[PP:F1] Hack and Slash: A Beginner's Guide to the Hunt (Greg)

[Dora 0]

Of all the weapons Isadora could have chosen during character creation, the tiny four foot eight little brunette chose the two handed battle axe. Her axe, which she aptly named “Choppy”, was nearly her height and her width if she were laying out. In all reality, there would have never been a way for such small child lift, let alone wield such a weapon, but in the game world of SAO. This along with many other insane feats was entirely possible. After being in game for so long and never actually putting Choppy to use, the little girl decided that it was high time that her axe got a little bloody and started earning its keep. And so, she headed out of town to test Choppy out.

Today was the first time Dora had ever left the Town of Beginnings, and she wasn’t even afraid. It was exciting really, to be out in the open field heading toward an area where she was told she could find boar piglets to begin hunting. She was told that she couldn’t farm from them, but they would be good practice for someone small like her to learn to use her weapon skills. Dora’s long dark hair fluttered in the wind as she skipped along merrily through the grass with Choppy between her doll-like hands. Her mother always said not to run with sharp objects in her hands, but mother was not here to stop her and so Dora hurried toward her destination ready to make chop suey of some little piggies. 

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg was, once again, wandering around the fields of the Starting City. He reminisced about the last time he visited this place. He was only level 1 back then, and had help fighting the boars around there. The very same boars that he was going to continue to try to slay, this time he'd be more prepared though. With his <Anneal Blade> glistening in its sheath, he equipped his <Coat of the Azure Wind> over his casual clothes. He then looked around the fields, and noticed a little girl wielding a disproportionately large axe leaving the City, presumably to go fight some boars. Based on the fact that she was wearing starting equipment, she was most likely new. Greg pondered his options. He could either approach and see if they wanted help or just leave them be.

Eventually, he decided that he'd do what those other players did for him so long ago and help. He approached. "Uh, hello. I noticed you leaving the Starting City, and, based on your gear, you're a new player, aren't you?" He says, stating his assumption. "Even the boars here can be deadly to new players, so it's dangerous to go alone. Would you like to party up with me, if you're going out to kill them?" He asks, before sending a party request.

Edited October 31, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Dora 0]

Dora was happily rambling on minding her own little business when she was stopped   by some random dude. He asked if she was a newb. There was no way of denying it given she only had on starter gear, and Choppy, while spectacular is size, lacked in all other ways of general shininess. “Yeah…  how come?” She said as she tilted her small round head to the side and puffed her round cheeks at the man. He promptly told her that it was dangerous for her to go alone, and that he would party with her if she needed help.

Isadora stood there for a moment, her large dark eyes just blinking and she considered her options. She could go off to piglets and figure things out, or she could have some Benny come help her out and give her tips on how to fight. Option two sounded like a much better deal.

“Alrightly guy… I’ll party with you. But you’ve got to teach me how to use Choppy AND I’m hunting piglets… not boar. I don’t want to die today so I’m taking on small things see? They won’t give me stuff, but I’ll get experience at least and that’s what I need.”

Opening her HUD, she found the party option and sent the guy a request. “Name’s Dora. Who the heck are you?” She asked.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg responds in kind towards Dora, who just introduced herself. "My name's Greg. As for teaching you? Sure. I don't see why not. I mean, if you're new i was kinda planning on teaching you the basics anyway." He says. "While i'm not proficient specifically in axes, most weaponry works the same way (or at least, similarly), so i should be able to show you the basics of combat, despite our differing weapons." He continues. "Truth be told, i'm not massively-high leveled, but i'm more than overleveled for this floor, so EXP's all we're going to get even if we were to fight full-sized boars." he quips. "With that being said, we should get moving." Greg finishes with, gesturing for Dora to follow him as he searched for some boars.

[Dora 0]

The young man introduced himself as Greg and Dora nodded. As it was Greg wasn’t a high leveled player, but he could be of some help to her. This was fine to Dora. She wasn’t looking for a master, just someone who could give her a few pointers and send her on her merry little way. This Greg guy could totally do that, even if he didn’t know all about Choppy’s epicness. He accepted her request and then began to walk. She followed him and listened as he told her that they could fight regular boars but that simply wouldn’t do.

“You can fight regular boar… I’m going to fight piglets. If I fight a big one… I’ll end up dying and I’m not going to do that today, kay? So stop trying to kill me. My mom won’t like it if I get out of game cos I’m dead.” Dora herself would not enjoy the game over status by death. That would be a totally unfun. 

[Greg Baxen 0]

"There's actually a hate system in the game. In that sense, we can fight large boars together and you won't die because the boar would be too busy attacking ME (and i can take hits) to attack you." Greg says. "Said system is based on who's dealing the most damage, or using certain skills." He explains. "In essence, since i'm a higher level and have better equipment, i will most likely be generating more hate than you constantly by doing more damage, therefore diverting attention away from you." Greg finishes.

[Dora 0]

Dora’s tiny cheeks puffed. Why was this guy so insistent on having his way? Was he intentionally trying to get her killed? She had no items, no Col, nothing of value to collect upon her death, so what would be in it for him if she were to pass on? The little girl eyed the blonde dude and titled her head to the side with his explanation. “Well… that’s only true if I don’t hit the creature critically. If I do that, then I get their attention, and then…” Dora made a croaking sound as she ran her index fingers across her neck motioning that she would die if such a thing were to happen. “I read the guidebook too. It’s not like I did learn some stuff before coming out here. Do I look stupid of somethin’?”

“ Now… I’mma find piglets!” She said as she ran ahead with Choppy still firmly in both hands.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg put his finger to his chin. "Eh, you have a point." he quips, joining her in hunting for young boars. Upon looking around further, he finds a boar not too large up ahead. "Maybe this one?" It's not a particularly large boar, probably still just a child in terms of a boar's age. Greg thought it didn't look too large, and asked Dora's opinion on it. "May as well prepare myself for combat anyways, just in case." he quips, unsheathing his Anneal Blade.

[Dora 0]

“Yes… I have many points. So do you… like the one of top of your head!” Dora teased as she laughed and kept moving.  Greg seemed to be on the lookout and he spotted a piggy just right for Dora to take on. “On it!” The little girl said as she rushed forward, her axe high overhead ready to bring it down upon Bacon and chop him in two.  She felt something strange, like a building of pressure or energy, but it frightened her and she swung her axe wildly and completely missed the boar. She got the animal’s attention and it turned to face her and stamped its foot.

It was angry.

 “OH CRAP!” The little girl squealed as she turned and ran for Greg. She doubled behind him and then whipped about using her companion as a meat shield.

“Kill it! Kill it!” Isadora squealed, “I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!” she hollered dramatically screaming like a banshee.

 

37023

BD: 4      MISSED     Dora Misses Bacon!     -2 ENERGY

MD: 5     MISSED     Bacon is also a failure at attacking!

 

DORA     5/5     (0/1 Energy)

GREG     32/32     (8/8 Energy)

BACON     3/3

[Greg Baxen 0]

"Oh, for the love of...!" Greg begins to mutter, as Dora freaks out at using a Sword Art. "You flubbed a Sword Art. Here, let me demonstrate for you what a Sword Art is like." He says, before calmly walking towards the boar with his <Anneal Blade> out. He didn't need to do anything fancy, so he just stuck to the <Slant> Sword Art. His sword glowed and energy built up within him, and swung at the boar at an angle, aiming to split its skull in two!

ID: 37059

BD 1: Crit fail...

Much to Greg's annoyance, though, Greg also failed his attack, stumbling over a rock, causing his attack to go wide. "It's a curse, isn't it?" He mutters underneath his breath.

 

[Dora 0]

37426

BD: 5     MISSED     -2 Energy

MD: 8     Bacon hits Dora for 1 HP

 

Her companion clearly wasn’t any more help than she. He went to show her the proper way to kill the piglet only to slip on a pebble. “Is that how it’s done?” The small girl scoffed and stepped out from behind the young man. Clearly he couldn’t protect her. He said something about sword arts but she had no idea what that was, she only knew she needed to swing her axe. She tried again and the same thing happened: weird pull and Dora freaked out, swinging and missing again. Bacon wasn’t having her nonsense and he struck her, knocking her onto her behind and taking a life point. “Damn you!” she cursed at the pig and shook her fist at the animal. Was killing things this difficult for a reason? Dora felt like something stupid was happening here. There was no way a tiny piglet could be this tough.

 

DORA     4/5     (0/1 Energy)

GREG     32/32     (6/8 Energy)

BACON     3/3

[Greg Baxen 0]

"Mess-ups happen to the best of us, but the key thing is, you need to calm down!" Greg said, getting frustrated now. He opted to hit the boar with <Horizontal>, this time, aiming to flat-out cleave the boar in two!

ID: 37469

BD 9: Critical Hit! +1 Damage!

He prepared a different sword art this time, as his sword glowed a different colour! There was the same build-up of energy, which Greg then released. His <Anneal Blade> went clean through the boar and out the other side, tearing the Boar's upper half from its lower half. "And THIS is how it's done." he quipped as the Boar promptly disintegrated into Pixels.

Greg: 32/32 HP, 6/8 EN (+1 at the start of the turn)

Dora: 4/5 HP, 0/1 EN.

'Bacon': DEAD 

Edited November 7, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Dora 0]

Bacon was dead and Dora was relieved. “Thank you!” the little girl sighed heavily as she fell flat upon her back. The small girl stared into the deep azure sky contemplating the difficulty in fighting mobs. She supposed her failure in attacks only meant one thing: that she simply wasn’t ready to be on the battlefield yet. “But if I can’t fight how am I to increase my skill points?” She asked herself aloud. There had to be beginner quests in town that she could complete with a few levels under her belt, maybe she and choppy would be ready to take down Bacon and his bigger friends on the field. 

Resolved in her planning, Dora sat back up and looked over at her companion. “Hey Greg? “ She began, “What level where you when you first started hunting out here? What level are you now?” she asked wondering what his answer would be.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg had a thought. "There are a few quests i can think of. They require a lot of patience, but there's virtually no danger. Specifically, <Breaking the Unbreakable>, a quest to obtain the Martial Arts Skill, where you have to break a rock without using a weapon, and <Earning a Living>, which allows you to take up a crafting profession, such as an Alchemist, Blacksmith or Tailor, which requires you to make your own work of craftsmanship." Greg explained. He stopped for a second.

"Alternatively, you could also find a high-level player (Higher than mine, at least) and try to go for a much more dangerous quest with them taking in all the hate. From what i can gather the people in question capable of this are called Zelrius and Calrex, at least from what I've heard." He continued.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Dora 0]

Dora listened as Greg explained some things. “But I don’t want martial arts… I already worked out what skills I’m getting and my progression. Martial arts don’t fit in with what I’m trying to do.” Dora was a very analytical little girl. She’d had months and months to study up on exactly how she would be made into a champion support. Her build was flawless and she couldn’t wait to show it off to the higher ups when she got her chance to prove herself. He suggested several other things, but she wasn’t high enough for them either. She was still only a small level one. His alternative solution seemed more likely to work out. “A high level player huh? Zelrius…and Calrex…” engraining their names into her mind. “But are these guys the sort to help out low level players? If they’re badasses…I’m sure they’re too busy to do that.” Still, she’d try. There was no harm in asking for help.

[Greg Baxen 0]

"From what i can gather, if you ask, they'll probably accept." he says. "Well, with Calrex at least. I have actually met Calrex and Zelrius, though i don't particularly know them, just that they're high-levelled, and from what my impressions were, Calrex seems more sociable." he continues. "As for Martial Arts, you don't HAVE to learn the skill once the quest is complete, though, but you can later if you so choose. I'm putting it off, for now, in favour of raising my Sword and Armor Skills." he finishes.

[Dora 0]

The little girl nodded as Greg explained things to her a bit better. “So I can unlock the skill but I don’t have to use it? I suppose if it doesn’t count toward the nine, then there’s no harm in getting the skill. It would be nice to complete an easier quest as well. Just so long as I don’t have to put skill points into it. It’s not like there’s many chances for us to reset and all.” Dora contemplated these matters aloud. “I will also try this Calrex then.  All he could tell me is no right?” She mused aloud.

 “Do you have a profession?” She asked offhandedly.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg nodded. "I've completed the quest, and gotten the skill." Greg thinks for a second. "There's also <The Gemini>, but I don't think you want to do that one yet." Greg said. "In that one i hear you're supposed to fight a clone of yourself, but you get a skill for it, for free." he says. Truth be told he wasn't looking forward to doing it either. Fighting a clone of yourself would be particularly dangerous, and, if you're faint of heart, somewhat traumatizing if you win.

[Dora 0]

“No I know you’re crazy. The Gemini? Doesn’t he want to fight you to the death? I don’t think that skill is free if you’re risking your life, guy…” Seriously what was this cat thinking? Dora wanted to kick ass, not die!  The little girl sighed and rubbed her temples trying to figure out what the is guy’s problem was. It really did seem like he was trying to kill her. Maybe he was a passive aggressive player killer. He didn’t want to get his hands dirty, but he would lead sheep astray.

[Greg Baxen 0]

"Well, it's as good as free if you've got good equipment." Greg quipped. "Because basically, it wears your equipment, but without any of the stat bonuses. For example, my <Coat of the Azure Wind> gives me +3 Evasion, but the Gemini's version of it gives it absolutely nothing but the mitigation from my Armor Skill. At least, that's what I heard." he explained. "Hence why I said 'you may not want to do that one yet'." he finished.