thread_vigilon_thefall

Every story has a beginning, though some stories begin within other stories, which also happen to be part of one greater, grand tale.

Some stories begin with peace, some stories begin with a collapse...

This one...began with a Fall.



Vigilon landed face-first onto the ground. He sure didn't see that drop coming...now that he thought of it, he hardly saw anything at all during that moment. He looked to his HP, and he'd taken some damage...but he was relieved to know that he was alive at all. Still somewhat dazed, he tried to get a grip on his situation. Where was he?

He looked around him, but he saw only the cavernous tunnels of this subterranean floor....and next to him was a familiar face that had been travelling with him for like, ten minutes. She, too, had taken some damage, but thankfully, neither player was dead just yet. "Hey, Dazia, are you alright?" Vigilon asked as he was coming back to his senses.

Dazia wasn't hoping the day would go like this at all.

Monster populations had increased drastically, and there didn't seem to be much of an explanation...the fact that Floor 10 was rumored to have not changed much for the season did grab enough intrigue to prompt an investigation...and so far, it was going very poorly.

Falling down with an idiot cousin. Not how she pictured a potential death. Thankfully for her, she managed to survive the fall, so it might not have been that bad of a fall...or maybe there was something that broke her fall. Whatever it was, the result was there. She'd fallen and survived, but the damage was present regardless. Vigilon began to ask if Dazia was alright, but she wasn't in the mood for any nudging to see if she was alive. She was right there, so she wasn't dead, did he really need to nudge her to see if she was alright? "Back..." Dazia muttered. "Vigilon..."

If Vigilon didn't get it and kept trying to "help", or if he asked what she was trying to say, she'd say it directly...now that she was conscious enough to do so. "Back off before I punch you."

Dazia got up, and brushed herself off. "So, what's your next move? I'm about ready to just leave you here, but maybe I should give you the benefit of the doubt, you've only done one of three stupid things at the moment."

Astralin had a lot to adjust to. First, the strange book disappeared and she had to find it again...but now that she had it again, she noticed that the book now seemed...complete? There were many empty spaces in it before, and everything looked a bit different...save for the writing that she couldn't read, of course. Hearing about the festive phenomenon going around all the floors seemed like a potential mystery to solve, so it was time she got moving.

"Equipment: Check. Odd Book: Check. Alchemical Research Book: Check. Spellbook: Check. Well, that's everything, now it's off to Floor 10 for me!" She thought aloud as she finished making her preparations, placing her Skillbook into her inventory before leaving the room of the inn she was staying at, and she made her way to the Teleport Gate.

This was her first time entering the Tenth Floor, if she remembered correctly...and to her, it looked like some kind of creepy cavern fresh out of a horror feature. Astralin hesitated before going any further. She might need to find a helpful player somewhere in town before stepping outside. Who knows who or what she may encounter...

It is always long ago in tales like these...

People are split into factions, often with hostility. In this world, there were what people believed to be two sides. The creatures and inhabitants of this world...and those who lived only once. There were Players, and there were Monsters.

Sometimes there is a story within a story...and one such tale begins underground, at present time, within the darkness of Floor 10, when two players would reach it from the teleport gate.

"I understand that you wish to at least see what's happening. I don't know how far I'll be able to carry you, statistically, of course...just know that if you are in any danger, use a Teleport Crystal if you have one, and retreat to a safer floor." Krysta noted to someone who'd asked to be carried through a floor above their level. "Personally, I don't understand why this Floor has the attention of rumors, it hardly looks as though it had changed at all." She claimed, despite being wrong...though she had yet to see the evidence yet. Even the Settlement of this floor was...how would she put it, Unsettling? More so than the time before the dark flood? Perhaps it was the season...

Monster Populations were on the rise, and there were rumors of stuff going down on the Tenth Floor of Aincrad. She had to see what was going on somehow, but with the overpopulation issue, she literally could not go anywhere alone. She was gonna need some help...which was exactly why she was tagging along behind a girl who looked like some kind of Princess over to Floor Ten.

"Hey now, don't you worry, I'm low-level, not stupid. I know when to run." Yona claimed. The Princess girl didn't seem to understand the rumors, and from what she saw, she claimed that almost nothing had changed. "If that's the case, is it subtle, or is it purposefully hidden? Either could be the case if the rumors happen to be true." Yona noted. "But oh, I'm a low-level player, so what the hell do I know?" She added with sarcasm and a shrug.

Vigilon backed away upon hearing Dazia's threat. Both Players got up, and Dazia asked what Vigilon's next move was, although she admitted that she was ready to leave the party this very moment. "Well, before we go anywhere else, we should take a short rest and recover our HP, maybe keep a lookout for anything dangerous while we're at it. Then we should probably head back to the safe zone and figure out our next destination." Vigilon suggested. "I won't stop you from leaving on your own, but, well, do so at your own risk, there's strength in numbers, after all." He added, hoping that this would prevent him or Dazia getting swarmed because one tried to solo the rest of the way.

Vigilon looked to his HP. Not full yet, but it would be soon enough...hopefully. "Guess all that's left is to figure out where we are right now." He thought aloud.

Dazia rolled her eyes and failed to keep herself from groaning upon hearing Vigilon thinking out loud about exactly where the players were, and she pulled up her map. "Here, dumbass." She said as she pointed to the players' location, marked on the map. "Did you seriously forget that we have maps?" She asked.

If it wasn't clear already, she was still irritated, and conversation would be a bad idea at this moment. She needed to fight something soon, but she would need to wait until her HP finished regenerating. At least she had the Survival Skill to speed that up...but she really needed the Disguise skill, not to mention something else she'd been needing...she couldn't let herself become weak in any way, lest she find herself meeting her end in this world of Aincrad.

But knowing she survived this, that one little fall wasn't able to stop her, she was ready to keep moving.

"...It looks like my HP is full again. If yours is too, we should get moving. Heading into the chamber to the south might be the best choice." Dazia noted.

Astralin still had yet to see anything just yet, but that wasn't stopping her, for she'd only just begun. She heard the teleport gate activate, and she turned around to see Krysta and one other player come out of it. They seemed to be in conversation, but there was always strength in numbers, so no time like the present to act reckless. "Heeeeeeey, Krysta!!!" She called out as she waved at the two players, before walking over to them. "Are you here to investigate the phenomenon, too? I got here only a few minutes ago, so of course I haven't found anything yet." She explained. "So, anyway, who's your friend there?" She then would proceed to ask, hoping to make another friend during this trip. If the three joined up and formed a party, this should go way easier than she originally expected. Hopefully, the search would be complete in a matter of hours, and they'd still have downtime to spare!

This player was already proving to be a bit of a handful. It wasn't the attempt to reassure Krysta that she knew how to use her items when she needed to, but the sarcastic remark that she'd made in response to Krysta not believing the rumors. "Well, you didn't necessarily need to put it like that." Krysta responded, taking offense to the words.

Before the conversation could continue, a familiar voice called out to the two players. It was Astralin, who seemed a bit excited to look into the rumors involving this floor... She then asked who the other player was. "Oh, um, I wouldn't say we are friends just yet... I kind of encountered her standing by the teleport gate about five minutes ago." Krysta answered a bit nervously.

She would then receive a message, and proceed to access it.

To: Krysta

Subject: Rumors

A Player just returned from the Tenth Floor via teleport crystal. He was overwhelmed by enemies near an odd set of ruins, to the northwest of Yomi. He claimed the ruins were not there before. If you plan on going there yourself, do not go alone.

-Keita

It was from her informant. Well, at least there was a potential lead. "I believe we may have a destination now..." She thought aloud. She then looked back to the other player. "It may be more dangerous in there than what you might be prepared for. Do you still want to come along anyway?" She asked, just to make sure this player knew what she was getting into.

The Player Yona was speaking to seemed to be irritated by her words. Before Yona could say anything else, another Blonde player walked into the scene. She addressed the Princess Player as Krysta, which might have been her username. The blonde seemed to be on the assumption that Yona and Krysta were friends, and asked who she was. Krysta admitted that the two had only just met five minutes ago. "Yep, she's right, we're more like, fresh acquaintances, you could say. Anyway, I go by Yona, what about you?" Yona added. Krysta seemed to get distracted by a message, but it seemed to be tied to why the three players were here. Krysta seemed to really wanna know that Yona was aware of the situation. "I'm aware...that I'm getting carried. As long as I don't pull aggro, I'll be fine." Yona claimed, looking confident. "So, who's gonna lead the party?" Yona asked, wanting to know who and what she was working with.

"I didn't forget about the maps, I just remember them being 2D and surface-level." Vigilon replied to Dazia's remark on maps. Soon after the two players' HP regenerated to full, Dazia suggested taking the south tunnel to try and find a way out. Vigilon would find himself walking down the south tunnel, until there was a fork in the tunnel. "Well...now what? Are we gonna pick a direction, or are we gonna argue about left and right? Personally, I don't think splitting up would do any good." Upon saying that, the rocks in front of the players crumbled, revealing another option, a third path that went straight ahead...towards an odd structure.

"...Or we could just go straight towards whatever the heck that is." Vigilon added after witnessing this little surprise.

Vigilon thought for a minute. "Well, as long as it's not a dungeon or something, we could be fine. I say we go and see what that structure is supposed to be." He decided.

"Clearly we'd be expected to go left, so maybe right is the better choice..." Dazia thought before the cavernous wall in front of the players crumbled before their eyes. Vigilon then decided to go to the place that was revealed by the wall's collapse. "I don't think that's the best idea, are you sure you want to go in there? We just recovered from a fall, and you think we can just make an extra stop over to whatever that is? We don't even know what's in there." Dazia asked. Sure, the two players had teleport crystals, but for this to become an option so coincidentally just didn't seem right. It was too sudden and it happened with such timing, it couldn't possibly be a coincidence...or, at least, that was how Dazia saw the scenario.

It was still an option, just not the best option.

So if they were going, it better damn well be worth it.

Apparently Krysta and the other player had only just met. The other player proceeded to introduce herself as Yona, and ask Astralin for her own introduction. "Well, nice to meet you, Yona, I'm Astralin." She said as she offered her hand to shake. Krysta received a message from someone, and began to speak of the situation.

Oh, so Yona was being carried...in a dangerous situation such as Monster Overpopulation...well, at least she applied crucial MMO knowledge to the strategy before it was even formed! "Right, um, s-sure, then!" Astralin uttered out, failing to hide her doubts. Yona then asked who was gonna lead the party. "Well...I'd suggest having Krysta lead the party. She's the highest leveled player among the three of us..." Astralin suggested. "Not to mention she actually has defenses, all I've got is a bit of evasiveness, otherwise my defenses are...dangerously lacking..." She added.

And to think she was about to begin her investigation alone before seeing these two...to be defenseless in an environment crawling with monsters, Astralin was clearly getting ahead of herself...thank God these two arrived!

The player who Krysta was carrying introduced herself as Yona, and she seemed rather confident that she would be fine. "I....I do certainly hope you know what you are doing, as you so claim." Krysta remarked, worried that the young woman was far more rash than Astralin had proven to be so far. Yona asked who was going to lead the party, and Astralin suggested that it be Krysta who led it, due to her having the superior stats and defenses among the three. Krysta wasn't exactly one who would "toot her own horn" in moments like these, though she saw what Astralin was trying to get across. "I was going to carry anyway, so I don't mind becoming the party leader for this trip." Krysta noted in response, as she pulled up her menu to send party invites to the two players.

Hopefully the players wouldn't be swarmed too easily, even if there was some Monster Overpopulation that was ongoing.



As much as Yona wanted to be the Party Leader, a carry was a carry. Astralin suggested that Krysta should be the party leader, and Krysta seemed to accept only because she was carrying both her allies for this objective. Well, that was one good thing to look forward to! To be humble would serve everyone well for the time being...though the only thing humble on Yona's end was her level...

Soon.



Yona accepted the invite, she would be a lowly level one getting carried...for now.

"Just you all wait...I might be below all of you now, but I'll reach your level at some point...then at the very least, we'll be equals..." Yona thought. "I'm sick of just doing nothing, even if I have to start with a carry just so I can have a piece of the action that's worthwhile, then so be it!"

She had a goal in sight: To catch up with everyone else so she wouldn't have to answer to anyone. Knowing she was finally on her way to rising up in level, she could feel her determination.

Vigilon thought for a moment. "I'm probably gonna end up separated if I do this, but I can only hope it's not a dungeon..." He considered all the possibilities, then he was confident in his decision. "We wouldn't know what we're getting into or what's up ahead, anyway. This floor is a subterranean maze and we just so happen to be lost." He told Dazia. "In other words, we're going in."

This better not become something he regretted....

The structure was definitely old. While it wasn't crumbling down this very moment, its walls were definitely showing signs of age, and there were mushrooms growing all over, scattered around the structure's flooring and dotted along the walls occasionally. It was fine and all, but there was one problem...

The path split in two again.

"Aw, crap..." He really didn't feel like splitting up, but he couldn't stop Dazia from doing so if she wanted to. "Well, um... you going left or right?" He asked.

Dazia was hoping that Vigilon would see with the perspective of "better safe than sorry", but it would seem that he found there was nothing but uncertainty all around, as he declared that both he and Dazia were pretty much lost.

"Well, I'm going back, one way or another...even if there's a little detour." Dazia decided. Soon after the two players entered the structure, the path split in two. Dazia took the left path, completely ignoring Vigilon.





It was awfully quiet, as opposed to the usual activity, which would have been more active thanks to the Overpopulation that was occurring...and that meant...

"Someone's here." Dazia thought aloud. How else would there be a lack of monsters in the current area?

The room Dazia entered wasn't that big, but it would seem there would have been something there if Dazia was there first. Her eyes darted around the room, but there was no one in sight. Either they'd left the room, or were hiding in a dark corner...well, that's probably the case, since that's what Dazia would do if she learned she might be followed.

She just needed to keep her eyes open.


With that, it was time to accept the party invite, and begin the trip. Astralin pulled out her Skillbook, and began looking through it to pick out a few methods for activating her sword arts, as well as some ways to activate her support skills, too. "Hmm...this one will do, maybe this one too...ah, yes, I can't forget about this one..." She thought aloud to herself.

She soon closed the Skillbook and looked back to her party with a smile. "Well, my defenses might not be much, but I can lend mild support and strike with my innate power! I've been getting much better lately, you'll see!" She declared. Hopefully she might be able to see something that connects to that strange book she found, she couldn't even read it! There just had to be so much in it, waiting to be translated and learned, but to do that, she needed to be able to translate it in the first place, which was normally done by the Cardinal system....the book must have been player-written, with a unique font. Otherwise, how else could the system not translate it?

Both invites were accepted, the party had formed. Astralin pulled out a book she had, and it looked like some sort of spell book, for there were mystifying symbols, as well as star and galaxy inspired design patterns on its cover. She then explained her current statistics, she was capable of support and damage. "That is wonderful to hear, Astralin. It's good to know that your build is coming along rather nicely." Krysta noted with a smile. Yona seemed to be in thought over something, but Krysta did not know what exactly, and she was not one to pry, either, thus she would not ask.

Krysta would begin to seek out the ruins spoken of in the message she'd received earlier, but surprisingly, there didn't seem to be as many monsters roaming about as there were rumored to have been...there must have been some players here recently. At least this meant there wouldn't be as many battles as first anticipated during the investigation.

Astralin would pull out-

"Wait, hold up, is that a Spellbook? I thought we didn't have magic in SAO!" Yona exclaimed. "Is it a unique skill or something?? I haven't seen any listed skill on my skill menu that would even be close to that, and I've heard rumors of skills completely different than the rest, skills that must be discovered, rather than just invested in."

To think, that someone would ever try to attain magic...but why? Sure, everyone had their own thing, but Yona didn't think any players would be becoming magic users or anything like that...

Regardless of the answer she'd get, it was time to set out. It was probably because Yona was being carried, but Krysta didn't seem interested in attacking monsters as of the moment. Well, the players came to investigate a mysterious phenomenon, so grinding wasn't really the goal just yet. Speaking of the phenomenon, part of it was monster overpopulation, right? So...where were all the monsters?

Dazia seemed willing enough to enter the ruins, but when the path split, Dazia was silent. Vigilon walked on the right path, and he soon entered a seemingly empty room. "Well, Dazia, it looks like-" Dazia was nowhere to be seen. "Um...where'd you go? Are you in stealth, or did you take the left path? Don't you know it's bad to split the party?"

Well, the room wasn't exactly empty, but what was around seemed to be mostly junk...and weird tiles. The tiles seemed to have holes in them, so that was enough for suspicion. Vigilon slowly placed his right foot on one, and the tile began to sink. Nothing else seemed to happen, so Vigilon moved his left foot to one of the other tiles. As that other tile sank, spikes emerged from the holes.

Ah, so it was one of those kinds of things...and now his left foot had been damaged by a spike from below. "Well, that's not good." He thought aloud. He would need to be cautious around the tiles from this point on, as there would be no way to avoid the tiles if he was to try and reach the other side. Since some tiles had spikes and others didn't, maybe this was...a puzzle?

He looked to the other side, and saw something in the corner. "Is that...?"

Dazia's eyes darted around the room, there did not seem to be anyone in sight. She readied her weapon, just in case, and moved on to the next room.

Dazia looked around again, there seemed to be nothing but shadows. A creature suddenly emerged from one door, and Dazia struck it down. A weaker monster. Pitiful thing was no match. Who she was really looking for, however, was not in sight. Her eyes darted across the room, mainly towards the darker areas with less glowing mushrooms around. "I know you're here!" Dazia called out to seemingly nothing. "Show yourself!" There came no response, but the lack of monster activity kept Dazia alert, due to the fact that there was supposed to be a surplus of activity.



Someone was there, all right, but their silent movements kept Dazia guessing. A smile crept upon their lips as they observed Dazia and her actions. Was now the time to act, or was it later? Was this who they thought she was, or was it somebody else?

Krysta smiled and seemed to be happy that Astralin's build was finally coming along, while Yona was surprised to see Astralin's Skillbook, asking if it was what Astralin herself preferred to interpret it as.

"No no, it's not a unique skill....this book is just...for immersion. I said before that I could strike with my innate power, right? Well, I'm not exactly one for those bulky bludgeons, and I'm not very blade-savvy, either...so I had to work with something else. It might not count as magic in the game and its statistics, but I intend to come as close to it as I can!" Astralin explained.

Soon, the players were off to the location that Krysta was notified about. The trip seemed surprisingly peaceful, there weren't as many monsters as expected...not nearly enough. Something was up, and Astralin needed to find out. "Was the overpopulation going on in all floors but this one? There should be lots of monsters lurking about..."

Upon the players' arrival, there seemed to be something standing in front of the doorway of the structure. It stared at the players, as if waiting for them to make a movement.

[A Skeletal Guardian blocks the way.]

Astralin stopped. It didn't look like this armored undead was going to budge, so if this was indeed the specified location... "It looks like we might have to deal with this guy if we're gonna get in." Astralin noted. She readied her Sword art, and upon the activation, her eyes glowed due to her amulet's vanity effect. "Arrekona!" She called out right before the Sword Art was used. The Skeletal Guardian sidestepped the attack in time, and it was now that the enemy's cursor changed from yellow to red.

Yona was surprised to see Astralin pull out what appeared to be a spellbook, and Astralin explained what it was for, as well as why.

A battle was anticipated either way, so it was no surprise to Krysta that there would be at least one enemy to fight before entering the structure mentioned within the message. Astralin's attack missed, and then the monster's cursor changed to red, signaling hostility. Krysta readied her own Sword Art, and slashed three times at the Skeletal Guardian, dealing a fair amount of damage to it. The attack was not critical, so there was one thing left to assure. "Hold steady, Yona! Now is not the time!" She called out to the party member who had yet to take action. Krysta then looked back to her enemy. "I will not allow you to harm my allies." She declared as she readied herself for an attack.

Yona was a bit confused as to exactly what Astralin meant. "Uh, you just described every weapon in the game." She remarked. "Exactly what do you do, then?" She asked.

It wasn't long before the players encountered a monster blocking the way. Astralin tried out something, and it was...odd, how did...was that the martial arts skill she'd heard about? This was starting to get more confusing. Astralin didn't look like the sort to fight with her fists or feet, and yet here she was, using Martial Arts to pull off...whatever it was she tried to do just now. Krysta then managed to actually land a hit against the monster, cutting its HP down to yellow, almost red. All in one attack? Damn...Yona couldn't wait to get that powerful. Krysta told Yona to wait, which was the obvious course of action, due to how aggro seemed to work in this game. Krysta also said something super cliche, along the lines of "I won't let you hurt my friends" or something like that. Nice one, captain obvious. The Skeletal Guardian attempted to strike back, but Krysta blocked the attack and it ended in lock. A seemingly disembodied voice came from the monster as it glared at Krysta. "...Leave..."

Ok, so it just wanted the players to leave. Well, bad news for him, that wasn't gonna happen.

Okay, now was the time for focus, and deep breaths. He needed to handle this carefully, lest he take too much damage from stepping on spikes. Now, how to tell which tiles were spike tiles and which ones weren't? Talk about minesweeper...or "spikesweeper", in this case.

He shouldn't have been surprised when almost a quarter of his HP was lost from all the spike tiles he'd stepped on...in total, of course, the individual spike tiles didn't deal much on their own. With red dots all over the bottoms of his feet(or boots, whatever), he walked up to the chest he'd spotted. "Alright....this better be worth it..." He muttered before opening the chest.

A bunch of tier one gear, he shouldn't have been surprised. He might have use for the consumables, not to mention the materials and col, but the curved sword and the cloth armor? "...I can't use these...gosh darn it."

Well, at least it was better than nothing, and he could probably find a much noobier player to give the tier one equipment to.

Dazia kept her hood on, her weapon at the ready, and her guard up. There was no way she was going to let anyone try to get the jump on her. To Dazia's surprise, a small frog hopped out of a hole in the wall. It must have been poisonous if it could survive in a floor like this. Dazia thrust her blade downward on it, and it shattered. Just an endemic life entity, nothing more. Soon, Dazia heard a voice at last.

"So, you must be this 'Dazia' I've heard so much about..."

Dazia readied her weapon and looked towards the possible source of the voice. Out from the shadows came a hooded player, probably female. "Who are you?" Dazia demanded.

"Hold on now...I think I might know you..." The player remarked. Dazia was somewhat confused.

"You're Violet, aren't you?" The player asked. She then took off her hood.

"Long time, no see, eh?" The familiar woman remarked.

"Haimi..." Dazia growled. "Enough games you little shit, what do you want this time? I'm still sick of the constant hell you give me over something stupid, I wasn't even interested in what you wanted."

Dazia's sibling laughed. "Such big talk...even though you're who happens to be the little sister, you've gotten the roles reversed!"

It took so much for Dazia to keep herself from activating her sword art. "Just shut up and tell me what the hell you want so we can get this over with and behind us." She snapped. The woman seemed to be thinking it over. "So...you wanna end this? You wanna...get some resolution to our long, long struggle against one another? Hmm, that sounds nice...in theory...but if you really want to..." Her eyes then lit up all of a sudden.

She'd gotten an idea...an awful idea! Haimi Grace had gotten a wonderful, awful idea! A sinister smile crept on her face, then she spoke again. "You know what, I think I've got something... So, you know how there's been rumors of monster overpopulation going about? Maybe we can fix that." She claimed. "Yeah, let's cut the monsters down to size, kill them all! Tear them all apart, shatter them into shards, disintegrating like dust in the wind!" She explained with glee. "It can be a bit of a competition, if you want! It'll be good training for us both! Come on, I know you want to do it! Let's do it!"

Dazia simply watched as her sister explained this idea of hers. The woman laughed as she pulled her hood back over her head. "Ahahahahaha, what a wonderful idea!" She said as she practically leapt back into the shadows. "...."

Dazia had nothing to say...but she just might actually do it.

Krysta managed to get a better hit against it than Astralin did, and Yona made sure not to pull aggro. Guess the low level player really did know what she was doing, after all. The Skeletal Guardian made a simple attack that Krysta easily blocked with her own weapon. It the proceeded to let out a seemingly disembodied voice. One word: Leave.

Creepy.

Astralin took this chance to try attacking again. She readied her sword art, and while it was the same as before, she hoped it would hit this time. "Arrekona!" She called out as her sword art activated again. She really wanted to finish this, but...

The Skeletal Guardian turned its gaze over to her when Astralin activated her sword art, and after pushing Krysta back, it grabbed her by the arm and swung her away from it, using the force of momentum to throw her further. "AAAAAGGGH!!"

Astralin got up, but she was feeling a bit dizzy from the impact. Was today just not her day in terms of combat?

A seemingly disembodied voice came from the Skeletal Guardian, telling the players to leave. Astralin prepared to make another attack, but the Skeletal Guardian pushed Krysta back and proceeded to catch Astralin's arm and throw her aside. But by doing so, the monster was left wide open for an attack. Krysta made use of her own sword art again, and her opponent was ill prepared for it. Upon Krysta's final strike, the Skeletal Guardian glared at her. The disembodied voice was heard once more. "Turn...back..."

The monster then shattered, and its shards dispersed as though they were particles of airborne dust.

"Phew...now that's been taken care of." Krysta then looked to both of her party members. "Astralin, are you alright?" She asked. Regardless of whatever answer came, it was time to enter the mysterious structure.

There wasn't very much within the entryway, which seemed to suggest the presence of other players. "Remain on guard." Krysta suggested. "I doubt we're alone."


Sure enough, Astralin and Krysta continued their assault against the Skeletal Guardian. Astralin failed to damage the target yet again, whereas Krysta finished it off.

Oh look, experience. Well, guess even just standing around in a party had some value. With things like this going on, a lazy player could lie about his or her level and get carried all the time until he or she reached a desired level...but such a thing would be too dumb, boring and, honesty...just plain petty for Yona. She knew she'd need to put in some work of her own if she wanted to really get anywhere.

Krysta checked to make sure Astralin was ok, then the party entered the ruins. The entryway seemed pretty empty, and Krysta seemed to get the idea that the party wasn't alone.

Plap, plap, plap...

Wait, what was that noise?

Plap plap, plap plap, plap plap...

Yona turned her head slowly towards the direction the sounds were coming from, and she saw two little frogs hopping across the floor...pretty close to the players. The patterns on the endemic creatures weren't that of typical frogs. Yona had heard from one player that the waters of the tenth floor were poisonous...since frogs were amphibians that came from water, then these might be...

*ribbit*

"D'AAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Yona pulled out her weapon, pointing it towards the two frogs...which simply continued to hop towards the party.

Vigilon continued on, and the next room wouldn't exactly have much, save for a simple frog hopping around the floor. It was probably looking for cave insects, and it was probably fine to just leave it alone. It stared at Vigilon for a few seconds as he passed by it, but then it returned to its usual business. Had someone cleared this place out already? They must not have been looking for treasure, otherwise that treasure chest would have been opened and looted before Vigilon came across it. He pondered over this for a brief moment, then he continued on. The next room would kind of bottleneck, and in the middle of the narrow walkway was a training dummy. Strange, who would leave it there? Soon, Vigilon heard voices. He turned towards the direction they were coming from and saw another doorway. Was that coming from the path Dazia took?

Dazia would walk towards the doorway ahead of her, and once she left the room, The player she had spoken with came out of her hiding place, and began walking towards a crumbling wall. She pulled out a stone, and the portion that was crumbling collapsed, revealing another way out. She left in that direction, as she spoke to herself. "Kill them all, show the rest...soon, Aincrad itself, maybe even the world back where we came from, will be able to take a good, long look at the real Violet Grace... Hehehehehehehe, hehehahahaha!!!!"

Dazia noticed Vigilon was in the room she'd entered. "So the paths meet here, then." She noted, despite that it was obvious now. "Don't suppose you've found anything, have you? I found the one who was clearing the place out, by the way. She wasn't interested in killing any players, so we don't have that much to worry about."

Dazia looked ahead, and saw the dummy in her way. She drew out her weapon, and cut it in half. The training dummy shattered. "Honestly, what kind of dummy would have that in the way?"

There was only the room up ahead now...even if it seemed to be closed off by something other than a typical wooden door.

Astralin watched Krysta finish the battle and ask if she was alright. "Yep, I'm fine, just a non-damage scratch..." She answered. When the players entered the ruins, it was emptier than expected. Krysta warned that the party should be on guard, that they probably weren't alone...and then it happened.

Plap plap, plap plap, plap plap...

Frogs. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be super freaked out, just mildly squeamish, as frogs are often coated in some kind of mucus. The tenth floor was known for its toxic water, however, so that would suggest toxic waters breed toxic frogs...

*ribbit*

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!"

Yeah, Astralin didn't exactly have any methods for dispatching these frogs that didn't involve direct physical contact, and toxic frogs tended to be externally poisonous. Without a weapon that didn't apply physical contact from her avatar, it would be too risky a move unless she was fine with getting poisoned...which she wasn't. "I'm gonna have to leave them to you two, I can't touch them without getting poisoned and any attacks I make have physical contact!" She exclaimed. The fact that the frogs were hopping toward the players didn't make this any better.

Even within the entryway, the players already were not alone. The timing was absolutely impeccable. The three players all turned their heads towards the source of the sounds nearby.

Frogs, two of them, possibly poisonous. One of them croaked, and they both continued hopping...towards Krysta.

"Aaahh! wh-why??"

Yona drew her blade, Astralin said she would leave the frogs to Yona and Krysta, due to physical contact being her only method of attack. "Why are they hopping towards me?? Yona, why haven't you tried cutting them yet? They're endemic life, their HP is minuscule! You can handle them!" Krysta said as she drew her own weapon, in case Yona still did not attack. She also tried to slowly move away from the two frogs, for she wanted no interaction with the possibly poisonous creatures. Yona was better fit to handle them since they were moving towards Krysta and not Yona.

If it was any consolation, at least they were not spiders.

Seriously? Both Astralin and Krysta didn't want anything to do with this. Neither did Yona, so it would be a bit of a stalemate among the party, and those damn frogs were only getting closer! "Are you kidding me?? I don't wanna touch those things! Astralin, I understand if it's because you're using martial arts and don't wanna get poisoned, I don't wanna get poisoned either! Honestly, there's one of us who's capable of taking a status ailment and I know who that is! Let the Princess handle these frogs, 'cause who knows what they really are!" Yona exclaimed, despite somewhat making a reference at the end.

After all the cliche stuff Krysta had done so far, she had a chance to either break the stereotype or follow through with it. Come on, Death game or no, this was still a game! ...And they're just two frogs...potentially poisonous frogs...but still!

Sure enough, Dazia entered the room. She explained that she'd found whoever cleaned the place out, and that said person wasn't interested in PKing. Dazia then sliced up the training dummy, proceeding to make a negative remark.

"...You do realize we could have just picked it up and moved it, right? You didn't need to do that." Vigilon countered. It was basically a waste of energy destroying it when there could be something up ahead. Vigilon and Dazia would travel to the other side of the room, and there seemed to be something odd keeping the door sealed. There were symbols that looked detachable. Maybe there was a certain order that would open the door?

"...Ok, if there's anything I can guess about it, we'll need the right combination to get this opened." Vigilon noted.

Heart, Creature, Blade, Arms...those were the symbols on the tokens? Vigilon took one out, and turned it around, there was another symbol. Some kind of spark-like thing.

Vigilon thought for a moment, hopefully this would work.

Upon the door, the holes where the symbols went seemed to be following the pattern of a Pentagon, even though there were no lines connecting the holes. Vigilon Placed the Heart in the top hole, the spark in the upper right hole, the blade in the upper left hole, then he placed the creature in the lower left hole and the arms in the lower right hole. Wait, the larger hole in the center was still empty.

Vigilon looked at the ground and saw a larger symbol, much more complex, too. It had only one symbol on one side, unlike the others, which seemed to be two sided. Vigilon placed the center symbol in its hole, and turned it. Nope, spear-like bars now blocked the way back. Vigilon switched the creature and arms symbols, and tried turning the center symbol again. The spear-bars retracted back under the doorway behind the two players, and the door Vigilon was trying to unlock suddenly started lowering until it stopped when the top of the door was aligned with the floor...what kind of Skyrim-tomb bull was this?

Well, now the next room was ahead...it was dark, but at the end of it seemed to be seven differently colored light sources.

Vigilon walked closer to them, and they seemed to be vials full of glowing...substances...like, what exactly were these? One was Cyan, another was Orange. One was Blue, the other was Purple. Yet another was Green, and one was Yellow. Between the Blue and Purple ones, there was a Red one in the center.

"Ok...what are these?" Vigilon asked.

Vigilon seemed to be against Dazia destroying the dummy. "I wanted to, why does it matter to you?" Dazia asked.

Vigilon and Dazia walked towards the end of the room, where...a puzzle door was. "You should look for clues before trying to solve it...or better yet, just leave it to me." Dazia suggested. Vigilon didn't seem to listen, so Dazia rolled her eyes and began searching this end of the room for hints to the combination. In the bottom left corner of this end, there was an etching of arms on the wall. Dazia ran over to the other corner, just in case, and found the etching of a creature in the bottom right corner. Vigilon got the answer wrong, as expected. "That's why I said look for hints first. From what I could see, The Creature goes in the right, and the arms go in the left." Dazia stated. Vigilon switched the two incorrectly placed symbols, and...then he tried again.

Wait, that worked? The rest of his guesses were right?

Now that the doorway was unblocked, it was time to continue on. Dazia looked around the area and saw two ladders leading to the story above. Maybe it was a way out? Dazia still entered the unlocked room as Vigilon did, just in case. She looked at the vials, and thought they might have some value. She took the red one first, but upon that, her hand passed through each other vial she tried to grab. She pulled out the vial of red and tried to examine it...

<<Red Essence>>

A mysterious compound, few know what it truly is. A Player may carry only one Essence at a time.

"Never give up, Stay Strong. Stay Determined."

Dazia thought for a moment, and decided to keep the Red Essence, since she already had it. "Guess I'll just be taking this one, then." She thought aloud. There didn't seem to be anything else in the room, so it was time for Dazia to leave. She then heard footsteps from above, lots of them. She needed to hide, quickly. She practically vanished, and she might be able to avoid whoever was coming. Only Vigilon had a chance to try and find her...hopefully he wouldn't.

So, no one was gonna do anything about this? Well, there was one other option...

"Nope, I'm not doing this, I'm out!" Astralin declared, and she ran off...and deeper into the ruins she went.

There was junk laying around, and strange tiles covered in little holes...something wasn't right here. Astralin grabbed a heavy-ish stone, and dropped it on a tile. The tile sank down, but nothing else happened. Astralin picked up the stone again and dropped it on another tile, just in case. The tile sank, but spikes emerged from the holes.

Ah, it was a puzzle, then. Astralin decided to repeat the process in hopes of finding the right path... although she was kinda hasty due to those frogs back in the entryway. If the other players tried to follow her, she'd say to them, "I'm trying to find a path, I'll tell you which tiles are safe!"

Once she and any other players following her got past the puzzle, there seemed to be two trapdoors that led downwards. She opened one, and there was a ladder there. She dropped down quickly, and now was the time to explore...a strange dark room?

Not only that, Vigilon was there. "Oh, hey Vigilon! Nice to see you again!" If any players followed Astralin down the ladder, she'd call out to them, "Hey guys, I think it's safe, Vigilon's here!"

She then turned her attention to the odd glowing Vials...how interesting... "Whoa...what are these? ...I like the purple one, I'll take a look at the purple one..."

She took the vial of the purple substance, and examined it...

<<Purple Essence>>

A mysterious compound, few know what it truly is. A Player may carry only one Essence at a time.

"Read your surroundings, the path to victory will be clear."

Only one? Oh well... "So, what essence did you get, Vigilon?"

Yona dared to suggest the unthinkable. "Heavens, no! I shall do no such thing!" Krysta reacted. Astralin managed to run away and into the next room. Honestly, why had Krysta not thought about that before? "I am getting out of here!" She said as she began to follow Astralin.

Astralin was trying to solve a tile puzzle, from what Krysta could observe when she stopped so suddenly. Time was of the essence, she and Yona had to catch up with Astralin before those frogs did. Astralin was able to help Krysta get across the puzzle unharmed. "Thank you so much for finding the solution to what could have been a much more difficult problem, not only for you an I, but Yona especially." She said to Astralin, before the players descended to the lover level of the ruins.

Astralin went on ahead, and called out that Vigilon was there. Krysta quickened her pace to meet up with her boyfriend. "Vigilon, it is good to know that you were able to get here...these ruins were mostly empty, save for a frog or two, but I now believe I know why. Training, I assume?" She greeted.

Astralin turned her attention to some odd vials with glowing substances inside, and they seemed to catch Krysta's attention, too. "Vigilon, do you, by any chance, know what these are?" She asked. Upon learning that he did not, Krysta decided to take a closer look at one of them. She picked out the Cyan one, and examined it...

<<Cyan Essence>>

A mysterious compound, few know what it truly is. A Player may carry only one Essence at a time.

"Hold steady, for the opportune moment will arrive shortly."

What an odd item it was...

Both Astralin and Krysta just noped out of the situation, just like that, leaving Yona with the frogs...or so one might think. If running was a valid option, then it was a damn good option, as Yona was not gonna stick around with a pair of toxic frogs. She bolted for the doorway that led further into the ruins, hopefully the frogs would lose interest and hop somewhere else, so that she wouldn't have to deal with them again when it was time to leave at the end of the investigation. Yona would enter the next room to see Astralin and Krysta frantically trying to solve a spiky tile puzzle. "Can I ask how frequently puzzles like these show up? Are they normal, or are they usually saved for higher level zones?" Yona questioned. Knowing whether or not traps and tricky puzzles were scattered around all levels and areas of Aincrad might prove to be useful information.

Once the puzzle was solved and the party managed to get away from the frogs by going down a ladder covered by a trapdoor, Astralin went on ahead and spoke of some person called Vigilon.

When Yona entered the dim room, she saw not only the rest of the party, but also who she could only assume was Vigilon. Well, they knew him, but Yona didn't. The two party members greeted the guy casually, so Yona didn't see anything more...yet.

More importantly, what were those odd vials? The players were already taking some, so Yona needed to take her share quickly! She walked right up to them and took the Blue one. Something stopped her from grabbing another, so she might as well take a look at the one she did manage to grab...

<<Blue Essence>>

A mysterious compound, few know what it truly is. A Player may carry only one Essence at a time.

"Leap across the chasms that are your challenges, and keep your enemies on their toes."

"One per player? What is the meaning of this?" Yona thought. Well, it didn't look like she was getting more than what she now had, so she pocketed the Essence she'd grabbed and looked over to Vigilon. "I don't think we've met. I go by Yona." She said in introduction.

Dazia tired to grab the vials, but for some reason she could only grab one. After Dazia added the red one to her inventory, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard.

It was as if Dazia vanished and suddenly everything was darker. Vigilon began waving his arms about, hoping to find something. Instead, he ended up tripping over nothing because it was just too dark for him to watch his footing. When he got up, he saw Astralin coming in from the other room. He could mainly tell because of that glow-in-the-dark amulet she wore these days. She called out to her party that the area was safe, that Vigilon was here. Two players followed Astralin in. One was Krysta(maybe it was good that Dazia vanished, it would have been bad if he was seen with her), and the other was a woman he didn't recognize.

Astralin asked Vigilon which vial he took. "I haven't yet. I do know that someone was here, took the red vial, and vanished." He answered. Astralin then became interested in the vials herself and took the one with purple contents.

Krysta then came over to Vigilon, asking him if he was training. "I came over mainly because of the stuff going on around the floor. Surprisingly, most of the monsters were cleared out by the time I got here, so I got the feeling I wasn't alone." He answered. Krysta then asked what the vials were. "No clue." Vigilon admitted. Krysta then examined and took the vial with the cyan contents.

The woman Vigilon didn't know tried to grab as many as she could, but like Dazia, she only managed to get one, the vial with the blue contents. She then looked to Vigilon and introduced herself as Yona. "Well, nice to meet you, Yona, I'm Vigilon, as you probably know by now."

Time for Vigilon to get himself a vial. There were three left to choose from. Orange, Green, and Yellow. Vigilon took the one with the Orange contents and examined it...

<<Orange Essence>>

A mysterious compound, few know what it truly is. A Player may carry only one Essence at a time.

"Keep moving forward, the end is in sight."

Huh...neat.

Dazia remained hidden and saw the players enter, one by one. "Damn it, Princess is here." She thought. She took the opportunity to get away when all three players were distracted by Vigilon and the vials Dazia couldn't take, and began making her way out by the ladders leading to the structure's upper story. She'd see a bunch of tiles covered in holes, and one tile was sunken and had a stone on it. She saw another stone on a sunken tile that spikes seemed to be coming from.

A Puzzle. She didn't have time for this. She looked around her, and thought that some of the junk laying about could be used to help her out. She managed to find a method involving two old wooden boards to get across without any punctured feet, and the boards she used were removed from the tiles as soon ans she got across. Might as well give herself more time.

Sitting there in the doorway was a frog, staring at Dazia. She pulled out her weapon and thrust it downwards at the creature. The frog shattered, for it was merely endemic life and too weak to count as a monster.

She then heard a voice. "what did that little guy ever do to you?"

Dazia looked in front of her, and saw a short skeleton wearing a blue hoodie...wait, that looks familiar...

Another frog was on the skeleton's shoulder. It hopped off, and into a small hole, safe from the scene. Dazia looked at the skeleton rather cautiously, and it spoke again. "something wrong? don't you know how to greet a new pal?" The skeleton asked as it offered its hand to shake, though something seemed off...

Dazia decided it was close enough to the description that unusual NPC had given. "Target sighted." She thought.

She attacked immediately, but her target was somehow beside her all of a sudden.

"huh...guess not." The skeleton remarked. Looks like Dazia will have to be clever to handle this target. The stones below her started shaking as the skeleton's left eye socket suddenly had something glowing blue within. Seems that Dazia would have to dodge as well. Dazia jumped back as the stone flooring suddenly shifted, as if to knock something away, right where she was standing prior to her own dodge. Better strike back before the skeleton tries anything else. How it even pulled this off didn't matter to Dazia, what mattered was if she could take her target down. Her eyes darted around the area, and she saw an opportunity. She made a false, sudden step forward, and then sidestepped before continuing her advance. Sure enough, the environment seemed to shift in the direction of the false step she'd made, leaving the target open just enough for Dazia to strike, and it worked this time.

"you don't, by any chance, know a different hooded lady, do you? You seem much quieter than her, though, maybe a bit less excited, too." The skeleton asked. Dazia believed she knew the answer due to her earlier encounter with Haimi(or whatever her username was), but she wouldn't speak aloud about it. The ground shifted below Dazia, tripping her and giving the skeleton a chance try and get away. Dazia turned around, but with her blade swinging in the direction of said turn in the process, just barely hitting the target again. It practically bounced off the skeleton, or so it appeared to Dazia.

"man, i come out here to have a good time and honestly i feel so attacked right now." The skeleton remarked. "I don't care." Dazia responded. The skeleton shrugged. "alright, suit yourself."

Immediately Dazia was hit with enough force to send her flying out the doorway, and out of the structure entirely. She didn't know exactly what hit her, but it apparently had that kind of force. She got up, and dashed back inside, though the skeleton was nowhere to be seen, and the other players were probably back by now. "Damn it."

She turned around to leave again, and she started with a sprint. When she slowed down and took a deep breath, she began to walk back towards the settlement. She kept her eyes open for any potential threats...

But nobody came.

Vigilon revealed that he hadn't taken any vials yet, that he saw someone take a vial with red contents and vanish. After speaking with the other two players in Krysta's party, Vigilon would pick the Orange Essence. There weren't enough players to get a hold of the Green and Yellow Essences, so there was no choice but to leave them for someone else. "Guess we'll have to solve the mystery without the other three essences...I don't know what these are, but I really want to find out...the description is waaaaaay too vague..." Astralin remarked. There could be differences that cause the substances to be different colors...or maybe they're all the same, just differently colored? Astralin hoped to find out sooner or later.



Astralin followed the party up the ladder, for there was nothing more to be found here...or so Astralin thought. When she reached the surface story of the ruins, she noticed that there were two boards on the other side, even though not even Yona had used those boards...someone had just been here. She then saw at the end of the entryway(the two rooms were directly connected) a familiar figure...wait, was that Dazia??

The hooded player suddenly panicked and fled, but it was impossible to chase after her without getting pincushioned underfoot. "Wait, we can't rush or the spikes will get us! ...I think I might remember how it went, I'll try and guide us!" She warned the other players.

While she managed to remember the safe tiles, she had to flip the mental image around since the party was going back the way they came.

What she expected the least, however, was the skeletal figure standing near the exit, ever so casually, with his hands in his pockets. Unlike the one who guarded the entrance, this skeleton was not only kind of short, but he wore a blue hoodie.

"is everybody trying to get here or something? almost nobody ever comes in here. there used to be an overly serious guy outside...haven't seen him recently, though, and he's never left 'his post'. ...i wonder what happened." The Skeleton spoke.

Astralin knew who this skeleton was talking about...the Skeletal Guard that was fought earlier. Under normal circumstances, this usually led to problems...but little did she know that she was about to make it a problem. "Uh oh..."

"are you alright? you look tense. is it past or present?" The skeleton asked.

Sometimes, the best defense was a good offense. This was not one of those times, but she thought it was. "Aahh-a-arrekona!" She called out as she prepared to "fight back" at what wasn't exactly life-threatening. Her attack missed. The skeleton sighed. "so, this is how it's gonna be, then?"

Astralin wasn't expecting the very environment to suddenly become active. She was under a sudden, non-damaging assault that she needed to dodge as much as she could. What other arts did she have for her current set of handwraps...ah, that's right! "Kiherrei!!" Astralin attempted a sweeping attack to not only ward off the flying objects and animated mushrooms, but in attempt to land a freezing hit on the skeleton. No luck, for she missed again. "Xalvahisa! Ikioka! Casiviika!!!"

Nope, nothing seemed to work...at all. She was then swatted by a bunch of stones and sent flying about three yards, where she rolled for about one more yard and tried to curl up, though she was kind of fatigued trying so hard to avoid and strike. "Why did...I have to sudd...suddenly be so...useless...?"

She closed her eyes, she couldn't take any more. The only way she was getting out was if someone carried her, or if someone dragged her out. At least this little problem wasn't lethal in the slightest!

Vigilon introduced himself in response to Yona's introduction, and he also responded to what the other girls were asking him. He seemed to be equal height to Krysta, so Yona was still the tallest player here. Yona smirked at the knowledge that she was the tallest among them. While not taller by much, she was still taller...maybe she was older, too?

The players, now having their vials of Essence, began to make their way out. It wasn't like there could be anything else this Vigilon person hadn't already seen by now, anyway, so if he was paying any attention, exchanging intel would be a breeze. Astralin helped the Party plus One get their way across the tile puzzle again, using her memory to assist her in the effort. Next thing the players knew, there was a hooded woman in the doorway who fled upon being spotted, and then Astralin noticed a skeleton casually dressed in a hoodie, and he didn't seem to be speaking eerily. In fact, he sounded pretty chill.

Astralin, however, was unnerved by the skeleton's words, and after the skeleton cracked a bad joke, Astralin attacked...and missed. Yona pulled out a cupcake from her inventory, and proceeded to eat it while watching Astralin fail pretty badly. Astralin stopped rolling in front of Yona, and Astralin seemed to be upset over how useless she'd been in combat throughout the whole trip so far. Maybe she deserved a sweet, too. Yona pulled out a popsicle from her inventory, opened Astralin's mouth, and placed said popsicle in there with a smile. Hopefully she wouldn't end up choking on it. Now it was Yona's turn to deal with the skelly.

Yona took position behind her target while one of the other players were busy distracting it, and once that was done, Yona took this moment to make an attempt on this guy. She swatted at his skull using the flat end of her blade, and attempted two rapid slashes. Only the swat managed to make contact.

"nice try." The skeleton noted. "Well, I've only made two strikes, and a hit, so I'm not out of the game just yet." Yona responded. With the left eye aglow, the skeleton waved his arm and suddenly, due to the floor rising up and swatting her, Yona was sent flying out the door. Literally, out.

"now you're out." The skeleton remarked.

Yeah, Yona wasn't ready to compete with this just yet. "Alright, I admit defeat."

...for now.

It was time to leave, for there was nothing more that could be learned here, now that Vigilon was around to speak of whatever he'd found. Upon reaching the surface level, a familiar person was sighted at the entryway...one who Krysta knew as an enemy. "Dazia!"

Krysta drew her weapon, Dazia fled, and Astralin warned the players not to rush, lest the trapped tiles deal damage to the party. After the players managed to cross the tile puzzle once more, there was one last obstacle...or so it seemed to be.

A short skeleton wearing a casual blue hoodie seemed confused over what may have been a sudden increase of players entering the structure. Half of which was probably Krysta's party. The skeleton then spoke of a missing person. Based on the given description, it seemed that it was the Skeletal Guardian whom Krysta had slain, and Astralin realized this.

Astralin was unnerved enough to initiate combat, but it seemed that either her target was rather evasive, or she needed to practice her sword arts a bit more, for everything she tried ended up failing. Astralin, to Krysta's surprise, took no damage, but from what Astralin had said before passing out, she had been humiliated.

All the while, Yona was having a snack at a time like this. She pulled out something for Astralin, too, so she'd saved herself from a potential scolding from Krysta over not caring.

Krysta advanced towards the skeleton, hoping to make sure that Astralin's failure was not in vain. The skeleton seemed fairly ready for Krysta's assault, however, pushing her back over and over, using the environment around him to do so. She needed a different tactic if she was to succeed. She tried all she could, but she could only land one strike against the skeleton before she became too fatigued to continue on against this perplexing opponent. "all that for one meager scratch." The skeleton remarked before sending her back once more.

Yona attempted an assault of her own, starting with a surprise attack that worked, but her following attempts were not so lucky. She too, was pushed back and away from the skeleton. Krysta went to Astralin's side, so nothing happened to her while she was unconscious. It was all upon Vigilon now...

As soon as Vigilon placed the Essence he'd picked out into his inventory, the others were already leaving. Vigilon decided that he might as well leave with them.

The party reached the upper floor just to witness Dazia flee, and then Astralin did what she could to take the lead as to solve the spike tile puzzle in order for the players to cross safely. Once the players managed to reach the other side of the puzzle... wait, was that a skeleton with a casual hoodie? ...Wait, doesn't it look similar to the description given by that unsettling kid...?

The skeleton mentioned someone who may have been guarding the ruins, based on the given description, and Astralin became nervous.

Oh, they killed whoever he was talking about, didn't they...

Vigilon kept trying to find a time to jump in, but instead ended up watching his girlfriend, a friend, and an acquaintance fail to land more than one hit, with Astralin completely missing on everything she tried. "Well I uh, guess it's my turn now...?" Vigilon guessed.

"you know you don't have to." The skeleton noted.

"Well, you kinda hurt a friend of mine...as well as my girlfriend...and now an acquaintance, too... so...well I guess we're doing this." Vigilon replied.

The skeleton sighed. "try it, it'll go just as well as it did for everyone else."

Vigilon had to go about this carefully. The skeleton was just waiting for him to do something at this point, and just about anything would fail first try...or would it? He'd forgotten how at this point, but somehow he'd rushed in, leaped over a small stone wall that rose up all of a sudden, and landed a hit with the flat of his blade.

The rest of this attempt would go downhill from here. Vigilon made another attempt using the same strategy, but after he jumped the first sudden wall, another sudden wall came downward from above and Vigilon collided with it face-first.

And let's not forget that after this, he tried once more and got sent flying over to the tile puzzle, where he landed hard on his back...on the spike tiles.

Maybe this guy was out of his league. "Heh...you've dealt with a ton, haven't you?" Vigilon guessed.

"a skele-ton." Came the reply.

Vigilon couldn't help but chuckle at the pun.

"i understand you were just standing up for your friends...but sometimes you gotta ask yourself, though...is violence always the answer?" The skeleton said.

Vigilon got up, still getting poked by the spike tiles in the process, but the skeleton was nowhere in sight. Yona was outside, having been knocked away during her attempt, and Krysta was beside Astralin, who was passed out and had a popsicle in her mouth, courtesy of Yona. Vigilon had to do something about it. He may be shorter than her, but he'd at least try to help her out. Hopefully Krysta wouldn't mind this course of action. He slowly picked her up, then looked over to Krysta. "If level was the deciding factor, would I be right to assume you're the party leader, Krysta? If so, um...lead the way." He said with a somewhat awkward smile, seeing that he was still carrying Astralin at the moment...and it would be even more awkward if Astralin woke up in his arms.

The Green and Yellow Essences remained in their vials, still within the dark room that was dimly lit by the Essences' glow, waiting for any intrepid players who choose to claim them....