[OP-F1] PSA - Duel: Mack & Xion - New Combat Tutorial - COMPLETE!

[Takao 0]

Takao shared a glance with his familiar as the mock-battle between Mack and Xion raged on. The quieter parts of their conversation went unheard by his ears, given that his position at the top of the amphitheater sacrificed audibility for improved visuals. Health gauges were still a bit out of his range, but if he were to guess based on the hits that either party was landing, it would seem as though Mack had the upper hand in the fight. Such a result wasn't unexpected, he was the leader of a guild, and he was fighting one of his underlings. It'd be rather dangerous to command a guild filled with members stronger than the leader, in case any members shared in some kind of mutinous behaviour.

As Mack turned his attention to the crowd after displaying a simple low-powered stun, Takao nodded his head slowly and exhaled a breath. "Ah, it's some kind of demonstration then." he muttered to himself, slowly turning his attention to his familiar. He already had a good grasp on how combat worked after the changes, so a demonstration wasn't of much use to him. "Do you wanna stick around or head off?" he said to his familiar, who seemed enraptured by the two players beating each other. The brunet rolled his eyes and shook his head. "'course you wanna watch them beat the snot out of each other. Why'd I even ask?"

[Beoreson 0]

Beoreson scans the area and, walks over to Opal. He had been AWOL for a week and, appeared to be avoiding punishment for it. He arrives behind the raven haired women and, pokes her in the back. "I'm batman." states the warrior in the deepest voice he can manage, which is very deep. The warrior knew that see had noticed him walk up as he wasn't in stealth mode. The warrior looked more worn, and had a darker vibe around him. The man seemed to be wrapped in darkness. He had his normal smart @#$ smile on his face.

[Opal 0]

Opal's body sat stiff as she heard almost the guttural breath of someone behind that they were "Batman." The frightened female inched her head to look over her shoulder and relaxed a bit from the familiar looking figure, "Damn it, Beoreson!" she said smacking his arm, "You wanna give me a [censored] heart attack or something. You don't sneak up on women like that! Might've gotten yourself pepper sprayed..." She said. 

She shook her head, "You seem to have got more intense than before. Were you out training or something? We haven't seen you in a long while. I thought I wasn't going to get a chance to see you again before I left for my training...Come sit down next to me, Mack is making a fool out of Xion right now, its a great show!" she said sitting back down in her seat and continued to watch the battle unfold. 

[Beoreson 0]

The raven haired man sits next to the women. He had grown stubble from eating some berries that he had found. He went full berserker for the majority of the days. He even ate some wild fungus while he was out there. Thankfully, he had taken care of his hygiene before showing up here. "You know the normal stuff. Met the leader of the Velvet Room. Went berserk and, woke up out in the mountains a week later." says the man as if that was the most normal thing that had happened in a while. "I already commented on the fight. I was not very close though." says the warrior to himself.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Beoreson

[Xion 0]

(apologies for the wait, school n stuffs) 

 

Xion's head began to spin as soon as Mack's attack hit. his vision was blurry, everything sounded as if the room had a terrible echo, as if everything was far away and out of focus. Speaking of which, he was unable to focus, his mind was working, but the issues with his vision and sound perception messed with his head, without clear inputs for his brain to process it had no idea how to deal with the situation. "I...." he mumbled, trying his best to speak in any way. "I quit...." he said before his legs gave out, mostly due to disorientation. 

 

 

There was no way he could win, Mack had his near flawless victory at the cost his seneschal's dignity and honour. 

[Mack 0]

“I guess stun works a little bit differently than paralyze does,” Mack rumbled in a low tone, speaking to Xion as the tank keeled over and hit the ground. The massive blonde axe-wielder could tell that Xion was in no danger of dying simply by looking at the other man’s health meter. As Xion remarked that he was forfeiting the rest of the match a victory banner appeared over Mack’s head, signifying the result to the watching crowd and the blonde man planted the iron butt cap of his axe down on the amphitheater’s floor so he could lean on the dull top of the blade head.

“I think that pretty well concludes our demonstration for today,” Mack boomed out, raising his voice to be heard by those assembled in the audience. “However, a word of advice to those who would adventure on the front lines. The mobs now hit much harder. What I did to Xion could easily be done to me by the mobs up there, which is why tanks and cannons need to work together to clear the floors and map. Similarly, what you didn’t see was the base damage for my opening attack, which is just under fifty points and enough to nearly completely wipe out Xion in one hit, yet as you saw he took only a little damage from the strike because he mitigates out of thirty-five points of damage now. Just things to think on as you go about building each of your characters.”

“As for Xion, with the re-balance of the SAO combat engine, he’s decided to take up a new weapon and, in exchange for his willingness to take part in this demonstration duel, I will be crafting him the highest quality one handed spear that I can. Beyond that, if anyone is looking to join a remember that the Crimson Blades will accept anyone, simply contact me. I know that the Velvet Room is also on the lookout for members,” Mack said, completing his address to the assembled crowd and offering Xion a hand up since the effects of the stunning blow should have worn off by now.

[silvermistshadow 0]

Having heard of this event, he had tried to make it as quickly as possible. However, unlike getting out of a crowd, getting into this amphitheater had been difficult for him, due to his size. Well, getting to somewhere where he could see had been, at least. Thus, by the time he managed to get to a spot he could see from, it was already just about over. At least he got to hear the person who won addressing the crowd. He was nowhere near being able to go to the front lines, but the advice still worked well enough. He'd keep it in mind. 

Silvermist also paid attention to the end of the address, keeping those guild names in mind for later. As a level one player, he did need the help, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to apply for a guild just yet. He would have to look into it.

[Lawfer 0]

Lawfer watched as the duel had come to a close. Mack had a seemingly overwhelming amount of power, but Xion could mitigate most of it. It was all very interesting. "I guess i'll have to figure out my new build now." He commented as he opened his interface and took notes. If Lawfer wanted to become efficient he would need to decide if he wants to focus on a balanced build or go into the heavy damage dealing. Looking at his own equipment, he knew that he could mimic the guild-masters build, but he had other ideas. "I should probably focus all my remaining points into sword arts. It will allow me to unlock higher damage moves." He said to himself once more, closing his inventory. Looking back over his shoulder, he eyed Opal once more who was chatting with Beoreson. "I'll have to catch her some other time."

[Azide 0]

With the duel having reached a rather decisive conclusion, it took but a few moments for a Azide to jot down what remained of his observations. It was clear that the battle had been nothing short of a mismatch from the very beginning. Either Mack was simply a considerably higher level, or his apparently offense-based build had really showcased its potential. In any case, it all made for some valuable data, no matter what he had told Rebekah. "It certainly lends confidence to the build I've had in the works..."

He turned back to Rebekah yet again and smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to sound melodramatic," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But anyway, it looks like I'm just about finished here." 

Even from here, Mack's booming voice reached his ears like it was his job. Truly this Mack was a man among men.

[Mack 0]

Mack gazed around the amphitheater from where he was on stage and noted that many people were rising from their seats and heading for the exits. With the educational duel completed, and a victor declared, there was no longer much point in anyone hanging around. Mack shrugged his massive shoulders and considered the crowd as they filtered out. With a bit of luck, the entire lesson would be worth it. Of course, if even one player in the group now had a better understanding of the combat system then the demonstration was worth it. Even if Xion wasn't likely to see it that way for some time, the tank had a good bit of pride and wasn't likely to appreciate the sound beating he had received. Still, Mack would compensate him with a free weapon which would help the Second-in-Command of the Crimson Blades considerably. As there seemed nothing else to do, Mack began making his way for the exit as well.

REWARDS:

Azide: 33 col, 1 SP
Beoreson: 33 Col, 1 SP
Koumori: 33 Col, 1 SP
Lawfer: 33 Col, 1 SP
Mack: 34 Col, 1 SP
Opal: 33 Col, 1 SP
Rebekah: 33 Col, 1 SP
Silvermistshadow: 33 Col, 1 SP
Shirosu: 33 Col, 1 SP
Takao: 33 Col, 1 SP
Tristan Delaney: 33 Col, 1 SP
Xion: 33 Col, 1 SP