[PP - F8] Hunting the Upper Floors, Adunatio (Oikawa, Calrex)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Koko Village

Floor 8

 

The village was closer to the swamp than any other on the floor. Being this close to the dungeon, places to get out of the swamp if you fell were further and fewer between. This town was a safe zone to retreat to... if you could make it that far. The mobs hidden in the murky waters weren't particularly difficult, but they were of an unknowable quantity. The green water was opaque from the surface, and as such you wouldn't be able to see an add coming. A light sigh was the only thing that that disturbed the monotone creeks of the makeshift suspended bridges all around the place.

'Why did they even made this many bridges in the first place?' thought a certain blonde as she gazed upwards, towards the tree canopy. A nostalgic feeling crept into her heart as she began remembering the first time she was here. It was during the end of her appointed 'noob period' when she started exploring higher floors to extend her horizons. She'd come here with a hastily build party that consisted of total strangers at that point.

"I wonder how the others, Crozeph and Raeyliff are doing.?" she muttered. She has only heard recent rumors about them, the main one that piqued her interest was Crozeph entering the Cerulean guild. Her wary smile soon turned into a sad sigh as she remembered two of her best friends, Baldur and Tyger, with whom she went in different quests. Sadly she didn't heard from or about them in a very long time and even if she didn't want to consider it seriously, the thought of them being dead came into her mind a few times. That is one of the reasons the blonde doesn't visit the obsidian colored stone tablet inside the 'Black Iron Palace' ironically placed into the 'Room of Resurrection' bearing the name 'The Monument of Life'. The possibility of seeing their named crossed by a horizontal line along with others, is too painful.

She shook her head to banish such thoughts as the last name of the original party escaped along her breath. "Oikawa.....". From all the before mentioned, she'd been in contact only with the later. From what she'd heard he was doing pretty well, being a core member of the 'Azure Brigade' and all. 

Looking at her side, the blonde started observing her companion's behavior. To which the white lion let out a yawn as she coiled up and went to sleep by the blonde's side. Ariel let out a small amused snort and redirected her gaze upwards. "They should be here any time now." she whispered to herself. 'They' being two of the players that she could trust with her life: a original member of the previous party the early mentioned Oikawa and also a certain blue clad player that had a incredibly rapid ascent, being currently one of the top dogs of Aincrad by her opinion. She couldn't help but feel a bit arrogant, taking pride in the fact that she was right about him from the first time they meet. She'd fought alongside him several times and come to trust his instincts and opinions. Either way, she was there sitting on a bench ironically in her old attire: the navy blue camo patterned short skirt and revealing top with her rapier, sheathed in a black leather scabbard placed vertically at her side, leaning on the back support of the bench. She was interested to see how much the two changes in the time they didn't see each other but also to see how much she changed herself in their eyes.

"This is going to be fun!" she said with a grin, to no one in particular.

(*the indented text at the beginning is taken from the original 'Hunting the ...' thread that Baldur made. Which will be used as a base for this thread, so the gray indented text throughout Ariel's posts mean Baldur's original writing/descriptions)

Edited September 15, 2015 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Oikawa 1]

Humid and sticky, seemed to be the how the air felt around the eighth floor. The pungent fumes of the murky swamps left no stomach un-churned, as one meandered through it's depths and across it's bridges. The sight was still very similar to what it had been months ago, when the blonde first explored with an unsuspecting party. However, the circumstances were much different now. This trip was one for a reunion, more so for him and Ariel, than for him and Calrex. The trio had crossed paths on more than one occasion and even seemed to have a friendly rivalry among them. Oikawa, once the strongest of three, now sat on even or even lesser terms with Calrex the notably highest leveled player in Aincrad. A title once held by Zelrius and Mari.

His head swam with thoughts of the upcoming boss fight and the recent patch that seemed to come from nowhere. The actual point of this whole reunion was to test the new Sword Arts out. His excitement about the patch could very well be mistaken for disappointment, but the reasoning behind it was far more selfish than he cared to let on. As he continued along, his destination seemed to scramble into view. Readjusting his sleeves and gloves, Oikawa approached the blonde sitting on the bench just ahead of him and took a seat. Staring straight ahead, he focused on nothing in particular as he spoke. 

"It's been awhile eh, Miss Ariel?"

[Calrex 0]

"Koko Village? It's certainly been a while since I last came here. Last time I believe was the first time I met Clarence. That was certainly some time ago, back when I was still one of the Rooks of Absolute Pin, and before I created the Spectrum Coalition..."

As Calrex appeared in the settlement of Koko Village on the eighth floor the sight brought back memories of when he was still advancing in SAO, back when he was yet to be the highest level player in Aincrad. During his only visit before today, he was a part of the now-disbanded guild Absolute Pin, based on chess pieces. Since he had a strong desire to protect his fiancee, he was appointed as a Rook piece, but that time was cut short when he and Teayre decided to take their leave and return to being solo players.

"I haven't seen Ariel since we went exploring the eleventh floor. I guess that she's doing well, especially if Oikawa is coming along as well."

He activated his <<Reveal>> skill to quickly discern his teammates' location before walking over. Since they had yet to depart the settlement he was clad in the Grand Dragoon armor, his casual combat clothing underneath. Unlike the Grand Chariot, which completely encapsulated his body, the Grand Dragoon only consisted of a set of deep-sea blue pauldrons, poleyns, and a single gauntlet over his left forearm. Attached to the back of his hip was the Grand Blade, in addition to the Amethyst Bangle.

Upon coming into view of Oikawa and Ariel he gave a friendly wave as he completed his walk over, "Good to see the two of you, it certainly has been a while."

"I've gotten slightly acquainted with the new Sword Arts, so maybe if there's anything they might be concerned with I can fill them in. Can't really say anything in particular about their skills though, as I'm sure the rapier gains a different set of arts than the one-handed sword does."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

As she continued to think about random memories and ideas, a certain figure entered her sight. Even if he wore something different, Ariel could still recognize the previous member of the party that once started adventuring here. Oikawa gave a curt welcomed which made the girl show a smile. " I haven't been called a 'Miss' in a long time. Ever since the first time we meet if memory serves right. Why would you go and ruin that streak?" she asked jokingly as she stood up and gave the white clad guy a hug.

"It sure has been" she replied before letting go and examining him from top to bottom. "I see you got a bit of a change going here" she said while pointing  with her index from his head to toes a couple of times, linking the moves in a fluid elegant gesture. "I've heard that you even got a new 'job' in the Brigade."

Next to come was Cal, as well with a different attire. She let out a chuckle as she continued: "Seems you guys are in trend with Aincrad's latest. Do you have any tips for me in that regard?" Then she went and gave Cal a hug as well. It wasn't that much since they saw each other but still, she was in a good move.

"Okay, now that the team's here I have a simple plan." she stops and takes a breath of air then loudly exhales. "Basically I want to test the sword arts and go further than the initial party reached. Last time there were 6 of us" she looks at Oikawa for a second then continues " and we reached deep into the forest, ended in front of a 'Immortal Object' that was a tall tree. The entrance to a dungeon of sorts." she then showes a grin as she continues:

"Inside the dungeon, there's supposed to be a hidden route that goes down, instead of up towards the floor boss. At the bottom of the tree, there's an arena where a Field Boss known as Asikuzun, the King of the Forest. We never got in but that bastard owns me his crown."  

[Oikawa 1]

Returning the embrace, the blonde gave a slight chuckle as he responded "I figured you were long overdue for that one haha." Taking a seat, he continued, "New job? I've always been a Commandant haha, unless you meant joining the guild itself. Though if I recall correctly, you were already aware of that before my hiatus. As for the attire, yeah change was needed. Although I do miss the gallant white I used to don, black seems to just fit me better now." As he finished speaking, Ariel rose once more to hug an incoming Calrex. The blonde waved back as he approached them and stood up as Ariel quickly delved into why the were gathered. Listening intently, the blonde could't help but feel a little down as he remembered their last adventure down here. Still no word from Baldur and Tyger, or Raeyliff for that matter...I wonder if they're alive?

As she concluded, Oikawa snapped back into reality, and rubbed his face. " So we're going after Azikuzun eh? We best make haste. The village isn't too fun at night." Gesturing for Ariel to lead the way, he paused to see if Calrex would come along.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a smile as he greeting both of his comrades, listening intently to the outing that Ariel had summoned them both for, "I guess this is something that got cut short for something reason in the past. Six people were in the last party huh? Going from the fact that there's only three of us here, I'm guessing that we're more than double the strength of their last team. Guess that's a good sign."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Let's get to it."

Swiping a few times he made sure all of his best equipment, save the Grand Chariot, were at the ready. With the new update, it seemed that the boosters that the full-body armor lent him were not as significant a boost as in the past, with the difference between the Grand Chariot and Grand Dragoon being fairly insignificant, "I guess this is a good time to see how it matches up without it. Depending on how this goes I might invest in getting another trinket."

"Alright, I'm ready when you guys are."

With a calming breath he activated his <<Reveal>> skill, the landscape turning transparent as he looked around the immediate area while following Oikawa and Ariel, "I don't see any enemies lying in ambush at the moment. Maybe there's a lull in the monster spawning at the moment."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Looking at Oikawa, she replied "Yeah I was aware, it was after you rejected my invite into Absolute Pin." with a bit of nostalgic tone as she thought of the disbanded guild. Next she nodded to Cal and took lead of the 3 man party. In the past, this meeting had the objective of solidifying the bounds between the group. Ariel kind of hoped to achieve a similar feat since she has been feeling a little outed while she fought on the front lines. In any case she would have some fun with some old friends, she would be satisfied with that. 

She walked first towards the first bridge, casually looking underneath it. The first time they were taken by surprise by what emerged from there but now they had intel.. even if partial about the place. Still the patches of dead looking grass were as disgusting as the last time,while cattails sprouted out from the water. As they move, in almost the same place, a patch of earth covered by the before mentioned grass started moving. (*)The top that they had seen was apparently formed over a large, hideous creature with the smell of a dead animal. The top of its carapace had held the patch of grass and mud they had seen, but beneath that were three malevolent red eyes and a maw of dozens upon dozens of dagger like teeth. As it rose fully from the bog, two giant hands with massive claw-like fingers were raised.

With a smirk Ariel drew her rapier and half looked over her shoulder, saying: "There we go! First target boys." She then back a bit and entered a defensive stance. The mob roared as it red eyes darted towards the group, apparently angry that they disturbed its slumber. It was picking its first target. Ariel then continued to direct the small group with a ease comparable of a team leader. "Cal, you're on taunting duty. Oikawa and me will finish this bad boy and then we'll continue our way.

---

---Turn Order---

H0<<Calrex>> 158/158 HP 

H0<<Oikawa>> 142/142 HP

H0<<Ariel>> 134/134 HP

<<Bog Strider>> 95/95 HP

 

(OOC: changed the order a bit for the long run.

 

Edited September 16, 2015 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Calrex 0]

OOC: Lol, actually it's the one in my first spoiler. The top one is for finishing any old threads under the old system.

IC:

ID: 31781
Battle Dice: 4 (Accuracy +3) = 7
Sword Art <<Horizontal Square>> Activated (7 Energy Used / 30 Energy Remaining)

Calrex gave a nod before smirking, "I'll do you one better. Let's start making use of the new Sword Art skills from the get-go."

Quickly swiping through his menu his eyes fell upon the Sword Art called <<Horizontal Square>>, "Hm...this one has the Stun effect. From what I remember it functions much like Paralyze, but it renders the enemy incapable of being stunned again for a few seconds after. Let's hope Oikawa and Ariel can finish it off before then."

Drawing the Grand Blade Calrex brought it across his body, the point facing towards the sky. His free hand rested against the flat part of the blade his sword lit alight with a light blue hue, "This should freeze it for a few seconds. Let's try and finish it off before then."

As his art built up to a climax he released it, feeling his body fly forward. As he got into striking range Calrex slashed horizontally from left to right across the monster, stepping outwards with his right foot at the same time, moving diagonally forward and to the right around the creature. As his foot touched the ground a second slash came out, cutting the creature from right to left while his left foot swung around from behind, carrying him diagonally to the right again so that he was now behind the bog strider, facing away. While his left foot touched the ground again his body dropped low as he made a full 180 degree turn, cutting the creature's back ankles while spinning to the diagonal right for the last time. Touching his final positioning the sword art finished with a final cut from left to right as Calrex slid away.

With the attack completed the creature was frozen in place as a icon appeared beneath its health bar, an icon which instead of bearing the lightning bolt of the Paralyze effect, showed two jagged black lines, the new marker for the Stunned condition.

"Alright, go for it!"

HP List
(Hate: 1) Calrex: 158/158
(Hate: 0) Oikawa: 142/142
(Hate: 0) Ariel: 134/134

Enemies:
Bog Strider: 63/95 (Stunned Until Next Turn)

Edited September 16, 2015 by Calrex