PP - F1 Encounter with An Eagle (Kurou) (Complete)

[Calrex 0]

"Alright...where to go now?"

 

After returning from the fields clad in his Grand Chariot armor Calrex gave a sigh as he swiped on his menu, switching back to his casual combat clothing as he ruffled his blue bangs. As he passed by the fountain that served as a kind of marker for the gate he looked around the Starting City once again.

 

"Of all the floors so far it seems like I've been frequenting this, the second, and fourth floors a lot more often. I don't think I've even visited one or two of the ten we've unlocked. I might need to remedy that at some point. For now I guess I'll just go grab a quick coffee at the Starlight Cafe, maybe drop into the Grand Forge to say to Oikawa before making my way back to Teayre."

 

As the thought of Teayre came across his mind he felt a smile creep up over his face before switching to a worrying frown, then back to normal, "I hope she's doing alright...The last few times she hasn't really seemed back to her old self, especially after Beleram's demise. Maybe I'll bring her something from the cafe to help cheer her up. She liked strawberry sundaes right?"

 

With that he started walking along in the direction of the cafe. As he did he noticed a lot of new players wandering around, casually glancing at the various groups, "Why does it feel like there's more players now than when I first started? I guess more are starting to try adventuring now?"

[Kurou 0]

As Kurou strolled thought the streets of the starting city, he casually glanced over the wears of many of the NPC vendors that lined the streets. "I know I need some new gear, but none of this seems up to par." Just as he had finished that thought however, he noticed a high level player clad in some type of amazing blue armor. "Wow!..... Now that's what I need!" he exclaimed. Wanting to walk up to him and ask him about his gear, it took all his will power to hold himself back. "You have no idea what type of person he is" He thought  "Just because he isn't an orange player doesn't mean he came by that equipment honestly."

 

Unsure of what to do in this situation, Kurou thought about just leaving well enough alone and continuing on with his business. "Its not often though that you see such strong players in the starting city, this could be a good opportunity to get advice." He thought to himself,  as he tried to weigh the options of his situation. Knowing that he didn't have much time to decide as the player was already moving away from him. Kurou decided that he would follow him for a little bit and see what he does. If he seemed like a good player, Kurou would then approach him and ask for advice. If he seemed like the type of player that would just blow off someone asking for help, then Kurou would just return to his shopping, and if he seemed like a bad player...... well then Kurou would add him to his list for later.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex looked over as he saw the Starlight Cafe coming into view, a small smile coming across his face before returning to his usual calm demeanor, "Alright, I'll try and make this quick."

 

With that he went inside, approaching the counter as he placed a take out order with the waiter, who promptly nodded and accepted his payment before going to the back, coming back with the order. Calrex nodded in thanks as he made a few swipes on his menu, adding his gift to Teayre to his inventory before taking a seat at a nearby window. "Hm?""

 

He gave a calming breath as he let his <<Reveal>> skill activate as he looked through the wall of the cafe out into the street. There was a fairly new player there, who seemed to be possibly following him. With that he let his skill deactivate as he gave a sigh, "Well if he's following me I'll know when I exit this buiding."

 

With that he ordered an iced mocha, placing his head on his hands, his elbows resting on the edge of the table.

[Kurou 0]

Only after he had already been following the player for a few minutes did Kurou realize that he had no idea what he was looking for. "Surely I'm not going to catch this player acting like a bad guy in "a public place... am I?" he thought to himself. "Of course not, what's he going to do? Shake down new players for there lunch money?" He said answering his own question out loud. Kurou knew about the rules of the safe-zone, so he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to catch the player doing wrong around here. On the same note however, Kurou began to wonder why he was so focused on thinking this player was a bad guy. Sure it was a little unusually to see such a powerful player around this area, but simply being here didn't mean anything one way or the other and Kurou knew that.

 

"Agh, I should just introduce myself"  He though as he walked into the cafe he had followed the player too. Seeing the player sitting alone at the table, Kurou decided that he would go ahead and introduce himself. Approach the player, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Hey there, The name is Kurou and I couldn't help but notice that you look like a player with some experience under your belt. Would you mind if I ask you some questions?"

[Calrex 0]

"Hey there, The name is Kurou and I couldn't help but notice that you look like a player with some experience under your belt. Would you mind if I ask you some questions?"

 

"Hm?"

 

Calrex looked over as the person he had suspected of following him entered the cafe and walked over, asking if he could ask him some questions. At about the same time the waiter delivered Calrex's iced mocha, with Calrex giving a nod of thanks. He took a quick sip before looking over at the man who had introduced himself as Kurou, "Ok, well first of all nice to meet you Kurou, I'm Calrex. As for your questions if you have any concerning getting around here I'd be happy to lend a hand. What was it you wanted to ask?"

[Kurou 0]

Happy that the player who had introduced himself as Calrex didn't blow him off. It helped reassure him that this player was most likely not a bad guy. "Well for starters I couldn't help but notice the gear you were wearing when you rolled into town. I happen to be a blacksmith myself and was wondering where you got such awesome gear. Did you get it from a boss drop or was it made by another player? "  Pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts he decided that he would also ask what such a strong player was doing around here. "Also, if you don't mind me asking what is such a high level player like yourself doing on the first floor?"

[Calrex 0]

Calrex nodded as Kurou asked his questions, motioning for him to seat if he would like, taking another sip of his iced mocha, "Well my gear I actually had made by another player by the name of Oikawa. He runs the Grand Forge on this floor. As for what I'm doing here, well, I'm just kind of wandering around. Even though this is the beginning floor, since I'm high enough level I can actually easily wander around and only attract the stronger monsters respective to my stats."

 

With that he took a gulp of his drink, feeling the cooling liquid rush down his throat as he set the drink down again, "If you needed I could introduce you to Oikawa at some point. He's supposedly one of the top blacksmiths at the moment, so I'm sure he could give you a couple of tips if you're just starting out."

[Kurou 0]

"I see" Kurou replied to Calrex's answers. "I just figured since you seem like such a strong player that you would be on the front lines." Watching as the player sipped on his drink, Kurou suddenly became thirsty himself. Opening up his menu he quickly tabbed over to his inventory and selected a water. Now a little more relaxed with the conversation, Kurou slumped a little bit in his chair and took a drink of his water. "If I'm not mistaken the floor 10 boss fight is going on right now. If you don't mind me asking why are you not participating?"

[Calrex 0]

"Oh the floor raid going on right now? Well, I actually wasn't up to par in level when they were doing the signups for it, so I was ineligible. Hopefully now I should be able to help out in the following ones though."

 

With another sip Calrex's mocha sank down to about a third of the total glass as he laid back in his chair, "In any case how has SAO been for you so far? Well, threat of death aside of course."

 

As Kurou took a sip of his water Calrex did a quick scan around the cafe casually before turning to take another sip of his drink.

[Kurou 0]

"Ah... so they wouldn't let you come at the time." With all the information he'd gathered so far Kurou was pretty sure that this player was a good guy. "I'm just happy I don't have to add you to my list." he mumbled under his breath.

 

"Hmm" Kurou paused for a moment before answering his question. "Well it's been a bit slow going for me as you can tell. I've spent a lot of my time trying to provide assistance to other players. Just recently have I decided to train hard, my end goal to make it onto the front lines."

 

Just as Kurou was about to redirect the question back at him, he noticed a gleam around Calrex's neck. Taking a closer look, it appeared the player had some sort of crazy trinket. "Woah! Is that an ocean around your neck? What is the name of that item?"  he asked.

[Calrex 0]

"I see, well that's good to hear. The frontlines can always use more people, since that would result in lower chances of dying right?"

 

As Kurou inquired about the Ocean's Defense Calrex gave a smile as he held the small glass ball in his hand, "This, heh, well the name of the item is the Ocean's Defense. It was crafted by my masterful artisan of a fiancee. She runs a shop on the fourth floor in the Snowfrost Town main settlement. There's another player here on this floor, if you're ever looking for armor and weaponry, by the name of Oikawa. He runs the Grand Forge, which is one of the various blacksmith shops in Aincrad."

 

With that Calrex drunk some more of his chocolately iced coffee drink.

[Kurou 0]

As Kurou sat there soaking in the silence, he debated with himself if he should make any inquires to help further his project. Deciding that he could always withhold or divulge as much information as needed, he spoke up.  "Thanks for all the advice, you really seem to know a lot of people!"  He said while beginning to scratch the back of his head. "But.. ugh.. I don't suppose you know one in particular? She's an orange player with pink hair, supposedly extremely high level? 

 

As Kurou waited for his reply, he began to get a bit anxious. What if this turns out badly? he thought to himself. Taking another drink of his water at-least he was reassured that nothing bad could happen to him within the safe zone.

[Calrex 0]

"Hm...an orange player with pink hair. You must be referring to Mari. Yeah, it seems her reputation has gotten far ahead of her. I actually run an unofficial profession of gathering materials for shops, and she's actually one of my regular clients."

 

Upon hearing Kurou make mention of Mari Calrex finished the rest of his drink before responding. "She's certainly getting a lot of attention from the lower level players recently hasn't she? Ever since whatever happened with Xanatos and the others it seems like things have only gotten worse for her. Hope that things take a turn for the better later on with her. I'd hate to be forced to an unwanted situation."

 

"She actually runs one of the most popular alchemist shops on the tenth floor, the Alchemic Contagion. Overall she's a decent person and if extremely helpful on the frontlines from what I can tell, but I can probably assume that at times the situation gets the better of her judgement. Of course I don't want to make light of the kill count she's racked up, but compared to some of the other players I've heard about I'd prefer her over having to encounter them."

[Kurou 0]

Woah Kurou thought to himself How can this guy say a murderer isn't that bad. Taking another drink of his water, Kurou gave it some serious thought and in the end decided it must be like war. After being trapped in a death game for so long, it's feasible to believe that people would become desensitized to the violence. 

 

"To hear you say that kinda surprises me, from what I understand she would kill someone just out of annoyance. Not only that but she uses her power as leverage over weaker players." Kurou took another drink of water to give him time to think if he wanted to continue this conversation. "It's my goal to stop players like that. In real life if you were confronted by a murder who told you they had no problem with continuing to kill people, you wouldn't be ok with that, but for some reason here in the game everyone just accepts it."

 

Letting out a small sigh, he wondered if he had said to much. After all the player had admitted to knowing the pink haired woman who had become #1 on his list of players to stop. Picking up his water to take another drink, he was surprised when the container was empty.

[Calrex 0]

"Yeah, I can see where you're coming from in that aspect. Honestly if this were the real world I probably wouldn't be thinking the way I do, but unfortunately even if everyone were to rally and try to confront her, the number of losses would likely not justify it. Mari right now is one of, it not the strongest player in Aincrad. The only person that is close to matching her in strength is a boy by the name of Zelrius. But trust me when I say that killing another person, whether here or outside, for any reason other than self-defense is unjustified. I'm not going to honestly admit that under the right conditions that I wouldn't take up a sword to protect the people I care about, even if it means striking down the offender."

 

Calrex gave a sigh as he gathered his thoughts before continuing to speak, "I can't think of a reasonable answer for you, because I personally only know Mari as a client. If it's any kind of redeeming factor she's not gone full PKer and solely attacking players. She still participates in the floor raids, and is actually one of the players participating in the one currently taking place. I personally haven't been on the frontlines yet, but I do know some people that have...it's not ideal. Their numbers have significantly dwindled from the past, so right now they're taking all they can get."

 

With that the waiter came and retrieved Calrex's empty drink, "In any case I'm relieved to see that you think that way. From what I've seen a couple of times there have been a few lower level players that are already orange crystals. It's worrisome, because it makes me wonder if they are actually using their brains or not. PKing in here is not like PKing in some harmless MMO."

[Kurou 0]

Kurou listened to what the player had to say and found himself agreeing with most of it. "What you're saying is something that I've been struggling with myself as well. Like I said before it's my goal to stop players like Mari and the other person you mentioned from doing bad things. That being said I don't know if I could bring myself to kill if that's what it came to. My hope is to one day become so strong that no other player wants to fight me, then I can stop other players from fight each other." Hearing himself say it out loud he knew it sounded a bit foolish, after all the game would probably be cleared before he got strong enough were a player like Mari would fear him.

 

"So anyway, who's this other player you mentioned.... Zelrius was it?

[Calrex 0]

"Heh, you'd be surprised. I wish for something similar. I don't consider myself a good person, but in this situation I'd really prefer to have everyone working together to get out of here than being at each other's throats."

 

"Being feared so that people would together...why does that sound like something I've seen series of before? Like becoming the embodiment of evil so that people would rally together against you...hm..."

 

As Kurou inquired about Zelrius Calrex nodded as he answered, "Zelrius goes by the title of The Blood Buccaneer. Whether he came up with that or other people did I don't know. But in terms of level he is second from the top. However, he is a fearsome opponent and a former high-ranking member of the now disbanded Azure Brigade. The Brigade was well known throughout Aincrad as one of the top guilds, housing some of the highest level players. Zelrius was the top of them, to put it in perspective. From what I know he disappeared for a while, at least during the time I was a member, but recently he's come back under the radar."

[Kurou 0]

"The Blood Buccaneer"  he thought to himself Now that seems like a true bad guy name, maybe he should be moved to the top of my list. Taking a look around the area, Kurou was unsure of what to say next. When he had originally approached the player it was to get some basic advice and learn a little bit about him. Since then he had ended up divulging some personal information, more so then he prolly would of liked.

 

"So you mentioned that you were in a guild, why did you end up leaving? Are you a member of a guild now? Turning the attention back on Calrex, Kurou new that there was still a lot of information he could gather from talking to the player and he had better take advantage of it while he had the opportunity. "Actually since we are on the subject, would you mind filling me in on the guild scene in Aincrad, who are the major guilds?

[Calrex 0]

"Well, my reason for leaving wasn't under my control actually, heh. Like I said the Azure Brigade was disbanded, but that was because they for one reason or another decided to expel everyone within the guild save the council members. As for now, I'm currently a council member of Absolute Pin, which was founded by a player named Ariel."

 

When Kurou asked of the current situation with the guild Calrex took a pause to gather his thoughts as he recalled the guilds currently in operation, and the slow of formerly active guilds that suddenly went quiet, "As of right now there's really only two active guilds at the moment, Absolute Pin, and Cerulean Silence. All of the other guilds that were recently active have suddenly gone quiet for one reason or another. I don't really know what happened on that point. Of course there are still many players that have decided to remain solo players and have gotten by perfectly fine as well."

[Kurou 0]

"Interesting... so there's not many active guilds at the moment. You would think that being trapped in a death game would make people want to group up." Although Kurou had been involved in some smaller parties, he had decided to try and stay away from forming permanent bonds with people in the game. If he was going to follow through with his plan of trying to become strong enough to put an end to the bad players in the game. He didn't want to put other players in danger by becoming close to him. Focusing his attention back on Calrex, he noticed that the player had finished his beverage. 

 

'Well do you have any last advice for a new player? I don't want to keep you from any other business you might have. Stretching his arms high into the air, he a quick yawn as he tried to determine what time it was by looking at the sun. I wonder how long we have been talking he thought to himself.