[PP|F5]<<The Traveler>>Just for a skill.

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki made her way to the floor teleporter. Shay had sent her the message she mentioned she would send when her and her ally would be taking the traveler quest. She didn't really need anyone to go with her on that quest, but she was sure she would be needing it sooner or later. One of the bosses that she still had yet to kill needed the skill to avoid taking unnecessary damage from the heat of floor nine.

Soon, she was down on floor five, a floor she had gotten very familiar with, but still hated for the heat. She didn't need to don her armor, but she still did so. It was a pride thing with her new set that she loved wearing it. Not to mention that if literally anything threatened them, they would die the instant that they touched her armor. Thorns was way too strong.

Spoiler

Name: Zajčica
Level: 60
HP: 1410/1410
EN: 120/120

Stats:
Damage: 20
Mitigation: 202
Evasion: -1
Accuracy: 3
BH:70
BLD:36
TAUNT
THRNS:54
FL. AURA:30
FR. THRN:21

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Durandal (T3/Perfect/OHSS): ACC II; BLD I
Armor: Jack's Plate (T3/Perfect/HA): Fl. Aura II; Taunt
Misc: Casseur de Logistille (T3/Perfect/Shield): Thorns II; Fr. Thorns

Skills:
One-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 1]
Heavy Armor [Rank 5]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Block [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Parry [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Concentration
Familiar Mastery: Defender

Mods:
Athletics
Stonewall
Shield Bash
Vengeful Riposte

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleportation Crystal*1
Immolation+2*6
Ration+2*5

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:
Tanos Statue: +15 Mitigation for a thread.

Wedding Ring:

 

[Shay 0]

Shay sent her message to the tank that had given her a good deal on the food she needed for her familiar. She didn't have a ton of col to offer her, so this was a nice compromise. "A front liner tank is joining us for this quest. Apparently they had never done it before because they have no one to do it with. I hope you're okay with that." Shay mentions to @ChaseR while they accept the quest and she sends the cook a friend request. She was quick to get here too.

"Oi." Yuki called to the duo. Her armor gleamed like a holy light light as she walked towards them. The sunlight was strong. "Nice to see ya both again. I hope my food was good. Seems like not enough people can get a enough of my signature ice cream mochi." She said, as she met up with the two.

"It is rather good." Shay said idly as she checked on her equipment and consumables.

Spoiler

Name: Shay
Level: 20
HP: 400/400
EN: 40/40

Stats:
Damage: 8
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 1
BLD:12
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: (Katana)Murasame α: BLD 2; DMG 1
Armor: Leather Overcoat: EVA 3
Misc: Deep Red Tie: Recovery 2; ACC 1

Skills:
Curved Sword [Rank 1]
Katana [Rank 4]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleportation Crystal*1
T1 Mass HP Rec. II*1
T1 HP Rec. I*2
T1 Instant HP Rec. I*2
Incarceration*2

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[ChaseR 0]

Chase seemed a little bit surprised as the tank showed up and it appeared to be the cook he'd visited a few times in the past. Always having been unable to pronounce her in-game name, he gave her an uninterested look before realizing just what Shay had said the other moment. "... Frontline tank? The cook?", he quickly asked, looking at her with a concerned look. He crossed his arms, giving her a narrow-eyed stare for a moment. "Your food is good but what are you doing here..? How are you a frontliner if you cook to keep a shop up and are always there..?"

He asked her in a voice filled with curiosity, and his extravagant charisma when it came to words. Oh, if only he greeted everyone this way, he'd be very well known around Aincrad. "W-Wait, if a frontliner is here, how the hell has she not done the quest already?!", he was quick to question, reaching his hands up to hold the sides of his head. He thought that to be in the frontlines, she must have done at least every quest once.

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 22
HP: 440/440
EN: 44/44

Stats:
Damage: 11
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Cloud Cutter>> (T1/Perfect/2HSS): DMG III
Armor: <<Sky Blue Apparel>> (T1/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I; REC II
Misc: <<Warm Earmuffs>> (T1/Perfect/Trinket): ACC III

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]

Extra Skills:

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*5
Field Rations*1
Immolation Potion*1
Spyglass (2/3)*1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 2
Requires Extended Weight Limit 3
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[Zajcica 0]

The boy of the group was easily a noobie that didn't understand the game very well. Questions like those made him a dead giveaway. "Crafters only have so many attempts for buffed food a day. I can only do so much until I'm done. You have a profession don't you? Why aren't you attending your shop right now?" She grinned a bit.

"He's an artisan." Shay chimes in while accepting the quest. She seemed busy enough with that while the two others spoke.

"Ah, my best friend in the entire game is also an artisan. If she had spent all her time working as a shop keep, she wouldn't be a front liner. And just because we are front liners doesn't mean we can't take time out of our days to help people level. Not that this quest requires any intervention from me. I'm quite familiar with this floor actually. I never really did this quest because the experience is minimal and the extra skill you gain is hardly prevalent. However, you can't be too careful when happening along new territory that is the front lines."

[Shay 0]

Shay stayed out of the conversation for the most part. She herself had only met a front liner once in her entire career, and they were orange. They all seemed pretty serious, but this one was rather laid back and enjoyed talking much more than the orange player did.

Her focus went back to the caravan leader that led the cart through the sandstorm. "Our supplies are still out there. We had to abandon them to bring back what we could, but this isn't everything. If you can bring them back, we would be in you debt for sure."

"Yeah, yeah. How far?" Shay asked, adjusting the cloak over her face as the storm brewed even worse.

"At least a day's travel there and back. It took us quite some time make it back to town." Shay sighed audibly.

"Let's get this over with then." She said walking towards the gates of Fortaleza.

[ChaseR 0]

"I'm not at the shop I have because I never asked for it, in fact I despise shopping in the first place.", he hissed at the pinkhead, growling lowly. It was obvious she was already getting to his nerves as his left hand instinctively reached for his hilt, holding it tightly in his grip while he asked with an eyebrow cocked up. "If you don't have to be here for us to finish the quest, then why are you? It can't be too hard to manage on your own, unless you just want to keep having at it.", the bluenette continued, having began to get incredibly pissed off at her.

At the same time though, his lack of knowledge wasn't making it any easier on him. He was overwhelmed as is, and with the slightest sense of accomplishment from what he'd managed to do thus far, she barged in and began to talk about 'buffs' and whatnot. Once they'd arrived to the caravan leader, he went silent to let Shay talk with them and followed right behind. He opened up his menu, not wanting to embarrass himself too much and shot a message at Shay's way through the friends list function. "The hell is a buffed food?"

Edited July 19, 2020 by ChaseR

[Zajcica 0]

"Chase you idi-" Shay was interrupted by Yuki before she got a chance to calm him down.

"Oh-ho? Judging from your body movement, I'd think you were about to suggest attacking me? Don't. It will only cause you more harm than you would to me. However, you look like no chicken. You think that tooth pick can beat me? Prove it." Yuki egged him on. She had learned the hard way from Shield, and she was ready to teach him a thing or two about this game. Even if that meant her run into a brick wall covered in barbed wire head first. She opened her menu, clicked on his name and invited him to a half health duel.

"First to 50% wins. You may take the first shoot." Yuki grinned, without even removing her weapon from it's sheath. However, Durandal did seem to glow with a dull hue in its holster.

Yuki activates Parry. And invites ChaseR to a 50% HP duel.

[Shay 0]

Chase was being his usual stupid health, and the tank was willing to show him his faults of letting anger over take his stable mind. Shay groaned annoyingly. If this was what it took to calm him down than so be it. If she remembered correctly, health points wouldn't regenerate while they were stuck in this sand storm. Maybe it'll be a nice wake up call for him to undergo the rest of this mission with only half of his health points. The damage was minuscule to them based on what the tank had told her prior.

Shay folded her arms and moved out of the way to spectate. They had a little bit of free time and this was an important lesson. If he couldn't hold his temper around bosses that were as tough and dangerous as Yuki, then he wouldn't survive longer than a minute in a real fight.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase's anger was causing him to start getting a migraine as he tightened his grip around his sword even more. With a loud groan, he took his blade out and it began to glow a vibrant green, but just as he moved his hand to the duel menu, he was quick to deny and pierce his sword right into the sand in front of him. Judging by how deep inside he'd buried it, it'd be hard to take it out, but he just gave a sharp glare at Yuki. "You're petty as shit, how can you be a frontliner?! You've a sleeve up your trick and you're using that to try and trick me into fighting, is that it?!"

It was beginning to get harder to think clear, as he started to question whether he was angry due to how she was using her status or his own fears and doubts about himself. "Is it because I'm this weak you're trying to pick on me?", he snarled at her with an almost savage look on his face, shaking whole from how livid he'd become. Shay had seen this side of him before, but only during fights, and never to this extent. "Is it because I don't understand what the fuck's happening in this world?!", he kept going, tears forming on the corners of his eyes as his shaking grew just slightly more intense.

Edited July 19, 2020 by ChaseR

[Zajcica 0]

Contrary to her assumption, Chase instead denied the duel invite. However, there was some sense to actually deny it. She crossed her arms with a smile. He had realized that fighting this fight would be dumb since his health would not regen-

"You're petty as shit, how can you be a frontliner?! You've a sleeve up your trick and you're using that to try and trick me into fighting, is that it?!"

Yuki's practically gasped and her grin turned from that into a grimace. Her folded arms pulled open her menu again, pulling an item from the contents and appearing in her hand. Shay quickly intervened.

"What the hell are you doing?" She whispered to Chase, nearby so Yuki could barely hear. "I brought her along so you could learn more about the game from an experienced player. Do you seriously-"

"I see I am not wanted." Yuki said dropping an item in the sand at the duo's feet. "I challenged you as a test, and you passed, then you insult my status that I nearly paid my life for on more occasions than I can count on my two hands. I am leaving." Yuki said heading back towards Fortaleza.

Spoiler

Yuki leaves 1 Sand Armor Potion for the players.

 

[Shay 0]

Shay watched as Yuki walked off back to town. She hadn't expected Chase to do such a thing. It was obvious that she was trying to teach him something, but he couldn't catch on to it. The rouge bent down and retrieved the item that Yuki had left for them. It was a mitigation increasing potion. She could likely make her own if she needed it.

"Well, now that you're done pissing off front liners, what do you have to say?" Shay asked. She truly had no idea what was wrong with this boy. He continued to go on about how he was weak, which made Shay even more annoyed. This boy was so hard to get along with. One moment he wants to get stronger and get out of this game and the next she finds him crying like a baby about how weak he is. She sighed heavily as things seemed to settle down a bit.

Spoiler

Acquires Sand Armor Potion

 

[ChaseR 0]

"You nearly paid your life for trying to clear a death game? What do you think we two are going to be doing then?!", he snarled at her as she left. As if things weren't bad enough already, he was starting to feel weak from just how angry he'd gotten, and her throwing the item right at their feet instead of handing it to Shay through a trade request or however else wasn't helping either. "T-Tch, fuck!", he shouted before falling on his one knee, breathing heavily and punching right into the sand. His friend's words were right.

"How the hell was I supposed to react when they treat us as animals then?!", he asked her, although his tone quickly switched from being angry to hurt. "I fucking pissed her off, so why the hell does she have to treat you the same way?", his voice slowly got drowned out as he tried to calm down and catch up with his breath. It'd been years probably since he last got this upset over anything, and especially in the middle of the desert during a sandstorm, it wasn't a good time. At least they weren't in for any combat according to what the mission was about, but...

The boy wanted to get his message across to Yuki, he wanted to challenge her to a duel to full loss, but it'd be a stupid way to die. He'd be proving nothing other than how scared and cornered he felt. "G-Get the fuck back here...", he groaned as he got up slowly from the ground, looking at Yuki with a pained expression as tears streamed down his face. "Come back here, pink.", Chase shouted at her, trying to get her attention with a wide frown on his face and some slight regret in his voice.

Edited July 19, 2020 by ChaseR

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki had already removed her armor. She was going to go back home and sleep. Maybe it was a bit harsh of her to just walk off. Is that what Shield would have done? No, Chase isn't the same as Yuki. He didn't understand the responsibility of having the lives of everyone your shoulders. Since she started playing this game, she has constantly protected everyone with her own body to make sure that they didn't die. One fuck up, and not only could she get herself murdered, but so could others around her. And now, this was starting to feel like a fuck up.

She didn't have much time to think on it, however, as Chase was... well chasing her down. "Come back here, pink." Pink. That was a new one. But now that she thought about it, she never introduced herself to him.

She stopped in her tracks, she was now wearing only a light garb. Her head turned to him as he approached behind her. "You have said your peace. If you have only more insults to lash at me, then I will not hear them. I have not spent the last four days of my time endlessly accomplishing quests to be degraded."

[Shay 0]

Shay sighed, "Chase, she's a tank. She throws herself in front of danger countless times to keep others safe-" Chase probably didn't even hear her. He got up and started to run after her. Hopefully not to provoke her more. If he did that, one of them was going to do something foolish. While she wouldn't normally care, she was growing kind of fond of the boy, and he wasn't going to throw his life away like this.

Shay followed him to watch the scene. If he was smart, he wouldn't do anything to provoke her further. From what she remembered, the tank before them wasn't capable of doing much more than absorbing hits. She likely couldn't beat him without her armor on, but it wouldn't help him feel better to wail on her anyways. She knew that better than anyone after having so many arguments with her own parents.

[ChaseR 0]

The bluehead eventually came to a halt and continued to breathe weakly, feeling exhausted despite how little he'd done just from the emotional rollercoaster he was going through. "I burned myself out to get started since yesterday. I don't know how many quests I've done, but I was crying myself to sleep and being useless for... I don't know how long.", he responded in return, looking at her in the eyes. Although he was still a mess, it was easy to tell he was speaking sincerely. "I speak horribly. But later, you should talk to me. Without provoking.", Chase recommended, frowning still.

He'd actually heard Shay on the back of his mind, knowing it'd be much easier to think in his current state than just a few moments ago- if it weren't for how tired he'd grown, that is. "I want to be a tank. And a frontliner.", he blurted out, looking back at Shay. He cringed slightly, before hesitantly turning to Yuki again, although this time he wasn't keeping eye contact. "... Help me learn how.", he even more hesitantly asked of her, one of his eyes half closed. It felt awkward and uncomfortable, hissing at her the one moment with or without good enough reason, and almost begging her for help the next.

If Shay had brought this person along though, that meant she knew better. And he couldn't care less about wasting his own time, but Shay's too, he just wouldn't dare. Since this is what Shay had intended to do, that's what he'd tag along with as well. So even if it hurt, he'd turn to the paladin for assistance if the rogue thought that was for the best.

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki was quiet for a moment, absorbing all the information that Chase had just presented to her. He was reminding her a lot of herself at his level. Is that what Shield felt like when she acted like this to him all those months ago. Shield really is still protective of her, his words still echoed in the back of her head from the raid meeting.

"You?" She looked over to Shay, "You told me he wanted to learn how to tank. Judging by his choice of weapon, he could never be as tough as me. My build is specifically designed to withstand any punishment."

"I am aware. However, if you could give some pointers, that would be extremely helpful to us grinding. Knowledge is its own reward." Shay replied.

"Indeed. Alright, Chase. If you want to learn how to tank, I will teach you. Tanking is hard. If you aren't willing to get beat up, focused and determined, you will die. Take control of your battles and lead them. You cannot hesitate as a tank." Those fundamentals were what she started with. She'll leave him with that for now.

[Shay 0]

Shay sighed as things seemed to calm down. It was nice to see that they were getting along somewhat now. Or Chase was merely tolerating the front liner's presence now. She was worried about him, which felt pretty weird. She never really had to worry about anyone like this. Maybe this is what it was like to have friends.

"Chase, I know you're tired. You're pushing yourself hard to get stronger, and I'm glad to see that. But, please don't snap like that again." Shay asked, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder and giving him a small smile to try and reassure him.

Yuki watched this altercation, not really paying it much mind. It reminded her kind of what her and Crozeph had felt like when they first met. Perhaps they would get rather chummy with one another like the tank and her fiance did. Love was hard to find in a world like this.

[ChaseR 0]

With a nod, the boy looked at the pinkette quietly and turned to look over his shoulder at Shay. His sword was still back in the sand, unwavering as ever and still buried in it all the same with only its handle and guard sticking out. After a slow nod at Shay, he placed his hand on her shoulder in return although it was to lean on her more than anything. "Sorry... I can barely move. It feels like I'll pass out, so sorry if I'm useless for this one quest.", he apologized, doing his best to ignore his distaste towards Yuki's behavior and trying to learn from what she had to say, as well as not displease Shay or Yuki any further.

He knew that they were in quite the awkward position, but things could be worse if he'd pushed just a little bit further. Thankfully, this once at least, he managed to maintain enough self-restraint to prevent that. 

Edited July 20, 2020 by ChaseR

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki folded her arms as Chase draped into his partners arm. He looked more tired than she felt, and that was saying something. While the rogue took her time trying to get the boy back up to his feet, the paladin walked passed them. Her tiny frame grabbed guard of Sky Slasher and pulled it directly out of the sand with a single hand and heave. She draped the weapon over her shoulder. It wasn't as heavy as her lance, but that was hardly a fair comparison.

"I will carry his blade. The sun will be setting soon and we're all too tired to be spending much more time than necessary out here. Let use find shelter and take a rest for the night." Yuki mentioned while scanning the area. There was a rocky crag not far off from them that would be suitable enough to work as a resting place. They could rotate taking a sleep there.

[Shay 0]

Shay caught her charge as he folded into her grip. Maybe she was actually going too hard on him. She had never really though that she was running him this ragged. Guilt was starting to wash over her as she held him up.

"Chase..." She stuttered out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been pushing you so hard like I have been. We can take a few days of rest after this quest, alright? I never meant to run you dry like this. I'm so sorry."

It wasn't that often Junko needed to apologize to anyone, but here was the one exception. She had hardly been thinking about how this game was affecting him just so she could have a person to climb with through it. That made her feel worse than anything. Was she always this selfish with everything that she did? "I will do my best to be more considerate of your feelings." She said, helping him move with the pinkette. The sandstorm picked up for a moment when she turned around, throwing a large clump of grain into her eyes. "Ack!"

Shay | HP:390/400 -(10) | EN:40/40 | DMG: 8 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2