«Sword Art Online IC»

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Holy shit, holy shit, it's the IC! It's Duke Nukem Forever, all over again!

Sword Art Online OOC

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On the fiftieth floor, Adelle crossed her arms as she leaned against the walls of a guild's dimly lit hall. There were at least fifty people there packed into that one room, hovering over an oval table, talking and yelling profusely. It was nothing short of chaos; everybody was speaking at the same time. Her eyes flitted over to the oval table. In the middle of it, a crimson and gold clad player viciously gave a blue-robed player a verbal beat-down before an apparent guild-mate forced him to sit back down. Adelle recognized the two players as belonging to the same guild. She couldn't recall the name, but it had an infamously horrible reputation with an equally insidious commander. She scanned the room for the man, but was unable to locate him. That was unusual; most of the guild leaders and handfuls of their members were supposed to 'discuss' the fifty-first floor, including members of her own guild, Survival Strategy.

The prospect of a routine symposium of the leading front-line guilds and people to discuss the fifty-first floor's boss seemed incredibly unlikely, considering the shitstorm the 50th floor boss caused. There were more deaths than she could count on her fingers and toes from the fiftieth floor boss raid. In those dreadful few hours, the single-highhandedly most popular guild was destroyed along with important players from other guilds. In short, it was the catalyst for a large reshuffling of assets and players among guilds, an event that wasn't without conflict.

In the room, there was no discussion about the floor's boss, a large meat-cleaver and claymore wielding ogre. Instead, guilds were at each other's throats at this meeting, pinning the blame on each other for the losses of their friends, guild mates, and even entire guilds. The meeting was intended to be a pre-raid discussion on tactics; now the idea of a boss fight in a couple hours was completely out of the question. There was nothing even relevant to that here.

Before the atmosphere in the room completely collapsed in on itself, a loud, booming voice filled the room. "Gentlemen. Gentlemen! Silence! We are not here to discuss our blood feuds!" A large man at the end of the table slammed his palm down on the wood table with an authoritative effect. The decibel output of the room immediately dropped as Adelle directed her gaze at the man.
Bald man, stubble on his face, muscular, with a black and blue tunic-- Adelle knew this person. His name was Stone, the sub-leader of the Order of the Blade, a rising star in the front lines and generally a sensible man. He was not somebody to be taken lightly.

"This is not the place to fight. There is important news. Yesterday, the guilds Black Hats and Equinox mapped and scouted out the dungeon and the boss. The collected information is freely available in town, for all interested parties." He paused as a couple cheers rose up in the room for the members of those guilds. They were met with an equal amount of booing; the scouting missions conducted yesterday was not without interference, a fact that Stone had left out.
"However, this is of no consequence if you do not remember what you are here for. The fifty-first floor boss is nothing compared to the Goliath we managed to take out. But if we do not set aside our differences, there will not be an easy victory. There will be more deaths. There will be more tragedies. We must fight for those that are no longer here, not squabble over petty differences! To do so would be disrespectful to their memory. If we do not shoulder on, their sacrifices would be in vain. Now, let us discuss the boss like civil Japanese people."

[JamesTheAzn]

A man stood at the bottom of a hill, with a little girl standing right beside him. In her hands was a short sword, barely a meter long. It seemed to be a teacher-student relationship, judging by how much screaming he was doing. He placed his hands around her wrists, brought them up towards her chest, and shook them vigorously. The man proceeded to readjust her grip around the hilt. She flinched as he handled her limbs aggressively.

"Knees apart, too! And bend them! No wonder you're still level twenty!"

Katsuro continued to walk by atop the small hill. The warm resonance of the sun against his face. The wind blew slowly through his hair, ruffling it as it passed through each individual strand. The smell of lavander filled his nostrils and the sound of cicada in the trees rang through his ears. It was a peaceful day. A lonely day. It seemed to him that these days would only become more and more common. Katsuro's only two friends were gone. Kenshin and Crona. Gone forever, and never meant to return. Katsuro sighed, saddened by his recollection of memories and drooped his head. Lonely. Forever.

"What are you doing? If you hold it like that, you're going to drop it in battle!" The man continued to holler at the girl. She looked at the man with watery eyes, with a slight build up of tears on the corners. "You're crying, again? Ahhhh! No hope!" Tears began to stream down her face. She had finally reached her breaking point. Again, apparently. All the man did was shake his head and turn his back on her. She dropped to her knees, wiping the tears with her forearm, and shaking her head.

Katsuro looked at her, tears running like rivers down her cheeks. Her face struck him in an odd way. She reminded him of Crona. Her sharp chin, her very pale blue eyes, the brownish-orange tint of her hair in the sunlight, and her physique. It pained him to even look at her. His eyes began to be averted down the path in front of him. In front of him was the town of Algade, on the fiftieth floor.

[Fallenstrife6]

Artemis was standing outside the door of the room where all the commotion was coming from. He usually was an active member of devising the best plan of attack for bosses, but that wasn't what was going on in the room behind him. He had his typical blank stare as he continued to listen in to all the yelling, at the same time bouncing different ideas about the fifty-first floors boss. He continued to look through the information gathered on the boss, debating what the best plan of attack would be. Given the ogres weapons, even he would have trouble parrying and dodging such a wide range of attacks. He let out a sigh as it hit him that he wouldn't be able to take the ogre head on, and would most likely have to provide support switching in and out. He pulled a teleport crystal out of his jacket and was about to activate it, but stopped as the room behind him began to quiet down. When he heard a much more civilized man start to speak, he entered the room.

Artemis saw Adelle leaning against the wall and walked over to stand next to her, he imitated her pose and got comfortable as he leaned against the wall.

"Finally, we might actually be able to discuss this," He said as he kept his eyes focused on Stone.

Artemis continued to listen attentively, taking notice of how inspiring this man truly was. Not that he was affected, but as he continued to look around at all the players in the room it was apparent Stone was getting to them. His mind flashed back to the fiftieth floors boss, he was in the thick of it and the faces of all those he saw die flashed through his mind. He shook his head and the thoughts passed, he was no stranger to death. It hadn't been too long since he joined Survival Strategy, but it seemed like they had everything figured out. He appreciated the fact that they only had one front-line party, he didn't like it when things got crowded. He grinned at the irony as he realized how jam packed the room he was in was.

"Fill me in on how this goes," Artemis told Adelle as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back at the Bureau as always," he grinned. He did like to waste time there, sometimes it was interesting, and sometimes it was quiet, but he enjoyed them both. The thought crossed his mind that he might seem like a mooch, having no useful skills to do anything with when they weren't fighting. He didn't give it too much thought as he walked out of the room and used the teleport crystal he still had in his hand.

[Em Sensei]

Things hadn't been this bad since the first few days, when the creator of Sword Art Online declared that each and everyone one of the users playing on the first day were no longer able to return to their families and homes; instead staying here in order to complete the 100-level dungeon. The only way out was to fight, the only way to survive was to fight. The only way to die... Was to fight.
And so people died. People died left. People died right. People died in front of your eyes or behind your back. Generally, it wasn't up to them whether or not they lived - monsters and creatures of all kinds would sap away at your HP bar until it drained entirely, before your very existence snuffed out like a flickering flame on a much too short wick. If the monsters weren't bad enough, your fellow players also had it out for you. Greed was probably the second largest reason why people died in this world. Money, power, fame, equipment - even because some players had simply lost their logical will. Yes, this place was a mad-house and if you weren't part of the psychopaths, you were going to eventually die.

They haven't gone down without a fight however. Banding together, they'd been making significant progress through the dungeon's gauntlet; defeating the boss at each subsequent level. It took another 40 or so levels for things to get bad once more however. Revival, the most popular and possibly strongest Guild in the SAO universe to date had entered with the majority of it's forces, wishing to take down the 50th level Boss with no trouble. Of course, this did not go as planned. Countless died - that is the only concrete truth. Eventually, the great beast fell. But that was only after it had single-handedly destroyed the foundations that held up the majority of people's hopes. The hopes that they'd one day break free of this nightmare.

It was a warm day, the sun gazing brightly down upon the surface of the 50th level's town. This particular town held the single largest Guild structure one could obtain; it was originally going to go to Revival, once they'd take care of the Boss. Suffice it to say, the place isn't as lively as it would have been. Save one room.
Many had gathered to discuss the next floor's Boss and the plan to take it down with no casulaties, only that was the premise of the meeting - what was actually being
'dicussed' were excuses, accusations and all-around emotional argument. It took the slam of a table and the natural strength of a man's voice to settle the crowd, though even then the tension remained thick amongst the air. It didn't take long for another male to step forth, voicing his own opinion.
"To hell with the Boss! I lost almost every single person I'd ever met in that last battle! This is goddamn suicide!" he announced desperately, the ache of loss and fear of death evident in both his words and the windows to his soul that were his quivering eyes.
"Nobody is asking for you to continue fighting." stated a firm, female voice. She stepped forwards from behind a couple of heavily armoured individuals, who both had no idea she had been lingering just beyond. The first feature of the female that everyone would find would be her rich, crimson locks of hair. Radiant, curled to perfection and hugging around her face in a frame. Emerald-green hues stabbed deeply into the male, but not with any form of negativity - but pity and empathy, her thin lips curled downwards in a featured frown. In the fire-lit room, her olive complexion tinted sweetly - a glorious star amidst the chaos of Aincrad.
"Everyone lost something as soon as they logged in for the first time." she began, placing her straight, chinese-styled blade on the center table, "Others have lost loved ones," she continued, turning her eyes elsewhere and meeting the odd person or two as she spoke, "But it is those willing to sacrifice it all that will get us through this. People are counting on us here; whether they be the men and women you see around you now or the people still stuck on the first floor, because they don't have the strength to stand up as strongly as we do."

A hand suddenly came down on Stone's right shoulder, the side opposite of where Rose now stood.
"I have it on good information that this here particular Boss doesn't have any other pet monsters in the room with it, meaning we can surround and defeat it fairly quick." a sly, accented and oddly charming voice snaked through the crowd as he pulled himself from beyond the veil of bodies. The male was dressed sharply, a tailor-made suit and accessories to match; though the gloves he bore weren't very common. Tipping his fedora up a little, he reached into his inner pocket and retrieved a folded piece of paper. Opening it with a flick, he slid it on to the table, next to the map of the current floor. The one which had just been placed down was around five times larger both length and width - not to mention it had a considerable amount of red X's littered about, detailing monster spawns in quantity. The map of the 51st floor however had next to none.
"What's this?" asked an observer, leaning in close to get a better look at the comparison. A gentle chuckle hummed through the suited male's lips, which were curled upwards into a rather sharp smirk. "This here's the 51st floor's map. This - the 50th." he gestured to each accordingly, a generous amount of chatter coming about the listing; many people noticing the significant differences and commenting on it to those standing nearby. "If the maps are any kindah' clue, which they are - you can all see that this floor is less than half as tough as the last. Should 'ave no trouble." he snickered, leaning back and placing a hand atop his hat, pressing it down over his golden hues once more. Rose nodded towards him with a smile, genuinely pleased that he'd actually gone out of his way to help them in the meeting.
"As he said; this Boss is a cake-walk. Of course, whether or not you still wish to fight is entirely up to you - but I plan on taking him down with or without the rest of you!" she exclaimed firmly, swiping her hand through the air decisively, before plucking her sword from the table and reattaching it to her belt, "I've had enough of this world and how it torments us. I'll save you all."
With that, Rose made her way out of the large room - during the hushed whispers. Ever since the death or Revival, there hadn't been any real stand-out figures aside from Stone himself; but Rose was making short work of this, turning heads everywhere she went. Opening the door, she closed it behind herself upon stepping out - giving them a curt good-bye with a single nod of her head. As serious as she seemed to be - her desire to help seemed sincere enough. Already, those that would have otherwise probably avoided the next battle were thinking of joining purely because they'd be helping a person like her. And the reassurance from the sharply dressed male whom had receded back to the rear of the room to observe also caused some sort of inner hope to spark within a select few.

[JamesTheAzn]

It never occurred to Katsuro how important it was to maintain a friendship in this game. You couldn't make it through this world with your sanity without having a companion. Isolated in this world meant facing all of your struggles head on. Alone. Nowhere to run. If you failed to protect yourself from the hardships that this 'world' threw at you, you were sure to die. Simply put, Katsuro regretted ever joining the raid party of the fiftieth floor, but it was necessary. In order to liberate all of the players in this world, it required sacrifice. What each and every person did that day, was lay down their life to, hopefully, ensure everyone's long awaited freedom.

Algade's business was picking up. It was mid-afternoon. The sun was high and all of the inhabitants of the town began to peruse the multiple items for sale at the local vendors. Katsuro's eyes surfed the waves of people in the square, observing each one. He had recognized a few from the front lines when they faced this floor's boss. He was happy and sad at the same time. Why did they have to live and not any of his friends? Why not have let Kenshin and Crona live? Katsuro shook his head. It was selfish to think this way. It wasn't what everyone was trying to fight for. We fought for a greater cause than our own personal gains. Or so he thought.

"Fresh baked goods for sale! Right out of the oven! Come and get them while they're hot!" Said a vendor just a few yards from Katsuro. He gazed curiously at the assortment of bread as he approached the stall. You could still see the heat resonating from the delectable goods. His left hand elevated which brought up the menu.

"How much is it for one?" Katsuro asked as he shifted his hand to look at his inventory.

"They're only three col for one!" The baker replied with a hearty smile on his face. "I'll tell you what. Since you're my first customer of the day, I'll let you have four for the price of ten!" He smiled and held his gut in his arms. His chortle sort of rang annoyingly in Katsuro's ears.

"Fine. I'll take you up on your deal." Katsuro opened up the trade menu with the man. The trade completed in a few seconds and a small window opened up in front of Katsuro, reviewing the trade. "

Thank you, sir! And have a wonderful day!"

Katsuro spun on his heel as he moved on of the pieces of bread to his mouth. The taste of the warm bread immediately sent a shiver up and down his spine. His eyes slowly shut, his nostrils flared, and his facial muscles relaxed. His reaction almost made it seem like this was the first time he had eaten bread. It had been ages since he tasted bread so good. He took a deep sigh, letting go with it a load of stress and hunger. Relief had finally come to Katsuro's stomach.

[Harbringer]

Leaning on a wall near the back of the room, Ferric watched as the proceedings of the strategy meeting devolved into a maelstrom of accusations, insults, and thinly veiled threats. His helmet was off, revealing his lean, ascetic face, framed by the medium-length, golden hair that was tied back in a short ponytail. His stern, flint-grey eyes stared outwards at the almost animalistic actions of the other SAO players, and, not for the first time, he wondered whether they could really complete this game, and get out alive. Despite being a foreigner who had only come to Japan recently, his grasp of the language was good, although heavily accented, and he had a great understanding of how things were going. Heaving a sigh, he closed his eyes and shook his head, causing his hair to flick left and right with the movement. He honestly had no time for this.

The 50th floor of the tower had been...a disaster, to say the least. The German was sure that more people had died on that floor than the others combined, and, being a pragmatist, he was almost sure that it would not be the largest death-toll in a single level of the game. There was bound to be greater bloodshed on one of the higher floors. Almost everyone had lost someone important that day, and Ferric was no exception. He had seen too many people he had previously protected die by the boss’ hand, and it had left a foul taste in his mouth. He could not do anything that fight. He had basically been incapacitated after repeatedly tanking the blows during the course of the battle, and imbibing potions afterwards to restore his health. It was when he ran out of potions that he was dragged out of the fight, against his will admittedly. He would have kept on fighting and died, if he had not been forcibly pulled back, his rage tempered by his comrades stating that they needed him in later levels to protect the weak. He still felt guilty abandoning that dungeon afterwards, when he could have saved even one more life from death.

When ‘Stone’ called the meeting to order, Ferric pierced the man with his cold eyes, pinning him to the ground as he started to drive the strategy meeting into a more productive direction. Now taking more interest, the heavily armoured man pushed himself off of the wall and started to shoulder his way through the press of bodies, using his greater height and bulk to his advantage and moving towards the front. Of course, many others moved out of his way voluntarily. On these floors, he was not as famous for his previous task of slaying a dragon single-handedly, which had descended into obscurity, but his actions had then earned him a few new nicknames. The Guardian. The Sentinel. He was the one who watched over the weaker members, shielding them from harm with his own body if need be. He was also quite well known as something of an introvert, someone who rarely talked. Making his way to the front, near the table on which several charts were displayed, he folded his arms across his barrel chest once more, causing clinking sounds from the lamellar scales comprising his chestplate. Tilting his head to the side, he indicated for the man named Stone to continue. The man mutually acknowledged Ferric with a nod, before continuing.

Ferric agreed with everything that Stone had said, although he resisted the urge to add ‘and Germans’ to the end of the last sentence. Technically, he was a Japanese citizen now as well, so he refrained from doing so. The information that the floor and boss had been mapped already was a welcome change from how they usually went in blind, and Ferric was starting to become optimistic about this. Perhaps there would be no need for death here, if they played their hand right. Of course, Ferric would do everything in his power to make sure that they did succeed with no casualties. Once more, the image of the 50th boss flashed through his mind, slaughtering many of those from the raiding party with ease, while he could do nothing but look on, his health bar dangerously low in the red zone. A light tap from there, and he would have died, and while he was thankful to those who dragged him out of the dungeon, he still felt a tinge of resentment.

When another man to his right voiced his refusal to enter the dungeon after his last experience, Ferric shot him a chilling glare with the intent of calming him, but the man’s passionate fire was extinguished by another voice, this time, that of a female, who beat him to the punch line. Turning to face the newcomer, Ferric raised his eyebrow slightly, drinking in the sight of the woman and smiling lightly. Even as a solo player, Ferric had heard of this maiden with the fire-red locks and the tanned skin. Called Rose, she was known as quite a saint, and, from her little speech, Ferric could confirm it. She had a similar ideal to Ferric himself, but she seemed to be taking a different path than his protection of everyone. She seemed intent on clearing the tower as quickly as possible. Each to their own, he guessed. It was even rumoured that she controlled a powerful guild in her own right, but his HUD failed to display any particular guild she was a part of. Offering her a respectful nod, he turned to face the man beside him who had spoken up, his arms still folded around his chest. “The decision to fight is within yours alone,” Ferric said to him with a grim look on his face, his voice deep and gravelly, akin to two boulders of granite being rubbed together, “if you wish to remain behind...so be it, I will not begrudge you.” Turning back to face Rose and Stone, Ferric reached his hand out in an open palm, signalling them wordlessly to continue.

They were interrupted, however, by another voice. A man had suddenly appeared from Stone’s right, flanking the opposite side from Rose. Ferric would have been lying if said that he had not flinched slightly. Evidently, his detection skills were not up to par...but something in his intuition told him to completely distrust the one who offered the map...he just gave off a foul feeling, like he needed to bathe right after coming into contact with him. While Ferric tried to ignore the nagging feeling that his conscience gave him, he still couldn’t shake the uneasiness off. His ease was amplified when the man produced a set of maps, but it was overridden by Ferric’s natural curiosity. Reaching out his hands, Ferric reached his fingers down so that they just barely hovered above the map, before extending his fingers outwards, zooming the map further in towards the 51st floot. Perhaps this man wasn’t so bad. Information brokers were usually corrupt, selling their morsels of gossip at high prices, while this man seemed to just give it away. Finding himself offering a gentle smile of thanks, he looked down at the map, studying it in detail. A master of defensive tactics and defense in itself, Ferric started to detail a general plan of how to minimise casualties within the floor, although he would leave it to the actual tacticians of this meeting to decide upon this. For now, he would just keep the plan in his mind. He was a fighter, not a thinker. Best leave it to those who had a better understanding of these things.

Noting Rose as she retook her blade with a flourish, leaving a second later, Ferric smiled slightly, a rare thing for him. She was headstrong, and impulsive. That suited her fiery hair nicely, however, she would undoubtedly need someone to guard her back. There were many PKers and monsters who could quickly dispatch such a high profile figure, and that would only demoralise the survivors further. Reaching his hand back, he gripped half of the spear, which was wrapped in several layers of cloth, and drawing it out with a soft slicing of air. Notable for its odd appearance, with its dual prongs, the Pfähler was nevertheless his weapon of choice. Taking slow, measured steps, he walked around the table and pushed open the door with a light creak as the floorboards flexed under his heavy armour, before he disappeared beyond its threshold and closing it behind him.

His footsteps loud on the hard flagstones of the Headquarter corridors, Ferric slightly increased his pace to catch up with Rose, slowly catching up to her retreating figure as he once more sheathed the Pfähler onto his back. The small pennant fluttered lightly because of the movement, seeming like a jaunty flag hanging off of his back, but he didn’t care. It almost made him look like an ancient banner bearer, if not for the pennant’s size. When Ferric finally reached earshot of Rose, he raised his voice for the first time in what seemed like ages. “Madame Rose, please wait,” he said as he strode towards her, his armour clinking and clacking as he moved. He wasn’t exactly one for stealth, and she had probably heard him from a mile away. Plate armour wasn’t exactly known for its use by assassins, or generally those who favoured stealth. “Were you serious about the protection of others?” he asked in his usual, flat monotone. He wanted to make sure of something first before he acted rashly.

[Ale]

The sound of the busy streets calmed his nerves. It was almost like finding enjoyment in white noise, leaving the television on to sleep, or perhaps even listening to wind chimes during the summer; the atmosphere was absolutely at peace. The slim figure rested silently on the soft cushioned seat, his eyes half open as he stared out the open window to the figures moving about outside. In all aspects he felt what the thousands of other players felt when eyeing such a place, the stark disbelief that the present stage wasn't reality, that they were simply trapped within a system of codes, a game of survival. Yet these moments were surely the best; it was in these small moments that he felt he was back in the small cafe in the real world. There was almost no difference here and there -people had things to do, places to be, or so they wished to believe- and that was the case in Sword Art Online as well. The salty smell of food crept from within the kitchen as Bacchus almost imagined the sound of the oil jumping in the frying pan as well as the sound of a moving spatula.

Moving closer to the window, he watched as a large man erected from behind the kitchen counter, one large hand holding a small plate of sausages and eggs and the other a small cup of warmed milk. It was heavy breakfast, one that he would end up regretting but that was his trend as of late. Do now, regret later. Smiling, he thanked the man before jabbing his fork into the sausage and bringing the whole thing his mouth before chewing away, taking a sip of the warm milk that seemed to sweetened with something similar to honey. In the real world, today would be a Saturday, and would have been his wash day. Rather than sausage in eggs, he'd be enjoying a fine slice of cheese cake that he had purchased after work and enjoyed a small cup of Earl Grey. To his side, rather than an empty space, would be seated his younger brother, eyes filled with disgust as his elder sibling ate such a unhealthy breakfast.

Bacchus frowned, sadly that was no the case. He was hopelessly lonely without his blood relative and almost missed being pampered as well as scolded by someone who was six years younger than him. Leaning forward and stretching like a cat, he devoured the rest of his food, went up to the large man before opening a trade window and presenting the due amount of Col. After a mindless and formal exchange of farewells, the guild leader stepped out into the rays of the distant sun. A charming smile on his face warded away any sort of negative feeling that he had once felt. What to do today? The Col goal for the Guild had been set, the scouts hired, and the information brokers paid, so what was left was...to socialize.

"Guh..." pulling on his bangs he avoided the few stares shot at him, they were nothing close to friendly. To almost everyone around him, he was either an idol, a freak, or a menace. He was simply past the state of relation, people had trouble connecting with him as much as he had connecting to them. The end result was a man who rarely talked to people outside his Guild, and even on those special occasions, it was for business and business only. Letting out a stiff sigh, he decided to go get his equipment inspected. Hopefully, socializing would just wander in sometime during today. Walking down the street, the man adjourned in red scratched the back of neck as he hunched his back.

'Today was likely to be uneventful as always.'

It was the thoughts that he had right now that had begged for him to escape the real world he was stranded in. Smiling in awe at this unexpected development he stared up at the sun, his vision blurring as his eyes were kept open despite trying to close instinctively. It seemed he was stranded yet again, to escape one reality and enter another...

"What was I thinking..." he mumbled and smiled sheepishly to no one particular.
__________________

Standing outside in the corridor, the fair guild leader watched the door silently. In all honesty, he had no intentions of joining this conversation. Behind the closed door would reside a series of grieving men, and if not that, men pretending to be grieving. It was shameful atmosphere, men and women alike were unable to express how they really felt, their dying anger and frustration. This had happened one on the 25th floor too, so Bacchus knew all too well what to expect if he walked through that door. Rather than face his responsibilities as a guild leader, he chose to wait outside silently and make an excuse for himself later. Perhaps he'd quicken his breath and made as if he had been running...

Sighing, he watched as a sole figure emerge from the depths of the screaming abyss. A familiar face was only remembered once he had managed to catch her soft figure and warm presence. It was her. He stared silently from the corner as he quickly leaned against the wall and kept his head low, he convinced himself that he was asleep and proceeded to close his eyes listening to her fading foot steps. Following shortly after her, an armored knight. It seemed perfect, the knight would pursue the passionate and hearty princess, his figure hard as stone and his eyes as cold as the winter storms. However, his heart was warm, and despite however much he attempted to conceal it, he was dog smitten by love. Hoping that this sort of situation was the case, he grinned to himself as he remembered passing by Artemis on his way in. Apparently the man was tired of the scene and sought refuge in his usual lounging point, the Bureau.

It seemed his suspicions of the meeting to be completely useless wasn't far from the truth. Letting out a sigh louder than he had intended, he opened his right eye and watched the two from underneath his custom made hat that matched well with his uniform. He was only here to pick up Adelle after all. Coming in anything too casual would have presented itself to some unneeded misunderstanding of how he treated his subordinates.

[Asuras]

Another shattering noise. Shards of multicolored glass-like material jetted outwards before fading into nothingness. A sword, embedded in the ground, was lifted up with a slicing sound. Despite its great size, the weapon was easily moved about in but a single hand without effort. A phantom of armor stood amidst a chaotic forest of wooden structures, haphazardly tied and nailed together with minimal care or focus. The 51st dungeon was dominated by ogre, orc, goblin, and gremlin-like enemies, and was quite the maze if one did not have a map to designate the right path. For Shumkare, the "Dungeon Wolf", getting through a dungeon took little time, as she spent her entire time mapping one out before calling it quits.

She had no intention of facing the boss, though she could potentially do it on her own. Her only focus was to literally clear the dungeon of beasts over and over and over again; pure grinding. She had passed the 51st town merely to note where all of the major shops and forges were and to drop off a map of the dungeon, but quickly left for this dungeon before everyone else. If she remembered correctly, everyone was getting stopped up at the town due to some 50th level mishap that left many dead. She didn't know. She didn't help during that level.

A vicious orc appeared from under the woodwork like some termite and charged Shumkare with a rusted machete. Unlike previous orc-like enemies in lower levels, these ones were serious. Quite literally, they looked "grown-up", and sported decent armor, shields, and formidable strength. They were still slightly dumb. Shumkare held her greatsword in one hand and pointed it towards the enemy, activating her Asteroid Thrust skill. The sword glowed a deep blue and extended outwards towards the surprised orc, piercing its armor like a piece of paper. It's health plummeted, but did not empty. The orc swung its macabre weapon and struck Shumkare's armor, dealing slight damage to her health. Nevertheless, she remained stout and neglected to even flinch. She drew the sword from the enemy's chest, dealing even more damage, and grabbed the weapon with two hands.

A tiny notification sound rang in her ears, signaling the activation of her secondary Demon's Limb Unique Skill trait; doubled damage when using two hands. She rose the sword above her head. The sword rang out in the dungeon as it cleaved the monster in two and struck the ground. Again the creature shattered. What minimal health had been taken down by the measly strike had been healed already, leaving Shumkare just as healthy as before. How many kills was that? She couldn't care to try and recount the hours she spent there. Shumkare lifted her sword to her shoulder and walked down the log path for the dungeon entrance; she was craving for something to munch on, and as careless as she was to getting hit, she didn't want to deal with monsters as she tried to cook.

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The sky turned bright as she exited the dungeon cavern, shining off of her slowly dulling armor. The town in the distance stood proudly on a hill, though some strange aura of despair seemed to hover around it. It could just be her lingering emotions from within the dimly lit dungeon. Without much care to move any further away from the door, Shumkare placed herself on a stone slab just beside the entrance and sifted through her inventory. A small iron pot materialized beside her and fell neatly onto the slab, as well as a hunk of wood and her flint and steel. She looked through more lines of items before taking out a handful of random materials; some carrots, potatoes, and a jar of soup. It wasn't extravagant, and certainly not gourmet, but it was all she felt was required. Wearing the Vagrant Cloak, she couldn't afford to buy expensive cooking materials all the time. With her mediocre cooking skill, she prepared the ingredients and threw them into the pot with the soup.

Shumkare lit the wood with a spark and awaited for the food to be done. She leaned back on the stone tablet and looked over the grasslands before her. The town still stood there, never moving. Tiny dots of people just outside the walls could be made out. She reflected on the many conversations groups were holding in the town about the 50th floor. She never thought much of them; what really happened?

You want the long version or the short version?
I've gotta meet up with my party, so just give it to me straight.
Simply, the greatest Guild got screwed over.

It was as if the boss jumped ten more levels than he should have been!
You mean like a special boss, or whatever?
Maybe it's cause it's the 50th, you know?

They're gone. Both of them. I-I need to sit down for a moment.

I-it wasn't th-th-that hard! I dunno what everyone is... complaining about!

As far as she could discern, the 50th boss was a doozy. For some reason, she wasn't all that surprised. Though it could have been because she never participated. She had yet to meet a particularly troublesome boss, so she couldn't picture an extremely troublesome boss very well. A notifying ping returned her attention to the pot, which had ceased to steam. She equipped a ladle and swirled the soup around before taking off her helmet to eat. As opposed to the dreary and torn appearance of her helmet, her face was pristine and pretty. She never took her helmet off except for such occasions as eating, and so very few ever got the chance to see her true visage. She took a quick glance around to see if anyone was around before actually taking a sip of the hearty and almost tasteless meal.

[wimchimp]

At the back of the group around the oval table stood Takahiro. He arrived early to the meeting very intriuged with how the guilds would cope with the situation, and it also being an oddity for him to be invited in. His interest in the situation though were brought down early into the meeting as nothing rather productive was said, and watching the unsightly image of players around him that have sway and power play the blame game like children over a broken vase when mother just returned home. As much as Takahiro wants to speak out, he finds it is not his place due to his lack of experience with any one at the table. When Stone starts to calm the table a wave of relief flowed over Takahiro as the noise died down and the players around the table started to deal with the task at hand.

Takahiro surveys the players around him looking to just try to guage their levels of interest. He notices Artemis and Adelle near a wall not deeply interested in the meeting and the distinct lack of the leader of his guild leader's presence. It's not long though before his attention is redirected to the talk among the table again as Rose and her more then sketchy companion talk to those around the table with authority. Takahiro finding him listening intently to the talk around the table, instead Rose as she leaves with a man in pursuit. The talk around the table turning into mumbles and a quieter tone then before Takahiro went to the wall Adelle with a defeated look on his face.

He stands infront of the wall still looking at the table that lays before him, while asking,"Is this the usual tone of these meetings."

Takahiro's eyes move about the room looking at the various people within it as he continues,"I might not be a regular on the front lines but the atmosphere he isn't what I would call 'friendly' or even 'productive' as I thought it would be."

[Em Sensei]

Pressing his fedora further down over his eyes, the fluro, green-headed male couldn't contain his entertained smile. Things were going just as expected, it seemed. Tension was thick after the Tragedy of Revival but it wasn't as though leaders ceased to exist. This was exactly why he used this timing to push Rose out into the fray. People needed a hero, now more than ever. Someone they think they can get behind and be assured with the knowledge that the hero woud always be there for them.
Leaning back against the wall, he hooked either thumb into the thin pockets of his lengthy jacket, snickering to himself near silently. It didn't take long for someone to follow her once she'd left the room, though he hadn't expected the largest out of them. Perhaps it was worth keeping an eye on him too? Things were beginning to calm down some in the meeting, the majority of it's participants now in the understanding that this won't be a repeat of what had happened before. Things were actually being discussed now; the mobs that spawned and their weaknesses, the Boss and how the parties should pattern to ensure the best attack and defence - then discussion about the LA bonus, but that was quickly put down as 'whoever gets it, gets it'. With how things were going now, Fox decided that he no longer needed to be here. It'd probably be boring from here onwards.
Standing upright from his leaning position, he adjusted his jacket and dusted down either arm, before making his way through the tightly packed room in order to get to the door, which had been left ajar by the larger male that had pursued Rose through it moments earlier. The wooden slab slid outwards as it opened, revealing the seemingly empty corridor to his brilliant, golden eyes. He stepped out, but upon doing so his body seemingly dissolved into the air itself as he hid himself from view. The door slowly creaked back into place of it's own accord, as Fox had left by then - unseen save by those with an exceptionally high detection skill.
Rose and Ferric stood in the middle of the hallway leading back outside, staring into one another's eyes as though the mutual desire to protect were enough to foster some kind of bond beyond mere comrades. Slowly, he stepped past them - his footsteps going unnoticed as they were silenced, before continuing by and outside.

"Of course." Rose responded honestly, turning a little to meet the stoney gaze of the man who had followed her from the meeting. She had noticed him earlier, but thought nothing of it at the time beyond wondering why he wore such odd-looking armour. He wasn't too hard on the eyes, so surely he'd know that if he wore something a little more normal he'd have fans flock behind him. On second thought, maybe that was why he wore it in the first place? So he'd be alone? Blinking quickly, the red-head turned to face him completely - resting a hand relaxedly on the sheathe of her blade, the other on her opposite hip. Ferric easily towered over her, but his presence didn't snuff her own out entirely; in fact, the stark contrast between the two only caused them both to stand out more than usual.
"If I don't save everyone, who will? These deaths are real - this world is real. It is not something we can all just approach casually!" she continued, her brow wrinkling slightly as a stern look came across her features. Though the expression was a notch less impressive than her smile, it still didn't cause her to look any less spectacular amongst the dim lighting of the hallway.
"I have the power to save everyone - the Fox even told me so." she commented, a little quieter though undeniably proudly. Everything Mr. Fox said was the only truth in this world - he was the savior everyone needed, especially Rose. If she didn't have him, she'd have nothing beyond empty hopes and a sword.