[CLOSED] Fishy Business

[Angelo]

Angelo Is Saved! ❤

Angelo Is Saved! ❤..

The moment he jumped, Angelo kept an eye on the baldy towering before him. Much to his demise, it was already lowering its hand towards him. Almost consigned to his death, he closed his eyes momentarily to recount all of the happiness and joy he experienced and all of the pain and sadness he suffered. If only he could have had a message to give to his sister before he-

Angelo opened his eyes, revealing the emerald within. Tears had formed in that short amount of time when he resigned himself to his death. The roar of the bald giant broke the young boy out of his spell as he realized that his life would still continue a little while longer. Janeiro had attacked the arm that was about to end his life and all the teen could do was land on the floor on all four limbs. He didn't really have a lot of time to waste as the female giant realized that she had missed her target. She too roared out in anger before continuing her frenzied attack.

The boy had to dodge but concentrate on taking the male giant out first. He glanced back at the fish to see them safe and unharmed, in the same place he left it. Angelo looked back at the female giant that was about to slam her club onto his head. The boy quickly  took two steps backwards and took a small jump forward, landing on the club. He quickly followed up with a hard push off the wooden surface and darted towards the bald giant. The boy's sword was pointing at the behemoth's chest, his weapon glowing a fiery red.

Hot steam billowed out of the sword before it ignited into fire, sending waves of heat everywhere. Angelo activated his sword art and stabbed the giant in the middle of its chest. With his momentum still propelling him forward, he landed on its chest and stayed there for a few seconds, using that time to finish his series of strikes. A red vertical line appeared on the monster's chest when Angelo swung his sword upwards. He followed up with a horizontal slash that, together with his second strike, made a red cross on the giant's chest.

The boy fell down to the floor, landing deftly on the uneven terrain. He yelled out switch to his friend and partner, so she could deal the remaining blow to vanquish the monster. Even with his sword art and her previous attacks, the giant was still alive, albeit being in the red zone. "Finish him!"

[Janeiro]

Janeiro saw Angelo jumping on the bald giant's chest, activating his sword art. Perfect, this would hurt him a lot, Janeiro thought. Meanwhile the female did not stay idle, even more enraged now that her sword art had not harmed the two little humans. Janeiro stepped forward to attack her, being blocked and having to dodge herself as the giant before her countered with more club smashing, the fast and heavy hits bruising Janeiro a few times, bringing her down to half of her HP before the wooden weapon got stuck between rocks, just as Angelo called Janeiro to switch. It was now the brunette's turn to kill a giant it seemed and she happily obliged, turning around hoping the club would stay stuck for a few more seconds and charging towards the tumbling giant Angelo had just mauled with his sword art. Once more a club tried to swat her like an annoying fly, thundering as it hit the ground with Janeiro quickly sidestepping on the hilly terrain to avoid it. The bald giant then assumed a more defensive position standing more compact and protecting his torso, emanating a menacing aura, showing that he was ready to punish anybody trying to come near him. Seeing no direct opening Janeiro stopped approaching him from the front and ran around him with a few yards between them, up the hill, assuming a higher position, then immediately turning on the heel and jumping off forward into his face while he still turned around. He raised his club to block her too late, she landed with her feet on his chest and sword in his eye, grabbing his shoulder with her left as she forced the blade deeper into the soft organ. The giant roared and started to fall over, Janeiro with him just as he exploded into blue pixels, showering the girl in a bright blue rain as she fell on the hill and had to roll to soften the impact.

[Angelo]

One Down, One Left

One Down, One Left

During the brief respite he could gain when he wasn't actively dodging the female giant, Angelo glanced at his partner as she laid the woopin' on the giant. He smiled at her, but was interrupted with the remaining giant. She smashed her club into the ground just to his right, sending him flying towards the lake.

His white hair was now matted with dirt and a bit of mud. Green eyes stared ferociously at the giant and Janeiro, who were now quite a distance away. Angelo looked at the upper left corner of his vision, seeing Janeiro's current health and more importantly, his own. While the black-haired teen still had about half of her health on her despite receiving several direct blows, the curved sword user was already at around 40%. Most of his health was taken off of flying terrain and not once did he get hit by a direct blow. This said something about these level four giants.

Angelo looked to his right and saw something that may help them in the fight. Something that the giant was looking for: the untouched fish. He ran to the basket and took out a single fish. If he could continually distract Miss Underbite, Janeiro could cut her down. With that thought in mind, Angelo began shouting at the top of his lungs at the last remaining giant as he ran towards her.

[Janeiro]

Miss Underbite was visibly stressed. With her last companion gone these pesky little humans had somehow managed to now outnumber the giants. Hesitating she took a few steps backwards, before hearing Angelo scream and saw him running towards her. Her eyes focused on the dried fish in his hand, the delicious smell creeping into her nose, making her mouth water. In fact she produced so much saliva that it overflowed her mouth, making her jaw look like a nasty fleshy bathtub filled to the brim with water which now ran down her chin and dripped to the ground.

Janeiro looked up after killing the bald giant and regaining stable footing, seeing Angelo's maneuver and also that he was only at 40% health. Idiot, you're killing yourself!, Janeiro thought immediately running towards the two again. A soft ping signalled that her sword art had completed her cooldown just in time. Coming into melee range Janeiro slashed the giant's leg once while running past her making her foe notice the black-haired girl, then got her sword into position to activate her sword art once more, two upward strikes accompanied by bright golden flashes tearing through the flesh of their huge foe who howled in pain and held her eyes, this time the blinding had worked. The giant flailed around wildly and Janeiro wasn't even sure whether their enemy tried to look for the fish or the two humans.

[Angelo]

Sushi Anyone?

Sushi Anyone?

Good. He got the giant's attention. Now what should he do..? Run away? Keep distracting the giant? The slimy fish in his hand did nothing to alleviate his current predicament. Angelo watched as the female behemoth's mouth dripped globs of saliva all over the floor, the impact akin to a water balloon being popped. And this was several water balloons. You can paint the picture in your mind.

Janeiro had used the distraction he made by attacking the giant's leg with the same sword art she used from before. This time however, the blinding flash didn't affect him as it did the giant. Her hands went up towards her face, possibly to cover its eyes from the light. Much good that would do. With fish in one hand and sword in the other, Angelo ran forward to get closer to the two females. It was around this time that the bigger of the two began stomping around in confusion. This made approaching the giant very difficult and a bit more dangerous. He frowned. He couldn't do much in that situation and decided to stay back and wiggle the fish in his hand while looking at the giant.

[Janeiro]

It looked almost comical to Janeiro how Angelo waved the dead fish around, luring the drooling blind giant towards him who continued stomping around trying to find squishy human targets. „Don't get too close! There's no need for you to get in danger!“ Janeiro yelled, worrying about Angelo's health but also glad about the distraction he was for the female giant, creating an opportunity for Janeiro to strike her again. She had to move swiftly, knowing the blindness was only temporary, and even blind the foe was dangerous enough, attacking relentlessly. Then, just as Janeiro set her foot against a rock to change direction quickly the rock broke away rolling down the hill, causing the black-haired girl to slip and fall to the ground. The giant had noticed it, knowing exactly where Janeiro was now, still sliding and trying to get control again as a gigantic fist came down on her, smashing in her chest – and the giant began to dissolve into blue pixels thanks to the shiny metal blade sticking out of its wrist that Janeiro had managed to thrust in there at the last moment. Slowly she stood up, dizzy from the final impact. Her health was in the red but still high enough to survive. „I'm glad my calculations weren't off...“ She mumbled, smiling softly at Angelo.

[Angelo]

That Took Balls.

That Took Balls.

Angelo took a quick look at Janeiro, smiling at what she said. He knew he stood an ice cube's chance in hell against the giant at his current level and equipment and so decided to stay away. The female Tesh was already angry at the loss of two of her kin, why anger her even more? With the wiggling fish in his hand, he only served as a distraction so that Janeiro could finish off the weakened giant.

As he stared from afar, he saw the misfortune of his partner losing her step, falling to the floor. The giant, apparently cured of its blindness, took no time to give Janeiro a counterattack, sending her giant fist straight at the girl.

"RIO!" he repeated for a second time. He ran towards her, dropping the slimy fish along the way, only to stop when he saw Miss Underbite light up and explode. Angelo walked over to her and stared at Janeiro. She looked pretty badly beaten, evident on her remaining health.

"That armor of yours is pretty impressive, even if it doesn't cover much. Where did you get it from?" Once confirming that she was okay, he headed back to the slimy fish he dropped and headed back to the untouched basket, sitting down next to it. A short reprieve is all he asked for after that harrowing fight against the three giants.

[Janeiro]

Once again Janeiro brushed dirt off of her body, feeling a little filthy. Angelo pointed out that her armor did not cover much, which made her feel quite embarrassed. She tried not to show it but could not look into his eyes, instead she scanned the landscape to see if they were safe now. "It's the Cloak of Shadows, the last hit reward for Illfang... it was pure luck that I got it though. There were many others in that raid who would have deserved it." She paused for a moment. "I'm really sorry to have worried you. Those giants are not a joke. However, seeing you get hit made me scared for a moment as well."

Janeiro was glad to see that Angelo sat down and sat down right next to him crossing her arms on her knees, feeling the breeze in her face and gently caressing her aching body. Finally she looked over to Angelo again. "If I can get a hold of the required items I should tailor you some armor. Anyway, we shouldn't waste too much time here. Some old man wants his fish. Or do you want to stay a little longer?"

[Angelo]

You Have Tailoring?

You Have Tailoring?

The wind blowing in his face was a good reward for what he had to endure, as well. Ignoring the smell of the fish right next to him, he looked up at Janeiro as she sat down beside him. The boy was wondering why she was wearing such light armor. Even if its stats were really good, couldn't she have gotten it customized to cover more? A little red showed below his eyes while Angelo looked away.

He looked back when she began talking. "That would be great, actually. I didn't know you were a tailor. So that means that those clothes you wore at Rue's get together, you made them yourself? Nice."

It wouldn't hurt to stay a little while longer. After all, the two of them were probably the first players to encounter and fight against the giants. Too much time passed by however, and Angelo didn't want Janeiro to suffer any consequences for getting to her destination late. He stood up slowly and offered his right hand to pick her up as well.

"Let's get a move on I guess." Angelo smiled and picked up the basket of fish, still fishy and smelly as ever.

[Janeiro]

Janeiro did not know whether it was possible to customize the aesthetics of boss drops at specific NPCs or with the tailoring talent, she had not even thought about it herself. Her eyes enjoyed the now peaceful landscape. Despite signs of their earlier battle it now seemed calm. Without detection she would not have allowed herself to enjoy hanging around in an area where monsters spawned like that, but thanks to her talent she would be warned of ambushes in advance, enabling her to relax and not worry about getting killed from behind.
Though it still felt a little awkward to her hanging out with a boy without others around. "Yes, I made them myself. That was actually my reason to take tailoring as a talent, I did not want to be stuck with whatever the game would provide..." She confessed. "I know that might be silly when there are others which provide a greater advantage in battle. Um... did you like them?" Janeiro asked carefully, looking over to Angelo. She then took his hand to stand up and they continued walking south towards the village. Their passive out-of-battle health regeneration had kicked in, too, giving them enough HP back to not worry about a single attack, although they still were better off avoiding battles for now.

[Angelo]

Did You Sew Before

Did You Sew Before

"Yeah, they looked very well done. Very.. modern." Angelo laughed. He told her about his experience with shopping on the first floor while walking in a southerly direction. Trying to find the right style of clothing and accessories to wear was hard; the choices were very limited at first. He liked to be fashionable and have a variety of clothes to wear, but he could never find the clothes he had wanted. "Maybe you can be my personal tailor, making most of the clothes I need. I'll compensate you of course with col or whatever you want."

After that, they continued walking in silence, the sound of footsteps and the howling of the wind the only sound able to be heard. Angelo broke the silence with a question. "Did you used to sew before you played Sword Art Online?"

He wondered how long they had to go before the village would be in sight.

[Janeiro]

As the breeze picked up again Janeiro once more had to keep her hair from flying in her face all the time. They went down the hills maneuvering between them to be a little more protected from the wind. "Yeah, I wanted something more modern. Even though this game has a kind of medieval flair I don't think it sticks out too much though. All the players are modern people and I'm not the only one bothered by the limited choice." She smiled as Angelo mentioned she could be his personal tailor. "I wouldn't mind that."
After a while the quest started feeling more like a stroll. Doing it together with another person made it much more pleasant even if they did not talk. Angelo's next question surprised Janeiro a little, even though it really should not have. "Oh no, I just took the talent on a whim. It's also very different here if you design clothes, much more like a character creation tool in videogames. You still do the cutting and sewing yourself but it is automated like when using sword arts so no actual manual dexterity is required. It's almost calming in a way. Now that I have tried it in the game once I return I might try it in real life. Although we will be very busy anyway." She wanted to believe that they would be able to and clinged to that. She noticed something in the distance.
"That over there looks like smoke. Could be from chimneys."

[Angelo]

Did You Sew Before

Did You Sew Before

"Hmm.." He thought about what she said while walking behind her, basket of fish in his hands. In Angelo's case he cooked for himself often during his school life, waking up early in the morning to give enough time for that.

Here in SAO, procuring ingredients to make food with was extremely hard. From the game's way of passing out its rewards and how random its loot system is, Angelo was not able to get a lot of the necessary drops needed to use with his Provisioning talent. Hence why it's still level zero. He never used it yet.

"It could also be from something else. Let's tread carefully, Rio."

[Janeiro]

Janeiro wondered what Angelo was thinking. Instead of continuing the conversation he seemed to have gotten lost in thought. Maybe what Janeiro had said about the tailoring had bored him or exactly the opposite and he tried to think about what outfits he could have. Walking in front of him and acting a little as a scout she could not read his expression either. Only a few times she looked over her shoulder if everything was still alright for him and the fish.
Carefully they approached the source of the smoke... but nothing menacing came into view, instead a small town came into view which they could reach within less than half an hour now. Janeiro looked back at Angelo with a smile.
"Looks like we are almost done. Thank you for carrying it all the way." Getting closer the dreamy village revealed its wrinkles and blemishes. The people were poor, some of them living in deplorable conditions. Janeiro was not even sure if this was a no-combat-zone, she kind of expected to be robbed at every corner. Finally they found a little hut where Gord's friend Drog was supposed to live.
Janeiro knocked. "Coming!" from inside a man's voice immediately croaked. Seconds later the wooden door opened. Before them stood an old man with thin grey hair falling down the sides of his head while the top was already almost bald and a full unkempt beard. Despite his age he seemed to be quite fit, with strong wiry legs and weatherbeaten skin stretching over his muscles. Janeiro got clearly startled since it was obviously her original client standing in front of her, but without a broken leg. "Here... is your fish?" She said, almost asked, confused, showing the pannier Angelo was carrying.

"Ah yes! My friend Gord's been telling me about it. You two must have fine legs, walking allll the way from Port Noir to my humble hut." He said jolly, examining the thighs of Angelo and Janeiro with his eyes. "I wish poor Drog could have gotten such a nice wife like Gord did, but that's not what fate had in mind heh. Wanna come in?"
Janeiro looked at Angelo, shaking her head subtly. "This is the guy I got the quest from in the first place." she whispered. "He seems to be a little... um..." She did not know how to finish the sentence but also thought there was no need to. For now she was just happy they could get rid of the fish.

[Angelo]

A Clone Perhaps?

A Clone Perhaps?

It looked like the caution was unneeded. The smoke came out of a ramshackled chimney as well as from the unseen holes in the thatched roof. He tilted his head slightly whenever Janeiro turned to face him. She didn't say anything however, so he did the same. It was only when they got a lot closer to the town that the silence was broken.

"I'm alive, you're alive. The fish is not alive.." he laughed. "It's better me carrying this than you, for more than one reason."

Angelo thought about flirting, but decided against it, knowing full well that he was ill-suited to carry out such a dangerous mission while carrying a basket of fish. His thoughts were interrupted when they entered the village. This place was soo.. he thought of several words to describe the place: derelict, rickety, run-down, deteriorated, neglected, etc. As soon as the place was built in a hurry, it seemed like maintenance was the last thing on their minds.

The boy picked up his step to be closer to Janeiro's side. She stopped by a house, Angelo halting his advance to stay next to her. A single knock and a person replied back almost instantly. Mr. 'I-Haven't-Showered-In-Several-Days-Because-My-Back-Is-Hurting' opened the door and stared at the two players' legs. Raising one eyebrow, he leaned his ear closer to his friend's mouth, hearing what she had to say.

"You sure?" he replied back in an equally hushed tone, "Didn't we take the fastest route to this village? Despite the giants and all, it wouldn't make sense for this 'Gord' person to get here before us. Even if he did, then he wouldn't have even needed you in the first place. Maybe they are brothers? Twins?"

Angelo leaned away from Janeiro and gave Drog the friendliest, fake smile he could give, the smell of the fish wafting up into his nostrils.