[PP-NK-F4] <<Avalanche>> First New Acquaintance (Solomon and Shield) [Complete]

[Solomon 0]

Solomon found himself on the fourth floor, after having returned from his year in the forest of the first floor. He had not progressed at all in the tower of death so far, being that he was just a low level player. He had proved his point to a player over several days, whom Solomon must have thought died in the first few days of existance. Either way, he needed to improve, even if it meant that he would just need to persevere. There was one thing that concerned him over everything else. The supposed quest he would be venturing out in order to complete was far over his own level. He would need strong assistance in order to stay alive. Therefore Solomon stood near the teleport pad on the fourth floor, scanning for people that would resemble tanks. Nobody explicit was solo and dressed in heavy armor or something tanky. Solomon just looked down, his clothes still looking different from everyone around him. He thought of himself as strange still, even though he had gotten some parts of his backstory told to him by Atzo, his apparent friend from the real world. Solomon looked back up, scanning the surroundings for solo players.

 

Edited March 2, 2017 by Solomon

[Shield 0]

It had been a productive couple of days for Shield, and as such, he decided it would be a good time to get out and see new floors, or at least to spend more time on them than he had previously.

"The first two floors have been well traversed at this point," he thought aloud to himself. "And god knows that I've spent enough time sinking into sand dunes on the fifth. Perhaps number four will be more pleasant."

He stepped on the teleportation pad and announced his intended arrival destination, whisked away there by the elegant teleportation animations that partly made the MMO the visual marvel that it was. The visuals on the other end of the gate, however, were a good deal more bleak. Looking up into the overcast sky, he saw flurries dancing down and blanketing everything in sight. He adjusted the razor covered armor that he wore, stashing his shield in favor of his loot seeking earring.

"Of course. Snow. Why did I expect anything different?" he sighed. "I need to find the tropical island floor, whichever one that would be..."

[Solomon 0]

Solomon stood where he was, his bare feet sunk down deep into the snow. He wore the attire for the desert and arid land, but he stood in the snow as though the cold was fine. He finally caught sight of a man with lengthy brown hair appear by the teleport pad. He stood slightly shorter than Solomon by about half a foot. Solomon began to walk up to this man, as this was the first solo player he had seen so far enter the fourth floor. Solomon, once he had approached the man, surprisingly remained silent. Solomon's hair was long and blue, made into many knots as they traveled downward remained on his back. His shirt was made of fine silk, his pants made from some baggy material. He looked to his left and right as he followed the man, knowing nothing of this land. Solomon didn't know that he could follow this man but he did anyway, even though he didn't know this player at all.  

[Shield 0]

Shield scratched his head before making his way toward the edge of town. He didn't have specific objectives in mind for the floor, so he didn't expect to stay long, but if nothing else, he could try to gather a few materials along the way. As he walked, he checked the floor bulletins, checking to see if there were any details he needed to know before adventuring too far out of the town's limits.

"A respawning field boss, eh?" he said to himself before taking note of the direction on his map.

He began to plot a course, but stopped. Before, he had been distracted by getting his bearings, but once the visual hindrance was gone, his ears had picked up the sound of an extra pair of feet in the crunching snow. He turned around, curious to see if his ears had been playing tricks on him or not.

[Solomon 0]

Solomon tried to be silent, but that wasn't possible with just bare feet. Solomon did manage to make it a little ways unnoticed before he heard the man say something about a "re-spawning field boss". Solomon was rather light for his large build, but that didn't mean he could what he was able to do in the other world while in this one. He noticed the man's ears prick when a loud crunch was made under Solomon's left foot. Looking slightly down at the man whom was turning around, Solomon stared with a lost face. He blinked a couple times, realizing that this meeting would be rather strange. He knew few things of this world, and therefore would have difficulty conversing with him. He had heard his own voice once before, and it caused him a really bad headache. All he knew about his own life was that he was somehow associated with Atzo in a car crash. Solomon didn't know what a car crash was because he had a concussion and lost his memories. All he knew was that he had a friend from somewhere else, who seemed concerned for him. Solomon didn't know how to greet the man, so he kept his silence. 

[Shield 0]

This was certainly an oddity, but living in an online game, oddities were becoming less and less uncommon. The player in front of him was obviously a large, imposing build, but nothing else about him seemed threatening aside from his overall size and shape. He had no distinguishable 'armor,' no apparent weapon, and for that matter, no shoes. By his best estimates, this player was either very confident in his abilities or very inexperienced. At this juncture, he had no reason to assume either, so he decided that figuring out now before leaving a safe zone was in his best interest.

"You got a name, stranger?" Shield asked, his dark eyes holding the newcomer steadily in his gaze. "It's not exactly common for one player to follow another around unannounced, and particularly an unfamiliar one."

To say that Shield was worried or afraid would have been inaccurate. However, this still seemed to be a time to play his cards close to his chest and remain impassive. The stranger, on the other hand, seemed to make no effort in hiding their feelings from their face.

Either that, or it's part of a ruse. Either way, not enough information yet.

[Solomon 0]

Solomon was asked for his name. He was told that it wasn't common for a player to follow another player unannounced. He didn't understand the use of "player", but he was beginning to collect information from these people that would help piece together their strange words. He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of speaking, but at least one word wouldn't hurt to much. He extended his arm for a fist bump, as that was the only reasonable form of greeting he had seen thus far. He spoke, his voice carrying like an erupting volcano and echoed like a massive cave within a mountain. "Solomon"  Solomon gave his name, one that he had both as his username and mentioned by Atzo when he came back to his senses. He gazed at the man, looking down at him. Solomon didn't honestly care if he received the strangers name, seeing as he already had trust in this player for the time being. He looked slightly past the man, wondering about this appearent "floor boss", or whatever that was supposed to entail.

[Shield 0]

While a fist bump was hardly the greeting Shield expected from a new acquaintance, there was no harm in it. Taking a step forward, he extended his arm and tapped the offered fist with his own. Inside of the safe zone of the town, there was no immediate danger, and if he sensed any ulterior motives, he always reserved the right to just leave and not expose himself to potential dangers outside of the town.

"Solomon," Shield repeated, continuing to study the newcomer with benign interest. "Well, Solomon, you can call me 'Shield.' You seem to be a man of few words, but I'm afraid I'm going to need a few more from you before I can be sure I'm not in any danger around you. For starters, you seemed to be following me. I'd like to know why."

Being around others with unusual social habits was hardly new to him. This was, after all, a game. Not everyone who played had much social experience. It was entirely possible he had merely stumbled across a player who did not know what else to do, or it could be that he had stumbled across a player who merely wished to seem as if this were the case.

[Solomon 0]

Solomon placed his hand to the side of his body after doing the fist bump, and returned his initial gaze on the player. He stated that he would need a few more words from Solomon. He wanted to know why Solomon was following him, as it was apparently not a common action to be done. Solomon first opened up his profile, having some trouble at first but catching on rather quickly. There was displayed in front of Shield with the starting players health, damage, and absolutely nothing else to be found. He spoke in his voice, a clap of thunder and the sound of a ship splitting in two, "Thy word preserves those who trust in thee." He closed the profile and pointed at the map which shield held. He spoke words that were open to interpretation, but ultimately did not describe anything on Solomon's motives for following Shield. "For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us, ...but he considered our existence an idle game."  Solomon began to see black spots and if any more words were spoken, he would fall to his knees. He couldn't maintain his gaze and had to close his eyes, blinking and hoping that the spots would subside. 

(both are quotes from the Wisdom of Solomon, somewhere in chapters 15-17)

Edited February 25, 2017 by Solomon

[Shield 0]

Shield rolled the words around in his head. They had mentioned 'trust,' which although not obvious as to how, seemed to be the key to that particular phrase. He also mentioned matters of being misled by those who have evil intent. There was something under the layers of meaning that he didn't quite grasp.

I'm a statistician, not a wordsmith. There's something going on here, but I'm not entirely sure his meaning. So how do I solve this riddle? ...look at it from other angles, I suppose. What else do I know?

Shield gave him another quick look up and down.

Well, I can see what he's wearing. Something more accustomed to a tropical or perhaps arid climate, not to the snow. And... also his name. Solomon... the wise king? And his verbiage is outdated, but not indecipherable. Almost... King James like. There's definitely some biblical theme going on here, but I'm not a theologian.

Shield narrowed his eyes, trying to process what little information he had.

"...Vanity, vanity. All is vanity."

I don't know much about scripture, but let's see if you do. Ecclesiastes. Let's see how well you know the words of the wise king.

[Solomon 0]

Solomon stood, struck by the phrase mentioned by Shield. His eyes widened at the words, as if he recognized them. The phrase sounded so familiar, yet so distant. He didn't know what to make of the phrase, as he couldn't recall having ever heard it. He had lost his memory, and therefore had a difficult time when something made sense that shouldn't. He shook his head up and down in the affirmative as he heard the phrase. He didn't dare speak, or he would surely fall to his knees. Looking over his shoulder once again, Solomon extended his arm to point in the direction where Shield had pointed out on his map, the direction of the re spawning field boss. If Shield somehow knew him from the real world as well, he would surely be able to get information about himself. However, a more important matter was at hand. Solomon needed to progress in levels, and he needed to win some combat with mobs in order for that to be possible.  

[Shield 0]

It was impossible to discern much of anything from the reaction. He had hoped for more words, but words seemed to be the very thing that this Solomon player struggled with. Shield checked his inventory and summoned up a teleportation crystal just in case there was any funny business waiting for him outside of the safe zone before he turned back to the path he had been on. If this character really needed help, as he seemed to be indicating, then Shield was no stranger to being in his place. He motioned for the stranger to follow and set out beyond the edge of the town.

The icy landscape was hardly a welcoming one. Had they not been in a game that lacked a mechanic for cold environments freezing a player, Shield might have been in trouble, but there did not seem to be any environmental damage associated with the frozen forest. Shield kept a close eye on the marker where the boss was said to lurk, their spots on the map continuing to advance towards the location. As they neared a bend in the road near what seemed by the marker to be the very last stretch before the boss, he turned to Solomon and spoke in a low voice.

"It's likely very near. Stay behind me until I draw its focus, and then from there, you're safe to attack, if you're able," he explained. "Don't worry about getting hit. As long as I stay on top of it, it will barely even register that you're there."

With one last breath to collect himself, Shield summoned out his axe from his inventory and forged on around the bend. The ice elementals of the floor had been absent, which was definitely helpful considering the apprehension of allowing a stranger to follow him into the middle of nowhere.

The fewer the complications right now, the better.

Spoiler

ID# 78211 results:

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg
Combat action: Howl

Avalanche: HP: 100/100, DMG: 40
MOB: 10 - Hit! Dmg: (4 dmg + 2) * 10 = 60 dmg - 96 mit - 54 regen = 0 dmg

Almost as if summoned by the thought, an icy arm shot out of a nearby snowbank and grabbed a nearby tree, using the anchor to pull the arm's owner out of the drifted white that had settled onto its blue, crystalline body. Without a moment of hesitation, the tank raised his shield arm and bellowed at the elemental, which now towered over both men.

"Alright, tough guy!" he began, using the force of his lungs to draw the creature's ire. "Show me what you're made of! Come on!"

The elemental brought both fists down as hard, slamming them into the shoulders of the armored man, who, despite the ground-shaking force of the collision, did not budge. His health gauge seemed to deplete only the highest pixel of its range before immediately returning to full.

"Thought so."

Edited February 25, 2017 by Shield

[Solomon 0]

Solomon followed behind Shield as they approached the location of the field boss. Solomon was told to stay behind Shield until he had attracted the attention of the beast. Solomon understood him somewhat, but he did have some trouble truly understanding. He waited for the man to finish yelling at the crystalline body before he would jump to strike at it. The most obvious thing about Solomon was that he knew combat, even though he actually couldn't remember it. It was like muscle memory to him, moving like a sly fox and landing hits that didn't seem possible for a man of the height of 6' 6". He moved forward to strike near the bottom foot of the beast, but he found that his hand could not do anything to the main body. He took several steps back, his body somewhat lowered to the ground. Shield was still standing where he was, but it was clear that the attention of this thing still remained on shield.

Spoiler

ID# 78214

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg

Solomon: 20/20 HP, 1 DMG

BD:5 (miss)

Avalanche: HP: 100/100, DMG: 40

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Solomon

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 78213 results:

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg
Battle: 2 - Miss

Avalanche: HP: 100/100, DMG: 40
MOB: 2 - Miss

Although undamaged by the strike of the silent warrior, the elemental seemed to be wrong-footed. It was as if the creature had punched an unmovable wall and then been given a hard shove, and it teetered on the spot. Shield attempted to press the advantage, but as he lunged forward, the icy adversary, his target stumbled and his axe sliced through empty air. The Avalanche, now struggling to regain equilibrium, lashed out with another fist but fell entirely short of Shield.

"Alright," Shield barked out. "A rough start, but we've got the upper hand still. I think it hit me with everything it had, and it still didn't manage to harm me."

Shield rolled his wrist, letting the axe held firmly in his grip rotate around the motion of the joint. The development of a lack of damage did not seem to phase him. Rather, he seemed quite accustomed to an empty exchange or two.

"I strategize around taking hits, not dealing them, so this may take some work."

Edited February 25, 2017 by Shield

[Solomon 0]

Solomon, after having taken a step back away from the beast, moved yet another step back. His foot crunched in the snow, and as he looked up it became more clear that the body of this thing was off-balance, which made Solomon cautious. Any wrong movement he made couldn't necessarily cause the worst consequences, but could definitely be the road to which those consequences could happen. He jumped another few feet back, his blue hair curling curling over his shoulder with the wind. He was basically trudging through snow, his feet crushing it down. He turned quickly to get a solid and basic strike on the field boss, but he was out of reach. He stopped before finishing his attack, returning to a standing position. He didn't have the chance to make another consecutive attack, until he could trust that the field boss wouldn't fall on top of him. This would likely take several hours of nothing if everything continued as it did, which was perfectly fine to Solomon.

Spoiler

ID# 78220

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg

Solomon: 20/20 HP, 1 DMG

BD:3 (miss)

Avalanche: HP: 100/100, DMG: 40

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Solomon

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 78223 results:

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg
Battle: 8 - Hit! 3 dmg, Bleed rounds remaining: 2

Avalanche: HP: 97/100, DMG: 40
MOB: 1 - Miss

With each crashing step The Avalanche took, more snow was shaken from the nearby trees. Finally, after grabbing a nearby trunk, the ice monster steadied itself. Shield's eyes narrowed, not willing to let the boss keep its foothold.

He charged, swinging back and forth with his axe in wide circular motions to build momentum, finally bringing the hooked blade of it up along its great icy leg. The tear that he created would not be quick to close, and the red particles that spilled out of it stood out like a beacon in the bleak landscape. While the actual health bar remained nearly untouched, Shield knew the effects of his weapon.

Slowly, the health bar began to drain in direct proportion to the leaking of red pixels draining out of the gash in the ice elementa's leg. It wouldn't win the fight on its own, but it was a start. Angered by Shield's attack, the giant swung but missed Shield entirely.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Shield

[Solomon 0]

Solomon noticed that the giant Ice thing moved back around to steady itself by a tree. This would be fine, as Solomon would approach it from behind. However, Solomon was mindful of his ally's position. Therefore, he moved to the opposite side, actually standing directly behind the legs of the Icy boss. He chose a leg, which just happened to be the one opposite of Shield, and struck it with his fist. It shook under the impressive force, but only a minuscule fraction of the health dropped. This was to be expected from him, a level 1 player trying to compete with a floor 4 field boss. He had no doubt he would die from one hit by the boss. He lifted his arms up and quickly took another step back, noticing a slight change in the boss's form. His health bar had the letters BLD and a slight section of health would soon drop.

Spoiler

ID# 78224

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg

Solomon: 20/20 HP, 1 DMG, 1 Hate

BD:7 (hit)

Avalanche: HP: 96/100, DMG: 40

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Solomon

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 78228 results:

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg
Battle: 4 - Miss, Bleed rounds remaining: 1

Avalanche: HP: 72/100, DMG: 40
MOB: 10 - Hit! Dmg: (4 dmg + 2) * 10 = 60 dmg - 96 mit - 54 regen = 0 dmg

The health dropped to below three quarters in a matter of seconds, and for the moment, it showed no signs of stopping. Shield was satisfied that he had made a dent, but he'd need to do more than that to keep the pressure on. He wound up his axe hand, but the boss moved his legs, sidestepping the adventurers so that the incoming attack merely glanced off.

The trunk-sized legs planted themselves, and one massive arm reeled back to strike. While it only stood to reason that a player would wish to avoid damage, Shield's armor had a few tricks, and he opened his arms to accept the incoming blow. His knees gave a little, but his health did not budge any further than the first strike had done, and the difference healed just as quickly.

Lucky beast avoided my thorns. It's either intelligent or extremely lucky. I'm assuming the latter option.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Shield

[Solomon 0]

Solomon was moving a step backward from the giant ice thing when that giant icy thing raised it's leg very quickly and planted it right next to the man. It then proceeded to swing it's large and mighty arm into Shield, which did no damage once battle healing was applied. Solomon realized that this attack was targeted at shield, but he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. He would have to trust that shield could take the damage, assuming there was any damage to be taken. Solomon moved to the left side, hoping to get a successful attack on the leg of the boss nearest to him. However, once again Solomon's fist attack did hardly anything, as it glanced off of the icy slick body. He jumped back again after making his attack, his blue hair flipped over his shoulder. He placed one hand on top of the other, hoping that the battle would end with Shield's next attack/block.

post will be further edited

Spoiler

ID# 78231

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg

Solomon: 20/20 HP, 1 DMG, 1 Hate

BD:3 (miss)

Avalanche: HP: 72/100, DMG: 40

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Solomon

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

 ID# 78232 results:

Shield
HP: 580/580, DMG: 3 (24 Bleed), Mit: 96, Regen: 54, Thorns: 28 dmg
Battle: 5 - Miss, Bleed rounds remaining: 0

Avalanche: HP: 20/100, DMG: 40
MOB: 8 - Hit! Dmg: 40 dmg - 96 mit - 54 regen = 0 dmg, Thorns - 28 dmg

As Shield watched the battle, it became much clearer that Solomon really was a lower level player. Not that there was any shame to be had, but he could see clearly now why he had sought to follow someone who was more established. The Avalanche, on the other hand, was in a bit more trouble than the fresh player was. Its health dipped down low enough that its health bar changed colors to yellow, indicating it was below half.

Almost as if cued by the shift in color, the elemental let out a gravely roar, balling its hand into a fist and striking Shield directly in the center of his chest. Even as it did so though, it pulled back its hand, howling in anger as the impact against the razor-lined armor the tank wore had actually put another dent in its health. The damage was enough that the yellow bar dropped down into the red, indicating less than thirty percent remaining.

"Almost there!" he called out to Solomon. "Whether I get in another hit with my bleed damage or he hits my thorns, he's dead on the next major hit!"

Edited February 26, 2017 by Shield