Dellis

As the Dragon flew away from the ceiling he fell, stunned, but out of pure luck he didn't plunge straight into magma. As he hit the central island's floor, he couldn't help but count himself lucky.

He had lost sight of Takuto. Had he managed to stay on the dragon's back, unlike him, or did he fall down to the island too?

Nevertheless, he had to ready himself. The dragon was coming back to the island to finish him off.

His roars boomed in the darkness of the room, every step of his echoing as he took it.

"Surrender yourself to me, and die without all this useless noise." He said, melliflous. He seemed to have regained composure, now able to see again clearly.

He stepped onto the island, coiling again his wings. "It will be much easier if you do." He concluded.

Dellis was shaking in fear. This monster wasn't like normal AI, he was intelligent, much more than NPCs. It was like speaking with death itself.

*If I stay here, I'll die...* Came unbidden a thought to his mind.

*And yet...* Another voice inside him replied, *Takuto's still here somewhere. I can't abandon him. I won't.*

He stopped shaking.

And he charged, shouting "I will not run away from you!"

He jumped left and right, evading the Dragon's attacks. "Takuto! Wherever you are, take this!"

He shouted, flinging high in the air the Sunlight Sword, hoping he was near enough to take it in a jump. Takuto had demonstrated to be quite skilled in acrobatics, so it was a good bet.

"Attack at the same time as me!" He shouted, jumping, and aiming to bash the Dragon on its jaws to stun him.

--------OOC: Will Edit after Dice Roll-------- Dice Roll, 9: Critical, 2 HP damage

The shield lit up with the glow of a sword skill activating, and the hit connected.

It was a tremendous blow. The dragon reared up from the sheer force of it, growling in fury, stunned, his head twisting sidewards for the push.

*I DID IT!* he thought. *I just hope Takuto takes this chance...* he prayed, landing again on the island's floor.

Combat situation

Dellis HP: 8/9

Takuto HP: 10/11

Dragon HP: 18/18

NEXT TURN: Takuto

---------------Given Item to Takuto--------------

This One-Handed Sword is made of gemstones, translucent and gleaming. It seems to shine in the dark with the same radiance of the sunlit day it was forged in, and is warm to the touch. It weighs a bit less than a normal one-handed sword, but its hits are little less heavy than a two-handed one. On the hilt, in little, shining letters, three words are written. Don't lose hope.

(OOC: If you use this, every hit you make will do 2 damage more. So, a hit does 3 damage, and a critical 4.)

Dragon Die Roll

Dragon's Turn

Unfortunately, both the two valiant fighters missed their marks, and now it was the Red Dragon's time to retaliate.

He shook himself, slowly recovering from the blindness.

"You dared lift your weak arms against me..." He growled deeply, crouching more in the magma.

He growled again in frustration, since he couldn't hit the two of them with his claws while they were on his shoulders.

"Now you're gonna die the only death that you deserve, crushed like the little humans you are!" He bellowed, his voice full of anger and malice.

With that words, he took flight, and slammed into the cavern's ceiling, aiming to crush both of them between him and the ceiling.

------OOC: Will edit after Dice Roll-------- Dice Roll: 8, hit, 1 HP

Dellis and Takuto tried to jump down before being crushed, but the Dragon's speed was too high, and they didn't make it in time.

He felt his ribs splinter, as he crashed into the hard solid rock ceiling, and his HP bar went down a bit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Combat situation

Dellis HP: 8/9

Takuto HP: 10/11

Dragon HP: 18/18

NEXT TURN: Dellis

I'm sold. It'll certainly liven up the game a bit!!

Dice Roll

Dellis evaded the Dragon's lunge stepping to the side. Its claws ripped through the island like it was butter, tearing away a large chunk of it.

"This is bad... I wasn't expecting a boss this strong to be here." Thought Dellis, readying his shield.

*How do we exactly attack it? It's not like we can swim in the magma to get to him...* He thought, worried.

"Go on... come to attack me... what? You can't swim in magma? Ah, it's not my fault you're useless humans..." said the dragon, like it had read in his mind.

Dellis ground his teeth together. *There must be a way to get him to come closer... RIGHT!* He suddendly came up with a plan.

He raised his shield, using its Weapon Skill.

A ray of light originated from the shield's centre, hitting the Dragon right in the eyes, blinding him.

"AaaaArgh! You puny human! What did you do to my eyes!" Screamed the dragon in pain, thrashing around wildly, the magma starting to form waves from his movement.

"I'll kill you!" yelled the red dragon, yet it was blinded, so it had to come closer to the island to attack. It missed again, hitting an empty area.

"NOW! TAKUTO! Jump upon him!" He shouted, as he ran and jumped to the dragon's shoulder.

He bashed with all his might the dragon's face, hoping to stun him.

---------------------------------------------OOC: Will edit after dice roll --------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately, he lost his foothold on the Red Dragon, which was flailing wildly in pain, making it difficult to stand. His shield bash missed, but he managed to hold on tight and not fall.

"Takuto! Need a little help here!" He shouted, calling to his friend.

------------------Used Item Power--------------------------

Lyra answered his words smiling.

"Tempting" Lyra said, referring to his proposal of killing the Ox.

"you know... I'm not really a fan of governing decisions and I would never try to" her eyes remained on the prey. "but if you really want to protect special girls like me, then you might at least try something manlier"

He laughed heartily. "Hey! what do you mean with that? I'm the manliest man in Sword Art Online, i'll have you know!" He added with a joking tone, putting his hands on his flanks. "Just because I say what I feel, as opposed to all that gloomy-cool-never-do-anything-wrong guys out there, which never shed a tear, doesn't mean i'm not a man!" He joked again.

"And i'll prove it to you smashing that Ox." He said, walking in front of the semi-boss.

*Last I checked, manly men didn't go around with gleaming swords and little rainbow shields.* thought Izzy.

He laughed despite himself. "Shut up, little lizard. No croissants for you tonight. Is it my fault it's those the gems i found in your cave?" He whispered, inaudibly. No need to let her think he was so mad as to speak with lizards.

"Now I like that title..." replied Atenea, joking.

He laughed again, stopping for a moment on the dunes. "Well then, I guess we can officially declare you commander of this expedition. I don't think Dusk's got any objections." he said smiling.

As he kept marching on the sands, Dellis listened to the two comrades' discussion.

"hey Atenea, are any outposts like that listed on the map? We may as well stop to rest if there's one near the dungeon." Asked Dusk to the young girl.

She stopped for a moment to answer him. "Actually, there is! If I am correct, by time calculation the next stop would ten minutes away- though it is the closest one to the Temple... The other are far off to the east and west, about twenty minutes or so. I hope that one is working, we would need shelter if the climate changes. My father always told me horror stories about sand storms..." She trailed off into silence, shaking her head.

He noticed her gesture, but didn't quite understand the motives behind it.

*There's something amiss, but what is it?* He asked himself.

He decided to speak to distract her from her thoughts.

"W-well, it might actually be a good idea to stop for a bit. If nothing else, it'll wear us out to keep walking till we get to the Temple, so we may as well stop to get our strenght back."

He continued to speak as they topped a dune, and began their descent. " I don't really know if the one near the temple is the one that's collapsed, though. I'm sure it won't happen, but if worst comes to worst and we find ourselves caught in a storm we'll find shelter in the ruins. There's gotta be at least a wall that still stands!" He joked.

He had made a lot of jokes since they had started this adventure. He wanted them to have fun, to make them forget even for a moment that they were in a game where they could die any moment.

When he was young, he had always feared death. With time, growing up, that fear subsided. But when he had been trapped into Sword Art Online, all that came back up. He was paralyzed with fear.

Then, one day, he had realized... that even if he could lose his life... this was still a game.

And when playing, you should always have fun. If you aren't having it... just change the rules.

He had started making friends, meeting new people, playing this world the way it was meant to be played - as a game, and screw what Kayaba thought.

That was what he was trying to do, with his two friends. Trying to let them have fun, even risking their lives. Trying to make them understand the nature of this world.

He woke up from his thoughts, and he noticed that moment Atenea wasn't looking at the map. "Ate, you've already memorized the map? You're impressing. This place's really biiiiIII----"

He was stopped as a strange bird went flying from the sky, picking him up and dropping him several metres away.

Its talons scratched his armor, without touching his flesh. He fell in a good position, without taking any damage, but the next time he probably would not be so lucky.

The bird took off again, remaining four meters from the ground. It was a strange bird, huge, with sand and orange coloured plumage, and a small blue crest on its head. It quorked, disappointed.

Another bird swooped trying to get Atenea and Dusk, its razor sharp talons glistening maliciously, but missed them entirely as their higher spotting skills warned them something was coming.

"Ugh..." he said, raising to his feet.

"They used the sun as cover... that's why we didn't see them before. They dive from its direction, so that if we try to see them coming we're blinded from the light." He warned them.

As he made his way to get back to them, he quickly opened his scanning skill window. That one, he had trained quite a bit.

"They're Roc. human sized birds, low hp, but they stay aloft quite a lot, so it's hard to hit them. You can hit them when they're swooping to attack though, or if you've got a decent jumping skill can try to jump and impale them. They

attack in couples, normally from opposite directions so that it's harder to defend against both attacks." He was suddendly glad he had trained it.

He readied his shield, finding shelter behind it while one of them tried to hit him again.

"Any orders, commander?" he joked, smiling, sliding his right foot forward to assume a battle stance.

---------------------------------------------------

Dellis: 13/13

Roc 1 : 2/2

Roc 2 : 2/2

He nodded. "I am."

After ten minutes of work, they had finished all water supply, and the path was finished.

They carefully started treading on the newly formed path. Little trails of magma still were present here and there, rapidly solidifying.

The more they neared the center, the more the heat went up, until Dellis considered actually removing all his armor. The metal almost scorched his skin, and the cloth under it was singed.

Far away, looming in the darkness, awaited the Magma Core.

The very heart of Auburn Mountain, a pulsating core of heat and radiance, in the exact middle of the island. A two meter wide perfectly hexagonal rock, its surface red with magma partly solid and partly liquid, ever shifting. They could only see the top part, since the Core was engraved into the island. Two bright canals went from the magma sea to it, flowing through, then disappearing in the hole that was supposed to be under the Core.

"That's the Magma Core. It continously refines all the magma that flows through it, progressively solidifying all the ore that it founds and drawing it near its center. That solidified material is the Solidified Magma. If we're lucky, there will be four to five chunks in it." He said as they were nearing the ten meters wide Island.

Izzy seemed disquiet, on his shoulders, as they stepped on it.

"Quiet, you!" said in the utmost silence the young blacksmith to his pet, which didn't stop moving for a second.

They neared the Core.

Immediately, all the ground began shaking, and he fell to his knees trying to regain his balance.

"Takuto! It's coming!" He warned.

It was hard to get back to his feet, and he couldn't do anything as he saw tiny ripples at first, then waves form in the Magma sea near the island.

Little by little, something started to emerge.

"..."

First emerged a scaly head, with two malicious orange reptile eyes staring from behind red eyelids.

"Two other intruders in my lair..." They heard a low, growling voice booming in the darkness.

Then followed a sinous, reptile body, with scales the same colour of the key and the door and fire itself. They seemed as hard as metal shields, and yet they flexed with ease on his body, glistening menaciously.

"... Two other Children of the Men, seeking my Core ..." A low fury, like the rumbling of thunder, could be felt slowly rising in the voice ...

The Beast stood on its four legs, eight meters high, whipping about his long, tailed leg.

"Two other Thiefs which will never see light again." The voice cut, abruptly.

He looked at the two little intruders, and uncoiled its wings, spreading magma droplets all over the cave.

*THAT's my cousin!* thought Izzy.

The Dragon hissed.

-------------Boss Fight-------------

Dellis: 13/13

Red Dragon: 18/18

The little girl blushed at his words.

“A-a-ahhh… It wasn’t actually me… I-I mean thanks… but, it wasn't actually me… It was you†She started to hide her face behind the sword.

“You're awesome. I mean, not just the weapons you forge, but also the way you fight. I’ve never known anyone who uses a shield to attack. One who only uses the sword, yes, but a defense weapon to attack. Well, that’s unique!â€

“Ahhhh… I mean, if you could use blades, tha-that would be cool tooâ€, she started stuttering, visibly trying to find somewhere to hide.

“Sorry!†she said in an embarrassed deep bow.

He stood up, reddening too. "Uh... I... uhm, thanks Lyra. I... I don't know what to say. No one ever said me that." He was speechless, just standing there with the mouth slightly open, suddendly feeling Lyra's same need to hide.

"It's you that are awesome. So young, and yet so smart. And you keep smiling, no matter what happens, even if you're scared."

For a moment, no one spoke. The wind was blowing through the mountain valley, moving the grass and ruffling his hair.

He breathed deeply. "... You know, Lyra... I haven't told you all the truth about the shield. Well... yes, it's true i'm not good with swords, but it's because... I don't want to use them. I... I don't want to hurt people." He looked at the palm of his hands, raising them in front of him. "When I got stuck in here... I knew I would have to fight, someday. Maybe... real people, too. There are Player Killers in every game."

He paused, shivering at the thought. Then he stopped. "That day... I decided I wouldn't use a sword. Swords are made to hurt people. I don't want to do that, not even those trying to kill me. I... I want to protect people. I want to protect every man... every special girl like you from harm. So they will get back safely."

He turned to face her. "That's why I use a shield. A sword is made to destroy... a shield to protect." He said, with a determined expression.

He stood in silence, again, for a bit.

Then, he smiled a little, sadly. "... Man, I'm hopeless, right? With that mindset, in a game like this..." he didn't finish his sentence.

After a few seconds, he decided it was time to get himself together, and change topic.

"W--- Well, Lyra, sorry about that, just forget what I said." He scratched his head. "Why don't we try our hands at the Trembling Ox, when you feel ready? They say the boss's female version, the Trembling Cow, makes a milk that is used to make a cake with a really legendary taste." He said, smiling to make her forget his moment of sadness.

He suddendly understood what Takuto meant.

"Ah... right! Uhm, yes. I was going to a trip on floor 5 after this, and since it's a desert, and three people have agreed to the trip, i had collected quite a lot of water." He nodded.

He opened the inventory, and tons of bottles of water appeared suddendly on the ground. One of the perks of being a blacksmith, high inventory carrying skill meant a lot of inventory space.

"Use them fast, or they'll decay and disappear, just like any item in this game." He warned.

He inspected the lever and pulley system on the buckets. What Takuto had thought was indeed possible.

"hmm... you might be right, Takuto. Good catch." He took out the guide from the inventory.

"I don't remember it, though. Luckily, I always bring with me a copy, so we can check what the riddle was. Just open it at the Dungeons section, The Magma Chamber paragraph. There should be everything about this dungeon the tester's have found out." He said, passing it to Takuto.

Meanwhile, he went nearer to the ledge to examine all the rock paths. Takuto was right, there were some strange shaped rocks, and most didn't move at all.

*Moon, Star, and Sun...* He kept thinking intently.

"You've found anything in the guide yet?" He asked him, while testing carefully the rocks.

"Good to see you again Dellis, I'm looking forward to this." Said the young man accepting his crystal. "You sound like you've done things like this before, hope I won't be a burden."

He smiled to Dusk. "Ah, don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine. Actuallly, I haven't tried a full fledged dungeon raid yet, but i've made sure to follow all the hints given in the beta tester's guide, so we should be okay." He paused for a second.

He stole a glance at Atenea, which seemed to be a little worried about something. Probably the map duty... yet he thought she would be the best one to give this job to. If he had assessed her skills correctly, she was an attentive and smart person, so she would be the best to guide them through the desert.

She raised her eyes from the map. "Well, before we begin any conversation concerning the Unknown... The maps states that a mile from where we are standing the temple should be found. Be very observant concerning staircases or protruding objects that is gonna be our hint to see if we are close." She warned them.

He nodded. "Ok, commander Atenea!" He joked, winking at her. "I'll keep my eyes open." He added, seriously now.

As they walked, his thoughts kept trailing off. *It seems she was the right choice. She's doing fine, if she keeps this up we'll find the entrance even sooner then planned.* he smiled unconsciously, before realizing it and quickly turning up to face Dusk.

"Ah, right, I forgot about your question regarding Unknown, Dusk." He said, apologizing.

"Unknown wasn't sighted on top of a random dune, but near a general store. Now, I know what you're thinking, a general store in the middle of nowhere?" He said, pointing at the vast desert all around them. "Well, the beta guide says this floor's really wide and there are no cities for miles, so the desert is dotted by little npc run shops to help players run by. That was one of them. It seems it's collapsed now. I just hope it's not Unknown that has made it collapse!" He joked to the two comrades.

As they went onward following Atenea's directions, he thought about what kind of job he could ask Dusk to do. While on march, the party was more vulnerable then ever...

*mmmh...* he thought, intently.

"Dusk, can you keep watch on hidden enemies? If you're okay with it, obviously. The beta guide says in deserts many monsters hide so you can't see them until it's too late." He asked, while going on onward. "If not, I'm gonna do it myself. My spotting skills aren't too high, though." He concluded.

He answered Takuto, before opening the door. "Ah, you wanted to blast a hole in the wall? My bad, sorry I didn't understand it. It was a good idea, though. Anyway, we managed to find a way to go further either way, luckily."

He raised the key to the door... and found there was no keyhole.

"Hmm... this might be a problem." He said, staring at the door. "How are we supposed to use a key on something that has no keyhole?" He said to himself.

*Waaait, he'll get it eventually...* thought Izzy.

"Hmm..." He said, getting in front of the door. He readied himself, and tried to push it open.

Immediately, he jumped back, blisters forming on his fingertips. "Ouch... it's too hot. It's like it's mad of molten lava."

*Aaaand the first prize for idiocy goes to... Dellis!* Thought sarcastically again the little lizard. *Now, let's see if you've actually got a brain or it's made of cream croissants.*

He looked at Takuto. "You said the key gets hotter the more we get near the door? I wonder..."

*Aaaand we're finally done. A pity, it was getting entertaining to see you.* thought again the lizard.

He raised once again the key to the door... and touched it with it.

Immediately, the key began to... fuse with the door, melting into it... then it began to collapse.

He jumped on a rock, careful not to touch the lava, and into the next room.

"... Wow." He said, not finding other words for the view he was having.

They were in a big, round chamber, at least twenty meters high, its ceiling and walls forming a hemisphere. The walls were all of the same colour scheme of the door, but it seemed to... pulse, changing, like it was alive.

Heat came roiling off in waves from the center of the room, causing Dellis to instantly remove all his armor, remaining in cloth. Holding the shield was almost unbearable, even if the handle wasn't even made of metal.

There was a small ledge of normal terrain in front of them, which abruptly ceased into a sea of magma after five meters.

Bubbles of magma popped lazily from the mortal sea, signaling the presence of gas inside it. Here and there, a column of lava exploding upward formed up.

"This is it. This is the Magma Chamber." He said, sweating. "Unfortunately, we're not done yet. The magma solidifies at the exact center of this place, and we've not even seen the boss yet." Izzy squirmed uncomfortably on his neck.

He stood to look at Takuto. "We've got to get to the center, somehow. It would take a whole river to solidify the magma creating a road to get there..." he paused. "Luckily, there's another way. You see those rocks, floating in the magma?"

He waited his comrade's answer. "Those are made of denser metals, and don't fuse. We can step on those to get to the center... but one misstep, and it's over."

He jumped over the first platform. *If I fall, there won't be enough time to use the teleport crystals,* he thought. He tested with his feet the second platform... and soon jumped back to the first.

"Takuto! Some of these platforms are not stable, they submerge in the magma as soon as you put your weight on them!"

He shouted, dropping some water to quench the flames which had caught to his boots.

"Kayaba... what was he thinking, creating a death game like this one?" He said, carefully testing his balance.

"Well... there is another way," He said hopping back to the ledge. "You see those baskets of metal, connected to a rope?"

He pointed to two big baskets on a rock not far from there, just two or three jumps from the ledge, hanging from a rope which departed from the wall beside the door and went further into the darkness, towards the center of the room. A pulley system was mounted on the top, so that it could move back and forth from the ledge to the central area.

"If you don't want to hop your way to the center, if we get to those baskets, we can ride them." He stopped. "Although I don't know if they will carry our weight without falling, and there will probably be some other dangers along the road, or it would be too easy. I've played enough games to know that." He added, looking unsurely at the rope.

"So? What do you think?" He asked.

(OOC: Sorry i write so much, it's a bad habit of mine. Hope you like the quest, anyway. I'm trying to provide a wide variety of challenges^^)

Dellis looked in awe as he saw Lyra dance with Sunlight Sword in her hands. She had a strange fighting style, but it was really beautiful to see. She was really agile.

With Lyra's fighting skill combined with the strenght of the weapon's blows, she had the wasp in the red zone in almost no time, much before he was expecting.

"Ha!" She exclaimed, smiling. "I'm still green!!!"

He smiled back. He was so happy that she was having fun. He had managed to make her forget about her fear, and even if that didn't last - and he hoped it did - it was still a precious thing. "You're wonderful at fighting, Lyra!" He shouted, bringing his hands to his mouth to be heard over the sounds of the battle.

Seconds later, she started to run towards him.

"Ok...This is the last attack", she said, inspecting the monster's health bar. "... I think." she added, humurously.

He laughed. "Wha??? It's our loot we're betting on here! No uncertainty!" He joked, smiling to the little girl.

"Well...I'm leaving everything to you" she told him in a big smile. "Switch!"

As soon as he heard switch, he was transported to the monster's location. He raised his shield to cover his shoulder, since he noticed most of the attacks of the wasp targeted that place. Then he charged, behind his shield.

"aaaaaAH!" he shouted, running faster and faster, till he slammed into the wasp, bashing it into the ground, and crushing it between the shield and the terrain.

With a blue flash, it exploded into pieces.

Laid down on the ground, smiling, he noticed the victory popup appear at his side. He didn't even look at the loot, he just said, with a low, almost inaudible voice, "Thanks... Lyra."

He rolled on one side, looking at her. "We did it! You're awesome, Lyra, you know?" He said, smiling, and trying to catch his breath.

Dellis had been waiting for no more than ten minutes when the first one of his comrades showed up.

"Dusk! Here!" He shouted, as he waved up his arm at him.

As soon as they were near, he greeted the young man. "Glad you came. I hope this will be a fun dungeon conquer." He said, shielding himself from the sun.

"I've prepared some healing crystals, too, so if things go bad, we'll be able to heal ourselves at least once each." He said, handing him a red crystal.

In that moment, a blue flash came from the teleport plaza, and a girl with dark hair and green eyes began to form in the light.

"Atenea! We're here!" He said, waving to her too.

He waited till she got closer. ""Hello, boys! Sorry to be late! Are we ready and prepared?" Asked the girl.

"Ah, you're not late, don't worry." He said, smiling while shielding himself from the sun. "You two have arrived almost at the same time."

He breathed deeply. "Well, since we're all here, I'll start to explain what I had in mind for this trip." He said. "Of course, if you two have other ideas, or objections, feel free to say so!" He concluded.

He took out his Beta Tester's Guide copy, and flipped rapidly through the pages.

"In the desert near Zardien, there should be a dungeon quite easy for the floor it is in. It's the last of the starter dungeons, so i chose that to begin. There shouldn't be any crystal negating area in there, so we're safe, should we want to back away." He began explaining.

"That's the Temple of Desert Sands. It's hidden beneath the dunes, so we'll have to try a bit to find the entrance. Luckily, the guide went with some maps." He opened his inventory, swiping his fingers, and a map appeared in his hands.

He handed the map to Atenea. "I can't read maps very well though, so I guess it's better if you read that. If you leave that to me, we're gonna end up to the north pole - and there is no north pole in floor 5, so you'd better not leave that to me." He joked, laughing.

"Once we get there, we're gonna have to defeat the guardian to the entrance, a monster which difficulty is near level 3, it seems. I don't know what it is, the guide didn't state that." He added.

"Once we've done that, it's really just low level traps and minions till the dungeon boss, so don't worry." He said, smiling.

*Well... I am worried too, but more about Unknown that about the dungeon.* He thought. "By the way, we should pass near the place she appeared, so we have the most chances we can have of meeting her and shedding some light onto this mystery." He smiled.

Even in real life, he always had loved mysteries. Investigations, detectives... that was what he loved. He had begun studying Law since he had loved Conan Doyle's novels on Sherlock Holmes... who could uphold law with his ability to discover hidden truths. So, even inside the game, he had jumped at the chance to unravel a mistery.

He waked up from his thoughts. "Well, if we're all ready, I guess we can go." He said smiling. "I've got a surprise for you guys, too, but there will be time for that later."

He stopped.

"Ah, I almost forgot..." he paused. "Since you two have been so kind as to go with me in a trip like this... if we find some crafting materials... I'll leave them all to you, and craft you any one thing you want. I am quite a good blacksmith, you know!" He said, smiling.

Dellis saw Takuto run towards the wall.

*What has he got in mind?* He thought, as Takuto leapt off it and used the momentum he gained to impale both cobolds with a single hit, doing enough damage to kill one.

Its hp bar rapidly began to empty.

"Wha---" started to say Dellis, interrupted by Takuto quicly jumping back to his side shouting "Dellis, your shield!"

He understood that moment what Takuto had in mind. "Ok!" He shouted, jumping in front of Takuto.

He planted his shield into the ground, preparing a makeshift shelter for the explosion.

That moment, the cobold's hp bar reached 0.

Suddendly, it exploded, killing the other cobold with it.

The force of the combined explosion sent them both flying through the hallway, while raging flames and debris hit the shield, which deflected most of the damage.

"ngghh..." he grunted, for the effort of keeping it in place against the terrible forces of the explosion.

They both hit the ground hard.

"You okay, Takuto?" He asked, opening his eyes. There were no more cobolds in the hallway, and part of the ceiling had collapsed, covering with rocks the trapped floor. Magma flowed quietly from a widened fissure in the west wall.

"You had a great idea," He said, raising with difficulty. He stretched his hand towards Takuto to help him out. "You killed both the remaining cobolds, and we both went through it unscathed. Well, relatively unscathed." He added. "You're a great party member, you know?" He said.

Something, amongst the charred corpses of the cobolds, glistened sharply in the dark. *A key?* He thought, picking it up.

It was a burnt black key, with red veins gleaming on it.

"This probably opens the door to the next area. You keep it!" Said Dellis, passing the key to Takuto. "It's you that defeated the cobolds, after all." He said, beginning to descend once again into the hallway.

"try to step on the rocks that have fallen from the ceiling, that way we won't set off any more pressure plates." He said to Takuto.

At the end of the hallway, there was, as he thought, a door, coloured similarly to the key they had found. It seemed to emanate an unbearable heat, coming off in waves from behind it.

"We're getting closer," He said. "Are you ready, Takuto?" He asked, raising the key in front of the door.

Dellis was in his room, rummaging through the backpack and the inventory at the same moment, preparing himself for the journey.

He and two other players had decided to venture into floor 5, the higher he had ever been, to complete the dungeon there.

In fact, there was another reason, too. Latley, there had been many rumours about a strange player roaming Aincrad... a player with a black indicator. It went by the name "Unknown".

The last sighting had been here in floor 5. He couldn't hide he was a little scared, but also intrigued by it. Indicators could be green, orange, or red. Never black. That alone was something worth checking.

"Okay, Izzy!" He shouted, while closing the backpack. "I think i've got everything I need."

The little lizard jumped on his shoulder, as he set off to the teleport plaza to get to floor 5.

*this will all end in disaster. Everything you do ends in disaster.* thought the small lizard, whose favourite sport was aggravating him.

"TEIN! Zardien!" He pronounced, holding his teleport crystal up, and disappearing in a flash of blue light.

He arrived moments later at his destination.

He looked around him. Calling Zardien a city would have required, actually, much courage, since it was much more a group of stalls and white tents, albeit a big one. All around it, the vastness of the great desert that was in floor 5.

"I HATE desert settings in games," sniffed Dellis, trying to keep all the sand flowing in the wind from getting into his nose.

*I'd better send a PM to the other two.*

He swiped his fingers to get open his HUD, then sifted through it, adding Atenea and Twilightdusk as recipients of the message.

Hi Ate, Hi Dusk, I've finished preparing the things for trying to take on floor 5. I'll be waiting at the Teleport Plaza of Zardien. Just use your teleport crystals when you're ready, I'll be waiting here. I brought provisions for two days, that should be enough, we should clear the thing in a few hours, but it always pays to be careful. Plus, cream croissants are sweet, so the more i bring, the better.

I'll be waiting

Dellis

He touched the "send" button, and sat down, waiting for one of them to show up.

Dellis made motion to attack the first cobold, yet he didn't unsheath his sword. Instead, he raised Izzy's Scales horizontally, and slashed with it, sending the cobold flying to the earth.

*clack...* made another pressure plate, as he moved. He managed to change the foot he was weighing on before it triggered.

*I must not move much... he thought. The less I move, the less we can trigger traps.* He thought.

"For now, I'll try to avoid swords. I'm terrible with them. I'm trying to find a shield fighting style that suits me." he said, bashing down into the downed cobold. It disappeared in blue flash, bursting into flames. Their heat almost scorched him, but he had the shield to protect him, so it made minimal damage.

"Takuto, SWITCH!" He called out, switching position with him.

"Try to stay at a fair distance from them, or their death explosion will hurt you severely even as they die." He warned, ready to help him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DELLIS = LVL4 ; HP 10/11 ; Healing Crystals= 20 ; Teleportation crystal: 9

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Izzy listened to what Lyra said, and oddly seemed to understand. She nuzzled Lyra's chin in agreement.

In the meantime, Dellis was still fighting. "Ok! Lyra, your fighting style is with the Longsword, right?"

He bashed into the wasp to get some respite, and extracted the longsword at his side.

It was a gem longsword, again translucent and gleaming, like it was made from the same material as the shield. From the inside, shined a warm light, just like the one of a sunlit day, giving a light yellow undertone to the sword.

"Try this one! It'll be as if your every hit is a critical!" He said, throwing the sword at Lyra's feet. "These two things are my masterpieces. I got really lucky forging them, it's very difficult for a newbie blacksmith to craft unique items." He smiled.

*This is what blacksmiths should do... This is why I became one. To help people unlock their potential... I don't want to become the most powerful. I want... to help people.* He reflected.

Yet, that way he lost his focus on the battle. One hit from the wasp reached him at the arm. *ugh...* he thought, repressing a shout, more out of fear than anything else. It was the first time he had been actually hit.

"Ready, Lyra?" He said, bashing once again into the wasp to let Lyra come into battle without being attacked at once, "SWITCH!"

--------------------

Given Item:

This One-Handed Sword is made of gemstones, translucent and gleaming. It seems to shine in the dark with the same radiance of the sunlit day it was forged in, and is warm to the touch. It weighs a bit less than a normal one-handed sword, but its hits are little less heavy than a two-handed one. On the hilt, in little, shining letters, three words are written. Don't lose hope.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DELLIS = LVL4 ; HP 10/11 ; Healing Crystals= 20 ; Teleportation crystal: 9

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He took the bread he offered. "Why not! That seems delicious." He said, while taking a bite off it.

"You're gonna be the Co-Leader, huh... I guess once i become stronger i'll try to enter in that guild. For now, i'm gonna try a bit of party play. I'm too shy to be in large groups yet. Better to take on little quests like this one with someone I know."

He stopped to climb a little steep slope. "With this... we should have arrived... to the... clearing!" He grunted, climbing.

Once arrived, he stood up.

They were in a small clearing, with a lake pond in the middle, and luscious green plants all around. In the clearing, no plant grew, except for grass.

"The boss should show up once we defeat two more minions... which should be... right at the side of the pond. So... here!" He shouted, while with two blue flashes the monsters appeared.

He slashed at the nearest one, killing him, then turned to see how Zauis was doing. Once he killed that one too... they would have to fight the quest boss.

They were strolling through the rocky fields of floor two, while Lyra spoke excitedly of all the various things they could find there. "Wow Lyra, you know a lot about this game! Surely much more than me, at least." He laughed.

"Marome Town... it hasn't a blacksmith, huh? Maybe I could..." He said in a low voice, much to himself than anyone else...

A shout woke him up from his thoughts

"Lyra!" He shouted, while he saw her being hit by a sting from a giant bee. "Are you okay?"

"Switch!" She called, switching position with him.

*She's been stunned... I have to hold position and defend her.* Thought the young blacksmith.

"Izzy, stay near her!" Dellis said, while the little lizard went down and took a comically defending position right in front of Lyra.

Dellis took out his shield,... and held it up against the sunlight. *Let's hope its powers work...* He prayed.

Immediately, the sunlight started to flow through the shield he had crafted, divided by the little gemstones similar to scales, that formed the shield, into little rainbows of light, that hit the wasp. "Izzy's Scales Reflection!" He shouted.

He lowered his shield. "This will blind it for a bit. Now, since it's blind and can't move..." He charged the wasp.

Five seconds had passed, so it attacked blindly in the air. All the attacks missed, since it couldn't see his position, apart from one hit, which was blocked by the shield.

*I've got to counterattack,* he thought as Lyra told him the wasp's statistics. "You sure are intelligent, Lyra. You know everything about his game!" He said, smiling.

he attacked the wasp...but he didn't draw the sword. Instead, he raised his shield horizontally, and slashed with it, hitting the wasp in the middle. Not quite dead, it kept on pressing on him.

"It will take a bit more hits to kill her!" He shouted to Lyra. "Sorry, but I'm terrible with swords, so I use my shield even when attacking. That does less damage, but I'm always ready to block."

He stopped for a second. "How's the stun? Did it go away? Can you switch back to finish it?" He asked her.

------------------------------------------

Used Item's Powers:

This shield is made of scales, translucent and gleaming like gemstones. It seems very sturdy, but also very lightweight, just as gemstones and scales are. Under direct sunlight, it divides light, creating little rainbows around it. It is a round shield, but its shape isn't totally round, since the scales at the edges are irregular and create little bumps and squares. The center gemstone is, oddly, the same colour as cream.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DELLIS = LVL4 ; HP 11/11 ; Healing Crystals= 20 ; Teleportation crystal: 9

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ahah, no problem, guess i'll just eat two then bro." He said, unwrapping the other Tuna Sandwich.

"She asked you to go with her to the festival? Well, you're lucky, man. You didn't even need to ask her, she came to you herself." he joked. "Well, I'm really happy for you two. I guess I'll meet her at the marriage!"

He went through a patch of dense bushes. "This way, I think. We're getting nearer."

He looked back, and saw Zauis had changed wardrobe. "Wow, that's a guild's armor! You're in a guild? The knights of christ... I hadn't noticed that before. I've heard of them, they're a really strong guild. You're a frontliner, then? Did you fight in any boss battle yet? Was it hard?"

He asked, as he went up a small hill. He could see the clearing in the distance. They were almost arrived. Then they would have to battle the boss.

"Ahah, I guess you're right." he said, laughing.

They both pressed on through the path inside the forest, stopping for a moment only when it became clear the path had ended.

"This is gonna take a bit, I fear. The Nepente is in a clearing further in this direction," he pointed to the east, "but it's still a bit far."

He stopped, opening his inventory. "Here, take this." He handed him a tuna sandwich. "I prepared these before I departed from my shop in Floor 1." He unwrapped his one.

"Hey, Zauis, how did you meet Oske?" He asked, curious, while taking a bite off his sandwich. He kept walking, waiting for the answer.

He nodded. "Yes!"

He stepped into the cave. "My fighting style is with the shield, so i guess it's better if I'm in front, since I can parry attacks." He started saying, equipping Izzy's scales on his left hand. "If that's okay with you, obviously."

He looked around. They were in a small corridor, completely dark but for the light of magma from deeper in the mountain coming from the end of the tunnel. It was hard to see what they were doing.

"We need something to light our way." He said, stopping for a second to search in his backpack. He took out a torch. "Since the last time, I now bring with me a torch everytime i go get materials."

As soon as he lighted it, he noticed a metal hook hanging from the wall. "I wonder..." He put the torch in the hook. Immediately, all the corridor was lit in a dim light. "I guess that solves our vision problem."

Twenty metres forward, they corridor began going down into a slope. As they descended, the air grew hotter and hotter, while red streaks began to appear in the wall, the magma leaking from the fissures in the wall.

*clack...* It was a soft sound, but ominous.

"TAKUTO, WATCH OUT!" He shouted. The rock beneath his feet went deeper into the earth under his weight. *A pressure plate?*

"There are traps all around us, try not to move too much around!" He warned, as, triggered by the trap, a lateral secret door slided open, revealing two Fiery Cobolds.

"We've got company..." He said through his teeth, readying his shield.