[F24 | SP][PT] Bull by the Horns | <<Field Boss: Piasuhon>>

[Acanthus 0]

Violence. All of Aincrad's beautiful questions, and she returns to the same answer each time.

How could a thousand eyes feel less piercing than two? Hundreds of bodies blocked the world from perceiving her. In the coliseum, Acanthus was not a person; she was an actor, safe from scrutiny underneath a layer of theatrics.

She addressed the crowd with a thunderous voice. "I hear you have a new challenge for me!" Electric approval swept through the NPCs. Who cared if they were programmed to cheer her on?

"No more men to slay on this floor! None of them are worth my time. It sounds like the only challenge left for me here is to tackle a beast single-handedly! I hope its hungry; I haven't had a decent fight in ages."

Her mock condescension ripple through NPCs with varying effects. Some of them booed her playing the part of the heel. Others cheered her audacity. But the important thing was that every single voice shouted as loud as it could. That was the part that mattered most.

-----

NOTE: Custom Skill (Disabuse System) is active. The skill will be considered inactive once any player requests in a subsequent post.

Acanthus | True Tier 11 | Lvl 101 (34/67) | HP: 1000/1000 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 23 | MIT:160 | ACC:7 | AA  | EVA 2 | FL.AURA: 16 | THORNS:532 | BH:53 | HB: 42 | LD:6

 

Spoiler

Equipment and Consumables

Spoiler

All enhancements reflected in the stat block unless otherwise specified.

Equipment
Weapon. botan. AA | ACC 3
Armor (Heavy). Corpse Flower's Kiss  MIT II | Thorns II
Shield. Fractured Heart | Holy Blessing 2 | Flame Aura 2

Consumables
Creme Brulee | ACC 2 Filled!
Immolation Potion | +40 Thorns

Abilities (Skills, Shifts, Masteries, Add-ons, and Mods)

Spoiler

Custom Skill
>run_cmd swap(int *x int *y) (Disabuse System) | Whenever you activate [Assault Mode], instead swap two of your core stats as though you just activated Temporal Distortion (Quest Reward from <<Down the Rabbit Hole>>).
A skill that can only be learned when the truth of the game is confronted: you are lines of code in the same way that your enemies are living, breathing creatures. Did Kayaba foresee the denial of his reality blossoming into its confirmation?

Totem (bold indicates in use)
Kumatetsu Totem: +1 base DMG.
Yamata no Orochi Totem: +1 LD.
Mōretsuna Totem: +50 Overhealth.
Tanos Totem: +25 MIT.
Mothra Totem: +0.5 * Tier (rounded down, minimum 1) Energy recovery per turn.
Bialas Totem: +1 Taunt.

Combat Mastery and Shift
No Shift or Mastery Taken

Skills

• Straight Sword R1 (4 SP)
• Heavy Armor R5 (30 SP)
  • Impetus (4 SP)
  • Iron Skin (6 SP)
• Battle Healing R5 (30 SP)
• Energist (8 SP)

Extra Skills

•  
• Forgotten King's Authority
• Photosynthesize
• Assault Mode

Inactive Extra Skills

Addons

• Impetus

Mods

• Iron Skin

82 SP Spent before specializations.

Specializations
Reflective x15 (150 SP)

232 SP total.

Battle Ready Inventory (7 Slots)
Dimensional Backpack + Item Stash

Spoiler

1. Lama Sabachthani | 236687 | Consumable - Soundtrack | Hypnosis 2 | Lullaby 2 (Instant)
   Pain deeper than words, engraved by a hand that does not know its own heart.
2. Edict's Threnody | 236686 | Consumable - Soundtrack | Perpetuate (Instant)
   If my suffering will not end, then neither will yours.
3. Bear Trap | Consumable - Reusable | As a free action, set target's evasion to 0 for one turn.
4. Meat Hook | Consumable - Reusable | As a free action once per combat, apply a single stack of [Shatter] to one target of your choosing (No roll required).
5. [Empty]
6. [Empty]
7. [Empty]

Housing

Spoiler

House Name: Villa of Coruscating Flowers (The Villa)
Location: Floor 24 - Paradise Islands
Description: See above
Plot Size: Estate - PK Accessible
Rooms: Listed below. All rooms are assigned to Acanthus.

• Master Bedroom
  • Well Rested | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat.
• Greenhouse
  • Green Thumb | +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
• Extended Workshop: Recording Studio (25,000 col)
  • Hard Working | +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day.
• Mega Slime Farm
  • Advanced Training | +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.
• Living Room:
  • Relaxed | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
• Attic (Bedroom)
  • Skylight (Searching) | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill (Searching). Cannot boost a skill without ranks, or increase a skill past its maximum rank. Cannot boost a skill the user has not learned yet. Ranks obtained using this buff will make the mods of that rank available for purchase. Mods obtained this way are unusable if this buff is removed until the skill is returned to the appropriate rank by way of SP purchase.
• Basement:
  • Multipurpose | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll.
• Storage Closet: (10,000 col)
  • Item Stash | +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
• Master Bathroom: (25,000 col)
  • Squeaky Clean | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
• Basic Kitchen (15,000 col)
  • Filling | 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.

Crafting and Gathering

Spoiler

Performer | Rank 5
Apollo’s Metronome | Crafting Tool | Meticulous: +1 CD when crafting in one’s workshop.

Forager | Rank 5
Demeter's Cornucopia | Gathering Tool | Bountiful: +1 CD to gathering attempts.

 

 

Edited 40 minutes ago by Acanthus

[Acanthus 0]

A pair of handlers led Piashuon into the darena. The rhino bucked and growled even as the meek handlers guided it to Acanthus.

"That's it? I expected him to be bigger!" The rhino was by no means small: in fact, it was the size of a small shed, if the shed were wrought of thick hide and pure muscle. Every snorting breath pulled the heavy iron chains across its belly, kicking up dust that the rhino stamped back down. Haru would have been frozen in terror. Acanthus would have even experienced some trepidation at the two tons of animosity staring her down. But in the coliseum she was neither. 16

The Champion laughed. "I guess you'll have to do. I hope you've all placed your bets! This won't take longer than five minutes." She had actually calculated it out to three and a half when she reviewed the numbers, but it was best to give herself some extra time to live up to her boasting. The NPCs seemed impressed enough by her claims already.

[Acanthus 0]

Piashuon could tell when it was being mocked. It bellowed and reared up, sending the two handlers flying. One bounced through the dirt and landed with one hand twisted behind his back. The second tumbled and cracked his head into a wall, tumbling into the spectators. The audience was now crying for blood.

Pianshuon lowered its head and charged. The Champion had already planned her approach carefully. The horn could be sawed off-in one hit, with good timing and a little luck-but damaging the horn did nothing to Piashuon besides reducing its damage. She had enough health to not worry about taking a few errant hits. That three and a half minute time was calculated on a razor-thin margin, so she would simply have to eat that damage.

Slamming her shield into the ground sent long tendrils of thorns spiraling towards her opponent. It continued through the charge, eating the damage and crashing towards the champion.

[Acanthus 0]

For the first charge, the Champion rolled out of the way. Piashuon clipped her as he sailed by, but even the sliver of connection was enough to send her sailing across the dirt floor. The entire stadium gasped at the upset.

"A minor setback," she growled. Her mistake was attempting to get out of the way of a moving mountain. To get reset and prepared for the next charge, she'd added about fifteen seconds to her estimate. Not that there was any danger of defeat. Her only metric of success was how quickly she could kill the damn thing.

Piashuon rounded the corner, ready for a second hit. The Champion pawed the ground with her foot as well, spitting fake blood into the dirt. "I've seen boars hit harder than this! And you called it a challenge?!"

The audience jeered, sending Piashuon into another wild charge. The champion sent another brutal wave of thorns at the charging monster. Rather than moving, she decided on another tactic.

[Acanthus 0]

Despite the damage, Piashuon showed no signs of slowing down. The Champion grinned, preparing to bear the brunt of the charge with her shield.

The rhino connected, and the Champion felt the air leave her body all at once. Haru had been hit by a car once while running late to work; the force of Piashuon's impact made that accident feel like a gentle tap on the shoulder. Her feet lifted from the ground momentarily before skidding back into the dirt. Her shoulder braced the shield, and her other hand wrapped around Piashuon's horn. Good thing I didn't take the stupid thing off.

Bit by bit, her dogged resistance ground Piashuon's charge into a halt. The two locked into place like sumo wrestlers fighting for dominance. But this wasn't a wrestling match-this was a fight to the death, and that meant everything was on the table.

"Sorry, little rhino." The champion spit into the dirt once again. "But you shouldn't have picked a contact sport with a prickly flower." The champion concentrated on the thorns in her armor and shield, feeling them well up inside of her and forcing them into the rhino. All at once, the rhino erupted in a coat of thorns so thick that the beast underneath was no longer visible. The mass of brambles disappeared along with Piashuon.

Three minutes and six seconds. A new record. Acanthus basked in the empty praises.