[PP - F6] The Climb, Pt.3 (Mack)

[Takao 0]

«Floor 6»
7:58 AST

"We're making pretty good time," Takao said as his emerald hued gaze settled on the clock in his peripheral vision. Less than an hour and a half had passed, yet two dungeons had been completed and a nice pull of materials, col, and experience sat under their belts. If he were more aware of his youthful energy, the young brunet might have been more inclined to be thankful for it. He glanced down at his map and examined the route they'd be taking-- the sixth floor was considerably more filled in than the floor prior, which afforded him the ability to be more careful with his planning. "We might even be able to finish all these by dinner, if we're lucky."

[Mack 0]

"Dinner seems a bit ambitious," Mack allowed, rubbing his neck with his right hand and then abruptly swatting his left arm with the same hand to smack a mosquito. "I'll be happy if we can clear them all by twenty-hundred local time. We're moving fast, but we need to remain cautious and smart. Over confidence is what led to Azide's death," the red headed man said, glowering darkly and remembering, with no fondness, the Zerg Rush plan that had epitomized the strategy on the fourteenth floor. When everyone had been out for themselves there had been no team or unit cohesion except, in a limited sense, between members of the same guild. Mack was pleased, at least, that he, Opal, and Macradon had all made it out of that cluster**** all right.

[Takao 0]

A moment of silence fell over Takao as Mack spoke, his only response to the words being spoken was a simple nod of his head. He had mulled over his thoughts for days after the Boss Raid's technical success, but couldn't arrive at a conclusion in regards to why he'd become so hung up over Azide's death. The two had rarely talked outside of their three-day long hunt for Cerberus, which was hardly enough time to form a lasting bond. Perhaps he'd become more clingy than he thought, or perhaps it was just the concept that somebody died over something as silly as a game. The brunet wordlessly started off in the direction of the next dungeon's general area, ready to find and clear their next quarry.

[Mack 0]

"Glad you've got the information on the next boss too," Mack rumbled in a deep, low tone that somehow managed to still cut through the surrounding noise of the jungle. "I gather you and I aren't too different, at least concerning some things," he continued, allowing the remark to simply hang there in the air for a few minutes. When Takao remained silent and didn't take the conversational opening and run with it, Mack shrugged his shoulders again. If the teen wanted to march in silence for a little bit, that was perfectly fine with the moving mountain. As long as Takao had no illusions about them sneaking up on anything, Mack was well aware of the fact that sneak and his name weren't often in the same sentence together, at least not in a positive connotation.

[Takao 0]

One of Takao's hands found itself hooked on his baldric whilst the other ran from the bottom of his face through his ash-brown hair. "Yeah... Sorry. I guess I'm still kinda bummed out about Azide, but I'm not sure why. We weren't really good friends-- not like he was with Oikawa, 'n we saw how that played out." He shook his head and exhaled a breath he'd been holding. "Maybe 'cause it was preventable." Despite how much many people were pointing the blame at a certain alleged blonde haired Hero, Takao couldn't seem to do the same. It was an unfortunate situation at a terrible time that could've been remedied with some semblance of a plan, but he didn't find any one player to blame.

[Mack 0]

"The only time I ever even spoke to Azide was when he came to the forge once, looking for a weapon. Sold him a knife, good deal all the way around," Mack said musingly. In truth, he really hadn't known Azide outside of the occasional Boss Raid and that one chance meeting at the smithy. "It was entirely preventable," he rumbled, his voice almost a growl. In truth, the ginger man held the entirety of Azure responsible for the debacle on the fourteenth floor, from Ssendom all the way down, though he reserved the lion's share of the blame for a couple of the so-called generals in particular. At least Oikawa, another well respected blacksmith like Mack, had been possessed of the decency to disassociate himself with Azure immediately after the fight with Rohk. "The fifteenth floor will be different, you'll see."

[Takao 0]

"He came by my shop a few times 'n I helped him out with the Cerberus quest a long time ago, so we had some time to talk then. We had similar senses of humour, I think. Real sarcastic like," The memory made him chuckle. Late nights spent making snide comments about some of the more well known and comically arrogant players. "Sucks that he's gone." His inward laughter died down with an exhale and he shook his head. "Sucks that anybody's gone, really." He fell silent for a moment as soon as Mack brought up the fifteenth floor, and his tanned skin began to pale mere seconds later. "Ugh... I really don't want to think about that."

[Mack 0]

"Hey, I'm not trying to wheedle the boss information out of you," Mack said quickly, holding up both hands defensively. Clearly the boss seemed to be something that made the emerald-eyed solo player uneasy. "Of course, a real bard would already have had the lute out and belted out a twelve hour masterpiece song about the boss' tragic backstory of lost love, ludicrous amounts of loot, and it would have crossed every musical genre from opera to punk rock." Mack shrugged. He'd find out soon enough, as soon as Takao and the Knights of the Blood Oath settled on a time and place for the Boss Raid Meeting to be held. "I agree that it's unfortunate that so many have died so far when they thought they would only be entering a gaming realm. Kayaba will pay for what he has done. With his life, at my hands and the hands of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

[Takao 0]

Takao shook the sick feeling off and exhaled a breath to steel his nerves. This boss raid would undoubtedly be a challenge, if only for him, simply because of the nature of the monsters they'd be fighting. "Aha, yeah... Sorry to crush your dreams there, but I'm not singin' 'bout any of that." He said, shaking his head in disapproval. Songwriting was well beyond his pay grade, and even if he had taken up an instrument as part of a school requirement, he still didn't love the subject. "Aha, yeah... I imagine there'll be quite the line for that one... I think I'd mostly just like to get out of here and put all this behind me."

[Mack 0]

"Oh, I'm not leaving Aincrad until my fingers have ripped out his still beating heart," Mack rumbled, momentarily crossing over in their conversation to a rather morbid discussion topic. The idea of justice was immensely important to the big bruiser and, in his mind, eliminating Kayaba permanently was a form of justifiable and completely just homicide since, to the ginger's way of looking at it, Kayaba was currently responsible for hundreds of deaths with those of Cora and Azide being only the two most recent. "Or, at least, reduced his avatar to free floating pixel confetti," the soldier amended. "Sorry, that's a bit dark isn't it? Anyway, I'm not the most musical of people either. Hence, I carry a big axe and no one complains."

[Takao 0]

Takao exhaled a whistle as Mack spoke, shaking his head slightly. He didn't necessarily disagree with the brutal statement, he would likely do the same; in the game at least. His hand rose to scratch his cheek as he fell silent, musing over a few thoughts. "Since you didn't join on day one, you must've missed the death game announcement, huh?" Takao said, keeping his eyes forward as he spoke. "Kayaba actually showed up as this big robed dude in the sky and gave a big ol' speech about everything. There was something he was that was kinda weird though. He said that he made Sword Art Online because he, and I quote, "wanted to create a world and intervene in it." ...Does that give you the impression that he might be like... masquerading as a player?"

[Mack 0]

"Nah, I was deployed. My copy was shipped to me about three weeks later and out in the middle of nowhere you don't really keep up with the news too much," Mack said with a shrug by way of explaining why it was that he had been late to the Sword Art Online party, unlike everyone else. "If that's what he said, though, it sounds to me more like Kayaba is interested in playing god." Mack held up both of his hands like a puppeteer and mockingly wiggled his fingers. "The whole 'dance for me puppets, dance!' thing. Still, if he made an in game announcement then logic would dictate that he must be in the game as a player or immortal object or something. He can be found, and I will find them. With the help of my dungeon sniffing bard/thief buddy. Right?"

[Takao 0]

"Seems that way. I figured he either wanted to play God, or he wanted to play hero." He let his thoughts on the matter end with that and shook his head, snickering at his own musings. "Aha, yeah. I'm sure I'll be able to sniff him out with my reveal skill." Takao rolled his eyes and shook his head, taking the opportunity to gesture in the direction they needed to head in. He took point and began wading through the underbrush, much like he had to find the previous dungeon, and glanced back over his shoulder to address Mack. "We're just about there, just past those giant trees 'n it should be in the general area."

[Mack 0]

"Well, with that attitude you'll never be able to sniff him out," Mack rumbled, clapping Takao a bit more roughly on the back than was, strictly speaking, necessary, as they continued to push through the underbrush. This was already beginning to feel a whole lot like the first dungeon on this floor that the pair of adventurers had already cleared with flying colors. Rolling his head around on his neck, and then lacing his fingers together to crack all of his knuckles, the big axe man got ready for their third dungeon dive in as many hours. He was ready. Takao would do his part, Mack would do his, and the loot would simply pour in. Really, Kayaba should have considered that a couple of enterprising players might try and break his game like this. "I got nothing, you?"

[Takao 0]

A light fit of inward laughter rumbled in his chest as he shook his head. While it was unlikely that Kayaba walked among them like a god might walk among his worshiping subjects, it was quite entertaining to think that such game breaking ways existed in a game that seemed so detailed. The world around them was fleshed out and beautiful, yet the mechanics were filled with cracks. Cracks that Takao had no problem exploiting, if the past were of any indication. Above all else, he was an opportunist, and it were too good an opportunity to pass up. Reveal was activated and his eyes made the necessary change before scanning the area. "Got it," Takao said as he pulled the blade from his back and swiped its edge across another inconspicuous line of vines and foliage. 

- -

Advanced Dungeon found.

» ID : [[ 53163 ]]
» LD : [[ 23 (13 + 2(Vitamins) + 3(Hands of Midas) + 3(Search&Detect) + 2(Reveal)) ]]

Edited March 26, 2016 by Takao

[Mack 0]

Mack turned his attention in the direction Takao indicated, even as his green-eyed companion proclaimed he had found their third dungeon of the day. "Are we positive that the SAO engine doesn't have some kind of magic component," Mack rumbled in a questioning tone as the entrance to the dungeon appeared through the thick underbrush and leafy vines of the jungle. "I'm just glad this one looks like it's underground... might cut down on the humidity," the ginger giant grumbled, running a hand through his hair which, while it technically couldn't sweat was certainly giving it a Grade-A effort to do so. "After you, my fearless bardic companion. You clear the traps, I kill the bosses. You know... for the good god?"

[Takao 0]

ID: 53251
BD: 4 + 3(ACC)
LD: 3 + 2(Vitamins) + 3(Hands of Midas) + 3(Search & Detect)

Takao: 185/185 (34/46) [Sword Art: Sharp Nail 1*6*21=126 DMG] (13 Base + 4 Charge + 3 Damage Crystal + 1 Alcoholic)

Gnoll Whelp 1 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]
Gnoll Whelp 2 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]
Gnoll Whelp 3 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]
Gnoll Whelp 4 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]

11/15 Remaining

"It's entirely possible that it does," Takao said, delving into the cave-dungeon as he spoke. "If you take into account how some of the unique skills attack, some of them don't actually use the weapon itself. That could just be design choices from the developers though. They seem to do a lot of arbitrary stuff like that." He said, shrugging the idea off. With the reveal skill maintained, the walls and obstructions that the cave-dwellers attempted to use as cover were null and void. They leapt from cover in an attempt to surprise the two, yet were promptly cut down with a series of well placed blows. "This seems to be workin' out pretty well. I think we've got a good system goin'."

Total Rewards:

4 Mats - Takao
2000 Col

[Mack 0]

"Just like the modern military," Mack rumbled, nodding his head as Xion dispatched the first set of monsters, gnolls this time. "Go in with the drones and the scouts and then follow with the heavy armor and infantry," Mack continued, shrugging his broad shoulders and rolling his head around on his neck as he followed Takao into the dungeon. "A very solid system, in my opinion as well," he acknowledged, shouldering his axe and following Takao into the dungeon which, while still humid, since they were now out of the sun at least the temperature itself had dropped a few degrees. It still wasn't pleasant, but soon they would be moving on to a different floor. 

[Takao 0]

ID: 53374
BD: 3 + 3(ACC)
LD: 3 + 2(Vitamins) + 3(Hands of Midas) + 3(Search & Detect)

Takao: 185/185 (23/46) [Sword Art: Sharp Nail 1*6*21=126 DMG] (13 Base + 4 Charge + 3 Damage Crystal + 1 Alcoholic)

Gnoll Whelp 5 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]
Gnoll Whelp 6 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]
Gnoll Whelp 7 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]
Gnoll Whelp 8 0/100 (Mit. 25) [126-25=101 DMG]

7/15 Remaining

"That's a good way to put it." Takao commented. It wasn't a terrible parallel to draw, if only simplified quite a bit. Their coordination was proving to be efficient, with him using his plethora of energy to clear the path for Mack to engage the boss. Simple and effective. That's all the more it needed to be. They were making excellent progress, and he had no intention of switching things up purely for the sake of doing so. Four more monsters lay in wait ahead, hiding behind whatever visual obstructions the cave provided, yet their attempts at stealth were easily thwarted by the reveal skill and an accompanying sword skill. Four more monsters were slain in the moments that followed, and only a short distance from the boss room remained.

Total Rewards:

(+4)8 Mats - Takao
(+2000)4000 Col

[Mack 0]

"Are we there yet," Mack asked, watching as Takao effortlessly slaughtered a few more basic Knolls in the cave. It was all well and good to watch the teen work, and it made things a lot easier for Mack and probably for Takao as well since they were able to reach the Boss' Room with one player completely full up on energy. But, that didn't mean it wasn't just a little bit boring watching one player get to have all the fun. "Can I have pizza for dinner? Is there a pool at the hotel," the ginger giant continued, speaking in what, for him, passed for a mockingly small child voice that still made it sound as if the speaker were in their early twenties, at minimum. "Hey, I just realized you didn't bring Oto. Where'd you stash him for the day?"