[PP-F9] 9th Floor Scouting

[Miaki 0]

It was hot. Very hot. A different kind of heat compared to the desert of floor 9. But that was to be expected of a floor reflecting a volcano or something of the sort. The air was fouled with the smell of sulfur and ash. The 8th floor boss was defeated and floor 9 was opened to everyone. Which meant another boss room had to be found. This was a good first mission for some of the new Brigade members. He sent a message to some of them and told them to meet him outside the labyrinth. A vast pillar that lead to the next floor. He gave them the map data with the location marked. With him at the moment was Nikki his lovely fiance. Only a few days ago the previous boss fight had ended and the very next day Miaki and Nikki became engaged to be wed. The news of it somehow got out and spread like wildfire. Many people were talking about it and asking about a wedding. It was overwhelming at first and showed just how many people he knew cared for them which was very touching and meant everything to him.

The <> wasn't wearing his trench coat at the moment but instead had the blue causal vest and slacks he wore underneath on. The heat of the floor made his trench coat cling to him in the worst way at times so he removed it often. He even had his fedora off too allowing for his strawberry-blonde hair to flow freely. Some players probably wouldn't have recognized him without his usual attire. "Geez it's hot here." He said rhetorically as he wiped his brow.

(OOC: I am not setting a posting order for the sake of speed. But if a post is aimed towards another player and requires a response please show the courtesy of let them post a reaction.

(OOC: To find boss room one of the following conditions must be met. When the room is found players must notify the PST who will then inform the GMs to reveal boss info.)

1) A player rolls a 20 on loot.

2) Three players roll above 17 LD in a row.

3) Exceed 2 full pages.

[Elessar 0]

Eléssar was both happy and excited about his first quest in front lines, he was expecting this to be happen but not this soon. Its been only a day since they defeated the 8th floor boss and they were already searching for the next boss. Not that he really cared about, he just thought about it while making his way towards 9th floor. And he regretted being in there at the first second, the weather in floor 9 was worse then it was in the desert floor. Eléssar always hated hot weather. He almost knew nothing about the floor but only explanation for its to be this hot was either desert areas or lavas all over the ground. He took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. '' I hate this floor already.. I hate it. I hate it! ''

Making his way towards the meeting location, he saw Miaki and the player next to him. He never met the girl player before. '' Must be one of the frontliners..'' he mumbled and smiled to them while approaching. '' Well, hello..Sorry if i am late.. The floor is ridiculously hot and i.. I hate it. ''

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki frowned as she trudged through the hot volcanic wasteland. If ever hell existed then it surely was here. The blue haired tank was no fan of the heat, in fact she made her home on the frozen floor 4. This was the opposite, to her this was the worst place in Aincrad. She had done well to hide her complaints and displeasure, but it was not exactly difficult to tell that she would have rather been somewhere else than here. She gave a heavy sigh as she kept close to her Fiance. it wasn't to say that she had no faith in his ability to keep alive, just that without her he might get himself killed. She looked up at him smiling at the joke in her mind , before returning her gaze to the task at hand.

Miaki, 2 new front liners and herself were scouting for the new boss room. They had taken some time to rest, but now things needed to get done. Nikki had recovered well from her physical and mental damage, as well as had gained a few nifty tricks to add to her ability list, that made her a better tank. And that's why she was here, to tank, to protect everyone as well as she could.

"We all hate it hun." She said in as pleasant of a voice as she could, in response to Elessar.

[HikariZX 0]

Running full speed from the fourth floor, when she reached the entrance to the volcanic heat, Hikari was already very tired and out of breath. "*huff* *puff* Why did I run straight here...?" She regretted the decision immediately yet there was still a little bit left to go. The floor was hot, very, very hot and her black clothes didn't make it better at all. "Damn, this is even worse than the fourth..." She pulled on her collar while saying this, hoping to rid herself of some heat, at least. From the map she got from Miaki, Hikari could see the labyrinth wasn't far off and the monsters appeared docile. In no hurry, Hikari arrived to the entrance of this dungeon, seeing her friend Miaki and two other people, a blue-haired woman and a tall man stood by him, waiting for her, presumably. "Sorry I'm late!" Reaching the top of the stairs, Hikari took just a bit of time to catch her breath. "Hey, Miaki, sorry I'm late..." Redirecting herself to the blue-haired woman, Hikari said: "Hey, you must be Nikki, right? I've heard a ton about you from Miaki, it's nice to finally meet such an awesome tank!" And then to the man: "Hey, um... sorry, who are you?" She knew from his tag above him that this man is named Eléssar, though she didn't know much about him at all. Relaxing and letting herself rest, Hikari waited for their responses, still pulling on her collar to release heat from her coat, heating her right arm up due to its guard. Shield and sword already equipped, there wasn't a single doubt in Hikari's blood red eyes, her silver hair flowing in the volcanic wind.

[Miaki 0]

The silver haired girl reached them panting but still managed to greet everyone. "You're not late. In fact I think you made it right on time." Miaki told Hikari not even bothering to check if she was in fact late. The first thing to do was get introductions going and their scouting party underway. "Nikki this is Elessar and Hikari. They're both new brigadiers that have joined the ranks. I thought scouting with you and me would be a safe way for them to get introduced to the front lines." He pointed out with his hand to each of the players as he indicated them. "Hikari, Elessar, I present to you Nikki Styx. Lieutenant of the Ebon Vanguard. Greatest tank Aincrad has ever seen. She will be tanking for us today in our search for the boss room." Miaki turned and faced the dark opening to the maze. "No doubt we'll have some monster show up. I was told by Clarence who is somewhere inside already that he saw some fire type mobs inside. We'll probably meet him somewhere in there as he went out on his own to check it out I think." Miaki hoped that the temperature would drop atleast a little while when they got inside.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki smiled as the new girl arrived. Hikari, was her name, or at least that's what Michael had mentioned earlier. She smiled at the girl admiring the girls silver hair. It was one of the few colors Nikki had yet to see. She also immediately noticed the shield, her smile widened, at the thought that this might be a new tank in training. it was always nice to think that one day she might not be the only person getting spanked on the front lines.

The New girl seemed to be over heating, while Nikki had never heard of a temperature related death in SAO, she knew that temps could cause some nasty status effects. She gave a small sigh and walked over to Hikari, opening up her own inventory and pulling out her ShiverSpine spear. It materialized in her hand. Immediately the air around them began to cool from the ice spears presence. "Here hold onto this for a moment.. Itll make you feel a bit better." She said in a kind voice as she handed over the icy spear for the girl to hold.

She turned now to Miaki. "So whats the plan?"

[HikariZX 0]

The temperature was unbearable, she just came from the fourth floor, after all, and the cold air there was much nicer than the volcanic heat you felt in this one. Noticing Nikki looking at her shield, Hikari hesitated to tell her that the shield was more meant for battle, though it was still an uncommon item, it had an effect she'd try to carry over to all her next shields, raising her critical damage, while she'd also try to implement damage blocking effects later on. Noticing Nikki take out her spear and handing it to her, Hikari flinched a bit before taking it; the spear was cool to the touch, almost like the temperatures of the fourth floor, a place she'd later try to make her home. Feeling refreshed, Hikari said: "T-thanks." Keeping a shy smile on her face. Hearing the details from Miaki, Hikari immediately said: "Yes, sir!" Keeping Miaki in the highest regard as the leader of her guild, while also considering him a friend.

[Elessar 0]

Eléssar listened carefuly Miaki as he introduced Nikki, now he was feeling like an useless player next to them. '' Wow.. Well, pleased to meet you.. Greatest tank of Aincrad '' he replied with a smile and turned towards the new player. '' And you too Hikari, i think we can manage to get a cool title like that in no time.. But we will have to work really hard. '' he added before tapping gently on her shoulder and turning back to Miaki. '' Oh, Clarence is here too? Cool. '' Eléssar commented and moved couple steps forward, it was always good to have familiar faces around. He was both nervous and excited about this quest and he could rely on his friends to help him about the situation. '' So yeah, are we moving in now? ''

[Miaki 0]

(My first post acted up and got error so Im rushing this and will go over details inside.)

Nikki's gesture was a kind one and even though Miaki wasn't as close to the spear he could feel the effects of the cold aura it gave off. "We can discuss the plans inside. Nikki will act as our tank and will take the forward guard with me." Pointing quickly between Elessar and Hikari he brought up their tasks. "You two will act as the rear guard. Soon as combat starts you let Nikki draw hate then trap the mob within our ranks." It was their first time on the front lines and Miaki didn't want to shelter them but also didn't want to throw them to the wolves. "When we meet up with Clarence inside we'll have him use detection to help us out a lot." Looking at the dark entrance Miaki edged towards it. "We'll go further into details inside. Come one."

[HikariZX 0]

Following Miaki's directions, Hikari ran straight inside following him and Nikki, giving her back her spear. "The heat of battle is different, I don't mind it, here, you'll use it better than I ever could." Drawing her new bought sword "Rage", Hikari stood beside Eléssar in the rear guard, waiting for the order to attack. Readying her shield with her, Hikari planned to assault the enemy and thrust the point of it into the enemy when its guard was down. Keeping her plan in mind, Hikari stayed on the alert, confident her armor could protect her well enough against a single monster.

[Arantir 0]

Charlotte was comming from behind to the group, walking slowly, with her sword in her right hand. She was wearing light metal armor, and a black trenchcoat over it. "I hope i don't disturb you." She said calmly. "I see i'm not only one to explore this floor." She brushet the white hair falling in her face with her left hand. That revailed a little scar on her left cheek. "Could i join you? It's sure dangerous there i think, and one more person in the party could raise our chance to survive." She lowered the sword, looking on them with calm, but curious look of her cold, red eyes.

[Miaki 0]

As Miaki began to walk through he heard a new voice. Turning around he saw a girl wearing a black trench coat with a sword in her hand. Automatically she won Miaki over with her black trench coat. "Absolutely, we could use another sword hand." He nodded to Nikki not seeing any reason not to have an additional person join them. Looking at the new party member he felt outdone. If this girl could wear her trench coat without dying then so could he. It was immature but he did it anyway. Opening his menu Miaki sent a party invite to the new girl and then equipped his own light brown trench coat. "Im digging the outfit too." He said giving a thumbs up as his trench coat materialized over his body.

[HikariZX 0]

Sensing a presence from behind, Hikari noticed a girl trekking behind the group. As soon as she finished speaking, Hikari replied: "There's no problem there, one more sword's always welcome." Locking her own red eyes with hers, Hikari noticed a small scar on the girl's left cheek, before reading her name above her. "Charlotte, huh?" The girl was wearing similar clothes to herself, the only difference in their trench-coats being that hers was placed above her armor, while Hikari's was integrated into her own and was sleeveless, a full metal guard covering her right arm. "If Miaki has no problem, then neither do I." Turning around and seeing Miaki equip his own trench-coat made a bead of sweat drop down her face. "Was that seriously necessary?"

[Miaki 0]

Hearing Hikari's quiet comment only barely reached Miaki's ears and made him laugh lightly knowing that she probably caught onto why he threw on his coat. Maybe she thought he did it to show off his similar style in clothes to the girl with them. Either way, she knew that what he just did was being ridiculous. Miaki offered his hand to the new party member. "My name is Miaki. These are some members of my guild the <>. What's yer name?"

[Arantir 0]

I shake hands with him saying. "My name is Charlotte. I just started a Tailor shop in floor 4. Nice to meet you Miaki." She winked her eyes curiously when she checked the others there with her sight. "I hope i can help you a lot in there." She says then, tilting her head to one side a bit.

(OOC - sorry for small post. I dont know what to say xD)

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki took back her spear and continued on, following the group in silence. She was vexed by all of this, the floor, the ash, the heat, and the fires. It all made her uncomfortable. She sighed as she hung back, staying near the rear of the group. She felt that in a place like this where an ambush could occur at even a moments notice that she should be guarding one of the spots where she could do the most good, in this case the rear. Another woman had joined there group, named charlotte. Nikki smiled at her name, wanting very much to call her Charlie. In the real world she had had a friend named Charlotte, and she had always gone by Charlie. In Nikki's mind it just rolled better.

Nikki stopped for a moment hearing a small noise to her left. Another corridor had opened up and it looked as though everyone else had walked by. She raised her sword and shield checking over her shoulder as the others kept going. they seemed fine, and whatever she had heard only confirmed her fear. They were not alone here. She hesitated a little longer peering into the darkness, as if waiting for something to jump out, but nothing did. Instead her gaze was met with nothing but the sound of fading laughter. It seriously creeped her out. Once satisfied she wasted no more time and hurried to keep up with her group.

[Elessar 0]

Eléssar equipped his gear before moving in, everyone was already prepared and now they were more then a small group. Now he had to be careful and serious, it was the frontlines. He was waiting for this to happen for a long time and now he had the chance to be an important person in the game, he could fight to saving people from this game of death. He held his sword tightly and closer to himself after thinking about all these. Following the lead of Miaki and Nikki, he prepared himself for anything that might happen.

[Yunah 0]

Yunah run through the incredibly hot floor 9 to get to the massive dungeon that loomed upwards Connecting to the floor above. She had received a PM from Nikki that day asking if she had wanted to go one the scouting party with her and Miaki, as well as a few other. Yunah had her same old amour on and her massive sword on her back still in it's sheathe. she reached the Dungeon and ran inside, finding the lack of mobs as a sign that some of them had been through there already. then she saw a silver cloak go around a corner. She ran as fast as she could and caught up with Miaki. then she tackled him with a flying hug as she rounded the corner shouting "IM HERE" in his ear..

[Miaki 0]

Miaki heard the pitter-patter of foot steps getting louder and louder. The sound of something getting closer to them. Miaki looked left and right with some confusion then was suddenly tackled to the ground by the green haired Yunah. It was a delightful surprise to see her joining them. "Yunah!" He cried out her name with a laugh. "So great of you to join us." He said hugging her. Her performance was fantastic in the last boss fight and knew her joining would be a great asset to them not to mention he and Nikki always enjoyed her company.

[Haine 0]

Haine gritted her teeth as she walked around in the SCORCHING hot weather... most certainly nothing like the desert. Now this meant her mood meter went off the hook. The bluenette had imagined the ninth floor to be something displeasing to be in, but this had been nothing like she had suspected. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of volcanic rocks here and there. "W-Wow... this is something else!" she commented before taking a deep breath and rushing off towards the meeting spot, where most of the front liners would be already. As always, she had been late. What could you expect from the typical Haine anyways?

She grinned as she had eventually spotted them. When she approached, her eyes widened as she had seen the red haired player she went hunting with AGES ago. She recalled his name to be <>. "So you are in the front lines now? What a surprise," she nodded before waiting with the rest of the others silently. In the meanwhile she hummed the tune of "Irony", trying to push away the fact she was impatient.