Beat

As thunder rang out from the clash between the horse's hooves and Shield's Manticore Mask, Beat was already moving into position for a second attack. Despite how much experience Beat, had it had always amazed him how stupid the hate system made enemies. Shield was a fairly unassailable target. One or two stings from his thorns would be enough to get that message across. Add to that, Beat's relentless assault and one would be forced to conclude that targeting Beat made the most sense.

"Hey dummy! Over here!" He shouted for flavor more than anything as he leaped into the air, reaching eye level with the elemental before unleashing his second volley of strikes. A second concert of thunder rang out as Beat's rapid combination hit home once again. Beat landed and quickly retreated back to Shield's side, ready for the next attack and resulting opening from the equine lightning elemental. 

Beat's eyes lit up as he stared across the lake. It was a beautiful creature to see. The arcing electricity and the way it galloped along the shoreline was nothing short of elegant. He drew he spear and the familiar red aura spiked up around him as he dashed in a straight line, across the water, towards the elemental. "Here we go! ORAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" He yelled as his speed kicked up a small canyon of water along his path. Taneuma easily took noticed and reared up in protest as Beat closed in. 

"You're much bigger up close, but that's just fine!" He said as his feet touched the shoreline before catapulting him into the air, "Let's test those reflexes!" Beat's form blurred and shifted rapidly as his spear struck true, each strike of his sword art causing the body of the elemental to erupt in a crash of thunder, creating a stupendous cacophony of sound. 

"Needs work..." he said, licking his lips, satisfied at the chunk of health drained from the creature's health bar. 

Beat began to have trouble fixing his gaze on Mari, be he persevered. He folded his arms and forced himself to endure the details of the stories, coming up with more questions than answers for some. There was a fair amount of comfort in the fact that Beat was having a hard time seeing this girl as a ruthless killer with no value for human life. In his experience, anyone who had an orange marker was likely to keep it for good reason and had little regard for human life. Mari was certainly not a depiction like any player killer he had ever met.

If she is, she's hiding it very well...

Beat quietly breathed a sigh of relief as he began to feel the anxiety of potentially having to once again hunt a player killer down fade into the normal tension that would expected of these conversations. Despite what Shield had said about protecting her, it was actually quite challenging to protect a player from determined bounty hunter if they knew where to find their target. As she finished and Shield recommended a break, Beat grabbed his chopsticks as he nodded, "Sure, I definitely need to think about all of this. Message me when you're ready." He snagged a trio of salmon sashimi he had been saving and stuffed them in his mouth as he stood up. He walked around the table and felt his hand rest on her shoulder for only a moment as he passed her. He was only initially aware of the contact subconsciously, but as he made his way to the door, he realized what he had done. He quickly donned his winter gear and stepped outside, cursing the cold under his breath as he shut the door. 

What.Was.That?

Beat had never really had an urge for physical contact, so while it possibly seemed benign, it was a curious event to him. Empathy had always been difficult for Beat to understand and his limited experience with it had only come as a result of one of the many disputes they had gone through over being trapped in Sword Art Online. He summoned his spear and looked down the shaft as he considered everything that had been said so far. 

I guess if anyone else can understand taking a human life...

@Shield

@Mari

Beat smirked as he changed his equipment around, the noxious pendant appearing around his neck, "Well, you keep do keep yourself pretty busy. Not saying you should stop grinding, but you need to take time to relax too." He chuckled as he knew how Shield felt about his lack of grinding at all. It was something Beat had been working himself up for, given that it was truly important to make sure they were prepared for event bosses and floor bosses. 

"You know, it's been a very long time since you and I sparred." He said, giving Shield an energetic look, "It has been too long since the unstoppable force and the Immovable Object clashed." He slammed his fist into his open palm as his mind raced back to their Crossreign days. He kept his ear open as his eyes strained against the darkness, following the noise from the stream, which was steadily increasing as the water flow became heavier. "I've found some benefit to training technique that you don't really get from sheer numbers. It's actually interesting."

"Is it weird that I'm sort of looking forward to this next floor boss?" Beat said as they entered the settlement, the small number of people in the street paying them passing attention, "I mean, I don't like the idea of risking our lives, but that's already a foregone conclusion. That will happen, so I feel like it is the most exciting part of this game." 

Gotta take the enjoyment where you can, right? 

Beat smiled a little bit as he decided to change the topic somewhat, "Yes! I'm ready to get this last statue and complete the chain!" He bounced with each step as he pulled up the information for the next fight, "Yeah, he won't be quite as simple as the others have been. The puma was disappointing, but I don't think that possibility exists here." Beat stepped onto the teleporter and winked at Shield, "Let's give this guy something to remember eh?"

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[Thread Rewards]

[Shield]

5 SP

4 T2 Mats

2750 col

Mothra Statue

[Beat]

5 SP

5 T2 Mat

2750 col

Mothra Statue

Beat's eyes snapped to the handful of easter goodies the Shield held out. He shook his head and laughed again as they exited the forest, bringing the settlement into view, "I can always count on you to take advantage of the laziness of others. That fishing quest you can repeat is nuts for that event." Beat's have waved through the air and a shimmering snowflake appeared in his hand, "I just hope I make out alright for trading mine away for this." 

It can't be a bad thing to have on hand, right? 

He stowed the snowflake as his eyes spotted another unique flower blooming along the main path back to the settlement, this time, it was a fiery red and orange blossom with the scent of oranges, "I feel like I'm living in Willy Wonka land sometimes Shield." He said as he stopped down and stashed the flower into his inventory. 

"Oh yeah, you only gave me 25 eggs, but I heard the rumors about Shield, the human egg dispenser." Beat said, laughing as he continued to wade through the lighter vegetation. "You definitely carried your habits from Crossreign over. They translate well and I should probably grind a little harder than I do." It was no secret that Beat had a much more laid back approach to gaming, allowing his talent to carry him. This worked in Sword Art Online, to a degree, but spending excess time to harvest the rewards the game had to offer certainly paid dividends. 

Beat's eyes were drawn to a grouping of fungus that was resting in the nook of a tree. The material tag popped up as they approached and he happily stored a handful into this inventory. He looked ahead, brow wrinkling as he considered Shield's words on the next boss fight, "I mean, I still don't see something that would cost us our lives, short of that Kayaba thing you mentioned." Beat shook his head and looked over to Shield with a smile, his tone jovial, "You worry about things you can't control old man."

Beat laughed as he held out his arm for Horus, who happily stepped onto his new perch, "You know, sometimes I cook for this guy. It's probably why he brings he stuff like that, honestly." Horus was already looking elsewhere, no longer amused by their conversation now that he had delivered his hunt and obtained a ride. "I suppose that is normally the big worry, the floor boss, I mean." Beat's brow furrowed as he though back to the Elven Council fight, "I really hope the frontlines have changed for the better. I know we've hash this out a lot since returning, but we really can't have people sympathizing with the floor boss." Beat glanced to Shield, giving him a nonchalant wave, "I can handle a rule change or two. Unless the boss fight really turns it up, I think we should be fine. It's the people I don't trust."

I trust a game more than people. That fits with the real world at least...

Horus raised a taloned foot and pointed towards the ground as he clicked softly in Beat's ear. Beat took the queue and saw what his familiar had spotted almost immediately. A brightly colored flower with almost crystalline petals shimmers lightly in the sun. Beat steadly stooped down to get get, making sure to keep Horus's perch level, "Nice find buddy." 

"Well, maybe the next tier of floors will prove to be a better challenge. It's hard for you and I to find something we can't handle without too much difficulty." Beat said, stowing his spear and picking up the statue dropped by the puma. He turned it over in his hands as he made his way towards the temple exit, "One more buddy. I can't say this quest line has been bad for experience either. I'll take a useful reward and plenty of exp any day. Way better than that dragon hunter quest we did."

As they stepped out of the temple, Horus was perched on a nearby bench, piercing eyes staring at the pair of them with a small animal in his beak. Beat giggled and walked over to Horus, who dropped the rodent at his feet, "You...wait..." Beat knelt down and tapped the rodent, revealing the material tag, "Alright, if you say so...Nice find Horus." He said, shrugging and stowing the item away. 

This game is weird...

Beat leaned in as Mari spilled her story. The details were remarkably tragic, almost comically so. So many series of unfortunate events happening to one person was quite difficult to understand or believe. Beat still had his doubts, but he needed all of the information to make a clear decision. Even if he decided that she was not innocent, taking someone's life was a big decision and one he did not take lightly. 

There is too much untold to make any sort of decision. Patience...

Beat took a slow, deep breath and sat back as Shield spoke, taking a couple of pieces of yellowtail sashimi, dipping them lightly in soy sauce before eating them both. As the flavor filled his mouth and lightened his mood significantly, he began to speculate about how many more there could be. At what number would he simply refuse to believe her? As Shield finished, Beat poured himself more tea as he spoke, "Torturing yourself over these events is understandable, but unhelpful. To yourself especially. The consequences of your actions will unfold regardless of how you feel about them. The way others feel about you matters when it comes to trustworthiness and the impressions you make are what matters." He looked up, meeting her eyes with his own, his face more grim than it had been previously, "We all have our demons. Taking a human life changes you, forever. You and I both know what that feels like."

@Mari

@Shield

Beat smirked as he watched the puma's health bar drop into the red as Shield's sword ran it through. He lowered his body as he prepared to read the direction the puma would retreat and quickly moved to intercept as it leaped off of his partner. As he landed and snarled at the party's tank, Beat was there, spear raised and glowing. The ears of the animal turned around and it leaped into the air, spinning around and utterly spooked by Beat's close proximity, astonished that he was on top of it. 

Beat grinned as he glared into the puma's eyes, "Hi there." Beat's sword art riddled the felines body in mid air, blowing red, pixelated chunks out of its body as its health bar emptied completely. The younger player twirled his spear and gave his partner a thumbs up, "Not bad buddy. I honestly thought that fight was going to go much worse."

Beat was already running after the puma as it pounced onto Shield. As it dove back into the darkness Beat was already in the air and flying over Shield as his eye readjusted to the darkness. Beat's prompt pursuit caught the jungle cat off guard and it roared in surprise as Beat grinned, his spear already glowing, poised to strike, "Where you goin'!" 

Beat unleashed his attack as the puma seemed much less on the ready this time and readily ate each blow, the final one sending it bouncing across to the temple floor before it rolled and sprang to its feet, roaring once again in furious indignation. Beat walked back into the light and offered Shield a hand, making sure to not break eye contact with the puma, which was now slowly prowling around them, "How about a riposte then? One more shot from me will get it close. I don't think Sharpen will get us there in one shot." 

From the darkness in one of the corners of the room, a louder, less concealed snarl echoed through the temple. Beat brandished his spear as his eyes strained to pierce the darkness as the silence returned to the temple. Beat muttered quietly as he began walking out from the stage, his spear in front of him, "I dunno, the broker said it was pretty quick to evade and all of this rubble is going to make it hard for me to land a solid strike, we might need that defensive damage." 

Now where are you?

Almost as if on queue, a bright pair of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness, blinking every so often as if to say, they were no threat to it. Beat smirked as his spear began to glow. He twisted his feet against to ground, attempting to garner as much traction as possible before he kicked off, his charge skill blurring his form. The puma came into view as Beat joined him in the darkness and it darted quickly to the left, but Beat managed to match him, releasing his sword art, having to correct each lightning fast strike as the feline attempted to evade each one. It roared in pain as it slid across to floor, very irritated that this player had come into his home and actually managed to strike him. 

"Yeah, definitely going to need that defensive damage. That was a struggle to stay on target." Beat said, his blood now pumping. 

Beat scanned the courtyard as they approached the temple. There was no sign of any life other than the moss and general overgrowth that came with a lack of maintenance, "Yeah. Definitely. Wonder where our target is though. Something tells me, he'll know where we are first."

Not that it will help him much...

The moment they crossed the threshold of the temple entrance, Beat's ears seemed to almost vibrate as a quiet snarl lightly echoed through the dusty entry chamber. The ceiling of the temple rose nearly as high as the structure itself and the only light inside came from holes where the stones in the ceiling had crumbled away or fallen down. Old, pews still remained, though some were over turned, others standing up on their side. Further inside, a large stage featuring marble pedestal in the middle remained in pristine condition, save for the thick layer of dust which seemed to cover everything inside. Beat drew his Spear as he scanned the many places where the light leaking inside did not touch, "It's watching us..." he said, his voice echoing off of the stone interior.

Beat could feel his heart rate increase as she began to tell her story. Her story was not unlike many who were victimized by the human traders and dark guilds he hunted. It was not hard to remain objective, but he would have been lying if he said she had earned a small amount of sympathy, at least for the moment.

As Mari began to have trouble telling her story, Beat could feel his impatience began to stir. Shield's interjection was helpful in that it gave Beat a little more time to recollect himself. He felt as if he was on the edge of some kind of emotional event, but he wasn't sure what just yet and he knew that he had to focus on remaining receptive and calm. 

Patience...steady...

Beat exhaled sharply through is nose and looked down into his tea to refocus for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a slow sip as Shield finished speaking, setting his cup down softly once he was ready to speak again. This time, his voice sounded somewhat exasperated, though it was not angry and he was managing to keep his tone even, "Take your time. Like I said, I don't need a quick answer, but I do need an account of each event."   Beat felt like saying any more would simply draw out more emotion than he was already bound to see from her. He was not enjoying himself, but he knew that patience was key to getting what he wanted. 

@Mari @Shield

Beat nodded as he opened his own quest log and read through the information that the broker had given them, "oh yeah, we'll be fine on time I think." As he continued reading, he became aware of the fact that Shield was the one setting the pace, which was normally not the case as Beat was normally the one in a hurry to get to where they were going. 

"Stealth hmm?" Beat muttered as he rubbed his chin and ducked under a large leaf from a plant, "I've been leveling up my detection skill, so hopefully that won't be too big of an issue for us." Stelath seemed to be the big equalizer for monsters and players who didn't have the skill or brawn for more direct forms of combat. Beat's eyes found a unique looking blossom sprouting from a low handing branch and plucked it, "You know, I've never really enjoyed stealth dps builds before, I've tried them and even used them as the meta required, but there is something about it that seems cheap. I dunno..."

Beat furrowed his brow and hunched his shoulders as he put on a demonic grin, cackling, "I am the power!" He continue to smile as they came within view of the NPC guards, who nodded at the two of them as Beat gave them a wry smile. "That makes sense. It kind of makes you wonder why Kyaba is bothering to patch a death game when he's already won. I think for him, whether or not we get to floor one hundred and escape is irrelevant. He gets what he wants." 

and either way, we lose something. Some way more than others. 

Beat's fists balled up as his temper began to simmer. As they got to teleportation pad, Beat held out his arm, waiting for Horus to land. He took a couple of deep breaths to relax as his familiar soared down, perching softly on his outstretched forearm. He looked to Shield and smiled as he stepped on the pad, "See you there! INTI!"

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[Thread Rewards]

[Shield]

5 SP

3 T2 Mats

2700 col

Tanos Statue

[Beat]

5 SP

1 T2 Mat

2700 col

Tanos Statue

Beat's eyes went wide a the fact that Shield had seen so many demonics recently, but given the over-powered rewards for the event, Beat realized it shouldn't be so surprising, "Man, talk about power creep and devaluing the epic loot rolls someone got in the past." He folded his arms and clicked his tongue sharply as they rounded the mountain side, bringing the settlement into view, "good rewards are fine, but handing people a demonic with unique enhancements is kind of ridiculous." He laughed as he had a last thought on the matter, "Like, I fished for almost all of my eggs and got this rare item. What the hell?" He said, throwing his arms up into the air. 

Beat stared ahead as he scanned the ground for anything useful before turning his gaze to his partner, "So, what is your plan for those reward items? Any specific projects in mind?"

Beat summoned his spear and tapped the information screen so that they could both read it, "A spear stronger than this? I know they exist, but that requires extreme luck." The familiar screech of a falcon flying up above diverted Beat's attention as Horus circled above. It did not appear that his familiar had seen anything, but the break in attention did give Beat the opportunity to spot a particularly colorful mushroom poking up through a tuft of moderately tall grass. He bent down and plucked it from its roots, stashing it into his inventory.

He shook his head, recalling the little bit he did play of the older version of Shadows of the Colossus as Shield regaled him with some history, "I mean, they could have made it that hard, but I'm not sure how well that would translate to VR. Really hard to say honestly, but anyway," Beat paused, stashing his spear and turning the snowflake in his hands, ""I suppose the next floor boss could change that, assuming I even get the drop again. Good weapons are crazy hard to find. You've said so yourself, and I dunno about waiting for a floor boss to drop something when I could get some hefty benefit from using this on my spear now and if another one can be found, that would put it at top tier once we beat this next floor boss." 

Beat's heart pounded in his ear as he beamed up at Shield, "Dude! That was awesome!" He exclaimed, taking his ally's hand and using his sturdiness to pull himself to his feet. He glanced back to the indentation he had made in the ground and gave a small chuckle, "Well, my weapon went off on my second attack. that really helped. In fact it was the bleed that finished it off."

"No way, that would have been a nightmare in Sword Art Online. that was good design choice, because somethings do not translate well to virtual reality gaming." As they walked, Beat's pulled up his menu interface and summoned a small, glittering snowflake into his hand. It had taken two of the most valuable rewards from the Easter event to get them, but he had made, what he though, was a very good trade. he looked to Shield and brandished the snowflake, "Hey, I traded the easter stamp and the favor for this. Think that was smart? My thinking was that there will be more opportunities for items like the stamp and favor. I have never seen another one of these."

Beat's eyes rested on the orange indicator above Mari's head as Shield spoke. It was all review, but it was good mediation for the meeting that was taking place. As he listened, his fingers danced in the air once again. In moments dining place settings appeared before each of them, a small dish for sushi and smaller trays for soy sauce accompanied by a pair of lacquered chopsticks on top of napkins. In the middle of the table, two white, ceramic platters with an attractive arrangement of sushi appeared. Next to the platters, smaller dishes containing ginger and wasabi materialized.

As Shield finished, Beat took a slow sip from his tea, appreciating the warmth as it slid down his throat before he spoke, "I do have questions, many, but let's eat while we talk. I'm starving." He kept his eyes down at the food as he placed multiple pieces of nigiri and sashimi on his plate and poured a small amount of soy sauce from the small, ceramic jug he had summoned. He could not help but notice the shake in his hand as he set the small jug back down.

and it will buy me time to collect myself... 

Beat took his time, lightly dipping the sashimi in his homemade soy sauce and savoring each bite. As he chewed, he could feel his heart slowing back down and his mind refocusing on the task at hand. Beat looked up from the table and into the eyes of the red haired player across from him. It almost hurt how badly he wanted to look at the cursor above her head, but he knew where his gaze needed to be. He took deep breath as he grabbed another piece of sushi between his chopsticks, "Shield has told me brief explanations of some of the deeds that earned you that marker, but I need to hear them from you." He paused to take a bite, chewing quickly, but quietly. He swallowed and set his chopsticks down as he narrowed his eyes, his jaw set and his tone remaining even and calm, "I don't want a quick answer. I need an honest one. So," He paused again, straightening up in his seat, "Someone only gets an orange marker by slaying a player without an orange marker. That marker is only permanent if the player has repeat rule infractions. How did that happen?" 

@Mari @Shield

Beat watched the health of the colossus further draining, threatening to drop to zero, "Yep! Time to go!" He said to himself as he pulled his spear out of the stone hand of the giant and scanned his surroundings for options. From this height, dropping was a poor option. At his level, he would probably survive, but what if the colossus fell on top of him? 

"Okay, option B!" He shouted to himself once again as he ran to the underside of the giant's wrist and pushed off, rocketing himself towards the thigh of the mythic creature. He raised his spear and jammed it into the stone of the giant's leg, causing sparks to spray as it slowed his descent. He came to a halt, just above the creature's knee, letting out a sigh of relief as he prepared to jump down. Before he could decide the best way to finish his climb down, he began to fall through the stone colossus as the bleed status ticked away the last hitpoint of the monster.

"Damn!" Beat shouted as he passed through the creature's fading calf and hit the ground hard. His health bar took a minor dip, but the thing he noticed most was how out of breath he was. He had managed to stay attached to the colossus's hand the entire fight and it was now catching up with him. He closed his eyes as he attempted to slow his breathing. 
 

The moment the front door began to open, Beat's heartbeat began to settle in his ears as his fists balled up in the pockets of his jacket. As she came into view, his eyes shot to the orange marker above her, making the coat he was wearing suddenly seem like far too many layers. He did his best to conceal the slow breathing he was using to maintain composure as he forced his eyes down, meeting her gaze for the first time. His gaze remained fixed on her as his left hand danced in the air, swapping his winter gear for a green, summer style, short sleeved Yukata over a black Crossreign t-shirt and navy capri-cut pants. He was finding the red haired girl's nervous demeanor disarming, something he had not been prepared for. 

Why is she nervous to meet me? I'm the one sweating here.

As he equipped a pair of slippers, he began to think that he had pumped himself up for this meeting for too much, which was frustrating and comforting at the same time. He dismissed his interface as he gave her a small bow, "I'm D-" Beat's eyes widened and he paused before quickly recollecting himself, "I'm Beat, and I would hope so. We've had each others' backs for a while," he paused again and his eyes narrowing slightly, "he says...interesting things about you. I hope they are as he says." 

Get it together!

He turned and made his way inside, stepping up from the genkan and taking a slow look around. He couldn't help but relax his face a little as he took the setting in. It was much like his home in that it was like being in Japan again, something he was beginning to miss more as time went on. Beat took one of the open seats that had a seat opposing it and waited for her to join them as he took several deep breaths to calm his nerves.

@Shield @Mari

Beat watched as Shields orb flew through the air, tracking Beat's movements as the colossus moved about. Beat thought o himself that is was very good planning on their part to not make accuracy a requirement for those skills. The speed at which combat sometimes happened would make such things practically unusable. He reached out and grabbed it, watching it refresh the offensive buff and drew his spear. 

"Let's end this!" He shouted as his form distorted again, each strike of his sword art drawing more black blood from the creature and destroying the weak spot. The colossus flailed his arm about in an attempt to remove the pest that had stung him, but Beat's spear held where it had struck last and he remained where he was. Beat began looking for the remaining weak spots, spying one on the opposite hand of the creature and another on the colossus's head, then, Beat noticed the creature's health bar. 

My bleed might end this for us...

Beat's ears picked up as he heard the rustling of the vines and overgrowth covering the colossus's body through the howling of the air blowing into his face. He looked up to see the creature beginning to shake its body from top to bottom and stabbed his spear into the rocky flesh of the giant's hand. Using his spear for stability, Beat found it remarkably east to withstand the violent tremors happening beneath him. As they subsided, Beat withdrew his spear and readied himself for another attack, snatching the orb of energy from Shield, a pale blue glow enveloping him as his energy bar rose. 

"Alrighty, round two! ORAAAA!" He shouted as his form, once again shifted in and out of focus, it's shape changing with each strike and more black ink spraying from the wounds Beat's spear created. To the player's shock, the ink seemed to pass through him as if it did not truly exist.