[F7-PP] <<Feeding Your Enemy>> Bird is the Word

[Ivory Lotus 0]

She laughed. It was a little weird, and a little quirky, but she liked it. Although she really didn't know how to dance she figured she'd give it her best shot. She reached out her delicate hand, entwining it in his as he helped her to her feet. "I'd love to. I have no idea how though, so you lead." She looked made eye contact with him, cocking her head slightly to the side with a sheepish grin, a light blush in her cheeks. Whether from the cold, embarrassment, or something else, who knew. She leaned in a little closer, humming along to the whistling of the wind as she closed her eyes momentarily, a peaceful look coming over her face. She was generally very comfortable being physically close to others, so she wasn't uncomfortable with how close they were at all. She squeezed his hand encouragingly before opening her eyes again, looking up and giving him another small but warm smile.

[Randal 0]

The dance was not a fast one, Randal and Ivory took each other in their arms and took small steps in a circular motion, every step tracing a footprint in the snow, the song of the mountains, how many could say that they have heard it, much less danced to it. When the wind finally died down, Randal looked at Ivory. “Not bad right? Won’t you dance with me more often. If we ever find ourself in a similar situation, let’s dance again.” Randal laughed at the idea that just left his mouth. The sun was only not making it’s was past its zenith and was hurtling towards the horizon. Randal pulled out some packed lunches from his inventory. “I made a few extra just in case, would you like one? Inside is a burrata cheese filled crispy katsu with rice and seasoned meat. Just something I was fiddling with earlier” Randal also handed her a ticket for a free meal at his Food shop in Horunka Village.

Randal finds 1 Mat
LD: 13+6 = 19

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188290	2	2	13	1	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-13 11:18:21

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory took a step back and gave Randal a little smile. "Maybe. I'm not really great at dancing though, its something you have to practice, right?" She asked slowly glancing around, enjoying their surroundings. It hadn't been a bad experience, but now it felt like something a couple would do and she felt kind of awkward about it, especially since he had mentioned earlier having a girlfriend outside of the game. "I'm not really hungry right now, but thank you for offering." She responded, accepting the coupon anyway. She smiled at how tasty the food looked, thinking back to her time before the game and all of the fifty cent ramen she had eaten because she was too busy to cook for herself and too poor to afford to order anything. "I'll take this as a raincheck though. We can hang out sometime later and just enjoy ourselves." She offered, brandishing the ticket he had given her. 

[Randal 0]

Well, rejection was always an awkward thing and Randal was sure that Ivory just misunderstood his unusual comfort with her for affection, and she probably was not wrong, Randal might have developed a small crush in the few hours than he had known her. Nonetheless, he was nothing if not cool and said,

 

“Yes, and when you come by next, you will not be alone, we are going to hunt down this familiar and get it done. I do not mind having to scour a few more of these areas. I heard there was somewhere called the Temple of Three, do you happen to know where that is?”

 

Quickly munching away at his meal and getting up. Randal was ready for a change of pace and began looking around. A small ways away, Randal spotted a few NPCs climbing up the mountain, glancing up, he saw that they were headed towards a small hut, hidden between a few rocks. Probably a lounge of some sort for travellers.

 

“What do you want to do now? Temple or talk to those NPCs, see if there’s anything you can learn about the familiar.”

Randal finds 1 Mat

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188319	5	10	15	6	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-13 18:02:51

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory swayed slightly in the wind, following Randal's line of sight to the NPCs making their way up the mountain. She had never heard of this temple, and had never been there. To be completely honestly honest she had no idea where they were currently, and that was just kind of how she lived her life. She crossed her arms under her chest, thinking, lips pursed gently. "I don't really know anything about this temple place, honestly I don't even know where we are, I was just enjoying your company." She confessed after a moment, avoiding eye contact with her newest friend. Seeing as she was definitely incapable of leading them anywhere they wanted to go, it was either talk to the NPCs or maybe Randal actually had a sense of direction, unlike her. She shifted awkwardly, an embarrassed blush in her cheeks and she snuck a look over at Randal to see his reaction to the fact that she had completely made up the fact that she could guide them.

[Randal 0]

Randal smugly looked at her and said, “Whaaa you mean you’ve been lost this whole time, I had no idea” He sang jokingly, Randal looked around at the fact that on the way up they almost sort of avoided the roads somehow and managed to find their way up a mountain peak was already an impressive feat of its own. “Do not worry about it, I am enjoying the company too.” Randal then went on to suggest they approach the NPCs to see what the deal was with the hut and if they could get their bearing on properly, Randal also knew that at some point, Ivory would have to start looking for her familiar, so he was content to hang around and explore the floor until then.

He told Ivory to watch her step, pointing out rocks that jutted out of the snow so that she could use them as footholds as they made their way towards the three characters in the distance. There was little snowfall, so Randal could see them clearly, they were wearing white and grey parkas and were speaking in muffled tones though the wind made any attempt to overhear the conversation from a distance nearly impossible.

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188363	1	4	4	2	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-14 02:00:06

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory giggled at his response, looking back down at her feet for a bit to regain her composure. She wasn't sure if they should bother the NPC's, being a little worried that it might be the start of a quest or something, and she wasnt sure what kind of stats Randal had. She knew she couldn't really fight anything by herself. Where her skills shone was in a full party. 

"They look like they're talking about something important... What do you think it could be?" She voiced in a hushed whisper to Randal, her purple eyes widening a little, as though the distant NPC's might be able to overhear them despite the long distance between them.

Following his advice she hopped tentatively from one rock to the next. Her caution didn't amount to much though, as on the very last rock foothold her foot went flying out from under her as she began to fall down onto the snow.

[Randal 0]

“Well, there goes the element of surprise if it was needed, I suppose.” Randal said softly, he jumped down and slid down the snow feet first, arriving quickly at Ivory and helping her up, dusting the white-coloured snow from her white-coloured hair. At that point, the NPCs had turned to face the commotion with their weapons drawn, and so Randal brashly asked, “Hey there fellas, what lovely weather we are having no? Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” The NPCs seemed to lower their guard slightly when they realised that they were not being attacked nor where their “attackers” lizardmen or other kinds of monsters. Although the first impression certainly was not favourable, they did not have any grudge against the two players and so readily answered any question that was not too invasive. “Let’s start with this, do you happen to know anything about the Temple of Three?” The trio of them exchanged a look before explaining that they were simple mountaineers that collected special herbs for the town and that they were in need of a fourth person as one of their original members had fallen sick. They explained that if helped, they would provide the players with some information that might be of use to them, though they did not specify what they would say.

Randal finds 2 Mats

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188440	5	11	17	10	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-14 10:57:06

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory blushed, Randal brushing the snow from her hair for her seeming a bit intimate to her. He was cute, and they had danced and stuff, but she barely knew him. She shook her head, trying to think about something else. Like the NPCs in front of them brandishing their weapons. She squeaked and hid behind Randal, peeking out from behind his shoulder as they, after a moment, lowered their guard slightly. She drew her cloak around her a bit tighter, listening as they explained that they needed another person to help in some way with gathering herbs. The reward sounded really lame, but who knew. 

"Do you want to help them Randal? We could maybe keep searching while we do. They seem nice enough, even though the reward doesn't sound very good." She expressed quietly from slightly behind him. She shivered slightly from the snow that had made its way into her clothes after the fall, her nose now a little red from the cold. 

[Randal 0]

“Should we? Who knows what the information would be but at least its not something that involves murdering another creature in the game. We can even do it while we work towards getting you that familiar and if I am lucky, their information might point me in the right direction.” Randal said out-loud to Ivory and the trio, after asking a bit more about what they needed, they told Randal and Ivory to follow them into the house to collect some equipment before setting out to leave. “It could be a trap so be careful.” Randal said to Ivory in a hushed whisper. The cabin looked like something they would find in the Alps, but it was not used very often which was evident from the snow that piled up all around the house obscuring the majority of it from obvious view. Inside, they were offered a seat on some wooden seats and a cup of hot chocolate, they then sat down begun to explain that once every few months, a special flower would bloom around the peaks of the mountain that helped sick people in the town who were suffering from a severe form of hypothermia. They showed Randal and Ivory a picture of the flower in a book and told them that animals tended to be spotted near the areas where the flowers grew. There were four areas on this mountain that they were going to search, and Randal and Ivory would be tasked to travel to one of the four locations.

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188497	4	7	3	4	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-14 12:16:21

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory personally wasnt super worried about any kind of trap, at least, not for herself. Despite her earlier reaction to the brandished weapons, she could take a pretty hard hit. Honestly, even on the seventh floor any of the mobs that tried to hurt her would find themselves in for the long haul. She did her best to pay attention, taking specific care to memorize what it looked like. She smiled after a moment. It had been a long time since she had been involved with plant and herbs, but she was certain that this flower was a ginseng flower, the roots of which were often used in Chinese medicine, or made into a tea of some kind. That didn't mean that she knew how to harvest it or where it grew or any of that, but she felt mildly accomplished at having recognized the plant. She gently grabbed Randal's wrist as she led him outside excitedly. "My family used to use the roots of these flowers for a medicinal tea. It can help increase blood flow, which would help a person with hypothermia warm up faster." Her excitement at her discovery was evident in her voice and the look on her face.

Spoiler

 

 ID# 188541 results:

 Loot: 3 Dice is rigged

 

LD requirement lowered to 9

Edited April 14, 2021 by Ivory Lotus

[Randal 0]

“Oh! Your family used to  farm ginseng? Do you happen to know what are the locations where it usually grows! Our best bet is probably to combine both the location that the quest is asking us to and for you to see if anything stands out to you.” 

Randal cheerfully said pleased with ivory’s discovery. 

“Well, if there’s nothing else we should probably get going then.” 

Before Randal could leave his seat there NPCs didn’t forget to warn him to be careful, the herb usually has wildlife close to which means that monster attacks were not unlikely and that they should be guarded against those eventualities. Randal thanked them for the warning and gave it thought, if the problem is monsters and not mobs then maybe he would be able to avoid combat since Ivory was not a fan of it. Though he thought back to some of the quests that he participated in and all of the combat that that entailed and hoped that she could find a way to avoid it.

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188559	1	2	2	9	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-14 20:03:22

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory shrugged. "My parents owned an herbal medicine shop. We never farmed anything ourselves, but we did deal with the plants. Its been a long time since I did anything to do with that though. Even before this it had been a long time." She explained, seeming much more relaxed now that her mind was on other things. She honestly missed the cozy hominess of her parents shop, it had been years, not even counting her time stuck in sword art online, since she had seen her parents face to face let alone the shop she had spent so much time in with them. She had been a very very busy person back then, a far cry from how she was now. She looked wistful at the thought of her family before her facial expression shifted slightly, becoming a little more sad with a tinge of worry in her eyes. "I was um... in school when this whole thing happened." She mentioned before forcing herself to smile at Randal. She didn't want to bring the mood down. "Anyway, lets see what we cant do to help these people out!" She exclaimed, her bubbly, happy nature resurfacing seemingly out of nowhere, a far cry from just a moment before.

[Randal 0]

“I was already working at the time, my company decided that SAO was going to be the next hit thing and way paying us to become renowned in the game to promote the company, it was a pretty genius idea, if only I could log out.” Randal said with a shrug. He noted Ivory’s moment of despondence and moved on from it, everyone had their story to tell, and they would if they wanted to. Seeing as how she was as lost as he way when it came to any special way of finding the spot of Ginseng, Randal and Ivory started following the quest marker which was a semi-large area, there were a few groups of mountain goats and other animals scattered into 2 different piles and they would have to search both. This time Randal did not try to jump along the footholds but found a safe path to slide down the snow in.

Randal finds 1 Mat

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188558	7	4	12	7	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-14 20:00:58

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

"That would have been pretty cool. It sucks we had our brains kidnapped by some eccentric weirdo. What happens happens for a reason though; I just dont know what that reason is yet." She commented, attempting to slide down the snow like Randal had but instead just ending up tumbling down the hill in a very ungraceful manner, flopping face up in the snow at the bottom and just laying there for a moment. Luckily the slope hadn't been very steep or very long, and she was perfectly fine. It really showcased just how clumsy she could occasionally be. She sat up after a moment, noting the animals and the decently large area they would have to search. "Onwards!" She said playfully, pointing further into the little meadow they found themselves in.

She hummed to herself, moving a little away from Randal and keeping her eyes on the ground, trying to pick out the little white flowers of the ginseng plant in the scattered snow. A howl came from a ways away, but Ivory just ignored it. Then came the sound of padding feet on the ground, increasing in volume slightly as it grew closer. Suddenly, a large white tundra wolf sprinted out from behind a grove of trees to her left, sprinting at her and leaping at her. Its sharp canines connected with her shoulder, tearing through and leaving glowing red lines behind. It looked like a serious wound, although the healthbars told a different tale. Ivory for her part, completely ignored the enemy, as though it didn't exist.

Spoiler

 

 ID# 188560 results:

 MOB: 8 Hit!

60 DMG - 62 MIT= 1 DMG

 

Tundra Wolf: 200/200 HP | 60 DMG | MIT: 0 |

Ivory: 409/410 HP | MIT: 62|

Edited April 15, 2021 by Ivory Lotus

[Randal 0]

“Actually, to be completely blunt with you. I think he has a major case of reading too much manhwa, I’ve seen some and that’s exactly the backstory that happens.” Randal was saying as he watched the almost regularly clumsy girl roll comedically through the snow, Randal thought to himself that if she were to wear a suit, she would make a very cute penguin sliding through the snow, though he did start to worry about bringing her to a high mountain top.

 

Unexpectedly, while searching for the Ginseng plant but to no avail, only having been the target of goats trying to butt heads with Randal, a sudden cry was heard as a white wolf lunged at Ivory and the sound of bodies colliding filled the air. The wolf was gnawing at Ivory and in a split moment, Randal mustered all the speed he could get on the frictionless snow and swung a mighty right hook, activating his Sword Art and taking away a quarter of his energy. The wolf never looked up or took its maw away from Ivory’s shoulder, so it had no idea what had hit it so hard that its jaw unhinged and loosened its grip on its prey before blasting it down the side of the mountain into nothingness.

Randal saw that that was the end and squatted down beside Ivory, he then realised that there was barely any change in her health, “Erm, how much armour are you wearing….?”

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188562	10	4	1	8	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	All Might vs Tundra Wolf	2021-04-14 20:47:30

[0 Hate] Ivory: 409/410 HP | MIT: 62|

[1 Hate] Randal: 440/440 HP | 46/62 EN| Damage: 11 (+2 SA) | MIT: 20 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 3 |
BD: 10 (Major Crit)
Randal uses 16 Energy to hit the wolf with All Might doing : (11+2+2)*17 = 255 DMG
Cooldowns: All-Might [0/3]

Tundra Wolf: 0/200 HP | 60 DMG | MIT: 0 |

Edited April 15, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

The woman jumped a little as the wolf was blasted away from her, disintegrating. She was very obviously more shaken by Randal's prompt response to the wolf attacking her than the wolf itself. She shook a little bit as adrenaline rushed through her system.  

"W-wow, you can hit hard and fast..." She responded, ignoring his question for the moment as she caught her breath. The glowing red marks slowly faded as her health bar refilled completely in moments. Randal was definitely way stronger than she had thought, having no idea of his skills or level before now. She bit her lip gently, sitting up in the snow and rolling the sleeves of her cloak up, revealing a pair of plate steel vambraces underneath. "I don't have any real equipment, but these count as heavy armor anyway so they activate my armor skill." She glanced around the clearing, looking for more wolves. "I usually just let them bite me, I think they're kind of cute to be honest." She explained to Randal about the wolves. Generally there was a bit more running involved, but she wasn't really in any danger to enemies of that level. "Thank you anyway though." She said tentatively, understanding that he was just trying to protect her; plus, maybe he wasn't as tanky as her and they were a real threat to him.

[Randal 0]

“umm…you let them bite you..okay…”

Randal sort of muttered to himself and Ivory in a sort of stunned way. The same way someone would you broke into their mind and stole all the common sense in the world away from them. This was no easy feat when from the on start you were beset with the fact that a random virtual reality game had imprisoned thousands of people. Randal came back to himself and questioned.

“Sorry about that, you plan on sticking with this into the later part of the game? Stacking more and more mitigation until not even the boss monsters could phase you?”

Randal asked curiously, he had specialised in evasive properties, opting for the softer and more malleable cloth armour to improve his evasion to the point of pseudo-tankiness.

“I cannot imagine you dragging some wolves around your ankle letting them bit you but that’s pretty cool, when if you tamed one of them, I do not know if anyone has ever tried to tame a familiar that was trying to kill them.”

Randal looked at the area around them and suggested they continue looking for the Ginseng too.

Randal finds 1 mat

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188578	3	2	18	7	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-14 21:34:30

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Randal

[Ivory Lotus 0]

She made a humph noise. "They're like abnormally large puppies. And its not like it hurts me, so why would I bother them, right?" She asked Randal, shrugging nonchalantly. She wouldn't mind have a large fluffy wolf like dog once she got out of this game now that she thought about it. "I just want to help. If I can take hits for others and heal them when I cant do that that's all I want. Its enough to save lives at least." The woman expressed, standing up and starting to brush the snow off of her cloths, unrolling her sleeves again to hide the armor on her arms. She didn't like the look and honestly hoped to get some really cute armor of some kind made at some point. "I'll just have to rely on you if we run into any trouble I guess." She said playfully, making puppy dog eyes at her newest friend and pouting.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Ivory Lotus

[Randal 0]

“ I don’t think they were designed to be cute, think about those snarling teeth, I am surprised you don’t find it scary at all.” Randal offered, remembering a moment in a previous quest where he had to deliver a venomous Warg for the objective to be considered complete. 

“It would definitely be good for there to be more stalwart healers and supporters amongst the players.” Randal said, reflecting on his own obsession with having good enough offensive abilities to tackle the higher tiers of floors.

“If all the minds on this floor was like that, I’m confident in helping you out no matter the situation, but there is a high chance that was just the runt of the litter considering how quickly it was dispatched.” Randal finally remarked.

“Come on, let us look around for that flower and deliver it back to the NPCs, should be easier now that the goats had run away from the wolf.” Randal said pushing aside the snow to reveal some roots.

Randal finds 2 Mat

Spoiler

ID	Battle	Craft	Loot	MOB	Character	Link	Purpose	Time
188620	1	10	15	6	Randal	http://www.cydel.net/images/saorpg/diceroll/Msg_hover2.png	Find Material	2021-04-15 06:45:26

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Randal