Episode 97 - 75th Scout Unit
Front Line - Floor 75
November 6 - Year 2
Floor 75 proved to be a nightmare unlike any they had seen. It was worse than predicted. The monsters and field bosses between the exit from Floor 74 and Floor 75's Labyrinth had been tougher than those on the last five floors combined, and the trials inside were a step up from even that. Through pooled map data, they had quickly filled in the gaps and found the boss chamber, but the labyrinth was still estimated to only be half cleared. It was hard to keep track of the shifting herds of monsters.
Astro sliced a Puca open with her spear. While it wasn't the most effective at slash attacks, Dragon Tale did the job admirably. Being the predominant creatures on Floor 75, these red-eyed, cyclopean, badger-like monsters were easier to slash than stab. They only stood half the height of the average player, but despite that and the cute sounding name they were a force to be reckoned with when their swarm tactics worked. They would hunt and herd players into other monsters or dead ends and launch an attack when their target was least able to protect themselves from the savage creatures.
Yokai, one of the players in her party, groaned. "Ugh. These things have bad omens written all over them. I'm from Hiroshima. If you kill a marten, the legends say you will soon encounter a fire. A burn your house down type fire; not a nice and warm campfire."
Astro groaned. "Legend and omens or not, we have a boss to scout. Let's just finish getting to the chamber and then the real job begins. Besides, you guys were training when the Wondercolts discovered the Labyrinth. You seriously have no idea how many of these blasted Pucas there actually were. The packs they hunt in now are not even half the size we were dealing with."
A few players shivered. The twenty player scouting party was a mix of five guilds. It was spearheaded by Astro and Yamata from the DDA. Yamata was heading up the first party of ten, while Astro was leading the second.
For the Wondercolts, Astro had Pell, Yori, and Babs with her. Most of the Wondercolts were on a planned break for the day. Astro wasn't, and the other three decided to join her rather than take the day off. They wouldn't enter the boss fight the next day, but they would be able to help scout it, and keep the Wondercolt Raiders better rested for the upcoming hell. Like Floor 25 and Floor 50, it was a benchmark Floor and everything was significantly harder than anything previously thrown at them.
Several names were floating around for the boss: Grogar the Terrible, Somnambula Sphinx, Yamata no Orochi, Dorz'l the Chaos Drake, The Skull Reaper, and The Phoenix. Each was something that NPCs had been talking about since the 70th Floor. At least a single NPC mentioned their names in passing, if not more. It could be one of them, or the 75th Floor Boss could be something completely different. The names didn't give them much of a description outside a vague idea of what a dragon, drake, or phoenix was. Their goal was to find out and prepare the raid party for success.
Getting to the Boss Chamber was proving harder than anticipated. Astro was having to stop her team from running when the Pucas began their next hunt. It wasn't useful to run. Fighting was their only viable option, regardless of how tiring it was.
They continued along the path, through the mist that covered the floor of the obsidian corridors. The air was damp and a bit chilly. Astro's team was currently in the lead. Thankfully they knew exactly where the chamber was. That eased some of the stress. They just couldn't afford to run. It was a honeycomb maze, but they had charted the fastest and safest route to the chamber. They needed to stick to it.
After another hour of battling the demon-esk pucas, as well as the chippits, a snake creature with a protective shell that shielded its reptilian head full of razor-sharp teeth, they made it to the boss chamber. The glossy obsidian doors were closed.
Astro reached into a pouch and pulled out the Corridor Crystal that Commander Heathcliff had given her. She set it so that the raiding party could use the other corridor crystal and bypass the labyrinth altogether.
Corridor crystals were incredibly rare and expensive. Always coming as a matched pair, they were among the rarest of drops, or found in chests that were usually booby trapped. They couldn't be bought from an NPC anywhere in Aincrad. All of that meant they were used sparingly. If the Floors past 75 didn't ease up on the Labyrinth clearing, they would probably use them at every boss fight they could. If they had any to use.
Yamata was itching to go in. He didn't like working with the Wondercolts, even the "new" Wondercolts. Astro didn't like working with any members of the Divine Dragon Alliance either, which was why she let him take who he wanted in team A, and she led team B. Despite that, Commander Heathcliff had personally given the corridor crystal to Astro and he entrusted her with setting it up. It wasn't hard, but she had to be taught how since she hadn't used one before. The Wondercolts were the dominant and favored guild for the scouting mission, but scrounging up players to even join this scouting mission had been difficult.
Astro was going to use it to her advantage. She would let Yamata lead his team in and watch from outside for a bit. When he inevitably messed up, she would move in and save him, taking charge of all the scouts at that moment and successfully leading the scouts in gathering all the information they needed to organize the correct raid party. He would be knocked down from his inflated pedestal and Astro would keep her spot where it belonged; a wide base lower to the ground.
Yamata formed up his team and looked at Astro. She nodded, signaling to him that they were ready and had his back. They pushed open the doors and stepped in a few feet. The doors continued their customary opening until they were all the way back.
Nothing came of it and Astro heard more Pucas coming down one of the many side corridors of the labyrinth. She organized her team into a defensive position and watched as Yamata took his team in further.
Drawing out the bosses had become increasingly harder. And they were beginning to resist the scouting parties. The Sister Witches were a prime example of them holding back until they had a larger group, a real threat, attacking them.
But nothing came to challenge their entrance. No lights turned on or flames sprang to life. The only light into the boss chamber was coming in from the open doors. Astro stepped closer to the doors as she prepared to bring her team in. Without a direction from the Boss, she would need to play their entry carefully so that they were not flanked and caught off guard. From what she could see, it was the largest boss chamber to date. Extraordinarily massive in size, it gave rise to her belief that that the boss would be excessively large as well.
Yamata's team of ten made it to the center of the large room. They fanned out, taking defensive positions while they sought the boss out. It had to be there.
Astro looked back at her team. The Pucas hadn't made it to them yet. They were free to enter. "On me," Astro ordered. "We are going in."
They formed up in a diamond pattern to allow for maximum coverage of their entrance. Astro stepped up to the edge off the chamber and took in a deep breath, preparing herself mentally for the upcoming fight. She let it out and lifted her foot to start their entrance.
It struck stone as the boss chamber doors slammed shut. Astro blinked at the obsidian in front of her face. If she had finished that step, the door would have slammed her back, out of the chamber.
"Now what?" Yori nervously asked. "The boss chamber doors have never closed on us before."
" They did once," Astro said, remembering Kalzuk Dungeon. "A dungeon boss chamber in a side dungeon. We couldn't teleport out and the six of us were forced to face the boss. We won and then the doors opened back up."
Astro pushed on the doors, but they didn't budge. Several members of her team were unable to hide their relief that the doors didn't open. Astro didn't share the feeling as she stepped back from them.
"Pucas," Pell warned as he saw one further down a side hallway.
Astro's team moved to set up a perimeter again. While they waited for the monsters to attack, she examined the intricately carved doors in an attempt to deduce something about the boss and what was going on inside. Each Floor Boss had their own unique doors. Unfortunately, there was nothing that stood out to her to give any indication of what was inside.
The doors groaned open under their own power. Astro stepped back up to the threshold. No one appeared to be inside.
"Hello? Anyone inside?" Astro called out. She cupped her hands and yelled out even louder. Only her echo responded.
A heavy weight settling into her stomach, Astro took a step forward, but Pell and Yori grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back.
"Think this through," Pell hissed. "I don't want to assume the worst, but if they are not in there, then we don’t need to go in. Let's get out of here before the Pucas pounce on us and drive us into the chamber. We need to report in with the Commander after this new development. This is too weird."
"No," Astro declared after a moment of though, grabbing a teleport crystal from her waist pouch. "We are going to the Town of Beginnings. We are going to check the Monument of Life. Each of us will take a name and see if they are alive."
They agreed and Astro was the last to teleport out of the labyrinth. They rushed to the Black Iron Palace and through its doors to the monument. In the beta test, the room had been the resurrection place where you respawned if you died. Now it contained stone slabs with the names of each player. If the player was dead, they were crossed off and the date was given for their death.
They each took a name and began to hunt it down. They were in alphabetical order, but there were ten-thousand names on the marble slabs, and almost two fifths of them bore the slash that signaled their death.
Astro went straight to the end to find Yamata. She stumbled on Yori first, who was of course alive. Yamata's name was not so lucky. It was struck and today's date and the time was etched in beneath it.
Whatever had happened inside that chamber, he didn't make it out alive. Astro was almost in there with him, to meet the same fate. She walked back to the center of the room. It wasn’t busy, but there were players around, paying their respects to their friends and comrades who had died in the two years of their prison sentence.
The others gathered around her. Their silence told her all she needed to know. Now was not the time to break down though.
“Granzam,” Astro quietly ordered.
They calmly walked out and teleported to Granzam. They made their way through the steel streets, battling the cold winds that dominated the Floor. The Knights of the Bloodoath had little choices in guild headquarters because of their size. To Astro, it felt as cold and unwelcoming as the KOB were to her.
They were let in and led to the council chambers. The look from Heathcliff as they entered was one of confusion masking anger.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Astro declared. “Team A entered first, the doors closed, and within five minutes, they opened again. We just came from the Monument of Life. They are dead. None of them made it out alive. Whatever they faced didn’t show itself. All we could see from outside before the doors closed was a cavernous, empty chamber that was dark. It's a one-way ticket through that Boss Chamber.”
Heathcliff leaned his chin onto his hands and thought for a moment. “Is the corridor crystal set?” He asked, ignoring everything else.
“I set it before we opened the doors,” Astro nodded. “We won’t have to carve our way through the labyrinth before we face whatever is behind them. We can enter fresh and ready.”
“Thank you, all of you,” Heathcliff declared. “It was unlucky, but I am glad you survived. If the entire scouting party had been wiped out...I am not sure what we would do. At the very least, we know they died in the boss chamber, and not on the way to it. I will call a strategy meeting for Five O'clock, that gives us a little over four hours before we need to assemble. You are welcome to stay in our sitting room if you wish. But it appears that at least for this Floor, we can’t scout the boss. After the no-teleport-zone inside the last Floor Boss chamber, I don’t think we will ever regain the luxury of teleporting out if we are in trouble. Like you said, it is a one-way ticket through that chamber to Floor Seventy-Six.”
Astro stayed around for the boss meeting, but she sent the others home. None of them would talk about what had happened. Bladescape was contacted to join the meeting. The other Councilors didn’t need to attend.
Bladescape arrived to the meeting late. She had been out riding with Boots, and on some quest for Merlin at the same time. She hadn't been able to drop everything immediately, and it took her longer than planned to get to a place where she could detour to join them. It didn't matter much since no one was in a hurry to get the meeting started.
Kirito and Asuna were not there, but something was going on with them. Astro wasn’t sure what, but strictly speaking they were not needed for the meeting. After all, since Kirito had lost the duel with Heathcliff, he was a member of the Knights of the Bloodoath.
Heathcliff opened the meeting by having Astro explain what little she could. The room was left silent. They were unsure what to do. All they knew was “don’t die,” but they had no way of stacking the odds in their favor. If they took too many tanks, they would be unable to shift and respond against a speed-based opponent and the tanks would die, one by one as they got flanked. If the boss was impervious to crushing damage, anyone with a blunt weapon wasn’t wanted. Likewise, if slash was ineffective, they would want to reduce their sword users.
There was no answer to their problem.
Bladescape stepped forward. “I pledge the raid party six Wondercolts! We may not know what works best, but you will have the best, most well-rounded party I can assemble.”
“Thank you,” Heathcliff said with a somber nod. “As usual, the Knights of the Bloodoath will have a party as well. Two if needed. That gives us twelve members.”
“Make that eighteen,” Klein said. “Fuurinkazan will fight.”
After that, more players began to declare their intention to fight. The total number ended up being less than thirty. A pitiful number, but one that reflected the difficulty of Floor 75. Hopefully more would join them before the raid happened. No formal parties were set up. They would stay as adaptive as possible for the start of the raid, and hopefully solidify a strategy quickly.
As they exited the meeting, Bladescape looked at Astro who nodded before speaking. “I have players to avenge and I was slated to die. I’m going and I’m going to make sure it dies, or die myself ensuring you win. If Floor Seventy-Five is supposed to be my final Floor, I won’t try and cheat death. I’ll look it in the eye and face it like the warrior I am.”
“Okay,” Bladescape said with a nod. “No sacrificing yourself, but I understand. Just remember, it doesn't have to be you. Let’s get back to the others. By now, they will have made it back from their day off and should be assembled.”
They teleported back to Thorn Island and entered their castle. Everyone was waiting for them in the guild hall. Since it was a general meeting, only the junior and senior officers, support officers, and Doombunny had to adhere to seating rules. With the councilors seated, the Wondercolts waited for the address.
It fell on Bladescape to conduct the meeting. "Every Twenty-Five Floors, the boss is exponentially harder than the Floors before it. Twenty-Five was a poisonous landscape and we struggled to adjust to that unknown. We were unprepared, and way too many lives were lost as overzealous players stretched themselves past their limits and paid the ultimate price for it. Floor Fifty's boss battle was a long one, to put it lightly. We cleared Floor Seventy-Five remarkably fast despite the difficulty, with a honed efficiency. We didn't lose a single player clearing it, however, the boss chamber this round will be no joke. This time we know only one thing: The raid party will have no ability to leave. Once we go in, the doors will shut and we will either be successful, or we will die. There is no teleporting out and no way to open the doors from the inside."
Wondercolts whispered back and forth for a minute before Bladescape gently hushed them and continued.
"Several names have been thrown out: The Phoenix, The Skull Reaper, Grogar the Terrible, Somnambula Sphinx, Dorz'l the Chaos Drake, and Yamata no Orochi. Still, we know nothing. It may not even be one of them, and we don’t even know what each of those bosses are. All we know for sure is that half of the scouting party made it to the center of the room, and the doors closed before Astro could lead her party inside. Ten players are already dead from this boss, but all Wondercolts were with Astro outside the chamber.
“I pledged a full party of Wondercolts. We will need a well-rounded team, able to handle any situation. Therefore, I have decided that our squad will consist of a heavy team with a focus on being damage dealers, while still allowing us to operate in a Forward roll. Naturally, Backbreaker will be coming with me. We also will need Diemond and Joltron. Astro and AFCK will round out our party."
"Now hold on!" Thunderborne demanded, standing up. "First off, why not me? Second, if you can't teleport out, then you are putting three of our five councilors on the line."
"I am aware," Bladescape calmly replied. As expected, the rest of the Council was content to leave it up to her. They trusted her to make this executive decision. "In response to your valid concern, our replacements are as followed: Lobelia shall take the head of this Council. Kiefer will join the Council in second seat because he has the experience and knowledge to guide the council in our Wondercolts image. Kamishi will take third seat. Knightstar and Shikiku will take seat four and five."
Shikiku was quiet, but obviously shocked. Knightstar stood up, and protested. "No, no no," She stammered. "I am the statistician. We said I wouldn't be a councilor. We know where it will end. We know-"
"Knightstar!" Bladescape barked. It was harsher than she wanted, but she had to stop Knightstar before she spiraled out of control. "Yes, we know where it went last time. Your friends are here, and the duties of the Councilors are more spread out than they had been. We have a solid structure to support that Council. If I couldn't trust in you to handle it, I would not have said your name. You have the empathy and statistical know-how to lead them."
"AFCK isn't even paying attention!" Thunderborne interrupted. "I'm the better fighter!"
"You are a liability," Bladescape coldly stated. "You have much to learn. This isn't a sports team, it's war. This is not a battle to claim glory. I gave up my chance at the Floor Fifty LAB to make sure Kirito ended the battle. The team is set. I need you here, ready to continue keeping loyal to the Wondercolts way. To keep them all going in our absence."
"Perhaps," Lobelia said, slipping in. "While she does have more to learn, I may use her loyalty to our way of life, our ethos, and place her as either our Lieutenant in place of Kiefer, or maybe on the Council in place of either Knightstar or Shikiku. It will be on my shoulders to ensure the Wondercolts survive, and I will deal with any aftermath as I see necessary.
"If it comes to that, I support your choice in your council," Bladescape coldly affirmed. "I believe that it is well balanced and it certainly is a strong group of leaders."
Bladescape looked at everyone scanning the room. “The battle is scheduled for tomorrow at One O'clock. It will give us raiders time to make the final preparations in the morning."
With the meeting over, the exodus was quick and quiet. Knightstar and Shikiku stayed, but that was expected. Their roles allowed them to. Thunderborne defiantly stayed as well.
Kiefer's presence wasn't in defiance. "Permission to stay, in case things do go wrong, so that I am ready to adjust."
"Granted," Astro said. She looked at Thunderborne. "Thunder, half of the proposed bosses are not going to be good for your rapier."
Bladescape spring boarded off of Astro. "We need heavy hitting Forwards like AFCK and myself. Astro is coming because we have no better pair than her and Joltron. Thunder, make sure your rapier strikes down the final boss if we fail."
"I'm not going to die," Astro said, pausing. "Well, I am terrified. I had the boss chamber door slam in my face. I was almost on the inside. I saw their marked off names on the Monument of Life. Part of me doesn't want anything to do with this fight, and yet, I want to get even and kill the boss. I knew those players who died. They deserve retribution. It is for them that I go."
"Thank you for your honesty," Bladescape said.
Diemond spoke up. "Blade, Darling, do you remember what we talked about the other day?"
"I know you are scared, Diemond, but I have seen you, from the very start. You have a strong and unyielding shield. Almost as strong as BB. BB is an insanity that should never be compared to when it comes to tanks. Diemond, I wouldn't have said your name if I wasn't completely sure you could handle it. You are the essence of fierce. A beauty to be reckoned with. And in your diamond armor, you will prevail. As an added bonus, you now match with Joltron as the crystal tanks."
Diemond didn’t respond. The sentiments were nice, and true, but she wasn’t happy with the decision. Bladescape didn’t want to send anyone beside herself and Astro into the boss battle, but they needed strong fighters who could keep their cool under pressure. The team she chose could do that. The only downside was that it was composed of some of the most important Wondercolts. Nothing could be done about that.
Bladescape knew one thing for sure: Tomorrow would be a day that would live on in infamy, across any and all realities and realms.
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 102 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing – Extended Weight Carry - Greatsword - Rend - Reveal
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 91 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry – Search - Martial Arts - Blade Throwing
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 96 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts – Acrobatics - Sprint - Rend
AFCK(PP): Lvl 90 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon – Musical Instrument - Rend - Search
Diemond (R): Lvl 90 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making – Extended Weight Carry - Rend - Search
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 98 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal -- Fencing - Sprint - Armor Pierce
Astro (PS): Lvl 94 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry – Extended Wight Carry - Search - Martial Arts
Kiefer: Lvl 92 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts - Search - Armor Pierce - Sprint - Blade Throwing
Lessa: Lvl 89 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search - Acrobatics - Wood Carving
Joltron: Lvl 90 – 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 - Acrobatics - Rend
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 85 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce - Purchase Negotiation - Sale Negotiation
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3 more chapters!!!!
This is it. The true Endgame. First the Skull Reaper, then the reveal and final battle. Can’t wait to see their reactions to that.
Also a few more Equestria references managed to sneak in I see. Grogar the Terrible, Somnambula Sphinx, and Yamata no Orochi, Dorz'l the Chaos Drake. Not sure if Phoenix is one too but they all sound cool.
I would've liked to see all the Wondercolts there for the boss fight. (ya know why) It would've been a nice moment, but it does make a lot more sense for some to stay behind.
10725744
Well, Yamata no Orochi is a multiheaded Japanese mythology dragon. 8 heads I believe. Dorz'l the Chaos Drake is confirmed Floor 91 boss, who shows up in the Ordinal Scale movie. But the others, yes, totally dropped in references. I had those planned for a while.
10725746
I actually don't know why. Maybe I am forgetting something simple. lol
10725788
Well, ya know, cause it's the end of SAO and it'd be nice to have the whole gang together.
Well, we are in the end game now.
Too bad this isn't going to go the Abridged version. Well, let's see what changes the 'Colts existence wrought, shall we?
10725795
Oh, that reason. Yeah, but it just didn't make sense. Plus they don't know its the end. The characters have to have a plan for after.
10725858
It's fine, they already had their big team moment during the Sirens boss.
this is the reveal fight isn't it?
102? Hot damn... The gaps. Between them are slowly growing.balso- with so many boss names... We sure it's not discord?
Far too true
I think you mean "it" and not if lol. Great update, keep it up!
10726496
Thanks! All fixed! I heavily edit each episode. My editor goes through them. I run through those edits and make any final changes, but stuff slips through sometimes. Annoying, but reality. I'm thankful to have an editor, and one who can go through the process correctly. I know there are a lot of stories I've read on here that I stop reading because they are not edited well. He catches a lot. A writer always needs that outside perspective. It is also why professional editors rarely work alone.
I had a beta reader till about chapter 30, but then IRL stuff required their attention, which totally is understandable. I just lost my second reader/editor/conceptionist for Ruby Palace too. Ensuring that what I publish is the best possible is a difficult challenge. I'm always looking for beta readers.
We're in the End Game now, Tinky Winky...
10726521
I too have given up on reading quite a few storys due to excessively bad editing/grammar/spelling/etc. Your story though has been very well edited with only a few errors here and there I ever really noticed hehe. I used to do a lotta pre reading for a friend of mine over in fanfiction.net, mainly pointing the errors out to him via trillion.
Also in regards to your story, I feel like SAO is somehow being influenced by Equestrian magic more and more. The odds of Adagio Sonata and Aria showing up in SAO as bosses? Insanely low. now add in Grogar? and and obvious Discord ref? yeah cannot be just coincidence lol
10726562
The only two MLP references were Grogar the Terrible and Somnambula Sphinx. Dorz'l the Chaos Drake is not a reference to Discord. It is a legit Floor Boss! Floor 91
static.wikia.nocookie.net/swordartonline/images/4/42/Dorz%27l_the_Chaos_Drake.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20191025173153
Poor Silica having to run from it! lol.
Edit: Oh, yeah, I meant to say, yes, there are some ways it is wiggling in.
10726580
I count each siren as One just because I can *giggles*
ah i see hehe. That still makes 5 equestrian references inside SAO though
On a random unrelated note, while she has not appeared on screen in your story so to speak. I would not be surprised if Yui has run into Pinkie Pie/AFAK a few times hehe, just something that popped into my head
10726709
I know I have more than 5. Took me time to find them all, and I am sure I am missing more, but Harmonic Salvation is a reference to the Elements of Harmony and how many times they have been the pony's salvation. Plate of Veracity, worn by BB/AJ, Veracity means habitual truthfulness, a reference to her element. Geode Splitter is a reference to their geodes. Kiefer's Katana is Mistmane's fury, named for Mistmane, the Pillar of Equestria. Joltron's Starlight Axe is a reference to Starlight Glimmer. New members include Babs. Thunder's Soccer team is the Rainboooms.
I have plans for Yui in Ruby Palace. The girls do kind of break Yui's arc. She would be more attracted to them. I think I have a solution to that though. And Ruby Palace will have even more references! lol.
10726793
VEEEERRRRY interesting!! Also how the blazes did I totally over look those being references?! XD
10726865
You overlooked them because I did things right! Outright references can be fun and they have their place, but they typically are like a bump in the road for the reader, distracting them as they drive through the story. Most references are best left subtle, and too many makes the story feel weak and unimportant. Sure, the Sirens made a great reference, but more importantly, I could tweak them into an RPG style boss that fits in SAO. Weapons names are not always used either, but I do give it to you. I am not sure how often I have used Babs as a character in Aincrad. I don't think she has come up much, but her name was stated at least once in chapter, and comes up several times in the third commercial break, because she is Shicho, Leading Private, in the Wondercolts ranks. I know, the Commercial Breaks are a lot of info and boring, but they are great for referencing back while reading the story. As I said, most references are best played subtle.
Apparently I have had some references to other things, but it was an accident because I didn't know the place it came from.
Ruby Palace will change a bit how I do references, because I will be bringing in more of the EQG/MLP into the story as a true crossover, but still set in SAO. The goal is to subtly mesh the two so that neither feels alien or out of place. I have a better base for that, but keep your eye out. I love to slip references in. I have a sheet for planned references. They will be there. They won't just be from either universe either. I have them planned from games, real life, popular books, music, and TV/Movies.
Oh the tension, you know how to keep us flared up Mind.
3 chapters for the final battle, I hope it's gonna be 2 chaps for skull reaper and the last one for the big reveal and final duel, cause if you make a talking chapter in between I'll be raging all around.
10728908
Thank you! I do enjoy creating a good cliff hanger. You won't get another talking chapter.
Psst! Look again
10735432
Yes. My readers were kind.
media0.giphy.com/media/lrJFm8X5pkAZ02YzVU/giphy.gif
Damn.
I'm already sweating bullets of what's coming next.
Rip Yamaha.