[PP-F1] Secret Medicine of the Forest

[Yamato 0]

Yamato stood with his hands behind his back as he scanned through his quest log standing within the safety of the Portal Plaza on the first floor of the Aincrad Tower within the Town of Beginnings. To him, the most efficient use of time had been to go to the safe zones of every town that was already open and to gather up as many quests as possible. On the one hand, this meant he wouldn't have to engage in the same action later. On the other hand, it meant that there were now myriad options available to the blonde Irishman and his ice blue eyes scanned through the list, quickly discarding quests left and right as being too difficult or too dangerous for his current level. For example, to take the Falling of Tagas right now would be suicide. But, there were also plenty of options available to low level players as well.

[Avilon 0]

Avilon hummed now strolling along the grass her fingers gliding through her fuchsia main now humming and giggling as she strolled happily through the town of Aincrad's first floor. As she continued along her way she stopped and noticed a man standing by the portals. It wasn't unusual so to say but it almost felt like there was a calling for her to join and converse with him. A jaunty skip accompanying her movement over toward him before she let out a prolong inquiry, "What ya doinnnnnnnnnnn stranger?" Now stopping as she began to look him over as she was still partially fascinated by the fact she was able to see here. A rather cheerful expression greeting him now as her eyes were squinted shut from just how big the creased lips were, as if nothing could 'turn that frown upside down.'

 

[Yamato 0]

Yamato looked up from examining his quest menu, not bothering to close out of the menu, and his ice blue eyes swept over the obviously feminine form in front of him. Clearly that body belonged to the voice that had just spoken to him. He grunted once, shrugged his shoulders, and turned his attention back to the quest menu rather than allowing his gaze to linger on her clearly curvaceous body. "I'm selecting a quest to complete from the list of quests that I just finished picking up from NPC's in all of the safe zones yesterday," he answered after a long moment, during which time he had debated whether or not he wanted to answer the woman's inquiry or not. "Is there something you need?"

[Avilon 0]

"Oh!" She exclaimed rather excited by the idea of a quest, "I haven't done many of those yet we should totally pair up and take one out together." An energetic bounce to her physique jiggling with the idea of it. "By the way I'm Avilon, new upcoming star and tank of the front line after a long time of service acting as a mother of sorts to all the poor children who were locked into this game. Always do as much good as you can while you are capable." She smiled a finger flying up and drawing a smiley face in the air. "What is your name by the way? I'm Avi- err wait." She stopped a bit absent minded now as the finger that had once drawn a smiley face now slipped into her mouth. "I already said that didn't I?"  

[Yamato 0]

Yamato rolled his ice blue eyes from behind his opaque player menu that was popped up between himself and Avilon. If what she said was true, about having looked after some of the children that were stuck in Sword Art Online, then she was at least a good person. Possibly even a trustworthy one. Still, it seemed that short-term memory might be a bit of an issue for her if she couldn't remember over the space of a few seconds that she had introduced herself. However, she did raise a valid point in offering to help. The experience point rewards earned from the quest would be the same regardless, and it was far safer to tackle even a simple beginner quest in a party than it was to go it alone. "Yamato," the Irishman grunted in a thick Irish brogue that made it clear to all that, despite the name, he was not actually Japanese. "Working on a tank build too, and it's early enough in the day we should be able to clear several quests if we don't waste too much time." The axe man suited words to action by scrolling through his menu and sending Avilon a party request before closing out of his player menu.

[Avilon 0]

"A couple of missions huh?" she blinked not completely sure if she was capable of defeating that many quests but if he was then they should be fine. "I suppose I will put my inexperienced avi into your capable hands. Although I must admit I never thought this would be as simple as you say it will be." She admitted although she wasn't a gamer at heart which was probably the reason why things were going so slow for her. As the request popped up on her hud she danced her fingers through it accepting his invite before smiling once more. "Then maybe we will be on the front-lines in the future acting as tank buddies! Pleasure to meet you Yama!" Changing his name so it would roll off the tongue quicker. 

[Yamato 0]

"More than a couple," Yamato answered in a low tone, allowing his blue eyes to sweep over Avilon for a moment. He wasn't so much taking in the woman's figure as he was examining her gear. There didn't seem to be much there that was all that impressive, especially for a budding tank. But, maybe she had everything stored away in her inventory while she was in town. Some players preferred not to go traipsing around in all their armor while in a safe zone. "We should be able to clear four, maybe five or six today. It's still early," the Irishman continued. "We should start with a quest called Secret Medicine of the Forest," he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest and heading out in the direction of the appropriate gate that would put them closest to the quest area from the Town of Beginnings. "It's got a good experience reward, we should both pick up at least one or two levels from it. After that there's one called Worn Out Welcome, and then Let There Be Light and Long Live the Queen are both pretty close to each other on the second floor. By the time we get to them we should have leveled enough that neither will be much of a challenge. This will be simple, and safe, as long as you let me handle the tanking since it looks like I have the better gear."

[Avilon 0]

Avilon now glanced back toward Yamato hoping he would be on his way as she actually had no clue where they were headed. As she stood there she swayed like a bell in a church tower humming happily as she was obviously a woman of great cheerfulness. She was merely standing there in her normal clothes wondering now what Yamato could have been searching for. She slowly craned her neck over her shoulder in attempts to see what he could be looking at. "What's there Yamato?" She grumbled peering around wondering if she was in fact going blind once more perhaps it was just temporary sight in this virtual reality although everything she had expected in this world was still clear as day. "Are we just gathering some supplies in the forest for someone? With the sound of medicine it seems like someone is sick?" Her motherly instincts now kicking in as she quickly grabbed his hand and sprinting in the opposite direction, "Quickly we must make haste!"

 

Edited May 5, 2016 by Avilon

[Yamato 0]

"Whoa," the Irishman grunted as Avilon rather abruptly latched on to one of his hands and took off through the Town of Beginnings. The fact that the woman was heading in the wrong direction hardly seemed to matter to her. Of course, it was also possible, and probable, that she didn't realize she was heading in the wrong direction. Setting his booted feet on the paving stones of the street, the blonde man hauled his companion to a stop.

"There's nothing to worry about, the sick person is only an NPC and they can't actually die," he continued, hauling Avilon backwards before putting his hands on her shoulders and spinning her around so that she was pointed in the right direction. "We need to head southeast. Out in the forest we'll run into plant monsters called Nepents. We'll kill them and bring back the items they drop to the quest NPC, then we get rewarded. Should be pretty simple. Along the way we can pass through the Market District, looks to me like your gear could use an upgrade."

[Avilon 0]

She giggled as she sprinted off looking back to him before frowning from that comment, "A person is a person is a person." She frowned now looking to the man rather appalled that he would say something like that. "Surely if it was your own grandmother you would hastily sprint off toward the department store to pick her up some painkillers or what not." She then felt as she was stopped rather abruptly from his boots grinding upon the concrete. "What's the big ideal do you not want to save them?" A frown now worn upon her expression as he started to explain the reasoning and the halting of their progress toward the mission. "Oh, then again we sally forth!" She shouted so the entire first floor could probably hear her as she now sprinted off in the direction toward the direction he had pointed her in.  As he mentioned her gear she stopped, "Oh, right right right I just got all this new stuff from a blacksmith Neko-kitty-something I don't know I wasn't really paying attention give me a second." She smiled now poking through the menu her body lighting up as she suddenly appeared dressed in pristine tier one gear clinging to a large tower shield. "What you think?"

Spoiler

 

[Yamato 0]

"My grandmother is a real person, this quest NPC is just a computer program. It's not real. Harvesting the necessary ingredients for heal them is just a simple story line mechanic. Since it's not a real person it literally cannot die," Yamato replied, crossing his arms over his chest and explaining the way the quest worked to Avilon. She seemed to be rather new when it came to immersive role playing games like Sword Art Online. In a flash, she was off again in the right direction before stopping and trotting back to where the blonde man was still standing. On the one hand, Yamato almost felt as if he needed a leash for the woman. Then she changed her gear for her armor, shield, and sword and he promptly decided that putting her on a leash in that kind of outfit would not be a positive thing, not even slightly. "Ah, that's much better. We shouldn't have any problems at all now."

[Avilon 0]

A smile crossed her face as she began to look down to her chest and glorified crucifix of a shield waving it about happily, "Aren't they just the most gorgeous things you have ever seen." Giggling manically and dancing about in her place for a second as she now twirled racing off once more as she wasn't impressed with his attitude toward the fellow NPC's that were living with them. Sure they were a bit dull but she thought they held ok conversations. Although the girl herself probably wouldn't have caught on if a chat bot was texting her or another human for the better part of a day. "Anyway, where are we even going again I forgot what we were doing except that it was this way?"

[Yamato 0]

OOC: Woo! I got to make an Archer reference. Anyway, I'm thinking we travel to the forest for the next round or two of posting and then start killing quest monsters. Thoughts?

'Phrasing,' was the main thought running through the blonde man's head as the curvy woman looked down at herself and made a comment about "the most gorgeous things." Obviously, she was referring to her gear and equipment. But, it would have been easy enough to think that she was referring to something else entirely. Provided you had a dirty enough mind. "We go into the forest, kill nepents, retrieve the medicine ingredients, turn in the quest, an' get rewarded," the Irishman answered her question in a thick Irish brogue. "There's no need to run though, it will simply dull the mind and make you tired when it's time to engage in combat."

[Avilon 0]

"Err dull minds? Not worrying about the fight?" She groaned trying to understand him through his thick Irish accent as she now took her free hand and rubbed it against her temples. "Does that mean that I should just sit back and watch how it is done or am I needing to run away quickly as these thing will kill us?" She whimpered not entirely certain of this plan now her finger sliding down her face and into her mouth as she nervously began to bit her nail. "So, I just need to poke em with my sword and then let them boop my shield right?" She stated knowing she had a buff on it that could hurt things that attack her.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Avilon

[Yamato 0]

Yamato rolled his eyes, if only mentally, as Avilon's confusion. She just wasn't getting it, still giving the mobs two of them to target instead of just him was definitely a more winning strategy than soloing this by himself. "Walk an' talk," he declared, stepping up next to Avilon and giving the woman a gentle prod in the small of the back with his right hand to get her moving before withdrawing his hand. "If ye're tired then ye will make mental mistakes. That can hurt ye in battle," the Irishman began. "The fight should be easy, but if ye make mistakes it can be harder," he continued, leading the pair of them out of one of the Town of Beginnings' many gates and into the surrounding fields. "So, yes, ye hack 'em with yer sword an' block 'em with yer shield," he continued, his accent growing a bit thicker.

[Avilon 0]

 A rather loud squeaks escaped her lips as she was prodded and whined, "Hey be gentle now I'm still new to all this." She whimpered looking down to her feet before now glancing back up and peering over as they were getting closer to the woods with every step. "And please, I'm perfectly fine." Her hand raising to her head and tapping it repeatedly with her shield hand till she accidentally missed hitting her head as she winced and craned farther down whining from phantom pains thanks to the this game. "Gahh head stop doing that Avi-chan," She said speaking with herself now looking up and peering out into the field. "So, where are the trumpeting nepents?"

Edited May 6, 2016 by Avilon

[Yamato 0]

OOC: We have to fight 4 Nepents.

ID: 58505
BD: 7 (6+1)
MD: 4 (Miss)

[H: 1] Mack: 16/16 [2/4 ENG] (Hack: 2x1x4=8 DMG, -2 ENG)
[H: 0] Avilon: 20/20
Nepent 1: -1/7 (-8 DMG)
Nepent 2: 7/7
Nepent 3: 7/7
Nepent 4: 7/7

"They should be spawnin' any time now," Yamato said in answer to Avilon's question about when the Nepents were going to arrive. Almost as if the nasty little plant creatures had been summoned by either the woman's question or the Irishman's answer, a quartet of Nepents suddenly appeared about twenty yards distant in the tall grass of the fields just outside of the forest. "There they are," he continued, drawing the Heart of the Forest from where he kept the weapon sheathed at his right hip, and readying his shield. "They should be easy enough to kill. Observe," the blonde man said, not a hint of any desire to show off for the woman in his tone, just simple assurance at the fact that they would not be difficult to dispatch.

Advancing on the flowery nepents Yamato drew his axe back until he felt one of his beginning sword skills, Hack, click into place. As the tomahawk began to glow a soft blue the blonde man suddenly sprang forward and raised the wickedly sharp weapon over his head. It descended once upon the Nepent's head before being drawn back lightning fast and whipped laterally across the fighter's body to slam into the Nepent a second time and reduce the creature to free floating pixels. "See? Just like that."

Edited May 8, 2016 by Yamato

[Avilon 0]

ID: 58508
BD: 10+1 Crit +2 cmg
MD: 6

[H: 1] Mack: 16/16 [2/4 ENG] (Hack: 2x1x4=8 DMG, -2 ENG)
[H: 0] Avilon: HP: 20/20 Energy: 3/5 Dmg: 3 (Fell Crescent 1x1x3)   Mit 32 Thorns: 14 Reg:9 Paralyze: 2 BD: +1
Nepent 1: -1/7 (-8 DMG)
Nepent 2: 2/7 (Stun)
Nepent 3: 2/7 (Stun)
Nepent 4: 2/7 (Stun)

Avilon fell silent as her eyes closed ever so briefly it appeared like she was delving into a trance like state when she quickly sprinted forward delivering a brutal area of effect slice through the remaining 3 nepents that howled out as they were paralyzed. Her energy depleting nearly in half as her eyes slowly opened. She smiled as she now glanced back to her companion a rather dizzy expression in her eyes as she groaned and rubbed her head now leaning mostly on her shield and sword eyes fluttering as she wasn't that great of a fighter when she wasn't half asleep, "S-sorry I'm still pretty bad at all of this." She murmured now leaning fully into her shield as she nearly fell asleep standing after her first strike. Her mouth hung open slightly as she coo'd ever so gently after having caused the slashing effect that had stunned all of their foes.

 

Edited May 9, 2016 by Avilon

[Yamato 0]

OOC: We can begin the other three quests whenever you want.

ID: 58510
BD: 6 (4+1+1 Concentration) [Concentration: 5/5]
MD: 8 (Miss)
CD: 4 (To Determine Target, we both have equal hate. 1-6: Mack, 7-12: Avilon) [4<6 No Recovery]

[H: 2] Mack: 14/16 [1/4 ENG] (Hack: 2x1x4=8 DMG, -2 ENG) [2-18=1 DMG, 1x2=2]
[H: 2] Avilon: 20/20
Nepent 1: -1/7 (-8 DMG)
Nepent 2: -6/7 (-8 DMG)
Nepent 3: -12/7 (-14 Thorns)
Nepent 4: -12/7 (-14 Thorns)

As Yamato was stil waiting on his sword skill cool down timer to tick down to zero he watched as Avilon sprang into action and swept her weapon through all three of the remaining nepents. Each of the plant monsters immediately dropped their health bars into the red zone and flashed with a paralysis effect. That was certainly handy. The woman's armor may have made it readily apparent that she had legs for days, and she was clearly new to role playing games like Sword Art Online, but at least she had some obvious natural skill which was always useful.

Then she leaned over against her shield and seemingly fell asleep in the middle of combat.

"I can't even..." Yamato muttered, coming out of his cool down timer and launching into another attack with Hack which dispatched a second nepent. That second attack was substantial enough to cause the two remaining nepents to attack him and, even as their blows landed against his shield they exploded into pixels thanks to the thorn enchantment which left the Irishman standing there by himself with a sleeping woman. There seemed to only be one logical solution, though Yamato was well aware that if someone had fallen asleep while in formation, or even just in a public area of the barracks, that the shaming and pranking would have been without mercy and without end. Quietly, he sidled up behind Avilon.

"Wakey, wakey," he called cheerfully, in a much too loud tone as he poked the woman in the ribs. If that didn't wake her up, then nothing would.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Yamato

[Avilon 0]

Avilon merely lied there as the fight continued to progress her eyes flickering in and out of consciousness till she was lying against the crucifix and mumbling in her slumber. She then glance up toward them all and wondered what was going on as she now peeked her eyes open to view the combat field from hearing a rather loud wakey wakey. "W-what happened to who ... owie," she spoke feeling the phantom pain afterwards. "Oh hi there again yamato did we not finish the mission and get on with the find more and more?" She spokee a bit confused now a finger sliding into her mouth as she nibbled it and contemplating if she was losing time or zoning out.