Corvo

Panic. Discord. Terror. 

The mighty advantage of mass confusion was a powerful tool when in the hands of a strategist. Unfortunately, the line between tactical genius and psychopath blurred in Corvo, who's sheer and blinding rage caused him to lash out and maim the ship itself.

Whether or not it had done a fine job of breaking the enemy ranks up or sowing confusion was irrelevant. What mattered was that someone was going to fucking pay for spoiling his wine. He fell unceremoniously through the floor that buckled beneath the force and weight of his strike, spinning through and landing with a thud on his back.

He bounced once, seemingly unphased by any fall damage that might have incurred, quickly recovering and brandishing the weapon once more, menacingly. Where was the bastard? Where was he?

The King's Crimson gaze scoured the room, finding first @Hirruand then @Jevi, both Player Characters, obviously neither the object of his ire. He looked then to the others below deck, the many pirates who scurried about like rats dancing to their Captains fife. These were the enemy.

His knuckles whitened as he gripped the are tighter, readying the weapon to sunder the wretches.

"Rrrrrrr..." the growl, low and guttural, was the only warning he gave. Instead of waiting and communicating with the others, he lunged forward. With his heavy weapon and his own body weight, he shot like a missile toward the unfortunate pirates, with little regard for health or safety.

"RAAAAGH!"

Some time before...

"Black Tie."

Corvo leered down at the message with a curt shake of his head. "Thanks for doing literally what the game forced you to do, lets celebrate." What a concept! It was like the AI wanted to give them the realest experience possible, throwing them into the fire and then treating them as heroes, creating the ideal setting to exacerbate the already rampant Stockholm Syndrome. And now, the machine brain wanted to treat them like VIPs in the real world.

"Ties are for old guys," he announced to no one in particular as he made a snap decision about what to wear. If the game wanted to throw them a party, then he was going to fuckin' PARTY. But not because the game wanted them to. 

It was because no parties were about to happen without the King's Consent.

Present

Let's be honest, did you think that this guy of all people was going to do anything less than ostentatious?

The exquisitely woven silks and lavish gilded embroidery drew more eyes than some of the women's clothing, but it didn't seem to make Corvo any more modest. He snatched up a goblet filled with wine and sampled the flavor, eyeing it with skepticism for a moment before swigging it a second time just to be sure. "At least the server has decent wine varietals uploaded," he muttered, clearly not enthusiastic about the revelation. The fact that it was a Valentine's Day party made his stunning display of arrogance even more gaudy.

Corvo was alone and he was more than happy about it. In fact, Corvo had always been alone. Now he was just doing it better than everyone else.

If a perfect view of Ladonia below existed, it was from this vantage. Perched along the rails of the main deck, Corvo leaned with his back to the sky, one elbow draped over while the other hand lazily cupped his drink. His ruby gaze skimmed the masses, less interested than amused. How many of them had come together, looking to abscond from the dangers of Aincrad and indulge in their hopes for love and camaraderie?

His smile all but evaporated with that thought. "It's making the wine taste foul," he sneered, looking for someone to antagonize. 

Quote

 

"One of you, bring me damn Xandis.. and no one gets hurt.."

Well, that was easy. Sometimes people just painted targets on themselves.

"Unless, of course.. you don't care for their lives. I'll go through each one of them until I get what I want... then I'll go through all of you."

Before Corvo had the opportunity to stand up properly, however, another man decided to do it. The King's gaze moved to the staunch would-be defender and he listened to the man's words. "I don't know what you want with the Captain.. but this is a peaceful occasion. We won't let you hurt these people just so you can get what you want."

"Captain? Them? Psh, don't make me laugh... But you wanna be a tough guy eh? Alright.. I'll give you one free shot." 

 

Quote

Jomei would respond without allowing more than a second to pass. He would quickly close the distance on the large pirate, thrusting forward with his rapier. With speed unexpected for a man of his size, the pirate would parry Jomei's rapier out of the way with his axe before shoving the blunt tip into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Jomei stumbled backwards towards the railing, readying his weapon again. However, before he could act, a swing from the pirate would knock the sword out of his hand, sending it skittering across the deck. Planting a heavy boot against Jomei's chest, they would pin the ginger against the wooden railing, the only thing keeping him from falling to his death.

So, there were people with convictions in this world. The fact that their best efforts were made in vain neither surprised him nor disgusted him. Instead, Corvo had to offer silent respect. That was a trait he thought was left behind. 

Quote

No," Lessa cried, but her pathetic protest came out more like a helpless kitten's mewl. The sheer sound of it disgusted her, and that red-hot emotion seemed to melt her frozen limbs. With the sharp click of heels, the blonde approached. Not far away, another woman appeared to have the same idea, taunting the pirate captain with a smug smile before summoning a sword art. As the colors burst into existence, so too did Lessa's enormous sword. She gripped it tightly, prepared to swing, then watched the enemy easily side-step the brunette's attack. Lessa faltered.

"I wouldn't." The captain's voice, once loud and commanding, dropped to a low snarl. That, Lessa found, was far scarier. "Your boyfriend here might stand a chance against me." Feigning repulsion, he added, "Maybe. But them?" He motioned over his shoulder, to where one of his men pressed a blade to the neck of a young, terrified serving girl. She winced, and a line of crimson slipped down to pool at the base of her throat, uncomfortably reminiscent of the rubies worn by the partygoers. "If I were you, I'd drop that sword of yours."

Quote

 

And there were more than one of them! Corvo vaguely seemed to remember the face of this one, and the massive sword she conjured, but from where he couldn't seem to recall. More important was the valor on display.

Round them up and take them below deck. If they resist, cut a throat or two." His dark eyes danced as he scanned the gathered Players. "That should get our message across."

 

Quote

"Well then, what did Daemon, or any of us ever do to you?"

Quote

 

The Pirate master scoffed at the petite, blonde girl's question. "What did Daemon do to me, she asks.." he says to himself before ejecting his arms outwards to either side.  "THIS is what Daemon TOOK from me."  The pirate continues to scan his surroundings, not looking at the players, or the staff, but the ship itself with a disgusted scowl locked on his face. 

"They stole my ship, right out of the dock, and turned it into this.. This prudish cruise for the wealthy upper class." that disdain still ringing in their voice, he would spit upon the wooden floorboards at his feet. "Abandoned my crew in the middle of the night, abandoned ME.."  his expression would soften from anger, to contemplation.. confusion. The face of someone who has had this conversation with himself multiple times, and still cannot find the answer. "So now, I'm taking it back. And getting some revenge in the process." 

 

Quote

 

That would be unwise.."

A voice from below the deck would call up the stairs, as the figure came into view with slow steps. Captain Xandis would finally step forth to face this pirate, their long braided hair and coat gently picking up in the wind as they emerged into the open air. The gold embroidered, white jacket was slightly undone, and they now wore a longsword on their hip. "Adam. It's been awhile.. I would suggest not causing a scene upon the deck of my ship. My guests here are renowned adventurers and warriors, they could deal with you and your crew with ease. So lets keep this civil, no?"

"That's Captain Loughran to you...And that's up to them."  The pirate would glare at the players, "If they want a fight.. I'll give them a fight. But it'll be your people that end up dead if they try it. So here's my offer to you. I take back my ship, I take these servants as.. lets call it payment for emotional damages." he would say sarcastically with a low rumble of a chuckle. "In return, I let your friends here go. You, on the other hand.. You'll be coming back with me."  Loughran had closed the distance between himself, resting a large knuckle under Daemon's chin and lifting their face to meet his.

"You're a terrible man, and an even worse lover." they would respond before smacking his hand away from their face. Loughran's expression quickly changes from a cocky smirk, to one of rage. "Tie them to the mast.." Loughran would shout to his nearby crew. "You'll regret your decision to oppose me. I'll give you some time to rethink your decision.. before I start tossing your crew overboard. Their blood will be on your hands." 

 

Quote

As Daemon Xandis is grabbed and dragged towards the a mast in the center of the ship, they would whisper to any players nearby, "We need a plan.. quickly."

Quote

Jomei would run his hands through his hair, and paced once forward and then back towards a grouping of other players. "Any ideas?" he would speak softly, so only they could hear.

Quote

"No," came her knee-jerk answer, grief-stricken expression never wavering as she watched the bound captain. Half a dozen armed men surrounded the man, and though Daemon Xandis wore a brave face, Lessa could see his jaw clenching and unclenching anxiously. The NPC, who had never been anything but kind to her, was in genuine trouble. His people, the innocent Ladonians, were likely in a similar predicament below decks. They don't deserve this.

"I'm not sure if this is some sort of messed up event or what," Lessa muttered, words spouting from her lips like water from a faucet, "but it's honestly horrible. I'm so sick of these events causing the deaths of NPCs. Its cruel, and I swear, this floor has so many of them that I-"

Her head snapped up suddenly, blue eyes blazing as she met Jomei's gaze. "Wait, yes, I do. I do have an idea." With one hand, she motioned toward the stairs that led downward. "We can't do anything until the NPCs are safe. They're the bargaining chip here - we can't make a move while their lives are on the line." The lines of her round face hardened as she amended, "At least, most of us won't. We aren't willing to play hard and fast with them. But, if their safety is guaranteed, we could potentially plan a combined attack." Pausing, Lessa surveyed the handful of Players surrounding her, then gave a short nod. "We could take him, I think, if we worked together. But not until the NPCs are safe."

With a swoosh of cobalt fabric, she turned toward the staircase. "I'm going down to check on the NPCs. If I can incapacitate those guards, we'll at least open the doors to future attacks, right? And if I draw this Loughran guy down, then you can grab Captain Xandis." 

A sudden need for physical touch had her reaching for Jomei's forearm, and as she gave it a small squeeze, Lessa flashed him a grin. "I'll see about hijacking one of those smaller ships and loading the NPCs while I'm down there." She was only half-kidding.

Quote

The slowly fading screams of a man’s voice as they were tossed over the edge of the ship caught Captain Loughran’s attention. While most of the players saw the threat that the Captain and his crew posed to them and the crew of the Duchess, one female player decided they wanted to continue playing the hero. His features twisted into a face of rage, the sound of each pounding step with his heavy boots bringing with it a fear that he would step right through the deck of the ship. “I guess someone didn’t learn their lesson the first time.” The large Captain would allow the tip of his axe to drag along the ground as he stormed towards Yona, who had just finished dealing with a second of the pirates. “You! Girl! You’re going to pay for –“

Quote

 

Within a moment’s notice, everything shifted. Crates, tables, and chairs not secured toppled and slid across the wooden planks of the deck, some careening over the edge of the ship and falling to the city below. Everyone above deck seemed surprised, both NPC and players alike. Loughran stumbled, trying to regain his footing. “Who the hell is piloting this thing?!” he would shout at the top of his lungs, looking around at the others before turning his attention back to Yona. “Since you don’t like listening to instructions..” he would address her first before shouting over his shoulder to his crew below deck, “Kill three of the hostages!”

There was a silence that followed.

“I said – Kill three of the hostages!” he repeated.

“Adam!” a voice shouted from behind Loughran, causing him to take his attention off of Yona for a moment. Daemon Xandis, now free from their bindings thanks to the joint effort of two of the players, was walking towards the pirate, their retrieved sword at the ready. “Let’s dance, like we used to” they would say with a smirk before rushing at Loughran. The two began trading blows in the center of the deck, while the other pirates shifted their focus between their boss, and the players. "Don't just stand there, take them out! Take them all out!!" Brandishing their weapons, the pirates wore faces similar to kids being let loose in a toy store. Finally, it was play time.

 

It all happened as his mood deteriorated, more quickly as each moment passed. He took another sip of his wine, barely containing his outrage as the bitter liquid lost all appeal. Throwing the drink aside, splashing the deck with a rich and deep purple color, Corvo stretched out his hand. "Kill the hostages?" the blonde haired man uttered in a quiet voice, all the choler amassed beneath the surface like a volcano just before eruption. "You would make demand after demand of a King?" he asked, a sudden wave of irritation causing his voice to break slightly. His gaze fell on Loughran with unveiled contempt searing through them. "Fall on your knees and beg forgiveness, cur," the King seethed as the giant axe Reaver's Edge materialized in his hand, almost easily as though it were meant to be wielded that way.

"Mourn your indiscretion and repent, and I may find you fit to kiss my feet before I take your life."

The very thought that he could fall so deeply into the delusion served only to feed his rage.  Other Players had begun to lend their aid, distracting and hindering the pirates, taking the fight to them- but Corvo was not so tactful in his haze of brutal anger. Hostages were surging out, onto the deck. The throes of panic added a disharmonious chaos that made the hot breath streaming from the youth's nostrils turn to steam.

He hefted the great axe in both hands as he surged forward, and he brought the head swinging down to the deck with furor. Wood and metal shrapnel exploded up around him as the boards gave, sending an alarming amount of sharp and thick debris scattering in every direction. The weakened floorboards found difficulty supporting the weight of several nearby pirates, who lost their balance as the deck lost its structural integrity and gave beneath them. Corvo remained low and slowly hefted the axe again, warily looking for a victim.

They had disrupted order- and more importantly, his drink- and they would pay for it.

He caught the crystal deftly as it was thrown, despite not knowing what it was. He didn't glance at the menu prompt to find out, either. The words that this woman spoke to him were ice, and suggested that he was worthless. "Piss on that,"he hissed angrily as he swapped the item for a different one in his inventory, this time guzzling the conjured healing potion in a single swig. He would need every drop of health he could manage in order to survive this encounter. The last thing he wanted to do was die, but next to that, proving this person right was damned close to his top priority. 

He wasn't simply angry anymore. As his health climbed out of the bottom of the tank, he was malding. 

Minus, you know, the whole losing hair part.

"Now you listen here, you prissy bitch," he pointed his finger accusingly as he let himself get drunk on the momentary high that came with a rush of hit points. He would need that vigor to survive the next series of attacks. Fortunately, the self-appointed monarch had drawn the ire of the second boar. According to the damage he'd taken the last time, he could easily manage to make it through one more hit. One. No more than that, though. "I ain't backin' down now. Too late for that. No one worth his salt makes a commitment and breaks it." Was that a token of wisdom handed down from his father? Hell- seemed like not every part of him was lost, after all.

"Maybe it'll be on your conscience, and maybe it won't, but if you want to do something useful, instead of telling me to run, just help me make sure I make it out of here alive." 

As he moved to regain his composure and find his center of gravity, the boars came again. This time, his sway effected the beginnings of a dodge, and he managed to maneuver out of the way of the powerful attempt to gore his flesh. Thankfully, Corvo was able to hang on to those excess hit points. Maybe he'd be able to take advantage of them in the next encounter? Or maybe, they'd get him out of this alive- now, that thought was much less ambitious.

Ambition is my birthright, he silently reminded himself as he gripped the haft of the Battle Axe tightly. His knuckles were turning white. He watched as the other boar moved toward the second Player. 

Now, lets see what you've got, he watched, readying himself for the next attack.

[Recovery ID: 209337 CD: 12]

Corvo regains 1 EN from Recovery.

Corvo HP: 86/180 (+50) EN: 7/36 (+2)
NIAN | HP: 313/313 | EN: 7/46 | DMG: 16 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 36 | LD: 6 | PROSP: 3

84-12= 72×2= 144 damage

[0]Boar 9: 120/240 (-120) 84 damage (12×10= 120)

[1]Boar 10: 108/240 (-132) 84 damage (12×11= 132)

Boar 9 attacking Nian: ID: 209338 MD: 1 (Fails hilariously)

Boar 10 attacking Corvo: ID: 209339 MD: 4 (Fail!)

"Shitty drinks, piss poor conversation, and annoying edgelords. The trifecta," Corvo recalled in thrillingly boring detail the circumstances that surrounded their last meeting, brief though it was. But they hadn't exchanged names, not so far as he could remember. Just a dagger, one that he threw in the same lazy manner as the knife Corvo had just witnessed him loose."At least you did something," the red eyed rapscallion waved his hand dismissively. "That girl was all talk, and I was hoping for some action. Really killed my boner. But anyway-"

He forgot the face of the woman as quickly as he'd been reminded of her. So fleeting and irrelevant were most denizens of this world to him, precious few remained relevant in conversation for long. "Name's Corvo. I've been looking to branch out beyond the safe zone and get to killin' shit. Reckoned I'd look for someone to upgrade my equipment for the task, which is what brought me to your shop."

"Whatsay I make you a bet, Koga?" he sidled over to the counter across from the shopkeep and leaned against it. "We throw some sharp objects at targets. I win, you hook me up with some new equipment. How's that sound?"

Fuck today.

Those words hung in the mind of Corvo as he wandered through the paradoxically busy and lonely streets of the Town of Beginnings with a scowl plastered across his face. Hollow smiles and forgettable faces lined the thoroughfare as he was constantly reminded of how few people he knew, and how none of them could possibly fill the void left behind with his family, a world away. That had been the same mentality that eroded him for years, and even that tasted foul now. The worst part of it all was that today of all days, he couldn't just pretend that it wasn't painful. Tonia- his sister, the young, brilliant woman that she was- it was her birthday. And he couldn't even say how proud of her he was, let alone know how much she had changed in the time he had been gone.

What would his mother say? That he didn't listen, that he bought into this game, and that he now suffered for it without them? Had he become a man that would make them proud?

Certainly not.

"Fuck today," he repeated, this time audibly. He watched the people talking and getting excited, happy, upset, and sad- and he hated them for that wide range of emotions. Hate was the only feeling at all he could conjure. That was how he knew, he still wasn't ready. It was how he knew he still had to grow. But he was getting stronger, slowly. Even though he was alone- he had learned to sustain and be self-sufficient. He knew how to live without anyone else's support. It was the hardest, most painful lesson he had ever learned.

But it was the most important thing that Aincrad had given him, even at the cost of everything else.

He saw a small girl, frail, but sweet looking. She noticed his gaze and smiled at him, but Corvo averted his gaze. He looked for somewhere- anywhere to escape those thoughts. And his gaze fell on the first shop that called his name. A blacksmith- full of weapons and all sorts of devices for murder. "...or maybe today's not so bad after all," `he murmured as he quickly changed his direction and pressed through the door to the shop, leaving it swung open behind him. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood," he sang boisterously as he made his grand entrance, "a beautiful day for a murder, would you be mine~ Could you be mine~"

His ruby gaze swept over the collection of wares, tools, and armor to stop on Koga- a face he actually recognized.

"Well if that ain't just the damnedest thing," he snapped his fingers and pointed at the man in one motion. "This day couldn't possibly get any better. Hey, mister blacksmith~?" he paraphrased another song as he strolled toward the counter and glanced toward where the other man had been looking a moment before. 

"Knifethrowing?" he questioned.

Mongrel, she says.

"Well, can't hate you for that," he shrugged. "most of the idjits in this place are delusional. At least we're getting someplace," Corvo clicked his tongue again as he shouldered his axe and admired the few seconds of violence-induced silence that her weapons had brought about. He wasn't dead yet, at least.

"Nine," he answered the woman's question without getting any more arbitrary or obtuse. There was no use in inflaming a situation that was already in flames.

It was evident that there was no danger of this person prying into his personal business. This made the woman precariously one of the few people in this world he could tolerate. No pretense of kindness, no united we stand posturing. It was likely their disdain was mutual, and that was the only commonality that he needed.

"As long as it's just about profits. My coffers aint as swole as I'd like 'em, and I aim to change that." He shrugged as another group of boars made a bee-line toward them, and he brought the weapon straight down in front of him, sundering the earth in their path to effectively split them and render their attacks uncoordinated. The furthest boars from the apex of the strike simply deviated from their course away from the duo and the attack summarily failed to strike them at all, but the two who were unfortunate enough to get caught in the blast...

Squeal! Shriek!

The first boar was indignant as the radial blast took its hooves out from under it and sent it sprawling to the dirt not four feet from Corvo. The second was caught directly in the path of the attack, feeling the full weight and strength of the blade as it ripped into the earth. Corvo wore a menacing smirk as he gripped his weapon tighter and began to pry it free, leaving the boars in disarray but the woman in perfect position to capitalize on the discord.

Much better, he reasoned, than risking four boars at once consistently.

The two that were very much not dead, but disgruntled licked their proverbial wounds by rushing headlong toward him and goring large chunks away from his HP. A fitting reprisal perhaps, but one that he'd called down on himself intentionally.

The swell of power that came with being struck would make a considerable difference in the amount of damage he could deal. His body swelled with power as the damage whittled away at him, and he felt the rush of adrenaline supercharge his muscles and pump his blood ever faster.

It had quickly become evident that this method of fighting... might not be sustainable for him. Not at this level, at least.

"Gonna have to slog a potion after that shitshow," he muttered indignantly.

[Recovery: ID 207295 CD 8]

Corvo regains 1 EN from Recovery

Corvo HP: 36/180 (-144) EN: 5/36 (+2, -16)

84-12= 72×2= 144 damage

[1]Boar 9: 120/240 (-120) 84 damage (12×10= 120)

[2]Boar 10: 108/240 (-132) 84 damage (12×11= 132)

"His Majesty?" he clicked his tongue once disapprovingly. "Aintcha a hair too pretty to be King of anything?" the blonde asked without a second thought. It hit him immediately thereafter, and he snapped like he had been gifted a stroke of genius. "Oh, I get it, you must be one of them types what dont identify with what hangs- or don't hang between yer legs. I get it, I get it, no worries, I support it. Live yer truth 'n all that shit," he flicked his wrist dismissively, like that was the least of his worries.

"But, ah, we're gonna have a problem if you don't wanna work with me on this," he chided. "See, you're pretty and all, but pretty don't pay my damn bills or put food in my belly," he peeled the axe from behind him one handed as four more boars made their appearance and bum rushed the two of them. "So, why don't the two of us cooperate and kill as much as we can, and I'll split the profits with you down the middle?"

With a powerful twist of his hips, the red eyed brawler brought his weapon spinning around his body toward the first Boar, which deftly hopped over the attack. The other three were less fortunate, and the weapon sheared through them multiple times, leaving them with with red lines that indicated the wounds as their health bars dropped frantically.

The attack it seemed, had been less effective than the one loosed by the stranger. That only served to infuriate the man, who's competitive streak left him inclined to want to put more enemies down than this self-important snob who called herself... himself... whatever- who claimed to be King.

Now, this was frustrating.

"Maybe, if you're lucky, you might get to see what a real King can do," he added with a wink.

Corvo HP: 180/180 EN: 19/36 (-17) 

Corvo activates AOE-I: 9 EN + (2×#targets) = 17 EN

AOE-I deals 10×9= 90 DMG

Boar 5: 240/240 (miss) 84 DMG

Boar 6: 150/240 (-90) 84 DMG 

Boar 7: 150/240 (-90) 84 DMG 

Boar 8: 150/240 (-90) 84 DMG

"...so they need help dealing with the town's bacon shortage, I get it. Bacon's important shit. I'd probably pay someone too."

The golden haired youth picked at his teeth with a fingernail as he spoke, not bothering to make eye contact with the young woman who'd gone out of her way to explain the situation to him. She frowned. "No, that's not what I said at all," she started to say, "boars. Lots of them. The quest calls for extermination, so-"

"Right, right. Kill boars. Make bacon. I get it," he repeated. She sighed loudly and threw up her hands. The part about boars appeared to have gotten through, but none of the words of caution seemed to stick as she spoke to the other Player. For Corvo, it didn't matter. Danger was to be expected, and if he wanted to get stronger, he would have to face it head on for himself. Calling up the massive greataxe from his inventory, the item appeared across his back as he made his way toward the first floor labyrinth.

"Hell of a place to hunt for pork, though," he complained. "Drab, terrible decorator. Complete mismatch from the theme," he gestured toward the rest of the first floor, which amounted to a lush prairie and mountains, and an overabundance of life. By contrast, the labyrinth was ostentatious in its defiance of that. A black, lifeless amalgamation of metal that opened up into a sinister dungeon.

Maybe it was to intimidate new Players.

Corvo liked his interpretation better. He always did. By the time he made his approach, someone else had made their way ahead of him. "Oooooh noyadon't," he hissed beneath his breath as the red eyed man picked up his pace and sprinted to the door before it could close, and slid through narrowly just as it slammed shut.

"Hey, I don't know if you noticed," he raised his voice, "but I was here first." Total bullshit. "The bacon belongs to me," he puffed out his chest slightly and jabbed his thumb toward it to indicate himself. That was when he noticed them. Lots of them. More than he was going to be able to handle on his own, if he continued with that line of thinking.

"Ah, what I meant was, the bacon is mine, but I don't mind sharing, since I'm benevolent and all that. So, provided you don't slow me down..." he let the words hang in the air as his gaze moved from one pig to the next, then back toward the other Player.

"Whaddya say?"

Corvo

Level 9 HP: 180/180 EN: 36/36

DMG: 10 BLD: 1 ACC: 3 RISKY: 8 Recovery: 1

In another life, this was exactly the kind of person he would have kept around. 

The social games that they played, the pomp and circumstance that followed with being regarded as higher class- all the things his family expected him to learn and comply with drove him toward these frauds. People who learned to hide their faces behind masks and smiled, even when they hated what they acquiesced to. Somewhere in this world, alone, aware, beyond the reach of pretense Evan learned that it was just that. A part that they played to adjust and conform. The other two were smiles and concessions- @Bismuth and @Astreya even laughed at the foulest joke he could have conjured. His jaw set for a moment as they continued to walk.

All of the conditioning and everything he'd learned had shattered like glass and lithified into resentment.

Hostility.  

The tools he'd forged to create bonds with others became barbed, cruel weapons for keeping them away. He wanted no part of conformity in this false reality, or with people who would not mean anything on the outside. If they even saw the outside again. Aincrad had taken everything from him. The only thing that mattered now was whatever he could scrape and scrounge back. The other two spoke about strength, about a newfound power that waited for them at the end of this soiree into the shifting sands. That was what unified them. It was the only common ground they needed, as far as he was concerned. If they wanted to claim power for themselves, if they wanted to take something back that Aincrad had stolen- that, at the very least, was respectable. He wouldn't balk at it.

Survival demanded that much.

The weapon shifted on his shoulder as she asked about it, and he turned his stern gaze to regard Astreya. "Doubt it," he said. Power scaled in terms of level and skills in this world. Even with preexisting talent, numbers were god here. The truth was, he'd always been small, a lanky youth with some strength, but ultimately not the thicker muscled strongman he wanted to be. In Aincrad, none of that mattered. He could heft a massive axe comically like it was nothing and spit in the face of his shortcomings. It was also his small form of rebellion. Whatever this world took from him, he would take back in whatever manner he was allowed. If that was playing out some Conan the Barbarian fantasy- what did he care what anyone else thought? "Feels damn good to swing it, though," Corvo shrugged. "And watching whatever I hit die, little by little."

He made certain that his diction was clear. People, monsters- it was a fairly indiscriminate wording. In this world, nothing was sacred. He'd slash through anything that got in his way.

"Too bad, though," he made a dismissive gesture toward the coarse grain that whipped wildly about them. "Can't just cut my way through a sandstorm."

Whenever people started to get too close, Corvo made a point of letting them know. The crazy started to come out. He didn't shy away from laying it on thick, either. His eyes gleamed madly as his grin widened.

The axe scattered into fragments as he unsummoned it. He hadn't missed the other player simply disappearing into the thick of the storm, and he trusted the situation even less than the other two- but staying alert and calling attention to the missing person wouldn't draw them into a false sense of security, if they did have grim intentions. And Corvo wished the motherfucker would. 

"...not into big weapons, izzat it?" he asked abruptly, shattering the tension with a quick, raunchy pass at the woman. His heart wasn't in it, certainly- but then, she wasn't the only Charlatan with some modicum of training in the art.

Sandstorm check:

ID:205291 CD: 6 [No Damage]

Corvo listened to the man respond with none of the subtlety- or feigned subtlety, as the case may have been- the question had been asked with. Whether he was being intentionally obtuse or otherwise, it mattered little. Corvo offered a pained sigh and a shrug in response, as though it was the best he could do. The whole world had gone mad long ago. Who was he to hold on?

Instead, Bismuth seemed interested in collecting flowers. Or, whatever it was that he intended to collect. Corvo wasn't really paying that much attention to the finer details. They were going the same way, and they'd be taking on part of the burden so that he wouldn't have to shoulder all of it himself. That was the part that mattered.

Both of them seemed extraordinarily happy to meet someone new. That struck him as odd. Was their time in this world so soul shattering that any new face was a welcome respite?

Well... maybe that was better than no respite at all, and wanting nothing to do with anyone.

...nah, couldn't be.

He gave a non-commital grunt, and hazarded to speak. "Yeah, sure, good to mmmmyou, and all that," he murmured everyrhing after the word "good" like he didnt really want to be saying it. It was when Astreya broached the topic of a skill that he snapped remotely to attention. That was what brought him here, too. So the info was good. It was worth listening to the two of them be nice to each other after all!

Corvo glanced out over the sandstorm they were about to walk into, and his jaw set. "Looks about as inviting as a 1850s Baptism in Georgia would to Malcolm X," he commented offhand as Zamek addressed his question. The old man looked at him, confused. "Ah, don't worry buddy. I think everyone else understood the reference."

Quote

 "Are you, like, a combat type or do you do more of the like... support and searching and stuff like Bismuth?" 

At that question, his ruby reds moved to regard Astreya and he managed a cockeyed grin and summoned his massive greataxe to hang over his shoulder. "Anything needs killin'll get killed right," he assured her. That was about the only language he cared to speak. Violence.

Quote

 "If you need, I can like, take care of any monsters or whatever."

"Don't you worry over me, missy." The sands rolled around them as he strode forward, hefting the massive weapon of war that dwarfed him, quite comically as he went.

ID: 204816 CD: 7 [No Damage]

Two more fell, and their remnant data illuminated the cavern just enough for Corvo to discern the nature of the threat. He counted only one more bat, but hardly wanted to risk waiting around to see if there would be more. "Gotta say," he hefted the greataxe over his shoulder again and began building up for the swing, "for a girl with pink hair and a glorified twig, you didn't do half bad."

Yeah, that sounded even funnier when he said it out loud. He barked out a laugh in spite of himself, bur Corvo snapped into motion before it abated. Like a grinning, smoking demon, he surged toward the final creature with murderous intent. The creature met him head on, lacerating his flesh with its claws and sinking fangs deep into him.

Unfortunately for the bat, it's best efforts were met with a force of pure rage. The massive swing that Corvo built toward was already set in motion, and not even it's body could halt the momentum. It tore through the creature like paper as he forced the bat back, pinned it to the floor, and ultimately sawed it in half with that same stroke.

His weapon embedded in the ground, deeply, and he reflexively tugged at it to pry it loose.

"Alls well that ends well," he proclaimed unenthusiastically as the weapon splinted rocks from the cavern floor as he dislodged it. With a dismissive wave, he returned the axe to his inventory. "We got the girl, we killed some bats, might as well get moving before we attract any more undesirables."

He didn't need to ask her opinion on that, after all. Right?

"Keep an eye on the kid. And you," he gestured vaguely toward Koko, removing the pipe from between his teeth and likewise dismissing it to his inventory. "Don't go making any more friends before you get back to your mom."

Corvo took a deep breath, then exhaled. 

What a ride.

Corvo HP: 67/180 (35+2=37-12=25) | EN 11/36 (+1, -8) | Base Damage: 8 | Mitigation: 12 | Accuracy: 3 | Evasion: 0 | Bleed: 12 | Risky: 8 | Recovery

ID: 204439 | BD: 5 (-1) = 4 (+3) = 7 | MD: 10

Rebekah | HP 660/660 | EN 69/84 (-11-6+2) | DMG: 22 | MIT: 48 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 1 | LD: 4 | BH 35

Giant Bat 3: HP 0/75 (-160) | DMG 35 (Dead)

(8+8= 16 × 10 = 160)

He looked around cautiously as the woman moved to join him in the cave and pulled her rapier. She'd protested the manner in which he called her, but if he heard her, he gave no indication. Instead, when she joined him and they were knees deep in the darkness of the cavern, she spoke up again. "Eh?" he asked. She said that she heard something, but 'something' in this situation didn't necessarily mean 'a good thing.' She started down one path when the road forked, and he briefly considered splitting the party- but if they got lost, would it really be as simple as doubling back and retracing their steps? In the dark, no less.

Despite his misgivings, Corvo flanked Rebekah as she pursued the sound. It manifested as they came closer, and he distinctly recognized it as a young girl brought to tears. They had found Koko. 

Quote

"Hello Koko. We are here to rescue you from the cave. Your mother is waiting for us in Urbus. Can you come with us?"

Corvo blinked. That was a surprisingly direct way to approach an irrational child. "You gonna offer her candy too? Where's the white van with no windows?" he asked incredulously as he took a step past her and knelt before the girl. "Hey, kid," his voice became a bit softer, "I know this is scary..."

Koko threw herself at Rebekah in hysterics before Corvo had time to try to diffuse the waterworks. He blinked and shook his head. "The Cardinal System clearly has no concept of stranger danger," he muttered sidelong as Koko wept into the threads of Rebekah's garments and took solace in her femininity. Clearly, she was reminded of her mother and it brought her comfort. "Stupid fu-" he barely had time to express his sentiment about the game before another sound, much less appealing than the last, flooded the cave.

"...well that's not great," he huffed as he managed to get to his feet. High pitched sounds blended with the flapping of wings, and he knew that the first friend he'd made in the cave had some extended family over for the holidays. "Get in front of the girl," he instructed, "I can't get a clear count, but there's a bunch of them."

The first bat came at him and raked viciously at him with claws. Corvo watched the attack coming and stood his ground, bringing his axe through behind him and working up the momentum to repay the damage in kind. Before the creature could evade, the massive weapon split it down the middle and sent it flying in disjointed strands of data. Likewise, three more creatures swept down and took chunks out of him, but given his lack of visibility, he did not get a better idea of how many there were. Corvo's health bar took a dent but just remained in the green; but more importantly, he felt something hot like rage welling up beneath his skin. He recognized the buff as "Risky," which came from his armor, but he hadn't realized it gave him this much of a rush.

"I could get used to this," he muttered, rolling out his shoulders as he prepared for another attack. The danger to his life only gave him a thrill, and even as he faced the possibility of death, Corvo could feel his body teeming with anticipation. This was the closest to alive he'd felt in Aincrad.

"Eyes up!" he called out. They were swooping madly, and he suspected that it had something to do with their home being disturbed. "They aren't bad alone, but the bunch of them- I gotta admit, it ain't great."

Giant Bat 1:
HP: 0/75 (-104)| DMG: 35 (DEAD)
(8x13)
Giant Bat 2:
HP: 75/75 | DMG: 35
Giant Bat 3:
HP: 75/75 | DMG: 35
Giant Bat 4:
HP: 75/75 | DMG: 35
 

Corvo:
HP: 92/180 (136-48)= 88 | EN 18/36 (+1) = 29 (-11) = 18  | Base Damage: 8 | Mitigation: 12 | Accuracy: 3 | Evasion: 0 | Bleed: 12 | Risky: 8 | Recovery
ID: 204413 | BD: 4 (-1) = 3 (+3) = 6 | MD: 8
Corvo took damage: Risky procs! +8 Damage next attack!

Was something going to come from behind them? Corvo stared blankly at the woman when she said that, one brow chocked. "Whatddya mean, 'whatever is coming from behind us'? You think something is going to flank us while we're advancing into the cave?" he asked, no small amount of skepticism in his voice. If that was her way of saying she'd take rear guard, it left him seriously unnerved. He patted down his torso and sought his pipe, which he found in short order and ignited. As he took a drag, he felt his hands jittering unbidden. What'd she have to go and say that, for?

He began the (relatively short) journey into the cave by summoning his greataxe and brandishing it in both hands. Smoke billowed from between his teeth like a train's smokestack as he trudged forward into the darkness, ready for anything. That was when the creature appeared before him, which he only managed to see once it swooped down at him. "Ack!" he called out. Rebekah had been right; if they wanted to see anything in this environment, they should have brought something to shed light. It seemed like they would be on the back foot, this time.

"Look alive, Pinky," he called, a sure reference to the woman's hair, "we've got company!"

Corvo hefted the mighty weapon over his shoulders and got his hips up underneath him as the creature narrowly missed smashing into him. Its teeth bared, he could vividly imagine what might happen if they punctured him. He was lucky that time- but if there were more of them, if they happened to run into a group of those things, he might not be as fortunate the next go around. "Something tells me the most danger is ahead of us, not behind," he muttered grimly as his axe spun round his body, and he threw his weight into a heavy swing.

The bat came around for another pass, but Corvo's weapon was on a collision course. The Sword Art he'd activated enhanced the power of the attack tenfold, and with a shrill cry, it hit the ground in two uneven halves. "I think we should find the girl and get out of here," he suggested, "sooner rather than later, preferably."

Giant Bat:
HP: 0/75 (-80) | DMG: 35
(Base = 8 x 10)

Corvo:
HP: 180/180 | EN 28/36 (-8) | Base Damage: 8 | Mitigation: 12 | Accuracy: 3 | Evasion: 0 | Bleed: 12 | Risky: 8 | Recovery
ID: 204402 | BD: 8 (-1) = 7 (+3) = 10 | MD: 1

He let out a grunt when the other Player suggested they get the lead out. There wasn't a sentiment he could possibly have agreed with more. "Yeah, you're right," Corvo muttered as he raised no objections, and they started on their way toward the indicated quest marker. Rebekah was right, which he noted immediately once he'd had the chance to really look over the map. This place wasn't far at all. It must have been her inability to act that made the mother's behavior so manic. Corvo flinched. His mother might have felt the same way once the situation in Sword Art Online was explained to her. Only unlike Koko, no one was coming to help him. No one could reassure his mother.

The two were not the same.

He let out a ragged breath just as she mentioned his lack of introduction. She was right about that- Corvo disliked pleasantries, and whenever possible, he failed to give his name. He failed to interact with anyone else at all. Intentionally.  It may have been rude, but in response to her question, he let out a drawn out sigh. Everyone seemed to care about manners lately. Everyone wanted to know everybody, and this world was suddenly becoming sunshine rainbow happy land for friends. He hated it. With every part of his being, he rejected the idea that people could come remotely close to accepting this experience as life.

Corvo, to his credit, managed to bite back the acerbic words that he wanted to say. "Corvo." It wasn't a fully functional greeting, but then, Corvo wasn't a fully functional human being. Not in the sense that most others were. He ran on spite and venom, and with a severe lack of caffeine in this place, he had no shortage of either. 

The path was fairly straightforward, but not rife with monsters the way he thought it would be. It made for poor sport, but if this beast the woman droned on about was worth its salt then it would make up for his boredom in spades. When Rebekah asked about a light, he blinked. "What?" he asked. "No, can't say I have anything like that. Wasn't aware that I could get one. You mean to say you think we're going to have trouble seeing?" he asked. He'd seen something about darkvision somewhere in the myriad abilities and skills a Player could unlock, but it felt like a far-off expenditure that wouldn't come into play as floor 2. 

He didn't think there was anything wrong with that design, though. It posed a challenge- something that the Players had to overcome before they had become strong enough to simply bulldoze through content. 

"Whatever," he shrugged. "As long as I get to kill something. I'm in a real foul mood today."

He was at a loss. Corvo immediately regretted that he had not simply walked away. Surely she would not have followed him outside the safe zone, and he could have had time to collect his thoughts-

Quote

Hello, Are you looking to take the quest?

The ruby gleam of his eyes darted toward the woman, who answered one of his many questions with one of her own. At least now he knew that the woman was a quest NPC, and this erratic behavior was the game's way of flagging him as able to accept it. "Yeah, I guess I don't have much choice," he managed to shrug as Choshi continued to plead with him. Her relief was measured, almost non-existent when the girl, who named herself as Rebekah, asked her about the child. 

"Y-yes of course! She's got my face, and her hair is brown, too," Choshi began, "you'd be hard pressed to think she wasn't mine. She was wearing a bright yellow dress today- that's a relief, since the caves are so dark."

"Yeah, great, hopefully the looks are all that's genetic," Corvo muttered. "Alright, sure, Rebekah right? I'm game. Maybe it'll pay off, maybe it won't, but I could use the extra experience and frankly I just want to get out of here."

 "R-really? Thank you! Thank you so much, you have no idea how grateful I am," Choshi looked like a burden had been lifted, as if all her problems had been solved the moment that the Players accepted her request. Corvo almost wondered if they would find the child, or if she would even be alive, given how dark of a game Sword Art Online had proven to be already. Still, good or bad, at least the woman would be calmer now.

"Yeah, yeah," Corvo drawled.

 "Your e-efforts won't go to waste, I swear! I'll have something for you when you get back, I-I promise!" 

"Now you're speaking my language," Corvo clicked his tongue as a location became marked on his map, indicating the checkpoint for where they could begin their search. "Should have started with that. Really." He turned to regard the other Player, who invited him to join her. "See? Payment. I knew this was going to be worth the hassle." He hadn't known. "Looks like the location's been marked on our maps. This'll be a cinch."

Let there be Light

His arrival in Urbus was not the quiet event he hoped for. 

Before he had time to think about his next move, he saw a woman make a mad dash right toward him. With his hands out in front of him, he rebuffed her before she could come too close. "Slow the hell down," he waved her off. Over her head, the name Choshi indicated her as an NPC, but her erratic mannerisms drew his attention. Something was not right. "Pl-please," she begged, "I've been trying to find someone to help me all day. My child--" Tears streamed down her face as her composure broke. Corvo looked around for someone- anyone- else. Someone who could have calmed her frayed nerves, or... someone who wasn't short fused. Someone better than he was.

With a huff, the blonde ran his hand over his hair. He wanted nothing to do with this situation. Part of him screamed out that the right thing was to help her. That conflict was the only thing that rooted him where he stood.  "She-- she was playing in one of the caverns in the mountains with her friend." the woman continued to sob, and he grit his teeth. "I-I told her not to go but she didn't listen to me!"

"That sucks," he replied, not at all emphatic. In fact, he sounded distracted, almost bored. The NPC didn't seem to care how unaffected he was. "What do you want from me?"

"Her friend came back to me just this moment a-and said that they were attacked by monsters! T-the beast is still in there with her, please, I don't know how long my Koko can last in a place like that!"

It clicked in his head that she was imploring him for help. She wanted him to help her child. Corvo sighed, loudly. "You want me to help the kid," he voiced the thought. She shook her head wildly. He paused and glanced around. "I... look lady, I really don't have time for this..." he reached into his pocket and frowned. "...this is a quest, right?" he asked, quietly.

The Older man seemed to accept his inclusion without even asking, and the conversation abruptly ended as the newcomer spoke with the woman. It ended just as he'd intended- without a fuss, and with him included in the group without the need to ask for permission. After all, it was always easier to ask forgiveness- who am I kidding, I'm not going to do that either, Corvo snorted as he glanced from one player to the other, ultimately disinterested in who they were. It was what they contributed that mattered, and so long as the quest moved forward, even that was an afterthought. The woman insinuated that she would be fine if he came along, but he seemed to ignore the sentiment as though it did not matter.

Bismuth introduced himself and Corvo's ruby gaze found him, assessing. The man seemed slightly more agreeable than the woman, at least in terms of introductions. She was less forthcoming, and his immediate impression was that she was "tolerating" his presence. Astreya followed by introducing herself, almost like she were following some kind of social protocol. "Corvo," he responded. It seemed that some of the dogs in this world clung to the conventions of the one they'd left behind, at least. It was best to entertain them where necessary. If just to prevent friction.

Friction was still inevitable.

Quote

"Well, like, anyway.  Let's totally go out into the desert.  It'll be fun probably!"

Corvo found his gaze following the woman skeptically. Who thought of traipsing through the desert as fun, even in the real world? Or did she mean going together as a group? No- that was just as unlikely, given the current climate between them. Sweaty with a high probability of disagreement. Granted, Corvo was known for being flamboyant and over the top, but he hadn't gauged this group well enough yet to unleash the hellish beast of his ego on the poor, unfortunate souls. He leaned toward Bismuth and quietly asked, "which part is the fun one? Do you know?" 

He spied the other Player who hadn't said anything and chuckled. That guy had the right idea. Corvo's gazed moved back to Astreya as she hurried ahead, out to the point position. With a sigh, he resigned himself. One guy seemed normal, the other seemed eager to get things over with, and the woman- well, who knew with that one. He got himself moving and trudged along behind her, close to Zamek. The old man coughed intermittently, but kept the pace as diligently as he could. I get it now. The fun part must be babysitting the guy with COPD, he reasoned silently. That thought caused him to laugh audibly.

His father would have slapped him in the face for laughing at a joke like that. Corvo felt himself sneer at that thought. "Which way?" he asked Zamek. 

It took far longer than he liked to weasel the location of this particular quest out of a broker. Whether they disliked his attitude or the fact that he refused to pay for what should have been common knowledge, the woman that he didn't deserve the time of day. Luckily, another Player had been less stingy with his pocketbook, and Corvo just happened to listen in on the conversation. "Damn shame," he muttered. "Whatever happened to the kindness of strangers?" he asked the world, ironically.

Aincrad failed to respond in an affable manner.

"Yeah," he snorted. "Feeling's mutual." The crimson eyed youth ambled through the windblown town, eyes squinted to ward off the grains of sand that rubbed his flesh raw. He had a rough idea of where the quest should have started- the one that would let him travel virtually anywhere in Aincrad, without worrying about the environment- but initially, he saw no NPC.

Rather, what he saw was a pair of Players talking. One more than the other, in the most infuriating speech pattern he could possibly imagine. "You've gotta be kidding me," he sneered. Thankfully, he could avoid interaction with that one outright, since the quest did not require him to be in a group...

He watched an older, sickly character enter the fray. The woman exchanged words with him, and in her zeal, drafted another Player to help him. It was when he revealed his name that Corvo groaned audibly. "Of course it is," the blonde rolled his eyes. 

It didn't stop him. No- Corvo wanted what the man had to offer, and he wasn't the type to back down without taking what he came for. 

He stepped into the group like he belonged there from the start, arms folded, and glanced between the three of them critically. "I heard that you needed help," he addressed the old man directly. Quest NPCs were easy. Players less so. If he triggered the quest before they had time to weigh in, he could join the ragtag band and sponge off of their luck. Better than scrounging around in a giant litter box for hours by himself.

"And so, I have decided to be charitable. You may thank me after we find your effects."

Earning a Living

So much.

There were a handful of places readily available in the Town of Beginnings for teaching the basics of survival in Aincrad. Coupled with the tutorial were the means to take on professions and become part of the world's dynamic economy, allowing each Player to contribute to floor clearing, the enrichment of daily life, and a multitude of other monotonous tasks that sounded fantastic on paper but actually amounted to the nine to five grind of a desk jockey. His ruby gaze glazed over as he stifled a yawn and watched for the thirteenth time in an hour that the same NPC ambled past, mindless, on a loop that could numb the brain of anyone who paid attention for long enough. "This is the closest I've been to drunk in years," he drawled. Corvo ran a hand through his gilded hair and bristled loudly.

He realized that he was tapping his foot impatiently after the fourteenth pass. The Player reached out and grabbed the NPC by the shoulder and pulled him close. "Don't you have something you need to be doing?" he asked, trying to omit the menacing growl from his words. "You know, other than pacing, back and forth, for literal hours-"

"I have to spread the word," the young man recited dutifully, "have to make sure everyone knows."

Corvo watched the man's face, almost like he believed that it might twist in laughter at any second. Surely, he wasn't serious? "Knows... what?" the youth asked. "You haven't approached anyone for the entire time I've been watching you."

"Approached?" came the confused response. "No, no, never approach. They have to ask me."

He was dumbfounded by the simplicity of the response, and the conviction with which it was delivered. This twisted reality had an equally twisted sense of humor. "Right..." he snorted. "Alright, I'll bite, but you better not make me regret it. What does everyone need to know about?" He let go of the man's shoulder and crossed his arms. Was it some kind of mission, to fight orcs or collect wood? A dangerous situation that required an immediate response? No- surely, the game would have made this character a bit more compelling and given him a bit more urgency if that were the case-

"Opportunities," the boy positively gleamed. "For work!" he added, as though he needed to be more concise. "There are many professions in this world, and a great deal of need besides. I've been tasked with putting the word out and recruiting to try to handle the demand for skilled workers. It's a real problem, you know-"

Corvo felt his brain returning to the mushy state it had emerged from just precious moments before. "Yeah," he started to say, "but it ain't my proble-"

"Did you know?" the lad asked enthusiastically, cutting in before he could finish his sentence. Corvo blinked. What was that? "There's even work for hoarders, gatherers, people who find materials and rare objects alike." He reached into his pocket and produced a shiny stone and held it out for the Player to appraise. "You can find the secret treasures of this land- maybe even be rich, one day!" He quickly stowed the item when Corvo made to reach for it, much to the other man's chagrin.

"Rich, you say?" he questioned rhetorically. A King needed coffers to rule, and riches were the best way to fill said coffers. He nodded. "Alright," he lifted a finger and pointed to the boy's nose. "Then you have the privilege of telling me where I can find someone to teach me this skill," he told the younger man.

"Oh, yeah, of course!" the boy nodded. "That'll be Giovanna. She makes camp just outside town, near the forest. You can't miss it. When you see her, tell her Pietro sent you, would you?"

Looks like I'm not the only one looking to get rich, he smirked. 

"Yeah kid," he winked. "Whatever you say." If there's a sign on bonus or a finder's fee, it's all mine, kiddo. Welcome to real world business practices.

With his business settled and his next move planned, Corvo promptly made his way toward the gate.

@kali

If there was anything more irritating than forced kindness, it was the expectation of empathy for strings of code. Aincrad itself mocked him with the illusion of a distraught mother and sought to illicit an all too human response. Instead, he listened with a measured expression that betrayed none of the contempt that he actually felt. Instead, he responded in a mechanical manner that made it seem like their roles had reversed, and he was the computer program. Deadpan. "She got lost in the mountains- the beast...!" Her words were broken, hysterical. His initial reaction was a wave of nausea that threatened to bring him to his knees. A machine didn't deserve sympathy or pity. Their relationship was words on paper, thoughts set in motion and played out according to a script. It didn't have the lifelong journey of parent and child, but to feign that- to show him exactly what this world had taken from him- only fueled his disgust. 

Yet in this world, to survive meant to stomach that malcontent and rise above it. At any other point in his imprisonment, Corvo might have given into his rage and spat back at the NPC. Instead, he took a shallow breath and started to respond. "You're being insane," he growled through clenched teeth. "I can't understand a word you're saying. You need to slow down."

Still just as charming as ever, I see.

Both Corvo and the woman turned to regard Lessa, one with renewed hope and the other with visible distress. It was the woman who looked overjoyed to see her. "Oh, yes, thank the gods, please tell me you've come to help?" she queried, triggering the quest prompt for the blonde haired woman. "My daughter is lost in the mountains and it's a very dangerous area. I'm not strong enough to brave it myself- I told her not to go, but she just wouldn't listen to me. Please, I'll do anything-"

His eyes would have rolled out of their sockets if they could have. "Normally if a woman said that to me it would feel like incentive, but this just feels pathetic," he muttered as he turned to glance sidelong at the woman. "Don't tell me you've got a soft spot for these fuckin' AI," his shoulders sagged as if defeated. Everyone else in this world had so much good, so much desire to help their fellow man- even when their fellow man didn't actually exist. Evan had squandered all of his empathy within the first damn year they were stuck inside the game. He felt like he wanted to scream; but Corvo suppressed it for the time being as he realized that the NPC had stared staring at him, almost as if she thought he was the crazy one.

There was a mad glint in his eye as he stared back.

"Careful, lady," he said in a much quieter voice, "I'll make sure you see your kid again, but if you look at me like that again, it might not be the way you intended."

She recoiled a bit toward Lessa, and Corvo smiled. "Yeah, that's better. Alright, mountains, kids, monster...?"

Let there be Light

Corvo level 5

Of all the boring places to go, the second floor was one of the worst. 

Players who had already done their time rarely had a reason to come back. Since the overhaul of the System, the levels and strength of various mobs had streamlined. Drops were set to make it less lucrative for those high level Players to dip low and therefore incentivized quests and fights for lower leveled Players. It created a certain rift between the Frontliners and the weaker Players, but that had always been the case. Those Frontliners who did come down were mostly there to scout for prospective new talent. Guilds kept a steady influx of new blood in order to keep their numbers up and help with the clearing effort. So, essentially they were just numbers, some more valuable than others.

Corvo found all of that boring. He lazed against on of Urbus' many buildings, one shoulder reclined with the other arm holding an apple. He didn't much care for most fruits, and apples weren't an exception- but without much col to his name, whatever food he could buy would have to suffice. He took a bite and made a face, staring down his nose at the broken skin and assessing the mealy off-white innards for blemish. Those sorts of imperfections didn't usually crop up in the augmented reality, but he wanted a better excuse to toss aside his dinner than "I don't like how this tastes." His parents had taught him to be a bit more discerning than that.

Yet, somehow he was still able to justify pitching it. Sometimes in life, Corvo reasoned, it was safe to not like something and that was reason enough to take action. That was his entire reason for rebelling against the Cardinal System for keeping him trapped here. It only followed logically that he would start to manifest that more frivolous behavior. And in his mind, no one could say a word to him about that- because they would be wrong.

He pushed off the wall and glanced around, aware of various structures and people, how the crowd moved, and the vendors different patterns. Their outcries of sale, the pitches they made for their products, everything had a subtle (or not so subtle) way of flowing seamlessly. Or at least, it seemed seamless. Once you listened long enough, even the most structured parts of Aincrad were discordant. Corvo had successfully started to find chaos even where it didn't exist. He hated it.

"Um, sir?" A woman approached him while his back was turned, and he whipped around. "My daughter, it's my daughter. She's gone missing, and, well..."

Corvo looked her up and down for a long moment. The woman seemed uncomfortable, almost afraid, but if her daughter had gone missing then it made sense. He recognized her as an NPC immediately because of the way she moved and spoke. No girl trapped in Aincrad ever gave Corvo the time of day. Something about him was offputting, or at least, that's what he reasoned it was. He'd stopped caring, or looking for an excuse. He didn't need them anyway. "Yeah, so?" he asked "Get to the point."

"I was hoping to get some help..."

@Lessa

He stared at his reflection for a long time.

The red hair he was born with was a part of him, even when he denied so much of himself out of spite. It was a fact, irrefutable, something that he refused to bend on. It was something that kept him tethered to his sanity in a world that threatened to steal it from him daily. So, for him to willfully give it up meant that he was finally finished with that fight. It meant that he no longer needed to hold on to the things he held dear simply to keep his mind. It meant that he embraced the end of that chapter, and that who he was was no longer up for discussion. Aincrad had won many battles against Evan, but ultimately, it had lost the war.

His hair was a golden color now, almost reflective of the aesthetic changes he'd seen in Alkor. He never asked why Alkor made the change, or what significance it held. For Corvo, it was defiance. The will that drove him forward now blazed in a form that everyone would be able to see. He smiled, red eyes burning with newfound intensity. Instead of a red-haired, foul-mouthed vagabond, his appearance took on that of a more sophisticated, refined cruelty. It wasn't apparent at a glance, but a woman passing by remarked that he looked sharp. If she'd stayed longer, his words, his demeanor, everything might have changed- but now, he had at the very least a more inviting scowl.

Corvo stepped out of the room and pulled his cloak over both shoulders, letting it catch the wind and flow through the breeze behind him as he ran. There were quests he needed to do, thing's he'd neglected for too long. Now, with his mind made up, there was nothing standing between him and growth. Somehow, he'd managed to blame everyone and everything else for his problems. He'd become the very thing he hated. There was so much work to be done.

And so much rage to tap into.

Perspective: Corvo, leaving the Monument

There was something sobering about the way he swayed with each step. After he was outside the room, his knees felt weak. All of the emotions he'd fought to suppress finally boiled over, rising to the surface and then over the edge. He caught his breath only to lose it again. What was going on? All of that time, he'd convinced himself that he would never see Thom or any of the others again. He'd thought that everything he knew was gone, and that Aincrad only kept taking. Now that something had resurfaced, he wasn't sure how to cope with it. Alkor was there. He was in the building just behind Corvo, and the red haired Player had willfully denied his friendship. He'd gone as far as to say he'd take on the world alone, and for his best friend to watch him do it. He was proud- fiercely so, and he knew that his newest task was greater than anything he'd faced so far.

The quests in Aincrad were nothing next to the monumental expectation he'd just made for himself. The King of Aincrad, but he was little more than a joker. He wanted so badly to turn around, to say that he'd acted in error, irrationally, but what was said between friends the way he'd said it- those things were set in stone. He'd anted up. He couldn't fold now, when all the chips were already on the table. "Fantastic job, Ev," he muttered to himself. "Now I really do have to do it. I really do have to make something of myself, and show all the other idiots trapped in here with me that I'm not just someone for them to laugh at." He steadied himself a moment later, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath.

When he exhaled, he made his first decision. "It's time I did something for myself that wasn't just lashing out in anger," he said quietly. He already had an idea of how to separate himself from the hedonistic nihilist he'd become. Now, it was time for him to embrace a higher calling. He was going to become a force to be reckoned with- a King in more than just name. So, he headed into the deepest part of town with a handful of coins, and he decided to make a reckless cosmetic decision.

That's what pretty girls do when they have an existential crisis, right?

"I'm saying you're a veteran gamer," Alkor glanced him over. "You have a lot to offer, if you make up your mind to do it. Even if you stay mad at me, even if you continue to hate this world, channel that. Use your skills and your intellect to help get everyone out of this world. And if that's not good enough for you, do it so you can see your loved ones again. Self-satisfaction, actual benevolence, all that shit aside-" Alkor leaned in and narrowed his eyes. "-we both know you've been wasting your potential."

"Don't you think it's a little unfair to lecture me?" Corvo quirked an eyebrow quizzically. 

"You just lectured me," Alkor shrugged.

"Fuckin' shameless," the red haired player guffawed. "As expected of the Captain. No sense of propriety whatsoever."

"Circumstances change, people rarely do," Alkor shrugged.

"What're you, a fortune cookie?" 

"Look, let's figure out what kind of build you want. I'll help you get hooked up with some people who will get you through strong enemies so you can hustle to the Frontlines. And I'll add you to my friends list fight now-" Before Alkor could open the menu, Corvo shook his head and caught the man by the wrist.

"Look, Cap. I respect you. I think a lot of the fact that I just told you to die and you put up with it. But I can't just pretend I'm not responsible for my own decisions the past couple of years. I'm not alright. I'm fucked up, honestly. My brain ain't right, not like it used to be. I've got a lot of work to do. I've got a lot of ground to cover, and damage to undo, and I've got to do it myself. If I didn't do at least that much, I'd never be able to live in my own head."

"So...?"

"Friends comes later. Friends comes after I can rationalize all the hate and rage. Before I came to this world, I wasn't like this. I've fallen so far. If I went back now, my parents, my brother, my sister- they wouldn't know who I am. I don't want that."

"And when did that stop?" Alkor asked quietly.

"When you gave up on me!" Corvo screamed. Their faces were close, so close that he couldn't hide the tears. He couldn't stifle any of the emotion that bled into his words. "You could have sent me a message, literally any time. You could have found me, let me know you were okay, but you were off plowing some pink haired bimbo-"

"Mari?" Alkor asked.

"Who the fuck else, genius? Yeah, I heard all about it. Emotional Rollercoaster, all that goofy shit you were never any good at. You picked that over your family. I thought you were dead, I thought I'd never see you again, and I thought I didn't have anyone." Corvo exhaled. "And really, I don't. It's obvious you can't be relied on when the chips are down."

"You know that's bullshit." Alkor grabbed Corvo by the arms and pushed him off. The difference between them wasn't much, even with numbers as a consideration. Alkor’s stats were system generated, while Corvo's were all natural. "You know I'd be there in a minute if you called.

"But you weren't, Thom. You weren't there for two goddamn years. What do you have to say about that?"

"I went into a goddamn coma!" Alkor practically screamed. Corvo blinked. This man never showed emotion to that degree. "I disappeared, gone, everyone thought I was dead. What was I supposed to do?! All that time, I had no idea that you'd logged in, because you'd never reached out either!"

"Oh fuck off!" Corvo threw a punch, which took Alkor square in the cheek. "I didn't reach out! Fuck, we were supposed to meet on the very first day! Where the hell were you!"

"Are we just going to keep shifting blame?" Alkor sighed, fatigued. "This is exhausting."

"You're fuckin' exhausting," Corvo folded his arms and muttered.