[F5-PP] <<Butcher of the Sands>> Will This be the Longest Title Ever? I Hope So. (Shizuka, Tristan, Zelrius, Manta, Ebony, Flints)

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka sighed. Indeed, she had accepted yet another quest on this dreary floor of dread. The sun was blaring as always and the floor literally reeked of heat. It was not the ideal situation for someone as pale Shizuka herself. With her pink cloak floating behind her, she was attracting much NPCs today... but today was too important for her to stop and talk with the NPCs... today was the day in which she would spend much time with other players... More players than she's ever quested before. Heck, it was even more players than she's ever been at once place with. Really. It was shameful that it would have to be done on a floor such as this. Honestly, Shizuka would not have even done this if she wasn't keen on obtaining much SPs and getting to know more people. Perhaps her confidence had risen such her entrance into the Azure Brigade or perhaps she'd just picked up the cocky and overconfident trait that Zelrius, the guild commandant possesses. Either way, she was rather annoyed of having to complete this quest. No matter, what has been accepted has been accepted. Shizuka thought. I'm surprised that Zelrius is willing to complete a quest with this many people. She realized. Perhaps the guild commandant really is opening up to the lower leveled players. 

Shizuka stood at the center of Armadillo, waiting for Zelrius to arrive so he can PM the rest of the members. She did not much of the people that she would be questing with, but soon, she would get to know them. Plus, she is a rather interactive, social person so making more friends wouldn't hurt. Of course, whenever she came to this floor, she would order a cold, iced drink from a random NPC and here she was, holding a cup of ice water that would calm the heat for her. And so, she stood in the middle of the city, patiently waiting for Zelrius and all the other people that she would quest with.

[Zelrius 0]

The Commandant appeared at the podium for Floor 5, covered in snow from fancy Dress shoe to perfectly golden hair, seemingly just coming from a little adventure had undertook with a low level the Avalanche quest. Within moments, the Snow disappeared and left little water marks where it had been, which had effectively kept Zelrius cooled and the temperature he was feeling at a similar low for but a few moments. It'd be nice to collect snow in a bottle or something, The boy thought as he made his way to the location that Shizuka was located on his map. Sifting through the Sands the boy came upon the pink haired support girl, right in the center of town. Giving a nice flap of his Cloak to announce his presence, Zelrius adjusted the two sheaths on either hip and used his nimble fingers to quickly fiddled with his azure colored bow tie. His fingers drifted from bowtie to the two Pendants around his neck, one a small circular gem object with the Azure Brigade Symbol embossed in it. The otehr was a rose-shaped with the Brigade symbol slightly popping out the center,  and the words Azure Brigade being scratched across it. All in all, the golden haired Commandant was very Azure Themed today, more particularly so than usual. He wore his signature gold and the Guild's own sky blue with extreme pride, more pride than he pretended to have in himself. Speaking of which, The boy thought as he approached Shizuka, his frown of thought instantly curving up to his mostly ever present arrogant curve. The creases in his brows relaxed, and just like that, Zelrius was egotistical again. 

"I still haven't figured out how the hell you got on my Friends List there, Lady Shizuka" He said, both in a conversation starter and as a way of inquiring about how exactly she managed to wiggle her way on there. "Aye, It's about time I shot the others a message. Given I am right in assuming you probably don't want to do a quest with just me," The last bit of his comment was half joking, half not. He had sent a simply invite to Ebony and Manta, telling them the details of the quest and what not. Then sending a message to Tristan with the same details, he added at the end "Bring your newest lady friend if you want, I don't care." With that, the boy sent a party invite to Shizuka and glanced back up to her, then off into the distance, to be lost in thought until it was time. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan walked into Floor 5, a floor he was very rarely on, to take on one of the few quests he had wanted to take anyway for a long time. It would be a multiperson raid too to aid them in their endeavour. With his shield on his back and all his armor on with the vanity spear, he took a deep breath and then walked to where the rest of the gang were meeting to get ready and take on Sando Satsu. He had to admit though, he laughed to how Zelrius called Flints his newest lady friend, which was amusing for sure. He wasn't really sure how to respond on that, since he didn't even know how Flints saw him, but he would take her along anyway as he promised to powerlevel with her so that they could become the strongest. Sure it wasn't pretty from a story perspective or alike, but this was an MMO where to become the strongest, you had to do what it takes to get there and he thinks he knew Flints got that.
"So, ready to murder it?" he said as he approached the group where they stood, waiting on the others.

[Flints 0]

Flints wondered around floor 5 a bit, a little lost. She had never been there, she had no interest in such a warm place. She hissed at the sweltering heat as if a mere sound could cause it to change. "What am I doing here..I don't know any of these people.. Except for Tristan." She thought to herself, despite her unwillingness to meet more people she didn't mind all too much, she needed this sort of experience under her belt if she was to become stronger. She glanced down at Antillian who happily flanked her, his heavy panting proved the heat was too much the both of them. She tugged at his horns and cooed him. "I'm glad to have at least two familiar faces in this crowd." She laughed. Once she neared the meeting place she relaxed a little, "at least I'm not the first one here." She quickly joined the 3 and smiled sweetly.. "Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" She said more to herself than them. She let out a small sigh, not quite sure what she was in for. 

[Ebony 0]

Ebony glanced over at Manta as they headed for the fifth floor. Apparently Manta knew Zelrius as well, which probably shouldn't have been such a big surprise as Manta was a very capable DPS. They were joining a group of players and heading out to complete a high level quest. No doubt it would be extraordinarily hard as there was going to be such a large gathering of players. She noted the worried expression on her friends face as they approached the group of players. "Don't worry Manta. Zelrius is a badass, and ive gotten a lot stronger lately. Nothing can go wrong." She said comfortingly just as they reached the other players. She immediately recognized Zelrius and Tristan, but had never met the other two. "Hello people! I'm Ebony." She introduced herself for the sake of the two strangers. "Best healer in the game at your service." She smirked, giving a little bow.

[Amira 0]

Manta walked alongside Ebony. They had just gotten back from fighting the sand shark boss, and were now heading to fight yet another one, this time with Tristan, Zelrius, and a few other players. She looked over at Ebony with a worried expression on her face. Ebony certainly had grown stronger lately, much stronger in fact. If Manta had to guess she would have said that Ebony had shot up eleven or twelve levels since they had started speed running quests. Still, Manta didn't think that she had the health required for this quest. From what she had gleaned about this boss, the hate system didn't work on it. It was a lottery system, meaning that the boss targeted randomly. She only hoped that Zelrius could kill it in one shot, if only to protect Ebony. "Be careful Ebony." She said, turning her head back to the group of players in front of her. She smiled as Ebony introduced herself in a friendly and polite manner, giving her name to the two strangers. Manta didn't know them, but one of them had a trinket in the Azure Brigade symbol, so they must be a fan (which she doubted) or one of her guildmates.

Manta facepalmed so hard that she left a glowing red handprint on her forehead as Ebony spontaneously introduced herself as the best healer. Granted, Manta didn't actually know a better one, but she didn't pay much attention to those things. She wondered if Ebony knew Zelrius and was looking up to him as some sort of role model. It would certainly explain the cocky behavior. She dropped her hand down to her side, the red mark on her forehead gradually fading away. "And i'm Manta. I'm not the best at anything." She said, her introduction contrasting greatly with Ebony's.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius grinned as he saw the Invincible Tank approach the pair in the center of Armadillo. It wasn't often that Zelrius spotted the Twinfire Tank here, and this was the one of the few special occasions. His arrogant grin coming in full fold when being spoken to. "Murder? That would mean it has rights to live. I prefer the term Slaughter. Usually, I'd go with butcher, but you can probably imagine the complications with that term in this particular circumstance." The boy's brows creased in slight thought. Often times Zelrius did this: He would focus on something rather small and unimportant and expand it in his mind to the point of monumental priority. Within a few moments, the creases relaxed as Zelrius had spotted Manta and Ebony come into view in the not so far distance. Once they had both arrived, Zelrius have a bow and stood straight back up. "Now that everyone is here, allow me to introduce myself to those who don't know who I am.  Zelrius, Commandant of the Azure Brigade, Champion of the Clash of Blades tournament. Sir Tristan here will be our primary Tank should anything go amiss. I will allow you Ladies," He said gesturing between Manta, Ebony and Shizuka "Get acquainted on your own. As for the other one," His blue eyes gazing only a moment at Flints then darted back to Tristan. "What's this one's name?" Zelrius asked, rather curious And how long will she last? His words whispered in his own mind.

It was Ebony's introduction and Manta's reaction to which that brought a chuckle to the golden haired Commandant. "Best healer in the game you say?" The boy gave a glance at Shizuka with a shrug. "Looks like Azure's support is being outdone then," His comment, directed at Shizuka was more of a challenge shrouded in a joke than anything else. Switching his focus back to the other pair, Zelrius almost laughed at Manta's own introduction. "Well, you seem to be quite apt at giving humble introductions," With that, Zelrius began to wander on out of Armadillo, clearly not really caring if they were done introducing eachother and what not. "Off we go then, let us make haste." Every step in the sand being silent, and his lead being tailed by the Cloak flowing behind him.

After a short walk from the Capital of the Fifth floor, they came upon the circle of spears that marked the Quest's location. Entering in, Zelrius waited for only a moment until there was the minimum required amount of people for the Boss to spawn. And Spawn he did. It only took a second, Zelrius drew both the blade of Michael and the Blade of Lucifer. Charging forth, he swung an uncountable amount of times. The butcher imploded in data crystals faster than it had spawned. Turning around, the boy's facial expression had changed, but only to a look of pure boredom. "There you go, I did my productive thing for the day. What do you say we all head back to town and relax a little?" 

ID 38185 BD 6 Hit

7 +4 fallen = 11+5 Charge = 16*27 = 432-20 Mitigation = 412 (Not going to super buff this time because it's pointless.) 

(If the HP is wrong, tell me and I will correct it.)

Zelrius 172/172
Tristan 140/140
Manta 80/80
Ebony 52/52
Flints 36/36
Shizuka 48/48

Butcher -62/350 He's dead Jim. 

Drop given to Flints:  (Cloak or Armor) of the Sands: +2 Mitigation, +1 Thorns

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan knew exactly Zelrius was doing over analysing, it was something was equally guilty of, getting a point and over expanding on it far too greatly. He chuckled and quirked an eyebrow, then let Zelrius give his introductions and the like, all correct to a sense. It also made him realise that he needed his own long list of titles to trump possibly, as he knew he had plenty feats to show off his own title list. Maybe, Tristan Delaney,Commandant of the Azure Brigade, Winner of the S&Z Tournament and considered best fighter of Aincrad and the Invincible Warrior. It just seemed a bit...long winded. Well, it was a work in progress to think about. He asked a question of a player identity, to who he said "Flints. Like you powerlevelled Shizuka, I'm helping Flints get through this too.". Tristan watched as Zelrius dashed off to attack the Butcher, confident in Zel's ability. True enough, they were ripped to shreds like Tristan assumed, with there only having been a small chance they missed (maybe if his swords got stuck in the sheath...). Tristan turned to Flints who said "Well that's a new weapon and a new armour for you." with a chuckle as Zelrius passed the armor to Flints. "So yes, let us go relax.".

[Flints 0]

Flints watched as Zelrius gave his introduction, he looked everyone over carefully and when his eyes stopped on her she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. She bristled a bit at the throught but didn't look away from his gaze, she wanted him to know that she was here for more than power leveling. She wanted to be great. Even if she had to work hard for it, so be it, as Tristan introduced her and she gave a little nod after he did, greatful for him to be the one to do it. Before anymore banter could be had Zelrius tore into their enemy and just like that their mission was complete. Flints looked away still a little stunned by how easy he made it look and idly fumbled with her Hoyas charm. Flints eyes widened at the armor they all agreed on giving to her, she accepted it quickly and looked back to Zelrius. "T-thanks" was all she could muster. Just as quickly as they had arrived the 6 were all ready to leave again. As if they had just stopped here for kicks, which now that she thought about it they basically did. 

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka had been in the background listening when she heard Ebony remarking herself as the best player in the game and immediately, Shizuka became rather surprised. Shizuka sighed before shaking her head in a fake surprised motion. "And what right do you have to call yourself the best support in the game? Surely, you would think that the best support would be in the fourteenth-floor boss fight right now eh? Well, let me inform you of someone that signed up for the boss fight. A level 17 support. What level are you to be making generalizations about yourself being the best support in the game? Surely you haven't met everyone in this game so far." Shizuka said, rather surprised that of the girl's cockiness and her quick assumption that she was the best healer in the game. Hm. What a skrub. She thought in her mind, remarked at the player. Indeed, Shizuka too was a healer, but never will she go around telling anyone, even the weakest player that she was the best healer in the game, when she clearly was not. With a grunt of frustration, she looked away from the pitiful girl's face, not even bothering to remember her name. She won't be of any importance. Soon, I shall become the greatest support in the game, surpassing the level 17 player. This bony girl won't even be a challenge. She thought with a dark smile.

Of course, she was fully confident that Zelrius would be able to one shot the boss and of course, she did not have to do any bit of healing or put in any type of effort and thus, Zelrius was able to defeat the mob with quite a bit of ease and indeed one of the girls had been awarded the armor, probably because she didn't have one, but she didn't care, she already had her Azure Brigaide cloak which she was very proud of having that as it did show her membership and dedication to the guild. With a sigh, she blew away some of the hair that had reached the front of her face. "I would indeed like some rest now... But would there really be a point, Mister Zelrius? Especially since all of us didn't do much... Including Mrs. Best Healer in the Game Here." She said, making sure to criticize the clueless girl before leaving.

[Ebony 0]

Ebony let out a surprised, yet friendly laugh. She liked the pink haired girl. She hadn't expected it, but she certainly wasn't shy. She didn't mind being criticized, and she'd continue to call herself the best until she met someone better. "Being a healer isn't just about skill, it's about attitude. A healer has to be confident so that they don't waver in battle. Us healers have the hardest job, emotionally speaking, in the game. We get to decide who to heal and who not to. It's an incredibly stressful decision." She explained her reasoning. What she said sounded good, but the truth was that she was just trying to emulate Zelrius's confident attitude so she could look as cool as he did.

Ebony watched as Zelrius literally tore the boss to shreds. She had expected nothing less of him. After all, he was the coolest and likely the strongest player in the game. Of course, she came a close second in coolness ranking. "I'm glad not to have to do anything." She called out to the pink haired girl as she turned to leave. Oh well. She could take her smarmy attitude somewhere else. Still, Ebony couldn't help feeling bad for causing the girl to leave. She hadn't realized that her comment could have that effect. Why did she feel so bad about that? Where was the ruthless attitude she used to have?

[Amira 0]

Manta shifted her feet away from Ebony as she got told off by the pink haired girl. She wasn't going to argue with Pink, but she wasn't going to defend Ebony either, as the girl was most likely correct. Zelrius blew the boss away, surprising Manta. She hadn't thought he was that strong. That was probably a bad assumption to have made, but at least her mistake had been remedied before anything came of it. He was completely over powered, about three times stronger than she'd estimated him to be.

She was most definitely impressed, and she showed it on her face. She could barely do a fraction of the damage he had done to that boss. Manta looked over at Ebony who was getting roasted by the pink haired girl. Once again, Pink's point was valid, so Manta couldn't argue. Manta gave Zelrius a nod and ran after the pink haired girl. "I'm really sorry for Ebony. She is a great healer, the best I've ever met. She see's Zelrius as a role model, and you know how Zelrius can be." She attempted to explain as she continued walking with the girl, hoping that she was getting through to her.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka had never been really good at remembering names. Even though she liked to remember the names that she's journeyed with, she was unable to remember the name of the person that was currently blocking her way to the town of Armadillo. Something like manga?  She thought, trying to think of the name and match the face along with the word. She was unsuccessful in remembrance and hence decided to just address her without a name. "Aw. I take no offense in her speech, or rather, the poor quality of it. She can believe what she wants to believe and I shall believe what I want to believe. I meant no harm when I criticized her on her simple thoughts of her being the best healer. Until she does become the best and is certain of it, she has no right to do so, I'm afraid. Plus, I apologize for being so straight forward as I do need to show gratitude for your making of my charm. It was a pleasure doing business with you and I hope to do more with you in the future. It matters not, however because I am feeling rather tired from all this bickering and pointless talking." Shizuka said with a big smile directed at both the white haired girl and the healer. "Uh. May I ask for your names, comrades? I'm sure we will meet in the future. We can even add each other to our friend lists... As long as you two aren't afraid of me player killing you two." Shizuka said with a show of confidence. If the other healer thought she was the best, Shizuka thought she was even better. Indeed, she knew that she was not the best healer because there was one clearly more skilled at the trait than she was, but that matters not at the moment. At this time, the evening had already bestowed upon the world and she was feeling quite hungry having not had lunch.  I could really use some nice, warm, spicy ramen at the moment. She thought, imagining herself savoring the taste of noodles in her mouth.

[Ebony 0]

(OOC: Who needs a posting order anyways. ;)  )

Ebony ignored the conversation between Manta and the rude girl for the most part, muttering 'Traitor', under her breath at Manta. The girl directed a smile at her and Manta, but it seemed a bit ambiguous, as though it could apply solely to Manta even though it seemed to be partly directed at her. She smiled back anyway, glad that she hadn't offended the girl too much. 

"I'm definately afraid of being killed by you. Most of my skills are in healing, so I'm pretty weak. I rely on my Sis here to keep me safe." She explained, continuing to smile. The girls speech from earlier hit home just then, leaving her with even more motivation to be the best. She would show the girl that she was the best, no matter what happened. "I'm Ebony Rose, named after the type of wood. Nice to meet you...?" She hadn't gotten the girls name before.

[Amira 0]

Manta let out a sigh of relief, happy that Ebony hadn't offended her. "That's a relief. And I'm Manta." She said, reaching her hand out in greeting, inwardly praying that the girl wouldn't give her away as a guild mate. Her friends didn't know she'd joined Azure Brigade just yet. She looked over at Ebony who had just called her Sis. "We aren't related by blood." She explained quickly before anyone could get confused. She brought up her HUD and sent the girl a friend request. "I'm a pretty average DPS player, and I'm also an alchemist. What about you?" She continued.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Manta Gaul

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius glanced between Tristan and Flints, and the three other ladies all seemingly off in their own world. "You're welcome, Lady Flints." The boy spoke in his ever so pleasant and aristocratic tone. The boy watched as the other ladies seemingly introduced, feud, then got along with eachother all in a matter of minutes. Why do I even try to understand them? He thought comically to himself as he watched the conversation unfold.   "Well, now that you're all acquainted, that settles that. I am going to head off to Floor Twelve and prepare for a boss fight later this evening. Lady Manta, Lady Shizuka and Commandant Tristan, I expect you all there on time." The boy turned around and was headed for the Teleport Podium. "If any of you need me, Just shoot a message my way. Vale." Zelrius bid them farewell in Latin, and just like that, he was gone to the boss fight.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan stared at the entire incident beside Flints, giving a quirk of an eyebrow in response. He didn't see any need to interject into this debate, but then he wasn't a fan of these kind of things in the first place in SAO. Tristan was never in the mood to argue superiority over others because he knew they were all vulnerable to the dangers the world of SAO had to offer. These nuggets aside from Zel probably didn't even ever experience the terror of the harder floor clearings that had occurred in the past that had claimed lives, an incident which always shakes one world and makes you view how to approach SAO on a vastly different scale. Tristan could only thing of his own way of solving this diplomatically, which was from a team standpoint with "I'll be entirely honest here, from a frontlining point of view there is no need for a "best" support like no best tank. I'd be more concerned that we actually complete this death game with as few deaths as possible by working together on the matter.".

[Amira 0]

Manta looked over at Tristan, who appeared to be the voice of reason in the argument. He was a bit late though, as they had all already made up. His point was valid though, the front lines needed all of the people it could get, and supports were especially helpful with their healing abilities. On the front line being the best didn't really matter, it was all about working as a team. "That's definitely true Tristan. I've never been in a boss fight, but im pretty sure that it's all about teamwork." She nodded to Zelrius again, hoping that Ebony hadn't heard what he'd said. She needed to know if she was prepared for the frontlines before talking to her friends about it. She wasn't confident in her abilities, and was afraid of dying in her first boss raid. She felt unprepared more than anything.

[Flints 0]

Flints looked on at the now over commotion and scoffed. thinking to herself "support is a meaningless thing to fight about. It's not that great of a title..but to each their own." She looked up at Tristan and his wise words, he was right. In the end none of this mattered. The point wasn't to be the best anymore, it was to survive. She gave an exasperated sigh to show her disapproval in the girls small spat. She quickly remembered why she preferred not to have female friends, passive aggressive shows were something she couldn't stomach. She hoped this would be over soon, she was getting tired of the banter between everyone but at the same time couldn't find the power to care.  "Well now that all that's over, I guess we can all go our separate ways." She glanced over to Tristan and gave a little thought to what he said. "The problem is finding people who are at least willing enough to work with eachother. A lot of the time egos get in the way, and makes things..interesting. But I'm sure all will be fine. Just as I'm sure there will always be more support players." She waved in the air nonchalantly. 

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka sighed in tiredness. Zelrius had already left and it was a part for her to depart as well. By now, it was already evening and the time was definitely right for her to depart and go to her shop where she would attempt some crafts. She opened up her menu and of course, sent the friend requests to both Ebony and Manta Gaul but only out of politeness. She still resented the fact that Ebony had been so cocky that she was the best healer in the game. Next time, watch what you say and think about it before hand. She thought with a thought of resentment. After sending out the friend requests, Shizuka walked back and with a wave in which she didn't even turn around for, she said, "I guess we shall meet once again sometime. Hope you all have a nice rest of your day." Shizuka said, rather tired and she knew that she would need much rest to ensure that she had enough energy before the boss fight. The sky was becoming dark, it was almost night, but it mattered not. She had time to travel all the way back to the first floor in order to reach her shop and finish up some crafts before sleeping early. Shizuka looked forward to the rest after a long day out here. Even though, she wasn't involved in any combat, the verbal conflict had indeed been exhausting to say the least. Plus, the fifth floor was not the greatest place to stay in for a long period of time because of how burning and direct the heat is. Shizuka smiled before going to the teleportation gate. With a word, she was teleported with a big flash of light. Tomorrow will be a new adventure... An adventure in which I become stronger and better.