When he first saw The World, Tel's vision was almost completely white. His hand shot up to shield his eyes from the intensity of the light. He hadn't expected a virtual world to so accurately depict sunlight, and the fact that it was dusk in his own world didn't help him at all. The light began to fade as his eyes adjusted, and he finally got a clear look at his hand. While the hand itself might have belonged to him, his arm was clear of any form of sleeve. The only item that hung from his arm was part of a fold of a black cloak. He looked over himself, and realized that he was no longer looking at Tel Ashahura. Everything was different, and the fact that he could see it only amplified the effect. He then glanced up to observe his surroundings. In front of him was a small town bustling with people. The buildings that lined the side of the road towered upward, even though they appeared to be only a few stories tall. Ahead, he noted a bridge crossing through what seemed to be the middle of the town. “A bridge, huh...?” Tel pondered, “let's have a look around then. I guess being surprised is what I get for setting my expectations low.” Tel shrugged and proceeded towards the bridge. No, he reminded himself, in this world, I am D5Specialist.

His black cloak billowed slightly behind, almost perfectly matching his gait as he approached the bridge he had seen earlier. He noted that the framework was stone, but the actual walking path across was wood. He stepped on to the bridge, noting the arch that it produced, and quickly dismissing any notion of losing footing. This is a game after all, he thought, I doubt they would make a structure that you couldn't easily stand on. As he neared the center of the structure, he veered left, and peered over the edge. As he had thought, the bridge did not overlay any form of road, but rather loomed over a medium sized channel. “My, how realistic,” D5 wondered, “still, the beauty of things can only hold value for me for so long. Seeing as I am new, and therefore probably weak, it might be best to get this show on the road.” D5 then promptly turned on his left heel and headed back the way he had came. “My guess is that blue circle that brought me here is my ticket to travel, since there appear to be no roads out of this town,” he speculated, and followed his hunch all the way back to where he had entered.

He approached the gate, and was prompted to open it's menu. Simple enough, he thought, and pressed the corresponding button. When the menu popped up, he gave it a good long look-over, noting that this object was called a “Chaos Gate.” “Considering this thing brings order to traveling, why the heck would they call it...oh.” His thought was cut off mid-sentence as he noticed the sheer number of possibilities for destinations. “What to choose, what to choose...if I do random, I'll probably end up dead on arrival, but there are so many to choose from...uhh...” D5 puzzled over it for a few moments, then finally stated, “to hell with it. Delta Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field!” Gold rings enveloped him and he was whisked away to his chosen site.

“Well, let's hope the first possible combination was made for new people like me.” D5Specialist's voice reached the field before his form did. As he entered the field, once again the realism of it startled him. The sky was blue, with a few clouds lumbering their way across it, and there was a slight tinge of pink lurking beneath the blue, indicating the approach of evening. In front of him, a vast grassy plain spanned, with windmills dotting it sparingly, giving it a sense of abandonment. Still staring at the sky, he took a step forward. His foot found no purchase, and he immediately fell face first into a strange pool. “'The hell...?” he exclaimed, rubbing his head. When he looked up, he was in a tiny pool of water that emanated a blue aura. “Oh come on! Why would anyone put a small lake in this place?” D5 jumped to his feet, and soon had moved several yards away, leaving the pool behind.

While the scenery he had noticed seemed to repeat indefinitely, there was one oddity that seemed to be scattered randomly around the area: A gold circle with yellow rings that seemed to gyrate in a set cycle. While they were a sight to behold, easily taller than D5, he kept his distance none-the-less. “It's always the things that draw our eyes that will gouge them out,” he commented. Walking in circles began to grow dull, though, so he decided to give this phenomena a closer examination. He cautiously approached the object, carefully placing each step for fear of some unknown trap set just for an unwary novice such as himself. He neared the anomaly still, and was about in arms reach...

Without warning, the rings began to expand and rotate faster. D5 came close to jumping out of his skin. As soon as his mind had settled enough to think straight, he leaped backwards, fiercely searching every direction for an enemy to attack him from. While he searched, the rings finally dissipated. He turned his gaze upon the area where, seconds before, the ring object had stood, and noted a new entity had appeared in it's place. The entity had taken the form of a trio of swords that levitated about waist height off the ground. “You know, sometimes I prefer to just see good old card tricks,” D5 mused, as he drew his sword over his left shoulder. “Bring it!” With those words, he lunged at the swords.

His first strike flew downwards from over his head. Mid swing, though, something felt off. No sooner had he felt it, than the sword flew out of his grip. The three swords backed slightly, and the large blade fell in front of where they had been. “Oh man! That thing is heavy!” D5 knew his whining wouldn't help him, but he still felt better having voiced his problems. He rushed to where the sword had fallen, snatching it up and withdrawing in a single leap. As he landed, once again he flew towards the foe. This time, he launched a slash from his left hip, and drawing it up and across his body. The swords once again shifted slightly and easily evaded his blow. D5 flipped backwards, planted his sword in the ground, and pushed himself up and over, easily slipping out of the striking range of the swords. “I may suck, but at least I can do cool stuff like that,” D5 joked, “but enough with the small talk and experimentation. Time to get down to it.” Thundering forward, he lowered the blade behind him and to his right.

He quickly went into a diagonal strike from his right hip up and to the left. The swords moved back, hovering slightly out of the strikes reach. D5 was thrown off balance by the miss and stumbled, falling forward. “No! Fall in combat and it's over,” he muttered. No sooner had he said that, the left most sword rose to strike. D5 threw his right hand out, stopped his fall, and threw himself to the left, rolling inside the strike. The sword struck the ground where he had fallen, leaving a large dent. His attacker pulled itself from the ground, rising to join it's two counterparts. D5 wasted no time getting back to his feet. He had been quite uncomfortable about how vulnerable that position had left him.

Bringing his sword up to ready position, he deliberated what to do next. “These things are highly mobile, and since they don't have legs I can't read their movements. They'll strike when they see the opportunity. What to do next...” He paused for a second, closing his eyes to attempt to formulate a plan. After only a moment, he opened his eyes, exclaiming, “Ah screw it. Charge!” Lifting the sword above him, he bounded towards the swords. With a mighty heave, he leapt into the air, arcing his sword into a vertical downward strike. The swords retreated, attempting to escape the blow, but D5 had actually over estimated his jump, and the swords backed right into the blow. His sword smashed the middle sword downward, creating a small crater where both swords impacted, one on the other. D5 bounced backward, dragging his sword with him. Readying his blade again, he noticed the middle sword was not getting back up. “I guess there is such a thing as beginners luck,” he chuckled.

As he began to feel elation, the sword moved, and his expression quickly turned to disdain. He swore under his breath, charging once more at the trio. Aiming for the middle sword, which was just rejoining the others, he brought his sword straight upward, using what momentum the stricken foe already had to knock it skywards. He drew his sword downward, and then arced it to strike the right-most of the sword trio. Landing his blow successfully, the sword seemed to stumble over for a bit. Bringing itself skyward, D5 prepared to parry. That is, until he was struck the back of his left shoulder from the only sword he hadn't hit yet. The left-most of the bladed trio drew back for another strike, and D5 knew he had to dodge it. The sword flew in a horizontal arc, flying in from the back right. D5 sensed he had no chance of dodging due to the shock from the surprise attack, so he threw himself into a crouch, and brought his sword up, locking in place with his attacker. He only locked briefly, using a burst of strength to knock the sword off balance. Arcing his sword horizontally as well, he swung under the blade he had stunned, and instead continued the swing behind him, catching the other sword unaware and knocking it into a nearby rock.

With much clattering, the sword fell to the ground, when yet another strike landed on his left shoulder. He rolled with the blow, righting himself to face his assailant. The last sword seemed to stare him down, hovering without moving and pointed in his direction. He stared right back, daring it to make the first move. The sword the seemed to move upwards a bit, then righting itself, continuing to staring. D5 looked puzzled a moment, wondering why it made that move, when the apparent reason dawned on him. Moving into another duck roll, moving right to avoid putting his weight on his left shoulder. The second he was stable, he threw up blade up to guard for an attack. An attack that never came.

Glancing where he had been, D5's hunch was proven right. The sword that had been thrown upward protruded from the ground where he had stood just moments before. D5 smiled regardless, looking at the sword's position. While it was still intact, only the hilt and guard still showed above ground. The attack that had been thrown had definitely backfired, planting the sword so far in the ground that it was out of action, and leaving one sword left. Hefting his sword to some semblance of a ready position, he turned to face the final thing. “My name is D5Specialist. You will not defeat me so easily, coward,” he spat, his venomous words having no effect on his steely opponent. He began to run, throwing himself forward and concentrating on his final strike with every part of his mind that wasn't racked with pain. The sword threw itself forward, acting almost as if it knew this last attack would decide the fight. D5, however, had hoped for this, dropping into a slide as his opponent neared, and shoving his sword upwards as he was passed over, catching the sword in the closest thing to a stab he could manage. The sword spiraled upward, and cartwheeled to the ground, lodging itself in the earth. The defeated enemies disappeared as mysteriously as they had come, vanishing as though a mirage.

D5 picked himself up, grabbing his shoulder. His breathing had accelerated greatly now that the adrenaline had worn off. “Man,” he managed to mutter between gasps, “for being a video game, this sure is intense. And to get injured so bad by something called 'Disco Knife.' I thought disco was dead!” Placing his sword in his left hand, allowing it to drag, and clapping his right over his injured shoulder, D5Specialist shuffled away from the scene of the fight, knowing many more would come.

Moving through the field, D5Specialist decided to review his status. His previous encounter had left him quite injured, sitting at about half of his health. “I don't know if I can keep doing this,” he gasped, feeling needles of pain pierce straight through his shoulder yet again. “So, do I go back to town and give up, or do I keep on going?” He found himself standing under a nearby windmill and contemplated exactly what to do next. “There's no guarantee I can survive another fight like that. And since those swords were listed as one entity, then there's no guarantee I won't get teamed. Things aren't looking good for this first venture.”

He lowered himself, resting his back on the base of a windmill. “Okay, I will definitely not survive if I go into another fight and improvise again. What I need is some form of base strategy to alter around based on the situation in order to at least have a better chance of victory than fifty fifty. From that last battle, I learned that this field's monsters are highly maneuverable, and will easily exploit any opening they can get. They obviously attack in a group of three, yet can operate independent of each other. The outlook isn't getting any brighter.” D5 sighed heavily, and began running through strategies.

“While preferable in most cases, Guerrilla tactics would be quite futile with this piece of metal,” D5 observed, holding his sword up as though to accent his words. “It would be nice if I could get around behind the cutlery, but due to their speed, that seems neigh impossible. A head on confrontation seems like the only way to go. In all likelihood, division and conquest is about the closest thing to a overall strategy I'll be able to hold onto.” D5 sighed heavily, pushing his sword slightly into the ground and then using the hilt as a fulcrum to raise himself to his feet.

His left shoulder had finally gone numb, allowing him enough confidence to attempt to flex his fingers. The moment he did, pain seared straight through his shoulder once again, but he still smiled as his fingers moved with only a slight decrease in dexterity. Satisfied with his result, D5 set off once again. He approached yet another of the strange phenomena which had produced his first foe. Armed with the knowledge that no traps awaited the activation of this mysterious portal, his gait was more assured and natural. Not completely so, however, because he knew that the outcome of this fight would force his decision on whether to continue in his venture.

Once again, the rings swirled to a frenzied speed, and dissipated, leaving another trio of swords in its wake. He wasted no time, however, and was already in the air, mid swing, before the rings had gone. This time, the swords did not dodge, being unprepared after just being summoned. He struck from their right side, knocking all three to the ground in one blow.

If this had been his first encounter, D5 would have believed this to be an incredible feat. After having analyzed the last fight, though, he realized damage was cumulative between the three swords, even though he had managed to defeat them one by one. The middle sword hadn't gotten up as fast last fight because his blow had both surprised and stunned it. He had managed to get that one out of the way by sending it skyward. The right most one he had managed to take out first by surprising and stunning it, as well. It had not had time to recover before the middle sword had performed a failed dive bomb kamikaze attack, and then he had tricked the last foe with a false charge, in which he exploited its inability to maneuver while traveling at high speeds. Clearly these foes, though capable of quite a few feats, were able to be surprised. He had learned his best bet was surprise attacks that caused some degree of stunning. Those would buy him time to fight fewer opponents, thus maximizing his chances for victory.

As expected, the sword on the left of the group got up first. Due to the nature of his attack, the right-most opponent had taken the largest hit, with the middle taking less, and the left-most taking the least. He had counted on this, though, and aimed a horizontal swing directly at the sword. His swing flew high, which he hadn't counted on, but then again he was by far no expert at the whole giant sword thing anyway. His whiffed swing threw him off balance to his right. For a moment he was mentally disoriented, thinking over the directions in his head. He had attacked the left-most sword in the group, so why was he thrown off balance to the right. Then he recalled that he had always observed the opponents according to their position compared to themselves. He had only oriented his swings by his own right and left. Finally getting his mind back from that obscure train of thought, he turned his failed swing into a dive roll to his right, giving it a bit of curve to place him in front of the foe again.

Bringing himself to his feet, he found himself facing all three swords again. His momentary disorientation had cost him his advantage. Still, he reasoned, another could be made. He brought his sword to bear in front of him. Now his adversary knew where he was, so another surprise attack would be hard to come by. He began to regulate his breath, noting that both his strikes had caused enough pain in his left shoulder to completely numb it. Drawing a sigh of relief, he knew now he could at least use it for the moment, even if it would cause him problems later by doing so. Thus far, he had made every move against these “Disco Knife” creatures. This time, he decided, they would move against him.

Standing there, staring at the creature, D5 silently dared them to come at him. His opponent, however, was either entirely oblivious or sending his challenge right back to him. Either way, he knew, someone would break. He coaxed himself to not be that one. Finally, after several long seconds, the swords all reared back, flying into the air in a simultaneous attack, all centering on D5. He sneered, side stepping moments before the impact of their attacks. Wasting no time, he raised his blade, bringing it crashing down onto the foe with all of his might. Since he had ended up on the creatures left, or his right, he succeeded in performing a reverse image of his initial attack. His hope was that the damage equaled out among the three, but he spared no thought past the initial hope.

The downward strike clanged off of all three assailants, digging them slightly deeper into the ground. Once again, the one farthest from D5 began to rise, having taken the least of the shock from his blow. D5 launched another downward strike, however, catching the recovering opponent in the momentum and sending it crashing into the ground, striking the other blades as it did so.
D5 leaped back, deciding that to linger at that spot any longer would cause his adversary to come up with a counter strategy and catch him off guard. His jump had placed him between two windmills, making him search about upon landing to reorient himself with his surroundings. If there was one thing D5 couldn't stand, it was surprises from landscapes.

As he took in the two structures, the mounds they were poised on, and the ground around him, the swords rose to their standard hovering height. “Hmph,” he snorted, closing his eyes and shrugging as he spoke, “I wish you guys would just stay down. It would be so much easier for me.” He returned to a ready position, expecting to resume the showdown of staring before another move was made. He could not have been more wrong. When he resumed his attentions to the swords, the enemy no longer stood where it had risen to. The trio had, instead, disappeared. It was reasonable for D5 to assume that they were preparing to or already were launching an attack. The question that plagued D5 was: from where? He searched left. Nothing but grassland in that direction. He searched right. His field of view was partially obscured by the windmill, but still no enemy there either. Knowing he'd get no answer, he glanced behind him anyway. Seeing no enemy, he ground his teeth at having wasted time doing what he knew would be fruitless. He could account for only two other possibilities. One, the swords were hiding for an attack. Two, they had already launched their attack and were....

His eyes widened, and he promptly threw his gaze upward, jumping backwards as the thought struck him, in case he had no time to do so after checking. Sure enough, as he flew backwards, two blades struck home where he had stood. The final blade nicked his left arm in the process, sending fresh waves of agony through his already battered arm. His assailant crashed to the ground between the other two, leaving him to at least have a chance of finishing his descent without further complications. Upon his landing, he inspected his new wound. “Heh, 'tis but a scratch,” he laughed. Indeed, it was a minor wound, inciting pain only because of his previous injury to his shoulder. His vision blurred regardless, and he felt his consciousness struggling to leave his grasp. He stuck his sword into the earth, using it for support as he dropped to his left knee. His breathing once again quickened, his energy leaving him. “No,” he muttered, “not yet!”

Pushing himself uneasily to his feet, he focused himself on the task at hand. Victory was as important as ever, and his time to achieve it was growing short. He brought his sword unsteadily back to a fighting position. This time, he could not wait for his foe to strike. He had to make the first move. Soon. Out of the corner of his eye, the movement of the windmill twirling repetitively in the wind drew his attention momentarily. And idea struck him hard enough to give him a few moments of mental clarity. He knew this last move would make or break him. It all depended on how much damage he had managed to inflict thus far.

D5 dropped to one knee again, allowing himself to breathe heavily enough to let the enemy hear it. As if on cue, the swords flew into an attack. Sensing this, D5 allowed himself to smile, and threw himself towards the windmill to his back left. The swords were too far off the ground to stop. D5 landed on the windmill mound, moving straight into a back flip cork screw combination in order to land crouched on the windmill's wall. Violently he launched himself off if the wall before gravity canceled out and overtook his momentum, and found himself poised to strike over the three swords. With as much force as he could muster, he practically threw his sword in a downward vertical strike to the top of the enemy, hurling them to the ground. Their impact caused a slight tremor, notable by the loose rocks falling off of the nearest windmill mound. D5 made a struggled crouched landing, fretting as though he was about to lose. Looking behind him, he felt elation over take him, for the enemy was dissolving in defeat. He had managed to conquer yet another foe, this time only losing an eighth of his health. “Well, so much for an over all strategy,” he teased himself. Standing up yet again, he began walking towards the next portal, and his next battle. Allowing his face to bask in the afternoon sun, he could truly allow himself to believe he might just make it, after all.

Stane touched down in the canal city of Mac Anu with a brand new sword strapped to his back. Well, it wasn't BRAND new – or even new to him – but the recent development of “level 5” securely placed this blade, nearly a year old now, into his heavily clad hands. Could it have been a whole year ago? Stane thought. He supposed it must have since he got it from a certain “Chase Raven” for a random valentine's day event last year. Or was it the year before? Stane shook his head. Time flies..

Wait...did I just say “level 5” and think about whether it was one or TWO valentines days ago?? What have I been doing – dancing and playing hooky this whole time?? He supposed that was EXACTLY what he had been doing. Club Spazz was too much fun. Also, it was amazing how much cleaning a dance warehouse required these days. Stane looked down to make sure he hadn't left his joke apron on. Good. Dropping into the streets of Mac Anu with most of a maid's costume on wouldn't just be embarrassing, it would be...HILARIOUS! Stane took a punch at the air. Shoot.

The regret of losing a few pointing laughs and smiling stares aside, Stane got back to thinking of how weak he still was after all this time. He figured it was time to end that – or at least put a dent in the two-year deficit his trained muscles had sagged from. Stane remembered having this feeling at least once before, but the time-lag of that memory was too far back to dig up.

He approached the spinning rings of the Chaos Gate and scratched the back of his head. What a city-boy he was. The character had spent ninety percent of his time in the urban environment of Mac Anu – pushy people, loud noises, social gatherings. Before him spun the revolving symbol of everything rural that could ever come out of this game: animals (murderous ones, but animals nonetheless), rolling hills, lakes, and plains. The Chaos Gate brooded before him, demanding service and calling him a dumbass for not visiting more often.

"Fine!" Stane threw his hands up in sync with a menu littered with keywords and stats. Stane pressed the top one of each row in time with his enthusiastic retort. "Don't care, don't care, aaaaand...don't care. HA!" He was about to kick mockingly in the spinning circles' direction, but a beam of light lifted him up and out of sight into the big open sky.

~

"AAAha...Ahhha...owwww!" Stane tipped himself over on his side, away from the horrible split he had landed in. The neural sensors in his helmet fired waves of pain through his crotch and knees. He fell so hard he hurt what he had landed on, let alone HOW. Stane tucked his knees to his chest, hugging them and teetering slightly on the grassy floor. NOW I remember why I don't come out here often...ow.

Stane got up slowly on his feet, creating a few divots with his sword still tightly strapped to his back. A few hobbling strides later, Stane lost the invisible walker and straightened his back, giving it a nice crack and a refreshing sigh. That felt goooood.....

The heavy blade pulled out his new weapon and swung it at a few blades of grass as he passed. Monsters, monsters, doot da-doo... He wondered where all the monster portals were...maybe someone had all ready cleared them out? Stane then remembered that he had hastily chosen the absolute lowest field. He assumed that the game's creators let the first map players usually went to be a peaceful one with lots of shinnies. Stane couldn't help from admiring the map himself. He was so used to the dull, drab coloring of Mac Anu that he had completely forgotten that babbling brooks and bright windmills usually sparkled into view to the regular player.

Wait...windmills?! Stane sped off like a toddler at recess trying to get the first ride on the slide. He found himself standing between two of them, their swinging arms timed perfectly to interlock like a cog, never touching as they spun. What is with this game and spinny things? he thought, staring up at them with his chin sagging lightly. As if on cue, a monster portal accelerated into vision, grabbing Stane's upward-looking attention.

Rings overlapped rings until only the helmet's limiting refresh rate revealed the absence of a sphere. The object dissolved skyward leaving three monsters in its wake: a Swordmanoid, a Mad Grass, and the ugliest-looking butterfly Stane had ever laid eyes on. Oh yeah, that's that 'Moth' thing that I saw in the tree area...What the heck is a moth doing out during the day? Maybe that's why it's so mad.

Stane squinted his eyes at the three monsters. Have I been growing or are those monsters smaller than usual... He was much too far away to have activated a monster portal. There must have been someone...Ah.

Halfway hidden from the lip of the hill stood another heavy blade wielding character poised for battle. Even blunted by Stane's lack of observation, the player's striking white hair and contrasting jet black cloak demanded attention worthy of two seconds of staring and an ounce of drool...shiny...

Stane snapped out of his pea-brain trance and flexed his toned muscles. His leather gloves squeaked around the handle of the six-foot blade of death. In his best opera voice, he lunged forward into the air and sent a party request. "Ayyyyye will save you siiiiiiir! Laaa la-la!"

The swordmanoid approached the poised and shiny player, touching its blade to the opposing thick one : the universal sign of a duel. The armored creature cocked its sword back, prepared to strike. "WEEEEEE!" A crevice appeared from the monster's left shoulder to its right hip, accompanied by a thud of steel hitting grass and dirt, and a lot of leather obstructing the duelist's view. The idiot had gotten right in the way.

SLICE! Yah-ha-ha!

"Spunky! Get that caffeine-sucking moth while I take care of this abomination of nature." The mad grass snapped at Stane's blade while the character looked at Mister White and gestured with his sword towards the creature.

The new arrival was unexpected, but the fact that his luck had not held up was a little more concerning. He had walked across the field to his third orb, hoping to fight a single trio of swords, and instead he got a humanoid wielding a sword like object, a giant butterfly, and a little flower like creature that had a mouth where the center should have been. Even though it had looked hopeless, he had still blocked the sword wielder's charge; and he had still locked blades with it, despite the plant and the butterfly closing in from either side. That his opponent had fallen under the blade of another player, though, still annoyed him greatly. D5 did not like getting help without asking for it, and especially getting called pet names by people who didn't even know him. But there were more important things to do.

As soon as the other player had told him to take on the butterfly, he had split off to take care of it. On his way past, though, he allowed his speed to pass through the flat of his blade into the new comer's head. He didn't stop to see how the other player had fell, but just let it seem like an accident for the time being. Drawing his blade, he shot off the ground, seeking to strike the creature straight where the head would have been on a normal creature. The butterfly, however, moved back and to the right, which placed it outside of D5's strike. His blade bit earth, and then some, as his whiff too its toll. The only way it could get worse, D5 figured, was if....let's stop playing if, and assume it's already worse. Right as his though ended, he hefted his blade upward with his full force, allowing it to peak right over his head, and then allowed it to keep going. The plan worked, partially. D5 had given no thought to how he would finish the improvised attack, only that he hoped for the enemy to attack his back, so his full arc wouldn't just hit air. So, even with the elation from the insane attempt succeeding, his sword once again bit dust, and D5 ended up on his back. He briefly glimpsed the body of his foe descending upon him before his vision went dark.

Why am I even trying? It's just a game. This isn't some important battlefield where comrades are counting on my support. It's just me and some fool fighting a computer program. This is the kind of thing hackers do. Why am I talking to myself? Why am I asking myself questions? Why don't you let me take care of them? It'll be easy. I can even get that guy who interrupted your fun. No, you just want to murder again. You just want to take over and destroy anyone who opposes you. And? Don't you enjoy the thrill of being able to control other's pain? They inflict it on you without a second thought! Give it back to them! No! Then I'll be no better than they are in that respect. Suit yourself. You know how to get in touch. I hope your silly little code of ethics allows you to survive. HA HA HA haaa~! What is that thing that keeps doing that? Why am I STILL talking to myself, even if it isn't out loud? Ah, I better just wake up already!

Eyes snapping open, he rolled just as the large butterfly's weight crashed down where he had been. The instant he began to analyze the situation, he feared that he had lost his sword somewhere along the lines. Searching the ground where he lay, he found no trace of it. His attention crept closer, falling finally on his right arm. The blade was snug in his grasp. “At least I am still a soldier, D5 mused, feeling immense relief at possessing his blade still. Preparing for proper battle, he raised his sword, aligning the tip with his eyes and the abdomen of his flying foe. Allowing a brief pause to gather his wits after his little internalized nap, D5 immediately bounded across the field, holding his blade firmly to the right of his body.

His strike slammed into the side of the butterfly. The creature lurched to the side opposite the strike, and D5 pushed the advantage, pushing the full length of the blade straight at the neck of the creature, pursuing and obtaining a critical hit while the thing was stunned. As the blade pierced the neck of the creature and it dissipated into the air, he turned back to see if the stranger was fairing better. Not that it was hard to, but D5 always assumed that a strategy would have the worst result possible.

Clunk. Apparently Stane's new ally had a very poor reaction time or a short temper. Either way, Stane's head ached as he got up off the floor. He imagined a giant, cartoonish lump pushing his hat up and off his head.

The Mad Grass took on a posture of a frightened cat. Its jaw was nearly level with the ground and it's teeth clicking together like a crab. The crustacean-like legs began to hum and move faster than the eye could follow, but the Mad Grass only moved back a few inches before bumbling forward like a hovercraft. Its jaw unhinged revealing rows and rows of little, sharp teeth.

Stane still hadn't recovered into a position of defense before the angry overgrowth had made its way across the green grass. He cocked back a foot and gave the thing a kick. Right in the kisser! With his boot half-lodged inside, he could have sworn the stretched sides of the full mouth smirked. Oh boy...that thing's heavier than it looks! Waves rippled around the ring of its throat, gulping down the player's foot. Stane began to panic, picking up the entire plant with the strength of his thigh and shaking it up and down, hopping on one foot. "Getitoff Get it off GET IT OFFFF!" His voice was frantic with a kind of hilarious panic accelerating his words.

He began smacking it with the flat on his sword causing his foot to go numb, or was it the thing's venom. Did it have venom? Oh boy, Stane didn't want to find out. With the thing halfway up his thigh, he began stomping the ground and placed the tip of the sword between his jeans and the thing's lip. Purple blood began to trickle from the tip of the blade (he sure hoped it wasn't HIS) as the blade began to be swallowed with his thigh. Just a little farther and -

"Ohhhhhh – no you don't!" He pushed downwards with both hands on the hilt of the blade, slicing the monster open down its neck, pinning the vibrating joints near the bottom to the grassy floor. Hey, it paid to be level five. No more getting pushed around by the little guys – right?...Right?

Stane looked at his HP as the thing's legs danced like a centipede against the ground, still pined. HALF??? Half my HP from one little plant? Well, it HAD nearly digested an entire limb. There was that. But half? He let out a sigh, nearly forgetting about the writhing contraption of binary code underneath his slimey boot. The legs eventually slowed to a halt, gave up, and materialized. Stupid mean plants... He stuck his tongue out at the pile of dug up dirt surrounding his boot in a circle. The thing had spunk, he could give it that. Hey, speaking of spunk...

He looked over to his ally. Apparently the guy was more qualified at dispatching enemies in this game than he was. Didn't surprise him. A three-year-old could have taken out that pissed flower without getting his goods in danger. He lifted the tip of his blade from the ground with a SLUNK and hoisted it over his back like he was playing it cooool...yeahhhh... He winked at the player like a cowboy – a smile at the end – and introduced himself as his blade proceeded to weigh him down, causing him to trip backwards. "Heyyy, I'm St-StAA~A~A-ne." He left the blade stuck in the ground behind him and leaned on it like he meant to alllll alllong. Smooooth is my middle naaame. Yup...

(OOC: Sorry it took me so long to post, summer break called to my lazy side.)

Though weighed heavily by his labored breathing, D5Specialist held his posture quite well. His gaze circled over this new character that had joined his skirmish. Even though allies are a welcome addition in times of numerical inferiority, this fellow seemed a bit….queer. His semblance to the joking image of a failed super hero that was used as a deterrent in D5’s military unit to prevent unnecessary acts of suicidal bravery was both amusing and profoundly unexpected. Nevertheless, reality was reality, no matter how mortifying or utterly unfathomable it may be. D5 hefted his sword’s hilt onto his shoulder, merely stating, “Apparently I didn’t hit you hard enough.”

Before his newly acquired compatriot, as loosely used as the term could possibly be, could make any quarrel to his remark, D5 willed his form to begin walking in the first direction that sprang to mind, which in this case was as far from his previous encounters as possible. Over his shoulder, not expecting a response, D5 started the introductions that had been begun by this “failed hero” he had just met. “So, Stane, pleasure to meet you. My name in this game is D5Specialist. I would assume just D5 would be much easier on the tongue. Don’t ask for any more personal information than that, or I may have to kill you.” D5 chuckled at his own joke, before being sobered by the cold reality of the underlying meaning of his words and his past. ”I hope you know more about this game then I do, because I have a bunch of questions to ask, and I’d like to get them out of the way so that future battles will not be hindered by a lack of intelligence on my part.”

Finding a windmill and collapsing behind it, Tel was struck by how quickly Tel Ashahura and D5Specialist had come close to being the same person. He could feel his real heart beat steadily racing due to the adrenaline associated with battle. Once his mind struck the word battle, danger leapt in his mind, and Tel immediately began to calm his heart rate, remembering the blood stained visions he had seen after the white outs following his heart rate elevating. D5 gave signs of doing the same thing, which must have looked strange, and Tel once again chuckled at the oddities of this reality. “What an inconvenient double edge that has been planted in my soul.” His utterance was close to below the audible level he hoped, but he knew full well that if the Stane character had followed him, the possibility of him over hearing was higher than he liked.

D5 realized after a few moments that his eyes were closed. Hoping Stane had followed, he didn’t bother opening his eyes, counting on the appearance he was talking to himself if the other had not come along. “So, most important question first: you got a First-Aid kit in this game or something similar? I’m low on these ‘health points,’ which I assume from the flashing red light is a bad thing. Also, what is the point of this place? Do I just kill all the creatures that pop out of the shining spheres, or is there something more important to deal with in the long run? It would also be nice if you can tell me about that pool of water I tripped in a ways back. I am most certainly not wasting my time going back there if it is something important, but it would be nice to know about it. Do I have any advantages, abilities, or specialties worth writing home about, or am I limited to attempting to slash and bash my way through this game?" Allowing a moment to fish for further questions, D5 finally finished, "I think that should about cover what is on my mind right now.” D5 then proceeded to run his hand through his hair, grabbed the sword he had carelessly dropped at his feet before collapsing, and stuck the tip in the ground. Resting the hilt on his shoulder, and propping one knee at a right angle with itself, he hoped an answer would come from somewhere near him. And he hoped it was a useful one, to boot.