[PP-12] T i t l e <<Lord of the Seas>>

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia sighed as she hopped off the teleport gate, her raven familiar, Pacco, placed firmly on her shoulders. 

Out of all floors, floor twelve was probably one of her least favorite floors. The villages were cool and all but that swamp . . ? Not so much. 

She sighed. Lord of the Seas, huh? Interesting quest name, indeed. She had to kill some dragon thing or whatever. 

With a flick of her wrist, she equipped her haori and katana and then groaned. Was this quest really worth it today? She didn't want to go out into a freaking thunderstorm in a swamp to fight a big ass wyvern thingy. 

But she guessed that she was never going to feel like doing this quest so she might as well frekin, do it now. Cordelia looked at the sky. Yep. . . it t'was definitely going to rain when she got there.

What freaking fun, am I right?

@Gladiator

[Gladiator 0]

Gladio sighed out looking up into the sky, while the rain never bothered him, it reminded him back when he was in the military trying to slug his way through terrain in the middle of thunderstorms. However nothing was going to stop him and his progression. While he didn't have much to equip himself with, he thought he had just enough to scrape by and defeat the boss with a little leg room, he equipped his temporary Heavy Armor and his Two Handed Straight Sword. With his sword over his shoulder he walked toward the area he needed to go toward the boss, however after a minute or two he came across a female. Gladio simply walked past her and said out "What lovely weather we're having today wouldn't you think? Pardon me, I got a so called "Lord" to dethrone." then he kept moving forward toward his destination.

@Cordelia

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia paused, eyeing the player who had just walked past her.

The [no-no word]?

She rolled her eyes and followed after him since he obviously was going after the same quest mob as she was.

"Hey," she called out," grimacing as the two entered a swampy area. "Why don't we party up for this quest?" She asked, tilting her head as she felt the downpour starting.

Heh, that's great.

"I doubt that either of us would want to wait for the boss to spawn again so why don't we just party on it?" Cordelia sniffed, deadpanning as she felt her hair starting to get wet because of this damn rain. Without waiting for his answer, she sent him a party request.

She closed her menu and sighed, seeing that most of her equipment and armor had already been soaked, as well as literally a third of her body being submerged under the swamp.

Freaking gross, man.

[Gladiator 0]

After he spoke out and walked past her, eventually he was stopped by her voice calling him out after following him for a brief second. Gladio turned around and his upper half faced her in a turn, then with a smile he said out to her "Sure, why not. Like you said respawn timers are a bitch and its better to work as a team. Just keep up alright?" then he faced the direction and began to walk again. Before a few moments they had found themselves at the boss, the Lord let out a cry into the sky and lightning cracked from the sky. He smiled then looked over to the player "Look alive Solider." then activating his charged he moved forward into the water and just barely missed the boss. The boss itself cried out and lightning came down from the sky and hit Gladio for a fair amount of damage, he just shrugged it off. Letting out an exhale of air he looked back to the player and wondered what she was capable of doing.

@Cordelia

ID: 132774 - BD: 4+1=5 
ID: 132775 - MD: 5-2=7 [300-36=264]

Gladiator - HP: 514/780 | EN: 78/78 | DMG: 15 | ACC: 1 | EVA: -2 | MIT: 36
Cordelia - ???

Lord of the Seas - HP: 300/300 | DMG: 300 | Rolls of 9-10: AoE

[Cordelia 0]

"Jesus Christ," she murmured frantically, watching as the man literally get struck by lightning. Lightning. Who the [no-no word] shrugs that off? 

She shook her head at him before she dashed towards the Lord. Or should I say sludged her way there? 

Cordelia cursed her her breath, seeing that she couldn't really fight a ground battle--or should I say, marsh battle?--on this type of terrain. Using a lot more energy than she wanted to, she pushed herself out of the water, which really felt like a breath of fresh air to her. Her legs were free!

Her celebration was short lived however when the Lord let out a loud roar. "Okay, you just couldn't let me have that, could you?" She sighed disappointingly, raising her katana in the air as she delivered a series of swift and diagonal chops the face of the wyvern. Seeing that gravity was slowly starting to take its toll back on her, she raising the sword above her head and slammed the blade down on the wyvern, dropping its health to below half.

ID: 132776
BD: 3+3=6, Success

12x15=180

Gladiator - HP: 780/780 | EN: 78/78 | DMG: 15 | ACC: 1 | MIT: 36
Cordelia - HP: 620/620 | EN: 48/62 | 12 DMG | 5 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY

Lord of the Seas - HP: 120/300 | DMG: 300 | Rolls of 9-10: AoE

[Gladiator 0]

Looking forward Gladio had looked at how much she was capable of doing, and he was shocked himself. He didn't think someone a bit more powerful than himself would be at a floor like this, however shaking his head and looking at the boss with a smile he knew that the battle was over. However not noticing the bosses screech it roared into the sky and lightning had struck Gladio once more bringing his life far lower than he was comfortable with. Gladio staring at the boss he let out a war cry of his own and did one powerful angled slash at the boss, and its HP became zero. The Lord let out one last screech then landed into the water, then exploded into crystals. Gladio looking down away from the "Congratulations" that was in the air and looked at his health bar "If it wasn't for this player being here... I probably would had died... I need to stop being so damn reckless." he thought to himself with a growl.

@Cordelia

ID: 132777 - BD: 6+1=7 [15*13=195]
ID: 132778 - MD: 6+2=8 [300-36=264]

Gladiator - HP: 250/780 | EN: 64/78 | DMG: 15 | ACC: 1 | MIT: 36
Cordelia - HP: 620/620 | EN: 48/62 | 12 DMG | 5 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY

Lord of the Seas - HP: 0/300 | DMG: 300 | Rolls of 9-10: AoE

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia huffed out small breaths as she landed back in the water, submerging her legs once again. 

She looked over to the stranger had partied with, sighing in relief when she saw that he had brought the Lord down. Thank God, she didn't know what would happen if he had taken another hit, well actually, she would know. He'd be dead.

She groaned as she felt her hair droop down. "Damn, it's going to get all clumpy and gross now," she muttered, pursing her lips as she turned to look for her partner in crime. 

"Hey, you good?" She called, sloshing her way over to him cautiously. "You took quite a beating back there," she mumbled, furrowing her brows. "You should've let me take the hits," she muttered, shaking her head silently. Even if she couldn't take the hits as well, she had evasion, that could've been more helpful.

"Alright, well, let's get out of here," she declared, grimacing as she stepped on the mud underneath the water. "I really hate this place," she whispered under her breath, shuddering.

[Gladiator 0]

Gladio's thought was broken as the woman had spoke out to him, he shook his head in a shock then nodded his head straightening himself to a standing position placing his sword on his back "I just thought I could take more than I actually could, seems like I just can't ignore getting better equipment it seems." he let out a chuckle. He then thought for a moment then said "But at least nothing bad happened, although... if you didn't follow me and ask I probably would had died..." he placed his finger on his chin and looked over then shook his head "I guess I should take things a little bit more safer..." he thought to himself with a sigh. Nodding his head with a smile he said out to her "Yeah, I don't know about you but standing in swampy mud doesn't sound all too appealing. It's... not a environment that suits me at all, I can tell you that much." he chuckled.

@Cordelia

[Cordelia 0]

“It’s fine, we’ve all been there at some point,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not really something you can control so easily.” Well, she’s been there a lot. She probably wouldn’t have survived that avalanche quest if it weren’t for Bahr suddenly showing up. . . Yeah, that was a really fun day, huh. She was slightly glad he did, even if he practically cussed her out right after it. Damn, he cussed her out a lot.

Yeah, that was really fun.

”Alright, let’s get going then. I don’t know how much longer I can stand in the rain while knee deep in water without having the need to barf up my breakfast,” she mumbled, sticking out her tongue with a slightly disgusted look as she trudged back to town. “I don’t think this is anyone’s environment. Who even lives on this floor?” She asked, chuckling under her breath.

 

[Gladiator 0]

Gladio had chuckled at her comment, then said out to her "Even still, it doesn't feel great that our equipment isn't as great as you'd like it to be and almost perish because of it. You know what they say, a ill-prepared solider is basically a walking paper-weight." he looked forward again, he knew that this was the first time in a long time he had gotten that close to death and that it wouldn't be the last time... but he still needed to be careful the next time he fights a boss of any kind. Then breaking out of his thought he smiled then said out to her "Well then lets head back into town if you appreciate what you ate for breakfast this morning." Then they slugged their way through all the mud and water trying to find any form of stable ground, looking back at Cordelia he said to her "Probably witches or orange players, ain't no one would want to bother them out here." he looked back forward then said "Say, you never told me your name. The name's Gladio, its a pleasure to be in your service for a bit."

@Cordelia

[Cordelia 0]

"Don't worry about it too much. Even with the max mitigation at our level, you would've still taken quite a heavy blow from that thing," she replied, giving him a smile. She really couldn't say much after that. . . she did only have five mitigation after all, she was pretty sure that the boss would obliterate her in two hits if it really wanted to. 

"Witches and orange players, huh. . ." she mumbled. She wondered if that was actually true. Maybe Mari lives here? She laughed under her breath and shook her breath. Nah, that was stupid. . . unless?

"Ah, nice to meet you, Gladio," Cordelia beamed. "I'm Cordelia, and it's a pleasure to be in yours."

"So, what made you want to go into this quest head first without anyone to help you at first?" She asked, tilting her head. Again, she really couldn't say the same when that had been exactly what was going to do.

[Gladiator 0]

"Still, I shouldn't of been so rash to walk into this battle like I did, however... I suppose I should just leave it in the past and learn from these mistakes." he replied to her, she was right however he was just harsh on himself. Then looking back when he mentioned who would live out here, he chuckled he thought to himself about Mari, however he doubted that she would stand living in a space like this, she seemed better than that. Nodding his head he said back "Well Cordelia, you're a bit of a lifesaver, so I thank you for your service today." he chuckled. Then thinking for a moment he shook his head then said "Simply put the only answer I could really get you is that I don't really know anyone. I only have one person in my friend-list at the given moment and she was busy today. So, I decided to just tackle it on my own."

@Cordelia

[Cordelia 0]

"It's no problem," she said with a smile. "We both benefited from it, that's all that matters."

"Ah, I see," she mumbled, nodding her head. "You should really start expanding your list then," she said bluntly, chuckling to herself. "Wouldn't want to lose someone with so much potential to a simple mistake like that!" She exclaimed.

She sighed in relief when she saw the town within eye distance. Thank God, she was so ready to get out of here. "So!" She chimed, sniffing. "For the sake of boredom, how has life been in SAO for you for the past two to three years?" She asked, turning her head to look at Gladiator. "You must have some kind of cool story." Man, almost three years, huh? It was honestly a miracle that all of their bodies in the real world were still alive. She was surprised that her body hadn't given up at this point.

[Gladiator 0]

"Benefited?" he asked out, then he snickered shaking his head thinking to himself "I guess that is all some people need to go on these sorts of things with other people..."

He looked back up to Cordelia, then he smirked "Yeah, its just I gotta get my equipment updated and get my stats up and running not low as they are. Otherwise I will just make the same mistake I just did twice, so." he chuckled. Then he said out "If I got a lot of potential then you do the same out there and don't die with the potential you've got there."

After a few more moments, they had finally looked up to see a town in the distance, he looked back to see her excitement, he simply looked back forward shaking his head "Man, this girl would not and could not make it in the military..." he thought to himself. Then looking back he smirked a bit and said to her "Me? Oh no, I just spent a lot of time killing monsters and bosses to get where I am without much help. I have always been a lone wolf, however I seriously need to stop that mindset. But... what about you? Anything special or cool?" he asked out to her.

@Cordelia

[Cordelia 0]

She hummed softly, nodding her head as she listened to him. "Yeah, that'll be sort of a problem soon," she mumbled with a small chuckle, tilting her head at him as she gave him a childish grin. "Or just a few minutes ago, I suppose."

"Special or cool?" She echoed to herself, her lips pursing in thought as she rubbed her chin. "Honestly, it's relatively similar to what your story is," she remarked, letting out a laugh. "I think I have just a tad bit more allies than you, I rarely take a quest alone nowadays," she exclaimed, now just realizing that.

"I think I got too incredibly bored when I did it by myself, and I had too much time to spare after that. I typically just chill out after I do a quest. . ." she murmured, her voice trailing off. "I just get so unmotivated when I do quests alone, gosh, how do you it?" She asked, turning to Gladiator in slight bewilderment. 

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia waved Gladiator goodbye as they reached the town and parted ways. It was odd. She never really expected to have met someone like him, especially on a quest like this. She was pretty much thought she was going to be going in this quest solo, but it seemed she made a friend out of it.

Heck yeah!

That was good. Really good, in fact. She needed more friends. Did that make her sound lonely? Probably, but friends were always a good thing to have!

Cordelia laughed to herself. Two years ago, she would’ve probably scoffed at the idea of friends. She never had them before so why would she need them now? But now. . .

She hummed. Bahr, Oscar, Lessa, Yukiro, NIGHT, heck, even Gladiator. . . she was glad she had met them. She looked up at the darkening sky. 

She wondered what she would’ve ended up as if she had never met people like them.

[Cordelia 0]

Well, she’d probably still act like a cold asshole. She gripped on the hem of her jacket. Perhaps that wasn’t the only thing that had changed with time. Her appearance for example?

She held a strand of her hair in her hands. It was long. . . but it was still much shorter than what her hair used to be. Maybe even half. She smiled sadly. She sometimes missed her blonde hair, but part of her didn’t. That part of her life was over. She wasn’t Amara, anymore. She was Cordelia. The silver-haired girl with a katana. She blew a sigh.

Was that who she really wanted to be? Just some swordswoman with cool hair?

Not really, but it wasn’t like she could offer much on the table at the moment. She’ll get there. Soon. She knew that. 

Maybe she’ll change her hair back one day. Maybe when she was ready to be Amara again.

[Cordelia 0]

Heckin’ heck. She was happier now, too! Look at her! She’s living a stable life. She has a stable-- er, somewhat stable job. A pet bird. A boyfriend. It sounded like a dream, at least it would’ve sounded like a dream two years ago. Now she wanted more.

It might have been greedy on her part. Everything was great now, of course, but there could always be more. She could be more. 

Though. . . she wouldn’t mind staying like this for a while. She was already pushing herself to the extremes sometimes. . . no need to be doing more than what she was already doing. Being burnt out was probably the last thing she would want, especially with the next floor boss raid coming up so soon. She wondered if she would be the lowest level there. Bahr or Oscar was probably the closest players to her level, they were already tier three. She wondered if she would be able to catch up with them.

[Cordelia 0]

God, the floor boss, huh? She wasn’t even there for the last floor boss. Heck, she was still a tier one player on the last floor boss! How she had managed to climb her way all the up here was still remarkable to her. It had only been a few months since the last boss was cleared and yet they were already on their way to making it to a checkpoint vital in the clearing of Aincrad. . . almost three years. Or four?

It had been two to four years since the game had started. . . and they weren’t even halfway there? They were less than a quarter done, how were they going to finish the game? How long will it take at the pace they were going at? Five years? A decade? Longer than that? How long would it be before her real life body would start giving up on her? Before everyone’s real life body starts giving up on them?

[Cordelia 0]

Was she dying? At this very moment? Her body was already unhealthily underweight before this. . . how was it doing now? Cordelia sucked in a sharp breath. She was barely above the hundred pound mark when she first came here. She must be less than that. A dozen or two pounds, at least. . . Cordelia shivered. She wondered how much time she had left before her internal organs would start failing. 

How would she die in this game if that happened? Would she just suddenly be gone in a snap? Or would she feel the effects of it in here, too?

The girl frowned. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. She was in a time where she was happier than she had ever been. No need to be spoiling it with thoughts about her inevitable death. . . all she hoped was that this dream like reality would last forever.