Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

Fallen Plans

Jaymes

"Unknown Burglar" is the text that read over the heads of two yellow-cursored dark figures through the smoke. Jaymes, sword hand wrapped around Imperial, his left hand over Koharu's mouth in case the purple smoke around them was a poisoned inhalant, kept his eyes on the mysterious figures as they entered the veiled room. They possess curved blades and drew them in the direction of the group, but did not attack.

That might sound bad and all, but Jaymes wasn't bothered by the smoke or the burglars. After all, the players are in town — because of the Anti-Criminal Code safe haven rules, their HP is protected. Only Kizmel, Myia, and the two newcomers are in danger...or so he hoped.

The code protects PvP from happening, sanctioned duels being an exemption. This is the first time an NPC attacked him in a town, so would PvE follow the same logic? If not...well, he's gonna fight as hard as he can anyway, before the physical limit of holding his breath forces him to breath again.

Looking as Kizmel first, he pointed at Koharu, Asuna, and Myia, gesturing for her to protect them first. With a brief glance to Kirito, they share a single message through their eyes and acted on it.

"Attack."

They lift up and charge the intruders. The cloth-faced burglars leap at them two, and two pairs of swords lock upon contact. Yellow cursors turned red, indicating open hostility. The cursor wasn't pure red either, but had some darkness to it. That meant they were fighting a enemy a little tougher than they are, even at level-20. Thankfully it wasn't the fearsome black of the Fallen Elf leader, but that's still scary. Add in the fact the boys will have to breath soon, it's either break the stalemate or choke on air.

As sparks fly in the air around the combatants, Jaymes and Kirito hear a voice from behind shout, "Kirito, Jaymes, pull inward!" Without question, Kirito leans to his right, Jaymes to the left. In a split second, a bright-red light shot past Jaymes, slashing the burglar's chest to form a triangle then knocking him back to the far wall. That was the three-part rapier skill Triangular, and his helper was Asuna. It was Myia who called out to them and assist Kirito with the same rapier attack..

Springing forward next is Kizmel and Koharu to deliver either a finishing or apprehending blow to the enemy. But before they reached the intruders, the burglars remove something from their belts and throw it at the women. They deflect the objects, but because they had to stop first to deflect, the burglars had enough time to recover and made their escape out the broken window.

Kirito and Kizmel follow them out the window while Jaymes and Koharu rush out of the room for the front door, hoping to cut the burglars off. However, once they make it outside, no one's present aside from Kirito and Kizmel down the alleyway.

Taking deep breaths, the swordsman clicks his tongue. "Damn, what was that all about? One surprise after another... You good?"

Koharu sheathes her dagger behind her, looking as annoyed as he is. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Was that another 'cutscene' encounter? Or...something else?"

"Still trying to figure that out. But the good thing is that they were NPCs. The bad...they were NPCs, and that might mean we're in danger no matter where we are, even in town."

"Seems this new quest line is going to have all kinds of twists and turns. Let's regroup with the others." The pair join with Kirito and Kizmel just as the masked Myia and Asuna exit out the back door of the house right next to the window. Myia trots over to Kizmel and Kirito, and through the muffling of the gas mask on her face says, "They were dressed the exact same way as the thieves who snuck into my house two days ago. Like the last time, I think they were after my mother's key."