Episode 70 — Catacomb Cubed
Fifteenth Day in the Month of Sakura (April 15) in the Year of the Griffon
Floor 59
Fuurinkazan was waiting for them at the Danac teleport plaza.
“Morning, Doll Face!” Klein said with his stupid grin.
“Good morning, Klein,” Bladescape said with a chuckle.
“Hey,” Klein said, coming closer and lowering his voice. “Does she have the goods.”
“She’s got the goods,” Bladescape whispered back. “Did you bring the goods for you?”
Klein laughed and then stopped, actually afraid Konpeito hadn’t packed them food as promised. Bladescape’s laughter ended his fear.
Bladescape refocused onto the day's task. “It was pitched that we should mix up our parties. There are seventeen of us, so we have no reason not to mix our guilds. We should diversify our parties. It will help us all work more fluidly with other players. No matter who."
“Just no DDA,” Klein said.
“Of course not,” Bladescape chuckled. “They have been a pain since the beginning, before you guys hit the front lines, and then a huge problem for us from the new year. They directly accused Doombunny of being with LC. I would love to knock them down a few pegs.”
Klein rolled his eyes. "I remember the duel. I remember getting called out by her right…" Klein tried to point out Doombunny, but he couldn't see her in their group. "Well wherever she actually is standing."
"Anyway," Bladescape said, drawing them back on topic. "What do you think? Are you guys man enough to handle a switch up?"
"Hell yeah we are!" Klein exclaimed. "I assume you have already played a bit of matchmaker for us?"
Bladescape shook her head at his immature, boyish antics. It was hard to think he had already graduated from college.
"Not those kinds," Bladescape replied, trying not to laugh. "But after working the weekend sale together, Natora wants to try running with Harry. She wants to put his shield skills to the test against her ferocity and speed."
"I didn't put it like that," Natora fired from where she was standing. "I just said I wanted to see how I would work with another Tank, and Harry and I talked all weekend so why not?"
"Sure," Harry said. "I'll take that challenge on."
"So, what girls am I getting?" Klein goofily grinned.
"Me," Bladescape chuckled. "In all seriousness, I actually want to work by your side again. I think it would be good to do in preparation for potential Boss Raids."
"Alright," Klein nodded, oddly not saying anything about the arrangement. "Then who is going to lead Party Three? I assume Natora will be leading Party Two."
"Kiefer," Bladescape explained. "We have been working him through some things. I figure if we put Kiefer in charge of Dale, Issin, Soryuto, Diemond, and Reisenki, it would be a good mix of independent fighters, while gaining leadership skills for him. Natora can work with Harry, Malus, Knightstar, and Thunderborne, which will leave us with Dynamm, Kunimittz, Konpeito, and Doombunny."
"I'm down with it," Klein said. "We can always reorganize things if we need to later on. Building new skills, bringing players together, it sounds perfect."
A few clicks later and the parties were organized before they were off, heading out of town to the entrance to the Labyrinth. It didn’t seem as far with their friends from Fuurinkazan. It was nice to not start the day diving into the Labyrinth on a drag.
They took the most direct route to their last map point and then picked their path. With the crisscrossing of the catacombs, the three parties quickly separated as they chased down side passageways. Since Dynamm was their only shield, and Kunimittz and Doombunny were strictly damage dealers, Klein and Bladescape had to be strong forwards. Kunimittz was well versed at being a damage dealer without many shields to protect him. Konpeito was also a strong forward, but she was her usual self, hopping around randomly while looking clueless yet doing serious damage. Klein gave Bladescape plenty of odd looks at the start. Bladescape always shrugged back and Klein soon got used to fighting with Konpeito in the party.
They didn't have far to go before they ran into the stairs to the next level of the Labyrinth. Once they regrouped, they ascended. The top brought a shift in the appearance of the Labyrinth. The stone floors and arched ceilings stayed, but the walls were now lined with skulls and bones, just like the real walls of a classic catacomb.
"Imagine if these were the bones of the players who had died," Thunderborne quietly said as she examined the stacked bones and skulls.
"Let's not," Doombunny squeaked.
Bladescape sighed. She was now going to have to, somehow, make sure Doombunny didn't have nightmares tonight. She would have to do the same for herself. The walls were very creepy.
They pushed on. The new floor brought the bones, but it eliminated the shadows as enemies. Klein and Fuurinkazan had mostly ignored the shadows on the lower floors because they were so difficult to see and then kill. It became apparent that the Wondercolts did have some advantage given to them by the Necromancer Quest.
Again, they split up as they mapped the Labyrinth. The skeleton patrols rose in number. A two to one ratio was not uncommon. The combat slowed mapping down, but not terribly so. Fortunately, they were not here just to map. They all needed the XP. It was obvious they were near the front of the overall explored area from the number of enemy encounters. There were whole hallways filled with skeletons that had not been cleared.
They ended up in a recently cleared hallway, evident by the lack of any skeletons. After a short bit, they heard the clash of swords, but they proceeded carefully. It was getting riskier to jump into a battle in Labyrinths. Not everyone enjoyed the intrusion, or the idea they were being "rescued." They came to the sight of the fight. It was their first non-hallway chamber, a square room lined with skulls and bones between the supporting pillars. At the center was a large group of skeletons surrounding what appeared to be one or two players. There were at least forty enemies, and they were hungry for the blood they didn't have themselves.
“Dang,” Klein said. “We should help them, right?”
“Probably,” Bladescape said. “We can at least draw aggro. It might be five of us, but we can even the score. These skeletons are not that hard. Right?”
“Yeah,” Klein said, hesitating.
It was always a risk to jump into a fight in a Labyrinth. The others didn’t know you were there, and it could be seen as poaching.
Suddenly, Klein's eyes widened. “That’s Kirito!” he exclaimed. “Let’s go! He's still solo.”
They charged out across the open ground, yelling as they went to get the attention of some of the skeletons and introduce their arrival to Kirito. Konpeito beat them to it by blowing her Viking Horn, buffing them. A second blast drew the aggro of the skeletons to Konpeito. At least half were seeking her out. The only thing to do was cut them down and let as few as possible through so she didn’t get swarmed, but her ability to handle multiple enemies meant Bladescape wasn’t too worried.
Bladescape blocked the first sword and Harmonic Salvation immediately glowed red. She flipped the block into an attack and sliced the skeleton in half. She dodged the skeleton sword that came through the polygons at her and she rammed the blade home, making another explosion fill the air.
Bladescape danced with her sword and struck down skeleton after skeleton. It required a strong mix of Weapon Defense, Two-Handed Sword, Agility, and a keen use of Search to predict the incoming attack with the Outside System Skills “Insight,” and “Precognition.” Bladescape was still learning to trick the monsters' AI with what was called “Mislead.”
As she sliced yet another skeleton in half, her blade clanged against an unmoving object, even as the skeleton popped into polygons. As the polygons separated, Bladescape realized the room was clear and that the object she was fighting against was Kirito’s blade. Both of them were in mid swing and their blades were glowing as their triggered Sword Skills fought for dominance.
He wasn’t backing down either. They held steady for a moment as he judged her. Bladescape stopped flexing and let his sword finish its swing. She twirled her blade so she could sheath it and be as relaxed as she could as the delay hit with the penalty for failing to complete the skill. They had joined his fight out of nowhere. It was the courteous thing to do.
“What up Kiri-dog!” Klein asked, flashing him a smile and a thumbs up.
"Hey Klein," Kirito said, still on guard. "What are you doing here? And with them?"
“What?” Klein asked. “We can’t party up with friends who are outside our guild?”
Kirito rolled his eyes at Klein. "Do you believe what this guy says?"
"Hey!" Klein exclaimed as Bladescape laughed.
"The gentlemen of Fuurinkazan are a lot of talk and showboating," Bladescape snickered. "But they became friends enough to trust them and even to do some stuff over the holidays."
"And where is the rest of both of your guilds?" Kirito asked, eyeing the passage further into the Labyrinth.
"We split back at the last cross-way," Klein explained. "We partied up across guilds to even us all out as players who can work together in raid parties outside of their guilds. If it ever comes to that."
"Whose idea was that?" Kirito asked. It wasn't a nice tone. He then shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. I have to go."
"It was theirs actually," Klein said. "But it's worked well. And come on, man, link up with us. We are going the same way. I know you can handle yourself, you always say that. We are all trying to clear this Labyrinth as fast as possible. It’s faster and safer together."
"Here," Kirito said to Klein as he pulled up his menu. "This is what I mapped. Your party came down the right path. The others hit dead ends."
"Thanks," Klein said as he accepted and then looked at the map. "And they probably are headed this way since both those paths end pretty quickly."
Kirito was already walking off.
"Hey!" Klein called after him. "Not to be rude, but we are going the same way!"
"Fine," Kirito shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like I have any say in it. There is only one way to go at this point. I'm not going to slow down for you."
Klein growled and looked at Bladescape. Kirito was already on the other side of the room. "He can be so stubborn."
Bladescape shrugged. "He has to be to make it this far solo. A guild isn’t easy for a guy like him."
"I am fairly certain he was in one a while back,” Klein said. “But it was Floors ago and it didn't last long. I don't know what happened and I'm not going to push him for an answer."
Bladescape started walking after Kirito at a quick pace to catch up. "Either way, he could use the support. These things might be easy to dispatch, but soon he is going to hit Floors that will be truly grueling to hit solo. Even at our levels in full parties, it will be tough."
"Will?" Klein snorted as he caught up. "Why do you think we wanted to team up? You guys have us all beat by a few levels at least. Some of your lower players are probably our rank by now. But you are what, over 80?"
"Well," Bladescape said, weighing the options. "You know me as a fighter, and dare I say it, a friend. I'm at 79, right up on that edge to 80. The Boss Raid will push me over if I don't hit it in the Labyrinth."
"We have a few more teams competing for slots," Klein warned. "The Wondercolts are a very strong asset for a raid, but have you thought about them rotating you out to rest you? Rumor is, they are going to have to do that soon. And I've also heard they are going to be sending scouting parties to fight for a longer time before they bail. It's getting harder for info brokers to get the boss details. This isn't the lower floors anymore. We are having to change tactics after Floor 50 to gather first hand intel on the boss and its attack patterns."
“Lower floors?” Bladescape asked. “Klein, I know when Fuurinkazan arrived. You don’t actually know the battles we had on the lower floors. You didn’t work with Kirito during those floors. We did.”
Kirito had stopped ahead, just inside a circular room. His sword was drawn, but he wasn't moving. He was shifting to be ready to attack. Bladescape caught up to him and saw why he had stopped.
Large bones were flying from the walls, creating an oversized skeleton. It continued to build, bone by bone, as the game loaded the boss. They were known as mid bosses. They were a pain to clear and the clearers rarely had time to organize a solid raid party. Parties couldn’t access guild storage inside labyrinths and dungeons either. They were typically low-level obstacles throughout the labyrinths, blocking the next floor as they climbed the inside of the tower. Still, a team of 6 often had trouble on their own. The Wondercolts had taken down relatively few because, with so many players clearing, they had to be the first to find and beat it. They didn’t respawn. Kirito could beat it solo. So could their party of five, probably. Together was still the wisest option.
"It's not worth it," Bladescape said to Kirito. "I know you can take it, but why? We’re here. Let’s do it just like old times."
“Fine,” Kirito growled.
Bladescape drew her sword. The others were ready as well. As soon as it finished, "Big Skeleton" popped up above its head along with three health bars. They would be easy bars to take down.
Kirito charged ahead as if he was alone. Bladescape went out on the right flank while Klein took to the left as the others followed. They would need Dynamm as their tank in this fight. He was skilled with his shield, but it was small for a tank.
Kirito was, as usual, an amazing fighter as he blocked and deflected the giant sword away from him. It was immediately followed up by a strong Sword Skill combination. He was calm and cool in the opening of the battle.
Bladescape took the opportunity to unleash her own heavy attack, High Infinity, as the Skeleton was reeling from Kirito's attack. Klein yelled as he let his own go in a near perfect opening assault. Most of the first health bar was gone.
The others switched in and Bladescape watched its HP slip to halfway through the second bar. Dynamm did his job as the tank, blocking the skeleton's sword and letting them switch in for round two. Klein, Kirito, and Bladescape wordlessly understood what was needed. They all unleashed powerful Sword Skills, destroying the mid boss on the third round.
Claps and cheers came from behind them. The rest of the Wondercolts and Fuurinkazan had found their way to them. They had apparently seen the tail end of the battle.
“That was awesome,” Thunderborne exclaimed.
“Absolutely amazing,” Knightstar added. “I hope it wasn’t too difficult without us.”
“We had Kirito,” Bladescape explained, turning to congratulate him only to sigh at what she saw. “And he is already up the stairs and gone.”
“That’s Kirito,” Klein said with a shrug.
“We need to continue,” Bladescape said. “He will be fine. It was an interesting little interaction.”
“Yeah,” Klein admitted. “Something was off. Usually he isn't so cold."
"He was passive aggressive," Bladescape said. "He wasn't mad yesterday. I feel like we interrupted something or intruded into his private space, but I have no idea what would even make sense."
Klein shrugged. He was obviously concerned. "Anyway, let’s go. Besides, we might end up meeting him again.”
“You care for him,” Bladescape said, nudging him with her elbow.
"Yeah," Klein admitted.
That was all Klein was going to say as he started moving again. They climbed up the stairs and realized that the chances of finding Kirito were slim. They were in a small circular room, and leading off it were eight different hallways. Nine with the stairs they had just come up from.
"This is going to be a pain," Klein said, trying not to groan.
"Let's not push it," Bladescape said. "All three parties will go down the same hall."
Klein didn't say anything as he headed for the first hallway on their left. Bladescape followed and the rest did after forming up into their parties. Kiefer's party brought up their rear.
The layout of the Labyrinth took time to map. Each of the eight hallways intersected with a loop that completely enclosed the stairwell chamber. They kept going out and then through an even larger loop. Once they understood the layout, the three parties split up and speed ran the clearing. They officially mapped all of the "spokes" and both loops in an efficient two hours. There was no sign of Kirito.
A single spoke continued out from the outer loop. Not far down it was a safe zone. Inside they stopped for a late lunch. No one sat against the bone walls. Virtual or not, they were creepy. Konpeito had packed everything in picnic baskets. She had so much food for them that Bladescape wasn’t sure how they would eat it all, especially the large assortment of desserts she had prepared. None of that was a problem with Thunder, Natora, Malus, and the boys of Fuurinkazan.
After their break, the catacombs once again became chaotic in their layout. The loops were just half of the floor. They did split to cover the most ground, but they planned a nine P.M. rendezvous back at the safe zone if they did get completely split up.
It turned out to be a wise plan. The others were waiting for Klein, Bladescape, Dynamm, Doombunny, and Konpeito when they finally caught up. They were late by almost 30 minutes. They had gotten into a few snags on the way back.
Thunderborne held up a blue teleport crystal. She didn't beg, verbally, but it was obvious what she wanted. Bladescape looked at Klein.
"I'm too lazy," Klein shrugged. "This place is a pain. I know we have the way back mapped and could make it easily, but my feet hurt."
Klein pulled out a crystal, but he left the final order up to Bladescape. Each Wondercolt had at least three on them. It was tighter than she wanted it to be for use on a teleport out from the bottom half of a Labyrinth. Her feet were sore too. On top of that, Bladescape wanted to get a team out on an overnight trip, even with the late start time. Teleporting would drastically speed that up.
"I guess we will see you soon," Bladescape said to Klein.
"It was fun working by your side," Klein shot back. "And the Wondercolts. We do need to think about teaming up more."
Bladescape rolled her eyes at his lame verbal poke. The rest was true though. "Definitely," Bladescape said, clinking her blue crystal with Klein's in a toast.
The others were waiting on their leader. Bladescape held her crystal up, took a deep breath in, and called out the order. The crystal enveloped her in blue and she was suddenly on the teleport plaza of Mishe. She jumped off it as the others came in behind her.
Bladescape had to decide who was going with her for the trip. She watched as the others came to Mishe and how they looked getting off the platform. Doombunny was an obvious no after all the hard work she had put in; being without a tank drained her energy. Kiefer and Soryuto were the last two to come back. They were side by side as they stepped off the plaza. For leading a party, Kiefer looked like he was solid on his feet and, with Soryuto by his side, Bladescape had an idea. She would take both Kiefer and Soryuto with her to the Sand Crabs and see what she could do to get them to define their relationship.
BLADESCAPE: Level 79 — Two-Handed Sword — Searching — Weapon Defense — Leather Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Sprint — Blade Throwing — Extended Weight Carry — Acrobatics
NATORA: Level 75 — Two-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations — Sales Negotiation — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Armor Pierce — Sprint
KNIGHTSTAR: Level 70 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Equipment Appraisal — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Extended Weight Carry — Armor Pierce — Search
MALUS: Level 74 — One-Handed War Hammer — Greatshield — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Extended Weight Carry — Battle Regeneration — Fishing — Search — Martial Arts — Rend
THUNDERBORNE: Level 74 — Rapier — Sprint — Acrobatics — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Armor Pierce — Martial Arts — Blade Throwing
KONPEITO: Level 74 — Two-Handed Axe — Cooking — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — Martial Arts — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Music — Blade Throwing — Bard — Extended Weight Carry
DIEMOND: Level 75 — Mace — Greatshield — Sewing — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Light Metal Armor Forging — Heavy Metal Armor Forging — Extended Weight Carry — Jewelry Creation
DOOMBUNNY: Level 70 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide — Fighting Spirit — Blade Throwing — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Familiar Cooperation — Mixing — Search — Listen — Reveal
KIEFER: Level 72 — One-Handed Curved Sword — Slash Weapon Forging — Light Metal Armor — Weapon Defense — First Aid — Katana — Battle Regeneration — Slash Weapon Forging — Blade Throwing — Armor Pierce
SORYUTO: Level 70 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Music — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Fighting Spirit — Armor Pierce — Acrobatics — Extended Weight Carry
REISENKI: Level 72 — One-Handed Axe — Greatshield — Heavy Metal Armor — Equipment Repair — Metal Equipment Repair — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Cooking — Metal Refining — One-Hand Weapon Creation