With three of them attacking the bears Mai'lo rushed forward toward the last of the monsters. "Everyone keep back!" He roared. Last thing he needed was for someone to get too close and for him to hit them with his sword.

The bear struck as he approached and he ducked, letting its massive arm shoot past his head. With a loud roar he stood and swung as hard as he could from his left to his right. The gigantic sword sliced right through the bear leaving a line of angry, digitized red across its body.

As the sword exited the other side he let it's weight and momentum carry it around, making him spin on his heel until he had come a full 360 degrees and he swung agin, slicing a second line through the creatures body.

It roared and reared back and he brought the sword around and up, bringing it straight down in a powerful strike that left a third line of red bisecting the creature right down the middle.

Its health bar dropped into the red. Lower, lower. The moment before it hit zero it struck out one last time and with almost no time to react he raised his arm, dragging the sword up so the flat of his weapon was between him and the bear. The blow was solid and his own weapon slammed into his chest, sending him flying a good fifteen feet back through the air to land on his back with a heavy thud.

A moment later the creature explodes into a million tiny shards of digitized light.

"Ouch," he muttered. A glance at the ever present health bar showed his life had dropped by half with just one partially blocked blow. 150/300

"Gods, that was a little too close."

Tailpin finally made it to the peak of the slope. He skidded to a stop and took stock of the situation. Three bear types in view. Two had just finished killing the two bandits they had been chasing and were now headed back toward the group at full health. One had just been destroyed by Mai'lo but he looked too worried for it to have been an easy win. There was one other in view but it was deep into the yellow and was engaged by a man with a halberd who seemed to be able to hold it off for awhile. It looked like the battle would be hard fought with no room for holding back or playing around. Tailpin raised his bow and pulled an arrow, thinking to help finish the wounded bear before the other two returned. But then he remembered something and froze.

He hadn't just seen two monsters when he was mapping. He had seen two 'types' of monster. One large and slow, the bears fit the bill. The other had been sleek and smaller with a tail. That kind of build would be suited to stealth and speed. Tailpin swept his eyes over the other players with a different idea than before. That one girl had to be Iris. She looked like she'd been hit hardest of all. The archer's eyes started behind Iris, scanning for any places of concealment where something could stalk her. He almost missed it, a small movement in the shadow between a boulder and the side of the nearest mesa. It's outline was hard to determine but it vaguely resembled a fox, if black foxes grew to the size of an average golden retriever. It was still stalking. It hadn't crouched to pounce yet but it was probably close enough to catch Iris by surprise if it did.

This was a nasty surprise to have so close to the starting town. The bears are armored and can hold the best early level tanks at bay, keeping them occupied while these fragging giant foxes circle around to finish them off from behind. Kayaba, when this is over, I'm going to kill you if you're alive and piss on your grave if you're dead. Tailpin wasn't sure that there was only one fox. But, this one wasn't going to get its way.

He changed his point of aim and primed his new skill just as the fox crouched, bunching its muscles for a pouncing attack at Iris. He couldn't kill it, or even hurt it much. He had no time for further thought. The prediction line swept across the girl as he swung it to intersect where he thought the beast would be. Then he loosed the arrow. It flew like a drunken shooting star, winding its way through the air in a wide arc that missed another player by only a meter. But, close calls can be forgiven for the sake of results.

The arrow struck its mark, impacting the fox on the side of its head in mid-leap and turning it just enough that it missed Iris entirely and landed in the middle of the battle area with no cover and a brightly glowing patch just behind its left eye. However, its hit points had barely twitched. The skill had high impact force but sacrificed damage to deliver it. Still, as fast and strong as it was likely to be, it wasn't armored like the bears and had lost the element of surprise. Tailpin quickly drew another arrow back and activated his skill again. This time he aimed for the wounded bear that was still fighting the man with the halberd and loosed. Hopefully it would create an opening that could be easily exploited.

Cin raised hie halberd and brought it down in a vertical chop, side stepped another slashing paw, back handed with halberd's spike, and then thrust under the snapping jaws of his opponent. Red lines scored it's hide as it's health faded oh so slowly. Stepping back again he whirls the halberd's head around him setting up for a horizontal hack, with the ax head. The bear obliges him by lunging into it, and shattering into shards of light even before the halberd struck, as an arrow zips over Cin's shoulder into the bear for the final blow. Cin recovers his balance, and takes stock of the situation. That was two of the bears finished, and Tsu and one of the new arrivals seemed to have the third in hand, so he took the time to glance around saw the over sized black fox snarling at the soft girl. Soft she may be, but Cin wasn't about to leave her to deal with the fox alone, certainly not since she'd taken the most damage. He took three large steps, and then lunged leaning forward over his right knee as he stabbed at the fox, but it danced lithely away from the blow, moving towards Iris and preparing to attack again.

Matsuta stepped in and dealt it a severe blow, leaving a red line from shoulder to thigh, as he slashed through it. It yelped and tried to dodge away, but was stabbed by a rapid, but weak, jab from Cin. It bounded back towards the woods, being the first monster to demonstrate a flight mechanic. Determined not to loose his prize Matsuta followed, and found himself entering the forest in time to see the wounded fox stop and look back at him over his shoulder, as another jumped at him from behind, scoring a critical hit. Matsuta whirled, and left several red lines through his target as he struck, reversed his strike, and then rolled it back for a third and final blow to the would be assassin. He'd unlocked a new skill with that flurry of blows, but he payed it no heed, turning back in time to see his original target leaping at him. A hasty thrust send's the monsters health plummeting past the red, as its own attack lands and returns the favor. Shock registers briefly in all the Matsutas... this was it, would they really all die in reality as well? His image shattered into the all to familiar cloud of glittering shards.

Meanwhile Cin takes a moment to drink a health potion and make sure that Iris and Tailpin are okay. Trusting Matsuta to take care of himself long enough for help to arrive should he need it. He watches Tsu and his new battle partner take on the third and final bear, ready to step in should they need the help, but there was still that archer, where ever he, or she, was so Cin wasn't too worried about them.

Hey, you okay? Do you need a pot? I offer Iris one of the three health potions I have left, in case she needs it. Better safe than sorry, right? I glance towards Matsuta, or more accurately what I could make out of his form through the sparse trees and shrubs. A particularly bright flash of light and the sound of more death, brought a smile to my face. The man had beaten the fox and would be rejoining us soon, or so I thought as I turned my focus back to Tsu and the last bear. I glance again at the strange girl next to me, hoping she wouldn't find me to repulsive for lashing out at those npc's despite her wishes to the contrary, but not feeling any regret for my choice. I had hated bullies for longer than I could remember, and finally, I was in a position to do something about the ones around me. I would not bother to waste any compassion on them, they hadn't seen fit extend any to me after all.

@Vocab@Yunagi@LadyTale

Emperor scanned the area as he walked. He'd managed to work his way into an area with monsters that were a little high for his comfort, the wolf had been pretty tough and he figured there were probably worse monsters nearby too. He didn't wanna run into any of those! He took one of his health potions as he walked. Drat he was down to just two now, he certainly didn't want to bite off more than he could chew with only two health potions.

As he gazed around he spotted something, a group of people, not too far off from where he currently was. The group appeared to be fighting off some bears, and doing pretty damn well at it too.

"Wait a sec!" he thought "That's a lot of people, possibly a party... and I do need allies... if they're fighting bears then they gotta be capable!" He began to head towards them, sheathing his scimitar. He ventured close enough to see what was going on properly "Quite a colourful looking bunch..." he muttered as he watched. He wasn't sure if they'd be willing to let him tag along with them but it was worth a try, after all if he didn't ask anyone then he'd have to solo and that is certainly not Emperor's style.

Ken clenched his teeth and gulped back fear as a blade with a diameter wider than his head came flying at him. Luckily, it stopped on a dime, just a mere few centimeters away from his face. He could see his own reflection in the spotless steel, accompanied by the iconic luster pristine swords were known for. ”Holy crap! How is that a starter weapon?! Did this guy get the game a few days early?” Although he wasn’t one to talk when it came to unique weapons, after all, he got a two-handed sword that utilizes the rapier skillset right off the bat. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as the burly player lowered the weapon, letting Visionary play another day. He felt like thanking the swordsman for letting him off the hook. Yet that was put on a hold when his, and unsurprisingly, everybody else’s ears picked up the rustling of greenery nearby.

And then suddenly: BEARS

The beasts didn’t have the tact to hide themselves like his former assailants. They didn’t need to. They had enough prowess to shift their weight openly and freely around this area. Visionary tightened his grip on the estoc’s hilt, albeit his hands were shaking at this point, he remained resolute and took on a firm stance. Already fights as players and mobs raised blade against claw. The man who had nearly sliced his head into two was already barreling his way into the fray, dragging that oversized sword like it was made out of paper mache. ”Hope everybody in the game isn’t as intimidating as him.” Ken watched as the player dispatched one of the beasts, until the sound of impending doom and a shadow cast over him drew his attention. One of the attackers had singled him out, and was only standing a few feet away. Ken could clearly grasp all of its minute details which only added more to the scare factor.

The real thing was nothing like the plushies his seven year old sister adored so much. When- if he got out of this death game, he would tell the girl about how actual bears were much scarier than their sewn counterparts. And how wolves were truly quadrupedal, unlike the toys that sold them sitting flatly on two legs. He would make a whole entire harangue about his adventures and close calls in Aincrad. It was time to begin said adventure.

He wasn’t going to die here.

As the bear charged him, Ken brought back the estoc, leveling it with his soldiers for a preemptive strike. This was also his way of testing out the AI algorithm, which seemed to be pretty advanced, since the bear bolstered its defense in preparation for a strike. It crossed its hairy arms over its chest and stuck out its neck. A frontal assault with a bite attack seemed to have been its choice. But it was all a feint, as when the bear’s jaws came down upon each other, it only felt the deriding sense of thin air. Ken slid under the bear’s figure, keeping the estoc close as he suddenly went into a backflip as soon as he passed the beast’s legs. He grabbed on tight to the sword and angled his elbows.

The blade was suddenly engulfed in a bright onyx light, the sign of a sword skill activating. As soon as the motion was complete, the estoc and Ken flew forward at the bear’s back. OBLIQUE. It was a basic rapier skill, that could only be delineated from Linear by its lesser range, but had higher power to it since it dragged along the user’s body as well. The weapon’s tip sunk into the bear’s flank, displaying an eruption of light as the skill did its damage. The bear was sent back a few feet, with its health now in the red, but it sluggishly got to its feet and prepared for another attempt. Ken took the chance to toss a health potion at the player using the oversized sword. It was one of the few he got from the starter kit, at this point at the game they were priceless, but he wasn’t fond of seeing people in their last moments. ”Here, catch! Ken then changed his attention to the few others who were not yet consumed by combat, ”Could use some help over here! This one’s almost down, but I think a few more are on the way!” They had to make short work of the remaining mobs, before more were attracted. The boy placed his hand on the side of his blade and held it up to block the bear’s attack. He gritted his teeth at the overwhelming strength of the mob.

Well that was a shock. Tailpin stood still for a long moment while staring at a small screen that had appeared in front of him. He got the final blow rewards for that bear. That was luck, not power. There was an item though, Bear Sinew Bow. He accepted the item and equipped it quickly when he noticed that it had more than three times the power of his current bow. But, he shouldn't have been able to equip it. It had a minimum level of two. He was still level one, wasn't he? Nope. On closer examination he saw that he had indeed gone up to level two. With the added damage bonus from this new bow and the stats from his new level he might actually be able to do something significant now.

That was the thought that immediately preceded him noticing that one of the fighters was running into a wooded area in pursuit of the fox. No, he can't be that reckless. It's a monster. They don't fear for their lives. They just follow algorithms. If it was running into the forest then there was an aggressive reason behind it. It had to be a trap! But, that side of the battle was outside his range. I can't strike that... He moved his new bow into line and saw the indicator in his vision. It had longer range too. I can almost reach! But, this spot has outlasted it purpose. The main battle area was almost completely clear of beasts and there were foxes to hunt.

Tailpin jumped and slid down the slope's steeper side toward the battle, running straight into the middle of everything as soon as he hit the ground. He had no time to waste. He raised his bow. His eyes snapped to brilliant green as he used his spot skill, the most advanced skill he had at this point. There was that player and there was that... no... there were two foxes! He pulled the arrow back and primed his Impact Sidewinder. Then both the player and one of the foxes exploded into shards that glittered under the shade of the trees.

Tailpin's hands shook. His pupils dilated. He tracked the remaining fox with his bow, dragging the prediction line across the forest like a searchlight as the fox swiftly ran through underbrush trying to evade detection. It was trying to set up another ambush. No you don't. His gut felt heavy and sick. His thoughts felt sharp and hard.

"You die!" He shouted without realizing it as he loosed the shot.

It swept through the battle and vanished into the trees. It hit hard, striking the fox in the eye and landing a critical hit. Tailpin could see his target thanks to his spot skill, without it he couldn't have seen it through the shadows. He couldn't see what exactly happened but the fox flew away from him as a result of the impact before suddenly stopping. It lost more hit points from the impact. It was already in the yellow. That's right, Impact Sidewinder cuts damage by 75% in exchange for doubling the impact force. He pulled the next arrow back. There would be no skills this time. It was a straight draw and he loosed immediately. Before the arrow even struck the staggering fox another arrow was being drawn. This monster would kill no one else. He loosed again. The first arrow struck, lodging behind the fox's near side foreleg. It's hit points dropped into the red. Was it actually weak to arrows? The second arrow struck near the center of mass. The fox finally died, shattering into shards.

"I didn't really know you. But there's the first part of your vengeance. The rest will be carved into Kayaba's corpse." Tailpin's eyes lost their green glow as he spoke and he glanced around at all of the people who had been entangled in this monster trap set by that wretch, Kayaba. That was the first person that he had seen die in this world. He swallowed hard. Even though none of the other players were in real danger of death any longer he still felt sick and heavy. He blinked a few times and then spoke up loudly enough for everyone to hear, not really knowing who to speak to. "Whoever went into those trees was ambushed by two giant foxes. The foxes are dead. But, the player... didn't make it."

"Hey, thanks." Mai'lo caught the potion out of the air and downed it as fast as he could and jumped to his feet as his health bar filled up entirely.

The kid who threw him the potion blocked a bears strike with a slim two handed sword and he grinned, rushing forward to deliver another vertical strike to the extended limb. Half the bears arm flew away only to shatter in the air and he leaped back, dragging his sword back and our of the way with him as the bears health bar dropped into the red.

"Switch," he yelled. "All you buddy."

Sapphira simply watched as Matsuta vanished, for some reason, though, the sight of somebody dying didn't even made her flinch. But she pulled out her shield and spear and rushed towards two players fighting a bear. Just as the bear moved into a hard swipe, Sapphira slipped in between the bear and the player being attacked. She didn't know him, but that didn't matter. The heavy weight of the bear crashed into her shield and, at the same time, into the point of her spear that got launched into the bear's torso.

"Now! Behead it or something!", the fox-girl called out giving off a pretty animalistic growl when the bear impacted on her giant shield.

Emperor saw it, the shattering of another player. The first player death he had witnessed, it chilled him to his core and he stood there in shock for a few moments. That person was now dead for real, this could happen to anyone, one wrong move and it's all over. He shook his head, not letting his shock paralyze him any longer before drawing his scimitar and heading towards the group of remaining players. "Need a hand?" he called out as he approached.

Someone... died? Kip's eyes hardened. You shall be avenged. "I swear it." She finished softly, under her breath. "On my life, I swear it." Taking a fresh grip on her sword, she charged the nearest monster. Between its injuries and her fury, it didn't stand a chance.

TsuMeTai growled under his breath. A death, already... this boded ill for their chances of survival. Equipping his shield, he shifted his sword to a one-handed grip and went after a random beast.

By the time the last of the monsters had died Mai'lo sat heavily on the ground, his pristine sword laying on the grass next to him. For some reason it felt wrong that there should be no evidence of the battle they just went through. No blood stained his clothes or his blade. No bodies remained on the ground.

Even Matsuta. Crazy as he might have been, had left no sign that he ever existed.

"You know what the difference is between humans and animals?" He asked of no one in particular. "WE BURY OUR DEAD!" He suddenly screamed at the empty digital sky above. "It's this what happens when we die in here? We just vanish? Vanish, with nothing left behind to show that we were even here to begin with?"

"If we're alone when we die that's it. No one will ever know. There won't be a body to discover. Our friends could think we just abandoned them. Took off and left them. They could hate us. And there would be nothing to tell them otherwise."

The more he thought about it the more it bothered him. He swiped open the menu and selected several items from his inventory. Some rope and an animal hide and a jar with a dye in it.

He quickly fashioned a rough sign, wiring on the hide with the dye.

On this spot we lost a friend. Matsuta was the only name we knew him by. We will not forget.

Grabbing his sword he stood and slammed it point first into the ground burying a good foot of the blade, then he hung the sign from the pommel.

"It won't last for long, but nothing lasts forever. That's better than nothing."

Without another word Mai'lo turned and continued walking down the road, scabbard empty on his broad back.

A blur of cerulean haze flew before him. It flashed and shimmered for only a second until it sped its way into the bear’s chest. The fox-eared girl moved faster than he would have expected, even though she bared a shield and spear, she was extremely nimble. That made two people with physiques superceded by their capabilities. A testosterone filled swordsman and a fox-girl. Quite the individuals indeed. Ken came back to reality at the girl’s callout, tightening his grip on the estoc as he nodded, ”Got’cha. Switch.” He didn’t sound overly enthusiastic about charging the beast. He was never exactly one to show emotions at every petty encounter, albeit the fact that this was a matter of life and death, his nonchalance and stoic personality still had a grasp on him.

The player angled the sword and charged at the beast, the tip of his blade honing in on its target. The bear let out a growl and swiped down on his comparably miniscule figure, Ken only managed to sidestep its claws by a hair. He remained firm and quickly reacquired his target. Then, just like that, the blade sunk into his enemy’s neck like butter. The beast jittered for a few moments before bursting into the generic bits of light. He inhaled deeply, on the verge of leveling up yet quite not there just yet. ”Thanks… you two.”

The rest of the mobs were cleaned up just in the nick of time. But the battle had not gone without any losses. A player, still a boy really, by the name of Matsuta had passed in the process. Ken had only gotten a glimpse of the guy. Everybody had a solemn look on their face, even he did, even though he didn’t know the deceased in the slightest. Reality was quite the witch. The man who he first met, Mai’lo, quickly fashioned a makeshift plaque in honor of the fallen swordsman.

Its durability probably wasn’t that high, but it’s the thought that counts. Ken only made a slight bow in respect, then glanced back at the fox-girl who had come to his aid, ”We should probably get a move on. Next town is just up this road. Would be a good time to stock up on consumables and mend our weapons.” The hazel-eyed swordsman didn’t seem to spend that much time mourning. It was pointless to wallow now, for there was surely much more to come. Matsuta’s demise was just a prelude to the countless deaths that were about to ensue. A sigh escaped his lips as he stared off towards the horizon, obstructed by sporadically placed floating islands. Kayaba must’ve had a double-major in psychology, ‘cause he surely knew how to tug at people’s heartstrings. Ken sheathed his blade and glanced back at the girl with fox ears, ”Oh yeah, name’s Visionary… Mind introducing me to the lot over there? I mean, erm, sorry, what’s your name too?”

Tailpin had already done what he would do for the lost player. He saw that others were taking it in different ways ranging from vows to the building of a memorial. But, in the end, this world had been created by Kayaba. If they couldn't get free of the rules of this world's god and get to a place where they could kill him then none of this would matter or be remembered.

"Life first, introductions later, people." Tailpin's voice was harsh and loud in his own ears. "We don't want to be here when those monsters respawn."

He knew that there wasn't even a single group here yet, nevermind a leader. But, someone had to get them to remember the present moment. They didn't know the respawn times for those monsters and they had wounded people and damaged weapons to take care of. It would be all to easy to waste time here and end up caught in another battle that might cost another life.

He turned and followed Mai'lo. He wasn't so weak as before but he had still not been strong enough. If he had spent that time killing monsters he would have had the stats to stop that boy from dying. But, if he had chosen that path then he wouldn't have known about the monsters and the girl would probably have died instead. Could he save anyone? Would it always come down to a question of merely who is going to die? These were the thoughts that occupied his mind while his eyes continued to scan both sides of the road for any threats. There would be time later for the exchange of names and formation of parties.

He also planned to come back here later. He would kill those foxes again and again. Level five monsters that were weak to arrows could help him get strong enough to prevent future tragedies. He just needed to be able to hold the bears off as well. That would be the hard part.

"... he's got a point." Kip agreed reluctantly. "Let's go." She sheathed her sword and followed Tailpin and Mai'lo towards the town, plotting in her mind how she would get her vengeance. Be it on the monsters, or on Kayaba himself, she wanted to be sure of what she would do.

TsuMeTai followed as well, keeping his weapon in his hand. He decided then and there that he would be the heavy hitter, the powerful one. First chance he got, he would switch his sword out for a better weapon. A scythe. The weapon of Death, for I will be Death to the monsters.

After nodding her reply back to Vis, Sapphira turned and marched back towards her cart being calmness personified. "Sapphira.", she called back. "Gonna go back to look after my wares. I'll be right back in just a few minutes."

And right as she said so, she caught up with the rest of the group, now, though in her 'out-of-combat personality which was a lot more upbeat and cuter than her stoic, cold and cool combat one was. Nevertheless it seemed strange that Matsuta's death didn't seem to affect her the slightest although he had been the first player she had made contact with since the "catastrophe".
"I bet I can get a good profit out of all this!", she cried out excitedly as she had added a few raw materials she had found during the short trip.

Emperor watched as the group finished up their bear killings and as some of them began to continue on and others caught up to them he figured he must not have been heard. "Well guess i'd best get a bit closer, see if i can get their attention." he thought to himself. He still wasn't sure exactly how they'd react to some random guy running up to them but heck, if he didn't try then he wouldn't get anywhere anyway. At the very least they might let him tag along till they all got somewhere a bit safer. He then increased his walk to a quick jog to catch up to the group before they ventured off.

As he got closer he could see their details more, they wielded quite an array of weapons; swords of varying sized, polearms, bows and shields were all spread amongst the group. He noticed too their clothing and other unique features, a mixture of colours and armour adorned their bodies one girl had a tricorn and another had a... a set of fox ears? And a tail? Emperor couldn't help but gawk a little at them, were they some form of cosmetic item? Or perhaps some form of quest side effect or reward. He shook his head a little, regaining his composure before calling out loudly to the group again as the distance between them all shortened "Hey wait up a sec!"

"Hey, wait up a sec!"

Mai'lo stopped as a new voice intruded on his awareness and he realized that he'd been walking on autopilot. Luckily the group appeared to have kept pace and the gates of their destination city lay just ahead down a short hill and across a field.

Turning he saw the new player running up to them and vaguely remembered seeing the guy as they were wrapping up their earlier battle. In his grief he had completely forgotten to talk to the man though.

"Sorry," he said as the kid came to a stop next to him. "I remember seeing you at the battle but I forgot to introduce us." He continued walking and introduced the rest of the group. "This guy's new to us too," he added with a gesture to Visionary.

"As far as I'm concerned you're both welcome to travel with us, but I think it's a group decision. Why don't we get inside somewhere safer than standing out here and we can all talk it over?"

Sort of ignoring the new companion to their slowly confusing growing bunch Sapphira headed onwards into the town hollering back to the companions.
"I'm gonna go off sell some of this stuff! See you at the inn!"
Subsequently she took off with her cart to the market. Not a lot of players were out and about, she noticed. Probably they either moved past this town or stayed in the Town of Beginnings for the night.
After selling most of her stuff to local NPC vendors, she noticed a player sulking about, hood covering the head.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed, it was a girl, a cute girl, too, with lovely dishevelled orange hair mostly hidden beneath that hood of hers.
Somehow, and Sapphira didn't know how, she felt that the girl was sad. Not a normal sad, no, a depressed, dejected, almost suicidal kind of sad.
'This won't do!', she thought. Such a cute girl shouldn't be that sad.

"Hey!" Sapphira poked the girl. "What's going on? Why're you sad?" Her fox ears flicked unconsciously. So annoying!