[F1-SP] <<The Second Lesson, Is Also Free>> And Now, a Second Step

[Astreya 0]

"So you need help with something too?" the girl asked, mostly just kind of confused at the fact that there was a string of requests happening all at once, before she realized slightly that this was what one would call a 'quest chain.'  She clapped her hands at that, causing Lyle to arch a brow slightly at her, not quite sure what the excitement was all about.  "I'm glad to help- Astreya at your service!" she called, giving him a wide grin.

The older gentleman coughed slightly into one hand.  "Right.  But...yes, I do need your help with something.  There's a distinct lack of boar tusks in my inventory right  now- and I need them to force some more weaponry and armor both," the man spoke, and at that, Astreya frowned slightly as she looked around at the various items that the fellow was keeping in stock.  Boar Tusks?  What the heck did he need boar tusks for?

 

Full Stats:

Spoiler

 

	Astreya
Basics:	Skills:	Equipment:
HP: 20 Energy: 2 Damage: 4 Mitigation: 9 Thorns: 9	2H Straight Sword[Novice] Sword Arts: Spoiler [x2 AoE] Blast (2 Energy +2 per target hit) - A pair of horizontal sweeping strokes that hits multiple targets. [x2] Straight (2 Energy) - Begins with the player bending their knees before thrusting forward with a singular powerful strike covering the gap between you and your opponent.	Weapon: 2H Straight Sword Armor: Battle Dress [Mitigation][Thorns] Items: Starter Healing Potion | 50HP | 3

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
added stats spoiler

[Astreya 0]

"How many of these weapons and armors and stuff actually use boar tusks to make?" the girl asked, cocking her head slightly to the side.  "I can't imagine that they would make very good weapons."  Not that she wanted to really have a weapon formed from boar tusk bone, but at the very least, she was mostly curious on just what the bones were even used for.  

"Well, to be honest, I don't really use them much for the weapons themselves.  Not to say they aren't strong and can hold up, but they're mostly used for decorations, y'know?  Making the weapon look nice.  It's not too often that I see this level of craftsmanship.  usually it's all function over form and that's not how it should be, y'know?" he asked, looking at the young woman.

"I'm... not a blacksmith.  I don't really know," she admitted sheepishly.  "But I can still help!"

[Astreya 0]

"Well if you're an adventurer, or you want to be, I suppose then that I'd ask you for help in getting more of the boar tusks.  I don't think that I should be trying to get you to make anything- not with them noodle arms of yers," the man spoke, and Astreya paused, before she huffed a bit at the man, a frown tugging the edges of her mouth downward as she looked on at him.  "Look, I'm just saying," the fellow added.

"Do you want help or not?  Because if you're going to be rude I'll just go find someone else to help out," the girl spoke, putting her hands on her hips.  Granted he was right- she was still pretty low level and beyond that, in real life her arms weren't all that buff, so her avatar here was the same way.  "Or are you gonna apologize?"  she demanded, the glare able to freeze water.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
wordcount

[Astreya 0]

The old man exhaled.  "Fine, fine.  I apologize," the fellow spoke, making a gesture.  "I didn't mean anything by it.  Just that you didn't seem like you'd be well-suited to Blacksmithing.  Not that you couldn't learn, o' course, if you wanted," the older fellow continued, doing his best to get himself up out of the hole he had dug himself in.  "Which I could teach ya if you wanted to-"

"Nah, I'm good, thanks," the girl spoke, waving her hands.  "Just tell me what you need and I'll help you out if only to make sure that you're going to remain good on your word.  Besides, if Zakariah thinks you're good company you probably are somewhere under all of that gruff exterior," the girl added, shaking her head at the blacksmith.  "So what do you need then?  Boar tusks?  Boar hooves?  What can I get for you?" she asked, a little offended still.

[Astreya 0]

The fellow cleared his throat at that, and he nodded.  "Aye.  I should only need three to finish out my latest masterpiece.  If you could be so kind so as to go and get me a few, I'd be very appreciative of it," the man spoke, giving a shake of his head at the younger woman.  "They make their nests pretty close to here, if you'd want to go and look just outside the gates, there's a forest that's just past the main path.  If you're hunting, that's where they'd be.  Them little boar pups should have tusks big enough by now."

"Wait wait wait.  You want me to go and kill baby boars?  Baby boars and get their tusks for you?" she asked, the woman's eyes getting big and a little more offended at what was being asked of her.  "I can't believe you want me to kill babies!"

[Astreya 0]

At the woman's sudden anger at this, he hesitated a moment, frowning.  "Now just a minute here, young lady," he began, but Astreya's glare cut him off short.  "I don't think the big ol' boars are somethin' you should be handlin' just yet."

The woman watched him for a moment longer before she finally exhaled slowly in a long, slow sigh, trying to bring herself to just agree to this.  It wasn't like they were actual baby boars.  This was a game, but she was still realizing that committing to the act of killing baby animals just felt really weird to her.  "No, no.  I'll do it," the girl spoke, shaking her head slightly in response to the man's words.  "You need three tusks?  So what, just should be two boars then, that's not bad."

"Well, yes and no.  They gotta be undamaged.  Might take ya a few more than two."

[Astreya 0]

"Okay.  So three perfect, undamaged tusks.  I'll see what I can do," the woman spoke, before she turned on her heel, heading toward the door.  "I'll be back when I got 'em," she spoke, shutting the door behind her.  With a slow, deep breath, she tried to settle herself a little before making her way down the street and toward the gates once more.  She had to go out last time in order to get the herbs- this time she was actually going to have to fight something on purpose.  

As she passed by the gate guards, she gave them both a nod again, and the armored woman began to head down the path leading out of the town.  After the goblin encounter, she felt a little... better about things in general, and she hoped that she could deal with these boars without any issues like she had those goblins.

[Astreya 0]

The forest drew closer as she walked, and the young woman found herself with some trepidation in her chest.  She looked back over her shoulder- she was a long way away from the Town of Beginnings, and that was a little scary for her.  She knew that she had a good armor setup, but all the same... she didn't want things to end up in a really bad way, like they had for Zack.  Of course, he had bitten off way more than he could chew, and she was being ultra careful.

She paused, closing her eyes for a moment as she remembered him, recalling the fact that he had tried to protect her, and that the monster had taken him out with relative ease.  She knew it was something called a 'world boss' but she had no idea what that was, or how to make it appear... she just hoped she never had to deal with it again.

[Astreya 0]

But soon the sounds of the forest began to surround her, blocking out the rest of the noises from the city and the field behind her as she entered into the forest.  She could feel her heartbeat steadily speeding up as she struggled to keep her cool.  She couldn't see nearly as far as she could out in the field and that made her nervous.  She wondered, vaguely, if back in the real world where her body was at, if the doctors could see her pulse increasing there, or if it was just some sort of simulated fear, here in SAO.

A rustling sound caught her attention and she turned then, moving to reach a hand back up to where her sword was, and with a small grunt, began to pull it from the holder as she readied herself for what was about to come.  "Sorry in advance, little piggies," she murmured.

[Astreya 0]

From the bushes, a group of four small boars came out, and she could tell just from looking at them that they were basically just wild animals and while part of her still felt kind of bad for being about to cut them down, she also understood that there wasn't much she could do if she wanted to complete the quest.  She had played some games with Zack before all this, but when you were watching a 3D model beat up another 3D model, it was whatever.  But this.. was a little different.

Still, she didn't hesitate as they approached and launched herself forward, skewering one of them in an instant.  As soon as she did, the creature fell over immediately, and the rest of them started to throw themselves at her.  One missed, but another managed to catch her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her while the other struck her, and the poor thing got caught by her Thorns.

---

Astreya Sword Art: Straight @ Boar Pup 1
ID# 186307 results:
Battle: 6 (Hit! 8 Damage! Boar Pup 1 Defeated!)
MOB: 2

Boar Pup 2 Attack:
ID# 186308 results:
Battle: 10
MOB: 1 (Miss!)

Boar Pup 3 Attack:
ID# 186309 results:
Battle: 8
MOB: 9 (Crit! 1 Damage Dealt!)

Boar Pup 4 Attack
ID# 186310 results:
Battle: 10
MOB: 7 (Hit! 1 Damage Dealt!  9 Damage Taken from Thorns!  Boar Pup 4 Defeated!)

------
Astreya HP: 18/20
Astreya Energy: 0/2
------

Boar Pup 1 Loot-
ID# 186312 results:
Loot: 8 (No Tusk)

Boar Pup 4 Loot-
ID# 186313 results:
Loot: 11 (+1 Tusk)

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Roll Results

[Astreya 0]

As she took a step back, there were only two left then, and she shifted her stance, trying to ready herself to attack again, but she wasn't able to pull up he weapon in time, given the fact that the creatures were tenacious and already coming at her.  The first one she shifted into, grunting as the attack hit her, but the Thorns of her armor took care of it, and that allowed her to adjust herself a bit, and clear out the way from the second one, causing it to miss entirely, and then she found herself facing the last lone boar pup, who didn't seem in the least upset that its brethren were down.  

"C'mon, little guy.  Just give me your tusks," she spoke to it, as it sailed through the air following its failed attack before it hit the ground and turned, facing her with a heavy snort.

----

Boar Pup #2 Attack
ID# 186369 results:
MOB: 7 (Hit! 1 Damage Dealt!  9 Damage Taken from Thorns!  Boar Pup 4 Defeated!)

Boar Pup #3 Attack
ID# 186370 results:
MOB: 1 (Miss!)

------
Astreya HP: 17/20
Astreya Energy: 1/2
------

Boar Pup 2 Loot-
ID# 186371 results:
Loot: 4 (No Tusk)

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Fluff added

[Astreya 0]

The creature snorted again, pawing at the ground as if it were a fully grown boar.  "C'mon you jerk.  If you wanna fight, I'll fight ya," the woman spoke as she bent her knees a little bit, letting the Sword Art's effect start to take hold on her as the boar approached her.  She shifted forward as it lunged at the last minute and thrust her weapon forward, impaling the creature from mouth to haunches.  She frowned as the creature slid from the blade, and she began to look at the tusks on the creatures.

A few minutes (and experimental losses) later, Astreya had a grand total of... one boar tusk.  "Ugh, are you kidding me?" the woman asked aloud, even if there was no one to answer her back.  She grumbled, stuffing the one tusk she had into her pack, and beginning to make her way through the forest.

Astreya: Sword Art Thrust @ Boar Pup #3
ID# 186372 results:
Battle: 7 (Hit!  8 Damage Dealt!  Boar Pup #3 Defeated!
MOB: 3 (Miss but not important already dead)

------
Astreya HP: 17/20
Astreya Energy: 0/2
------

Boar Pup #3 Loot
# 186373 results:
Loot: 5 (No Tusk)

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
fluff

[Astreya 0]

The girl exhaled slowly as she stood up from retrieving the one good Tusk she'd found, before sheathing her blade and glancing around at the fallen pups.  Well, she supposed that was that.  It wasn't going to make a whole lot of sense to keep hanging around here.  She began to move, heading further throughout the forest, as she planned to find the next set of boar pups that might be able to loot some of the tusks from.  

She kept mostly to the outskirts of the forest, not wanting to get too deep into the woods just yet.  Honestly, if she were to get too much further in, there would be all manner of fear that she could just feel threatening to spring up if she couldn't see the town from where she was at any given time.  She hoped she got over this sooner, rather than later.  But a rustle from the bushes caused her to turn, holding her weapon at the ready once more.

 

------
Astreya HP: 20/20
Astreya Energy: 1/2

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Energy recovery

[Astreya 0]

This group of boars had a bit more of a ferocious streak in them it seemed like, and Astreya could tell that they were ready to go right for blood.  "Come on, boars!  Let me see about taking you all out!" she called and the young woman brought her stance lower before shooting forward, aiming to use her technique to skewer one of them again.

However, this time didn't work nearly as well as the boars simply all dodged around her attack and suddenly she felt them pelting her from behind, ramming into her with their bodies.  Of course, the thorns from her armor took full effect as they went on attacking her, and as soon as the attacks stopped, and she finished her stumbling forward from them she turned around to see three of them on the ground, leaving only a single one remaining, the two of them staring each other down.

------

Astreya: Sword Art- Straight @ Boar #5
ID# 186386 results:
Battle: 2 (Miss!)
MOB: 7 (Hit!  1 Damage Dealt!  9 Damage taken from Thorns!  Boar Pup 1 Defeated!)

Boar Pup #6 Attack
ID# 186387 results:
MOB: 6 (Hit!  1 Damage Dealt!  9 Damage taken from Thorns!  Boar Pup 1 Defeated!)

Boar Pup #7 Attack
ID# 186388 results:
MOB: 6 (Hit!  1 Damage Dealt!  9 Damage taken from Thorns!  Boar Pup 1 Defeated!)

Boar Pup #8 Attack
ID# 186389 results:
MOB: 5 (Miss!)

---
Astreya HP: 17/20
Astreya Energy: 0/2
---

Boar #5 Loot-
ID# 186390 results:
Loot: 6 (No Tusk)

Boar #6 Loot-
ID# 186391 results:
Loot: 9 (No Tusk)

Boar #7 Loot-
ID# 186392 results:
Loot: 14 (+1 Tusk)

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Fluff

[Astreya 0]

She held her weapon at the ready, recovering from her missed attack as she tried to steady her nerves once more.  She was ready for the fight to continue, and while she wasn't exactly enjoying the act, she could at least start to understand why some people did.  There was a certain rush to the combat in general, an excitement that came from it, and she felt like she could get used to it.  Of course, if she was going to be fighting up on the front lines, she would need to keep pushing herself forward.  

With her stance steadied, when the boar came rushing at her, the young woman shifted around it, trying to get the movements down to dodge easier, since it was more to do with her she moved and did things, she was coming to find.  The game wasn't going to do it all for her, it seemed.

Boar #8 Attack
ID# 186393 results:
MOB: 5 (Miss!)

---
Astreya HP: 17/20
Astreya Energy: 1/2
---

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Fluff

[Astreya 0]

She turned, facing the last boar as it moved past her, and the young woman readied her weapon.  "Okay.  Here we go!" she called out as she readied herself for this next strike.  She would take this boar all the way down, and there was nothing that it was going to do to stop her.  "Take this!" she called as she shot forward, thrusting her weapon out... but the sword missed entirely, and went wide into the air.  But the boar was eager to take advantage of her mistake.

It hopped to her side and shot forward, slamming into her.  The woman grunted and stumbled to the side, but the Thorns had done more than enough of the damage for her and the creature gave a screech before it fell down to the ground, and Astreya realized that the combat had finished.  "Man.  Thorns is probably the best thing ever."

Astreya: Sword Art- Straight @ Boar #8
ID# 186394 results:
Battle: 3 (Miss!)
MOB: 7 (Hit!  1 damage Dealt! 9 Thorns damage Taken!  Boar #8 Defeated!)

----
Astreya HP: 16/20
Astreya Energy: 0/2
----

ID# 186395 results:
Loot: 15 (Tusk +1)

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Fixing Energy

[Astreya 0]

With a slight huff, she sheathed her sword, before beginning to once more try to see what she could do to retrieve the tusks from the boars.  She had a few ideas after the last batch that could probably work rather well... but she needed to make sure that she could do them.  There was a very real difficulty in making sure she didn't break them when she was trying to extract them from the boar pups.  

After a few more minutes, she exhaled, holding two more of the boar tusks.  "That makes three.  That was all Lyle was asking for," she spoke, nodding to herself as she put the pair of them into her pack as well.  She was a little worse for wear, but not too bad off.  And a few minutes out of combat would return her to her usual state.  With a small exhale, she nodded to herself, beginning to make her way out of the forest.

----
Astreya HP: 20/20
Astreya Energy: 1/2

[Astreya 0]

She paused slightly then as she realized that during the fight, she'd gone far enough into the forest that... she wasn't entirely sure where she was supposed to go anymore.  The woman couldn't see the town from the tree line, and she had to stop herself from immediately going into a panic.  "Just breathe, Ris.  You didn't get that far into the forest," she spoke aloud to herself, trying to keep herself calm as she maneuvered through the trees, trying to see if she could find out where she had come from.

There weren't any real signs, at least not at first, and the woman was having to remember just what she had passed on the way in here, and then as she began to breathe and calm down, she realized that she was actually able to see what looked like her footprints from her boots, and with a slight breath of relief began to move toward them.

----
Astreya Energy: 2/2

[Astreya 0]

She hadn't realized just how far she'd gone into the woods, and yet as she began to follow her own footsteps back toward the entrance, it seemed like it was a rather long walk.  She had been far too busy with the adrenaline of fighting against the boars.  At least, that must have been in as she continued picking her way through the underbrush.  Thankfully, no other boars hopped out of the trees to attack her, and she wondered vaguely if it was because she'd gathered the materials for the quest and as such, the creatures that gave the rewards weren't spawning in any more?

She had to remind herself now and then that despite how real everything looked and felt that this was still just a game, and that she needed to treat it as such.  Trying to compare it to real life wasn't going to work- at least not when it came to most things.

[Astreya 0]

Treasure Chest Roll-
ID# 186396 results:
Loot: 14 (Failure)

 

She continued to walk, making her way out of the forest, and before long she had found where she'd come in, the City of Beginnings in view once more. "Whew.  Well that was scary.  I need a map or something," the girl spoke, shaking her head as she began to move up the path, leading further toward the town and before long she was passing by the guards once more.  She nodded to them once more as she passed by, before heading directly to Lyle's shop.

As she opened the door, the man was currently working on something, and she lifted a hand in greeting.  "I got your boar tusks.  Little buggers are vicious," she spoke, seemingly having forgotten most of the frustrations that she'd had with him before.

"Good, good!  Appreciate it.  Actually, since you're, if I could get your help with just one more thing... I need a package delivered to an artisan friend of mine.  Won't take you long."

Astreya sighed slightly, opening her hand to trade him the boar tusks for the package.  He smirked, taking the tusks before moving over and taking the satchel, along with it being draped over a large sword, like her own.  "What's this?"

"My thanks for you helping me out.  Yours was looking a little shoddy.   Try this one on for size."

Astreya blinked, before taking the sword from him.  "Hey... thanks.  This looks really good.  Awesome!" she called, giving him a smile.  "All right, just because you're so nice, I'll go deliver this to the artisan.  Just tell me where she's at."

"That big old grove of trees on the hill.  Her name's Hannah.  You can't miss her," the man spoke and Astreya nodded, waving to the man once more before she turned, heading out the door.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Astreya
Roll and Fluff