[PP - F22] <<Bloodstained Land>> Burying the Hatchet - Again

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

<< Bloodstained Land >>

This Quest Takes Place on Floor 5.

This Quest is ONLY repeatable for the Quest Reward Item.

 

 

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After the discovery of Avalanche the Absolute Zero, many information brokers had grown interested… was this the first of many evolutions? Their minds had grew more and more eager, and of course they had hired explorers to find the next evolution… it was a while before any confirmation was given… but then, a group had found one more… many had fell to this boss alone as it had the defence greater than many tanks, and has the power greater… much greater than the previous one… this boss was said to put Avalanche to shame, with this new found information… the information brokers came public about the new boss… Land Shark the Terra Firma.

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<< Land Shark the Terra Firma >>

HP: 650

DMG: 250

MIT: 75

ACC: 0

EVA: 4

 

Abilities:

<< Assault Mode >> : On a LD roll of 10+, this boss will spot through hidden players and the bosses ACC and EVA will temporarily switch for his attack and his attack only and will strike as though it had partial phase on a natural roll of 9, and full phase on a roll of 10.

<< Move Swiftly >> : The skill Concentration will not work on this boss, and players will suffer a -1 penalty to ACC.

<< Hard-Scaled >> : Paralysis and Freeze does not work on this boss.

<< Weak-Spots >> : On a player’s roll of a natural 9-10, they will gain partial phase on their attack.

 

Last Hit Reward: Terra Firma Scale [Unique Item - On Consumption, it will grant any Armor a temporary additional Mitigation slot for a thread, this temporary Mitigation slot bypasses the mitigation enhancement limit.]

-----

Quest Rewards:

Sandstone Armor Potion [T2 Potion - Gives a player +30 MIT for a thread.]

3 SP

5000 Col

-----

Recommended Level: 35

Shield

Spoiler

» Shield, The Immovable Object

• Modified HP:
• Modified EN:
• Modified MIT:
• Modified ACC:
• Modified DMG:
• Modified EVA:
• Battle Heal:
• Search: +1 [Yamata No Orochi Statue]
• Temp Buff:
• Temp Buff:
• Temp Buff:

» Base Stats

• Base HP: 1850
• Base EN: 176
• Base MIT: 181
• Base ACC: 0
• Base DMG: 2
• Base EVA: -1
• Battle Heal: 92 HP
• Search: +5

» Items Equipped:

• Manticore Mask - T3 Perfect Shield - Flame Aura I / Taunt / Mitigation I
• Stinging Nettle - T3 Perfect Heavy Armor - Envenom (Defensive) I / Thorns II
• Blessed Greaves - T3 Demonic Heavy Armor - Mitigation II / Holy Blessing II
• Wedding Ring [+18 MIT]
• Hammerspace Backpack (HB) +1 BR item (allows stacks up to 7)

» Battle-Ready Inventory:

• Golden  Keys ^x7 | Unique Item | +2 Search on Chests
• Basic Teleportation Crystal ^x4 | Good Item | Teleports player to the Town of Beginnings
• Safeguard Potion ^x3 | Perfect Tier 1 | Safeguard
   

» Skills:

• Searching | 5 Ranks | +5 Bonus to LD, +0 to Stealth Detect
• Battle Healing | 5 Ranks | While in combat, recover 1% per rank (85HP) at the beginning of your turn
• First Aid | 5 Ranks | +4% HP per rank (+20% HP) on Post Action
• Picking | Purchased | +3 LD when opening chests
• Heavy Armor | 5 Rank | +35 Mitigation
• Energize | Purchased |  Restore 8 EN to target
• Block | 5 Ranks | +25 Mitigation
• Howl | Purchased | +2 Hate against each opponent (up to 4)
• Fighting Spirit | Purchased | +1 Hate when using Howl or Focused Howl
• Parry | Purchased | 3 Turn Cooldown | 5 Energy | Reduces incoming damage by 50%
• Fishing | Purchased | Fish for equipment and gain prestige among old men

» Extra Skills:

• Concentration | No Ranks | Gain +1 BD for a single attack | 5 Turn Cooldown
• Familiar Mastery: Healer |  3 Ranks | +135 HP (Does not require post action)
• Martial Arts | 1 Rank | +1 Base Damage per slot with Unarmed Weapons
• Meditation | Purchased | Recover an additional 15 EN on Post Action | 3 Turn Cooldown
• Survival | Purchased |  Increases out of combat health regen to (15xTier) 45 per post

» Mods:

• Athletics: +1 DMG +45 HP
• Focused Howl: +4 Hate against single target on Post Action
• Dismantling: +2 LD when opening chests
• Stone Wall: +Gain 10 MIT and 45 HP from heavy armor. Reduces DOT by 25%. -1 to Evasion.
• Sharpness: Gives target +[Target's Tier] to Base Damage for 2 turns | 1 Turn Cool Down
• Justified Riposte: A successful Parry also stuns the target for 1 turn. | 3 Turn Cool Down
• Vengeful Riposte: A successful Parry returns 50% of DMG back to your opponent - mitigatable. | 3 Turn Cool Down

At a small table in a Japanese style diner on the twenty second floor of Aincrad, Shield sat and sipped a warm mug of green tea. His dark eyes were serious and unfocused, staring off into space as the patrons and wait staff of the restaurant bustled around him. It took him a long time to realize that the server that been taking care of him was trying to talk to him.

"Hmm? What?" he said, sitting bolt upright. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" 

The young woman blinked and pointed to his half empty mug. "Would you like that refilled?" Shield nodded and held it out for her, setting it down so tea droplets would not splash on his fingers as she poured from the pot. He thanked her and she gave a small bow before rushing off to see to more guests.

Shield's mind was disorganized. No matter who it was he talked to, it seemed they were all in agreement. The front lines did not have the players they needed to continue as they had in the past. There were too few tanks and too few healers. Every time he thought about stepping back into a floor boss room, memories floated back into Shield's mind of the way the last meeting he had attended had gone. Tempers had flared, loyalties had been split, and blows had been exchanged. It was thinking about the latter that he currently mulled over.

Zandra and I have never been close... but we've always gotten along well enough. She's prone to temper, which may explain her outburst before. There may be hope there. I don't think there are enough bandages in the world to patch things up with Hestia, but if there's any friendship I can salvage that needs salvaging, it's Zandra.

He thought this over for a while before deciding that there wasn't enough time to put it off. He pulled up his contact list, bringing up Zandra's name and opening a dialogue box to send a message:

Quote

Zandra,

It's been a long time. Our last meeting was a mess, so I would understand if you're not interested in speaking. However, from what I've been told, they're lacking tanks and healers for the front lines. I don't know for sure if I'm coming back... but I need to discuss whether coming back would make things worse or not. Meet me on the 22nd floor. I'll send you the coordinates.

-Shield

He hesitated for a moment before hitting the button to send, but it didn't seem like there was any point in delaying. He hit send and closed out of his menus, sipping at his tea.

@Zandra

Edited September 20, 2020 by Shield

[Zandra 0]

’’GAAAAHHHH!!!’’ Zandra shouted as her big, two-handed battle axe flew thru the air, cleaving into the digital fur of a big icebear down on floor four. There was a new potion recipie she wanted to try out, but one of the ingreThere was a new potion recipie she wanted to try out, but one of the ingredients was the fat from the fur of a bear. After twenty, she lost count of how many she had slain by now, but still not. She took a look at the latest reward screnn. ‘’Nope, nothing this time either.’’ She said with a sigh and started getting so annoyed she swung her axe into a nearby tree with full force. Just in last second she dodged the snow falling from the branches. Then she got a message. She thougth if she should check it now or continue. She really wanted that fat. But no, in these times it could be something important.

So she red thru the mail that, came from a person she haven’t talked with for a long while. And to be honest, she actually did wanted it to continue that way. She glanced at another group of bears that just respawned a bit away. But no, she had to, anything else would be childish. ‘’Well, I can take one more group.’’ She charged up her explode catapult and charged. ‘’DIE!’’

…

…

Zandra exited the warp entrance at the twenty second floor with a grumpy look on her face. As she cursed the bears and the fats low droprate she headed to the café. As she approached the café, she stopped outside for a few moments, took a deep breath, and entered. It didn’t took long to find the correct table so she walked up and sat down. Her face was still grumpy but at least she succeded with putting on a fake smile. ‘’Hello there Shield. Everything fine?’’ she greeted the tank.

[Shield 0]

Shield set down his mug when he heard Zandra's familiar voice, and he gave her a cordial nod of the head. "I'm as fine as I can be, I suppose," he said, which was maybe not the most specific answer, but it was hard to give a good answer to that question as a greeting. "How have you been?" Shield glanced around until he made eye contact with the server who had been taking care of him and motioned for her to come over. "Would you like anything, Zandra? I don't know if you're hungry or not, but the jasmine green tea is very nice here."

It was uncomfortable seeing Zandra again. The two of them had very different personalities, and although they respected one another well enough on the battlefield, the most recent interactions they'd had were full of messy communication and misunderstandings. He did not know what to expect of the meeting, but he hoped for the best as he waited for his once fellow frontliner to place whatever order she felt like, if any. He drained the rest of his mug and set it down at the corner of the table. The server looked at Shield and gestured to the mug, to which Shield nodded, and she hurried off to the back to retrieve a pot to replace its contents.

[Zandra 0]

The tank answered he was fine, but it actually didn’t mattered what he answered. Almost everyone would answer with something like ‘Im fine’ or similar. It didn’t felt good being near Shield. She didn’t knew really what it was, but she just wanted to rise and leave the café. But no, she cant do that, that would probably removed the tiny bit of respect Shield had left of her. She was here not to waste time, but rather to mend a broken relationship. So the tea was good. Well she isn’t really a tea drinker. Would she take it anyway, for good manners?

‘’Well, Im not really a tea drinker myself, but I guess I can try’’. She said to the server as well as to Shield. ‘’Would be nice a slice of blueberry pie too if that can be fixed.’’ She said to her and hoped the NPC would understand. Then she looked back on the tank. ‘’Cant say Im hungry, but have been out hunting for awhile and a slice blueberry pie is never wrong.’’ She said and a tiny bit of her grumpiness had actually left, she felt a little bit better. Still annoyed over her icebear hunt thou.

[Shield 0]

When the server returned, she brought with her a pot, a second mug, and a small plate with a slice of pie on it. Shield pressed his palms together in a silent 'thank you' for the server and passed her a few Col. He knew that Zandra was one of the few players in the game who made more money than he did from her mob farming, but he hoped that the gesture would come across as not a necessity but a peace offering. "I'm a little surprised you came so readily," Shield said, giving a little half smile. "Things were far from friendly back when I took my leave." It was not easy to bring that up. However, if he knew anything about Zandra it was that she wouldn't want to talk circles around each other until they arrived at the matter of what they needed to discuss.

"Things were pretty bad," he continued, "and I can't say I'm blameless. I was very opinionated, and I pushed people. At the time I thought it was for the best. I didn't anticipate it turning out like it did." The corners of his lips were turned downward. Although he rarely showed much emotion, he did not hide his remorse over the matter. No matter what, he believed the front lines were important, and any hand he had in harming the lines was nothing to be taken lightly.

[Zandra 0]

It didn’t took long for the tea and pie to arrive. She looked down on it for a bit. It didn’t looked as tasty as the one she had eaten so many times down at the golden horseshoe. But don’t judge the book by the cover. She thought to herself before she grabbed the spoon and took a bite of the pie as she listened to what Shield had to say. She nodded as to show she was agreeing with what her said. Yes, the situation on the frontlines between the player have been at least chaotic, if not worse. It was thanks to luck that they succeded thru the boss battle without any casualties at all. When he seemed to be done, she waited around ten more seconds to make sure he was ready to listen to what she said and dint had anything to add.

‘’To start with, things have been quite terrible for me for a long time. Even before that meeting. I have got a lot of relationships broken because reason. Thou Ive decided to repair them.’’ She took a sip of the teas. ‘’And the relation with you is one of the ones I value a lot. Don’t want it to be like, yeah you know.’’ She took a deep breath, thinking back on the meeting that was a devestation to the frontline players. Some sadness was shown in her ruby eyes. ‘’Yes, you wasn’t blameless. Same goes for me. I hope we can make sure…’’ she just saw something on her plate. ‘’Wait, did you ordered these?’’ she asked and pointed at 6 choclate eggs.

Roll:
ID: 139598
LD: 8+8=16
CD: 10

Eggs: +6
Total: 6

Edited April 4, 2020 by Zandra

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 139600 results: Craft: 4 [3 Eggs found]

Total Loot:

Eggs: 3

Shield shook his head and sighed a little at the mention of the eggs. "No, I didn't. It's the Easter event. Trust me, they're good. Hold on to them." Shield checked the floor under his chair and sure enough, three more of them had respawned in the time he had sat. "It's silly, but the items you can trade them in for are well worth it."

Setting aside the ridiculousness of the event, he returned to the conversation at hand. "First and foremost, there are a few things I want to be clear about. You were not the player I was upset with in everything. Yes, we didn't see eye to eye in the Sahagin fight, but communication was bad then for everyone. That whole fight was a disaster." He took a moment to sip at his tea. It was still a little too hot, but he still got a sense of the smooth flavor. "There had been a meeting Baldur had called. It wasn't meant to be a secret or anything. He was just worried after the fight with the dark elves... it shook the front lines and divided people. He wanted to start with the tanks of the front line and see if we could get everyone on the same page so we wouldn't have more infighting."

The server stopped by to ask if they needed anything. Shield shook his head and gave a little nod in thanks before returning to the conversation. "By the end of it, a lot of us were on the same page, but Hestia spent the meeting arguing without actually offering any ideas of her own. It's fine to disagree, but we were there to come up with ideas and try to bring people together." It was hard to paint the picture without it feeling like he was just trying to make Hestia the bad guy. He shook his head, realizing how he must sound. "The point is, Hestia was already at odds with Baldur and I.

"The big thing I'm trying to say is, a lot of people were already upset with each other, and you got caught up in our conflict," he said. His dark eyes were serious, but they were not angry. "We were upset with your party at the time, and yours was upset with mine, but that fight started long before you were involved, and I'm sorry that you got pulled into all of that drama."

Edited April 4, 2020 by Shield

[Zandra 0]

Zandra listened to the tank as he explained to her that she was just a small part in this. He was even sorry that she got bringed into the chaos that had been the frontlines back then. Shield looked at her with dark eyes, they was serious, but she couldn’t spot any anger in them. Was he really serious? She wasn’t that big of a part in this like others. This made her feel relieved as well as a bit angry. One part of her felt like what he was meaning was that she wasn’t as important in that current state to make a different so she was halfly ignored or something. One part was happy since it sounded like Shield as well wanted to get on good terms with the berserk healer. And one part just enjoyed the blueberry pie that was, indeed, delicious. As well as the tea. She took a quick glance to a shelf and spotted some more eggs that she quickly took and added to her inventory.

‘’I do hear what you are saying Shield.’’ She started. She thougth thru what to say next, since that could effect where this talk would go. But what she felt was most important was to be honest, tell the truth and not try to exaggerate stuff. ‘’I will keep an eye out for those eggs then, and I think I did the right decision to answer the request to come here. I don’t know how I feel from hearing I was not… nevermind. Since you bring the labyrinth guardian boss up. What was you thinking when you said that you was darn heroes or something? Im curious because it felt like you thought you came in and to save us because we where incapable of doing it ourself, which thanks to the games programming and stupid party size decisions, we was.’’

Roll: 
ID: 139612
LD: 4+8=12
CD: 6

Eggs: +3
Total: 9

Edited April 4, 2020 by Zandra

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 139613 results: Craft: 5 [3 Eggs found]

Total Loot:

Eggs: 6

"I figured that was going to come up," Shield said, shaking his head. "That was a badly timed joke that got out of hand. It turns out, Baldur and I both watched the same TV show out in the real world, and there was a scene where someone joined a fight late and came in saying that line." He was frustrated that something that had been meant as an inside joke between fellow combatants had turned into this. "I agree that the joke was in poor taste, and if I haven't already apologized for it, then I apologize for it now. It was never meant to say anything about our team or about your team."

Shield moved his foot and felt it bump something that rolled out from under him. He had missed some eggs apparently. He bent down and gathered them up, sending them off into his inventory to add to his mounting stash of foil wrapped chocolate treats that would hopefully be the ticket to finally getting an upgrade to some of his gear. Although he had similar questions to ask Zandra, he also knew her nature well enough to know that asking them at the wrong time would not be helpful. He sat and he waited to hear what she had to say.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Shield

[Zandra 0]

Zandra focused on Shield, trying to spot anything that showed that he was trying to smooth things over. That he had come up with this to bring as an excuse just because, well, just because. There was no need for pretended excuses today. Open cards was what Zandra would be playing with. ‘’I see…’’ she started carefully with a voice sounding like it didn’t really believed what was said. She did believed it, but decided to be careful and not go in blindly. ‘’So you saying when you came there, you was just saying that as a joke? Either I haven’t watched the same series, or have forgotten that part. Would you mind telling me what serie? Im just curious, you don’t have to say if you don’t want to.’’ It wasn’t really top secret infromtation, but it would show pretty quick if it was a made up excuse or if it was true. Unless he was a veteran lier, which she doubted. ‘’I need to say thou that I am happy to hear that it was a joke and you didn’t meant what you said in the way it sounded to me.’’

 She had sen Shield beend down, so she took a look as well and spotted some eggs under her chair as well. More eggs for her she thought to herself.

Roll: 
ID: 139614
LD: 8+8=16
CD: 10

Eggs: +6
Total: 15

Edited April 4, 2020 by Zandra

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 139616 results: Craft: 10 [6 Eggs found]

Total Loot:

Eggs: 12

It was difficult to place Zandra's tone. She seemed to be playing her cards close to the chest, which told Shield a little bit about how much doubt she carried regarding him. On the one hand, it was not encouraging that she still held such doubts, but on the other, the fact that she came anyways meant she was serious. He nodded as he thought this over and addressed her question. "The series is called 'Firefly,'" he explained, "and if you ever make it back into the real world, I highly recommend it. It's got some of the best writing I've seen, and the concept of turning a story about people surviving on newly colonized alien planets into a space western is kind of genius."

He leaned back in his chair, hoping he had at least satisfied her curiosity on the matter. As he glanced down at his tea, he saw that a little bit had run down the side of his mug, and as he grabbed a napkin to wipe it up, half a dozen eggs tumbled out from behind the napkin holder. "What the... well, okay then." He collected them and sent them away to his inventory, turning back to the conversation at hand.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Shield

[Zandra 0]

The answer came pretty quickly, quick enough for all doubt about being a made up excuse to disappear. ‘’I see. I have never watched or herd about that serie. Well, cant really say I have herd a lot of any series. I don’t know if it’s a well known or not, but since I didn’t knew about it, you coming and shouting you are heroes felt a bit humiliating. That thing made me dislike you to be honest. Thou, I hope you can apologise me for thinking that about you. I am glad I got to know the truth.’’ She paused as she spotted a few eggs in the corner of the room. ‘’Just one sec.’’ she said as she went and picked them up. ‘’Sorry about that, you mentioned about an easter event so I guess I should take every opportunity I have to take some more eggs.’’

She closed the menu as the eggs was safe in her inventory. ‘’I feel like you have explained a lot about yourself and to be honest, I really feel like it was good I answered your call.’’ She took a sip of the teas. ‘’But do you have any questions to me that may make it easier for you to trust and rely on me?’’

Roll: 
ID: 139621
LD: 20+8=28
CD: 2

Eggs: +2
Total: 17

Edited April 4, 2020 by Zandra

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 139642 results: Craft: 1 [2 Eggs found]

Total Loot:

Eggs: 14

"I do," Shield said, trying to think of how to brooch some difficult subjects. "There were a lot of unkind accusations made towards me and my friends over the course of those weeks. Things about us trying to box other players out from getting loot or forming a super group of powerful players to keep others from getting boss drops..." He looked away from Zandra. That whole period was a mess, and in the moment, he even forgot whether Zandra had participated in any of those accusations. Maybe it was better he didn't remember. That might have made this conversation harder if he did. "Did you believe those things about us?"

Behind the napkins, he saw a couple of eggs that he had missed. Or rather, perhaps that was just a spawn point and it had partially refreshed while they sat there. Either way, he collected them, still not looking at Zandra. "I'm aware of my reputation. I know how people felt about the prices I set in my for my advanced services and for some of the in-demand items I came across... I know that a few people really had it out for me as a result of some of those specific instances. What I want to know is, do you think of me as an enemy, as someone who would intentionally screw other players for my own personal gain?"

Edited April 5, 2020 by Shield

[Zandra 0]

She listened to him. She had expected that Shield would bring up this subject. But still, she got taken by surprise, didn’t knew what to say. He mentioned a reason why she had felt a dislike to him. She had always disliked players that aimed to do things for themselves. People that didn’t bothered a single piece of s*** of it went for others. Like, do a raid that was several hours long, then just taking the final loot drop and quickly disappear. Luckily many games have made that not possible. But she was unsure about sao. She suddenly realized she had been silent for like half a minute.

She took a sip of the tea before starting to talk.’’Well, how do I start.’’ She said before continuing. ‘’I have been. No, I mean.’’ Come on Zandra, it cant be that hard, just tell him the truth. Okay? She took a breath. ‘’Well, to start with, I don’t see you as an enemy. An enemy like a player killer or any kind of mobs or boss.’’ That should be pretty obvious but she hoped it wouldn’t hurt to mention it. ‘’I doubt I can, but if I could, I wouldn’t try to kill you. It would take a lot to awake that desire. But I wont lie. I think this meeting will be a waste of time if Im putting up some lies to sugar coat what I say. I do have disliked you. Andthat was partly because of your meta gaming. I think I also got a bit jealous to be honest. I don’t think you would screw over another player for personal gain, that I don’t think. But I do think you will do anything, well almost anything, to get more unqiue and powerful items, and keep them. I also did think that you would keep an item if it makes, as an example, you ten percent stronger while it could make someone else fifty percent stronger. But now, I don’t know think any of that about you. I want to restart, want to know the real Shield. Ignoring what others think.’’ She hoped this would make sense to him, but more so, make this conversation continue in a good way.

She spotted some more eggs under the chair and picked them up.

Roll: 
ID: 140628
LD: 1+8=9
CD: 12

Eggs: +6
Total: 23

Edited April 11, 2020 by Zandra

[Shield 0]

Zandra was frank, which was precisely what he was looking for. He leaned forward, resting his mouth on his hands as his eyes studied her carefully. She spoke earnestly about her feelings in the past and her intent going forward. As she came to her conclusion, he picked up his mug and took a long, silent sip. As he set it down he cleared his throat. "I'm glad for you not sugar-coating your answer. I don't need someone to make me feel better. I need people to be honest, so for that I thank you," he said, leaning back in his chair slightly as he thought through his response. "First of all, I think there is some truth to your opinions in the past. Yes, I do think outside of the intended bounds of the game - what you call metagaming. Yes, I do work and work hard for every edge that I can get numerically," he said, now leaning forward again. His dark brown eyes were serious, but they were not angry.

"What I will say is that SAO is not a game that is designed to work for players who choose the build that I have chosen. It was designed, as most RPG's are, to cater to the DPS build, because that is the build that most players enjoy playing," he began. He tapped the table firmly with his finger. "Because this is a death game now, and for reasons that are my own, I cannot afford to die in here, so my goal has always been to make myself as impervious to damage as I can while still serving a purpose to those who fight alongside me."

The server returned to the table with her tea pot. Shield gave her a polite nod and set his mug within her reach to refill. "That is a double-edged sword though, I'm afraid. The rewards system in SAO is built around damage and last hits. Even tank items often drop to the player who hits hardest or hits last."  He gestured with his hand, adding to his air of exasperation. "Hell, the last quest we embarked on was for an item that is insanely valuable to tanks, and yet it drops for the player who deals the last hit." Shield let out a sigh and settled back into his char. "The point is, the things I have gotten, I have worked hard for. I have had to make sacrifices, and some of those sacrifices have been to make tougher negotiations when I would much prefer to be generous. Hence the other end of our deal for the armor that Ruby..." he stopped, his lips twisting downward in a slight grimace. He had not known Ruby on a personal level, but he knew how much of a loss it was for the front lines when she died. He still didn't even know the full story of how it happened. He took a breath and continued. "I have made tough negotiations with players because this game doesn't hand support players anything. I have had to build my entire profession in SAO around finding myself things that can even give me a slight edge above standard gear. It has paid off, but at great personal cost."

At this point, he scrolled through his inventory, summoning out his most iconic piece of gear. "The front line DPS spend so much time comparing their demonic weapons. This... is one of the best pieces of gear I've managed to even come across." He held up the Manticore Mask, the shield bearing the face of the creature he had to slay to obtain it. "This... is a T2 quest drop. I had to bargain and negotiate for the upgrade item that allowed me to turn it into something viable." He turned it around, showing Zandra the snowflake sticker that was still adhered to the back. "This armor?" He summoned out his Stinging Nettle spined armor. "This is the first viable piece of equipment I found that I could even use to improve my build through my profession, and I was already max rank and a full year of nonstop searching when that happened." He dismissed both items, looking at Zandra very seriously. "Neither of these items are demonic. They're just plain 'perfect' quality items that happen to have a rare enhancement on them that makes them just slightly better than regular gear."

He checked the temperature of his mug with his fingers. It was still to warm to pick up comfortably, so he left it to cool a moment longer. "I don't tell you all of this because I expect sympathy," he explained. "I don't want that. I would actually be a little insulted if you did try to offer me sympathy. This isn't a kind game, and I don't expect it to hand me anything, so I put in the work to get where I am." He looked at Zandra very seriously. "Yes, I have been hard on players with negotiations, but never when it really counted. Unique enhancements on their own offer very little benefit over normal enhancements. The boon is that eventually, you cap out normal enhancements and have to find something else that benefits you. Do you think that Fallen is better than Damage? I know that you know that's not the case. If you had to choose between three slots of damage or three slots of fallen, damage is much better for your DPS. Unique enhancements are nice, but they're a trifle. A drop in the bucket."

His expression softened and he looked out the window. "On the other hand, while I may not hand over unique equipment cheaply, I do give my time to carry low level players through quests. I have actively taken a hand in training up new tanks and am looking for new healers to fill the gaping holes in the front lines... That guild that Hestia hated so much? The one Baldur and I and Beat were working so hard to build? We came up with the idea after the front lines turned against each other while facing the Dark Elf Council." He shook his head, taking another slow breath before continuing. "We couldn't stand to see the in-fighting, so we were working tirelessly to create something that could unite players. Create supply chains, organize raids, coordinate dungeon runs... Whatever we needed, it could provide help. Not through force, but with the power of negotiation and team work with other guilds."

"You said you wanted to know the real me," he said, returning to Zandra's words a minute ago. "This is me. I was a statistician in the real world," he explained. "I see this game for its numbers, because at the end of the day, having the right numbers is what's going to get us out of here. I am shrewd. I am practical. But I am not heartless, and I will give what I can of myself and my time to see this game through to the end. However, I will do what I need to in order to find my success, even if that means coming down hard on players in negotiations."

He checked his tea again. It seemed to have cooled somewhat, so he lifted it to his lips. Once there, he blew gently on it to cool the top an extra degree and clear the steam away, and he drank.

Edited April 11, 2020 by Shield

[Zandra 0]

As Shield started to talk, Zandra leaned back in her chair because she herd this would be long. And she was willing to listen. Today would probably be the turn of a relationship between two of the strongest players in the game. If they was enemies, that would be a very big loss to the frontlines.

She drank some of the tea as he mentioned Zandra did the right thing to be honest and do no sugar coating. He talked about how SAO was a game that favoritising dps players. Which Zandra nodded to in agreement. As well as how the rewards to be a tank is often dropped to the one dealing most damage or landing the final hit. Even if it is tank items, the dps players gets them. Her eyes went to his gear as he showed them and told how he had worked for them hard. Even thou he showed her all this and talked about tanks and dps in this way, he didn’t wanted sympathy from her, in which she nodded again. When he started talk about guilds her ears sharpened a bit extra and a faint shadow of a smile appeared on her lips.

When he seemed to have finished talking, Zandra was quite for a time. Both to think thru how to answer, but also to give him time to add something if there was something he forgot. It looked like that wasn’t the case. ‘’Well, I cant argue against you about the game’s focus on builds. Myself, I wanted to go the support path from the start. Thou there was no options for that except being an alchemist and make healing potions and crystals. Now, they have made it a little bit easier to go the support part. Thou still very limited. Heck, only one enchantment that increase the supportability and it is unique. I was lucky to get the santas cloak from that Christmas event.’’ She paused for a few seconds. ‘’Well yeah, you are totally right. If there wasn’t for the damage familiar, a weapon with three slots damage would be the best way for all dps to go. Choosing the dot build path here is just a joke. Those items are nice indeed. And even if you could get a better item as a boss drop, the feel to use something you have worked hard for feels satisfying in its own. Or that is maybe just me.’’

She had learned a lot about Shield today. Some things she knew, some things she guessed and some things she didn’t had a clue about. ‘’I must say, I am very glad you have decided to share all this with me. I agree with you in much. And well, not so much about some stuff. But this about guilds you mentioned in the end. Back in the real world, I was guild leader of a big, famous and gamewide guild. Plans was to do it in here to. I have started a guild not to long ago with a similar goal in mind. To help players in their crafts and grinds.’’ She took a breath. ‘’As a small step to unite the players of Aincrad, would you like to go into alliance with ATP, Aincrad Trading Post, and together work to get everyone safe out of this death-prison?’’ she asked and reached forward her hand. To agree in stuff in business, was a good step to start working together in private as well.

[Shield 0]

Shield smiled at the hand that was offered to him, but he held up his own hand to ask Zandra to pause. "I will gladly accept your offer for alliance between our guilds, but there is important information I feel you need to know before accepting." He rested his hands on the table, and took a slow breath. "One of the founding members of that guild is one who has spoken of you before, and from what I understand, you have considerable distrust for her. I'm assuming you remember meeting Mari." He took a sip of his tea, setting his mug down to give Zandra a chance to process the memories of that name. "She is someone who has garnered considerable distrust, and for some obvious reasons.

"Baldur and I both have met her and spent considerable time with her," he went on, turning is palms upward, doing his best to be forthcoming and make sure that Zandra was able to see his outward efforts to be transparent and honest. "There are two things I believe about her. The first is that she has been the victim of misfortune in ways that I hope I will never experience, much of which is why she ended up being the instrument of death for so many players. I can tell you more about that if you care to know more. The second thing is that many players hate her, but not nearly as much as she seems to hate herself over the players who have died at her hands. She is doing what she can to make up for her actions, including rebuilding her stats to act as a support player. She wants to save lives to make up as much as she can for the lives that have been lost. But," he said, taking another long, slow sip of his tea and looking out the window, "I don't know if she's ever going to be capable of forgiving herself."

He set down his mug and turned his eyes back to Zandra. "She is not the only orange player who is helping to start our guild. Oikawa is also among the founding members. And Baldur and Calrex will both be involved with the guild, which means we have a lot of players who are connected with bad circumstances and unpopular guilds from the past. We... are a bit of a band of misfits. That said, one of the most important things we hope to do is to help supply the front lines with the things is needs most. One of those goals is to keep your guild - the ATP - supplied with materials, especially before boss fights."

He pulled up a set of transactions that he had logged, showing transfers of materials and Col to amass two large sums. "This first number is a collection of 400 materials intended to equip as many players as possible with full stacks of Mass Heal Crystals for the upcoming floor boss." He pointed to the first set of materials. "The second is a collection of 200 materials, specifically T3 materials, for crafting the basics that any front-liner would need from shops to be outfitted for the fight." He left the display up so that Zandra could look at it more closely if she so desired. "We know our players are not particularly popular. I have a reputation saying I am greedy, and the rest of our guild seems to be past Azure Brigade members or reformed player killers... We know what we look like to others. But we want players to be able to see that we have good intentions. Those materials are yours, even if you decide you do not want an alliance with our guild. If you still wish to shake hands, I am more than happy to do so." He held it out for her, hopefully, not expectantly. "I will not be offended if you can't accept it - or at least if you're not sure if you're ready to."

[Zandra 0]

As Zandra herd Shields reply to her offer, he could see her already light skin tone become even paler as she froze on the spot. Her smile was gone and her eyes went wide. She suddenly rose and backed away a few steps. Her eyes was focused on the tanks as she gulped.

‘’Ma… Mari?’’ The female player killer. Zandras hand was shaking as she pointed at Shield. ‘’You. Guild with.’’ A few seconds pause before she finished off. ‘’Mari?’’ The first reaction was just like when she met her before killing the bear. But this time, she got herself together much quicker. The name Mari was still causing her fear, and it would take a while to change that. She moved her hand thru her hair to hide the faint shakes as she sat down again. She looked down on the table and mumbled a low, weak and emberrased ‘’sorry.’’ Then Shield said he and Baldur have met her. Zandra held both her hands under the table, knit tight together. She listened to what the tank had to say. She made sure to rember everything he said and went thru it after their meeting.

She slowly started raise her head as he mentioned ATP. And he mentioned it with a we. Have they talked about this? Her eyes went wide as she herd that they would donate a total of 600 materials to her guild. And he finished off with offering his hand back. Zandras crimson eyes was focused on the male hand infront of her. This was going to be a much harder decision then she expected. She grit her teeths as she slowly lifted a hand and placed it on the table.

‘’I… I see.’’ She started. ‘’That makes it much harder to decide. Before this meeting, I didn’t liked you. Partly because of misundertandings. Thou I have trusted you. I do still trust you but dosent dislike you anymore. I wouldn’t go into an alliance with Mari if it was her I was talking to right now. And you say there is others as well that have maybe not the best reputations. But as I said, I do trust you that they may work on changing. Specially when you say Baldur and Calrex is there too. Thou I don’t know what others think if a guild focused on helping mainly low leveled and profession ranked players suddenly starts working together with a guild made of player killers. Would seem suspicious. And thosemats may be seen as a bribe. Don’t take me wrong, I don’t mean I think these stuff. Just, when having the fate of the guild in my hands, I must watch on it from every perspective.’’ Zandras mind worked at full speed to give Shield a justified answer. After some thinking she had decided. She grabbed Shields hand with both of hers and closed his hand before pulling her own back. ‘’I wont agree on the alliance thing today. But in a few days, I will gather as many that can attend from ATP and have a guild meeting. I will share the information Ive gotten from you and then we will have vote. I think that is the best for everyone. That we decide it together like a guild, like a guild should do. So if you can write down all official information and sen it to me in a mail, I will return with an answer within a week. This is not a yes nor a no.’’ she finished off. Some colour had returned to her face and her voice was steady. She knew she didn’t mentioned Mari and how she had been judged by others. But that wasn’t something she would discuss with Shield. Not now at least.

[Shield 0]

Shield nodded and returned his hand to the table in front of him. "It makes perfect sense to consult with the guild before making major decisions," Shield said, his eyes following Zandra. "And yes, I'm aware of what things look like. We know there will be concerns. We know there will be players who see everything that we do as a threat - or in this case, a bribe. We talked about things... trying to decide if it was worth it to find other players who didn't have such bad reputations to start the guild with..."

His hands found either side of his tea mug, picking it up and holding it above the table as he stared down into the translucent liquid. "At the end of the day... that felt dishonest. Like we're trying to keep things from people, and people deserve to know the truth about us." He lifted his mug and drained its contents, finishing the last of the tea and setting the empty cup at the corner of the table. "I think a big part of why we made the decisions we did comes from Baldur and his dojo. He has, for a long time now, been trying to give players a second chance. People who have made mistakes. People like Jonathan. Good players who had given up on themselves." Shield took a deep breath and returned his eyes to Zandra. "We know what we are and how some players will see us. The best we can do is show our cards and give people the choice of whether to trust us or not. If you plan to tell your guild anything on our behalf, tell them that."

The server returned and pointed to Shield's cup. Instead of allowing her to refill it, he turned the cup over on its saucer and handed it back to the server to take with her. "This has been a good meeting, Zandra. I'm glad that we understand each other a little better and, despite concerns, it seems we have friendly intentions. I will not be offended by whatever decision your guild makes, but expect our support either way."

[Zandra 0]

Zandra relaxed a bit as she herd Shield’s reply to her answer. She had thought that he maybe would be annoyed, emberresed or angry. But he seemed to understand. Shield did felt like a man that you can trust. But it was in that moment a thougth reminded her. Just because someone say something, it dosent have to be the truth. Shield had said a lot that Zandra wanted to believe. But it could all just be a big lie to trick her into something.

Zandra took a breath before she started talking. ‘’To start with, I have decided to trust you and believe what you have said today. But, it could all be a lie with a reason to trick me to do something. Same goes for me, Icould have made up all I have said today. We have not been the best of friends up til now if you say so. But as I said, Ive decided to believe you. I think this meeting have made our relationship to be able to change into friends. That I hope. And to start with it, I will do this.’’ She opened up her menu, pressed a few buttons and scrolled a bit until she sent a friend request to Shield. ‘’And as a start to prove I am honest with you, I suggest we do the Bloodstained land quest. This time, I will keep my word and give the scale to you. Sorry that I did what I did last time.’’ She said to the tank in an honest voice and sent him a party invite as well.