[PP|F8] <<Monkey King>> An Awkward Predicament

[ChaseR 0]

Now faced with many questions probably in order to find how he knew so little, he began to awkwardly rub the back of his neck and look at NIGHT rather intensely. "I-I er... America... N-New York..?", he first told her before he asked something that would... probably just worsen his own predicament admittedly. "D-Drink it..? But it's like... a soup, right..? Isn't that kind of disgusting or..?". Although he was asking her, at the same time his hands were flying through every menu and he was working on upgrading his weapon. It took just a minute or so of tweaking before he just felt more nervous at seeing the Essence of Steel he just got disappear.

Thankfully, it had been used properly, but it took until he looked at his Zero Degree Icicle to realise that it was now a perfect with a bleed enchantment. That meant more damage while packing the same punch as his tierless final weapon originally would. The mere thought of it made him proud, but then he snapped back to reality and remembered he had an angry multicultural swordswoman right by him. "S-Sorry, you were saying?"

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 43
HP: 880/880
EN: 86/86

Stats:
Damage: 15
Mitigation: 25
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
REC:2
FRZ:24
BLD:24

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Zero Degree Icicle>> (T2/Perfect/2HSS): ACC I, FRZ I, BLD I
Armor: <<Wind Dweller>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I, REC II
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

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

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision
Athletics

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Spyglass (2/3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
Woodland Armor (T2/Perfect) MIT III (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:
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (-): +1 Rank to the - skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[NIGHT 0]

ChaseR's guesses were right. NIGHT was appalled to learn that the man beside her lived in the heart of a bustling city, in a country prided for its melting pot of cultures, only to find out that he hadn't had Japanese cuisine before, let alone-- what now, drank soup?

Her gaze had been folded into her palms as her elbows rested on the counter, the woman attempting to process her companion's lack of knowledge. Never mind the fact that he was fidgeting with his weapon; poor, confused NIGHT had to grapple with the idea of carting yet another player around for lunch just to expand his world view a little. She'd already attempted to do so with Yukiro, and that debt took forever to pay off.

But she was richer now, wasn't she? The player hoped so as she recovered from her temporary crisis, hoping Cordelia was ready with their food.

Two bowls set down side by side each other, and a plate of Takoyaki in between. NIGHT picked up two pairs of wooden chopsticks and handed one over to the azure question, keeping an eye on his movements there forward.

	NIGHT   | HP: 1450/1450 | EN: 157/157   | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 72 | BH: 71   | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 4   | Stealth Detection: 4 | Stealth Rating: 7   | Dungeon Search: 2
- - -
[Examine] [Equipment] Dragon's Gaze -- [ Keen | After a successful attack, gain +1 BD until your next successful attack, at which point this bonus is removed. Another successful attack will reactivate this enhancement. ] -- [ Paralyze I | Natural successful attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Absolute Accuracy | +1 ACC. Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. ] Reinforced Black Tracksuit -- [ Mitigation I | +54 MIT. ] -- [ Evasion I | +1 EVA. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ] [Battle-Ready Inventory] - - - - - - - - - Skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Light Armor | Passive | RANK 4/5  > Athletics Searching | Passive | RANK 4/5 > Reveal Hiding | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 5/5 Energist | Passive Quick Change | Active [Extra] Survival | Passive  Concentration | Active -- CD: 3 Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 3/3 Consumed Buffs  Spoiler Kumatetsu Statue | +1 DMG - - - - - - Misc. Buffs Spoiler Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Hiding | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests.

[ChaseR 0]

Albeit confused and feeling scared to make any more moves or ask any questions now that she was offering, no, giving him chopsticks, he felt as if he was boiling in his own sweat. "A-Aah... Er... Thanks...", he dipped his head in, feeling progressively more anxious and trying his best to position the chopsticks in his hand, one on top of his thumb and the other his index finger. With that petty pinch, he tried to get some of the ramen between his chopsticks but... to his dismay, he just failed. Eventually, he did manage to get a single piece and triumphantly shoved it into his mouth before looking to the side at Takoyaki.

He had already signed a death contract by talking in the first place, so there was little stopping him now. He pointed at the takoyaki with the wooden sticks in hand, lifting his gaze to meet with NIGHT's suspicious one. "... What's uh... th-this... ball...?". His voice grew more uncertain by the minute, but at least there wasn't any way to make this any worse than he already accidentally had. Probably.

[NIGHT 0]

She'd snapped her set of cutlery in half, before observing ChaseR's own dining habits.

In short: he had no experience with chopsticks whatsoever. How was this possible? There was a Chinatown in New York City, wasn't there?!

The woman reeled her emotions in for a moment, blankly staring at her companion when he'd pointed towards the takoyaki. With a smooth turn of her head and a voice that had lost all hope, she'd called for her guild mate over. "Cordelia. You have metal spoons and forks, don't you?"

So they were offered to ChaseR now. "Just... put the chopsticks down before you hurt yourself," NIGHT remarked, before her sights rested on the snacks in the center. "It's an octopus ball. Coated with a sweet sauce and Japanese mayo." The woman picked up one from the pack of six, holding it above her bowl of still untouched ramen. "Be careful when you're trying it," she advised, a worn look given to him from the corner of her eye. "They're usually warm in the center."

[ChaseR 0]

The sight of NIGHT just breaking her own chopsticks like they were twigs was definitely more than enough to send shivers down his spines and get him to start praying to whatever god came to mind first. With a hesitant nod, he looked at the chopsticks and tried to get a better feel for them as he frowned. "I-I can try learning though, I just d-don't wanna annoy you any... I didn't think it was that b-bad..?". His hands reached into the bowl to reach for some more ramen, but then again the prospect of his Asian companion just getting pissed off more was enough to make him stop as soon as they touched the bowl.

He quietly placed them down next to the bowl and accepted the fork, starting to eat the dish before her as if it was... well, pasta. "H-How the everliving fuck am I supposed to drink it though, this makes... no sense...", he grumbled inside of his head and nodded along to her instructions. "R-Right..."

[NIGHT 0]

By this point, NIGHT had just decided to accept her companions lack of knowledge of the dish, popping the takoyaki into her mouth sadly. Hopefully their shopkeeper wasn't looking directly at him either; the player didn't want to give either of them a strange or failing impression of each other upon first meet. She'd loosen her noodles from their folded pile in the shoyu in a beat before beginning to chow down herself -- with cha shu this flavorful, she believed, it was difficult for Cordelia's dishes to go wrong.

"You should try some," she offered, nudging the plate of takoyaki towards her companion in between her bites. "Before I eat them all." It was a fair warning in the woman's defense; good home made takoyaki was difficult to find in the real world, so while players were capable of honing their crafts in Aincrad, NIGHT figured it would be best to take advantage of it.

[ChaseR 0]

He looked over by the side at her and gave a slow nod, only to realise how quickly she appeared to have emptied her own bowl when he took the same amount of time getting... a few bites down, at most. He consumed a bit more of the plate she'd bought for him and looked over at the takoyaki, poking at one of the octopus balls with the fork until he'd gotten a good enough grip on it. "Wh-What does japanese mayo even mean... S-So I just... eat this..?", he wondered and hesitantly brought the food to his mouth, taking it and chewing right in.

And then he understood what exactly NIGHT meant- with the taste filling his mouth, he froze for a moment before starting to munch the takoyaki down, smiling widely and clapping his hands together. "Holy shit, this is good.", he revealed rather shocked, not sure what he should have expected instead of what he got. "As weird as your cousine is, it's fucking good-. Wait, you're Japanese?". I mean, the question held ground. She seemed to be rather offended by his lack of knowledge so she must have been Japanese or at least living in Japan back in the real world.

[NIGHT 0]

"No. Chinese," she corrected, perplexity still written across her face. Her visage had seemed to calm further the moment ChaseR showed signs of enjoying his food. "There's a little country called Singapore, and it's sort of like a port city. We get a bit of everything there. Ignorance is rarely an option."

NIGHT picked up another takoyaki, eating it whole before she continued. "Japanese cuisine is based off seafood. They're only making do with the catches of the day, and their emphasis on healthy eating turns up light yet savory dishes." Her chopsticks held up another lockful of noodles, the woman taking a bite out of them, before moving on to split her pork belly apart, adding the slice to her mouthful of food.

A gulp afterwards, the player picked up her bowl. "It's different with some of their mains." She rotated the ceramic just slightly, the liquid starting to pool on the side towards her. "The broth is usually simmered for a good few hours before serving. Sometimes up to a few days so that the flavours settle and mix. Same thing goes with the seasoned egg and cha shu; I think they're commonly left to rest in soy."

Lips to the side of the bowl. She drank the liquid in, a small portion at once. Salty, sweet, slightly thickened with oil; the shoyu was as tasty if not moreso than its common real life counterparts.

[ChaseR 0]

By now, the bluehead was prepared for a lesson in asian cultures- and that he got, at least on the Japanese front. He nodded along her explanations and watched her eat silently, getting another fork with noodles wrapped all around it and nomming on it while continuing to give her his full attention. Watching her drink the broth was... as weird as it he'd imagined it would be, but once he was done, he'd do the same to see if it was as good as she claimed it was. Many of the food names she mentioned were completely unfamiliar to him.

He had no clue how to write their names down, what they looked like or what they tasted. All he knew was that the mix as a whole tasted great, and certainly not how he thought it would. When she was finished, he was eager to try the broth out for himself, starting to dig into his bowl much faster than before. Of course, the eagerness was given just a light shove from how much he enjoyed the taste of the dish. With little noodles now left, he moved his fork over to the takoyaki to grab another one of the octopus balls, popping it in his mouth and letting out a low, happy squeal. "T-Too good, honestly..."

[NIGHT 0]

The nod NIGHT gave him was rightfully intense; food was one of the hallmarks that made life a little more worth living for, after all. Even across different cultures and countries, mediation and compromises were usually settled over a good meal. To see her companion buy into the idea of enjoying delicacies a little more was relieving, almost like watching a problem be solved. In time, she would turn back upon her ramen, finishing it within the end of their hour.

It was with a set of packaged meals in her inventory that she'd left the shop with ChaseR. The little lesson had almost wiped away their original goal, but it came to her once she'd stepped out of the stall, the frosty chill stinging at her cheeks. Snow crunched underfoot as NIGHT started to make her way forward, in the direction of the floor's settlement. "Right-- Sun Wukong now, on the eighth?"

[ChaseR 0]

The rest of the lunch was silent- when they got out, he heard her getting back on track with little breathing room and simply nodded. "Right. I've been there once, so... I believe I know the way over.", he admitted and took the lead, walking at a pace just slightly faster than NIGHT's. She'd treated him out in more than one ways, so he had to somehow start repaying the favor already. Otherwise, he'd practically be indebted to her no matter how many times he gave her everything he had over and over again. "I thought they were like Yuki, all of them, but... Frontliners can be cool."

"She doesn't look it but she's easy going and forgiving... Just tense, like me. I wonder if the others are this way, too. Speaking of which, what could Ariel be doing..?", his mind trailed off as he headed back towards the settlement, making his way to the teleporter with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Going through the memories he'd made, as short as they were, with the frontliner in an attempt to get his profession was certainly a trip, even if it hadn't been that long since then. He hadn't dabbled in it too much since he had no need for newer trinkets, but... Hm. He still kept the very same trinket in his inventory, the one he offered to NIGHT. "... If only she'd accepted it back then. Where even is she?"

[NIGHT 0]

She'd lagged behind him on purpose as his strides picked up speed to take the lead. The stroll back was pleasant, NIGHT's eyes trailing along the path towards Snowfrost, tracing out a mental map of the directions she'd taken in exploration of the woods on her own time. The last had been to another distant lake. Then there was the occasion she'd hunted with Nyanko back when she was a novice. The slow-growing kitten was still bundled up in her jacket's inner pocket, seemingly used to the tandems and jostlings of war by now. NIGHT was tempted to brush a finger against his fuzzy head, but decided otherwise, knowing it would wake her familiar up.

When they'd gotten close enough to the settlement to spy its buildings cloaked over with white, the duo made a beeline straight towards the floor pad. An instruction to the system was all that they needed before they were off to the eighth.

[ChaseR 0]

With the two finally arriving at the eighth, Chase stretched, welcoming the slight warmth of the forest. He started heading straight for the fields, taking his sword out before they exited the safezone and holding the new weapon in his hands to get accustomed to its weight. "So... Let me guess. We look around the forest for the Sun Wukong and then we find out it's another massive boss that's way underwhelming for its size, like the last two we fought?", he ran straight to assumptions, excluding the little detour they'd made. Every other boss though, was usually a pushover.

The sizes they had he'd never dare approach in the real life, but in Aincrad, monsters towering over him could be sliced open with a simple swing, no effort needed. So long as his numbers were high enough, always. That's why he felt the need to raise his own, so the behemoth that Absolute Zero is would be as easy to take down for him as it was for the swordswoman by him. "... How do you deal so much damage after all? That Avalanche boss... Your fight barely lasted any, and it had more HP than I do right now, with Athletics too."

[NIGHT 0]

Just as ChaseR had begun switching out his weapon, so too did NIGHT replace her winter coat with her tracksuit once again. "Actually," she began, recalling her prior trips visiting the Monkey King, "It's more akin to the size of Avalanche, but slightly smaller. It's often on a cliff side at some secluded area, popping out from the depths of below."

--Which was not at all accurate to the mythology, save for the part about being in a mountainous area. But before she could focus on deliberating Aincrad's muses, she continued walking alongside her company, moving onto the next topic of her strength. "It's simple math," NIGHT stated, pulling out a crystal from her inventory alongside her sword. Holding Jack's Executioner flat out in front of her, she balanced the block atop its surface, another midnight item to compliment her sword's darkness. "You've seen how this sword works before the first time we've met. Right? There's a player I know who makes good music; her songs enhance the power of my debilitations."

Then, completely unprompted, her sword and crystal quickly faded away, leaving Dragon's Gaze in its wake. "All I have to do from there on is wait until the poison takes effect. This blade almost never fails to strike, apparently, so that's what I'd turn to mid-battle."

[ChaseR 0]

Although he had gotten to see Jack's Executioner in battle, it was... more of a 'Oh, so that's the sword' sort of thing. She was using stealth, and any other occasion she or DAY were using Dragon's Gaze. The last note about her blade though... "A sword that never fails to strike, huh..? That's very powerful... Hell, do you think I'll be able to get my hands on anything that strong?", he asked and gave her a quick glance, with both eyebrows furrowed. He fixed his grip on the two handed greatsword he held, looking around while the two began to head for a more mountainous area.

It was rather hard to tell apart inside of such a lush forest, but he'd do whatever he had to in order to get to the boss. "... How do you switch between swords so quickly? Is it that skill? I think... Ariel's used it in battle once before, when we were killing Nepents. I haven't seen anybody else use it before.", he noted as he waited for an answer, looking around. The cliffside came closer and closer into view, and Chase prepared to throw himself at his enemy and stun for NIGHT to swoop the kill.

[NIGHT 0]

"There're blades much stronger than this one," she remarks, returning the sword to her side. "Jack's Executioner is one of them, even if it has its caveats. But you see now why I'm always out of weapons myself."

"To get my hands on something stronger, too."

Her eyes went to her company's steel, nodding at the man's question for himself. "They're not difficult to find, I think. But it takes some effort to search for them to begin with, and a little luck to find something you'd want to use." Then came the man's next query, and to that NIGHT couldn't help but return a mischievous smile. "I'd actually picked that up just recently," she admitted, a hand gripping at her side. "It's called [Quick Change], though I doubt most players find much use in it. If you look closer at your skill menu, you should be able to spot it. When you come into an abundance of equipment, it's better if you're capable of specializing for each moment."

[ChaseR 0]

"... I see. It sounds like something that I'll find coming in handy, sooner or later.", the boy admitted and smiled, only to feel the ground tremor again. Just like Avalanche Zero, a massive monster emerged from the cliffside, its hand first, pulling the rest of its body up, before it stood in front of them. His stance quickly shifted to lunge right at the monster, turning the blade in his hands and trying to hit it with the pommel, aiming for its stomach. The game worked the same, no matter the size.

A hit to the stomach was strong enough to knock most monsters off balance, unless they had some form of immunity to stuns or very thick armor. However, he hadn't balanced his jump properly and as a result, ended up missing just barely. The monster attempted to strike him out of the air, but he managed to pull a swift maneuver and barely dodge the attack, dropping back onto the ground and running back. "Sorry about that, I'll get him next time."

ChaseR: HP: 880/880 | EN: 86/86 (-2, +4) | DMG: 15 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 25 | BH: 8 | FRZ: 1 | BLD: 1
NIGHT:

Monkey King: HP: 250/250 | DMG: 240 | MIT: 50 | MD 9-10: AoE Stun (120 DMG)

Edited August 31, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

Wukong's sudden appearance only barely sent the knight on high alert. Her weapon must've flashed away and back into reality, on account that she'd forgotten she was holding it, too set on thinking about the next adventure she would go on for gear. When ChaseR rushed forth, barely missing his mark, NIGHT flipped the blade in her hands, watching her company land by the monster's claws.

"Sorry about that, I'll get him next time."

"It's all good." The player didn't like to chat much when it came to battles. But she knew what her companion was attempting to pull off, and began to dart forward with the same sword art in mind.

It mattered less on larger targets where she was able to strike them; Aincrad was unforgiving, but the systems it ran were slightly less so. The moment the blunt of her sword rammed into the monkey king's torso, a fire was lit in the eye of her blade. That spark of something fierce pulsed through her weapon further, and NIGHT could feel it, the rumble of her edge's awakening. Cheeky, this one; the woman knew it to be a paralysis of some kind, from the way Sun Wukong had started to collapse onto the ground. But it had to be on a Tempest out of all arts?

She whistled, holding her blade upright to the sky.

Spoiler

Using [Concentration]. (+1 ACC) to the following:

ID: 166856 | BD: 15 (10, +4+1)
<<Tempest>> vs Monkey King.
20 + 2 = 22 DMG | 22 * 8 = 176 DMG | 176 - 50 = 126 DMG

Ending [Concentration].
[Keen] activated. (+1 ACC) to all subsequent rolls.

ChaseR | HP: 880/880 | EN: 86/86 (-2, +4) | DMG: 15 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 25 | BH: 8 | FRZ: 1 | BLD: 1
NIGHT | HP: 1450/1450 | EN: 148/157 (-9) | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 72 | BH: 71 | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 4

Monkey King: HP: 124/250 (-126) | DMG: 240 | MIT: 50 | MD 9-10: AoE Stun (120 DMG) | STUNNED

[ChaseR 0]

Watching the monster quickly fall to its knees, Chase knew that now was the best time to take it out. He hadn't really expected it to be NIGHT that stunned it, but no matter. He swiftly took the same stance as before, starting to run towards it with both hands on the greatsword. It barely hung above the ground and once he was close enough, he let loose and whipped his hands with an angle upwards to the left, slashing at the monster's lowered head in hopes it'd be enough to take it down and put an end to this encounter short and sweet, just like that.

"I hit it. I know.", he mumbled in the back of his head and lifted his head to look at the large gash on the monster, which crystallized just like the rest of the bosses. With a grin, he turned to NIGHT and began sliding the sword back in its sheathe as he stretched once more. "Didn't think you'd use Tempest too. Thanks for setting it up for me, partner.", the boy warmly called to her as he walked back towards her. "So what's next on the list anyways? We're running out of pre-floor 10 quests really fast."

ChaseR | HP: 880/880 | EN: 86/86 | DMG: 15 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 25 | BH: 8 | FRZ: 1 | BLD: 1
NIGHT | HP: 1450/1450 | EN: 148/157 | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 72 | BH: 71 | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 4

Monkey King: HP: 0/250 (-145) | DMG: 240 | MIT: 50 | MD 9-10: AoE Stun (120 DMG) | STUNNED

Edited August 31, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

A burst of energy, and the sound of the shattering of glass. Just like she'd imagined, the boss hadn't been a problem after all, and NIGHT let out a dissatisfied sigh before willing her rumbling blade away. She nodded to his comment. "Tempest is fun to use, actually."

"So what's next on the list anyways? We're running out of pre-floor 10 quests really fast."

"Time to look upwards, then," the player returned. She slid a hand into her front pocket, the other pulling up her inbox to check on Bistro's old messages. She couldn't quite recall which hunts she'd ventured on with Yuki and Crow, but the woman was certain she would be able to pull an adequate list of foes up by now, offering the interface for ChaseR to scan upon.

-- Actually, now that she took a closer look, there were a few targets she'd thought to revisit on the lower floors herself. "The reawakened wasp queen's good," NIGHT suggested. "So is Hebishinu if you're up for snakes. Maybe Terra Firma back on Floor 5...?"