[IC] Living in Aincrad: a SAO RP

[Little_ninja]

Umichi's health was going down, not greatly, but slowly, as the Large Nepent was attacking head on."Tsk" he went, as Yumi pointed out Hina's health. "If we take on more ... they will all attack Light, he is paralyzed and pulls the Large Nepents to him ... " he called out. Stay calm and analyze. he thought. If I try to dodge attacks, like my normal style Light will take a beating. This Nepent is almost dead, ... We have three members ... Suki ... should be able to dodge them fine, but taking a hit would be bad on her. Can she carry Light? I doubt it .... As his thought continued, the Large Nepent lifted itself from his blade, getting ready to attack. Umichi lunged, finishing it off.

"Yumi, think you can carry Light out? I don't know if Suki can carry him, but you should be able to. If we pull them at once with him around, they will attack him. If you can take him away, I'll try to deal with three while Suki deals with the other one." His voice was a little hesitant, but this was what they needed to do. The three possibilities, leave Hina to die and complete the party quest. Let Light be endangered by the aggro and complete the quest but possibly fail the party quest, or get Light the hell away. There was nothing in the quest about taking the other ally to a town or anything to fail. Wait a second ... He quickly flicked through the menu grabbing a teleportation crystal. "Teleport Light to Horunka" He used his crystal. Seeing Light teleport. Four Large Nepents left, Light was safe. Things would work.

"Light is safe now, he should be in the village, keep an eye on his health bar just in case, and teleport if it gets low or yours gets low. Otherwise we go with the first plan, I'll take two, you both take one. Be careful Yumi, Suki." he commanded, finally calming himself down. He needed to remain composed, he was the leader. Just because things didn't go as planned, he started to panic. Dashing forward, "Suki take the center one, Yumi take the one on the right, I'll take the left two." Charging a Sonic Leap he sliced through the two on the left, pulling them away from Hina. Her health was dwindling, but she would be fine since the others will take the last two. Since he landed a critical, with a sword skill, he took down 20% of their health. 5 more hits then huh ... I gotta hurry this up. He jumped back, pulling them away a bit more.

The two Large Nepents had started to charge. A gap was between the two. Umichi took this to his advantage, slipping through, slicing the one on his right once, left once and then a big slice behind him to hit both. But he didn't notice there was a Little Nepent that was nearby, that had tackled at him, knocking him off a bit. It did minor damage. He sliced it, 1 hitting it. One of the Nepents were charging at him, the other ... just standing there. He looked at its roots .... they were in the ground. SHIT! he thought, jumping to his feet, and dive rolling. Where he was just a moment ago, roots came up, and the other Nepent was charging into it. That could of been very bad. He needed to finish this, three strikes each. Passing by the one on the side as he dashed, he got two slices off, he was quick. His target was the rooted one. Slicing it across and through, turning back, lunging and then in a swift motion, decapitating some leaves from the top. It was dead. One more for him, and he would take it down at ease. His health was low green. The Nepent predictably charged at him again. He walked towards it. In an instant, it had passed him, but it was sliced in half. It was dead, while Umichi just walked on through. The slice was quick. Light's health was healthy still, but still had a paralysis symbol. He turned to check up on Yumi and Suki.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki tried to keep an eye on everyone's health, but couldn't do anything about it at the moment, as she continued to fight, trying to defend herself, and Light. When he asked said about carrying Light, Suki grimaced. She hadn't put much into her strength yet, but knew she should. She knew she wouldn't be able to carrying him by herself. She watched, placing herself in a defense position as Umichi approached Light, teleporting him to the town. That was a smart idea she thought.

She was being careful. "it will be okay" She said softly to herself. nodding when Umichi said to take the center one, which she did, using Vertical Arc, and then some slashes, to continue to try and take it down. She dodged a lot of attacks, Using her speed and small stature to her advantage. She had taken it down with a barrage of attacks. She steped back, just in time to see Umichi deal with the last Nepent. She checked his health and Yumi's, as well as Light. "What drops did you get?" She asked, as she opened her own inventory, checking it out.

Nepent Sap, Nepent Leaf, "I need an item called Nepent...well, Nepent anything, to help cure Light" She said, looking to the other two, even as she took out her teleport crystal to head back to where Light was, so she could finish off the quest. "Do either of you have it? Otherwise, we're going to be stuck with this quest until we find it" She said, looking to them both.

She was pleased to see Umichi's health was still green, made her relieved, because she didn't want to have to shove a health potion down his throat, and her own was still healthy at least. She didn't know about Yumi's, but waited for them both to reply and hoping that one had the last Nepent item

[El_Tigre]

Yumi nodded confidently as Umichi explained the plan, knowing that Light was safe back in town was a weight off her shoulders. As Suki and Umichi initiated Yumi was close behind. She charged in to her target, delaying her spear as it charged her next attack. As she closed the distance between her and her target she released a quick three strike to the center of its mass. The second hit a critical. 20% health down. The Nepent retaliated with a cross slash, using the staff of her spear to block the attack it only lessened the damn. The force pushed her back a bit, her feet sliding back across the ground. She looked at her health bar. 17% down, Avoiding attacks would need to be her primary defense.

Yumi continued the fight, striking out a few times before jumping back out of range of the Nepents attacks, diving back in with a power attack and a few regular stabs. It was over soon and her health was near the middle of its bar. She sighed as she spun her spear onto her back and rejoined the two of them. She looked through her inventory as asked, looking for anything with the word Nepent in it. Nothing. "Sorry Suki, I didn't get any drops."

[Little_ninja]

Umichi saw the two finishing their targets, as he finished his. Checking his inventory, "No, sorry Suki." he said. Damn it, is there another monster to get the ingredient from? he thought, slightly shaking his head. "I will continue the quest for now, and it will probably be one of the monsters we find along the way to get the drop. Don't worry, we will get it, and everything will be fine." He said, trying to assure them, and keep the situation calm.

Approaching Hina, things seemed ok. "Are you okay?" he asked the NPC girl, she was young, and her health was about just over 20%. "We're here to help" he said, stepping in close to her. Suddenly, appearing from above was a Large Nepent. What the!? was all he could think. It seemed to have materialised not even a meter above his and Hina's head. A glitch? The monsters don't just appear right? And not just on top of people like this. he thought, pushing Hina out of the way. He had to be quick. The Nepent had from the point of materialisation, to falling to the ground, was less than half a second. The other two had no time to react at all. If they had been there, they would of been crushed immediately. A NPC Harrassment box came up. Not the time! he thought. Hina was safe, due to his push. He had dived forward, pushing her out of the way. While in mid air though, the Large Nepent landed, crushing his feet.

Pain shot through his legs. It was intense. He didn't let it out though. WHAT THE FUCK!? Did a glitch happen to the pain levels? Did they turn on or something!? His legs were crushed, the pain immense. His health hit critical quickly. Quickly, with his blade, cutting at the Nepent's roots, he had made some room, and used his body to roll away. His legs wouldn't move. Using a health potion, his health recovered, but since his legs were crushed, he couldn't stand. He needed a health crystal. That fixed ailments and status effects in most cases.This Large Nepent had a flower on it's head. It was larger than the ones before, and a lot tougher. The crushing had caused him to suffer a huge 40% critical, as well as damage over time, while it was on top. Hina was safe still, the Nepent went to charge at Umichi. He wouldn't be able to get out of the way. "Yumi! SWITCH!" He called out. All he could do was sit there, since his legs couldn't move. His legs actually appeared deformed. "Careful, I think the pain levels are on at the moment." he warned. "I'll do my best to help at the back with my knives, you two take it down. Be extremely careful. If someone has a health crystal, give it to me please." he commanded while begging at the end.

An announcement appeared overhead, for all of Aincrad to hear. "A glitch has occurred. The pain levels have been turned on. We will fix this within the next 5 minutes. We wish to warn you all to be careful." Great, tell us when it happens, and my legs get crushed Umichi thought. It was 13:45 at that point in time.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki grimaced and sighed, more fighting when they had just barely survived. She watched as Umichi approached the NPC girl, asking if she was okay. She yelled out as the Large Nepent appeared above Umichi and Hana. "Umichi!" She shouted, seeing that it would fall on their heads. She began to run, using her speed stats to aid her, watching as he pushed Hina out the way, and tried to dodge the Nepent himself. She cried out, seeing it land on his legs. She flinched, imaging how much that would hurt in real life. She ran faster, reaching his side as he yelled out to Yumi.

Again with trying to keep her safe. She thought it was sweet, but she also knew that she could be beneficence to this. She winced when he said to be careful, because the pain levels appeared increased. She tried not to imagine just how much pain he was in. If the health potion didn't help, it meant he needed something better to fix him.

She rose her blade, slipping into a basic fighting stance, as he asked for a health crystal "I don't know if I have one" She said in a sorry tone, unsure of what she had left in her inventory, as she defended against the Large Nepent. She dodged to the side, leaping into the air, and bringing her blade down, slashing and stabbing as she landed on her feet, dodging away once more, darting in, then darting back as she tried to attack and get the Nepent's health down.

As she saw a break, she quickly opened her inventory, trusting to Yumi to take charge for a minute, as she flicked through, finding a health crystal. Before she could get it out, she had to defend against an attack, letting herself fall and roll back onto her feet. Health crystal forgotten, and was back to fighting and defending against the Large Nepent.

[El_Tigre]

She gasped in shock as the sudden appearance of an extremely large Nepent that rocketed down towards Umichi and Hina. Yumi dashed forward with Suki. She was glad to see Umichi was safe, in truth she cared little for the safety of the NPC. She knew it was important for the quest but losing their life wasn't worth a quest. She watched as Suki took charge and defended herself against the powerful Nepent. A little surprised at how strong Suki really was, she was actually rather impressed. But she was getting over whelmed and needed back up.

Quickly Yumi jumped in between Suki and the Nepent, parrying an attack and shoving the creature back a bit. "Suki! Go aid Umichi! I will defend while you both recover." She instructed before striking into its side a few times to initiate aggro. Then diving out to the right and dashing a bit away, leading the Nepent away from the group. Turning around she was just in time to bring up her spear to block a downward attack, the pressure feeling as if her arms were about to snap. It hardly did anything to reduce the damage, bringing her down to 23% from 48% health. She couldn't block another attack without taking a health potion. Her heart began to race as she noticed in the corner of her vision her health bar blinking yellow.

She shoved the nepent off again and striked a few more times before dodging another attack barely, the roots barely grazing across her abdomen and bringing her down to 9%. Her health now blinking red. She rolled to her feet and began to run back towards the group, holding her stomach with her left hand at is ached painfully from the grazing strike. "I need help! It is stronger than I can handle!" She announced sadly, wishing she could do more. The Nepent was still at 70% health after both Suki and Yumi's attacks. They needed Umichi.

[Little_ninja]

Umichi could see there was trouble. Yumi and Suki weren't high enough for this yet. Seeing Suki manage to grab a health crystal out, she had to defend an attack, dropping it, too far for Umichi to reach. Suki's health was pretty low, but still in the yellow. Yumi had taken the aggro of the Large Nepent with a flower on it's head. Suki should be fine from attacks for now. He went to grab his throwing knives to throw, when he saw Yumi's health blinking red. Oh no! he started to panic. Hoping it would work, he got a health potion out from his inventory and attempted to activate Single Shot. It was activating. He aimed it at Yumi's mouth. "Yumi!" he called out, throwing it out. Flying straight ahead, it went and managed to reach her lips. Her health was going up.

"Suki, the crystal!" he called out, pointing to where it had fallen. "Yumi, call out switch when I recover, it will slow it's movement for a moment, that should be enough for me to take the front. You guys attack from the back. Aim high, that flower, I think it's a weak point." He called out. Still, the Nepent was at 70% of it's health. Umichi's first hit was about 7%, when he went to get his legs out, the other two have been flurrying it with quite a few blows. The other two did not have the damage, the speed or the defense it seemed to take it down. He thought Yumi might of had a higher defense from her choice of metal armor.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki let Yumi jump in between her and the Nepent, stepping back. Suki quickly went to find the health crystal, scooping it up and instead of risking throwing it to him, she sprinted to his side, handing it over, before moving towards Yumi, just as Umichi threw the potion to her.

Suki glanced to her health, but knew she had to do something. She ducked under a root as she ran in front of Yumi, blocking an attack to her, and spinning aside, keeping an eye on her health. She ducked, spun and slashed, stepping back once Yumi's health was restored and quickly searching her inventory for a health potion for herself, chugging it down. "Together, all three of us, it will confuse it hopefully" She said, looking to Yumi, and Umichi, hoping the crystal would work.

She went back to his side. Suki had a high pain threshold, and the games glitch wasn't effecting her much from the attacks she had received from the Nepent. After taking the health potion, her health was restored, so she was ready to attack again. "Plus, if we all attack at the same time, we do more damage" She said, hoping she sounded like she knew what she was doing.

[Little_ninja]

With Suki by his side, using a crystal to heal him, Umichi could feel his legs properly again, they were starting to look like legs again, compared to before. Watching Suki head off first. Umichi jumped up. Yep, That's more like it. he thought, holding out his Anneal Blade. Watching Suki come back to recover from the Nepent's attack. He looked up. Another announcement had been made. It had been only three minutes, but it was a grueling three minutes.

Announcement said
We apologize for the inconvenience. The glitch has been fixed as of now, 13:48.

It was time for him to take action. Suki told him they should attack together. He patted Suki while she was by his side. "Did you not listen to me before? I said I'll take the front you two take the rear. Things will be fine now." he smiled, dashing in front of Yumi, deflecting the Large Nepent that had a flower unlike the others. It was charging head on for Yumi. Standing in-front of Yumi, his blade had guided it slightly, redirecting all of it's momentum. Only chipping his health slightly. He cracked his neck. "Surround it, and take the back, from what I've seen it won't charge again so quick!" he ordered, turning around, facing the Large Nepent that had turned back to start attacking him with it's roots.

Deflecting a root, he closed in, activating a sword skill Vertical Arc, executing some damage. Right after finishing the V strike of the sword skill, he spun, slicing the roots and the main body all at once, dealing more damage than a normal slice, dealing a solid 25% of it's health. Umichi felt like the Nepent was about to attack, he ran to it, and kick it, to jump off the main body and back flip away. He stood there, waiting for the next attack.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki poked her tongue out at Umichi when he asked if she hadn't listened before, "Sorry, I was a bit distracted by the fact you were crushed by a Nepent" She said, following after him, moving to the side just behind him. "Things were always fine" She said with amusement, "Sure, Yumi nearly died, you were crushed..."

She launched into an attack at the same time, aiming for the back, using horizontal. She moved quickly, pleased she had started to focus on her speed, and flexibility in the game, because it enabled her to move quickly, dodge, and her stature made it easy to not get hit, also enabling her to deflect any blows. it worked well with large monsters at least, with smaller members it was harder. She waited until she could get a better attack, and used vertical Arc, stumbling back, to check its health, and her own. Her health was still good, and she was happy to see the Large Nepents health depleting as they attacked.

She watched it for the next attack, slashing, stabbing and attacking the Nepent herself when she could. She went to chop at its roots, hoping to remove them if that was possible. She looked to Umichi and Yumi, making sure they were both okay.

[Little_ninja]

Yumi
The health potion flew into Yumi's mouth. What a potion? Flying into my mouth? How? she is temporarily shocked. After looking in the direction the potion flew from, she noticed it came from Umichi. So you can do that with health potions too? Use that sword skill?[i] it was interesting to see. "Thanks!" she called out. Seeing Suki go to his side, she knew it was almost time to switch. "Switch!" She called out seeing Umichi dash in front of her. The Large Nepent was charging into them, she didn't have time to dodge, so she braced herself, however, she saw Umichi had deflected it ever so slightly. Worried about his health, she checked. She was impressed, he had hardly lost any health. The deflection must of been really good. Yumi saw him crack his neck, "Trying to look cool?" She commented.

He then began to order them. She did as commanded, circling around the back of the Large Nepent. Seeing Umichi dive in, attacking and jumping out dealing more than half the damage that Suki and Yumi did combined in such a quick time. [i]How many levels ahead is he? she thought, getting a little suspicious. Not only that, his speed was incredible, the number of attacks he got in. I won't lose to you she grinned to herself, attacking head strong into the back of the Large Nepent, ducking under roots and stabbing it multiple times. It's health was slowly going down from her attacks. She jumped back, to dodge some attacks, taking a few scratches. Her health was still healthy though, losing about 10% of her health only.

---

Umichi

The Large Nepent's health bar was dwindling slowly with the flurry of attacks from the other two, as Umichi was preparing for the next attack to come out. The Large Nepent had started to use it's roots to whip at Umichi. He couldn't deflect these, nor would blocking them do much for him. So he ran straight in, sliding and jumping under and over the roots. His blade ran along the roots. It didn't do much damage, but it was something, while he ran for the main body. It's health was barely just under 35% from his blade running along the roots and everyone else's attacks. Time to finish this. he thought. He got ready to activate a sword skill, but while he was preparing it, he sliced it across, sliced up, and then down, in quick succession, finally, the sword skill Horizontal Arc. It let him redirect the blade quicker than if he tried to do it himself. The < shaped slice, with his previous three cuts, finished off the Large Nepent with a flower. Finally He thought. His inventory came up with the last piece for the antidote, Large Nepent's Flower.

"Here" he said, trading the flower to Suki. "You should teleport to town first, and get the medicine to Light. I'll walk, you can't teleport NPCs." He said called out. "Yumi, you get to decide if you teleport or walk. I will be fine if I am by myself though. This forest is mostly made of Little Nepents anyway, and I can 1HKO them, while the Frenzied Boars and Dire Wolves are weaker than the Nepents anyway." He went over to Hina, she thanked him, and said she will follow him to safety. "Alright, let's head off to your father." He replied to her, starting to head off, he then looked over his shoulder to see if Suki was going to follow or teleport and likewise for Yumi.

[El_Tigre]

As the Large Nepents health finally reached zero and burst into bright pixels. She sighed, letting her arms slack in exhaustion and dropping the spear to clatter on the ground, falling down onto her rump in turn. She leaned over to her left side, holding herself up with her hand on the ground and her legs swooped out to the right. Like so. She looked down at the pop up that arrived after the fight. Apparently she had leveled. She wondered how good the group quest exp would be once Light was healed and the quest completed. She then exited out of the pop up screen. She took some time as Umichi gave the last ingredient to Suki and explained the plan moving on ward. As Umichi continued the quest Yumi pushed herself back to her feet, leaning down to pick up her spear. Spinning it onto her back and secured safely. She turned and hurried to catch up to Umichi with a confident grin. "I am walking!" She declared confidently.

"Apparently I am pretty far behind. I could use the training and the exp. Or were you wanting to horde it all to yourself?" She teased playfully, sticking her tongue out at him. Seeing a group of three dire wolves off in the distance she took off towards it. "I got this one!" She declared, giggling as she tore free her spear and charged her Flurry Strike skill. As she closed the distance to the group of Dire Wolves she unleashed the skill, tearing into the group and taking them all down the 30% health. They were much easier than when she was only level 1. Bouncing away from a couple attacks and blocking the third. With three powerful strikes the three Dire Wolves howled and exploded into a mist of pixels. She took the few few basic items, unaware she picked up a rare item that starts a quest. She hurried back to Umichi. "Tada! Easy!" She boast playfully.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki was close to leveling, thanks to the nepents they had fought earlier, and this one, as well as her morning training seasons. She had picked up some col, which was thankful. She accepted the Nepent Flower, putting it in her inventory. She would mix up the ingrediants when she was by Light. She chased after Umichi and Yumi, not wanting to leave them, just in case something went wrong. If she went back to town, she would be continual distracted until she had no choice but to hunt them down again.

She watched as Yumi attacked some monsters, falling into place besides Umichi and the NPC girl. "Light will be fine" She said, "He's in a safe zone. Besides, you guys might need me" She smiled as Yumi returned, "Bravo" She said, looking about them, but there didn't appear to be many threatening monsters around at the moment. As they slowly made their way back, Suki took advantage of any monster they came across to fight and gain experience. Just on the outside of the town's safe zone, she killed a few frenzy boar, ad successfully level up to level four. She was proud of herself. She noticed that there were a few other players out and about, but knew a whole lot more were still coming to terms with being trapped in the game. The wake up morning message had probably scared a few people. For a brief moment, Suki wondered if that was the point.

Were they meant to win this game, or were they all meant to die? She pushed those thoughts away, disturbed. Once they were in town, she went off to find Light, letting Umichi go and finish his quest since it seemed it had only been for him, and she went to finish the sick companion quest for them. She quickly figured out how to mix the potion together, and helped Light to drink it down, before suggesting he go and sleep. She received a congratulations

Announcement said Congratulations! The sick companion quest has been completed. All members receive 250 experience, 250 col.

and then in quick succession, Suki received another congratulations

Announcement said Congratulations, you can now make medicines with the proper ingredients. You have also gained experience in your profession!

Suki smiled, glancing to her experience bar, and seeing she was now nearly half way to level five. Things were going good, it seems. Once the congratulations were over, she hunted down Umichi at the blacksmiths, smiling to herself. As she walked, she checked her col, seeing that she now had 1.3k col, a little bit of a relief. She now needed to replace health potions, but could do that later. She wanted to get her blade enhanced a bit more, but thought she should wait until she had more col.

She approached the blacksmiths, and waited.

(I used my power as GM to control Light here for a bit, because Potato hasn't been on, nor replied to any message)

[Little_ninja]

Umichi laughed as the other two had decided to walk with him. "Oh well, the company is nice at least." he said, walking along. Yumi had playfully asked him if he was planning to hoarde exp alone. He playfully went along with it. "How did you know? My plans, all ruined!!!!" Suki then talked about Light, how he was in a safe zone and how they "might" need her help. He patted her, "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks." He patronized her slightly but smiled. As monsters appeared, the others went to dispatch them. He decided to let them handle it, however, skillfully, swiftly timing Single Shot in their attacks. It was a lot easier with Yumi, since her attacks were more of a stabbing motion, Suki on the other hand, was harder to time in. Either way, he helped them out secretly. At one point, in the distance ahead, he threw his sword. It wasn't on purpose, he was just wondering whether anything could activate Single Shot, it seems like almost anything could at this point. It one hit a Dire Wolf in the distance, and they picked it up along the way.

Reaching town, the group had split. Suki went off to Light's side. Yumi .... he just couldn't see her for some reason. Probably went to buy things or something he thought. Walking along to the blacksmith, with the NPC Hina in tow, he reached the door when a popup came.

Announcement said
Congratulations! The sick companion quest has been completed. All members receive 250 experience, 250 col.

Looks like that's finished, that means Light is safe was the first thought in mind. Opening the door to the blacksmith, another popup came.

Announcement said
Congratulations! The Sasamaru's Daughter quest has been completed. You have received 500 exp and 1500 col.
Additionally, you received an item, please choose from the below:

• Iron helmet (Heavy Metal Equipment)


• Iron chestplate (Heavy Metal Equipment)


• Iron leggings (Heavy Metal Equipment)


• Iron sword (Heavy Two-handed Sword)


• Iron shield (Shield)


• Set of 10 throwing steel knives (Throwable items) - Recharge time - 2 minutes per knife

Hm.. It's all heavy equipment, I don't like ... Oh some throwing knives. Umichi was thinking when until he saw the knives. It looks like he also leveled up. Checking his col, he was at about 4000 col. Almost enough for the last enhancement. The enhancements were cheaper when there were less enhancements, but got more expensive with the more enhancements made on the equipment. It seems he was done with everything he needed to be done with in this town, unless a quest popped up. He was thanked by the blacksmith, Sasamaru. It felt like he did a real good deed, although, all he did was help an NPC. With that, he equipped the throwing knives, and left the blacksmith. He had began to flip through the guide book. It seems there weren't any other quests in the village, at least for now. He saw the Anneal Blade quest, as he called it. Although there were a few who had it in the beta, only person has been reported completing the quest at this point in time. It was a name of someone he did not recognize. There was currently no word on the Rescue the Damsel in Distress or the Meet your Hero. It seems so far that only Umichi and Suki had been the only ones to finish this quest. Although, it is possible others were not reporting it yet.

As Suki approached, Umichi smiled at her, it seems she was smiling to herself. "What are you smiling about?" he asked, cheerfully. He quickly checked the time, it was just passed 15:00. "How's Light doing? Have you checked on Haname?" he decided to ask, flicking through the menu. He was about to send a message to the members of the party. The message read "Everyone, it is likely that a lot of people will start making their way to Horuna Village. I suggest we gather our things and head out to the next town. It seems it's been mapped out, but no name was in the book. I think they want to let us find it out ourselves, or in-case it was renamed. Anyway, meet at the front of the village at 16:00. We leave at 16:10 sharp. I want to get to the next town by nightfall. That is all, see you soon." "So, lets restock for now" he said to Suki, smiling, as though finishing the message he sent out to everyone, like a personal message for her.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki looked up, and shrugged at Umichi, "what's not to smile about? I'm half way to level five, we didn't die today, I can now mix potions so I'm going to try mixing health potions, and I've meet some great people, which wouldn't have happened if you hadn't made me a damsel" she said with a laugh. She went to untie her hair, then thought better of it, since they were going to another town and needed her hair away from her face.
As Umichi sent the message to everyone, Suki opened her guide book, flipping to the towns in the first floor. It seemed the next town was called Gonike, but that was all that was in the guide book. So they would have to see for themselves what was there. She closed the book, looking up when Umichi smiled at her and suggested to restock. She nodded, returning his smile.

She glanced about, noticing that the town was indeed becoming more and more crowded as people started to get themselves together and head over to this town, probably wanting to feel as if they were doing something. Without thinking about it, Suki linked her arm through Umichi's so they wouldn't get seperated from each other. She started to walk, going to a NPC merchant, she began to sell a few drops and other items, accumulating 2.4k overall. She brought a few health potions, and asked a NPC alchemist how to go about making health potions. She was told that she would have to undertake a quest avaliable from any NPC alchemist to receive that information, and she decided she would undertake that in the next town. She thanked the NPC, being polite.

She waited for Umichi to be finished, glancing to the time. As they shopped, and restocked, they had passed the time, so Suki led the way to the front of the village. She saw Yumi approaching them, but didn't see anyone else. She looked around for Haname, but couldn't see her. Perhaps Haname would make her own way to the next town. Suki hoped so.

She shrugged to Umichi and Yumi, saying "well, shall we head out?" It was just 1612. She waited for a reply, doing a quick check of her inventory to make sure she had all she needed. She glanced to Umichi, because he had seemed to have adapted a leadership role. When he said to start off, she did so.

"I don't think we should all be close, the game might send us a lot of monsters. If we space out, we can just fight whatever strays come are way each" she said bright, as yet started to walk. "Umichi can be in the middle, since he seems the best. That way, if either of us get in trouble, he can help us" Suki had no delusions that she was the weakest link between the three of them. Yet she was going to try her hardest.
As they started to the Gonike, spreading out, Suki paid attention to her surroundings, but her thoughts were with her brothers and father. She wondered how they were faring. She wanted to know if they were okay. She looked to the side, catching sight of Unichi. She glanced away quickly, blushing to herself. She attacked a boar that got too close, and continued walking.

They didn't have too much trouble with the monsters, soon reaching the town at 1835. Suki found herself exhausted. It had been a long, demanding day. She was also starving, and that made her think about learning some cooking skills, which might help her alchmency she thought. As thy entered the safe zone, Suki untied her hair, sending the ribbon to her inventory. She had collected around 200 col from killing boar, so the first restaurant she saw, she pulled Umichi and Yumi into it, buying them all dinner. The food was cheap, but delicious. Suki suspected it was cheap because there was no competition get, given that no players would be at the same level as the NPCs.

They then went to an inn, securing a room each. Not many players had yet to make their way to Tolbana yet. By then, it was 1930, so Suki suggested having a drink, going to buy them all, saying to them both "There should be something that can give everyone hope"

"I'm sorry" The NPC bartender said, "I couldn't help but over hear. Its my daughters birthday today, and I would like to give her a wonderful birthday. I have a job for you. I have recently heard of 'fireworks' a magical substance that makes the night sky light up. If you can get me required ingredient, I would gladly give you some. I believe I have heard that you can get the ingredient from a multicoloured Nepent"

the quest popped up, having already activated it

Fireworks

Fire works

Activation: Visit the inn in Gonike with two or more members in a party. Talk with the NPC bar tender, and be overhead talking about doing something to cheer everyone up. The NPC mentions that it is his daughters birthday, and wishes to give her an amazing experience. He recently heard about the "Fire Works", which sounds like a good idea to him.

prerequisites
two or more people
level three and above
One member be an Alchemist

requirements
Hunt a rare multi-coloured Nepent, slay it, and receive the rare "Nepent Power", which can be used to make fire works. Return to the Bar Tender.

rewards
Alchemist can make fireworks
150 col
50 exp

She turned to Umichi and Yumi, shrugging, "What do you say?" She asked them both, smiling.

[Little_ninja]

Watching Suki laugh, he couldn't help but smile. "Hey, you make it sound like I forced you to be a damsel. Blame the system on that one." he jested. Even if it wasn't for the system making this quest, he believes this would of happened anyway. They then went to restock. His inventory was stocked with five potions, three healing crystals, an antidote crystal and two teleport crystals. It was quite expensive, but he had a good drop from the Large Nepent that had a flower, and some of the other Large Nepents too. Since they did not appear often, and their drops were considered rare, they sold for quite a bit. Although he wasn't sure how rare they were, he knew he probably didn't need the drops, they were roots and things. They probably were for either a quest or alchemy. Suki probably had some already if they were from Alchemy from the fight too he thought. He was left with just over 3k col. His last enhancement would require about 5k col. He would need a buffer amount before he made it. Well his Anneal blade was already 7 enhancements. Almost no-one else had one, so his should be considered powerful. Plus a lot of the people who were leveling fast seemed to have slowed significantly at around 6, at least the publicly known ones. He had reached 7 with a couple of hundred exp over. It would seem he was quite ahead of the other players.

Approaching the front of Horunka Village, they met Yumi. But Light and Haname were not in sight. It would seem they weren't coming, as it reached 16:12.

Suki said
She shrugged to Umichi and Yumi, saying "well, shall we head out?"

"I guess, let's leave them a message saying good bye and to meet again at some time. Also the best of luck to them." He replied, sending both Light and Haname the message. He decided not to remove them from the party just yet. And to wait to see if they message back at some point in time. With that they set off, leaving them behind.

Suki said
"I don't think we should all be close, the game might send us a lot of monsters. If we space out, we can just fight whatever strays come are way each" she said bright, as yet started to walk. "Umichi can be in the middle, since he seems the best. That way, if either of us get in trouble, he can help us"

"I don't think the game will do that, but let's do it in case." he agreed, at least for now. Umichi then turned to look at Suki to check up on her, she seemed to be blushing. He didn't know why, and wondered about it, watching her kill a boar. With nothing else to do, he decided to try throw out a Single Shot to a Frenzied Boar that was way off in the distance, testing the range of the shot. It seems that he could target it, but the skill wouldn't activate due to the range. Maybe if I was a higher level he thought. There wasn't much to do with the monsters that did attack, the two girls could handle themselves with the one or two that they would encounter along the way, nothing much happening.

He had the guidebook out, reading up on some things. The name from before, "Yami". It was the person who had gotten the Anneal Blade before, the supposed current highest level player. It seems to mention his name in a number of the articles about certain quests and some that just popped up. About a thousand of the remaining approximate 9718 had moved to Horunka. There was still a good 8000 people in the Town of Beginnings. Some trying to take what little resources were available, others not doing much at all. While reading they reached Gonike, the third town of the first floor of SAO. Suddenly, Umichi was pulled by Suki, being dragged into a restaurant it seems. Umichi wanted to pay, but Suki already did, ordering the food. It was cheap it seemed, and pretty good.

They then went to secure a room each at the inn. It was 19:30 about. Suki spoke up when she suggested to get a drink, talking about giving everyone hope. A quest then manifested.

Fireworks

Fire works

Activation: Visit the inn in Tolbana with two or more members in a party. Talk with the NPC bar tender, and be overhead talking about doing something to cheer everyone up. The NPC mentions that it is his daughters birthday, and wishes to give her an amazing experience. He recently heard about the "Fire Works", which sounds like a good idea to him.

prerequisites
two or more people
level three and above
One member be an Alchemist

requirements
Hunt a rare multi-coloured Nepent, slay it, and receive the rare "Nepent Power", which can be used to make fire works. Return to the Bar Tender.

rewards
Alchemist can make fireworks
150 col
50 exp

"Well, it's not that late yet, why not? We can quickly do this and then head back to sleep." he suggested, getting up, and starting to head out of town.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki smiled, "Awesome! I haven't seen fireworks since i was a kid" She said enthusiastically, equipping her blade which she had unequipped while in town, reading over the quest. A rare Multi-Colour Nepent? interesting. She thought on that, and tried to imagine it, which made her laugh. She went to start out of the inn, heading outside.

She glanced up at the sky, which was slowly darkening, and remembered the message from the morning. Many players had died during the night, and she wasn't about to become a statistic. So she jogged over to a merchant, and brought a tinder box, oil and lantern, lighting the lantern after a few goes, looking about to see if Umichi or Yumi were following.

Pleased at herself, but wondering if there was a skill like night vision, she started back out to the edge off the town with her lantern. She began to search for this multicoloured Nepent. After a while of search, she spied the rare Nepent at 2010. She approached it carefully, setting her lantern down, she held her blade. She attacked it with Vertical Arc. She was relieved when she saw that it only had one bar of health, and as she attacked it, she managed to take 10 percent of its health.

Perhaps she was getting too cocky, perhaps the came just wanted to throw her a curve ball, but suddenly the Nepent moved fast and it was all Suki could do to defend herself, as it used its roots, and just kept on coming closer to her. As she defended herself, the blows caused her health to slowly go down. She ducked, and got in close to the Nepent, and she leapt, using her momentum to crash into the Nepent, and force it to stumble back, giving herself some room as she landed and leaped back. She panted, looking to her health which was in the yellow now. She gritted her teeth, and went to attack again, getting the Nepent's health down to 50 percent, switching between vertical arc, Horizontal and slash, but then as she got in under 50 percent, it went crazy, and suddenly she was flying through the air.

Not even knowing if Umichi had followed, she yelled out, "UMICHI! SWITCH" She crashed into the ground, her health falling into the red. She whimpered, rolling onto her stomach, and rising slowly, staring at the Nepent as it went to run her down.

[Little_ninja]

Umichi followed Suki along, it was easy for him to follow her, since she had a lantern. He wasn't sure where Yumi was though. Maybe she went to sleep he thought. But after a while, it was getting harder to see the lantern light, before he lost it completely. He rushed in the direction he last saw it. Damn it, where did she go? he wondered, staring out into the darkness. If the game didn't affect his real abilities, he would of been able to see better than what he did now. There wasn't much moonlight tonight being a cresent moon in Aincrad. "Tsk" he sounded. Suddenly, he noticed Suki's health bar getting lower. He started to panic.

He ran around, listening for any sounds of the battle. He could see her health dropping. There was a yell. "UMICHI!SWITCH". He turned. There was a glint of metal. He dashed, as quickly as he could. Seeing the Nepent approaching Suki, who was whimpering. His emotions started to rage. "RARRRRG" He screamed out, dashing in front of Suki, with a giant cleave into the Nepent. The Nepent's health shot down quickly from the attack, leaving only a slither of health. He cut it down with one more swift cut. The Nepent was gone. The screen for the items, the exp and col came up. He ignored it, turning to Suki. Rage still filled his eyes, even if it was dark, the aura of the rage could be felt by those around. He started to crouch down, giving Suki a health potion, watching her health recover. "DON'T EVER DO THAT!" he yelled. The rage could be heard loud and clear.

A moment after he yelled, it was silent and then suddenly, he hugged her, tears running down his face. "Please, ... don't ever do that." He had gotten so close to her, he did not want anything to happen to her. He held her tight. Not wanting to let go. He could see a Dire Wolf approaching, but with his eyes filling with rage looking at it, it seemed to understand and whimper. Even though it's a game, it can still tell huh? he thought. He continued to hold her tight, not wanting the girl he found dear to leave his side.

[El_Tigre]

Yumi had been a bit behind, wanting to go shop real fast before going back out into the wilderness. Knowing this town had higher gear and she hadn't gotten new equipment since the town of beginnings. She stopped at the blacksmith, buying new gear and selling her old gear, equipping each piece. She smiled as she looked herself over in the mirror. She loved how she didn't have to shop for sizes. Everything seemed to just perfectly fit her. She especially loved her new spear, having been a giant upgrade and a severe dent in her wallet. But it was worth it, she would actually be an asset in the team now with better defense and attacks.

She waved good bye to the NPC blacksmith and hurried out of the shop to catch up. It took her some time to catch up to Umichi and Suki, seeing as Umichi clung onto Suki made her feel like she missed something. Had Suki come close to getting killed? She felt her heart sink. She shouldn't have taken so much time in the shop. Seeing the wolf she decided to take care of it. Even though it didn't seem to threaten the group she didn't want that to change. She tore free her spear as she charged the wolf, sending a sweeping slash across its body. It burst into pixels after one attack, smirking at herself. The weapon was definitely worth the money. Returning to the two she spun the spear onto her back. "You know, out in the wilderness after dark isn't the safest place to cuddle." she teased, trying to lighten the mood. Yumi wasn't ever one to not try her best to cheer up the people around her.

[MarshiestMallow]

Suki was relieved as Umichi appeared, ddashing in front of her. As he banished the Nepent easiily, she let herself sink to the ground, knowing she would be safe now. She bowed her head, able to feel his rage, and knowing it was directed at her. She was ashamed, but she had thought he was right behind her. Strange things happened in the dark it appeared. Now she could understand just how people had died during the night. Perception changed. She didn't like being the source of his rage, and she didn't even look up when he gave her a health potion.

She flinched as he yelled, and she whispered softly, "I'm sorry". She pushed herself off the ground, still looking down, and then was shocked as he hugged her. "I...I won't" She said softly. She wrapped her arms around him, looking up to see the tears. She reached up, to gently brush the tears away. "I...I thought you were there, I thought...I'm sorry" She said, falling silent. She lay her head on his chest, jumping when Yumi spoke.

She didn't move away, instead she glanced over, swallowed, and could feel the blush creeping up her face. "Oh" She said, "Yeah. You're right" She said, ducking under Umichi's arms, she went to pick up her blade, sheathing it, before returning to Umichi. She cleared her throat "We should head back..."