Okay, here we go, another chapter... This time, I at least predicted that it would be relatively long. I'm not sure if this is actually an achievement, but still.
Anyway, after Klein told Akinym about a special quest that seems to be related to Sinon's Sniping skill, they will do that quest now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
Two days after Akinym and Klein's discussion, Akinym told Sinon about the quest. She seemed interested from the start, but her eyes basically lit up when Akinym mentioned the possibility that she could get a new Sword Skill from this quest. Sinon had agreed to go on this quest with him immediately.
Now they arrived at the 86th floor. The main city, Terrafil, was quite similar to Lastea on the 82nd floor. It was a small town surrounded by cliffs and trees. They added some waterfalls, though. To be honest, quite a lot of players called Terrafil an improved version of Lastea and considered moving there. It was just that most of them couldn't afford it.
Anyway, Sinon liked these smaller towns. Arc Sophia was fine and all, but it gave her these "big city" vibes. Most of the players lived in Tokio or the surrounding area, so they were more used to that, but she lived in a more rural area, so towns like Terrafil reminded her of her home more than Arc Sophia did. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind living here while they were still clearing the game.
However, they weren't here to enjoy the scenery. Akinym quickly led Sinon to the edge of town. There, they found an NPC that resembled an old man wearing a cloak.
Sinon: So I guess that's the mysterious quest NPC?
Akinym: That should be the one. It fits Klein-san's description.
Sinon: Alright. I guess I'll try talking to him to start the quest.
Sinon went ahead. When she was about three metres away, the NPC reacted to her.
Sinon: Um… Hello, sir.
Quest NPC [slightly excitedly]: Oh, did my parcel finally arrive? That's wonderful! Please give it to me!
Sinon: Huh? N-no, I'm not a postman…
The NPC paused for a moment before he continued as if nothing had happened.
Quest NPC: Oh, you're Maria, the baker's daughter, aren't you? My, you've grown so much, I barely recognised you!
Sinon was taken aback. Not knowing what to do, she waited a moment for Akinym to catch up with her.
Sinon [slightly confused]: Wh-what is this nonsense?! I don't think it works…
Akinym [slightly contemplatively]: Well, finding the right trigger can be tricky. I mean, I've told you that it sometimes requires a very specific line, remember? Unfortunately, Klein-san didn't tell me what he used. Well, let's see… It should be something that's related to the quest. Sometimes it's a bit of a guessing game. Try asking him about his past as a warrior!
Sinon [slightly determinedly]: Got it! I'll try. [to the NPC, calmly] Excuse me, sir, but I've heard you used to be a warrior in your youth.
Quest NPC: Oh! That's right! Thirty years ago, I was a renowned marksman who accomplished many great deeds! Oh, I know! I shall tell you the story how I slayed a fearsome dragon, a beast that soared through the sky, raining fire and terror on the helpless people, its scales reflected both the sun and their screams…
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: Is this supposed to happen? What's all this rambling about?
Akinym [slightly exasperatedly]: Well, Klein-san mentioned that the story behind this quest is quite long.
Sinon: These RPGs can be so annoying… Is there nothing we can do?
Akinym: I'm afraid there's no fast-forward button in SAO… Besides, remember your training! The quest lore is more than just RPG ambience. It often contains valuable information on the quest and might help you complete it.
Sinon: Okay…
Quest NPC: Are you listening, young people? You should make sure not to miss anything! This is a story unlike any you'll ever hear!
Sinon: I'm listening! Please continue…
Quest NPC: Oh, good! So, the dragon was huge as only such legendary beasts are. Not as tall as these cliffs behind my house, but easily as big as a boulder. Not one of the small ones you can find near the street, but more like that really big one you can find east of town. And its claws were long and deadly. The length was about the same as the files you can buy at the tool shop in this town. You know, the one in the street down the butcher's shop with this marvellous mahogany sign in front of it…
The story went on and on, and Akinym and Sinon listened as carefully as they could. They soon began to regret their decision to do so, though. As it turned out, Klein hadn't been exaggerating when he had called this the longest and most boring story in the history of RPGs.
The NPC continued to describe the dragon's appearance for at least three minutes. After that, he described his own appearance and skills in a… similar manner before he told them of the hunt in great detail. The story included elements such as the complete history of every single arrow.
Quest NPC: ...and the beast howled in pain! In that moment, I knew that I had a chance to end this once and for all. So I took another arrow from my quiver. Producing my trusty bow, I nocked it to aim at the creature in front of me, and as my muscles glistened in the light of the flames it had sent towards me, both of us knew that this was the end. I loosed off my arrow, and the string of my bow sent it towards my opponent. It flew through the air magnificently, like a wooden shooting star that announced the end of the battle, and it struck the beast's right eye! With its death cry, it fell, and the terror it had brought came to an end! [happily] Ah, what wonderful memories! I hope I didn't forget anything.
When the NPC stopped talking, Akinym and Sinon kept staring at him with expressions that showed clearly how done they were with this story. The fact that it ended seemed almost too good to be true, so neither of them reacted until half a minute had passed.
Sinon [relieved]: It… It's over, right?!
Akinym [exasperatedly]: Seems like it…
Sinon [confused, slightly worriedly]: But what now? He stopped talking completely. D-did I do something wrong? [slightly annoyed] I honestly don't want this to be in vain!
Akinym [slightly contemplatively]: Hm, I guess there's also a line to accept the quest after the story is told. I mean, he told the story to people who couldn't accept it, so it's more like a prologue. Well, let's see… Try asking him about the technique he used, and if you can learn it from him!
Sinon [slightly worriedly]: Alright… He better doesn't teach me the same way he tells stories. [to the NPC, slightly determinedly] Thank you, sir, for sharing this… [slightly exasperatedly] amazing story, which was – [mutters, annoyed] fortunately – [speaks aloud, slightly determinedly] unlike anything I've ever heard! I was wondering if you could tell me more about your marksmanship. Maybe you could pass down your skills to me?
Quest NPC [interested]: Oh? What an ambitious young warrior! I can see that you're also walking the path of an archer.
Sinon's eyes lit up at this point, and Akinym also became more interested. Apparently, they had come closer to solving the riddle behind this quest.
Quest NPC [contemplatively]: Hm… I wouldn't mind teaching you my skill, [sternly] but you have to prove that you're worthy of inheriting it! For that, you have to fetch the Trial Amulet at the shrine that was built in remembrance of the dragon!
A quest marker appeared above the NPC, signaling that a quest was available now.
Sinon: That's it… [excitedly] I did it! Now I can get that skill, and listening to this boring, annoying story really pays off!
Akinym: Looks like it!
Sinon nodded, and with the brightest smile Akinym had seen on her face as far as he remembered, she turned to the NPC again.
Sinon [determinedly]: Okay, I'll get the amulet!
Quest NPC: Wonderful! I will await your return!
The quest marker changed, signaling that the quest was accepted.
Akinym [slightly contemplatively]: Okay, that has worked. Sinon-san, could you check the quest log for the details?
Sinon nodded, opened her menu and went straight to the quest log for this particular quest. The quest really just required them to get a certain item, and it pointed them to a dungeon in the far north of the 86th floor.
Akinym: I see. I think I've heard of this dungeon. It was explored and looted, but there is nothing remarkable about it except for a pillar with some kind of accessory on it. Nobody has managed to get it so far, and I guess it's this Trial Amulet. It seems to be related to the quest.
Sinon: Okay, so we only have to go there and get it, right?
Akinym: Yes. I guess we can get the map data from an info broker. Argo-san still owes me a favour for talking a bunch of people out of pinning her to a tree in an area with high monster density.
Sinon [surprised]: Huh?!
Akinym [slightly exasperatedly]: It's a long story. You know, about her… April Fool's joke. [calmly] Anyway, we can get the map data from her, [slightly contemplatively] but I think getting there might be the hard part about this. Hm… We should invite other players to help.
Sinon [slightly worriedly]: Well, that could be a problem, couldn't it? They probably won't get anything out of it. I mean, we could ask the others, but Kirito and Leafa are still busy in the Hollow Area, and Asuna, Agil and Klein should be dealing with the next floor boss right now, right? Liz is probably at her shop, and I don't want to disturb her, and I don't know if Silica alone will be enough.
Akinym: I mean, we could ask them, but I actually have two players in mind who should be able to help. We only have to clear the way, so we should be fine.
Sinon: Well, okay. If you say so…
Sinon waited for a moment while Akinym was writing and sending two messages. It struck her as odd that the second message seemed to be relatively short, but she just shrugged it off in the end.
The two players replied quickly. They turned out to be two players Akinym had helped with leveling recently, and Sinon recognised them from some of the hunting missions.
One of them was Saburo, a rather small, slim guy who used leather equipment and a rapier. The other one was Typhon, who had a significantly larger frame and used heavy metal armour and a poleaxe. They seemed to be around high school age.
These two happened to be "mercenaries". That is, they weren't members of a larger group of any kind, but they worked with others against payment. They were partners, and they offered their services to other parties. Both of them knew how to fight, and their different builds and their experience allowed them to adapt to many different situations.
Sinon was overall okay with them helping out. Judging from what she had heard, they had a remarkable reputation, and rumor had it that they had even held their ground against assaults by orange players several times.
The only odd thing was that Saburo and Typhon asked if Akinym had taken the Slouch Hat of the Sage with him.
Regardless, they were doing their job just fine. On the way to their destination, they were doing their thing, taking out monsters as intended. Sinon worked more with Akinym on the way there. Overall, their teamwork was quite rudimentary. They divided the monsters into groups, and they took care of them separately.
It wasn't too difficult, though, and they arrived at the central hall of the dungeon within a few hours. For the most part, it was just that it had been a long way from Terrafil to the dungeon, but actually making their way through it hadn't been that hard.
Akinym took a look at the pillar he had heard about. One thing for sure, there really was something shiny on top of it.
Akinym: Okay, that should be the place. And I guess that's the Trial Amulet. [slightly contemplatively] It really is out of reach, though.
Sinon [contemplatively]: Well, I could hit it with an arrow. Now that I think about it, the other day, I helped out at Agil's shop, and I had this idea to knock items off the higher shelves by shooting at them. It worked pretty well.
Akinym: Hm, you're right. The impact of an arrow might be strong enough to knock it off that pillar. Given that this is a quest about sniping, it would make sense for it to require you to use that skill.
Sinon: Well, I guess I'll do that, then. Although…
Sinon looked around the hall for a bit.
Sinon: That's not a good angle. [slightly excitedly] Ah, that platform over there should be a good place. I'll get a nice, clean shot from there!
Akinym: You're right. It seems to be the perfect position, and given that it's otherwise seemingly useless, I'd say you're supposed to shoot from there.
Sinon: Alright, I'll get up there.
Sinon climbed the stairs while Akinym, Saburo and Typhon were waiting on the ground. Saburo and Typhon were whispering to each other, seemingly discussing something in private. Akinym took another look around the room.
When Sinon arrived on the platform, she took a look at the amulet. It was relatively far away, easily about twenty metres. For a moment, Sinon wondered if she could select the pedestal the amulet was attached to as a target to use a Sword Skill for easy aiming, but that proved to be impossible. Figures.
Well, it wasn't so bad, though. She had practiced aiming for as long as she had had the Sniping skill. By now, she was quite confident in her abilities, so this should be doable.
Meanwhile, something was still bothering Akinym. He noticed the distance between the platform and the amulet, so he figured that this would normally be a difficult shot, but he knew that Sinon's archery skills were the real deal almost as much as she did. Was this quest really supposed to be this easy?
Given that the reward was supposed to be a remarkable Sword Skill for the unique Sniping skill, Akinym wondered if the quest should really be so simple. The monsters on the way here certainly hadn't been very strong, so what was the catch?
With a look at the platform, Akinym realised once more how much it stood out. The archer was obviously supposed to climb up there. Now that he thought about it… What if there was another secret to it?
Akinym had seen his fair share of quests during his time in SAO, and sometimes, there were really nasty tricks. Tricks… Akinym suddenly had a really bad premonition and used his Trap Dismantling to check the place for traps.
Akinym [panicking]: Sinon, wait!
It was too late, though. Sinon didn't even pay attention. She focused on the target and shot the arrow. It wasn't until she had finished the shot that she realised that Akinym had shouted something, and since she hadn't paid any attention, she had only heard it as some kind of background noise.
Sinon: Huh? What's wrong?
The arrow flew straight towards the amulet and knocked it off the pillar as intended. It was a flawless shot… unfortunately.
The rumbling sound of a mechanism could be heard, and the ground began shaking.
Saburo: What the hell…?
Typhon: What's happening?
The ground below them disappeared, and Akinym, Saburo and Typhon fell down into another part of the dungeon. Sinon could only watch, frozen in place, as her comrades disappeared into the darkness.
For some reason, the fall didn't even hurt them at all. Sure, it was quite the shock, and crashing into the ground was… unpleasant, to say the least, but the trap didn't seem to be meant to harm them, at least not directly.
Akinym sat up with a groan. Saburo and Typhon also got up.
Akinym: Great, there was a trap in the pedestal. I should've checked it sooner, but I honestly didn't see that coming.
He wondered if Sinon was okay, especially since she wasn't there with them, so the platform apparently hadn't disappeared. When he wondered why, he could hear a somewhat scared shriek of a girl from above.
Akinym [very worriedly]: Sinon-san, what's wrong?!
Sinon could hear that Akinym shouted something down there although she was too distracted to get what exactly he had asked, but she figured that he'd hear her, and she wanted to let him know what had just happened anyway.
Sinon: A boss! A boss has just appeared! A flying dragon!
As if to confirm it, the boss roared to announce its presence.
Great… Of all things that could've happened, it had to be a final boss battle. Akinym figured that Sinon had to fight the same monster the NPC had talked about. The trap was probably there to get rid of all supporting party members of the archer who took the quest.
What kind of balancing issue was that? Sinon couldn't possibly take on a quest boss on her own! She was a pure damage dealer, and with the requirements of using her bow, she had really low Defense and Vitality.
Akinym looked around the area frantically. There was an exit to the room he was in.
Akinym [determinedly]: Alright, listen, Sinon-san! We'll get back to you, so you just have to hold out there until we're there! It shouldn't be too long. Got that?!
Sinon: O-okay! I... I'll fight back as hard as I can!
They couldn't say anything else as the floor that had vanished reappeared.
Akinym: Okay, you two, you've heard it! She probably won't hold out very long, so we have to hurry. I doubt that this trap will take us out of commission for good, so we should be able to reach that room again, and we'll probably be able to make it in time, so let's get moving!
With that, Akinym rushed out of the room.
Saburo and Typhon remained on the spot for a moment, though. They exchanged a glance.
Saburo [slightly sinisterly]: Hey, I think that's the perfect time, right?
Typhon: Heh, you've read my mind! Let's give the others the signal!
It didn't even take long until Akinym ran straight into an obstacle.
There was a small corridor that led to another large room, not as big as the hall where they had found the Trial Amulet, but still quite spacious. On the other side of the room, there was a doorway. Behind that doorway was a staircase, which would lead back to the floor where Sinon was.
However, the moment Akinym entered that large room, he knew that this wouldn't be easy. Just a meaningless, empty room? Yeah, as if…
He took a few steps inside, and about a dozen monsters spawned in the middle of the room. These were undead-themed monsters, mostly Lost Soldiers. Their numbers could be a problem, but the biggest threat was certainly the stronger Lost Lieutenant among them.
Akinym started to wonder what took Saburo and Typhon so long when they finally caught up.
Akinym: Okay, the exit on the other side was sealed when these monsters spawned, so I guess we have to take them out to leave. We should take the smaller ones out first, so I'll get a few of them to follow me, and I'll lure them into position for you to take them out.
Without another word, Akinym started. Unfortunately, the monster stood so close together that he drew the aggro of all of them when he got close enough to attack one. Trying to avoid hits as much as possible, Akinym ran around the room in a circle to gain a distance from Lost Lieutenant, which was significantly slower than the Lost Soldiers.
He stopped when he had finished one full circle. The Lost Soldiers now had their backs to Saburo and Typhon, so this would've been a good opportunity to attack them. However, neither Saburo nor Typhon made a move to help Akinym, who had a hard time defending himself against that many monsters.
Akinym: What are you waiting for?
Typhon [casually]: Whoa, whoa, let's take this slowly, okay? There's just something we'd like to discuss first.
Saburo [slightly haughtily]: Yeah, you seem to have your hands full right now, and we'd love to help, but you know how mercenaries work, right? Of course we'd like to have something in exchange.
Akinym pushed one particular Lost Soldier away and dodged a blow from another one. He wanted to reply, but Lost Lieutenant was quite close already, so he performed a few backward jumps first to keep his distance.
Akinym: What are you talking about?! We've already talked about payment for this quest, haven't we? And to finish it, we have to get back to the quest boss as fast as possible!
Saburo [slightly annoyed]: I don't talk about measly col here! C'mon, aren't you supposed to be a smart guy, [haughtily] Representative Akinym-sama? [sternly] What would anyone want but that hat with the EXP bonus! Hand it over and we'll help you!
Typhon: Yeah, you see, we're nice guys. Just business-oriented, you know? If you want that you and your partner or girlfriend or whatever survive, you'll just have to pay for it accordingly.
Saburo: Oh, and don't get any funny ideas! Rumor has it that you had your fair share of experience with orange players, right? You know that they're not nice people. We've had quite a few encounters as well, although we're such nice, sociable guys that we're on much better terms with them. We even got some of them to accompany us! Right now, they should storm into that room. Who knows, they might as well be kind enough to save the hide of that girl, but if they kill her afterwards is a question of your cooperation.
Akinym had a hard time listening to all this while defending himself against all those monsters. To be fair, he could miss a few details and still get the gist of it, so it wasn't that bad.
Saburo and Typhon waited for an answer, but there was nothing. Defending himself and running away from Lost Lieutenant, Akinym completed another lap through the room, and the two mercenaries became impatient.
Saburo: Hey, what's the matter?! Cat got your tongue or something?! Say something, dammit!
Akinym: Why would I bother saying something in reply to your stupid demands?! I have more important things to do than to react to your blabbering, so shut up and let me focus! You just stand there and do nothing! Seems to be the best you can do after all.
Typhon: Hey, watch your mouth!
Saburo: What the hell?! Hey, didn't you listen?! You better cooperate when you want that girl to survive!
Akinym: I want her to survive, and that's why I have to take these monsters out and get back to her! But sorry, you can forget your moronic plan!
Saburo: Moronic?! What do you think…
Akinym: How else would you call this shallow idea?! You expect me to trust such a venal bunch? Yeah, yeah, I give you what you want, and you'll let us go so we can tell the Assault Team about you and your band of merry orange players, I instantly believe you! Of course you'd kill us and tell everyone that we died when fighting the quest boss, and you avenged us like glorious heroes. Yeah, I bet you rubbed your hands, thinking how much you can benefit from that hat if you can keep it to yourselves, but sorry! Not happening!
Both Saburo and Typhon clenched their teeth, and when Akinym caught a quick glance at them in between his dodging manoeuvres, he could see that they were on the verge of losing their temper.
Akinym: Now, could you stop rambling?! Your nonsensical babbling is worse than that quest NPC, and you're wasting system resources!
Saburo drew his rapier and dashed towards Akinym with a fierce expression on his face.
Saburo: You've got some nerve running your mouth like that in your situation! Hey, guess what?! You were right, we would've killed you either way! Our orange partners were supposed to do that, but I guess some things are worth getting an orange cursor! At least the DDA will be happy with this!
Saburo thrust his rapier at Akinym, who was deflecting the blow of one of the Lost Soldiers.
Akinym grabbed the spear of the Lost Soldier and used his own spear to sweep his foe's legs before pulling on its spear. That way, he pulled the body forward, and it got in the way of Saburo's attack, so he hit the Lost Soldier instead of Akinym.
Saburo pushed the Lost Soldier away to the side before he started to attack Akinym again. Akinym had to deflect a few attacks.
Seeing that regular thrusts weren't enough, Saburo charged a Sword Skill. Akinym had to dodge a few blows coming from the opposite side, so it seemed to be a good opportunity.
However, before he could start the Sword Skill, Saburo was disturbed by one of the Lost Soldiers, the one he had hit right now. Said Lost Soldier rammed its spear into his side and threw him off balance.
Saburo [slightly upset]: What the…? What is this thing doing?!
Saburo fought the unexpected enemy back with frantic sword strikes. The Lost Soldier parried most of them with his shield, so Saburo resorted to his most powerful Sword Skill, Spica Caliber.
The strong thrusts pushed the target into the rest of the group of Lost Soldiers, and some blows ended up missing the target and hitting other Lost Soldiers instead. As a result, two more Lost Soldiers began attacking Saburo instead of Akinym.
Saburo [slightly panicking]: Dammit, what is up with these things?! Why do I get their aggro so easily?!
The answer happened to be quite simple. Akinym had actually only attacked one of the Lost Soldiers. He had made sure that he'd only deal damage to the one he had attacked initially, so the others would attack Saburo and Typhon as soon as he'd get them to hit these monsters. In their haughtiness, neither Saburo nor Typhon had noticed that.
Three Lost Soldiers were already a bit too much for Saburo, so he called out to his partner, who usually played the role of a tank.
Saburo: Typhon, get these things off me!
Typhon: Already on it!
Typhon had indeed begun running towards Saburo when he had begun to draw the aggro of some monsters. It was just that his own movement speed was rather low because of his heavy equipment and (accordingly) low Agility.
Once he was in range, Typhon prepared a 1-hit AOE Sword Skill with his axe. This, however, was also Akinym's signal to act again. He rushed past Typhon, and with a system-assisted forward dash, he just got out of range of the Sword Skill before Typhon unleashed it.
Typhon hit the three Lost Soldiers that had attacked Saburo, and he drew the aggro of two of them. However, several Lost Soldiers who had chased after Akinym got caught up in the attack as well, and almost all of them attacked Typhon now.
Typhon: Damn! So… [repels the Lost Soldiers] many of them!
There were only two Lost Soldiers left that attacked Akinym. That was something he could handle. Well, there was also Lost Lieutenant, but Akinym could keep his distance from the boss as long as he paid attention. A lot of running around the room was necessary for that, but Akinym could fight the monsters properly now.
It wasn't easy, though. Lost Soldiers were relatively good in terms of defense, and Akinym's offensive abilities weren't that good. The monsters managed to block most of his attacks with their shields.
Akinym used Armor-Breaking Lance to deal with this. The anti-parry debuff caused some of their parries to fail, which usually took the form of the shields being pushed out of the way of the attacks or the attacks slipping off the shields in a way so that the Lost Soldiers would get hit.
It still took Akinym a few minutes to take the two Lost Soldiers out, especially since he had to wait for the cooldown of the Sword Skill to be over before he could really take on the second one. This was time he honestly didn't want to spend here. Who knew how Sinon was doing in the meantime…
While fighting against these monsters, Akinym couldn't help but remember Kirito at Kligon's cave on the 79th floor. Back then, Akinym had basically given up, but Kirito's iron determination to get both of them out of there alive had saved the day. Now, Akinym wondered if he could pull of the same deed, getting out of this mess without sacrifices or casualties.
The answer to that question might lie in his battle against the two and a half metres tall skeleton that walked straight towards him. Lost Lieutenant, an admittedly relatively weak boss monster with two HP bars, a large scimitar and a rectangular shield. It's movements were slow, and its only strong point was its high Attack. In a sense, it was like Kligon, but without the worrisome armour.
Akinym couldn't spend much time figuring out Lost Lieutenant's attack patterns. Fortunately, they were extremely simple. The boss was only there to delay them, so it didn't have any too dangerous gimmicks. Its attacks were plain vertical sword strikes, and when it slammed its blade into the ground, it needed a moment to recover.
Seeing that, Akinym could deal quite easily with it by waiting for its attacks, dodging to the side at the right moment, and circling around it to attack it from behind. Until the boss turned around to defend itself with its shield again, Akinym could hit it a few times or use a strong Sword Skill.
The weak point of the boss appeared to be a glowing, dusky crystal that was enclosed in Lost Lieutenants rib cage. Akinym tried to attack various spots on the boss' body, but none of these hits seemed to be extraordinarily effective.
Hitting that crystal was the difficult part, though, since there wasn't much space between the ribs. Akinym tried to, but his aiming technique wasn't that great to begin with, so there wasn't much he could do.
Akinym whittled down Lost Lieutenant's HP slowly but steadily. However, when the first HP bar was gone, things became a bit… tricky. The boss didn't change its movement patterns, but it became faster. It recovered faster after its attacks, and it could turn around faster. Even its parries, which had also been quite sluggish before, became faster.
That way, Akinym could hardly hit the boss anymore, and he became frustrated quickly. He drew back a bit to catch his breath and come up with a plan. Fortunately, the boss' walking speed was still the same, so Akinym could keep his distance for now.
Meanwhile, Saburo and Typhon had killed most of the other Lost Soldiers.
Right now, Saburo finished another one off. A second one got behind him, and before Saburo could react, it rammed its spear into his back. Startled by the impact and due to his exhaustion, Saburo slipped and fell to the ground.
He lost his grip on his rapier, and the weapon rolled away a little, just out of Saburo's reach. He tried to crawl towards it in order to grab it again and to fight back, but the Lost Soldier increased the pressure on its spear and pinned Saburo to the ground.
Once he realised that he couldn't move and that his HP, which were already in the yellow zone, were decreasing at an alarming pace, Saburo panicked.
Saburo: WaaaAAAH, HELP! TYPHON!
Typhon took a quick glance at Saburo's situation. He still had to deal with one of the Lost Soldiers himself. He used a strong 2-hit combo to finish it off.
The Lost Soldier tried to parry the first blow, but it was strong enough to throw the monster off balance. The attack almost broke through the parry. It wasn't even necessary, though. The monster was wide open, and the second blow sent it flying. Upon hitting the ground, the Lost Soldier shattered into polygons.
After that, Typhon rushed over to Saburo and slammed his axe into the Lost Soldier that attacked his partner. The impact was strong enough to knock the monster back, and Typhon didn't stop his swing until the Lost Soldier crashed into the wall behind it.
Typhon didn't withdraw his axe and used it to pin the monster to the wall. The blade still cut into its body, and its last remaining HP were drained. Typhon kept pressing his weapon against the monster's body until only its polygons remained.
In the meantime, Saburo quickly pulled the spear out of his back and fetched a potion from his inventory. He had also had a Healing Crystal, but he had used it already during the battle, otherwise he probably would've used the more efficient healing item in his panicked state.
Saburo didn't even calm down after chugging the potion. His breathing was frantic, and the picture of his near-death remained quite vivid on his mind.
Seeing his partner in such a state, Typhon became quite angry. Thanks to his heavy armour, he hadn't sustained much damage, his HP bar wasn't even in the yellow zone. However, his partner, the only person he trusted in this world where it was better to betray than to be betrayed for all he knew, had almost fallen victim to an MPK.
Typhon glared at the culprit. Akinym dodged another blow of the boss right now and retreated to a safe distance again. Clasping his axe tightly, Typhon let out an angry battle cry and charged at Akinym.
Akinym heard a noise from his side and saw Typhon running towards him with his axe ready for an attack. Great, now he had to deal with these guys, too. Looking back and forth between Typhon and Lost Lieutenant, however, he had an idea how he could use one problem to deal with the other one.
When Typhon swung his axe at Akinym, he waited carefully until the last moment to dodge. The axe still grazed his arm. The hit didn't cause much damage, and Akinym had wanted this to happen. Now, Typhon's cursor turned orange, so Akinym could attack him without PvP penalty.
The question was how he should do that, though. For his plan to work, Akinym had to incapacitate Typhon, but his opponent was a seasoned player himself, and heavy armour protected almost every part of his body.
This would require some kind of trick, and Akinym had one in mind. He took a look at Typhon's wrists after dodging another blow. Typhon used metal gauntlets that protected his hands, but there was an open spot between the gauntlets and the bracers, so the wrists were unprotected. A well-aimed attack, and…
Aiming was the problem, though. Akinym wasn't confident in his ability to hit the small gap.
Thinking about a solution, Akinym remembered a conversation he had had with Kirito about their duel. Kirito had been curious about some of Akinym's tactics during the duel, and he had been eager to learn something about Akinym's psychological tactics to improve his own skills. In turn, Akinym had been curious about Kirito's ability to analyse the system and use it in unconventional ways.
During that conversation, Kirito had told Akinym about a quest he had done once. The quest had required him to deal with a bird thad had been possessed by a jewel on its chest. The quest directive had been to destroy the jewel without harming the bird. Aiming at the jewel had been hard, though, because the bird had shed feathers from its wings to obstruct Kirito's vision.
However, Kirito had noticed that there had been a small gap in the middle of the "wall" of feathers that had rained down on him. Due to the position of the jewel, he had figured that he could hit it by thrusting his sword straight through that gap without even seeing the target, and it had worked.
Now, Akinym considered to do something similar, using an unusual "aiming assistant". He looked at the shaft of Typhon's poleaxe.
Typhon swung his axe at Akinym again. This time, Akinym dodged by leaping backwards. When the axe smashed into the ground, Akinym pointed his spear at the axe head. He aligned the shaft of his spear and the shaft of Typhon's poleaxe before moving slightly to the side, carefully making sure that the shafts of both weapons were still parallel to each other.
Akinym had to get into position quickly before Typhon would move, so he acted as soon as he had the feeling that his plan would work. He thrust his spear forward, and just as planned, Typhon's wrist got caught between the blades of Akinym's katagama yari. Yanking his spear up and basically using the secondary blade like a saw, Akinym cut one of Typhon's hands off.
Typhon could hardly use his weapon after that. It was almost impossible to balance the heavy weapon with only one hand, and he couldn't use Sword Skills either. All of Typhon's Sword Skills would require him to have both hands on the shaft.
He still tried to swing his axe at Akinym again, but Akinym just caught his arm in the middle of the gawky movement and yanked it around. He got behind Typhon, who lost his grip on the poleaxe and dropped it, and twisted the arm behind his back.
With his higher Strength, Typhon could've freed himself if he could turn around and get his arm into a normal position again. To prevent that, Akinym aimed his spear at another small gap in Typhon's armour around the brachial joint.
Once he had pierced his shoulder, Typhon couldn't really turn around anymore. Moving around in the heavy set of armour was difficult to begin with, but under these circumstances, it was almost impossible.
For the next step of his plan, however, Akinym had to move Typhon slightly to the side, but moving him was also quite difficult. In order to do that, Akinym kicked Typhon in the back of his knee – yet another small gap in the armour – to destabilise Typhon's stance. It worked, and using his spear as a leverage, Akinym manoeuvred Typhon into the "right" position – just in time.
Typhon needed a second to realise it, but Lost Lieutenant stood right in front of him now. The boss raised its scimitar for another attack.
Typhon [panicking]: Wait! What are you… ARE YOU INSANE?!
Lost Lieutenant swung its scimitar at… Akinym, actually, but his "trusty meat shield" took the blow. The blade cut through Typhon's armour and got stuck when it reached his chest, which really showed how powerful these blows were.
Typhon screamed in panic as his HP bar went down rapidly. Lost Lieutenant had trouble pulling its weapon out of his body, so it kept dealing damage for the moment.
Akinym used this opportunity. He quickly pulled his spear out of Typhon's shoulder and came out from behind Typhon. The right flank of the boss was completely unprotected, so Akinym could get close without problems.
He used Armor-Breaking Lance. So far, he had hesitated to use that skill since he wanted to use it at the right moment, but now, that moment had come. Akinym hit the boss' lower spine. The attack threw it off balance, and it tumbled backwards. At least Typhon got free and plunged to the ground.
Akinym got into position to use Needle Rain. His plan was to aim at the boss' weak spot, the crystal, from below. After all, the bottom of its rib cage was unprotected, and he could get into position to strike from below.
Before Lost Lieutenant could regain its balance, Akinym took position right next to it. He took the starting stance of Needle Rain, and while unleashing it, he let himself fall backwards to get the perfect angle at the crystal.
When the system assistant took over, each of the seven thrusts entered the rib cage through the opening at the bottom and struck the crystal. With the defense debuff from Armor-Breaking Lance, this dealt massive damage, and Lost Lieutenant's HP bar entered the red zone.
Meanwhile, Typhon recovered from his shock. The attack he had sustained had depleted his HP almost completely. Anger took over, and he picked up his weapon from the ground. He stood up and charged at Akinym.
Typhon: DAMN YOU!
Akinym actually wanted to continue attacking the boss, but the scream from behind him showed clearly that he had to take care of something else first. He turned his spear around and thrust it backwards while looking over his shoulder.
The thrust was aimed at Typhon's throat, and in his blind rage, Typhon reacted too late to dodge. He could only stop, and in his shock to see the deadly tip of the weapon approaching him, he dropped his poleaxe again.
Akinym thrust his spear at him vigorously… but he stopped just in time. The tip of the spear almost pierced Typhon's throat, but that was it: almost.
Typhon turned his attention from the weapon to Akinym's gaze, and he became even more scared when he saw the fierce death glare in Akinym's eyes. He had heard about Akinym's "intimidating aura", but he honestly hadn't had any idea what it would be like before this moment.
Akinym: What do you actually expect? You're just another bandit to me! If you know about my past with orange players, you also know what I do with them! So don't make me choose! Because if you force me to make a decision, I will choose!
Typhon slumped to the ground and slowly crawled away to a safe distance.
In the meantime, Lost Lieutenant had recovered and was ready to continue the battle. Akinym didn't like to see that, since he was basically back to square one. He thought about how exactly he should continue when he heard noises from the stairs outside the room.
A quick glance at the exit revealed that two players came here. They were Dale and Dynamm, two members of Fuurinkazan. When they saw the seal on the doorway, they stopped as they couldn't get past the invisible barrier.
Dale [surprised]: Hey, Akinym! So you guys were down here?!
Dynamm [quizzically]: What are you doing there?! Weren't you supposed to be in a room upstairs?
Akinym [sternly]: Long story, and not important! How are things upstairs?
Dale: Everything under control. [slightly haughtily] We wouldn't be down here if it wasn't, right?
Akinym: Good. [nods towards Saburo and Typhon] These two were really behind that, but we can talk about it later. [slightly angrily] Now, I have to take this thing out already!
Akinym figured that his best chance was to attack for now. Thanks to Armor-Breaking Lance, he might be able to break through the boss' parries or to avoid them. With that in mind, he dodged the next blow and took the starting stance of Horizontal Spear.
Lost Lieutenant tried to block the attack, but just as Akinym had hoped, its shield slipped slightly to the side, and his spear slashed the boss' arm.
Akinym decided to use the slight delay after the hit to try getting behind the boss again. Using his Acrobatics skill, he performed two diagonal dashes in quick succession, one to the right side, the other one to the left side. The result was a movement resembling a triangle, which allowed him to get behind the boss as intended.
The movement was so fast that Lost Lieutenant couldn't keep up, at least not completely. Nevertheless, Akinym hardly had the time to turn around to attack before the boss would turn around to defend itself.
In order to solve that problem, Akinym got ready to take the starting stance of Deadly Road, another one of his Sword Skills. He was ready the moment his foot touched the ground after turning around, and he started the Sword Skill as fast as possible.
He started with his spear pointed downwards. The Sword Skill consisted of an upward slash and three consecutive thrusts along the trajectory of the thrust. It was supposed to resemble a road with carriages driving on it.
The attack hit the boss' side before it could turn around completely. The final hit depleted the last of its HP, and the boss shattered into polygons. The barrier at the exit disappeared with it.
Akinym barely took a moment to catch his breath before running past Dale and Dynamm and out of the room.
Akinym: You two take care of them! I have to do something!
Dale and Dynamm looked after Akinym as he ran up the stairs. They were a bit confused and wondered where he was headed at that speed.
Well, I suppose you know where he's going, and that will be part of the next chapter.
The story of the quest NPC in Sinon's character event in HF was described as "annoying", but it didn't really come across that way to me. Sure, it's probably a boring story, but I decided to crank it up to eleven.
You might've noticed that I also changed the structure of the obstacles on the way back to Sinon in the main hall. In the game, there were a few consecutive rooms with a few run-of-the-mill monsters (one of them being Lost Soldiers, so that's taken from the original event). I've changed that to one room with a few monsters and a mini boss. It seemed more appropriate, and it fits the events here better.
I'll skip the "Little Preview" and just say that next up, there will be Sinon's part of the event as well as the aftermath and some background explanation.