Acanthus

“Every floor. Without reservation, as far as I’m aware.” Acanthus checked her system map with silent concern. What she did not want to express was the scarcity of dungeons on the lower levels. Or rather, the scarcity of Dungeons worth revisiting. New dungeons were getting harder to find as the higher-level floors became more accessible. Many of the players that sat between defenseless and boss-fight ready had enough sense to wait until exploring the new floor, leaving the best locations to Acanthus and the others that were equipped to handle the uncertainties. Floor 21, although one of the hig

For the first time in a long time, Acanthus felt like she was home. Not in a good way, though. The desk in front of her loomed, built of spite and comically tall stacks of paper. Acanthus had surely thought most of them to be blank, but was beside herself to learn that was not the case. Guild token invoices, evaluation reports, guild member feedback forms and construction requests… She had spent two nights fully awake just trying to put things in order. It probably wasn’t even necessary. Baldur ran Jacob’s Ladder, and he seemed far too calm to be going through this much bureaucracy.

Guild Name: Tracker's Alliance Guild Quest Rank: 1 Guild Quest Creator: Acanthus Guild Quest Details:

The great combine-ining part 2 Crafting Hyperlinks for Reference: 11/1 11/4 11/5 (I swear I did mats for everything.) Evaluating Perfect Masterpieces (Details at bottom of post) 256572 Perfect (Mast) 11/4 25657

November 5 Crafts (Up to 14 because I've been sleeping on Guild Buffs) Roll: ID# CD: LD: Quality Count Experience Ambition Mod 1 256637 CD: 6 +1 LD: 6 Rare - 12 (+7 Ambition) 2 256636 CD: 5 +1 LD: 10 Uncommon

Another Japanese style house greeted Acanthus as they made the rounds. It was less traditional than the last, but still pleasing to look at. The owner had gone all out on the decorations, but Acanthus was thankful she had not opted to go for the super scary route like Jomei had. The estate felt appropriately festive, from the carved pumpkins to the large bowl of candy. 3ulogy went feral the moment he smelled the sugar. He tore away from Acanthus so quickly that his mask flew off and into the air. She shrugged—it was rare to see him so eager, so she would try not to chastise him. “Try

November 4 Crafts Roll: ID# CD: LD: Quality Count Experience Ambition Mod 1 256577 CD: 7 +1 LD: 12 Rare (Mast) - 10 (+5 Ambition) 2 256576 CD: 4 +1 LD: 13 Uncommon (Mast) - 8 (+5 Ambi

Link to Quest ph NOTE: Custom Skill (Disabuse System) is active. The skill will be considered inactive once any player requests in a subsequent post. Acanthus | True Tier 11 | Lvl 101 (34/67) | HP: 1000/1000 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 23 | MIT:160 | ACC:7 | AA | THORNS:532 | BH:53 | LD:6

ph NOTE: Custom Skill (Disabuse System) is active. The skill will be considered inactive once any player requests in a subsequent post. Acanthus | True Tier 11 | Lvl 101 (34/67) | HP: 1000/1000 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 23 | MIT:160 | ACC:7 | AA | EVA 2 | FL.AURA: 16 | THORNS:532 | BH:53 | HB: 42 | LD:6

Link to Quest ph NOTE: Custom Skill (Disabuse System) is active. The skill will be considered inactive once any player requests in a subsequent post. Acanthus | True Tier 11 | Lvl 101 (34/67) | HP: 1000/1000 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 23 | MIT:160 | ACC:7 | AA | EVA 2 | FL.AURA: 16 | THORNS:532 | BH:53 | HB: 42 | LD:6

Boop! Another cheerful reminder from her menu that she was not home, and would not be for some time. Acanthus rolled over in bed, her head pounding from an evening swapping information with Argent on floor 22. Kayaba could have at least blotted out the side effects. Groaning, she pushed through two missed system alarms and three unread notifications to glimpse the new message. Reytac again. Her mind caught up slowly. They had already completed the first leg… Was he really so keen on finishing this questline? It was only natural for his excitement to stay fresh for this long.

Boop! Her system menu chirped as she studied the latest batch of crystals from Floor 8. Her last order from the vendor in Ellesmera had somehow been substandard. The concept floored her—the entire purpose of NPC vendors was to have some measure of consistency. But from that last batch, she’s barely made any masterpieces. Each crystal was brittle, and refused to house all but the lowest of enhancements. This new box seemed to have a brighter glow—she could only hope it was her pessimism warning her away from the crafts, and not a sense of intuition. That’s right. The message.

“Honestly, that’s good enough for me.” Acanthus relaxed, sheathing her sword once again. Anything that could form words wasn’t a monster. “We’re going to need all the help we can get looking for this sword. How do you feel about search and rescue for inanimate objects?" Acanthus stiffened up. “I.. wouldn’t call it a drunken romp, exactly. We were questing. The quest just happened to involve getting drunk. And I certainly do not *romp*. Although the time in the carriage might have qualified as cavorting… And then the bathhouse later…” Acanthus cleared her throat. “None of it was a romp.

The great combine-ining (This works better if you say it in a Doofenshmirtz voice) Crafting Hyperlinks for Reference: 6/25 6/26 7/29 7/31 8/1 8/11 8/12 8/18 8/22 9/2 11/1 (I did a bad job keeping track of when I sent materials over to banker. I've added a table below for each of the crafting days above that should make confirming each transaction a little easier.) Evaluating P

November 1 Crafts Roll: ID# CD: LD: Quality Count Experience Ambition Mod 1 256277 CD: 8 +1 LD: 12 Rare (Mast) - 10 (+5 Ambition) 2 256276 CD: 1 +1 LD: 9 Critical Failure - 6 (+

3ulogy’s face scrunched in pure annoyance the moment his shop door chimed. It’s Acanthus, and that means more work. “I’m assuming you heard about the recent profession changes.” She responded by dropping a treasure chest onto the counter. The wood underneath strained with the weight. 3ulogy opened his menu to accept the trade, and his mouth dropped. “Nope. No way. You’re insane.” “It’s just col.” “Just a million col. Right.” 3ulogy counted the money with a shaky finger. “You’d never have to grind again.” “Well, Cardinal thinks otherwise. The appraisals got more expensi

Acanthus cursed as Carsar took to the sky. Her first attack was not as clean as it could have been, and gave the dragon a chance to take flight. Reytac and Nari's strikes did not connect either, leaving the bloodied dragon ready to take its revenge. But how were they supposed to bring it back down? Carsar, despite his laughable HP and damage, was light in the air. He tested the party with a few diving swoops, and it became apparent he could retreat to the sky faster than they could follow. Without ranged weapons, they needed a creative solution. Acanthus tossed her weapons to the gro

Nari’s posture changed as she approached the nest, her spear moving almost imperceptibly. Acanthus has never heard of this part of the quest being an issue, and it had never showed signs of danger when she was here previously. But preparation was never something to question. Acanthus kept a casual eye towards Reytac’s surroundings, just in case. Reytac approached the dragon with his hands up and eyes wide—not from fear, but something else. Acanthus saw his eyes dart from the dragon back to the eggs. Is he… getting worked up over the smashed eggs? RIDICULOUS. A SOFT HEART WILL KILL HI

THREAD SUMMARY Experience | 2591 / 5 * 10 = 5182 + 5000 = 10,182 * 1.01 (Guild) = 10,283 experience Col | 10,000 (quest) = 10,000 col Quest | Totems unlocked! Other | 1 mon

—ACANTHUS?! <<She is right here, Counselor.>> WHAT HAPPENED. REPORT—NOW. <<Her data "flickered." It bounced to another node and returned in the span of .384 seconds. Her attribute have reset. Her health and energy are fully recovered, and all cooldowns are reset.>> SO SHE WAS ALTERING THE SIMULATION AGAIN. <<That is a possible explanation.>> The voice accepted the theory without further question. SO USER ACANTHUS HAS BECOME UNSTABLE FOR THE TIME BEING. WE CANNOT RISK VIEWING THE CURRENT CONFRONTATION. ABORT, AND REVERT TO MONITO

Something just out of sight moves her from the overgrown ruins to the inside of a doorless dungeon. The rough-hewn stone forms a tight wall no more than two meters in diameter. Dirt crunches underneath her boots, and also his. Her first reactions are wordless and feral. She throws herself into the stone wall where her captor was. Her body shifts, throwing a punch after being unable to find her sword. The man ducks again, and her fist connects with stone, cracking the wall. “Acanthus, hold on!” The voice sparks recognition. Hadn’t she.. Didn’t she.. She slows down. Slowed down.

(Author's note: I have not received express permission from Morningstar, Oscar, and NIGHT to use their character names in this post. I will remove their names if any of them prefer it; the reason I'm comfortable jumping the gun is because I'm only using their names. Again, these SAO: Alternative threads are not necessarily canon. To the extent the writers disagree that their characters would be out hunting an orange player, they are correct, and the "simulation" being wrong.) <<The Users approach.>> WE SEE THAT. The voice dragged thin fingers along the image display, its

The fight starts with a lack of ceremony. User Acanthus is determined to make the fight as quick as possible. Titania has informed her that the frontlines are out in force. It has been a long time since they have mobilized like this. It was too much, too quickly, she said. Next time, run from the players. User Acanthus is tired of next times. Mother Nature takes shape, a wondrous sight wasted on tired eyes. Botan slides out of its sheathe smoothly, and Fractured Heart comes down with its usual heaviness. This fight, designed to be a deadly capstone to an eternal quest, will take seconds t

Back to the beginning, Acanthus stands in the grove with the massive tree. Mother Nature’s resting place is the very first part of the journey, where she solved the riddle with Pinball. He was a good friend. Pinball’s abandonment cuts deep as the memories of their time together surface in the shade of the tree. She finds herself missing times that never happened. Pinball didn’t leave. He wouldn’t. He’s been here the whole time. USER ACANTHUS IS FIGHTING THE PARAMETERS. <<Yes. The longer we run these simulations, to more likely she is to remember things outside of

COUNSELOR UNIT 64E7877, REQUESTING A THIRD SIMULATION. <<Query received. Credentials remain verified. Suggestion: this may not be a good idea.>> OUR CREDENTIALS REMAIN VERIFIED. IS THAT CORRECT? A micro-second to consider its response, unnoticeable to a computer made of meat. But to a program, a stunning refusal. <<They are still verified.>> the insolence would have to be scrutinized later. The simulation was its priority. LOAD ALL PREVIOUS PARAMETERS. ADD ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS: DAY 912, AFTER ADDITIONAL CONFRONTATION WITH ELEMENTS OF THE PLAYER B