{SP-F6] The Swing of Things Part I (Complete)

[Azide 0]

Golden dawn filtered in through the trees and then the windows, lighting the young man's features with a gentle radiance. His scrunched eyes quivered, and the digits of a dangling arm twitched until finally he had learned to embrace wakefulness. Azide's eyelids fluttered open, exposing the white and brown orbs to the morning light. As his wits came about him, he lifted his cheek from off of his desk, and shook his left methodically until he was satisfied that the blood flow had returned to the numb appendage.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

Palms pressed flat against the table, Azide pushed off of the wooden surface and raised himself to full height as he eyed the many pages of documentation sprawled out across his workspace. It had been a constructive night of note taking and research, but even the most promising of results did not excuse a messy desk. He shook his head and sorted through the papers one by one, skimming through the contents in order to properly categorize them as he filed them away into a variety of marked folders. When that too had been taken care of, he slipped the whole binder onto the single empty slot on his shelf, and took a seat where his day had first begun.

[Azide 0]

From around an unseen corner, a faint hiss drew his sights to the entrance leading into the backroom- both where he stowed away the various materials required for his trade, as well as his more typical place of rest; as little sleep as he often got, even Azide could appreciate the benefits of an actual bed of sorts. Another hiss preceded the entrance of Lucifer the snake, who poked its head out from behind the entryway into the main room of the shop. "Up already as well?" asked Azide, raising a brow. "Well, I can't complain about that." He chuckled softly to himself and hunched over in his chair as his companion slithered on over.

Edited September 30, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

Accepting his master's extended hand, Lucifer proceeded to snake its way up the player's white sleeve in a steady, winding ascent. The creature stopped shortly after reaching Azide's shoulder, but kept the majority of its slender body wrapped around the youth's upper arm. It flicked its tongue at the air and stared at the player with the same coolness as always. Perhaps it was because the creature's narrow eyes were lidless, but its gaze seem to possess the same placid disposition that they always had.

[Azide 0]

Although Lucifer was not the warmest creature around, in part because of its natural cold bloodedness, they were two of a kind, Azide and that snake. It was true that he himself was not a particularly warm person, and on top of that, he even held a somewhat peculiar aversion to the critters considered by most as cute. Namely, this included things like cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters and countless other mammals that were so often volunteered as test subjects for all kinds of research. As an aspiring chemist himself, it had only made sense for him to distance himself from these more conventionally lovable creatures.

[Azide 0]

With everything looking to be in order, and the shop in tip-top shape, Azide walked over to the rack near the entrance of the store and lifted the green coat from its hook. As he ran his arms through the long sleeves, he considered the significance of the day that lay ahead. What did it mean to him- in both a numerical sense, and in the greater scheme of things? Tackling the first issue, he had concluded that unlocking the final set of Sword Arts for his weapon-type would mean a greatly increased damage output, at the very least. There was scarcely any information on the specifics- as far as he could tell, nobody had yet managed this feat under the new system.

[Azide 0]

Which led into the second part of the question; if he were right about the previous assertion, then he would be writing history today. For not only would he possess some of the strongest damage-dealing potential in the game, but he would be the first to grandmaster the dagger. Just as the pioneers, he would be venturing into unexplored territory, and hopefully paving the way for those who would choose to follow in his footsteps. By blazing through this shadowy business, he would be lighting the way for a newer generation- no longer would the best kept secrets of the weapon remain a mystery.

[Azide 0]

But until then, it would probably best to keep a level-head. After all, as close as he was- he had not taken ahold of the achievement just yet. His proficiency in the dagger was so close to capping out that he could practically taste the last handful of elusive Sword Arts, and he admitted that he was hungry to be able to strike the task from his to-do list. After today, not only would he hold the esteemed title- but he would be freeing up his resources, allowing him to pour his efforts into an assortment of other skills.

[Azide 0]

With so many to choose from, it had initially been a daunting issue to tackle, but he had managed to narrow the list down to a select few. Feeling it best to begin with the elephant in the room, Azide felt the need to remind himself that his mitigation had never left the default value of zero- all it would take was one bad day, and he might find himself in a very unenviable predicament. So of course, he'd thrown Light Armor Skill onto the the prospective list as a matter of principal.

[Azide 0]

Aside from that, there had really only been a further two prime candidates: the offense Charge, and the more situational Unarmed Strike. Whereas the former would allow him to slowly but surely increase his damage cap, provided he was allowed enough room to execute the maneuver, the latter would allow him access to a more powerful stunning Art than the one he could currently perform. It seemed somewhat excessive, he thought, to even consider the need for stun when he would likely be capable of wreaking havoc with pure damage alone. And yet, he could imagine a few scenarios in which a more imposing stun would be a helpful tool to have on his repertoire.

[Azide 0]

He began to fiddle with with the buttons, having slipped on the forest-green coat which finely modeled the dual essentials of armor: it provided both form and function. There was nothing wrong with looking sharp in the midst of combat, nor did it hurt to reap the benefits of enhanced equipment. In any case, the matter of where to proceed next could be crossed once he actually arrived at said road. Thinking about it now would only be burning time- time that could instead be spent engaging in his work. Azide glanced in the mirror and adjusted his jacket for a final time, before parting the doors of his humble abode.

[Azide 0]

As the young man walked on, he began to reflect on the events which had transpired since that morning. Just as he had scheduled and planned, he had met up with an NPC client whom had contacted him with a rather bold offer. He could still imagine the man, who had stood perhaps on two inches taller, but had appeared much larger on account of his more imposing build. In spite of the loose robes the man had dressed himself with, Azide could tell that the man's muscles were quite finely sculpted, and that the man was a rather impressive physical specimen despite his age.

[Azide 0]

He recalled the offer this man had proposed to him; the man had proposed that if he, Azide, were to undertake a simple mission, then he would assist the player in achieving the rank of grandmaster in a most timely manner. When Azide had pressed the man for details, he had been slightly annoyed upon failing to receive clarification on just how the man planned to do this. The man had not revealed his secrets, but instead had simply told him that he would be awarded for his faith and patience. That all would be made known, in due time. He remembered the way the man's grey mustache had twitched when he had begrudgingly accepted, and remembered even more clearly the wrinkled creases which had formed at the corners of the man's lips as he'd smiled.

[Azide 0]

And so there he was- sneaking about in the jungles of the sixth floor, looking for an object described simply as 'a chest, recognizable by a single red stripe, running vertically across both the lid and the body'. Apparently, the man had not thought it important to mention what the chest actually held, nor did he seem to acknowledge the question when Azide had asked him just that shortly after. Thus, he was left to assume that the chest must have contained something exceedingly valuable, such as a large sum of col or even a rare item.

[Azide 0]

If anything, he supposed he could be thankful that the man had actually told him where to find this item; with all things considered, he'd been half expecting to be sent on some sort of aimless treasure hunt. So at least there was that. He sighed, but quickly covered his mouth after realizing that the first of several checkpoints was nearly upon him. Azide gently nudged the brambles apart and peered through the dense greenery. Lying on the other side of the underbrush, a camouflaged outpost of sorts stood ready and armed. The size of the base would have suggested a fortification manned by at least half a dozen people at the very least, but instead he could only spot a measly two positioned outside the base of the tower.

[Azide 0]

"I'm willing to bet that there'll be at least one or two more stationed at the top," thought Azide, his eyes narrowing as they focused on the lone window carved into the highest point of the stone structure. Putting two and two together, he took it as a near fact that he would find a sniper of some sort waiting for him in that very room. He shook his head at the careless of these goons- surely it would only be too easy, with their manpower looking to be effectively halved from what had been described to him. Taking a hefty stone in hand, he searched the vicinity for an optimal target before tossing it across the small glade and into the forest behind the the tower.

[Azide 0]

The response had been roughly as he'd expected- he swore that he'd spotted a glimpse of a shadow poke over the edge of the open window, but it had been nothing definitive. As far as the ground game had went, the two guards had looked at each other and argued for a while before nodding quite vigorously, as if shaken by the whole ordeal. Shortly after, the pair had split up- with one remaining by the entryway while the other slowly made his way towards the source of the noise. It was the practical option, really, to hedge one's bets when faced with a shortage of manpower. But in reality, they had effectively halved the defending force.

[Azide 0]

When the latter guard had disappeared from his sights, Azide allowed the branches to return to their natural position. Now completely out of sight, Azide made his way through the undergrowth in silence, and emerged into the clearing undetected. Not long after that, he had appeared behind the sole remaining guard, and dispatched of the man with two quick slashes across the back. He was no murderer, but he did not have any qualms with downing a measly NPC. From there, he picked up the set of keys which had dropped from the shattered guard, and proceeded to enter with little complication. As he walked up the seemingly endless winding stairway, he conjectured wordlessly that the rest of the absent guards would have likely been stationed where he was currently traveling.

[Azide 0]

Finally, as he turned the corner (in a manner of speaking, as the stairs had been arranged in a circular spiral), he could see the very last set of steps leading into a short hallway. At the end, he could spy a lone man, armed with a sword and shield. Behind this man, he could faintly make out the shape of a door. With no windows or any points of reference, it was hard to say for certain, but he thought it quite likely that the man must have been guarding the doorway to the windowed room. He'd prepared himself for this possibility, however, with the foresight to guess that the sniper would have his back protected.

[Azide 0]

Azide procured a thin glass vial from out of the folds of his coat. Inside, a clear liquid filled the fragile container to roughly two-thirds capacity, while a small section of cork at the end acted a stopper. He peeked his head over the top of the stairs for a brief moment, catching the guard's attention- but before the guard could even finish taking a step, both the vial and the concoction inside had been hurtled right over his shield. The man had never stood a chance as the glass shattered against his face, splashing the transparent concoction within all over his face. He watched a single drop passed the man's lips; not a second later, the man stood petrified mid-stride. No matter what he had initially believed, he had to admit: paralysis water certainly had its uses.