[PP-F1] A Long Way...

[Aereth 1]

Some days ago, Aereth finally had enough free SP to grandmaster his one handed sword skill. Aereth had been out almost every day after training for some mob grinding. After all the hard work and the fighting he only wanted to do one more thing before reaching the highest possible skill rank...

Quote

To: @Itzal

Subject: Training session

Hey there Itzal. Would you mind coming to our training ground on the first floor? Since we didn't have the time to talk or train together in the last couple of days because of my new cursor, I'd like talk with you about some things as well as do a short spontaneous sparring session with you.
So if you have the time please meet me there, my friend.

Best regards
Aereth

Aereth had sent this message to Itzal in the morning. He spent the last night in the forest of the first floor since he wanted to start training early in the morning. And with no teleport gates available to him now it would have taken him a couple of hours to get there. Right now he was sitting with his back to a tree, his sword planted into the ground in front of him. He also changed his appearance in the last days. A little bit of a different hairstyle with a darker shade of brown, and a new set of clothes to be precise (see picture in LINK without the katana)... The sun was rising and he was waiting for his teacher to arrive...

Edited February 22, 2017 by Aereth

[Itzal 0]

Itzal leaped from branch to branch, making his way back to the place he found long long ago.  He was close to scouting out the second floor seeing as how he had already found everything in the first floor there was to find.  Once he scouted all of the second floor he'd work on the third...  Then the fourth, and so on.  However this wasn't an easy process.  It took nearly half a year to fully scout out the first floor.  He had received Aereth's message that his apprentice had maxed out his sword rank.  Now that the player had done so, Itzal felt his apprentice should return to his scout skills.  Otherwise he felt his apprentice would be dps more than scout.  And there was much they needed to cover.  Itzal soon saw his friend in the distance, and leaped from the branch and into the clearing, rolling on the ground to reduce the damage, rather silently as well.  He slowed down and waved to his apprentice as he walked over.  Birdie had vanished but she left a note for him before she left.  Itzal understood why she left.  "Hey Aereth.  So which do you want to do first?  Talk or spar?"

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

When Aereth saw Itzal he immediately got up and sheathed his blade. "Hello Itzal. I'm glad you were able to make it. And if you have no problems with it, I'd like to start with the spar." Aereth said in a calm voice with a small smile on his face. There were many reasons why Aereth wanted to talk with his teacher. He wanted to know why his scout partner Birdie left the guild and vanished, he needed to tell him that he killed again and he needed to tell him the truth about the day that broke him. But for now he wanted to start with the sparring session. "How about that. We will do a half-loss duel with some practice swords and no stun sword arts allowed?" He asked his teacher and sent him the duel request. Aereth needed the duel now more than the talking and he hoped that his teacher would accept.

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal listened to his friend and smiled with a nod.  "Alright then.  Familiars are allowed though, as well as other equipment besides the swords.  Wait, how much health do you have?  We'll make half your health the limit.  Reason I say this is because, well, I have one thousand and sixty health points now so it would be a little unfair.  Whatever amount half of your health is, that will be the amount to shoot for ok?  As for practice swords, if you don't have one with you, you can go ahead and use the one you used last time."  Itzal walked over to the storage shed and pulled out the two practice swords.  Itzal's was rather heavy as usual.  Itzal opened his menu and switched his twilight cloak for Niger Natio, making his ruby ring more obvious, the bright jewel ring shining among the black cloak.  Itzal took the heavy sword and swung it around the air for a bit before aiming it at his apprentice.  Velnia ignited in lightning, a little excited as she'd be fighting another player and his familiar for the first time.  She hadn't met this familiar before, and while this wasn't the way she wanted to introduce herself she was excited nonetheless.

Spoiler

 ID#  77892  @Aereth!!!  Beware my fearsome 2 LD!!!

Stats:

Hp:  1,060  En:  106  Eva:  3  Acc:  3  MIT:  3

Skills:

Rank 5 OHSS
Rank 1 Meditation
Rank 3 Fighter familiar
Rank 1 LA
Disguise

Gear:

Niger Natio:  +3 evasion
Beauty Incarnated:  +3 Accuracy

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Aereth nodded to Itzal when he told him how they'd shoot for Aereth's half health. "Right now I'm sitting at 600 health points. So we'll go for 300." He whistled once and waited for a couple of moments. Suddenly Aereth's familiar slowly walked out of the dense forest and placed itself to Aereth's left. "That's Fenrir, my familiar. I don't think you two have seen him already." Aereth told Itzal and Velina. He then opened his menu and equipped the Goldcrest MK.2 armor. His Flame Aura enhancement immediately flickered to life and his armor got engulfed in white flames. After that Aereth walked over to Itzal and took the other sword Itzal pulled out of the storage shed. He then walked back to his familiar and while Itzal pointed the tip of his sword at Aereth, he just swung his sword a couple of times to get a feeling for it ant rested it on his shoulder guard waiting for his teacher to make the first move.

@Itzal

Spoiler

ID# 77893 results:
Loot: 2

Aereth

Level 30

Stats:
600 HP
60 Energy
+3 Accuracy
+1 Evasion
+36 Mitigation
+16 Flame damage when hit
12 Base Damage
 

Items:
Goldcrest MK.2 +1 MIT, +1 Flame Aura, +1EVA
Dexterous Intent (Ring) +3 ACC

Battle Ready Inventory:
Nightingale (Armor) +3 EVA
Sin of Valor(Weapon) +2 Paralyse +1 Bleed [Tier 2]

Mods:
 

Buffs:
 

Skills:
Rank 5 OHSS
Rank 2 Search and Detect
Rank 0 Material Arts
Rank 3 FM:Fighter
Disguise
Survival

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Aereth

[Itzal 0]

Itzal watched as his friend revealed his familiar:  A wolf.  Itzal nodded to Aereth.  "Introductions after this then."  Velnia seemed a little anxious to see how the familiar fought.  Itzal could tell she'd be focusing on him.  He looked at his friend's armor ignite in flames.  That armor seemed like exactly what Ulises would have worn.  Itzal felt it was time to show his apprentice a technique.  Something he promised to show him.  Itzal dashed forward and as he did so did Velnia.  Itzal ran towards Aereth so that there was no way to tell where he'd strike, altering his course consistently.  He waited until he was nearly in Aereth's sword's length and pushed hard against the ground, shooting into Aereth with full force.  With that he charged and released Shadow Explosion while using the technique.  He swung his blade with lightning speed, then let go of the sword mid air.  His left hand had swung out just as fast, grabbed the sword mid air, and swung just as fast.  Then he repeated the process.  Explaining the process takes time, but in reality he completed the sword art within two to three seconds.  However he didn't stop there.  He continued to strike at Aereth, never stopping his assault.  Itzal kept a careful guard on himself, watching Aereth's health bar to make sure he didn't go too far over the three hundred limit. 

Meanwhile, Velnia flew in like lightning towards the familiar, swooping in low.  She spun like a bullet and opened her wings at the last second to avoid any attack he might make, zooming over him and scratching the back of his back.  She wanted to see what this wolf had.

ID#  77894  BD:  8-1=7  CD:  5

Itzal:  284/300  <-16 flames damage>  88/106
@Aereth:  228/300  <12x9-36=72 dmg>  60/60

Edited February 22, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Aereth nodded. Now was time for the battle. When Itzal started to charge at Aereth he didn't move one inch, with his sword still resting on his shoulder guard. "With this speed won't be able to dodge. I can't even figure out where he will land his first strike." he thought while trying to follow the movements of his teacher. "No chance..." Aereth thought as Itzal entered the area where he could possibly hit him. Suddenly Itzal crashed into him and started to attack him continuously with his sword. Aereth did his best to block or parry Itzal's furious strikes but most of the time found himself being hit by the crazy attack Itzal threw at him. But every time Itzal came close enough to strike at Aereth, he had to take some damage from his flame aura enhancement.

Aereth needed to do something he couldn't let himself be pushed back continuously. When their swords clashed against each other, Aereth put all his strength into parrying the strike, and used the generated momentum to jump back a couple of meters. In mid air he also charged up Shadow Explosion, and as soon as his feet met the ground again he sped towards Itzal starting his own attack finally doing some active damage to his teacher.

Fenrir also watched how Velina sped towards him. He started to growl at the dragon and readied himself for an incoming attack. As soon as Velina would be in his range he would snap at her with his teeth. Or at least that was what he intended to do. He fell for the faint of the small dragon and felt how it scratched the back of his back. Seeing his clear disadvantage in this open area he decided to sprint into the forest to even the odds...

ID# 77895 results:
Battle: 7+3-3 HIT
Damage: 12*9-3= 105 DMG

@Itzal:  179/300  <-105 HP>  88/106
Aereth:  228/300  <>  43/60

Edited February 22, 2017 by Aereth

[Itzal 0]

Itzal watched as his apprentice managed to parry Itzal's blade and leap back while striking him.  However when Itzal's blade was parried, he let the sword swing away from Aereth.  In fact he pushed the sword in that direction, letting it swing in a wide arc, letting go when the sword reached his back and grabbed with his left hand again, and charged in a flash, once again on his apprentice.  The counter attack to Aereth's counter took less than three seconds and once again he unleashed shadow explosion on his apprentice.  Until he maxed out light armor he had a serious disadvantage due to Aereth's unique enhancement.  If not for that enhancement, Itzal would be in the lead.  Such as it was, Itzal had to rely on his extra two evasion to protect him at one point.  He released shadow explosion again, never stopping his assault and pushing harder and faster than ever.

ID#  77898  BD:  4+3-1=6  CD:  10  +1 en

Itzal:  163/300  <-16 flames damage>  71/106
@Aereth:  156/300  <12x9-36=72 dmg>  42/60

Edited February 22, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Just after Aereth was starting to counter, Itzal started to push once more at the brown haired man. The flames did a great job in reducing the health points of his teacher, and his mitigation did wonders in reducing the damage Aereth had to take from the furious attack of his friend and teacher. But still, Aereth once again felt himself being pushed back by his mentor. He still didn't quite understand how he was able to chain so much attacks together without any kind of post motion delay. Everything was just going too fast. Aereth only relied on his reflexes and armor. 

Once again their swords clashed at each other, and both of them tried to overpower the other. Aereth wasn't able to chain so much attacks together to create such a strong combo technique, he could only rely on his experience in these kind of situations. Aereth stopped pushing against Itzal's sword and felt how it dug into his virtual flesh. At the same time he delivered a kick to Itzal's stomach and charged up his own Shadow Explosion skill once more. The kick sent Itzal a few steps back and Aereth closed the distance between them as fast as he could, releasing the sword art and dealing once more some decent damage to his teacher. He had taken quite a bit of damage from that action, but was able to do more damage in return to Itzal...

ID# 77899 results:
Battle: 6+3-3 HIT
Damage: 12*9-3= 105 DMG

@Itzal:  58/300  <-105 HP>  71/106
Aereth:  156/300  <>  26/60

Edited February 22, 2017 by Aereth

[Itzal 0]

Itzal knew he was going to lose.  There was no doubt on that.  With Aereth possessing armor with evasion as well as flame aura, he stood no chance.  Itzal would need to land three more strikes to defeat Aereth and after three strikes he'd most likely be defeated.  So after Aereth's attack he knocked Aereth's blade upward, jumped and pushed off of Aereth, backflipped and landed, sheathing his sword.  "That armor makes it hard for a scout like me to get the upper hand.  The only advantage I'd have in a real fight would be my higher health, and that's not saying much at all.  Until I can get any sort of gear that's better than what I currently have you will be the superior fighter of the two of us Aereth."  Itzal whistled for Velnia to come back and she was shocked that the fight ended so quickly.  She went from sixty to zero in half a second and zoomed back to Itzal.  She looked at him and he chuckled as he pressed the resign button.  "I lost Velnia.  It's ok to lose from time to time.  You learn more when you fail than when you succeed.  This is very important to remember."  The last sentence was as much to Aereth as it was to Velnia.  He turned to his friend with a smile.  "Well then.  I suppose I should probably explain that technique."

ID#  78197  BD:  2+3-1

Itzal:  58/300  <-105 HP>  70/106
@Aereth:  156/300  <>  26/60

Edited February 25, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Aereth was surprised when Itzal suddenly stopped his furious assault, and backed away from him. When he announced that the duel was now over, and that Aereth was for now the superior fighter, he also dropped his battle stance and walked over to Itzal and extended his hand. "It was a real hard battle, and I want to say thank you for this spar and everything you did for me up until now." Aereth would say to Itzal in a happy but somewhat guilty voice. Today he needed three things, the spar, tell him that he killed again and finally tell him the truth... But for now he would listen to his teacher and friend as he wanted to explain how the furious technique works that Itzal just used. 

Aereth simply nodded and a small chuckle escaped him when he told Velina (and him) that you learn more from fails than from successes. "Yeah please tell me what the hell this just was. I had no chance to break through this attack. All I was able to do was stop it for a moment to get a hit in. But after that it just continued..." Aereth told his teacher with a voice filled of curiosity.

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal listened to Aereth as the player thanked him for everything Itzal had done for him.  Itzal chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.  "Aaaaah, it's my job man.  I'm your tutor after all."  When Aereth asked for Itzal to explain the technique he had just preformed on him Itzal nodded.  "That, was the technique I mentioned to you and Birdie about.  It was made not by me, but by Ulises, who I will explain.  I took a quest called calming the soul, a quest I'd like you to undertake before you become a sentinel, and during it I ended up fighting what was the living incarnation of my anger.  His name was Ulises.  After that he became an AI, sort of acted as a split personality.  Most of the time he just hung around in my head but sometimes he would, er, take control.  I found out later that he was actually the incarnation of my raw emotion, not just anger.  He was the one who came up with the technique.  After a while though, mainly after Kasier and I got together, he started to break down.  You see that night with Kasier was when all of my emotions shot up to.......  Point is it was too much for Ulises to handle.  The system began to take him down but he managed to keep himself together until he mastered the technique.  He transferred the information to me before he was gone.  So that's Ulises.  As for the technique however......  I'd like to make sure you have full control over your emotions before I teach you it.  It's very easy to get caught up in it.  All the more reason to help you out in that manner."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Aereth listened very closely to Itzal's story about his secret technique and how he got it from Ulises. Aereth looked at the ground. "To think a game like this can mess around with your thoughts this much is frightening..." Aereth mumbled. "But I'm happy for you that you found somebody that you can rely on. Somebody who has your back in every situation. And somebody that helped you to get rid of Ulises." He told Itzal now smiling at him. He was more than happy that Itzal had Kasier, but on the same time he envied the man he was looking up to.... Love and peace. Two things that got taken from him. And he wasn't sure if he would ever get them back...

When Itzal then mentioned that Aereth needed to have full control over his emotions, he flinched slightly. Yes he had been training to get a better hold of his hate and rage but could he say that he had them under full control? "Full control over my emotions... That is a question that I fail to answer every time I ask it to myself. I've been working hard in the last few weeks to do exactly that, but..." Aereth shook his head. "After our battle, what would you say? Do I have control over them?"

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

When he heard the part about Ulises he chuckled nervously.  "Eeeehhh, actually we became friends soon after that quest.  He wasn't a nuisance...  Well not in a bad way at least, though sometimes he could be annoying.  Regardless, he was the one who invented the technique, so yeah."  He saw Aereth flinch, and heard how he wasn't sure if he was ready in that area.  Itzal thought for a moment or two.  "Have you taken the calming the soul quest yet?  It's an excellent place to start.  If not then it's hard for me to tell.  You're doing a lot better in sparring practice, but in a real duel?  In something that wasn't a game?  Or someone talking about something you don't like even.  I hate the KoB commander but I do my best not to let it show.  Though at the same time I don't show any effort towards befriending him either.  The key is to control your emotions.  If you get angry stop, and ask why your angry, and decide if it's worth getting angry about.  If it isn't then realize this and let it go.  If it is, then channel your anger and focus it only on what needs to be focused on.  And keep yourself from going too far."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Aereth sucked in every word his mentor told him. It seemed to him that he had misunderstood the meaning of getting control over ones emotions. In the last couple of weeks he had been working on completely getting rid of his emotions. But talking to Itzal and thinking about it now, showed him that he didn't need to get completely rid of them. Control, means being able to use emotions depending on how he needed them. After a couple moments of silence, Aereth closed his eyes and answered. "Unfortunately, I haven't taken the quest yet, but I'm thinking about getting it done in the next couple of days." After that another few moments of complete silence followed. Just the sound of the wind in combination with some bird chirping remained. It was time to come to the not so happy part, to reveal the true reason for their meeting today. Today Aereth would tell Itzal everything. No more lies. 

"You see...." he started but found himself at a loss of words shortly afterwards. He didn't know how he should say or explain everything to Itzal. Only a heavy sigh followed, and Aereth opened up his inventory and fetched a small crystal out of it. The crystal was similar to those who could record sounds, but still a little bit different. It was a picture crystal. Such items could be used like cameras in order to take virutal photos. Without any more words, Aereth tossed the small item over to Itzal so that he could see for himself...

OOC: The crystal shows a picture of a very happy looking Aereth and with a girl with long brunette hair in combination with bangs, Aereth's arm is rested over girl's shoulders and their heads touching slightly. Both of them are wearing standard starter cloth armor and were sitting on the grassy ground just outside the north gate of the town of beginnings.

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal nodded to Aereth and stretched as his friend told him what his general plan was.  "Alright then.  It's better to do it sooner than later since...  Well let's just say your stats will be important.  I might bring a potion just in case.  You won't be in any actual danger so it's more of a mental fight than a physical one.  Although knowing you, the physical part should be a breeze."  After that his friend started to say something and he turned to look at him.  He noticed that Aereth had went silent, and seemed depressed even.  He waited a moment before his friend tossed him a crystal.  Itzal caught it out of the air and took a look at it.  He looked at Aereth and another person beside him.  It was clear that the picture was made in Aincrad, but he didn't recognize the woman.  As he observed Velnia flew over to Aereth's wolf and landed on it's head, giving it's ear a playful nom like a puppy would.  Itzal had decided that she was a mix of a puppy, kitten and squirrel, with scales, horns, and the ability to shoot lightning from it's mouth.

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Nodding to Itzal while he told Aereth about the quest being more a mental task than a physical one, Aereth was sure that he would take this special quest in the next time if would be able to squeeze it in somehow. At the end, a small chuckle escaped Aereth's lips, when Itzal mentioned how the physical part shouldn't pose that big of a problem to him.

After Itzal took a look at the picture, and didn't say anything, Aereth choose to take a deep breath before starting to explain everything. "I asked you to come here for three things. The first thing, being a friendly spar is already done. Now it is time for the second thing." he paused. "I have yet again to tell you that... I-I've been lying to you once again..." he muttered, and noticed how his voice nearly broke once."You remember when I told you about the death of my 'friend', right?" Aereth felt how sadness and depression started to leak into his usually calm voice. He needed to stay calm now or he wouldn't be able to tell Itzal the truth... Another deep breath, before he looked at the ground, his hair now covering his face. "W-Well... This friend wasn't just an ordinary 'friend'... It was..." another short pause. "I joined Sword Art Online w-with... the woman I loved." a single tear traveled down Aereth's cheek, before falling to the ground.

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal listened to Aereth and heard him mention that he had been lying again.  Itzal wasn't offended, players had things they would want to keep a secret.  Sometimes the only way to do so was by lying.  Itzal smiled at his friend.  "Don't worry about it."  Then Aereth began to tell what Itzal believed was the truth behind whatever Aereth claimed he was lying about.  Itzal listened as Aereth asked Itzal if he recalled the friend who died that Aereth had told him about.  Itzal nodded slowly, trying to process why he'd lie about that.  Was the player still alive?  Was his friend a pker now?  Or.  Wait.  No it couldn't be.  Aereth mentioned how it wasn't an ordinary friend.  Could it?  Then he said it.  The player was his girlfriend.  Itzal stood there silently for a moment.  He then walked slowly over, dropped down to Aereth's current level, and gave him a hug.  Itzal wasn't good with many things, but one thing he was good with was sharing other's pain.  "Aereth I...  I don't know what to say...  I-I'm sorry you had to go through that...  I can't imagine how I'd feel if Kasier die...  I'm so, so sorry."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

It has been a long time since Aereth had received something like a hug. Somehow it felt stange and foreign, but Aereth still enjoyed it. It made his burden feel slightly less heavy and he really appreciated the gesture of his teacher and friend. "I'm so terribly sorry for once again lying to you. I j-just couldn't bring myself to speaking it out loud. I wanted to do that on so many occasions but I just couldn't bring it over my heart. Just promise me not to tell the others about it." He paused in order to gather his thoughts once more, before gently braking the hug. "Don't be worried too much. Thanks to you and your help I've been able to find my strength again to fight for what i belief is right. But now the time has come to part ways, my friend." He muttered in a low voice. A couple of weeks ago he had been identified to be a member of the CA from another player. Thankfully, it was only a friend of Sey and Hikoru, but still. Aereth sword not to pull his guild mates, his family into his war.

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal shook his head when he mentioned lying to him.  "This was really important to you man.  People lie for many reasons.  It's understandable you didn't want to talk about it.  You have my word that I won't talk to anyone about this matter."  Then Aereth ended the hug and Itzal looked into his friends eyes, clearly sharing his pain.  Itzal was only six when it happened, but his parent's were murdered right in front of him.  And as mentioned above, he couldn't imagine what losing Kasier would be like.  Then he heard Aereth mention something about parting ways.  Itzal smiled sadly.  "You're leaving the Celestial Ascendants...  Just because you're leaving the guild doesn't mean we'll forget you Aereth.  Keep in touch, even if you're fighting all the pkers in existence ok?  I'm planning to get a house soon so just drop by from time to time, or give me a pm.  Don't be a stranger."  Itzal's eyes showed sadness again.  "I found out that my friend who wanted to take down the laughing coffin was killed by them.  I don't want that to happen to you as well..."

@Aereth