[SP - F3/5] Symphony of Steel, Part 3 (THSS GM)

[Takao 0]

The birds on the third floor were rather loud in the early morning hours, and their calls were heard all the better through his open window. Takao's eyes slowly opened, but not from the comfort of slumber. He hadn't slept again, opting to sift through news and information broker posts, and to sort his inventory, then resort it again, and then delete unneeded items, and then sort again. He did anything and everything he could think of to keep his mind occupied, to keep his hands busy. He had done his crafts for the day and then some, giving Otoko plenty of food to serve when the small red familiar kept his Café through the morning and afternoon. Tired green eyes slowly trailed along the far wall and to the window, which displayed the first hints of light in the sky. It was the perfect opportunity to get up and have some proper action to occupy himself with, something that was actually productive and didn't make him feel like a lazy bum that just lounged around all day.

- -

Vodka used.
Lamb Haunch used.
Sata Andagi x3 used.

[Takao 0]

The first step of the day was to get ready; Takao raised himself to sit on the couch and swiped his hand vertically. Bells chimed and the opaque window of the menu appeared. He lifted his hand and pressed the inventory button, playing more chimes as new windows opened. The hooded shirt he wore was removed and stored in the inventory, momentarily leaving him shirtless while he equipped the components of his hunting gear. First the undergarment, then the waistcoat over it, and finally the overcoat all appeared in flashes of blue light. His trousers were replaced, and then boots appeared with the pant-legs tucked into. Finally, he navigated to the portion of his inventory dedicated to weapons. His eyes lingered on the starter’s iron arming sword he had used years ago, when his journey had first began. Then it moved to Lightbringer, his first sword proper, crafted by a blacksmith whose name he hadn’t heard in ages. He glanced over Serpent’s Bite, a dagger he had commissioned in the memory of Azide, and then the Inundator. It was the staple of his image, the blade he had used for the longest and the sword that had been most reliable to him. Finally, he looked to Ragnarok, a fantastic long-sword whose usage he was thoroughly excited for. But he wasn’t ready, yet each day brought him one step closer. Inundator was equipped and appeared in a black wooden scabbard on his back, the handle above his left shoulder.

[Takao 0]

“I should get some new gear.” Takao commented idly as he looked himself over in the reflection of the darkened window. He adjusted the collar, thumbed the brim of the fur that lined it, and pulled the waistcoat into place. The gear suited him just fine, it did its purpose and then some, and had even saved his life on more than one occasion. But the boy loved change and hated complacency and repetition, seeing the same outfit on himself every day was something he loathed. He needed new. Perhaps he’d stop by Ariel’s shop at some point and commission a new set, and see if the blonde blacksmith wouldn’t forego that logo of her’s. He loathed being branded and used as a walking advertisement, it wounded the feeling of independence he was so eager to protect. Takao trotted down the stairs of his rented building and hopped over the counter, proceeding out of the shop and ensuring that it was locked behind him before he started off down the street.

[Takao 0]

Delilah was a nice settlement. A fine settlement. It wasn’t big and it wasn’t great, it didn’t boast the highest population or the most shops, but it was quaint and pleasant. Takao could walk down the cobble-laden streets and wave to his neighbors, who he had come to know rather well despite his recent distanced phase. Some recognized him as a front liner, others didn’t, and most didn’t seem to care; he liked it that way. Being the center of attention was another thing he loathed. To have all those eyes on him, watching his every move, judging his every action… it was stressful just thinking about it. He found much more happiness in being average, neither ignored nor fixated. Just… average.

[Takao 0]

Having made his way from the peaceful and serene town of Delilah into the harsh wilderness that surrounded the old-English styled settlement, Takao quickly found himself amidst a small sea of monsters. Four of them had appeared from the air itself, and all eight glowing red eyes were set on his person, boring into his own green. He had the forethought to draw his blade before progressing into the more dangerous zones that the floor had to offer, so he wasn't caught completely off guard. Now surrounded by the large monsters that were very clearly inspired by praying mantises, only on a much larger scale, Takao prepared a sword art that he knew would fit the situation perfectly. The metal of his sword shone bright blue with tints of purple mixed in, shimmering in the morning light as he slammed its tip into the ground. Electricity sparked and crackled, shooting out from the steel and dancing across the blades of grass until they met the monsters and electrocuted them in tandem. One by one they shattered, leaving behind colourful fragments and a rewards menu to display the spoils of battle.

ID: 62283
BD: 9 + 3(ACC)
LD: 20 (10(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (52/66) (-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

8 Materials
7020 Col

[Takao 0]

There wasn’t a moment to spare before another small horde of monsters descended upon him. Three monsters now stood to his front and one to his left flank, all of them nearly identical in design to the previous horde that had surrounded him only moments prior. A quick test of his sword's weight via twirling his wrist gave him a bit of confidence in his remaining energy levels, which held strong despite the usage of his current strongest area-of-effect skill. His green eyes looked between the various menacing sets of red that glared back at him, each watching him for an opportunity to attack while he did the same to them. Having quickly grown tired by their very brief stalemate, Takao shifted his stance and assumed the necessary position to active the pre-motion of a familiar sword skill. A mere second had passed before his blade, with the assistance of the system, found its way into each of the four monsters that surrounded him. Their health was practically instantaneously reduced to nothing by the increased power of the sword art, and each of the four mantis-esque beasts took turns erupting into colourful shards of scattering data. He glanced down at the second prompt that had opened and skimmed over the contents before closing it.

ID: 62284
BD: 9 + 3(ACC)
LD: 17 (7(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (39/66) (+1/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

12 Materials
11340 Col

[Takao 0]

The sheer abundance of like-minded, copy-pasted monsters was remarkable. Not many of the floors were exceptionally expansive in their geography, in fact only the first fit that description, yet with such treacherous terrain coupled with potentially dangerous monsters lurking around every corner and behind every obstacle they were often quite difficult to traverse despite their size - making the floors seem much larger than they were in reality. Luckily, for Takao, the lower floors hadn't been an issue of his for quite some time… months and months of practice and grinding had afforded him some levels of comfort when he hunted independently. They were, in fact, excellent low-risk locations to hunt for materials and col. In mere moments, he was amidst the enemies he had been planning to hunt. Four of them in total, a group just like the last few, and just enough for him to take out with one well timed sword art. He wasted no time in its preparation and unleashed the system's wrath upon each of the eight-or-so foot tall mantis-esque monsters. In the wake of his system-assisted attack, only dispersing pixels and a window displaying the spoils of his efforts remained.

ID: 62285
BD: 2 + 3(ACC) + 1(Concentration, 5/5)
LD: 11 (1(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (26/66) (+1/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

16 Materials
15660 Col

[Takao 0]

In the wake of the four monster's defeat, yet another quadrad had appeared to challenge the tiring brunet. He exhaled a slight grumble in quiet protest and readied his sword despite not being entirely willing to fight. The scythe-armed insectoid monsters charged him before he had the mind to react, and swung its bladed limb down at him. He caught the blow with his shoulder, and a combination of his armour's enhancements as well as his armour skill itself softened the damage to be next to nothing. With one of the monster's only methods of assault in a bind, Takao prepared his blade to use a sword art by specifically positioning his body in a certain way. His sword was thrust at the monster a total of seven times with exceptional speed and precision, tracing the pattern of a certain constellation upon the monster's body with hit marks. In the following seconds, the mantis-esque creature burst into hundreds of pieces, signifying Takao's victory.

ID: 62287
BD: 10 + 3(ACC) (Concentration, 4/5)
LD: 15 (5(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (13/66) (+1/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

20 Materials
19980 Col

[Takao 0]

The fields outside of Delilah fell silent as the last of the monsters were slain. Takao’s glove-clad hand wrapped around the scabbard strap against his chest and pulled it over his head, and then off his shoulder. Having just killed yet another four monsters following the last quadrad, he opted for some rest. With the blade inside, the end of the scabbard dragged across the grass and rattled as Takao walked to an elevated portion of the knoll. He knew the area well, monster spawns to his flank and rear were rare, and spawns to his front were easily seen. His energy stores had fallen low, which meant engaging another group of enemies was ill advised.

ID: 62288
BD: 7 + 3(ACC) (Concentration, 4/5)
LD: 24 (14(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (0/66) (+1/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

28 Materials
27000 Col

[Takao 0]

Takao rested his hands behind his head after lowering onto the grass. Laying on the ground was normally rather uncomfortable, but given the absence of pain in the world of Aincrad, some of the edge was taken off. Tired green eyes glanced skyward to the blue abyss above, tracing the shapes of clouds that floated by. He knew that the next floor rested above him, and the floor after that… and approximately ninety odd floors above that one yet. They had barely even scratched the surface of Sword Art Online, and yet the losses they had suffered were astronomical. Six deaths in a few months, four of them not even at the hands of the game itself. It was a lot to digest.

[Takao 0]

Drawing in a deliberately slow breath, Takao closed his eyes. These past few years had surrounded him with so much death. Azide and Cora, although admittedly the latter hadn’t had as much of an effect on him as the former, had opened old wounds. Two lives, gone forever, for nothing more than a single man’s sick and twisted fantasy and god complex. The thought put the feeling of a tight knot in his chest and pulled his eyebrows into a furrow. Takao’s eyes opened as his thoughts of death brought back memories of Michio and Tatsuya, causing him to raise up, and subsequently brought him jumping to his feet. He needed to occupy himself again, to do something else and keep his mind from wandering any further.

[Takao 0]

“I guess this is as good a time as any to check for a sub-dungeon.” Takao muttered to himself as he slung the scabbard over his arm. His eyes fell down to the menu as he called it forth, pleasant chimes ringing in his ear as he navigated to the map. He scrolled from the third floor to the fifth and glanced over the item that held a plethora of information. Circles and marks where dungeons were and hadn’t been, points of interest, and scribbles of vaguely relevant information. Of the former, only a handful of dungeons remained untouched and hadn’t been sought out yet, bringing Takao to action.

[Takao 0]

Takao traversed the grassy landscape of the third and eventually met the dirt and cobble-laden path leading back to Delilah. When he passed through the gates and into the safe zone, his sword found its way back into the scabbard on his back, and he made his way through the growing yet still scarcely dense populace of players and NPCs alike that had begun to migrate out onto the streets. Peddling wares, hunting down friends and allies for the daily grinding and questing, or just simply out to enjoy the warming weather, their presence didn’t bother Takao very much. He climbed the stairs to the warp gate and uttered the number of the floor residing two tiers above him, as well as the name of its settlement.

[Takao 0]

“Alright. Let’s see if we can’t find this time.” Takao muttered to himself as he skipped down the staircase and started off in the direction of the fifth floor’s arid desert portion of the floor. He had taken special care to check whether or not he was being followed this time around, which was becoming an increasingly common and incredibly disconcerting habit of others. He cared little for his trade secrets and didn’t try to hide them in the slightest, but he certainly didn’t enjoy the notion of somebody lurking behind him, watching his every movement as if waiting to strike. Before long, Takao stumbled upon the remains of a dungeon entrance that seemed like an Egyptian Temple in ruin. An easy find, all things considered, as it wasn’t much different from the usual.

Intermediate Dungeon found.

ID :: 62292
LD :: 17 + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins) + 2(Reveal) + 1(Detect)
30

[Takao 0]

Takao slid down the sands and into the Dungeon, finding that the darkness within was slowly being lit with lines of automatically lighting torches. As their bright red and orange flames illuminated the dungeon’s first room, Takao was graced with the sight of four monsters, wrapped from head to foot in dirty bandages. They wielded rusted, slightly curved weapons in their hands and growled through scarcely present teeth. He raised his sword and set about cutting through them in turn, cleaving his way forward one monster at a time. He left a sea of colourful fragments in his wake and continued forward without a second look behind him.

ID: 62293
BD: 4 + 3(ACC)
LD: 13 (3(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (52/66) (/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

6/10 Remaining

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

32 Materials
31320 Col

[Takao 0]

Further into the Dungeon did Takao progress, finding himself illuminated by the autonomously igniting torches that lined the wall of the desert ruins. From within the darkness ahead, he saw four sets of glowing red eyes, all set upon him and boring into his own green. With his sword in hand and glove wrapped tightly around the leather handle, he prepared to engage them, narrowed eyes eagerly awaiting their approach. When their shambling figures emerged from the darkness, Takao struck. The edge of his blade cleaved each of the monsters in twain, leaving behind halves that shattered into hundreds of fragments, and then turned to nothingness behind him.

ID: 62294
BD: 2 + 3(ACC) + 1(Concentration, 5/5)
LD: 13 (3(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (39/66) (/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

2/10 Remaining

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

36 Materials
35640 Col

[Takao 0]

The last of the monsters found themselves guarding the boss room door. Whether or not they knew of their purpose as gatekeepers was irrelevant and disregarded by Takao, who wasted little to no time with his engagement. The first of the monsters that remained found his sword piercing through its chest from behind, reducing its health to zilch and subsequently resulting in its shattering into fragments. The monster that remained standing adjacent to the door stirred into action, but not before Takao’s sword cleaved two heavy slices through its chest, cutting through its health like a hot wire through butter and leaving it in a similar state to the previous.

ID: 62296
BD: 4 + 3(ACC) (Concentration, 4/5)
LD: 16 (6(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (26/66) (/-14)
Sword Art: «Lightning Fall»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 7 = 168

0/10 Remaining

Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)
Shambling Undead: 0/135 (168 - 33(MIT) = 135)

Total Rewards

40 Materials
39960 Col

[Takao 0]

The large wooden doors stood before him, ominously looming overhead. They rivaled boss room doors in appearance, and although they paled in comparison to the scale the inanimate entrance to the monster that laid within were no less daunting. In some instances, the boss monster within would be as strong as the first Takao had ever faced in his career as a frontliner. It was interesting to think that he found himself on par with those monsters that had inspired such fear within him when he was a weaker player. Takao swiped open his menu and unequipped the Inundator, replacing it with the Serpent’s Bite in preparation for the fight ahead.

Inundator unequipped.
Serpent's Bite equipped.

[Takao 0]

“Okay, let’s get this over with.” Takao said as he reached to his lower back and grasped the handle of Serpent’s Bite. He pulled it from the scabbard and listened to the short rasp of steel gliding across rough leather and metal. He rolled his neck to the right, and then to the left, and then stepped up to the door. His foot was raised and the sole of his boot slammed into the door, forcing its wooden surface to give way and open for him. Takao’s foot slammed onto the ground and in the same motion, he simultaneously activated both his Charge skill and the highest level sword art available to him at present. He covered the distance between himself and the boss monster in an instant, his glowing green blade chewing into its bandage-wrapped figure once, and then twice, and twice more after that. The quadrad of strikes chewed away chunk after chunk of health until nothing remained, and the boss was defeated.

ID: 62297
BD: 6 + 3(ACC)
LD: 16 (6(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Vitamins)

Takao: 269/269 (12/66) (+1/-16)
Sword Art: «Eternal Cyclone»
Damage: 13(base) + 5(charge) + 6(Alcoholic) = 24 * 16 = 384

Undead Emporer: 0/300 (-384HP)
 

Total Rewards

40 Materials
39960 Col

[Takao 0]

With the monster defeated and the dungeon completed, Takao turned his back to the fallen boss and set about leaving the emptied ruins. He passed back through the hallways and exited the dungeon, just in time to watch the entrance collapse behind him and disappear in the sands, as was typical of dungeons to do. Another would pop up somewhere in Aincrad, perhaps on the same floor or perhaps elsewhere, and he would undoubtedly set about trying to find it or even another at some point. But for now, he had done all that he had the energy for, and headed back in the direction of Armadillo. The warp gate platform was his destination, so that he might find his way back to Delilah for some much needed rest.