Lycan

The young swordsman snickered at Arc's compliment. The merc accepted his invitations without hesitation much to his counterpart's approval. 

"Mobs, huh? Sure, I could use some Col. A cold ale and warm steak aren't free afterall." Lycan followed Arc's gesture down the plains. There, in the orange haze of the setting sun, grazed a massive boar. Beside it, two slightly smaller kin shared in the plain's bounty. Lycan's amber eyes narrowed on the trio with a studious gaze.

"Reckon the big one has something good to offer." Lycan summarized.

His hand reached up to Harbinger's familiar touch and loosed his blade from its scabbard. 

"Reckon now is as good as ever." He added. "I get point."

Lycan offered a nod to the two-hander and before the response could be made, the teen took a direct approach on the pack. As the gap closed between his foes, Harbinger's edge hummed with the assistance of Cardinal. The bought his sword arm across his chest and waited for the proper timing. About two meters, per his previous experience.

Lycan relaxed the tension in his arm and Cardinal gave flight to his body.

Faster than any human speed could manage, Lycan snapped the remaining gap in a blink of an eye. Steel sang through the air with a scream, biting two visible arcs across the Feral Boar's broadside. The swine bellowed a shrill cry, stirring the small group to action. Free from Cardinal's puppetry, Lycan brought his blade across and blunted the tusked blow of his victim. The two smaller boars turned on him and charged. The first missed by a deft dodge on the boy's behalf. The second opened a red lattice on Lycan's ankle with a graze of its tusk.

The swordsman bounded back and rooted his stance. With eyes locked on the targets at hand, the teen tried to position his body to block the view of his new acquaintance. Lycan hoped the maneuver would permit Arc to take advantage of their foe's obstructed view and strike from a vantage.

RGQ is registered [HERE]. Closed to Galilea. Levels at start of quest are Lycan <7> & Galilea <9>

"Please! Don't attack!" cried a small fairy, he tiny hands held up to defend herself. In front of her stood a young man, clad in navy blues and deep maroons. His sword, Harbinger, hummed with Cardinal's assist system just inches away from the petite creature. With eyes stern, grip firm, and curiosity in his mind, he staved a killing blow.

"What are you?" The question left Lycan's lips like a command rather than a question.

"Sparrow!" the pixie cried out, fluttering her wings and hesitantly glancing at the edge of his weapon.

"Sparrow?" Lycan repeated, his voice softening but only slightly. "You're a fairy - just another monster to kill."

"No! Please!" Sparrow winced further, yet still hovered in place instead of fleeing.

Lycan narrowed his eyes. The hum of Cardinal's assist faded from Harbinger's steel and the swordsman lowered his blade.

"What do you want?" again, another command instead of a question.

Sparrow peaked at him through braced arms, eyeing the lowered blade.

"Help," she stated plainly. Hesitant, she lowered her guard, and Lycan could see the fear and desperation on her face. "Please..."

The swordsman looked around for any signs of another. His brow raised, he asked, "With what?"

"Please! My village!" Sparrow cried, fluttering closer to Lycan. He took a step back. "These... These things! They're killing us! They came out of no where overnight! I don't know what to do! You have to help me!"

'I've never heard a fairy ask for help before...' the platinum youth reflected. 'Why should I care? She's just a floor mob. Wait...'

Lycan narrowed his vision and activated the UI interface. A red marker should have hovered over the fairy's head. Instead, there was none.

'An NPC?'

"Please..." she pleaded, tears moistening her tiny green eyes.

"Fine, show me the way."

"Thank you!" Sparrow zipped and flitted about, her blonde hair whipping about in its braid. "Thank you so much! Hurry! Follow me!"

And without further notice, the little pixie darted off with novice swordsman hot on her trail.

 

Lycan snatched the potion off his table and turned to the girl. Panic lapsed only for a moment when he witnessed the girl barely clad in silken sleepwear. The shimmering fabric hung lightly to her form, leaving little for imagination. He snarled while he struggled with an internal moral dilemma and his chest wrenched into a knot.

"Lye..." he heard her whimper as limbs went limp and head tilted to the side with closed eyes.

Lycan glanced to the upper left of his peripheral.

'Still green...'

The girl wasn't in any immediate danger to her health, but he couldn't leave her like this. Lycan swallowed his chivalry for the moment and took a kneel beside Esther. With one arm wrapped around her waist, he brought the concoction to her lips. He tried to lift her slightly and her head only listed limply to the side. Her lilac locks cascaded over rosy cheeks. He tried to get her to drink one more time, to no avail.

'Damn it, damn it all!'

The teen racked his brain for a solution.

"Ether?!" he barked as he gently shook her.

No response.

He shook his head, trying to bar the idea that spurred into his mind. If he did it, he might be able to reverse the effects, but the antidote in his hands was an educated guess at best. If he failed, he'd only be making it worse and if any onlookers saw...

Lycan focused on her lips - soft, slightly parted and breathing ever so shallow.

"F*** it!"

Lycan closed his eyes, dumped the beaker into his mouth, and pressed his lips against hers. Then, he forced the warm, thick goo from his lips to hers. While he tried to force her to drink, a small amount streamed from the corner of his lips. After getting as much as he could inside her, Lycan pulled away and wiped at his lips.

"Esther?" he called out.

'Please work...'

He looked upon her nearly exposed form with nothing but the utmost concern and a just hint of guilt.

'I should have never brought her here...'

<- 1 Addel's Antidote >

 ID# 67355: CD: (8+1)=9 Success!
<- 1 Material, +3 Alchemy EXP>
Name: Addel's Antidote
Job Level: 4 Professional
Item ID: 67355
Item Type: Potion
Tier: [1]
Quality: [Uncommon]
Enhancements: [Antidote]
Description: [A counter-agent to a non-lethal status effect potion. Thrown hastily together in a simple glass beaker, it tastes of bitter, unrefined roots, herbs, and minerals.]

LINK: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/13113-pp-f1-earning-a-living-alchemic-remedy/?do=findComment&comment=487226

"Esther?!" The teen shot a sinister scowl at Addel, thrusting the tip of Harbinger toward his throat.

"Watch where you sleep, Addel," Lycan hissed, "If I find you, you'll never wake up. God forbid I see you in the field. I promise you, I will cut you down."

The promise of violence was clear upon the youth's tone and in the faint glow of the alley, his amber eyes seemed to glint with demonic light. Teeth clenched, fangs bared, and sword arm trembling with unfiltered rage, Lycan's message hit Addel with the utmost clarity. The shady alchemist stepped back, hands up, but grin wide with ill intent.

"You should be thanking me," Addel cackled. "Look."

Lycan turned to Esther and his mask of malice faded to concern. The girl hand removed her overcoat, squirming and moaning. Her hands tugged at her top, with every intention of removing it. Her face red, eyes hazed, and legs weak, she clasped onto him. Lycan's mind ran with what possibly Addel could have given her. What did he specialize in? What orders did he take? What ingredients did he use?

As Esther's chest heaved and she continued to claw at her clothes, Lycan bit at his lip enough to send motes of red damage pixels into the air.

"Damn it Addel! What did you give her--"

As Lycan turned, the shady dealer was absent, leaving just the girl and the boy.

"S**t!" he swore, shooting his attention back at Esther. His eyes catching a glimpse of something he shouldn't have, the teen quickly diverted his gaze. Scrambling for ideas, he threw his arms around Esther and lifted her off her feet. Cradled in his grip, he rushed over to his stand and set her into a corner far from any stray pair of eyes that might catch a glance through the buildings.

"Stay here," he commanded, trying to avoid seeing her in and even more vulnerable state.

Lycan snapped up to his stand, pressed his hand on the prompt to his lockbox and feverishly removed the entirety of his equipment. A mass array of windows opened in front of him in a semicircle as his eyes scanned the hundreds of configurations for the unlimited types of potions Cardinal supported.

"Damn it," Lycan hissed. "Not that... no... not that one... Cold.... Cold..."

His words became a slur of thoughts given voice.

"There! There!" he shouted.

The teen plucked some ingredients from his storage and threw them into his <Alchemist's Pestle>. He hurriedly worked them into a fine mash and scraped them into a large beaker. His fingers worked the screens like a pianist playing the final crescendo. In the heat of his efforts, a final window appeared, closing out the vast array surrounding him.

<<Success!>> 

<+1 Addel's Antidote >

 

ID# 67297: BD: (9+2) CRITICAL HIT!

"Yup," Lycan replied to her comment about his shop. "I like mythology and there's plenty of beasts out there. Plus..."

The teen rolled up his sleeve to expose an unusual sight in the SAO world, a tattoo.

"Some weird NPC gave me this when I first logged in," he continued while he ran his fingers over its strange lines. "He called it the Mark of the Beast. Strange, huh?"

When Lycan looked up, Esther had his back to him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the shapes in the darkness. The moment his brain processed what was happening, his eyes shot wide. The boy's hand shot to Harbinger's hilt, Cardinal hummed along its length as he drew the steel from scabbard, and in a flash of light which broke the darkness for a brief moment, Lycan stabbed the weapon between Esther's hand and her lips. The crisp clink of metal against clay sent the cup and the remainder of its contents skipping through the alley until it shattered to pixels.

The faint glow of Cardinal's assist system left his blade as it hummed dangerously close to the girl's face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lycan snapped Harbinger toward the stranger and slid his body between the girl and the vendor.

"What did you give her, Addel?!" The teen roared. In his sudden outburst, the other locals rose from their rugs, stands, and stools then bolted far from conflict.

"A sample..." The sinister blonde hissed with a toothy grin.

'F***! F***! F***! I leave her alone for one goddamn second...!'

Lycan clenched his teeth and spun around to Esther, clutching her by the shoulders.

"Did you drink it?!" Lycan asked with a shake.

A deviant if Lycan ever saw one, Addel specialized in the bad and the worse. His clients near always did business robed from head to toe. Lycan knew the types, but he didn't know what exactly it was the vendor specialized in. For Esther's sake and the vendor's own life, he hoped it wasn't lethal.

"Did you drink it?!" Lycan repeated.

"I'm sure," Lycan replied, feeling the clasp of the girl but keeping his eyes forward.

'If hunch serves me right...' he churned in his mind, 'A quest centre like that would streamline the process. No need to fetch an old man an herb for his daughter, or run back and forth from point A to point B, C, D, & E... If she can successfully make a craft with the materials, it should prompt her...'

Unlike the streets, the back alleys lacked lamps for light. Some stalls lit candles, barely lighting faces hidden beneath hoods. Dim beams of of streetlight streaked across the ground and revealed the subtle features of players with sunken eyes and unsavory grins. Here, Lycan starkly contrasted his marketplace competitors. Esther, however, stood out like a rose among sewage.

"Almost there," Lycan stated with a gesture to the dead end of the alley and a crudely assembled stand. Held above it by two twisted planks of pine, hung a sign on rusted chain, Beast Bane Brews. Scrawled in white paint and barely visible in the darkness, its craftsmanship begged several questions from the art major.

"Here we are," he halted and held out his hands to the stand. "Home sweet home."

An eerie cackle of one of the alley dwellers sounded as they watched the uncanny scene unfold. Lycan had been so distracted by the hug from earlier, the betrayal of Axios, and his own assumptions of how to complete Esther's quest, he completely forgot how this would look to the girl.

Seeing the stretch of decrepit alley behind her and lecherous eyes pinned on her form, Lycan finally realized how bad it looked.

"Uh... We can... come back in the morning if you like..." Lycan added as the gravity of the scene settled in.

"Yeah, I'm, uh, fine. Just not used to being thanked," he diverted.

'God, when was the last time...?'

She mentioned something about a generic quest pick up shop. Lycan scrunched his brows in thought and tried to recall any such place. Then, his expression fell flat with irritation.

'Axios, you prick...'

The teen was sure the quick witted information broker Lycan met on his first day was smiling somewhere. Likely, Axios sat in some Inn with the other brokers, surrounded by alcohol, and blathering on about how he convinced some kid to walk all the way to the other side of the Town of Beginnings to speak to some crazy old NPC man...

"A generic shop, huh?" Lycan grumbled.

'When I see you again, I swear I'm gunna--'

The two were clear inside the safe zone by now. Street lamps began to flicker to life as the sun dipped further in the sky. The streets started to thin and the faint glow from building windows danced through sheer curtains and wood blinds.

"No," Lycan continued despite his inner musing of ways to kick the stupid out of his broker contact. "I don't think that place is going to have the right things for you to try. Why don't we go to my stand down in Picket Alley? Its a bit of a walk though, so stick close."

Picket Alley, a little dirty secret off the beaten path of the Town's main marketplace. There, vendors who were just starting, had fallen from grace, or peddled less savory wares and services sold to players willing to take the detour. As an alley, no one owned their the buildings that formed it. Instead, the alley was lined with rickety wooden stands or rugs peppered with wares. To many, they saw a place of filth, but to Lycan, he saw it as his own and no matter the condition, that thought carried a sense of pride.

Her soft skin touched his and Lycan's hairs stood on end like a cat spooked by a shadow. He felt her clutch him tightly, imprinting her frail form upon his. Swamped by her aroma and silken locks, she finally pulled away. Eyes wide, lips sealed in a rigid line, and limbs rigid, Lycan just stood there. The teen felt as if his cheeks were about to leak magma and uncomfortably radiated with warmth.

"Uh..." he dragged on. What would he say anyway? Thanks? No, not with a guilty, blush ridden face like that. Maybe, I promise I'm not a pervert? No, too shifty...

His lack of words was thankfully filled with Esther's retort and thwack of her own forehead. Lycan just watched her as she rambled nervously, only his eyes moving from his awkward and frigid posture.

"I'm... I'm good," he choked, feeling his body relax and the fiery heat of embarrassment begin to simmer away from his face. Instead of a bop, he just pat her head with a flat palm as if she were a hot kettle and he was testing the warmth.

"Anyway~" he chimed, spinning on his heel and beginning a march back to town.

'Manhandled...' he loomed over mentally, but shook his head vigorously to rid any deviant thoughts before they could manifest.

"Y-yeah," Lycan stuttered, coughed, and then corrected his adolescent tone. "Yeah, I wouldn't worry about the failing. The odds you'll burn up all those resources in one go is pretty slim."

'She's so warm...'

"Ahem!, yeah..."

By the time the neared the Town's gate, the sun dipped near the horizon. Blues and whites slowly grow warmer with oranges, reds, and purples. The civilians tending the gardens had all but packed up and turned in to sell, use, or share their spoils for the day. Even the trainees in the field turned in for the night, wise to the dangers of midnight combat. Danger ruled the night in Aincrad. Everyone still alive, knew this one way or another.

"Where did you say you picked up the quest?" Lycan asked, knowing well that it started in as many various ways as there were players.

Lycan turned to Ariel with a scowl.

"You're a terrible at empathy, you know that?" scolded the teen. He snapped his eyes back to the group in the distance, holding the leaves further apart for a better view.

The two PKer's looked to be at each other's throats with a mousy, lilac-haired girl being tugged about like a chihuahua on a leash. Seeing Esthar shaking, avoiding eye contact, and looking somewhere between embarrassment and fear, Lycan gripped the foliage tight with anger. Then, from the corner of his eyes, he watched a blur of white make headway toward the commotion. The teen turned to Ariel with a mixture of confusion and frustration on his face just as she asked if he wanted to make an appearance.

Lycan opened his mouth to reply.

'The ---- would I do?' he asked himself. His mind reflected on the half hour struggle he had with a floor two mob.

His knuckles whitened with the feeling inadequacy, and he clenched his teeth.

"No..." came his reply, thick with defeat.

He turned back toward the players and focused on Esther, then to Baldur. Lycan knew Baldur was good people. He didn't know why Oikawa, the smith, had become a PKer, but he hoped their intentions were for Esther's benefit. Lycan didn't know the situation, but he felt deep down that the girl's involvement wasn't deserved nor natural. Angered at only himself and the situation, Lycan let go of the branches and lost sight of the group.

He flopped down on the tree's bough and folded his arms across his chest like a pouting child.

"It's bull---!" Lycan proclaimed. "Just because they have numbers greater than mine, I couldn't do a thing if I tried..."

"It's bull---..." repeated the youth, this time softer.

"Let's get the hell out of here, Ariel," Lycan commanded, shifting his weight so he slipped from the tree and landed below. "I gotta go kill something. Sitting around isn't making me any stronger..."

The novice swordsman plucked Harbinger from the grass and fixed it to his back. His otherwise gentle features remained twisted and disfigured with anger. 

Perhaps I'm not understanding the above eval. Are you appraising items that were given to you? If so, what items were they? Also, if you're trying to "stock" appraisals, I'm going to have to invalidate these rolls... There's no link to the originating post either.

I need more information to approve your request.

2 hours ago, Rain said:

  Hide contents

Item: Minor Mitigation Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67153
Roll: 8 (7+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancement: +9 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 9.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Minor Mitigation Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67162
Roll: 8 (7+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancement: +9 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 9.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Minor Mitigation Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67165
Roll: 7 (6+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancement: +9 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 9.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Minor Mitigation Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67172
Roll: 7 (6+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancement: +9 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 9.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Greater Damage Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67154
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancement: +2 Damage
Description: A vial of black liquid with gold sediments; bitter taste; increases damage by 2.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Greater Damage Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67158
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancement: +2 Damage
Description: A vial of black liquid with gold sediments; bitter taste; increases damage by 2.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Greater Damage Potion I
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67160
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancement: +2 Damage
Description: A vial of black liquid with gold sediments; bitter taste; increases damage by 2.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Crafter's Tonic
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67155
Roll: 11 (10+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: Crafter's Respite
Description: A vial of golden yellow liquid with a fragrant scent. Instantly resets all crafting attempts, so you can craft again during the same crafting day.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Crafter's Tonic
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67156
Roll: 12 (11+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: Crafter's Respite
Description: A vial of golden yellow liquid with a fragrant scent. Instantly resets all crafting attempts, so you can craft again during the same crafting day.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Crafter's Tonic
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67157
Roll: 12
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: Crafter's Respite
Description: A vial of golden yellow liquid with a fragrant scent. Instantly resets all crafting attempts, so you can craft again during the same crafting day.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Major Damage Potion II
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67161
Roll: 11 (10+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: +6 Damage
Description: A vial of black liquid with gold sediments; bitter taste; increases damage by 6.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Major Damage Potion II
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67163
Roll: 12
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: +6 Damage
Description: A vial of black liquid with gold sediments; bitter taste; increases damage by 6.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Major Damage Potion II
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67166
Roll: 12
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: +6 Damage
Description: A vial of black liquid with gold sediments; bitter taste; increases damage by 6.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Major Mitigation Potion II
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67168
Roll: 11 (10+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: +54 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 54.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Major Mitigation Potion II
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67173
Roll: 12 (11+1)
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: +54 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 54.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

Item: Major Mitigation Potion II
Profession: Alchemist
Rank: 9
ID# 67174
Roll: 12
Item Type: Potion
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancement: +54 Mitigation
Description: A pale yellowish liquid in a vial that increases mitigation by 54.
Shop: The Wandering Soul

 

Approved.

On 4/7/2016 at 9:10 AM, Macradon said:

Name: Crafting Hammer
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 67146
Roll: 11+1=12
Item Type: Tool
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +1 CD
Description: A simple crafting tool, forged perfectly to withstand heavy use from its wielder.

Stabby Approved.

4 hours ago, Oikawa said:

Name: Warrior’s Finesse
Profession: Blacksmith
Rank: 8
ID: 67137
Roll: 12 (11+2)
Item Type: Rapier
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +12 Bleed & +1 Damage
Description: A long, red bladed rapier. It is a bit longer and thicker than your everyday average rapier. Equipped with a silver hilt with a knuckle guard and a winged sweeping, it looks like your everyday Rapier. However, the true trick to this blade is its fine, perfected sharpening, allowing the cutting and bleeding of an opponent without them even realizing they have been cut. A ruthless weapon.  http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/f/f2/Crisis_Core_Rapier.png/revision/latest?cb=20130424230755
Post Link: Here

Stabby Approved.

5 hours ago, Rin said:

Name: Stylish Black Suit

Profession: Tailor

Rank: 2

ID: 67119

Roll: 12+1

Item Type: Clothing-Suit
Tier: 2

Quality: Perfect

Enhancements: EVA + 1 Mit +36

Description: Black formal attire a jacket and matching pants to make any handsome man stand out in front of a crowd. Build custom to the buyers request that is both formal and protective.

Post Link:Stylish Suit

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Name: Choker

Profession: Tailor

Rank: 2

ID: 67118

Roll: 10+1=11

Item Type: Accessory
Tier: 1

Quality: Perfect

Enhancements: Thr 2

Description: A simple choker that grants the grants the wearer a sense of accomplishment whenever someone strikes them sending back a small portion of damage.

Post Link: Choker

Approved.

7 hours ago, Itzal said:

Name: With you
Profession: Performer
Rank: 2
ID: 67047
Roll: 12 (11 + 1)
Item Type: Mass healing song
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements:  Heals 15 hp for entire party
Description:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75A5kCn2djY

Post link:  http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/13078-f3-secondo-artistica-performer-the-dragons-soul-not-yet-open/?do=findComment&comment=486555

 

 

Name: This is Apeture
Profession: Performer
Rank: 2
ID: 67049
Roll: 12
Item Type: Monster Call
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements:  Summons three monsters with a +1 to the ld when rolling for loot
Description:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfhu3-0Zm_I

Post link:  http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/13078-f3-secondo-artistica-performer-the-dragons-soul-not-yet-open/?do=findComment&comment=486555

 

 

 

Name: Victim
Profession: Performer
Rank: 2
ID: 67050
Roll: 11 (10+1)
Item Type:  Healing Song
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements:  Revives player for 20 hp
Description:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSxGnrx6GPU

Post link:  http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/13078-f3-secondo-artistica-performer-the-dragons-soul-not-yet-open/?do=findComment&comment=486555

 

Approved

17 hours ago, Birdie said:

Name: Finder's Wish
Profession: Artisan
Rank: 2
ID: 67092
Roll: CD 10
Item type: Miniature Masterpiece
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 LD (1 slot)
Description: An abstract magnifying glass painted onto a pocket-size canvas, it grants the user an intuitive eye.
Post link: 

Approved.

"Oh?" The teen's interests piqued. "I'm in college too. Majoring in graphic design with a minor in history. Well... was in college."

She continued on about family, and Lycan turned away as she spoke. While sight had nothing to do with the words that came out of her mouth, the teen felt it helped in avoiding the memories. Not now, not here. Boys aren't allowed to be upset. The have to be strong, supportive, unflinching...

...Right?

"Guess so," Lycan stated flatly. The world didn't really work out the way she implied. Balance was more an illusion than anything in SAO. Chaos was the natural order of things. Only man's actions sought to bring order, but chaos... it always finds a way to rear its ugly head.

Lycan bit his lip, eyes staring blankly into the thicket of the woods. Were he able to feel pain, this maneuver would have pulled his wandering mind back down to earth. Instead, he shook his head as though he was disappointed in himself.

He has all but tuned her out until she exclaimed. Like a slap to the face at 3:00 A.M., Lycan cocked his head to the source, wide eyed and ready for danger. In this instance, danger took the form of a bounding, 5' 2" girl with a flurry of lilac dancing in the wind behind her.

Did he mention she was airborne?

"Oh, sh--" he was cut off as two effeminate arms clasped lightly around him. Lycan threw his arms up as if he were being robbed as gentle hug turned to giddy excitement. The hug, her smile, her shouts of gratitude... Lycan's face flushed a deep red. It'd been a long, forgetful while since the last time he had a girl this close. His mind completely failed to recall his last embrace, even well aware of the two names of his high school exs.

"I-- Uh--" His dark thoughts completely incinerated in the warmth of the moment. His face burning with embarrassment, he could only mimic the typical cliche with a scratch of his head and downward eyes.

"I didn't do anything. It was all you..." he stammered. "Let's... uh.. get back to town. Teach you how to make something."

Lycan cleared his throat, begging his reddened face to vanish. 

 ID# 67198: LD: 2 Fail

"Guess so," Lycan chuckled. "Then again, most of the people in here are gamers and society thought we were strange to begin with." He laughed some more. "Funny how gamers can judge one another so freely, huh? Of course, that doesn't really apply to you. This is your first game, right? Talk about bad luck..."

The next laugh came out more nervous than the previous ones. Considering 10,000 players were locked in the digital prison with them, that was a heaping load of bad luck for everyone.

"Sticking to your guns, huh?" He continued, to avoid an awkward silence. Lycan shrugged. "Suit yourself. I used to carry a knife on me every day on the topside and never once used it for violence."

He paused and smiled with a hue of red staining his cheeks.

"Well... except for the occasional nick on myself." Lycan rubbed his fingers where he knew some knife related scars should be. Cardinal, however, didn't translate those imperfections.

He sneered at her comment about poisons.

"Fine by me," stated the teen playfully. "Can't have you stealing all my customers now, anyway."

His smile turned into a slightly darker grin with the implication of his wares, but he turned it back to jovial and pleasant when he was satisfied with her reaction. However, she turned and offered him an expression of concern.

"Yeah?" He looked to her worried face and raised a a brow. "You okay? You didn't touch any poison oak, did you?" Lycan was completely oblivious to the reason for her concern. More accurately, he played coy, trying not to sink into thoughts about his family. How worried they would be. If his mother was ill from stress. He held up a convincing shroud and staved his drifting mind behind a wall of denial and false reality.

 ID# 67193: LD: 17 Success!

He watched as the girl tended to the foliage. Less neat and obvious than the tilled fields, Lycan found interest in her methods. He analyzed her natural talent for the trade and basic herbology. When she reached for a well rooted weed, his lips pulled into a light snarl.

"You see," began the teen in response to her comment, "I tend to speak my mind and overthink. Throw is a small issue with anger and I'm not as well adjusted as I seem. I've been called strange, awkward, and foolish."

The swordsman reeled from his own words, then let out a nervous chuckle.

"You're easy to talk to," he added.

When she asked about the methods of gathering, Lycan took a moment to ponder. He folded his arms, placing a finger and thumb on his chin.

"Well, that depends..." he trailed. "If you plan to be working with poisons, there's some extra precautions. I'm no master by any means, but I hear the top tier materials can be quite hazardous to get to." He tapped his finger to his lips. "Other than that, there's some roots you can dig up with a blade..."

His eyes fell on the unarmed girl as she foraged and hung on his statment.

"Or in your case, a spade. You can pry bark from trees with a knife... Scrap moss with something sharp..."

As he spoke, his voice continued to fade off, hitting the wall of being a pacifist without any weapon whatsoever.

"Y'know," he interjected. "You might want to pick up a dagger at the very least. No need to invest in the combat skill, but have one at hand for basic tasks. My dad always said his most useful tool was a good sharp knife."

'Dad...'

Lycan cleared his throat to regain his focus.

"Right." Lycan pointed to a cluster of small mushrooms with belled, white heads. "Try those. They'll go well in just about any stat adjusting potion."

<+1 Material to Esther>

"Yeah, opening eyes," reiterated the boy as he began to make way toward the forest and across the plains. "I've been so obsessed with getting stronger, and leveling up so I could help people out. I sort of lost track about the other ways I can help."

He turned to the girl who walked beside him, taking just a moment to appreciate the courage needed to walk the fields, weaponless.

"And you know. I'm not the best with other people, so I usually go it alone. Guess I'm never really alone though - the way you phrased it."

The sounds of others fighting the wild boars around them and the muted conversations they shared came into focus. Granted, the first floor was the heaviest populated, but the struggle here translated everywhere. No matter where Lycan was, alone or otherwise, everyone was fighting beside him in their own way.

"So of course its not a fair trade of goods. You've given me invaluable insight, and all I'm giving you is some protection." A thought jarred Lycan's attention from Esther. He stopped his pace and glanced back toward the Perimeter Gardens. "Speaking of..."

To his relief, Lycan notice a small group of armored players conversing with the civilians working the fields. Their matching plate and generic weapons were trademark of the Aincrad Liberation Force, or ALF. Originally a clearing guild, many of their members settled to the Town of Beginnings as a policing force when they failed to keep pace with the front lines.

"Good," Lycan commented with a sense of ease. He turned back to Esther as they continued onward, nearing the treeline. "And I don't need more in return. I got coffee, so don't worry about that either. There's more money in combat, so save your coin and get, what were their names? Jamie, Ryan, and Brittany?" He paused, then nodded. "Yeah, get the kids something nice instead."

Lycan smiled and stopped at the forest's edge. He gestured a hand to the ticket of brush, the trunks of fallen timber, the towering aspen, and various other potential sources of materials.

"Here we are," he commented. "Let's see what you can find."

'Let the boy die?' Lycan repeated in his mind. 

The comment forced him to give the pair another look over. Eyes slightly narrowed, he failed to note anything suspicious, but a twang of instinct rolled over in his gut. Before Lycan could press further, Calrex formulated a formation strategy to keep the group safest. With hesitation, the pale youth peeled his gaze from the pair and directed attentions toward the bluenette. 

"Got it," affirmed Lycan.

Without further delay, the group began to move. With Calrex at point, their charge centered in the middle with the mercenary, and Lycan bringing up rear, the pressed on toward the treeline. Memories of his previous excursion with Ariel and The White Lion welled up with each familiar sight. However, the further they dove into the forest's edge, the risk for encounter drew.

Lycan's hand reached up to his back and loosed Harbinger from its sheath.

'Better safe than sorry,' he mentally chided.

"We should be getting close to where Ariel and I last saw the nest a few weeks ago. Look for a clearing with a pond and an out of place willow looming over top of it," Lycan warned.

Meanwhile, his sense of hearing picked up the faint buzz of insect wings.

Rewards:

• 1 SP <Quest>
• 1 SP <Page Complete>
• Extra Skill: Martial Arts
• 400 Col

 ID# 67115: BD: (8+2) HIT!!! // MD: (4-3) 1 MISS!!!
1 Base + 3 Unarmed (Gauntlets) + 3 DMG (Potion)= 7 Damage
The Demon, Ente: 0/12 HP // 10 DMG // 3 MIT
Lycan: 20/20 HP // 7 DMG // 9 MIT

"And you use my good will against me?!"

Lycan loosed a harrowing roar and sprang forth. Both fists left their perch one after another. The fist of the Lunar Wolf buried in the beast's gut, pushing its force through in a satisfying crunch of bone and cartilage. Behind it hissed the fist of the Sun Wolf, connecting ferociously with the demon's jaw. The crack of skull against metal sounded like lighting in the darkness. The beast reeled to its back and slammed into the third building, reducing it to rubble.

Lycan landed on his feet beside Harbinger, hand planted against the earth as he looked upon his foe.

"I said I hoped you would die..." Lycan growled, looking to Harbinger then to his empty hands.

"So be it."

The demon's gurgled laughter filled the black sky.

"And I said..." it managed through broken jaw, "I'd be the one to help you... If you had what it takes..."

Two piercing red eyes stared defiant at the teen who clenched his teeth.

"Back to hell with you..."

Lycan charged forth. The demon raised a shattered hand to defend itself. Lycan's fist connected, weight and might behind the blow. His hand pierced through digital flesh, emerged through demonic grasp, and plunged deep into the black beast's chest.

"It's over," Lycan hissed.

The demonic entity struggled to keep its head lifted, waned, and fell limp to the rubble it lay upon. With a pulse and a surge, its body exploded into light. Fragments of data sprayed to the sky and banished the darkness. Through its glittering rain, light poured past the demonic taint and cast its grace upon the boy who stood triumphant.

"It's over..." Lycan repeated, fists clenched.

<<Congratulations!>>

A pop up appeared before him.

'What's this?'

The teen tapped the green button beneath it and a new window appeared.

<<You unlocked Extra Skill: Martial Arts>>

'You won't be disappointed...' echoed the words of Axios in the teen's mind.

A laugh escaped the teen's lips. Then, a victorious smile emerged from his serious demeanor.

"I'm going to kick your a**," Lycan mumble to no one before the fight left his body and the teen flopped to his back.

Smile upon his lips, warm sunlight around his body, and shimmering sky, thick with the ash of his efforts, Lycan closed his eyes.

 ID# 67114: BD: (8+2) 10 HIT!!! // MD: (5-3) 2 MISS!!!
1 Base + 3 Unarmed (Gauntlets) + 3 DMG (Potion)= 7 Damage
The Demon, Ente: 4/12 HP // 10 DMG // 3 MIT
Lycan: 20/20 HP // 7 DMG // 9 MIT

The teen rooted his stance as the monster reeled in pain. It's clawed grasp frantically clutched for the boy. Lycan weaved his torso free from demonic hands and dealt another sound blow against the beast's hand.

"Impersonate an old man..." Lycan growled as he sprinted free from the demon's proximity. Another wild swipe nearly missed the youth.

"Beat me within an inch of my life..." Lycan continued, pivoting on his heels. Another fist sped his way. The attacks, while just as swift as Pappy's cane, felt slower to the teen. In the blink of an eye, Lycan saw seconds of opportunity. Reflexes heightened, heart racing, and the grip of fear clutched at his throat, Lycan never felt more...

Calm....

"You take my sword," the youth barked. Trying to gain perch on the demon's blindside.

"You raise it against me...!" Lycan skid to a halt, tearing up soil and grass in his wake. Both fists of the Twin Wolves perched at his hips, coiled for attack.