[OP-F1] Grinding is Boar-ing

[GALLahad 0]

GALLahad just stood beyond the fields outside the starting city. She had wanted to get her experience up as quickly as possible, but as soon as she got near she suddenly realised the fact that she'd need help. After all, dying to a sudden pack of wolves, or a worse case of boars, would be possibly the most humiliating thing she could think of. Sure, having one or two extra people would cut down the experience gain rate proportionately, but until she had better gear, safety would a priority. 

As such, GALLahad was waiting for her future levelling-mate with one hand on her sword's hilt and the other playing with her hair. As soon as she sees another solo player heading towards the fields, she'd offer to party up with them. Or at least,that was the tactic, assuming they weren't some cry baby who would run away from a fight or stab her in the back. Though, she wouldn't limit herself to those just arriving, so decided to let out a yell as loud as she could muster, "Anyone looking to party? It'll make this easier for everyone if we're all partied up!" 
 

[Brokke 0]

Brokke was spinning his sledgehammer in hand, looking around the fields. Violence against the animals wasn't exactly his favourite thing to do, but these animals were, first of all, not real, and second of all, needed by him to get stronger in this game. As such, The Mountain headed out to start smacking things. However, it wouldn't be long until he heard someone looking to party.

 

The lady calling out to him seemed to know what she was doing. She also had a sword. Brokke figured that if a hammer could ever be stopped, a sword is a good weapon to have in order to cut under armor or protection of any kind. He also figured that making a friend early on could help him in the long run, especially in this situation.

 

Without pause, Brokke approached the woman. She wasn't much smaller than him, but enough for him to kneel down and smile at her through the moustache, "Mind if it is me that joins you?"

[Jomei 0]

The tall, ginger haired man had just exited the city and was heading to the field, to sit on his usual wagon and look for people who may need his help. He may not have been the strongest of players, but he felt after all the help he had gotten in the past few weeks, he should pass on the skills he has learned to other new players. He was strumming on his lute, something that he became very fond of doing ever since he got it, and humming a long to his tune. 

After a short walk, he noticed two players speaking to each other. He was not one to judge, but gave the two players a quick look up and down, and noticed they both still had beginners gear. He smiled and walked up to the two.

He placed his hands on the two players shoulders and leaned his head in.

"Top of the morning to ya." He said with a smile, in his typical Irish accent. "You two look like you're gearing up to fight some baddies. Good idea, grouping up that is."

He chuckled "Back when we first got here, before the incident, o'I ran in to fight some boars on my own, and boy was o'I sorry."

 

He straightened up his body and gave them a thumbs up. "That being said, if you need any help, o'Im yer man." He placed his other hand on the handle of his rapier.

[GALLahad 0]

As the first man walked over to her, GALLahad stared up at him before he knelt with a smile on her face, more out of not wanting the giant to eat her like an outtake from jack and the beanstalk , "Sure I'll party up, though you are a tall person, aren't you? And everyone said I was tall..."  As the second person walked up with his Irish accent, GALLahad's smile turned into a large grin. She hadn't expected to meet a fellow Irishman in Aincrad, especially one whose accent was as heavy as this new individual, though out of courtesy didn't try to play up her accent so the titan could understand, "Hiya there. I'd love to get some tips, assuming you got time for a pair like us? Though the accent, where 'bouts you from?"  Happy with the two she was with, she moved her hand away from her hair, offering it out to them, "And nice to meet you by the way. My name's GALLahad, named after the knight in case you were wondering or know who that is."  Finishing as the third person joined, she looked at him after his declaration before adding, "Sure. The more the merrier. As long as it is fine with my other two companions."

[Brokke 0]

Brokke gave a bit of a chuckle when he was called tall, "Yes, I believe I am pretty large. Not that it's such a great thing all the time." he said before standing up to his full height. He looked at his companion. Then another man joined in. One of orange hair and an accent which sounded slightly odd to Brokke. Then again, he probably had an accent to the other two people, and the girl seemed to be from the same area as him.

 

No sooner than he could speak again, a third person showed up offering to join their little party. So many different people Brokke thought before stretching a little bit, "I do not have a problem with having more people." he said, starting to stroke his moustache, "The question is if we should stay here longer or venture out."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's eyes widened at GALLahad and he smiled a huge grin. "Well would ya look at that!" He said excitedly. "o'I thought o'I was the only one." He pointed his thumb to his chest "Dublin." He started to nervously stumble over his words. "Ah, w-well, thats where o'Im from, my name is Jomei." He scratched the back of his head Smooth, you tool.. he thought to himself.. He turned to the rest of the group and greeted them. When he got to the newcomer, he smiled and put out his hand "The more the merrier! Nice to have you along." 

 

His face became a bit more serious as he looked out into the fields. "We should try and stay local, at least for now. Even o'I don't know what lures beyond the trees" He points to the forest at the other end of the field. "If youre  really feelin' brave, maybe we could see what lingers there.."

[GALLahad 0]

Moving her hand back after the greetings, GALLahad immediately brought up her menu, inviting the other three to a party, "Dublin eh? Coleraine myself. And yeah, I'm of the same boat as you two in that we should stay just on the plains for now. If we get a full party then we can try to push our luck, but probably not a case of taking a whole zone's worth of mobs at once." The grin which had arrived on her face since Jomei's arrival having since gone away, she turned to look at him with yet another smile, "Anyway. As the veteran among us, are you willing to show us some of your tricks? I'm sure with that rapier, you'd be nice and capable of one shotting most things around here, right?" 

With that, she took a few steps forwards towards the plains before turning to them, "And then, when we are all feeling capable, we can split up to two per mob or something? Would make getting experience twice as fast, and twice as safe. After all, if someone was about to get killed, the other could just step in and protect them. Or we can go four verse one, whichever one is more preferable for everyone." 

[Brokke 0]

"I do not mind" Brokke shook his head, tightening his grip around the sledgehammer. He accepted GALLahad's party invitation and glanced at his party members with a smile, "I am going to have to be completely honest with you. I am not good with games, and I didn't log in to play, but rather to meet my real life friends. I hope you will be considerate enough towards me being a little confused at some things." he said before looking around the field available to them. It didn't seem all that difficult to navigate, "Shall we go then?"

[Jomei 0]

"I'd rather stay local. I do not wish to die right now. I believe none of us want to." - Prostatis

"You're right about that." Jomei said with a squint as the surveyed the fields, looking for a good place to head to.

 

"Anyway. As the veteran among us, are you willing to show us some of your tricks? I'm sure with that rapier, you'd be nice and capable of one shotting most things around here, right?" -GALLahad

Jomei thought to himself about what she said. He knew he was not strong enough to take out boars with one shot, let alone call himself a 'veteran'. However, the look she was giving him was one of confidence and respect, and with her smile, he could not let her or the others down.

"Of course o'I would be willing to show you what o'I know." He said, with a grin. He drew his rapier, its silver blade let off a golden shine, the color of the sun.  

 

He turned to the other man, and looked up at him. This was not something he needed to do very often, being 6'1" himself.. and the last few times he needed to look up at someone, it was followed by a sword trying to kill him or something. So the man's gentle smile made him feel better. 

​"No need to worry about that, my friend. Im sure you will get the hang of it, you just need to learn the ropes." He pointed his sword forward to an open area of the field, where he saw a few boars "And the best way to learn, is through experience." He began to walk forward, holding his sword at his side, he shield bouncing off of his back with each step, and his lute, strung on his hip, swaying back and forth. 

[GALLahad 0]

Letting Jomei take the lead, GALLahad tried to keep pace with the other two while assuming the unnamed giant would do the same, "Yeah. I mean, it looks simple enough to pick up. Just swish swish stab. Or rather, in the case of a hammer such as yourself, swing swing crush." Laughing a little from her own comments. Afterwards, she decided to wait for him while removing her one handed sword from its scabbard, holding it in a standard grip with her left hand, "Plus if for some reason we come across some weird boar with five inches of steel armour around it, we can team up on it with ease. That is, assuming it's still rather low level... Though, the prospect of a level one mini-boss right outside where everyone spawns would arguably be the most hilarious and relatively deadly mini-boss ever."

[Brokke 0]

Brokke followed Jomei towards the boars, spinning his hammer around a bit. The weapon was still quite foreign to him, but the prospect of fighting with a hammer excited the Norse nut. He was mostly silent, walking behind everyone - he wasn't the fastest walker, thanks to his size, though the only thing he had going for him there were big steps. Then again, his size wasn't all that impressive in comparison to his companions, save maybe for the last one to join.

 

The man gave off a hearty laugh at GALLahad's remarks, "Yes, I believe our blades and my hammer will be triumphant against any dangers we meet around here. I would rather not die here... Though I do wonder if a death in battle in a virtual world would still grant me a seat in Valhalla."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei chuckled at the groups remarks. Despite just joining the group, he was really enjoying their company. He purposely slowed his pace a bit, not noticeable, but enough to make the trip to where the enemies spawn a little longer. He always made sure to cherish conversations with new friends, God forbid the coming encounters took any of their lives. He was lucky that he had not lost many friends yet. Jomei had only lost one friend, whom he did not know very well, just outside these very walls. They had only met once, and briefly, but he still called him his friend and mourned his death. He touched the dull side of his rapier to his forehead and closed his eyes. ((Tribute to Axios))

When he opened his eyes. He addressed his group. "So if you don't mind me asking. o'I know GALLahad over here, but what should o'I call you guys?" Jomei was looking over his shoulder, talking the other two gentlemen. 

Despite trying to strike up conversation, he still kept a keen eye. Despite the fact that there were boars already roaming the fields, one that may have been killed by a player could have just as quickly spawned on them. 

[GALLahad 0]

"Don't worry about saying real names, I mean, I wasn't exactly named after a man.. Hopefully." Smiling at him, it was dampened at the sight out of the corner of her eye. Sure, she was ambitious, but she wasn't sadistic and wanted people to die. "Oh. Do you want to add each other as friends or something? In case want to party up again later. Would make it easier to find each other." Not noticing the slowing down though, mainly because she had waited for a few seconds for the big guy and had to start walking after that, she followed up with, "Would also make it easier to get party members for quests and that, instead of finding pick up groups who may stab you in the back. Either figuratively or literally."  

Meanwhile, ahead of them, a single boar spawned in, just on the outskirts of the plains, far enough away from the other boars to not pick up any others in the process, and near enough to attack them if they kept moving directly ahead. 

[Brokke 0]

"You can call me Brokke." Brokke smiled at his companions, continuing to walk. When GALLahad mentioned adding each other to friends, Brokke nodded, "I would be quite happy to add you to friends, GALLahad, as I would be to add you, Jomei, Prostatis." he said. Ahead of them he saw a boar and he raised his large hand to shield his eyes from sunlight while he looked in that direction, "I see a creature that just spawned, and it is alone. We can take it four-against-one, can't we?"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei smiled sincerely at GALLahad. "That sounds like a great o'idea." He took the initiative of doing so, by opening his friends list and sending requests to all of his new friends. 

"So Prostatis.. and Brokke" he said to them, nodding at them respectively.

 He turned around to see the boar the others were talking about. 

"Aye.. theres our first target." He sheathed his sword and turned back to the others. "The wee boar is a pretty simple mob to kill, especially with three people. So for this first fight, I will act as backup. If any of you come into any real danger, I will come in and protect you with my life." He looked seriously into each of their eyes as he said this.

"Now, lets see what the three of you can do" as he took a piece of the stale-tasting bread out of his inventory and chucked it at the boar.

The boar started to charge the group, not sure which player through the bread. He walked behind the other three placing his hand on GALLahad's shoulder, and addressing the group "Have fun , and good luck." 

[GALLahad 0]

(Aye: For Combat order just go with the current posting order, and I'll do the boar's actions in mine) 

 

GALLahad, at the sight of the charging boar, brought her sword ahead of her.  She wasn't exactly expecting it to have charged them, and so couldn't think of how to counter it in time, instead barely managing to move out of the way of the incoming boar. The preference for not wanting to get impaled on it being the main drive behind it, "That was just a bad move, could've given us like, three seconds warning!" Being called out at Jomei while she readied herself for combat against the boar in her first fight. 

 

ID: 17881

Battle: 6

Mob: 3 

 

The boar meanwhile, missed it's targets in the charge due to the sudden movement throwing it off a few inches in an indecisive moment, let out a low, guttural growl before charging towards the large fellow with a hammer, and the smaller teenager with a sword, trying to impale them on its tusks if they refused to get out of the way, or they killed it first. Whichever one broke before they bent first. 

 

HP:

GALLahad: 7/7

Brokke: 7/7

Jomei: 17/17

Prostatis: 11/11

 

Boar: 4/4 

[Brokke 0]

Brokke readied his hammer and bent downwards slightly, to shift his centre of mass. A classic technique, useful in sports and lifting. He figured it could get him some sort of grounding.

The man waited until the beast seemed close enough, and with a feral scream sent his weapon on a downward swing.

ID: 17909

Battle: 2

The hammer missed its mark, striking the ground in front of the boar.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei watched over to the side, not too far away from the action. 

"That was just a bad move, could've given us like, three seconds warning!" 

He called back to the group "An encounter can be entirely random! Those are the ones that would take your life. You always need to be prepared."

He smirked. The group seemed to be doing okay so far, no one had been injured. However, he watched and his two comrades missed with their weapons, so his face tensed."Focus! Don't be scared about him charging. Time your attack. Use your sword skills if need be." He put his right hand across his body, and held the handle of the rapier just in case. "Did I make this too hard on them?" He said to himself. "Its just one boar.. but.." He shook his head. "I need to be ready to protect them if need be.."

[GALLahad 0]

As the other two missed, the boar took its chance. With a malicious glint in its eye, it struck the giant who had held his ground. Tusk striking true, it went straight into Brokke's leg as it went past, charging past and missing the rest before spinning about, charging once more unto the breach.  

GALLahad meanwhile, tried to intercept it as it went past, annoyed it had attacked her new-found friend. As it ran past, she took a large downwards slash at it, though it turned out to have been swung too late, missing the boar's tail by centimetres, "You okay over there Brokke? Want to stand back for a little bit while we take care of it? Or want to keep fighting with us?" 

 

ID: 17928

Battle: 4

Mob: 10 

 

HP:

GALLahad: 7/7

Brokke: 4/7

Jomei: 17/17

Prostatis: 11/11

 

Boar: 4/4

[Brokke 0]

Brokke groaned heavily when he was struck by the boar. His vision blurred briefly, but he managed to stay up. Breathing heavily, he looked at his health, and clutched his sledgehammer. "I will be fine... If this is its best shot... Then I can deal with it..." Brokke smiled to GALLahad before glancing at his other two companions, making sure they knew he was okay before he looked back at the creature. It was charging him again. He moved his posture to be centralised once again before readying his swing at the beast, sweeping in with his hammer from the side and aiming at its jaw.

 

ID: 17936

Battle: 9

(1DMG + 1 Critical = 2 Damage)

 

The hammer struck the creature square in the jaw, pushing into its skull and veering its charge off course slightly.

 

HP:

GALLahad: 7/7

Brokke: 4/7

Jomei: 17/17

Prostatis: 11/11

 

Boar: 2/4