[F1] Passing of Knowledge

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

I sat in a corner booth of a local bar with a glass of scotch on the rocks in front of me on the table. It was a rather rough day for me considering how things have been lately. The meeting didnt go so well nor did a lot of the quest I went on but there was one good thing that came out of this whole ordeal. I was able to find my best friend Shark and his old guild back up and running. I had become the vice commander of the KoC guild immediately as it got set up, but there seemed to be something missing. I was remembering getting a message from the woman at the meeting with the notebook to respond when I was available for questioning. I opened up my messaging system and began to type something up as there wasn't much more i could do today.

Quote

@Hestia Its my, the veteran from the meeting. I was unable to give you my name seeing as a few player were not happy with my appearance not my expertise but you seemed interested in some information that i might have for you. If you're still interested in whatever it was you were looking for meet me on the first floor in a bar called "Squeaky Floorboard", yes its a weird name but the owner is really nice. I am wearing a white jacket with blue trimmings, a white shirt and grey pants with black combat boots on.* Im not expecting you to show up but if you do, drinks are on me. -Ryujin, the veteran from the first 6 floors.

Spoiler

 *my outfit today

 

[Hestia 0]

I hear a message go off as i check who it is from and the person is definitely not a name that i recognize, but when hearing his description i just grin to myself at the opportunity to get to know this player who seemingly knows what the first six floors were like in terms of fighting for his life. With a nod i head towards the first floor as i think on what questions to ask him specifically. Knowing the in general information i want to gain off of this, but the exact details, the exact probing questions to get towards that being equally important. Making my way from my home on the fourth floor towards the first as i would take equally awhile to try and find this tavern that he called for his meeting with him having sent a message beforehand to expect me to show up in a few hours. Which i did indeed do since it took awhile to find the place. My blue colored eyes scanning the room for the player in question as i wear just a casual sleeveless black t-shirt, and long grey pants with my familiar at my side. Making my way through the bar and towards the location of the jacket wearing man with a smile on my face as the light illuminates my black colored hair. When i would get towards the table i would just wave to the man. Sorry if this was a formal event i just walked here with what i was wearing. I say apologetically towards the man as i than sit across from him.

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

The young lady walked in wearing a sleeveless black shirt and grey pants, with her familiar in tow. She apologized for showing up in her everyday clothes. I chuckled and took a sip of my drink.

"No no, nothing fancy going on here, i didn't even wear my good pants. No today Im on duty so i have to wear these colors." I respond to her silly apology.

I gestured to the chair across from me and waved over the waiter so she could order something to drink.

"This is in no way a date" I say taking another sip of my scotch. "However" taking yet another and setting my glass down. "The bill is on me, whatever you decide to have during this little interview or whatever this is." I swirled the liquids in the glass knowing full well that i cannot physically get drunk but I can still taste it. 

"So what is it you want exactly from me? Hints? Hidden Quests? Maps of the areas?" i didn't know what else to list but i left it at that. "There aren't a whole lot of people who like me or want to talk to me, so what use do I have to you?" i asked her. I kinda sounded like an asshole but i was just being blunt

@Hestia

[Hestia 0]

I look towards you and simply takes out a notebook and along with my writing utensil as i look towards you with a grin upon my face as i flip open to a brand new page that doesn't have any pages that have been written after the point that i am starting at. So than. I'm writing the book of Aincrad, and that means i write the stories of everyone who came before me and the stories of those around me while i can before they disappear, or die if they go down that route in life. I say very simply and in a very straightforward manner as i look towards the man with a calm look within my eyes and a small smile on my face. It's meant as a way for people to remember our struggles after we leave this game. Someone has to write down what happened to those that died. We can't allow people to forget who we are within this game. We are people who have struggled, seen lost, and faced war and will come out the other side of this fight. It's only a matter of making sure we do just that as much as we can since i'm sure you know. Too many have died already. I say calmly towards the man as i wait for a response.

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

Death. Death was a major part of this conversation and it had barely even begun. Death was such a daily concept in my life that i was afraid to talk about it more and more each day.

"So you wanna talk about remembering people while we can huh?" i asked her placing my glass down. I opened my inventory and pulled out my own miniature notebook. I flipped to page one. I slid the book over to her. "Go ahead. Flip through it. Those are the names of my friends...who used to be on my friends list" I opened my menu and flipped it to screen share mode. A list of 5 names were there. Neo. Heathcliff. Symphony. Clarence. Shark. Thats all that was left. Thats all that mattered.

"One of them is still missing. Clarence. I have no idea where he is. Shark was found a few weeks ago and Heathcliff basically lives in his Guild Hall. So i have lots of stories in there." In that list of names, the name Zelrius may or may not stick out. (OOC: i dont now if Hestia knew Zel).

"So you're writing a book about these people so they wont be forgotten about huh?" i asked her trying not to sound mean. "Well I'd be happy to answer any and all questions you have for me." @Hestia

[Hestia 0]

I go through the names of every player as i write down any new ones that i don't recognize which so far is just Shark surprisingly to myself from the initial names that i had seen. Last i saw Clarence he was on floor eleven with a penguin familiar. He was within a dungeon exploring it and being chased around by his lonesome seemingly out of his league. I helped him get out of their safely though. I say to reassure the man and give him the last known location of the man and his familiar to my knowledge to at least reassure some of his worried probably of his friend who seemed like a kind guy.  I haven't heard of this Shark guy though never a day in my life. Though Zelrius. I've heard about him, and from what i've heard i'm glad i never knew him beyond hearsay from the fact i only learned about him after his death. I don't know the Zelrius you knew, but the Zelrius i've heard about sounded like one of the biggest smuggest..to put it as kindly possible arrogant and not kindest people you could meet. I say towards the man in front of me as i flip to my page about Zelrius, and subsequently as it is shared with his guild and the only other member i know about within that guild being Ssendom.
Zelrius- " Wielder of dual blades and murdered by a player named Oikawa. Zelrius had murdered players before for no known reasons that i have been informed of as of this writing.
Ssedom- " wielder of Berserk killed by a player named Opal. Though he was a murderer also. Murdered people because a loved one was in danger."
Azure Brigade- " Lead by a player named Zelrius with the guild dying off quickly after his death. Seemed back in the day this was the only guild and was some sort of elitist club. Sounds like smug people who people were forced to cooperate with. They even boycotted a boss fight! Hello we’re fighting for our freedom here and boycotting just to prove a point only hurts us. I’m glad i never meet this Zelrius person i’m certain i would’ve hated them."

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

"Yeah Zelrius when i met him was a smug sob but her was a smug for different reasons. After i lost contact with my friends he died. I sent him to jail but we bailed him out because he was a decent person. He also kinda helped us beat some of the lower boss floors." I explained to her not sure if that much mattered

"Im glad the Clarence is still alive, at least there is some hope for my friends." I commented on her nod the Pengoo.

"Shark is actually alive, he's the legendary leader of the Knight of Christ Guild from when they formed on the first floor, he abandoned the game on the 11th floor after not being able to hit the 11th floor boss. He's just recently come back after some...motivation" i coughed between "some" and "motivation" "And by motivation i mean i found him and kicked him out of the cave and told him to stop moping around."

"So...what kind of questions do you have because there is clearly something youd like to know about us as the oldies...or the legends i guess we get called now" i said taking another sip shrugging at the word "legends"

[Hestia 0]

I've never heard of these knights of christ before, and i am almost certain nobody would've heard about them still unless he did indeed come back due to your motivation for him. I say with a amused look within my eyes as i just flip over towards my guilds page and writes down the new guild name that i have to ask about as i look towards the person known as Ryu and than flip once more towards the back of my notebook for the newest section i think i would get to ask about. I have a few questions. The first is about what was the game like when you first started out, what was the frontlines like, and lastly what were the floor bosses. I ask simply for starters as i wait to hear what to me could very well be a fountain of information that could be shared as i keep my pencil against paper as i listen. Writing down everything be told to me, but in a paraphrased manner to make it much more manageable to write at the speaking pace of Ryu.

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

"Im surprised you havent heard of them seeing as you are speaking to their Guild Commander right now." I say gesturing to my white and blue outfit. 

"Another guild to add to your books would be the Eyes of Nightshade....it was a guild of assassins that I used to lead. We were a group of contract killers but wee refused to kill green players only the orange ones. The list of members were..." i trail on and on about the guild members (OOC i dont remember their names)

"Ah the questions i was waiting to hear. So the systems back in the day were much different than they are today." I say to hear going on to list some of the major differences upto and including the implication of sword arts and unique skills. 

"The front liners back in the day were less of huge groups of people in multiple parties but more of a few banded together friends who go lucky. Puppet Master Hanzo was the first floor boss...he controlled players...forced them to fight against each other if he hit you with his skills. Turned one of us against us and tried to use her as a shield. made her think she would be free in the real world if she sided with him...it was tough..." i said taking a moment to reflect and calm down as i took a big swig of my drink emptying it and waving for more.

[Hestia 0]

I continue to write down the information about the guild writing down the name of the guild and the currently known members. Than writing down the side guild and make it a arrow connecting to the two guilds to show the connection as i write down the other information alongside the information. When hearing the information in regards towards the floor boss i look towards Ryu hoping that i would see a joking look upon his face, but only see him with a serious look as i just look rather upset. 'So there are monsters that have the ability to somehow control players, or Kayaba removed that from the system since i haven ever seen a boss do that before or heard of a boss do that except this one.' I think to myself in annoyance as a sigh escapes my lips at that. I look over my notes to think of what this all meant on what such things were like by than as i read the most interesting and baffling to me. The fact that sword arts weren't always apart of the game something that was heavily advertised out towards anyone who knows how this game was advertised. 'This game was released half-baked. No wonder so many things seem spontaneous and ever changing.'

So manipulation from bosses isn't new, what was the next boss like? Also, i'm surprised you all always choose to murder as your option jailing is equally a choice if you put in the effort to find a jail. I say calmly towards the man.

[RyujinSeaLord 0]

"You see Aincrad has its own jail inside of it in which people who get put there, typically remain. Zelrius had a guild to lead and decided that jail was better than being dead...i could have easily killed him but i choose a second option. Jailing crystals, or the items that used to do it, are extremely rare or no longer exist..." I explained to her the issues "So basically if you had a jailing crystal, you had 1 if you could even find it. So murder was literally the only real option. Some of us took it to heart, some of us tried to justify what we were doing...back then you only turned orange if you killed someone. It was a weird system, but Kayaba kept pushing out updates."

"The second floor boss....was an Armored Bug named Kabutomushi of Sorrow and Despair. He had a really soft underbelly which was his weakest point. If you struck him anywhere else, you either did 0 damage or half damage..." I said as i continued to tell the story of how we stumbled upon the door and how Shark ended up being the tank or the thing and i ended basically being the hero the girls needed once again. After a few moments of telling the story i stopped to wait for more questions.