As the other players began recovering from the monster's sudden magic blast, what Athena saw next was so utterly unusual and peculiar that it made her stop in place. One of the Cait Sith players from her party had started attacking the boss monster's own cleaver weapon, which it had thrown away earlier. This was something that one could never expect to see outside the world of ALfheim Online - a fighter wielding a weapon that completely dwarfed their own size. Judging by the amount of HP that the player was doing entirely by themselves, what the maddeningly odd strategy lacked in elegance, it made up in brute force.
As Athena shifted the weight of her sword in preparation to resume her assault on the boss monster, she noticed that it seemed no longer interested in the tanks and DPS players converging upon it. Instead, its gaze seemed fixed upon the healers standing behind them. Why would the monster's AI suddenly shift its attention towards non-combatants? With a sense of urgency, Athena looked to the unsuspecting healers who were in imminent danger of being attacked.
"The boss's aggro is shifting towards the healers! Defend them at all costs, without them, we've already lost the battle!" Athena urgently called out to the players around her as she broke into a sudden dash to position herself between the boss and the healers, knowing she had only seconds to act before the tides of the battle suddenly shifted against them. If the healers were forced to defend themselves, they would be no longer able to support the tanks with their healing magic, and without the tanks, the battle was lost.
Having reached the running speed required to activate her Sprint skill, Athena surged forward with incredible velocity, already drawing back her sword arm to intercept the boss's incoming attack. However, her sights were so focused on the healers she was trying to protect that she was caught unaware by the boss's sudden sweeping arm attack. With a sickening impact sensation, the massive arm struck her with such force that her vision had melted into a complete blur as she was thrown along with other players who were also caught by the attack. In the real world, being struck with such a force would have meant certain and instant death. As her character's body roughly landed and tumbled upon the stone floor, the HP meter in Athena's upper left corner of vision shot down with alarming speed into the yellow zone, only slowing to a stop as it dipped just past the 40% HP level. For what seemed to be an eternity, Athena lay on the floor, her mind left completely stunned by the unexpected brute-force attack.
It was the boss's second attack that sent shuddering shockwaves through the ground that shook Athena out of her stunned state, forcefully reminding her that her character had not yet been killed, although the three Remain Lights that stood floating by her sides warned her that she had narrowly missed an untimely end. By the time she had recovered enough to force herself up to her feet, Athena realized that she was already far too late to prevent the boss's attack on the healers. Despite an unrelenting assault by the tanks and DPS players, the boss monster completely ignored their attacks and was already beginning its attacks on the healers through some kind of dark magic portal. Two of the healers were immediately killed by the monster's initial attack.
No... no... no, I'm too late! Athena cried out in horror in her thoughts as she could only stand in shock at the horrific sight, the sword in her hand almost falling out of her grasp as she realized just how imminent their defeat was. She had completely failed in defending the healers, and because of her lack of battle awareness, she had just cost the lives of two healers. The three surviving healers were now disabled from a blindness status ailment. With only three or four surviving healers to support the tanks, the battle had no longer become a battle between two opposing sides - it had now become a slaughter waiting to happen.
Glancing once again at the yellow HP bar fixed at 40% in her field of vision, Athena knew that her character was only one or two hits away from certain death, even with her shield to protect her. With no HP potions at her disposal and the surviving healers completely focused on maintaining the tanks' HP levels, she only had one choice left - to defeat the monster at whatever the cost, whatever the outcome. She wasn't going to stand idly by while the monster continued picking off the players one-by-one.
Extending her index and middle finger together, Athena called up her character's Inventory menu, swiping through the Equipment interface with hurried speed. A finger tapped on the Rose Shield in her character's shield item slot, then swiped it to the Inventory menu, causing the shield on her left arm to vanish into fragments of light, melting away into nothingness. With her HP at such a low level, a shield wasn't going to protect her any further and she no longer had a use for it. Hastily withdrawing the last Mana Potion she had stored in her potion pouch, Athena gulped down the last of the blue liquid contained within the bottle, restoring her Mana levels to maximum.
"It's now or never. We have to end this with one final push, don't let launch another strike. Do it now, attack!" Athena shouted out to everyone within hearing distance of her position, already breaking into a dash directly towards the boss monster, which had not yet focused its attention on her. As she began closing the distance, Athena took in a deep breath, her mind already recalling the incantations that she was about to cast.
"Ek heimta kraptr berserkr drengr.." Athena spoke, her voice unusually smooth and calm despite the maddening urgent thoughts rushing through her mind. With those words, the burning flame aura of the Berserk spell returned to envelope her character's body, further empowering her speed as her legs propelled her towards the boss. Immediately after finishing her incantation, Athena prepared to call on her second incantation, drawing her sword arm back in preparation for a powerful thrusting attack, her focused eyes already marking her target.
"Ek hemta brenna aldrnari seiðr, hata allr órr andskoti!" With the Words of Power to the Flame Weapon spell spoken, a new aura grew and extended down the length of her longsword, completely enveloping the metal blade with a brightly-glowing magical flame, forcefully blown back by the sheer speed at which she bolted towards the boss.
"This... ends... now!" Athena shouted with all the might in her voice, as she lifted up the sword with both hands, combining the speed and momentum of her body with the thrusting action of her sword into one singular attack on the boss, sending the flaming blade of her sword deep into the monster's body, skewering all of the corpses that it passed through. Upon contact with the blade's magical burning flame, the surrounding corpses of immediately burst into a conflagration that spread like wildfire through the rest of its body. In response to the sudden impalement, the boss monster roared out in pain and anguish, sending it into a wild frenzy that shook the entire room with a force resembling a devastating earthquake.
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I'm looking forward to when we move forward to character interactions. I often feel like a jerk writing a fanfiction in an RP by leaving out everyone's characters in my posts, but it's a huge pain to analyze every character's actions in a boss battle situation so I only include the ones that directly impact my own character. Not that I don't enjoy opening the RP with a boss battle, I quite like that idea since many RPs tend to die on a slow start, before they move onto the action.
Normally I don't make huge posts either, but I've been reading the SAO light novels and I suppose the author's writing style has been rubbing off on me somewhat. That and listening to EPIC MUSIC on Youtube while writing posts helps to get the creativity out.
Empowered by the effects of the Berserk spell, Athena continued her unrelenting assault on the grotesque boss monster with reckless abandon, cutting through the monster's exposed flesh with series of fluidly-connected sweeping slashes, moving herself only by the minimum required distance to avoid the most obvious attack patterns of the enemy.
Even though Berserk had no actual effect on the user's mind or thought processes and its enhancements were limited to the character's attack damage and movement speed statics, it was surprisingly successful in encouraging true "Berserker-like" behavior in its users purely by the nature of its design. The effects of Berserk were far more severe than the proverbial "double-edged sword", it would be more accurately described by the term "double-ended spear", that impaled both user and enemy. With the severe penalty to damage received set upon the user by the system in combination with the great increase in offensive power, the user is effectively forced to pour everything they have into pure offensive with absolutely regard for defense, in the hopes of defeating the enemy before they were defeated themselves.
Several of the tanks and other close-range fighters from the other parties around Athena staggered back in panic at the giant monster's deep bellowing moans, but she pressed ahead with her attacks.
"If you hesitate now, you will die and your party members will fall as well, that is for certain! You can rest when this beast has been slain, not a moment sooner!" Athena shouted to the other parties in encouragement. Her words seemed to have some effect as the other parties' tanks forced themselves to regain their composure. However, one of the tank players was suddenly caught by the massive monstrosity's sweeping cleaver attack, instantly wiping out his HP and leaving a Remain Light where he stood a moment earlier.
That player... it could have been me in his place. I won't let that happen, I absolutely cannot let that happen! Athena shouted to herself in her mind. Drawing back her sword in preparation for her next attack, Athena suddenly thrust the blade of her sword forward, directly into the massive pile of bodies that was the monster before her. The blade pierced through the exposed flesh with a sickening slopping noise, embedding itself deeper and deeper into the massive monster until it reached the crossguard of her sword. In response to the sudden attack, the monster let loose a deep monstrous roar that shook the entire dungeon.
Seeing the body mass of the monster suddenly shift upward, Athena lifted her head up to see the monster raising its cleaver above its head in preparation for a counterattack. The bladed edge of the cleaver was positioned directly above, but with her longsword still embedded within the monster's rotting flesh, immediate evasion was impossible.
Just as the cleaver's blade was about to come slicing down upon her head, a bright-green light shot through the air, penetrating into the monster's outstretched arm, causing it to cease moving mid-swing. As the arrow exploded into shards of light, Athena stood still for an instant, not believing what had just happened. Tracing the arrow's path back to its source, Athena's eyes connected with the Cait Sith archer in her party, Arina.
With the boss monster momentarily stunned by the arrow's impact, Athena knew that she had just been given a second chance to survive. With the boss temporarily unable to defend itself or counterattack, she knew she had only precious seconds to use until she would be under attack again.
As the effects of the Berserk spell finally began to fade, she forced the blade of her sword out of the monster's hideous "flesh". Athena took in a deep breath as she prepared to start the incantation that she hoped would bring this boss encounter to its conclusion. A glowing circle of burning fire painted itself on the stone ground underneath her feet as she began the incantation.
"Ek bjóða brenna móðr uphiminn eða fold undir vega hvatvetna at bella standa inn minn syn." Athena spoke in carefully measured tones as she recited the first half of the powerful Nova area-of-effect spell, each Word of Power recited with flawless precision, causing the growing ring of fire to roar with increasing intensity, even as the boss began to recover from its stunned state and began attacking again.
In the continuing chaos of the battle around her, Athena barely heard one of the tank leaders shouting about the boss monster's sudden change in attack pattern. Deep in concentration to maintain her spell-casting, she was left oblivious to the events that unfolded around her. She only felt the sickening thud that shook the ground underneath her feet as the monster's cleaver dug itself into the far dungeon wall.
"Hníga hverr helgrind eða frjáls hiti..." Athena continued, pausing only when she was suddenly aware of the boss monster's spell-casting stance as it was about to unleash its massive dark magic area spell. Before the monster could unleash the surge of dark energy, Athena instantly threw herself to the ground, leaving her just enough time to lift her shield to protect herself from the full force of the blast. From the corner of her vision, she watched her HP bar drop by about 20% as her character was damaged by the partial damage that her shield could not fully block. With her Nova spell interrupted mid-cast, the Spellword Fumble Effect sent out a second explosion where she stood moments earlier, sending out an expanding plume of black smoke.
As soon as Athena came back to her senses, she leapt up to her feet with her shield already in position to defend herself. Her HP had suffered moderately as a result of the boss monster's magic area attack, but it was still enough offer her a chance of survival. However, due to her failed attempt at casting her most powerful magic spell, her Mana was now dangerously low, leaving her just enough for one more use of her lower-level spells.
Posted!
/Falls over
"My name is Athena. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your group. It is a pleasure to meet you all." Athena said, introducing herself to her new party members in the formal style of her ALO persona.
While the other party members chattered on with small talk, Athena chose to keep silent instead, focusing her thoughts completely on the boss battle ahead, her mind already working methodically to form battle strategies. The party composition was fairly standard for a dungeon raid party, except the absence of a dedicated healer, which only made her own situation worse, with no healing potions left in her character's inventory. Athena had decided against asking her party members for potions. If they'd learned that she had neglected to prepare herself properly for a boss battle, she was sure that they would have refused to let her into their party.
Remember why you're here, Athena. Let that be your strength for the upcoming battle. She thought to herself as she fought to hold back her own uncertainties brewing in her thoughts. Her reason for playing ALfheim Online, to become the persona known as Athena, was to become everything that she couldn't be as Natsuki Kawaguchi: bold, confident, fearless, and untouchable.
What made ALO special compared to all other VRMMOs was the absence of the typical leveling system that only served as a barrier against new and experienced players. In other words, the world of ALfheim Online was fair to all. There were no elites or low classed individuals. Anyone who had the will and effort to become stronger had the potential to challenge even those who were considered the most powerful. Once the Salamander race was widely reputed to be the strongest race in all of ALO, but eventually the combined efforts of the Sylphs and the Cait Siths were enough to overcome what was thought to be an indisputably indomitable power. This meant only one thing to Athena - that she too had the potential to overcome everything that held her back in the "other" world. This was why she couldn't give up now.
If I can't even overcome something that is designed for the sole purpose of being defeated by the hands of players, what is the reason for my existence as Athena? That is precisely why I can't fail now.
Before long, Athena found herself and her party members standing within the great halls of the boss room. The other players in the dungeon were pouring through the entrance doors, the clacking sound of their body armors echoing throughout the halls of the dungeon. As all the players moved into position in preparation for the boss monster's appearance, Athena's sense of hearing picked up what seemed to be a faint thump... thump... thump... of a monstrously deep heartbeat within the darkness of the vast room. As the drum-like beats became more clear and distinct, it became impossible to determine the source of the sound as it echoed from every surface of the room. It was as if the entire room was a monstrous being's heart.
Athena instinctively took a step back as she withdrew her longsword from its sheath, and raised her shield to a defensive stance, preparing herself for whatever was to appear.
What first emerged from the blackness was a single arm on the stone floor, bloodied and pale, then another. The number of arms multiplied in numbers until what seemed to be a grotesque mass of bloodied corpses emerged into sight, towering above the players gathered before it. For a single moment, the thump emanating from the gruesome looking monster synchronized with her own heartbeat.
"Don't die..any of you." Athena heard Arina speak in a low mutter beside her.
"Dying is something I don't plan on doing today. Come, let us make this monster fear for its own life." Athena replied in encouragement, both to her party member and to herself. Turning to face the monstrosity, she raised her sword in spell-casting stance and closed her eyes briefly.
"Ek heimta kraptr berserkr drengr." Athena spoke in a perfectly practiced and rhythmic pattern as she recited the Words of Power to the Berserk spell. With the completion of the incantation, a sudden burst of flame appeared from Athena's feet, enveloping her with the fiery aura of the Berserk visual effect. Athena opened her eyes once more, with all trace of fear and hesitation removed. In any other situation, the use of of the Berserk spell would have been an incredibly unwise action, especially in a boss battle situation without any healing support. However, the only thought running through Athena's mind was the unconditional defeat of the monster before her. If she was fated to be defeated by this monstrosity, she would do so while fighting at the peak of her ability.
As the other parties shouted their battle cries and launched their assaults against the towering behemoth of flesh and arms, the monster began raising its massive bladed weapon in preparation to attack. With a sudden burst of speed, Athena launched herself into battle, throwing herself into a roll underneath the boss' cleaver weapon as it broadly swung horizontally at the players. Recovering from the roll, Athena unleashed a counter-assault of her own at the monster's exposed mass of flesh, viciously slashing into the monster's sides while it left itself vulnerable with all the strength her character had at its disposal. With her Berserk-enhanced strength, it was a matter of seconds before the monster's AI would suddenly shift its attention towards her attacks.
o__o Already? If there's anyone else who hasn't posted this "cycle" they should feel free to post before I do. Late classes + snow + transit delays = brain dead Stella.
I had a feeling that boss was strangely familiar... caption confirmed it.
Also, it shall be my goal to Nova at least one boss monster (or player...) in this RP.
Athena is ready to kick butt.
With a broad sweep of her flaming sword, Athena dealt the finishing blow to two Undead Warriors standing before her. As the monsters fell to their knees in defeat, they each gave a monstrous cry before falling to the ground and exploding into countless shards of light. The elegant longsword in Athena's grasp wavered slightly as she began feeling the mental fatigue from the fierce battle. Unlike most of the other players in the dungeon group, Athena was one of the only solo players who decided to come along. With nobody to fight alongside her, the mental strain of the battles was multiplied several times. If it had been Natsuki Kawaguchi of the real world, not Athena of ALfheim Online, who stood in her place at that moment, she was certain that she too would have fallen to her knees from the physical exhaustion.
Returning her sword to its sheath by her side, Athena made her way to the front lines, where the other players were gathering to discuss tactics for the dungeon boss just ahead. Glancing at her HP meter in the corner of her sight, she saw that her HP had managed to drop to about 60%. As a solo player, Athena compensated for her lack of strength in numbers by using self-cast buff spells to increase her own strength. One of her favored buffs was Berserk, which greatly increased her attack power to allow her to fight against superior numbers, but it also cost much of her HP after each battle.
Reaching into her potion pouch, Athena searched around its contents to look for a bottle of Healing Potion to recover her HP. To her annoyance, the pouch was emptier than she remembered it to be. All that remained inside the pouch was a bottle containing red liquid and a Mana Potion bottle.
"Damn it! I forgot to restock on potions before I came here!" Athena muttered under her breath, as she opened the bottle in her hands and drank the red healing liquid inside. Even with her HP now recovering to its maximum amount, it was uncertain that she would be able to survive the upcoming battle with the dungeon boss.
I can't turn back now, I've gone too far to just turn around and give up. Athena sighed to herself in defeat. It seemed like she had no choice but to find a group to party up with. Even though she had the Battle Healing skill to passively recover her HP, the healing rate wouldn't be able to help her survive a boss battle without backup. Evaluating her surroundings, it seemed that most of the players gathered around were already forming parties and were starting to discuss battle strategies. Her heart sank as she wandered through the crowd of players. Everyone had their backs turned to her, busy talking amongst themselves.
Just was she was on the verge of giving up finding players to form a party with, Athena suddenly caught sight of a tiny Cait Sith player wandering the crowds.
"Hey, you - wait!" Athena called out as she followed the Cait Sith, pushing through the players who were standing in her way, wishing the player who created the Cait Sith character hadn't made it so small and hard to find in a crowd. After much shoving and searching, Athena found herself standing in front of a group of five players: three of the players were Cait Siths, one Pooka, and a Spriggan. If there was a sixth player, it would have meant that this group was a full party as well, but Athena couldn't see a sixth person.
"Sorry for the intrusion, but if the five of you are creating a party for the boss battle ahead, I don't suppose you have room for a solo player?" Athena asked, with a slight polite bow of her head.
I'll be trying my best to get a post in tonight, don't worry too much. If not tonight, then tomorrow night at the latest.
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