[PP-F4] <<The Essence of Steel>>

[Miaki 0]

Journeying to the 4th floor, the <> was pursuing a rumor about a mysterious Beast Skull that was apparently found in the far north of the frozen wasteland. Something about the discovery of the skull and hitting it with a bone would wake a snow beast in a nearby cave. <> was said to be on the level of a floor boss and very strong as well. It was also rumored that players would possibly gain an incredibly rare item drop that allows players to enhance an item, improving it's quality.

Knowing that only a fool would ignore such a new quest, he asked around for some players interested in forming a party to check out if the rumors were true. He, Nikki, and Yunah waited in a tavern that was in a tiny village which only had a handful of buildings in it. The village was the furthest northern settlement on the floor.

(OOC: Joining this quest will be Nikki, Saix, Yunah, and Zauis.)

[Saix 0]

Saix had never really been in a snowy environment before, well, in the real world. He had never fought for his life with a sword, or formed a militarized guild either; but then SAO had certainly helped to broaden his horizons. He could only imagine how attempting to list some of his accomplishments in this death game on a college or job application might go, assuming he survived. Which brings us back to the snow, which Saix supposed would have been nice, if not for the flurries of driving wind and other assorted cold things, which were most assuredly not nice.

Why then would this opponent of the cold battle his way to a village that barely had a name on this frozen wasteland of a floor? The promise of loot, of course. This was still an MMO after all, even if it was a VRMMO. Where players of bygone eras would sit in place pressing keys for hours on end, Saix being a player of the cutting edge VRMMO got to enjoy trudging through the cold wind and snow. Progress was a beautiful thing. Not for the first time Saix contemplated what he would do if he ever ran into Kayaba Akihiko in this game. He supposed it would have something to do with sticking his sword into places that were 'vital'.

Finally reaching his destination, Saix entered the tavern, impressed with the realistic temperature differential. The cold wouldn't kill him, and wasn't really cold mind you, just an uncomfortable numbing sensation that could be ignored; but that didn't make it any less annoying. Back inside the warm building, Saix was relieved to be out of the wind. In a sense, he was lucky, this beast skull they were going to be going to find was securely nestled in a deep series of canyons, away from the wind swept tundra he had been forced to cross to make it this far north. Pulling his deep red coat straight, Saix saw the small group he had been invited to tag along with. Mikai, Yunah, and his own Lieutenant Nikki. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long." He said as he crossed the room, his grievances with the cold forgotten.

[Zauis 0]

Walking around floor four with his hands behind his head as he started to realize he had heard a rumor about <>. Something about it being as strong as a floor boss and it dropped a rare item. "Man...I need to check this out. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that rare item." Zauis headed toward a small village in the distance to obtain a bit of information on it. Zauis walked in one of the buildings after getting chased by an NPC he pants slightly and looks around and sees Saix, a guild leader. Along with three others whom were probably in his guild also.

He walked over toward them to see why they are all gathered together. He placed his right hand over his chest where his heart was and bowed his head slightly. It was his way of showing respect. "Do you know where I can take on the <>? It's location.." he politely asked while rubbing the back of his neck.

[Yunah 0]

Yunah was sitting in her bed going through her menu, when suddenly a little icon appeared on the right signifing that she had a message. she moved her hand back and fourth until she reached the messaging menu. she openned up the message from miaki telling her about a quest and he wanted to see if she could come with him. he gave the name of town she was in as a meeting place and a tavern. she giggled and replied "Kay, see you there" then she simply equipped her amour and walked next door to the tavern and waited while everyone else who arrived not long after.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Somewhere on this floor there existed a creature that Nikki had not seen. Somewhere there was a boss that would drop a super rare item that could upgrade items. She was interested in this item, in fact she was ready to do just about anything to get her hands on the drop. She smiled now as she looked up from her seat to her companions for the quest. She was already aware of Yunah, and Miaki, but as her gaze lifted she noticed Saix, her commander, and another player enter the tavern.

"No sir. Yer right on time." She said pleasantly as she stood up sharply to greet Saix. As she did the other player approached and inquired about the snow beast. So he was here for it as well. Nikki continued to smile as she nodded to him. "Were actually going up soon. If yer interested..." She said politely. There group was shaping up quite nicely so far. This would prove to be interesting to say the least.

[Miaki 0]

The entire company was here. Nikki greeted her commander and the player known as Zauis. Miaki was hoping to get a chance to work together and get to know the leader of the Ebon Vanguard better. After seeing his tactical mind in action during the scout party meeting Miaki wanted, more than ever to make relations with the other leaders. He felt the smart thing to do was to form ties with them for joint-guild operations. Especially with his recent and rather sudden becoming the Brigadier General for the Azure Brigade. There were some concerns he was starting to have and he wanted some unbiased feedback from players not directly related to the guild. Yunah, being a recent addition made this a prime opportunity for her to see some more action and get more experience. Miaki walked over to Saix and Zauis, shaking both of their hands. "Captain Saix, good to have you. Thank you for joining us. Zauis, thank you as well. I heard from a couple people about you and look forward to working with you. We were just getting started. Oh almost forgot." Miaki opened his menu and sent party invites for everyone and watched as their health bars appeared under his own.

[Saix 0]

Life in SAO in general carried an almost surreal feeling most of the time. Saix knew that he was young, barely an adult by the reckonings of many; yet in this world populated by other trapped teens and young adults, he found himself in the bizarre position of being old enough to actually command respect. Leading his guild had been a strange enough experience, but following the Scouting Report where he had officially brought The Ebon Vanguard to the Front Lines something had changed. He wasn't sure how it had happened, only that his break down of their strategy had in some way pushed him onto the center stage, he wasn't just an anonymous low level player anymore.

Nikki was quick to stand to greet him, acknowledging him by his Guild Rank. With a rueful grin and a placating gesture, he motioned to sit. "Come now, none of that on my account. We aren't doing any official guild business today Nikki, there is no reason to stand on formalities." He said with a grin, today was a day of relaxing adventure. At Zauis' arrival Saix gives a nod of greeting, letting the others speak for a moment while he enjoyed the warmth of the little lodge. While the sensation outside was not a true representation of cold, he was glad to be out of the slush and driving wind. A good group it seemed, with a pretty wide range in level. No doubt they could provide a detailed report on the capabilities of this boss, and how it stacked up as a threat for their individual level brackets.

When Mikai turned his attention on the new arrivals, Saix enthusiastically shook Miaki's hand, nodding amicably at his kind words. "I look forward to seeing a veteran in action. Nikki was quite adamant before the Scouting Report that you were a good sort, I value her opinion highly, and look forward to getting to know you better Miaki." He said with a warm tone of his own. Miaki had organized this little hunting party, just as he had organized the Scouting Party. Saix was impressed at his network of contacts in the game, as he had made quite a few friends in several places it seemed. Despite Saix's knowledge of networking, something gained from watching his father in action, he would confess that aside from Guild and Inter-Guild alliances, he had not done much in the way of getting to know the players scattered across Aincrad.

That would need to change.

[Zauis 0]

Zauis smiled at Nikki. "Yeah, I'm joining in with you guys and gals. I'll try not to get in anyone's way though. Sometimes I get a little too cocky for my own good." he rubbed the back of his neck with a cheeky smile on his face when Miaki walked up toward Zauis and Saix, offering them a handshake.

Zauis shook his hand and chuckled a bit. "Thanks for having me here. You heard about me, huh? Haha not sure if that's a good or a bad. Though I have been trying to change lately. I look forward to working with all of you." he calmly stated while accepting the friend request and listening to Saix. Keeping a smile on his face even though he felt uncomfortable since they were all familiar with each other or in guild together while Zauis was solo.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki walked over to the chairs that everyone seemed to be choosing to gather around. It was a good idea to socialize a bit further there was no rush between them. To Zaius he said, "Oh fret not what I heard was good. All of it." Eying the orange player indicator over his head Miaki added, "I even got a bit of an understanding about how you got that and you have nothing to worry about from me. I even heard that you are currently working on getting the cleansed."

Miaki caught a glimpse of a figure of blue and white nearing the door. "Well it would appear our last party member has finished his meeting." The door to the small tavern began to open and Miaki stood up again to greet their final addition to the team, the Commander of the Knights of Christ . "Welcome Shark. Thank you for joining us. Please have a seat. It's cold out and some of us just got in. No point in freezing to death right off the bat." Miaki grabbed a mug of cider for himself and Nikki and a mug of coco for Yunah which he handed off to both of them.

[Shark 0]

I just finished a meeting with some perspective recruits for my guild when I get asked by Miaki to join an adventure of his. I was quite interested. I left the meeting and teleported to the 4th floor. I saw a couple players enter a cafe so I assumed that's where it was. I walked to the door and saw a player get up and greet me as I walked in.

Hello Miaki. Thanks for the invite. I have been meaning to get out on an adventure at some point. I am looking forward to this adventure. I said as I looked around the room and saw that the party was mainly made up of players I knew.

I then grabbed a glass of hot chocolate and sat down with the rest.

[Yunah 0]

Yunah sat in the back of the room quiet and not socializing, not only did she fell slightly underpowered with all of the high levels around her, but her timid nature wouldn't allow her to get up and meet people. So there she sat, watching as people greeted each other and shook hands. Yunah was the very first to accept the party request from Miaki, and then she went back to watching the social buzz. other peoples conversations interested her plenty, it was just that she had a hard time entering herself into those very conversations, and she sat there and gleamed brightly in her metal amour, with her blue glacier sword on her back. When Miaki walked over she eye smiled at him and softly said the words "Thank you" then sipped it slowly.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki smiled back at her commander. "Sorry... Force of habit." she said with a small blush. She looked over to Miaki now as her group invite appeared. with out a second thought she clicked accept and watched as her groups info appeared in her hud. Everyone was at full health with no negative status effects, everything looked great. She took her seat just as Miaki brought her a mug of cider, to which she happily accepted and smiled up at him. "Thank you Miaki."

Nikki was glad to be a part of this quest considering it was the first undertaking of it. She felt that her knowledge and familiarity of floor 4 would prove invaluable now. She had not heard to much about the quest in question however as it had recently popped up. The idea that there were rare items here to be earned was certainly exciting though.

The group itself was comprised of strong and ambitious players, meaning that it was unlikely to go wrong. Everyone here had some experience, and could act in a calm controlled manner, meaning there was no need to worry about noobish mistakes. All in all it would shape up to be fun.

[Saix 0]

It appeared as though their team had been assembled and they were ready to go. All in all, Saix was rather pleased with the group selection. A pretty wide level base, several seasoned veterans and friends; yes this was a group he felt comfortable exploring the unknown with. Standing back and letting their party leader make his rounds of greetings, Saix draped a brotherly arm across Shark's shoulders.

"Hear that Shark? We're on an adventure!" he said, conspiratorially, as he cocked his head. "Though I could have done with a little less snow. And maybe if they had a better grasp of the cold weather feedback settings, so it didn't feel like I was half numb... Yeah, that would make this adventure perfect." He said with an exaggerated shiver and a grimace that communicated his dislike of that particular feature.

Glancing over at Nikki, who had moved closer to Miaki, he sighed with a smile. "Ah, young love Sharky... Don't you think it's great that even stuck in this Death Game you can still live normally enough to find someone you care about? I thought about giving him a friendly warning, something like 'break her heart and I'll break your neck', but I don't want to be the creepy pseudo older brother or whatever that makes things awkward..." He asked, as he released the other Guild Leader from their broment. "I've got good feelings about this quest Shark, good feelings." he said over his shoulder as he walked away to find a refreshment of his own.

[Zauis 0]

Zauis noticed his best friend Shark walk into the building. He threw his hand up at him after he finished his conversation with Miaka. He took a seat on a stool away from the crowd a bit. He orderd himself some hot chocolate before placing his head down on the table. "Hopefully this turns out good and interesting. The boss better not be a major push over...that'll be a drag." he muttered to himself while sipping on the hot chocolate that was served to him.

He clenched the cup of the hot chocolate without realizing he started to think of the times in real life when his mother use to make Aoife, Asen and him hot chocolate in the winter. A frown grew upon his face considering he knew he hadn't seen them in a very long time in sword art online. "Hopefully their alive still.." he muttered before letting out a sigh.

[Shark 0]

I just walked in when I was ambushed by Saix when he put his arm around me in a brotherly fashion. Haha, It's great to see you to Saix. Good to see you are still kickin it. I'm stoked for this adventure! The snow and it's cold temperatures are definitely going to make this an adventure as well as that much crazier. That setting would be nice but then it would also take away from this immersion that the game gives us. hahaha I said to Saix as I noticed Niki move towards Miaki.

Looks like some great young love. Loving someone in here definitely makes this game feel like home as well as giving you something to fight for. If you give him that warning, it might make him aware of how much she means to you but it might be good to lay it on the table. Gotta love brother and sister like relationships. hahaha I said as Saix took his arm off of me.

I too have some great feelings about this quest bud... GREAT feelings. I told him as he walked away and noticed Zauis wave me over towards him.

Hey bro, How are things? Heard you are now with the Azure Brigade. Congrats man! I said as I ordered some Hot Chocolate. I heard some things about the boss for this quest. I think it is totally worth it. Hopefully I will be able to enhance my gear and make it stronger than it already is. I then heard Zauis mention something about players still being alive. He once told me about his siblings so I thought that's what he was referring to. I'm sure they are man. They are your siblings. They are just like you and can take good care of themselves. I said as I drank my Hot Chocolate.

I took my drink and sat on the couch with the rest of the party. I can't wait to see what is in store for us and how everyone else does. I am so ready to do this. I thought to myself as I prepped my gear.

[Nikki Styx 0]

((I was gonna wait fer Yunah, but Ill just post something simple))

Nikki smiled at everyone here, the group looked almost ready and she was eager to get started. She also turned her gaze to Miaki now and smiled at him, giving his leg a gentle push with hers to get his attention before giving him a small wink. She loved adventuring with him, and since her return from isolation it seemed that she had not gone anywhere without him being near her. She was ok with this however, and she soon stood up again to look at the group.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen. I believe we have a creature up on one of my mountains that needs to be dealt with. If there are no further delays I think we should head out before we lose the good weather."

[Yunah 0]

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen. I believe we have a creature up on one of my mountains that needs to be dealt with. If there are no further delays I think we should head out before we lose the good weather." yunah stood up from the back of the room where she had been quietly waiting and walked over next to miaki, her guild master. to signify that she was ready to go.

((ooc: nah there wasn't a need for me to post so i didn't))

[Miaki 0]

Feeling a small nudge from Nikki against his leg caused Miaki to turn his head and face her. She was smiling and gave him a little wink which he wasn't sure to make of. Maybe she was signaling about getting started, or maybe she was saying she was excited about the adventure to come, or maybe it wasn't supposed to mean anything at all. Just something between them, it didn't matter to him. He gave her a small grin and watched her up addressing everyone.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen. I believe we have a creature up on one of my mountains that needs to be dealt with. If there are no further delays I think we should head out before we lose the good weather."

Miaki and the rest of the party stood up and appeared ready. Yunah walked up beside him opposite to Nikki, she silently looked up to him stating herself being ready. He gave her a comforting look then spoke up. "Nikki is right. The weather outside is beginning to clear up and who knows how long we'll have it this way." Giving everyone a moment to make themselves ready he made his way to the door. Waiting to open it. He had almost forgotten to equip a winter cloak, without further delay he opened his menu and got a olive green winter cloak to materialize over his clothes. As everyone reached the door he opened it bringing in a small winter chill. "Better bundle up if you haven't already."

[Nikki Styx 0]

((OOC: Pushing this onward))

Nikki made for the door rather swiftly. The rest of the group seemed eager and she wanted to make sure they were able to get this done fast. As she approached the door she opened up her menu and equipped her winter coverings. They were much warmer than her traditional blue dress, and worked perfectly well with her armor, making them the best choice for practicality and warmth. She turned back to look at the group to see if they had started to follow and without a word she opened the front door. Immediately a small pig entered the room through the open door grunting its displeasure. Nikki smiled down at the pig, and picked it up in her arms. Seconds later the bartender looked over and made a comment about not wanting animals in his tavern. Nikki frowned at him and left the building, she had hated leaving Titan alone in the cold, but it was mandatory at this tavern.

Once outside she stopped to wait for the others to catch up, hopefully they wouldn't be too long.

[Yunah 0]

AS nikki pushed the door opento head out, Yunah equipped a winter cloak and followed closely behind her, making sure to stay close to her. she had never actually been to this part of the floor and figured the navigation she be left to the higher ups... and so she figured she would stick close to nikki because miaki would be staying close to her and she should probably be close to miaki. and so as nikki headed out in too the cold, Yunah followed wordlessly.