[F10-PP] Weakening Steel (SoW 2)

[Setsuna 0]

"You mistake me, I know full well the gravity of what I do. The difference being, is..." She lifts the saya and slides the grim letter back into it. "I know it must be done, and to answer your question. I expect a reckoning, and those little marks above people's heads. They are a giveaway, I do not need to judge them. The system already has. I just finish the job." She pauses as she weighs those with such a cursor, that have been placed under protection by her masters. "There are some that have received a pardon, Mari and Hidden. But others, it will be simple to distinguish."

Setsuna lifts from the soil, checking for the markings left by Kumatetsu for a sense of where he had come from. "I am, it's all I am. It is clear that you mourn who I once was, and those that I will need to strike down inevitably. That is no weakness, but a strength. The air you see from me is a fallacy, and you are correct." Setsuna kneels down and eyes the direction it would head. "There will always be one more murderer, but it will stand as a lesson. As a preventative. Kindness cannot be taught, but fear can be." As she looked back and shared that gaze a swirl of cold upon her iris, a swell of fire and ice linked the lines between their eyes. Two opposed elements, with the ability to coexist.

Setsuna Consumes: Titan's Strength (+3 DMG) 180985, Well Done Steak (+3 Protein {Filled) -30 Miti) 180858, Poached Egg (+2 Accuracy) 175871-1

Setsuna | HP:900/900 | EN:90/90 | DMG:22 | EVA:3 | ACC:5

Spoiler

Setsuna, The Creature in the Mist
Level: 45
HP: 900/900
EN: 90/90

Stats:
Damage: 22
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 5

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Shiva's Embrace - Ancestry T2/Perfect/Katana [Damage 3]
Armor: Cold Fabric Kunoichi Wear T1/Perfect/L.A [+3 Evasion]
Misc: Kunoichi Wrapping's T1/Perfect/Trinket [+3 Accuracy]

Skills:
One-Handed Curved Sword [Rank 1]
Katana [Rank 5]
Hiding [Rank 4]
Light Armor [Rank 3]

Extra Skills:
Disguise
Familiar (Fighter) R1

Mods:
Finesse Rank 3
Ferocity
Athletics
Vanish
Surprise Attack (Assassin)

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal*1
Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [T1/Perfect/Support/Instant] +60 HP*2
Bird Seed (T2/Rare/Snack) Vitality 2*1

Housing 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)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Hiding): +1 Rank to the Hiding skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [Potted Tanabata]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

[Alkor 0]

It felt wrong that someone so young could clearly say such things. Alkor had to consider that Aincrad had instilled perverse values in everyone, such that they would never have learned in the normal flow of their life. Children became radicalized just like this out of necessity. Setsuna was a victim just like all the rest of them. 

He listened to her words, such clear and simple condemnation over something so basic. For Setsuna, the world really did seem that simple. It was a sin that someone so young and impressionable was allowed to be part of the Sword Art Online tragedy. With no proper guidance, she assumed that a tag given by a system for anything between a minor infraction and murder itself was just cause. 

She went further to condemn others by name, whether through reputation or firsthand knowledge he couldn't say.

"You should be more careful about following colors in a game as a pretext for morality," he said. "You can turn your cursor yellow by punching someone."

He stood himself upright and glanced around. "So, what, we find the spawn point for the bear and that's it?" he asked. "Seems pretty simple and straightforward." Alkor stretched out his arms and back, cracking his knuckles over his head as he reached toward the clouds. "I'm actually thinking about following this chain a little further. They said there's more than one roaming enemy to fight and rewards for all of them, but you have to collect them all to benefit from them."

He didn't know how true or false it was, just that apparently other Players had done the quests and now reaped said benefits. There had to be some truth it it, or the vendors wouldn't sell that information. "What about you? Done after this?"

Alkor level 47 

960/960 HP 104/104 Energy

14 DMG | 12 MIT | 3 EVA | 4 ACC | 24 BLT

Blightsteel [T2 Demonic (2 DMG/1 BLT/ CRS)] Cowl of the Wandering Warrior [T2 Perfect (3 EVA)] Eye of Osiris [T1 Perfect (3 ACC)]

Rank 5 Curved Sword / Rank 3 Light Armor / Athletics / Precision / Ferocity 

Finesse (rank 3) / Fighter Familiar (rank 3) / Survival / Energist / Extended Mod Limit

Edited February 18, 2021 by Alkor

[Setsuna 0]

"I find the bear, mark its location and then yes, that is the end of it." A simple response as she weighed his inquiry, there was clearly more here than just what was visible at a glance. If it were part of a chain, then it stood to reason that others would be attempting to run it. Perhaps this was why so many had had placed themselves in harms way, the promise of a shiny coin at the end and they couldn't overcome the first hurdle. She chose to stand by her understanding of the system for it was all she knew. "I understand your reasoning, Alkor. But as you said there is no playing god in this, and its an unwarranted attack with intent to kill that paints that small cursor permanently. A fickle failure hardly happens repeatedly by accident." She exhales and makes her intentions clear "I will see this through, I am eager to see where it leads."

A single bound upward, getting a fair idea which direction that it was Kumatetsu must have moved from. A scan on the horizon after making her way as high as she could in the canopy, wrapping her right leg around the trunk of the tree and poking her head out. A horizon on an afternoon sun, a river drawn through it in the distance. If she were to make a guess based on direction, the base of the mountain near the river in green color.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Setsuna

[Alkor 0]

He scratched at the back of his head and appraised the area around them. There was no use in pressing the issue too much. When she brought it up and sought his perspective, that was one thing; but to drone on and on about how he disagreed was both disrespectful and ultimately a waste of breath. He placed both hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. The search for this bear's spawn point was a lengthy ordeal, and he didn't really want to get in Setsuna's way. She seemed like a much better tracker than he was.

"Glad to hear it," Alkor said in regard to her vested interest in continuing. "I really didn't want to have to deal with these quests alone, because I don't know all that much about them."

There wasn't much more to be said. He did watch how she moved and got a feel for what she was attempting, but Alkor got the sense that if he didn't invest the points of have the proper equipment, no matter how hard that he tried he wouldn't make much ground. In terms of scouting and reconnaissance, Setsuna was in her element.

"You must enjoy exploring," he said after a few more moments of silence. 

[Setsuna 0]

A flare in the distance confirms it, and she shuffles a menu open. Peeling a menu open and dropping a single undefined flag that would give her coordinate data. A draw of it away to copy it into a note on her HUD, placing it away to be utilized. It is sectioned into a message, and sent away in a flash. That concludes her mission, leaving the rest of her day open to explore her own endeavors. Setsuna falls in a soft collapse, folding her legs as she lands with a small flicker of leaves in handfuls.

"The next?" She murmurs beneath her breath as she unfolds, looking to Alkor since he was the primary on this next part in the chain. It would be on his shoulders to guide her to the next leg of it, this was unknown to the child. "I will follow your lead on this, I have no data on the rest of this quest. Exploring is in the job description, enjoying and being good at something is hardly the same." A soft patter of her feet as she recorrects herself toward the settlement of this floor, assuming that the gate was the next point of interest.

[Alkor 0]

"Well, I'm going to check something real quick, and then we'll know a little more." Alkor opened his menu and fired off a message. It wasn't more than a minute before he had a response. He glanced up as they headed for the teleporter and spoke toward Setsuna. "Looks like we're headed to the tenth floor," he explained as he took the lead in earnest. Seemed a bit strange, they were just jumping around and taking shots in the dark.

Whatever enemy they were looking for would likely be more difficult to fell than Kumatetsu had been. And on the tenth floor... if he hadn't gone there to have a look around, he would have thought it was a pipe dream. Everything that came after the ninth floor was uncharted territory. It was good that he'd have this chance to explore it.

"I guess I just assumed you enjoyed taking in new sights," he shrugged. "Because I imagine if I was born without sight, every minute I could experience even small things like color, I'd be amazed." It wasn't really something most people talked about directly. If it wasn't Alkor, who had extremely weak social skills and therefore lacked the proper etiquette to realize there were some things you just didn't talk about... it probably wouldn't have come up at all.

But Alkor didn't have any reason to think it was a sore topic. Setsuna had told him about it, after all. He rested his hand on the pommel of his blade as they made it to the teleporter. "Not everyone has my limited perspective, I guess," he laughed. "Teleport! Yomi!"

Edited February 19, 2021 by Alkor

[Setsuna 0]

The orchestration from Alkor goes off in an instant, as Setsuna keeps an eye advancing around them. Always cautious and feeling her environment, the girl was like an exposed nerve. "Floor 10, the banshee." Setsuna remarked coyly, recalling that it was there that they were first introduced. Recalling a bit of the topography of the floor, a dungeon in construction. Tartarus, the gleaming lake where they took a boat across at Gaius's behest. This wouldn't be her first trip to it. Sam came to mind and her failures to fish in its waters.

A silence what he had spoken, strangely enough, this was the moment she chose to keep it held. A flash of the gate as Alkor is tossed upward at blinding speeds, through the fabric of space. Beneath her breath "Maybe once, I would have. When I would have had someone to share it with." She murmurs hoping up to the gate and following his decree with her own. The gate triggers, drawing strange runes in a ring into light. A pulse of energy casts her upward. Into the halls of Tartarus, the slight blue glow drawn upon the interior in its caverns. A hop down and a glance to those in the settlement of Yomi whom were few and far between. This place was always quiet...

She looks to Alkor earnestly, as if to yield some sense of direction from him. The girl knew where some landmarks were, but that was hardly what they sought. She'd yet to know what it was they faced exactly, and it would be his experience that would lead her now.

[Alkor 0]

"Yeah, this is where we met, isn't it?" he said with a faint smile in response to her words. He hadn't forgotten that. There was just something so surreal about being alive, to the point where he sometimes didn't quite believe his experiences were real. "You remember that, huh?" he asked, more rhetorical than anything. Setsuna didn't really seem the sentimental type. They were through the warp gate by the time he asked; so he wasn't quite sure that she'd heard what he said. Regardless, this wasn't the time to reminisce. Instead, he regarded her with a glance over his shoulder. "I have a pretty vague idea which direction we need to go in," he assured her.

Another ding across his HUD heralded the message that confirmed the directions for him. "We're headed to the Stygian river," Alkor said, "that's just over this way... and then..." 

He led her on the path, out of the safe zone. When they crossed the threshold he took his blade in hand. "Things shouldn't get too choppy for us to handle, but on the off chance that we do get attacked, better safe than sorry right?" he asked. Nostalgia about running headlong into danger floated at the forefront of his thoughts. He wanted to break the habit. "Apparently there's some adds that'll spawn ahead of the boss, so if we see that, we'll know we're on the right track."

It was no nonsense when talking to this girl, and he understood that. Alkor just wished that some of that ice would melt and she might show a bit more of the soft side. It would be good for her.

[Setsuna 0]

"I do." The answer was short, precise and cold. A passing by pair, a female with chestnut brown hair and a man slightly darker. They share a chuckle and a smile, just NPC's faking it but it still stung. There was something off-putting by the casual sharing as they moved past, fiddling with a crate in the male's arms. Setsuna found her eyes locked to them as they moved, strangely stricken with the inability to look away. A call out from Alkor causes her to snap to attention "Alright."

A tiny ding has him reading, while she messes with the ties on her left hip. She tugs aggressively, tightening that cloth belt even tighter around her waist. Almost as if she was throwing a fit. "Stygian river, the river of the damned." She comments on the name, it wasn't too long ago that she'd crossed it with the guild and fought the consumer of suns. Down the winding trails that held small echoes and tremors, every now and again the players could hear screams off the walls but could not make them out. In response to Alkor's warning, she extends her left thumb, pressing the blade on her just ever so slightly out. "Multiple targets, I will wait for my opportunity to strike. I am sure you understand my methods." An intense stare forward, unwavered and without fault. The child was a weapon and a tool, almost mechanical in her execution.

[Alkor 0]

Alkor gave a gentle sigh as he led the way to he River. He couldn't read the girl at all. She seemed so cold with him, all the time. It didn't seem as though she hated him, which was reinforced by the fact that she agreed to join him for the duration of the chain. "You like mythology?" he asked. For someone so young to have an interest in anything historical always pleasantly surprised him. "Like how Stygian is actually a word that refers to deep darkness, like nightfall? It's a pretty interesting choice to replace Styx. I wonder what the developers were thinking when they made that call."

He asked these things aloud, not really concerned whether or not she would engage him further. It seemed like they shared that interest; but maybe he was wrong. "It'd be much creepier if there were lost souls adrift in its floes," he said with a laugh. "They went a completely different direction with it. It's eerily pretty," he commented. "But that's really all there is to it. I wouldn't go swimming in it, though."

The darkly dressed swordsman shot her a goofy smile. Setsuna in turn said she was going to wait in hiding, and that he knew her methods. He was probably more of a nuisance to her than she was letting on.

Sure, yeah, I understand.

"I'll take point, then," Alkor turned his face forward and strained for visual confirmation of their prey.

[Setsuna 0]

"Not particularly." Setsuna muttered coldly, as Alkor gave her the synopsis of the lakes origins. "But I do find it interesting, and fitting. The lake comes alive at the stroke of midnight." Setsuna offered as she looked out into the murky blackness that built its shores. "It produces spectres that breach the waters, howling and gasping for life. On its shores a boat spawns, a phantom vessel. I wonder if it still appears now after it was dealt with?" She looked to him with the recollection, allowing her prior ire to fall to pieces.

"I trust your judgment on this." The icy but softened glance to him proved it, the silver haired girl was still so hard to read. It was as if what she said and what she appeared as was disjointed, jarring. But that was by intention. Masking what she felt in her face and in her words was practiced, intended. As a shield. As she looked to him, that same smile that almost mirrored Mac's at the monument. In it, she could see the attempt at parley. The movement to lighten the mood. "I appreciate it, but you're a dork." and to keep that from view, she lifts a face mask. To maintain impressions, she couldn't allow the man to see her smile.

[Alkor 0]

He found himself stuck at the edge of a cliff and barely hanging on. The urge to throw himself headlong into the Stygian swelled as she responded to him, not mincing words to declare her disinterest. At least he didn't have to worry about her trying to humor him. Alkor gave a flat, mirthless grunt in response.

When she asked her question, he glanced over the waters and considered. "I couldn't say," he muttered.  "I haven't spent a lot of time on this floor. But, we can look for it when we finish, if you want?" His voice had raised a little bit to assure that she would hear the offer; but somehow, Alkor didn't think Setsuna would be all that interested. It was most likely just another of her many observations. 

The next words out of her mouth were "You're a dork," and she covered her face once more. "Y'know, that'd be a lot more convincing from someone who wasn't dressed up like a ninja from some anime," he stuck his tongue out toward her, snapped his fingers, then whispered under his breath. "Gotcha!"

[Setsuna 0]

A strange and almost out of place grunt. "Perhaps." She murmurs with a single response still eying the waves, lingering on what had transpired and why she was here. Something about Alkor had drawn her here, he wasn't afraid to mix words with her and even offer a different perspective. Most would not have, most would have dismissed her. An inhale through the cloth on her lips it was a bit difficult to keep that grin on her's concealed. The guy was a total goof. Out of nowhere, it had caught her by surprise.

Where others couldn't crack it, assumed her unable to respond in such a way. Another drop of language breaks the tension between them with a reply. "What is wrong with what I am wearing?" She looks down and for a brief moment, she shrugs her shoulders and looks at her skirt section of the onesie with a peel of her hand. A soft hand shoves him "Watch yourself, you may fall." Setsuna taunted, a strange burning in the pit of her stomach. She was blind to it and yet to feel it, but Alkor felt warm and almost too hot to handle.

[Alkor 0]

"Wrong?" he asked. Alkor turned and waved his hand in front of his face, a warding gesture. "You got me all wrong, I ain't the kind of guy who tells a girl there's something wrong with her clothes." Alkor knew better. Clothes were a direct reflection of a woman's tastes and outlook. To comment negatively on something like that? Tantamount to a declaration of war. No- it wasn't her aesthetic that sparked his commentary. "I'm just speaking on the irony of a burgeoning Otaku calling someone a dork."

Alkor notably didn't lose the gentle smile that he wore as he spoke. It was important that he didn't give her any reason to think he was being hostile. "There's not a thing wrong with your clothes," he assured her. "I've seen people at various festivals and events wearing that kind of stuff."

When she pushed him, he backpedalled a few steps and came dangerously close to taking a dive in the drink. Alkor managed to catch himself. "Fall!" he laughed sarcastically. "Is that what you're calling it?" The fact that she reacted at all was definitely positive. It showed that she wasn't completely numb, no matter what airs she tried to put on. Alkor felt a bit better, knowing that.

"Any time now," he said, spinning on his heel and returning his attention ahead of them. "We can't be too far."

[Setsuna 0]

"Smart." Setsuna goaded within a brief respite, finally becoming aware of the strange uneasiness in her belly. "Otaku? I couldn't even watch T.V." She held to only the conversations exchanged by her friends, knowing only through hearsay what it was. Still plastered to his face was that bright and unyielding smile. In a way, Alkor reminded her of Gaius except a lot less stupid. "Did you attend the Tanabata?" She thought back to the only festival she'd witnessed and remembered being forced into a yukata.

Turns out she wasn't quite strong, a shove being rather pathetic. Alkor was shattering that facade with every spoken word, and it terrified her. It was hard to keep it up, but she had to. "Alright, a group of enemies should give it away?" A quick change of subject she welcomed, nervous and deflecting as she worked to cool that boiling. It almost stung, there was something lingering in that angsty ball of twine and she didn't want to let it out in the slightest. An eye peeled along the coast, deliberately avoiding the chisel that was the phoenix's chipper grin. There was a strange soft breeze that played across the shore, with it a slight howl and a chill to which she embraced.

[Alkor 0]

Someone had given this poor girl the wrong impression of what an Otaku was; though, to be fair if she really wanted to she could just as easily have called Alkor Hikkikomori. Not that she knew that about him, or anyone else in Aincrad did, really. Still, the basis was there- a fondness for the Japanese culture. Her own culture, by the look of her. Maybe it was less a weeb thing than it was a traditionalist thing. He couldn't say.

"Tanabata, huh?" Alkor asked, straining to recall the festival. It had gone by pretty uneventful for him, other than a conversation with Lessa and the jarring boss encounter at the end. He stopped for a moment. "Yeah, I went," he told her. "Pretty cool that the game has these things for the Players. Almost considerate, if it didn't mock us so much at the same time."

That was about when she mentioned the group of enemies. Alkor turned to look ahead of them, wondering if she had caught sight of their destination. "Yeah, that's what we're looking for," he answered. "A group of like, three or four. They go down and the mob we have to kill spawns."

[Setsuna 0]

Releasing the bit of fabric she held in her small hand, she'd look to Alkor earnestly. The man had attended, but she had not seen him there. Silently Setsuna pondered exactly what it was Alkor may have wished for. "I suppose it was cool, but I cannot help but think that is a way to convince us that this is paradise." To trap them here, force them to become complacent. It was all she could think about while she was attending. As it turned out, Alkor was the first to catch the opposition on the horizon. She was too awfully fixated on him for some odd reason. "Right." She eyed them reluctantly, disconnecting from the conversation and transitioning from girl to weapon in an instant. Reaching for her katana and raising her left hand with two extended fingers, she becomes like smoke and disappears. It would be on Alkor to initiate. She'd finish it.

Setsuna enters stealth

ID# 183567 results: Loot: 4+5+1=10, Stealth Rating, Success! (Basement Triggered)

Edited February 22, 2021 by Setsuna

[Alkor 0]

Alkor couldn't disagree with Setsuna on that. Every time the system gave, it felt like an attempt to make them forget about everything it had taken away. Sometimes it was more heinous than others. The Tanabata example was a perfect one. By giving them something that they remembered and that seemed familiar, it almost made them feel like the festival itself had never really gone away. The game wasn't intuitive enough to project the memories of their family or anything like that, though the Cardinal system had every bit of potential to do something so foul, but thus far, it hadn't done anything that severe. Some people did lean hard into it, though. Those who fought were less inclined to see it as anything but a respite than those who didn't.

When she backed off and blended into the environment, Alkor knew his cue had come. He reflexively readied his weapon and rushed headlong toward the enemies. They would fixate their attention on him foremost, and after that, Setsuna would come in with the clean sweep. The most important thing of note was that the field boss would only spawn after the first wave; so it was unlikely that the girl would attack right away. Alkor recognized that she would be at most efficient if he cleared the way first, and then she moved in only once the Lich creature appeared.

So, he dove.

His explosive motion ripped through three of the enemies with ease. Skilled though he was, even Alkor had not developed the necessary grace and agility to extend his stroke reliably to a fourth target. He would have to train harder from now on. Still, three out of four was actually excellent, and he'd almost cleared the way entirely in one fell swoop. He gripped his weapon tightly and took up a defensive stance, certain that the mob would retaliate on behalf of its fallen allies.

Alkor: 960/960 HP 93/104 (-11) Energy | DMG:14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 4

Setsuna: HP:900/900 | EN:90/90 | DMG:22 | EVA:3 | ACC:5

Stygian Warrior 1 HP: 100 (-120) | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 (ID# 183616 Battle: 2+4=HIT)

Stygian Warrior 2 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 (ID# 183617 Battle: 1+4=MISS) (5 to hit Alkor, minus 3 for his evasion misses)

Stygian Warrior 3 HP: 100 (-128) | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 (ID# 183618 Battle: 9=CRIT)

Stygian Warrior 4 HP: 100 (-120) | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 (ID# 183619 Battle: 5+4=HIT)

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Alkor

[Setsuna 0]

The soft clatter of her heels, as in the billowed mist that began to grow thicker. Like an early morning in a swamp, that white smoke lingered like fog. Up and along the slight breaks among the walls that created almost a labyrinth in the dark. Setsuna needed a clear vantage point, and from it she managed only to see Alkor cutting them down in droves. The man was effective in his silence, not a single word spoken. It looked to her as if it wasn't even taxing, the man was practiced. The only that slipped past, the phoenix dismissed like a child. The harsh hiss behind the group proved that the nightmare had taken notice, a mass of shapes still concealed based on distance. It drew featureless silhouettes where the sound alone could be made out. Setsuna had found her target, and a click of her feet along the wall as she aimed for that clear target.

Setsuna maintains stealth:

ID# 183636 results: Loot: 20+5=25, Success!

Alkor: 960/960 HP 90/104 Energy | DMG:14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 4

Setsuna: HP:900/900 | EN:90/90 | DMG:22 | EVA:3 | ACC:5

Stygian Warrior 2 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Edited February 23, 2021 by Setsuna

[Alkor 0]

If Setsuna was still nearby, Alkor didn't see any sign of her. He supposed that meant she was doing what she did best, and succeeding at it. What it meant for him though? More work. As he tore through the enemies with almost no effort, he half expected Setsuna to pick up some of the slack. It appeared that she didn't feel it was necessary.

Alkor didn't particularly mind. Every enemy he struck down was another useful experience, another chance to hone himself into the warrior he wanted to be. He spun the blade round in his grip to reverse, charging up his Sword Art as the creature charged at him with reckless abandon.

As if on cue, Alkor's blade sang upward, gliding through the distance between them. At the precise time of impact, he stepped through and as his weapon joined him in perfect unison. Carved in two uneven halves, the Stygian Warrior spasmed for an instant before exploding into two massive red clouds of data.

He knew what the quest entailed, but almost groaned aloud when the set of four more Warriors apparated. More pressing was the sudden arrival of the Leech Lich, which rose from the Waters of the Stygian with a low groan. Its hunger was instantly visible as it clambered up the shoreline, still feeding on the remains of a soul that it had sundered. There was no blood, no gore; but the sight of an emaciated spirit torn to ribbons, hanging from the maw of an amalgamation of horrors was more than enough to prompt Alkor into unbidden shuddering.

The enemy that they came for had arrived, and Setsuna had bidden her time. This was her moment. If she didn't seize the opportunity, the creature would slowly snowball in power to a point beyond where they could go. Alkor just had to provide suppressive fire in the meantime.

"Any time now," he muttered.

Alkor: 960/960 HP 87/104 Energy (-6] | DMG:14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 4

Setsuna: HP:900/900 | EN:90/90 | DMG:22 | EVA:3 | ACC:5

Stygian Warrior 2 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 (ID# 183657  Battle: 3+4=HIT)

Stygian Warrior 5 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 

Stygian Warrior 6 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Stygian Warrior 7 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Stygian Warrior 8 HP: 100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Leech Lich HP: 250 | DMG: 50 | MIT: 25 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 0

 

 

 

Leech Lich's abilities

Leech: Four «Stygian Warriors» spawn with the boss when it is engaged in combat. «The Leech Lich» will consume up to two creatures per turn and will do so whenever it can. If it consumes the a creature, he restores +100 Health and gains +5 Mitigation, +50 Base Health, and +10 Damage. If it lands a hit on the player, «The Leech Lich» will heal a third of however much damage it dealt to the player. Every other turn  two more «Stygian Warriors» will spawn, but there will always be a maximum of four «Stygian Warriors» at any given time.

Protected: «The Leech Lich» cannot be attacked until the other creatures are defeated or devoured by «The Leech Lich». After the original 4 die, «The Leech Lich» is no longer protected.

Undead: Fallen damage has no effect on «The Leech Lich», but Holy damage deals +25 Damage when the enchantment procs.

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Alkor