Ronnel

"Watch out, something else is coming!" Ronnel twisted out of the way as he shouted, hearing something rumbling in the earth beneath his feet. This event chain was getting insane - first the royals and the city being directly attacked, and now these bizarre portals up from the earth, and smelling like they'd come straight out of a pastor's rendition of the afterlife? He frowned as an urgent message flashed onto his screen, bright and blazing as it demanded attention. He skimmed the details rapidly, mumbling under his breath as he read. "Four united... strong wills... join hands - are you serious right now what kinda harmonious elements is this stuff." He snorted and closed the screen, fighting back a chuckle. That had been unexpected, and he wondered how exactly the devs were going to be figuring out if their wills were 'strong'. 

The dark haired man felt a light tremor roll down his spine but suppressed it as he spotted a group of three people standing near one of the portals. "Afternoon folks, nice ta meetcha - hope you've got room for one more on your dance cards." He held out his hands with a wry chuckle. "These things are trying to crawl out of the lowest depths, so let's send 'em back, yeah?" Truth be told, he did feel a bit awkward about having to clasp hands with total strangers but hey - it was for a good cause. Seeing this city fall into some kind of nightmarish landscape would not be good for everyone's morale. 

Objective: Close Portal
ID: 133440
BD: 3
Group Members: @Ariel - The Crowned Lion @Dracul @Arabelle
Cumulative BD: 7 + 2 + 3
[personal portal count: 1/3]

Ronnel let out a long, slow hiss as he glared at the boar pup, and it merely let out a snort and pawed the earth beneath it. "No. No we are not doing this I am not going to have another one of you piglets hitting me like you're a bleedin' pinball." The dark-haired man tightened his hand on his spear until the wood creaked in his grasp. The pup tossed its head almost dismissively before lowering down, preparing to charge at the man. Ronnel shifted and braced himself, narrowing his eyes as the beast took one, then two steps backwards.

"Hah!" Ronnel sprang forward, crossing the gap between them before the monster could react. He swept under and came up, driving his spear into the boar's throat with a sharp thrust. The boar let out an odd gurgling sound as the man wrenched his spear to the side, and it collapsed, its body falling apart into a shower of red data. The dark-haired spear user staggered at the sudden loss of resistance, and then let out a gasp as he sagged in place. His head snapped to the side as he heard a soft chime. 

Ronnel grit his teeth as he glared at the boar pup. They'd both landed a blow on each other at this point, but Ronnel hated the fact that the boar had lasted long enough to even manage that one hit. He shifted his grip on his spear as the two of them circled each other in the brush-filled forest. Ronnel was beginning to get sick and tired of seeing boars in these woods right now - and he wasn't even fighting the actually dangerous ones! "Alright you - come here!" 

The spear-wielder crouched low for a moment, tensing his legs up as he glared at the piglet. The beast snorted and stamped one foot, as if daring the man into action. He growled in frustration and took the bait, charging forward as he attacked. His spear flashed out, another thrust aimed for vitals, trying to end this fight. The boar met his charge with one of its own, running underneath his outstretched spear. Ronnel had time to curse the boar's luck when it headbutted him in the chest and bounced off, and the man staggered backwards, rubbing his torso as he glared.

“Ack I was wrong not nice piggy not nice piggy!” Ronnel recentered himself, glaring at the pig as it squealed again, pawing at the earth beneath it. He did not look forward to another prolonged bout where the blasted boar pup kept bouncing off of his chest, even if it did show him that he enjoyed being able to laugh when an enemy hit him. He lowered himself down into a crouch, shifting his grip on his spear as he narrowed his eyes.

“Right you little cutlet of meat. You and I are going to keep this short and sweet, right?” Ronnel suddenly lashed out, his spear digging into the flesh of the boar as he skewered it on one flank. It let out a pained sound as it recovered, then slammed its head into his front leg. Ronnel winced as the edge of one tusk dug into his flesh, but he shook it off as he pulled back. “Why couldn’t you make this easy, come on I want to go home.”

Ronnel sighed and swung his spear up onto his shoulders as he grumbled to himself and kicked through the last of the fading red flakes from the boar he'd just killed, giving it one final irritated kick. At least this one hadn't been aggravating to fight - one and done, he'd killed the thing before it even knew he was there really. Hopefully he would be able to finish this quest before too long - he wanted to be able to focus on some other things, and maybe look for purchasing some gear. Something that could help his ac-

Ronnel grunted as he spotted a boar coming around a tree a few feet away. It was just barely in range of his spear, and he nodded to himself. With a twist of his wrists and flex of his arms, he swung the heavy weapon down, trying to slice into the unwary boar pup. It - missed. The blade dug into the earth next to the startled boar, who turned to look at the source of the attack. “Ah, nice piggy…” The pup squealed and tried to gouge Ronnel’s arm with one of its tusks, but the man wrenched himself backwards, avoiding the strike.

With a deep breath Ronnel re-equipped his spear and started moving again, resuming his hunt. He needed to figure out where these boar pups were - and hopefully the next one he fought wouldn't end up dancing around him like it was a butterfly and making a mockery of him. He tightened his grip on his spear and pressed on, sliding through the trees. He paused as he heard a snuffling snorting sound from ahead and he leaned against one of the trees, and leaned around it.

Ahead of him was one of the boar pups, its nose buried in the dirt. It was - an opportunity. The beast was completely busy and distracted. He could do this. Ronnel burst from behind the tree and charged, catching the pup off-guard. It lifted its head and started to turn in his direction - but by the time it did, the heavy spear in Ronnel's hands had already connected, sinking deep into the digital flesh. There was a pause, then a flash as the boar shattered apart into red flakes that slowly fell to the ground around him. This caught Ronnel by surprise, since he hadn't been using a Sword Art - then he noticed the 'critical' logged. His eyes tracked over to his inventory and he grumbled. At least he had some kind of luck, even if not what he wanted. No dice on a new tusk.

Ronnel kicked one foot idly against the ground, looking at the divot his heel caused in the soft forest earth. It was something he needed to decide though - or if he did want to move forward and try to find something that he was well suited for in terms of combat. He sighed and rapped his knuckles against the metal cuirass he was currently wearing. “Wonder if I should just try to be a meat shield. I seem to be somewhat decent at taking a beating.” He chuckled and stood up, slowly stretching out. No matter what he was trying to do, he needed to actually keep moving. Stopping just because he was frustrated would end up getting him nowhere. 
He felt a bit better after having sat down for a moment - though he knew there would probably someone who would have called him out on not doing something with his time, it was nice to just sit. Maybe next time he had to take a breather he’d do something productive with his time -with the way his luck went, he’d need to kill quite a few more of the boars before he got enough tusks for the quest.
 

{EN: 3 posts out of combat, EN Full Recover}

It was a thought that had been at the back of Ronnel's mind for a little bit now. Being able to craft things - whether gear or just raw consumables  - seemed like it would be a bigger help to progressing things forward than just another spear wielder on the lines. While he didn't think he would just let his combat skills stagnate, he wanted to be able to make, too. 

The problem was, what? From what he remembered of his trips through town, there were tailors and blacksmiths already in force. And it wasn't like he was really feeling a calling to any of the professions right now. It was almost the same problem that he'd had outside. He didn't have a drive to do anything which was biting him now. He leaned back, resting his head against the tree above him as he stared at the leaves. No sudden bolt of inspiration struck him though, no revelation of a calling.

Ronnel slowly sat down against one of the trees, leaning his back against the bark. That had been an aggravating fight to say the least - almost more so knowing that he had been right, and that a single connected attack was all he needed to take the boar out. It did give him an indication about why some people would focus so heavily on the numbers they could gain. This had just been a boar pup, one of the weakest mobs in Aincrad. Missing it hadn't been truly devastating, just an annoyance. But against some monsters that were on the upper floors? The ones that if you didn't get your killing strokes in quickly, you'd be the one to perish? Those numbers suddenly became far more important. 

The dark haired man rubbed his chest where the boar had struck, wincing. The flesh there was just a bit tender, his nerves firing in sympathy. It did not actually hurt - the protocols protected against that - but he knew it should have. "Right… After this, it may be time to look at actually choosing my profession."

{HP 136 + 10 = 140/140}

Ronnel ran his fingers across it, glancing between the armor and the description - and then he paused when he finished reading the basic description. The man felt his face go blank as he turned his gaze to the top corner and he slowly rubbed his face. "Why... why is there a puppy face..." He groaned out loud. "Miss Ceres, I'm not a dog, I promise." He rubbed his eyes and then gave her a wry smile. "It's fantastic, Ceres, thank you for thinking of me when you saw it." His fingers paused on the emblazoned face. "Even if the reason might be... more for your amusement than anything else. Alright, let's see here. You said 700, right?" This armor was close to exactly what he'd been looking for, and the benefit of Heavy Momentum - well. It was greather than he could have imagined. He pulled up his menus and sorted money over, transferring it to her. "There you are!"

Ronnel stared at the message blinking in his vision for a long few moments, one eyebrow twitching slightly. Rather, he was staring specifically at the final line. "Seriously. Puppy. Why." He rubbed his face before shrugging. "Fine, it's fine. Alright." 

 
	To: Ceres
	From: Ronnel
	Subject: RE: Perfect Armor
	 
	I should probably be concerned about the dogs you hang out with if you think I'm a puppy, but sure. I'll be in a little bit and we can settle on a price then. I'm not the kind to gyp you out of hard earned profit after all.
	 
	Regards,
	Ronnel
	

After sending the message off, the dark haired man started down the streets. The trip would take him a little time, since he hadn't actually been on the same floor. He headed to the town warp gate and braced himself. It wasn't something he'd heard any people talking about it, but for him any time he went through the teleport he ended up some vertigo for a few minutes afterwards. Still, trying to climb between the unlocked floors on foot would be suicidal at best for him right now. 

Fifteen minutes later, he opened the door to her shop, hearing the soft tingle above his head as he came in.  He glanced around, and saw that Ceres was sorting things in a menu, her head tilted downwards, just looking up at the sound of his entrance. "Ho there, Ceres." He gave her a cheery wave. 

@Ceres

"Ah, hi there. My name is Ronnel - and I am in desperate need of a better spear than what I'm currently using." Ronnel laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm still with a pretty basic one, the one I started with actually." He glanced at the board and then back to Macradon. 

"I can make a trade for raw materials, and I'm looking for a two handed spear." Ronnel picked up one of the forms and began filling it out, figuring it would be better for the Smith to have a reference on hand - from the person who had come in and out while he was waiting, he figured Macradon was a fairly busy blacksmith, which made sense considering the quality on display. Once he finished he placed it on the receiving tray. 

 
	Name: Varathra
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 10
ID: [Leave Blank]
Roll: [Leave Blank]
Item Type: Weapon
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +1 Accuracy, +1 Dam +1 Bloody
Description: A large two handed Lance with red cord wrapped around the dark wooden haft. There is a solid x-shaped guard at the base of the spear blade, protecting from anything sliding down the blade to the hands. The blade itself is split in two near the base, with two thick branches forming the majority of the length. Sharp, jagged teeth line the outside edges of the blades. 
	 
	Post Link: [Leave Blank]
	

"That.. that nickname is never going to leave me, is it." Ronnel stared at her deadpan for a moment before he chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, thank you kindly." Ronnel popped the spyglass into his inventory and shook his head with a chuckle. The girl seemed a bit - well, she was direct that was for sure. Friendly though, if her immediate offer to help him with his own quest later was any indication. 

"Just go ahead and send me a message when you're starting the quest then Miss Ceres, I'll be sure to meet you for it. I'll at least be good for being some dumb muscle." He chuckled softly - he doubted the woman had actually meant to say 'date', that or she was meaning it in the far more platonic sense of the word. She seemed like a nice enough young lady, bright and cheery. "Alright well - until you send me a message, have a great day, and I'll see you later." He gave her a bow before leaving the shop, glancing at the new item in his inventory as he went. 

Ronnel blinked once, then twice, looking down at his own hand then back up at Ceres. And he thought that he'd spoken quickly - this girl was like a small whirlwind as she moved quickly. He held up the spyglass for a moment, looking between it and her, then lowered it back down. It had taken him a few moments to process everything that she'd spouted off quickly, and as he did he spun the spyglass around and set it back on the counter between them. He held up one long finger, chuckling.

"Right - so I was asking, there, just to try prompting if you had anything that suited the situation at hand - like this." He tapped the spyglass with one finger. "It's almost exactly what I'm needing - buuuut. I'd feel terrible about just buying this and leaving you high and dry when you're trying to find your own little partner." The man rubbed the back of his head as he contemplated. He did want to find himself a partner - something that could help him in his own searches or when he started his crafting would help him out a lot. But at the same time, if she was having trouble finding someone to help her with the quest he'd feel bad about taking something like this from her. 

Finally he nodded and began flicking through his menus, looking at how much he had on hand. Enough to cover the cost, just barely. That was fine. "So - Miss Ceres. How about an offer, since I do kinda need this - I've focused not enough on my own sustainability in terms of searches. How about I join you, if you don't mind? I'm a spear-user and a bit defensive at the moment." 

The door swung open, bell above the door chiming as it did. A tall, dark-haired man entered, looking around slowly as he did. His eyes landed on Ceres, and the man smiled widely. "Hi there! You're the proprietor, right?" He gave her a slight bow. "My name's Ronnel, and I'm hoping you can help me out." The man tapped his chest as he glanced around again, his eyes trailing along the items on display before returning to the young redhead. "I, ah, I'm relatively new to actually trying to do things. So I'm still working my way through some of the first quests available, and, well..." He chuckled and rubbed his head. 

"I'm thinking about trying out the quest chain for getting a familiar, but my luck hasn't been too good lately. I was wondering, do you happen to have anything available that might help with that? I'm honestly not sure what would even work for that kind of situation - a piece of gear or a consumable or something, so I'm totally open to hearing suggestions." Ronnel paused, taking in a deep breath and slowing down as he gave her a crooked smile. "Sorry, tried to get that all out in a rush. So - you're the shop keep, whaddaya selling?" 

Ronnel dug his foot into the ground, bracing himself as he glared at the boar pup. His body was aching, and he knew he'd spent far too much of his energy trying to fight this blasted thing, but he needed to win this. Retreat wasn't an option. "Come on, then! Come at me you overgrown piglet!" His spear blade scratched the surface of the forest earth as he prepared himself. 

The boar pup let out an angry squeal as it stamped the ground once, then twice. Then it charged at him, feet stampeding across the dirt as it rushed him down. There was a moment where Ronnel stayed motionless - then he sprung into action. 

"Just die already!" <Heft> triggered once more, the spear blade gleaming and glowing as the man swung the weapon up. There was resistance this time - blade met flesh, and flesh lost. The spear carved through the pig, and it burst apart into digital flakes, scattering across the trees before they faded. Ronnel let his body sag, relaxing, and groaned. Tired eyes glanced to his inventory, and he bit back a cry of frustration. He hadn't gotten a loot drop from this blasted pig. 

Ronnel paused as he walked through the city streets, his eyes locking onto something that caught his eye. It was a smithy - the Blazing Typhoon from the sign emblazoned above the door - and they had some their wares on display. And one in particular had caught his eye. After a quick check of his Col accounts, the dark haired man pushed open the door and walked inside. He looked around as he walked up to the counter, his fingers catching one of the request forms that were stacked neatly there. This was a player shop, not an NPC one. 

"Ah, hello? Anyone in?" The shop had been open, but there was a chance that the man had stepped out. Ronnel was looking at the catalogue in the mean time, chewing on his lip. Two things had definitely caught his attention now - and after the way things had been going, he hoped that they were still available. Or maybe he'd be able to make a request of the Smith. 

Ronnel pulled back, rubbing his stomach, and glared at the beast. He was now more than ever glad that he had managed to get some levels - if he'd gone into this fight without an armor skill, or the levels he now had, he might have been in serious danger already. As it was, this was frustrating but not dangerous - yet. If things continued like this, though, that may change. 

"Look. I don't like you, you don't like me. Let's just end this do I can get ON WITH MY LIFE." Ronnel snarled as he lashed out, once again trying to kill this thing. His temper was fraying at this point - and the attack missed, which just made things worse. His Heft swung through empty air as the boar pup lowered its head. It tried to charge into Ronnel, but the man jumped to the side, and tusks gnashed at the spot he'd been standing in moments before. "HAH."

"Oh come on. " Ronnel growled in frustration. He and the pup were still staring each other down and Ronnel could feel his left eye twitching. His arm still stung from where the pup had hit him. "I know I'm a crying little noob but you're just a boar pup! " Said boar pup snorted and stamped it's foot, glaring at the spear-wielder. 

"Right. Just die would you?" Ronnel growled and activated <Heft> again, swinging his spear upwards trying to bisect the boar pup. The pup was having none of that though and dodged out of the way, and Ronnel grimaced as the beast charged in, ramming its head into his gut and bouncing off. The man staggered backwards, holding his left arm over his stomach. This was getting hard on his nerves at this point. Should have asked Mari to come just so these blasted things would DIE. Yes, she would have thought he was actually incompetent but at this point a boar was essentially mocking him. 

Ronnel felt a fresh wave of irritation rolling through him as he and the boar pup circled each other between the trees. He knew, knew, that if he could just land a <Heft> that this thing would be defeated and he could move on. The dark haired man felt a bit angry with himself for having missed the opening attack, but at least they had both been caught off guard. Except - the pup had been able to land its headbutt, while he had swung and whiffed. 

The two cleared a tree, and Ronnel felt his arms tense up. His spear blade began to glow as his eyes narrowed. Up he swung, trying to prove his thought - if he landed his attack, it would die. But - he didn't. The glowing trail of the <Heft> swept through empty air. The pup let out a squeak and slammed its head into Ronnel's outstretched arm, and he cursed as a shot of pain danced along his nerves. "Why you little-" 

Ronnel stumbled across the next boar pup almost entirely on accident. He wasn't paying attention that was for sure, as he walked through the trees. He thought he'd hear any boars before he saw one - or, failing that, that he'd find the next one in another clearing like he had the last. So when he turned around a tree and literally walked into one, he wasn't expecting it. The man stumbled backwards, bringing his spear up quickly and activating a Sword Art - shouldn't he call them Spear Arts though - and tried to catch the pup off-guard. 

It did not work. The <Heft> Sword Art flashed upwards, Ronnel's spear swinging through the air - and completely missing the Boar Pup. The beast-monster turned and snorted as it saw that a player had walked into it, and Ronnel bit back a curse as it slammed into him with a shoulder rush. His back hit the tree he'd been walking around, and the man winced as his nerves flared in pain. "Ow.." He gasped out, glaring at the beast which looked entirely too pleased with itself for a digital construct. 

Ronnel let out a long slow breath as he smiled. It wasn't a fluke. He could do this. His fingers tightened on his spear for a moment as he nodded. "Right. People used to live this way all the time - death was a lot more common." He grimaced for a moment - not exactly thrilled that this damn death game had placed people back into that situation, but it was fine. It was survivable if you did things right and weren't stupid. The dark-haired man could see why some people got obsessive over numbers though - trying to optimize to do everything the could the best they could in the shortest amount of time. 

Did he agree with that? No. It felt a bit too easy to isolate yourself if you lived like that, and he was so tired of being alone.  Ronnel shifted his spear as he nodded to himself - he would focus as much as he could on living for the moment, preparing for the future just a little, because he knew himself. If he worried too much about what was coming, his fears would swallow him back up again. For now - for now, the next step was to hunt down more boars. 

Ronnel rubbed his chest, glad of the armor he was wearing as he returned the boar pup's glare. The man readjusted his grip on his spear haft and scowled. he was not going to screw up this time and drop his spear or something - he would never hear the end of it if anyone found out. No - he was going to kill this blasted boar pup, then more, and get their tusks so he could go back to Lyle with his head held high. Ronnel lowered himself down, and the boar braced itself. A moment of silence passed, then with a squeal the boar charged at him.

Ronnel slid one foot back, bracing himself in the dirt. If he was having trouble aiming - then he wouldn't aim. The spear-user lowered his weapon until it was directly facing the oncoming rush of the boar pup, and waited. Just before the moment of impact, he thrust forward, stabbing into the pup's head. His arms stung as the pup shoved him backwards for a moment, but then it burst apart into a shower of red data. Ronnel grinned triumphantly as he lifted his spear to the sky - then paused as he remembered he needed to get loot from it. He felt his shoulders relax when he saw that there was a new item in his inventory - one tusk, gleaming fresh. 

Ronnel let out a long breath, centering himself. He could do this - it was just one tiny boar pup, nowhere near as dangerous as the Nepent Variant had been. He adjusted his grip on his spear then struck. The dark-haired man went for a stab this time, instead of a slice, hoping that the tighter control over the thrust would help him actually connect. It might actually have done just that - if his fingers hadn't slipped on the wooden pole and the weapon slid backwards. His hands shot forward, but the spear didn't go with them, and he smacked his leading hand against the guard of the spear, barely hanging onto it.

The boar pup though, was not giving him a break as he fumbled his attack. It lowered its head and pawed the earth a few times, then rushed at him, slamming its head into his chest. The man was knocked back, wheezing as the air was knocked from his lungs. He staggered as the boar let out a proud little squeal as it shook its head from side to side before glaring at him once more. 

Ronnel and the boar pup stared at each other for a long few moments, assessing and gauging the other combatant. Ronnel exhaled and dipped his spear down low, the tip just above the ground, and then moved. One, two, three - four steps, and he was in range. He swung the spear up, trying to slide into the injured flank of the pup. The beast jumped to the side though, and the digital metal swung through the air unimpeded by flesh. Ronnel scowled as he missed, pulling the spear back quickly.

The boar pup, thankfully, was off balance from dodging the attack. It let out a furious squeal and tried to slam its tiny tusks into Ronnel, but stumbled as it moved. It almost face-planted into the earth beneath it, only recovering at the last moment. It shook its head from side to side, its snout twitching as it looked up to Ronnel with angry eyes. The man snorted as he shifted his grip on his spear haft. "Don't blame me for not being where you tried to attack you silly pig."