[SP-F2] Between a Rock and a Hard Place <<Breaking the Unbreakable>>{COMPLETE}

[Jomei 0]

Jomei was sitting in the usual tavern on floor one. He sighed into his drink. He was getting quite bored of the first floor. He had been trapped in the world of SAO for a couple of weeks now, and never tried to venture out anywhere further than the outskirts of Starter City. "o'I really need to get stronger." he said with a disappointed face and closed eyes. 

Suddenly, he heard booming laughter coming from a table of players behind him. They didn't look like they could have been much higher level than him, just by a judging glance.

He listened in on their conversation.

"So you just gave up then? Hah! I knew you couldn't do it!" One of the players said to one who didnt look like he was laughing.

"S-Shut up! How was I supposed to know the thing was the size of a house!" 

Jomei was getting interested. He was curious to know what this man failed at doing.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked the group

...

The group had told him about a quest on floor two, where theres a giant boulder blocking the entrance to the main dungeon. He went on to tell Jomei that no one has been able to break it.

This is when he decided to finally venture up to the second floor to see this for himself.

 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei opened his eyes after teleporting there from the plaza on the first floor. He smiled. It was a nice change of scenery. It was a large city, known as Urbus. The city seemed to be built into a crater, in a mountainous region. "Definitely beats just looking at tall walls and trees all the time." he said to himself. Before rushing out to accept this quest, he decided to explore the town a little bit. He noticed that merchants were a little more expensive, the other players had better gear and looked stronger. He really didnt feel like he fit in, but he tried his best to make it seem so. 

While walking, he came across floor two's pub. He really did not want to go in, knowing he had a mission to accomplish, but his Irish blood and curiosity won, and he entered. It was much busier than his usual spot on the first floor, and cleaner at that. 

[Jomei 0]

Make it quick he thought to himself just a small drink to see how it is and then leave.

He sat down at the bar and looked for the bartender.

"Helloo there. What can I get for you~" The flirty voice came from a beautiful, busty woman behind the counter. She was looking at Jomei with a smile.

Jomei started blushing and scratched the back of his head. No no no! No distractions! he said in his mind.

"J-Jost a wee glass of yer fo'inest ale, ma'am." He said. When Jomei becomes embarrassed or excited (where one may stammer their words) his accent becomes much more accentuate.

She giggled and poured him a glass. She handed it to him with a wink, and he went to pay her. Oy... 3 col here for a glass thats smaller than the 1 col down on the first floor..

-3 col

He drank the glass. He was not too impressed. It was damn good, but not worth the 3 col.

"Thank ya kindly, ma'am." He said with a nod, as he finished the glass and ran out the door.

 

"No more distractions."

[Jomei 0]

On his way to the outskirts of the city, the with the shortest path leading to the dungeon's entrance, he found a small group of soldiers, accompanied by large men with hammers. The large men were out of breath, and the soldiers looked distraught. 

"Y-You there." The NPC said to him. He looked like the soldier in charge of the group.

Jomei looked both ways and pointed at himself. "Me, sir?"

"Yes you." The man walked up to him. "You look like a capable adventurer, we need your assistance."

Jomei wondered, is this the NPC i was looking for?

the soldier continued, "You see... the dungeon on this floor.. we can't reach it. There is a large boulder blocking its path, and even my strongest men cannot break it with their hammers. Please, help us."

Jomei smirked. Bingo.

A message box opened up in front of Jomei

 

QUEST:

Breaking The Unreakable

A giant mysterious rock is blocking the entrance to the main dungeon. Many players have tried to break the rock but nothing happens. No one has the skills to break it with their bare hands... but then again... none have tried. All that is know is that weapons are useless on this object. If you accept this quest, you must find a way to break this rock and clear the path.

REWARD: 

Skill: <Martial Arts>

+1 Skill Point

 

Accept this quest? O

Jomei accepted the quest. 

[Jomei 0]

He started on his journey to the dungeon entrance. He saw multiple new enemies, which he avoided. He needed to keep up his strength if he was going to complete this quest and destroy the boulder. Half way there, Jomei spotted an old man. He was wearing a ragged, tan shirt, which was held closed by a black rope belt, and white pants that were torn up to below his knees. He was breathing heavily, leaning against a tree. He quickly ran over to the man and crouched down beside him. "Oy! Are you okay, sir?!" The man did not reply. His eyes were not visible through bushy eyebrows to see if they were open or looking at him.

He placed his hand on the old man's forehead. He was burning up. Did not one other player stop to help this man? He grit his teeth in thinking so.

He quickly opened up his inventory and took out a bottle of water. Hopefully this will help. "Here, drink this." He said, handing it to the old man. He noticed that the old man did have a health bar, it was in the low red, but he could tell that he was not a player. He had to be an NPC of some sort... Maybe a random event that players only have until the HP bar drops to complete? He didn't think too hard on it, and put his focus into taking care of the man. 

[Jomei 0]

When he held out the bottle of water, the man made low groaning noises, trying to raise his hands. 

 

Jomei quickly uncapped the bottle, and gently poured some into the man's open mouth. 

"Come on.. don't die on me." He continued to pour the water in small increments, letting the old man swallow a little bit at a time.

Once the bottle was finished, the old man started to cough. He lifted his hand and wiped some of the water from his lip. 

Jomei smiled, and the old man sat up. "Oh, thank you! You are to kind." He bowed his head respectfully.

"What were you doing out here sir?" Jomei let go of the man, as he was now capable to sit up himself.

The old man smirked and chuckled. "Training." 

"Training?" Jomei said with a confused look. "For what?"

The old man just chuckled again. "Come! Ill show you." He leapt up, faster than an old man should be able to. Jomei followed suit. "W-wait... where are w-" Jomei was interrupted by the old man pushing him forward into the forest. 

[Jomei 0]

After a short walk. The two arrived at a clearing in the forest. A circle, about 15 feet in diameter, with no trees, with the exception of one thick tree in the middle. This one tree had something wrapped around it, almost some sort of pillow or padding. 

"Uhm..." Jomei was confused.

The old man pointed at the tree.

"Attack it." he said, nonchalantly. 

"o'Im sorry?" Jomei asked looking at him, What type of loon did I get myself involved with...

"Attack. It." The man simply said again. 

 

Jomei sighed and began to draw his sword. "If you say s-" 

Jomei's hand drawing his sword was interrupted by a wooden pole, smacking into his hand.

"Gah! What the hell?!" He pulled his hand back, and rubbed it.

"No weapons." The man span the pole and slammed the base into the ground.

Jomei sighed. Why am I doing this...? He lifted his fists and took a fighting stance.

[Jomei 0]

ID 17956

BD: 1 Crit Fail

 

He had never fought an inanimate object before.. It was weird.

He charged at the tree and threw a bad hook punch. His fist slid off the tree and his face smacked into the bark of the tree.

"Owww" He yelled in pain.

He heard the old man chuckle at him.

Ill show him, he thought and he shook his head, and prepared to strike the tree again.

 

ID 17959

BD: 9 Small Crit hit

 

He took a step back, bouncing on his toes this time. He was not much of a boxer, but he had a basic idea of what he was doing. 

He took a big step forward, toward the tree, and his fist followed through. He landed a clean hit on the tree. The hit caused the tree to shake, and some leaves to fall. 

 

The old man nodded. "Come here"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei walked over to the old man. 

"Before striking, you must concentrate. Breathe. Focus on your attack." 

Jomei was losing patience now, something he did not do very often.

"o'I already do that when fighting! (Heavy sigh) Look, o'I have a quest o'I need to complete.. o'Im sorry sir but o'I need to go."

With that, Jomei turned away from the man and began to walk away. The old man was shaking his head. "Just remember my lessons to you. Precision, over power.."

 

Jomei made his way back to the path, he was slowly starting to lose sunlight, and did not want to travel in the dark.

He picked up the pace a bit, and jogged to his destination. 

[Jomei 0]

Once he made it out of the wooded area, he found he was at a mountainside clearing. This clearing was much larger than the one within the forest. 

He up to see he was standing at the base of a ginormous mountain, one bigger than any of the other ones on this floor. There were trees all surrounding the area, making a semicircle with the base of the mountain. As he got closer to the base of the mountain he saw it.
It was a large boulder, about a 20 ft tall boulder. It slightly a different color that the rocky mountain side, so maybe it was placed here by something else. He shuddered at the thought of what could move something that big. There were camps set up around the base of the mountain, all with players resting and watching. Near the boulder, he saw a group of people watching something, he couldn't see what past them. He first heard cheering from the crowd, had someone already done it. He then heard a loud thud, and the cheering subsided. Nope, another failed attempt.

[Jomei 0]

He finally made it to the group of people. The boulder felt much bigger up close, and Jomei was a little intimidated, but confident. He looked back at the ground to see 4, very large players on one side of the boulder, pushing it. It would not even budge. He figured it was jammed in there, and had to be broken. Then he saw these same 4 players all pick up broadswords, axes, and sledgehammers. All of their weapons glowed with various colors as they all attacked the boulder at once. with a loud clang, nothing happened. The crowd was quiet, and the men walked off defeated. 

"Who's next to try and break the boulder?!" Said a man who had just walked up to the boulder, addressing the crowd. He was a player, and he must have been making this quest into some sick game of his. "Whoooos next?!" He yelled again.

 

Jomei pushed through the crowd and made it to the front. "o'I am." His face was tense as he looked at the man. 

[Jomei 0]

The silence of the crowd was poisoned by the sound of snickering and doubt. Jomei did not care, as he walked up to the boulder. The man walked out of the way.

"heh. 20 col the kid breaks his arm trying."He heard from the crowd, as he approached the boulder. He looked at his sword, he knew a rapier was not going to be able to do anything, so he decided to pull out his shield. I saw this in an American comic once... maybe.. Jomei spun around and chucked his shield at the boulder like a frisbee with all of his might. The shield simply hit the boulder with a clang and fell to the floor. 

Some of the crowd started to laugh at him. 

An angry Jomei decided to prove the crowd wrong. He charged at the boulder, open handed and went to punch the rock. 

Nothing. Just the sound of flesh smacking a rock. Dammit. He turned around, ashamed, and started to walk back. 

[Jomei 0]

What was I thinking, I couldn't break a boulder with my bare hands if I tried.. 

He looked up, and looked at the crowd. At the mocking, laughing faces. 

But his eyes widened when he saw a familiar face at the back of the crowd. It was the old man.

 

Before striking, you must concentrate. Breathe. Focus on your attack. Precision, over power..

These words rung in his head.

"Ooh sorry kid, looks like- " "No." Jomei interrupted the man. "Im not done yet."

He turned around again to look at the boulder, the man stepped out of the way shrugging.

He lifted his fists and closed his eyes, he took a very deep breath. 

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

((When I Crit fail[ roll 1], Jomei will hurt himself in some way, lowering his hp.

Once he hits 5, he will become exhausted and give up))

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 12/12 [////////////]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17966

BD: 2 Miss

When he opened his eyes, he had a look of rage and confidence. He started to run at the boulder at full speed. He lifted his one hand to punch the boulder. He yelled as he swung his first forward, connecting with the face of it. However, just as before. There was no change. He growled to himself, why couldn't he do it? He remembered the old man's words again about precision and not power. So he lowered his hand, and stepped back a couple feet to prepare for his next strike.

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 12/12 [////////////]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17968

BD: 7 Hit

DMG: 1

He took another deep breath. This one calmer that the last. He took another step back and opened his eyes, letting out his breath.

He found himself bouncing on his toes again like a boxer. I can do this. He thought to himself. With a swift punch, he struck the boulder. 

There was not much of a change, but he noticed tiny rocks and dust rolling down the side of the boulder after his punch. The crowd began to become silent after they noticed this. 

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 11/12 [/////////// ]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17969

BD: 8 Hit

DMG: 1 

Jomei quickly recovered his right hand from the hit and pulled it back, he pivoted on his back foot and struck again with his left hand. Just as before, there was not much notice besides some smaller rocks and dust coming from the crevices between the boulder and the cave. Can't get cocky. Just do it. The crowd was growing more and more silent. Or at least, Jomei thought so. He was drowning out all other distractions and focusing only on his punches. 

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 10/12 [/////////// ]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17970

BD: 8

DMG: 1

 

Jomei continued with his assault. One punch after another. He was relentlessly attacking this boulder. A hook, a jab, a knee. He was just making up his own combos without stopping. What the crowd began to notice, was not the strength of his attacks, but the fact that every punch, every kick, were landing in the exact same spot every time. Is this what the old man was talking about? He continued to relentlessly attack. 

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 9/12 [//////////  ]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17972

BD: 4 Miss

Jomei should not have been thinking about something other than his attacks. His thoughts had betrayed him, for he missed his mark and delivered a spin kick off from where all of his other attacks landed. Nothing happened when his kicked the boulder this time, there was no dust of rocks falling from the crevices. He hoped that the crowd did not notice, and he attempted to play it off and attack in the same spots as before.

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 9/12 [//////////  ]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17973

BD: 8

DMG: 1

 

Lucky for Jomei, there were slight scuffs where all of his other attacks landed, so he was quickly able to pick up where he had last left off. Damn, hopefully messing up my flow like that won't change anything. He grit his teeth as he lowered his leg and pulled back his fist. He let it fly into the spot he noticed with the scuffs. Same as earlier, the boulder moved slightly. He smirked. "The show must go on." he said to himself before attacking again.

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 8/12 [////////  ]

[Jomei 0]

ID: 17980

BD: 10 Crit hit

DMG: 3

 

Jomei unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks on the boulder, focusing on hitting that exact spot every time. He took a deep breath while attacking, and pulled his fist back. "Hyaaah!" With a yell, he thrusted it forward, striking his target spot. The entire boulder shook. A lot of dust and debris fell from the top of the rock. And with a loud rumble, the spot Jomei was punching started to crack. He jumped back and slouched over, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "o'I only just broke it now?" he said between breaths. His eyes widened when he heard cheering start to rise from behind him. He turned around to see the crowd start to clap and cheer him on. He stood up straight and smiled. He turned back to the boulder and took his fighting stance. 

 

HP:

Jomei: 17/17 [/////////////////]

 

Enemy: 

Boulder: 5/12 [/////     ]