The curved blade of his sword began to glow purple as he dashed forward with his sword over his left shoulder, the hilt in his right hand. With an angled slash, he cut the boar in half, its body exploding into red pixels as ReivaX came to a sliding stop. Looking down to the curved blade of the sword he would tighten his grip on the leather wrapped hilt. He would simply spin the blade in his hand, gripping onto the hilt firmly once it came back around. ReivaX cracked a smile when he thought back to when he first started the game, he couldn't use a sword if his life depended on it. Although now, his life did depend on him being able to use a sword. This was no longer the first floor, he had to get better if he wanted to survive what was to come. The grumbling of his stomach caused him to stop thinking about how much progress he's made. "Ahh man... I'm so hungry..." He said as he placed his left hand to his stomach, dropping the tip of the blade to the ground as he held the sword before adding "I should head back to the town get some food." He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked along the cobbled path that lead to the town from the field he was in

Cash sat on a thick tree branch that hung a good 20 ft off the ground, the branch belonged to one of the rare oak trees found in the fourth floor. Most of the trees found on the fourth floor were half grown maple trees, not very good for looks for across the fields. But this tree, this rather large Oak tree that stood beautifully steadfast in the middle of the open field, was the perfect tree to climb and scout across the land. Cash sank his teeth into an apple as he mapped the area in his head, trying to remember any significant feature of the land in the case that him or his guild/party travels there. Cash hadn't bothered to actually map the area because he thought the farming fields weren't noteworthy enough for mapping. Cash notice a few player grinding in the fields just off in the distance, their silhouettes made it easy to see their actions, but their bodily features were impossible to make out.

Cash let out a deep sigh, the scouting for a dungeon or boss or something, was becoming a chore more than anything. I wonder if Ryan or Mina found anything yet. I'm sure they would have sent a mass message by now if they had... Cash's thoughts were interrupted by a message window, the booping noise and noticeably white box with words on it was quite hard to miss. Cash read the message avidly. He replied to Raven saying he hadn't found anything yet, shame befell Cash as he typed the message. Cash pressed send and leaned back on the hard bark of the Oak tree. He had already come to the conclusion that there wasn't anything to be found so he sent another message to Raven.



Cash pressed the send button and looked back out to the field where his eyes just caught sight of a player slicing through a boar with a curved blade. Cash decided to watch the player grind as he sat in the tree eating away at his apple, waiting for a reply from Raven.

[Double post]

Ryan finished killing one of the weak monsters, watching the data fly away. He looked around slightly, searching for his next opponent before hearing Mina's voice. "Still nothing, huh? Well... I'd say that's not good, but not bad either. After those last few bosses, we should know by now that we need to be as prepared as possible, right? So the longer it takes to find, the more time we have to get stronger..." He sheathed his battle axe as he turned to her, her pet dealing with monsters nearby for now. "I'd say you should take a break from the search for a bit, maybe farm, or head back to town and relax for just a bit, ours isn't the only guild searching for the boss, and I'm sure no one's stupid enough to fight it without every other frontliner there as well." He opened his inventory, searching through it.

He eventually reached something and spawned in a small bag of col, tossing it towards her, "The first drink or two is on me if you're heading back to the town-" He suddenly heard a message appear and looked down slightly.

He looked back up as the message was sent. "If you don't head back to town, keep it anyway for later. I've been farming all day, so I don't exactly need it." He gave a quick smile before looking for more monsters to farm.

Floor 4

Thessalia's eyes darted between the two monsters before her - Crazed Oxen, larger and even more ferocious creatures similar to those found back on Floor 2. They were a lot more dangerous, too - compared to their cousins two floors down, they were stronger, faster and more durable; not even accounting for the fact that they also looked a lot meaner with wicked horns, bulkier builds and titular crazed look about them. Furthermore, the monster density seemed higher, too - it was hard to find a single enemy these days; most of the easier farming spots often being taken up by groups and guilds - it wasn't exactly the easiest thing, staying a solo frontliner. Those thoughts, however, weren't at the fore of Thessalia's mind - much rather, she was watching the Crazed Oxen before here carefully; waiting for the telltale signs of their usual opening move, a highspeed charge with their horns down. And sure enough, just a moment later, the Ox on her right gave a bellowing roar and started its charge.

It covered ground quickly - but even so, it was well withing what Thessalia expected. An instant later, her sword began glowing a faint green - the sword being one she'd bought from and upgraded at a blacksmith that had set up shop on Floor 3; its appearance being similar to her old basic starting curved sword in that it was a longsword with a simple curve to it. It did not take her long to transition from the activation stance into the actual sword skill - sword lifted up at chest height, pointed forward, a quick twist of the wrist brought it into a circular movement that intersected with the onrushing Ox' path - at which point a now familiar flash appeared; stopping both attacks dead in their tracks: A successful Parry; something that she'd had ample opportunity to train these past weeks. However, she didn't stop there - her Sword Skill was a rather basic one; meaning she only remained frozen in the attack's ending stance for a moment.

Rather than use the opportunity to attack the Crazed Oxen that was stunned for a slightly longer time, Thessalia spinned around on her heels; her sword already glowing in a faint orange as she held it point down and off to her right - before bringing it up in a diagonal slash; again to intercept the second Ox' charge as another flash broke the two attacks apart. With their initial attack halted, the two monsters woud soon go into their usual attacking motions - trampling, swinging their horns or far slower, shorter distance charges. Taking a step back, Thessalia's sword took on yet another glow, light blue in color this time, as she prepared her own counter-attack...

---

A small sigh of relief was the only sound that came from Thessalia's lips as the last Crazed Oxen froze for a second - before bursting into dozens of motes of light; only to fade into nothingness thereafter. Checking the reward screen, she got the expected amount of both Exp and Col - though her rate at which she could kill them couldn't compare to the larger groups', she did at least get to keep all of it for herself; includig the occasional item drop - most of which she sold off anyway. Sheathing her curved sword again, she decided to take a break for the moment - something she'd done with more regularity after the events following the victory over the First Floor Boss. Another sigh - this time more exasperated in nature than before - followed that thought. Getting healed by and even needing to sleep in someone else's room; only to have to explain that it was all due to her own carelessness toward her health had been rather embarassing. Either way, she didn't make all that much contact with the black-haired swordsman from back then - nor anyone else, for that matter.

Despite that, however, it was somewhat difficult to stick with the frontliners for such a long period of time without getting to know some, even if just in passing, courtesy of the boss fights of Floor 2 and 3 as well as the usual grinding spots being the same for most frontliners. Since the disbanding of the Legion of Light, a number of smaller guilds had sprung up; constiting of various players - some simple bands of like-minded individuals, other close-knit groups and others yet again just big groups of strangers. Thesalia, however, had yet to join one - not that she hadn't gotte a few invites, much like every other soloer still among the frontliner, but she still preferred keeping to herself if she could help it. Glancing out over the wide fields around here, she saw a small group fighting half a dozen oxen all at once - probably a small guild out training. She kept her eyes on them for a moment - before turning from them; instead pulling out a healing potion from her pouch and putting it to her lips to bring her health back from barely-entered-red to nearly full again over the next few seconds.

As she made her way towards Floor 4's main town - avoiding any monsters on her way there - she opened her inventory up; glancing over her earning for this training session - before checking on the condition of her equipment. Her sword was getting worn, but was still in good condition - and easily up for another fight or ten. Her Armour, on the other hand, had taken a fair beating - she'd definitely have to get it repaired back in town. Still, it was definitely more durable than her previous set - and offered more protection as well, since she'd chosen to overhaul her whole equipment back on Floor 3 shortly before the Boss Battle; mainly at the behest of a number of incredulous ad-hoc party members for a small local event when they realised that a frontliner was still running around with starting weapons and armour. She didn't regret it, either - though it had cost what she deemed a small fortune - as it allowed her to take longer trips out into the field without the constant need for repairs as before - and the new light metal armour pieces even looked pretty neat, too; the metal plates covering most vital areas having small details along their edges whilst the leather armour beneath still was of a dark brown, almost black colour.

Engrossed in checking both stats and inventory, only sparing a glance to avoid obstacles or monsters, Thessalia took little note of the players she passed on her way to town; neither the two by a stone wall nor the more hidden fellow up in the oak tree. The sound of fighting caused her to look up once - the source of which turned out to be a heavily armed and armoured frontliner, fighting by himself and holding his ground easily despite taking several hits. It took her a moment to realise that the silhouette seemed familiar for some reason - that being that the figure was one of the frontliners' tanks; having served as a veritable wall of steel during the Boss Fights before. Much like expected, he didn't seem to be having much trouble by himself - though just as Thessalia was about to get back on her way, she noticed a faint glow not far behind the two-handed axe-wielder: a teleporting player.

Seemed like the two would have everything under control - prompting Thessalia to carry on and head for town; intent on first finding a blacksmith for repairs and then an Inn for a quick meal.

Skullcrusher held her blade high above her head, and watched it start to grow purple, before bringing it down on the creature in front of her, stunned by an earlier Sword Skill. Her massive chunk of metal pulverized the creep, and it dissolved into pixels a few seconds later, the loot screen popping up. These monsters weren't a decent level, but they had a low chance for good drops.
"Ohh, nice mat" she muttered, hitting the accept button and then sighing, looking around. It didn't seem like there was going to be any secrets in this meadow, and other people where milling into it and grinding on the sparse mobs. She'd prefer not to get into a fight over farming rights, especially in a Death Game. "Guess I could go town and work on my blacksmithing" she muttered. It was less a skill for the masses like most people used it, and more a personal skill, keeping herself just good enough to remove the need for a blacksmith without helping everyone, she didn't have time for that with her farming and searching. The man she told not to move had, obviously, moved but she didn't expect any less."I need a Guild, or at least some friends." she muttered, before clanking off in search of higher level creeps.

The large Oak tree that stood out in the middle of the open field off in the distance caught his attention as he walked down the cobbled path. ReivaX looked up to the leaves of the Oak tree blowing in the slight breeze. The way the sun shined through the tree caused him to stop in his tacks to take it all in. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in; the Oak tree reminded him of the one in his backyard of his of house in the real world. He stood there for a good second, near motionless when he did. Well... if we ever want to back there... He thought as he shook his head lightly. It means we will simply have to get stronger. ReivaX opened his eyes with a determined smile on his face.

Flicking through his menu, looking at his skill levels as he walked down the path, ReivaX noticed that his Acrobatics skill was starting to fall behind. "Hmm... seems like that will be the focus of the next grind training session." He said to himself as he continued to scroll through the list of skills before switching to his inventory. As he scanned through the items of his inventory he'd be looking for junk that might have been picked up while rushing to kill the next mob sooner. "So much garbage...I should really just pay attention to what I pick up..." He muttered ashe scrolled through his inventory.

Looking away from his menu as he closed it, Reivax would look back to the Oak tree. This time paying more attention to it only to see someone's figure slightly hidden by the leaves. Reivax would squint his eyes place his hand over his brow to shade his eyes as he tried to figure out who was in the tree. With the sun in his eyes and the leaves of the tree partially covering them he couldn't make out the silhouette on the branch. I wonder who that could be and why they might be in the tree... He thought as he continued to walk closer to the tree down the path from.

rusty4297 said
Ryan finished killing one of the weak monsters, watching the data fly away. He looked around slightly, searching for his next opponent before hearing Mina's voice. "Still nothing, huh? Well... I'd say that's not good, but not bad either. After those last few bosses, we should know by now that we need to be as prepared as possible, right? So the longer it takes to find, the more time we have to get stronger..." He sheathed his battle axe as he turned to her, her pet dealing with monsters nearby for now. "I'd say you should take a break from the search for a bit, maybe farm, or head back to town and relax for just a bit, ours isn't the only guild searching for the boss, and I'm sure no one's stupid enough to fight it without every other frontliner there as well." He opened his inventory, searching through it.He eventually reached something and spawned in a small bag of col, tossing it towards her, "The first drink or two is on me if you're heading back to the town-" He suddenly heard a message appear and looked down slightly.He looked back up as the message was sent. "If you don't head back to town, keep it anyway for later. I've been farming all day, so I don't exactly need it." He gave a quick smile before looking for more monsters to farm.

She looked up as Ryan he spoke after killing the beast he was fighting. 'It is a situation with mixed emotions indeed. We don't want to lose anyone, so perhaps the occasiob to train our skills will be best.' she stated in reply.

She shrugged a bit at his offer for her to take a break. 'I'll think about it, the trips are what keep me a bit sane in this place. Farming hasn't been much of a problem, we reach slightly higher mobs every time, so higher bonuses as well. Nothing truly worth mentioning, but I got enough materials to upgrade my wires, trained my health regeneration and I leveled Izanagi's healing abilities as well.' she mentioned. 'I think it's getting close to where I can go out searching with fewer partymembers by now.'
She thought a bit if there was anything else to mention and found one more thing.
'Oh, I got a lead, by the way. Seems there is a player, some wiz-kid in real life. They say he's incredibly good at calculating and that he's figured out where to find the next boss by cross-referencing it with the other floors or something. Not quite sure if it'll be a good lead, but I figured he would be worth checking out.' she stated.
She smiled as she caught the bag of col he passed her. 'Thanks. I'll go notify Raven after getting a drink then. Any idea where he is now?' she asked as she stashed the col away.
She could check herself, but she was keeping an eye on Izanagi, just in case. She had one instance where he nearly died and she didn't want to risk that happening again. She didn't have enough points to activate the pet revival skill, she wasn't about to take the risk of losing her friend.

Ryan glanced at a passing player, slightly curious as to whether or not they might be a PKer scouting for easy targets. He glanced back to Mina for a moment to show he was listening to what she was saying before beginning his response. "Not sure where he is, I did just send him a message saying that you hadn't found the door. If you want you can send him a message to meet you somewhere if you want to tell him about that supposed genius, but I'd say it's a lie to get attention... I can help search for him if you want, not sure Raven needs to meet anyone to hear a rumor, but if you think it's worth checking out, definitely meet up with him." He looked to the nearby monsters, "Like I said though, definitely willing to help you search. Not doing much here, considering I've been farming all day. Plus, if this guy actually can find the boss door whenever he wants, then we need him so we won't get trapped on a floor incapable of finding the boss."

Raven had almost been asleep when he got Cash's reply. The message notification beep cause him to jolt awake, his sword halfway out of it's scabbard before he realized it was just a message. "Gettin' jumpy of late..." Opening his menu, he reads over the message and sighs. Three days of searching with nothing. How much longer would it take?



Hitting send, he stands up and brushes off his armor the best he can. "Right, then, back to town, maybe a drink before Ryan gets back...Faeron should be back soon as well...Bloody hell, this is difficult." When Raven had agreed to be the guild leader, he had to immediately make it clear he would have no guards if they didn't want PKers targeting him, on top of other guilds that didn't want competition. Not that that had been a problem. Most guilds claimed a field and only chased off solo players. He jumped again as the message notification went off again. Need to pay attention... This was was from Ryan saying he hadn't stumbled across anything and that Mina hadn't found anything. "Damn..."



Hitting send on that one as well, Raven pulled out his teleport stone and used it, appearing back in the town proper in a flash of light.

Cash's data fell together into a human form, materializing Cash from a teleportation. Cash took a step seconds after appearing in the town square, he must of tripped over his own feet because ground hit his face quite hard; Cash wasn't expecting this. Cash didn't hesitate for a second, he pushed down on the ground and propped himself up. His head turned violently from side to side, trying to see if any of the other players had spotted him. From what Cash could see there wasn't anybody watching him, they were all to busy at merchant stalls and trading with each other. "Seems like everyone is stepping their game up..." Cash said to himself. Cash remembered why he teleported here in the first place, he shook his head to prevent himself from getting any further distracted. He marched off through the streets of the town, he walked in the direction of the Inn. On the way there he thought about pitching in some money to buy a house or an HQ for their guild. We are a small guild, maybe we don't need one. Just continue renting rooms in Inns...I would be nice to have a permanent room of my own though... Cash thought as he walked onwards to meet Raven.

The person slightly hidden in the tree disappeared with a light blue flash of data. Reivax saw the flash through the leaves of the oak tree, thinking it was the player using a teleportation crystal. Amidst thinking it was just a teleportation crystal he stopped in his tracks. He covered his face with left hand and let out a heavy sigh. [I]I was actually about to walk the whole way back to town when I have a teleportation of my own... [I]ReivaXbox was disappointed in himself for not having thought of something that should be second nature to him by now. "At least the person in the tree was there to remind me I'm able to do that." Opening his inventory and scrolling to 'teleportation crtystal', he clicked it. With the teleportation crystal now in his hand he said the voice command to go to the teleporte gate in town; soon after the command his body fragmented into the light blue pieces of data followed by a flash.

Rusty and Mina's collab post (just so no one decides to call me out for controlling Mina)

Ryan was surprised as he heard another message, glancing down towards it. "Looks like Raven wants to see you in town. He's apparently going to meet with you and Cash to see what other than the lack of a door you guys saw. If you don't mind, I'll tag along." He tapped the reply button, sending back a PM
Mina was about to speak again when Ryan received another message. She patiently waited for him to read and reply to it. She smiled faintly when the message had a clear conclution and she nodded. 'I'll be going there in a moment then.' she said. Her eyes lit up brightly when he said he'd come along. 'Sure, that'll be fun. It's been a while since we all had a drink together.' she said. She recalled Izanagi and smiled before grabbing a teleport crystal and vanishing, reappearing on the town square. Ryan nodded to her as she disappeared, retrieving his teleport crystal as well. He disappeared into the blue light, reappearing in the same light back at the town. Ryan saw Mina already walking towards the inn, and then began following. Shortly after, they arrived at the inn, looking around for Raven.

"Alright then," Thessalia agreed as a small bag materialised in her hand; only to be handed over to the blacksmith before her. A slightly sour look on her voice as she did so, she still needed her armour and weapon repaired if she wanted to head back out later after all - even if she never liked the cost associated with it. With her gear back in top condition, she thanked the blacksmith for his work before turning to head off in direction of the local inn - the second destination she had in mind for her break from training. As Thessalia set off, she noticed an occasional flash of blue in the town plaza, not far from her locality of choice - it would appear that others preferred to save on time walking rather than on col for the teleport crystals; something she wasn't always in ample supply of with her constant drain due to healing potions, crystals and repairs - without even accounting for the occasional item upgrade. Bringing her inventory up for a moment, an inaudible sigh came over Thessalia's lips - it would be a while before she'd be able to improve her sword again, seeing a lack of prerequisite materials in order to do so.

Closing her inventory again, Thessalia stepped into the inn before looking about - a few vaguely familiar faces showed that she wasn't the only one of the frontliners taking a break here. However, her favourite table - located both near the entrance and next to a window - was already occupied. With that one out of the question, she instead headed for the nearest unoccupied one; a larger table that seemed more suited for a small group than a single occupant. Either way, however, she sat herself down on the nearest chair thereof, leaning against the backrest and resting one hand on the table whilst the other slowly tapped her chin; a serious expression coming over her face as she did - no doubt a serious question being pondered by her. At least, that was what it looked like - little would an onlooker guess that Thessalia was actually just debating which meal she was going to go with today. She, on the other hand, was paying little attention to who might be entering the inn - as doing so might have revealed a few more faces she could have recognised.

Bachus finally gave in to the sun and stopped, slumping against a tree. Sure enough, 'Karen' sat besides him. "Lovely day isn't it?" She beamed. Bachus croaked and faltered. What the hell. "Indeed." He nodded. "This season is beautiful." He sighed, before standing. "You're going to follow me aren't you? She folding her arms frowning, before standing up. She walked over to him and prodded his chest. "I'm still in there. I have no choice but to follow you." Bachus smiled somewhat. "Well I'm-" Flashes of blue light surrounded them, and from the light came 10 high level monsters. "-Crap!" Bachus drew his sword. They must've wandered into a mob zone. "Bastards, I'll show you!" He gripped his swordf tightly, before colliding with one of the monsters head on, sword first. 'Karen' stood screaming. She was just a figment of his imagination, but protecting her still meant something, and that drove Bachus on. He finally killed the first monster. 9 to go. The whole event caused a large commotion, and deafening roars from the monsters. There was no way Bachus, as strong as he was was, could defeat the remaining 9. Not even 2 could. But he had to try. He gripped his sword more tightly. Bachus roared back at them, just as loudly. "Come on then!" His booming shouting would be heard for a mile or so.

Raven sat up in the main groups room, waiting for everyone to return from searching for the boss or farming exp and money. He'd actually been in the middle of getting some food out of his inventory when he got the message from Ryan in response to his own. He read it and sighed in relief, though he was most definitely skeptical. Hitting reply, he types in his message and then returns to sorting out the ingredients he had so their resident cook had something to make for dinner tonight.



As he sorted, he reviewed what had happened over the last month, with two bosses and two more floors conquered. Of course, people were beginning to fill in the roles that NPCs usually filled well enough for a game to go on, blacksmithing, farming, fishing training, market vendors, a number of things like that. As unfortunate as it was, people were beginning to accept life here as normal, even him.

Skullcrusher was just, annoyed. THey guy had walked off with no reason or explanation and didn't even say goodbye before leaving. What kind of asshole did that? But then, she heard a booming shout, and ran off in it's direction, arriving to see the man who had walked off surrounded by nearly a dozen monsters, and decent levels at that. IF she didn't help out, he was going to die soon, so she ran up to him, and prepared one of her Sword Skills, smashing a monster off it's feet with the flat of her purple glowing blade. Then, with her armour and massive sword ready, she looked at the guy.
"I'm not saying I am not pissed that you just walked off, but if you die on me then how will I ever be able to punch you for running away?" She asked, grinning softly, and turning to the mobs. She had a good deal of potions and a very good defence rating, so this wouldn't really be to hard.

Bachus frowned as a monster came at him. From nowhere, it was knocked to the floor. He turned his head to see skullcrusher. He was glad, but disappointed it was her. She came of as a rather obnoxious and big headed person. "Thanks." He grumbled. "Dont take them lightly. Their speed and strength far exceeds our own. They will definitely take both of into the red, no matter how many potions you have." He growled. "So before you act rashly, think about this." He glared. He sighed inside his head. Soloing was pointless now. His figment Karen would never leave him anyway, so there was no need to hide. He unequipped his cloak and revealed his appearance. It would be apparently instantly who he was. "I am Bachus - Former leader of the Legion of Light, slayers of the floor bosses up to now." He stood tall. Everyone in the game would have heard of the Legion, and their disbandment. "Will you help me to put an end to this creatures?" He held his sword in an offensive stance glaring.

Zee Mighty warrior Skullcrusher looked at Bachus as he told her they where super dangerous and potions didn't work on them. Or something. Possibly a new feature. And then told her he was the leader of the Legion of Light. She had heard offhand in some taverns about him ahd the guild, but never really paid attention to guilds that didn't interest her. He looked at the monsters as they politely waited for Bachus and her to finish talking, and then back to the leader.
"Cool. I'm Lilyana. Future Former leader of some guild, I haven't really thought of a name yet." She replied, before smiling. "So, if these guys are so dangerous, why not just teleport out? I mean, I do need to train my battlefield healing but still, death sucks."

Cash pushed the door of the Inn open and marched on inside, he's been here to this inn so often since they've been on floor 4 that nothing here seemed worth looking at any more. When Cash first got onto floor 4, he was in awe, just as he was on floor 3 and floor 2. The inn that he was standing in always made him stop and admire the rustic look for a few seconds before going to the room, but this time, after such a long day, he ignored the aesthetics on the inn. Cash's light steps travelled up the steps of the inn, they were silent, almost inaudible. His steps dotted the floors till they reached the room which him and his group were staying in. With the inn key, Cash pushed open the room door to see Raven there. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Cash said with a slight bit of frustration. Cash wasn't going to rant to Raven, but he figured he might as well let Raven know how he was feeling. Cash opened his menu and searched through till he arrived at the sub-menu, his inventory. He selected some boar meat and some herbs he'd gathered. "There wasn't any door, or any thing new worthy, but I didn't manage to get some ingredients. Check it out." Cash plopped the boar meat on the table,"I got a bunch for Ryan to cook. oh, and before I scouted the area, I gathered some plants." Cash tossed the leaves of the plant in his hand lightly,"We'll have potions for days" Cash chuckled.