[PP - F10] Absolute Pin Guild Initiation: Rolland

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ah the current front line, the hell-like floor 10 and to be more specific... just outside of Yomi, this floor's main settlement. Ariel was more than accustomed with this place since she spend quite some time here polishing her sword skills to perfection, at least in game stats. She had finally achieved the last rank in her rapier sword skill when she last was here. Since then the blonde has started a new guild called 'Absolute Pin' and while a small group was attempting to defeat the floor boss. Ariel was honoring one of her ex-guild, the Azure Brigade's last order to keep clear of the current boss fight, instead she was here to meet a certain veteran that wanted to join her newly founded guild. She'd PMed him with her location and was expecting him to drop in any moment.

 

Meanwhile, a certain white furred lion was playing around, making full use of her cat vision in the 10th floor's darkness. the blond hadn't acquired yet the skill ended to better see in the dark but instead summoned her inventory and pulled out a small vial with a bluish powder. The bottle was labeled 'Firefly essence' and its content started emanating a weak fluorescent glow that shed some light around the two companions, like a glow stick IRL. This was one of the crafting materials she discovered while fighting at this floor. "Okay Rolland, let's see who you are and if you're guild material." she muttered to nobody in particular, while fidgeling with a square piece in her right hand, one of the many that she had her friend Teayre custom make for her.

[Rolland 0]

The darkness, the fluttering sound of the echoes in the distance, and the complete emptiness the floor had to offer, the sounds of metal clanking as the heavy metal greaves slammed in the ground. *Blast!* *KUSO!!!* Rolland bellowed in his head as he wandered around the town, this was one place he wanted to avoid, the tenth floor was one floor he dreaded to be on as he had not mastered his night vision ability, and was not suited for this floor. The town that he spawned into through the gate was labeled <<Yomi>>, and was littered with small lanterns that gave little to no light as in the distance the sounds of a beast moving about made Rolland shudder.

 

He then gazed upon a blonde haired woman in the distance, surrounded by a aura of blue light, that seemed to dimly glow like a dying star in the night sky, and a white beast at her feet. *That must be her.* He said in his head as he then made his way straight to her, his movements not silent at all as the heavy metal suit he had made sure of that, as he now stood there a few feet in front of the glowing maiden.

 

"Rolland Akizura at your service." He said with a bow, in the out reach of the glowing aura, as his black armor with the silver spider like decor rested upon his chestplate, the red tassel upon his helm dangled off and over as gravity grasped it and he stood back up. The lower region of the armors helm made sure that his mouth was visible and allowed for his lips, jaw and chin to be visible, as the sapphire blue eyes glew in the reflection of the light. He tapped his helm twice and made it go into passive mode, as the sudden flutter of mid length white hair laid upon his face, one of a young man near the age of nineteen or twenty.

 

Pale peach tan skin was what resembled in the dim light as the snow white hair laid there, clashing with his sapphire blue eyes, ones that were big and very boyish like, his voice very light and soft as he spoke in a very mysterious and polite manner. "You must be Ariel, the guildmaster to the Absolute Pin, am I correct?" He asked her, wondering if this woman was her, if not he was mistaken and was wasting this woman's time with him bugging her, and if was Ariel then hooray for him. 

 

-Data Acquired-

All Dice Rolls negative one on all rolls.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The blonde kept staring at the new, custom made chess piece in her hand. The work, her friend Teayre's put into making them all really showed up. If one never knew the chess pieces, he or she would swear that the square piece was apart of the game. She then took her king piece and compared the two to better ciment the conviction that even if those two pieces didn't exist together in real chess, in her guild those two would be part of the same team...fighting towards their common purpose.

 

From the distance, Ariel started hearing heavy footsteps and armor part clanking between them. The blonde listen carefully and turned towards that direction, in one swift move putting away the pieces and then drawing her black rapier. She then raised the glowing bottle to eye level to spot the origin of the sounds. She was expecting a Undead General or another heavy caliber mob from the heaviness in his walking but instead saw a normal stature person, clad in black armor with silver and red ornamenting. 

 

After examining the armor, Ariel's eyes darted at the marker above his head...green. 'At least he's not a PKer.' thought the blonde while sheathing her blade in a elegant move. The figure next approached her and introduced itself as Roland, then bowed. The blonde put away her suspicious expression as soon as he did and extended her hand with a smile after he bowed, responding in a clear voice that echoed a bit around them: "Ah great timing, no need for formalities like bowing. yes, I am Kayla Ariel D'Sole, bearer of the King Piece aka. leader or guildmaster of Absolute Pin. Whatever you like to call it, I prefer the first one though," 

 

Rolland proceeded with removing the upper part of his helmet and let the blond pleasantly surprised by his appearance, besides his good namers he also had a handsome face and will undoubtedly be popular with some of the girl in her guild. With that in mind Ariel proceeded to once again removing her King Piece and a square one as well. She hold the King one near the bottle to light it and show its features while handling him the Square Piece. "This is what I was talking when I said 'bearer of the king piece'. You see our guild has its ranks materialized in tangent form of chess pieces, well almost all ranks." She then put her piece away, next pointing towards his and continues: "As you can see, that particular extra piece I had it custom made by our guild's artisan. Since there isn't a square piece like that but it's basically a 'piece' representation of the squares in the chess board."

 

After he would take the square piece Ariel would smile satisfied and continue in a half serious tone: "This 'initiation meeting' is merely an excuse for me to personally know one of our recruits, especially since you aren't all that 'new' to this. Before we start, any questions?" 

 

[Rolland 0]

The words Ariel spoke had a hint of a foreign taste to them, as he hear d her last name, *D'Sole... thats French... I think,* He thought to himself as then Ariel handed him a Square chess piece, and he chuckled. "I've been called a block head a few times... I guess a square piece is suitable for me." He gave a slight chuckle and a smile arose from his mouth, as he blushed but shorty it faded as a serious look washed over it. "But enough joking around for now, what is it that I need to know is this, if you can help me make sure others don't die then I will follow you, what do I need to do in order to start in the guild?" He asked as his voice once soft hearted change to a more serious tone as he was ready to begin, his eyes glimmering in the light that Ariel had out, as he looked down at the small familiar and bent down. "And who may you be little one?" He asked in half serious tone now as he held out his hand, to it, "Hmm... perhaps you can let your guild leader tell me this?" He said putting his hand back down and standing up to Ariel as he was ready to begin.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Seeing that he had a sense of humor and his reaction, the blonde was a bit reassured that she'd made the right decision to hand him one of the 'unrestricted' square pieces. She had just two and as the term says, 'unrestricted' meant that she can recruit 2 players without giving a s**t about what the other guild members and the council thought. Well each of the other founding members of the guild had 2 'unrestricted' squares as well so it wasn't that special. Still the blonde was glad about personally meeting him. Even after he got serious Ariel continued in a half serious tone:

 

"Well that's only for the start, there will be a promotion when the council and I feel that lower ranking pieces deserve it." After that her voice got serious all of the sudden as she continued. "I'm sorry but I can't promise you that, people will die. That is and will be a absolute truth in SAO, i'm not that delusional as to promise you that we will try and save them all. That isn't the purpose of this guild, I tried that with the Guardians and had my eyes open. Then went all exclusive with the Azure and they kicked all the lower members out." she takes a pause to let that sink then continues while flipping her hair with her left hand: "So I will focus on keeping alive MY guild members..no, my family!!! so that we can make it out of this death game and meet IRL." the conversation got too serious for her taste so she was glad to see that Rolland turned his attention towards Kimba next.

 

She simply nodded at him and answered as he stood up: "This is my companion, Kimba. She has been by my side for a long while now, she will help me judge you. For starters we will be fighting some mobs here." she said while lowering the bottle a bit to see the surroundings.

[Rolland 0]

Rolland sighed as he looked at Ariel, as he had to accept the facts, but when she said fighting Mobs his serious face vanish and he gave her a look like ~what?~ "Uhh... I'm going to say this but, I've never came to this floor until today, I usually stay at floor five and below, to help the lower levels get a foot in the ground." He said as he rubbed his chin and opened his status and saw his stats had fallen and he gave a low growl. "Blasted stats, by Allah, this is bad... I'm wah'ed point lower than before in everything... curse this floors negative buffs." He said as some of his Arabic words slipped from his tongue as he revealed more about himself to Ariel and he sighed. Flipping the HUD away and equipping his sword at the same time he sent his HUD away, the demonic sword he had strapped to the back of his waist, the handle having metal like twin wrapped around the handle and the pummel flat at the end with a dip in a circular pattern. 

 

The one thing that was seen was the tip of the sheath, which was a silver like metal attachment upon a black metal sheath, with red tassels and clothing dancing behind him, the demonic handle and handguard held a red eye opal like gem in the center. As he looked at the field, "NIdhogg should work for this place, for now... I need to trade this weapon for a new one, the Black Knight theme is getting old for me." He said to himself as though he complained he was prepared to go, "Even if I don't like this floor, I have to push on, and trek forward, if I don't I'll just fall back into my old ways, can't make progress unless the first step is taken." He said as he drew his sword and a small film of rust like particles dripped from the blades form as he then bent down and went into a prayer like stance.  "Innâ li-Llâhi wa innâ ilai-hi râji'un." He said as he stood up and looked at Ariel, "I'm ready, lets get a move on." He said as he looked at Kimba, and smiled, "Your master is one powerful woman, I can sense it upon her."

 

-Weapon-

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"Yes it certainly fits the dark knight theme you got there. Although I can't say I dislike it." said the blonde jokingly as she examined the sword and how well it blended with the rest of his armor. She would be a worthy candidate for the other rook piece but that will have to wait, before thinking about promotions she had to gauge his strengths and wits.... and in time his loyalty towards the guild he was now a part of. She meant when she said that she liked the theme, while Calrex would be the white knight(wel..blue one), with his righteous attitude and all that, Rolland could tip the scales with his black knight theme. She didn't knew him well and could only guess what his personality was like.

 

"Also you should see our blacksmith if you want a new weapon or want some maintenance done to that one. Meokka is still a greenhorn in the business but I see great potential in her. She is also my precious protégé so I can vouch for her if needed." the blonde mentioned while smiling at the thought of her bluenette disciple. She then kept a half smile as she continued:

"We won't venture too far, just enough to pass the Undead Servants and get to the Undead Soldiers. Those will be our opponents for today, we can leave the other mobs for a full guild training session that I intend to do in the future. After all this floor is where I trained for the last months." she said with a sheepish smile.

 

She was already liking his knight-like attitude as she saw him do a prayer like old fashioned medieval knights did. Also frowned as her left eyebrow twitched at the mention of word master..as Kimba started growling at him as well. Ariel then noded to her and as the lion calmed down she explained: "Please refrain from calling her a it or mentioning that she belongs in someway to me. That is not the relation between us!" she took a deep breath and after a sigh she continued, remembering how the two meet:

"Me and my companion had come to an agreement in the 6^th's floor jungle. I, in no way own her or can tell her what to do. She is my beloved friend,  also a member of this guild and my family. In time you will see that I try to cultivate a 'family'-like atmosphere within the guild. To get guild members to achieve the level of trust that is required when fighting together."  

 

Then as the earlier discussion didn't happen she regained her smile and unsheathed her own rapier that was strapped at the left side of her waist. The blonde brandished the black blade and a thin blue glow could be seen around the edges. The red handle was firmly visible as the (cross)guard showed thorns wrapping around Ariel's hand. As the blonde made a side slash to the upper left to lower right, a cutting sound could be heard in the air as the blonde performed the maneuver with practised elegance.

"Okay Now I'm ready too, let's go find ourselves some practice dummies" she said as the blonde lead the way, while still holding the bottle in the left hand. It didn't give much light but at least she could see 2 meters in front of her and wouldn't just bump into a mob that she didn't hear beforewards.

[Rolland 0]

With a sigh Rolland nodded to her, and followed behind, as his black armor slamming into the ground and he kept his mouth shut, he didn't want to say anything that would offend her or Kimba. Just hearing her take his words the wrong way was something he didn't want to happen again, so by tapping the mouth region of the helm. A plate appeared that he didn't know was there, he was just curious if the helmet would generate a mouth guard, and with the event happening Rolland smiled. His sword behind his waist, the demonic sword strapped snugly, he looked at Ariel, "Hey... sorry about earlier... I didn't think you would take my words the wrong way... I never meant Kinba as a it, I never called her an it."

 

His words spread out as he then sighed, "But enough dawdling on the past events, just for clarification, after today I won't be dawning this black armor anymore, nor this sword." "A change in scenery is needed for me, as this isn't helping my outlook on life, need a brighter set for my goals, and speaking of brighter unlike this floor... I know my spirit will shine through the darkness here and pierce the void that we are in and bring a new day." He said as he chuckled and looked at Ariel, "So ma'am what am I to expect in this floor, what foes shall my sword cleave down and allow for further travelling?" He asked, never like being off guard in combat as he place his hand on the pummel of his sword.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel half-turned with a smile on her face, to meet Rolland's eyes: "Don't let it bother you too much, I just wanted to make it clear since people assume too often that she is servant, instead of friend. For the most, it seems, familiars are just tools that the system provides." She then listened him continue and found out about the upcoming image change: "I'd say that, I'll miss the dark knight theme. But if a change is what you seek, I hope Absolute Pin will positively help you in that way."

 

As they walk a bit more the terrain began to change, Ariel dropped in a crouched position bringing the fluorescent bottle a to grounds lever. She'd recognised that this is the valley that she wanted them to reach in order to start Rolland's initiation. As she raised from the ground with a smile battle, footsteps could be heard around them. The blonde would turn towards Rolland with and half-excited expression: "If your weapon thirsts for, blood this is the time to release it. It seems we have company." in front of them, a 3 man formation could be seen approaching. In the middle, a tall figure with a katana strapped at its side, above a white coat with the words 'Captain' written in kanji on the back (Bleach captain coat model). He was flanked by 2 skeletal figures that had basics swords and shields. Ariel let out a mischievous smile as her eyes targeted the Captain mob, with whom she had a 'history'.

 

Ariel: 71/71

Rolland: 49/49

 

Undead Captain: 55/55

Undead Warrior#1: 32/36

Undead Warrior#2: 36/36

 

*mobs do a base dmg of 3