Baldur

While Auron was still stuck in place after executing his own move, Baldur took the moment and plunged his sword into the gladiator champion. Blight exploded from the impact, fire raced from Baldur's sword to engulf the warrior, and the crashing sound of a critical hit stuck the amusingly clad NPC. His quirky appearance didn't save him from Baldur's blade, just like every NPC before him. "And there you have it folks! We have a new champion!" He swung his sword as always, throwing off non-existant blood from his sword. It was dubious if it worked in the real world anyways. The whole ch

While Auron was still down from Baldur's stun, but struggling to stand, Baldur spun, this time summoning another technique. One of his favorites, and the kashira crashed into Auron's chest place, digital cracks appearing over his whole body to show that the <<Shatter>> effect was now on the fighter. Still whirling, Baldur never held still long enough for Auron to get an attack on him. Instead, Baldur followed a basic and often overlooked principle of swordsmanship; he held control of the distance. Footwork had almost become a bit of a meme. Everyone tried to extoll its unsung help

Auron was stilled locked into his post swordart frames, but unlike other games, these were not iFrames. They were definitely vulnerable ones. He slid in the sand of the arena floor and charged Auron from behind, bringing his sword up into the stunning blow, causing him to drop to his knees. Having multiple targets was useful for the distraction and allowing Baldur to slip into the blind spot. So much for this being a challenge. Auron's health bar was no slouch though. Two hits like that and he was barely into the yellow. Still, it meant this fight was not long for this world. "S

Auron the Champion was an impressive looking Gladiator. The artist was definitely going for one of those 'I'm quirky and that's how I've been at the top for so long' rather than a grizzled veteran type. At least it was more visually stimulating to look at. His teenage self would think the man looked cool. Now, Baldur just saw an artistic choice aimed at an age group lower than his own. From the other gates, the three gladiators he had fought with came out to join him, their names showing they were allies this time instead of enemies. "This is it, folks! Four on One against our champion! W

Sitting there in the dark on the stone bench, Baldur let his eyes close for a moment, his bars still hovering there in the dark. He wondered if this was what the situation was like for them, the gladiators of old, but he scoffed at the suggestion. He wasn't risking his life, not *really*. If he died here, he would still really die, but he had *levels* and they did not. He could gauge his situation much more precisely than the fighters of old. If they slipped, they were dead. If Baldur took a hit here, he would heal in a short amount of time. They could die from the infection a month after vict

Before the Gladiator Morbianus could stand, Baldur's follow up strike laid him low. The samurai slipped back into his zanshin stance, ritually ending the combat as he always did, then walked away and let the NPC medics cart the fighter away. This should be it, right? I should now have enough reputation to challenge the champion? Now that the fight was over, he should have a chance to rest and recover his energy as well. "Wow! Would you look at that folks! Unhit, unharmed, and undefeated?! Looks like we might have a challenge for our champion today after all!" Baldur slowly

The moment the sword art timer cleared, Baldur moved with the practiced precision of someone who drilled this every day. He was always ready, always prepared with the next move. Something that only came from relentless drilling, endless practice, not just to execute, but to execute perfectly. Unlike most people trapped in Aincrad, Baldur had trained with the sword he wielded outside of the game. The techniques didn't translate over well, sword arts were superhuman and much more powerful than merely swinging a sword. It was more math here than muscle, but the training translated over perfectly.

Morbianus came charging out of the gate, from a different point that the others had. He never paused for the announcer to shout: "Fight!" but it was all set dressing. A seamlessly integrated cutscene. He had seen the like of it in non-VRMMORPGs before. However, without the perspective shift, it was a little too seamless and Baldur wasn't not shaken. Morbianus crossed the threshold of range that Baldur was acutely aware of. He had spent a lot of years before SAO as a tank, and one of the things you learn to get a feel of is the exact range distance required to draw aggro or activate your abilit

Baldur drove his katana down into Lesbianus, and their HP dropped down to 1 again. He swiped his sword before sheathing it. After this next one, he should be able to fight something challenging. He had heard the champion of the stadium could be quite dangerous, but Baldur wasn't a thrill seeker. Still, fighting something that at least fought back would be nice. It was so rare these days. Thankfully Baldur had his dojo to keep his competitive edge, and teaching was far more satisfying than fighting. "And he wins again! Can anyone stop this player on a rampage!? Our next fighter will have t

Sand and an arc of black and crimson light tore through the ground at Lesbianus, striking the gladiator with enough power and fury to knock him to the ground. Baldur walked slowly over to the stunned form while his sword arts recharged, his energy ticking up slightly. This was draining his batter and his energy proc wasn't going off as much as he would have liked, but it was what it was. "Sorry about this." He apologized to the stunned NPC. He never enjoyed this part of debilitating attacks on humanoid enemies, but at least it was pixels and strings of code instead of flesh and blood. Tha

With the first fight behind him, Baldur would advance to the next round. Once Asparagus had been delivered to the medial ward, the next gate was opened and another, almost exactly the same fight was released. This one with a different name, and that was the only way Baldur could tell them apart. Could you fight other players here? He had never been interested in doing that, but perhaps it would be more interesting than another identical NPC. Here we go. Another one. Baldur still went through the motions. Ritually ending the previous fight with his usual chiburi and noto. Then he

The sword art Baldur released probably would have missed in the hands of anyone else. The Gladiator attempted to dodge immediately, but was not prepared for the speed that Baldur released his sword art and the blow struck him a glancing blow, but since he was caught on a bad foot, it sent him spinning, and unable to counter attack against Baldur. The gaijin samurai gave a slight smirk, seeing everything come together as he had foreseen. It usually did in these fights which was another reason why he tended to avoid things like this. It was too much like shooting fish in a barrel. Once he h

His first opponent was another NPC, so Baldur didn't feel the need to go through any motions. An NPC judge stood up and called out the crowd, going through the forms and functions that Baldur couldn't be bothered to pay attention to. It was set dressing for a fight with an NPC, and it stood between him and his goal. Getting this sword art before they would summon him for the boss fight. "Alright, let's do this." It was more to himself than anyone else. He drew his sword and held it ready. He knew how to edge his bets with swords arts by now. He could stand almost in the position he n

It was time. This quest had been sitting on Baldur's floor for a while, and he had actively avoided it because he was not one for grandstanding. But the boss fight was coming up, and it was a good sword at that he could have need to use. So he stepped out onto the sand of the arena floor and looked around at the crowd. Most were NPCs. Well, he assumed most were NPCs. He didn't tell anyone he was coming here, and he doubted people sat here often waiting to see who would show up for this old quest. He would need to start by earning rep with the coliseum faction. It did bring memories of the

Thank you! Takes: 245883, Perfect T4 Salve, (CD:11+1, LD: 18) [Antibody Amalgam] (Paving the way to 30, Baldur) 245883-1, Perfect T4 Salve, (CD:11+1, LD: 18) [Antibody Amalgam] (Paving the way to 30, Mari) 245883-2, Perfect T4 Salve, (CD:11+1, LD: 18) [Antibody Amalgam]

Baldur quickly raced behind Jomei as the Ginger took down one of Cerberus' massive heads. As soon as the man in green got clear, Baldur spun, slashing the air in each direction, and an arc of light began to fly off, the light of his sword was like a wobbly crescent moon. It didn't fly straight into his enemies, rather it seemed to wobble as if it were drunk, but it made the attack difficult to predict, and each of the cresent moons crashed into a hell hound and one of the heads of cerberus. As it did, black and crimson fire seemed to flare up from the moon, giving a boost of power at the last

Baldur hesitated, looking at where the queen would spawn again given sufficient time, but finally shook his head. "We shouldn't be greedy. If we take too long they might encounter the boss without us. If it were a normal fight in a boss room that's one thing, but this guy is out wandering around. I don't like it." Once again he hesitated. "By the way, be wary of the milestone floors. New tiers, multiples of 25 apparently, and 10s. They always throw something at you. Callisto was pretty par for the course as bosses go, in spite of what happened anyways, but this one might be tric

When Baldur saw the conditions for his powerful sword art being unlocked, a slight smile tugged at his lips. It had looked like it was going to be a slog, but this changed everything. He sheathed his blade, and took a step back in the required premotion to summon this sword art. Power swirled around him, but he held it in check. He had to time this right so that he didn't waste this shot. The rocks and debris of the ground began to swirl around him as the system seemed to thrum with the expectation of released mimicked by the cursed blade at his hip. Teayre had often spoken of how th

Baldur slowly made his way, careful with his footing, up to the edge of the land to where @Wulfrin and @KnightessCiela stood together. He and Wulfrin had spoken not to long ago, and if the man was nervous, he could only imagine how Ciela would feel in her first raid, as a tank no less. It was so long ago now that Baldur couldn't remember how he felt. He remembered the grief of Azide dying at the end of the raid, but it overshadowed how he felt leading into it. "Hey you two." He gave them both a strong, reassuring smile. "I think I preferred the autumn floor. It hope that the next one is m

As they got close to the Queen, Baldur paused for a moment, turning to face Wulfrin and putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm not saying to change your plan, but please remember this. Those of us who have been on the Assault Team for a long time... we all take breaks. We all need it. There are always people we can pull out of the back benches to fill in a spot or two. I myself was one. You guys were short a spot, so Jomei called me up to help fill in. It's something we have to do time to time for our mental health and so that we can fight longer on the Front." With a reassuring

"Thanks again for offering to help me with this." Baldur nodded to Wulfrin as they headed out to the, at this point, very well documented spawn location of the <<The Wasp Queen>>. He had been farming this boss for years, but her stinger was a useful drop, and the floor boss raid would be coming up soon. He had learned first hand from the last fight just how useful all these field boss drops were if you farmed them. Being prepared was his modus operandi after all. "How are you feeling? I know the last fight was a little... emotionally charge, you ready to get back on the horse?

Baldur looked to Hirru. The wounds over Hestia still hurt him. She had been one of only four people he had told his real name to... well, one of three living players he had told his name to. He and Hestia had been thick as thieves, but her inability to see from someone else's point of view had caused tons of problems for the raid on floor 26. The raid that Baldur had sat out as well. It was then that he had seen the fractures in the Assault Team over old guard vs new. He was pleased to see that those cracks were all but gone now. "It's not that I want you to keep the number of people who

Baldur could see the gears turning in Jomei's mind as he struggled to process the situation that Hirru was in. "Were you at the Dark Elf Council fight Jomei? I can't remember. Regardless, we were all angry at Hirru for his actions, but given this information, I think you can agree that his actions make sense. Hell, I can only hope I have that kinda bravery were the situation real like Hirru thought at the time." Baldur paused his thought we he saw an opening. The beast was about to go for Jomei again. He sheathed his katana once more, and then took the stance for his most powerful s

[Spectral Knight Kill] [EV-PP-F29] <<Fatal Error>> If not to-knight, then when?

"Good work everyone, let's head back to the base camp at Hirru's wagon and see if any more of these things have been sighted. Hopefully someone there has an idea if the end is in sight. We need to figure out what's going to trigger the boss fight before one of these slips through to the lower floors and starts duping itself for real." With an almost ceremonial slash of his sword, Baldur sheathed the blade at his hip once more, the water flying form the tip of his blade in lieu of blood. There was no blood here, but the rain off the blade made it feel more real. The explosion of pixels was