Hirru

"It's good to see that we're getting somewhere with.."

The Jade Hunter scrunched his nose, before covering it with his hand.  Quickly going through his menu, he equipped his forest cloak to pull the extra cloth around his mouth and nose.

"..And I thought I experienced enough in here."

He would sigh softly before looking over everyone.  Sensory issues have been a pain in his arse since he could remember.  Not being able to feel pain, but know when something is supposed to hurt from memory alone?  Every dull throb would register as pain, if not for the human mind taking care of most of that.  Taste and smell were still an issue though.  One couldn't get sick or nauseous, but that didn't mean the gag reflex was still there.  He felt like throwing up then an there, but the cloth kept most of the issue at bay.

"Let's get this over with already."

Hirru Stats (Buffs applied in scouting thread)

Several things were happening all at once, and the hunter had to analyze all of the information that was taken.  NIGHT had found the slums some time ago, but they still had to make sure that Cro was okay.  Alone in a new floor was not something for a lone player to be in.  Especially if there were unexpected variables on this floor.  NIGHT had said that this entire floor was a central city-state for an empire.  Hirru didn't really understand what an empire was, but the few kingdoms on several different floors would give him a slight idea.  If this was a gigantic version of those, then they could expect the nobles to be..

*ping*

A sudden message from Cro announcing his location at the Noble District.  He said he was going to find them soon, but only after he shook off some.. guards?  As soon as that message came up, he got another message from NIGHT.  She was sending coordinates for her location in the slums.  Baldur and Lessa seemed to have just as much of a issue with the children as they had.  Macradon did the smart thing and started a party for everyone, while asking if they had any coordinates from NIGHT yet.

"Yeah, it seems she found..."

*ping*ping*ping*ping*

Several messages from NIGHT this time.  Coordinates kept changing, as if she kept going deeper.  The hunter sighed.  Inquisitive will be inquisitive, it seemed.  One message, however, made him tense up.  A large door surrounded by ugly grim and algae covered masonry.  NIGHT did say that the sewers were probably their best bet, but the figure that stood before it.  Didn't seem right for a labyrinth guardian, if that could even be counted as one.

"Nevermind, NIGHT found what could be the labyrinth entrance.  She sent Cro her coordinates, I'll give everyone else the coordinates too."

He said while sending everyone the last three area codes, including the attached image of the door and the "labyrinth guardian" that NIGHT had sent him, for further use.  It was at that time that they were slightly reunited with a strangely dressed Crozeph.  He sighed a bit when he heard that Cro had not gotten rid of his pursuers.

"We're leaving, then!  Let's get out of here and find NIGHT."

Quote

To: @NIGHT

From: Hirru

>We're on our way.
>Do not engage, unless you think you can handle a tier 4 field boss by yourself.

Starting off at a brisk pace after sending that message out, they would head through the alleyways, following the first set of coordinates that NIGHT sent to reach the downward ramp that would suggest the slums.  Fearing for a confrontation, the hunter switched out Favor of the Golden Dragon for his iconic red plated armor, Bulwark, that covered only one arm with full plate gauntlet and pauldron.  His old armor from that day, that he converted to fulfill its purpose on a higher tier.

It would probably take a bit to reach NIGHT, but he hoped she wouldn't go out of her way to fight a Guardian alone.  They didn't have Freyd here to one shot the thing, so it would take all of their efforts for this.

"Let's not keep her waiting, anymore."

As they entered into the slums....

Equipment Change: Favor of the Golden Dragon -3 LD -> Bulwark +107 MIT (72 armor + 35 skill) = 167 MIT

His intuition paid off, it seemed, as NIGHT acknowledged Hirru's request and went out to follow the children.  To be fair with it all, he really didn't know.  He barely even registered that NIGHT was a two handed sword user, like himself.  So why did he call her out?  He took a gamble with assumptions and relatively no information to go off of.  He could have gone to a stretch of info by saying she was quite inquisitive, but the hunter had only just met her.  He could have asked about their abilities before setting off to know better, but he didn't.  So why did he say something now?  He just assumed a possibility, and let his luck be his guide.  So far, that has been all he has been doing now.  Coasting off of the fumes of luck and bull that let him through to this point, Hirru could only wait until karma came crashing down upon him.

Sometime passed while awaiting NIGHT and her reconnaissance mission that the hunter had sent her on, a thought came to him.  When they do find these slums, where will they go next?  Just finding the slums shouldn't automatically give them the labyrinths location, unless the slums were the labyrinth, that is.  Hirru thought about it for a bit, but dismissed the lot of it.  It was very unlikely to come to that.

No sooner that he thought that, did NIGHT send him the message.  Looking around, he would find that a certain individual was missing.  The dark-haired individual named Crozeph had disappeared.  Looking around, the hunter could not see anything from the large crowds starting to form around some of the merchants.

"Where's Crozeph?"

He asked before sending a quick message back.

Quote

To: @NIGHT
From: Hirru

Good, get back here as soon as possible.

We may need to find Crozeph too.

The two boys were starting to get rather worried when three new people came towards them.  The green haired one was still looking at them rather quizzically.  A young woman came around beside him, kneeling down to their level, and presented a pouch of col.  Another two men seemed to be presenting something different than coin.  There was a slight aroma coming from them, and it seemed to entice the younger, more quieter child.  The older boy felt his brother leave his side, the younger one seeming to reach out to the candy.  The older one grabbed his hand, but the gaze of the silver haired man behind the green haired one was giving him the harshest of gazes.  It would go away for a bit when the man was given the candy from before, and seemed to eat the candy; wrapper and all.  It made the younger boy chuckle a bit, and the older one was shifting his eyes from the coin purse, to the candy, to the faces of everyone.  The words from everyone seemed to slightly ease the older boy, but not by much.  A tug at his sleeve made him turn to his brother.

"Brother, they don't look like they would hurt us."

"We can't say t'at t'ey're not Inquisitors.  You remember Zashua, don't you."

The older brother, it seemed instantly caught his mouth before saying anymore.  The little one's eyes grew wide and shrunk back behind his brother.  There seemed to be something more at work than the hunter originally thought.  However, the children didn't seem to want to talk any more.  They slowly backed away before running around a corner.  The hunter would hold his arm out to halt anyone that tried to follow, except one.

"NIGHT, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're a stealth based player.  Sorry to ask but, could you stealth up and follow them?  See if we can gain anything out of following the little ones.  If not, we're gonna be sitting on our butts about this, unless we find a better lead."

The hunter seemed to sigh before wondering what was really going on behind him.  He could not see Baldur or Lessa.  Did they go to seek information some place else?  Standing up to find Macradon behind him really startled, as he was not expecting him to be so close.  It seemed that Crozeph had got Mac to enact one of his little blunders.  It made the hunter feel slightly better that the Mac he knew was still there.  Other than that, it seemed that Crozeph had focused on something and went to find Baldur. 

It would just be him and Mac.

Letting everyone banter to each other while they figured out what to do next, the hunter seemed to be left alone.  Baldur and Lessa seemed to know each other from quite some time ago.  The hunter remembered that Baldur was quite well known before they met.  How far back did Hirru go?  The hunter couldn't say for certain, as there as a point where even he couldn't remember much.  It was still fuzzy..

too fuzzy.  He could only assume he was there at the beginning, where everyone else was.  Maybe, interaction with more people would help, but that would take time.  It worked with Hestia.  Maybe, it will work with Mac.  He looked to the knight in his formal wear, and the colors of the suit shut Hirru up.  Those colors were once a proper uniform and form of being for the hunter.  The KoB were his family and home for so long, even before when the Crimson Blades were first created.  His heart was torn to leave the guild.  So hard that he fell into a cold state of depression, as Hirru kept a small glimmer of hope, thinking that he would be forgiven.  That everything would be okay.  It wasn't until after the 'Storm' that he took it upon himself to seek the forgiveness, or at least, seek the consequences that he deserved for his actions.  That has given him a new goal to seek out each player that he wronged, and speak to them about it.  Talk it out the best he could.  Let them know.. why it all happened.

His mind was pulled back to reality from listen to Night, Cro, and Mac talk.  They seemed to deduce that some underground caverns or sewers were the proper way to go.  That would require finding some slums or peasant quarters that could link to the underworld.  Cro even suggested, as he pointed them all out, to talk to the children around the area.  Maybe they would know something.  Baldur furthered that to trying the children of the slums.

"We let's see what we can do to get some information out of the kids."

The hunter didn't really want to deal with the children.  He already lost everything from one child.  He didn't need to work around more, but this was gonna be required.  Walking close to one of the alleyways, he stood beside it before peering around.  Two boys seemed to fall backwards from surprise.  One of them got back up and was immediately defensive.

"Hey, watch w;ere yer goin, huh!"

The other one, a more timid lad, seemed to be hiding behind the other one.

"Please don't hurt us."

They both seemed to be rather ragged, but the holes in their clothes were patched up fairly well.  Their hair was partially well kept, but the black stains upon their skin would portray a harsher environment to live in.

"Excuse me?  Didn't mean to scare you.  Just wondering if you know of any weird or fun places to play or hide in.  This place seems far too noisy, and I could use a quieter place."

Hirru was taking a whim here, and it was probably going to backfire.  He wasn't much for subtlety, and it was costing him now.  He has tried to keep things simple for the boys

Macradon's words seemed to cut the hunter.  They felt like that had no feeling in them, as if the hunter was not worth it to him.  Hirru understood that much, he guessed.  The hunter did betray Macradon and everyone else on that forsaken floor.  Though, the hunter wanted to clarify the reasoning, since Baldur already knew and would be a needed companion for this discussion; now was not the time or place for it.  Especially when something else happened.

A sudden bit of dust was kicked up in front of him before a new sight was brought to his attention.  A young lady with black hair seemed to have stopped near the them; inquiring about the hunter himself.  Swiping the dust out of his face, he could talk a bit better to the lady.  It seemed she was accompanied by another woman.  Blonde and a bit more well dressed than the other.

"Yes, I am Hirru.  Thank you both for coming by.  The samurai beside me is Baldur and you already got acquainted with Macradon."

Introductions were presented at this point.  The short black haired one was NIGHT, a bit of an odd one but quite inquisitive.  The blonde one called Lessa, which he had no proper introduction to yet.  He got a chuckle out of NIGHT's 'lack of resume / form'.

"I don't know what that means, but we have never needed something along those lines.  Oh!"

It seemed that another had joined too.  Hirru heard the words Crow, which could only mean that this one was the Crozeph that he messaged.

"You must be Crozeph, I presume?  I think that makes all of us, then.  If no one has any luck based buffs, I have some if needed."

With that, the hunter noticed that Mac didn't want to waste any more time and was already heading out.

"Oh.. Okay, let's get going then, everyone!  Though, does anyone have any thoughts to where we should start as we walk?"

Although, the hunter was expecting a crowd, he was not expecting the ones that came.  Looking back at the message for a moment, he was able to see all to whom the message was forwarded.  There were two players that he did not recognize from the forwarded names: Night and Crozeph.  It looked like Night was sending him some cryptic messages, but the hunter seemed to understand slightly.  Since they didn't know him, it would be obvious that this circumstance would be weird.  Hirru would respond in kind.

While he sent his message, he would see a familiar face approach: an azure samurai.

Quote

To: Night, Crozeph

From: Hirru

My apologies for not giving specifics.  Please meet outside the teleporter in the Concordance Commons, you'll see two individuals.  One with green hair and another in a blue haori with a katana.  That will be us.  We'll be waiting.  

As he sent the message, he would turn to his friend and breath a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you got the message, Baldur.  No, I don't know much about this floor, except what I see here.  I have been on quests to realize a new form of combat, which has helped me a little with my swordsmanship.  Now, I don't feel like I'm copying a certain someone."

A small message came from someone he didn't expect, but would dismiss it for now.

"I sent out a missive to whomever I knew, but it seems that my message was received by two others.  A player named Night and another Crozeph.  Do you know either of.."

A striking figure came into the mix. One that Hirru could never forget, which made his eyes widen in both fear and anguish.

"..them."

He had gotten the man's letter, but never figured he would actually come.  It was him.. The silver haired knight and Hirru's former guild mate..,

"Macradon.."

Hirru mumbled softly.  He was not ready for the reunion to be now.  The knight seemed to wave at them, but the hunter was sure that if he said anything specific, he would lose any sway in this matter.  He slightly shot his eyes downward and gave a low sigh.  This was going to happen sooner or later.  It may as well be now.  Raising his head, he would look towards his former brother-in-arms.

"Macradon, thank you for coming."

It was a small gesture, but the hunter would hand out a food bar to both Baldur and Macradon.

"We'll be needing as much luck to add to our search as possible.  I know this isn't much, but this is only the start."

Looking to the both of them trying to smile.

Offering to party

• Berry Crumb Bars [189098, 189098-1, 189098-2, 189103, 189107] +3 LD

Hirru went out to find the cook that he had bought the many different consumables from before.  It didn't seem to be too hard of a venture, but it seemed that the wayward cook liked to travel as much as the Merchant did.  After a time of searching around, the hunter could see a familiar looking area in a small grove ahead.

"I know I'm hard to find, but sheesh man!"

The hunter poked his head out of the wagon before it would come to a halt before the grove.  Walking over, the green haired man would grin and ask.

"Might I ask you for some of your finest feasts?"

Purchases:

• Crème Brûlée | ACCURACY II | 300col | [18/04/20] | TIER 1 | (12) [12 Mats]
  • Requesting Feast made from 2 of them.
• Yaki Hatahata | MITIGATION III | Price varies | 3 materials | [07/05/21] | TIER 4 | (11) [33 Mats
  • Requesting Feast made from 2 of them
• Berry Crumb Bars | LOOT DIE III | 500col | 2 materials | [13/05/21] | ( 7) [14 Mats]
  • Requesting Feast made from 2 of them

Total Expenditures:

• 59 Mats

An Empirical Matter

(Message on #Frontlines before joining thread)

This was something new to the hunter.  All other floors were much more open and spacious.  The wilds were somewhere, even if the vegetation and fauna were dead, they had an area.  Ruins, creatures, and the unknown were his Forte.

This was none of that, exempt from the unknown.

Ladonia, an empire nation that was growing quite a bit, and was hitting a new peak.  Their grand vision, Imperial and opulent, would create a grand city-state the which no one has seen before.  However, the stench of sovereignty was always foul, and it could be seen even in the Concordance Commons.  It seems like this place was a safe place, but for how long?

Looking around, the hunter sent out a message:

Quote

 

To: [insert name here]

From: Hirru

I may not be the best to say this, but I want to find the next Labyrinth.  We have been stagnant for far too long.  Will you join me?

 

The Jade Hunter removed his crimson cloak and armor.  This first part wouldn't require those for a while.  Instead, he had his black sleeveless turtleneck covering his chest while the silver and gold bangles, Spirit and Favor respectively, lay upon each of his wrists.  His green hair was still held up by his red headband, which still carried Lun'Rial's Insignia.  This would be quite the venture, if they can keep out of trouble.  Taking everything in stride though, he would use his buffs.  There could still be Labyrinth Guardians that would make fighting without armor an issue.

The hunter then realized that he just sent an unaddressed letter.

"Wait, who did I send that to?"

Consumed:

• T4 Map -> Team Size 4->6
• Lemon Berry Palmier [186761] -> +3 LD
• Creme Brulee [189092] -> +2 ACC
• Yaki Hatahata [189834] -> +60 MIT
• Field Ration -> +86 Max HP
• Immolation Potion T4 -> +40 Thorns

Offering to anyone that asks:

• Berry Crumb Bars [189098, 189098-1, 189098-2, 189103, 189107] +3 LD

Stats: 

• 10 Field Rations          [10000 Col]
• 10 Immolation Potions T4  [12000 Col]
• 5 Golden Keys            [5000 Col]
• 10 Blank Map T4.        [4000 col]

Total Expenditures:  31000 Col

This was the first time that the hunter was in such a weird place.  Everyone there seemed like they were top dog and were more important than him.  Even though he had never met any of them, he was somehow knew their names.  What sort of place was this that could beam such thoughts into ones mind.  The hunter thought about that last part for a second and remembered what Shield had said once.  Everyone had some kind of helmet on their heads in real life that was giving them sensations through some sort of wavelength that could be used and read by the brain, and read back into the machine to give them the movement in this world.  It was odd, but quite intriguing, at the same time.

Coming up to the event vender, she seemed a little skittish, but a little bundle of joy all together.

"Oh yes, I'll have one of those Gungnir shards and a set or two of the platinum keys please."

Hirru buys:

The two of them were exchanging hard and heavy blows to the giant troll, and it had shown.  Of course, Freyd had dealt the most massive amount of damage that the hunter had seen yet, but it seemed to take a told on him.  The hunter couldn't have the troll try to target his friend, so as Perci did his thing, the hunter rushed forward like he had before against the Hassan.  A deadly slash would sever the shattered arm before plunging the blade deep into the trolls chest, like a spider clamping down onto a person's skin.  His two handed sword may have been a small toothpick to the giant troll, but that didn't mean it couldn't cause significant damage.  A low groan would escape its lips before it shattered into nothing.

Falling onto his arse, the hunter used his sword as leverage to get back up.

"Remind me to not be on top of the boss when we finish it."

He chuckles a little.  This was what he missed the most.  Nothing formal, and not requiring haste.  Just two friends, sharing stories and kicking arse.  Speaking of stories..

"You know, I still don't know much about you, and I just spilled a huge amount in the past few days.  Least, I could get is a little story from you, but again, it doesn't have to be today."

Loot [ID: 197630] [CD: 8] [LD: 4+8=12]

• Col [Even x2]: 3100*7= 21700 Col
• T3 Rare Weapon [197630a]
• T3 Uncommon Consumable [197630b]

Summary

The red skinned troll had gotten up at this point, and aimed his attack towards the dark haired, red eyed one.  His fist was about to connect before a swirling light would spin around his arm, carving a path of orange scars along the whole of the arm.  A large impact upon his forearm would throw the punch way off the mark, and into the adjacent wall.  Looking at the wound, in a large crater in his skin, the troll could see the green haired swordsman with his blade still stuck within the creature.  As it pulled its arm back, the hunter would pull out from the creatures flesh and retreat as far as he could.

"Try not to over do yourself, Freyd.  If the stench is getting to you, then we can end him quickly enough.  I just shattered his mitigation a bit."

He would then smile a little.

"Thank you for being honest about it."

"Huh?"

The hunter was speechless.  This was really the first time that someone didn't understand what was going on, but that seemed to dawn on the hunter too.  His betrayal wasn't fully going out.  Could it be that Hikki boi was suppressing the information, was it all just the front liners of that day that knew of the events of that day.

"Oh.. I.."

The hunter pulled out a teleportation crystal from his battle ready pack.  He waved it around a bit, as Hirru remembered what happened.

"In the Council fight, one of the five members was a small boy called Durares.  He was essentially the healer and prophet? for the group.  He could use this deck of cards to apply buffs and debuffs while healing select council members.  We had already killed two of the most dangerous ones, and it was beginning to look like we would be able to resolve the battle rather peacefully after killing the main leader, Isaxi.  Unfortunately, Durares had painted himself as a more desirable target as the squishy healer, and no one else would listen to what I or any of the other two were asking to spare him and kill Isaxi."

Hirru held his arms out wide, making himself look bigger than he really was. 

"There was another of the Council, Evahira.  She seemed to be protecting Durares, but not from obligation, more from kinship.  Like a brother-sister, or something along those lines.  So, I put my body on the line.  I chose to be a second shield, and gave them my only teleportation crystal to leave.  It was given to the boy, whom was able to use it.  In the meantime; I was shoved aside, stabbed, and ridiculed for being a f*cking dumbass for betraying my words and betraying everyone there."

The hunter lowered his arms while putting the crystal back.  He didn't have time to be trading tales right now.  Ugzeke was his target now, not Durares.

"So that's my crime.  I have my reasons for what I did, but I hope you sort of understand.  An A.I. that can nearly replicate a proper being, especially a child haunts me."

Hirru said while running up to the bum bum of a mob and sank Shelob's Fang into his achilles tendon once more, stunning him in place.  

"Heh, Oikawa wasn't one of us.  He was apart of another guild, but still got roped into the assassination of Zelrius.  No, the third vice-commander was our good old Mack himself.  The boisterous man self promoted himself the moment Opal killed Ssendom.  At least he kept the ball rolling for a while, and we kept plowing through each hurdle.  Until he disappeared, that is.  He's didn't turn mad, or at least we don't think he did, but anyone would with little Chewie destroying your food stock."

The hunter began to smile a bit more.

"After some time, we got another player by the name of Lowenthal to take the mantle.  He was once an orange player, for reasons he did not want to explain.  However, he was one of the first to show me that the book isn't judged by it's cover, or so that saying goes.  After some time though, I found out from an old friend of both Lowenthal and myself that Lowe had passed away; taken from us by another player.  I've been told that he grew mad, and threw himself into their spear.  He had had enough of this twisted world."

His eyes fell now to his partner and newly found friend.

"And you guessed right..  I guess I'm too easy to read, huh.  That's right."

He would stop to meet Freyd up front.

"I was the last Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, and traitor to everyone that lived and died here in Aincrad.  I went against my word to free everyone to let a little boy go free."

His hands tightened.  He didn't care about revealing that he was a traitor, that he had betrayed everyone because a digitally created child feared for their life.

"Was it sentimentality?  Pretty sure if was..  Can you blame me for being sentimental?  Of course you can!  You understand that this world is fake!"

Full energy regen

"I don't know who that was.  He could have been a subordinate of the old Council, or he could have been part of something new.  All I know was that he knew something about the last boss of the 23rd boss raid."

The hunter sighed normally now, as the talking was getting him to calm down a little more.  Though, the information within would put him on edge.

"You're right that some of us got sentimental.  One tried talking to them, which kind of worked, but only to get some information out of them.  Another would try enticing the bosses to stop fighting, it never really did well either.  Then there was the third one.  He chose a more direct approach.  At some point, that man went mad, and used his own body to protect one of the bosses, a young dark elf boy named Durares.  This was all after making an oath to protect the people of Aincrad and ensure their future.  What a sham.."

He was beating himself up now.

"He was the last Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, and now the Traitor to all players, for giving the boy a chance to escape.. to live."

Pulling the sword out of the ground, and returned it to his scabbard.  There would be a short trek to the Underdark, but enough time to continue on.

"Let's go.. I'll tell you more before we hit Ugzeke."

2/3 energy regen
3/3 Charge recharge

Hirru's rage didn't seem to subside as the form of the man was destroyed, being weaved into the mass that was Freyd's weapon.  The only thing he could see from the Hassan was the mask revealing a grave smile and a small mouthing of words.

'Good luck'

"GAAAHH!!"

The hunter pierced the ground with his sword.  Another one died before giving him any information about the whereabout of Durares.  He would have to get in contact with Baldur to head into another den.  They were the only dungeons that seemed to give him any sort of closure.  Still slightly pissed, the hunter sighed to relieve some pressure, but all that came out was a low growl.  Freyd seemed to be asking more questions, and the hunter would oblige.

"Yeah, I was.  It was a shit show in the making.  We were doing fine, and were mostly prepared for anything that the Council would throw at us."

He picked himself up with Shelob's Fang still stuck in the ground.

"We didn't account for one of our own to try and stop us."

1/3 Energy Regen
2/3 Charge

The figure couched from the strain to his old body, but it was nothing compared to the efforts of his predecessors.  He grunted before holding his ribs, there wasn't much time left in his life to waste it on this.  The dark haired one had asked him a question, and he could only cackle through the rasping coughs.  A dark shriveled hand appeared from under the robes pointing towards the hunter.

"I would like to say the same to him, but it is easily seen where his allegiance lies.  I wonder.  How is the boy?"

At the mention of 'the boy', the hunter instantly knew where this was going.  His breathing started to haggard before his teeth clenched and it became a growl.  Springing forward, the hunter immediately re-engaged with the masked figure.  His Fang sank into the cloaked figure square in the chest, the venom that coated the blade seeping into the orange digital gashes.

"Where is he!"

The hunter bellowed out before ripping the blade out of the grand assassin.

"Huh..?  Oh.. yeah.  Life does indeed suck at times, and it's been doing it quite a bit lately."

The hunter found himself realizing that he was going off on one of his tangents.  If he could, Hirru would talk all day and night about the exploits and antics of the Blades / Knights.  They were all hilarious and precious memories for him.  The hunter's eyes seemed to downcast a little before bouncing back up.  They may have been his past, but all of those memories were what made him what he was now.  Who knew what he would be if he hadn't have met Xion at that faithful fountain in the Town of Beginnings.  Would his mind have gone towards a darker path, pursuing vanity?  He shuddered under the thought.

Soon after Freyd had settled their business with the other two, a different ping would ring out, one right behind him.  An emergency AOE would rip through his surrounding to keep the mob from hitting him from behind.  A figure in a cloak seemed to have caught in his AOE, which seemed to shred a bit of its cloak's hood.  Underneath it was a weird mask, he didn't know what it was about, but it seemed purposeful.

"That was a little too close for comfort."

"Oikawa has since redeemed himself, and has been an active member in the front lines.  He may also be taking a break from the stress the front gives, though."

He chuckled a bit before noticing two more mobs lying in wait far from the caravan itself.

"Opal, however, claimed herself a member of a player killer guild named, Laughing Coffin.  She still came to the front lines to help, but it seemed that she had ulterior motives.  In the end, she died too."

The hunter would never tell that Opal fought against Laughing Coffin from the inside and died trying.  It was all in a final message she had sent to him with coordinates for the hideouts of the player killer guild.  They were all empty now, as many high end players hunted them down.

"Don't know much about a Mari, though."

There was only so much one can learn.  The only info about a Mari comes from the mythical '1st year'.  A time in Aincrad history where few players roamed and they were legendary beings.  One could not believe that a single man could solo a floor boss, but that was the myth of the seventh floor boss.  No one can fully say if the tales were real, except those that were there.

Hirru flashed in from around the hill and surprised one, but the other noticed his presence and jumped away.

"Got two more here!"

Realizing that he may have overstepped a bound that he shouldn't have taken.  After acknowledging the answer to her question, the hunter noticed that the lady before him straightened up and her eyes were actually paying him far too much attention than what he called for.  He would hold his hands up, palms out in a show of no harm, though she didn't seem care about that.  She introduced herself as YenaZoul, but prefered Yen for short, it seemed.  The hunter would oblige the introduction with his own.  He was also impressed by her acknowledgement of him not being a full resident of the first floor.  Nothing gets by the residents of the Town of Beginnings, they're always observant.

"Well, hello Yen.  My name is Jade Hunter, Hirru.  You can just call me Hirru, though.  I'm a hunter of treasure and loot, and the jade is.. well."

He pointed to his hair that she seemed to understand well was quite weird.

"It's meant for luck, not that that has helped much.  I was heading towards a new dungeon that opened up on the first floor recently.  How about you?  Just planning on writing your.. novel, is that it?"

Hirru liked to ramble, but that's what happens when someone with so much information has time to himself.  Since he had lost most of his memories from before Sword Art Online, Hirru had only read a few books in game, but they were the 'information in the middle of the book' deal that only required a page or two of reading to get what he needed.  There weren't that many books out there that could be seen as actually player made, except for some player guides made by beta testers back in the early days.  The hunter always wondered where those B.T's went.

@YenaZoul

While switching out his bangle for the armor more suited for combat, the hunter would continue recalling his past.

"I've done a bit of research into it, and it stands to reason that anyone that took the Vice-Commander role within the Knights of the Blood Oath would find themselves going mad, die or go missing.  Each of the five Vice-Commanders we had seemed to have one of the three things happen, if not a combination of them all.  I don't know why some of them did what they did, or why.  I'm still wonder if one of them will truly come back, and I'm just looking at the Monument of Life for a false sense of hope that they're name doesn't get slashed through."

The hunter slowed down a bit, squeezing his eyelids together to not let anything out.  This wasn't the time for tears to blind him.

"There was a former vice commander before any of us had joined.  He didn't seem maddened, but the conditions did lead into the situation with the next Vice Commander.  She was Opal; a fine leader, and an excellent katana user.  Whenever our Commander wasn't leading us, she would be there, cutting through quests and dungeons that we would venture through to level everyone up.  She did have a slightly warped sense of humor, and would try seducing anyone she could." 

"It was when I joined and very short lived that she was with us.  The former vice, Azide had died on the fourteenth floor raid due to miscalculation and rushed planning due to the leader of another guild, Zelrius of Azure Brigade.  He and another called Ssendom were two players that held the Unique Skills 'Dual Blades' and ' Berserker' respectively.  They were meant to be heroes that would help us burn through the castle Aincrad..."

"They brought sorrow and ruin instead.  Both of them had been known to kill players that were just coming out of the first floor, for no good reason except they talked to them wrong.  Their guild would hoard the demonic rewards they claimed, as they were always the ones to fight and finish the bosses back then.  They rushed through without thinking, and it caused inexcusable deaths.  They deserved to be rotting in the Black Palace, but they didn't deserve to die like that."

"I guess that was why she took the opportunity to do so.  Before the 15th floor boss raid, outside the very gates of the boss room; Vice Commander Opal and one other, by the name of Oikawa, staged an assassination against the two most powerful players in the game..."

His voice seemed to crack as the last part came out.

"..and they succeeded."

Favor of the Gold Dragon replaced with Bulwark  (3LD -> 107 MIT)

Hirru |  HP:806/806 | EN:110/110 (Full Regen)| DMG: 26 | Mit: 167 | TRN: 30 | ACC: 7 | EVA: 3 | LD: 8 | PAR: 1 | ENVENOM: 32/4

"Oh don't worry.  If I'm fully lucked out, the amount of dungeons that are seen are incredibly stupid.  As long as they are within my range of sight, then I will always find one.  It's just a matter of which one to pick from."

The hunter would boast while slightly trying to imitate a certain two handed axe wielder.  It made him laugh a little before returning his accent back to normal.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to boast like that.  Just recalling those guys gets me back into my old spirits.  I'm sure they're all still out there somewhere."

He would continue on from where he left off.  As they walked through the main tunnel towards the surface, they would pass the old ruin that was the last dungeon, which had a bright red indicator around it, meaning it was already used and entry was barred.  This could be seen quite a bit on floors that were hunted and grinded on.  Probably half of these were from Freyd's handiwork.

"To understand what happened on the 15th floor and onward, I have to tell you about the 'Curse of the Vice Commander', or so I've affectionately named it."

Hirru would say while pointing towards a broken down and heavily rotted wagon.  Behind it, he could see a few dark elf assassins sitting in waiting.

"Just behind that wagon will be our next dungeon, it seems."

Dungeon Found! [ID: 197581 ] [LD: 1+14= 15 (11+2 (Reveal) + 1 (Detect))]

Hirru |  HP:806/806 | EN:110/110 (Full Regen)| DMG: 26 | Mit: 60 | TRN: 30 | ACC: 7 | EVA: 3 | LD: 11 | PAR: 1 | ENVENOM: 32/4

"The Knights of the Blood Oath, huh?"

The hunter took the two potions and stared drinking them one at a time.

"Well, we were one of the top three guilds to rush through the Frontline.  Before I started to help around the eighteenth floor raid, I believe we've officially been around since the 13th floor boss raid.  At that point in time, we were actually a merger between the KoB, and the Crimson Blades, a little guild of boisterous idiots that couldn't do no wrong.  That is where I joined in."

A huge smile ran across the jade hunter's face.  The memories of Mack, Xion, and Beoreson going through the first labyrinth, even though it was already cleared.  A landmark for the four of them, and a story he would love to recall some time, but it was not this day.  It was the ground work for Mack to create the Crimson Blades with the three and four others.  However, Hirru did not see it well enough to join them, and parted ways, only to be seen as their 'solo ambassador' of sorts.  Hirru regretted not joining them then.

"If you count Crimson's attendance, they were there for the eleventh and twelfth.  All through a heavy duty leader named Mack.  He was the start of our rise to fame, you could say.  Charismatic and boisterous as all hell.  He could talk your ear off and fling you at a boss fully buffed before you knew it."

"We were doing well with the largest guild numbers, at the time."

Hirru sighed before his face grew stern yet his eyes bore a sadness to them.

"Until the 15th floor raid.."

The hunter looked up, realizing that they had not teleported to a new floor.  

"Wait, where are we going?  This is still the seventh floor?"

"Thank you."

He would say before sitting down opposite to her.  She really didn't seem to mind, or was it that she didn't care?  The hunter could not tell.  Though, the sound of her voice trailing a bit was concerning.  It had been a little over two years since everyone got stuck in this game.  It could take a heavy toll on those that decided to keep safe in the Town of Beginnings.  He wanted to say something or ask, but that was poor form.  Everyone was there at some point, or another.  In facts, Hirru himself..

Instead, he would take an order from one of the NPC waiters that frequently roam the tavern.  The soup of the day seemed to be good, so he ordered one of those and waited for it to be done.  He would look out the window to catch the suns rays before noticing that the woman before him was now eating her sandwich while still writing.  It was intriguing that she was using paper rather than using the notes system within the communications menu.  Curiosity would get the better of him when she sort of spoke aloud that she needed a villain.  Was she writing a book?  The hunter could barely tell from the other side of the table.  He sighed before taking his gaze towards the pages themselves.  All he could make out something about a battle and a heroine coming over to help.

"A villian, huh?  Maybe try betrayal?"

He shrugged before sitting back in his seat.

@YenaZoul