Event 3: Endless Labyrinth

Wind-whipped sand graphics shrouded the approach of most of the new clearing party until they came very close. For Agil and the guild parties who were waiting outside, it was an unnerving feature of the game. Any player or enemy could come just close enough to launch a surprise attack before being revealed from the sand. Needless to say, when Anko and Kishiro emerged and were seen my most in attendance for the first time, it was a sight to remember. Anko had wrapped her head in cloth to protect herself from the sand, more a comfort thing than necessity in Aincrad. Kishiro, in his new obsidian armor didn't have such worries. He was completely encased in the black and orange armor, and the bright orange tassel hanging from the top of the helmet fluttered rapidly in the simulated wind.

Less than an hour later the entire party was accounted for. Everyone huddled close to hear Agil's briefing on behalf of the guild-heads. Somehow, he'd become their unofficial spokesman.

"Let me quickly review the strategy. Guild parties will set up defenses and ready medical crystals, waiting outside for the return of the smaller parties and volunteers. The first phase is to map the dungeon and mark all traps. The second phase is to return and regroup here, share map data, then storm the dungeon straight to the boss door. Since the initial party will already have gotten drops and experience, the guilds will do most of the fighting in the boss room. Smaller parties are to provide support, intercept attacks from the boss, and keep everyone safe, as well as report on attack patterns and openings. Is everyone clear? Are there any questions?"

No one spoke up.

"Then volunteers, form up and head in. Guild parties, form a perimeter and set up support. Let's get this done before nightfall!"

Floor 80's dungeon seemed to be buried in massive sand dunes. The inside was sandstone caves, dimly lit or not lit at all. With lock on and perception range reduced, every party entered with caution. It quickly became obvious that the first room was just a long hallway, but every few meters there was an opening on either side of the hallway. Twenty different paths to explore, ten on each side. There were a little over forty people in the dungeon, so solo players doubled up and duos headed into each passage. Anko and Kishiro ended up with a passage that turned right once before sloping downward into an unlit passage. Kishiro went first, using his level 8 fist skill, called Zen Stance, to increase his lock-on range. He had high perception already, so it allowed him to see further than Anko, on top of having heavy armor and a close-up fighting style. Turn after turn, hallway after hallway, they met with no enemies. The map data made it easy enough to go back, but picking a path from one of the many forks became more and more difficult.

It wasn't until they finally came to a dead end and had to turn around that they got into a fight. A sandstone golem ripped itself from the flat walls behind Anko and Kishiro, swinging a thick arm at Anko. She jumped back toward the other wall and another golem ripped free behind her. Kishiro ran forward and punched the first golem in the side of the knee, then jumped to grab its head and slam it into the ground. Anko had enough time to slash the golem that had emerged behind her and jump back. Kishiro got hit by his golem as it stood and slammed into the dead-end wall. His health was quickly regenerating, though, thanks to Zen Stance still being active. He'd used it early to use the effects and hopefully have it cool down before the boss fight. He dashed forward to deflect a blow for Anko, then switch off while she countered it. Off balance, the first golem fell to Anko's scythe. She shoved the double-sided blade through its neck once, then yanked it back to attack the same place a second time. A double high-critical and that was that.

After killing the second golem, Kishiro immediately got walking again. If Zen Stance wore off, he'd lose at least three meters of lock-on range. Now Anko and Kishiro started checking the paths they hadn't chosen, expecting more fights at the dead-ends. Sure enough, they only encountered enemies when they had to turn back. Each time, however, two more golems would appear. Two was fine, and four put up a good fight, but six was pushing it, and eight forced Kishiro to use two more of his fist skills. He and Anko ignored the remaining paths to exit, be healed, share what they'd found, and return to clearing. Finally, they found a path that was dimly lit. Kishiro's Zen Stance had worn off after their fight with six golems, so he and Anko were thankful for the boost in sight range. Not only had they found a path with light, but shortly after they came in contact with another clearing duo. They shared map data and found that their paths had been weaving up, down, left, and right just barely staying away from each other. The other duo had run into the same pattern of golems appearing at dead ends. Anko and Kishiro turned back, returning to their path to check more paths.

Three hours later and no one had found the boss door. Furthermore, every time a party exited the ruins and returned, the number of golems reset to two. Eventually, another four hours after that at nightfall, every path had been mapped out. There was no boss door. With everyone out of the dungeon, safe and sound, speculation began. Maybe there were fake walls? Maybe the boss roamed the halls and no one had run into it? No one could figure it out. Several teams went back in, using the map data to find the furthest dead-ends from the front door. Some people took to hitting walls, hoping to break one down. After the sun had completely set and the winds died down, many wanted to go home. Kishiro stood up from his spot by the door and approached Anko.

"I think I have an idea. But I might need your help convincing everyone," he said.

"What is it?" asked Anko, curious. He hadn't said much all day aside from battle call-outs.

"I think the boss is the golems. Two more appear at every dead end, and not just every dead end on the same path. What if you need to hit every dead end, kill every golem that appears, until the boss shows up?"

"That's suicide! After fighting so many enemies, then you'd fight the boss?! This high up!?..." She trailed off a bit, her expression sinking.

"You see what I mean? If you made a game, a VRMMORPG or not, wouldn't you want to keep things interesting? Wouldn't you throw some curves in, screw with the system, just to keep it fun? In any other game, a challenge like that would be fun. Except here if we fail, we die."

"I think we should tell everyone, and try it in the morning."

"Thanks, Anko..."

The two took the idea to Agil, and many others heard the idea before he announced it. There were a few outright objections, but the guild-heads were willing to give it a shot. It was agreed that they would return in the morning to do just that. Everyone packed up and headed back to the village. Some used teleport crystals to spend the night in their own homes. Anko was one, but Kishiro hadn't bought a home. He stayed the night at an inn in the village. In order to continue getting accustomed to his armor, he slept in it. The black and orange armor made him almost invisible in the dark of his small room. During the night the wind picked up again, howling like ghosts haunting the village.

Bright and early, Kishiro got up, ate something at a nearby shop, and waited for Anko by the teleport platform. He didn't need to wait long, and soon the two were traversing the desert sands again, on the way to the labyrinth they'd spent all day in the day before. When everyone finally showed up, well over one hundred players, the clearing effort began. It would be the first truly organized assault on a floor dungeon. Anko stayed on the side of the force and Kishiro stayed at the back. He knew that when everyone reached the first dead end, the back of the force would be the ones fighting, not the front. Many melee fighters thought the same, and soon Kishiro was flanked by mace and hammer users in armor much heavier than his. The group started down the first path on the left, heading for the furthest dead end first. The first five or six dead ends went by very quickly, the golems unable to land a single hit with the amount of players attacking them at once. In two hours the left side of the dungeon was clear and the group moved to the right side. As they left the main room, Kishiro noticed something at the end of the main chamber. A symbol, in a half-circle had appeared. He kept his assumptions to himself, but that changed his opinion. What if the boss door only opened after every dead end had been hit?

Winding through the tunnels for three more hours, fighting hard in the last few dead ends, finally the group hit the last dead end. Kishiro hadn't had to use any skills, relying on the other players to cover for him if he wasn't fast enough. Several people yelled to guild members to get ready, preparing for the boss to appear at any second. Golem after golem fell, and still no boss. The last golem fell, crumbling and shattering into nothing, and everyone got very quiet. For a moment, no one heard anything. Just as someone opened their mouth to complain, a massive crash shook the entire labyrinth. Kishiro started walking first, and once a few followed him, everyone did. Sure enough, the symbol Kishiro had seen had filled and opened a hidden door. In the boss room, clearly visible, was a massive statue. It remained very still, but it seemed obvious that it was the boss. Everyone made sure they were healed and ready to go, the formation changed, and a charge was announced into the boss room...

Once everyone was inside, as the last five floors, the door closed behind them. Several support players tried teleport crystals, which, just as expected, did not work. The huge statue stood up from its stone chair, ripping a stone spear off of the wall. All around the room, even more golems like those the party had fought for hours walked out of the walls. Just as planned, the solo players started killing off the extra enemies while the guild parties started assaulting the boss. The boss handled its spear expertly, swinging its blade across the floor in a slashing motion. The massive stone partizan pushed blocking players across the floor and knocked over unguarded ones. It wasn't quite an instant kill, but as soon as someone's health got low, the golems began trying to fight over to them and finish them. Kishiro had Zen Stance active, and threw himself at every golem that targeted a weakened player. Several times his health fell to red, but he was able to avoid damage long enough to regenerate before more damage.

When all the small enemies were dead, solo players began attacking the statue's knees in between it's massive swings. When its health dropped to half, it put both hands on the spear for its swings and stabs. This simple action added incredible force to its attacks, and in moments it instantly killed an off-guard player. The damage, even through a guarding player's shield, was overwhelming. Players started switching off between guarding its hits and countering. Several vanguards were forced to back off, almost killed through their shields. One player's shield broke from all the hits he'd taken, and he fell to the statue's next attack. When the statue's health fell below 10%, it started executing spinning attacks, stomps and kicks. Many players were forced to the edges of the arena, some even squeezing into the indents of the walls were the golems had come from. Kishiro saw an opening and yelled to one of the nearby guild parties. They agreed to switch out and counter if he could deflect an attack.

"Fist skill, level 9! Iron Flesh!" yelled Kishiro, slamming his fists together. He flashed silver and the ground under his feet cracked from his sudden increase in weight. Kishiro walked forward, struggling with every step. The statue noticed him and swung its partizan with both hands, the blade aimed at Kishiro's rib level. Kishiro held up a hand to grab the blade, stopping the attack cold. He didn't even slide over the ground. The guild party took their chance and charged the boss, dealing huge amounts of damage. The last blow came from a girl holding a mace Kishiro recognized as a smith. Iron Flesh had canceled Kishiro's Zen Stance, however, and his health was no longer regenerating. It remained in the red zone, just below 15%. With tripled defense and his new armor, the boss had almost killed him in one shot, dealing 85% of his health in damage with one mighty swing.

Kishiro collapsed on the spot, cracking the floor again when he sat down. He held his left wrist in his right hand, it being the one he'd stopped the attack with. Cheers went up from the other players. Several people came to thank him for withstanding the attack. Only two people had died...

Event 4: No Coffin Laughs coming soon...

Author Note: Just like Kirito, and anyone else with weapon skills (which is everyone in the clearing team, Kishiro has some pretty useful skills. I planned the skills before the story, and I didn't plan the dungeon, really. I just thought a maze fit the desert, so I put that at the end of the last event. Thus far, it's kind of writing itself. I'm going to be adding a villain of sorts next time, and don't be surprised to find more people with unique skills. Kirito had the dual wield skill, but that was swords. Kishiro gets one, the villain has one, and so on. They come from mastery of a weapon or weapon type, or just a skill in general in this fic. Mastery is decided by the system, not the number on your skill, which is why Kirito got his so early. It also explains Heathcliff's being displayed even earlier, since he was already famous for it when Kirito dueled him the first time. Just throwing it all out there. As always, feel free to PM me if you don't want to leave a review...