SAO: Summon Arc Online

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As the man had expressed his enjoyment of the name that she had given him, she simply clapped her hands together and said, "woo~, glad you liked it. Next MMO I'm in, I'll be sure to look for someone with that name." However, the rest of what he had to say was not so receptive to the suggestion of partying up. In fact, he was kind of rude, though, she supposed it fit his nickname of Edgemeister, so all was forgiven at the end of the day. That being said, she needed a party member, and she needed to showcase to this person as to why partying was always important.

"Well you see, there are several advantages to being part of a party. For example," she spotted a goblin and just slashed at it, (as it seemed to be horrified at the exploded heads of nearby goblins.) It seemed to stagger back a bit from the cut, only to retaliate at her and prove a bit of a fighter, hitting Jackyl in the leg with a small shiv when she wasn't ready. She then retaliated by slashing at the thing a few more times before it dropped dead. With a tone of voice like she was trying to exaggerate what actually just happened, she said, "man, that was such a difficult fight, if only there was some way to make it that much easier." Then, as if she had just come up with a brilliant idea, she went into her inventory and spawned out her second sword.

Giving the two blades a spin with a flick of her wrist, she then looked back to see another Goblin spawn in, also having a slightly dinky shiv in hand, and it just sort of instinctually charged at her. Being totally prepared this time, and having two blades instead of one, she simply slashed at the hand with the weapon with one sword, and then struck at the creature with her second blade. Bringing both blades back and then slashing in an X formation, the goblin was felled and died. In the same exaggerated tone, she said, "man with two blades that fight was so much easier. I guess two really is better than one at dealing with things."

Looking back to him, and seeing that he probably wasn't amused by her odd display as if she were trying to sell him some sort of cleaning product on a late night infomercial, with a sly grin on her face she said, "and if that didn't convince you think about it this way. I just killed two of these goblins, that you didn't kill. And if you really want to think of it this way, that means I just got EXP that you could've gotten. But if we were in a party, than you would have gotten exp and wouldn't have had to do a thing for it. Not fight it, and not worry about some other selfish soloer coming in and trying to take all of the exp for themselves, thus making your grinding process go by way slower." With a smile on her face she said, "so, sold yet?" And if he wasn't, well than sucked to be him because she would keep training here regardless.

 

After some walking, the new guild, Summoned Knights had arrived at the Goblin encampment. It was large. Deffinitely large enough for a 1000 players to get decent experience. Well, that was false if they were all solo players. There was really only enough for 250 solo players. There was enough though if it were within a group of two. Now was going to be a good time to train combat skills up. The knights were split off and began to train independently, some better than others. They knew the basics though which was helpful. They were probably players of other VRMMOs.

After that had been established, Alpha had called over a group of players to watch and learn about summoning, the core theme of this game. He'd have to lie once more to tell them how he had learned about this. He noticed other players come from before without any knowledge on how to summon either. "Good, now that some of you are here, I have learned the arte of summoning. I'm sure you've all looked in your stats and noticed the skill, but it really doesn't say how to bring them out. It told us in the beta. It was probably Creator's intention to have Beta players either help the first timers or become the top players. Either way, I'll explain how it worked in the beta."

Alpha stood tall and put his arm into the sky, his palm flat and horizontal as it reached out. His eyes closed as he began to chant. It seemed more like a prayer than a summon incantation. "Open, gates of heaven, release... Gilgamesh!" His voice boomed through the Goblin camp. The onslaught of Goblins dwindled down thanks to his powerful deep voice.

Within an instance, a beam of light came scorching from the sky landing in front of Alpha. The light faded to reveal a warrior in armor. The armor shined and radiated bright white. The individual was on one knee, kneeling towards the master who had called for the summon to appear. The summon stood up and readied himself for combat. Without warning, the summon attacked Alpha quickly.

Alpha gave a block towards Gilgamesh. The previous Goblins that were under aggro had suddenly stopped attacking. The battle was between summon and master. Alpha gave a slice with his Katana towards Gilgamesh, however the summon was smart enough to dodge with only a scratch going over his armor. The players around were all in awe as they watched the fight unfold. The blows continued back and forth, each evading and slicing towards one another. However, within the battle, Gilgamesh had forgotten his surroundings and tripped on a misplaced rock. With this accident occurring, Alpha sliced at Gilgamesh, his HP now reaching below 50%.

Gilgamesh had sheathed his weapon after the 50% was dealt to him. "I have accepted you as my master. Call on me whenever in battle." The summon disappeared, fading away into nothingness. Alpha looked over to the players who were watching the battle unfold. "In order to obtain your summon, you must beat it in a PVS match, in other words, Player vs. Summon. This can only be achieved by calling out to the heavens like I did. Afterwards, when you are in a battle..."

Alpha moved towards one of the level 2 Goblins, allowing for aggro to begin. "I summon Gilgamesh!" The bright light occurred once more like before. Instead of the warrior Gilgamesh bowing, he was now combat ready, already charging and slicing the Goblin. Alpha working alongside him did so too and they manged to topple the enemy with little effort. Gilgamesh continued to stand there now that the summon had been cast. "It won't end until you leave the Goblin's Camp either. They also do not fight another player so you can be at ease. Now, summon your heroes, and let us continue to grind for experience!"


Star thought for a moment as Masaru pulled up the map and pointed towards some of the higher leveled areas. He was right that they could probably handle it, however they couldn't even activate their summons yet for some reason. Perhaps the leader of the guild knew something about it. He seemed to be well informed so there was no doubt he was a Beater or something.

"Right. Let's just head towards the Goblin camp for now. We'll get to level 3 over there and head out towards the next spot. He might give us some information." She looked over to Alpha before they left the city. Her tone of voice wasn't filled with any form of trust towards the man. Something about his was off. He was too comfortable right now. She sighed. "We have no choice right now. Let's go... Masu-kun." She gave him a light peck on the cheek and walked forward hand in hand.

After some time of walking and a little bit of Goblin killing, the guild leader Alpha had called them over and displayed the method to summoning. It was a tough mission to say the least. What happened if the summon beat its master? There was no information from the guild leader on that. Perhaps you were given the chance to fight again? This would mean there wouldn't be any experience yield from the summon. Star looked over to Masaru and then to the ground.

"Should we try it too? Maybe some mobs and bosses will be impossible without the use of a summon. It'd be better I guess to learn how to fight with them now than later." She was using her tactician brain once more when thinking about it. She wanted to summon Robin Hood right now, but she would wait for Masaru to choose their next route. She wanted to hear his words, his opinion.

 

Masaru listened to Hikari's reasoning, ti was true, it would be a good idea to utilize the method to summon, but he wondered what would happen should the Summon beat the Player, would it be Game Over or you wouldn't get another chance to fight the Summon until later? He was unsure about the information there, he wasn't that brushed up with history so he had no idea what periods in time they were form.

"We could do, but judging by the number of people here, the Goblins will be spread out so we won't get crowded, plus, it doesn't hurt to do the Summoning privately since I have little to no doubt we'll have another PK Guild in this Death Game, but you are right about mobs and bosses, the game will expect us to utilize these Summons a lot, considering they are the main reason people bought it compared to other games like ALO or GGO, only people I can think of that utilizes a non-Player is Beast Tamer from SAO or in ALO, The Cait Siths." Masaru said with his arms crossed.

"But for now, you're right, we'll get ourselvess up to level 3 and head over to the next spot, I imagine some people will spend more time here to get higher than Level 3 to adapt to the battle system and of course, with so many people here, they don't have to worry about being blindsided by a mob because it's likely someone else will take care of that." Masaru explained to her.

 

While a bunch of players had stayed behind in the Town, a swarm of players had begun their journey together, following a man who had created a guild called, "Summoned Knights". Jankano was not ready to join a guild just yet. It would be a while before Jankano would even consider the idea of joining one as the fight to beat this game had just begun. Past experiences led him to believe that not all guilds built from the beginning lasted long, and those that did would have to go through moral trials. Whether the leaders of these guilds were good people or bad, what Jankano was really going to be looking for was who they became down the road. For the time being, he'd stay guildless, but giving the front lines his active support nevertheless.

Jankano wondered what the people who stayed in the town would be doing. Would some pick up a craft and lend their support via Blacksmithing, tailoring, weaponcrafting, or some other trade? If the game started with 1,000 players, then just how many players were ACTUALLY going to be in the front lines? Brown irises took a quick look around the crowd of players that had joined the Summoned Knights. At most he estimated 40+ players. Perhaps there were some players going in other routes? The swordsman bit his lower lip as he looked on ahead, a camp becoming visible in the horizon.

"Could we make it with 100+ players at the front lines?" he queried under his breath.

Oh who the hell was he kidding. There would probably be more players arising to take up arms in the long run. However, how many players they lost...

A deep sigh escaped him as the large group of warriors made it to the goblins camp. Jankano took up arms, right hand gripping the handle of his two handed sword. It was still a bit heavy than what he remembered, but perhaps it had more to do with him being a little rusty. He joined a party after a quick talk with some random people and they went to work in earning exp. Grouping was a wise decision as he had no knowledge of this game. Learning the basics, and getting used to the mechanics of this game was top priority for him. It would be a lot safer to do so with a group as it reassured a safety net if things ever went south. Also, by grouping up he would be able to observe and analyze anything unusual.

All things aside, Jankano and his group went to work. Goblins with spears, scimitars, cannons, shield, knuckle, and god knows what other weapons were they using further in the camp. All he knew to do when he saw one was use a sword skill to cleave through their virtual bodies. Gaining the exp to lvl 2 was easy, but it started to get a little tougher to reach lvl 3 when the monsters started to take a while to spawn. With his group, and their being so many other players in the same camp, it was a no brainer. Supply and demand could be such a pain in the ass. They eventually started tackling higher lvled monsters when everyone in the party got to lvl 3. Lvl 5 goblins weren't tricky, but they obviously hit a lot harder, even when using the <<parry skill>>.

It was nice to take a moment of reprieve when the leader of the Summoned Knights, Alpha as they called him, showcased something that had completely slipped Jankano's mind.

That's right... In the character creation screen, we were asked to choose a hero. Is this what they are used for?

He watched alongside his group as the summon took place, and becoming quite the spectacle for a good while. Afterwards, a few other players started their summoner's ritual. His group decided to undergo their ritual's one at a time, in case one or the other couldn't handle their summon. Again, safety nets. The group only had to interfere once with one of the player's ritual, but other than that they all underwent them successfully. Jankano had decided to not undergo the ritual just yet as he was more focused on just getting his level up. He had to admit though, the summons really helped the grinding process out a lot. The group managed to reach level 6 fairly easily as the grinding became more of a Time Spent: Exp ratio. With the summons aiding them, they were able to take down more lvl 5 goblins with ease.

 

<<H̦̦̩ͬa̖̜̦͔͖̙̍̂ḑ̠e̺̘͂̔̃͂ś̮̰̮̫̎̊>>​

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Sylar gave a nod, and opened his inventory. He tapped a couple of buttons and checking his weaponry. He knew he had gotten two weapons, a pistol and a sword. He equipped the pistol, which appeared on his right leg, in a holster. He pulled it out, checked the mag, and spun the gun in his fingers, and looked at his gun, overhearing <Seth's Angel> and <SilentBlade> about special skills, saying to them as he walked out the gate, "We will teach you whatever there is that we kno about this game. I fortunately have learned a little bit about it before our little debacle here in the Circle of Judgement, so yeah." ​

He looked up ahead before implying, "There should be a field nearby with a couple of NPC Enemies. if we go there, we could farm a little bit, then move on the the next town. My guess is that it'll take a couple of days for us to prepare for the boss, so until then, we train."​

 

Emma bit her lip as the offer to travel with Bryce and Tessa was presented to her. Looking around the area, she couldn't see the person who had made the guild anymore, nor could she see Kat. Both of them kind of annoyed her. She'd wanted to actually be able to talk to Kat more, she hadn't even sent her a friend request. She'd almost actually made a friend, and now she may have lost the chance forever. Looking back to Tessa, she nodded. "I'm going to join the guild that was established here just a bit ago, but until then I'll go with you two. Can't treat this like a game, we've got to be smart about it" Emma said, before opening her menu. How the hell did she do this...ah, there it was. There was a button to request to join the party. Seconds later, a message would pop up in front of Tessa with Emma's request to join.


Before they continued, Samuel realized he hadn't even invited <Hades> or <Seth's Angel> to a party. Pulling up the menu, he sent an invitation to both of them to officially join his party. Once that was sent, he veered off of the path to the left slightly, where there was a beta tester offering to trade them a copy of his personal manual for a little gold. It was frustrating having to rely on someone else, but Samuel took the offer and acquired the item. He opened the book and began reading. He stood there for about two minutes, skimming the basic mechanics which happened to include summoning, and he then made his way back to <Hades> and <Seth's Angel>,walking alongside them once again. "From what I can tell, most people are heading towards the same area. My guess would be someone found some low level enemies. We could do that, but if we go to some slightly higher levels, we can fight those things instead and level much more quickly. It'll be riskier, but the reward will be worth it. We might not have the levels to make it a breeze yet, but if you're really a veteran of SAO like you claim we'll just have to pick up the slack for Angel and we'll be fine" Samuel said, giving a friendly jab towards <Hades> as he did so. He may not like socializing, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to do it.

A short time later, Samuel and Samantha had reached the area with the orcs. Samuel hadn't paid attention to <Hades> on the way there, in fact he'd barely been keeping an eye on <Seth's Angel>, so it was extremely possible he'd just followed anyway. Not even really glancing at his allies, Samuel unsheathed his blade. It had been a while since he'd fought something a higher level than him. He was only level 2, and the Orc he was staring at was level 5. A three level difference could mean a lot, so Samuel would have to be on top of his game. A smirk appeared on the youngster's face. He was always on top of his game. "Angel, keep an eye on my health. It should be a little bar to the side of your vision. If that starts getting low, I want you to open your menu and look at the incantation for your cure spell. Do that and we shouldn't have to pull anything too desperate here. Aside from that, see if you can fire a few arrows. The game should do most of the work for you, just do what comes naturally" he instructed, before dashing forward.

It was Samuel who landed the first strike. He was disappointed with how slow he was; his speed stat had been much higher in SAO, as had his physical attack. Only a small sliver of the orc's hp actually went down, with the creature responding. Thankfully, Samuel was able to parry the strike with his blade as he saw an arrow coming straight for the orc....and flying straight past its head. "Give it another try!" he called out, through gritted teeth. The pressure from the orc's club was too much, and Samuel hopped backwards and out of the way.

Not letting the assault end there, he struck two strikes on the orc; the first hit hitting the side of the creature and then once on its back. It was at about half hp now, and it was not liking it. Turning around, it swung ferociously at its opponent, but Samuel sidestepped it quickly. He was very nimble naturally, and he'd been against some of the higher strength bosses in the original SAO so the clumsy attacks of this beast were predictable, making it a less challenging fight than it should have been. The orc swung once more at him with a bellowing roar, and Samuel ducked down underneath the strike before seeing his opportunity. Swinging the katana up with supreme gusto, he drove the blade straight up the orc's chest, landing several hits on the creature before it fell backwards and exploded into pixels.

No sooner had Samuel done that then he felt a little stronger. He'd levelled up. It didn't surprise him that much, given he'd been roughly halfway through level 2 before the encounter due to fighting goblins before they'd all been teleported to hear the death message. One more Orc should put him to level 4, maybe 5 if the others could take out another, or two. In his moment of distraction, he felt a tremendous blow to his side that sent him barreling away and across the ground, sliding along the ground and creating a small dust cloud. Getting up with a groan, Samuel looked forward to see another Orc. He spit out some blood onto the ground and then a slight smirk appeared on his face. He wasn't going to be able to take another hit like that; if he couldn't see the attack, it felt as though it hit harder. And so he had one choice. This was going to test his abilities, he had no doubt about that.

"Open, gates of heaven! Release...Alexander The Great"
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<H̦̦̩ͬa̖̜̦͔͖̙̍̂ḑ̠e̺̘͂̔̃͂ś̮̰̮̫̎̊>

Sylar followed both <Seth's Angel> and <SilentBlade> to the open fields. Sure enough, <SilentBlade>'s predictions of other players following their examples were already killing Hogs, Imps, and more. "From what I can tell," <SilentBlade> suggested, "Most people are heading towards the same area. My guess would be someone found some low level enemies. We could do that, but if we go to some slightly higher levels, we can fight those things instead and level much more quickly. It'll be riskier, but the reward will be worth it. We might not have the levels to make it a breeze yet, but if you're really a veteran of SAO like you claim we'll just have to pick up the slack for Angel and we'll be fine." He nudged Sylar's shoulder playfully, but Sylar wasn't amused in the slightest.
"Though it would be wise to fight higher levels, it would be unwise to not teach <Seth's Angel> how to fight at all." He replied. "If we want to survive as a group, the work load needs to be distributed evenly." But Sylar smirked anyway, as this seemed to be <SilentBlade>'s attempt at small talk. Sylar had a notion that guy wasn't the talking type, and Sylar at times was the same case, but for the sake of helping others, and how history was repeating itself, everyone needed new allies even if they didn't want to.

They soon arrived to a field, filled with Lvl 5-7 Orcs. Sylar had been wise to kill a couple of Hogs on the way before the game wide announcement that they were trapped in this death game, and was at a decent-ish Lvl 3 right. Now it was time to see what his pistol can do.
"Angel, keep an eye on my health. It should be a little bar to the side of your vision." <SilentBlade> said to <Seth's Angel> "If that starts getting low, I want you to open your menu and look at the incantation for your cure spell. Do that and we shouldn't have to pull anything too desperate here. Aside from that, see if you can fire a few arrows. The game should do most of the work for you, just do what comes naturally."
<SilentBlade> then charged in, and hacking the nearest Orc, a level 5. As Sylar watched, he explained to <Seth's Angel> the basics.
"All the fights in this game are very basic if you can understand them. As <SilentBlade had already stated, there is a health bar, or HP bar as most gamers call them. If that bar gets to 0...." His voice trailed off, and he shrugged before going on. "Underneath that is the Mana bar, which helps generate our magic, our usernames and our Levels. A key thing against that Orc and our friend over there is his Level; the higher it is, the better our statistics."
Suddenly, <SilentBlade>'s health bar flickered and lowered down by half within Sylar's field of vision. He looked up and saw that he was thrown a little ways away; attacked by a Level 6 Orc. Even though his colleague was fine and had summoned Alexander the Great, Sylar wasn't going to take any chances. He spun his pistol outward and fired three shots in quick succession. Two of them hit the lower back of the Orc that attacked <SilentBlade>, but one was a definite headshot. The Orc pixelized, then exploded in a flurry of digital crystals. He then threw out a hand towards his hurt colleague, and focused.
"Restore!" Sylar called. <SilentBlade>'s HP went back up a good amount as Sylar prepared to fight.​

 

Tessa flicked open her screen with deft fingers and accepted the request sent from the girl. <OutbackHeroine> would like to join your party. Never would have guessed. Tessa kept her thoughts to herself, wanting to avoid another outburst as she flicked to the inventory screen and equipped the <<Weapon Evolution Potion>>. "I just want to give this a shot." She told her fellow group members as she doused the gun in the strange liquid. As soon as both objects connected, the gun shuddered in her hand before elongating, becoming heavier. The bottle disappeared from her hand in a burst of pixels as she held onto the changing weapon with both hands, raising it up to reveal a sniper rifle.

Perfect. She turned to Bryce, who was watching her blankly, arms now crossed. She hadn't realized he had even gotten up from the ground yet. Way to go, Tessa. Paying attention to your surroundings. He was pissed, she could see it. There was no way he was going to evolve his weapon now, in front of a stranger. Tessa shrugged and reached up, shifting the gun to one hand for a moment to flick the middle of his forehead. He blinked in return, but otherwise gave no reaction. Boy was he mad.

"Maybe it would be better to group up. Perhaps if the guild you were going to join seems respectable, we will too. It would be nice to have some other people watching our back." Bryce shifted, and she ignored it. He would just have to get used to the idea that they could no longer take on this world alone. If it was the two of them against roughly nine hundred and ninety eight other players, she didn't think the odds would remain in their favor.

"So...I'm Tessa. Since My user name can be a mouthful in an emergency. And this is Bryce." She tapped the body of her gun with her finger, already accustomed to the added weight. The barrel was long enough that it nearly touched the ground, and she shifted, pulling it up just enough that it was still aimed at the street, but not enough that it would bump against the ground should she get pushed, which could irrevocably damage the weapon. Not a good way to start.

"Do you know of any place we can go to level up? I think that should be first order of business. Who knows, maybe we'll find your guild there too." She suggested, uncertain if her role was still one of the leader. Bryce always let the decisions fall to her, and only acted when the situation was dire. This stranger, whoever.....


Bryce was fuming. Not just mad, not even a little angry. Fuming. Tessa knew how he felt about strangers, and yet here she was inviting the one person who had attacked him to stick around with them. Did they need to group up? Probably. Did it have to be her? No! He hoped this was reflected in the way he stared at Tessa, but if it bothered her she gave no indication. In fact, she flicked him on his forehead, a favored act of hers to annoy him. It worked, but he tried not to show it. Tessa knew what was right, and by god he would do his best to follow her. Even if he felt distrust and pent up rage towards their new companion.

"I think there's a camp, someplace to the east." He added, keeping his voice low. It was easier to keep it calm, this way. He didn't want to start a fight with this girl, and get Tessa almost shot again. Again. They had barely been in this world an hour and already she had been put in danger. Was it his fault? Eh. No. It was this girl's. The girl they were going to travel with. He felt a migraine coming on.

 

Il Matto didn't want to go with the pest, vexatious 'Guild' that had been made up on the grounds. He had wanted to find someone alone, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. He then saw someone who was walking aimlessly. "Specter!" The man called out the Username of the fellow. "Why my good fellow, why don't I provide you with a little assistance? I have a special item that you may be interested in." He pulled out the <<Weapon Evolution Potion>>. "'Tis an extra. I believe that somebody did not care to believe our good creator. What sort of fool would do such a thing?" He rolled his eyes. "In any case fellow, I have a diversion in mind that you may have cause to be interested in. Windows of opportunity like this come and go in the blink of an eye and the early bird catches the worm as they say. Do you dare to take the chance? Shall you determine your fate with a small test of fortune, to gamble everything on a wager?" Il Matto gave him a nudge, putting his arm around him. "What do you say sir? Given that we are all at the bottom it is safe to say that you have naught to lose. At this juncture, the only way is up!"

 

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As Jackyl acquired the party invite from Mr. Edgemeister, she internally congratulated herself on her amazing diplomatic skills and then promptly accepted the invite. While he seemed to be content with just doing his own thing and fighting his own fight, Jackyl decided to respect that and go do her own thing and fight her own fight. Swinging her blades around, she found a few level one goblins that sort of just spawned in, and went to make short work of them with her two swords, swinging at them with extreme prejudice and probably some form of racism (because the two often went hand and hand together.)

Jackyl continued to fight on, until her partner here decided to try something. Doing some kind of a chant, a large man was just sort of summoned out of thin air and started just attacking Lucas. While Jackyl felt like she should help, she also felt like her party member would not really appreciate her assistance and intervention in whatever this was, and so she decided to be productive in the mean time and help deal with more goblins. That way they'd be really efficient in gathering EXP, and Edgemeister would still be gaining levels from all of this.

As she was doing this, though, she noticed that his hp seemed to be getting low, and he himself looked pretty worse for wear. While she was about to go see if she go actually help him out of this situation, it seemed like he managed to get it under control, as the man bowed to Edgemeister, thus winning his respect and fealty. While the person seemed to dismiss themselves, her partner had other ideas as he summoned him right back and into the fight. Turning towards her, he then asked her if she could summon one herself. Well, more telling her to summon one than actually asking her to.

Thinking back to when she had first started playing the game, during character creation, she was struggling to remember what was the name of her summon. After a few more moments of deliberation, she remembered everything she needed to. Lodging the swords into the ground, she clapped her hands together, as if praying, and closed her eyes while saying, "open, gates of heavens. Release the legendary Paladin of Charlemagne....Astolfo!" And so too did a knight descend from the heavens. An androgynous looking knight, who could honestly have an easier time passing for a female than she could,had been summoned before her, wielding a lance in one hand, and having a sword sheathed at his waist. With virtually zero down time, though, Astolfo had begun his attack.

Grabbing her blades from the ground, Jackyl jumped backward in order to evade the attack, doing so just narrowly as the spear had nicked her cheek. At that moment, though, something felt completely off. Her sense of balance had gotten completely messed up and all it looked like what happened was that she tripped backwards, landing on her rump. Feeling slightly disoriented, she seemed to be completely out of it, but came back to her senses just in time to grip her blade and parry a spear that was coming towards her abdomen. Kicking back against the ground, Jackyl created some distance between the two as Astolfo had simply ended up stabbing at the ground where Jackyl had been.

Picking herself back up, the knight went and stabbed at her once more, only this time with Jackyl having ample time to react and parry against the spear blade with her two swords. Doing so resulted in the spear being spun around and her being hit by the butt of it, knocking the wind out of her, but not knocking her down. As the knight spun the spear back to stab at her, Jackyl prepped herself to react this time, ducking to the left, only getting grazed by the spear once more, though not losing her balance this time, she went in for the kill. Bringing in both of her blades in at the same time, she struck from the direction, both of them slashing across the torso of the knight. Bringing her blades back around in an X formation, she caught Astolfo's spear as he swung it like a staff at her, disarming it from the hands of the knight and gaining a leg up in the fight. Or so he had thought.

The moment she had lodged the blade from the grip of the knight, he had immediately drawn his sword from his side and slashed at her torso, making a slightly nasty cut over her abdomen and causing her to back off. Giving a quick flick of her wrist, Jackyl spun her blades purely for show as she prepped herself for round two of this impromptu boss fight. Charging at him, she struck with both of her blades in a downward motion, only for her blades to be blocked by her summons and parried back, and her body to be open for an attack once more. However, as her attack was parried, Jackyl quickly went to go jump back with the momentum of the block, avoiding what probably would have been a fatal blow with just a small scratch next to the nastier looking one.

With a final assault, Jackyl threw herself at her opponent once more, striking at her opponent with one blade only for it to be blocked. However, she slid the blade off so that it was free, at the same time, striking with the other, creating a hurricane of pressure being generated from her sword strikes. Eventually, the knight showed a sign of opening under the constant strikes, and Jackyl struck with one of her blades, cutting through the torso and leaving a large gash there. As the attack finished, the knight stopped attacking and sheathed his sword. Kneeling down to her, he said, "you have proven a liege worthy of my service. I hereby pledge my blade to you m'lady." With that done, the summon dismissed himself.

Letting out a "woohoo~" Jackyl was ecstatic about what she had done here. Now she had her own summon that she could go and beat things up with as well. This was all kinds of awesome. Pointing her sword to the air, she said, "Astolfo, come down and kick these goblin's assess!" With that, the knight had been summoned back to the field, letting out a sigh towards his master's vulgar nature, but still readied his spear nonetheless. With that, the quartet of summons and masters alike had gone on to go and kill the goblins that were here and there. Going deeper and deeper into the encampment so that they could get more and more exp, they continued to steer clear of any other parties that happened to be in the fortress, as per the anti-social nature of Edgemeister, until they had managed to get to level six together. At this point, as Jackyl continued to fight the goblins, she noticed the diminishing returns that she was receiving from the field, coming to the conclusion that this was probably the end of the training here.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she looked to her party member and said, "well I guess that does it for here." Sheathing her two blades, she extended out her hand for a friendly handshake to her partner. "It was nice working with you Edge. I guess you'll be leaving now that we finished this area, but it was fun while it lasted. Hope to see you again within this game."

 

Those who haven't left the town yet, please do so now. Within my next post a boss will appear in the Goblin village. The spawn will be gone so it'd be best to have everyone obtained their summons and some exp.


Star nodded to Masaru's agreement. Right now, things within the Goblin camp were starting to get a little more serious. The summons were being called and the Goblin onslaught was becoming greater and greater. In fact, the respawn delay was now noticeable. More players were heading over to the level 5 Goblins where Star and Masaru were grinding at the moment in time. It look like now was the time to summon her partner and dual him.

"Open, gates of heaven... Release... Robin Hood!" The light that was seen when Alpha summoned his own was the exact same. The Archer looked over to Star with a smile. He drew his bow back and prepared to fire at Star without any form of introduction. Star readied her own longbow and waited for Robin Hood to make his move. They were at a standstill with one another. Who would fire first? Who would make the slightest mistake. The artificial wind blew over, Star's hair flowing as was Robin's feather within his hat.

The silience ended now with bow arrows firing simultaneously, skimming off each other. Star and Robin dodged the arrow slightly, continuing to fire at each other, rolling to avoid the other's shots. It was a battle of marksmanship and whoever was going to mess up first would lose. The two skilled marksman had kept aiming for the head or heart. If the shot made contact, it would most likely be an instant win.

This was a competition that Star never had the privilege of doing in SAO. Back then, she had the Unique Skill Marksman which allowed her to use the bow class. As such, nobody else was able to do the same so a match like this was only through her bow and their throwing weapons. It was never a real contest though since Star's skill would surpass them every time.

The sniper took a moment and readied an arrow with another already in her hand. The first fired and Robin did a roll dodge as expected. However, the next arrow was already loaded, aimed for his head where it was going to be. She fired and the shot impaled his head. The HP bar fell more than 75% and allowed Star instant victory.

"You are worthy, miss. It shall be my pleasure to aid you in times of need." He vanished and Star looked over to Masaru to see if his match had started, ended, or was still in motion. She had obtained her summon finally!

While waiting, she looked in her inventory and noticed a new item. It was a ring that appeared. It was an Accessory that was called <<Summon's Promise>>. The item description read as followed:

This ring is provided by the partner, a summon. This ring allows the wielder to view the HP and Skill Cooldown underneath their own HP
​

Star equipped the ring and waited for Masaru.

 

Emma looked at the two. UknownSoldier she could understand being a little bit of a mouthful in desperate situations, but was gungirl really that hard to pronounce? Well, whatever she wanted. OutbackHeroine was probably a little difficult to understand too, and while part of her was hesitant to giving out her real life name...could she afford to not do it at this point? "My name's Emma Herondale. I agree with the idea of levelling up, i think it should be a priority. Can you show me where the camp is and what is in it, Bryce?" she asked. Perhaps it was a bad idea to ask him directly when he probably hated her, but the sooner they overcame their differences the better. Maybe she could beat it into him if he didn't listen.


Before him stood the mighty Alexander the great. Samuel had chosen him because the man had been a leader and a powerful warrior, an inspiration to everyone; the kind of man Samuel aspired to be. And now he had to face him. Nodding to Sylar as he acknowledged his comrade having his back, Samuel turned to face Alexander the great. Readying his sword, he prepared to do battle with the legend he had summoned.

The summoner was the first to strike, as usual. He dashed forward and swung with the blade, but Alexander had been prepared for that. The summoned creature blocked the attack with his shield, and Samuel swung out once more. Yet once again, the warrior's attack was blocked with the shield. Hopping back to try another approach, the swordsman realized he'd made a mistake right there and then. Alexander had a huge spear, and while using it at an exceptionally close range would be awkward for him, using it at the range Samuel was at was a perfect situation for him.

As if to reinforced Samuel's realization of the mistake, Alexander swung his spear around in a circle rather quickly, hitting Samuel's legs and sweeping him off of his feet. Falling backwards, things weren't looking so great for the white haired swordsman. While he was knocked off of his feet, his opponent leaped up and towards him, holding the spear in the air poised to impale him. Eyes widening, Samuel rolled to the side and then rolled backwards, getting up before stabbing forward with a quick thrust of his katana. Alexander the great stepped out of the way but only barely, the blade piercing his armour slightly and making a thin cut along the side of his torso.

Alexander wasn't beaten that easily though, not by a long shot. Spinning around, he kicked the warrior away from him, before raising his hand into the sky. His palm began to glow yellow before bolts of lightning crashed into the ground and electrified the area. Samuel was zapped by the electricity as it made its way up his body, frying him from within and causing searing pain throughout his entire body. While he was distracted Alexander dashed towards him, spear raised as he made his move to end the summoner who was not worthy of his services.

Recovering rather quickly, Samuel's mind began working quickly. Immediately he had an idea. As Alexander neared him and rushed forward, Samuel quickly hopped to the side and out of the way, before slashing with his sword across the back, his high attack power (in comparison to a level 1 summon's) strong enough to penetrate the armour and do some serious damage. Then, he leaped up and put his foot on the soldier's back, before leaping up and into the air. Doing a somersault, he held out his hand and in it appeared the blade that had been in his inventory, sitting there ready for when he'd need it. He was now dual wielding, and as he came down back onto Alexander he thrust both blades through the warrior's shoulders, defeating him instantly and reducing his hp to 1.

Still holding the blades, Samuel looked at his hp. It'd been close, in fact he'd been at only 2 hp after the last attack, but he had done it. He'd beaten his summon. A notification letting him know that the Summoner's Ring had appeared in his inventory was shown, before he dismissed it and equipped the ring. He cast a quick restore spell on Alexander, before turning to look at <Seth's Angel> and <Hades>. "Well, looks like this fighting just got a little easier" he said with a slight grin. ​

 

Masaru decided he should also unlock his Summon and took a area that wasn't going to interfere with Star's own match and he took a deep breath and ha dhsi eyes closed, to mentally prepare himself and he cleared his throat. "Open, gates of heaven! Release.... Guan Yu!" Masaru called out and the light shone, blinding him for a brief moment and there stood the man himself, Guan Yu, Masaru had to admit something. "How tall is he?! He's like way past 6 foot at least!" Masaru thought in surprise, he had a very long flowing black beard that was well, reaching down his chest in his green clad armour but his weapon was truly unique

"A spear? No, it's different than that, the blade doesn't curve like that, it must be a pole-arm or something." Masaru thought and the voice of Guan Yu brought him out of his thoughts. "So, you are to be my Summoner, first, I must test your resolve to see if you are worthy cause to fight alongside with so arm yourself!" Guan Yu's tone sounded like one that echoed respect and admiration, but his battle aura felt very different compared to the other times Masaru faced beings with intent and he called upon his Sword and gave it an experimental swing.

"Hmmm, it's similar in length and weight as the SAO ones.... okay, I can work with this." Masaru moved into a fighting stance as did Guan Yu, the two beings calmly waiting and as a cry of a Goblin being slain by another Player was heard the two charged forth, Sword met Polearm, sparks flew and Masaru had to actually grunt and drag his sword along the blade of the polearms to strike across Guan Yu's torso while barely avoiding the polearm coming own on his shoulder to cut him, but the man simply took a small nick before twirling his weapon and hitting him in the chest with the blunt end of the pole-arm, causing Masaru to gasp for air and land backwards, his free hand holding where he was hit.

"He uses his muscles as sheer power but is easily wielding that large weapon like nothing! I faced monsters bigger than him but this guy is different, maybe if I had the unique skills." Masaru thought back on his skill to wield tow of the same sword but the power wasn't stacked but rather spilt and he breathed. "That was to test the waters... Now, I got to treat him like he's a Floor Boss or a monster." Masaru opened his eyes and Guan Yu shifted slightly, the Summon could tell the boy's aura changed.

"Let's go, Guan Yu, do you think you can keep up with my sword?" Masaru asked calmly and ran forth with a side swing as the man guarding with the pole and Masaru slid his body, actually sliding underneath the man's legs and behind him the man having reversed his pole-arm to strike at him and Masaru brought himself to guard, sparks flew as he ran the blade across that of his opponent's and pushed himself closer inside, out of reach of the pole-arm and struck the man in the chest and done just as the man was going to trap him, Masaru used his big build to use him as step and flipped backward, moving his sword to attack at his face as Guan Yu's eyes were somewhat widened but he moved to block it and swung, causing him to be sent flying but Masaru stabbed his sword into the ground hand used the momentum to right himself and charged forth, Sword met Pole-arm countless times and each time, Masaru managed to get small scratches on his opponent and jumped back, he was building a sweat.

"I doubt he'll get tired out... But my Sword's durability is another story entirely, I don't want to break it before the first Boss and Hikari isn't going to be repairing it... wait... there nothing to say I can't use two weapons instead of one!" Masaru charged forth once more and when the blade of the pole-arm came close to his face, he blocked with his knife, and thrust forward his swor,d the tip aiming at Guan Yu before the man called. "Stop."

The sword was barely centimetres from making contact with the man's throat and Guan Yu calmly took a normal stance. "Warrior, you proven your skill in this battle, tell me, what do you hope to accomplish?" Guan Yu asked and Masaru spoke. "To protect those I hold dear and to make the world a better plac,e not just for myself but for others." Masaru said and Guan Yu bowed his head. "Then I, Guan Yu, the God of War shall aid you in your endeavour, call upon me whenever you see fit, I'll be your blade that steers those who would do you harm away." Guan Yu disappeared and Masaru gave a big sigh of relief, noting his inventory box was filled with a <<Summoner's Promise>> and he sat on the floor.

"No wonder he felt so overwhelming, his title was is one that cannot be denied." Masaru thought.

 

She had asked him. Him. It was to upset him, he was sure of it. He groaned, wishing he could bang his head against the nearest wall without drawing too much attention, but from the way Tessa was glaring at him, it wouldn't be the most socially accepted idea. Neither was punching the girl in the face, but the thought entertained him for a little while. "Leave it to the man to have to ask for directions." He muttered before flicking through his inventory, and equipping his axe. Hang on....There was a ring in there he hadn't noticed before.

"Hey...Tessa? What's the ring for?"
He closed the inventory screen and turned to his sister, who was currently going through her own, a slightly frown on her face.

"Oh. That. We should go outside of town for that." Bryce shrugged, and slid his sword into the sheath before making his way outside of town. As they walked, it occurred to him that they were passing very few players. Were they some of the only ones left? The thought of being last irked him to no end, but in truth, he wasn't sure what he could have done to be one of the first one's to the goblin's camp. He didn't look to see if the girl, Emma, was following.

They were about halfway there, when Tessa tapped Bryce on the shoulder. "Okay. So those rings belong to our summons. I think they gave them to us, or something." She frowned, holding her sniper rifle loosely in her hands. "I remember reading the summoning words somewhere...we have to use them to battle for the right to summon them. Like that one game we used to play before we started VRMMO's."

Bryce could only shrug, unsure as to what she was referring. "Oh, right. Stand back Bryce. You too Emma. We can't help each other fight our summons, so maybe you guys should take this time to fight your own. I'm not sure why," she hoisted the gun so the barrel was pointing skywards, her fingers in place to quickly shoot, "But I think we're going to need them soon."

With that, Tessa stepped away, her feet spread in a guarded stance while she perfected the sight on her gun. After that, she spoke calmly. "Open, gates of Heaven. Release, Lancelot!"
While nothing so dramatic as the gates of Heaven opening occurred, a man appeared before Tessa. He was quite a bit taller then she, about the same height as Bryce with curling blonde hair and the face of an angel. Of course his sister would get Lancelot. He thought with some amusement before turning away. If Tessa said he couldn't help, he couldn't help. "Watch out." He growled at Emma as he pulled out the <<Weapon Evolution Potion>> from his inventory and doused his axe turning it into a much heavier, and much more bad*ass weapon. A battle axe.

"Open, gates of Heaven. Release, Boudica!" In a flash the warrior queen stood before him, her flowing red hair cascading down her shoulders as her green eyes, matching the dress she wore, flashed with anger. "How dare ye?" She screeched, drawing her bow and aiming it at him. He grinned and rolled to the side, avoiding her arrows. And so it began.


Tessa stumbled back before tossing herself to the side, avoiding another deadly blow from Lancelot's sword. Once she had conquered her summon, they would make the perfect team. Until then, he was going to make one bitch of a battle. She bolted another few feet, turned and knelt on the ground to steady her aim before pulling the trigger. It was a hasty shot, but the bullet glanced off his armor, denting it on the shoulder. Lancelot looked at the slight injury with nothing but annoyance before pressing the attack.

She backed up yet again, trying to implement the same strategy that had worked in Gun Gale; keeping her distance and using her patience to find the perfect shot. Only it wasn't working with Lancelot. Each time she tried to create distance he would see through her and cancel it out, rushing forward and causing near panic every time he drew close. He had only just escaped death multiple times, and her HP was now at half. It was time to be dangerous.

As much as Tessa hated taking risks, that seemed to be the only way this was going to end. With a risk taking, awesome, breathing removing move. She dodged to the side and turned, trying once more to put as much distance between them as possible. Lancelot allowed her, following more slowly behind. He didn't realize that she wasn't going to simple sit and shoot at him. Oh no. As she ran, she equipped her pistol quickly, turning and knocking off a few shots. They took away some of his HP, still leaving the majority of it. Hopefully this would be enough. She turned, and instead of dropping to her knees, ran back at Lancelot, up a slight incline in the ground. He stopped moving, wary of her unusual movement.

Once she had sensed she was near the top of the small incline she jumped, using the force from her body to flip and tilt herself vertically. Oh this is going to hurt. Lancelot's surprised face looked up at her as the barrel of the gun tapped the place between his neck and collarbone, and she fired.
Despite the pain he must have felt, he grinned, falling to his knees in defeat as she smacked into the ground, the gun falling from her grasp and clattering across the scattered rocks.

"You are a worthy master. I shall serve you." He whispered before bowing his head and disappearing, the last thing she saw his golden hair. Breathing a sigh of relief, she let her cheek rest in the dirt, marveling at how real the grass felt. Her chest ached from taking the blow of the landing, and her side burned from a particular wound the warrior had given her. But she was alive. And she had conquered her summon.

"Hey." Bryce helped her to sit up, worriedly glancing over her body in search of injuries. He himself was holding his shoulder, the remains of an arrow shaft sticking out. She flicked him on the forehead before looking for Emma, wondering how the girl had fared as she opened her inventory and quickly equipped the newly named Summoner's Ring. They were both in pretty rough shape, and still had to level up before they could move on. She hoped Emma had fared better then she had as Bryce's healing spell gently washed over her. She hoped they weren't too late to gain EXP before something awful happened, like a boss appearing.

Fighting a boss at level one....she shuddered. That would be the end of all nightmares, for sure.

 

Cassandra put down the rifle at last. Her arms ached slightly and her ears were still ringing from the sniping. On top of that hill, she had stayed for some time. Unrelenting in her shooting, she fired round after round until a mountain of casings lay beside the rifle where it ejected them. She relaxed her arm muscles for a moment and surveyed the surroundings. This place was beautiful really. It was a shame that there was always the chance of death hovering over her head. She looked at her level count. Level 7. She was likely higher than most players due to her continued efforts. She wondered if any of them had noticed, how suddenly groups of mobs disappeared as quickly as they appeared. As she watched the village a short distance away, she heard the cries to open the gates of heaven and it occurred to her that she should actually summon her summon. I'd completed forgotten about that in the gunplay. She sighed, standing up and picking up her sniper rifle again. She reached out with her left hand and curled it into a fist.
"Open, Gate of Heaven. Release, Joan of Arc!"



There was a column of light from the sky and a brief flash that caught her vision. She could feel a sudden heat, as if there were fire but when she opened her eyes, there was no heat, but there was her. She stood before Cassandra, standing straight and proud. In her right hand, she held the banner that thousands once upon a time in history had walked underneath. It flapped lightly in the gentle wind atop the hill. Transfixed, she examined the blade at the woman's belt. Ornate yet practical with a complex crossguard of weaving metal moving into a double edged straight blade. Her armour glinted, though it was covered in places by black cloth and a chained necklace hung around her neck. Adorning the long blonde hair that ran into a ponytail down her back, tied off at the end with a black ribbon, was a sparkling silver headdress that contributed to her elegance. Her lower half was shrouded by a dress open at the front made of the same material as the fabric across her chest and shoulders. She could see her steel boots and greaves that protected her legs. Looking at her, she couldn't restrain a gasp. Luckily, her surprise was not so that she dropped her rifle.
"Êtes-vous mon maître?" The woman spoke softly. Cassandra blinked a couple of times, just about recognising the French from class at school.
"Uh... Oui? Parlez-vous Anglais?" Alpha437 asked sheepishly. Her summon actually smiled at her, though looked a little guilty.
"Yes, I do. I apologise for speaking in French. I enjoy testing people's French. It makes me very happy that you were able to respond." Joan of Arc said kindly. So, Summons have a sense of humour? That'll make things easier. However, things took a turn for the unexpected, and the worse. "Now, I am sorry, but I'm afraid that I must test your combat abilities before we continue. Good luck, Miss Alpha437." Cassandra blanched as Joan passed her banner into her left hand and drew her sword. The blade flashed in the day's sun as she brought it to bear. Her body slipped into a fighting stance, placing her left foot before her and holding her banner underneath her left arm like a lance. It was at that point that she noticed the pointed tip. I don't even have range as an advantage.

Cassandra dived backwards as the banner-lance struck, sending her tumbling to the grass. Her back hurt, but it was better than being dead. She drew up her sniper rifle and aimed at the woman as quickly as she could. There was no time to look down the scope, so she aimed and fired on instinct. The gun bucked violently in her hands and she almost let go, such was the force of the weapon unsupported. The shot itself would have been on target but her Summon had excellent instincts and moved out the way. She dodged quickly to the side and sprinted towards the prone Cassandra. She struggled to her feet and saw the deadly point reaching for her again. She batted the attack out of the way with the sniper rifle and stepped backwards. There was a spray of blood. Her arm erupted in pain and she dropped the rifle in her hands and instinctively covered the wound. She was so focused on the lance that the deadly blade barely registered and sliced her right arm neatly. She saw the woman's face fall slightly, as if she were disappointed. It was just for a moment. Her face hardened and she struck again, as if to end it quickly. Alpha437 was not done yet however. Cassie threw herself backwards and tumbled down the hill, rolling and yelling with each fresh wave of pain from her arm as it suffered from the impacts.

When she reached the bottom, she groaned and looked up. She saw Joan of Arc charging down the hill after her, lance first and sword at the ready. The flag was stained with some of her blood from the spray of her arm and the fierce look on her face spelled certain doom for her if she didn't do something quickly. Fortunately, she had a plan. Cassandra stood up and put her left hand on the grip of the machine gun slung along her left shoulder. She glared at the woman charging and set a wide stance ready to move. Joan leaped dramatically into the air and Cassandra stepped backwards. The lance flew down towards her, the rest of the fearsome summon following behind. As it drew near, she stepped to the side and it thudded into the ground, digging quite a ways in. She attempted to draw it out, but found it more difficult to dislodge than she thought giving Cassandra time to bring her weapon to bear. As Joan stepped towards her, banner-lance abandoned carrying her blade in two hands, she stepped forwards daringly and pointed the gun at her. Joan looked startled as she realised that she was in the direct line of fire. It was too late for her, but curiously, she smiled. Cassandra squeezed the trigger and unleashed the weapon on full auto. The burst of gunfire tore through her defences and Joan staggered back reeling from the gunshots. She fell to one knee, beaten, and plunged her blade into the ground. She looked up at the wounded Cassandra and smiled.
"Well done Alpha437. I congratulate you on your victory. I am happy to be able to serve with you now." Joan of Arc closed her eyes. "By God, this I swear. I am your sword and your shield. I am your servant, and you are my master. Until the time has come for us to part, in the presence of Christ, our Lord, I swear my allegiance to you." She didn't know what to say to that for a couple of moments.
"I... I accept your oath?" She said, unsure of what to say. She clutched her arm as it pulsed, more blood rolling down her arm. Joan stood up and went to say something, but she interrupted. "And please, when it's just us, call me Cassandra or Cassie, okay?"
"Very well Cassandra." Joan nodded and walked over. She cut a slice off her dressed with her sword and quickly wrapped a bandage around her arm. As she did, the <<Self Recovery System>> kicked in and she started to regain some HP. A notice flashed up on her screen and there was an item in her inventory. <<Summon's Promise>>? She put it on and the status bars of Joan flicked up beneath her own.
"That ring will allow you to keep track of me. I suggest you keep it on at all times. Sadly, I cannot accompany you for long outside of combat and I must go now. I will see you soon. I will look forward to our next meeting." Joan spoke before disappearing in a glittering blue mass of pixels. Cassandra looked down at her arm. The fragment of dress still remained tied to her arm, being used as a makeshift bandage. She smiled. I think I'll enjoy my time with my summon. I should find out from someone if I can have her with me at all times. She walked up the hill, her arm feeling better rapidly and reloaded her Machine Gun. When she reached the top, she picked up the sniper rifle. The casing had spatters of her blood, but they despawned in front of her too. Little patches of blue light flashes where the blood despawned and suddenly, the weapon was clean again. She held her sniper rifle, leaning over the top of her shoulder and gazed at the village below. I guess I should go down there and take a hand in things myself. If things get bad, then I know Joan will be there for me. Besides, I might be able to get some levels on my Machine Gun and get it into a proper Sub Machine Gun like I plan. She hiked it down the hill towards the village, stopping occasionally to snipe a couple of creatures to keep the XP bonus timer going.




Julius turned to the spear wielding figure standing beside him. Both of them breathed heavily, but they had matching grins as they dispatched goblins side by side with ease. The spear of his partner flashed past his head and sure enough, there was a goblin about to stick him in the back with a wicked looking knife. Julius nodded at the spearman and twirled his halberd, lancing a goblin that had appeared behind the other man.
"Even then?" The man winked and laughed. Julius couldn't help but grin back.
"Even. For now." Julius replied, stepping back into the fight and swiftly beheading another foe.

Some time earlier.

Julius stood upon a plain field. The goblins that were out here foraging lay dead on the ground with Julius standing over them. Their blood glittered as it despawned, falling away from his sword and halberd. He grinned and sheathed the sword. He was level 6 now, that was likely enough to get working on what he really wanted to do. He would of course, need a summon to start recruiting. He had to be on the same level. It was high time that he summoned Cú Chulainn. He was not ignorant of the game's mechanics, having done his research and listened to all the demos of mechanics. Upon hindsight, he had missed the Guilds video but oh well. That was just one and there were far, far more interesting things. That happened to include what he was about to do.
"Open, gate of heaven! Release... Cú Chulainn! Child of Light of Ireland, come forth and face me!" Julius issued his challenge. There was a flash of blue light and his reflexes kicked in, blocking the answer with his sword and swiping the spear away. He grinned, for before him stood Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster.




"A fellow Irishman wants me to come fight with him then? Hah!" Cú Chulainn flowed into each step, Gae Bolg pointed at Julius at all times. He of course, stepped into a combat stance as well, holding his Halberd above his head to strike like a snake and sword ready to slice at the right time. He matched the competitive grin that the Summon was given him. He is everything I had hoped for. We're going to do well together my friend.
"What do you think? Skip the pleasantries and get straight to making you my bitch?" Julius suggested. Gae Bolg darted towards him and Julius barely managed to sweep the spear aside as it drew disturbingly close to his chest. Julius stepped back, but Cú Chulainn was already dancing towards him, his moves a blur. Sod this. Attacking it is. Julius charged, stabbing at the spearman with his halberd but to no avail as the Child of Light danced to the side. However, he had anticipated that and his blade was waiting, cutting the other Irishman neatly across the stomach. He glanced down for a moment and his eyes flicked back to Julius.
"Not bad, you might actually get me yet!" The spear flew at him with incredible speed. He batted it away, only to find a boot slamming into his chest and sending him hurtling backwards. Relinquishing his sword and twisting in the air, the Imperator landed on his feet skidding along the ground with his left arm used for support. The spearman and the halberdier locked eyes and charged each other with reckless abandon and the joy of combat singing in their hearts. There was a clang as the heads of their weapons met, parrying each other away as the deadly dance began. One man thrusting and the other dodging, blocking and countering. The Child of Light kicked Julius back again but he recovered quickly and pressed the assault with a flurry of blows, wielding the halberd like a quarterstaff and barraging Cú Chulainn with attacks. Even that was not enough to deter the Summon however, who responded to each strike with a waiting spear and a counterattack which Julius could scarcely avoid. Cuts appeared on his chest and his legs as he had avoided evisceration with but millimetres to spare. They drove each other back, almost equally matched although Julius could see the health bar whittling away with each wound. Death of a thousand cuts, I have to try and end this soon!

Julius charged in again, raining a new flurry of attacks down upon Cú Chulainn. He could have sworn he saw chips out of metal flying about as they duelled, weapons silvery flashes in the afternoon's air. Some instinct triggered and Julius kicked at the Child of Light, only to find their feet connect mid air. They had both tried the same thing. There was an expression of delighted surprise on Cú Chulainn's face as they were both blown back by the attack and Julius felt a surge in confidence and pride. As he landed, he saw a flash of steel by his foot. His sword. He hooked his foot underneath the weapon and flipped it into the air, catching it. He ran in again with his ecstatic opponent meeting him again. They exchanged blows once more. Though Julius' halberd was slower with the one handed technique, he compensated by spinning around with each attack. His halberd and his sword swept out in turn with each spin. Julius became a whirling dervish, hearing the wind whipping through his hair as steel clashed relentlessly. He felt himself gaining ground and looked at the surprised face of Cú Chulainn, who could only smile when he noticed. All of a sudden, he darted backwards, allowing Julius to take a step forward, leaving him open to an attack. As Gae Bolg approached, the player threw himself to the ground and rolled away. Cú Chulainn was on him again in a heartbeat.

The duel was reaching its closing stages and both of them knew it. They were tiring, but neither could afford to lose. Julius, for his pride and the Child of Light for the joy of winning. Cú Chulainn spun Gae Bolg around his head and brought it down into a hard slam that knocked his sword away as he blocked it. The move was repeated and Julius barely managed to get the halberd in the way. Still, the attack plowed through his meagre defence and lay a sharp cut on his cheek that immediately drew blood. The dual wielder grunted, but could not allow himself to fall. He was dangerously close to half health at this point from all these cuts. He had to do something fast. A pair of quick thrusts shook him out of the brief contemplation. Both hits deflected, Ireland's Child of Light spun Gae Bolg again. That was it! Julius ran at him swinging his sword upwards at the spear, disturbing its deadly momentum. With a dramatic cry Julius flung himself headlong into the air and stabbed downwards with the halberd at Cú Chulainn.

The halberd took the spearman in the chest and he fell backwards, staggering. Releasing the spear, Julius took his weapon in both hands and rained down blows upon Cú Chulainn. Unhampered, the Child of Light would easily have blocked each hit but with the spear in his chest, he was weakened and slower. Julius' blows cut through his defence and swept the spear out of his hands. Gae Bolg flew out of its wielder's grasp and landed on the grass. Finally, Julius Maximus raised his sword and smote down upon the Child of Light sending him sprawling to the ground, beaten as his HP dropped to 43%. Julius' chest heaved as he yanked the Halberd out sending the bar toppling to 20%. Cú Chulainn looked down at himself and back up at Julius.
"Damn, you actually managed it. You sneaky bastard." He grinned and got up to his feet, walking over to Gae Bolg. He held the weapon over his shoulders and looked around at the victorious Julius. "Looks like I'm stuck with you now. At least you're good. I hope the fighting's as good where you're going as you are. If it is, then we'll have a lot of fun."
"And it isn't as good?" Julius raised an eyebrow.
"Then I guess we have to fight each other. I want a round two after that!" Julius smiled. Cú Chulainn yawned all of a sudden. "Look, I'm tired after all that and the game rules say I've got to go anyway so, yeah. I'm off. Oh, and there's a ring in the inventory. That'll let you keep an eye on me and see how much you messed me up. Anyway, see ya." The Child of Light gave a lazy wave and disappeared in an instant. Julius watched him go and fell over, panting heavily.
"I feel bad for the enemy, because between us two they're goners." He said to himself proudly. After a couple of minutes' respite he opened his inventory, equipped the <<Summon's Promise>> and leapt to his feet. There was no time to waste. After all, levelling didn't happen by itself. ​

 

Emma wasn't going quite as good as most others, but she wasn't in the absolute worst situation. She, like the others, had released her summon. And like the others, had begun fighting them. However, unlike most of the others, her summon didn't have a sword or a spear or any kind of melee weapon. No, her summon was ranged and had pretty much a better version of her own weapon. Why had she chosen Ned Kelly? Why couldn't she have chosen barney the dinosaur or some crap like that? No, she had to pick the most badass australian legend she could think of. And damn she was regretting it.

She ducked behind another rock in the field as her summon fired another blast. She'd been repeating this motion for the last few minutes, unable to make any headway. Ned Kelly had initiated the fight with his most powerful ability, one that buffed the crap out of his attacks, before he had begun a barrage of constant shots. She wasn't going to make any progress, and she knew it. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and peered over the top of the boulder with the end of her gun pointing straight at Ned. Except it wasn't pointing at Ned. Where was he? Moments later, she got her answer. A smoke cannister landed on the ground beside her and started shrouding the immediate area in darkness and caused Emma to start coughing. Through the smoke she saw a dark shadow appear in front of her, followed by his shotgun. Emma froze, fear inside of her. Quickly she began trying to pick exactly where he was. She could see the shadow, but was that really him? While she was thinking that, an explosive shell came from the other side of the smoke straight towards her, hitting her in the stomach and sending a powerful explosion that blew away the smoke, along with the rest of her hp except 1. Emma had lost.

"You have failed me, summoner. You are not worthy" came the voice of Ned Kelly, shortly before he vanished. She sat there for a moment, not able to believe it. If it weren't for the duel mechanics, she would be dead. Tears welled up in her eyes as the realization came in. She looked around and could see Bryce and Tessa, both of them had apparently got her summons. Sadly and slowly she turned away from them and simply stared where Ned had been. She'd tried so hard, she'd done everything she could hadn't she? And yet, she had failed. The tears she'd been holding up were released, and all the built up emotions were released with them. She began sobbing. Why had they been put in that game? She'd never done anything wrong, what had she done to deserve this?

After just a minute, she pulled herself together. The weak would die, she was sure of it. Only the strong would survive, and if she sat there crying she'd be an easy target. If she couldn't even get her summon, what right did she have to live while others would surely die? She had to prove herself, and she had to do it now.

"Open, gates of heaven! Release Ned Kelly so that I might face him and prove I have what it takes to beat this game!" Emma called out once more. She was tired and only had 10HP due to regeneration, but she had to try.

"Summoner, you should heal before you attempt this. Should you fail this time, you will have only one more chance before the ability to call upon my strength is lost forever" Ned Kelly warned. It didn't even sound like him, it sounded like it was just a program...probably because he was.
"I don't care!" the girl called out. Ned Kelly simply nodded and the fight began.

Firing at each other and dodging the shots, the two were fiercely close in terms of being hit. They began firing at each other faster and faster, every few shots having to stop and reload on the fly until eventually Emma was just a little too slow. She'd reloaded her gun, but Ned had his gun to the back of her head, just as Tessa had had a short time ago. "You have failed me once more, summoner. You are still not worthy" he said. At this, something triggered in Emma. Perhaps it was the built up rage, perhaps it was her Australian heritage, but some small part of her refused to give up. Whirring around faster than a tasmanian devil, the girl lashed out with a savage kick and disarmed her summon, who raced back to collect the gun. He then turned and shot a smoke canister up in the air and towards her.

Waiting for the right moment, Emma watched it sail towards her, before firing a single blast from her shotgun and sending the canister straight back at Ned, shrouding him in darkness. The cry of confusion was easy to hear as he began engulfed in a smoke cloud, and he began moving quick. God, he moved quick, a moment later and he would be out of it. And he was. Not even three seconds after he'd had his vision shrouded, he was out of it and scanning the horizon for Emma. He didn't have to look far. In fact, he only had to look up at the girl who was standing just before him, and more importantly at the shotgun put in his face. "Not worthy my ass" the girl said, before firing one solid blast into his face, taking away 50% of Ned Kelly's hp immediately.

Without a word, Ned vanished, and Emma received a notification that she had acquired a new item. Opening her inventory, she equipped the summoners promise and then made her way back over to Bryce and Tessa. She wasn't entirely sure if they'd seen her outbreak earlier. Given how close by they'd been, she figured it was fairly likely...god that was embarassing. "How'd you two go?" she asked, quick to change conversation.​

 

Bryce was busy healing Tessa while his older sister watched Emma's fight. He felt her wince when the girl was injured, and breathe a sigh of relief when she escaped danger. Was she so attached to this girl already? He sighed as he finished healing and turned on his own injuries, leaving only the very minor.

As Emma approached, finally having defeated her summon, Bryce had to admit he was impressed. She definitely had fortitude, and determination. Perhaps she would be a worthy member to the party after all.

He set to work healing her injuries, taking it upon himself as the unnamed medic to make sure everyone was back to one hundred percent, or close enough. That didn't need permission, right?

After he was finished, he waited, more then a little tired but still itching for a fight. And he wanted to see what Boudica could do.

"We did alright." Tessa answered Emma with a smile, a sharp eye glancing over the other girl to make sure there were no injuries untouched. Only when she nodded did Bryce stand.

"Come on guys, let's go get some experience." He said, leading the way towards the goblin camp.

 

Level -- 4
Location -- Goblin Camp

Star smiled at Masaru's resolve. The guy had a lot of power still in him even after Sword Art Online. The girl walked over to him and sat next to him for a moment. "Well, we've succeeded in getting them. All that is left now is to head to the next place. The Orcs and Imps are the next. The only question is which way to we go?"

Star had opened the menu and began to look through the possible routes. A lot of places were locked it seemed. This was going to probably be the keys to winning this game. If they could unlock those towers and then beat whatever challenge was in them, they'd be free, and Star could finally meet the real Masaru.

They'd have to move soon or else the Goblins would start attacking them again. Or, so they thought at least. Star looked up to see that the amount of Goblins was actually zero. The area was big but not one Goblin was spawning for some reason. Earlier they were spawning just fine, and then they were having a slow reaction, but now it was just none. Star thought about why this could be. Perhaps the spawn count was limited per area and had to be reset.

This theory she thought of was quickly shot down though as a wall began to rise around the encampment. A heavy mist descended upon the area, thick enough to where none could see in front of them. Star looked at her hand but could only see the white mist that was around. Within this mist however, two eyes began to glow brightly. They resembled purple amethyst with a tinge of red, lusting around at the people who had entered the camp. The mist faded and a very small amount of Goblins were left.

This Goblin that stood there had health bards begin to surround it. There were 10 in total and a name popped up above its head. Mashtyr the Goblin King had appeared before them it seemed. His level could be seen to be 7, a level much higher than that of the regular Goblins. It wore what could only be determined as Iron plate armor and had two large machete as weapons. The first boss was among the players now. Smaller units appeared as well titled Goblin Elites and Goblin Artillery. The Elites were level 4 while the Artillery were only 2, however, the lower levels were on the sniper towers that dotted across the camp. One would have to climb up or shoot them down.

The brunette looked down to Masaru after jumping up. "Looks like its time for the first boss. This is different than Sword Art Online. Let's go, Masaru." Star readied her bow and was prepared to fire, only saying one last thing before firing, "Come, Robin Hood!" The summon came out and was ready to fight alongside Star and take out this high leveled Goblin King.


Level -- 5
Location -- Goblin Camp

Alpha had partied with a separate person and he alongside their summons were farming the last of the Goblins. Soon the in game event of the boss would occur trapping all the players within to defeat the beast. This was still the tutorial but people were going to struggle. He was sure a certain amount would die right here as well.

Finally, the boss appeared after Alpha slayed the last of the Goblins. The walls going up and the mist surrounding the area was a nice touch to add suspense. Alpha looked over to many of the players who were more struck with confusion than actually attacking. He gave a sigh. He wasn't going to be able to help them through it all. He'd play idiot this time and act like this wasn't part of the beta. It wasn't part of it in general so he wasn't wrong. Thus, he wouldn't open his mouth to assist, only demonstrate with his own sword.

Alpha charged in with his summon Gilgamesh right beside him. The two sliced over at the Goblin King, doing very very little damage to him. This was a boss that was going to take many people to attack together. The Goblin King in return smashed down towards them. They were able to dodge, but only my the skin of their teeth. This was only common sense. Alpha was level 5 while this demihuman was level 7. Although it was only 2 levels, it made a huge difference in stats.

All the guild leader could do now is continue to attack and dodge, hoping to not take much damage. Others would have to follow his lead. Those who were veterans to VRMMOs would know exactly what was ahead of them. This was also a death game, so they knew not to take it carelessly. Only teamwork was going to beat this thing.

Enemies:
Mashtyr the Goblin King (multiple posts)
20 Goblin Elites (4 per post)
30 Goblin Artillery (3 per post)