[PP-F21] Tier three at last <Itzal and

[Itzal 0]

With the twenty first floor having finally been released, Itzal now possessed tier three, along with many other players.  Tier three was quite a satisfying achievement, but he needed more to take down Fearx.  Especially since he had tier three now as well.  Not to mention the rumor of a player who was stronger at the one handed straight sword than even Beatbox.  Itzal was very interested in checking this rumor out and seeing just how strong he was through the means of a friendly spar.  For now he'd need to get better gear.  His current weapon was tier two and he needed it to be tier three.  Once it was then he'd need to get his sword upgraded to tier three.  He just wished stickers like the snow flake could be just a little bit more common.  Then he wouldn't need to worry about it so much.  He had recently messaged a friend of his named Aereth to see if he would like to gather materials with him on the new floor.  With Tier three materials he could start selling them again.  Other than that he would wait for his friend to arrive. 

ID#  84898  LD:  1

@Aereth

Edited May 22, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Aereth had set up everything perfectly for the upcoming floor 21. The 24 hour headstart for front liners was just over, and now the floor finally was available to all the other players in Aincrad as well. And to make that even better, he also got a message from his teacher, ex guild mate and more importantly friend Itzal. The message said that he would be out there gathering some materials, and that Aereth would be invited to that gathering session. As soon as he set foot on the 21st floor, Aereth was completely mesmerized by the sight. The dark and gloomy floor looked amazing and the many different colored lights were simply a pleasure for the eye. And to add to that whole stuff he managed to already find four of the new tier three materials on his way to Itzal.

When he finally reached his friend, Aereth couldn't help but to feel sentimental about seeing the player again. Quite some time had passed since he left the Celestial Ascendants, in order to to keep them out of his dangerous business. "Hey there. Long time no see, my friend." Aereth said with a big simile on his face, offering his hand for a porpper greeting. (As soon as Itzal would grab that hand, Aereth would pull him in a bear hug.)

@Itzal

ID# 84951 results:
Loot: 15+5

Materials: 4

[Itzal 0]

Itzal turned when his detection skill went off and smiled as he saw Aereth approach.  When he called out to Itzal Velnia turned around swiftly and shot towards him, crawling over him before stopping on top of his head, her eyes closed and a wide joyful smile as she sat.  Itzal laughed and walked over, shaking Aereth's hand and was about to return the greeting when Aereth pulled him into a hug.  Itzal grunted from surprise but otherwise wasn't very effected.  He grinned and hugged back until Aereth loosened.  "Good to see you again Aereth.  So.  Tier three is finally unlocked.  We should gather some materials straight away.  Might as well stock up for those who need it.  So how've you been man?  Catch me up on everything that's happened lately."  Itzal knew Aereth wanted to hunt down pkers, so he wasn't sure what sort of news he'd receive from his friend.  Whether they were good or bad news Itzal wanted to stay updated.  Itzal bent down and spotted a shard of mithril, much to his surprise, along with three gemstones.  "Dang that's cool.  If you want to walk around we better avoid that path.  It leads to the guardian of the labyrinth."

ID#  85115  LD:  20  +4 MAT  3 MAT 1 Mithril

@Aereth

Edited May 24, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Surprised at the sudden 'attack' from Velina, Aereth took a small step back to regain his balance again. Happy that Itzal returned the hug, Aereth nodded at his friends statement. "Yes, finally. Even though I'm still a couple of levels away from reaching it, I still need to stock up on them for my shop. And it doesn't hurt if you have your next tier armor ready to go, as soon as you reach the new tier." Aereth replied with a small smile on his face. "Pretty busy lately. I've been gathering experience like crazy in the weeks since I parted ways with you and the Celestials. I wanna be part of the next floor boss raid." Aereth added, to answer Itzal's question. "Other than that, I'm still after that very same group that attacked the twins and that kidnaps children from all around the first floor. I had occasional run-ins with some of them, but nothing that brought me nearer to finding out where their hideout could be... It's like looking for a needle in a haystack..." Aereth said in a somewhat frustrated voice. Suddenly Itzal found some materials, and mentioned how they should avoid a certain path, because it lead to the guardian of the labyrinth. While Itzal was preoccupied with picking up the materials, Aereth quickly fetched a small cookie out of his inventory and moved his hand up to his head, where Velina was still sitting. "But enough of me. How have you and the Celestials been lately. I've heard that there aren't as many new players as in the past times..."

@Itzal

ID# 85162 results:
Loot: 8+5

Materials: 4

[Itzal 0]

Itzal listened as Aereth mentioned how he had been doing well, how he was nearly at tier three, and how he had been making attempts to grind experience points.  Itzal nodded.  "Yeah I've been trying to do the same thing as well.  I've been doing quests with a few friends, looking for new people, even soloing dungeons."  Then Aereth mentioned something about a group kidnapping children and he stopped in his tracks, turning to his friend with complete shock.  He knew people killed in the game, but.  Kidnapping children???  "What?  How on earth do you know that?"  The first reaction he had was shock.  The second was anger.  Why did people do such a terrible thing such as that?!  Itzal wondered during times like this, if it was possible to craft teleport crystals that forced people to head straight to a dungeon.  Surely he could find a way to customize one.  When Aereth tried to talk about the Celestial Ascendants Itzal shook his head.  He could explain the issues in the guild later.  "No no wait, back up to the children getting kidnapped!"  Velnia spotted some materials and snagged them for Itzal, bringing them to him.

ID#  85403  LD:  19  +4 MAT  7 MAT 1 Mithril

@Aereth

Edited May 30, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Aereth was pretty impressed when Itzal told him that he was even soloing dungeons. "He must have reached insane levels..." he just thought while the two rambled on. When he then mentioned the kidnapping thing, Aereth noticed that Itzal stopped in his tracks. Then he was able to see something he didn't ever in the face of Itzal. Pure anger. Also stopping and turning around to face his friend once more, Aereth started to explain. "Well, let's start from the beginning. I was trying to track down the guys who attacked Yui and Yua just before the valentines event. It was pretty hard, but with the help of Domarus, we managed to capture one insider alive, and brought him to tell us everything he knew about the guild. It seems like they have a pretty big network, and that one of their branches specializes on luring out and kidnapping children. Up until now I haven't found out any more on the matter, but they must have a bunch of green players inside of the town of beginnings to help them...." Aereth said, then locking eyes with his friend. "It goes without saying that you under no circumstances should share this information with anybody, right? I'm telling you, because I trust you with my life, and that I even may need to ask you for your assistance..." he added in a serious tone.

@Itzal

ID# 85412 results:
Loot: 7+5

[Itzal 0]

Itzal listened to Aereth talk about something that happened before the valentines event and he nodded.  Aereth had explained the situation to Itzal before.  He then explained that him along with a player named Domarus had managed to capture an insider alive and began to share the details.  Domarus, that was that huge man he met when they decided to go fight the giant snails.  He'd like time to think about this but unfortunately he was overly focused.  After receiving as much as Aereth would tell him Itzal nodded.  "Of course I won't.  I feel like you know more though.  At any rate, you at least need to have a plan of action.  If you'll be patient a little bit, I could look into a way to have a teleport crystal, maybe corridor crystal even, that can lead them to a prison.  We'll need paralysis and stun abilities to keep them knocked out long enough to make it happen of course, but I don't think that should be much of a problem.  Especially if we get a few more trusted friends to help us out on this.  I haven't seen Domarus in forever though.  Don't know how strong he is."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

"Thanks my friend." When Itzal said that he thought that Aereth was still knowing more, Aereth simply opened up his inventory and fetched a small note out of it. The note had a symbol of a bird on it. "This is a zone tailed hawk. And the group uses these symbol like an emblem of sorts. But that's really everything I managed to get to know from them."

Shaking his head when Itzal mentioned that he would help him actively in tracking and taking them down, one way or the other, since Aereth and Itzal didn't share the same ideas on taking them down, Aereth placed a hand in front of his teacher. "No. Under absolutely no circumstances do I want you to partake actively in capturing them. First, I don't want to put you and the Celestials into danger, and second, Kaiser would outright kill me if she got to know about that." After that he slowly put his hand down. "The only thing I want to ask you is to keep an eye out for some hints inside of the safe zones. If you see that hawk, message me. If you pick up any rumors, message me. But please don't do anything that would put you or everyone you hold dear into danger." Aereth said in a calm but strong tone. "Oh, and if you don't hear from me in the next couple of weeks, just give all the information you could have found to Domarus. He will know what to do."

@Itzal

ID# 85690 results:
Loot: 1+5

[Itzal 0]

Itzal watched as Aereth pulled out a symbol and showed it to him, explaining what it was and what, as well as who, it represented.  He ended it by explaining he didn't really have much info on them.  Itzal however, he knew people he could ask.  He was a scout, and that wasn't just for materials or loot.  He could get information rather quickly if he asked the right people and the right questions.  He had a good eye for who he could trust and who he couldn't.  Before he could say anything however, Aereth cut him off and told him not to get involved and how it might put him in danger as well as the guild.  Itzal shook his head.  "Aereth, several things.  The first being that I'm level sixty three now.  These guys would have to be a seriously high level if they want to pose a threat to me.  You're going after them alone right?  You could use some freaking back up.  Remember that I'm not stupid.  I would bring safeguards, buffs, and many other items, as well as select few, and yet very powerful friends.  Calrex is a good friend of mine for crying out loud.  Secondly, if these people know about you.  If they get your name then they'll already have access to info that could lead them to our guild.  It's my goal to remove that threat before it has a chance to rise.  As for the information part of course I'll do that.  I'll look into it and find something out." 

ID#  85815  LD:  5+8

Edited June 10, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Sighing in resignation, Aereth simply put on a forced smile while thinking. "Kasier will definitely kill me." "Ok, I'll think about it, but for now just shoot me a message if you manage to get some information on them inside of the safe zones." Aereth said before looking around for any more materials. It didn't take him very long to spot another set of four ore like crystals. Walking over to them, he crouched down and stored all of them away. "It seems like not many other players were already here for the materials." he mumbled before going back to Itzal. 

"But enough about me and the suicidal stuff I'm doing on a daily basis, I wanna know what the family is doing. Anything new there is to talk about?" Aereth asked, curious on how his old family was doing at the moment. "Oh and I hope the money I lend you was enough, for that purchase." Aereth added with a smirk.

ID# 86020 results:
Loot: 20

Materials: 8

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal nodded in response to Aereth's request, agreeing to help in any way.  When he mentioned the guild again Itzal nodded but looked a bit sad.  "The guild, erm..  Hasn't really been acting like a guild.  I've tried to talk to the others, but they've all been isolating themselves recently, Hikoru being the main one.  I haven't seen Beatbox for some time, even Jonathan has been quiet lately.  The only members who've been active besides myself have been Shield and Sey, though Sey seems to be slowing down.  Reminds me of when I tired of burning through stuff."  He sighed.  "I'm beginning to worry that the guild is going to just fall apart one day.  Even if it does though, I hope we'll all stay in contact and remain friends through hell and back."  Itzal spotted another four materials and nodded at his last comment.  "Makes sense you know.  This is the highest known floor after all.  Players won't want to make too much of a risk." 

ID#  86040  LD:  19  +4 MAT  11 MAT  1 Mithril

@Aereth

Edited June 17, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Giving Itzal a worried look while he was explaining that the guild was indeed not fairing too well. "So Beatbox was right...." Aereth thought and remembered the conversation he had a few days back with him. About how he was starting his own mercenary/hunter guild, and how he got his second unique item. Aereth could tell Itzal about that encounter, but felt like it wasn't his place to tell the scout paladin. This was something Beatbox had to do on his own.

Shaking his head to free his thoughts, Aereth looked around and found another set of four materials just beneath them, hidden under some loose rocks. After picking up the ores, Aereth turned to Itzal and replied. "Yeah I can understand that. Sey really came outta nowhere and rushed past the rest of us level wise... And with Birdie missing in action... I haven't heard anything from her, ever since she left the dungeon raid back then... I really hope you guys stay together. But at the rate all of you are growing stronger, you guys should start thinking about transitioning from a helper guild to a frontline guild. Maybe that will help keeping the guild together..." Now Aereth was just sharing some of his thoughts on the matter.  

@Itzal

ID# 86063 results:
Loot: 13+5

Materials: 8+4 = 12

[Itzal 0]

Itzal shrugged but was still rather worried about the guild.  "Sey's really grinded his way up, but I haven't seen him lately.  As for Birdie, I don't think she's in any danger.  She might just be wanting to lay low for a bit, or she might have received some bad news from a friend and is hanging with them for a while.  Beatbox switched back from the KoB, but other than asking for his title of sentinel back, he hasn't done anything for the guild at all.  In truth I think the only ones who care about the guild anymore are Sey, Jonathan, you and I."  Aereth mentioned that they could turn it into a front lining guild and Itzal sighed.  "At this point I really only see two possible futures.  One being that the guild disbands and falls apart, which I obviously want to avoid.  Or we become like the Spectrum Coalition.  A family guild.  Cause at this point, there aren't many people who stay active and passionate about why they're there in the first place."  Itzal spotted a sparkle and went over, picking up the shard of mithril and the two gemstones that always came along with it, storing them in his inventory.

ID#  86181  LD:  20  +4 MAT  14 MAT  2 Mithril

@Aereth

Edited June 23, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

"Yeah, but I'm still worried as hell about her... She really just vanished the other day from the dungeon raid, and she doesn't even answer my messages. Neither does her boyfriend Arc or Lessa. They were supposed to be on the same ship as me in that goddamned Rovian Wars quest. Thank god they didn't come, but I just hope you are right..." Aereth said in a worried tone, before picking up another set of materials. "You know... The Celestial Ascendants were kind of my family back when I was alone. It's hard for me not to care about them. You and Jon were like brothers to me, and I appreciate every moment the two of you invested in me. You made me as strong as I am right now. So a family guild doesn't sound half bad." Aereth said with a light chuckle. "How is Kasier doing, by the way. I still owe the two of you some dance lessons." he said, while the chuckle slowly transitioned to light laughing. Aereth was a man of his word, and if he promised something he would make sure to keep said promise.

ID# 86411 results:
Loot: 15+5

Materials: 12+4 = 16

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal sighed upon his first words and nodded.  "I won't lie, there are times I think about her too.  However what's done is done and worrying about something that's already happened and unchangeable won't help her or you.  Sometimes we simply need to accept things as they are, hope and pray for the best, and move forward."  Then Aereth talked about how he enjoyed the CA and saw them as a family, believing that turning the guild into a family guild wouldn't be as bad as he might think.  He smiled.  "Thanks for that.  Honestly I don't care what most people say about me.  The guild was mainly to help other people out.  However since things have been dwindling, I honestly think it would be easier for us to just go out and help as a smaller group.  More of a party than anything."  Then the subject switched to Kasier to which Itzal smiled nervously, a nervous chuckle exiting his lips as well.  "Yeah we're doing great.  And I'll definitely need those dance lessons for the wedding."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

"You might be right there." He had been on the edge of going out searching for his old comrade more than one time, but always thought about how she must have a reason for her actions. And as long as she stayed on his friend list, he wouldn't have to worry about her dying. Still it wasn't the most comfortable thing to just sit out and wait for a friend to return... Finding a distraction from his thoughts in the form of another four materials was definitely something good, before they changed the subject.

"I'd really love to help you guys out with the dancing st.." he paused and blinked a few times. "..." another few moments of silence. "You two are going to f*cking marry? And you really just mention such stuff in a 'by the way' manner? Come on, that's something to celebrate. I mean, I knew that you two would definitely end up married, but man.... You could say that with some more enthusiasm." he said resting his arm over the shoulders of his teacher.

ID# 86790 results:
Loot: 10+5

Materials: 16+4 = 20

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal laughed a little bit at his reply and couldn't stop for a moment.  He shook his head and refocused on Aereth.  "Relax dude, I just wanted to see how you'd react.  Listen, don't tell anyone else yet ok?  I, erm, haven't checked with Kasier to see if she wants anyone else knowing just yet, or anything related to the matter.  We're planning to discuss it after we move into our new house.  No celebration yet, not until I've got the ok from her.  She doesn't like opening up too much just yet."  Aereth leaned on Itzal and upon hearing his words he chuckled nervously.  "I am enthusiastic but at the same time, I-I'm still taking it all in.  I mean...  I'm getting married...  Like, it's not a real marriage technically, but I think to us it's going to be a legitimate marriage.  Before I entered this game I never thought or cared about relationships.  When I changed I didn't expect anything to happen, at all.  And now."  He shook his head.  "I'm still wrapping my head around it.  It's actually happening..."  He spotted some more materials and picked them up.  More tier three meant more powerful items.  He'd need them too.

ID#  86803  LD:  7+8  +4 MAT  18 MAT  2 Mithril  @Aereth

Edited July 18, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

At first Aereth joined Itzal in his laughter, and then nodded understandingly when he explained how he didn't even talk with Kasier about sharing that information. "Don't worry. I won't tell anybody. My lips are sealed. But again, congrats man. I knew you would do it. I just knew it." he said, still smiling at his buddy. Man, was he proud of that man. He really did it. "Hey I might even try to get my cursor green for the celebrations if necessary." At this point he had no idea if that was even a thing. He had heard about a quest where an orange cursor could be turned green again, but if that also worked with actual player killers was a complete different question. Just when he was about to speak up again, he spotted more tier three materials and greedily picked them up. He would gonna be needing them before reopening his shop. After that he put a hand on the shoulder of his teacher and smiled. "Doesn't matter if that's just a game. Marriage is marriage. I'm really glad you were able to find happiness inside of this game, my friend..."

@Itzal

ID# 86841 results:
Loot: 20+5

Materials: 20+4 = 24

[Itzal 0]

Itzal smiled and nodded to his friend.  "Thanks Aereth, this means a lot to me.  It still surprises me that such a thing could happen to me of all people, but I thank you for your confidence in me."  When Aereth mentioned how he might get his green cursor back in celebration Itzal chuckled while nodding.  "Yeah.  You'd also get experience from that quest.  You'll want to be cautious though.  Once you take that quest you can't take it again.  In other words, you need to be sure you want that green cursor permanently before you take it.  Otherwise you'll always have the orange cursor so long as you're here."  He wanted his friend to find happiness as well, so he would do everything he could to help him...  As long as it wasn't involved in murder that is.  A little bit of red touched his cheeks as he mentioned how marriage was marriage regardless of whether it was a game or not.  "Well yeah, but we still need to see each other's families before we do it in the real world.  We respect each other in that sense."  Itzal spotted another four materials and inserted them into his inventory.  "We should be far enough to spot a chest, if there is one out here.  See anything?" 

ID#  86854  LD:  17  +4 MAT  22 MAT  2 Mithril  @Aereth

Edited July 18, 2017 by Itzal

[Aereth 1]

Aereth chuckled. He didn't know how Itzal or better, Felix was back in the real world, so he had no idea if what he just told him was actually true. But who cares. "Hey, you're a great guy, that obviously found a great girl. So don't be so surprised about that, my friend." After Aereth said he would even consider turning green for the wedding, Itzal replied with a warning. "I know. I'm not even sure if that quest can turn orange cursors from actual murder back to green... But lets not further talk about such grim topics. Man you're getting married..." he said, once more with joy in his voice. He was really happy for his friend. 

Aereth nodded at Itzal, when he mentioned that he should keep his eyes open for some chests. His eyes flickered for a moment and he began searching for the special item. He himself never had found a chest in the past, but maybe that would change today. After some minutes of searching Aereth found a small side cave with a chest at the end. "Hey Itzal. I found something." after waiting until his friend would have walked over to him, he asked. "You think that there are some traps?"

@Itzal

ID# 86964 results:
Loot: 17+5, Chest found.

Materials: 24