[F1/SP] Departure... [Easy RGQ]

[Nocturn 0]

Noct took a deep breath as he stood at the gate of the City of Beginnings. It would be his first time outside of the gates, with the intention of actually exploring it's surroundings. The other day he had learned how to use his weapon properly, and even managed to learn how to use most of his available Sword Arts. Having no money, Noct was unable to afford better equipment but that wouldn't deter him. The sun had begun to rise, casting it's orange glare across the land. Noct let his breath out, letting it hand in the air for a second before taking his first steps out into the fields.

Opening his menu, he checked his map. There was a forest just a short walk away from his position. It housed many things. Nepents, boars, the occasional goblin scout. As well as herbs and other medicinal items. Noct closed his map, and headed to the forest. It was large on his map, and it seemed to encompass the entire circumference of the city. So large in fact, that Noct could see it over in the distance. Excited, Noct upped his pace, eager to see what this world had in store for him.

[Nocturn 0]

A few hours had passed. Noct would've been there faster, if he had not tried to avoid ever mob he saw. He merely wanted to explore this time out, get a lay of the land, before jumping into combat. The fields mostly housed boars, and the boars ranged from lone wanderers to packs of four. Good information to have before he actually wanted to fight. Last thing he'd want is to fight one thing, only to get mobbed by three more. If Noct wanted to survive out here on his own, he would have to keep an eye out on his surroundings at all time. And with that thought heavilly in his mind, Noct entered the forest.

The forest was light at first. With a set path, which Noct assumed looped around at some point, and trees that were sparsely spread about. Only walking for a few minutes did Noct realise that mobs were peaceful until attacked as he grazed a Nepent that was hiding. Noct jumped back, readying for a fight if he had to. But instead, the Nepent went back to it's AI pathing, and ignored him completely. Noct, placed his spear back onto his back, surprised at that finding. He expected a 'dath game' to at least contain some ample amount of death, not semi adorable creatures that resembled plants.

[Nocturn 0]

Noct eye'd the direction the Nepent went. Then, squinted as he looked unto the distance. Noct didn't remember seeing a mountain, this close when he entered the forest. Curious, Noct stepped off of the path and walked to the anomaly in the forest. When he was finally clear of falling leaves and trees he could see clearly. It was no mountain, but something even more odd and out of place. A large half sphere, erecting from the ground. It's texture was marble white, and smooth as if it was cut from a mountain itself. But how a single piece of stone, this size and this shape, made it's way into the middle of a forest? Noct touched the stone surface, brushing of dust and dirt. There was some, marking underneath. They could hardly be made out, from who know how long of weathering. But the dirt highlighted the almost smooth stone's indentions just enough to be noticeable.

Noct was even more curious now, and began to encircle the large semi-sphere. He stopped every so often, to check for more indentations or symbols. Finding nothing new, he continued to walk. A few minutes of walking later, Noct had walked the full distance around, and had ended back up to where he had started. Noct ran his hand through his hair as he looked at the semi-sphere. There had to be more of it. There was no way that half of a giant boulder was lying here, with no backstory to it. There was something here, and Noct was going to find it.

[Nocturn 0]

Noct had to have walked around the stone sphere at least four more time, growing more frustrated as he found nothing each rotation. Perhaps he was looking at this from the wrong angle. Noct turned his attention to where the stone met the ground. Moving slowly, Noct peered at the ground, searching for signs of anything that could be remotely useful. A short stroll away, something caught his eye. A gap between the stone and the ground, small enough to be buried behind grass, but large enough to be seen. Noct, pulled his spear from his back and tested the hole, prying his spear into it. He couldn't feel the floor exactly, but he could sense it. Noct pulled his spear back into safety, and pulled out a bottle of water. Prying it into the hole, Noct shoved it through. The water bottle fell, and almost immediately hit the floor. Noct nodded, and began to move the dirt out of his way.

Several hours of digging later, and Noct had made a hole just big enough for him to crawl through. Covered in sweat, and dirt Noct was finally ready to explore whatever it was he had found. Noct pressed himself onto the ground, and slid into the makeshift entrance he had made. Dirt shifted suddenly and fell into the sphere, pulling Noct with it. Noct fell onto his face, crushing his bottle of water from earlier. Groaning, and coughing from the dust, Noct rose to his feet. Squinting in the darkness, Noct tried to make out his surroundings. Inside the sphere was just as mysterious as the outside of it. But, Noct could make out one familiar feature in the room, and that was a door.

[Nocturn 0]

Noct stepped up to the door, trying to make out what exactly was carved onto it's surface. Unable to make out anything of interest, noct placed his hand on the door, and pressed against it, opening it with relative ease. The stone door shuddered, and dragged against the floor filling the cave like interior with reverb and echo. The noise carried even further down the way, deeper into the passage the door revealed. Peering down into the passage, noct could make out lights. Either someone has already explored this area before, or something else had them lit. And just as that thought had crossed his mind, a loud clatter was heard from inside, as if something metallic was dropped or kicked over. Steeling his nerves, noct entered.

The passage way was almost ancient, touched by whatever had lived here before. Bits of wall littered the floor, destroyed and ravaged by time. But, the halls began to paint a picture. Partial murals, lined the halls. What exactly they depicted, was beyond what Noct could understand. Portions of the walls missing, and the low lighting did not assist him in that matter. But what he could make out, was the area he was in was some sort of grave, or burial site. For someone, or someones. At the end of the hall there was a large mural, which stood fifteen figures. All of them adorned with a crown. From his left, the sound of metal was heard again. Noct spun to face the noise, his spear at the ready. He inched ever closer to the sound.

[Nocturn 0]

Noct had reached an impasse, well another door at the least. This one wasn't as ornate as the entrance, but rather made of iron bars, that resembled a jail cell more than anything else. Upon closer inspection he could see that the bars had a fair amount of rust to them. Noct grabbed the door, and attempted to open it. The door was stuck or locked and Noct only shook most of the rust off of the door. "Not, going that way." He said to himself, his voice carrying softly throughout the crypt. With nowhere else to go, he turned back around, heading back to the fork where he originally was.

Upon arrival, he could see something shimmering on the ground.That wasn't there before, he thought as he raised his spear in preparation. He approached the item on the ground, only to find that it was nothing that he could use. Simply a useless item, merely to attract players. Noct could hear it coming from down the hall. Noct raised his spear and swung it blindly, finding that it had cut off the attack of a Goblin that had made this area it's home.

ID: 72567 MD: 3 (miss)

Noct
HP: 20/20
xxxx EN: 2/2

Goblin
HP: 4/4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3

[Nocturn 0]

The Goblin seemed the enjoy itself as it hopped from one foot to the other clapping it's hands above it's head. It shouted, using a guttural sound that made no sense to noct. He could only guess that the Goblin was pleased that someone like him had shown up, thinking that Noct was easy pickings. Noct, stood silently, ready to defend himself when he needed to. His first fight, by himself. Noct could win this, he had the reach advantage over the Goblins claws. Noct readied his weapon, without activating his Sword art. The Goblin, was all to excited to attempt to dodge the attack, and was impaled. The Goblin screeched, before shattering into blue crystals before Noct.

Noct dusted himself off, before looking at the screen which appeared in front of him, notifying him of his rewards. A tier one material, and a handful of Col. It wasn't much in the way of anything, but it was a start at the least. Making sure that the area was clear, Noct continued down the unexplored hallway. At the end of it, there was no way he could continue forward. A cave in, had closed off the hallway entirely. Noct let out a frustrated sigh, as he explored the area around him.

ID: 72568 BD: 6 (3+3) Hit! LD: 12

Noct
HP: 20/20
xxxx EN: 2/2

Goblin -4HP
HP: 0/4 
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3

-Items Acquired-
1 x T1 material
20 Col

[Nocturn 0]

Running his hand across the walls of the cave in, Noct felt air moving. Moving to the direction of the breeze, he discovered that there was a crack in the wall large enough for him to fit through. Noct turned his body, and pressed himself into the crack and forced his body through. Sure enough, there was another series of hallways to explore. Just as dark, and dusty as the halls before. Fortunately the Goblins seemed to like fire, and had lit several of the torches in passing, giving Noct more than enough light to see, well see well enough to not trip over anything.

The hall Noct went down, opened into a larger room. Square in shape, the room had an obvious open door. Stepping closer to the door, Noct reached out to open it further. Instead, the door slammed shut, almost catching his fingers in the process. Behind the door, Noct could hear grunting, and the scampering of tiny feet. "They're playing with me." Noct said under his breath, turning around to investigate the room.

[Nocturn 0]

Noct first tried to open the door that had closed on him. Only to find that it was locked, nothing too surprising. Noct turned to search the room. The low lighting hiding everything in shadows, and obscuring most of anything. Why were crypts always underground, or always so damned dark? Noct thought to himself, as he rummaged through a pile of discarded item. None of the items were usable, to damaged by the goblins that called this place their home. Which raised the question, whose tomb was this? The walls were only adorned with pictures, not words of any kind. At least not yet.

Noct moved over to searching a shelf for anything usable. Again, the only thing that adorned the shelf was dust and disappointment. Noct climbed up the shelf, checking the top of it, only again to see nothing. Frustrated he hopped down, and went back over to the door. He grabbed it's handle and pulled on it, almost hitting himself with the door as it jerked open. He was getting really tired of these goblins.

ID: 72611 LD: 4

-Items Acquired so Far-
1 x T1 material
20 Col

[Nocturn 0]

Opening the door and stepping through, Noct could hear the pitter patter of Goblin feet as the ran off down the hall. Noct wondered what kind of mischief awaited him ahead, or what kind of trap would be laid. Either way, Noct needed to be careful. He had only his start items, and no healing items. If he was to receive damage, he'd have to seek safety. And where on Earth could he find it in this place.

Walking down the hallway, Noct was surprised to find a door openable. Inside the room were books, scattered all around the room. A torch, placed in a scone was lit softly illuminating the room. Noct searched the room, finding a book on a desk, already opened. He grabbed the book, and blew the dust off, coughing slightly as it blew into his face. Most of the book was either destroyed by time, or unable to be read due to the passage of time. But Noct could make out some of its passages. "In times of great need, when a great danger loomed over and threatened the people of," Noct paused as he squinted at the page. Unable to read the road that followed. He continued anyway. "threatened the people. A leader was called to, the people's king. The king would wield a mighty weapon, to banish the threat of evil that plagued over their land, yada-yada." Noct said, flipping a few pages.  "The reincarnation of the king happened throughout history a number of time. The actual number is unknown, but a piece of the legendary weapon in said to be buried with each reincarnation." Noct rubbed his chin in thought, before closing the book and placing it back onto the desk.

[Nocturn 0]

With the knowledge of a legendary weapon in his mind, Noct was more eager in finding this so called 'king's' tomb. If the book was accurate, then he would have a piece of the weapon on his corpse. Hopefully, it would trigger some sort of in game quest, to find the rest of the pieces and he'd get a great weapon in return. Noct turned to leave, only to notice something wrong. The door to the library was closed, though he distinctly remembered that he had left it open. Noct readied his spear, and slowly scanned his surroundings. Something was in here with him. There, another Goblin. Noct pointed his spear at it, readying himself for an attack. The Goblin basically threw itself at Noct's spear, as it charged at him blindly. With a quick thrust, Noct was able to slay his second Goblin thus far with relative ease. If this kept up, he'd have new gear in no time.

ID: 72757 BD:6 (3+3) LD: 6 (No Loot)

Noct
HP: 20/20
xxxx EN: 2/2

Goblin 
HP: 0/4 -4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3

-Items Acquired so Far-
2 x T1 material
20 Col

[Nocturn 0]

Just as Noct went for the door, it burst open. Two more goblins at the ready. Ready to avenge their fallen family members. Noct, gritted his teeth and prepared himself for combat. He slain the first two with ease, but they were by themselves. Now he had to keep track of two at a time. If anything, this helped help get better at combat at the least. He was going to have to do this sooner or later. The Goblins stood in the doorway, planning their attack with grunts and clicks. Noct stood his ground, pointing the tip of his spear at the pair of Goblins mentally preparing himself for what was going to come. The goblins looked at Noct, their grunts and clicks echoing in the halls. They turned their heads, as if inspecting Noct. Like he was some sort of rare specimen they'd never seen before. Either way, they were in his way, and they needed to move.

Noct
HP: 20/20
xxxx EN: 2/2

Goblin 
HP: 0/4 -4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3

[Nocturn 0]

 

The pair of goblins stood their ground, just staring at Noct. "Well, come one then!" Noct shouted, at the pair. The two goblins jumped, being frightened by Noct's sudden shouting. Noct's voice echoed several times, before fading away into silence. The Golbins stopped their chattering, before readying themselves. The goblin on the left came at Noct first, but was easily cut down by the point of Noct's spear. But the attack took time, and as careful as Noct was he couldn't attack the other goblin as well. Fortunately, Noct was quick on his feet. The second Goblin's attack went far left, and the goblin slammed into a bookshelf, topping the thing entirely. The sound carried again, echoing several times before cascading into silence. Noct pulled his spear away from the already disintegrated goblin, to point it the living goblin.

ID: 72760 BD: 8(5+3) MD: 0 (3-3) LD: 1

Noct
HP: 20/20
xxxx EN: 2/2

Goblin 
HP: 0/4 -4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3
xxxx Acc: -3

HP: 4/4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3
xxxx Acc: -3

-Items Acquired so Far-
3 x T1 material
20 Col

[Nocturn 0]

As Noct turned, the Goblin had disappeared from it's location. A mix of emotions, frightened startled, confused, Noct spun around the room trying desperately to spot the stray Goblin. Noct turned, only to see that the spare Goblin had made it's way onto the desk behind noct. The Goblin lept onto Noct, using it's claws to rip and tear into Noct. In a panic, Noct grabbed the scruff of the Goblin, throwing him against the already toppled bookshelf. Noct grabbed his spear, and thrust it into the goblin before it could recover. The goblin evaporated into crystals, and Noct was left alone in silence once more. His ragged breath being the only thing he could hear.

ID: 72763 BD: 7 (4+3) MD: 10 LD: 7

Noct
HP: 8/20 -12
xxxx EN: 2/2

Goblin 
HP: 0/4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3
xxxx Acc: -3

HP: 0/4 -4
xxxx Atk: 10
xxxx Eva: -3
xxxx Acc: -3

-Items Acquired so Far-
4 x T1 material
20 Col

[Nocturn 0]

Noct caught his breath, letting his health recover slowly. He should've at least bought a health potion or two, for this situation exactly. He was a fool for thinking that he could handle this place without being properly prepared. If, no, when he got out of here he'd make sure that he'd pick up a few. He placed his spear back onto his back, sheathing the weapon. He needed his hands free so that he could properly take care of himself. He shut the door to the room, closing himself off from the hall. Just in case anymore of the little goblin bastards came back for him. He fell backwards, planting himself onto the toppled bookshelf. Thankfully, that last barrage of Goblins seemed to be the last of them. He wondered if SAO had some kind of beastiary that he could look up. To see if Goblins had a particular weakness to anything that he could exploit in the future.

Noct
HP: 11/20 +3
xxxx EN: 2/2

[Nocturn 0]

A few seconds of waiting, and Noct's HP reached a level where he was comfortable with moving again. Not exactly full, but with enough health that a Goblin wouldn't get lucky again, and catch him off guard. He stood up off of the fallen bookshelf, and made his way back into the hall. No more sounds of scurrying, no sounds of anything. really. Just his breathing, and his footsteps as Noct walked down the halls. All of these halls had to add up to something, a central hub, an exit, or tis forgotten king;s tomb. Hell, a bath is something that Noct was looking forward to, though he doubt that there'd be one in this area. Maybe a spring of some kind, or a leak that filled a small pool. Noct opened his inventory a pulled out a small flask of water, downing it quickly. It was surprisingly warm in the tomb. Probably from all the lit torches, and lack of moving air.

Noct
HP: 14/20 +3
xxxx EN: 2/2

[Nocturn 0]

Now that he thought about it, how did things work down here. Noct pondered, as his HP grew closer to it's maximum capacity. Why was there so many tunnels, and so many empty rooms. Wasn't this area just a crypt? And if it was, why the complexity of it all? Perhaps, it was used at some point as a place of study, or living. It made sense, looking back on the room he had previously explored. This place could've also been a point of a pilgrimage of some kind. People showing up, learning about the lost kings, staying for a few days, then moving onto the next one. If there was a next one. But what would a pilgrimage like that earn someone. There was always a reason, and this didn't seem like a religious rite. Perhaps it was to honour the lost kings, or a rite of passage meant to ascend into something. All of this speculation got Noct nowhere however. Just merely wasted time as he continued his slow search of the tomb.

Noct
HP: 17/20 +3
xxxx EN: 2/2

[Nocturn 0]

Noct felt much more relaxed now that his health points had reached their maximum capacity. Being at full health was always good, seeing now that he definitely couldn't be one shotted by one of thos Goblin bastards. More empty room, containing next to nothing littered only by other players, or goblins lined the hallways which Noctis explored. And it had seemed that all of the goblins had been taken care of. Noctis felt a ting of relief when he recognized that the area he was in was, unfamiliar. With all the hallways looking identical, it was a change of pace to see something different. Down at the end of the hallway lay two torches, barely having enough fuel to stay lit. The flames flicked in and out, the light cascading and hi-lighting what they were meant to be marking. A large door, ornate and carved from stone, much akin to the door that was the entrance to this place. Noct, investigated.

Noct
HP: 20/20 +3
xxxx EN: 2/2

[Nocturn 0]

Approaching the door, Noct could tell that it was guarding something of importance. Placing his hand upon the door he tried to push it open but to no avail. He could feel that the door was pried loose, but something kept it closed. Noct rested fr a bit, not realising that he was still exhausted from his fight with the goblins from earlier. Letting his lungs fill with air, and his body relaxing he tried to open the door again. He pushed, and he shoved, putting all of his weight into the door. The door inched, then budged as it slowly swung open. Noct opened the door fully, as to give him time to react in case the door decided to retract on him. On a list of things he wanted to do, becoming trapped in someone else's tomb was not high on that list. 

[Nocturn 0]

Finally, Noct was standing face to face of what he was looking for. In the room was a singular sarcophagus, well at least Noct presumed it was. A large marble box, with it's lid having a carved depiction of the king of old. Noct inspected the coffin, there was no way that he was going to be able to open the thing. He had a hard time with the door, let alone trying to pry open a even heavier lid. Besides, it would be grave robbing to take anything inside. Around the base of the coffin, lied evidence of people before him. Coins, empty vases, and pictures that were so worn Noct couldn't make out what they were anymore. The carved man  seemed to be holding something, and upon closer inspection it seemed like a shard of something. Noct touched the shard, the item turning into a n actual item. He added it to his inventory. Eager to not dawdle in this place any further, Noct left the tiny tomb.