5:05 PM, Anfänglich, Aincrad (1st Plane), 06 of July, 2088;
So I gave a last look at him while he was giving the run of his life in that alleyway towards the next city in the north, and then I jumped back at the sea of moving bodies at the spawn square, trying to search my friends amidst all this chaos and with the slight fear of suddenly someone stab me at my back for funsies. But after 6 minutes of panic and forcefully pushing people away so I could go on, even if just a step, I found Dale, at the front of a building in the borders of the square, with a understandable worried expression on his face. Dale is quite a chubby fellow at his 18 y/o, and his average height of 1,71m only makes it more noticeable alongside his face with round cheeks, round nose and thick eyebrows below a small white bandana he uses to hold his puffy black hair up, and he's wearing the basic combat clothes with a red and black pattern. -Dale, thank god you're ok and I found you, do you know where the others are? -Klein, I'm glad you are ok too, bout the others, well, I met with Henry since we logged around the same time, but since this thing started, he jumped into this mess to see if he could find the rest of the group. -I see. So, do you think you can hold on your own here a bit more, I'll have to find him, and hopefully the rest of us as well. -It's ok Klein, I'll still be waiting her- Wait, here they are, coming for us! -Oh great! Henry, here, we're here! -Klein? Oh, good, great timing too, since I just found the rest of us, here is Hayato and Kaori, ready to get going, except... We have not much of a idea of what we should do now, this is a situation unlike any other and I am a bit- a lot worried, to be honest. -Well, luckily for us, I logged here earlier than you guys to get a grip of this game and I had the chance to meet a really nice beta tester who showered me with basic knowledge and tips of this game. But the most important thing I have to say for now is for us to get out of this square right now, this is the most unsafe place for us to be at this moment!
Then we wasted no time in getting the hell out and going to the outskirts of the city, still in the safe area, but in that meantime, I start to think about all the happenings that brought us to this situation. I'm Tsuboi Ryotaurou, age 23, living at the Ueno district, in Tokyo, Japan. Well, at least is where it was beforehand, now theoretically I'm living here, in Aincrad. Anyway, at age 15 I met these guys, and we discovered all of us shared the same love for the tabletop RPGs, that aren't nearly as popular here as they are like in the USA, so you must hold close the people that have the same love for it. We soon formed a group and every opportunity we got together and made campaigns for us to play mainly using D&D as basis, some short, some long, but all of them shared a problem; they don't work well if all of them have a dungeon master with a player. All of us wanted to roleplay, so it was understandable, but it wasn't working, and something had to give, and in the end, I did, becoming a fulltime dungeon master (most of the time, anyway), and because of this act, as time went on, I felt like I was earned the respect and the trust of the with their personalities and way of thinking: Dale, since he always stand in place and wants to become stronger, became a tank; Henry has fast thinking and is always observing the surroundings, became a archer; Hayato liked to maintain his distance but striking strong and fast, became a lanceman; Kaori is fast and has quick reflexes, became a thief; in the times I was just a player, I always was fascinated with the katana and the way of the samurai, and became one, at least in the world of fantasy. And them, I decided the name of our group, for us to be recognized in conventions, I remember a battle motif by Takeda Shingen, "Move as swiftly as the wind, be as orderly as the forest, as fierce as fire, and as unshakeable as the mountain.", one that had become a motif for our group in battle as well, and the words "Wind", "Woods", "Fire" and "Mountain" together form "Fuurinkazan", so Fuurinkazan shall be.
But reality striked back, with me coming back to my senses and noticed a decision for us to go on had to be taken, I hesitated to say anything for a moment when Henry came to me and said: -Hey Tsuboi... -Klein. It's better for us now if we used our usernames instead of our real ones, even if our appearances are the same, to protect ourselves when all this is over, and besides, aren't we here to become our characters? -Yeah, you're right... Klein, but about the thing I wanted to tell you about, I was lucky enough to talk with a NPC that offered me a map of this Plane for a few gems, and since you are our leader, i think you should give it a look. -Right, let me see it... Boy, this is rough, it looks more like a draft of a map than a actual one, it seems it has just a few markplaces, approximated distances of places, and many missing stuff, at least a good number of the cities and villages are well covered... For the look of it, this is a kind of a draft made by the locals as they traveled around that we should fill on our own as we travel around... But wait a second, I noticed that the areas of the south have way less things marked here in comparison with the areas on the north, that means its mostly uncharted territory, because of the more dangerous animals around, which means that is certainly the direction to this floor dungeon. -So we should go for the north then, and avoid the south by now? -Quite the opposite, actually for what it seems, most people will go to that direction and we won't get enough grind for us except if we keep going forward, so we will go south, not only we will get more grind, but harder enemies that will give us more XP and then quicker level ups. -Uhhhh but won't these enemies be too much for us to handle? -If we were alone, it is very likely, but as a group, we can take care of each other and in a bigger number, we can certainly take on bigger challenges, and most importantly, i trust on the capabilities of you all as the leader of this group, we can do this.
As i say that, their faces light up and they affirm with enthusiasm, yes, we CAN do this, we went south and didn't take long to encounter the first wild beasts of the south, Raving Grey Wolves, that immediately noticed us ran growling in our direction, the time has come for me to see them in action and give a helping hand if necessary, but then I saw everyone getting their weapons out and into position, Dale was the first to getting some of the action, blocking the wolf attack with his shield and then cleaving its skull with his axe, a instant kill; then it was Hayato time to strike, and so he did quite efficiently, winning multiple blows of his spear on the wolf, who quickly fell down and died form his injuries, then when i turn to see Hikari, she already was against a wolf, but in a way that looks almost like she was mocking its low speed, easily avoiding its advances, but as suddenly as she grabbed her dagger, she made two quick slashs against the Wolf's neck and ribs, and didn't took long to the wolf to fell down dead. And then i saw Henry, who shot a arrow against a wolf who was coming to him, but the only effect was a cut to his left ear and let the wolf more angry, then i started to fear for the worse and went running in his direction, as he got another arrow from his back and pulled the bow' string back, ready to shoot but didn't do it, but just a second passed and BAM! A point-blank shot right between the wolf eyes, who rolled down a few more meters before stopping completely dead, and i stopped as well, surprised by the cold-blood, perfect execution by Henry, that looked at me and said: -Hey, no need for worry for me, i got it! I replied with a smile: -Yeah, you sure did, you all got it, to be fair, and i did trust in the capacities of you all, and it paid off beautifully, at the end. -Really? -Yeah, except it's not over, now you need to take your rewards from the corpses of the wolves. -Ah, got it, c'mon everyone! -I'll be in the look for enemies to come towards us. Ahhhh... so satisfied that at least the beginning went so smooth, but i'm fully aware that the day is not over yet, and only God knows how much longer we will be stuck here... And there comes more wolves, it's gonna be a long day... -Hey everybody, get ready, Raving Wolves coming up at northeast!
Then, after that and many other fights, that granted us 2 level ups, night came up and we made up a camp fire, a big one, since it'll keep the animals away while we sleep, and the bigger the more effective will be, we also took the oportunity to cook all the meat we got during the day, i also took this opportunity to look out how everybody is after this crazy day, Dale is hungrily eating his meat, with a smile on his face, what relieved me, Dale is happy, as long he is eating. Henry seems relaxed, after the day he just had. He is 19 yo, 1,76m, a slightly muscular build, light skin and brown hair, a bit spiky pointing to the back of his head, pronounced eyebrows and a small goatee, and using the same basic armor as everyone, but with a light olive green and silver colors, except for the brown wooden bow and leather boots. Hayato is sitting on a trunk he put down with his spear, using a rock to sharpen the blade, since it got stuck in the tree while he was cutting it. He is 20 yo, has 1,79m, with short, pulled back black hair, a small mustache and is using a white bandana, the basic armor and clothes in a dark grey color with dark red highlights, except for the black boots. Hikari is just quiet, trying to get the most heat from the campfire, with a tired face but a slight smile as well, she is is 19, with 1,68m, with short black hair and a tomboyish cut, with eyebrows a bit thicker, wearing a black cloak with purple highlights, and carries a hunting dagger as her main weapon. And i'm just reflecting on the day we just had, and already worried by the next one, maybe we all get lucky and it was just a tasteless joke, or even the police will shut down the servers if it isn't and we will all wake up tomorrow safely on our beds, but that's unlikely to happen, and we must be prepared, for the worse, even. As my thoughts resume, i noticed the fire starting to go down and i put the rest of the cut wood into it, and look into the horizon to see almost no animals, but some of the night hunters starting to appear... *Sigh* This is going to be a long night...