Hanzoku

Ducking under branches and weaving his way through the underbrush, Hanzoku quickly lost track of what he thought he had seen in the distance. The smart move would have been to return to the well-worn game trail and wait for his elven companion to return. But he was certain of what he had seen, and continued navigating with only a crude mental map, his <<Search>> skill and a healthy dose of luck to guide him. Steadily he found landmarks back, and a few minutes later he entered a small tranquil clearing. Sitting in the center was a simple wooden chest with brass fittings, the qu

Overall another fine haul, though the hoped for Gleaming Scales or Demonic Shards that he had secretly been hoping for once again eluded his grasp. Still, he was steadily collecting col, resources and unidentified items - none of which he expected to match what he had custom crafted to his specifications, though the consumable was worth having identified instead of going straight to disassembly. Looting complete, he paused and squinted at something in the distance. Barely glimpsed between the trees, he thought he saw a chest sitting unattended. It'd be a surprise - he wasn't that far from

It struck him as odd - and suspicious. The elf still hadn't returned, which given how long combat had been going on was likewise odd. He suspected that the elf was watching the combat, yet wasn't interfering. It meant that he probably had a good idea of Hanzoku's combat style, along with its strengths - and weaknesses. That made it even more imperative that he switched up what he was doing to keep the elf guessing. He blinked as glowing shards rained down gently around him and looked around. All that greeted his eyes were the glowing cores of the small herd that he had been fighting. Whi

Still, he contemplated swapping his loot accessory for his accuracy trinket. Greed encouraged him to keep things as they were, but dropping his miss rate to 10% would ensure faster fights and more loot overall. He might miss out on some of the best loot, but faster gathering was worth the switch. His mind wandered to his elven 'helper'. The ones he had met in the city had been standoffish and largely unfriendly. There was definite signs of racism and xenophobia at play, only large negated by the actions of the Front Line teams as they had passed through the floor a year or two ago. For a

His right hand left the handle of his sword, and he lashed out with a deadly side swing that chopped into the surprised deer. It wasn't quite a critical - more the pity, it would have finished the deer in one blow. It was left with only 2 HP to its name. It spun around and clipped him with a hoof, more by accident then intent, knocking him back for a moment. The two opponents paused as they regarded each other. Hanzoku was hale and hearty, though he no longer had the energy to fight with his Sword Arts. not that he needed them - with only 2 HP left, any hit would defeat his opponent. He

Case in point - he prepared his single target Sword Art, <<Sixfold Strike>> as the deer moved to attack once more with its horns. Sure enough, its eyes caught the glow that enveloped his sword and broke off at the last moment, bounding away with cervine grace as he lashed out with his sword. If there was a saving grace to the game, at least the Sword Art didn't discharge when he failed to strike, his sword remaining charged and ready as the two fighters maneuvered around each other. Hanzoku was confident in his armor and advanced fearlessly. The deer recognized the threat of his sw

20/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 227194 Fail (+2 EXP) 3 7 2 227195 Fail (+2 EXP) 4 20 3 227196 Fail (+3 EXP) 7 10 4 227197 Uncommon (+4 EXP) 10 1

Hanzoku rubs his hands together eagerly - opening a treasure chest was always one of the most rewarding experiences in other games, and the overflowing chests the other two had found gave him high hopes. His chest was a scuffed metal trunk with a single latch in the center, measuring about a meter in length and half a meter wide and deep. With a deep breath, he flipped the latch open as the other two crowded close, and pushed the lid open... Well, it was certainly full, at least. Mostly rotting, stinking clothes ruined by their long immersion in water. After sifting through the top layers

Hanzoku looks touched as Nymoria sends him a friends request and clicks the button to accept immediately and without reservation. He likewise exchanges friend requests with Foyle and Kingsley. "I'm glad to have met all of you today. It's been... nice. To go on simple quests like these again." he says with a smile. He lets Foyle take the lead in talking to the blacksmith and snickers as the older swordsman leaves a foxglove in the man's tip jar. "Well, I hope he just admires that - and doesn't try to throw the leaves in a salad." he says with a smirk as they leave for the docks. Once

The difference was, he mused to himself as he followed the Cleave with a regular attack, shattering another deer and leaving him locked in combat with the leader, arrow still waving from its shoulder; was this - the deer were more wary of his weapons, quick to recognize a sword art being channeled and do their best to avoid it. It explained why combat went on so long. And for all that, they didn't even have any actual evasive bonuses! He shuddered to think of fighting an enemy on this floor with EVA 3. Or anything with more than minimal mitigation. Being able to bring down an enemy with a regu

"Don't worry though - God is here... and he's fresh out of mercy." he finished the quote, lashing out with another Cleave. As was always his luck, one of the deer was proving to be problematically agile, and his blow only brought the other to critical HP levels. They were wary of his Sword Art though, both backing off and focusing far more on dodging then pressing the attack. He had noticed the difference between Floor 1 and Floor 8 in the last two battles. It seemed like with more levels, the AI piloting the monsters became more intelligent. The boars and wolves on Floor 1 had been unrel

The first of the deer goes down as he scythes its legs out from under it, both hands on the hilt of his longsword - not that it gives his blows more power, damage being determined far more by bonuses then form in this game. But the added stability helps him cut more precisely, sending the wounded creature to the ground. Not that the deer were taking his attacks lying down - hooves rained down as the other three clustered around him, stomping, kicking and biting as they did their level best to hurt him. But to paraphrase the immortal words of one of the higher level players: "You can't def

19/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 227032 Fail (+2 EXP) 3 10 2 227033 Fail - Salvage (+3 EXP) 7 13 3 227034 Fail (+3 EXP) 6 1 4 227035 Fail (+2 EXP) 2 3

The elf had disappeared and it didn't appear that he would be returning any time soon. A pity - Hanzoku could have used the help. His cleaving strike had managed to only hit two of the four deer, which meant that there was no chance he would wipe out the group before he was out of energy. Instead of cleaving a second time, Hanzoku decided to thin the herd - hah, literally in this case, and strike at the two most injured deer. Once they were down, the cost of his AoE sword art would drop quite a bit as well, allowing him hopefully an extra use for the other two targets. Of course, the herd

Only a minute later, he heard a rustle in the bushes, and the elf went flashing by. "Get ready, round ears." he said over his shoulder as he kept running down the trail, a thunder of hooves indicating that he had more then succeded in finding enemies. In fact, only moments latter a herd of four enraged deer thundered down the trail, lead by a large buck with an arrow jutting from his shoulder - a painful wound but not one that would impede the monster in any great way. Having lost sight of the elf who had shot him, his pain-maddened eyes locked onto Hanzoku, and with a grunt of rage, he l

"Greetings, outlander. What brings you to our forest?" the elf says. Hanzoku takes a moment to look him over, aware that the elf was studying him with keen interest in return. Sturdy clothing in shades of green and brown, a hooded cloak that mostly covered his form. No visible weapons, but a quiver was hung at his belt and he saw the glimpse of a long hunting knife sheathed on the other side. "I'm out hunting, actually. This is my first visit to your wonderous forest." Hanzoku said a beat before the pause would become uncomfortably long. "And yourself?" The elf favored him with a tig

18/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 227001 Failure (+2 EXP) 2 2 2 227002 Rare Item (+6 EXP) 11 12 3 227003 Uncommon Item (+4 EXP) 8 8 4 227004 Failure (+2 EXP) 2 13

Compared to the understated simplicity of Kinsley's casual dismissal of the boars and Foyle's sword dance, Hanzoku felt clumsy and ill-trained, his berserker tactics were effective, but seeing Foyle's precise and meticulous footwork showed a background in fighting skills that he himself sorely lacked. He resolved to find a teacher of the fighting arts once they were done with this quest - every advantage would be needed to survive on the higher floors, and he couldn't rely on the sword arts to carry them. As the last of the three trainees in need of a boarlet, he calms himself and careful

Seeing the boarlets took Hanzoku back to the first days of the game, and his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, breath coming raggedly as he stared into their cursed crimson eyes, filled with porcine lust for blood and death. Their oldest member stepped forward as the first to deal with the monsters, and with a simple slash of his cane, wiped them from existence. As Kingsley returned to the group, Hanzoku mustered his courage. Finding another group of three nearby, he selected one and nearly fell over as he read its level and stats. Five HP. 3 damage. Between his regeneration aura,

Hanzoku accepts the gift of the potion with a bemused expression. While it looks utterly unappetizing to consume, he could safely assume that as a master alchemist, Zachariah wouldn't be pawning failed potions off on them. "Well, thank you for your insight." he instead said politely to the NPC. Outside the store, he just shakes his head, unsurprised. "It's one of those standard tropes - what should be a simple message delivery is never anything but." he says to the others in an amused tone, adding a smile for Nymoria's sake. "Well, let's see what Lyle has to say about this."

17/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 226688 Rare Masterpiece crafted! (+6 EXP) 11 20 2 226689 Failure (material salvaged) (+3 EXP) 7 16 3 226690 Failure (material salvaged) (+3 EXP) 6 17 4 226691 Failure (+2 EXP) 2 8

16/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 226422 Rare Masterpiece crafted! (+6 EXP) 11 19 2 226423 Failure (Material Salvaged) (+3 EXP) 5 13 3 226424 Uncommon crafted! (+4 EXP) 9 15 4 226425 Rare crafted! (+6 EXP) 11 15

15/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 226277 Failure (Material Salvaged) (+3 EXP) 5 19 2 226278 Critical Fail! (+2 EXP) 1 15 3 226279 Uncommon Craft (+4 EXP) 8 15 4 226280 Critical Fail! (+2 EXP) 1 17

14/8/2024 ID Result CD LD 1 226038 Failure (Material Salvaged) (+3 EXP) 7 19 2 226039 Failure (Material Salvaged) (+3 EXP) 8 18

Hanzoku picked his way through the woods, looking for rare materials for his crafting needs as his depleted energy reserves slowly recovered. In such a thick, unfamiliar forest it was both easy to get lost and easy to overlook natural treasures. He was sure that if he knew the woods well that he would have mores success, for every potentially interesting plant, bush or tree he was finding, there were surely another dozen close by that he simply overlooked. He also couldn't escape the creeping sensation going up his neck and the itch between his shoulders. It was one he had encountered bef