Bahr

Day 4

Today was the first day Bahr had decided to open up his shop. He had carefully arranged the shelving and display cases, swept up the shop, gotten everything all clean and spiffy, and otherwise straightened everything up. There was only one problem. Bahr frowned as he examined his work, remarking on how empty the shop looked. He only had a single pair of gloves for sale! He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as his lack of foresight caught up with him, barely noticing when the door opened. 

"Oh, hey there! Fancy meeting you here," he said with a grin on his face. A single bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head as the nervousness began settle in. He was totally unprepared!

It was none other than Kityuisa. She perused the shop for a moment, seemingly impressed with it despite its lack of product. Before long, she had selected something - the only pair of gloves in the entire shop. "I'll that these!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, placing the gloves on the counter. "I need more luck..."

Bahr felt conflicted. On the one hand, this would mean that now he didn't have anything in stock. On the other hand, it was exciting that he was making his sale so soon. As he processed the payment, she spoke again. "But for real, how have you been? I love what you've done with the place!"

"Oh, you know. I'm hanging in there. Just trying to get my Tailoring skill leveled up so I can start making some real equipment." He paused for a moment before backpedaling a bit, the nervousness evident in his voice. "N-not that the gloves you picked aren't great! They're actually my best work yet! Here!" He practically shoved the gloves into her hands once the payment was processed. "Thank you for your business!"

It was then that he noticed the order form lying on the table in front of him. He examined it carefully, brows raising. Perfect Armor was a tall order, especially considering he couldn't even make it yet. He took the form and gave her a smile. "I'll get to work on this as soon as I'm able. You'll get a message when it's done."

With that, he retreated to the back of his shop and approached his seeing station. He cracked his knuckles and sat down, getting to work on some new clothes. 

-(3) T1 Materials

+(2) T1 Materials Salvaged

+18 EXP

Tailor Rank increased. 

As Bahr moseyed into the shop, something seemed... off. The placement of the shelves, the items on display, the subtle aroma of teenage girl... All of it seemed strangely familiar to him. As he perused the shop and tried to figure out why it all felt so familiar, a message panel popped up in front of him, catching him by surprise.

Quote

From: @Kirbs

Your order is finished! Sorry about the wait.

His face scrunched up in confusion as the shopkeeper emerged from the back of the shop. Why, it was none other than Kirbs herself. He looked at her, then at the message, then at the rest of the shop, then back at her. Suddenly in clocked. He had been here before! And placed and order, too! It had been so long that he had nearly forgotten all about it. He scratched his head as he approached the counter, trying to think of a way to fit the new trinket in with his existing materials. 

"H-heyyy Kirbs. Here for that item you messaged me about," he said nervously, doing his best to cover up the fact that he had completely forgotten all about their transaction. "Thank you so much for this, you're a lifesaver," he said as he scooped up the trinket, hurriedly rushing out the doors before things got any more awkward. 

Name: Swine Bajesus
Roll ID: 118929
Roll Result: CD9
Mastery: Accuracy R1 (+1 ACC)
Description: "This boar pup has been afflicted with a mysterious ailment that prevents growth. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, its cute appearance and instant attachment to you fills you with the determination to always hit your mark so you can protect it from harm. It is rumored to be the offspring of the infamous Swine Jesus."
Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/17897-f01-sp-the-second-attempt/?do=findComment&comment=576049

QUEST COMPLETED

Thread net gains:
3 SP
10 T1 Materials
1 T1 Unidentified T1 Uncommon Consumable
640 col
Swine Bajesus Familiar

The wolf was definitely exhausted, but it appeared it had accepted its fate. That being said, even if it had accepted its fate, that didn't mean it was going down without a fight. It lunged toward Bahr and immediately got a face full of metal slab. As soon as the twin slashes of Blast connected with the wolf, it exploded into a shower of triangular blue pixels. Shortly after, a loot panel populated in front of Bahr. He scrutinized the winnings with a frown on his face. What an abysmal drop for so much time invested. He probably had his buffs to thank for the fact that he had received any loot at all.

With the fight finished and the sun beginning to set, Bahr made his way back to the gypsy from before. As she began to speak, he simply shoved the remaining morsels of Familiar Food back into her hands, prompting a quest completion panel to populate in front of him. With a grin on his face and a job well done, he walked back into town with the intention of grabbing a bite to eat and turning in for the day, with a new friend in tow.
 

Since the wolf was starting to catch on to straightforward attacks, Bahr decided to use Disguise once more. It had been working out wonderfully so far, so why not? As though dawning the invisibility cloak from Harry Potter, Bahr's figured faded into obscurity and was shielded from the wolf's view. The wolf, thinking it could be clever by simply pouncing on the last place Bahr had been, attempted to do so and found that there was truly nothing there. As it scrambled to regain its bearings, it found a sword shoved into its back. As it yelped, Bahr removed the sword and punted the wolf away to create distance. Its health bar was far into the red by now, and it seemed that one more good hit would do the trick. Ready for the fight to be over, Bahr lowered his center of gravity and prepared for the final round.
 

Bahr was learning that a big part of these battles was the mindgames. Though the wolf had learned earlier that it needed to respect Bahr's unpredictability, it had replenished its vigor by successfully landing a crit on him. It demonstrated this newfound confidence by dodging another one of Bahr's Straights, jumping to the side and immediately attempting to pounce on Bahr. Bahr rolled backwardsas it did so, planting his foot against the creature's stomach and kicking it back and over him. Once the beast had been flung away, he completed his roll backward and quickly rose to his feet.

"That was a good one. But aren't you getting tired of this? I know I am. You're just prolonging the inevitable," he remarked coyly. As usual, the blankly hostile face of the mob made it impossible to tell if it was comprehending anything he was saying. Still, he chose to believe that it had gotten the message. Preparing for the next round, he readied his weapon and bent slightly at the knees.
 

Rather than waiting for Bahr to ready his weapon again, the wolf lunged forward bearing its razor sharp teeth. Bahr, who had been too cocky to imagine such an attack, barely had enough time to put his free arm up in a defensive posture. His forearm caught the beast's teeth, and it gnawed ferociously as though attempting to bite the entire arm off and run away with it for supper. The attack had managed to score a decent bit of damage, plus a couple extra points during the gnawing, but Bahr wasn't worried. His sword shone brightly for a moment before he plunged it into the beast's stomach. It yelped and recoiled back, once again putting distance between the two parties. That had been a humbling experience for Bahr, and a lesson he wouldn't soon regret. With his sword at the ready, he studied the wolf's movements and waited for his next opportunity to strike.
 

This time, Bahr feinted a Straight. He charged up his sword, it started emitting its signature whistle, and he jumped forward with the lit up blade drawn back. The wolf predictably attempted to dodge again, jumping to the side as to avoid the damage. What it hadn't counted on was that Bahr was using a different Sword Skill this time. As soon as his foot touched the ground again, Bahr spun on the ball of his foot and used the momentum of the spin to slash twice at the wolf with Blast, each hit chunking the same as a normal attack. It yelped and jumped back, shaking its head as it attempted to comprehend Bahr's patterns. Bahr regarded it with his cocky grin once more, resting his sword on his shoulder and waiting for the wolf's next move. He knew that its AI would be forced to respect him now. It had no way of truly predicting what Bahr was going to do next. Keeping this in mind, he knew that his next attacks would hit so long as his accuracy stayed true.
 

Bahr leapt forward with yet another Straight, but this time the wolf was ready. It sidestepped the attack as it homed in, readying itself for a counter attack. Luckily for Bahr, the cooldown on Disguise had just finished up, and he used it to visually skew his own hitbox. As a result, the wolf jumped right past him, skidding clumsily across the dirt as it tried to rationalize what had just happened. Bahr couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, I was pretty confused the first time I saw it, too. You'll get used to it. Or, you know, you won't. Either way, you aren't getting out of here alive."

One miss wasn't a big deal. One miss, Bahr could deal with. In every fight before this one, he had missed practically all of his attacks. He still wasn't intimidated by this lowly wolf. If it could shake up its attack patterns, so could Bahr.
 

This was straight up intoxicating. Ever since he had started fighting mobs in this game, Bahr had gotten the short end of the stick. He knew now that he only had himself to blame. The thing about this game was that leveling up improved some stats, but other stats relied on buffs, equipment, and skills to be improved. Now that he had actually invested some time into his equipment and skills, he was stronger than ever, and this wolf got to reap all of the benefits.

He charged forward with another Straight, jamming his blade into the wolf's shoulder again and repeating the same motions from before to push it away again. This time, its health bar dipped into the yellow. Splendid, Bahr was already halfway there. He coldly gazed upon his prey, barely even acknowledging it as an adversary at this point. To him, this wolf was not nothing more than an object to loot. The only thing standing in his way was the second half of that health bar.
 

Seeing the fearful look in his opponent's eye filled Bahr with an emotion of some sort. Most people would lie to you and tell you that it was pity for one's opponent. That may be true, to some extent, but an extrapolation on this emotion would reveal something a bit more sinister than that. The thing is, you can feel sorry for something at the same time as wanting to see it suffer more. And that's exactly what Bahr felt. When he noticed the first hint of fear in the wolf's mannerisms, he immediately wanted nothing more than to prove that it was right to have those feelings. It helped Bahr understand how a creature as unrelenting and tenacious as Swine Jesus could exist. Of course it didn't give up on chasing him. It had sensed the fear, and wouldn't stop until it proved that fear was the appropriate response. 

Bahr lunged forward with another straight, the attack lodging his blade deep into the wolf's other shoulder. With the blade still lodged within the wolf, he pushed forward harshly, sending the creature skirting back across the ground. 
 

If there was one thing that was certain about the difference between a boar and a wolf, it was that wolves were, believe it or not, far more nimble and ferocious. With the exception of Swine Jesus, of course. There would never be another mob with the pure agilitic energy of that pig. That wasn't what this was about, though. This was about the fact that not a second after Bahr had concluded his small, albeit cocky monologue, the wolf lunged at him bearing its razor sharp teeth. Bahr was prepared, however, his sword lighting up and the Sword Skill whistle ringing through the air. He swiped his sword forward twice in rapid succession right before the wolf was upon him. The first strike smacked the monster right in its mouth, halting its forward momentum and causing it to fall to the floor, yelping in agony. The second strike drove the thick slab of metal into the creature's side, sending it hurtling back and skipping across the ground as though a stone across water. The wolf slowly rose to its feet, once again bearing its teeth toward Bahr, though a bit more fearfully this time.

When you really thought about it, it was miraculous had long Bahr had gone without running into any hostile mobs. Seriously, it had been, like, a thread and a half since that had happened. But now that he was looking for a fight, it didn't take long to find one. On his way back to town, a Wolf spawned not ten paces in front of him and instantly took notice of the crimson traveler, snarling and bearing its teeth at him. 

It certainly looked more formidable than anything he had faced before. But that was a good thing. What fun would it be if Bahr came across enemies of the same power he had grown accustomed to fighting? An adversary such as this could really test his mettle. Excited to get down to business, Bahr used his Disguise skill to make himself look as though he were one with the environment. When the wolf came close to investigate, it would hear the whistle of a Sword Skill activating and find the tip of a massive sword shoved into its shoulder near instantaneously. It recoiled backward and yelped in pain as Bahr marveled at how well his new equipment and skills were working out for him.

"Looks like things are going to get a lot easier for me with the new stats. Let's keep going."

With his familiar tamed and plenty more time left in the day, Bahr considered what his next move should be. Perhaps, now that he had finished with the main portion of the quest, it was time to change into his usual attire and try his hand at some hunting. After all, he hadn't gotten a chance to try it out yet, and after investigating the info panel on his new familiar, he discovered that it offered an accuracy bonus. How convenient that the spawn of the most agile boar in all the multiverse would provide Bahr with the stats he needed to slay such a creature. It truly was a strange world they were stuck in.

He opened up his menu panel and navigated to his inventory, changing his equipment into something a bit more accommodating for combat. In the end, the only things he swapped out were his Pantaloots for the Red Coat of the Traveler and his Luck of the Irish charm for the Aeolus Wind Charm. While he lost a bit of luck, he traded it for absolute stat increases that were optimized for combat.
 

"Alright. Look, alright. I get it, this is weird," Bahr spoke in a quiet, soothing voice, "You don't trust me. And why would you? After all, I'm the guy who stole your item yesterday. But what if I told you I have a peace offering to make up for it?"

The boar pup cocked its head at the suggestion. It was difficult to tell if it was simply reacting to his voice, or if it had actually understood what he said. Regardless, he slowly reached for his pack and retrieved the Familiar Food that the gypsy had given him before.

"Yes, this stuff right here. I hear you guys love this stuff. Well, it's all for you. Eat as much as you want."

He placed the food gingerly on the floor. Given how small the boar pup was, the selection of food created a pile that was larger than it itself was. That didn't stop it from eating almost all of it, though. Once it had finished, it lazily climbed its way up Bahr's leg and torso and right into his inner coat pocket. With a grin, Bahr gave the tiny creature a comforting pat on the head and collected the remainder of the food.

"Think I'll call you Swine Bajesus, after a certain infamous pig I know. Let's go."
 

As Bahr entered the patch of grass, his eyes immediately met with that of a small boar pup. Come to think of it, he recognized this boar pup. It was the same one he had stolen a material from the day before! Wow, what a small world. The unfortunate thing is, the boar pup remembered him as well. Without a second thought, it scurried out of the grass and through the field as fast as its tiny legs could carry it. Bahr chased after.

Come to think of it, even for a boar pup, this thing was extraordinarily small. Like, the smallest he had ever seen, real or fake. Why was that, he wondered? Perhaps due to the fact that it was possible to tame it? That had to be it. Or at least, that's what Bahr was going to tell himself.Dang, it was fast though. Unreasonably fast for its size. 

Finally, after a ridiculous chase scene that the narrator didn't feel like fully articulating, Bahr had the creature cornered. It looked up at him with glossy, dinner plate eyes, begging for its life.
 

Eureka! The first hole he had stuck his arm down, he found exactly what he had been looking for. Yet again the unspoken power of the holes had graced him with a most favorable outcome. This was clearly some sort of exploit that either the developers had overlooked, or had intentionally thrown in to see who could find it. Who knows? Perhaps Bahr was the only person in the entire game who knew this trick. Wouldn't that be something? Who would have thought that his insatiable and somewhat unsettling obsession with holes would have turned out to be a valuable skill one day. He just wished it hadn't taken a death game to realize that.

As he pocketed the material, he heard some rustling in a nearby patch of tall grass. Suddenly, he started getting acute Pokemon vibes. This was the sort of hair-raising sensation he always got before encountering a rare Pokemon in one of his handheld games as a child. Could it be? Could be this be his opportunity to encounter a potential familiar? There was only one way to find out.
 

While walking along toward the next hole site, something smack Bahr on the top of the head. Only a moment after the surprise assault, a bird could be seen flying by. Bahr looked around for whatever had hit him, and found yet another T1 Material. Apparently the bird had confused Bahr's head for a rock and dropped the material on it. Or something. Bahr laughed at the thought of it.

"Stupid bird," he mused, "Thanks for the free material."

Even though he had found another material, he still wanted to try out the field of holes he had in mind. It had to be coincidental that the last field of holes had turned up empty. With all of the buffs he had and the luck he had always found in the holes, there was no reason to suspect that he couldn't have a favorable outcome with them. He just needed to remain consistent and keep at it.
 

Okay, what the hell.

Every single hole had come up empty! What a wild turn of events. What had earlier been pure jubilation was now an attitude tinged with bitterness and disappointment. How did something like this happen? How did buffs like these let him down to such an outrageous degree? Why was he so obsessed with holes? Find out on the next episode of-

Okay sorry, even by filler standards that was pretty weak.

Anyways, knowing that no amount of moping would improve the situation, he continued along to find new looting territory. Something good loomed in his future, he could feel it. Whether that was just more boring old materials or a familiar he could call his own, he was excited to see what it was. It seemed the optimism offered by his luck intoxication hadn't fully faded after all. With newfound hope, Bahr moved on to the next series of rabbit holes he knew of.
 

As he sauntered along, he noticed that he still wasn't finding any materials. That was odd. He checked his status panel to ensure his buffs were still active, and sure enough they were. Perhaps he really was just so unlucky that he couldn't find anything, even with massive buffs propelling him forward. He shrugged it off. It may have been a good thing, in the end. If he got all of his bad luck out of the way now, it just meant that he would have better luck when it came time to actually tame whatever animal he came across later.

As he crested a hill, he came upon the same series of rabbit holes he usually looted. With a grin on his face, he cracked his knuckles and prepared to get to doing what he did best; sticking himself into holes. Considering the luck he had had with holes in the past, he was excited to see what effect these new buffs would have on the situation.
 

And then it happened. His luck ran out.

No matter how high, low, or thoroughly he searched the area he was in, there were no materials to be found anywhere. Immediately he felt a pang of depression wash over him like an earthquake-induced tsunami. He stood there in abject sadness, incapable of believing this was happening to him. Ah yes, this was another side effect of luck intoxication. It came with highs and lows, much like its own specialized form of bipolar disorder. Of course, it wasn't that the items were physically affecting him in this way. It was all in his head. His overgrown, tumultuous swampland of a head.

Doing his best to shake off the cruel emotions that were plaguing him, he set off for a new area of the plains. If this area didn't have what he wanted, he would mosey along until he came upon an area that did. If he stood in one place too long, of course he wasn't going to have much luck. He had to keep the luck oscillating!
 

Bahr giggled to himself as he pranced along through the field, his eyes spotting yet another material nearby. He approached it and, with a feminine twirl, scooped up the item and shoved it into his inventory in one smooth motion. The effects of these items were just spectacular. Not only was he finding items on a constant basis without breaking a sweat, he felt good. Like, really good. Was this what being high felt like? High on luck, maybe. How had he never done this before?

After gathering the material, he started to prance flippantly along once more. Where was he going? He had no idea! Not like it particularly mattered. No matter where he went, he was all but assured he would find a material without even having to try. Was that mindset toxic, and ultimately destined to make him even more disappointed when he did fail to find a material? Sure! But he could cross that bridge when he came to it.
 

As his eyes perused the landscape, he noticed the sunlight glinting off of an object not far from him. He skipped over to the source of the glint. Literally skipped. Why? Even he had no idea. Certainly, it was the most bizarre mannerism the narrator had ever witnessed of Bahr. Perhaps some sort of side effect associated with copious and unchecked quantities of luck? Only time would tell.

He bent over to examine the source of the glint, realizing that it was yet again a T1 Material. A grin stretched from ear to ear as he spotted it, promtly picking it up and stuffing it away in his inventory. Truly, what a marvelous turn of events this was. Bahr imagined himself never having to search for materials ever again, his shop flush with various items that caught the eyes of his patrons. Raking in ridiculous amounts of col on a daily basis as he perfected his craft and made his way to the top. My, what a lovely life that would be.
 

The new items had filled Bahr with an uncanny sense of luck. More than that, entitlement. For someone as poor as him, the cost of setting this all up was quite exorbitant. If he didn't see more success this time around, why had he spent all of that money in the first place?

Thing is, the col he had expended was turning out to be totally worth it. Without walking even five feet after picking the last material up off of his shoe, another one literally fell out of the sky and into his hand. He didn't even see it and catch it. It just felt something hit his hand, looked down, and bam. There it was. He simply stared at the item with unfiltered bewilderment, unsure of how to react. Silently, he stuffed the item away, looking around precariously in an attempt to spot more. If this kept up, he wouldn't have to search for materials for quite some time.