A/N: The Naga are pretty ruthless aren't they? I wonder if they make really good seafood. Hmm...
*One Naga hunt and dinner cooking later*
*Having a major stomach ache, moaning and groaning in agony* ...DO NOT eat the Naga!
MARCH 30th, 2023. FLOOR 13, SOUTHERN SNOW FIELD.
I'm glad we were done with the twelfth floor. Those Naga sea creatures were driving me crazy. Mostly with their hissing. After Rokel recovered from the attack, he and Silica hardly left each other. I don't really know what happens between the two of them, I just know they've been pretty close. Their lovey-dovey-ness is starting to make me feel sick to my stomach. I've probably been hanging around them too much.
Could be worse. I could still be stuck with Serah and Snow. At least they're not in this world. I know I'm certainly glad Serah didn't put on the Nervegear. Hope is already trapped and I know my sister wouldn't last long in the death game.
Right now, I'm on the thirteenth floor of this death game. The thirteenth floor is snowfield. Nothing but ice and snow, and commonly blizzard weather. I'm making some kills with Leafa, Noel, and Yeul. All of us are wearing winter clothing to help resist the cold. Right now, we are just resting. We're hungry and cold. Luckily Leafa takes up cooking, she was able to make a fire and precook some meals for us to eat.
"Man! This floor is a frozen tundra." Noel says. He wraps his arms around him as he shivers.
"I don't see why you're complaining," I say as I take a bite out of my Fat Sleeper Sushi.
"Bladelance can't stand the cold very well." Yeul holds her staff out, chants a buff spell. When she finishes the chant, we are all gifted with frost resistance. Noel's shivering comes to an end. "I've applied cold resistance to us all."
"Jeez! You make my basic campfire look useless." Leafa says. Leafa crosses her arms, making a look that makes it seem like we said something that offended her.
"Well, I don't think it's a waste." Yeul leans close to Noel until she's resting her head on his shoulder. "It's very romantic."
How great. I thought I was getting away from romantic couples. Then I forgot that Noel and Yeul are together as well. Well, I guess I can't bellyache much about it. Yeul and Noel are more of a serious pair than ah...well, anything like Vanille or Silica or Rokel.
I stand on my feet. "Well. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to kill some more mobs."
I start walking away. as I walk, I hear the conversation behind me. "Man. She never stands still does she?" Leafa asks.
"Serah told me she's always like this," Noel says.
I roll my eyes and scoff hearing Noel say that. I draw my sword out as I watch all the monsters up ahead. The monsters here are mainly wolves and ice golems.
I charge right in and attack the enemies, one-by-one.
The enemies hardly get the chance to hit me. And when they do, I either block or avoid the attacks. So far, I've only focused on killing the wolves. The ice golems are elites. I've never thought of soloing an elite. But why should I? I'm playing a death game. I need to think smart, not pull a Snow.
Pulling a Snow is my way of saying to be reckless and arrogant and diving into the danger without a plan or thought. Just something I made up when putting up with my stupid brother-in-law.
After killing about ten wolves, Leafa and the others decided to join me. "Geez. You never wait for others, do yea? You're starting to remind me of my brother." Leafa says.
I don't feel pleasant hearing that. Becoming compared to a shady kid like Kirito. "Leafa is right. You need to stay with your group, or you're gonna end up getting yourself killed. Or, as you would say." Noel holds his fingers up and quotes. "'Pull a Snow.'"
I growl at Noel hearing that. "Pull a Snow? What does that mean?" Leafa asks.
"Something Lightning made up," Noel says.
"You're gonna regret using that against me," I say offended.
Me using that motto on someone is one thing, but using it against me is another. It's like they're saying I'm becoming like Snow. That's usually my worse nightmare. Well, it's in the top seven.
Since the group is back together, we focus on taking care of the Ice Golems. Noel and I constantly switch as Vanguard against the giants, since Leafa is our only healer and lately, a Dreamer's healing spells are making it harder. Clerics are starting to become the only healers we can rely on.
During our hour of hunting, the field starts to fill with other groups. Yeul and Leafa don't mind getting crowded. Noel feels a bit unnerved. I on the other hand just don't care. I just want to make my kills and earn my experience.
After a while of hunting, something bad happens. The floor shakes like a large earthquake. All of us are aware of the rumbling. We all wonder where it's coming from or how it's happening. Just then, a mountain explodes, revealing one large ice dragon. The dragon is like thirty feet tall. It's pretty massive, almost like it's a boss.
"What the heck is that thing?" Noel asks.
"I think it's the Sapphire Eyes I've heard about," Kirito says.
The dragon lands, causing a rupture from impact. The beast roars as its name and three Health Gauges appear. "Hey, Beta Tester! Any advice?" I yell at Kirito.
"I'm afraid I don't. I've never encountered this boss before." Kirito says.
"Great! Just great!" I say.
Sapphire Eyes gazes down at us. It charges up its breath attack, gathering frozen energy into its mouth. "Look out!" Noel shouts.
Sapphire Eyes unleashes its breath attack. A beam of unstable frost energy blasting at the ground. Each of us dodges the attack, some of the players barely made it out. When the monster finishes its attack, it lands on its paws then starts attacking us.
The Crusaders hold off the monster while we all attack it from the sides. What caught us by surprise is that Sapphire Eye also attacks with its wings. Spreads them out and turns. Me, Kirito, and some Assassin avoid the attack, but everyone else still got hit. Luckily it didn't do too much damage, according to Leafa, Noel, and Yeul's Health Bar. Leafa and Noel are down to 74-81% while Yeul has about 3829 HP, a yellow zone.
The Clerics focus on healing everyone, doing their best to keep all of us alive. Fighting Sapphire Eyes is pretty hard. When we defeat its first Health Gauge, it grows vicious. The beast chomp on one of the players and swallows it, whole.
That completely shocks us. "Th...that thing...It EATS PLAYERS?!" Leafa shouts.
"That's impossible," Kirito says. I'm not a gamer and I know that really is impossible.
I now know that we have to kill the field boss quickly. We all fight hard. Sapphire Eyes constantly switches targets. Targets another player to do some Ice Bomb and unleashes upon the player. The Ice Bomb hits where the player is at, so it's pointless for the target to avoid it. But it does massive damage when we're closer, so we have to get as far as we can.
The fight goes on for a while. Sapphire Eyes becomes defeated in the end. Only one player died, the one who got eaten. After the fight, we take a moment to rest.
"What kind of monster was that?" Leafa asks.
"It was like a raid boss...only it's nothing like the ones we usually face," I say.
"It's probably a field boss. There was something like that in Tales of Xillia." Hope says. "Bosses throughout very few of each field in the entire world."
"So, you're saying there's more like this in this floating castle?" Noel asks. "Great. Just great."
I sheath my sword back in its holster. "Let's just be glad it's over. However, we should keep our minds sharp from now on."
Everyone else agrees with me, then we all went our separate ways.
Me and my group heads to the Northern Field. Hope does join us. The blizzard here is pretty rough. The cold even penetrates through Yeul's cold resistance spell. After a hundred matters of traveling, we become ambushed.
All around us, the red skin orcs in fur pelts, mainly wolves. "More Orcs?" I ask, irritated.
"Apparently," Noel says.
"They don't seem corrupted like the ones on the last two floors," Yeul says.
She's right. They're red-skinned, but their eyes are normal. No matter. They are Orcs. The enemy. We have no other choice but the fight them.
FLOOR 13, WOR'GOL
Our fight against these Orcs didn't end very well. We only manage to kill five of them. It is very strange though. The second our HP Gauges hit below 20%, they captured us instead of killing us.
Right now, the Orcs are taking us to their base: Wor'Gol. Just a pit area that contains a small village with a large bonfire in the center. I have a bad feeling about this. The Orcs take us to the Bonfire, where two orcs stand facing us. One is a large male with a heavy ax and a wolf pelt head and cloak. He looks like the leader. The other is a female I assume is his mate.
"What is the meaning of this?" The leader asks.
"Outsiders roaming around our lands!" One of the Orcs says. "They might be agents of the Inflamed Legion."
"You don't say." The leader eyes us.
The female next to him looks at us as well, only not as hostile as the leader is. "They look nothing like the devil, Duraton."
Duraton softly growls, then stands backcrossing his arms. "You might be right, Draka."
"Maybe they're with the treacherous Draenei, to spy on us!" The Orc says.
What did the Orc mean by 'treacherous' on the Draenei? Were the Orcs and the Draenei once allies? That's hard to believe after seeing how much the Draenei hates the Orcs.
"Draenei spies. Well, they better hope that they're not. Then they will be sentenced to immediate execution!" Duraton says. Leafa and Hope are nervous hearing that. Noel and Yeul are fearless, no expression from Yeul at all. That's like her all right.
"Chieftain! Stop!" Just our luck, a familiar green skin orc runs in and approaches Duraton.
"Slave! What is the meaning of this intrusion?" Duraton says.
"Chieftain! These people are not the enemy. They have saved me from the Battlesong Clan!" Slave says.
Duraton looks surprised. "Really?"
"Yes. If it wasn't for their actions, I would have been killed at the hands of Hailroar." Slave says.
Duraton growls in frustration. I'm guessing he's not happy with Grommash. "Hailroar! I swear, hearing him makes my blood boil with rage!" Duraton slams his large ax on the snow ground and roars. All of the Orcs are alarm by his shouting. After he is done shouting, he lets out a sigh, looking down. He takes a deep breath then faces us. "You have saved my son from the enemy. For that, I shall spare your lives. But we will be watching you people closely. Release the prisoners."
The Orcs...kindly, released us. Kindly is not really the right word for they untied us rather roughly. After untying us, they give us a stink eye, which I give to them as well, then they slowly walk away, not taking their eyes off of us.
The Cursors on them turn from red to yellow. That would mean they're neutral. Friendly, but still hostile. The only one with a green cursor is Slave. Probably cause we saved his life back on the eleventh floor.
Now we rest up, sitting on the Bonfire in the cold night. An Orc offered us some drinks. At first, I couldn't trust it thinking it could have poisoned the drinks. But after Noel, Yeul, and Leafa drinks, I join them.
"I apologize for what has happened. Ever since the Inflamed Legion invaded our world, we could hardly trust the Outsiders." Slave says.
"Funny. The Draenei was thinking the same thing." Noel says. "Yrel put her trust in us while the others just put us on thin ice."
Yeul chuckles at Noel's comment. "Your...chieftain said something about the Draenei being treacherous. What does that mean."
"Hmm..." Slave sets the cup down. "It's been a long time ago. I was merely an infant back then, so I don't remember exactly. My father use to tell me stories of how Draenor once was. A beautiful world. We Orcs were once proud people. Coldwolf, Avatars, and hunters who live in the frozen mountains. And the Battlesong, honor guard Warriors who live in in the nature lands of Nagrand."
"Sounds like a beautiful era. One I would wish to see." Yeul says.
"As do I, young one. But then the Inflamed Legion came. The Orc Wizards and Witches, the Black Council, betrayed us all and joined the Inflamed Legion." Slave says.
"And then soon after, the Battlesong clan joined them," Hope says.
"I'm afraid so. My father has never been so disappointed in Gul'damn and Grommash." Slave says. "Not only that, but the Draenei also turned against Orcs, and Draenei were revered with one another, then they attacked us."
"Do you think the Draenei attacked you guys because of the actions of the Orcs of Battlesong and Black Council?" Noel asks.
"Perhaps. That's what I think. But my father still thinks it's out of treachery." Slave says. "Ever since that day, my clan has been very strict. We look out for each other."
"That's just horrible. I wish we could help out." Leafa says.
"I'm sure you can, but only if the Chieftain allows you to," Slave says. "I suggest you outsiders get some rest. I'll have huts ready for you."
Slave leaves us all here at the bonfire.
I'm finding this world very strange. There are a ton of NPC's that are acting of their own will. Nothing is following a certain path like in the first ten floors. Events are happening.
The Black Gate assault
Draenei Escort
Freeing Slave
and now encountering the Coldwolf Clan.
I don't bother spending the night thinking about it when I'm never going to get an answer. I go into one of the huts that Slave has prepared for us. I didn't go to sleep right away, I just lay on the fur mat, thinking very carefully.
I remind myself that nothing in this world is real. But my life is at stake.
I still wonder about one thing: Why is Kayaba doing all of this? What's his purpose in trapping all of us in this death game? Preventing us from logging out I can manage...or maybe not. But killing us the second we die in the game?
I'll just have to get to the final floor and ask him myself.
