[PP-F4] Power Levelling, start! <The Essence of Steel> (Greg & Ssendom)

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg decided that he'd had enough of being too weak and he was fed up of levelling being really slow. He decided he needed to power level with the assistance of another, higher levelled player. To that end, he put up a poster on Floor 1 stating that he required assistance with power levelling and was willing to pay all his col and any rewards he obtained from the quests, be they items, materials or Col, in return for levelling him up to a decently high level, at least level 30, ideally somewhere in the high 30s. He was never going to get anywhere at his current pace and needed to speed up quickly.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Greg Baxen

[Ssendom 0]

Dom was chilling on a random hill outside of the town of beginnings on the first floor, he found himself coming to the floor a lot when he had some down time cause it seemed like the sky was far more unique in this floor than any other in the entirety of Aincrad. He heard a commotion of players laughing at a request to get assistance into leveling into higher levels. Curious the Berserker got off his laying position and walked over to the group of players reading a notice on a wooden pillar outside of town.

As the players were laughing, relatively low leveled they were. They saw a heavily armored arm stretch past them and grab the paper, they each slowly turned to look at the Berserker who stood over them. The first thing they could even see, was the Orange Crystal above his head. The Hydra Skull wearing Armored Dreadnought immediately put the pure fear of death into the players that they booked it towards town screaming in fear. "Weaklings." He stated as he snapped his hand back and forth to make the paper flick into a position for easier reading, "At least this one admits his weakness and is calling for assistance." The Berserker looked at the time and shrugged, "I got time to kill." He told himself then proceeded to head to the fourth floor.

Coming up to the Teleportation gate he entered the snow covered world that brought irritation to his senses, "God I hate the cold." He told himself, Shifting his armor a little bit for a better comfort. He tapped his armor lightly, "Amethyst, Exert Fire. Let's look a fire spirit inhabiting a set of armor." He mentioned to his purple flaming phoenix whelp, which began exerting a bunch of flame making him look like a literal walking suit of armor inhabited by flames itself. Then made his way to the location just outside of town to meet this man called Greg.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg noted someone... or something... he couldn't tell- walking towards him. Greg wondered what something like that- likely a high-level boss monster, noting the flaming appearance and lack of notable human features- was doing on this floor when- on closer inspection, he noticed an orange cursor floating above it. 'So, a PKer, huh?' Greg thought to himself. He was still nervous, given that this guy, with that suit of armor, was probably much stronger than he was. On the upside, should this guy actually accept his offer, Greg could get some serious levelling done, assuming his thoughts about this guy's level were right. He approaches the player wearing the flaming armor. He was sweating due to nervousness, and this reflected in his tone of voice. He definitely sounded nervous. "So, I assume you're here for offer on the poster I put out on the first floor?" He asked the player. "I've got to say," he continues, being sure to choose his words carefully "Your armor looks really amazing. Definitely imposing and very probably a sign of great strength." Greg said. "If it weren't for the cursor above your head, I'd have thought you'd have been a high-level flame spirit boss or something." He finishes. "As I'm sure you're already aware, my name is Greg and I need help power-levelling." He says, introducing himself.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Greg Baxen

[Ssendom 0]

Dom approached the boy who had enough courage to approach a walking suit of flaming armor, let alone he also noticed the fact that Dom was a player killer. Dom lightly tapped his armor and the flame immediately began to dissipate. After the flames finished Dom's piercing evil red looking eyes were staring directly at Greg while his arms were crossed infront of his body. His armor menacing in appearance and his attitude intimidating in it's own right alone, a chuckle could be heard from him. He dropped his finger setting his helmet to invisible so his masculine facial features could be seen.

Dom Grinned and held out his hand, "I will have to say, you have some serious galls to approach a seeming roaming boss mob. But a top that you approached a Player Killer as well and managed to steel your nerves enough to cave under the pressure of possibly getting killed by simply walking up to me." He mentioned light attempting to mess with the young boy's head. Awaiting for Greg to accept his handshake, Dom spoke up, "I am fairly certain that you're well aware of who I am. The name is Dom, also referred to as The Berserker in the Information Broker books you can get on a monthly basis." He informed the boy of his name and title.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg begun to sweat again, but accepted the handshake. 'THE Dom? The Berserker? I'm torn on whether this is a good or bad thing.' Greg thought to himself. 'But given the fact that he complimented me on my courage and steeling my nerves, I'm slightly leaning towards good.' Greg thought to himself, not noticing Dom trying to mess with his hair. "I'm sure you know the deal. I need to level up quickly and I'm willing to pay all my col and mats and any quest rewards I get during the powerlevelling for it." He said. He was still nervous but he was feeling a bit more calm since Dom didn't seem to have an intent to kill yet. Greg still kept an air of caution about himself, though, in case Dom did attack and he needed to make a break for it. Given his terrible luck, it was a huge gamble even greeting this guy in the first place. "I figured I would start on the <Essence of Steel> Quest. I've not done that yet, and, assuming you don't need the quest reward item, it would also allow me to upgrade my weaponry (Which, to be frankly honest, is kinda subpar right now. It's just an <Anneal Blade>. We could probably do a Sub-Dungeon too, for extra SP and Mats- all of the mats will go to you since I have no need for 'em anyway." he explains. With someone as powerful as Dom helping him, he figured a Sub-Dungeon wouldn't be too hard to clear.

[Ssendom 0]

Dom nodded keeping up with all the information that Greg was spouting out, it seemed after Dom said his name that Greg had a moment of possibly knowing just whom he was in the presence of by his body language. But the kid wasn't super obvious about his ticks so it was hard to telegraph what he might be thinking, The boy accepted Dom's hand and managed to slowly calm himself more and more.

Dom pulled out the Greatsword Despair and dropped it upon his shoulder. The blade was of magnificent creation, runic words written up the center portion of the Red Greatsword, the black edges where the sharp blades sat and the eerie purple energy that emitted from the monstrous blade showed just how unique the weapon was by itself, let alone how unique the wielder was alone. Dom shrugged, "I personally don't care about Col, I have over four hundred thousand col just sitting in my bags. I solely need Materials and Sub-Dungeons. So I agree to the terms and conditions, just keep the col to yourself to be honest. And I'll keep the col I get from killing mobs as well." He informed the blonde then began to make way toward the quest location, "So what made you reach out for someone to help you?" He asked as he effortlessly trudged through the snow showing his superior physical strength.

[Greg Baxen 0]

"Alright, sure. That sounds reasonable. I'll continue funneling Mats to you even after this deal is done, since I don't need 'em. Better to send them to someone who'll use them." Greg responded to Dom's terms. "For what made me reach out? I felt tired of being weak, and levelling was going too slow for my liking. My goal is to protect those who can't protect themselves, but how can I do that when I myself am not strong enough to protect anyone?" He explains. "That's why I reached out. I figured that a high-levelled player would be able to help me out. I'd previously done small bouts of power-levelling with a player called Calrex, you may know him, but this is the first large-scale Power-levelling I've done, and I'm resolving to see it all the way through. And I figured the promise of lots of rewards would be tempting enough that they would accept. And lo and behold, a high-levelled player DID come. You. Though with you only needing Mats and Sub-Dungeons, the former of which I don't need, that only improves the situation even more." Greg explained. "Anyways, let's get moving. That Snow Beast isn't gonna slay itself." Greg finishes.

[Ssendom 0]

(Not using Col farming shoulders.)

Dom chuckled, "Well you didn't hold back from telling me an entire story." His chuckle persisted through his words, after making a statement the boy continued on explaining about his feeling of inferiority and something began to start driving himself to get better. Even though Dom was helping a lower level, the Dreadnought was completely in this for himself. He needed a large amount of materials. The boy was rather smart to attempt to bring in a Higher Leveled player to assist him on a fast route to getting to higher levels, and Dom was happy to oblige for the rewards.

The boy showed a surge of eagerness to get out there to fight the beast of the fourth floor that wasn't Avalanche, he was about to take off after he finished talked, "Whoa, whoa there boy. It's still another half day trek through the snow. If there is anything you are going to need to learn is that you have to be leisure about everything." He flicked his blade into battle ready stance as four snow golems materialized into existence in their path, "And let everything come to you while you march your way onto your target." He Explained as he grabbed a crystal from his battle ready inventory and a vial of strange looking blood. He crushed them both having a surge of red energy over come him empowering his strength, "And go crazy." He cackled maniacally.

Launching forth Dom easily cleaved through each and every single Snow Golem without a bead of sweat dropping from his face. He flicked his blade causing each Golem to explode into blue data particles and him accumulate a huge mass of materials. The Berserker looked back at Greg, "And that is how I do things." He stated and looked at his blade, "And it looked like Despair decided not to use it's unholy energy to boost my damage output." He chuckled.

ID: 51573 BD: 9 (-8 Fallen Damage, +1 Crit Damage) LD: 15+6 =21 (bonus mat)

Stats:

Spoiler

Dom: 198 (173 base + 5 ath + 20 Blood of the Champion)
DMG: 27 (1 Base + 1 ath + 5 enhancement + 4 dmg + 8 Fallen + 2 Blood + 6 Damage Crystal)
EVA: 2
ACC: 3
LD: 6
NRG: 43
Berserker: 1/5 damage dealt is healed
Battle Healing: 1/5 Max hp healed on a CD 10+
Emergency Recovery: 25% of Max HP healed when dropped to 25% HP

Dom: 198/198
   31/43 Energy -12

Snow Golem 1-4 DEAD/89 22 MIT - (20*6=120-22=98)

Total Mats: 1780 Col | 8 Mats

Edited March 16, 2016 by Ssendom

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg sweatdropped as Ssendom obliterated every last Snow Golem with a single swing. They weren't bosses, but DAMN! "Well, I see they don't call you 'The Berserker' for nothing." was all Greg could say. Honestly? Greg could've sworn he felt that blow and he wasn't even near the hit! "And I can safely say I'm legitimately both impressed and absolutely scared senseless right now. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why. Considering you absolutely obliterated four mobs that are probably stronger than me individually in a single blow, it would take someone either really brave or really stupid to not get scared." Greg said. He was trying to keep his cool but JEEZ! This guy practically embodied his title! He was definitely reminded of a similar being he saw in an Anime (Although said anime character was more vengeful and less leisurely, due to circumstances) by the raw power this guy put out.

[Ssendom 0]

Dom flipped his blade and dropped it upon his shoulder which seemed rather customary for him, He grinned and chuckled, "A lot of people talk about my shear insanity when it comes to hunting enemies. I happen to fight mobs about four times the strength of these weak creatures to be honest. I was holding back a considerable amount to be completely frank." He said with an honest tone. As he finished speaking another for Golems spawned directly next to the Dreadnought, the man sigh in a very bored manner. He lifted his blade, "Come on creatures... You don't provide me a challenge in the least." He exclaimed.

The Blade began to emit a very powerful darkish purple energy that was completely unlike any sword art Greg had probably seen, "Meet the Fallen blade of DESPAIR!" He shouted in a bloodthirsty Rage. With a single swing of his weapon he cleaved through all four golems again obliterating them in a mili-second, "Now we can continue. There might be another group coming up soon... They always seem to stroll in drones of four when they're fighting me and I can never explain it." He informed the Boy.

ID: 51577 BD: 8+3 LD: 19+6=25 (Bonus col and mit)

Dom: 198/198
   20/43 Energy -12 +1

Snow Golem 5-8 DEAD/89 22 MIT - (27*6=168-22=146)

Total Mats: 5340 Col | 16 Mats

Edited March 16, 2016 by Ssendom

[Greg Baxen 0]

"I haven't a clue." Greg responds. "It's possible that they may be trying to exhaust your stamina so you can't just splatter the others with your sword arts, since AoE Sword Arts cost the most Stamina." Greg explained. "However, it's only a theory and it's a bit shaky as I'm not sure regular mobs like these have an advanced AI like that. I'd understand if it was something like a boss, but regular mobs? Unlikely."  He theorized.  He wasn't sure but that's the best he could come up with.

[Ssendom 0]

Dom sighed, "No need to put all your head to it, we're not Einstein or Kayaba Akihiko or anything. We just have to stay on our course. There should be another group up the ways, I have learned that there are at most twelve of a specific mob in any given zone. Sometimes there is more than twelve when you're on the upper floors, but for the most part there are twelve of any given monster to a particular zone. After another group we should have a fairly easy time walking ourselves over to the Quest boss without a single issue what so ever." He explained to the unknowing boy.

He shrugged his shoulder and readied his weapon as he saw the materialization begin for the Snow Golems, the front two finish their materialization and before Dom could shift his stance the Golems were already swinging their fists at him. He easily dodged the first one, but the dash step put him in the crosshairs of the other's fist swinging direction. With an effortless block of his blade with a spin it easily threw the golem off kilter. Using the momentum of the spin Dom cleaved straight through the enemies shattering the final group of golems into thousands of pieces. He then easily flipped his blade into it's scabbard and began walking like nothing even happened before, "Lets get to the boss." He laughed.

ID: MD: 2 - 2
ID: MD: 6 - 2
ID: BD: 10 LD: 15+6=21(Bonus mat)

Dom: 198/198
   9/43 Energy -12 +1

Snow Golem 1-4 DEAD/89 22 MIT - (21*6=126-22=104)

Total Mats: 7120 Col | 24 Mats

Edited March 16, 2016 by Ssendom

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg sighed. When were they going to reach the Snow Beast? He wanted to hurry this up so he could level faster. He was losing his patience but he couldn't do anything but sit back and lean on his own thoughts. He was mostly thinking about what he was going to say when he finally mustered up the courage to apologize to Shizuka for not being there for her. However, some things really started popping up in his mind, upsetting him. He had been wandering around floor 11 at one point, at the time of the Spring Festival and he had seen Shizuka with another man, which led Greg to think about a horrifying thought... what if Shizuka didn't care about, or hell, didn't even REMEMBER Greg at all? The thought of it horrified him, but he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. He had to focus. Subconsciously, however, he prayed to ANY AND ALL GODS that this terrible thought did not come to pass. He didn't know what he'd do if it did- 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Greg Baxen

[Ssendom 0]

While walking aside the blonde haired boy, the Berserker couldn't help but notice that Greg was having some inner turmoil of some kind. Wasn't in the job description to ponder into it, and if they boy truly want to share his feelings he would do it already. Dom decided to talk about something to get to the boy, "Look, if you're feeling somewhat impatient you should probably cool down a little bit. The faster way to leveling is by being efficient with your time and effort. I didn't reach to one of the top ten highest levels rushing blindly forward without recourse. I strategized my time to get the most out of it. Hence why I am one of the richest and most well geared players in All of Aincrad." He informed Greg thinking it might take his mind off whatever it is that he was truly thinking about, plus the sullen mood was beginning to irk Dom. A sad an depressed boy would slow the Berserker down ultimately.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Ssendom snapped him out of his thoughts. Greg smiled a bit. "Good advice. Though it's much easier with friends and levelling by oneself is not only incredibly time-consuming but also really, REALLY boring, at least in my opinion, mostly due to it being time-consuming." Greg said. It wasn't much for conversation but it was drawing Greg's mind away from the dilemma he was facing. He really didn't want to think about this right now so ANY distraction was welcome to him. He just hoped he could keep himself distracted for the entire power-levelling session. That way, he could likely retain a good portion of his sanity instead of torturing himself on 'what-ifs' and 'maybes'.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Greg Baxen

[Ssendom 0]

Dom shrugged at the boy, "I find venturing out by myself a lot simpler. No one to slow me down, a chance to be at peace with myself you know? I have too many issues with people in my past so I tend to stray away from people mostly. Those that tend to fight at my side now a days know that I am a bit of a maniac in the fight. Some have put themselves at risk of dying just to fight at myself." He chuckles, thinking he might continue to disrupt the chain of thought that was going on in Greg's mind, "But ultimately, you will only continue to bring yourself down if you don't let it out and let go. But you don't have to do that with me, just letting you know." He chuckles again.

[Greg Baxen 0]

"I know." Greg says solemnly. "However, I'd much rather take my time dealing with what's bothering me. That way I can put off the inevitable talk that I'm going to have with the person whom I'm concerned about, and take my mind off of the worst-case scenario. That's another reason I'm power levelling with you- to take my mind off of the inevitable talk that's going to happen, just for a little while." Greg said, coming clean about some details of his plight. Specifically that it involves someone. He would assume that Ssendom would know what he's talking about. "And speaking of taking my mind off of it, I think I see the Snow Beast over there. Is that it?" Greg asked, pointing to what he assumed was the Snow Beast.

[Ssendom 0]

Dom stopped and pressed the bridge of his nose together with his index finger and thumb to show an sign of obvious annoyance, "Oh this is just women trouble isn't it." He walked over to him and grabbed him by the shirt collar lifting the boy off his feet and towards Dom's face so they were face to face, "Look, is a woman gonna prevent you from dying in this miserable world? No. Someone can sneak behind you and slaughter you before you even have the chance to react. Get women out of your head, they're going to slow you down and cause you to potentially die. You have to make yourself stronger for yourself, focusing on this woman is gonna get you killed. Now show me the man that resides in this husk of a body or get ready to die. Let me know which one you want to be!" He barked in the boy's face then set him down pointing to the boss, "Who's going to show me where the real man within you is?" He asked with a demented look of anger and intimidation.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg grimaced at Ssendom's words. "What you say may be true..." he started. "But I made a promise. A promise I intended to keep. But I can't do that if the worst-case scenario turns out to be true." Greg said, resolve showing in his eyes. "I can't live the way you do, cutting yourself off from others. That's impossible for me. I have people who will, in the future, count on me to protect them. To fight alongside them. And to me, that means fretting over others is one of the more common things I do." He continued. His resolve wasn't broken at all. "But that's MY strength. The capacity to worry about others. To care about others, regardless of what it costs me. That is what I resolved to do a long time ago, and I don't plan on backing down on that promise any time soon!" Greg argued. The intimdation wasn't affecting him. He didn't care that this guy was a PKer or the Berserker- he was attacking Greg's way of life- the path he had chosen. He was going to defend it even if it costed him his life. "You and me are very different men, and we have different definitions as such. Your strength is not the same as my strength. Where you consider other people to 'hold you back', I cherish the bonds I've built and treat them as the most important things in my life. I refuse to abandon my way of life. I already made my choice long ago! Even if it kills me, this is the path I've chosen, and I'll follow it through to the end without hesitation! I'll stand up for what I believe in! I don't give a damn if you're the Berserker, or an infamous PKer, when someone attacks my ideals, I WILL defend them to the best of my ability, even if that means staring Death itself in the face and flipping it off, and then taking up arms against it! Yes, I have my doubts, but that won't stop me from fighting on until the bitter end!"  Greg announced. If this man wanted to see a real man, Greg would show him one. One who isn't afraid to stand up for what he believes in. One who won't hesitate down the path he walks. One who won't let Death itself get in the way of his ideals. 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Greg Baxen

[Ssendom 0]

Dom grinned and chuckled, "There might be a man in you after all." Dom nodded at Greg, impressed that the boy would stand up absolutely for what he believed in. Dom was wasting a bunch of time talking to the poor boy so he could recharge his energy, "Nothing says more about a man, than how he stands up for what he believes in. Had you keeled over and just did as I said, you wouldn't have been a man. I guess I can't call you boy anymore." He laughed, "Thank you for the conversation, now my energy has recovered time to take care of the beast." He chuckled, showing what it seemed like no apathy or empathy for what the boy was saying beyond that.

The Snow Beast roared at the Berserker who walked up to it showing no fear or even the slightest bit of some intimidation. He stepped right into the face of the Beast that had been considered fearsome at one point in time, "Nice to meet you bub, now meet Despair." He spun his blade a slight bit and slashed through the creature with ferocious strength instantly obliterating the Snow Beast. The quest reward was dropped on the ground, which he picked up and threw it over his shoulder to Greg, "Here is your reward. Let's get ready to find that Dungeon." He stated out loud.

ID: 51600 BD: 5+3 LD: 15+6=21

Dom: 198/198
   9/43 Energy -12 +1

Snow Beast: 250/250 (27*12=324)

Total Mats: 8350 Col | 26 Mats

Edited March 16, 2016 by Ssendom