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Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Asgard Solo - Four Foolish Fighters

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:36 am

Chapter 1: The Strikeforce Alliance

To: Nighthand
From: Asgard
Subject: No go

- Sorry, Nighthand. I can't be there in Delta for the next few hours. I've been summoned by Sandri, reason pending. I'll try and meet you and the rest in delta as soon as I can. I hope you find your new skill useful. I can imagine the fight with Jon was more than expected, but I think it would be a good way to unlock the hacks of the rest. I'll see you in a little bit.

-Asgard

Asgard rolled up the parchment and wrapped it in a black ribbon, labeled Nighthand. With an unneeded second, the scroll lit up and disappeared. The Fist Fighter let his arms drop back to his sides as he looks upon the bustling city of Carmina Gadelica. The dark city, filled with bright streetlights and street vendors, was almost a serene metropolis in a never-ending sea. Players of all shapes and classes walked to and from stores in an almost never-ending profit making cycle. Buying from cheaper merchants, then selling it for more: This was the call of the true trader.

Sidestepping a hastened Long Arm, intent on trading a rare find to the highest bidder, Asgard proceeded through the overflowing bazaar and back onto the main road, near the Grunty Farms.

"Is that him???" Asgard could overhear a pair of side walking, female Fist Fighters, talking with their hands slightly over their mouths to try and dull the sounds of their voice. Asgard turned to them and saw that they were looking at him, whispering quietly. Asgard raised an eyebrow slightly, and then smiled at the two. He waved a short 'hello' to them, trying not to be threatening. Both of the Fist Fighters giggled behind their breaths and then shot down their gaze to something slightly behind Asgard. Confused, Asgard looked downward and behind him to see his animal ally, Terro, walking in a short pace behind and to the left of him.

"Oh, hey Terro. How long have you been trailing me?" The Fist Fighter sharply turned around and began walking backwards, his hands casually in his pockets. "Sorry I left so abruptly back there in Dun Loireag." Terro grunted slightly, feeling a bit unwanted. Asgard's voice became a bit more begging. "Hey, don't give me that. Tritoch moved me into the locked field! I couldn't do anything!"

"You could have summoned me..." The gryphon said in a flat tone. Asgard was a bit perplexed about what he meant. Terro continued, bristling his wings. "By being your 'pet', you have the ability to derive my soul from mother Gaia and create my body from the earth on where you stand."

"I see," Asgard said quietly, slowing his backwards pace to a stop. He was now in the two-way impasse at the Grunty Farm, players staying on the edges of the walkway, wary of Terro's presence. "Even so, I don't think I would have been able to summon you in there." Terro raised an eyebrow, but the eyebrow subsided, as he knew what he meant. Terro had been to the Fortress of the Well before...

"Of course. The seemingly 'null space' that the field is made of would probably deny you such an ability."

"Yes it did. However," Asgard started, "I was able to do this in my fight with Jon." Asgard raised his left hand over the cobblestone walkway of Carmina Gadelica. Closing his eyes, he focused his mind on the properties of the stones, and the concrete-type substance, binding the rocks in place. His hand suddenly glowed a dark chocolate brown, his arm shaking quite badly. To the human eye, it looked like the Fist Fighter's muscles were ready to burst out from the skin.

Without warning, a pole exited the ground with insane speed, like it was shot out of a cannon. It reached its peak altitude, and then dropped down, straight into Asgard's waiting palm. The pole, roughly six and a half feet long, was seemingly made from the smoothened rocks and the concrete substance composed of the road. There were also two well-sized opals on each end of the pole, shining dimly in the ever-darkened sky of the Lamda Root Town.

"Amazing." Terro said with a wide, shocking gaze. "I can feel the coarse power of Gaia literally brimming from it. How were you able to manifest so much?" Asgard smiled wickedly.

"Now watch this." Asgard concentrated on the weapon now, trying his hardest to channel the soul of Terrato into the weapon. Weirdly, to those watching him, the pole dissolved. However, unlike reality, it was dissolving upwards. The malleable Gaia ran up his arms, having the feel of a cold, liquid ooze. The earth element solidified on Asgard's forearms, creating one half of a medieval kite shield on each of his arms. He slammed them together and they both coalesced into one shield. The shield detached from his arms and slowly hovered in front of him. Asgard grabbed the shield in the malleable straps on the back and fastened it on his right arm. Before the oohs, aahs and wonders flooded the ever-growing group, Asgard realized at what a giant group he had gathered. Quickly losing focus, the tower shield crumbled into the shards of its foundation, falling piece by piece into the hole that the pole materialized from. Like a puzzle, the ejected pole crumbled back into the earth like it had never left the ground. Almost disappointed, the crowd dispersed again, going back to their tasks in the Lamda Root Town.

"That was simply amazing," Terro said, intrigued at what Asgard's new ability could do for him, "You have come a long way since we first met on that road in the..." Terro stopped, looking behind him at the crowd.

"What is it Terro?" The gryphon, claws drawn and snarling, looked at three players in front of them, hooded from head to toe in a dark green, flowing robe. Asgard looked with an eyebrow cocked up, noticing their long robes couldn't hide the fact that they also concealed hardened green iron armor. The mixture of green armor and golden thread were a weird mix, but their looks didn't deter Asgard. It was the fact that the three robed figures were looking at him.

Asgard passed Terro with a quiet walk, heading forward to the three men or women. He stopped feet from the lead, the questions beginning.

"Who are you?"

"Our names mean nothing to you. However, the name of our band will most likely impact you." Asgard stood between them and Terro. Terro was now a bit on the edge, ready to jump the lead with his razor sharp claws and maul him to kibbles and bits. But Asgard kept a hand back, palm open to the gryphon, telling him to be at ease for the time being. The lead player stepped forward and bowed, "We are the Kirarato Iluve."

"I'm sorry, I have never heard of you." Asgard said as bluntly as possible. He thought them to be one of those 'cocky newbie clans' that seemed to sprout from the game like weeds as of recent. The lead sighed, almost in depression at the remark, and then snickered evilly.

"Nonetheless, we are here upon a matter of 'business'." The two robed players behind the man, suddenly procured weapons out of thin air. One of the figures held a giant, silver plated axe at his side; while the other held a pole arm forward, ready to pierce Asgard at the slightest movement. Both weapons gave off an eerie glow, almost as if they were aflame with a clear fire. The lead did not draw his weapon, however, as he offered a hand forward. "We have currently come into knowledge that will help us greatly. Coincidentally, it involves you, a man at the center of controversy and a well known in-game fugitive." The man sneered as he put his other hand on his hip sheathed long sword.

"We also know that you have come into the possession of a famous Heavy Blade weapon." Asgard snapped back at the comment and got into a semi-defensive stance, just in case he had to defend himself or run away. It was true of what they spoke of. He did decide to take his old Logos Executioner back from the Fortress of the Well, as he believed that someone else could use this to better use than what it was doing, left to rot upon the graves of the fallen. "Yes...yeeeeeeeesssss...Your instant switch into defense solidifies my thoughts. You do have the Logos blade..."

"Maybe I do," Asgard mentioned, strapping on his Dragon Fist bracer. There is something that Asgard couldn't understand, however, as he looked at the three robed collectors. He had only had this sword for an hour, two at tops. How was it possible for these people to track him down so easily? Not to mention their weapons, as he had never seen weapons 'glow' like that. "However, if I do, why would you think I would give it to you?"

"You misunderstand, Fist Fighter,” the leader said, grabbing his sword hilt with an iron grip, "Our Corporation doesn't resolve their problems by simple negotiation. Giving the choice to people to willfully trade their items do not suit our clan." The Blademaster finally unsheathed his sword, revealing a wicked curved blade, bathed in an aura of tiny ethereal skulls. "We, the Kirarato Iluve, take what we want, and profit from it."

"I see. Another group of illegal players."

That didn't come out of Asgard's mouth. It came from behind the group, as a solitary man stood in the middle of a partially empty street. Hidden at his side was a red headed female, with a bullwhip handle peeking from behind her back. Asgard knew who they were, and thought it good that they were here. The Fist Fighter couldn't tell what his enemies' levels were, or the weird effect on their weapons. Now with both the Fist Fighter Admin Laten, and the moderator assigned to him, Layla, he could rest assured that any hostile acts upon him will have support from his newly banded allies.

Players of all classes were grouped behind both Asgard and the Administrator group, as spectators. Most of the crowd had never seen a fight break out inside a root town, especially not one as busy and as expansive as Carmina Gadelica.

The two assistants to the leader turned around to see the two legal forces of the game. They gripped their weapons tightly, as they knew that a battle would mean a slaughter eventually. However, the one in front quickly sheathed his sword at the crowd of players behind Asgard, not to mention his gryphon pet becoming ready to destroy the intruders, bit-by-bit. "If that is the way it will be, then very well." The man in the cloak bowed to Asgard. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pitch-black card with a white stripe near one of the ends. The card shone with an eerie light, summoning wide silver rings around the three robed ones. The rings closed in suddenly and generally swallowed them up and disappeared.

Asgard sighed slightly and brushed his hair aside with one hand. He knew that the little hostile talk could have surmounted into something far worse. However, the thought of them knowing about the Logos Executioner was still his primary concern.

"Thor!" Asgard looked back to see Laten, waiting for him.

Ah shit. They're supposed to lead me to the meeting point. I completely forgot. Asgard hastily walked over to the two waiting Administrators. Terro followed suit, quickly following him, tensed up just in case the weapon maniacs they just ran into decided to return. "Sorry about that guys. I got tied up with those whack jobs." Laten, ever vigilant, grunted slightly. He hadn't been one for emotion, as he kept the rule of being unbiased, and sometimes unemotional, to a strict degree. Layla giggled behind her breath surprisingly. The last time the two met, she was just like Laten, trying to put their battle before emotion. "Do you know who they were?"

"Not a clue," Laten said, suddenly in thought, "I've seen people like them, dressed from head to toe in those 'forsaken' robes, but they never openly provoked an attack here. Those weapon auras don't seem like they were designed by the game programmers either." Asgard nodded while Layla didn't pay any attention to their conversation. She was busy checking a flash mail, to which she interrupted the conversation.

"Um...We might want to get going. I think Lios is starting to get...impatient..." Asgard didn't know what she meant, but it must have come through that flashmail.

"So...where are we going anyway?"
This is my non-banner profile. Read at own discretion!
Wishlist (Bolded sections denotate priority, in descending order)
In General: LEVELS
Pet-Related: EX-Levels, [Lv. 2]Overdrive Sphere, [Lv. 2]Ressurect
Armor: Dice Gloves (20 RARE), Golden Turban (42), Saint Cross (41), Protect Ring (41)
Weapons: Master Nunchaku (40 RARE), Three-Section Staff (37),
Items: (None)

Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:50 am

Chapter 2: Dire Meetings

*One week before the meeting*

"Alright! I got another one!"

A female Wavemaster, dressed in very ornate robes, jumped off her Noble Grunty mount and went over to a giant looking fruit. Two other players, a hulking male Heavy Axeman, and a slender male Heavy Blade, ran up to join him. They looked at the fruit in happiness, as the field they were on was in short supply of this grunty food: The 'Oh No Melon'.

"Get over here you!" The Wavemaster pounced down on the Oh No Melon, but met a face full of grass, as the grunty food quickly jumped up to avoid the open arms and rushing body. "Owwies! WHY YOU..." The Wavemaster got back up and leapt at the Oh No Melon again. The fruit rolled back out of reach, making the girl fall flat into the grass again. The animated fruit giggled at the antics that have transpired.

"Get it!" The fruit looked to see the other two players were running straight for it. Slightly shocked, the Oh No Melon took off, trying to get away from the ever-intent threesome. "Get it, get it, get it, GET IIIIIIIITTTTTTT!" The wavemaster was starting to go ballistic. It seemed like she was going to consume it in a hungry frenzy, instead of capturing it for her grunty.

It was surprising to see a Grunty Food to run away like that. In fact, it was impossible for it to even move an inch by itself. The game had it programmed as an easily obtainable item. But for some reason, this melon was moving on its own, even acting sentient to players!

The blond haired Heavy Blade stopped his running, not being able to catch up with his heavy broadsword and the knowledgeable fact that the Heavy Blade and Heavy Axeman classes were slow by nature. However, he didn't have to rely on his speed for the piece of fruit.

"Suvi Lei!" A circular wave of transparent energy shot out from the sword of the Heavy Blade. The energy shot through the grunty food and it suddenly froze in place, its eyes turning into big X's. Cheering for the Heavy Blade's quick thinking, the Wavemaster picked up the Oh No Melon and smiled. She put it in her inventory backpack and high fived the Heavy Axeman.

"Finally! I can't believe how hard that was X3" The Wavemaster was too relieved that this was the last melon she needed, or her mind could stand to catch. It seemed that every Oh No Melon was more 'alive' than usual. It was odd, but they all passed it off as a unique field, much like the ones that people always post about on the BBS boards.

The Heavy Axe was breathing hard, catching his breath as he leaned down, hands on bent knees. "Are...they supposed...to do that?"

"No....They're not supposed to do that.... although that isn't the strangest thing I have seen." The Heavy Blade sat down, cross-legged. His sword slowly dug into the ground behind him.

"Oooooh! Do tell! I wanna hear more bizarre oddities!" The Wavemaster seemed so energetic, like she was waist deep in a sugar high. She knelt down on both knees, resting on her staff, while the Heavy axeman flopped to the ground straight on his ass. With all of his armor on, it wouldn't be surprising if he broke his tailbone in the process. Then again, this was only a game.

"How about...the...Wavemaster's bag...that glowed...evilly...." The Heavy Blade trailed off in thought, staring at something. The female magic user squealed. She obviously loved it when Wavemasters were at the middle of a story.

"Ooo! Tell me! TELL ME! =D"

"No...I mean...your bag!! IT'S GLOWING...EVILLY!!!"

It was true. The female Wavemaster's bag had an unhealthy, purple glow to it, almost as if it was aging at an exponentially fast rate. Bits and pieces started to decay, as the captured Oh No Melon fell to the ground. The fruit burst open on contact with the ground, releasing more of the strange aura. The purple color rose from the cracked melon like a mist, spreading outward in all directions.

"What the..." The mist was starting to spread rapidly, until it consumed the whole field's sky. The three players, confused to all hell, thought it the best time to exit from the game for the day. All three tried to log out, activating the command from the menu. The golden rings enveloped them for a second, getting ready to teleport them back to the Lamda Root Town. However, as the rings formed, they quickly changed from a bright gold to a pitch black. "Hey! What the.... GRAAACK"

The Heavy Blade struggled, as the black rings suddenly shrank inward, binding him from all movement. He tried to struggle free, but his chains were far too strong for him. The Heavy Axe and the Wavemaster found themselves in the same situation, the rings seizing their movement completely. The mist in the air turned to a stormy sky, lightning arcing all around the clouds. The air turned into an almost blinding mist, reducing the visibility to seeing only a few feet in front.

Everything in the field seemed to decay instantly. The lush trees began to rot away, the grass began to turn yellow and get lifted up by the constant wind, and the boulders began to erode at an incredibly increased rate. It was as if the whole land was suddenly plagued by that one piece of grunty food.

The players' struggling lessened, bit-by-bit, the chaotic rings sapping their energy from their bodies. They fell limp, hovering over the ground by less than a foot. As the last player fell silent, his body motionless, a figure formed from the mist. Along with the figure, an eerie noise, like a death cry mixed in with line noise, washed over the unhearing ears. Little by little, the shrouded figure got closer and got clearer, its intent obviously on placing harm upon its victims. To mythological standard, what was upon the three players was a banshee, a wailing manifestation of the undead, screaming endlessly of her pain in the afterlife. However, she was fairly silent, her mouth not opening at all. The only sound in the range of human hearing was the shrilled line noise and the thunder overhead. However, that would be the least of the players’ worries, as the phantom hovered slowly closer to her prey.

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Carmina Gadelica - One week later

Laten, Layla, Asgard and Terro reached the designated meeting point: a ruin somewhere in the downtowns of the Root City. Terro was looking a bit weary, even though he never got to fatigue himself in tearing the Kirarato Iluve players. The pet's wings seemed to drag, the feathers starting to look a little more worn for worth. Asgard gave Terro a sweeping pet on his head, pulling his fingers through Terro's feathers like a comb. Like a puppy to its master, Terro leaned into the action, obediently requesting more. It was true that Terro was a savage monster, headstrong at best. But that didn't mean that he desired the minor things like a pet on the head once in a while.

Asgard still didn't know how this was going to turn into the meeting point that Layla had the liberty of telling him. Supposedly, the broken gate before him was the entrance to one of the most ornate, yet heavily underused buildings in the world: The Lamda Maneki Library. Each server had its own library, consisting of myth, written stories, fan fictions of characters, and an area of 'legends' that honored those who reached maximum levels, and also shown a helping hand to players all over the game. Asgard knew that Thor and his former allies had a statue in every library, displaying their unbound kindness and unrivaled teamwork. Asgard rewound his mind back to those days as Thor. Back then, 'The World' was just a source of cybernetic enjoyment. Now, years later, he had a greatly different perspective of what this game was.

It was his prison, his inescapable Alcatraz, with a life sentence, and not even a glimmer of hope for parole.

"So this is the Maneki Library? More like the Maneki Ruins..." Asgard said bluntly. Laten and Layla didn't take this comment very jokingly. Asgard looked at both of them when they did not bother responding to the cut of his jib. "What? What did I say?"

"This library was attacked."

"What?!?!" Asgard was surely surprised at the news. There have been instances where battles have broken out within Root Town, most times because of hacker glitches. He had even seen some administrators nullify a quarantined portion of a town to forcefully apprehend hackers or criminals. But seeing the Maneki Library in ruins was something else. He had never seen a building or some sort of code get completely devastated in such a fashion. But such an occurrence should have been easy to repair as well. A bit of downtime here, a code backup there, and the library should be fine. "Wouldn't a server backup fix this?"

"We tried that already," Laten said, unemotional as always. He stared sternly at the rock devastation. "Whomever, or whatever, caused this, returned. We reloaded this spot in server maintenance times twice already. And only seconds after the server goes back up, reports come in saying that the library was in ruins again."

"Lios even sent people to guard the libraries, just in case this was a hacker raid party of sorts." Layla continued in Laten's place. "It seemed like everything except the halls of legends remains intact. However, the guards inside said that after a half an hour or so, the marble walls seemed to age at an incredible rate, like the still winds were eroding them into nothing, which ultimately led to the collapse. However, every time this happens, there is only one place in this whole building that doesn't get destroyed during this process."

Laten motioned to Asgard and Layla to follow him. They both nodded, Terro still keeping to the Fist Fighter's side. Asgard overstepped a large, cracked stone, which looked like the part of the archway that led into the library. Terro slowly floated over a large, golden statue's head, completely severed from its body, its face scratched to holy hell, unable to tell who it was. "This place is a sheer mess!" Asgard tripped on an overturned root, heading straight for a partially buried, but sharp, stone. Fortunately for him, Laten was quick to the draw, grabbing his scarf as he fell. Asgard hovered over the stone's sharp edge for a moment, as Laten pulled him back and onto his feet. Aside from the instant pressure around his neck, he thanked him for the save. Laten accepted the gratitude, but did so with a look of seriousness.

"No time to play around. Sandri and Lios are probably becoming impatient." Asgard rubbed his neck slightly, breathing a bit quicker due to the sudden choke he had received. The library had turned into quite the war zone. He imagined the damage that was done to this place, but it was nothing compared to what actually was around him. The three tiered, multi story building of lore and mythos was just an ancient ruin now, like catapults, trebuchets, and ballistae had subjected it to a never-ending rain of death and destruction. Asgard checked his weaponry on instinct, just in case whatever did this was still here. "And I can hear you checking your weapons. Don't worry about that. The last server backup was hours ago." Asgard cursed under his breath, Layla snickering with two fingers over her mouth.

The threesome passed underneath the intersecting, high domed hall of the Lamda Maneki Library. Of all the things in these places strewn across every server, this room was different in each one. Along with the changing of its name, as it was named the Lamda Intersection here in Carmina Gadelica, this room was differently hued, and contained the game information room. The server room, as it was called, was different in each server, built differently, named differently, and placed differently. The Lamda Intersection was fairly intact, compared to the entryway of the building. However, there was still a good quantity of debris strewn across the floor, the walls seemingly gouged and scratched, similar to the statue head outside. "Well this doesn't look too bad-oh wait…never mind." Asgard looked down at the floor to see a massive amount of weapons on the ground. Archery bows, giant axes, twin swords, Wavemaster staves: They were all strewn around the room, not in the ornamental places that they were supposed to. This room felt like the re-enactment of a bloody battle, save the blood. Not a drop of red was on the floor, not a single crimson splatter on the walls. But the weapons, either battered or broken, suggested a fierce battle took place here.

Asgard reached down and picked up a Heavy Blade's katana. It was surprisingly short, not because of its original design, but the fact that the top half of the blade was brutally smashed off. The half katana was even spiked at the severing point, making Asgard a bit scared. Katanas, a slender Japanese sword made lightweight for quick easy strikes, were made by folded steel. This method of swordsmanship was renown of making incredibly durable swords, easy to repair, and very, very deadly. But, whenever katanas break, it generally broke in a clean cut, not spiked like the one he had in his hand. Whatever did this was indeed a force to be reckoned with. "Amazing," he slowly said to himself. Terro looked around at the weapons, pawing away the weapons to try and find something of use. Layla and Laten were still continuing forward, the hallway sign saying that the direction they took led them to the Valley of Legends. But Asgard didn't follow them, still trying to grasp the concept of something so incredibly powerful trying to siege something as innocent as a library.

"Shit. We better get moving again. I don't want to get Lios and Viking pissed." The gryphon nodded to him and flapped its wings, its mind gauging something.

"Get on. I'm pretty sure that the hallways are big enough for me to fly in." Asgard looked down the hallway, which his escorts had taken. It looked like a bit of a tight fit for Terro to fly in, but he quickly forgot, as Terro flew over him and grabbed his shoulders with his birdlike talon. There wasn't any pain in the claws, but he was more concerned that Terro wasn't as good as a flyer as he thought it to be. The Fist Fighter didn't want to end up as a splattered wall tapestry.

Asgard's fears disappeared as they approached what seemed to be a giant expanse coming straight at them. The doorway seemed a bit out of place, like it was a portal to an even bigger place. Asgard had heard of these as an admin: A prototype type of field compilations that are designed so expansive, so huge, that it needs its own server to exist. These 'proto-fields' were only in testing when Asgard was still Thor. But it seemed that they ironed the wrinkles in the project, and were putting it through an alpha test. Terro slowed to a stop right before the portal to the field, dropping Asgard down to the ground that he momentarily 'hovered' over for the last little bit. As soon as he stepped on the ground, a man appeared at the gate. He was slightly aged, designed like a sixty-year-old butler. He had plain black, formal clothes on, with a tiny top hat.

"Greetings, sirs," he began, "I am Bobble, guide to the Valley of Legends. I have been designed as a helper in the upcoming field that is still under construction and currently under emergency repair. Therefore, only administrative personnel are permitted to go beyond this point. All other players will be transported back to the Carmina Gadelica Chaos Portal." Bobble reached into a pocket on his chest piece suit, pulling out a paper notepad. "Now, may I ask who you are?"

Asgard looked to Terro. Oddly enough, Terro sneezed. He really had never seen that before. "My username is VikingDefender. Player name is Asgard." Bobble read down the list slowly, and then flipped the page. Running his finger down the paper notepad, he pressed on 'Asgard'.

"Excellent, sir." Bobble's left eye became completely white, put into a scanning mode to confirm the profile and character selection. The butler stopped and posed another question. "Now may I have your user password, save the consonants? Please spell it to me vowel by vowel." Asgard hummed a bit, trying to single out only the vowels in his password. He didn't think this was a scam on his user account. Seriously, what could a person do with an account being used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and unable to kick, even if he wanted to.

"o..e..a..e..e..a..e"

"Very good. Thank you, Asgard. You may proceed." Asgard took a step forward, but then remembered that he had an ally to take with him. He turned to Terro, who was still sneezing. The monster pet didn’t have any sort of character information; therefore he would most likely be booted back to the Chaos Gate. Then, Asgard had an idea. It was a good thing he was listening to Terro before…

"Oh right...I know! I'll summon you when I get into the proto field." The Fist Fighter patted the gryphon on the head, showing his concern about Terro sneezing. "Also, you might want to get a doctor to look at that. It sounds terrible."

"Do not fear for my health. I have just not interacted with my element for a while. When I return to the earth, I will become well again. Just make sure to reach into the earth element like you did with your 'weapon'." Asgard smiled, nodded and took his hand away from the beast's head. Slowly, Terro began to solidify into stone, becoming an imposing statue, much like the legends of gargoyles. However, unlike gargoyles, the statue of Terro molded with the rough floor underneath him, the rock seemingly turning liquid and running deep into the ground like water.

"Very good. Thank you, Asgard. You may proceed." Asgard turned around to see Bobble still waiting for him to respond. His response must be a reminder, just in case a player missed it the first time. Nodding to the butler, he stepped through the clear portal into the Valley of Legends field....
This is my non-banner profile. Read at own discretion!
Wishlist (Bolded sections denotate priority, in descending order)
In General: LEVELS
Pet-Related: EX-Levels, [Lv. 2]Overdrive Sphere, [Lv. 2]Ressurect
Armor: Dice Gloves (20 RARE), Golden Turban (42), Saint Cross (41), Protect Ring (41)
Weapons: Master Nunchaku (40 RARE), Three-Section Staff (37),
Items: (None)

Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:00 am

Chapter 3: The Phantoms of Past Sins

Asgard looked over to the corridor, looking to see what was the cause of this massive disturbance that he was experiencing. Now in the Valley of Heroes, coincidentally right in front of the Fist Fighter's personal statue, Asgard had his Gan Weapon activated. A hard weapon to even conceive; yet it was even harder trying to use it without any practice. But the nagging fact that Asgard was completely out of practice with this weapon, it also shared a concern that he was facing something more horrible than death itself.

The plan was for Asgard to defend the Lamda Maneki Library, while Lios rebooted the server. During this time, something infiltrated the library and leaves the library area in ruins, and seeing as being captured by twilight meant immunity to the reboot, he was ordered to stand guard and ward off or destroy whatever entity plagued the library. So far, the whole mission was a complete bust, as the entity presently destroying the library seemed to be unstoppable. Asgard kept mentally pummeling his resolve, as Terro's and his efforts in slaying the ghost were grossly ineffective. It seemed that his attacks, his skills, his trump cards, just made the apparition even angrier. The Fist Fighter had started at the entryway of the library, but he had to constantly retreat, all the way back into the Valley of Legends. However, retreat was a word he was trying to place in this situation. It was more like the ghost was the reason for pushing him back constantly.

A feint shriek echoed through Asgard's soul, making him shiver in his tabi. Whatever this thing was, it meant business, and now it seems that it was intent on making Asgard its next victim. Slowly, from the gaseous mist that appeared out of nowhere, the thing he feared facing, the apparition of the library appeared with a whoosh of displaced air. Asgard took hold of the ring, the tri-chaku chains falling flat, hanging over the ground. It was game time for Asgard yet again, facing a ghost that haunts him still. Little did he know was that his enemy was a spectre of past sins...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four Hours Earlier...

The Fist Fighter rematerialized on the other side of the portal. He looked back to see Bobble, still waiting at attention for the next player to enter the portal to the Valley of Legends. Even though the distance seemed short, it was a long skip and a jump that propelled Asgard here. The wonders of the in-game portal still evaded Asgard, but at the moment, he payed the thought no mind, and continued, walking up the nearest foothill. As he walked, he quietly tried to focus the power of earth in his mind. However, he couldn't focus the element here for some reason. Asgard felt a little bit out of place here, like a part of him was gone somehow. Testing the theory, he opened up his Wildwood Satchel at his side and waited for the Juk Powder to swirl around him.

However, the seeds only fell flat, falling from the satchel's open pouch to the grassy hill under his feet. What the...That wasn't supposed to happen... Asgard placed his hand forward, tapping into the soul of fire. However, when he tried to summon his knightly aid Fides, he found that the soul of fire was nowhere to be found, nor sensed. That's odd. Asgard decided to stop using his skills as he saw Laten and Layla waving in the distance. He hurried over as fast as he could, taking the main road straight through the Valley of Legends.

The administrators, recognizing those who have shown great valor, compassion, and mentoring to the new players, made the valley. Countless large statues were strewn across the valley's main road, first displaying the Heavy Blades and the Heavy Axes. Then came the Wavemasters and Long Arm statues. Asgard stopped for a moment to look at two figures, their statues in the same place, but on the opposites of the roadside. One Wavemaster was clothed in a dark red robe, with a compassionate smile on his face. His staff looked as if it were wrapped in book pages. Asgard knew who this man was, and his smile made him look a tad bit demonic than nice, as Tritoch, a supervisor of Carmina Gadelica, had been the most aggressive about Asgard's ties with the hackers. Over the previous months, Tritoch had been sending all that he could muster against the hacked Fist Fighter, but that only led to a demotion within the chain of command. Asgard realized that having a statue for Tritoch was a sad event and made a mental note to ask Lios to remove the statue from the valley, as Tritoch didn't deserve the pleasure, even if he was an admin.

Right next to Tritoch, across the path, was Kamui the Long Arm. Kamui was ordered to take Asgard down at one point in his in-game life. He resorted to Data Drain, when Asgard and his allies bested Gem and Eye in battle. Thankfully, the Fist Fighter was more resilient that previously thought, as he survived the attack, but was incapacitated for a long while. Kamui was a secretive administrator, but as of recent, his obsession was to take on the elites by himself. That was truly a bad move. From what Sandri had told him, he didn't even take on one of the elites before being trounced and almost sent into a comatose state, just like Asgard. The Long Arm had since been demoted for acting rash, but it was better than being in a coma. But, knowing his attitude and determination, that wouldn't stop him from doing it again.

"How sad," Asgard mentioned to himself, looking at the statue of Kamui, his trident longarm held high overhead, like a war monger ready to go into battle. How accurate...

Walking forward again, he passed the Blademasters and Twin Blades. Noticeable in the lineup were Balmung of the Azure Sky, and his counterpart Orca of the Azure Sea. Both were honored as powerful players and newbie helpers to all, no matter the circumstance or the player. On the Twin Blade side, the assassins Gem and Eye, dressed in their traditional ninja garb, stood as statues, looking over all that passed. Even though they were cruel players, they were also the cause for the deletion of countless cheaters and hackers, as well as the pair who discovered the concept of counterfeit accounts. For that, they were honored as administrative assistants and their bodies goldened into statues to put within the Valley of Legends.

Asgard huffed. He knew all of those who adorned the Valley of Legends at one time or another. But he remembered that Thor had a statue in the valley. However, when passing the Heavy Blade wing, he could not find it. At that moment, he felt defeated, more than any fight he had endured over the years he had been playing and living 'The World'.

"Thor!" Asgard swung his head to the middle of the road, eyeing Laten and Layla. They were at the end of the statue pavilion, after the few who were crowned heroes in the extra classes: Fist Fighter, Whipmaster and Archer. Asgard looked to the few statues that made up this small area, and was shocked at what he saw. Layla pointed to one of the statues impishly, while Laten looked at another one next to it.

A Fist Fighter, completely in silver, turned his fist to the sky, like he was delivering a brutal uppercut. He wore a long scarf extending to his knees, with black-strapped tabi feet. His left fist seemed to be encased in crystallized ice, while furious flames surrounded his right. Indeed, this Fist Fighter statue was Asgard.

"Oooo? What did I do right?" Asgard asked.

"I really don't know myself." Laten casted a devilish grin. Asgard was tempted to give him a killer noogie, but feared he would react by flipping him over his body. "They put this statue in a week ago or so. A lot of people asked who you were, and fearing exposure, we generally took the statue out until yesterday."

"They would probably make statues for your friends too," Layla added. Asgard scratched his head at the issue. "You guys don't know how important you are to the grand scheme of things, how many things that you have done that we couldn't ever even fathom to accomplish."

"Oh, I think we have a general idea." Asgard started, "But, I really don't know about all this. I know some would like to be recognized for their efforts, but getting a statue for everyone to see...I don't know. It sounds a little bit over the top."

"Suit yourself."

The trio moved across the players’ pavilion, reaching a house upon the side of one of the hills in the valley. It was a general, average house, smoke exiting its chimney. Sort of a cliché, 'little house on the prairie' cottage, seemingly like it was in its own paperback novel world. Laten slowly entered the house, the front door, Layla following obediently behind. Entering the house, Asgard's previous theory became stone written, as the home was cushy. Very, very cushy. It had a homely air inside, with an aromatic scent, and unlike what the outside looked like, the house was a lot bigger on the side, stretching out into the mountain.

"Greetings dearies!" Asgard turned to see Laten and Layla engaging in a conversation with a humble, aged lady. Even though she was a bit short compared to the three, she seemed to shine with a displacing aura. Everything around her seemed peaceful, as if there was no ill will in existence, like wars ended suddenly, just as long as this woman was in the middle of the two sides. She slowly walked over to Asgard, back curved and walking with the help of a crudely wrought cane. Her appearance, however, only bolstered her innocence and feelings of good will.

"Hello sir. May I ask who you are?" The elder gave off a smile, nothing special, but Asgard still felt to fall to his knees, as they were trembling. His soul seemed like it was calling out for help, as it was slowly being turned for her use.

"Asgard's....my...name..." Asgard, as hard as he tried, couldn't make coherent sense with his other sentences. It was as if the innocence of this old lady overwhelmed him like a tidal wave.

"Oh! You are the one that Sandri has been talking about. I see." The elder closed her eyes. Everything around her seemed to dull a bit. It seemed like the kindness field died out in an instant, allowing Asgard to get up from his kneel. Before Asgard could thank the elderly mother for releasing him from his bonds, she disappeared, cane and all.

"What the..."

"Good thing that she showed mercy on you, I'd rather not mention how bad the kindness aura can be. We better get going." Laten motioned to the back door, most likely leading into the hill. "Follow me."

"I seem to be doing a lot of that today," Asgard muttered to no one in particular. Layla giggled at the remark.

"Much like every other day of your life."

"Ouch! That was harsh..."

"I know. I live for these moments. Makes me feel so alive, giving others second degree burns."

==================================================================================

"Ho...lee...shit..."

To describe the room on the other side of the door as big would be a gross understatement. The room was vast like an ocean, and looked far different than the Valley of Legends. Instead of being archaic and ancient, this room took a more technological look, like it was the inside of a spaceship. The room itself supposedly had a ceiling that seemed infinitely tall, the room's width infinitely wide and the length infinitely long. It was almost like a paradox in reality. There had to be an end to this room, however, it seemed to go on forever and ever.

"Amazing. This is a definite first..." Asgard started walking forward, but Layla and Laten stopped him from going further. They turned him around in a hurry.

"It's just an illusion." Layla said, holding onto Asgard tightly, "If you had taken any more steps, you would have ended up in a loop room, and the only way to get out of that room is either to log out, or get admin assistance. Seeing as you don't really have the ability to log out, I'd rather not see you go insane trying to get out."

"It would have been a funny sight," Laten said under his breath. Layla shot him in the gut with her elbow. He chuckled at the impact as he recoiled. "Sorry. That was rude of me." Laten then walked in front of Asgard and held up his hand. In his hand held a small pin, shaped in the form of a reddened, risen fist. He walked forward a ways before being swallowed up by some sort of distortion. Asgard raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the portal. Again, it was something new that he had never seen. He knew his leave of the administrative force was quite a while, but didn't think that the coders and programmers could come up with such complicated things in this short of time.

"This place just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it," Asgard mentioned to Layla. The auburn haired Whipmaster smiled at his remark.

"You'll like the next part."

Laten finally appeared again from the invisible distortion, holding a pin. However, this one looked like a foot risen into a high kick. The Fist Fighter tossed the lapel to Asgard, and he caught it with an open hand. He placed the pin over his scarf, admiring the simplicity to the administrative badge. As he placed the badge on, Laten and Layla stepped back from the distortion. "Aren't you two coming?" The two administrators shaked their heads.

"They asked that only you attend the meeting. Seeing as you are the only one to be active during a reboot, everyone else is generally useless." Layla looked a little bit down while Laten talked about their usefulness. The two shared the same emotions, the main reason why they were paired together. They were both feeling unneeded at the moment.

"Don't worry guys," Asgard replied with a tone of reassurance, "After I peg whatever is destroying the library, we can all celebrate. My treat." He smiled and waved, while he backed into the invisible portal, disappearing from view.

"Lets hope so..." The two admins turned around and walked towards the door, hand in hand, hoping for the best.
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Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:06 am

Chapter 4: The Dire Fates

The Fist Fighter was in the distortion room, now trying to ward off the entity in front of him. His weapons, save one, were doing very little to no damage. It was as if his enemy had the ability to turn immaterial at will. The one saving grace was his Gan Weapon, which seemed to strike well with the ghostly apparition. Even so, it was still a quick little bugger. The apparition fired its arm straight at Asgard. The Gan Weapon quickly turned into the Kite Shield, and Asgard quickly brought it up to block the attack. The evil entity's attack split all across his shield and fired off into the direction of the measureless walls. Forcing him forward the mystical, earthen shield held, diverting the attack from its user. Getting closer and closer, Asgard got ready to switch weapons and let the son bitch have what’s coming to him.

The entity charged at the shielded Fist Fighter and tried to slam into him, his attack fading away. With his shield in front of him, Asgard could only begin to brace for impact before being hit quite solidly by the gaseous apparition. He stood his ground, only moving a few inches back, the shield not moving at all. Asgard looked over the shield to see the enemy attacking with what seemed to be a staff of sorts, or a long handled bludgeon. Pushing quickly to the side, the shield shot the staff down to the ground, where it impacted and dug into the flooring. Spinning quickly, leaning into the push, he pulled a three sixty spin and slammed the ghost in the face with the shield. Asgard's enemy flew backwards into the door leading out into the Valley, breaking it outright and saving the Fist Fighter precious time.

"Shit. This is getting bad." As he spoke, the Gan Weapon dissolved into the floor. It wasn't that Asgard had lost his focus, but the fact that every strike the weapon made, sapped his skill points little by little. Now, he was sapped dry and short on time. He flicked his admin pin and ran forward into the distortion, entering the portal. The last thing he heard before stepping in was the shriek of the ghoul, getting back to his feet.

Asgard appeared on the other side of the distortion, running straight for the 'last bastion' of the library: The Fallen Heroes shrine. The reboot was just finishing in this room, displaying an almost regal look to it. The dimensions were not like the previous rooms, however it was still grand, displaying four platinum statues all across the back wall of the room. The floor was decorated with displays of ancient weapons, some of former administrators and some just for show. This room was scheduled to be a public gathering, but with the recent problem with the ghost and the secrecy of an occurrence in the world, the release date had been put to an indefinite timeframe.

Asgard bypassed the weapons and armor on display and went behind one of the giant statues. He knew who his visual shielder was, as this was the statue he knew well. It was he, but in a different time...

==================================================================================

Three Hours Earlier...

Asgard stared in awe at what was in front of him. He was now in a room full of kingly decor, incredibly different from the area before. War banners laced in golden thread donned the walls, ancient weaponry was put in display cases all along the floor, and chairs and tables were located all around the room for people to sit in. It was like this room was turning into a social gathering place. Asgard couldn't wrap that theory around his mind however; as he had never seen this room in his entire play experience.

"Wow..." was the reaction he had, but that was before he saw the defining point of the room. Four giant statues that he recognized right away were all along the back of the room, towering to the already heightened ceiling. Asgard slowly walked over to the statues, step by step, believing that they were all just illusions. But he reached the statue of a Heavy Blade, adorned in a mixture of plate mail armor and red tinted dragon bone gear. The statue had his long sword, an ornate weapon with a 'mysticium' blade and a clear moonstone handle, with various gems inlaid in the blade as well as blood red runes running down the flats alongside the gems.

Asgard stopped his approach at the sight of the statue. It was he in that statue. Not exactly him, but his previous character, the admin elite Thor. Alongside of him were his allies, people whom he shared the best and worst of times with. On the right of Thor was Loki, the Heavy Axeman, and his ally for life. He was always outfitted in dark red armor that covered his giant body from head to toe. His weapon was also something to be scared of, as it was far grander than any Heavy Axe made for player's use. The Trickster was a gigantic axe that was made completely out of crystal, along with a spike made of diamond on both tips of the elder wood shaft of the axe.

Nagra, the 'Wavelord' as he liked being called, was next to Loki. Compared to the rest of the group, Nagra was a wee bit smaller than the rest, but his diminutive stature was nothing to joke about. His short nature had a big ego to it, as he was THE greatest Wavemaster of his time. He had access to every magic skill in the game, through collecting and pairing armor and weapons together to make efficient strategies to maximize his damage dealt, while minimizing the damage he took. Nagra was a vital part in any battle; able to devise efficient plans with the group he was paired with. The Wavelord was portrayed in his favorite battle garb, named the Godslayer set. It consisted of light, metallic armor, befitting a scout, along with a long, black cape that covered his whole body in what seemed to be a shroud of darkness. His face was covered in a mask, the Malgan Shaman Mask, as he was a bit timid at times. The weapon that he held was a crystallized staff with shards of the diamond floating all around the staff, made out of the same material as Thor's blade, only it was hardened into crystal instead of being tempered into metal.

Finally, the lady on Thor's left was Euro, the Long Arm. She wasn't much for flair and poise, as she wore a simply designed outfit that was much like that of a trapper: Made of the leather from its kills. Even so, the leatherworking of her outfit was incredibly masterful, making her outfit combat effective and was very well fashioned. Her spear was also a piece of fine work, wrought from a rare slab of mineral named Eternium, supposedly the most durable substance ever discovered. The tip of the spear, however, was ever changing. It could change at will from a spear tip, to a thresher tip, to a scythe tip, to a pole arm tip. She was well equipped for anything, and her constant, relentless attacking strategy was effective and brutal. You could say that Asgard adopted that technique after making the new character.

-=-=-=-=-

Asgard was walking at this moment, towards the statue of Euro. The statue was countless feet tall, towering over everything in the room. There was a stray chair in front of the statue, offering a clear view of her. He had to take the time to see her statue, after what had happened because of him.

The last time that the four, Thor, Loki, Nagra, and Euro, had grouped together, they were to investigate the white field of Forbidden Talisman Secret Tower. On that field was the site of the Fortress of the Well, the place where so many events had changed James' life as a person.

As Asgard, he ventured there, lost and confused, trying to obtain some upper hand against the admins that sought his capture and the hackers that seeked his demise. There he found the Dualist ability, secreted in the dungeons of the keep. Afterwards, he returned, confused and lost about the powers of a Dualist. Knowing this was the place where he had gained it, he returned. This is where he found Corvus, the mortal god. Corvus told him that the dualist power that he possessed was far weaker than the power that Corvus could impart upon him, in the art of hand-to-hand combat.

The Fortress of the Well also impacted Thor, much more than Asgard will ever be. It is here where Thor lost people who were very important in his life. On his first visit to the field, the four were assigned to search the compound and destroy it if it is part of any illegal activities that were against the rules of the game. Thor never found anything illegal in the castle, but he found something much worse. Upon entering the chamber of the well, he had found a horror that he never wanted to relive.

He found Nagra and Euro in that room, crucified on the walls by horrible obsidian daggers. Their bodies were slashed and stabbed, most likely by the tools that hung them from the walls. It made Thor want to vomit, but he was too busy trying to get them both down. When he freed them from their bladed bindings, he saw that they were dead via multiple stab wounds. He tried using resurrects to revive them, but there was no such luck. He implored the two corpses to log out, as if they had a ghost to speak to. At that point, he phoned them both, as the three of them were indeed best friends. However, with both calls, he only alerted their parents of the fact that their children, so young and so vibrant, were dead.

Dead through a simple, online, video game.

He was inclined to stop playing right there, adamant to go and see his now deceased friends. But his duties as an admin somehow overrid his thoughts. However, it was more like his desire for justice, for revenge. However, he only found Loki in the stronghold, stabbed with the same style daggers as Euro and Nagra. Loki, however, was still alive. Using a force log-out command, he saved Loki from the fate that both of them did.

Weeks later, there was a tribunal on the incident. There were too many questions to answer to this massacre. The administrative force met with the lawyers representing ALTIMIT. The only solid evidence was that Thor came out of the field, unscathed, along with the fact that ALTIMIT wanted to keep this event under the rug. Therefore, the blame was ultimately put upon him. He was to stand judgment for the murdering of the two people he would never harm.

All of the psychological pain that he had suffered at that moment in time, when he realized that his best friend and the woman he loved were dead, was unbearable. Now, the blame for their deaths was branded on his innocent, shaking hands. Thor's life couldn't get any worse....

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Reliving the past?"

Asgard snapped out of his gaze off into the nightmare in a daydream that he had just experienced. Now sitting around the table that he was sitting near was the rest of the top tier administrators. Lios was sitting opposite Asgard. Dressed in his innkeeper brand attire, a general disguise, he sat down waiting for an answer, palms at his legs. The head administrator of 'The World' was a bulky man, but his absolute control over the fate of players was enough to make mere players cower in fear. He had been known to delete players, just for disrespecting his character minorly.

Sandri sat next to him. The Wavemistress sat calmly, eyes closed, waiting for the discussion to begin. She didn't say anything while Asgard was daydreaming. Sandri wasn't present for the tribunal when it happened, but she had heard and read all about it. She didn't know what it meant to lose someone as close as that, but was saddened that he was labeled the scapegoat, after all that he had been through. She had helped Asgard earlier, when he and Nighthand returned to the Fortress of the Well.

To Asgard's left side, Viking sat, without a chair. His character build was far too grand, and decided to sit on the floor, legs crossed. His giant self easily reached up and over the table, much like the rest of the meeting staff. He waved a quick hello with one of his mammoth hands and went back to waiting for the discussion to begin.

On Asgard's right sat two people he did not recognize. One was outfitted in a flowing cloak garb, studded with small ankh's, supposedly the holiest symbol in existence. His cloak, however, was completely black.

The other was a lady, who was standing instead of sitting. She wore armor that was similar to a Red Guard's armor, except that it seemed not as solid, not as heavy. Peeking out from her backside was a simple looking longbow, however for the fact that it had a sniper rifle scope on the end.

"Asgard, I would like you to meet Siege..." The Archer nodded. Asgard offered her a hand to shake, which she replied with a smile and a sturdy reply. "...And Mortuus." Again, Asgard offered a hand to shake, but the Wavemaster did not return the gesture. Instead, he sat at the table, looking off into his own daydream.

"Thanks Lios. I appreciate the oppurtunity to meet you again."

"It has been too long hasn't it..." Asgard looked away as he spoke. It was Lios' decision to punish and issue a warrant for his in-game arrest. He had not forgiven his action, but could understand his reasoning to do so. If he didn't, ALTIMIT would have found another person to maintain the order of 'The World'. Even then, with the man guilty of his trials and tribulations right in front of him, it was hard to keep the Fist Fighter's anger, his rage, his power in check, so that it doesn't come bursting out like a volcano.

"...I'm new to saying this, but I am truly sorry that I placed the blame-"

Asgard shot up from the table, fists slamming into the table. "YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD BE. I LOST MY BEST FRIEND AND THE WOMAN THAT I LOVED WITH EVERYTHING I HAD. I SERIOUSLY CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOU PEA SIZE BRAIN WHEN I WAS PAINTED WITH THE BLAME FOR-" Asgard stopped in mid-sentence at the realization that he opened a verbal can of whup ass on the Head Admin. He retracted his hands, his knuckles bleeding from such a violent hit to the table. He needed to keep the past in check in order to finish this meeting without severing the ties that bound him to who he was. "I'm sorry. That was out of line. But please, we can talk about the past outside of the problems at hand." The others nodded, Mortuus still in lala land.

"Agreed."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"So, what you're saying is that there's something invading the library program, during and after the reboot."

"That is correct," Lios said with absolute certainty, "All of us have tried to subdue whatever invaded the system while the reboot was in effect. We have been able to attack it before it ever reached the valley, however our means of solving this problem have been far from effective." Asgard raised an eyebrow, "Even if we hit him, edit him, delete him, it only spawns back in the same place, and heads towards its ultimate goal."

"Here?"

"That's right, comrade. Every time that 'monstrocitie' rears its god awful head, it's end point is raight heyre." Viking's russian accent made it had to understand him clearly, but Asgard got what he was saying. "Every taiem that bahsted comes here, he leaves tha statues of yerself, Loki, Euro and wee man, defacated to theira liking." Asgard looked from the Heavy Axeman back to the statues. Contrary to the man's preaching, the statues were actually full bodied and flawless, not a single defect on them.

"Hold on." Sandri closed her eyes, most likely doing something out of game or with the admin toolbar. Asgard stared at her with a questionable eye. He had never really used an admin toolbar before; he believed that it was a privilege to get your hands dirty in the problem. She opened her eyes again, and said "Now."

Asgard looked back to the statues, and nearly jumped out of the chair he was sitting in. Indeed now, the Norseman spoke the truth. The statues at the end of the room were indeed mauled, each in its different way. Euro's statue was gouged at the face, with what seemed to be slashes and stabs with some sort of weapon. Also, the statue did not have its platinum sheen that it had before. It was dulled to a dark grayish color, like the color of a cloudy day.

Nagra's statue was similar to that of Euro's. However, the wounds on the statue seemed to be in the places of his feet, his hands, and across his forehead. To top that, it seemed that the wounds had the visual effect of bleeding, however there was no sign of any blood or liquid from the gaping wounds. Asgard took some time to look at Nagra's statue closely, and then remembered where he had seen it. These were the same wounds that were placed upon Jesus Christ during his last days before his crucifixion: The Stigmata on his palms, the one nail through both of his feet, the crown of thorns. The statue approximately met the wounds in which Jesus was crucified, supposedly millennia ago.

Going to Thor's, he saw that very little was changed. It was colored red now, from head to toe. The giant stone blade was cracked in multiple places, and the armor seemed badly damaged as well. However, aside from the 'battle damage' on his armor, Thor was fine.

Asgard looked to Loki finally, and he almost cringed when he did. The statue itself was beheaded, like he had gotten on the bad end of his own Axe. His body parts were also hacked off; the only thing really standing was a headless, armless abomination. His axe, however, was still upright, gleaming with a red color.

"I seem to be saying this a lot, but what the fuck is going on?"

"Every time the anomaly enters here, it automatically goes for Loki first, then Euro, then you, then Nagra." Mortuus was finally talking for a change. His voice sounded a bit raspy, like he had been suffering from a voice taking cold for all of his life.

"Wait. How do you know this, down to the order?"

"Lios did say that we attack it relentlessly without effort. However, the ghost did not fight back. Seeing us as no threat, as our efforts were nigh useless, it decimated everything, except for the Valley of Legends and this room."

"To an extent," Lios added in quickly.

"Yes to an extent, of course..."

Asgard looked back at the statues. Whatever this malicious entity's intentions were, it didn't bode well with the order of things with the game. The Maneki Library was supposed to be a tome of knowledge to the people, as well as a display to the heroes of the game. Along with that, someone had defecated the statues of Asgard and the best friends he could ever have in any lifetime. It was as if someone went out of his way to piss on the graves of Euro and Nagra, as well as flip the bird at Asgard and Loki.

"Alright then." Asgard said, strapping on his Iron Step. He was dead intent on making whatever was causing all this pay. Even to the extent of taking its life if he had the ability. "I'm ready to go. Who's going to move me to the entrance?" With a nod and a quick rise to her feet, Sandri got up to transport him to the entryway of the library.

"Good luck, Thor," Lios commented. Asgard looked at him, realized at what he did before, and bowed slightly, acknowledging his support. An instance later and he was already at the ruined entrance, ready for the opposing force...
This is my non-banner profile. Read at own discretion!
Wishlist (Bolded sections denotate priority, in descending order)
In General: LEVELS
Pet-Related: EX-Levels, [Lv. 2]Overdrive Sphere, [Lv. 2]Ressurect
Armor: Dice Gloves (20 RARE), Golden Turban (42), Saint Cross (41), Protect Ring (41)
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Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:15 am

Chapter 5: And To Top It All Off...

T Minus 45 Minutes...

Asgard looked at the ruined rubble that composed the insides of the intersecting hall once more. He kneeled down and hoisted the large, broken katana that he had found earlier. Whatever they said before didn't quite make sense. First, he saw that there were battered weapons everywhere, and if they were unable to damage the entity, how did they get so worn? Then, he remembered the fact that it was as if the rock aged and crumbled, much like the natural process of erosion, the natural process of their life. Therefore, it wouldn't be far from saying that the weapons took the route of their lives. Battle hardened weapons bent, broke, scratch up or shatter during constant use within battle. However, that was what a blacksmith was for: mending broken weapons. Too bad there was no weapon mender in 'The World', as the weapons here were not bound by durability, but the ghost found a way around that.

So if the ghost returned, he had to be careful on which weapons to use. If it got its hands on his weapons, they could degrade just like the strewn out, battle hardened weapons.

"Asgard..." The Fist Fighter let the severed katana drop to the floor, and got back to his feet. He turned to see that Sandri, the Second in Command of the Administrators, was standing still, hands folded.

"Don't worry Sandri. I'll be fine," Asgard reassuredly spoke, "Even though this thing might be a bit tricky, I'm still a powerhouse in my own way." He tried to give her a smile to back up his talk, but it trailed off as he saw that her face was down, staring at the fallen weapons. The Fist Fighter could see that something else was bothering her, not the matter at hand. "Is...there something wrong?"

"It's Loki..."

"What about him? I heard he got a bad sickness, but I haven't seen him for a while now. Did he take a leave of absence to recover?" Asgard approached her quickly, trying to find out the matter of her sadness. "Come on, you can tell me!" He smiled again, but realized that she was still blind to his smile, looking at the floor. Her lower robe was shaking, like she was having a hard time standing up. Asgard helped her up, putting her arm around his neck as a support. She was trying to hold back tears and her mouth was quivering. Now it was dead obvious that something was wrong.

"Yesterday...Loki..."

"Loki what? Quit the force? Got eaten by a rabid Parasite Dragon?"

"He...Committed Suicide..."

Asgard stopped suddenly, his heart feeling like it was jerking out from his chest, along with every other vital organ in his body. The sudden switch from happy to sorrowful hit him like a tidal wave. The whole library around him felt like it all disappeared as he held Sandri in his black void. Now Asgard was the one holding back tears, as he could see Sandri crying out loud. But the sound of the tears was muted, like some higher being turned the volume down.

Now Asgard was the only surviving member of his group. Euro and Nagra had perished at the hands of the unknown entity of the Fortress of the Well, and now Loki took his own life. Even with Sandri right next to him, even with his Administrative allies, and even with his new closest friends, the group hell bent on destroying the hacker elites, he felt like the loneliest man partially alive.

"It's okay...it's okay Sandri." Asgard tried to console her as she slowly slinked down to bended knee. He followed suit, holding her closely. She was trying to make words from her sobbing head, but her grief was far too powerful for such simple speech. The Fist Fighter curled her head into his chest, trying to have something to rest on. The pugilist could feel the tears seep through the battle outfit and the body bandages, but didn't care at the moment. "Tell me everything."

She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her devout robes. "I only...found...found out..." She couldn't even begin the sentence before she started crying again. This was obviously not the time to speak of what happened, as it was obvious that the Wavemistress was grief stricken to an unspeakable degree. Asgard would understand her grief, but this was too much just for an ally in the game. There was more to this than he realized.

"You loved him...didn't you..." Sandri nodded as she cried her eyes out. All Asgard could do was hold her; try to comfort her in their time of horrible loss. He had wanted to burst into tears right then and there, but Sandri was crying enough for the both of them.

For a moment, both of them just knelt there. It was as if 'The World' around him were just a pitch black nothing. All that mattered was that he was still living, and that both of them would carry the undying memory of Loki in their hearts.

*BING BONG* "Attention, players of Lamda server. Please proceed to log out of the Lamda server immediately, as scheduled maintenance and upgrades of Carmina Gadelica are to proceed within ten minutes. Delta, Theta, Sigma and Omega servers are still operational, so you may choose to transfer to those respective servers if you wish." *BING BONG*

The announcement of the server reboot rang again, and then quickly died out.

It was ten minutes to show time.

"Okay Sandri. I have to go to work." Asgard helped her back up. She was more together than before, realizing that even if she was intent on crying right then and there, the game would kick her out. Asgard, however, would stay, immune to the server reboot, and kick some unholy, undead ass.

"Thank you Asgard...For holding me in my time of need...I'm sorry that ALTIMIT placed the blame on you..I wished we could have helped you..." The Fist Fighter smiled, wiping off a stray tear from Sandri's red haired head.

"Don't worry. I survived that altercation. Same as I will with this little facade." Confident that she could walk on her own, he released her. Like a premonition, the Wavemistress got to her feet, wiping her eyes clear. The redness on her face and her beautiful, watery eyes were evidence enough to put that she loved Loki as a common fact.

"Here..." Sandri held out her hands to reveal a small pouch, enough to hide in the palm of one's hand. "This will be beneficial to you in the battle ahead." Looking at the silver threaded pouch, he studied it carefully. Seeing nothing wrong with it, he placed the pouch in his pocket, to save for later.

*BING BONG* "Attention, players...

The announcement thundered once again over the server. This was the final warning before moderators and administrators alike would start booting players automatically before the server would shut down. With the final warning in effect, Sandri took her leave. Calmly drying her tears with the holy robes she wore, the Wavemistress took a final bow and gave Asgard a final 'good luck'.

Asgard turned around, looking at the chaos he was going to try and save. Even though he was far 'different' from normal players, whatever, or whoever, could do this was 'different' as well. At one point during the meeting, he thought that anything put before him could be conquered. This instance, however, were going to put his skills into question.

*BING BONG* One minute left...

Asgard readied his weapons. He slammed on the Dragon Fist bracer, the weapon shimmering with an azure glow. At first, he thought to use his trump card, the Gan Weapon, as his first method of attack. But he didn't believe the entity was that threatening the library would be such a problem for him to use that. Yet, like most times, he could be proven wrong.

The final chimes sounded in the server, signaling system reboot. Little by little, Asgard saw the whole world around him dematerialize. It was as if, in an instant, the universe around him got immediately sucked into a black hole, but no immense gravitational pull tried to force his cybernetic atoms apart. There was only one thing wrong with the picture around him: the sound. There was a weird sound of a mixture of line noise and the sound of thunder. Asgard couldn't tell where the sound was coming from, the main reason being that everything now was just black and no other color.

Just as quickly as 'The World' disappeared around him, the sight of the Carmina Gadelica Library faded in. The server had performed and completed a successful server reboot. Instead of the desolate ruins that the library was before, it was more like a miniature castle, nestled into the city. Everything around him shone, like it was all brand new. The hordes of weaponry were no longer strewn across the floor like before. Instead, they hung on the walls in an ornate, stained glass display. The room had an eerie light source, not made through artificial means. It was as if the room was covered in a yellow, calming glow, much like the one given off by the elder in the Valley of Legends.

Asgard enjoyed that moment, as he thought it to be the only calming one for a while. For from behind him, coming from the entrance, the shriek of the shrill line noise returned. Whatever was plaguing the library must have activated automatically during the void of the server reboot, which would be impossible if it were an artificial creation from a hacker. Possibly, something a lot more than he bargained for. The Fist Fighter quickly turned around, arms tensed, fists ready, only to gaze at an empty entrance, with the line noise gone.

"What the..."

Asgard turned back around quickly. Again, nothing was there, only the room that he vowed to defend. Everything was in its place, like they were undisturbed for countless eons. "Whatever. This place is clear. Maybe this 'thing' appears later on in the pla-"

*SCRRRRRRRRSCHRRRSCHSCH* There was the line noise again, but it was quite a bit louder however. Loud enough that Asgard covered his ears, almost in pain. As the sound trolled on, the mystical light in the room began to fade. A large shadow swept across the floor, slowly but surely. The room began to fade in color, as if the liveliness of the golden room was being sucked completely dry, like a mosquito at a blood fiesta.

Asgard slowly turned around, still trying to shield his ears from the squeal echoing throughout the library. In the entrance, what seemed to be a darkened ghost, hovered slowly in mid air. Its shadow was the cause of the darkness swooping all around the room, as it seemed to originate from whatever was present in the room. The noise died down, as the darkness enveloped the room, and quickly receded back into the ghost. Everything in the room was now the way it was before: destroyed...out of place...ancient... It seemed that this entity was the cause of the eventual destruction of the library.

The ghost began to move forward, but Asgard quickly got himself into an attack style, ready to pummel whatever his enemy was with the Dragon Fist. "Don't step any closer! By authority of the administrators of 'The World' I have been granted lethal force if necessary to stop you."

All the ghost did was hover in place, its black essence seemingly dripping down into the eternal shadow it casted. Asgard expected at least some sort of defiant comment, and the continuation of its rampage. But all it did was float, possibly waiting for something. Without words, it was defiant in its own way, unresponsive and slowly beginning to move forward.

"I'm warning you!" The ghost did not listen. It was continuing forward, only feet away from the defending pugilist. "Fine!" Asgard responded to its independent thinking with a quick right straight. The fist shot forward and hit the entity right where its face was. However, the odd thing was that it pierced the black ichor, slowly making its way through and out the other side.

"What the-GAACK" As he tried to remove the fist, the gelatin substance closed around Asgard's fist, at first it felt like a massive force of pressure, almost as if a shadowy vice was trying to crush his arm, which quickly turned to an acidic feeling, eating away at his tensor bandages and straight for his flesh. Asgard bit his tongue at the defensive parameter before him. What was worse is that he couldn't move his fist from the black prison it was captive in. He dared not to place his foot on the entity, as it could get trapped as well.

"Let go, bastard!" The ghost did not respond, continuing forward and forcing Asgard to keep up. "I said. LET. GO!" Asgard clenched the other hand into a fist, an icy cool blue glow surrounding it. Ice crystals began to form upon the left arm. Soon enough, the whole arm was covered in sharp icy spikes. "Rue Cross!" Asgard slammed his fist into the ghost again. But this time, the impact was solid upon the gaseous and gelatinous surface of the form. There was a brief moment of silence in the shrill line noise, as the ice spikes associated with Rue Cross spread out across the ghost.

There was a silent scream, as the impaled head flung back in pain. The sudden shift gave Asgard the chance to retrieve his arm before it was frozen over. The ice crossed over its body, encasing it like a spiky ice ball. However, the oddity was that the ice sphere was still floating. The sheer weight of the ice should have been more than enough to bring the ghost down.

Nonetheless, it still floated effortlessly in the air in its cocoon of ice...
This is my non-banner profile. Read at own discretion!
Wishlist (Bolded sections denotate priority, in descending order)
In General: LEVELS
Pet-Related: EX-Levels, [Lv. 2]Overdrive Sphere, [Lv. 2]Ressurect
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Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:22 am

Chapter 6: If It Ain't Broke, Break It

Asgard dashed by the figure, to the arch leading into the hallway entrance. As he turned around, the ice ball shattered, sending icy spikes everywhere. The noise returned, louder than ever, as the icy shards sped all across the room. Asgard had to cross his arms and shield his ears with the backs of his hands. Not as effective, but he still had to guard against his own attack.

The noise subsided again, as well as the ice shards. Asgard lowered his arms to his sides, as he saw the ghost still hovering in place. The Rue Cross had done its job adequately as a warning hit. He knew that the ghost would have survived, but hoped that it would have slowed him down a bit more.

"Speak, ghost. Who are you?!" Asgard demanded. The ghost did not reply. It stayed in place, defying gravity, staring holes through the Fist Fighter. Without a word, the ghost's form began to shift into something more humanoid, more solid. The form that the entity took had no defining features, much like a faceless mannequin. The shadows around its arm formed a long, slender blade, much like a Heavy Blade's Katana, but much shorter, like a Blademaster's weapon. The entity grasped the blade and swung the sword in a diagonal slash, aimed to cut Asgard from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. Asgard had only seconds to dodge the attack, stepping back with his left and keeping his right in place. The cut seemed to cast a shadow over the parted air for a split second, which quickly dissipated.

"Not the talkative type?" Asgard asked. The ghost didn't move at all, its blade already disappeared. "Fine then. Allow me to beat your answer out of you!" Focusing his power on the ground around him, he made the earth shake around him. From the stone cobbled floor, Terro erupted out from the ground, as well as the Gan Weapon, his malleable weapon and most likely the only way he would be able to continuously score hits on his enemy. The gryphon screamed out a cry of battle towards the ghost, ready to tear its shadowy appendages from its body. As a precautionary movement, Terro flew back into the hallway and cast Ap Do on the Fist Fighter. Asgard grasped the Gan Weapon tightly, currently in the form of the Gaia Pillar, a Bo made of a charred crystal, and ready to strike the ghost into the oblivion it was spawned from.

"You...will...not...stop...me..." The ghost raised its hand towards Asgard, its fingertips slowly forming what seemed to be tiny balls of black matter. Asgard readied the pillar in front of him, the powers of the speed up spell coursing through his veins. The ghost unleashed the balls of evil energy, lashing forward like charred bullets. Asgard replied by swinging the Bo circle wise, much like a cliché samurai movie. The blackened energy did not strike the weapon, nor did they strike its user, but for some reason, the Bo created a sort of fan, which caught the bullets and hung them harmlessly in midair. The ghost did not show any emotion to the guard, its face totally blank.

Without speaking, Asgard stopped the Bo's fan and quickly took a cross body swing at the bullets, bashing them back to its user. The bullets were badly aimed however, only one hitting the ghost. Even with that satisfaction, the ghost absorbed the retaliation. Asgard readied his staff, placing it behind him and putting one hand forward. "Oh...I'm gonna stop you bitch. The question you should be asking me, however, is if I'm going to KILL you or not!"

Terro swooped forward on the 'kill' remark, its talons beared to rend the ghost limb from limb. The gryphon swiped at it twice, once with each claw. With the attack aimed at the head of the enemy, Terro tore into it, making the dark, gelatinous substance distort, torn by the claw marks. The attack seemed to be more effective than the conventional weapons that the game provided. However, the distorted head returned to normal, only seconds after the attack, and it seemed to be quite pissed at the fact that another had been able to harm him.

"I'm not going to kill you," Asgard added after the attack on the ghost. "Even if you are an anomaly within the game, you will not die by my hand. I have survived inside this game for two years, and haven't slain anyone through this game into their real lives, to further extend my life." Asgard clenched the pole with a stone grip, knowing that this battle will be a bloody one.

"Aah...I...see...who....you...are...now..." The ghost laughed somewhat, its chuckle in the sound of a weird, demonic laugh, which seemed to echo endlessly in the corridor. "It...has...been...a...long...time..."

"What? Who are-"

"I...am...no...one...now..." The ghost retorted, almost sickened with the cut off question. "But...if...you...are...so...adamant...on...stopping...me.......then...DIE!" The ghostly entity rushed forward, still hovering a couple feet over the ground. A blade sprung out from the shadowy body, much like the katana from before, but it seemed to be much darker than before, as if the weapon was fueled by something from the ghost. Anger, rage, evil, revenge; they were all perfect candidates.

Asgard quickly shifted the form of the Gan Weapon into its defensive form, the Crystal Kite. The brown tinted crystal shield was a smooth, brown, Kite shield, used by knights of old. The blackened blade met the crystallized shield head on, but the sword was set in place, not strong enough to sever the shield of the caves. Asgard shifted forward and pushed the blade and its user backwards, out of striking range. "Don't be so hasty. I'm not planning on going anywhere." Asgard had tons of truth to back up his claim. He had no intention of leaving and let whomever this was to run around and destroy something he promised so many to defend. But he had to play it smart with his new ability, as every strike and every block cost him a minor amount of SP.

"Why..."

"Because this place is not supposed to be a ruin. This place is supposed to be a display of people who put their hearts and souls into helping those who need it the most. These people are saints compared to the entities that plan on using flaws in the game in their favor."

"They...are...far...from...holy..."

Asgard dismissed the Crystal Kite, the shield shattering into thousands of shards and slowly floating into the air. Just as quick as he dismissed the shield, he focused the crystal shards to form a new weapon. This weapon was weird at best; as such a weapon had never been seen, possibly even conceived. The tiny pieces of the earth came to form a chain-linked weapon: a metallic ring, with three nunchaku chains attached to it. It was aptly called Chigi's Claw, as the three loose nunchaku could be swung forward in a three cut attack, much like a triple clawed weapon.

"Watch your mouth, ghost, or I'll tear it off...wherever that may be."

The entity recalled his blade, the dark katana seeping back into its body. "You...and...me...we...are...not...that...different..." The ghost said with a hint of assurance.

"You don't know anything about me!" Asgard grabbed the metal ring and was ready to let the ghost have it.

"I...do......You...let...your...friends...die......Why...Thor......Why?"

Asgard almost dropped his weapon at the ghost's comment. Terro was shocked for a moment as well, but went straight back into growling fiercely at the dark entity before him. The gryphon was ready to go insane on the ghost, but Asgard put a hand out in front of him, knowledgeable of his intent. Even Asgard now wanted to tear this ghostly fuckhead a new one, but he didn't want to go against his 'murdering real life players'. All points led him to believe that this was one of the elite's tools, or at least thats what he wanted to believe. If they had decided to meddle in his past life, then they would lose their current one.

"Who...ARE...you?!?" Asgard asked threateningly. The featureless man slowly came closer to Asgard, which the Fist Fighter allowed him to do.

"No...one...but...a...dead...warrior..." From the ghost's body, a surge of the black substance shot forward from its chest, slamming Asgard square in the stomach. The Fist Fighter reeled as the attack grew exponentially in length, flinging him down the hallway. Asgard only had a moment to realize where he was going before he got there. In impromptu flight, Asgard flung past Bobble the butler and into the portal leading to the Valley of Heroes.

Terro looked square at the ghost in anger. He was ready to let the apparition have it, but fled towards the portal to regroup with his master and ally. The ghost remained emotionless with the current situation, hovering slowly towards the portal. Its drooping shadow began to seep into the hallway, much like in the intersection room. The darkness passed over the rock and ornate metal and aged them at an increased rate. The stone walkway developed divots in their surfaces, while the metal showed a disgusting amount of rust. The ghost reached the portal, but stopped from going in, the butler already consumed by the shadow.

"So...what shall we do about Thor?" The ghost said to no one in particular. Almost on cue, another shadow seeped through the rusted wall. This one had the same demeanor as the other ghost; however, it was shaped as a she.

"We....you will continue. I will watch him...If he is the one you believe him to be...we must warn him...of how true the administrators are..."

The male ghost nodded and headed through the portal without another word, nor emotion. The female entity stood at the portal, looking to the beyond that she and the other had traversed countless times now. Now, with a stronger barrier in their way, they were forced to intervene with the living, the players. All she could do was shed one single tear, one tear as black as night, at the current state of affairs, and enter the portal...
This is my non-banner profile. Read at own discretion!
Wishlist (Bolded sections denotate priority, in descending order)
In General: LEVELS
Pet-Related: EX-Levels, [Lv. 2]Overdrive Sphere, [Lv. 2]Ressurect
Armor: Dice Gloves (20 RARE), Golden Turban (42), Saint Cross (41), Protect Ring (41)
Weapons: Master Nunchaku (40 RARE), Three-Section Staff (37),
Items: (None)

Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:28 am

Chapter 7: All In

Asgard looked over to the corridor, looking to see what was the cause of this massive disturbance that he was experiencing. Now in the Valley of Heroes, coincidentally right in front of the Fist Fighter's personal statue, Asgard had his Gan Weapon activated. A hard weapon to even conceive, yet it was even harder trying to use it without any practice. But the nagging fact that Asgard was completely out of practice with this weapon, it also shared a concern that he was facing something more horrible than death itself.

The plan was for Asgard to defend the Lamda Maneki Library, while Lios rebooted the server. During this time, something infiltrated the library and leaves the library area in ruins, and seeing as being captured by twilight meant immunity to the reboot, he was ordered to stand guard and ward off or destroy whatever entity plagued the library. So far, the whole mission was a complete bust, as the entity presently destroying the library seemed to be unstoppable. Asgard kept mentally pummeling his resolve, as Terro's and his efforts in slaying the ghost were grossly ineffective. It seemed that his attacks, his skills, his trump cards, just made the apparition even angrier. The Fist Fighter had started at the entryway of the library, but he had to constantly retreat, all the way back into the Valley of Legends. However, retreat was a word he was trying to place in this situation. It was more like the ghost was the reason for pushing him back constantly.

A feint shriek echoed through Asgard's soul, making him shiver in his tabi. Whatever this thing was, it meant business, and now it seems that it was intent on making Asgard its next victim. Slowly, from the gaseous mist that appeared out of nowhere, the thing he feared facing, the apparition of the library appeared with a whoosh of displaced air. Asgard took hold of the ring, the tri-chaku chains falling flat, hanging over the ground. It was game time for Asgard yet again, facing a ghost that haunts him still. Little did he know was that his enemy was a spectre of past sins...

Asgard held the Chigi Claw in one hand, while the other hand tended to his midsection. The last attack that the Fist Fighter suffered hurt him greatly, but he would persevere from the blow and continue.

"Lucky shot." The ghost responded with another blast of dark energy, unprecedented and uncalled for. But Asgard was ready, swinging the tri-chaku in a diagonal, upward swipe. The three nunchaku ends connected with the blast of dark energy and sent it in another direction, vaporizing the top half of the sole female archer statue. Ghost fired off another burst, but Asgard countered again, swinging the claw upwards, driving the beam upward and out of sight. "Like I said, you're just lucky."

"You...wish..."

"No. I know."

Like a meteor, Terro fell through the sky and slammed into the ghost. It was a truly bad move to concentrate on just one opponent, no matter how weak they may be. Such was one of the golden rules of battle.

The ghost dug into the ground, its somewhat material body distorting like before. But, also like before, it got back to its normal hover, undamaged. Terro kept attacking the creature, with furious swipes with his front legs and headbutts aplenty. It even threw in a few Gan Don spells for good measure. Even so, the ghost's form distorted slightly, then became, as it was, in between material and immaterial and completely fine.

"Futile." The ghost opened his palm and shot the same kind of orbs as before, but far more than before as well. Terro tried to fan the bullet orbs back, but only succeeded slightly, getting pelted by dark energies. The onslaught took Terro down to its knees, but Asgard intervened. With the ring around his wrist, he spun his wrist slightly, causing the nunchaku chains to spin like a fan. Most of the black pellets rebounded off the fast moving fan, but some still continued hitting both Asgard and Terro.

"What do you know about me!?" Asgard demanded, trying to defend himself and his ally, "Why are you so persistent in destroying this place?!"

"All questions...will be......answered in...due time..." The ghost withdrew its hand, the pellets disappearing, The Fist Fighter withdrew his arm and grabbed the chain off of his wrist. He grabbed the weapon with two hands and pulled hard. The weapon began to crack and shudder until it broke, sending the stone clips up again into the sky. Almost as if by magic, the shards hung in the sky and coalesced into two hand axes. The twin weapons were both identical, but the shape of the axes seemed very different than the average hatchet. They were patterned much like scythes, however the blades went forward a ways, then curved downward, and its length longer than the slender, carved stone hilts. On the top of the flat of the axe blade was a spike, made from a dark green metal. The axe blades themselves were made from the same brown tinted crystals that the kite shield was made out of. "...And your weapons...are useless...give up...let me...continue..."

Without speaking, Asgard took both of the hand axes into his right hand, wound up, and launched both of them straight for the ghost's arms. The axes flew effortlessly through the air, the blades making a faint hissing sound as they cut through the cybernetic sky. The whine of the axes turned into a loud *THUNK*, as the axes imbedded themselves into the flesh of the ghost. The ghost recoiled, obviously lying about the previous comment. It was far from immortal.

"Have seconds!" The axes, their damage inflicted, dissolved into the earth in which they were wrought, and magically found their way back into Asgard's hands, rematerializing into the axes they shortly were. He threw another pair again, sinking into the ghosts’ midsection, completely parallel. The ghost had to step back again, reeling from the attack once more. Asgard quickly summoned them back and relentlessly shot axe after axe at the ghost, keeping the apparition at bay. "Had enough?" Asgard asked with an impish grin as he threw the axes.

"Indeed..." As the two axes made their attempt for the umpteenth time, the ghost shot him arm forward. The arm seemed to gain immeasurable length, deflecting the axes away, while continuing for Asgard. The enlarged and elongated arm impacted with the Fist Fighter hard. Again, he was sent backwards, defying gravity, and slamming into a Whipmaster statue, destroying it from head to toe. The ghost followed quickly behind, intent on eliminating the nuisance quickly and completing his rounds in the defecation.

The earth from the axes flew past the ghost and into Asgard's hand. Feet before he touched down, he slammed the Gaia Pillar into the ground, piercing the packed down earth an inch. His velocity made the weapon bend, much like it was its wooden ancestor. He set both feet down on the ground quickly, milliseconds before the pole broke, sending shards of stone everywhere. The good news was that he was fine, the bad news was that the ghost was still coming this way, and the worse news is that he was out of SP. Throwing as many axes like that had an incredibly taxing effect on his skill points, and his overall fatigue was also quite extreme at this point. What felt like hours trying to make a dent in the ghost's defenses, was only one of them not getting anywhere. Plans raced in his head as he desperately tried to figure a way to try and stop the ghost cold in its tracks. But with even the Gan Weapon, the damage that he was delivering was far from potent.

"Where did...Terro go..." Asgard commented to himself, breathing heavily. The gryphon, upon further notice, was gone, completely out of sight. He looked to the textureless sky above and saw only one shade of bland blue, no sight of a speck of a sharp brown.

"It matters...not...You are-" Before the ghost could come any closer, a streak of brown shot from behind the Fist Fighter and swooped down, grabbing the blackened ghost. It was indeed Terro, hopped up on Ap Do, trying to give the Fist Fighter minutes that he was almost denied.

"Go!" Asgard heard within his mind. "Prepare yourself for the fight ahead!" Without a nod of agreement, the Fist Fighter ran for the house on the hill. His legs ached as he ran, but he couldn't help that feeling, knowing that if he stopped, someone would stop him for good.

"Lets hope this works! Rig Gaem!" A vibrant aura of aquamarine surrounded Asgard, giving his SP regeneration a kick in the pants. He knew he had plenty of SP full heals in his pocket, but he refrained from using him, trying to take advantage of the spell. "Now lets hope-" Asgard was cut off as Terro flew by him, driven by the ghost's black burst attack. The gryphon made a nice indentation on the side of the hill as Terro slammed into it. That didn't stop the Fist Fighter's pet however; as it was already back on its feet and flying back at the enemy to engage it once more.

Asgard couldn't look back at the ghost, as his resolve drove him to continue forward into the distortion room...

==================================================================================

5 minutes pass...

The Fist Fighter was in the distortion room, now trying to ward off the entity in front of him. Terro was not at his side, most likely temporarily slain by Asgard's foe, the ghost of the library. His weapons, save one, were doing very little to no damage. It was as if his enemy had the ability to turn immaterial at will. The one saving grace was his Gan Weapon, which seemed to strike well, in a sense, with the ghostly apparition. Even so, it was still a resilient enemy, reeling from the hits it took, but showing no damage. The apparition fired its arm straight at Asgard. The Gan Weapon quickly turned into the Kite Shield, and Asgard quickly brought it up to block the attack. The evil entity's attack split all across his shield and fired off into the direction of the measureless walls. Forcing him forward the mystical, earthen shield held, diverting the attack from its user. Getting closer and closer, Asgard got ready to switch forms and let the son bitch have what’s coming to him.

The entity charged at the shielded Fist Fighter and tried to slam into him, his attack fading away. With his shield in front of him, Asgard could only begin to brace for impact before being hit quite solidly by the gaseous apparition. He stood his ground, only moving a few inches back, the shield not moving at all. Asgard looked over the shield to see the enemy attacking with what seemed to be a staff of sorts, or a long handled bludgeon. Pushing quickly to the side, the shield shot the staff down to the ground, where it impacted and dug into the flooring. Spinning quickly, leaning into the push, he pulled a three sixty spin and slammed the ghost in the face with the shield. Asgard's enemy flew backwards into the door leading out into the Valley, breaking it outright and saving the Fist Fighter precious time.

"Shit. This is getting bad." As he spoke, the Gan Weapon dissolved into the floor. It wasn't that Asgard had lost his focus, but the fact that every strike the weapon made, sapped his skill points little by little. Now, he was sapped dry and short on time, with the Rig Gaem working overtime to keep his supply constant. Asgard flicked his admin pin and ran forward into the distortion, entering the portal. The last thing he heard before stepping in was the shriek of the ghoul, getting back to his feet, its intent on his destruction and the building around him completely obvious.

Asgard appeared on the other side of the distortion, running straight for the 'last bastion' of the library: The Fallen Heroes shrine. The reboot was just finishing in this room, displaying an almost regal look to it. The dimensions were not like the previous rooms, however it was still grand, displaying four platinum statues all across the back wall of the room. The floor was decorated with displays of ancient weapons, some of former administrators and some just for show. This room was scheduled to be a public gathering, but with the recent problem with the ghost and the secrecy of an occurrence in the world, the release date had been put to an indefinite timeframe.

Asgard bypassed the weapons and armor on display and went behind one of the giant statues. He knew who his visual shielder was, as this was the statue he knew well. It was him, but in a different time. His breath shortened into tiny lapses, a second apart. His body yearned for this battle to end, but he knew that it wouldn't end so quickly and so easily. It wasn't as if they could negotiate a compromise for this. Even if the entity knew who he was, both past and present, it still had only one endless road to follow. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on the dead air around him, instead of what his sight shown him. The silence in the room was absolute, save for Asgard's rapid breathing. The surprising thing was, even after a few minutes, he never heard the line noise wail of the spectre. He peeked out of the corner of the statue, opening his eyes. What he saw was a calm, setting of the room, one that he hadn't seen before. Did I win??

"You know that you can't stop him, right?" Asgard's spine undertook a gigantic shiver, the raspy voice shaking his bones to the core. Stumbling down to the floor adorned with the display weapons, he activated his new Iron Step weapon that he had found when fighting with Rugudorull. Both of his tabi seemed to morph into greaves made out of a lightweight iron. He didn't want to use the Gan Weapon until he was recharged on his SP. He waited eagerly on whoever had spoke to him behind his hiding place, but whoever caused the voice did not appear. Instead, it projected its voice in the room.

"Your motivation is flawed, Thor. You work for those who condemned you, without any reparation."

"I have forgiven them. What choice did they have? I was the prime suspect for the whole thing."

"Even after all this time, you still put the blame solely on yourself. You have accepted the responsibility AND the blame, that was forced on you, and not even try to prove it wrong?"

"Disembodied voices don't falter me. If you want to grill me, do it face to face." The room was silent again, the voice gone with the dead wind. "You hear me? SHOW YOURSELF!"

On command, a pool of black appeared before the Fist Fighter, right in front of the statue. Asgard was ready for the ghost, obviously adamant on finishing the job. But as he readied himself, another pool of black spurted from the ground to the right of the first.

SHIT. There's two of them? It was true. There were actually two pools, one for each entity. The first was the male ghost that he had fought endlessly for the last hour, and the other was a female ghost, obviously watching from the sidelines. Asgard was starting to fret now. If one was a handful, two was going to be downright chaotic.

"Do not be tense, Asgard. The time for fists and darkness is past. Words will now be our weapons." The male ghost stepped forward, his features starting to sharpen and become apparent. He was also creating color to lighten the dark form of before. The ghost was starting to become more like a Wavemaster every passing second: cloth robes, the traditional staff, and a magical demeanor. But the defining point was that this Wavemaster ghost had a mask.

A Voodoo Mask.

"N...no..." Asgard was caught in his own amazement. The one he had been fighting was one that he could never forget the face of, even if he had a mask on. "Andrew?" The masked Wavemaster nodded, showing no sign of happiness, or any sign of emotion at all. Andrew was the name of James' best friend, as well as the player behind one of his closest allies, Nagra. Asgard was almost on the verge of welling up with tears.

That was, until he realized on whom the female ghost was, and feared that outcome even more...
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Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:38 am

Chapter 8: "And his smile was wicked..."

"No...get back..." Asgard was moving backwards slowly, both the ghost of Nagra and the female ghost hovering slowly towards him. As much as he wanted to see Nagra well, he felt almost as if this was a haunting on himself as a character, not on the library. He backed into one of the weapons cases, knocking it down to the ground, the glass shattering to bits and pieces. "I SAID GET BACK!"

"Thor...it is good to see you again..." The female ghost said with no emotion at all.

"NO! YOU AREN'T HER! YOU CAN'T BE!"

"Do not deny who I am...You are only fooling yourself." Asgard tripped over a low-lying display case, knocking down the sword on display as well as his body. He tried to drag himself backwards, keeping his eyes on the two ghosts.

"NOOO!" Asgard stopped suddenly as he finally came to the truth of the female ghost. The ghost's features began to sharpen, much like Nagra's from a few moments beforehand. She wore masterfully crafted leather set, along with a tabard displaying a red spear with a yellow sun behind it. Her spear also materialized in her hand, made from a shining metal with no sign of any battle damage. "Nooo...why did it have to be you..."

"I'm almost hurt, Thor..." The ghost said, her face sharpening in detail. She was a brunette, along with a small cut across her left cheek, almost unnoticeable to the human eye. "...That you didn't want to see me."

Asgard stopped in his tracks. He was almost about to break out the water works right there. For who was in front of him was none other than his former, now deceased, significant other, Euro.

"Do not cry, for either of us Thor," Nagra said, "Now get up." Asgard did what he said, kneeling on one knee for a moment, then going back to his own two feet.

"So..." Asgard said, sniffling back a tear, trying to cast a sarcastic smile, "How...how have you two been?" Both the ghosts were unmoved by his attempt at a happy face. They didn't care for what he faked to convey to them.

"Why did you try and stop me?"

"Because I made a promise that I would defend this place against whoever was responsible for defiling it." Asgard was suddenly stern now, looking Nagra straight in the eye slot of the mask. "I don't know why you two were so dedicated to destroying this place, so maybe you can map it out for me."

"We are simply trying to tell the administrators on what really happened to us," Euro responded, her body glowing with a black outline, "If we were to show ourselves to them, they would only pass us off as programs, built by hackers, trying to sway their judgment."

"So what makes you think that I think differently than them?"

"You held a record for leveling your character to maximum in less than two weeks," Nagra and Euro commented at the same time.

"Dammit...I guess you two ARE the real, ethereal deal." The Fist Fighter chuckled for a moment, but the two didn't even flinch at the comment.

"Enough of the mild prattle, Thor," Euro stated. "You now have two choices: Let us do what must be done, or you can try and stop us from doing so." She grabbed her spear with both hands. "But if you block us, we will destroy you."

"I see..." Asgard walked between the two ghosts, heading for his statue. He looked at the giant idolization of Thor, then to Nagra, then to Loki, and finally to Euro. He turned around to see Euro and Nagra already upon him, weapons raised. They had already known just by intuition that he was going to defy their wish.

The Eternium Lance and the Immortal's Secrets were thrusted forward, straight for his midsection. Asgard knew he could dodge their attacks, but he didn't, taking both the blunt hit and the impaling of the spear. The pain was unbearable, much like getting hit by a truck, but having the truck halfway through you, still hauling ass.

"Ugh...ow..." Asgard said, holding the sharp bladed spear from going any farther. "That...hurt...a...bit..." Euro and Nagra were still unemotional, but they didn't revel in the pain they were causing their former ally. "So is that...all you got?" Euro pulled the spear forcefully out of Asgard's gut and slammed her hard leather boot square in his chest. The Fist Fighter flung back from the force, slamming into Loki's platinum statue. Blood seeped down his nose, with his mouth bleeding as well. He was hurting badly now, the drive to resisting now starting to fade away.

"You were warned, yet you defied us," Euro spoke, bringing the Eternium Lance to Asgard's neck. "Why would you defy allies of the past?" Asgard struggled a short laugh, spitting blood down to where Euro's boots stood.

"We WERE allies. But your actions now...they go against everything....everything I believed you to be...back then..." Asgard said, standing up slowly. He activated an Ol Repth spell twice, his HP maximized. The Rig Gaem regeneration over the extended time provided him with more than enough for both spells. "Now, all you two seem to be obsessed with is finding your killers."

"What are we supposed to do then?"

"How about resting in peace, much like most dead people do!"

That comment sparked a sense of anger in Euro's eyes, and a response to the exclamation with the lance quickly followed. But Asgard saw it coming a mile away. He sidestepped the thrust quickly, grabbed a part of the Eternium shaft, and gave Euro a punishing roundhouse kick to the face. "Hyaaaa!" The ghostly Long Arm was sent sideways and straight to the ground. "Now stay there!" Asgard swung the spear over his head, stopped, and slammed the spear down into her lower back, pinning her there. Euro let out a banshee scream, complementing the ghostly nature of her entity.

Asgard turned to Nagra's ghost, his drive to succeed stronger than ever. "Wryneck Pha!" The Wavemaster wove his wand all around him, summoning a circle glyph of darkness. The reaper of darkness appeared over the Wavemaster, scythe in hand and ready to begin the pain on Asgard.

"RUE CROSSFIRE!!" Asgard held out his now frozen arm. The ice shattered off of his arm, sending thousands of ice shards forward. Wryneck responded by letting loose a blast of dark energy. Both of the attacks seemed to cancel each other out, as the dark beam dissolved the shards, and the ice crystals devoured the darkened blast.

Asgard and Nagra charged at each other, the Immortal Secrets paired up against the newly switched weapon, the Kaze Nunchaku. The two met near the statue of the Wavemaster and started duking it out with their prized weapons. Even though the staff was a bit more powerful, Asgard's skill with his weapon far outclassed Nagra's skill.

"I can go on for days, pal," Asgard chuckled. The Fist Fighter swung his Nunchaku down vertically, but Nagra put up a high, horizontal block to deter the damage. The Nunchaku, however, wrapped around the staff, binding it with its gray chain. Asgard grabbed the other end of the weapon and yanked hard, disarming the Wavemaster. He let loose the grip on one end of the Nunchaku, grabbed the staff, wound up with the staff and let Nagra have it. The Immortal secrets slammed into his face incredibly hard, sending him reeling to the side. Asgard followed up, grabbing the staff with both hands, and wailing on the poor fellow. Rage was taking over now; he now believed that they were not the same people he knew years ago.

They were just shadows of their faces.

Ready to deliver the final blow, Asgard raised the staff over his head, intent on cracking Nagra's skull. However, before he could strike, Euro dashed to his side, striking at the raised staff. The staff flew away, imbedding itself into one of the walls. The Fist Fighter ran back to the statues, ready for more. His body felt amazing at that point in time, like soothing fires surrounded his whole body. His mind felt attuned with battle tactics, blazing plans that could effectively stop his foes and minimize his own damage. His soul felt as if it shared the rage of a horde of berserkers, ready to destroy countless armies. His eyes were losing the finite principles of normal eyes, red flames taking over. His hair flashed a deep, crimson red as he readied his body for the final assault.

"Now...NOW YOU ARE MI-"

Asgard stopped. Frozen in mid sentence. His face was far from blood lusted now, as a sheer look of shock and amazement was blazed on his face. A sickening sound, followed by a twisting of metal echoed throughout the library. Asgard's eyes faded back to the brown they once were, his hair turning back to his normal white. Euro and Nagra didn't know what implemented the sudden change in his face.

Asgard slumped to his knees, and then to the floor, without a word or breath. A slender, black hilted dagger was planted in his back, visible for the two ghosts to see, and right behind the Fist Fighter was the user of such a weapon. He was a man in a green cloak, with green and golden armor...

And his smile...was wicked...
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Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Post by Asgard » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:47 am

Chapter 9: Riposte of a Soldier

Asgard was in his white space again, the only place where he could interact with his elemental souls. However, he didn't want to be here, as this travel to his mind space was purely forced.

All Asgard could remember was getting literally stabbed in the back. It was a piercing feeling, coupled along with a disorienting feeling, which mostly caused him to black out. Another giant factor is that he went to the edges of his power in order to try and defend Carmina Gadelica's library zone. In the end, he did so, but was taken by surprise at the attack at the end of the whole engagement. He did not know who attacked him, or if he was on the side of Nagra and Euro, but he knew that he would get the payback he desired.

The Fist Fighter sat calmly, knees crossed, trying to do a half assed meditation. He was never good at the last leg cross, but he tried nonetheless. This was the only place he could go, as the white space was an endless area. Asgard had to exercise patience and wait for him to wake from his unconscious state. His eyes were closed, his hands were palmed together, and his posture was perfection. For a moment, he was at peace.

"Having fun?"

Asgard did not open his eyes at the question. He knew that a man dressed like the classic, Japanese, island hermit. He was most likely doing the same meditative position that Asgard was doing, face hidden behind a Sakkat. Asgard knew whom this man was just by his voice, and decided to speak without the use of his eyes.

"For a brief moment in my lifetime, yes." The Fist Fighter could hear the voice chuckle before continuing.

"So...you have met them now...After their lives were wrested from them, but not their souls. How were they doing?"

"They were doing a great job, handing me my own ass like they did..."

"Do not dwell on your defeat. I was observing everything that happened during that escapade. You may not have known it, but both of them, Nagra especially, were terrified to fight you, even without your previous character."

"Good thing to know." Asgard got back up to a stand, still in the white void. He finally opened his eyes and saw the man he described in his head, still cross-legged, a foot in front of him. "But WHAT I want to know, is who was the one that attacked me...you know...the one at the end..."

"That...I do not know..."

"What?! You said you were-"

"Observing everything, yes. Knowing everything, no. Even though I inherited vast amounts of power, and almost immortality, things in this universe are still new to me. I am not an all-powerful god. I cannot recognize strangers I have seen once, much like a normal man-"

Asgard was slightly disappointed, but not ready to slam the man into the ground. It was true that he was only human, and that he probably didn't know whom it was.

"-But the outfit he wore was familiar..."

"In what way?" Asgard looked at the robed man as he stood up, adjusting his pointed straw hat.

"You met three people that looked like him, only hours before. Those ones who called themselves the Kirarato Iluve. The Strikeforce Alliance.."

Asgard gave off a loud 'hmmm' as he pieced together the situation. "So the Kirarato Iluve came back and decided to take me down in order to take the Logos. Thusly, one of them stabbed me, but the fact that I never sensed his approach is what boggles me. As well as if they got the sword like they promised."

"No, they didn't. Your ghostly allies chased him off." Asgard breathed a sigh of relief. But even the man's calm words didn't stop him from instinctively checking his inventory. But the Fist Fighter could do no such thing, as the realm within unconsciousness was not as accommodating.

"Then I'd best be getting out of here. I bet Nighthand and the others are most likely waiting for me. Mind giving me a hand?" The man nodded and placed one hand upon the red cloth armor of the Fist Fighter, and everything faded to the background...

==================================================================================

Asgard's eyes opened slowly, revealing the marble ceiling that towered over him, as well as the statue of Thor, his first character. The sudden shock from Corvus had given him a headache, but he had to live with it if he wanted to be revived so crudely and not by his own body's machinations. He had been moved quite a ways, as he engaged the ghosts down in the display cases, not allowing them to defile their tributes. One of his hands rested on his chest, while the other hung loosely over the edge. The Fist Fighter had been placed on a display case near his statue, lifeless in the partial destruction. But he was awake now, and glad that he still had the ability to carry on with the sick, twisted game that the elites put in front of him and the others.

Asgard tried to get up, but found that he was partially weighed down near his stomach. Looking down his body, he saw the face of a redheaded Wavemaster, lying soundly asleep on his body. Sandri had fallen asleep, waiting for the slumbering Fist Fighter to wake up. "Sandri?" He tried to wake her from her sleep, tapping her head. She didn't respond. Asgard didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but it must have extended into the early hours of the morning.

"Come on Sandri, rise and shine." He tried to budge her, but she was sound asleep. Noting the foolishness of this attempt, he pulled up a flashmail parchment and started writing.

To: Sandri
From: Asgard

Rise and shine.

-Asgard


He sent the message quickly, knowing that flashmail requests generate at least SOME noise to try and snap her from such a deep sleep. She, however, was not moved by the flashmail, still sound asleep. "Must be really early..."

Over the next ten minutes, he sent flashmail after flashmail, trying to wake her from her slumber. She finally woke up after the tenth message was sent.

'Mrrrrrhhh' was the only sound that she muttered as she slowly returned into the realm of the living, so to speak. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the now awake face of the Fist Fighter that had vowed her to stay alive and protect the library. A face of shock and happiness overwhelmed her beautiful face.

At least he was alive. The library didn't matter to her.

"Asgard! You're awake!! Thank...god..." She leapt into his upper body, almost crushing his ribs. All Asgard could do was wrap his arms around her body, trying to tell her that everything was fine. She was the one who probably logged onto the game as quickly as humanly possible to aid him, she was the one who probably found him on the ground, stabbed by one of the Kirarato Iluve, and she was the one who patched his wound and stayed by his side until the wee hours of the morning, hoping for him to wake up. Now, fully conscious, all she could do was thank god for him surviving the encounter, and mourn that her love was never coming back regardless.

All of this was driven.. Asgard thought to himself, Losing a close person to such a horrible fate as suicide could do this to any human being. His train of thought brought him back to when he found Euro, his soulmate, dead within the game. What he felt at that moment was almost a carbon copy of what Sandri was experiencing now. But, by going back down that road, Asgard had to shed a few tears.

So, for a moment, they both just existed there, in a complete state of sadness. Right there, underneath the tribute of the fallen knight...

==================================================================================

To: Asgard
From: ???

Your bravery and resolve has not changed at all over the past years, since Nagra and I were 'removed'. At one point during all of that, I made myself believe that you were the one who killed us back in the Fortress of the Well and fled the game completely. Nagra also had the fleeting thought as well. But now, after you willingly let us strike you down, we knew of our errors in judging your motives. We are both truly sorry.

The reason why we decided to haunt the Maneki Library is because it had the largest concentration of administrative activity, as well as an opportunity to try and explain on what had happened to us back in the well room. We both have agreed that this message has been made clear, so we will refrain from harming the library.

Now, the Shaman and I will pursue those who tried to slay you, as we both believe that they are responsible for all of our hardships, even in the game's afterlife. We both know now of your battle with the hacker elites, and implore you to continue your path down the road to defeating them and freeing yourself from the shackles of the game. However, I must be adamant in saying this, even though we were both close in our past lives.

We will never meet again....

Have a good life, Euro and Nagra


Asgard crumpled the letter and started shredding it into pieces. His soul seemed to be a giant storm filled with conflicting emotions. Sadness coupled with anger, remorse paired with hopelessness, happiness joined with pain. This whole experience was something he never wanted to relive, and just like many instances before, Asgard was alone again. Just today, he had found out that Nagra and Euro, his two best friends, were still alive, even after the tragedy that befell them. But now, they insisted on not interacting at all, after two years. Those specters were obviously bent on the revenge that befell them.

The Fist Fighter reached behind him and patted the bandaged stab wound. The bandages itself wrapped around Asgard's body multiple times, like he had been shot on the frontlines during World War II. It stung, much like one outside the game. After an hour or so to recover from the stab wound, he decided it best to return to the Delta hideout, where Nighthand had messaged him to go. Sandri thought it best for him to stay out of trouble, the hideout being the best place to do it. But she also suggested not going into any immediate battles over the next few weeks. Doctor or not, Asgard had to refuse that request. He knew that as soon as the others came back, they weren't going to be staying put for that long. Constant Ol Repths were helping douse the pain, but not eliminate it. The spell was working more like painkillers instead of a complete cure.

So, on 'doctor's' orders, he was to go to the Delta hideout and recuperate. The problem being, however, was that he didn't have a key to enter it.

"Figures..." Asgard slumped to the wall and slowly crept down to the Mac Anu stone street, keeping his wound forward so it wouldn't grind across the rough surface of the root towns buildings. He couldn't tell when they were going to come back, so he decided to try and put his mind on something to keep him busy.

That's when he remembered the letter and something that Euro wrote on it.

An opportunity to try and explain on what had happened to us.

He flexed his thinking muscle, trying to figure out what she meant. Then he remembered the statues, their statues that ended up defiled. Defiled by their own hands, identical every time the server rebooted. Even though Euro looked the same that she did when she revealed her identity, her face was ghostly, like a banshee. Thusly, the cut marks around the statue's face suited her visage as of now. Nagra was always into religion, at least at one point in his life. His death and rebirth must have given him the impression that a greater, benevolent force existed. Much like Jesus Christ, Son of God, was reborn, so was he, so the stigmata on the statue suited him well. However, Thor and Loki's statues, dragged questions into his mind. His reddened statue and cracked gear did not provide him with any answers, nor did Loki's beheaded one. He couldn't place a reason on why they did such a thing.

Asgard's mind faltered from the current topic to another, specifically the Gan Weapon. The weapon was a derivation of the power of earth, and one of his hacks. This event proved to him on how much his hacks have saved him in the past, as well as foresight into the future. From what Corvus told him, gaining these powers without a masterful sense of control could lead one into the downward spiral named insanity. Looking into the future, he wished he would know what his outcome with his skills would be. Will his mental resistances break under pressure, or will he persevere against a looming foe?

"You look like you need a way in, and a medic for that matter."

Asgard looked over to where the voice was coming from, to see Nall's ally Raine, standing a few feet away from him. She gave off a smile of reassurance, but Asgard couldn't return the compliment. His stab wound was starting to hurt again, a bit more blood seeping onto the tightly woven bandage. "Ol Repth." A warm glow of blue washed over his body, healing his health points and nulling the pain from the wound. The wound, however, did not disappear. He got back to his feet to properly greet the freelancer. "Sorry about that. Got a...a nasty stab wound with an insane player."

Raine slowly observed the bandages, turning Asgard around. Indeed, the wound had currently been bleeding only moments before the Ol Repth. "Well something like Ol Repth would have cured something like that. This player....wasn't a normal player, was he?"

Asgard shook his head, "No, he wasn't. He got me from behind and he got me good, with some...sort...of...dagger..." Asgard trailed off, thoughts plowing through his mind. He snapped back to reality a moment later.

"I suppose you're locked out from the hideout?" Asgard nodded, embarrased fully. "Here's a one use card." Raine reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver card with a giant red '1' on the card. "You should probably get some rest. You look like you've been through a lot." Asgard nodded in agreement, taking the offered gift from Raine and thanking her. The blue haired woman smiled, waved, and was on her way again.

Turning to the hideout door, Asgard put the card in front of him, offering it to the door. The card shone slightly, then disappeared, triggering the door to the hideout to open. Looking down the alleyway to see any observers, he saw none that were watching, and entered the hideout.

"You have nooooooooo idea..."

==================================================================================

The woven armor that the Fist Fighter wore, lay flat on the floor, a fist-sized spot of blood on the lower back of it. The armbands that extended up Asgard's upper body were also off, piled on the floor in a mess, along with similar looking strands, but some parts coated in red. The Wildwood Satchel lay upright against the wall, not a seed spilt. Asgard, himself, was standing up, reapplying the bandages around his lower body, conveniently stuffed in Asgard's inventory by a worrying admin. His circular tattoos, chained all around his upper body, glowed slightly, being exposed to the air around him. He reached the last strand of the woolen bandage and pulled it tight, the wound scorching at the action. Asgard gritted his teeth, and stuffed the end of the bandage into the inside of the whole thing. It was a brutal experience, but Asgard persevered.

He slowly put himself down on the bed nearest to him and relaxed. Hopefully, this experience wouldn't last very long, as he longed to be back in his physical prime. Another thing he thought endlessly about was the stab wound.

"Corvus," he said to no one but himself. "Corvus, where are you?"

"I am always here, as long as you desire it," a voice responded in his mind.

"If you can, could you please describe the knife in which the member of Kirarato Iluve attacked me with?" There was an uneasy silence. Asgard's mind was contemplating a horrible thought, as well as a horrible outcome.

"The dagger was a slender, long bladed, red knife, even without your blood. It had an ornately carved black hilt as well. Much like-"

Asgard's heart sank into his body. He knew he had seen a dagger like the one Corvus had described. In fact, he had seen a lot more than one of those shiv's. It was the same kind of short-handed blade that he found on the bodies of Euro, Nagra and Loki.

Now, the Shaman and I will pursue those who tried to slay you, as we both believe that they are responsible for all of our hardships, even in the game's afterlife.

That was exactly what Euro's note said, and she was dead on the mark. Even through this realization, he had to feel a bit miffed. This cabal, who were eager to get their hands on the Logos Executioner, was the ones responsible for the death of two administrators, and the maiming of two. Another sad fact was that if Lios was informed of the true murderers, they would pursue them. However, the Administrators would still be helpless to try and defeat them, much like the situation with the elites. If one of them were able to bring down Asgard, then countless other could probably topple the game itself.

"Are you alright?" Asgard had almost forgotten that Corvus was still speaking with him beyond the parameters of the game. He had completely zoned out of the conversation for that brief moment.

"Yes, I'm fine," Asgard reassured him. He faked a yawn to try and change the subject quickly. "I'm going to get some rest. You might want to as well."

"Indeed."

Asgard turned over on his side, the wound not burning anymore, with thoughts burning in his mind. Now he had more problems than what he began this little episode with. Paired with the looming threat of the elites, and the instability of his powers, how was he going to be able to survive eluding the Kirarato Iluve? He drove the thought out of his mind and thought of nothing, the prime condition to going to sleep. But the nagging feeling that everything was going to go to hell was still burned on his mind, as the Fist Fighter's eyes drooped closed and sent him into his dreams.



Fin
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In General: LEVELS
Pet-Related: EX-Levels, [Lv. 2]Overdrive Sphere, [Lv. 2]Ressurect
Armor: Dice Gloves (20 RARE), Golden Turban (42), Saint Cross (41), Protect Ring (41)
Weapons: Master Nunchaku (40 RARE), Three-Section Staff (37),
Items: (None)

User avatar
Cypher
Exalted Player
Posts: 235
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Who am I...?
Contact:

Post by Cypher » Tue Mar 22, 2005 4:16 am

Nice job!
You have gained (2) levels!
You have obtained (1) Goblin Mail S!
Wishlist: Ends of Earth (11 BM), Black Sharp Angel Wings, BM Swords (Rare/Common)

New sig coming soon!

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