[PP:F2] Test of Steel (Mack)

[Mayuri 0]

Mai’s begging had worked. Just before Mack had left her shop, the young woman had flagged him down in the street and asked him if he would accompany her to test out her fantastically made weapon: Cold Star. Eventually the man relented after the twentieth “Please?” that fell from you young woman’s lips, and finally agreed to go hunting with her. Mai ran inside to quickly get herself dressed and ready to go.

The pair walked along the wooded path on the second floor on the way to who knew where. Mai didn’t care; not really, she was going to give Cold Star a go and that was all that mattered to her. The pretty young alchemist carried her weapon unsheathed holding it up to the morning sun, watching the light reflect and refract around her in dazzling rainbows that danced upon her skin and along the ground as she moved the blade back and forth in the light. Her Cold Star was truly a thing of beauty; the sheath and handle were made of ebony teak wood and upon the handle was wrapped a delicate turquoise material that padded her handle as a grip. The hilt had a beautiful dragon upon it; another was also etched into her sheath in blue. Her blade was perfectly pale and looked cold as the name implied.

“I can’t get over what an amazing job you did,” Mai spoke finally as she smiled over at the behemoth man beside her that dwarfed her and made her very much look like a doll in comparison.

“Ummm… I forgot to ask, but …where are we headed?” the girl asked curiously. 

[Mack 0]

Mack had barely left the Mortar & Pestle before the shop's raven haired owner had come charging out the door after him, the sleeves of her kimono flapping as she hurried up. She wanted to be taken hunting and, based on her incessant begging, she wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. When Mack finally agreed to accompany the girl, after making it clear that she was underage and it was to be, under no circumstances, considered to be a "date" she had wheeled around and fled back into her shop to go get ready. While she was gone the hulking Smith had taken up a position outside the shop, leaning against the wall, as he went through his inventory items and considered them all before adding the deer antler pendant to his appearance. The small good luck charm appeared around his neck on a simple leather cord. To that he also added the breastplate he had just forged, Hussar's Protest.

Within the hour the pair of them were making their way out of Urbus through the heavy and ancient looking wrought iron gates of the town. As the pair of them trooped along they soon left what was generously called a city well behind them. Mayuri continued to chatter, but Mack was more inclined towards silence, though he did offer a response of: "I'm glad you like the weapon," when Mayuri mentioned her delight with it. Then she followed that up by wanting to know where they were going.

"Hunting for crafting materials and, perhaps, after a small mini boss that calls this area home. I've heard that he's known as the Druid, but between the two of us he should be easy enough to defeat," the beefy axe-wielder said, continuing to tromp through the forest and not making much of an effort to be terribly quiet since, so far, no creatures had yet spawned.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Mack

[Mayuri 0]

Had Mai given any real thought to Mack serious insistence that they were not going on a date, she would have laughed heartily. Mack was a very nice man, and had a nice face, but he was just simply not her type. That and he looked older than her… waaaay older, and she wasn’t into that either. The girl had wanted his company simply because the colossal man looked like he knew his way around a battlefield, and Mayuri never liked to go hunting alone. She was rather small and still not as powerful as she’d like to be, and it was dangerous for her to go alone.

Mack was the silent type, and Mai was good with that. After having Life as her constant travel companion, she was quite used to the strong silent type. He answered her praise and said he was glad she liked her new weapon, to which she had to reply: “I LOVE IT!”  She skipped along beside the man in silence as he explained where it was they were going to which Mai clapped her hands.

“Oh yes! I am in desperate need of more materials. I’m afraid more of my supplies have got to the rubbish bin instead of being made into actual potions. I’m not that good at making them yet,” Mai jumped subjects as if everything were one thought, “But I’m sure we can take a mini boss; I’ve already taken on two floor bosses and that jerk, Gemini, on the sixth floor.” She beamed. Shay was rather proud of her battlefield accomplishments, even if Life had done the majority of the work for her.

[Mack 0]

ID: 27436
BD: 2
MD: 8
Mack: 26/27 (-1 Dam., Mitigation 2) (Hate: 1)
Mayuri: 28/28
Mountain Lion: 15/15 (Base Dam. 3)

"Gemini is a cruel trick for something that should be nothing more than a dueling tutorial bot," Mack growled, his eyes flashing dangerously. He was still steamed about the way the Gemini quest was set up and it showed in the tone of his voice, the set of his jaw, and the flash of his grey eyes. "I've lost my share of crafting materials as well, haven't been able to salvage anything from a failure yet," the blonde warrior admitted, shrugging his shoulders as they continued to pass through the leafy canopy of the forest.

Unaware to both the smith and the alchemist, their passage was being marked by someone, or rather some thing, else. Silently the mostly beige creature padded along behind the pair of warrior and, when the big one turned its back to the mountain lion the animal exploded up out of the brush and attacked. As the roiling feline ball of fur slammed into his back, Mack was driven forward several steps though, thankfully, Hussar's Protest saved him from the worst of the damage. Still, the cougar did manage to rake its claws across the axe-man's arms as he reached up, grabbed the feline's head, and then slammed the creature to the ground doing a fair imitation of the chopping motion he'd use with Guillotine except with a snarling, spitting puma.

[Mayuri 0]

“I didn’t like him at all either. He was a monster,” Mai said as she saw the dark look on the man’s face. By the look of it he too had a time of dealing with the Gemini. The scary thing was that Mai knew there were more sinister things in the world than that jerk Gemini.  Mack quickly changed the topic, and for that, Mai was grateful. He admitted to also having trouble with salvaging materials. It was good to know that she wasn’t the only one.

Mai quieted down and skipped alongside the sentinel that walked beside her, blissfully unaware that they were being stalked. It wasn’t until a flash of fur and fangs jumped upon the man that Mai even knew what was going on. The girl twirled around and pulled Cold Star from her sheath. The man grabbed the animal by the scruff of the neck and tossed him. The big cat was slammed against the ground and then Mack brought a giant two handed axe down upon the beast. Mai’s mouth went as round as her big teal eyes as she witnessed the brutal scene.

Without hesitation the young woman jumped in to help. While the cat was still pinned beneath the massive axe blade the girl slashed at the creature with her Hwando holding it in both hands.  Big kitty’s health points fell quite a bit and Mai smirked rather pleased with this.

 

27505

BD: 8     Mai hits Mountain Lion for +5 DMG

 

Mack   26/27

Mayuri   28/28

Mountain Lion   10/15  

[Mack 0]

ID: 27554
BD: 9 (8 + 1 Acc)
MD: 6
Mack: 25/27 (-1 Dam., Mitigation 2) (Hate: 3)
Mayuri: 28/28 (Hate: 1)
Mountain Lion: 3/15 (-7 Dam.) (Will suffer -2 Bleed in Mayuri's next attack and, if Mayuri misses, will bleed out before Mack has to swing again)

As Mayuri darted in and impaled the mountain lion with Cold Star Mack released his grip on the mountain lion. The nasty little fur ball retorted by scrambling back to its feet and sinking a mouthful of fangs into his left leg. "Furry little bastard," the smith snarled, releasing his grip on Guillotine with his right hand and then driving the fist into the cougar's face with all the force he could put behind the blow. The feline abruptly let go of its grip on the hulking blonde and staggered back a few feet, going slightly cross-eyed for a second. Taking his weapon in both hands again, Mack drove the blade of Guillotine in a fierce overhand chop deep into the yowling mountain lion's back. 

[Mayuri 0]

Mack was truly something to watch; his technique was something quite different than her usual companion. Whereas Life was graceful and agile in his attacks, Mack overwhelmed his enemies with complete brute force. He was a spectacular force to be reckoned with, and the big cat was learning that all too well. The man threw the beast with one hand and then lifted his massive weapon and smashed it back into the cougar. With the animal weak and at a disadvantage, Mai hopped in once more and viciously attacked the downed creature piercing Cold Star right through the mob. The big cat shattered into pixels and disappeared leaving behind two things: Col and a Material. 

Mai tossed the material to Mack. "Here you go! I'll get the next one." She divided the coin and gave Mack the larger share. "This is also for you." She walked over and placed the col into the man's enormous hand.

 

27993

BD: 9   +1 CRIT     Mai hits Mountain Lion for +6 DMG

LD: 15    GOOD ITEM OBTAINED: 75 COL

 

Mack   26/27

Mayuri   28/28

Mountain Lion   -3/15   DEAD

 

FOUND: +1 MATERIAL (Mack) 75 Col split 38 (Mack)/37 (Mai)

 

Edited August 20, 2015 by Mayuri

[Mack 0]

ID: 28009
LD: 17

Mack watched, with no small amount of satisfaction, as Mayuri plunged Cold Star into the mountain lion and the animal exploded in a shower of pixels. The weapon seemed, so far, to be performing admirably which pleased the smith. It was always gratifying to see one's creations being put to good use. As the dark-haired woman knelt on the ground to examine the items that the mountain lion had produced for loot, Mack kept his grey eyes peeled in case any more surprises were to come barreling out of the forest to assault them. As a result, he was caught off guard when Mayuri tossed his share of the col to him. He released his grip on Guillotine and swung the blade of the axe down and away from his body in a flat arc so that he could free his right hand to catch the item.

To his great surprise, there was a small spray of wood chips as the blade of Guillotine bit into a nearby tree, quite unintentionally. Then a piece of lumber suitable for crafting split off from the tree to land at Mack's feet. The smith stared at it for a moment before picking it up and examining it. Sure enough, it was a crafting material, apparently sometimes it paid off to be lucky rather than good. Tapping the item again, he added it to his inventory and then began scrolling through the items that his inventory contained.

"Depending on how far we're going to go, better gear seems to be indicated," he rumbled, extracting his bearded axe from the tree and setting it down on the ground blade first for a moment. Continuing through his inventory, Mack selected the Angelic Sheath and equipped the glittering white armor. While it was true that he probably wouldn't be sneaking up on anyone in the snow white armor, it would allow him to function to some degree as a tank on this little expedition that he was on with Mayuri.

"I'm ready whenever you are," he said, his voice coming out slightly muffled by the armor's face mask which was then removed and stored back in the inventory. Given that it was neither hot and sandy nor windy and cold the enormous blonde man couldn't see much of a need for the mask at the moment.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Mack

[Mayuri 0]

Mack said they were ready to move on and the cheerful young woman nodded. “Okay!” she said as she began to skip along. They moved through the pass without incident which was a relief to Mai. She rather preferred things quit than not. Even though she was in the lead the young woman had little idea as to where they were going. Stopping in her tracks she turned around to face the behemoth that towered over her and she smiled up at him. “Umm… where is this druid fellow…” She asked and smiled sheepishly. The girl felt a little silly at the moment to be leading when she had no idea where she was going. 

[Mack 0]

"He's supposed to be somewhere off in that direction," Mack rumbled, pointing the way and setting off in the indicated direction through the encroaching forest of trees. "Probably he won't drop any good loot, but I'd be willing to bet that his lack of good loot will be more than offset by the mats we'll be able to farm. I suspect that the druid will have one, or more, animal familiars at his disposal. Just be ready and we should be able to make short work of the mobs." Shouldering Guillotine at his right shoulder, the massive blonde man pushed his way through the brush, trusting that Mayuri would either remain beside him or follow immediately in his wake.