[PP-F1] Gaining Strength (Haruko, Ratatosk) [Complete]

[Gorou 0]

 

Gorou stood alone on the grassy plains of floor 1 just outside of Starting City’s south gate, which were his usual material gathering grounds. Today however, he was scouting some boars in the distance, making sure that they weren’t close enough to make them aggressive and attack him. Though he was wary, he knew that he wouldn’t gain experience or advance in level playing cautiously all the time. In the time he’s been in Aincrad, he has yet to defeat a single monster or gain any useful items.

“I wonder if I should risk it…” he muttered quietly under his breath, crossing his arms as he observed the monsters outside the gate. He would probably be able to take one boar down by himself, but the same went for the boar. There was a definitely a fifty-fifty chance that he’d die attempting to defeat one. Gorou groaned upon realizing this, and lightly stamped his foot on the cobblestone road below in frustration. “There’s gotta be a way to take one of em’ down safely.” he grumbled.

Uncertainty clouded his judgement, and he knew that if he charged them in this state they’d surely defeat him easily. Gorou then turned away from the gate, and went back into the city. He opted to cool his head and maybe think up a strategy in the meantime. He approached a bench and leaned back into his seat, with his attention focused on the sky up above. Gorou let out a defeated sigh. “Why do I feel so… weak?” he thought.

 

Edited March 27, 2016 by Gorou

[Haruko 0]

Haruko stumbled out of the city - or to the outside observer, she walked proudly out, after surveying the town. in reality, this aincrad place was a heck of a lot bigger than she thought, if the starting town was any indication.
Haruko huffed, blowing her hair out of her eyes. She didn't even really like RPG's all that much. now she was caught in one, fighting to the death. maybe her death. Maybe her ACTUAL death for gods sakes.

"When did life become some stupid anime for me?" She complained, before she just about ran directly into someone, stopping one step before bumping into some dude with weird hair sitting on a bench. "oh, uh, sorry." Haruko said with a grimace. "I'm still trying to absorb... the thing. yeah." She continued, before taking a deep breath. as utterly perfect as her first impression was so clearly coming along, maybe she should think through what she was saying instead of blurting out nonsense.
"Uhhh... Name's Haruko. You?" She asked. 
Well, that was better, at least.

[Gorou 0]

Gorou's attention on the sky had been broken because he heard another person approach. He'd have noticed her even if he hadn't been paying attention due to her being openly agitated and annoyed with whatever she was dealing with. Something to do with a stupid anime. He managed to catch that part, but not much else. He looked up at the girl as she stopped, and apologized for her behavior. His eyes narrowed when she spoke, and he was uncertain about this person who stood in front of him. She introduced herself awkwardly and seemed to be slightly hesitating, but Gorou nodded in response.

"Gorou." he answered with a mumble with his arms still crossed. He quietly looked up and down at Haruko still unsure of what to make of her. After a moment of silence, Gorou sat up and decided to try and break the ice, despite him never was good at small talk."So... what's your problem? I heard something about anime, but that's all I really caught you saying." he stated dryly.

[Haruko 0]

"I was saying this whole situation's ridiculous." Haruko replied, putting her arms behind her head. "We're in a killer video game, where we die for real if we die in the game. I haven't seen something this cheesy since I was a kid watching cartoons... 'cept this is completely real." She responded. "My bigger problem's probably that we're in a video game that wants to either trap us or kill us, though. This isn't exactly how I was imagining life would go... Trying to clear a video game so I can live. And maybe strangle the guy that got us in this mess in the first place, while I'm at it." Haruko replied.

This guy - Gorou, had to keep that name in mind - seemed rather the cautious type. Well, at least he didn't seem that dumb. Haruko did appreciate that, even if the guy was a bit gruff. Not one compliment to a pretty lady, right in front of him, unbelievable.
"Anyways... that in mind, I've been noticing people partying up and making friends here to try and... well, survive. How about we do that ourselves?" She asked, figuring it was pointless being cautious here.

[Gorou 0]

This girl was a talkative and maybe slightly vengeful one, Gorou noted as Haruko ranted about their current predicament. While he was worried about this death game and the chance that he could die at any second due to some sadist's god complex or whatever it was, he didn't think openly complaining about it would do any good. Kind of a waste to do so in his mind, but what he was currently doing wasn't much better.  He only nodded and scratched his cheek in response to her answer, unsure on how to add to her observation.

Haruko's tone then lightened as she asked him a question. Gorou straightened up in his seat, and placed his hands over his face upon hearing her proposal to party up. It seemed to be a stroke of luck, seeing as he had just mustered up the gall to head out and gain some much needed col and experience. He was planning to do that alone, but with Haruko here, their chances of survival had just gone up. "I did want to go out into the fields today." Gorou stated, and rose up off the bench he was sitting on.

"All right. Let's head to the south gate..." Gorou started but stopped himself mid-sentence. He raised an eyebrow upon looking downwards on Haruko, wondering if she was always that small and just appeared taller because he was sitting down. "Bit of a shrimp, aren't you?" he openly noted.

[Haruko 0]

"Well, hopefully we..." Haruko trailed off, the idea sinking in now that she really, potentially could die here. to a pig in a video-game. for a moment, she felt her feet become heavy, but then she reminded herself she didn't really have a choice here. "No." She said after a moment. "We'll definitely manage to win a battle here." She stated finally.

Of course, right as Haruko said something cool, the oaf had to go and say something annoying. "Shrimp? I'm still growing! It's natural for a teenager to be a little short! And it's called petite, not short!" Haruko yelled in quick succession, pursing her lips. "seriously, we just entered some madman's videogame from hell and you're making short quips? What's wrong with you!" She yelled stamping her foot, before taking a breath in. "err... I mean... yeah, let's... just go to the south gate." she replied with a sudden change of tone, before walking towards the south gate like nothing had just happened, a sheepish expression on her face.

[Gorou 0]

Gorou had to admire the confidence he felt coming from Haruko. "As long as we're both careful." he added. For a minute there, he was worried that they were biting off more than they could chew in attempting to defeat a few boars, and felt they'd very well may get defeated if they're too reckless, but felt so long as they kept a cool head and didn't do anything idiotic they'd be okay. "We-" Gorou started, but was cut off by Haruko who didn't seem to like the little comment he made about her height.

His left eye narrowed, as he was assaulted by a barrage of yelps. Gorou wondered if this is how all their interactions would be like if he ever opened his mouth to say anything again, and wondered if he should just keep quiet as the two trained together. She seemed a bit sensitive about her height, and he made note of that, silently this time, however. He did not want to cause any more undue agitation, since they needed a cool head for what they were about to do. He simply shrugged when the girl had calmed down and started a brisk walk towards the southern gate. Once they reached the gate, he looked out into the fields and surveyed the area. "We don't want to end up like the hundreds of players that wound up dead due to their own recklessness."

"There's some over there." Gorou grunted, pointing outwards to a small group of boar that had spawned nearby in a large clearing.

[Haruko 0]

"...So there are." Haruko responded, looking out of the south gate at the areas around them. She hadn't really realized just how many boars there were out here. Pigs here, pigs there, pigs everywhere the eye could see... Well, at the very least they wouldn't need to go too far. as she looked out at the fields of pig-creatures, a little growl managed to escape her stomach, despite herself. ham was a favorite of hers, and she hadn't eaten yet...
still, food was a worry for later. right now, they needed to exercise caution.

"From what I heard in town, one boar has a good chance against one player... but the player has a good chance against the boar, too. so... I guess what I'm saying is we need to lure one of them away from the group, without alerting the rest, and take it out solo... or, I guess we could avoid all that work, and just look for a loner piggie." Haruko responded, squinting as she looked around the fields. "I can't see anything in the clearing we can use... do you see like a rock or something? that'd make it pretty simple." Haruko asked.

[Gorou 0]

"Just staying out of range of the other boars should be simple enough." Gorou noted, but took Haruko's advice about luring one of them away from the main group into consideration. Gorou let out a sigh and looked around for a moment. There wasn't really anything in the surrounding area aside from some shrubs and bushes along the side of a road. He scratched the back of his head upon getting an idea, but he didn't know how effective shaking shrubs and leaves would be in getting something's attention.

"I don't see any rocks, but just wait here a moment." he grunted. Gorou quickly but quietly made his way to the shrubs and took a branch, and started shaking it vigorously in an effort to get the closest boar's attention. He flailed about trying to make just enough noise for him to get it's attention and lead it away from the group. Gorou mentally noted that this was probably not the brightest idea he's had, and probably looked like an idiot with what he was trying, but he still kept at it. "Come on, walking bacon... I'm over here." he gave out a muted yell, not wanting to attract anything else.

[Haruko 0]

Haruko was slightly surprised by just how quickly Gorou took the lead, but immediately shrugged. she preferred to let someone else be the face, anyways. Who was she to judge if the guy decided he wanted to lure the boar in. At the same time...

Coming behind Gorou, hand on the weapon at her hip, she put a hand to her chin. "Why don't you scratch something with the stick? that'd probably do it if you found a hard enough surface." she whispered, "little easier, right? Just use your weapon sheath or something." she advised. Inwardly, she grimaced - it was one thing to talk about killing a boar, but looking at the mass of muscle, sinew, and all-too-huge tusks, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive...

[Gorou 0]

Gorou was slightly surprised with Haruko's sudden appearance behind him. He wasn't expecting her to follow him, and was hoping that she'd hang back so he could do his own thing without putting someone else in any immediate danger. He left out a sigh, and stopped frantically shaking the stick in the air, unsure if what he was doing would work. Taking the girl's suggestion into consideration he nodded, and took the axe that rested on his belt into his left hand, with the stick in his right. Maybe banging the two together would be enough to attract the boar.

Looking over to his companion however, he started to question what he was doing. They were both only level 1, and though they had it outnumbered he was feeling nervous about facing the beast. Before banging the weapons together he noticed that Haruko wasn't looking at all confident about this. Maybe he wasn't feeling too good about this either. He immediately put the stick down and sheathed his axe, letting out a sigh and breathing in some air after realizing that he was holding it in. "This... this is reckless, isn't it?" he whispered to over Haruko. "We.. we shouldn't engage it. We're not strong enough." he said with a defeated tone of voice.

[Haruko 0]

Haruko looked between Gorou, the boar, and herself. She didn't like admitting it, but there was some truth to her being a shrimp. could they really do this... 
Haruko took a deep breath, pausing before saying in a tone of finality: "We can do this... or at the least, we can run away if we can't. If we both hit him at the same time... we should be able to take him out in one, right?" She asked. "...I don't like being reckless, but this game doesn't look like it lets anyone play totally safe either. Well... it's up to you. I'm certainly not fighting a boar all by myself, thank you very much." Haruko relented with a shrug. "I would love to get some actual SP to start being able to progress and all that though, ya know."

Edited March 27, 2016 by Haruko

[Gorou 0]

"If one of us dies, it'll be on the other's hands." Gorou thought with his expression darkening. Though he didn't like the thought of shying away from this challenge, he didn't like the thought of either of them going down to one of the boars, much less. However, Haruko seemed set on fighting one and gaining the much needed SP and col. He knew she was right about the game not rewarding the overly cautious. Her reasoning made sense, and it sounded totally simple once you had gotten down to it. Gorou tugged at his collar and nodded quietly. "Get ready then."

"The minute things go south, we're running." he grunted towards her as he picked up the stick yet again, and unsheathed his weapon. He started clapping the two items together, and hoped that action would be enough to bring just one boar's attention towards them. His heart skipped a beat upon seeing that a lone boar had looked in their direction and started huffing and snorting. With a squeal it immediately started charging towards the two.

[Haruko 0]

"Trust me, the moments things go south you'll need to work to keep up with my dust." Haruko commented with a lighthearted tone. stepping forward, even as Gorou clapped the stick to the weapon. "...I'll take point. I'm the one jawing on about doing this anyways, right?" She added. "We can both take two hits... so if one of us is hurt, they should stop attacking and let the other attack, to draw focus. and then both can run." She added. "Or that's what I overheard in town, anyways." She admitted.

At this statement, Haruko reached for her wickedly curved scimitar, drawing it with a relaxed look she didn't feel right now. "...Well, RPG's are all about empowering the player or something, right? I'm ready to feel pretty empowered for once." She commented, holding the weapon in - was she in a stance? Weird... she didn't recall getting into one. maybe it was the game

.

 ID# 53361 results:

 Battle: 5

 Craft: 12

 Loot: 14

 MOB: 6

 

 

Haruko swung with her scimitar, trying to catch the charging pig... only for it to accelerate, smacking her in the shoulder. "Ouch... swing and a miss." she muttered. Luckily, it didn't hurt as much, or didn't seem to, compared to what she thought she should be feeling, and she managed to get up again. "This is..." She muttered.

 

Boar attacked and hit, did 3 damage.
Haruko swung and missed, doing no damage:

Boar: 4/4 HP 3 dmg

Haruko: 1/4 HP, 2 dmg

 

 

Edited March 27, 2016 by Haruko

[Gorou 0]

Gorou tossed the stick aside and readied himself for the ensuing battle. Haruko was taking point, which was a risk that he felt glad for not being his own. He wouldn't slack off however, and wielded his short iron hatchet in his right hand, gripping it tightly.  He positioned himself to the boar's side in hopes of flanking it, while the girl was sizing it up and trying to land a hit. Haruko sounded confident as she unsheathed her weapon. Gorou hoped her high spirits would hold up, and that it would be enough for them to seize a victory here. His hopes were immediately dashed upon seeing Haruko take a nasty hit.

"Haruko!" he yelled and started charging towards the boar who was still focused on the injured girl. He brought the small hatchet up into the air with both hands, and it brought down hoping to land a hit and get the boar's attention shifted towards him.

ID# 53366

Battle: 3 (Miss)

Gorou's axe sailed through the air, and missed the boar completely. The slippery boar leapt backwards effortlessly dodging his clumsy attempt at attacking. It's focus was still on Haruko, and it practically ignored the taller man. "Crap!" Gorou grunted in annoyance due to his blunder.

Boar: 4/4 HP
Haruko: 1/4 HP
Gorou: 4/4 HP

Edited March 27, 2016 by Gorou

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk was taking a lovely stroll around the outskirts of town when he spotted two players trying to fight a boar. Immediately, his Devil's eye activated making his eyes burn a crimson red color. "Burn in hell!" He activated one of his most powerful sword arts, Sonic Leap on the boar, its entire body became a bunch of crystal pieces as the wind blew them away. The blonde smiled, "You two okay?"

ID# 53367

Battle 10 (8+2, No Crit)

Ratatosk: 24/24 HP,

DMG: 3 (Normal) x 3 = 9

Boar:-8/4 HP Dead
Haruko: 1/4 HP
Gorou: 4/4 HP

Edited March 27, 2016 by Ratatosk

[Haruko 0]

"holy crap..." Haruko said with a slight expression of panic. "I'm gonna go ahead and guess someone's got a few levels on us.". The Boar that was giving haruko and Gorou both so much trouble seemed to be utterly vanquished in an instant. "uhhh..." Haruko looked over to her bruised side. "Well, I guess okay might be exaggerating, but I'm alive, at least." Was her response. "Name's Haruko. My clumsy friend there's Gorou. Thanks for the help." Haruko said chipperly, as she warily watched the guy.

This dude definitely seemed nice enough, but she couldn't help but be a little nervous after seeing him turn that boar into shish-kebab. She wondered if Gorou felt the same way.

[Gorou 0]

Gorou watched as the boar exploded into a flash of crystals and dissipated into the air without much effort on the attacker's part. The enemy was defeated instantly, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed with how easy he had made it look. Gorou unintentionally shot a glare at the new face, but let out a quick sigh immediately afterwards. If it weren't for him Haruko or he would've probably been killed. "I'm fine, Haruko's the only one that took damage." he stated. His attention then shifted to the wound that Haruko had with his eyes narrowing. "Knew we shouldn't have been so eager to fight."

"So, what's our savior's name, and what do we owe you?" Gorou said as he turned his head back around towards the new person. He didn't know what his intentions were, but since he had seemingly saved both of their lives, there'd definitely be a chance that he wanted something. He crossed his arms awaiting the guy's answer.

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk sighed and shook his head. "My name is Ratatosk, wielder of the blade Niflheim. The only thing I want is to see the two of you, alive." He did a trick with his sword before sheathing it. "I'm no front liner, just know that I'm not as powerful as you two think I am. In your eyes I may appear to be a savior, but I am nothing more than a human. Anyways, before I leave, I suggest the two of you don't fight monsters like that until you reach at least level six. Good luck." He waved to them before preparing to leave, packing up a few apples from a nearby tree.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Ratatosk

[Haruko 0]

"Well... it's not like I had any more context than you did." Haruko commented back as Gorou narrowed his eyes. "You sure do complain a lot for someone who didn't get gored in the stomaaa...." Haruko stumbled, as she realized she was already feeling better. "super-healing. Well, I guess that's one break the world's deciding to give us." Haruko stated with some surprise, realizing that every trace of her earlier injuries was just... gone. Well, there was one advantage to being in a game, at least.

"Well... Regardless, thanks, err.... Ratatosk." Haruko stated. she was still not completely used to the whole "username as name" thing. Not that she exactly wanted her real name known herself, but she didn't know how long it'd take her to get used to saying names like "Ratatosk" in what was now her real life, constantly. "well, if we shouldn't fight monsters, got any advice for how to get stronger? I have a game dev with delusions of grandeur to kick, and I can't exactly do that without leaving this stupid game first." she stated bluntly.