Rencesvals

"Are we not heading for the ferryman's dock?" Ren's sense of direction was still as fallible as ever, but he'd overheard some other candidates heading towards another gate upon their arrival in Athenaia. The ones carrying fishing poles had sealed his assumptions. "No, this particular invitation leads to Olympus itself. We must go to Hephaestus as he is not...easily movable." Large groups of toga-wearing individuals were visible lounging in alcoves and covered stoa all along the city's major plazas and connecting boulevards. Ren wondered how accurately this society mirrored its inspir

"Nevertheless, Zeus, the very king of the gods himself, demands your presence and attendance to face the trials of Olympus at once!" Ren nodded even as he was already setting away his tools and materials, swapping out gear in preparation for the journey. The page was still blabbering away when Ren lifted the proffered letter from his fingertips to scan its contents. "Okay, good, blacksmithing as expected. No special requirements, except. What's this about reporting to Hephaestus? It makes sense, but why not just issue the invitation in the forge-god's name?" He knew his mythology

"Which one are you from, then?" Ren grabbed a nearby rag and wiped his face to clear the soot and sweat of a day's work from his face. It was a futile exercise as the cloth was just a dirty as the rest of him, but it certainly smeared everything around for a nice, even consistency. He'd been expecting a letter or some form of visitor for some time. It hadn't quite taken as long for Demeter to get her invites out, but this might also explain why hers looked like incomplete form letters. "From Zeus himself, my lord!" The Satyr was a bit overzealous with his delivery. Given the sheer e

Crafting rolls: R3 Blacksmith (T3 gear max, 4 crafts/day) Ambition Tool (+1 EXP) ID 212994 | CD 11 | T2 Rare Heavy Armor (+6 EXP) ID 212995 | CD 4 | Failure (+2 EXP) ID 212996 | CD 1 | Critical Failure (+2 EXP) ID 212997 | CD 3 | Failure (+2 EXP) Cost: 4 materials

Ren stood, gob smacked by the other fellow's response, but honestly just glad that the chances of his imminent demise appeared to be dropping. Maybe. His mouth took odd shapes, but no words emerged. Instead, golden eyes swiveled to two other approaching players, both veterans judging by the mien of their gear and mannerisms. He was just here to pick rocks and crystals, still wearing the technical equivalent to his newbie pajamas. Interesting times. "Murder?" General confusion was apparent in his features, making it clear that he'd not heard the same news or received the same invites

Name: Durendal (v.II) ID: 212989 Roll: CD12 Item Type: 1H Straight Sword Tier: 2 Quality: Perfect Enhancements: Bleed | Taunt | Para Description: "The binding blade that endures all pain and cuts through stone like water, whether by time or pure force. Its will cannot be denied. Engraved upon the fuller are symbols representing the chivalric virtues on one face, and the tenets of bushido upon the other." Post Link: https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/39174-f21r3-blacksmith-the-knight-shift-open/?do=findComment&comment=673167 Name: Black Regalia (V.II) ID: 212992 Roll: CD12 Item

"Hello, my little friend. Still here alone are you?" Ren gently nuzzled Nyanku's chin with his finger tip, setting his purring engine into overdrive. "I brought you a little something extra today, though I hope the shop owner doesn't mind. A friend of mine fancies herself a decent cook. She is, actually, but I rarely admit it to her. Turns out that she had a little extra tuna special leftover last night." Summoning the minor meal from his inventory, Ren set the black porcelain bowl on the counter with its miniature fish portion neatly set and decorated at the centre. While the fe

Crafting rolls: R3 Blacksmith (T3 gear max, 4 crafts/day) Ambition Tool (+1 EXP) ID 212990 | CD 9 | T2 Uncommon Heavy Armor (+4 EXP) ID 212991 | CD 4 | Failure (Lose mat, +2 EXP) ID 212992 | CD 12 | T2 Perfect Heavy Armor (+9 EXP) ID 212993 | CD 7 | Salvage (LD 11, keep mat, +3 EXP) Cost: 3 materials

Crafting rolls: R2 Blacksmith (T2 gear max, 3 crafts/day) Ambition Tool (+1 EXP) ID 212987 | CD 11 | T2 Rare 1HSS (+6 EXP) ID 212988 | CD 11 | T2 Rare 1HSS (+6 EXP) ID 212989 | CD 12 | T2 Perfect 1HSS (+9 EXP) Cost: 3 materials Rank 3 Blacksmith reached.

Crafting rolls: R1 Blacksmith (T1 gear max, 2 crafts/day) Ambition Tool (+1 EXP) ID 212985 | CD 10 | T1 Uncommon 1HSS (+4 EXP) ID 212986 | CD 6 | Salvage (LD 3, lose mat, 2 EXP) Cost: 2 materials Rank 2 Blacksmith reached.

Crafting rolls: R1 Blacksmith (T1 gear max, 2 crafts/day) Ambition Tool (+1 EXP) ID 212954 | CD 4 | Failure (lose mat, +2 EXP) ID 212955 | CD 5 | Failure (lose mat, +2 EXP) Cost: 2 materials

Austerlitz cursed when the UI popped up with a message notification. He should have suppressed the interface during such a sensitive mission and had forgotten to do so. Hopefully it hadn't drawn anyone's attention and wouldn't get him killed. Something scraped in the darkness to his left: metal against stone. They had found him. Launching himself from his hiding nook, he caught one of the assailants by the neck, shattering his form instantly. Cries of surprise, anger and anguish came up all around. He was far from alone. Barking dogs signaled that they likely had his scent and that thi

Darkness broken by lanternlight greeted him the moment Ren stepped through the portal to arrive in the streets of Tomoika. Were it not for the steam-powered clocks and ability to verify the time though player UIs, you could easily loose track of yourself in this underdark. A few customers were loitering outside the shop when he arrived, waiting to place orders. A bit of banter and assuaging their patience soon had them all heartily filling their scripts and setting deadlines for delivery. Ren knew he'd be busy, yet looked forward to it. This was what he'd wanted and signed up for. Th

Snapping the reigns to pull away from the Daze and hoping to glean some space to think, it seemed appropriate to solicit some advice. "What do you think, Biscuit? Could there be something there?" The oxen farted long and loud in response, dropping a load on the cobblestone as she went. "I... I'm really not sure how to take that." Assuming that she meant anything more by it than simple relief, Biscuit wasn't saying - not that she could. Maybe that was the point? Make of it what you will. It's all the same shit. "Heh. Yeah. Maybe." Guiding her gradually back to the ce

Verdy's gaze seemed to be gauging his response with hesitation. "I know you, Sakata. You were always a good man, and still are. Don't ever doubt that." Leaning over, Verdy kissed him on the cheek before suddenly jumping off the wagon and vanishing inside. Ren hadn't even had a moment to decently blush. Biscuit snorted at the outcome, glancing back at him with dull cow eyes that seemed far keener than anyone had ever considered possible. "I love you too, Kano," he thought, unable to say it out loud in case she heard him. Even Ren's semi-obliviousness could not ignore the signs

It took a short while longer to navigate the main boulevard to the narrower lane whereupon the familiar and colourful façade of the Happy Daze. Verdy's paint job had been deliberately loud, as if the merely looking at the building was meant to slap you silly. The interior was even more intense, but Ren expected to spare himself that psychedelic experience today. "The Biscuit Express will soon be coming to a stop. Please be sure to close and secure your tray tables and collect all of your belongings prior to disembarking. We thank you for riding with us today and wish you a quiet and d

A jolt as the cart passed through the massive limestone gates to the First City was enough to bring Verdy back to her senses. Recognition of the hanging pennants, along with other familiar sights, smells and sounds soon brought her mind back into focus. "Are we back already? How long was I out?" "Three days," Ren replied, without skipping a beat. Verdy's dozy eyes snapped open with momentary panic until she caught the curl at the edge of his lips. An arm with strength like a limp noodle pressed against his should in some pathetic form of rebuke that did nothing, save provoke hi

Traveling back through the Horunkan woods in silence, both driver and passenger sat content to listen and absorb the lush landscapes and scenery. Birds circled overhead or sang from a subset of pre-recorded chirps while woodland critters migrated in predictable patterns along preset courses within designate bounds. It was a beautiful illusion, but worth the occasional moment to appreciate its finer points. Verdy's head started to loll about once they cleared the tree line. Open air, exertion or fitful sleep was catching up with her. Just because ren had rested soundly, didn't mean she had

"You still haven't quite told me what all of this is for," she added, pointing at the load of stone and ore shifting heavily behind them as they resumed their wagon ride. "It's for weapons, tools and armor. To make effective gear to keep you, our friends and anyone else I can alive out there, and to make a difference." She was giving him that look again, that said she was proud of him in a surprised, motherly way. "When did you grow up?" He knocked his knee into hers, elbows not being close enough to ribs at the moment. "In the aftermath, and when I started seeing how many

"Yeah?" She had refused to stray from the first floor ever since her sister died. "Town to town. Safe zone to safe zone. Nothing can happen. I've done it many times, including going up to scout a location My trip to seventeen was probably more dangerous." "You've been to seventeen," she asked, both agog and incredulous. "What... what was it like?" "Very Greek, actually." There may have been variations, but the invitation from Demeter hadn't left much time for sightseeing. "We can go together at some point and check it out. I think you'd like it. There are plenty of fore

"How much of this stuff do you actually need? At this rate, the wagon won't have room for us to sleep another night, and we still need to make our way back." Brushing sweat from his brow, Ren looked overhead to confirm the position of the scorching sun. They'd been at this site for hours, having gathered quite the decent haul from the available nodes. "Spawn rates around here must still be high from when the game first opened. Players would have blitzed this area repeatedly and in high numbers. They've all likely moved on to better fields on higher level floors. Still, you're n

Their morning was spent working kinks out of backs and scrounging more edibles to stave off starvation. Verdy did most of that while Ren re-organized the wagon and took care of Biscuit. She's found a nice and cozy patch of hay and took an extra bit of coaxing to get up and ready. Filled and prepped, they carried on their merry way to the next available resource cluster. It turned out to be an old quarry face with exposed chunks of obsidian and other volcanic deposits. All were oddly out of context on a floor that otherwise lacked any evidence of such activity, but Ren was quickly coming t

"It feels like ages ago." Already bundled under the cart's tarp, she stared wistfully at the slowly emerging stars in the patches of sky visible overhead. Tree coverage was thicker and taller here, blocking more of the view, but there were few lights to obscure the full grandeur of the night. Climbing in as best he could while avoiding stepping on her, Ren thumped into bed at her side. "It was," he said, half joking and pensive. "Who really knows how long we've actually been in here? There's no true way to be certain. In the end, it may only matter if we ever manage to make it back.

"So, what happened to your grand plans for a one-day outing?" It turned out that the inn didn't really have any rooms, but instead offered chairs and benches where exhausted patrons could sack out for a while. The wagon would serve, despite Ren's earlier comments to the contrary. "Tag-alongs dragged me behind schedule," came his reply, along with some exaggerated hand flailing for dramatic effect. Verdy just chuckled. "Do you remember that time we all went to Suzukaze Garden for the weekend?" She'd already improvised a pillow and banket from the assorted goods at their disposal, a

It hadn't taken more than an instant for Verdy to decide that the fare on offer was not up to her standards. Far more skilled at foraging for greens that Ren would ever be, she'd wandered out beyond the walls to find something more palatable to her tastes. He, meanwhile, was quite content to gnaw upon whatever game the locals had roasting on a digital spit. It was little more than a digital skin anyway, in his opinion. This from the man who regularly ate gruel with hearty glee. Some half an hour later, his companion returned with a plate full of berries, herbs and assorted greens, a