Bahr

He emerged from the whole to find that there was still daylight out. A quick check of the system clock would reveal that he had only been sleeping for a half an hour or so. Strange, seeing as it had felt like at least a weekend's worth of time in the dream. That was just how it went, he supposed. The benefit was that he felt completely rejuvenated, despite the series of dreams culminating in a nightmare at the end. With newfound vigor, he set out to locate materials once more. 

Thia time, it didn't take him long to find something. A tiny boar pup was carrying a T1 Material in its mouth! Upon seeing the item, Bahr dashed toward the tiny animal. It took notice of him fairly easily, and immediately began to sprint away, misconstruing Bahr as a predator of some sort. He clumsily pursued the boar pup through fields, around trees, and into pastures of tall grass before finally catching up to and capturing the critter. Once he had pried the item away, he released the boar pup, who skittered away fearfully as soon as it was able. 

After his moment of reflection in his new favorite hole, Bahr decided to take a nap. He dreamed many wondrous things, such as riding a dragon or digging into the world's biggest cake. In one such dream, he saw his favorite hole of all. Though, due to the PG nature of the environment, that was a story for another time. His nap concluded with a dream of him fighting alongside the frontliners in a boss raid against a creature too grotesque to describe. He and the rest were doing quite well, and he could feel the camaraderie as though it were a tangible force. But just before they managed to take the boss down, it scored a crit against Bahr and depleted the remainder of his HP. The last thing he remember before it all faded to black was seeing the face of his long lost friend one last time. 

He jolted awake as the dream concluded, cold beads of sweat running down the sides of his face.

The really interesting thing about all of this was that Bahr had equipment specifically designed to make looting easier. So far his pants had pet him down to a spectacular degree. Save for the first item he had found, he had had no luck anywhere else in the field. Considering the scarcity of players on this floor, it couldn't be that everything had already been looted. Could it?

No matter. Bahr had managed to find the biggest hole of all - a small impression carved into a rock wall nearby, no doubt used for some sort of quest. Which quest? Why are you asking me? Again, I'm just the narrator. I dont have a say in any of this. 

As he sat nestled within his newfound hole, Bahr reflected upon just how unfavorable the RNG of this game had been toward him recently. Sure, he was able to make due with what he had, but virtually every endeavor he had embarked on thus far had been ludicrous in nature, to the point that he knew it was RNG that was making everything more difficult for him. Perhaps he just had bad luck?

The great thing about being the narrator is that you get to see the things that the character doesn't. Like the fact that Bahr had overlooked the material he was looking for three times over whilst perusing the patch of grass he was sifting through. Oh! Make that four times. He came really close that time, too. 

Completely oblivious to his utter failure, Bahr continued on. As he crested a hill, he came upon a momentous site that filled him with glee - a field of holes. Why, he had never seen so many rabbit holes in one place. With a smile on his face, he went from hole to hole, one after another, shoving his arm into each all the way up to his shoulder. He knew that at least one of these holes would bear the fruit he so desired. With a 70% success rate with holes so far, there was no way he wouldn't find something. 

Except, there was. To his dismay, not a single hole contained materials. In an instant, his success rate with holes dropped to below 10%. It had to be a fluke of some sort. Obviously someone had already looted this area before him. Yes, that had to be it. 

No luck in the tree. Bahr gingerly let himself down, taking care not to slip and fall on his face like he had before. Much to his chagrin, and despite his best efforts, his foot still slipped out from under him, sending him tumbling down. After smacking against several branches emboldened by the mystical power of gravity, Bahr finally felt the sweet release of solid ground, knocking the wind out of him. 

He stood with a cough and a dazed expression, shaking his head in an attempt to get into the moment. Materials. Right. Was there a hole around? A quick scan of the surrounding area suggested that there wasn't. Not even the trunk of the tree had a hole for him to shove his hand into. With a sigh, he pressed on, meandering around lazily with no real destination in mind. As he searched for materials, he also kept an eye out for creatures that look tamable. 

Bahr knew exactly what he needed if he wanted to find materials. 

A hole. 

Indeed, all of his best finds had been nestled within the confines of a good hole. But where could he find one? Well, anywhere, really. Didn't you read the last thread? Seriously, he shoved his fist into every hole he could find. It was actually almost a little bit disturbing. Innuendo aside, who does that?

To his dismay, there appeared to be no holes in the immediate vicinity. He pouted at the lack of them. It had been too long since he shoved his arm into a nice, warm hole. 

Without his usual go to method of material gathering available, he was forced to improvise. A nearby tree looked promising. Well, not really. He actually hadn't managed to find anything in a tree yet. Perhaps this one would break the trend and reinvigorate Bahr to climb more trees in the future. 

DAY 2

Bahr spent some time at his sewing station. Sewing, weaving, pulling, stretching, mending, and assembling. After what seemed like forever, the fruits of his labor finally presented themselves. They were nothing special, just a few basic articles with the occasional breath of brilliance in between. Bahr could feel himself progressively becoming better and better at his craft. Every failure was a lesson. Every success a motivator. Every material snipped, every thread pulled, and every nip tucked. If he continued on his track at a pace like this, it would soon be him pulling the strings behind the Light Armor of Aincrad.

-2 T1 Materials

+6 EXP

(I will be using Yui's Grace for this thread.)

Another day, another trip into the most boring fields in the universe. A thought had occurred to Bahr recently that if he found these fields to be boring now, how would he react to getting back to the real world? If he was remembering correctly, pretty much everything in the real world was... very unremarkable. Would he be able to adjust back into normal living once this was all over, if he could even survive that long?

"You look troubled, young one," a mysterious voice rang, sounding as though it belonged to an elderly woman. Bahr looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't find it until she spoke again. "Have you thought of taking a pet to keep you company?"

Usually, Bahr wasn't interested in what NPCs had to say, but having a pet of his own did sound pretty cool. "Go on..." he mused as he approached the middle-aged gypsy.

"You'll need this," she responded, placing an item that resembled food in hand hand. "When you find a creature that looks friendly, try to give it the food. If it is meant to be, you will tame the creature and reap its benefits as though they were your own."

+ <<Familiar Food>>

"Cool," Bahr responded, pocketing the food. "Thanks."

As he walked away, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of excitement as he popped a Yui's Grace. This was something he could do passively while gathering materials, and if he succeeded, he could come back with so much more. As he made it to the center of the field, he scanned the landscape for any signs of materials. By a stroke of luck, he found one almost immediately, simply sitting in the middle of the grass. 

"Hi again."

Bahr's deep voice bellowed through the room as he entered. Today he had come with a new piece of equipment, and unidentified piece of rare T1 armor. He laid it down on the table, musing over its red coloration. 

"Truthfully, I'm just hoping that it's light armor. Never really cared for the weight or clankiness of heavy armor. I'm not really sure what your personal limitations are for determining what kind of armor it is, but if you're able to ensure it's light armor, please do so."

He placed some col on the table for the identification and stood back, waiting for the dapper gentleman to work his magic. 

-350 col

-<<Unidentified T1 Rare Armor/Shield>>

QUEST COMPLETED

Thread net gains:
- 4 SP
- 1000 col
- Extra Skill: <<Disguise>>

Bahr was officially satisfied with his day. He had slain a duplicate of himself in the hardest fought battle of his time in Sword Art Online, acquired a bonus skill that apparently didn't take up one of his skill slots, and tested it out by pranking an annoying couple. The only thing that could make this day better was returning to enjoying it the way he had planned to from the beginning. He meandered back to the City Center and took a seat on the bench he had been using earlier.

Not long after he started to relax, he heard some clamor over by one of the entrances to the City Center. Why, it was none other than Tweedledumb and Tweedledee! With... what appeared to be a party of disgruntled friends of theirs.

"There he is! That's the weirdo that made me sit on him!"

"Aww crap."

Without further adieu, Bahr stood and bolted it out of the City Center, the small mob chasing close behind him. There truly was no rest for the wicked.

Once he made it back into town, he felt like testing out his newfound skill. He scanned the City Center for awhile, waiting for the perfect targets to present themselves to him. Lo and behold, a cute couple had walked into the square and were acting just disgustingly mushy toward each other. Bahr was actually physically sickened by such an embarrassing display of affection. It wasn't that he had anything against affection, or even love. It was just that the way they were acting was... inappropriate. 

He tailed them for quite some time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. At some point, they entered a restaurant that was full, with the only available table being the one out on the patio. It was the perfect setup. Quickly, he tossed one of the two chairs aside, and used his new skill to adopt the visual qualities of said chair. Then all he had to do was wait. When the couple sat down, Bahr recognized the flaw in his plan. He currently had some dude's butt uncomfortably close to his face.

"My chair feels kinda funny..." the boy said. That was Bahr's cue. 

Suddenly, he sprang upright, the illusion dispelling. Having not thought this far ahead yet, he simply uttered "OOGITY BOOGITY!" while making his fingers wiggle in strange ways before bolting off. Though the sting hadn't gone as smoothly as he had hoped, the hilarious expressions they wore during his big reveal would forever be burned into his memory.

After awhile, Bahr was feeling a bit better and managed to stand up again. He still felt a little dizzy, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He didn't make it further than two steps before he was prompted with a quest completion screen, and an awarded extra skill.

►Disguise
Active: Free action
Cooldown: 3 Turns
Effect: Gain +1 EVA until the start of your next turn
Description: After having fought and killed your duplicate, you have learnt how to use its trick of becoming another, visually becoming another target.

He marveled at it for a moment. A new skill? And it appeared to be the one the mob had used on him throughout the battle. 

"Wow, okay. A shape-shifting skill. I'm sure I can find some creative ways to make use of that."

Pleased with his winnings, Bahr meandered back into town to resume... well, doing nothing. Nah, that wasn't going to work. He was way too riled up now.

Sure enough, the Gemini had one last attack left in it. It lunged forward, plunging its sword into Bahr's stomach. Bahr didn't so much as flinch at it. He had suffered enough abuse through this fight to have survived two deaths. He looked into the Gemini's fear-stricken eyes with an apathetic gaze before grabbing the blade of the sword lodged in his abdomen and slowly pushing it out. The Gemini, who was in the process of suffering fatal Bleed damage during this, was helpless to put up a fight. Once the sword had been successfully dislodged, the Gemini fell to the ground and began convulsing before exploding into countless blue fractals.

So much for a relaxing day, Bahr thought to himself. He took a deep breath and sat down on the grass, taking a moment to allow his vitality and energy to restore themselves. That had easily been his hardest fought battle yet - including the legendary Swine Jesus.

Letting out a war cry, Bahr launched forward with the aid of his Straight Sword Skill, zooming across the battlefield with unprecedented speed. His blade sank into the shoulder and neck region of the Gemini, and it shrieked as it recoiled back, grasping its neck and thrashing aimlessly about. It was the moment and opportunity Bahr had been waiting for. It seemed that just letting go of his fear and giving it his all was a technique that could really work.

He placed his sword in its sheath on his lower back. The battle was as good as over. Even if the Gemini came after him and got another really good hit in, it was still going to die on its next turn, and there was no way it was taking out Bahr in one hit. It was actually extremely unsettling, watching something that so closely resembled him writhing around on the ground, knowing that there was no saving itself. And the sounds it was making... The entire spectacle was truly horrendous.

For the past five minutes, they had been exchanging blows. Blocking, parrying, dodging, whiffing, side stepping, the works. When Bahr saw an opportunity, he charged up his sword and plunged it forward with the Straight Sword Skill. The Gemini was forced to block it with the flat side of its sword, getting pushed back and giving both parties a reprieve from the constant fighting. Bahr couldn't help but feel disappointed. He hadn't managed to land a successful attack in quite some time. He was beginning to wonder if winning was even possible at all. Would be meet his fate at the hands of this clone?

He shook his head. He had to stop thinking like that every time he fought something. He always had this expectation that he was going to die in any fight he became a part of. That sort of mentality was exactly what was holding him back. He needed to ditch the fear and go forward into the battle with everything he had. If he died, well, he died. But that was preferable to being a coward, wasn't it?

The Gemini gave Bahr a very knowing nod, the same stupid gran plastered across its face just as it had been the whole fight. It was almost as though it had recognized a change in him. Bahr assumed his the stance necessary to use another Straight, preparing to put everything he had into the next attack.

This was usually the part where Bahr would use a Sword Skill, because he finally had the SP to do so, but this turn he needed to use a potion to recover some HP. He only had two left, and hadn't managed to actually deal any damage to this thing since his last potion. As he retrieved the potion and chugged it, he only prayed that this one would at least allow him to deal SOME damage.

+50 HP

The Gemini wasn't waiting around for him to simply recover all of his HP this time around. It lunged forward with ferocious speed and slashed at Bahr's dominant arm, the blade leaving a deep gash in his outer bicep. It was a good thing he had chosen to use a potion now rather than waiting, otherwise that move right there would have been his end. Trying not to think about how close to death he had just come, Bahr steeled himself for the next exchange of attacks.

Another waiting turn - Bahr's favorite thing in the world. Except it wasn't. He wasn't having fun at all. It was probably the ambiguousness of the situation that was getting to him. If he just let himself lose, would the quest mob actually reduce his HP to zero? He would hate to die because he had foolishly believed an NPC wouldn't just drag him out to the field and literally slaughter him. He could attempt to flee, but something told him that if he couldn't outrun a boar, he couldn't outrun this guy. Nope, he would just have to keep tooling along and pray for the best. 

He was getting tired, though, made evident by the fact that the Gemini approached him at lightning speeds and plunged its sword into his stomach before he had time to react. As the blade was extracted from his abdomen, he keeled over and took a knee for a moment. According to his health bar, he was back in the red already.

Keeping with the spirit of mixing up his attacking patterns, this time Bahr went in for a Blast Sword Skill, hoping that the second strike might be enough to throw his opponent off kilter.

Bad move.

The Gemini limbo'd under the first strike, then spun around to Bahr's back during the second strike and stabbed him in the back. Bahr gasped and fell forward, the blade sliding out of his back as he did so. It may have been true that Bahr was improving as the fight went on, but it seemed that the Gemini was also adapting. The last two hits had been it outmaneuvering his Sword Skills and getting him in the back as a result. Bahr muttered curses under his breath as he stood up tall once again, turning to address his opponent.

"You know, I gotta be honest. I'm not a fan of all the back action going on here. That's very 'not me.'"

The Gemini only laughed.

Another waiting turn. Bahr always hated these, because it forced him to play on the defensive. Still, he had managed just fine so far, and knew he could continue to do so if he just remained focused. He studied the Gemini's movements, examining its ticks. If it truly had copied everything about Bahr, then it would probably attack right about... now. In a very fluid motion, Bahr smacked the Gemini's blade away from him the moment it decided to strike, feeling like a complete badarse as he did so.

"Hah! Eat that, faker! Not so clever now are y- WOAH!"

Bahr leaned back to avoid another swing that had been aimed toward his neck, breathing a sight of relief as it whiffed.

"You know, it's rude to interrupt someone while they're monologuing."

The Gemini merely shrugged. Bahr knew it was just a program, but its responses were occasionally very lifelike.

Sword Skill time. Bahr once again readied his weapon as it adopted a glow, bending his knees for a moment before rocketing forward. The Gemini had seen this trick before, and was beginning to grow tired of it. As Bahr closed in, the Gemini dodged the attack in a spinning motion and used the momentum from the spin to slash at the Bahr's back. The cut went diagonally down his back from his left shoulder blade to his right hip. Bahr yelped at the damage and stumbled forward, quickly regaining his composure and turning back around to address his opponent.

It looked like he was going to need to mix up his attack patterns if he wanted to have any chance of piercing through the Gemini's impeccable defense. If it acquired a new buff every time Bahr used a potion, he was going to need to end this before another potion became necessary. But with how hard this thing hit, he didn't know if that was going to be a possibility.

It was time for another one of Bahr's stall turns. He counted himself pretty lucky to have not gotten himself killed so far, and had just remembered that he had a few potions ready to go for occasions like this. He retrieved one and down the contents quickly, keeping an eye on his opponent all the while. Immediately he felt waves of euphoria wash over him, and all of the areas on his body that had sustained heavy damage seemed to heal right up instantly.

+50 HP

He tossed the empty bottle once he was done with it, and noticed that something seemed to have changed with the Gemini's weapon. He wasn't quite sure exactly what it was, but it seemed to have a different sheen than it had had before. Was it possible that it had taken the time to give itself a buff while Bahr was healing? Wait... no, that was just his imagination.

This time, Bahr was the first to let loose an attack. His sword began to glow and emit it signature Sword Skill whistle, and in a flash the distance between him and the Gemini was closed. Just as it had before, the Gemini used the flat side of its blade to nullify the damage, but was pushed back as a result. It didn't linger on the recoil, however, instantly dashing forward and attempting to land the killing blow on Bahr. Bahr wasn't ready to give up just yet, though, and smacked its blade away as got close. He then shoulder checked the Gemini to force it a bit further away before jumping back himself.

To be completely honest, Bahr was amazed he had lasted this long. This thing had him sorely outclassed in the strength department, that much was obvious. It wasn't getting any clumsier, either. Was it just that Bahr was getting better?

Given the situation, it was imperative that Bahr not make a move this turn and instead allow his SP to recharge. Even if he did manage to land a normal attack against the Gemini, its mitigation would eat up all of the damage and he would have wasted a turn. He supposed it was a possibility that he could bank on a crit for damage and Bleed, but that was wishful thinking at best. No, for now he needed to bide his time and wait for the next turn.

The Gemini wasn't as patient, however. It lurched forward with murderous intent, putting all of its power into a single downward slam. Bahr managed to sidestep the attack, kicking back so he could put a little more distance between the two. The two walked around each other in a circular formation about seven feet away from one another, each waiting for the other to make a move.

Though it had waited for Bahr to reach his feet, it wasn't willing to wait much longer. It came it at Bahr with a flurry of attacks in rapid succession. Bahr did everything he could to avoid the damage. He maneuvered his sword around to deflect attacks, dodged the ones he couldn't deflect, and took note of faux attacks that were meant to miss but leave Bahr open in he reacted to them. With a level of skill he didn't even know he possessed, and with a bit of luck, he actually managed to stave off any would-be damage for the time being.

When he saw an opportunity to break the onslaught with an attack of his own, Bahr used the Sword Skill Straight to thrust the tip of his blade directly toward the Gemini's stomach. The Gemini caught this attack with the flat side of its own sword, effectively blocking it but being forced backward by the impact. Bahr was relieved to have a reprieve, but knew it wouldn't last long.