A/N: Okay, hello again, starting this off with an important update. You're gonna hate this, but I need a break from Misfits, starting from the end of this Arc we're on, since I might as well leave it for a time on the halfway mark, right? So not to worry, Floor 50 is happening. Once it's over though, I'll take probably a few weeks, a month at least, I just need time to destress over how much I've got left to write for Misfits as well as other smaller projects to help freshen up my writing. I hope you all understand, but anyway, Review Time!
To Isshion: Yep, Kirito X Sachi confirmed, it'll not be 'in your face' but it's there.
[Artorias]: Okay seriously, what is your problem with us!?
[Yuuki]: Eh hehehe...
[Nagi]: She's just being nice.
[Artorias]: Oh, that's lovely - do it someone else already!
Enjoy.
|Sword Art Online, Floor 50, City of Algade|
|Jan. 15th, 15:05|
After over a year's worth of battles, hardships, and losses, the players on the front lines had done it, they had finally grazed the start of Aincrad's halfway point, a floor far more challenging than any other to date. In three weeks, progress to completing the labyrinth was slow-going, and almost no intel on the floor boss had been uncovered, not even the field boss. Every mystery went untold, leaving them all to fend for themselves, gathering resources in this ore-rich floor.
However, one day in the main city of Algade, Nagi and Argo had a run-in with a perplexing NPC that nearly sent the former flying as a result. In aiding the NPC, they learned she was a tinkerer of sorts, 'Archmage Inventrix, Bevel Helical', a very... intense person to say the least. In helping her to her workshop, she disclosed what her motives were, as well as her inventions and discoveries to the duo... for two hours on her 'Invention #100' whatever that may be, but to Nagi and his info-starved girlfriend, it might just be worth listening to for any form of hints.
Bevel was woman in her early twenties, she wore a dirty bronze coat that hung down to her ankles like a lab coat, belts holding pouches and small trinkets. Over the coat's sleeves were a deep shade of blue platemetal with thick white gloves that have turned black at the tips from stains. Her coat opened up at the waist, revealing cargo pants with worn padding tucked into steel-capped boots. She wore rectangular glasses with a silver frame, her hair scruffy brown with pigment loss as she had it pulled back by a red hairband, a few scars peppering her face.
"Argo, is she still going...?" Nagi leaned over slightly to murmur in the informant's ear carefully.
"Hate to say it, but yeS," Argo yawned a little, knowing they had other priorities that needed to be seen. "Look, Bevel, gotta put a pin to this info stream for todaY,"
Bevel turned her head in bewilderment. "Hrm!? But that was only the introduction, my assistants! But fine, we can get straight to work now that you're helping me," The doctor concurred in the end, missing the couple's sigh of relief. "As my one-hundredth brilliant breakthrough, it is one to be celebrated! One of utmost importance!" She declared with pride. Then she quietened down a little, "But I admit, haste makes waste! One must never allow herself to grow too excited! I will see you another day then, dear assistants!"
Giving their farewells for the time being, Argo and Nagi left the workshop for the alleyway outside, the second the door closed, both breathed another sigh of relief. "Phew... I'm patient, but that... she's so much like Kizmel and Shirayuki, it's... hard to believe she's an NPC,"
Argo, who guzzled down an energy drink of sorts in a vial, buzzed again before answering. "I ain't got a clear answer, but I'll admit, it does throw me through a loop sometimeS," The Rat then checked her quest log, making it public for Nagi to view. "Seems it all wasn't hot air either, got the questline no one's mentioned locked iN,"
Main Quest Added!
-Brilliant Breakthrough #100-
Bevel seeks to finalize her greatest invention to date, one that could define not just her career but the future for inventors across Aincrad.
*Speak with Bevel another day [ ]
"Guess we should tackle this tomorrow," Nagi suggested, even this wasn't much to go on as he smelt the frustration coming off his girlfriend. Seeing her twitching brow made a slight smile appear. "...you're... really not happy about this whole ordeal,"
"I spent nearly a whole afternoon wasted on stale intel that had no leads nor benefits to my investigation, y'know my broker skills are precious for every new flooR!" She blew up, pacing back and forth in a manner so unprofessional, a player would pay anything to see, but Nagi had exclusive rights to see this side of Argo. The 'highly irritated girl who hates not having conclusive answers'. "I mean, I mean really, who in their right minds thought the algorithm having the ability to construct something so time consuming and pointless was in any way ideaL!?"
Nagi, being supportive, kept his distance as he spoke, allowing her to vent out her frustrations. "It was very exhausting, but think about it, we've gotten access to a questline that no one else, no info broker other than you, has managed to find. Who knows, maybe this'll lead to answers next time, all about patience, right?" He cocked his head a little.
The blonde grumbled several curses to herself before ultimately sagging her shoulders, pulling her hood to cover her face, then groaned angrily into it before throwing it off to turn and give Nagi a sharp stare with an equally sharp brow raise, cheeks flushed red from both her venting and probably embarrassment for her shift in character. Slowly, she fell forward until her head plopped against his chest, granting him permission to pat her head with a sweet smile.
"I hate it when yer right, HerO..." She muttered.
"I learned from the best, that and I learned to see a lot of things with a better scope," Nagi replied honestly, hearing her chuckle a bit. "Come on, we gotta meet up with the others by the quarry right? Should be are rotation next, could be stuff worth selling to people down there..." Nagi egged on, seeing her head perk up as she lightly jabbed his stomach.
"Don't go teasin' me with a good timE," She lifted her head to eye him with an impish grin. "Makes it harder to pay ya bacK,"
Nagi felt a little warmer around his face, chuckling a bit, "You never disappoint, Argo,"
"Nyahaha, good answeR," Taking his hand, Argo soon led him down the street, putting the topic of Bevel's questline aside for another day.
|Floor 50, Basalt Valley, Abandoned Quarry|
|Jan. 15th, 15:27|
Outside Algade, the main field consisted of lush green plains with a couple trees, but most distinct of the environment was the sheer drops that separated the land from the labyrinth in the distance, like a volcano had formed around it, the further you went up the staggering mountain, the harder and more complex areas became just trying to reach the labyrinth. As for their current area, it was comprised of walls made of hexagonal basalt columns around its edges, segregating the land a bit with crystal clear pools of freshwater with small waterfalls.
The standard mobs found were Grassy Rhinos, appearing to be made from stone by the texture of their hide with a thick pelt of moos atop their backs and heads. There were also a few rock elementals, but really, they were just clusters of living rocks that shuffled around called 'Crags'. However, all their names were a red pigment still, not dark, but enough to warrant caution.
Upon approaching a group of players at a mining camp, not far away was the slope that led straight into a massive square hole in the ground, roughly half the size of a football field and dug down at the same depth. The path down into the quarry led out into a flat ground with many ruins left uncovered by the past excavation, and while rock elementals roamed the area, there were plenty of twinkling deposits of ores scattered along the other levels or around the mysterious ruins.
"Guess everyone's already gotten a head start on us," Nagi whistled as someone approached them.
"Yo, you guys finally showed up. It's great the pact worked out so we can all mine and hunt here in peace," Klein said with a clear sense of relief in his tone. "Put a good word in for Misfits helped also, guess roping in several others guilds into a cooperative pact from the get-go really paid off!" He laughed a bit.
"I-I'm glad my forward thinking paid off back then," Nagi smiled, tilting his head to look around at the gathering players awaiting their rotation into the quarry.
"It almost feels like a mini-festival around here now that everyone from top players to us small-to-mid sized guilds are around," Klein noticed, Argo nodding along.
"Lots have come lookin' for the best spots and times to dig their heels in and get materials to boost their rep and banK," Argo had never seen this much of an influx in customers since the last bonus floor, but just thinking about the 27th Floor made her ill.
Klein then prodded a thumb to the large tents stationed near the foot of the quarry. "Asuna and the rest of KoB are over there, they've got the whole schedule up and running for anyone wanting to fill spots, same with the rest of our pals,"
"Sounds good," Nagi then fist-bumped with Klein. "Tell the rest of Furinkazan 'good luck' from us,"
"Appreciate it! Gonna grab so many jewels we'll be spilling at the pockets like with that ore glitch Yuuki and Artorias ran into! And same to you guys too!" With a hearty laugh, Klein waved them goodbye, heading over to his friends, although, Sachi didn't seem to be with them at the moment, strange.
Once along, Argo grinned devilishly, enough to make Nagi worry. "Argo... why are you smiling like that?"
"You'll seE," She then zipped away at that insane speed of hers, but thankfully, Nagi's skills in reaction times had gotten better, so long as he sees the direction Argo's going, he could keep tabs on her whereabouts a little. Her target? A certain brunette overlooking a few documents by an open gazebo tent with Nautilus and Ran standing with her. The latter two noticed Nagi's approach but not Argo. Then, the Rat lunged, hugging Asuna from behind as she gave a girlish yelp. "Been a while A-ChaN~!"
"A-Argo!?" Asuna gasped, turning with a faint blush on her face from her surprised reaction. "I told you to stop doing that...!"
"Yep, and I didn't listen, nyehehE!" Argo grinned ear-to-ear, releasing Asuna so she could address Nagi too who gave a sheepish wave.
"Sorry, Asuna, I doubt I could stop her if I tried," Nagi admitted, earning a poke to the side from the broker.
"Not that I'll let ya stop big sis from givin' some love and supporT," Argo pointed out.
"Hey, Nagi, guess you guys finally sorted through that quest, must've been long," Ran moved the conversation along, but then sweat dropped at both his and Argo's deflated looks. "O-oh, I... guess it didn't go so well..."
"Not so much that, and more very time consuming," Shaking off the disheartening feeling, Nagi nodded to Nautilus.
"How has Yuna been in Misfits? I'm not entirely sure on how your guild operates, even after Floor 40," Nautilus inquired for a moment to clear his mind.
"She's really done well to adapt, sure, she's refraining from standing on the frontlines but in terms of support during side quests and the like I'd say she's grown into her role, you should check up on her, she'd appreciate it," Nagi explained with a kind smile, seeing Nautilus hesitate a moment. "She said you two hardly have time to party up with your role in KoB and everything,"
"Ah, well, at the moment, my role is to aid in KoB's growth at the moment, especially at such an integral point in SAO," Nautilus deflected, earning a strange look from the girls.
"You need to stop avoiding her, she wants to hang out with you," Ran insisted, crossing her arms.
"I've told you, Nautilus, if you wish for some time off I can authorize it, you don't need to work yourself to death like some players," Asuna pointed out to him.
"Ya push a girl's feelings away too much and they'll grow to believe ya hate 'eM," Argo enforced, the constant prodding making his facade chip away little by little, raising his hands anxiously.
"See, ya say that-" From the edge of the gazebo to their left, a head popped around with a flat glare and a sly grin on their face. "-but I saw you gathering up every audio crystal you can afford from Agil, all for little Siren and her new songs..." Artorias laughed between his teeth like a jackal.
"Yep, total fanboy and love-struck!" Yuuki's head then popped into frame below Artorias's, giggling to herself with a mischievous grin.
Now, Nautilus was turning red in the face, waving his hands frantically more making a series of hand gestures to better emphasize his point. "Th-these are for... saving data...! Data's important for progressing in SAO, besides... y-you shouldn't be teasing someone older than you!"
"Nah, it's more that way," Yuuki brushed off.
"Nautilus and Yuna, sitting in a tree," Artorias walked out while he and Yuuki synced up their bobbing hands as steam began to rise from Nautilus's head.
"Y-you've got the wrong idea!" But the KoB member's plea fell on deaf ears.
"K.I.S.S.I.N.G~!" Yuuki and Artorias sang so loud, it caught the attention of a few players, Nautilus hiding behind his hands with a pained groan, Ran and Asuna trying not to giggle at his reaction.
"Alright, c-come with me, I may not be a part of KoB but I can at least provide more... constructive feedback," With that, Ran grabbed Nautilus's arm to drag him further away to speak, shooting a look at Yuuki that had her yelp and hide behind Artorias.
"Oh, she totally loved it," Artorias brushed off. "Yo, Boss, Rat, Princess,"
"Hehehe, with how peaceful things are here, I may have come down to ensure everything ran smoothly for nothing," Asuna seemed to lighten up a bit, clearly, the burden of Vice-Commander was weighing on her a lot more, Nagi observed. She hid it well, but teasing Nautilus seemed to help her stress. Then, Asuna clapped her hands with realization. "Oh, and before I forget, happy birthday, Artorias!"
The light-brunette briefly lost his composure, coughing into his hand. "Geez, is everyone in Aincrad aware of this? A-Appreciated, Princess, really, not a big deal though..." Given today's date, Artorias was now 16 like Nagi, Argo, and Mito. Due to this, Nagi even put together a little surprise early in the morning for him, much to his embarrassment but gratitude. Meanwhile, Artorias pointed at Yuuki who whistled obviously off to the side. "You totally sold me out, didn't you?"
"Nope!" She totally did.
Nagi shook his head, looking to Asuna as he caught Nautilus trying to get out of his conversation with Ran, but the co-leader of the Sleeping Knights yanked him back by the cape, waving her finger as he sat back down on a crate to listen. "In any case-"
"Thank you," Artorias sighed.
"-you said you're here to make sure everything runs smoothly, did something happen while me and Argo were gone?" Since he left talks up to Artorias on his behalf, Nagi and Argo were needing to be caught up to speed.
Asuna frowned a bit, looking around at the players present. "For the most part, I trust KoB, of course, as well as the Assault Team as a whole. But someone needs to be there if sparks start flying, right?" They nodded along, following her reasoning. "Lind and I came to that decision. If I'm being honest though, I'd like to work on the boss quest..."
"We found something that could link to the floor boss, but nothing concrete, could be a dead enD," Argo shrugged, not at all willing to save this info 'till she had a better understanding of it.
"See, I don't mind us slowing down for a bit, this is Aincrad's one and only halfway point, and the monsters are harder and quests more complex, I'd rather we have people like you two looking for any and all intel we can exhaust, less we have a repeat of the 25th Floor Boss," Asuna reasoned, and none of them were going to counter her on this.
"Slow and steady then... I know Numbnuts and Reaper are around doing side quests but I doubt they found anything worthwhile," Artorias shrugged, looking over the tent to the sky above. "This whole floor's like one big mystery compared to every other, even I've gotta admit, for all my skills and intellect, I'm stumped."
"Really had to put that jab in there, huh?" Yuuki raised a brow with a small smirk.
"Pfft, duh," Artorias snorted a laugh.
"In any case, here-" With a few button presses in her menu, Asuna sent them all route on the map to take. "While not as massive as this quarry, there's a few smaller sectors cut off from this one nearby that we've dedicated to smaller parties and solo players, I'd say you'd have a better shot finding spaces to fill there then here, the backlog isn't hectic but I wouldn't recommend it,"
"Got it, thanks Asuna," Nagi smiled gratefully for the information. "You coming you two?" He eyed Yuuki and Artorias who watched Nautilus still being lectured by Ran, clearly giving up on escaping.
"Huh? Eh, sure, got the time to kill, maybe Pinkie will finally have our gear ready for us," Artorias patted his leathers. "Love my style but this gear's in need of some TLC,"
"Yeah, Ran said we shouldn't push for bigger quests until our orders are done, but I can't wait anymore, I wanna get back to grinding!" Yuuki pouted, making Asuna smile and giggle a bit.
"I'm sure she know that, Yuuki, just be a little patient,"
"Fiiiine,"
"Welp, time's a wastin', Hero, let's get moviN'!" Argo pointed down a dirt path, marching to the vanguard.
"See ya around, Asuna - W-wait up!" He quickly bowed to Asuna and followed after his guildmates.
|Floor 50, Basalt Valley, Magical Gem Quarry|
|Jan. 15th, 15:40|
A small walk from the main quarry was one with more ruins, and a significant one at that, a large, ominous temple dug into the side of a basalt wall, purple ambient lighting emanating from within and on the ground next to a sealed doorway. Despite this, no one seemed to be able to access it, working around at the ore deposits and crystals that shimmered in the light. Off to the right-hand side of the smaller quarry was a sheer drop into a chasm.
"Man, this place is as bad as the last campsite," Artorias murmured, then pursed his lips. "Maybe I should've brought Numbnuts along to bash some skulls for me..."
"Let's go see if we can't find a space to mine, even if Lizbeth's work is done, wouldn't be bad to grab upgrade materials," Nagi suggested as Argo ran off to start investigating. The sight made Nagi chuckle a bit. "She's been itching to do something like this for hours, that quest was very dull."
"That bad? I've never seen Ms Argo act so eager before," Even Yuuki was surprised by her quick getaway.
"Today's a first for many things, apparently," Artorias shrugged, then made an 'eh' sound, turning instinctively to his right near the campsite flooded with players.
"Hey, thought I'd find you guys at camp. Last we talked was Agil's shop when it first opened, right?" Approaching them was the Black Swordsman himself, Kirito. Kirito's clothes now consisted of black pants with a black belt that had a large silver buckle, a black V-necked shirt that was worn underneath a black trench-coat with grey lining going down the sleeves, and black boots with silver plates to protect his shins. He had a silver plate worn on the left side of his coat, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. A strap that went over his right shoulder and under it to wrap around his left side. "Oh, and happy birthday, Artorias,"
"Oh My God! I swear, who didn't you tell!?" Artorias yelled at Yuuki so badly his voice cracked, making him flustered and the purplette burst out laughing.
"You're finally here, I thought I saw Ms Argo run by us a second ago!" Sachi was next to him with a big smile, the girl she was prior to joining Misfits would be night and day to the person she is now, it made Nagi feel at ease knowing she was doing far better, and now understood why she wasn't with Klein and the others.
"Well, now that you're here, you can pitch in to help us out!" And lastly was the woman they wanted to see, Lizbeth. Her blacksmith uniform looked a lot more like the uniform of a waitress: a dark red top with puffed sleeves and a flared skirt of the same colour, combined with a pure white apron on top of it, as well as a red ribbon atop her chest.
"Hey guys," Nagi waved his hand a bit.
"How's your levelling going? Well... I guess the camp just opened up, so you must just be getting started," Kirito noted, answering his own question quickly.
Liz then pipped up. "Been a while! If this place has a quarry then you know it's my time to shine!" She then pushed her finger towards the Misfits. "And don't you worry, just before five, come to my shop, I'll have your orders in tip-top shape!"
"Y'know, you're really pushing the whole, 'Lizbeth quality guarantee' bit," Artorias air-quoted, then had a pickaxe swung toward his nose, barely making him flinch. "Oh no, farming equipment,"
"I have a method to my madness, you want to die wearing some c-rated crap from a storefront?" All of them, bar Artorias, shook their heads rapidly, he just shrugged a bit at the girl's fiery stare. "Good!"
"Don't see you teaming up with Kirito everyday, Liz, you three in a party then?" Yuuki asked curiously, the trio looking to each other before shaking their heads.
"No... not really, me and Sachi were here just listing off what we need, then we ran into Liz and started talking as we plan and gathered," Kirito admitted with a shrug.
"I've already gotten a bunch of useful tips from Liz too, I'll have to tell Klein and the guys later," Sachi smiled brightly, making Liz chuckle with a modest smile.
"Ah, no biggie, really!" The pinkette dismissed. "But yeah, just standing and chatting, usual,"
"Guess that makes sense, Kirito's normal partner would've been Asuna..." Nagi noted, the ravenette making a strange, almost uncertain face.
"No... I'm alright on that one, Asuna's got allies she needs to lead right now. Responsibilities too, forget about doing anything with me, I like soloing anyway," They all noticed how Kirito deflected from the notion of partnering with Asuna, and it certainly didn't slip by Sachi who frowned a bit at her partner's obvious awkwardness toward his former companion.
"Kirito... y-you're not worried I'll get jelous or something, are you?" Sachi teased a bit to take his mind off anything negative, seeing him instantly back up with a wave of his hands.
"Huh? N-not really, I-I mean, Asuna's just got a lot on her plate, I'd hate to bother her with my problems, she's pretty viable on her own too!" He excused hastily, making Sachi hide her smile behind her fist with a cute laugh.
"Honestly, these two..." Liz rolled her eyes.
"This is honestly too wholesome for me..." Artorias shook his head, unable to withhold a smirk as Yuuki shook his shoulders back and forth as she watched too.
"Yeah... hey, Kirito?" He looked up from Sachi nervously to see the shinobi's softer expression. "Asuna's doing just fine,"
That made him smile a bit himself, "That so? Well, I'm glad to hear that, thanks, Nagi," Ever since the Christmas Event, Kirito's been a lot less reluctant to talk with them again, especially Nagi who Kirito often came to chat with, alongside Argo like the early days of SAO and the Beta.
"Huh, so you are still thinking about her, after all..." Keeping that in mind, Liz got back on track. "Either way, I'm counting on you as far as what we talked about, okay?"
Kirito nodded, "Of course, if I ever need some powerful equipment, I'll head over to your shop, Lizbeth,"
Just then, the bundle of yellow hair under a brown and lime-green hood popped up between Kirito and Sachi with a twinkle in her eyes. "Ah, there you are, Kii-bou! Help me out for a sec, you too, Hero, I found a buncha weird pits 'round herE!" She pestered the pair to follow. "No monsters, no minin' nodes... but I don't think they're set dressiN'. I bet they're some kinda floor clearin' hinT!"
"Hehe, go on and help her, I'll help Liz out," Sachi encouraged as Kirito relaxed and turned to Argo.
"Sure, I'll be right there," Glancing over, Kirito wore a whimsical grin. "Just like old times?"
"You bet, you guys good working in a pair then?" Nagi asked a dumb question, seeing Artorias materialize a pickaxe with Yuuki.
"Got the funds covered, boss/Leave the heavy lifting to us!" They chimed.
"I bet it's a golem with a big ol' drill on iT! This floor's got a quarry 'n' a golem factory in it, righT!?" By now it became obvious to the Beta Testers just how desperate Argo was for something concrete to pique her interests before she lost her mind.
|Floor 48, Town of Lindarth, Lizbeth's Smith Shop|
|Jan. 15th, 17:01|
Lisbeth's Smith Shop is a small house, equipped with a waterwheel, for support-class use among the player-exclusive housing. There is a terrace at the front of the shop, where a rocking chair is situated. The interior of the shop is lined with weapons shown in display cases or hung on the wall. An NPC store-tender, named Hanna Heinemann, stands behind a kiosk where players can make transactions, though Lisbeth can do the same when the NPC was off-duty as she is now, leaving the shop private for the main members of Misfits and the Sleeping Knights.
"Alright, after a lot of meticulous planning and material gathering over the last few months, combined with our scores today for upgrades, I can say with certainty that all of your equipment is now ready and waiting!" Liz slammed her hands onto her countertop, waving one arm to the doorway that led to the upstairs. "First on the line up of exclusive, high-ranking armour and weapons, is the Sleeping Knights!"
Like a fashion show to save Lizbeth's sanity, one by one the members of the guild filtered out into the shop. While some wore tailor-made equipment, Lizbeth had explained she got in touch with a famous tailor called Ashley to help her with this. First out was Siune, she wore a cleric-styled, white and navy-blue robe, a breastplate two two smaller shoulder pads and bracers for her forearms and shins; a hat which poofs out like a cake, and she carries a silver, thin rapier on her left hip, she looked quite elegant.
"I'm amazed by both yours and this Ashley person's skills, truly!" Siune gushed a bit, feeling a little flustered by the attention she had on her.
Next was Jun, his made him look bigger than he actually was, his orange hair tied in a braid at the back of his head while dawning copper-red full plate armor and a two-handed sword of a matching colour scheme, almost as tall as him, on his back. He gave them a toothy smile, punching his knuckles together. "Now this is what I'm talking about, a real bruiser!"
"Or a really loud traffic cone," Artorias quipped, making him almost trip over himself.
"Hey, shut it, you cross-dresser!" Jun spat out, only making Artorias laugh harder.
Tecchi stomped out into view next, his equipment consisted of a thick plate armour with brown and pale yellow leathers below like a robe, his trousers tucked into plated boots. He held a new large grey tower shield, as well as his heavy mace with a disc guard. He pushed the shield onto his back with ease, playing with the bracers on his arms. "I feel much lighter than before, more breathing room too," The quiet man spoke curiously.
"Managed to dig up some rare ores found a few floors down suspended on stalactites, worked wonders for lowering the weight," Lizbeth clicked her tongue.
"Many thanks," Tecchi bowed his head to her.
Talken came through after, nervous as ever, he had olive-coloured cloth armour with a tailcoat, with the addition of plate metal for both arms and chest, his large spear suddenly expanding from the size of a dagger to its impressive size in his hands, surprising them all. "Thought I'd give it the same treatment as Daora's ax, should be much easier to adjust for tight spaces as a trick weapon,"
"T-that's amazing, t-thank you so much!" He bowed deeply, Liz just waved him with a smile.
"All in a day's work, next!" She called.
Nori strutted out wearing all light cloth armour that was a wine-purple tint with greys. Her stomach was left exposed and some studded spikes peppered her shoulders and fingerless gloves, almost like a biker member. She kept her black choker and hammer, only the two-handed blunt weapon appeared to be made of a solid lump of black steel with a spike on the back. The ravenette whistled as she admired her stuff, hand placed on her popped hip. "Lookin' really good! The weapon's like a damn piece of raw steel on a stick,"
"Well, where's the sense of pretending not to look the dangerous part, right?" Lizbeth shrugged, seeing Nori smirk as she swung her hammer, forcing half of them to duck as she held it over her shoulder.
"I damn well love it!" Nori cackled. "Oi, you're up leaders!"
"Coming now!" Jogging out into view was Ran first, her outfit had gone through a makeover too. She wore a white combat kimono that reached halfway down her thighs, leaving them exposed to reveal black skin-tight shorts and leggings with high-boots braced with metal plates. The kimono had red cuffs and hem, red petals decorating the sleeves and torso wrapped with a black sash with a red bow on her left side. The sleeves disconnected from the main uniform, and Ran still wore the distinct headband around her forehead. Poking behind her left shoulder was her longsword in a matching scabbard.
"This feels... the same but different too, I feel far more flexible and... stronger!" It was hard for Ran to put it into words how she felt, maybe it was the high stats or the fact it was new?
"Mmhm, Ashley put her heart into that piece, she really wanted to make it pop!" Lizbeth grinned, seeing Ran's timid smile brighten.
"I'll need to thank her personally later, but thank you for the upgrade to my weapon too," Ran praised the blacksmith.
Then, out from behind, Yuuki jumped into view with a twirl. "Ta-da~!"
Yuuki's image had been given an upgrade akin to Kirito's prior to this. She wore an obsidian chest armour, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same colour beneath the armour. A red fabric sash covered the left side of her hip with a yellow border, same for her two belts. The outfit also left the top half of her hips exposed, under her arms and shoulders too. Lastly, her violet stockings that cut off at the knees into a cross pattern over her thighs, they appeared to be connected straight into her boots.
A thin, black sheath hung on her waist as she drew her newly crafted obsidian blade that had no grip, the whole thing made of a pure, almost crystal-like metal with a white edge. Yuuki was practically buzzing with joy, throwing her fists up high. "I. Love. It!"
"Not much to alter but I added some more red to distinguish the purples a little, not bad, huh?" Lizbeth rubbed under her nose as Yuuki giggled, arms wrapped around her sister from behind as both smiled.
"Thank you, Liz, you're the best blacksmith!" Yuuki grinned, making the pinkette try to appear modest from all the praise she's getting today. Then, Yuuki noticed the star-struck look on Artorias's face, making her smile coyly. "Does it look that good, Arty!"
"Eh? Well, y-yeah, I mean, looks pretty high-quality, as expected, y'know?" He doubled back a bit, coughing into his fist to appear aloof.
"Okay, Nagi, you guys are up next," Liz gestured for them to head in. "Besides Daora, I only maxed out his current gear until I have the final pieces to his equipment, sorry,"
"So long as it dwarfs all of theirs combined, I will wait for your mastery to grant me the best gear in the game!" He waved a fist at her, Lizbeth nodding with her fists on her hips.
"You damn better appreciated too when I'm done, otherwise, get a new smithy!"
"Of course it will be!" He yelled as though he was insulted.
"I'm taxing you for all the potions I've used already to keep your sorry ass alive longer than needed," Artorias tacked on as he pushed through the doorway to the rooms to get his gear switched.
Not long after, Mito was the first to come out a little bashful from the eyes on her too. For Mito's outfit, she wore a slim purple dress tunic with long sleeves, the crimson under a dark purple breastplate, thigh high metal-plated boots, and gauntlets to match her armour's pigmentation. Sharp pauldron and even two thigh plates, all hidden below a white cape, torn at the bottom with a crescent hood dipped dark purple. Her boss-dropped weapon, Soul Fang, was given a significant boost in power too as she swung it to rest on her back again.
"You used the same metal to make it durable but light?" Mito noticed, earning a nod from Liz.
"The very same," She replied as Mito smiled with a flustered pigment to her cheeks.
"I really do appreciate this," Now, Mito could protect her friends properly without any restraints. "So? Do I pass, Daora?" She noticed he hasn't said a word.
"...yes, you do," His uncharacteristically tame reply surprised her. "Definitely much stronger than before," Mito smiled warmly at this, standing with him and the others to watch Artorias step forward, his appearance making all of them hum or murmur in awe.
Still using Red Death, Artorias wore a candy-red long coat that reached halfway down his thighs with a hood. The zipper up to the collar and hood's edge are light grey, a black stripe around where his hips are. The sleeves grey along the bottoms and one ring around both biceps. Small rounded pauldron and fingerless black gloves and black belt with a gold buckle. He wore a black undershirt with a white line down the middle, a pair of red-rimmed goggles hung around his neck. He wore plain black cargo pants, a few lines of bandages around both thighs, all tucked into combat boots.
"Oh wow, you look just like an homage to Silent Night!" Yuuki gushed, blushing a little at the sight of Artorias.
"Y-yeah, well, hate the guy, so might as well steal his looks, I can pull it off far better anyway," He gave them a toothy smirk with a wink. "I'll concede, Pinky, you impressed me... really," He cut her off from making a smug retort, seeing a calm look of... reflection, the sight not missed by Nagi's nose. "This means a lot,"
She closed her mouth, slowly forming an understanding smile. "I aim to please every customer, glad you're one of them," The smith spoke honestly.
"Alright, alright, and for our final debut..." Artorias quickly composed himself with a drumroll, stepping aside for Nagi to enter. Immediately, all of them awed his new style.
"H-how'd I look?" He stood nervously with his arms out a bit.
His haori, Calm Sea, remained, alongside the Crest of Renewal with its silvery blue sheen over his whole front of his torso. The new exclusive set, Tidal Shinobi, pertained the same white long-sleeved collared shirt under the black jacket; Kyahan that were light blue extended into tabi socks under dark blue and white sandals. He no longer wore his amigasa, instead, only a headband, the same texture as his haori. Additionally, his forearms and shins were covered by gauntlets with a matching texture to his chest piece.
Hung from his hip was NightSky, one hand placed on the pommel. "It's not much of a change since I want to keep the shinobi look, but this is really amazing, Lizbeth. Everything feels light but stronger, the colours and the careful infusion of your blacksmithing with Ashley's tailoring," It was almost too good to wear, their combined efforts bred a whole line of unmatched armour and weapons.
"Hey, I told ya, didn't I?" Nagi met Lizbeth's defiant eyes. "So long as you guys pay me in materials, I'll make you the best gear in Aincrad, and I don't make promises lightly."
Bowing his head, all of them copied soon after, "From all of us then, thank you," Nagi vowed to repay Liz's kindness tenfold one day.
"THANK YOU!" They yelled, making the girl's face turn redder.
"Alright, enough with the praise! Geez..." Shaking her head in her hand, she couldn't resist a smile, seeing them all quickly start gushing over each others gear and laughing. "That's all I wanted to see, the looks my creations give others, there really is no better feeling," Then, she eyed Mito who was pointing out Daora's unchanged gear aside the golden bracers for his arms. Her fists balled up against her apron at this. "I swear, I'll make you the best armour, the kind that'll take you to the 100th floor... all of you,"
This is how Liz would fight alongside them.
Meanwhile, buried deep below the surface of Floor 50's Magical Gem Quarry's caved-in site, something stirred to life...
"|Self Diagnosis Activated|," A gruff, mechanical voice rumbled to life. "... 25% Complete... 50% Complete... 75% Complete... 100% Complete. |Self Repair Confirmed - Functional| Repair Rate - 80% | Confirmed Self-Repair has been determined appropriate|"
A bunch of blinking noises awoke. "|Analysis Activated | Target: Surrounding Matter | Analysis Complete, material assumed to be rock, usable for self-repair and self-modification | Memory Look-Up Initiated... | Records of previous battle successfully loaded|"
Sparks and a buzzing noise emanated from the entity. "|Self-Improvement activated | Applying data from previous battle | Beginning Self-Modification|"
Then, a sharp hiss ejected from the entity, a glow emerging from cracks in its hide. "|Strategy Confirmed | Mission: Annihilation | Target: Humans|"
To Be Continued...
Here we are, the halfway point of SAO. This was a tedious arc to write due to how lengthy Integral Factor can be but I really didn't have any idea what to write for this floor without it. Much more mystery to come in the questline with Bevel, everyone's upgrades will likely be their final appearances for SAO too, and Daora's? Well, that's a surprise for next arc...
I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Players!
059 - Lost In Translation
Fully geared, the next day, Nagi and Argo return to Bevel to aid in her rebuilding of a lost journal of a great inventor of the past, and the secrets hidden within...