Floor 1 (OPEN)

The Town of Beginnings. It was a quaint little town here on Floor One. The rest of Aincrad was not so kind, nor forgiving. In spite of himself, there was a certain charm to living in a nice place like this. Everyone was friendly. Well, at least the NPC barkeep was friendly. At this particular tavern, they gave out free ginger ale, although it was called Morning Mist Ale.

Lefray finished another drink. It tasted just like the real thing. Amazing what you could do with virtual reality these days. The drink was even bubbly.

He ordered another free Morning Mist and the NPC barkeep smiled and said "right away, sir!" The NPC didn't care at all that he was marked as a Player Killer. The NPC couldn't die.

The other patrons in the tavern (the players) were a different story. He was getting strange looks, from fear to hate to confusion. Some of these people probably didn't even know what the orange crystal meant, yet.

This would only last a few more days, Lefray reminded himself. His crystal wouldn't be orange at all if he had caught that murderer within the first 2 days.

Well, at least nobody could hurt him here. This was a town, a safe zone. HP couldn't be lowered here outside of a duel, and Lefray had no intentions of fighting a duel. Not when his life was on the line. Not when everyone hated him.

Where was that ginger ale?

A girl with long red hair would enter the tavern. Some heads would look her way and would recognize her as a stealthy player, but others would rub her off and go back to their conversations.
Phoenix casually walked in and the first thing that caught her eye was an orange crystal above a guys head. She smirked inwardly, and being Phoenix, she sat right next to the man. She knew he couldn't hurt her so the idea of people being afraid of him was quite funny in her opinion.
She waited for a NPC bartender and when one arrived, she ordered Morning Mist ale.

Phoenix ignored some stares from the people that thought it was crazy to be sitting next to him, but being the center of attention was something Phoenix liked.

Ovan walked into the bar. He may have been tall but no one seemed to notice him, probably cause alot of the people around were npcs. Moving up to the bar Ovan waited to silently ordered some ale. His large metal cylinder that hit the ground making a loud sound as the metal collided with the wooden floor. Ovan sighed silently. Now anyone who could hear would know that he was here.

Ovan sighed a second time, he just got this account from his brother and hoped no one would notice him as the former PKK Ovan.

A girl with long red hair sat down next to Lefray. He was a bit surprised that someone actually wanted to sit with him. She didn't seem to have any hostile intent, either. Perhaps she had seen through his tough exterior and realized that he wasn't happy about his orange crystal.

Either that or she was insane.

Her gamer tag said "Phoenix." That was a good name, Lefray decided. A lot of people would probably be envious that she was able to claim that tag before they did. There was certain to be a "Phoenix1" floating about somewhere.

Phoenix ordered the same drink as him. Morning Mist Ale. Free drinks were hard to pass down, especially when you lived in a world this dangerous.

"Wise choice," Lefray said to Phoenix. "The best things in life are always free." He raised his mug, offering her a 'cheers.'

There was a loud sound from behind them. Lefray turned around to see a man with a...huge, useless cylinder thing on his arm. Was slamming that...thing on the floor a way of challenging Lefray? Lefray glared at the newcomer. "Ovan." Who did he think he was? And what was up with that arm?

OOC: Kip told me that Jak denied his charrie and just act like it never happened. [23:25:31] Kip : Just void it AKA pretend it never happened.

IC:
Phoenix grabbed her glass of Morning Mist Aleand smiled when the man talked to her. She knew there was always another side to the story, even if their crystal glowed orange for a few days. For all she knew he was forced to kill someone because they were defending a loved one.
But, again, they could be a ruthless killer out to have a free drink. Either way, Phoenix was safe in "The Town of Beginnings"

Pheonix collided glasses with the man who's gamertag seemed to be... Lefray. She smiled at him and took a drink of her Ale, turning around to a clang.
A man walked in with a cylinder thing for an arm. The man seemed to be named Ovan and he was causing quite the scene. Phoenix nudged Lefray as Ovan walked in. "I've heard of him. He was a former PKK, he was big news in many small guilds." Phoenix told Lefray smiling. Even though she was sounding a bit rude, she always had a smile on her face. "I wonder if he'd be my friend...?"Phoenix asked herself quietly, not realizing she said it aloud.

Ovan sighed once again. He was pretty sure everyone was looking at him, it was embarrassing. Bringing the ale to his lips Ovan began to wonder, what his brother 'the real ovan' do at a moment like this. Knowing his brother he would just ignore it and plan out his ascension through the tower, right now Ovan was in the town of beginnings. So he should plan his ascension up the tower.

As Ovan put the drink down on the table he looked around. He noticed two people looking at him. One was a dude who had the gamertag Leejay Lefray and the other was a girl with the gamertag Phoenix. Deep inside Ovan hoped that no one recognized him but it was hard not to recognize Ovan when he was wearing the trademark glasses and scarf even if he was wearing a giant cylinder.

A former PKK'er? Was Phoenix talking about the Beta Test? Sword Art had just launched, but there were supposedly Beta Testers running around here. Honestly, Lefray didn't think of them as cheaters. If anything, Beta Testers were the best hope normal players had of getting out of here alive.

Perhaps Ovan wasn't singling him out, if he was such a big-shot. Maybe he was just announcing his arrival to the world. No. That wasn't likely. If anyone would want to punish Lefray for his orange crystal, it would be this Ovan guy. Then again, Phoenix said he was a 'former' PKKer.

Lefray stood up. "A friend? Maybe. Let's find out." He walked over to Ovan's table. He pulled out a chair for Phoenix to sit at, then sat down himself. He pointed up at where Ovan's HUD would be displaying Lefray's orange player killing crystal. "You got a problem with this?"

Phoenix smiled at Lefray. She knew that she could talk to this PKK'er because she was in a safe zone. So unless she totally glitched out, he wasn't going to kill her. Lefray stood up and walked over to the table, exciting Phoenix. She didn't think he'd want to make friends too, but everyone has a soft side, right?
She skipped after him and sat down next to Lefray with a rather large smile on her face. She placed her hands on the table and looked at Ovan. "Hi Ovan! I'm Phoenix and this is Lefray!"She introduced brightly with hand motions.

Ovan remained silent when the orange crystal was shown in front of his HUD. Ovan shrugged and didn't say anything, he had absolutely no idea what the item was or what it did and part of him didn't really care. Sighing reluctantly he said "hello, and what do you want from me?" in his quiet serious voice. Ovan didn't really know anything about the game infront of him except that it didn't hurt to be cautious around people you don't know.

Lefray glared at Ovan, not believing what he was seeing. This was the famed PKK'er? The guy looked like he didn't care at all about Lefray's orange crystal. He looked like he didn't care about anything.

Well, sometimes life was strange. Lefray imagined himself fighting alongside Ovan and Phoenix. Was it too much to hope for? Phoenix seemed friendly, and Ovan seemed...well, serene. But he was a legendary PKK'er. With him nearby, who would dare face them? As long as he was with people like this, he wouldn't have to worry about other players.

Lefray hadn't talked this over with Phoenix. He had just met her after all. Still, this seemed like too good a chance to pass up. "We want you to join our guild."

Although Ovan didn't seem very happy to see the two, she was still smiling as brightly as ever! She began to hum, not realizing it, then Lefray asked Ovan to be in their guild. "Really! I guild with us! That would be awesome to have you with us!" She chimed brightly. Between the two, Phoenix thought she could make up all the happy emotions in the guild. Maybe she seemed a bit of an air head, but Phoenix was so excited to show off her speed and skills!

Ovan sighed silently. When Lefray person asked him to join his guild Ovan let a bemused smile for on his lips but it was hidden under his scarf. He didn't know much about guilds but what he did know was that it usually helped someone complete a dungeon or a floor in the tower, and knowing Ovan he would need all the help he could get.

"What exactly does your little guild do?" Ovan said taking another a drink. He was curious but his voice didn't show it. It sounded the same as before, the same uninterested tone. Ovan looked at both Phoenix and Lefray expecting an answer.

Good. It seemed like Phoenix was on board. Lefray was surprised the girl was so easygoing. She was acting like Lefray was an old friend of hers or something. Lefray smiled. It was odd, but he felt the same way about her. Phoenix was the kind of person who could befriend anyone instantly. That alone would save them a lot of trouble in dealing with other players.

Ovan asked what their little guild was going to do. Lefray laughed, then slammed his fist on the table. Although he was serious, he now had a smile on his face. An insane, evil smile. "What do we do? What do you think? We're going to win this game. We're going to save everyone. Whatever foe stands in our way, monsters, bosses, or even Player Killers, we will cut them all down. We will clear Sword Art Online and stay alive."

He stared at Ovan with his strange, pupil-less eyes. "Or did you have something else to do?"

Phoenix chuckled. "For being a feared PKKer you're pretty stupid." She told him lightly as she finished her Morning Mist Ale. "I know you want to join, You not currently in a guild so why not join ours!" Phoenix chimed happily, swinging her legs back and forth and waiting for Ovan's answer. She thought about the guild they were forming and just couldn't stop smiling. Even though she seemed childish, she was so ready to beat this game, she wanted to leave as soon as possible.