EQG: Sword Art Online - Aincrad

by Mindrop

Episode 76 - Castle Mania

Floor 61 - Front Line Floor 63
June 28 - Year 2

The crisp grass came into focus along with their castle. Beside Bladescape, Kamishi and Lobelia appeared. Lobelia gasped in surprise. Kamishi's mouth was open in shock. Bladescape gently pushed each of them forward so they got off the plaza for others to follow.

"Is that?" Kamishi asked, stalling out.

"A castle?" Bladescape finished. "Yes, it is a castle. Let's get these chairs put away and take a tour."

"Lead on," Lobelia said, a smile growing on her lips.

"We have a nice gatehouse, mostly for looks,” Bladescape explained as they got to it. “I mean, no one is going to be storming a castle in here, but looks still transfer to prestige. Our greeting chamber is nice and big."

"Plenty," Lobelia said. "Your old furniture looks so small in here."

"That it does," Bladescape replied. "The floor plan is a little scattered for my liking, but we have a main living room and several squad rooms in this building. Enough to cover our nine squads. The back corners also have stairs to the second and third floors."

They poked their heads into the dining hall.

"Pretty bare right now,” Bladescape continued. “We bought several more, cheap, tables to cover us for the time being. As well as some other chairs. We only did what we needed to because of the big orders we will be doing tomorrow. Now, just down here, this is the guild hall."

Bladescape smiled as they both marveled at the enormous space. They got to see it from different angles as they put their chairs against the far wall.

"Soon. This will have more seats than what we need," Bladescape explained. "We need to be able to host multiple guilds here, just in case."

"You always were a prepared group," Kamishi commented.

"Better ready than unsteady," Bladescape shrugged. "But we have a secret entrance and exit." It took Bladescape a moment to find it along the wall but the door swung open and they stepped into the back.

"And right here is the center staircase," Bladescape said as she took them up to the second floor. They made a brief stop there to glance at an open room and then headed up to the third.

"A small lounge for us," Bladescape said. "And on the other side of the stairs is a private council chamber for us. After that it is the other 5 rooms. Kiefer has the far one down there, by the stairs closest to the kitchen. That staircase is the closest to the entrance from the courtyard and the barracks. Shikiku will have her room right off it to be reachable but separated from us. AFCK has her room next to Shikiku, keeping her close to the kitchen."

"And you have the tower?" Lobelia asked.

"Yes," Bladescape nodded. "As we discussed."

"Good," Lobelia said, smiling warmly at Bladescape. "Our Kaisho deserves it."

"We have to go through it, but let me show you the top of the tower," Bladescape said. "You can see everything from there."

They followed Bladescape up into the tower.

"Nice room," Kamishi said. "I saw that we had a separate, interior chamber, from our main room, but the divider of status being the floor is nice."

"Who made these shields?" Lobelia asked. "Not to pry. We are supposed to be getting to the roof."

"It's not prying," Bladescape replied. "I did. I was trying it as a Skill. That and Heraldry, which is why they are painted. Rendil taught me. I didn't like it though. It certainly wasn't going to be a thing to do to relax. That became horseback riding. I even own a horse."

"Own a horse?" Kamishi asked, shocked. "I knew you could rent them, but they are notoriously difficult to control. I tried to make it work for a while early on, but it wasn’t worth it."

"I was taught by a skilled rider in real life and in here," Bladescape explained. "For a quest series I am doing. It's a solo series and it required combat on horseback. That is what my shorter sword, Bajutsu, is for. He is my cavalry blade."

Bladescape showed them up to the top of the tower. Both were, once again, speechless.

It was Lobelia who finally spoke first. "This view is gorgeous. You can see the whole floor in all its glory."

"You certainly can," Bladescape said.

They watched as the last of the Wondercolts arrived and got their look at the castle for the first time. Bladescape then brought them to the other side of the tower.

"That building is the barracks. It has 90 rooms. The back tower is the crafting center. The bottom is the forge and the second floor the cloth and fabric area. The third floor is where Diemond set up her room. She isn't the only one to move locations. Doombunny took up the gardener's hut in the back corner of our garden. I figured, we could put that shrine to your fallen friends in there, somewhere."

"With any luck, we won't add any Wondercolts," Kamishi solemnly stated. There wasn't a lot of hope in that statement. But as Bladescape understood it, one of the recently deceased members was one of Kamishi's guys, who he had started SAO with.

"I assume that is the football pitch?" Kamishi asked.

"Yep," Bladescape nodded. "At some point today, the nets and bleachers will be ready. Astro, Thunderborne, Kiefer, and Lessa will be handling it. They are made to easily snap together, not requiring any Skill to assemble. But the lines are painted. We did it inside the courtyard because it will help keep the ball from going over the cliff and into the water. I am sure we are going to lose a lot, and Thunderborne and Astro already bought a ton of extra balls, but it is a decent setup. It will be more than fine for 4 on 4 matches."

"Do you play?" Kamishi asked.

"I know how, but I am not that great," Bladescape replied.

"I assume Astro and Thunderborne will be on the same team, so want to join me?"

"Actually, they will be leading their own teams,” Bladescape chuckled. “We didn't even have to tell them to split up. They want to compete against each other as the captains of their own teams. But yeah, I'll join you in that."

"Sweet," Kamishi said, grinning in anticipation. "We can sort out what position you will play once we have the other two members. I will play center. I know it because that is what I played in high school. It was an after school, extracurricular league, but still fun."

"Three councilors should hype up the others to join," Lobelia added. "It will be good to have the league. Even just to sit and watch."

"I was planning on just watching," Bladescape replied. "But with the offer, well, why not? I think that is how the others will see it. Right?"

"That is all we need," Kamishi said. “It will be fun to do as a guild. Great team building, no matter if you are on the field on in the stands."

"That was the idea," Bladescape said, sighing contently.

"How much of it is ours?" Lobelia asked.

"The entire island is a safe zone and ours," Bladescape replied with a sly grin. "The walls only give us privacy from anyone teleporting in."

"That is a big front lawn," Lobelia snorted. "We are going to have to find something to do with it."

"Don't tempt anyone," Bladescape warned. "They could easily come up with something ridiculous to do with it. Diemond is already planning a second store day. It won't be as big as the first one, but we will still need to set things up. Either way, she is almost ready. The merger set her back, but it isn’t like she is on a schedule for it. We might do it outdoors, but indoors brings the players inside to marvel at our castle. "

"Marveling is good," Kamishi grinned. "And this time, you guys will have plenty of hands to help. You won't need to hire Fuurinkazan."

"We probably still will," Bladescape added. "Just for fun."

"You guys have a good relationship with them," Kamishi said. "One of the few guilds who do."

"Solid group of guys," Bladescape shrugged. "It probably was because we were the first girl guild-"

"Of two," Kamishi inserted.

"-to hit the front lines, but we did make a good connection with them on Floor 39 and then found ourselves having fun once we set the boundaries. All of us are still in high school. Klein still jokes with the pickup lines and flirting, but it is just fun between friends."

"So don't punch him if he says something stupid," Kamishi replied.

"Exactly," Bladescape chuckled. Kamishi and Lobelia joined in.

A message popped up. Bladescape opened it. It was Argo. Bladescape sent a reply back for the meeting.

"I have to meet with Argo in an hour," Bladescape explained. "Something just came up, so let's get the rest of the tour done."

"Of course," Lobelia nodded.

The move was in full swing and the first wave brought in the stuff from Geigi Clan's house. They took a look at the kitchen, but AFCK had already made a mess after getting everything from Geigi Clan's kitchen and cabinets moved in. She was already working on lunch, and preparing for dinner.

Leaving AFCK to her work, they headed over to the barracks and saw exactly what each member was getting. The rooms were much larger than the ones Gegi Clan had been stuffing 2 bunk beds into. They saw the crafting tower and took a stroll through the garden.

By the time they were done, the others had brought in Lobelia's and Kamishi's boxes. Bladescape didn't feel bad about heading off to see Argo with them preoccupied with setting their own rooms up.

The meeting was in the same seedy cafe in Algade that it usually was. Oddly enough, Argo wasn't the only patron inside that Bladescape knew. Kirito was eating lunch at another table. As expected, he was alone.

Bladescape sat down with Argo and was immediately passed a piece of paper. "I need you to check this place out for its potential as a training ground."

"Sounds easy enough," Bladescape said as she looked over the directions to the location. Argo wasn't going to say more with others in the establishment. She had everything explained on the paper.

"We'll see," Argo shrugged. She smiled mischievously as she took a drink. "Now, how is Thorn Island?"

"It's unbelievable," Bladescape grinned back. "When we have the new furniture, we will have you over for dinner. Tomorrow, the big crafting guilds are going to come and put down proposals for each room. It's going to be a bidding and design war, like in real life. We gave out some room dimensions to help them get started, but we expect a big turnout."

"So it was a good hook up?" Argo asked.

"Worth it," Bladescape nodded. "A pain to clear the island so we could buy the property, and it was very costly, but it was worth it."

"What did you have to do?"

"Floor 61 is bugs," Bladescape reminded Argo. "Big bugs. Head crushing pincher bugs. And more of them were the slimy type, not the hard shelled beetles on other floors."

"Slimy?" Argo asked, mining for clarification.

"Caterpillars, silverfish, and those types of bugs."

"Ah," Argo said with a nod.

"I need to go," Bladescape said standing up. "I'll check this place out. Maybe tonight. We still have a few things to clear up with the headquarters before the designers come tomorrow."

"It can sit a few days," Argo said. "But good luck."

When Bladescape got back to the castle, she found Kiefer and Doombunny. The two of them would make good testers. It looked like it was going to be lighter and fast work, not heavy and slow. Kiefer could not only stand on his own, he might be training the new Wondercolts at the location. The targets were soft, and most likely prone to poison. Plus, if it was a speed place, it would hopefully beat the wilderness and wolves Doombunny currently hunted. They would be able to make the overnight trip to scope the location out and not have it impact them the next day. Bladescape would have the hardest time since she would need to deal with the proposals, but she had functioned off of less sleep over worse conditions.

Lobelia found Bladescape shortly after. "I was hoping you would have some time to skim through the plans for tomorrow. We have some unique opportunities presented to us. More than wearing nice clothes."

"So that is why Diemond has been eyeing me weird the past two days. She spoke with you and Shikiku about stylings?"

"We have something special planned for you," Lobelia admitted. "As well as Astro and Backbreaker. You will look fabulous, yet traditional. Leave it up to us to sort out."

"Yay," Bladescape groaned.

Lobelia just chuckled in response.

Bladescape (SS): Lvl 83 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing – Extended Weight Carry - Greatsword
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 75 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry – Search
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 78 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts – Acrobatics
AFCK(PP): Lvl 75 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon – Musical Instrument
Diemond (R): Lvl 75 – 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 78 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal -- Fencing
Astro (PS): Lvl 75 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry – Extended Wight Carry
Kiefer: Lvl 73 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts - Search - Armor Pierce
Lessa: Lvl 72 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search - Acrobatics
Joltron: Lvl 75 – 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

Comments

[Kixtia]

This chapter fells good but short; I will wait for the next chapter

[Sylica telca]

"We have a nice gatehouse, mostly for looks,” Bladescape explained as they got to it. “I mean, no one is going to be storming a castle in here, but looks still transfer to prestige. Our greeting chamber is nice and big."

I'd expect for you to set up several traps to deter a lot of people from storming the castle as they progressed further up to the castle (if no one gets it. It's a reference to takashi's castle)

[Sylica telca]

"That building is the barracks. It has 90 rooms. The back tower is the crafting center. The bottom is the forge and the second floor the cloth and fabric area. The third floor is where Diemond set up her room. She isn't the only one to move locations. Doombunny took up the gardener's hut in the back corner of our garden. I figured, we could put that shrine to your fallen friends in there, somewhere."

I wish we had some kinda of model for better detail

[Sylica telca]

"With any luck, we won't add any Wondercolts," Kamishi solemnly stated. There wasn't a lot of hope in that statement. But as Bladescape understood it, one of the recently deceased members was one of Kamishi's guys, who he had started SAO with.

Dont jinx it!!! 😨😨

[Sylica telca]

"-to hit the front lines, but we did make a good connection with them on Floor 39 and then found ourselves having fun once we set the boundaries. All of us are still in high school. Klein still jokes with the pickup lines and flirting, but it is just fun between friends."

Isn't sunset like 20 something? But only looks like a teenager?

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Looks like the merger is working well so far. Maybe they can see how well they work on the battlefield together soon. Also, with any luck no more names will need to be added to that shrine.

[Phara_mine]

I have nothing to say, so far so good, waiting for the next one.

[Phara_mine]

10491964
She's 20 something as a pony, as a human she's a rightful teenager.

[Phara_mine]

10491850
That nice but I seriously doubt that her guildmates will get it they're from Japan after all.

[Mindrop]

10491964
10492034
Something, but it is tough to tell with the transition. It isn't the same aging, but she would be playing off the human age and ideas about that.

[Mindrop]

10491949
I had mocked an image a while back, but I am an not an artist. I think it is on another hard drive.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

10492037
She'd find a way

10492797
Ill bet lol

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"That building is the barracks. It has 90 rooms. The back tower is the crafting center. The bottom is the forge and the second floor the cloth and fabric area. The third floor is where Diemond set up her room. She isn't the only one to move locations. Doombunny took up the gardener's hut in the back corner of our garden. I figured, we could put that shrine to your fallen friends in there, somewhere."

Huh, never thought of Fluttershy as a garden person. Still, the shrine will be a great way to remember the fallen members of the geigi clan.

"With any luck, we won't add any Wondercolts," Kamishi solemnly stated. There wasn't a lot of hope in that statement. But as Bladescape understood it, one of the recently deceased members was one of Kamishi's guys, who he had started SAO with.

Let's hope we don't lose any of them, it would be a very sad moment for all.

"That is all we need," Kamishi said. “It will be fun to do as a guild. Great team building, no matter if you are on the field on in the stands."

field or in the stands."*

"We probably still will," Bladescape added. "Just for fun."

Of course she was gonna say that!

The move was in full swing and the first wave brought in the stuff from Geigi Clan's house. They took a look at the kitchen, but AFCK had already made a mess after getting everything from Geigi Clan's kitchen and cabinets moved in. She was already working on lunch, and preparing for dinner.

Not even a week has passed since they moved in she's already made a serious mess.

Leaving AFCK to her work, they headed over to the barracks and saw exactly what each member was getting. The rooms were much larger than the ones Gegi Clan had been stuffing 2 bunk beds into. They saw the crafting tower and took a stroll through the garden.

Geigi*