[SP-F2] To Grind Higher

[Itzal 0]

Itzal had recently grandmastered search and detect, and was very close to getting the grandmaster mod as well.  Once he had he'd be spending his skill points in lockpicking. Hopefully when he grandmastered it players would seek him out to help them find chests.  However there was something else he needed to do:  Mob grinding.  He not only needed more experience points, but he also needed to get his hands on as much col as possible.  Although he doubted he'd get a unique skill at this point, he still had it in consideration, so he needed all the col he could get his hands on.  And so he had come to floor two to mob grind.  The reason it wasn't the first floor was because he was a high enough level now to be willing a more risky floor.  Sure it wasn't very risky, but he didn't want to take any chances.  As he walked into the forest he could feel the eyes of wolves.  Further and further he tread into the forests, looking for anything he could use, anything whatsoever.  Then he heard movement and he knew he was surrounded.  He grinned.  "I've fought so many wolves on floor one.  I hope you guys aren't as predictable."  With that he turned to the four wolves who tried to ambush him, Niger Natio flowing with the wind, Oblivion ring shining in the light, and Ascendant's Rosario glistening in the air.

Mob info:  4 wolves  <>  400 hp each  <>  20 dmg

[Itzal 0]

ID#  70085  BD:  10  CD:  5  MD:  7-3-2  Great starting roll!

The four wolves had expected to take their target by surprise and rake him with claws, teeth and such multiple times before he could retaliate.  However the player seemed to have spotted them early on and now their advantage was lost.  Other than that it was a fair battle it seemed.  The player appeared to be strong and there were four of the wolves.  The snarled together as the player just stood there in the shadows with the blue sword pointed at them.  There was a few seconds where neither party did anything.  Then suddenly the wolves charged in one at a time.  Itzal moved like lightning, his strikes almost dance-like as he slashed the wolves as well as knocked them away from him.  The wolves, not expecting the player to be this fast, didn't have time to retaliate.  When they turned around they didn't spot him, but felt a charge of energy course through them from Lightning fall, flinching as bleeding sunk in.

Itzal:  760/760  <>  62/76

Wolves:  330/400  <>  Bleeding added:  2 turns left

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

ID:  70086  BD:  10  CD:  7  MD:  8-3=5  Another great roll!...  I hope I'm not jinxing this XD

The wolves howled from the pain as Itzal landed on his feet, but he didn't stop.  He shot at the monsters, zipping in between the wolves and striking them at every angle.  Some dodged, some did not.  Either way the wolves realized this wasn't an easy player.  When the player struck at one of the wolves it ducked under and tried to snap it's jaws around Itzal's waist, but the player was too fast and avoided the attack.  A wolf leaped at him from behind and he pushed it further over him so that it flew through the air and collided with a third wolf who was about to attack him.  The fourth one tried raking the player with it's claws but was blocked by the player's sword.  With that he leaped backward, striking the four with lightning fall again, dealing great damage as well as the bleeding effect's damage.  This was going easier than he expected.

Itzal:  760/760  <>  48/76

Wolves:  236/400  <>  Bleeding:  1 turn left

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Foregoing Action

Itzal decided to let his energy climb up a little bit so that he didn't run out before the fight was over.  If this was over quickly, he could always gather materials.  The wolves flinched again as the last of the bleed effect kicked in, bringing their health dangerously close to the yellow zone.  Itzal knew they'd become much more desperate once it happened so he'd need to practice caution when they did.  The wolves took a moment to breath themselves before charging, once again one at a time.  Itzal did nothing but use his blade and evasive skills to avoid their attacks, keeping out of their range just barely, and only making slight movements so as to save up his energy.  When the time was right he'd attack again.  In the meantime he'd stick with evasion.

ID#  70087  CD:  1  MD:  2

Itzal:  760/760  <>  49/76

Wolves:  212/400  <>  Bleeding over

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Foregoing Action

The wolves were getting a little tired of this player evading their attacks so much and not being able to land a single hit on him.  However the pack leader wasn't about to give up so easily.  It leaped back from the fight and while it's fellow wolves didn't notice the player seemed to have noticed his movement.  The wolf was analyzing the situation, trying to figure out what was going on and how to counter it.  Meanwhile Itzal had seen the wolf back off to observe and while it made it easier to keep the wolves at bay with one of them missing, there were two things that bothered him:  The first was that he couldn't attack them all at once with the fourth one so far away.  The second was that the wolf was trying to learn, which was never a good sign.  Ever.

ID#  70088  CD:  7  MD:  2

Itzal:  760/760  <>  50/76

Wolves:  212/400

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Itzal needed to force the wolves back together.  And he came up with a plan to do so.  When the next wolf struck at him he blocked it rather than deflected, and kicked the wolf to the pack leader, who stepped back in surprise.  He then charged at the wolf, being followed closely by the other two wolves.  The pack leader finally figured it out.  The player needed them together in order to strike them all at the same time.  It seemed he also needed to do this to bleed them all to death at the same time.  And that could only happen if they were together.  However they also couldn't deal any damage if they attacked the player one by one.  Therefore it was a gamble, a risk.  They had no idea how much health the player had unfortunately.  When they were together Itzal leaped into the air and let loose more volts of energy that forced into the four wolves, once again adding the bleeding effect. 

ID#  70089  BD:  9  CD:  1  MD:  4

Itzal:  760/760  <>  36/76

Wolves:  149/400  <>  Bleeding added:  2 turns left

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Foregoing Action

The wolves eyes flashed at the same time, turning from a usual eye to orange.  The four mobs growled in anger and hatred for the players, wanting nothing else than to rip him to shreds.  The pack leader barked his orders, quite literally, and the four charged at the same time.  Itzal was shocked at the sudden change and although he held off the attacks at first, they're hatred from being in the yellow health zone, as well as their ferocity, knocked him over and they clawed and snapped their jaws and claws, dealing all the damage they could.  He watched his health drop but he knew it didn't matter.  It would take a lot longer for them to get his own health into the yellow zone.  When the wolves flinched from the bleeding effect he shoved them off and rolled backwards onto his feet, this time prepared for their attacks.

ID#  70090  BD:  1  CD:  2  MD:  10

Itzal:  675/760  <>  37/76

Wolves:  125/400  <>  Bleeding:  1 turn left

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Foregoing Action

The wolves fell onto each other and flailed their legs, forcing themselves off of the others and charged once again at the player as one group.  However the player was ready this time.  He blocked two incoming attacks and leaped over the other two, deflecting their claws with his sword mid air, and landed on the ground walking backwards while his sword swung faster than the normal eye could detect, keeping the monster's strikes at bay.  As they moved through the forest Itzal was calculating how much longer it would take before the monster's health was minimal, where he would then switch his gear and try getting the highest loot amount he could receive.  The bleeding effect could mess it up so he had to be careful he didn't kill them by accident before it was time.

ID#  70091  CD:  8  MD:  6-3=3

Itzal:  675/760  <>  38/76

Wolves:  101/400  <>  Bleeding over

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

The wolves continued their forceful attacks and Itzal was nearly done with his calculations.  He'd need to use a weaker sword art in order for them to live, but he'd need to apply bleeding one last time.  Luckily, once the sword art was finished he would only need to use one more as the finishing blow.  He slashed at the monsters to force them back before releasing the sword art Vertical Square, striking all four wolves and watching the bleeding effect land on them.  The wolves yelped and fell back.  Then they snapped and rushed at him with much more force, their eyes red as their health was now in the red zone.  Itzal knew he didn't have much time.  He needed to block them, push them back, and then switch his gear quickly to get the best possible loot he could get his hands on.  Fast.

ID#  70092  BD:  10  CD:  10  MD:  3

Itzal:  675/740  <>  31/76

Wolves:  61/400  <>  Bleeding added:  2 turns left

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Gear switched:  Twilight Cloak, Skyreach, Ascendant's Rosario equipped

Itzal managed to push his opponent's back long enough for him to open his menu and switch his gear real fast.  As his Twilight Cloak and the Skyreach ring, both used to help get good loot at the end of any battle, the wolves charged him again.  With the bleed effect going on he didn't need to attack again until he was certain he could get some decent loot from them.  He had heard about a dimensional backpack and while he was interested in getting it, what he really needed right now was col, col and more col.  Thus he really hoped he got a good amount of col from these monsters.  The wolves charged him again and he dodged, parried and deflected their attacks, all the while keeping his distance.  When the monsters flinched from the bleed it was faster than normal and they kept up the pace.  He hoped it wouldn't be long.

ID#  70093  CD:  5  MD:  4

Itzal:  675/760  <>  32/76

Wolves:  37/400  <>  Bleeding:  1 turn left

Edited November 3, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

As the wolves continued to assault him he felt it was nearing time to strike.   They struck from each side at this point, biting or snapping at his legs, jumping onto their hind legs to scratch his upper features, trying to tackle him, they had him completely surrounded by strikes.  Still he waited as he kept their attacks from hitting him.  Waiting...  Waiting...  Suddenly the four flinched from the last of the bleeding.  Now he thought.  His sword charged as he prepared rage spike but something was off.  The pack leader saw the movement as well as the glow and barked for his pack to switch to evasive action and the four dodged the attack in time.  Itzal stopped, shocked to see that the wolves actually evaded his attack.  The four of them growled angrily at him.  Uh oh he thought.

ID#  70094  BD:  2  CD:  2  LD:  18+8=26  -_-  MD:  3

Itzal:  675/760  <>  28/76

Wolves:  13/400  <>  Bleeding over

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

The wolves were going to attack again when Itzal decided to turn the tables.  He charged at them and swung his blade at them, forcing them back.  When they charged he twisted his body so they flew by him and he charged a different wolf.  This pattern continued:  Charge, dodge, change target and charge again.  To anyone outside the battle it might look like a game of tag gone bad.  As he chased them he chose not to use a sword art.  He needed to conserve his energy, that was a big thing.  The wolf dodged him again and one leaped at Itzal from behind.  He swung his sword behind him in a circular motion, blocking the wolf's attack and continued to charge them.  He felt really weird doing this but at least nobody was there to watch him.  He backflipped from another attack, hoping he'd spot the opportunity to end this soon.

ID#  70095  BD:  2  CD:  9  LD:  2  MD:  1

Itzal:  675/760  <>  27/76

Wolves:  13/400

Edited October 28, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

Oh how wrong he was.  Once again he could sense it was the perfect time to strike and thus he made sure the four were in the same area.  His sword began to charge and the four saw this and leaped out of the way just in time to avoid his sword art, again.  Getting frustrated he tried to block them but they all struck at the same time and once again knocked him over, striking every area they could.  He let out a roar before throwing them all off of him and leaping to his feet.  He swung his weapon around angrily, hoping his blade met one of them, but the wolves dodged each time.  As they dodged he looked for any pattern or weakness he could exploit.  Weakness was the key to winning battles at times.  For there were many hundreds of examples that raw strength wasn't enough.  Intellect and strategy was also required.  It was hard to tell but he believed he spotted their pattern.  Once he did he smiled.

ID#  70099  BD:  4  CD:  7  LD:  18  MD:  10

Itzal:  590/760  <>  23/76

Wolves:  13/400

Edited November 3, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

There was a pattern.  There was always a pattern.  The wolves were attacking him ruthlessly, and at the same time, but when they had to reach him there were wolves in front and behind.  So when they came after Itzal again instead of dodging or deflecting their attacks, he simply leaped over the group, flipping so that his feet landed solidly on the other side and turned around.  The wolf in the rear of the pack was the one who saw the movement and turned around.  When the player landed the wolf shot forward and snapped it's jaws shut on Itzal's forearm.  However Itzal planned on that and released Snake Bite on the monster from underneath, killing the wolf instantly.  When the monster shattered the other three stared for a moment before lashing out at the player.  Itzal figured he'd weaken their numbers while waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill them all with decent loot.

ID#  70102  BD:  10  CD:  4  LD:  5+8=13  MD:  9

Itzal:  509/760  <>  21/76

Wolf 4:  Deceased

Wolves 1-3:  13/400

Edited October 29, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

After their first strike Itzal was able to keep them off of him.  Claws, teeth and headbutts were close to hitting him but not close enough.  With his swift movements and his sword knocking away his opponent's attacks, he couldn't be touched.  As he kept them off of himself he looked for which wolf to take down next.  He doubted he'd be able to take down the pack leader yet, it was too clever for that.  Despite that it was pissed at Itzal for killing one of it's members, it still held a level head and kept a wary eye on him.  So Itzal charged snake bite and released it on a different wolf faster than it could dodge, killing it and sending it into shattered crystals.  The two wolves redoubled their efforts, hatred coursing through their veins.  They would kill this player if it was the last thing they ever did.

ID#  70111  BD:  10  CD:  9  LD:  4  MD:  3

Itzal:  509/760  <>  19/76

Wolves 3&4:  deceased

Wolves 1&2:  13

Edited October 29, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

0 Foregoing Action

Itzal knew things would get increasingly difficult until he finished them all off.  However he really did need the col, especially when he believed he earned it.  When the wolves came at him they managed to slip through his defenses, surprising him as he thought they would simply tackle him, and landed a solid hit each, but it was much more pitiful than before seeing as how they were two wolves short.  Wolves were stronger as a pack, and even then they didn't deal much damage.  He leaped backwards and took defensive position, keeping the wolves from slipping past him and dealing any more damage.  He needed to wait, just a little bit longer.  Just a little longer was all.  As he parried and deflected he walked backward, the small group making it's way slowly through the forest one step at a time.  Itzal was barely registering this and had no clue as to where they were heading.

ID#  70441  BD:  5  CD:  8  LD:  7  MD:  10

Itzal:  468/760  <>  19/76

Wolves 3&4:  Deceased

Wolves 1&2:  13/400

Edited November 9, 2016 by Itzal

[Itzal 0]

The flames roll on