|April. 24th, 14:05|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 20, Forgotten Testing Grounds|
Kirito had to admit, this was a little too much for only the 20th floor up. He had been working with his... new guildmates - that still took time to properly commit to believing, for roughly three weeks now, and while their progress toward growing stronger was working, Keita, the leader, took a questline that not even Kirito bothered with, even Argo had said she and Nagi found the rewards to be lacklustre. But what items lacked, EXP was abound.
That led to the blast from the past before them. The Testing Grounds were hidden away in the Sunlit Forest, trees lined an old roman-styled amphitheatre, forestation had taken it over, leaving a large ruined arena and stands. But what sat in the middle, taking wide swings with its thick club arms was an all-too-familiar boss.
/NM Fuscus Remnant - Lv. 30\
It was four levels about the Moonlit Black Cats, but Kirito's level was well above it, so it wouldn't be an issue. That was the plan, had the boss not made that familiar roar of metal, and in turn, instead of entering an enraged state early, from the edges of the arena, smaller 'Hollow Golems' rose from the earth like the undead, all with levels nearly matching the Remnant. This was officially a bad idea!
"Tetsuo, Sasamaru, with me! Sachi, get ready to switch with either of us!" Kirito hollered, diving back from the Remnant's spinning upper-half as the wind brushed by his face. "Keita, can you and Ducker try to deal with the Ads!?"
"You heard 'em, move it!" Keita rallied as everyone stood in a wide circle with Kirito drawing back his sword over his shoulder, casting it in harsh blue light.
Kirito just needed some time to charge the skill, then they'd have a clear shot to higher ground and-
"-COMIN' THROOOOUGH!" From the treeline, a silvery-grey battle-ax slammed into the temple of the Remnant, releasing a massive shockwave with Whirlwind as the air pressure roared loudly as the one who screamed. The dust fell away, revealing to Kirito who it was. "Kushla Daora... is HERE!"
"Switch with Blackie, you idiot!" Another yelled as a streak of rose hardlight split one of the Hollow Golems in half with Vertical Arc, their feet digging into the soil before Keita and Ducker, whipping back their long red ponytail. "Boss, Cupcake, Nori, hit 'em up!"
"Hah, switch!" Daora dove over Kirito's head as he took the initative without question, throwing his sword high as he landed a solid palm-heel strike to Remnant, climbing its dark stone form to clasp his blade high, scorching blue flames erupting from his sword.
"Meteor Fall!" His thoughts raced, bringing the devastating attack down on the boss, sending it tumbling onto its back with a massive explosion behind his composited skill.
Racing down into the arena, Nagi slid onto his knees, slashing out the knees of the Hollow Golems with Iai for a hammer to shatter the head of one Golem, swatting it into the one to its left. The final three were quickly silenced with a blinding array of slashes that showered the small guild in starlight, Star Q Prominence leaving a trail of polygons in their wake.
In a matter of seconds, the chaos had settled, and half the Moonlit Black Cats felt their bodies rush with a gold aura, their levels rising once more aside from Kirito due to his EXP gap. "They... they took down the ADs in one go...!" Ducker gulped.
"Just those golems levelled half of us up..." Sachi murmured in wonder.
"Frontline players..." Keita marvelled before the earth rumbled, the boss was rising up again. "Crap, get ready, it's still got fight in it!"
"Switch out!" Kirito yelled, Nori of the Sleeping Knights taking the vanguard with Sachi as they both slammed their weapons together against the first club strike of Remnant, holding their weapons taut before throwing themselves back.
"Switch!" They cried, and Sasamaru shadowed Artorias, green and pink aligned for a upward strike of a mace's skill, Upper Swing alongside Vertical Arc that tanked the secondary swing.
"Switch!" They repeated for Kirito and Nagi to rush side-by-side in sync. Blue particles wrapped around a flowing current of water, both diving to the sides to evade the third slam with both club arms. Remnant spun afterward, but both boys were out of range, their skills lighting up the forest.
"Scarlet Fang/Sharp Nail!" The trio skills carved through black stone and scarlet veins. Tearing thin arcs through the boss's wide frame, passing by one another, intersecting Nagi's thrust with Kirito's diagonal slant.
The last of the boss' health vanished, and it exploded outward in a shower of glass, the last of the Black Cats levelling up alongside Kirito. The quest was complete, and the guild cheered triumphantly, even Sachi, who still trembled a bit giggled as Nori patted her back.
"Nice teamwork!" The ravenette grinned to the fellow vanguard with a sword and shield.
"Th-thank you so much for your help!" Sachi and Ducker said without warning, bowing their heads.
"Same here, you saved us from that mess!" The others followed suit with Keita's example.
"It's no worries, we were on a resource hunt to rank our gear up, we're just glad no one died," Nagi smiled, thankful they survived, then he stared at the familiar Black Swordsman. "Kirito? I didn't expect you to be in a guild..."
"Like ever, the hell's up with this Blackie?" Artorias circled the boy with her finger.
"Thanks for that, um, well, I saved them a while ago, and they asked for my help levelling up so... here I am," Kirito nervously waved his arms out.
"You knew people on the Frontlines? Way to hold out on us, bro!" Ducker knuckled Kirito's shoulder, the rest throwing in their complains as the swordsman chuckled nervously.
"Y-y-you're the Red Warrior! A-and the Water Shinobi! Even the Absolute Sword!?" Sachi gushed, her face a little red as she tried to hide her face. "S-sorry, I'm... just a f-fan,"
"Knew this partnership would make us standout, but..." Nagi trailed off, bashful about the praise with Yuuki leaning against his side. "Y-yeah, it's us, hehe... and this here's a member of Yuuki's guild, Nori, one of their best DPS mains, and our friend Daora, our top tank,"
"Aw, knew you loved me..." Nori teased with a wink.
"Hahaha, that's right!" Daora puffed out his chest with a twinkle around him.
"Right-right, lovely reunion, love the fans, but let's move it, sooner we're back on the 29th the better," Artorias clapped her hands, clearly disinterested now but eyed Kirito for a moment more. Whatever he's doing, he better play it safe... if they knew who he was. "Playing with fire again... Blackie," Then Artorias wandered around to look for loot. "Boss, where to next?"
"We'll be done soon, promise," The raven-brunette sighed, hearing Artorias grumble but comply. "Sorry about her, she's... under alot of stress lately,"
It was Floor 29, the highest so far, and the final stop on Artorias' quest for a cure to her avatar glitch. Ever since the 28th floor, she's been much more impatient, and her fighting style more reckless. Though, Artorias was a good fighter, probably as good as Kirito, this level of drive was concerning Nagi. Even her scent... it was driven by anger and desperation.
"It's fine, guess you guys are always busy, right?" Keita then put his hand out to Nagi. "S-sorry, pleasure to meet you, really, it's an honour - I'm Keita, leader of the Moonlit Black Cats,"
Keita had short brown hair and brown eyes and was dressed in light, brown clothing with a metal chestguard, metal shoulder armour on both his shoulders, metal bracers on both of his arms. He also wore black, fingerless gloves that extended to his forearm and dark boots. Keita's trousers are of a paler shade of brown than his top. His weapon of choice was a two-handed staff.
The others, as he introduced; Ducker, their treasure hunter like Philia; he wore a dark yellow cloak, yellow top with a light metal chestplate, brown pants and boots, black fingerless gloves, and a grey beanie. Ducker had blue eyes and dark yellow hair. Weapon of choice was a dagger.
Sasamaru, the damage dealer, had brown, curly hair and green eyes. He was mostly dressed in light, green clothing with light metal armor plates on his chest and his left shoulder. Sasamaru also wore brown, leather gauntlets, dark boots and a blue cap. He carried with him a spear.
Tetsuo, their forward next to Kirito, was a mace user. Besides his mace, he also used a small kite shield in his left hand. He wore a set of black armor, consisting of a chest and shoulder plates. Underneath the armour, he wore a purple tunic. His hair was short, dark brown with parted bangs.
Lastly was Sachi, their temp forward; she was a petite girl with shoulder-length black hair and a small mole right under the corner of her right eye. She wore a light blue tunic with a chestguard, a knee-length short skirt and greyish boots. In battle, her weapon was a sword and shield to help Tetsuo tank monsters. She was by far the most timid of the group.
"How'd you get Kirito to join up? He's always super stubborn when it comes to guilds," Yuuki said it as it is, eyeing the Beater curiously.
"He joined after Keita persuaded him to help us, he's been a big help, I-I still struggle to fight o-on the frontlines but I'm i-improving a little," Sachi looked really inspired by Kirito, clearly, the guidance he placed on Asuna had been paying off with Sachi, enough that Nagi smiled at her.
"Kirito's a great person to rely on, he's helped us a bunch in the past so trust me, you're in good hands," Nagi replied, seeing the girl's face light up while Kirito rubbed his nape, looking conflicted on that compliment.
"You know I prefer solo, a-and don't tell the Rat about this..."
"Implying she doesn't already know, but I'll do my best not to," Nagi held a nervous thumbs up. His girlfriend was unbeatable at one thing, and that was intel grabbing.
"Seriously, how'd you get to know people like this?" Sasamaru prodded Kirito for an answer.
"Come on, we've still got more Cores to find!" Daora growled, clearly past his limit too.
"Wait, just a second, if you don't mind a request!" Keita stepped forward with his hands out, making the group pause. His face tensed up as he looked to Nagi before bowing his head. "I know you frontline players are busy, but... if it's alright with you... can we see you in action a little more? So we know what to expect when working towards the frontlines!"
"Keita..." Kirito breathed, wondering if that was a good idea. He was glad to see his friends again, since their meetings were far and few between since the 25th floor boss. But he knew Keita had this unstoppable drive to level and become part of the frontrunners, but if they fought with Nagi's party of all players, it may end up crushing that morale.
"I-I don't mind, if t-that's possible," Sachi squeaked, fidgeting with her shield. "I mean, i-if we know what the best i-is, then w-we have a realistic i-idea, right?"
"Same, let's go, show us whatcha got!" Ducker was less formal on the plan.
"It would mean a lot to us/Please," Sasamaru and Tetsuo asked them selfishly.
"Erm... I dunno... no offense, but we're super strong and high levelled," Yuuki worded carefully to them. Her time PvPing before meeting her cousin, she had experienced a lot of boastful players that had their pride shattered when she beat them in mere seconds, excluding sword skills too.
"I have to side with my leader too, wouldn't be fair on you guys," Nori frowned, leaning on her hammer's staff.
"Boss?" Artorias perked up, not bothering to look at the guild as she mindlessly scrolled through her menus. "Ultimately your call, I'd rather we keep going... but knowing you, you're wanting to help 'em out, right?" That brought along a small smirk from the redhead. "Go on, a few spars should be fun anyhow."
"Heh... well, you heard her," Nagi's soft sigh made all the Black Cats smile with gasps of surprise, and Keita saw the hand in his view, looking up to see Nagi's confident expression. "I can't promise we'll go easy on any of you, but... we'll do it, right?"
"Hahaha, I want to go first... You!" Daora's finger jutted toward Tetsuo, "I'll fight mace man!"
"Uh, sure, thank you?" Even he wasn't sure what to make of the wolf-headed player.
"If you guys are in, then I guess we are too!" Yuuki smiled slightly, if the whole guild was up for it.
"Alright, alright, you win," Nori shrugged, motioning with her hands down to ease up the excitement.
"Oh boy..." Kirito chuckled nervously. He knew exactly what was about to happen, and it wouldn't be pretty.
"Alright-Alright-Alright, let's get this started," Artorias picked up her tone, clapping her hands before throwing them wide. "The Moonlit Black Cats' leader Keita versus Party Leader Nagi!"
Everyone sat on the edge inner wall of the ruins as the whole battleground was used as the arena. Nagi drew his new black blade with stars twinkling when the light caught it, NightSky. "May the best man win," He offered as the counter ticked down.
{5, 4, 3}
"And to you too, thank you for this," Keita offered, keeping a firm look as he twirled his bo-staff slowly, gripping it tightly.
{2, 1}
When the battle began, Keita immediately rushed forward, using a bronze-coloured spear skill, Twin Thrust. Nagi closed the gap, thrusting a wave of water to intercept the first thrust, then drew his blade high with Striking Wave, cancelling out Keita's skill. The water and bronze fallout faded, and a single wide slash carved across Keita's right side, then a slant to his back before his swung his staff wide, missing Nagi who dove beneath the polearm, slashing into a spin with Whirlwind Slash, the knockback taking a good chunk of HP from the guild leader.
"Don't let yourself be stun locked, if you miss a skill, have someone to back you up, or evade," Nagi spoke calmly, sheathing NightSky as Keita turned and struck with another skill, this time Revolve Arts which was a surprise to Kirito that Keita knew a high ranking skill like that already.
The twirling staff kept Nagi from advancing as he drew his scabbard high, deflecting each strike as they came, the wind-up of the flick at the end was a huge tell, so when it came, it showered the sky in dirt and dust, but only the scent of sea salt met Keita's nose as a blade punctured the dust and through his breastplate. Taking him down to the yellow, and signalling that Nagi had one, his left foot pressed down on the edge of the staff as the bronze skill fizzled away.
"Nagi win, obviously!" Artorias waved, and the small group applauded as Keita sighed in defeat.
"Up next, Yuuki, co-leader of the Sleeping Knights versus Sasamaru of the Black Cats - this is very unfair, might I add!" Artorias remarked with a small smirk as a few looked to her questionably before turning their gazes to the arena to see why.
"Heh, what kind of warning is that?" Sasamaru nervously gulped, training his eyes to the purple-haired girl who smiled giddily, keeping her sword pointed forward in an air-headed manner. He tensed up, drawing a skill into his spear as it turned dark green, the alert resounded, and he released it, not sparing the girl any time to react. "Sorry, but I won't go down easy!"
"Hm, then I'm really sorry about this!" Yuuki apologized.
The green-tipped Fatal Thrust came within an inch of striking Yuuki's stomach, but her obsidian blade gently slid against his spearhead, before a surprising amount of force slammed it into the ground. The skill pulled Sasamaru forward and straight into her Horizontal Arc as she skipping around his back, but unlike Keita, the brunette rolled and drew on another skill, the air rippling with a sonic blast that slammed forward had it not been sent to the sky with a counter slash. Yuuki left no room at all for his countermeasures, slashing and thrusting her blade into every weakspot in his armour until his health plummeted in a matter of seconds, leaving him defeated and on his back.
"Yuuki wins!" Artorias waved expectedly as the other Black Cats paled at the brutal beatdown.
Ducker then put his hands together in prayer. "God, please accept Sasamaru's humble sacrifice," The others quickly did the same in their own ways.
"I... should've seen that coming..." Sasamaru groaned, his head flopping back to the ground.
"Numbnuts versus Tetsuo - begin," Artorias was now laying on her back, disinterested.
"Huh!? What's with that introduction!?" Daora roared back. He huffed jets of air through his mask, drawing his trick ax in its two-handed form. "Just what as I crush this one without even using a single skill!"
"That doesn't help my confidence, hah..." Tetsuo sighed, holding his mace and shield upright as the countdown ended. "I will do the same,"
"Hmph, I like your guts, now let's see them spill!" Daora charged like a madman, swinging his ax down with enough force to cause the ground to split as a kite shield held him back, but Tetsuo winced in pain, his arms trembling. "Hyrah! Hyrah! Hyrah!" Again and again, Daora's dark ax chopped into the shield, he didn't try any underhanded tricks of attempt a different attack, he simply kept swinging down relentlessly.
"I-I need to move!" Tetsuo winced, forcing his mace under his shield as his health was chipped away by the impact damage seeping through. With a horizontal swing, his mace struck Daora's shin, but the hit barely made the wolfman flinch, in fact, his strikes only got far stronger.
"Rule of thumb, if facing a target that puts you on defence, wait until they tire..." Artorias recited simply as Daora panted, his swings lessened. "...then strike,"
Tetsuo pushed the ax wide with his shield, drawing the head of his mace against Daora's bare stomach, then swung it back over his shoulder to bring the mace down on Daora's head.
"Grah!" But like always, Daora had his own method to fighting, and used his own head as a shield, parrying the mace as the sudden headbutt travelled and swung back only to slam down on Tetsuo's own forehead. The blow disorientated him long enough to feel the crushing weight of the battle ax cleave against his exposed torso, being swung around in a fright before Daora brought his weapon and the player down into the mud with a resounding clang, enough for everyone to wince from the force.
"Ugh... less you're fighting an idiot that cares little for defence... um, Daora wins," Artorias hissed at the red markings that covered Tetsuo's armour.
"That was pretty overkill..." Yuuki murmured, her brow furrowed with worry.
"He doesn't really show restraint anyway..." Kirito whispered to her as Daora cackled madly, his foot atop the downed player like a prized hunt.
"Second to last - Nori versus Ducker - begin when ready!" Artorias signalled.
The cocky thief grinned as he spun his dagger around in one hand. "This'll be a piece of cake!"
"Aw, it's cute you think that," Nori teased, winking to him before cracking her knuckles and neck, lifting up her hammer. "I'll try not to aim between your legs,"
"Ran told me to tell you that she doesn't like that language!" Yuuki yelled over with a sweet smile.
"Ugh, fiiine," Nori pouted, not realizing the timer was gone, and so was her opponent as his beanie appeared behind her, dagger drawn in orange.
"Too easy," He smirked to himself, and he found it a little exciting to be so close to a cute girl like this, so extra points if he could impress her with his skills. "Tri Pierce."
"Tremor!" Nori yelled with a wild grin, slamming her hammer straight into the earth, while it never made contact, the shockwave startled Ducker as his first thrust missed, and a boot slammed into his face in a wine-purple pigment, her body arching into a roundhouse that flung the boy across the ground in a heap as he groaned.
"Hahaha, this almost reminds me of when Ran was hit on by a player!" Yuuki giggled as Nori chased the now panicked Ducker around the arena, swinging her hammer in wide stretches. And any time he used his superior agility to flank she struck the ground with another Tremor skill or even made contact with his stomach using Shift, tossing the dirty blonde flying, much to the hysterics of a few.
"He's unbelievable..." Keita hid his embarrassed face. "He probably thought about impressing her too..."
"Honestly, every chance he gets," Sachi let out an exasperated huff with her eyes closed, even making Nagi and Kirito chuckle a bit at the turn of events.
"I give up, I give up - chill for one sec~!" Ducker begged as he ran for his life.
"Nah, attacking sounds more fun!" Nori cackled behind him, eyes wide with jubilation.
"Okay, up next for the final match is Artorias versus Sachi, good luck to both!" Nagi waved much more upbeat than Artorias' dry humour.
Artorias kept an aloof disposition while Sachi anxiously toyed with her sword and shield. She had a good idea of Artorias, actually, this whole battle test she was afraid of. All of them were some of the best players out there, and if Nori was a part of the Absolute Sword's guild that meant she was around their bracket too. So far, all the fights went as she expected, leaving her to face by far the hardest of them all. The Red Warrior.
"Hey," She jumped at Artorias' call, meeting those rosy eyes. "You use sword and shield, but it's obvious you dislike fighting in close, you'd be more suited to a polearm,"
"I-I switched to help the o-others at the vanguard, b-but yes, it's... still alot for m-me to handle," She admitted shyly. "K-Kirito's been helping me b-but I'm not sure..."
"Sword and Shield is one of the best picks, I should know-" Artorias waved her matching weapon class a bit. "-you can fill many roles in a party with them, good stats all around too - so here's a test just for you - I want you to land a hit on me, if you can do that without me moving, then you have potential, sound fair?"
"W-what do you mean by that?" Sachi was a little confused, but the countdown ended, and the battle began. She tightened her grip, and met Artorias' eyes and-
Her body froze at what she witnessed. When she stared back into the redhead's eyes, a pure, potent intensity flooded out. There was no change to Artorias' stance, she stood perfectly still, leaving herself exposed but Sachi felt her throat close just from the gaze shot through her soul. Those eyes were burning with untold rage. It was nothing like the monsters she's faced, the fears that swelled in her heart. The thought of dying... it felt all too mediocre now.
"What's going on, why isn't Sachi moving?" Ducker whined at the stalemate. "She's wide open, go for it, Sachi!"
"Something's wrong, she's shaking..." Tetsuo noted, rubbing his chin. "Just from one look and Sachi's frozen stiff,"
"Maybe she doesn't want to fight another player, I mean, it would be jarring for her, right?" Sasamaru guessed, waving his hand a bit.
Nagi couldn't see it from this distance, Daora looked confused and yelled alongside Ducker. Nori was as lost as anyone else, worried for the poor girl. But Kirito and Yuuki noticed it. "Artorias is testing her resolve," Kirito noted, drawing all eyes to him. "If she can't land a blow on Artorias now, I doubt she'd ever would against a player, even that person threatened her life,"
"...Artorias..." Yuuki understood this well, but that hatred behind the redhead's eyes, it worried Yuuki greatly. Such raw hatred but where did it stem from? What was Artorias angry at? Her grip on her skirt tightened under her fingers.
Artorias didn't even blink, holding the ravenette's frightened orbs constantly. Sachi was trembling so badly she could end up passing out, but Artorias refused to back down, she retained her stance, waiting, staring... anticipating the girl's next move. Sachi felt her arms weigh down like lumps of lead, her chest was tighter and she barely kept any sense not to curl up in terror. Whatever this was, Sachi couldn't move a muscle.
"Don't give up, Sachi!" The one to speak out boldly was the haori-wearing Nagi, his hands by his face to amplify his voice. "Do your best, Artorias is wide open, you can do this!"
Her fear wouldn't let her go, but finally, her feet started to move. Kirito, Keita, Nagi, all of them were watching her now, she must've looked so pathetic. She teared up, but charged forward with reckless abandon, screaming loudly to give her one measly second of courage that blossomed inside her. Sachi didn't even activate a sword skill, swinging down in an arc that dug into the dirt as it flew through the air in a cleave.
That alone brought her down to her knees, sweating and panting shallow breaths. She couldn't do it... her eyes closed... she was a failure...
"Huh, how about that?" Her misty eyes opened, peering up to meet Artorias' lighter gaze, and the thin red cut of pixelated blood across the redhead's leather chest. Artorias was hit, Sachi... Sachi hit her! "Well done, though next time, be sure to keep your shield up just in case, 'kay? You've gotten better since the last time I saw you,"
"I..." Sachi couldn't believe it as the message appeared that Artorias forfeited the match, something the skilled swordswoman almost never did as she walked back to the stands as the whole of the Black Cats cheered for her. Sachi sat there, bewildered as a teary smile crossed her lips, forcing her arm up to wipe away the wetness. "...thank you! I knew it... you were the same girl from back then, on Floor One in that dungeon, aren't you?"
Artorias didn't look back, but kept a small smirk all the same, "Dunno what you're talkin' about," They were leagues apart, but Sachi had that instinct to fight and protect. That instance of courage had only began to grow.
Sachi saw through Artorias quickly, the way she fought and acted, and that red hair and pink eyes, she'd never forget them. Maybe Artorias was keeping quiet to avoid any conflict with her friends, if so, she's feign ignorance as a long overdue thank you.
With that final match, it became abundantly clear to the Moonlit Black Cats how far they had left to grow. Artorias was outright unbeatable and Sachi got incredibly lucky, same with Yuuki. Daora was a madman who was a DPS in all the right aspects. Nori was much the same but was smart to stay aware of her surroundings. And Nagi was a clear master of the katana skill tree, even his combat prowess wasn't overestimated, but neither was his kindness.
All the guild mates, bar Kirito, bowed their heads in a line to the group of colourful players. "We can't thank you enough!" They resounded.
Nagi chuckled, waving his hands a bit. "Y-you're okay, it was nice to be able to help you see your goals more clearly - you have potential, but you also need to grow, not just in levels and gear, but in each other - one player can only do so much, but if you form a stronger bond as a guild, I'm certain we'll see you all at the frontlines one day,"
"We hope so... I'm still grateful you'd give us the time of day," Keita rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, shaking Nagi's hand. "But it's nice to see not everyone on the frontlines is uptight about everything,"
"Ain't that the truth, snobby pricks," Artorias scoffed off to the side. "Princess hasn't helped much, no surprise there,"
"Some are like us, but it is usually very serious, since floor 25 that is, but I'm glad we could help even just a bit," Nagi smiled back.
"I'll be lookin' forward to a rematch," Nori grinned devilishly.
"Keep doing your best guys!" Yuuki pumped a fist with Daora mirroring her.
"Thanks for this, and... nice to see you guys again," Kirito meant that, he hadn't talked much with them say for Nagi when the Beater went to meet with Argo.
"Welp, time to head back," Artorias gave a wave, turning to leave as well. "So glad they didn't realize I was the one that conned them out of their earnings back on Floor One, thank you, Sachi," She winced to herself, whistling away.
"Anytime you wanna talk, message us," Nagi bowed politely to them. Meeting these players was a surprise at first, but he had high hopes for them, he'd let Argo know later.
|April. 24th, 21:47|
|Floor 27, Town of Ronbaru|
The floor was filled with craggy, rocky mountains. Numerous stalactites hang unevenly from the ceiling of the next floor and, above those, are large prismatic gems which let out a hazy blue glow. Ronbaru is a night elf-theme city, located at the bottom of a wide circular valley of the floor. The town is carved out of one of the rocky mountains that are abundant on the floor.
Leaning against the teleport gate in the plaza as people came and went from the beautiful night garden, Argo flicked through her menu with a mischievous smirk. "The Moonlit Black Cats, sound like a fun batch but'll need more intel to really selL," She shrugged, "I'll take it thougH,"
"Like you wouldn't," Rolling her eyes, Artorias sent over a very generous donation of Col, even surprising the Rat herself into looking past her hood in surprise, but only briefly before appearing aloof again. "Consider this a long overdue payment... for everything,"
"Ain't like you to be the donatin' typE," Even Argo had her suspicions. "Makes it sound like this'll be the end of our partnership, ArtY,"
"Sure, like that'll ever happen," She dismissed, leaving with a wave. "Seeya, Rat,"
"Pleasure as always with my second favourite customeR~!" Argo waved back in a jolly fashion. Once the redhead's ponytail disappear from sight, Argo kept her smile as she looked through her messages for a moment, but her brow was furrowed slightly. "Something's up with Arty, he's a good player, but ain't so good at lyin' on the spoT,"
"I know, he's been... different, since we're finally on the floor he can hopefully fix his glitch-" Nagi, who had been hiding behind the opposite of the teleport gate leaned beside the blonde.
"That's a big 'hopefully' toO," Argo held her suspense over if a potion can truly fix a glitched avatar or not, but couldn't really find the heart to shatter Artorias' only hope left.
"-he's been... reckless, and even his patience is running thin with Daora, and not the usual banter, he's snappish now," Nagi was beyond worried about the redhead, this was unlike the Red Warrior's cool, confident attitude that Nagi came to find reassuring in tough spots. His hand tapped against NightSky, his facial features tense. "I don't know how to approach him about this, every time I do he deflects or shrugs it off..."
Argo saw his growing anxiety and shuffled closer to take his hand in hers, staring around mindlessly. "It ain't like yer enemies, and I know ya like to take the peaceful route, but times like this, a good hard truth can do wonders for folks too caught up in their own heaD. Cut to the problem and his true thoughts ought to come ouT,"
"I;ll try that... your ideas tend to be better than mine," Nagi smiled slightly as Argo snickered.
"I just have a realistic outlook, can't have both of us havin' the same dynamic in this relationshiP," She pointed out with a modest smirk. "Plus, I like you're carin' side, nice change of pacE,"
"...like you aren't half the time," Nagi reminded her, his face a little red from the compliment.
"Eh?" She blinked up at him as Nagi stared up at the crystals, absorbed in their mystical lighting as the theme of the town played softly on a low setting for him.
"You broker deals with anyone who's honest, you never take advantage of players who are desperate, and even then, you offer info that's clear and fact checked. You were even willing to take the fall for all Beta Testers back on floor one, even though your reputation would be ruined, and your life in jeopardy," Lowering his eyes to hers, that cute face slightly obscured by shadow under her hood, he smiled softly. "You're an amazing person, Argo,"
Argo pouted a bit, scratching behind her head as the faint colour of pink crossed her face. "See whadda meaN?" Yanking the collar of his haori, pulling him down for her to lean up a steal his lips in the dark, her heart beating a little faster from how many people were around, her lips curled at the thought as they held the kiss a little longer before she broke away with a sigh. "Never gets olD,"
"Hehehe, s-sure..." Nagi had a bit of a dopey smile, but Argo's advice atop this warmth in his chest made him confident in speaking with Artorias tomorrow.
|April. 24th, 22:02|
|Floor 27, Clean Slate Inn|
Artorias didn't really think much as she organized her equipment. Floor 29 was a tough road, for nearly three days, progress was slow, and Nagi had a meeting with Heathcliff tomorrow about something concerning the way forward to enter the labyrinth across the tundra. She narrowed her eyes, closing her menu as she laid back on her bed, wearing a pair of black shorts with a white line down the sides, and a white, loosing fitting t-shirt. It gave her a modest view of her chest, the sight making her brow twitch. It wasn't even remotely funny, not since day one.
Pulling the elastic from her hair to let it fall down, she grunted and headed toward her door, hearing a knock. "What is it?" She grumbled as she opened it slightly to see... "Huh, Yuuki, what is it?"
The girl wore only a lilac shirt with red cuffs and a pair of black shorts too, walking around bare foot as she blinked at Artorias' dishevelled appearance. "Oh, uh, sorry for bothering you, I just wanted to, um..."
"Yuuki, what is it?" Artorias asked again with a blunt tone.
"I... just want to talk... is that okay?" She asked calmly, meeting those jaded pink eyes. Artorias exhaled through the nose, then leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed. Taking that as her cue, Yuuki put her hands behind her back nervously. "Are you... okay? I-it's just, you've been... so unlike you recently,"
"I'm always like this, you know that," Artorias shrugged. "But your dying concern is appreciated, Yuuki-"
"And that, you never use anyone's name unless you're serious, but that doesn't seem right either," Yuuki cut in, squeezing her hands tightly out of sight. "If you're worried about your potion to turn you back, we're working really hard to get to the floor boss, if that's what causes the event-"
"Not fast enough, taking things slowly isn't making this any easier," Artorias' foot began to tap. "Look, I get everyone's tense after what happened on the quarter floor, but if we continue at this rate, we'll never get out of this game,"
"But being reckless could lead to the whole frontlines being wiped out, you know that better than anyone," Yuuki argued, seeing the redhead's fingers dig into her biceps. She lowered her head a bit. "...I'm worried about you, jerk, everyone is," Lifting her head, she brought her hands forward to cup one of Artorias' hands. "Just... talk to us when you want to, we're friends, okay?"
"...yeah," Artorias said it, but her head and heart couldn't be further apart by fog.
Yuuki nodded, stepping back to turn and leave. "Have a good night," She offered one brief smile, then left, leaving Artorias to stare at her hand once held by the purplette, seeing it shake a little.
Closing her fist up tight, Artorias moved and closed the door behind her.
To Be Continued...
Things are heating up for the fabled floor Artorias has been waiting for. Despite this arc returning to the normal short arc trend I've been used to, there's so much drama packed into this one, I can't wait to show it! Anywho, I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Players!
044 - Cold As Ice
Floor 29 is an arctic wasteland, ruins of a lost civilization buried under ice and snow. Out there lies the path forward to the labyrinth, but trouble arises...