//------------------------------// // Episode 6 - Bullbous Bow // Story: EQG: Sword Art Online - Aincrad // by Mindrop //------------------------------// Floor 2 December 9 The 11 of them were in the forefront village on Floor 2 of Aincrad, the Floating Castle. Around them were 30 or so others. It was a loose, disorganized group. Guilds were still not able to be created, so they were parties of friends or no parties at all. Agil was the only one Bladescape recognized by name. She had seen the others around. They were all the top players clearing Floor 2. But this was a Field Boss meeting in a small village on the map. Many of the clearers were not in the area. They were dealing with the other dungeons throughout the floor. Agil had informed them that there was a meeting to clear the Field Boss, the Bullbous Bow. The boss was the only obstacle blocking them from getting into the last village on the Second Floor. The village with the easiest access to the 2nd Floor Boss Labyrinth. Without defeating this boss, there was no way to get to the Third Floor. “I’m Lind-” “And my name is Kibaou! Got that new people?” “Anyway, I ran a scouting party of four against the Field Boss, Bullbous Bow. At 4 meters tall, its a four horned beast that will trample us to death. Its got simple attack patterns. We won’t need as many people to take it out as with a Floor Boss. Two parties of 6 should do. Heavy on the Tanks. Blue and Green parties. I’ll lead Blue, Kibaou will lead Green.” “Oh!” Diemond squeaked, her hand jumping up. Lind sighed. “Yes?” “I’ll make the squads matching cloth covers for your equipment to identify them.” “You won’t have time. By this evening, we will all be in that village. Its a simple enough boss and its early.” “Pffft,” Diemond blew with a wave. “It won’t take me long. BRB!” “Okay,” Lind said, shocked. “Back to the task at hand. We have a boss to beat. We need Tanks. Strong ones. This thing will send you flying if you fail. One of our Tanks did, and it almost killed him. All it does is charge, turn, charge, repeat. You won’t get much of a break. Backbreaker stepped forward. “I don’t even feel the beasts around here anymore y’all. You can count on me not to fail, partner.” “We need 3 more Tanks,” Lind stated. “Big shields, strong backs, strong minds. This thing is 4 meters tall.” Three others stepped forwards. “That’s 4 of the 12. 6 more. We won’t be able to use Forwards. Once the Tanks draw aggro, its in for the attacks on the flanks.” Agil stepped forward and so did the guy beside him; a scrawny kid dressing in a simple dark coat with the Anneal Blade slung over his back. The black matched his hair and his eyes. Bladescape recognized him by description alone. He was one of the ‘Beaters’ Bladescape had heard of. The best of the beta testers. Apparently there was a clear line between the beta testers and the elite beta testers. The noobs and the veterans. And the veterans didn’t share their knowledge, earning the label cheater and beta tester, simplified to beater. "You got mine,” Bladescape said. “Backbreaker and I have a fluid switch system going for the bulls. It should work for this.” “You three can join me in Blue,” Lind said. “Along with Backbreaker. Who else?” Alongside Blue and Green, there was going to be a reserve of three members from another informal guild. Once the parties were settled, they began to finalize the exact strategy and how the parties would work together. Right before they headed out Diemond came back. “I’m back!” She sang. “And I have colored throws for each of you. The green didn’t turn out right, but I’m still new and its matching.” Rarity tossed out the simple cotton cloths for the parties to slip over their various armors. Some were more thrilled than others. The blue came out perfectly; a nice royal blue. The green was something Bladescape knew Diemond was disgusted over, without needing to look at her. It was a moss green. Moss green wasn’t an approved fashionista color. The rest of the Wondercolts handed over their potions to Bladescape and Backbreaker, and the boss party headed out. They would need the potions. The rest of them were going to be waiting, ready to sprint to the next village. Bladescape and Backbreaker would be renting them rooms as soon as they got to the village. That was an advantage of them being in the boss raid. Bladescape was still using the Anneal Blade. She had unlocked two handed sword, but at the moment, no better swords had been available to her. She would be upgrading it soon enough. AFCK hadn’t upgraded her axe to a two-handed one either. The hike out to the field boss wasn’t too hard. They could see the field boss a ways out because of the terrain. It was huge. 4 meters tall didn’t describe it’s full breadth. It was wide and powerful, rippling with muscles. Not a lick of fat. A killing machine that was fitting for this ‘game.’ Suddenly Green Party roared and charged over the open ground. That wasn’t the agreed upon plan. Blue Party was forced to charge out blindly to be their backup. The jump had them disorganized and unable to work together. Bladescape had heard about the Last Attack Bonus, but as far as she could tell, it wasn’t worth it. Still, the two parties were essentially arguing over it. Instead of the back and fourth agreed upon, it was a chaotic scene where the boss would pound whomever was closer. Their other Tank in Blue Party wasn’t ready for the charge and got blasted back. He rolled several times. The Bullbous Bow continued it’s charge. Backbreaker leaped into action and dove into the path. She got her shield over both of them and blocked one of the four horns from destroying either of them. The Bullbous Bow turned, charged and tossed a Tank in Green Party. Backbreaker took action. “HERE BESSIE!” She called while banging her war hammer on her shield for noise. “COME HERE! OVER HERE!” It worked. “Great job drawing aggro, BB,” Bladescape praised. “Ready?” “Just like the others,” Backbreaker smiled. They got into position and Bladescape slipped behind Backbreaker, who was already braced for the impact. Bladescape would act as support in the initial hit and then jump out, striking the bull. Backbreaker took the hit full on, but it was a good thing Bladescape was there to steady her. As soon as the two of them had their horns locked together, Bladescape jumped out and triggered Vertical. It landed and Bladescape jumped backwards while the Bullbous Bow pulled away and chose another target to charge. Bladescape slipped behind Backbreaker. “Nice hit,” Backbreaker praised. “You scored a good one. You have time to safely get a two hit combo in if you move a bit faster.” “Thanks. Nice work with the shield.” Green Party was trying to hack the bull apart. They took too long. One of the Tanks got thrown and then it came charging back at them. Backbreaker took the blow perfectly and Bladescape let loose Vertical Arc. She stuck with the single combo for the moment. “GET!” Backbreaker yelled, breaking contact with the boss and striking with Collision. They reset and then Agil stacked up with them. “Hey, that worked well. Mind if I join in? This whole plan has gone to hell.” “Please do,” Bladescape smiled. “This can be done smoothly.” “This whole game is a mess, man. But we will get our act together as a whole soon enough.” “We can do this. You guys beat the 1st Floor Boss.” “We lost one doing it.” “Then let’s not lose one here!” Backbreaker halted the bull again. Bladescape jumped out to the right and Agil to the left. They both scored solid hits. “Nice,” Bladescape said to Agil as they hunkered down again. “I have been trying to switch to a Two-handed Sword. But nothing I have found has been better than this Anneal Blade.” “Well, I might be able to help you out in that regard. Once we get out of this mess.” The bull came back around to them and they struck again. “Have you fought a boss before?” Agil asked Bladescape. “No, this is our first one. At least of any real scale.” “Well, you never know what you might get, even without the Last Attack Bonus.” Things went smoothly again. However, this time the other Blue Tank got over to them, along with the Beater, and Lind. “Nice work,” Lind said. “At least you two are working together.” Bladescape nodded. “With four of us hitting at once, we can knock it down. We can maximize our damage. And if they do the same damage they did last time, we can probably finish it off. I don’t care about the Last Attack Bonus, let’s just get this over with. I’ll go right like last time, you guys can fight for it, just get your hits in.” The bull came back and charged. It rammed into them, the other Tank got knocked back. Bladescape jumped out and swung with another Vertical. Agil was right out behind her and they switched. His axed glowed and he drove it down, hard. The Beater and Lind had gone out left. Bladescape didn’t see who got the last hit because the Bullbous Bow was blocking her vision. All she knew is that it exploded in colorful polygons. Backbreaker fell forward as the resistance disappeared. Bladescape sat down hard, exhausted. If that was a Field Boss, how bad was a Floor Boss? However tough it would be, Bladescape knew she wasn’t going to be left out of the next one. The window popped up and Bladescape saw her reward. They were given a ton of XP and Col. Various items were dropped as well, including hide for leather. What caught Bladescape’s eye was the Two-Handed Sword. She immediately equipped it. The Anneal Blade disappeared from her back and she felt the big blade clunk onto her back, with only a slight tug backwards. “New sword,” Agil said with a nod. “Nice.” “Now I can upgrade to Two-Hands,” Bladescape grinned. “I’ve been waiting for way too long to use it.” “I think I got myself enough loot to open my own shop. Got to make money somehow.” “Its always good to know a shopkeeper,” Bladescape sighed, tired from the fight. “I’d rather sell to a shop that can make sure the gear gets to the players who need it, rather than get socked away in a deep corner of an NPC shop or worse, erased.” “True dat,” Agil said pulling Bladescape up to her feet. Bladescape pulled up Backbreaker. “What sword exactly did you get?” “Um,” Bladescape said drawing it. It was a simple blade. The design itself had four “horns” for the cross guard, and the pommel was definitely a hoof. It was flat in it’s color, a dull iron shade. Nothing else looked special about it. Agil tapped it and the appraisal window opened. “Its called Iron Splitter. It can hold 8 enhancements.” “That is a good substitute for the Anneal Blade,” Bladescape said, breathing a sigh of relief. “We haven’t gotten a Two-Handed sword, and we were not going to buy one until we had to. Nothing in the NPC swords were approved by out statistician.” “I can certainly understand that,” Agil said. “When I get my shop opened, come on by. I could use a good stock, and I will do my best to hook you up with quality gear for the best prices. Buy low, sell low is my motto.” “Buy low and sell low?” Bladescape asked, confused. “I love it,” Backbreaker said with exhausted enthusiasm. “Its a real honest motto. Making money shouldn’t come at the expense of others. Particularly in this game.” “Come on,” Bladescape said, sheathing the blade. “We have a village to get to and rooms to rent. Then its onto the Boss Labyrinth. I am not being left out of the 2nd Floor Boss Battle.” “We could certainly have used you two in the First Floor Boss Battle. You two have teamwork down to a T, and you have a selfless mindset. That will come in handy clearing this game. And there are more of you, right?” “Seven of us are friends in real life,” Bladescape explained. “We started here with a friend of one of our members, and then we picked up three more by accident. Or fate. A few levels lower than us, but we are working to even that out. They were lucky I was there to save them outside Tolbana.” “But, that’s kind of our thing,” Backbreaker added. “Saving people and making friends.” “You need friends in here,” Agil said. “Without friends, you won’t survive this nightmare.” It didn’t take long for the others to catch up. The 11 of them were immediately in a pub and crowded around a single table. It was time to celebrate. “To BB and Blade!” Thunderborne said, raising a glass. “They just got us a big step forward in this game!” “BB did the real work,” Bladescape said, slapping her on the back. “Without her we would have crumbled, and maybe lost a few players.” Cheers were raised. The fanfare was overshadowed by the knowledge that they were going to be clearing the Second Floor Boss Labyrinth in a few hours. Bladescape (SS): Lvl 11 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Agility Knightstar (TS): Lvl 11 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 11 – Rapier – Sprint – Agility – Armor Pierce Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 11 – Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor AFCK (PP): Lvl 11 – One-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense Diemond (R): Lvl 11 – Shield – Mace – Leather Working – Light Metal Armor Forging Doombunny (FS): Lvl 11 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search Astro (PS): Lvl 11 – Short Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics Kiefer: Lvl 8 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – One-Handed Weapon Creation Lessa: Lvl 8 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor Joltron: Lvl 8 – One handed Axe – Shield – Light Metal Armor