Floor 59
April 15 – Year 2
Fuurinkazan was waiting for them at the Danac teleport plaza.
“Morning, Doll Face!” Klein said with his stupid grin.
“Good morning, Klein,” Bladescape chuckled.
“Hey,” Klein said, coming closer and lowering his voice. “Does she have the goods.”
“She’s got the goods,” Bladescape whispered back. “Did you bring the goods for you?”
Klein laughed and then stopped, actually afraid AFCK hadn’t packed them food as promised. Bladescape’s laughter ended his fear.
Bladescape refocused onto the day's task. “It was pitched that we should mix up our parties. There are 17 of us, so we have no reason not to mix our guilds. We should diversify our parties. It will help us all work more fluidly with other people. No matter who.”
“Just no DDA,” Klein said.
“Of course not,” Bladescape chuckled. “They have been a pain since the beginning, before you guys hit the front lines, and then a huge problem for us from the new year. They directly accused Doombunny of being with Laughing Coffin. I would love to knock them down a few pegs.”
Klein rolled his eyes. "I remember the duel. I remember getting called out by her right…" Klein tried to point out Doombunny, but he couldn't see her in their group. "Well wherever she actually is standing."
"Anyway," Bladescape said, drawing them back on topic. "What do you think? Are you guys man enough to handle a switch up?"
"Hell yeah we are!" Klein exclaimed. "I assume you have already played a bit of matchmaker for us?"
Bladescape shook her head at his immature, boyish antics. It was hard to think he had already graduated from college.
"Not those kinds," Bladescape replied, trying not to laugh. "But after working the weekend together, Astro wants to try running with Harry. She wants to put his shield skills to the test against her ferocity and speed."
"I didn't put it like that," Astro fired from where she was standing. "I just said I wanted to see how I would work with another Tank. And Harry and I talked all weekend. So why not?"
"Sure," Harry said. "I'll take that challenge on."
"So, what girls am I getting?" Klein goofily grinned.
"Me," Bladescape chuckled. "In all seriousness, I actually want to work by your side again. I think it would be good to do in preparation for potential Boss Raids."
"Alright," Klein nodded, oddly not saying anything about the arrangement. "Then who is going to lead Party Three? I assume Knightstar will be leading Party Two."
"Well," Bladescape said, hesitating. "I was thinking of something that would be a little more, productive, than just me and you fighting back to back again. I want Knightstar to lead a team that she isn't fully comfortable with; to round out her leadership skills. She knows how to work with us, but she knows she tends to hesitate and pulls back to guide more than fight."
"Dale and Issin would work well," Klein said. "And the third leader?"
"Kiefer," Bladescape nodded. "We have been working him through some things. I figure if we put Kiefer in charge of Harry, Astro, Lessa, Diemond, and Kunimittz, it would be a good mix of independent fighters, while gaining leadership skills for him. Knightstar can work with Backbreaker, Dale, Issin, Joltron, and Thunderborne, which will leave us with Dynamm, AFCK, and Doombunny."
"We will only have one Shield," Klein pointed out. "But we can always reorganize things if we need to later on. I'm down with it. Building new skills, bringing players together, it sounds perfect."
A few clicks later and the parties were organized before they were off, heading out of town to the entrance to the Labyrinth. It didn’t seem as far of a walk with their friends from Fuurinkazan. It was nice to not start the day diving into the Labyrinth on a drag.
They took the most direct route to their last map point and then chose their path. With the crisscrossing of the catacombs, the three parties quickly got separated. Since Dynamm was their only shield, and Doombunny was strictly a damage dealer, Klein and Bladescape had to be strong forwards. AFCK was also a forward, but she was her usual self, hopping around randomly while looking clueless yet doing serious damage. Klein gave Bladescape plenty of odd looks at the start. Bladescape always shrugged back, and Klein soon got used to fighting with AFCK in the party.
They didn't have far to go before they ran into the stairs to the next level of the Labyrinth. Once they regrouped, they ascended them. The top brought a shift in the appearance of the Labyrinth. The stone floors and arched ceilings stayed, but the walls were now lined with skulls and bones, just like the real walls of a classic catacomb.
"Imagine if these were the bones of the players who had died," Thunderborne quietly said as she examined the stacked bones and skulls.
"Let's not," Doombunny squeaked.
Bladescape sighed. She was going to have to make sure Doombunny didn't have nightmares tonight. She would have to do the same for herself. The walls were very creepy.
They pushed on. The new floor brought the bones, but it eliminated the shadows as enemies. Klein and Fuurinkazan had mostly ignored the shadows on the lower floors because they were so difficult to see and then kill. It became apparent that the Wondercolts did have some advantage given to them by the Necromancer Quest.
Again, they split up as they mapped the Labyrinth. The skeleton patrols rose in number. A two to one ratio was not uncommon. The combat slowed mapping down, but not terribly so. It was obvious they were near the front of the overall explored area from the number of enemy encounters. There where whole hallways filled with skeletons that had not been cleared.
They ended up in a recently cleared hallway, evident by the lack of any skeletons. After a short bit, they heard the clash of swords, but they proceeded carefully. It was getting riskier to jump into a battle in Labyrinths. Not everyone enjoyed the intrusion, or the idea they were being "rescued." They came to the sight of the fight. It was their first non-hallway chamber, a square room lined with skulls and bones between the supporting pillars. At the center was a large group of skeletons surrounding what appeared to be one or two players. There were at least forty enemies, and they were hungry for the blood they didn't have themselves.
“Dang,” Klein said. “We should help them, right?”
“Probably,” Bladescape said. “We can at least draw aggro. It might be five of us, but we can even the score. These skeletons are not that hard. Right?”
“Yeah,” Klein said, hesitating.
It was always a risk to jump into a fight in a Labyrinth. The others didn’t know you were there. And it could be seen as poaching.
“That’s Kirito!” Klein suddenly exclaimed. “Let’s go! He is still solo.”
They charged out across the open ground, yelling as they went to get the attention of some of the skeletons and introduce their arrival to Kirito. It worked as they turned to face them. More than they had expected began to stalk towards them.
Bladescape blocked the first sword and Harmonic Salvation immediately glowed red. She flipped the block into an attack and sliced the skeleton in half. She dodged the skeleton sword that came through the polygons at her and she rammed the blade home, making another explosion fill the air.
Bladescape danced with her sword and struck down skeleton after skeleton. It required a strong mix of Weapon Defense, Two-Handed Sword, Agility, and a keen use of Search to predict the incoming attack with the Outside System Skills “Insight,” and “Precognition.” Bladescape was still learning to trick the monsters' AI with what was called “Mislead.”
Bladescape sliced the skeleton in half and her blade clanged against an unmoving object, even as the skeleton popped into polygons. As the polygons separated, Bladescape realized the room clear and that the object she was fighting against was Kirito’s blade. Both of them were in mid swing and their blades were glowing as their triggered Sword Skills fought for dominance.
He wasn’t backing down either. They held steady for a moment as he judged her. Bladescape stopped flexing and let his sword finish its swing. She twirled her blade so she could sheath it and be as relaxed as she could. They did join his fight out of nowhere.
“What up Kiridog!” Klein asked, flashing him a smile and a thumbs up.
"Hey Klein," Kirito said, still on guard. "What are you doing here. And with them?"
"Huh? Oh, right. You know of the Wondercolts, but not that. I am sure you recall that we also spearheaded the Floor 39 Boss Raid together, and how we got separated from the main group. Well, the day or two before, they helped us out of a jam in the Labyrinth and we have been tight ever since."
"Right," Kirito nodded. He flipped his blade in a ceremonial slash and slipped it onto his back. "The girl guild. With two guys in it. Your member, the snake charmer, got the Last Attack Bonus from poison DOT damage on the boss. And she took down Yamata in that duel for her integrity as a clearer.
"But you believe what this guy says?"
"Hey!" Klein exclaimed as Bladescape laughed.
"The gentlemen of Fuurinkazan are a lot of talk and showboating," Bladescape snickered. "But they became friends enough to trust them and even to do some stuff over the holidays."
"And where is the rest of both of your guilds?" Kirito asked, eyeing the passage further into the Labyrinth.
"We split back at the last cross-way," Klein explained. "We partied up across guilds to even us all out as players who can work together in raid parties outside of their guilds. If it ever comes to that."
"Whose idea was that?" Kirito asked. It wasn't a nice tone. He then shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. I have to go."
"It was theirs actually," Klein said. "But it's worked well. And come on, Man, link up with us. We are going the same way. I know you can handle yourself, you always say that. We are all trying to clear this Labyrinth as fast as possible. It is faster and safer together."
"Here," Kirito said to Klein as he pulled up his menu. "This is what I mapped. Your party came down the right path. The others hit dead ends."
"Thanks," Klein said as he accepted and then looked at the map. "And they probably are headed this way since both those paths end pretty quickly."
Kirito was already walking off.
"Hey!" Klein called after him. "Not to be rude, but we are going the same way!"
"Fine," Kirito shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like I have any say in it. There is only one way to go at this point. I'm not going to slow down for you."
Klein growled and looked at Bladescape. Kirito was already on the other side of the room. "He can be stubborn."
Bladescape shrugged. "He has to be to make it this far solo. I am sure a guild isn't easy for a guy like him."
"I am fairly certain he was in one a while back. But it was Floors ago and it didn't last long. I don't know what happened and I'm not going to push him for an answer."
Bladescape started walking after Kirito at a quick pace to catch up. "Either way, he could use the support. These things might be easy to dispatch, but soon he is going to hit Floors that will be truly grueling to hit solo. Even at our levels in full parties, it will be tough."
"Will?" Klein snorted as he caught up. "Why do you think we wanted to team up. You guys have us all beat by a few levels at least. Some of your lower players are probably our rank by now. But you are what, over 80?"
"Well," Bladescape said, weighing the options. "You know me as a fighter, and dare I say it, but a friend. I'm at 79, right up on that edge to 80. The Boss Raid will push me over if I don't hit it in the Labyrinth."
"We have a few more teams competing for slots," Klein warned. "The Wondercolts are a very strong asset for a raid, but have you thought about them rotating you out to rest you? Rumor is, they are going to have to do that soon.
"And I've also heard they are going to be sending scouting parties in to get real time info on the bosses before they bail. It's getting harder for info brokers to get the boss details. Kalzuk is a prime example. A one-shot boss for information you can't get any other way. Easy to miss, but key.
"This isn't the lower floors anymore. We are having to change tactics after Floor 50 to gather Intel on the boss and its attack patterns."
"Scouting parties?" Bladescape asked. "What do you mean?"
"A group of two parties head into the chamber and begin fighting the boss, for real. No more poking your head in. They don't take too many risks, but they see what they are up against before running out or using teleport crystals. We can make battle plans depending on the type of boss, the attack patterns it uses, it's potential weaknesses, and anything else the scouting party can get.
"We need to know what type of raiding party to send. It's not necessarily going to be guild parties. But some will require mostly Tanks and a strong line of shield users. Others, Tanks will be too slow. There are a lot of factors that the KOB plays with to make the best raid decisions. Of course, the larger guilds have more members available to put into any raid situation. You guys could field all three tanks if you needed to."
"Good to know," Bladescape nodded. "I'm sure you won't get knocked out. At least, not while I have a say. I'll trade for one of you any time."
"Thanks," Klein said, a warm smile on his lips.
Kirito had stopped ahead, just inside a circular room. His sword was drawn, but he wasn't moving. He was shifting to be ready to attack. Bladescape caught up to him and saw why he had stopped.
Large bones were flying from the walls , creating an oversized skeleton. It continued to build, bone by bone, as the game loaded the boss. They were known as mid bosses. They were a pain to clear and the clearers rarely had time to organize a solid raid party. They were typically low-level obstacles throughout the labyrinths, blocking the next floor as they climbed the inside of the tower. Still, a team of 6 often had trouble on their own. The Wondercolts had taken down relatively few because, with so many players clearing, they had to be the first to find and beat it. Kirito could beat it solo if he was even half as good as his reputation said he was. So could their party of five. Probably. Together was still the wisest option.
"It's not worth it," Bladescape said to Kirito. "No matter how strong you are, we are here too. We need to work together."
Kirito ignored her. Bladescape drew her sword. The others were ready as well.
As soon as it finished, "Big Skeleton" popped up above its head along with three health bars. They would be easy bars to take down.
Kirito charged ahead as if he was alone. Bladescape went out on the right flank while Klein took to the left as the others followed. They would need Dynamm as their tank in this fight. He was skilled with his shield, but it was small for a tank.
Kirito's strength was amazing as he blocked and deflected the giant sword away from him. It was immediately followed up by a strong Sword Skill combination. He was calm and cool in the opening of the battle.
Bladescape took the opportunity to unleash her own heavy attack, High Infinity, as the Skeleton was reeling from Kirito's attack. Klein yelled as he let his own go in a near perfect opening assault. Most of the first health bar was gone.
The others switched in and Bladescape watched its HP slip to halfway through the second bar. Dynamm did his job as the tank, blocking the skeleton's sword and letting them switch in for round two. Klein, Kirito, and Bladescape wordlessly understood what was needed. They all unleashed powerful Sword Skills, destroying the weak boss on the third round.
Claps and cheers came from behind them. The rest of the Wondercolts and Fuurinkazan had found their way to them. They had apparently seen the tail end of the battle.
“That was awesome,” Thunderborne exclaimed.
“Absolutely amazing,” Knightstar added. “I hope it wasn’t too difficult without us.”
“We had Kirito,” Bladescape explained, turning to congratulate him only to sigh at what she saw. “And he is already up the stairs and gone.”
“That’s Kirito,” Klein said with a shrug.
“We need to continue,” Bladescape said. “He will be fine. It was an interesting little interaction.”
“Yeah,” Klein admitted. “Something was off. Usually he isn't so cold."
"He was passive aggressive," Bladescape said. "He wasn't mad yesterday. I feel like we interrupted something, or intruded into his private space."
Klein shrugged. He was obviously concerned. "Anyway, let’s go. Besides, we might end up meeting him again.”
“You care for him,” Bladescape said, nudging him with her elbow.
"Yeah," Klein admitted. "It's been a complicated relationship over a few meetings."
That was all Klein was going to say as he started moving again. They climbed up the stairs and realized that the chances of finding Kirito were slim. They were in a small circular room, and leading off it was 8 different hallways. Nine with the stairs they had just come up from.
"This is going to be a pain," Klein said, trying not to groan.
"Let's not push it," Bladescape said. "All three parties down the same hall."
Klein didn't say anything as he headed for the first hallway on their left. Bladescape followed and the rest did after forming up into their parties. Kiefer's party brought up their rear.
Lunch was late. The layout of the Labyrinth took time to map. Each of the 8 hallways intersected with a loop that completely enclosed the stairwell chamber. They kept going out and then through an even larger loop. Once they understood the layout, the three parties split up and speed ran the clearing. They officially mapped all of the "spokes" and both loops in an efficient two hours. There was no sign of Kirito.
A single spoke continued out from the outer loop. Not far down it was a safe zone. Inside they stopped for a late lunch. No one sat against the bone walls. Virtual or not, they were creepy.
After their break, the catacombs became chaotic in their layout. The loops were just half of the floor. They did split to cover the most ground, but they planned a 9pm rendezvous back at the safe zone if they did get completely split up.
It turned out to be a wise plan. The others were waiting for Klein, Bladescape, Dynamm, Doombunny, and AFCK when they finally caught up. They were late by almost 30 minutes. They had gotten into a few snags on the way back.
Thunderborne held up a blue teleport crystal. She didn't beg, verbally, but it was obvious what she wanted. Bladescape looked at Klein.
"I'm too lazy," Klein shrugged. "This thing is a pain. I know we have the way back mapped and could make it easily, but my feet hurt."
Klein pulled out a crystal, but he left the final order up to Bladescape. Each Wondercolt had at least 3 on them. It was tighter than she wanted it to be for use on a teleport out from the lower portion of a Labyrinth. Her feet were sore too. On top of that, Bladescape wanted to get a team out on an overnight trip, even with the late start time. Teleporting would drastically speed that up.
"I guess we will see you soon," Bladescape said to Klein.
"It was fun working with yah," Klein shot back. "We do need to think about teaming up more."
"Definitely," Bladescape said, clinking her blue crystal with Klein's in a toast.
The others were waiting on their leader. Bladescape held her crystal up, took a deep breath in, and called out the order. The crystal enveloped her in blue and she was suddenly on the teleport plaza of Mishe. She jumped off it as the others came in behind her.
Bladescape had to decide who was going with her for the trip. She watched as the others came to Mishe and how they looked getting off the platform. Doombunny was an obvious no after all the hard work she had put in. Kiefer and Lessa were the last two to come back. They were side by side as they stepped off the plaza. For leading a party, Kiefer looked like he was solid on his feet. And with Lessa by his side, Bladescape had an idea. She would take both Kiefer and Lessa with her to the Sand Crabs and see what she could do to get them to define their relationship.
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 79 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing – Extended Weight Carry
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 69 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 72 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry – Search
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 75 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts – Acrobatics
AFCK(PP): Lvl 72 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon – Musical Instrument
Diemond (R): Lvl 72 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making – Extended Weight Carry
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 69 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal
Astro (PS): Lvl 72 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry – Extended Wight Carry
Kiefer: Lvl 69 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts
Lessa: Lvl 69 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search
Joltron: Lvl 73 – One handed Axe – Heavy Shield – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Metal Refining – Cooking – One Handed Weapon Creation – Two Handed Weapon Creation – Extended Weight Carry