Baldur 0 Posted February 8, 2015 #1 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Baldur had been to every floor except the 9th floor. Mostly because he didn't like the fire nation, but also because lava sounded dangerous. If you fell, you were dead. It seemed to him like that was a bad risk to take. Vulcan village was intimidating by itself, and it was a safe zone. The entire village was made of metal and suspended by cable over an active volcano. If anything said "death trap" than this was it. The entire city made him nervous and played a little bit with his fear of heights. The metal walls that circled the city did little easy his apprehension, so he quickly made his way to the exit. From there a bridge spanned the volcano all the way to the rim. Baldur took a deep breath and set out. Immediately the heat was upon him and he began to sweat, but his concentration was absolute as he put one foot in front of the other until he made it to the rim of the volcano. Once his feet were on solid ground Baldur dashed away from the edge and then took a deep, ash filled breath of relief. "Thank you solid ground!" Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 8, 2015 Author #2 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Baldur found the quickest path he could down from the rim of the volcano. There were several areas where rivers of red hot molten rock came out of vents in the side of the volcano and leaked down the side of the mountain. Occasionally there were metal bridges of what he assumed could only be tungsten crossing the rivers of lava. It was perhaps the most inhospitable floor he could imagine. Uphead, though, he found a field with several mobs spaced far enough apart that she could be able to pick them off one at a time. Baldur took a moment to clear his mind, to push away thoughts of the store, and floor bosses, and getting flowers for Tyger. Right now there was only the fight. He crouched down, feeling the system tugging at him, wanting him to move. The thumb of his left hand unlocked the katana and pushed it forward an inch to reveal the blue glow of the blade. "Nukiuchi." And with those words, he released the <<Charge>> ability, his sword cutting a crescent arc through the air as he drew the blade from his hip and cut through the <<Hell Hound>>. He landed behind the creature, his blade extended in front of him, and then pivoting to face the hound with both hands on the sword. The <<Hell Hound>> spun on him and then jumped forward, Baldur parried it's claws with his blade, but fire from its mouth got past his guard scorched him. It looked worse than it was due to his damage mitigation, but it was a hit he shouldn't have taken if he had been more careful. [iD: 9214 BD: 10 CD: 4 MD: 6] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - hits for 11 DMG (1 base + 3 skill + 3 weapon + 1 athletics + 1 Charge + 2 Critical) <<Hell Hound>> 5/16 HP - hits Baldur for 1 DMG Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 8, 2015 Author #3 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 After throwing the <<Hell Hound>> back off of him, Baldur quickly followed up with a quick step and brought his blade down in a diagonal slash down across the thickest base of the hound's neck. It let out a loud, piteous whine and disappeared with the sound of shattered glass and sparkling polygons. He saw his HP bar tick back up as well. That pleased him. Hopefully he would get some gear with lifesteal on it and it would keep his health maxed more often. Sometimes he worried that he relied on Tyger too heavily. When they were together, his strengths could really be leveraged, but when he was out trying to solo it meant that he put himself at greater risk. In addition, many of the boss fights included AoE damage, and the lifesteal and battle-healing would help to offset that damage. With a downward swipe of his hand, Baldur looted the Col and mats from the <<Hell Hound>> and set his sights on the next. [iD: 9221 BD: 7 CD: 10 LD: 13] <<Baldur>> 29/29 HP - hits for 8 DMG and regens 1 HP from battle healing <<Hell Hound>> 0/16 HP - drops 80 Col & 1 Mat Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 8, 2015 Author #4 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Baldur turned to face the next <<Hell Hound>> which was only a dozen feet away, just outside of aggro radius. Baldur whipped his sword around in a single, fluid motion and sheathed it as he crouched down into his now customary draw position. He felt the <<Charge>> attack build up, and then with a whispered word, he released it once more, flying towards the black fiery mob. This time, as his sword pierced the creature, he whirled about ready for its attack. He parried the creature with his blade, pushing it to the side and stepping out of its line instead of trying to force it back. The fire from its maw came close, but didn't manage to burn Baldur this time. [iD: 9224 BD: 6 CD: 10 MD: 5] <<Baldur>> 29/29 HP - hits for 9 DMG <<Hell Hound #2>> 7/16 HP - misses Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 9, 2015 Author #5 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 Without giving the <<Hell Hound>> another chance to react, Baldur brought his katana, Tsurugi, crashing down through the infernal beast. It roared loudly as the azure light of the blade cut through its ash black and grey fur, and then blew apart in his own personal fireworks display. He smiled down at the sword Tyger had crafted for him. It was a beautiful blade and he could not have wished for perfection in any other form. "Alright, let's see about this <<Hell Hound>> over population..." He almost absentmindedly swiped down to open his window and loot the material that dropped from the hound. "Eeny-meany-miney-mo catch a hell hound by the toe..." Baldur intoned, looking over the layout of all the hellhounds on the field. He wanted to find one he could charge without attracting the attention of the others. They wandered a bit from the area where they spawned, so it was important to be aware of that, and pull the one you did fight away from the others. Also since his attack cut through the enemy and placed him behind them, he had to make sure that it wouldn't attack the attention of the next hell hound. [iD: 9252 BD: 8 CD: 1 LD 3] <<Baldur>> 29/29 HP - hit for 8 DMG <<Hell Hound #2>> 0/16 - Drops 1 mat Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #6 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 The rest of the hell hounds seemed slightly different, but Baldur couldn't tell that until he was careening through the air thanks to his next <<Charge>> attack. Rather than just a dark fur color and a smoldering appearance, these Hellhounds had a charcoal like surface and veins of magma running through them, more stone than fur, and their eyes were pits of volcanic fire. "censored" Baldur muttered as his brilliant blue blade light flashed through the mob, starting the encounter. "Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew..." The slash chunked the <<Volcanic Hound>> but not nearly as much as its apparently weaker <<Hellhound>> Brethren. "Nice doggy..." Baldur called out to it as he spun around to face it, but it opened its maw and a ball of lava shot out from its mouth and missed him. "Now that's bad pet breath." [iD: 9525 BD: 7 CD: 11 MD: 1] Baldur hits for 9DMG <<Baldur>> 29/29 HP <<Volcanic Hound>> 15/24 HP Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #7 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Baldur rushed forward, slashing at the volcanic canine, but as his blade split the air, the creature lunged at him. Baldur quickly spun away, but this caused his attack to go wide. Gritting his teeth, he pivoted to his left foot forward, facing the infernal hound, but as they clashed, Baldur struck only a glancing blow which bounced off of the creature's rocky hide, dealing no damage. "Bad dog! Stay! Stay there!" With Tsurugi held tightly in his hands, Baldur took a calm, steadying breath. You've got this. He's bigger, but that doesn't mean more difficult. [iD: 9527 BD: 1 MD: 4] <<Baldur>> 29/29 HP - misses <<Volcanic Hound>> 15/24 HP - misses Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #8 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Baldur focused, trying to get a read on the <<Volcanic Hound>>. It seemed horizontal slashes were not very effective since they had a high likelihood of just glancing off its stone facade. He would need to go for deeper cuts. This time he waited, the hound jumped forward it's fire filled jaws spread wide to try and take a chunk out of me, but I brought my sword hard on its back, the blade slicing through the mobs wireframe, but the beast was not deterred and would have taken a huge bite out of me had this not been a game. My HP ticked down, but once again I thanked Tyger. "You're not even here and you're keeping me safe." [iD: 9528 BD: 5+2=7 CD: 4 MD: 9] (incorrectly linked to the mob's name and HP instead of the thread) <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - Hits, dealing 8 DMG <<Volcanic Hound>> 7/24 HP - Hits dealing 2 DMG, mitigated to 1 damage taken Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #9 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Baldur staggered back from the hit, his left hand going to the side where the beast had bitten him. He glared at the mob, but it was already in motion. It seemed to be taking in a deep breath, the light of the magma coursing between sections of stone in its chest grew larger and brighter. It must be charging up some sort of an attack. Baldur dove towards its side, coming up out of his roll and slashing, but the blade missed where he had been aiming and only glanced off the stone just as a giant stream of lava shot out of its mouth and made a trail of it between the <<Volcanic Hound>> and where Baldur had been standing just a minute ago. "And that's why dogs shouldn't eat grass!" [iD: 9529 BD 2 CD 1 MD 3] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - misses <<Volcanic Hound>> 7/24 HP - misses Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #10 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Spinning as he rose, Baldur took advantage of the second or two that the <<Volcanic Hound>> took to recover after using an ability. Standing to the side of the beast, Baldur brought Tsurugi down in a powerful stroke cutting the hound in half, and with a sound of cracking stone the <<Volcanic Hound>> crumbled into black and red polygons which dispersed into the air. "Damn hot mess. You must be some kind of floor boss or something." His blue eyes looked out over the field at the half dozen other <<Volcanic Hounds>>. If they were tougher, then they probably gave him more XP as well. [iD: 9531 BD: 5+2=7 CD: 4 LD: 7] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - Hits for 8 DMG <<Volcanic Hound>> 7/24 HP - drops 1 mat Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #11 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Without skipping a beat, Baldur turned to face the next one, drawing his left hand down along the blade as it began to glow with a blue light. Pushing off from the ground with the help of the system, Baldur cleared the impossible distance in under half a second, slashing powerfully through the <<Volcanic Hound #2>> and spinning in a semi-circle behind it as he skidded to a stop. The Hound wheeled on him, shooting out a blast of lava from its mouth, but Baldur was able to quickly leap to the side. "I must be stupid for trying to farm you." [iD: 9544 BD: 5+2=7 CD: 8 MD: 5] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - Hits for 9 DMG <<Volcanic Hound #2>> 15/24 HP - misses Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #12 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Rushing forward in that heatbeat of a moment after the mob used a power, Baldur brought his blade up from the low position and through the charcoal hide. The red wire mesh frame of the creature was visible for a moment, as if it was the systems way of reminding you this creature wasn't real. He wondered, after they were all imprisoned here, did the rating of the game go up? There were little kids here after all, and that thought broke his heart. Thankfully they had someone like Alyss to take care of them. He himself wasn't good with that sort of thing. He needed to be able to fix it with his own two hands, and the only way to do that was to be out here becoming stronger. "Listen here, you're standing between me and the phat lewts I need to make it to the front lines. So drop me something nice, would ya?" [iD:9545 BD: 6 CD: 11 MD: 5] <<Baldur>> 29/29 HP - hits for 8 DMG and regens 1 HP from Battle Healing <<Volcanic Hound #2>> 7/24 HP - misses Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #13 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 At Baldur's words, the <<Volcanic Hound>> rushed him, glowing brighter with the molten light of magma as it did. "That's new...." Baldur was ready though, he timed his strike and just as the glow seemed like it was at its brightest, Baldur rushed forward slashing at the creature the light flashed white hot and magma exploded from its hide, chunks of molten rock flying from it in every direction. As Baldur struck, a thick section of the creature's hide hit his sword, sending his strike careening to the side. Now revealed was the mobs final form. Well, Alternate form. It was now just a hound of pure magma. Apparently it could eject that rock in order to do AoE damage. "Hey! I just got that hit point back!" [iD: 9546 BD: 2 CD: 8 MD: 8] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - misses <<Volcanic Hound #2>> 7/24 HP - hits Baldur for 1 DMG Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #14 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Charging the mob while it was still vulnerable, Baldur slashed in a downward arc, aiming to chop the hound in half. As his blade was about to strike it, the creature dissolved into a puddle of magma. "Huh?" Baldur mumbled with a confused expression on his face. Just then, the ground beneath him glowed red and suddenly erupted up from underneath him. "Aaaaghhh!" He cried out, being thrown backwards as the <<Volcanic Hound>> suddenly reformed where Baldur had just been standing. "Yea... definitely not fighting anymore of you stupid dogs." [iD: 9547 BD: 1 CD: 4 MD: 7] <<Baldur>> 27/29 HP - misses <<Volcanic Hound #2>> 7/24 HP - hits Baldur for 1 DMG Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #15 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Now that the creature had been reformed with its charcoal hide, Baldur dashed forward, refusing to give it one more inch. Chopping downward with his sword, he split the volcanic creature in two, causing a little mini eruption of polygons. "Too bad for you, my power level is over... 8!" Baldur shook off his blade and sheathed it with a sigh, his hand regretfully letting go of the handle. He surveyed the area around him. He didn't feel like fighting any more of these annoying mobs so he set back out along the outer rim of the volcano. [iD: 9548 BD: 5+7=7 CD: 10 LD: 9 MD: 5] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - hits for 8 DMG - regens 1 HP due to Battle Healing <<Volcanic Hound #2>> 0/24 HP - drops 1 mat Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #16 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 As Baldur walked along the rim of the Volcano, staying just low enough that the ridge blocked out the overpowering glow of the lava, he saw another adventurer, a player, fighting against a pair of giant bats that seemed to live in a cave he had stumbled across. Unfortunately, the kid didn't seem to be doing well. He was fighting one of the bats, but a second one, unhurt, was harassing him, chipping away at his HP. "Hold on!" Baldur cried out. He <<Charged>> the unhurt bat, and the starting on the higher ground seemed to give him the advantage as the force with which he struck the bat was explosive, sending the creature crashing into the floor. "I got this one, you finish that one off!" Baldur called out, naturally assuming command of the situation. [iD: 9549 BD: 10 CD 9 MD 4] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - hits for 11 DMG <<Cave Bat>> 7/18 HP - misses Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #17 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Whirling his sword quickly, Baldur took advantage of the fact that the bat had landed on the ground and drove his blade through it, pinning it to the charred black stone of the volcano. As it shattered into polygons with a screech. Not wanting to put undo pressure on the young player's pride, Baldur watched in silence as the teen quickly finished the bat off now that he was not being beaten between the two of them. "Are you alright?" Baldur asked. The young dark haired teen turned to Baldur and gave him a bow of thanks, "Domo." The kid said to him. "How did you get surrounded?" He asked. The kid pointed with his straight sword at the mouth of the cave. "There looked to be some good mineral nodes in there for crafting. I was trying to get them when three bats attacked me. Baldur rubbed his chin in thought and then walked to the mouth of the cave, "Hmm.... it doesn't look too deep, why don't we take a look together." [iD: 9550 BD: 6 CD: 1 LD: 3] <<Baldur>> 28/29 HP - Hits for 8 DMG <<Cave Bat>> 0/18 HP - drops 1 mat Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #18 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Baldur entered the mouth of the cave with the teen in tow, the two of them looking around the darkness for some rare materials. As Baldur looked around, he found some nice metal nodes. Touching them to pull up the menu, Baldur selected the "gather material" option and found that he now had a shard of obsidian in his inventory. "I bet we can do something with that." "What did you say?" The other player asked him. "Nothing, just talking to myself. I found some obsidian, what about you?" "I'm still combing through the rocks, but I haven't found anything yet." [iD: 9551 LD: 18] +1 Mat Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #19 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Baldur continued to look, but he was getting deeper and deeper into the cave and the light was becoming more and more difficult to search by. He looked over at the teen, his health hadn't really regenerated much. How long would it be until the mobs respawned? It was always a tricky thing to guess. The two of them could probably take all three bats if it came down to it, but Baldur didn't have any taunting abilities, so he couldn't ensure that they attacked him instead of the boy, and who knows if the kid would survive long enough for Baldur to overtake him in thread. "I think we should probably think about heading back out now. I don't want to be caught in this cave when they respawn." "Aha! I found something!" Baldur frowned at the loose rock around his feet. He didn't see anything more. "I'm heading back to the mouth of the cave. It'd be best if we didn't dally." [iD: 9552 LD: 13] Link to post Share on other sites
Baldur 0 Posted February 12, 2015 Author #20 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 As they came back to the mouth of the cave, Baldur saw another pile of Obsidian shards and opened the menu to gather the material. It would help. Those bloody <<Volcanic Hounds>> had taken forever to kill and not dropped him much. Also, Baldur couldn't really care for the ash and scent of this cave. He'd be more than happy to leave for a different floor. "Thank you, Sir. My name is Jiro." Baldur was broken out of his revere by the kid introducing himself and bowed in return. "I am Baldur. I'm glad you're okay, just be careful next time." The kid blushed, but nodded his head. "Come on, kid. Lets head back to the village. You could use a rest, and I could stand to get out of here." "Hai!" Jiro said with a smile and the two of them left to head back to the city which hung suspended over a freaking pit of lava. Stupid design. [iD: 9553 LD: 18] +1 Mat Link to post Share on other sites
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