Floor 50
January 10 – Year 2
The Holidays had slowed things down quite a bit. Players had been celebrating this time, and resting up. Most of the time spent fighting had been in the fields, hunting and leveling up. The Flag Mob had been a big focus as well, but plenty of players also had been preparing for the the first real holiday season since they had been trapped here.
The first technical holiday season had not been celebrated by many. They had just beaten the 4th Floor’s field boss and then a few days later, took down the 4th Floor Boss. Back then they had barely gotten anywhere and despair was still rampant. Now, the players had fallen into a routine and a new life in virtual reality. Some were more fulfilling than others. Plenty of players were still frozen in terror in the Town of Beginnings and not making anything of their lives, but for the most part, the rest had made good lives for themselves. Many were forgetting about the "Real world" and not even thinking of the people they were separated from, or the jobs, schools, and plans they had made before being trapped in Sword Art Online. You could have a fulfilling life in Aincrad, so most did.
Their total numbers had dwindled down to an estimated 7000 players, but the the front line still saw a good number of players. Outwards of a thousand where chipping away at it. Very few were capable of fighting a Floor Boss, but they all were essential.
There were plenty of days where Bladescape didn't even think about either worlds, the two legged or the four hoofed worlds. It was just another world she had gone to through another portal. Another reality where she was a warrior, fighting for the freedom of the people against a tyrannical overload whose castle was far above them. All she wanted to do was fight. An enjoyable life to her was combat and the rush it gave her. The others had their own ideas about an enjoyable life, in between the combat, but still, they all knew the stakes. The biggest one being that if they quit, they were letting down thousands of players who could not take their place and been forced to find some meaning in this world.
Bladescape was with Doombunny, Backbreaker, Astro, Lessa, and Kiefer, raiding Floor 50’s Boss Labyrinth. Most of the time, Doombunny had been with Backbreaker and Bladescape. Since Bladescape and Backbreaker were always in a party, she could easily stay with two of the Wondercolts’ leaders. Doombunny had stayed with a leader in a party at all times. Even in their headquarters, she was always partied up with two others. It was a bit of a hassle, but it was working and better safe than sorry.
Doombunny was still as strong as ever on the front lines, and on this Floor, the creatures were not animals or humanoid. They were dealing with slime creatures. They were a giant pain to kill, but Doombunny excelled against them. Slime creatures were susceptible to slices, and Doombunny had no reservations about killing them.
They were deep in the Labyrinth, mapping it out slowly. They were slightly separated from the other party. Which was not unusual. Bladescape’s Search skill picked up a group of players coming, from around the corner. Max Search was beyond useful. Nothing could get close to her without her knowing and she kept unlocking new ways to apply it, known as “Out of System Skills.” One of those was to fine tune her Search skill in combat to allow her to predict the monster’s next attack. She was still getting used to it.
They waited, ready to defend themselves if they had to. As luck would have it, Yamata and his usual party came around the corner. His eyes narrowed as he saw Doombunny and his hand slipped to his sword’s hilt.
“What’s got you going back?” Bladescape asked.
“The Boss Chamber,” Yamata grinned. “That’s all the mapping data you are getting free.”
Mapping any dungeon was difficult, time consuming, and dangerous as the first spawns were cleared out. Maps were sold for Col, lots of Col. Some guilds sold it for less than others. The Wondercolts kept the sale price low, or none if they knew they were releasing it late. The Beater often released it for nothing, if he mapped it fast enough.
“Let’s pack it up,” Bladescape said. There was no reason to not believe Yamata. “The Boss Strategy meeting will be in the morning. We need to find the others first.”
The DDA party hadn’t moved. They were not going to move, yet. Yamata wasn’t going to put his back to Doombunny. Another DDA squad came around the corner as Bladescape moved them out. She wasn’t going to put any extra pressure on the situation.
Things had heated up since the First of the year. Doombunny wasn’t the only one under a watchful eye from the DDA and few other guilds. The KOB was not obvious if they were even watching any players. It was annoying and frustrating, but somewhat understandable. The rule of never letting another player’s HP hit zero was broken and it had cut every player deep.
They finally found the others, surrounded and in a pinch. They were not in deep trouble yet. Still, the backup was very appreciated. Level 50 was brutal. It was exponentially more brutal than Floor 49, just like 25 had been much harder. Which meant Floor 75 was already unthinkable and Floor 100, they would get there when they had to.
“Boss Chamber was found,” Bladescape explained. “This floor has been brutal. Let’s pack it in.”
“We don’t need to waste crystals and potions,” Knightstar said. “We are going to need them in the boss battle.”
It was a long hike out of the Labyrinth. They had been forced to teleport out 3 of the past 5 days. Each member had a few crystals on hand, and they were certainly more plentiful than they were at Floor 25, but old habits die hard. Plus, the game could take a turn and offer less crystals later on.
The meeting in the morning went smoothly. They would be waiting a whole extra day before they hit the boss room, allowing every raider to be well rested and fully geared up. It would be a departure of 9am, to give them time to make it to the boss room and then plenty of time to clear the boss. It was going to be a long fight.
Besides Backbreaker, Joltron, Diemond, Astro, and AFCK would be joining them. It was a six armed, metal statue of Buddha. Metal was always a difficult type of enemy, and no type of weapon or attack gave one advantage over another. Crushing blows were typically better, but those weapons also were some of the slowest in the game. Poison was also useless.
Except for Doombunny, who stayed with Bladescape, the rest of the guild fragmented into solo members and began to hunt towns for healing crystals. They stayed in the safe zones and only in cities with teleport plazas. The other guilds were also out buying as many as they could. Mid level players were auctioning off their stashes for high prices, well above the normal going rate. Some even became too greedy and lost the sale.
It was a sober morning. AFCK didn’t even make breakfast. She was to focused on the upcoming fight to think about cooking. However, they were Wondercolts. They were going to clear this game, or at least be a major player in clearing it. From Floor 1 all the way to Floor 100. There was no backing down, even as horrible as the upcoming battle looked.
A round of hugs happened and the raid party walked out. They were Squad B in this raid. The plan was for the Wondercolts to soak up the bulk of the damage, which is why the KOB gave them the designation as Squad B. They wanted the Iron Bulwark out front. She wasn’t invincible, but her shield had proven to be stronger than she was. It was a staple in every boss raid.
As they were walking out to the chamber, Backbreaker slid up to Bladescape.
“I bet this is going to be a doozy of an LAB. You ready to get it?”
“I’m not concerned about the LAB,” Bladescape replied. “That actually is the last thing on my mind. However, I am certain that the LAB is something that could be taken to the end of the game. If I get it, I get it. If not, well this boss is the next real block to get out of here. When this game is over, it means shit except that we survived.”
The raid party reached the Boss Chamber after a good hike. They set up their initial entry and proceeded in with caution. The golden Buddha statue sat against the far wall, making Bladescape feel like they were entering a hallowed temple. An old one at that, as the golden thing was easily 15 meters tall, sitting cross legged on its pedestal. It was so peaceful for being the Floor 50 Boss. Too peaceful.
The press in was slow and steady. They were not trying to be quiet, but they were not yelling. The Wondercolts were on the right flank as planned. The chamber was big, which was even more frightening.
Metal groaned as an arm moved. It reached low, behind the short pedestal. The arm came back up with a sword. It snapped to life and whipped the sword at a speed Bladescape could barely track. She dove out of the way like the rest of the raid party on the right flank. It was stopped by Backbreaker, but it threw her across the room where she slammed into the wall.
The room froze as Backbreaker stood up. The wall was cracked and impressed behind her. She went full cowgirl in her shock. “Hoo, Doggies. She puts down a mighty powerful buck that gal. Tossed me like a hay bale. I took a good chunk of damage from getten slammed into that there wall. This is going to be one hell of shindig. If you are a greenhorn, you better rethink things before you end up in the bone orchard.
“Now, lets wind up and go home!"
“Oh dear,” Diemond said, worried. “She went full cowgirl.”
“She will shake it off,” Bladescape said. “Right?”
“Sure!” AFCK said, bouncing up onto one leg. “It’s AJ. Wait! That is AJ, right?”
Diemond sighed. “And we lost Pinkie.”
“Did we ever have her?” Bladescape shot back.
“Good point.”
“Alright,” Bladescape said, trying to get back to the matter at hand. “It looks like it's proximity triggered.”
“I wish I had a lasso,” Backbreaker said as she got to them.
Bladescape glanced at the corner of her vision to see their party’s health bars. She had a solid tenth of her HP taken off. It probably gave her a very hard reality check. Backbreaker had more health than any of the Wondercolts because she was a Tank.
“Ready?” Bladescape asked her. “Like, are you really ready?”
“Uh,” Backbreaker hesitated. “Do I have an option? I know I don’t y’all. I’m on my feet and I’ll be fine in a moment.”
“Drink a potion,” Bladescape said, slapping Backbreaker on the shoulder for support.
Heathcliff was looking at the statue, trying to figure out what their next best choice was. They had to be careful. This statue was ready to bash them to polygons, but they had no choice by to move forward.
“We are ready,” Bladescape called out to Commander Heathcliff. “Your right flank is solid again.”
“Then I suggest we spread out our tanks and rush this thing.”
They moved forward to battle once again. The arm was fast and furious. As soon as they knocked a health bar off, a second arm grabbed a mace from behind it and they began to face two flailing limbs.
There was no avoiding severe damage as the minutes wore on. At one point, out of pure desperation, Commander Heathcliff stood alone against the boss, holding it off for several minutes while the rest of the party regrouped and restored their health. They got thirsty in virtual battle, just like in the real world.
Bladescape was thrown once again by the impact of the mace. She was laying on the ground, groaning. Her HP was deep in the red. It all hurt. The rest of the Wondercolts were all in the red and yellow, scattered about the area.
Bladescape grabbed a red crystal from her pouch. It slipped out of her hand and she tried to push up to get it, but the energy just wasn’t there. She had been knocked down far into the red at least dozen times in this raid. Each one was closer to the end than the last. She had 237 HP left, which was less HP than she started with at Level 1.
“HEAL!”
Bladescape instantly felt better and scrambled to pull herself up. She still was lacking energy, but she had health again and hope once more. She was looking at the Beater. He had grabbed her crystal as used it on her.
“Thanks,” Bladescape said, flashing a smile.
The Beater didn’t pay her anymore attention. He looked at the statue. It was on its two legs, and all six limbs were deployed with various weapons. The last little bit of HP had it in it’s final, rampaging stage. Her party still hadn’t recovered, but if he was going to rush it, he would need back up.
“Hey!” Bladescape yelled. “I’ll get Backbreaker on her feet and then I’ll go first. Switch and finish the hellish nightmare we are calling a fight!”
He nodded as Bladescape dashed to Backbreaker and used a crystal on her. She didn’t stop to help her up. Bladescape just healed her as she skidded past her and then ran towards the flailing boss. The Beater was right behind her. Bladescape roared and unleashed the best she had, Volcanic Eruption. A ten hit combo that was meant to split the target with multiple low to high cross cuts. Left, right, then left and back to right. All the way to the top.
The Black Swordsman switched in while Bladescape took the deadly movement penalty. If Kirito didn’t destroy the statue, it was probably over for her. She could only see a part of the heavy hitting combo he unleashed.
Bladescape’s heart stopped as polygons shredded the entire boss chamber, but it wasn’t the Black Swordsman’s polygons. She dropped to the floor, exhausted. They were pushing two hours in the raid. Two hours of being pounded to near polygons. No Wondercolts fell, but others did.
Bladescape couldn’t stop the tears from welling up. Her body was shaking and her heart rate was out of control. She had almost seen “Game Over” a dozen times. She hadn’t faced that possibility in a while. It was something she had thought she was ready for during this fight, but she hadn't been ready. She still wasn’t ready.
Bladescape struggled to gain control over her body and mind. She saw the Black Swordsman mess with his menu. She hadn’t touched hers yet. She still didn’t have control enough to move. She was still shaking from exhaustion and fear.
She knew she gave up the LAB to him. It hurt. She was jealous and slightly regretting her decision, but still, she needed this to end. They all needed this to end. That was worth more than the Last Attack Bonus.
Bladescape finally sat up and slid through the drop list she got. It had leveled her up and moved her clear into level 69. The Col alone was a worthy exchange for the two hour fight, not that it could replace the mental and physical toll. It also couldn’t replace the nine lives lost. They were getting better, but still lives lost. The last time they lost players in a Floor Boss fight had been to Serigatal The Wolf Master on Floor 39.
The list of items didn’t have anything that Bladescape could use. Bladescape decided it was time for her to get up, that she could get up. She was still shaky, but she was on her feet.
The rest of her party was sitting together. All were healed to max, but they were not up yet. Bladescape nodded at them, but didn’t sit down with them. She had worked too hard to get up.
“How are you feeling?” Bladescape asked when no one talked.
“No sprinkles yet,” AFCK whined without any enthusiasm. “I was certain that this time they would be dropped. This isn’t fun.”
“I know,” Bladescape sighed. “I know guys. Thanks. And good job. BB, how are you? I had to leave you.”
“Oh, I got the others up,” Backbreaker replied. “I was confused for a moment. Really confused. And then it all ended and I realized you charged it. How did it end?”
“Kirito got it,” Bladescape shrugged. “I knew it. I set it up. What matters is that it is finished. That is more important than any LAB.”
“Anything for you?”
“Nothing,” Bladescape shrugged. “I got nothing useful but XP and Col. How about you guys?”
“New hammer,” Backbreaker smiled.
“Better axe,” Joltron nodded.
“Well, we sell the rest,” Bladescape shrugged. “Just like always. Sell or melt down for materials. One way or the other. And Floor 51 is ours. The next major Floor is 75. We have plenty of time to get there and level up to make sure we survive.”
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 69 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 60 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 63 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 66 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts
AFCK (PP): Lvl 64 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon
Diemond (R): Lvl 63 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 60 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal
Astro (PS): Lvl 64 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry
Kiefer: Lvl 60 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts
Lessa: Lvl 60 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search
Joltron: Lvl 62 – One handed Axe – Heavy Shield – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Metal Refining – Blunt Weapon Forging – One Handed Weapon Creation – Two Handed Weapon Creation