SP-F6 <<The Gemini>>

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reu woke himself up bright and early. He was presently in an Inn on the Fourth Floor. Having stayed the night after ordering a custom piece of gear from The Empty Shells, a forge located just on the edge of town, he was ready to get back to adventuring. He had seen some chatter on the message boards about some good hunting spots and interesting quests on the Sixth Floor. He had spent last night looking over the Beta-Tester Guidebook, thankful for such a helpful manual, even though it was becoming less and less useful as they moved up in floors. Perusing the pages he hadn't found much information sadly, just a rough description of the terrain and some basic quest and monster hunting locations.

 

Still, even with this more or less cursory knowledge, Reu felt slightly more prepared then if had been going in blind. Doing a final check of his equipment, wishing he had his new sword or his new set of armor already, Reu equipped what he felt would be an appropriate set of gear. All in all, Reu felt ready to take on whatever challenges he may face.

 

Leaving the inn and finding himself standing outside the teleport gate, Reu smiled. Raising his hand, he declared "Teleport, Amazon!"

 

And with that, he was whisked away in a circle of light.

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reu walked through the town known as Amazon. True to its' name, it was scorching. It was a hot, sticky, miserable climate. For a moment, Reu almost wished he was back on the icy tundra of the fourth floor. But only, for a moment. Actually, all in all the weather wasn't too bad here, it was just very, very muggy.

 

Storms rumbled overhead, Reu was certain it would be storming here soon, and looking closely, Reu could already see a hard rain between the clouds and the ground, over the area where the storm was presently at. Seeing that it was in fact, moving this way and hoping to not get stuck in the storm, Reu ducked into a local pub. Here was a great chance to grab a drink, and enjoy some new company. He would also be able to hear the latest on quests, or rumors in the area.

 

The pub he was going into was called 'Rainwater'. No doubt a play on the name of the town Amazon, it was an NPC-owned bar. As far as Reu knew, there weren't many player-owned shops in Amazon. The only one he knew of was Celestial Alchemics, an alchemy shop. The lack of player-owned stores was surprising given the tropical climate of Amazon. Sure it was a bit hot, but some people really liked that sort of thing, and some people really like the rain-forest as-well. Still, Reu was grateful he had this bar to run into. Moving through the front door, Reu slowly made his way inside...

[Reusririasuir 0]

The bar was brightly lit and had some very merry music playing. Looking around, the bar was well-populated with an assortment of NPC's and players as well. It seemed that several guilds were in the middle of hunting the area around Amazon and pursuing quests. You could almost divide the bar into sections based off uniform color. The two largest colors were the Azure Brigade in...azure, and the guild Square One in their customary green. While several other guilds were represented with their custom color schemes.

 

Reu advanced to the bar and ordered a drink. As he did so, he tuned in to the conversations around him. He could hear talk about people meditating under a waterfall, some discussion about some of the larger raid parties having found good monster hunting spots within Amazon's Folly, a dense forest nearby. Suddenly, one conversation in particular jumped out at him. It was a member of the Azure Brigade, slightly inebriated, going on with a wild tale of wandering the woods, but the thing that really caught Reu's attention, was the viscosity of the guild members emotions while he was relaying his tale. Intrigued, Reu made his way towards that table and sat at the table behind it with his back to the group, so he could listen in indiscriminately.

 

"I'm telling you man, I was out there doing my thing with my axe. Just wandering around, and feeling real strong. Sliced up some of those crazed bird monsters, the one's that look like giant peacocks?"

"Yea, I know the one's."

"Yep, well I'm out there cutting these things up left and right, get a nice handful of col and feathers when out of no-where I trip, and fall face first into this gully." He paused, looking at his audience to make sure he had their full attention. Not realizing how half-heart'd seriously they were taking him, he continued on. "Well see, here I am in this deep, black gully. I see this light so I think, ok let's go see if we can find a way out right? And so I make my way to the light, the only thing is, as I get real close, I see this guy standing there. I move out a bit, thinking he's stuck too, I totally call out to him. Suddenly he turns around, and bro's I was staring at myself!" he proclaimed with what amounted to wide-eyed terror.

The men hearing this, busted out with laughter. "Oi, how far did you fall and how hard did you hit your head when you landed on it!" "You were staring at yourself? Tell me, did you have a pretty face!"

"Hey come on fella's I'm serious. I see myself and then I attacked myself...listen I mean I didn't attack myself, it attacked me...it just looked like me!" He was becoming flustered. "Anyways, I'm out there in the woods and I kill this thing and next thing I know, I've gained an extra skill Concentration, and I got a heaping of skill points too! I was down near the south-east part of Amazon, just near the entrances of Amazon's Folly, it wasn't too deep in you know? Listen, I checked the guides and the forums, and haven't seen mention of this quest yet; our guild will totally have first access!"

"Hmmm, yer ok. We'll take it up to the big boss. See what he thinks about us coming out here for a few days and running our guys through this. You better not be making all this up though."

"I'm not, I'm not! Just send the message up and let's monopolize this spot before the other guilds find out. We'll totally be stronger then everyone else soon, you know we've been looking to get an edge on the other guilds--"

 

Reu had heard enough. He finished his drink, started equipping his gear, and headed for the door. He was going to go tackle this quest, whatever it was. Pulling up his map, he set marker indicators for Amazon's Folly, in the area SE of Amazon. Time to go to work, he thought to himself.

[Reusririasuir 0]

Reus was hacking his way through the jungle. Well, mostly he was getting tangled up, but every now and then he did some hacking. Cutting his way through the jungle growth, Reu stopped, took a long sip of water, and enjoyed the cool refreshment it provided. The sun was getting near high noon, though from his depth in the forest it was hard to tell. The only tell-tale sign was the increasing temperature combined with the rising humidity. Reu just wanted to go back to the Inn and find a place to take a burning hot shower. All in all, Reu just felt sweaty.

 

Moving his way into a new area Reu took a good look around. There was a small stream up ahead, it looked like a good place to re-fill his canteen. In addition, Reu followed the stream with his eyes and noticed a treasure-chest on the far river-bank, slightly upstream. Excitedly he started making his way upstream to obtain the treasure. Suddenly, on his next step, Reu felt the ground begin to give away and the next thing Reu knew, he was tumbling, falling.

 

Finally, Reu landed with a sharp and booming thud.

[Reusririasuir 0]

It took the next several moments for Reu to realize he hadn't been knocked uncoscious from the fall. Rather, he was simply laying face-down in a cavern which was completely dark.

 

After coming to his senses, Reu took a long look around. He was, standing in total blackness. He could hear water. Not just dripping water either, but running water. It wasn't an overpowering sound, but it was strong enough for Reu to know it was there. At this point Reu was beginning to feel the hurt from the fall. Nothing was broken, and he had rested long enough to let his health points rejuvenate, for those facts he was thankful. Feeling he had been standing here long enough, Reu decided on a plan of action. He was going to find this stream, and he was going to determine the flow, and then he would follow it upstream, hoping that the water would be flowing downhill from the surface.

 

What he was trying to not think about is the possiblity that this was a player-trap; an area filled with all kinds of monsters who could see Reu while Reu couldn't see them. If they decided to swarm him now, it's quite possible Reu would die here, in the dark, completely alone. He also had to presume that the stream was flowing from the surface, otherwise it meant the water was coming from some sort of underground reservoir, in which case he would never find his way out. Finally, he had to presume there was a way out and that he would be able to get through it. If he didn't make each and every one of these presumptions, well then Reu knew he might as well just lay over and die right where he was, because he wouldn't have even a shred of hope of getting back to the sun.

 

With that, Reu began making his way, stumbling and tripping in the darkness, doing his best to locate the source of the running water. Until finally, after tripping once again, his face landed in a cool, soothing, flowing stream of water.

[Reusririasuir 0]

He laid there for what felt like an eternity, letting the water rush over his face. He would barely lift his head to breathe every now and then, the water just felt so good. Finally, he was ready to start finding a way out of this cave. Opening his mouth, he slowly turned his head to the left and to the right, feeling the flow of water as it flowed into his mouth. From the pressure, he was able to determine which way was upstream. Standing, he turned and made his way in the direction of the current.

 

Thankful for having a stream of water at his feet which he could often stop and rest, and partake in, Reu continued stumbling in the dark. Finally, after walking what felt like many miles, after going up and around and though he didn't know it, turning many times, Reu finally saw a sliver of daybreak ahead of him. Moving forward, Reu continued advancing towards the light. As he approached the gap, he watched as a figure came into his view. This person slowly turned around and, suddenly and quite unexpectedly, Reu found himself staring...at himself.

[Reusririasuir 0]

Despite the earlier tale in the bar having been told just hours ago, the story of running into a doppelganger seemed like ages ago. Reu however, prepared himself for this battle. After the immediate shock subsided, Reu pulled out his sword and prepared to fight...himself. Theorizing the warrior would have similar skills, Search & Detect and Combat Healing, Reu knew he would need to make short work of his adversary, or risk drawing this battle into deep waters where the Combat Healing skill could change the tide of battle. After a few moments sizing each other up, the Gemini drew its blade. Reu was relieved to see it wasn't an exact copy of his blade, and decided to theorize that though this doppelganger looked like him, though it may have the same skills, that it doesn't have his equipment set.

 

Relieved, Reu readied for the next attack, and thanks to his now relieved mind, Reu was able to dart in and out of striking range of his opponent. Though he wasn't able to position himself for an attack, he was able to deftly avoid the attack from the Gemini.

 

Gemini : 14525 MD 7 - 2 (Greiver Ring) = 5

Reu : 14526 BD 5

 

Gemini : 15/15 HP

Reu 15/15 HP

[Reusririasuir 0]

As the two adversaries slowly paced one another, first a few steps to the left followed then by a few steps to the right, Reu felt ready for something more involved. As his adversary swung in, nicking into Reu's arm, Reu howled in pain and delivered a crushing blow in return. He was having none of this battle. He wanted to end things as quickly as possible. It was extremely disconcerting staring into the eyes of your enemy, but seeing only your eyes in the process.

 

Gemini : ID 14527 MD 8 - 2 (griever) = 6

Reu : ID 14528 BD 10

 

Gemini 11 / 15 HP (1 + 1 weapon + 2 critical)

Reu 14 / 15 HP (-1)

[Reusririasuir 0]

The next clash of blades wasn't much to talk about, as the doppelganger swung in with an overhead strike, Reu side-stepped and returned with a slash attack of his own. The doppelganger, being no slouch with a sword, deftly maneuvered his own blade and blocked the attack. It was a simple enough maneuver and neither fighter gained nor lost ground with that exchange. All in all, it was fairly uneventful, and both warriors were looking ahead to the next series of strikes, trying to decide the incoming blows in their mind.

 

Gemini : ID 14529 MD 4 - 2 (griever) = 2

Reu : ID 14530 BD 2

 

Gemini 11 / 15 HP

Reu 14 / 15 HP

[Reusririasuir 0]

The doppelganger raised his sword, preparing to bring down a blow against Reu, however Reu's finely honed combat senses gave him enough foresight to know he needed to side-step, several moments before the sword came crashing down. It was a near-miss, less than a foot away, but sometimes that much space is all you would need to escape unscathed. Reu levied his sword, striking in a horizontal fashion. Suddenly, he felt a strong reverberation throughout his entire body! Reu had forgotten about the proximity of the sides of the cave-wall. He had raised his sword but didn't have nearly enough room for that type of strike. Feeling...jarred, to say the least, Reu tried 'shaking it out', in hopes to return himself to a combat-mindset.

 

Gemini : ID 14531 MD 5 - 2 (griever) = 3

Reu : ID 14532 BD 1

 

Gemini 11 / 15 HP

Reu 14 / 15 HP

[Reusririasuir 0]

The next series of blows by both opponents were wildly aimed and not of much use. Flashes as steel hitting steel, a block, a parry, and flashes of steel hitting the cave walls. These flashes seemed to both illuminate and capture the moments contained between them. It was a story of swinging wildly, increasing frustration, increasing dangers, and rising levels of peril, with both fighters moving closer and closer to a quick ending. The captured moments are 'The End' Saga. Saga Adou!

 

Defiantly, Reu felt his healing skill kick in, this would not be his end.

 

Gemini : ID 14533 MD 2

Reu : ID 14534 BD 2 CD 11

 

Gemini : 11 / 15 HP

Reu : 15 / 15 HP (+1 Battle Healing)

[Reusririasuir 0]

The blades continued to swing, with an increasing fervor matching that of a rising crescendo! Reu narrowly avoided a strike from the doppelganger and used the opportunity to deliver a quick thrusting strike with his sword. Taking a step back and admiring his handiwork, Reu had to imagine he was beginning to gain the upper-hand on this monster. Feeling confident, yet afraid of his opponents obvious skill with a blade, he stepped in for another round of death-inducing blows. Playing at this level, you had to be afraid in battle, being afraid is what kept you alive. In this game, you had to stay alive.

 

Gemini : ID 14535 MD 5

Reu : ID 14536 BD 8

 

Gemini : 9 / 15 HP (1 + 1 weapon = 2)

Reu : 15 / 15 HP 

[Reusririasuir 0]

The doppelganger struck out against Reu, impaling him with a deep slashing technique, one that Reu recognized from when he first began learning how to wield his sword. Even though slash hurt, and it hurt alot, it only served to remind Reu that his knowledge was deeper then he gave himself credit for. Deciding he would show this impersonator how it was really done, Reu used the same deep slashing technique, only when he did it, he tripped over a small rock grotto, stumbled, and fell face first. Reu had to admit, he felt like a bit of an idiot.

 

Gemini : ID 14537 MD 9

Reu : ID 14538 BD 1

 

Gemini : 9 / 15 HP

Reu : 13 / 15 HP (1 - 1 critical = 2)

[Reusririasuir 0]

Easily dodging the next exchange of blows, Reu stood fast and used this as an opportunity to land another blow against the doppelganger. It was hard, so hard for him to slice into a man so damn pretty as himself, but Reu knew it had to be done. There could only be one Reusririasuir after all. After the exchange of blows, Reu stepped back and felt the Battle Healing skill do its' magic. More then once, that skill had saved his life.

 

Gemini : ID 14539 MD 2

Reu : ID 14540 BD 8 CD 12

 

Gemini : 7 / 15 HP (1 + 1 weapon = 2)

Reu : 14 / 15 HP (+1 Battle Healing)

[Reusririasuir 0]

Each warrior decided they wanted to attack with identical strikes, as a result their blades bounced off one another, and in the process neither was able to injur their opponent. Reu took a step back and listened to the sounds around them. Behind him, the darkness of the cave, with little beyond the sound of running water, while to his front was the lightness of the outside world, filled with the sounds of nature and wildlife. Reu knew he would return to the wildlife, he knew he was going to get back to the surface, even if he had to kill himself to do it!

 

Gemini : ID 14541 MD 5

Reu : ID 14542 BD 3

 

Gemini : 7 / 15 HP 

Reu : 14 / 15 HP 

[Reusririasuir 0]

Using his new found determination, Reu decided he had, had enough. Calculating the next strike, Reu dodged the next incoming attack and delivered a crushing slash attack and scored a critical hit! Unfortunately Reu could tell, the damage of his critical was slightly undone by the doppelganger's restorative combat healing skill! Reu gritted his teeth, a prolonged battle is exactly what he was trying to avoid! Reu knew he would need to end this quick now.

 

Gemini : ID 14543 MD 2 CD 10

Reu : ID 14545 BD 10

 

Gemini : 4 / 15 HP (1 + 1 weapon + 2 critical - 1 battle healing = 3)

Reu : 14 / 15 HP 

[Reusririasuir 0]

Stepping forward, Reu took the next blow from his opponent. It hurt, in fact it hurt more then if he had taken it without putting himself in such a precarious position but he was able to leverage the position he had placed himself in to launch into his own critical strike. It was an eye for an eye, only Reu was comfortable taking the damage from his opponent because he had been relatively unscathed up until this point in time.

 

He looked at his opponent, battered and beaten, it was clear he was standing on his last legs. He was a mess, torn up, cut up, hunched over, but still, in his eyes, in raising his sword, the 'fire' within him was still burning brightly. It was the last flame of resistance, a big middle finger to the world that was about too beat him. Reu found himself wondering, is this what I'll look like when I finally die in this game?

 

Gemini : ID 14546 MD 10

Reu : ID 14547 BD 9

 

Gemini : 1 / 15 HP (1 + 1 weapon + 1 critical = 3)

Reu : 11 / 15 HP (1 + 2 critical = 3)

[Reusririasuir 0]

The doppelganger launched it's next attack. It was an attack coming only from its heart, born from a stark refusal to die, but sadly, at this point the battle was over. Reu carefully, yet deliberately side-stepped, then he stepped in, and finally, he delivered a slice which sunk into the doppelganger. Standing almost face-to-face, Reu could hear his opponent whisper, "...but I'm the Gemini!", and then he de-res'ed, forever.

 

Reu checked the loot drop, unfortunately all that was there was a single material. He just wasn't have any luck today.

 

Gemini : ID 14549 MD 6 - 2 (greiver) = 4 CD 10

Reu : ID 14550 BD 7

 

1 Mat Gained!

 

Gemini : 0 / 15 HP (1 + 1 weapon - 1 battle healing = 1)

Reu : 11 / 15 HP 

[Reusririasuir 0]

Sitting back on his haunches, Reu felt he needed a rest. Seeing himself de-res in front of himself was...startling. Taking a few moments for himself Reu collected his thoughts. As he did so, he actually realized he wasn't just thinking...he was concentrating. Suddenly Reu popped open his skill menu and scrolled down, that's when he saw it, a new skill labeled 'Concentration'. 

 

Looking over the skill information, Reu read the following out loud, "Gain +1 to the BD result for a single action. 5 Turn Cooldown.". He smiled a huge excited smile, he was so pumped!

 

After a few more minutes of rest, Reu gathered himself and walked out through the cave entrance. Emerging back in the sunlight, he took a minute to let his eyes adjust while he shielded them with his hand. Finally, he pulled his map up (thankful that it was working again now that he was out of the quest area), and set a route for Amazon.

 

ID 14551 LD 8

[Reusririasuir 0]

As he was making his way out of the Ravine, Reu realized he was on the side with the treasure chest from before. Excitedly, he took a long look around; but unfortunately he didn't find anything. Disappointed, dirty, beat up, Reu started walking in the general direction of Amazon. It was going to be quite the walk to get back, but all in all Reu was glad he came. He gained a fantastic new skill, had one hell of an adventure, and got to see just how damn attractive he was in-person. Yes, Reu thought, today could have gone much worse.

 

Pulling out his sword, he began cutting his way through the jungle forest. He was hoping to quickly find the path he had used to get out here, so he wouldn't have to use his sword to chop up the entangling foliage.

 

ID 14552 LD 12 + 1 Search = 13