[SP-F23] Finding motivation to begin anew [start of 3.0 adventures]

[Hestia 0]

Isolation is what she would call her time away from the fields, from the frontlines, from everyone around her she just existed for the duration of her time spent during her attempt at helping find the labyrinth to a loud ring in her ear of the game informing her of something or the other. Tired blue colored gaze stares forward as she looks at the message a grim acceptance of something new having occurred with a silent solace having hoped she coulda been left to her own devices for the most part after the disasters she causes where she goes. Taking charge while it is a fun attempt at trying to change things has gone horribly wrong starting from a raid meeting to trying to form a police guild that shortly died with the members scattering to the winds like all the other attempts she has had at making a friendship to last and truly last within this world. Her gaze refocuses prying herself away from the past, from the thoughts that make her not want to bother with the frontlines as she reads the simple message before.

• Quote

   

  • Leveling System has been dramatically been altered.
  • Combat System has been dramatically altered.
  • Skill System has been dramatically altered.
  • Player stats have been dramatically reduced.
  • New functions have been added to certain Professions.
    • Merchants have been changed to Appraisers. Merchants' general stock has been moved to NPC merchants instead.
  • Tiered Materials have been removed and collated into a single Material currency.
  • New Items have been added to the game.

   

  Stats:

Spoiler

 

Hestia: HP:900/900 EN:102/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+
Paragon buffs=col equal to 10% exp reward, +3%EXPgain
Skills:

Combat Skills

[36 SP] BH rank 5 MOD: emergency (45 HP, 90 emergency)  mod eng cost=10

[10 SP] Fighting Spirit [passive]

[15 SP] Howl+ADDON Focused howl [+4 aoe, +6 single]  [2eng CD:2, 4eng CD:4]

Armor Skills

[36 SP] HA rank5 MOD: iron skin (+15 mit, 60 HP)= 50 mit, 60 HP

Combat Mastery

[13 SP] Mitigation:6*tier mit=72 mit

Familiar skills

[10 SP] Protector familiar: 10% final damage free action CD:3

Extra Skills [tier* total]

[52 SP] First aid [15 eng, post action]= 20% max health of target   (costs 2 slots)
MODS:
Barrier=ENG: 15, CD:3, post action=15% party final damage reduction
Field Medic eng 15, CD:3, post action=heal party 25% max hp
Energize: post action, eng 10  [restore 8 hp] ADDON:hyperactive (post action, eng 5, CD:3)=passive regen of target +3

[36 SP] Block: 25 mit  MOD: Rampart: free action, 10 eng, CD:5=reduce final damage 25% (Costs 2 slots)

Concentration:free action absolute accuracy CD:5
survival: healing effect 10% more effective
Meditation: post action, CD3, 4*tier energy

Mods list[5 total]
Iron skin, rampart, energize, barrier, field medic, emergency
Active=Iron skin, rampart, barrier, field medic, emergency

 

EXP reward: 3*tier [per 50 words]

Edited April 10, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

Her brow furrows seeing this message as she reads further down finding out that apparently another update had occurred that has altered the game dramatically. Why make a ruckus about it anyhow? No need to notify every player not those that are giving up and those trapped in the town of beginning due to fear. A soft grumble escaping her voice as she just flops back onto the back the message following her and staring her directly into the face as the interface advances to showing new skills to select and new information to take in to participate into this new world that has opened before her. Not much has changed besides health i guess from before. I wonder how the world has changed. I remember some event things being told and floated about, but the details are so fuzzy. She mumbles out as she puts points into her primary stats ignoring anything else that wasn't viewed as useful to the goals of her fighting. Her points being allocated towards tanking and healing without a single thought and making sure to keep her familiar not wanting to lose her last bastion of something that has stayed around at all times.  Her gaze slowly drifts towards her lion like familiar her hand drifting as she runs her fingers gently through his fur the soft texture of it just letting a gentle wave of calm flow through her.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

She slows makes her way out of bed wearing a simple black t-shirt alongside black shorts having to pry her leg out from underneath her familiar who managed to end up laying atop of it during the night through shifting in his sleep. She slows walks through her home the soft thuds of her feet against the cold wood echoes with each step within the relatively empty house having been furnished with a overarching theme of greek mythology adorning its walls and rooms that she passed on by a flash of memories flood her mind as her gaze lingers upon a particular item a guitar signed by the God Apollo. Memories of her facing off against the God in a contest of ballad vs ballad that they could create to try and usurp the other in victory her steps slowly guide her closer as her fingers trace along the God's name. Her gaze affectionate with a small smile upon her face remembering a bit of the good that had come from adventuring beyond her house, beyond the safety of her shop where she could just spend her days idly fiddling with instruments as due to her performer profession.

[Hestia 0]

She slowly backs away shaking her head to clear out the memories patting the guitar with symbology of flames and the image of her familiar along it as she smiles one thing she has never unequipped from her person despite resigning from the frontlines in all but a outright callout to them. Her fingers dance along the crescent moon necklace around her neck with a gentle smile pride in her decision, pride in her willingness to stand against everyone to stick to her beliefs and having a constant reminder at her side for the rest of the game. Like getting a reward of honor and commendations from a general or president or leader given to soldiers who had given their all for country and its citizens is what she could only feel like this is the equivalence of. Even if such an event and reward was given despite what came before the first steps in the frontlines have fallen for a short while and subsequently after losing every person around her it felt like due to disapproval.  I wasn't wrong for helping that child even if he was a boss type enemy morals come before anything else, and i will fight for those morals night and day i won't cross them. Bitterness stinging in her words that she speaks while staring forward as she makes her way down to her kitchen and grabbing from her inventory a quick meal that she bought within town a few days ago. Pulling out what she could only guess is some meat killed from local monsters within the area with a bit of spices made from plants found on the floor. Down the hatch, and thank you cardinal for granting me taste buds to enjoy this. Giving a bit of thanks to the machine that has taken much but at least given a little to make up for its many flaws.

[Hestia 0]

She begins to cut into the meat and starts to take some bites into it as she finds herself swiping at the air to open her menu as she opens her stats screen while staring directly at it with a inquisitive gaze one part of her curious to see what the world has to offer, and the other just wanting to be left alone for the most part. To be allowed a chance to just close herself off from others and just let things stagnate for a bit to try and make a dream out of this place and build what some would call a normal life out of what she could only describe as forcing herself to be a soldier. To just live, buy food, sleep, maybe work a bit like she had a job by fiddling with her small passion for music and its creation and just observe the world as it occurred around her. Would it hurt to just go out and see what things have to offer? i could just explore by myself at first and see what my home floor has to offer me, and maybe go back to floor four as well it's been forever since i've been at my old shop. I wonder if it's even still standing or if people had even touched it since i dropped off the map. Curiosity a spark of it dancing within her mind trying to ignite some of her old passion to explore the world, to beat any challenge before her and see what her capacity stands the limits of her strength. She drums her fingers gently along her table while her thoughts wander upon this subject. The heavy thuds of footsteps above her make her gaze turn to the stairs as after a bit she sees her familiar pad down the steps and make his way towards her the monochromatic lion having woken up.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

She finishes her meal as she rises to her feet and takes it over to the as she cleans the dish as her mind wanders further into the past back when she did have a life that was normal in the real world before she had ever touched a nervegear before. A sullen smile slowly appears as she gazes downward thinking of her sister a few years her junior as she bites her lower lip not wanting to imagine what she has been up to while alone, or how she must feel about her older sister who is trapped for who knows how long within this game. It's felt like years at least from what she can try to grasp when thinking back to the very first day when the grim news of her new reality was spoken within that plaza on the first floor and she can't tell if it has felt like years due to it having actually been that long, or having just felt like that because of how long she has been trapped in this game without any real sense of time besides some events to give a vague sense of indications. Though it's hard for her to tell if those are even accurate since they could just be played at planned intervals to make it feel like it has been longer then it actually was just to mess with them, or if it was actually just a gentle gift to the players to help them out by giving a vague sense of a calendar by asking themselves how many christmas events have occurred.

[Hestia 0]

She puts the dish back into the cabinet within her kitchen as she makes her way towards the door to leave the house and walk around this floor not minding the bigotry and disgusted looks the npcs gave nowadays having found it normal to the point of fazing it out of her awareness after months of living on this floor. The act of ignoring the disdain having become second nature as her mind lingers back to family as the image falls into her mind of the singular picture she had gotten from  that one quest forms into her hands as she takes it out from her inventory. A picture taken back when she was probably 10 years old and her sister being 7 during the middle of some summer vacation where they had went camping. One of the few times she can vaguely recall of the real world where her family was allowed to do something big like that while they were all still together. I can't tell if there is something looking out for us during quests like this where we get to feel like we're normal, or if it's like a cruel prank since we get to be pulled back out immediately to fight for our lives soon after. She lingers upon the picture she holds within her hand before putting it away once more back into her inventory the one place where nobody could touch or hurt it ever not wanting to risk any short of theft of her property or damage to it from wear and tear.

[Hestia 0]

She gazes around the town with a smile glad to have the place to herself and not having to worry about people coming and going with too much traffic in this town having chosen it as her home to avoid the traffic of a main settlement. Making her way through the place she couldn't help but find some differences then before primarily that it looks a bit more official is the only way she could describe the town things looked like they had more effort put in to some extent. Shops looked like they were filled with more inventory then she is use to seeing and the elves themselves while still not liking the players also whispered amongst themselves with news that she herself also found annoying. The town she had chosen to be her home to avoid the majority of players coming to this floor had apparently become the main settlement of said floor and now she has to deal with that and can only hope nobody comes to this floor because of ti being filled with nothing of interest. The only thing i could think of that was worth doing was that quest i failed. I wonder how it ended. She says softly to herself with a mix of curiosity and a small bit of disappointment in herself from failing to protect a person who was in danger during that quest. NPC they might've been but it was a very cruel wake up call for her that not everybody could be saved by her just trying to heal and tank for them since some monsters will just walk past her and murder those she is trying to save.

[Hestia 0]

She makes her way towards this new teleporter curiosity having gotten the best of her to see if what the npcs are saying can be believed as her steps guide her to what she would guess is the middle of town since that seemed to be a theme for other teleporters. She lets her gaze follow along the city finding it rather peaceful for the most part no war seems to occur within this place anymore, but at the same time the lack of knowledge of what occurred disturbs her in terms of leadership within this floor. Not knowing the queen's death and the corrupt council who used her name to control the territory it saddens her to know that she can't do anything to fix that at least that is what it feels like to her at the minimum.  No matter how much she tried to convince the elves their queen was killed and their government was corrupt she was just seen as crazy and labeled as a typical human. A sigh escapes her lips at that as he ca sadly only just accept what they say in terms of refusing her words since it sounds crazy certainly a complete conspiracy theory to say their queen was killed, to describe the surface to them and what it is actually like and what the council became.  No one believed her and she would never fault these dark elves even if she wish she coudl change even one's mind, but programming is programming it seems and at the end of the day no matter how life like they seemed no matter how believable some can be they will never be true free thinking creatures.

[Hestia 0]

She arrives at the teleporter and just stares at it letting herself slowly walk around it and just staring at what is in reality a doorway to adventure and infinite possibilities for things to do be it to become a frontliner, a simple person to hire for whatever people would need, and maybe even a evil schemer or hero depending on how one wishes to spend their time in this world. Trepidation is the only way she could describe how she feels knowing that if she stepped through she would be signing herself off to the idea of getting back involved in this world, this game, and the people within it and being willing to open herself up back to having friendships that could blossom, disappear  or betrayal. Fear of the unknown, fear of being hurt again is all she could think of at first while staring at this leaving her guild, itzal being upset after F23, falling out with Shield, her fights with Domarus, people hiding those who were dangerous to the world, her failure at being a leader every bad memory floods her mind while staring at this teleporter the bad memories that permeate Aincrad just one story in a million. A story that might not even be worth retelling ever again and all she would have to do is turn around and go back to her house, spend her days with her familiar and let the game spin around more and more while progress was made slowly.

[Hestia 0]

Out of the loop as she may be she wasn't entirely blind to the progress that is made since system notifications and the information broker system traverse the floors making sure people know what has been done seemingly. Progress had been made though they beat the labyrinth they beat the boss and all without her help she wasn't needed and might not even be wanted if they could do things like that without a tank or healer supporting them the tales of valor ring true and clear around all of Aincrad. Though even with herself thinking these thoughts a gentle buzz in her mind fills with other memories ones of the more positive aspects of this world and the gifts they had brought to her and shown what she is capable of. From meeting the Holy Dragon alliance and finding out she can have a family to some degree once more within her life, to making friends with her familiar and helping kimi find her own adorable shark doggo thing. The time spent with guildmates bonding in some way with those that gave her the time of day, and then their was helping Embers out with being less aggressive and making a sisterly bond with her do or die squad. The many mentor positions she had taken up during her time teaching new players the ropes of tanking and fighting. Hope when talking with jomei that things could be better but it would take effort on both sides' part to mend the rift between people.

[Hestia 0]

Maybe that advice could apply here? I feel like i have too many regrets i should try to fix some of those the question is where to begin with that even though it's not like i can message them all i don't even have many on my friends list that is abysmally small. She says with a disgruntled tone of voice as she makes her way towards a bench to just sit down and go through ideas in her head and idly scroll through her list of people she can contact in hopes of one day being able to hangout with them again to bring a smile to her face. She scrolls through her list noticing one is still absent that she thought she had but it must've gotten deleted at some point probably by the other player himself. Itzal. Maybe i could also message Morgenstern and see how he is holding up. My first mentors in this brand new world and one of the best guilds that use to be around before they disbanded. She says with a smile upon her face as she taps on Morgenstern's name and sends him a quick message to see how he is doing in all of this craziness. She then idly scrolls more opening up another message tab and message Sey her second in command of the guild she wanted to make the barterer and strength of the two a businessman who she enjoyed spending her time.

Spoiler

 

Hope you're doing okay i know i kinda disappeared when you needed a supportive shoulder the most but i'm here if you need someone to fight alongside or just to talk

To Morgenstern, from Hestia

 

Spoiler

 

It's been awhile since we talked or even met really, but i hope you've been staying safe but busy hope you can message me back when you can Sey i'd love to try and face more quests with you and come up with more plans.

To Sey, From hestia

 

 

[Hestia 0]

Well if i want to be able to meet old questing buddies then maybe i should try to shake off some rust from my combat and see how the new system works maybe? Lets do only one creature i wouldn't want to overexert myself and possibly die due to incompetence. She says softly while scrolling open her combat inventory equipping her shield, and heavy armor then her trinket. The necklace she wears appearing beneath the snowglobe pressed against her chest as her armor surrounds her in a constant gentle aura of flames as she looks forward and makes her way outside of the town turning her back upon the teleporter delaying her exploration of further floors for just a singular test to see if she is even ready for something like that. Making her way through the town she takes a stop at her house giving a quick little whistle towards her familiar and shouting into the grecian household. Kuro! Come we have things to do for once! The shout moving throughout the house and being returned with the sound of beating wings as the monochromatic lion flies towards her tackling her into the ground in excitement. Hestia raises her hand and pets the top of her familiar's head feeling glad she made the decision to at least attempt at getting back into the whole questing thing even if she will start small and work her way up from the easiest stuff she can find to the hardest to get back into the swing of things.

[Hestia 0]

She smiles letting her familiar make his way outside the house as she then closes her door and makes her way towards one of the exits within the town as she undoes the strap around her shield to hold it within her hand while gazing towards the razor edge shield letting her armored hand trace along the metallic surface of it. Lifting the object up and down giving test to the weight of it and more importantly using the shield without a sword in her other hand as she idly tries to toss the shield from one hand to the other with a great plunder as it fall short and hits the ground. Quickly picking her shield up she pouts a bit at that having hoped to be able to do that on her first try, but maybe throwing around heavy pieces of metal wasn't as easy as she had hoped with the game helping her to even move within this heavy gear in the first place. She quickly makes her way out of the town and into the field, the wild area, the not town? She hasn't really thought of a name for this area at least not one that she could remember clearly.

[Hestia 0]

She makes her way through the caverns that make up the underground of the twenty third floor and much to her surprise the place was dark her eyes having to adjust from the lack of light from the city that she had stayed in for most of her time avoiding the frontlines since the twenty fourth floor and her attempt at progressing towards the twenty fifth. No light, seemingly no plant life besides what she could make out of maybe vague mushrooms? She swipes at the air creating a dim light as she swipes her finger along the menu and pulls out a glowstone one of many that she had bought from her friend kairi in her attempt to help the girl out with being a merchant. The small rock emits light as she quickly closes her eyes the light being blinding like staring at the sun for her compared to the pitch black that the cave had procured for her moments before. She slowly opens her eyes blinking rapidly for a few seconds to adjust to the light and once her eyes had finally adjusted she gazes around seeing only rocks, and dark corners the water being like veins of blood through the small cracks that serve as veins for them to move through. She makes her way deeper into the cavern system keeping her shield close and her glowstone a bit further ahead of her shield to serve as a focused light.

Traversing deeper into the cavern she finds herself in a fork in the road with the walls surrounding her each step she takes echoing off sounding like they are coming from everywhere rather then from her own steps. Suddenly she sees a figure in the corner lunging forward slapping her glowstone out of her hand as it shatters once it hits the floor with her eyes catching sight of who had assaulted her the visage of a dark elf holding kurkris appearing before her with a glare filled with only hate and spite the male figure rushing past her into the dark hiding within the dark where it can see her, and herself not able to see it. Her armor giving her only the faintest glow that surrounds her as she finds herself able to have a bit of time to react and dodge due to the light the flames give off, but not much else for her while causing her armor to also mark her out in the dark like a giant bullseye.

Hestia: HP:900/900 EN:102/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Dark Elf extremist: 230/230 DMG: 300 ACC:3

Edited April 7, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

She stands within the dark her eyes scanning her surroundings as footsteps echo off the wall one person sounding like many, or maybe there are more than just the one person attacking her and they are just waiting for her to lower her guard against this new threat that is facing her. She gets low to the ground and waits for the attack her ears sharp and waiting for the moment of the creature striking slowly closing her eyes knowing that sight would be useless in this for trying to find the source of the attack. Silence. The sound of a running stream being heard as water babbles down towards some location that she can't see. Beastial creatures thundering in the distance like that of a distant storm warning of impending attacks. Then like lightning compared to all else the sound of clothes rustling as a creature rushes forward with footsteps that are surprisingly light at least when compared to her thundering armor that must've sounded like a entire platoon running it down in enemy territory.

Opening her eyes she raises her shield as she blocks the opponent kukri strike with it as she smirks towards the extremist as the light emitted by her armor shows the scowl that turns to a smirk as a second kukri gets pulled out and slashes across her armor. Adjusting her positioning she moves her shield to stab into her opponent's hand as the elf lets out a slight what she could assume is a elven curse word as they jump back and slink into the darkness once more to make use of their advantage in this fight.

#187765 MD:3+3=6  300-163=137DMG  TNS:80dmg to elf

Hestia: HP:763/900 EN:102/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Dark Elf extremist: 150/230 DMG: 300 ACC:3

Edited April 7, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

She waits patiently for the next strike as best as she can manage her eyes darting around her checking her back for the next attack figuring the enemy might've tried to go for a backstab since they just went that way. Though when the time came to strike her warning was her familiar roaring at the foe as she tried to turn to meet their blade but found the kurkris stabbed into her backside between the plates of her armor and through the flaming cloak that it gave off. She watches as the elf just laughs at her misfortune before jumping back once more into the shadows as she drops to one knee moving one hand back to tap her back with a disgruntled look upon her face at the damage that she took from the strike. Okay time to see just how well i can outlast through healing i can tell that tanking through enemies with just thorns is not viable unless i use immolation potions now. She says sounding annoyed more than anything else while staring towards where the dark elf scurried off towards during its last attack as she focuses upon the healing skill getting ready to heal her way through fights from here on out when it use to only be a last resort.

BH=45 free action: rampart [10 eng, CD:0/5] 25% final damage reduction

#187766 MD:10 360-163=197-49(rampart)=148-45(bh)=103   CD:2 [no proc]

Hestia: HP660/900 EN:92/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Dark Elf extremist: 150/230 DMG: 300 ACC:3

Edited April 7, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

She rests her hand against the kukri slash as her hands get enveloped in a yellow light as she watches her health bar gets restored by a surprising amount in one round her eyes widening at such a honestly amazing number healed during one time. Well then looks like that is a lot better then what i could have hoped for. Seems if i want to fly solo that would be the way to do it to try and outlast. She then glances at her energy meter and winces a bit at seeing how badly it took a dive from what she just did as she hears a mad dash towards her as she raises her shield blocking the double kukri strike that was aimed at her stomach. Following up her block she tries to kick away the enemy, but they dive to the side after their failed attempt to strike at her as she just watches the retreating enemy as she looks towards her familiar and smiles knowing what she could do. Okay kuro get ready. She says gently towards her lion preparing to test the new familiar skill.

BH:45, en 1

Action: heal[15en] 180heal,  enemy attacks   CD:3

Hestia: HP885/900 EN:78/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Dark Elf extremist: 150/230 DMG: 300 ACC:3

Edited April 7, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

Her focus remains resolute as she scans the room for the threat that is lurking within the shadow and she finds a certain confidence returning to her and what she can expect from this new system and what her capabilities are reaching towards. She can't farm by herself anymore she might need to talk to Zandra about such ideas for her own safety and for the expediency of such tactics. That or try to find another aoe person but the likelihood of finding someone was rather low in her eyes unless she managed to find a fresh face with such capacities to help her out. The sound of footfalls against stone breaks her from the thoughts of future endeavors and grounds her back into the present the light growl of her familiar sounding off against the cavern walls. Then quick like lightning the elf makes himself known once more as she raises her shield catching him in the chest with it as the kukris also find their mark slashing against her arms her health taking a minor hit but not enough to even worry the raven haired tank. Back down your death is inevitable if you continue to pursue this vain pursuit of murdering me just for not being one of your kind. She says in a stern voice as only a venomous glare and more drow words are flung at her with an equal amount of hatred and what she could probably assume is vengeful prejudice or something of the like about their queen giving the command. She just accepts the resolute hatred of the opponent in front of her and raises her shield with a steeled gaze forward.

BH:45 EN:1

Action: vibe, enemy attacks #187996 MD:7+3=10 300-163=137-45=92dmg THNS=80dmg   CD:5

Hestia: HP793/900 EN:79/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Dark Elf extremist: 70/230 DMG: 300 ACC:3

Edited April 10, 2021 by Hestia

[Hestia 0]

The dark elf is quick to strike back not slinking to the shadows catching her off guard as the ai seemingly adapted to hwo well she was taking the hits for the most part and trying to press its advantage. The drow lunges forward slashing its kukri along her neck before jumping back faster then she could ever have reacted at least in her mind as she just can hear the cackling from the creature's success. Taking steadying breathes to calm herself and to not act rashly she focuses as much as she can upon the surroundings not wanting to take another hit as she glances towards her familiar not feeling particularly okay with the idea of using that skill. However, at the sametime it was put into the game and even seemingly being a good idea to do it that way she can shrug off any big attacks that could occur as long as she could prepare for it happening. 'Kinda like the leviathan wave.' She thinks to herself remembering how the tsunami left most having to retreat or be wiped out.

BH:45 en:1

Action: vibe, enemy attacks  #187997 MD:10 360-163=197-45=152

Hestia: HP641/900 EN:81/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Dark Elf extremist: 70/230 DMG: 300 ACC:3

Edited April 10, 2021 by Hestia