[F3-PPQuest]Worn Out Welcome(Shield - COMPLETE)

[Yuurei 0]

Yuurei found herself in Delilah after learning of a smith who does his work for free. Seeing this as a grand opportunity, she came as quickly as possibly to Floor 3, not expecting such a warm climate. Her clothes were ready for the heat but she wants prepared for the light drizzle that was falling on her, messing her hair up. The smith had promised her a nice piece of heavy armor if she collected the materials. Unfortunately she couldn't handle an enemy of that caliber with her current gear and experience. So she left a post on the message boards looking for a partner that can help her take it down.

She stood outside the blacksmith’s shop under the awning to stay dry from the sprinkling rain, exactly where she said for someone to meet her. A description of her appearance was left in that post so they would know what she looked like. It was hard to miss a girl with silver-coloured hair wearing a green dress.

 

Spoiler

This quest takes place on Floor 3
This quest is repeatable for item only
This RP will not count in the benchmark

The master NPC Armorsmiths Griswold, and his wife Hanna, have opened his services to new players of SAO a custom armor shop. He takes orders for no price, but instead asks for materials. That's right. YOU, the player, have to tell Griswold what kind of armor you want. He'll give you the material names and how to get them, and it's up to you to retrieve them.

Entering the shop on Floor 3, you encounter a surly smith and his loving wife. After describing the type of armor you desire (Cloth, Leather, Light Metal, or Heavy Metal) Griswold works with you to determine the right type of material, before sending you on your way to collect the needed materials. Upon returning with the correct materials in the proper quantities, Griswold and Hanna will create your very own set of Uncommon Armor. These materials can be found from fighting a dark elf in the Forest of Wavering Mists.

Requirements:

-At least two [2] Pages (21 or more posts)
-Defeat Dark Elf

Dark Elf Information:
<<Dark Elf>> is a mob and has the following statistics:
HP: 12
Damage per Attack: 9

Rewards:

1. Leather Coat/Dragon Bone Cuirass (Light/Heavy): An uncommon armor with any standard armor enhancement chosen by the earner of the weapon which fits the armor type chosen. Only one person may earn this armor per thread.
2. 1 Skill Point

Recommended Level: 3

 

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Yuurei
Added quest details in a spoiler tag for simplicity's sake

[Shield 0]

Shield had been hopping floors a lot lately. He had a feeling it had something to do with how exhausted he was by the lava plans of the ninth floor and the endless deserts of the fifth which, for some reason, had an overabundance of quests to accomplish. No sooner had he stepped out of the teleportation plaza did he notice a fresh bulletin. He popped it open, his dark eyes scanning the message through the filter of unkempt hair that hung in front of them.

"Someone needs a carry?" he said aloud, spooling through the details of the quest. "And I don't think I've done this one before. Interesting..."

He copied down the player name and shot back a message to her user name.

"I'm on my way. Look for the guy with the turtle on his back."

He knew the side streets pretty well by now, and he even thought he remembered seeing the smithy that was the rendezvous point. The green dress stood out, just as she had mentioned, and likewise, the craning head of the alligator snapping turtle peeking over his shoulder made him rather obvious as well. Though his body masked the majority of Norbert's bulk, the turtle was easily a hundred pounds, held in place by thick leather straps that turned the slowpoke into a backpack. He stepped in front of the player and raised his hand in greeting.

"Yuurei, I take it?" he said with a lift of his eyebrows. "I'm Shield. I think I'll be able to help you out."

@Yuurei

[Yuurei 0]

Yuurei’s silent pondering was interrupted by a male’s voice calling to her. She had been waiting for a reply for perhaps an hour now and was pleased to finally have a response. The mans name matched his username and he certainly looked like the description entailed. The turtle on his back gave it away rather quickly.

“Yuurei, yes. It's nice to meet you Shield. I'm a bit new and this will be my first combat experience so it's good to have someone who can help me out. I plan to join the frontlines once I become stronger.” She held her small hand out to shake his. Yuurei was a bit on the shorter side, so she had to actually angle her head up to get a good look at his face. “We'll be taking on a Dark Elf for the materials to get my requested armor. If I could collect them otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you to come for such a menial task.”

[Shield 0]

Shield reached out and shook her hand with one that practically swallowed her own before releasing and letting his thumb hook into the strap of his makeshift backpack. He listened, nodding in response to her sentiments.

"Easily doable, as long as you're careful," Shield said. "I just recently joined the front lines myself, so I encourage your motivation. As long as it's tempered with caution, you can find great success here."

With that, he swiped through the air to summon his menu, pulling up an HUD display to direct them to their quest objective. It wasn't terribly far, or it wouldn't be a low level quest, but it was still far enough away that the dot hugged the edge of the map, meaning it was likely beyond the edge.

"Well, let's get a move on then," he said, gesturing in the direction that the map indicated. "This shouldn't take long. If it goes well, we might be able to take you up to a higher floor and grab you a dungeon map. You'll want to find a dedicated DPS to take you through that. I'm great for taking hits, but on actual dungeon-strength monsters, my damage won't cut it."

[Yuurei 0]

She pulled up her own HUD feeling proud that she was able to do it in one try now, and looked for the function to invite players to her party. When she does find it, she sends him the request so that they monitor each other’s stats - She got all of that from that manual and felt really happy she could get it all done correctly.

Yuurei scratched her head confusedly. He was using a lot of ‘gamer terms’ she was unaware of. “This...is going to sound bad, but I don't know what a ‘DPS’ is. You see I've...never touched a single video game before Sword Art Online.” She explained as the walked out of Delilah. The rain finally quit which was a good sign. “I'm sort of what you guys call...what is it?” She knows the word but can't think of it at this point in time.

[Shield 0]

Shield frowned, reaching up to his face and absentmindedly rubbing the light colored scar that occupied a good portion of his left features. This complicated her prospects, but it was not insurmountable.

"Well, DPS is 'damage per second,'" he explained, holding out his hand as if he were holding the concept of DPS in his palm. "It both refers to someone's average rate of damage and to someone who focuses on damage as the primary focus of their build. I'm what you would call a tank," he went on, now placing his hand on his chest. "I absorb hits and draw the fire of enemies, or their 'aggro,' so the damagers can do their job safely. The two other builds you'll see here are 'support,' who mainly focus on healing, and 'scout,' who's there to make sure you get the best loot and find your quest objectives that involve searching."

As he spoke, the crossed the boundary into the area beyond the safe zone. It was a little ways ahead to find the forest, but they had plenty to talk about along the way.

Spoiler

ID# 80403 results: Loot: 1 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 6 - No Material (0 total)

Swapping gear:
- Finder's Keeper (- 1 skill rank: search & detect), -Seeking Aura (- 3 LD), + Pain Drinker (+ 54 Regen), + 1 Bloody Hell (+ 2 dmg, + 24 bleed)

"Although it's good to have a little of everything, the best strategy is to focus most of your efforts on one of those things and party up with those who have focused on others," Shield explained patiently as he swapped out his searching gear for his combat gear. He had more than a little experience by this point shepherding lower leveled players. If not for the player who had carried him, he would not be nearly as far along as he was.

"A few other useful terms for you," he said with a benign half-smile. "A high level player who helps a lower level player get through a tougher mission is called a 'carry.' Also, I think the word you were searching for is 'noob,' though I remember very clearly being a noob on SAO not too long ago, so I won't hold that against you."

Edited March 26, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

The silver-haired newbie paid close attention to everything Shield was saying as he explained it. Analyzing all the terms and ‘builds’ as he explained them. This made her think of exactly what she would want to do. Would she want to take damage for everyone, or deal the damage for them?

“That’s a lot of information to take in at once but I think I've got it. DPS, Tank, Support, Scout. I haven't given much thought about how I want to build myself, but I will perhaps focus on dealing damage and doubling as a decent tank.” She explained to her new ally. She looked down at her saber and frowned at how poorly she would serve that role.

“Well, I'm going to be uh…” She had to think of the word again. “Grinding? Grinding experience and pushing through levels from now on. Hopefully I'll see you on the higher floors soon."

[Shield 0]

Their path brought them into the forest, and the deeper into the woods they wandered the more dense the trees became. Soon, they happened upon a clearing, though despite the lack of tree trunks, the canopy overhead had meshed together to darken the clearing as much as any other section of the forest. In the center, there stood a man in heavy armor, leaning on a two handed sword. His helmet swept back from the center of the man's forehead, like a widow's peak that traced sweeping lines back through the white hairline and behind his pointed ears. His skin was dark, almost a purple color.

"The dark elf, I presume," Shield said with a nod, stepping forward. "Hang back until I draw his focus."

Stepping forward, Shield inhaled deeply, filling his lungs and compressing the air with the muscles of his ribcage. With a howl, he let the air fly, its force knocking the elf back so that it had to stumble to keep its feet.

"Watch yourself, elf boy!" he bellowed, brandishing Bloody Hell, his bleed axe, in conjunction with his howl. "You're about to go toe to toe with someone way above recommended quest level!"

Regaining himself, and undeterred by the warning, the elf gripped its sword and charged, swinging and missing Shield entirely. With a sigh, Sheild turned to his companion.

"You're good," he said with a note of exasperation in his voice. "He won't even look at you now."

Spoiler

ID# 80405 results:

Action: Focused Howl

MOB: 3 - Miss

[H:6] Shield HP: 760/760 - 76 Energy - 3 Dmg - 24 Bleed (BD 8+) - 111 Mitigation - 54 Regen - 28 Thorns - 20 Battle Healing
[H:0] Yuurei

<<Dark Elf>> HP: 12/12, Dmg: 9

Edited March 26, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# - 80415

Using sword art Rage Blow 2x1 for 2 energy.

BD - 9(Crit)

Damge: 6

[H:2]Yuurei - HP 20/20 Energy 0/2

[H:6] Shield HP: 760/760 - 76 Energy - 3 Dmg - 24 Bleed (BD 8+) - 111 Mitigation - 54 Regen - 28 Thorns - 20 Battle Healing

 

<<Dark Elf>> HP: 6/12, Dmg: 9

 

The saber-user watched her ally draw the enemies attention to great effect. It was amazing what a good insult could do to induct a person’s rage, though, this is just a game and everything is run by stats. The insult was simply an ability used draw the attention of the enemy, as Shield had just explained to her moments before. The system was well made and Yuurei respected the time put into making video games like this.

 

The silver-topped girl got so lost in her thoughts, thinking about the system, she almost forgot that she could get in on the fighting, and she was going to do just that. She drew her saber from it’s holster and took it in her dominant hand - which unlike most was her left hand. Her heart raced. This was her first combat and she had only drawn her sword to practice some form and discipline of the blade. The blade lit dark-emerald as she focused her energy. With the Dark Elf’s back to her, she easily sliced him through a divot in his armor with a well-aimed horizontal slash. She turned back to the elf and watched his health drop to half, her HUD showed the damage as she caused it, along with a ‘critical’ stamp. She grinned, pretty damn proud of herself.

“Yes! That was awesome!” She yelled out to herself in glee.

Edited March 26, 2017 by Yuurei
Roll

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 80503 results:

Battle: 8 - Hit! 3 dmg, Bleed - 24 dmg

[H:2]Yuurei - HP 20/20 Energy 0/2
[H:6] Shield HP: 760/760 - 76 Energy - 3 Dmg - 24 Bleed (BD 8+) - 111 Mitigation - 54 Regen - 28 Thorns - 20 Battle Healing

<<Dark Elf>> HP: -21/12, Dmg: 9 [DEAD]

"Nicely done!" Shield called out, sidestepping the counterattack that the foe had launched in retribution for the strike Yuurei had landed.

The broadsword hit the dirt harmlessly, and with a precise strike, Shield sliced cleanly through half of the elf's neck. It was an unusual sight for someone who was new to the battle system. For one, although the cut sailed cleanly through the enemy's neck, its yellow health bar was only halved, barely enough for it to drop to the red. It was paltry compared to the strike that the fresh player had landed. Still, a cascade of red pixels issued from the wound, and its health bar suddenly began to drop once more.

Another moment and the red health bar disappeared entirely, and the elf burst into colorful polygons that vanished before they could touch the ground. Straightening up, Shield turned to look at his quest partner.

"I didn't intend to deal the killing blow like that, but it's just as well," he sighed. "If he had hit me, my armor's thorns would have finished him off for sure. Still, we can go ahead and call that one fifty-fifty."

The front liner held out his fist for the younger player to pound, a gesture which he used as a congratulation and an acknowledgement of a job well done.

"You did well."

Edited March 27, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID: 80507

Rolled LD 7, failure.

 

The elf fell to the ground as its HP bar hit 0 and poofed in miscellaneous data. The prompt that showed their rewards popped open. This was more exciting that Yuurei had originally thought. Shield held up his fist to give her a fist bump, she graciously accepted his gesture in kind.

“I didn’t know video games could be so fun. Even if my first one is a life or death trial.” She says closing the window that showed her spoils. She sheathed her saber and took a deep breath. “I guess we should head back to the blacksmith to get my cuirass made with these materials. I’m not sure if you have to come with me for that, but you’re welcome to tag along otherwise.” She says happily. And starts heading back towards Delilah, where she could finally get rid of this ragged vanity armor. She looked back to see if Shield would accompany her.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Swapping gear:
- Pain Drinker (-54 Regen), -1 Bloody Hell (-2 dmg, -24 bleed), + Finder's Keeper (+1 skill rank: search & detect), +Seeking Aura (+3 LD)

ID# 80508 results: Loot: 14 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 19 - +1 Material (1 total)

Shield held out his hand to slow Yuurei down. As he did do, his other hand was already at work sorting through his menus and swapping out gear. His weapon was replaced by a beaded wristband and his shield was replaced by a silver earring with gold inlay.

"No rush," Shield said, gesturing to the forest around them. "This quest doesn't have a huge reward, so let's see if we can find some materials. Honestly, some shops don't even charge in Col anymore, so having materials to barter with can be a huge boon, not to mention if you start into a profession. You'll need something to craft with."

He glanced around the clearing, taking a few paces towards the trees. As he did so, the faint glow in his peripheral told him that his earring was detecting something. Looking down at his feet, he spotted a patch of moss on a stone which, as he bent down to inspect it, had an item tag.

"Ah! Perfect example," he exclaimed, tapping the moss to summon an option menu and storing the stuff in his inventory. "Probably for use in alchemy. Still, you never know what you'll find out here. Eight more of those, and I've got most of my appraisals covered for the day."

Edited March 27, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID: 80510

Rolled a 19 on LD. 

 

 

Yuurei stopped and look back as Shield began to explain more to her about the game. She walked over to him and watched him take the moss into his inventory. She didn’t know players could take up professions within the game. It made sense, but she hadn’t got that far in the trusty little manual she had.

“I see,” she says looking around them to see if she can spot any kind of materials around her that she could acquire herself. “It shouldn’t be that hard, and I guess it doesn’t hurt to look around for them. Let me give it a try.”

She walked around for a moment, looking close to trees for any other apothecary materials like her teammate had found. It didn’t take long before she stumbled upon an odd looking mushroom next to a shady tree. She bent down low and tapped it lightly with her finger and adding it to her inventory. “Here we go, I found some.”

Edited March 27, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 80511 results: Loot: 16 + 5 = 21 - +1 Material! (2 total)

Shield glanced over, nodding in approval as she found her first material. He remembered the first time he had searched for them. It was on the beginner quest chain that had gotten he and Beat started after their first dungeon.

"Hmmm..." he said under his breath. "I can't carry her through a dungeon without any damage, but maybe we could find her one for someone else to help out on."

In the mean time though, he was content to continue gathering materials. Strangely, his earring still seemed to be glowing. Turning over the stone where he had found the moss, there was a red streak running down the underside.

Iron ore?

Tapping the vein, it indeed had an item tag of its own, and the stone was soon nestled away out of sight in his inventory.

"Be thinking about what you want to do for a living," Shield said aloud. "You don't need one, but if you're not taking one, you're holding yourself back."

Edited March 27, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID: 80513

Rolled a 9 on LD. No Mats.

 

The emerald-clad girl searched for more near the area, but couldn’t seem to find anything around the area. She continued her search as she listened and spoke to Shield.

“Ah, yeah. It would help if I knew exactly what kinds of professions were available, though. For now, I’ll just collect whatever I can get my hands on, and if I don’t find a use for my items, I can always sell them or give them to others who may want or need them.” She explained. If they got her some money, Col is what they called their currency here in Aincrad, then she would get whatever she could out of it. It never hurts to be loaded with money and, not only that, Yuurei loved the thought of sitting on a large pile of money. She had so little of it in the real world, so seeing it so easy to get here made seem a bit greedy.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

 ID# 80515 results: Loot: 1 + 5 = 6 - No materials (2 total)

"Well, there's the funny thing," Shield said, straightening up and brushing himself off. "Materials are arbitrary. I say that the moss is used in alchemy, but in all honesty, that's not quite how it works. One material is interchangeable for any other. So yes, I could technically give that iron ore to my buddy Beat, and he could cook it into an ice cream dish."

He shrugged in acknowledgement of how nonsensical this was. For his own profession it made little difference as the materials were merely consumed as a part of is attempt to identify items. Still, for other professions, it made no sense.

"There are two important things to keep in mind when picking a profession," he said, holding up two fingers to illustrate. "The first is how much good it does you. If all you plan to do is practice to benefit yourself for everyday use, go with cooking, fishing, performance, or alchemy." As he listed each option, he counted them out on extra fingers. "Probably cooking or alchemy.

"If you want to be useful to others as well as yourself, having more tailors and blacksmiths isn't a bad thought, though there are a number of active smithies. However, what we're short these days are artisans. If you want to make a profit, remember supply and demand, and pick something that isn't overly abundant but is still useful."

Edited March 27, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 80517

Rolled 11 on LD, no Mats.

 

She listened again, still having trouble finding anything else than this mushroom. The thought that she could use a mushroom to make weapons seemed extremely odd. Why not just put specific tags for types of ingredients?

“That’s...really weird.” She says simply. He continues to explain the professions, fairly simple in their own rights. Everything made sense for a world like this. Alchemy seemed like a reasonable profession for herself, but Artisan seemed interesting as well. She would need more time to think about it before she made the choice.

“I’m debating on Alchemist or Artisan then.” She says looking down at the ground for more materials, still nothing. “They seem like some interesting jobs that I could enjoy doing, but I’ll still need some time to decide before I set it in stone.”

Being unable to find anything else, she stretches out her neck and back and speaks up again. “Should we start heading back now? I’m having no luck in finding anything.”

Edited March 27, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 80518 results: Loot: 12 + 5 = 17 - +1 Material! (3 total)

Shield nodded, managing to spot and stash another little patch of moss before striking back along the trail to Delilah. He felt like he was back with his daughters, teaching them how to walk. Maybe he was just being sentimental, but he didn't mind so much helping out lower players. Of course, much of that he also owed to the players who once carried him. Despite the inner workings of his mind, his face remained impassive, not letting on to the sentiments that the conversations had stirred up in him.

"Either would be good," he said in regard to her choices of profession. "Both are in short supply."

As they walked, they emerged from the forest, and there was the little town on the horizon. It was hardly a long walk, but it gave them time to further unwind from the battle. He was glad she had not been scared or discouraged at any point. Still...

"Hey," he said, looking over at Yuurei. "Just be careful not to get too interested in combat. Fun is fun, but there are players I've seen here who delight in violence, and I feel like that's just a step away from attacking players for fun."

Edited March 27, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID: 80522

Rolled a 14 on LD, no Mat.

Yuurei’s heart practically skipped four consecutive beats all at once. People killed each other? The thought of just being assaulted or assassinated by someone else terrified her to her core. Sure, she may have been debating suicide, but to be killed without a way to reasonably defend herself at this level? That was worse than her depression.

“I can't believe other players would resort to actually killing each other when, in this situation, we should be working together! That’s horrible!” Yuurei expressed her disgust loudly. “We can't expect to beat this trial divided. This game is my second chance...If it's meant to be I will live but I'll be damned if I lay down and die. No one has a reason to take others’ lives, it's not our right or choice. You can be sure my blade will never take someone for vengeance. We'll survive this game and go home.”

Edited March 27, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Shield's expression darkened, though his face hardly seemed to change. There was something in the intensity of his eyes that belied the chord than Yuurei had struck in him. They stepped back into the safe zone of Delilah, but before they could get to the smith, Shield tugged on her sleeve.

"Hey. Follow me," he said. "There are a few stops we should make first."

He led the way to the teleportation plaza and stepped inside, indicating that she should do the same before calling out to the gate.

"Town of Beginnings!"

Once they had arrived in the town, he led the way to a large obelisk, scribed up and down with names.

"You may have heard of this," he said, a very ominous tone in his voice. "This is the monument of life. The players who die... end up with their names here. Including their cause of death. See for yourself." He gestured for her to take a closer look. "Most of the deaths are to monsters on the first floor. Headstrong players who bit off more than they can chew. Still... there are more than a few whose lives were ended by players."

After a long moment, he gestured once again for Yuurei to follow him, taking her back to the teleportation plaza.

"Floor five!"

A vast desert extended in all directions around the little settlement where they landed. Shield led her to the edge of town, motioning for her to follow him into the dunes.

"Don't worry. I can tank anything on this floor, no sweat."

Barely even looking to see if she was following, he stalked off into the scorching sands of the fifth floor desert.

Spoiler

ID# 80525 results: Loot: 13 + 5 = 18 - Beginner Dungeon

He kept a close eye on his HUD for any abnormalities. After a few minutes of walking, he spotted something that drew his attention. Climbing over the next dune, his eyes were greeted by a great stone door that emerged from the side of the next set of dunes.

"Make note of this spot on your map," he said. "You don't want me to carry you through this dungeon. It would take forever. But, inside is more loot than you're going to get from any little third floor quest. When you find someone who's tough and trustworthy enough to kill the things in there, have them take you here."

He glanced at Yuurei out of the side of his vision.

"Also," he said, turning his eyes forward again. "You can keep the Col and the materials we found today."

Opening his menus, he transferred the little Col he had gained from the fight, as well as the three tier one materials he had found.

"All I ask in return is that when you're strong, you do the same for someone else," he said solemnly. "As you said, we're all on the same side, or should be at any rate. Now come on. Let's get back to Delilah before your smith gets impatient."

Edited March 27, 2017 by Shield