Fandom SAO: Dual Paths

[Dumbledoof]

StoneWolf18
Ken was just having a normal day of after school. He would get out, ride his bike home, and then do his homework. It was certainly nothing special, just the regular routine of somebody going to college to get their education. He usually worked a job, however, he had it off today! That is a miracle in of itself.

The day got even better when he snagged a copy of the new release of today; Sword Art Online. It was a virtual reality MMORPG, one of the first of its kind. He had been hyped and excited for this ever since he had gotten his hands on a pair of Nerve Gear. This was going to be epic!

Or that's what he thought. He failed to account for the fact that it was a death game.

Just what kind of sick bastard forced you to play a video game where, if you died in the game - and oh hell, a lot of people have died already - you died in real life? He had no way of knowing if that was true or not. Once you're in, you can't get back out, and trying to remove the helmet meant certain death anyway. You had to win. He had never played to win so hard in his life before.

He played hardcore for the first time ever in his life. He had his work cut out for him; racing against the clock for the quests all around the first floor, battling monsters, meeting certain peril, and even having to fight other players for survival. This truly was a clusterfuck and he did NOT sign up for others trying to kill him! Were these people just dumb or was there something to actually gain from murdering the other players? He didn't want to find out.

This campaign for reaching godtier status among everybody else so he wouldn't have to worry too much about certain doom led him to being completely surrounded by a pack of dire wolves. While a lot lower level than him, their numbers were nothing to scoff at. Dire wolves are agile and naturally tough, able to dish out heavy damage quickly when in packs. While he wasn't scared, it was worrying. He might not make it out this time.

Ken, or his avatar name, Effigy, brandished his spear and was slowly backed into a corner. He gave quick jerks with his weapon towards wolves that tried to make sudden advances, making them scramble away. This wasn't going well, and he was half health when this fight started. What a horrible way to die...

 

[StoneWolf18]

Seno couldn't had seen this coming. Hell, no one could. At first she had found the idea amusing, being put inside the game. But after her first experiences that amusement was soon turned to a wonder of sorts. A wonder one would feel when they do something truely amazing for the first time.

Yet, when they all had been gathered in the town of beginnings to hear the fatefully news that they were trapped, her excitement was drained almost immediately, as was those of the players around her. Their avatars lost their unique appearances and reverted to almost a mirror image of themselves which caused even more panic to ensue.

It was safe to say a large majority of people trapped were pretty close to loosing their minds.

Seno, or Ember as her character had been called, had been much more silent about her opinion on the ordeal. Storming off without a word into areas she had assumed to be much to high of a level for her, when the first floor really wasn't that much of a challenge. Her health only slightly dented and a pile of loot at her feet, she cursed her efforts for not even being able to die properly. Or at least in the fashion she wanted.

And so this is how she stumbled upon the supposed paladin. Walking back through the forest while trying to follow the map on her HUD, another blip soon appeared nearby as did the sounds of bark and snarling. Dismissing the interface with a frown, she tugged her sword from its sheath that was along her hip and moved towards it, soon noticing the wolves and the player who looked to be in terrible shape.

Adjusting her grip upon the hilt, she sighed.

Looks like someone needed saving.

Running forward towards the closest beast, landing a few quick strikes upon its back before it had time to register that she had entered the fray. Now seeing a new target, a large portion of the animals turned and focused upon her, not wanting to loose their prey. They were relatively low leveled and not that big of a problem, but maybe the player would actually be grateful enough to assist her rather than run for the hills.

Dumbledoof

 

[Dumbledoof]

StoneWolf18
The beasts had been closing in quickly on him until Seno had arrived at just the perfect moment. He had been backed into a wall, or more like a cliff face, and completely surrounded. That was until many of them turned to face the new player, probably out of confusion of who was the bigger threat at the moment. It took him a moment to even figure out that there was another player at all.

He took the opportunity to attack the wolves when they were distracted. Holding his spear tightly, he dashed forward and stabbed at one of the wolves, his spear glowing and turning yellow as was normal for Sword Skills. The dire wolf erupted in particles of light, dead. The rest of them were already breaking up from the sudden chaos Seno had just managed to introduce accidentally,. Their AI would regroup them soon enough to regulate their patterns.

He was good at patterns.

He was dishing out some major pain for the wolves at the moment, removing them one-by-one and dodging the ones that tried to attack him. He assumed the other player would be doing the same thing, considering that they had gotten themselves into this that they could handle plenty of the enemies on their own, right? Regardless, he carved a path through them towards that other player. There was strength in numbers.