[PP-EV-F01] Master and Student EP I: New Horizons | <<Scents of the Wild: Part 1>>

[Wulfrin 0]

Wulfrin made his way down to Floor 1. Today was a little different from his other trips this low. A typical trip consisted of a bit of fishing or on the extremely common occasion, guiding a newbie or two through Dorian's string of fetch quests that the game liked to call a tutorial. In his opinion, it didn't really do much beyond get them used to swinging a sword and rummaging around for rewards. The true test of an up and coming swordsman, or woman, was actual combat. Even better a string of bosses that Wulfrin had started to work through multiple times, but had never managed to complete. That was his goal today.

To: Astra
From: Wulfrin
Subject: Boss Raid Training

Don't let the subject line fool you. We aren't actually going on a boss raid proper, rather we will be striking a series of bosses to get you used to raid mechanics. None of them are anywhere near frontline level. Meet me on Floor 1 within the Town of Beginning's teleport plaza. We've gotta get the quest active for you. Also don't stress about bringing your combat gear, there won't be any, but we can always do some training if we have time.

With is message sent, Wulfrin found himself one of the nearby stalls and nabbed a bundle of healing supplies to take with him back to the frontlines where a battle continued to rage on.

* * *

Post Action: Gathering supplies for the ongoing battle on Floor 29

* * *

Wulfrin | HP: 840/840 | EN: 116/116 | DMG: 21 | MIT:55 | ACC:4 | AA  | BH:28 | LD:8 | QTY: 2

Spoiler

"Name: Wulfrin
True Tier: 7
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 29
HP: 840/840
EN: 116/116

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 55
Accuracy: 4
Battle Healing: 28
Loot Die: 8
Stealth Rating: -5
AA QTY: 2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Platinum Longsword | T3 S.Sword | AA | ACC 3
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Dragon's Hoard | Prosp 3 | LD 1
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Devil's Due | Quality 2 | LD 2

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - TECH Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - Rending Familiar

Custom Skill:
  - Shades of the Gemini

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R3
  - Charge
  - Energist
  - Heavy Armor R5
  - Searching R5
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Disguise
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Survival
  - Meditation

Inactive Extra Skills:
  - Frozen Hide
  - Brawler
  - Assault Mode

Addons:
  - Focus
  - Iron Skin
  - Precision
  - Rampart
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Impetus
  - Night Vision

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Bear Trap x5
  - Crystal of Divine Light x5
  - Imugi's Inspiration | Mass Healing x2
  - Nepent Ovule x1
  - Popcorn | T4 Vitality 2 x1
  - Rhino's Horn x2
  - TP Crystals x1

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Trading Hall: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +2 crafting/identification attempts per day.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
 - Blacksmith[2250exp] R8
Gathering Profession:
 - Fishing[525exp] R5"                                                                                                                            

 

Edited June 15 by Wulfrin

[Astra 0]

Astra had already found himself on Floor 1 in the Town of Beginnings, as he had just finished up reading with the children at the orphanage, when he received a new message from Wulfrin. 

Boss raid training? Sounds like it'd be a good idea to get that in. I'll bring my combat equipment just in case. 

He said his goodbyes to the children and workers of the orphanage, and set off to the teleport plaza where he could find Wulfrin waiting. Just in case there was going to be combat, even though Wulfrin said there wouldn't be much, Astra went into his inventory and equipped his combat gear. He generally felt more comfortable in it anyways, as it was his usual attire. At one of the nearby stalls, he scoped out his mentor and walked up to him casually. 

"Morning!" He greeted Wulfrin with a smile. 

"Sounds like we're going to be doing some questing and training. Where are we headed?" 

He knew he still had a long way to go before he was frontlines ready, but he had been leveling up and improving, and could feel himself getting stronger. In time, he would be risking it all on the frontlines. For now, the questing and training was just fine. 

***

Astra | HP: 220/220 | EN: 40/40 | DMG: 12 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 2 | REC: 2 | BLD: 24

Spoiler

 

Name: Astra
True Tier: 2
Level: 11
Paragon Level: 1
HP: 220/220
EN: 40/40

Stats:
Damage: 12
Mitigation: 30
Accuracy: 6
Evasion: 2
Recovery: 2
Bleed: 24

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket:
  - Seeker's Blade | T2 Perfect Straight Sword | DMG 2 | BLD 1 
Armor/Trinket:
  - Seeker's Attire | T2 Perfect Light Armor | MIT 2 | REC 1
Shield/Armor/Trinket:
  - Initiates Draw | T1 Perfect Trinket | ACC 3

Combat Mastery:
  - N/A

Combat Shift:
  - TECH

Familiar Skill:
  - N/A

Custom Skill:
  - N/A

Skills:
  - Straight Sword R5
  - Light Armor R1

Extra Skills:
- Concentration 
Action: Free Action
Cooldown: 5 Turns
Effect: As a free action, gain Absolute Accuracy on your next attack. In the case Absolute Accuracy is already present, increase your Accuracy by 1 instead. Effect lasts until the start of next turn.

Inactive Extra Skills:

Sword Arts:

• [x12] ST-I (12 EN) | A single-target sword art.
• [x15] ST-II (15 EN) | A powerful single-target sword art. Only available for use when ST-I was used and successfully struck an enemy the previous turn or if ST-II had been used and had missed the previous turn.
• [x20] ST-B (20 EN) | A devastating single-target sword art. Can only be used if the sword art used the previous turn is not ST-B and had rolled a natural CD9+. When performing an AoE attack, use only the first roll.
• [x11] AOE-I (11 + [2 * targets] EN) | AOE | A sword art that strikes multiple targets at once.
• [x14] AOE-II (14 + [2 * targets] EN) | AOE | A powerful sword art that strikes multiple targets at once. Only available for use when AOE-I was used and successfully struck an enemy the previous turn or if AOE-II had been used and had missed all intended targets the previous turn.
• [x12] TECH-A (13 EN) | STUN | A single-target sword art that stuns an enemy.
• [x12] TECH-B (12 EN) | DELAY | A single-target sword art that, on a successful strike, applies [Delay] on the enemy. [Delay] is a debuff that reduces the enemy’s ACC by 1 for one turn.

Addons:
  - Stamina | Reduces EN of all attacks by 2
  - Focus | Decreases minor critical threshold by 1. Also reduces DoT thresholds by 1.
  - Precision | +1 ACC

Mods:
  

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Starter Healing Potions (Restores 50HP) x2

Housing Buffs:
-Bedroom | "Rested" | -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
-Dining Hall | "Delicious" | Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
-Living Room | "Relaxed" | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.

Crafting Profession:
-

Gathering Profession:
-   Fishing                            

 

 

[Wulfrin 0]

"Not too far," Wulfrin said as he dismissed the large sack into the depths of his inventory. "We'll be following that river I love to fish at so much. It's source is a cave that serves as the starting point for a quest chain called: Scents of The Wild. It's essentially a boss rush, so good practice if you plan to join the frontlines."

 Wulfrin continued to peruse the countless stalls. With a sigh he pulled out a small booklet and struck through a line. He was running out of NPCs to get supplies for the frontlines. At this point he had exhausted most of the stock within the Town of Beginnings pretty much leaving the other villages, Tolbana and Horunka, as his last stops, at least until the NPCs decided to restock them selves.

"I'll be honest though," Wulfrin sighed. "Not only is this quest a bit of a drag, but I'm running out of NPC stock to scoop up and inventory space for all these supplies to take to 29."

[Astra 0]

"Sounds like a plan. What kind of bosses will we be fighting?" Astra walked alongside Wulfrin as they started to make their way through the town of beginnings. Much like Wulfrin, Astra had also been searching the town for supplies for the frontlines, but was having little luck in the Town of Beginnings. It appeared like a lot of others had the same idea, and NPCs inventories were running low as a result. As long as the supplies were making their way to the frontlines, though, that would be fine. 

"I haven't had much luck with supplies here either, to be honest. It seems like its a bit picked clean." Astra glanced over at Wulfrin's list as he walked. It looked like he had at least obtained a good amount of stock on his search, so that was relieving. Astra knew he wouldn't be able to participate in the upcoming raid, but any way he could provide support would be worth it. 

As he traversed with Wulfrin, a sudden thought hit him out of the blue. "Scents of the Wild...Why does that sound familiar?" 

[Wulfrin 0]

"I've mentioned it a few times," Wulfrin sighed in agreeance as he started towards the city gate. "As for the bosses, I've only faced off with one so far. That one is a giant bear named Kumatetsu. He's a complete push over, the others I know little about."

Wulfrin led the two through the forest outside the Town of Beginnings, via the winding waters of his favorite fishing stream. It twisted and coiled through the forrest until the two arrived at a waterfall that served as its source. Carefully maneuvering maneuvering around the waterfall to the rock face, Wulfrin revealed a hidden cave. As he pressed into the darkness, his Night Vision mod kicked in allowing him to see with no issue.

"We'll take care of the quest before heading to Tolbana," Wulfrin instructed as they started to push into the cave. "Should be a pretty quick stop. We're looking for a slab of stone with a language we have to decode." 

[Astra 0]

Wulfrin and Astra had found themselves in a hidden cave, pushing on through the dark to an unknown destination. Though Wulfrin was well equipped with his night vision, Astra had no such mod. He followed the sound of Wulfrin's steps, and by tracing the walls with his hands. "I'm not sure how great I'll be at finding anything right now but...I'll try!" Sure enough; Try he did. With any shred of light that would appear in the caverns, Astra would get as close as he could and try to find a slab of stone with inscriptions. 

"Return the slab," he whispered under his breath as he continued to search. It was compulsory whenever the word slab was mentioned. Astra started to feel a bit fatigued at stumbling through the dark, but this slab did have to turn up somewhere. "Any luck, yet? Also, do you know how big this slab is?" Maybe he was overthinking the hunt for this slab, but he was genuinely trying to find it. 

[Wulfrin 0]

"It isn't terribly big," Wulfrin replied as he made a rough estimation with his hands. "Not much bigger than a tablet from our world."

Wulfrin paid no attention to the cave around them, his Night Vision skill pulling most of the weight as he journeyed through the twisting tunnels. Before long he led them to a chamber with a tree stump standing alone in the center of the large chamber. The trees roots clung to the outer edges of the chamber, eventually coming back together at the apex of the chamber's ceiling. Positioned nicely at the center of the roughly ten foot wide stump was a tablet made of an odd combination of moonstone, wood, and bone.

"Here it is," Wulfrin said as he gestured towards the tablet. "It'll take a bit to decipher so settle in and get your thinking cap on."

Having studied this tablet for the third time, Wulfrin began to wonder if the system was producing a new cipher every time.

* * *

Deciphering  Slab
ID 248650 | LD 1+8= 9

Total 9/60

Edited July 31 by Wulfrin

[Astra 0]

Following Wulfrin's lead as he stumbled through the dark, Astra did his best to keep up. As they traversed winding cavern paths, he couldn't help but think about when he would acquire the Night Vision skill. At this point it seemed like something everyone should have. However, they eventually entered a chamber surrounded by roots, and light was a bit more plentiful. Lo and behold, a stump in the center of the room was holding a slab. As Wulfrin gestured towards it, Astra was a little perturbed that it was perfectly placed in this room, after he'd been searching the caverns in the dark. "Well, that's convenient." 

Astra glanced at the tablet, with his hand upon his chin, trying to decipher the symbols and/or language that was displayed. After some time, he began to point at a few symbols and share what they made him think of. "This one kind of looks like two bears high-fiving. This one kind of looks like a guy carrying a sled on his back! Oh, and this one is definitely two guys sharing one sweater." Deep down, he knew he was nowhere close to figuring out the cypher, not yet at least. Wracking his brain, he continued to mull over the symbols. 

"I mean, Kumatetsu is a bear so that one could be bears. Maybe?"

***

Post Action: Deciphering Slab
ID 248708 | LD: 17

Total: 26/60

Edited August 1 by Astra

[Wulfrin 0]

"You have exactly one third of that correct," Wulfrin chuckled as he pointed to the writing on the slab. "The first line talks about Kumatetsu. It reads as follows: If seeking power, wisdom and resilience, find ye those which embody nature’s graces: The fiercest of beasts with unmatched strength. With that bit of knowledge why don't you try and decipher the next line?"

Wulfrin could actually just recite the whole poem from memory, though that would take all the fun out of it. Instead he saw this as a teaching moment. Not all problems within the floating castle could be solved by swinging a sword. That was a lesson Wulfrin had to learn the hard way on multiple occasions. Sure In a game such as SAO, most of the time a sword, or your weapon of choice, could usually present a solution, but Wulfrin had encountered many situations where relying on just his raw power alone wasn't enough to save him.

* * *

Post Action: Deciphering Slab
ID 248750 | LD 9+8=17

Total: 43/60

Edited August 1 by Wulfrin

[Astra 0]

"The fiercest of beasts with unmatched strength..." Astra murmured under his breath as his eyes continued to scan the slab. If he was able to piece together the bear image for Kumatetsu, surely he could figure something else out. Furrowing his brow while he traced his finger along the images, he tried his hardest to decipher the next part. If he could at least get the gist of it, Wulfrin could recite more of the epitaph, as it seemed as if he had it committed to memory. 

"This one...Looks kind of like a worm? Or maybe a leech? It looks like it's sucking the life out of something." Astra's eyes continued to scan the slab, trying his hardest to rework the scrawl on the tablet into images in his head. "Oh! Yeah, this one kind of looks like a fish. Am I getting anywhere with this?" Scratching the back of his head while he spoke, he couldn't tell if he was any closer or further from the answer. 

"You probably got this on the first go, didn't you?" He chuckled. 

***

Post Action: Deciphering slab 
ID 249112 | LD: 3 

Total: 46/60

Edited August 6 by Astra

[Wulfrin 0]

"Lol nope," Wulfrin chuckled as he thought back to the trip with Nari. "Took me and my partner a bit to get it deciphered. I just happened to uncover a few cheeky work arounds. Consumables won't help, but your gear and skills choices can boost you."

Wulfrin picked the tablet up off the stump and handed it over to Astra. Wulfrin fidgeted with the rings on his finger and his eyes shifted to a slightly green tinted form. While Astra held the tablet Wulfrin traced the writing with his finger reading aloud as he translated in real time.

“If seeking power, wisdom and resilience, find ye those which embody nature’s graces: The fiercest of beasts with unmatched strength; a sentinel to the afterlife bound by the Stygian river; a wise and wily water-borne predator; the unmoved titan who is callous and free; a sly shadow high in the branches of the forest; and lastly, that which prowls and safeguards the sky. Only once vanquished will you harness their power to your benefit. These are the Keepers of Nature.”

"As it stands I only know the identity of one and have a vague idea of another based off of research I've done. They have to be fought in order and when we're done, we come back here to complete the quest. The rest of this quest is just a boss rush on various floors. We'll take a break form it to get you as prepped for it as we can before we start it in full."

With a smile Wulfrin lead the duo back out of the cave and along the well traveled path back to the Town of Beginnings.

* * *

Post Action: Deciphering Slab
ID 249319 | LD 11+8=19

Total 65/60

* * *

Thread Closing

Wulfrin Receives:
3025 Exp: 2141/5=428*7=2996+1% [Guild Rank 1]
457 Col: 453 [P5] + 1% [Guild Rank 1]
1 Mon

Astra Receives:
1356 Exp: 2141/4=428*2=856 + 500 [quest]
1 Mon

Nature’s Tablet
A stone with a message directing the player to defeat six tough enemies. It is an <<Immortal Object>> and cannot be broken by any other means than clearing the SotW questline.  
Not Transferrable

Edited August 8 by Wulfrin