hello again!
i got WhiteEagle600 as my primary beta, so if you find any mistakes you can yell at him, and not Thunderwolf!
thanks to Thunder for your wonderful service, but I want you to focus on your fic. I know that Beta-ing and Writing can be hard.
to Failtastic- I found someone with as much of a life as I do to beta! You know how much of a life I have!
to Gothgod- sorry I haven't used Wraith often, but I do have big plans for him!
now onto the chapter...
"You want to join my party?" Asked Kora to the white masked person in front of him.
The person nodded.
"Why? You should be able to find another group." He said.
The figure held up his hands, and signed "but I want to be in your group. Besides, I was thinking of joining the ALF anyways."
It was a good thing that Kora's wife had made him learn sign language, or he would have been screwed with this mute warrior. The captain sighed. "Fine, I will take you. I guess it was a good thing I split my group of eleven up anyways." Opening his menu, Kora sent the request for Wraith to be the sixth member of his party. Jax had the other six, as he was the second in command, being very loyal to Kora and what the ALF stood for.
"What's your name?" Asked the captain.
Wraith signed his name over to him, and received the request a moment later. After selecting the appropriate button, he saw the hp bars of the other five members appear below his. 'There. I will do something productive' he thought.
"How much longer before we set out for the boss?" He signed.
"We have…" Kora checked his HUD. "Two hours. You gonna get something done?"
Wraith nodded, and gestured to his katana, which he was meaning to replace with a slightly longer blade called an "okatana".
Kora nodded. "Be back in ninety minutes."
Wraith turned briskly, and walked out of the Black Iron Palace quickly, on his way to the famous Blacksmith.
"Hello!" Said the exuberant smith excitedly. "How may I help you today?"
Wraith brought out his menu, and pulled up the pm section. He typed "I want an okatana. Hopefully with a three and a half feet long blade"
She nodded. "Let's see…. I think I made one already" she fished through her inventory.
Bringing out a blade a little longer than the one he had, she asked "this good?"
Wraith inspected the curved surface with his eyes, liking what he saw. Nodding, Wraith dug in his inventory for a few coins.
"No need to pay! Agil, Teika, Aoki, Silica, Kora and Tohaku have promised to split the cost of everything!" She smiled. "They told me that anyone who comes up, asking for a weapon is likely a Clearer, and should be treated as royalty."
Blinking rapidly, he took the sword. 'Wow, that was nice of them' he thought. 'I cannot accept this' he pulled a few thousand col, and put them on the ground next to the smith.
"Hey, it's for free! Why are you dropping some money on the ground?" She asked, standing properly. Putting her hands on her hips, she frowned. "Someone else is trying to be generous, and you are being rude by not taking it!"
Wraith looked her in the eyes, and spoke. "I cannot accept others' charity."
He turned, and marched back to the Black Iron Palace.
Once back inside the Squad Room, he faced Kora. He then signed "what do I have to do to join the guild?"
"Hang on" said the captain. "Hey! Marcos, get off of Tor! Now!" He shook his head. "The others are a little too excited. Well, I guess I can just give you this and call you a part of my squad" Kora pulled a bandana out of his inventory, handing it to Wraith. "Don't care where you put it, just have it visible."
Wraith nodded, taking it, and tying the bandana around his sword sheath.
"Hey!" Called out Kora. "Line up for inspection!"
All eleven got in a straight line, including Wraith. He looked like an outsider, with the white cloak, and lack of armor.
"Lucy, where are you?" Asked Kora, looking around, since his headcount came up ten instead of eleven.
"Here!" She called, coming out of a door. She had on a bra, and underwear. On her side was a smallsword, the bandana on her head marked her as part of ALF Squad 13.
Someone whistled a cat-call to the scarcely clad female. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back as she walked with swaying hips.
"Lucy…" growled Kora.
"Yes?" She asked innocently.
"Why are you wearing that?" He asked tensely.
"Because, I don't think fighting naked would be a good idea" she said with a straight face.
"If you don't get a shirt and shorts on now, I will suspend you from the team" he threatened.
"Awww man!" She complained, with the squad also silently cursing their leader. She opened her menu, and pressed a few buttons, putting on vibrant clothes. "You're no fun" she complained.
He walked up and down the line, looking at his soldiers. Even Wraith seemed solemn, although, with that mask it was impossible to tell.
"We are going to take the first step towards carving out path out of here" he said. "We are going to fight to show the people stuck in here that we won't give up! We are going to win, and go to the next floor, and lead on! We are Squad Thirteen, and we are going to lead the way out of this hellhole!"
There was a cheer among the assembled crew; even Wraith clapped his gloved hands together at that.
They stood outside the large doors that spelled doom. The group was over fifty strong, with eleven of it being Squad Thirteen, and fifteen being from the HDA. The other thirty four were unaffiliated players, who just wanted to get out, including Agil, and Lis. Diavel was at the front of the panting group, his presence commanding.
"I am not great at speeches" he said. "But we are here, take a break. In ten minutes, we fight for the right to go to the next floor."
Everyone groaned in relief at his words, and slumped to the ground. Wraith walked around, politely (and silently) asking people to peek at their hp bars. If they weren't at full health, he whispered the words that would restore their life. They looked at him with amazement at this, and thanked him. It did save potions. He was happy, happy that he helped people.
After the ten minutes were up, Diavel took to the front again. "Now then, if my party, and Squad Thirteen of the Aincrad Liberation Force will please lead the way" he motioned to Kora. The ALF captain nodded, and sent a look to Jax, his second in command. Both marched forward, with their respective parties not far behind.
Wraith stood to the back left of Kora, at the end of the line. He felt anxiety build inside of him, not recognizing the feeling immediately. 'How long has it been?' He asked himself. 'Since I have had this bubbling inside, the tightening of the chest, the heart beating faster, and harder. I don't remember how long'.
The thirty foot tall black doors were thrown open by Kora and Diavel, and the large group made their way into the room. The ground was rectangular, twenty meters wide by one hundred meters long. There were pillars along the sides, each thicker than a tree, and extended to the lofted ceiling high above. Wraith noticed the walls were technicolored, giving a warped impression, as though time and space have different meanings here.
On the far end, was a…. thing on a throne. It stood up, and faced the advancing party. Its name was [Illfang the Kobold Lord]. The boss stood almost three meters tall, had a wolf's face, and glowing eyes. Its fur was red, and its frame was round, with no armor. A large leather wrapped shield appeared on one arm, with a tall bone-ax in the other. Both weapons were crude, but Wraith had no doubt that they would be effective.
All around him, little armored things spawned, labeled [Kobold Sentinel], each armed with a mace larger than a man's head. Then, the enemies ran at the players quickly.
"Tanks up front!" Shouted Diavel, as the mobs grew closer.
"Group E, take on the Sentinels!" Commanded Kora. Out of the corner of his eyes, Wraith noticed Teika, Aoki, and Silica run forward with Kibou and his party. They clashed with the Sentinels, and Illfang slammed into the Tanks, sending a few of them flying. The rest raised large shields, and got buffeted with attacks from the heavy ax in its hand.
"Let's go!" Yelled Kora at Wraith, as he and Diavel lead a charge right at Illfang, for the assault.
Wraith immediately ignored the command, and looked at the damaged tanks. "[Sana]" he whispered, and saw their hp rise. Nodding at his work, he looked at Kora and the rest of Squad 13. "[May the hand of my God bless them.]" came the incantation, and he saw Kora start to glow.
The commander smiled, and shouted "Ya think you're so tough, huh?" And run up to the boss. Illfang turned from its intended targets, and swung down vertically at Kora, who blocked the attack.
Wraith watched as the commander started to take on Illfang one on one, with mild success. Feeling weak, he kneeled. 'Wow, I have never used that spell before. Didn't know it would have this much impact'.
He felt a presence at his side. "How can you use magic? Aoki and Tohaku can't."
He looked up to see Teika's outstretched hand. Grasping it, and heaving himself to his feet, Wraith shrugged.
"Maybe it's because you don't have offense based magic…" he mused, however, he didn't have time to ponder this, as another wave of [Kobold Sentinel]s spawned. Smiling at the challenge, and ran forward, his ax cleaving through their ranks, and his buckler smashing them backwards.
Returning his attention back to Illfang, Wraith took in the status of the tanks. He saw the boost effect he used had worn off for Squad 13, and he didn't think he could use it again soon. Kora noticed his lack of strength, and backed off, allowing the tanks to resume their work of taking damage. Each time one of them was hit, Wraith muttered the healing spell, allowing the target to quickly get back into the fray.
"Damnit! Hey, Wraith! Two mobs coming your way!" Shouted Teika.
Wraith peeked that way, and sure enough, two Sentinels had busted through their defense, and were racing at the healer. He drew his okatana, glad for the chance to use it.
"[Obice]" [Barrier]. he muttered, and a wall of light stopped the first one's advance temporarily. Then, he ran to meet the other, his sword glowing ferociously. He used the skill [Quick Slash], which was, as the name suggests, a rapid cut. It did little damage, but had a high critical chance, and started a bleeding effect. The okatana sliced right through the plate mail armor, biting deep into the [Kobold Sentinel].
He then backflipped, right over it, and faced it. He brought his sword downwards, hacking off the arm with the mace. Once this happened, the other managed to go around the wall placed in front of it.
He dashed forward at it, leaping to the right as the mace was swung overhead at him. He ran right behind it, and used [Thrust] to shove his sword right through the chest of the Sentinel, piercing the heart. It died instantly.
He turned to the first one, but it too died from the bleeding effect.
Nodding with satisfaction, he sheathed his sword at his side.
Wraith looked back at the boss, and saw that it was at half of its second out of three ho bars. He cheered in his head, since it was already halfway dead. He saw some damaged people, and immediately healed them.
Kora approached with Squad 13. They were on break now, since using sword skills continuously really drained the body. "Was that you?" He asked. "That made me stronger and faster?"
Wraith nodded, still keeping the majority of his attention on the battle.
"Well, damn. It's nice to know that we have a Mage in Squad 13" he said appreciatively.
He looked in the same direction as Wraith. "Everything sure is going great. Almost too easily…"
'Damnit. He had to say it' thought the katana wielder.
He had to say it. Now everyone is dead!
of you are reading Failtastic's "Sun Dancer", then make sure you threaten him with Bacon Nukes to post!
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