[OP - F1] The Road To Horunka

[Elise 0]

#11746

BD : 7

MD : 10

Elise's exhaustion from earlier attacks has taken its toll on her. Clair de Lune requires a lot of energy, and earlier the heavy vertical slash has depleted what's left of her energy. She tried to cut the wolf. Alas, being tired her movement was like a slow-motion slash. The wolf easily swiped left and scratched her stomach with a quick leap. "Ugh!" Elise winced. She could feel the pain as her HP bar dropped to red zone. "Reu, let's retreat and recover for awhile" she yelled as she retreated to a safe distance. "Piers, we're counting on you."

Party members :

Reusririasuir : 2/5

Elise : 2/7 (-3) [Recovery mode]

Piers : 11/13

Mobs :

Wolf 2 : 5/7 (-1)

Party loot : 1 Mat

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reu staggered to his feet. Woozily, he followed Elise hoping to put some distance between himself and that four-legged furball from hell. Reu's legs were shaky, barely under him. "Come on Piers, you can do it." Reu reached Elise, turned around, and promptly fell to one knee, leaning on his sword for support. Oh man, what did I get us into? Looking over at Elise, Reu felt dread. She was just as injured as he was. If they had taken the caravan, this probably wouldn't have happened at all. If we die here, it's my fault...

[Piers 0]

The butler had barely noticed the two players injured so much during the battle, almost forgetting he was a little bit higher in level and HP. Piers nodded,

 

"You two should just sit out and I'll try to finish the fight, we wouldn't want you getting anymore hurt than you already are."

 

Piers ran his fingers along the blade before stepping back a few paces, only when the wolf began running towards him. The butler jumped on the wolf's back and before the animal could realize what was happening, Piers managed a front-flip off of it. During the flip he swiped his sword in the air and across the back of the wolf. Piers landed on his dress shoes gracefully, back to the wolf, the monster still running forwards. Both turned at the exact same time to face each other.

 

He smirked and the wolf flashed its pointy teeth at Piers, the butler showing equally sharp sets of teeth with a devilish smirk. The wolf did end up getting a decent hit on him in the long run but in the end Piers was still standing strong, tall (and sexy hehe) as usual.

 

Wolf 1 = 0 HP

Wolf 2 = 2 HP (Piers deals 3 DMG)

Piers = 10 HP (Wolf 2 deals 1 DMG)

 

Battle Info

• Rolled a 9 on the d10 (battle) dice.
• Rolled a 9 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 5 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 2 on the d20 (loot) dice.

Equipment/Skills in effect: -2 EVA = 9 - 2 = 7 on MD

[Elise 0]

Elise dropped to the ground as soon as she got in safe distance from the wolf. There was a big blinking red line on her stomach. Just a little bit deeper and it's game over for her. Literally. She pressed the wound. Then Elise realized there's no need to as she's not bleeding. And the wound healed by itself, even just a bit. She turned and tried to sit. "Ugh!" Pain struck her wound as she folded her stomach. "Tch.. Sometimes I hate how realistic this game is." The red line was still blinking, but it turned from red to pinkish. Still a long time before she could be fully healed, but if necessary she could jump into action after the digital wound disappear.

Elise turned her head to Reu who retreated with her. "I know it hasn't been a hour yet after we depart, but how long are we from Horunka Village, rough estimation?" She wanted to go as fast as possible to the town. But it seems their journey was still far away, and not a free-monster zone. "Relax. I think he's capable of handling that wolf. And we're out of range, so we'll be fine." Reu seemed worried. Meanwhile, Piers was handling the wolf alone.

Elise continued watching the battle. It seems Piers was getting the better of the wolf. Few more attacks, they would be able to continue their journey.. Elise tried to stand but a sharp pain struck her stomach again. "Ugh! Guess I'll have to postpone for the time being." 

Elise : 3/7 (+1 for not being in battle)

OOC : (Reu, I recall some rules about recovering 1 HP per non battle post. So your earlier post should be 3/7? =3)

[Reusririasuir 0]

(OOC: I never knew that, thanks, I'm going to catch it all up in this post).

 

"Actually, we are much closer then we seem to be. We took quite a bit of time off with the path we took, and we were actually making better time then I had been expecting. If Piers can finish off this battle, we just have a few more hills to cover and we will be able to cut back onto the road for the approach to Horunka." Reu turned his gaze back onto the battle-field. Piers was certainly keeping the beast occupied, but they really looked to be about equal in strength. Reu could feel his strength was starting to come back though, having had time to catch his breath, maybe he would try and re-enter the battle-field to assist Piers. ...though by the looks of it, Piers has this mongrel on the ropes!

 

Party members :

Reusririasuir : 4/5 [+1 for not being in battle]
Elise : 3/7 
Piers : 10/13

Mobs :
Wolf 2 : 2/7

Party loot : 1 Mat 

[Piers 0]

Elise and Reu slowly gained their health back, so Piers calmed down a bit, not having to be the only one left. It felt quite reassuring to the butler that he still had back-up, and good back-up at that. Reu and Elise were excellent and maybe even skilled fighters as they'd shown already. It didn't need to be proved anymore. Piers waited for the wolf to come at him and held his sword out straight. It pierced through the chest of the animal, it seemed as if the wolf had frozen in place. Only seconds after it exploded, much like everything did in this game upon dying. He received a message stating what the animal dropped after dying, and short after accepted the loot.

 

The butler fixed his suit and ran a hand through his raven hair before turning to his two partners. "What was that you were saying?" 

 

He'd heard them speaking about something but couldn't quite make it out. Piers shoved his sword back into the holster, then shoved both hands back in the pockets of his pants idly. 

 

Wolf 1 = 0 HP

Wolf 2 = 0 HP

Piers = 10 HP

 

Battle/Loot Info

• Rolled a 7 on the d10 (battle) dice.
• Rolled a 2 on the d10 (mob) dice.
• Rolled a 10 on the d12 (craft) dice.
• Rolled a 20 on the d20 (loot) dice.

Equipment/Skills in effect: -2 EVA = 2 - 2 = 0 on MD

 

-Recieved 1 MAT- (Party Loot)

-Received 35 COL- (Party Loot)

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reu trotted down the hill, back towards Piers. Glad that he had taken care of the wolf with such ease. That battle had gotten off to a weird start with it being their first time working together, but they did fall into a pretty nice groove once they understood more about each others fighting styles. Reu was glad he had people on the trip with him, but he was especially glad it turned out to be Elise and Piers. They are good people, he thought to himself.

 

As he reached the bottom of the hill he replied to Piers..."We were just talking about how much further we have to go. We aren't too far out from Horunka as it stands. A few hills, and then we cut back onto the road for the village approach. We're still quite a bit ahead of the caravan, and we've made extremely good time. If you would like, we could even find another skirmish in the area. It seems like most of our strength has returned. Or we could continue to Horunka and see the village. Either option will be fine by me, but I'd like to hear what you two think we should do."

 

Reu HP 5 / 5 [+1 out of combat]

[Elise 0]

Elise watched as the last wolf disappeared to shards. She grinned and gave Piers a thumb up, "Good work." They weren't half bad even though they just met today. Their teamwork still has lots of improvement, but the outcome of earlier battle proved that she didn't make a mistake walking far from the Starting City to Horunka Village with them.

Her injury has been healed, but she could still feel the pain from the earlier scratch. It may be deeper than she expected. At least there's no trace left on her stomach. Miraculously, her vanity dress was left like it had never been damaged by a wolf. She forcefully stood, ignoring the small sting sensation and brushed her skirt. She joined her party members below and reached the ground as Reu finished his sentence.

"I've healed as well. If I saw it right, the way you mentioned was rather steep..." she frowned. "It would be tiring and time-consuming but yes, it seems safe. On the other hand, I saw this path- it's a bit of a detour but perhaps we would get faster to our destination because the terrain wasn't too hard. In fact, it didn't go through any hills. I noticed a Boar grazing near the path, though. Not sure if it has more of its kind along the path. I can kill one or two Boars, not a problem." she said pushing herself. She was still far from full recovery, but the two didn't need to know that. Like that coded failure of a mob will make her unable to fight! She turned towards Piers "Which one do you think is the best option?"

Elise : 4/7 (+1 out of combat)

[Piers 0]

Piers grinned slightly at Elise when she'd given him a thumbs up. He listened to the options Reu offered, and then listened to Elise as well when she spoke.

 

"I say we go for the path with the boar. I like a good challenge, and we've had fun so far I believe. Why not?"

 

His eyes flickered back to an emerald green, facial expression slumping back into a casual one. Piers was unaffected by the scratches or reduced pain from the wolf, in fact, during the fight he hadn't even felt much at all. The butler was used to getting hurt in real life very often, along with using weapons and being in combat. Luckily it was that way before.

 

"We could get to know one another along the way, too. You both are rather interesting and far more mature than most people I've met so far."

 

Piers almost grimaced at the thought of his first few encounters, which weren't very pleasant. The butler got annoyed, had his feelings hurt, and most of all felt like killing. Though he was strong enough to hold back the feeling completely, knowing it would be something stupid to do. His eyes gazed from Elise to Reu

 

Piers = 11 HP (1 HP for being out of combat)

[Reusririasuir 0]

A rather large smile split across Reu's face. He was glad Piers was warming up. He had to admit, his first impressions of the butler were that of a calm, yet cold exterior. Not that it was something which bothered Reu, we all have our reasons after all. However, if someone was warming up to him, he was all the more merrier about it. Things are clearly going well, time to be a little boisterous I think. Raise everyone's spirits!

 

"Get to know each other?" Reu guffawed. "That sounds like an excellent idea.", he said clasping Piers on the shoulder. Despite setting off in a general direction, Reu spoke out an in extremely merry tone..."Elise! Lead the way. We have boars to kill! And Piers, why don't you tell us all about why you bought one of the first ten-thousand copies of Sword Art Online? hahaha!" Reu smiled, showing lots of teeth.

[Elise 0]

"The longer path? This way." she walked ahead of the party. "The path is mostly flat and go through valleys, although a bit farther than climbing the hills straight into our destination." Elise put her rapier back in her inventory to lessen her load. "The boar I saw was still a bit of distance away. We can take our time before shedding more blood." the pain became less and less as she walked. If this goes on she can fight the monsters with near-full, or full HP if she's lucky

Before departure Piers mentioned introducing each other. Reu seem delighted by this idea. Elise smiled slightly backing both of them. There's no way she'll tell them she's Adriane Seraphine Chevalier. It'll only cause trouble because of her family name. She said in more cheerful voice, "Yup. I'm curious about how did you two got trap.. hem, I mean get into Sword Art Online as well." maybe their stories are less than her tragedy, being forced by a mere journalist to play this so-called first VR game.

Elise : 5/7 (+1) (out of combat)

OOC : (Gomen for my absence because of schoolwork)

[Piers 0]

Piers chuckled and shook his head at Reu.

 

"I'm a butler with no time for silly games like this, but the person I work for, thought this would be an interesting experience and told me to join him as a "bodyguard". Our bodies went unconscious not longer after the creator made his announcement so I assume that we were being moved elsewhere in real life. When I awoke my master had disappeared, now here I am, trying to become stronger so that when I do find him I can protect him. He's an idiot, but also my lord, and one of my dearest friends believe it or not."

 

Piers was sure if Nyle were here right now the boy would laugh at him. The butler thought his comment was a bit pathetic but waved it off.

 

"So how about you, Reu? What's your story?"

 

Piers = 12 HP (1 HP for being out of combat)

[Reusririasuir 0]

Walking among the grassy field, the mid-day sun shone bright above them. Listening to the butler talk, Reu definitely somber'ed up at hearing Piers reasons for being here. A reason like that was not what he had been expecting at all.

 

"Truthfully, my reasons are much less...dramatic then yours are Piers.", Reu freely admitted. "A little background on myself, I was in the american military for the past six years. I didn't get to take any vacations while I was in, and so once I got out I decided to use some of the money I've saved up and take one. My intentions were to take a full year in Japan to train mixed martial arts and take some low-level professional fights. I fought in the service, very successfully, and am interested in seeing how far I can take it. I have a small space in Tokyo that I'm renting and I was training at a few different dojo's as well as the Kodokan for Judo. In between training sessions I would come back to my flat, eat & rest. I heard about Sword Art Online from some of the people I trained with, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to join the first virtual reality MMORPG on the ground level. I'm a bit competitive, so I really wanted to be challenged...it just turns out this place is more challenging then I ever imagined heh."

 

"That's basically my story in a nutshell. I'm every bit the independent adventurer in real life, that I am in this game. What about you Elise? Are you a rapier-wielding, boar-slaughtering murderer in real life as-well?"

[Elise 0]

So she was right when she felt Piers radiated a familiar aura. He's a butler, and a loyal one at that. Even when he's stuck in a Virtual Reality world he only thinks about his master's whereabouts. If only she had brought her butlers and maids to accompany her she wouldn't strife to survive, since all servants in Chevalier Household were taught self-defense they could overcome normal people with ease. Or at least she should challenge the journalist back so he's trapped inside Aincrad as well. Sometimes in her darkest hours she would curse the journalist who made her going through all the pain and work. 'Someday, if I.. No. WHEN I get out of this world I'm gonna test my sword skills I learnt in SAO to the sc*mbag. With real rapier' she gritted her teeth.

She was right about Reu being a military too. It seems he had learnt various martial arts when he was taking a break from his duty in Japan. Different from the two Reu played SAO by his own will. Sometimes Elise wonder what's so great about this game. Probably just her cynicism because of her own experience.

"No, although I'd like to be the 'murderer' part" she joked. "In real life? Everything I've done seems like it's never happened. It feels so far away now" she gazed at the horizon. She seemed lost in thought. Then she started telling them the vague essence of her tale "As you probably noticed, I'm British. Let's just say my childhood wasn't very great. My mother's family was pretty strict, that's why I'm glad when I moved to Japan." She smiled remembering nice experiences she had with her friends, but her expression turned grim as more of the story unfolds. "One day, someone challenged me to wear the NerveGear. I had no choice but to accept the challenge. But it seems I have the luck to play right when there's no way out," she kicked a pebble "but to clear this whole game. Who knows how long it'll take" 

Elise :

6/7 (+1) (out of combat)

[Piers 0]

"Elise, I'm almost sure a young lady like you wouldn't want to carry the burden of taking another's life. On the same note: If you stay positive, the ups will be more frequent than the downs."

 

Piers raised an eyebrow when Elise had mentioned the word "murder". The butler wasn't completely listening to either's stories as much as they had to his, but caught a few words here and there. Running a hand through his raven hair, Piers sighed contently.

 

"I must say this trip is taking longer than I'd thought it would. I'm no entertainer. Any more topics we could venture into? I'd like to know more about each of you. Our histories are all so distinct."

 

(OOC: Uber-late replyyy~)

[Reusririasuir 0]

(OOC: Wrapping this up since they have all left SAO)

 

Realizing that the trip HAD taken them much longer then they anticipated, the trio then navigated to Horunka. Who knew what adventures would await them as they continued to explore Aincrad. As they continued to look for a way out of this death game.

 

The End

 

+1 Skill Point

+400 Col

+1 Material