Episode 14 - New Month, New Strategy
First day in the Month of Holly (December 1) in the Year of the Hawk
Floor 1 - Tolbana - 7 a.m.
Malus was not in the house when they got up in the morning. It was not like her to be absent and there were no messages left either. It was causing a commotion in the narrow hallway of the space they were renting. So far, their guests had not been woken up from the noise.
“Let’s just go downstairs and start breakfast,” Bladescape ordered, trying to calm everyone down. “She went to bed early, she probably just woke up a bit early and didn’t want to bother anyone and just took a walk in the morning air."
Bladescape got them all downstairs and Konpeito quickly got a simple porridge going. It was their usual breakfast meal. Inexpensive, easy and quick to make, and it was filling.
Konpeito was almost done when the door opened and Malus came in carrying two baskets.
"There you are!" Thunderborne exclaimed. "You had us worried!"
"I'm sorry y'all," Malus said with a shrug. "Truth is, I didn't think I would be gone so long, or that y'all'd be up by the time I got back." She let out a sigh. "Look, I'm tired of all this. I'm down for fightin and beatin this game, but I'm a country girl. I gotta have good food to keep me goin." She held up one basket. "So I went out and bought fresh fruit, and this basket has milk, fresh from the cow's udder. I squeezed it myself, which is why I took so long. Konpeito's cookin is comin along nicely, I ain't blamin her for anythin. I know she needs to maximize her XP so she can begin to make us better meals. I just need more and, outside of a few occasions I can count on one hand, food has been about efficiency, not flavor."
"Darling, why didn't you say something?" Diemond asked. "I think we all can agree with the current state of our meals."
"None taken!" Konpeito said.
"None taken what?" Thunderborne asked.
"Offense," Konpeito replied. "I decided to say it before one of you tried to apologize. You were bound to at some point."
"Okay," Bladescape said. "We can look at expanding our menu. I haven't had a problem with it, but I understand your logic and I’m only one person. Still, why didn't you say something?"
"Cause I only realized it when I woke up," Malus explained. "Now, let's eat."
Konpeito'a porridge was done. It was good to have fresh berries in it, as well as fruit by itself. The milk was bottled individually and they drank it straight from their bottles.
"I needed that," Bladescape said. "I just didn't realize it."
They all heard the footsteps on the stairs. Kiefer, Reisenki, and Soryuto joined them. They bowed to them.
"Thank you for having us," Kiefer said.
"Well, sit down and eat," Malus added. "There's plenty left, an it'll go bad otherwise. I got milk for y'all too."
Reisenki eagerly took up the offer. Keifer and Soryuto were more refined about accepting it. They were not going to turn down a free meal though.
"So now what?" Kiefer asked as they finished. "You are all here. We appreciate all you have done and we don't want to be a burden. If you could point us to the safest training area, that will suffice."
"Well, we can’t do that exactly,” Bladescape said. “At your levels, there are no safe areas for you to train that are close to Tolbana, but that isn’t a problem for a few reasons.
“First off, we have something else for you. We have been waiting to see if anyone was deserving of what we got in loot a few quests ago, but everyone here is well equipped, except for you. We want to get you set up with better equipment from our excess. Second, the safest training spot is with us while we tackle the boss labyrinth again. If you stick with us, you can play damage dealer while you reap in the shared XP. It will help you climb the ranks faster and make your future expeditions safer."
“That is if you want to join us,” Natora added. “You have no obligation to take us up on the offer. We believe it will be safe for you to come with us and that you can contribute solid damage as well.”
“I don’t have a better plan,” Kiefer said. “And I think the three of us want to press on. If we back down now, Joltron’s and Lessa’s sacrifices will be worthless.”
“That is a logical observation,” Knightstar said. “So, let's get you outfitted."
Bladescape swiped up her menu, and so did Natora. They still were storing the excess ancient equipment in their room but they had grabbed what they needed before they got the panicked knock on their door.
"We don't mean to pry, but it would be useful for us to know what your current skills are," Bladescape said.
"We haven't chosen our third yet," Keifer said. He was clearly the one now in charge of their group. "I'm Curved Sword, with the goal to move to the Katana. I also have Slash weapon forging so I can eventually make my own Katana."
"Shield and Sword," Soryuto said. "I want Musical Instrument as my next Skill, to have some fun."
"Axe and Shield," Reisenki said. "I want Light Metal Armor, with the goal of replacing it with Heavy Metal Armor and being a tank."
"Smart moves," Natora said. "I know you, Soryuto, want music, but pushing it back to your fourth Skill and going with an armor skill is the wisest course of action. It covers your combat basics, which means safer fighting and leveling. Higher levels means more skill slots to do fun things with. That has been our strategy, with a few exceptions, but the exceptions have made us better as a unit."
Soryuto swiped up her menu. After a few clicks, she clearly added a skill. "Done. I chose Light Metal Armor, because I don't want to fall again and be so helpless. I want to be able to take a hit and be able to hit back harder."
"I guess my best bet is also Light Metal Armor," Kiefer said.
"We agree on that," Knightstar said. "Mostly because we have armor that would raise your perceived level to be eight or nine."
"You eight plan on forming a guild, right?" Kiefer asked.
"We do," Knightstar said with a nod. "And we had planned on it from the beginning, from before SAO launched."
Both Kiefer and Reisenki opened their menus and added it as their third skill.
"Three Ancient Chainmail shirts," Bladescape said, giving them each one. "All of the Ancient gear have eight enhancement slots.”
"We only have two Ancient Chainmail Coifs," Natora said. "The best bet is Kiefer and Reisenki. Reisenki so he can be a tank and Kiefer since he lacks a shield." She passed them the coifs. "We have weapons too. For Kiefer, this Ancient Soldier Falchion is classified as a curved sword. It will serve you well. The Ancient Soldier Axe will serve you, Reisenki, just as well."
Bladescape had the last weapon. "Soryuto, this Ancient Soldier Sword is only a little below the Anneal Blade. I know you tried getting that sword."
"Thanks," Soryuto said as she took it. "I will make good use of it."
Thankfully, they all were high enough in skill that they could use the Ancient equipment. It didn't seem to have a minimum requirement, such as strength stat like Bladescape’s two-handed sword, but Knightstar's appraisal skill was still new.
Bladescape switched gears to focus on the rest of the day. "How are our potion stocks?"
"High," Natora said. "I restocked us last night. Although you need three more, right?"
"Yes," Bladescape said with a nod.
"Here," Diemond said to their new friends. "I made these belts with my Sewing Skill. The pouches on the belts can hold your potions for quick access in battle. I eventually want to make us our own armor. For now, it is just matching capes for us and things like these belts." Diemond also gave them gloves, boots, and to Soryuto a leather arming cap.
They were thankful for all the new equipment and the items made just for them.
Natora passed out potions, restocking everyone and filling Kiefer’s, Soryuto’s, and Reiseki’s pouches. They set themselves up in two teams. Bladescape led Malus, Konpeito, Doombunny, and Reisenki. Natora led Thunderborne, Diemond, Knightstar, Kiefer, and Soryuto. Diemond had progressed very well as a tank, but they had learned that she was a better tank with Knightstar playing forward beside her. The second shield gave her more confidence. Malus could handle anything fine enough as a lone shield and Bladescape and Konpeito could hold their own as Forwards due to Weapon Defense.
It was a thirty-minute walk to the entrance to the boss labyrinth. It wasn't a bad walk, and they passed the time getting to know each other more. If a group of goblins spawned, they quickly dispatched them with ease.
Getting back to their ending location was the same way and it wasn't hard. From there, the two parties split and began to clear and map in different directions. They would swap map data when they got together again. Once they were in a guild, map data would be shared. For now, it stayed as party data unless given to another player.
The Ruin Kobold Troopers that roamed the labyrinth were mostly level 6, but there were some level 8 variants. They were a humanoid beast, with a large, red body, thick tails, and ears like a rabbit. They only wore pants, no armor, and carried an axe. The level 8 variant used a two-handed mace instead. Since they were humanoid, like the goblins, they could use certain Sword Skills.
It wasn't long before Reisenki shifted to playing as a Forward, giving Bladescape's party a second shield. He was serious about becoming a Tank, but wisely playing it cautious at his lower level. He leveled up to Level 7 relatively quickly.
The fighting wasn't bad. They could handle it well in their team, even without Reisenki. It just took time to map the labyrinth. They mapped their path to a dead end and then backtracked to another fork and cleared the path until they hit another dead end. After a third dead end, they had nowhere else to explore.
They went back to yesterday's end point to find the others were already there.
"We found the stairs," Natora reported. "At least one other group came through here. Our enemies were too light to be the first ones here."
"We know other teams are hitting the labyrinth," Bladescape replied. "Let's swap maps and head up."
The top of the stairs had three paths to choose from. Out of the left one came a figure cloaked in red. With the hood up, it was hard to tell if they were male or female. The player ignored them, not even giving them a glance, and headed down the right path.
“I guess we go center,” Bladescape said.
“Yeah,” Natora shrugged. “But I’ll take my party left to speed map it, and then we can catch up with you.”
“We will stick with left turns then,” Bladescape said. “That way, you can find us.”
“Good plan,” Natora said as she started down the left path.
Bladescape’s party ran into a level 8 trooper at a split in the path. It charged them with its mace. Bladescape took point, letting it target her and trigger a Sword Skill.
“Switch!” Bladescape yelled, spinning out of the way.
Malus slipped in front, shield blocking her friend. Konpeito and Bladescape retaliated in unison and the fight was over.
Someone clapped. Bladesape turned around to see a man leading a full party. He had blue hair with long bangs and a long blue shirt, the same shade as his hair, under his bronze plate armor. His kite shield was also bronze and it had a steel cross dagger on its face. “Well done,” he praised, his voice smooth and soothing. “We saw it charge you and then noticed that there were four of you, so we didn’t think you were in trouble. Still, that was better than I expected, and your fourth didn’t even have to attack. We probably would have been a hindrance if we tried to join. You were very fluid and quick.”
“Thanks!” Konpeito exclaimed.
Bladescape was wary of him. Something felt wrong, but she had no idea what. They said keep your friends close, and enemies closer. He was one to watch. “Thanks,” Bladescape said, stepping towards him a bit to assert herself as the one to be speaking to, not the others in her party. Konpeito was liable to run her mouth and Malus could be too trusting. “We have been doing alright. I’m not sure about you guys, but they put up a good challenge for us. I’m Bladescape.”
“Diavel,” he replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s good to meet another strong party. Far too many in the labyrinth are solo or in smaller groups. A full party can make easy work of the troopers. A full party is always stronger, although you seem to be the exception.”
“Can you blame them?” Bladescape asked. “There are a lot of unknowns, trying to sort out who is a friend and, well, who isn’t going to be helpful, can be a bit difficult. Trust goes both ways.”
“I guess I can agree to that,” Diavel said. “However, the way I see it, no party of six will be able to easily beat the floor boss. Even if they could, it’s a huge risk. We are going to need to combine forces in a coordinated effort. First, we have to find the boss chamber though.”
“From what we have heard about the game, that sounds like what we will need to do,” Bladescape said. “For now, we have just been trying to map the labyrinth and find that chamber, and of course, survive.”
“Are you guys set up in Tolbana?” Diavel asked.
“Yep,” Bladescape nodded. “You?”
“We have inn rentals there as well,” Diaval replied with a nod. “It won’t be much longer until we find the boss chamber. Tolbana has that amphitheater. It would make a good place to organize a group to raid the boss. If we become friends, it will be easier for me to get a strong party like yours into the raid group with us.”
Bladescape swiped up her menu and extended a friend request to Diavel. “My friends and I would be happy to be a part of the team effort.”
The telltale sound of a respawn materializing echoed off the labyrinth’s stone walls. Bladescape gripped her sword as she searched for it. Diavel drew his sword. It popped up just inside the other tunnel. Before they could do anything, Konpeito slid in front of it and unleashed a two combination Sword Skill with her axe, eliminating the level 6 kobold trooper with ease. Both hits were critical attacks.
Diavel sheathed his sword. “Impressive. Very impressive.”
Metal hitting stone turned their attention back to Konpeito. She had dropped her axe. She picked it up and began to balance it on a single finger, moving around as she fought to keep that minute balance point. She had instantly flipped from an epic fighter, to a distracted kid playing around.
“Anyway,” Diavel said, focusing on where he could make progress. “We are heading back. We spent all night in here and need some rest. Good luck.”
“The same to you,” Bladescape said.
She watched them head back towards the stairs. They were soon lost due to a turn in the tunnel.
“He had a bit of a silver tongue,” Malus said. “Good idea, but I can tell you were as nervous about it as I was.”
“I’m not sure what was poking at me,” Bladescape said. “But it still is.”
“None of them noticed me,” Doombunny said, unveiling herself along the wall where she was out of the way. “He was very intent on judging our strength, but in a dark way. I don’t think they would have attacked, but he clearly wants to be on the top. A charmer who can lead and also desires to be the best no matter what, is a dangerous combination.”
“Yeah,” Bladescape sighed, understanding what Doombunny had picked up on. “I know what you mean. In that mentality, that type of person will manipulate things to have the threat help, but stay out of the way.
“He kind of reminds me of some of the-” she paused a moment as she glanced at Reisenki, “High-society types from where I’m from, or how I used to be before all of you knocked some sense into me.”
They were tactics Bladescape knew well; no matter what reality or dimension the individual was in. Sunset had always gone the more direct route when it came to getting what she wanted, but manipulation had been one of her tools. Typically, it was more direct, but she had done plenty of work in the shadows to conquer and divide the school and drive it the way she wanted to over her dark reign.
Their other party came around the bend while she was thinking and joined them. “I take it with your lack of progress, that you ran into that other party?” Natora asked.
“Yeah,” Bladescape nodded. “We had a chat.”
Natora glanced around and kept her voice low. “His name was Davil, right?”
“Diavel,” Bladescape said, keeping hers low as well. “Did you recognize him?”
“I did,” Natora said. “I don’t really know anything about him. His face and body build were different, but he wore the same bronze and blue set up he has now, and the same hair. He probably changed his hair back to the same style as in the beta, even dyeing it blue again. I saw him several times, always as a party leader and never with the same group. The beta testers took a huge hit after this stopped being a game. I don’t know if he knows anyone else from the beta, or all six of them could have been beta testers.”
“He spoke about getting the strongest players together to team up against the boss,” Bladescape said. “We became friends so we could be kept in the loop. He saw us cut down a trooper with ease and then another one respawned while we were talking. Konpeito obliterated it, solo. Then she went back to doing what she is doing now. He was very interested in her ability to cut it down so easily.”
Konpeito dropped her axe, making them all wince from the sound. “Whoops! My bad.”
“He never saw Doom,” Bladescape added. “He said four strong players.”
“Or he did, but he knew she was using hide,” Natora said. “So, he said four to see how you would react. The good thing is that he met you first. Three players wearing the same cape, obviously player made, plus one more, is less threatening than running into our full part of six, four plus two. I’m certain he noticed our capes.”
“We could spend all day deliberating it and not come up with an answer,” Bladescape said, bringing her voice back up to her normal level. “We should keep going. You didn’t run into anyone, did you?”
“Saw another party,” Natora shrugged. “Looked like it was led by a spiky haired guy in scalemail armor. They saw us taking our path, and went down the path Red Riding Hood took.”
“It's getting busier,” Bladescape said. “We should move out before players come our way.”
They kept up the clearing and mapping for the rest of the day. At times, they could see evidence of recent activity, in other parts they were fighting the first spawned troopers. They climbed up six more floors. Knightstar was certain there were twenty floors, which put them three quarters of the way up the pillar.
They got back later than normal, leaving no time for crafting, but that was fine with Bladescape. They made enough cash that they skipped Konpeito cooking and got a good meal at a tavern.
Kiefer stood up, mug in hand. “A toast, to Bladescape, for all she did for us, and to all of you, for helping us spring back from our loss yesterday. Because of you all, we each leveled up twice!”
“Thank you, Dear,” Diemond said. “But really, all we did was help you back on your feet and give you a shove in the right direction. You did it on your own. You chose to. You all pulled your weight today.”
“Diemond is right,” Bladescape said. “But we appreciate it. We did work well as a team.”
“I believe that the three of us would enjoy staying a team with you if you would have us,” Reisenki stated.
Bladescape looked at Natora, who nodded once to her. “Reisenki, Kiefer, Soryuto, we would be glad to have you along with us. No obligations, but we will be glad to have you with us as long as you want. And if you leave, that doesn’t make it permanent. You will be welcomed back with open arms.”
“Absolutely,” Natora echoed.
“Then to our future together,” Reisenki said, raising his glass in a toast.
After dinner, they headed to bed, back to the same rooms as the night before. Bladescape and Natora were still paired up despite the shift. Bladescape had something specific she wanted to discuss with Natora.
Natora spoke first, right after Bladescape closed the door. “Seeing Diavel make a power move concerns me. We know it and all the top players know it whether they want to admit it or not, but we will have to come together to beat each floor boss. However, what concerns me, is that he will use the success to launch himself to the head of the guild for clearing. I think that diversity will be key for our success, not lumping together into one or two, or even three big guilds.”
“If we do end up as eleven, we can help balance that back out,” Bladescape said. “But yes, that is a concern and a position he could easily slingshot himself into if we have a huge success and breakthrough because of him. We won’t know until we get that run at the boss.
"However, right now we need to think a little more short term. We need to look at getting a round of enhancements done on our weapons. Especially since we are close to the boss, we need every edge we can get."
"I agree," Natora said. "I'm a little low on the enhancement knowledge, so I think we need to track her down. You, Knightstar, Doom, and I can take care of that, Diemond and Konpeito can focus on their skills, so we take their weapons with us, and Malus and Thunder can take the others out to clear goblins and level grind. We can sort out what we need to get, get it, and then in the evening, or earlier if it doesn't take us too long, we can get the fighters to enhance their weapons."
"Sounds like a plan," Bladescape said. "But who do you mean by 'her'?"
Natora held up the guide book. "Argo, AKA The Rat. We can start there. It will probably cost us, but you are right. We need to ensure that we take our weapons to the next level before we face the boss."
Bladescape just nodded in understanding and agreement. They said nothing more as they swapped out their armor for the sleepwear Diemond had made them and went to bed.
BLADESCAPE: Level 13 — Two-Handed Sword — Searching — Weapon Defense — Leather Armor
NATORA: Level 13 — Two-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations — Sales Negotiation — Weapon Defense
KNIGHTSTAR: Level 13 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Equipment Appraisal
MALUS: Level 13 — One-Handed War Hammer — Shield — Light Metal Armor — First Aid
THUNDERBORNE: Level 13 — Rapier — Sprint — Acrobatics — Weapon Defense
KONPEITO: Level 13 — Two-Handed Axe — Cooking — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor
DIEMOND: Level 13 — Mace — Shield — Sewing — Light Metal Armor
DOOMBUNNY: Level 13 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide — Fighting Spirit — Blade Throwing
KIEFER: Level 8 — One-Handed Curved Sword — Slash Weapon Forging — Light Metal Armor
SORYUTO: Level 8 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor
REISENKI: Level 8 — One-Handed Axe — Shield — Light Metal Armor