Pinball

Pinball shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it too much - I'm probably going to retire, too, so that's one less vendor you gotta worry about." Pinball nodded. Another support player. That's good. There was a bit of a shortage of support players, and now Pinball knew of two newer people aiming to be just that. Pinball respected a build like that. Nobody ever really wanted to play the healer in an MMO. 

He looked around as he walked, but found nothing. It was disappointing to be sure, but it wasn't something he could help. Maybe a little further? Something heavy latched onto his back. A monster?! Pinball panicked, spinning around, trying to fling the monster off of him. Then he heard Tsu's voice. "Oh," he stopped, suddenly a lot more calm. "Wait, no!" The boy's face went bright red, and he panicked once more, not sure what to do. He cast a glance over his shoulder, saw Froppy, then quickly averted his eyes. "W-what are you doing?" Pinball rubbed his face, trying to think. He couldn't. S-soothing? What kind of family did she grow up in?

Gathering: 

@Froppy

Excited, the young boy squatted in front of the chest. He reached out to open up the box, but hesitated. It wouldn't be the first time it turned out to be a mimic. Last time, he thought he had been lucky, but the chest had turned  out to be a mimic. Even though he fished up a chest, it would all be up to luck, and Pinball seemed to have exceptionally bad luck as of late. He shook it off, slowly taking hold of the latch, and opening the treasure chest. He instinctively yanked his hand away from the chest... A lucky thing. Where the chest had just been was now a mimic, snapping at the air where his hand had just been moments ago. What seemed to be the chest's opening was now a mouth, sporting row upon row of jagged, white teeth. Pinball scrambled away, turned, and ran in the other direction. He didn't even have his weapon. "Hold on! I'll be there in a moment!" Once he retrieved his weapon, him and Mars shouldn't have too much trouble taking care of the monster. "Punch it in the face!" 

Combat: 

Opening Chest: 

"Hell yeah, legendary fisherman coming through." Pinball took a seat by the water, casting the line, and watched as the impact caused ripples across the water. Then, there was a tug. Pinball's heart sank in his chest. "Oh, God. Not again!" There wasn't anything he could do now. He reeled it in, then fell backwards as the weight of whatever was pulling his line suddenly disappeared. He covered his face, and braced himself... But nothing happened. He took a look In front of him, and there in the dirt was a treasure chest! With a mighty laugh, Pinball leapt into the air, shouting. "Yes! Yes!" He then looked at Mars, and put one foot on top of the chest. "Yarr Harr! What'd I tell ye? Never doubt an experienced seaman such as meself! Yarr Harr Harr!" He laughed, removed his leg, picked up the chest, and moved it away from the water. He sat it down, and then just marveled at it. "I totally meant to do this, by the way," he added, giving Mars a sheepish smile. Now, all that there was left to do was open it. Hopefully it didn't end up trying to bite his arm off. 

Fishing: 

*Note: Somehow, my crap tablet managed to roll twice. As usual, the first roll was used, and the second was ignored. Sorry about that.

Pinball arrived at the clearing they had fought the wolves, and took a seat in the dirt. He lay his spear across his lap, put his fishing rod to the side, and leaned back in the grass, letting his eyes slip close. Just as he got comfortable, he got the message from Mars he had been expecting. "God damn it," he muttered, pulling himself up from the ground reluctantly. He picked up his spear and his rod, using his spear as a walking stick and laying his fishing rod against his shoulder. He made his way to Mars's location using the map and the coordinates he had been given.

It only took a few minutes to arrive, and he was greeted by the sweet sound of rushing water. "Oh, a waterfall!" He had never seen one, even one as small as this. He hadn't made much of a point to travel Japan when he had moved there from Florida; he didn't even know if there were waterfalls in Japan. Flipping his spear and raising it over his head, he stuck it into the dirt at the base of a tree. He made his way over to Mars, waving his rod in his hand. "Lookie what I got!"

En Rec: 3/3

Pinball nodded, smiling. "I'll definitely stop by when I can. I'll probably order something, too." Pinball gave the ground a look as he walked, but found nothing. With a frown, Pinball put a hand in his pocket. He'd get luckier eventually. It wasn't as if he hadn't gathered anything. He started to whistle, his spear hitting the ground with every two of his steps. Pinball gave Froppy a look, then went back to focusing on the walk. He wasn't sure of what to say, though he did know that gathering expeditions were notorious for being boring. "So, uhh... You have- what's your equipment like? Your weapons and armor and stuff. Anything special?" Pinball stuttered incomprehensibly, then finally corrected himself and followed up with, "Yeah, so, like, what's your plan? Build-wise? Got any big plans?" He looked away, giving the sky another look. The jungle wasn't exactly the place for that.

Gathering:

- SUMMARY - 

Thread Rewards: 

*Thread Col was shared in halves.

Pinball Receives - 

• 3 SP (Pages) 
• 2 SP (Quest)
• 600 Col (Thread) 

Benjamin Bookworm Receives: 

• 3 SP (Pages) 
• 2 SP (Quest) 
• 600 Col (Thread) 

Pinball led him to the NPC, where they turned in their quest. They received a good amount of experience... But that was it. He was shocked, because he remembered the quest was supposed to also reward a sword. In terms of strength, it was supposed to be weaker than his spear - even weaker than the dagger he had given Benjamin, technically. They must have removed it - either way, it wasn't as if it was that important of an item. He would have ended up giving it to somebody without a decent weapon, anyways. "The Anneal Blade," he murmured to himself, scratching his nose. Perhaps in another reality, it was a powerful weapon, but here... It just didn't seem worth the time. "Ah, well," he shrugged, closing his menu. Turning to Benjamin, he smiled. "Quite a bit of experience, eh? We should do something like this again - it... It was pretty fun, yeah?" Pinball smiled, scratching his neck and lowering his gaze to the ground. "Well. I guess this is it, huh?" Pinball offered his hand for a fist bump. "Check ya later, nerd," he laughed, walking away. As he walked he opened his menu, sending Benjamin a friend request. He closed the screen with a flick of his finger. He didn't bother to check to see if he accepted; he had the feeling he would be seeing Benjamin again soon regardless. Raising his hand in a farewell, Pinball left the forest.

*Note: Summary will be written after you post. 

Pinball struggled to grasp what was happening for a moment. So many things happened at once; Fae ordering her meal, Hei greeting him, and another player entering the shop and ordering his food. He stood there, his mind briefly going blank. It was as if he forgot where he even was. Then he regained his composure, shaking himself out of it. He was still tired, he wasn't thinking straight. Pinball moved over to the counter, offering Froppy a slight nod of the head. "H-hey, man," he stuttered, his head down. "I'll just take a burger; I don't really care what's on it. I'll let you choose, I guess." He turned, then pointed to the table Fae was seated at. "I'm gonna be over there. Should I wait for you to get my stuff ready, or..." He shook his head, then nodded sharply. "Yeah, I'll wait right here," he decided, moving to the side in case anybody decided they wanted to order something. Trying to be polite, he followed up with, "So- you enjoying the cooking?"

"I'm not... No, you!" Pinball skipped twice backwards, then turned completely and ran off. "I'll be right back!" Dirt kicked up behind him, Pinball quickly made his way back to the main settlement. It was kind of stupid of him to not think about bringing a fishing rod. Mars had told him he would find a spot for them, so all the boy had to do was get his means to an end. 

After more than a bit of running, he made it to the general shop. He bought the cheapest rod he could find, as usual. There was a much fancier looking rod in the shop as well, but Pinball didn't feel like making that investment. Not when his old fishing rod had gotten dragged into the water - after all, there wasn't anything special about the pricier rod that would prevent that from happening... It was just cheaper. 

One hand holding his spear steady over his shoulder, the other gripping his newly bought fishing rod, Pinball made his way back to where he and Mars had fought the wolves. He would keep an ear out for the notification chime, but would simply wait at the battle's location until he was told where to go.

EN Rec: 2/3

Pinball's eyebrows furrowed at Mars's explanation. It was valid, he knew, but Pinball couldn't help but be uncomfortable with it. Especially when the man had gotten so much stronger... He shrugged it off. He would catch up eventually. He turned his attention to Vigilon and Krystal, and smiled a bit to himself as Vigilon popped a squat in the dirt to eat his breakfast. Pinball couldn't help but be a bit jealous of the man's attitude. He shrugged, stretching a bit, though it wasn't really necessary in the game. Gripping his spear in one hand, he hefted the weapon off the ground and against his shoulder. He would use it as a walking stick as they traveled, but it was more comfortable like this while they were waiting. Krystal told them they would leave when everyone was ready, and he nodded. He couldn't help but be a bit nervous, especially since they were going into the wilderness of Floor 7. But, he figured, in a party of four, there wasn't much that could possibly go wrong. 

The familiar notification chime woke Pinball from his slumber. With a groan, the boy pulled himself from bed, lazily swiping open his menu. One hand scratching his unkempt hair, and the other tapping the icon that would open his message inbox, he let out a small yawn. With a sniff, Pinball closed his menu, laying back down in bed. He didn't feel like doing anything today. He lay there for a moment, trying to go back to sleep. "Damn it," he finally growled, rolling out of bed with newfound energy. It's not like I have anything else I'm doing, he told himself. Though it pained him to leave, Pinball took one last longing look at his bed, locked up, and left the inn. 

It wasn't very difficult to find out where McFroppy's was. Floor 10 was definitely one of his favorite floors. It was chilly; not as cold as Floor 4, but about as frigid as a Floridian winter would get. It was nice. The cool tones of the underground floor appealed to him artistically, and the low light appealed to him as a night owl. He even enjoyed the undead NPCs of the floor, though at first he had nearly mistaken them for monsters. 

Making his way from the center of Yomi, Pinball walked down the path that would lead him to McFroppy's. It wasn't long before the store came into view. So she really did it, huh? With a smile, Pinball pushed the door open, taking a few steps inside. Wow. It really is a McDonald's. Pinball smiled to himself. Having partially grown up in America, where fast food chains were so common, the familiar, family friendly atmosphere of McDonald's was comforting. "Obesity, here I come." 

He bent down to greet Fae with a high-five. "Hey there, kiddo. How's it hanging?" Pinball stood again, looking around. He wondered where Froppy herself was. "So," he asked Fae, looking down at the small child, "do you want to find us a seat? Or do you want to order first?" 

@Fae

Pinball killed the Nepent Variant with his next Sword Art. It finished the job, and the Nepent Variant was no more. Pinball laughed. "Finally!" He checked the dropped items... and his heart sank. "Aw, what the hell?" The Ovule they had been hunting for so long was still not there. Pinball sighed, turning to Benjamin. "There has to be some kind of glitch or something," he complained, opening his menu to remove his cloak. He was about to call it a day. Something on his list of items caught his eye. Pinball did a double take, then, with a sheepish smile, he lifted his eyes from the screen. "So... Uhh, wanna hear something funny?" Pinball set his menu so that Benjamin could see it as well, and pointed at the item -- The Nepent's Ovule. He chuckled nervously. "Whoopsie?" Pinball took a few steps backward, pointing in the direction they had came. "We should, uhh... we should turn this quest in."

Combat:

OOC Note: So, I kinda messed up. I thought that the LD roll was 18-20 for the Ovule, but I guess I had been thinking about Feeding the Enemy. Didn't know it was anything above 12. Whoops. Anyways, we had gotten the Ovule way back over here: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/15818-pp-f1-repent-nepents-benjamin-b/?do=findComment&comment=535602

Going to turn it in as normal. Sorry ;-;

"Fishing..." Pinball once again, had flashbacks. To his fight with the Frog King. The monster he had very well nearly died to. He had no way of defending himself in that moment. It was part of the reason he had chosen to switch over to spear. Pinball coughed, clearing his throat, and spoke again. "Yeah, sure. I don't know where we can find any water on this floor, though. I don't remember much about it. It's been a while, I think." Pinball looked Mars up and down, taking into account how much stronger the man was getting. He opened his inventory, then slapped his forehead. "Damn it!" Pinball closed his inventory, taking a few steps backward. "I forgot to buy another fishing rod after I lost mine to the Cuddlefish. Wanna come with me to town, or do you want to stay here?" Pinball was hopping backwards, ready to take off as soon as Mars gave him his answer. He had forgotten all about his fishingrod... and he called himself a fisherman. Disgraceful. 

Pinball grimaced as Mars appeared. "Oh," he muttered, looking away. He had been slacking, in fact. With his training, that is. Pinball hadn't exactly been keeping up with his levelling like he should have been, and Mars seemed to have been doing just that. "Hey. What the hell are you doing here?" He then turned to face Krysta, who greeted the two of them. Pinball's face lit up. Embarrased, he nodded. "H-hey, man - dude? Man. What's up?" Pinball's head swivelled to the side, heavy footsteps alerting the boy to someone approaching. Krysta called him Vigilon. The man seemed to be very out of breath. Maybe jogging? Do people even jog in this game? Pinball took a step back, sticking close to Mars, the person he knew the best. He would watch what unfolded. If Krysta was fine with it, Pinball would join her in the search for her familiar. It wasn't as if he had anything planned to do today. 

Pinball charged the Nepent Variant once more, activating his Sword Art, Mighty Charge. The Variant had its sights on Benjamin, and it was reeling back for another attack. Pinball didn't let that happen. He collided with the monster, his spear sending a shockwave throughout the monster's core. The monster canceled its attack, and instead watched the players. Pinball took a step back. The Variant's health bar was practically nothing; a few red pixels away from its death. Pinball nodded to Benjamin. It wouldn't be long, now. Sadly, his freeze affect hadn't triggered, meaning it wouldn't be instantly dead in the next hit. Unless, that is, Benjamin managed to end it in a spectacular fashion, they would be here for a bit longer. Pinball sighed, placing his spear against his shoulder. He hoped they could wrap this quest up in the next kill. It would be very annoying to have to continue, after all they've been through. 

"Yeppers~" Pinball skipped along to the Venom Snapper, suddenly stopping and delivering a sharp kick to its head. "And now," he said menacingly, "for the coup de grace." Pinball raised the spear high above his head, swung it down hard... only to stop an inch away from the Warg's head. "Doink," he said, tapping the Snapper's head with the tip of his spear. Phase activated, along with freeze, though neither were necessary. The Venom Snapper was dead, shattering into thousands of pieces. "Well," he laughed, patting Mars on the shoulder, "how are you feelin'? Pretty good?" He looked to where the Venom Snapper had just been, noticing that his quest marker had lit up, signifying the end of the quest. Pinball looked at Mars weirdly, a serious question coming to mind. "What's your favorite icecream flavour?" He prayed to God it wasn't strawberry. He wouldn't be able to be around someone who liked strawberry icecream. 

Combat: 

Pinball stopped, a snort becoming a laugh. "Mc... McFroppy's?" Pinball was hysterical, leaning on a tree for support. "You- you're serious?" Pinball doubled over, using his spear from keeping him from falling over. "That's... that's golden." Tears rushed down his face, highlighting the exaggeration of emotions in SAO's systems. It must have mistaken his laughter for panic, or fear, or something of the like. When he finally came to, tears dripping down his face, he let out a breath. "Wow. That's... that's amazing." Only then did it occur to the boy that he had only just met this person, and such an honest reaction wasn't really acceptable behaviour. He wiped his face, his face turning bright red. "S-sorry about that," he stammered, gripping his spear uncomfortably. He sped up, walking a bit ahead of Froppy. "That was... that was really weird, man," he mumbled to himself, stopping to pick up a material. 

Pinball gripped his spear as Benjamin landed another hit on the monster. This wasn't looking good. Benjamin now held the creature's attention, and the Variant leaned back for an attack. Pinball rushed forward, his spear pointed forwards, but he was too late. A small, whiplike vine lashed out at Benjamin, chipping off a piece of his damage. "Damn it!" Pinball needed to land his next hit; Benjamin wouldn't be able to take too many hits like that. His missing was becoming a problem. He had to hit it. "Don't worry - I'm coming," he sighed, a death grip on the haft of his weapon. It was now or never. Pinball distanced himself from the Variant, giving himself enough room to rush at it when he saw the oppurtunity. "Try to focus on conserving energy, now. I'll try to take it out, but if I can't... I'll find a way." Pinball glared at the creature, ready to run it down. 

Combat

Pinball yawned, taking a seat in the grass a bit of a ways from Mars and the Venom Snapper. He lay, back, listening to the sounds of the fight. He heard a dull thud, then a shattering that sounded like glass. Sadly, it wasn't the death chime of a killed monster, but it was Mars triggering freeze damage. Pinball sat up, and laughed at the amount of health the monster had left. "Ah, dude, try not to breathe on it too hard. You might kill it!" Pinball chuckled, leaning back once more, when Mars asked him to finish up the fight. "I would, but I just got comfortable," he complained, then added, "also, I have like - no energy. Give me a second. Try not to get poisoned or anything, he ain't a puppy." Pinball watched his energy bar slowly creep up by a pixel, sighing at the slow regen rate. Since he was technically still in combat, the recovery of his energy would be much slower. Pinball picked up his spear, and started walking back to Mars. "Alright, alright, I'm comin'."  

Combat: 

Pinball nodded. It was time to finish this fight. "Let's do this!" Pinball took a single step forward, then broke into a walk that eventually made it into a full on sprint. Or, it would have, had he seen the tree root. His boot snagged against the stray piece of wood, and Pinball fell face first into the dirt, his spear clattering against the ground. He lay there a while, the only sound coming from the boy being a low groan. "Oww," he whined, picking himself up. There wasn't truly pain in this game, at least not like there was in the real world, but the game still simulated it to the best of their ability. And the feeling when he had hit the ground had been real enough to shock him. "I'll... I didn't... I'll get it in a second," he complained, shuffling over to pick up his spear. Luckily for Benjamin, the Variant made no attempt to attack him. It was probably amused by the failure. Pinball picked up his spear, and made his way back to the fight. 

Combat: 

"I've got it!" Pinball ran forward, activating Hellish Twice, and eliminating both of the Nepents in a single hit each. "Phew," he sighed, leaning against a tree. He had rushed in and executed the move way faster than he was used to. Good thing exhaustion wasn't a thing in the game. Pinball stood straight, leaning on his spear. Pinball prayed they would be able to finish up this quest soon. True, it was a low drop chance, but they had been here for what seemed like forever. Pinball started walking. "Come on, let's go get this Variant." Pinball walked deeper into the forest, where he knew he would find the Nepent Variant. "Let's pray that this thing gives us our item." He really didn't want to be here any more than the next guy. He hadn't realized just how monotonous this quest really was... if he had known it was going to be this bad, he wouldn't have taken it with Benjamin. It seemed unfair that a beginner had to be dragged through a grind-y quest like this. At least the longer they were here, the higher the reward.

Combat: 

Pinball nodded, saying with a small smile, "Yeah, well. Valentines Day isn't all that, anyways. It's just the best time for companies to sell over-priced chocolate; whether it be to couples celebrating, or to people like me who eat it out of bitter spite." Something shiny caught his eye as they walked, but it was just a water droplet on a leaf. Pinball smiled, taking the chocolate Tsu offered. "Thanks," he said, popping the chocolate in his mouth. Pinball took a slow bite, then swallowed. Dark chocolate. Just his luck. "So - you're making a restaurant? What floor are you gonna open up on, do you think?" He eventually settled on using his spear as a walking stick. The path might eventually get treacherous enough to where he could actually use it. Pinball then asked, "What are you planning on calling it? I've never really been that great with naming stuff." His username and the name of his shop were both perfect examples of his poor taste in names.

Gathering: 

@Froppy

Pinball let out a breath, steadying himself. He looked at Froppy, and her appearence again reminded him of the fishing boss. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. It was fine. It wasn't as if she would suddenly warp into a fishing boss... though that would be mortifying. Pinball nodded, a sheepish grin plastered on his face. "Yeah, I actually have a pretty bad memory too. At least you're prepared." The jungle was around them now, and Pinball spotted some mushrooms growing in the shade of a bush. Pinball crouched and gathered the item, placing it in his inventory with a few taps of his finger. "We can keep going deeper, if you want." As they walked, Pinball struggled to find a comfortable way to carry his spear. He acknowledged Tsu's question with a slight dip of his head. "Not really interesting, per say. I'm in a bit of a race to Level Twenty with this other player, though. We're going to have a duel... How about you?"

Gathering: 

@Froppy

Pinball shrugged. It wasn't that weird to be prepared, he supposed. Even if it were a few months away. "Guess that's one less thing to worry about, huh?" As they walked, he gave the ground another quick scan. Nothing. "Damn," he murmered to himself, and swiped open his menu with his free hand. He unequipped his Leather Armor, leaving the regular cloth clothes he started out with as a new player. Then, over the clothes, he donned the Cloak of the Harbingers. It would make gathering a bit easier, he hoped. Pinball shooked his head, his face getting red. "No, no, nothing's the matter. Don't- don't worry about it. You... you shouldn't worry about it. You're good, you're good." Pinball sped up a tiny bit, then slowed right back down. They were getting deeper into the jungle, so hopefully they would find something worth gathering. 

*Unequipped "Leather Armor of the Amatuer Duelist" -3 EVA 

*Equipped "Cloak of the Harbingers" +3 LD 

Gathering: 

@Froppy

Pinball took a deep breath, and looked around. He was on Floor 7, one of the many levels of Aincrad he had explored before he had decided to join the fight. He had enjoyed taking walks, but now, leveling up took up most of his time. His days were mostly spent level grinding, as he had hopes of making to the frontlines in the near future. He hadn't taken any quests on this particular floor; in fact, Pinball didn't know if there even were quests on this floor. But, he had come here to scope the place out, and see if there was anything he could take advantage of. He started walking along the path he normally took on his walks, and he saw her. It was Krysta, one of the players he had taken Worn Out Welcome with. She was just closing her messenger when he spotted her, and Pinball froze, unsure as to whether or not it would be weird to walk up and say hello. He twisted, taking a few steps back, his head looking up at the sky, trying his best to think quickly. 

Player Stats: