Hey guys, welcome back to another installment. We've both been busy as hell, though don't worry, we're on top of it! Just wanna let you guys know a few things. Firstly, we've finally come to terms with the ships and directions that we're gonna take. Not gonna spoil it, but there's gonna be some polygamy goin on (Wink wink*), secondly, we've also revised our work collaboration, not to make anyone worry though, I think this new agreement works great for both of us now. Lastly, Topaz and I will be working together on the next chapter for BOA, so it might take some time before it is finally released. Just letting y'all know what's up. So without further ado, enjoy, and stay tuned for the next.
Floor 3, Forest of Wavering Mists, Southern Area. December 14th, 2022. thirteen days after the raid.
The atmosphere was instilled in a calm quietness, nothing but the sound of birds chirping in the trees and the animals talking in their natural voices. It was almost impossible to think that any player was still in a game with all the natural sounds of the wild. It was off-putting how realistic it seemed.
Amidst the calls of the wild that rung throughout the thick woods sat a lone, black haired woman high above in the trees, reading a book. She had on a simple black face mask that reached just over her nose donning the symbol of a black flame, and black cat ears atop her head to tie it all in.
The woman flipped her page as she suddenly sensed a presence underneath on the ground far below her. She tried to focus on the person below, trying to depict whether or not it was a threat, but the thick fog obscured everything. The black haired girl closed her book and pocketed it before getting up and jumping down to a lower branch, repeating the process until reaching a safe enough distance to see the ground without appearing to anyone. It wasn't hard to spot the light-brown caped figure walking through the forest, wielding a big butcher's knife as she hastily looked around. With a sigh of relief, the black haired shinobi leapt off the branch all the way to the ground, landing with a noise like a small item dropping on the ground as she sprawled her one leg out to soften the sound. The caped woman jumped as she got into a fighting stance, though quickly noticing whom the person was as she sighed.
"Jeez Blake, did you have to scare me like that?" Argo protested as she sheathed her weapon. Blake stood up as she walked toward the hooded info broker.
"Sorry," Blake apologized. "Just dropped in subtlely, didn't think it was that scary."
"How'd you know it was me anyway? Were you just waiting for the right moment for me to pop in or something?"
Blake simply pointed to her headband with the cat ears. "The accessory gives me a greatly increased detection, balance and accuracy boost," The woman stated. "I could hear you from the top of this 20 foot tree here."
"Wow, you sure know how to utilize equipment to it's fullest," Argo spoke, checking out the black haired woman from head to toe. "And look good in it at the same time."
The cat girl laughed. "Alright, back to business. You know what I'm looking for here, right?"
"Yep, there's-"
Before Argo could speak, the ears on Blake's head twitched as the woman wearing it looked over her shoulder, holding her finger to Argo. In a quick fashion, The black cat jumped out of the way as a throwing knife landed in the ground where Blake previously stood. The duo looked up into the air, but the thick fog made it impossible to spot anything from ten feet of them. "Run Argo!" Blake shouted as she pulled the girl-in-question along with her.
Though the info broker couldn't see the attackers, Blake could detect the small party as they leapt from branch to branch. Turning to her affiliate, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a light blue, rectangular crystal and handed it to her. "Here, It's my last crystal. Teleport yourself back to the nearest village, I'll deal with them!"
"What about you?! I can't just leave you here!" the hooded woman exclaimed.
"Just do it! I'll rendezvous with you in Zumfut!" The black haired shouted. Before Argo could argue back, another knife landed in-between the two. Without second thought, she teleported out of the area, leaving just Blake left as the girl skidded to a stop in a clearing.
The air remained quiet as Blake stood still at the clearing. She turned around, though the thick fog made it nearly impossible to see much, her heightened senses alerted her of the players' locations. The attackers weren't the best in stealth, Blake could easily hear their feet landing from every branch to where she stood as she focused on the sounds. Another knife flew at her, though going through her body as a mimicked cat woman disappeared.
"Huh? A shadow clo-"
With one easy thrust, Blake stabbed one of the players attacking in the back as he fell off the tree branch, landing with a hard thud as his avatar evaporated.
'One.'
"Ziero?! Was that you?"
With a flash, Blake was now standing beside the next soon-to-be victim with her katana to his throat. The man flinched, turning his head slowly to her as his eyes widened. "That speed..."
With an easy slash, the next body went falling to the ground as it started evaporating, hitting the floor in a series of blue pixels. Blake turned her head as a knife lunged into her arm, flinching slightly, though not letting out any loud noises as she sheathed her weapon. She jumped to a couple branches around her as she pressed herself against a tree and looked around the corner for her next opponent. Suddenly, the tree she was hiding behind sliced just above her head, cutting it clean off as it evaporated. Blake flinched as she turned her head to see another player in a similar brown hooded cape. With a lightning-flash attack, he sliced Blake downwards diagonally across her chest, though a shadow clone disappeared as the real Blake smashed the opponent with her cleaver. The man staggered back as both players panted lightly.
"Nice switchblade," The man commented. His low, intimidating voice creeping up Blake's spine. "I never thought I'd be lucky enough to kill a DLC player, I guess dreams really do come true."
"What do you want from me? This obviously isn't a coincidental encounter." Blake returned in an emotionless tone. Instead of a reply, the man simply charged at the cat shinobi as Blake switched into a reverse grip and blocked the attack. The two locked into a power struggle as both fought to keep their stance.
"There's a special rule in my guild, Laughing Coffin," The man spoke, Blake's eyes widening as her balance faltered. The player saw this and started pressing forward, cowering over the black cat as she held up as best she could. "DLC kills give you extra credit, and I'll use your death to rise up to lieutenant rank."
With that, the LC member pushed Blake down onto the branch, bringing his sword back up and smashing down again. The attack failed as Blake jumped back, though the hooded man continued to press Blake back against the hacked-off tree. He swung his sword in a series of attacks as the black clad evaded and blocked them one-by-one. The cat girl stopped at the base of the tree as the latter swung in a horizontal attack, jumping over it in a backflip as she landed on the slanted, cut-off stump, the player's blade getting stuck halfway into the tree. Blake planted her legs on the attacker's shoulders, pushing off the man and throwing a few shurikens at him as she did a corkscrew to reorient herself. Whilst in the air, she switched to her kusarigama and threw it into the neighbouring tree beside it. Using her momentum, she swung back around and landed behind the man on the branch, retracting her weapon back into her grasp.
The hooded man let out a snort as he grabbed the hilt of his wedged sword, activating a sword skill as it sliced through the digital wood and cut off another block of the tree. He spun his weapon a few times before resting the blade on his shoulder and laughing. The LC guild member turned his head to the side, peering down at the blanket of fog below the two as a devious smirk stretched across his face. With a swift slice, he cut the branch off behind him as both him and Blake started falling to the next branch. Before Blake could land, a series of knives hit her on the side, pushing her away from her original landing as she smacked and smashed her way through trees until she hit the ground hard.
Blake staggered to get back up as another small party of guild members landed on the ground a few feet beside her. The black cat looked to her left, noticing the multiple knives that stuck out of her body as well as the men. She collapsed onto her other side as she watched the guild members slowly walk up to her, later noticing the paralysis symbol above her health bar. 'Shit'
The man Blake fought in the tree landed on the ground ahead of the other guild members, signalling the group to halt. "Thanks boys. Now stand guard, this trophy's mine." He stated as he unsheathed his sword again. The other members watched the man as he slowly sashayed over to his befallen prey, flipping his sword around into a reverse grip. He knelt down as soon as he got close to the fallen cat girl, looking Blake straight in the eyes as a psychotic smile stretched across his lips.
"I can smell the promotion already. All I have to do is bring back your weapon, and he'll give me a feast in my name," The man spoke, licking his lips at the thought of his own banquet as he sighed in sinister bliss. "Oh, just the thought of it makes me thirsty, I can't wait!"
With that, the man stood back up. Blake couldn't stand to watch anymore. She closed her eyes, and listened only to the sound of her breathing, and the slowly calming beating of her heart. The black haired woman closed off everything around her, keeping herself calm in the last moment of her life.
'I knew it wouldn't take long. I lasted about 2 weeks on my own. I have nothing.. and now, I'll die with the same title.
As nothing...'
The calm wave flourished throughout Blake as she thought of happier things, awaiting death as she heard the sounds of him backing up. His sword going up into the air as it was about to pierce her heart. Time seemed to slow down a bit in Blake's mind as she continued to listen to her heart beat, and the calm breathing fluctuation that accompanied it. Finally, she took one last deep breath, awaiting the final moment.
Blake listened to the sound of a blade piercing flesh as she slowly let out her breath, though not feeling any pain or a blade in her. She listened as the executioner gasped sharply, his sword landing in the dirt beside her. Finally, she opened her eyes once more as she saw a pin-shaped knife stick out of the man's dominant hand, said man grasping his wounded arm as he looked around in a panic. His gaze was averted behind Blake as he stepped back a couple feet and a pair of footsteps slowly walked over to her. The person stepped over her as he stood in-between the LC member and the black cat. Blake noticed a young man in a black and dark grey leather jacket that draped down to his knees, black, fingerless gloves and boots along with a black scabbard and a uniquely shaped sword holstered on his back, extending past his right shoulder. The man unsheathed his sword, planting it in the ground as he rested his hand on the pommel. The LC members all gasped and stepped back in fear as they looked at the black haired man before them.
"I-it's.. The Black Swordsman." One of the guild members stated, grabbing the hilt of his sword, though stopping at that point in fear of a fight with the notorious player.
"It's said he's strong enough to take down mid-level bosses by himself!" Another member exclaimed, shaking slightly.
"I suggest that you surrender. You may not be able to see, but you're surrounded by my party," The black haired man spoke, his voice sounded a bit high for such a shady person, but it didn't seem to throw the other player-killers off. If anything, it made them more petrified as they looked all around the foggy area. "You know the assault squad's leader, don't you?"
"H-he's bluffing! There's no way the leader's-"
Before the player could finish, the sound of rapid-fast sprinting started to rise beside the player in the back. In a blink of an eye, a woman appeared beside the last member behind the group, a series of lightning-fast sword skills lit up the air around him as he was slashed several times. The emerald green glow didn't stop, though as the redheaded woman blew the man away with a strong thrust attack, blowing him through multiple trees before landing several feet away in a pile of dust and debris. The LC members looked behind to the sound of the noise as they all jumped, one even screaming.
"Shit, RETREAT!" The executioner finally commanded as they all frantically jumped into the branches and bolted away.
"Go after them! I've got the girl." The black clothed man told the woman as she nodded and jumped into the tree's as well.
The black clad man pulled his sword out of the ground, sheathing it back in his scabbard as he turned back to Blake. Calmly, he knelt down and started pulling the knives out of her side, picking her up shortly after finishing. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?" He spoke to the black cat, a look of concern evident on his face.
"W..who are you?" Blake asked him after a moment.
"My name's Kirito, what's yours?" The young man returned.
"Blake.. my name's Blake." The cat replied, dozing off slowly. Kirito shook her lightly as he dug in his pocket.
"Don't fall asleep, I need to get you back to your house," He spoke, pulling out a red vial. "Here, this is all I have left, I was heading to the next town to resupply."
"How'd you know.. I was here?"
"My friend and I, the redhead you saw just now, we were going down the path here when we heard a swordfight and snapping branches. We saw a small party of hooded players running by and I decided to follow them into this foggy forest," The black swordsman spoke. "I had an eerie feeling about them, and my dark chill was right. Thank god we got here in time."
Kirito brought his hand to Blake's mouth as the cat girl gave the man a surprised look. "W-what are you doing?"
"I'm pulling down your mask so you can drink the potion. It's kinda difficult to when your mouth's covered." He explained, pointing to the cloth cloaking half of her face. With an understanding 'oh', Blake relaxed as the black haired boy removed her face mask, pulling out his last health potion shortly after. With assistance, Blake downed the potion as she watched her health return a good three-quarters, though her paralysis debuff was still active. Kirito noticed the debuff easily, opening his menu as he scrolled through all of his items.
"Hmm.. Sorry Blake, I don't seem to have any paralysis potions in my inventory. If you want, I can bring you to the nearest town. Once we're inside the safe zone, your debuff should go away." Kirito offered, catching Blake off-guard.
"Wait, you wanna.. help, get me to the next town?" Blake asked in a surprised tone. "But.. why? You see my cursor do you not?"
Upon mentioning, the dark haired boy looked up above her head, noticing the darkened orange cursor. His complexion didn't alter, though as he smirked. "You probably had to do what was necessary in order to protect yourself from those player killers, I can understand it was out of instinct to survive."
Blake's eyes seemed to widen a size smaller, dumbfounded by his answer. "If it's not too much to ask of you.. can you take me to Zumfut?"
"Zumfut? That's a pretty long walk.." Kirito responded in a slightly concerned look, earning a dampened complexion by the black haired woman. Noticing this, he returned to his normal face as Blake sighed.
"I'm sorry, I understand it's a pretty farfetched request coming from a complete stranger. Can you at l-"
"I'll take you." The black swordsman interrupted, earning an empathetic look from the limp woman.
"No no, you don't have to. I appreciate you saving me-"
"It's alright, I'm more than okay with taking you to Zumfut." Kirito stated, putting the cat girl's legs down as he hoisted her onto his back.
"There, now let's go."
"Wait, what about your partner, the red haired woman?" Blake asked, remembering the second party member with the rapier.
"She'll see me on the map, we'll rendezvous with her along the way anyway." He replied.
"Are you sure? You don't have to carry me all the way to Zumfut, just take me to the nearest safe zone and I can use the teleport station there."
"You've never played on this map, have you?"
"No, not really. Why?" Blake asked in a worried tone.
"This floor doesn't have a lot of safe zones, let alone towns. Have you ever seen the town layout in Zumfut? It's basically just a giant, hollowed out tree, accompanied by roots and other smaller living things inside. Every other safe zone on this floor is settlement and base camps," Kirito explained. "The only other town on this floor is to the very north near the labyrinth, but there's a strong mid-level boss that's blocking the way. So it's off the list, at least until me and my friend organize a party to take it down, or that small group I heard about takes it down."
"Wait, base camps for what, and what small group?"
"Well. This floor is said to be a part of a major quest that involves a civil war between the light and the dark elves. Their camps are just west of here," The black swordsman spoke, pointing to his right. "And rumour has it, there was a small party of about five that played a very special role in finding the very first floor boss back in November. The leader of the small force apparently chewed out the beta tester's for not giving her all of the information, claiming they were responsible for her friend's death, along with hundreds of others. And now, beta tester's are getting a bad reputation for getting early access to the goods and other prime spots in the game."
Blake's ears piqued in interest about the small group. She had heard of such a group before when she was affiliated in the White Fang. From their reports, the members of the group were DLC users and Beta testers. Mostly in their teens, but their skills and prowess showed they were prodigy's in the game, showing experience from other MMORPG's and skills of a team. Unfortunately. There wasn't any more reports of them since the second floor opened to the players, and so Blake had assumed their group split up after what happened.
"Do you know what happened to them?" Blake asked the black haired man, who looked over his shoulder with a shake of his head.
"Not really. Word has it, the broken group still does small quests and jobs on the lower floors, trying to help those struggling to survive. But it's not in the assault squad's interest where they are. Right now, we're focused on helping in the war on this floor, and getting past the mid-level boss."
Blake nodded as she looked out through the trees, though she wondered just who they were, she knew it wasn't much of a concern to her.
All that was important to her was completing the game.
Dusk approached pretty quickly as the black swordsman walked down the beaten dirt trail. Blake had fallen asleep during that time, opting to restore her energy and get rid of the fatigue from the day's event. About halfway through, the redhead landed in front of the two, as Kirito gripped his sword in a readying stance. "Relax, it's just me." The redheaded woman spoke as she sheathed her rapier on her belt.
"Oh, Asuna. Sorry, I can't see very well in this dim lighting." Kirito said as he released the hilt of his blade.
"Who's the girl? She one of them?"
"No. This is Blake, she was the victim LC was attacking," Kirito explained, continuing the trek. "I was taking her to Zumfut to get rid of her paralysis."
The black clad boy looked to his partner beside him. "Speaking of LC, did you get them?"
The red haired woman shook her head with a defeated sigh. "I apprehended a couple of them, but the rest teleported out, including the leader of the attack," She told. "I don't understand their motives just to attack someone out of the blue like this. I know they pick victim's by random, but to attack someone who was completely concealed and hard to find. This had to be a planned execution, but why..?"
"Did you see her weapon?" The black clad asked, turning the cat girl's body to the latter. "It's a switchblade, a weapon only obtained through the DLC that was released at the beginning."
"Wait, so that means.."
"She's unique compared to the rest."
To Be Continued.