Zajcica

Time it was. The need for Tier three gear was getting ever more urgent and the Paladin knew that she was going to need some unique gear if she really wanted to join the front line and make an impact on the world around her. They were a fourth of the way to the top of the tower after years. The front lines would really need help from new players. Yuki was one of those upstarts that believed in the strength in numbers. She may have been scared of this digital prison when she was first put behind bars, but those cells would no longer hold her fears hostage.

Night had already sent her message. Yuki knew it was time, so she collected the foods that she had prepared for this day specifically and made her way to the Coral teleportation pad. Another name crossed her thoughts when she scrolled down to Night's to reply. Arabelle was a person she had met from Cord and Mari. She recalled her wanting to join the paladin for grinding, so she pulled up her menu and sent her message, attaching some foods to the delivery.

This shop was such easy access for the paladin with it being right next to her house. It was no more than a short ten minute walk between her shop and to Firm Anima's Guild Hall. The Fox there was a decent enough person, so hopefully she was a high enough merchant level to sell her what she needed. The paladin opened the sliding door and took off her shoes on the tatami mat floor.

"Oi, Fox, I'm just looking for a bunch of Immolation potions for my level. You can't get them from crafters, so I need to buy them from you, here's enough col for 15 of them." She said setting the sack of money on the counter and completing the trade.

The branches pierced the paladin's chest. Without the help from her armor, to blunt the blow and being completely impaled, she fell to the ground and coughed a fit momentarily until the sensation replacing the pain faded. "Ugh... That one hurt. Don't worry Mari, I won't let this guy take you down easily." She winced looking up at her and everyone else's health bars. If they continued to miss attacks, they would fall to this thing extremely quickly. 

Yuki readied her weapon again, still feeling unnerved about the red holes in her chest, she took a swing of her axe at the trees base, still finding it hard to connect with the bark. A note was made to never go into the lumberjack business with her skill at using an axe. "Ku-Kuso, how do I keep missing this stupid thing, it's the size of a freaking building!" The paladin backed up again and took a stance in front of Mari, ready to block an attack for again, and take the downed status like Zandra for her ginger-haired friend if she had to.

Attack missed!

Rares:

Perfects:

Day 32

(1)Fail: 2
(2)Salvage: 3
(3)Uncommon: 7
(5)Rare: 5
(8)Perfect: 3

EXP:  (2+6+21+25+24)+(6*20) Total: 2,441

The paladin swung open the doors to the quaint little cafe that was run on floor one. An interesting little alchemy shop that was also repurposed as a place to eat and relax. The ongoers of Aincrad really found good ways to keep the game feeling fun and interesting. Approaching the counter she was met with the owner of the shop, the girl had a cute smile, and even more interesting, she had two different colored eyes.

"Good afternoon! I haven't been able to find any amount of crafter respites in stock from anywhere in the higher floors, so I came back down here to see wheat I could get. They're pretty hard to come by, so I'll pay whatever you've got for your stock right now. How's this?" The girl said putting a sack of Col down on the counter and allowing her to inspect the contents of about 3000 col to confirm her purchase.

Buying Three Dragon's Breaths

The tower of ice and freeze cold was falling. Night's last attack had put it down to a low enough point that it's status affects would kill it, but it wasn't dead just yet. The paladin continued to struggle with the Absolute Zero's massive force bearing on her. She resisted, her herculean digital strength somehow able to combat with something so massive. All she had to do was survive until the next damage over time effect came.

The Absolute Zero wasn't finished with her just yet. It raised it's thorny arm leaving the girl still unable to get up an move, since she wouldn't have time to try and dodge, she turtled behind her shield. The monster brought down it's arms on the tiny girl once more. Cracking ice shattered around the paladin as she was sent through the ice and into the water below. The moment the Zero made contact with her, it exploded into nothing but blue coding in the shape of polygons.

Underneath the water, random fish type mobs swam, ignoring the massive hulk of armor that just sank into the water like a bobber to a fishing pole. The all seemed somewhat majestic compared to mobs on the surface level, but no time to think about that. The water was freezing down to the paladin's core. The heavy armor that weighed her down made it difficult to swim, still she found the will to make it back up to the surface after an entire minute. The girl came gasping up for air, trying to get help from one of her friends.

Finally back on land, water poured off her braided lock and dripped from her weapons and armor. "Mou... Its freezing..."

Absolute Zero | HP: 0/850 (-72+36) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 200 | EVA: -2 | MIT: 75 | FREEZE: 2 | CD12: GRAND SLAM | MD9: +50DMG | MD10: +100DMG | BURNING (24) [1/2] | BLIGHTED (24) [1/2] | BLEEDING: [1/2]

[3] NIGHT | HP: 990/990 | EN: 79/96 (+1, -9) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 22 | EVA: 2 | MIT: 6 | BURN: 24 | BLIGHT: 24 | PARAV-D: 1 | LD: 3 | Antidote: 2
[4] Zajcica | HP: 680/880 | EN: 66/70 | DMG: 8 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 134 | THORNS: 38 | RECOVERY: 2
[2] Crozeph | HP: 630/630 | EN: 24/64 | DMG: 12 | EVA: -1 | BLEED: 24 | SAVVY: 1 | REGEN: 10 | BH: 10

The blighted sword crashed into the tower of ice that made up this monster. It reminded her of the Avalanche, but it was supposed to be a reborn version of the field boss so it wasn't surprising. The paladin moved to a side area, away from her two damage friends, calling out to the monster with her loudest voice.

"Oi! Oi! I'm you're target you stupid hunk of ice! Focus on me!" The Absolute Zero looked her way, even after being pelted by the katana and the blighted sword. Getting up to it's giant feet, it clasping its hands together. Both falling directly on the paladin's shield and sending her onto her back. "Kaa-!!" She cried while underneath the giant ice arm. Her golden lance took it's usual pink hue, stabbing into the frozen water's scaly body with ease and afflicting it further with status effects. "Oi! Guys! You can kill it on the next attack! Help me out here!"

Absolute Zero | HP: 390/850 (-1-24) | ACC: 3 | DMG: 200 | EVA: -2 | MIT: 75 | FREEZE: 2 | CD12: GRAND SLAM | MD9: +50DMG | MD10: +100DMG | BURNING (24) [1/2] | BLIGHTED (24) [1/2] | BLEEDING: [1/2]

[2] NIGHT | HP: 990/990 | EN: 87/96 | ACC: 3 | DMG: 22 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 6 | BURN: 24 | BLIGHT: 24 | PARAV-D: 1 | LD: 3 | Antidote: 2
[4] Zajcica | HP: 746/880 | EN: 66/70 (-4) | DMG: 8 | EVA: -3 | MIT: 134 | THORNS: 38 | RECOVERY: 2
[1] Crozeph | HP: 630/630 | EN: 39/64 | DMG: 12 | EVA: -1 | BLEED: 24 | SAVVY: 1 | REGEN: 10 | BH: 12

The paladin dipped through trees and boggy swamps following behind the crusader she normally quested with again. Why did she have to bring her back through this quest again? She was promised no more snakes.

"I know, I know. It's not like me to cower like this, but snakes... I'll do it for you Night. I know this consumable thingie is important to you. In return, you should help me grind the Witch's consumable. That's one that I need often for gear identification." The paladin dreaded every single step of walking closer to this stupid snake, but she wouldn't hide from it. She would do her best to tank it as she needed to for her friend.

"Like I said when you one-shot the Sando Satsu, I won't back down from a fight. I'm here with you until the end, alright? Don't think a silly little fear of snakes is going to me in to the point where I can't do my job. Just know that you are the ONLY person I will do this for. Don't tell anyone else."

Yuki worked around, looking for a place to strike. Focusing was easier without crazed flying monkeys screaming at absolutely nothing for no reason. Her lance feeling ever so lighter as she approached the witch from behind, not necessarily the most quiet of clanking metal, she stabbed the spear directly through the chest of the witch and grinned. The icon of bleed inflicted her for the first time in this long battle. It was nice to know that she was doing something to help. Bleed was all just luck, so it was difficult to blame herself but even still. 

The paladin took a quick glance up to her health bars to check on their lower leveled friend. She was still at full health, so she was likely doing a good job at avoiding unnecessary conflict by herself. That was a relief at least. "Oi Shield, your friend Shye seems like a resourceful person for someone with no damage or tanking. You got lucky finding her. I'm sure she'll be a great healer when she levels up."

[H:4/4/4/18] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 155/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4
[H: 0/0/0/13] 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: 12/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/4]
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
The Witch: 396/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70 | [BLD: 24/2]

Gritting her teeth down to every single word, the paladin stayed quiet. Anyone was redeemable if they just tried. This boy was not trying. He had grown so attached to the idea that he was the villain of this world, not taking into the account of the man named Kayaba. No one in here was to blame. If this stupid game had never happened, none of them likely would have gone to this kind of life. Maybe Yuki was hopeless. Maybe she saw too much good in people and ignored the bad just so she could hope that they were redeemable. No matter what, it was becoming quite clear that she couldn't do anything for this boy in her current state.

"Y-You have a lot of balls to talk about people like you know them! Mari would never hurt another person again! H-Hidden needs some work but she is trying! Y-You! You're nothing but a monster! Believing in only evil leads to disaster and you will meet your end if you continue to wear that orange cursor like it was a goddamn noose! I'm not stupid for believing that people can all be good if they work at bettering themselves, I'm stupid for trying to put my energy into someone as irredeemable as you! If you want to live life as a target and a victim to everyone's judgement, then keep wearing that stupid orange cursor like a medal. I'm going to put my time into people that actually need it." The paladin's anger was unmatched. Her teeth basically crushing her jaw she turned and ran back to the closest safe zone. This one really was unable to be saved, wasn't he? She couldn't save everyone... But that won't stop her from trying to help everyone damned by this stupid digital world.

@Pinball

Finally able to land a hit on one of these stupid overgrown ferns was nice. She had messed up so many attacks thus far, but she was still somewhat inexperienced so it kind of made sense. Though you would think that it would be easy to chop a giant tree down with an axe when the thing was this slow and large.

It's spiny arm reached past the people around and stabbed Mari directly through the chest. Yuki had almost forgotten her role as a tank, but how was she supposed to tank like this? This weapon and armor wouldn't let her last long, but Mari was in danger. She took another chop at the Tree's base, barely missing the bark of trunk and backed off in front of the orange haired player. The axe she wielded was ill-suited as a make shift shield but she would put it to work if the boss attempted to hit Mari again. "Mari-chan! I have your back!"

Misses Axe Attack 3 on Tree of Winter

Yuki stepped on to floor four. A cold and harsh environment always bit her in snow ridden floor. A new quest she had yet to complete was on this floor and she had almost run the quests dry on this floor. Although, it would be hard to pull off without some help from a damager friend. Even with her new armor, she would have some trouble dealing enough damage to kill the golem before it killed her. Offsetting that balance with DPS would be the only way she could get the quest item that she desperately needed to make her weapon more viable. She opened her menu and scrolled down to Night as usual, crossing over a familiar name that she hadn't heard anything from in a long while: Mari.

Mari's probably still a little bitter after what happened in Nemean Lion and the Familiar Quest. It would be a gamble, but maybe she should give the girl a nudge and see if they can work out some of these problems. Instead of just messaging Night and doing it the easy way, she should message Mari. She opened her private messages with the red head and started typing something out.

moine

Even Yuki had to stop and wonder. Normally, Shield would have yelled at her for saying something like that in the middle of a fight. He always seemed like he took combat seriously, even when there was no danger, so it was quite weird to hear that come from him. It also begs a serious question - What sound does a banana make?

The girl tightened her grip on her white-gold lance and poked the witch once again for one damage and zero bleed. This was really starting to get annoying. Did the Random Number God really hate her that much as to not give her a single proc of bleed? Hopefully something like this didn't happen to her when she needed it desperately to win. The girl sighed quietly as she realized that she was probably not going to be getting that proc like she wanted. Thankfully Shield's thorns was making up for her lack of DPS.

[H:4/4/4/11] Shield: HP: 1760/1850 | EN: 160/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4
[H: 0/0/0/10] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 49/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 12/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 0/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/2] 
The Witch: 397/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70

Shield was quiet this time around. He seemed contemplative for a moment before getting back into action and forcing the witch to make a stab at him. Her health went down even more. Without thorns, a tank would barely be able to do anything by them self without nearly dying. It was a good thing that Thorns could make up for that gap, and as mental note, she remembered that she herself needed to upgrade her own thorns.

Worry about that when you have the free time Yuki, you're on the battlefield. This is no time to be thinking about your build. The paladin got close to her enemy, flanking around to make it difficult as possible to be seen and pressed her spear into the witches back. Still no bleed, but at least she wasn't missing. One damage was better than none, even if it was almost absolutely nothing.

[H:4/4/4/11] Shield: HP: 1826/1850 | EN: 160/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 [BRN 24/0]
[H: 0/0/0/8] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 49/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 121/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 85/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/4] 
The Witch: 398/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70

The paladin marched into the quaint looking shop. It was interesting that there was a shop right next to her own home, must be new. Although, Firm Anima was a pretty well known guild, so it isn't weird that their guild house was out here on floor 22 with her. This one stood out though. The girl in the fox mask groaned as someone walked in her door. "Ugh, oh- You're that cook I got some of my food from. What do you need? Let's make it quick."

"Just some identifications from a quest I did awhile back. I almost forgot about them."

Item Name: -Name Here-
Item ID: 150295
Item Type: One-Handed Assault Spear
Slots: -Leave Blank-
Cost: 960
Post Link: -Leave Blank-
Description: -Item Description-

Item Name: -Name Here-
Item ID: 150295
Item Type: Consumable
Slots: -Leave Blank-
Cost: 290
Post Link: -Leave Blank-
Description: -Item Description-

Item Name: -Name Here-
Item ID: 150295
Item Type: Consumable
Slots: -Leave Blank-
Cost: 290
Post Link: -Leave Blank-
Description: -Item Description-

Transferring Mochi LD 2 to @Assassin and @Xin

The paladin watched the witch fly off course into a bookshelf. She couldn't help but laugh while she tried to pull herself out of a pile of books that had caused an avalanche on her head. "Hahah! Surely you can do better than that!" The girl reformed her spear in her hand and did her best to aim a pleasing shot on the witch before she had time to react. Perhaps she could get the bleed off.

"If you want to beat us, you'd better ask the system to make you stronger!" The girl taunted, driving her massive spear into the witch with ease, but even still she wasn't lucky enough to inflict the bleed status. She had wasted all her luck on the first fight and now she couldn't get the effect to work at all. "Ma mou!~ How many times do I have stab you before you bleed already!" The paladin whined at her lance.

[H:4/4/4/11] Shield: HP: 1826/1850 | EN: 160/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 [BRN 24/1]
[H: 0/0/0/6] Yuki: 720/720 | 60/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 67/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/1]
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 220/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 103/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/4] 
The Witch: 498/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70

Yuki took the little black cube and hooked it onto her side, ensuring that it wouldn't go anywhere and could be activated when they needed it. When Crow asked about it, she smiled. "No you dork, have you not seen a performers craft before? It's a memory cube. It has a song on it that will debuff the enemy. We all came extremely prepared I see. Now, I'm going to talk about the plan. This thing is massive and will destroy me if we don't finish it as quick as possible, understand? I know for a fact that neither of you want to see me die. That being said, when combat begins, I'm going to draw the hate to ensure neither of you take unnecessary damage. I'm going to lure it away so you can't be hit by it's attacks, other than the AoE. While I'm doing that, you'll be flanking it. No matter what happens with me, Do not try to help me. Focus on your end of the bargain and melt it before it can kill me. Is that clear to everyone?" She looks between the two dps players while taking the consumables Crozeph passed to her.

@NIGHT @Crozeph

With another charge the paladin went to attack the witch. Unfortunately, the fiery explosion forced her to back off before she could get her hit in. She laughed as shield taunted the witch further. It was pretty funny considering that she herself would be able to tank this boss if not for the minimum damage occurance that the minion monkeys did. Still working on that passive regeneration in combat.

"You chose the wrong tanks to piss off, Witch. Nothing in this world could ever kill Shield. He's basically invincible!" The girl folded her arms and laughed. The annoyed witch glared over to her with her beady eyes. "If that's the case, why don't I show you just how dangerous I can be to someone as weak as you, you snotty little brat!" The witch growled, readying an attack for Yuki. The paladin braced herself in case Shield wouldn't be able to regain hate in time. Not like the witch's attack would actually hurt her.

[H:4/4/4/4] Shield: HP: 1755/1850 | EN: 165/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 [BRN 24/2]
[H: 0/0/0/5] Yuki: 720/720 | 61/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 184/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/2]
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 220/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 121/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 [ENV - 18/4] 
The Witch: 499/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70

Yuki sat quietly as she quickly praised for her heroics and then instantly scolded just as quickly. How was she supposed to react to all this? Shiina jumped in and could have got herself killed and Mari was upset with her making that ballsy move while Oscar was saying she was a brave person. That coupled with the fact that she could have died was making her mind race with questions. Unable to find answers to the questions, she blurted something out.

"What do you want from me?! Bravery? Obedience? I don't know anymore! I'm trying my best to protect people and I keep getting yelled at for doing my best to help! If I didn't do something Shiina could have been targeted and died! I don't want to see anyone die... That's the whole reason that I wanted to become a tank rather than a support!" The girl stood to her feet and grabbed the Teleportation Crystal she had in her inventory handing it back over to Oscar. "This is yours."

@Mari @Oscar @Shiina

The paladin reared back her lance once more, attempting to impale the witch with the spear end. The witch was paying more attention to the both of them now that Yuki had landed some good hits on her. She weaved away from the lance user, who lost her balance momentarily and stumbled forward. Pros and cons of heavy weapons: Pro, you deal more damage if you can wield it; con, it's [censored] heavy. Yuki stumbled a bit before catching herself from eating the witches dirty looking carpet rugs.

"Blah blah blah, lady could you shut up already and die." The pinkette spun around lifting her weapon once again. The system prevented her from using the lance in combat with two hands, which would be rather nice right now since her shield wasn't being used. She feels really off balance. "I need your quest item already, so fall to our blades!"

[H:4/4/4/4] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 164/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4
[H: 0/0/0/4] Yuki: 720/720 | 61/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 202/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 - [ENV - 18/3]
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 220/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 121/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
The Witch: 499/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70

Yuki kept her seat on the floor as the remaining lions dwindled to nothing but a single remaining lion. They had gotten through this ordeal so far, and they were just one tick of bleed and burn away from seeing the victory icon on their HUDs. Yuki and Shiina were about to get an insane amount of experience for this, and now it feels a little justified since she was able to land an attack on the Lion and dodge one of its attacks while also making the switch to Oscar. What she did was insanely insignificant to the fight, but it ensured that Shiiina, the person she was charged with protecting made it out with her life. That's what mattered to her.

The paladin looked over to her charge with a slight smile but a somewhat concerned expression. "Hey you're doing alright? No scratches or damage to you? I'd be upset with myself if I didn't protect someone well enough and let them get hurt behind my shield." Her smile grew a little as she noticed the full health bar that Shiina had. Good, that's all that mattered to her right now.

@Shiina @Oscar @Mari

Yuki watched the witch speed straight past her and into the barbed-wire field that she was about to put herself through. Trying to beat Shield without the necessary healing to keep yourself alive was more suicidal than her punching one of the Nemean Lion's at level 11. That was in the past, though, and she hoped that Mari could forgive her being a reckless little [censored]. Battle focus taking on her expression now, she tightened the grip on her massive lance and rushed into the witch. The spear pierced through the witches side, only dealing a single point of damage once again. No bleed. How annoying.

"Of course I can't get the bleed to work when I need it to, stupid luck based mechanics. Why couldn't she just get them to work when she needed them to for once! "I hope that Shye is doing alright on her own. Are you sure she'll be okay Shield?

[H:4/4/4/4] Shield: HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 167/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 181 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4
[H: 0/0/0/3] Yuki: 720/720 | 61/66 | DMG: 5 | MIT 81 | EVA: -1 | ACC: 3| THN: 18 | BLD: 24

Elite Flying Monkey 1: 220/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 - [ENV - 18/4]
Elite Flying Monkey 2: 220/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
Elite Flying Monkey 3: 121/220 | 90(45) | MIT: 35 
The Witch: 599/700 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 70