[PP-F10] Shadows Rising (Calrex)

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

Arekkusu put his blade in its sheathe as he traveled this world, it was his new life again. It was in all honesty, true that he would prefer to be known as Elyx, but the violinist knew better than to try to correct everyone in his path. The name was something he made up way later than he actually registered in the game. For one thing, it was a bit less stupid than his current one, which is funny because it was not that far off from his actual name. But what is he going to do about it? This world is entitling him to his name, so only the closest of friends and rivals can call him Elyx. Or maybe he could just have them call him Elyx and have those he cared about call him the name he wanted to be called.

 

It is not like that mattered at the moment. What did matter however was the fact that he was in a cavern that he did not know how to navigate himself toward. It was so dark in this floor, and the enemies here he heard were stronger than the ones below it. That is to be expected, sure, it was the tenth floor. But now he gets to see if his skills in combat were any use in this world, the lands he went missing with where all the other missing people were, they were serious about training. Hopefully he was much stronger than the boy he used to be.

 

In his left hand was a chocolate bar, halfway eaten because of his new love for chocolate. This was a craving he now could not live without, and it only gets stronger with every passing day. The more he eats, the more he wants. It was a wonderful addiction, as for where it all went. That wasn’t something he would be able to explain too easily since he wasn’t able to figure that out on his own either. The Violinist had his blade in his right hand, the Phoenix Wing blade, one known to cause very much destruction if enemies are not careful. Sharp and free flowing, just like the Wings of a Phoenix. This blade lived up to its name.

 

Well, this is certainly boring, yet awesome at the same time. Arekkusu said to himself out loud, his voice echoing through the caves and bouncing off of each one as if trapped in a giant wall, but this floor was rather open… and despite the fact that it was supposed to be day, it turned out, he needed to get to shelter quickly. If it were day time right now, not many enemies would show up. But once they do… it will be a rough night. He had no doubt in being able to beat them, but it just uses up a lot of time.

[Calrex 0]

"Alright, now that that's done what to do next."

A blue haired person emerged from a nearby text with a sign called, "Alchemic Contagion" with his hands in his jacket pockets as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"After all that digging around I finally managed to finish Mari's order. That took much longer than I had suspected."

Calrex day down on a nearby rock as he reequipped his weapons, the Grand Gauntlets and the Grand Blade add he looked around the tenth floor. As per its description the settlement bore resemblance to a Japanese town with the eerieness of the darkness looming over it.

Luckily Calrex had prepared for coming to this floor way in advance. He gave a few calming breaths as his eyes relaxed, his <<Night Vision>> activating as the floor became much easier to see.

"Come to think of it I've never really actually have explored this floor other than coming to deliver supplies to Mari's shop. I guess I really need to set aside some time to do that."

He got to his feet and did a series of swipes on his menu, the Grand Chariot full body armor appearing on his person. He looked over as he saw a person emerge from the caves. "Huh, don't think I've seen him before. I guess there's a new face everywhere you turn."

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

The more he walked, the more lost he began to feel. Can anyone blame him? He doesn’t exactly have the best time watching mechanism, and it never did occur to him to look at his menu. The chocolate bar fueled him to keep going with a smile on his face and a breath full of sweets. Candy was also the reason why he needed to brush his teeth much more than usual, almost twice more than the average person who brushes their teeth after every meal. But, it was all worth the trouble in the end for him. He would personally rather just have the chocolate alone, but he would also love to keep his teeth, even if they might not fall off in a virtual world, and even then, he still brushes them for the fact that he is going to talk to people.

 

Oof! Elyx gasped as he jumped back and hit something. A possible enemy, and it was rough like one too. He flipped his blade into the air quickly and held it there until a giant blue light shined from it. This was his signature move, it inflicted so much damage to his enemies, more than his average attacks for sure, but much more can be done. For one thing, his speed increases, which is something not many players wanted in him since he was so fast already, and his training in the missing lands taught him how to use that this advantage. Lets see if this thing can eat a Full charge without even making a sound. Arekkusu said as he ran forward towards whatever it was that he bumped into. The light then shined onto the enemy before the strike could be made, and he stopped running and the blade returned back to normal.

 

A player? Elyx asked the player in front of him. That would have been sad if he had not seen the player before the attack, then there would be huge problem on this floor other than monsters. For one thing, his new objective in the game is to be a guardian, never to let one fall and protect them before himself. It was something noble, honorable, and it was just him now. All other thing ca wait, he had a goal.  Wow… That… Was…. Close.

[Calrex 0]

"Alright, looks like he's busy with his chocolate so I wo..."

 

Calrex's train of thought was broken as he all of a sudden saw a bright light light up the darkness of the cavern, an out of the ordinary flash, like one from a sword He quickly looked and saw the player that he had seen earlier quickly close the distance between them, his sword already in a striking position.

 

"Don't tell me...a PKer?!"

 

Calrex quickly brought his arms up in a guard, the light blue aura chains of his <<Martial Arts>> skill spiraling like a series of buzzsaws as they appeared around his forearms. He kept his eyes focused on the player charging towards him...before the player suddenly cancelled his attack, the light vanishing from his blade before he put it down. Upon seeing the player hold off his attack Calrex relaxed his guards, the light blue aura chains vanishing by shattering into light blue crystals before fading.

 

"A player?"

 

"He sounds fairly surprised to see another player. Is this floor that unpopulated? Guess I'd best answer calmly to make sure I don't provoke him"

 

"Yeah, that would be an accurate assumption. I'm very much alive."

 

"Wow… That… Was…. Close."

 

"Yeah, just a little bit."

 

Calrex made sure to keep his words light hearted and non-sarcastic as he lowered his arms, "Are you used to this floor? I think a lot of players have trouble navigating without the <<Night Vision>> skill under their belt."

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

Arekkusu remembered how he was able to travel in the night normally without problem, then again, that was when Key was with him. The one person he ended up hating more than any other person, back then, he wasn't able to face her for all the col in the world. The boy didn't let himself be pushed around though, that was something he never allowed any other people to do to him. In a duel when he only leveled up a bit, he had won. This taught him that man people seem like many things in the dark. The fact that he was navigating alone was something that should also be made clear.

 

Yeah, I can’t see a thing here. I never really took the time to use the Night Vision skill. Arekkusu replied as he sheathed his blade back to where it belonged, he didn’t need to do anything with it as for now, and this person didn’t seem to want a fight. Good, they can see through each other. If only Floor nine gave him a torch, maybe then he would not have come to this trouble. Sorry about that, I have never been on this floor. All I know about it is that it is a recent unlock only. It’s a little embarrassing for me to have done that with such a high level… Hi, I’m Arekkusu.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex relaxed his stance as the player in front of him sheathed his weapon and explained his position, introducing himself as as Arekkusu. He gave a nod as he did a few swipes on his menu, temporarily switching out of his Grand Chariot armor into his casual combat clothing. For his top the deep-sea blue armor was replaced by a blue fir-lined coat with a white shirt underneath while his legs were covered by a pair of dark gray pants and brown boots. Finally his helmet disappeared in a flash of blue, Calrex's face being revealed from underneath, his blue hair being released from its metal containment.

 

"No, it's perfectly fine. It seems like lately a lot more people are on edge these days, and it seems like this floor tends to make it worse with the low-light environmental effect. At the least we might not need to linger on this floor much longer, since there's a raid being planned to unlock the eleventh floor. In any case it's nice to meet you Arekkusu, I'm Calrex."

 

Calrex relaxed his hands at his sides as his eyes calmly scanned Arekkusu's character.

 

"Wow, going from his equipment he's definitely a much higher level than I am. Of course that would probably be no surprise since this is the latest floor to be revealed, and without the Night Vision ability most players would easily fall prey to the monsters on this floor. Hm...but he does wield a straight sword. I think he's the first one I've seen in a very long time. All I've seen recently have been rapier and curved sword wielders. No offense to them, but it would be nice to see more of like this guy around heh."

 

However, this was another thing that stood out for Calrex about Arekkusu. Going from his facial features and such, the person in front of him was significantly younger than Calrex himself. If he could take an accurate guess, Arekkusu was probably just a little over half of Calrex's age.

 

"To think that such young players are the ones that are strong enough to be on the front lines. I wonder if that has something to do with the 'chaos' that seems to be spreading among the higher level players. There's only a few that are close to my age, and from what I know the ones that are seem to be feeling the weight of their burden. Guess that's all the more reason for me to get stronger as soon as possible."

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

BD: 4+1 Acc -Field 1 Acc =4 

MD: 7-3 Eva= 4

ID: 14395

 

(Both Miss)

 

Arekkusu: 62/62

 

???: 20/20

 

Arekkusu was about to talk until he then sensed something odd, there was something trying to come up to them. But what, another player? Hopefully not, PKers are not the people to meet in scary dark caves. It didn’t scare him, but it was certainly nothing normal either. He kept his hand on his blade, something was about to hit them from behind, and if he didn’t go now, he never will be able to go without taking a price of damage along with him. The enemy slashed at him, but he rolled to the side just in time and raised his blade at whatever it was. He still couldn’t see it, but sensing its presense is something else. An attack! Arekkusu exclaimed as he kept his stance firm, not knowing where to attack. This floor is getting hard already. (Sorry for the short post, not much time)

[Calrex 0]

"What in the?"

 

Calrex didn't have time to wait for Arekkusu's response when all of a sudden he rolled to the side, exposing the thing that had tried to attack him just now.

 

"That's right, Mari's tent is outside of the safe zone in order for her to sell her business to PKers as well. I guess I let my guard down on that one..."

 

He quickly swiped through his menu, his Grand Chariot armor appearing around him. As he opened his eyes again the white slats that indicated his eyes opened as well. As his <<Night Vision>> activated he was able to make out the creature that had just attacked. It appeared to be a skeleton soldier, although it differed greatly from the skeleton's that Calrex had faced with Xanatos and company when they explored the dungeon of the Brother of Minos. This skeleton actually seemed to have pieces of skin still attached, as if it had tried to escape from its fleshy prison.

 

"Guess they're really going for the undead theme here. There's just way too many zombie shows now that the fear factor won't work..."

 

ID: 14396

Battle Dice: 7 (Accuracy +1) = 8

 

Calrex gave a calming breath as the light blue aura chains appeared and began to spiral like crazy around his right forearm. He quickly stepped in using his <<Sprint>> ability and closed the distance between him and the skeleton, bringing his right arm forward in a straight punch. Since the skeleton was originally focused on Arekkusu, it didn't see the attack coming as Calrex's fist crashed into its right ribcage. For added effect the aura chains shot out from the end of his fist like a shotgun blast, the added force knocking the skeleton to the side. Calrex gaev a calming breath that echoed through his armor before looking over at Arekkusu, "You alright? Best get on your feet quick. It's not down just yet."

 

HP List

Arekkusu: 62/62

Calrex: 39/39

 

Enemies:

Undead Skeleton: 14/20

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

ID: 14397

 

Arekkusu saw that this man that he had just met was able to land a strike, night Vision was able to help him out in this case, meanwhile, he needed to make sure he didn’t take a strike and blindly roll out of the way when it comes to attacks. He couldn’t confirm whatever it was the enemy was, but he was able to confirm its located after it took a hit from the new partner he had just met, and now it was time for him to use Charge. It must be a lot easier to have a Night Vision Skill if this world is going to be like this. Maybe… no, my skill slots are almost full, if I do that, I don’t think I’ll be able to add any more skills when they arrive.

 

His right hand gripped Phoenix Wing in his sheathe, the grip full of energy. Now this was going to be the power of the Violinist. When he put up the blade from the sheathe, a giant gust of wind struck, all the energy released with he pulled out the blade. The enemy was still unconfirmed, but he was able to determine it location. There you are… and I’ll make you pay! Arekkusu exclaimed as his sword them glowed, shining brightly in blue aura. It was so beautiful.

 

The light shined on the enemy, and his partner, who seemed to be a lot older than him, but his equipment shows that he was released later into in the game than the violinist himself. Well, why not give him a show? He ran towards the confirmed enemy, which turned out to be a Skeleton! This was the skill he was about to use on the other player as well, and the devastation of this move was something to be feared.

 

He dug the blade through the bones of the skeleton and sent it flying backwards, and blade returning back to normal and the skeleton was almost done with this fight. It wasn’t going to be too hard to finish it off from here, not that it was too hard for either of them to take care of it in the first place. 

 

Battle Dice:

Arekkusu: Rolled 7

Enemy: Rolled 6

 

Bonuses/ Defects:

Arekkusu: +1 Acc, -1 Acc due to Floor effect

Enemy: -3 BD due to Arekkusus +3 Evasion

 

1. Arekkusu used Charge Rank 2, Inflicts 2 Extra Damage this turn

 

Final Result:

Arekkusu: Rolled 7 (Success) Enemy Takes 9 Damage, 2 Charge Damage= 11 Damage

Enemy: Rolled 3 (Miss)

 

Health:

Arekkusu: 62/62

Calrex: 39/39

 

Skeleton: 3/20

[Calrex 0]

As Arekkusu quickly recovered Calrex stepped back as he watched the player's sword come alight with a phoenix-like blue aura. It was certainly a unique sight not often seen in the game, especially still early in the floors.

 

"I guess this really does show the difference in levels. Even with Oikawa's masterwork equipment the most that I have are the light blue aura chains. Nonetheless, it's for effect only. It has nothing to do with the skill of the user."

 

As Arekkusu's strike hit true, dealing devastating damage on the skeleton Calrex smirked underneath his helmet before clenching his fists once again, the light blue aura chains spiraling like crazy around his arms. The skeleton was on death's door as Calrex approached, rushing in.

 

ID: 14398

Battle Dice: 8 (Accuracy +1) = 9

 

He quickly ducked underneath a strike from the skeleton as it swung high, moving so that he was in extremely close range, his fist coming back. He brought his legs close before pushing upwards, bringing his fists both forward as he shot both forward in a simultaneous double punch. The chains both shot forward like two drills as the skeleton instantaneously burst into crystals. 

 

Calrex gave a calming breath as he lowered his fists, returning to a relaxed position, turning back to Arekkusu, "Well that was certainly unexpected. We'd best be careful, since we're outside of the settlement this technically isn't a safe zone."

 

HP List

Arekkusu: 62/62

Calrex: 39/39

 

Enemies:

Undead Skeleton: -3/20

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

Arekkusu turned back to the man, who finished off the battle with some interesting gear that he had never see before. Probably because of his trip to the Missing Lands. He had to admit, they looked pretty cool, and he would't mind having the ability to use them if they are a perfect quality weapon. But, even if not, they seem to serve some really good purpose in battle. Then he looked at his blade, and he realized how lucky he was to use it. It was a request that he made to a friend a long time ago, and now he didn't know how he was able to get it so easily. The Mats he paid were nothing when it cme to getting such a beautiful blade like this one. The Phoenix Wing, designed to flow freely act on its own.

 

That was a magnificent performance you put out there. Arekkusu said as he smiled and tilted his head to the side. It was fun watching monsters get taken out, even if there was a small lack in light. It was all right though, as long as the both of them were safe and no other attacks occurred, they will be fine. You remind me of someone, a good someone actually. He was remembering Yuji, such passion and a fire to fight. He was also Arekkusus first friend and for a moment, a mentor. The two of them were fire and ice, they were a great team. But… Yuji remained in the Missing Lands. As for himself, he decided to make amends with this man he had just met. 

[Calrex 0]

As Arekkusu complimented Calrex on his finished strike turned to face him. He switched back to his casual combat clothes, storing the Grand Chariot back into his inventory. Calrex put on a friendly face as he put a hand behind his head, tilting his head slightly to the side, "Heh, hearing that from such a high level player as yourself is a real compliment. I'm really nothing out of the ordinary in terms of skill. That attack of yours was way more impressive."

 

"A good person, hm...I guess I've never really thought of myself as an objectively good person. I always merely respond to a situation with the most appropriate positive response. I guess that could be taken as a 'good person's' way of handling things. As for his surprise at my attacks, could it be because Arekkusu's never seen the <<Martial Arts>> skill before? I couldn't think that he would be out of touch with the current quests and events in Aincrad, but of course maybe because of his high level maybe he didn't have any need to look into them."

 

He put his hands, still covered in the Grand Gauntlets, into his jacket pockets as he assumed a relaxed standing position, "Out of curiosity, are you not familiar with the Martial Arts skill? I thought that it was such a popular quest that almost everyone was trying to get it."

 

To add to his question Calrex turned to the side to show that he wasn't going to attack as he held his right hand out, clenching it into a fist. The <<Martial Arts>> skill activated once again, augmented in appearance by his Grand Gauntlets as the light blue aura chains materialized and began spinning rapidly that they became blurs of movement around his arm. As he relaxed his fist the chains slowly faded until only the gauntlet was visible once again.

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

Arekkusu nodded his head, confirming that he had faced two people who had been in a fight with him with martial arts. The first one completely caught him off guard when he aimed a punch and actually inflicted damage to his health bar. It was rather shocking to him how it happened. He was alive right? So as long as that is the case, he didn't need to worry about anything right now. He was in perfect condition, all his health in tact. Hopefully the same could be said about this man. After all, it doesn't seem like he will be getting the Night Vision Skill. This man must have been able to think about his skills, learning which ones would help him out in any situation. Meanwhile, he only had one environmental skill, that one being Sneak and Hide. That skill was also useful in this world since it is such a dark world, meaning that hiding will be a lot easier.

 

"Yes, I do. I have faced two people with them, the first one being able to inflict some heavy damage because at that time, I didn't know Martial arts can inflict damage." Arekkusu explained, looking around, his eyes trying to adjust to his surroundings, which probably wasn't too healthy. He placed his blade back in its sheathe to see what happened if he did so. Fortunately, he looked at the shattered pieces of data on the ground, was there any loot? "I can't get loot since this floor level is too low for me... but what about you? Does your level allow you to get loot here?"

[Calrex 0]

"Hm...against the last skeleton it seemed to have been considered too weak of an enemy for me to get anything from it either."

 

"Usually enemies of that strength would be more than sufficient to drop materials. Maybe it was because both of us attacked it? I know that usually if a strong and weak player were to attack a single enemy the opponent has to have health at least half of the stronger player. Going from that I guess that means Arekkusu's health was more than double that monster's health."

 

Calrex relaxed his arms as he checked to make sure the Grand Blade was still equipped on the back of his hip as he looked around, letting his eyes relax further as he let his fairly new <<Reveal>> skill activate as well. There were small areas where rocks had pilled up on each other which would make easy hiding points for any enemies. The skill turned those transparent so that Calrex could see through to the other side.

 

"No other enemies in the area for now. That's good at least. It seems like this floor could be a prime spot for any PKers to hide as well. Luckily that doesn't seem to be the case."

 

He gave a calming breath as he turned back to Arekkusu who had already sheathed his sword, "Well it looks like there's no other enemies in the immediate vicinity, not even behind those potential cover areas. We can take it easy for now."

 

"So...with the immediate threat eliminated now I can actually focus on the conversation. Arekkusu seemed to have come from the direction of the field zones, but without the Night Vision skill I wonder how he managed to make his way around. There's some craggy areas from what I remember that could spell death if you fell."

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

No enemies for now huh? Well that was something interesting, but not quite something he would believe to be quite possible. Then again, who was the one with the skills to confirm this sort of thing to be true? It's not like there was any reason to doubt him, after all, the Violinist was about to kill the man by accident thinking he was an enemy. That would have made for a sad sad day for both of them. He then decided to sit down and rest. Some time to rest here now huh… Hmm… Well… I guess that means I’ll have to try to adjust my eyes. The Violinist aid as he looked back to the man who was basically the one guiding the two of them around. Ironically, this wasn't the first time this happened. He remembered being the lower leveled player and guiding people out of the darkness... now that he lost all that experience... well...

 

Arekkusu put his menus light would be revealed, the only reason why he couldn’t do this before was because he wouldn’t be able to move, nor would he be able to use his weapon or his equipment for that matter. He put out his weapon in front of his face, it didn’t really give off any light, he relied on the HUD to shine a little bit on it. It really has been a while… I used to be so prepared for this sort of thing…

[Calrex 0]

As Arekkusu decided to sit down Calrex nodded as he sat down as well, "Well, I wouldn't worry too badly about it. I didn't really become active until the tenth floor actually was unlocked, so I had some knowledge ahead of time before I became strong enough to pick my skills."

 

He gave a friendly reassuring nod as he suspected that Arekkusu might be leery about his conclusion that there was no enemies in the area, "Also I'm definitely sure that there's no enemies around. Along with <<Night Vision>> I believe I'm also the only person, at least that I know of so far, that has the <<Reveal>> skill as well, which allows me to partially see through objects that enemies might use for hiding. Right now there's no one behind the nearby rocks."

 

Calrex adjusted his legs that that he was sitting with his right leg bent with the knee pointing towards the sky, while his left leg bent with the lower leg going underneath his right. "So...when you say used to...I'm going to guess that means you haven't been on the frontlines for some time then?"

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

Front lines? No... he never actually went on the front lines. Never fought a floor boss. The only trouble he ever had was when he had to fight the Metal Player Eliminators, enemies designed to murder the players in the game. Considering they were so rare, it was safe to assume people were safe. But back then, he attracted those things as if they were actual metal and he were a magnet. He shook his head as he looked to the cave wall and smiled, despite the fact this answer would shut out the question that was asked in the first place. But it was the truth, new or old Arekkusu never lied, not even to hide something. He did tend to deflect because he didn't want to be stupid and actually give away valuable information, so changing the topic was a great strategy very often. But in this case, what did he have to hide right here?

 

"Actually... No." Arekkusu replied with his tone sounding so happy about it. Maybe it was for the best, why did he want to have pressure put on him after all? "I never actually fought on the front lines. That's a little funny, considering the boss for floor nine was starting when I left for a while. I didn't care to participate, but... Whatever I guess. I heard some things happened in that battle that weren't exactly the best, but it's not like I would be able to protect them if I did join. I'm just a player, but what about you? Have you fought on the Front lines?"

[Calrex 0]

"I wish I could, but no. If I were to do so at my current strength the only good I'd contribute would be as a meat shield. All the ones on the front lines from what I've heard have been at least two or the times my current level."

"To think that there's such a gap at an early stage in this game could be disheartening for those looking to help. I want to be able to assist everyone in getting out of SAO, but it would be unwise and foolish to go tossing myself at bosses right now."

Calrex gave an affirmative nod as he delivered his answer. "Yeah, right now it seems only the big guilds like the Azure Brigade, Cerulean Silence, and Square One are currently undertaking the floor raids at the moment."