Aereth

And this strength and skill was only obtainable with hard work. But at some point he would have to leave his new friends behind in order to operate from the shadows to protect them. Itzal, Birdie, Jonathan, Kasier and the two member he had yet to meet Hikoru and Beatbox. He will have to be smart when he was going to cut the connections with them. After all he wants to protect them. And if there would be any connections from him to them, it could end disgustingly... He wanted to avoid that at all costs. Maybe he could use Domarus for this purpose. He offered him a place to stay if he needed to vanish form Aincrad for some times. At this point he was even considering taking his offer to teach him some things about the darkness. How you not only let yourself be consumed by it, but also to gain full control and use this darkness to protect the others... Aereth even managed to gain full control over his hate, after all...

Several steps later he stopped his tracks, to scout for any possible materials, some kind of shelter or anything else. But he couldn't find anything. Just sand, sand everywhere. With a gesture of his hand he opened his his menu and selected his map. According to the map data, around him was really nothing. Dismissing his map with a sigh, he continued his trip through the dessert.Step after step he carried himself through the dessert withstanding the steady in strength rising sandstorm. He somehow managed to keep his health points at maximum. "This Leather Coat was really worth the effort of getting it." he thought while remembering how he took the quest. And again his thoughts traveled back to the redhead that seemingly didn't want to get out of Aereth's head. In the near future he would have to do some research regarding him on his own. But first he would have to get stronger and much more skilled.

Half an hour later he finished exploring the abandoned ruins and made his way back out into the dessert. He pulled his scarf back over his nose and his thoughts traveled back to his fellow redhead Domarus. He was thinking about his real motives and real goals. Unfortunately he wasn't able to gather any information about this Esther girl. First of all, Domarus told Aereth that he shouldn't do something like that. But that wasn't the thing that was stopping him from his information gathering. The real thing that was stopping him from gahtering was, that he didn't want to risk anything regarding the safety and rescue chances of her. Right now he was too unexperianced regarding stealth and information searching. He really needed to master his class as soon as possibe. He was glad that he met his teacher back in the day as he dropped from out of the sky from seemingly nowhere. And his travel continues... 

Walking deeper into the ruins Aereth noticed how the sandstorm outside grew stronger and stronger every second. So even if he wasn't able to find anything inside this ruin, it at least spared him the harsh walk through the heavy sandstorm. 

After some minutes of walking Aereth found some kind of main square of the ruins. Another thing that he noticed was that the architecture of the ruin was very similar to the architecture of the city of Armadillo. The buildings were made of hardened sand and stones. And they were formed like domes or something. It almost seemed like this ruin was like an old abandoned version of Armadillo. But he knew that this just seemed like it was so. After all this game wasn't running long enough for a whole city to turn into ruins. So he assumed that it just was a gimmick implemented by the programmers of SAO.

After another hour he finally reached something that looked like abandoned ruins. "This is awesome, there are for sure many materials, and I'm able to get some rest while being guarded from the winds..." He thought as me made his way to the abandoned ruins. 

Finally reaching the ruins he opened his inventory and spawned a bottle of water into his hand. As the bottle materialized, he opened it and took a sip from the cold water. "Aaaaah. That was awesome." Then he started to think about one specific redhead and his maid he met some days ago. His name was Domarus, and he seemed quite interested in Aereth and his future. Even if it seemed like it, but he still didn't  trust him fully. He knew that he was still hiding something from him, but in the future he would without a doubt get behind the things Domarus did not want him to know.

After that he rose up on his feet and explored the ruins.

The next thing he would need was a good weapon. The sword he was using right now was very good, but it was not his own one. It still belonged to his guild and he did not intend to steal it from them. He would definitely get a good sword on his own, but right now he didn't know what kind of enhancements he would want for it. And the bigger problem was, that he either had to let the sword be crafted by another player or he would have to get it from a monster drop. Dismissing his train of thought he concentrated on the goal he had right now. Getting that stupid skill, and gathering as much materials as he could get in this freaking dessert.

He started looking for materials in his surrounding area, but wasn't able to find anything but sand. Left sand, right sand, front sand, back sand. Sand everywhere. Sighing he continued his hunt for materials.
 

Returning Jonathans smile, he started to walk a little bit behind him, because he was leading the way. "Yes, I really like the rank three sword arts. And it's also awesome to be able to do some adequate damage. If I would be able to hit something, that is..." It was true. With the damage output he was able to produce right now, he would be able three-hit-KO a boar on floor one that was strong enough to drop loot and col for him, and he really liked that he now could go out and gather his own money from monsters.

After that, Jonathans good mood seemed to drop a little bit, since his smile faded and he clenched his fists. "You ok my friend?" He asked Jonathan, not quite sure if it was a good idea to ask.

As Jonathan equipped his whole gear, Aereth chose to do the same and opened his menu to equip everything. "My training is awesome. Even though the schedule is very tight and the training itself is really hard, I love it. Birdie and I don't have very much free time, but after all we want to become master scouts." He smiled at Jonathan. Although his reasons to become a scout differ greatly from the reasons Birdie has to become one... 

Aereth's stats:

@Morgenstern

At this point of time Aereth didn't realize what he had awakened inside of Domarus, and only time would tell if he ever would. But for now he just nodded at his redhead companion and his maid and continued with the search for his familiar. "Hehe, yeah thanks, I will consider it when the time comes. But at first I have to master my Scout class before I can do anything..." he chuckled bitterly at Domarus. Until that day was come he had much training and learning to do. But he was looking forward to the time where he would be strong enough to fulfill his ambitions. And he was sure that this day would come sooner or later.

Then as they were catching up with the familiars, Domarus tried to catch them, but was unable to do so. As Aereth and Keres reached him, he told Domarus. "No hard feelings man. We will get one of them for sure in some time."

@Domarus

"Haha, it definitely has to be something inside of this barn. Everything else would make no sense." He chuckled to his rival when she was gesturing at the forest surrounding the barn.

They then agreed to start their search at the tree which was standing at the entrance of the yard. As they made their way to said tree, a chicken was unfortunate enough to cross their way. Birdie drew her rapier and executed it quickly, to gather the needed <<Animal Fat>>. "Yeah I feel you. It's a little bit monotone to slay chicken after chicken..." Then she wondered about the reward of the said quest. "I don't even know... But there's only one way to find out. And it would be a shame if the two newest top scouts of the Celestial Ascendants weren't able to complete this treasure hunt." he chuckled to his blue haired partner.

As they reached the said tree, Aereth noticed the same cursor as before. This time he tapped on it and in front of him a window popped up.

Quote

Treasure hunting - 5 of 6

My father the king,

is wealthy and old,

He hides his treasure

some place that is cold.

He read the text two times and then turned to Birdie. "You've got any ideas?"

@Birdie

Aereth had to chuckle at Domarus' explanation of Ivorys ability. "Don't you think too, that this girl seems to be a little bit too naive? I mean, when her only goal happiness is, then I'm sure Sword Art Online will break her sooner or later." With that said he also refilled his glas with whiskey. It also seemed that the alcohol was showing some minor effects. But Aereth didn't care. He was used to other amounts of alcohol so he simply shrugged the filling off.

Then he asked Aereth a rather hard question. What made him happy? Aereth started to think for some time before he gave his answer. "That's a really hard question my friend. But I think knowing that the people I hold dear are in safety makes me genuinely happy." It was no lie, but that also meant for him that he wasn't happy most of the time, since you are never in complete safety when you are inside of Sword Art Online. May be also another reason, why he didn't like to make too many friends inside here... "How about you? What makes you genuinely happy?"

@Domarus

Domarus talked about how his action inside of SAO would change his personality. Not only inside of SAO but also back in the real world, and if his girlfriend would be able to accept this changes. "To be honest with you... I don't know. I really don't. Maybe she can accept it, or maybe she won't. Of course I wish that she will accept the decisions I make in here, and I'm sure she will understand my reasoning, only the future will tell. But I made a promise back when my friend died. That I will never let something like this happen again, if I'm able to prevent something like this. And if this means that I have to embrace the shadows, so be it. I will embrace them and never let them go until this nightmare ends. No regrets..." He said to Domarus and finished his bottle of water. And he knew that the shadows wouldn't let him go even if he wanted to leave them again, but it was a price he was willing to pay.  "Thanks, maybe I will, when the time has come..." It seemed like Aereth had found his first ally for a part of his plan. It looked like the Laughing Coffin was a common enemy of both of them.

Nodding at Domaru's reassuring words that he won't tell anybody about it, all of them stood up again. While preparing to continue the search Domarus asked Aereth if he could tell where the potential familiars went. "They just continued to walk the way we took before the break, and are resting a little bit ahead of us. If you look closely you are able to see them from here."

@Domarus

Just after he finished picking up the quest items he continued his traveling through the dessert of floor five. And while walking, he started to think about the shop he would build in the future. For him it was clear that he had to take the tailor profession. Because if he really wanted to make his plans come true, he needed stealthy full-body armor in order to keep his identity hidden from all the others. And the only way to get good leather armor was from a tailor. He didn't want to rely on monster drops in this regard, and he also did not want to buy the armor from another player, also because then the maker of the armor would know who he was. No, he would make his own armor. He also had in mind how it would look like and which enhancements he would use on it.

After some minutes he noticed something in the sand beneath him. And indeed, he found some <<Animal Leather>> and stored it into his inventory.

Before he set his first foot in the dessert he choose to check once again on his supplies to see if he had forgotten something. He swiped with his left hand and opened his inventory. Inside he found his Sword of Legion, enough sandwiches for at least two days and enough water for three days. He knew that water was much more important in the dessert than food. Dismissing his menu he started to walk into the dessert.

After about one and a half hour, a dead tree and some cactus came into his view, so he chose to inspect this area. After looking around for some minutes he was able to find a certain item which had the name <<Lost Cargo>> "For real? This was as easy as taking a lolly from a kid..." he thought and stored the quest item into his inventory. Even though he found the quest Item, he made his way deeper into the dessert. It was to harden his body after all. And he also needed some more materials if he wanted to open a successful tailor shop in the near future.

Aereth stepped out of the light that engulfed him while teleporting and set his first foot on sandiest floor he ever has been on. The sun was burning down on the city of Armadillo and hot winds blew through the streets and side alleys. Aereth immediately pulled up his dark brown scarf to cover is mouth and nose and equipped his dark brown <<Leather Coat>>. Althugh it was making the heat even less bearable, it prevented the sand from slipping in every hole of Aereth's outfit.

He remembered the little talk he had with the quest NPC, that was designed as an old lady that had lost her cargo. She needed the cargo back in a maximum time gap of two days, so he had to speed up his pace, if he wanted to find the quest items in time. He walked out of the city, where almost all the buildings seemed to be made of sandstone and entered the El Perdido dessert.

It was again very early in the morning and Aereth just finished his daily workout session outside of Itzal's shop. Today however was a very different day. He talked to Itzal about getting two days off from their daily training schedule. The reason for this was, that Aereth wanted to take a certain quest, that required at least one day and one night to complete. He wanted to complete <<The Traveler>> in order to pick up the <<Survival>> skill. To reach his goal, he would have to harden his body, soul and skills. And today he was starting to harden his body. 

He made his way to the Delilah Village on floor three to stock up his supplies for the upcoming survival trip. Reaching the village he bought several sandwiches and many bottles of water. Then he went to the teleport gate and said: "Floor 5 Armadillo!" He got engulfed in light and was gone without a trace.

OOC: Haha, no problem. ^^

As Aereth retreated to Jonathan's side, it almost seemed that Jonathan had teleported away. All Aereth could manage to see was the Nepent Variant as it scattered into tiny little polygons by Jonathan's attack. It was an breathtaking sight. "Wow man, I didn't even know that a tank is able to move so fast. That was an awesome stunt. And no hard feelings. I had the chance but I f*cked up." It really didn't bother him much that Jonathan took the kill. He was even happy that the quest item dropped at the first Variant they encountered. What bothered him more, was the fact that he would have been able to get two clean attacks in to defeat the Nepents and the Variant but couldn't even get one single hit on them.

Then Jonathan told him that he knows a place where higher leveled mobs would spawn, so that they could at least get some loot and col out of it. "Yeah, sure my friend. Just lead the way. I'm eager to try out the new sword arts I recently unlocked." He said to him as the two of them made their way to the place where the mobs would spawn.

Aereth 220/220 <<20/22>>         

@Morgenstern

"Yeah, a place to escape the trouble of the city for some off time, so to say. That's a nice idea. Since you can't just run away from your responsibilities." This was one of the many advantages of coming from the country. You could always take some time off to visit your home. To relax and to refill your energy.

Then Domarus told him about the two women he met, and that they did almost everything to make others happy. But one of them got captured because of this trait. And the other one could find out if you were happy or not. Aereth chuckled. "I think you might be right in this regard. But only for the people that I hold really dear." then a short pause to take another sip from his whiskey. "But this story about mastering the ability of finding out if somebody is happy or not, is really interesting. She must be very attentive in order to read somebody's emotions.." he guessed.

@Domarus

After Aereth got back to Birdies side, the two rivals made their way over to the mailbox of the barn. As Birdie tapped on it a small riddle popped up in front of them. It was without a doubt part of a quest line of six quests in total. According to the arrangement of this quest it seemed to be something like a scavenger hunt. Now Aereth's thoughts were racing.

"It is for sure something like a scavenger hunt. And like you said, we already missed the first three of the hints, but that should not matter. If we solve this riddle, we can search for the other five of them. It's quite hard to solve. But I assume that it has something to do with this barn..." some moments of silence.

"Maybe something like a bush or a tree? What would you guess?" he asked Birdie while he started to scan the area for some odd looking trees or bushes.

@Birdie

Aereth knew that he couldn't change Domarus' view on torture. And that was fine. He didn't care what he did to those people. After talking with him for some time now about this topic Aereth knew, that Domarus would never harm anybody who didn't deserve it. But he was also glad that he seemed to think about what he told him about the loss of reputation that may be caused by him torturing somebody. It was clear to Aereth that he had some greater plans that he didn't tell Aereth about. But it seemed that reputation was very important for Domarus, so Aereth guessed that his plan must have had to do something with gathering people around him in order to grow in power and influence.

He then talked about how the wolves should also be aware of the sheep, because they outnumbered him. But that should not matter to him. When he reached a point where he was able to realize his plans, he would only work in the shadows, and after all, it was also to protect the sheep. "I guess you are right in this regard, but I hope that when the sheep find out what the wolf is doing, that they also understand that what he is protecting them from much greater harm. But unfortunately, most times the sheep only get scared and turn their backs to someone like this. This is also the reason why I want to master the scout class before I start anything. I want to work in the shadows. With an unknown identity. As a nobody. This also means that I will have to leave my friends and the person I hold dear behind, like you said. But this is a price I am willing to pay."

What Domarus then said made him somehow glad. He knew exactly that he wouldn't do anything like that without gaining something in return, but Aereth didn't care. "That's good to hear my friend. Thank you." he said while offering his hand for a honest handshake. Somehow he felt better after talking with somebody about his past, and he was very thankful for that.

"Oh and by the way, I think I don't have to say that, but it's really important to keep this information away from anybody else. You two were the first persons I told my story in here. In return you can be sure that I also won't talk to anybody about Esther or anything else you told me today." 

@Domarus

Aereth was a little bit surprised at Birdies clap session but quickly figured out what to do. He turned to face her and said. "It's an honor for me to entertain you, Milady." He was interested how she would react to this kind of gesture and tried his best to remain serious. Unfortunately he wasn't able to do so very long and started to chuckle, and after some seconds the chuckling turned into laughter. "Haha, jokes aside thank you for your praise, means a lot to me." He said to her with a warm smile. He really enjoyed her company and her ability to place a big smile on the faces of people.

She then gracefully slayed a virtual chicken herself and pointed to a Quest Indicator which was floating above the barn's mailbox. "Yes this would be a good idea. I can get one more AoE attack in before I have to rest again, so if you want we could inspect it after this attack." He told his bluehaired partner.

After finishing the sentence he charged his <<Vertical Square>> skill once more and again laid waste on the remaining four chickens. Finishing the last chicken, he slowly sheathed his sword on his back and started to walk back towards Birdie. Slowly he was getting a feeling for the combat system in here. He would challenge a harder monster in the near future to see how much he was able to learn in the short time he had been Itzal's apprentice.

@Birdie

"Yeah I mean, living in the city isn't that bad, but I enjoy the peaceful boring live outside of cities over all the noise and rush. Maybe your live will get quieter in the future. You always have the option to move out of the city." It was true. If he really wanted to get away from the loud and busy city, he could always move out to the country. 

Then Domarus talked about how he reminded him of two young women. Also chuckling Aereth asked him. "Now that is something you have to explain to me. And thanks for the compliment, but what did you mean they dove far deeper into that aspect." He was really curious on how he would answer now, since Aereth really had no idea how this statement was meant.

Then he refilled his glass and slowly emptied it. He thanked Kayaba for putting alcohol inside this game. And he really did a great job in implementing the taste, smell and burning feeling when you drink it into this f*cking game.

@Domarus

Doing it solo. 

"Still I should be more carefull when my partner is in battle." He really didn't want her to get hurt because of his stupidity.

As she met Aereth halfway down the roof, she flashed him a smile which he gladly returned. "Glad you're unharmed." he said while gently hitting her shoulder. She then talked about how this whole place looked like quest aera because it seemed a little bit too organised to be a random location. "Maybe you're right. I'll definitely mark this place on my map and as soon as possible look of there is a quest tied to it. And of course I'd call you then to get it done together, since we also found this place together." Then a thought crossed Aereths mind. "Maybe you are able to buy that farmyard. Lets look for a sign or something after we cleared the NPC's around here." 

Then as the chickenns came into view Birdie asked if he wanted to get the first hit on them to which Aereth nodded. "Yeah I'll take down the first four and get their attention. Then you can come in and hit them on your own." As Aereth finished his explanations, he drew his sword and charged his <<Vertical Square>> sword art. He slowly walked into the hate range of the first four chickens, and as the first one attacked he let go of his sword art, killing it instantly. He then started to run at the remaining chickens and increased his speed with every dead chicken. After all four of them were down, he retreated back in front of Birdie and took an defensive stance, ready for any attacking chicken.

@Birdie

Aereth gestured to a smaller rock formation so that they wouldn't had to have to stand the whole time. It really seemed that he hit the maid hard with his conditions. She tried her hardest to stay calm and collected but eyes never lie. Then Domarus cleared his throat and got the attention of both of them. 

He told Aereth everything. That his first goal was to get everyone out of this hellhole as soon as possible. And the second goal that gave him the motivation, the drive, the fire. It was what Aereth suspected. He mentioned the girl back on the evening when they were drinking but he didn't assume that it would be that bad. As he told his story to Aereth, Aereth was able to read many emotions. Hate, a glimpse of despair but most of all, resolve. He knew what he wanted to do. He had a plan. And this was what made him a force to be reckoned with. Aereth just sat on his stone in silence and listened to every word, looked out for every emotion he could find in his redheaded companions face. After a few seconds of silence to gather his thoughts Aereth decided to speak again. "I'm really sorry my friend. It seems like you also lost something very important. But you have a plan, and you have the necessary resolve. I truly belief that you can save her. I really do. I offered you my help multiple times on that cause so I won't do it again you already know how to call me. And even though I don't fully agree with your choice of punishment, I won't say anything against it. It's your affair and it's your choice how you handle it." It was true, Aereth didn't like the the idea of removing the pain dampers to torture him. He for himself wouldn't play with this dic*head. He would just kill the goddamned bastard with his helpers, and be done with it.

After he finished, Aereth turned to Keres to see how near or far away she was from the truth with her guess. She was close, but at the same time very far away from the truth. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. They fulfilled their part of the deal, now it was Aereths turn. He remembered the night in the bar as Domarus asked him about the friend he joined the game with. Then he opened his eyes. They were blank of every emotion or expression. He looked so deep into Keres eyes, so that he could almost see her soul. She wanted to cut the bullsh*t? If she wanted to know the truth she would get it. "To start things off, the first reason is the same as yours. Ending the game, get back to family and girlfriend bla bla bla. But what really gives me the drive to stand up every day in the morning to train and workout, the reason why I want to become a master scout is a whole different one. I must say you were pretty good with your guess. Yes, I am after some guys. But the rest of your guess wrong. Back then in the bar you were right. I wasn't starting this nightmare alone. I started it with my best friend. He was almost like a brother to me. In here we were together all the time, grinding, eating, drinking, and oh baby and we drank much, everything. But one day when we were out leveling together, we were ambushed by some hooded orange players. The killed him before my eyes and left me alive just to watch them killing my friend. On this day I lost everything I had in this game. We were so stupid. We didn't even notice their orange cursors. May be the reason why I'm so suspicious today... And I wasn't even able to see one of their faces. But I was able to see one thing. A tattoo with a coffin on it. Later I found out that these guys belonged to the well known PK guild Laughing Coffin. Either way, on that one day I swore something. First I will get out of here alive, for my girlfriend, my parents, but over all for my friend Adrian. And second, I will get the strength, and skills to track down and kill every red player I meet that deserves to die. And you don't even have to say that this is an unrealistic goal. I know that. But I want to make this a better place. I know that I can't protect everyone, but if I can prevent even some deaths by purging this godforsaken place it will be worth it." He knew that Domarus would judge him for this answer but Aereth did not care he had a goal and he would go for it. And nobody would be able to stop him.

@Domarus