Plini

Plini rubbed the bridge of his nose, Shirogane was too much of a sweetheart it's hard to refuse. He picked up his bag, a redundant thing to do with the existence of inventory sytem, and stood up "well let's get going, I always wanted to look for some ruins in this area. Specimens abound where there are less people" he told them.

It makes him wonder, Shirogane never spent a lot of time with them that it warrants her attitude towards him and Crozeph. It was a little more on the realization that this time, he isn't the youngest that needs protecting like how his older sisters treat him. Crozeph was capable, that is a given, but Plini seem to think that Crozeph tries so hard to have a niche when he's definitely capable of more "this guy just like to play around, even his casual ruthlessness with mobs is him being playful; it's scary sometimes."

He took Shirogane's hand and started making his way to the door "since boss is a slowpoke we should get a head start, he'll probably try to take an imaginary shit just to satisfy his curiosity."

"You put way more thought on something I can do alone" he uttered. The idea of a team gathering materials was absurd for him. He wasn't the type to just drag 2 people somewhere gathering herbs, saps, and barks while they listen to his explanation of why the materials are essential for his experiments. "A pain in the ass, not that I don't like them tagging along with me, they're too nice to be looking like goof heads picking roots." 

It was his opinion of them with the few months he has stayed with the group. Shirogane was probably the sweetest person to just stay with Crozeph and act like a maid keeping Night's Watch clean. Crozeph on the other hand was the most skilled of them all in the group and he chooses to be the dumbass; a phenomenon that still weirds him out. "Who was Crozeph before he met him?  Shirogane said Crozeph soloed a Sand Shark way back while saving a few players, he was a frontliner, and he is engaged to one of the best tanks around.'

Too many info that Crozeph keeps hidden, not to mention this same swordsman figured out a few system changes with just simple observation. "Somehow I might need to take a glimpse of Jacob's Ladder and see what they're made of."

His other option was to remain in his laboratory, a room filled with his makeshift lab tools. It would be nice to enjoy some time alone but Orca, the girl who basically introduced him to a pleasure he never expected to experience in-game may come to visit, she may even be lurking in his laboratory waiting to pounce on him until they both start undressing themselves. "i need to ask senpai about this one, he's engaged and he probably had done that with the one tank Shirogane was talking about." 

Too much to think about but his another response was a simple "I don't mind but it sounds absurd."

"This is something" Plini muttered as he heard Crozeph talk to someone. "I followed boss straight to his guild's ship, maybe a few of them who aren't members but..." hearing Crozeph say they were in good hands wasn't reassuring. The collision of both forces continued, Plini is reluctant to join and he needed Crozeph's confirmation on joining them. 

It was the deal, I need to get stronger so we can go expedition somewhere with a treasure trove of knowledge and with that I must not put myself in a death wish kind of situation.

He thought hard, the airship was being driven as if it was trying to look like a car in a Michael Bay film "b-boss, is this normal?" he asked Crozeph. A few moments ago, Nian hoisted him up as they both tried to board a ship and it felt so surreal, much surreal that his one night stand with Orca. 

It was the heights.

He wasn't doing well, and the thing he thought to be a cannon was simply a decoration that looked like one "whoever added designs on this ship should be strangle to death... twice"  he muttered.

No one has noticed yet, and that's good. Plini followed everyone as soon as he caught sight of that person. A few moments ago they were trying to find something or someone, a rebellion brewing outside. clambering up, trying to see if they can make something out of the situation. 

Now things are different, that blonde spouted nonsense only Disney movie writers can think of "words of courage, bullshit" he thought. Plini walked alongside them, hoping to catch up with him. 

Many minutes later

An airship, feels like deja vu. Plini eased himself, as chaos brews. Nian and her usual attitude when seeing people, at least he wasn't a commoner in her eyes anymore or maybe someone a few levels higher in the hierarchy. 

"Hey boss, wanna see something cool?" he told Crozeph finally he was close to him, things will be much fun with people he knows beside Nian. "This is a cannon, we can fire it at the enemies. Say why don't we adjust the angle and fire off a cannonball, Gunbound style?" 

A level got stuck though which hinders the angle he wants to happen and that was the cue to begin smacking it to shows competency

What were they looking for again?

 Plini lost track, everyone was trying to find something but him... he was in a trance as soon as he saw the books. At first it was a simple "yeah let's look for a key" thing but now that he took a closer look at the bookshelves, it was a treasure trove of information, things he might find helpful. "These will help me make stuff for us" he thought. It would benefit him and might just add more to his arsenal, or just a fun read.

He grabbed three books and started reading, all were about machineries, and it seemed like something that can be weaponized "hm, I see, I see, this is quite a book"  he thought. 

Everyone tries to find a way out, but him, he was indulging to these books. Hopefully me finds something useful not just for him but for everyone.

ID: 202796 | LD: 1

Everything played out like a movie in front of his eyes. Something one would see in a movie about rebellion.. oh wait they are now part of the rebellion. He watched as Celeste and some NPCs entered, still no sign of where @Nian is, perhaps she was something within the NPCs shoving them away. He watched, kept a stable footing, looked at the people scrambling. "What is even happening?" he asked himself. 

He was expecting a much more historical shit to happen in this rebellion despite the existence of airships. Plini darted, making quick progress of climbing up so his weight wouldn't burden the people he's using to climb and finally reach a rope to climb further.

He was greeted by a room

It looked quite different, the chaos outside was the opposite of what the room was, It looked crammed yet it was organized. "What are we looking for milord?" he asked as he saw her upon turning his attention to the people who are with him. @Krysta found nothing yet Nian did "why a key?" he asked.

Perhaps there were obvious answers but Plini wanted assurance, he looked around, looking at every book in the shelves, eyes darting to anything in it "this looks like a place to lock someone in or hide something" he uttered, still looking. The slab, rope, and how the place was high enough to look like they are bottlenecked was starting to add up.

"A very important person, someone they wanted to rid off yet felt like something bad will happen if they do it on a whim or some studies that might come in handy in the future. I still need clay for bricks." 

ID: 202776 | LD: 17 [no key]

Too chaotic, too many questionable acts, too quick of a turn

He successfully catched up with Nian, they were so close to reaching their destination, even Krysta went ahead of them but that wasn't a good way of thinking "this looks straight forward" he thought. It looked like they were being bottlenecked and he was too slow to realize it "the target will just slip out of this place ala James Bond villain while we"

fall

Straight out of a classic movie. The place where they were as soon as the others managed to join the crazy party collapsed. where they stood, where they are wanting to reach was only aa good spot for getting them all in one place. Plini scowled, filled with disappointment to himself. He was busy keeping up with Nian that he forgot an arbiter's job.

The whole floor gave way, downwards. No spiraling or turning just a good ol "fall down to your demise" and he also quickly fell on his knee, trying to balance himself and as soon as it stopped he was already in a good position to assess his situation. He heard the blonde girl say about "actually you only fall if you don't move in a good corner and-" before he could tell her, @Krysta already fell down to which he shook his head. He saw a guy who seemed like the most sensible person he saw along the way and then a woman, she looked liked his type but he would rather spend most of his faculties on making sure he doesn't fall. Another new face even appeared, this person must've concealed his presence and snuck in when the opportunity appeared yet the place where he landed pulled a sneaky on him.

"Milord, try to keep your balance, this one will be a bitch to deal with." He said, hoping that @Nian would hear him quick

ID: 202729 | LD: 3

North Corner: 0/50
East Corner: 3/50
South Corner: 0/50
West Corner: 0/50

Plini mowed through the guards one floor above Nian, a path that leads to a few doors which he had already flung open.

"milord!"  he yelled.
"Oh she's ok and back to conquering" he quickly uttered. 

It was his time now to actually help with the storming, assuming the people were the storm that is approaching. he strapped his scimitar on his back and pulled his sling bag in front of him, the handy carapace's masterfully attached to its sides. "You there rebel! how dare you-" Plini ducked, planted one foot forward and swung his bag upward hitting the chin of the guard's helm. The guard fell straight on his back as the impact rung inside his helmet.

Two more rushed towards him, he also saw Nian enter a place "now I gotta keep up" he thought. A guard thrust his spear forward but Plini dodged it and wrapped the strap of his bag on the spear "ingrates!" the guard yelp as Plini kicked the spear upward and struck the guard by the helm again knocking him down. The remaining one threw his spear but missed as he saw how Plini deal with it quickly. 

"I'm gonna need your help" he said as he dashed and chased after the fleeing guard. "Stay away from me filthy rebel!" he uttered but his mobility wasn't gonna be a good match against Plini is wearing no heavy armor. Plini caught upand smacked the guard at the side of his head and before the guard could fall down on the floor Plini grabbed him, arms wrapped around the guard's waist "yeah this is stupid."

He pulled out a rope from his bag and tied it on the guards waist and the other end on a statue...

Then they fell off the corridor.

The rope tightened on the statue while Plini and the unconscious guard swung towards a large door. They both slammed at the ceiling as they entered and Plini pulled one end of the knot, now they are crashing down towards a line of guards trying to surround @Nian. Four guards raised their hands as they cowered upon seeing a fellow guard fall on them, Plini on top. It was a loud crash as armors clang with the impact. Plini groaned, there wasn't much pain, his groan was from how he knocked out a few but still Nian was gonna be surrounded and now with him. Add to that the blonde who was trying to race the emperor.

"Well my plan was mediocre, any back up plans milord?"

ID: 202041 | LD: 6 [140/150]

While the others have already raced inside, Plini took a different path but in a way that Nian was not out of his sight. He was supposed to stick with her but with how many people are in there joining her, with one blonde acting like she can take on Nian (according to him) and hoping that Blueberry could keep up with them.

He wasn't able to talk to her more, as soon as he opened the crate where she hid, Blueberry told him to close it and their ship landed and now he's in a slightly narrow path "there might be other passages" he thought. Plini ran and ran, trying to find what may seem like a door or a vent. He was also pushing any wall that looked suspicious "I guess it's not on this side" he looked around him then turned his eyes to Nian

Who now fell down....

ID: 201950 | LD: 8 [105/150]

There was a lot going on and Plini wasn't sure if this was all some kind of sick joke the situation is playing at them. He was quick to do what Nian said, she already found a way to reach their faster and "all right, the quarry it is" he turned around and tried to make his way to the quarry when the blonde girl came in and tried to fight for the controls knocking Nian to him "are you fucking kidding me?" he muttered as Nian quickly got off and warned Krysta "am I young enough for this shit? you got serious issues Goldilocks" he told @Krysta as he stood up and assessed the situation again.

First, Nian and Krysta fought for the control and somehow it got stuck, a woman was looking at something, the redhead who banged the controls and another guy who looked blonde to him is trying to get their point across of not dying in this ship with a bunch of players like them who makes things more chaotic, a guy who is trying to leave the airship, and lastly a girl who popped out of crate and held a cookie offering it to them before taking a bite...

wait...
that girl...
she's familiar...

Plini walked fast towards the crate as she closed it and tossed the lid away as quickly as he can "you!" he said to her "I've been looking for your shop" he added. Plini turned his head and looked at Nian "milord! I found the girl who makes great dessert he-" 

In a second he was already off his feet, some kind of force did that and now Plini slammed down the floor on his back as he failed to regain balance "good thing pain receptors are damp" he stood back up and made his way at the window "a palace..." he looked at @Blueberry and then to @Nian "we're here, milord it's time to conquer I guess"  he said as if Nian's attitude is starting to rub off him. He ran towards Blueberry looking her in the eyes "it's gonna get messy if you stay here, once Nian gets off the airship stick together with us-" he grabbed a cookie from her hand "fucking finally!"

and then Plini started looking into the palace.

"Friendly player advise" Plini spoke to @Krysta "it's gonna be a waste of time to question her, Nian will always take charge of anything when given the chance which kinda happened a moment ago" he added.

Plini had to say it, there might be a chance that it can escalate if she probes further to Nian's way of doing things. Nian calls him arbiter and somehow he's locked on the role. He also saw someone trying to clean his face "you can bleach that out later if it bothers you" he told her.

"Arbiter. Are you staying behind with the lowlifes or what?"

Plini nodded, it would be more productive to just try himself on straightening out mishaps. Why was he even trying to do it? he isn't even a pilot "right behind you milord" he told @Nian and went towards a guy holding crystals "hello Belmont looking guy" he said to @Nobody "these crystals might prove useful where I'm going" he grabbed  a handful and darted towards where Nian went.

The controls were overwhelming, last time he saw something this overwhelming was a faint memory of visiting a recording studio "milord, there must be a button here that might make this thing go faster, this may not be a ship on sea but-" he pointed before them as he saw the dark cloud's ominous news "I think those kind of clouds is still a problem."

ID: 201857 | LD: 13 [Navigation]

Navigation: 82/100
Power: 57/100
Supplies: 63/100

"As expected" Plini thought.

Now the party gets wilder with how him and Nian was added into the fray and also someone that looked like a nobody? Plini looked at everyone and then back to the panels before him and Celeste "everything seems to be doing fine, I have only a few background when it comes to mechanical stuff but at least no one is dumb to put a self-destruct button somewhere" he looked around below him. 

They both managed to make it sputter up a good show of power, one guy even found a painting, and another was looking like he knows what he's doing than all of them combined. "I'm not sure if Aincrad powers shit up with oil or coal but-" he looked at @Celeste"ok, try to find something, a little door or a hole. We both managed to get this thing running fine but more power would require it to function properly. Look for something where a crew would pour gasoline or throw coal, it shouldn't be hard and don't burn your beautiful hair" he told her before walking towards @Nian"milord, it would be better if you go up higher and see if this ship is moving nicely" he told her. Nian acted as the captain and he wants her to see how the ship looks like as it tries to fly.

and then a girl approached and asked who the emperor was 

Plini scratched his head, his sling bag now on his back as he looked at her "there's only two ways this could go, Nian sees her as a peasant and ignores her or this will..."

Plini paused and tried to see what would happen, they were already chaotic and a spark of mutiny is the least they need right now.

ID: 201812 | LD: 7 [Power]

Navigation: 31/100
Power: 47/100
Supplies: 31/100

Plini felt some kind of pit in his stomach as Nian held him and hoisted them both to the skyport. He was indeed afraid of heights and this was probably the most cruel feeling he has as he felt nothing beneath his feet. Fortunately Nian seems more than capable and their dynamics as some kind of lord and retainer is going well for now, it's not even weirding him out to much. 

As they now settle to the docks of the skyport, Plini only needed to do one thing, find more allies. He was already on the winning with Nian but that can also change in a snap if they both stopped there. As Nian told him to direct him or rather pick a path for victory, he held his sling bag and began inspecting the area "the chaos below isn't gonna help us and I figured the skyport would have better things to offer, like let's say to get somewhere faster" Plini pointed at the tower, it seems like people are trying to get there and the guards in return, do their job even if it means using drastic measures like impaling civilians "now the next question is how? I'm guessing we look for some ship that looks like it's headed-" as Plini told @Nian of what they can do, he saw some kind of ballista fire off and hit one of the airship "milord, surely you wouldn't shoot an airship that isn't headed there if you're the commanding officer right? after all these guards or soldiers are doing their best to hinder anyone who tries."

Plini then began running "why the hell am I the one trying to reach that ship? I'm afraid of heights" he muttered under his breath. He keeps his eyes looking forward, hoping Nian is following him.

and then he jumped...
held on to a rope wrapped like a net...

He quickly clambered up, his heart beating as if it was gonna pop out. He saw them, players just like him and Nian, some trying to maneuver a ship, others pushing anything or figuring out what to press "well, this was kinda unexpected" he said. He even hear one guy yell about a "pilot."

"Nian would surely know what to do with this chaos, as for me" he quickly made his way beside the redhead and pulled one lever so hard until it was halfway down "we're gonna need more altitude missy, hitting it won't do that" he told @Celeste as he punches a gauge that seemed stuck on moving. It was then followed by 2 more gauges moving back and forth "tch, not liking this" he said and slammed his forehead on one then used his elbow on the other and soon enough the gauges are now indicating that they're gaining a little bit of power.

ID: 201767 | LD: 4 

Progress:
Navigation: 8/100
Power: 19/100
Supplies: 20/100

Plini ran as fast as he could, dodging wild swings of civilians and guards as they battle it out in the muck of rebellion. He wasn't sure of the whole story about this chaos and that's what he needs to do, a task given to him by his boss. carts flared as the people set fire on it to hinder the deployment of troops, others held spears and pitchforks. These was all too much for him as his current reality.

"Good, I think she got I want to say" he thought.

He dodged a barrel. ducked when a carriage toppled over as it slammed towards crates scattered around, he even looked at the wounded or are they really wounded? it's hard to tell in this virtual world.

As Nian greeted him and called him an arbiter, Plini gave a sigh of relief finding someone he knows. He turned around and saw the ongoing tug of war for supremacy and it seems it's all far from over.

"Obviously, it's hard to tell which one is the losing side here but I'll take my chances on your side" he told her. with Nian asking him if he was afraid of heights, Plini swallowed hard, grabbed Nian's hand and held tight.

"A little bit but that can dealt with."

ID: 201750 | LD: 15 [122/125]

Chaos continues to unfold, it was too obvious that everything will fall to ruin if no one makes a move to stop them all but the question is , can they all be stopped?

It was an absurd idea for Plini, he wasn't a good negotiator and add to that him being quite aloof when in comes to socializing "what would Orca do? what would boss do?" he thought as he tried to rack his brain for any excellent idea. The path anywhere he looks was either blocked and barricaded or set on fire. He saw people getting pushed back violently by the guards "a futile effort, these people are like those undead beings who just push forward. I need to think of something." He turned around, trying to find another path "if boss was here he'd be scaling up buildings or rushing through barricades-" in an instant he thought of something, he looked up and remembered that Crozeph was telling him to investigate "this floor has a skyport" he said. Plini quickly ran towards a direction where he can find a way to the port, it would be hindered by a lot of things he doesn't know but he needs to do it.

He ran past people who are wailing as if they're asking for justice, some suffers from wound inflicted by the riots and the guards. There were even children crying, it was a sight he only read in novels or saw in movies but now he's a part of it. He continued until he saw someone.

"Milord" he quickly said as he saw her.

No doubt it was her, the girl with a kingly attitude and for some reason he's playing along so well with it as if it was natural in the first place. "Milord! w-why are you-" he saw @Nian move as if she's trying to reach a place "milord! may I suggest-" he got interrupted as he yelled. A guard grabbed him by the collar "you must be with them!" Plini lowered his sling bag and swung it at the guard's helm. "I have no time for you" he said and dashed forward following Nian "Nian, oh shit, milord. The skyport!, we might know something in the skyport!" he yelled. 

Was it worth the effort? no one knows yet but Plini has to do something.

ID: 201743 | LD: 20 [43/125]
 

Something's afoot?" he stared at confusion. Plini knew his boss, or rather the person he calls boss has a knack to say weird things out of nowhere and this one is a great example of it. He wasn't sure how to react and inside Night's Watch he was already getting a gist of ho Shirogane and Crozeph does things. "Hey Shirogane, boss wants us too-" then he realized that Shirogane was up to something else about creating a shield for their group. "I guess she wanted to do a full support build" he thought. 

He quickly opened his messenger and messaged Shirogane, there's no use disturbing their boss and all he needs to do is check what Crozeph wants to be checked.

To: Shirogane
I'm leaving the shop for a while, boss sent a message I'll forward to you later.

Plini picked up his sling bag and loaded whatever vanity item he has right now and hoped that it would help him. Night's Watch was in floor ten and that would mean it would be a big leap for him "maybe Orca can help me, but should I be asking help for a woman posing as a hot nun somewhere?" he shook his head. The image burned in his mind of how Orca looks is proving her point that Plini was indeed vulnerable but for now...

Floor 26. Ladonia

"What in the flying fuck?!" his first words where uttered as he came out of the teleport plaza. A place in shambles, it was like a scene in a movie and since Plini isn't Crozeph, his references where drifting to something else "a-are these people toppling the nobles? some kind of Marie Antoinette shit going on?" he thought. Most of the time Plini is cool-headed but with how a lot of where his eyes can see is on fire, it would be tricky to stay cool quick.

"Oh"

Plini tied a knot to secure his roll of rope and slid it in the bag, He wasn't familiar with the voice but there can only be one person who calls him or maybe anyone a commoner.

"Empress Nian" he replied.

"Nothing much my liege, I did take one quest about a missing cargo. Kinda weird, a cargo should be big enough and easy to find" he then scratched his head trying to find a logical reason for a quest "if I lived here long enough I should be knowing the way around here and if I know the way around here even in the desolate sight of floor 5-" he returned his look on the dunes ahead "a cargo should be easy enough that it doesn't need the help of us players."

"Well I'm not gonna let a quest reward slip out out of my hand. I should be asking the same thing, what brings you here? surely the scorching heat would irritate you."

Splash!

The armored woman flailed her hands as someone just splashed water on her face, like a rude awakening. "What in the-" she looked in front of her to see Plini tossing a bottle away. "You lack the manners needed to treat a woman right" she snarled at him as she stood up. It was weird for him to see someone drunk but then again she's an NPC, he only knew that players don't get drunk unless they're so vulnerable to the placebo effect.

"I did it to wake you up. What would you prefer? me carrying you on my back somewhere in this woods trying to find your manor or you guiding me to your master?" he told her. There was a faint glimmer in her eyes at what she heard but he needs to be tested with his intention. "Will you do it? we have the money or reward to compensate but-" Maria looked him in the eye "are you easily swayed by riches beyond your-" Plini waved his hand "oh come on, spare me the goody goody test. I'm here to help because I'm researching mats for my neurotoxins. I can't just remain here processing the same materials over and over again." Finally, Maria sighed, one filled with relief. He didn't look like he was lying, he seems like a genuine researcher.

Just as she was to confirm Plini accepting the request, Maria heard a sound. Someone hitting something in the forest, away from the path where they are standing. "An intruder? then I must put them down to avoid further trouble!"  she said. Plini placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head "I hear it too, it doesn't sound like someone causing trouble. It sounded more of practice swings." Maria gave it a few seconds of thought and then took a deep breath before taking off to see what was the noise about.

A few minutes later...

Plini saw marks on the trees, as if it was a way to keep track of one' path "a wanderer? maybe if we follow this marking we'll get to the-" Maria was still talking when Plini began following the marks. Wherever this person was going he felt like he should stop it "it can be helpful and it can be exploited" he thought. A few more trees appeared with marks and finally he heard another sound as if something is being dragged. 

A woman...

Plini scratched his head as he saw her, marking the trees and the ground wounded by the sword that is being dragged "I'd suggest you stop that for now" he told her. He placed his hands in his pockets and gazed at her silver hair "she reminds me of Orca, minus the ara ara bullshit" he thought as he waited for her to stop swinging at the trees.

Maria (NPC)

"Well extra hands are always welcome to help out, I'd do the same for the frontlines too but not join the fight. I do at least want to provide items for boss whenever he goes out to scout or join the floor boss battles." He told Freyd, it was his goal for now and he wanted to see it happen soon. His shop was already done, all it takes was to gather the materials.

"What Astreya said" he added as Freyd asked them if they knew Astralin. "Princess-like, I don't know if that would do something about stats, and she kicked the elf in the balls right after the girls jumped on him." The elf was indeed weird, Plini was even the one who tried to draw first blood when they encountered him. "I'd rather not see elves with that kind of personality ever, I'm not even a girl but his confidence creeped me out."

I have toiled for so long, longing for something
perhaps decadence wasn't enough
Blood ties aren't strong enough
So does friendship that withered like the flowers
Maybe, maybe a pair or a group of unlikely people
...can finish what I have uncovered.

"This is unacceptable! I cannot accept this outcome simply because these people wanted a higher reward. What could be greater than what my master has unearthed? are riches the only thing valuable in this world?" perhaps it was the booze doing the talk and it has already seeped in to her that is why she has lost all composure outside the city. "My master's health is not getting any better and she always wanted to finish what her husband has started and now it is up to me, the only one who remained by her side, their side to continue it. The manor needed to be tended too so I must entrust this task to what the people in the settlement call as 'players' and it turns out they're just in it for the reward" she continued to talk as a person beside her kept on drinking. He was simply there to check the are for materials that he can farm and now he's some kind of therapist to a woman in a knightly garb.

"I mean I'd do it for the reward too, it can be tiring to get from one place to...
"SILENCE! I will not permit some commoner to take my master's work as some kind of job to fill your purses"
"My purse is almost empty so filling it up seemed like a good thing"
"A mind filled with knowledge is better than purses and satchels filled with col"
"Ma'am this is a chest bag and a shield at the same time..."
"You talk too much commoner! perhaps you can be up to the task with all that strength you have to talk back to me, a knight and sword castellan of lady..."

The woman dropped face down, the boy quickly snatched the tankard away from her hands before she could fall down and hammer it on the ground with her lips. "Tch, now what? I hate this. My sisters, Orca, and now this woman. Why am I getting entangled with women who can easily assert dominance to me?" his thoughts press hard as he closed his inbox "boss must be somewhere joining a group for finding the next field boss, the best thing I could do is help Shirogane run the shop he built by giving her stuff to identify."

He stood up, scratching his temple "first I gotta put her somewhere safe."

Plini quickly accessed his menu and looked at the sword art. He has been studying how they work from time to time and he knew that the arts had names and a description of it's basic moment to trigger the skill. He scrolled up and down only to find a few letters, numbers and some conditions to unlock higher level of sword arts "what the hell happened to the sword arts?" he uttered under his breath. It was more suprising to him, Orca must've figured it out already and didn't tell because he didn't "ask"

"Boss, does this mean everything is sort of went on reset? there's no way that skills that we need in combat gets changed like this, it's as if we are being subject to test it out with it being a a clean looking list of skills."  He looked at Shirogane "we're gonna need some huge adjustments for now, these things aren't funny for players like us" he told her.

It would be less threatening for Crozeph, he even trusts that the three of them can handle monsters but that's something Plini isn't fond of testing out.

Plini gave it more thought, sure there would be a few seconds of silence if no one decides to talk before him but he wanted to make sure of many things "does this mean Orca probably got stronger?" he thought to himself. The details that Crozeph laid out for them made a lot of sense yet Plini was surprised a boss was capable of affecting everyone outside the boss room. For all he know the bosses would only impose rules inside their roooms or so he heard but a storm outside while the Frontlines took him on? Plini felt a slight concern for that.

"That is a nice katana boss, looks very omninous though, will you be okay using it even though you know it's from the boss?" he asked Crozeph.  "There was also some kind of changes on the stats, I've seen players in the safe zone get shrunk into a certain level and then another level is shown on their heads. At first I thought it was a job level but it seems that we got placed on the same "base" level and the rest was added somewhere. I had to allocate some skill points too due to some skills becoming less costly."

He noticed it but he wasn't sure what it gave the high level players as incentive, some voiced their complaints while others found it a a way to actually feel more challenge. Crozeph was one of those high-level players but he looks like he doesn't mind about it "I don't know much about him but he's quite laidback when it comes to it, like a cat."

Plini felt two things upon seeing Shirogane, relieved and surprised. For someone like him, he was used to girls acting all concerned. He grew up in a family where males are the minority and his cohabitation with his two older sisters was almost an eternal damnation. Shirogane's reaction made him feel relieved that the player who was supposed to watch over him or help him was safe. She may be the senpai in that quest but they are still responsible for one another.

Plini placed his boots by the doorstep as he saw her dash towards him, not even paying attention to Crozeph causing for her to choke him on his own drink, a feat that only exists in animes whos foundation is fanservice. He felt a warm feeling as Shirogane hugged him, quite similar to how her sisters would hug him if they lost their little brother in a mall (which happened so many times he lost count). 

"Ok Shirogane-senpai settle down, it's all good that we are all safe but it seems boss knows more than us on what happened" he said as he gently pried Shirogane off him and gave her a few pats on the head. He made his way towards the table and eased himself before Crozeph "I wouldn't make out with someone in the open field where boars roam..." he looked at him and Shirogane "what exactly happened boss? a few context can help us understand a few things."

"How could I be so stupid?" 

His thoughts raced on where his companion was and to where his other friend is. It looked liked an Amazing Race: Aincrad when he ran to a teleport plaza and jump to his shop, checking if Ms, Silence was okay. After that he began sending messages to his friend, Orca. It took hours for her to reply and Plini was already pacing back and forth up and down Silence's property that she had to wack him with her feather duster "calm down, you're gonna have a stroke" she told him. Plini gave it a thought "is it possible to have a stroke here?" he asked her. Silence shook her head and went up to her flat "you look like close to having one, calm down" she told him.

Orca: I'm safe, I'm doing undercover as a hot nun somewhere
Plini: I'm glad you're safe, I'll look for my friend who's helping me with a quest
Plini: wait, why are you posing a nun, and do you have to be a hot one?
Orca: of course, I'm not gonna look like someone older than the church building itself
Orca: plus it's easier to get info if they can't resist you
Plini: I hope you burn in holy water

After Orca sent him a reply, Plini felt relieved to know she's safe. He then began grabbing a few things and ran off to the teleport plaza, this time to visit his boss, Crozeph. It was the best course of action for now, his memories are still a bit hazy. One moment he was surrounded by faes ready to dry him up and then all of a sudden two nimble girls pulled him out of the trap. He was confused back then and thinking that they might be enemies too, he ran away as soon as they entered a safe zone and that's when he realized "oh they're not enemies."

Plini reached Yomi and dashed through the streets dodging the villagers inside. "This place is really gloomy" he thought. Took him a few minutes and then he finally saw the sign board. As he was about to enter, two girls walked out of it and upon seeing him, they ran back inside "wait, they're working for boss?" he thought. He took off his boots and saw Crozeph sitting beside a kotatsu

"Boss! I lost Shirogane, we got caught up into some kind of storm made up of piss and shit and then I woke up surrounded by half-naked faes! we need to look for her-" Plini saw Crozeph stood up and called someone upstairs "she's here too now?!"

Current Level: 8
Current SP: 19
Link to SP Tracking: [link]
Item Upgrades:

Notes: