[CLOSED] Boar hunting

[Kyle]

"I will not allow anyone to die." ☒ @tagged ✐ 000 ✉ notes Kyle Lv1

Kyle closed his eyes, stretched out his arms, and grinned as the gentle breeze of the Great Plains caressed his almost shoulder-length hair. His hair was now long enough to resemble swaying wheat when the wind grabbed it. He stood there as still as a statue, maintaining a pose akin to the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. The blue, cloudless sky and spring-like cool temperatures brought him a unique, calming peace. I never get weather like this in Texas, he thought. It's so nice and not scorching hot. Satisfied with his short break from reality, he lowered his arms and resumed his focused wandering with a goal in mind. It's time to concentrate. I'm here to hunt boars. In Sword Art Online, boars often congregated around water such as rivers and lakes. That's also the reason why so many npc farmers along the Great Plains ask players to deal with boar infestation problems. With the boar's preferences in mind, Kyle headed northwest to one of the better-known lakes, Armsvartnir Lake. He chuckled. If you want to kill a boar, you have to think like one. As Kyle continued making his way to the lake, the sound of green grass crunching under his less than dainty feet, he began thinking of goofy, unnecessary thoughts concerning his last mental statement. Think like a boar. He closed his eyes for a moment, snorted aloud twice, and laughed at himself. "I guess I'd have to crawl on four legs too, he said to no one in particular. Rolling his eyes, he continued with, "Geez Kyle. Maybe this is why you can't get a girl. You're too silly." Kyle wasn't sure if he even wanted a girl in this world, given the circumstances, but if one were to fall in his lap, he wouldn't complain. Kyle glanced over his shoulder and saw that only the tips of the tallest structures of the Town of Beginnings were visible. He returned his gaze to the flat land in front of him graced by the presence of a few rolling hills in the distance. I'm halfway there now. Kyle imagined that the Great Plains likely resembled Houston during the age of Sam Houston and Steven F. Austin when they commissioned the Allen brothers in the 1800s to build a great city. It was named the capital of Texas for a few years. Hmm, why do I remember that? he asked himself. That was all the way back in seventh grade. Obviously, Kyle's mind raced in an effort to keep himself entertained, but his mind always did that. It was nothing new to him. The picturesque landscape captured Kyle's attention yet again, as it looked even better than one of the paintings that hung on his grandmother's wall in the country town of Dayton, Texas. The grass was a vast, chlorophyll sea and it seemed as if fish could leap out of its depths and into the air at any moment. The clouds in the sky above swirled and mingled with the blue endlessness, leaving white streaks like the streaks of a half-dipped paintbrush. It was a lovely sight, yet it nothing but data, and Kyle knew it. The twinkle of cerulean pulled Kyle out of his thoughts as he detected the edges of Armsvartnir Lake peeking above the horizon. There it is. He picked up his pace until it was a slow jog and as he encroached on his destination, he spotted ten boars encircling the rather large lake. Armsvartnir Lake was about 100 yards in diameter with sloppy banks that made it seem like a natural lake in the real world. Big cattails grew along the shoreline and most of the boars were scattered about in small groups or individually. The largest group consisted of four boars. In addition, there were two pairs and two standing by themselves. These boars must be from different family groups. This in the only water source for a few miles, so I can see why the boars are allowing other groups to share without there being a territory dispute. It appeared that the majority of the boars preferred the north and west sides of the lake. Only three boars drank from the east end, a pair and an individual, and one boar drank from the south end. A confident sparkle lingered in Kyle's eyes and he smirked. This is manageable. As long as I can keep them separated, I can take them. And no one said that I have to deal with all ten of them right now. I can always retreat, wait for my health to regenerate, and come back later in the day. Kyle slowly bent down into a crouching position and quietly stepped closer and closer to the pair of boars on the northeast side. I'd best start with them. Take the most out as quickly as possible without getting in over your head. As he got closer and closer, he lowered himself to where his stomach touched the most soil, leaving dirt stains and strains of grass stuck to his leather Beginner's Armor. Propping himself on his elbows, he scooched through the tall grasses, hiding from plain sight. It looks like I'm crawling after all, he thought. Once he got about 15 feet away from the boars, he stopped for a moment. A foul stench flooded his nostrils and he almost grunted in disgust, but he stopped himself. Eew. This game is too realistic. You can even smell the boars. A lyric from one of his favorite childhood songs rang in his head. "Every time that I..." "Hey Pumba, not in front of the kids." Cold sweat collected at the back of his head and he mentally pleaded, Oh boars, please don't fart. Kyle shook his ridiculous thoughts out of his head and centered himself for the task at hand. He silently moved his right hand and grabbed the copper training dagger strapped behind his waist. He removed it from the holster with as little sound as a man petting his dog. Calmly rising up from the tall grass like a zombie from a stereotypical horror movie involving a cornfield, he turned his body to the left while never breaking his stare at the two enemies in front of him. His eyes focused on the boar standing at the far left as he spread his feet about three feet apart. Kyle held his breath, pleased to see that neither boar had detected him yet. He lifted his right arm and positioned the dagger so that there was a straight line from its tip to the boars lowered head. Kyle's poor victim was completely unaware of his presence. It fully submerged its snout in the cool, refreshing lake, lapping up each drop as if it was his first in months. After a few seconds of what felt like an eternity, Kyle's feet finally began radiating an ethereal, topaz glow and shimmering bells sounds gently rang out about 30 feet. His sword art activated. The two boar's ears twitched in response to the bell sounds and they turned their heads in surprise, but it was already too late. Kyle charged at them, trying to stay as quiet as possible in hopes of not alerting the other boars. Gorgeous, winter blues lines peppered with white dots that looked like stars trailed Kyle's heels. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed the other boar about 40 feet away lifting up his head and staring at the commotion. Hopefully he'll stay still for just a little bit longer, he thought. At about five feet, Kyle leaped into the air, the mystical light stream following his ascent. He started falling toward the boar and Kyle witnessed an almost horrified look in the boar's beady red eyes. With a satisfying slicing sound, Kyle's economic dagger met its mark.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS - EDITS BY ANGELO OF SAO-RPG

[Kyo]

☒ ✐ -- ✉ Kyo Lv.4

Kyo had entered the plains looking for a relaxing day, but not unproductive. He now outclassed boars by quite a bit, however, due to quite an eventful last few days he didn't quite feel comfortable assimilating with society and entering a town, and he didn't quite feel safe heading to the top floor of the dungeon to solo yet. So he here was. It would be a boring, easy, grind-filled day. Hopefully. The newly yellow player had not quite gotten used to players reactions to him yet. He certainly was not sure how to handle human interactions with players first assumption was that he was a criminal. After all it was only nights before he was tagged yellow for defending another player who was being mugged. He had always been more of the protector type and felt horrible about the whole thing but still didn't feel like he would be accepted by society after his interactions with an individual that night.  As he walked the plains he found himself more in thought then he was hunting boar. He calmly strolled past plenty of boar, no longer taking their aggro due to his level superiority. He seemed to pay no mention to them despite them being his ultimate goal here today. As he kept trekking on through the open plains he began to see the bright reflection of the sun off of a nearby lake. He made his way toward the lake to take a small break from his travels, hoping to maybe relax for a bit before taking down any nearby boar at the lake.  "Just one of those days-" he muttered to himself followed by a sigh. As he made his way closer he began to hear a noise of bells, quickly lowering himself and putting a grip to his blade. He began to look around him to see nothing in his immediate area before returning his gaze to the lake ahead to see the shimmering orange glow. He let his grasp of his sword down as he saw the player leap into the air before ultimately stabbing the boar. Both of the two were still too far to see any health bars but the boar didn't seem to turn to immediately attack, the brilliant glow of a sword art against a lowly boar generally suggested a successful kill, however, it could vary from art to art and he wasn't quite sure if he was a slow start or not, though many of the beta-testers and people who were doing really well would not be caught here killing boars, so assumption would be a low level trying to take down a few boars to help him get strong enough for the forest or dungeon.  Quickly Kyo moved forward breaking distance between himself and the pair in combat. He didn't mean to give off his location or intervene at all unless need be so he approached slowly and kept himself a little lowered to the grown in a crouched hobble forward. He got fairly close despite trying to remain unnoticed, though he started to think about how it would look for a yellow player to creep up on a low-level and decided against his initial approach. He pulled his body back up to full stance as he took the last few feet to be within talking-earshot. He looked to the player who was fighting the boar with a dagger questioningly hoping that he would either be oblivious to the yellow cursor or ignore it entirely as it wasn't red. "Hey there-uh" he paused for a second to examine the name. It was always strange reading a word broken into two by capitalization as most players simply used a single-word name due to the short character name length. "Kyle?" he said questioning unsure if it would insulting to not give the whole name. In other MMO's it would be the norm to shorten peoples names but then again this was far from a normal MMO. "Ya' need a hand there?" he asked as the boys dagger bore into the boar. He looked as if he could handle himself but Kyo wanted to be sure before moving on. Even with his yellow-cursor he still felt the need to help the helpless and this wouldn't be an exception even after helping the helpless is what got him here.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Kyle]

	"I will not allow anyone to die."
	Kyle Martin Lv1 | |

The boar squealed in pain at Kyle's deadly hit and with a turn of his dagger, the boar expanded like a balloon and popped in an array of tiny blue and white tiles. It looked as if a swarm of cobalt dragonflies buzzed around him. Kyle beamed, pleased with his first official kill, and an instant kill at that. I definitely picked the right sword art, he thought. Plus 200 percent damage is pretty powerful.

Kyle's mini internal celebration was short lived when the other boar charged him, its tusks sharpened and ready to pierce one of Kyle's vital organs. Kyle was a little winded, still not used to the level of energy expended from performing a sword art. He hesitated briefly, his body refusing to move, but because of his superior agility, he was able to sidestep the brunt of the attack. However, the point of the boar’s left tusk grazed his stomach. "Ah," Kyle grunted. A long, skinny red cut rested across his stomach and redish-white specks of data danced inside his gash. A few of them floated up until they were eye-level with Kyle and vanished. These ones and zeros were more than just bytes of data. They were Kyle's life source and he knew it. I have to be careful. Kyle spotted his health bar decrease by seven hit points, the comforting green bar diminishing in size until it stopped at 48/55. This was the first time that Kyle had lost any HP since the start of Sword Art Online.

Kyle eyed the boar menacingly. His nose flared and his eyes narrowed indicating a strong sense of focus. Suddenly, a new voice to the left of him pierced his concentration. "Hey there-uh, Kyle?" Kyle glanced in the direction of the voice and saw a lithe, young man who was just slightly shorter than the average male. His all black attire matched his moppy brunette hair. He wore a long scarf with tattered ends and a piece of leather armor with an open gap between his upper arms and his shoulders. The upper ends of his sleeves and his black sash were lined with pieces of bolted copper metal and he wore a belt that Kyle assumed was holding up his sash. Kyle's eyes widened when he spotted a high-quality calcum longsword strapped to the left side of his waist. Wow, that's nice! You don't see one of those everyday. He had an intricate black-inked dragon tattoo on his right arm. This guy must really like black. I wouldn't be wearing all black simply because I'm too used to the Texas heat and I know black absorbs the sun's rays, but he's not as pale as I am I suppose. The man seemed to be around Kyle's age, which was a nice change from all of the teenagers he had met over the past week. "Ya' need a hand there?" the man asked kindly.

The opposing boar bellowed and shrieked as it charged Kyle a second time. Ready for it this time, he easily hopped to the right and slashed the creature with his training dagger as it scurried on by. Much like his, Kyle left a red gash in the right side of the hog that stretched from leg to leg; however, the boar's gash was much wider than his, a fact that he took great pride in. As red sparkles flew up from the boar's gash, Kyle watched as its health bar dropped to a little under two-thirds. Two more strikes and I should be good. Kyle directed his attention to the newcomer and replied, "No, I should be good, unless the other boars decide to join the party. Then yes, I definitely would need your help."

A shiny yellow diamond drew Kyle's attention as it hovered over the newcomer's head. Yellow, huh? That's unusual. I wonder what he stole. The boar turned and faced Kyle again, his expression writhed in anger. This didn't scare Kyle though, as his thoughts returned to the man. Maybe he's like Rue and killed a PKer out of self-defense. With that calcum sword he's carrying, I bet he's strong enough. Kyle glanced at his name displayed above his green, full health bar. Kyo, huh?

[Kyo]

☒ ✐ -- ✉ Kyo Lv.4

Kyo smiled at the man as he replied. He clearly was just starting out, but he wanted to figure it out for himself rather than accepting the aid and the easy way out. "I'll watch your back, make sure you get them all one at a time" he said with a little laugh. Perhaps this man could be part of one of the raid parties, maybe even the first floor. Kyo dropped back a bit to a slight hill a few feet behind him to sit down and watch to make sure Kyle would be okay. The hill had a bit of height advantage so he could watch better from sitting.  He waited but it didn't appear any stragglers were making their way over just yet. He dug his leather boots into some grass, still amazed out the feeling. Of how everything was thought of. He felt fully emersed in this game. It had become his life but even still, there were things he had neglected to even think about anymore in the real world. Things that were such minor daily details that he had not actually though of how the ground felt beneath his feet. He watched the fight go on and noticed a boar slowly approaching. It didn't seem to take notice to the fight but rather was just moving down on its drinking spot. Kyo stood up and walked a few steps forward. He left the boar alone as it had not charged yet and was also separated from the group making it an easy prey after the first boar was dispatched, provided it didn't charge first.  He had kept a keen eye on the boar rather than watching Kyle at all, assuming he would call for help if he did indeed need it. He thought back to his first time doing this- boar hunting. He believed his first friend, Voron to likely be dead. He had vanished from existence shortly after that first day out in the field, and it scared him knowing even people who had seemed to get a grasp of the system early had fallen. He was scared to actually learn the totals of the death tolls thus far. Thinking about that moment also reminded him of how they learned to 'switch' together. For whatever the worth, it was certainly a good way of manipulating enemy aggro. Perhaps after a few boars he would show Kyle this method of combat, unsure of if he could actually do it with how low the health of the boars are and how much damage he now delt.  The separate boar seemed to notice the fight now and it broke Kyo from his trance. As it charged Kyle, Kyo also charged. He extended his blade out to its side as it began glowing a deep purple. As he darted forward he quickly swiped the boar twice digging his blade straight through flesh and bone that didn't even slow down the swing slightly, announcing his move "Violet Gale" as he passed. The charge forward had put him past the boar before it burst into blue pixels fading out of existence. Kyo had sheathed his sword and looked over to Kyle who was still fighting the boar, but was rather close now.  He wasn't entirely sure why he was helping the man but either way, aside from the PK's, they were all in this together. Best try to keep everyone strong and ready to fight in case they really need everyone for a boss.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Kyle]

	"I will not allow anyone to die."
	Kyle Martin Lv1 | |

"I'll watch your back. Make sure you get them all one at a time," Kyo said.

Great minds think alike. That was my plan from the get-go, he thought. Kyle glanced back at him with a grin sprouting from his face like a young sapling. "Thanks for the advice, man. I will, he replied.

As Kyo made his way over to a nearby hill just a few feet behind the fight, Kyle redirected his attention to the injured, enraged boar. Kyle spread his feet apart a few inches, the grinding sound of grass tickling Kyle's ears, and he bent his knees, bouncing his body up and down ever so slightly. In an attempt to show off to the obviously higher-level player, Kyle clumsily twirled his dagger around in his left hand and taunted in a hushed tone, "Toro! Toro!" The furious boar took the bait and galloped toward Kyle. Like before, Kyle gracefully sidestepped, this time to the left, and stuck his dagger out a little farther this time, hoping the attack would cut deeper than the last one. As Kyle hoped, this cut was quite wider and longer than the one before. The boar let out a blood-curdling scream the sent shivers down Kyle's spine. He almost felt sorry for the creature, but he knew the boar was merely data and its death was necessary if he wanted to get stronger. Kyle watched as the boar's health bar drained until only a tiny red sliver remained. He scowled. Close, but no cigar. If I can keep repeating this technique, I'll master it in no time. Yes, there's some assistance from the system with the sword arts, but normal attacks work similarly to the real world. I'll just have to keep practicing if I want to inflict more damage.

A second squeal pierced Kyle's ears and he pinpointed the other boar that was on the southeast side of the lake. It detected Kyle's presence and because of Kyle's low level, he triggered the boar's aggro. It charged. Excellent, he thought excitedly. Two shouldn't be too bad, especially since this one's really injured.

Before the boar closed its distance with Kyle, Kyo dashed out of nowhere, his calcum longsword fully extended. The sword's hardy metal shimmered in a deep purple and Kyo unleashed two swift slashes onto the enemy boar with speed almost too quick for the eye to follow. Kyo shouted, "Violet Gale!" The boar immediately disintegrated into a swarm of blue and white data and Kyo coolly stood several feet away from the creature without looking winded whatsoever. The man sheathed his sword and looked at Kyle and Kyle couldn't help but stare at him with his mouth agape. The scene looked like something out of an anime when the protagonist finished some overpowered move.

Kyle shook his head, trying to collect his thoughts when he realized that he left his own boar unchecked for too long. As he anticipated, his boar readied itself to charge again, but before it could make a move, Kyle scurried over to it and made a wimpy slash. It was pitiful but it was enough to defeat the creature as it exploded in the same manner that the other two had. The impact of the victory "pop" knocked Kyle off his unsteady feet, but it wasn't enough to inflict any damage. The only thing it injured was his pride. Kyle hurriedly gathered himself, stood up, and wiped some grass from his rear end. He cleared his throat, hoping that Kyo hadn't noticed his newbie-like blunder. Walking over to the man, he complimented, "Wow Kyo! That was impressive. You called it Violet Gale. That's a cool name. It fits your sword art rather well."

[Janeiro]

This must be a joke!, Janeiro thought. They are pigs, for heaven's sake! Some of the weakest enemies in the game, and they are killing me!
The angry squealing and gallopping of the boars behind her only seemed to grow louder. Three red-eyed beasts had been running after her for minutes, way too quick for Janeiro's tastes, forcing the girl to sidestep rapidly trying to shake them off and looking for something in the environment to use to her advantage - a futile endeavor in the gently rolling hills of the Great Plains which seemed to be nothing but Grassland, at least right where she was. Her stamina was running out, Janeiro was panting, sweating, her lungs burning trying to make her understand that they couldn't give her more virtual oxygen than they already did, but the porcine peril persisted in its perpetuated pursuit. The reason for Janeiro not fighting her bristled foes hid in her health bar which displayed a miserable small strip of glowing red, the rest of it completely emptied.

She had visited the Town of Beginnings this morning, which despite the good weather had turned out to be somewhat depressing. The amount of players too scared to fight was significant, and many of them stayed in the Town of Beginnings, waiting for the dungeon raid party to make progress. Janeiro could not blame them, but at the same time, she could never join them. Few of them talked, maybe because they ran out of things to talk about long ago, stagnating, waiting. She almost felt guilty walking through the streets that she had not strained herself more to help getting everybody out of this game as quick as possible. One player had even asked her about it while she was eating at the inn, asking whether she thought they would rush through all of the floors quickly once the first boss was killed, as if it was a single thing to figure out, applicable to every other boss after that. Would be nice, but Janeiro knew that would not be the case. She was not able to answer probably, mumbling something and taking off, leaving half of her food behind.

To clear her mind and hopefully not getting pestered by anybody again she had walked into the vastness that was the Great Plains, brooding about the situation. For the first time in a while she grew frustrated with her virtual prison. It was spacious, but in the end she still couldn't go wherever she wanted to, and suddenly it felt as if she was in a cell of 20 square feet. Her friend Rue's words came to mind - it wasn't worth pondering about things one could not change when instead one could focus on what one can do. Taking a deep breath Janeiro calmed down a little, but her body was already energized from her frustration and she needed an outlet. Luckily there were boars strolling idly through the plains, their snouts often in the ground digging up something to eat for the gluttonous mammals.

Unsheathing her blade she walked up to one of the boars which stopped burrowing and instead looked up at Janeiro with curious eyes. Before his gaze could create feelings of mercy and compassion in her the shiny metal blade sliced through the beast again and again in quick succession until its HP dropped to zero, its only reaction being a horrifying, loud squeal, an appeal to the other boars to avenge this one's death. Or so it seemed, since only seconds later Janeiro heard wheezing behind her and as she turned around she was tackled and gored by a heavy boar, throwing her to the ground. The level discrepancy between them and Janeiro was significant, but the impact felt just as powerful as on her first day. She stood up quickly just to get tackled again from another one, the surprise leaving her defenseless against the second ramming by boar #1 which hit her stomach directly, causing her to topple over once more, the hogs lunging at her immediately.

By the time she managed to free herself, Janeiro's health had dropped into the red. Almost panicking she realized that a single crit would be enough to kill her. Not taking any chances she ran off, but the boars were fast and their aggro did not diminish one bit, instead, a third one joined them chasing the black-haired teen, who had no idea why this one was so angry at her.


Then she saw it, the unnatural colorful light of a sword art. The pattern and color seemed somewhat familiar, was it... yes! They had only exchanged few words before, but it was Kyo, and close to him another player she had never seen before. Janeiro was sorry to drag them into this, but together they should have no problem dealing with the small pack of angry boars she was basically kiting. If she even made it that far and did not die a honorless death at the hand of boars before that due to her lungs collapsing.
"Kyo! Please!"

[Kyo]

☒ ✐ -- ✉ Kyo Lv.4

Kyo had taken a few steps back as he watch Kyle finish his encounter with his boar he already had aggro to him. It seemed that he was intending to fight both at once, perhaps he shouldn't have jumped so early. He didn't want to go back on his word after he had given it though.  Kyo smiled watching Kyle fumble around a bit dealing with what was left of the boar he was fighting, then the startling appearance of the rewards screen that he himself had grown so accustomed to that there were times he wouldn't even look at it while accepting, especially when on longer grinding trips against repetitive enemies. He gave a small nod of approval when he walked back over.  "Wow Kyo! That was impressive. You called it Violet Gale. That's a cool name. It fits your sword art rather well."  Kyo looked a bit surprised at the reaction. That was one of the few things he felt complement worthy. He hadn't spent too much time on the details of his sword art as he just wanted to jump into the game, however, he did always feel a bit 'awesome' when using it, he just assumed all sword arts felt that way though. "Thanks! I've been trying to perfect it, thinking about improving it more rather than getting a 3rd sword art." he said with a smile, he had been thinking of advancements way too far in advance as he was still a long way from that point, however, improvement was probably something on most players minds, how they would go about improving and when they would get that upgrade that would help benefit them against the current list of enemies.  "I guess it is a little flashy-" he continued with a little laugh at the end. "I got a glimpse of yours too though, it looked pretty-" he was stopped mid sentence as his ears rung out to the noise of boars squealing, expecting that they had aggro even more of them he begun to turn to hear it- "Kyo please!" Janeiros voice had come of familiar to him, but he couldn't put a face to it immediately, until he finished turning to see his ally from the valentines day even at such low health, being chased by boars. Without skipping a beat or thinking his sword was readily in his hands again as he charged. He lifted his blade to the side to initiate his namesake sword art once again only to hear the 'denial' noise signifying its cooldown still in effect. He quickly charged placing himself between Janeiro and the boars as he began to glow a brilliant purple as well as his sword. Quickly locking his stance as a boar jumped forward to attack him, though his blade catching the boar between himself and it. "REDIRECTION!" he announced sending the boar flying back, the attack didn't seem to be lethal though, just sending the boar flying back as it crashed into the grass farther back though it didn't get up, it did still have at least 30% of its health. His glow quickly faded and returned him to his original state. He had expected more of the boars to be intercepted by the attack but the other two had slipped through his sword art, being designed for more of a self protection. He turned to see Janeiro approaching Kyles position, Kyo began to charge while yelling out "Kyle quick!" without giving any explanation as to what he meant by the comment hoping he would help Janeiro.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Kyle]

	"I will not allow anyone to die."
	Kyle Martin Lv1 | |

Kyo seemed to appreciate to Kyle's compliment regarding his sword art as he began to explain his plans with it. He even started complimenting Kyle's sword art, but an unpleasant, thundering sound of grunts and squeals cut through the air, piercing their conversation. Kyle readied his dagger again and reported, "Kyo, there's more of them coming."

To Kyle's dismay, he heard a desperate, feminine voice call out, "Kyo please!"

A woman with a midnight hair that reached down to her knees and blue eyes sprinted toward the pair of strangers with a sense of emergency in her step. She had a desirable figure in terms of pop culture's standards with an hourglass shape and large breasts. However, what was more concerning to Kyle was her health bar. It was low, the sliver painted in an ominous shade of red. Following close behind her were three bloodthirsty boars, their eyes giving off an evil glint and their tusks displaying a bright sheen. The three enemies may as well have been an avalanche based off their destructive potential against a player with health in the red. Kyle's eyes widened and he whispered, "No."

Kyo wasted no time, dashing forward at dizzying speeds that would make a cheetah envious. He stuck his short straight out by his side, exactly as he had done previously when he used "Violet Gale" on the last boar, but this time, he lowered his weapon abruptly. The cooldown must not have finished yet. Instead, he picked up even more speed and slid between the newcomer and the three boars. Kyo raised his sword near his head, the sword and himself emanating a hushed, purple glow. "REDIRECTION!" he shouted. One of the boars' tusks clashed against Kyo's blade and he sent it flying like a baseball after a batter hit a home run. The boar landed a fair bit away with about 30 percent of its hp left. It didn't return to its hooves right away, obviously stunned by Kyo's sword art. However, the danger was far from over as the two remaining boars continued their pursuit of the injured woman. In a frantic tone, Kyo hollered, "Kyle quick!"

Kyle had no time to think, only act. Like Kyo had done before him, he rushed forward, his dagger in hand, and inserted himself between the woman and the enemy boars. However, unlike Kyo, he had no impressive move or strategy that would save her indefinitely. He knew he had no choice but to take damage. Kyle raised his copper training dagger to his face and as one of the boars' tusks closed in on its target, he attempted parrying the blow. It was partially successful, as Kyle had thrown off the boars attack, but it still scraped his right shoulder. Kyle failed to inflict any damage on the boar. The other boar barreled into Kyle and he felt like he had been hit by a truck. The strike knocked him off his feet, but thanks to his superior agility, he pushed himself back up with his hands. Kyle's right shoulder possessed a small line that shimmered with red triangles and a massive, gaping wound spread across his entire chest. He had taken the brunt of that second boar's attack, but after a quick glance of his hp, he noticed that he wasn't in the red yet. Thirty-three hp, he thought. It could be worse.

Kyle's lips contorted into a snarl and he pointed his dagger at the two boars that were readying themselves for another assault. "You like that, boars?" he mocked. "I will not allow anyone to die."

[Janeiro]

They had heard her and stopped talking, reacting to Janeiro running towards the pair. With Kyo shifting behind her she looked over her shoulder, but he was only able to intercept one of the boars, leaving two still out to kill the black-haired teenager. There was still this other guy though who appeared to be willing to help. Based on his movements and equipment Janeiro guessed that he was not very experienced yet, but helping her definitely showed bravery. She saw how he got attacked by the boars and instantly felt guilty, but the kind of lanky guy seemed to be in control of the situation.
As soon as she had lost the aggro Janeiro fell to her hands and knees, breathing heavily after her extended run, trying to get back some oxygen into her circulatory system, her hair falling over her body into the soft grass, while she could do nothing but watch the two men fend off the boars for a few seconds. She almost felt ill but the sensation faded as her body calmed down and her heart stopped beating that quickly.

"You like that, boars?" he mocked. "I will not allow anyone to die."

Janeiro smiled. He definitely had the right spirit. Well, he actually had saved her life right now together with Kyo. It did not quite feel like it, though. She was bruised and obvious glowing streaks marking wounds in SAO were all over her body and her HP were gone almost completely, but it did not feel like one was at death's door just because of some markers and numbers. Maybe that could be quite dangerous, making people too careless without their bodies providing the feedback they would have in real life to assess mortal danger.

Finally Janeiro had recovered enough to stand back up again, drawing her sword and looking around in case one of the other hogs lurking around wanted to join in. "I'm Janeiro. Nice to meet you, and thank you.", the girl said to the stranger instructed by Kyo. For now she let him fight, but in case he would get into trouble she was ready to immediately jump between him and the boars just like he had done for her. Still, the small pool of HP she had left stopped her right now from throwing herself into the fray.

[Kyo]

☒ ✐ -- ✉ Kyo Lv.4

Kyo smiled back to Janeiro. Her calm nature after the occurance had led him to some reassurance that everything was okay. "You like that, boars? I will not allow anyone to die." Kyo nodded with a grin as he opened up his inventory screen. "Don't ever forget that Kyle!" he said as he pressed a button on the item 'Copper Dagger' in his inventory. The item appeared before him as he tossed the blade over to the ground in front of Kyle. "You gotta earn it though! Both those boars are yours!" he said with a grin as he turned his attention back to his lone nearly dead boar.  His blade rose to the side as his eyes closed. 'Hopefully hes not as big of a fool as I am...' he thought, turned away from the other two as he ran forward. He had always felt the need to protect others, but he didn't wish his path upon his enemies. Hes seen failure far too many times already to this point and with each failure takes a piece of himself. It would be so much easier to not care at all. His blade began to absorb the atmosphere as purple aura began to wrap around the blade. "VIOLENT GALE!" he screamed as he unleashed his signature move again, the first blow splitting the boar in two, the second pushing its dead particles about in the air.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Kyle]

	"I will not allow anyone to die."
	Kyle Martin Lv1 | |

"I'm Janeiro. Nice to meet you, and thank you," the girl said behind him, still rearing a bit from her near-death encounter.

Without taking his eyes off his two furious foes, he replied, "I'm Kyle. It's nice to meet you too. And don't worry about that. It was nothing. I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

The two boars separated Kyle and Kyo, but Kyle noticed a pleased expression illuminating from Kyo's face. "Don't ever forget that Kyle!" he exclaimed.

Kyo opened up his menu and selected something. A copper dagger generated in his hand and he tossed it over the boars so that it landed in a patch of grass in front of Kyle. Kyle's eyes widened in shock. Is he giving that dagger to me? That thing's better than what I have right now. It's made of level two material.

"You gotta earn it though! Both those boars are yours!"

Kyle bent down and ran his hand over the copper dagger and several buttons materialized in midair. He pressed the "equip" button and his training dagger vanished. He picked up his new weapon and furrowed his eyebrows in determination. "Thanks Kyo. So what you're saying is that as long as I can beat these boars, I get to keep this. That doesn't seem too hard." Kyle watched as Kyo used his graceful sword art a second time disposing of the injured boar in a rather overkill fashion, its data remnants being carried by the wind of the Great Plains to an unknown location. Gripping his new dagger, Kyle commanded, "Janeiro, stay behind me. You’re injured and I can handle this."

The two boars galloped toward Kyle together, their tusks outstretched ready to deal Kyle a fatal blow. As they closed in, Kyle stretched his feet three feet apart, positioned his body so that the right side of it lined up with the advancing adversaries, pointed the dagger at one of their foreheads, and charged forward. The pathways of light-blue light and the ringing sounds were now familiar and comforting to Kyle. They were signs of his destined victory. He jumped in the air, the light trailing him as usual, and he moved the stronger weapon into his right hand, decisively striking one of the boars in the head. "Lightning Lunge!" he announced. The boar was annihilated and the other was so stunned that it hesitated for a second before striking its target that stood a mere two feet away. The boar's falter was all Kyle needed. He leaped back, avoiding the boar's sharp tusks. It stumbled along for a bit, unable to stop itself immediately because of its running momentum. A loud grunt followed by a squeal indicated that it was flustered and confused.

"Just one more!" Kyle shouted. He glanced back and Janeiro and asked, "Janeiro, do you have a health potion on you?"

[Janeiro]

The two were basically strangers to Janeiro, still they helped her without thinking twice. Janeiro was sure she would have done the same for any other player, however she really did not expect it from anyone when she was in danger. They were only boars, but there had been incidents where even those level 1 creatures had killed players. It made her feel good that people did not need a personal attachment to someone else or another selfish reason to look out for somebody else. Kyo even took it one step further, generously giving Kyle the copper dagger he had. Selling it would have provided him with a decent amount of Col - but she could imagine this was really motivating for a lower level player. If she had been in that situation she definitely would have made sure not to disappoint her benefactor. She made a mental note to treat others similarly, wondering if it was normal to feel some sort of senpai responsibility to care for players with less experience, giving them helpful advice and intervening if fights became too dangerous. At least Kyo seemed to be similar, even though his own motivations could be quite different from hers. That said, players of the game's beta had not really stood out so far, most keeping a low profile because of the prejudice they were facing.

"I'm counting on you, Kyle. Do your best!" Janeiro cheered him on, observing him from behind. There was something odd about his appearance. She had to think for a moment before she could pinpoint it. The glasses! She could not remember meeting other players who wore them before. Probably the game gave you the option to correct your eyesight for the game or even did so automatically and it was just a stylish accessory. Having normal eyesight herself Janeiro did not know, but knowing how many people had to wear glasses in real life statistically lots of players must have abandoned them when entering the virtual world. The bespectacled player wasn't clumsy though. He dodged the boars' attacks most of the time, keeping the upper hand in battle. When he asked Janeiro about a health potion, she hesitated for a moment. She did, but did not really want to waste that money... No, this was not a moment to be stingy. She selected a potion and consumed it, seeing her health bar fill up again. Resource should not be wasted, but clinging to them when dying was a real possibility was just stupid, and she had four left anyway.
"Get him Kyle! You won't get a copper weapon this easily again!"


-1 Health Potion

[Kyo]

☒ ✐ -- ✉ Kyo Lv.4

Kyo continued to watch. Not sure whether or not to be happy that the boy was so passionate about protecting Janeiro or scared. He could be a protector of the innocent like Kyo was trying to be, though he could also get himself killed... like Kyo too was rather prone to. He sheathed his sword as he was questioned in regards to the purpose of the daggers. "Well- I mean its yours either way, but it won't do ya much good if you're dead." he said before letting out another laugh beginning his walk back over to Janeiro. The situation seemed to be defused despite a boar still actively available to attack. Kyo walked over to Janeiro with a smile, ignoring Kyle, hoping he would be okay. After all, if he couldn't handle a few boar, how could he handle whats awaiting him in the depths of the dungeon, or on the next few floors. "You alright?" he asked while pulling up his inventory and pulling out a health potion to his hand. "Need it?" he offered, extending his hand outward for her to take the health potion if she needed it. It was his last health potion, but he would never let an ally die, especially not to boars, meaningless nothings set to help you grow through early levels of the game. As he extended his arm out to pass her the potion a chime noise was heard above him. He looked up to see his cursor had returned to a green state. "Oh... about time" he said as a grin ran across his face in excitement, finally being able to enter town without being looked at funny and constantly watched by everyone.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Kyle]

	"I will not allow anyone to die.".
	Kyle Martin Lv1 | |

"Well- I mean it’s yours either way, but it won't do ya much good if you're dead."

Kyle laughed heartily. "Oh, so that's what you mean by, 'You've gotta earn it.' Yeah, when you put it that way, I guess I do." Still watching the agitated boar carefully, he shot a focused grin and continued with, "I'll pay you back some day."

"I'm counting on you, Kyle. Do your best!" Janeiro encouraged from behind him. "Get him Kyle! You won't get a copper weapon this easily again!"

"You're right."With a quick dash forward, Kyle announced, "Then I'll be happy to oblige!" After Kyle completed several steps, the boar followed suit with an angry squeal and to Kyle, it felt as if the two closed in on one another in slow motion. This was the first time Kyle had charged an enemy and for a second, he was a little jittery, but he trusted that Sword Art Online's combat system would guide his movements. He furrowed his dark brown eyebrows and thought, It's time to see what investing all of my points into agility really did.

Based on how the boar was moving, Kyle recognized that he was faster than it. That's comforting. As the green patches of grass crunched under each of Kyle's footfalls, Kyle noticed that he sprinted nearly twice as fast as he could in the real world, which wasn't saying much seeing as that he had a limp in the real world due to his Cerebral Palsy. Regardless, his movements were confirmation that his avatar's physical skills had no correlation to those in the real world. The simple fact that his right hand functioned normally was an initial shock and something to get used to when the game had started. In the real world, his right hand couldn't perform intricate movements like tying shoes or typing. The nerve connections to move his fingers individually weren't there, but in the world of Aincrad, they were. He knew that he didn't need his glasses and Lane even reminded him of that, but he still bought them at the flavor items shop as a way to maintain some connection to himself in the real world.

In the real world, he often wondered if wearing glasses instead of contacts put him at a disadvantage. He couldn't blink properly, which kept him from wearing contacts, but beyond that, he looked better without them. Maybe he could've gotten a date if he didn't wear them; however, in Sword Art Online, it drew people to him. The glasses were different. It made him stand out of the crowd just as his mild Cerebral Palsy had in the real world. He enjoyed the extra attention. He craved it, for as kind of a person as Kyle was, he had some social insecurities and always possessed a need to prove himself to others. This need for others’ approve harmed him in the past, weakened his faith, and put a strain on his relationship with God. Nevertheless, Kyle's desire to protect the weak had more influence than his need for approval during the decision-making process.

Kyle and the boar where so close that they could almost touch each other. Kyle turned the copper dagger so that the blade stuck out of the outer side of his left hand and at the last second, he faked the boar out by diverting his attack a little to the right. The boar's tusk barely missed him as they passed and Kyle's dagger dug into the boar's flesh, leaving a cut nearly two feet long as they crossed each another. The boar screamed in pain and Kyle glanced over his shoulder, noticing that the boar's health hovered in the yellow at about 60 percent. Kyle glanced down at his new weapon with a look of satisfaction on his face. This weapon is a little stronger. One cut did just as much damage to that boar as three attacks from a boar did to me.

The boar turned around with a flash of fury in its eyes. Kyle imagined cartoon veins protruding and little puffs of smoke escaping the boar's cranium, but Sword Art Online wasn't that type of game. The animation style was more realistic. Kyle flicked his right hand in a "come here" motion and taunted, "Whatcha gonna do boar?" The boar squealed and charged again at its target. Kyle waved his right index finger at the boar and said, "Poor choice."

Without much effort, Kyle sidestepped the tackle and finished it off with a swift, shallow slash on the same side that the large cut glittered. The boar froze in midair for a millisecond and exploded in a blue and white light show just as its comrades had before.

With a sigh of relief, Kyle leisurely made his way over to the others, noticing that since combat ended, his health bar regenerated slowly. "Well, now that that's done, what should we do? he started. Kyle stared at the only boars remaining. A group of four boars stood on the other side of the lake sipping its water. He pointed at them and suggested, "We could finish the job or call it a day. Janeiro, I know you've already been through a lot today so it's up to you."

Being slightly indecisive in nature, Kyle preferred letting other people make the decision. He believed it was a nice gesture that let others know that he cared for them and was thinking with their best interests in mind; however, if he saw that someone wasn't making a decision quickly, he could step into a leadership role and make it for them. Kyle glanced up at his health bar and discovered it had increased slightly to 39 out of 55.

[Janeiro]

Janeiro was a little surprised seeing Kyo offer her a health potion. He really was way too generous. She raised her hands to chest level with her palms open towards Kyo, emphasizing that she did not need it. "Oh no, please keep it. I still have plenty left and I'm not broke either. Thanks for the offer though... You're really kind. To Kyle even more." Hopefully he wasn't going to give away everything he had but only the stuff he did not really need for himself.
After hearing the chime too she looked up to his crystal. She had heard that some players had become yellow even doing the right thing. When it was a stranger she still was a little wary of them but if after talking they seemed like a decent person she could easily ignore it. In the past she had been following rules categorically but she had realized that sometimes the situation demanded breaking them to act morally. "Congratulations", she smirked.
Her eyes looked back to Kyle's fight with the boars. "He seems promising. I was much more awkward at level 1." She said to Kyo, still observing Kyle's movements and feeling as if the two were his teachers. Although she thought his trash talk was a little silly. Kyle finally got showered by the blue pixels of victory and came back to them.

"I'm fine, thank you for being considerate. My health is back up now and I could still go fight some boars, thanks to you two." She bowed a little out of habit. "Let's go."