Chapter 107 - Halberd Arts

The 12th floor of Aincrad was comprised of mountains upon mountains, cliff faces thousands of meters high, narrow paths, and a terrain highly difficult to traverse.

Because of that, Reaver's Requiem had decided to split up into smaller parties of 4 or 5 members. Drifter had offered to lead the smaller party of 4 people. With Vallerk, Merida, and Agil in his group, they had both a powerful defense and an overwhelming offense.

Drifter himself had become more offense-oriented after equipping his halberd. Even against the heavily armored Rock Crabs and Stone Giants that inhabited the floor, he could still deal a hefty amount of damage. Of course, Merida and Agil were tied for first on that board, with their broadsword and axe respectively.

At the moment, Drifter was gleefully testing his new weapon on one of the aptly named Rock Crabs. The mobs were exactly what their name implied, like huge hermit crabs with one-ton boulders for shells.

"Send it, Merida!"

He didn't need to yell it twice. Lifting with ease the broadsword which was bigger than her, Merida slammed into the Rock Crab with a Tornado. Drifter barely had to activate the Sting he prepared, the mob skewering itself on his halberd.

Now, with half of the weapon's head piercing into the Rock Crab's body, if Drifter had his spear, he would have pulled back and stabbed again. The main damaging power of a spear was on the tip, after all. But a halberd's true horror was the large blade at the end, almost like someone strapped an axe to a pole. So instead of pulling back, Drifter put his weight behind the weapon, and ripped down.

If this was a spear, all he would have accomplished would be a thin cut before it either slipped free or broke. But it wasn't a spear, and a red gash was torn across the shell of the Rock Crab, starting near the highest point of it, and ending at the bottom, where the halberd was finally cut loose.

With his weapon free, Drifter made to raise it and slash at the still-unguarded rear of the mob. That was when he discovered one of the disadvantages of the halberd. It was much heavier than a spear, and there was no way he could handle it as quickly. Mid-motion, he changed to a spin, letting the weight of the halberd carry him through it, and a stab. A little unbalanced, he missed the exposed leg of the Rock Crab, only hitting it on its carapace, which didn't deal nearly as much damage.

"Huff!"

Puffing, Drifter jerked back his halberd and stumbled away from the mob, which was now turning its giant pincers towards him. Each of the members was about his size, and four times as wide as him, so he wasn't looking forward to getting squeezed by the claws.

Thankfully, he didn't need to experience it. Vallerk dashed in front of him, like he knew he would, and blocked the mob. Drifter stepped around him, and brought his halberd down on a Vertical, right at the joint between the claw and the body of the Rock Crab. The limb was cut clean off.

"All yours, Agil, Merida."

Deciding he had done enough, Drifter stepped back and panted. The halberd was heavier and harder to handle than he initially assumed. He stabbed the weapon into the ground and leaned on it while his three companions finished off the Rock Crab.

"You okay there, Drifter?"

"Yep, just a little winded. I had tried lances before, but the halberd is really different. It's gonna take a while to get used to it."

"Think you are going to change over to it permanently?"

The player considered the question for a few seconds, gazing at the halberd with a pondering look. Then he shrugged and shook his head.

"I won't say no yet, but I don't think so. The weight and attack power have its uses, but I still like my spear better."

The others didn't comment on that. Everyone had their preferred choice of tools. The same One-handed Sword skill was used by Kirito, Asuna, and Nautilus, all with different types of swords. Liz's hammer skills applied to warhammers and maces. There were countless cases like theirs. Frontliners worked in teams, so for them it was better to specialize in one singular type of weapon than be a jack-of-all-trades.

It didn't mean Drifter wasn't going to be keeping a halberd in his inventory from now on, or a lance and a polearm, for that matter. He would also spare some time to train with them when he could. He didn't need to become a master of anything other than the spear, but learning to use weapons that fit his skill set would most likely come in handy, even if it was situational.

Grabbing the halberd and lifting it, Drifter dropped the weapon across his arms when they started walking again. He had found out this was the easier and less tiring way for carrying it, while still having it easily accessible when they came across trouble.

And come across trouble they did. Half an hour and a handful of Rock Crabs later, the party heard a lot of swearing and someone calling for help. They exchanged glances, and Drifter put a finger to his lips to tell them to stay silent, before rushing over to see who was in danger, and of what kind.

Sword Art Online was fraught with dangers, both clear and unseen, covert and overt. Just because someone was screaming for help, it didn't mean you should offer it. You could end up in danger yourself, or even fall into a trap - from both NPCs and players alike.

Crossing over a ridge, Drifter witnessed one of the weirdest sights yet in SAO - and he had seen a lot of strange things in this virtual world.

Surrounded by three Stone Giants - which were basically huge golems with mismatched lumps of boulders for bodies - were two players and an NPC. The three people were desperately defending against the mobs, while three other players, most likely from the same party, attacked the creatures from the outside, trying to rescue their friends.

Unfortunately, Drifter could see from their equipment that the players were terribly under-leveled for this floor. Their skills were also nothing to shout about - maybe on the low end of the clearer spectrum. But they weren't clearers, because they were panicking. Probably a party aspiring to get to the frontlines, but who bit more than they could chew.

"Drifter?"

Merida called him. No one had rushed over to aid the party, but they were all fidgeting, their gazes shifting from the surroundings to the battle. So was Drifter's. All caution aside, there was no way they could just watch while others died - and they would die if the Reavers didn't interfere.

The spearman scanned the area one last time. Plenty of boulders and crevices people like Morte could hide behind. It could be a set-up, but it didn't feel like it. Drifter took a deep breath.

"We're going. Vallerk, tank the one in front. Agil, Merida, the one to the left has the lowest HP, take it out. I'll deal with the last giant."

"Just you?"

"I'll gather them and have them help me."

The other three nodded, and Drifter shot out from behind the rock, followed closely by his party.

"Rage Spike!"

Time was of the essence. Without locking a target, Drifter used the charging skill to jump five meters forward. Then he immediately changed stances into a Comet Break. This one did hit something, the halberd piercing right through the back of the left knee of the Stone Giant, and breaking it at the joint. Even Drifter was surprised by it, despite knowing the halberd had a higher chance of cutting off limbs than a spear.

He didn't take even a fraction of a second to recover, however, and transitioned into a Martial Arts: Tendon Snap, a whip kick that bent his leg at unnatural angles to bypass the enemy's guard - Drifter was still unsure if the name of the skill referred to what it did to the target, or to what his own limb had to do to accomplish it.

The skill had probably been excessive, since the mob was already falling down due to one of its legs crumbling. As it was, the kick brought it down even quicker, and with a louder sound.

"Dagger and spear, help me tie this mob down! Mace guy and sword girl, get the hell back here! Spear and staff on control with me! Move!"

Slashing diagonally with a normal attack, Drifter yelled at the party he was rescuing. They were just stupidly staring, stunned at his sudden appearance. Vallerk, Merida, and Agil rushing in right after him and distracting the remaining two Stone Giants only shocked them more. The NPC, a dwarf, was the only one who didn't bat an eyelid at them.

But Drifter needed them moving, and he needed it fast. Although he was confident he could take a Stone Giant, especially a half-crippled one, on his own, that wasn't how frontliners worked, unless they were desperate.

"A-Ah, yes! Everyone, follow him!"

Drifter breathed a sigh of relief when the player using a staff snapped out of his astonishment and commanded the rest of his party - he must be the leader - to follow Drifter's orders. He had been worried there would have been a misunderstanding even in this situation. Gods knew what a fuss Kibaou would have kicked up if it had been him in their position, and Drifter interfered, even if it was to save him.

With Vallerk using all his crowd-control skills to draw the aggro of one of the Stone Giants, and Agil and Merida lambasting the other with wounds, the two players initially surrounded by the mobs, a meek-looking swordswoman and a jumpy mace-user, were able to slip away from their dangerous position and drink potions to recover.

"Tidal Sequence! Spear first, then staff."

They hesitated, but did just that. It wasn't perfect. The spearman simply let the system carry him through the motions of the skill. Drifter would have taken control, so he could direct where the hits would land, and where it would hurt the most. But it got the job done, and the Stone Giant was sent reeling back and crashing down again, from where it had just gotten up on its singular knee.

The staff-user was better. He actually timed the skill to when the mob was, once again, trying to get up, and sent it back down. That was the secret to surviving in SAO. Use numbers and every advantage you have to make sure the enemies couldn't fight back.

Drifter turned minimally to glance at the other three players. The mace-user, a guy holding a dagger with an eager expression, and the girl with a sword and shield who seemed very awkward, like she didn't know what to do with it.

"Switch and Crushing Impact three seconds after I attack. Sword and shield girl, you take the front right after he's done. Dagger, go wild."

Casually slipping past the staff-user, Drifter used his own Tidal Sequence, the three wide swipes carving long gashes on the unprotected back of the downed Stone Giant - and felling it a third time.

But unlike the other two, Drifter didn't stop at that. Kicking the ground, he used Edge Vaulting to pierce the mob's neck and pin it to the ground.

"Now! Switch!"

"Hyah!"

The mace guy jumped up without hesitation. The girl with the sword not so much. She seemed afraid to approach the mob, which Drifter could understand, but didn't like. She also slashed wildly, like she had no idea how to use a blade - and no one who was on the 12th floor should be like that. He was forced to switch back in - push past her, really - to tank the Stone Giant.

Thankfully, by now the monster's health was already pretty low, and under the combined efforts of Drifter and the party, it was soon killed.

Merida and Agil had also finished off their own enemy, so the three of them just traded nods and moved to support Vallerk without a word. He also didn't say anything or ask for help from the other party, so they just watched.

It was an eye-opener for them, that's for sure. Drifter, Agil, Vallerk, and Merida were like a well-oiled machine. They didn't speak at all, but they were always in the right position and made the right moves, switching in and out without even looking at the other player, and it was always on point.

It didn't take long at all for the last Stone Giant to fall. Drifter dealt the last blow, a crushing swing that smashed the mob's head open. Then he turned to the party, who was staring at him wide-eyed - maybe they finally recognized them? - and the dwarf NPC who seemed uninterested in everything now that his life wasn't in danger anymore.

"Sorry 'bout barging in without asking, but it looked like you guys were in trouble."

"A-Ah no! I mean, there's no problem! You guys literally saved us!"

Drifter stared at the staff-user for a few brief seconds, then nodded. It was true, after all.

"Anyone would have done the same. Now, those are Vallerk, Merida, and Agil. And I'm..."

"Broken Spear Drifter, we know! You are famous, all of you!"

The spearman cringed, while Agil, Merida, and even Vallerk snickered at his plight. Drifter might have accepted the title, but he still flinched every time someone said it out loud.

"Yeah, that. And you are?"

Drifter regretted it the moment he spoke. He should have just left now that the party had been rescued. But his damn moral compass felt bad about leaving them without making sure they wouldn't get into any more trouble.

From the way the party brightened up or completely shut down - in the girl's case - Drifter knew they were in for a lengthy talk.