Baldur

<<Kaajh'Kaalbh - Mother of Smiles>>

"Welcome back, my dear..." The Mother of Smiles says as Morningstar returns to the fight, but before she can embrace him with a loving smile and hug, the player lands his stunning attack with an explosive sword art. It is then, he notices, that her smile disappears. Did she have more of them before?

Then Crozeph came in, playing racquetball with a hex, and while it was effective against the faceless Mother of Smiles, as his attack pushed her health bar down into the second, a shiver ran through her stunned form and her face was once again covered in smiles. Three of them to be exact. The players couldn't see, but perhaps could remember, each time they had hit her and it had dealt no damage, one of her smiles disappeared, the final one when she was stunned.

[Stunned]

<<Y'ha-nthlei - Father of the Deep>>

As Freyd pulled at the shadows of the horde and the Champions, the Father of the Deep turned its sickly yellow eyes at the man and they flashed brighter, then dimmed.

"N̶̡̧̧͉͇͖͍͇̣͍̮̹͕̬̱͆͐̓̂̆̓̃̓̉̆̆̍̚͠͝͝o̵̧̨̟̝̬̪̣͎͙̗̙͎͍̤͎͑̾̎̿͗͑̌̇̇͊̆̕" The father said, and the shadows snapped back, as if severed and whipped at Freyd like a rubber band pulled too far. "T̴̥̝̐͋͂h̵̢͓̫͔̫̭̩̼̞̺̥͋̉̃͋̌̋͂̌̈̋͑͒͂ë̴̡̳̭͈͈̳̝̯̮̻̩͚͚͇̖́̌̀̓̚͜y̶̥̖̯̞̦͖̬͉͚̐͒̅͆̍͠ͅ ̷̨̠͖̣̪̼͉͙̜̥̮̪̎̈́̅͛̆̎̑̕ͅà̵͚̻̠͈͓̐̿̈́̃̊̕͜͝ͅr̸̢̂̽̋̒̆̏̾̎̇̆e̷̡̥̗̹̩̬͓̬̓̃͐͜ ̶͎͎͓͕̜̠̱́̈́͂̅́̈́͐̎̓n̶̡͔͉̠̖̘͚̦̳̤̘̹̔̇́̈͑̓̔̅̔̃͊̎ͅo̸̰̫͎̱̊̈́̑͒̽̓͝͠t̶̡̢͍̹̺̠̝͓͍̫̲͉̥͔̪̃́̉͗̀͆ͅ ̵̨̢̺̲͙̎̀͆̾̀̋̎̒͊̈́̍̆͑̂͗̕y̶̧̲̼̼̹͚͈̦̖̙̽́̈́̈́͋́͐̈́̑̑̓̿͂́͘͘͜o̸̡̼̫̮͕̟̲͙̫̺̤̳̯̘͆͊̂͐̈̈̐ͅů̶̧͍͎̦̜̬̲̺̼̮̙͚͖̭̬͂̂̾̐̏͐̀̂̿̽̂̑͘̕͝r̷̻̖̦͕̩̟̤͇̩̩͌͘s̷̜̳̜͈͖͚̩̪̝̃͝ ̷̫͑͑̀t̶̢̡̛̞͙̻́́͗̋̓̔̀̇͊͝ͅǫ̷̡̨̖̝͍͎͓̜͚͍̟̗͍͇͗͑̾̐̾͐͋͒ ̴̢̲̲̳͔͈̀̅̈́͐̕͜c̸͇̯̠̬͖͓̞̤͚̦̤͍̒̈̓͐̉̽o̷̡͖̮͖̲̣̜̗̯̮̜̯͔̬͓̓́̓̎̉̐͗̐͛͂͊̌̌̈́̒͜͝͠m̶̢̤̙̩̦̻̦̖̬̖̗̐̍͜ͅm̴̛̉̀̎̏͛̇̈͊͑̈́͗̇͛̊̚̚͜ą̶̡̜̪̤̥̰̹̳͉̱̜̉̄̉̊̊͐̌̀̐̋̀́͊̐͘͜͝͝ņ̶̖̮̀̎̾̽͛̒̌̔̉ḑ̸͕̖͕̲̭͔̤̞̃̿̈̀̌̇̈̌͛̄ͅ ̸̮͂͋̂͛̚ḩ̵̧͓͎̼̻̪̥̹̤͚̦͆͜͜ę̵̢̪͚͙̯̱̜͇̯̪̳̜̔̆̈́̀͂̂͗͆̓ͅr̸̛̟̰̣͌͐̃͊͑͆̀̈͝͠͝e̵͇̺̞͉͍̰̗̝̮̯̙̣̓̑̋̀́̈́̐̕͘.̸̰̼̹̜̯̻͛́͑̃̊́̾̎̓͒͋̅̆́͘͜͝͠"

In spite of his words, it seemed Freyd managed to capture the attention of the Champion and the whole swarm of froglike minions that made up the wave coming down their path. They swarmed upon the Frontliner like they were legion.

Then as if from nowhere, a purple clad figure struck out at the Father, who blocked the attack with an arm. His katana sunk deep, but did not slice through the froglike creature's limb, instead, frost spread out from him, threatening to slow the fighter down.

As the Father of the Deep came closer, the lights from his eyes seemed to burn with a coldness, the feeling of a freezing wind too long upon uncovered skin. Drying them out, freezing them, and burning them with frostbite. Everyone in the area was effected, except for the Father itself.

ID#240769 MD: 1 (miss) - Blight Aura Applied

<<Shub-Niggurath - The Wanderer>>

The large, flying crustacean like creature crashed to the ground as Ara slices through its wings and brings it down, the carapace crashing almost metallically to the ground. The dozens and dozens of holes open and close rapidly, as if trying to blink or breath.. or perhaps both? angrily at Ara.

As Jomei crashed into it, his sword art hammering the shell with the added power of him leaping off the way, he felt one of the pieces shatter. At the same time, his damage pushed it across the threshold of its first health bar. The entire shell seemed to suddenly become suffused with a rainbow of colors, like light reflecting on an oil slick. Charing the creature up.

[Stunned]

<<Hokolesqua - The Beast>>

The misshapen, inhuman form of The Beast made no sound as the phoenix lashed out at its "eyes" but the more it attacked, the more seemed to appear. It became more and more clear, The Beast was not a single creature, but somehow a swarm of smaller creatures acting like a singular being.

The sudden appearance of the samurai woman caused its many eyes to blink in unison. Her sword art tore a chunk of the The Beast and caused it to fly away, before they shattered into the luminous shards players were used to seeing when a creature was defeated.

The creature turned to them and lashed out, the arms reaching for the two frontliners, as the limbs crashed down where they had been standing only a moment ago, the wiggling, crawling pieces of the swarm just enveloped the space. It didn't crush or slash, it subsumed whatever it targeted with thousands of creepy, crawling little things. As it moved, the spots where its feet had trod seemed blighted, dirty, covered in some kind of fetid goo.

ID#240770 MD: 2
ID#240771 MD: 4

The ebb and flow of battle surged across the field, players crying out for any of two dozen different floors and the flashes of light sparking across as if in waves as new players crossed the invisible line marking them close enough to the plaza for command works to work. The hordes of monsters that accompanied each of the champions surged towards the crowd of unprepared players, though several rose to the challenge and fought back, slowing the weaker minions and allowing others to escape.

75/75 Players remaining!
0 Players lost
1/3 Waves survived.

MATH!

<<Kaajh'Kaalbh - Mother of Smiles>> 424/1200 HP | No MIT | 3 EVA | 3 ACC | 200 DMG | Immune to Bleed and Burn Effects | +10 LD for searching | 64 Freeze on hit (EVA set to -1, Paralyzed) - but without ice, just a creepy, unhinged, crazy smile and a moment of mental torment | Stun Immune (0/3) | COWL OF MADNESS [2/2]- Gains 2 charges of Safeguard, must deal at least 100 damage to break through
<H>[1]<<Morningstar>> HP: 966/966 | EN: 100/100 | DMG: 27 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 5 | BH: 43 | LD: 6 | REC: 8 | FLN: 16 | AA | PARA-V
<H>[0]<<Hirru>> HP: 980/980 | EN: 95/110 | DMG: 1 | MIT: 127 | BH: 49 | HLY BLS: 39 | MENDING: 2 | REC: 8 | THRNS: 36
[1]<H><<Crozeph>> HP: 840/840 | EN: 94/102 | DMG: 22 | MIT:44 | ACC:4 | AA | PHASE | EVA:2 | PARA-IM | BH:46 | REC: 1 | RISK: 8 | FLN: 16 | LD:1
 

<<Y'ha-nthlei - Father of the Deep>> 936/1200 HP | No MIT | 2 EVA | 3 ACC | 200 DMG | Immune to Freeze and Shatter Effects | On hit decrease target EVA by 2 for 2 rounds | Continual 50 Blight damage -20 Mitigation Aura
<L>[0]<<Lessa>> HP: 910/960 | EN: 128/128 | DMG: 13 | MIT:127 107 | THORNS:72 | BH:29 | HB: 38 | MENDING: 2 | REC: 8 | HLY: 8
[2]<<Ryo>> HP: 630/680 | EN: 90/100 | DMG: 21 | MIT:75 55 | ACC:3 | BH:22 | REC: 3 | LD:2 
<H>[4]<<Freyd>> HP: 1250/1300 | EN: 160/162 | DMG: 24 | MIT:197 177 | ACC: 8 (incl. AA)  | TAUNT | F-SPIRIT | EVA:4 | DOTE: 1/1 | BH:72 | VAMP-D: 72 | VAMP-O: 143 | PARA-V | LD:5

<<Shub-Niggurath - The Wanderer>> 544/1200 HP | 50 MIT | -1 EVA | 2 ACC | 200 DMG | 75 Thorns | 50% Phase | 50 Offensive Envenom (4 turns) | Stun Immune (0/3) | REFLECTION - Any status effects or DoTs applied, are applied to the Player who applied them as well. 50% of Damage dealt is reflected back to the player (can be mitigated)
[1]<<Arabelle>>  HP: 605/680 | EN: 75/106 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 20 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | FLN: 8 (6-8) | BLI: 32 (9-10); -20 MIT / 2 | BLD: 48 (9-10) | RSK: 8 | BH: 34 | VD: 10% | HB: 27 | LD: 5 | [RSK]
[3]<<Jomei>> HP: 885/960 | EN: 122/134 | DMG: 21 | MIT: 44 | ACC:3 | TAUNT | F-SPIRIT | EVA:4 | BH:53 | HB: 42 | VAMP-D: 106 | BLI: 32/-20  | LD:1  | Clean (1/2) | COUNTER 25%

<<Hokolesqua - The Beast>> 827/1200 HP | No MIT | 2 EVA | 0 ACC | 200 DMG | 50 Bleed (2 turns) | Attack with Advantage | All attacks are AoE | Cannot be parried/countered | Rend 28 (1/2)
<L>[1]<<Wulfrin>> HP: 780/780 | EN: 112/112 | DMG: 21 | MIT:78 | ACC:7 | AA  | EVA:3 | PARA-IM | BH:23 | REC: 8 | FRB: 40 | FRZ: 64 | LD:4
<L>[1]<<Katoka>> HP: 820/820 | EN: 105/116 | DMG: 23 | MIT:78 | ACC:5 | EVA:1 | BH:45 | REC: 8 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16

Baldur listened carefully to Acanthus' story and was pleased that she was so willing to open up to him. It felt good to have someone to talk to, both for him and he hoped for her as well. People needed someone to talk to, and a space they felt safe doing so. She had come to the frontline later than some, but there were always new people joining the fight.

"I think most people would call me a veteran, but my first involvement in a boss fight was the floor 9 boss... and I didn't even fight it. That's the one where Alkor kinda but not really died. People were going to go into that fight without any buffs or healing items. Back then, we were too low level to even really have sword arts. So I quickly became a Merchant so I could sell the raid teleport crystals, healing potions, and over-health potions. I was ready to fight in the floor 10 boss fight, but guild politics got involved. People fighting about who got to be in charge, and whose... sword... was bigger." He shook his head in disgust. He had chosen between two guilds, and he went with the Azure Brigade because he wanted to fight on the Frontline, but then they pulled a pissing contest with the person who found the boss room location.

"My first time fighting on the assault team ended up being the floor 14 boss... the fight where another player died. The common sentiment was to blame the same guild. They were cavalierly pushing the floors, people just showed up for the loot, unprepared, because the fights had been easy. No one thought about group compositions, because they didn't expect the boss to live through the A team long enough to be a problem. The boss fight made it everyone's problem."

The gaijin samurai swallowed hard, and then picked up his own cup of hiding his expression behind the cup as emotions began to well up inside of him. He could still see the feathers, feel the falling. See the crystals showering down. The anger. The rage. The overwhelming sadness.

"I don't think I've been to the most raids, but I might be up there in having lead the most raids. Everyone in my group for Calisto were old hat except for Freyd and Wulfrin. We had all been through this together many times before. Will still almost lost Wulfrin, if Freyd hadn't... done whatever that was, we would have lost him too."

Did we lose him? I saw him die, and then come back. The only person who could do that would be Kayaba himself. Could that really be the case, or did I see things?

"Getting everyone prepared, making sure groups had solid compositions... it was a huge undertaking that took many floors. People almost dying. PvP fights in the boss room a couple of times. My guild commissioned 100 AoE healing crystals in order to supply an entire raid to make sure the minimum work was done. Floor 25's boss fight was probably the first time people really came fully prepared, and even there there are people who come more prepared than others. We all try to bring a little extra to fill in the gaps."

He took another sip of his tea, this time calmer.

"The best advice I can give is more to my fighting style. I prepare for everything. Antidotes, healing, energy recovery. It's better for the fight to last a little longer, but to stay safe, than it is to risk your life for a critical hit. The raid is a team, one person's DPS is unlikely to change the course of a fight so much that it's worth risking lives. Sometimes there is a reason to push, a reason to throw everything at the boss and burn it down, but that's a raid-wide decision to be made by the raid-leader, and not an individual. That's how you effect change in the boss fight, by moving in a way that works together."

He set the glass down and poured some more from the teapot into his cup. Using the moment to recalibrate his thoughts. He was a host here, and he was doing most of the talking. That just wouldn't do.

"Sorry, you get an old man talking and he doesn't leave room for anyone else. You said this was your first boss fight, did you join it alongside someone else you knew? Most people don't seem to join in isolation, someone brings them in. We all join in our own time, and no one that was there for the first couple boss fights is still in it now. We all need to encourage the players that having joined the fight yet, because those of us doing this for a while need breaks from time to time." Or else we die.

When Star brought up Kayaba wanting to experience the game from front row seats, Baldur's mind's eye turned back to Freyd, and seeing him disappear into the boss's embrace, only to reappear somewhere else. Then to watch the man die before he was resurrected right before Baldur's eyes. Perhaps Kayaba was there watching from the front row.

"Ope, let's get to it then."

Baldur put the lid on the bento as the Phoenix grew closer, then slowly put the food back into his inventory and dusted off his haori before resettling it around his shoulders as the Phoenix screeched and moved into a dive attack. Baldur glanced over his shoulder at the bird, and then his form just... flickered, and was gone.

Then the bird came crashing back to the ground, with Baldur's katana sticking out of it as he drove it into the ground, his katana sticking out of it like he had pinned it to the ground.

"I feel like I still need to be able to stretch. I'm so used to being able to one shot these things."

ID#240373 BD:1 +5acc +1AA +1keen +1conc =9 -2 EVA -1 charge = 6 (hit)
Tech-A applies Stun 20+3x16=368 RAW - 50 MIT = 318 DMG

Baldur | HP: 1075/1075 | EN: 93/122 | DMG: 20 | MIT:54 | ACC:5+1[AA]+1[Keen] | AA | KEEN: 1 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:5 | BH:54 | REC: 4 | FLN: 4 | BLI: 16/-10 | BRN: 28 | FRZ: 32 | LD:5 | Charge [0/3]
Morningstar | HP: 850/850 | EN: 80/110 | DMG: 21 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 7 | BH: 47 | LD: 5 | REC: 4 | FLN: 8 | AA | PARA-V
Phoenix | HP: 657/975 | MIT: 50 | DMG: 90 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2 0 [Stunned]

Baldur accepted the tea and sake with genuine appreciation, giving her a slight seated bow as he accepted them from her. He admired each in turn, letting her explain the teas and where they came from, before setting them down on his opposite side.

"Thank you very much! I still appreciate sake, even if I can't get drunk form it. Even in the outside world, getting drunk is not an activity I take part in, though warm sake on a cold winter night... it can be difficult not to get a little tipsy." He gave a slight, embarrassed laugh. "I will be very interested to try this Tomioka tenderleaf. I don't think I've had this one before, but if its your favorite I look forward to it."

As if speaking of the tea remined him, Baldur picked up the tea pot and filled up both of the small ceramic cups and gestured for her, "Please, it is just a simple green tea, but I enjoy it."

When she asked about visitors Baldur had been sipping his tea, but nodded as he swallowed and put down the cup.

"Considering how much of a to-do it is to get here, I do actually get quite a few visitors. Mostly due to the guild hall being here as well. It makes my home feel deceptively large, plus a single story meandering style home. When all your hallways are engawa around a room, or covered walk ways between detached bedrooms, it begins to sprawl."

He glanced out over the pond and the garden, his steel blue eyes going unfocused for a minute.

"It doesn't feel like too long ago I hosted a Valentines Day sword fighting tournament. We had an incredible turnout. Perhaps more than 20 people participated, and as many people came to watch. Almost the entirety of the Frontline assault team was here, and many many people I had never met before. Thankfully the home is large enough, and my dojo can host multiple matches at the same time. Since then, though, it has been much more quiet."

He turned back to look at Acanthus, evaluating her with his sharp, penetrating gaze. He had never been high enough rank to train people outside of Aincrad, but inside Aincrad he had taught  many people, including several frontliners, how to swordfight, both in a way that worked in the outside world, but also here in SAO. This was the measured and exacting gaze he turned on her. He had seen a little of her fighting on the 29th floor, but had not kept enough awareness during the actual boss fight. They had never met before that.

"We didn't really have much of a chance to chat up on the twenty-ninth floor. So tell me, was that your first boss fight, or were you on the 28th as well? It's a big decision, joining your first floor boss raid."

Baldur gave an unusually boisterous laugh considering his normally reserved demeanor when Star mentioned how unpleasant the labyrinth was. He didn't give any details, but it still gave Baldur a flashback.

"You know, when we scouted the labyrinth for the fight against the floor 26 boss, it was in the city sewers." He chuckled some more, catching his breath and then wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye, "We fought a giant sewer rat, a la Master Splinter from the Ninja Turtles."

Baldur took another piece of sushi and popped it into his mouth, letting the last bit of his laughter wash away while Star talked about the field boss and then asked his opinion of floor 29.

"I hate floors like 29. The grimdark, edgy, trying to prove something floors. Whoever designed it probably read too much Steven King and HP Lovecraft as a child. The no safe zones though... that is new, and I don't like new when it effects the underpinnings of how things work. The one thing we can rely on Kayaba for is that he wants this world to feel real. He wants to watch us struggle through his sick little game, but I get a much more of a Deist, clockmaker sort of way. He built this world, and set everything into motion, and is now sitting back on his throne probably at the top of the tower and getting off by watching us jump through his 'cleverly' laid traps."

It was clear the thought of this sickened Baldur and he had nothing but complete contempt for the man.

"Killing us would be easy, but instead he made 100 floors. A marathon, rather than a sprint. He wants us to go through every floor, even if we die on the last one, he wants to see what the ants in his little ant colony will do. So when things change like floor 29 not having a central settlement or even a safe zone, it always makes me wonder. Is this to keep us on our toes, or is this a new trend, cause its gotta be one or the other."

When Kiru asked that he relay to Oikawa that he would benefit from avoiding her, both of Baldur's eyes raised, though only slightly. He wasn't surprised people would ostracize him for being a PKer, but there was something more personal about this Kiru. He only nodded in confirmation of her request. When she relayed that Alkor wanted to meet somewhere else, Baldur nodded. He closed up the bento box of sushi, slowly stood up and shook out his coat, then threw it back around his shoulders. He picked up his katana, but put them back into his inventory, instead of equipping them. It felt a bit odd to not wear them; he always had the katana at his side, but he wanted Kiru to feel less on guard around them, so he put them away.

"Then let us be off." He began to walk towards the field slowly, letting her either lead the way or walk beside him, or perhaps she wanted him to walk in front so she could keep an eye on him. Any option would be fine with him.

"I understand from Lessa that he has changed a bit from the old days. Grown as a person. I didn't really know Alkor before, he died before I joined the Brigade or was active with the Assault team."

He would try to make small talk with Kiru, but thankfully their destination was not terribly far.

Baldur sat, as he often did, on one of the wooden walkways around one of the buildings of his home, his feet dangling over the water of one of the many fishing ponds, with his shakuhachi in hand. Slowly he ran through sequences of notes, trying to internalize them rather than relying on the system to play for him. Soft, melancholy notes drifted out among the gardens and the trees that covered his home. An island that had once been covered with monsters, but which Baldur had tamed and transformed into his sanctuary, the network of buildings that was his home, and the web of buildings that was the guild of <<Jacob's Ladder>> weaving through the landscape as if they had always been there. It was a work of passion that had taken him a very long time to get right.

When he someone make themselves known at the front entrance, Baldur stood up, flute in hand, and wandered over to the front. He slid open the shoji panels and eventually came to the wood gate that lead visitors inside. Opening the door, the tall man greeted Acanthus with a wide and friendly smile. His ever present blue haori hung from his shoulders, and a kimono the color of sunset underneath.

"Acanthus! Welcome to my home. Please, come inside." The gaijin samurai stepped aside, leaving the gate wide open for her to enter. Behind him, though no one was visible, was the sounds from the guild and the others who lived in his house. Hirru in the basement of the dojo, often seen fishing in the many ponds of Baldur's estate. The reclusive Calrex and his wife Teayre who rarely showed themselves in public. The guild was a constant hub of activity. But here in the main section of the house, it was peaceful and quiet. The noise and business of the world was not there. The background music was subtle and unobtrusive, being very atmosperic to the peace and solitude of his home.

"I'm glad you decided to come and visit. I'm a bit ashamed I never took the time to meet all my neighbors."

He led her down the wooden engawa and over to one of the tatami mat rooms where the panels were all opened up and allowed warm sunlight to filter through the trees and into the room. The pond and garden manicured specifically to be viewed and appreciated from this room, with the subtle thunk of a shishi-odoshi fountain and the babbling of water down small stones and into the pond. A pair of embroidered red cushions sat on the floor where Baldur had just been, with a tea pot and a pair of cups.

"Please, have a seat."

The figure with the black crystal seemed to smile, though its face was not visible. Another flash of red lightning revealed a face wearing a mask hidden deep in the cowl of its hood.

Ẉ̷͖͙̻͋̊̌̊̐̏̕e̵̡̡̨̛̟̫̲̜͖̖̲̙̺͖̩͔̯̣̎̋̏̃̓͝ĺ̵̻̼͉̯̱͇͔͓̙̞̲͉̼̳̟̭͓̗̠̪̏̿̓͒͌̈́̃̆̔̐͘͘͜͠͝͠c̷̲̀̀o̵̧̯̞̮̖̮̤̳̜̐̾̃͊͐́̌̅́̎̌͗͐̈́̿̀͠ͅm̵̜̹̥̟̳̬̟̔̾͛̀ể̵̛̳͖̖̭͓̰̭̭͇̟̠̜̳͎̅̋͆̍̒̆̒̈́͂̏͗̄̓̓͝͝ͅ ̸̫̜̐̇̍͌̍͗̾̊̓̾t̸̡̡̻̺̣̞̬̤̱͚͓̜͓̞̼̜̭̗̗͇̔̾͌̆͋ͅő̶̱͕͕̰̹̹̖̟̺̟̩̠̣̻̍̅̓̋̎͑͜͝ ̸͙̆́͂̍̐̂̽̉̀̇̀̽̕m̷̢̟͈̤̫̑͑̑͋̾͊̃̿͛͂̈̽̋̉̀͜y̷͚͍̬͆̃̅͊̿̿̓̕ ̴̘͆̕h̸̛̰͓̞̻̦͖̽͛͋͐̋̒̈͆̃̂̓͒̅̿̀͛͛̎͠͝o̷̡̡̨̳̲̩͎̯̟̹̙̯͎͕͍̳̦̼̮̓͠m̶̘̟̹̺̫̹̌̀e̷̡̨͔̙̲̻͙̖̬̠͙͕̜̦͓̻̤͋́̏

The words didn't seem to be spoken in the usual way, yet they reverberated with every player, regardless of where they were. It was as if the figure was next to everyone, speaking directly to them. Then the figure raised up its hand high, light flashing red in the eye holes of the mask, and it slowly brought its hand down.

And as it did, a massive form lurched out of the clouds above, the giant form of the monster seen towering off in the distance suddenly much closer than it had been. Still in the water, but its size was great enough that it...

That it could reach the square.

A giant, open hand came down from the clouds and turned into a fist, crushing a building in the square closest to the water. The sounds was louder than any of the thunder had been. Debris flew everywhere, as the ground itself shook from the blow. As the fog and the giant form began to recede, the figure with the black crystal was gone.

But the threat was not passed. More monsters could be heard in the distance, shambling down streets that were no so full of fog, nothing beyond the square could be seen. Down each of the four directions that the Frontliners had been sent, a new pack of creatures emerged, each led by a champion of their kind. Each with a deep red crystal that showed they were no mere monster.

<<Kaajh'Kaalbh - The Mother of Smiles>> continued to chase after @Crozeph, though after he managed to hit her, her two health bars flickered to life above her head.

Down another path leading directly to the waterfront a pair of sickly yellow lights appear to meander from the fog several feet in the air, and then the form of <<Y'ha-nthlei - Father of the Deep>>  a large, frog-like man with a deep cloak of seaweed and a pair of luminescent fin rays coming off the top of his head - the source of the yellow lights. His twin health bars ominous to anyone who chooses to engage.

A buzzing sounds comes from the opposite path, and a form hovering about the ground with wings that do little to disturb the fog floats towards the players gathered in the square. It has no face, merely a head full of holes like some twisted trypophobia made flesh, and a large, segmented and crustacean body. It's two large lobster claws clacking as it moves closer. <<Shub-Niggurath - The Wanderer>> was there.

Down the last road came <<Hokolesqua - The Beast>>, a completely inhuman form for one who "walked" upright. Each of its four limbs had multiple joints, but none of them seemed to bend the way they were supposed to. Instead of a face, tentacles hung down, bloody and read towards the ground. It's grey, slimy skin seems to be covered with tiny eyes, blinking in waves as is surveys the crowd. A moment later, it could be seen they weren't eyes, but instead hundreds of thousands of worms, and bugs, and things that slither and bite.

"Shit." Baldur curses as the scene continues to develop into a cluster-[censored] around them. The people who weren't supposed to be there started to scream and panic, pushing and shoving their way back to the teleport gate, but now there were too many of them. It was clear that almost none of them came prepared, as he saw only a handful use teleport crystals when they couldn't get to the gate fast enough.

"We need to hold them off until everyone gets out!" Baldur tried to shout over the cries of panic and the sound of monsters and fleeing. While the champions were all eye catching and notable, many other smaller, trash mobs still flooded out of the fog. Perhaps not dangerous to the frontline, they were still dangerous to the tourists.

"Make a perimeter, but keep the big ones away from the square!"

Where the giant hand crushed a building, dozens of tentacled monsters leapt from its wrist and rushed the crowd. A small group of players who had come seemingly prepared engaged them and seemed to be holding the line.

100/100 Players Remaining on Floor
0/3 Rounds until Evacuation
@Lessa @Freyd @Hirru @Morningstar @Arabelle @Acanthus @Jomei @tricolor_mina @Wulfrin @Katoka

((There are 3 rounds until all the peasants teleport out using the gate. Any of the champion mobs that are not engaged by at least 2 players will start killing NPC players on their action.

Note, attack effects listed occur on every successful attack, not roll based. The spoilers contain important combat mechanics. Each of these champions is accompanied by trash mobs that you can RP fighting without rolling if you wish. The champions are not close enough to each other to be targetable by AoE attacks. I will roll for all of the monsters at the end of the first round, and I'll do Baldur's action at the same time. Right now he's trying to direct traffic.))

<<Kaajh'Kaalbh - Mother of Smiles>> 1200/1200 HP | No MIT | 3 EVA | 3 ACC | 200 DMG

<<Y'ha-nthlei - Father of the Deep>> 1200/1200 HP | No MIT | 2 EVA | 3 ACC | 200 DMG 

<<Shub-Niggurath - The Wanderer>> 1200/1200 HP | 50 MIT | -1 EVA | 2 ACC | 200 DMG
 

<<Hokolesqua - The Beast>> 1200/1200 HP | No MIT | 2 EVA | 0 ACC | 200 DMG

"Thanks Hirru, It feels good to be back out as well... though maybe not on this floor specifically."

The gaijin samurai smiled at his old friend and gave him a slight bow of respect and welcome when the Jade Hunter appeared in the town square. A short moment later and the Emerald Duelist appeared. Baldur had surrounded himself with green today, it seems.

"Thanks for coming too Jomei. I've recently respec'ed. Actually based on the last boss fight. I was unsatisfied with how things were going, and so I'm trying something a little more my style. To that end, I found out there's a technical style sword art that lets you inflict burn whenever you want. That would have been very handy in the last floor boss fight, so I'm going around trying to collect them all."

He gestured with his head and began to lead them in the direction of the quest.

"Apparently if you get Cerberus low, but don't kill him, he'll summon another round of adds. If you do that before you kill him, you get rewarded with this sword art. I figured it might be something you guys were interested in, and I wanted to get you both together to talk about some other things too."

Slowly they struck out from town and headed towards the entrance to the old lava tunnels that had once been part of the fight with the Hydra. Once they were inside, it would get incredibly hot and the hell hounds would start to attack. But with the ground they had, it should be pretty easy to smite them.

"Have you guys fought much together outside of the boss fight? I know Hirru and I go way, way back, but I don't know that I remember questing with you Jomei. Boss fights yes, but other than that?"

Quote

"A bit ago you said you joined the Azure Brigade? I was a member, and pretty close to the leader and everyone in that guild. I think I might want to believe you, but some things aren't adding up with me. Either you're messing with me, or you really don't know who I am"

Baldur quirked an eyebrow at her once again.

"I have no reason to mess with you. Your name sounds familiar, but I don't remember you from my time in the Brigade."

He let out a soft sigh. This conversation was a rollercoaster of emotion. He had hoped that opening up to her would let her open up and work through the emotions that were weighing on her, instead he had opened his wounds anew and she only seemed to feel aggressive and paranoid. He could not entirely blame her, he remembered those days. PKing was much more rampant then, aggression between factions was more common then. There were times when meeting other players outside of a safe zone was always a risk. He also needed to consider while he didn't feel like he needed to be afraid of a random player, that wasn't the case for everyone. Not everyone was in the assault team and faced down their mortality on the regular. She couldn't trust him just because he said he was trustworthy.

"Yes, Oikawa is still technically a member of the guild. He helped found it, and convinced me to be a part of it, but he's... dealing with personal issues and has stepped back from both the assault team and the guild. I haven't seen him in a long time. I send him a message every once in a while to make sure he's still alive, but he doesn't leave his house much right now."

The samurai seemed sad at the mention of one of his close friends in self imposed exile. He had been close to helping Oikawa take ownership of the murder of Zel, even though he had been manipulated by Opal, and she in turn by those in Laughing Coffin, he had worked with him, and Mari as well, to help them see the Frontline as a form of penance and redemption. They had both turned the corner, but had both decided to take a step back, along with Shield, and leave the guild to Baldur alone. It was why he was re-establishing the new pillars of the guild. Together they would get the guild back into the shape and push the mission it was meant to serve. Waking the sleepers... getting all the players out of this prison.

"Look out below!" came the confident voice of a man already in flight.

From the top of towering cliffs that the Queen was in flight from, a rippling blue and white haori could be seen as a man seemed to be falling towards Bastion and the bee Queen. Bits of white flame were embroidered into the cloth, but seemed to burn as if alive as it rippled. Just as the man was getting too close to the ground for comfort, he seemed to spin slightly into the air so his head was no longer pointed towards the ground, and then he seemed to explode in light. The arc of his sword art seemed to cut through the scenery of the imaginary world and reveal a night sky, complete with stars and nebula, and flashed forward towards the queen. The system took over his movement, even though there was no ground the man seemed to leap from the face of the cliff and collide with the Field Boss. Sound exploded from the <<The Wasp Queen>> but was almost immediately cut silent. The wings were no longer a torrent of sound as where she stood was suddenly a giant block of ice with the massive wasp body stuck inside. Incapable of moving in any way.

The man rolled on the ground with the momentum, but easily came to his feet with a practiced grace. His hand was empty, the blade he had used for the attack pierced through the monster, holding it to the ground in the giant ice cube.

"You alright?" The man was dressed like a samurai, though obviously a gaijin. At his side was another katana, his hand resting on it as if prepared for the Queen to move once more. The kimono he wore was the color of the sunset, and around his neck hung a jade magatama, and his long dark hair seemed only slightly ruffled considering the cliff he had just jumped from.

"Don't worry, it's not going anywhere. I just wanted to make sure you were unharmed before I finish it off."

ID#240208 BD:10 (Crit) DMG 14+2 = 16 x 12 Tech A = 192 DMG + Stun + Freeze + Burn 14/2 rounds - 20 MIT -7 Energy (Well Rested 1/2)
<<The Wasp Queen>> HP: 143/315 | MIT: 20 | DMG: 35 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 1  -1 [Frozen] [Stunned] Burn 14 (0/2)
[4 Hate]<<Baldur>> HP: 950/950 | EN: 110/117 | DMG: 14 | MIT:42 | ACC:8 | AA | KEEN: 1 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:3 | BH:48 | REC: 2 | FLN: 2 | BLI: 8/-5 | BRN: 14 | FRZ: 16 | LD:5

Baldur walked up behind Cro with the large black montsuki haori, a symbol of the crow as a mon on both sides of the chest and large on the back and held it so his friend could slip his arms into the sleeves.

"It's crazy, even when you rent kimono in Japan, it takes women three to four times longer to get dressed, then you have all the makeup and hair work that goes into it. If you had to fully dress like you would in the real world, it's only slightly more complicated."

He patted his old friend on the shoulders once the jacket was on. He then walked around to the front and held up a small box, before opening it and displaying the contents to Cro.

"I know you can't take this with you when we get out of here, but I got you something for your wedding day."

He lifted out a string of beads. Baldur had a set as well, it kept either side of his haori from opening up... or would have IRL. In the game it was purely aesthetic. The string of obsidian and onyx boards matched Cro's aesthetic perfectly, but a pink opal was worked into it to represent the splash of color that Yuki brought to his life. It looked like a Yin-Yang in the middle, with Cro's Black Onyx, and Yuki's pink pearl.

"There. Perfect. So are you ready?"

Baldur had expected a reaction of disbelief out of Kiru for telling her that Alkor was alive. It had been his own reaction to finding out as well. He did not expect her to confront him and move her hand towards her hip where her dagger was. His eyes widened at her response, but he made no move to defend himself. Baldur knew they were in a safe zone, and he knew he was powerful enough to be confident in his ability to handle any thread that would come his way. Players just weren't as scary as they once were. He knew how fragile life was in Aincrad, but he also knew how to make the system work as well for him as anyone else.

When she asked if he was here to kill her, or if he had killed Keith, his expression grew confused.

"Why would anyone want to kill you? I know you haven't been to the Monument of Life recently, but neither of their names are crossed out. They're both still alive last I checked, and that was very recently."

His swords were still positioned in such a way that even if he wanted to, he could not grab them and attack her before she would be able to get away. Conversely it meant she would be able to attack him first even had he made a move against her with them.

"It's fine to not believe me. Message Alkor yourself. He knows who I am. And who I am, is perhaps the single person least likely to murder you or anyone in the entire tower. I am the guild leader of Jacob's Ladder. Jomei, Hirru, Zandra, Macradon, Lessa, Crozeph, Alkor, they were all there. Almost the Entire Assault team has fought at my side at one point or another. I am known by people, so you don't have to take my word for it, you can ask anyone you'd like."

His words weren't confrontational or challenging, he was composed. His words were kind, as one might expect from helping someone who had just become injured try and bear weight on their leg for the first time, even though they didn't want to. If she was nervous, it was because she had no idea who he was, and if she knew, she wouldn't be nervous. The best thing he could do was find a name she could trust and get her to feel comforted through their associate. 

Based on her reaction it was clear that maybe things didn't go well with @Alkor the last time she crossed paths with him. Perhaps they were ex-lovers, or he had just been somebody that she used to know.

"Not only is my cursor green, but I have never even threatened another player with my weapon. I don't do PvP. I may be judge, and I may sometimes be jury, but I am never the executioner."

Baldur's eye opened wider when Kiru said she knew Azide and had been a member of the Frontline. Baldur knew almost everyone that had been on the Front, except for those very hazy first days before he had really become active outside of the lower floors. But he did remember Hydra, the battle that killed Rue and Alkor.

"You were there for the Hydra then." an almost excited smile flickered across his face for a moment at the realization of connection. "I wasn't able to go to that one, but I became a merchant so that I could sell healing potions and field rations to the raid. Then I worked hard to join the Azure Brigade. But that was the fight that Alkor died in.. you were there for that?"

He never did figure out what really went on there. Alkor was one of only a handful of people that had managed to pull a Lazarus, but the others who had died at boss fights had not. Would that they could understand what happened and bring Azide back.

"After that, the Brigade had a fight with Mari's guild, and I was told we were skipping the next fight, so I went and trained with Keith for a bit, just before he decided he was done with the frontlines and wandered off."

Suddenly the gaijin samurai's eyebrows furrowed.

"Have you seen Alkor since the boss fight? You know he's come back from the dead, right?"

He realized how strange his words sounded, so he tried to soften his expression. "I didn't ask him the detail since that seemed kinda rude, but he is alive. He fought in the most recent boss fight with Lessa."

He waved his hand again, he wouldn't believe himself saying those words. He wouldn't have believed it had he not seen the man.

"Any sane person wouldn't believe me though, but you can message him. If you go by the Monument, his name is no longer crossed out."

She seemed to be wary of him now. That was a shame as he was doing everything he could to try and be welcoming and accommodating. To try and help a fellow player work through their grief as well. But he wasn't going to let a little resistance bring his spirits down. Suspicion could mean PK. It was possible that's how she lost someone. Well, she hadn't been the only one.

“Who?”

She finally asked him. Well, at least she wasn't going to walk away. He took another piece of sushi to give him a moment. He could still see them... the feathers. A whole raid being flung up into their one after another, falling back to the ground. Stunning them. Giving no chance for reprieve. A faint shimmer of tears and a shower of crystals, not from a boss this time. And then another, a brilliant flash of red hair and that chime. That bloody chime. Every time a player or creature shattered into shards, that accursed sound.

"The first one? His name was Azide. I watched him die while there was nothing I could do. It was the... floor 14 boss fight."

So much changed that day. The anger, the grief, the rage, and sadness. Everyone had their ways of dealing with his death. He had meant to much to so many. And just like that, he was gone. His guild was gone. His friends scattered to the winds. The Assault Team had been injured in a way that they had only just finally recovered from. 22 floors it took before it felt like the phantom of that death, and the chain reactions it had caused, the PKs it had caused, the betrayals it had caused, and the factions it had caused... could be left in the past. Factions. Factions would be the death of everyone in the tower.

"Now, after ever floor boss raid, I head down to the Monument of Life, and take a moment to remember everyone that died pushing the frontline forward, and pushing me forward."

The large man looked away from Kiru for a moment, willing the tears away. He took a long, ragged breath to center himself. He dabbed the corner of his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, and then turned to face Kiru again. His own eyes a little red to match her own. 15 names. 15 lives. How long had he made that solitary march?

"I guess I should expect that being on the Frontline means losing people, but it's never gotten easier, either."

Baldur listened intently as Star taught him about the floor field boss and its spawning habits. Then the man pulled up a seat and so Baldur did as well, trying to find something that looked the least painful to sit on. His childhood had been filled with playing on lava rock, but he was much older now and that seemed to make a big different. He needed to remember to go find an artisan to make him a kyokuroku chair.

"Thanks, if you can imagine it, when I picked up the katana there were only three of us. A guy named Ryujin Sealord, Keith, and myself. It was seen as a bit of a waste of skill points at the time. I had planned to go with a different build, but when Kayaba announced it was a death game, I decided I should go with something I was already familiar with. Since then, I've developed my own style that's a bastardization of real sword fighting and the way the game works."

Baldur gestured and interacted with his menu for a moment, then a small bento box appeared before them. He took the top off and revealed a few lines of sushi.

"Please help yourself."

He took a piece and chewed on it, covering his mouth with the sleeve of his haori.

"I try to use the most efficient combat possible, even making use of lower level sword arts when I don't need the "big boom" skills. I know a lot of people like big numbers, but I've seen enough fights, even boss raids, where people run out of energy."

When Star talked about the boss he was hunting, Baldur looked impressed.

"That's dangerous work doing on your own, though I imagine you've got a good sense for when to use your teleport crystal. What do you know about this boss? Is it another Field boss? There's generally only one type per floor. Though the only scouting I usually do is for Labyrinths. I was never much for that type of skill, though I'm leaning into it more. Hirru is usually the one to carry my weight. I think I've found... I don't know... 5 lab guardians? Maybe more, maybe less. Were you involved in the last one?"

--- 

Using <<Spyglass>> 1/9
Phoenix Respawn Timer 10 -> 5
Post 2/5

Kiru. Have I heard that name before?

The gaijin samurai considered her name for a long moment, but couldn't seem to place where he may or may not have heard it. Some part of him recognized it as a name of days gone by, some part of the old crew, but he couldn't associate her face or her name with anything in particular.

Just how long have we really been in here? I feels like years at this point.

"It is nice to meet you Kiru-san." He gave her a seated bow, and then a friendly smile. He gestured for her to sit on his jacket turned picnic blanket then gestured, summoning his menu and sushi rolls started manifesting between them.

"I am glad you weren't planning on jumping, and I'm sorry I made that assumption. I've.... seen a lot of jumpers, and you look like the weight of the dead bears a heavy burden on you."

He thought about asking her who she had lost, but he figured it was better to offer before he asked, just as one gave their own name before asking for another's.

"I've lost quite a few myself. I still just... the first time.. I dream of feathers..." he looked away from her for a moment, then back and his ocean blue eyes were filled with grief, but also compassion and determination. "He and I weren't particularly close, but we were getting there... the loss of potential, I think, can make death so hard. All that unrealized hope and dreams. The plans for the future that now never will be... they still haunt me."

Baldur reached down and picked up a roll of sushi and then popped it into his mouth, covering it with the sleeve of his haori while he chewed.

"Please, help youself to some. My guild companion Snow made them, and she's an excellent sushi chef... in here at least."

"It's a long way down." A voice called out to Kiru as she stood near the edge of the floor. "I can certainly think of better ways to go than stepping off the edge."

The blue eyes of a gaijin samurai surveyed the young girl. He stood roughly six feet tall, larger and broader of shoulder than the typical kid that was running around the game. He was obviously a gaijin, probably American features, but he had long dark brown hair and wore distinctly samurai kimono in the colors of sunset, but with a sky blue haori jacket with white flames flickering up from the hems. At his left hip were two katana; his hand rested on them casually and in an un-threatening way. His face wore a friendly, but world weary smile. Like Kiru, he had seen the darkest side of Aincrad and survived to tell the tale.

"I'm sure there are people you miss... me too. And you may have lost some people... as I have as well. I've seen friends go over the edge, I've seen them die to other players, and I've seen them die to monsters. If you'd like... we could talk a bit? Maybe a little further away from the edge?"

With a flourish, Baldur took off his haori and laid it on the ground like a picnic blanket. He pulled off his katanas and laid them on the ground to the side of him where reaching for them would be awkward, but they were also in a safe zone. He then sat cross legged on the ground and adjusted his hakama.

"I'm Baldur, by the way. What can I call you?"

He had been to the <<Monument of Life>> more times than he wanted to count, and so many names had been crossed out for jumping off the edge. He didn't want to find another one there. Could he tell when a new one was added to the list? He wasn't sure. His list of names to visit was long enough as is though. Thousands of people had died, but he would keep track of his dozen.

"Well isn't that a nice trick."

A moment later and the Phoenix was back in action, though its health bar was still low enough that it wouldn't last long. Baldur spun around, and before the Phoenix could get much higher into the air, drove his sword straight through to its core. It hovered for a second, its wings no longer flapping, and then exploded into a shower of multi-hued crystals, shimmering in the light of the floors volcanic glow.

"huh.." Baldur said once the last hit rewards popped up, "Doesn't look like it drops any <<Hot Wings>>. That's unfortunate. Are you a ranch dressing kinda person? It's unfortunate that Japan doesn't really believe in ranch dressing. I know some people have tried to recreate it here, but it tends to have a more... umami flavor... it just doesn't feel quite right, though the wasabi and soy sauce are spot on."

He whipped his sword around in a gesture that was obviously well practiced and ritualistic, before he slowly, and manually, sheathed his sword. A moment later, his hand left the handle almost reluctantly.

"So I think I have a <<spyglass>> in here somewhere." Without hesitation, Baldur opened up the UI for his inventory and a moment later something dropped into his hand. "Is this the only hilltop they spawn on?"

ID#239849 BD: 5+7 = 12 (hit)
20x12 = 240 RAW - 30 MIT = 210 DMG Dealt + 28 Burn + 32 Shatter = 270 DMG Total

[4] Morningstar | HP: 850/850 | EN: 80/110 | DMG: 21 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 7 | BH: 47 | LD: 5 | REC: 4 | FLN: 8 | AA | PARA-V
[5] Baldur | HP: 1075/1075 | EN: 93/122 | DMG: 20 | MIT:54 | ACC:5+1[AA]+1[Keen] | AA | KEEN: 1 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:5 | BH:54 | REC: 4 | FLN: 4 | BLI: 16/-10 | BRN: 28 | FRZ: 32 | LD:5 | Charge [1/3]
Phoenix | HP: 0/975 | MIT: 30 50 | DMG: 90 | ACC: 2 | EVA: -1 2 | Burned [1/2] 28 | Frozen (32) | Paralyzed | Shatter: 1/3 [-20]

There was something odd about this NPC. In a city that by all appearances was abandoned to the forces of the deep ones, why was this one here? But then Acanthus mentioned the K̸̰̗̱̑̆̊i̶̢̢̡̹̰͎̺̼͙̗͛̑̀͆̇n̶̢̛͉̥͖̙̳͈̳̑̄̒͑̌͋̈̿́̈́g̷̡̡̛̗̖̮̥̜͕͎̖̟̒̉̀̌̚͘͘͜͝ ̷̧̢͉̄̆i̵̢̢̝̠̼̲͚̥͎͓̠̜͌͐̓̉̿̀̓̑̉́͂̈́n̵̝̱͆̈́̾̄̋̓̓̄̍ ̴̧̰̱̻̼͔͚͙̦̊̏̉̈́́͒͒͋̓̕̚Ỷ̸͎̋̎͌͊̂̂̎̿̿ę̵͖̥̓̈̿̾̓̀̋͗̀͝l̶̲̻͙͆͂͑͌͂̚͜l̶̛͓͍̠̝̼̼̣͍̬̃͆͆̈́̐ớ̴̝̖̥̤̳̓̓̓̾̿͗̚͠w̴̛̛͖̩̼̜̤̋̎̓͑̇͑̈́ͅ and everything went sideways. What happened to the NPC next was something that would have been nightmare fuel had it been in the real world, but the separation of game and reality gave Baldur a buffer that turned disgust into mere surprise.

Baldur took half a step forward, placed his hand on the handle of his katana and then there was a flash, a hint of the night like a ribbon across the room, and then the Samurai was on the other side of the room with his sword out. He whipped it to the side in an old, practiced motion. Something ritual about it. He then slowly sheathed the sword, and as the blade clicked home, the strange creature... didn't shatter? It... collapsed like a stuffed animal that suddenly didn't have any stuffing in it. Then the pile of flesh seemed to melt and dissolve and flow down through the cracks in the floor boards.

"That... is very strange..."

He shook his head, clearing his long hair out of his face from the sudden movements of combat.

"We should head back to the main square and see how the others are doing. This floor is very strange."

 @Acanthus @Lessa

As the 3 incredibly attractive people walked back into the main square like they had just walked off the set of a CW fantasy drama, Baldur could see Freyd and Hirru holding a camp set up in the middle. Hirru's merchant NPC had arrived as well, though the large creature that pulled the cart wasn't there at the moment.

And as if like clockwork, people started teleporting in through the gate. Lookie-loos and tourists.

Baldur picked up the pace, running towards the square to warn people to wander, but hopefully @Hirru and @Freyd would be on that already. It was less than he expected, and took a bit longer this time than usual. So many word had gotten out and some people were listening to the warning and others weren't. Some came in kitted out. Scouts and guilds that had gotten the warning but were coming to look around prepared for what they may encounter, but for every one who seemed to know what they were about a dozen people who had no discernable combat gear beyond tier 1 started to appear.

Shit, this is exactly what I was worried about.

"We need to get back and keep anyone from wandering out and getting themselves killed."

It was proving his instincts about Morningstar correct .The man knew what he was about, knew to prepare and look ahead into the future, and started fights off with a charge and a stun. All steps that Baldur himself normally followed. Now that it was stunned, it was wide open to any attack that Baldur would level against it. The option opened up to Baldur how he should proceed. He had recently replaced his combat focus from single target to technical. It meant his whole chain of actions was different now. How he would normally have opened up a fight was completely different now. Unlike what Morningstar had done, Baldur would have opened with a <<bull rush>> and a <<delay>> to both stun and debuff the boss. Since Baldur was following up the attack, it could mean that he himself would become the target, and he did have the <<Counter>> attack he could use to allow him to tank the boss better. However, this was a less than challenging fight and Baldur had consumed buffs that would give him an incredible amount of evasion. He could take a measured risk in this case, because even if the boss crit him he wasn't in danger.

So he stepped forward, gripping his katana the <<Ethereal Tether - Zanshin>> in his Iai stance, causing power to swirl around his feet, cascading through him from the blade and blasting the soot and volcanic dust away from him. However, there was no timing this shot, the mob was stunned so he released it as soon as it was ready.

The blade cut through the air, literally. The video game skybox, normally obscured by the terrain, was revealed in what was normally an arc of light that followed sword arts. Instead, the night sky was revealed, nebula and stars and all. As his blade struck the fire chicken, coldfire exploded on impact, blue fire that normalized the air around them for a moment encased the burning creature in ice, preventing it from being able to escape from Morningstar's follow up attack, while the cold burned it in a way it could not resist.

"Batter up!" Baldur called out while he was temporarily frozen by the post sword art delay. He wouldn't say a jinx again, but he was pleased to see how well he an Morningstar were synchronized in their fighting styles.

ID#239787 BD:9 (Crit), +1 damage, Freeze Proc, Burn Proc, Keen Proc
20+1+3=24x16= 384 RAW - 50 MIT = 334 DMG Dealt

[2] Morningstar | HP: 850/850 | EN: 89/110 | DMG: 21 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 7 | BH: 47 | LD: 5 | REC: 4 | FLN: 8 | AA | PARA-V
[3] Baldur | HP: 1075/1075 | EN: 101/122 | DMG: 20 | MIT:54 | ACC:5+1[AA]+1[Keen] | AA | KEEN: 1 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:5 | BH:54 | REC: 4 | FLN: 4 | BLI: 16/-10 | BRN: 28 | FRZ: 32 | LD:5 | Charge [0/3]
Phoenix | HP: 247/975 | MIT: 50 | DMG: 90 | ACC: 2 | EVA: -1 2 | [Stunned] | Burned [1/2] 28 | Frozen (32)

Baldur drew the sleeve of his haori across his sweaty brow. It did not bring the same relief it would have in the real world, but the effect it had on his mind still managed to give him a moment of relief. Thankfully he had endless amounts of stamina when it came to hiking across impossibly hot blasted landscapes like this one. Slowly they began to transition from the plains into the foothills on the way to the mountain he had pointed them towards.

"My thoughts on Callisto?" The samurai seemed to taste the words, as if evaluating the first sip of wine.

"It was kind of nice to find something simple again."

He worried that the phrase may leave Star a bit confused, and the gaijin samurai had to work through what he meant by that as well.

"You see, several of the floor bosses we had fought were not animal, but capable of conversation... such bosses seem to have a phycological effect on people who have lost track of what is real and what is not. They begin to sympathize with the humanoid bosses... unfortunately we had several of them in a row. It nearly tore the frontlines apart several times. Throw that together with the floor 25 boss, which was unlike anything before or since... and it was a lot..."

He gave Star a weary, half smile.

"So when we fight a beast that merely requires us to defend against damage and deal it back... such a simple fight is quite enjoyable."

He paused for a moment, taking a drink of water from a canteen.

"Just remember, when it comes to boss fights, you only want to take measured, calculated risks. Don't rely on chance to be savior or villain in your story. Wulfrin got hungry to end the fight, but he misgauged. It almost cost him his life. It was a risk not worth taking. We have only one life, one should not gamble with it like that. There was a time and a place for a gamble like that, but that wasn't it. The other groups who struggled were merely unprepared. It does, however, warm my heart to see so much preparation in the raid. It was not so many floors ago that people were not coming to bosses with nearly any preparation, or only enough to do more damage."

Jacob's Ladder had started off as a guild meant to help train and prepare people for fighting on the frontline. They had all worked together, especially with Firm Anima, to make sure that buffs, feasts, and healing items were supplied. He remembered delivering 100 group heal crystals to the floor 25 raid. Free crystals, but many people hadn't even paid enough attention to pick them up into their inventory. You could lead a horse to water, but you couldn't make it drink. Still, the mission was unchanged. They would work on gathering up consumables and potions and feasts in order to make sure the raid was fully supplied. Everyone didn't necessarily need a hellstorm, but everyone needed healing, mitigation, and the other basic buffs.

"I am a bit worried about this next boss. Changes in tier have historically come with challenging fights. And then the first battle once a new tier begins is a challenge as well... since fewer people have upgraded their equipment. Have you started to prepare for that?"

Buying the following items:

Field Rations | [1,000col]
Grants +12% to max HP. Cannot be used in combat. Effect lasts for one thread. A player cannot benefit from more than one Field Rations at a time. This effect cannot stack with Over-Health consumables. Filling may be used on this item, increasing its buff from 12% to 16% max HP.

Immolation Potion
When used, successful non-critical attacks against you deal (10 * Tier) unmitigated damage to the attacking enemy. Must be of the appropriate tier to use. Effect lasts for one thread.

• Tier 4 | [1200col]

Spyglass (x3) | [800col]

• Use to reduce the number of posts required to search for a dungeon, familiar or field bosses by 5 posts. Effect lasts for one thread.

• Nametag | [2500col]
  Allows its user to change the name and description of an equipment piece.

Total: Field Rations x10, Immolation Potion x5, Spyglass x3, Nametag X3
(1,000x10 + 1,200x5 + 800x3 + 2500x3 = 
(10,000 + 6,000 + 2,400 + 7,500 = 25,900)

With all the time Baldur was spending on this floor, he would have to turn in his kimono for a yukata. He had forgotten how hot the floor was. It had been a long time since he had taken damage due to heat, but had forgotten that just because damage wasn't ticking down on his HP bar didn't mean that it wasn't uncomfortable. It reminded him of Kyoto in the middle of summer.

Still, this was the place he had asked to meet them. He checked the time and then pulled up the  message again, he was early but he wanted to make sure that he had given them the right time.

Quote

To: @Hirru @Jomei
Message: Hey, can you meet me on floor 9 at the teleport Plaza? I wanna discuss some plans with you, and I need your help.

Also, I hear there's a sword art you can learn from the old cerberus quest. If you do a special condition, it'll unlock a sword art that lets you inflict Burn. Interested? Let's meet at 12 noon.

It was just about time, so Baldur knew they would be here shortly, if they weren't already in one of the shops. He was half expecting to see Hirru walk down the street with some kind of tungsten fishing line catching spicy fish from the lava lakes.

Jomei and Baldur had talked a lot about leadership and the future but it had been a while. The gaijin samurai knew Hirru would show up, but he wasn't sure if Jomei would. The ginger was probably busy with his own tasks, but Baldur was glad when he saw Jomei tanking and leading a raid. He hadn't pictured Jomei as a tank, but he seemed to do good at it.

"Well, this is it. Let's see if we can't push the forward rather than just holding on and trying not to get left behind."

stats go here

Quest Details go here

Baldur | HP: 1137/1137 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 23 | MIT:78 | ACC:7 | AA | KEEN: 1 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:3 | BH:55 | REC: 8 | FLN: 8 | BLI: 32/-20 | BRN: 56 | FRZ: 64 | LD:5

"Ah, you know Wulfrin and Hirru well then? I just met him in my party for this raid, he was the only one I hadn't fought with before... he..." Baldur knew it was perhaps uncouth to bring up near death encounters, "was a very impressive fighter... I am... glad that he is still with us." He wasn't sure how much the other groups saw about what happened, but Baldur had had a front row seat to the near death of Wulfrin, and the death and resurrection of Freyd.

"I will have to extend to them my thanks."

They made small talk about the phoenix as they walked before Morningstar brought up his apparent retirement.

"I was never far away from the Frontline, so all it took was Jomei saying you guys needed my help. However, the last few floors... were a marathon that took their toll. 24, 25, and 26 were all difficult for various reasons, and not all of them were Kayaba's doing." He let out a breath that spoke volumes about the history that was there and how they weighed on the wanna-be samurai.

"So I take it you were at the previous raid. Wushin or something? What can you tell me about that boss fight? I have noticed there tend to be phases that the designers went through in making the floor bosses, and sometimes you can glean something of the future bosses by what came before."