Calrex

The bluenette gave a smirk at the banter going back and forth between Oikawa and Shield, focusing his time towards making up the bad casts he had already gone through. Pulling his rod back, a quick exhale escaped his lips before hurling the hook to the far end of the lake, seeing the glint of the small piece of metal fly over the water until it softly sank beneath the crystal blue surface.

Already feeling resistance on the line Calrex started pulling it back in, the string remaining taut the entire time. However, the result was not particularly notable, a small fish carrying a pair of eggs being the only thing produced. Holding up the tiny catch he returned an awkward smile.

"Well I'm not really one to flatter, so...make of this what you will, heh."

"Maybe it's like how it was for me when gathering materials back in the day. It takes some time for the area to actually refresh to full again."

Casting his line out once again, the bluenette gave a small sigh to steady his nerves. Instead of waiting for the soonest opportunity to pull in his line, he let it sit and wait, many minutes after the past few casts. It was then that he felt a tug on his line, a light one, but one nonetheless. Immediately he pulled back to engage the hook and started reeling, his line getting closer and closer.

Eventually a small fish was produced on his line, but along with that catch came a large clutch of eggs, ones that he could add to his total haul, "Still a ways off from what I need, but at least it's closer."

"I'll let you know what my total ends up being, but at this rate I'm fairly sure I'll still need to borrow at least some of your massive hoard of eggs."

"Hah, don't worry about the past dungeon dive Shield. I was also fairly unprepared at that point, and from what I recall I was also running into the issue of burning up my energy reserves, due to the fact my combat wasn't the most efficient at the time. Granted, it still isn't 100%, but probably a lot better than trying to spam straight sword AoE attacks continuously. That being said..."

As he felt his line go slack once again, Calrex pulled in his line, giving a small sigh as he found only an empty hook on the other side, "If my luck is as fickle as it has been for the past few casts, I'll probably need to take you up on that offer if I'm to have any chance of adding Taunt to my go-to accessory."

"From what I remember, the Evasion and Accuracy enhancements are two of the very few that actually are not affected by new tiers being unlocked. Guess that's why the Amethyst Charm, Tide Pendant, and Rebellion of Sapphire have lasted me as long as they have, while I'm constantly having to commission a new set of weapon and armor with each cap bump."

"Heh, well with the level we're at now compared to back then, I think another visit is in order to see just how deep we can go down this time. From what I recall we didn't get very far."

Pulling in yet another fish, along with a cluster of eggs, Calrex wipes some virtual sweat from his brow before adding the haul to his inventory, taking a quick count of what he had gained from the trip. It was a nice change of pace from what he had grown accustomed to: Hanging out in the Amethyst Boutique, then stepping out whenever the next floor raid was about to commence. Being along people he knew and trusted, performing a rewarding task that didn't involve combat was a good shift.

At Shield's inquiry he felt a bead of sweat form again, "I'm in the same boat. Right now I'm barely past the halfway mark to affording an upgrade stamp, eighty-two of a hundred fifty."

"Guess this is what I get for trying to go big on the first thing I've seriously tried in a while."

The bluenette gave a smirk at Baldur's comment, stepping back as Shield moved to unlock the chest he had fished up, "I have a feeling if I hadn't stopped in to get potions from you, I probably would have been a stain on the wall of where I fought a golem unarmed. Of course Oikawa I've come to know ever since I first decided to stop staying shut in the first floor inns and start venturing out. Shield, if I recall, I think the first time we became acquainted was when you and I both ended up dropping into a underground dungeon on the fifth floor."

With the contents of the chest opened, Calrex looked and too note of the items the other frontliner tank had procured and set up for the offer, acknowledging it with a press of the button. 

Adding fresh bait to his line he cast again, this time with a shorter waiting period before a tug on the hook indicated a bite. Moments later a moderately sized fish emerged attached to his line, along with another cluster of eggs.

The bluenette gave a smile and a nod as Shield and Oikawa both echoed the sentiment, that even if he wasn't going to be fully committed to this new guild, that they would still recognize him as a member, "I appreciate tha..."

As he was about to get up he felt his line go fully taught, as if it was weighed down by something extremely heavy, moreso than even the largest fish he had pulled in, "What in the world?"

Tightly gripping the fishing pole with both hands Calrex began to pull with all his might, alternating back and forth between pulling and reeling. Whatever he had hooked, it was coming in, but it also wasn't struggling as a fish would. It was mere weight, and it seemed to be coming towards him in a straight line. Finally with one last heave, the large shadow beneath the water was revealed.

It was a rather large chest, the trimmings worn with their simulated time at the bottom of the lake. A bead of sweat formed on the side of the Ultramarine Knight's head, "So...anyone got any experience with opening these things?"

After a few minutes of waiting, Calrex gave a small sigh as he pulled back in his line. As the hook emerged from the waters, he took notice of the fact that the bait he had placed on it was gone, "Shoot...I don't think I actually secured it tight enough to the line. Probably came off as I was casting the line out."

The others continued to speak about Mari, and since they had spoken with her more recently, the bluenette decided to remain silent and merely listen. After all, he had to some level stated he would not serve as one of the founders of the guild, but that didn't mean he wouldn't assist with helping it succeed. Making sure some fresh bait was tightly fixed to his new line he cast it out again.

"If membership isn't a requirement for the guild, then from what I remember that already separates us from any of the more well known guilds of the past. A lot of people form them to have some sense of a family or organization, but if Jacob's Ladder will be more freeform and designed to support the frontlines that would remove a sense of elitism. To add to this, a successful partnership with ATP would make it even more clear that it's not around to flaunt power, but to earnestly try to help get us all out of here..."

Calrex felt another tug on the line, potentially giving another chance to reel up a good catch. As he started reeling in the line, the tension was fairly light at the best. "Did I get another dud cast?"

To his luck, his hook had caught on to two eggs, wrapped together in foil. Unwrapping the two the bluenette gave a small sigh to himself, "Definitely not having a lot of luck now with pulling in these eggs. I wonder how long we've been at this in terms of the event. At this point I'm kind of wondering if I'll be able to reach what I need to upgrade the Rebellion of Sapphire."

"Unfortunately, any of the people I can think of are no longer participating in the raids, or are nowhere to be found at all. With what happened between Opal and the Knights, I would agree that orange players would not exactly be taken kindly to, especially with someone with a notorious record like Mari had in the past. To mirror what Shield said, I've got confidence with the four people we're thinking to service as the 'pillars' of this new guild." 

The name that got passed around was one that he hadn't expected to hear in quite some time, one that reminded him of the days before he had reached frontline level and behind, "Mari huh? I haven't heard that name since back before I started participating in the raids."

"I guess she's made some large changes in her character from the past. Back when Tea and I were first starting out, she was notorious as the player killer with the most deaths under her belt, and was someone to fear. Granted she also ran the highest level alchemist shop before Zandra and others came along, so it was a unique dynamic."

"I haven't interacted with Mari in quite some time, and from what I remember of the last time she held a fairly neutral opinion of me. Of course that was when I was more known as a material gatherer than anything. If you guys think she would be a good candidate, it sounds good to me."

While speaking, the bluenette had completely missed the tug on his line. As he looked back and reeled it in, his hook was empty, "...and that's what I get for not watching my line. At least it's not a soggy boot."

The bluenette gave a small smile, as the trio seemed to understand his sentiments. The three were ready to start, but it made sense to get at least one more person as one of the pillars of this new guild, Jacob's Ladder. "I've still got some questions to answer myself before I decide to help lead a guild again, especially with how Spectrum ended. Maybe I too was a bit too blind to the lofty ideals I wanted to try and embody in it. Before it was just an unofficial bond that Oikawa, Teayre, and I started, with others eventually also joining along the way..."

Casting his line out once again, it seemed to hit a stride, as he reeled in yet another similar sized fish from his previous catch, eggs in tow. "Hm...well does anyone have an idea for a fourth then? Bal, of the current players, are there anyone you can think of that might be a good match, maybe one of your other students?"

"It would be difficult to consider someone that we don't know fairly well, especially if we don't have a good judge of their character, especially for something as important as a head of the guild."

Setting his fishing pole down for a moment, Calrex gave his arms a stretch, more out of habit than a necessity as he probably would have in the real world. Picking up the pole again he prepared to send out his line once again.

With another light tug on his hook, Calrex pulled in yet another decent-sized fish, along with a clutch of eggs to add to his collection, "Still not quite where I need to be, but I guess I'm in no real rush at the moment to upgrade my equipment, at unless some new tier is unlocked anytime soon."

Listening to the shift in the talk, it seemed his question was the one that lightly pushed everyone towards the necessary question to be asked. Oikawa and Baldur were the ones to put it plainly, was this guild something they were willing to dedicate time to. It certainly wasn't the first time he was a part of a guild founded on lofty ideas, in fact to some level if he was honest with himself Spectrum in it's official guild form was to that effect.

"You wouldn't be wrong Baldur, for the most part the only place I'll regularly show up to would be the floor raids. Even seeing me here is a very rare occasion. You all should go get a lottery ticket after this with that kind of luck, heh. That being said..."

"It's really something I need to figure out. After Spectrum's disbandment, I never really thought I'd join or help found another one. I was content with being a solo player again, merely going to the raids and doing my part. Guess for a character of the level and skills that I am now, that's probably the equivalent of a participation trophy. I could probably be doing more, like I did before back when I was making my way up. But am I ready to do that again?"

"...it's probably a bigger question than just yes or no. We've all been through a lot to get to this point, and it's going to take more to see us to the final floor. This guild would be no different, and while it would take courage to show up, it'll take strength of will to keep it alive. I would be lying if I said that I could be one of these four 'pillars', at least the way I am now.

There were a lot of thoughts being passed around, ones with the best of intentions for the players. Baldur was correct, in that all of them were in agreement of what needed to be done and what they wanted to do. With another piece of bait on his line Calrex made another cast, watching the hook sail through the air until softly landing on the surface of the water.

"You wouldn't be wrong on that point Oikawa. Zel's death also included the loss of the Dual Blades unique skill, so a large contributor of damage from back in those days is gone. There was that one player...Death Adder I think his name was...that turned up a while back with it, but there's been no sign of him for quite some time."

"I do recall his weapons breaking in the last boss raid he participated in, so I wonder if he's even still alive..."

As his line got pulled beneath the water's surface the bluenette quickly pulled, repeating the motions of so many casts before. Within a few minutes another fish appeared dangling from his line, with another cache of eggs in tow.

"All the things you've suggested sound good Baldur, and none of the things sound too daunting to pull off. The main thing is that they are all things we can, and maybe should, do down the line. None of it is going to come 'out of box', rather things to accrue and develop afterwards."

Placing another bait on the line, he gave a small exhale, "The thing to ask now for this 'hypothetical' guild is, what's the first step?"

Listening as the others spoke, Calrex tossed his line out into the waters once again, "Let's see what I fish up this time..."

The talk was mostly surrounding the frontliner guilds, and what bad taste was left in the mouths of the other players when it came to a guild of top level frontliners. The Azure Brigade before its dissolution definitely made that clear. He himself had been a part of the Brigade early on, when he and Teayre were invited to join it by Ariel. Back then he was nowhere near the higher levels at the time.

"If you want to form some kind of mission statement, it'll have to be more than 'clearing the floor bosses and getting everyone out of here.' Pretty much every guild under the sun has used that line that it's pretty much a given at this point. Unfortunately, from what I've found, any organization that has a bunch of big names in it is going to ruffle someone's feathers. Some people just don't like a bunch of strong players to regularly work together, but those people probably have other issues they're projecting."

Feeling a tug on the line, the bluenette gave a calming exhale, closing his eyes for a brief moment, letting the tension grow more and more, until he found a good point, pulling backwards. Almost immediately the fish broke the water's surface, landing on his lap, "From what I've seen in the past, if you need to play nice in such a way, the main problem to avoid is coming off as trying to hoard the floor raid rewards. The most vocal of the dissenters usually are griping about that if anything."

After wiping his face of the water left on it by the previous fish slamming into his face, the bluenette cast his line back out. With only a minute or two passing by, suddenly the line began to pull hard, "Geezes, what did I hook this time?"

Tightening his grip on the fishing pole he began to pull, reeling in every time he felt a bit of slack on the line. Whatever he had hooked was really fighting, and it had the strength to be able to do so, "Come on...come on..."

A large shadow slowly became clearer and clearer on the water's surface as the line kept getting closer and closer. Eventually with a big splash a massive fish breached the surface, dangling on Calrex's line before turning into materials and another cache of chocolate eggs, "Another big one, not too bad I guess."

"Not going to lie, with the past few times I've been to the frontlines I didn't recognize pretty much any of the guilds in attendance. I've heard the names every once and a while, but none of them have really reached such a prominent level as they were back in the like the Azure Brigade and Square One."

His hands tightened into fists as Calrex kept on alert. Normally he'd be relaxed, his high stats usually would serve as enough of a buffer against potential surprises. But with his equipment locked and the game's menu inaccessible, he was concerned, "Is this some kind of special event, or maybe some kind of bugged area.?The locked door could be some kind of scripted thing, but lacking of any form of game menu seems unusual..."

"I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone else here. There's the chance the front door isn't the only way into this place. A hotel normally would have more than one access point outside."

Looking over, the bluenette noticed Lessa had already begun moving down a hallway, motioning over at Cordelia and Tower, "We'd better get a move on. Not going to gain anything standing around here I guess."

Walking over to where the blonde was standing the Ultramarine Knight looked up, "Not sure. If SAO is replicating things from real life, we ought to sense something else, like the smell of food for a restaurant, or minerals and moisture in the air for a spa. I'm not getting either of those."

"As long as the chain of events don't occur like they did with the Leviathan fight, then hopefully I should be alright. Achilles and my Battle Healing seemed to do well with keeping me alive back then, but the main issue for me was the inability to do anything other than wait to break free. That boss was basically the embodiment of Mack's paralock strategy, except it actually worked. I made an order to get a hold of a stock of antidote salves, but I'm not sure if that's going to be fulfilled in time. Outside of that, I've still got safeguards I can keep on hand for worst case scenarios."

His line quickly sank beneath the surface as Calrex felt the pull on his line. The tension was still fairly weak compared to some of the larger pulls he had earlier, but it was definitely something that was locked on the line and trying to get away. As it got closer suddenly the fish broke the surface in a desperate attempt to break free. The creature now lacking any way of fighting back, the bluenette pulled with all his strength.

However, it was a bit overkill, as the fish actually went a high speed through the air, and connected with his face. Water tension kept it attached to his head for a moment before sliding off to the ground, an unamused expression being revealed on the Ultramarine Knight's face, "In any case, I'll add to that if someone has issue with your presence Oikawa, there'll be more people having issue with that person. The frontline is lacking in many aspects, so they need competent and cooperative participants, any form of personal matters or pride aside."

"Of course, that's the same thing we've been saying for how many floor raids now..."

As he cast his line out again Calrex hoped he'd get another lucky pull and get a good clutch of eggs, letting the hook disappear beneath the surface for some time. After waiting a few minutes for any resistance he gave a small sigh and began to reel it back in. While the hook was en route there was a sudden tug, which in the end turned out to be another smaller fish. Attached was another two eggs for him to add to the total. "If the alchemists are able to crank out that amount of quick group healing items before the boss fight happens, I'm all for everyone keeping a good amount on hand. The amount a single use is barely anything at best, but if we get a full player rotation of healing that might be able to offset the loss to some level."

Resetting his line the bluenette cast it back out, "With the way things have been going, I think we all agree you're presence would be more than appreciated. I think the frontlines have lost a lot of the cohesion and synergy that we had back during the floor raid streak, and adding to that the higher difficulty of the bosses makes the need for experienced players is even higher."

Editing

"Heh, switching out Howl might not be a bad idea. I've definitely entertained the thought, and it does appear to synergize more what I'm trying to accomplish with my skills, but I'll leave the theory-building to some other time. However, it does seem that the concept of tanking may be less and less useful with each floor boss, given how many of them seem to have attacks that attack the whole party. There are some that appear to distribute the damage across those with more aggro, but if the last boss was any indicator, that might not happen."

Casting his line out again, Calrex didn't get a moment to prepare as suddenly he felt a strong pull on the line that nearly jerked him out of his seat, "Well this might be a big one!"

Tensing his core, he began to pull and reel in alternating rhythms, seeing the line drawing closer and closer with each rotation. There was no loss of tension on the line as whatever he snagged continued to struggle, its looming shadow beneath the water growing larger and larger. With one final heave a fish the length of his arm broke the surface, now dangling from his line. As he unhooked it a cluster of eggs fell from the creature, "Best catch so far."

"I heard that the labyrinth for the next boss was found, so most likely there will be some form of planning meeting soon...hopefully."

As he was busy casting his line once again, Calrex felt something slam into his side, looking down to recognize the familiar snow leopard cub that he had not seen in quite some time, "King?"

In tandem with him recognizing the familiar feline the bluenette heard a familiar voice calling out to both him and Shield. Looking over his eyes fell upon the somewhat familiar appearance of Oikawa. The former blonde, light skinned young man was now dark skinned with black hair, but his demeanor hadn't changed from what he remembered, "I think Shield is the more familiar one with this place than I am. Good to see you Oikawa, looks like your appearance got an update again, heh."

While Roc quickly descended down to reacquaint with King, Calrex retrieved the pole he had dropped. As he lifted it up, to his surprised he felt tension on the line, "Huh...did I get something?"

Reeling in the line, it turned out his cast had somehow latched onto a duo of chocolate eggs floating in the pond, "Well I guess that works out."

Looking over at Shield as the brown-haired man spoke the Ultramarine Knight gave a nod, "Honestly, I can't really say much. With the Leviathan battle, it looks like my unique skill got updated right before...well...I guess the more accurate thing to state would be it got nerfed again. Worst timing as well, as the serpent had a freezing attack that I think kept me frozen for at least 75% of the battle. After that, I haven't really been around, so I'm not familiar with any comings or going with the players. If anyone it would be..."

Looking over as he heard a splash in the lake, Calrex spotted another frontline player, and his mentor of the samurai arts, Baldur, "Geeze this is one big reunion going on isn't it? Speaking of which, I would think this man would be the most up to date with what's going on than anyone."

Tracking:

"Oh no, please don't tell me SAO is secretly also a looter style video game. That would be more likely to break my brain than actually being trapped in here, heh."

As he cast his line back out again, the bluenette took a look around, trying to make sure his line landed in a fairly deep blue spot, indicating the chance of it being a deeper section of the lake. This time it took a while before he decided to reel it back in, but to his surprise as he began to start, suddenly there was resistance on the line. A light amount, but resistance nonetheless, "Oh please don't tell me I just snagged a boot. Who would even toss one in here?"

Pulling the line all the way back, to his relief it wasn't a boot. In fact it was a cluster of four eggs, all wrapped together. Apparently his hook has caught the cluster while it was being retrieved. "By the way, how have things been with you? Been a while since I last saw you around the floors, although I guess going with the amount of time I actually spend wandering around that's now really saying much."

Tracking:

"Oh man, boots were around 70% of what I fished up back in the day. It definitely was not a fun time. At that point I think even Roc was getting bored with watching me fish up the same thing."

Watching as Shield's cast easily caught a fish, the bluenette felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head, "You sure you're not some kind of fish whisperer or something? These little guys are not even trying to get away."

Throwing his own line back out, Calrex watched as the line sat on the surface of the water for a moment, before suddenly he felt the familiar tug of the line. Beginning to reel he felt no resistance, almost expecting it to be empty. But as it got closer a shadow was surrounding the line, until a caught fish appeared from beneath the surface, "Geeze, this is much easier than fishing at the beach, oddly enough."

"Yeah, not bad at all. You're not wrong about fisherman as a profession either. I think I was one of maybe two or three people that took the profession, meanwhile you could probably cast a stone and have it land within the proximity of any other job's storefront. I kind of forgot I even took it for a while."

Putting the items he had gotten from his last cast away Calrex tossed his line out into the water again. After a few rotations of the wheel his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity for a moment. He had caught something, but it felt even more resistant than the fish, "Okay what in the world..."

Reeling in whatever he had caught put a lot of tension on the line, so much that at times he was worried it was going to break. As a dark shadow raised up from the surface the bluenette continued pulling, until his catch rolled over onto dry land. Originally he thought it to be a treasure chest, but in fact it turned out to be a particularly large fish, with two chocolate eggs attached.

Tracking:

At the sound of footsteps casually coming down the path, the bluenette stood up from his find, checking to see who it could have been. Many potential things flashed through for a moment: Another player, an orange player, a monster prowling, etc. However, none of them would have had him expect a player he hadn't seen in such a long time. One of the other tank players of the frontlines was present before him. "Well, he's more of a tank than me. I think if Shield was around when Tristan retired, he probably would have picked him instead of me to receive Achilles, at least back when unique skills were apparently tradeable."

The bluenette listened to the pause in the man's reply, giving a calm smile. But recognizing his helm was not really allowing any expressions to show through, he instinctively reached up to grasp both sides of the helmet. "Wait a sec..."

The helmet, even though it fit close to his head, was actually loose enough to detach. Completing the motion Calrex's face was revealed beneath the helm, "Not going to lie, I didn't realize I could just take the helmet off all this time rather than changing attire. Good to see you're still around Shield. As for...fishing?"

Following behind Shield, the Ultramarine Knight watched as he reeled in a fish, which strangely enough had the same Easter chocolate eggs inside, "So...they hid them in fish too?"

With a small sigh to himself, being reminded of his even worse luck at fishing, he swiped and produced his old fishing pole, casting it into the lake, "Been a while since I've done this. Not sure if you knew, but my actual profession in SAO was fisherman back in the day. But my luck was kind of..."

Before he could complete his sentence Calrex felt a tug on his line, quickly pulling back and reeling it in. There was definitely a struggle in hauling whatever he caught in, and with one last heave he managed to pull the fish in. As he lifted if off the line, a quick shake caused it to drop four eggs, "Huh...maybe my luck at this has gotten a bit better?"

Tracking:

Quest:

Event:

Time seemed to pass him by, as seemingly out of nowhere Calrex heard that there was a new event in celebration of Easter, "Geeze, I wonder how long we've been in here now. So many holidays missed in the real world. I wonder if everyone on the outside has forgotten about the trapped players by now."

He gave a small sigh, steeping out into the multi-colored caverns of the twenty-first floor. His left hand rested in his jacket pocket before a few swipes on on his menu enveloped his avatar in bright light, the bluenette's casually clothed form becoming replaced with the armored exterior of his dark navy blue armor. "So apparently there's eggs scattered all throughout the floors. I would guess a lot of people have probably decided to search in the more well lit floors, but I wonder if anyone's decided to search around ones like this."

A brief flash occurred above as Calrex's familiar, Roc, descended down at swooping speed. The peregrine falcon began to hover overhead, easily being able to navigate the enclosed areas of the floor. The Ultramarine Knight glanced upwards before a small smirk briefly came over his face, "It's been some time since I've done any gathering. Really takes me back to when I called it my 'profession'."

Looking over at a cluster of stones something pulled him in its direction, "Something seems off over there. Maybe..."

Pushing some stones out of the way, a dark brown rounded surface started to become visible. With a few more moments, the armored player came across what appeared to be a trio of chocolate eggs, "Huh, guess this might not be too bad, although recalling my luck with these things, I wouldn't bet on me having an easy time just yet..."

"Come to think of it, wasn't there a quest that takes place on this floor? If I recall it might be useful for potentially speeding up the operation, or at least kill two birds with one stone when it comes to gathering materials."

Stats:

Tracking: