[PP-F1] <<Earning a Living>> Forged to Perfection

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 31400
• BD: 10 (Critical Success)
• MD: 4 (-1=3) (Fail)
• Teion HP: 17/17
• Boar HP: 9/9 -> 4/9 (Bleeding)

"Patching the combat system?" Teion mused. She hadn't moved too far from where Mack continued searching for materials, so she continued their conversation. "Sounds interesting, but you're right. Players probably won't have much of an option to solo past the very beginning levels." As her blade connected on the next swing, dealing a large chunk of damage to the boar and applying Midnight Eclipse's bleed effect, she mulled over the idea. "Yeah, glass cannon doesn't sound like such a bad idea." She murmured. She didn't want to be a tank, that was for sure. And she was very fond of the two-handed axe style, so a high damage build was really the only way to go.

[Mack 0]

ID: 31407
LD: 15

Watching out of one corner of his grey eyes as Teion tackled another boar, Mack probed at the ground with the butt cap of Guillotine. Within a few seconds he heard a solid sounding thunk as the weapon encountered a chunk of ore. Stooping in the grass, the blonde man retrieved the crafting item and added it to his inventory. "Yes, glass cannon makes sense for you as well. Unless you plan to solo for a bit, in which case you'll want to do a hybrid build and level up your weapon and armor skills at the same time," Mack called out, standing back up and watching the ongoing combat between Teion and the boar. The purple-haired woman didn't seem to be having any kind of great difficulty. "Of course, if you join the Guild then you'll have a tank to go with you when you want one."

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 31667
• BD: 3 (Fail)
• MD: 6 (-1=5) (Fail)
• Teion HP: 17/17
• Boar HP: 2/9 (Bleeding)

Teion attempted another swing at the boar and both her strike and the monster's missed their marks. She felt she was able to handle combat more casually now, at least on the first floor. Compared her first venture outside the city walls, she felt confident fighting mobs, so much so that she continued to hold conversation. "Well, I originally thought I would do more soloing..." She started, shifting her weight to try another attack. "But if the combat system is changing, it won't be easy to do that for much longer..." She admitted. The idea of having to split the leveling of her weapon and armor skills seemed tedious, and it was sure to limit her damage early on if she had to put the points into defense just to survive. Every point Mack brought up came back around to her joining his guild. Although, she couldn't deny that it would be in her best interest, especially considering the disadvantage she would be at if she continued on her own.

[Mack 0]

ID: 31700
LD: 11

"I admit, I mostly soloed my way through the first fifteen or so levels," Mack called out, watching as Teion continued to do battle with the boar. She seemed to be doing more than alright for herself, even though she had just missed an attack on the boar that would have killed the beast. The fact was that the boar only needed to be hit once more to kill it while Teion still had a completely full health bar. "But, I don't know all the changes that are going to be made to the combat system when they come. If they come," he continued, rooting in the dirt for a crafting material and finding nothing. "As I've said, the offer is also an open one. You don't have to accept it, or reject it, right this very minute. Take some time to decide what you want to do and what's right for you."

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 31935
• BD: 3 (Fail)
• LD: 3 (1 crafting material, no loot)
• Boar HP: 2/9 -> 0/9

'Fifteen?' Teion thought with surprise. What level was she the last time she checked? Three? She gave a light sigh as the last tick of bleed damage dropped the boar's HP to zero and it burst into light. Leveling up was probably going to take longer than she thought. And the idea of using her precious skill points on defense instead of more damage made her feel a hint of irritation. A loot window popped up in front of her, stealing back her attention, and she smiled with satisfaction at the [Iron Ore] displayed. "Alright, just one more to go." She said, readying her weapon and choosing another target. Before she continued, she considered Mack's words again. "Mm, I understand. I would just feel bad stringing you along if I take forever to decide against it. I think it would be better if I decide once the quest is over. You've already answered a lot of my questions, though, so thank you." She gave another sigh before her next comment, "Besides, I don't think I'm really cut out for soloing."

Edited September 18, 2015 by Teion

[Mack 0]

ID: 32092
LD: 10 – No Loot

Mack looked up from rooting around in the dirt for crafting materials, having turned up a whole lot more of nothing, as Teion finished off the boar and it shattered into pixels to produce a crafting material for her to use for the quest. “Don’t worry about it, you can decide to join or not join whenever you like, as I said, it’s an open offer,” Mack rumbled, shouldering Guillotine and waiting for Teion to lead them of to wherever it was that they would be going next. “If you’re not cut out for soloing, though, we did just add another guild member who would like to create a tank build and she’s going to need a damage dealing partner. You two would both be about the same level too, give or take,” the blonde man continued, still continuing to sell the virtues of the Crimson Blades to Teion. After all, the guild needed to continue to swell its ranks if ever they were going to have enough members to take on a floor clearing operation all by themselves. “Where to next?”

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 32353
• BD: 2 (Fail)
• MD: 3 (-1=2) (Fail)
• Teion HP: 17/17
• Wolf HP: 9/9

Teion tilted her head in interest when Mack mentioned another guild member she could potentially party with. The idea intrigued her, and she had to admit she liked the idea of someone tanking for her so she could focus her strengths on damage-dealing. She walked back over to Mack and motioned off in the distance, where a lone wolf could be spotted. While the two headed in that direction, she nodded her head. "Sounds like a nice set-up." She was interested who this other person was.

As the two closed the gap between them and the wolf mobs ahead, Teion stretched her shoulders and started off to begin combat. "Hopefully this drops the last one, and we'll be finished." She was beginning to get impatient, more than ready to start forging equipment of her own. As she approached the wolf it snarled at her, dodging her swing more quickly than the bulkier boars would. She frowned and quickly lifted her weapon for another attack.

[Mack 0]

ID: 32633
LD: 3

"It's not a bad set up, similar in some ways to the battle buddy system used by the military," Mack allowed with a shrug of his shoulders as Teion indicated that they would move out to go and take on a lone wolf to finish off the material gathering that she needed to get done in order to complete the quest so she could return to town and claim her profession as a Blacksmith. When Teion took off to take on the canine mob Mack remained a little way back and began to prod around in the dirt with the iron butt cap of Guillotine to see what the axe might turn up with a little bit of blind searching. It wasn't the best way to go about looking for mats, but every so often he'd get lucky and find one this way.

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 32701
• BD: 4 (Fail)
• MD: 5 (-1=4) (Fail)
• Teion HP: 17/17
• Wolf HP: 9/9

Teion must have been distracted. She had given a couple of swings, but the wolf easily dodged her attacks. Likewise, she hadn't been hit by the monster's bite. Still, she growled lightly under her breath, steadying her footing. As Mack stayed back to forage for materials, Teion tried to focus harder on the fight at hand. She brought her axe up to her side, preparing a sideways swing.

((Sorry it's not anything to go off. I keep missing! :P ))

[Mack 0]

ID: 32705
LD: 20 (+1 Mat)

Sure enough, with a few minutes of rooting around in the dirt, Mack noticed something offering a bit of resistance against his probing of the dirt. Jabbing at the offending item, the massive man heard the telltale clink of his axe-s butt cap striking whatever it was below the surface of the ground. Kneeling on the spot, Mack dug with his hands through the soft earth for a few seconds, finally uncovering a chunk of ore that he could use for crafting. Adding the item to his inventory he stood up again and considered the fight between Teion and the wolf. "Try feinting to one side before attacking to the other, it might confuse the wolf," he called to Teion.

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 32712
• BD: 2 (Fail)
• MD: 9 (-1=8) (Critical Success)
• Teion HP: 15/17
• Wolf HP: 9/9

Teion heard Mack's advice behind her and gave a nod. Putting her weight on her right foot, she moved quickly to one side before shifting and coming through to swing the other way. Unfortunately, her body weight and the weight of Midnight Eclipse threw her off balance with the sudden movement and her foot slid out from under her. "Ah!" She exclaimed as she fell backwards. Her swing missed, of course, and the wolf had ample opportunity to strike her, hitting cleaning with its large claws. She winced, quickly picking herself back up, feeling embarrassed that the maneuver has backfired on her so badly. 

[Mack 0]

ID: 32716
LD: 12 (No Mat)

Mack watched as Teion tried the maneuver he had suggested. Everything seemed to be going quite well for her until she lost her footing and went down hard on the ground. Apparently, Teion and Shirosu were cut from the same cloth. That thought caused the Grandmaster of the Crimson Blades to smirk to himself. As Teion was picking herself up and getting picked apart by the wolf, Mack returned his attention to probing the dirt around him though he failed to find any crafting materials. "Get back up, you can handle a sad little wolf," Mack boomed across the intervening distance, calling encouragement to the purple haired girl.

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 32718
• BD: 9 (Critical Success)
• MD: 3 (-1=2) (Fail)
• Teion HP: 15/17
• Wolf HP: 6/9 (Bleeding 2)

Teion grit her teeth at Mack's words, determined to make up for her mistake. She got back to her feet and quickly sliced at the wolf directly in front of her. Her strike hit true, leaving a large red gash along the wolf's body as it started bleeding. She smirked with satisfaction as the mob's health dropped. Instantly more confident with the situation, Teion gripped the handle of her axe and prepared yet another strike.

[Mack 0]

ID: 33071
LD: 15 (+1 Mat)

Abandoning his seemingly eternal quest for crafting materials for a few moments Mack watched as the purple haired woman, Teion, bore down on the boar with reflecting on the verbal irony of that thought. Clearly, her determination had been redoubled and when she swung the axe into the side of the canine beast she made solid contact and, clearly, landed a critical blow as she opened up a nasty looking gash on the side of the beast. “You seem to have it well sorted,” the Grandmaster called to Teion as he resumed his probing in the dirt for crafting materials. Of course, he had barely jabbed the butt cap of Guillotine into the dirt when his ears heard the dull thunk that told him he’d made contact with something usable, which he stooped and retrieved.

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 33234
• BD: 9 (Critical Success)
• MD: 2 (-1=1) (Fail)
• Teion HP: 15/17
• Wolf HP: 1/9 (Bleeding 2)

Teion had completely recovered from her earlier fumble, bringing another clean swing of her axe down on the wolf and landing another critical strike. She watched the monster's health bar empty again with the hit and the added bleed damage from her last attack. A smile grew on her lips, knowing the mob was guaranteed to die next turn with the ticking damage still afflicting it. The wolf appeared disoriented, attempting a pathetic swipe of its claws, which Teion easily side-stepped.

((Just want to check, does landing a second critical refresh a bleed?))

[Mack 0]

OOC: Technically it stacks, or so I’ve done in the past. IE: Turn 1: (Roll a 10 and crit.), Turn 2: (Roll a 9 and crit., -2 Bleed from Turn 1 Crit.), Turn 3: (Roll a 2 and miss, -4 Bleed from turn 1 and turn 2 Crits.), Turn 4: (Roll a 3 and miss, -2 Bleed from turn 2 crit.)

ID: 33300
LD: 10

Pausing in his efforts to farm materials for crafting from the bare ground in front of him, which was hardly the most efficacious way of going about the never ending chore of farming, Mack watched as the battle between the violet haired Teion and the wolf continued to unfold. Clearly, she had the canine beast outclassed. That much as clear and Mack could see from the status of the creature’s health bar and the fact that it was bleeding freely that there was not going to be any need for him to step in and help Teion in dispatching the wolf. Satisfied that she had everything well in hand, Mack resumed his fruitless and unsuccessful farming.

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 33333
• BD: 5 (Fail)
• LD: 17 (1 crafting material, 1 good item)
• Teion HP: 15/17
• Wolf HP 1/9 -> 0/9

The wolf's HP drained to zero as the bleed ticked again, causing the monster to burst into light. Teion stood up straight, placing a hand on her hip as she sheathed Midnight Eclipse behind her. A window popped up before her, detailing the mob drops and she grinned with delight when she received a second chunk of iron ore. With her gathering complete, she headed back over to Mack with a proud smile on her face. "Finished!" She exclaimed. "We can head back now if you're ready."

((Want to do a couple more posts to hit 40?))

[Mack 0]

OOC: I can go either way, whatever you'd like to do.

ID: 33335
LD: 6 (No Mat)

Mack continued prodding uselessly in the dirt as Teion finished off her combat with the boar. He had been having the worst luck, of late, in turning up crafting materials and it didn't appear that his luck in that regard was likely to change in the near future. Sighing, he sheathed Guillotine at his back and turned his storm grey eyes on Teion. "Congratulations," he boomed, cracking the smallest of smiles at the look of delight on the purple haired woman's face. "As soon as you've returned to the NPC that gave you the quest it will be complete and you'll get the SP reward and become a full fledged blacksmith. Were you wanting to apprentice yourself to me," he asked, arching an eyebrow in Teion's direction. "The game doesn't actually give you any sort of benefit for doing so, all you'd get out of it is not having to set up your own shop quite yet."

[Teion 0]

((If you don't mind posting once more to wrap it up, I'll do a summary and have it locked. :) ))

"Oh," Teion brought a hand to her chin. "Actually, I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'm really excited to start a shop." She smiled as they began the trek back to town, and continued speaking. "You've answered a lot of my questions already. Although, I hope you wouldn't mind if I stopped at the Wandering Forge now and again for some tips."

As they headed closer to town, she added, "And, I think I have to take you up on your offer. I'd like to join the Crimson Blades, if you'll have me!"

[Mack 0]

ID: 33520
LD: 1 (No Mat)

“You’re always welcome around the Wandering Forge,” Mack said in response to Teion’s declaration that she preferred to get her own shop up and running. Given that shops offered players a steady source of income and col, it was hardly surprising that Teion was ready to get her own shop up and running. In her shoes, Mack would have felt the same way. Then the purple haired woman announced that she had decided that, after all, she would go ahead and join the Crimson Blades. “Of course we’ll still have you,” the Grandmaster proclaimed, cracking a rare but genuine grin. “I’ll get things taken care of. Just let me know if you would prefer me or Shirosu to handle your recruit training.”