[SP-F1] Silence of the Boars (Complete)

[Lotharian 0]

The sun shown brightly across the digital sky, the entire population of SAO was scrambling either to level quickly and escape this new purgatory, or hid scared and paralyzed by the realization that they could actually die in this game of death.  Asagi realized if he was to survive and be useful to the cause of beating this damn "game" he would have to be smart and be powerful.  First things first, he had to get past level 1 and the all around uselessness that comes with being a newbie.  Venturing out into the fields around the City of Beginnings he was adamant about finding himself the most basic of prey.  In other MMO there would be the simplest of foes surrounding the starting areas, these creatures also would spawn at good and proper rates for him to gain the skills he needed quickly.  Approaching the hillside Asagi could clearly see boar wandering about, grazing on the virtual grass.  This wouldn't take an immense amount of forethought, the only issue was not running into heards of these creatures while he was still nothing but a lowlie level with base equipment.  It was then Asagi noticed that some of the boars were grouped in two and some were solo.  Obviously it was the solo mobs he was interested in and he crept up slowly towards his prey.

[Lotharian 0]

The grass was delicious and the sun was peaceful and the boar knew of nothing out of the ordinary.  Most basic of AI was allocated to such a simple creature as this beginner mob.  For all it knew the players didn't exist and this very world was as real as it got.  As it munched on grass and wandered around in a small circle all on its own there was a distinct sound of that precious grass crunching under something other than the other boars hooves.  This was a strange sound and the boar wanted to instinctively panic.  Snorting its little nose and smelling the air the boar turned to see the all too unstealthy Asagi trying to sneak up.  Of course with no hide skill and in an open plains their was not much chance of this happening in the first place.  The boar looked at Asagi cautiously as this strange bi-pedal creature encroached on its meal.

[Lotharian 0]

Approaching optimal range to leap at the creature Asagi was well aware he hadn't been unnoticed by the dumb animal.  Readying his sword he was indeed excited about this prospect.  In the real world he had trained in the art of swordplay, but in this world he would actually be able to utilize his knowledge.  This was also a perfect chance to study attack patterns and what exactly differed in movement calibration between a real fight and these virtual ones.  Charging a strike it was almost as if his sword began to hum and glow a little, that was sure a flashy effect this game decided to add.  It was time to see what he could do!

 

Rolled a 5 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

As he lunged the boar's instincts for self preservation obviously kicked in and it squealed out quickly trying to dodge.  The power of the lunge was far more than Asagi had anticipated comparitively to real world combat.  Even so the blade only just missed, grazing the tufted fur of the boar as he passed by.  Turning quickly Asagi saw the beasts stats appear as battle had begun.  The creature now aimed its tusks towards the newbie adventurer.

 

Rolled a 2 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

The dumb animal was easily avoided, as expected of so a low level mob.  The speed at which Asagi could react even impressed him, his body had a feeling of lightness when he moved.  This was obviously a mechanic of being within the domain of a VR.  Either way he was going to get used to it soon enough.  Aligning himself properly Asagi now knew what he was working with.  He wasn't just going to let this thing slip past him again.

[Lotharian 0]

The battle was upon him and Asagi was now ready.  Powering up another strike he was sure this one would hit, what use was he going to be in this stupid game if he couldn't accomplish a simply thing like killing a boar.  With his sword glowing with the strength of his next strike Asagi lunged forward.  Turning his blade sideways he was hoping to increase his accurracy by having a wide birth to the hit radius.

 

Rolled a 9 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

Suddenly Asagi felt an impact upon his sword.  The realism of the flesh being wrended by his strike was uncanny, even a bit unsettling, but this was fighting at its best.  Letting out a yell of victory as he slice straight through the creature Asagi saw the pixels degenerate before him as the boar was defeated.  He couldn't help but smile, his first encounter in the game, it went fairly well if he did say so himself.  These were just the small fries though and he had a long way to go.  One day he would be destroying the monsters of the upper levels, but for now he must hone his skills.  Walking along the open grassy hill he was going to find himself another victim.

[Lotharian 0]

Keeping his katana at the ready in one hand Asagi came upon another lone boar munching on his grassy meal.  It looked up as he approached with a wary and menacing look on its face.

 

"Here piggy piggy piggy."

 

Asagi was getting into this rather quickly, and as he readied his sword the dumb mob seemed to react a bit faster then his predecessor.  Charging at the adventurer the beast leaped up with its tusks aimed poorly.  Shifting his body Asagi slashed forward with a powerful strike towards the dirty animal.

 

Rolled a 9 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

The hard steel met its marks and eviscerated the boar into its tiny little pixels.  Asagi finally started thinking to himself that he was getting the hang of this.  These creatures would soon become the fodder that led him to the higher level areas and out of this newbie zone.  Confident in the skills he was learning in such a short time there was no doubt in his mind that something of this level would not be of any real trouble.  Looking for another creature to kill Asagi soon saw something a little bit new, and that was more than enough to spark his interest.

[Lotharian 0]

It would seem a different type of foe was in this general vicinity as well.  Crouched at the bottom of the hillside near a thriving tree was what appeared to be a wolf simply staring at the mobs wandering about the area.  This was a good chance at finding out the differences these creatures held as well.  As he approached the creature it was obvious wolves were much more aggressive than the boar mobs he had currently been hunting.  This beast charged and pounced with a surprising agility, Asagi imagined the creature type was more attuned to quick and agile movements.

 

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

The wolf had the advantage being of this world and with a plethora of ability currently unknown to Asagi.  A paw lashed out lightning quick to Asagi's eyes and swiped at him catching him deftly in the side.  A light red wound that looked like the pixels he had seen previously from the boars opened in his side.  Even though it was simply a game and obviously did not hurt the way a normal wound would on his real body Asagi couldn't help but wince at the eery feeling being struck in this way gave him.

 

Asagi take 3 points of damage from a Wolf mob Critical, down to 4 HP

 

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice

 

As the wolf hit him Asagi powered his arms and swung down with great force before the creature could land and attack again.  The sword connected straight into the creatures' neck and it howled its last as it was swiftly decapitated from a well place blow.  Knowing full well what death meant in this game world as of the moment Asagi made his way over to the tree the wolf had previously been sitting under and lowered himself down to the base of the trunk.  Inspecting the wound in his side wasn't all that useful seeing as it was simply a red mess of pixels and not a legitimate physical wound that could be treated normally.

 

'Note to self, wolves are a bit more of a problem than those stupid boars'

 

This wolf had taught him a valuable lesson that he would not be forgetting any time soon that was for sure.  Hovering to the top left of his eyesight was a life gauge, it seemed that the boars had given him a slight advantage it that his lvl indicator read level 2.  His max HP had become 7 as opposed to the 5 he had seen earlier when checking his statistics.  He would have survived that strike even at level 1 but it was somehow comforting to know he had a little bit of safe room.  It was decided he would sit for a moment and rest.

[Lotharian 0]

[OOC I will use the Perma-roller from now on for these posts I believe since it seems best way for me to not miss anything and verify first roll was a test of the system for me prior to this post]

 

The tree was quiet and Asagi was left wondering how long recovery took for HP in this game.  Either way he was lost in thought when a russling caught his attention.  It was then that his eyes opened wide when he came to a realization.  Wolves traveled in small packs, sometimes with a mate sometimes with more, that is if this game followed realistic habits of the animals.  Of course in an MMO you always had the quintessential "lone wolf" mobs so this could be absolutely nothing.  The drop in his HP didn't sit well with him if he had to face another one of the agile creatures.  At least this time he would know what he was getting himself into.  With his wakazashi at the ready Asagi saw another wolf appear from the other side of the tree and howl in anger, it was obvious that some of the AI in this game was more true to form than others.  This time he was ready for the beast and wasn't going to let it get the best of him.

 

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

Asagi deftly swung down upon the animal as it attempted to strike.  The man's blow struck true and rendered the wolf a mess of broken pixels.  As the creature dropped and dissapated Asagi could see something laying upon the ground.  Walking over he picked it up and a small loot window popped up.

 

Rolled a 19 on the d20 (loot) dice.

 

It would seem that some material had dropped from this mob, reading the description it was apparent there would be much more to learn even from these simple creatures of the game.

 

 

Wolf dropped Wolf Pelt, used mainly in the tailoring profession for leatherworking.

 

Perhaps this was a good sign, eventually Asagi would require some better gear and tailoring was not a bad place to start.  Maybe this would come in handy as he progressed, he decided that examining the profession system would be a good idea upon returning to the city.

 

[Roll ID #301]

[Lotharian 0]

Looking around cautiously Asagi concluded that the wolf had been mates, or atleast the AI's understanding of that concept.  It was safe yet again to sit and take a breather from the rigors of the combat that he had previously embroiled himself in.  Opening up his inventory he selected one of the waters from his beginner pack and removed it from the menu.  Suddenly a bottle appeared before him, this type of thing would take some getting used to but in a world such as this he concluded that randomly appearing nourishment was the smallest of peculiarities within this world.  The water was cold and refreshing, a strange sensation, Asagi's mind realized that it was nothing but impulses to his brain telling him that he was drinking a cool and crisp water but regardless of that fact it was so very real.  VRMMOs were truly a marvel, this sun, this drink, were more genuine than a lot of the real world's faulty creations.  Regardless of this there were the many instances that easily reminded him that he was merely a digital rendition of himself.  The wound in his side for instance that was already closing up rather quickly.  Laying back against the trunk of the tree Asagi started to wonder about the state that his physical body was in, what all those in the real world were thinking and doing to try to remedy this situation.  In all fairness he had to admit that if anywhere were to be a trap with possibility of death this was a magnificent version of a gilded cage.

[Lotharian 0]

Standing up from the calm grassy area he had been resting on Asagi deleted the empty water bottle.  It was time to get back to his leveling, but first he must improve his stance and swings.  Swordplay here acted different from the real world, though his affinity with blades in the physical realm definitely did help in this virtual one.  Holding his sword in traditional style he began to practice the basic strikes of traditional swordsmanship.  With a little bit of change for the addition of game character like statistics his slashes started to seem a bit more natural.  Much less muscle power was required to efficiently swing the  weapon in this realm.  Therefore he had to dial it back slightly in order to strike correctly.  After choosing the correct stance and power to put behind a fluid swing he believed he was ready to re-engage the mobs he had been battling.  With no more wolves in the immediate vicinity he decided to go back to killing the boars.  Marching back up the hill he looked around for enemy creatures to slaughter.

[Lotharian 0]

As he made his way up the hill a boar was moving towards him from the side.  This must be one of the mobs with a patrolling AI not set to a specific spawn point.  Best to eliminate these rogue elements so as not to encounter them while already steeped in combat.  Boars had a pretty poor aggro distance it seemed but it was always better to be safe than sorry.  Readying his sword Asagi started to march towards the beast,  this encounter was for yet another reason as well.  While targeting the creature he was going to watch the distance indicator very closely.  So far a vague idea of the distance from a boar that was required before gaining aggro had formed in his mind.  The raw data, however, only occured to him after sitting and thinking.  Twenty feet and still no reaction, moving in slowly so as to be as accurate as possible Asagi closed the gap.  Fifteen feet and counting, thirteen feet, eleven feet, then suddenly a reaction.  Ten and a half feet and it seemed the boar noticed its enemy.  This was good information, although as he leveled there was a good chance of a mechanic existing where aggro decreased as level increased.  At least from the minor mobs such as this one anyway.  Then Asagi noticed his mistake, a second boar had been a little bit behind this current one and it also had him in its sights.  This must have been a two mob patrol, it was the only explanation for a creature outside of the range being aggressive.  No time to regret his mistake just yet.  Immediately closing the distance between himself and the first boar Asagi wanted to even the number quickly.

 

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

Immediately the boar disappeared with a swift slash dealing critical damage.  As soon as this creature had fallen though the next was on the attack.

 

Rolled a 1 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

The boar simply stumbled past Asagi not even getting close to hitting with those sharp tusks.  The beast spun around though and the attacker and its prey were face to face again.  Now it was time to see if luck was still with Asagi.

 

 

[Dice roll ID #s 313, 315]

[Lotharian 0]

Rolled a 4 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

Going in for another strike he just missed with his blade as the boar seemed to moved slightly to one side as the slash was coming down upon it's head.

 

Rolled a 8 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

Now open Asagi saw the tusk headed straight for his stomach.  The boar hit him with a tremendous force and sent him reeling back from the impact.

 

Boar dealt a hit for 1 damage, current HP 8/9

 

Quickly getting to his feet Asagi shook off the impact and got back into position to try again.  Circling his prey slowly he was going to get a kill, he just knew it.  The hairy creature snorted menacingly at him as they both seemed hesitant to strike immediately at one another.  Of course it was most likely a programmed action meant to give a stricken low level a moment of reprieve.  Regardless of the reasoning behind it Asagi was going to take advantage of that moment and try to concetrate for his next strike.

 

[Dice roll ID # 316]

[Lotharian 0]

  As soon as the moment was right he struck at the boar again.  The blade glowed with the power of his next strike as he closed in on the dumb beast again.  No lowly boar would get the better of him.  Or at least that what Asagi was thinking at that moment.

 

Rolled a 4 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

Yet again the blade missed by just a hair as the boar who was apparently smarter then the average AI boar moved to the side slightly during the attack to move on Asagi with another tusk strike.

 

Rolled a 7 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

As the boar connected another small hit to Asagi's abdomen the adventurer took a strong stance as not to get pushed back from the impact.  That was it, he was not going to let this damn dirty grass munching garbage mob get the best of him.  Switching his blade to a different angle there was going to be an immediate counterattack that this foul beast wasn't possibly ready for.

 

Boar dealt a hit for 1 damage, current HP 7/9

 

[Dice roll ID # 317]

[Lotharian 0]

"I have had enough of you damned stupid boar!"

 

Asagi was just glad nobody was out here to witness the poor performance that was being enacted in this otherwise simple battle.  With his sword at an angle and keeping himself in close proximity with the boar he slashed again hoping the tactic would land him the blow he needed.

 

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

The tactic had obviously worked as the blade sunk into the boar with heavy force.  In fact even Asagi was surprised as the creature nearly split in two with the overly powerful strike.  As the pixels of the foe went up into nothing an item dropped from its disappating corpse.

 

Rolled a 15 on the d20 (loot) dice.

 

As he picked it up the item loot screen appeared before him.  It seemed he once again obtained something useful.

 

 

Boar Hide obtained, used in the tailoring profession.  This message dinged in front of Asagi and was then gone with a click of a button.  Well atleast the creature was down and Asagi had not suffered any major injury from the scuffle.  His ribs felt weird, like they should hurt but in actuality did not.  It would still take some getting used to, detaching the physical sensation of injury to the pain his brain told him should exist there.  Regardless his day was not yet at an end and sheathing his Wakazashi again he made his way up the hill.  If nothing else he wanted to experience the view from the top of this small outcropping before he was done.  The leisurely walk would also give him time to recover the few bits of HP lost in the battle.  In the future he noted that he must be more careful of these wandering mob patrols.  If he was not as observant as he was normally in the real world he could suffer the consequences of the ignorant who underestimated the very real dangers within this game.

 

[Dice roll ID # 320]

[Lotharian 0]

The time flew by so fast while in this world, and fatigue seemed not to set in the same way either.  Asagi was still feeling fine and energetic, the possibilities for applying this technology to do research with such increased productivity passed through his mind.  Of course the whole death trap problem with the NerveGear would have to be fixed before anything even remotely like that would happen.  With that another thought crossed his mind, with the actions of this madman how far back was the milestones made by this technology going to fall?  Still his mind wandered to all the circumstances that landed human kind at this impass between virtual and reality.  The sun still shone high in the digital sky and he reverted back to his original question, how does the time flow in this world.  He had heard rumors of floors with endless daytime and some cold, yet others steaming hot.  The weather, timeframes, everything about this world was merely at the whim of the programmers and so sometimes he imagined the lines would get skewed.  Asagi was resolute in using whatever time he had in this game to further his goals and one day win.  As scenic as this place was their was no replacing the world that had been ripped from him by it.  So he continued onwards about his business avoiding unnecessary battles with groups of these boars.  Regardless of strength, numbers always had the ability to change the tide of an encounter.

[Lotharian 0]

As he approached the top of the hill Asagi noticed that the boars had thinned out in number.  It was a bit strange he thought but he took it in as just another programmed habit.  Indeed he was right, but for the wrong reason it had seemed.  At the flat space peaking this hill sat a boar that looked different from the others.  It stood almost as tall as a human being and its fur was no long the pale grey of the others.  What he had stumbled upon seemed to be a special boar, most likely not any great boss or something but most certainly a bit more dangerous than those before.  It stood in place at the center of the hill and merely stayed still like a sentinel.  Obviously it was a creature meant only for those who came to the top.  As he locked on Asagi could see a slightly bigger healthbar and a name written above its head.  Iron Tusk was apparently the label given to this mob and it was somewhat of an elite sort of creature.  Atleast elite is the closest example he could think of from other similar games.  With a little luck and effort he should be able to take it down.  Elites always were apt to drop some useful things from time to time as well, and as a completely equipmentless low level this could be a great boon for Asagi.  No way this would defeat him, he found his confidence and decided to destroy this beast with all his strength.

[Lotharian 0]

Readying his sword Asagi approached the large boar.  Doesn't matter what comes his way he will overcome it, this is what he had always told himself, and he has never failed so far.  This being all the more vital just means he had even more reason to pull through.  Preparing himself he ran into range of the giant beast.  It immediately saw him and turned to him snorting aggresively.  Stopping a short distance from his foe Asagi prepared to strike.  He has and always will have only one shot in this game, and he had to make it count.  As the beast charge Asagi charged his attack to strike at the pivotal moment.

 

Rolled a 3 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

The strike glanced off the hard hide of this admirable beast.  This was not going to be like his other battles, this would be a fight for his life.

 

Boar is stil 5/5

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

Charging forward through the attempted strike the boar hit Asagi with all its weight dealing a devastating blow.  The impact sent him rolling back across the grass as he fought to keep his footing.  His body would hardly listen as he screamed in his head to get up and fight.  Not just fight but kill the creature, for this was survival of the fittest now.

 

Boar dealt a crit for 4 damage/ Current HP 5/9

 

[Dice roll ID # 344]

[Lotharian 0]

Without hesitation Asagi leapt back at the creature, hopefully this and the other boars weren't so different as to not have similar weaknesses.  The speed at which the others could react was far slower than his own and so an immediate counterattack was his most viable option.

 

Rolled a 8 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

As he suspected the beast was weakest when hit right away, the sword sunk into the hide and down into the pixelated flesh of the giant boar.  It was then Asagi noticed there may be a problem, the sword was stuck in the thick body of the creature.

 

Boar has take 2 damage current HP 3/5

Rolled a 10 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

With Asagi stuck to the creature it whipped around as the sword kept him in place and threw both him and his tightly gripped sword off to the side.  Asagi coughed heavily as he felt the immense damage strike him again.  Looking at his HP bar he became painfully aware of the situation he now found himself in.  All his muscles groaning he made his way back to his feet, he did not give up, and he never lost!

 

Boar crit for 4 damage current HP 1/9

 

[Dice roll ID # 345]

[Lotharian 0]

His HP was almost at it's limit, this was a fight or die situation.  In his current state running away didn't even seem like a viable option anymore.  The only thing in Asagi's head was the age old human instinct, fight or die.  There was not going to be any dieing from him today.  Using his secondary attack style by lowering his swords slash pattern to the side Asagi hoped he could finish this with one more blow.  Running towards him he slashing with all his strength, with luck this method would avoid having the blade stick into the rough hide of the boar.

 

Rolled a 6 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

The slash connected and Asagi her a loud roar from the beast.  It was too damn shallow though, the wound hit but didn't do enough damage to down the creature.  Then he saw the beast turn to punt him away once again.  That damage was out of the question for him now.

 

"Why won't you just die already?!?"

 

Boar took 2 damage current HP 1/5

Rolled a 4 on the d10 (mob) dice.

 

With all his agility Asagi was able to barely avoid being gored to death upon the giant tusks of this monsterous thing.  There was only one option left, there couldn't be much fight left in Iron Tusk, at the same time there wasn't much left in himself.  It was the last of his strength but he would have to muster it to finish off this creature.

 

Boar missed current HP 1/9

 

[Dice roll ID # 346]

[Lotharian 0]

Using everything he had Asagi lunge straight at the tusked menaces' face slashing down upon the contemptable creature.  It was here that he would make his last stand whether for better or worse.  The blade sliced down through the air to meet it's mark.

 

Rolled a 8 on the d10 (battle) dice.

 

Sinking the blade deep into it's forehead the creature finally dropped to the ground as Asagi stood panting while the pixels slowly disappated into the air.  He had won, he always won, but he had to admit it was certainly a close victory.  Suddenly something he had not see before lay upon the ground in front of him.  As he picked it up a loot window appeared before him.

 

Rolled a 15 on the d20 (loot) dice

 

An item drop, but this thing didn't have any stats.  What a pain, but atleast it looks fairly cool thought Lotharian.

 

 

Obtained Good "Trophy of Iron Tusk" necklace, 1 Tailoring material boar hide

 

As he put it around his neck all Asagi could do for now was collapse on the grass under him.  It would take a little bit for him to recover but atleast he was alive.

 

[Dice roll ID # 348]

[Lotharian 0]

As his eyes hazily opened Asagi realized he was still on that hilltop, still alive, and as he looked at his HP realized that it had recovered while he slept.  An added bonus to that fact seemed to be that with the death of Iron Tusk came yet another level.  Somehow he wasn't completely in the mood for celebrating that fact just yet.  Getting back to his feet he checked around the area.  The top of the hill was devoid of other players, and it was apparent to him after that battle why.  Suddenly he realized something, if this was a game then mobs all had respawn timers.  Looking behind him he noticed Iron Tusk standing right where he had been before.  Slowly backing away Asagi increased the distance between them even more.  There was no use in pushing his luck with a pretty dangerous foe.  Now that he was clear of the top of the hill he would make his way back down the hill and away from all these creatures.  The brush with death he had endured was more than enough for him right now.  Enjoying the simulated fresh air and sunshine never felt as good as it did at this moment.