Aereth

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING!

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Important Notice:
This [OP] thread will be changed over to a [PP] thread once 1-4 more players have joined. This isn't a hard cap, so if there are more who want to join DM me. I just don't want to have a thread with TOO many participants, since it can get very tedious very rapidly when trying to keep up and respond to 10 posts at once. xD
In this thread anybody is free to attack and attempt to kill Aereth if it would make a good story, aligns with how characters usually act or have a legit reason to want Aereth gone. If you character wants to kill Aereth, please contact me over DM or Discord so we can talk about the details. As soon as the details are clear you get green light to kill him. (But be aware that Aereth will strike back if he gets attacked. He is Nr. 1 on the kill scoreboard at all.  ;) )

Also this doesn't mean that you can't join if you don't want to fight him and don't hesitate to join since Aereth won't attack anybody without reason and a warning (OOC) beforehand. This thread is OP because I want to get Aereth some interaction with other characters, maybe old acquaintances, maybe completely foreign players. I'm open for anything. So if you are just interested in some RP with my char thats also perfectly fine.

The point of this thread for me personally is to re-establish Aereths character after my long absence. So if you enjoy stories with a little bit of a more serious tone to it then drop by and lets have some fun.

01:34
Outskirts of Taft

Many months have passed since the brunette had ventured into the depths of the Laughing Coffin hideout. How he made it out, he still didn't really understand, but from his perspective it seemed like there has been a raid on the base where he was held captive... Hmmm... To be completely honest, held captive was somehow the wrong way to describe it, but this is a story for another day... Anyway, something happened and he among the other prisoners was set free.

Was Laughing Coffin gone?

If they weren't, would they come for him, in order to take him back?

Well, he didn't really care. He stopped caring the day he finally got what he always wanted... Bittersweet revenge...

His gaze was empty and his steps were slow and heavy, which made it seem like he was aimlessly wandering about, but for him his goal was clear. He needed something to drink. Something strong. And although it was unfortunately not possible for him to get drunk in this virtual hellhole, he still longed for the taste and the imaginary sensation and relief that came with that taste. And so he was making his way to the only player run bar outside of the safety of the safe zones.

Once you choose a path... You have to walk it to the bitter end. That was Aereth's philosophy ever since he picked up his first weapon. 

"Thank you Itzal. I'll miss you too.." he said as he got back up from the fist to his face. "Don't worry. I already visited everybody that I care for." Though he wasn't sure if they really saw him, he was sure that they knew he was there. "You were the last one... The most important one. You helped me at my weakest, and for that I'm more grateful than words can describe. Don't cry for me when I don't return. I assume you know that every day here was torture for me. I never planned to make it out of Aincrad alive. So understand why I welcome Death like an old friend. Staying alive would only make my suffering longer. Know that I finally get what I always wanted, to be re-united with my love in death. Just make sure you guys can capitalize on it. Take down that damn guild. This is the best opportunity we ever had."

After that he put a hand on his old mentors shoulder. "I promise you not to tarnish its use. I will overcome that last fight with my own strength. I swear it."

"Be strong Itzal. Be a burning beacon of Hope for others. Guide them and keep them save. Just promise me to do the only thing I never could. Always keep your hope."

@Itzal

Aereth saw Itzal move. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body. His old teacher pinned him to a nearby tree and restrained his movement with two pikes through his arms. 

"While this sounds like great news, I'm sorry to tell you that I really don't care anymore." Slowly his facial features started to change. "In my time inside here I learned one thing..." Gone was his strong mask of indifference, revealing the broken human behind it. "A person can only endure so much pain before they break... Felix... I'm tired. I'm f*cking tired of this life. Kayaba took my freedom, and the player who killed..." he paused, thoughts of Alice coursing through his head. "He took the reason I want to fight for freedom. I may not be strong enough to bring Kayaba to justice, but I most definitely know that I'm strong enough to rip that bastard who killed Alice into pieces. Everything beyond that: I don't care. And you want to know why? I'll tell you why but you won't understand, and I truly and deeply hope that you never will. Because once you love a person more than anything, once you love somehow for whom you would go to hell and back, once you found this person and this person is then killed out of pure arbitrariness... Then, and only then will you, my friend, understand what turned me into the person I am right now. Then you will understand the definition of true and utter desperation and pain."

Aereth didn't notice how he got louder with every word, to the point that he was practically screaming the last sentence out. 

"Now you have a choice to make Itzal. Either you imprison me right now, risking to loosing a big opportunity to rout out a Laughing Coffin hideout, or you leave me go. Then I will be able to bring justice to the person I hate more than anything else, as well as buying you time to gather a strike team and imprison as many of them as possible."

"But in the end I don't care. Do what you think is right. I am already dead. Only driven by my last burning desire, my last duty. So I at least beg you to take these items. Keep them, and give them to somebody worthy of carrying such strong tools so at least they can help to fight free the players."

@Itzal may choose between:

• Letting Aereth go.
• Imprisoning him.

"Aaaah." He simply replied when Itzal finally revealed himself. Fake personas. Something Aereth himself had used in the last but he didn't suspect Itzal to be utilizing. Whatever... It didn't matter to him. 

"You are right. I wouldn't call you out here if it wasn't important." The brunette said while rising to his feet and taking in the new look his old mentor and dragon were having. 

"Pretty edgy if you ask me." He said tilting his head slightly. "But who am I to talk... So to business."

"Recently I got my hands on important information about the laughing coffin... I found them." His lips formed into an almost unnoticeable smile as he said this and a dark determination filled his eyes. 

"You need to gather Hestia and everybody you can find to form a raid group and attack them. This might be one of the first and best chances for all of Aincrad to be freed of the disease called Laughing Coffin."

"I placed a message with all information about their hideout at the your wife's shop. But before I can let you go I need you to do me a favor." The brunette told him before pointing to the items in front of him. 

"I want you to take these items. Take them and once you found somebody you deem worthy of them give them to that player. These are very powerful tools that in the wrong hands can create much destruction and pain." he paused. "But in the right hands, and I trust only you to find those, they might be able to help making Aincrad just that little bit safer."

-  Glittering Snowflake obtained HERE
- Dimesional Shift+Delete

- Goldcrest MK. 2 

@Itzal

Aereth didn't move nor open his eyes as the hooded figure emerged from the shadows. He just waited for the man to finish his little speech. 

"The Scout..." he mentally noted, knowing that Itzal had pretty much vanished from the surface of Aincrad since their last meet and assuming that the Scout was being Itzal's alias. 

"Who are you? I told Itzal to come alone." he said. "But anyways, as you can see I'm completely alone, unarmored and with no weapon on me." he said, lifting his cloak to reveal his casual attire under the shine of the moonlight. "I do not intend to make any trouble, I'm just here to pass on a very important message, no. An opportunity that might be of high importance for... I don't know... him... Hestia... Maybe everybody in this virtual hell that gives half a f*ck about Aincrads safety..." 

"But certainly not for you my hooded friend. Because neither do I know you, nor am I stupid enough to trust a complete stranger." he said, opening his eyes and gazing into the darkness that was cast over the players face from his hood.

@Itzal

The sun had already set. Darkness had already completely consumed the first floor as the cloaked figure stepped through the forest, making his way towards a very familiar place. 

A place that was home of many happy memories, but today he wouldn't add another happy one. Today he was only here for one thing. The last Davie he would ever ask anybody for. A very important thing he could only entrust one person with. 

Quote

To: @Itzal

Meet me at our old training ground. There is something very important I need to tell you. 

And please come alone.

Looking one last time at the message, he pressed send and fetched three items from his inventory, carefully placing them in front of him. With one swift movement Aereth then sat on the ground cross legged, while his hands rested on his knees.

"I need a calm mind for the rest of this night. Otherwise..." He thought before stopping his train if thought. What would happen otherwise? 

He took a deep breath and dismissed the thought. He would succeed. Tonight was the night he would finally get everything he had been longing for for so long. He could almost taste it inside of his mouth...

The sweet taste of revenge.

200ms ping Overwatch ranked?

I'm so f*cking in boizzzz and girlzzzz.

Busy streets, lots of players. It was around lunchtime so it was no surprise that there was so much going on on the fifth floor. Everybody was moving, trying to get some food, supplies or anything else except one player. That one player was out of everybody's sight waiting on top of the roofs with his brown eyes focused only on one thing. The door of a small smithy. He was waiting for someone. Someone special. It was the last unfinished business he had left to settle and after this he would be ready to bring his final operation into action. Aereth had already prepared everything, his inventory slots were stacked with potions, food as well as debuff items, and he was armed to the teeth. Everything on him was either new or upgraded accordingly for a tier three player. But he wouldn't need any of these items now.

The door slowly opened and revealed the unmistakable purple strands of hair that gave their owner her special nickname. "Purple..." the brunette whispered before slowly getting up and dropping down into a dark hallway just beneath him. While still in free fall, the brunette simultaneously activated his disguise and hiding skill turning into an average sized player with black hair and leather armor, practically making him invisible in the big crowd. Yes he still had that orange cursor, but he wasn't the only orange player in the streets, so he would easily blend in while following The purple haired woman. 

Step by step he closed the distance between them until he was just one step behind her. Then he passed her, gently putting a small crystal in the first pocket he could find, before slowly drifting away and fading back into the crowd again, slowly but surely making his way over to the teleport gate to leave again.

Even though not everything he wrote wasn't entirely true, he still had the urge to close this last issue, to cut his last ties to his old self. And with that he felt better. He felt lighter. Now he could finally start his last task without anything in the back of his head that could hold him back. Now he was ready to face his last demons.

@Teion

OOC: You can reply in that thread if you feel like you want, otherwise I'll just close it. :) (Also beware of typos and grammar errors.)

It was getting worse and worse. With every group of them attacking for another round, Aereth got more and more disgusted with every heroic and over dramatic speech. Yes, back in the day he also was a 'lore guy', trying to get the most out of every story and character in a game. Immersion was the keyword. But in here it was something different. Immerse yourself too much into the story and you are at the risk of losing your life for real. Only one stupid move, only one heroic speech too much...

Shaking his head, he simply opted to stay quiet. One: remembering how trying to give some stupid players a reality check went the last time and how everybody antagonized him for it, and two: it's impossible to to explain to somebody stupid... well that they are stupid... With that in mind he simply focused on the fight, sneaked up on the boss again, before landing a critical hit on it. His phase enhanced blade went through the avatar of the boss like a hot knife through butter, before he retreated back behind the safe spots of their group tank.

ID# 108516 results:
Battle: 9 Crit.
Damage: (18+1)*14 = 266 DMG (PHASE activated)

@Miraak the Accursed

A sigh of annoyance escaped the brunette as his item got flicked out of his hands. He didn’t pay enough attention...

”Well well. Who do we have here? And here I already thought you would have been smart enough to abandon Dom. Yet here you are Hidden...” he answered but got interrupted by his ‘partner’. 

Itzal was slowly starting to anger him. “Me losing over half of my health fighting four players AND being attacked by my ally also wasn’t part of that f*cking plan. So give me a freaking break for once.” He shot at his former friend and mentor. Then it happened. Slowly all the pent up emotions, all the anger poured off Itzal in thick waves. He lost it. But before Aereth could react he had to take another hit to the face before he had to watch something that let the blood freeze in his veins.

He knew that combo well. Soul Barrage. Itzal showed it to Aereth once while they had their first real fight as equals. The brunette tried to move out of range but couldn’t do it in time. One strike after the other hit his body and Itzal started to push him into a corner.

45%, 40%, 30% oh he must have landed a crit, and his health was slowly moving into the red area. He had to do something.

”F-Felix. Why are you doing this to me?” A very familiar sounding female voice was heard over the battlefield.

Whe next time Itzal would blink the figure of Aereth was gone, replaced by an avatar of Kasier totally littered with red gashes all over it. “Why?” She said once again before bursting into pieces after Aereth cancelled his disguise skill. 

“You’ve earned a Timeout!” Aereth said before charging forward stunning Itzal with his Iai sword art. 

“I warned you that I would leave if you continue being unreasonable. And you guys really didn’t think I just brought one of those babies, or do you?” he said in a annoyed tone. Having bought a couple of seconds, the brunette fetched another teleport crystal from his inventory, not wasting any time now unlike a couple of moments ago and immediately activated it. The brunette was furious. He had been agreeing to help them. Had to risk his own life to keep THREE killers and Keres at bay. And what did he get for it? Nothing. His mentor made it his goal not only to hold him back, no. He even attacked Aereth multiple times pushing him closer to the edge than he was comfortable with. 

At this point he didn't even care about friend and foe, right or wrong, good or bad anymore. “This is a warning for all of you. Get in my way... one... more... time... and I'll get rid of each and every one of you. One way or another..." he said all of his hurt and hatred poured into these words. Just a high level wouldn't keep them safe. There were always ways to get to somebody more powerful than yourself. Aereth knew first hand. "This is hopefully my last farewell. At least if you are smart...” The brunette said while light engulfed him and his presence vanished from the battlefield.   

Undisclosed Location:
Aereth's menu was already open as he materialized again. He went over to the "Social/Friends" tab in his menu and deleted the complete list, safe for one contact. He was done with all of this sh*t. The last boss fight, the event and now this battle. He tried to help, tried to get everybody to the next floor and all still everybody was antagonizing him either because of his cursor color or because of him telling everybody they were stupid for emotionally connecting to a f*cking program. 

@Itzal removed from friend list
@Hidden removed from friend list
@Teion removed from friend list
@Morgenstern removed from friend list
@Hikoru removed from friend list
@Kooh removed from friend list

"Enough..." he thought as he dismissed his menu and activating his stealth skill to make his way over to his temporary hideout. "I need to finish my preparations and focus only on my goals... If things progress the way they are right now, I will be able to strike soon..."

Aereth left the thread.

As the small para icon showed up in his HUD he was speechless.This was it. NOW he was really angry. He didn't even notice how his black katana moved through his left hand and only glared at the man that pinned him down. He only felt the rising pain in the front of his head, waiting for the man that attacked him to finish his monologue. 

By the time Itzal was done with his speech, the paralyze effect was already halfway gone. He needed to get more time... "There you go Itzal. Good job at blindsiding your ally." He answered in a sharp tone. "I haven't even done anything yet and you strike ME down. Are YOU f*cking kidding ME?" he shouted back leaving his anger rush through his veins and the flames of his armor burning away at Itzal's health. Itzal made a grave mistake. Yes he might be higher in level than Aereth, but that overconfidence would cost him. "He died. He died a very long time ago." 

The moment his paralyze status was gone, Aereth pulled back his impaled hand, making the katana cut through it like a hot knife through butter. The man was strong, but he hadn't nearly as much close combat PvP experience than Aereth. In one swift movement his feet retracted while pulling out a hidden dagger with his now freed hand. With all of his might, he blocked the strike of Itzal's sword, while double kicking him in his chest to knock him off him. "You always think to have absolute control over everything. Makes you quite similar to our redheaded friend over there." he said, getting up from the ground and taking his weapon again. He had already bested Itzal in the past... And he would do it again if necessary. "You shouldn't act like you are a untouchable god." he said in a calmer voice now. "Because you are not. And we are no enemies. You were the one not sticking to the plan, so stop attacking your allies and focus on the battle. Or..." a teleport crystal materialized in his hand. "I'm out..."

@Itzal

Even though the first hit of the brunette was a success, Aereth didn't intend to stop there. He immediately withdrew behind the front lines of his group so he could seek out the protection of his tanks. While preparing his next attack he noticed how the last sword art he had used was somehow disabled. At first confused the bunette quickly came to a conclusion. 'Sh*t. This must be a special ability of that damned event boss..." he thought before readying the next best thing he got in his arsenal. 

The stun sword art was quickly charged up and within the blink of an eye Aereth was already moving again. this time directly without the use of his hiding skills. He gracefully dodged a few a few blows before his blade made contact with the evil priest. The black blade moved effortlessly through the body as he executed the sword art.

ID# 108268 results:
Battle: 7+2 HIT
Damage: 18*9(Stun) = 162 DMG

Leaving Hidden rejoin the fight, Aereth simply walked back to his group and waited for his turn on the two remaining bosses. Hirru was still bullsh*tting around but at least he wouldn't hinder anybody in what they were doing. Good. As long as he was not in their way he didn't care. 

Once it was their turn again, Aereth simply attacked the target everybody else was going for with an amount of indifference that was very out of character for him. He didn't care what Teion said to him, he didn't care what anybody was saying. He just wanted this fight to end and to retreat back to his home. This fight drained him of almost every last bit of motivation the brunette still had in him and only made him want to rest even more... He had almost all the pieces he needed to finish what he had been aiming to do for ever since that one day. Just a little bit more preparation and he would be ready to strike.

#108149
BD:4+3-1 = 6 HIT
Damage: 19*14 = 266 DMG on Isaxi

Aereth grit his teeth. Even though he was able to land the initial attack, things went south from there on. Hestia fought Domarus, Itzal was fighting Raven and Embers was... doing nothing, leaving him up against FOUR opponents at once. Yes he was tier three and had arguably the best light armor in the whole game combined with a phase weapon, but outnumbered four to one there was no chance he was going to win or even hold them back properly. He needed to try get Embers back into the fight.

@Embers

"See? I told you this stupid f*ck wouldn't be good for anything. I told you the moment I saw that she would fight on our side." He shouted into the back rows where Itzal was fighting and Embers was spacing out. "She was always this stupid, letting herself be confused with simple words no matter the circumstances she was in. A weak and stupid idiot that can't even stand to her own word." he hoped to ignite the fire in her again with the things he just said. And if not... Well it always feels good to let out aggression and tell other people how stupid they were.

@Domarus

Immediately after wards he had to take three hard hits from the assassins before he heard Keres' voice behind him. "Alone..." he answered, reflecting the words she just spoke. "You're right. I really don't care how this fight will end. If Hestia wins, she and Itzal will owe me something. If Domarus wins... Well then he still loses, he has already lost almost everything because of me. And maybe I will finally be able to rest then. I just know that I don't have the patience anymore to follow the orders of a person that I know I can beat without even breaking a sweat." the brunette said before pausing.

"But until that I wanna have some fun. Life has been getting dull. Only grinding mobs, bosses and doing the dirty work for our redhead imperator over there is just tiring, it drains your life. Maybe I'll finally be able to cut loose again for once..." he took the handcuffs Itzal handed him earlier and threw them on the ground, slowly entering into his hunting mode and filling the air around them with a heavy and malicious aura.

"F*ck Itzal and his morals. If my group doesn't act according to plan, why should I?" he thought before telling the four players in front of him one more thing.

"Today you will learn that nothing is more fun than a good fight with everything on the line. Because at the moment of the kill, you are never more alive." It was time to finally get this party properly started. If Keres, who he knew wouldn't deal any damage to him, was with them he would only have to fight three people and deal with the disruption she additionally provided. If he would get lucky he could kill at least two of them before being brought down himself... With that he prepared for the next barrage of attacks striking at every little opening his opponents would give him in addition to applying burn damage to them with every hit they would land on him. 

Stalking around in the dark, the brunette finally decided to leave his thoughts behind and just focused on the battle. He needed the experience more than anything right now since this fight would surely push him into the tier three realm, where he would finally be able to go toe to toe with the strongest and most dangerous players in Aincrad. Sooner or later even the Laughing Coffin wouldn't be able to touch him anymore and then he would finally be able to start to lay waste on them, oh boy was he looking forward to that moment. He would assassinate his way through their ranks until he would find the two players he had been looking for ever since...

In that moment an opportunity arose, and the brunette burst out of his hiding point striking the distracted boss monster directly into his back. No point in attempting to dodge. His strikes were fast, precise and deadly. After finishing the sword art, he felt the cooldown finally starting to set in and retreated behind the safe lines of their redhead tank. "Let's prepare for the counter attack, he won't be holding back." he said to @Domarus

ID# 107881 results:
Battle: 3 (Ignored because Surprise Attack)

Damage: (18+2(Surprise Attack Ass.)+3(Charge))*14= 322-50=272 DMG

"Understood." Aereth answered Domarus as he gave out orders for the groups before vanishing into hiding again.

Fully buffed and the event item dangling from his neck, the brunette was more than ready for this event boss. He didn't care very much about leading a group and was happy with leaving the responsibility to others. With him being level 49 there shouldn't be much in this tier one and two event fight that could harm him anyways. So yeah, no problem in letting noobies play leader. He pretty much didn't care much for their safety. If they f*cked up the raid, he could still step up and take the lead before anyone died. But in all honesty? He cared less with each passing day in this hell about the fates of other players. If they died, they died. Aereth was only focused on reaching his own goals, and these goals didn't involve saving incompetent players anymore. It was a much simpler goal...

But one was slowly becoming a thron in his side. A certain redhead that permanently tried to drive his controlling fangs into him to make him his puppet. It seemed like Domarus was slowly forgetting the reason why Aereth was at his side to begin with. They were partners. Aereth would offer his services to Domarus in return for using the cover of his big guild to operate freely in the dark. The time would come when the partnership would end, and this time was very close...

ID# 107707 results:
Loot: 18+7 = 25+ LD needed to spot Aereth.

"If you know me so well then you should have expected my betrayal." Aereth answered the redhead. "You were no longer useful to me so I decided to discard you. And now look at you." He then unsheathed his phase weapon and pointed at his remaining forces. "A handful of stupid dolls that followed your call was all that was left of your little underground organization. Even Hidden left you. You never should have trusted me. Just like I never trusted you. But enough talking now. Let's get serious." 

With that he ended his little speech and prepared his first attack. Flames erupted from his armor and his strongest area of effect sword art was already charged. He only waited for the raid leader to start her charge. As soon as she had taken her first few steps, the brunette accelerated, staying close behind Hestia seemingly aiming to use an opening she would surely generate. Obviously having a different plan, Aereth activated his <<Charge>> skill to leave Hestia and Domarus behind him. Placing himself between his backup force and himself the brunette started to unleash his AoE sword art, hoping Itzal would stick to the plan and back him up..

After a couple minutes filled with discussion, mainly with the party leaders, they seemed to have reached a conclusion. They wanted to go to the farming grounds, which was reasonable. Dangerous, but still reasonable. But like he promised, he was silent all through, listening to everybody that was talking, until Dazia spoke up and everybody fell silent. 

"Exactly." Aereth added, now stepping forward in order to share his thoughts. "So I think the course we will be taking, is fixed now. We will head to the farming grounds. But Dazia is right. This is a very dangerous place especially for the lower leveled players. The Laughing Coffin doesn't consist of weak players. At all. So let me propose this: I will message @Lessa for a quick update on her end as well as a meetup location. Everybody that feels like they shouldn't visit the hunting ground for whatever reason can swap groups and join her. We will take a break, I'd say around three hours to rest and prepare for the trip to the farming location. Any objections or suggestions?" he asked before opening his messenger and starting to type. 

Quote

To: @Lessa
Subject: New Information

Hey there.
My group found a good amount of information about the case as well as a possible start point for further investigations. The problem here: Startpoint most probably is Laughing Coffin farming territory. I don't want put anybody in unnecessary danger, so assuming you won't be doing something THIS risky I'd like to send anybody who doesn't want to come with us over to your group if its ok with you. Oh, and please let's find a meeting spot where we can quickly meet up and trade the other information you and my group found.

Regards, Aer

@Outlander @Froppy @Dazia @Sharr @Hikoru @Sunova @Teion @Jevi @Pinball @Oxand @Hidden @Macradon @Shi

OOC: Just shoot me a PM if you want to switch so Lessa and myself can coordinate the changes. 

Following the redhead, Aereth and Domarus met up with Hidden, and went over basic instructions for the upcoming fight. "I will hold back, but if they are behaving like idiots and won't listen to your way to 'handle' situations like the one in the raid, I will speak up and show them their place." Aereth answered. He was slowly getting fed up with being ordered around all the time. The kind of relationship Domarus and Aereth had could simply be described as a 'one hand washes the other' deal between them. Aereth could use the facade of the big guild to vanish if necessary and using the infrastructure of his underground organization to gain access to information and manpower at times. In return Aereth would stand by his side and fight for his cause. On paper a pretty good deal for both of them, but lately Aereth felt that Domarus was starting to make mistakes. Two frontliners had already caught a trail of his doings, and approached Aereth for help...

When he heard another player call out to every tier one and tier two player, Aereth simply nodded to Domarus and went over to @Zandra to take the offer she just put on the table. "A very generous move of you. But the question now is what you will want to have in return?" the brunette asked before buying a damage potion and a teleport crystal. "I'll take these, the generous lady over there will pay for me." he then told the NPC before consuming the potion and placing the teleport crystal in his battle ready inventory. "Still. Thank you and hope to see you around sometime again. Might save me a ton of money." After that he walked off, vanishing in the crowd with the help of his stealth skill.

ID# 107355 results:
Loot: 13+5(Hiding R5)+2(Blindside) = LD 20 required to spot Aereth

Col, Material and SP Balance

Income:

Expenses:

Total Balance:

SP: 227

He took a deep breath. They were right. The curvy redhead was easy to trigger. He knew it and the easy jabs he took at her weren’t going to get them anywhere. Especially since it seemed that nobody had a plan on how to approach the upcoming fight. Somebody had to take the lead...

“You’re right.” He said to Hestia, he just threatened another ally of his with killing them. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, many frontlines he respected turning out to be a bunch of morons, permanent issues with LC and now this war. Slowly the cracks in his strong facade and sanity were beginning to show. “Sorry Firecracker. If you like we can settle that issue after we’re done here, but for now....” he stepped forward and turned to face his allies. “For now we will stop Dom and finish what we started.”

“First we need to take a look at the tasks each one of us will have to tackle. Hestia, Since you are the beefiest of us I would say you focus on Domarus. He is the strongest of them damage wise and you need to make sure he won’t get any of his devastating AOE’s off. Second task will go to you Embers. You will be tasked to handle Hestias sister. She should be around your level maybe a bit higher since the last time I saw her is already some weeks ago. But you can take her on if you are careful. Make sure to separate her from the big fight.” He did turning his attention to Itzal. “Get her out of the way of me and Itzal. We will be taking on Keres and the rest of remaining forces. I have an idea for ending the fight early, that might or might not work depending on the situation. We are also going to keep the others away from Hestia and Embers, while trying to capture Keres. She is very important to Dom and there might be a slim chance that he will surrender once we get her. But that is not sure. If it doesn’t work out we need to win the fight and defeat the henchmen before joining Hestia and ending the battle as a whole.” He then paused. 

“There are a couple of uncertainties to keep in mind though. Namely, Hidden whom I hope to have abandoned Domarus as soon as she would have noticed that his underground network got routed. In case she joins the fight Itzal and me should still be able to hold her back as well.” He hoped for her and their own sales that she wouldn’t show up to make their fight any harder run necessary. “And lastly: Adrian.” An ice cold shiver ran down his spine as he spoke out the name. “Small boy, insanely big threat. If he comes.... Grab your teleport crystals and retreat. Once he starts wrecking havoc nobody is safe anymore. He is as unpredictable as he is uncontrollable. He could very well attack his own allies if he feels like it. And he it would at least take three or more top level players to keep him at bay...” Commandig a private and independent platoon of spies certainly paid off in the end. Being able to take out most of his underground network and giving out details about almost every member of Domarus scheme was one of the main reasons they could win the biggest fights before they even started properly. 

"Yes sir." Aereth said to @Itzal in a dismissing tone. Over the course of the last few days and weeks their friendship seemed to crumble apart with each passing day. He knew that the man had a problem with him but it didn't matter to the brunette player. Itzal called, and true to the promise he made way back when he was still Itzal's apprentice, Aereth came. Though it seemed that nobody really wanted to have him here but at the same time they needed his knowledge about the inner workings of Domarus' guild as well as his unmatched PvP experience. 

 "Well... I can only confirm that. With me also another one of his higher commanding players left him. This should only leave him with a handful of mindless players at his disposal. They'll most probably outnumber us slightly, but with three frontliners and a sidekick we should be able to even out the odds as good as possible. I won't suggest a battle plan since I have no idea if you guys already have something planned, but one thing you need to take into consideration is that he and his group might fight until the very end." His voice was serious. This might as well be a death battle, so all participants should be very clear about this. "So if push comes to shove remember that we are only four players. Even one casualty on our side could mean the failure of the operation and maybe even the doom of all of us." 

The time had finally come for Aereth to tie up loose ends. After seeing for months how the ever rising thirst for power in Domarus finally brought other, powerful players on his trail, the brunette PKKer had decided to ditch him. Yes. His network of spies and the ability to work hidden behind a big guild was very useful for him, but in the end Domarus had outlived his usefulness. Add this to the fact that Itzal had aproached Aereth after the last boss fight and asked him to aid them in the battle and it wasn't very hard for him to choose the side on which he would be fighting today. 

Even though he had all of his stealth skills and mods activated it was pretty much impossible for him to approach the battlefield they choose for the confrontation discretely. So he simply didn't try. He walked straight up to the group around Itzal and stopped a couple of steps behind him, before sighing at the naive and childish chatter of the redhead.

"Words are meaningless without the intent and capabilities to follow through with them. Are you really sure that it was a good idea to bring her to the fight?" he simply stated addressing @Embers' strong words before turning his attention back to @Itzal. What followed then was his usual pre combat 'ritual' in removing the cloak he was wearing up until now and equipping his PvP gear. 

@Teion

Aereth didn't have to turn his head or even look at the woman who was stepping up to him. The sound was the same, but the confidence and strength behind them was new. The black blade slowly moved away from Jonathans throat before it stopped moving just a couple of inches above the ground. "And that's the difference between us. I know exactly where we stand. And I never ran away. If you think there is a lot to talk about, you know where I am." His free hand, previously clenched to a fist, slowly opened and with a swift motion he pointed at the remaining bosses. "This is a boss fight..."he said trying to finish his reply, before stopping as another burst of pure anger and disgust shot through his body. His eyes went wide and the grip on his blade tightened.

That green haired boy was... helping... no protecting the boss monsters. Just some moments of surprise passed before the blade of his weapon started to glow, preparing a stun sword art, but Hidden beat him to the move. "At least not everybody has lost their minds..." he mumbled, finally looking at Teion. "This is a f*cking boss fight. Not a place for personal problems to be solved or a place to embrace the inner AI-code lover in you. Everybody acting like that in a situation like this IS beneath me." His words were brutal and honest but they reflected exactly what he was thinking. 

From the corner of his eye he could see how Pinball was starting to charge. At first he didn't pay much attention, but as the trajectory of the attack became clearer to him, his instincts overtook his body. Rushing past Teion, he tried to intercept Pinball... Effortlessly. The other frontliner had already reached her and unleashed a strong charged attack at the cloaked woman. "Sh*t!"

@Pinball

Moments after the attack died down, Aereth reached them and confronted Pinball with as much self restrain as he could muster. "Charge and Bullrush? Are you insane? She never was a threat to the raid or the player she attacked. She just made sure to properly restrain an obvious weak link of this fight. " Killing intent rolled off him in thick waves as he moved past Pinball, bumping hard into his shoulder to drive home the point that he was pretty p*ssed. "Attack again, and I'll make sure you won't walk out of this boss fight. Are we clear?" The only way to completely restrain someone inside of his wasn't simply tackling and holding them in hope they wouldn't be able to break free. Paralyzation and stunning were the only things. "Didn't you have something weaker to stun him @Hidden? Let's get you away from the raging bosses and naive a**holes." 

"Stryder, was your name?" he asked before helping a stunned Hidden from the ground. "We need to make sure these two won't get caught in the still ongoing fight. Let's get them out of here." @Stryder

Quote

Post action: Aereth is protecting Hidden. 

All kinds of damage inflicted to her from bosses will be absorbed by Aereth.

"What the actual hell is happening here? Is everybody already so fried in their heads that they legit start to feel pity for those bosses?" he thought, the grip on his blade tightening to a unhealthy degree. The more he was watching that bunch of i*diots the more he was getting upset at them. This was a goddamned boss battle. Everybody here was putting their lives on the line and they were treating AI's like real people? 

"How hard have I been working to be able to stand here? To fight with the strongest players in Aincrad in order to help everybody getting out of here..." And now that he was here he would have to live with the fact that the frontlines were mainly consisting of over-emotional morons? "This is such a joke..." 

But as he had to watch Jonathan, the player that taught him so much, helping a boss to its feet Aereth had to take a step back. "What the hell have I been doing up until now? I'm going out night after night to find out information or rid this place of thieves, killers or even worse and these clowns are pulling off sh*t like that while being celebrated as heros?" 

As the anger rose within him, a dark aura started to coat his blade. He lowered his body and charged forward, ducking under a lackluster attempt to harm him before unleashing his strongest sword art. The black blade effortlessly cut through the weak armor of Duares before retreating and rushing to Jon as he halfheartedly attacked the other remaining boss. With a spinning cut he interrupted the fight between the two, pointing his blade at @Morgenstern and facing Isaxi after they dissengaged.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted, addressing everybody in the room. "Are you guys insane, or did the Nerve Gear already fry some parts of your brains?" His voice was stern and serious. "This is a goddamned boss fight! So treat it like one. Jonathan! You had the chance to finish that stupid thing but you decided to help it back so it could continue fighting? What kind of terrible leader and stupid leader are you? These thing are god damned AI's, chunks of code, zeros and ones. Nothing more." he was fuming. 

"Everybody! You should better stop wasting your seemingly limited mental resources on feeling pity or pretty much anything for those god damned bosses!"

ID# 105848 results:

Battle: 9

Damage: [19(Base) + 3(Charge) + 1(BD 9) ] * 14 = 322 DMG / Phase activated!