Melissa

It was kind of embarrassing to have her first strike be totally no-sold by the rock, but it was also a little relieving to see that Randal also failed to make a dent in it, despite his previous experience. Well, perhaps relieved wasn't the right word, since if he was struggling to damage the boulder, then they'd probably be here a while...but at least it meant she wasn't a total failure for not actually damaging it on her first strike. Either way, she had to do better now, or they'd be there all day! This time, she measured herself and lined up the blow before throwing a punch, which put a small crack in it. Now that was progress!

Hearing Randal's question, she stepped back for a moment to answer, and allow her allies their attacks. "Well, my mum did make me learn a bit of judo so I could protect myself while walking alone, but I was never really interested in it. Just learnt enough to be satisfied. I was always more of a swimmer, when it came to exercise."

ID# 189457 | BD: 6 | 5 Damage

Melissa | HP: 40/40 | EN: 22/22 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 5

Boulder: 60/75 | -2 EVA

Refreshing? What the hell was Aru on? Were all high-level players like that, or was that a tank thing? Or maybe he was just a unique weirdo, that was a possibility too. Either way, she had no idea how he could find that refreshing, but at least it was over! Now next was...

Punching a boulder. This guy was a madman. He'd have to be, to believe something about someone punching through a mountain, but even this alone was absurd! This must have been the tedious part of the quest she'd heard about, because she couldn't imagine punching through a boulder with your bare hands would be particularly easy.

The redhead decided to follow in Randal's footsteps, after that solid strike...but found herself wanting. She'd gone for a kick, figuring that her powerful swimmers legs would make it easier to break through, but she found that her foot merely bounced off, and she stumbled backwards from the impact. "Ugh, great start..."

ID# 188728 | BD: 1 | Critical Miss

HP: 40/40 | EN: 22/22 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 5

Boulder: 65/75 HP | -2 EVA

Melissa didn't really delay, leaping into action the moment Etherial had taken down her own boar. It was good that she could oneshot them with that Sword Art, at least, though even if she couldn't she supposed that she herself could soften them up while Etherial could finish them off for her own tusks. For now though, she was simple going to work on finishing her own part of the quest. Then, she could work on helping out Etherial. Rapiers probably didn't have any AoE arts, so while she killed another one, Melissa herself could soften up a couple more.

The redhead charged towards another pair of boarlets, sword held at the ready. Once she was in range, she lashed out with her Blast art as she had before. Unfortunately, the second swing meant for the second boar went completely wide, leaving it alive...though at least she managed to kill one and get that tusk! "Ugh...I'm fine! I can handle one Boarlet. Just focus on your own", she called out, not wanting to distract her companion away from her own enemies.

Melissa | HP: 40/40 | EN: 16/22 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 5

ID# 188646 | BD: 7 (+2) | Hit: 4*4 = 16 DMG on Boarlet 1. (2/3 Tusks)

ID# 188647 | BD: 1 (+2, Critical Miss!) | Miss

Boarlet 1: HP: 0/5 | DMG: 3

Boarlet 2: HP: 5/5 | DMG: 3

With her armour off, Melissa remained sitting cross-legged, one hand on each knee. Her eyes were closed as she attempted to gain some level of focus, after failing twice already...and slowly, her expression softened, little by little. Her jaw was no longer clenched in frustration, and her brow was no longer furrowed in annoyance. It had been a pain to handle, but after some time to get used to it, apparently she had managed to figure out a way to handle the distraction of the waterfall. That, or she'd simply accomplished it out of sheer spite. No way was she going to let herself be a complete failure in this quest, damnit.

Once they were finally finished, Melissa stepped out from under the water and shook her head like a dog, spraying water from her soaked twintails, which whipped around. They could probably pass for weapons with how waterlogged they were at the moment! "Ugh, that's done. What's next?"

ID# 188604 | LD: 18 | Total Per Hit Bonus: +4

Melissa gritted her teeth as she sat under the waterfall, brow furrowed as she tried to focus on her own mind...but the frustration of failure so far kept her distracted. Her expression continued to grow more agitated as she felt the water pound down on her back, drawing her out of any focus she was briefly able to obtain. How the hell were they meant to be able to focus on things with so many distractions?! This was absurd! She'd seen martial arts masters doing this kind of thing in movies, but trying it like this made that seem ridiculous. SAO wasn't exactly real life, but it was pretty close...and if anything, it was making this easier because she didn't have to deal with any potential pain from having so much water coming down on her.

After a few moments of not being able to find her focus, she opened her menu and removed the vanity armour she had on, hoping that having something else not weighing her down would help. It certainly wasn't for now, though...

ID# 188365 | LD: 8 | Total Per Hit Bonus: +2

Just boarlets, huh? So they were weaker than usual, that was a relief. The boars from before had required her to have Astreya step in and take their heads, but if they were weaker, she was certain she could handle them. Plus, Etherial was even stronger than she was, so it was certain not to be an issue.

Still, even if they were weaker, that didn't mean they should simply let them do whatever they wanted, so when Melissa noticed that Etherial missed the boarlet, she stepped in to take it down herself before it could strike against her companion. It'd do minimal damage thanks to her mitigation, but when death was a possibility, no risks could be taken.  The redhead moved in and performed her own Sword Art, three hits that sent the Boarlet scattering into red pieces.

"If we go one at a time, then we can pick up the slack for if one of us misses. And uh...not really uncomfortable. Just not used to it. I'm about as boring and normal as you can get, so..." She trailed off with a shrug, before readying to handle more Boarlets.

Melissa | HP: 40/40 | EN: 21/22 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 5

Boarlet |  HP: 0/5 | DMG: 3

ID# 188364 | BD: 5 (+2) Hit | 4*3 DMG to Boarlet: Killed (1/3 Tusks)

Seeing the sweat practically dripping from the cloth made Melissa wrinkle her nose. She wasn't the dainty, ladylike type, but...that was still a tad disgusting. More disgusting than she was currently feeling, with her soaked-through clothing. Normally, she wouldn't be complaining about working out with two sweaty, muscular guys...but this was absolutely hellish. She couldn't focus on anything but the burning in her muscles and how heavy she felt, weighed down by her waterlogged gear.

With all that, when she was directed to take a seat beneath a damned waterfall, she did a visible doubletake at the Master. "A waterfall? Seriously? This is absolutely ridiculous...", she grumbled, before shaking her head and moving towards it. Normally, her red hair would have bounced and bobbed from such movement, but the water had plastered it to her face.

It was that feeling that led her to be completely unable to focus when she sat beneath the pounding water...that, combined with the fact that it was incredibly noisy, not to mention that it was killing her back. "Agh, what the hell, there's no way I can focus like this..."

ID# 188276 | LD: 10 | Total Per Hit bonus +2

Melissa wasn't the type to deny help when she needed it, and so she took Aru's hand to help herself up from the ground. It was a bit embarrassing to need the help, but having a mindset of refusing help just to keep her pride was certain to get her killed in this world. "Thanks. And I think I'll do that, Randal. Would probably be better to focus on what I'm good at, rather than trying to force myself to do something else..."

With that thought in mind, the redhead approached Master Yunxiang, somewhat sheepishly given how she'd seen him launch Aru a few meters. She didn't want that to end up happening to her! Fortunately, he actually seemed rather receptive to the idea of focusing more on her strengths, and had her swim against the current just as Randal had suspected...though unlike with her usual swimming, she didn't get to wear a nice, comfy streamlined swimsuit. Instead, she had to do it in all her gear, and in the thin mountain air to boot.

Fortunately, even despite all that, she managed to handle it, and reached the bank where he'd sent one disciple to wait for her. "Hah, I feel disgusting...my clothes are all wet and soggy..."

ID# 188241 | CD: 11 | Total Per Hit Bonus: +2

Hearing Astreya mention not knowing their routine made Melissa wonder...what did the boars even do, day to day? Did they have a proper AI like some of the other NPCs? Or did they simply have a dumb AI that just had them mill about and attack targets nearby? The processing power of using the latter for every single mob would absolutely absurd, so it had to be the former. No way they had the technology to handle something like that yet!

"Well, we've got Astreya here to help out if things go...absolutely terrible, but ideally we won't need to worry about that. Are these the exact boars for the quest, or is it fine to just kill generics?", she questioned, looking towards Astreya for an answer to her question. Perhaps if it was the former, they'd be weaker? She also supposed it was possible that they would be harder, but this was a tutorial quest, so surely they wouldn't be that sadistic about it....

Either way, she stepped forward with Etherial and drew her own blade, ready to fight whatever it was they ended up needing to actually fight.

Well, Astreya was certainly right when she said the guy was a jerk. How rude! They hadn't even managed to get a word in edgeways before he had shooed them out to go collect boar tusks. Absolutely ridiculous! He could at least have listened when they said they weren't even there for that, but nooo, he had to go and assume he was right and that they were there for something. What an ass.

With that thought on her mind, Melissa huffed in annoyance as they walked out, hands on her hips. She shook her head in frustration, long red hair bobbing and bouncing as she did so. "Blaireau! How rude. I guess that's how he's programmed, but still, can't help but hate them even if he has to be like that", she complained.

"Well, what's the way, Astreya? Killing some boars will help us to release some frustration a bit, at least. I hope getting these tusks doesn't take as long as you say, though, or I'm going to end up in an even worse mood...", she questioned, one hand resting on the pommel of her sword while she tapped her foot.

Running off all over Aincrad? What was Astreya even doing that would take her so far over? Another quest, perhaps? Either way, it'd be something to ask about later, not now. Because now was when they had to go deal with the blacksmith that her companion had called a jerk. So that's the kind of character he was, huh? From a bumbling mayor, to a kindly alchemist, to a rude blacksmith. What would be next, she wondered?

When Astreya greeted the other girl that was lingering around, Melissa did so too, with a quick wave and a friendly smile. The curtsy earned a slightly surprised look. This girl was pretty fancy...or at least had good manners. It was a stark contrast to herself, who was just a random sub-urban girl. She wasn't going to let that bother her though, and the redhead gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you too, Etherial. Let's not waste any time with this, yeah?", she questioned, before answering it herself by pushing open the door to the blacksmith.

@Astreya@Etherial

Seeing Aru be blown back by the NPC called Melissa to jump up in surprise, almost falling over herself from stumbling. What the hell was that?! God, if that's how the Master introduced himself, then she could tell this training was going to be absolutely hellish. She certainly wasn't looking forward to this. Was it even worth the XP? She wondered what she'd gotten herself into as she tapped to accept the quest...

Unfortunately, even with the Master's expert eye, Melissa didn't quite manage to grasp the task this time. She simple couldn't keep her own balance while squatting in such a way, and more than a few times she ended up falling back onto the incense. Yet another time she was thankful that pain wasn't a worry, but emotionally...well, it was pretty humiliating, especially since they probably thought of her as being weak already.  She'd simply have to try and accomplish it next time, so she didn't look like a fool...

ID# 188155 | CD: 5 | Fail

Melissa had heard talk of familiars before, so she supposed that 'Pebbles' must have been one. Perhaps it'd be worth trying to find one of her own? Even if they didn't have any mechanical value, finding one was probably a quest, and quests meant experience! And with the redhead being as far behind as she was, she certainly needed as much of that as possible.

"Ah, I really hope it's not as hard as this. I'm used to some physical exercise, but this is much harder. Tout fait mal", she grumbled, mumbling the last part under her breath. Her legs, especially, were feeling the fatigue, though at least she didn't have to deal with a stitch or shin splint or anything like that, since Cardinal blocked out any sense of pain.

Once they finally reached what appeared to be the dojo, she let out a sigh of relief, and immediately moved to take a seat on some steps, red eyes scanning over the courtyard as she did. Boulders with holes in them...were those going to be the final lesson? That would make sense for why it was such a tedious quest. Destroying boulders with their bare hands would take forever!

It was good to get a look at the two people she'd be doing the quest with. The leader, Aru, seemed to have a good grasp of his own head, and was clearly the most durable of the group, both from level and from the fact that he was wearing heavy armour. Then there was the martial artist, who, if the things she'd heard about this quest were true, would make it significantly easier to actually get this over with. Rumours and infobrokers had mentioned that it was tedious and hellish, but having three people in total would hopefully make it a cinch.

Randal's 'scarf' certainly caught Melissa's eye, and she couldn't help but stare curiously back at the tiny creature...before clearing her throat, and nodding to Aru as she accepted the invite. 31 and 22? Man, these two were so far ahead...

"Sounds good to me, don't want this to take any longer than it has to", she agreed as she followed along behind the leader of the group.

It was fortunate they had someone who'd already done this quest to show them along the path, since otherwise, there probably would have been some time of actually trying to find the way up. However, it certainly wasn't making it easy, either. Swimming hadn't prepared her body for this...

The search for players to assist in the quest had not gone unnoticed by Melissa. While the Martial Arts quest wasn't one she necessarily needed, being a two-handed weapon user, it was still a safe quest, she had heard...and that meant it would be a good way to earn some EXP without putting herself in danger!

As such, she had taken Aru up on his offer, and made her way towards the teleporter of the second floor herself, arriving just in time to see him appear.  "Hey, you're Aru, right? I'm Melissa", she introduced herself. She had a distinctively French accent, which immediately made her heritage obvious.

"And I guess you're another player coming along?", she continued, turning her gaze to Randal. The other two certainly seemed far better geared than her. It was a far cry from what she was used to, that being lower-level players with fresh equipment, but she just supposed that meant they'd all be safe on the way to wherever this quest was supposed to happen.

Stats:
 

@Aru

Astreya had mentioned that there was a second person that had apparently been waiting on her to help with the next stage of this quest. She almost felt bad for taking her time up, if that was the case, but going with all 3 of them would probably make things way quicker. "I'm fine with another person, yes. That'll get things done faster, and it'll be someone else new to meet, as well. Making allies in a death game like this is always a good thing...", she replied, rolling her neck a little as she started walking towards where the quest had directed her.

Next up on the list was some kind of blacksmith. What'd be the reward from this, she wondered? It followed that if the alchemist had given potions, then the blacksmith would give gear as a reward. That'd come in handy to have, though she had doubts that there would be anything that would surpass her current weapon for the moment. Maybe not even until she reached Tier 2, and enhancements began to get expontentially better.

Stats:
 

@Astreya

Fortunately, there'd be someone coming along that Jackpot could actually make money from. The new update had meant many appraisers weren't currently open, so she'd had to ask around for one after her latest quest...and apparently there was one on floor ten! It was dangerous to go that high, but she'd managed to find someone much stronger who was heading in that general direction for some farming, and was a kind enough soul to take her along.

"Man, to think I'd have to find some spelunker just to escort me to get my gear appraised...ah, well. You're Jackpot, right? Reckon you could identify these for me?", she questioned, placing some unidentified gear out on the counter, as well as the necessary col.
 

Summary:
 

Page Rewards:

Melissa: 200 col, 200xp

Astreya: 200 col, 400xp

Quest Rewards:
Melissa: 450xp, 500 col, 5 T1 Uncommon Health Potions (Heal 5% of max HP), 1 T1 Uncommon Damage Potion (+1 damage for thread), 1 T1 Uncommon Overhealth Potion (Add 5% of maximum HP to max Hp for thread), 1 T1 Rare Health Potion (Heal 10% of max HP)

Loot:

Melissa: 140 col, 1 T1 Rare Unidentified Consumable, 1 T1 Rare Unidentified Armour/Shield

Gathered:

Astreya: 1 T1 Material

Potion-crafting, huh? So this quest was an introduction to both gathering and crafting. She supposed that made sense, since...well, you needed to gather to craft. "Well, I hope it isn't hard. And yes, I hope so. Are there any other annoying quests like these? I'm hoping not, but MMOs tend to have a good few of them..."

With her complaining done, Melissa started heading back to the Town of Beginnings. She'd gotten a bit used to sneaking about the edge of the aggro radi, so they managed to escape being accosted on the way back. When they finally returned to Zackariah, it turned out Astreya was right, and he now wanted Melissa to use those materials to craft a potion, with some extra provided by his shop. Fortunately, she didn't have to feel bad about using too much of his stock, because she managed to nail it first try! It was even a rare to boot, which was nice. However, apparently the alchemist wasn't the debtor, and so they were pushed along to the next.

"Well, that went pretty well. Wanna join me in the next one?"

ID# 187977 | CD: 8 | Rare Healing Potion obtained (HP Recovery II)

Melissa's twintails bobbed as she shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and frustration. Could he even safely come out here, what with the boars aggroing when you got in their radius? She supposed it was possible he just had some sytem-granted immunity to them so he could go about his job. That would make sense. She wished she could yell at him for it, but given that he was just an NPC with no control of his routine or anything like that, it wouldn't exactly accomplish much. Besides, it wouldn't do for the tutorial vendor to have a grudge on her...if NPCs could even hold grudges.

She put that thought out of her mind as she continued searching, and found the fifth and final herb they needed. "Lucky is the word! I guess killing those boars reset the RNG or something, given I just found three of these in a row. Let's start heading back to the town, yeah? The XP will be nice to have. Maybe I'll even jump a few levels."

ID# 187958 | LD: 14 | 1 material found (5/5)

Melissa stretched, rolling her shoulders as she continued to look around. What'd be after this, she wondered? Tutorial quests usually didn't end after the first one, so it was likely that Zackariah wasn't the debtor. In fact, it was almost guaranteed, since Astreya had just said herself that there was another quest after this. This seemed to be more about gathering materials, and the next was fighting boars...would there be more after that? There was probably another system or two yet to be introduced.

"What, does he put the materials out himself or something? If he weren't an NPC, I'd get angry at him, but they're not sentient enough for that...", she muttered as she continued to search. Fortunately, there was another herb to be found in the vicinity, and with a grin, she placed it into her inventory. "Aha, almost there. Only one more, though knowing the desire sensor, that's going to take the longest of them all..."

ID# 187956 | LD: 13 | 1 material found (4/5)

Melissa wiped her forehead and sheathed her sword across her hip, before she placed a hand on her hip. That had worked out quite well, in the end! She'd gotten some col, some materials, and even a pretty lucky drop from that first one. Hopefully she could find an appraiser without much difficulty, so she could see if it was something useful. Huh, what would she do if it wasn't? Did SAO have a way to sell items? It must have, right? Ah, whatever, she could figure that out when they got there.

"Thanks. And yeah, from the first one. A rare consumable, and rare armour or shield. Guess I gotta get them appraised to find out what they are, though. A good start to monster-looting, I'd say."

With that said, she decided to get started on the actual looting they were supposed to be doing...and as luck would have it, this time she was successful! Beneath where the pack had been to start, Melissa found yet another herb that was necessary to complete the quest. "Aha. Maybe there's more around enemies, or something..."

ID# 187954 | LD: 16 | 1 Material found (3/5)

Melissa grinned a little to herself as Astreya joined the battle to direct their attention towards herself. That was good, because if she didn't, she was quite sure that those boars would have done quite the number on her. But as it was, she had a reliable tank friend to take the hits for her...and even hurt them in response, apparently, all thanks to those Thorns she'd mentione.

Fortunately, that had softened up the two that had struck for Melissa herself to swoop in and finish them off. She moved to put herself in a position where all three boars were in front, right after two of them had bounced off Astreya, and brought her blade to her side, strong leg forward. Allowing the system to guide her, she first made one horizontal sweep from right to left, then one that came back around. The two that were already hurt shattered into red pieces, depositing more col - as well as quite a few materials - into Melissa's inventory, while the third was on its last legs. The AI would probably end up killing itself against Astreya's thorns, which would mean no loot...but she'd rather that than being dead.

Melissa uses [Blast] on Boars 2, 3 and 4! 24 dmg to Boar 2, 16 dmg to Boar 3, 16 dmg to Boar 4.

Melissa's Stats:
 

Enemy stats:
 

Rolls:

Loot:

"Ugh, seriously? That's the worst kinda quest. I guess this'll let me get some practice in, though...", she muttered.

With a nod to Astreya, Melissa started moving out, already working on a plan in her head. Looking at the numbers, she could tell that her strongest Sword Art would be a oneshot, but that had a cooldown. Maybe letting them dash themselves against her dark-haired partner's Thorns, and then clean them up afterwards? Yeah, that seemed like it would work! At least, in her head. With the hand-and-a-half sword at the ready, Melissa approached a small pack of particularly stocky boars, with large tusks, and readied herself for her first real fight.

Immediately, she put her plan into action, and triggered her Sword Art. The redhead bent at the knees, sword raised horizontally towards the closest one...and struck, Cardinal carrying her towards the target and sending it flying back! Loot spilled from it and entered her inventory, one of which she saw being quite interesting. Gear and a consumable, nice! This was far better luck than they'd been having so far...

"Uh, hey, reckon you could take their aggro? You tank, right?"

Melissa uses [Straight] on Boar 1 for 4*5 = 20 damage. -5 EN

Melissa's stats:
 

Enemy stats:
 

Loot:

ID# 187943 | BD: 8 (+2, Hit!)

ID# 187944 | LD: 16 | CD: 8