Floor 14 (Dar then ask)

Phoenix certainly changed moods quickly. She went from gloom to glee in a few seconds. Lefray, who kept pretty serious all the time, found it a bit jarring. Still, he enjoyed having someone be his friend. Bi-polar or not, Phoenix was probably the best friend Lefray had ever met, both in-game and out.

"Phebe Moskar," Lefray repeated her name. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to meeting you in the real world, too. Was there anything else you wanted?"

Lefray heard the howls of a nearby wolf pack. Lefray wondered if they would be aggravated by seeing the tent, or if they would only attack if the players left the tent.

"Nice to meet you too!" Phoenix chimed with a smile. "Oh.. I was wondering after we get this we could go on a quest to find my brother?" She asked him quietly. Phoenix looked up when she heard the howls, then drew her sword. She shot a look at Lefray and then bounced up. "Should we attack them?" She asked in a hushed tone.

OOC: Short post..

Phoenix wanted his help to find her brother? He wondered why she wanted to find someone who had left her to die. Lefray wanted to beat the guy up, and he hadn't even met him yet. Did Phoenix still feel attached to her brother? It was hard for Lefray to understand. He had never felt attached to anyone.

As he formulated his answer, Phoenix asked him a more pressing question. Should they attack the wolves?

"No. I think we're..." A wolf tore through the tent and bit Lefray on the shoulder. "Ahhhh!" There wasn't much of a choice now. Lefray punched the wolf in the head. He was able to stagger the beast in one hit thanks to his extra levels. Jumping up, Lefray delivered a downward kick to the wolf's skull. Before he could finish the monster off, eleven more wolves came barreling into the tent.

He usually tried to save his Sword Art moves for at least mini-bosses, but this was getting messy. His hands glowed white. "One Hundred Hands." Lefray's fists became blurs as he delivered one hundred punches to the wolf pack. Six of the wolves died quickly by absorbing the enormous amount of damage.

Right as Lefray was delivering his answer, a wold tore through the tent and bit his shoulder. Phoenix jumped back then watch him quickly kill the one wolf then six others. "Are you okay!? Do you need to sit back for a moment to regain health?" Phoenix asked him over the howls and growls of the wolves.
Not waiting for an answer, just to protect Lefray, Phoenix shot out of the tent and sliced at the wolves. She bounced over one and slashed at it's neck, making it explode into pixels. Phoenix then turned to slices the legs off one wolf, which fell to the ground.
She turned around to attack another, but was tackled by a wolf. She didn't have any armor, so it took out a little more then half of her health. She then began to wrestle it off her, not doing really well..

Suddenly, Phoenix was under half health. Lefray's eyes opened wide in terror. He was not about to let some underleveled wolves kill his friend. His only friend.

"Heart Stopping Punch!"

Lefray used up his last Sword Art attack. He wouldn't be able to use it for quite a while now, and it was overkill on such a weak enemy, but Lefray didn't care. More than anything in the world at that moment, he wanted the wolf dead.

And he got his wish. The wolf shattered into pixels before it even hit the ground. Lefray stood above Phoenix, defending her against any wolves that came close. He stuck to punches, keeping his body anchored in place. He punched one wolf in the nose, stunning it long enough for him to hit it again. The wolf only had a fraction of health left now, and jumped back behind the others.

Alone, these wolves weren't all that tough. But there were so many of them here. Lefray started to wonder if encounters like this were the reason nobody had taken out the mini boss they were after.

A wolf jumped at Phoenix. Their tactic was to go after anyone prone or injured. Phoenix was both. Lefray used his leg as a shield, and the wolf bit him instead of Phoenix. Lefray winced. It didn't really hurt, but he 'felt' it anyways. More disturbing, his health dropped down by a quarter. He almost didn't believe his eyes. He wasn't wearing any armor, but he wasn't expecting the wolves to be able to hurt him that much.

They were in real trouble.

Lefray, being the great person he was, quickly protected Phoenix. He attacked most of the wolves, killing them quickly, but got bit. He sacrificed himself for Phoenix, for a crazy Russian girl who's just trying to make her way into this fake world.
Phoenix's eyes filled up with virtual tears, stood up, and guarded Lefray. "I'm sick up this. I'm always the weak link!" Phoenix growled as she held out her sword. "Phoenix Spark!" She yelled with power. Her sword glowed orange along with her health. She then shot off until she was a blur of red. She landed near 20 feet away from Lefray as all of the wolves burst into pixels.

Phoenix then turned with a weak smile, her hair all over her face. It was a nice moment, until howels could be heard from the distant woods.

The wolves were starting to overwhelm him. He was about to get hit when Phoenix jumped to her feet and protected him. She said that she was sick of being the weakest link. Using her Sword Art, Phoenix managed to defeat the rest of the wolves in a red blur. The wolves exploded into pixels, and when the pixels faded, Lefray saw Phoenix smiling at him with her hair in her face.

He didn't think that she was a weak link. He usually assumed that everyone was better at this game than he was. After all, the unarmed build wasn't optimized. In their last few fights, Lefray had marveled at Phoenix's skill with her sword. She had saved his life several times now. Sure, he had saved her life back, but she certainly wasn't a weak link.

Lefray wanted to tell her all of this, but a howl interrupted the moment. They were still in danger. Those wolves might also come to attack them. He hadn't realized that there were so many wolves in this area. He felt responsible for putting Phoenix in unnecessary danger just for some weapon.

Every day here in Sword Art Online could be his last. The attacks of these wolves had made that point very clear in Lefray's mind. He had to live each day to its fullest. Lefray walked over to Phoenix. She might not like what he was about to say, but he needed to say it. It was probably the worst time for something like this, but he didn't care.

"Phoenix..." He struggled to think of a good way to preface this. "Will you marry me?" He let the question sink in before continuing. "I cannot say with that I love you. Love is an emotion that I am unfamiliar with. But you are the only person who has ever cared about my well being. You are a worthy warrior, you are stunningly beautiful, and you live a life of ambition. I have found nobody I would rather spend my life with. So, if you can find the mercy to love me, I will do everything I can to find out how to love you back. And I will make sure you get out of this world alive. I promise you that. We will see each other in real life. I would beat this game a hundred times for that honor."

It was probably the least romantic proposal ever given, but Lefray had never been good with feelings, much less talking about them.

Phoenix smiled gently towards Lefray. He walked over to her with a different look in his eyes. Something a bit more serious, but soft.
She thought he was just going to ask to leave, saying she wasn't ready to take this. She felt a stab of pain inside her. Maybe he didn't want to be partners because she was to far behind.

She lifted her head up to him, holding back tears and waiting for the worst, when something more different came out of his lips. He asked her to marry her...

So many thoughts raced through her head at once. She wasn't supposed to get married at her age, her parents have been trying to keep her away from boys period, let alone marry them. But this is a game, so aren't the rules different? Phoenix already planned on moving to the states as soon as she could. Russia and her parents were becoming too much for her, she had to get away from them soon or she might explode.

She took in everything he said, she didn't know how this was going to work or how he would take it. "Well.. um.. I don't know how to say this..." Phoenix substituted, not knowing which words to say.. but maybe she didn't need words to say this.
Phoenix threw her arms around Lefray's shoulder and kissed him for the first time. "Of course Richard..."

Lefray's smiled with genuine joy. Phoenix...Phebe had said yes. She would marry him. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. Lefray kissed her back and gently wrapped his arms around her. He felt something strange in his heart. It was a warmth that he hadn't felt before. Not even the cold winds could make it stop.

Lefray. The unarmed combatant who knew only the art of war. For many years, that was who Richard had considered his true, inner self to be. He hadn't been made to feel love in his heart, or the soft lips of a woman. Sword Art Online had been the chance for him to finally live as the real him. As Lefray.

But now... Now things were different. Lefray had someone to love, and who would love him back. For the first time, Lefray really wanted to return to reality. He wanted to beat this game with Phebe, and then meet her as his bride in real life. He wanted to know her well, and learn to truly love her.

But first they had to survive.

Lefray looked deep into Phoenix's eyes and kept smiling at her. "Thank you. I promise that we will leave this world alive. We'll live the rest of our lives together." He broke the gaze and scanned the nearby woods. These wolves were more dangerous than he had expected. It would be foolish to continue on this quest without better preparation.

"Maybe we should grind a few levels before we go after the Snow Bunny. If these wolves are a problem for us, then we need to get stronger. We needed to do that before we fought the Scorpion boss, anyways. The monsters are still spawning regularly here. Nobody wanted to stay on this floor, I guess. For now, we should head back to the inn. We'll need to recover our health."

He looked back into Phoenix's eyes. "Don't you think so?"

Phoenix finally had someone to love. Someone she could call hers, if that got out of this forest alive. Phoenix pulled away and looked up at Lefrat. He made her a promise, something that made her feel guilty. Jak... She didn't love him, but she promised him the same thing. This means she's going to take three people out of this world with her. Jak, Lefray, and her brother. She promised herself this then took in Lefray's words.

Maybe they weren't ready yet. Maybe they should just run away from this and become stronger. They could get their Snow bunny, then take of the scorpions and get that treasure too! Then maybe, just maybe, Phoenix will try to take on cooking!

Phoenix nodded slowly. "Alright. We just need some more training. Like smaller monsters around a city or safe zone.." Phoenix suggested as she pulled her heavy coat around her shoulders and took out her teleporting crystal. "Where should we go next?" She asked him, eyeing the woods to make sure nothing was going to happen.

Lefray considered. They needed a floor that had enemies they could beat easily enough, but still gave a good amount of experience. "Let's go back to Floor 14," he said. The normal scorpions were worth a bunch. As long as they didn't fight three at a time again, they should be fine. "It's the best place to level up. We'll hold off on that boss, though."

He smiled at Phoenix. "I think we need a break before we do any more fighting. We can't push ourselves too hard. Is there anything you want to do?"

Phoenix looked up to, now fiance, Lefray and nodded. As long as they took on one scorpion at a time, they could easily take it down and earn some levels. Then they'd be able to take more down when they got stronger. It was a grueling process, but that's how this game works!
"Sounds good to me!" Phoenix chimed, hearing howls coming closer. "How about we go to the Town of Beginnings. I have a small house there." Phoenix told him with a smile. Slightly blushing to the fact that Lefray might going home with Phoenix tonight..

The Town of Beginnings? Why not? It had been a while since Lefray had been there. The first floor, and especially the Town of Beginnings had a sense of nostalgia. Phoenix even said that she owned a house there. Of all the towns in Sword Art Online, the Town of Beginnings felt like home.

Phoenix was blushing a little, and Lefray wondered why. Was she excited to see her house again?

"Perfect. I can't wait to see it," Lefray said. Wolves started running towards them from the woods. They were running out of time to decide. "We better get going now."

Lefray wondered if there was a church in the Town of Beginnings where they could get married.

OOC: Time for a new thread soon?

Phoenix nodded and held out her crystal. She pecked Lefray on the cheek, taking any chance she could, smiled. "Town of Beginnings." Phoenix said with a clear voice. Then, in a flash, she was gone.

OOC: I agree! Pm me?