ID# 401 257 839 [ DuFort , Charles ] . . . ᴀᴄᴄᴇss ɢʀᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ.
ʟᴏᴀᴅɪɴɢ ғɪʟᴇ :: [ ϲʜαʀʟεs • 'ϲʜαʀʟɪε' • ɗυғoʀт ]
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[ 100% ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ ]
ϲ ɪ ɴ ɗ ε ʀ : ❝ You shouldn't prejudge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone . . . ❞
Aincrad - Beginner Town
The masses roamed around the busy street of the Beginner Town of Aincrad, some with a purpose, while some others are just killing time by walking aimlessly and adding to the congestion. That day the normally blue sky was dark and dangerous, each cloud was hovering near each other, blocking the bright ray of sun. The tiny creatures down below could tell that a heavy rain was about to pour down the grounds of this virtual place.
Somehow, this weather made them more anxious than before. As if the weather was an omen of an even bigger, even more malicious scheme rather than just a thunderstorm. The thousands of clicking of heels and boots beating down on the clammy earth were like an army of un-orchestrated music. It sounded dark and lonely, yet full of promise. The promise, of getting back to the comfort and 'safety' of their homes.
There were people carrying bags, swords, food and various game items in their hand. But one person carrying the most bizarre item went unnoticed. A human. A human slumped in the crook of two frail arms of a dark haired child wearing a crimson fur-lined coat and old leather armor with metallic plates on his pants, dragging them down. He strolled casually, wearing a haunted and strained look which made nobody to dare come in contact with him. Everything about him was absolutely normal, except for the part there was an unconscious girl in his arms. If nobody knew, no one would notice the three men carefully following his every move, weaving their way through the crowd silently like snakes. They didn't utter a single word, but nodding to each other once in a while and fixing their eyes on the boy ahead with the girl in his hands. One was a ashen haired teenager wearing a bill cap, whistling to himself. The other a few meters ahead was a mere boy probably in his early teens. His face resembled what most thought as a rat, yet still managing to pass on as adorable. As he bumped with yet another passerby, the boy foully cursed under his breath. The third was rather intimidating. He towered the rest of the computerized midgets surrounding him, with his dark skin and steely eyes it wasn't very hard for him to simply walk through the crowd.
Then finally, after a few blocks, they turned into a narrow, filthy alley.
None of them said a word, and the silence hung in the air like dead bodies. The dark haired boy stared solemnly to the ground, then he whispered close to the girl's ear. "Alissa, I'm sorry." Then slowly, the boy with the bill cap turned to him and asked "Cinder, what now?" his voice sounded urgent.
Charles stayed quiet. He knew what he came here for, but he still couldn't find the right words to put it into. Especially not to his best friend and party members. When did it come to this? He sighed before speaking. Staring straight into his friend's steady, patient eyes, Charles finally answered "Marus...She's dying, there isn't anything that we can do."
Marus stared at him, dumbfounded. From behind he could hear an audible curse from the boy. 'He has got to be freaking kidding me...' He thought. "Cinder, you… you're not serious... are you?" He asked, swallowing his own saliva as if it had been turned into a boulder. Charles didn't say anything. His eyes had turned lifeless, like someone had sapped the life and energy out of him. "I am." He replied monotonously.
Out from the corner of Charles' eye he saw the rat move in and said "Then what are you planning to do?" Even from the tone of his voice he knew even the formidable rodent was disturbed. This was new. The order had come sounding a little different, and Charles just felt it in his guts that this might just destroy him, his life, and everything that was built around it. Restless, Alissa shifted uncomfortably in Charles' arms until she found a perfect spot to rest on, she was cold and her HP dropped drastically. Her face hid in the crook of his arm, and Charles couldn't help but feel a little jealous at her comfort despite her decreasing hit points. How he wished that he could do the same.
"I just told you, there is nothing that we can do." Each word was strained and dejected, matching the expression on Charles' tense, yet youthful, face. There was no question in that , he wasn't experienced enough to save one of his most valuable party members and she was going to disappear forever. Just then, the floating HP bar that hovered gently above the girl began to deplete, her body growing increasingly translucent. She was dying fast, her health dissipating from a hearty 2,010 to approximately 126.
It had been only a few hours since the announcement made by Kayaba Akihiko, and already the capacious amount of player deaths were staggering. 212 players had already died and Alissa was soon to be number 213, being critically poisoned by a first floor mob. What was she thinking? Did she really expect to make it through the entire level on her own? She wasn't strong enough and her equipment were not the best...
Suddenly, tiny specks of pixelation began to drift from the female's limp body. Charles and his comrades could only watch as one of their closest friends began to disappear before their very eyes, her health dropping to zero before she vanished into thin air leaving behind her pixelated data that blew away in the wind...
Then the rain came, the moisture protruding from the fluffy clouds above dropping to the ground with a tiny splash. Not a sound could be heard, but only that of the cool precipitation as it pitter pattered across the landscape. A storm that would last for the next few days...
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7:36 AM November 9th, 2022
Charles made his way through a crowd deep within the Beginner Town of Aincrad, the rain pouring heavily on the earth. The boy's face was placid, unreadable from afar in an attempt to blend into the crown of newbies that had entered the game only three days ago. The thought of being trapped within SAO wasn't as frightening to him as it was to the other players, but the thought of disappearing forever was something not to take lightly. If you were to glance around at the abundance of players that walked the streets you would notice that their joyful expressions had been replaced with many blends of feelings, some of fear, others of sheer bemusement.
It had been two days since the boy and his crew had disbanded, the death of Alissa being too much to handle and Charles unable to keep the group together. He was unaware of his comrades' whereabouts, but he had no intention of seeking them out again, after Alissa's death it seemed that the group had obviously began to drift apart before absconding altogether. No he was alone, left to fend for himself and grind on the local mobs for an impoverished amount of EXP. It occurred to him that he would soon need to gather another party/guild/alliance soon if he was to survive and follow his dream of becoming known world-wide, but where was he supposed to look? He had already traveled all of the Beginner Town and was not confident enough in his ability to reach Torubana even if he truly wanted to... such unexplored areas could be home to a multitude of PKers and tougher mobs.
Exiting the crowd, Charles leaped into the air before performing a front flip and landing elegantly upon a nearby rooftop. Despite his size, the young man was able to carry himself quite well along with a fifty inch long Greatsword that was not only considerable in length but also in weight. A normal player might have had many difficulty in wielding a blade as large as this, but the boy trained himself well, constantly carrying the sword wherever he went in an act of 'getting a feel for the weight'. Soon enough he got used to the heavy sheet of crafted metal.
Then a flash, a flash of white, obsidian, and hearty crimson flickered by. Upon close examination, Charles noticed that it was a player dashing through the city with incredible speed though the man made it seem quite a simple task. Silv, a renowned player among the front-line had seemed to have been on his way to the edge of the city. If Charles was to get out of this accursed Beginner Town then he would most likely have to follow behind the man, in hope that he would clear a path in the mobs for him, if any.
With his mind made up, the player known commonly as Cinder bolted after the man clad in royal clothing. He leaped from roof to roof, trying to mimic the man's movements so that he would be unnoticed, his stealth technique was not the best, in fact, he was not that of a very stealthy person at all, but he tried his best. Following the man towards the edge of the city, he watched as the man left the town, as Charles thought, he was clearing mobs near the path for Torubana... this was his chance!
Cinder jumped and landed on the ground with a sharp clang of his sword beating against his leather and slightly metallic armor, thank goodness that the man was far enough to where the rain would have drowned out the scraping of metal. He then proceeded to furtively track the man out of the city, keeping a close watch to make sure that he would be undetected.. hopefully.
→ Level :: 〖 7 〗
→ HP :: 〖 2,125/2,125 〗
→ Equipped Weapons :: 〖 Épée du Dufort and Incendie Poignard 〗
→ Equipment :: 〖 Manteau Velours de la Noble (Velvet Coat of the Nobleman),
Armure de Cuir Néophyte (Nephyte's Leather Armor),
Bottes en Cuir en Lambeaux (Tattered Leather Boots),
Rongés Gants (Worn Down Gloves)〗
→ Inventory :: 〖 Healing Ointment,
Eight Chunks of Dried Bear Hide,
Reusable Cleaning Cloth,
Smiting Handbook Guide,
Lunch Pail
5,117 Col 〗