Kaedé Hoshi

98 HP

MAX HP

98 EN

MAX EN

_____Kaede had heard the rumors about what lived in promont’s grassy fields but honestly did not care for that and wanted to pass through the area alone. This was her mistake as the warrior crossed on foot across one of the few roads within the area she could find. The morning sun barely rising behind her as she traveled east in search of Dunnstand, a rumored port town where she might have better luck finding a katana. It was a long shot however it was something she was willing to look into as she slowed at the sound of the grass shifting around her.

_____Right hand slowly reaching for her Naginata as her eyes watched the motion spots as best she could. ”They had not been kidding I guess… four, maybe seven already found me…” Gears beginning to change as she drew her weapon and the first enemy approach her from the left. Right side of her frame slid down and counterclockwise, weapon turned for an upward slash as she stepped forward and thrust at the three foot target before moving her weapon upward to throw the knoll over her location into the opposite grass area.

_____Sharp pain arcing in her left leg as she spun her weapon to stab at her attacker, another small knoll she was not expecting. This was going to turn south quickly as she noticed more of the grass starting to move towards her, was this going to be her downfall? ”You all are stupid if you think numbers can stop the great Kaedé Hoshi!!” Weapon piercing deeper into the knoll as she spun around the kick the limb creature off her weapon and take up stance. Deep in the back of her mind she hoped others might come to help the battle as four new knolls emerge and began to approach her from all sides.

 

Rig Cadigan

100 HP

MAX HP

100 EN

MAX EN

Rig yawned loudly and stretched his arms above his head. It was barely the rise of dawn as the golden sun began to envelope the plains of Pormont. He was making his way (what he thought was the way) to Dunnstads. He hasn't been in this place for very long and already he was craving three things: better weapons, better armor, and food. Lots and lots of food.

As he thought this his stomach grumbled loudly. He patted it and breathed out a sigh.

"I know, I know. Don't worry we will find something to eat soon."

He continued walking but there was even more grumbling. He slapped his stomach region that was covered with hard abs.

"Don't be cheeky now. I told ya I would find some food! So just settle down and be patient for the morning."

In response he heard even more grumbling and was about to give his stomach a piece of his mind until he realized the grumbling now turned to growling...and was in front of him.

Startled and alert, Rig heard some more growls, rustling of grass, and now female yelling. He ran towards the sounds of scuffle. He came upon a road where an armed female was gracefully warding off about eight gnolls. The buggers were trying to gang up on her. Even if she could hold her own there is nothing more annoying than unfair numbers. Only bullies do that. And Rig. Hates. Bullies.

He pulled out his wammer and jumped in the air towards the fray. He brought his hammer down towards the closest gnoll. Unfortunately it was just too quick and barely jumped out of the way. The hammer force shook the ground and broke some stones. He rolled as gracefully as he could (which compared to her just made him look like a rolling boulder) and stood at her back.

"Strewth!" He shouted loudly with a laugh, "What did ya do ta piss these wombats off?"

 

Kaedé Hoshi

98 HP

MAX HP

93 EN

MAX EN

_____Kaedé did not exactly like the fact someone came to her aid, much less a large off who failed to be graceful or land his first attack. Not to mention he was not taking a battle serious it seemed only causing her to growl a bit audibly towards him as she had to adjust her stance to semicircle control over fill rotation. ”Territorial creatures, stay too long they get cranky, aka walk into the area and stay for five minutes and they attack.” Spinning her weapon to the right to keep a knoll at bay before she quickly had to move it to the left using the back end to push the knoll away so she could move the blade in time.

_____It was a time like this she really hated not picking her dual swords to start as the battle started to happen. Her frame moving away from the giant a bit so she could open her movements a bit better, she was used to fighting solo with her naginata and considering the shape of her current one she needed the space to also account for any changes in his stance to avoid cutting him, not like she would mind since it would give him a snap to reality that this was not to be taken lightly.

_____Weapon turned sideways as she cut across the left side, right foot sliding on dirt before she slammed the butt of the weapon to the right and cut across her front side at another knoll. This was not much different from SAO, the only real difference was they acted more lifelike and cried out for help before resuming their attacks. Her only real benefit from her weapon was the ability to fight foes at a greater distance than a sword. Her mind trying it’s best to only think of simply motions with her weapon since her reality and game character could not use the weapon at the same levels.
@Eurig Rig Cadigan

 

Rig laughed loudly as he pushed back another attack from one of the gnolls with his large warhammer.

"Cranky? I can't decide who is more cranky, you or the gnolls. Only the insecure respond to aid with anger. If you need your space little sister I am willing to move, but I still need to teach these blokes some manners."

With that he jumped towards the outer ring of gnolls. He brought his hammer down once again as the little monsters tried to scurry out of the way. This time his hammer found purchase on one of the gnoll's legs. It gave out a long, loud screech as it tried to claw at the ground to move away from the giant. Rig picked up the crippled foe by the back of the neck and flung it at another group of gnolls across the road. He gave out another deep laugh.

"Besides, little sister, dont't you find joy in the vanquishing of enemies?" He asked gleefully. Rig wasn't sure why she responded so icy towards his help, but he was determined to have her smile. "You and your naginata are like reapers dancing together. Doesn't your skill pitted against these insects make you laugh? Come! Let us hear you battle laugh!"

With that he again let out another deep, hearty laugh and struck the ground with his hammer. The ground shook as if to laugh alongside the giant. Some of the gnolls closest to him struggled to find steady footing. He then began the combat again with some strikes and parries. He started singing his favorite song in a deep, baritone voice while striking at any enemies that came near to him.

"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree! Merry, merry king of the bush is he! Laugh, kookaburra laugh..."

@Kaede Hoshi

 

Kaedé Hoshi

93 HP

MAX HP

83 EN

MAX EN

”Ending the life of something game or not is not something to be happy about! Clearly you don’t know what it feels like in reality to do it.”

_____Kaedé moved her right arm forward cutting another knoll before slamming the butt of her weapon to keep a knoll away from the large man’s back. The way he fought annoyed Kaedé to a great deal, while she was trying to minimize their pain and take this serious he was toying with them and laughing about it. Right leg moving back as she evaded an arrow and looked for the shooter who stayed within the grass, just what she needed.

”Careful they have archers in the grass, this is not going to end well unless we can either make a break for the safest area or get them to back down.”

_____Kaedé's battle mindset was starting to seep into her bones as she felt a knoll bite her arm. Rage flaring slightly as she tried to shake them off unable to risk moving her hand off her weapon. Her frame spinning rapidly in a waste of her energy to just try and shake the creature off until she was able to and took the chance to impale the knoll for causing her so much trouble. Spinning her weapon to focus left side combat as she stepped forward and got another knoll down with a light growl to deal with the pain in her arm.
@Eurig Rig Cadigan

 

Rig Cadigan

92 HP

MAX HP

95 EN

MAX EN

Rig breathed out a deep sigh. There was just no pleasing some people. He shrugged his shoulders as he continued to battle the viscious gnolls with a smile on his face. It wasn't his place to argue anyways. Everyone felt differently when it came to combat. He will just try to help the best he can and be on his way. No sense in offending her fragile ego.

Rig smiled as the battle commenced and as he pondered on her words. She must have misunderstood his feelings of joy for that in bloodshed. He was just happy to be alive at this moment in a new world. To be alive and pitting his life against those who were obviously evil. Just...to be alive is what brought a smile and a song to Rig's lips.

As he was pondering this he heard the girl mention something about archers in the grass. He turned towards the area she mentioned, and suddenly felt a burning pain pierce his left shoulder. He clenched his teeth down as he glanced at the feathered shaft sticking out of his body. He brought the hammer up and broke the feathered shaft. Feeling the wound made his blood boil with excitement. Despite that, however, he knew that they could get in a lot of trouble if something didn't change in their favor. The gnolls continued to encircle them as he glanced up the road.

"Oi, Sheila! I am going to take your advice and make a way so we can make a break for it. Just thought I would mention in case you wanted to follow. Cheers!

With that Rig charged forward like a bull and plowed into the line of the gnolls. They clawed and bit and his limbs but he kept charging through. He didn't stop and kept running down the road. If the girl followed then she would be right next to him in seconds. She was more designed for speed than he. He only hoped that maybe he would see her.
@Kaede Hoshi

 

Kaedé Hoshi

90 HP

MAX HP

63 EN

MAX EN

_____The moment @Eurig Rig Cadigan chose to start running Kaedé had to make a quick motion to get out of his way. Arcing her weapon forward to clear a bit of the way before she jumped to the left and moved to keep up and deal with the knolls. She would use his back as a springboard moments later as she ran towards him and kicked off his upper back to get herself upside down with her weapon aimed at a knoll, left hand open near the blade to glide before she slammed it down into the skull and used the falling target as time to spin down her weapon and kick the corpse away from her weapon so she keep following the large male.

_____Turing her weapon to the butt side before trusting towards the left side of his head pushing an arrow away from him before she moved the weapon backwards to stop the heart of a knoll and breathing a bit heavy. This fight was good practice but also started to take a toll as another arrow sailed grazing her arm just over another of her wounds making her growl again and slow to a stop to keep fighting. Weapon gliding over her head as she ducked down to slice a throat of a war crying knoll behind her as the gap grew between them and she was given her full range of motions.

_____Thankfully fighting with a full circle at longer distance was basic stuff for the weapon she had so her energy would not burn out as fast as it had from her last three motions prior. Left leg slowly rose to crane stance as she moved the weapon back side over her head and the blade closer to her chest. Three quick pierce motions like a coiled snake, all her muscle focused in just her attacks to make the most damage and speed from what she could use. More knolls rushing into the area as they seemed to have unlimited numbers to invest on the two trying to cross the area.

”I fucking hate grass knolls!”

 

Rig Cadigan

86 HP

MAX HP

74 EN

MAX EN

"I hear ya little sister, I hear ya!" Rig called to her as they were running across the area, "I am beginning to hate the slaggers myself."

Rig was running as fast as he could trying to keep up with the lythe girl. Movement to his right caused him to swing his hammer just in time as another knoll jumped out of the high grass. The hammer struck the head of the creature like it was a baseball and sent him stumbling in the dirt. He could hear the quick footsteps of the large group of knolls hard on their heels. Rig was trying to think hard of what they could to stop the knolls progress. He stared ahead, desperately trying to keep up with his fellow warrior while pondering on what he could do.

An idea came to him in a flash. He turned quickly for a moment and skid to a halt in the dry earth. He brought his hammer down, handle first like a cane. When he did so he bled as much energy as he dared into performing geomancy. Right in the area where the knolls were beginning to cross a large stone wall erupted from the ground. The moving earth hit some right as they were crossing it and sent them tripping. The rest of the slower knolls were stuck behind this half-moon shaped rock wall that was only about 5 feet high.

Rig turned before the stone even stopped moving and began running again.

"That might only slow them for a moment!" He shouted after his comrade, "Do you have any ideas of what we can do? I don't know how to stop all of these blokes."

 

Kaedé Hoshi

80 HP

MAX HP

60 EN

MAX EN

_____Kaedé could think of only one way to keep the knolls from causing them trouble the entire trip, killing them all off. Her frame having to flip over as the wall of earth was sent out and would have tossed her right into a few of the knolls had she not been aware of all sides. Frame staggering her landing from the sudden action she had to take and costing her a bit more HP as four arrows cut across her frame and clothing dropper her down from her crane stance and forcing her to take another heavy action as she spun in her right foot with weapon at calf level to trip and cut down her targets.

_____Kaedé had no reason to yell at the male as she simple let him run away, it would be easier for her to fight without having to watch his back or worry about hitting a friendly. Moving to stand slowly as she made sure to keep her frame slowly moving around to avoid being a sitting duck for any archers. Her choice of action was however to rush towards the wall and use it slightly to keep her enemies in line of view, every so often checking the wall to make sure no knoll was smart enough to climb up it as she drew the enemies off the giant.

_____Her frame gliding slowly, the perk of her rogue mastery hard at work to make up for her weak muscle memory of the weapon she had. At times she would have to do a backflip to dodge more than she could strike but she was starting to fall into the rhythm, learning how the knolls fought and adjusting to counter them. Never a day she spent in real life not playing a game or learning how to fight as she slid to the right and lunged back at her attacker to finish another foe off. The knolls growing slight cautious as more rushed into the area getting ready to simply try rushing her with countless numbers.

”Come and fucking try to kill me! I don’t have all day you fucking knolls!”
@Eurig Rig Cadigan

 

Rig Cadigan

74 HP

MAX HP

45 EN

MAX EN

Rig couldn't quite get a bead on this sheila. First she gets snippy for him helping out, then she says its a could idea for them to make a break for it, and now (when they do) she is running back to fight them again. He honestly couldn't tell if she wanted him to back off or to help. He shrugged care-free once again. He didn't seem to mind, her tenacity and fire was pleasant to be around. It was better than being around a coward thats for certain.

Rig turned around and followed the girl once again. He obviously couldn't keep up with her flips and tricks. He was a simple man, after all, and just made a bee-line for his destination behind the wall he made. Some knolls were already coming around the stone wall. Many were focused on the blade-dancing girl but were acting more cautious. She obviously had some higher level rogue abilities to be moving that way. Some of the archers were still firing in Rig's direction and another arrow grazed past his side, drawing more blood. Rig used his Guard master to deflect some of the arrows but did his best to keep running in their direction. He figured it would be the smartest decision. This way he could give his companion the space she needed to fight but still be of some assistance so they both didnt die. He heard her shouting profanities at the knolls she was fighting and chuckled softly.

He briefly glanced at his energy levels and gave a pained grin. Making that stone wall sure took a ton of energy out of him. If he was going to do some damage he would have to be efficient and quick. He picked up speed as the archers continued to fire arrows his direction. He lowered his shoulders and didn't bother slowing down. Like a charging rhino, he struck the first two knolls and sent them flying a good 10-15 feet. Upon impact one of the other knolls took out a dagger and slashed across Rig's chest. Rig barely moved out of the way by doing a strange bunny-hop backwards but the blade still got a nice cut in his flesh. Rig responded by bringing his warhammer over his head and brought it crashing down like a meteorite on the monsters head. Three of the archers were circling him like predators and he too shouted at them.

"Lets do this ya bastards! Ya know if you finish me you are just going to face her blade. So what's it going ta be? Turn tail and run...or die by hammer and blade?"
@Kaede Hoshi

 

Kaedé Hoshi

15 HP

MAX HP

50 EN

MAX EN

Conditions: Berserker mode triggered.

_____Kaedé began to care less and less for getting attacked as the group started to rush her down. Weapon spinning to strike when she could at an enemy who tried to attack her while others got clean shots because she was no longer playing any sort of defense. That was when her meter hit twenty percent and gears changed, eyes glowing red as she grinned widely and spun her weapon to form a small vortex to push her enemies off. A condition set under her HP meter bar if @Eurig Rig Cadigan looked over when she began to chuckle and wave her arms slowly.

”LET IT RIP!!”

_____Kaedé launched forward, all hell breaking loose as she gave up any type of plan she once had and just began slaughtering targets. It seemed she did not even need to defend as her reaction time had scaled up and her sheer actions causing some knolls to start running only to be chased down and slaughter as Kaedé chuckled and went after another target. Some got lucky to be quickly killed while others got left dragging half their bodies across the area as Kaedé went on a rampage.

_____If her teammate overlook the mastery choices it was clear signs she entered berserker mode and approaching would only set him on her target list due to how weak she was with this mastery. However, as she kept dropping enemies taking minimal return damage the ran away leaving her growling and snapping her focus for something to kill. It would likely take some time before she regained her HP standing there but Eurig would also be able to keep going on the path since she was facing the other way watching for anyone she could slaughter next.

 

Rig finished his question with an answer: by leaping back into battle again. He swung his hammer left and right trying to cause as much damage as he possible could. He didnt get too far into the fray before he heard a strong, female voice shout...

"LET IT RIP!"

Concerned that his companion was in trouble he turned to try to see if he could catch sight of her.

He was very mistaken.

When he looked into her direction he could now see through a kind of pop that her name was @Kaede Hoshi. He also studied that she had some kind of effect on her right now. And it was a sight to behold. It seemed like she was a machine that produced blood and rage. Her speed seemed quicker and her strength intensified. Not only he himself was witnessing this but the three other knolls he was with had paused and watched in horror as she cut down their comrades. It was almost comical to watch as this group stared at the berzerking female. Rig was appreciative that he gave her some space because he wasn't even certain if she would view him as an ally...if she really ever did.

Rig continued to watch until he remembered that he too, was in battle. When he turned, however, the three knolls he was supposed to be trading blows with apparently got the hint. Rig watched as their tails scurried away back into the tall grass away from the area. Rig chuckled wickedly as he shouldered his hammer and turned back to watch the rest of the show.

"Ripper..." He whispered under his breath in his australian accent as an echo to her battle cry.

 

_____Kaedé's mind was still a blood coated mess as she started to swing her weapon at the grass trying to draw something out. Her health slowly starting to recover from the out of combat status and as it did such her mind slowly began to return to one piece eventually allowing her to sheath her weapon and her status to vanish. Right hand holding her skull as she staggered back to the road and resumed her walk to Dunnstad. No matter how many times she was forced into berserker, every time it ended was like some of her worst hangovers. What @Eurig Rig Cadigan said went unnoticed as Kaedé would pass him if he stood still.

”Lets just hope they don’t regroup and come at us again… Doubt I’ll be able to enter berserk state twice in one day without dying or passing out.”

_____Kaedé's voice was faint, and she also looked rather hung over as she wobbled a bit and had to keep stopping to get her focus strait. The loud ringing in her skull was not helpful and added the fact her legs and muscles seemed to be shouting at her for overusing them and all her wounds she suffered to force berserk Kaedé out. Seeing a decent size rock right next to the path Kaedé would move to sit down and try to ease some of the pain in her muscles allowing her HP and energy to recover a bit quicker.

 

Rig watched @Kaede Hoshi as she staggered forward with one hand on her head. She looked like she just chugged down a barrel of Rig's ale. Course he couldn't blame her...after fighting so fiercly like it was her last battle he would have been sick too. Still, her power was mighty impressive.

Rig followed none too closely behind Kaede. He still didn't want to intrude on her space. She seemed to reserve close quarters for close friends, or true enemies. She sat down on a large rock and seemed to be getting her breathing under control. He decided to just cross legged next to the path a little further down from the rock. He also started to recover his energy and HP while waiting a few moments more before deciding to talk.

"Er...you think they will really try to regroup and try their chances again? It really seems like that would be a risky gamble since you pretty much decimated them and all." He paused for a minute as he thought back to the fighting. "I gotta say that was some great skills you showed back there. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

 

”Fools do not earn their names from one mistake by likely many. I do not put it past a territorial creature to simply permit us free passage for much longer before striking with greater force.”

_____When she was asked about her fighting knowledge Kaedé went silent and focused on the grass trying to think of some way to explain it to avoid old scars. Images flashing in her mind before loud ringing caused her to hold her head with both hands until it dialed down to a manageable amount before she knew how to cross this carefully.

”I used to teach people how to fight with Katanas and Naginatas before some events lead me to moving to a new area and I never tried to reopening lessons.”

_____Kaedé would turn to rig to give him a small ‘don't push the subject’ gaze before she hopped off her rock and resumed walking along the path trying to make sure she was not a sitting duck for another attack. Turning back to where the large wall was set Kaedé could only hope it would not be to hard for people to destroy it when they tried to cross this path.
@Eurig Rig Cadigan