[SP - F6] The hardest fight, against yourself <<The Gemini>>(Complete)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Outside the sun was just setting and the buildings began casting their long shadows in the city. people could be seen all over the place, running around doing errands, enjoying random performers, window shopping or just taking a walk in the Market district of the 4th floor.

But there was one shop owner that was extremely excited to go out.As the closing time approached, Ariel was hastily preparing to leave. Before exiting the shop she took one more look inside, all was in order. So she closed the door and made her way towards the teleporting gate.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

As she "materialized" on the other side of the gate's event horizon she took a look around her while walking in a random direction. She was now in the Amazon village, a village at the 6^th floor that had only female NPC residents. She discovered this village when she went exploring, this place was rather simple in design, your typical jungle settlement with houses made out of straws and tree houses high up. Before opening her store in the 4^th floor, she considered opening it here. But her guildmaster's shop was on the 4^th one and she wanted to open it near hers. It's true that now it was closed but she would open it soon and Ariel would like to go visit hers when she got bored.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She started walking around admiring the amazon's armor..it was....revealing to say the least. But she was wearing a short skirt and a top with a ...decent amount of cleavage, so she was in no position to judge. She was more interested in the way the NPCs acted, their were all walking with their heads high, proud and fearless. She wanted to become as them, strong, independent, fearless. She walked like that for a while looking left and right, admiring the village. Before she knew it she was at the city gates, about to exit it.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She stopped wanting to see more, but decided to enter the jungle that laid in front of her. She wanted to explore more of this floor, last time she only went a little while outside the village. But that was because it was getting dark and she didn't wanted to risk going into unknown territory in the dark.

But now in broad daylight it was another matter, she could explore until she was satisfied. Who knew upon what kind of things she could stumble upon.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

As she was thinking that, a strange person with no name tag approached her. It was about the same height as her, it had a dark overcoat with a cowl, that prevented Ariel from noticing any other feature. When the dark figure noticed her it changed its path now intercepting her. Noticing its sudden change of path Ariel unconsciously put her hand on the hilt of her sword. While continuing observing the approaching figure, trying to distinguish his intentions or what type of weapon/equipment it had.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The figure didn't show any sign of altering it course even after Ariel entered a defensive stance. When it was a few meters in front of her it stopped and made a bow while saying in a clear crystalline girl's voice:

"There is no need for that now, I mean you no harm adventurer. I just want to have a little talk with you about possible earnings that could prove beneficial for both of us. Are you willing to listen to me? if not I apologize for taking your time and will continue on my way."  The figure raised its head starring Ariel in the eyes, expecting her response

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel listen to the mysterious figure's request and responded in a cautious voice, not letting go of her rapier's grip.

"well you sure know how to tempt a girl don't you? earnings you say..interesting..please elaborate, What are we talking about?" she decided to listen to her as she showed no ill intention. Ariel didn't sensed that she was lying about the earnings so, with her interest piqued she decided to at least listen to what she had to say. She thought for a second to extend her hand for a handshake, but seeing as the girl didn't introduced herself she decided to keep her distance.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The girl's eye narrowed, showing like she appeared to be grinning, under the mask she wore then replied:

"Its a simple proposition. I wander around challenging player to a duel 50/50 (until one has half hp) and if they manage to defeat me I give them as a prize the legendary sword "Excalibur" that has 4 empty enchantements swords, It's an unique item that can't be found in other places and could be modified into any type of weapon." Ariel's eye widened a bit "Is that even possible?" she thought.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"Can you show me this legendary sword? I'm having a hard time to believe you." said Ariel skeptical.

"I'm afraid I cannot, you see the sword appears only after you have defeated me. It will appear impaled in a stone brick and only you will be able to pull it out. I don't know how it works but that is what happens" said the girl casually.

"Okay then, if all I have to do is o beat you and see what happens" responded Ariel while unsheathing her sword and entering a taunting stance.

The dark clothed girl then made a few hand gestures and a duel invitation appeared in front of Ariel.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Duel stats:

<<The Gemini>>: 22/22 HP 

Has 4 dmg: 1 basic +2 OHR:J +1 Athletics

 

Skills:

One-handed Rapier: Journeyman (+2 DMG)

Athletics (+1 DMG +5 HP)

 

Ariel: 22/22 HP

 

Ariel's equipment:

Lion's Protection: +1ACC *Thorns

Thornless Rose:+1 DMG

Lion's Fangs: +1 EVA *Bleed

 

Skills:

One-handed Rapier: Journeyman (+2 DMG)

Athletics (+1 DMG +5 HP)

Ariel accepted and immediately dashed towards her. She didn't know what the girl was capable of and decided to go for a quick victory, as she got closer she could see a name suddenly appearing alongside a HP bar. The HP bar seemed as long as Ariel's and the name said <<Gemini>>. She was surprised for a second but focused on the hit. She aimed for the target's liver and executed her thrust with pinpoint precision, striking at the desired point.

 

She was expecting some sort of pained sound to be release from her opponent, but heard a evil laugh, <<Gemini>> started laughing once receiving the blow. Next it grabbed Ariel's rapier with her left hand and with the right brandished a rapier of her own, hidden beneath the black overcoat. Ariel tried to react but couldn't move her hand. The Gemini's rapier hit Ariel right in the belly.

 

ID: 7998  BD: 10(9+1acc) [natural BD: 9 *Bleed activated]  MD: 6(7-1eva)[natural MD: 7 *Thorns activated]

<<Gemini>>: 14/22 HP (takes 8 DMG: 1 basic + 1 weapon +3 skills + 1 crit + 2 thorns) [*Bleed 0/2]

      Ariel: 18/22 (takes 4 DMG)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The Gemini let go of the rapier after it struck Ariel for a second time. retrieving her blade Ariel now saw that that her opponent was starting to change its appearance. The dark overcoat started changing in blue army pattern top and short skirt. Ariel could not believe what she saw. Even the gemini's face started changing, the mask that covered her face started changing color and shape.

Ariel stood there, in a defensive pose as The gemini was changing its appearance....into her.

"What..What are you?" barely muttered Ariel.

"Me? HAHAHAHAHA you can consider me a white template, without personality. No that's not right, That is how you could've considered me before we started fighting. What am I now you ask? well that is quite simple" the gemini paused its speech, taking in a breath a air as it completed its transformation, then continuing with a grin:
"Now I am YOU! or better said I am the darkest part of your soul, the part that enjoys this death game. The part that is actually happy that you got trapped in here, being able to display your swordsmanship without holding back!! to truly show your strength, that is what I am now, and once I kill you I will take you name as well, completely replacing the present you! HAHAHAHAHAHA"

 

ID: 8002  BD: 3  MD: 7 (8-1eva)[natural MD: 8 *Thorns activated]

<<Gemini>>: 10/22 HP (takes 4 DMG: 2 *bleed + 2 thorns) [*Bleed 1/2]

      Ariel: 14/22 (takes 4 DMG)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel made a shocked face while listening the Gemini speech. She couldn't believe what she heard, that was what the darkest part of your soul looked like? I couldn't be...It's true that she may not feel so angry or furious about being stuck in this game like other players and maybe she enjoyed it a little, but that doesn't mean that she didn't want to get back IRL. To her family, she missed the,..even missed the training sessions with her father. "Calm down, she may speak the truth, but she is also exaggerating" said Kayla to herself, as if it was a prayer. She then steeled her resolve thinking: "Be it as it may, the only think you have to think of now is how to beat it ... and fast" WIth that her face expression changed, from shock/scarred to a confident one..might have been a smirk even, as she declared: "It may be as you say, but I won't allow you to take my place, I have a long journey ahead of me, aiming for the very top. I won't be swayed by your words." she entered a hostile, charging stance."Now prepare to die by my blade. "

And she charged towards the gemini with all force ignoring the pain from the previous blows she received. It may have been a part of her but Kayla wasn't ready to get up. as she entered its striking range the gemini wanted to parry Ariel's strike, but Ariel outmatches its speed by a second and struck the Gemini right in the heart. Its blade dropped on the floor and it let out a small laugh, but this one wasn't maniacal like the previous, it was a pure, childlike laugh. When Ariel turned her gaze towards the Gemini's face, it was gently smiling at her and barely muttered the next words:
"I'm sorry for lying to you, there is no legendary "Excalibur", but what you gained was even more precious than that. Accept your dark part like you did before, and you will awaken new powers you never imagined." with that the Gemini's frame shattered into millions of polygons and a pop-up message appeared in front of Ariel.

 

ID: 8012  BD: 10  MD: 5 (6-1eva) [natural MD: 6 *Thorns activated] LD:11 Gained: <<Concentration>> skill

<<Gemini>>: -1/22 HP DEAD (takes 11 DMG: 1 basic + 1 weapon +3 skills + 2 crit + 2 thorns +2 bleed) [*Bleed 2/2]

      Ariel: 14/22 (takes 0 DMG)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

 

Congratulations, you have defeated <<The Gemini>>!

You gained the skill <<Concentration>> that is.....

She closed the Window not reading the rest of the message, she wasn't in the mood. Things happened too many too quickly, For now she headed towards the Amazon village to refill her HP bar, she only lost less than half but couldn't risk any PKer or random field mob attacking her, in her current state of mind. On her way back she was extra cautious, oddly enough there were no mobs nearby her maybe the mobs were something like monkeys in the trees deep in the jungle. Once she passed the village's front entrance she let out a sigh of relief.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She then headed towards the closes tavern, she would've prefered a Inn or a fancy restaurant to keep her distracted. But it appeared that here the most 'advanced' building was the tavern, except for the player owned shops that were made from bricks and didn't fit with the jungle theme of the village. With that in mind she entered the closest tavern. Taking a sit at a random free table, when a waiter came to take her order she wanted a full menu course. She didn't need it all to fill her hp bar, a single plate would suffice. But she thought it would be a waste not to try the local cuisine since she's here. Her stomach made a small growl in agreement.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

After finishing her the desert she took her time to think about what just happened:

"Okay I came here to this floor and then exited the village through the northern exit, all was good until a random person wearing all black approached me with a business proposition." she stopped and took a look around her, she unconsciously started speaking to herself and attracted unwanted attention around her, she gave them a menacing glance then continued.

"In exchange for a 50/50 duel she told me I would gain some legendary item, what a fool I was accepting. Legendary items like "Excalibur" are inexistent, unless some blacksmith decides to name its item that way.But it will be a perfect Item with 3 enhancements slots, not 4 as she said. I should have declined at that moment.."She started biting her lower lip.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"But I didn't have anything to lose, it was supposed to be just a 50/50 duel, the first one that gets his HP at lower than half loses. It should stop the duel automaticly, and Gemini should have attacked me at the cost of becoming a orange player. But then again...that message popped up at the end...It was a duel congratulation message, but had a weird reward..usually its just some low xp but this time it was a new skill. Could The GM from the first day made that NPC so that it could pass normal protocols? What else did he make behind the company's back." Then she paused her thought process to have a sip from the nearby cup.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"Thinking about it won't help me now, the fact remains that we are all stuck in this game, even if we knew what that madman is thinking we couldn't stop him. Our only chance is to get to the 100th floor and beat the game." she calmed a bit and decided to lower her voice as she was attracting attention again. "Now about the Gemini..it said that is was a 'blank template' before we started talking, it's true that by appearance it had nothing out of the ordinary, quite the general figure and manner of speech. It was after we started fighting that it started.....transforming...imitating me...no imitating isn't right. It said it was me, the darkest part of my soul...but how can that be possible? can the Nerve Gear read one's soul?? That's impossible, it uses magnetic impulses to read brain waves and to cut off all 5 senses, feeding sensitory information directly to the brain. Reading the soul should be impossible since we don't know for sure if it even exist, not to mention where is located."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"Its no use thinking about the mechanics now, I'll just assume that the NerveGear can magically read the user's soul or that they have some extremely complex programing that predicts the users mentality using his speech and behaviour patterns. Now the next part I need clearing up is why did the Gemini said that it is the darkest part of my soul, I won't start lying to myself, denying that I don't have a dark part somewhere deep, but it was very specific it said ' the part that enjoys this death game'. What did the Gemini mean by that, am I some masochist that enjoys being punished like this? I don't think that's it..." she paused to take another sip, but her glass was empty. She poured herself another glass of wine then took a gulp.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

" No I think she was referring to my eagerness to dive into battle, my bloodlust...I admit that I will jump into a battle fairly easy, but that is a 'perk' that comes with the training I had, father always told me to aspire to be the strongest. To train every day so that a day where I can find somebody that outmatches me in skill doesn't come. I've meet many strong opponents but I've defeated them using my skills and reflexes that I trained every day. I don't accept my bloodlust as a bad thing, but I won't let it transform me into a beast. I will tame it keep it under control and reveal it only when the situation calls for. That too is the purpose of my training, not only to become strong and skilled, but to attain self control as well."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"But why am I thinking about these things anyway?" she shouted, this time a waitress came to her table saying:

"I'm sorry miss but I'll have to ask you to leave this establishment, we don't know and don't have a desire to find out why you are talking to yourself. But you are molesting our other clients"

Ariel made a smirk: "Fine, I've finished my meal ages ago and was waiting for the note." Then Ariel made some mental calculations and then pulled from her inventory the necessary amount of col for the full course meal. Then she place it on the table and left the tavern with a smile.

"Okay now there is no need to whine over spoiled milk..what happened, happened. Now I need to focus on becoming one of the front liners. And she started making her way towards the teleportation gate to go back to her shop and get a good night's rest. The sun had set for a while and her HUD clock showed 21:36 PM.

 

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Gold Gained: 400

 

SP Gained: 4 (1 for forum topic,  3 for quest reward)

 

Skill Gained: <<Concentration>>