Calrex

ID: 6178

Battle Dice: 9 (+1 to Damage XD)

Mob Dice: 5

Calrex steadied his breathing as he readied his blade once again. The last failed attack had left him slightly reeling. His senses deafened as he calmed himself, keeping his focus on the Steelback Hog preparing to charge once again.

"Steady my breathing, calm myself. I've gotten two successful hits so far. It'll only take one more to finish it off."

He felt his body relax as he regained his calm composure, his sword hand gripping his sword tightly while the wrist remained relaxed. His eyes scanned the hog as it readied itself, scanning for any telegraphed movements that would give away its next move.

"Going from its attack pattern it's most likely going to charge once again. Alright, let's try this one more time."

He set his supporting hand on the pommel of his sword, bringing it up and to his right side. He kept the sword parallel to the ground, his left hand coming across his body to rest on the pommel. His right hand remained gripped to the blade. The hog began its charge as Calrex swayed his body back, coiling his leg muscles as he reached the lowest point in his stance. As the hog got just out of striking distance he began to sway forward, his toes gripping the ground, ready to give a strong push forward. Once the hog got into his striking area the muscles he had ready released as he pushed forward with both arms.

This time the point of the blade fell true to its mark, piercing through the hog's forehead. As its health dropped to zero it dissipated into mirror-like crystals. Calrex let his feet plant on the ground as he gave a strong exhale, looking around. It looked like the rest of the herd had not noticed him.

"Good, none of the other hogs are coming just yet. So...did I have..."

Right on queue, the loot screen appeared, with the Purified Steel Ore on its list. Calrex sighed in relief.

"Alright, that's one material down. Now to find the rest"

Calrex looked at the rest of the herd. From his view, they were all fairly closely clustered. 

"Better scour the forest for the other materials."

With that Calrex flipped his sword into reverse and headed towards the forest.

HP Counter

Calrex: 9/9

Steelback Hog: 0/8 (2 extra damage overkill)

Spoils: 1 Purified Steel Ore

OOC: Note, I originally made this post as a miss on the loot, but then I double checked the loot table and saw that monsters that meet loot requirements drop materials 100% of the time. So I edited it to reflect that.

ID: 6177

Battle Dice: 1 (Q_Q)

Mob Dice: 5

"Guess I spoke too soon..."

Calrex readied himself for another charge from the hog, his sword point straight at it's head.

"Maybe I can end this quickly with a single strike..."

He coiled his leg and arm muscles, slightly lowering his position, ready to launch himself forward at the hog once again. The hog shook his head as it turned itself around, ready for another charge. It gave a few clicks with its foot at the ground before rushing forward once again, building momentum as it rushed towards Calrex.

"Alright,..3...2...1!"

As the hog came into lunging range Calrex leapt forward, his sword arm extending, aiming to pierce through the hog once again. Had his stab been a few inches to the left or right, it would have been true. Unfortunately it feel right in the middle, the tip slamming straight into the tusk of the hog. The two metals clashing rang out as Calrex's lunge, having less momentum than the hogs charge, buckled. Luckily the force came down so quickly that Calrex got thrown to the side moments before the hog's charge would have slammed into him.

"That was close...I've gotta be careful. Can't get overzealous. I've got to stay calm and time my strike precisely. If not, my life might be the price..."

HP Counter

Calrex: 9/9

Steelback Hog: 1/8

ID: 6175

Battle Dice: 10 (+2 Damage)

Mob Dice: 4

Calrex took a deep breath as he held his sword at the ready, end pointed straight towards the Steelback Hog.

"Well I wasn't expecting this to be easy, but it's definitely not as bad as I was expecting it to be either. I guess I am used to the AI of other games, so it isn't much of a stretch to apply it to this games mechanics as well."

Calrex brought his sword across, holding the upper third in his opposite hand as the hog charged, slamming its tusks into the blade, trying to force him back. He braced with his left leg forward and right leg back, pushing against the hog as it continued to push forward.

"I just hope I don't have to eat my words!"

As he felt the hog try to force even harder forward he caved his guard on the left side, angling the blade back towards him. As the momentum of the hog's charge forced it to his left side he brought his left hand up to the handle, releasing with his right simultaneously as he grasped it with his left in a icepick grip. As the grip solidified his right hand slid onto the end of the pommel, pulling back towards him. This forced the blade's tip into the hog as its charge forced it past him. He pushed forward with his left hand as if he were completing a punch, forcing the blade across the side of the hog, the blade popping out as the cut exited the hog's backside.

Calrex quickly righted himself and turned to face the hog, his grip and sword hand switching back to his original setting. From what he could see of the hog's health it had gone into the red and was nearly out.

"Alright, one more strike should do it..."

HP Counter

Calrex: 9/9

Steelback Hog: 1/8

Elsword

If you guys want to check it out I recommend this game. I'm a fan of the battle system, and from what I've seen so far it's not a P2W game. Some of the most skilled players are ones that don't buy better equipment or even the expanded item/skill slots, but it's really about how skilled you want to be with the characters you play. There's many videos of it on YouTube if you want to take a look.

In terms of the system requirements I don't believe it requires too much. I run it on my MacBook Pro from 2009 through a Windows Bootcamp partition and it's really smooth when my internet is good.

For the Kirito dual wielding fans there's actually one job path which turns you into a dual wielder: Sheath Knight

Calrex nodded at Oikawa's explanation, understanding that the combat system seems to  fairly intuitive in terms of the mechanics.

"Good, at least it looks like I won't be stuck doing repetitive animations at least. I'll probably need to learn the rest on the fly."

"Well, sounds good to me. Guess the only way to really get the hang is to give it a try."

He motioned to Teayre as he followed after Oikawa out into the fields where the boars spawned. As they got closer Calrex reached over to his sword.

"I'm ready when you guys are. Should we do this one at a time to spot each other?"

"We could go all in, but if this is anything like training Oikawa should probably keep an eye on us so we don't trip up. Even if so, at least he can step in to help us out so we don't get killed."

ID: 6073

Battle Dice: 9 (+1 Damage)

Mob Dice: 2

OOC: Woohoo first roll and it's a critical!

IC:

COMBAT START
 

"Let's do this stealthily. I might be able to score an easy hit if I catch it unawares..."

Calrex crept closer and closer to the Steelback Hog, his sword at the ready. The hog didn't even seem to notice that he was approaching. He glanced over to his right from time to time, making sure that none of the rest of the herd had spotted him. He kept his body low, his knees bent slightly lower than a 90 degree angle, keeping his steps light and soft.

"I don't have anything to contribute to stealth at the moment, so hopefully sneaking around naturally will help with that. Alright, just about in striking range."

He got himself within three paces of the hog. With luck he was directly behind it, a prime position for a sneak attack. He crouched even lower, coiling his body's muscles like a spring, bringing his sword arm back, tip pointed directly at the hog.

"3...2...1...NOW!"

He sprung forward, extending his sword arm in a fierce stab, piercing the hog deep. He quickly swung to the left to wrench his sword out, cutting the hog as it exited.

The Steelback Hog squealed in surprise and pain as it turned to face Calrex, trying to take a swipe at him as it turned. Now that Calrex was closer he could get a good look at the creature. It's entire back was potted with reflective stones. Even its tusks were partially coated in the iron.

"Well, now I know why it drops from this monster. Time to take it out."

HP Counter'

Calrex: 9/9

Steelback Hog: 5/8

"You certainly have a blue theme going with your outfit right now don't you?"

"Uh...I guess I'll just go with it on this comment."

"For now I guess. I'll probably have to change colors with my equipment, but for now this works."

"Uh huh. Alright then let's see here...Hm...I'll need to make a laminate to get that effect...and to dye the handle I'll need that and that..."

"Wow, there's a lot going into this...I wonder if I should wa..."

"Got it!"

"Huh?"

"Alright, here's what you need for this weapon. They should all be fairly easy to find outside the city:

1 Purified Iron Ores from Steelback Hogs

2 Dark Steel from Dark Steel Stalagmite

2 Blue Petals from Azure Flowers

All of these are close together in the lakeside forest just west of the city. Just bring those back here and I'll make you your weapon!"

"Alright, thanks. I will be back then."

Calrex nodded and instinctively bowed as he left the shop, heading out of the Starting City's western gate. "Alright so I've got to find these things and bring them back. Shouldn't be too bad. It's a good thing I got some practice in with the combat system with the other before trying this out."

He drew his sword in preparation for any combat as he approached the location the girl had mentioned. It looked like the Steelback Hogs she had mentioned were designed to spawn  on the lake's shoreline, probably to simulate them drinking from the lake as nourishment.

"Well, since they're first on the list, I'd better go ahead and get them first."

Calrex lowered his stance as he began to creep towards the herd.

"I really hope I don't draw any aggro from any of the other hogs except for the one I'm gonna focus on. Let's see."

Calrex's eyes scanned the group, looking for any that would be a straggler or was farthest from the group. His eyes fell on one that was simulated drinking from the lake's shore while the rest were further up at the end of the sand line.

"Got it."

With that he began his approach.

OOC: Topic is closed! XD Part of this is continued in PP - F1 Now to Prepare

Calrex nodded as Teayre and Oikawa started discussing going to practice killing boars. He also made note of the new nickname Teayre decided to start calling him.

"Well, it works since right now I'm the only one with a name that starts with another name, heh. I wonder if there's a player named Calvin around here or something."

He responded to Teayre's comment about her drawing on his hand in a joking tone.

"It's alright for now, although I think when we start fighting I might need that hand for combat."

He looked over at Oikawa, responding to his statement next, "Getting to know our tactics will definitely be helpful. I haven't even tried combat yet, but I hope the system will allow me to use the sword techniques I learned practicing martial arts."

"Hi, can I help you?"

Calrex turned his head expecting someone around his height, only to see the back wall of the shop. His eyes adjusted and moved downwards to see a young girl addressing him.

"Um, hi yes, are you the owner of this shop?"

"Yes! Is there something you needed assistance with?"

"So young to be the owner of the shop...and to make such fine weaponry is impressive."

"Are you looking to have a custom weapon made?"

"A custom blade. Well, it would be nice, but I don't really have enough Col on me ri..."

Calrex stopped talking as the little girl as she put her hands, closed into fists, on her hips. She gave a stare as if Calrex should know something about her that he was not showing.

"You should know that I don't take payment in the form of money! If you bring me the materials for it, I'll make it for you. Now what would you like your sword to be. I can tell from the sword you're wearing it's a one-handed straight sword. Would you like a sword of the same class?"

"Um...sure..."

"I think I should just play along and ride this out. At least she's not demanding I leave."

"Alright then..."

While seeming only a little bit annoyed now, the shop owner-

"By the way, I don't believe I caught your name..."

"It's Sai, pleased to meet you."

"P-Pleased to meet you..."

With that introduction she seemed to return back to her helpful self as she completed some kind of screen, sending it over to Calrex. He looked at it, seeing it was some kind of item description, only that all of the parts of it were blank.

"Just go ahead and fill in all the parts of this and I'll be able to tell you what materials you need and where to get them"

"Hmm..."

Calrex started tapping on the window, filling in all of the different parts of the window before sending it back to her.

"How's this?"

OOC: The hilt and color of the blade is like the picture, only with a double edged blade rather than a one-sided edge.

Name: Grand Blade

Type: One-Handed Straight Sword

Quality: Uncommon

Description: A longsword with a crescent hand guard, made to be wielded with one hand. The blade itself it made of an ore with a natural black steel finish that when polished exposes the shining silver underneath. Since the edge is the only part that's been polished, it is where that metal shines through. The hilt, handle, and guard are all made of a dark blue steel that has been shaped and fastened to the sword itself. It has been said that this sword was once a part of an armor that as now been lost to legend.

Effects: +1 Damage

Link: http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/File:Chara_17.png

 

Confirming I'll be taking on the quest with Oikawa

Calrex looked left and right as he wandered down the streets of the Starting City.

"With all of the stuff I've been doing. I never really had time to actually explore the city to its fullest. All I've seen is the main plaza, that smaller rest spot, and only a couple more places. Oh well, best look now while I have the time..."

He used his right arm to push up his sword so that it was in line with his back, rather than horizontal across the back of his hip. It was just in time, as he approached what appears to be a busy marketplace / trading area. Calrex could feel a bead of sweat form on the side of his head as he tried to navigate his way past the crowds.

"Um excuse me...pardon me...sorry...one side...excuse me...grh!"

He tried to move through the crowds as smoothly as possibly, but unfortunately his space to move got smaller and smaller the further and further he went through. Eventually he was stuck between two large crowds of players. He began to push harder and harder to get himself out of the trap. Eventually, almost with a comical pop, he get through.

"Geez what in the world are they going all crazy abou..."

He looked over at a shop that stood in front of him. It wasn't really busy, but it seemed welcoming. He took a look around left and right, wondering why it wasn't as busy as the other shops. He gave a quick shrug as he decided to step inside.

Inside the shop there was lots of weapons laid against stands, on display, and behind the counter. Calrex's eyes scanned across all the items, noticing something interesting.

"All of these weapons, they don't look like generic standard items you can make or craft. They're custom made..."

He took a look closer at a particular sword, noting its intricate design and the etched pattern on the blade.

"The detail on these is unreal, almost inhumanely made. Well...I've gotta remember what world I'm talking about here."

"Hi there! May I help you with something?"

"Huh?"

Calrex turned to face the person behind the voice he just heard.

Oh boy XD

Welcome!

Take place after OP - F1 Time to Form A Game Plan

After the meeting concluded, Calrex let out a breath in his mind.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting so many people to begin talking to me all of a sudden. At least it's much better than having to go searching around for help. Still though...a raid right from the get go? I haven't even gotten a chance to test out any combat yet...

O good lord I hope this isn't a point and click type of combat..."

He was standing at the edge of the plaza, "Well, what to do next is the question? I don't have any preparations to make, so should I twiddle my thumbs in the meantime?"

Calrex nodded Raeyliff decided to go handle his own business before they met up to start the raid, "Alright see you later."

"Guess that leaves Sousuke,Teayre and the new guy...who hasn't given his name yet I think?"

"Guess that leaves us. Was there anywhere you needed to stop at before we meet up for the raid?"

"Yeah, because I have no idea where I should start. Maybe the new guy has some preparations he makes beforehand which I could keep in mind whenever setting out that may keep me alive."

OOC: Happy Holidays! XD I'm actually at home for Christmas right now until the end of this week, so I'll only be able to post maybe once or twice a day until I head back.

IC:

As Teayre quietly requested Calrex if he could give her a hand with getting around he gave a simple nod of agreement.

"This seems rather odd. I know people can be friendly, but something isn't sitting right. I'll need to be careful."

As he looked over where Raeyliff was looking, he saw another newcomer to the group, giving his introduction to the group.

"Alright, I thought Tyrius' quiet introduction was awkward, but I think this guy's one takes the cake."

Calrex gave a slight shrug as the newcomer asked about Raeyliff' contemplative position. "I'm guessing he's probably thinking about something."

As Celes left, letting the group know where to meet her he gave a nod, "Sounds good, we'll see you there."

He looked over at the newcomer again, "I think we should be fine if you want to join us. I'm Calrex."

"I wonder if anyone needs to do any preparation before we meet up with Celes. I've got nothing but my own gear on me, so I don't need to get ready." 

Calrex gave the amazed at her skill level / nervous that he is essentially just along for the ride smile response to Celes' answer to his question, "Well that's reassuring, heh."

"Well she is many multiples higher in level than me right now. If this raid was designed for new players of course she would have an easy time going through it. I guess that means at least that the raids don't scale in difficulty to fit the levels of the players entering it."

He looked over at the others, nodding his head, "Well, whatever you guys want to do I'm ready when you are."

"Maybe I can finally get started making some headway in this game."

The two MMOs I play are Elsword and Warframe (PS4).

I've been playing Elsword for a couple years now and it's pretty fun. You don't need to buy good armor using real money, it just takes some more time to get a hold of them. I do pay occasionally, but that's mainly just for cosmetic changes to my character's equipment.

Warframe is the same, and is actually a lot more about skill than it is about having better armor. The planets and levels are set so that you can kind of tell which ones you'd be likely to survive. Also it's about technologically advanced space ninjas.

Both are more towards player vs. encounter than player vs. player.

Calrex nodded as Teayre introduced herself, "No worries, it's perfectly fine. Nice to meet you, I'm Calrex."

"An interesting way to introduce oneself for sure..."

He looked over at Celes and Sousuke. Since they were the ones with the most experience in terms of adventuring and combat, Calrex figured it would be best to get their opinion before responding to Teayre's request. One thing he would like to avoid is overpacking the party. There has to be a balance in terms of size: Large enough to take out any monsters that come their way, but small enough to be agile should things go bad. He figured with Tyrius deciding to pass on accompanying them, they could afford to possibly fit one more.

"Do you guys think we could fit one more into the team?"

Welcome! Right now I'm looking forward to lunch in a few hours XD.

Good luck with your character and look forward to RPing with you!

Calrex nodded as Sousuke and Raeyliff got themselves pumped for the raid, "Let's do this...?"

He looked down as he watched a person thud on the floor just in front of him, getting up and suddenly unleashing a flurry of apologetic words at the group. Going from her equipment she was a new player as well.

"And possibly not used to movement in the game?"

Calrex shook his head quickly snap himself back to "reality," bending on one knee, "Now how should I approach this? I guess sympathetic would be effective."

"Hey are you alright? That looked like a nasty faceplant. Here, need a hand getting up?"

He extended a hand as an offer, listening as Celes gave her two bits about the raid and her knowledge of the enemies inside. He looked over as he spoke, "Would it be doable with my basic equipment? I don't want to put you out anything if it's not necessary."

Calrex looked over as Tyrius decided to pass on the raid and excuse himself from the group, giving a slight nod.

"Seems like he's got a lot on his mind. Guess it would be better if he didn't go participating in a raid in that kind of mental state. I wonder if he's coping with the fact that Sousuke said his acquaintance, Tomoya, was killed. Oh well, it's none of my business, so I'd best not give it any thought at the moment."

He grasped his left leg with his left arm, lifting it up and setting it back down to keep the "blood" flowing through it, mostly so it didn't fall asleep.

"I wonder how intense the combat is going to be..."

Calrex looked over at Raeyliff as he suggested that the group take a seat to discuss things in detail.

"A good point. If what Celes said is right and we are going to do a raid first and foremost, we need a plan. From what I remember of past games, most raids have some kind of mini-boss and final boss that almost require exploiting their weakpoints. We'll need to form some kind of strategy to be able to expose those and take advantage of them."

"Probably a good idea. Right now I probably won't be of much use in combat, depending on what it is we're going to be encountering, but I am fairly observant, so I could probably help with gathering information on the fly. Not really sure what else I can contribute at the moment"

He looked over at Celes as he decided to take a seat. He bent his left leg and let his knee point upwards while hie right leg crossed underneath it, letting his left arm rest on his left leg. "I am curious as well, what particular encounter do you have in mind?"

"Well it seems like things just got a little real here for a second...Guess that's a good reminder of our mortality in this game. There is no extra lives, we need to be careful."

Calrex nodded to Raeyliff and Sousuke as they explained their stats, as well as their background and experience in the game. He put his hands in his pockets and put on a calm face as he let the conversation continue. It seemed like Tyrius and had some kind of connection to Sousuke's brother Tomoya, at least from the way the conversation was going.

"As in an awkward direction...I wonder if this is some kind of coping mechanism."

He gave a soft sigh and decided to continue the other part of the conversation, giving his stats.

"Looks like I'm the biggest newbie in this group."

"Looking forward to working with all of you. I'm Calrex, level 1. I've got some background in martial arts techniques and lots of previous game knowledge outside of SAO, so hopefully it comes in handy and helps to make up for my current lacking in ability."

He put his hand behind his head and put on and awkward smile to add to his sentence.

Hi London! I just recently joined but look forward to having some awesome adventures with you! :)