[PP-F1] This Is The End << Secret Medicine Of The Forest >>

[Zicko 0]

This is the end, my beautiful friend,

This is the end, my only friend, the end.

The rest of the lyrics resonates in Zicko's mind as he lies down on the grass just outside the city, under some trees adorned by beautiful leaves. His sheathed sword leaning just beside his head, and hauberk is worn on his body too. He gazes upwards with his usual thousand yard gaze as the song brings him into a trance, reeling images of more trees. Then a desert. Then a sound of several rotary wings, beating rapidly like the rat tat of a machine gun. Then, helicopters. Followed by...explosions? What are they doing here? 

Oh right. Bombing the desert buildings. All blown to smithereens. 

The images of said destruction occupies his mind, half of his conscience wish to hold the rifle again, put bullets into more skulls. The other half says, "You can't go back. Not without your right leg."

..right leg. Zicko slowly shifts his gaze downwards, though he cant see his own legs. He has two of them here...virtually. 

At least he won't have to worry about his cheap prosthetic falling down from his leg's stump again. 

@Simba

[Simba 0]

Changing his entire appearance was a whole different thing for Simba, but it was something he had to do in order to change the person he is. He took a deep breath and sighed, before he stepped onto the teleporting platform of Urbus and selected the Town of Beginning as his destination. 'I still have some unfinished business on the first floor.. Mind as well head back to see what I am missing.' His feet began to materialize away and float toward the blue sky of Urbus and moments later he appeared on the teleporting platform of the Town of Beginnings. Several players were running around the floor, but none of the players around him interested him.

He began to walk along side the cobblestone path, window shopping at certain workshops, but he still had to collect materials for his own workshop. 'I still have several quests to accomplish as well.. I need to get around to finishing all of the first floor quests.' He stopped at a blacksmith and turned his back against the workshop and made his way back to the center of the town. His eyes darted around all over the place, as he suspected Axel was still searching for him. He stopped and sat on the bench, looking up toward the sky, blanking out. 'Man.. There is actually nothing to do on this floor anymore.' He sighed.

@Zicko

[Zicko 0]

Enough thinking about war. This ain't Earth anymore. Now the ways of conflict are different and had more or less fallen back to the Middle Ages. Combat is more close and personal...and more violent for the bloodthirsty. 

Zicko picks up his sword and holds onto it for now, brushing his hand against his hauberk before walking back into the city. It is still bustling with activity, but the total population of players begin to lessen as dozens of em had advanced to further, more dangerous floors.

So for someone with good sword hands, there is virtually nothing to do unless they want to bore themselves with fighting the same boars, beetles, worms, etc. Even dungeons here are hard to find, if not tedious. 

As Zicko keeps his gaze forward, he catches a glimpse of a male player dressed in mostly white, adorning a large form of jewelry around his neck. He has never seen such a thing before, and this alone makes him a bit curious.

Just as he is about to take another step forward, a male NPC suddenly runs at the opposite direction, only to stop at the male player on the bench. He is sweating and panting heavily, probably had been sprinting around for a good amount of time.

"Y...you gotta help me, warrior! Please!" He pleads. "M..my love, she was struck by some unknown disease, like a plague or something! I heard that there is a medicine deep in the forest outside this place! I..If you can find it, I can reward you! Please help!"

@Simba

Edited February 21, 2018 by Zicko

[Simba 0]

The sound of someone rushing toward Simba's direction, caused him to quickly open his eyes to see a male who seemed like he ran a long way toward him. 'Tch.. Who is this guy..? Wait a minute.. This isn't a player. There is no green cursor over his head.. Why is an NPC suddenly talking to me? Quick time event? I won't be able to find out if I don't sa--' He stopped mid thought when the NPC pleaded with him. He stood up and held onto the NPC's shoulder and sat him down the bench, switching places. "U--Uhm.. Okay.. Medicine from deep within the forest, huh? I am sure that I can find it.. Just wait here." He explained, as he took a step back to take in all the information he obtained.

'I don't even know what quest this is.. I have to quickly look through the beginner's manual.' He materialized the guide book onto his hand and began flipping though the pages, attempting to locate the description of the quest. His finger landed on the title called, 'The Secret Medicine of the Forest,' and his eyes darted all over the page, scanning through the information. 'Can I really do this alone? I have no information on what is going to happen in the quest, I know for a fact there is going to be some sort of monster waiting for me at the middle of this quest.' He took a deep breath and sighed, before a window appeared stating if he is to accept the quest or not. He tapped on the accept button without any hesitation.

@Zicko

[Zicko 0]

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! But please, if you can, have at least one person help you to get the medicine faster. Erm..."

The NPC looks around and notices Zicko approaching him, and he grins hopefully as he stands up and says, "You! Are you willing to help him get my the medicine for my sick lover? I can reward you as much as I will do to him."

Immediately, the window appears in front of Zicko's eyes, asking if he wants to join the quest with the white dressed player. Gazing at the 'yes' and 'no' buttons for a few seconds, he taps his finger onto the former without a word.

The NPC smiles widely as he explains, "Make sure you kill those two small plants first to get to the alpha. The alpha's the holder of the medicine. If it doesn't have one, try killing the small ones again to summon another alpha until you get what you need."

He bows towards both Zicko and the player.

"I will wait here, or you can meet me in the square in the evening. I wish you the best of luck, warriors."

Zicko looks at his supposed partner of this quest, remaining silent as he is ready to move out now, but not before introducing himself very briefly.

"...I'm Zicko.." he speaks in a soft tone.

@Simba

[Simba 0]

Simba watched as the NPC run toward another player, pleading him to also join the quest with him. His eyes widen as the artificial intelligence system seem to be more effective than most MMOs or RPGs that he had played in the past. 'This guy.. He seems like he has yet to progress in the game like many others.. I better keep my eyes on his health, before I watch someone die before my eyes.' He approached the player and offered his hand to shake, but the player greeted Simba before he could make out a single word. He smiled and swiped down with his index and middle finger, tapping on the party icon and requested Zicko to join his party.

"Zicko, huh? I go by the name of Simba, it is nice to meet you." He greeted, as he swiped the menu away and made eye contact with the player. 'It looks like he is a heavy armor user.. Maybe he is used to the weight of the world on his shoulder.' He grinned and flipped through his guide book and tapped on the forest location to help guide the party to the location quicker. "It seems like the two of us are going to be buddies for the time being, I hope you don't mind that." He added, following with a smile.

@Zicko

[Zicko 0]

Zicko nods at Simba's remark of being "buddies" for the entre quest, and taps his finger on the green button in the invitation window, prompting the game to ultimately link them as one party.

Taking notice of the location marker on Simba's guide book, he swipes his finger vertically to bring up his inventory, then he equipes his hauberk to don it. Though its defensive capabilities are still strong, Zicko is already thinking about buying better armor. Maybe full plate would do. He can put this hauberk to good use...under the armor.

"...you can lead the way," he speaks again, equipping his sheathed sword and holding onto it, caressing the blue diamond on the tip of his sword's handle with his thumb.

As for security measures, he decides to resort to his thousand yard gaze, eyeing here and there like a hawk as he keeps himself in mind to draw out his sword at a moment's notice.

Looking at Simba, he realizes that he hasnt checked his status yet, but judging by his weapon, it seems that he can handle some low level monsters well...for now.

He stands still, just behind Simba's shoulder as he gazes at the gate of the city.

@Simba

[Simba 0]

With everything in place, Simba led the way toward the outskirts of the town, following the fastest route toward the forest. Being the curious person he is, Simba viewed Zicko’s stats and noticed that his damage and mitigation were a lot higher than his. ‘It seems like he has better equipment than I do as of now, so I do not have to worry much. We should be able to locate the medicine and quickly turn in the quest.’ As the two depart toward the city gates, Simba continued to observe the information of the Nepents that they will be facing shortly. 

“We are going to be up against a total of four Nepents, according to this guidebook. I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem, as long as we don’t drop below seventy-five percent of our health that is.” He announced, as he took one step out of the town and flicked his right wrist, materializing his sabre onto his right palm. He looked over his shoulder to look at Zicko, "You ready?" He asked, before getting ready to lead Zicko toward the forest.

@Zicko

[Zicko 0]

"...yeah," he says as he draws out his sword and sticks close to Simba, scanning the horizon as he looks out for any boar or insect that might rush in to attack them. Four Nepents ain't so bad. After all, his sword is enough to kill them in one hit. He is confident in that fact. 

Glancing at his partner's saber, he could tell that it can deal plenty of damage, almost as close to his own weapon. If that were a rapier, it would most likely increase the accuracy of Simba's attacks, sort of like a bullet. 

He also notes his light armor, which might not protect him from much threats, but he looks like he can move around so much more in it. A good compensation.

Now ready, Zicko moves on into the forest with Simba, and like a hunter, he calmly scans his surroundings, looking for any spot that will likely spawn Nepents. 

@Simba

[Simba 0]

Just like that, the two set off into the forest, hunting down the Nepents that were located around the general area. 'This area seems familiar.. I think I was here for my very first quest.. If I am not mistaken, it is most likely those ugly plant looking creatures that were roaming around here.' He scanned the area, but there were no sudden movements beside their own. He listened carefully to see if they were just idling by and he stopped for a moment and turned toward his left. "I think I heard something over here, Zicko.." He whispered, as he pointed at an area which there were no trees at all. There were small plants, but there was no movements.

Then suddenly the plants grew into the Nepents they were looking for and there was exactly four of them waiting for him. He looked over his shoulder toward Zicko and took a step back and thought on how he was going to engage in the battle. 'If we were to go in to attack first, we should be able to summon the Nepent Variant out quickly. I doubt that we would have to face anything too dangerous.' He looked over at Zicko and gestured him to go first. "I'll engage on you, Zicko."

@Zicko

[Zicko 0]

ID: 96612

BD: 2

MD: 2

Zicko: HP 60/60 -- Energy 4/6 -- DMG 5 -- MIT 9

Nepent: HP: 7/7 -- DMG 3 -- MIT 0

Noticing the nepents' daring approach to both Zicko and Simba, the former slowly takes a step forward, simply nodding at the suggestion for him to go first. Immediately he swings sword towards the first Nepent he sees, and unsurprisingly, it dodges. The other nepents take two steps back as they watch their comrade fighting against its opponent. It would be risky if they try to attack Simba, fearing that they might get slashed by Zicko's swinging sword on the way.

Meanwhile, Zicko dodges and swings like the plant for a minute or two before both of them stop altogether, and glare at each other while the nepent lets out a mocking hiss. Slowly, they walk towards each other, their respective weapons raised up high as they decide to gamble their healths for an attempted attack.

One of the nepents try to step forward, but was stopped by another, and probably decided how dumb he would look if he actually tried, remains still.

@Simba

Edited February 22, 2018 by Zicko

[Simba 0]

Observing from the side, the Nepents were harmless toward them, but it seemed like they were about ready to engage on the both of them. 'It would be best if the both of us took on our own Nepents, if we were to take them all head on without any hesitation, we would be screwed.. I am going to have to raise the hate level of the four so Zicko does not take too much damage.' Zicko took his first attempt to attack the Nepents, but his swing fell short and the Nepent attempted to retaliate and swing its vine toward him. Simba clenched the handle of his sabre and was ready to charge in, but luckily, the Nepent missed its attack and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Switch! I'll see if I can take it out with one swing!" He shouted, as he charged toward the Nepent. His eyes targeted the left abdomen of the Nepent and when he prepared to swing his sabre toward his target, he felt the urge to evade quickly. He stopped mid swing and leaped backwards, seeing a vine swipe right past him. He slid back toward the forest and sighed. "Looks like I missed." He announced.

Spoiler

ID:96624 | BD: 01 (+1 ACC) | MD: 03  (-3 EVA)

PARTY INFO
Simba:
[160/160 HP] [14/16 EN] [03 EVA] [05 MIT]

Zicko:
[60/60 HP] [04/06 EN] [09 MIT]

ENEMY INFO
Nepent [1]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [2]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [3]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [4]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

@Zicko

Edited February 22, 2018 by Simba

[Zicko 0]

ID: 96627

BD: 9

Zicko: HP 60/60 -- Energy 0/6 (Used Rage Spike!)

Nepent 1: 0/7

While the nepent is swinging its vine towards Simba, Zicko quickly charges up one of his sword arts, his weapon change its entire color into a hint of green. As soon as his partner leaps backwards to dodge the attack, he charges forward and launches his blade towards the nepent like a spear, stabbing it in the mouth and severs its gums in four direction, beheading it in the process. 

The nepent immediately drops dead as Zicko glares at the other three, slowly approaching them while they hesitate. This feeling soon fades out as they quickly surround him in a makeshift circle, hissing and waving their vines here and there. Zicko just stands still, looking at each of them every five seconds, his hand tightly grips the sword's handle as he gives Simba one glance, waiting for him to strike.

One of the nepents suddenly penetrates the soil with its vines, and cracks begin to rapidly appear and advance towards Zicko.

@Simba

Edited February 22, 2018 by Zicko

[Simba 0]

His eyes glimmer with the polygons as the Nepent that Zicko struck, bursted into tiny diamonds. 'Hm.. He activated his Sword Art, but I don't think it was necessary.. His energy should be low and he can't use any skills as of now.' His attention immediately goes toward the Nepent that is running toward Zicko. 'D--Damn it! His hate level is currently higher than mine at the moment, if I intercept the attack, I should be able to kill another Nepent with ease!' Simba took a step back and focused his sabre onto the head of the Nepent. He took a giant leap and charged straight toward the Nepent without hesitating.

His sabre was close to reaching the Nepent, but he missed once again. He tumbled toward the side and the Nepent swung its vine toward him, but he quickly took a step to the side and dodged the attack once again. 'I am not landing my attacks.. This is going to be really difficult if I continue to miss my attacks.' He jumped back onto his feet and signaled Zicko to engage once again.

Spoiler

ID:96628 | BD: 03 (+1 ACC) | MD: 06  (-3 EVA)

PARTY INFO
Simba:
[160/160 HP] [13/16 EN] [03 EVA] [05 MIT]

Zicko:
[60/60 HP] [00/06 EN] [09 MIT]

ENEMY INFO
Nepent [1]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [2]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [3]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [4]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

@Zicko

Edited February 22, 2018 by Simba

[Zicko 0]

ID: 96633

BD: 8

MD: 10

Zicko: HP 59/60

Nepent 2: HP 2/7

Seeing Simba missing is a bit of a pity to look at, and Zicko wishes deep within his heart that he has a bigger blade to swing. Maybe a proper longsword, or even a bastard sword will might do to hurt the nepent with even the slightest success. Back to another nepent he is currently facing, he quickly jumps away as soon as its vines burst out of the soil, only managing to hit a bit of his unarmored leg, which doesn't do much to hurt him.

In retaliation, Zicko takes one leap forward and swiftly cuts the vines in two, causing the nepent to shriek painfully as greenish blood spurts out of the stumps of its arms. Just for good measure, he clenches his left fist and rushes towards the injured nepent, launching a strong punch against its head. The impact is enough to stumble and causes it to hit its head against a nearby tree.

@Simba

Edited February 22, 2018 by Zicko

[Simba 0]

Now that Zicko's hate is way above Simba's, he had to figure out a way to wipe out the Nepents as quick as possible, but it was not going to happen if he was going to constantly miss. 'Tch.. No way I am able to take on anything else if I continue to miss like this.. Zicko's health is looking good, as his mitigation stats are a lot higher than mine. I should be able to worry more about myself.' Simba clenched the handle of his sabre as tight as he could and began to rush toward the Nepent. The injured Nepent was already Zicko's target and he was not going to attack someone's target, but he also had to prove that he could do more than miss his attacks.

He took a giant swing forward, but his attack fell short once again. His anger increased, but he quickly took a step back. 'Why am I constantly still missing my attacks? My accuracy bonus is not helping either, but if i substitute the stats for all accuracy, I will lose out on my evasive bonus.. I need to plan out what to do here.. Zicko seems to be handling things on his own, but has yet to take any damage, so he should be fine.'

Spoiler

ID:96673 | BD: 04 (+1 ACC)

PARTY INFO
Simba:
[160/160 HP] [12/16 EN] [03 EVA] [05 MIT] [00 HATE]

Zicko:
[59/60 HP] [01/06 EN] [09 MIT] [03 HATE]

ENEMY INFO
Nepent [1]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [2]:
[02/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [3]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [4]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

@Zicko

Edited February 22, 2018 by Simba

[Zicko 0]

ID: 96674

BD: 8

Zicko: HP 59/60

Nepent 2: HP 0/7

Rushing towards the injured nepent with the sword's blade being pointed towards it, Zicko proceeds to launch his weapon forward and stabs through where its neck should be, before slicing off its head and watching it drop dead onto the soil. He quickly turns around with bewildered eyes, noticing one living nepent hesitating to attack, and another dodging Simba's rapier. How in the world does he miss in this entire fight? Zicko doesn't complain though. That ain't his character.

Deciding to jump in to help him, he quickly punches away the attacking nepent's vine that was heading straight for his companion, and engages himself into a battle with it that consists of parrying here and there. He puts all of his focus to the plant as he awaits for Simba to try another attack, hoping that this time, he would succeed.

The nepent hisses as it tries to coil its vines around onto Zicko's sword, but always misses as he would pull away swiftly every time he notices the appendage forming into some sort of loop.

@Simba

Edited February 22, 2018 by Zicko

[Simba 0]

The second Nepent went down and it was toward Zicko once again. 'This is embarrassing.. First I get dragged along in this mission, because some NPC is trying to find some stupid medicine.. If only there was a concoction that would boost my accuracy, I would not be missing these attacks..' He took a deep breath to calm himself, but being calm was not going to help his situation. There were two Nepents standing and Zicko had already taken fifty percent of the monsters, but all Simba did was miss his attacks. The Nepents did not attack the two, but he was sure that they were going to aim for Zicko. 'His hate level is high at the moment, if we can take it out, he won't lose anymore health.' Simba readied his weapon and prepared to engage.

He charged straight toward the third Nepent and swung his sabre as hard as he could. He felt his sabre enter the head of the Nepent and exit through the other side, reducing its health points down by five points. As he pulled back, the Nepent retaliated and used its vine to slap toward Zicko, but there was no way Simba could stop the attack. He quickly turned toward Zicko, but his health was still health. 'Heh.. This guy is tougher than he looks.'

Spoiler

ID:96686 | BD: 07 (+1 ACC) | MD: 07

PARTY INFO
Simba:
[160/160 HP] [12/16 EN] [03 EVA] [05 MIT] [01 HATE]

Zicko:
[58/60 HP] [02/06 EN] [09 MIT] [04 HATE]

ENEMY INFO
Nepent [1]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [2]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [3]:
[02/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [4]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

@Zicko

Edited February 22, 2018 by Simba

[Zicko 0]

ID: 96687

BD: 5

MD: 9

Zicko: HP 57/60

Nepent 3: HP 2/7

A slap to the face doesn't make Zicko flinch as he keeps on attacking the nepent, slapping away its incoming vines at one point and rushing forward to its head. Just as he is about to leap, he suddenly feels vines wrapped around his legs, and lets out a silent 'tch' in his mind before being thrown away against a tree. 

He is hit in the rear end though, so the damage isn't much. Still, it does chip away one unit of his health, and this attack is nothing but a nuisance to him. He glances at Simba who finally got the chance to cut the nepent, and somehow thinking that he would be the one to finish it off this time, though this isn't 100% plausible due to the frequent misses.

He notices the last nepent attempting to sneak up to Simba, and to make sure that he isn't harmed, Zicko rushes in and swings his sword wildly to it. It dodges the attack and quickly backs away, before glaring at the now injured nepent.

@Simba

Edited February 23, 2018 by Zicko

[Simba 0]

His eyes widen as Zicko is slammed against a trunk of the tree, but it seemed like he brushed off the injuries like it was nothing. 'Man.. This guy is pretty good, but I can't always let him take the hit for me, but he also is wearing heavy armor. He is capable of handling himself.' He kept his eyes on the battlefield, but without realizing it, a Nepent snuck up behind of Simba and without any time to react, he was about to take damage head on. Suddenly Zicko appeared to repel the attack from the Nepent, causing Simba to take another step back. 'Tch.. This is getting annoying..' He glared at the injured Nepent and proceeded to engage the plant-like creature.

Without any hesitation, Simba quickly engaged the Nepent and with his Recovery, his energy raised up a point. 'If I activate my Rage Spike, I should be able to kill the both of them right here and now.. Then again, I need to save energy for the final Nepent.' He swung his sabre across the abdomen of the Nepent and he pulled right through the other side. "Other down.. One more to go.." He whispered to himself.

Spoiler

ID:96720 | BD: 05 (+1 ACC)

PARTY INFO
Simba:
[160/160 HP] [14/16 EN] [03 EVA] [05 MIT] [01 HATE]

Zicko:
[57/60 HP] [01/06 EN] [09 MIT] [04 HATE]

ENEMY INFO
Nepent [1]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [2]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [3]:
[00/07 HP] [03 DMG]

Nepent [4]:
[07/07 HP] [03 DMG]

@Zicko

Edited February 22, 2018 by Simba