Morningstar

"I'm not sure about the details, the whole thing seems pretty—not "hushed up", what's the saying I'm thinking of—"like unbroken ground", I think. Anyways, the whole thing seems like unbroken ground. I'm not even sure if anyone has attempted the quest, let alone complete it." Morningstar sipped his tea. He found that Asphodel was a bit of an odd character. The broker knew a lot, more than the blonde was comfortable with, and yet he had never once used it to take advantage of him. In fact, he acted as if he were a private investigator for Morningstar and never took a dime. It was bizarre, r

ITEM IDENTIFICATION 7/20/2023

"Star's fine, yeah. What do you two go by?" He returned the question. Morningstar fumbled around his inventory in search of an extra set of armor, but it did not seem like he had one lying around. There was a sword that he had long since forgotten but it looked weaker than the one the rapier Faux wielded. Besides, it was a two-handed straight sword. He doubted the man would have much use for it. "Sorry," he shook his head, "I've got no armor to offer either." He continued looking through his inventory while Raidou scanned his map of the valley. "No antidotes on me, unfortunately

Stone Valley was no joke—monsters love the place. The man was smart to call for backup. Morningstar doubted that he would return, had he opted for the solo route. Of course, the blonde would offer his help to the player, despite his strange introduction and repeated bowing. When the other member of the trio spoke up, asking to join them on their journey to the valley, Morningstar smiled. He was glad that the man had offered, considering the circumstances. It would have pained Morningstar to lose track of a low-leveled player during combat and have them die on his watch. A second pair of e

The note was well-written and persuasive. Morningstar rarely took requests like this but seeing as he had nothing to do but train, he did not think it could hurt to support another in their time of need. He had never heard of the player, which he supposed made sense considering their level. He began hypothesizing what they were like and why they chose to begin their journey into Aincrad at such a time. Stories were the bread and butter of life, he thought. He couldn't get enough of them. Naturally, curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to hear this player's tale, no matter how short it

Just like that, the Labyrinth Guardian had been defeated. Morningstar clearly recalled the surprise he felt whilst scanning the flyer he discovered. Floor 28 was on the horizon. He had steered clear of the frontlines for so long but perhaps it was time for him to make an appearance. He lived by the philosophy "better late than never". Walking through the Town of Beginnings felt different to him now, although nothing about it had changed. He wondered if it was he who was no longer the same; he wasn't, of course, but self-awareness was hard. His silver plating sparkled in the sun's ray

the end MORNINGSTAR + 3,240 xp | (360*4*1)+1,000+(200*4) + 17,615 col | 3,360+2,310+2,310+3,080+1,155+5,000+400 + 14 materials | 2+2+4+4+2 + T2 Perfect THSS | Blade of the Sands | DMG II | Keen I + T2 Perfect Heavy Armor | Armor of the Sands | MIT 2 | Heavy Momentum + 5 T4 Rare Trinkets + 1 T4 Rare Weapon + 1 T4 Uncommon Consumable + 1 T4 Perfect Consumable

He twisted the door handle, pushing gently on the wooden door. It creaked open and he was met with the face of The Curator, who welcomed him with pleasure. “Welcome back. I take it you succeeded, then? You wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Morningstar nodded before withdrawing the stone tablet from his inventory. He showed it to The Curator, whose eyes grew wide in awe. “Where did you find this?” The Curator asked. “Out there,” Morningstar returned, “in the sand.” The two stared at it for a moment longer, unable to remove themselves, before the blonde spoke up once more.

At first, Morningstar had not even noticed that they were outside of Fortaleza. It was not until they stepped within the safe zone that he realized it. The sandstorm suddenly stopped and he knew that he had made it. They had both made it. He looked to the old man, who looked just as weary as he had the first time they had met, and thanked him graciously. “I owe you my life,” Morningstar told Zamek, who responded with a happy smile. “Anything for an old friend.” They parted ways shortly after and Morningstar hoped that they would meet again under safer circumstances. Then, he mar

His voice could not reach but he refused to give up. “Zamek! Zamek!” Upon hearing his name, the elderly NPC cocked his head. He was masked as well; however, Morningstar could tell from his posture and walk that it was him, the man whom he had saved so long ago. The old man stuck out his hand, as if telling him to stay put, and struggled over to meet him. Zamek’s eyes told Morningstar that he remembered their fateful meeting. It shocked him; the NPC must have met thousands of players in the period that had passed. It was a sad and yet oddly pleased look. They did not speak much d

What more was written was now unreadable. The words themselves meant nothing to Morningstar, especially in their incomplete form, yet the tablet evoked a sort of power that he could not explain. His eyes were stuck to it until he noticed something move in the corner of his eye. His head darted in the direction of the shadow. It was the figure of a man, he thought, and it looked like he was hunched over a bit. His movements were slow, yet precise. The tablet disappeared as he claimed it in his inventory and he used every bit of strength he had left in him to run towards the stranger.

Unexpectedly, he found his body falling to the ground. His foot had caught onto something, causing Morningstar to lose his balance and trip. He wiped his goggles in a panic, horrified that he had let an extra monster go unnoticed and that this was the end for him. But nothing so much as moved. He picked himself up, digging through the sand as he tried to find whatever it was that had caused him to fall. His hand hit something hard and rectangular and as he tugged on it, it came loose. He dusted it off, trailing the tips of his fingers along its cracked face. He gazed upon the witheri

At the very least, he thought he was walking in the right direction. Not that he could tell, of course. It was like he was walking through a thick mist, except the mist pelted him like miniscule daggers and would likely have suffocated him had he chosen to take his headpiece off. Also, it was hot, stuffy, and he hated it. One foot in front of the other, he shifted his weight through the sand, wiping sand that had begun gathering on the lenses of his goggles and blocking his sight. For once, his sword felt awkward on his back. He had been carrying it for so long that it was finally beginni

Then, it shot towards him. Without flinching, he spun his blade. The rattlesnake king hissed, nearly catching Morningstar in its fangs. But the swordsman was faster. His greatsword met its neck, appearing as though it had phased through it. The monster dropped dead a moment later. Morningstar stared down at a floating panel that had appeared. More rewards had been added to his inventory. They were lesser in quality than those he had received after his duel with Sando Setsu but he welcomed them nonetheless. His time in the desert was done; he was ready to return home. With the swish o

He stared at the serpent, watching as it suffered slowly. Sand quickly piled on top of it. The desert was unkind, even to those that called it home. He pitied the creature, although he knew that it was one of a thousand virtual monsters created to stop him from proceeding through the game. It had no spirit to sympathize with. Still, he pitied it. Then, it was gone. In its wake was a large dune, no different than the rest of his surroundings. He almost walked away, leaving it to be consumed by the earth, but he knew that it would awaken soon and the fight would continue. Who was he to aban

It felt cruel to leave them with nothing but a scratched-out name. They deserved better, his fallen family. He could feel his crystal necklace against his warm skin. Sometimes, even after all these years, he would see Lexa’s face in a crowd, smiling at him. It was never her and he knew that. And still, he would smile back, wishing it was. Another rattlesnake emerged from the burrow, this time triple the size and far more intimidating. It had red marks along its wild face and held the title of King above its head. It was his final opponent. It was fast. It swooped down and Morningstar

They took turns snapping at him until he found himself tired of the wasteful fighting and swept through them all with a single devastating blow. Blue shades remained where their bodies had once been. They floated off into the sky, dispersing into the atmosphere until they were gone completely. He had become so accustomed to not seeing a body left behind after a kill. He wondered why the game destroyed them on death. He theorized that it was for the sanity of the players. Surely, killing monsters over and over again had an impact on the brain. Perhaps a corpse would have made it feel too real.

The health bar in his peripheral increased slowly from five hundred and twenty-four to six hundred and twenty. He drew his greatsword once more as the being revealed its identity. A giant rattlesnake lunged at him ferociously. He let out a roar as he ripped through its center with the edge of his blade, cutting it in two. Its health dropped to zero while his remained full. It vanished before it could reach the ground. Morningstar had encountered a burrow by the looks of it. How he had missed it on the way there was beyond him. Maybe he had gotten lost—it would not have surprised him. The

Would that boy have been successful? Maybe. Had there been no skill, no battle sense, would he have made it that far to begin with? Was it the game that chose to disarm Satsu or was it Morningstar himself? Then it occurred to him that the whole game was a trial of sorts. He thought about the countless number of players who had not made it off the First Floor, the players who had chosen to die rather than play. After so much time, he was still here—did that not count for something? His inner monologue was interrupted by an eruption ahead of him. It was hard to tell what was

The gates behind him unlocked, allowing him to exit the colosseum. He placed his goggles back over his eyes, stepping out from the cover of the immense structure and into the now growing sandstorm. How long had he been inside the arena? It could not have been more than a few minutes of combat but in that time the environment had changed greatly. It was hard for him to tell which way he had come from by looking at the dunes. He marched into the whipping winds, sand kicking up all around him. He reflected on his battle with Sando Satsu while simultaneously battling the elements. He questio

Its weapon clunked to the ground. He twirled around its fistless swings with ease, completing his dance with a precise stab to the heart, or where he estimated there would be a heart if it were a living creature. It fell to the ground as he pulled the greatsword away. Sando Satsu was dead. Victory was Morningstar’s. Cardinal spoke to him once more through a tiny virtual pop-up. This time, it congratulated him on his successful duel and listed his rewards for quest completion. The experience was quite nice, he thought. The weapon and armor set were a tad more exciting to him, despite them

The force knocked him plenty of feet backwards. He crashed into the sandstone wall, rock and dust falling on top of his damaged body. He could swear that a grin had formed on Sando Satsu’s ugly face as he arrogantly strutted towards him. Did the monster think he had won? That Morningstar would not rise again? His brand new robes had become tattered from the constant combat between the two. It was a nuisance, to say the least, and he found it curious that it was at the forefront of his mind while staring death straight in the eyes. As Morningstar moved to lift his blade, his opponent

This time, Morningstar took the offensive. He charged at Satsu. When he was as close as he could be, he brought his blade high above his head and swooped it down like a hawk that had spotted prey. It phased directly through the alligator’s right arm, causing it to flop to the ground, unmoving. The beast roared out, rageful. A red aura formed around it as it began growing larger and larger until it stopped at approximately double that of its former self. What Morningstar was fighting was no longer an animal or a warrior—it was a monster. This time, Morningstar had no chance at blockin

Sando Satsu lifted itself from the dusty earth, pushing with the weight of his large weapon. Morningstar was unsure of how to describe the item. It was almost like a bladed fan. It had quite a bit of reach, surprisingly, and judging by the force of the hits it was about as heavy as his greatsword. Immediately, it resumed attacking. Morningstar was capable of keeping up with its extreme speed but each hit felt like a speeding car against his blade. Suddenly, Satsu spun. The blonde stumbled backwards, losing his balance, and felt a dull pain in his abdomen. He looked down, only to find a lo

Then, “no one” appeared. It began with a faint rumbling, followed by the shifting of sand around him. He awoke the Royal Greatsword from its hibernation, leaping backwards as a long set of fangs gaped at him from below. They clashed blades for a moment and in between swipes, Morningstar glanced at the name that hung above his opponent’s head: Sando Satsu. “That’s a stupid name,” he scoffed, striking the alligator with the flat end of his weapon. It dropped to the ground in an instant, trapped in a daze caused by the weight of the greatsword combined with the might of his sword art. H