[PP-F9] Decree of Annihilation

[Alkor 0]

[Floor 9 - Yōgan Village]

This is where it happened, isn't it? This was where everything ended.

Alkor opened his eyes as the data that made up his avatar filtered into the teleporter of Yōgan village. The haunted expression lingered only for a few moments before stoicism returned to his face, but several sideways glances still found him. It was disconcerting whenever a Player showed any sign of discomfort, and to do so right as he entered the settlement made people whisper. For a moment, he looked around and assessed what should have been a familiar sight. This village was nothing like Vulcan, the place where he slept for two years of his life. Whatever strange storm had ravaged Aincrad and left its people to rebuild brought with it a renaissance of architecture to even this hellscape. When he looked to the floor beyond the safe zone, he became even more aware of broad, sweeping changes.

Active volcanoes made sense, but an entire range of them and rivers of magma made the Ninth floor far more imposing than when they had faced down the Hydra. Alkor opened his menu and checked the messages there to ensure that this was in fact where the Broker promised to meet him, and satisfied that he hadn't misread things, he dismissed the window and found the mischievous smirk of a young girl, a Player in outlandish garb. "You must be Alkor," she hailed him with a wry smile, "word on the street is that you were at the Floor Boss fight right here," she gestured to the world around them to indicate the ninth floor. "But everyone thought you were dead. Wanna tell me how that happened?"

Info Brokers. Always looking for the next hot piece of intel to peddle to the right people. His gaze swept over her for a moment, pensive. He then glanced toward the most massive of the volcanoes on the floor, Mount Stylahm. Creases of violent red flecked its face, like angry cracks in the face of a crone who disapproved of the world around her. Fire did not scare Alkor. Even the heat during the battle seemed insignificant, neutered by the system that held them all prisoner. "I'd prefer to talk about the present," he stated flatly. Her bright blue eyes seemed to darken a bit, and her demeanor as a whole seemed to dull with his disinterest. 

"That's so boring." The blonde girl made no effort to hide her disdain, but Alkor found that refreshing. At least she wouldn't pressure him any harder. "But alright. I just got this scoop from Hikoru not too long ago, and provided you're willing to pay me for it, I've got no right to complain." The girl was sixteen, maybe seventeen by the look of her, and she reminded Thom vaguely of his younger sister. She was nominally more annoying, however, because his sister never talked to him. Not that she could anyway.

"Yeah, we agreed on..." he held up a few fingers for her approval. "...this much?"

Her eyes sparkled as she took a step closer. "That much? Gee, mister Alkor, you seem like a really swell guy." 

Alkor watched her for a moment before he opened the trade window. "And I take it he told you about our deal?" he asked.

"Yep!" she interlaced her fingers and smiled up at him from behind her hands. "I'll stay right here, and you'll report back with whatever you find. If it's interesting enough, I give you half of the money back for your contribution to the network."

He nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Now, give the the details so I can get right to it."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "You're not even gonna ask my name?" she pouted. 

"No," he replied concisely. "I don't care. I asked Hikoru to meet me in person."

"My name's Lara," she announced proudly, ignoring that Alkor had shown no interest. "And you'll have to excuse the boss, he is a really busy guy running things across basically every floor of Aincrad. We Brokers do an important job, you know?"

"Talking my ear off is an important job?"Alkor blinked.

Lara stared at him for a moment, taken aback. "He said you weren't great at talking to people," she muttered.

"So he really does know everything." The Knight held her gaze for several heartbeats before she sighed. 

"Alright, fine. Here's the information you wanted." Lara opened her messages and scrolled to the intel from Hikoru. When it opened, she turned so that Alkor could glance over her shoulder at the words and verified that no one else was around to peek. Client and purveyor privilege and whatnot, obviously.

Quote

The crown at the Profaned Peak has begun to hum with power, and hover a few inches above the throne. Both NPCs and Players sense that something is about to happen, but they can only speculate as to what it is.

"So, who are you taking with you?" she asked him.

"What?"

"You know, these things can get pretty dangerous. Some of these locations are pretty new after the update, and we can't be sure that they won't scale to the level of the strongest Player and leave you fighting something way beyond your ability to handle alone. You know?" Alkor stared in disbelief at the young woman, who seemed more aware of Aincrad than she let on. With a wink, she added. "I'm a Broker. Careful is my job, you know?"

He grunted, then turned away to open the messaging system. Who did he want to do this with?

 

Spoiler

Alkor (Level 31/Paragon 21)
 

740/740 HP 108/108 EN

Base Damage: 17 Mit: 30 Acc: 4 Eva: 3 Blight: 32 [afflicted target loses 20 Mitigation for duration] Bleed: 48 Paralyze

Skills: One Handed Straight Sword Rank 5, Light Armor Rank 5, Energist

Extra Skills: Combat Mastery Rank 3

Mods: Stamina, Ferocity, Meticulous, Resolve

Equipment: 

Witchfang: T4 Demonic Straight Sword [Bleed | Paralyze| Blight | Cursed]
Cloak of the Wandering Warrior: T3 Perfect Cloak [3 EVA]
Eye of Osiris: T1 Perfect Trinket [3 ACC]

 

[NIGHT 0]

She hated the ninth.

The crown at the Profaned Peak? She'd been there once on an investigation. There was very little point on returning to it. All that was there was a vanity item that wouldn't leave its tethered position.

But even at an NPC's prompting?

(To be honest, the visit itself was the same cue she'd learned to hate constructs from in the first place.)

NIGHT eyed the entity, looking over her shoulder from the message prompt from Alkor. DAY was rifling through her own system windows, too; though to serve what purpose, the player was unaware. Where once was a wondering of what others she might've come into contact with, the memory of her travelling with Nyanko around the volcanic floor came to mind instead. Had the kitten not have been by her side, the floor would've been perilous.

The thought alone made her feel like she was stuck in midair again. Her fingers clenched, sinking into flesh on her thigh. Could she hold herself up again, if she was pushed off a brink?

Maybe it be best if she brought her cat with her for this journey. She only trusted Cardinal as far as it could throw her. A cliff was an incredibly long fall.

A few hisses and a wiggle of her fingers, her familiar was called over in a scuttle. Off a high shelf on which a basket of his was set upon, the feline strode over, green eyes shimmering with delight for his owner's attention. NIGHT gave it to him, the loyal pet, palm brushing against fluff under his chin towards his cheeks.

Good kitty. The player thought she felt an envious gaze upon her back.

Nyanko was independent now, almost necessarily so. The player wondered for a moment if it was due to their new housemate forcing him to be tamer, more mild-mannered in the presence of another. Or if he was just silently guarding NIGHT from the Gemini's reach.

She's not that bad, a voice echoed in her head on instinct. She pushed it away, just as Nyanko's head seemed to flick back to her from her adoration.

A kiss to the familiar's forehead, and it was obvious that NIGHT was interested in asking for a favour. Not that the cat seemed to mind, eyes narrowing into sharp almonds.

"Baby," she cooed. "We're going to the fiery floor again. No other cats there, I promise."

The threat of flames should've persuaded her pet from agreeing with the player's plan. Yet the kitten didn't respond with anything but a slow blink and a twitch of his ear. The invitation to her tracksuit's inner pockets was enough to draw Nyanko's attention; though NIGHT wasn't receiving a buff from his presence ever since the system update, it never hurt to have a tiny warmer close to her, a tiny, brave and heroic saviour.

"You good in there?"

NIGHT received a squeak in response to her whisper. That was enough of a reason for her to reply to Alkor for her attendance. The player rose when she was done, stretching backwards as her windows closed off. With a wave, she signaled a farewell to her housemate.

"I'm heading out."

"Ah-- got it."

	| NIGHT  | HP: 840/840 | EN: 142/142   | DMG: 24 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 56  | LM: 2 | PRLYZ | ABS. ACC | LD: 4  | Stealth Rating: 5
[notes.]
[Examine]  | equipment Cosmic Devourer -- [ Paralyze I | Natural successful attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Absolute Accuracy | +1 ACC. Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. ] -- [ Accuracy I | +1 ACC. ] Second Wind -- [ Mitigation I | +36 MIT. ] -- [ Light Momentum II | +2 ACC on an unsuccessful attack. Buff is removed on a successful attack. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ]  | battle-ready inventory - - - - - - - - -  | skills Skills mod count: 7/7 2HSS | RANK 5/5 ferocity, stamina CLOTH ARMOR | RANK 5/5 athletics, nimble COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | RANK 3/3 SEARCHING | RANK 3+1/5 EXTENDED MOD LIMIT ENERGIST FAMILIAR: PROFESSION extra SURVIVAL CONCENTRATION HIDING blindside, vanish, surprise attack-t  | consumed buffs Spoiler statue KUMATETSU | +1 DMG consumables - - - - - -  | misc. buffs Spoiler housing Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. paragon Lv. 5 | Gain additional col equivalent to 10% of EXP earned in that thread. Lv. 10 | +3% EXP Gain.

[Valentine 0]

Valentine felt a headache coming along. As a change of pace he was recently assigned to help some underleveled players on the ninth floor. His purify skill allowed him to deal with any burns that some of the players may get. How was he supposed to know they had the combat sense of a butterknife. The heat was not helping as it made him irritable. He was used to dry desert heat that makes one wish for water. Not the unholy rivers of lava. It did make him wonder if this was what the Christian people at his boarding school envisioned hell to look like.

“Look! Just because I can heal you does not mean you can stand in lava.” Valentine was trying to stay in control. The only thing that was doing well and having a good time was his familiar Scheherazade. She was swimming about in the lava as if it was water. “I should not have to tell you how dangerous it is! Next time you get burned you better pray you have some salve on you!” Valentine was yelling at a noob who fought with being aware of his surroundings. It was aggravating that they survived this long without understanding the basics of combat. His display sent him a message that he gave a once over to. “Alright. Everyone finish your current mob and head back to town. You fight another, you die on your own.”

Valentine responded to accept the mission. As an Operations and Intel member for the Firm it was his job to investigate, sort information, and provide information. Being in a guild came with a ton of benefits but it was also hard work. His current mission was to find and assist someone named Alkor as a replacement for another guild member. He could only hope this Alkor person was not as much of a tool as his name sounded.

“Sherry come on!” Valentine was bidding his familiar to slither over as the noobs finished up the training. She was reluctant as this floor was paradise compared to the icy hell of floor four on which they lived. She was a creature of smoke and flames, why did she have to live in an icy tundra. It was as if her eyes were trying to convey that message to Val.

The group of three gave him a bow and spoke. “Thank you very much for the instruction.”

They headed back to the main settlement. The trio could be a pain in all the sections of the ass, but they treated Val with respect and learned quickly. Respect was always a good feeling. It helped curve the icy edge of depression that tried to stab into Val’s heart.

Valentine made his way back well. He was not far and responded quickly to the message. He swung by the hotel for a quick bird bath before heading to the meeting point. As he was unsure of who else was expected to be there he wanted to make a good first impression. If you had to entrust your back to people you were unsure about it, looking less suspicious made it easy. Unless the entire party already looked suspicious. Then the one that looked non-suspicious was the most suspicious.

“Hello! Is this the right place?”
 

Spoiler

 

Name: Valentine
Level: 31 (Pargon +3)
HP: 620/620
EN: 80/80
 

Stats:
Damage: 13
Mitigation: 54
Evasion: 0
ACC: 1
REC: 2
LM: 2
V.D: 1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Blood Rights| Tier 4 Perfect Knife | 
Armor: Sanguine Necktie (Tier 4/Perfect/Light Armor)[Mit 1] [L.M I] [V. Def 1]
Trinket: Ring of clear heart (Tier 4/Perfect/Trinket)[LM 1][REC 2]

Skills:
Dagger [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
First Aid [Rank 5]

Extra Skills:
First Aid [Rank 5]
Meditation 
Concentration

Mods:
Purify- Active: Post Action, Energy cost: 3 EN, Cooldown: 1 Turn, Effect: Remove all status conditions on one target party member. Can target the user.
Energize- Active: Post Action, Energy Cost: 10 Energy, Effect: Restore 8 Energy to target party member. Cannot target the user.
Barrier- Active: Post Action
Energy Cost: 15 EN, Cooldown: 2 turns, Effect: All party members gain a barrier effect that lasts until the beginning of the user's next turn. The barrier reduces final damage from all sources done to the party by 15 % for one turn.
Dagger Ferocity- Effect: Gain +2 base damage when using Sword Arts of the dagger type.  Players cannot use both Precision and Ferocity.
Meticulous- Effect: Gain +1 base damage

Ad-Ons:
Hyperactive- Active: Post Action
Energy Cost: 5 Energy, Cooldown: 3 Turns, Effect: Increase the passive energy regen of the target party member by 3 for three turns. Can target the user. [A player cannot be affected by Hyperactive more than once at a time.]
Field Medic- Active: Post Action
Energy Cost: 15 EN, Cooldown: 3 Turns, Effect: Heal your entire party (including yourself) for 25% of each party member’s maximum HP (rounded down).
Resolve- Effect: Gain +1 Accuracy and +10 * Tier HP.
 

Familiar Skills:
Protector Familiar-
Active: Free Action
Cooldown: 3 Posts
Effect: The next time you would take damage, your familiar rushes to your aid, reducing the final damage by 10%.

Combat Mastery:
Combat Mastery- Damage III
Passive
Effect: Gain +1 * Tier additional Base Damage per rank. Ranks of this Skill apply to Damage enhancement caps.

 

Battle Ready Inventory:

 

Housing Buffs:
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Working: +2 EXP to crafting attempts
Basic Training: 5% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.
Practiced Angler: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Valentine: HP: 620/620 | EN: 80/80 | DMG: 13 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 1 | MIT: 30 | REC: 2 (CD6:+8) | LM: 2 | V.D: 1 (CD9: 31)

 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Valentine

[Astreya 0]

"Geez.  I don't think that this is the best spot to be hunting for a new pet," Astreya spoke, her frown deepening on her features as she stood amidst the craggy, rocky, and downright molten landscape that she found herself in.  The Gypsy had directed her here after a long chat, the woman had sought that what the young woman would be seeking would be found here amidst the lava and the volcanoes.  The young woman had dealt with a few bandits that had tried to pick her off, as well as a number of other nasty critters.  

Thankfully, they'd not attacked her in a group of more than one or two- she was pretty sure that even with her own Mitigation and slight tank-like setup, that she'd be in a really bad way if she ever got in over her head.  She had her items still with her, thankfully, just in case things went really far South, but so far she hadn't needed to use those either.  

But she glanced around again, peering through the soot and the smoke, curious on what was here.  The gypsy had told her that she would find exactly what she was looking for here- but so far all she'd found was smoke inhalation and black lung.  Of course, that wasn't really a major thing here inside the game- it wasn't like she could actually get black lung or have any long-lasting effects with it. 

All the same, the landscape was so not... her.  All this heat and the fire and magma, and here she was, decked in silvers and blues- she stood out like a damn sore thumb amidst everything around her, which was part of the reason that she was finding it difficult to make her way to where she needed to go.  Of course, the other part was that she didn't exactly have a destination in mind- she had just been told the ninth floor would have what she was seeking.

The young woman sighed, glancing off to the distance where she could see the town of Yogan.  The place seemed relatively well protected, and there was the chance that she could actually get some information there.  But how was she going to ask for that information?  'Hey, I talked to a gypsy who told me to come here to find what I'm seeking.  Do you know what that might be?'  The NPCs would either give her blank stares or a stock standard answer of not knowing what she was talking about.

Snorting slightly under her breath, the girl set a hand back on the two-handed sword's hilt on her shoulder as she heard the sounds of a rock-like creature beginning to either pull itself together or come closer to her- she wasn't quite sure which in the steam and smoke of the magma pools that littered the area.  "I swear to everything if you're another Rock Golem I am going to smash you to absolute bits no matter how long it takes me!" the woman called out as the blade was drawn.

--

Moments later, Astreya grunted as she moved away from the pile of rubble that had once been the rock golem.  Per usual, it had been a rough fight.  Here on the ninth floor, things were dangerous for one of her level to solo.  She could handle herself, but just barely, and if things came at her with a little more vigor she likely wasn't going to be able to make it much longer.  "Let me just... get to the town.  Maybe once I'm there I can figure something else out.  At the very least I can take a break," she muttered under her breath.

The town wasn't too far and while she was ill-equipped for Stealth, what with her heavy armor, she had still gotten a pretty good idea of the 'sense range' of most of the mobs.  The Pyre Vultures were the worst, since they came from above, but she had only seen one group of them so far. (And she'd had to flee that particular battle.)

But before too much longer, she'd made it to the main gates of the village.  It was less gates and more 'there's walls here that look like a drop of water hitting a pool, frozen in time' sort of look, but she still managed to get her way inside, and immediately she felt far more relaxed due to it.  "All right- now to find something to eat and just relax a little," the woman spoke, mostly out loud and to herself as she began to move through the streets, seeing what she could find as any sort of local delicacy.

But she had to give thanks to her armor as she would have cut herself open nearly a half-dozen times on some of the sharp edged buildings, as if the monsters outside weren't bad enough, the houses here in the village were trying to kill her too!  "Geez, you'd think they'd grind those down so some dumb kid didn't decide to hug one and bleed out all over the streets," she muttered to herself, casually brushing off some of the soot that landed on her from the dark clouds above, before she heard someone call out something.

Curious, she turned, and her brain retroactively processed the words about 'the right place.'  The right place for what?  Curiosity, far more than she needed to have, egged her onward.  Mealtime forgotten, the Tank-in-Training moved closer to the figure, mostly just planning on people-watching and eavesdropping a bit.  It had been one of her favorite pastimes before SAO- indulging now and again wasn't so bad.

[Alkor 0]

He glanced up when an unfamiliar voice came directed toward him. The Player was silver haired and tall, built like a brick shithouse. From Alkor's precursory glance, he could see the man used a dagger. The archetypal choice of attire came at a stark contrast from what he imagined a skulker might opt for, but he wasn't the type to judge someone based on their weapon choice. It was more likely that he just preferred it to other types of weapons, or there was something else going on. "You're here about the rumor?" he asked for confirmation. "If so, then yeah, you're in the right place." 

"Well aren't you lucky?" Lara asked with a smirk. "He's pretty cute," she whispered in his ear.

Alkor swatted at the Info Broker, who was already more of a thorn in his side than any number of Hydra heads. "I'm Alkor," he introduced himself to the newcomer. Though generally he wasn't the type for formalities, he extended his hand in greeting. Many Players, he found, liked that kind of interpersonal approach. "I put the word out to another Player from my Guild, so we have at least one more person on the way. What's your name?" he asked.

Lara spoke up at that point and interjected, "and I'm the Info Broker who provided the scoop," she stepped from behind Alkor with a bright smile and a wave. "Name's Lara. I'll be waiting here for you guys to get back." 

"Give him a look at the rumor." Alkor gestured toward Valentine and Lara opened her messaging menu once more, then showed it to the other Player. "So, we'll be headed over to inspect the crown at the Profaned Peak. Shouldn't be dangerous, but there's always a chance. That's why we're going as a group." His gaze shifted to a woman nearby who seemed to have witnessed the whole encounter and suddenly realized that he should have been more judicious about sharing the map data and rumor out in the open. "Hey," he called to Astreya, "you interested in checking this out with us?" Though she wasn't particularly strong looking, he would rather keep her with the group than have her gossip about what she'd heard before Alkor, Valentine, and NIGHT had a chance to scope things out for themselves. These kinds of rumors sometimes led nowhere, but on the off chance that the was something more to it...

"Like I said," he reiterated, "my name's Alkor. We're going to be investigating one of the rumors that are circulating through the Information Broker network. There's no telling if it'll be dangerous or not, but with the group we've got so far, the risk is pretty low on floor 9." It wasn't his best pitch, or even a good one. This was one of the few times he truly lamented his ineptitude at talking to other people.

"And you are?" His eyes strayed back toward the teleporter for a moment, concerned with how long it might take for NIGHT to arrive, but also moderately aware of any other potential eavesdroppers. When he looked back to Astreya, he managed an uneasy smile. I've always been horrible at running parties, he reflected. This is a fine mess I've gotten myself into.

[NIGHT 0]

It was the dry air of the floor, searing warm, that reminded her just how her nerves worked. Her skin tingled with anticipation -- a mix of fear and danger came to mind when her vision cleared of light, the intensity of her hatred for the ninth starting to come to mind. Uneasy steps off the teleporter; her feline familiar meeped for her attention, aware of her growing discomfort.

She spared Nyanko a glance. Rubbed his forehead with a thumb for good luck.

Alkor's mop made him easy to spot in the settlement. All black, brown and burgundy with flashes of red, a hint of gold helped to break up the earthen pace of the landscape. Her footsteps drummed over granite, ash particles intercepting her vision. Three other players surrounded the man; she only recognized one of them from her shop.

"Hey." A wave and a nod, meant for the entire gathering. Neither guild members were decent at social interactions, and NIGHT set aside her burning dread for the events ahead of them to worry on Alkor's behalf. After a beat, she closed her open palm and nudged her thumb towards the blond. NIGHT's gaze fell over the others, directing the question towards them; hopefully, she hadn't missed out on much, or they didn't have to repeat themselves. "You guys with him?"

Five was an unusual party size, but it wasn't as though they hadn't exceeded limitations before. They'd gathered in sixes back against the Shadow.

"For your consideration," the player began, arms folded and eyes scanning her company, "Anyone who's heading out of settlements should know very well by now to bring a teleport crystal when out on their journey. Doubly so, given the circumstances of a new system update. I'm not interested in knowing if we can still take our chances against a mid-level boss, never mind the one the floor-clearers just wiped out." After the reduction in stats, NIGHT wondered if she'd be able to get out any combat situation alive. "If anyone's ever in a pinch, it'd likely be best to zap out."