[F1-PP]Secret Medicine of the Forest(Shield)[Complete]

[Yuurei 0]

Yuurei’s day was going by smoothly. Why she spent so much time in the Town of Beginnings she wasn’t really sure. Perhaps she still felt too weak for the floors above her. She looked up to the sky, being reminded that the roof of each level was just the floor of next floor - every area but the peak. She had never appreciated life until she was truly in danger of losing it.

She had heard about a quest to that village was in need of medicinal supplies, but in order to get the medicine you have to kill a boss-tier enemy for it. Yuurei was still a bit iffy on combat, so she would have to call up Shield again and ask if he wants to tag along. She pulled up her menu and opened her PM with him.

“Questing on Floor 1 again. Tag along? Doing some fighting again.” She sent to him and hoped he wasn’t getting annoyed with her constant need of help.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Another message from Yuurei. Shield read what she had sent and shrugged to himself. It was as good of a way to spend his afternoon as he could think of. He was certainly starting to make a name for himself as a carry for low level players. It reminded him of how he had first met and befriended Atzo. It was impressive to see how far he had come since their first quest together. Shield wondered whether Yuurei would be the same. He sent her a quick response.

"Be there soon."

With Norbert on his back, he set off for the first floor, teleporting down to meet her. He raised his hand in greeting.

"You've been ambitious with your questing," Shield said with a little half-smile. "That's good. We need more players working towards the front lines. Would you care to lead the way? You can fill me in on the quest while we walk."

Edited April 3, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 81189

Rolled 10 on LD, no mats.

 

Yuurei nodded to her companion and started to walk towards the safe zone exit. They stepped out into the field and headed towards the small village in question.

“I’m glad to see I’m not annoying you with all these quests. I’m still a bit worried about being too weak; in a regular game, that wouldn’t be much of a problem.” She said as she walked along a dirt trail keeping an eye out for any kind of random materials lying around. “As for the quest, a small village is in need of a medicine that can only be dropped by a boss-tier enemy. I guess that is a perfect job for Team Ghost Shield, right?” Yuurei flashed a genuine smile to both Shield and Norbert the Turtle.

“I’m still adjusting to my new armor, I hope it helps us in the coming fight.” She said adjusting the breastplate slightly, as if it was a little too tight.

Edited April 3, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 81219 results:

 Action: Howl

 MOB: 3 - Miss

[H:3] Shield, HP: 820/820: EN: 82, DMG: 3, BLD: 24 (8+), MIT: 116, RGN: 30+54 when hit, THN: 28 dmg
[H:0] Yuurei

Nepent 1: HP: 7/7, DMG: 3
Nepent 2: HP: 7/7, DMG: 3
Nepent 3: HP: 7/7, DMG: 3
Nepent 4: HP: 7/7, DMG: 3

"Think nothing of it," Shield said, waving her concerns aside with his hand. "I needed help when I was your level as well, and even so, quests are always a good source of experience, so it's not like I'm not getting anything out of it."

Their wanderings brought them through a narrow forest path, and in the middle of the path, they found four odd plants. They seemed to be massive pitcher plants, nearly the height of a human, and with thickly braided tendrils of fine roots making up almost leg like structures. Before he had a chance to question the odd sight, they sprang to life, closing in on them quickly. Shield stepped in front, filling his lungs with air and sending out a burst of sound and rushing wind.

"Watch it, freaks!" he bellowed, the force of his wind bowling them over. "You're dealing with someone much stronger than you're designed to handle!"

Edited April 4, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 81640

Rolled a 7 on the BD, Hit!

[H-3]Shield 820/820HP

[H-1]Yuurei 60/60HP

Using Sword Art Rage Blow(2x1) = 4dmg -> Nepent 1

Nepent 1: 3/7 Nepent 2: 7/7 Nepent 3: 7/7 Nepent 4: 7/7

Yuurei nodded and continued on without much to say. There was going to be a little more combat than last time so she needed to be alert and ready for anything this game might throw at her. Soon, they came across their targets. Just like last time, Shield and Norbert jumped in first, catching the attention of the mobs before Yuu started her attack. When ready the silver-haired assailant grabbed her saber and focused her energy into the blade just as she had the last time. The blade glowed gloriously with Emerald light as she charged her enemy, slashing through it's weeded body. The green blade ate at the plants vines viciously without remorse whatever pain in could feel. She watched as her opponent’s HP dropped from her attack then turned around, reading herself from the next attack.

“Get ready Shield! Here they come!” She called out as the monsters approached her party member.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 81711 results:

 Battle: 1 - Miss

 MOB: 4 - Miss

[H-3] Shield 820/820HP
[H-1] @Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent 1: 3/7
Nepent 2: 7/7
Nepent 3: 7/7
Nepent 4: 7/7

As the plant creatures came back to exact their vengeance, Shield attempted to cut them off with a quick swipe of his axe. Although he failed to connect, it was enough to interrupt their momentum and force them back. He sighed, turning to Yuurei.

"This may take longer than expected," he drawled. "All it's going to take to kill them is one prick of my thorns, so I'd hold off on sword arts until the variant shows up. Save your energy."

He held off admitting it, but this was not the low level opponent that had locked him in a perpetual stalemate of mutual missing. A part of him wondered if it would be worth it to waste an alcoholic item just to make himself easier to hit, but for such a low level quest it seemed like a classic example of casting booze before swine. Or something like that.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

She was just about to make another attack when Shield called out to her to hold her ground. She slid to a stop and the green blade went back to it's normal saber-like appearance. She couldn't understand why she should stop until Shield explained it to her. It made sense to save her energy for the real threat when these mobs were just going to kill themselves. So, with her blade still in hand, the silver-haired girl waited for her ally to kill off the group of mobs. She would be ready for any that for some reason may branch off to take a bite out of her.

It was tough to watch your friends get hurt when you know you could help, even just a little, but the video game physics were different than the real world’s. She knew Shield could take punishment that no normal human could and that allowed her a little bit of comfort, knowing her friend wouldn't be badly hurt.

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 81718 results:

 Battle: 4 - Miss

 MOB: 3 - Miss

[H-3] Shield 820/820HP
[H-1] @Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent 1: 3/7
Nepent 2: 7/7
Nepent 3: 7/7
Nepent 4: 7/7

With Yuurei standing back out of the way, Shield felt a little more at ease to fight. He stepped forward, swinging his axe at the nearest botanical monstrosity. It jumped back out of the way just as a sea of whip like tendrils assailed him. Each plinked harmlessly off of his armor, not sustaining any damage themselves.

It's the Avalanche boss all over again...

He frowned, straightening up and holding his arms open, inviting a more potent and hopefully substantial attack from his adversaries.

"Come on, you stupid little root demons," he growled. "Land a hit that counts!"

The more that he analyzed these creatures, he wondered if they could even make an attack that would be substantial against him. Even if they did, the damage they would take in return would likely dwarf both their hit points and the damage they could deal, likely put together.

This is going to be a long quest...

Edited April 9, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID#81807

Battle - 7 hit for 2dmg

[H-3] Shield 820/820HP
[H-2] Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent 1: 1/7
Nepent 2: 7/7
Nepent 3: 7/7
Nepent 4: 7/7

Shield seemed to be getting aggravated with the stupid, seemingly cross-eyed beings for their in ability to actually land a solid hit on him. It was practically the only way he could cause damage. This showed Yuurei just how dedicated one had to be to their field of battle to survive this game. Shield’s technique worked for him and Yuu was sure that with a whole group of players at his level, they could annihilate almost anything that dared face them.

With some confidence, Yuurei stepped back into the fight, but she would save her energy. She stepped into the fight for a moment and took a diagonal slash to one of the beasts - the one she had just hit with Rage Blow - and quickly backed off again. She refrained from using her sword art to save her energy for the boss, but she couldn't just stand there and watch the mobs’ sad display of inability.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 81809 results:

 Battle: 6 - Hit number 2! - 3 dmg

 MOB: 6 -  Hit! - 3 dmg - 116 mit = 1 x 4 = 4 dmg, Thorns - 28 dmg

[H-4] Shield 816/820HP
[H-2] @Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent 1: -27/7 [Dead]
Nepent 2: -22/7 [Dead]
Nepent 3: -21/7 [Dead]
Nepent 4: -21/7 [Dead]

"There you go," Shield said, relieved that the other player was taking his advice. "Low levels are rough because of both low damage and low energy stores. Have to plan things carefully."

He took a swipe with his axe, managing to take a chunk out of the nearest plant's health gauge. For some reason, the Nepents reacted especially strongly to his attack, lashing out with their roots once again, but this time, striking the tank for actual damage, insignificant though it may have been. Immediately, the whole lot of them dropped to zero hit points and burst into pixelated chunks that vanished into the ether.

"There. Phase one complete," he sighed. "Now we get to wait for the variant. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we won't need to attempt that fight too many times. If luck isn't on our side, then we might have to take a few more swings at this whole process."

Edited April 10, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82036

Rolled 1 on BD, miss -2 energy.

[H-0] Shield 816/820HP
[H-0] Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent Varient: 15/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

With their previous enemies destroyed by Shield’s thorny destruction, the two could continue in search of thier quest for the medicine. They would have to clear the field boss like that of the Nepents from before. It was supposed to be much stronger than it's loser league cousins so Yuurei would have to be on guard to ensure her safety. 

Not much longer after the destruction of the previous Nepents, the Variant appeared before the two man party, ready to fight. Yuurei gripped her sword tightly and looked to Shield to see if she was clear to strike. He nodded to her giving the okay. She charged into battle with fire in her soul, only to find herself tripping just as her sword grew with it's emerald light. As she smacked the dirt roughly, her saber found it’s way a few meters away from her prone position. She quickly scattered to her feet and retrieved her sword as quickly as possible realizing she had missed her attack horribly.

“Kusso…” She muttered under her breath.

Edited April 12, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

+30 HP - BH

ID# 82095 results:

 Action: 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)

 MOB: 2 - Misses Yuurei

[H-0] Shield 820/820HP
[H-0] @Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent Varient: 15/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

Shield saw the flaw with their arrangement just a little too late. He cursed under his breath, summoning his menu and sending his fingers dancing across the displays.

"I forgot something!" he called out. "You're going to have to soak a hit this round! Hang on tight! I'll be right there!"

With a flash of light, his shield and his axe vanished, replaced by his earring and the wristband that he used to look for loot. It was a risky move, but Yuurei was going to have to learn to take a hit someday. Fortunately, that day was not today. The creature lashed out its tendrils at her but fell utterly short, hopping angrily on the spot at its failure.

"Alright," he called out, rushing up adjacent with Yuurei. "Luck should be well on our side now. It may mean punching the thing to death, but it'll die one way or another!"

Edited April 12, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82171

Rolled an 8 on BD hit for 4 damage with Rage blow.

[H-0] Shield 820/820HP
[H-0] Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent Varient: 14/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

Yuurei hopped back as the viney tendrils slapped the ground by her feet. Shield replaced his gear with different items so they wouldn't have to fight the boss so many times, but she didn't care. The more they fought, the more experience she would gain. Although, this would be a good chance to show she was capable of dealing some decent damage...hopefully.

Her saber glowed with an emerald radiance, as beautiful as the gem it mocked. With a auick thrust forward, she sliced through the beast and stepped back to watch it's health bar drop. It dropped, but hardly.

“Wh-What? I hit it with everything I had!” She said as she returned to Shield’s side just a pace behind him. “I guess bosses, even the weak ones, shouldn't be underestimated. Well, you're up Shield. It seems like I can't help much, as usual.” The silver-haired girl stepped back to let her ally work his magic.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82195 results:

 Battle: 3

 MOB: 2

[H-0] Shield 820/820HP
[H-1] @Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent Varient: 14/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

With his current gear being what it was, Shield was left with no choice but to use his bare fists. It was a little low of effectiveness, but he suspected that all it would take is a prick of his thorns and the boss would be dead. He realized after swinging and falling short that he had left out a key step in the heat of battle. Yuurei had struck first, and not only that, but she had attacked first. If the boss were to swing at him, he would need to howl and take the hate.

Fortunately, as his attack fell wide, so did that of the variant, its rope-like tendrils flailing through the air to no avail.

Well, that was almost a quick lesson in the importance of having mitigation items. I'm glad it didn't come to anything beyond that.

He stepped back, allowing Yuurei the free reign to make the next attack. This time, he wouldn't be caught off guard.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82349

Rolled a 9 on BD, Critical hit!

[H-0] @Shield 820/820HP
[H-3]  Yuurei 60/60HP

Nepent Varient: 13/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

3

Yuurei saw her cue to jump in. It was time to rectify that poorly made attack from earlier. She would not make the same mistake twice, this thing was going to taste pain, even if had to suffer with tiny little pricks. She knew she could stand there and wait for Shield to just make it bleed, but that would hardly be the spirt of things in this world and Yuurei was no coward. She dug her foot into the ground ready for the charge and bursted forward with all her might. He sword bit into the fauna being's skin(?) and made it squeel in pain. Even with such a deep blow, the health bar dropped at the same rate, albiet a critical hit. Yuurei was starting to get pissed.

"Even though I am lucky enough to land a critical hit and still this beast ignores my damage as if I attack it with a feather!" She said as she backed up to meet Shield again. She held her sword ready to fight and looked over at Shield. "I'm afraid I can't do more than minimal damage to this thing. It's really rather frustrating. Hopefully you hit it with your magic tank powers and it goes poof soon. Infuriating that should call myself a DPS build." She spits disgusted that she can't do anything to help even if Shield is leagues above her.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82358 results:

 Battle: 4 - Miss

 MOB: 10 - Hit! - 10 dmg + 2 = 12 dmg

[H-0] Shield 820/820HP
[H-3] @Yuurei 48/60HP

Nepent Varient: 13/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

This whole process was a bit tedious to Shield, but he had not real choice, other than to sacrifice one fight for the sake of the entire quest. He had heard of players fighting this repeating chain of monsters for hours before due to bad loot rolls and he wasn't going to let that happen today. He had more important things on his plate to deal with than swatting the same monsters repeatedly..

It did, of course, leave him bare-fisted, which halved the chances of ending the fight quickly. Still, the decision he had made doubled their loot finding chances. which to him was worth the detriment. He tucked in his elbows and drove one fist forward, missing the variant by inches. The variant, on the other hand lashed out with its tendrils, but it did not aim for Shield.

I got sidetracked by the thought of punching and skipped howling.

Hooked protrusions extended from each tendril and ripped at the surface of Yuurei's skin. He cursed under his breath, having forgotten a vital step to the process. 

"Actually, we need to rely on it hitting me just right," he said with an apologetic half-smile. "Your damage is actually already on par with mine."

With that, he filled his lungs, preparing to pull the aggro on his next opening.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82527

Rolled a 6 on BD hit!

[H-0] Shield 820/820HP
[H-3] Yuurei 48/60HP

Nepent Varient: 12/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

The silver haired warrior was caught off guard as the tendrils caught her skin.
Although there was no blood, she still felt the pain at full force and let out a cry as she was hit.

“Agh...[censored]!” She said rubbing her arm, not so surprised that the game didn't simulate blood. “That was the first time I've been hit.”

She looked over at Shield and noticed his concerned expression. Her face steeled and got serious. If she was going to make it through this game, she needed to learn to take the pain. There would be a time when Shield would not be able to help her and she would need to get some mitigation items.

With some reinforced courage, the girl held to her sword valiantly and dashed the creature, slashing it once again with all her force to no avail. Although it was stupid to see this creature absorb everything she threw it, she knew it was only a matter of time before Shield’s thorns would annihilate their enemy and they could -hopefully- be done.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Action: Focused Howl

ID# 82591 results:

 MOB: 10 - Hit! - 10 dmg + 2 = 12 dmg [damage insignificant after RGN and BH]

[H-6] Shield 820/820HP
[H-3] @Yuurei48/60HP

Nepent Varient: 12/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

Not wasting any more time, Shield took a deep breath and unleashed the force of his diaphragm, bowling the Variant over in the process.

"You don't get to pick on lowbies when I'm around," he bellowed, the air vibrating with the intensity of his words. "I'm a much bigger problem to you than she is, so don't be a coward, and face your real foe!"

The tentacles of the vegetable lashed onto the nearby trees, pulling it up and off of the ground where it hung like a great, grotesque piece of fruit. The remaining tentacles lashed out, leaving hot red marks across Shield's body where they hit that immediately began to close themselves.

"Lucky son of a gun keeps critting," he scoffed, shaking his head before turning it to address Yuurei. "Well, you're in the clear, at any rate. Knock yourself out, kid."

He did not seem worried in the least, in fact if anything just mildly irritated that it had avoided his thorns for so long.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Shield

[Yuurei 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82679

Rolled 1 Critical failure

[H-3] Shield 820/820HP
[H-3] Yuurei 48/60HP

Nepent Varient: 12/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10

The previous wound dug deep into Yuurei’s skin. She had never felt severe pain like this, besides that time she broke her arm a few years back. She looked at her health bar, seeing that was only a fifth of her health. That seemed reassuring that she could take quite a few hits before it was zero time. Regardless, she needed to put the pain she was feeling aside and simply march forward. Show this overgrown excuse for a vegetable who was boss. 

With no time to lose, the silver haired assailant dashed forward, sword ready to meet her opponent once more. Unfortunately, the pain in her body was more than she anticipated when she began to sprint, she swung wide and lost balance, smacking her shoulder into the grass. She felt breathless and found hard to regain her footing.

“Ah...crap…” She whispered to herself, hating to admit she had wore herself out so quickly

Edited April 19, 2017 by Yuurei

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 82686 results:

 Battle: 9 - Hit! 1 dmg + 1 = 2 dmg

 MOB: 6 - Hit! - 10 dmg - 116 mit = 1 dmg, Thorns - 28 dmg

[H-6] Shield 820/820HP
[H-3] @Yuurei 48/60HP

Nepent Varient: -18/15 Mit: 5 DMG: 10 [DEAD]

ID# 82687 results: Loot: 14 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 19 - Success!

Glancing down at his party HUD, he noticed the state of Yuurei's energy. Like it or not, this fight was on him now. He was more than strong enough to take the hits, but it would take more than just persistence to bring it down. it would take luck. With a roar of frustration at the slow progress of the battle, he threw his fist into the creature's misshapen face. It was not a powerful hit, but whatever it was he struck mush have knocked something loose, because as soon as his fist connected, the tendrils of the beast flailed out angrily in retort, and no sooner had the attack struck than the creature's surface was instantly haloed in bright white.

It shattered into a plethora of pieces that vanished upon contact with the ground. The victory pane leaped into view in front of them, congratulating them on a battle hard fought. In the rewards section, he noticed the item <Nepent's Ovule>. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," he heaved. "First try! This was honestly one of the more frustrating battles that I've fought, and for all of the wrong reasons."

Edited April 19, 2017 by Shield