Spencer

Spencer was more than happy once he realized that the fight was over and the two of them were able to finally finish the quest. "Yes, lets get back to the city. While I like fighting as much as the next guy, knowing how long that battle just took really... really makes me want to be done." The battle did not take that long, but Spencer wasn't really in the mood to constantly play lawn mower to all of these lower leveled mobs. "Well, glad our work here is done." He sheathed his mace and began walking with his companion back to the city where they got the quest in the first place.

While the two of them walked, he debated on giving him advice, but eventually decided to, knowing that he could put his foot in his mouth any way it went. "Hey Shiroe... If you don't mind me saying. You have a good skill. However, I worry that your anger about things might cloud your judgement..." His voice trailed off for a moment. "If people underestimate you, that can be an advantage. Let them expect little and get hit by a lot." He smiled and entered the city, happy to be done.

Rewards
500 XP To Both [Quest], 600 XP to Spencer [Pages], 200 XP to Iron_Lion [Pages]

200 Col to Spencer, 200 Col to Iron_Lion

Current Level: 28
Current SP: 86
Link to SP Tracking: [Journal]
Items to Upgrade: N/A

Spencer readied his mace and was prepared to attack the Nepent Variant. He was honestly very surprised that it was able to dodge Shiroe's attack. However it wasn't even able to hit Spencer, which made him laugh just a little bit. "Okay, well this one doesn't seem too bad. Dodgy but its accuracy is terrible." He nodded to Shiroe and raised his shield, slamming it down and letting out a loud yell. A red aura flowed over Spencer, his Focused Howl ability activating to draw the attention of the creature.

He slowly circled the creature, making sure its line of sight was being pulled away from Shiroe and primarily just on him. "Maybe this will help? I'm not sure how dodgy it is with being focused on me. But hopefully when it strikes me, the basta- the awful creature will die and we will get the item then. If not, we have round three on our hands unfortunately." He laughed and sighed, not really wanting to deal with ANOTHER one of the Nepent Variants. "Prepare though, we may be out here for a long time." He said with a bit of bitterness on his tongue,

Using [Focused Howl] for 5 Hate Against the Nepent Variant

-----------------------------------------------

[Nepent Variant] [15/15] [5 MIT] [10 DMG]
[Spencer: H 5]
[ignores armor mitigation on a natural roll of 10]

[Spencer] [Lv. 27]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (40/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03//ACC:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (17/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

-----------------------------------------------

[Nepent's Ovule { Iron_Lion} : 0/1]
[Nepent's Ovule { Spencer }: 0/1]

"Yep! Hate is the main trigger for Aggro. Some monsters have AOEs much like how players have them, which can usually ignore Aggro from it attacking multiple individuals. So having Mitigation is always good no matter if you're a DPS or a Tank." He shrugs and smiles, keeping an eye on the last Nepent. Luckily for the both of them, it died rather quickly at the hands of Shiroe. He smiled and clapped his hands together. "Well round two of fighting the Nepents went well! Shall we start looking for the Variant to try and end this quest?"

Spencer picked up Noot and held him for a moment, not wanting the familiar to get lost, even though he really can't get lost as he is an AI that is programmed to follow him. "Also, commenting on the DPS remark from earlier. A DPS does indeed look fun. I don't have the best timing so being able to stand here and take blows is a bit better for myself." He shrugs a bit. "However, you seem to be rather good with your timing."

-----------------------------------------------

[Spencer] [Lv. 27]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (44/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03//ACC:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (16/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

-----------------------------------------------

[Nepents Slain { Iron_Lion} : 1/2]
[Nepent's Ovule { Spencer }: 0/1]

-----------------------------------------------

[POST COUNT: 26]

Spencer smiled slightly when Shiroe was happily surprised about the Thorns. "Yep! Thorns actually really comes in handy. Drawing hate then having them attack me is a really good pattern that I need to increase even more. Luckily, with my familiar, I can hold off on mitigation for now on my armor and focus on armor and other things akin to that." He smiles a bit while he talks about his build and his familiar. "I don't think I've asked, but what is your build? I'm assuming you are going more so towards DPS, but I could be mistaken. DPS is always a good build. I know.. a lot of people who are going down that path." He shrugged and smiled.

Spencer then turned to the last Nepent and readied his War-Hammer, waiting for an opportunity. However, the enemy was moving a lot faster than he was expecting. Spencer shook his head and tried to swing upwards to take it out, however the Nepent dodged. "All you, can't seem to make a good swing on it."

ID: 184420 BD: 3 CD: 11

[Nepent 8] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop]

[Spencer] [Lv. 27]
[H5: 5] [H6: 5] [H7: 5] [H8: 5]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (43/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10]
[H5: 0] [H6: 0] [H7: 0] [H8: 0]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (20/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

[Nepents Slain { Iron_Lion} : 1/2]
[Nepent's Ovule { @Spencer }: 0/1]

It me

"The artic is beautiful. I still believe you are lucky to see what you saw. While it may have been boring, I would be in heaven to see the Northen lands of the World, the real world that is." Spencer gets a slightly wistful look, but shakes it off and smiles at Bliz again. His face flushed red when the man flexed, not expecting the definition and large amount of muscle on his arms. "Yeah, if the Teddy Bear Lifted everyday of its life." He laughed a bit and tried to ignore the fluster on his face. He could feel an attraction to the older man, but he did not want to push it too far.

"Your son was lucky to have you, Magni." He smiled at the man, and looked out the door, smiling even brighter at the passion remark. "Well, shall we have you start searching for materials? I know that this quest can take some time, and I don't want to hold you up too long. I know we both probably have things we need to get done during the day."

"Perfect We- Damnit indeed." Spencer groaned softly as he watched the creature explode into blue crystals, but not leaving behind the item the two of them needed to complete the quest. "Well, that's depressing." He muttered and looked around, trying to spot four more Nepents. "We are going to have to go after another four, but I think we should get them done and over with. I'll Howl. You can fight them without fear. If they hit me they die, and when I have an opening I can also strike. Does that work?" He had done the first four lessons quests by himself so he understood that these things could take a while. However, the quest being such a lower level than him made him irritated that the two of them couldn't get it done faster. Well, lets become a full fledged tank and get everything going, shall we? He thought to himself.

He spotted four Nepents and set off, readying his shield and mace. He did something similar to how he called attention from the, but this time it had a little bit of irritation mixed in with it.

Used: Howl [3 EN, 3 H on each enemy]

[Nepent 5] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop][Spencer: H3]
[Nepent 6] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop][Spencer: H3]

[Nepent 7] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop][Spencer: H3]
[Nepent 8] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop][Spencer: H3]

[Spencer] [Lv. 27] [H: 5]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (44/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10] [H: 0]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (20/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

He smirked slightly when Nat mentioned he was going to forgive him. Yeah.... Yeah I probably will. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He shook his head at the entire situation and laughed a bit. "I was just properly catfished." He rolls his eyes and adjusted his clothing, all the sudden feeling as though he was being watched more intently than before. Mostly notably, however, was the cow features that Weed possessed. He was definitely going to talk to him later about that.

He smiled a bit at the new animal and picked up his own penguin. "The familiars are adorable in this game. Glad to have them here." He pets Noot softly and listens to Nat suggest getting food and talking more. "Hmm. I guess I can slide food into my schedule. I suppose." He laughs a bit more and sighs. "Let's see how this meal turns out, shall we?" He gives a sly wink and walks with Nat to where the two are going.

Rewards:

2 SP - Spencer

4SP - Weed

200 Col - Spencer

200 Col - Weed

Familiar - Weed

He looked at the mouse, smiling softly. He smile dropped a bit when his voice swapped back to the more disguised one. Did i imagine it? He briefly thought, but those thoughts changed when the man, Nathaniel, decided to finally reveal his identity. 

Spencer tensed up a bit at the hug from the larger man, but he slowly melted into it softly, his body betraying his irritation. The face above him made him vividly remember everything that happened between the two of them before game started, and how they hadn't really seen each other since. "Hey. I'm a bit irritated with you. So maybe not act like business is usual." He couldn't hide the smile that was growing on his face with seeing Nat, but he did have some issues. "Why did you hide who you were? It's obvious you knew who I am. I'm happy to see you Nat. Obviously. Just, why?" He eventually broke the hug as he said all of that, taking a step back from him. "Also the other guy I met. He was before you, obviously. Way before you."

Spencer smiled happily and walked with the man. It was nice to have decent company. He didn't feel much pressure for anything crazy to happen with the two of them. It was a date after all.

The rustle in the grass made Spencer draw his mace and shield, moving to try and get between the noise and Weed. Luckily he didn't make it far enough and Weed found his familiar. "Awww they're adorable!" He said to the creature. His eyebrow perked up when the voice changed, making his body react a very different way when he heard the voice of what sounded like Nathaniel. "If I may ask, Weed. Where are you from? Also, for the individual I'm going on a date with. Can I see your face? No worries if you don't want to show just yet, I just like to know who I'm having a nice time with." It was innocent enough to ask. He was curious about it before hand, but now the voice peaked his interest even more. If he was wrong, he was wrong. He didn't believe it was Nat, but he never knew for sure.

Spencer blushed softly at the comment of being at Weed's knees. He looked up at the man before standing up, brushing off his pants. Weed had a similar vibe that he has had with one other person, so he could feel himself being drawn to that type of feelings. He's kind of cute... I haven't even seen his face. He blush worsened for a moment before he pushed the thoughts away. "His name is Noot. Found him on the fourth floor like.... A year ago."

The mention of Weed having a preference towards Men made the man smile ever so slightly. He wasn't used to meeting so many men that had an interest in men. "Not to be rude. But wow, this game brings out a lot of people who aren't straight. I met/talked to.... Two people who weren't straight that were male identifying in the real world. Very refreshing to meet so many people like me in this game."

The mention of a date caught him off guard, but he wasn't against the idea. "You know what, it's been a long time since I've had a date. Why not. I'd be happy to have a date with you kind Sir." He was smiling brightly. "Lord knows what we will do. But we can figure it out while we walk." He was feeling overtly excited over a date.

The girlfriend comment caught him off guard. "A girlfriend?" He paused, then let out a loud laugh. He smiled and blushed a bit, surprised at how funny he thought being with a girl was. "Oh lord. Sorry. I'm gay. And single. So nope, never." He sighed and calmed a bit. "Sorry. No one has asked me that in a long time.... How about yourself? Any partner to speak of? And if you don't want to speak of them you fully don't have to. No pressure." Even beyond the strange voice to body ratio, the man was nice to talk to.

Noot waddled over to Weed and hugged his leg softly, looking up at the tall man and Nooting. "Sorry about him. He likes people." Spencer gets down on to his knees and picks up Noot, who is kind of fighting to break the hug. "Oh God. Sorry." He muttered and tried to pull on the penguin, still on his knees in front of the man.

He sighed, happy that nothing was wrong with his companion. "Oh you're okay-" He grunted and winced from the phantom pain. He didn't realize this man wanted to break his ribs. "Jesus, you can't really feel pain in this game, but man that phantom pain is a b*tch." He chuckled and gasped, feeling his body rolled on top of the man. He was not expecting the quick movement from someone who was so clumsy with his armor, but he ignored it. However, he felt a red hue on his face grow as he realized he was laying directly on top of Weed. He paused for a moment, not really sure how to react. Well, he knew how part of him was reacting but he forced that out of his brain.

"I- Yes let me help you up." He took in a small breath and slowly got up, his heart and body feeling a certain type of way after being on top of a tall, built man. "Sorry about all of that. Here" He gave Weed is hand to help him up. Even though Spencer has become more confident, pieces of his shy, flustered personality are still able to peak through. "Maybe you should go about getting some more armor, or at least a bit more practice in it." He laughed a bit.

"Oh trust me. You tend to see some Crazy things. There are dragons, weird plant Bosses. Sea creatures, giant fish, Giant bats.... Noot is just a penguin. Found him on the fourth floor." He smiled at the penguin and slowly stood up, Shiroe mentioning that he is good to head out. "Alright, lets get this party started." He clasped his hands together and smiled. The two of them began to trek out towards where the Variant might spawn, hoping to find it easily enough.

Wow, that was definitely easy. After only a minute or so of walking, the pair came across the large, corrupted looking version of a regular Nepent. "Man, that's ugly." He muttered and readied his mace and his shield. He focused for a moment, and let out a loud yell, slamming his mace against his shield. A red aura appeared around him for a moment, and the Nepent turned its eyes directly at Spencer. "Okay, that works out well. You're up Shiroe."

Using [Focused Howl] for 5 Hate Against the Nepent Variant

Nepent Variant
HP: 15
Mitigation: 5
Damage: 10
Nepent Variant ignores armor mitigation on a natural roll of 10

[Spencer] [Lv. 27] [H: 5]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (46/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10] [H: 0]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (20/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

"What type of Familiar? Oh he is for combat. He is primarily for mitigation properties.... Which I know for sure is strange considering he is, in fact, a Penguin. However he does very well for a bird of his size and friendship. I'm not entirely sure how." Noot, as if on cue, sat down on the ground and watched a butterfly fly past, almost getting up to chase after it, but deciding to stay put. "No worries about waiting. And yep! Not all Mobs have a variant style, but some do. Primarily those that are connected to quests. The variant, I think, wont be much harder. I can use my howl ability at the beginning of the fight to draw its attention. That way you can get an attack in and it wont target you. I don't expect anything bad to happen to you, but just as a precaution." He smiled and sat on the ground, taking in the forest. "Have you thought about getting a familiar? You seem to have an interest in some animals, and Noot isn't the only loveable animal out there for adoption."

"Crafting is a great idea! I know I used to craft, but I quickly fell off of it when... Anyways." He sighed a bit and quickly changed the conversation. He set his familiar down on the ground, and the penguin waddled around, looking around the area. Spencer took a breath of fresh air. However, the sudden yell caught him by surprise, and he quickly spun around, mace in hand.

However, the man was already crashing down upon him. Spencer gasped and hit the ground with his back against the dirt. He was pinned down by the man's large body and the armor on top of it. "Sh*t! Are you okay?" He quickly says and tries to get up, but he can't fully lift the man. How much does this guy lift? Jesus Christ. He the man hand mostly of his body down, but his right arm was still free. He placed it on Weed's shoulder and tried to push him, but didn't fully move him, only allowing Spencer a couple inches of wiggle room. "W-What did you see?" His fear turned back on after the realization hit that Weed was worried about something coming.

"Scandinavia? Oh wow! I've... I've never been. I wish I knew more about the area to relate to you, but I only know the United Kingdom and the Mid West of the United States. Both of which do not sound as awesome as Scandinavia." He smiled and laughed slightly. "Also, you don't seem that old. Older for sure, but not ancient by any means. Besides, you are intimidating so people wont care about your age." Was he flirting? He couldn't quite tell himself, but he chose to keep those thoughts to himself before he thought of this man in a more romantic light.

"Tank is a really good build. It allows you to have some reassurance that you can protect yourself when it comes down to it. I know I didn't want to be a tank when I first started out, I was going to go primarily a DPS. However, I realized early on that I probably wanted protection. It made me feel secure, so I decided to follow that path. I'm not that high of a level, mind you, but I can take care of myself enough."

"That was a lot of words all at once. Sorry about that. I can get passionate about these types of things." He blushed slightly.

"I... Nevermind." He dropped the golf subject and waited for the Nepents to come and strike him. One of them was still very interested in what Shiroe was doing, which was quite annoying considering he was wanting the Nepents to attack him. "Oh come on, you literally had to go for the person that is no longer in the fight." He sighed and readied his mace. A second Nepent had come by, and this time he was going to take it out. Spencer creeped forward and did a similar move as to before, swinging up hard and taking the creature off of its feet for a moment, before it exploded into a cloud of blue crystals. "Well. that went not too bad. Now we just have to take out the big one." He smiled at the direction the kid went, realizing he went a bit of a distance. "You okay to find the next creature? We can take a moment if you need a moment, no harm in taking a breather. I'm okay to go though, so no waiting on me." He approached the man with a questioning look.

ID: 183201 BD: 6 [4x2=8 DMG]

[Nepent 2] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop]

[Spencer] [Lv. 27]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (50/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (9/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)

-----------------------------------------------

[Nepent's Ovule { Iron_Lion }: 0/1]
[Nepents Slain { @Spencer }: 2/2]

Spencer felt like he was talking to someone from Walmart, but he knew that judging him based on his voice, was not the most friendly of things to do. However, the mention of his name being 'Weed' made him cock an eyebrow for a moment before quickly lowering and acting as if everything was normal. Weed?! Who goes by Weed??!? He ignored his thoughts and nodded. "Weed it is. Well it is nice to meet you. For plant type creatures, definitely further into the forest would be the best bet. There are some creatures in there but they are not the worst thing in the world to take care of. It primarily just matters where you go." With that, Spencer began leading the way into the forest.

Spencer was keeping a look out for any possible creature that fit the man's interest, and decided to spark up a conversation with the man. "So, Weed." He still couldn't quite accept that as a good name, "what prompted you to start looking for a familiar? Wanting something to talk to? Or more of the statistical advantage?"

Spencer did not expect the very soft and friendly voice to be coming from a tall, built, suit of armor. He could tell it was a man, but beyond that he did not perceive much from him other than that he was probably a male. "I'm happy to help in any way I can. Got this lovely guy so I hope you can find one too." He smiled and held up the familiar in his hands. The small black and white bird (a penguin) waves at the other man and let's off a soft "Noot" before climbing on to Spencer's shoulder. "I must warn you, I'm not particularly familiar with large portions of this floor. But I will try my best to assist in finding your familiar. Speaking of which, what kind are you going for? Species that is." Spencer is wearing a smile and trying his best to come off as nice and approachable. It had been a while since he assisted a lower leveled player in questing so he was happy to start now. "I don't believe I caught your name. Is there anything you'd like me to call you by?" 

He continued to have a light hearted smile as he followed the man out of the door and into the world around them. The mention of his son's image made his heart hurt slightly, assuming he was dead more than ever now. "Well, one can be anything they want if they try. Just look to see what you want to be and you'll become it. Like for example, I'm going a tank build, I definitely do not look the part, but knowing I can help save someone some day makes me happier than I expected. And besides, the shields and armor look pretty cool." He laughed slightly. He took a look at the man again and realized how much older the man truly was. He was taller by a couple inches, but he looked about 10 years older than himself. He was built like he worked out, but his hands showed sign of some age. Even his hair had some coloration to it that showed his age. "May I ask about your life before SAO? I don't mean to pry, but your accent is very nice and I'm curious as to where you're from."

Spencer chuckled softly at the semi-truck comment. "Well, I'm happy to join you. The first quest is rather time consuming but nothing combat related. Primarily you just gather materials and craft them. The quests that are further down the line take some combat, but by then you should some ability under your belt to take them on." The comment of the man's son caused him to pause for a moment. He didn't see anyone with him and he could only fear the worse when he talked about him. "Well, I hope you are able to adapt like your son did. There are wonderful things out there to see and it would be a shame to miss them." He was hoping to not be rude about the man's son, this was definitely a newer experience. "But, if we wish to start this quest, shall we head out Magni? I don't want you to be out all day looking for materials that could be the size of a pinecone... or smaller." He looks irritated, as if he dealt with things like that. "Besides, no time like the present right?"

The thought of pastries made him miss cooking, but he ignored that while he listened to Magni. He actually was enjoying the man's accent, even though at times he could not fully understand every word, but he tried his best to pick apart the sentences and his accent. When the man reached to pet the penguin, he happily allowed the man to do so. Noot yawned and nuzzled the man's hand. Noot quickly climbed on to Aquan's should and sat there, wiggling to climb into Aquan's cloak.

"Well, if you would like some help with questing, I am more than happy to assist! If you're taking part in the beginner quests, I've ran those with some people a couple times so I'm some what knowledgeable in that realm of game. But if you would rather do them yourself that's pretty understandable." He smiled and made it known that he did not want to force the man to go along with a companion. "Besides, you look like you could fight a train... Hopefully that was not too insensitive."

He cocked his eye when Shiroe did not understand the golfing reference. "Oh it's.. it's golf. Have you seen Golf before?" He looked a little quizzical at the kid. Sheesh, how old is he? I knew about Golf at a young age... Okay lets just hope that he just didn't get the joke at the moment. He ignored his worry for a moment and kept an eye on the kid. He didn't have a horrible ability to fight, as he took out a Nepent in one hit as well. He was a little worried about the kid getting too emotional, but that does not normally happen when fighting monster NPCs.

Luckily for him, Shiroe took out another Nepent, that just left Spencer to take on the last one. "Disengage from the fight. If they land a blow on me they Die, if I land a blow on them, they die. Nothing to worry about, they just need to strike." He knew they were very weak and he had nothing to worry about, but he still felt like he needed to keep Shiroe and the others around him safe.

ID: 183148 BD: 5 CD: 12[Miss] [Regen 3 - 2(Miss)= +1

[Nepent 1] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop]
[Nepent 2] [7/7][3 DMG][No Drop]

[Spencer] [Lv. 27]
[DMG:_4//MIT:_74//THR:_2//REC:_1//REG:_1]
HP:  [                    ] (540/540)
EN:  [                    ] (52/54)

[Iron_Lion] [Lv. 10]
[DMG:_06//EVA:_03]
HP:  [                    ] (250/250)
EN:  [                    ] (8/20)
XP:  [                    ] (0/3)