[SP-F3] Es-Cah-Pay, That's Spelled Just Like Escape!

[Mack 0]

The third floor, it was home to another recently discovered quest. It was a low level quest, to be quite honest, but at least it came with a bit of an experience point boost at the end once it was completed. Given that he was working on leveling himself up as fast as he possibly could within the world of Sword Art Online, to try and get to where he could force other players along the front line to listen to him when it came to strategy and planning for Boss Raids, Mack found himself wandering the vast plains of the third floor. In truth, given the low level nature of the quest and floor, the ginger giant wasn't exactly on his toes in terms of alertness as he wandered through the tall fields of grass. There was nothing on this floor that he had to really worry about. All of a sudden, though, the armored giant felt a small prick in his arm. He barely had time to glance down before he fell to the earth with a thud.

[Mack 0]

ID: 63094
LD: 9 (Fail)
1/4 - Break Down Gate

Several hours later the red-headed behemoth awoke to find himself stuck in a jail cell behind a wrought iron gate with his wrists bound in front of him and all of his gear removed. Growling, the Vice Commander squinted at the offending bindings around his wrists. "Do they honestly think these bindings will hold me," he grumbled. The muscles of his neck, shoulders, and arms tensed and with a soft grunt, Mack popped the bindings he had been tied with. Rolling his head around on his neck, he advanced to the gate and checked it out, poking the locking mechanism with his finger. When that failed to produce the tell tail click of the lock disengaging the hulking ginger slammed his shoulder into the gate. There was more than one way to be free from the cage.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

ID: 63096
LD: 6 (Fail)
2/4 - Break Down Gate

"Sturdier than I thought," the crimson headed Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath grumbled to himself. Growing, he worked his shoulders in a few circles to loosen them up and then decided to try his luck at picking the lock again. Reaching out his right index finger, the burly axe man tapped the locked door again. For a second time, it steadfastly refused to open to allow him admittance to the wonderful world outside of the cell where he could see his gear waiting to be reequipped. Grumbling, the ginger warrior took a step back and slammed his shoulder into the wrought iron gate for a second time.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

ID: 63097
LD: 9 (Fail - Lock Jammed, unable to pick)
3/4 - Break Down Gate

Stepping back from having slammed into the gate for a second time, Mack considered the gate for a moment. Wrapping two massive hands around a pair of the sturdy wrought iron bars, he shook the gate and noted, with some satisfaction it must be said, that the hindrance was noticeably more loose on its hinges than it had been moments before. Shrugging his shoulders, he tapped the lock for a third time and to nobody's surprise it failed to unlock yet again. The only difference was now the lock said "Unable to Pick" when he tapped it. Stepping back from the locked gate and scowling, Mack flipped the gate the bird seconds before slamming his shoulder into it for a third time.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

4/4 - Gate Destroyed
0/2 - Guards Arrive

There was only one way to solve this. Mack was aware of the fact, now, that he could slam his shoulder into the gate enough times to break it down. That much was obvious. He was in the middle of a quest and so, logically, there had to be some way out of the predicament in which he found himself at the given moment. It was no longer a matter of if the gate could be broken down. It was, instead, a matter of when the gate would be broken down. That meant that what it really boiled down to was force. Brute force. Sheer, overwhelming firepower. Mack understood that concept quite well. Back up to the farthest he could get in his cell away from the gate, the ginger man growled and exploded into motion. At the same time he activated his charge skill. Slamming into the gate like a charging rhino, Mack easily plowed through it and into the room beyond. "Now, where's my gear?"

[Mack 0]

Guards Arrive: 1/2

Standing outside the cell now, Mack could clearly hear the voices of his erstwhile jailers as they made their way back towards the cell to, no doubt, investigate the serious amount of noise that the Vice Commander had made in escaping from his imprisonment. Moving to a large crate near the cell, Mack began to root around and one by one he re-equipped his missing items and added things back to his inventory. Eying his two axes for a moment, he at last settled on Invictus before selecting to equip the Golden Axe Amulet in place of his standard equipment which was St. Michael's Fingers. Given the floor that he was on, he had serious doubts that these bandits would pose any kind of real threat to him. Instead it would be a much larger hassle to find his way back out of their hideout.

[Mack 0]

ID: 63102
BD: 6 (3+3)
MD: 4 (2+1 ACC+1 Neg. EVA)

Guard 1: 14/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation]
Guard 2: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Whirlwind: 2x1x17=34, 34-20=14, 14-14=0)
Mack: 222/222 46/48 EN

Moving to the side of the doorway that led to the hallway that the guards were coming down like a thundering herd of cattle, Mack bided his time. When both of them had entered the room, the ginger giant launched a sneak attack from behind and quickly made short work of the second of the two guards. His compatriot whirled about and jabbed out with his spear, but Mack merely batted the spear head wide and away from him with the flat of the axe head as he circled and looked for another opening to attack the second of the two guards. It wouldn't be too much of a chore to eliminate them, just as he had suspected.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

ID: 63102
BD: 6 (3+3+1 Concentration) (Concentration: 5/5)
MD: 7 (5+1 ACC+1 Neg. EVA)

Guard 1: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Ultimate Breaker: 3x1x13=39, 39-20=19, 14-14=0)
Mack: 221/222 44/48 EN (16-84=1 DMG)

With deceptive speed, the remaining guard lunged forward. Mack, for his part, made no attempt to dodge. The ginger man had absolutely no fear of the bandit peons and, if he let himself get hit would provide a wonderful opening that he could exploit to eliminate the remaining guard. "Ow," the red-head remarked in a dry tone, his cape swirling around him as he moved in and delivered a series of quick and decisive blow with Invictus that reduced the guard to free-floating pixels. "Now, if I was the exit to a poorly designed bandit camp, where would I be," Mack asked, talking more to himself than to anyone else in particular.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

+1 EN, +6 HP out of combat
Stealth Check: 1/3

Holding Invictus so that the axe rested against his right shoulder, Mack set off through the only door and down the only hallway that led away from the holding cell in which he had been imprisoned. No doubt this hideout would turn into some kind of maze at some point. But, in the mean time, since there was only one direction that he could travel in that made the entire ordeal considerably more simple. Moving as quietly as his heavy armor and significant size would allow, the ginger headed man moved along through the hideout, keeping his storm grey eyes peeled for any other bandits that might cross his path. Just because he was significantly stronger than they were didn't mean that he wanted to blunder blindly into an ambush.

[Mack 0]

+1 EN out of combat
Stealth Check: 2/3

For several minutes Mack made his way through the subterranean lair of the bandits. The hallway he was in seemed to go on and on forever. Really, it didn't even seem to have all that m,any twists and turns in its layout. "This is just poor dungeon designing," Mack grumbled to himself, plodding down the corridor and becoming increasingly more noisy as he moved. This was supposed to have been a nice and easy quest, especially for someone at his level. There was definitely no way that this should have consumed as much time as it had already taken up. Mack had specifically allotted four hours to knock out this quest and earn the rewards and he had already blown straight past that time limit like it was sitting still.

[Mack 0]

OOC: Typical, when I want a high LD I can't get it, when I need a high LD I still can't get it.

ID: 63108
BD: 11 (8+3) (Concentration: 2/5)
MD: 6 (4+1 ACC+1 Neg. EVA)
LD: 16 (16 > 10, DETECTED SOLID SNAKE STYLE (!))

Guard 1: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Whirlwind: 2x1x17=34, 34-20=14, 14-14=0)
Guard 2: 14/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] 
Mack: 220/222 45/48 EN (16-84=1x2 = 2 DMG)

After what seemed like a forever journey passing through the corridor, Mack finally noticed a spill of light up ahead. Moving a bit faster, and readying his axe the burly red-head went tearing out of the end of the passage and slammed into the first of the two guards so quickly that the spear wielder was reduced to pixels before he even knew what hit him. Only the fact that his compatriot had pointed and raised his own spear allowed the first guard to raise his own weapon in time. As a result, Mack literally impaled himself on both of the weapons, but he also eliminated one of the attackers at the same time, so it wasn't for nothing.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

ID: 63109
BD: 9 (6+3) (Concentration: 1/5)
MD: 4 (2+1 ACC+1 Neg. EVA)
LD: 3 (No Loot)

Guard 2: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Ultimate Breaker: 3x1x13=39, 39-20=19, 19-14=-5)
Mack: 220/222 42/48 EN

With a roar, Mack continued to press his assault on the considerably outmatched guards in the small room. Charging into the remaining man, Mack wrapped a hand around the guard's throat and slammed him savagely backward against the wall. The man's eyes rolled for a second in his head as the axe man flung him on the ground and delivered a single vicious chop directly into the guard's chest. Unsurprisingly, the bandit exploded into a shower of blue pixels. Grunting in a satisfied sort of way, the towering soldier looked around and, spotting and exit to the room left and continued moving through the bandit caverns.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

OOC: Out of Combat, +1 EN, +6 HP

Alert: 1/3

Once again, the axe man found himself in what could only be described as 'nondescript' if one was feeling especially generous. The tunnel was, essentially, featureless. There weren't even any random accumulations of special mushrooms to pluck or tiny wildlife to examine and cross his path. Sighing, and muttering to himself about lazy game programmers, Mack kept his axe at the ready and moved at a steady clip through the hallway. He assumed that, since he had been found once, there was a strong likelihood that he had set off some kind of programmed alert which meant it would only be matter of time before he was discovered again by another group of bandits and had to fight his way out.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

Out of Combat, +1 EN
Alert: 2/3

Just as Mack had suspected, he could hear the sounds of voices and footsteps up ahead. The fact that those voices and footsteps were also accompanied by the founds of weapons and armor clattering about could hardly be called a surprise. Just as he had suspected, his run ins with the previous bandits had triggered some sort of alarm. The real question about the alarm was whether or not it would bring every guard in the place thundering down on his head or, instead, if a simply unending stream of bandits would spawn and engage him in combat until he found his way out of their hideout. Mack shrugged his shoulders. Only time would tell.

[Mack 0]

OOC: Alert Triggered.

ID: 63180
BD: 13 (10+3)
MD: 12 (9+1 ACC+1 Neg. EVA)
LD: 1 (No Loot)

Guard 1: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Lumberjack: 3x1x19=57-20=37 DMG)
Guard 2: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Lumberjack: 3x1x19=57-20=37 DMG)
Mack: 220/222 39/48 EN (17-84=1x2=2 DMG)

Reaching the end of yet another corridor in the bandit hideaway, Mack went tearing out of the end, screaming bloody murder and whipping Invictus around his head quite murderously. Not even breaking his stride, he charged into the room and impaled himself on their weapons without a second thought, completely ignoring the meager damage that was doled out. In returned, the ginger giant slammed the heavy bladed head of Invictus into each of the bandits several times, reducing them to a joyous confetti of blue pixels. The only thing missing was a raucous fanfare.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

Alert: 1/3

ID: 61181
LD: 11 (No Exit)

Making enough noise to wake the dead, literally, Mack pawed through the contents of the guard room looking for anything that might constitute useful loot. In truth, the red-headed behemoth had no real thought that there would be anything worthwhile to be discovered. After all, this quest was taking place all the way down on the third floor and he was pushing level fifty at this point. The odds of any mob or random crate having worthwhile and useful loot were, effectively, zero. Still, the Vice Commander rampaged around the place like a bull in a china shop looking for anything good.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

+1 EN, out of combat
Alert: 2/3
Exit Search: 1/3

After completely disassembling the room that the two bandits had been in, looking for loot that was nowhere to be found, Mack tossed Invictus over his shoulder and set off down another corridor in the hideout. Behind him, the guard room looked like a hurricane had blasted through it with everything upended and bits and bobs tossed all about. Soon enough, he was certain, there would be more bandits to arrive and then they could get on with being reduced to pixels and the continual search for yet more loot could resume. "This quest is looking more and more like it's going to be a colossal waste of time," the Vice Commander grumbled as he moved through the caverns like a well-dressed man out about town.

[Mack 0]

Alert: 3/3 - Guards appear
Exit Search: 2/3

ID: 63185
BD: 13 (10+3)
MD: 9 (7+1 ACC+1 Neg. EVA)
LD: 5 (No Loot)

Guard 1: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Lumberjack: 3x1x19=57-20=37 DMG)
Guard 2: 0/14 [DMG: 16, +1 Acc, +2 Eva, +20 Mitigation] (Lumberjack: 3x1x19=57-20=37 DMG)
Mack: 220/222 36/48 EN (16-84=1x2=2 DMG)

Grumbling dark imprecations about looking for exits and walking in circles, Mack made his way down yet another corridor. About twenty feet from where it terminated, the ginger man having already figured out how this place worked, exploded into motion and activated his charge skill. Tearing out the end of the corridor, Mack impaled himself on the weapons of the bandits again. Just as had happened the time before he landed a critical strike and his two-handed axe, Invictus, made very short work of the two low-leveled mobs. The Vice Commander rolled his head from side to side and cracked his neck as the two bandits exploded into pixels.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Mack

[Mack 0]

Exit Search: 0/3
Alert: 1/3

ID: 75181
LD: 1 (Yeah, that's a big DID NOT FIND THE EXIT THERE)

Mack: 222/222 37/48 (+20 HP, out of combat) (+1 EN, out of combat)

With the most recent round of combat with the bandits infesting the cave, Mack moved on to the next intersection and considered his options. Neither way really seemed all that likely to be better, or worse, than the other options. Shouldering his axe, the Vice Commander moved off down the path to the right. He followed the twisting, winding subterranean path for several minutes before coming to a hidden door. Surely, this had to be a back door out of the bandit's hideaway. Throwing his shoulder into the door, Mack easily blasted the hindrance from its hinges, watching in satisfaction as the door shattered in a shower of blue pixels. Sighing with contentment, his storm grey eyes swept the room only to discover that he had, somehow, found his way back into the cell where he had started.

[Mack 0]

Exit Search: 1/3
Alert: 2/3

Mack: 222/222 38/48 (+20 HP, out of combat) (+1 EN, out of combat)

A long, low growl escaped from the throat of the crimson headed Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. escaping from this idiotic little whole in the ground really should not be half as difficult as it was turning out to be. Sheathing his axe, the beaded giant moved to the fallen door of wrought iron bars that had served as the entrance to his cell, before he had broken it down. Crouching and wrapping his fingers through the barred gate, Mack grunted and heaved the gate up. Snarling, he stalked out of the jail area carrying the broken door with him. The next bandits he found were going to have a very bad day. A very bad day indeed.