Amber Coals's Story

The tip of the halberd lay impaled through Akira's intestines slowly eating away at his health. The humility of dying from a npc in a town of all places was pathetic, he would have rather gone out fighting a real boss, not some defensive mechanism setup so player-killers wouldn't get far.

Just as his health went into red an all too familiar face came to his aid. Akira had tried to speak but was far too weak to even draw a breath for words. Amber had gracefully tried to do the same stratedgy he had just done moments ago and the results were the exactly the same, minus being impaled. As Amber tried to land a strike to the back of the Paladin's neck he knocked Akira off his weapon and blocked Amber's blow. Akira landed on the pavement face first, blood quickly soaked his leather armor and created a nice sized puddle that stained the pavement bricks a nice dark red. He lifted his head up to see Amber glow even brighter than she did before. He didn't count how many strikes it took to have her finally kill the thing but she did it with such grace that it seemed easy.

After dispatching the Paladin Amber had immediately come to Akira's aid, handling him a health potion and getting out a first aid kit.

"You miss me? Now Drink that while i get this wound fixed up, the bandaged should increase you health regeneration but dont get into anymore fights."

"It's not like I had a choice...", Akira drank the health potion and then continued speaking. "Every 24 hours I will be attacked while in town, so the next town I go to I will be attacked by NPCs until I kill them, its a a never ending cycle for a perma-orange player killer. Now, with that being said are you still going to travel with me?"

"It's not like I had a choice...", She heard Akira say he drank the health potion, allowing his health to increase before he continued speaking. "Every 24 hours I will be attacked while in town, so the next town I go to I will be attacked by NPCs until I kill them, its a a never ending cycle for a perma-orange player killer. Now, with that being said are you still going to travel with me?" He finished, looking up at her expectantly.
Amber smirked as she continued to patch up his wound, "Like I could leave you, did you just see what happened!" She sent him a smile before continuing, "And anyway, I said I would help you and if anything, I am someone who keeps her word. Now, let's head to the inn. I got some rooms for us and we can head out before those NPCs respawn." Getting up, she pulled Akira to his feet as she made her way back the way she had come, stopping to grab some loot dropped by the NPCs.
"I guess we will just have to leave in the morning and you will have to avoid towns, I can get us stuff we need but I guess we won't be using inns anymore, so best enjoy your last chance at a comfortable bed." She commented as the inn came into sight. If she was honest she was a bit upset that she wouldn't be able to enter a town without NPCs trying to kill them if she stuck with Akira, but she wasnt to fond of leaving the guy either.
They had a deal and Amber held loyalty in high regard.
Glancing into one of the shop windows they passed she noticed a black cloak, an idea coming to mind. "I might be able to hack a cloak that will hide you from NPCs, but I won't cover up your curser as that would be to obvious, it would just overwrite an NPCs code to kill you."
They entered the inn and amber went back to the counter, "Sorry about that, had to run and find my partner. May I have the keys for those rooms please." With that she acquired the keys and headed upstairs towards the two rooms.
"And this is where I leave you, I will see you in the morning, try not to die this time." She grinned at Akira cheekily before heading into her room.
Shutting the door, amber sat down on the bed and stripped off her leather armour in exchange for a more comfortable set of clothing, setting her sword down in reach she lay down and closed her eyes. She would need to get some sleep if hanging around with Akira meant killing Bosses all the time.

November 6th, 2022
Floor 1: Horunka

The news had just been announced. "I... can't believe it..." The Grey Knight said, as he looked around seeing other players panic. "I need to go quickly...." He called to himself, walking off in his newbie armor. "Need to get better gear before the mobs come in..." He kep telling himself.

This was his tale, a tale of legends... the tale of the Grey knight needing to be told. His quest was just started as he started taking on the first dungeon himself, always stopping when he heard the clatters and commotions of the groups. He went back to town and ventured off each hour, mapping the whole of the dungeon. He needed to map it, needed to know if anything had changed.

Sword and shield in hand, the fighter was unkillable to the npcs. He walked around for hours getting loot to sell it back to the merchant to get some better armor. "I swear...." He said to himself. "It really is boring doing this alone." He said walking around... "I can't believe I get stuck in an rpg I really like and don't spend any time enoying it! Plus, with my face revealed, my helmet is the only thing I can keep on to stop anybody from seeing my identity." He said, after he slew another boar.

'LEVEL UP'

The text appeared. "Hmmmm... Level 10 no? Meh..." He said shrugging... then it happened.

"HELP ME!" Came a scream, Setsuko turned around, as he saw a player running away from killers... other players killing players for loot... this had to stop, he told himself.

Shield in hand, he ran as his sword lighted up from the charging energy. "GET BACK AWAY FROM HIM YOU BASTARDS!" He yelled, jumping on them, three versus one.

The blade already charged, he launched his attack, striking one down to his knees in the blow as the sword protruded from his chest. Setsuko kicked the guy off his sword, expertly flipped in back in his hand as he raised his shield, the guy falling over with barely enough HP to stand. "Who's next?" The knight asked as he grinned behind his helmet. "Who the hell are -you-!?" Screamed one of the attackers. "Just the defender... you can call me the Grey Knight." He said in a suave tone. "Oh yea? Well you're about to be the -DEAD- knight!" His opponent exclaimed.

Then, for no apperent reason, 'Tsuko slid down... and on closer look you could see a sword slashing up above his head. He expertly jumped over the guy, shield bashing him in the face and using it as a small boost to his backflip. "I swear, you guys need to start hiding your ping on the minimap." He said, slashing the guy behind his knees while he was still blacked out from the bash, the thuig falling down to his knees. He looked to the leader. "Are you the last one?" He asked, clearly amusing himself.

"H-H-How did you!?" He asked watching his buddy's health go down from the wound. "I'm not stupid, I was a beta tester and know alot of stuff about this game. Now I ask the game, are you the last?" He asked, a bit more threateningly. "I give you one chance to surrender a-" Before he could finish his sentence, the man was on him, sword slashing. He stopped the blade easily. "Sheesh, do you know how rude that is?" He asked, as the blade came back the other way around. Tsuko just deflected it, came in with his shield and bashed him upside the head, making him fall backwards. "Take your men and leave before I decide to kick your ass." He said, as he blocked another blow, this time deciding to stab the leader of the thugs through the knee.

He jumped back as he howled in pain, falling over. "I'm not a killer like you." He said, looking back to the man that was first
attacked. "Just follow the road back east you'll find the town there." He said, the man too bewildered to speak just shook his head and ran. Setsuko sighed, sheathing his sword and looting the bastards. "Oh, nice little sword you have here." He said, equipping it. He walked back to town that he said, the second town... he hoped all would be well there.

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November 7th, 2022
Floor 1: Horunka
Setsuko Arthoren, level 15.

He walked through the bazaar, sighing. He caught glimpse of a Black haired girl walk past, but nothing more interesting then that. He had kept himself up and not rested for the whole knight, keeping onto his grinding of experience. "I can't believe nobody actually said thanks..." He said sighing. He had participated in the Front Lines and helped clear out most of the first dungeon, having finished mapping the things needed.

Then, he had seen the unthinkable. An orange player actually walking into the town... and being attacked. He had sighed, watching the fight go on and was very peculiar seeing a little red haired girl... the same that he saw earlier, defend the man. "What... are..." He asked, jumping down from his rooftop perch.

Then, he saw an even more unthinkable thing. The girl had actually gotten rid of the guards for the boy. "WHAT!?" He yelled out. He ran to the group, but before he could reach, the two had already gone. He growled, trying to keep onto them. He then decided to go by roof, easily keeping up with the black haired girl that had her hair turn red.... still not knowing what trickery that was. He jumped down as soon as they reached the inn. He saw them split apart, the girl getting in her own room. He bashed on the door. "Excuse me, Miss! We need to talk!" He called from the other side of the room.

He then looked at himself. "Fantastic... I look like a fucking guard right now..." He said, mumbling it under his breath as he kept bashing on the door.

Amber jumped as she heard the bashing on her door. She had just been about to fall asleep, the first signs showing as her breathing slowed and her whole body began to relax into the comfortable bed, probably her last bed if she couldn't get that cloak working for Akira.

Crawling out of the bed and groaning at the loss of warmth from the thick covers, amber grabbed her sword and stumbled her way towards the door, swaying slightly from exhaustion. Once she arrived before the door, she gave her head a firm shake to wake herself up and to be alert incase the person at the door wasnt friendly.

Pulling the door open, Amber found akira standing on the otherside, though she found herself surprised it was better than having some NPC knocking on her door. Sending him a sleepy smile she walked back into her room, gesturing for akira to follow. Placing her sword down again, she took a seat on the bed and had to force herself not to just lay back down and go to sleep.

"Hay akira, its a little late so what do you need?" She was slightly curious about why akira had been knocking on her door but also felt the exhaustion from the day starting to creep up on her, making her less interested in the words coming out of akiras mouth and more interested in the soft, fluffy pillow a little way from her head.

Akira looked up at Amber for an answer to his question, a meaningless question really as he already knew the answer. But it was always good to be on the safe side, especially with a girl like Amber. After a slight awkward silence Amber smiled gently towards him and continued to patch up his wound. "Like I could leave you, did you just see what happened! And anyway, I said I would help you and if anything, I am someone who keeps her word. Now, let's head to the inn. I got some rooms for us and we can head out before those NPCs respawn."

Knowing Amber was loyal was good to know as loyalty is a great trait, especially when life and death are imminent. However, loyalty like as many other things in life eventually fades away so two more questions came to mind...How far would she go for Akira, and how long before the loyalty dispersed into nothing? Akira shoved the thought in the far back of his head so he could pick at it later, perfect timing with that as Amber began speaking once more.

"I guess we will just have to leave in the morning and you will have to avoid towns, I can get us stuff we need but I guess we won't be using inns anymore, so best enjoy your last chance at a comfortable bed."

On their walk back to the inn Amber's eyes gazed off onto a black cloak, a [Level 5] Set-Piece item to be exact but the price was much too steep, especially for such a low level item.

"I might be able to hack a cloak that will hide you from NPCs, but I won't cover up your curser as that would be to obvious, it would just overwrite an NPCs code to kill you."

He cared little for the girl's idle chit-chat, she may as well have been talking to herself. While Amber figured a way to get herself killed through tampering with the game Akira drifted through his head looking for a layout of all the good dungeon runs that could be done for gear.

"No more hacking." He mumbled under his breath before he went back to thinking about their current situation.

Eventually they finally made it to the inn, which was a relief for Akira. Having died nearly once was an experience he wished he never had to relieve, but knowing his play-style death would be knocking on his door one more time, whether physically or metaphorically would be left up for debate. He followed Amber upstairs to where into their rooms lay on separate sides of each other, literally just a knock away.

"And this is where I leave you, I will see you in the morning, try not to die this time." and with that Amber left for the comfort of her room. Akira then entered his room and collapsed on the bed, it's not like he had any armor to unequip anyway. He wore slacks and a Zip-Up Hoodie as his casual attire and laid in the bed, merely staring up at the ceiling; His heart still racing form his encounter with death.

He opened up his inventory and viewed his items, many of them useless to someone with a play-style like Akira. He had a full [Level 3] Armor set made of copper, some newbie would pay top dollar for that. He decided it would be best to go on a quest, or a quest-line. He needed equipment and dungeon runs wasn't going to cut it. He hopped out his bed and exited his room. He then proceeded to knock on Amber's door, not extremely loud but just loud enough so that if she was sleeping it would wake her up.

November 7th, 2022
First floor; 04:36 AM

“Hah… Finally made it….” Merche said as he took his first, unsteady step into Horunka.
A prompt popped up in his vision, notifying him that he had entered this town, and on queue,
a tune started playing.(youtu.be/S-Xm7s9eGxU)

Planting the tip of his spear into the ground, Merche stretches his body, briefly scratching his mud-caked hair with his gloved hands. He wiped the mud on his now decimated pants, rested his body against his spear. After continuing on his way along the path to Horunka, he went along the long path which led him through a forest, instead of the short one he had initially planned to take, thinking he might find some interesting materials there. He didn’t.

Instead, he ran into a large group of mobs he tried to pick off one by one, but didn’t work out as planned. It had him running through the forest, falling in the mud a few times. At one point, he even fell out of a tree while adjusting his trousers. He had ripped off the fabric of his left trouser leg, and made adjustments to the other leg so that they would match. Hearing an explosion going off in the distance, startled Merche, who subsequently fell down the branch he stood on. Some more trekking through the forest, and an unlucky run in with some plant monsters, finally got him to Horunka, in more or less one piece. His equipment however, wasn’t so lucky. Besides the aforementioned pants, his sword broke during his first fight in the forest, prompting his escape. 4 spears left behind in the forest, since he had no time to retrieve them. A rag that used to resemble a shirt, and a near broken shield. The shield had intercepted most of the attacks from both groups, and the shirt turned out the way it was due to the Nepent’s Acidic Spit that did manage to hit him.

“There is no use to wearing it if it’s like this, now is there?” He thought. After all, what was left of it didn’t do good job at all in covering his chest. Pulling of the rag with relative ease, he used it to clean up his hair a bit. After some intensive rubbing, his hair looked a bit more representable.
“Guess this’ll have to do.” Merche said as he tossed the rag on the floor. Hoisting the spear out of the ground and letting the spear rest against his shoulder, he made his way into the town looking for the inn. Finding it not long after, he opens the door to the establishment and sets foot in a well lit room. In it he saw plenty of tables and chairs, all unoccupied accept two other players, and a desk, with a female npc behind it. Having noticed Merche’s entrance, one of the players spoke up. “Woah, you’re… Tarzan right? So…. where’s Jane?” The now clearly inebriated player said.
Next to him another player with too much alcohol in his body glared at Merche and also spoke.
“What’s up with that fucking get up, huh? This is Sword Art Online, not Caveman Online, you faggot.””Don’t listen to that guy, Tarzan….! he’s just like that because his girl ran off with some other players.””Why’d you tell em that, huh? Fight me! Not here, and see what happens, asshole!” Deciding to ignore the two players, he made his way to the NPC, and rented himself a room. After that, he made his way upstairs to get a well earned shower. Noticing he had truly become tired, not long after that shower, he took a long nap. It wasn’t until 3 PM that he came out of bed and had breakfast. It was during his hearty meal that he noticed something. while combing through his hair, he noticed that the hair at the back of his head reached lower than it used to.”Crap! i also lost my hairband. Guess i’ll also have to add that to the shopping list…” He sighed, as he continued eating his meal.

Starting on his second plate of food, Merche started browsing through his menu while he continued shoveling food in his mouth. He had noticed a few changes. First, He noticed that he reached level four. Quickly, looked at his skills tab and saw that his overall proficiency with the spear was quite a lot higher than his sword proficiency, but his shield skill took the cake, being the highest, but still within reason for someone who’s level four. Another thing he noticed was that his Battle Healing now healed 2.7 HP per second, instead of 2.1. He was about to check on his other skills until he noticed that his fork wasn’t bringing food to his mouth anymore. looking down at his plate, he saw that it was completely empty.

Trying to find the waitress, he spotted her taking the order from a brown haired kid with green eyes, and headed towards the kitchen. As Merche was about to haul over the waitress, but stopped when he heard a lot of clamoring from where the kid was seated. Looking in that direction, he saw a lot of people surrounding the table the kid sat at, screaming and shouting for him to trade his sword. Merche tried to appraise the sword from where he sat, but the other players constantly blocked his few. A few seconds later, the kid sprung up from his chair, and dashed to and up the stairs, presumably to his room. Not long after that, the players that had surrounded him dispersed, just as suddenly as they came.

“Well that *was* something.” Merche said to no one in particular. He briefly imagined what it would be like if he’d be in a situation like this, trying to sell his own crafted wares, until the waitress came walking in again, with a plate of food held in both hands. She laid it upon the table the kid had sat at earlier, but which was now obviously vacant. He eyed the plate of food before deciding to grab the plate. “It would get cold if it’s not eaten soon, it’d be waste.” He rationalized.
Quickly scurrying over towards the table, grabbing the plate, and scurrying back to his own table.
“Oh man, these scrambled eggs are delightful! Waitress, another plate of this please!” He yelled, eating his food with gusto. After emptying the contents of the plate into his maw, he started eating the third plate while looking at his stats and skills again. He seemingly learned new skills.
“High Streamer” A spear skill that did much the same as “Sonic Leap”, only ending in a thrust instead of a slash, and “Extender” a skill that elongated his spear temporarily for 20 seconds, but reducing damage done with that same weapon by 50%. He also assigned his stats, dividing them in the following proportions: Dexterity>vitality=agility>strength.

It was around half way Merche’s fourth plate that the kid(Whom he finally recognised as a girl due to her skirt, or at least hoped was a girl) entered the room again, eyes red, presumably from crying, and sat down at a table near one of the corners of the room. She hailed the waitress and ordered some dish which he couldn’t make out. Merche felt a pang of guilt, having eaten her food and seeing how solemn she looked at the moment. Deciding to at least repay her for her food, he hailed over the waitress and said; “Hey, could you get me an apple pie for that girl? Oh, and one more plate of eggs please.”