Episode 49 - Kiessa
Floor 59
April 15 – Year 2
Bladescape pushed open the doors to their Headquarters, leading the others in. She was about to turn around to head to the nearest farming area, but she wasn't planning on going alone.
"Kiefer, Lessa, don't get comfortable," Bladescape said. "I want you two with me. Overnight training trip. We leave in 30 and, AFCK, can you make us some overnight bags?"
"Me!" Kiefer exclaimed. "And Lessa?"
"Yeah?" Lessa asked, confused but intrigued.
"Don't worry Lessa, you won't be the tank," Bladescape clarified. "I fight beside Kiefer a lot, he fights besides you a lot, and I never fight beside you. So the three of us, together."
"But," Kiefer stuttered. "But we just got back from a long day clearing the catacombs. Just because Fuurinkazan was with us, it didn't make it any easier."
"You two should go," Knightstar said. "I mean, you two will go. Bladescape isn't going to do anything stupid. We discussed the fact that we need to be running more overnight training sessions, even after we have heavy clearing days. We have to stay on top statistically. It matters. The three of you will be fine."
AFCK came skipping out of the kitchen with three food sacks. She tossed each of them one with a lot of pep for someone who had been fighting all day long in one of the toughest places currently accessible in Aincrad. They could always count on AFCK to have a bounce in her step.
It didn't even take them fifteen minutes to be ready to head out again, but Bladescape still gave them the remaining 15 to rest.
"Where are we heading?" Kiefer asked.
"Floor 54," Bladescape replied. "There is a long lake in the west. All along in the sandy shore, buried, are sand crabs. Big crabs that come out and attack you. High defense, high XP, high attack, but slow movement and attack speed. It is really easy to avoid their claws. Their carapaces are giant domes, so they have limited vision and attack capabilities. You rack up the XP quickly with decent Col earnings. I was killing them in droves the other night with no trouble. And it isn't a hot training ground, yet."
They teleported to the closest teleported plaza and began to move to the location. It was busier than when Bladescape had been there the other night, but there was no wait time. Several spawn points along the beach were not being used. Others had a rotation going within their party so they could rest overnight. Those "off duty" were further back from the water, outside the targeting range of the crabs, either lounging or sleeping.
"Watch me," Bladescape said. "I will show you their attack patterns and how to avoid their claws."
Bladescape advanced forward to where a crab's shell was barely sticking out of the sand. She just had to look for the sand colored "rock". It popped out with quite a bit of speed and advanced, clapping its pincers. Bladescape let it come in close and then skipped to the side. It took a long time for it to turn. It was skilled at forward and backwards movement, but not side movement, unlike most of the crabs I.R.L.
When it was finally facing Bladescape, she drove Battering Ram into its face. It was a critical hit location and very easy to strike when planned right. The crab was reduced to polygons. The shell protected it everywhere but the face. And that always dealt critical damage.
The next one came out of the sand and Bladescape demonstrated how to block its claws with her weapon defense. She used an advanced technique, performing a two-handed spin with her sword making it a giant round shield to absorb or deflect the attack. For the claws, it could take three attacks. Either the crab went in three times with the same pincer, or twice with an alternation. Either way, it was forced into a cooldown period and Bladescape retaliated with a perfect thrust from Harmonic Salvation. Again, it was to the face and the crab was finished.
A third crab came at Bladescape. She skipped out of its reach to the side. "I doubt either of your weapons are heavy enough for this," Bladescape advised. She skipped around to the rear as the crab tried to face her. With a heavy downward slash her weapon's weight broke the shell and decimated the crab, but it left her with a longer delay.
Kiefer switched with Bladescape as the fourth crab came at her. He used the distraction Bladescape was inadvertently providing and slashed it in the face with a Katana Sword Skill. The slash decimated its health. He parried the retaliatory claw attack and then stabbed the crab in the face. That destroyed it. He tried the shell break with the next crab. After getting to its back, his Katana, Mistmane's Fury, glowed a dark red and he unleashed a downward slash. It shattered the shell and crab, but it did leave him with a long delay. The crabs were slow enough that he was safe, but the heavier attacks were better left to last ditch efforts.
Lessa switched in. Her shield was very effective at blocking the claws. Her new sword, Hankyu, made very easy work of the Crabs in a counter attack. Its attack range was impressive, and its slim profile favored stabbing, which was exactly what she needed to destroy the crabs in a single thrust.
They continued switching out at a rate of ten crabs. After 89 crabs had been killed, the spawn point needed to recharge. Unfortunately, the spawn points on either side of them had become occupied. They were a decent enough distance away. The three of them backed out of the targeting zone and sat down. The recharge time was approximately 14 minutes, but it was longer if you were in the targeting range.
"This is pretty good," Kiefer said as he scrolled through his stats. "I keep getting crab meat and shells from them. I wonder what the shells are good for."
"Probably armor," Bladescape yawned as she was sprawled out on the beach. "But I think the advantage of this place is that it is slower XP than some of the other popular spots. But since those fill up, we have a faster rotation, balancing it out in our favor.
"This would dry up quickly if all the Wondercolts came," Lessa commented. "We could blow through 89 crabs with incredible speed. We would spend five-times as long waiting rather than fighting. It would really lower our XP yield."
"It would," Bladescape agreed. "And that means it will attract less attention from the bigger guilds. If they want to train in full parties, they won't be able to here. Which will mean less players come here to train. And that is alright with me."
"You are going to be here, a lot," Lessa said. There was some regret and pity to the comment.
"I will be," Bladescape nodded. "But I will grind away for eternity until I can get you all free. On Floor 2, we were Level 11. We got to Floor 40 in the 50s. Now we at Floor 59 and the guild is basically only 10 levels above it. The point is, that with each Floor, we lose levels. The closer to the Ruby Palace we get, the closer the Floor Number gets compared to our levels. We used to be double, triple, and higher times the Floor number, now we are maintaining only a small margin above the Floor number. So we have to be dedicated. And I have to be dedicated to make sure I am the strongest leader the guild can have. The stronger I am, the stronger the guild is. So I will grind away as much as I can, no matter how boring it will get."
"Crab spawned," Kiefer said, jumping up and charging in.
The 89 crabs were dispatched with ease. With three of them rotated in, it barely took them 15 minutes to cut them all down. They were back to lounging almost annoyingly soon.
"Look," Bladescape said after drinking some water. "We all have to train. And we are starting a new rotation. I want you, Kiefer, to be able to lead a small party to do this as well. But there is another reason I wanted both of you to come with me. Knightstar and I are on to your two's romance. Or sort of romance. And we support it."
Lessa was blushing a deep red and Kiefer tried to dry his now sweating palms on his metal scale armor.
"I think it is just us two," Bladescape clarified. "And probably AFCK. But AFCK probably doesn't realize the others are not aware."
"You support it?" Kiefer asked, shocked. "But if it fails, then we still have to be guild mates."
"So?" Bladescape pushed. She looked at both of them and saw that it was Kiefer who was hesitant. She had thought it was Lessa who was holding back. "That is life. Failure. Sometimes you don't connect with people like you think you will. But if that is why you are not going for it, that is a dumb reason. Life is more than that. Especially in this hellish nightmare."
"Well?" Lessa asked Kiefer. "You have been the one greeting me in the morning and making sure I was the first and last person I saw each day. I have been waiting on you. What is holding you down?"
Kiefer sighed and flopped down so he was laying down all the way on the sandy shore. "It's..."
Kiefer stalled out, unsure what was holding him back. Yes, it could end badly, but it could go very well. He purposefully ran out the time until the crabs re-spawned so he could think. Bladescape and Lessa didn't push him for several rotations. He was trapped and they were giving him as much space as possible.
"Newsflash!" Bladescape exclaimed as they sat down to wait once again. It was just past 1 am and it was time to push Kiefer to get an answer "We only get one life. And virtual or not, every day in here is a day in your life. We are not losing a day. We are trading off. So, make it count."
"And if this falls apart after?" Lessa asked. She had been considering that option for a while now.
"Friends don't come and go," Bladescape said with a smile. "Boyfriends and girlfriends sometimes do. But there is one thing that Kiefer will always have that you will struggle to find in any other guy: He lived through this death game, and he will have done it besides you.
"And the same goes for you Kiefer. Those dark nights where you lay awake and think back on all the bad things you did, or the horrible things you experienced, do you want a woman who tries her best but can't really understand, or do you want a friend who does? Friends can be more.
"And that level of comfort you can provide each other by understanding what it means to be stuck in here and having to have faced the trials we have, well it doesn't get more powerful than that. Even if it doesn't work out, the reality is that you can't live your life on the possibility of failure. Sure, it is real, but going into something like a relationship, you have to believe that it will last. Which is why it makes break-ups hard.
"But the end reward is amazing if you stick it out. You guys already know each other I.R.L, and you have gotten to get to know each other even better in here. Your relationship has been put through so much strain, and it is pushing you together, not putting you at odds with each other.
"But that is just my advice." Bladescape shrugged. "You two have to make that choice for yourselves."
"My greatest fear is not protecting you because I am focusing on combat," Kiefer admitted.
Lessa replied honestly. "If you don't put your full focus there, you will die. That is something that we cannot have happen. And if you die because you are focusing on protecting me instead of the game, that is even worse. You are one of our best fighters and your focus for us all needs to be fighting for us all."
Lessa slid over to Kiefer and hugged him tightly. "Besides. I am on the front line and doing fine. It's not like you have anything to be worried about. I am strong in here. I won't go down. Especially with our friends. They will make sure none of us Wondercolts die. And you know how close we have gotten at times."
"Alright," Kiefer said, trying to cradle her helmeted head as she hugged him. "Then let's do this. Lessa will you date me? Will you join my side permanently so we can support each other?"
"Yes," Lessa said, sighing contentedly into his chest.
"Times up," Bladescape announced as the next sand crabs began to burrow out from the sand.
They went back to cutting them down as they spawned under the virtual sand. Bladescape saw Lessa have a new edge in the fight. Kiefer didn't lose his. He was at the peak of his game, and seeing him not being distracted in a fight was exactly why he would survive. Why they both would survive.
After they cleared out the crabs and were forced to wait for the respawn, Bladescape told them her plan. "Like I said earlier, I am pretty certain that only Knightstar and I know. And probably AFCK. At least, it's not been discussed by the other members. So you guys will need to make an announcement. Probably best done at breakfast."
"We can do that," Kiefer said. "I would be glad to tell the guild in a few hours."
"Same," Lessa smiled.
Lessa had finally gotten what she wanted the past few months. Kiefer had come out of his shell to actually state what he wanted, and it was her. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. It was not only helping her fight better; she now had something to go home to.
When they got back to their Headquarters it wasn't quiet. It was too loud for it being so early.
Bladescape, Lessa, and Kiefer walked into the Guild Hall to find Backbreaker sitting down at her council spot, frustrated and angry. Knightstar was pacing back and forth in front of the table, and the others were off to the left, while Doombunny was on the right, defiantly sitting in a chair with Colorra on her lap. Everyone was in their sleepwear except Doombunny who was outfitted for combat.
"There you are!" Backbreaker exclaimed. It stopped Knightstar from pacing.
"What happened?" Bladescape asked. "I left a few hours ago and everything was fine. It feels like a bomb went off in here."
"More like a truth bomb," Backbreaker spat. "One filled with lies and deceit."
"Very helpful," Bladescape said, crossing her arms. "Will one of you explain what is going on."
Knightstar screamed in anger and thrust her finger at the defiant Doombunny. "She has been breaking the rules and sneaking out! I caught her coming back in twenty minutes ago! Without a partner! She was in a party with me and AFCK and she dared to leave! She could have been kidnapped or killed by Laughing Coffin!"
Doombunny snubbed her nose at the notion.
Bladescape's eyes bore down on Doombunny. "You have been sneaking out‽ For what! The friend I know doesn't do that. She is too afraid to break the rules. She is wise enough to understand why they are the rules."
Doombunny's voice was cold as she sliced them with the real truth. "Your friend doesn't exist. Not anymore. I'm not Fluttershy in here, remember? I'm Doombunny. And it's not my fault Laughing Coffin is around."
Doombunny's grin was cocky and mischievous. "Do you really think Laughing Coffin would dare try and take me? Do you really think I am so helpless that I can't see them coming? I maxed Hide, Search, and Listen. There is nothing I don't see or hear that happens around me. You all have too little faith in me.
"And it really has shown. What level am I?"
Bladescape had no idea how to respond to that. Neither did Knightstar as she went off, losing her temper as she verbally assaulted Doombunny.
"What! What does level have to do with this‽ We are starting a new training regimen. We will get you to level 70 shortly. We will put you in first. But wanting level 70 doesn't warrant breaking our trust. We have rules for a reason!"
"And what level are you?" Doombunny snapped at Bladescape.
Bladescape huffed but held her tongue from causing more strife. "79. I'm level 79. But if you wanted level 70 that bad, we could have worked out a fair, safer way to do that. Laughing Coffin-"
"Will die if I ever see them!"
They were all shocked into silence at the words. They were hard, true, and Doombunny, or Fluttershy, wasn't the person to make a promise she wouldn't keep. But it still meant she was openly stating she would kill them.
"Colorra would destroy them," Doombunny stated coldly. The ice was sharp as it cut through the air to reach their ears. "She would die before she let them take me or kill me. And Laughing Coffin is a gang of murderers. They don't have the guts to kidnap me. They know how it would end.
"After my duel with Yamata, I started to reevaluate things. The rule was unnecessary and I needed to put in a little risk to gain the greater reward: experience. I had to make sure I could still aggressively gain levels. And you all had slacked off. Which leaves me on the bottom of it all with no chance to gain XP.
"I've been sneaking out since mid February and I'm far past level 70. I'm pushing Level 75. Colorra and I have our own training grounds. A few places where the enemies are weak to poison, but plentiful. They don't stand a chance as I reap in the XP at rates faster than you ever can Bladescape.
"I'm not going to be a scared little girl in here. I'm not going to be forced to be afraid. I'm not going to be helpless. The stakes may be higher, but I am still going to be me. And I have a home to get to. You, Bladescape, don't get to capitalize on the overnight solo leveling trips."
Bladescape was about to respond but Diemond butted in. Her voice was full of concern. "But Doom, you are our Fluttershy. We have nothing against you getting stronger, but you are still our friend. This is all very unlike you."
Doombunny was cold as she mercilessly retorted with the truth. "News flash! This is our reality. We call it virtual because we all believe we have machines in another world connected to our brains that put us in this reality. This is our reality! Either we die with this as our reality, or we clear Floor 100 to regain the other reality. Until either, there is no other reality."
It was a similar argument to what Bladescape had been making to Kiefer and Lessa only a few hours before. But coming from an angry Doombunny, the words stung. Bladescape had said those words, but she had never heard them come from another's mouth. Especially one that was throwing them in her face.
"I am no longer your sweet, innocent Fluttershy. I've killed creatures I would have cared for. I no longer have a bunny for a pet, but a poison snake who wouldn't hesitate to eat Angel. I am no longer a weak, meek, person. I am a strong, vicious, beast tamer who is on the Assault Team. I've killed a Floor Boss, something you haven't even done, Diemond. Only, BB and Thunder can make that claim. Not even our best, Bladescape, can state that."
Diemond was almost crying as Doombunny drove her final argument, pointing at each of them. "You are no longer Rarity. You are no longer Twilight Sparkle. You are no longer Applejack. You are no longer Rainbow Dash. You are no longer Pinkie Pie. You are no longer Sunset Shimmer. You are no longer Poly Stitch. You are no longer Isoroku. You are no longer Soshi. You are no longer Nanami. And I am no longer Fluttershy!"
Doombunny stood up defiantly as she continued over Diemond's tears. Colorra almost fell to the ground in the quick move, but the snake was better than that as it got to her shoulders, perching herself on Doombunny in a coil that was ready to strike. A big warning to them all.
"What you all were in that world is gone,” Doombunny coldly continued. “All that matters is what you are now. And that is stats and skills. Not farmer, or athlete, or fashionista, or baker, or anything you once were! I've made myself a name in this game! Do you even know the names the other players know me as?"
No one knew what her nicknames were. AFCK had tears, but wasn't sobbing like Diemond. Joltron had his hand on AFCK to try and comfort her as he held his own breath from the attack. Backbreaker looked like she had just touched something hot. Thunderborne and Astro were angry and both of their nostrils were flared as they seethed. Knightstar looked like she had been stabbed, with the blade still driven through her chest. Kiefer was holding Lessa. And Sunset Shimmer leaned against the wall, trying to mask the sharp knife of reality that had been plunged into her heart and ripped Sunset Shimmer out from Bladescape, separating the two of them She thought she had come to terms with their situation, but she wasn't as far along as she thought she was. She could say it, but she couldn't hear it.
Doombunny didn't stop. She was angry and worse, cold as she threw ice water in their faces to make them wake up. "Some call me Snake Charmer. Others prefer Viper. Thanatos is picking up as well and Baipagaru is also being thrown about. All are respectful and reverent of my skills and position as a Wondercolt and even more important, a member of the Assault Team."
"Death," Knightstar said out loud, instead of in her head as intended. She realized her mistake and was in a position which forced her to explain what she meant. She tried to do it as calmly as she could. Knightstar reached up to fix her glasses, but they still were not there for her to nervously play with. "One of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In the original language, Death is translated to Thanatos. As quoted: 'When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.' It is a dangerously accurate name for her as a beast tamer with the most poisonous animal in the game."
"I'm not going to be stupid," Doombunny snapped back. "But I am not going to be dragged down until I am a pathetic and useless combatant. I will keep up with you and go past you if I have to. And if you fall apart, I am sure I could gain a place with the Knights of the Bloodoath, maybe Fuurinkazan, and most certainly in Geigi Clan. I know where I am going, are you coming with me, or not?"
"I am," Bladescape immediately said with every ounce of authority she had left. It was stronger and louder than intended, but she wasn't going to let someone interrupt her. "You are right. We dropped the ball with you. It isn't cool that you broke the rule, but it isn't cool we tried to enforce it without giving you an option to be as aggressive as you want to be. The truth of the matter is we didn't want to lose our Fluttershy. I thought I had come to terms with our situation, but I guess I have more to do. I still want to get home, but I have to embrace here to do that. We are on Floor 59. 41 more Floors to conquer. That is going to be a lot of time at the rate we have been going."
"A lot of players depend on us," Doombunny said, a bit softer. "We can't afford to slack off. With each Floor, we get closer to our current level. And that makes it harder and less safe to be on the front lines. We can't afford to have to take extended breaks off the front lines to farm XP."
"You are right," Knightstar agreed. "We are going to be doing overnight training sessions in rotation-"
"Screw the rotation," Bladescape snapped. "You are all well rested. We will hit the Labyrinth today and then we will do an overnight training session. Kiefer, Lessa, and Doom will sleep because they did it tonight, but the rest of us will hit it hard. We will get into an aggressive 36-12 routine."
"What about you," Knightstar rebuked. "You just did an overnight trip yourself and need to sleep as much as them. And it still doesn't give a response to the ruling of the guild being disregarded for months by Doombunny!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Bladescape shouted, before her tone became bitter. "I don't give a crap. Yes, Doombunny disobeying the protection rules is a problem, but finally, finally, someone else in this guild took their own initiative. If we followed the rules we laid down, I couldn't take her out alone with me. We abandoned her. I am happy she took the initiative."
Backbreaker stood up suddenly from her chair. "I'm goin' fishin'. Y'all do what y'all wanna do." With that decided, she walked out the front door.
"Well that's just great," Knightstar said, sarcastically. "Now what are we supposed to do without our main tank!"
"Hey!" Joltron exclaimed. "Are Diemond and I not good enough for you?"
"That's not what I meant. I mean, it is what I meant, but not that way," Knightstar lost all sensibility as her rambling contradicted itself.
Diemond left the room in the direction of her crafting room. AFCK huffed and went to the kitchen. Kiefer rolled his eyes and took Lessa's hand, guiding her upstairs so they could get some rest. Thunder and Astro walked out as well. Joltron departed for the kitchen and Doombunny had disappeared.
Bladescape and Knightstar were left staring at each other. Neither spoke a word. Knightstar might know the stats and game mechanics, but Bladescape was the real leader because of her instincts and combat experience. She had ten levels on Knightstar for a reason they both knew. Both were critical to the Wondercolts' survival, but they were clearly ranked One and Two for a reason.
Knightstar hadn't gone to a Floor Boss battle since the Third Floor. She was too afraid, but she wasn't about to admit it and look weak. She still had a reputation she was trying to protect, but Bladescape and Knightstar both knew that she needed the Wondercolts more than they needed her. The Wondercolts got her the stats and numbers she used. If she wasn't running with them, she wouldn't be able to stay at the top of the game for long.
Bladescape broke the impasse by turning around and walking out the guild hall doors to go do more solo hunting. She didn't expect to see Doombunny leaning against the exterior doors. Doombunny tossed her a small vial. Bladescape caught it and knew immediately what it was. It was poison, and probably a new and very strong one.
"Want to see how I solo hunt?" Doombunny asked. She was still on edge, but not as cold. She had a lot of reason to be guarded.
Bladescape grinned. "Please. That was something I was wondering. Especially since you said you didn't hunt at the normal farming locations."
"I have enough poison on me to cover you for the day," Doombunny stated in a clipped tone as she opened the front door. "But it won't be easy. For you that is. I don't have to wait for spawns. I go from one right to the next."
"Speed killing," Bladescape said as they headed to the teleport plaza. "Not farming."
"Exactly," Doombunny smirked slyly as she stepped onto the teleport platform. "I have never had a defensive skill, which means attack as fast and as furiously as possible while alone." She switched topics. "Also, are Kiefer and Lessa together?"
"That was the big point of taking both of them last night," Bladescape said as she stood up beside Doombunny. "Yes, they finally are."
"Good," Doombunny said. "Because I can hear everything in the building. I don't even try to hear it, but I do. It was getting annoying listening to the indecision."
They teleported to Floor 52 to begin their hunt.
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 74 – 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
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Well then, A nice unexpected surprise indeed.
Fluttershy rejecting her real life name and saying she is only Doombunny honestly hurts a little. She really has changed and I am not entirely sure for the better.
10242375
What just happened proved that they all need a rest from the front lines
10242417
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Absolutely. Its getting to them all. You guys were commenting that the stress was getting too much. It finally is happening. It took a lot of work to get the fracture to be "right" and logical. I have to thank my editor for all the help.
10242375
It is interesting to me. Not sad. I see the positives of her surviving.
Joltron still has the blunt force weapon crafting
Well damn. I was not expecting fluttershy to crack first
10242444
Fixed! I swear I fixed that, but I guess not. But, did she crack first? AJ just walked out, Twilight Sparkle ripped her friend a new one, but Fluttershy seems to have the best grip on their current reality. She only broke the rules to get stronger.
10242450
Yeah she didn't really break. But made a persona.
It's the others and Bladescape that have
10242460
Exactly. Well, sort of for the others. Most of it is fractures, not breaks. Right now. Lessa and Kiefer are holding fine. But Knightstar, Backbreaker, and Bladescape were not on the same page at all.
10242450
Oh and from my last week comment. I'd want them to gain a handful of new guild mates to encourage them to get a bigger guildhall in a higher floor
10242587
But Floor 59 needs to be cleared first. They have to deal with the Necromancer still.
Regardless if they gain new Wondercolts or not, I have a fun new guild hall planned for them later.
10242466
Clearly.
10242621
Damn your right. They havent killed the floor boss yet
10242460
10242466
Its one thing to wear a warmask, but can she take it off?
Welp. Looks like we some people will definitely need some counseling in the real world.
That was messed up
Damn, Doom's going to Dom Blade SO HARD go BunnyScape go!
. Girl's got the attitude to survive. Let's hope the Wondercolts can ensure that really check.
And more importantly, let's hope they can get over the emotional scars when this is all done and over
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Yes, emotional scars after will be interesting. She certainly is displaying the mentality to survive. As long as she has her friends, she should be able to come back from the nightmare. Assuming they all can come back enough to support each other.
10243340
That's the problem isn't it? If they can't break free from their characters then they'll lose themselves to the game.
Twi handled that quite poorly. AJ of all people is running away and Flutter's is trying to just be Doom not realizing how much damage that is going to do.
They are a mess, but I'm proud of them for lasting this long before finally crumbling under the pressure.
10243350
What is worse: death, or "losing yourself to the game"? Yes, I know I just used a UK English grammar rule with the ?.
10243375
I'm glad someone is proud of them for lasting this long. Truth is, it was getting hard to logically keeping them from showing any signs of fraying or cracking.
Streeeeeessss!! That was bound to happen, but damn still a surprise.
10243407
I had buildups in their personal chapters.
10243399
That depends on the person. The story is still great by the way! I'm just worried for them and their friendship going forward.
Shy & Sunset dynamic duo
10243977
They are a blast to write, solo and together.
10243993
I enjoyed the part where Sunset just didn't give an F that Shy was out boosting her levels solo. Just happy that someone else didn't get complacent and was still going full throttle
10244006
It took a while to craft the entire incident. I'm mostly happy with it. Adding in that exact statement really brought it into alignment for what all was happening.
10232456
10232599
10242587
The main issue I see is under what circumstances they would accept new Guild members. They formed the Wondercolts because they all knew each other IRL, then took in Joltron, Lessa, and Kiefer in the early stages of the game. The aside blog posts also only mention the 8 from Canterlot, so I doubt any other of their friends or classmates are in the game and haven't met up with them yet.
At this point, with the possibility of PKing players in their sleep, or stealing Guild property, it would take a good amount of trust and/or precautions to let an unknown person in.
There are a few possible scenarios I can think of.
1. Sunset steps up recruitment to try and rival some of the other Clearing Guilds. She'd put up an announcement, take auditions, etc. It could be a good view of her ambition. The way I imagine it, some of the other Colts wouldn't be comfortable with it, and it would fall apart. Maybe one or two named characters would stick through it, and be accepted by the guild in the end.
2. They've mentioned getting a new Guild Hall already. What if they looked for one with a storefront attached to it. It could be a place to sell either Diemond's clothing and/or Pinkie's food. What they would need is either someone to manage the store and/or cover for current Guild members while they run it. Maybe there's a specific Merchant skill that players can learn, and they find someone that wants to develop it. Could also be a safe place for the children on floor 1 to learn a production skill.
10244407
Duel Blades is a unique skill and it was unknown that it was a skill until Kirito discovered it. Only a few people learned of it until Floor 74. The statement, at this time in the game, is true.
10244481
Both of those are solid ideas and your analytics of the situation is also on point
10245071
Absolutely! I've played for 15 years.
10245425
Thanks. These last 4 personal view chapters didn't get the last edit I wanted. An error on my end with my editor, but after, the editor has done amazing work.
The chapter name is a ship name. Take me a bit to see it.
what I see with crabs
all keep up now, can't wait for next Tuesday for more of this awesome story. And doom just give them all a hard and cold reality check and they should really take a break from the front lines soon.
Huh, neat
And this is what I was waiting for.. in this scenario one of two things is gonna happen, either your gonna be stuck trying to keep a hold of who you were, or your gonna embrace the new reality you have been stuck in.. most of the players in SAO that do the former never leave the bottom floors, the ones on the frontlines are better off embracing the new reality, or else they risk dying from hesitating in a moment where their old self could not succeed.. such as killing another person when say facing off against a member of laughing coffin.. To survive in this scenario you must embrace it or you will break under the pressure of holding on to who you were, and I think Sunny just realized that when Doombunny ranted at the group.
I ship it, and rarepie, apple dish, and doom blade. And as a side note I ship EVERYTHING. from the weird to awesome.
Such a sweet start and such a harsh ending. Horse guild starts crumbling and that's not good. Fluttershy just going fully into the game and stop caring about the others, AJ concern me for some reason, and Pinkie gonna have a bad time with those offenses along with Rarity.
As one wise man said "And now the true test... hold fast, or expire?"
And from the same man a perfect descriptions of Doombunny "She searches where others will not go... and sees what others will not see.", "
A man and his faithful beast. A bond forged by battle and bloodshed.
10246560
Those are some wise words and a great poem.
10246244
And yes, their first confrontation. It finally happened. Will they become the warriors they can in SAO, or will they stay themselves. Only time will tell.
10249274
I was never really arguing that it was something that wasn't possible in other games, the point i was arguing was that switching is a common practice in most mmos. Which it very much is not. Heck, in the games you mention, i doubt it's really used, even if it is possible (note, i play guild wars, the move away from the trinity means that there really isn't a way to control aggro at all. And, in the fights that boss targeting and positioning do matter, there are special aggro mechanics that would make switching impossible). I call switching an SAO-unique mechanic because it is the only game i can think of where doing techniques like that is both possible and actually useful.
10246244
Couldn't disagree more. Doombunny was the weakest link in the group and she just proved it. Under all the stress and pressure of nearly 2 years of constant death game all of the links of chain in their group were weathered and ready to break and Fluttershy was the first, she bent and warped her personality under the strain and came out tougher like how Sunset was trying to be to hold up the guild sure but rather than support her friends she immediately broke all the chains holding the group together. She put even more pressure on an already borderline suicidal/ready to give up Applejack, further depressed Rarity and Pinkie, and warped Sunset back into tearing people down rather than building them up like Fluttershy.
It's not this attitude that got them more than halfway through the game alive. And this mentality going forward is going to get people killed. It was already majorly hinted at with Klein's conversation about the front line needing to be rotated out for rest cause the rate they were going was going to break people.
Sunset was already pushing 3-4 hours of sleep a night trying not to fail her friends and now she that she has failed Fluttershy with Fluttershy not being Fluttershy anymore, Sunset being Sunset, rather than back down she's going to double down and get even less sleep and be even less aware of her surroundings during fights.
Also it's an MLP fic the correct answer is almost never "forget all that friendship shit, I'm stronger without my friends".
10250830
How does who they were in the "real world" matter? Until you let go of who you were to embrace who you can be in SAO, then you won't unlock your full potential. They each have their own stressors, but Doombunny was on point. Choosing to make sure she survives is critical. Her friends were not letter her grow and develop, so she was forced to chose her own path.
How things will develop will soon be seen.
Speech 100 achieved.
‽
Knew that they were starting to fall apart. Didn't think DB/FS would be the one to make it worse.
I have more to say but I have to wait till I get home to type it out.
So, several chapters now have had Doombunny at 69(giggles) in the chapter end stats, and now we learn she is actually 74. Was that an error in the previous entries, or deliberate to hide her soloing?
11138370
Deliberately hiding her soloing. SAO doesn't allow you to see a player's level. They have to reveal that info to you. The rest of the Wondercolts didn't know, so neither should the reader, in this case.