[SP|F6] <<The Gemini>> Not Me

[ChaseR 0]

Chase silently entered the sixth floor once more, having heard about one more quest that followed in the footsteps of the one where he had to fight his inner demons- that meaning a disturbing one to say the least. As he teleported inside, it didn't take long before the quest seemingly already began. An NPC approached him, wearing a hood, complimenting him on his skill. Before long, he was challenged to a fight with the potential to unlock a new skill. He didn't know the specifics of this quest, but now that he had just received new gear from Simmone, he was definitely more than capable of beating a simple NPC.

Hell, even a boss if he tried enough. With a confident grin, the two exited the town. The NPC quickly tore its own hood and cloak off, revealing to have the exact same form as Chase, even his own gear right on. "What the hell?!", the boy asked, beginning to feel upset already. Blizz, who was resting on his head throughout got confused as he saw the Gemini, and the boy quickly lowered him, telling him to stand further back. "Stay out of this, Blizz. I'll... Fuck, Kayaba..!"

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 27
HP: 540/540
EN: 54/54

Stats:
Damage: 14
Mitigation: 41
Evasion: 2
Accuracy: 2
REC: 1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Gust Raiser>> (T2/Perfect/2HSS): DMG II; ACC I
Armor: <<Hurricane Denizen>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): MIT II, REC I
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 1]
Battle Healing [Rank 1]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
T1 Mochi (LD +3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
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:

 

[ChaseR 0]

The boy gripped his sword tightly, holding it in his hand as the Gemini copied his exact movements. Before he had time to jump forwards though, the Gemini did so and attempted to attack him. The two crossed swords, with sparks flying left and right as cold drops of sweat began to form on blue's forehead. "Th-This is unforgivable... You vile..!", he didn't get to finish his sentence as the fake tried to slash at him, his blade sliding to the side and sending Chase a bit to the right.

That gave the boy enough of an opening as his blade glowed a dark red, slashing down at the Gemini with full force and dealing a hefty amount of damage, getting it to wince before it jumped back to regain its composure. "Not half bad, you know yourself damn well.", the clone mocked, getting a grunt out of Chase. "Silence... Don't talk to me like you know me!"

ChaseR: HP: 540/540 | EN: 46/54 (-10, +2) | DMG: 14 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 2 | REC: 1 | MIT: 41 | BH: 5
The Gemini: HP: 109/270 (-161) | DMG: 135 (MD 9/10: 162/189) | MIT: 47 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Not even a few moments of rest after, the two lunged at one another again. The Gemini tried to attack from an angle that Chase's blade couldn't reach fast enough, causing his eyes to widen as time felt like it was slowing down. He did his best to parry the attack, with his blade glowing a faint green that only got brighter as his heart beat quickly. "Can I make it?", he questioned himself, trying to shake the thought away as a drop of sweat hit the ground.

Just when it felt like his blade would manage to deflect the attack, he didn't make it in time. As a result, he took a serious cut to the shoulder, growling in anger and attempting to slam the clone with his shoulder in retaliation, only for it to jump away with a cocky grin in its face. The fight wouldn't take long, for sure, but it was much too sinister for the bluehead to allow it to take that long. "Losing our spirit?"

ChaseR: HP: 446/540 (-94) | EN: 45/54 (-2, +1) | DMG: 14 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 2 | REC: 1 | MIT: 41 | BH: 5
The Gemini: HP: 109/270 | DMG: 135 (MD 9/10: 162/189) | MIT: 47 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

"I said stay quiet!", Chase snarled at the fake once more, gripping his sword tighter than before and jumping right in. The Gemini's taunts were calculated however, trying to make him lose his composure and leave more openings for him to take. "Heh, I'll take that as a yes.", the Gemini simply scoffed, lifting its sword into the air and slashing downwards, attempting to cleave the blue swordsman in half for a lot of damage.

Of course the hit connected. The boy coughed out from how he had gotten surprised, missing his own blow once more and hitting the ground instead, dust flying all over the place. The fake simply raised an eyebrow, frowning in a mocking manner and starting to torment the poor swordsman even further. "And I thought you had just gotten stronger... Didn't you too?", he said before starting to cackle, getting a low growling from Chase. "Just a single hit more... Just one..!"

ChaseR: HP: 357/540 (-94, +5) | EN: 46/54 (-2, +3) | DMG: 14 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 2 | REC: 1 | MIT: 41 | BH: 5
The Gemini: HP: 109/270 | DMG: 135 (MD 9/10: 162/189) | MIT: 47 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

"He's trying to taunt me so he can beat me around more easily... I won't give in. Focus. All I need is one clean hit and then this battle is over. I can return to Shay and be over with all of this toying that Kayaba has done on every single one of us. Just... One more hit. Clear your mind. Ignore him. He is a target only.", the boy did his best job to focus, Blizz watching the two fight anxiously. As soon as the cloud of dust cleared up, a blade could be seen coming right on through and aiming for Chase's head nonetheless. 

The sword practically lodged itself in the boy's shoulder, dealing much more damage than any other time as his eyes widened. "No!", Chase shouted in his headspace, letting go of his sword with one hand to land a strong punch in the Gemini's gut, catching it off guard before his blade glowed a very bright orange. "Wh-What?!", the clone shouted out of surprise, only to take a slash down his shoulder. The attack wasn't over though, as he quickly pulled his hand back and kept dragging the blade down, until he'd cut the fake in half. As he dropped on the ground, with Chase gasping for air, the Gemini simply uttered before disappearing. "H-Heh... Maybe... You do know yourself better than he does."

ChaseR: HP: 241/540 (+5, -121) | EN: 46/54 (-2, +3) | DMG: 14 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 2 | REC: 1 | MIT: 41 | BH: 5
The Gemini: HP: 0/270 (-161) | DMG: 135 (MD 9/10: 162/189) | MIT: 47 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

This was enough fighting for a single day. The mental fortitude it already took to burn out through these missions, that he now needed to accept some of them were set up to mess with one's head, like this one, just from Kayaba's sadistic nature or what was it... It bothered him too much. He wanted to throw up at the mere thought he had to fight an impostor with the same exact appearance. "H-Hell. Blizz... It's me, the real one. Come here."

The pangolin slowly approached, croaking and running towards the bluehead that was now kneeling in order to rest, his blade pierced through the ground. The mammal quickly jumped onto him, holding onto his chest and allowing him to be held in his embrace, resting against the flat of the sword's blade. "Thanks for staying back... That was just a monster. I'll always be here. Okay?", he tried to encourage his familiar, even if it didn't understand much from what he had to say. He quickly scanned the ground, trying to see if anything else had dropped now that he was scot-free.

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Nothing seemed to be around, but that's just how luck had it. Maybe it'd be best to just look around for a few items he could turn into materials, and then head right on back into town, where he had nothing to worry about because of the settlement's safezone. He could look around the shops and try to take it easy in order to recover from whatever the hell this quest was. "I managed to finish it quick, but if I see another quest like this... I really don't know how much longer I can let Kayaba tyrranize us like this... I have to do something."

This sense of urgency in his head would be stronger than ever, if he were not as tired as he really was. He pet the scaled companion's head, giving a small grin, hopeful that he'd just return home and be with Shay to get some proper rest, mentally more than physically. Even though, he did have a question. His health bar was yellow, but it seemed to be slowly fading back to green as he reached around half of it. "I should ask her why the color changed... Shouldn't I?"

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Slowly lifting himself up onto his feet, the boy stretched and tried to regain his composure. By now his health bar was still not full, but it was green and that was enough of a relief. Lifting the little pangolin to sit on his shoulder, the boy sheathed his new, black broadsword back inside of its scabbard, giving the ground a quick scan for anything final before he decided to begin heading over to the town. Needless to say, nothing could be found but that was alright.

As he stepped back into the safezone, he felt a wave of relief wash over him as he could no longer be met by any impostors, get jumped on by a monster or hurt in the slightest. Now he was back in the confines of the town, watched over by the guardians. With a fair need to recover mentally, he decided to give the few shops around some quick looks, scratching the back of his head as he tried to figure out the weird town's outline. "Let's see... Now where do I..."

Edited August 6, 2020 by ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

It took him a while, but eventually he found a small road that could be called a 'shopping district', of sorts. Deciding to go down it, he entered an alchemy shop that appeared to be giving away samples, in hopes of getting new customers. It had to be something like that, at least back in the real world, that was the plan. It probably worked the same here, no difference whatsoever. Instead of entering to look at the samples, the bluenette instead looked around in hopes of finding any interesting vanity potions. It was an NPC-run shop after all, and as such, there was little other of value to do in here.

While wandering around, he found rather interesting effects that could allegedly heighten a user's senses temporarily, help with relaxation, lower or increase the player's tolerance to certain temperatures, and the list went on and on. "You, boy.", a voice could be heard from the counter, getting blue's attention.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase turned his attention to the shopkeeper, which seemed to be an old alchemist. Just the textbook RPG definition of one- white hair, looked like a crazy scientist in his robe, with a raspy voice and a hunchback posture. Not that he knew, really, but... "..? Yeah?", the swordsman approached him with his arms crossed, cocking an eyebrow curiously. He wasn't thinking of buying anything, even if he had this many Col to spend, but that was alright. "I see you're eyeing the vanity potions with effects on players, yes?", the old man asked to make sure, to which the boy nodded.

He hated interacting with the shopkeepers in stores, and himself being one didn't help his case any. With a deep sigh, he gave a nod and proceeded to lift his hand as if to stop the alchemist from speaking any further. "Yeah, I'm just windowshopping though. I don't think I'll really buy anything, I'm tight on the budget anyways."

[ChaseR 0]

The alchemist proceeded to let out a sigh and almost grunt. "You aren't listening to me. You can have up to three samples of whatever you want from here before making a purchase. Granted, their effects won't be the same as a full potion's, but a sample is a sample. Pick any you find and do let me know, yes?", he submitted to the man, which... did, actually, catch him off guard. He thought only a few were up for samples, but hell, Kayaba must have felt generous when making this hellhole of a game. 

"Up to three, right... Can I try one out then?", he asked with a small frown, unsure whether he knew if he'd like one or not. The response was a mere chuckle from the old man as he walked towards the shelf with the vanity potions. "Of course. Which one is it that you want to try out?"

[ChaseR 0]

The boy looked over all of them, curious for two in specific. One that seemed to change your character's gender, and another that appeared to relax your tense muscles after some combat. The latter appeared to be very useful, especially for the occasion. "The muscle relaxing one. I uh... Had a rough fight. Samples are keepers, right? I mean even if I take a sample, I can have up to three, correct?", the bluehead asked, much more talkative than his usual due to how tense he had gotten facing himself, or a more sinister version of himself rather.

"Of course. But next time you come around, I am expecting a purchase, yes?", the old man insisted, and it was beginning to get hard for Chase to turn him down. If the potion appeared to do its job right after all, why would he not buy some more for himself and Shay?

[ChaseR 0]

For a start, he nodded and took up one of the small vials, drinking a bit and leaving it half-full. He could feel the effect almost right away, letting out a relaxed sigh. It was almost the same feeling as if he was being massaged. Blizz was somewhere outside this time, just waiting curled up in a ball a bit further from the shop. The young man settled on picking up a single relaxation potion and two gender-altering ones, knowing that they were temporary once he'd checked in with the alchemist and waving him goodbye.

He was planning to try the gender-bending one out with Shay or maybe even give her one of the two samples out of plain curiosity, figuring that the change would be only visual. Then again, a 'temporary' change in visuals would imply... There was no way it was just visual, and especially all alone, he was in no mood to experiment with vanity cocktails and chugging them right on down.

[ChaseR 0]

He didn't dwell on it any longer than he had to, exiting the shop and picking up the ball of scales that was Blizz, only for him to unwrap on his hands and climb up his arm. "Sorry to keep you waiting buddy. I got some samples from the store for me and Shay, maybe it'll become easier for me to relax after battle. I've... Actually never been to a game before. So this is a whole new thing I'm experiencing first person, too.", the young man monologued as he usually did, before remembering his pangolin already understood way too little of what any human said, if anything at all.

That got him to sigh, and begin wondering if there's any vanity potion to help with that. It'd be better to give it some rest and not overthink the whole potion thing now though. Having been done with one store, he decided he might as well just give everything else a look around, in case he could get some neat, vanity clothes for a cheap price at a decent quality.

[ChaseR 0]

Then again, their quality would be vanity, the item's appearance would just need to not be scruffy and rather... plain, at the very least. Nah, maybe that was what he wanted at the very most. "Man, this is... Surely a completely different thing. It'll take me a few weeks to get integrated into this whole system, just like it took me for the whole 'no baths needed' thing... It still feels weird up to today, but my brain just got hardwired to not mind it anymore, I suppose.", he let his thoughts loose in the back of his mind, keeping an eye out for any tailors around- NPC ones always.

"Say, it's surprising how there's so many NPCs but they feel and act fully human. It's... It reminds me of that mother and daughter I helped back in the second floor. It's actually less lonely like this, isn't it?", Chase smiled to himself, feeling like the solitude that oftentimes washed over him was beginning to go away bit by bit.

[ChaseR 0]

"I've never had this much time to spare before, plus... Even if I did, I usually spent it on killing monsters and trying to do quests, burning myself out... Maybe... Maybe everybody's right. I should go easy on myself instead of keep pushing like that. Maybe instead of taking multiple trips to the garden on the eleventh floor, it'd be best to just take one long trip every few days and not burn out multiple times in a day.", blue tried to form a schedule in his own mind, scratching the back of his head and looking to the side at his companion.

Blizz appeared rather confused, having taken notice of how thoughtful the male looked and tilting its head at it, before proceeding to let out a croak. "Say, I do want to try my new gear out, but... I should really try to take it easy.", he nodded to himself, causing the pangolin to just be more confused.

[ChaseR 0]

Not like it could do anything about it, but it's the thought that matters. "If I can't get myself back in the game and constantly keep myself burned out, I can't protect Shay or anybody else I pair up with properly. Then again, I only need Shay if we're to multiclass. I can't really say I trust anybody else nearly as much either... Even if Ariel helped me out a lot to start off, I haven't talked to her in three or so days...", his inner monologue continued, as he jumped from one subject to the other. This was already a neatly failed attempt at taking it easy, but... He tried to find a way on how to do that regardless.

He eventually just shrugged and gave up on it, knowing this wouldn't do anything but go full circle. With that, he seemed to have wasted so much time walking around that he almost reached the end of the shopping district before he saw what seemed like an NPC-run tailor shop.

[ChaseR 0]

"Hey, Blizz, check this out.", the boy grinned and began heading towards it, entering to see a woman in front of a loom appearing to work on something. Once he got her attention, he already knew what he wanted, now that he would be living in Shay's shop until he could buy the both of them a place they can call home. He ordered the home attire he desired, with a wide, happy grin on his face as he waited. All of this, kept himself from backtracking to just the mood he was in but a few minutes ago, in a combat frenzy against another one of Kayaba's sinister creations.

Maybe it was worrying that he jumped between moods so much, or maybe it was natural. Nothing really was natural or normal in this world by that point, and as such, he chose to not even dwell on the topic any, whenever it even came to his mind- this wasn't the first time he was being more bipolar than ever in the real world during his stay in Aincrad.

[ChaseR 0]

It didn't take more than a few minutes before the items that he had requested were ready. The items handed to him went to his inventory right away, but they appeared to be pyjamas of sorts. He had asked for some clothing tailored to fit his character colors, some light blue pyjamas with a really homey feeling- a sweater with two white lines going down its sleeves and some black sweatpants with a white cord to loosen or tighten them around one's waist alongside the elastic.

Now that he had picked up his order, he got out of the store and looked at Blizz, patting him on the head before recommending what got the monster the most excited about this little trip. "Sorry if it felt like we wasted time. Let's head back to home, yeah?", he recommended with the same bright grin as before, only to get a happy and almost excited croak from his familiar in response.

[ChaseR 0]

And with that, the bluenette headed towards the town's teleporter. Upon approaching it, he realised just how slow he might feel during the first days of taking it easy, if he managed to push through with it of course. He'd try his hardest, so that he slipped up as least as possible, but what NIGHT had mentioned to him the other day... "It took her weeks to make this much progress as I've made right now... Maybe I won't take it that easy after all. I can't leave her waiting, plus, I've got to answer the mystery of Calrex...", Chase concluded his thoughts by noting that he'd incidentally met her on a floor very similar to this, grinning slightly at the thought.

He finally got onto the teleporter, closing his eyes and looking to his companion once more before giving him another soft pat. "We'll keep trying our best. You'll help me in other fights, this one was just... special.", he clarified with his voice sharpening slightly towards the end, shaking it off and grinning softly, less happily than before regardless. "C'mon, off we go."

Spoiler

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