SAO: Roleplay

The fight was getting intense among the players, not just me. A few LC members were killed, while more of us were taken out. My guild and I rallied together with other players, covering our backs as we clashed with LC. It proved to be an effective tactic, our impromptu phalanx keeping them at bay. Shield users took the front, spear and long sword users would stab from between the gaps.

As the clearers formed their phalanx, I raised my arm again, to deliver the killing blow, but I paused. The clearers had talked about taking prisoners, so instead of killing the LC member, I tied him up, leaving him in the dirt as I turned to face my next opponent.

It was XaXa, his estoc cutting through the air towards me before I'd even properly gotten to my feet.

Our mission was still in play, to capture and arrest. We managed to disable two LC members, one even surrendering as they dropped their weapon, and the fight steadily began to go our way. There was an LC member using an estoc charging a player I didn't know, and on reflex I threw a pair of throwing picks at them.

XaXa crouched under the picks without skipping a beat, that sadistic smile of his still plastered on the face behind his mask. From below me, he used a sword skill, the tip of the estoc flying at my throat. I leaned backwards, almost like a limbo dancer, and avoided the blow. At this rate, he was going to kill me. Shifting my feet and hands, I adopted a boxer's stance. Like this, it would be easier to parry his attacks, and I would still be able to hit with any stabbing moves without any change.

Another thrust towards my stomach, and my theory was proven, I slapped his weapon away and jabbed at his face, and while it wouldn't do as much damage as a skill would, it was enough to put him on the defensive for a change.

I had enough space to move, dashing forward with my swords to join the fight between the estoc user and the hooded player. Aiming a slashing attack for their legs, I swung one sword down at them.

With XaXa busy parrying Tavi's attack, leaving his ribs exposed to me, I had an opening, and I took it; my attack raking through his side. Without pausing, I continued with one of my martial arts skills, my foot glowing as it connected with Xaxa's head, knocking him away from Tavi and myself, as well as taking him off balance.

Their kick did the trick, forcing the swordsman away and staggering him. With an opening, I sprang forward and activated my sword skill, a thrusting move aimed for their gut.

XaXa was still grinning as Tavi charged, and I knew exactly what he was going to do. I shoulder charged Tavi, knocking him out of the way as the tip of the estoc flew forwards, glowing blue as it went through my shoulder. My health dropped to about halfway, but I was in a good position here, firing an uppercut-like skill that knocked XaXa onto his back.

That attack nearly had me, but the hooded player managed to save my neck, at a cost. It wasn't the kind of thing I'd just let slide, so when the guy who tried attacking me landed on their back, they were helpless as I landed a blow on their leg, hopefully disabling them.

With XaXa apparently down for the count, I turned my attention to the rest of the room. The raiding party was clearing up now, eight or so LC members had died rather than surrender and-

I barely dodged the mace swinging towards my face in time, but once I had, it was over for the wielder. He was on low health already, probably hoping to score a kill before he died. My claws went into his chest, his HP bar draining quickly to nothing and once it hit zero, he shattered. The leaders of the parties were counting casualties as well as prisoners, and it looked like the battle was over.

That last attack with the mace caught me off guard and I was about to attack.....but our ally managed to take care of it. This fight, was over now and Laughing Coffin was at an end, its members either dead or captured. "We need a headcount," I said aloud. "How many of us are dead.....and who among Laughing Coffin we have in custody, or killed."

One of the KoB members had taken the names of every prisoner, ticking them off on the list of the red guild.
"Twenty-one Laughing Coffin dead, twelve captured, two missing."

As they went over their own casualties, which came to eleven, I slipped out, easily finding my way through the dungeon and back into the open.

"Do we know who's missing?" I asked.

"Their leader, PoH, and some girl called Banshee." He replied.

Banshee sounded familiar, though I couldn't place it. As for PoH....with the head of the snake still alive, it was possible LC could live again. Rise back up like a phoenix and haunt us. "Let's put a watch out for him, we can't let Laughing Coffin return."

"You won't catch PoH," one of the captured Laughing Coffin members said as he was being led away, "And Banshee'd kill all of you in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, you're right. If we don't catch PoH, we'll probably kill him," Eduardo said. "And as for this Banshee......our reports say she's been inactive for some time, since no one's seen her. Either she's dead, or not playing for your team anymore," someone from the Knights of the Blood said.

"She's the one who sold you out, genius. Laughing Coffin has eyes as well as knives." He laughed as he was dragged out of the cave.

I stopped at the nearest town to eat, I half-expected Heathcliff to message me demanding that I turn myself in, but it never came.

"And look how well selling us out turned for you idiots," I muttered under my breath. True, we lost several people but their deaths weren't in vain. We defeated Laughing Coffin--in their own house no less--and they weren't going to be a problem any longer. Though with PoH missing, I had a feeling there'd be some aftershocks.

November 1st
Floor: 75
It was cold down here in the field dungeon, and it was only dimly lit by wall mounted torches. I had formed a party with five other players, all of whom had almost given up. Rissezz, like me, had been an orange player at one point, and was the only one to know my history with Laughing Coffin, whose sigil was still on my back, though always beneath a cloak. Since the formation of our party, we had made a serious impact on the front line, and Rissez had quickly become my best friend.

Now, we were levelling up to explore the undiscovered floor labyrinth.

I had been several months since Laughing Coffin was put to rest, and things had gotten....better, in a sense. Without the threat of Laughing Coffin, players were free to explore again and level up. We were getting new faces on the frontlines which made a difference, gave both the clearers and lower players a boost in morale and hope. The Demons of Razgriz were growing, rivaling Knights of the Blood Oath now, and I kinda had the awkward task of being a leader of a group that exceeded a party of four. Since we were the founders, Artemis, Eduardo, Takashi and I served as the leaders, each one of them taking leadership over particular divisions: Artemis lead those that were skilled alchemists, Eduardo lead our tanks and heavy troops, and Takashi was in charge of medium class players, sword and shield types who weren't quite tanks.

And as for me, I had.....well, all of the above. I was leader of the guild, so I had to manage it's affairs, learn how to settle internal disputes, maintain relations with other guilds, work with the others on managing our coffers......in short, I became a glorified politician. Fuck.

With my own level now at 96, and followed by Rissezz at 95, our party left the dungeon. Aside from Rissezz, who was the same age as me, brilliant red hair, and standing at two inches taller than myself, there was Lionelle, a blonde haired tank wielding a longsword and tower shield. At a year younger than me, he was our youngest member, followed by Rissezz and myself. Two years above us, were Trinityy and Ricxas, a green haired greatsword user and a katana user, respectively.

While we weren't a guild, we did own a house together on the sixty-second floor. I was the registered owner, but we had all paid an equal share towards it and any additions we needed.

For now , however, we were headed to the tavern. Until later, when the search parties came in, we liked to stay near tthe front line.

On the bright side, the job was peaceful and things had lulled down a bit. Search parties were in the dungeon for floor 75, hard at work trying to find the boss room though as to when we would get word on where it was located....I had no idea. Sitting around in my room wasn't going to help, so I called for a break among myself and the senior members.....namely me, Artemis, Eduardo and Takashi. Our HQ was in the center of a town on floor 62, one of the larger ones though still nowhere near as big as the Town of Beginnings, and was in a small fort no less that was up for sale. Though I was ashamed to say it, taking out LC and killing some of their members had netted us a lot of loot and money, not to mention the experience. We were hesitant to use any of it, but Artemis made the claim that the blood on the money and loot would wash off if we put it all to good use.

So we did, buying the fort, getting better gear for us and our new members, and helping clear the floors.

We all met after I called the break, meeting in a tavern for drinks and food, walking through the front door in our plainclothes.

With our food and drink delivered, each of us removed our headgear. I saw my reflection in the window, my hair was now waist -length , and dyed white. I barely recognised myself, but my eyes were still the same. Our table was loud, but aside from NPCSs, we were the only people there. I smiled to myself as I ordered our food, I wad actually happy here.

When we walked in, there was a group of players, the only ones aside from us, in the tavern. They seemed to be celebrating if their noise was any indicator, which was good I suppose. Good moods were contiguous, also good. We got a table on the other side and ordered some food and drink, though we kept quiet, content to relax for the moment.

I looked st the door as it opened, and to my surprise, Tavi walked in. I usually only saw him during the raids,w an d I never spoke to him. As far as he knew, I was dead.
"That's Tavi, right?" Rissezz asked, "Why not talk to him?"
"You know full well why," I answered, "It's better this way."
"Whatever you say, As, he's your friend."

"So Tavi," Eduardo asked, eating a drumstick in one hand and holding a flagon of.....well, I wasn't sure what. "How're you handling the job as leader?" Of course, he was referring my role of managing guild affairs. I groaned and said "Handling it well enough I could use a drink. How are the noobs coming along?" He grinned and said "Doing better than expected. Fast learners the lot of them, though they are still curious about you and those two swords...."

Glowering, I said "I said it before: I don't know how I got the skill."

"I wouldn't lose sleep over it," Rissezz shouted over to them, "Nobody does. It looks random though."

The shout caught my attention, causing me to look over at the other table where the other people were celebrating. The redhead was the one who shouted, and I responded in equal volume "Doesn't stop the hoards of people from lining up to ask."

"Just make up a story about how you got it," Rissezz replied, "That way people don't think you're lying."
"Stop flirting, Riss, you're making Lionelle jealous." Trinityy said, punching the blonde tank in the arm.
"Shut up!" Lionelle shouted, "I'm not jealous!" At this, I had to laugh as Lionelle's face started turning a deep red colour.
"Oh really?" I asked him, "Your face's gone the same colour as her hair."
"Shut up..." He mumbled, becoming more interested in his food as he sunk into his chair.
"Oi," Ricx said, punching him in the arm, "Cheer up, we're only joking. We know you fancy our glorious leader in white over there."

"I'm not that good at lying," I shot back, though it was kinda pointless given how they quickly went back to their own discussion. Someone spoke and for a moment I thought I recognized the voice, then two more voices joined and my train of thought was shaken.

Lionelle's face went an even deeper shade of red at Trinityy's remark, which prompted even more laughter from the others.
"What about you and Ricx? I've seen the way you look at him." I added, aiming the comment at Trinityy.
"What can I say?" He retorted, grinning, "I'm a sucker for green eyes." I stuck my tongue out and flicked a crumb across the table at him.
"Why'd I let you in my party again?" I asked him, rolling my eyes.

Their conversation was sorta amusing, but I blocked it out once Eduardo pulled out the deck of cards. We all got to playing blackjack, a simple game that required a lot of math. The pot....basically a mix between money and items.

"What about the big one over there?" Rissezz said, nodding towards Tavi's tank, "He looks like he could be your type."
"Oi!" Ricx shouted, "You playing strip poker? Deal me and Lioney in if you are!"

Artemis burst out laughing while Eduardo muttered something in Spanish, before saying "We're not playing strip poker, and I certainly don't roll that way amigo."

"Aw, come on!" Ricx protested, "Lioney's too young, Trini's like my brother, and those two are girls!" He sighed, "What about a wager? 500K against a kiss from you?"

"500k?" Eduardo asked, and I could tell he was hooked. He could never ignore a sweet pot of gold. "Hermano, you've got yourself a deal."

"Shit," He whispered, "I didn't think he'd say yeah. As, lend me 500K?"
"Fine, but if you lose my money, I'm selling all of your furniture."
"That's fair, but I'm not gonna lose." He said, winking as I traded to money over to him.

Ricx swaggered over to their table with a confidence that radiated off of him.
"So, what's the game?" He asked, sitting down.

"Blackjack," I said to the new guy. "Know how to play?"

"Course I do. My dad worked in a casino," He winked at the tank, "Pucker up, good looking."

"Don't fool yourself ese'," Eduardo said. "Though if you'd like I could offer our illustrious commander to do the kissing." At that I just sputtered, my drink shooting out of my mouth as I coughed. "No....no way! I'm not part of the pot!"

"Scared you might like it?" Ricx said to the both of them, "Deal the cards, I'll take care of you both if you do end up liking it."

"Hermano, hate to tell ya but we both prefer girls," Eduardo said, dealing the cards. "Granted, I know I do, not sure about our commander." Glowering, I accepted my cards and said "Just because I've been single this entire time does not mean I don't like girls Eddy."

"Trust me, boys are better. They spend less time on their hair, they don't nag as mu-" He was cut off by Rissezz slapping him across the back of the head.
"Less of that." She said, pulling a face.
"I was only joking! Plus, you and As don't really count as girl-" She slapped him again, and he started laughing. "Alright, alright," Ricx said, "I'll stop. Hit." He said, looking back to the tank.

"Double down, got you," Eduardo said again. He and I both hit, with Artemis the one acting as dealer. I got 16, Eduardo got two above and stayed. "Looks like I'm gonna be winning this pot," Eduardo grinned.

"But if I win this, I get two kisses, right?" Ricx asked, grinning as the dealer threw an eight to him "Stand." He turned over his cards, a two and a nine. "Nineteen."

Now I was getting worried. It's not like I was homophobic but I really didn't want to kiss the guy, especially since he was.....well, cocky. In any person, it was a bit of a turn off for me but that's beside the point. Artemis turned her cards over, and the house results were.....good god, it was a bust. She got 22.

"I'll take my winnings then," Ricx said, leaning towards the middle of the table, "One from each of you's fine."

A message appeared in front of me, from my info broker. It was short, so it was probably sent to more than just me.

BBQKnight wrote:

75th Labyrinth found. Map Update.

The words "Map Update" were highlighted and at the press of a finger, my map was updated with the location of the entrance.
"Ricx," I said, "Come on, we need to go."

"Oh thank god," I breathed, head hanging down now in relief. Eduardo also let out a sigh of relief, both of us relieved we were saved by a message.

As Lionelle, Rissezz, Trinityy and myself waited by the door, Ricxas planted a kiss on the tank's cheek, before he joined us at the door and winked at Tavi.
"Remember, you still owe me." And with that, we set out for the labyrinth.