Sword Art Online: The Game Begins

[Mido]

"Agh! Sorry!" Ardeel quickly responds to Dean, bowing his head slightly. "It's just I'm a little frenetic right now. Just got done making my way here from the 3rd floor. Once again, really sorry." It was then when Ardeel noticed another player with him, who was silent. "Say, are you two a party?"

 

[DekuNut]

"Yeah," he replies, "This is Kolress, my... well, I guess apprentice is a strong word, but I'm helping him out," he offers his hand, "Name's Dean."

 

[Storm]

Lupus looks through Messages... oh wait

 

[Mido]

"They call me Ardeel," Ardeel reciprocates the handshake. He then offers a wave to Kolress. "I don't suppose you two would mind me tagging along for a short time? Could use a little rest after today's routine."

Ardeel checks his own messages after talking. Come to think of it, this would be a handy tool for investigation coordination.

 

[DekuNut]

Dean thinks for a moment, "Ardeel you say? That name rings a bell... you know a man by the name of AlWINNER?"

 

[Storm]

a wind blows through the air, passing dean and ardeel

 

[Mido]

Ardeel's eyes widen with optimistic surprise.

"As a matter of fact I do, I partied with him among others for quite a while," he responds. "Is he a friend of yours?"

 

[DekuNut]

"Al's my cousin," Dean replies with a smile, "He mentioned you a while back, said you were going on your own for a while," he claps Ardeel on the back, "Welcome to the group then."

 

[Mido]

"Hah, I see! So you're his cousin, huh?" Ardeel nods more comfortably than before. "I appreciate the open arms!" Dean seemed like someone Ardeel could trust, especially if he was related to Al. He decides, however, to keep his own goals to himself for the time being. He then adds one last question.

"On another note, if you don't mind me asking, what were you both up to before I rudely interposed?" It looked as if the two were looking of r a place to rest, but Ardeel wanted to make sure.

 

[DekuNut]

"Just shopping," Dean replied, "Kal here's a little behind level-wise, but he's slowly working his way up the ranks of the blades. What about you? You looked kinda lost."

 

[Mido]

"I gues you could say that," Ardeel nods. "Made my way back here from the 3rd floor, so my sense of direction has become a little out of whack." He pauses for a moment before continuing.

"Say," Ardeel's tone suddenly becomes less aloof and more serious, yet not threatening. "If Al mentioned to you about my leave of absence, did he perhaps mention any reason as to why I left?"

 

[DekuNut]

"He wasn't sure honestly," Dean replied, "He guessed it had something to do with player killers, but apparently you didn't leave him with much to go off of... I was going to put it off until later on, but since you brought it up... I'm sure they're all wondering why."

 

[Storm]

Lupus tries to find everyone, but fails at it... damn hunting and tracking skills aren't worth it

 

[Mido]

"Hmph," Ardeel notes. "His guess is pretty much on the money; granted, the situation we had encounters certainly offered a ton of context clues. In any case, I departed to investigate further player-killings in order to take inventory of cases occurring thus far. It's a broad search, but I only happened to start my investigations extremely recently."

 

[Storm]

Lupus sighs and sits on the corner... waiting