SAO: Roleplay

Playing solo in the dungeon was almost therapeutic. I got to take out all my anger on the monsters I faced without thinking of it as a competition with someone else. As I went deeper, the challenge became greater and I found myself grinning as more of these monsters fell before me. Before long, I found myself standing at the boss room door. To enter or not to enter......well, at the very least I could just take a peek and see what the boss was, get an idea of their stats and weapons. Doing so took me all of a minute and I was glad to be done, walking away and heading out of the dungeon.

Leaving the gates and walking down the path back to Urbus, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling I was being watched. My detection skill was still.....well, middling, at best. So it wasn't like I could see if anyone was sneaking and watching me. I was about to just shrug it off as paranoia, when something glinted in the air, coming right for me. My reflexes kicked in, and I was thankful I poured so much in to my agility as my hand shot up, grabbed the handle of my Ebon Blade, unsheathing it in a flash and striking out at the object.

It was a throwing pick, normally used for hunting or poisoning monsters. Somehow, that didn't make me comfortable seeing as it was used on me. "Why don't you step out where I can see you, cowards!" I shouted out. In response, two players emerged from behind some bushes and a boulder. They wore hooded mantles, smaller versions of what I wore. One had a dagger in hand, the other an ax styles weapon. "Not bad kid," said one, male and a bit older than me. "Pretty fast reflexes there, to slap a pick out of the air," said the other and judging by their voice I'd wager they were the same age as me. "Well what can I say, I've got good eyes," came my response, my tone cool and level. That was when I saw their player icons: orange. "So, I take it you're player killers? Unless I've been color blind this whole time," I asked them.



The only response I got was a chuckle from the older of the pair, who then said "Only one way to find out." That was all the warning I got, before the younger one who held a dagger came running at me, cackling with what had previously been barely suppressed glee. His partner followed, moving to the side as I realized they intended to circle me. My stance shifted to a defensive one, sword raised and my senses sharp. I relied on my ears as much as my eyes, watching the guy in front of me move close and observe the movements of the dagger while at the same time I tuned in on the crunch of gravel beneath the feet of the ax wielder. It was like time slowed, but I know it didn't. That was the adrenaline, that sudden spike as you became more aware of the world around you. All part of the fight or flight response......and I knew which I was choosing. My sword hand snapped up, Ebon Blade catching the slash of the dagger and slapping it aside before I spun away, dodging the swing of the ax that came behind me. While the dagger wielder recovered from the parry, I brought my sword down and cleaved off his arm. He cried out in pain though I didn't pay much attention, the dagger guy coming back at me. It was like I was on a dance floor, moving back a step and dodging each of his strikes, before I lopped off his legs. Screaming, he fell down to the gravel, the stumps of his legs glowing bright red. Kicking his dagger away, I stood over him, calmly looking at his friend. "Consider that a warning," I said. Ax didn't seem to care, picking up his fallen weapon and charging me with a growl. His HP was in the yellow, nearing the red zone in fact. Despite everything, I still wasn't going to kill, and instead waited for him to raise the axe, the head glowing as a skill was activated. I used that chance to dart forward, faster than he anticipated, and cut his hand off at the wrist. "Ahh!" they screamed, now without hands. Kicking him down to the ground, I growled out "Luck for you, I've got no stomach for killing. And I don't have a way to send you to the prison. So I'm going to leave you here in the dirt; whether your limbs respawn before the monsters around here do though....well, we'll leave that to chance, won't we?"

As they screamed at me, making promises of revenge and a slow death, I turned my back on them and walked away. I was stronger than them no doubt, but not just because I beat them. It was because I let them live. Maybe it was all that Firefly I used to watch, but the line "Mercy is the mark of a great man" echoed in my head. On my way back to Urbus, my thoughts drifted from the two PK'ers and back to the matter at hand: the boss room.

"Two strikes," I mentally reminded myself, four would be when I was forced to complete a quest to revert my crystal to green. Out of this set of loot I mostly got col, but I also got a better flute, which would be useful for my music skill.
"Hey, Astra," Zasha said from the other side of the path, "PoH said he knows how we're going to make a guild."
"Oh?" I said, looking over to him, "He figured out a way around the system?"
"No, you can still customise your avatar to some extent, hair colours, styles, tattoos..." He said, listing a few more methods of customisation. It made sense though, a way of identifying as a guild member, but without people associating you with a PK guild.

The return trip to town wasn't that long, though perhaps that was because I was movng at a faster pace than normal. I may have been able to take out those two nitwits from earlier, but that was mostly a combination of being more skilled and powerful than them, along with the fact that I messed up their plan: they were ambush predators, hoping to paralyze me with that poisoned pick. Not only did I take that down, but I called them out into the open and it forced them into a fight, something neither of them had any real experience in.

Which gave me some insight into the player killers really, provided that more of them operated like tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. It would mean that not all of them had the combat skill to take on other players in a real fight. Oh sure, by player killing they'd amass experience and get stronger and faster. But those things didn't matter much if there was no real skill or talent to go along with them. I was earning mine on the front lines of this game, fighting monsters and honing each of my various skills. These PK'ers were simply ambushing people and that told me upfront that if they were avoiding fights from the get go, it was because they weren't strong enough to engage in a fight.

Course maybe that was me trying to make myself feel confident against them, next time our paths crossed. Which I was really hoping it wouldn't. Man......I needed a guild. Or a group of people to be fighting with. Astra was soloing like me and by the looks of things we were never working together again. Or for a while anyway, which lets face it in here that may as well have been never, considering all that could kill you.

Once I was back at Urbus, I visited a local shop to sell my useless items, amassing a nice amount of Col for myself. There was a pair of gloves and a cuirass that were much better than mine and I had the money to spare, so I bought those two as well and swapped them out for my old stuff. Finding an info broker wasn't difficult in the town, all of them moving up to each new Town as they opened so they could stay up to date. I didn't just share the dungeon and boss data though. In the talk, I shared what I learned about the two PK'ers and how most of them likely operated. If that info got out to the public.....well, if people were smart, then it could mean traveling in large, stronger groups, making sure they had antidotes for poisons. Organizing against the threats before they became too great.

Floor: 7
February 2nd
We were about to spring the ambush when it happened. We were ambushed ourselves. Our lure had sold us out, and there was now a high level party attacking us. We were outnumbered, and I watched a few of my guildmates get cut down, exploding into pixels. There was no chance of beating them, not now that we'd lost the element of surprise. We scattered into the woods, every man for themselves. The attacking party hadn't thought it through, though, and as there were several of us listed as green, most of them were now orange, some permanantly. I had one chasing me, though my AGI was higher than his, so I was gaining more and more ground, but I wasn't running away. I was getting him alone.

I turned, a throwing pick sliding out of my sleeve and into my hand. He was closer than I'd thought, but that just made the shot much more rewarding when it hit, the poison sending him to the ground. We were far enough away that I had some time, and he'd turned orange. Luck was smiling on me, apparently.

Floor: 16
March 7th
I hadn't heard anything from any of my guildmates, but at least some had survived. PoH was alive, but he'd said we needed time before we started up again, to make sure we had players we could trust this time. I'd joined the boss raid on every floor since floor 3, but hadn't really been in any parties with Tavi. A fair few people had heard about the rise, and fall, of a PK guild since that day, but most of it was pretty far-fetched. One of my favourites was that there was a cloaked girl who's flute could paralyse you, which lead to them trying to find out what skill it was. Nobody knew any names though, which was good for me, at least.

This floor looked almost gothic in design, a towering castle serving as the floor dungeon, surrounded by dark woods. There were a few villages scattered around, and more than a few ruined ones inhabited by skeletons, and there were even a few ghost NPCs. I only wished it were halloween.

Ever since that fight with the two PK'ers, things had calmed down a bit, as far as players killing players. Or maybe it was just getting harder to see it, I really couldn't tell. My level had skyrocketed and I was among those labeled as Clearers on the front lines. Still without a guild though, I took to soloing quite nicely, new gear and weapons making me a force to be reckoned with......even if there were some close calls. I was strong but not invincible, and on more than one occasion I nearly died. Luck perhaps, was my greatest asset and I capitalized on it.

My reputation was increasing a lot, though not my name. I asked Niko, after sending him a friend request and hanging with him, to make me a sword. My Ebon Blade had served me well but it started to get outpaced by the new monsters. It was black blade like before, but with subtle, red highlights in the coloring after it had been forged. When asked for a name, I decided to christen it with a title inspired by an old favorite game of mine. Some people said I was obsessed......they were probably right.

But I didn't care as I proudly carried Razgriz's Blade into every fight. It was mostly why people called me the 'Razgriz' in terms of my reputation. Personally I preferred Tavi but......well, what are you gonna do?

Floor: 7
Timeframe: late January, early February

Among the information brokers, the intelligence gathers, Niko's line of informants, there were infiltrators. Getting into groups of up and coming player groups, guilds. With Floor 3 unlocking the Guild Quest, many players formed guilds, Frontline guilds, party guilds, guilds that consisted of like-minded people. However, there was a group of people who purposely did not join a guild. Player killers. It so happened, one of Niko's informants, Nemesis, had turned one of the members of the unofficial guild, and then gave the information to a group of players who planned revenge. To kill the player killers. Which was much to Niko's amusement, Nemesis, giving people their dues. Any one who knew Greek mythos would smile, or at least acknowledge the humor in this instance. He also had a list of names of possible, rumored by informants, player killers. Without anything concrete though, he was hesitant to make this known to the public.

Floor: 16
March 7th

A new floor, a new shop. This time in a city, he needed to increase his skill, and as much fun as working all day grinding away at a skill, or fighting can be, it can mean that money gets a little tight from time to time. So he put his wares up for sale. Niko the Blacksmith, as he was known to the public, was quite famous for his quality goods. Though many people were unable to wield his high-level swords, some still came to gawk and to purchase what they could afford. However, those players who struggled found mysterious gifts of weapons and armor were sometimes found in their tavern rooms or even just coincidentally near where they were struggling the most. Like shadows in the night these things would suddenly appear.

To many he known as Niko the Blacksmith, to some he was known as the PaciFist, because he doesn't like to fight, but he likes to pacify things with his fists. Something of an oxymoron. He was known to play his lute, and occasionally other instruments in Taverns as well, a jack of all trades, some would say, but in the tavern he just tried to keep the spirits high.

Up until now I'd been scouting the dungeon alone, having enough levels and crystals to be perfectly safe unless I got cornered, which hadn't happened yet. I hadn't traded any of my map data though, and even though the clearers, as people had started to call them, were sending in scout parties, none of them had found the boss room. I had, and I was beginning to wonder if, with my advanced level, I might be able to solo it. All of my gear had been found in the dungeon, including a set of rare claws. The boss of this floor was something like Frankenstein's monster, only bigger and much meaner. I'd yet to see any of its attacks, so I wasn't sure how dangerous it was.

Currently, I was busy exploring the dungeon, mapping it out, collecting the loot and Col it brought me. Monsters here were tougher, so I couldn't afford to simply let loose without control. I was careful, but that paid off as eventually I found myself nearing the boss room.....and finding a familiar face. "Astra?" I called out, somewhat unsure if it was her or not.

I turned, hearing someone say my name.
"Tavi," I said, "It's been ages. Are you here alone?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked. It was the first thing that came to mind instead of asking how she had been. "Why, you planning to kill me or something?"

"Maybe," I said, smiling, "Does my crystal look orange to you?"

While I smiled, my stance shifted a little, ready to either turn and run.....or draw my sword to block an attack. "I've met a few 'green' players.......and they turned out to be exploiting the system, luring me to orange players. That got messy for them, so I'll ask again," and my tone became serious, my eyes somewhat cold. "Are you planning to kill me, Astra?"

"Are you accusing me of being a PKer?" I asked Tavi, looking hurt. "You haven't seen me in months, and the first thing you ask is if I'm going to kill you? Great way to treat your friends, dick head." I opened my map, getting ready to leave. "Have fun when you meet a real PKer." I added, starting to leave the dungeon.

"Already have," I called back. "Three times, and so far they've yet to kill me. And I'm sorry for the accusation, but these assholes have me paranoid."

"Well, they're not really PKers if they didn't kill you, are they?" I answered, stopping before I turned the corner. "That's the boss room by the way. If you're suicidal, you might as well let the PKers kill you."

I walked back the way I'd entered, following my map. The mobs were all dead, so it was a quiet walk.

Looking back to the boss room, I took a brief look, letting my upgraded identification skill scan the boss, giving me the name and stats. When that was done, I quickly headed back to follow Astra, catching up to her in the cleared dungeon. "So I see you're friendly as ever," I said, trying to hide the small smirk on my face.

"You're the one who accused me of being a PKer." I pointed out to him as I headed back to town.

"Well these days I learned what happens when you throw caution to the wind," I shot back. "Astra I'm sorry about that, but I've been on edge lately. If it's not monsters, it's cackling maniacal players hellbent on killing me."

"Everyone's on edge, Tavi," I said, "But not everyone goes around accusing their friends of being PKers."

"Well last time we met, we didn't exactly have a friendly chat. Plus I haven't seen or heard from you since then." I wasn't angry, just frustrated. "So forgive me if the big gap between us has been filled with some paranoia."

"So you just accuse everyone you meet of being a PKer?" I pushed, sorting through my inventory. I had a lot of col; player loot was worth a lot more than mob loot, "So should I be calling you Tavi or Razgriz the legendary raider?"

Chuckling, I responded "Up to you. Personally I'd say my friends call me Tavi but so far it's down to you and Niko. And as for the PKer thing......maybe not as openly as I did just now, but I still hold every stranger I meet with some suspicion."

"Then you're not going to join a guild?" I asked as we walked through the woods, "If you don't trust people, how do you join raid parties?"

"I'm.....not a hundred percent sure really. Been fine playing solo so far, though won't lie, I got in the red a few times," I said. The woods seemed to be empty, devoid of players of monsters though still ripe with the sound of birds chirping and wind blowing gently through the branches.

"I was going to join a guild," I said, "But they wiped a few months ago." I wasn't really sure what to feel about it, the ones who had died, I hadn't particularly liked. The ones I called my friends, like PoH and Zasha, had made it out. Some of them, I had outright disliked.

"Ouch, that sucks," I said sincerely. "Maybe we would have met each other during raids or something."

"Maybe," I said as we neared the main town of Feyelf. It was bigger than Urbus had been, but nowhere near the size of the town of beginnings. The buildings were packed together tightly, alleyways occaisionally breaking the long rows. It was always dreary here; even when it wasn't raining there were dark grey clouds looming overhead. The enemies here consisted of your typical 'dark' creatures, giant spiders, insects, skeletons. The kind of enemies you'd see in an undead themed dungeon in another MMO. I opened my friends list, and selected one of the information brokers I knew, telling them that I'd completed the dungeon map and that I was nearly back at Feyelf.

"By the way," I said as we neared the town. "I was doing some thinking.....about our last conversation. For killing."

"Oh?" I said, curious. I wondered what he had thought about it. If he'd reconsidered, he might not become a target for the guild when we restarted.

"I still don't have a good answer," I said off the bat. "Doubt there really is one. But now, what with other players trying to kill me, I accept that I may have to kill to survive. Only when I'm backed into a corner though." As we walked, the somewhat haunting atmosphere of the floor seemed to creep in closer, as if my words were simply fuel for the fire that was my topic. "If someone is trying to kill me, you or any of my friends, anyone I care about, and there's no choice.....then yeah, I'll kill, because it needs to be done. I'll kill only when it's needed. But I won't ever become someone that kills because they want to. And I hope that distinction, helps my answer."

"What if you were forced to kill someone innocent?" I asked, my mind wandering back to the time when I'd seen my guild force someone to do that. They'd killed the winner regardless, but they'd turned on each other pretty quickly, "For your own survival." I added.

"Then I'd jump off into the abyss soon after," I said flatly. "Killing someone that' trying to kill me is self-defense, and I can.....sorta live with that. Especially when I can comfort myself with the knowledge that my actions probably helped save the lives of everyone else that person would kill." Sighing, I raised my hand, running it through my hair in an almost anxious gesture. "If no one else, I'd really rather get out knowing I only ever killed PKers out of necessity."

"If you get out," I corrected. I stopped at a vendor, selling some of the trash items that'd dropped while I was clearing the dungeon. I could see my info broker now. She was a little further down the main street, standing at the edge of an alley to the left.

"Is there any doubt?" I started to joke. "I've been soloing the front lines for weeks, and turned myself into one of the strongest players. Bit arrogant to say sure, but hey it ain't basting if it's true right?"

"There's always a chance you'll die, Tavi," I said, looking over my shoulder at him, "We've still got eighty floors to go, getting confident will get you killed."

"Yeah but living in fear, or doubting myself, will get me nowhere," came my response.

[Floor:16]

"So this is the group going to Fight the Boss?" Nemesis said out-loud, asking no one in particular. He was standing in a Tavern, talking to a group of players who were relatively high level. They had been getting their skills ready for the fight this floor had to offer. A fight that, at this moment, would kill them. Especially without proper information. Unbeknownst to the group, Niko was sitting in the corner, listening intently, but covered in a cloak, of his own making. Nemesis was trying to bait them into telling him more about the group, learn where they are at so that, maybe, he could give them some information. It was not difficult for these kinds of things. The Frontline groups were a hard bunch, skilled, but focused on one thing - getting out. Nemesis had information about the floor boss. He might share it for a price, or if he knew it would help these people. Might.

The group went for the bait, Nemesis learned about the group, they traded stories, trivial information, and eventually skills and levels. They were indeed a strong group of players, Niko heard all he needed to, and left Nemesis to finish up. Sneaking out the back door. In favor of anonymity within towns, he wore a hood. Not that he could hide much, he was fairly big compared to many of the players, being older and all. It didn't particularly help that he was among the few non-japanese playing the game. But height was his only tell-sign, he was not buff, years of sitting in front of a computer will do that to you. As much as he liked working in the field, he spent much time sitting in front of a computer doing research or running data tests. Or writing. So his frame was no tell for an identity, that couldn't be said for some, however. He had seen quite a number of buff players (which means nothing in game).

Now, Niko the smith made his way out of the town, the time to train was now, after all.

"No, but fear keeps you alive," I said, "Confidence is what killed my guild." I looked towards the town, its ominous buildings never failing to give me a small chill. This would have been a great floor to make our base on.

"You'd think would be the theme for a Halloween event," I said, grinning a little as I followed her gaze to the town.

With the information traded and my level about as high as I could get it on this floor, there was nothing left to do except to wait and train my other skills.
"Hey, Tavi," I said, "What skills have you picked up?"

"Uh, besides combat?" I asked her. "Been working on my wood carving skills, along with cooking. Gotten better at both. If you're asking about combat though.....nothing too out of the ordinary. Flashy moves like lunges that can send me to the target in a flash, combos that deal ten or more hits. Working up to others but that will take time."

That was something I loved about Japanese games; the obscene amounts of hits a move could have.
"I've picked up alchemy," I told him, my mind still thinking about other RPGs I'd played, "I've gotten pretty good with throwing picks too. Oh, and I got Wild Dance on about the fourth floor."

"Nice," I said. Then I found myself smirking a little, and said "Heh, throwing picks.....one of the pk'ers that tried killing me, attempted to use a poisoned pick in an ambush."

"Did you check what kind of poison it was? Or if you could see who made it?" I asked, snapping back to reality and realising, if he had, he might have seen my name. I'd made a couple of pots of paralysis poison when a guildmate had run out.

"Nah, too busy deflecting it," I said smugly. "When it came at me, I hit it out of the air with my sword, and blew their chances for an easy kill."

"That's... Impressive." I said, and it was. I'd thrown them and if someone managed to cut it out of the air, I'd probably be stunned. Cheating out of an easy kill... Probably not. Usually we outnumbered and outleveled anyone we jumped.

"Yeah well, was sorta lucky on my end. Just two guys who seemed more like ambush predators instead of straight up fighters. This is what happens when you base your entire set up on surprise--no preparation for getting surprised yourself."

"Don't rely on that," I said, "Even if they do miss, they might still kill you."

"Don't worry, not like I went into the fight cocky. Had no idea how weak they were until after I won," I said. "Just.....it seems that most of these guys are focusing on catching people from behind and killing them like cowards and not in a fair fight. No testing of skills, just hunting them with no challenge."

"Yeah, I suppose it makes the fight easier if you can't fight back..." I stopped at the tavern and went inside, sitting down in the warm main room and unequiping my cloak.