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[F1|PP]A less than gentle push... (Katana Acquisition)


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It took no more than an hour to get all the gear that she needed to get started. If she was being honest with herself, Sera was feeling somewhat half-hearted when it came to this sort of thing. Her free time was always filled with gaming but this was something completely different. The fate of her real world life was at risk any moment she stepped out of the safe zone. She was standing right in front of it, the soft colored opaque barrier that kept monsters away from players.

Her nerves were so shot she was locked in place. The armor and items she acquired were now on her person. It felt weird honestly. As she stepped through the barrier, she was realizing that she never even tried to practice with the blade. That's kind of important. Just a few meters from the safe zone on the danger side, she attempted to draw the weapon from it's sheathe.

It refused. The system bit back at her.

Sera was completely confused. She continued to try and separate the weapon from it's holster. No dice. "What in the world? Why can't I draw it? A-Am I not a high enough level? All my other equipment was the right level..."

Spoiler

Name: Sera
Level: 1
HP: 20/20
EN: 2/2

Stats:
Damage: 6
Mitigation: 9
Evasion: 2
Accuracy: 3

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Crescendo(T1/Katana) | DMG II; Acc I
Armor: Performance Gown(T1/LA) | Eva II; MIT I
Misc: Treble(TL/Tri) | Eva I; Acc II

Skills:
Curved Sword [Rank 1]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

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A hiss of white mists forming a shape, a twist of her heels as she appears. Floor 1 was no longer within ranges that could deal her harm, but even still she held an aura of caution. There were some places still unknown, still left to be discovered and penned to parchment. This was her duty, one of many that were required to make things easier. Information was hard to come by, and removal of the fog of war. There was hardly any better. A stature that did not slow her, a slender frame that easily could move about, and a set of skills to handle opponents silently one at a time.

A soft exhale as she peeled clean the blue mask that covered the lower half of her face, revealing that almost frostbitten bluish tint to her pale skin. A little tick offers a drop into a half empty green bar, she'd been at it for a couple of hours and a moment of respite was welcome. A glance to one yelling at a scabbard, a blade not unlike her own. She'd been there, but she was no teacher. Setsuna had her own duties to attend to and chose to hold a blind eye and allow her energy to retake itself.

Setsuna | HP:820/820 | EN:82/82 | DMG:16 | MIT:12 | EVA:3 | ACC:3

Spoiler

Setsuna, Firm Anima Assassin
Level: 41
HP: 820/820
EN: 82/82

Stats:
Damage: 16
Mitigation: 12
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Shiva's Embrace - Ancestry T2/Perfect/Katana [Damage 3]
Armor: Cold Fabric Kunoichi Wear T1/Perfect/L.A [+3 Evasion]
Misc: Kunoichi Wrapping's T1/Perfect/Trinket [+3 Accuracy]

Skills:
One-Handed Curved Sword [Rank 1]
Katana [Rank 5]
Hiding [Rank 4]
Light Armor [Rank 3]

Extra Skills:
Disguise

Mods:
Finesse Rank 3
Ferocity
Athletics

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal*1
Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [T1/Perfect/Support/Instant] +60 HP*2
Bird Seed (T2/Rare/Snack) Vitality 2*1

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Hiding): +1 Rank to the Hiding 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
Decor [Potted Tanabata]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

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.

 

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The more that Sera attempted to force the situation with her own weapon, the worse it continued to get. This was all extremely new to her to the point that she couldn't fathom why such a thing refused her input. The only situation that she could arise to was that she didn't have the necessary skills to wield the weapon, or she wasn't a high enough level. Though she had expected for the Katana to fall under the curved-sword archetype. What was she missing?

Another attempt to unsheathe the weapon was met with less pleasing results. They system seemed to want to tell her that it wasn't going to be this simple. A quick shock of the blade was enough to startle her to drop it to the ground. It was only at this point that she realized that she was being watched. Another player coming back from the fields with half her health remaining. It was clear that they new their limits.

"U-Uhm, excuse me? You look like you know what you're doing... Would you know why I can't draw this weapon? I won't be able to fight if I can't use it and it's the only one I've got up to this point... I was told my starting weapon wouldn't get me anywhere so spent almost all my money on this one..."

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A pause as the player seems to have sought her out, a shatter of the familiar above losing its bird like appearance. It falls and reforms to a slam. A wolf with cascading cold air as it collides with the earth. Setsuna eyes it and tells it "Continue pressing forth, I will join you shortly." It howls and scampers away through the treeline, its dot is seen upon her minimap roaring away. A glance back to Sera. "You cannot draw it without purpose, without reason. It is a tool to an end, not a toy." She offers with a cold ire, a bitter bite to the words. Removing her own from her hip, a form of show and tell. A metallic click as she latches to its handle and a tear draws a cyan blue blur in front of her. A parade of white mists that lingered beneath her feet as they roll away from where she stood. Tempered cold steel, glimmering beneath sunlight to which one would see a slight gloss of ice formed around its edge.

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The teen picked herself up off the ground as the girl, obviously younger than her but more experienced in this game, spoke concisely and strongly. There was something about her aura that was off-putting yet seasoned. Wielding a weapon with purpose and not treating it like a toy? She wasn't totally sure if she had more a purpose than just keeping herself alive as she attempted to do something about her situation.

Soon, she would draw her own blade, demonstrating just how she should do it. Comparing how she was handling her weapon to her new-found teacher, she could see the difference. Sera would take a moment and breathe, adjusting the sword to her side rather than holding the sheathe in her hand. If her own protection was the purpose she needed to wield this weapon, then that would be the temper to sharpen this sword to her needs. "O-Okay..." Sera responded, looking down at her hands as she did her best to mock Setsuna's motions. Her right hand placed to hold the sheathe and her left to take hold of the hilt.

Her first attempt failed yet again, but it felt different this way. Less like the sword was a plaything for her desire. The second was another failure, but her third try, she really calmed her mind to get this to work. With an exasperated groan, she finally pulled the blade loose from it's scabbard. The glowing white and mint-colored blade shined against the rays of the sun. "I-I did it! It was really that simple?" She asked herself as she gripped the blade with both hands, unorthodox with her left hand since it was her dominant.

For a moment, she would give the blade a quick slash. A basic attack was a fine start, but as she attempted to replicate what she was able to do with her curved sword, the bright blue tint did not appear. "I can't seem to activate my sword art... Doesn't this sword fall under the Curved Sword Skill tree? It should work since I have a rank in it..."

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An attempt to turn unsure if the girl would be able to do anything with the knowledge, the weapon may not ever accept her. A subtle tick of her HP to full as the risen frost construct was marking more areas of the floor as discovered. Mapping data kept flooding in, each square on the grid becoming visible as it passed. A ring causes Setsuna to turn, a tear of the weapon free from its enclosure. "Whatever it was that you were thinking, milling over in that mind of yours when you wished to pull it free. Cling to that." Setsuna ushered closer, grabbing at her elbow and pushing her arms closer together. Elbows down, she peels free the scabbard from her side and hands it to her.

"Draw it again, but with that motive in mind. It isn't a curved sword, it isn't just a sharp thing you can swing at an opponent. It is a tool, one that you must share your intentions with. Ranks come with training, and are a reflection of your own growth." Sliding her own katana back to its saya, she produces a stance to which the girl could reflect. Her own sheathe in her left, as she slid her knees apart and leaned low. A hover of her right over the hilt. "Every attack starts here, in Iai: The mortal draw."

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She wasn't sure if it really was the reason that she had 'purpose' that she was able to draw the blade or if it was because she had simply given it enough tries to actually release the blade from it's pinned prison. Either way, it had come loose and she could finally get some practice in with it. Her curved sword knowledge wasn't going to be helpful here, so says the other katana wielder. If she wanted to find her 'purpose' with this blade, she would need to continue to develop those skills.

Sera replaced the blade in it's sheathe. Setsuna mentioned something called 'Iai' which she knew had to do with the Japanese sword style of quick drawing your weapon. She didn't know anything about that fighting style, but she had no knowledge of swordplay in the first place and she could still use the curved sword without a problem. It must have something to do with the system guiding her like she was just the product of coding. This game was really weird.

With a deep breath, she grasped on to the thought of protecting herself and finding her purpose. With no luck, the blade still came out of the scabbard but with no sword art activated. It was clear she would need more than just plain thoughts to get it to work. Getting some experience in would be nice. "I-I'll get it."

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A single tear of her weapon creates a verbal swing, a vacuum in its wake. A tiny flicker of small shards of frost, akin to that of snow left behind its exposure. "An oath, a decree rests on the blade with every motion. Your intentions give it strength. Too few understand the gravity of what they might have to do, what they are willing to sacrifice to succeed. It is in that meaning your weapon will agree, falter and so will it." Setsuna shuffles the slightly bent razor back away, the metallic click of the tsuba as it is ushered away.

"Ask and it will listen, learn and it will as well. The blade becomes you, you become it." Setsuna looks at her stance and rights a slightly off kilter shoulder, keeping her low and primed. "Again, as if there was an enemy staring you down. As if your life depended on you are stopping its advance. Again." The words held a bite to them, a bit of command on the phrase as if it was hostile.

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Progress was being made, yet she still couldn't force the weapon to activate it's sword art. She obviously needed more practice. The girl's explanation was hard to follow with the way she was talking. She was speaking as though she could just force her sword to work for her. A weapon was a tool, but tools still require knowledge to understand and use. If you handed her an ice pick, she might know how to chisel ice, but she wouldn't be able to sculpt.

"Th-This is a lot to take in. You're saying it like I can just force myself to know how it works." Sera complains as Setsuna asks to her- well, more like demands - to take another swing at it as if her life was on the line. She would try, drawing the sword with speed like that of the iaijutsu art, but no skill was really there. The blade slipped from her hand and glided across the stone and dirt of the path they stood. Completely embarrassed, the teenager hurried to grab her weapon.

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Looking down at the dropped weapon "Not at all." Setsuna offers a strange softness, that frustration the girl could more than understand. She'd fought with it herself before Life offered her guidance. It was now her turn to offer the same, and although she was no teacher she would try. "The weapon cannot be forced. You must ask it to operate. You must share your intentions with it, it will listen. It is a tool, and will do what you ask of it." Setsuna spoke as she sheathed her sword. "Again." The decree has been just as firm, as Life before her. As surely his teacher before him, she'd mold the girl into perfection. With her own twist on its usage, her method to the madness that was Aincrad. "As if your life depended on it, ask of the katana to do what must be done. It is not a vocal thing, it is a share of your desires with it." The icon that was this blade was strange compared to every other weapon, that it could not be brute forced into operating.

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Sweeping up the weapon that had left her grasp, the girl hurried back over to her teacher and listened to her words. This time, her voice was not rough, making it a little easier for Sera to set into the training. She explained that she was forcing it too much to work, not sharing a common goal with it. If she wanted this sword to work for her, it would have to work with her. Taking both hands on the hilt of the blade, she attempted to calm her spiked nerves in hope that if she was just calm and tried to work with it, it would just work.

"As if my life depended on it..." Sera whispered staring at the blade. In her mind, she wished the blade to protect her. She wanted it to work so bad so that she could protect herself and get stronger. Just then a faint glow sparked on the blade before fizzling out just as quickly as it came. "A-Ah!! Did I do it?!" Sera was surprised momentarily before she attempted to activate the weapon's attack, swinging with full force only to fall to the ground face first. The glow of the blade disappeared. "Ow..."

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Post #12

A small spark of the girl's weapon, a slight scratch of the itch that she needed to hit to obtain the ability to use it. That little flicker bought her ability to actually succeed, reaffirming the possibility for Setsuna. A soft exhale as the girl immediately eats the floor. "You did." Setsuna remarks dismissing her failure, it was a road she had taken and the girl needed neither empathy nor scorn. "Again. You have scratched that surface, gotten a taste. But that road is not over." Setsuna shifts the wielded katana to the vanity one, the very same she'd use when trained by Kyoshi. It was still missing half of its blade, but it would suffice for this function. Targeting Sera, the first hit duel request. One of many. "As if your life depends on it. I will play your opponent, and I won't hold back." Setsuna muttered coldly as she wandered away, turning on her heels and sliding the broken blade into her scabbard.

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The glee on Sera's face was over-welling as she stood up from her prone position. The first step that she had taken to becoming a stronger player was here and now. Setsuna gave her some praise for getting the blade to work as her partner. However, nothing could have prepared her for what was about to happen next. A duel request appeared before her asking if she wanted to accept a duel between her and Setsuna. The nerves wracked in the musician were more than she could take.

Quietly accepting the prompt and looking back up, Sera realized her opponent was giving her the first move. Given Setsuna's posture and the broken sword, no matter how strong she was she wouldn't kill Sera. Though now, the timer was ticking down. She needed to make this attack count. The moment that the duel began Sera would refresh her mind on what she was taught: Fight with purpose. She quickly dashed to her opponent and make a wide swing, just barely missing her. "Shit!"


image.png

4 + 3 - 3 = 4

Sera misses Setsuna.

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Post #14

The blade passes through harmlessly, it looks like it had struck, but once the edge does it passes through like a cloud of smoke. In that exchange Setsuna was already behind the other girl, and a single swipe of her steel draws a minor line across the girls back, the dagger like broken sword barely making it through her armor. But it was to prove a point, to prove a method and to prove intent. The girl had swung, but there was still emotion missing behind her attack, true intention. As the prompt flows across both players screens, proving Setsuna the victor which she dismisses immediately. "Maketa, Not good enough, again." Setsuna mutters coldly as she spins it back into its scabbard, a clack of her heels as she builds distance again and pivots a flare of blue on her iris. Another request transposed and sent, so that each to practice without the need of any infractions. Kyoshi's teachings run through her head on repeat, as she mirrored them here.

ID# 184355 results: Battle: 10, Major Critical dealing 3-8=1 DMG to Sera. [First Hit Duel Won], Disguise Activated [+1 EVA], Disguise CD [0/3]

Edited by Setsuna
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What the musician had not expected, foolishly, was that her teacher would strike her down the instant she made one mistake. The attack with the broken katana scrapped her, dealing a single point of damage to her small health pool. The resistance of her blade caused Sera to fall to her side. No matter how good the blade was, she wasn't going to do anything with it until she actually put in the training. Setsuna's methods were ruthless.

Before she had time to stand up, another first hit duel request appeared before her. She promptly accepted, trying to focus the best she could. When the timer ticked to zero, she would make her attack once more. I light blue tinge across the blade sparked a crescent light as she missed the target at hand. Setsuna was not giving her that satisfaction of hitting her for free. If she wanted to get a hit in, she would need to be less predictable. Quickly, she would attempt to get out of the way of Setsuna's next attack.


image.png

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  • 3 months later...

Disguise CD [1/3]

Another predatory glare as she disperses like fog, disappearing like vapor though the incoming blow. It was as if she wasn't solid. It would be painfully clear that the girl wasn't playing around. "Stop fiddling, stop allowing your fury to control you. Maketa, Again." The phrase came off like a demand. Setsuna wanted her to succeed but wasn't so sure this girl could do it. She may not be cut out for what the ghost of floor 4 was trying to impart. The silver haired girl wasn't quite one to be polite, didn't have it in her. Sena attempts to escape that same blunted edge but finds it again. The floating prompt shows that once again the duel was over, Sena had failed to hit her again. Wasn't fast enough to make contact. A slow slide of that broken steel away, as she kneels low and eyes and sizes the brunette with another fired duel request.

She'd make a weapon, or break it.

195388, BD:6+3-2=7, Hit! vs. Sera using Basic Attack dealing 3-8=1 DMG, [First Hit Duel Won]

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