Zajcica

Working her way through floor 19's safe area, Yuki was feeling a bit nostalgic over some past experience helping the guild through a rough time with the attack that field bosses committed. Attempting to destroy everything that Zandra had worked to build with Aincrad Trading Post, it was nearly the end for their guild base. Imagine the cost it would have taken to bring that back from the dead.

Yuki had been leveling for nearly two months now and she could feel herself getting ever closer to tier 3 range. Soon she would be joining people like Zandra on the front line to clear floors. She still hadn't much experience with doing such a thing. All she really had was the training with Shield and her own experience of tanking things for Night while she completely nuked them down.

As she entered the guild hall, she was greeted by fellow players. Giving them all a smile and a wave, she moved on to meet up with wherever her fearless leader was held up.

Name: Udon Bowl with Veggies
Your Profession: Cook
Your Rank: 8
ID: 149695
Roll: CD: 12+1; LD: 6
Item Type: Snack
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect 
Enhancements: ACC 2; EVA 1
Description: Japanese noodles with mixed vegetables and sometimes some shreds of meat.
Post Link: [Here]

This food was originally approved with 3 slots of accuracy, which exceeds the cap so I'm re-submitting it for eval with a different enhancement on it.

The girls reaction wasn't what she thought. If she didn't have any intention of joining the front lines what was her motive for leveling up? She didn't seem to have much of an interest in helping lower ranked players either.

"Um, hey, this might be super rude of me to ask," She started, sitting underneath of the kotatsu and getting herself comfortable. "If you aren't leveling to reach the front line, and you aren't leveling to help out lower-leveled players... what is your motive for fighting? I feel like you're my best friend in all of Aincrad and I just can't read you. You feel like a person that might have something of an upsetting past, but I really don't want to assume anything. If there's anything you want to let off your chest, I am always here to talk with you Ren." She asked, taking a quick sip of the now warm tea.

Yuki went into the kitchen momentarily, her second personal one where her room could be seen from. Before long, nice could start to smell Edamame and Tea. "I usually get my information off of players in Coral. Ones who have already completed the boss. Why? Where do you normally get your information from?" She asked, focused on the cooking.

It didn't take her long to make such trivial dishes considering she was bordering grandmaster cook at this point. She may have already reached if it hadn't been for the fact that she's been working insanely hard to grind her way up to tier three so she could start working on getting the armor she would want for that level. "We're both getting closer and closer to Tier 3 hunh? Soon we'll be closer to the front lines. I never asked you, but are you wanting to join them there? I want to."

@NIGHT

Another stab from the witch's poison dagger sent Shield into his paralytic state again. Yuki's expression strained instantly. No matter how safe Shield was from the witch's attacks even when he can't move, she wasn't going to allow her to have her way. She stood over Shield, ready to make her next attack with her dagger before getting completely shoulder checked. The force of the paladin's shoulder knocked her to the ground. Following up her attack, she stabbed her spear into the witch's stomach. The bleed effect reappearing as she twisted the weapon into her body.

"That's enough of that you little [censored]!" She said knocking the dagger out of the hag's hand with her boot. The witch's tone groaned under the pain her dagger was causing her. Yuki would have to distract the witch for a moment while Shield worked his paralysis effect off. "You're done here! Give up!"

[H:4/4/4/23] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 156/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 [PAR/1]
[H: 0/0/0/22] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
The Witch: 91/700 (-1)| DMG: 100 | MIT: 70 | EVA: 1 | [ENV - 18/4] | [BLEED: 24/2]

Yuki led the duo into her bedroom, walking through the tiny living room that wasn't much bigger than 16x16 in feet. From the front door, this was the only way to reach her room without having to go all the way around the back. Once they were in her room, the paladin opened the sliding glass door where there wasn't much to see in her backyard, but one could see the beautiful nature over the stone wall and the light breeze could come through, bringing the smell of food. "Would you like anything to eat or drink? I have NPCs run the shop while I'm gone, but I can have something made in minutes." She offered gesturing to her personal kotatsu. It was warm out this season, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the comfort of the table even when the heater underneath was turned off.

"Uh, no, I don't have information on them yet. I figured you did. The info on the bear wasn't difficult to come by." She admitted.

@NIGHT

Working her eyes around the new weapon, Yuki thought at first that Mari may have brought her a gift since it was a pretty new looking spear. However, she then realized that Mari's dagger was missing. Had she respected to a new weapon? Well, good on her. She knew that Mari had trouble fighting since there was no area of effect damage in the dagger class. Mari looked like more of a sword girl though, not spear. Same thing could probably be said about the paladin.

The girl cleared her throat before continuing. It was good to see Mari in a decent mood, but combat was on the forefront of her mind. They could talk about anything bothering her or Mari after there was no threat. No matter how safe or dangerous, she wanted to show Mari that she had matured at least a little since their last meeting. "The plan is pretty simple since the boss doesn't have much of tactic other than 'punch the person I hate the most' which will be me. I dare him to try and break through my guard. You get behind him and do your thing, I'm sure you'll make quick work of this boss."

The paladin walked into the spawning point. The white, golden-trimmed spear willed itself into existence in Yuki's free hand along with her beautiful shield. Comparing the length of both of the lances in her mind, Yuki wagered that her's probably weighed more, but she was sure Mari could output more damage than her regardless. When the boss spawned, Yuki took her usual battle stance and readied her attack. No mitigation on this boss, so maybe she could actually get some damage done for once. "I'm taking point. Flank behind it and make it regret spawning in our presence."

With that, the girl rushed ahead of Mari and stopped in front of the boss. The pink hue of her lance hummed softly with power as she activated Maiming Blows. The lance she wields maybe be a new tier, but even still, she had to hit to actually get anything done. The spear pinged off it's hard ice armor uselessly. Oh well, she wasn't the primary damager of the group. When the Frost Beast collected some momentum to ready itself for battle, it raised both of it's bone-y ice hands. The paladin stopped the attack with her shield. Being pushed back only a meter or two from the force and knocked to her ass wrestling the force of the attack above her. "W-Weak! Y-You can hit harder than that!"

[1]Yuki: 731/780 -(160-104+7) | 68/72 -(4) | DMG: 5 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 104 | BH: 7 | HM: 1(1) | Thorns: 36
[0]Mari: 1430/1430  | 140/140 | DMG: 19+3 | MIT: 43 | EVA:3+1 | ACC: 4+2  | BH: 67 |BLEED: 24 | FLAME AURA: 15

Frost Beast: 250/250 | DMG: 160 | Partial Phase - 24 damage minimum

She avoided the question. There was something wrong with her, and Yuki could tell, but she wouldn't bug her too much about it. If she wanted to talk about it, she wouldn't have skipped over the subject.

Several minutes of walking back to floor 8's teleportation terminal, Yuki stepped on the pad with her partner and called out to whatever force willed the instantaneous movement that was the teleporter. "Floor 22: Coral!"

Suddenly, the duo was in Coral, a place that Yuki herself was coming to love as a home the longer she stayed. The walk to her home was short since it was literally close enough to reach out and put your hand into the safe zone barrier. Instead of entering the home from the side entrance connected to the shop, Yuki used the front door. A massive red gate breaking in the stone, she pushed out the opening and welcomed Night in. Her armor flashed into a kimono instantly and she slipped on a pair of geta. 

"There's the pond. You can actually fish for materials in it since we're outside the safe zone, but be careful cause monsters can spawn from bad luck in fishing, even here. The door there leads into the main room. It's got a kotatsu and a pleasing aesthetic, but its kind of small. I don't spend too much time in there. Then there's just my bedroom and my kitchen."

When the beast was confirmed dead, the woman moved her lance back into her special pocket dimension along with the shield. No need for her to have that heavy [censored] on when they weren't in combat. The paladin stretched out her arms and looked over to her friend, whose expression wasn't matching hers at all.

"Um, Night? Are you okay? What's wrong?" She asked, moving closer to her friend who was barely able to keep her sword in her hand. The paladin gestured her to come along back towards the safe zone with her. Night wasn't looking that enthused to be done with the quest when they got it complete in two fatal swoops of attacks. "You wanna go back to my place and relax, or to your place or something? You look like you could take a break."

Working her way through the branches, she could see the safe zone incoming.

@NIGHT

With another heavy heave, the paladin raised her lance and tried to smash the bear into the ground. The thing was much more nimble than she gave it credit for though, slipping cleanly through her attack without much of a problem. It retaliated with an attack of it's own while she was open to attack. The claw raked it's way across her body with ease. Again, it only succeeded in doing more harm to itself than anything else. 

Yuki grinned. It was nice to do a quest that wouldn't end with her being flung into freezing cold water or be swallowed whole by a snake. The last week had been rough for her with the problems that she's had to come to terms with. She was glad that her knight was there to help her through all that. She let out a low whistle as she noticed just how much damage Night could do. "Damn, I forget how strong you are some times. You nearly killed it off in a single hit."

Kumatetsu | HP: 80/300 (-36) | ACC: 1 | DMG: 75 | EVA: 1 (2, -1) | MIT: 50

[2] NIGHT | HP: 990/990 | EN: 87/96 (-9) | ACC: 5 | DMG: 18 | EVA: 2 | MIT: 26 | LD: 3 | RECOVERY: 2 | VAMP-O: 1 | BLEED: 24 | PARA IMMUNE | TAUNT
[2] Zajcica | HP: 820/820 | EN: 76/76 | DMG: 5 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 112 | THORNS: 36 | BH: 8

Yuki jumped on it the moment Night pointed it out. She was ready to bash into this thing and watch it do absolutely nothing to her at all. It would be fun even thought she herself couldn't do anything effectively to it. The pink-haired tank jumped on the Kuma who had barely gotten a moment to process what was happening before it had an incessantly annoying woman jumping on it.

"Oi, oi! I'm you're enemy stupid, look at me!" The paladin's lance grazed the hair off the back of the bear, missing it's body by nothing more than an inch. In the same moment, its claw reached out and scrapped against the paladin's chest. Shallow red marks left behind. Her battle healing instantly closed the wounds and she was back up to full HP. Meanwhile, the bear was regretting it's choice, taking the full damage from her thorns.

Yuki: 820/820 (-1+8) | 76/76 | MIT: 112 | Thorns: 36| EVA: -1 | BH: 8 | BLD: 9-10[24/2] | REC: 2
NIGHT: 

Kumatetsu: 264/300 (-36) | DMG: 75 | MIT: 50 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 1

Yuki nodded to her ally, giving her that big smile that she basically painted on her face 24/7. Doing this stuff was so much more fun when you had a friend like Night to help you through it. "Yeah, it's just a big bear. He'll be a mean one, but nothing that me and you can't handle as a team. His damage is completely irrelevant to me and he won't be able to even hurt me without my Battle Healing bringing back to completely full anyway. So, technically I could do this by myself, but it's much more fun if I bring you along! He can paralyze the both of us though, so be careful."

The paladin led the way through to forest lackadaisically with her arms thrown behind her head relaxed and eased. This would be an extremely easy boss, and she was ready to stand around do almost nothing again after all the pressuring quests that she has done lately.

@NIGHT

Bringing Night along for another outing was great. These two had basically become inseparable after having quested as much as they have together. Yuki would do anything for Night. Even fight that stupid snake boss over and over again for her special quest item that she needed.

"Thanks for coming along as usual Night, I wasn't sure if you had already done these quests, but I hadn't known about them originally. Aparantly doing them all will give you another buff like a house buff and you can use it to increase your mitigation even further if you're a tank player. You can't gain the benefit from any of the rewards unless you collect all of them though, so we're going to have to kill six bosses for each one of the totems that they drop. Do you want to do them all? This one is the easiest one if I recall the quest information."

@NIGHT

Yuki smiled back, looking up to the beak on her head. A squawk of approval from the tiny legendary creature signified that it was alright. "This is Aki, she is a special kind of gryphon known as a hippogriff. She helps make sure I'm aware of my surroundings at all times and helps me protect myself from damage."

As Lessa agreed to help her, she was more than gleeful. That item was important for anyone looking to get special gear, though, she wouldn't be able to do much to aid her new friend other than trying to inflict bleed on her enemies. "I have to warn you that my ability to keep up with you is limited. I'll follow your orders since you likely have twice as many levels on me. I just hit Tier two, so they buff that I get from new gear is nice, but even still, this quest will be difficult."

@Lessa

Yuki face palmed at the witch's pitiful attempts to sound threatening. This was probably one of the most annoying bosses that she had met to date. The Hebi was pretty bad because it ate her sure, but at least it didn't needlessly lecture her on how it was going to kill her and all this other dumb [censored]. 

With that, the paladin notice Shield was back to his feet. "Good, I was beginning to get worried that the effect might be a special one. I've been afflicted with every status effect in this game, but paralysis is one that terrifies me especially." She explained. Now that she knew Shield was alright, she could focus more on the fight. Her grip on her giant lance tightened as she reared it back for the attack. Lance pushed forward and in an amazing feat of dexterity, the witch somehow used her tiny dagger to deflect her attack. She cackled crazily.

"I told you I wont be hit that eas-" The witches voice was cut off by a fist to the face. Yuki's gauntleted hand pounded the bosses nose in. "Will you shut up already and die! I didn't come here to listen to your rambling all night!"

[H:4/4/4/22] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 156/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4
[H: 0/0/0/19] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
The Witch: 110/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70 | EVA: 1 | [ENV - 18/2]

Shield was unable to respond correctly, but judging from the sounds he was trying to give her, she suspected that he was alright. After all, the wall of thorns and armor didn't need to move to be effective at killing an enemy like the witch. Hopefully the effect would wear off soon, or she might start getting scared.

"Oi! You best not forget that there's more than a single person here! Forget about me an you'll regret it, stupid!" The paladin quickly moved onto the witch raised the blade like a sword and swiped her from the side. The bladed edge cut through her skin and the weight of the massive lance knocked her to the ground with ease. Following up with another attack, Yuki attempts to impale the witch with the tip of the weapon. Her adversary is just fast enough to roll out of the way. If she kept up the pressure on the witch, Shield would be able to recover from the status condition.

[H:4/4/4/21] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 156/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 [PAR/0]
[H: 0/0/0/17] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
The Witch: 228/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70 | [BLD: 24/0] [ENV - 18/3]

Getting up from her seat, Yuki started walking towards the quest area. Having been to this floor many times for several different quests, the layout of the floor had basically been embedded into her mind. Essence of Steel was just an easier version of Absolute Zero, kinda, so this wouldn't be difficult at all. Especially with Mari's help. Approaching the edge of the forest, through the white blanket of falling snow, Yuki could see her old friend. The orange beacon of hair and clothing was difficult to miss.

Perhaps she was fretting a little too much since she became worried with every step closer. The two of them left off on a tense foot and she wasn't entirely sure if she was ready to get scolded like the last time they had met. Nevertheless, her feet sooner or later carried her into earshot of Mari.

"O-Oi." The paladin choked out with a wave to her friend. She was afraid to really say much about the past right now, at least until she figured out where Mari's mood was today, and how she felt about her. "The enemy we're fighting can't do any more than 50 damage to me, barely. I could use potions and junk, but it would just be easier for me to bring a friend and share the reward right? Then I don't waste valuable consumables, and you get the reward in case you ever need it."

The paladin gave Mari a weak smile. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get their last meetings out of her mind.

@Mari

Seeing the thing that nearly swallowed her for the second time was not pleasant at all. The paladin recoiled nearly instantly. A sound of distress uttered from her lips. As Night jumped into combat, Yuki couldn't help but follow her in. She could stay here and just not do anything. The onlt reason that Yuki was here was to be an extra collection of the quest item. No. There was no way she was going to take the chance that her friend get swallowed. If Night was to get eaten by this thing, she would have no way to help her. Yuki would gladly put herself in danger again to ensure her safety.

"Screw you you dumb snake! I'm back for revenge!" Her tone was no where near believable, and she was so scared that she actually lost track of the Hebi as she swung her lance in its direction. Something about snakes now made it impossible for her to take the fight as seriously as possible. She hid behind her shield like a scared little girl.

Yuki nodded at Night's question. The item gained from Witch of the West was a useful one for Merchants especially. "Yeah, I'm going to be giving the item to a merchant to drink in conjunction for identifying my equipment. It will increase the odds of finding unique items for a single batch. I need to get an armor or shield that has one of the elemental auras or thorns on it. It's crucial to the build that I'm trying to put together."

Dreading every single step was no way to prepare yourself for battle, but Yuki couldn't help but feel pressured as the neared ever closer to the slithering demon they were intending to fight. If she gotten eaten again, she would cry for days. "Where is this stupid boss already? Can we just get it over with? I don't want to go anywhere near it in the first place, so hopefully you can off it quickly.

Yuki quickly took off her armor, a dangerous thing to do when she was nearly at half her total hit points, but they were done with combat so it would be safe enough now. Once she was in her dry kimono, she took the extra layer from Crow and the extra-extra layer from Night to warm herself up as quickly as possible.

"Y-You dummy! You're all wet now too! I w-would have been fine s-swimming back on my own... Think a little more before you jump into a frozen lake!" Actually unsure if she was actually going to do so while being so heavily damaged, she tried not to think about what would have happened if she couldn't have made it back. "L-Let's get out of here."

Even if she had changed her clothing, her skin and hair were still wet from the dip. They needed to get somewhere warm before some in-game status effect like frostbite actually did kick in.

@NIGHT @Crozeph

As Shield's body seized up, Yuki got a little worried, but to be fair, he would be fine in a situation like this. The status effect would keep him down, but would wear off in a few seconds. Meanwhile, Yuki needed to stay focused on what she was tasked with doing and put her spear through this witch's chest. The effect of bleed would wear of easily if she didn't keep up the attacks.

The weapon reared back and jammed forward with all of Yuki's might behind it. It was another devastating hit, but not good enough to reinflict the bleed status effect. How unfortunate and annoying at the same time.

The paladin looked over to her tanking mentor and asked, "Uh, hey, you going to be alright?" She wasn't sure how long the status effect would last from this enemy. It could just be normal paralysis, but after the Snake, she wasn't willing to take chances with the paralysis effect.

[H:4/4/4/21] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 155/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 [PAR/1]
[H: 0/0/0/15] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/3]
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
The Witch: 370/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70 | [BLD: 24/1] [ENV - 18/4]

The girl blushed and giggled lightly as she thought about it. Her finger scratched her cheek awkwardly when she had to admit the real reason. "Um, to be honest, I happened to miss this quest and I need the experience for it. It won't be as much as I could get for a higher level quest, but it's still easy to do. In fact, it was so easy that I felt obligated to help a new player."

Yuki went off to the side to watch the boy, taking a seat with her legs crossed in the grass she paid careful attention. Her massive spear laid in her lap carefully, ready to be used if she needed to jump in and help him.

"Good luck! Stay calm and use your sword arts. Don't let the enemy intimidate you! You are stronger than him! He should be scared of you." Another big toothy smile brightened the shade of the trees.

@Se7en

Yuki: 820/820 | 76/76 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 104 | Thorns: 36 | EVA:-1 | BLD: 24/2 |  BH: 8
Se7en: 20/20 | 2/2 | DMG: 2 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 3 | BLD: 12/2

Dark Elf: 12/12 | Dmg: 9

Yuki could see the dread wringing out the boy's expression. Maybe some input would help strengthen his resolve. "Hey, you look like you could use a jump-start! Here! You can use this here to help you win." The paladin unhooked the black celtic-knotted horn from her belt and held it out to the boy as a gift. "I would like it back when you are done, okay? It'll help make sure that your attacks hit home." She explained happily with a smile.

"Are you sure about me being able to do this?" Yuki gave him a tooth grin as the duo entered the mob's territory.

"Absolutely! This is the easiest field boss that you'll ever meet in the game. It can't kill you without doing around 10-20 attacks. If you start struggling, I'll jump in and make sure he doesn't get the better of you, okay? I'm a tank, I won't let you die!" A smile shined with reassurance.

"Oi!" The pink haired player waved him down with her big smile. The boy looked pretty new to the game judging by his equipment. She wondered if those items even had enhancements on them. Almost as soon as he began speaking, he started walking the other direction. Perhaps he wasn't the best at putting words out the open. "Oi, Oi! Wait!" She caught up with him and halted him, hands against her hips. "You're keen. I am indeed a higher level player, but I'm not more different than you are. It's all just numbers. Orewa Yuki-desu. Yoroshikune~" The girl ran through her usual dialogue of a greeting. Always the same with her: I'm Yuki, nice to meet you. Maybe it was time to switch it up.

"So hey, you're coming to fight that boss, yeah? I can help you out with that - though you look geared well enough to beat it alone." Her smile was almost unbearable. "You go fight it out right now, and I'll make sure nothing overwhelms you. I could kill this boss easily by just letting it hit me."

@Se7en

The pink paladin found herself on floor 3. How in the world had she missed out on such an easy quest this early?! This was literally the easiest field boss in the game and was basically free experience for her to gobble up. The benefits of her slime farm were back too, so it would be an easy trigger to push ahead in the game of SP. Block wasn't going to learn itself after all.

Approaching the blacksmith's home, she got her quest activated and started making her way to the spawn area that the dark elf would be waiting in. This boss was insanely easy for her to kill off on her own, but it wouldn't be fair if she just murdered it one her own. Somehow she missed this quest, she was sure that everyone on her friends list had already completed it and didn't need the experience. If she waited long enough, would she just run into a noob looking to find the boss? It would be worth it wait for anyone at least for a while near his spawn zone.

@Se7en

Using a Yui's grace and a mega slime farm bonus for plus 3 SP at the end of the thread.