[PP:F1] Trial and Error (Mack)

[Persephone 0]

Lisa had done her homework. She was grateful that there were those working on a guide for lower level players like herself to work through. Without this little book she would have not known where to begin.  According to the document, noobs like herself were to begin the game by killing off Frenzy Boars. They were apparently rather weak and easy practice so that new players could get used to their sword skills. This sounded like a perfect plan to the young woman who really had no idea what she was doing.

Once more the young woman found herself walking out into the grassy fields, but this time she was ready to fight. She had read over the bit on battle mechanics and taken a look at the weapon skills she possessed. As a first rank, one handed curved sword user, she had two skills: Reaver and Fell Crescent. She had yet to find out what they actually did and could not wait to try them both. The young woman did not have far to go before she found her first piggy not too far off. She took a deep breath and then pulled her Hwando from its sheath.  Lisa knew very little about the origin of her weapon; the pretty brunette had chosen it for its likeness to a smaller, skinny katana. To her, it looked light, but very durable. Now she was about to find out what it could do. 

Gripping her blade in her hand, Lisa charged the Frenzy Boar ready to activate Reaver, but the damn animal charged her before she was ready to strike. Her attack was not ready to be released, and the animal struck her, knocking her back before she could. Lisa was knocked back and tumbled several feet away from the creature.  Her health bar was in the red and she only had one point left. If she was hit again, she would die.

“Oh [censored] this!” The young woman explained as she hopped up out of the dirt. Lisa Edwards was not going to die today! She pulled herself up and began to run as quickly as she could in the opposite direction as the boar gave chase. Not too far off from her was a set of trees. If she could make it to them she could climb to safety and escape the reaper, at least for this afternoon.

 

 

31568

BD:  5      PERSEPHONE USES REAVER AND MISSES BOAR

MD:  8     FRENZY BOAR HITS FOR 3 DMG

 

 

Persephone

Health:   1/4 HP

Energy:  0/1

 

 

Frenzy Boar:   4/4 HP

 

 

Lisa disengages from battle.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Persephone
edited in dice roll and for mess up in boar hp

[Mack 0]

OOC: You can't actually disengage from combat... it's in the rules. :) That's why you bring along someone to deal with it. Don't worry... I got this. The boar also has a base health of Floor Level x 4. So, it has 4 health instead of 2. Like I said, don't worry... I got this.

ID: 31589
BD: 9
Mack: 77/77
Boar: -4/4 (-8 Dam.) - DEAD BOAR

Mack had spent the better part of his morning chopping at the trees on the edge of the forest that separated the area from the fields immediately surrounding the City of Beginnings. Time and again Guillotine had risen into the air and time and again the weapon had bitten into the trunk of the tree, sometimes producing crafting materials and sometimes not as the case may be. At the moment the massive blonde man was taking a rest from dealing with the necessity of farming and downing a bottle of water from his inventory when a brown haired woman flashed past him in a right state and high tailed it up the tree he'd been trying to farm crafting materials.

"Morning," he called up to her, peering through the trees as a boar emerged from the grass and made its way over to the tree, beady red eyes fixed on the woman up the tree. "Ah, I see," Mack said, more to himself than to Persephone. Probably she was a low level player in danger of being killed by the beastie. That was easily enough remedied. In one swift fluid motion the behemoth of an axe-man chopped his axe down in the middle of the boar's back, neatly cutting the beast into two pieces before it disappeared in a shower of pixels. "You can come down now, it's safe!"

[Persephone 0]

Lisa ran as quickly as her legs could carry her, the boar hot on her heels only a few steps behind close enough for the young woman to feel the animal’s hot breath upon her calves as she hightailed it away as fast as she could.  The tree was close and she jumped with all her might catching the lowest limb and swinging herself up using all her might and dexterity. She wobbled a bit as she swung herself up and wrapped her legs around the branch hanging upside down like a sloth would. The boar was still coming and she was worried it could somehow still grab her so she hoisted herself up onto the topside of the branch and kept climbing. Up and up she went until she was sure she was safe from the damn thing.

Looking down from her safe spot she heard a voice greet her. She leaned a bit further to see a large, board-shouldered man standing below her.

“Watch out!” she called down to him, but he had already spotted the boar that had chased her down.

"Ah, I see,"  the man said.

The gargantuan man below picked up a great axe and brought it crashing down upon the boar who had charged the young woman. He nearly split it into two before the animal shattered and dematerialized. He called up to her again telling her she was safe, but Lisa was not reday to come down just yet.

“Are you sure? There aren’t others around are there?”

While she was worried that there might be more boar around, she was a bit more afraid of the sentinel below. What if he weren’t friendly and only killed the boar to finish her off himself? That was a terribly scary thought for the young woman who was quite near dead.

 

Lisa

HP 4/4

Energy 1/1

Edited September 15, 2015 by Persephone

[Mack 0]

ID: 31641
LD: 5 (No Loot)

"I don't see any more, but I suppose you can stay up there if you like," Mack called up to Persephone and, rolling his head around on his neck, he moved to a nearby tree where he could still converse with the woman. Hefting Guillotine back over his right shoulder, the massive blonde man brought the bladed head of the weapon whipping around his body to bury itself in the trunk of the tree with a resounding thunk. Unfortunately, there were no crafting materials that were produced from the swing. "Of course, if you need someone to accompany you on your battle learning today or even an escort back to town, let me know. I'll be around for a bit."

[Persephone 0]

The young woman surveyed the area trying to verify the man’s claim however from where she was in the tree line; she could see very little below her as the tree was thick with branches and foliage. She could see the man move on to another tree and begin to swing his heavy axe at it trying to gather wood. She watched him as her health bar climbed, and when it was full, she decided it was time to head back down to the ground. Slowly she backed her way out of the tree, descending from the great height she had managed to scramble to in such a short time.

 When she came to the bottom rung of branches she swung down, dangling there for a moment before letting go of the branch and fell several feet to the ground. The young woman landed softly, her curls bouncing as she did. She reached to her side, to grasp for her weapon to make sure she was at the ready but her fingers found nothing but air.

“What?” she said as she looked down at her side. Her Hwando was not in its sheath. “Oh [censored]!” Lisa cursed as she looked around her frantically. “[censored], [censored], [censored]!” She repeated as her sword was nowhere to be seen.  

“[censored]!” she screamed as she stamped her foot and placed her hands over her face. “This isn’t happened… this isn’t happening…” she told herself, but sure enough it was. Somewhere along her run from the boar, the woman had managed to lose her sword. Now she was out in the open, and utterly defenseless. 

[Mack 0]

OOC: I have a rare item (+2 Enhancements) I can submit, I’ll give you a better sword. And some heavy armor and a shield, if you want the items. No one’s buying them, and I need to clear up back-logged items. If you’re interested, shoot me a PM with what you want and we can run through Persephone receiving them in the thread :)

ID: 31777
LD: 15 (+1 Mat)

As Persephone descended from her perch in the tree that Mack had continued to work away at harvesting materials from the tree, Guillotine rising and falling in a rhythmic chopping motion. Finally, as Persephone was dropping to the ground there was a spray of wood chips and the tree yielded up its crafting material bounty. “About time,” the blacksmith muttered, picking up the lumber to add it to his inventory as the woman nearby launched into a very impressive verbal tirade.

“You kiss your mother with that mouth,” the blacksmith asked dryly, standing up from where he had crouched to gather the crafting material seconds before. Planting the iron butt cap of Guillotine in the ground, he leaned on the dull top part of the blade’s head and regarded the woman making the scene. “Something else I can help you with, once you’ve calmed down that is? You could use some armor, and some kind of weapon,” he continued in the same dry tone. “I’m Mack, by the way. Grandmaster of the Crimson Blades,” he concluded, the crimson axe amulet around his neck glittering in the sunlight that filtered down through the trees.

[Persephone 0]

Lisa spun about and lowered her head having forgotten that she was not alone. “I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly to the man for her outburst. He took notice that she was in beginner gear, and that she was sans weapon and the young woman sighed. He continued to speak and introduced himself as the leader of a guild. Of course the gigantic man would be someone of importance too. She felt doubly embarrassed to have gone on like she had. “I’m terribly sorry!” she expressed her regrets again.

“That the thing, Mack,” she began. “I’d had a weapon, but I’ve lost it. I had it when I ran from the boar, but I’ve no idea where I’d run from or where I might have lost it.”  Lisa lamented and sighed heavily. “I’ve no idea what I’m going to do. I’d go look for it, but I’m afraid more of those things will be out there, and I really don’t want to die today.”

Edited September 17, 2015 by Persephone

[Mack 0]

ID: 31885
LD: 10 (NO LOOT)

“Don’t worry about it,” Mack rumbled, waving away the woman’s apology with one massive hand. He’d heard far worse language from the junior enlisted men under his command in the army. Hefting his axe for a moment, the massive blonde man buried it in the tree behind him with a backwards swing, not even bothering to look at where he was striking, since he was in the middle of a conversation with Persephone. With that in mind, Mack was completely unfazed when the tree failed to yield up a crafting material to him.

“If your weapon matched up with your clothes, then it was probably a worthless weapon,” the blonde man observed, considering that Persephone was still in her beginner’s clothing. “With the update to the game’s combat system, the mobs got tougher to kill while the weapon damage ratings stayed the same. Consequently, it’s far more difficult to start off and level-up skills.” Mack reached behind him and plucked his axe from the tree with a ripping motion before sheathing it as his back.

“Your sword is not worth the time and effort to go and retrieve,” the massive blacksmith continued. “Come along, we’ll find you something better. And some armor and a shield too.” Speaking as if the matter was settled, since it was settled in Mack’s mind, the blonde man set off from the edge of the forest, trusting that Persephone would follow along in his wake or at his side.

[Persephone 0]

“If your weapon matched up with your clothes, then it was probably a worthless weapon,”

Lisa dropped her head feeling rather silly at the moment, even if he did have a point, he didn’t have to say it like that. He spoke again and explained that the game had gotten harder causing the young woman to sigh. “Of course I would choose to try and kill things AFTER things got worse…” she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest feeling rather angry at herself for not getting a move on sooner.

“Your sword is not worth the time and effort to go and retrieve,”

“But!” She was going to argue that she needed some sort of weapon, even if it was a sucky one, but Mack beat her to the punch and told her that if she followed him he would help her locate better gear.

“Really?” Lisa’s face lit up like a child’s would Christmas morning.

The man turned to go and began to move, and without a second thought, Lisa bounced over and began to walk beside him. If this was a trick, then she’d probably be very sorry soon, but if it wasn’t she would be very glad to have met the gingantic gentleman.

“My name is Persephone…” she said offering him her game name. “Thank you for helping me.” 

[Mack 0]

“Once you’ve got a few levels underneath you, and some SP to spend on weapons, it becomes a lot easier since you can start one hitting the mobs,” Mack rumbled in response to Persephone’s response about having not gotten started with combat until after everything had gotten considerably more difficult. Some players were regretting their choices from earlier in the game time no, when they had lollygagged in the City of Beginnings because it was safe there. Now they needed help in getting started and moving off into the Aincrad tower in a safe manner. Mack would be there to provide them with what they needed. It built good will for the Crimson Blades, it increased the likelihood of gaining new recruits to the Guild, and if nothing else it would increase the number of players trying to clear the game and shorten the amount of time they all had to spend in the digital world.

“Yes, we will find better gear at my shop up on the fourth floor in Snowfrost Town,” Mack continued in the same deep low tone that, nonetheless, was quite easy to understand. Don’t worry, we won’t have to leave the town’s safe zone to get to the shop, so there is no danger.” Mack continued heading in the direction of one of the massive gates that led into the beginning town, moving through the thigh high grass and parting it like an onrushing wave. “A pleasure, Persephone. We’ll get you ready to actually be able to safely fight and level up,” the blonde man said as the gates of the city came within sight when they crested a hill.

[Persephone 0]

Lisa walked beside the man quietly as he spoke and explained things to her. It would have made more sense for her to take simpler in town quests to level up, however, most of those had been bleed dry by other players and finding low level resources were starting to become increasingly difficult to find. Still she should not have hid so long in the Starting City. They walked together back toward the direction of town, and Mack explained that they would need to teleport to get where his shop was.

“Okay,” she said following along. Mack was very vigilant and kept an eye on things which made her glad that she’d run into the man when she did, otherwise she might still have been up in the tree hiding out for who knows how long. While he watched, he explained that he would help her gear up and it would help keept her safe as she leveled.

“I really appreciate this Mack, and thank you for rescuing me. I might still have been up in the tree if you hadn’t been there to finish off that boar for me.” She was grateful for all his assistance. 

[Mack 0]

"Don't worry about it," the blonde man said in a low tone, waving away Persephone's thanks as they passed officially through the gates and into the Town of Beginnings proper, passing momentarily into and then back out of, the shadows cast by the massive gates at the entrance to the city. "One of the reasons, one of the primary reasons, in fact that the Crimson Blades exist as a Guild is to help new players and low level players get going. The sooner people start leveling up and gaining experience the faster that the game will be cleared and we will all go home. In truth, it's a simple numbers game."

"Speaking of the Blades, you're certainly welcome to join us if you'd like. It's an open invitation, so you've no need to make up your mind once and for all this very instant," the massive man continued, leading the way through the Town of Beginnings in the direction of the Portal Plaza in the center of the town. "We have several recruits at the moment you are just about the same level as you are, so finding people to party up with and work your way through the game to begin leveling up wouldn't be too hard. You'd also gain access to our Guild Bank and Armory to help you get properly outfitted though, admittedly, here in a few moments you'll be outfitted just fine. Also, don't think you're obligated to join just because I'm helping you out. Helping players is what we do."

[Persephone 0]

The man continued to speak as they crossed through town and revealed his reasoning to help her out. “A guild, huh?” She said rather surprised that any guild would take someone as green as herself under their wing. It was an interesting proposition to be sure. “I will consider it, thank you for your offer.” She said with a smile. She felt even better about the dealings as he explained that her accepting his assistance did not make her obligated to join.  

They reached the teleport devices and were sent to the fourth floor. Lisa had not been anywhere before. She was surprised to find that the levels were different. The fourth was a winter wonderland. There was snow everywhere coating everything like a delicate dusting of powdered sugar. “This is beautiful!” She said with a small as she tried catching snowflakes in her hands.

“Which way to your shop?” she asked curiously wondering if they had to go far to find it. 

[Mack 0]

"The shop is over along one of the walls surrounding Snowfrost Town," Mack said as he appeared in the portal behind Persephone before pointing off in the direction in which his shop lay. "Most people complain about the cold of the floor, but I find this infinitely preferable to the fifth or ninth floors, which are oppressively hot," he said in a low, grumbling tone. Even thinking about the heat of those levels put the Grandmaster of the Crimson Blades in a mildly bad mood. Moving up next to, and then slightly past, Persephone, he began to lead the way off though the gently falling snow in the direction of the forge. No doubt, the woman would be in for a shock when she got there.

[Persephone 0]

“Okay…” She said as she trailed along behind Mack, skipping and twirling through the falling snow. Lisa loved the snow. She got to see so little of it growing up in Southern California. It was probably the novelty that she loved. If she had grown up in a place where it snowed all the time, she doubted she’d have been as fascinated with the process.  She followed along as Mack lead her toward the wall, and they walked along it for some time before she caught eye of something that Mack headed straight toward and approached what looked like a large brown tent.

“Is that it?” she said curiously as the canvas building grew larger as they walked to it. 

[Mack 0]

"Yes, that's the Wandering Forge. Eventually, the shop will move again to a high floor of the tower," Mack said, leading the way in the direction of his shop. "But, for now, it's located here on the fourth floor. Safe enough for low-leveled players to get to and far enough away from the crush that... well, you'll see." Approaching the brown canvas tent flap, Mack pulled it to one side and then unleashed an ear splitting whistle through his teeth. There was a tiny bellowing war cry and a brown blur came rocketing around the edge of the stone forge. Overbalancing himself as he tried to cut a sharper corner than a grizzly bear cub was meant to turn, Chewie tumbled sideways and rolled a few times before getting back to his feet and rumbling on towards Persephone.

"He's looking for food," Mack commented dryly to Persephone as Chewie rumbled to a halt in front of the brown haired woman and promptly raised himself up on his hind legs to swat at her thighs with his front paws. "He's very good at begging. Come on," Mack continued, ignoring the bear's begging and leading the way into the shop before holding open the tent flap for Persephone to follow him.

[Persephone 0]

Lisa smiled as Mack said this was indeed the place. As he talked and pulled back the flap of the tent and gave an ear shattering whistle. The young woman covered her eyes and shut her eyes in response. Not realizing something large and brown bounded toward them. The young woman gasped when she opened her eyes to a terribly loud cry to find herself face to face with a bear cub.

 “Holy…” she started as the baby bear stood and started batting at her leg. “Ummm….Ummm” she stuttered looking to Mack for help. But the man pushed on and she quickly followed behind him skittering past the bear cub and crashing into the back of the man.

“Sorry,” she said bashfully. “Your… friend… he’s kind of scary.” Lisa admitted trying not to look directly at the cub.

[Mack 0]

In response to Persephone's words Chewie bounded into the tent and resumed his post batting at her leg with his right front paw while, with his left he opened up his mouth and pointed one clawed finger down his throat. Mack had no idea where the little brown furred terrorist had picked up that trick, even though he had seen Chewie employ it on a number of occasions. "He just wants food, ignore him and he'll go back to his spot by the forge," Mack called over his shoulder as he moved behind the trio of display tables in the neat and cozy shop.

"Here, try these," the massive blacksmith said, stooping and rooting around under the display tables for a moment. One by one, items began to appear. First, a falchion style curved sword was placed on the table. Next to it, a good sized heater shield. Finally, the various bits and bobs of a complete suit of heavy armor. "Reaver, Night's Protection, and Lazarus," Mack said, standing back up and gesturing to the equipment. "Go ahead and try it all out."

[Persephone 0]

The baby bear began to bat at her again, causing Lisa to try to make herself very small behind Mack, but her trick did not seem to detour the animal. It opened its mouth and pointed into it and Mack told her he was just hungry. Even though she was told the little bear was just begging snacks, and to ignore him, she found that she could not. She opened her inventory and pulled out a bread roll and secretly handed it to the little bear. “There you go… don’t tell!” she whispered.

When she looked up, Mack had walked off, and she hurried over to where he’d gone to join him. He began to produce items and laid them out of the table before her. There was a complete suit of armor, a shield, and a weapon, all of which he’d named. He bid her try them on and Lisa nodded as she eagerly collected each of the items and added them into her inventory. She felt a bit odd about changing right here in the middle of the shop, but she knew the safeties were on and that meant he would see nothing.

With a few clicks and a glow of blue light she found herself dressed in the armor with the other pieces equipped.  Lazarus was a beautiful darkly polished set of armor with copper accents with a long flowing cape. It was obviously created for a woman as it was light and she had a good range of motion in it. The build was modest and yet flattering. She looked at the shield, Night’s Protection, which was also just right for her size. It too was darkly polished and had engravings upon it. Lastly there was the weapon, Reaver. It was a great deal larger than the one she’d lost, but as she drew it and held it, she could feel instantly that she could easily handle the blade.

“These are amazing. You’ll really just give these to me?” She said as she looked herself marveling how much different she looked: less like a village peasant, and more like a knight. She opened her HUD again and saw that there were enhancements listed for each.

 “What do these things mean… plus one Regen… Mit... Thorns… What’s this? Paralyze? Are you telling me I can paralyze things with this?” She said holding up Reaver with a smile. 

[Mack 0]

With a happy wuffling growl, Chewie clamped his mouth down on the offered treat and quickly scampered off out of site around the edge of the forge to where his straw bed was. It was not a mistake that within a few seconds of his disappearance around the edge of the stone forge the unmistakable sounds of bread-based carnage were clearly heard. As the sounds of the grizzly devouring the bread began to fill the shop Mack shrugged his broad shoulders. The blacksmith watched as Persephone tried on the various pieces of equipment. It was true that he didn't have a changing room in his shop and he didn't avert his gaze as Persephone tried on the gear. But, in the world of Sword Art Online that really didn't matter since there was no way to see anything unless the other player wanted to be seen in a compromising state which, somehow, Mack doubted that Persephone did.

Mack said expansively. "The truth is that they've been sitting around collecting dust for awhile now. So, you may as well take them and put them to good use. As for the enhancements, paralyze will cripple your enemy for one round when you score a critical hit. Thorns will sting attackers back for two points per rank for every normal attack they land against you. Mitigation increases your ability to take damage by decreasing the amount of damage you take from each successful hit. Finally, regeneration will restore some of your health in battle, provided that your crafting roll of all things is high enough. What do you think?"