Greg Baxen

Greg wasn't gonna waste this chance. He had recovered enough stamina to waste these things with <Sharp Nail>, and that's exactly what he was gonna do! Greg lunges, ready to stab these things to death!

ID: 52688

BD 7: Hit!

The spirits were dead before they even knew what hit 'em. Greg sheathes his sword. "This run has been frustrating so far, mostly due to terrible luck. I really need THAT to change soon." He mutters, once again complaining about his abysmal luck.

Elemental Guardians: DEAD.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 1/18 EN.

Greg, despite his usual inactivity tendencies (Which he had been trying to get over), had been one of the first to arrive. He was a member of the KoB now (at least, he figured that he was. He did attend the Social, didn't he?). He took a look at the note and promptly drunk the punch. Enough that the glitter started taking effect, anyway. He walked up and greeted Mack before walking off to get changed into swimwear (Because what else would one enter the water with)? Before slowly getting in. He would have done a cannonball in were it not for two factors. 1: This was a hot spring, not a swimming pool. 2: Rule #1 of all hot water baths: get in slowly. He didn't want to end up scalding himself because of his carelessness. He had been in a sauna before but THIS was something else. Once he had gotten used to the temperature, all Greg could mutter was "So relaxing..." as he felt himself loosen up. It seems he was still a kid in some ways after all.

Greg opted to wait for a moment to recover his energy so he could unleash <Rage Spike> again, due to this being the most cost-effective action. With that being said, Greg simply prepares to avoid any incoming attacks, like the ones the Elemental Guardians were sure to throw his way.

ID: 52208

BD 2 Ignored

MD 1: Critical failure...

Or so he thought? The Elemental Guardians were too busy bickering over the whole fireball incident to pay attention to Greg at all. This brought a few chuckles out, before Greg regained his composure.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 4/18 EN.

Elemental Guardians 1-4: 3/36 HP. 9 Mit.

"I'm trying! I just need to make sure I hit. Problem being that terrible luck dictates that I won't." Greg called back. He was going to take these down, damn it! He readies <Rage Spike>, which, as he worked out earlier, will deal the exact amount of damage to reduce the health of these stupid mobs to 0. He lunges!

ID: 52132

BD 2: Miss!

Greg almost trips over his own feet while lunging, and it results in his attack going wide! The Elemental Guardians attempt to capitalize on this...!

MD 2-3=-1: Miss!

They're in such a formation that the fireballs of one Elemental Guardian hit each other! It did no damage but it did lead to a funny moment with them fumbling about trying to get up as they were knocked over by each other's fireballs. Greg chuckled at this. Unfortunately, he had to wait before he could use <Rage Spike> again.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 3/18 EN.

Elemental Guardians 1-4: 3/36 HP. 9 Mit.

Greg sighed. He was gonna have to try to destroy these things before they could cause him any serious harm. He attempted <Lightning Fall> again. The gears in his mind were once again working. 'Even though <Lightning Fall> won't one-shot, it'll leave these jerks with 3 HP, enough for me to take down with <Rage Spike> exactly. And if this hits, I'll have enough energy to use it instantly afterwards. If not, I'll have to wait a turn extra for each miss.' Greg thought to himself.

ID: 52129

BD 7: Hit!

Greg's electricity field zaps the Elemental Guardians. 'Good!' Greg thought. 'Now I just have to follow up with <Rage Spike>!' He thought, but while he was stuck in his thoughts, the mobs decided to try and strike again!

MD 3-3=0: Miss!

The fireballs go so far wide they couldn't hit Greg if he tried to get hit by them!

Greg: 72/72 HP, 4/18 EN.

Elemental Guardians 1-4: 3/36 HP.

'Welp' was Greg's only thought as Dom just tore through the enemies like they were nothing. Greg decided he himself would try to contribute more and engaged a different set of Elemental Guardians. Greg's mind set in gear. 'These things have 9 Mitigation and 36 HP. My strongest AoE Sword Art is <Lightning Fall>, which does 42 damage, meaning it'll do 33 to these guys... dang it! Just short!' Greg thought to himself. He may as well make things easier for Dom to finish by attacking them anyway. He performs the motions for <Lightning Fall>! 

ID: 52127

BD 5: Miss!

The sparking electricity just misses the targets. "Argh, that didn't work..." Greg mutters. The Elemental Guardians retaliated by attempting to hurl fireballs at Greg! 

MD 4-3=1: Miss!

The fireballs fizzle out long before reaching Greg, causing him to chuckle.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 17/18 EN.

Elemental Guardians 1-4: 36 HP, 9 Mit.

Greg nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready. You want to go ham? Then go ham all you like." Greg said. "Not that I could stop you anyway, I'm only level 18." He quipped. "I'll just stand back here and pick off any weaker mobs that show up. That way we can take down more enemies quicker and beat this boss much faster." Greg told the Berserker. "And I am fully healed from that close encounter with those stupid Fire Dogs, so I should be okay for now." He finishes.

Greg nodded. "So it does make doing quests like these either. Recovering health on hit makes me think that it refers to a Berserker's 'bloodlust' in a sense." Greg stated. "Could be being more prone to violence be a side effect of the Berserker skill? It would make sense..." Greg mused. He then saw Dom leap into a sub-dungeon in the middle of a river of lava. Greg rolled his eyes. "Talk about turning up the heat..." He deadpanned, before following the battle-hungry Berserker.

Greg thought about it. "Yeah, there is that. A very good point you've made just there. But Unique skills do come with their innate advantages as well, on top of the Sword Arts they give." Greg elaborated. "I mean, if the Berserker skill didn't give you ANYTHING but Sword Arts that you didn't use, why would you even have it in the first place?" Greg continued. "With Zelrius' <Dual Blades> case, it seems he benefits from both weapons' stat bonuses. I'm not sure what  <Berserker> gives, but it's definitely got a passive bonus if my theory is correct." Greg stated, coming from personal experience of being promptly hurled into a nearby wall by Zelrius' <The Eclipse> Sword Art. How he survived that, even with the Arena's 200 Overhealth, he'll never know. 

"Well, yeah, Unique Skills make pretty much everything but Bossfights a Cakewalk." Greg quipped. "At least that's what I'm assuming judging by how powerful you and Zelrius are." Greg added, before beginning to think. He thought about it for a moment. Unique Skills seemed to give unique Sword Arts to their wielders, judging by the single skill Greg saw of Zelrius' <Dual Blades> skill. He figured that the Berserker would also have powerful Sword Arts at his disposal, too, aside from the regular Two-Handed Straight Sword Arts that were available to all players.

Greg rolled his eyes as he saw Dom charge into the fray while he continued recuperating and staying out of combat until his energy was fully restored. Speaking of which... Greg looked up at his stamina gauge and lo and behold, he saw it filling up in front of him. Smiling, he got up and readied for combat, in case Cerberus tried to attack him over Dom. "There we go...!" He says quietly as he gets up. Now that he was rested he could fight again! 

Greg: 72/72 HP, 18/18 EN.

All Greg could mutter as Dom just charged headfirst was "God damn it..." before following the Berserker, but at a distance enough that he wouldn't draw aggro from mobs. He was still recovering from fighting those stupid Hellhounds and he needed a moment to regain his stamina. He watched as his HP returned to full. At least he was at full health again. That's a start, at least. In his head, Greg could imagine Ssendom yelling out "LEEROY JEEEEEEEEENKIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!" at the top of his lungs as he charged into the fray. Greg was tempted to groan, but decided not to.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 6/18 EN (1 Post to Full EN).

Greg sighed. "I had a plan and then terrible luck messed it up, and now I've got to wait for myself to heal up and rest, so I can use <Sharp Nail> again. Without it, I can't take on the Hellhounds effectively." Greg replied, watching as his health and stamina went up. As he did this, he thought about why he was here and what he planned to do in the future. He resolved that no matter what, there was one thing he would make certain. "I WILL survive." he mutters to himself. He was going to have to wait, but it was better than charging in and getting killed.

Greg: 67/72 HP, 5/18 EN. (2 posts to full EN).

Greg smiled as the Phoenix healed him. "Thanks!" He said, giving Dom a thumbs-up. He could miss four more times before being unable to one-shot these things. He just had to pray that he managed to hit before then. Greg lunged with <Sharp Nail> once again.

ID: 51955

BD 7: Hit! (6*3*2=36 Damage!)

Greg, getting sick and tired of these mutts, let out three powerful thrusts, skewering the four and causing them to disintegrate into little pixels. Greg let out a cry of "FINALLY!" while throwing his hands up in the air, before stopping and letting himself and his stamina regenerate.

Greg: 61/72 HP, 4/18 EN.

Hellhounds 1-4: DEAD (30-36=-6).

This was going nowhere, and Greg didn't like that. He wanted these stupid Hellhounds dead, damn it! He once again lunges using <Sharp Nail>!

ID: 51951

BD 3: Miss!

His attack once again misses, as he looks to see only two of the Dogs lunging at him. Were they taunting him?! Either way, Greg prepared to move...

MD 10: Super Critical! +2 Damage! (18+2-7)*2=26 Damage total!

Greg grimaces as the bites do actually hit him for once, as he wasn't fast enough. His health bar drops to the yellow zone.. Greg was thankful, at least, that all four of them didn't attack him at that moment. If they did, he would've died. That wasn't a thought he wanted to further explore. The hellhounds seemed weaker than normal Floor 9 Mobs, (Instead more being something which would be found on floor 6). which also helped Greg's case. Either way, he needed to back off, or he wouldn't get lucky a second time, and that would likely be the end of him. "Damn it! I could use some help here!" Greg called out. 

Greg: 46/72 HP, 15/18 EN.

Hellhounds 1-4: 30/30 HP.

Greg nodded at Dom's request before, before trying <Sharp Nail> again and rushing the Hellhounds. He was going to hit this time, damn it! 

ID: 51936

BD 2: Miss!

Greg's attack went even wider than before. Greg groaned. "Not this again..." referring to his absolutely sucky luck at actually hitting things with an attack. Shaking his frustration off, he prepares to evade the attacks of the hellhounds, who try to bite him once again.

MD 6-3=3: Miss!

Greg once again succeeds in evading the attacks of the oncoming horde of fire-dogs. The two sides were currently at a stalemate. Greg needed to break it soon, before his stamina ran dry.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 16/18 EN.

Hellhounds 1-4: 30/30 HP.

"Well, let's get to work, because there are the first Hell Hounds!" Greg said, pointing towards four rather angry-looking Hellhounds. Drawing his sword, He moves towards them and begins attacking! He attempts to strike at the Hell Hounds using <Sharp Nail>, thrusting his blade towards the hounds!

ID: 51926

BD 3: Miss!

Greg's thurst goes wide just a bit. In response, the hellhounds attempt to mob Greg and tear into him by biting him!

MD 5-3=2: Miss!

Their attacks go wider than Greg's, and they completely miss their target. Greg is annoyed at his terrible luck. "What next, these things managing to crit me?!" Greg yells to nobody in particular.

Greg: 72/72 HP, 17/18 EN.

Hell Hounds 1-4: 30/30 HP.

Greg came out to the city and approached Ssendom. "Alright, I'm good to go!" He explains to the Berserker, giving him a thumbs up as he explains the plan. "Since the Hell Hounds we have to kill are fairly weak, only having 30 HP. I can actually down them in one hit by using one of my stronger Sword Arts. Only once, though, as Sharp Nail still takes too much Stamina for me to use twice without a period of rest." He explains. "After that, there's Cerberus. Should be easy enough." Greg quips.

Greg was feeling pleased about the success of levelling in the previous quest and wanted to continue speeding things along. Thus, he opted to take on the quest <Guardian of Fire> this time, seeing as it granted the most SP of any quest that didn't have too large a risk of death. It also helps that the mobs shown in the quest, the Hellhound itself included, are all relatively easily dispatched. They needed to kill three Hellhounds per player, which, with Greg and Ssendom doing this quest as a two-man unit, meant 6 hounds in total. Then there was the three-headed Cerberus. Assuming they find another advanced Dungeon, Greg would obtain an absolutely massive 7 SP from this quest. It also helped that Greg was immune to the heat damage due to having the <Survival> skill.

Taking this with Ssendom.

Greg whistled. "Nice one!" Greg complimented, before taking a look at his rewards. There was a fairly large amount of Col and Mats here. However, he didn't need the mats, so he sent the 6 he received from the dungeon (The only Mats he obtained here) to Dom. As for the Col he obtained...

ID: 51766.

LD 11. Total Col Received: 1500!

He got a whopping 1500 col, over half the amount he had previously. Damn! He had also grown in level, too! He was now level 17, and gained a whopping 5 SP. He knows what he's gonna use that on! Greg smiled as the quest was cleared!

QUEST COMPLETE!

Greg gains 1500 Col and 5 SP! Greg grew to level 18 (Since I grew to 17 in a different thread)! He also obtained the <Essence of Steel> item!

Ssendom gains 15090 Col, 50 mats and 4 SP! Ssendom grew to level 44!

In response to Dom's last comment, Greg replies. "I know. I seem to have absolutely terrible luck when it comes to hitting things so I think an accuracy build is best for me." He says, before attacking the snow ghosts again with <Vertical Square>.

ID: 51753

BD 10: Super Critical! +2 Base Damage!

Greg feels a burst of energy as he slashes the ghosts so quickly that they're unaware they've been slashed until they dissolve into little pixels just like the rest. Greg wasn't even sure how he did it. What he did know, however, was that that particular attack was a super critical. "Okay, so I remark about having terrible luck and then I score a super critical right afterwards." Greg deadpans.  "I swear, this world just wants to mess with me sometimes." Greg complains.

Greg: 64/64 HP, 1/16 EN.

Snow Ghosts 5-8: DEAD (16-24=-8)

Greg nodded before rushing the other snow spirits. He once again prepared to use <Vertical Square>. Hey, it worked once, so it should work again, right? He wasn't going to use THAT line as it would pretty much guarantee that things go wrong. 

ID: 51747

BD 4: Miss!

...And of course things go wrong anyway as Greg's attack goes wide. The four Snow Spirits shoot Icicles at Greg in an attempt to skewer him in response. He didn't even use the line "What could possibly go wrong?"!

MD 7-3 Evasion= 4: Miss!

Greg's <Coat of the Azure Wind> put in the work there, as it allowed him to avoid the assault, though it was relatively difficult.

Greg: 64/64 HP, 8/16 EN.

"I'll give it a shot." Greg told the Berserker. "My strongest Art for this situation would be Sharp Nail, but that comes with the problem that I can only use it once before running low on stamina, and I don't exactly have an optimal weapon (Hence why I decided on this quest first). However, assuming they're about the strength of normal floor mobs and not the Snow Golems we faced earlier, I should be able to take 'em. In fact, depending on how strong they are I may not even NEED Sharp Nail." Greg explained. Sharp Nail was an AoE art that costed 12 stamina and Greg was level 16. It was simple math that using Sharp Nail would leave him on a mere 4 stamina, even if he only used it once.

The first four Snow Spirits started moving towards Greg. In return, his sword glowed and he charged in return, readying to use the <Vertical Square> Sword Art. Given his base damage, this should be just enough to one-shot, given it hits...!

ID: 51734

BD 7: Hit!

Greg unleashes a devastating four-slash combo in midair, which resulted in the demise first four Snow Spirits. Greg grinned. Dom wasn't kidding when he said they were easy. "I'm gonna be honest, I expected a bit more of a challenge. I'm not complaining, though." the blue-clad swordsman quipped.

Snow Spirits 1-4: DEAD (16-16=0).

Greg: 64/64 HP, 9/16 EN.

Greg jumped down, following behind Ssendom. Things were going well, especially since they just found a sub-dungeon, which benefits both Dom and Greg greatly. Dom because it grants him EXP and Mats, while for Greg, it's purely the EXP that's enticing. Greg started running calculations in his head. Based on the EXP needed to level up, and that it increases every 10 levels, Greg figured that he would gain 1 level for every adventure like this, or possibly 2 levels, until he was level 40, assuming the sub-dungeon was an advanced one every time. This means that it might a while, at least a month, he'd say, but by the end of it, he'd be viable to head out to the front lines. On top of this, he would pick up an incredibly large number of SP along the way, resulting in getting lots of new skills. Yes, this was going great! Now all he needed to do was avoid kicking the bucket...