Cosi

Cosi threw his overhead cut at the creature just as it went on the counterattack and swiped at Cosi with its barbed tendrils. Cosi side stepped the slashing vines and their razor thorns, and followed through with his Oberhau. Once again Cosi was too fast for the dexterous plant creature and his strike sang deep into the thing. The flesh of the nepent had a nearly root like texture, thick and sturdy on the outside but actually quite soft inside. Cosi yanked his sword from the nepent just as it began to dissolve into red particles. 

Then after a second of rest, Cosi heard it again. Something large crashing through the forest. Cosi gripped the hilt of his sword and shifted his shield some. He was on guard as he saw the undergrowth in front of him shake and quiver. Then out came an even bigger nepent. This one was definitely eight feet tall, it’s vine tendrils and entire body were covered in noticeable large thorns, and most noticeable of all was the flower on its head. A deep red color with five petals the flower on the creature’s head seemed twitched and moved like it was looking through them. Like the flower was the thing’s sensory organs. 

Cosi rushed the nepent, hoping this time to be faster than it, and hit it. He delivered a powerful mittelhau at the thing’s torso trying to cleave it in half

The strike sank deep into the leafy flesh of the nepent and while it didn’t cut it in twain Cosi swore that he heard a alien cry- a shriek of pain- come from the humanoid mouth as it retreated. That’s a little disturbing, Cosi though to himself as he batted away the warding plant tendrils and continued his implacable walk towards the creature. He didn’t care though. He wanted to kill this one, draw out the special nepent, and then collect the medicine for the townsfolk. They may just be NPCs but I hate to see anyone- virtual or not- like that. So as the nepent retreated, its tentacle like vines waving weakly trying to ward Cosi away, Cosi griped his sword rushed the plant monster. 

Cosi charged in, using his shield to cover his head and torso from the monster’s razor lined tendrils and then thrust out his sword at its body. Again with amazing speed the thing scrambled away from Cosi’s attack then charged forward its forward two plant tendrils failing. Cosi retreated a step and took cover behind his shield to avoid the flaying vines. With Rose Gold, Cosi had plenty of armor to stop the full damage but Cosi didn’t even want to get nicked by them. Who knew what nasty poisons or toxins those plants extruded from those needle sharp thorns on their vines. Cosi certainly didn’t and he certainly didn’t want to find out. 

As the Nepent retreated from from Cosi, he pressed his advantage trying again to strike at the quick plant monster. As he did so he thought he could hear something crashing about in the forest’s undergrowth. Something large. 

Slinging his new shield, Rose Gold, off of his back and drawing his just as new sword, Messer, from from its sheath, Cosi charged the closest plant monstrosity. He slashed at the fiberous thing hoping to cut through it quickly. The plant monster scuttled away from Cosi’s blade with a surprising agility for its bulk and then struck out at Cosi with one of its five vine appendages. Cosi tried batting it away with his shield but couldn’t quite do it and found that the end of the appendage had razor sharp needles on it. 

Wincing slightly Cosi slashed away another striking vine and stabbed the Nepent in the bulk of its body. As the thing shuddered and dissolved into red particles, Cosi turned to see the next one scuttling towards him. Cosi quickly jumped out of its way and the way of its failing tentacle vines. Cosi brought up his shield then moved in for an attack. 

Cosi journeyed into the dark forest where apparently he’d find evil plant monsters with special medicinal properties to them. All Cosi had to do was kill them till an extra big monster hopped out, kill that one, and harvest the flower fruit thing that grew on its head. Shouldn’t be too hard, Cosi thought to himself as he walked among the somber- and a little creepy looking- trees. This is still floor one. The boars here are hunks of meat so how much could a little... plant... monster do...

it was at this point that two nepents shambled out of the thicket of trees. Roughly five feet tall, with five vine tentacles for feet, and looking like the cross between a pitcher plant- those are not fun- and a mushroom the Nepents were- to put it lightly- highly unnerving and unusual. Especially with the mouth full of too human looking teeth that was where their head would be. And it looked like they didn’t like anyone trespassing in their forest. 

As Katagawa strided over to two full sized boars and nearly ran one through with an impressive sword art and a flash of blue light, Cosi really had no choice but to follow her and engage the other boar. He rushed the boar, hoping a quick attack would give it no time to retaliate, and shifted his grip. Cosi still had a couple sword arts left in him. 

Cosi smashed the pommel of his sword into the boar’s head and rewarded with a squeal of pain. Cosi repeated the attack twice more trying to push back the beast with his flurry of blows. The monster’s head was now marked with pockets of revealed code and it didn’t look happy about it. As the beast began warding Cosi away with its swinging tusks and grunting with rage, Cosi took retreating step and readied himself to evad the coming charge. The bigger one’s didn’t seem to be much harder. 

Cosi engaged the last two boars- as cute as they were- switching to a mordau grip. Cosi stalked towards the first boar pup and without hesitation- okay there was some- smashed the cross guard into its snout. Then into the side of its head and then one more blow to the top of its skull to finish it off. The baby boar dissipated into red code and particles will hardly a whimper.  Cosi heard a faint noise behind him. He turned around and saw katagawa clapping as she watched Cosi fought. "You're welcome to help" he said throwing up his arms, just as the third boar crashed into Cosi's back and sent him stumbling off. He managed to not fall over and in annoyance turned and booted the final boar pup away with his metal clad foot. He must have done a lot more damage with that kick cause the baby pig merely fell over and turned into lines of code. And with a ping his inventory opened showing that Cosi had gotten the remaining two boar tusks.

Cosi walked up to the group of three boar pups. They were simply grazing on.. well the grass, minding their own business but Cosi needed their tusks. He loosed his sword from his sheath and brought it up into a guard position. " Hi there" he said then swung his weapon at the nearest baby pig.

And completely whiffed the strike. The boar pups were actually quite nimble and the one that Cosi attacked easily sidestepped the blade. Cosi cursed and looked up to see all three of the pups looking at him menacingly- well as menacingly as baby boars could - then they charged Cosi. Thankfully the boars were relatively easy to doge. Cosi side stepped one, then redirected a second with his sword. The third one went unnoticed and rammed into Cosi's back. A soft whine went off in his head and Cosi saw his health bar blink down one tick. Cosi turned around, stared down the offending boar, then punched it with a mailed fist. The boar pup went flying and dematerialized halfway through its flight, turning into red code.  

Log Entry Six

I kill a lot of plant monsters trying to get some medicine for a town of NPCs. That's right! Its a fetch quest!

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

Cosi was practically brimming with excitement. He was on his way back from the fourth floor and his new shop! He had just gotten himself some sick gear (sick was a relative term)- a fancy sword and even fancier shield- and he was level seven now. He was still practically the lowest on this game's totem pole but he felt so much stronger and more prepared then he had been at level one. Right now Cosi was passing through the outskirts of the first floor heading back to the Town of Beginnings. He was passing through a town. A very sad looking town. All of the villagers looked haggard and worn with dark bags under they're eyes. Some were even coughing profusely. Cosi stopped one of the villagers and questioned her about it all. "What's going on here? What is wrong with all of you?" The woman stared at Cosi for a moment before answering, "We are all terribly sick. It is a disease that only a special herb from a special nepent can cure." she coughed into her hand causing Cosi to back away slightly. "This creature resides deep in the forest but all of our menfolk are too sick to pursue one. Would you, traveler, be kind enough to go get it?" The woman implored, her eyes full of hope. Cosi couldn't say no. So off he went into the forest to hunt nepents.

Name: Cosi 
Your Profession: Mercahnt
Your Rank: 1- Cart Merchant
Roll ID: ID# 104248

ID# 104279

ID# 104280

Roll Result: 15 & 7
Item Type: 1H straight sword
Tier: T1 
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: One slot each: Damage, Paralyze 
Description: a simple long sword with a cruciform grip and cross guard. The blade is wicked sharp and has simple runes etched in gold along it.
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16813-f4-r1-merchant-shop-the-wayward-market-closed/?do=findComment&comment=555049

Cosi trudged through the snow pack- Cosi loved the cold but up here on floor four it was freezing- over to his very own store, the Wayward Market. He had come here as soon as finishing the Earning a Living quest after remembering the quaint and peaceful spot on his journey up to Floor Six for that creepy Gemini quest. Cosi shuddered at the memory. Still the shop was cozy, if small, and the area was beautiful, if cold. And now that he had his own work space for identifying items he was going to identify the sword he had found after looting that boar. 

So he entered the building, took of his snow-covered boots, set them by the door, and entered the toasty warm cabin. He headed to the back room, taking out the dirt and mud covered sword as he did so. Time to find out what this thing did.

After cleaning away the rust and grime till the blade looked pristine, Cosi could tell the sword had a slot of damage and paralyze on it which was infinitely better than his current weapon.

The Wayward Market

Outside of the city of Snowfrost on floor four- but still inside the Safe Zone- there is a simple shop and home. Made of cedar wood logs and cobbled stone this squat but cozy two story building is the Wayward Market. A simple shop of the merchant, Cosi, the inside this shop looks more like a cozy cabin then a shop with a roaring hearth, simple seating arrangements, personal effects, and chest full of what items the owner has. In a separate room towards the back of the cabin is where the actual shop is.

The back room is where the actual shop is. One half of this room is dominated by large work benches as well as numerous shelves where implements and tools hang. There are a couple armor stands and weapon racks where arms and armor, some identified and some which still need to be identified, rest. The other side of the room is akin to a general store. Behind a counter are simple foodstuffs, items like teleportation crystals, other essentials, and oddities. 

The Wayward Market is finally open again for any player who needs staple items or more likely want items identified...

General Stock: 

Identification Costs-

• Unidentified Weapons & Armor-

• Unidentified Consumables-

Junk Sale Costs-

Current Stats

Template-

Stats, Skills, and Gear

Name: Cosi
Your Profession: Merchant
Your Rank: 1- Cart Merchant
Roll ID: ID: 104171

ID# 104261

ID# 104262

ID# 104263

Roll Result: 7, 20, 15
Item Type: Shield
Tier: T1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: 1 slot of each: regen, mitigation, and thorns
Description: A steel heater shield with gold filigree laurel leaves, vines, and an embossed gold rose prominently at the shield's center
Post Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16806-f01-sp-living-to-earn-«earning-a-living»/?do=findComment&comment=555020

Cosi took the proffered potion and began to scrub the glass. The spherical shape of the potion made it a little unwieldy to clean and Cosi had to make sure and not unstopper and spill it as he cleaned it. So it was with great care that he removed the dirt, silt, and sand from the potion’s glassy surface. Once it was completely clean, Cosi found himself looking at a potion with a glittering red liquid inside. A simply healing potion. 

“Nice mister,” the kid said as he took the potion and set it with the other items Cosi had identified. 

“Now for your help I’m going to let you keep one of these items you helped identify. Which one will it be?”

Cosi straight away pointed to the sliver and gold shield. That one was by far the best item he had found. 

“Alright cool mister here ya go,” the young merchant handed Cosi the shield. 

“Now you can go start your own shop mister. Have fun selling!” The boy waved goodbye as Cosi left clutching his prize. 

Scrubbing the next shield took a fair bit more time and effort then thewooden buckler had. The grime was older and was caked on thicker. Also the shield itself was fine and had a good amount of filigree and embellishments that made books and crannies for the muck to stick in. Still Cosi scrubbed away and little by little a steel shield with gold filigree laurel leaves and vines was revealed.

And again once the shield was sparkling clean Cosi was able to see the specific stats of the shield. This one was rare and had a slot of regen, mitigation, and throbs each. Cosi whistled to himself that seemed like a good shield. He hoped he would get to keep it. 

“That’s a really nice item right there,” the merchant boy said as he moved it aside. 

“Time for the last one mister.” The boy grabbed the silt covered potion and handed it to Cosi. 

The master merchant pulled out a simply wire brush and demonstrated how to clean away the grime encrusted in the shield. 

“Now you try mister,” he said handing the brush over to Cosi. Cosi took the brush a little hesitantly and began to clean away the muck covering the shield. After a couple passes Cosi started to see the ebony colored wood and copper edging of the shield and after a couple minutes he had a cleaner looking shield before him. Suddenly now that the shield was clean, Cosi could see the stats of the shield. It was a rare shield with a slot of recovery and a slot of taunt on it. Cosi didn’t really know what those meant but still they seemed cool. 

“Awesome mister,” the kid said as he set aside the shield, “let’s do the next one” the kid grabbed the steel kite shield and handed it to Cosi. Cosi breathed in and set to work scrubbing the shield clean. 

The rest of the trip back to the town was uneventful. He searched around a little more hoping to maybe just find one Mat but again Cosi didn’t have any luck with him today. So he continued with his trip. 

When he got back to the town of beginnings Cosi went straight to the merchant NPC’s shop, not stopping for any other reason. He wanted to get this quest done then he could go open a shop of his own- close it right away- and identify the other items he found during his search. 

Once he got inside Cosi laid down the items he had found: the two shields, and the potion. 

“Sweet!” The kid exclaimed, “ those are some cool items you found. Now let’s start identifying them and see what they actually do.”

The merchant kid picked up the moss covered buckler. “Let’s start with this one. First we’ll have to clean off this gunk.”

Cosi couldn’t help, now that the seemingly endless fight had finished, but slump to the ground for a third time and released a massive breath. That fight had been terrible. Not that Cosi had been in any danger of dying- he had only taken five points of damage- it’s kust that it had lasted for ever with both of them missing each other so terribly often. 

Cosi sighed and sat up. He should start heading back to the Town of Beginnings and to the master merchant kid. It wouldn’t take too long to trek back but he wanted to search for some more Material since once he started a shop he felt like he would need them. 

Alas looks like Cosi wouldn’t be finding any Materials this walk back to the city. His luck just wasn’t with him this stroll through the grasslands, over burbling brooks, and past corpses of trees. 

Done with everything about this fight, Cosi fumed to himself, switched to a mordhau grip, and began to charge the ascending monster. In reality the charge was more of a controlled fall but still Cosi raced towards the beast, his sword held as high as his weak arms could lift, and screaming an unintelligible battle cry.  

The boar gave pause at such ferocity, letting Cosi smash the beast right in the face with his cross guard and send it flying back down the hill it had tried to climb. Cosi followed the falling beast and once they both came to a stop at the bottom of the hill- goodness too much running up and down that damned hill- Cosi bashed in its head. He hit it once and watched the red code spray and then finished it off with one final strike. The boar like the other dissolved into red particles and lines of code.

Cosi was surprised when with a ding, his menu opened up showing that in addition to Col he had gotten a Mat and a rare sword from the boar. Sweet, He thought to himself, Guess there was some reward to that excruciating fight.

Cosi's smile fled his face when, with a shout of anger, the boar came charging down the hill, making a beeline for him. Cosi got to his feet nearly falling back down twice and once he did he staggered around. there he stood facing down the charging boar with no weapons but his gauntleted fists. this isn't going to be fun, he thought to himself, but then again what part of this has? Cosi shrugged his shoulders, closed his eyes, and braced for impact. 

Miraculously the massive impact never came. Cosi opened his eyes and saw the boar sprawled next to him. The lumbering, and heavily wounded beast must have tripped and fell down the remainder of the hill to land just to the right of Cosi. Praising his luck and not wasting a moment, Cosi raced up the slope of the hill- he nearly fell back down while trying to crest- and once atop he searched wildly for his sword. He found it exceptionally quick thank goodness and turned to see the boar just beginning its ascent.

Cosi watched as his companion leaned on her greatsword for second then headed down to one of those burbling brooks to take a drink. He nodded his head , "Sure thing. Whenever you're ready" He waited as she drank from the stream- I wonder how the virtual water tastes- and scoured the horizon for more of the baby boars to hunt. He still needed all three of his boar tusks while it looked like Katagawa had gotten all of hers in one swing, well two actually. Cosi shrugged to himself. He was still looking for potential groups of boar pups when Katagawa mentioned that he could go on ahead and fight while she regenerated her energy. "You sure?" Cosi asked and when she nodded he shrugged, "Alright i won't go too far- not that you'll need help- but I may some assistance." He laughed weakly mostly to himself, and headed off. He spotted a group of three boar pups not to far away, pointed to them with his sword, and walked off. "I'll be over there, killing little baby pigs" 

thank you!

The deja vu hit hard as Cosi heard the loud sound of approaching hooves and heard the labored breathing of the boar. Cosi struggled to get up and his hands reached and flailed around searching for his sword. Both efforts were to no avail. Cosi raised his head to see the boar bearing down on him and thought to himself- If I could just roll down the next hill I could avoid this attack- so with monumental effort Cosi swung his body and began rolling down the next hill. And not a moment to son as the boar's hooves and tusks collided when he had just been laying on the ground.

Down Cosi went, bumping shins and bruising hips and just other general unpleasant stuff that it comparison to being mauled by boar tusks seemed pleasant. Cosi came to a jarring stop at the bottom of the next hill, lifted his head, and saw the boar looking down at him, its head cocked quizzically. Cosi smiled weakly and tried to get up again with little success. 

So Cosi tried again. Stalking after the retreating boar, Cosi shook out his arms trying to get a little feeling back into them before he took a swing and this monster. The boar on the other hand kept stepping back then with a burst of bolstering rage it jumped at Cosi. 

Surprised, Cosi threw a defensive strike at the lunging boar and stumbled backwards. The attack bounced off the beast’s tusks but was strong enough to throw the boar’s leap off course. The animal landed off to the right of Cosi who had fallen down his last vestiges of adrenaline and energy used up in that act of self-preservation. 

Once again Cosi found himself lacking the strength to move and staring up at the sky. He heard the boar shuffling and grunting nearby but didn’t care if it gored him to death while he lay there. He was so drained and had dropped his sword in the fall. 

On his way down the hill Cosi nearly fell and joined his enemy at the bottom. The boar got up, shook itself, and watched as Cosi approached it. It snorted in a sad excuse for anger and began to move towards Cosi. Cosi brought his sword into guard and nearly dropped it. His arms felt like liquid and the rest of him felt like jello. He didn’t think even if he hit the boar that he’d do any real damage to it. 

Still as the boar charged up the hillside Cosi had the high ground. The boar huffed and puffed as it struggled up the hill and by the time it got to Cosi it had lost all steam. Easily side stepping the monster, Cosi threw a half sworded strike at the beast. His thrust pierced through the hide and the boar squealed and stepped away from Cosi. 

Cosi scowled. The strike had been good but not enough to kill the thing.