Alkor

It wasn't at all like the last time he'd fought someone in this world. Brutality met anticipation in earnest. The wild burning in Koga's eyes mirrored the insanity in the blonde Knight's expression. As his opponent found his footing, Alkor surged forward. The pace wouldn't be allowed to slow at all, the cadence too hot and heavy now with their cumulative sacrifice. If either man stopped dancing for a moment, they would be swept up in the firestorm that existed only for them, in that time, in that place. With wicked wings fanned wide, the Phoenix stretched out its talons to rake the Wolf.

When the kick hit him, Alkor was heaved backward by the force of the blow. Unexpected, but then, Alkor had focused all of his training into the blade. There were many disciplines in Sword Art Online, and each of them gave a Player distinct and different abilities. Knockbacks and crowd control effects were commonplace in online games, and added a layer of difficulty to encounters. It meant a gulf between them for a brief instant. It also meant that Alkor understood the nature of his opponent better, now. He slid out of his opponent's range this time, following the momentum of the blow, a

Alkor had to shrug at that point. "I can't help how other people feel, or what they think is best for them. I don't intend to dictate that to them. God knows, I'm not anyone's dad." He watched Koga now, almost appearing relaxed despite the intensity of their words. "Protecting someone doesnt mean that you make those decisions. It means you do everything in your power to ensure they have the agency to make those calls for themselves." He had learned the hard way that trust and teamwork came from exposure. In order to cooperate with someone, in order to defend them, they had to know your in

He stepped into the ring with a training blade at his hip, immediately thankful that the first round was someone he could let loose with. Koga was like Alkor in many ways. He had a fresh outlook on their circumstances, and he strived to get stronger. There was no better opponent to gauge himself against. The man was clad in the garb of a martial artists and his chosen weapons appeared to be his fists. Alkor could hear the crackle and pop of Koga's knuckles and the excitement that sparked like electricity between them. With a wry smile, the Black Phoenix replied to the man's greeting with only

While large group functions tended to fall outside of Alkor's itinerary, tournaments were the singular exception. He considered his options immediately; because of his disappearing act on the ninth floor, there were still those who were unaware that he was alive. He'd avoided making himself too well known since waking up, but the chance to see where he stood against the frontliners who had come all the way to the twenty seventh was too good of an opportunity to pass on. That is, if there were any of them among those who gathered for what had been advertised as a "Valentine's Day" competit

The wolf invaded his space and subsequently rested its head on his lap, and Alkor glanced down. What an odd happenstance. He never really interacted with familiars, not other than the one he'd attained through that damned quest, and even then he didn't summon it. Something about being alone felt ingrained at this point. Still, he didn't make any move to dislodge Okami. He wasn't hurting anyone, after all. His gilded gaze moved back to Koga when he started talking again, and Alkor folded his hands on the table. "It's the people who are forcing others to do things that I'm skeptical of," A

That was how conversations usually ended. Both sides exchanged information, and they reached a conclusion. Sometimes it came back up later, other times it was left in a comfortable place. This time felt more like the former than the latter. There was only one thing left to say that wouldn't needlessly prolong the awkward series of messages that, for his part, he wasn't completely sure about. Lessa was notoriously good at navigating these situations, at least that was his impression of her. He figured this was her way of being merciful. He tossed aside the towel he'd dried off with and

SP tracking and Skill/Mod list (41/205) L 32 // P 35 R5 Heavy Armor 30 SP [Mod] Impetus [Addon] Iron Skin 6 SP R5 Battle Healing 30 SP [Mod] Emergency Recovery 6 SP R5 Straight Sword 30 SP [Addon] Stamina 4 SP [Addon] Precision 2 SP [Addon] <<Straight Sword>> Focus 4 SP Combat Mastery: Mitigation 13 SP Energist 8 SP Fighting Spirit 10 SP Howl 10 SP [Addon] Focused Howl 5 SP TECH specialist 10 SP (Extra skill) Survival

Level 32 // Paragon 28 780/780 HP 112/112 EN 23 Base Damage 30 Mitigation 5 Accuracy 3 Evasion 32 Blight Damage (20 Mitigation loss for duration) 48 Bleed Damage Paralyze 42 Battle Healing Survival (10% increase to healing effects applied) The Prince's address seemed to light a fire in Player and Galtean alike. He expressed his intention to use civilian transportation airships to commander the militant vessels that his father had mobilized, and there was a moment of concerned silence. Or at least, Alkor was concerned in silence.

"Hm." Alkor took a sip of his drink as Koga spoke again, this time pausing to consider all of the new information. He wasn't sure about any of the psychology involved, and perhaps it was the fact that never been great at self-assessment that made him rebuff the idea offhand. There was merit to it, though. The things he didn't understand were often the ones that hit him the hardest. He slowly placed the pipe away, certain that the time for mindless self indulgence had passed. Now they were talking about something with real substance, and it deserved more than passing attention. When h

"From one point of view, I know you're absolutely right. I've made huge strides since I got to this place." Alkor smiled faintly as he swigged at his drink. The pipe spun now around his finger, idly, like he'd practiced the motion a thousand times. When the cup hit the table, the pipe met his lips. He was like an old addict, with tricks that made it seem much more impressive than it was. "One of my friends used to say it like... always striving, never arriving. I think that's probably pretty accurate. Thing is, there's that, and there's... emotional stuff. Anxiety. You can be great and still w

He folded his hands and let the pipe rest across his two pointers, stretched out to serve as a makeshift surface for that purpose alone. With his gaze locked on the rhythmic swirls of gray, he listened as Koga spoke. And he was reminded of the words he'd said, which floated back and forth on the stormy sea of life. There were times when they felt real, and there were times when they waxed so far away they seemed like fantasy. In his most lucid moments, he either affirmed them entirely or dismissed them outright. His duality almost felt comical when he was called to account for it. Despite

"Ain't wrong about that bit, I'd wager," Alkor took another sip of his water before he finally sat back, eyes closed and legs crossed. He elevated his heels on the table and reclined a bit, leant against the wall behind him. "Tireless enemy, singular purpose, infinite creativity, and a well-spring of resources at its disposal. When you put it that way, it's not at all disheartening," with a wry smile, Alkor let the bemused sarcasm die as he struck a match and lit up his pipe. It was less worn than the one he'd broken the last time they met, but with digital pipes, who could really tell if the

He eyed the contents of his clay cup idly, slowly rotating his wrist to cause a ripple across the surface. When it reached the edge, another followed in its wake. The rhythm mesmerized him momentarily, since he had no proper answer for Koga's first question. What qualified as "trouble," anyway? The act of joining a rebellion, however fleeting, didn't seem to fit the bill of keeping his nose clean. What did give him pause was the way Koga addressed him. Possibly the only person who ever called him 'Alky' was Corvo. They hadn't talked in some time, and their relationship had been estranged

Level 31//Paragon 21 740/740 HP 100/100 EN 23 Base Damage 30 Mitigation 5 Accuracy 3 Evasion 32 Blight Damage (20 Mitigation loss for duration) 48 Bleed Damage Paralyze 50 Battle Healing Survival (10% increase to healing effects applied) A drink. The most recent event was an insane riot that spanned an entire floor of Aincrad and consumed the Players and NPCs in a spiral of lawlessness. People died- whether or not they were real, there were nameless faces imprinted in his thoughts, like some veteran soldier after his war had ended. All he

He was at a loss. For all the possible places for them to end up after the last room, the one they found was quaint by comparison. Beautiful and quiet in contrast to the disharmony outside its walls, the problem it posed was that it now served as a makeshift prison. The only obvious exit was the way they had come. More obvious than that however, was the certainty that it was no option at all. There were keyholes, made apparent not only by a cursory sweep of the room, but the observation of another Player who Alkor did not know. They needed to find keys, then. Instead of wasting

Alkor glanced toward the newly found exit, biting his lip. There it was- a fiendishly designed path, but perhaps not the sort that he was looking for. What he had not expected was for the Players to create their own makeshift pathway to ascension, on the literal backs of NPCs. With a sigh at the foreboding nature of Celeste's brusque response to Cardinal's challenge, he quietly clambered up to the rope ladder and climbed, quickly so as to be certain that he would trod as little as possible on the others. There was a certain necessity in it, but he was loathe to treat anyone as pawns, digital o

He watched passively as the others rushed at the obstacle before them intent on playing along with the balancing act, but the devious attempt at stalling the group only made Alkor more suspicious. Of course, they could eventually solve the puzzle laid out for them, but at the sacrifice of efficient time. Their most precious resource, and most scarce, he needed to find an answer to this question that afforded them as much as possible. And so, the direct approach seemed the least likely to yield the desired result. Balanced, there would be a path forward... but there had to be something the

"N-no, please, I don't know anything, I swear it!" the guard bleated as Alkor held him at blade point. The swordsman wore a dispassionate mask toward the man, hopeful that it would spur a more favorable response, but as the pleading continued he realized that the man truly had nothing worthwhile to give. He withdrew his weapon to the sounds of relief and overwhelming joy, but Alkor sheathed his weapon without looking back to the guard or acknowledging him at all. "I... wait... wait!" Alkor closed his eyes as he started down the path that the other Players had taken. Behind him, the downtr

What do you expect me to do about it? That was what he wanted to ask, but the situation made discourse the least optimal expenditure of their time. If they had more room for planning and a greater margin for error--- no. They didn't have that. They wouldn't have had that even in the most ideal version of this timeline, because the quest was randomly generated, their advance notice nonexistent. Alkor had no time to get hung up on the minutia surrounding the responsibility he neither asked for nor wanted. Instead, he had to grunt disapprovingly and continue to move completely fueled by adr

The impact jarred him. Before they ever had time to cool their heads and have a constructive conversation, the destruction robbed them of all clarity. Some fell away while others embraced the momentum. All of them found themselves with footing, somehow. He could no longer see the strange, loud woman or the blonde who entreated with him to stop the horrific scene from unfolding. Aincrad never seemed to consider the hopes and dreams of its captives. This quest seemed no different, no less apathetic. What it lacked in compassion, the game made up for in allowing the Players mutability.

Alkor felt the jarring sensation through his head as yowling metal protested the red woman's efforts. He watched in disbelief as she handed him the door handle and told him to "jam it in" to the breach. "Yeah," he replied swiftly as he knocked aside the box he'd previously set in place to offset the loss of power, right, then." With a quick and precise motion, he wedged the metal into the rupture and stepped back. "All yours," he prompted to @Celeste just before he heard an explosion of voices from behind and a loud impact. Alkor whirred round to see the blonde woman barreling into the d

With the situation as fraught as it seemed to be, one would think the group would come together and work as a team. That did not appear to be the case as Alkor sauntered along the deck and saw a group anything but unified. Chaos reigned over the people making a mad dash in every direction around him. Their voices and movements drowned in the explosive reports of blasts from far below. Smog choked the Knight as he ascended toward the helm, only to see the confrontation between several Players. He barely understood the words, but their actions spoke loud enough to reach him through the haze of i

The ship lurched, and jerked round as the Players aboard fought to stabilize her. Where he made sure that the mouthy woman made her way safely aboard ahead of him, Alkor was still at the mercy of the throttling, wildly wailing chain. Thrashing to and fro, he found it difficult to gain purchase at all. The dull static sensation in his elbow warned the First Knight that he was perilously close to losing his grip. Thankfully someone managed to right their trajectory just enough, and he got his other hand on. "Brutal," he muttered as the ship sputtered, struggling it seemed to stay aloft at a