Xion

Not too long afterwards, Xion appeared in the teleport pad, clad in his heavy armour and carrying his glaive in his right hand. Since he had decided to return to, you know, actually fighting and trying to level, he had made a bit of a point of travelling more in order to discover more potential sources of SP. Floor 22 was one that, as far as the blonde was aware, he hadn’t visited before.

“Seems nice…peaceful.” He remarked, before taking a few steps off of the teleport pad. With each movement the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard, heavy armour wasn’t exactly stealthy.

Despite the peaceful atmosphere of floor 22, Xion had not travelled there to admire the view. No, he was searching for a fight. He had been out of the game for far too long, and it was high time that he got off of his ass and did something about his embarrassingly low level.

He looked around, and managed to spot Cordelia, whom he regarded with curiosity. “Wouldn’t hurt to ask I guess…” he mumbled, before striding towards the other player, who undoubtedly would have been able to hear his approach.

“Greetings!  Sorry to bother you, but I haven’t actually been on this floor before…or at least I don’t think I have. Memory can be a little rubbish” he said, with an awkward chuckle at the end. “Either way, you wouldn’t happen to know about any decent quests that can be done on this floor?” The blonde asked with a friendly smile, although it was sort of offset by the admittedly edgy design of his armour. ‘Jesus, what was I thinking back then?’ he asked himself silently as he awaited the other player’s response.

‘I’ll definitely have to do something different once I hit T3’

Xion let out a small huff as he walked through the snow-covered streets of floor 4. His breath condensed into a small cloud in front of him, and the blonde smiled. The cold didn’t bother him, thanks his <<survival>> skill, and so as far as he was concerned floor 4 was actually pretty nice. He was just wearing his starter gear, nothing special. He had mostly embraced a civilian lifestyle, and hadn’t fought properly in over 2 years. It was quiet, peaceful. He could rely on those who still fought on the frontlines to get the rest of them out of SAO. Little did he know that everything was about to change.

He headed towards the centre of the town, the snow crunching underfoot. It was a rather pleasant sound, and so the blonde allowed himself to become lost in the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded him.

Before long he managed to get to the tavern, and walked in. He was greeted by the usual murmurings of conversation that he had become accustomed to. He went to the bar and ordered a drink, before noticing the bulletin board. For some reason, curiosity got the better of him, so he walked over and began to read the various requests which had been posted upon it. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The usual requests for  help with quests, something that he would have jumped on 2 years ago, but he was no longer interested in fighting that much. He had fallen way behind in level, and was nowhere near frontline standards anymore, so it almost seemed like an exercise in futility to try to reach such heights again.

He sighed, and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Long time since I last did something like that…I wonder how everyone’s been doing.”

Truth be told he had worried a lot about what might have happened to the people he left to fight on the frontlines. Sure, he wasn’t the only tank in Aincrad, he wasn’t even the strongest, but he still felt a small pang of regret when he thought about it.

The blonde opened his inventory, and scrolled to where his equipment was.

“ <<Twilight Glaive>>, <<Twilight Mail>>, <<Aegis of the twilight>>. Haven’t used those in ages.”

He then looked to his side, and saw another player, who seemed a little angsty. Was he waiting for someone, or looking for something? Xion didn’t know, although, once again, curiosity got the better of him.

“Hey there, you seem a little lost. Is something wrong?”

Xion walked towards the area that the quest had marked on his map, a large clearing within one of the many forests that could be found on the second floor of Aincrad. "It's just like the Queen...well I guess the fact that the quest was called 'Return of the Queen' was a big hint" The tank muttered to himself as he strode purposefully in the general direction of the clearing, his armour clanking metallicaly as he did, crushing blades of grass and flowers underfoot. Xion had quite a few memories attached to the second floor, not as many as the fourth admittedly, but still quite a few. The main one being defeating the original Queen, the tank couldn't remember if he had done it solo or not, it happened so long ago. 

After a while of walking Xion began to hear something. "Voices?" He muttered to himself, cocking his head slightly as he tried to work out where the sounds were coming from. He sped up slightly, a few of his greyish blonde locks falling in front of his eyes as he did, the half cloak that he wore over his left Pauldron billowed slightly, well, what was left of it billowed. He caught a glimpse of something, another player. They had blonde hair, and, as far as he could tell, it was a female player. "Have I met them before?" He asked himself, searching his mind for a face that might be attached to the body he saw. One did appear, one of a female front liner, although a name escaped him. "Maybe they are going after the quest too..." he muttered as he jogged a fair distance behind them, trying to keep them in sight which, admittedly, was a little hard with his restricted mobility due to the weight of his armour. 

A gentle breeze blows through the second floor of Aincrad, the sky was it's usual shade of azure blue, and, as expected was close to cloudless, with only a few puffy white clouds drifting lazily across the sky, pushed by the artificial winds of Aincraid. That being said, everything was artificial; the gentle breeze, the viridian fields of grass, the comforting glow of the sun and the heat that it provided. All of this was artifiical, illusions created by the nervegear. This was the world that the players of SAO were trapped in, including Xion. The young tank was sitting at the base of one of the many trees within the forests of the second floor of Aincrad. He was wearing nothing but had black undergarments which he usually wore underneath his armour, a simple tunic and some trousers, his armour, all of his gear in fact was laid out in front of him neatly. His glaive and shield were next to each other, beside them laid his greaves, gauntlets, pauldrons, chest plate, and , quite possibly most importantly for him- His torn and tattered Half-cloak. The tank smiled as he looked upon the last object, it was one that carried a great amount of sentimental value, it was something that had marked him out as Seneschal of the crimson blades, back when the guild had been around almost two years ago. He had kept the same half cloak with him, although he no longer wore it with the pride that he once did, that was long gone, now he just wore it as a reminder of what had been, but was no longer. As the tank stared at the pieces of armour before him he tries to think of what they represented, both to him and to others. To others the armour represented a protector, a shield against the horrors of Aincrad. This, at the least, was what Xion thought people saw when they looked upon the armour. As for the tank himself, all he saw was broken promises and weakness, he had broken the promise that he made to the peopel of aincrad to protect them, and the one that he had made to himself to always strive to become stronger. Once again, he had failed. The player sighed, before equipping the items and setting off in the direction of a new field boss that he had heard of, glaive in hand. 

It was time, for the Crimson Aegis to make a return. 

@Ariel - The Crowned Lion 

Taking this one 

APPROVED

WELCOME TO SAO-RPG!

ID: 70868

BD: 6 (Hit) 

CD: 10 (Success) 

MD: 9 (Hit) 

Xion: (735/735) (71/72) | 116 MIT | 18 regen | 28 thorns | 9 DMG (-4HP +38HP) 

Elvish soldier: (64/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG (-1HP) 

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

I'm going to be leaving this guild. While I love ya all and I've had some fun times the guild has stagnated and, no offence to the rest of you things aren't just the same without Mack. So I'll be saying my farewells here, although I hope I can stay on friendly terms with you all. 

ID: 70723

BD: 3

MD: 5

Some of the treants exchanged worried glances. Was he to be trusted? Could he truly be able to kill all of their enemies and win them the war? They did not know much about this stranger but they had little choice. No one else would help them, and thus they must accept his offer. "We accept your offer stranger and we must be quick in attacking the elves, even as we speak they muster their forces to wipe us out entirely. Come, follow us" they said before running through the woods, Xion keeping up a few paces back as he was rather slow in all of his armour. Before long they cam into a clearing in which a large amount of elvish warriors were waiting. "Perfect..." Xion said as he let out a mighty battlecry, charging towards a group of elves and swinging his glaive, his opponents dodging swiftly before attempting to retaliate, their curved blades. "So you're the filth these trees have bribed to their cause?" the warriors asked, Xion simply grinned before saying. "I have only been bribed by the promise of a good fight, do not disappoint me" 

Xion: (735/735) (71/72) | 116 MIT | 18 regen | 28 thorns | 9 DMG 

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

Elvish soldier: (65/65) | 30 MIT | 15 DMG

Crunch  A figure strode through the woods of the third floor of Aincrad, it's heavy, metallic footsteps disturbing the wild animals around it Crack twigs broke under it's feet as the figure, clad in black armour, emblazoned with strips of gold and a blood red continued to move through the forest, not stopping as it crushed small bugs and plant life, focusing solely on reaching it's destination, a place that the person inside of the armour needed to go to for a quest. The figure consulted it's map, noting the short distance it was from it's destination and continued on it's course, maintaining the same purposeful, but not hasty stride. 

Before long it had arrived at a particularly large tree, with life thriving all around it. "Intruder, why are you here?" said one of the trees around the figure as it revealed itself to be a treant, several more followed suit, encircling the armoured stranger. "I'm here to help you...against the elves..." it said, the voice slightly distorted behind the metal helmet. At this response some of the treant seemed more relaxed. "Really, traveller?" one of them asked, the figure nodding in response. "That is good to hear, we have been battling this arrogant invaders for months..." the treant said, before stepping forwards some more. "May we know the name, and face of our ally?". In response to this the figure removed it's helmet to reveal long blonde locks that flowed over his shoulders, his eyes, a blueish grey colour and his facial features were defined, yet not too rugged. "I am Xion: The obelisk, the aegis, the dark knight, whatever name you find most fitting" 

Going to solo this. 

~T-34~ I mean Xion reporting for meat shield duty. Will add stats later and whatnot 

ID: 68862

MD: 7 (Hit)

CD: 11 (Success) 

"Just these left, and they will die soon..." Xion said in response to Hakai's question, the boy turning to the snakes and looking at the pitiful creatures. "Going to make a last stand or just die lying down?" he asked the creatures, who responded by launching themselves at him, the tank blocked with his shield, the snake's fangs digging into his arm behind the metal barrier but he couldn't care less, his thorns killed the reptiles and they exploded into millions of blue shards. "The boss is through there..." he said, pointing towards a  shifting mass in the shadows ahead, his eyes staring ahead with cold determination. "Alright then, to battle!" he yelled with unusual gusto and charged towards the boss arena, which was a large circular arena with one large, coiled up basilisk in the centre, it's yellow reptilian eyes looking straight at the tank. Xion grinned and howled at the beast loudly, the sound echoing within the chamber loudly before the boss attacked the player, it's 3 foot long fangs digging into his shield, and the flesh behind it. "Nice try you beast" he said before pushing against the creatures as it tried it's hardest to crush him. 

H:3] Xion: (133/133) (30/32) | 101 Mit | 28 Thorns | 18 Regen | 9 DMG (-15HP +18 regen) 

[H:0] Hikoru (165/165) (19/40) | 38 Mit | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 19 Base DMG (+1/-4)

[H: 0] Hakai (84/84) (/21) | 27 Mit | 3 EVA | 2 Blight, 2 Envenom |

Basilisk: (238/256) | 112 Damage | 64MIT [TARGET: XION] 

ID: 68827

BD: 4 (Miss)
MD: 9 (Hit) 

CD: 6 (Success) 

Xion smiled as more of the snakes fell, it was good that they were making some progress, albeit slow, but progress was progress nevertheless and the tank wasn't about to complain, it wasn't like he could kill anything quicker than his companions did. At a glance it seemed like the snakes were still feeling the effects of Hakai's DOT, which Xion knew would bring their HP into a kill-able level. "Alright, we're close it would seem" he said before the snakes struck him, leaping up and attacking the less heavily armoured joints of his armour, the tank's HP dropping slightly. "Damn it all, no thorns" he said before the snakes hissed and dropped to the ground, their HP being halved by Hakai's DOT. Xion grinned and held his shield up, watching his HP regen. 

ID: 68388

MD: 4 (Miss) 

CD: 1 (fail) 

Xion shrugged as Hikoru answered him. He believed the player mostly, but still had his suspicions. Either way, the tank had more pressing things to attend to, such as making sure that his allies weren't the targets of the snake's attacks. The deceptive reptiles slinked around them, their forked tongues slipping in and out of their mouths as they hissed. "Disgusting little creatures" he tank muttered before Howling at them loudly, their heads snapping to face him before lashing out, their fangs merely scratching the metal of his armour. Not a single point of damage was dealt, much to the tank's dismay. Luckily, Hakai's DOT activated and a large chunk of their Hp disappeared. "Good work Hakai..." 

Xion smiled as Hikrou spoke to him, the dagger used seemed to have everything planned out nicely, which was good to hear as it meant that the two would have to go through less trouble to complete the quests and reap the rewards. "Of course you know shortcuts, and I can guess where they are, in the shadows by any chance?" he asked with a smile, knowing his friend's affinity with the darkness the tank was fully expecting the man to just disappear into the shadows and re-appear somewhere completely different. The tank smiled as he watched the other player's small rodent like familiar run up to him.  "I need to get myself one of those things you know...bloody adorable" he said as he admired the small creature, extending an arm to gently stroke it. "Let's move forwards then, we can't be wasting too much time although I would happily spend all day just talking with you" . Xion remarked with a chuckle before motioning for Hikoru to take the lead. 

Quote

Name: Estoc

Profession: Blacksmith

Rank: 1

 

ID: 68324

 

Roll: 11

 

Tier: 1

Type: One Handed Rapier

Quality: Rare

Enhancement: +2 Accuracy

Description: A medieval rapier that is very effective at piercing certain weak points of the enemy. It is also useful against splits of rings of chainmail or crevices of plate armor.

Approved 

Xion sighed as he stepped out of the blue teleport gate on the fifteenth floor of Aincrad, the blonde's hair was lit up by the blue otherworldly glow for a few seconds before he moved a few more steps away, stepping down from the gate and looking at his map. "He's by one of the gates...shouldn't take long" he said before walking slowly towards his friend's location, the tank continuing to walk for a few minutes before seeing the slender dagger user. He sped up, jogging as he neared. "Hikoru, good to see you again" he  said with a smile, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "So, we're gonna do that quest?" he asked, smiling as he idly sat his glaive on his shoulder, the blade of the weapon hanging a little. "I need the Sp, been too long" 

Xion chuckled at Hikoru's suggestion. "Lighten up? Sorry but I don't know the meaning of the phrase" he said jokingly as he took a seat next to the dagger user, the tank sighing as he seemed to do every 30 seconds. "I do have a trench coat if that would be better...I just feel more comfortable in my armour...I feel unprotected...almost naked without it" he said, shuddering as he thought about being unprotected. He hated the idea, his defence as everything and thus it just felt...wrong to be without any of his armour. Before long they were greeted by a low levelled player, presumably a member of this guild that Hikoru had been talking about. "Yes...we walking to discuss some things with you..." he said, before standing and looking at the player. "You seem to be low levelled...Hikoru wasn't kidding..." he noted, trying to figure out what the man's build was, not that it made much difference to the tank, it was just nice to know. 

"Closed" Read the sign hanging from the front door of the Hammer and anvil forge, the small, almost quaint seeming building was owned by Xion who was currently walking out of the front door. The blonde's unkempt locks of blonde hair somehow seemed longer than they were before although hair didn't grow in SAO, and thus the player had assumed that it was just a glitch in the system that would fix itself eventually. There was a distinct click as he closed the wooden door, his armoured hands letting go of the handle and dropping to his side. "I guess I should hurry up..." he said before heading off, his footsteps punctuated with the rattle of chains and the scraping of metal on stone. The player sighed as he walked, thinking about what he was going to do. Hikoru had invited him to a meeting with the leader of a low level guild, it would seem that the master of shadows wanted to become part of the guild, and he invited Xion to join him. The tank was...unsure, at best. He was still preparing to leave KOB, the guild that the crimson blades had become a part of, and ultimately a guild that was dying. But most importantly, a guild that forbade PKing, something that had become a barrier in Xion's way. Not that he planned to kill the leader of the guild that he was meeting, but the tank had been going through scenarios in  his head, crunching the numbers. He knew he could kill her, he had the power. He just needed a chance.

He rounded a corner and saw one of the gates leading out of the town of beginnings, walking through it and scanning the grasslands beyond. Unsurprisingly, the blonde say his friend waiting for him. "Good..." he said before slowly making his way towards the black haired dagger user, smiling as he got closer. "Hikoru...good to see you"

ID: 68090

MD: 9 (Hit)

CD: 4 (Fail) 

Xion sighed as Hakai complained again about not hitting anything. "Just don't worry...you do that too much" he said before chuckling a little,seeing how blunt his words were but shrugging as what was done was done. As the trio walked into the next area of the dungeon they were greeted by more snakes, which Xion could tell annoyed Hikoru before the tank could move the dagger user had already moved forwards but seemed to stop...out of fear, or some other unrelated reason. "Scared Hikoru...or have you been talking to him again?" the tank asked, he knew that only Hikrou would understand the last part but it was important, he didn't want his friend making the same mistakes that others had in the past. The tank then howled, the snakes instantly striking with their fangs and digging into his leg, doing a little damage and bypassing his thorns. 

ID: 67886

BD: 10 (Hit)

MD: 7 (Hit)

CD: 10 (Success) 

Xion smiled as Hikoru brought the snakes down to a very low level of HP, low enough that the tank's thorns could take them down, in fact, they would be overkill at their pitiful HP. "Well done Hikoru. Also Hakai, don't worry about not hitting. The cardinal system of this game has a sick and twisted sense of humour it seems and loves to make us miss. Happens to the elite as well as the low levels..." he said before charging at the remaining snakes, swiping at one of them and hitting for one damage. "Pitiful..." the tank remarked before all of the snakes bit into him, Xion smiled as they HP dropped and they all exploded into crystals. "Now..." he said, walking further into the dungeon. "We have some more to kill, let's not waste time" 

[H:3] Xion: (133/133) (30/32) | 101 Mit | 28 Thorns | 18 Regen | 9 DMG (-4hp +18 regen) 

[H:0] Hikoru (165/165) (33/40) | 38 Mit | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 19 Base DMG (+1, -4)

[H: 0] Hakai (84/84) (20/21) | 27 Mit | 3 EVA | 2 Blight, 2 Envenom |

Snake 1: 0/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MIT (-28 thorns) 

Snake 2: 0/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MIT(-28 thorns) 

Snake 3: 0/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MIT(-28 thorns) 

Snake 4: 0/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MI(-28 thorns) 

I still need to be put into the 25-39 : D 

ID: 67815

BD: 2 (Miss) 

MD: 1 (Miss) 

Xion watched as the other two attacked, Hakai running in first as she missed with her attack. The tank sighed, he had expected a result like that as cardinal wasn't all too kind when it decided which strikes found their marks and which didn't, and it definitely tended to prefer the latter. Next was Hikoru with his dagger, and, unsurprisingly the black haired master of shadows was able to land a decently powerful AOE attack on the creatures which was able to deplete a good chunk of their HP. "Good work Hik" he said before swinging himself, missing but the tank couldn't care less as the snakes fangs scraped harmlessly against his armour. "One more round should do it if we hit our attacks" he said before assuming a defensive position again.  

[H:3] Xion: (133/133) (30/32) | 101 Mit | 28 Thorns | 18 Regen | 9 DMG

[H:0] Hikoru (165/165) (36/40) | 38 Mit | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 19 Base DMG

[H: 0] Hakai (84/84) (20/21) | 27 Mit | 3 EVA | 2 Blight, 2 Envenom |

Snake 1: 42/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MIT

Snake 2: 42/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MIT

Snake 3: 42/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MIT

Snake 4: 42/64 | 48 Damage Per Hit | 16 MI

Xion watched as the others took down the last of the mobs that they needed to kill to enter the boss room, the blonde smiling as he looked to the others, some of which seemed a tad tired, but that was to be expected to an extent as they were facing one of the harder types of dungeons. "This was easier than expected...although to be honest I didn't expect anything really so that statement is sort of redundant..." the tank said to the others with a small chuckle as he sighed and leaned against the walls of the dungeon, idly drawing in the ground with the blade of his glaive, cutting a neat "X" into the earth with a small smile. "Anyway, I assume that we're nearly ready to take on whatever beast awaits us yes?" he asked the others as he adjusted his grip on his weapon. "Hopefully we can kill this boss quickly and get some SP, not to mention loot if we find a chest"