Baldur

The terrain began to shift around them, and soon they were surrounded by dense forest and the atmospheric wildlife the designers put in. There were the occasional monsters roaming around, but with their level, the monsters wouldn't aggro them. Even though Katagawa was lower than Baldur by a significant amount, her level was higher than that of the second floor's denizens by a substantial amount. "So do you have any questions about the frontlines? I know my biggest one coming into it was the wide array of consumables and trying to keep track of them. I used to have this dilusion of grandure where I would go and farm the quests that give unique and valuable consumables to bring to the raid to really hone my edge, but the truth is that I just don't have that much time and energy after doing what I already do for the frontlines." Baldur gave a slight chuckle. There were people who ran around him in terms of time and energy, but Baldur tried to make sure he took some time to hone himself, and keep his mind and temperament grounded. The last thing he ever wanted to do was lose his temper at a boss fight or meeting, or burn himself out again. That alone was worth it to him; play the long game.

"Unfortunately Haz, that's not what the problem here is." Baldur said with a sad voice this time. As the wanna-be samurai reappeared into the amphitheater after getting Neo's message, and seeing Zandra storm out of the area as well. He didn't know what had happened after Baldur stormed out, but it was clear the wind had been stolen from him. Where before, he had been a furious thundercloud, he was not quiet, shoulders slumped, and reserved. Where normally his face was tightly controlled and showed little emotion, he now appeared sad and tired. "Neither Shield nor Hestia are being lead by self-interest. Neither Shield, nor Hestia, are in this for fame, or gain, or purely selfish reasons. The problems we have encountered, to be succinct, is the lack of being willing to take direction. I have worked with Shield and Hestia in about equal amounts, perhaps with Hestia more. Hestia was someone I would trust not only with my life, but the lives of others. I care about her greatly, I even told her my true name, which I have only done twice, so someone I have implicitly trusted. However, that means it hurts even more when that trust is betrayed. "At first, it be began as simple disagreements, I would ask for her to do something, or suggest a tactic, and she would simply ignore or refuse it. Then at the last boss fight, we designated a shot-caller. Someone everyone agreed to follow for direction and coordination, and she knowingly, immediately, broke from that rank and chose to follow her own direction, which is dangerous as a tank, and for your team. She would agree with me that she did that, and feel no remorse. That's why she said what she did about agreeing with Hirru's actions. Actions Hirru has admitted were terrible in their ramifications, and now expresses deep repentance over. "Then it escalated to the Field Boss battle at the entrance to the boss area. We could have won the battle much earlier, but her team decided they would not cooperate. Perhaps my and Shield's joke was in poor taste, but that does not excuse putting people's lives in danger, nor putting a critical progression battle in jeopardy. She and Zandra, put pride and greed before completing a fight, and actively worked against the success of the battle." Though Baldur's words could have been charged with emotion, he delivered them with a monotone disappointment. "I invited Hestia, Shield, and Calrex as the three main tanks of the raid together, to try and discuss our differences and the challenges facing the raid, and instead of trying to contribute, Hestia sought to disagree and argue every step of the way. Not debate, argue." He turned his normally steel blue eyes to Haz, now a softer, darker ocean blue that seemed to convey that Baldur was sorry things had gotten to this point, and that the gaijin-samurai was hurting as he said these words. He patted the tanks shoulder and then turned to Jomei. "Perhaps if you had been there, we could have gotten further today. However, as little as we know one another, you have my respect Jomei. We four will be at the raid, and follow whatever strategy you lay out. Should you wish for our input on strategy, I will gladly give it to you. I will also gladly help anyone who is trying to make their way to join the frontlines." He glanced over to Haz, "My last hit drop from the previous boss was special high level dungeon maps that grant a large amount of bonus XP. If someone who is close can put together a group capable of it, I will gladly take you with, and if you are capable of it without me, I will hand it over if I think your chances of coming out alive, but they are level 24 dungeons." Baldur turned back to Jomei, "Shield and I do intent to form a guild, but we are not intent on controlling the front lines, or accumulating last hits, or power items, or players with unique skills. The stated purpose of our guild is to advance the frontlines, to help supply the frontlines, and to help train anyone, in the guild or not, to gain the levels and equipment and skills needed to join the front. And though the guild has not been realized yet, anyone may take us up on it." With that, Baldur patted Jomei on the shoulder, and then went to stand off to the side. @Jomei @Hazado @Shield

Baldur listened as things carried on in the meeting, trying to respond in kind to each of the proposals that were made. With Hestia announcing that Neo would be selling bundles of enhancements provided for each role. "I strongly recommend that everyone go and get a suite of consumables. It can, and often does, make the difference between only doing a little bit of damage over the mitigation of the boss, and actually doing good, sustainable damage. Especially if the boss has a mitigation boosting ability like the Field Boss did, or if they are going to play with hate mechanics, then you want to be able to survive a hit. Don't overlook Overhealth and mitigation enhancements." When Hestia decided that she would tank a floor boss without a healer though, Baldur felt his hackles rise. "I understand your courage in wanting to tank a boss without a healer, @Hestia-chan, and having high confidence in your ability, but the only way that would be feasible would be if everyone in your party carried at least 1 full stack of party heal crystals. Even though, it would not be a good idea. You wouldn't just be putting your life in jeopardy, but your party's as well. There will come a time when you may have to choose between healing and taunting, and no matter what you choose, someone may lose. Even with a stacked party, it may not be enough..." Baldur didn't mention what happened at the event boss, since it was Hestia's desire to keep it secret, but that didn't mean they could ignore the lessons they had learned. At this point, Baldur turned to address @Hikoru's comment, even though he felt a bit pedantic. "Hikoru-san, that actually is an argument as to why you shouldn't be in Calrex-kun and Zandra-san's group. You generate less hate than anyone else, so it makes more sense to put you into a group that generates less hate, which would be Hestia's group, if she does not have a healer. If she does, then it doesn't really matter. I doubt we will have 6 strong AoE types to stack into a single party, and then if we are wrong about adds, then we have hamstrung one group with a lot of energy consumption and no way to balance it." It was then, that some emo-edge lord (@Itzal)who wanted to hide his face behind some kind of black particle effect spoke up, speaking up about things he either had no business talking about, or was so ashamed of who he was, he wanted to deceive his friends and allies. The thought of it disgusted Baldur to his very core. What was this business about cereal killers, and prisons? It had no place here. "I don't know what your goal is here, Chuunibyou-shi, but this is for planning a boss raid, not playing cops and robbers. If you can't be bothered to show your face, and let people know your name, and begin spouting off about things that have no pertenece to his meeting, then you need to sit down." Baldur, uncharacteristically, fumed. "You don't get to come in here and tell people to risk there life, and then dangle a possible chance at revival. Did you even think before you spoke? Do you understand the deaths that could be caused because of Kayaba's sick joke of an event fight? The fact that if we die in game, we die out there is one of the most fundamental struggles of the frontlines, and now you want to tease people that maybe, just maybe, Kayaba might make a sick joke, a mockery, of the sacrifices by others? "Don't take the death of those who came before so lightly!" Baldur's voice only grew in fury and in volume the further his tirade went on. Baldur had whole-hearted disagreed with Hestia about keeping what happened at the event boss secret, but this irreverent, egotistical, chuuni, sure picked the worst possible way, and worst possible forum, and worst possible time to try and make himself sound self important. But Baldur could feel the storm clouds in his eyes, and the fury, so completely at odds with his normal composure, radiating form his form. In truth, he was almost surprised the game didn't have some way of visualising the emotions he felt. He grit his teeth and glared down at the stage where Hestia stood. "My party is not changing. Our 4 will take two more with us, or else we will show up as 4 on our own." With that, the Samurai whirled and stormed out of the amphitheater. (Baldur has left the area, but not the thread, in case someone chases after)

"That is a strangely optimistic view of our situation." Baldur was honestly surprised, as he had never heard anyone answer that question this way before. He had never heard anyone answer it his way before either, but he was fairly certain that there were others out there who shared his feeling, they just didn't want to admit it. The samurai offered Katagawa a smile, showing that he was pleased and thoughtful about her answer. "I suppose I forgot to ask, but how old are you? I admit, by my age, everyone around me has graduated a long time ago, so I never really consider how much schooling people are missing. My biggest concern is about accumulated debt." He gives her a wry grin. "The logistics of Aincrad seem so much more.. conceivable... than that of modern day urban living. Baldur's mind turned back to Lessa's pet project, teaching the younger kids of Aincrad who would be losing out on education, so that they would at least not lose out on quite so much. But more than forgetting things over summer vacation, or golden week, these kids would go years between an education that built year over year on the foundation laid before it. "I'm 33, by the way, in case I forgot to mention that when I introduced myself."

Baldur gave Hestia a sad smile, disappointed by what she was trying to do. He felt some part of his optimism die at her words. Now the choice came to him which backup plan he should take, but he had to fight the heartbreak he felt. The gaijin samurai took slowly put away his disappointment, and began to consider the options, and to try and push away the emotions that he did not want to let color his logic. They needed a plan, and they needed to have a productive boss planning meeting. Not attending the meetings could potentially be a mistake that gets people killed, or people could show up without a spot. "With all due respect, we can't talk about having an AoE group to deal with adds, if we're only going to have two parties. Knowing if Ruby-chan is going to show up as a healer is critical to being able to do any sort of planning at all. My gut is that we can count on her, but the difference becomes too stark. If we only have two teams, then people who don't have damage potential lose seats on the raid. But whether we have 2 parties or 3, and if we want to consider an AoE party, then that would mean we should pair Zandra-san, and Cal-kun. Since Calrex will need less healing, and has great AoE damage, then Zandra would be able to heal less, and concentrate on AoE damage more, which she is her natural proclivity anyways. That would team you" Baldur indicated Hestia, "And Ruby, giving your party two potential applications of Field Medic, which would be ideal for any players which may need a higher safety net, which tends to be your modus operandi." Baldur gestured to the relatively small part gathered around them. "The intention of these meetings is to plan for the raid to come, but we cannot do that if our number one resource, people, is the biggest unknown. Had we guilds, I would ask the guild leaders who they can account for on their roster to bring, but we have a lack of those at the moment." Baldur took a deep breath before he player another card he had in his sleeve, though he was unsure of the wisdom of it. "We have been working with Hirru-kun after what happened. He is remorseful, repentant, and understands what he did wrong. We have worked with him in his desire to make right what he did wrong. If the raid in general would allow it, Hirru would come back to the raid and help out. He has been working to reinvent himself, and to try and become a bigger contributor to the raids. However, if his presence would cause more discord than accord, he is prepared to stay away." For once, Baldur was unsure of what to say next. He knew what he wanted to say, but not how to get the meaning across. "I think only perhaps Macradon-san and Hidden-shi were more angry with Hirru for what he did, but I now understand what caused Hirru to choose the action he chose, even though I would not have done the same in his shoes. If Hirru is to be summoned to this meeting or the raid, then I want commitment from those here that he will be not attacked as he was at the raid. And if more time is needed for that wound to begin to heal, then so be it. But I want to hear a verbal, 'Yes', he's welcome,' before I ask him to join in." @Zandra @Ruby @Calrex @Zandra @Hirru @Hestia

Baldur, standing next to @Zuekin and @Calrex let out a chuckle at the juniors comments about the boss fight, though he raised a good point about the minions. It would not be the first time for that to happen. The bosses seemed to follow some weird cycle of adds being in style and then not, then coming back into vogue. Taking half a step forward, Baldur projected the full length of the amphitheater down to @Hestia. "Before we can talk about preparations, I think we need to discuss teams. Then we can discuss how teams can prepare. It would be more efficient for them to be determined in advance, and let the groups prepare together. If you know your party ahead of time, you could prepare feasts, or gather consumables together." He gave his words a moment to sink in before continuing with his idea. "Shield, Beat, Myself, and the tier 2 healer Anemone will form the core of one party. We have room for two DPS players to join us. Anemone is still working towards tier 3, so I would appreciate people who will require less of a demand on her energy reserves." As he was speaking, Baldur suddenly noticed @Shield had come in while the wanna-be samurai had been paying attention elsewhere. He met eyes with the tank, and gave a nod. "Who will be the other healer-tank pairs? Do we have enough for just two groups, or three?"

Baldur watched as Shield took an impressive charge from the Rhino like creature. It loomed over them, and it looked as if any lesser tank, like one not known as the Immovable Object, might have been thrown from that kind of a clash, but Shield was made of sterner stuff, and the assault did so little to the tank's health bar that Baldur couldn't judge how much of a thread the creature was. Most creatures would net zero against Shield's defenses, but they would have to see if the <<Battle-Healing>> or <<Holy Blessing>> on his armor would tick or if his health bar had not moved. "Well, here we go. Beat, I'll pull it to the right, you go in for the exposed flank." Stepping forward with his right foot, Baldur took the stance that would activate <<charge>> and he focused all his <<concentration>> on the creature, making sure that he would land the hit exactly where he wanted to. The tugging of the system trying to activate his <<San Ge>> sword art pulled at Baldur's limbs in a familiar way, but he ignored them until the moment was right. Shield rebuffed the attack, and the Rhino snorted, looking for another opportunity to attack, but that was when Baldur released his sword art. He became a streak of blue haori and orange gold armor as he streaked towards the monster faster than a human could move in the real world, and as he drew the <<Muramasa>> the red light of the sword art exploded from the dark saya as he cut ribbons of light into the air over and over again, each one tearing into the digital model of the creature until it culminated with a powerful overhand chop, cleaving the creature, and its health bar, in twain. "Let's see what you can do Beat!"

Baldur suddenly smirked at Katagawa's comment. "The last time I did <<Long Live the Queen>>?" He let out a short, abrupt laugh, as if he had been caught off guard by both the question and the laugh. "To be honest, I can't even remember." He let his hand brush against one of the trees as they left the city and headed out into the wilderness. It was more green than he remembered the last time he was here, but then it had been a long time for that too. "I actually had to look up the name of the main settlement on this floor just to teleport here, it's been so long." The large, western samurai man shook his dark hair in disbelief. How long had it been since he was last down here? Since he had last helped someone of low level. "At one point I had considered farming it for the consumable... but that was before we unlocked higher tier enhancements... so that may tell you how long its been. The front line was probably still at floor 11." Baldur had remembered when the 10th and 11th floors has been unlocked. He hadn't quite been a member of the frontline yet, but he had been just a step behind in leveling and trying to catch up. Him and Oikawa and Calrex and Ariel and Tyger. A lifetime ago. The though brought a bittersweet smile to his face. "Sometimes, being on the frontline I feel like I've been trapped here in Aincrad for longer than lower level players, and I have to remind myself that isn't true. Perhaps, when you aren't progressing, it feels like the days blend together and you lose track of time, but when you're struggling every day to push forward, and you see so many sights and so many floors it makes things feel like they've taken longer than they have. What about you? Does it feel like we've been here for a long time, or a little? Can you still remember life on the outside?"

Floor 2 Late Afternoon Urubus Same day as Part 1 @Katagawa Stepping up to the teleportation platform of the <<Town of Beginnings>> Baldur said the name "Urubus" and was instantly dissolved into a pillar of light, only to be reformed on the second floor. It was more beautiful than he remembered, but he had never really spent much time on the second floor to begin with. "It's been a while since I've been here." Baldur remarked to Katagawa, but didn't really expect an answer from her. The wattle and daub houses extended out all around them, but you could clearly see out the main entrance to the floor beyond, a simple but vivid reminder of just how small <<Urubus>> was... or perhaps just how big the Town was on the first floor. "Alright, so according to the info brokers the next dragon shouldn't be too far from here. There's supposed to be a little forest on a plateau towards the center of the floor where the dragon's nest can be found." He gave Katagawa a friendly smile and started to walk towards the exit and the floor beyond. "Have you done any of the quests on the second floor before?"

Baldur watched Hikoru walk off, and turned to look at Hestia for a moment as well. Baldur had known Beatbox was dead, but never knew anything about suicide. He had gone on a suicide mission against this Death_Adder perhaps? The name tugged at the edges of his memory, but the gaijin samurai could not place the name anywhere in his memory. Hikoru came back a moment later, a bit more composed, and while Baldur wanted to ask more about Beatbox, he did not want to unsettle the Master of Shadows more. "Truth be told, I have no been up to much. I have been working on trying to refill some supplies for future raid fights, and trying to reconnect a bit with some of my friends. I realize that I had not been engaging with the people that I felt were important in quite a while. In a situation like we're in, where every day could be our last, it is important to make sure that the people who are important to us, know that." He smiled at the two of them, taking a sip, and realizing that he was pulling things down a bit more somber, but it was hard to avoid that feeling as well in their line of work. "I am looking forward to Christmas as well. I love seeing all the activity on the 4th floor. I meet a lot of new people every year."

Baldur closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of a breeze, leaning backwards on his hands and listening to what Zandra had to say. When she brought up Shield and Beat, Baldur was taken out of his reverie for a moment, and glanced over to her. He could feel the bit of tension there. What had happened at the Field Boss fight was... unfortunate. It had definitely caused a schism, but healing those had become the most important aspect that could happen on the frontlines, even more important than killing floor bosses. The wanna-be samurai wasn't quite sure how to address it though. Not yet anyways. "I am glad you still feel that way about me. I know not everyone gets along well with each other, that's why at the last boss meeting I had argued against you being forced into a team with people you didn't want to be in. I think it's important to have teams with chemistry and trust, because that's where people are going to pull out all the stops and fight together." Baldur's mind went to the event boss they had recently fought. Baldur had done everything in his power to keep Hestia alive. He had failed in the end when the final attack almost wiped them all out, but he fought harder for Hestia because of how close they had become. Then Zandra asked him a curious question. Did he find her scary? Baldur's brows furrowed in thought as he looked up into the sky. "Scary? No, not really. I've never been on the other side of your axe though. I think that would be scary, but I have never felt the need to be scared of you.... Why do you ask?"

When Baldur had received the message for the meeting, he had been in one of the worst places to try and get back to a town to teleport, and he had not yet replaced the crystal he had used in the Labyrinth Guardian fight. The wanna-be samurai had made his way quickly back to the main settlement of the floor, and then to the first floor, then the long trek from the Town of Beginnings to the town near the labyrinth on the first floor, Tolbana. Always prepared, and almost always dressed the same, Baldur showed up with his trademark blue and white haori, and his two katana at his side. The large man brushed his long, dark hair onto his back, and nodded to the mute cook he had only briefly interacted with on a handful of occasions. His smile to her was warm, but he quickly moved past her to get to the meeting. He saw his kouhei, Calrex, standing at the back, and moved to join the ultramarine knight. Putting a hand on the man's shoulder and giving him a friendly nod, but saying no more as he waited to see what would happen.

Naw @Neopolitan is good people. She does the same all day on our discord too

Hey! Welcome to the site! If you haven't already, we're very active as a community (ooc) on discord. I hope you enjoy your time here. Let us know if you have any questions

"We need to prioritize Cal getting energy back, or else we're not going to be able to move forward at this rate." Though Baldur watched as their thorns damage began to add up. It seems that whenever the bat men didn't get their paralyzing attack off, they were susceptible to the thorn damage from both players. Whirling to the next bat that came his way, Baldur once again tried to use <<San Ge>> but the reach on his katana just wasn't enough to close the distance with the quickly moving creatures. "Kuso!" Baldur spat, growing frustrated with his inability to hit. He had never been on a missing streak this bad before. He had come in confident in their ability to plow through whatever they came across, but not only was he not hitting, but his sword was unable to proc any of the damage over time effects he had brought with him either. San Ge vs Bat 3: ID#112807 BD: 2+3-3=2 (miss) -2 Energy, +1 regen Bat 2 vs Calrex: ID#112817 MD: 8+1-2=7 (hit) 175 - 44 = 131 * 0.6 = 78 DMG Dealt - Takes 30 Thorns Bat 3 vs Calrex: ID#112818 MD: 6+1-2=5 (miss) Bat 4 vs Hestia: ID#112819 MD: 6+1-(-1)=8 (hit) 175 - 75 = 100 DMG Dealt - Takes 54 Thorns Baldur: 960/1090 ENG: 80/106 MIT: 79/39 EVA: 3 | DMG 19/36 Bleed | BH: 21 (Miss -2 energy, +1 regen) (Conc: 0/3) Hestia: 1425/1425 ENG: 56/138 MIT:151/75 DMG: 16 EVA:-1 Regen: 3 on CD:6 BH: heal 57 HP Thorns:54 Calrex: 1587/1765 ENG: 36/172 MIT:72/44 DMG: 16 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | ACH: 0.6 | Thorns: 30 (Battle Healing +89) (0/10/10) Cave Bat 2: 224/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Cal) (0/3/11) Cave Bat 3: 154/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Cal) (0/9/7) Cave Bat 4: 641/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Hestia) @Hestia