Hi, just a random question, do words like 'I' and 'you' even exist in Japanese? Because when I watched anime with subtitles (way better than dubs) I keep hearing people say names but in the subtitles there are only words like 'I' or 'you.'
I wonder how many people were waiting for this chapter. When was the last time I updated? It's been over a month, that's for sure.
(1st person, Jun, December 23rd)
What are my plans for Christmas? Well, other than the usual, supposedly a boss will appear under a tree on the 35th floor in the Forest of Wandering who supposedly dropped a revival item. It almost certainly wasn't real, and if it was, it would probably have some limitation like only reviving people who died just now, like a heal crystal that works on people with zero HP.
I wonder where Kirito is, I haven't seen him anywhere but boss raids recently and then he wasn't talking and looked dark. Well, he'll be here this evening, so I'll talk to him then. The one time I saw him outside of a boss raid, he completely ignored me.
It was already 10 and the boss would appear at midnight, so I had 2 hours to kill.
I should probably start with double checking that I have everything I need and start heading there.
On second thought, I've already checked like 5 times, so I should probably just head out.
Upon walking into the teleport gate I say, "Teleport Mishe!" After the blinding light clears I am standing in an entirely different city, the main city on the 35th floor, Mishe. The forest was a little ways away, and if I walked at a normal pace it should take around half an hour to get there. Getting there significantly early is pretty much pointless, since people don't know where it is, so being there at around 11:30 would be fine, which means I have an hour to kill here before I leave.
Most of the people who want the item probably don't actually know where it will spawn. I happened to have stumbled upon a place where I am almost certain it would spawn earlier so I would be able to go straight there.
What to do, I guess I'll just go grind on the higher floors for a little while.
My floor of choice for grinding was the 50th floor, the current frontline, which—much like the 25th—was insanely difficult, because the monsters were much stronger and thus yielded more XP.
The number of mini-bosses I had killed on this floor thus far was probably in the tens, and while the gear I'd gotten from them had been nothing special, the amount of col and XP I had gotten was ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the single player that had earned the most money at this point, except for maybe Argo. Gotten the most col into the player economy. There.
Argo was the likely the single richest player, that scamming rat.
Well, now just to wait for the boss to show up. I was a few zones away from the boss because if somebody showed up I didn't want to lead them to the boss.
5 minutes before the boss will show up I see Kirito in the distance and activate my [Hiding], as he passes a little while after I see Fuurinkazan following him, and behind them a group from the DDA.
I run and silently catch up to Kirito, only to see him be stopped by Klein. I can't actually hear their conversation but Klein seems to be trying to stop Kirito from going, presumably to fight the boss alone. A bit later the DDA shows up and Klein switches from 'don't go' to 'go, we'll hold them off.'
I guess I'll go help Kirito, though he probably doesn't need it. He enters the zone where the boss will spawn and waits before the tree. I walk up next to him and deactivate the [Hiding] skill.
He shows almost no reaction to my sudden appearance, simply glancing at me once.
As the clock hit 11:59:55, the ringing of small bells could be heard in the distance, steadily growing louder and two streaks of blue light could be seen, as the clock hit midnight, the streaks passed overhead and a giant man with blueish skin, red eyes, santa claus-like clothes, and a large beard dropped down, the name, Nicholas the Renegade.
He had four health bars and a giant battle axe.
The boss roared and both Kirito and I leapt into action.
As the boss's final bar hit nearly empty, I jumped back and let Kirito score the final blow. The boss shattered and he stood there silently looking at the LAB. Then he collapsed onto his knees, crying silently. I walk over to him and without really thinking hug him. He just collapses onto my shoulder and cries.
"It's my fault..." he mutters.
"Eh?" I say stupidly before immediately realizing what he meant.
"It's my fault she's dead..."
Kirito then proceeds to tell me about the guild he had joined, the Moonlit Black Cats, they were a low level guild and he saved them and then when they asked what level he was, he lied—I suppose being alone...—and said he was about their level, then they invited them to join his guild and he helped them level up and they tried to get the front lines, but one day, when they had gotten enough money to buy a house for the guild the leader went to buy the house they wanted, the rest of the group went to a previously unmapped dungeon to earn some extra col.
The dungeon had been fairly easy, almost too easy, and they came across a hidden doorway by accident, it led to a small room with a chest in the middle and before he could warn them, they rushed in and opened the chest. He had went in with them just before the door shut and the anti-crystal trap activated in an attempt to protect them, but the hoards of monsters surrounded them and by the time he had killed them all, his guild mates—except the leader—were dead, including the girl in the guild whom he had promised to protect. When he delivered the news to the leader, the leader committed suicide.
That had been a few months ago.
Once he finishes telling the story, there's a silence. What am I supposed to say? He's my friend, I'm supposed to be able to help him, and yet...
"If you ever get lonely, you can come to me. I promise I won't die, as long as you don't die either, that is," I eventually say.
"Heh, I think I'll take you up on that offer," he says in a rather dead tone with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Come on, if we spend too long, Klein will think that we lost and come looking, then he'll see you like that," I say, trying hopelessly to lighten the mood, nonetheless, Kirito did slowly and reluctantly get up.
We walk back to where Fuurinkazan had held off the DDA.
When we get there, the DDA is nowhere to be seen and Klein, along with his guild mates, are all sitting in the snow with their weapons thrown around. Klein tries to say something but Kirito silently throws the revival item at Klein. "If a friend ever dies in front of you, use it."
Kirito then silently walks off, back in the direction of the Mishe.
"I'll take care of him, so don't worry," I say to Klein with a slight smile.
"Make sure to," he says in an almost parent-like tone.
I nod and follow Kirito.
The 50th floor boss will be soon, I hope he recovers somewhat before then.
"Judging from the difficulty of the floor, what the scouts reported, and the difficulty of the 25th boss, this boss will be our greatest challenge yet, it is likely that many will die. However, we must push on, for our day of liberation!" Heathcliff says in his loud voice.
His ability to tell everyone that a good fraction of them are going to die soon and then make them not hesitate in the slightest to proceed anyway is astounding.
"The boss is an enormous, 6 armed, metallic statue with a scimitar in each hand. The scouts say it's about twice as big as the 23rd boss. From what the scouts were able to get before having to flee, it seems that it behave similar to the statue monsters throughout the labyrinth. It will start slow and as the battle goes on, it will slowly get faster. It will also have a ridiculous amount of defense and likely HP. That's all we managed to gather."
"The tank squad, led by me, will take the brunt of the attacks and attempt to turn the boss away from the rest of the raid group, which will then attack from behind. Given how little we know about the boss, a strategy any more precise is impossible," Heathcliff explains.
Well, let's hope it's enough.
"Since on this fight we can only take the very strongest, the meeting to determine who will come will take place 3 days from know, meet here at 1pm. Meeting adjourned!" Heathcliff finishes and everyone disperses. Almost everyone, anyway. I wonder who else will be in the tank squad. I mean, there are relatively few players who can even block the blows of the statues in the dungeon completely, and if this thing is that huge, the force behind its attacks would be stupid. In that case—since the tanks aren't really defending anyone in the plan, just a distraction—it would make more since for most of the distraction players to be more movement focused. Maybe I'll go take a peek at the boss.
I walk over to where Heathcliff was still standing and say, "Can I please have the map data to the boss? I'd like to go take a look."
"Alright, but I don't suggest trying to fight it alone," he says, giving me the map data.
"Even I'm not that crazy. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't actually tried to fight a floor boss alone yet," I say.
When he said enormous, I didn't realize he meant that big. That thing is like 50 meters tall or something. Well actually I did since he said it was twice the height of the 23rd boss, but still, it didn't quite sink in. There is no way anyone but Heathcliff can block an attack from that thing. Interestingly enough, it only had four HP bars, but that wasn't all that comforting.
I wonder how low I could get its HP before I need to retreat... wait, that's called fighting the boss. Given its size, I wouldn't be surprised if I die in one or two hits, so maybe not a good idea.
I teleport to the 13th floor where the current KOB headquarters were located and head to said headquarters. The guards reluctantly let me in and I head to Heathcliff's office, a place I'd been once before.
"What did you think of the boss?" he asks.
"I think that your plan has a flaw," I answer.
"How so?" he asks.
"Do you really believe that any of the tanks other than yourself will be able to block that things attacks? Because I don't," I say.
"What are you suggesting?" he asks.
"The general purpose of tanks is to protect those behind them, that is why they block even the heaviest attacks which in other circumstances would simply be dodged. However, in your plan, the tanks are not defending anybody, but simply distracting the boss. Since that is the case, what is the purpose of blocking the ridiculously powerful attacks instead of evading them?" I ask.
"Are you suggesting that [DEX] centered players be the distraction instead of tanks?"
"Yes. Naturally, given the nature of the plan, I myself am volunteering. Having you still on the distraction team would make sense, however, I believe that having other tank players on the team will result in needless casualties," I say.
"I see. However, who other than yourself will be willing to take on such a role?" he asks.
"Likely nobody else, in fact, [DEX] centered builds aren't even very popular amongst the clearers, but since I'll be dodging and not getting hit, I won't need to switch out to recover HP nearly as often, instead I would simply need to take a short break every now and then."
"Are you suggesting to have the two of us be the only members of the distraction team?"
"It would limit the number of people in harms way to the highest leveled players and maximize the amount of the 48 raid players that are focused on dealing damage. Besides, I likely have a higher [STR] stat than most of the tanks and my weapons have a ridiculous amount of durability so I'm likely capable of blocking a few attacks if necessary," I say.
"Also, I'm sure Asuna would agree as well," I add.
However, Heathcliff refused having Asuna on the team in an almost parent-like tone. Guess he cares about his vice-commander. And in an almost parent-like way too, not in the way most of the male population cares about her. I pity her. At least in my case, most of them are too busy hating me for being a Beater (how do you even hate someone for over a year for something that they didn't even do to you?) to bother. Most, unfortunately.
"I will inform everyone on the change of plan on the selection day," he says.
As I leave the building I am greeted by a not particularly happy looking Kirito. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was unhappy about. As of a few days ago we agreed to be partners and I ran off on my own.
"Sorry," I say.
"Geez, where were you?" he asks.
"I was checking out the 50th boss," I answer honestly.
He was about to do something like call me stupid for going alone but I cut him off, "Don't worry, I was just taking a peek. I went in, looked at it, and teleported out. I didn't try to attack it or anything."
"Oh, alright. So what are you doing here, at the KOB HQ then?" he asks.
"Well, upon seeing the boss, I determined that having tanks distract it was a completely ridiculous idea and even Heathcliff might have trouble blocking its attacks. However, it still needs to be distracted, so instead the current plan is for just me and Heathcliff to distract it, mostly by evasion," I say, knowing full well that Kirito wouldn't be happy.
"I'm-"
"No, you've got arguably the highest DPS of all the players in SAO, at least if you take into account that the boss is basically a walking suit of perfect armor that won't really have any weak points except for maybe on its head, which is 50 meters in the air. Besides, your [DEX] isn't that high, and neither is your [VIT] so you wouldn't make for a good distraction." Well, my DPS might be better in some situations, but I'm also one of the fastest players.
"... Fine. But if you die..." he says.
"Don't worry, I promised I wouldn't die, didn't I?" I ask rhetorically.
"Alright," he says and hugs me.
"You realize there are other people here, right?" I ask.
Kirito blushes slightly and lets go.
3 days later was the meeting that would determine which 48 players would participate in the raid. Nobody questioned me or Kirito participating, no matter how much they disliked us,—which wasn't all that much at this point—they still agreed that we were both in the top 3 strongest players, along with Heathcliff, though the order among the top 3 wasn't really well known. I personally didn't know if I could beat Heathcliff myself, though I think I probably could beat Kirito, even if he used his unique skill, [Duel Blades]. Though why does he get it, come on. I'm totally not jealous of the 16 hit combo skill that comes with the skill. Not at all. Definitely. Okay, that's a lie. But seriously, a 16 hit combo. That's so OP... okay, I'm not really one to talk. I guess I already have two swords so I shouldn't be complaining.
Speaking of my swords, other bows had yet to show up so I still hadn't revealed that my swords could turn into a bow. Despite this I had put in some practice and could now shoot the bow in approximately the direction I intend to. Approximately, but still better than nothing.
The people who would be coming were the whole of Klein's guild, Asuna, Heathcliff, Kirito, and me, along with 36 players with DPS builds and the two next best tanks after Heathcliff.
One of the 8 parties was Asuna, Heathcliff, Kirito, the two tanks, and me. This was the 'distraction' party, even though 4 of the 6 people would be focused on dealing damage unless there was an emergency. Another was Klein's guild, and the remaining 6 parties were partied up by previous affiliation and similar builds.
The boss fight would take place tomorrow because there was no real need to wait.
As Heathcliff and I approached the boss it slowly stood up from its throne. I was slightly ahead because the idea was to have it target me and then when I needed a break I would hide behind Heathcliff.
Its blank eyes turned red and it raised one of its scimitars, striking at me.
I jump back, luring it a little away from the end of the giant room so I could circle around it so that the other players could attack it from behind.
Heathcliff also retreated, so that it wouldn't switch targets.
It struck out several more times before slowly stepping towards us as we retreated at a steady pace.
Once it was about 100 meters from the end of the room—yes the room was that huge—we started to circle around it. So far things were going to plan. It had been targeting me repeatedly, seemingly annoyed by the fact that it couldn't land a single hit on me.
Once the boss had been fully turned around, all the other players began to attack the boss repeatedly.
Everyone would jump in, use all their high cooldown, high damage sword skills and then back out, this meant that the whole group was doing massive damage without anyone building up too much aggro and causing the boss to target them instead. The giant statue's HP drained at a steady rate, however slow.
As the first bar shattered, about 20 minutes into the fight, the boss gained some color and sped up considerably, though not enough to make dodging all that difficult yet.
The rate at which it was losing HP also increased somewhat, suggesting that its defense had also lowered. It also gained some color other than the original coppery metal.
It was so close to death, so why did things have to go wrong?
On the last bar the boss kept speeding up further and further as the HP drained and the boss now looked like a giant instead of a statue.
It had less than 3% HP left when things went wrong. As I stopped behind Heathcliff to rest for a short bit from the ridiculously fast onslaught of blades, he raised his shield and braced himself... which did absolutely nothing to help as the barrage of blows hit with ridiculous power and sent him flying backwards, straight into me. The boss—having deemed us dealt with—immediately turned towards the rest of the clearing group.
The two tanks stood next to each other and raised their shields as the boss swung down, but as the giant sword clashed with their shields, the shields shattered and the players were sent flying backwards, both at shattering as they hit the ground. The swing continued and cut two players in half, instantly killing them.
"Retreat!" Kirito yelled as the boss swung again, claiming another life. All moral was shattered. Everyone took out teleport crystals and used them.
Except me and Kirito. No way am I retreating when the boss has so little HP.
Kirito noticed me not retreating and neither did he.
We both did—however—retreat physically jumping and running about 100 meters away from it. The boss looked at us almost tauntingly, allowing us to get away and regroup without attacking.
"With its current defense, if you use your [Dual Blades], you should be able to kill it in one sword skill," I say.
"That's probably true, or would be, if I had a decent second sword," he says, slightly embarrassed.
"Seriously!? You have that skill and yet neglected to get yourself a decent second sword?!" I almost yell, face palming. I still have my sword from before the 25th boss fight, it was amazing then and I even upgraded it a few more times since then, so it should qualify as 'decent.'
I materialize that sword and hand it to Kirito.
"Use this, it won't be as good as you main one, but it's decent," I say.
"Alright," he says, going into his menu and equipping the second sword.
"I'll get its attention for a few seconds so you can get a clear shot, then you use your skill and shred it," I say and take out both swords, fusing them into a bow.
We both sprint towards the boss, which seems to have about gotten sick of waiting anyway, and I run up one of the pillars in the room and shoot it. Stupid? Yes. Good at getting its attention? Apparently.
One of the boss's scimitars cuts clean through the pillar right beneath me. How the hell is that fair? It's an [Immortal Object]!
I abruptly cut off my assent, allowing gravity to pull me back down as another scimitar cuts through the pillar right above me, allowing the segment of pillar to slide out and come crashing to the ground. As I fall I glance and see that Kirito was about to activate his skill. Thankfully, given the way SAO worked, an attack on the foot of this giant monster could still kill it.
Both his swords glow blue and a flurry of blows begins. The boss's HP drains quickly and before it can hit him it shatters, several of the blows of Starburst Stream hitting the air as Kirito doesn't even bother to interrupt it. It had been close. I say before it can hit him, but it was a few centimeters away from him, and with the size and speed of the sword, that was a tiny fraction of a second worth of time. For that matter, I had nearly got hit too.
I hit the ground having forgotten I was falling and grunt at the pain.
Ouch.
"Are you alright?" Kirito asks somewhat jokingly.
"Yeah, what did you get for the LAB?" I ask.
"An amazing longsword. As if the drop was tailor made for me, it's even black," he says.
"I get the feeling the drops are tailor made. Or maybe not tailor made, but still, it depends on the person who killed it," I say.
(3rd person, Asuna)
'Where are they? Did they not teleport out?
Please tell me they survived.
The boss had managed to break through Heathcliff's defense and then kill 5 people over several seconds. There's no way they were able to kill it, even if it was at a tiny amount of HP.' Asuna thought, praying she was wrong at the same time. She was too worried at the time to check her friend list.
(1st person, Jun)
"Hey Kirito?" I ask.
"Yeah?" he replies.
"I have a somewhat cruel idea," I say.
"What?"
"Well, let's not activate the teleport gate on the 51st floor and pretend we died, then sneak down and see how people react to us being 'dead?' Obviously Argo would need to be in on it because someone would ask before long and she would check her friend list. Asuna should be in on it too because she'd be sad if we died," I say.
"... Alright," Kirito says with some hesitation.
We both equip the brown cloaks that were available basically for free on the first floor and I say, "Let's wait half an hour and then teleport back to the 50th floor. Meanwhile, we can check out the 51st floor."
Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.
The story is finally living up to its name, they finally teamed up... like 50k words late, but better late than never, right?
