Titan

Quest: The Gemini

Titan had only heard the rumors of this quest. It was supposed to be the ultimate way to test a player against a vision of themselves that had truly been dark. In the guidebooks, it was recommended that the lower level players do it as quickly as possible because it was designed to increase in difficult the higher the player climbed in levels. Nothing had been written down in regard to what increased but the ambitious wannabe tank was worried about being level 9 and maybe losing to the vision of himself because of his gear and stats. He didn't hit the hardest, he hadn't had enough mitigation to do quite enough damage nor did he have any evasion. 

Luckily for him, Shield gave him a weapon that might just do the trick. Soul Piercer had enough bleed that if he held up long enough and had enough critical hits, it could very well defeat the Gemini. 

With those final thoughts, he prepared his gear for some Easter egg hunting on his way to the quest from the first level and headed for the teleportation pad within the Town of Beginnings and just with that luck he found 3 on the outskirts of the forest right before hitting the teleportation pad. 

TITAN'S INVENTORY

EASTER EGGS (+5 LD)

She had been so sweet, a nurturer for sure, but Titan could not help but want to see what the woman was capable in the front lines. She had a way with words but he had this hunch that when it had been time to turn the flames on that Lessa was quite the force to be reckoned with.

As she ran to find the additional eggs, Titan bent down to grab the three that had been hiding in a nearby bush.

“ I understand. ” he wasn’t the type to push others into feeling like they had to share but he took the woman’s words as an understanding that humans could be downright deceitful or that they might have ended up losing the game. “ I won’t promise that I won’t be a pain in the ass, it’s all subjective but I can promise you that if you ever need potions once I get high enough to make some for you, it’ll be on me. The first batch anyway. ” It was a way to get people into his shop and he was devoutly loyal to those who showed him kindness.

He caught back up to her, glancing toward her direction and offering her a genuine smile. “ I just want to get strong enough to help get the front liners push their way to the top. Whatever I can do to make sure that happens will always be my goal. ”

EASTER EGG LOOT

Everything seemed to be building into a giant crescendo. Titan kept his weapon tight to his side, other hand against the wall as he took deliberate steps forward in both caution and exhilaration. “ No idea, it doesn’t seem to be too far though. ” He spoke too soon as the man turned the corner into the open space of a labyrinth.

His body had then been pulled backward, the momentum of the axe was felt against Titan’s face as he stumbled and landed against Shay with his body completely smashing hers on the floor. “ S$%^. Sorry Shay. ” He stood up in an unrivaled pace, hand went to Shay to help her out as the Minotaur huffed a mighty breath against her nostrils. “ Sorry, but guess it’s time to do what we do best. ” He mused, quickly turning onto his heel and leaping forward with an energized maiming blow attack aiming the tip of the spear right at the minotaur’s chest.
@Shay

HOYA MINOTAUR'S STATISTICS

TITAN'S STATISTICS

TITAN'S ATTACK ( + 3 ACC )

“ Seems like this is the map, perhaps a labyrinth. ” Curt and to the point, Titan decided to take the other’s refusal to start and lead to be her way of telling Titan that she’d like for him to go first and so he did. His eyes were working overtime, the silent rumbles that shook the walls of the labyrinth had been enough to make the other nervous. It was then that Titan decided that if he made right turns, it wouldn’t confuse him or lead him too out of the way since every right turn would then lead them out of the maze.

“ Sounds like you’re pretty confident about this one. ” His assault spear confidently in one hand as they continued forward, a hand out as he walked at a normal pace trying to use the sounds to guide him to the minotaur they needed to take out. “ How far do you think we are based on the noises? ” Titan couldn’t help but ask in a quieted murmur, the rumbles were starting to get a bit louder but nothing that made the man think it was right around the corner or anything.
@Shay

Name: Titan
Your Profession: Alchemist
Your Rank: 2
Roll ID: 142670
Roll Result: Craft: 9 / Loot: 5 (+5)
Item Type: Salve 
Tier: T1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: Antidote
Description: When applied, grants immunity to negative status effects (Paralyze, Bleed, etc.) for a total number of turns they would affect you equal to the slots used. Effect lasts for one thread.
Post Link: Bubbling Vial (4/19)

It was his third day now working as an alchemist and Titan knew that yesterday he got mighty lucky with everything that went on. With both of his new salves, it meant that the man could craft stronger potions once he took the dive to obtain the next tier of material that he needed. With a quick huff and a sharp exhale, Titan opened up his little shop and got to work. His beautiful concoctions from yesterday on display for his own desires to continue the positive creating. 

The first one blew up in his face, the puff of black smoke now creating a ring of soot on the edges of Titan's face as the man sighed in the process. Not letting himself feel deterred as he continued, the second salve he created seeming to work as an antidote for when the time came. Next off, the third and final salve he could create blew up in the smoke. " Well shoot, guess this is the luck of the draw when working with such unstable ingredients. " At least there would always be tomorrow. 

Liquid Luck Pendant

CRAFTING ROLL (+5 LD | Liquid Luck Pendant + Rank 2 Searching)
Total: 11 EXP, -3 T1 Material, One Uncommon Salves (Antidote)

As Titan noticed the woman’s scarlet eyes, it seemed as though she had wanted to come across particularly cold or dismissive for whatever reason she may had wanted. Titan didn’t necessarily care about all of that, especially after the warning he heard from some of the others about finding the best way to work with those willing to fight. This was simply be a test, just like that. “ Pleasure.  I’m Titan. ” He mused with a smile, still, he’d be his beaming self for the sake of not wanting to lose himself to the hardness that was Sword Art Online.

After Titan noticed the other’s name, he accepted in no time and curiously looked her over once again. She seemed strong, her weapons was powerful and all Titan could assume was that she was leaps ahead of Titan and knew exactly what to do. “ I don’t have a lot of tank gear at all so if you just wait, I might be able to hold aggro against the minotaur. ” He figured the warning would be more than enough as he moved forward and entered the labyrinth with caution, his left hand gripping his newest spear hard while looking for the beast, trying to use all of his senses to give him the right direction. " Do you know which way we were supposed to go? "
@Shay 

After what felt like an hour of searching, Titan knew that he read within the handbook and adventurer's guide that there had always been a chance of finding a random treasure chest like he did when he tackled his second quest on the first floor. It had been such a turning point for him, the amount of loot felt incredibly securing especially as he only had just enough to identify three pieces of weapons from Alec because of it. Now, the man had quite a bit of Easter Eggs from his collection but after hearing Lessa share that she absolutely wanted to be the winner, it made the young tank worried that the amount he collected just hadn't been enough. 

For now, Titan found himself in the courtyard's south gates with his fingers tracing the stone walls and iron fencing, curiously pressing lightly against each stone to see if there had been a trap door or something to open itself up to an incredible chest. It seemed as though this time Titan was turning up with nothing more but dirty fingertips from a wall that didn't seem to be touched in what felt like years. 

With that, Titan felt complete and knew he had been ready to leave with his spoils for the day. 

TREASURE CHEST ( +5 LD )

Despite it only being two additional eggs, the one material he found on the other side of the locked fence was enough to make the man giddy. He received enough of both to call this a successful day and Titan's eyes were getting to the point where he felt like he couldn't even see straight. Focusing himself in, steeling his resolve, the man continued forward giving himself five additional minutes for any other eggs or materials that wanted to respawn and pop up for Titan the time to do so.

All in all, Titan knew that he would be back in this space to collect material as he continued to level up his Alchemy and perhaps one final push in case he hadn't had enough easter eggs for all the things he would want from the store, once he was able to find it that is. He heard rumors that it was on the 22nd floor but he was far too scared to venture that far alone. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

The debate was still going between quokka, anteater and koala honestly when it came to his familiar. Titan wanted something furry, friendly and could help lighten the often sour moods of Sword Art Online and he figured that even a kangaroo could be perfect to help mitigate the damage that often got slung over by the floor bosses. His build still was more DPS focused for now but it would change once he got to tier three, he didn't really see the need of editing his build too much especially if he wanted to solo content.

Another five cluster of Easter Eggs showed up as Titan passed the locked gate making his way halfway through the courtyard. His eyes noticed the shimmer first and the man was just tall enough to open up the lantern area that they were hiding in to toss them into his inventory. If his math was right, he already collected 83 Easter Eggs. This was an absolute win in the wannabe tank's book. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

There was always Easter Eggs to go for as as soon as he picked up the half-dozen colorful collectible, another five eggs spawned right on top of them. Talk about lucky! He shook his head in disbelief as he tossed them into his inventory that had already been opened and continued along the pathway with his search activated looking around to see if he could find anymore big clumps of materials or eggs just waiting to jump out at him. 

It was in these moments that Titan had wished he had already received his familiar but he knew it would come in time. Shield had already recommended a mitigation familiar that would be able to help him take less damage. it seemed simple enough and the man also knew he wanted a marsupial of sorts, perhaps once all this collecting egg nonsense had finally been over he'd be able to focus on the final piece he was missing of his build.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

Titan would consider his stint within Aincrad so far to be not so bad. He hadn't been supper overleveled or had the best gear but he made some powerful connections in Lessa, Shield, Cordelia and Alec. The man had always been a bit peculiar in asking for help and almost would always rather it be his own drive, ambition or desire that led him to the outcomes that he often fought so hard for.

He felt like he had good direction and kept his tempo up fairly quickly with steady progress being made every single day so far. He had quite the ways to go but Titan felt like the building blocks he needed had been set and now that he for the most part understood what needed to be done, the execution would be the easiest portion. 

Lucky for Titan, he also spotted more eggs. A half-dozen sat on the base of the rock wall for the picking and Titan quickly gathered them all up and threw them into his inventory. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

And truth be told, Titan had been getting a lot more comfort outside of his safety nest of the first floor. Sure, the man still spent a lot of time down there because it's where a few of the quests that he needed to finish were along with his house but Titan thought it was quite the large step to have his alchemy shop be on the second floor and not the first. 

In the middle of his thought as he had been walking a bit further from the last spot where he got loot, Titan spotted three Easter Eggs on top of the rock wall he had sat on not too long ago and two clumps of weed protruding out of the side of the wall. He felt bad for stripped this whole side of the courtyard clean of eggs and materials but there was a respawn rate for a reason, right?

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

A part of him sometimes wished he would've done something different from Alchemy as a whole was quite the beneficial profession with damage, mitigation, health buffs, teleportation and overheals that could be used on any number of the party. The only downside to this at all was the fact that he needed a bit more slots or had to really prioritize what he could bring along with him in some of these battles. It'd all come together but for now, he simply had too much to consider.

This is why he took another step, three eggs popping up as soon as he stepped and two pieces of material right under his foot like it was kismet or something. Pushing himself back up, Titan could feel the momentum surging once again for his very large haul of Easter Eggs from the 11th floor. He'd have to make his farming trip up here every time instead of sticking with the first floor. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

At this point, Titan had scoured the perimeter of about a quarter of the room and he was receiving some incredible gains from simply walking around and gathering. It took quite the toll on his mind as it was somewhat mindless and simply doing tedious work with such a huge reward attached. This was when Titan noticed both the patch of grass from him to bend down to collect as another piece of material and more Easter Eggs right next to it for him to quickly [censored] up and place into his inventory. It really was a piece of cake compared to the other, more daunting challenges they faced in this death game. He wasn’t going to complain too much as he already capped out on what he had been able to craft so far for the game and now he’d maybe take it a bit easy after he farmed a few necessary mitigation and damage potions. The man needed leverage to trade.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

This was just like farming in World of Warcraft when he played that one Summer when he broke his foot, it was that easy. Each item he needed required a trade of some sort, the joy and pride of slaying beasts came with the peaks and valleys of any type of RPG game like this. It was that simple. His eyes spotted three more Easter Eggs and he collected them and put it inside of his inventory. Rinse and Repeat.

Eyes searching potential material for him to use without any showing up in his next section of the map. It was fine though; he collected a pretty good amount already. Everything else would truly be a beneficial bonus. His trinket that he bought from Night had been in one hand, spear resting on his back as he took a few more steps and bent down into the courtyard hoping a new perspective would find him additional resources.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

The man counted the steps in his head like a steady metronome as he walked and allowed himself a second or two to look for either Easter Eggs or Materials to collect. There did seem to be an abundance of Eggs and a bit of Materials nearby but his luck seemed to skew a bit more to the decorative, colorful eggs that were hidden in places that Titan hadn't even considered until he glanced over to the right spot at the right time. 

Like this time for example, there had been a patch of grass that he thought had been material but as he picked at it, there was a mound of something under the dirt. After a little bit of digging, three Easter Eggs had unearthed themselves from that spot and Titan had no problem putting dirty eggs in his Easter Egg. It just meant that no matter the mean or the method, anyone in Aincrad would have the opportunity to find eggs during this event.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

As he pushed off the smooth rocks of the enclosed courtyard, Titan couldn't help but immediately notice the bird homes that rested two per every door that they had within the courtyard. It's at a closer glance that he noticed six easter eggs hiding within the small bird nest that lived within the glass homes. " These devs are tricky. " He mused, shaking his head at the deception before he very easily hopped onto the rock wall and used his height to reach over into the home and plucked the six hidden eggs from their hiding spot. 

If he continued to get such large amounts, perhaps he wouldn't have to be at this for very much longer. Titan still hadn't been sure how much he needed but he figured 400 or so would be a good amount to gain something somewhat worthwhile from the turn ins. After closing his inventory, the man hopped down and continued his clockwise walk against the perimeter. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

He would rest for another minute or so before getting back to the grind of easter eggs and materials. Titan took this moment though to look beyond the courtyard of the 11th floor that he found at the architecture of the town, seeing that it felt very European in look. It seemed as though Aincrad was truly an amalgamation of the greatest work in all humanity collected and displayed in one area for those who liked the game could enjoy.

For Titan? He missed Japan's roots as he hadn't found too much of yet in his own exploration. He was certain it had been somewhere, within the 100 floors there had to be a place that displayed the dazzling beauty of his home but he knew he had to wait. 

He also wondered if the creators of this godforsaken game wanted to be designers and created their own eclectic looks for building design. The gamework had been incredibly but Titan always got tripped up on the why, how come someone would keep them trapped in it, what was there to gain from it?

More Easter Eggs, More Materials. Titan gladly collected them in the corner of the wall and pushed himself up, ready to have back the full searching of loot. 
 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

Resting his fingers against the cold stone wall, the tips feeling the smooth edges that he was certain had been chipped away at to create such a smooth surface for the town. It reminded him of the Summers out in the lakes with his family, searching for the smoothest rocks to skip since those bounced the most and also went the farthest. This was nothing like that though, the joys and serenity could be found in the coding of Aincrad. The beauty was no joke despite it being all binary codes but the emotions just hadn't been there yet for Titan. He knew he was in a game, he knew this wasn't his real life and that glitch int he matrix still brought him from truly enjoying himself and determined to return to that which he had lost in the process.

A bunny seemed to appear out of nowhere, dropping three easter eggs and one material near his feet with a wiggle of its nose, it began hopping off. How peculiar, but nevertheless Titan deposited into his inventory. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

As the player sat casually on top of the stone wall, he decided that a quick break from all his picking was well-deserved but not before he spotted a cluster of six easter eggs and two raw materials just resting against the wall and on it. His fingers were nimble as he picked at the weed's root and opened up his inventory to toss the materials inside and did the same with the easter eggs that sat in a little pocket on the top of the rock wall that wouldn't be entirely noticeable to a casual onlooker. 

This is the time that Titan knew to be too important, when time felt at a standstill and he was somewhat tired of grinding for what he knew would be advantageous. As much as he wanted to be honing his abilities with his assault spear there was something important about Alchemy and this only meant that now, he'd be able to expand his crafts to things that might work a little bit better on the front lines. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

And this is why it was so dangerous for Titan to be alone while doing medial tasks, his mind loved to wander into ideas and circumstances that they truly hadn’t needed to. Sometimes face value is what he should expect from certain people and often, more than not, it’s exactly what their intention was as well.

Titan exhaled, focusing his eyes on the courtyard that had been around him that seemed to expand with every step he took inside of it. Perhaps, they weren’t the only people stuck in the ideological moral dilemmas and noticed the man fairly need to him. The man peered quickly inside the courtyard and out as well with no sudden surprises or anything.

His eyes caught onto the green egg that laid rested between the pillars of the eggs, there was the other cluster he had been looking for and threw it into his inventory as he wanted his mind to rest for a while now that he collected a fairly good of easter eggs for now. Titan took a seat on the rock wall, deciding to take in on the beauty of the courtyard with a quick breather. 

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

He wondered how the girl was doing, they had a date on Saturday to go familiar hunting but she seemed like she leaped much farther ahead than Titan had been and he wasn’t the type to bother someone for a favor. He wasn’t sure what that stemmed from, but he hated seeming like a charity case and a part of him felt like needing help in his familiar quest, felt a little like that.  

“ Oh, more eggs. ” Titan mused, bouncing on his ankles down to the base of the stone wall to collect where the sneaky items had been hiding.

Perhaps, he’d leave her alone for now and handle the familiar by himself. Titan had only been level 8 but felt this was the right time to train a familiar in Mitigation. He wondered what Hinatao got for herself, he’d ask in a week or two to see if she settled on who would help her climb the rest of Aincrad.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

And yet, he was brought back the conversation with Shield who truly had no reason to be so nice with sharing what he knew. But then again, the main tank had been forthcoming with his information. He wasn’t necessarily trying to help Titan excel in Tanking particularly but force those trying to get to the front lines as quick as possible to help brunt the burden of clearing bosses. Now, Titan was on board because he decided it for himself, but he only worried about those who still weren’t sure that’s what their purpose would be in Aincrad. For those people, they might get coerced into worlds and roles that they never really wanted to in the first place.

His mind went to Hinatao, the brunette who seemed shy and hated the bullies who picked on her. Perhaps by the time she grinded, she’d be transformed but no part of him saw the other on the frontline, not yet anyway.

Hand went out for the eggs and materials, slotting it in his inventory and profiting on such a bountiful parcel of land.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )

But his thought process felt flawed for being so dismissive to those who killed, stole, or genuinely didn’t want to follow the rules of the game. Could there truly be a collective consciousness when the system at place enforced arbitrary rules for the sake of doing so? And that’s exactly where Titan got mixed up in his moral dilemma. Sure, he was still far too young in his leveling career to have a say without the possibility of being obliterated but he knew he needed to think on his own stance and picking materials and Easter Eggs had been the perfect way to theorize and compartmentalize.

More Easter Eggs, more materials placed into his inventory as he moved a few feet further to collect the items with glee. These pockets of material and calm picking would be such a benefit in the long run of farming materials. For that, Titan murmured a thanks to whatever being had been above and finished picking what he needed for his next level of Alchemy.

MATERIAL & EASTER EGG ROLL ( +5 LD )