raised and swung down on its back delivering a lethal blow depleting the health of the boar to nothing. The boar would squeal once more then would turn to pixels and explode. I would be in awe as the boar didn't lay there but it simple disappeared. I would look down at where my wound was and instead of blood, my leg would be pixelated red. That also surprised me. So much stuff I don't know about and honestly he was very excited about this game. He planned on making it to the top floor and defeating the game. He would smirk slightly as this was just a small step to greatness.

[Inugami]

With a rounding turn, Inugami raised his spear back into leaning against his shoulder, the softer wooden tip touching the ground right next to his toe. The art had made more than short enough work of the wolf, but would have been even easier if he had actually tried dealing damage instead of just letting the other person learn.

"Tolbana. Haven't been there yet." He pondered, wondering if the yellow status would expire before they arrived. "Sure why don't we go take a look together? Nothing else to do besides continue on with the constant grind. Maybe I can find a ignorant souls, I mean players who might need something that only a channeler can provide." He let slip what he thought of some of the other people trapped in the game with them. He looked on and saw another person fighting a boar much closer than some of the other players, he too seemed to be having a few small issues. A thought came across to intervene in some way and help him out as well. But Inugami only had so much charity in his blood, and he just gave away what he had for the day teaching Angelo. Still if the other wanted to do something he would not complain, or maybe he would.

[kyotori]

I would sheath my sword as I sighed and looked up at the sigh. My brown hair would fall back as my head was leaning up then I would look back down at the current environment as my head tilted to the side to look at the two people over to his right.

"Where are you guys heading again?"

He needed some people to actually adventure with this way he had some sort of safety. Whether he hated to admit it or not.. The higher level, even though he's not as high as he'd wish, was probably the best bet. It's seems as if everyone here hasn't really gained levels yet. More of a crawl into the city and fear of what's going to happen and loosing hope. Jacob, aka Kyotori, has never not beaten a game. He wasn't about to start now. He will beat this game not for the sake of others. Not for the sake for himself, but for the sake of checking off an accomplishment that no one else can ever check off again. It was obvious that after this server is done with, the person who made this will be put into custody for the deaths of probably thousands that are going to die.

"I need to get stronger and gain more gear. Then maybe we can clear this floor. Maybe a level of 10 or so should suffice don't you agree?"

His words would be directed at the other two close enough to him.

"Anywho.. The only way to get there is sadly grinding in levels. A few dungeons here and there won't hurt now will it?"

He would sigh as he really didn't want to get to level 10 on his own. It would be more boring if he did and sadly if he did, clearing a floor with strangers won't be much fun. Even if these strangers will most likely die in the near future.. Maybe even myself because having a KD of thousands to zero is unheard of. That's why most people are scared. In what MMORPG has no one ever died and still gained levels. It's nearly impossible, however it has to be done sadly. My fists would clench as I smiled. The excitement is killing him. He wants to get stronger and better.