Ariel - The Crowned Lion

15/05/2021
ID#192922 +6 EXP
ID#192921 +6 EXP
ID#192920 +4 EXP
ID#192919 +5 EXP
ID#192918 +5 EXP
ID#192917 +8 EXP
ID#192916 +5 EXP
ID#192915 +11 EXP
https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/5964-ariels-crafts-and-loot/page/17/?tab=comments#comment-641243
ID#192914 +8 EXP
ID#192913 +6 EXP
ID#192912 +5 EXP

Total: +69 EXP
-9 Mats

14/05/2021
Roll ID:    192768  CD: 12 - > T1 Light Armor
 

ID#192860 +8 EXP
ID#192859 +8 EXP
ID#192858 +8 EXP
ID#192857 +8 EXP
ID#192856 +8 EXP
ID#192854 +6 EXP
ID#192768 +11 EXP
ID#192767 +5 EXP
ID#192766 +6 EXP
ID#192765 +5 EXP  CD: 2 LD: 12 Mat Salvaged
ID#192764 +8 EXP

Total: +81 EXP
-10 Mats

As she heard the roar, Ariel's hand instinctively went to her katana. ' Ryu-ka? ' she thought with a smirk as she took a better look at Night's 'discovery'. "Is this part of your quest?" she asked as she turned towards Randal. In the same time she freed her (un)holy blade and let it's dark flames seep into the ground by her side. She would lie if she said she wasn't nervous, fortunately it would was of the good kind as this would be the first time she would go all out against a foe wielding a katana. She'll see right here and now if she still had it in her after so many years, this wasn't training anymore.

" Who goes there? " came an unexpected voice. Despite the inquiry clearly coming from in front of them, Ariel's first action was to look behind. " Did that wretched Carsar sent you to finish me off? How fitting, that cowards couldn't do it himself. Very well, come! But don't think for a second that I will go down without a fight! My only regret is that I can't hold my babies once more time." the voice continued to rage which gradually turned into sorrow towards the end. As to enforce her words, the dragon took a step forward and assumed a defensive stance with her wings.

Contrary to the blonde's initial though, the dragon was indeed the one that spoke to them. "finish.. off? babies?" the blonde muttered. Her initial excitement for combat plummeted and now she turned towards @Randal and asked with a somehow saddened expression. " Is that what we're here for? " she tightened the grip on her katana. She had noticed the scars on her wings and  the other laceration throughout the dragon's body... it felt wrong... one could see on the blonde's expression that she didn't approve of finishing the dragon off in her state.

The blonde's lack of familiarity with the 7th floor could be seen as soon as they got to there. The two of them parted ways, agreeing to later reconvene on the 7th floor after making each some individual preparations. At the set time, the blonde was already there waiting for at least 10 minutes in front of the teleport gate. A little annoyed, she won her mental argument by convincing herself that she shouldn't expect the same kind of punctuality she was used to. Even though the other player was a someone apparently well acquainted with the Japanese culture and its low tolerance towards certain things... like tardiness. 

Pulling her HUD and using it for reference even inside the main settlement. Last time she was here, she finished a quest involving... snakes? with wings?, the blonde's memory was fuzzy as it was during the period when she was in a haste to level up. She'd take any quest and finish them one after another with little regard towards the lore behind it. Her sole purpose back then was to follow in her guild master's footsteps and join the frontlines. Nowadays however, she had found her balance and was taking everything, including this rumor chasing, one step at a time. Enjoying various aspects of this game and what it had to offer.

Her gaze followed towards the mountain, trying to see if maybe she remembered something that would help with their quest. Nothing clicked so far so she leaned back and enjoyed the journey in the meanwhile. She slightly tilted her head, thinking 'Iwa?'' when she saw the new familiar. She'd meet a bunch of others, in different shapes and sizes but she couldn't say she'd ever heard of a rock pet. "I guess there are all kinds of'em." she muttered more to herself than wanting to make a point. She still found it interesting and fixed her gaze at it until Night mentioned the raid.

There was a slight frown on her expression as she closed her eyes and leaned forwards a bit. She nodded as she vividly remembered the events that passed in the last moments of the fight and when she woke up. "I honestly thought that Shadow had another ace up his sleeve... those black tides, his last moments before that were... anticlimactic. When I woke up back in my bed on the 22nd floor, I couldn't believe it, though it was some sort of genjustu... another illusion like when his minions first appeared. Only after I meet with the other three residents of my school and we shared our stories, did we have a clearer picture of what happened." she let out a sigh and opened her eyes, looking in the distance. "It looked like it was almost as bad out here as it was in the boss room." she muttered as she readjusted the position of her katana to lean on her left shoulder, as she sat on the cart. She let out a small sigh of relief, having put all that behind in the past.

"Sorry for this one, she has a habit of doing whatever she wants." said the blonde as she caught up with her familiar and the players. She'd let out a sigh after catching her breath and eye her familiar in a futile attempt to make the lioness heel. Instead she followed her gaze and smiled as she saw the small kitty poking from it's master's tracksuit. Her girlish grin getting only wider when she heard him 'speak': "Haaaaa, kawaii neko-chan!" She began extending her hand but stopped midway as she realized what she was doing, visibly restraining herself from the urge to pet the adorable thing as a cold shiver went down her spine. 

Instead she faked a cough and took a step back, eyeing both of the players. "Tag along?" she parroted, a bit amused by the slight awkwardness the girl displayed. "Sure!" replied the blonde with a smile, recognizing the familiar initially then its master but not really managing to link a name to the player's face despite having indirectly meet a couple of times in the more recent past involving the raid. "Ariel desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" she said almost involuntarily, adding her speech to the already visible list of things hinting to her background. 

"So what are you planning to do?" she asked, noticing the map in Randal's hands. In the meanwhile, unlike Ariel, Kimba had recognized the little kitten which she approved of being part of her pack a long time ago when the two familiars first met. A time that Ariel seem to have forgotten. Kimba raised her paw and chuffed, relaying how happy she was to see him again and beckoning him to come and play. 

► Meikyo Shisui
Cost: 10 SP
Action: Free Action (Ying/Yang pick)
Effects:

• Yin - Marks the sword art used and decreases its damage, before mitigation, by 15% (rounded up). Yin marks can stack up to max 5.
• Yang - Increases sword art damage, before mitigation, by 10% per Yin marks. (max. 50%, rounded down)

If the Yin marks are not used 2 turns in a row, on the 3rd turn they are forcibly used to heal the user for 1% per turn, for 3 turns. Meikyo Shisui also enters a forced 3 turns cooldown, even if the user's at full HP.

Description: The user sheaths their weapon and accumulate power in it over a short period of time in which, they're forced to use their sheathed weapon to engage in hand to hand combat (flavored as a martial arts variation). On release (Yang), the sword art is re-flavored as a ranged Iai shockwave. (the user draws the blade from its scabbard and slashes it in one rapid motion releasing a ranged Sword Art in the form of a crescent wave) 

Comment: Custom Skill designed to relocate raw damage, accumulate and release it in one big 'anime moment' SA. Damage output remains the almost the same when using high multiplier SAs. An increase is seen only when 'sacrificing' low multiplier SAs to Yin to then use high multiplier SA with Yang. But in return for that extra damage one needs to spend 'blank' turns doing negligible damage with low multiplier SAs
Spreadsheet with different tables comparing damage, which leads me to believe this skill is subpar compared the Extra skills:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12Gfzj0VLCN990KrTt8U0K0HQSj3LaCgEMF-oD-Rkkeo/edit?usp=sharing

Another day, another finished errand for a rather obnoxious NPC that this one would've preferred to have disappeared with the new update. Well... not really, it depended on her mood which right now was pretty good. "See you next time!" she waved to the elder seamstress, her mentor with whom she kept regular contact and offered a excuse for Ariel to come and stroll through the first floor once in a while. As always, she had Kimba, her white furred lioness guide the way through the sea of people while the blonde herself was window shopping or anything else than consciously thinking of the way they were headed.

It turned out to be a mistake, blindly following her familiar, as she didn't notice that instead of casually walking through the market area of the noob town, they slowly drifted toward its out walls. Recently, after having followed certain rumors, the scout started sending messages to informants and researching on the go. She let out a exasperated sigh and pushed the HUD in front of her away, she frowned as they were walking in the middle of the fields outside the city walls. She didn't even notice when the small notice for leaving the safe area appeared.

"Where are you taking us?" she asked with a raised eyebrow towards her companion, who let out a yawn without turning towards her and instead bolted towards Night as she picked up a unusual smell. "Wha.." the blonde didn't get to voice her question as she focused on chasing after Kimba. From a distance she recognized one of the two figures: "Watch out!" she shouted as she saw her familiar target the other player, unknown to her as of this moment.

Despite what it looked like, Kimba would slow down at the end of her run and stand in front of Night slowly sniffing her then trying to get close to sniff her footwear, hand and then stand up in her rear paws and try to lean against her to sniff her tracksuit. It seemed like she would expect something.

17/04/21
Roll ID:    189021  CD: 12 - > Cloth Armor

To his initial statement, the blonde couldn’t help but to smile and nod in agreement. “Douzo yoroshiku!” she replied, a little surprised but in a good way by his statement. She was a little surprised to learn that Hik didn't share with him the rumour, while she was already knees deep in researching it before going to investigate firsthand. A second, more determined nod, came as a validation for his assumption.

She quietly listened to their exchange and the second explanation of the rumor. She sent their informant off with a wave, guess his wounds still needed more time to heal… as did hers. But mending old wounds wasn’t her goal today, or the immediate future, so she cast the thought and most of its related feelings aside. There will be time for that later.

Once they were alone, she took a moment to finish the rest of her cocoa. “Funny how he didn’t mention the griffin to me before, I guess our destination makes sense now.” she answered and tapped on her HUD with the pencil, making it visible for both of them. On top of the table was a top-down map of the 7th floor, zoomed in and centered around a red circle. She placed her pencil in the middle of it. “That’s where we need to go. I’m not familiar with this floor so I had to do a little digging.” She then stood up and retrieved her katana, then slightly nodded towards the exit: “Ready when you are!” 

[Rank 5 Weapon Mod] Blademaster
Cost: 10 SP
Passive
Requirement: Rank 5 Weapon Skill
Effect: Allows the user to add or reallocate one Effect to one Sword Art.

• Energy cost adjusts accordingly: [AoE] +2 EN/Target hit, [Focus] / [Delay] +2 EN, [Stun] +1 EN.
• A new Effect (outside the native ones) can only be added to SAs that have none. Cannot stack more than 2 native Effects per SA.
• The SAs tree resets to default at the end of a combat sequence, any change must be declared at the start of a new sequence.
  *(detailed example: Katana native Effects: [AoE] and [Focus]; anything else is a new Effect)

Description: A new level of versatility to the standard Sword Arts tree, attained by those that push themselves past the limit.

Slightly nodding to the girl who brought her drink, Ariel didn’t take much to start sampling the beverage. Partially to distract herself from her own self-consciousness. She let out a pleased sigh as the subtle taste of strawberries helped assuage her and forced Ariel to center her focus back on the matter at hand. She quickly materialized a slender pencil and began using it as a pointer as she continued working on her HUD.

A couple of seconds passed after the unknown man sat down at her table. The blonde raised her gaze to see who decided to nonchalantly invite themselves at her table. She then turned towards Hikoru and raised a questioning eyebrow. She had previously noticed the several free seats around and the info broker should know that she wasn't the type of person that enjoyed sharing the table with randoms. She stopped her pencil midair and proceeded to lightly tapping the eraser end against the table at a somewhat slow but steady pace.

“Did you also expect to find here, one of the best served coffee In Aincrad? I’m sorry if that rumour was a bust for you as well, stranger.” she replied with a half mocking tone to Alkor, taking her time to study his appearance. She let out a small grin as she heard Hikoru almost imperceptibly click his tongue to her comment and fold his hands in front of him. Thanks to the new update, even with her keen tailor eye, she had trouble judging people’s gear quality which gave her a hint as to whom she was facing. unfortunately, she couldn’t read much off him overall, so she turned towards Hikoru again for an answer. But instead of shedding some light he simply shrugged, turned around and left the two without another word. Letting her to figure things out alone.

“Ah! Nigemashita!” she instinctively muttered, letting her cultural heritage slip. As if the altered kendo uniform she wore and the tachi resting against the side of the table weren't a dead giveaway already. She shrugged it off, then rested against the chair to face the newcomer once more. She stopped tapping her pencil and instead started twirling it between her fingers with dexterity, locking his sight with her silver eyes.  “I’m afraid we haven’t been properly introduced. My name’s Ariel. How can I help you?” she asked with a practiced smile.

It's been a long time since she had any business coming to the first floor, even longer since her travels led her outside noob town. However, she didn't mind it at all this time. Ever since she set her roots on the 22nd floor, she learned to appreciate the scenery this game had to offer, if nothing else. So she took her time walking down the only road to the small settlement of Horunka and taking in the sights until she reached what was supposed to be a food truck. 

She unceremoniously let herself in, took a moment to locate the shop owner and voiced her desire: "Good afternoon, I came here to pick up an order. The name's Ariel." she started fiddling with her HUD to transfer the Col he asked for. She frowned at the total amount that resulted from her calculation and added another value.

Greetings adventurer! If you're looking for this tailor shop, you're one of the few that knowns about the existence of one of the oldest player-run shops.
First thing you'll need to do is move past the confines of the floor 22nd's main settlement « Coral ». There is a sign with a crowned lion head pointing towards the exit you need to take, as well as others afterwards. You need to make way towards the « Forest of Memories » alongside the breathtaking views of the « Lake of Reflection ». On your small stroll you can even spot the « Home of the Weary Smith » in the distance, be sure to make time to take in the overall soothing atmosphere of this floor as you walk down the well-worn dirt path. Or if you're bold enough to try, on horseback to make haste. 

But if you want to take the scenic route, nothing beats walking and taking your time. Once you reach the forest, you will have to enter and follow the newly made path. Be sure to keep your eyes on the ground and white markings on the trees, as they can be easy to miss. A few minutes after, you should be in front of a modest yet somewhat modern red torii gate that marks the entrance to the lioness' domain, Shirajishi Valley.
There is also the option of renting a boat at the lake and following upstream, as the river serpentines into the forest. By far the fastest route, once you entered the forest, you're only a few rows away from a small dock on the right bank, near the entrance torii.

Once past the entrance the valley opens itself to you as a flat surface surrounded almost entirely by hills and mountains. 
On your right (south-west) you are greeted by a pink and white field of sakura (cherry blossoms) trees. One of the favorite pastime of the resident is hanami (flower watching), highly recommended by this guide to at least try it once.
In the middle of the domain lays a semi-open dojo at crossroads; one that lead north towards another exit leading to the Cathedral of the Forgotten where a certain powerful guild has its HQ. 
To the west, one with a sharp eyesight would notice the 'thousand' red torii gates shadowing an equally great number of stairs ascending up the mountain and leading up to a small yet well maintained, Inari Shrine.

Closer to the exit, next to the river bank east the main estate which hosts the Shirajishi-ryū. A beautiful wooden building with over twenty rooms distributed over two storeys. Now it was mostly desolated, having only three player residents but it was its owner's desire to accommodate those that would wish to join her school in the future.
Lastly, if you haven't forgotten the reason for your visit, you'd barely notice the annexes to the estate. One of them bore the old logo of a crowned lion head and the name of the tailor shop you seek. A word of caution, not to walk through the next door entrance of a Alchemy lab similarly named: « Lion's Share »

Once inside the tailor shop, in the absence of its owner most of the times, you are greeted by a redhead that appears to be in her early 20s, wearing a maid outfit.
"How can I be of service?" she asks politely, with a small bow, as someone walks through the entrance and heads towards the reception desk. The interior is pretty simple: a high bar table with a couple of chairs, a large display of already crafted items, next to the wall there's a chalk board that lists all the current Prices. Hanging to the side are several Commission forms for any who wish a personalized item. Of course there is also the reception desk behind which the owner or Claudia, the maid put in charge in her absence, greet their potential clients. Lastly windows cover almost the entirety of both sides of the entrance walls, letting players enjoy the picture like view outside. 

She heard Dracul perform a wolf’s whistle, quite loudly and sharp. It seemed like this wasn’t the first time he called a dog at his side. The yet unnamed canine obliged and seemed to already act as ‘lord’ Dracul’s loyal subject despite the blonde lioness noticing that it didn’t eat the quest item. Some sort of natural chemistry, did this game really have something like that? “Your quest was way easier than mine!” chimed the blonde with a light laugh. Things are going to get much more interesting with two familiars around here.
She sent her provisional fishing tool back into her inventory as her sharp eyesight spotted a small entrance on the other back of the river, most likely the place where the dog came from. She pulled out a blank tier three dungeon map and marked the entrance for later use. She had amassed quite a few of them by now and was dying to put them to good use in the near future.

ID# 188362  LD: 19+5 (Dungeon Found! F22 Dungeon Map#188362 Acquired!) 

 Thread END

Ariel:
+ 824 EXP | PAGE
+ 39 Fishing EXP
+ F22 Dungeon Map | #188362
+ T3 Rare Unidentified Weapon #188173
+ T3 Perfect Unidentified Weapon #188182 
+ 7482 Col 
+ 3 Materials

Dracul:
+ 700 EXP | PAGE
+ Familiar Acquired

Unique Skill roll request for Ariel. Last roll on 4/5/21 - GMT.

NIGHT:

ID: 188953 | LD: 1

To both their surprise, they notice a relatively small four legged creature making its way towards them from the opposite bank of the river. The blonde noticed it had something in its mouth. ‘Looks like the familiar found him this time.’ she thought with a pleased smile as she recast her line a little further away. If her hunch was right, then the fish near them would be disturbed in the next minutes. She looked at Dracul who didn’t take long in noticing the creature too. Ariel already saw the canine form thanks to her scouting skills and mods and judged it as peaceful since her domain was technically a mobs free area. This doggie had received special permission because it was now part of the quest. Funny how this game’s systems seem to work in their aristocrat’s favor. But as long as it didn’t put the blonde at a disadvantage, she was happy for him.

ID# 188359  CD: 5+1  LD:10+1 (NO Material! +3 F.EXP)

“You’re thinking of the 6th floor.” he added in a neutral tone. “Umu!” replied the blonde with a nod. She felt a little resistance in her hand but decided against yanking the hook out. She was starting to get a feel for this fishing business and her instinct told her that it didn’t take the bait yet. A few more weak tugs were followed by a strong one on which the blonde reacted and started pooling. It reeled slower that anything she’d fished up before. “Is this a bigger one?” she asked no one in particular between small huffs and puffs. The progress was slower when compared to the last attempts but constant as she never stopped from reeling in the line. Dracul left out a small chuckle when he saw the result of her labor while the blonde let out a hearty laugh at the sight of the shoe. Not even a fish  but a piece of junk as one might find in real life. “A big one!” chimed in the blonde as Ariel poked at it, prompting a details widow. 

ID# 188357  CD: 10+1  LD: 3+1 (Material Found! +5 F.EXP)

One would notice how strong the bond between master and familiar was between these two after only one glance. The mighty lioness acted like a spoiled house cat while Ariel wore a broad smile like a little girl enjoying her time pampering her pet. While this wasn’t a sight that told much, Dracul and others saw the two fight side by side and defeat enemies much, much bigger than them through teamwork and shared ferociousness. One can only wonder how that will get altered when Kimba will receive her new skill after the 3.0 update. Ariel has yet to pick one for her, while a couple held some potential of boosting the blonde’s fighting power, others helped her with her scouting and fishing so naturally, it was a tough decision for her which she chose to delay.

As she felt a small tug again, she yanked the fish out of the river and straight in the lioness' mouth. It showed that the two were always completely in sync, in tender moments like before or fast paced times like these.

ID# 188311  CD: 8+1  LD: 2+1 (Material Found! +5 F.EXP)

The blonde gently tugs at the line, no feedback, it looks like nothing bit yet. It looked like the first two chests were fished out of pure luck. Doesn’t matter, this all seemed to accumulate to her fishing experience pool even if not catching anything seemed to fill the bar at a slower pace.
“But returning to the story in itself. I wandered the forest, slayed anything that crossed my path and that didn’t catch my fancy. She must’ve smelled the familiar food I had on me or else I don’t know how she knew exactly where to pounce and steal it from me. Because that is what she did, this little menace stole the food from me and ate it by herself.” of course, Ariel made some leaps in the truth of her story. One that she wasn’t eager to share it without some alterations here and there. Luckily she wasn’t facing Dracul but the river so he couldn’t call her bluff.

ID# 188305  CD: 4+1  LD:18+1 (NO Material! +3 F.EXP)

Luckily, information was a commodity she was in possession or can easily get a hold of when needed, such as this time. Her hand danced through the many options on her HUD until she reached the item she was looking for, a floor index. One of the most important reading items for every player to possess which will hopefully tell her what this ‘eye’ is, if it turns out to be a location as the blonde initially surmised. “There you are.” she muttered softly before she traced the text with her finger while mentally reading the description. 

She continued to cross checked with the rumor info next to her, almost indifferent to her surroundings until a familiar laugh drew her attention. She discreetly turned towards Hikoru and the unknown man he was now talking with near her, decided to eavesdrop on their conversation as she sipped from her cup. She almost spilled it on herself as she heard three names not so many players now knew off. The blonde drew unwanted attention on her and sent away with a dismissive wave, the waitress that was headed towards the blonde to most likely offer help.

Oh course, her little slip didn’t go unnoticed by Hikoru who grinned at Alkor’s last question. He then nodded towards the blonde that undoubtedly just caught the attention of at least half the cafe’s occupants. “She came to ask about the rumor too, despite our… past.” He slightly pauses, hesitance visible on his features before continuing. “She might be open to working with others, with you.”

Ariel was trying to make herself look busy, her chance to listen some more into their conversation was zero, now that several pairs of eyes were directed at her. She let out a defeated sigh and tried to take another sip of her cup, only to sadly discover that it was now empty. She raises her hand to get the waitress’ attention and orders another cup of hot cocoa.

He seemed to have taken the bait. Dracul never seemed to have a need for a familiar, at least, that is what he said to himself many times. As he was more attuned to alchemy than combat, he judged the familiar skills useless to him and that extended to familiar themselves. When he was introduced to Kimba, it only served to further cement his belief. Even now, after speaking with the gypsy, he grinned at the blonde and tightened the grip on the food. Then he arched backwards and threw the item with all his might, it went as far as it crossed over to the other side of the small river and into the nearby shrubbery. The blonde was actually surprised to see him act to uncharacteristically, usually it would take more to phase him like this. 

She felt something pull at the end of her line and expecting another chest, she once more pulled on her rod with full force. This time it got out more smoothly than before and with a valid reason. It seems whatever gods there were in Aincrad they favored the white furred lioness as Ariel caught a snack for her.

ID# 188221  CD: 8+1  LD: 4+1 (Material Found! +5 F.EXP)