PP - F8 Catching Up and Pressing the Advance (Takao) (Completed)

[Calrex 0]

As he materialized on the eighth floor once again Calrex gave a small sigh as he opened his eyes to his surroundings. This time, rather than deciding to teleport to the main settlement of Florenthia Village, he opted instead to arrive in the smaller safe zone of Koko Village. It had been the place he had first met Clarence at, and it had been some time since he had visited the smaller settlements of the floors. Ever since he had joined the frontlines and become the highest level player in all of SAO, it seemed that most of his outings had been centered around the elevator-like spire that was the center of Aincrad. "Geezes, I really have been doing only a lot of training and solo exploration since Teayre took her time away. I wonder if this is some personal way of coping with her absence."

Looking upwards he saw that his familiar blue peregrine falcon, Roc, was already soaring overhead as the Ultramarine Knight continued towards the settlement's gates. At the same time he swiped through his friends list, as if each swipe was recalling memories of his time in Aincrad like a timeline. After some time his list got down and landed in the "T" section, "Huh, Takao...it's certainly been a while since I last saw him. Ever since we cleared the twelfth floor. I wonder if he's doing alright."

WIth a small shrug the bluenette filled out a private message, sending it off, "Wouldn't hurt to see if he's even still active."

Edited February 27, 2016 by Calrex

[Takao 0]

"Alright -- one... two... three!" Takao reeled his arm back and fired it forward in one smooth, swift motion. He threw the rice ball in his hand toward his scaled familiar, which leapt from his spot on the counter to catch the food item in his mouth. The foot tall lizard landed with grace on its feet, and even went as far as to pose and bow to top off his success, earning a singular round of applause from his brown haired companion.

"Woo! Ten for ten, baby." said Takao as he rocked back and forth on the rear legs of the chair he sat upon. His cafe was empty at the moment, most likely a result of the front doors being locked, which afforded him some much needed respite. Otoko clambered back up to his previous position atop the counter and despite a small plate of dumplings. "Alright, my turn!" Some unintelligible chirping from his draconic familiar prefaced the digital monster's clawed hand grasping one of the dumplings from the plate and cocking its arm back in preparation for a toss. Just before the throw, Takao's eyes trailed across his hud. A chime had alerted him to the presence of an incoming private message. Despite his apparent distraction, or perhaps motivated by it, the mischievous grin on Otoko's face grew and he fired the fried dough at Takao.

"Huh, Calrex sent me a PM." His gloved hand raised and caught the incoming dumpling as he glanced over the message. He scratched his neck, took a bite, and went about responding. "Floor eight, eh?"

- -

A spoken command and flash of blue light brought Takao to the eighth floor. Fresh digitized air filled his lungs as he adjusted to the change in atmosphere. Equipped in his usual getup, sans the Lightbringer which had since been replaced with a new blade of relatively similar description and similarly worn behind his left shoulder, he trudged through the settlement of Florenthia. He'd made plans to explore the floor more thoroughly than what he and Jomei had experienced so many moons ago, yet nothing had come to fruition just yet. This was a perfect opportunity to cross one of many items on his to-do list off, and even yet to get back into the swing of things. Dissolving his lax day to day routine would undoubtedly be a difficult task.

"Ay, Calrex!" Takao called out upon seeing the familiar blue haired front-liner. "What's good, man?"

[Calrex 0]

Some time had passed since the message was sent, but not enough that Calrex had suspected his brunette teammate wasn't going to show up. Looking over as he heard his name called the bluenette gave a friendly smile as he saw the follow front-liner level straight sword user come into view, giving a wave as he got into closer range, "Takao! Long time no see man! About the usual stuff since the last time we saw each other, training and frontliner stuff heh. How have things been with you?"

At the sight of another familiar Roc descended from the air at his swooping speed, almost becoming a blur before he pulled up at the near end of his dive, touching down gently on the ground a foot or so away from Takao's miniature draconic companion. The bird of prey cocked its head to the side a couple of times as he looked at the creature.

Looking down at his familiar Calrex gave a small shrug before continuing to speak, "In any case, I was going to go see if I could find another sub-dungeon on this floor. If you had some time you're welcome to come along."

[Takao 0]

Takao's raised hand dropped down to his side as he approached, his scale-clad companion in tow. By the time they'd entered a suitable range for carrying out a casual conversation, the blue hued avian companion of Calrex had descended from the skies, seemingly having taken an interest in Otoko. The small dragon was momentarily startled by its sudden appearance, only for the sensation of surprise to be replaced with seething envy. As the piercing yellow eyes glared at the winged creature, its presence only served as yet another reminder that he was a dragon without wings. It was surely a miserable existence for such a prideful creature.

"Things have been alright on my end. The post-grind fatigue hit me like a wall though, so I've been takin' it easy these past few months." said Takao as he stretched his arms skyward. "Just about time for me to get back into the action though, I think." The brunette rolled his shoulders and refocused. The mention of joining his azure-haired companero on a sub-dungeon expedition was a perfect opportunity to integrate himself back into a more productive routine. "Yeah man, I'm game for that. Think we could wipe out a few mobs on the way? I could use a warm up to shake some'a this rust off."

[Calrex 0]

As Otoko gave a glare of jealousy at the blue peregrine falcon Roc tilted his head to the opposite side before taking a couple of steps back. Flapping his wings the bird of prey hovered a few inches above the ground before hovering over the scaly familiar, as if offering to give the miniature dragon a lift.

At the same time Calrex gave a understanding nod as he heard of Takao's explanation for his absence, "Yeah I think I know what you mean. I'm actually surprised that I've got the drive still to keep grinding away at levels. At this rate if we don't start clearing floors quickly soon I'll hit potentially maximum level before we even reach floor 50. I mean...I'm not against that, but it would be a little ridiculous heh."

Putting a hand in front of him he sent out the party invite before going through his gear, making sure everything needed for the excursion was ready before giving a nod, "For sure. We might be able to pass some more time while taking out some monsters and get ourselves into the potentially better area for a sub-dungeon to spawn."

[Takao 0]

A lighthearted chuckle rumbled in Takao's chest as he nodded along. "Hah, I was just about to ask if Kayaba raised the level cap personally for you yet." The idle comment filled a moment of silence as Takao's jade eyes fell onto the transparent window. He accepted the party invitation and glanced over at the level hovering just below the health gauge just beneath his own. "Jeez man, you weren't kidding! How do you even have time to eat 'n sleep?" Takao said, strong hints of amusement shining through the words he spoke.

The brunette cast a fleeting sidelong glance to his familiar, who seemed to be reluctantly accepting the falcon's offer for a lift, and smirked slightly. That was definitely something to tease the mischievous runt about later, but he'd let him enjoy it for now. A quick routine check of his gear showed everything to be in order and his attention settled back onto Calrex, nodding in agreement to his statement. "Roger roger. You're the vet here, so I'll follow your lead Cap'n." An exaggerated two-fingered salute followed his words. His hand moved from the salute to the handle of the sword on his back. In one swift practiced motion Takao pulled the blade from the scabbard and gave it a single twirl. "I've been itchin' to test this guy out."

[Calrex 0]

The bluenette couldn't help but give a laugh at his teammate's reaction to his current stats. If he were honest, it was likely most people he met shared a similar disbelief that it was even possible to reach level 59 at the floor they were on, "Well monsters are pretty tasty and their fading carcasses make good...just kidding, heh. I've just had a lot of time on my hands, and I pretty much just allocated most of that time to training. Heck I became a fisherman and I haven't crafted in months."

While the two players' conversation continued Roc lowered himself enough so gently grasp onto Otoko with his talons, making sure to have a solid grip before giving a couple of good flaps. Even though the two were almost the same in size, the blue peregrine falcon seemed to have little trouble raising the scaled miniature dragon off of the ground.

Giving a nod as Takao confirmed his readiness Calrex gave a nod, "Heh, looks like you got an upgrade as well. Alright then, let's set off."

Exiting out of the settlement the bluenette began to glance left and right as he aimed to spy any monster groups that were wandering around. He unlocked the hilt lock from the Grand Blade II while they left view of the safe zones' gates, continuing his vigilance on lookout, "Just let me know if you see any mobs come into view. We should be able to dispatch them rather quickly, just like the swamp heh."

[Takao 0]

Takao snickered in response and shrugged his shoulders. "Hey man, I'm a cook. I eat the stuff I kill all the time, so you can't faze me with that kinda talk. You'll just make me hungry." He gave his stomach a few pats for good measure. His words carried truth, he did often prepare meals utilizing the ingredients and materials gathered from his countless monster slaying expeditions. The brunette watched his companion be lifted into the air, and the small red demon-spawn seemed to immediately enjoy the sensation of flight. Takao returned his attention earthward and refocused. They had a dungeon to find, and a horde of mobs to slaughter along the way.

"Aye aye, Cap'n." He said, continually rolling his wrist and twirling the one handed sword whilst his gaze wandered. He remarked that his accent was slowly adopting a west-country enunciation to it, befitting of his choice of wording. The safe zone slowly disappeared in the distance as the massive forests took over, replacing any remnants of society with trees, trees, and more trees. Some rustling in the foliage ahead of them caught Takao's attention, prompting him to point toward the source with his blade.

"Ahoy Cap'n, thar be monsters off th' starboard side!" He said, fully committing to the accent as he pointed off to their left with his sword. A group of four quadrupedal beasts emerged from beyond the bushes and leaves, baring fangs and claws alike at the duo.

- - - -

«Bestial Direwolf»
155 HP | 25 Damage | 39 Mitigation

"Yer firsht moite'll git 'em!" Per his usual, Takao wasted very little time. He slid into the necessary stance and poised his blade in the required way to activate a sword art he'd become all too familiar with, known to him as «Lightning Fall». With legs tensed in preparation for the usage of «Charge», he relinquished control of his avatar. In the following seconds, he kicked off the ground and threw the weight of his leg over his head, resulting in a single and entirely unnecessary flip. Simulated gravity returned him to the sodden earth a mere instant after, following closely behind his sword. The glowing edge lodged itself in the ground and arcs of electricity danced across the lush blades of grass until they met their target -- the wolves.

One by one, they fell victim to his electrified wrath. He strained and struggled against the post-motion rigidity of his sword art, slowly but surely raising to stand. "Huh. More durable than I thought they'd be-urk!" His immobility prevented the evasion of one of the four lunging for him and grabbing onto his leg. "...Well... Hello."

- -

» ID : [[ 49176 || 49177, 49178, 49179 ]]
» BD : [[ HIT (2 + 3(ACC) + 1(Concentration)) ]]

» MD1 : [[ MISS (1 - 2(EVA)) ]]
» MD2 : [[ MISS (2 - 2(EVA)) ]]
» MD3 : [[ MISS (1 - 2(EVA)) ]]
» MD4 : [[ HIT (8 - 2(EVA)) ]]

« Takao »
[[ 164/165 HP ]] [[ 25(DMG) - 30(MIT) = -1HP ]]
[[ 26/40 Energy ]]  «Lightning Fall» used. (-14 Energy | +1 Energy)
[[ Hate : 1 ]]

« Bestial Direwolf 1 »
[[ 75/155 HP ]]  [[ 13(DMG) + 4(Charge) * (1*7) - 39(MIT) = -80HP ]]
« Bestial Direwolf 2 »
[[ 75/155 HP ]]  [[ 13(DMG) + 4(Charge) * (1*7) - 39(MIT) = -80HP ]]
« Bestial Direwolf 3 »
[[ 75/155 HP ]]  [[ 13(DMG) + 4(Charge) * (1*7) - 39(MIT) = -80HP ]]
« Bestial Direwolf 4 »
[[ 75/155 HP ]]  [[ 13(DMG) + 4(Charge) * (1*7) - 39(MIT) = -80HP ]]

[Calrex 0]

ID: 49182
Battle Dice: 9 (Accuracy +3) = 12 (+1 Damage)
Loot Dice: 16 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 19 (Materials Found)
Sword Art <<Lightning Fall>> Activated / <<Charge>> Activated (14 Energy used / 45 Remaining)

Calrex tried his best to stifle a laugh as he listened to Takao with the strong western pirate-like accent the brunette seemed to be using, right up until the young man finished his attack. Drawing the Grand Blade II from its sheath the bluenette gave a nod as he rushed forward, "They certainly are. Alright better duck!"

Leaping skywards his sword lit alight with the crackling electric blue glow of his own <<Lightning Fall>>. As he came back down Calrex triggered his <<Charge>> skill, a single gate-like formation of four dark blue diamonds appearing in front of his descent path. Passing through he accelerated before piercing the ground with the Grand Blade II, sending out the energy and finishing off what was left of the monsters.

With a sigh of relief the bluenette got to his feet, dusting off his sleeves, "Well that's four now. How's working off the rust?"

Loot List:
4 Materials

HP List
(Hate: 1) Takao: 165/165
   Energy: 26/40
(Hate: 1) Calrex: 271/271
   Energy: 45/59 (-14)

Enemies:
Besital Direwolf 1: -34/155 HP (13+4+1 DMG * 7 Art - 39 MIT = 101 DMG)
Besital Direwolf 2: -34/155 HP (AOE)
Besital Direwolf 3: -34/155 HP (AOE)
Besital Direwolf 4: -34/155 HP (AOE)

Edited February 24, 2016 by Calrex

[Takao 0]

"Ohh boy." Takao said as he glanced over his shoulder, immediately recognizing the offensive setup that mirrored what he'd just used himself. "Don't gotta tell me twice!" He said in response before shifting his attention onto the quadrupedal monster that was latched onto his leg. A firm kick to its snout was all the more it took to dislodge the beast, permitting Takao to flee from Calrex's incoming wrath. He landed on his backside with his sword within reach and watched the dancing electricity mix with the comforting sight of disintegrating pixels.

"Phew." A breath escaped his lungs in the form of a sigh as he raised back up to his feet and dusted his trousers off. It was more so just a habit, as dirt and dust particles were a bit much to expect to be rendered in excruciating detail. "That wasn't so bad." He bent down and picked his sword up from its resting position in the grass, then refocused on Calrex. "Right, so. I never really asked about this sub-dungeon business. How's it work? Do we just wander around for a while 'til one shows up?"

[Calrex 0]

With the mobs eliminated Calrex gave a small sigh as he nodded in response to Takao's inquiry, "Well...now that I think about it...kinda actually. They seem to be randomly generated, and once someone clears them you cannot find that dungeon again, so it is mostly a hide-and-seek game for sub-dungeons. The other thing is that the difficult of the dungeon we find is random. The system is rather...well...let's just say I have yet to find an algorithm or pattern to the spawns."

Putting his free hand into his pocket the bluenette faced back towards the areas leading away from the safe zones, "All I know is that our chances seem to go up the farther away from the safe zones we go. As for how far I'm not sure, but I think it might be a way to keep players from easily running away should things go south inside one. I've been on a few already, but the challenges inside always seem to be changing." 

[Takao 0]

"That's... interesting, I guess. I wonder what genius came up with something like that." He mused, the sarcasm in his words rolling off his tongue like sweet, sinful molasses. His wrist rolled and the blade twirled once in a full circle. The flat of the blade landed with a metallic clank against his shoulder, allowing the brunette to skillfully guide the tip to the scabbard and ease the blade down into the preservative wooden housing. He rapped his fingers against his thigh as Calrex spoke, his wandering eyes betraying listening ears. "Challenging challenges huh? Just my kind of challenge."

His restless hand rose and pointed in the direction they'd been heading prior to the interruption. "How 'bout we keep headin' on down this way then? It seems like it goes on straight for a while before the forest takes over. Should get us nice and far from the settlement."

[Calrex 0]

"Hey blame the designers. I would think an MMO would be a little more built out than that, heh. In any case that sounds like a good idea. That route seems to lead away from both Florenthia and Koko Village, so we'll likely have more luck if we continue down that way."

Glancing upwards Calrex didn't need to look far to see that Roc was still carrying Takao's miniature dragon familiar in his talons, his wings flapping about twice in frequency than he usually did in order to help compensate for the extra weight. In order to ensure Otoko didn't drop from a high height the blue peregrine falcon only few about three feet or so above the bluenette's head. The sight gave him a laugh, reminding Calrex of some movies where a bird would carry smaller animals in a similar fashion, although the size difference was much more significant.

"In any case, the other thing is that the dungeon entrances aren't always obvious. Sometimes they are cavern openings, but others have turned out to be almost event-like. My first time discovering a dungeon I literally fell through the sands of the desert into an underground cavern. So like I said, no found pattern yet to their appearance."

[Takao 0]

"I guess it's befitting to the nature of Aincrad. Patterns seems to fluctuate to ridiculous extremes. One minute you're whoopin' a mob, the next you can't hit it to save your life." A slow breath flooded his lungs, and was subsequently exhaled in a huff through his nostrils. "Sometimes literally." His comment slipped out as a mutter beneath the escaping breath while his eyes rose skyward, locking onto his familiar in the grasp of another. The corner of his mouth tugged upward in a smirk, one eyebrow arched as he and Otoko traded a glance. The exchange didn't persist for very long, and Takao was back to vigilantly scanning the forest as it grew ever thicker.

"Event like? That's interesting. I guess if we're to stick with the theme of the floor, it might be a cave, some ruins, or maybe even sum'n in a tree." It was a game of chance that they'd find what they were looking for, but the trip was likely to be beneficial to Takao regardless. He seldom purchased map data from merchants; he found it to be a monetary waste in addition to forgoing potentially vital experience, both in numerical points and practical understanding.

As was usual of his train of thought, he was quickly becoming disinterested with talk of the game. Numbers and points, strategies and systems... that sort of thing could only entertain his excessively active musings. He found people were much more interesting subjects of conversation. "So, you've really just spent all this time on grindin' then, huh. Has anything interesting happened? I've only been out of commission for maybe a month or two, but it feels like I've missed out on a year's worth of... stuff."

[Calrex 0]

"Heh, where to begin. I can't really remember exactly when you took off, but there's no question a lot of stuff has happened. Sadly though, most of it doesn't relate to floor clearing. In fact we're only right now close to unlocking floor fifteen. Other than that, the Azure Brigade and Knights of Christ have apparently merged together, and so have Knight of the Blood and the Crimson Blades. I think you were around when the rumors were spreading about unique skills right? So far Zelrius, Tristan, Teayre, Ssendom, and Lowenthal, at least going from the people I know. There's rumors another player has another one of them, and that potentially more are being looked into by the info brokers."

With a small sigh the bluenette rubbed the back of his head as they continued forward, "Other than that there's been I believe one or two event bosses alongside the floor raids, but we really haven't made much progress after that."

Looking around he began to look for any trace of a dungeon entrance, but so far it seemed they had yet to get far enough from any potential safe zone. "No sign of a dungeon yet, so it looks like we'll need to keep moving further out before any might show up."

[Takao 0]

Takao took to stretching his arms up toward the sky as Calrex spoke, jade eyes watching the path ahead as vigilantly as Takao could muster. He bopped his head in a nod every so often, if only as a gesture to demonstrate that he was still actively listening. "Yeah, I was around for the unique rumours. Lowenthal borrowed a chunk of col off me a while ago, so that must be what he used it for." His tone had finally relaxed as his energetic nature settled down. "I met the other player you're talking about. He has Darkness Blade, it's a unique that bypasses mitigation. I was holdin' on to it for him for a while before I went on break. He's not really an active player at the moment though, I don't think... 'least I haven't seen him around at all. It's a shame too, I witnessed firsthand what that unique can do. I didn't even have it at maximum rank and it let me solo Tagas in his fully corrupted form. He'd be a great addition to the vanguard."

He nodded along with the mention of event bosses. "I was reading about those the other night, they sounded interesting. I kinda regret not lookin' into them more." A shrug rolled across his shoulders and he dismissed the thought. That boat had sailed, so there wasn't much use in reflecting on missed opportunities. Their conversation shifted to dungeons once more, eliciting a yawn from within his chest. "Ah, we gotta be gettin' close by now. Feels like we've been walkin'... what, five minutes?"

[Calrex 0]

"Bypasses mitigation? Geezes, just going from what I know of the unique skills, that seems to outclass both Zelrius and Tristan's abilities. I mean, having stronger Sword Arts or reflective damage are great, but being able to bypass any kind of defense seems to be the best bet. But I can understand what you mean, a powerful skill like that would be particularly useful on the frontlines. Surprise that it isn't being used already, save possibly that time I saw Zelrius use it against the Forsaken Crusader. As for Lowenthal, yeah I could guess. I was actually with him when he encountered the unique NPC bearing it. He got something called the Shadowed Path, which apparently reduces the amount of aggro you generate, so I guess it's good if you're going for the rogue-ish character build."

As the two continued to move further down the path Calrex gave a nod as he glanced around, "We've definitely been moving for a while. I'm surprised nothing's come into view yet. First time I did this was on floor five, and I think I went through at least a third of the desert before falling into the entrance. Hopefully we don't have to go through something as time-consuming as that."

[Takao 0]

"It is ridiculous, dude. I think it might be the only thing that could beat Tristan's unique, in all honesty. Only taking a forth of incoming damage that's further reduced by armour mitigation... I'm not even sure Zelrius could put a scratch on him without instagibbing." It was an honest shame that something so powerful, with so much potential, had gone relatively unused. He didn't know the holder's motives behind it, whether they were selfish or paragon, yet Takao simply couldn't deny the usefulness. Either way, he hadn't even the slightest clue how to track the player down or contact them, so it was a lost cause despite his musings.

"Ah, somethin' will show up eventually, maybe. If not we can circle back around and check the other side of the floor, or even pick this up another day." Takao shrugged. "We got a bit of experience from the wolves anyway, so it wouldn't be a total loss if we don't find anything."

[Calrex 0]

"Heh, that is true. I think there should be one around here appearing soon enough though. I think if he head a few more yards out we might be in the best spot to look for them."

After continuing further down the path Calrex gave a small sigh. It was around this time that he was close to coming upon a dungeon, at least if the last time he did this was any indicator. Of course back then he also had to endure powerful sandstorms and avoid a couple of dust devils. Accompanying Takao on this venture seemed a little more tame and less dangerous than back then. Even the time he and Zandra had to maneuver out of a powerful storm was more treacherous than how their trip was going.

"Alright, we should be just about there. Any signs of ruins or anything like that?"

Edited February 26, 2016 by Calrex

[Takao 0]

«Woodwight's Hollow»

Calrex pressed the inquiry of the discovery of ruins and almost immediately after upon doing so, Takao's eyes fell upon a clearing in the foliage to his left. He halted his momentum in favour of investigating. Gloved hands pushed low hanging branches aside, revealing a path that had been mostly hidden off. "Bingo." He said under his breath as a smile crawled onto his face; the sudden discovery prompting him to turn back to Calrex.

"Hey, we got somethin'!" said Takao, raising his voice enough for Calrex to hear. He pushed through the brush and came to stand before some ruins. They were rather small in comparison of the rest of the forest but still sizable in its own regard; a plethora of hidden crevasses and unseen spots to hide an entrance. Running a hand through his ash-brown hair, Takao stared at the structures nature had long since started reclaiming. "Okay... Uh... I've got no clue where to start." After turning back to Calrex, he gestured toward the ruins with his head. "D'you see anything that looks like an entrance?"