December 27, 2024
Floor 76: Arc Sophia
With the holidays slowly coming to an end and New Years approaching around the corner, the people of Arc Sophia were tearing down their Christmas decorations and starting to plan for the beginning of the new year. I had just came down from my room in Agil's Inn, ready to start my day when I got a message from Philia. My eyes widened as I opened my messages as fast as I could.
Maybe she found a way to get inside of the tower!
And sure enough, her message gave me my answer.
Philia- "Kazzu, I may have found a way to get inside of the giant tower in Bastia Gate. Meet me in the Administration Area and bring your best gear. I have a feeling we are going to be fighting another boss type monster today."
You don't have to tell me twice lady!
I equipped my gauntlets, cracked my neck and knuckles and set out towards the Hollow Area, ready to do some dragon hunting.
December 27, 2024
Hollow Area: Administration Area
As I spawned into the huge empty room, I spotted Philia over by the Admin Console. I walked over to her where she looked up at me, smirked and crossed her arms.
Philia- You know, if I'm going to be doing all of the work finding all of the secrets of this place, I should reap the rewards for myself.
"I know, I'm sorry. There's just a lot of stuff to do between clearing the floors of Aincrad, exploring the Hollow Area and dealing with my friends and family. It's all a lot to do and its hard to dedicate time to one area."
Philia- Hey, relax. I was just teasing you. I know you have a lot on your plate and honestly, if you weren't around, I would still be stuck in that first area with that Skull Reaper chasing me. So thank you for all of your help. Especially since you're doing it for my sake.
"Hey if there's a way to change your cursor back to green, I'm willing to try anything. Speaking of, what did you find about our dragon in the tower?"
Philia- Well, while exploring each area, I ran into a place that looks like it leads into a cave system, but after entering, it led to a labyrinth type area filled with all sorts of drakes and wyverns.
"Seems like a good place to start."
Philia- Well that's not all. After coming back from that cave, I noticed that the console here had a new mission for us. The quest is called "The Trial of The Dragon". It states that if we complete each trial, three in total, we will granted access to the king of dragons at the top of the tower.
"Well there we go! Nice job Philia. Do you know what these trials require?"
Philia- One is a test of strength, another is a test of endurance and the final one is a test of perception. What we have to do for those trials is unknown to me.
"That's still great information to go on. Now that we have it, let's go dethrone the dragon king."
Philia- Hell yea!
We both smiled at each other before teleporting back to Bastia Gate and heading over to the labyrinth where the trials were to take place.
December 27, 2024
Hollow Area: Bastia Gate - Dragon's Nest
Slowly and carefully walking inside of the labyrinth, we noticed that several drakes and wyverns covered every corner of the place. They remained non hostile for the time being, but I felt as if one wrong move could cause the entire horde to descend down on us.
"You could've told me that this was literally a whole nest of these winged freaks..."
Philia- I'm sorry! I was too busy trying not to upset the giant lizards to be able to notice the name of the area!
I rolled my eyes and kept my guard up as we progressed through the nest. With each step we took, the dragons kept their eyes trained on us. It made me feel uneasy, as if we were walking into a trap. As we entered the center of the nest, three pedestals with three different gems presented themselves to us. There was a red gem, a green gem and a blue gem. I gave Philia a look before dropping my guard to approach them, reaching my hand out for the red gem. Suddenly, a loud booming voice shouted throughout the nest.
?- A NEW CHALLENGER WISHES AUDIENCE WITH THE KING OF DRAGONS!? THEN PROVE YOURSELF WORTHY IN A TEST OF STRENGTH!
The entryway that we came in from closed, cutting us off from the rest of the nest. But before we could react, a giant drake covered in metal armoring stomped towards us and let out a roar.
?- TO PROVE YOUR STRENGTH, YOU HAVE 1 MINUTE TO LEAVE A CRACK ON THIS MIGHTY DRAGONS HIDE! FAILURE TO COMPLETE THIS TRIAL SHALL RESULT IN YOU BEING CRUSHED UNDER ITS HUMONGOUS FIGURE! YOUR TRIAL BEGINS NOW!
A 1 minute timer appeared right above the dragon's head and it immediately caused me and Philia to panic. We both charged the creature with everything we got, unleashing sword skill after sword skill but nothing was cracking its shell.
Philia- Shit! Nothing is working!
"Try attacking it from different angles! There has to be a weak point somewhere!"
We tried that tactic with 45 seconds left on the clock. We tried attacking its sides, the tail, the top and even tried to attack beneath the creature but to no avail. 25 second remained on the clock before we regrouped.
"Damn it! Not even a scratch!'
Philia- What do we do!? I'm not looking to be crushed today Kazzu!"
Deciding to not panic, I tried looking at the creature for any possible way to crack the metal encasing the creature but there were no noticeable weak spot. Whatever we did, we had to do it soon as 15 seconds were left.
"Ok, instead of attacking it from separate spots, use your strongest skill and attack it in the same spot at the same time."
Philia- Will that work?
"It's the only thing we can do. Don't waste anymore time! Aim for the chest!"
Philia- Got it!
We both started charging up our strongest skill that we had and rushed towards the dragon's chest.
10...
9...
8...
Philia- ARMOR PIERCER!
7...
6...
5...
"SURGING TERROR FISTS!"
4...
3...
2...
Both of our skills landed at the same time, causing a loud crashing sound as we not only broke through the armor, but even pierced the flesh of the dragon. It let out another loud roar as it shattered into blue crystals. With one second left to spare, we had completed the trial.
?- TRAIL COMPLETE! CONGRATULATIONS WARRIORS!
The red gem started to shine bright and floated around the room as the entryway opened back up. The dragons of the nest let out a roar as one of the trials had been completed. Along with that, a notification popped up. "Implementation Complete: Like A Dragon Part 1. Reward: Battle Skill: Hyper Armor".
"Hyper Armor huh?"
Philia- According to the description, it says that for ten seconds, any and all damage received is reduced to zero. It has a six minute recast time though.
"So invulnerability. That is actually a really great skill. It'll definitely help me when I go back to clearing floors in Aincrad."
Philia- Um, hey? You're helping me with this area boss first remember?
"Yes, I know. I'm just saying. Anyways... what's the next trial?"
Philia- Try that green one next.
Giving her a nod, I reach for the green gem only for the loud voice to come back.
?- TO PROVE YOUR ENDURANCE, YOU MUST WITHSTAND THE HEAT OF THE DRAGON'S FIRE FOR 1 MINUTE! FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN YOU BEING SENT TO YOUR SMOLDERING, ASH FILLED DEMISE! NOW, WHICH ONE OF YOU WILL TAKE THIS TEST!?
So, it's not something we need to complete together this time? Very well.
I looked at Philia and motioned for her to hang back, stepping forward and volunteering myself for the trial. As I did, a huge wall formed between me and Philia, cutting me off from her and the rest of the nest once again.
Philia- Kazzu!?
"I'm ok Philia, just hang tight, ok? I'll be back in just a minute."
Philia- You better! I'm not going to haul your ashes up to the top of that tower if you fail, you hear me!?
"I hear you, just hold on."
As I turned back towards the room, a huge red dragon with lava pouring out from its scales approached me. Just from its presence alone I could feel the heat radiating from its body. Using the small amount of time I had before the trial began, I swapped over to my shield and raised it high, covering as much of my body as it could before the dragon started to spray its fire breath at me. As soon as the flame touched my shield, my arm felt like it was getting scorched.
"Gah! Damn!"
Philia- Kazzu!? What's happening!?
"It's hot! Too hot!"
I kept my arm raised and endured the flame as hard as I could. If my shield wasn't raised, this flame would have been an instant death sentence for me. Looking up at my health, I noticed that it was lowering at rapid pace. My "Battle Healing" skill helped a little but it wasn't enough to keep up with the flame. I considered using the "Hyper Armor" skill we just picked up but wondered if that would be considered cheating. Using crystals was out of the question too as both my arms were focused on keeping my shield up.
?- 30 SECONDS REMAIN!
I'm only halfway there and I feel as if my body is melting. Just gotta... keep... it... together...
I let out a pained but determined scream as I kept my shield and my body in place, enduring the pain just a bit longer as I could hear the worried cries of Philia behind the wall. I gritted my teeth and looked towards the flame, almost staring the dragon down.
Everyone... Kiyo... Ashtry... give me strength!
With one final scream, I pushed against my shield and finally it was over. The flame faded away and the dragon disappeared with it. I fell onto one knee as the green gem started to shine and float along with it's red counterpart. The wall behind me fell as well, allowing Philia to run over to me as the rest of the nest roared to life once again.
?- TRAIL COMPLETE! CONGRATULATIONS WARRIOR!
Philia- Kazzu! Are you ok!?
"A bit hotter than I normally am but... other than that, I'm peachy... do you have a healing crystal by chance?"
Without saying another word, a crystal was shattered and my health slowly filled back up to the green. I let out a chuckle before getting smacked in the back of the head.
Philia- That's not funny.
"It's a little funny. Now... come on... one more trial..."
Philia- The perception one right? Let me handle this one.
"Alright fine... have it your..."
I was cut off as another notification popped up. "Implementation Complete: Like A Dragon Part 2. Reward: Battle Skill: Elemental Deflect". Checking the skill out, it allowed me to block and negate any elemental damage by 50%.
"Sweet... could've used this a minute ago..."
Philia- Yea well you get to be on the sidelines this time. I'm doing the final trial.
Reaching for the final gem, Philia activated the final gem and caused the voice to appear one more time.
?- ONE LAST TRAIL AWAITS YOU WARRIORS! ONE LAST TRAIL BEFORE YOU FACE THE KING OF DRAGONS! TO PROVE YOUR PERCEPTION, YOU MUST DECIDE WHICH OF THESE DRAGONS IS THAT OF REALITY AND AVOID THE ONES WHO ARE MERE ILLUSIONS. FAILIURE TO CHOOSE CORRECTLY WILL RESULT IN YOUR DECIMATION AS EACH DRAGON SLICES YOU TO RIBBONS!
No wall appeared this time but 5 grey dragons appeared before Philia. They all rose to the air and started to fly around in a circle. It was hard for me to keep up but Philia kept her eyes focused on one certain spot. As the dragons slowed down and came to a stop, Philia examined each and every dragon, trying to determine which was fake and which was real. Looking at them, they all looked the same to me. I couldn't figure out which one was fake. I looked over at Philia and realized that she had the answer already.
Philia- None of them are real. These dragons are supposed to portray the king himself, but none of these are in his image. We've seen what the real king of dragons look like and it didn't look like any of these.
A small silence fills the room until each one of the 5 dragon started to disappear in a cloud of smoke. As each cloud of smoke faded, the blue gem gained its glow and joined the other two up in the air, spinning around in tandem before opening a portal right above our heads.
?- THE TRAILS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED! THE KING OF DRAGONS WILL NOW SEE YOU. FIGHT WELL WARRIORS! AND SHALL YOUR BATTLE BE EVER GLORIOUS!
The portal then started to suck us up and before we could even check out the final reward we got, we were transported to the final are of Bastia Gate.
December 27, 2024
Hollow Area: Bastia Gate- Ruined Tower of Bastia Gate
We both landed right at the bottom of a spiraling staircase leading up to the tower's apex. I helped Philia off the ground and hear the screech of a dragon.
"Guess the king really is expecting us."
Philia- Let's not keep it waiting shall we?
I gave her another nod and started to ascend the staircase, checking out the final notification that appeared. "Implementation Complete: Like A Dragon Part 3. Reward: Battle Skill: Phantom Detection".
Philia- So anytime an enemy uses a copy ability to spawn a projection of itself, we can use this skill and cancel it out.
"Something tells me we are going to have to use these skills against this dragon king in someway or another."
Philia- Must be one heck of a boss if it requires this many skills to take it down.
"I hope it is. I don't want to easily beat it after having to endure all of those trials."
As we made it to the top of the tower, the dragon we encountered so many days ago stood tall as it glared down at us. Above it's figure, its name and four health bars appeared. Sky Master, the dragon of Bastia Gate, was ready to fight and wasted no time spreading its wings and taking flight. Philia and I responded by pulling out our weapons and getting ready for a fight.
"Keep an eye out for the skills that it's using and be ready to use the skills we acquired to take it down!"
Philia- Got it! Here it comes!
I looked over just in time to dodge out of the way as the beast descended and tried to take a swipe at me and Philia. We tried to retaliate and get it out of the air but it was just too fast for us.
"Damn it... we need to ground it!"
Philia- I know! We just need to find a good chance to do so!
Keeping my focus on the beast, I noticed it started to slow down and charge something up in its mouth. A breath attack of some kind. My eyes widened as I quickly swapped out my gauntlets for my shield and rushed over towards Philia, getting her behind me as Sky Master shot a huge blast of ice over our way.
"Elemental..."
Philia- Deflect!
My shield began to glow a bright blue as it collided with the blast of ice. But instead of deflecting the blast, it redirected it towards Sky Master, dealing massive damage and causing it to fall from the sky.
"Now's our chance! Rush him!"
Philia ran ahead of me as I swapped back over to my gauntlets, joining the assault and giving Sky Master everything we've got. We landed a few solid hits before it recovered from its stunned state, swiping at us with its bladed tail and causing a bit of damage to us, lowering our health to the lower portion of green. We recovered quickly, but not quick enough as Sky Master went back up into the air.
Philia- If we have to do that same thing over and over, this boss is going to be easy.
"Don't underestimate it Philia. It could have many more tricks it can use."
It would be another minute or two of dodging its arial swipes and blast attacks before it landed back on the ground and raised its bladed tail up in the air. I motioned to Philia to get ready as a giant red circle appeared beneath our feet and covered the entire area which meant one thing.
An area of effect attack! And one that we can't dodge or outrun either.
Deciding to use this chance to charge at the beast again, I ran towards the beast with Philia right behind me.
Philia- Kazzu...
"Just wait for it and attack for now!"
She followed my orders and started to slice at the beast, not focused on the damage she was doing since she was distracted by the beasts charging attack. After about 10 seconds of charging, it's tail plunged itself deep into the tower. My eyes widened as I shot my head back towards Philia.
"NOW!"
We both activated the "Hyper Armor" skill just in time as the entire arena was covered in blades that shot up underneath the floor. Thousands of swords, daggers and the like shot up and slashed into our digital skin and armor. Thanks to the skill, however, we were left unharmed. As the beast stopped attacking, it leapt into the air once more and roared in anger as it was halfway dead.
"Almost there Philia, keep it up and don't give it an inch."
Philia- It might be looking to use a copy ability next. Be aware of that.
Knowing Sky Master's next move, we were unsurprised as it did start to form a copy of itself. What we weren't ready for was the fact that it started to make a total of 5 copies of itself. Me and Philia looked at each other nervously and stood back to back against each other as each copy started to charge another breath attack. Philia quickly got the skill ready but I motioned her to wait a moment.
Philia- Kazzu, I need to activate the skill otherwise those blast attacks will turn us into digital human popsicles.
"Wait for it..."
Philia- Kazzu, if I don't do it now...
"Just wait and stay close to me..."
She listened to me yet again and got as close to me as possible, the "Phantom Detection" skill readied to go. Each copy of Sky Master was charging up their breath attacks a bit more until...
"USE IT!"
She activated it without a second thought and it felt like time slowed down. Each copy started to converge back towards the original copy but before they could fully combine, each copy shot off their own ice blast. I quickly swapped back over to my shield and raised it high. Philia assisted in holding my shield up as I reactivated the "Elemental Deflect" skill. All 6 ice blasts impacted with the shield and diverted right back to the Sky Master. A huge blue cloud of ice impacted the dragon and the only thing we heard was the roar of the beast before we saw it's figure falling from the sky, colliding with the ground hard before shattering into crystals. The Sky Master had been defeated. We had win the battle.
Philia- Yes! We did it!
She ran up and hugged me before jumping up and down, excited to have beaten another area boss. I joined her in that excitement as we were teleported back down to the bottom of the tower and the necklace from last time started to form a bright glow on it once again.
Philia- Alright! Now we just need to find out where the gate to the next area is and keep going right?
"Right..."
I lowered my shield and let out a small sigh, happy that we won but still upset that we couldn't find a place to restore Philia's cursor. Philia must have noticed this as she approached me and put a hand on my shoulder.
Philia- Hey, cheer up Kazzu. There's still plenty of the Hollow Area we haven't explored yet. There's bound to be a place where we can restore my cursor back to normal.
"I know, but I'm just thinking back to what you said before. About me not being here to help you out. I don't like leaving anyone alone to explore a dangerous area, especially one with high level monsters like this. If we weren't working on this together, we would've been killed many times over."
Philia- Kazzu, it's ok. Like I said, I know that you are busy on the other side of things, trying to beat this game and get us out of here. I'm not going to stop you from doing that.
"I know but I should still try and help you more than I do."
Philia- Kazzu, all those times I message you and ask you to come back are the only time you truly help me out ok? Otherwise, all I'm doing is scouting the area's and gathering information. You think I'm out here fighting every monster I see? I'm a treasure hunter, not a monster slayer. The only time I actively fight monsters is if they are guarding a treasure I have my sights on and even then, I've asked you for help. So don't think you aren't helping me ok? I wouldn't be here without you.
I gave her a smile and a small nod, acknowledging her words before putting my equipment away and looking back up at the tower.
Two Hollow Bosses down... how many more to go...?