[PP-F1] All Hail the Queen (Flints)

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan sent a message to Flints, waiting in the town for her to appear for the quest. This would be a long marathon of quests to get them done and get her level up, starting with the easiest. As a whole, these quests would be much easier than their past experience and by the time they reach harder quests, Flints will be quite a bit stronger so their experience will be more comfortable. With confidence in his eyes and a smile on his face, Tristan stared at the sky gormless while waiting for Flints, fumbling the jade paw on his neck which was the hoya of minos.

[Flints 0]

Flints smiled at the message she recieved and equipped all her normal gear, she wiggled her shoulders where she kept her claws, unconventional maybe but to her it seemed like a good idea. She smiled As they clinked in response to her muscles moving beneath them. She quickly replied to Tristan. "I'll be there soon, see you then~" she had been spending about of time with her newest of friends, she was intrigued by him to say the least. She patted Antillian idly as they walked and felt her heart begin to race win excitement when she checked her friend search and saw that Tristan was near by, she wondered what mess they would get into now. She slowly crept up behind him and considered scaring him but passed on it, she wasn't sure if he would turn around and give her a hard smack with his twinfire. "Hello" Flints called out to Tristan waiting for him to turn around and address her. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan was daydreaming off into space, thinking about the last time he fought the Wasp Queen, which led the Wind Wasps of Floor 2. Luckily however for this quest there was a total lack of these minions which could gang up on you, leaving only the boss for this fight. He turned around and saw Flints when she called him out, swivelling on his heel and smiling. "Ah there you are. Let's be on our way then, shall we?". He started to walk toward the boss with Flints and spoked as they walked. "This is probably the easiest quest boss of the bunch, something you could riskily take out on your own. With the combination of us both though it should be super easy. As we go up the bosses you'll be stronger so we should scale with it quite nicely.".

[Flints 0]

Flints grinned when Tristan turned on his heals to her, he talked about how this quest should be fairly easy for the two and she sighed in relief. She was all for difficult quests but haven't something to blow through quickly would be fun. As they walked to the boss she thought about how fast they might be able to conquer this one. "Well I trust your word so, let's get this over with shall we?" Flints quickly forced her hands to her shoulder blades, equipping her wild dance, she held her hands out in a defensive manor and waited for the boss to spawn and for Tristan to make his move. "Alright Tristan! Let's go!" 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

(correct me if stats are wrong)

Tristan smiled to her pulling out the new claws that he had bought her, happy that the purchase was going to be in full use. It kind of made him happy that something which he after all spent money on was not going to waste, which would of been a great shame indeed. Tristan went back to the mission at hand and used Howl on the Wasp Queen, the loud noise attracting the attention of the boss. Since while it was a low level boss, it still hurt the lower levels if they had no mitigation like Flints, which is why he was here. "Alright, let's rock and roll.".

Tristan 149/149 E: 36 H: 4
Flints 36/36 E: 9 H: 0
Wasp Queen 50/50 Dmg: 12

[Flints 0]

ID: 38342

BD: 10 (Critical Success) Dmg+2 

Sword art activated: Mortal Strike (4x6+2)=32 

Flints grinned and quickly rushed the wasp queen, wasting no time she leaped into the air and punched into the wasp, digger her claws deep into its thorax before pulling them apart from eachother, trying her best to rip the beast in one go. She roared out as her hands glowed from the activated sword art. And once she jumped back from the attack she flexed her hands, the little clinking from the claws was oddly satisfying. "Finish her!" She laughed as she stood back and waited for Tristan to make his move. 

Combat Results: 

Tristan: 149/149 E:36 H: 4

Flints: 36/36 E:9/9 ~> 5/9 H:1 

Wasp Queen: 50/50 ~> 18/50 Dmg: 12 

Edited November 12, 2015 by Flints

[Tristan Delaney 0]

ID 38361 BD: 10 MD: 3

(7+2)*3=27 damage

Tristan smiled and wasted no time to start his own attack, the Wasp Queen coming right at him. Deflecting a poorly aimed attack by the wasp Queen, we side stepped and then thundered three hits into the oversized wasp, the second of which went through and burst the enemy into many pixels. He relaxed his arms as it died and unequipped his shield, thinking for a moment, then saying "Well...that went faster than I was expecting!" then laughing out loud.

Tristan 149/149 E: 33 H: 7
Flints 36/36 E: 5 H: 2
Wasp Queen -9/50 Dmg: 12

[Flints 0]

Flints made a little closed fist gesture in excitment "yesss" she whispered under her breath. For once she didn't miss was was pretty excited about that. She looked over to her familiar Antillian and cheered. "Did you see that! I'd say we did very well!" The wolf starred at her blankly, it was too early for her excitment for him. Flints glanced back over to Tristan and laughed. "We have to start taking my buddies with us, if I start doing good like this and tell them all these stories they are never going to believe me." She giggled and began walking back to town with hopfully Tristan in tow, this quest went off without a hitch and she was starting to wonder if their was some terrible catch or some large monster was going to spawn and try to kill the both of them. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan laughed along with her at their success. It was possibly one of the fastest runs with that boss he had ever done and her hard work to become stronger was really showing with these latest fights. He nodded while still having a grin form the laughter, saying "We did do very well indeed. I'm impressed how strong you are already, which makes me wonder what you will become.". He smiled with confidence in their abilities already, which got him even more excited for what was possibly to come after they did the other quests too. He nodded to what she said, then spoke with "If you wish. I more than likely won't need a support as you saw with the Iron guardian, but take along who you will. But I'd say your stats and equipment would be testament enough of what you will have become.". Tristan walked with her to town, where they could maybe get a tea or such.

[Flints 0]

Flints eyes sparkled with excitment as Tristan only fed her growing ego. "I can hope that I will become something great. I'm trying my hardest for that. And I want everyone to see that." She frowned a little at home he was right about not needing support for himself as much, but regardless she had to include at least one of the brothers in her adventures with Tristan, the more the merrier she thought to herself. "I'm starving, which is odd because I didn't even do anything." She kicked the ground as the walked along and began to consider all the things she wanted to eat at that moment. Maybe something spicy..along with a nice cool glass of water. She licked her lips and became more excited as the town grew larger in the distance. "I always feel like I should prove myself, just to show how hard I work for things, it's just the way I am" she smiled at Tristan, sure that he could understand where she's coming from. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan found themselves in the town and were walking by the number of shops inside it. Sure it was no town of beginnings in size, but it still had plenty, and Tristan found a cafe to be at as they walked. Tristan tapped her shoulder to motion that they were here, then sat on one of the chairs on a table outside, with which they could enjoy the weather outside while they relaxed. Tristan paid some Col for some tea and a heated panini with meat, along with paying for whatever Flints wanted after they answered the waiter. Having paid, Tristan relaxed, having thought about what she said about proving themselves for some time. It sounded menial in itself, but it was actually a very serious topic. To start it off with though, he gave a serious question, in his usual calm gentle british tone. "So, what are you trying to be great for? What is your purpose to become great?".

[Flints 0]

Flints walked along, a little jumpy from the town, it was small but she still wasn't used to people, she didn't like being around them so occasionally bumped into Tristan awkwardly as she tried to keep herself away from the commotion, when he tapped her shoulder she followed him to sit at a shop and watched curiously as he ordered food, she eyed his meal and before she could front up some col he paid for hers which elicited a small growl from her, she ordered a panini as well and when it arrived she happily purred. And took small chomps out of it whilst watching other players pass them by. When Tristan asked her the heavy question she quickly chewed and gulped, thinking carefully before answering. 

"Well I know this means nothing here. But before I got stuck in Aincrad I was really into competitive gaming in my free time, I wasn't amazing at it, but i always placed on leaderboards as someone to be weary of on any game I got my hands on, I made sure of it. One of my favorite games, I was a natural at, I had a very high attack. It's where I felt comfortable. My defense wasn't anything to sneeze at but my attack. 2k in damage and my swiftness kept me safe. I eventually started applying that play style to every game. I earned the title "Blitzkrieg" from my teammates for how quickly I ended anything that came against me with sheer force. I've never been one for well thought out strategies oddly enough. Just hittin' it till its ded" she joked. She looked over Tristan carefully, examining everything about him. "And I've lived by that rule ever since even in life, I was heavily into martial arts and they always said someone will be faster and stronger than me, but I have yet to meet an opponent that could beat me in power. So I guess to answer your question, I feel like if I'm powerful, nothing can stop me. Not even death itself." She laughed. "But enough about my terrible reasoning for compensating game wise. What made you want to be a tank? And an actual tank, not hitting like a tank like I want." She snickered again, getting more comfortable. She figured him tanking for her and keeping her alive was reason enough to trust him. 

Edited November 13, 2015 by Flints

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan silently nibbled on his panini as she spoke, taking in what she said. While he was no major competitive gamer, as a owner of a videogame store manager, he was always surrounded by the entire industry, very much familiar with the areas she spoke of. She was one of the competitive gamers who sought to be the best, not to impress someone so much as it seemed to feel they conquered something. She wanted not power in leadership, but raw individual power, which he could understand. It was how many of the more...naive as so to speak started out. After she finished speaking, he munched a bit more, then put it down and took a probing sip of the tea for its heat. It was a bit hot still, so he would have that later. Then after a few seconds that seemed to be far too long, he started speaking.

"To put it very very simply in regards to where you are. You are in your worst nightmare. You are in the riskiest role there is, where you being helpful or utterly useless revolves being around hitting your opponent, and hitting hard. And if continued to think so if you still thought this way today, you will most definitely die soon. Doing damage? Great, so do enemies. You will never manage this on your own and I've experienced to say that with confidence. This game is cruel and will it will crush the careless underfoot.".
He waited to see what she would say before he explained himself, to let the words sink in, along with explain what made him a tank.

[Flints 0]

Flints eyes narrowed at Tristan's words, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly. She knew he meant well deep down but it didn't stop the words from stinging. As they always did when she was told this, usually this was the part where she attempted to rip anyone who thought otherwise apart but she couldn't bring herself to challenge Tristan. It would be pointless anyways, they were in a safe zone. She gazed off and wished to be anywhere else but having this conversation. When he finished and waited for her response she said nothing for a while. "For a while I didn't mind that, being killed. Outside of game I live alone, I have no one waiting for me. It's just me, striving to be the best in my field." She waved her hand in the air dismissing her talk of the outside world. It didn't matter. "I guess you can say I'm only alive by luck. And I'm staying alive for the people I've met along the way, I would have foolishly went out long ago." She stayed starring out into the city, searching for a place to hide from this conversation.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Even someone who acts like a dunce at times could see how Flints felt from the conversation. She didn't seem like one to hide her emotions, which in some ways made it easier to understand their emotions. Taking a sip of his tea, he decided to explain himself first what he meant in the first place. He would have to shorten this a lot though, but he tried anyway. "The me you see right before you is...not me a year and a month ago. When I first started, I was a brash spear user who played evasively and did well enough, going through quests. Sure, i was millimetres away from death on my first Avalanche, but i managed it. I felt like i would just go through the game. Then came the first time i chased a rumour for a unique skill. Long story short, i walked in confident id come out with a skill, instead I came out with a bootprint on my chest and a shattered confidence. I fought myself, my inner demons that is, in both calming the soul and gemini quest. I settled with that instead of fighting for myself aimlessly, I'd protect others with my newly acquired Twinfire Reflector from Alkor, who didn't want it.".
He took a sip of his tea for a break.
"All was well and good. Made myself a decent tank. Made it to the semi finals of the Clash of Blades tournament, people wanted me for my tanking, and there I was...at the Floor 9 raid group clearing, fighting the Hydra.". Tristan held his cup more tightly, though not enough to shatter the cup. "That...well. I had seen a player PKed just before it, Argumail, much as everyone hated him and it was in self defence. I could deal with someone dying to protect a player. But the Hydra...that took close friends. Rue, who organised great parties and festivities, died and burnt to death. Same for Alkor, an ex-guildmate and who gave me the shield I continue to wield today. Others died too, Primrose I think their name was, I can't remember. We defeated the boss, sure. But I couldn't protect them all. People died because I wasn't good enough.". He didn't shout, his voice still calm, but it was breaking in places and the died word had stress on it. "I...after that fight, I wasn't back on the field for a good 6 months, keeping to myself in my shop on Floor 2. It had a deep impact on me to see those die. Not to mention who I was with vanished too, so for all I know has died too. It was too much. But...I've decided I will keep going anyway. To keep getting stronger...to protect people like you Flints, people who are at a severe risk of losing their life in Sword Art Online. You may have nothing to go back to, but nor do I. I'm just a manager of a videogame store living alone. No one cares for me out there, so I do what I can here, to protect those in need. I am willing to put on my life on the line here for you Flints. So...don't die on me and let me keep getting stronger so that I can keep protecting you.". Feeling his speech getting very emotional at the end, he took a deep breath out, then occupied it with sipping his tea. His hands slightly shook from nervousness, but it would probably be only noticeable to himself. It was never easy remembering such painful times.

[Flints 0]

Flints kept staring off, watching anything but Tristan, but the more more emotional his voice got the softer her gaze did. She crossed her arms against her chest, as if it was going to protect her from his words. Before she could speak he said "so don't die on me and let me keep getting stronger so that I can keep protecting you." She wanted to be angry, she wanted to get up and growl at Tristan on how she didn't need protecting, even in this death game. She remembered the first time she did something like that she was punched so hard she nearly died. She winced at the memory and calmed herself a bit. She began to blush when she realized what he meant. She wanted to question him but didn't. She sat there awkwardly, arms crossed and blushing. Still angry yet not, having this terrible inner battle with herself to lash out at Tristan or accept why he said. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that..it sounds..like a very heavy burden to bare.." 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan managed to calm down somewhat with several sips of his tea, his mind still somewhat racing from the pain. There were several things he didn't mention, like how his clones in the clone quests openly mocked and slandered everything he stood for, or how it had been actually two past lovers that had vanished without a trace, something always quite scary. Or how his own life nearly ending once seemed like nothing when friends did die, which he bore as a burden from his mistakes. Taking a deep breath and leaning back on his chair, he stared at the sky as he sighed, remembering a party with Rue. Life and Lessa were there too, among others and he played guitar to everyone as some music to go along with it all. He somewhat envied Mari who seemingly now saw lives ending as nothing. "It is iindeed a heavy burden to bear, where every death feels like a way you have failed. But, I also realised that someone had to do it and well...I suppose I took up that mantle of support. After all, I don't...I don't want to lose people. I don't want to lose you Flints because I wasn't there. If it's of any consolation, I suppose you could see me wanting to protect you as a reason to try and value your own life. I'm not sure about the whole outside of this game thing, me living in Britain makes this hard for near everyone. But at least let me make your life something of value in Aincrad. I feel like it's the best thing I can do right now.".

[Flints 0]

Flints looked up to Tristan and saw the pain in his eyes, the burdens he didn't speak of coming forth and trying to speak to her. She shook her head trying to calm herself yet again. All these emotions she was feeling towards Tristan and his heavy talk was weighing on her. "That does seem like a very good reason to become such a strong support...and alright..ill be more careful..." She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. "I don't know the whole story. But I get a pretty good idea..and it terrifies me..ill try my best to stay alive..for my friends and my loved ones.." She sighed, accepting the weight of everything he bestowed upon her. She realized Tristan wasn't only a strong player, but a strong person. She was still afraid that he could end her life if he wanted to, but at this point she realized that he would never do that. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan managed to settle himself and ate peacefully on the rest of his panini as she spoke. Where her hand touched it felt warm, though nothing like the blistering heat of floor 1. No, it was a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time, several months most likely. He sighed after he finished, giving her a smile with an expression that was gentle as he looked at Flints. "Thank you. It makes my life easier, if anything. Since I know now that you won't go die on me. I'd be rather depressed if you did that you know, so I hope you don't plan on it.". He managed to squeeze some dark humour out of the situation to help with the tension I'm the air. He put a hand on the hand that reached out to him, stroking the top of it. "Well if you ever want anything, just say. After all, I'm here to support and help you."

[Flints 0]

Flints looked down at Tristan's hand that now graced hers, it was warm and a tad rough, she could feel his pulse beneath it and it made her squirm a little. She looked back up to him and chuckled. "I won't die, I wouldn't want to cause you any distress. So I'll fight hard to stay alive in this crazy death game." she blushed a little confused by his answer. "I'll keep that in mind. The same goes for you. I'll be here for you if you need me, In battle or just to talk. I've enjoyed your company, once I figured out you weren't going to kill me." She blurted out and began to redden. "I-I mean, not that you would have.." with that she coughed to clear her throat, with her food finished she only had Tristan to focus on, and learning more about him made him less intimidating, she liked that he humanized himself for her. She really needed that, she no longer felt like a sheep amongst lions. An odd twist in the saying, she saw it as a pride she thought she could never join or seen worthy enough to walk amongst the ranks.