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*Poke*. Lost interest already?
It's still day-time, by the way. Otherwise we have to wait another day to venture out. Also, I liked your post.
Well, I haven't thought about the specifics for the dungeon so much yet, except that it's a hidden underground dungeon, which can only be reached if one has that key. I thought it would be a tomb-style dungeon, with egyptian skeletons and mummies and such.
Well, I haven't thought about the specifics for the dungeon so much yet, except that it's a hidden underground dungeon, which can only be reached if one has that key. I thought it would be a tomb-style dungeon, with egyptian skeletons and mummies and such.
Matsu hadn't really prepared for a response - at least not such an immediate one. And not by a cute girl. There weren't many of those around. There used to be only beautiful people in Aincrad, when people could design their own character. However, Akihiko had made it so everyone looked like how they did in real life. There weren't exactly a plethora of cute girls in the hardcore MMORPG-community. For a moment, Matsu could only stare at her outstretched hand. Matsu didn't really have any experience talking with girls. It was one of his short-comings. He'd spent most of the last ten years stuck in his parents' mansion, where the only female was his mother and their forty-eight-year-old cleaning maid. She looked at the girl in front of him. What had she said? He couldn't recall. Realizing too much time had passed, and not wanting to make a further fool of himself, he quickened to and shook her hand.
"I'm Matsu. It's… nice to meet you", he said, steeling his somewhat shaky voice. He cursed himself for being so shamefully introvert. That's the price of solitude, he figured. "So, uhm… you want to join me on this quest?" He asked, but immediately reddened a bit, as he realized it sounded cheesy. They weren't in a fantasy flick, either. "I mean, you're willing to go? I don't know what we'll be facing. Here…", he said, and opened his quest log to indicate the obvious lack of information. He noticed then that the other players in the room had all ignored him. Dungeon-rated quests usually required a full group to complete. Matsu was quite skilled, though. When meeting Rare creatures in the wilds, he had always managed to defeat them. In previous dungeons he had been in, which weren't many, he had been the one carrying the team.
Matsu didn't put much confidence into her abilities, and began wondering if this was such a good idea. No way a girl gamer could be both cute and skilled. That was just not metaphysically possible, in Matsu's mind. They would need to get more group-members, if they were to succeed at this thing. Still, he invited the girl to join his party. He would have to take whoever he could get. A girl like that, though, would maybe be more of a burden than help. Focusing on downing mobs quickly, he wasn't very good at protecting others in battle. If he was forced to focus on defending her, then he wouldn't be as effective in combat. On the other side, if the mobs were busy targeting her, he would have free reign to deal as much damage as possible. Matsu shook his head. Sometimes, he lost himself in the game completely. It had only been three weeks, but real life already felt far away, as if it didn't exist. Another world, out of time. It wasn't like that, though, he had to remind himself. Real life didn't have stats, or gear, or any of that stuff. Aincrad was making him more cynical by the day. He had to keep a grip on what was real and what wasn't. This was still just a game, albeit a lethal one. If he had to protect her, so he would, like any decent person. If they didn't look out for each other, who would?
"I'm Matsu. It's… nice to meet you", he said, steeling his somewhat shaky voice. He cursed himself for being so shamefully introvert. That's the price of solitude, he figured. "So, uhm… you want to join me on this quest?" He asked, but immediately reddened a bit, as he realized it sounded cheesy. They weren't in a fantasy flick, either. "I mean, you're willing to go? I don't know what we'll be facing. Here…", he said, and opened his quest log to indicate the obvious lack of information. He noticed then that the other players in the room had all ignored him. Dungeon-rated quests usually required a full group to complete. Matsu was quite skilled, though. When meeting Rare creatures in the wilds, he had always managed to defeat them. In previous dungeons he had been in, which weren't many, he had been the one carrying the team.
Matsu didn't put much confidence into her abilities, and began wondering if this was such a good idea. No way a girl gamer could be both cute and skilled. That was just not metaphysically possible, in Matsu's mind. They would need to get more group-members, if they were to succeed at this thing. Still, he invited the girl to join his party. He would have to take whoever he could get. A girl like that, though, would maybe be more of a burden than help. Focusing on downing mobs quickly, he wasn't very good at protecting others in battle. If he was forced to focus on defending her, then he wouldn't be as effective in combat. On the other side, if the mobs were busy targeting her, he would have free reign to deal as much damage as possible. Matsu shook his head. Sometimes, he lost himself in the game completely. It had only been three weeks, but real life already felt far away, as if it didn't exist. Another world, out of time. It wasn't like that, though, he had to remind himself. Real life didn't have stats, or gear, or any of that stuff. Aincrad was making him more cynical by the day. He had to keep a grip on what was real and what wasn't. This was still just a game, albeit a lethal one. If he had to protect her, so he would, like any decent person. If they didn't look out for each other, who would?
Sorry for postponing the IC a day, but was forced to wait for creativity. I made up for it with content, though, I think. May have gone a bit overboard.
It had been three weeks since Sword Art Online had launched. It was the first VRMMORPG ever to be released. There was considerable hype around this game, as it was the first game to really push the Nerve Gear to its limits. The Nerve Gear is a helmet which allows the user to truly experience a virtual reality. Signals in the brain are rerouted to your character in the game - you cannot move your real body once you are in-game. Everybody in the gaming community had been looking forward to Sword Art Online. Matsumoto Hetsurigo, or simply "Matsu", as his character was called, had been one of the most avid enthusiasts of this new development in gaming technology. The two months of beta had been the greatest time of his life. Inside Aincrad, which was what Sword Art Online's virtual world was called, he felt truly free. Yet now, ironically, he was trapped in it.
The game's creator, Kayabe Akihiko, had appeared before all the players at launch day. At that time, nearly everybody who had bought the game were online, which amounted to almost ten thousand people. However, none of them were able to log out. The log-out button had inexplicably disappeared from everyone's menu screens. Akihiko, though, delivered an explanation. Matsu still remembered the moment vividly, as if it had happened a minute ago. The log-out button had disappeared, because he had made it disappear. It was, as he said, a feature of Sword Art Online. Nobody would be able to log out until the players had beaten the last boss, which resides at the 100th floor.
Additionally, if as that wasn't enough, the game's resurrection system had been disabled. And if one died inside the game, or if anyone on the outside tried removing the Nerve Gear, it would fry the user's brain to dust. The Nerve Gear uses microwaves, which literally makes it into a high-powered Microwave. And this effectively meant that if a player's character died in-game, he would also die in the real world. The outside world had been notified through mass media, Akihiko had shown them, and the players were all being moved to facilities where their lifeless bodies would be fed through tubes etc. It wasn't a game anymore. It was a battle for survival, where only the strongest could achieve victory.
Many had already died. Some had comitted suicide, not believing what Akihiko had said, and others had simply been defeated by the dangers of Aincrad. They never returned. Matsu feared for his life, like all the players naturally did. Most of them stuck to large groups. There was safety in numbers, but although it made traversing the world easier, it greatly limited each individual's earned experience, money and loot.
Experience points determined the level of your character. Earn enough experience points, and your character would level up. The higher level you were, the stronger your base stats became, and thus it increased your chance for survival. Money, or Coll, as was the in-game currency, was needed for food, lodging and equipment. The need for food and sleep struck Matsu as an oddity. Their bodies inside Aincrad didn't really need nourishment or energy, as they only existed virtually. However, the game designer had made it so that it would feel as much as possible akin to real life. One did become hungry, and if he didn't eat, he would eventually begin to starve, which could result in his character's death. If he didn't sleep, he would become exhausted, and that would impact his ability to do combat. Equipment, earned through purchase or loot, was just as important as leveling up. Equipment, or gear, as it was usually refered to as, improved a player's statistics, which improved his ability to fight, which improved his ability to survive.
The last resource are skills. One could level up a multitude of skills by practicing them. The number of available skill slots were determined by one's level. Currently, Matsu had four skill slots. The one he had stressed the most was his chosen weapon skill; the Claymore Sword skill, or long-sword skill. It was a slow weapon, and an offensive one, but used correctly, he could finsh off mobs his level with a single combo. Most players chose to stack defensive skills, like sword-and-shield, but then it took a longer time to kill mobs. "Mobs", short for "mobile", is a generic term for all unfriendly, non-player entities within the game. The faster he killed them, Matsu reasoned, the faster he would be able to earn resources; experience points, Col and loot (in the form of equipment and sellables).
On this day, Matsu had stood up early, like usual, and headed into the wilds. He had stayed at a cheap inn in a small village on the 5th floor. It wasn't comfortable, but he would rather save his Col for the things he actually needed. Unlike most players, so far he had ventured into the wilds by himself. At the pace he killed mobs, it was most efficient to go at it alone. Sharing resources struck him as foolish. Later that day, though, in the midst of grinding (continuously killing) mobs, he had encountered a Rare creature. It was an Undead skeleton-creature named "Jailer Evan". It died fairly easily, to Matsu's surprise. Rare creatures were usually a challenge, when they weren't lethal. Its loot, however, surprised him further. It was a rusted old key of Rare quality named "The Key of Sands". What was even more curious, it could readily be activated. Keys usually required the door they belonged to before they could be activated.
He hesitated, afraid he might perhaps trigger some trap, before he lightly touched the key floating in his palm, effectively activating it. At first, nothing happened, but then a message came up at the corner of his screen. It was a familiar message, which said he had just accepted a new quest. Quests were tasks given by friendly NPCs, or non-player-characters, which one could complete for rewards. Matsu had never received one from an item before. Puzzled, he quickly checked his quest log in the menu screen. The quest was rated as Dungeon difficulty. Dungeons were difficult areas which had to be completed together with a group. However, it didn't say which dungeon he had to go to. He checked the coordinates, and scratched his head. The quest pointed to the middle of the Empty Land; a desert-area on this very floor. Nobody ever went there, as there was no content there. It was only empty desert. Someone had mapped it out completely, he had heard of, and hadn't even found a single mob. The quest didn't give any other information. Matsu pondered for a while. It was a unique opportunity, certainly, but a Dungeon difficulty quest meant he probably couldn't do it by himself. So far, he hadn't made any friends inside Aincrad either. Since launch, he had only concerned himself with acquiring as many resources for himself as possible.
Matsu tried forgetting about it, stowing the key away, and continued his relentless grinding. He didn't get far, though, before he checked the odd quest again, to see if he had missed anything. Nothing. Matsu rubbed his chin, annoyed. The sun was still high in sky, and there were many hours still he could use for grinding, but he didn't manage to take his mind off the damned thing. He needed to get this over with, to get it out of his head. And in order to that, he needed companions. Resigned, he headed back to the small village where he'd spent the night. Two Rivers, the village was called. He entered the inn, intent on making friends. It was empty in the common room this time of day. Most of them were outside, like he should've been. Instead, he was chasing this silly quest. Still, he spoke out to the whole room; the few who were there. Speaking in front of audiences usually made him nervous, especially if they were strangers, but strange situations called for strange actions. "Listen up, people", he said, standing right inside the door, "I have a unique opportunity to anyone willing to join me on a quest. I think it's a so far undiscovered Dungeon-area, and anyone who joins me will get an equal share of the profits." He looking around, hoping someone would answer his call.
The game's creator, Kayabe Akihiko, had appeared before all the players at launch day. At that time, nearly everybody who had bought the game were online, which amounted to almost ten thousand people. However, none of them were able to log out. The log-out button had inexplicably disappeared from everyone's menu screens. Akihiko, though, delivered an explanation. Matsu still remembered the moment vividly, as if it had happened a minute ago. The log-out button had disappeared, because he had made it disappear. It was, as he said, a feature of Sword Art Online. Nobody would be able to log out until the players had beaten the last boss, which resides at the 100th floor.
Additionally, if as that wasn't enough, the game's resurrection system had been disabled. And if one died inside the game, or if anyone on the outside tried removing the Nerve Gear, it would fry the user's brain to dust. The Nerve Gear uses microwaves, which literally makes it into a high-powered Microwave. And this effectively meant that if a player's character died in-game, he would also die in the real world. The outside world had been notified through mass media, Akihiko had shown them, and the players were all being moved to facilities where their lifeless bodies would be fed through tubes etc. It wasn't a game anymore. It was a battle for survival, where only the strongest could achieve victory.
Many had already died. Some had comitted suicide, not believing what Akihiko had said, and others had simply been defeated by the dangers of Aincrad. They never returned. Matsu feared for his life, like all the players naturally did. Most of them stuck to large groups. There was safety in numbers, but although it made traversing the world easier, it greatly limited each individual's earned experience, money and loot.
Experience points determined the level of your character. Earn enough experience points, and your character would level up. The higher level you were, the stronger your base stats became, and thus it increased your chance for survival. Money, or Coll, as was the in-game currency, was needed for food, lodging and equipment. The need for food and sleep struck Matsu as an oddity. Their bodies inside Aincrad didn't really need nourishment or energy, as they only existed virtually. However, the game designer had made it so that it would feel as much as possible akin to real life. One did become hungry, and if he didn't eat, he would eventually begin to starve, which could result in his character's death. If he didn't sleep, he would become exhausted, and that would impact his ability to do combat. Equipment, earned through purchase or loot, was just as important as leveling up. Equipment, or gear, as it was usually refered to as, improved a player's statistics, which improved his ability to fight, which improved his ability to survive.
The last resource are skills. One could level up a multitude of skills by practicing them. The number of available skill slots were determined by one's level. Currently, Matsu had four skill slots. The one he had stressed the most was his chosen weapon skill; the Claymore Sword skill, or long-sword skill. It was a slow weapon, and an offensive one, but used correctly, he could finsh off mobs his level with a single combo. Most players chose to stack defensive skills, like sword-and-shield, but then it took a longer time to kill mobs. "Mobs", short for "mobile", is a generic term for all unfriendly, non-player entities within the game. The faster he killed them, Matsu reasoned, the faster he would be able to earn resources; experience points, Col and loot (in the form of equipment and sellables).
On this day, Matsu had stood up early, like usual, and headed into the wilds. He had stayed at a cheap inn in a small village on the 5th floor. It wasn't comfortable, but he would rather save his Col for the things he actually needed. Unlike most players, so far he had ventured into the wilds by himself. At the pace he killed mobs, it was most efficient to go at it alone. Sharing resources struck him as foolish. Later that day, though, in the midst of grinding (continuously killing) mobs, he had encountered a Rare creature. It was an Undead skeleton-creature named "Jailer Evan". It died fairly easily, to Matsu's surprise. Rare creatures were usually a challenge, when they weren't lethal. Its loot, however, surprised him further. It was a rusted old key of Rare quality named "The Key of Sands". What was even more curious, it could readily be activated. Keys usually required the door they belonged to before they could be activated.
He hesitated, afraid he might perhaps trigger some trap, before he lightly touched the key floating in his palm, effectively activating it. At first, nothing happened, but then a message came up at the corner of his screen. It was a familiar message, which said he had just accepted a new quest. Quests were tasks given by friendly NPCs, or non-player-characters, which one could complete for rewards. Matsu had never received one from an item before. Puzzled, he quickly checked his quest log in the menu screen. The quest was rated as Dungeon difficulty. Dungeons were difficult areas which had to be completed together with a group. However, it didn't say which dungeon he had to go to. He checked the coordinates, and scratched his head. The quest pointed to the middle of the Empty Land; a desert-area on this very floor. Nobody ever went there, as there was no content there. It was only empty desert. Someone had mapped it out completely, he had heard of, and hadn't even found a single mob. The quest didn't give any other information. Matsu pondered for a while. It was a unique opportunity, certainly, but a Dungeon difficulty quest meant he probably couldn't do it by himself. So far, he hadn't made any friends inside Aincrad either. Since launch, he had only concerned himself with acquiring as many resources for himself as possible.
Matsu tried forgetting about it, stowing the key away, and continued his relentless grinding. He didn't get far, though, before he checked the odd quest again, to see if he had missed anything. Nothing. Matsu rubbed his chin, annoyed. The sun was still high in sky, and there were many hours still he could use for grinding, but he didn't manage to take his mind off the damned thing. He needed to get this over with, to get it out of his head. And in order to that, he needed companions. Resigned, he headed back to the small village where he'd spent the night. Two Rivers, the village was called. He entered the inn, intent on making friends. It was empty in the common room this time of day. Most of them were outside, like he should've been. Instead, he was chasing this silly quest. Still, he spoke out to the whole room; the few who were there. Speaking in front of audiences usually made him nervous, especially if they were strangers, but strange situations called for strange actions. "Listen up, people", he said, standing right inside the door, "I have a unique opportunity to anyone willing to join me on a quest. I think it's a so far undiscovered Dungeon-area, and anyone who joins me will get an equal share of the profits." He looking around, hoping someone would answer his call.
Real Name: Matsumoto Hetsurigo
IG Name: Matsu
Age: 20
Appearance:
Biography:
Matsumoto, or Matsu, as is his usual online persona, has never really wanted for anything. His parents are CEOs of two different companies, making Matsumoto's family filthy rich. On topof that, he was their only child. Matsumoto, despite their wealth, started out in a public school, as his parents thought it would be best if he socialized with normal kids lest he stigmatize himself fromsociety. After an incident at the age of ten, though, in which Matsumoto and some other boys had vandalized school property, his parents pulled him out of the public school. Their demenour was that the "normal" boys were affecting their son badly. From then on, he was hardly allowed to leave their mansion, and was privately tutored by professors. His weeks involved little in the way of socialing. Besides the tutoring, he was being taught the piano and the flute, as his parents put weight not only on academic performance, but also on artistry.
Matsumoto had a need, though, for socializing and for entertainment. Those needs led him to the online world, where he discovered a wonderful medium for socializing as well as having fun, without having to leave the mansion. He decided he would become a gamer. His parents were disinclined to let their only son misspend his youth, but acknowledged the fact that he had strong social needs as well. It kept him inside the safe walls of their mansion, and as long as it didn't impact his work, they saw no problem with it. Soon, Matsumoto had become addicted to online gaming. Especially MMORPGs, in which he felt he could escape the boredom of life completely. He could be someone else entirely, and delve deep into fantasy worlds. He excelled at it, and made friends quicker than he'd ever done in real life. When the NerveGear came on the market, he was among the first in line. Or, rather, one his father's secretaries was. It was amazing to experience true virtual worlds. However, he wasn't really impressed until he discovered the game Sword Art Online. Right from the bat, he knew it was going to be his everything. When they announced closed beta, he pounced on it, and received his key. It was everything he had hoped for, and more. For two months, he reveled in this fantastical virtual world, in which time he hardly did anything else. When the game finally launched, he was more ready than most.
Weapon skills: Level one Claymore Sword
Profession skills: Level one Prospecting
IG Name: Matsu
Age: 20
Appearance:
Biography:
Matsumoto, or Matsu, as is his usual online persona, has never really wanted for anything. His parents are CEOs of two different companies, making Matsumoto's family filthy rich. On topof that, he was their only child. Matsumoto, despite their wealth, started out in a public school, as his parents thought it would be best if he socialized with normal kids lest he stigmatize himself fromsociety. After an incident at the age of ten, though, in which Matsumoto and some other boys had vandalized school property, his parents pulled him out of the public school. Their demenour was that the "normal" boys were affecting their son badly. From then on, he was hardly allowed to leave their mansion, and was privately tutored by professors. His weeks involved little in the way of socialing. Besides the tutoring, he was being taught the piano and the flute, as his parents put weight not only on academic performance, but also on artistry.
Matsumoto had a need, though, for socializing and for entertainment. Those needs led him to the online world, where he discovered a wonderful medium for socializing as well as having fun, without having to leave the mansion. He decided he would become a gamer. His parents were disinclined to let their only son misspend his youth, but acknowledged the fact that he had strong social needs as well. It kept him inside the safe walls of their mansion, and as long as it didn't impact his work, they saw no problem with it. Soon, Matsumoto had become addicted to online gaming. Especially MMORPGs, in which he felt he could escape the boredom of life completely. He could be someone else entirely, and delve deep into fantasy worlds. He excelled at it, and made friends quicker than he'd ever done in real life. When the NerveGear came on the market, he was among the first in line. Or, rather, one his father's secretaries was. It was amazing to experience true virtual worlds. However, he wasn't really impressed until he discovered the game Sword Art Online. Right from the bat, he knew it was going to be his everything. When they announced closed beta, he pounced on it, and received his key. It was everything he had hoped for, and more. For two months, he reveled in this fantastical virtual world, in which time he hardly did anything else. When the game finally launched, he was more ready than most.
Weapon skills: Level one Claymore Sword
Profession skills: Level one Prospecting
Chou was surprised at the question. What had happened was that the boy had entered the Avatar State. At least, that was what he had thought. He'd read about it, and heard say of it, but it seemed the boy was unaware of what he'd done. Perhaps one was not completely conscious of one's actions in that state. Chou noted it in his mind, together with all the bits and pieces of information he had gathered over the years.
"It was", Chou said at length, not knowing what else to say. He didn't want to tell the boy what he was before he was ready for it. At the moment, he seemed far from ready. On the contrary, he seemed ready to keel over. It was difficult, though, to not say anything about it. However, it would be unwise to bring it up now. There was no point in traumatizing him any further. Chou would broach the subject when he felt it was time, and directed his eyes towards the Armadillo-Lion instead. It was the here and now which mattered. And he needed to gain this boy's trust, before anything. "Your companion, there", Chou said, nodding at the beast. "He seems a little worse for wear. I know something of treating wounds. Will you allow me? I'm Chou Fen, by the way. You can call me Chou."
"It was", Chou said at length, not knowing what else to say. He didn't want to tell the boy what he was before he was ready for it. At the moment, he seemed far from ready. On the contrary, he seemed ready to keel over. It was difficult, though, to not say anything about it. However, it would be unwise to bring it up now. There was no point in traumatizing him any further. Chou would broach the subject when he felt it was time, and directed his eyes towards the Armadillo-Lion instead. It was the here and now which mattered. And he needed to gain this boy's trust, before anything. "Your companion, there", Chou said, nodding at the beast. "He seems a little worse for wear. I know something of treating wounds. Will you allow me? I'm Chou Fen, by the way. You can call me Chou."
Chou was stunned. He was right near having a heart-attack. It couldn't be. What he had searched for so long, what he had dedicated his life to, had fallen straight into his lap. All those years. He couldn't even count how many times he'd had this dream, or of how many times he'd anticipated this meeting. The search had reached its end, at last. Chou stirred, shaking off his stunned reaction. He walked towards the heap of bodies with a foreboding in his steps. The short distance he covered felt like a mile. There, before him, lay the Avatar. It was just a boy, but the world's destiny lay on his shoulders. Chou steeled his steps and his voice. He had never felt so anxious.
Chou was a tall man, but with a crooked neck which made him marginally shorter. His head was bald, and he had a grey beard. His eyes had a hint of wisdom to them, but mostly they spoke of an inner warmth. It was rare to see in people these days, as most had hunted looks. It was as if he was from another place and time, and he carried himself as if he was not of this world. He wore thick green robes which blended in with the environment. When Chou reached the battlefield, he glanced at all the bodies. Such carnage. Nobody moved except the boy lying next to the Armadillo-Lion. Chou wondered if the boy knew that he was the Avatar, but he didn't think it likely. The Avatar was just a myth, now; a legend past. Stories were told around camp-fires, but it wasn't perceived as reality. He got the notion to shout out the truth to this boy, to tell him all the things he had to do. However, he managed to supress it. The boy had been through enough in one day - he didn't have to have the world thrown on his shoulders just yet.
Instead he approached him warily, and said, "are you alright, my boy?"
Chou was a tall man, but with a crooked neck which made him marginally shorter. His head was bald, and he had a grey beard. His eyes had a hint of wisdom to them, but mostly they spoke of an inner warmth. It was rare to see in people these days, as most had hunted looks. It was as if he was from another place and time, and he carried himself as if he was not of this world. He wore thick green robes which blended in with the environment. When Chou reached the battlefield, he glanced at all the bodies. Such carnage. Nobody moved except the boy lying next to the Armadillo-Lion. Chou wondered if the boy knew that he was the Avatar, but he didn't think it likely. The Avatar was just a myth, now; a legend past. Stories were told around camp-fires, but it wasn't perceived as reality. He got the notion to shout out the truth to this boy, to tell him all the things he had to do. However, he managed to supress it. The boy had been through enough in one day - he didn't have to have the world thrown on his shoulders just yet.
Instead he approached him warily, and said, "are you alright, my boy?"
Sure. Actually, you could make another post, controlling the battle completely, to finish off the scene.
Bei cursed as a puddle of ice knocked into his side and was put between him and the Bender. He had fought Benders twice before, and had learned a few things, but this one was quicker to act than any he'd encountered. The three swordsmen were hitting away at the girl mercilessly. She seemed to be able to block most of their attacks, but they got in a few cuts here and there, and they took advantage of her one limp arm. Ruo had gotten back on his feet, though bleeding from dozens of minor cuts. Across the battlefield, he caught Melen's eyes. Melen signalled something with his hands, and they jumped into the fray, intent on ending the battle in one attack. Melen would knock out the girl while she was busy with fending off the swordsmen, while Ruo would do the same with the Bender, who was busy facing Bei. Ruo grinned. He loved having the upper hand in fights. Bei followed after the Bender, and began hacking away at the ice-shield.
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