[PP-12] <<Lord of the Seas>> Let's poke it with a stick! (Lawfer, Ariel)

[Baldur 0]

Floor 12 was... less than amazing. Baldur decided before taking the quest <<Lord of the Seas>> that if he heard banjo music he was just going to recall and abandon the quest. Not only did the swamp penalize his evasion (what didn't on these floors) but who knows what hid beneath the murk. It also gave him flash backs to his team he had put together. Himself, her, Ariel, Oikawa, Reylif, and Crow. It had been a good team, and he would have trusted his life to any of them.

Lazaro was an interesting town. It could have been beautiful were it not in a swamp. He had taken a skiff from the teleport plaza to the edge of the town. The homes and shops themselves were on poles, though he hadn't seen the signs of any player housing or shops on this floor yet. It's not exactly prime real estate.

Looking around, Baldur tried to see if he could find any fellow players to help him with this quest. He had removed everyone from his friend list before he had disappeared a year ago, but since he had re-learned to master his blade, he was ready to track down friends again.

[Lawfer 0]

As the dragoon materialized in the swamp town of Lazaro, the golden haired man shook his head. He had planned on exploring the floor in a little more detail than the last time that he visted, when he completed the <Lord of the Sea's> quest. But the dreariness of the floor, coupled with the field effect, made him rethink his plans. "Man I really hate this place." He stated as he looked around the town, aside from the NPC's not too many players were active, minus one. As he began to walk towards the man, he lifted his right hand and waved. "You don't see many actual players around here." He commented as he extended his hand for a handshake. "I'm Lawfer." He stated as he gave the man a firm handshake, "You wanna team up for a bit of hunting?" He asked, as he brushed a the loose strands of hair over his shoulder.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The swamp themed floor.... unfortunately it was a familiar floor for the blonde. the fact that now her house was located a floor lower than this didn't helped that much either. She'd done the quests that have been made available with the floor but nothing more than that. Today she was sent here by someone to collect a specific material used for tailoring. As the person in question was her master, the npc woman that taught her the basics of her trade... Ariel couldn't refuse her, not she had the desire to do so. "Hey, at least we'll get to train for a bit!" she thought, in the same time voicing that idea to apparently no one in particular. But from her side a low growl could be heard, just enough to make her presence felt, the white lioness was... unhappy with this floor as it made her fur go wet from almost everything here.

But her 'complains' went unnoticed as Ariel's attention was drawn by a pair of players. "It can't be...." muttered the blonde as she unconsciously started walking towards the two. With each step she quickened her pace as she slowly came to the realization that she wasn't dreaming or seeing ghosts. The man clad in blue was indeed pixelated flesh and bone right before her. A piece of her past had made its way into her present and she wasn't going to let this chance slip. Before she knew, she was running towards Baldur and hugged him from the side. She didn't said anything, just showed a beaming smile as she was extremely happy to see her old friend. 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur had not seen many two handed spear users, but the man before him was impressively armed and armored and obviously a bit higher level than him. The Dragoon, who introduced himself as Lawfer, seemed to look out over the swamp with the same affection that Baldur had; none. It would be nice to have someone more experienced with him when they embarked on their journey through the swamp.

Baldur reached out and took the man's hand, "I'm Baldur. I would love to have a group to party with." Swiping his hand down, Baldur opened his menu to invite the lancer to his party when suddenly he was tackled from the side. For a moment his heart lurched in shock, until he realized he was still in a safe zone, and then when he saw the blond hair.

"Ariel?" Baldur said with a grin and reached his arm around to hug her back awkwardly.

"It's good to see you."

Baldur turned to Lawfer, "Ah, Lawfer, this is my old friend Ariel. Ariel this is Lawfer."

It had been ages since he had seen her, but it was comforting to him to see someone who he knew he could trust with his life.

[Lawfer 0]

As the lancer raised his hand preemptively to accept the request, he smiled as the samurai was mauled by the lovely blonde woman. He had met her before in his time with the blades when the lioness helped some of the lower level players of the guild topple the Avalanche ice golem. Using his raised hand, he gestured a wave. "Well hello again Ariel, its good to see you again." He commented as he winked unconsciously, it had become a habit that he formed when around women. 

"Well looks like our party just got a lot stronger, Baldur." He continued as rose his right hand once again and pulled back some more hair that had drifted across his shoulder once more. Then bringing his hand out, he entered his interface and equipped his Lancer set of equipment. AS his body was encased in the scarlet armor, he slung his spear over his shoulder. "I'm ready when you two are." He stated, as his half-visor fell into place.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"I thought you were dead....." a relieved tone could be sensed with those words as the blonde noticed that she was being introduced to someone. Eyeing him she couldn't tell exactly who he was, though a faint memory regarding snow and something did trigger in her mind. 'Must be an aspiring frontliner' though the blonde as she brushed the thought away with a slight nod, raising an eyebrow as she catches a glimpse of his eye twitch. From her side a growl could be heard as Ariel's companion wanted some attention as both guys basically ignored her. Ariel let out a chuckle as she gave Baldur some room and smiled: "Guess who else missed ya?" she added in a joking tone as Kimba walked towards the katana wielder and rubbed her face against his leg while purring. Memories of a certain dragon resurfaced as with the help of the familiar smell.

"So where are you guys going?" she asked while slightly tilting her head. "Doesn't really matter, mind if I tag along? I wanna search for some materials for my sensei." she added in a nonchalant tone as she directed her gaze at Lawfer, still unsure of who he was even after he fully equipped. In return the blonde simply materialized her trusty rapier at her waist and a pair of light vambraces and shoulderpads. The same design since she was just barely becoming a presence in the SAO world. "I'm good too!" she added after making sure the armor parts were perfectly strapped to her body.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur smiled as Kimba rubbed his head against Baldur's leg. The gaijin samurai scratched the white tiger between its ears before standing up. Reflexively he brushed his hands off, as if white fur were clinging to him in the virtual world.

"I've taken the <<Lord of the Sea>> quest." Baldur interacted with his menu for a moment, and more sturdy armor settled on his shoulders, though under his haori.

Baldur examined the swamp, as well as the small boats that brought them through the city. "Can we take one of those out there, or do we have to slog our way through random encounter swamp out there?" He gestured with his hand at the wide expanse of... muck.

[Lawfer 0]

A slight smirk danced across the spearmans face as he watched the interaction between Baldur and the cub. Then his attention was brought back to reality with the samurai's question. "When I took the quest, Takao, Calrex and I just walked there through the swamp, then we were able to find a sub dungeon. But if we can get there way easier with a small little boat I opt out for that." He jested as he looked over to Ariel. "Ariel you mentioned having to find some materials. Would you rather us trudge through the muck so that you are able to gather them?" He asked as he smiled at the blonde femme-fatal before pushing up the half-visor, removing the shades of red from Lawfer's line of sight. "Regardless of what we choose to do, I believe we should get a move on."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur nodded at Lawfer's suggestion.

"You're right, we should get this party moving."

With those words, Baldur hopped into the muck of the swamp, his blue and white haori floating on the top as the water was almost up to his thighs. The feeling of it, of this floor in general, reminded him of the day he, Tyger, Ariel, Oikawa, Raylef, and Crow had adventured to find the dungeon in the forest floor a long time ago. It almost seemed another lifetime.

Reaching to his side, Baldur drew his katana. The muck made him move slower, which is why he had equipped mitigation armor instead of evasion, and he would hold his sword rather than relying on drawing the blade quickly as he normally did. Hopefully the muck wouldn't preventing him from <<Charging>> his foes.

As they traveled on and lost sight of the village, Baldur saw a group of Bi-pedal alligator mobs with wicked looking axes.

"Alright! Here we go!"

Baldur crouched down into the pre-motion that would activate the <<charge>> skill and fly into the group of enemy mobs, activating <<Amatsu no Homura>>, and his letting his spinning cuts tear apart four of the mobs into glittering shards of polygons. 

 

---

ID#61147 BD: 7 LD: 6 Hit! 1 base + 2 charge + 5 skill + 3 weapon = 11 x 10 SA = 110 DMG (AoE)

<<Baldur>> HP: 96/96 | 27 MIT | 4/24 NRG
<<Lawfer>> HP: ??/??
<<Ariel>> HP: ??
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 100/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 100/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 100/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 100/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG

Edited June 9, 2016 by Baldur

[Lawfer 0]

Watching as the samurai dispatched the firt set of foes, the blonde haired dragoon began to bend his knees and lower his level as he slid his Highwind from over his shoulder and gripped it firmly in his right hand. Pulling back the spear, he began his premotion for his sword art. Pressing off of his back foot, <Charge> activated and in a blur of scarlet, the spearman closed distance on the axe wielding gators before halting suddenly and unleashing <Trip Expand>. The speed and weight of the spear caused him to turn in several 360 turns, slashing the gators into ribbons before they erupted into blueish purple polygonal pixels.

As the toration stopped, Lawfer turned to his companions. "Alright, these guys are all taken care of... You two ready to keep moving?"

 

---

ID#61259 BD: 9+3 LD: 1 Hit! 1 base + 3 charge + 5 skill +6 weapon +1 Crit  = 16 x 8 SA = 128 DMG (AoE)

<<Baldur>> HP: 96/96 | 27 MIT | 4/24 NRG
<<Lawfer>> HP: 144/144 l 57 MIT l 28/36 NRG
<<Ariel>> HP: ??
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - 
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - 
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - 
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - 
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat
<<Insti-Gator>> HP: 0/100 | 22 MIT | 36 DMG - Drops 1 mat

Edited June 10, 2016 by Lawfer

[Baldur 0]

Baldur let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and smiled and nodded to Lawfer as one does after a successful battle. In the upper corner of his vision, Baldur could see that after such a move his friend's energy had barely decreased. Such was the power of their level disparity. Still, he had been able to one shot a group of monsters on this floor, and that should not be taken lightly. At least they were safe from any real danger.

"Come on, let's keep going, the sooner we get this boss creature dispatched, the sooner I can get out of this muck." Baldur smiled and gestured for Ariel and Kimba to keep up.

Turning to Lawfer, Baldur inquired about the boss, "So you've fought this guy before? What's he like?"

[Lawfer 0]

"I completely agree my friend. I'm not too found of having to clean my gear... thus... this floor is a nightmare. Swamp water everywhere..." He stated while shaking his head, and remembering the last time he had come to the floor. It took almost a week for the smell to go away. Spinning his Highwind in his right hand, he proceeded to place the spear's strap over his shoulder and pick up his pace.

"Well he isn't that tough... He has a hefty HP pool, but thats about it. When I took it with Takao and Calrex they did most the work and I snuck in to use my strongest sword art, but things are a bit different now. I can do quite a bit more damage, and take even more of a beating. But I would recommend that I take first hit on him this time so I can pull aggro. Just hope he doesnt get too pissed... he has a nasty AOE." He finished as his thoughts trailed off. Looking down in the dark muck, he reached out and pulled up a fishing line. "Nothing to write home about..."

Material Gathering
ID#61381  LD: 5 

Edited June 11, 2016 by Lawfer

[Baldur 0]

Baldur nodded and walked, or rather trudged, along side Lawfer as they proceeded through the swamp. The thick, ugly water of the floor dragged at his limbs in a way that surely would have made him exhausted if he were actually spending any energy. He was impressed by the Dragoon's abilities, though he hoped that he could attain something of comparable strength once he had the gear to back him up. The gear alone was a big gap, but the levels seemed to fill in for a lot of utility.

"You know Calrex? I hear he's a big shot now. I still remember him coming into my shop and barely being able to afford a couple healing potions. I gave him a few extra, and apparently that made the difference between him living and dying." Baldur gave a smirk at the thought that his kohei had surpassed him to such a degree. Such a simple gesture of kindness on his part had turned into an unstoppable force for freeing Aincrad.

"Takao, is he the one who always seems lazy, but also finds all the boss rooms?" It was such a bizarre contradiction. Perhaps he was always tiring himself out from all the time spent in the dungeons.

When Lawfer mentioned the AoE, at least Baldur could smile a bit. "Yes, the AoE. I heard about that from the info brokers, and that's why I brought along a safeguard potion with me." He had been certain he could kill the thing in two rounds, as long as he had a safeguard and attacked first with his stun, but with Lawfer and Ariel along for the ride, this should be an easy fight.

[Lawfer 0]

"Yeah, I seem to have gotten really lucky with my current associations. After I met Takao, I was able to meet Calrex, and since then we have been questing together. Takao and his dungeon finding abilities are top notch. Thats really the reason Im as strong as I am now. Well that and my private training, but, the SP rewards of questing have allowed me the freedom to travel anywhere in Aincrad at this point." As he finished his thought he yawned slightly as he looked up to his energy bar. He still had plenty left and would easily be able to handle the sea serpent. 

Drawing closer and closer to the targeted area. Lawfer turned his attention to Baldur once more. "Well big guy, we are almost there, did you want to take first crack at him or would you like me to stun him and set him up for you?"

[Baldur 0]

Baldur listened to the higher level player explain the best way to power level to him, and it set an idea alight inside of Baldur. Now he knew how to catch up with the front lines better. He had had such a hard time grinding through these levels. Finally getting to the point where he could equip Tier 2 items made a huge difference in his effectiveness, but he still needed to push harder. At his level, his HP and Energy were still so low that he couldn't keep up with the others. And this was just another example of it.

"I'll follow you in, so that I'm at max energy." Baldur patted the blade at his side, "Assuming it lives through you hitting it."

[Lawfer 0]

"Sounds like a plan." Lawfer commented as he pulled his dual tipped spear from his shoulder. "The spears max Damage output is pitiful so I wont be able to smash it down in 1 go. But we should be alright. I'll stun and open him up for you." He stated as his half visor fell into place, covering his eyes and nose. As he trudged forward, an eruption of water sprang from the swamp before him. "Thar she blows..." He jested as he pulled back his Highwind beginning his sword arts premotion. 

<Charge> activated and in a blur of scarlet, the dragoon found himself in front of the Sea Wyvern. <Southern Imperial Cross> activated and with a devistating onslaught of attacks, the Sea Wyvern fell limp from the jarring final attack. "OK Baldur! He is all yours!" He jested as he circled back to the right clearing an open path for the samurai. 

 

---

ID#62475 BD: 5+3 LD: 14 Hit! 1 base + 3 charge + 5 skill +6 weapon  = 15 x 10 SA = 150 DMG (Stun)

[H:1] <<Lawfer>> HP: 144/144 l 57 MIT l 18/36 NRG (-13/+1)
<<Baldur>> HP: 96/96 | 27 MIT | 24/24 NRG

Sea Wyvern: 150/300 HP l  96 DMG l   -150DMG (stunned)

Edited June 29, 2016 by Lawfer

[Baldur 0]

Baldur watched and waited as Lawfer suddenly launched himself at the giant pong monster. It said it was a sea monster, but they were in a swamp, so it was obviously poorly named. At best it could have been a lake monster maybe, if they had been expected to fight it from boats.

The water of the swamp rained down on them in Lawfer's wake, and there was a roar of the beast as he took out half of the elite mob's HP in a single blow. Immediately, Lawfer ducked to the side out of Baldur's way and called the opening to him, but the wanna-be samurai was already waiting.

Already crouched down in the pre-motion for the <<charge>> skill, Baldur had been holding back that tugging sensation of the skill assist system. The moment Lawfer was clear, Baldur released it and shot through the air like and orange and blue blur. The azure light of the sword art followed Baldur's blade as he executed <<San Ge>> his sword whirling in several slashes faster than Baldur ever could have attempted in the real world and ending with a powerful chop through the center of the discount loch ness monster.

Baldur watched as the health bar dropped, hoping it would be enough, but when the bar stopped an almost imperceptible amount shy of defeating the creature, Baldur cursed in frustration. It was stunned, so Lawfer could easily finish it off, but Baldur had been so close.

---

[ID: 62483 BD: 7]  11 DMG x 12 SA = 132 DMG

[H:1] <<Lawfer>> HP: 144/144 l 57 MIT l 18/36 NRG (-13/+1)
<<Baldur>> HP: 96/96 | 27 MIT | 12/24 NRG (-12)

Sea Wyvern: 18/300 HP l  96 DMG l   -132DMG (stunned)

Edited June 29, 2016 by Baldur

[Lawfer 0]

As the blonde watched the HP of the Wyvern drift down just shy of being slain, he chuckled slightly. "Well we were so close. DOnt worry about it though. I'll finish it." He commented as he drew his Highwind back once more, as he slowly trudged through the murky swamp. <Heft> activated and in one swipe of his Rank 1 sword art, the field boss shattered into countless purple pixels. Spinning his spear in his hand, he slung its strap over his shoulder and turned to the samurai. "OK big guy. You ready to start heading back? I mean we could stay here a bit longer if you would like... but.... im not a big fan of swamp water in my greaves." 

[ID: 62545 BD: 9]  12+1=13 DMG x 2 SA = 26 DMG

[H:1] <<Lawfer>> HP: 144/144 l 57 MIT l 17/36 NRG (-2/+1)
<<Baldur>> HP: 96/96 | 27 MIT | 12/24 NRG (-12)

Sea Wyvern: -8/300 HP l  96 DMG l   -26 DMG

Edited June 30, 2016 by Lawfer

[Baldur 0]

Baldur shook his head as he sheathed his katana with a faint and disappearing trace of annoyance.

"I would love to get out of this swampy water. I'm pretty sure I have a fish swimming around in my boot."

Baldur tried shaking the offending foot, but the whole motion was just extremely awkward in the muck of the swamp and he almost tipped over. With an exasperated sigh, the blue and orange warrior turned to head back to the settlement - though he was almost tempted to use a crystal just to get out of here faster.

"Thanks for the help by the way. That thing didn't stand a chance. If I had tried to take it on my own, it might have had a chance to attack me back." He chuckled lightly at the extent to which they had outclassed the elite mob.

[Lawfer 0]

"No problem! besides if you are a friend of Calrex then I have no problems helping you anytime you need it. Especially since I owe him quite a bit." He commented as he stepped out of the swamp water onto a more stable ground. The feeling of the swamp water rushing around in his boots, caused the blonde to shake his head. They had been only a little whiles away from the town at this point, so he knew he wouldn't have to worry about the unpleasant feeling much longer. 

"Well Baldur! it was great questing with you big guy. If you need anything let me know, I'm always around so if you need help with any other quests just PM me." He stated as he continued walking forward until he could see the outline of the town in front of him. "Take care buddy!"