[center][h3]Current Theme: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzsuEOWpbvA]Setsuna Drive[/url][/h3][/center]

Hazel eyes oscillated the distance between themselves and the bared fangs now in the process of clamping shut for a kill.  But rather than gourging down on succulent digital flesh, the set of canines and co. only met the cold metallic taste of iron.  The edgeless blade didn’t hurt the wolf in any way, but the beast was given the time to fully process the situation, as its entire quadrupedal figure lurched forward with the sword.  Ken pulled the estoc to his side with all his might, simultaneously digging his knee into the animal’s stomach.  

A barely audible whimper managed to seep through the still clenched jaws.  It was determined, he had to give it that.  Worst off, although the player couldn’t see any other visible mobs, an inherent sense gnawed at the back of his head that backup was on the way.  He had to finish this.  Fast.  The wolf continued to thrash about in an attempt to disarm the swordsman, who thereby proceeded to plant his boot on the canine’s muzzle.  [color=brown]”Sorry, I’m more of a cat person.”[/color]  He kicked at the wolf, finally freeing his sword.  The beast faltered for only a short-lived moment before it lunged toward him in assault.  Ken gripped the hilt of the estoc with both hands and assumed the form a rapier sword skill, which looked a bit wonky with a three foot blade.  

A luminescent aura emanated from the weapon as he drew it back towards his chest, then twisted it mid-strike to add finesse.  The fine point effortlessly sunk into the nape of the wolf’s neck, displaying the iconic placeholder of blood, graphical red.  The wolf’s limbs flailed about for a few moments, until it slowly went limp, and ultimately burst into a cloud of pixels.  Ken still held his stance, indulging the process of inhaling and exhaling, even though more howls resounded in the distance.  The boy finally fell onto his rear, scrutinizing his level and health gauge.  He was halfway dead, yet had attained a level of three.  A wry smile ran across his face, which was soon replaced with a series of curses.  

The player got to his feet and broke into a sprint, only finding respite in his boosted stats after ascending to the next margin.  While a portion of his mind was dedicated to making sure he wasn’t being followed, another was still in the midst of hazarding a guess as to why he was in this current situation.  One of the ten thousand players in what had recently became known as the [i]Death Game[/i].  Of course it wasn’t a genius who dubbed SAO that, but he or she must have had some experience in audit, ‘cause the term burned through the whole entire playerbase like wildfire.  How much he wanted a pair of headphones pressed firmly against his ears right now.  The young adult wanted to drown out the cruel world he was given eighteen years to acclimate to with tunes.  But in this game, such an innovation which had been deemed an essential by him was nonexistent.  Ken had to face the new world head-on, with all of the forthright it entailed.  This was something he wasn’t fond of.  He just wanted to shut himself away and wallow in denial.  But he wasn’t raised to think in such a manner.  It had only hit him now that he was running faster than usual.  It wasn’t noticeable at a glance.  But the change was prevalent.  Oh how far technology had truly come.

[color=brown][i]”They’re catching up.”[/i][/color] He mentally noted, taking a brief moment to glance behind him.  There weren’t any obvious signs that he was being shadowed, except for the faint rustling of undergrowth.  Ken clicked his tongue and picked up the pace, sheathing the estoc to maximize his speed.  

It wasn’t long until he literally flew into an open dirt road.  The boy straightened out to stabilize his form as he finally touched the earth.  He cast his gaze back at the forest, albeit he knew his adversaries wouldn’t give chase outside of their preset zones, parameters of code still weren’t an evident form of jurisdiction to the player.  He obliged to take the moment to catch his breath, taking in his surroundings while doing so.  The boy wasn’t too far off of the spawn town, but he was definitely in an area where mobs were a couple levels higher than himself.  That wolf nearly made a snack out of him, but Ken’s reaction time prevailed and gave him another day to live.  Or, at least another few hours.  After all, the scene he had accidentally waltzed into didn’t leave him with much to do.  Although the names of the players and their levels before him remained confidential, the individuals he deduced to be NPCs didn’t need to hide anything.  

The players already present were certainly the interesting bunch.  Even one had a set of cerulean bunny fox ears.  The boy began to draw his weapon to assist his fellow players, but just in a flash, they had already disabled and disarmed the rotten bunch.  Visionary stood there utterly amazed at how savvy they were, it took him a while to evocate some words.  [color=brown]”Wow… Oh, um…”[/color] Oh yeah, he wasn’t exactly the most fluent speaker.  [i]That[/i] did indeed pose a problem.  [color=brown]”I COME IN PEACE!”[/color] The usual stoic threw his hands up in surrender, hoping that the players who were obviously of a higher status wouldn’t devastate him.