PP:F9 'Dark Times Ahead' F10 Boss Planning - Invite only PM for invite

[Mari 1]

Mari had scoured almost the entirety of the 10^th floor, she had spent hours there – having found no other village other than Yomi, and no place safe for Pkers and viable for a meeting. Mari felt it best to have the meeting on a lower floor. She sat in a large room on the second floor of a tavern in one of the outlander settlements; a place where PKers were able to walk on through to pick up supplies. There were no inns, and the place was practically deserted.

It was here, in this run down tavern – on the 9^th Floor that Mari sat at the head of a large, round – stained wooden table, empty chairs were scattered around it. Here, is where Mari would have the meeting. Here is where they would discuss how to surpass the 10^th floor boss. The Orochi.

Mari, for once, had the upper hand. She had all the information required for the boss – she was, one of the few, if only people who had Night Vision in the front lines. And it was for this reason, and this reason alone she chose to hold and conduct this meeting.

She had gone through the players who were at the previous boss raid; and excluded anyone who had become ‘inactive’ or sluggish during the fight. Anyone who was evidently skipped didn’t exactly need to be in the upcoming boss battle.

Mari rapped her fingers on the table, this was a different ball game for her. She still was in a foul mood with the death of Alkor, it seemed like barely any time had passed – and now she had to look a few of the players in their face, and expect to get along with them. Mari was angry, and bitter – but she was not stupid, and she was able to, when the time called for it, put personal reasons and emotions aside.Mari had scoured almost the entirety of the 10^th floor, she had spent hours there – having found no other village other than Yomi, and no place safe for Pkers and viable for a meeting. Mari felt it best to have the meeting on a lower floor. She sat in a large room on the second floor of a tavern in one of the outlander settlements; a place where PKers were able to walk on through to pick up supplies. There were no inns, and the place was practically deserted.

This was a different ball game for her. She still was in a foul mood with the death of Alkor, it seemed like barely any time had passed – and now she had to look a few of the players in their face, and expect to get along with them. Mari was angry, and bitter – but she was not stupid, and she was able to, when the time called for it, put personal reasons and emotions aside.

Now all she had to do was wait.

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

Unexpectedly I had received some mail from a person i had only met once. Great more junk thats probably like that "Gathering of Legend" crap that Daeron tried to pull. Whatever, i decided to actually play nice today and read the letter and found, to my surprise, that it was a long awaited invite to the 10th floor boss fight. I was not expecting to see this at one bit, and the person who sent this to me knows almost nothing about me, so why am i receiving this mail at all i wonder. I went to the sink in my shop and washed my hands, even though they dont really get dirty when crafting things but i had made it routine to do things like a normal person would in this situation. I then opened the cabinet next to the sink to find my armor, the special made one. I began to equip what i wanted and that was everything. I strapped my katana to my side and finally attached the mask to my face. I was no longer just Ryu the blacksmith, or Ryu the legend. I was now the Black Rose Knight and no one was going to take that away from me. I cleared my throat and readied the voice disguise i had to pull off for the next couple of minutes, or hours it would take for this meeting to last.

 

When i had finally arrived at the small run down tavern, i was a little cautious because the place looked like, if i took the wrong step, it would collapse on my head. Who would in their right mind choose this as a place to meet? I shrugged my shoulders silently then walked up to the door and pushed it open gently. The attendees gave me a quick glance then went back to whatever  they were doing. Around the corner a girl with pick cotton candy like hair sat at the head of a round table, tapping her fingers on it, seeming distressed. I decided i wouldnt bother her and i pulled a chair out and sat in it without and noise, sighs, or heck any kinda of indication that i wasnt just an NPC roamer, other than my armor. I knew her as Mari, but should would not recognize me in the all black armor, nor would anyone, since i used to parade around in the KoB armor, but now i have the mask to hide who i am indefinitely so even if they could tell by anything else, my face is unrecognizable due to obscurities.

[Shark 0]

I was finishing my daily patrol of the lower floors to make sure everything is a-ok. I then received a message from Mari stating the boss room has been found and that there is a meeting on the 9th floor. Alright... Looks like we can start this fight a little bit earlier than the last. I finished up my 6th floor patrol and made my way to the teleporter. I activated the teleporter and went to the 9th floor. Once I reached the 9th floor, I made my way out of town and towards the location of the meeting. 

 

I kept walking until I came upon the tavern the meeting was to be held at. I opened the door and walked in. I was wearing my typical Blue jacket with white stripes and the Guild logo on the back as well as dark blue pants with  a white stripe and the guild logo on the left hand pocket. I went towards the bar and grabbed a coffee for the meeting so I could stay awake. I then made my way to the second floor. I opened the door and saw a good size table. Alright guys... It's ok... we can start now/ I have arrived. I then looked around to see only two players. Mari and a figure wearing a lot of armor. I had a feeling I knew who it was but the name wouldn't come to the front of my mind at the time because I had so much I was thinking about already. Hey there Mari. Good to see ya. I said as I took my seat and began drinking my coffee.

[Mari 1]

Mari frowned at the first person to walk in, she did not recognize the man. He clearly wasn't someone she invited. Mari cleared her throat, waving him away. "This isn't an open invitation. This is a meeting, invite only. Now scat." She wasn't aware it was Ryu, due to the mask and armor he wore. Mari assumed that if someone were to wear full bodied armor and a mask - they'd be polite enough to introduce themselves. This one, was not. "We aren't in a safe zone here - lets keep things civil, leave." 

Before things could further escalate, Shark had come in, with a much more friendly air about him. Mari gave a wry smirk as she brushed back a bang of pink hair behind her ear. "Now, now Shark." She chastised. "You're begining to sound like Zelrius there." Mari sighed heavily. Blue eyes lowering to the table. "Wish I could share those sentiments." She muttered. "I'm here because I've managed to gain a large amount of information about the boss,  and I assume - not many have Night Vision. Any in your guild with it?" Mari asked Shark, she would give out more information when others arrived. If they didn't then they'd be fighting in the dark. With no knowledge of anything, it'd be a fools death.

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

Before Mari could get any farther with any of her statements, i opened up the invite i was sent, covered up my name and revealed it to her. It was obvious that there was no other way to know this was the meeting place of the Boss raid unless one had the invite. I wasnt willing to reveal who i was, and it was obvious by the look in his eye that Shark had caught on, but he still didnt seem to know who i was.

 

I think, this verifies my authority to be here. I spoke in a deep and disguised voice. If this does not suffice then i will gladly take this boss on by myself.

 

I waited for a reply but knew that there was no way to deny getting this message and having the invite with only so many of them being sent out at once. I sat back in my chair as i passed the invite to Shark, then to Mari, with the name blurred out for my own sake. 

[Azide 0]

The ninth floor had a haze that seemed to cling to every building and living thing that stood within it, although it seemed safe enough to breathe. "I'm not exactly willing to bet any significant amount of money on that claim, but as far as I know, it hasn't killed anyone as of yet. That said, there seems to be no doubt that it all comes from the place's volcanic activity, so it's still a bit disconcerting in the end," thought Azide. Being the penultimate floor currently available for travel, the place was desolate even compared to other unpopular floors, such as the endless desert on the fifth.

After some time, he'd reached a point where he was now able to identify a building in the distance as the one that'd been described to him. He pulled up his private messages, then scrolled to the invitation he'd received, comparing the details of said building to the description one last time before exiting out of the menu altogether. "One can never be too careful in a place like this," he thought. After all, places like this tended to be popular with orange players, and he'd rather not enter the wrong tavern.

Once he'd made his way inside, he looked around to see that the old place was practically falling apart right in front of him. "God, whoever the groundskeeper is, he sure is getting overpaid." There were a few people sitting at a few of tables on the ground floor, though he didn't recognize them, nor did they pay any attention to his entry. He ascended the rickety old stairs, which creaked as he made his way up. He kept a hand on the railing, on the off chance that the entire structure collapsed from underneath him in some spectacular fashion. Once he'd reached the top and turned the corner, he spotted a single occupied table.

Making his way over, he recognized the pink-haired woman as Mari. Mari, the leader of Cerulean Silence. Mari, the orange player who'd been hellbent on killing Life that one night. And now as Mari, the one who'd sent him said invitation. "That girl sure does have a lot going for her," he thought. Two other players were seated at the table, though he didn't recognize them. Such was one of the disadvantages of joining the front lines a bit later than the rest, though he'd soon make up for it.

"Nice location, Mari. Very scenic place to host a meeting," he remarked as he approached the group. He pulled out a seat and took his place at the table, setting his hands flat against its stained surface. "I'd apologize for taking so long, but it looks as if I'm not too late after all. But more to the point— word is that you've located the latest floor boss. I realize I don't have quite as much field experience as the rest of your entourage, but I appreciate the invite."

He turned towards the other two players and nodded at them. "I'm Azide, by the way. More than glad to meet the two of you, and I look forward to working along side you in the coming days." He looked at the masked man and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Nice mask, by the way," he added.

[Shark 0]

I opened my guild roster menu and checked the status of my members. To answer your question Mari, none of my members have night vision but once this fight starts, the lights will turn on. There isn't a single room in Aincrad that doesn't turn on when you initiate the fight... Or so that is what I would like to believe. I told Mari as they mystery player gave us proof that he was invited. I opened up the invitation to see who was invited. As I glanced over the names I had an even stronger feeling that I knew who it was. When he said that he would take it on by himself if we didn't want him there, verified my feeling. I opened my menu and sent Ryujin a message, Don't worry, seems like you don't want to blow your identity. I got you. ;) I said in the message. I assumed that he would be much happier that I played along. 

 

Shortly after, another player walked in. He introduced himself as Azide. Hello Azide, I am Shark, Leader of the Knights of Christ guild. Pleased to meet you. I said as I watched him take his seat and wait for the others to show up.

[Mari 1]

(I need to note I have been informed that you must meet the benchmark before joining the boss battle - you need to have 10 complete non-quest RPs before becoming eligible to be in the boss battle itself)

 

 

Mari had invited few people; and she knew most of them, if not all. So when the player brazenly showed her the message she finally realized who it was, who else would it have been?  "Ryu, right?" Mari asked. Ignoring his clear desire for secrecy. Now was not the time nor place to be acting that way. "You can go ahead and take the boss on by yourself." Mari muttered, his words just confirmed her suspicion. "But you'd die. I don't get why you are attempting to  be so secretive right now - its not exactly the time nor place for it, but who am I to judge? I won't bother repeating your name to others - but don't expect them to show you any sort of humility like that." 
 

 

Mari would have said more, but another had walked in. Azide, with a flick of chestnut hair he offered her a wry smile. Mari had really only met him once. He didn't seem too bad - but Life had interfered - It was a reason Mari didn't personally invite Life; if another member here today did - that was their own choice, but she refused to have anything to do with the liar.

 

Mari gave a small shrug; "Admittedly, the place is rather run down - but as a PKer - and having Pker's in attendance, my options were limited. I scoured the entirety of the 10th floor, and found no suitable location for a meeting, not to mention the issue with the lack of lighting. Speaking of..." Mari repositioned herself, pausing as she waited for Azide to sit down.

"The 10th floor is fairly barren - The starting city; Yomi seems to be inhabited by undead NPCs, if you follow the path to the north it splits in two - to the left is the tower and to the right is a large prison filled with numerous monster nests. If you continue to head north from the path out of Yomi - you will inevitably hit a black..." Mari paused, trying to find a word for it, "void, its a void of nothing - I haven't entered it yet, but it seems as though you can. The tower, houses the boss."

Again, there was a pause, not everyone had arrived yet, Mari scratched her cheek in thought, now addressing Shark. "You would hope so Shark, but when I saw that boss room - with my night vision. It was a little dark. So, without it, I can imagine that we would suffer some sort of debuff. I want anyone who has Night Vision to be in the first group, but I fear I am getting a little too ahead of myself." She said, "We are still missing members of Guardians of Aincrad, and Azure Brigade. We cannot wait forever though."

[Shark 0]

I looked at Mari as she addressed my concerns. Upon looking through my Players guide, there isn't a room that stays dark through the entire boss fight. I said to Mari as I continued to look for a solution so we are prepared if the room does indeed stay dark. I looked through my friends list to see if anyone had night-vision. at that point, I noticed that I had more acquaintances rather than friends. I felt sort of alone at that point and closed my menu and didn't say another word until I had come up with a suitable plan of action 

 

I looked around and noticed the current number of players present. True we can't wait forever. Let's assume that most people are running late and give them at least 20 mins. If they don't arrive by then, too bad and we start. I said as I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. I wanted to think of the perfect plan of action that causes the least amount of casualties possible.

[Daeron 1]

Now standing before the door, he heard some voices but nothing he could make out. As he opened it up, he saw the place looked pretty much ready to fall into shambles, so he was cautious, but not over cautious. He tried to play off the fact that he was rather late as some people were arleady here. As he looked around, he saw some faces that he had seen before. In fact, eveyrone in this room at the time were people he's interacted before in some way or form. There was Mari, with her pink hair and pink eyes, he's been rather on good terms with her and he'd like to keep it this way.

 

Daeron then turned to the blue haired male. Shark. He had been there at all the boss fights he could remember except Floor 7, which was done by him and a very small amounts of friends. The ones he hardly engaged with anymore. Then there was one more person, but this one he didn't quite know who they were anymore. He had always been bad with names, but faces he could remember easily. Giving a nod to everyone whom had entered the room, Daeron then sat down in a chair.

 

"Good to see all of you. What is it we're discussing here?" he said as he relaxed himself.

 

He stretched his legs out so they were under a table and he wasn't sure if this building would kill him today, but if it did, then he wouldn't care as he knew he'd be reborn like a phoenix. Or so he liked to think anyways. He had gotten used to a nice breeze on his skin now that his solar flux robe was gone.

[Azide 0]

"Shark's right." said Azide. He relaxed his shoulders and allowed himself to sink back into the old wooden chair. It creaked as the two front legs lifted from the ground as the player tilted back, keeping his forearm against the table so as to steady himself. He ran a few fingers through his hair, then brushed a few of his locks out of his eyes, fixing the mess caused by his trip to this desolate dump of a place. "While the rest of you were off fighting, I spent quite a bit of time reading the in-game texts. Turns out you learn a fair amount about the game after all of that time. Anyway, even if I have reservations about the lights actually staying off during the fight itself, there's still a definite benefit in rounding up players with the Night Vision skill. The whole undead theme does seem to reek of all sorts of possible de-buffs, after all. Not to mention of rotting flesh, which is a scent I'd rather not contribute to."

He noticed as a somewhat familiar figure stepped in. He felt as if he'd seen this player's face before, though he didn't fully recognize him. "In a game like this, it seems like equipment is as big of an identifier as anything, but I don't seem to recall anyone with his equipment set. Still, I can't shake the familiarity." He nodded at the recent arrival, then straightened his chair so that all of the legs were level against the ground. "Luckily, you haven't missed very much so far. Mari was just describing to us the nature of the tenth floor, though I wouldn't be surprised if you'd visited it in person already. I believe she's interested in finding out if you happen to have that skill yourself, however."

[Mari 1]

"There isn't a room that stays dar through the entire boss fight; thus far." Mari corrected Shark. "I can't imagine it'd be completely pitch black, and what I have noted from what I saw," Mari paused, rubbing her eyes. "It is jsut speculation, but I've never seen anything so dark with my Night Vision activated.

 

Shark mentioned that if no one arrived within 20 minutes they would continue the meeting without the others, Mari had to agree. Although she couldn't deny she felt oddly calm exchanging words with Shark, perhaps because it was just a simple discussion right now, no flirty undertones, no anger, no bile. Just business.

Daeron was next to arrive; Mari wasn't sure how she felt about him at this stage, a part of her was incredibly angry at him for not healing Alkor, but Mari also knew that was her way of dealing with the grief, and her loss. Mari gave a low sigh, as she rose cerulean eyes to meet his, giving him a weak smile. "Preparations for the 10th floor boss. It looks like those without Night Vision will suffer some sort of debuff." Mari leaned back, twirling a pink strand of hair around her finger as she bought up her HUD.

"I want to go through and discuss the finer details of the Orochi, but it seems like we are still missing players. Unfortunately, I don't think we can wait much longer."

[Shark 0]

Everything seemed very peaceful for the time being until Daeron walked in and a felt a quick tension spike. Bust be some repercussion from the last raid. I said to myself. I then looked at Mari and Daeron, Let's get this meeting underway shall we? We cant afford to waste any more time. I said as I looked around at the members that were present. Those without night vision may feel some sort of debuff but that can be changed with a little practice. I tend to practice with my eyes closed at times and get a feel for where the enemy is. Sometimes your eyes can be deceiving. I said as I gave an idea for my way of preparation training.

 

Anywho... what do we know about the boss' stats and effects? I asked as a way to get this meeting started so I can formulate some kind of plan.I wanted to get a move on since we wasted a lot of time waiting to see who would show up. 

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius marched into the room. His ordered walk showing sophistication and as always Arrogance. This new found stroll was something those of Azure walked about with. He made his way into the small room a Small document in hand. Facing the table, Zelrius glanced around the room. The Blood Buccaneer seemed angry about something, and Quite frankly he was. His Twinfire sword sheathed on the golden holder on his hip, The Azure Cloak flaring in his rather quick tip tap walk. The Hydra Head clenched in his right hand. Zelrius stood at the other end of the table held up the small piece of parchment paper in his hand. "From this moment forward, The Azure Brigade and its Commandants have elected that we: Will NOT be Morally, emotionally, Financially and Physically Supporting this boss fight. You will not be receiving manpower or back-up of ANY Kind from The Azure Brigade and we'd like to further inform you that you will not getting any sort of help from us. The Commandants send our condolences, Good Day."

 

On the desk he left the Document, which stated just those things once more, And had the Signatures neatly scribbled in order below the words. The names were alphabetically sorted, The Brigade's way of showing just how developed and sophisticated they were.

 

~Commandant Clarence

~Commandant "Blue Blader" Keith

~Commandant "Silver Swordsman" Miaki

~Commandant Shanok

~Commandant "Blood Buccaneer" Zelrius

[Mari 1]

Mari gave a heavy sigh. It seemed that no members of the Azure Brigade made an appearance, she had been corresponding with Kiru during the meeting, and she may still yet make an apearance - Mari originally had intended it to be for guild leaders and high levelled solo players, however - if those guild leaders ignored the call, what was she to do? 

"You're right. Shark. This waiting is killing me."

Mari bought up her HUD, bringing up the information that she had accumulated - it was available for all present to read. "The boss room is a cavern in a circle sorta shape. The ceiling is only slightly taller than the boss, and it seemed to be filled with paper lanterns that barely light up the room in pale, light blue." Mari paused, tapping the table with a single finger. "Again, I want to stress -with my night vision the room seemed dim."

Mari continued to go on, now explaining the boss. Itself. 

 

name is Yamata-no-Orochi. It is a charcoal grey coloured 8 headed dragon, it even has a small forest growing on its back. It holds a Tachi sword in the grasp of its front right claw, and has a large Katana embedded in its tail. It constantly emits a red gas from its mouth that smells of dark rum and blood, and stands firmly on its two rear claws. There are two large kegs, one on each side, that emanate a similar red gas as the boss itself. It has 160 HP, so 20 per head."

 

 

It was at this stage that the meeting was interrupted - as Zel finally burs through the door. Ranting about how there was no way that this planning would be supported by the Azure Brigade. He, quite frankly looked pissed. Perhaps because Mari had chosen to take charge of this meeting. Which Mari found somewhat odd as the two, who admittedly barely spoke - did come to some sort of agreement that this would be ok. Since she had managed to learn, and see much more than he did - despite Zelrius finding the boss room first.  "Arrogant through and through." Mari said simply, as Zelrius left again.

"For once, Azure are not in control of a simple meeting, and it seems as though it has caused enough upset - to cause them to have no part in an entire boss fight. Of course, I could be jumping to conclusions here..." Mari muttered, "However now isn't the time to swell on that. As I was saying, in front of the Orochi are four Draconian Guardians. 2 male and 2 female, each have 25 HP, whilst they do stand in front of the Orochi there is enough room for a second group to move on forward - so we can essentially attack both the boss and its guardians at once."

[Asen 0]

Standing in the midst of the cavern's corridors with his sword gripped in his hand was a silvery white haired man with red marks upon his face. Adorned almost in complete black as he has his hood down revealing his hair and even has his mask pulled down just under his chin. To his crimson red eyes, everything seems a bit hazy on this floor. Perhaps it was the cause of this darkness that shrouds the corridors, which he wouldn't doubt by a long shot. Due to this Asen can never be too sure on whether its actually safe for him to put his sword away or not as these monsters seem to spawn near him.

 

The young man let's out a sigh as he closed his eyes briefly before opening them up again. "I suppose I should hurry up... I'm already late for the meeting." With that being said he dropped all of his caution as he sprinted down the corridor now. He could've done this sooner but well he was actually on a few Floors lower when he got called up by Mari. Even though he told her that he would be there ASAP, which he really was trying to get there as soon as possible, he had to climb from floor to floor to get up here since he can't use teleportation platforms. Plus last he had heard of the Yomi village was inhabited by the undead and was guarded by two dragons one of each on the front and back gates. He's not sure if they have been dealt with already or that everyone attending the meeting had actually slipped past all of them.

 

Still within minutes, roughly of five at most, he arrives at the Yomi settlement where he slows to a walking pace now. He quickly toggled on his Hiding skill so that if the dragon was here like it should he can only hope that it wouldn't detect him. At first he just saw the occasional figures of the undead wondering around the worn out Japanese architecture. Since he couldn't really find anyone, particularly Mari, he decides to get a eagle's point of view by running up to a personal well of an estate of some kind. With a soft tap on the circle of stones, he leaped up while twisting his body to angle himself to where when he landed on top of the estate's roof he wouldn't have slipped and fall to the ground. Again he lands on the roof with a soft thud as the roof tiles felt like they would just slip out right under his feet if he were to move recklessly. However he didn't as he pretty much safely crawled up to the highest point the estate had to offer to get a good look around the settlement.

 

It took him a minute of searching, but he sees quite a few green cursors and even orange cursors grouped up at one spot amongst the settlement and it seemed that the undead are less concentrated over there as well. Though he had a feeling that was where he was supposed to be, he couldn't help but having his instincts practically warning him that it could be a trap of some sort. But he shook his head in dismissal as even though he usually listen to his instincts he decides to place faith onto Mari even though he already has plenty of faith in her in the first place. Still he eventually gets to have fun somewhat to slide down on the roof which was angled a bit upward. Since he was sliding on his feet the angled part of the roof kind of sent him a little more than just above ground. Luckily though instead of plunging straight for the ground like he would've if he hadn't known better, he had his hands out to grab hold of the ledge of a building that was pretty much across the street from where he slid off at. Pulling himself up to his feet, he eventually gets down to the floor level to reach the meeting point coming from behind Mari.

 

"Sorry that i'm a little late, sort of had to go through traffic on my way here." He announced mainly to Mari as he couldn't excuse on how late he is, but he was a bit surprised to see a familiar face that belonged to none other than Shark himself. Asen hadn't seen Shark since they cleared the Fifth Floor together. But that was a long time ago. Still the silvery white haired man nods towards Shark as his way of silently saying greetings. "Long time no see Shark." His voice was as casual as ever, not really raising his voice much mainly changing from just a whisper to what is considered a standard volume in one's voice. 

[Daeron 1]

Daeron saw as Zelrius came in to let the grouping know that Azure will NOT be there. For once in his life in the game, Daeron was genuinely surprised. Breathing out loud by letting a sigh through the room, Daeron looked at the letter and then looked up at the people in the room again. "Alright, so a small set back. However, with them not being here we need to plan even more precisely. So I'll be needing a roster of EVERYONE who is joining this fight. This way we can get our grouping done. Also, Mari. I'd like to know more about this boss since nobody else appears to be showing." he said beginning to take charge.

 

This time things would be different. He would make sure to redeem himself. "I am signing myself up as a tank for the fight as I have the skill for it finally. I will be spending a few thousand Col on Potions from you Mari and any other alchemist that we can find who's willing to support the cause. We'll needs dozens of them just for preparatory reasons. I don't want to see a single death in this fight, I already feel terrible about the last fight and I know for a fact things will be different this time." he said as he gave Shark and Mari the direct looks, however he was talking to the entire room, he just wasn't showing it.

[Mari 1]

Mari gave an exasperated sigh, as Daeron requested to know more about the monster. "Daeron; I just finished explaining it to everyone. Look I even have the information up here." Mari pulled up her HUD, and enlarged it so the others around the table could see. 

 

"I will annoucne drafting in a moment. As the only person with Night Vision I want to lead the charge, in the first group. Daeron, You the second, Shark - you the third. If there are no objections. I'd rather have our strongest lead each group. Ry-" Mari paused, almost saying his name. She shook her head, feeling stupid - why should he have to hide his identity?  "Ryu. You will lead the 4th if we have enough applicants. Azide - you aren't strong enough to lead a group, and I believe 4 groups will be more than enough. Each group should have an appointed healer; with potions, Azide and myself are Alchemists, and are able to craft up crystals which I feel will be infinitely more useful in this battle."

Mari flinched at the mention of the deaths in the previous battle, she glanced down, falling silent a moment. It was clear that no matter how strong a front she put on, Alkors death had affected her deeply. Mari shook her head lightly, giving Daeron - and the others a wry smile.

"If no one minds - I wouldn't mind taking a stab at the grouping - then, from there - we can rework it if need be." Mari, much like Daeron had a lot to prove with this, she wasn't sure why the Azure dropped out, but she wanted to prove herself - not only to them, but to herself, and to Shark, and to all present that she could do it. Mari paused, focusing on sending out an announcement. "There. Sign ups are now open. It's a shame that Azure are not joining us, but I feel this is simply a minor set back."

 

 

HUD SCREEN

 

Boss Name: Yamata-no-Orochi

 

Boss Description: An immense eight headed red dragon with a small forest growing on its back. It holds a Tachi sword in the grasp of its front right claw, and has a large Katana embedded in its tail. It constantly emits a nauseous red gas from its mouth that smells of dark rum and blood, and stands firmly on its two rear claws, with its tail swinging gently from side to side. There are two large kegs, one on each side, that emanate a similar red gas as the boss itself.

 

Boss Room Description: A large cavern in a perfect circular shape, the ceiling is only slightly taller than the boss, filled with paper lanterns that light up the entire room in an ominous light blue and has large stones, larger than an average sized adult, littered all over the ground. The boss stands at the center of room and four dragon humanoids, measuring about the same height as the stones, stand in front of it, two males and two females.

 

Boss Stats/Attacks:

 

HP: 160 in total, 20 per head.

 

Draconian Guardian's Stats/Attacks:

 

HP: 25 HP

 

 

[Azide 0]

He nodded complacently as he heard the pink-haired woman's words. "That's fair enough," said Azide. "As someone who's currently unproven on the field, I expected as much." For all his hopes and aspirations, he acknowledged his current lack of experience as a front-liner. He folded his hands together, intertwining his each of his fingers with their chiral counterpart.

"With that said," he began, "understand that Square One will be supplying any of its participating members with crystals drawn from its own stock. Because of carry limits, we may or may not have a few left over, in the end. But as their leader, I'd like to make it clear that healing-wise, I will be putting their best interests first in the coming battle." He knew all too well of Aincrad's shortage of Alchemists. There would be no way to satisfy the inevitable demand in healing items for every participant, but at the very least, he had at least moved to ensure adequate preparation for his own members. "The rest of the clearers should be strong enough as it is," he figured.

There was certainly a very real aspect of danger to all of this, and yet it didn't drive him away. On the contrary, he felt an attraction to it. Not just in spite of it, but maybe even because of it. "My ego's been getting neglected lately, here in Sword Art Online. If all goes well, I expect that to change..."

[Shark 0]

I sighed with relief knowing that Azure will not be joining the fight but I also felt a little displeased at the same time. We don't NEED those stuck up brats anyways... I mean sure it's nice to have the damage they deal but with better chemistry between groups, we wont have to worry about losing anyone to this boss. I said as I stood firm on my stance. Daeron then asked for a list of members that will be participating, Right, Mari, the Group leaders you pointed is a great start. We also need to know on he big we want our teams to be. Too big and things may take forever, but too small and we might suffer heavy damage. We should have a good mixture of tanks and damage dealers. I am building my way to that midway point so I can tank and deal some damage, I just need an alchemist close to me in case the fight gets hairy. I announced so we could start thinking of a general outline of how many people we will have in this fight.

 

I began thinking of strategies that could be used, thinking of the Worst Case Scenario. If this room stays dark the entire time, then Mari, I would like you to appoint a different person for the alchemist in your group so you can keep tabs and visual on the boss. If you are also the healer of your group then you may loose focus and go to heal someone and in turn we would lose someone to the boss. I just want to prevent that as much as possible. I said as I tried to make as much sense as possible while still keeping a level head and looking at every angle that this fight can go.

 

I then started looking at the Best Case Scenario. However, thinking positively here, if the boss room lights up then you can also be the healer since everyone will have visual of the boss. If that happens, then we will shit to our same attack pattern as the Hydra fight, only this time we will have a bigger safety margin for when peoples health gets too low. I said as I addressed the Hopeful side of the plan. Right now, I think it is important for us to get a good idea for the amount of people we will have in this fight. I addressed so everyone knew what was more important right now.