A/N: You know, it's good to know the inspired characters (Nagi/Tanjiro and Daora/Inosuke) of Misfits are liked, it clears my conscience. Not to worry, Artorias doesn't have a split personality when he sleep walks, if he ever did. That aside, this arc is honestly the biggest considering I started making shorter arcs that cover a story aspect from this arc onwards, but that's a beast to tackle at another time. Anywho, New Review Time.
To MeMyselfAndI82907: Daora was a fun addition so it's great to see you like him as much as Nagi, and Artorias, hopefully.
[Daora]: Hahaha! These new followers recongize a great leader when they see one!
[Artorias]: Last I checked, boss doesn't wear a dog mask and a skirt.
[Daora]: GRAAAAH, what's that!?
[Artorias]: My point exactly...
To Iosefka Ubel: Hyperactive fighters are alot of fun, aren't they? Daora definitely has some tricks to bring to the table, you'll see...
[Daora]: This 'Inosuke'... he sounds like a strong enemy, I want to fight him...
[Argo]: Hate to burst yer bubble, but guy's from a different mediA.
[Daora]: Whaaaat!?
[Nagi]: Sorry, Daora, she's right - who knows, maybe we'll have a crossover special with him someday.
[Argo]: Don't go gettin' the poor soul's hopes up, HerO.
Enjoy.
|Jan. 20th, 17:01|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 10, Burnt Forest|
The mist hung at ground level, leaving an eerie haze over the burnt forests and ruins of various encampments and fortresses. Without the mist shrouding the floor, the real haunting destruction that covered the tenth floor was visible for all to see, say for areas where the mist gathered still, that hidden boss could only clear so much after all.
A large slithering reptile snapped from the trees, their glossy white scales shimmering in the daylight. Its head transitions the scales into various oranges, yellows, and browns. The red eyes locked to Argo who pounced between the trees herself, claws amber. With 'Acute Vault' she used the momentum to dive over the beast's poisonous fangs, seeing the sparks spit from its fangs.
Bending a tree branch, she dove back and slashed down across the nape, rolling down its large body. The rest of its length coiled to trap her, but this hardly phased the aloof Rat as she pointed up with her finger. "Heads uP."
From the trees above, the serpent tried to turn invisible again but the impressions on the ground told them where the serpent tried to conceal itself, Nagi adjusted his descent, blade cast in a spiral of water around his blade, his stylish haori billowing in the wind. "Whirlwind Slash!" His twin spin cleaved the air, leaving two large gashes through the air as the serpent became visible, head cleaved from its body.
Landing with a huff, he craned his neck back at Argo as the body shattered between them, the two smiling as they bumped fists. "Good work."
Argo leaned forward, poking his chest as the two received their rewards, "Ya had me worried when you got paralyzed, leavin' little ol me to fend for herselF," She pretended to look afraid, hugging her body.
"Sorry, I didn't think it could use double debuffs, I'll have to be wary of that next time," Nagi apologized, not realizing it was sarcasm as he checked his material rewards and Col before an arm wrapped over his shoulders.
"Ya know I'm pullin' your leg, righT?" Argo glanced up at him but he shrugged.
"But you're not a frontline fighter, so if I go down then who can protect you?" He didn't mean that Argo couldn't fight herself, just her stats aren't for tough battles without backup.
Slowly, her concern turned to a softer smile, hugging him with a pat. "You're the best, HerO!"
He smiled bashfully, "N-not as good as you," Shaking his head, he looked around the area. "This area seems good for camp, right? Better wait until nightfall again."
Agreeing, the pair quickly got to work on setting up a safe perimeter between the twisting black trees, unlike the forest they traversed to find the Estate, this side was scorched, leaving an acrid taste in the air with a smell of burnt wood. Since this was the home of House Flame, if they could clear the boss, the corruption consuming the monsters on this floor would cease.
With a fire crackling away between them, Argo combed her intel, marking off key quests for Boss intel, any and all changes documented alongside Named Monster changes, like a serpent that could poison and paralyze you while turning invisible. It was a lot of work alone, but with Artorias and their new acquaintance, Daora, clearing the labyrinth ahead, all hands were on deck.
As it stood, the levels of monsters were higher than the Beta, and the quest Nagi was one must've been the cause, Klein reported the same yesterday. With a grim look, one Argo noticed, she asked without looking up. "Still bummed out about the difficulty spikE?"
"I know it's not our fault, but... I feel like we could've avoided this issue if we never took that questline," But again, had they not, would Nagi be this strong now? What about Shirayuki? He leaned back as he sipped a vial of ice-cold water. "I guess there's no point worrying now, just a bad thought."
"Mm," Argo agreed, brow creased as she stared at more messages from other brokers among her network. It was causing a hollow pit to form in her stomach as flames reflected off her orbs.
|SOS Message|
|-burn effect dif_|
|Alert: This message may be incomplete, due to the sender logging out of the game|
|SOS Message|
|-Labyrinth has NM that_|
|Alert: This message may be incomplete, due to the sender logging out of the game|
|Message|
|Idiot tried to send a message and died. There's an NM within the labyrinth, wandering the floors that can nearly one-shot, must be an environmental hazard, can't see how you beat it|
"Two more, huh?" Her breathless tone drew Nagi's eyes from his equipment screen. He had never seen Argo look so lost before, her fingers pressed to her forehead and temple, the stress was radiating from her expression. She smiled weakly, "Don't go givin' me that worried look, HerO,"
"It can't be helped," His eyes wandered to the harrowing pillar in the distance. "Once the floor's cleared, no one will know what's coming next, not even us," Besides, they had to actually 'clear' a boss that nearly wiped them out at the end of the Beta. Moving around the campfire, Nagi rubbed her shoulder to ease her worries. "Your info will save people even after the fact, Argo the Rat's the best broker in Aincrad." That cheery grin made her chest lighter.
Her expression appeared much lighter. "...don't be silly, I still gotta clear this floor's inteL," Her whiskers twitched as she stared through the treeline, her higher Detect skill spotting the faint white embers through the shadows. "And I'll need my trusty Shinobi to do sO,"
|Jan. 20th 20:38|
Perched atop a hill was a large tower with a goblet up high. Connected at the base were the remains of a fortification, the only remains were two walls connected to the tower, shielding the right side and front from the pathway leading up to the fort. The forwardmost wall widened into a gatehouse entrance, the defense long-since burnt to ash. Giant gashes lined much of the remaining fortifications.
Brambles, trees, and vines overtook the rest, concealing the ruins from all sides.
"Serpent Slash!" The wave of water crashed against the 'Scorched Spearman's' rectangular burnt iron shield. The follow-up slash broke the shield in two, dividing the Spearman from his waist. Rolling under a wide swing of a second spear, Nagi spun on his knees, seeing the skill charged as the undead warrior lunged. "Uchikesu."
Slamming his foot down on the spearhead, Nagi rushed forward, slashing forward through its throat and upright, piercing the burnt skull with 'Striking Wave'. The wave of glass and water particles dissipated quickly as Argo dove over a small collapsed wall, several purplish-black explosions behind her.
"NM here, HerO!" She rallied, hiding behind a pillar to the massive dilapidated archway. With a thunderous stomp, a large shadow cast itself over the ruins as a deep bellow resounded from the creaking branches.
The large monster was a variation of a treant, the bark charred black with an odd purple coloration, its body wide and bulky as it clutched a large severed trunk of a tree as its weapon, there were no visible eyes, appearing as though an ancient tree came to life.
/Keeper of Firewatch - Lv. 28\
"Guess you're at your limit on this floor," Nagi surmised as Argo snuck around the ruins and shrubbery. The Keeper raised its trunk again, slamming the dead tree down as several orbs of purple fire spurted from the hollow interior, homing on Nagi who steadied his breathing. "Time to put my new skill to work,"
Clasping his blade in both hands, he swung it in a circle slowly, charging the skill as water whipped through the dry air, as the attacks closed in, he spotted six in total. Probably capable of inflicting Curse and Burn all at once like the last Keeper, that invisible serpent. Sheathing Yozora, the water bubbled and shook within his scabbard.
"Rushing Water Undulation!" Drawing his katana across the ruins, his body lurched as a large stream followed his blade through the air, blurring his view of the Keeper as the water shrank, suddenly exploding outward into several white slashes that burst like fountains from the sky. Six hits, six targets blown to embers. "Argo!"
"GotchA!" She declared during her descent vertically down the nearest surface, diving into an amber twirl, buffed by her own Kyodo skill as her claws tore across the treant's main body, herself kicking off the surface to backhand the Keeper with the left, summoning a surprising amount of force behind her right uppercut, knocking the monster off balance with a haze of amber light. "SwitcH!"
Leaping over the tree trunk swung at the ground, seeing several more cursed balls of fire pursue him. Nagi used its right arm to vault eye-level with the Keeper, blade wrapped in a blue glare, the froth from the water effect sharpened into a circular blade. "Hidden Skill-" Bending forward, Nagi angled his vertical aoe to slash through the beast with a flash of blue light, the ring of water expanding outward. "-Rising Sun!"
The force threw the giant onto its back, the balls of fire expelled behind him as the once intimidating beast was reduced to a fountain of glass in an instant, though judging by their yellow health bars, had Argo not spotted the ruins they may have had a disadvantage within the forest itself.
"Nice work, Argo!" Nagi praised as the broker grinned ear to ear, patting her chest.
"All thanks to yer sword skillS," She complimented, hands on her hips to face the base of the tower. "Now then, let's wrap this quest up, mama Argo needs her beauty sleeP," It was rather late now, following the ember trail proved to be very tricky when the Keeper appeared.
"Is this the final goblet?" Nagi asked as they had been at this since the earlier hours of the morning before they realized that nightfall was what made the hidden paths to the other goblets visible, something both immediately regretted. "Please, tell me it's the final goblet?" He put his hands together, begging.
"YeP!" She sounded as thrilled as Nagi was. At the base of the stone tower was a podium with a black bowl set atop a pair of stone hands connected to a warrior carved into the tower, a gap behind it showing that the two were connected via a shaft. Grabbing a matchbox from her inventory, Argo lit one and tossed it into the bowl, then, with a vial of black liquid, she set the whole bowl ablaze.
The two stepped back to admire their work, up above, the flame by their side ignited the one at the top of the tower, a beacon for everyone across Floor Ten to see. Since the Keepers of three other towers were defeated by them, the four beacons marked safe havens from monsters in the forests below, less someone aggroed the mobs up.
Then, somewhere in the labyrinth's direction, a great, booming sound echoed across the floor, the sound of a great war horn disturbing the peace. The pair then received a notification.
Quest Complete!
Tread the Burning Trail: Beacon
Main Objective
*Light all beacons to reveal the way...
Floor Ten | Reward 3985 Col | Ashes of the Keeper X4
The two cheered, high-fiving one another as a cursor came into view moments after the two were prepared to make a b-line back to town. Strangely, only one green cursor approached as Argo detected several others further down the pathway. Surprising the pair, it was a man decked out in the must-have armor of Floor Ten, Darkmorn Armor. Kibaou.
His black armor with its faint blue coloration was distinct considering his ginger hair stood out. He looked tired but held that disgruntled scowl like someone spat in his food. He blinked, surprised as well to find that he was not only beaten to the goblet, but it happened to be two Beta Testers in front of him. "Aw, great, you two again,"
"Happy to meechA," Argo waved with a grin. "Came all the way here to tradE?" She brushed her thumb and index fingers together.
Kibaou was silently contemplating what to say, looking over his shoulder before sighing, dropping his firm scowl to a lighter frown. "Look I... I need a favor for ya, Nagi, right?"
"What's up?" Nagi asked.
"I ain't got any right askin' this of either of you, but... well I'm just trying to one-up that no-good Beater- erm," He cleared his throat before he said something to piss them off. "I need to know, what're we up against in there?" He thumb prodded at the distant tower in the night.
"Honestly?" Nagi perked up, looking really concerned. "We couldn't beat it before the Beta ended, before then, dozens of attempts were made but the frontlines were wiped out, the boss is a giant so his attacks hit like one, not to mention the range of his attacks was almost too perfect."
"Crap," Kibaou tisked, scratching his head. "I'll pay, whatever you found out," The conviction in his face was real, he was serious. "After this floor, even your intel drys up, so I want to know everything, name yer price."
"Sure about thaT?" Argo contested, arms crossed with an aloof stare. "Might be unreliable now more than eveR."
Kibaou scoffed, "Think I don't know that? I got folks who need to know what they're fightin', false info or not, but you two are the best for this sorta thing, so come on, what's new?"
"Nothing," Nagi admitted, and a pregnant pause stretched. "Everything we've learned is the same, there's nothing new, or, nothing the game's told us." He scratched his head. "Sorry, you put in all this effort to clear the quests like us, and even we came up short."
"Nagi's right, all our intel matches what we've seeN," Argo shook her head, dismissing it with her hands thrown up by her shoulders. "No use tryin' to worm any info from us noW,"
Kibaou stared at them, neither lied nor did they discuss payment, what was there to sell? With a grunt, he put his hands by his hips, nodding while turning back toward the slope. "Right, I getcha, thanks and all that, guess we'll meet when the boss room's found," With a curt wave, Kibaou took a step.
"You're a good guy," He paused as Nagi spoke with a kind smile. "I don't care about the LA Bonus or being some great leader, I suck at that, but... I'll do what I can to keep anyone from dying, if death is the only way forward, I'd rather spend years in this game looking for a better way,"
The ginger said nothing, but his head dipped into a nod before walking away from the ruins, his yells picking up soon after to 'motivate' his party into high gear. Nagi laughed a little at that sudden pivot of his personality but Argo continued to stare at the ravenette who was saying something to her. "Huh?"
"Ready to go back?" He repeated for her.
"Mm," Nodding, she stayed behind him as they took the opposite slope out of the ruins toward the forest floor. No mobs were within range so they kept their distance to try and avoid combat, during this, Argo felt her lips move without thinking. "Why'd you say thaT?"
"You mean my reasoning for staying alive?" She nodded out the corner of his eye, then saw him blush a little with a hesitant smile. "Uh, it's... personal, j-just don't laugh, okay?"
"Y'know I can't resist some juicy private info, but no promiseS," She crossed her fingers so Nagi sighed in defeat, staring ahead with his hand against Yozora.
"IRL, there's someone I want to meet, two people actually, from my Dad's side. As of right now, they're hospitalized, have been for just shy of two years I think...?" He pondered, seeing Argo's eyes widen a little as he spoke. "They've been two of the very few to use an alternate form of the Nervegear for medicinal purposes so I kept thinking, maybe I could meet them in VR someday, instead of behind a pane of glass like some lab rat, I think they'd like that better,"
"Why?" Her tone was barely a whisper as they found a path leading to the main road on their map.
"Because I can't imagine what they must feel every day, unable to hold their parents' hands, or go beyond four walls, enduring tests every week, growing weaker, it must be terrible," Nagi frowned, his hand tight against his weapon. "So when I can meet them, I want to tell them we can meet every day in the virtual world, I can teach them stuff from school they can learn, that I'll never leave them, maybe you can meet them too, Tomo,"
Argo recoiled slightly from the abrupt use of her name again, but it felt nice coming from him, but the idea of meeting people that were clearly a personal family matter to Nagi felt weird. She'd like that but was it really her place to pry into his personal life this way? "You surE?"
"Yeah, the more the merrier!" He chuckled nervously. "Though I haven't met them at all, I'm just a blood test donor for their condition,"
During their quiet stroll, Argo tucked her hood up tighter, smiling a little as she stepped in beside Nagi. "Nyahahaha, then I accept your invitE!" She took playful jabs at his side. "Ya better clear this game fast then, HerO!"
"Pfft, hehehe - I-I will, I w-will, s-stop, Argooo!" He snickered from her constant, ticklish prods. "I-I can't breatheee!"
"Hehehe! Consider it payment for leadin' a fair maiden like myself on with yer storY," She hummed deviously, the brief idea of them meeting again outside of SAO making her heart jump a little faster.
To Be Continued...
More time between Argo and Nagi as we steadily approach the finale for the second arc of Misfits. Floor Ten is the last of all known Beta Test floors, what will come next? First, we'll see what Artorias and their newest companion, Daora, are up to. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Players!
023 - Darkblade
Lost within the labyrinth, Artorias and Daora are stalked by the darkness...