[PP-F1] Killer meets Killer w/ Blood

[Aereth 1]

Working, training, eating and sleeping was all the brunette PKKer was doing recently. He needed to keep up his end of the bargain in order to keep his people safe from the Laughing Coffin. 

Today was no different. He was currently hunting a player that was on the list he received from Sensui, the leader of the Laughing Coffin. He had been paying some good money to his info brokers to get the information that this particular person, Klaus from the White Snake guild, was going out into the northern forest of floor one to watch his new recruits doing some 'hunting'. 

Storing away the name list, Aereth finally came to see his target for today, accompanied by one bodyguard. The man featured a bulky build, a two handed battle axe on his back and fire red hair and a green cursor. The information Aereth received from the list about that player wasn't half bad. It also stated that his level was between 40 and 45 at the time this list got created.

He would need to take care of the bodyguard first and then quickly follow up with Klaus before some more players would notice his absence. Aereth pulled up the hood and face mask and ignited the flames of his Flame Aura enhanced armour, before he activated his <<Charge>> skill and attacked the bodyguard with a quick draw maneuver of his <<Dimensonal Shift>>...

@Blood

[Blood 0]

I had finally managed to pick up some clues from various players and NPC regarding the Laughing Coffin. It is one of the most famous player killing guilds and that is why I am so interested in it. It truly sounds like a bunch of players who suits the same tastes as I do and that's why I want to find out more about the players inside it and the type of killings that they attempt to see if they fit terms with my own personal style. If so, I may potentially join the guild, but only after I eliminate the problem with my father. That is going to have to come first and everything else will have to wait until the problem is solved. Like I said, I managed to pick up a few traces and my curiosity has led me to this place. Now, despite the fact that she had heard of some rumors and information, I am not one hundred percent sure about anything. The Laughing Coffin has ways to hide and manipulate information so the public does not know too much about it. So, the best way for me to obtain information is by digging it on my own.

Now, I had heard rumors of players disappearing in the forests of the first floor, and it was quite likely that the Laughing Coffin was responsible for these strange disappearances. I camped outside the forest and finally, I heard a noises of leaves crunching beneath the feet of several heavy men. I sat up immediately from my laying position and peaked out, noticing two players that stood out particularly (bodyguard and Klaus). Some other nervous looking people scattered around, leaving the two in that location. That's when I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. A black-haired man soon leaped out from his hiding spot and unleashed what appeared to be an extremely powerful sword art directed at the buffer man. "Laughing Coffin." I whispered to myself, assuming the man who had initiated the attack was from the Laughing Coffin. Only someone from such a murderous guild would attack with no hesitation like this. "I will pursue my goal after this is over." Talking to herself, she made herself comfortable in that hiding position.

@Aereth

Edited August 9, 2017 by Blood

[Aereth 1]

Both men seemed to be surprised and shocked by the quick attack of the brunette. But Aereth didn't care. He had found his target, and he would finish this job now. Aereth's blade got engulfed by a black aura, indicating that his phase enhancement triggered. 

The blade went through the armor of the bodyguard like a hot knife through butter. Now finally the gears in the heads of the two players started to work and they readied their weapons. "What do you want from us?" the bodyguard shouted at him, barely hiding the nervousness in his voice because he had already lost about 50% of his health before he was even able to do anything. Klaus on his side didn't seem to be worried at all and simply rose his hand to shut up his comrade. "Aaaaaah. The Killer of Killers, it seems.... You know that you're one most talked subjects in the underground lately?" Klaus grinned. "Of course you know. You're taking out the higher ups of many guilds lately. Just one doesn't seem to be troubled by your assaults. What do you have to do with the Laughing Coffin?" After hearing the words Laughing Coffin, the bodyguard got even more frightened.

Aereth's ice cold and calculative eyes pierced through the head of Klaus, as he formulated his answer. "I don't think that this is any of your business. And besides that..." he charged at Klaus and started an attack, that the redhead managed to block with his huge battle axe. "... what's the point in telling dead men stories?"

This time the bodyguard didn't waste much time and also unleashed a sword art at the brunette PKKer."DIIIIE." Unfortunately for him, Aereth saw the movement of him from the corner of his eyes and dodged in time. "Go, Laz. Take care of him." Klaus ordered seemingly annoyed by the insult of the brunette. Did Aereth really think that this would be such an easy task?

@Blood

[Blood 0]

Finally, as I was listening to the two players' conversations before the battle fully rages, my suspicions were confirmed by the words of the player not being involved in any of the combat or action. He was standing there, letting his companion fight while he observed the battlefield. I don't care how strong or what position he is in but something he said perked my ears just a tiny bit. He asked the attacking player what he has to do with the Laughing Coffin, leading me to the assumption that the black-haired player was a member of the Laughing Coffin. I still cannot assume that it is definite he was part of the guild but it was a safe possibility at this point. Finally, combat truly heated up and I wished I could've seen it. However, something else was distracting me from the corner of my eye. It seems that some players were coming my way from the noise that the action in front of me was releasing. This was bad news to me, as they will definitely spot me in my hiding spot if they continued to walk this way. Immediately, my mind began working a solution to my situation.

I scanned the area, figuring that climbing a tree to hide would reveal my location during the climb but ducking under a bush was a high risk of capture as well. I cursed under my breath. It doesn't matter which one I choose as both would reveal my location and attract attention to me. Now, it was a situation between running away from the battle or running towards it. If I ran away, my location would be revealed and I won't have any potential allies. However, if I ran towards the battle, I might be able to gain favor in the sight of that black-haired player. 

Thus, before the man could make his next move, I hurriedly burst out from the bush and ran up behind the man, instantly gaining the attention of the other two who were rather surprised at the unwanted visitor. "Two more coming this way from three o' clock. No questions asked. Be prepared for their backup." I whispered, figuring that I might as well help the Laughing Coffin member in the mean time. "Now, return the favor and make sure I don't get hit."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

The battle between the bodyguard and Aereth went on for about two minutes before Aereth heard a female voice from behind him. Instinctively he prepared to swing his blade at the source of the voice but managed to stop himself just in time before he would have split the low-level player in half as he heard that two more players were on their way to this location.  "Damn. Why did this fool have to yell like an idiot?" He now had to weigh in different options. Option one: Stay and go for Klaus. Result: Most probably death. Option two: Finishing Laz, stunning Klaus and leave the area. Ding Ding Ding. We have a winner. "Option two it is then," Aereth mumbled. Laz would only need one more clean hit before he was done. "If you want to survive, stay close behind me and wait for my sign," Aereth said in an ice cold and calculative voice.

In the meantime, Klaus only chuckled and rested the big battle axe on his shoulder. "Seems to me as if you and your little girlfriend are pretty f.." He didn't come to finish his sentence because he had to watch how a glowing fist got buried into Laz' face, which resulted in his virtual body to scatter into tiny polygons. No hesitation. No fear. No regret. Only cold determination was plastered on Aereth's face as he killed the person who was here to protect the leader. And without wasting some time Aereth continued his charge at Klaus who swung his weapon with the intent of ending the brunette's life. Aereth couldn't risk to dodge and probably miss this strike, so he took Klaus' blow with his left underarm, which got cut off clean. Fortunately, Aereth was able to change the direction of the attack so that it would miss the rest of his body. Immediately the brunette PKKer countered with a roundhouse kick aimed at his opponent's legs, effectively stunning him. "NOW." he shouted and started to dash away deeper into the forest in a southwest direction.

@Blood sorry for crappy formatting and typos. Will (probably) correct them later. (Mobile Post)

[Blood 0]

Watching carefully and observing the man's combat movements, I noticed that he was extremely skilled in combat and could've definitely carried on with the fighting. Instead, he decided to retreat and gave a signal as well. Of course, since this game was not based on real life skills, I was far slower than the man, but soon enough, we were safe from the opposition, especially since they had decided not to give chase considering that they were extremely injured from the combat. I panted, checking my surroundings for any danger before looking at the brunette that I suspected to be a member of the laughing coffin. However, due to his recent actions, I am currently reconsidering my suspicions.

"A Laughing Coffin member would never retreat from combat when they are not out-powered. Judging from what I could see, you were fully capable of continuing the battle but you decided to retreat instead of carrying on with the fight. If you did so to protect me, then you managed to miss out on an opportunity to kill... Something that I don't really see from a killer." I stood up straighter and looked at him straight on, "Who are you?" I asked.

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

They were lucky that the group didn't decide to chase them after Aereth's escape maneuver. He took a few moments to look at the girl and analyze her. No good armor, no forged weapon, much slower than him. Most probably a pretty low leveled player. And he didn't like the way that girl was talking. "One hit. That's all it takes me to kill a level 25 player with that current equipment you have..." he thought before speaking up for the first time. "A normal person would have just said thank you and be done with it. You're right, I could still have taken down that fat f*ck but not without risking that somebody runs a blade through you. And why the hell aren't you scared of me? I'm an orange player that just killed a stupid lap dog of some random guy." When the female then asked about who he was, he answered. "Just some guy doing a job. Why do you want to know?"

@Blood

[Blood 0]

I chuckled slyly. There were so many things wrong with what the man just said. First, "A normal person would indeed just thank you and be done with it. I guess the reasonable conclusion would be that I am not a normal person." I stared at him right in the eyes, delivering my message with as much dramatic emphasis as possible. "Scared of you? Why would I? You are just someone who kills players, while I am someone who has looked at the face of death so many times that I am no longer scared of death, himself. Whatever you've faced in this game is nothing compared to the things that I have faced in my past life. Fear is just a concept that can be controlled and manipulated to be nonexistent by a skilled and experienced assassin. Honestly, I would just let you kill me if only I didn't have something left to do in this game... Some disputes to be settled if you want to know."

I smiled and sat down on a nearby boulder and took out a cup of water from my inventory. "And you should thank me. I don't know how skilled you are but you were obviously outnumbered. Backups were approaching you quickly and you were probably way too concentrated on the battle to realize the approaching danger. When I came out from my hiding spot, I brought along a few seconds of surprise, giving you and I some time to escape." I yawned, taking a sip of the water and after finishing it, picked up a boulder and tossed it up and down in the air,

"You said you were just some guy trying to do a job? I don't really care, honestly. I just want information. Know anything about the Laughing Coffin?"

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

That girl didn't seem to be troubled at all by the fact that Aereth just killed another player. "Yeah, I can see that, but answer me a question. What the f*cking hell is a skilled and experienced assassin doing inside a fantasy game like Sword Art Online? You hardly look as old as I and I should believe that you're a real world assassin?" Aereth replied and also sank down to take a seat while fetching a bottle of something that looked like whiskey from his inventory.

He took a sip and offered the bottle to the female. It wouldn't get either of them drunk, but at least the burning sensation was still there after swallowing it. "Pfffft. If you think so. Those sh*theads were so confused and scared as I started to attack them, I don't think that they would have posed much more problems if I wouldn't have had to save your nice little butt."

At the question about the Laughing Coffin, Aereth simply shrugged. "Most dangerous PKing Guild in the game, consists of some crazy a** bastards that unfortunately also are ridiculously strong, and they will mess you and everything with connections to you up so bad that you wish you never met them..."

@Blood

[Blood 0]

"I don't care what you believe." I said, keeping my eyes locked to his as I grabbed onto the bottle that he offered me and taking a sip, feeling some sort of burn in her throat as she downed a small bit. I shook the bottle around, hearing the swish of the alcohol. "Well, even if you can handle the situation, you were still outnumbered. Any experienced killer will know when to back off and retreat." I finished up with that. If I was in his position though, I would not have stopped combat even if someone was in need of my protection. I would rather dig my sword deep into the heart of an enemy than prevent the death of an ally. I live to satisfy my thirst for blood, hence I named myself Blood to remind myself of my life. 

"Oh, I remember the last time I was in a room alone with a man who said I had a nice, little butt. He ended up dead on the floor - his fate was sealed as soon as he placed his mouth one mine. Poison on the lips... Oldest trick in the book." I shrugged, taking another gulp of the whiskey. I am aware of the fact that you can't get drunk in this game. I learned that when I learned that pain does not exist in this game. Learning that was quite the let-down. Inflicting pain is half the fun in killing someone and that was taken away from the game. However, the look of horror on players' faces was still there, as she witnessed earlier from this man's fight with those players.

"Laughing coffin. Sounds contradictory. How can you be strong but lazy at the same time? If you're not part of it, why are you killing those players?" I asked.

@Aereth