[PP|F7] <<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 7: the Jasper Hatchling>> Three To Go!

[ChaseR 0]

<<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 7: the Jasper Hatchling>>

And with the sixth hatchling out of the way, Chase grabbed tight hold of the amulet. These gems that were the keys all the way to the castle were... peculiar. Each one in an amulet of sorts, for whatever reason, begging to be pried out. It's not like Chase would ruin any favors and leave it just be in its socket for much longer.

"That's another amulet-", he grunted and gripped it as tightly as possible, before yanking it right out. And as soon as he did, it shattered and a loot window appeared before the both of them, rewarding them with the stone. Now there were just three to go- slowly getting there. What a long trip this had been though, and a tiring one at that. "- down! Let's go to the next floor.", he nodded and got up, stretching his rather cramped limbs and yawning. This wasn't tiring work, but it was repetitive and lame to say the least- all the monsters were getting more and more troublesome than the usual quest objectives, and even as bosses, they were just a hassle to deal with. 

 

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 75
HP: 1530/1530
EN: 150/150

Stats:
Damage: 19
Mitigation: 43
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
BH:76
VAMP DEF:76
PARA:1
HLY:12
HLY BLS:16
LD:5

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

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Searching [Rank 4]
Charge [Rank 5]
Hiding [Rank 2]
Parry [Obtained]
Extended Mod Limit [Obtained]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise
Meditation

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



Battle Ready Inventory:
Insta-Life ++ (T2/Perfect/HP REC III)*1
Woodland Armor (T3/Perfect) MIT III (1/3)*1
Teleport Crystal [F21]*1
Imugi's Inspiration (Mass HP Recovery)*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:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
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 [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
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring:

 

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald didn't know it, but he and chase shared the same opinion on the dragon quest line they were on,  it wasn't really hard work, especially for Ozwald who found himself not needing to do any of the work the vast majority of the time. The quests were more just tedious, it was a pattern, go up a floor, find where the dragon is, kill it, repeat. Ozwald was happy for the experience and levels that it was providing him, but the quest itself had very little story driving home behind it. 

Ozwald walked with Chase back to the settlement on the sixth floor, calling out the name of the next floor's settlement before being teleported there in a flash of blue light. "Number seven? We are getting very close to the mysterious castle." Ozwald commented glad to see the goal of their mission coming into reach. Ozwald looked around himself, and he could see that almost the entirety of the floor they were on was a mountainous one, which would make it all that much harder for them to find where they were looking for. "I hate to ask it again. But, have any idea where the dragon might be?" Ozwald asked the same question every single floor, he didn't know Aincrad like Chase did, so it was better to ask than just do the guess work. Plus it allowed Chase to fill him in on other areas on the different floors.

Ozwald consumes slime from his slime farm: Plus 1 SP for a thread

Spoiler

Name: Grimm Reaper
Level: 24
HP: 480/480
EN: 48/48

Stats:
Damage: 11
Mitigation: 5
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
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: Damned Souls(Tier 1/perfect/trinket)[ACC 3]

Skills:
Martial Arts [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 1]
Hiding [Rank 2]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter [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

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Hiding): +1 Rank to the Hiding skill.
Basic Training: +1 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.
 

 

[ChaseR 0]

Of course the news that Chase had were about as much discouraging as they were encouraging. This was rather embarrassing to admit, but upon realising he didn't have a single clue, he thought to open the quest's details and skim through them- only to see that a message was attached to them too. One from an 'info broker' by the looks of it. "You won't believe me when I say this, but I actually do... You do too...", he groaned and scratched the back of his head, looking out of the settlement before starting to make his way on over. "These stupid texts had details about where the hatchling should be, give or take, all along... For crying out loud.", he groaned and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "That just makes our job easier. Go, kill, leave, repeat. Almost there anyways.", he nodded to himself. While he talked a lot given his usual behavior, the best part was that this wasn't even towards Ozwald as much of an inner dialogue being muttered on the way to the gates.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald was understandably upset when Chase told him about the information from the broker. Sure enough, when he looked at the info from the quest there was a message attached from an information broker giving a general estimate for where the small dragon might be. Ozwald closed the window that had the information, sometimes this game was too similar to a normal rpg for Ozwald's taste.  sometimes the game would feel like real life, other times it felt like the game it was originally designed to be.

Ozwald walked along with Chase to the gates of the settlement "I can not believe I never noticed that" Ozwald proclaimed in annoyance, he had been doing these quests almost non stop since they began and he never noticed that the quests told them where they should go to find the dragon they are supposed to put an end to. At least he knew now, he thought to himself, next time I won't have to ask where it might be and can instead just start heading there.

[ChaseR 0]

"Fucking hell, right? If we hadn't found anything, I'd be even more pissed off right now.", he grunted and scratched the back of his head, starting to think to himself. "What even is the point of knowing where the hatchling is when this mission is about- ugh. Why did Kayaba put a tracker on some quests and none on others, it's annoying. It takes the mystery out of it."

Admittedly, the both of them were miffed. The good news though, was that they both knew were to go as of right now, fully aware of the mob's general location. Then again, Ozwald still lacked the experience when it came to the floor's layout, and although Chase didn't excel in the seventh in particular, he could guide him around and show him where it should be. "Anyways, look past that. We got a clean target this time.", he nodded to himself and looked over his shoulder at Grimm to make sure that he was following up closely behind, turning back to the path once he was sure and continuing to walk down. "Let's keep up the pace. We're almost done anyways. You should have gained quite a few levels in the meantime."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald's anger rarely lasted more than a few moments, and this time was no different, the anger that he had felt at himself for not noticing the information broker's notes had dissipated and left him soon after the feelings had first appeared inside of himself. Ozwald now knew exactly what the coordinates were, but that was only so useful when he literally knew nothing about the floor he was on, from what he could tell the entire floor was covered in mountains which would make it harder to find those coordinates. 

Ozwald decided that whether he knew where he was going or not, it was still better to just follow Chase along on the quest. Ozwald just followed behind the blue haired man "Yeah I have already gained quite a lot since we began this questline." he told the man agreeing with his statement on the matter. The paths that the pair were following twisted and turned around mountains, at this rate it would take them twice as long to reach the dragon on this floor than any other previously.

[ChaseR 0]

"That's good. I've gained a few levels since we started too, surprisingly enough. Keep this up.", he nodded to the brawler and quietly continued trekking in between the mountains down and up the path, silent. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he had little to talk about. Being himself, he knew not what else he could ask in order to start a conversation, nor what else they could do. After all, it had been a long while since they began the quest line and they were still going at it all the same. Nothing interesting happened in between them and the story was weak and unimmersive. The only thing keeping them moving by now was probably the controls- the simple fact that they were still trapped inside the game themselves. Nothing else about this anthology was motivating. It wasn't that the quests were just disconnected, they were lazy and uninspired. Despite having almost never gamed in the past, Chase was starting to feel right now as if he was understanding about game design. "... Did you game often in the real world? If I asked already, I forgot."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald was walking behind Chase, in much the same fashion that he was, his hands in his pockets walking without any hurry at all. Ozwald barely reacted to Chase's question before he opened his mouth to respond. "No I don't think you have. I mean when I was younger I played a lot of games, but life gets pretty busy this is the first game I picked up in, I think five years." Ozwald informed his companion about his gaming habits "Hell of a choice to get back into right? How about you?" Ozwald joked before asking Chase the same question.

Ozwald kept walking listening to the ambiance of the world around him, it was a beautiful sound, animals that they couldn't see making a harmony of sound that, to Ozwald sounded like music. The path would periodically grow steeper as Chase and Ozwald would walk up smaller hills in order to wind around the larger mountains.

[ChaseR 0]

The question wasn't anything all that important, but Chase surely wasn't too keen with being asked this. It seemed normal, for people stuck in a game like this to have been gamers. But to Chase, not so much. He barely knew of this demographic up to a few years ago when they got in in the first place. "Er... Right."

"I originally bought this game for me and Lily. We both stocked up pocket money and split it half and half to buy the console and game.", he nodded to himself as his small monologue started. He didn't want to keep talking to himself or to bore Ozwald out of his mind though, so he did his best to keep it short and simple. "We thought it'd be pretty and we could share a house if we made two accounts if that was possible, but... It was our first game. Would be. It's mine.". To put it simply, in other words, this was a world wholly unfamiliar to the bluehead. He had no experience. Nothing to go off of whatsoever. "So never played a game before. It's my first."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald felt really sorry for the blue haired man that he had come to call a friend, it was more than horrible that the first game he ever played was this hell hole of a game. Ozwald knew that Chase was not someone who liked to be pitied, or at least he seemed that way, so Ozwald didn't say anything of that sort. "Well, you sure picked a great game to start with." Ozwald joked, it may have seemed unsensitive to joke about something that was so serious, but that was how Ozwald dealt with issues that were important. 

"You weren't wrong though, this game is stunning, I have never seen anything quite like it." Ozwald commented on how amazing SAO would have been if it weren't a death game that everyone involved in had no way of escaping. This game would have been a breakthrough for gaming, and technology as a whole had Kayaba not turned it into his own twisted and sick joke. It was sad to think about all that could have been.

[ChaseR 0]

Honestly, Chase didn't mind for all that this had stripped him of Lily. He'd rather this than Lily be trapped with him. She was the only other person he would constantly be worrying about, and he knew that both of them were much better off this way- although he regretted not being able to tell Lily that everything was fine and he was still alive, trying to get out.

"Yeah. If only Kayaba's mind was in the right place.", he grumbled to himself and scratched the back of his own head, unsure what else to add to this situation. He might as well speak his mind if the conversation asks for it. "I'm still fine with this. At least Lily is safe back outside. I... probably would be worrying out there otherhow.", he looked over at Grimm and put on a fake smile before turning back to the path, seeing it slowly curve off into what seemed an end after the corner of the mountain's base. According to the broker's information, that meant that they must be somewhere near the hatchling- a good conclusion to their quest. Was it though?

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"Yeah I definitely know that that is how I feel, better me than someone I care about." Ozwald was mainly thinking of Andi, the woman who was his best friend in the real world, and was the entire reason he had decided to use martial arts rather than fight with a sword. Andi had planned to join Ozwald in this game, she had bought it and everything, but when the day came she wasn't able to get on with him, it would have been her first game too. Ozwald was glad that he was the only one who ended up here, inside of the trap that was Sword Art Online. 

Ozwald noticed that they were practically at there destination, so he kept his eyes open even more than he normally would have. Turning to look off to the side Ozwald saw something peculiar, a structure similar to stonehenge. "Hey," Ozwald called out to grab Chase's attention "Do you see that, think it could have the dragon hatchling?" Ozwald asked pointing towards the stonehenge esque structure that was in a basin beside them.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase gave his partner a quick nod. That was most definitely a lair to a hatchling. He slowly began to step towards it, pulling his blade out. Stretching it to the side, he tightened his grip on his blade and pushed some rubble out of the way, only for the dragon to jump out. With that, he prepared to swing the flat of his blade right back at the monster, only for it to become heavier before he could land the strike.

With his other hand quickly moving right at it, the blinding light their eyes had now gotten used to no longer blinded them, instead Ozwald being able to see the blade's full form fixed by the wisps of white- a mystical phenomenon that Chase had noticed with his sword alone. At least he hadn't seen any others that acted the same way. And already, the monster was damn near dead. A good fight, compared to the one before. A hellish one at that.

Spoiler

ChaseR uses Galaxy Destroyer on Draigoch! (BD: 9)
(20 + 1 + 12) * 13 - 65 = 429 - 65 = 364 + PARALYZE

ChaseR: HP: 1530/1530 | EN: 141/150 (-9) | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | HOLY: 12 | PARA: 9-10 | BH: 76 | V.(DEF): 76 | HBS: 16 | LD: 5
Grimm Reaper | HP:480/480 | EN:48/48 | DMG:11 | MIT:5 | EVA:1 | ACC:3 | REC:2

Draigoch: HP: 36/400 (-364) | DMG: 115 | MIT: 65 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2 | PARALYZED

<<Mini Avalanche>> : Whenever this rolls a 9 or 10, boulders will rain from the sky landing on your character dealing 60 unmitigatable damage to the player.

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by ChaseR

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Spoiler

BD: 8 + 3 = 11(Hit) 11 * 15 = 165 - 65 = 100

ChaseR: HP: 1530/1530 | EN: 141/150 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 43 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | HOLY: 12 | PARA: 9-10 | BH: 76 | V.(DEF): 76 | HBS: 16 | LD: 5
Grimm Reaper | HP:480/480 | EN:33/48 (+2 REC, -17) | DMG:11 | MIT:5 | EVA:1 | ACC:3 | REC:2

Draigoch: HP: 0/400 (-100) | DMG: 115 | MIT: 65 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2 | PARALYZED

<<Mini Avalanche>> : Whenever this rolls a 9 or 10, boulders will rain from the sky landing on your character dealing 60 unmitigatable damage to the player.

LD: 14
CD: 9

Loot:
HP*3 = 1,200 Col
HP*2 = 800 Col
Unidentified T1 Rare Armor
LD Even: HP*2 = 800 Col
CD Odd: 2 T1 materials

Total Col: 2,800 + 5% = 2,940 Col

Ozwald watched as the mostly broken blade coalesced into a shimmering blade that fell down on top of the dragon before the pair. Although Ozwald had seen Chase's sword in action before, it always shocked him. The blade when not being used wasn't much to look at, just seemingly a shattered blade, but when in use it was a beautiful sight to behold, so much different than the weapons that Ozwald always fought with.

Ozwald didn't want to be shown up by Chase's display and prowess, but nothing that he knew was all that flashy really, Ozwald was a brawler his punches hit with efficiency less than style. Either way the short black haired man slowly made his way to the dragon, walking almost nonchalantly at the beast before stopping next to it. Ozwald brought back his fist punching forward with a mighty fist that not only caused the dragon to explode into an explosion of blue light, but also created a sonic boom that rippled through the air. 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[ChaseR 0]

And with Ozwald delivering the final blow, the quest was already done. This time it had gone surprisingly, and needless to say pleasantly quickly, unlike every other single attempt. With the dragon out of the way, Chase dusted his hands and moved on to where the body was, looking around. After not too long, he found what he was looking for though.

"I'm fine with getting it done that fast. Let's head back home.", he told Ozwald with a quick nod and held the trinket in his hands tightly, tweaking with it on the way home. He was holding it down with one hand, applying some pressure on its back side, while trying to slip his fingers between the gem stone and the edge of the trinket. "How's the loot looking?", he questioned, knowing fully well that given his companion's level, the last hit must have gotten him a few drops out of the hatchling, just like every other time. This was one of the admittedly small benefits to bringing Grimm along. Although, he himself was impressed with how much damage he could deal even at the first tier- which he was about to break out of on top.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"Hmmm, not the best haul in the world, some tier one armor, which is good for my shop. As well as almost two thousand Col." Ozwald was neither displeased nor excessively pleased with the loot that he had gotten from the dragon last hit. No matter the amount of Col he got, it would always be nice, and while he wouldn't use the T1 armor, he could still sell it at his shop after identifying it. When Chase finally managed to pry the gem stone out from the necklace that it was attached to both Ozwald and Chase received a notification for gaining the gem and completing the quest.

"And that has officially made seven out of the nine. Only two more to go." Ozwald was glad about their pace, they were going through the dragon hunter quests at an amazing speed that was boosting Ozwald in not only levels, but also just the quests, completing them now means he wouldn't have to come back and get them later.

[ChaseR 0]

The trinket disappeared as the loot window for the gemstone appeared, and now they only had two more targets in sight. It was almost over with, after a long time. With his head now raised to look at the sky, Chase began to realise that Grimm wasn't just unfamiliar with these floors- this was about his first impressions of said floors, too. A good topic, right..? ...Right.

"You'll start getting good stuff later down the line. For now, just do with what you can.", he blankly responded to Grimm, unsure when it was that he began to drown in Col himself. It had been sometime, but... at which level was it? He worked hard and long to get his estate, but that didn't necessarily mean it was soon- then again, it must have been around Grimm's level. Maybe a few higher, around ten tops? Nothing came to mind though, no fond memories. "Either way... What do you think of these floors? Up to the seventh.", he broke out of his own train of thought, lowering his head and turning to the side at Grimm with an eyebrow raised. He was curious to hear of his companion's impressions, after all.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald nodded towards his blue haired friend, it was true that as he got higher level the loot would be worth more, and he was fine with that, that is what happens when you are doing fairly easy quests. "So far I have liked most of them, the dessert wasn't really my thing, but they have all been so amazing." Ozwald did his best to prevent himself from talking about all of the different plants that he had seen incorporated into the world, some were incredibly realistic and accurate to their real life counterparts and the ones that weren't were fascinating.

"I think my favorite would have been the jungle." Ozwald was certain that that floor was his favorite by far so far into their adventure. "The biodiversity there was phenomenal, there were so many plants and animals." Ozwald seems to smile more than normal when talking about the animals that he saw present in the game, after all animals were going to be his career before this game happened. 

[ChaseR 0]

Even now that he was trapped in a game and completely locked away from his studies, real life friends and interests, Grimm seemed to not want to give up on studying life in Aincrad. Chase wasn't sure what to expect in the first place, but this didn't come as too much a surprise to him. He almost chuckled, giving him a nod.

"Is that so? My favorite floor is the twenty first.", he responded blankly, looking up at the sky again and closing his eyes as he let his imagination roam free. He loved the twenty first. There was no suitable or favorite environment to him, but a cave where the crystals glowed in all colors and provided all the natural lighting that the cave otherwise needed to keep humans, animals and even the whole system lit, it was marvellous. It didn't feel like they were in a cave, more so that they were simply under a cliff, or just somewhere that the light didn't get to straight from the sun. Adding that to the few underground lakes that it had, and it was a dream for a fan of more humid and low-temperature areas, like himself. "It has crystals with natural lighting all around, and a few lakes. As well as hot springs. It's beautiful."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald imagined the place that Chase was describing while they walked back through the winding pathways on the seventh floor, to Ozwald it sounded wonderfully beautiful. "That sounds beautiful." Ozwald commented on the picture of the place that he had in his mind, he had never been to the twenty first floor, but he was bound to get there eventually. "I can't wait to see it." He added.

The winding pathways eventually led the pair back to the main settlement that could be found on the seventh floor making their way to the teleporter "I know we are on a roll, but I just hit tier two and need to go find some better gear, I will get in touch when I have, and we can continue this." Ozwald was marginally upset that he couldn't complete the adventure in one fell swoop with Chase, but getting the better gear would help him be more useful in the long run.

Spoiler

Thread Rewards:

• 5 SP (2 quest, 1 page, 1 event, 1 slime) Grimm, 4 SP (2 quest, 1 page, 1 event)
• 4,190 Col (Grimm)
• 2 T1 Mats (Grimm)
• Unidentified Rare T1 Armor (Grimm)