Wulfrin

"You know what they say," Wulfrin shrugged. "Teamwork makes the dream work."

As Wulfrin began to walk the group through town, the sounds of a panicking woman filled the air. The woman was running down the street in a hysterical fit of tears and fear. She ran up to the group in absolute terror and confusion. She ran directly into Wulfrin sending him recoiling briefly.

"Woah there lady," Wulfrin said placing his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "Slow down a sec. We're adventurer's, tell us what's wrong and we'll do our best to help you out."

"Pl-please," the woman begged, "I've been trying to find someone to help me all day. My child--" she paused, trying to regain her composure. "She-- she was playing in one of the caverns in the mountains with her friend. I-I told her not to go but she didn't listen to me!" 

"Alright," Wulfrin said trying his best to keep her talking. "Anything else you can tell us?"

* * *

Choshi RP Posts (1/3+)

An escort quest, Wulfrin grumbled to himself. Great. Just what I needed. We are walking at such a slow speed, we are basically sitting ducks out here.

He wasn't keen on the slow pace they were having to walk for Zamek to keep up with them. Wulfrin had a vague idea of where they were going as he somewhat remembered seeing a rock formation that sorta matched Zamek's description when he traveled out into the desert in search of his familiar. He hated the sand here. The winds that were starting to kick up began to batter his skin with the course granules. There was definitely a sandstorm about to cross their path, they had no choice but to press on. Wulfrin was certain he would be digging sand out of just about every place on his body.

"We're about a mile out of town," Wulfrin said materializing a large scarf he had hanging around in his inventory. "No turing back now, but there is likely a sandstorm about to cross our paths. Might want to revert to those pants dear."

* * *

Miles traveled (1/5)

"The volcano is the next quest," Wulfrin corrected as they stepped off the warp gate platform in the heart of Fortazella. "This quest is an escort one. Something about an old man and the desert."

It didn't take Wulfrin long to locate their mark. It was hard to miss the rugged old man that was staring out towards the horizon of the desert floor. Wulfrin was careful as he moved throughout the streets of the crowded bazaar. The back alleys had become almost like a second home to him. Abdullah had eyes everywhere in the city, so the fewer heads he turned, the better. That meant moving fast and inconspicuously. As the knightess and the swordsman in red approached the old man Wulfrin spoke up.

"I take it you need to cross the desert?"

"You're adventurers I take it?" The old man replied turning to face the duo. A name appeared above his head identifying him as Zamek. "If you wouldn't mind, I have a chest of sorts buried in the desert, at the base of some uniquely shaped rocks. The contents are incredibly important to me, but I am too ill to make the journey alone. Would you escort me there? Though I cannot offer you much col.  But, should you offer your assistance, I would be eternally grateful."

The lack of a monetary reward set poorly in Wulfrin's stomach. That wasn't the main reason he was taking the quest. That position belonged to the survival skill. 

"Yeah we can escort you out there," Wulfrin smiled as he accepted the quest via a panel that appeared before him. The quest shortly appeared in the quest log of both of them, along with a progress marker.

The quest in hand the now trio began their march into the desert sands.

* * *

Miles traveled (0/5)

"Fortazela," Wulfrin sighed. "Today is another step towards unlocking those ever so elusive Tech Sword Arts. To help stave off some of the rougher terrain effects. I'm prepping to take on the first round of the Cerberus questline soon. I can solo the boss and minions easy enough but being in the heart of a volcano on Floor 9, the Survival Extra Skill will help with the brutal heat."

At the mention of Fortazela, Solaris seemed to become even more energetic. Not that Wulfrin was surprised mind you. Floor 5 was Solaris's original home. Wulfrin wasted no time double checking his gear in preparation for the trip. He wasn't going prepared for a massive fight, but it was still in the back of his mind. Abdullah would likely not take it lightly that Wulfrin was waltzing through his territory once again, but Wulfrin remained confident he could handle anything the stuck up NPC could muster. 

"Let's get moving," Wulfrin said as he made his way to the door. "Might want to store the basket in your inventory. If a sandstorm crosses our path, it will sap the durability and ruin your hard work."

"Guess that leaves me with the green one," Wulfrin shrugged.

Wulfrin took the offered green cloak. It was nice to have something else to keep him warm besides just Solaris. Wulfrin took up the rear of the group, as was his usual routine, to keep an eye out for anything that may jump at them. Yes they were in aa safe zone, but Wulfrin preferred to play cautiously in any new environment. He had learned the hard way once back when this game first started that even safe zones have small pockets where HP can drop to 0. Wulfrin was pretty much just along for the ride and to hit things hard, this quest was more about the experience for him as the Extra Skill at the end was geared towards his more tank oriented partner.

Ciela led the conversation well, much better than Wulfrin probably would have handled it. He hated admitting it, but Freyd was rubbing off on him in more ways than just knowledge. Many times, he found himself speeding through conversations with quest giving NPCs, saying just enough to trigger the quest flag. Ciela turned it into a full blown conversation though, probably her love for those novels she had taken to reading.

As is usual with a "go here, fight boss" style quest the trip to the frigid lair was uneventful. What Wulfrin didn't expect was how frigid it would be. The floors were slick with ice making movement difficult and even worse, under his cloak, Wulfrin still shivered as his insides felt like they were crystalizing. That feeling only got worse as Absolute Zero made it's presence known. The giant walking popsicle of a boss was more like a glacier with legs.

Ciela and Katoka were the first to jump into action. Both slipped and slid across the icy floor, but still managed to land hits on Absolute Zero, Katoka pulling most of the damage. Ciela did manage to land a stun, but with the minimal damage provided, Wulfrin held little hope. Never the less, he drew his sword and rushed the boss, ready to deal a blow of his own. Unfortunately he wasn't expecting to be playing with ice physics and nearly lost his footing. Had it not been for his training with The Gemini, Wulfrin likely would have missed his strike entirely. However, time seemed to slow briefly for Wulfrin as he replanted his feet, a direct reaction caused by his extended focus and concentration on the battle. He brought his cerulean glowing blade to bare against the frigid hide of Absolute Zero, a sharp pain of frigid air stinging his arm and turning his air way raspy. With his sword art completed, Wulfrin turned and looked at the HP of the boss for a brief moment. Not but the tiniest pixel of the bar moved, signaling to Wulfrin, he'll need to hit much harder.

"Not only ice physics," Wulfrin sighed. "But our attacks have recoil as well."

* * *

<<The Traveler>>

Wulfrin had a goal in mind, unlocking the Tech sword arts in preparation for joining the frontlines. The next one he needed to check off his list was the one dropped by Cerberus. From talking with other players about the aquisition of the sword art, he had come to the conclusion that the Survival skill would be a decent pick up before facing off with round one of Cerberus. That meant returning to Floor Five, a floor that took most of its inspiration from Arabian culture. That meant sand, bandits, and blistering heat. The other factor making Wulfrin hesitant to partake of the quest was one of the nobles within Fortazela. For some reason Abdullah had a slightly different algorithm behind him. Despite the quest tied to him being cleared, Abdullah seemed to be the only NPC capable of remembering players as well as holding grudges.

"Guess it's unavoidable," Wulfrin sighed as he finished up in his shop for the day. "Maybe Ciela wouldn't mind going. I could use the company."

In stark contrast to the scorching heat and blistering sandstorms of Floor Five, Floor Twenty-Two was significantly more pleasant. The cool air and pleasant breezes provided a much more enjoyable experience. Wulfrin stepped into the living room of his large log cabin estate. On the couch where she typically slept, Ciela sat reading one of her romance novels she had become so fond of reading. Next to her both Solaris the phoenix and Pearlita the sea otter peacfully snoozed away in the mid-morning light that permeated the room.

"So Book Girl," Wulfrin said attempting to pry Ciela's attention from her novel. "You feel like tackling a quest today? I have to go on it for a skill and could use some company."

Bob, as Freyd had taken to calling The Forgotten Time King, was left completely open for an attack from Wulfrin. Nova Ascension is a devastating multi-strike combination attack that could easily decimate a normal mob's health bar. Wulfrin had yet to pull of such a move in combat before, and the only time he had attempted it was back when he squared off with Kumatetsu alongside Nari. In that encounter he had flubbed the attack, and in every encounter since had failed to meet the criteria again. Now it was active during another boss fight for a quest, and Wulfrin took that as a challenge to redeem himself.

With the full weight of the system's assist behind him, Wulfrin became a blur as he struck Bob multiple times, carving large gashes into his withered form. Solaris flew in tandem with the strikes, adding the last of his own strength into the attacks before flying of to recover out of danger. Wulfrin landed with a small slide behind the boss. He was winded, as the skill he had just used had a much more demanding cost to it, a small price to pay in Wulfrin's eyes.

Bob paid no heed to the red clad swordsman, and instead continued to focus on The Whisper. Bob began to execute a cleave in the direction of Freyd, but as is The Whisper's talent, seemed to mistake the shadow for the actual person. Wulfrin didn't want to admit it, but he himself had thought that same figure was the actual Freyd, but that only meant the two damage dealers of the party now stood side by side as they had many times before. A brief look towards the boss, showed Wulfrin that the Toxic Venom applied to his blade, or Freyd's handwraps he couldn't really tell, seemed to be adding even more damage onto the withered boss.

"Take him to church, Freyd!" Wulfrin turned to The Whisper with a single thumbs up.  

* * *

"Let There Be Light," Wulfrin mumbled as he began turning through his internal rolodex of quests. "Can't say I've done that one yet. I haven't the slightest clue how to start that one."

He looked at Ciela, who was looking about as confused as he was. Neither of them had really done much questing save a few tiny things here and there to get Ciela some fairly nice experience gains, so this would likely be a new experience for the both of them as well. The conversation began to shift to that concerning of their roles in combat. Wulfrin let out a small chuckle at the notion that the new player wouldn't be doing much to help in combat. In the back of his mind, he knew full well that anything on this floor, save some freak boss mob or errant mob sent by Cardinal for him to loot for gear, was unlikely to stand up to even a single strike from the swordsman in red.

"You needn't worry about combat friend," Wulfrin chuckled as he navigated his menus. "This will most likely be a power trip for me, as I am likely to drop most things on this floor with a single strike."

A party invite window would appear before Etherial. Upon accepting the quest, the proof to back the claim would appear alongside the health and energy bars of the two higher level players.

"Oddly enough," Wulfrin sighed as he cast his line once more into the river. "The frontlines have been more of an after thought for me lately. I've found myself trying to make the most of this world that was meant to be a prison. It was only a handful of days ago that I started to return to the power leveling scene. I feel more like I'm being drafted at this point, but on the other hand it's a necessary evil. After all, we are all most likely on some kind of biological timer."

Wulfrin found himself starting down the darker paths of their situation in the real world. He had thought about the situation on his own often when he first started into his initial leveling journey, but that had lessened over time. He found it best not to focus on the what ifs that came with the state of their physical bodies. Their bodies were in a much more fragile state. Either the game will kill them, or time would.

"So in short," Wulfrin continued as he reeled in another decent catch. "Yes the frontlines were a goal, but less so now. Do I want to get out of here? Sure I do, but I also don't want my life here to end."

* * *

Wulfrin fiddled with the chest for a bit before popping the lock using the pommel of his sword. Inside the chest was a meager amount of Col and Mats. The few items that populated the rest of the chest were more his speed. Either the items will have some unique enhancements on them, or they would be additional Col in the pocket of himself or an appraiser. Was it worth the trouble of hunting down the field boss of Floor One? No. Did it put him closer to recuperating the money he dropped on the wedding? Not even close. He would have to go on a much larger grinding spree if he intended to make up what he was spending on this.

"Not much in this one," Wulfrin sighed. "Not that I expected there too be. This was just the Floor One field boss, but at least the items scaled to my tier, so it's not a complete wash. Come on let's head home."

Satisfied with their hunt, the duo returned to the cozy cabin on Floor 22, one step closer to a life together.

* * *

* * *

Thread Closing

Wulfrin Recieves:
1,805 EXP { 6693/10 * 3 * 0.7 + 100 [Field Boss] + 300 [Quest] }
3,058 Col { 200 [1 Page] + 2,858 [loot] }
21 Mats
13 Fishing Exp
Unidentified T3 Rare Armor/Shield 222903
Unidentified T3 Rare Trinket 222946
Unidentified T3 Perfect Weapon 223130a
Unidentified T3 Perfect Armor/Shield 223130b
Unidentified T3 Perfect Consumables 223130c 223130d

“Nepent’s Ovule" (T1/Consumable/Re-usable); Generates +1 hate for up to 4 mobs as a post action. Unaffected by Taunt and Fighting Spirit. Must be equipped in a Battle Ready slot.

Wulfrin Pays: 62,250 Col for wedding { 3,000 [large wedding] + 56,250 [25 players -incl. Wulfrin and Kinightessciela] + 3,000 [2x basic rings] } | Paid 4/27/24

Banquet Table: Over Health 3 feast

Wulfrin's Ring: Driven
KnightessCiela's Ring: Resilient

KnightessCiela Recieves:
1337 EXP { 6693/10 * 2 * 0.7 + 100 [Field Boss] + 300 [Quest] }
4,064 Col { 200 [1 Page] + 3,864 [Loot]
2 Mats
11 Foraging EXP
T3 Rare Trinket: 222941-A

“Nepent’s Ovule" (T1/Consumable/Re-usable); Generates +1 hate for up to 4 mobs as a post action. Unaffected by Taunt and Fighting Spirit. Must be equipped in a Battle Ready slot.

"Trust me," Wulfrin groaned still recovering from his collision with the tree. "It felt about as bad as it sounded. It wasn't all bad though, I think I saw something off in the woods. I'll just be a sec."

Partly looking for an excuse to leave the conversation, Wulfrin trailed off into the forest in the direction he had tumbled when attempting to hit the Nepent Variant. A couple yards from the clearing was a small nest that looked like it may have belonged to their now felled foe. Upon a closer inspection of the site, Wulfrin saw a decent sized treasure chest ripe for the plundering. Carefully he retrived the large wooden box and carried it back to the clearing where his companion waited patiently.

"See?" Wulfrin said with a large smile. "I found some loot to make up for the fact we couldn't loot the boss itself. Watch my back while I try and get it open? I didn't bring any keys with me nor am I any good with picking locks so this might take a second or two."

Wulfrin sat the chest down in the center of their small base camp in the boss arena. A timer floated above the arena, likely the time they had before the boss respawned. Better or worse Wulfrin wasn't planning to stay long. He focused on the chest and slowly began to methodically fiddle with the lock hoping to get it to pop open.

* * *

Unfortunately Wulfrin was having no better of a chance at hitting the beastie. He thought he had accurately planned his assault, but he didn't account for the terrain. As he rushed the boss hoping to impale it with his Vorpal Strike Sword Art, his foot found a loose rock directly in his path of travel. Wulfrin ended up losing concentration on the Art and rolling his ankle, sending him tumbling past the boss into a nearby tree with a resounding BONK. It took Wulfrin a minute to return to his feet. He rubbed his head where it had collided with the large oak tree. He swore he could hear the laugh track of an onlooking audience, no doubt Cardinal playing a cruel joke on him.

Luckily Solaris seemed to still be able to get his licks in. The flaming eagle orbited the vile mutated plant beast, lashing at it's hide whenever he had an opening. At least one of them was having some luck.

"Try again." Wulfrin groaned as he made his way back into the arena. "Don't let it heal back too much of it's health."

* * *

There was no downtime between when Ciela landed her strike and Wulfrin unleashing his follow up. The once crimson light around his pommel transitioned to the cerulean blue of Horizontal Square. Four consecutive strikes lashed into the boss's hide then dispersed a holographic square parallel with the ground. The boss was perfectly lined up to fall in the next volley of attacks from the duo. Despite the handicap the system was giving the monster, it failed to edit their HP and Energy reserves, meaning that the battle was already well in the bag before it even started. There was little left for them to do, but drain the last sliver of HP from the Vegitales reject. Based off the rough number crunching going through his head, Ciela should be able to fell the boss provided she could hit her attack. Worst case he could follow up with an attack next turn and finish it off.

"Final push!" Wulfrin yelled as he pivoted ready to strike. "Kill this thing and lets move on!"

* * *

"The Phoenix is Solaris," Wulfrin said as his familiar took to the sky once again. "He's gotten a lot more friendly. Back when we met he was kind of a pompous jerk. He watched me, judging every move I made, while I fought for my literal life."

Wulfrin thought back to that day in the desert of Floor 5. Abdullah was still the only NPC Wulfrin had encountered that seemed to have some sort of memory algorithm. Even Zackariah, who until recently always asked Wulfrin how his search for Dorian's loan, seemed to no longer acknowledge him when he brought in newbies. That was likely due to the fact he had finally completed the chain, but that didn't help explain the Abdullah situation. Wulfrin cast his line back into the river before he continued.

"I didn't know I would meet him that day," Wulfrin reminisced to the others. "I'm a bit of an Ancient Greek nut. Long story short Apollo was said to park his sun chariot in a desert in Arabia at a cold water well. Every dawn, a phoenix would come and bathe then sing a beautiful melody. I essentially had to trek through the deserts of Floor 5 while being harassed by an NPC that loves holding grudges apparently."

The question about that fated day when this whole death game officially started fluttered into Wulfrin's mind thanks to Cardinal's handy sign language interpreter. He hadn't drifted back to that day in a long time. In fact he actively avoided thinking about it. He hadn't even stepped out of the Town of Beginnings before being forced back to the central plaza, where their captor announced their hopeless task of clearing all 100 floors of Aincrad. That was the moment he devolved into paranoia and locked himself away in the starting town. For two years he lived in fear, barely scraping by. Now he was soon to be wed and possibly not long after be conscripted to fight in the next boss raid.

"Since the announcement?" Wulfrin chuckled trying to shake the dreary thoughts from his mind. "Let's see. I spent two years scared to leave the safe zone. Then I met a man that apparated from the shadows and they helped me get my feet wet with the system. I opened up a forge on Floor 22. I am very close to becoming a married man, and on top of it all, I've been grinding like crazy since I've been told I might have to fight in the Boss Raid of Floor 28."

Feeling the tug at his line, Wulfrin pulled the catch ashore. Another universal crafting material to build his weapons and armor and some additional goodies to boot. Having retrieved his bundle of goodies, he began to prepare his hook for yet another round of fishing.

* * *

Wulfrin was already in motion. After seeing Freyd get absolutely thrown around by The Forgotten Time King, Wulfrin had chosen action. He became a blur of crimson streaking towards his foe with tremendous speed.  He blade shined with the brilliant light of a sword art. The combination of hits, each with their own powerful force behind them, collided with FTK. As the combo came to a close, a short crisp whistle could be heard echoing through the chamber. The phoenix Solaris, already a streak of flames orbiting the throne room changed target and flew directly toward FTK. Solaris keen to provide an additional distraction.

The Time King took no head to the barrage of strikes form the duo and continued to stomp towards Freyd, essentially undoing Wulfrin's attempt to provide Freyd an opening. In a wide arc, FTK swung their large blade back towards The Whisper. Freyd was prepared for this one, effortlessly dodging the arc like some deadly game of limbo. Double checking the health bars, Wulfrin and Freyd were the most effective in the damage category, but there was still an enormous amount of HP left to chew through. Wulfrin stood side by side with Freyd,ready to unleash another volley of attacks.

"We've got this," Wulfrin gave Freyd a two finger salute. "I've got your six. Give 'em hell."

* * *

"Nah it's cool," He said with a sigh. "I've had my fair share of bullies growing up, so I tend to try and stand up before it goes too far, be it for myself or others. I won't lie, sometimes it just ends up making the situation worse. Sorry if I came off a bit harsh to the both of you."

He prepared his line for a second round of casting. He saw no reason to linger on the subjects. He had said what was on his mind and to him that was enough. Was he maybe a bit harsh? Yeah, probably. If there was one thing he still needed to figure out, it was how to correctly express his dislike of situations without sounding like a complete ass. Truthfully he wasn't too mad at either situation. He could handle a bit of teasing here and there, but the joke was starting to leave a sour taste in his mouth. Solaris, his phoenix swooped down from the sky above and perched on his shoulder, receiving a baked fish shaped cookie, courtesy of his darling "Book Girl".

The coughing sound drew the duo's attention, Solaris and Wulfrin sharing a quick glance at each other in confusion, before Wulfrin turned his attention to Nymoria.

"I assume that's your familiar," He guessed making sure his lips were readable. "They're pretty cute and the two of you look like you would make a good team."

Wulfrin reeled in another catch, this time no additional loot sadly. He turned his attention to Adelyte to check her progress.

"Having any luck over there?" He asked as he started prepping for his next cast.

* * *

"Let's get going then," Wulfrin said as he put his fishing gear away. "The Nepent Forest is a ways from here. You wont have to worry too much. It's true your armor will scale down to Tier 1 but you should still have plenty of mitigation to tank the hits."

The trip to the Nepent Forest was not very long. It was located closer to the village of Horunka. There used to be a quest located there that granted players a weapon, Anneal Blade. Unfortunately that quest had long since vanished from the directory. Now there was little reason to travel to the small village outside of a rest point before going into the forest itself. The forest was denser than their little pocket of safety by the river. Sounds of predators prowling and howling could be heard. Wulfrin steered them away from the immediate threats, making sure to preserve as much of their energy as they could.

"Here's the plan," Wulfrin said in a hushed tone as they approached a large clearing, very obviously the boss arena. "Let me take point. You'll have more mitigation than I do, and even though we both have the health to take multiple hits from this thing, it will be in our best interest to have it agro onto you. Helps get the most damage off on the bugger."

The plan conveyed, Wulfrin stepped into the arena triggering the boss fight. He waisted no time drawing his blade and attacking the mutant carnivorous plant that appeared before them. It easily towered about twice as tall as Wulfrin did, but he had fought bigger. Wulfrin took only the briefest of seconds to identify his target's center of mass then charged. In a flash of crimson light, the pommel of his sword was planted firmly at that spot. The freaky plant was sent back staggering on it's legs clearly shook from Wulfrin's blow.

He gave a thumbs up signaling the all clear for Ciela to advance.

* * *

"Mob grinding date it is then," Wulfrin chuckled. "Those AoE skills can be absolute energy guzzlers. There might be some add-ons and mods you can get that help reduce the costs. Having a comfortable bed to sleep in helps too." Wulfrin immediately started to back pedal. "I - I  didn't mean to rub it in your face."

Was it maybe a bit preemptive? Probably. He didn't even know if she was going to take the unintentionally harsh remark about sleeping conditions the wrong way or not. He decided to play it safe and apologize before she could snap back at him. He had seen her fiery temper, and would rather not be on the receiving end. He turned his attention back to his task at hand. Immediately his mind went to planning their now established date. Together they would start on floor one and defeat the field boss and what ever mobs got in their way. They might even do some treasure hunting whilst they were killing time. Afterwards they could go up a floor and continue the cycle until they decided they had enough for one day.

"So the field boss on this floor drops an item beneficial to you as it can help generate hate," Wulfrin started to run down his plan. "Our weapons and stats will be locked to Rank 1 as well as our sword arts, so not only do we have a large pool of health, but we'll see our energy last a bit longer too."

* * *
Wulfrin is at full energy
Rending Familiar cooldown (3/5)

* * *
Loot/Reward Totals

4 hours ago, Onkei said:

"Greetings." Onkei walked into the smithy, with his usual expression that showed his absolute boredom. He heard about this blacksmith named Wulfrin from a couple players in the starting town, who praised his products for their low price and for their reliability. Onkei appreciates cheap products, as he seems to value virtual money in the Death Game just as much as he valued money in real life before the incident. As he looked around, he could sense that the products on the racks were of good quality: for a moment he thought that the rumours he heard in Floor 1 were false and that he was going to be fleeced, and actually considered just leaving the smithy without saying anything, but his curiosity won over him. "You sure got some good stuff here, pal."
Once he made his mind regarding what he was going to ask for, Onkei started describing his ideal product: "As you can see, I have nothing on me, not even light armor; I'd like a good pair of knuckledusters that can increase my damage output: swinging swords ain't my thing. Unless you want to make them pink for some reason, I don't really care about their design, just make sure they hit hard. Oh, also please make me a breastplate, I'd rather not get my heart pierced."

Looking to purchase:
DPS Package (500 COL)

Item Name: Adamo
Item Type: Light Armor
Item Tier: 1
Item Quality: Perfect
Item Description: A pretty normal breastplate. The name "Adamo" refers to Adam, the first human created by God.
Requested Enhancements: Recovery 2, Mitigation 1


Item Name: Limbo
Item Type: Martial Arts Weapon
Item Tier: 1
Item Quality: Perfect
Item Description: A simple pair of metal brass knuckles. Their name "Limbo", taken from the first circle of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, represents them being the first of Onkei's weapons.
Requested Enhancements: Damage 3

"You must be new then," Wulfrin said as he set aside his current project. "I mean to say you must be new to the combat scene."

Wulfrin took a look at the new player's order. They were purchasing one of his upgraded kits. That meant his spreading around of the info was reaching important ears. Some minor adjustments were made by this new player, but they weren't outrageous. Truthfully they were always meant to be more inspiration than anything. They also served as a nice transition to later game mechanics.

"A pink sword is doable I suppose," Wulfrin smirked. "But I think you made the right choice give me just a sec. Shouldn't take long though grab a seat and I'll come grab you when I'm done."

Wulfrin made his way back to his forge where he had to shoo off an eagle of red and gold plumage. Solaris, his phoenix familiar always preferred to roost in the flames. For about an hour or two Wulfrin slaved away at his fire and anvil. A few curses could be heard under his breath. It seemed today was not a good day for crafting, but despite the trouble he seemed to go through, Wulfrin placed the finished order on the counter.

"The system didn't seem to want to help me succeed today," Wulfrin sighed. "But I've never let it stop me before. Let's go over these items. As requested, your brass knuckles have been built to maximize your damage each swing. The breastplate has a small amount of damage reduction, but mostly serves to help you regain energy faster. I will note that unless you've beaten Breaking the Unbreakable on Floor 2, you won't get the full benefit from the knuckles. It can be a slog if you go alone. I don't mind tagging along if you need a hand. That is of course assuming you haven't already completed it."

* * *

Order Ready For Pick Up.

Limbo | T1 Perfect Martial Arts Weapon | ID [222974] | DMG III
Desc. A simple pair of metal brass knuckles. Their name "Limbo", taken from the first circle of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, represents them being the first of Onkei's weapons. Stamped on the inside is the signet of Sentinel Armaments.

Adamo | T1 Perfect Light Armor | ID [222971] | REC II | MIT I
Desc. A pretty normal breastplate. The name "Adamo" refers to Adam, the first human created by God. Stamped ion the inside its the signet for Sentinel Armaments

"Well," Wulfrin said as he recast his line into the river. "I tend to find myself with a large amount of unidentified items that I pretty much only junk out. I don't always have a need for the Col from them and I really only care about Unique enhancements, since those are the main stays of late game gear."

The idea was formulating in Wulfrin's mind but it was a half baked one. He didn't have the slightest bit of knowledge when it came to running a business. The only experience he had was here in a virtual game and he could see how well that was going. His beloved Ciela had skyrocketed in popularity just because of her profession choice, cooks were in high demand. Wulfrin on the other hand was on the lower end of the demand spectrum. Most of his customers were simply new players to the game looking for some new gear. He had made a recent change to help boost those sales by offering the ability to upgrade to some more advanced gear, but even that was proving unfruitful.

"I get enough Col and Mats between hunting mobs and clearing quests," Wulfrin continued as he retrieved a catch form the water. "Fishing as well. I figured they could give you some nice fodder for racking up the experience. If you wanted to, you could take the forager profession and we could trade your materials for unidentified items if you truly wanted to make a deal, but again I plan to just junk them anyway."

* * *

* * *
Loot/Reward Totals

Fusion:

Two Uncommon T1 Martial Arts Weapons [222961] + [222962] -> Rare T1 Martial Arts weapon
Two Rare T1 Martial Arts Weapons [222965] + [Above Fusion] -> Perfect T1 Martial Arts Weapon

Result:

Limbo | T1 Perfect Martial Arts Weapon | ID [222974] | DMG III
Desc. A simple pair of metal brass knuckles. Their name "Limbo", taken from the first circle of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, represents them being the first of Onkei's weapons. Stamped on the inside is the signet of Sentinel Armaments.

New Item Crafts:

Adamo | T1 Perfect Light Armor | ID [222971] | REC II | MIT I
Desc. A pretty normal breastplate. The name "Adamo" refers to Adam, the first human created by God. Stamped ion the inside its the signet for Sentinel Armaments

Phoenix Dusters | T3 Rare Martial Arts Weapon | ID [222972] | BLD 2
Desc. A pair of knuckle dusters each shaped like a phoenix. They serve only one purpose: Bleed a rock to death.

Cost:
All costs paid during crafting progress.

Link

DATE: [4/21/24]
RANK 6 BLACKSMITH | [EXP: 581/639] | Daily Crafting Attempts: 7 x2 Using Crafter's Respite [192098-1] = 14

CRAFTING BUFFS:
Ambition Tool +1 EXP per craft
Basic Workshop +2 EXP per craft

Crafting Tier 1 [Martial Arts Weapon]s:
ID: 222960 | CD: 2 | Fail | Materials Lost
ID: 222961 | CD: 6 | Success | Uncommon
ID: 222962 | CD: 6 | Success | Uncommon
ID: 222963 | CD: 2 | Fail | Materials Lost
ID: 222964 | CD: 2 | Fail | Materials Lost
ID: 222965 | CD: 11 | Success | Rare

Crafting Tier 1 [Light Armor]s
ID: 222966 | CD: 2 | Fail | Materials Lost
ID: 222967 | CD: 3 | Salvage | LD 3 | Materials Lost
ID: 222968 | CD: 7 | Success | Uncommon
ID: 222969 | CD: 5 | Salvage | LD 5 | Materials Lost
ID: 222970 | CD: 4 | Salvage | LD 4 | Materials Lost
ID: 222971 | CD: 12 | Success | Perfect

Crafting T3 [Martial Arts Weapon]s
ID: 222972 | CD 10 | Success | Rare
ID: 222973 | CD 3 | Salvage | LD 10 | Materials Lost

RESULT: +81 XP (1+3+3+1+1+5+1+2+3+2+2+8+5+2+42) | [EXP: 662/1279] RANK UP! -> R7
-14 materials | sent to banker

New Items:

Uncommon T1 Martial Arts Weapons [222961][222962]
Rare T1 Martial Arts Weapon [222965]

Uncommon T1 Light Armor [222968]
Perfect T1 Light Armor [222971]

Rare T3 Martial Arts Weapon [222972]

With two quick motions, the coat and armor vanished leaving be hind his simple black tunic. Gently he pressed her leaking face into his now unarmored chest. He wrapped his arms around her lovingly and began to run his fingers through her copper hair. The moment was peaceful and romantic. The two had gone through a lot together in the short time they had known each other. Now they stood together waiting for that fated day when they would be called to serve on the frontlines. Wulfrin didn't want it to end but after a while he released her and wiped the last of her tears from her face.

"Next time," Wulfrin sighed. "Try not to head but the obvious metal chest plate. Okay?"

Wulfrin took her hand and began to lead the two to a familiar place, the same clearing where Wulfrin spent most of his time fishing with newbies. Seeing his partner's low energy, monster hunting probably wasn't the best idea. Instead he materialized two wooded stools and set up to fish by the river.

"I've kinda made a deal with an appraiser," Wulfrin said as his bobber plopped onto the river. "I supply him with items, and he junks my items without taking a cut. Figured if I'm just going to throw them out might as well do so. He even offered me a discount on identifications."

* * *

Energy Recovery: +1 EN (post 1/2)

* * *
Loot/Rewards

Caution was not on Wulfrin's mind at the moment. Out here, nothing really posed a problem for him. Unless Cardinal repeatedly sent wave after wave of mobs at him, ensuring he never got the chance to recharge, even the things scaled to him fell in one to two hits. This was all fine to Wulfrin as it meant he could reap easy rewards. Come to think of it, he was walking with an aspiring appraiser. Perhaps the monster drops could do the man some good, if for nothing else than simple grinding fodder. Ultimately Wulfrin would likely junk the items anyway, might as well give someone the chance to earn so experience themselves. Perhaps there was some mutual partnership he and Riardon could come to.

Wulfrin swung his now bright cerulean blade in an arc targeting the two wolves before they could regain their footing. In a flash both of the furry assailants shattered into an array of tiny fractals. Their drops populated a small popup window in Wulfrin's view. After a brief glance he dismissed the panel and started his way back to his current companion.

"Coast is clear," Wulfrin said as he emerged from the tree line. "I might have an idea that could benefit both of us if you're interested."

* * *

* * *
Loot/Reward Totals

"No complaints from me," Wulfrin said as his familiar came to rest on his outstretched forearm. He walked beside Katoka, Solaris still slightly ablaze sharing his natural heat with those nearby. "I managed to locate it, but I lost my party member in the winding streets. Apparently she got to engrossed in that book of hers. If it weren't for Solaris here, I'd be one frozen solid and two unable to find you guys."

Truthfully he was just rambling. Everyone seemed to think his entrances were flashy despite most of them simply being his flaming eagle just pointing them out with a circular flight pattern. Small talk sometimes helped smooth over the oddities, but sometimes it also just made it that much more awkward. Thankfully his familiar, as displeased with the climate as he might be, seemed to be just what the group needed at the time. Was it as effective as being indoors? Absolutely not, but it was the next best thing the group had to stay warm. Wulfrin hoped this quest would be worth it. He had heard the fight would be rough, and had a much higher chance of going incredibly wrong than the others he had gone on, but he was still on board anyway.

* * *

Wulfrin Consumes:
Fortaleza chai | ID: 221245

Wulfrin | HP: 490/490 | EN: 64/64 | DMG: 20 | MIT: 66 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH: 4 | LD: 2 | BLD: 36 | REC: 3 | TXC VNM: 24 | Antidote: [3/3]