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How many days… How many weeks…months… Years…. – – – – Mari had tried, she had tried so hard. Irrevocably, really, truly, wanted nothing more than to help each and every player still trapped within the confines of Aincrad to wake up. She pushed through the pain, the glares, the spiteful comments - because they were all justified. The fear and hatred from others that had been relentlessly aimed at her... It was all warranted. Mari could explain, and justify her actions till she was blue in the face - but it didn’t make up for it. Nothing she did had. Rather, those

But as the cat leapt from the shadows again, its paws barely grazed her half-plate armor. And Acanthus was reminded that in a worst-case scenario, mitigation was always important. Evasion was useful until the boss cornered you, and you had nowhere to go. Then, what was protecting you? Some people made it work. Jomei had survived Callisto’s wrath using speed and wits. But Acanthus didn’t have much of either. She was best suited for simplistic probabilities and pessimistic outcomes. And her pessimism strongly led her to a single point; she was always going to get hit at the worst times. Why

Standing here, unassailable against one of the later bosses, Acanthus almost felt bored. She still appreciated the sense of control these predetermined fights had, but they didn’t excite her. It was the equivalent of being the low-level employee forced to go out and get coffee, or the unfortunate clerk stuck with refiling a disorganized cabinet. It was necessary work, but it was the kind of work that didn’t leave you feeling like you’d done anything useful. Suturesu melted back into the jungle, and Acanthus’s mind wandered. The thing would be back on its own time, out of the darkness to h

A presence approached from behind her. She felt a tingle in her spine as the game warned her of the impending boss. The reaction was purely physical; mentally, she was no more alarmed than if she’d seen a cat in an alley. She angled her body slighty, trying to spot the puma without spooking it. “One-hundred and twenty five damage,” she said. “You can try to break through my defenses, but I think you will be hard pressed. The only question for today is how long the fight will last. And that’s entirely up to you, Suturesu.” The shadows became solid as the lithe boss prepared to attack. Acan

Acanthus navigated the deep jungle terrain with the help of her quest map. Normally, she would enjoy the process of exploring. It was a good way to stumble into new farming locations, or even a quest previously missed by the other players. Today, her goal was singular, and that was to kill the guardian that resided in the temple on floor twenty. The jungle temple jutted up from the decaying undergrowth as a reminder of a long-lost civilization. A civilization that has been around since the start of this game, Acanthus joked dryly. But the creators had done a stellar job with the details.

It had been long enough since the colossus that she had gained quite a few levels. Enough that the puma wouldn’t pose any kind of threat to her anymore. Her mind wandered back to that first leg of the quest, Kumatetsu. She’d done nothing except survive that quest, while Pinball did all the killing for her. Although she couldn’t pinpoint the feeling back then, she could now—helplessness. And she hated that feeling of helplessness. Thank Cardinal, she wasn’t helpless anymore. Acanthus had survived a floor boss. She had run quests and field bosses with the strongest players the game had to o

Dear Pinball, | Her fingers hovered over the virtual keyboard, directionless. It had been months since she last laid eyes on her friend. (At least, it felt like months. Time always seemed to move oddly in Aincrad.) Acanthus wasn’t terribly worried about the absence: he still showed up as online—in other words, alive—whenever she began a message to him. And his company had been sporadic even on the first half of their journey together. Pinball had a way of disappearing at the drop of a hat, and turning up whenever he felt like it. And as someone that preferred her own solitude, she knew be

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Recovers +4 EN CD:12 (Rec Proc) +8 EN Battle Healing +59 Hearing Freyd call out for the new spawns, "Got them," as she rushes toward them. Carving her sword against her shield with a sudden burst of blue flames that ignite both with a sliding stop in front of the creatures. "AWWWW" yelling out as the super heated metal slices through each slime. They wildly splash around in agony as pieces of charred slime hit the walls and turn to an almost tar like mineral as it drops to the ground. Out of seemingly no where they burst into flames, staying lit. Eruda's nose was slightly twitchi

Received.

Ren gives the following to Foyle. Ashigaru's Bond | T4 Demonic Light Armor | MIT II, REC II Lightweight leather armor reinforced with carefully positioned hexagonal plates. Perfect for maintaining mobility. Bears the mark of Ren. Crafting ID: 243906 Source: https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/39172-rencesvals-evaluations/?do=findComment&comment=696160

Ah... so that's it. Still trying to sort herself out, even after all this time. Freyd had been struggling with a sense of identity since the dawn of his tenure in Aincrad; paranoid, cold and machine-like, shattered in uncertainty. He'd already lived through whatever the seven stages of grief equivalent for self-awareness. A soothing pang over his heart soon turned to warmth and the easing of tension from his frame. He'd been fortunate enough to find purpose beyond the calculating universe of clandestine whispers, even if he'd never fully managed to detach himself from that world. It

Standard Recovery +4 EN, Recovery | 244129, CD: 5 (No Proc) PH Post Action | [x18] AOE-II (28 - 2 [Stamina] + 2 [Shift] + (2 * 1 Targets = 2) = 30 EN) - 1 [Rested 2/2] = 29 EN Free Action | ID: 244128 | 5 + 8 = 13, Hit vs. Sand’s Claw Dealing 558 x 1.5 = 837 - 125 = 712 Damage ID: 244130 | LD: 13 (3, +10) | CD: 10 (8, +2) | 33600col, Materials (2), Tier 4 Rare Armor/Shield (1) Players: Nisahime | HP: 920/920 | EN: 98/98 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:60 | ACC:1 | EVA:3 | LD:1 Setsuna | HP: 920/920 | EN: 73/118 | DMG: 29{+4} | MIT:20 | ACC:7 | EVA:6 | BH:37 | RISK: 8

Standard Recovery +4 EN PH Post Action | [x11] AOE-I (22 - 2 [Stamina] + (2 * 1 Targets = 2) = 22 EN) - 1 [Rested 2/2] = 21 EN Free Action | ID: 244127 | 5 + 8 = 13, Hit vs. Sand’s Claw Dealing 363 x 1.5 = 545 - 125 = 420 Damage Players: Nisahime | HP: 920/920 | EN: 98/98 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:60 | ACC:1 | EVA:3 | LD:1 Setsuna | HP: 920/920 | EN: 72/118 | DMG: 29{+4} | MIT:20 | ACC:7 | EVA:6 | BH:37 | RISK: 8 | FLN: 16 | FRB: 40 | FRZ: 64 | LD:2 Simmoné | HP: 920/920 | EN: 95/118 | DMG: 27{+4} | MIT:20 | ACC:7 | AA | EVA:3 | REC: 8 | LD:10 | PROSP:1 | QTY: 2

*Turn Order Shift for Optimal PH Players: Nisahime | HP: 920/920 | EN: 98/98 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:60 | ACC:1 | EVA:3 | LD:1 Setsuna | HP: 920/920 | EN: 89/118 | DMG: 29{+4} | MIT:20 | ACC:7 | EVA:6 | BH:37 | RISK: 8 | FLN: 16 | FRB: 40 | FRZ: 64 | LD:2 Simmoné | HP: 920/920 | EN: 95/118 | DMG: 27{+4} | MIT:20 | ACC:7 | AA | EVA:3 | REC: 8 | LD:10 | PROSP:1 | QTY: 2 Celeste | HP: 966/966 | EN: 94/118 | DMG: 29{+4} | MIT:78 | ACC:8 | PHASE | EVA:3{-1} | BH:39 | REC: 8 | HLY: 16 | BRN: 56 | LD:2 Raidou | HP: 920/920 | EN: 92/118 | DMG: 28{+4} | MIT:137 | ACC:5 | AA | F-SPIRIT

THREAD SUMMARY Experience | [Word Count: 6246/10 = 624.6] * [True Tier: 8] * [Group Factor: 1] = 4997 EXP Col | 749 (Laurel Wreath) + 400 (Bonus) = 1149 Col Mon | 1 Mon earned.

“I guess you’re still a decent doctor after all.” Argent, Acanthus, and Saitou sat around a small table at the back of Mucksucker’s. The room was filled with all of the other players from the floor, including Flechette, who had “dropped that dumbass Knight in a bog so deep it wouldn’t find its way back until the game was done.” The atmosphere was one of muted celebration. The knights weighed heavily on their minds, but nobody had died, and that was reason enough to celebrate. Acanthus leaned on her makeshift crutch with a hint of exasperation. Her antics had worsened her leg debuff e

Fifteen minutes later, an exhausted Argent walked back into the safe zone. His button down was grimy with water and leaves, and his slacks had a hundred small snags and tears. He had made it back alive, but the celebration had been postponed. “Out of the fire and into hell, it looks like.” Saitou lay against the teleportation obelisk with his hand outstretched. The place where the Knight had grabbed him appeared infected with a strange disease. Cracks of intense white light had covered every centimeter of his hand, and two of his fingers had already unraveled. “Grundar died a lot qui

PH Post Action | [x12] TECH-F (16 - 2 [Stamina] + 3 [Shift] + (2 * 1 Targets = 2) = 19 EN) + Charge (8 EN), Charge CD [1/3] = 27 EN - 1 [Rested 1/2] = 26 EN Free Action | ID: 244126 | 6 + 8 = 14, Hit vs. Sand’s Claw Dealing 420 x 1.5 = 630 - 125 = 505 Damage, [Stunned] Applied Sand's Claw sustains 56 via BRN Sand's Claw is [Stunned], takes no action, [Stunned] replaced with Stun Immunity [0/4] Players: Nisahime | HP: 920/920 | EN: 98/98 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:60 | ACC:1 | EVA:3 | LD:1 Shiina | HP: 989/989 | EN: 108/118 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:256 | ACC:1 |

A bolt of light arced through the dim sky, illuminating the town in a blinding glow. As the bolt closed in on their position, Acanthus and Saitou squinted to avoid the flash. Even the unfeeling Knight seemed to stop and observe the strange light racing toward its helm. The bolt connected with a piercing clap, and the Knight stumbled back, its head skewered by the still-crackling bolt of energy. In a flash, the Knight forgot Acanthus and focused on its new, distant foe. Argent stood tall on a rooftop and nocked a second arrow. As he drew back, the arrow transformed into pure light. He shou

The southwest barricade was in shambles. The brief efforts of the town had been trashed in a single swipe. Debris littered the walkways, and the support beams beneath groaned under the weight of the Spectral Knight. Saitou laid over a nearby walkway, having been thrown from the barricade in the blast. The Knight approached him slowly. Acanthus scanned the area and was crestfallen to see Argent was not there. The town was too small for him to get lost—but where had he gone? He was likely the only thing standing between Saitou and the Knight. Aren’t you here? Her subconcious began

PH Post Action | [x15] AOE-I (22 - 2 [Stamina] + 2 [Shift] + (2 * 1 Targets = 2) = 25 EN) - 1 [Rested 1/2] = 24 EN Free Action | Rhino's Horn (+3 Base Damage, -1 EVA) ID: 244125 | 10 + 8 = 18, CRIT+2 vs. Sand’s Claw Dealing 810 x 1.5 = 1215 - (125 / 2 = 63) = 1152 Damage, [BRN 56/2] applied Players: Nisahime | HP: 920/920 | EN: 98/98 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:60 | ACC:1 | EVA:3 | LD:1 Shiina | HP: 989/989 | EN: 108/118 | DMG: 1{+4} | MIT:256 | ACC:1 | EVA:2 | FL.AURA: 16 | FR.AURA: 16 | THORNS:112 | BH:30 | HB: 40 | MENDING: 2 | REC: 8 | LD:1 Simmoné | HP: 920/920 | EN:

An explosion rocked the town. Eriwald buckled, each stilted house swaying precariously as the force of the tumbling barricade shook everyone from their feet. Argent was up in a flash, sprinting towards the source. Acanthus was up next, leg pulsing with that distant static. Before running, she looked to the crowd. “Stay in groups of two, three if you can. Keep an eye on each of the entrances to Eriwald. If you can’t reach me or Argent, find Flechette. You said you know the routes outside of town?” The young boy gave a courageous nod. “You bet! I’ll have ‘em knee deep in algae and swamp bugs bef

The players of Eriwald gathered in the town square, focused on Argent. His command of the group impressed Acanthus. Argent spoke clearly yet softly, but the silence of the crowd carried his voice through them. “We’ve got one Knight coming from the south. We should be prepared for the worst and assume the other Knight is with him. Brag, Flechette; are you two able to lure them away as usual?” A teenager’s hand shot up from the crowd. “Brag is down on the first floor visiting his brother. Just me today.” Argent’s face dropped. “He picked a terrible day to be a good brother. Crow, we’ve