[F05-PP] Saburra

[NIGHT 0]

<<Butcher of the Sands>>

See, she'd missed this mark on her ascent once before. Doubtless there would be countless other players missing the spot of EXP from one hunt or another, but there was quite the chance that her past companions would've found the same void standing, waiting to be filled all this time. The quick message sent to Koga was on the basis that he'd been more receptive to her urges in training -- there were still plenty of other battles to be fought with levelling players, and hence she wasn't worried about putting Yukiro through his paces soon.

Whenever he was feeling up to her offer, of course.

NIGHT hated the filth on the fifth. The grains of gold were always liable to stick to her fabric's wear, and though the sun burning down upon her back was welcome after hours of chills and frost, the sudden shift of warm from cold was strikingly awful now, once the player stepped off her spot from Fortazela's teleporter. Yet, there was still a shred of hope in the midst of her unfavorable predicament. It was comfortable to be donned in white.

She tugged at the mantle, hood pulled over her visage. Two steps into an alley with a clear line of sight to the settlement's entrance, and she looked over her interface, waiting for a reply.

@Koga

	| NIGHT   | HP: 1670/1670 | EN: 179/179    | ACC: 5 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 79    | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5    | Stealth Detection: 5 | Stealth Rating: 7
[Examine]  | equipment Cosmic Devourer -- [ Paralyze I | Natural successful attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Absolute Accuracy | +1 ACC. Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. ] -- [ Accuracy I | +1 ACC. ] Reinforced Black Tracksuit -- [ Mitigation I | +54 MIT. ] -- [ Evasion I | +1 EVA. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ]  | battle-ready inventory - - - - - - - - -  | skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Light Armor | Passive | RANK 5/5  > Athletics, Sprint&Acrobatics Searching | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 Hiding | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 5/5 Energist | Passive Quick Change | Active Charge | Active | RANK 5/5   Extra Survival | Passive  Concentration | Active -- CD: 3 Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 3/3  | consumed buffs Spoiler Kumatetsu Statue | +1 DMG - - - - - -  | misc. buffs Spoiler Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests.

[Koga 0]

Spoiler

Koga
Level: 36
Health: 720
Energy: 72
DMG: 15 // EVA: 0 // MIT: 47 // ACC: 4
BRN: 24 // BLT: 24 // FALN: 4 // REGN: 10

Skills
>> Katana V
>> Light Armor II

Extra Skills
>> Familiar Master: Fighter III
>> Survival

Inventory
>> T2 Demonic Katana <<Tsuki no Hikari>> [Burn // Blight // Cursed // Fallen]
>> T1 Perfect Necklace <<White Owl Necklace>> [Accuracy // Accuracy // Accuracy]
>> T2 Demonic Light Armor <<Wrathful Bracers>>  [Cursed // Mitigation // Mitigation // Regen]

Battle-Ready Inventory
---

Buffs
>> <<Well Rested>> -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat.
>> <<Squeaky Clean>> The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down).
>> <<Relaxed>> Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.

With mysterious messages requesting one or the other to appear on some floor or another being a trademark of their relationship at this point, Koga was none too surprised when he received one from NIGHT. At this point, he should probably just have a go-bag set up specifically for occasions like this. Seeing as he didn't though, it took a few minutes of replying to NIGHT and ensuring he had everything he needed in his inventory before heading out to the Floor Eleven teleporter.

Reappearing in Fortazela, Koga immediately winced at the harsh sun and wave of heated wind that blew into his face. "Home sweet home..." Koga muttered, before stepping off the platform and looking around for his friend and her signature tracksuit. He'd long ago learned to forgo looking for her in spots that would usually warrant waiting around, and instead looked towards the darkest nooks and crannies he could find. An alleyway this time. Koga waved at the woman as he made his approach.

@NIGHT

Edited December 31, 2020 by Koga

[NIGHT 0]

She'd droned out a murmur of greeting when Koga made his approach. A shuffle of footing; NIGHT pushed herself off the sandstone bricks and started down the secluded lane, glancing over her shoulder to beckon her companion follow.

"Not a fan of sandstorms," she began, eyes kept to the streets ahead. Fortazela was one place where players wouldn't see much activity in, and yet city markets were always bustling with NPCs. The woman cut across the wave of people where the crowd was sparse, diving into another division through the rows of squared, low-rise buildings. "It's easier this way," NIGHT added to Koga once he'd caught up with her footsteps. "Takes some getting used to if you're not dexterous, though."

"I doubt you've visited this floor much?" Idle chat, but it was a good way to fill the gap in between them and the exit of town. "There's an abandoned coliseum out somewhere in the dessert. A lizard with some fan-blade. You seen it?"

[Koga 0]

"Me neither," Koga replied to the woman, before following her into the crowds. He'd grown up in an area where sandstorms like these were common. Seasonal, but common. He never liked them. Sand threatening to attack your eyes, making its way into every crevice of your clothing and underneath it. Koga pulled his coat tighter at the thought of it.

"Sure. Seen a couple screenshots of him from a couple of info brokers. Haven't fought him yet though. But you knew that." It was becoming clear to Koga that NIGHT had some sort of sixth sense for what quests he'd taken and which he hadn't. She was putting him through his paces, it seemed.

"Don't really know much about him though. I'm guessing he's the next guy we're after?" Koga caught up to NIGHT, and walked only a couple paces behind her. Just enough so this cramped alleyway didn't feel anymore tight.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"Sure. Seen a couple screenshots of him from a couple of info brokers. Haven't fought him yet though. But you knew that."

"I didn't," she admitted. A quick turn left as they weaved their way through the city, the bricks laid beneath their feet sloping downwards and up in a gradual but uneven spread. "It was more an educated guess, if anything. Figured one of our friends would've mentioned it a long time ago had they seen it in passing." Between the multiple adventurers, it was highly likely that they had a good portion of the rumor mill watched over back in the group's prime. A miracle, then, that between two contacts, NIGHT's ascent was made entirely alone.

"He's pretty much a pushover," the woman added, hands slipping into the pockets of her suit. "But the entrance inside is a little tricky to find amongst the dunes. If you're heading towards the frontlines, on behalf of the other players, I'd rather not lose you amongst the sand if we could help it."

[Koga 0]

To hear that NIGHT didn't have at least some inkling of what quests Koga had and hadn't taken, but her logic was sound nonetheless. Someone would've mentioned a mini field boss like this a long time ago if they'd encountered it.

'I"m not sure that I'll make that much of a difference in the Frontlines,' Koga thought to himself, though he didn't say it. "Protecting your investment, I see," he said in a joking manner instead, opting for his usual sarcastic quips. "So, I take it you've fought him before? Anything I should know about him, or are you gonna one-shot him again before I even get there?" He wasn't mad about that. If anything he found the fact that she'd dragged him through two days of volcanic hell just to one-shot the boss to be hilarious...actually, putting it that way, it was a little frustrating...at least they were able to teleport out.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"Protecting your investment, I see."

'Exactly,' was what she'd wanted to reply with; the fact that her motives had been blatantly revealed was what made NIGHT hold her tongue, however. The look she bored through Koga's figure might've been cause for him to do the same -- though, when they'd passed through the safe zone's threshold, questions were already being fired her way about their hunt of the hour.

"So, I take it you've fought him before? Anything I should know about him, or are you gonna one-shot him again before I even get there?"

"I could," the player replied, before pausing, giving the answer more thought. "I was going to," she admitted in addition. A hand grasped the heart of her cloak, making sure it stayed on tight despite the wafting storms. "But you sound like you'd prefer to take the reigns this time. It would be more efficient to snuff it and leave as soon as possible..."

Silence washed over NIGHT once more, and it was a few beats before realization struck her. "I haven't seen you fight in a long while, come to think of it. Or even taken the time to watch you handle your own -- ever."

[Koga 0]

"I don't care too much," Koga said to NIGHT, the safezone now behind them, "I just feel bad having you do all the work. I'd like to at least pretend that I'm useful." Or that he could, you know, protect people he cared about. But life had proven him wrong time and time again in that respect.

"To be fair," the swordsman answered, as he pulled pulled a black shemagh from his inventory and wrapped it around his nose, mouth and neck, "we were lower levels when we actually fought together. A lot more emphasis on the 'let's not die' bit back then." Koga tried to think back to the last time he'd fought alongside NIGHT before everything had gone to shit.  "Actually...aside from recently, the only time we actually fought together was that one time we were looking for materials, right after we first met. Giant bugs, remember?" The man was surprised to find that they had never fought alongside each other after. Well, so long as you don't count punching a rock, or walking around this very same desert looking for some crates to be 'combat'.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"I just feel bad having you do all the work. I'd like to at least pretend that I'm useful."

"Give it some time," NIGHT commented, eyes searching the sands. "You're getting there."

"Actually...aside from recently, the only time we actually fought together was that one time we were looking for materials, right after we first met."

Right. A shiver went down her spine at the sudden thought of giant wasps. It was practically the only reason why she hadn't stepped foot into the gardens within the Town of Beginnings, and why she'd preferred cutting up her opponents on the higher, tougher floors when everyday resources were aplenty within certain arm's reach. She'd hummed in agreement -- nervously -- at the man's appraisal of their combat relations, nodding all the same.

"Haven't seen any since then."

Her observation held true; either Cardinal had decided to whiff out the beetles and mantises the further they ascended through the castle, or NIGHT had just gotten lucky in her evaluation of quests to have avoided running into such crawlies in her leveling process. "Probably for the best," she added. "Giant bugs is no way for any player to go out by..."

"--Didn't you have better luck fending them off, though?" The player tilted her head with a glance to her companion. "I hope they never managed to hound your camp. Although, better you than me, I suppose."

[Koga 0]

Koga had long since learned of NIGHT's disposition on anything with more than four legs, and as many eyes. Usually running around screaming, while her thorns did all the work for her. If Koga hadn't been busy dealing with his own set of flying murder bugs, he would've probably been rolling around on the ground laughing. Yeah, he was a real good friend.

"I don't know that I had better luck 'fending them off'...I just didn't run around in circles for twelve minutes," the swordsman pointed out. "Back to the point at hand though," Koga said, guiding the conversation back to their original discussion, "I can hold my own, skill wise. I didn't teach Kendo for nothing. But, at the end of the day, SAO is still a number game." A level one mob could beat on a level thirty player all day and get absolutely no where. Likewise, a level one player could beat on a level thirty boss and earn themselves nothing more than a quick death. Such was life in Aincrad.

@NIGHT

Edited February 7, 2021 by Koga

[NIGHT 0]

"I don't know that I had better luck 'fending them off'. I just didn't run around in circles for twelve minutes."

NIGHT could only return a wince paired with a wry smirk.

"I can hold my own, skill wise. I didn't teach Kendo for nothing. But, at the end of the day, SAO is still a numbers game."

That gave the woman much more thought, her vision slipping back towards the dusty dunes of the fifth. She'd completely forgotten her inexperience with sword fighting in real life, getting too used to riding Cardinal's directions in accomplishing her every strike, her every swift movements. Vaguely, the thought of Bahr's training crossed her mind -- a moment to think about Yukiro's similarity in being able to prove for better swordplay just as well -- before she nodded in agreement at Koga's conclusion, making a connection in her head.

Just a numbers game indeed. She hadn't forgotten her friends' realest piece of advice when they went hunting together.

Below their feet, the sand was starting to become velvety; a good sign that they were on the right path towards their destination. NIGHT continued to shuffle. "Speaking of," she started, "Kendo. You know, I hadn't managed to get a collective answer from anyone who's had training before this game. How's it like adapting your style to the system?"

[Koga 0]

Adapting his style to SAO...that wasn't something he'd thought about for years to be quite honest. "I suppose..." Koga began, "it was kind of liberating?" Yeah. That was the right word, "At least after I stopped nitpicking and stuff." Koga's boots sank further into the sand and the dunes became steeper. Each step caused a small avalanche of sand down to the dune's base. "Kendo isn't very flashy if I'm going to be honest. Most fighting styles aren't, unless you count capoeira. SAO, on the otherhand, is very flashy." To be fair, what game didn't try to have a flashy, fancy visual style to it? Koga couldn't blame Kayaba for designing it this way. "So, being able to do all the cool anime bullshit as part of the core combat flow, and not having to worry too much about the fact I just left my entire left side open or something has been super nice." In truth, the only time having martial training was useful to any degree was whilst defending. No sword arts to be used there. Some skills, maybe, but that was about it. Koga shrugged then, "There are some more traditional aspects of Kendo, and other schools, that SAO draws on, but its nothing like the real thing." That was his official appraisal.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"So that's how it is."

NIGHT nodded in response, drinking in the information with a thumb to her chin. Her collected responses had been similar thus far; if anything, perhaps it was on a greater game design choice to have evened out the field for all players with some training, so that one school didn't have an advantage over the others whilst players of all backgrounds were running around Aincrad.

"Though, I don't think having gaps in your stances is a good idea," the woman quipped, hand falling back onto her cloak in a grip. "Maybe if the battle was one-on-one..."

With the sword art system leaving its users vulnerable for a short period after its use, it was reasonable for it to have found detractors in the player base-- ones that loathed its use and yet still have to rely on it for survival. Her guild leader was one of them. Occasionally, she'd fall into that category too, if only she hadn't gotten used to planning out her hang times as part of her experience in combat.

"Ah. I hadn't thought of what we've been doing as part of 'cool' and 'anime' though." The lightest smirk showed on her face, peppered with smugness at the edges of her grin. "You got something to admit, Koga? What's the last enemy you've shouted 'Rasengan' against, so far?"

[Koga 0]

Koga immediately rolled his eyes, although a small smile did tug at his lips, despite his attempts to suppress it. "Ok, first of all, Naruto is amazing. Second, I'm not that much of a weeb. Third, you're one to talk. I bet you're an even bigger weeb than me!" She did know what a Rasengan was after all...How one couldn't attribute the flashy, over top visual style of SAO to some anime or another was beyond him.

Somehow, somewhere, in the back of Koga's mind, he recognized this as a conversation he would've had with any one of his friends in the real world. He could imagine them walking down the street together, off to get some fast food or something, and annoying the hell out of each other. He wondered then, if he'd met NIGHT outside of SAO, would they have been friends? He thought they might. At least, he hoped so.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

She couldn't help but chuckle the moment her reference was understood. "I seriously doubt it," she fired back at his defense, yet remained entertained at his deflection back her way. "You'd wish. Although, could you truly call an asian a weeb? Aren't we just indulging in media of our own kind? The same considerations could go to Koreans that listen to K-Pop, couldn't it?"

NIGHT's laughter waned after that revelation. The colosseum was starting to come into view, sandstone and grey rubble mixed together a visible outline on the horizon. The woman nodded to her companion its direction before continuing their semantics. "After a while, I'd really only taken a shine to light novels and manga than keep up with anime of the season. Makes me feel like I should be losing my weeb-card soon."

"Though, that's why I doubt your ideas of my superiority," the player returned as a challenge. "What hits do you recall going through? Bonus points if they'd started right before this game did."

"Just kidding~."

[Koga 0]

"I can call asians weebs, I'm asian too, in case you forgot," this was an...interesting conversation. The absurdity of it, however, was lost on Koga as the massive stone structure slowly dominated his sight.

"Ha, so you admit to being a weeb then?" he almost shouted with a triumphant smile. "To be honest though, I've never really been much for just watching stuff either. I either binge watch the whole show in a week, or I just read, same as you. I can't keep up with all the shows, there's just...so...many..." It was futile, really, to even attempt to watch them all and keep up with their weekly schedules.

Koga sucked air through his teeth as he tried to remember literally any anime he'd watched before becoming trapped inside of SAO. As he thought, the pair passed beneath the stone archways of the coliseum, and entered the main arena. "Hmmm....I do remember one about...giant humans that ate normal humans?"

Thud!

A giant scaled body suddenly landed in front of the two players, and with a huge hand, swiped Koga up, and held him about his open mouth, prepared to devour the man in one gulp. "Yeah, kinda like this."

Koga rips himself from the boss' grasp, spinning in the air, and drawing his blade as he does so. The giant alligator's hand gleamed red with blademarks. Flipping through the air as he descended, Koga delivers a powerful vertical slice to the beast's head before leaping away, and landing next to NIGHT. "Okay...now you can one shot it."

@NIGHT

Spoiler

[0] Koga | HP: 720/720 // EN: 72/72 // DMG: 15 // EVA: 0 // MIT: 47 // ACC: 4 // BRN: 24 // BLT: 24 // FALN: 4 // REGN: 10
[0] NIGHT | HP: 1670/1670 // EN: 179/179 // ACC: 5 // DMG: 20 // EVA: 4 // MIT: 79 // BH: 79 // PRLYZ: 1 // ABS. ACC

Sando Satsu | HP: 145/350 (350 -205) // DMG: 100 > 150 // MIT: 20 > 30
Ignores Block, Evasion, and Mitigation, but does not do bonus damage on a 9-10
- Cull of the Meek: On a natural roll of 10 he will spin with his weapon at maximum reach hitting everyone in the fight. He will gain 10 hp per person hit.
- Dominus: When he reaches 175 hp, he grows massive in size upping his damage to 150 and mitigation to 30 for the rest of the fight.

Spoiler

San Ge vs Sando Satsu
ID: 182450
BD: 6 (2 +4)
DMG: (15 * 15) - 20 = 205

Koga uses <<San Ge>> against Sando Satsu!
Sando Satsu takes 205 DMG!

Sando Satsu activates <<Dominus>>!

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by Koga

[NIGHT 0]

"Wasn't that one about fascism...?"

NIGHT had barely the time to finish the thought before their mark fell from above, having taken a giant leap to close the distance between them moments before. Not like the player was paying it any attention -- her gaze was stuck to the environment, mind in great recollection to the shows that she could only try to remember.

With one swoop, her companion was about to be dead meat.

"Oh," the player piped up, name coming to mind. "Attack on Something!"

It was almost as though she had commanded her friend to strike. When Koga moved to escape its grasp, the woman finally summoned a blade, watching the warrior shift swiftly to her side.

"Okay...now you can one shot it."

"I think its in your capability to finish it off," NIGHT stated quietly. She shrugged, however, when the reptile prepared for another lunge towards the party. A block with the flat of her blade as it swung its tail interrupted the flail of sand towards their way, and a flick of her weapon alongside a jump cleared enough of a gap for the swordswoman to plunge her metal through its scaly hide.

The ligator burst into sparkles without so much as a feeble roar. Her sneakers slid upon the dirt as NIGHT came to a stop, grip vanishing along with a flash of light. "Easy."

Spoiler

ID: 182561 | BD: 3 + 5 = 8 | <<Galaxy Destroyer>> vs Sando Satsu.
The strike lands! (-9 EN)
20 * 13 = 260 DMG | 260 - 30 = 230 DMG

---

Koga | HP: 720/720 // EN: 72/72 // DMG: 15 // EVA: 0 // MIT: 47 // ACC: 4 // BRN: 24 // BLT: 24 // FALN: 4 // REGN: 10
NIGHT | HP: 1670/1670 // EN: 179/179 // ACC: 5 // DMG: 20 // EVA: 4 // MIT: 79 // BH: 79 // PRLYZ: 1 // ABS. ACC

Sando Satsu | HP: -85/350 (-230) // DMG: 100 > 150 // MIT: 20 > 30

[Koga 0]

As NIGHT finished off the field boss, Koga crossed him arms and furrowed his brow as he went deep in thought. Fascism? Yeah...he though that was right...he could remember a really intense German song being the opening theme..."Oh, goddamn it, what the hell was that show called?" he muttered as the boss exploded into fragments of light.

"Attack on Giants!" the man shouted. "Wait no..." the man went back to thinking.

A small banner congratulating the pair for defeating the boss appeared, and their inventories were filled with a paltry amount of Col, and their EXP bars each grew by roughly a pixel. Koga had almost forgotten about their quest.

"Oh, right, thanks for dragging my ass out here," Koga said to NIGHT, despite this had become a habit for both of them. "Did you have another boss in mind, or am I gonna wake up to another mysterious message again?" Or maybe he would beat her to it this time. Who knew.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"Wasn't that a band?" NIGHT tilted her head, brows furrowed. "The one that sang something about Constantinople. Or was it..."

She groaned, waving away the new window that appeared to cloud her vision. A hand clasped around her mouth as she returned to great thought. After so long, it was a miracle she could remember anything about the real world.

If they still kept in touch with some sort of database that housed this information, perhaps their memories wouldn't have been so foggy.

Her palm fell away from her face at Koga's thanks. She gave him a slight bow, before adjusting the cloak's hood for their journey back to Fortazela. "I figured one a day would've kept you in the routine," she remarked, taking a few strides forward -- the way out was strangely through a different corridor than the entry they came in by. "But if you've got any targets to cull, I'm game. Point me at them, Sasuke."

[Koga 0]

"Woah, woah, woah, Constantinople? When did we start talking about geography?" Suffice it to say, the pair never did remember what show they were talking about. It would forever be lost in the deep, dark, cobweb ridden recesses of their minds.

"If I'm Sasuke, what does that make you?" the swordsman asked as he followed his friend out of the stadium...not the way that they came in. "Hey, are you sure this is the exit?" Koga asked before shrugging. Whatever, it wasn't like they couldn't handle anything on this floor anyways. "Oh, uh, actually I do have a series of quests in mind. You ever finish up that Dragon Hunter thing from way back when? God knows its just been sitting in my quest log ever since..." Koga didn't finish the sentence. No need to ruin the good mood they'd found themselves in. "So, yeah, why don't we do that," the man said, deciding for them both. "Those poor hatchlings won't even stand a chance."

-- Thread Summary --

Spoiler

Koga:
>> T1 <<Dagger of the Sands>> [DMG II // BLD I]
>> 5 SP (3 Quest + 1 Thread + 1 3.0 Bonus)
>> 200 Col

NIGHT:
>> 2 SP (1 Thread + 1 3.0 Bonus)
>> 200 Col

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by Koga