[PP|F1] <<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 1: the Emerald Hatchling>> Long Name, Short Trip

[ChaseR 0]

<<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 1: the Emerald Hatchling>>

Right now, Chase had all he wanted. He just had to wrap up some quests about dragon hatchlings. They were supposed to be for the lower levels, he assumed given that they started at the first floor and finished at the tenth. One on each floor, all in order and to be done after the previous one was over. That wasn't a problem. And even better of all, was that now he had a new weapon he wanted to test out- the one he picked up after successfully taking down Uso-Tsuki and preventing the 24th's Chief's assassination. Thankfully, no such problems would arise again from what he knew. And the quest log too, of course.

Putting aside the several days old accident he managed to avoid, he let out a deep sigh and sat at a bench in the first floor, opening his menu to find Ozwald. He'd asked him to come and tag along, after all. With a quick message punched in, he sent it away and looked up at the sky, letting out a deep sigh. 

ChaseR: I'm waiting outside near the gate. Mete me there when you're awake.

[Chase uses Mega Slime Farm. (+2 SP at thread closure)]

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 57
HP: 1170/1170
EN: 114/114

Stats:
Damage: 18
Mitigation: 43
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 5
BH:46
VAMP DEF:58
ABS ACC
HLY BLS:16
LD:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Blade of the Warrior>> (T3/Perfect/2HSS): ABS ACC, ACC II
Armor: <<Azure Overcoat>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): V.DEF I, HBS I, MIT I
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 4]
Searching [Rank 1]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]
Parry [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision
Athletics
Sprint & Acrobatics

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Insta-Life ++ (T2/Perfect/HP REC III)*1
Woodland Armor (T2/Perfect) MIT III (1/3)*1
Teleport Crystal [F21]*1
Imugi's Inspiration (Mass HP Recovery)*3
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 (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1]
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:

ChaseR: HP: 1170/1170 | EN: 114/114 | DMG: 18 | MIT: 43 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 5 | ABS. ACC | BH: 46 | V. DEF: 58 | HBS: 16 | LD: 2

Edited October 15, 2020 by ChaseR

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald had barely been awake before he received Chase's message asking him to meet him at the gate for the first floor's main settlement. Sitting up from the simple straw bed that he had rented out of the inn Ozwald shivered, the rooms may not have done much to keep the morning cold out, but it was better than sleeping outside. Ozwald exhaled deeply watching the steam from his breath slowly fade away before he got out of the simple bed. Going to the single small dresser in the room Ozwald pulled out his black clothes and slipped them on, joyed that they helped keep him warm. Grabbing his wraps from the top of the dresser Ozwald walked out of the door.

The gate wasn't very far away from where Ozwald had found himself staying for the night. Still wrapping his hands with the black and silver hand wraps that had now become a staple for his looks, and were the most flashy thing that Ozwald had on him, Ozwald walked up to where Chase was sitting on the bench by the gate. "So you said something about a dragon?" Ozwald asked finishing wrapping his hands with the long thin leather strips. "I would like to see a dragon, you better not disappoint" Ozwald smiled at his silent and awkward friend waiting for him to stand up.

Spoiler

Name: Grimm Reaper
Level: 12
HP: 240/240
EN: 24/24

Stats:
Damage: 9
Mitigation: 5
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 2
TAUNT:1
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Soul Devourer(tier 1/Perfect/Hand Wraps)[DAM 3]
Armor: Death's Shroud(Tier 1/Perfect/Light Armor)[EVA 1][REC 2]
Misc: Tear of the Stars(tierless/perfect/trinket)[ACC 2][Taunt]

Skills:
Martial Arts [Rank 3]
Light Armor [Rank 1]

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(+50 hp)*3
[T1]Health potions(rare)(+40 HP)*5
[T1]Damage potion(uncommon)(+1 DAM)*1
[T1]OHP(special)(+50 max HP for thread)*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.
 

 

[ChaseR 0]

Chase looked to the side as soon as he heard Oz' voice, just to smile and get up on his legs, stretching. "Of course. It's still just a hatchling and it should go away in a single hit, but... yeah. I heard that the final of the quests gets wild, but we'll have to see.", he offered a grin which quickly faded away before beginning to lead him out of the settlement, huffing and giving the sky another quick glance. Cloudy, and sunny despite the fact they were on the first floor of a tower- it was always a nice way to wake up honestly.

Standing in front of a forest, he kept his hands stuffed in his pockets and looked over his shoulders at Grimm, before back to the forest. "... I don't know much else about the drakeling. I'm guessing it won't just be moving around, so maybe a nest, an altar, something around those lines. Stay close to me though and don't wander off on your own, just in case. Aight?"

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"This is a dragon right? It has to live in a cave on a giant pile of gold right, You've seen the movies haven't you?" Ozwald chuckled thinking about all that he knew about dragons, which was admittedly only knowledge from the games, books and shows that he was interested in. "I will make sure not to stray too far, don't want to end up another pile of bones inside its horde." Ozwald looked up at the sky again, disdained that the sun was out, he so much preferred when he could see the stars. Ozwald didn't walk fast sharing his leisurely pace with his friend, not at all rushed to face the dragon, but excited all the same. "What do you think its going to be like seeing a dragon so up close?" Ozwald asked his friend, both a little scared and a little bit more excited at the thought of standing so close to such an amazing creature.

[ChaseR 0]

With his comment, Chase's mind went off to the most common denominator. "I've only seen dragons in those movies, but... the CGI was really bad, sooo~... I don't think though. If it's a hatchling and it goes about unnoticed down here in the first floor, no way it's that huge. Not that it won't be a challenge, but...", he grunted, curious to see what it looked like much more than he initially was. It looked like Ozwald's gears had begun to get going now that dragons were involved- was this every player's fantasy, to see a dragon up close in a VR environment?

"I doubt there's even gonna be bones around, most of the scenery I've seen is tame. Kind of like... generic fantasy, from movies and tabletop games? I've fought off some smaller drakelings in the past, but this I can definitely not see as something scary. They were around... this big.", he tried to show him while trudging through the forest alongside him, holding his arms around about a feet or two apart. "And they were short, so like, mini-me's of actual dragons. I don't know if any of those exist, aside from one that attacked the twenty first a few days back."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"I mean yeah, it won't be huge, but it is still a dragon. even a baby dragon is bigger than me, look at me." Ozwald gestures at his 5'5" fram and slim body, he was very small compared to a lot of the people here, especially considering he was 23. Ozwald kept walking thinking about the dragon, it would be exhilarating to see a dragon up close. "Only two feet, that is, so small." Ozwald seemed vaguely sad at this notion, definitely relieved, but still down about it. Ozwald kept walking through the first floor with his recently made friend, it was hard to imagine he had known him less than a full day now, it felt like they had been through a lot, and to put that all into such a small time, felt odd. "Hey, boss, where is this dragon?" Ozwald asked curious as to how long it was going to take to reach the area where the dragon was.

[ChaseR 0]

The feeling was something that Chase sympathised with a fair bit. He let out a deep sigh and looked behind him, scratching his chin curiously before tapping his foot on the ground a bit. "... Where huh? Somewhere in this forest. I thought I made it clear enough?", he awkwardly laughed again, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I'm good with quests and all, don't get me wrong, but... Despite my level, this is my first time doing this quest too. It's just that from what I've heard, I can tap the dragon gently and be off with it."

"So what better opportunity than to get you to tag along too, for some free SP?", he finished off with the same awkward smile, tying it off beautifully with a sigh. "... I won't lie though, it'd be nice to have some pointers. Again, I don't think it's just strolling. It must have a special nest or structure near it.", the bluehead put the idea forward again, crossing his arms silently. "Tell you what, let's go straight and see what we can find. It's probably not going to be hard to find if it's on the first."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"That is true, especially if you know for a fact that it is in this forest, it won't be hard to find it, but the first floor is big if it isn't here finding it might be difficult." Ozwald nodded at chase's plan to just walk forward in a straight line, he had no better ideas himself, and questing with a friend was more entertaining than alone anyways. walking in comfortable silence Ozwald scanned the forest around them while he walked with Chase, looking for anything that could be out of the ordinary in the forest. 

"What is that?" Ozwald asked pointing farther into the woods slightly ahead and to the right of them. In the distance loomed a small outcropping of what seemed like a cliff with a dark hole in the center, barely big enough for two people to stand abreast. "Do you think that could be the nest?" Ozwald asked looking over at Chase.

[ChaseR 0]

At first, he couldn't see anything. That was until Oz spotted out his newest discovery, which got a slightly pained expression out of blueberry before he gave many reassuring nods. "That is... definitely the nest. It looks eccentric and sticks out like a sore thumb.". Approaching it quietly, he looked down into the hole only to see a scaled, shadowed figure below. Sadly, it was much more underwhelming than what they had expected initially. It was a tiny, poor little creature about the size of a pet dog, all curled up and snuggly asleep.

"... Oh well.", he grumbled and let out a shrug, jumping inside and landing on his two legs just fine. He looked up while the dragon woke and hissed at him, slowly crawling further into the cave and preparing to attack. "You ready to come join-", he abruptly stopped as a clank got his attention, and it wasn't from his chains. Instead, it was the sound of a necklace swinging about, hanging from the hatchling's neck with a gem on it. "This is definitely it. C'mon."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald jumped down a few seconds after Chase landing in a crouch next to him before jumping up back onto the balls of his feet "I am honestly kinda sad to kill this, he is so cute" Ozwald said not looking away from the dragon that was prepared to pounce.

Spoiler

Round 1

BD:8 + 2 = 10(Hit) 10 | 9 

[2]Grimm Reaper | HP:240/240 | EN:24/24 | DMG:9 | MIT:5 | EVA:1 | ACC:2 | Taunt:1 | REC:2

Rhaegal - the Emerald Hatchling HP: 124/125 (-1) | MIT: 25 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 | DMG: 50

Ozwald leapt forward before the dragon could jump forward and pounce itself. Bringing his fist forward Ozwald jabbed the dragon in the snout, he didn't use a sword art, it was a tiny dragon after all, but after seeing how little damage he did to the creature he knew he was mistaken. Ozwald jumped back to stand where Chase was "He is a lot tougher than I thought he would be" Ozwald commented at the meager display he had just made against the dragon. Ozwald stayed low ready to jump away again if the dragon decided that it wanted to lunge forward. Chase said he could kill it in one hit, and Ozwald was excited to see what he could do.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[ChaseR 0]

The first comment Grimm had told him he understood, especially after having had that conversation with Mari on whether killing the hatchlings should be considered acceptable or not. As for the drake hatchling, maybe it was around time to stop beating around the bush and let it rip already. He raised his sword in the air, taking a deep breath and opening his eyes to slash it down before it had enough time to attempt raising a strong wind against the duo.

Almost in an instant, it was cut in half and disappeared into shards, leaving nothing but the necklace that was worn around its neck behind for them to look at. Chase silently crouched and picked it up, planting his blade into the ground and looking at it as he tapped at the jewel in its very center with his fingers. "... So we have to get this gem or something?", he nonchalantly continued about his day, seeming almost unaffected by how cute it was. Was hence it no longer is even there for them to bawl over.

Spoiler

ChaseR uses Galaxy Destroyer on Rhaegal! (BD: 9)
19 * 13 - 25 = 247 - 25 = 222

Grimm Reaper | HP: 240/240 | EN:23/24 | DMG:9 | MIT:5 | EVA:1 | ACC:2 | Taunt:1 | REC:2
ChaseR: HP: 1170/1170 | EN: 104/114 | DMG: 18 | MIT: 43 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 5 | ABS. ACC | BH: 46 | V. DEF: 58 | HBS: 16 | LD: 2

Rhaegal - the Emerald Hatchling HP: 0/125 (-222) | MIT: 25 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 | DMG: 50

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by ChaseR

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"You are heartless." Ozwald feigned mock horror, that only had a small basis on reality. "Yeah I am pretty sure we just need to grab the gem." Ozwald looked over at Chase rubbing the back of his neck "What are we supposed to do now?" he asked not really knowing what came next, they had killed the dragon so fast that Ozwald couldn't really believe that the quest was already over, that was all it was. "You said there was one dragon per floor right? Do you want to go ahead and do the other ones, and get the gems soon?" Ozwald recalled Chase telling him about the story just last night before they parted ways, evidently on floor 10 there was a locked castle that could only be opened with 9 gems from dragons that could be found on each of the nine floors before the castle itself, but he had no idea what would be waiting for him inside.

[ChaseR 0]

Blueberry gave it a shrug and tried to pry the gem out, and as soon as he did it disappeared. Following it up, a notification showed up both of them that the item had been added to their inventory. An unusable quest item. Now that they were done, the amulet itself broke as if it ran out of durability, and now it was those two inside of that hole. He switched his blade and looked over at Grimm, shaking his head. "Nah, I wanted this one in specific to know what we're up against. The monsters, their abilities, their location. There's better quests to do before we go kill the rest, so you can get more leveled. Alright?"

It'd be better not to rush a high level quest, right now. He could probably one tap the second hatchling and from there on out, everything was an ordinary fight like all others. Which meant, probably a bit dangerous for Grimm and the battles that he could have fought. He'd need more levels, better gear and more skills. Otherwise, he'll be in big trouble and Chase's job is to prevent exactly that. "For now, let's go back to the settlement. There's a high level quest that we can do to skip you some levels."

Edited October 16, 2020 by ChaseR

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"Oh okay that makes sense." Ozwald nodded to his blue haired companion. Looking around Ozwald saw that there was no real way out of the hole that they had jumped into except the way that they had came in. Boosting himself back up, Ozwald grabbed the lip of the edge above and pulled himself up to stand on the ground above. Ozwald crouched down and lowered his hand into the hole, it wasn't a hard jump but help was always a good thing. Ozwald took one final look into the "cave" that they had found themselves in. There wasn't any treasure really to speak of at all. It seemed almost as though the dragon's only purpose was to guard one of the nine keys to the castle that made its home on floor ten. "It's kind of odd that this dragon didn't have any kind of horde, I thought that was like the staple of dragons."

[ChaseR 0]

Regardless of what the brit thought, Chase hadn't a single clue what to really expect. It was still in the first floor, so it couldn't be anything menacing, but to have an entire horde? That would be just a pain in the ass considering how little energy they, as in the lower levels, had to reserve for area of effect attacks. All the hatchlings would probably be on their own, but knowing that, there certainly couldn't be just a simple entrance right into the final castle in the tenth floor. Something must be lurking inside, be it a normal, proper dragon, or something worse. He knew not of what it was though, or if there even was anything. All he knew was that there was a quest.

"Not a single clue what that would have been like, I won't lie to you.", he laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, looking up at Oz and knowing he too, should probably get a move on outside and get going. He stuck his sword into the ground, creating a small few steps of ice using its freeze properties and used them to make his way up with just a little bit less effort, sheathing it again and looking towards where they came from. "Let's head back to the first and see what to do from here on out. Sound good?"

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"Hmm, I guess it doesn't really matter either way. We killed it and got the emerald, that is what is important." Ozwald joined Chase when he stepped out of the hole in the ground walking beside him down the dirt path that was winding its way through the forest. The trees passing by them all looking exactly the same, if the path wasn't there Ozwald wouldn't be able to tell if they were even going in the right direction. It didn't take very long for the duo to reach the edge of the forest, where it gave way into rolling plains and hills. The Town of beginnings wasn't very far away from this particular forest, and it wouldn't take them very long to get back at all. Running his fingers through his hair Ozwald looked up at the sky, a lot had happened in the two years that he had been in this game, and Ozwald didn't know when he would be home, but he wished for it dearly.

[ChaseR 0]

"Yeah, it's not a problem. Baby steps. Get stronger, then we'll blast through it for you. Speaking of which, any quests you got in mind?", he inquired and threw both hands behind his head as they went down the small, linear path to the exit of the forest and walls of the Town of Beginnings. Before long had passed, they were out of the chirping forests, and right in front of the town they had both grown quite familiar with. Chase with his dusty wooden inn, Grimm with wherever else he stayed- if it was even a single never-changing place.

"There's still the high level one I know of, but let's do yours first so you actually get some combat knowledge to boot. I thought it through and it might not be the smartest choice to let me give you a piggyback ride to higher levels yet.", he nodded to himself and crossed his arms, wandering behind him and entering the settlement along with the first tier player. "It's better if he learns everything while it's still simple anyways. From this point onwards, it's going to get much more complicated with my business too."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald nodded to his friend, everything that he said made a lot of sense "Yeah you're right it is smart that I learn to fight for myself. As for quests? The only one I have left on the first floor would be Secret Medicine of the Forest" Ozwald recalled naming the last quest that he had to do on the beginner most floor. He had been up past the first floor with Chase before, the last quest that they had done was on floor 2, but he had never been past there. "I can probably go up to floor 4 and still be useful though. Do you have any suggestions?" Ozwald asked curious as to what the more superior man had to say on the topic of quests that he should do next. The village was right in front of them and they would probably be parting ways for a little while after this.

[ChaseR 0]

When it came to the floors, Chase and his few trips about were enough to make sure that they mattered little, much too little to even bother looking at them and putting them side by side with levels. "Well... I thought the same about myself, but there's quests you can do in every floor right now. It's a matter of where you want to start. Secret Medicine of the Forest sounds good, but for a start, it's nice to just stay on this steady line and keep doing the quests towards the higher floors one by one. Ignore the dragon hunter anthologies though."

Of all the quests more misplaced than the rest, Dragon Hunter Anthologies and some reborn boss ones were the worst. Chase wasn't really able to remember what order he'd taken all of the quests in, despite his best efforts. "Well... There's plenty of quests all the way up to the fourth one. They get more scarce from there on out. So let's just keep leveling you up and worry about the rest when the right time comes, alright?", he offered with a sigh as he pulled his jacket's collar just a bit higher up over his overcoat, looking his way. 

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"Yeah those were my thoughts too, go through each floor, coming back to each of the ones where there were quests I couldn't do at the time." Ozwald nodded placing his hand on his neck. "Thankyou for letting me accompany you. I have some guild work that I need to take care of so I have to take my leave for now, but I will contact you for my next quest if you are still willing to help." Ozwald waved to his blue themed friend before turning away and walking to his undead themed shop on the first floor. Opening his HUD he looked again at the message his guild sent him, requesting that he go help a fellow guild member collect a valuable material for the guild. Ozwald grabbed the last few thing he needed and walked out of the town and teleported over to the second floor, following the directions he was given to meet up with his guild mate.

Spoiler

Thread rewards:

• <Rhaegal’s Emerald> [Vanity Quest Item](Grimm Reaper), (ChaseR)
• 5 SP (ChaseR: 1 quest, 1 page, 1 event, 2 slime farm) and 3 SP (Grimm Reaper: 1 quest, 1 page, 1 event)
• 500 Col (ChaseR)