Shield

"You know the only reason I couldn't afford to grind before was my job," Shield groaned. "Don't make this about my dedication. If I wasn't dedicated, I wouldn't be half the tank I am."

This was the easier question to answer, and Shield had taken a moment to collect his thoughts to try to find a good answer. Finding nothing other than the obvious, he decided he might as well tell Beat directly.

"My unlocking was... unusual," he began, realizing this was the understatement of the century. "So you probably shouldn't judge your experience off of that. The long and short of it was that I ended up appraising sundry items with a crazy old man who turned out to be what was left of a dying developer who had coded himself into the game."

As he spoke, his words sounded even crazier out loud than they had in his head, and he rested his face in his palm, his nervous habit to cover his scar, frustrated at how nonsensical it sounded. Fortunately, as he glanced around the forest, he was distracted by the inanity of his story by a piece of very neatly cut lumber that was sitting beside the forest path. Sure enough, as he bent down to examine it, the wood registered as a material, which he was more than happy to store.

"And some grow in rivers. And some grow on four legs in fields. That's really not much to go off of," Shield answered with more than a little skepticism behind his voice. "I mean, clearly it's in that direction, but we have no idea how far."

His objection, as usual, was not the substance of what was being said but to the lack of thought behind the whole arrangement. In the end, this was just another iteration of running off to the second floor to punch rocks. Beat was capable, but this was becoming a pattern. He sighed, putting the matter on hold until they were back safe and sound.

"Let's just hurry up," he sighed, putting a little extra speed into his step.

The treeline slowly closed in on them, the individual trunks becoming more distinct and numerous until they were practically at the forest's edge. Shield pulled up his menu to check his stats and items before continuing forward.

"It's worked out so far," he answered, glancing back over his shoulder at the spot where Lance had teleported from. "I hope he's going to be okay. This is no place to be adventuring alone if you can't handle some pressure."

The road ahead of them once more, Shield put his feet to the path and quickly lost count of his steps once again.

"I suppose it's good that we got there in time," he thought out loud, but there was a dark look hanging about his eyes. "Sometimes I get a little too used to not taking damage from these low-level mobs. Still... people say that more people die down here than on the front lines... People underestimate the dangers of the early floors, thinking that they'll just be able to hit and kills anything they find."

He shuddered, wondering to himself how many players had lost their lives. Last count he had heard was a number larger than he cared to think about.

Shield turned to face Beat, a wolf now dangling from an arm and a leg and another one running circles around him yipping and barking angrily. At this point, he wasn't even bothering to put up a fight. His whole frame wiggled slightly from the virtual wolves attempting to shake rend stubborn flesh off of his stalwart body.

"Good. This was getting boring."

He shook his leg, but the wolf attached to it was being extra persistent. Taking a deep breath, he stepped and turned his body, using the momentum to throw the dangling canine off of his arm. With both arms free, he grabbed the top and bottom muzzle of the remaining wolf and pried its dripping jaws off of his thigh. He tossed the animal away, putting his shield up once again. If he was going to give his partner a clear shot, it would be best if he was not in the way.

"All set for you, Beat! Let's end this!"

Combat:

By this point, the wolves had begun to catch on that their latch-on attacks were not particular productive, and they released his arm, regrouping and scattering this time, each of them coming at Shield from a different direction. As they closed in, Shield's eyes flickered to his display.

Beat's energy is almost done recharging. Good. All I have to do is keep them busy a little longer.

As each came in for their attack, Shield threw his defensive arm forward. The first two wolves bounced off his his shield, crumpling and having to stand back up and fall back again. The third, however, had attacked at nearly the same time as the second, not giving its target time to move to defend. Its fangs sank into the hardened leather of Shield's boot but did not penetrate any further. 

"Does that taste better than my arm? I can't imagine so, but I also can't imagine it's going to taste as bad as what's about to come your way."

Shield regarded his old quest companion and nodded, gratefully accepting the transfer.

"As usual, your assistance is appreciated. Let me know if you need... any..."

But Rain was already gone and out of sight before he could even finish the sentiment.

Guy doesn't talk much... Still, he's more generous than his disposition seems to suggest. I guess he and I share some things in common.

With that, he returned his loupe to his eye to continue practicing his craft. He inspected the weapon, haft to blade, assessing the existing qualities.

It's a damaging weapon. Uncommon, as he said, with a +1. But let's see...

[-1 T1 Material]

With a start, he sat upright, the familiar discovery notification popping up in his display. Bending over forward, he continued to inspect the item to learn what exactly he had uncovered.

A +1 to accuracy as well! It's a shame Rain didn't have further use for this. It's actually a fairly balanced weapon, so far. But I'll have to wait for a bit to properly assess if there's even more to it.

Battle rolls:

At this point, Shield was beginning to question if defense even had a point. He sighed, extending his shield arm as the wolves charged in for another attack. They each leaped, latching on to his arm, and taking extra time to pick his target, he plunged his spear's tip into the neck of the nearest one. It yowled and released him, running around in a wide circle by itself while the other two remained fastened to his arm.

"I'm sure you're all very proud of yourselves," Shield said, waving his arm back and forth and watching the creatures dangle.

He glanced over to check on Beat and the stranger that they had rescued. He wasn't worried about Beat, but the other boy had been in bad shape. He seemed to be stable at least, now that he was no longer dropping towards the fateful 0 hit points that would mean the end of his time in SAO and the end of his life. It was impossible to say beyond that from a distance.

After their relative success, the wolves apparently felt they had found their foe's weakness and attempted a second coordinated attack. Their feet rained down on the hardened earth of the road as they closed the distance to their target. Having seen it once before, Shield had a good idea of what was in store, and as the attacks struck, he adjusted his defenses, allowing one and only one of the wolves through. It latched onto his arm once more, which he was prepared for.

Choking up on his spear, he sent the point of it into the creature's shoulder. It released his arm with a yelp, shrinking back among the others, their fierce yellow eyes all still focused on Shield. He glared right back at them, lunging forward and thrusting his shield arm forward. The pack scattered in a flurry of barks and whines, running around in wide circles before collecting themselves and regrouping once again.

With the DPS out of the way, and the wolves too weak to deal damage, Shield could focus completely on the battle. Unfortunately, the wolves had other ideas. They regrouped, forming together in a single pack and barreling down on the object of their hatred. Their bodies wove back and forth, their braided paths merging on Shield.

They slipped past his spear and his defenses, two of them leaping up and latching onto his left arm that held the shield which they apparently perceived to be the real threat. They shook their heads, trying to dislodge the menacing surface from its corresponding limb. Shield regained himself, lifting his arm and picking them off of the ground. With a swift swipe of the limb, he shook them loose, sending them skipping along the ground.

"Getting desperate, are you? Well, you're going to have to do better than that!" 

He swiped at the remaining wolf, driving it back with its companions so that he could properly place his shield between himself and the little wolf pack.

With a new day came fresh attempts to hone his craft, and the shaggy-headed, scar-faced aspiring merchant was eager to do so. Immediately, once his stand was properly opened and ready for business, he took out his chest plate and continued his examinations from the previous day, inspecting with his specialized loupe.

[-2 T1 Materials]

At first, it seemed as if this would be a repeat of yesterday, with one inconclusive attempt leading to another and yet another, but as soon as he sacrificed the second material, the dreaded red padlock animation played in the lens of his inspection device, and the item's cap was locked as a mere uncommon.

What a disappointment. But I suppose that's just how things go.

With a few flicks of his fingers, he dismissed his trusty piece of armor and settled back in for potential customers.

It really is a shame. With only one more attempt before my cooldown kicks in, it almost seems like a waste to be here rather than adventuring or working on quests.

As an afterthought, Shield brought up his menu and searched through his contacts. He knew that Beat didn't currently have any items that needed appraisal. He had seen to that himself. Still...

What about Rain?

He shrugged and set about composing a message, seeing if there was anything he could help Rain with, hopefully to mutually benefit both players.

Battle Rolls:

With a little more room to breathe, Shield pushed forward, bashing his shield-arm against the wolf directly in front of him and driving forward with the point of his spear as the fanged attacker stumbled and fell onto its side. His attack pierced into the hind leg of the creature, pinning it to the ground. The others made attempts to strike at him, but in the confusion of their pack mate being knocked down, the most they managed was to nip ineffectively at Shield's heels.

Turning around, the tank pulled his spear from the ground and brandished it in a wide circle, forcing the wolves back and continuing to draw their focus. He checked his HUD, glancing quickly at the party stats, and then doing a double-take.

"Beat! We need a new strategy! Even if you can save up energy for another one of those, it still won't finish them off without a crit!"

At first, he did not have a solution for the problem. He racked his brain, trying to think quickly.

He's going to run out completely at this rate, and we'll be stuck on basic attacks, which is going to take far too long. We either need to use less costly techniques or increase our damage outpu- ...damage...

At the thought of the word, a flash of memory came back. It was a reward from a previous quest.

"Your tier one damage potion! Drink it! We might be able to finish them in one go!"

Shield:

Surrounded by the wolves, Shield didn't even flinch when one sunk its teeth into his leg. He merely shoved the point of his shield down his leg and used it to knock his attackers mouth off of him like he was peeling a potato. Rallying for another attack, the wolves fell back a few paces, the one that succeeded on its attack throwing its head back in a howl. The others took up the call, sending their ghostly voices echoing across the open landscape.

"You call that a howl?"

Now unconcerned with his opponent's paltry offense, he filled his lungs, threw back his arms, and with a push from his abdomen, he mirrored their sounds, his voice rising over theirs. The others silenced their call, their eyes trained onto the newcomer. They lowered themselves down, crouching on their front paws as they snarled up at Shield. Their fur bristled, and their ears lay back flat against the napes of their necks.

"Well, you have to realize that specializing isn't going to appeal to everyone," Shield replied, a little bit of an exasperated edge behind his voice. "Some of us in the real world had jo-"

His idle eyes, which had been absentmindedly scanning for materials that didn't seem to exist along this stretch of road, immediately snapped ahead at the sound. He was off as well, shoulder-to-shoulder with Beat as he raced through his menus. With two little flashes, his spear and shield were on their respective arms, and he held the latter in front of them, crowding a little towards Beat to indicate that he should lead the charge.

"No need to have you drop down into the yellow again," he shouted over their pounding feet. "Any monsters will still be there to punch after I draw their attention."

Having spent so much time on the other end of Beat's attacks, he knew how eager the younger man was to jump in full tilt, but Shield didn't want him to start writing blank checks for his fists to have to cash.

"They walk a hard line," Shield replied, turning the thought over in his mind as he had done on many similar occasions while hunting for materials in the past. "If they branch out and have different types of materials, they're just adding more steps to the process. For certain games, there is an amount of success to be had there, but SAO prioritizes on keeping grind more focused and less centered on the peripheral tasks. You have an occupation, but most occupations follows similar patterns as far as what they do."

His eyes continued scanning the path as they walked, excited so far that he had found most of a day's worth of materials so far. For the moment, however, his luck seemed to have waned. The rocks and vegetation he saw was mundane, not standing out in any particular fashion.

"In any case, making tradespeople have to hunt relentlessly for separate types of materials would add another layer of grind on top of the existing structure of occupation mechanics. It's superfluous."

Lifting his eyes from the road, Shield attempted to spot any landmarks on the horizon.

"Mushrooms, huh?" Shield responded. "If you weren't on a mission to become the new Iron Chef, I'd say you were playing too much Mario."

As much as Shield recognized the importance of both of them being able to specialize in their necessary crafts, wandering along dirt roads was hardly going to be as satisfying as his training in appraisal had been. Even now, he could feel himself itching to get back to his little stand to try to discover hidden properties on lesser items and turn them into something worthwhile.

Even as this he recognized this need, however, he knew that having materials on hand was going to prove essential for when he appraised his own items, or when he needed to strike a deal with a customer who didn't have materials on hand. Despite how it felt, this mission was still furthering his own goals as a tradesman.

Speaking of furthering my goals...

His eyes were focused on a chunk of stone on the side of the road that bore a striking similarity to the last that he had rescued. Taking his next few steps closer to the right side of the path, he snagged the stone and stashed it with his others.

"Careful with those elbows," Shield said in mock-warning. "You know, if you're trained in martial arts, they're legally considered weapons, and you can be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

His eyes followed Beat's to the new set of gauntlets, nodding his shaggy head in appreciation of the decisions his counterpart had been making. While he had been excited to manage to find an enhancements on Beat's old wraps, Bleed was only situationally useful. The key to success over time is consistency, so to choose the bonuses that are most consistently useful was pragmatic, to say the least.

His dark eyes moved away from the new unarmed weapons, returning to their search for appraisal fodder. No sooner had his dark eyes begun scanning the ground, they snagged on a chunk of stone partially hidden behind a tuft of brown grass at the side of the road. The stone bore the familiar rust red coloration of ore, which was a good sign. He recovered and pocketed the material before returning to the middle of the road. 

"A couple of times now, you've talked about finding a rare item. Do you know anything else about it?"

Feet plodded endlessly back and forth along the bustling street in The Town of Beginnings, and Shield watched patiently as they passes. He knew that business would invariably be slow at the start, but it looked like he was going to need to start pounding the pavement a little more. He needed experience, after all.

As the sun was beginning to set, he absentmindedly began flipping through his inventory. As the scrolling screen came to a stop, he positioned his finger over the window to continue shuffling down the list, but the words there caught his eye.

[Iron Chestplate - Mitigation 1]

It was the quest reward for gathering the boar pup tusks.

Well... today is almost over. No sense letting my crafting attempts go to waste...

He shrugged and summoned the item from his inventory, letting the metal plate armor rest on the counter in front of him as he pulled out the specialized jeweler's loupe he had just had commissioned.

Here goes nothing.

He pulled out a piece of material and watched it vanish. Then another. And another, all the while, squinting through the lens of special little instrument. He felt like he was peeling layers off of an onion with his mind, and although he did not manage to lock the item, by the end of it, he had found nothing particularly interesting on it either. He sat back into his stool and sighed.

Well, better luck tomorrow then, I suppose...

Relevant Modifiers

[Shield -3 T1 Materials. +15 EXP]

"Sounds like a plan. About time you started pulling your weight around here," he said, closing out of the box with the details on the quest.

Although the quest made sense, the details differed slightly from how he came by his own occupation. Then again, he had found his due to a bit of an anomaly. As they made their way, Shield kept careful watch along the path, eager to find anything that he could use for appraisals. For the time being, he was not finding anything out of the ordinary.

"Originally you had planned on going tailor. Was your change of heart personal or strategic?" he asked, his eyes flicking briefly in Beat's direction as they walked.

He didn't have any complaints about the change. By the numbers, it made perfect sense. Still, it was a little unexpected. Usually when Beat makes up his mind, changing it takes quite a bit of time and effort. If success is even possible in that situation, that is.

The impact of the bear cub made Shield stumble back, and for a moment all he could do was to stare into the little creature's wild eyes. Memories stirred that he had not intended to disturb, remembering toddlers leaping off of bunk beds and latching onto his neck among a chorus of child-like giggles. The memory lanced through his chest, and his normally hard eyes softened.

"Well, hello," he said, trying and failing to hold in a laugh.

As his chuckle turned into a deep belly-laugh, he doubled over forward, instinctively wrapping his arms around the fuzzy assailant as they had once been so used to doing with his own children. With the clear sign language that the cub gave him, he had to take deep breaths to get his breathing back under control.

"I'm sorry friend. I didn't think to bring food with me, and I was just on my way to pick up trail rations since I ran out this morning."

Time to go into dad deflection mode.If you can't give 'em what they want, don't let them think about it.

"Tell you what. I'll wrestle you for it!"

He bucked forward, tossing the wriggling beast into one arm as the other hand extended each of its fingers into a would-be claw. The pseudo-menacing digits dug into the cub's thick layers of fur, tickling every inch of its belly and neck that he could reach. Being in a safe zone, he was unconcerned with any over-zealous attempts to play-fight back. Shield looked over at @Necryptonix, giving her a smile.

"You go on ahead. I'll keep the little monster busy," he said, turning his attention back to the bear. "Your claws are no match for my mighty defenses, little warrior!"

Shield referred the answer to Ariel's question to Birdie, pointing vaguely in her direction. The aspiring tank was completely oblivious to the tension in the room, more concerned with closing the transaction and getting on his way.

"What she said," he agreed, nodding along with Birdie's statement regarding her ownership of the shop, using one hand to slide the order form over to the proper owner. "Good to see you again, Ariel. How's Kimba?"

As the presentation of his items were placed in front of him. His eyebrows lifted. Almost in shock, he lowered his face to the tray, assessing each of the objects. A low whistle of appreciation passed through his lips as he double checked each of their individual stats.

"I wish I could say I had known I would be getting such a good deal out of our arrangement, but that would be stretching the truth. This will be a huge help in getting my shop up on its feet." 

Shield looked through his stash of loot, pulling up his Col. count. Doing some quick numbers in his head, he frowned. One hand reached up and worked through his tangled mane.

I may have made out well on this deal, but she's done a day's worth of crafting with very little to show for it but a pretty small sum and the experience.

Flicking quickly through the menus, he added up a small sum and passed the amount to Birdie's account.

[Shield: -800 Col]

[Birdie: +800 Col]

"A deal is a deal,"  he said apologetically. "100 Col. per craft, plus the materials I lent you for each. Though for workmanship of this quality, I feel as though I owe you more."

His fingers scratched at the coarse scruff of his chin just beside his scar as he regarded the artisan, narrowing his eyes a little.

"I'll tell you what. I know that you did a lot of good work today. We were originally going to have you pay me back the materials for whatever Items I didn't use, correct? That would only be three materials. I'd say your work is worth at least that. We can call it even."

Shield tapped his fist lightly on the counter and gave her a smile, collecting the new items and closing out of his inventory. A few more taps and a new window popped up in front of the shop keep.

[Shield would like to add you to his Friends List.]

[O Accept] [X Decline]

"If you ever need any weapons or armor appraised, come and see me. Also, if you make any items that you know aren't going to sell quickly, like some uncommons or rares, I can do my merchant thing and pass them along so you can make some more reliable money off of them. You can sit on that invitation if you like, but networking is important for tradespeople."

He gave each of the women in the shop with him a quick nod before taking his leave, turning on the spot and exiting the shop to head towards his own little starting shop a few streets down from there.

Shield's shop put him more towards the center of The Town of Beginnings, so that meant a little bit of a hike for him. He didn't mind the walking. It would have been nice if it gave the same benefits as in real life and kept you more in shape, but with the lessons of appreciating the little things newly tucked into his belt, he made the most of his walk. Strolling by parks and monuments, he watched the people as they watched the scenery, appreciating their ability to still find wonder around them.

By the time he had arrived at the gate, he had all but forgotten about ho slow business had been. He held up his hand in greeting.

"What's this quest we're embarking on and what all will it entail?" Shield asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

He was unsure of how much walking time would be involved just yet, but for the moment, he took some time to enjoy the feeling of being at rest, not running off in any particular direction. With Beat steering the party, he was sure that would be a feeling he would see very little of for the foreseeable future.

Business was slow today, which was to be expected for anyone starting out in SAO. If you haven't made a name for yourself, at best, you're going to be working for yourself and maybe a couple of friends. Although he was most certainly enjoying watching the crowd pass by his stand, taking note of the players in front of him, it was still a relief when he received the message. He smirked to himself a little, wondering whether Beat's perception of payoff would be as great as he promised or if his sense of adventure was inflating his estimations.

He took down the sign over his shop and lowered the lean-to that covered it, stashing the sundry items that decorated the stand in his stock inventory before hurrying off to meet his partner in crime. Before he started walking, he realized that he had no idea where it was Beat was planning to meet him.

[What's this about free food?] Shield messaged back, before adding in at the bottom. [What do you need and where are we meeting?]

As the cub continued to paw at Beat's attention, Shield leaned over to Ariel to respond to her thoughts on the young man who seemed so eager to slay monkeys and play with lions. The constant humming and chirping of the forest made it rather easy to have a hushed conversation without fear of eavesdropping. It also made the possibility of ambush more likely.

"You like the way he thinks? I wasn't aware he thought at all."

He returned back to a neutral stance as it he hadn't said anything at all, continuing to watch the forest ahead of them. It had been a few days since returning from their quest with Rain that had turned into a very profitable dungeon crawl. With any luck, this quest would at least give the fresh players the experience or drops necessary to further flesh out their builds to be more competent in battle, then again, the conversation before had been rushed, apparently to the point where Ariel did not remember the talk at all.

"We had not discussed dividing loot just yet. The standard expectation is to split as evenly as possible three ways, at least in regard to Col dropped. However, Beat and I know where we stand in the food chain, and we recognize that we're essentially dead weight. If you were to demand the full drop from the encounter, we would have no real way to argue with you, though we would take it as a kindness if you did not make such a demand."

As they walked, Shield kept his eyes on the trees ahead and beside them. He frowned a little. Despite being in such a lush environment, the upcoming battle made it very difficult to focus on giving a proper search to find anything of material use. Before he had time to complain, however, he felt something through his feet rather than having heard it.

One faint thud after another rippled through the ground, and Shield instinctively raised his arm a little with his namesake, ready to duck behind it if necessary. Through the towering trunks, he could just barely make out a mass of brown leaping between tree trunks a good thirty or forty feet above the forest floor.

Boss Stats:

"Thank you, I appreciate it. Yes, just let me know."

The more time I spend interacting with professionals, the more that access to a steady source of materials seems to be an issue. I wonder if there's a workaround for that...

"You're right," Shield said with an apologetic half-smile. "While a tier 2 creation would be impressive, I'm sure, it would be a while before I could actually sample it. I'll take a seat then, if you don't mind."

As Sey set about his orders, Shield pulled up a chair at the edge of the bar where he would be least in the way. He turned it around backwards and settled his weight into it, propping himself up by resting his arms on the back. Watching the progress, Shield took note of the various items being produced and how only occasionally did the shop keep appear satisfied.

"You know, I recently opened a merchant stand on one of the nearby streets. If you're producing a lot of items that you're having trouble moving, I can help with that. As long as it's at least of uncommon value, I can find a home for it."

He took out a small game item that appeared to be a small leather book, thumbing through the pages.

"I could quote you a few prices depending on the quality of items you're looking to get rid of. If nothing else, you'll make back a little in the process, and the sooner I get to higher ranks, the sooner I can start selling you materials if you need them."

Nodding to his comrade, Shield took back the handwraps for a second time. He laid them on the table, studying them carefully, occasionally taking a corner and turning it over to examine the edge. The new crimson color was brilliant, but other than that, Shield's first attempt yielded absolutely nothing they did not already know about the items. He sighed, settling back into his stool.

"First try, nothing," he sighed, letting his eyes relax for a moment and shaking his head. "Don't worry. I'm not going to give it up just yet."

He blew air out between his lips and breathed in slowly. As he opened his eyes, he brought the hand wraps level to his eyes. This time, in his examinations, an all-too-familiar animation played in his display. A red, glowing pictograph of a padlock appeared, the bar of the lock slamming shut.

"Aw, hell..." he shook his head and passed the wrappings back to his partner and shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, beat. They're rare and nothing else. We'll get you better one of these days."