[F1-PP] <<The Second Lesson, Is Also Free>> - Freyd gets Assassin-ated.

[Freyd 0]

Freyd had already arrived at Lyle's smithy.

"I have a care package for you, Master Blacksmith," he said, "courtesy of Alchemist Zackariah.  I hope it suits your needs."  He still felt winded and leaned against one of the soot-covered, heavy timber columns supporting the shelter's roof.  A pair of small robins scattered from their nest, above, as he did so.

"Excellent," bellowed the smith over the rhythmic fall of his hammer as it worked some indeterminate, red-hot piece of metal on the anvil before him.  He picked up the piece with a pair of heavy black tongs, his thick, salt and pepper mustache rustling its approval.

"If you're good enough to work for the alchemist, maybe you'd consider doing me a favour as well?"

Freyd genuinely smiled.  

"I suppose that depends on the terms," he said. There would be no opportunity to haggle, but that didn't really bother him anymore.  It was time he let himself slip into character, now that he had a better idea who he was.

"What are you offering?"

Spoiler

General
Level: 9 | HP:  180/180 | Energy: 18/18

Stats
DMG: 5 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 14 | LD +2 | ACC: 2 | SAV 1 | REC 1 | KEEN 1 | HOLY 1 | BLEED 1

Skills
R2 2HSS, R1 Light Armor, Disguise

Mods
None

Housing Buffs
None

Equipment (In use)
Forgiven Disobedience (T1E3-2HSS)
Enduring Guile (T1 Light Armor)
Justicar’s Vambraces (T1 Trinket)

Equipment (Standby)
None

Consumed:

Mochi (LD +2)

Ready-Slots
(3x)Starter Healing Potions(50HP)
(1x) T1 Damage Potion of Uncommon quality. (+1 Damage)
1 x T1 Over-Health Potion of Special quality (+50 HP to maximum HP for thread)
(1x) T1 Liquor of Light (DMG III)
(1x) T1 Divinity's Wait (MIT III)
 

@Assassin up next.

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

Back to the first floor. It had been awhile since Assassin found herself on the sunny, beginner-friendly floor. There were some quests that the preteen needed to work on before she headed further up. While she had been on higher, scarier looking floors, she had never really engaged in combat without a friend to help her, like Onee-chan. Raising the darkened, worn cloak over her frosted-white hair, Assassin made her way out of the safe zone of the Town of Beginnings. 

The field was just as bright and beautiful as she remembered it. Weak monsters and low level players, including herself, wandered about their own business. Luckily, once she arrived to the boar's spawning location, no one else was there. Working in peace would feel nice.

The grinding of steel sounded underneath the rough leather coat as the girl pulled her dagger loose from it's sheath. A twist of the blade into a reverse grip and she was ready to fight her first boar. Not that it would be difficult. The massive wasp, giant bats and tree-meanies already fell to her. (Or was that because Ariel and Snow killed them all?)

Spoiler

General
Level: 12 | HP:  240/240 | Energy: 24/24

Stats
DMG: 7 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 2 | LD: 3+2

Skills
Dagger Rank III

Equipment(In use)
Antique Dagger(Tri): LD 3
Kami Sori: DMG: III
Fastening Belts(Tri): ACC II; EVA I

Equipment(Standby)
Ryuketsu no(Dagger): BLD II; PARA I
Dark Cloak(LA): MIT II; EVA I

Consumables
(5x)Starting Healing Potion[50 HP]
Mochi - LD II < Using

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Freyd 0]

Freyd was mildly annoyed that Lyle was sending him right back out into the fields he had just left.  For him, that meant no perceptible change in his facial expression or body language.  The man just didn't show emotion.  He'd discarded his mud-splattered cloak and sword and donned a fancy new black cassock he'd picked up from one of his recent kills, thinking fondly of his lessons with Billy.  The kid, demon - whatever he actually was - was a con artist, but his roguish character was actually endearing.  Freyd always had a bit of a soft spot for people who knew how to play games of intrigue.  

For now, he'd have to content himself with splattering more digital pig-guts all over the grasslands just outside the Town of Beginnings.  It seemed wise to get these starter quests out of the way sooner, rather than later.  He spotted another player out in the fields, and thought it best not to interrupt.  Picking a nearby group of clustered boar pups, he launched himself without warning landing in their midst with a series of surprised and fatal squeals.  

"Heh," he mumbled aloud while gathering the loot scattered by his impact, "this might not take long."

Spoiler

[0] Freyd: 179/180 (-1)| 10/18 (-8)| DMG: 5 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 14 | ACC: 2 | SAV 1 | BLEED 1 | HOLY 1 | KEEN 1

[0] Boar Pup #1 5/5 | DMG: 3

[0] Boar Pup #2 5/5 | DMG: 3 Dead

[0] Boar Pup #3 5/5 | DMG: 3 Dead

[0] Boar Pup #4 5/5 | DMG: 3 Dead

Found 2 tusks.

 

@Assassin

Edited June 9, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

Nothing around her was spawning. There was hardly any boars anywhere around here, and now another player had appeared and annihilated three boars all at once. Jealousy was already welling within her when she saw him loot up two of the tusks for himself. All the mobs were focused on him and she couldn't get anything to look at her. Maybe it was time to force something to look at her.

A boar was approaching the boy from behind for a sneak attack. As much as she could care less about him getting attacked, and he would probably be alright judging by his health bar, she really wanted to get started with this tusk thing. 

Crouching low to the ground and blasting forward with speed, she made enough noise for the boy to hear approach. From his perspective, it probably looked as though she was rearing towards him to slash him in half, until her blade clawed through the boar behind him. It whined in pain before exploding into data and leaving behind it's tiny little tusk. Grass kicked up under her feet as she stopped her momentum to pick up the ivory bone. One down, two to go.

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

Boar Tusks: 1

Assassin: HP:  240/240 | Energy: 23/24 (-1) DMG: 7 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 2 | LD: 3+2

Boar Pup: 0/5 (-7) | DMG: 3

[Freyd 0]

One particular pup had barely escaped his first sweep.  Freyd was about to follow it when he heard another squeal behind him.  Turning, he saw the young girl that had just pounced upon another foolishly ambitious piglet that had dared to try sneaking up behind him.

"Oh," he said, rather blandly, "Uh... thanks?"  He raised one eyebrow, awkwardly, not really sure what to say.  Other than his ornately detailed, white two-handed sword, with its red trim and filigree, Freyd's appearance was rather plain and unassuming.  He wore a black, featureless cassock, looking much like a catholic priest from the 1950s, but without a collar, dark leather boots.  Other than his sword, only the pair of gleaming steel vambraces on his forearms made any impression.  His tussled hair and eyes were brown, albeit with a slight hint of red in the latter.  Probably no older than his mid-twenties, he seemed remarkably unremarkable.

A pathetic series of snorts and squeals sounded from behind him.  The little board pup had called in some reinforcements.  It, and four others, were making a nearly adorable charge towards Freyd, with murderous intent in their cute little eyes.  There was a flash of white, and the pup's three allies were cleaved in half, it somehow having survived a second time, like he was toying with it.  Freyd's head simply tilted slightly, but his expression didn't otherwise change.  A quest progression pop-up appeared beside him, confirming that he had all of the required tusks. 

Only the one defiant boar pup remained, and the mysterious girl.

Spoiler

[0] Freyd: 178/180 (-1)| 2/18 (-8)| DMG: 5 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 14 | ACC: 2 | SAV 1 | BLEED 1 | HOLY 1 | KEEN 1, EN +2

[0] Boar Pup #1 5/5 | DMG: 3

[0] Boar Pup #5 5/5 | DMG: 3 Dead

[0] Boar Pup #6 5/5 | DMG: 3 Dead

[0] Boar Pup #7 5/5 | DMG: 3 Dead

Used same rolls for loot - found 3rd tusk.

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

Having gotten here first, she felt as though she should have finished before another person, but even still, the boy was already done. With only a single tusk in her possession, the Assassin adjusted the grip of her blood-colored dagger.

A hidden pair of emerald-eyes peered up to him as she noticed he had left only one boar remaining. Her face was nothing much but a shadowed silhouette. The only two notable features that could be seen were her short white locks of hair and her shining green eyes.

"Hey, looks like you got 'em all. I'll take this last one then." Her soft, yet clarion voice was likely unexpected from her appearance. Without giving him much time to react, her form had rushed past him faster than he could blink. Dagger-users were gifted an incredible swiftness, but her size aided with that even further. There was likely no one that could keep up with her agility.

The remaining boar charged her as she approached, but tripped over it's own hoof as they were about to make contact. Assassin's blade barely missed it's mark as it collided with the grass.

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

Boar Tusks: 1

Assassin: HP:  240/240 | Energy: 23/24 (-1) DMG: 7 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 2 | LD: 3+2

Boar Pup: 5/5 | DMG: 3

[Freyd 0]

She was impressively fast - enough to ensure that Freyd kept his sword out, leaning its long blade over his shoulder.  The penchant for dagger-wielders to turn out to be PKers was also enough to make him wary.  Knowing the conditions of the quest, out of courtesy, he dared not interfere with her attacks.  Freyd had met very few other players in the game, so far.  Given that they were both working on the same quest, it seemed reasonable to walk back to Lyle together.  Perhaps she was a newly progressing player, like himself?

He waited patiently, allowing a small, pleasant smile to settle onto his face.  Another boar pup spawned at his feet while he waited.  Thinking to check her reflexes, he gave it a swift kick, launching the startled beast through the air bound towards her general direction.

This should prove interesting, he thought to himself, watching to see what she would do with the incoming, flying pig.

@Assassin

Edited June 9, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

Dashing briskly through the battle field and completely confusing the boar pup, the Assassin danced circles around her enemy. Her speed was insanely hard to track. With the help of the super human system, nothing could catch her if she didn't want it to.

A sharp dash into the boars side and her crimson-painted dagger piercing unforgivably deep into it's skin, it burst into nothing but data without even activating a sword art. Once the polygons dispersed, the quest item was revealed, falling into the grass. The dark cloaked child dipped down and picked it up. Her silhouette looked over to Freyd. "I'm really fast, but can't attack more than one target at a time. Makes fighting these meanies pretty hard."

The girl kicked the dirt where the boar had died and dispersed. It was only now that the leopard cub made itself visible. Realizing that her master was now alone with a stranger, she came out growling deeply at him until Assassin called for her. "Hey, Hyou. No." The growl of the beast calmed long enough for her to rejoin her master. "Also, hi."

Boar Tusks: 2

Assassin: HP:  240/240 | Energy: 23/24 (-1) DMG: 7 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 2 | LD: 3+2

Boar Pup: 5/5 | DMG: 3

[Freyd 0]

"Oh, uh," Freyd stammered, apparently caught off guard by both her speed and intensity, plus the snow leopard. 

"Hi," he finally managed to sputter, "I'm, ah... Freyd - I mean - Freyd, yes, that's me."   It wasn't the most impressive introduction.  In fact, it was really the opposite.  He might have been reasonably competent with a sword, but words were apparently still above his skill rank.

"If you've collected all your items, I thought we could walk back to Lyle's together," he added, slowly increasing the coherence of his speech. 

"Nice familiar" he then blurted out, in a more normal-person tone that actually revealed some capacity for emotion.  He seemed genuinely interested.  "I've been meaning to go search for one myself.  Where did you two meet?"

Freyd had deliberately made no sudden moves of provocations, treating the girl and her pet as potential predators.  His instincts still defaulted to considering himself as prey in Aincrad, though that was slowly changing.

@Assassin

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

Before she could answer that, she needed to finish what was started. Only one more boar tusk was needed to finish this objective. Gripping her dagger and scanning the area for a boar that was alone, she burst forward towards it. Bounding high-speed through the plain, she once again dug her small dagger into the boars hide. The damage from it was still enough to cause a kill without even activating a sword art. Twirling her dagger in her hand, she returns the blade to its hidden sheath underneath her cloak.

With her last boar tusk in hand, she returns to the boy who was originally talking with her and finally removes her hood. Her white, frosted bangs drape back and forth before settling just above her emerald pupils. Her most notable feature were the two glaringly obvious scars marked on her eye and her cheek. A smile formed on her face, however.

"Sorry about that mister! I get serious when I know I'm fighting something! You said your name was Fyred, well people just call me Sin-chan. This is Hyou, we met on the second floor in the forest. I found her abandoned by her mommy and daddy so I rescued her!"

Boar Tusks: 3 (complete)

Assassin: HP:  240/240 | Energy: 23/24 (-1) DMG: 7 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 2 | LD: 3+2

Boar Pup: 5/5 | DMG: 3

[Freyd 0]

"Fre... " he started, but abruptly cut himself off.  His voice was unexpectedly soft and disarming, though his stance suggested a degree of social awkwardness.

"Nevermind,"  he said, laughing softly.  It wasn't worth it.  He might offend her, and she'd likely be happier calling him whatever she wanted.  Changing the topic seemed prudent.

"I thought I was the only one still wandering around the starter areas and quests," he added, taking a new approach.  "You seem to be pretty good with that dagger, Sin-chan, how is it that you're still hanging around here?"  Her conservation of effort had not gone unnoticed.  Freyd's nature compelled him to endlessly analyze everything and everyone around him.  Even now, he was scrutinizing the details of her face, dwelling on her scars without staring.  Were they the result of some past altercation, or perhaps abuse?  Was she more practiced than she let on?  

This is why you don't have any friends, came the pesky internal commentary that inevitably felt it necessary to contribute.  

@Assassin

Edited June 10, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

Assassin started to make her way back to town, assuming the claymore user would follow suit if she took the lead. Hyou stayed close to her, keeping a good eye on the other person in their party. She smiled when he brought up her skilled dagger use. To be fair, most of the skill she had was controlled by the game.

"Thanks, you did good too with your big sword, mister. I'm too small wield a giant weapon like that, so I stick to what works for me even if it might not be the best thing." The question about her hanging around here was kind of weird. She was a low level player so why would it be odd for her to be on the lower floors?

"Well, I'm down here because anything higher and I would get in trouble. Nee-chan probably wouldn't be too happy with me if I was walking around on dangerous floors without her. You must be a low level player too. Wanna do the rest of these quests together?" A smile continued to pain her lips. Having some company wouldn't be awful, plus it would make the next two quests easier.

[Freyd 0]

Freyd had to rush his first few steps to catch up with her, but then had no trouble keeping pace.

"That sounds good," he replied, a friendly smile finally rising upon his face.  "The first quest took me a lot longer to complete solo than I expected.  I'm sure we can blitz through this thing more quickly together.  I'd be quite happy to have some company for the next two parts."

Genuine relief overcame Freyd at his new companion's proposal.  He glanced at his white-bladed sword, with its intricate rose gold accents snaking around its silver guard and pommel, before holding it against his back and letting it disappear into storage.  Its origins remained a mystery to him.

"I don't think I'm much higher level than you are,  but am trying to get these quests done before they become obsolete."  He blushed slightly.  "It could also just be the completionist in me.  I always tried to explore all of a game's content, often at the expense of advancement."

He shrugged his shoulders, as if accepting that it was just his way, and it wasn't likely to change.

"Who's Nee-Chan, by the way?"

@Assassin

Edited June 10, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

"Nee-chan is Nee-chan." The girl replied without much hesitation. Almost like that was the only way she could answer such a question. "She told me her name once but I am really bad with names. I can't ever remember the caretaker's name most of the time and she's taken care of me since I was really young."

As they were walking, Assassin happened to notice the slight glow of a material. She steps off to the side for a moment to pick the item up and returns to her feline escort near Freyd.

"If we're going to work together for these last two quests, we should probably party up so we can track each other's health points." Opening up her menu with her hand,  Assassin sends him an invite and her name and HP is now visible to him. Hopefully he wouldn't freak out about her name without as least asking her.

Materials Found [1]

[Freyd 0]

Freyd burst out into a sudden and violent fit of hacks and coughs. He nearly doubled over before catching himself and his balance, leaning on a nearby porch rail for support.  His skin was beet red, threatening purple if he got much worse.

"I'm sorry," he choked out hoarsely, flailing his left hand about and then pointing at his neck before adding: "Something... caught in my... throat."  He held a single finger up as he tried swallowing, even calling up a health potion, in case he needed to seem more convincing.

After several deep, gulping breaths, he managed to stand straight again.  The timer on the party offer was near expiring.  Turning back toward Assassin, he had a mischievous grin splitting his still-pinkish face ear to ear. With a surprisingly steady hand, and only a second left on the timer, he pressed 'yes'.

"Tell me honestly,"  he added, his voice returning to the previously soft if slightly more jovial tone, "did I oversell it?"

His once more unassuming eyes had resumed their explicitly simple demeanor.

"I've been told I have a rather dark sense of humour."  He hoped his prank would not come across as mocking or cruel, but then, someone named 'Assassin' needed to be able to take a joke.

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Assassin 0]

The only reaction that Assassin could give to the sudden fit of coughing and hacking was a raised eyebrow. Was something wrong with him? It was obviously fake. Not only could she tell because she had faked things like that herself before, but also because the system didn't allow them to get sick at all. 

"You really need to work on your pretending." Assassin said like it was a skill he would actually be using. Her emerald eyes questioned him. "When you are trying to lie, you have to put yourself in a mindset that you are actually going through those feelings and living them."

Just then Assassin's HP took a hit. It dropped from a single point, but still, she doubled over in pain. Nothing was around them and nothing could have struck her if it wanted to. Hyou got defensive immediately. "Agh! Wh-What was that?! O-Ow!" She laid on the ground with a scrunched, pained expression.

[Freyd 0]

"Like that, you mean?"  Freyd said, pursing his lips and putting his hands on his hips, expecting that she was trying to prove her point.  He was glad that she had taken his prodding in the intended manner.  Maybe she lived up to her name after all?  She certainly wasn't the frail willow of a thing her age and size might suggest, but he was well aware that such things could be misleading - especially here.  They had wandered back into the safe zone already.  Using the same logic she had just used against his poor excuse for a ruse, this couldn't be an attack.

"Come on, Sin-chan," he said, extending a hand, "let's get this junk back to Lyle's place.  We have more challenging tasks than killing baby critters ahead of us."

Several passing players gave them strange looks; a young man dressed like a catholic priest reaching down to help up a young girl doubled over in pain in the middle of the city streets.

[Assassin 0]

The Assassin grinned. It definitely wasn't hard to call her bluff since it came from the previous conversation but she was starting to enjoy this already. Instead of taking his hand, the girl hand-springs to her feet and returns her dagger to her sheath.

"Yeah, pretending is like being apart of a play. You have to make your character convincing or it won't look good on stage." Ignoring the funny stares that she was getting from other players, even as she stood to her feet and their expressions changed from estranged to genuine confusion on what sort of scene was happening. "Tank lady couldn't catch my cues like you could. Perhaps because I didn't the whole fake crying thing and I'm pretty good at that. Maybe if I cried you would've believed in it."

Now she was just mumbling to herself, walking next to Freyd who was taking the lead of their group.

[Freyd 0]

Freyd was still attentively listening to Sin-chan's advice by the time they reached Lyle's smithy again.  He genuinely liked the roguish spark in her spirit.  She seemed so much more alive than he did to himself - like she would kick butt and take names, where he'd request patrons to sign in, enjoy the musical ambiance and partake of the decorated biscuits on display in the parlour.  Damn.  Was he really that much like a butler, even in his own daydreaming?!

Lyle, that thick, stalwart mass of a man greeted them with the mildest grunt and sneer of disdain he could likely manage.  "Did ya get wut I asked fer?" he demanded bluntly.

"Yes," was Freyd's only reply.  He was more interested in his companion's banter than processing the quest protocols.  He transferred the boar pup tusks to complete the quest requirements, then waited for Assassin to do the same.  Despite having seen her true name when they grouped, he couldn't bring to think of her as anything but Sin-chan.

[Assassin 0]

Assassin tossed the bag of tusks at the NPC, who was able to catch them just barely. He complained about poking his eye out if she hadn't thrown it correctly but she didn't really listen all that much. That was when he brought up the prospect of delivery. Another stupid delivery quest to find the next quest giver? Man that was boring. They could have done something more fun than that.

Well, with the quest finished, Assassin watched her experience go up and checked her inventory for the items that they should have earned for quest completion. This time they had gotten nothing even conceivably useful compared to their current load outs, but there was an interesting potion that could only be used for the next quest. Might as well make sure that she uses it. "Heh, this is too easy. I hope the next quest is a little more fun than that."

Spoiler

Rewards

SP: 2 Quest, 1 page, 1 event
Col: 200 per player
Materials: Assassin - 1 T1
T1SS - DMG I(Both Assassin and Freyd)
Safeguard Potion(CAN ONLY BE USED IN THIRD LESSONS)