|Floor 41|
The floor was covered in a thick layer of mist much like it used to be for the 10th floor, ruins of a kingdom long-since abandoned, according to rumours and the quests located here, it was home to a race of dragon folk but they had vanished without a trace, leaving their monuments and fortresses to be roamed by their undead brethren and other monsters that stalked the mists.
Nagi ran perpendicular to the wall, a dishevelled wolf covered in scars and blood biting down on the wall below as he spun around, foot sweeping a current to smash the jaw of the large dire wolf into the side of the stone wall. Nagi slid onto the edge of a collapsed bridge, in that frame, Daora and Mito leapt over, two more wolves falling into the misty chasm below. Mito spun on her heel, cleaving the mist ahead of her with Rend, the tip of her scythe clipping the underbite of another wolf, hearing it yelp when it was flung backward.
Artorias used it to vault over their heads, casting a burning pink light through the mist. With a single, deafening impact, the ruins around them were cleared of mist by the force of Meteor Fall. "Luminous!" The brunette then held up an ornate lantern with his left hand after the post motion, anchoring the mist to where it was pushed back. "Okay, we're set, boss!"
"Nice work, everyone, let's find that relic," Nagi instructed, seeing the glowing eyes and snarls trace the wall of mist. A catch with navigating the mist, with the lanterns they carried, they could use the crystal kept inside to provide a safe haven within the fog, as no monsters would traverse outside of it.
Daora readied his ax toward the uneven slabs of stone below, blade edge humming to life. "Hahaha, Hyrah!"
|Floor 42|
"This plan is so stupid it might just work, heave-ho," Artorias drawled with a stupid smirk.
"A little more to the left!" Their best blacksmith, Lizbeth, instructed as she studied the rock formation.
Nagi and Mito did as instructed from Lizbeth below them on another level of the spire of earth that jutted out from the ground at an angle. The floor was a massive section of a cavern that had collided with the likes of a mountain and had be split open, creating an amalgamation of earth and stone that hung over a large section of the floor like the jaws of a titanic elder beast of old. It was a rich place to farm ores too that grew from the large 'teeth' of the wall of earth that curved, the best being found on the stalactites.
Daora and Liten were both suspended by rope and climbing gear. The heavily-armoured ginger, former tank for ALS, now apart of DKB, was swung forward as Daora swayed backward, both carrying large pickaxes. With every swing forward, they would chip away at the rock, the precious, unrefined ores falling towards Artorias below who stuffed them into a hand-pulled cart.
"This is kinda fun, you know!?" Liten giggled a bit, swiping at the stalactite again to chip more pieces off.
"I know, right!? Higher!" Daora declared, smashing face-first into the rock again.
"Pfft, hahahaha!" Artorias cackled while Nagi and Mito sighed a little from the uncounted time he's done that.
"I told you, brace with your legs, idiot!" Lizbeth huffed. "We're not gonna mine anything with that stupid mask of yours!"
"Shut up, I know what I'm - ack!" He struck the stalactite again, stars dancing around his head.
"Aaaand he's stunned, perfect - Liten, counting on you..." The pinkette grumbled to herself, running a hand down her face.
"On it, Liz!" Liten, ever the optimist, kept working hard. "Part of this is going towards Shivata's own upgrades so I need as much as possible!"
|Floor 43|
The dark grey trees hung in twisted, crooked forms, not a leaf to be seen as a low-hanging mist obscured points on the damp ground. Flashes of radiant light flickered under the glare of a super harvest moon, the orange pigment filling the massive graveyard with a sinister light as the undead crawled out from the earth, skeletons roaming from crypts left wide open, and some of the dark trees turned to sling jagged pines from their branches, the ghoulish faces carved into the trunk like jack o' lanterns.
"Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen!" Daora kept lopping off the heads of the undead, bodies shattering all around him. He spun on a heel, puffing his chest out. "Hah, I'm on a combo now!"
Over by one of the giant Trent, it was suddenly lacerated from behind, causing it to howl as bark was stripped away, a final horizontal slash dividing it in two, making it flood the gravestones with polygons. Artorias spun Red Death over one shoulder, raising an amused brow at the wolfman who grabbed a skeleton by the face to hold it back, arm trembling. "That still only counts as one!"
"Guys, focus!" Nagi called over, hopping a gravestone to fly kick another skeleton into a horde, slashing forwards with NightSky as its edge carved a riptide through them all. "Inverted, Rising Sun!" The sweeping wheel sawed through the horde, Mito diving into a flurry of spinning slashes to knock the tougher ghouls backward for Argo to slip between the cracks in the army of undead, hacking away at them with ease.
"Nyahaha, like a big ol' festival of the deaD!" She then lobbed a jack o' lantern from its perch, striking a Trent as the decorative fruit... exploded, setting the tree ablaze. The Rat stared at her hand, then looked to an equally surprised Mito who could only shake her head with a shrug, then Argo grinned so wide her whiskers twitched, clasping another. "Now we're talkiN'!"
"Yeet!" Artorias, having seen the display, switched to dual-wielding jack o' lanterns, throwing them down from above like a bombing run. "Oh man, Cupcake's really missing out now! Who needs candy when you got explosives!"
Daora, swing!" Nagi smiled a bit, kicking two into the wolf's warpath, the ax-wielding maniac swatting them, spraying ghouls and ghosts alike in a chain explosion across the graveyard. "Hahaha, this makes no sense but it's really something!"
"Nagi," He turned to look at Mito as she motioned plainly to a stack of exploding pumpkins with a humorous smirk. "Ready to bowl?"
Everyone instantly forwent using sword skills, grabbing a pumpkin to cause a little more mayhem until the harvest moon concluded.
|Floor 44|
Across the forest of massive trees that created a small woodlands within a plains, the tan-shaded grass and beds of red flowers growing by a stream, Nagi and his party stood still, hearing the ceremonial bell ring across all of Aincrad. From the 1st floor straight the 44th, all was silent, not a soul in the game uttered a word. All fell into a single minute of total silence.
November 6th 2023, it had officially been a year since SAO launched, and the Death Game began, claiming so many lives since then. Thousands taken away so easily. Nagi bowed his head, amigasa removed and placed over his chest. Daora placed the tips of his ax against the dirt road, hands atop the pommel. Mito pulled down her hood, bowing her head with her eyes closed. Artorias had a straight face, brow knitted while keeping one fist clenched around Red Death less some mob ruined this moment.
None dared to speak now, for they had still thirty more seconds to give the fallen their respects.
|Floor 45|
The dungeon was dripping in the distance, overlooking a ravine that sank into the darkness. The 'ribs' of the hall's overlook torn open, rubble collecting at the edge. Polygons scattered below the slanted support beams where a cloaked figure watched the player waltz forward, whistling a soft, gentle tune that filled the whole room, the scrape of two small scythes against the ground, the brittle noise making the one above wince but remain silent.
"What's the matter, life flashing before your eyes?" The hooded figure below asked of the survivor pressed to the furthest wall, staring up at the sickle user with unparalleled terror in his eyes. The one in the rafters looked down, squeezing his knuckles into turning white. If he moved now, then both he and the player below would die, someone... had to tell the others. This monster was out there, his bitterness focused, his maturity stable. "Pick it up," The scythe man gestured to the hammer next to the survivor. "Pick. It. Up."
Even as the man begged and tried to flee, attempting to commit suicide by leaping out at the chasm, two sickles found themselves sweeping in one fluid motion through the player's nape, bringing him down as the last of his HP disappeared, and a final burst of glass occurred.
Up above, Fynch held in his pained sigh, hiding away in the darkness while the sickle user sheathed both blades and walked away.
Fynch didn't move an inch for nearly ten minutes, silently staring down at the discarded weapons, muttering 'sorry' multiple times.
|Floor 46|
The Great Ravine, it was what connected the whole floor together, a series of massive, stunning environmental features that players would walk and traverse the walls of, crossing large rope and stone bridges to each destination, almost all of the floor was focused along the outside walls, none could climb to the top, at least, none that survived doing something so pointless less the overpowered monsters meant to prevent such a feat were the catch you.
Along one of these narrow roads across the largest ravine, Nagi and Kirito puffed out their cheeks, pushing the handle bar of the wooden cart down the track as it carried a large quantity of crates for a delivery quest. It was dangerous but the material gains would be worth a fortune if they could take the cart from one town, all the way to the other end of the ravine to the next town. It was a tiring process that had everyone switch between pushing the cart and defending it from an onset of monsters drawn to the quest.
"Y-you got to be kidding me...?" Nagi wheezed, a large, possibly unstable rope bridge sat between them and the other side to continue their journey, behind them, Daora had run off to contend with another cluster of monsters attempting to destroy the cart.
"We got halfway to go still, keep it up, boyS!" Argo chimed in from atop the cart, adding to the weight as both boys lost their souls in that moment.
"Y-y-you're not serious?" Kirito shakily asked, sweat dropping a little back up at the shrugging informant.
"Ain't like I want to tease ya on this one, Kii-boU," Argo confirmed their fears, gulping dryly as they steadied themselves.
"Ready?" Kirito asked of Nagi who gripped the bar tightly.
"Ready," Hearing the serious tone and watching them both nod to one another made Argo open her mouth only to yelp as she was flung onto her back, forced to sink her nails into the top of the cargo, feeling her body being thrown around when both boys kicked it into high gear, screaming wordlessly as they stormed over the swaying bridge with the cart in tow.
"Ya IdIoTs, Ya FoRgEt ThErE's PrEcIoUs CaRgO oN tOp~!?" Argo's eyes were spinning, head bouncing all over while they made it across to the halfway point of the bridge. Up above, Argo's head swayed a little. "Alright, Kii-bou, Hero, gimme a - aaaaaH!"
Again, they barrelled it across the rope bridge, a few boards breaking under their feet but not enough to slow their momentum until they dug their heels into the dirt, bringing the whole cart to a complete stop, and throwing Argo overboard in front of them, her eyes like spirals in her sockets, face greener than before. The boys panted, looking back to see the others racing over.
"Nice work," The pair chimed, fist-bumping. Neither saw Argo rise dizzily to wallop them both across the head, leaving two large welts as a result.
|Floor 47|
Another geyser went off between Nagi and Artorias who held their guards high, rolling back when the massive Morningstar struck through the scorching water and steam, the rippling affect of the jagged crown of the weapon causing the cracks to glow, releasing another burst of steam, throwing them back with minimal damage. It was a heavily burned knight in deep blue armour, it towered over four meters in height, but due to it striking close to the geyser, it not only wedged its mace in place, but the high-powered blast of water kept it stunned.
"It's open!" Artorias relayed, the mid-area boss had taken twenty minutes to whittle its armour down using the environment, but now, the rest was left to Mito, the next in the attack chain while Daora struck the back with Grand Destruction. Sparks and particles were thrown high while a deep grunt escaped the 'Drowned Paladin'.
Mito held her breath, leaping forward with a twirl of her scythe, cast in violet. Drawing near the Morningstar, her eyes flickered with alarm, the boss twisted its wrist, and in a sudden lurch, it swung the mace from the ground with a secondary blast of hot steam, burning into Mito and her cloak as it was engulfed by the hot moisture and fragments of scorching earth.
"Mito!" Nagi and even Daora were surprised when her health dropped below half, yet, a black cloak burst in the steam above, and the curving arc of both purple hair and scythe swung overhead. Both red eyes never losing focus nor fearlessness.
With her feet pressed to the neck of her scythe, she brought it down hard against the breastplate of the Paladin. She then reached down, grasping it to kick off the boss's torso, flipping backward with her scythe held out, and with a blinding slash, she slid behind the boss, casting its polygons into the two crescents of steam behind her, smiling a little. The two-hit, powerful scythe skill, fittingly called, 'Reaper'.
Her dazzling display brought the boss down, receiving the L.A. bonus as the group praised their victory. "Soooo... whatcha get, Reaper?" Artorias inquired curiously.
Mito blinked, hitting the 'materialize' option to bring out a new weapon to place in her hands as it caught the mid-morning light splendidly. A new scythe, the name rolling off her tongue in English, "'Soul Fang'..." It was an obsidian scythe that curved slightly for the staff with two wrappings of bandages for grips. The neck of the weapon bent like a 'C' then straight up for the large crescent blade to rest, the sharp edge contrasting white, the butt of the head a jagged curve. With a slow rotation to her side, Mito gave them a bigger grin, eyes steady with confidence. "I like it,"
|Floor 48|
Lindarth, a medieval village-town themed city, with a rural and tranquil atmosphere despite the dangers present on its floor. The spacious city has stone paved roads with large trees planted in regular spaces along it, the court covered in grass and canals threading the road. Due to the waterways and canals running beside the houses, quite a few buildings in the town have waterwheels, some even more than one, which makes the town ideal for support-class shops, like bakeries, tailor shops and smith shops. Most of the buildings within the town have thatched or ceramic-tiled roofs and the city itself is surrounded by gently curving castle walls.
However, buying a lot was expensive for a lot of crafters, none more apparent than the one stuck in the market square in the city with her decorative tent and tools hung up on racks. Lizbeth was with her best customers, the leader of Misfits and his party, as well as the fabled Sleeping Knights. "You seriously want me to create all this high-end gear? I-I mean, I can do it, but... it'll take weeks to accomplish it all, the many trial and errors I'll have to sift through and-"
"We gotcha covered!" Daora roared, frantically going through his menu to hit a button to materialize a mountain of resources. From monster parts, to ores, items, gemstones, the whole heaping lot tumbling before the pinkette's wide eyes, practically exploding from her skull. Daora proudly laughed at this. "You said you needed resources, so we fought every day, and for two whole days straight gathering extras for the best blacksmith I know!"
"We really need sleep," Mito yawned, using Daora's shoulder to rest her head.
Daora, as well as Artorias, pointed together, hands side-by-side at the perplexed and bewildered smith who began to sweat. "No backing out now, Pinky, you said 'get me all the rare materials you can find, and I'll make you armour and weapons that'll rival anything from here to the third quarter of SAO', your words exactly! Hah!" Artorias yelled, bags under his eyes. "I also lost my sense of hearing from all the loud noises, I hope it's distracting!" He continued to yell.
"O-Okay, okay, calm down, geez!" Lizbeth sighed heavily, listening to Yuuki giggle next to them all.
"Hope this is okay, we're super hyped for what you'll make for everyone, we got a huge sum of Col too to help fund for your new shop!" Yuuki exclaimed with her arms wide, Ran nodding softly.
"Asuna told us you wanted to get a proper establishment to bring in more customers, so we all collectively agreed that while Nagi and his party handled resource gathering, we'll look to paying for everything," Ran bowed her head a bit, smiling. "Everyone says you're who to rely on for this, we trust you," The rest of the Sleeping Knights all agreed, giving the smith thumbs up.
Lizbeth was again flustered and turning red in the face, laughing nervously. "Come on, t-this is seriously a lot, even f-for me, but..." Looking over the mound of offered goods, and the Col she'd no doubt would put to great use... she let a smile form, and a twinkle of pride and a kindling fire burned in her eyes. "What's a blacksmith if not her word? You want the best gear I can craft? Then by the Gods, I'll give ya something to turn heads towards, just you wait!" She raised her hammer.
"Thank you, Liz," Nagi cocked his head with an innocent smile. "We'll be in your debt,"
"Ahahaha, you sure know how to make a girl feel special, Nagi," Liz cooed, then cleared her throat. "Like I said, professionally, it'll take me a while to complete, but before you complete the halfway point of this game, you'll all be decked out in no time!"
"She's smiling, does that mean we're good to go!?" Artorias yelled again in Yuuki's ear, making her blink from the shock.
"...uh, can we fix this?" She whispered to Nagi.
"Erm... we... might want to take him to Argo after this," It was still a long day ahead.
End
This particular set of floors showcases many things being set-up, primarily the gang preparing for what may become their final outfits for their journey in SAO. Everyone, Kirito and Co. included, all have their familiar attire by the 50th floor, and I really hope that my designs are to everyone's liking, with the exception of one as that will come very shortly after a certain point in the future. I've also given rise to someone else that Fynch was investigating, but who is it? Not PoH, so who might this duel one-handed sickle user be?
I do hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Misfits!