Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 #1 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 (edited) The door shut to Lyle's blacksmithing shop, the girl now carrying yet another package. These sorts of chained quests were always a pain in the butt, but all the same, she supposed that it was fine- it wasn't like she was going to need to go out on the town or anything any time soon. In fact, there was no need for her to even start to go and fight anything else right now, which was nice. Not that she was against fighting... but having to fight on her own as often as she did was a little frustrating. Still, she would do what it took, even if it took solo-ing all the way up to the very top of the ladder to help people out! She wanted out of here, and so if that would be what it took in order to get there, then so be it. She paused as she looked up toward the directions given, seeing the trees. "That's it," she spoke to herself. Full Stats: Spoiler Astreya Basics: Skills: Equipment: HP: 180 Energy: 18 Damage: 6 Mitigation: 17 Thorns: 9 2H Straight Sword[Journeyman] 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. [x3] Scooped (3 Energy) - A three-hit sword art that employs varying over and under-cut motions. [x4 Stun] Lightning (7 Energy) - A combination of four slashes of varying angles aimed at a single target stunning them. [x4] Cyclone (4 Energy) - A multi-hit sword art that uses the user's heel as a pivot to spin violently, chaining together multiple hits. Heavy Armor[Novice] +8 MIT Weapon: 2H Straight Sword [Damage] Armor: Battle Dress [Mitigation][Thorns] Items: Starter Healing Potion | 50HP | 3 T1 Health Potion | 40 HP | 5 T1 Damage Potion | 1 Damage | 1 T1 Overhealth Potion | 50 MaxHP | 1 Edited March 25, 2021 by Astreya Stats Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #2 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 The walk up to the little forest of trees wasn't too bad, and honestly she was fairly familiar with the layout of this town, given how long she had been here. Thankfully it was pretty hard for her to get lost in the town, which was nice considering just how large it was. All the same, she gave a small exhale as she drew closer to the woods, wondering just what was going to be needed to be done once she got there. She was starting to catch onto how this quest chain worked- she was just going to be given another task once she arrived, and then when she did that one, there would be some fourth person who needed a delivery and then that person would give her something to do, and then so on. She imagined that there had to be an end to this quest chain, but since it was for new players, it probably went on a while to teach them how the game worked. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #3 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 She had started to figure it out and was kind of understanding how important the Mitigation ability was. So much so that she had actually put some of her points into it for her armor, increasing the value even further. She really didn't want to take damage or to be hurt if at all possible, and she knew that once she got higher up, that she would need some newer skills that would let her keep... she forgot what Zack had called the mechanic that kept the focus on her, but she'd need to get more of that too. That and the Thorns she did. That was also extremely helpful to her, as she was able to deal damage to her opponents, even if she couldn't always hit them with her sword. She hoped that she had gotten a little better with it, by now, but the next time she had to fight something, she would figure it out. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #4 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 Once the trees had started to get closer, Astreya moved through the light wooded area before making her way past the last few trees in the copse, coming onto a small grove, where a young woman (presumably Hannah) was painting something. "Hey! Lyle sent me," the girl called cheerfully as she held up the small parcel that was holding whatever it was that he had needed to deliver to the woman, which was now held by Astreya. "I think this is yours," she spoke, handing over the small parcel. Hanna smiled gently, reaching up to take the satchel from her, nodding. "Thank you. Lyle is always good with the work he does," the woman commented as she opened it, and took out a well-made golden band. It had small protrusions where it looked like a stone would be set, but as of the moment, there were no stones to put into it within the satchel that Astreya had handed over. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #5 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 "Hmm..." Hanna spoke, opening the satchel further as if to see if somehow she'd missed it, before she gave an apologetic smile up to Astreya. "I would hate to ask this, especially given that you've already brought this part all the way to me, but-" "If you need me to go and get something, I can totally go and do that," the girl spoke, giving the woman a wide smile. Hannah was already way nicer to her than Lyle had been, and the woman had barely talked. Beyond that, Astreya was already on board with how these quests worked. "What do you need?" "Thank you," Hannah spoke, bowing her head slightly in thanks. "In the forest outside of town, there's a cave a short distance from the entrance. I had thought Lyle was going to send an adventurer to get the gemstone in the cave for me, but I suppose that was not what he asked of you, then?" Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #6 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 At that, Astreya's expression twisted into a frown. "What? No way, he just asked me to get some boar tusks from some of the boar pups. I was actually in the forest, too. You'd think that he would have just asked me to get something while I was there. Geez," the woman spoke, shaking her head in annoyance at the fact that she could have gone and done this already, but the blacksmith had conveniently forgotten to mention it. He was back on her naughty list. Hannah gave another apologetic smile at that, shaking her head. "I would hate to ask you to have to go all the way back there if needed, but unfortunately in order to craft the ring I would like to, I require that stone. Is this something that you could assist me with?" the woman asked, looking directly to Astreya with a very earnest expression, and the young woman knew that she couldn't deny the artisan. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #7 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 "Sure! You said it's just a cave in that's in that forest, right? I know where the forest is, so I'll see if I can find that cave too and get what's inside. I'll find it!" she called out, before she paused, glancing back. "What's the gemstone look like, anyway?" looking at the woman who paused, before giving a short laugh of amusement at the girl's sudden question. Astreya couldn't help but to grin slightly, scratching at the back of her head. "I just want to make sure I'm getting the right one." "No, no, you're fine. Sorry, I've just had several who just sort of rush off without asking that you asking surprised me. But thankfully, to those who didn't ask and just ran off's luck, it's quite obvious. There's a stalactite that drips down water containing trace amounts of gem materials, and that collects into a gemstone every so often. It should be about time to collect- so it is pretty obvious." Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #8 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 At that, Astreya paused, before she nodded. "I got it! Okay. I'll be back in a bit," she called out before she moved, making her way from the small copse of trees and back through the town itself. She didn't have a heavy hustle in her step, mostly because she wasn't exactly excited about having to go all the way back to that forest again, considering she had gotten lost the first time when she had gotten out there. Still, she didn't stop in her steps, walking past the two guards and giving them another wave yet again as she walked on past, beginning to head out ot that forest once more. She realized that when she had been there the first time she hadn't even seen the cave, and she wondered, vaguely, if there was a way for her to have gotten to it before, or if it would only show up now that she was on the quest. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 25, 2021 Author #9 Report Share Posted March 25, 2021 It wasn't long before she found herself once more within the forest of trees that existed outside of the Town of Beginnings, and she could distantly hear the sound of boars moving around and snuffing at the underbrush that was there. She, thankfully, wasn't here for them, and instead began to make her way deeper into the forest itself, not entirely sure if she knew where this cave would even be. Hannah had told her that it wasn't too far away from the entrance, but each of their definitions of 'not that far' could be very different. "Maybe if I get a higher look," she murmured, mostly to herself, as she shifted over toward one of the large trees, and began to peer up at it. "Climbing this would be easier if I didn't have all this armor on," she grumbled to herself, but nonetheless began to find a low enough branch that was sturdy to pull herself up, beginning to head steadily upward. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #10 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 One branch after another let her climb higher and higher up, and it wasn't too much longer that she had managed to get up to a good enough vantage point to let her look down at what she was trying to find. "Let's see... oh! There, that's gotta be it," she spoke as she looked down onto the woods to see a rather large cave out in the distance. From the ground she couldn't see it due to the number of trees in the way, but up here, she could get a pretty good vantage point on it. "All right. And according to what dad said, find two landmarks that you can see from up here to use as a line... and if there isn't a second one..." she murmured, mostly talking to herself as she lined up a path to find her way up to the cave once she was back on the ground, setting things up. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #11 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 Once she had gotten a rather good lay of the land, Astreya began to steadily make her way back down to the ground, and once she had, she nodded over at where the items she was using as a point of reference were located. She shifted to stand on top of one of them and looked to the other, forming a straight line toward the cave... and then without any more hesitation began to walk forward, heading deeper into the forest. She felt apprehensive, sure, but part of her felt like this was where she should be. Getting onto the adventure spirit was actually pretty fun, and she knew that this was still a game... even if you could die in it. She paused slightly, her optimism fleeting for a moment before allowing it to come back to her. She couldn't focus on the negativity- she had to stay positive and stay focused- soon they would get out of this mess! Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #12 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 It wasn't too much longer after she had found the entrance to that cavern, and she looked up into the large yawning mouth of the cave, curious about just how deep the cave went. As she looked forward at it, she squinted slightly. It was dark inside there. That was going to make it a pain in the ass to see. She reached a hand back to her weapon then, frowning as she looked inward at the area. "Let's see how this goes," she spoke aloud as she began to move deeper into the cavern, the darkness beginning to wash over her as she went further inside. She could somewhat see, but not nearly well enough to react as well as she'd like. She frowned as her footsteps echoed on the stone floor, and she adjusted the weapon again, before looking deeper into the darkness, seeing a faint illumination from an opening up ahead. "Is this the stalactite?" she asked quietly as she moved forward. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #13 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 As she came closer, the faint glow emanated from what looked like a crystal resting atop of a rock pedestal. It was basically exactly as Hannah had said. There was the stalactite from up above that was dripping water down onto a basin, and the minerals in the water had formed into a gemstone. "Now that is cool," she spoke aloud as she looked at the jewel with a bit of interest, before she drew closer to it... and as she came closer, she could hear something starting to move in the distance and shadows of the cave. Frowning, the woman pulled her blade to the ready, narrowing her eyes as she glared forward at where she was pretty sure she heard the noises coming from. She hadn't heard anything about there being any monsters or anything here in the cave, so she was quite unsure about what she was going to see. But there was definitely something in here with her... Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #14 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) The thing that lumbered out towards her looked like it was sort of like the crystal itself. A glass golem, if she had to come up with a name in an instant. There was a very powerful presence that it had, and she was certain that there was going to be something dangerous that followed its appearance, but she felt a sudden rash of uncertainty at seeing the monster approach. She swallowed and took a step back, before she turned, beginning to activate one of her sword arts. Here it went- she didn't have any other option right now but to just... go for it and hope it worked! Gathering her focus, she began to spin slightly, slashing against the beast. She couldn't see it very well in the darkness and so she hoped she was hitting it as she whirled several times, before coming to a stop and then readying herself for the sudden an inevitable counter attack. ---- Astreya uses Sword Art: Cyclone against Guardian! ID# 187247 results: Battle: (7-1 = 6) Hit! 24 Damage Dealt! MOB: 8 Dead Astreya Stats: Guardian Stats: HP: 180/180 Energy: 18/18 Damage: 6 Mitigation: 17 Thorns: 9 HP: 0/20 Damage: 5 (50 on 1st successful attack) Doesn't deal bonus crit damage Edited March 29, 2021 by Astreya Killed it Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #15 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 She waited for the counter strike to come, but nothing happened. She paused for several long moments, steadily holding herself ready to defend... but several seconds passed before she realized she wasn't being attacked. She blinked, before her eyes opened and she looked to the golem that had been approaching her. Maybe it was a friend? May- oh. The woman paused as she saw the remains of the golem fading away from the battle and she realized that she had... won. Blinking, the girl frowned for a moment, looking around awkwardly. She hadn't ever finished a combat with one sword art use before. Steadily, she raised a hand to her mouth and coughed, as if dispelling the discomfort in the air. "I guess that's all there is to it, then," she spoke aloud, as if expecting something else to happen here in a moment. But so far, nothing seemed to be stirring in the cave, leading her to step forward towards the gemstone. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #16 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 As she approached it, she reached out to take it from the pedestal that it sat upon and there was no sudden explosion, no monster waking up, no end of the world scenario for taking it and she swallowed slightly. There was a great deal of anticipation but... so far there was nothing and she shook her head. "Well, I guess that's it, Ris. Just a gemstone that was guarded by something that we took out in one shot. Maybe I am getting better at this," she murmured under her breath, raising her hand to her jaw for a moment in thought. But before she could really think about it too much longer, she realized she might as well get back- if she lingered here in the cave for too much longer, she might attract the attention of something else and that would be potentially very dangerous- so instead she began to move, heading back toward the mouth of the cavern. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #17 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 It didn't take long to find the entrance- it was still quite brightly lit and so as she came back into the view of the trees, she winced slightly as she raised her arm up over her head to try and block out the bright lights that were filtering down from above. She nodded to herself for a moment before she looked back over her shoulder at the cave, still expecting something to come barreling out of the cave toward her... but so far there was nothing. Maybe she was just stronger than she'd given herself credit for. Or maybe it had just been a lucky shot- like a critical hit or something. She had closed her eyes when she'd done the Sword Art, so she hadn't really paid attention to what had happened with the creature when she'd attacked it. She supposed she should really just... pay better attention, but she couldn't shake that fear from her. Not for long, anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #18 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 It didn't take long to find the entrance- it was still quite brightly lit and so as she came back into the view of the trees, she winced slightly as she raised her arm up over her head to try and block out the bright lights that were filtering down from above. She nodded to herself for a moment before she looked back over her shoulder at the cave, still expecting something to come barreling out of the cave toward her... but so far there was nothing. Maybe she was just stronger than she'd given herself credit for. Or maybe it had just been a lucky shot- like a critical hit or something. She had closed her eyes when she'd done the Sword Art, so she hadn't really paid attention to what had happened with the creature when she'd attacked it. She supposed she should really just... pay better attention, but she couldn't shake that fear from her. Not for long, anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #19 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 The entrance to the forest wasn't too much further from here, and then the full brightness of the sun upon Aincrad was now spilling down upon her as well, the young woman blinking as she glanced around at the wide, empty field around her. There were monsters here and there, but for the most part, things were just as they had been. The lingering sense of dread from taking the gemstone was all but gone now, and she still wondered if she had just lucked out when she had struck it as hard as she had. She shook her head slightly, her long dark hair dancing around her back before she took a deep breath and held it for several seconds. And then, with a long, low exhale, she allowed all of the stress from the situation to flow out of her, and she felt herself become more 'normal' and grounded after a long moment as pep returned to her step as she began to make her way back toward the town. Link to post Share on other sites
Astreya 0 Posted March 29, 2021 Author #20 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) Treasure roll - ID# 187248 results: Craft: 5 Loot: 1 (big fat fail) --- The walk back to the little grove that Hannah had nested in didn't take very long, and the Artisan looked up with a smile as the young woman approached. "Greetings friend. How did it go? I hope there were no issues or complications that arose from your cave spelunking," Hannah called, raising a hand in greeting. "Nope! There was a monster in the cave guarding it but I took it out, no problem," Astreya called as she brought the gemstone to the young woman. Hannah looked it over with a small smile, nodding as she set the stone into the ring, and then handed it to Astreya. "Here you are." Astreya blinked, looking down at it. "Are you sure?" "Of course! The joy comes from making them and giving them. Plus, think of it as a pre-emptive reward with something I need some help with," the woman spoke, reaching down for another package. Astreya could hardly keep the smirk off of her face. Edited March 29, 2021 by Astreya Treasure Roll chance Link to post Share on other sites
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