The faint pitter-patter of rain on windowpane in his room made him groggy; that was, until a sudden clap of thunder roared outside his window. Ivan sat bolt upright, the fine hairs on his neck standing on end as he glanced around. It was just after noon, and Ivan was already yawning his head off. He wandered downstairs and into the kitchen, flipping on the jug and waiting for the water to boil. Outside his kitchen window, was that same cat that had pissed him off a couple of days before. By the looks of things, some of the local wildlife had been picking at it in the middle of the night, and its corpse already starting to decay on the tree branch.

He fixed up his coffee, which took a very short amount of time due to the nature of instant coffee. He made himself a turkey sandwich and took his lunch up to his room, back to the computer already running The World on the screen. He sat down and fingered the FMD sitting next to the keyboard. Another clap of thunder roared overheard and he looked out the window. Heavy rain was pelting against the window, and he felt that it’d be wise to stay offline; however, he needed to try fighting by himself. He needed to prove that he wasn’t just a team person, but that he could handle situations alone. He took a bite of his sandwich and took it over to the window, munching on it as he looked outside.

Street lamps illuminated the dark sidewalk and every house had its lights on, with the exception of very few who were either sleeping or were not home.

What a joyous day for the power companies…

He finished the last bite of his sandwich and made his way across the carpet to his computer, where he then sat and grabbed the FMD. He tutted and placed it on his head, letting the screen display come into view. He grabbed his coffee and took a sip, its bitter taste causing him to recoil slightly; but that was just how he liked his coffee. Where he currently was, was D: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, the place that was more a tourist trap for new players than a working field. He gated out after a few minutes of admiring what seemed to be, an eternally stretching blanket of fog that melded with the horizon.

This task was simple; meet up with comrade Ko_Inuyasha for an apparently important thing. The important thing had already been disclosed to him via a Flashmail not too long ago; the culprit being a rogue monster portal that spawned monsters endlessly. He recalled that the term ‘Valkyrie’ came up once during the trip they took into a Theta dungeon, and wondered exactly what they were; most likely a subject for research to be certain.

He was not mentally ready to fight again; there was too much conflict ahead for him to fight idly under someone else’s orders. True, it may have been for the greater good; however, the fact his sword was not simply to be called on was another matter altogether. It was his to be given, an offering of sorts at his leisure; not something that can be ordered around. That, unfortunately, was not his call to make. He was recruited by the AoD with the knowledge that it was run more or less like the military. The sheer thought of insubordination that he undoubtedly would do in the near future was slightly perturbing.

It had happened once before, and it would happen again, he was sure of it. Whether or not by choice, he could not say. Whether it was on purpose, he could not fathom why he would need such a thing to begin with. If it were another accident, he might wear an unfortunate label that he’d rather not and be forced to take leave of The World for a while. His virtual body traversed the data stream, his thoughts his own as he noted the imminent arrival into the aqua capitol of Mac Anu. Ivan’s eyes focused on the screen, and he found his expression sterner than what someone normally would look like. Was he thinking? Was he appropriately stern at someone? He didn’t know, but he needed to be sure he had it in him to fight alongside Ko_Inuyasha; the Heavy Blade of the AoD.

His feet landed down on the sidewalk of Mac Anu, just outside the Chaos Gate. He looked up and around, noting the sky and the buildings; the people that walked by, and the Chaos Gate behind him. He walked towards it, taking another swig from his coffee and selecting his keywords from a randomly generated list.

“D: Unmatched Abyss’ Fort.”

With a soft ring, and the appearance of the trio of golden rings, he was dematerialised from head to toe, tossed back into the data stream. He flew through the colors, thinking back to the battles from before, the stage they were battling in, the fact that this pathway used to go from field to root town and back made him wonder a variety of thing, mainly what it mean to be in one, but also what would await him when he reached his destination. The field was up ahead, and he felt himself tossed to the ground; he landed gracefully in a kneeling position, his wings supporting him as he fell the short distance.

Wings…but, why…?

He stood, flexing his right arm out to the side, noticing the wing on that side of his body copy the movement. It was a strange movement, and wondered what the capabilities of these were. They were the exact same as the ones Takua had used on the trip down into Theta, but why were they here? Did someone sneak them into his inventory? Regardless, he’d hold onto them for now; he felt that their use would be beneficial to his fighting if he practiced enough. He crossed his arms over his body and threw them out; the wings filling with air, he hovered slightly. The fantasy didn’t last long; however, he did get the satisfaction in knowing that they at least worked. They dematerialised into his back; he wondered when they’d show again, or if he’d have to just count on them to arrive when he needed.

He raised above his head a fairy orb, its pearly texture shattering in his hand and lighting up every monster portal on the field. From what looked like it, it was measly pickings for a field. It was late afternoon in this field; the sun already almost completely set, an atmosphere of twilight surrounding the horizon. On top of that, it was starting to rain, and judging by the positioning of the clouds, it was going to get a lot harder, and fast. He couldn’t tell where the dungeon was, as there were quite a few buildings around; sad, considering that he was on a tight schedule for this miniature training session. Judging on how long this might take, he sent forward a message to Ko_Inuyasha indicating he’d be a little late due to circumstances outside his control. Sure, a little white lie, but surely appropriate.

He sighed and glanced around. The terrain was mainly flat, and the buildings were stacked close together as if it were more a labyrinth than anything else. A clap of thunder roared overhead and then a flash of lightning lit up the field. It began to rain. He trudged on forward through the rain, drawing the katana from his waist. The piercing ring of the katana being drawn echoed over the rain, causing a stifled silence to follow. The only sound was the rain falling on the ground, and the slight dripping from the wetness in his hair. Each droplet on his blade cued a soft ping.

The monster portal up ahead started spawning its contents; he was in range. Bane brandished his sword and glowered at the monsters coming towards him. One Scorpion Tank and two Snakoids were coming at him; brilliant. He tilted his sword to the side, yelling as he ran forward, each long stride closing the distance between him and his foes. He cut down into the head of a Snakoid, its flimsy body glancing the blow and counterattacking. He recoiled as the club hit him square in the chest, his feet sliding across the wet ground.

He grunted as he drove forward once more, guarding an attack made by the other Snakoid. The Scorpion Tank came up from behind, knocking him aside with it’s gigantic claws and wiping out a section of his HP. Bane muttered a curse and pulls out two items from his inventory. One was a Health Drink, which he hastily downed to restore his HP; the other was a Tarot card, capable of inflicting a status ailment on a target creature if he so desired.

“DUK LEI!”

He shouted his spell at the Scorpion Tank over the sound of the falling rain, card raised high above his head. It sparkled once before becoming a stream of data that instantaneously wrote itself into the Scorpion Tank’s code; the poison slowly starting to infect its system. Bane raised his sword once more and guarded an oncoming attack, his left hand swept out behind him as he cast Rue Zot underneath the other. The chill of the ice surrounded the Snakoid and it found itself encased in ice. He bumped the other one out of the way, sheathing his Kikuichimonji and drawing his Magnifier. Focusing on the ice, he bathed his sword in flame and let loose a Vak Drive; the cancellation of the elements creating a searing fog around the immediate area.

Bane rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding an attack from the Scorpion Tank. The other Snakoid, the one whom didn’t succumb to the icy, steam bathed death came down on him, club raised. Bane fell to the ground, scrambling to get up as he rolled into an attack made by the Scorpion Tank. The fog was starting to act more of a hindrance than an advantage, or so it would seem. He pulled out a Speed Charm, hopefully giving him the needed edge to finish the battle faster. He sped off to the side, sliding under the Snakoid, jumping back up to a standing position behind it.

He swung around, slashing at its back twice and shoving aside its body, leaving an infected and almost dead Scorpion Tank left. He ran up to it, running the tip of his blade through the mud slicing upwards both flinging mud into the face of the monster and dragging a cut up the length of it’s jaws. It writhed in pain, but due to the nature of poison and its cumulative effects with normal attack damage, it didn’t last long; as the final counts of poison seeped into its core and killed it off like a cheap weed.

Bane stood up, looking at the sky, the rain fell on his face, and the ambience around him made him calmer for what was just up ahead. The rain cooled the air, and the fog eventually faded away. Bane’s speed charm had still a couple of minutes of usage left before running out, so he decided it’d be best to get to the next monster portal. It whirred in front of him as he jumped through it, onto a building. The building he jumped onto was more of an elevated platform rather than a building, so it wasn’t all that high to begin with.

From the portal spawned forth three Lamia Fighters, and a single Crab Turtle. Bane grasped his Magnifier tight as he tilted it to the side slightly. The Lamia Fighters were new to him, their revealing clothing and serpentine bodies making them seem sluttier with every movement. Bane gulped, his face turning a scarlet tinge at the developed bodies of the monsters. Yet more evidence pointing to the perverted nature that is a game programmer. Bane shook his head, ridding himself of these thoughts as he stood his ground, waiting for them to come closer. They rushed up and clambered up onto the platform circling him like vultures.

One of them started casting a spell; a violet rune forming at the base of its form. Bane grunted, withdrawing another tarot card from his inventory and dashing at the spell-casting monster. He sheathed his sword, and used his right hand to grip the monster’s long, serpentine neck He shoved the card into the monster’s mouth and clamped the jaws closed with his right bicep. The monster swallowed the tarot card, The Lovers, caused the Lamia to sway her allegiance. Bane drew his Kikuichimonji and faced the closer one of the two remaining Lamias, drawing his left hand up to the level of his face.

“Rue Zot!”

He threw his hand out, blue runes forming on the ground underneath the targeted Lamia. A spire of frigid ice impaled the monster, freezing it on the spot momentarily. Bane ran forward at the same pace as his pseudo Lamia ally, lashing out at the frozen snake with a sharp thrust and an upwards slash. As if in one continuous, fluid motion; he sheathed his katana and drew his Magnifier, immediately casting Vak Drive and ramming his blade into the monster. He slashed upwards, finishing off the monster and looking over to the Lamia currently under his influence. The two snake warriors were battling it out, the act seeming more like some variation of a lesbian ballet. Bane shook his head and dug his sword in the ground, placing his left hand on the flat of the blade.

He closed his eyes momentarily and focused, selecting Rai Rom from his spell list and casting it on his sword. The static ran down the blade, sparking on the ground and flowing over the water soaked mud and into the feet of the Lamia Fighters. The shocking spell seeped into the body of the monsters and fried them from the inside out. However, that was not all. Bane, also being connected to the ground suffered a shocking after-effect of the spell and sustained a blow to his HP. A looming shadow formed over him and he looked over his shoulder; a large claw slamming him in the small of the back. His right hand only barely managed to grip the sword and unsheathe it from the ground.

He was thrown into the air from the impact on his back; however, the wings had finally decided to assist. He wings caught an updraft and he was floating upside down, his sword pointing at the ground. The Crab Turtle scuttled over and flailed it miniature appendages up at him; but he was out of reach. He swooped and pointed his sword forward; spiralling mid-air. He was starting to get dizzy, but with the rain and added sound effects of the lightning and thunder, he found that this was a surreal, fantasy world.

He charged through the monster and divided it clean in two; the Rai Rom obviously weakening it beyond the past of healthy living. Bane landed and looked back over his shoulder smirking to himself, that was however, when he realised the time.

Shimatta…

He was late, very late, he needed to get to the Theta server and fast. Ko_Inuyasha was no doubt waiting for him with his foot tapping, wondering where the truant heavy Blade was. He gated out immediately, skipping the opportunity to open the rigged chest that spawned at the death of the Crab Turtle.

He only hoped that he wasn’t too late…

((OOC: Yes, I know, it’s short. It was meant to be on the last part of my solo, but when I realised that I missed it and needed an extra level; no duh. Anyway, all I want is one level for the tourney/upcoming AoD Squad Quest, however, GP would equally be helpful. Thanks. ))

Bane --> +Health Drink - +Mage's Soul - +2,500 GP