[PP F1-F5] <<Earning a Living>> - Student of the Hammer (Opal) - COMPLETED

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus stood in a smithy, looking down at a collection of hammers with an intense gaze. He had just recently made the decision to take up a profession. He was unsure which one he wanted, but after remembering that Blacksmith, Teion, and the nice thing she did for him, he seemed to gravitate towards that profession. That is why he found himself here today, looking at these hammers, trying to look into what it took to have such a job. Cygnus sighed and moved on to another display case that held even more hammers. He really should have brought someone along that knew more about this whole "professions" thing. "Well, guess I have no choice but to do what I can on my own." He mumbled as he shook his head, hoping he didn't waste too much time blundering around.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Cygnus

[Opal 0]

"What do you mean only a thousand col? This is high quality monster drops!" Opal complained to the shop keeper. She had been busy grinding on the upper floors, hoping to make some extra col on the side with the advanced monster drops she had received during her time on those upper floors. Yet here she was haggling with the merchant trying to get top dollar out of the lot of weapons. While they looks impressive, they were nothing shy but uncommon weapon drops from those beastly renegade mobs on those upper floors. Sighing and swinging a hand over her snow white hair, the woman leaned in and pouted slightly, showing her chest in the process to the merchant, "Fifteen-hundred and I'll..." she leaned in to whisper to the shopkeeper, the man's brow arched when the words were spoken into his ear. Moments later his head was enthusiastically nodding in acceptance and she was fifteen hundred col richer. 

The small imp beside her, Jaken, was staring at another customer the entire time. His yellow intense gaze at him while he moved from one display to the next. When Opal stepped back with her sack of col, the small green imp was nearly flattened by her boot, "Let's go, Jaken." He moved left and right avoiding her boot in his face as she nearly punted him out of the shop. She had not recognized the player, but there was so many level one players in this city that they all pretty much looked the same. But she couldn't help but stop and offer some advice, "Listen hon, don't rack your brain over this decision. Pick one that matches the color of your eyes and go with that. In the end, they all do the same God damn thing. It's just a hammer. Or you could, I don't know? Be a man and go out and slay a rare monster for a hammer drop?" The woman offered with a bit of an air of superiority to her. 

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus was in the middle of his hammer shopping when another player came up to him and offered some... friendly advice. He was going to call it friendly. While her tone was less so, he couldn't disagree with her. But what was this about monsters dropping hammers? He hadn't heard of that before. She called them rare though, which didn't make Cygnus feel better about going for them all by his lonesome. "Hammer drop...?" He turned his head to the side slightly. "I've never met a monster before that dropped hammers. Do you know of any?" He hoped they weren't too strong. He was only level 4. But if they were too strong, maybe he could convince this woman to come with him? She looked more than capable even though he couldn't see her level.

[Opal 0]

"Eyes are up here, buddy." The woman gestured to those ominous violet orbs that almost seem to spin in the cold whites of her eyes. She pressed her body to a nearby wall and folded her arms, "I know a few. Not on this floor though. We might be able to get one from a Dungeon Boss on the upper floors if you are interested. I'll cut you a deal. You supply me with a weapon when I need one or maybe some armor and I'll do all the heavy lifting and get you that hammer. There will be rules going into this as well, I don't want a dead newbie on my hand..Hahaha...That's actually pretty funny now that I mention it, and somewhat ironic." At this point the woman had laughed and had forgotten her earlier crimson crimes. Her violets fell back on the would be Blacksmith, "Up to you, Slugger." 

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus moved his head into its former position. "Eyes... up here?" He repeated, as if he never heard that expression before. When she offered to take him through a dungeon to get his hammer, he was excited at first, but then he remembered that she mentioned wanting a new weapon or some armor. Again, he wasn't sure of her level, but it was way higher than his. He wasn't sure what he could do for her exactly, but maybe he could be of use. The way she laughed at the potential of him dying though creeped him out a bit. Still, he couldn't turn down this offer. He nodded in response and held his hand out to her. "You have a deal. My name is Cygnus by the way. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[Opal 0]

Black lips curled into a thick full smile to him as his hand gestured out, "Opal." She said in accepting his handshake. With a quick touch and go formality between meeting of new individuals, the woman raised herself from her lean and gestured her small green imp to follow, "Let's go, Jaken. We are off to Floor Five." The imp stopped dead in his tracks and scurried in front of her, "Mistress Opal! I must impose! That floor is horrifyingly hot, and for a creature of genepool, I will turn into leather from the dry heat. Perhaps the humid climate of six would be more suitable?" 

Opal raised a brow at her familiars quick rebuttal of her order, "No, Jaken. Floor five. Prepare two Cold Auras for myself and Cygnus here. Prepare my hunting equipment as well as my Masamune X for the upcoming battle." With her foot, she moved the Imp with a slight touch off her booted toe at his grabs to make him move to the side, sliding his body over from the exit. 

As they left the shop, Opal gestured towards the Knight to the Teleport Plaza, "As you may have guessed from that brief conversation, we will be heading to floor five. Its the desert floor if you have never been. But we won't be oppressed by that damnable heat. I have a few cooling agents that will help us along the journey to stay comfortable. Like hell will I be sweating like a mule again on that floor. You look ill prepared for the dungeon, so just stay in the back and out of my way when things start swinging and you will survive this little hunt." 

A short distance after Opal gave her orders to the young Lord beside her as they moved to the teleport. Without looking back, she said the keywords and was lifted and enveloped in light along with her familiar. 

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus nodded when Opal said they were heading to floor five. "I have been there once before. I got my weapon and armor there. From what I remember, it is certainly not the most comfortable of floors. So thank you for bringing those along. Don't worry. I won't get in the way. You seem better equipped to handle combat situations than I am." He smiled at her. "Thank you for your help. I won't forget my end of the bargain. I promise." He continued on with Opal, wondering what kinds of things awaited them in the dungeon. "So, where is this dungeon exactly? I haven't explored this floor at all, really."

[Opal 0]

"Make quick with those items, Jaken. You don't want me bitching about in this forsaken heat." The imp procured from his satchel the two items to which she had wanted, the Cold Auras. These silvery vials will reduce the intensity of the heat around them to a comfortable level while they traveled the harsh sands of this floor. When Cygnus emerged from the portal, she shifted her body and tossed the vial to the player. "Drink or smash it against your chest, you'll start feeling the sensation soon enough. Damage pot, Jaken." The woman ordered. The little imp scoured around his satchel once more to procure the item along with her Masamune X. The whetstone slid over the blade, engulfing it in a damage buff which will aid her in the upcoming battles. 

With the Cold Aura finally working, she felt much cooler and relaxed and slightly less bitchy than she was when she arrived here. The sun glaring down on them felt nothing more than a cool summer breeze. "Temple Gummies." She said to her familiar now, snapping her fingers for him to hurry up with the items. Small green imp hands rose to meet her pale digits as she grabbed the contents and gobbled up the item. Feeling as though everything was now in place, the woman nodded in response to Cygnus. 

"The dungeon? That's a good question. The desert is vast, I suppose we'll find it when we find it. Stick behind me if any of the mobs start coming towards us." 

=
Notes
Equipment: Masamune X [10 Dmg w/Buff], Vambraces of Eternal Slumber [+54 Mit], Trinket of Prosperity [+3] [+2 Item Buff], Jaken [Familiar +1 BD]
Dmg Pot, Temple Gummies, x2 Cold Auras -Here- 

Edited July 2, 2016 by Opal

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus looked at the vial for a second. He hadn't seen one of these before. With a shrug, he smashed the vial against his armor. It took a second, but the blistering heat of the desert eventually stopped bothering him and it became more comfortable. "Ah. Wow, that works fast." He wiped away the little bit of sweat that had formed on his brow before he got the item. He looked around at the mobs in the desert when Opal mentioned them. They looked meaner than anything he had fought so far. He wanted to fight some, but he figured he would save his strength just in case something went wrong in the dungeon. "Capital. I enjoy the hunt." He said in response to her saying they had to find the dungeon. His smile grew. He felt like a treasure hunter in an old movie, trekking around the desert, looking for lost ruins and buried treasure.

[Opal 0]

"Capital?" she mused from the use of his wording. The green imp began to sweat horribly, he was not to be given one of those cold auras probably due to his outcry back at the merchant shop. He complained audibly with pants and sighs as they moved deeper into the desert. Violets fixed on the player beside her, "So, you plan on becoming a front liner like the rest? Or just passing time until they game is beat?" she would stimulate some conversation between the two. Since the heat would not touch the two due to the conveniance of the potion, some mild chatter here and there to help pass the time would be nice, also to gauge the role of this player should he become a threat to her in the future. Of course that was unlikely to happen, but for Opal, anything could be by chance. 

[Cygnus 0]

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. That was my plan from the beginning. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of reason to want to get out of here." Cygnus looked over at the woman's familiar, finding himself feeling sorry for it. He didn't say anything, figuring it would be rude to do so. "So, what about you?" He assumed that she wasn't really on the front lines a lot, judging by the way she spoke. He wondered if Opal had anything in the real world that she cared to go back to. He could see someone preferring to live in this world if they had nothing to live for back in the real one.

[Opal 0]

"Reasons to leave, huh?" As in multiple, Opal had placed a thumb in her mouth to bite down on her nail for a moment thinking on the question, "I suppose you could say I have reasons to go back. But at the same time, I am enjoying my time here in this world as well. I wouldn't mind if my body would rot in a hospital, and I stayed beautiful and enchanting here." She mused with a small laugh and pushed hot air from her face as if sweeping away the earlier comment as well, "Seriously though, some of use could live our lives as King or Queens in this world. With a few choice pulls here and there, you could get anything you want, anytime you wanted it. Though that required a good deal of power and perhaps some snakey underhanded things. Of corpse, we all have our reasons to do one thing or another, to me if would not matter if this game ended or we stayed here for the remainder of our pathetic lives." The woman looked down to her right, the small green imp now hobbling along with his staff dragging behind him. The woman rolled her eyes and accessed her menu, "I am sure there is someone out there that is familiar activist group on protecting rights of familiars..." she she with a shake of her head. Accessing her menu and applying the cold buff to the King Imp, "There, Jaken. Now you don't need to be huffing and puffing back there." A quick thank you was shot from his dry mouth as the cool contents of the aura began to swim and swirl around his small body. 

Back to Cygnus her eyes took him in, "So. If it's not too personal, what are these reasons of wanting to go back to that world?" 

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus looked over at Opal as she spoke. She was enjoying her time here? She didn't care that her body was likely wasting away in a hospital bed? Cygnus looked back towards the ground as they trudged along, an expression that one would wear when they were deep in thought. He had never thought much about whether or not he still wanted to leave. It had always just been an "of course" in his mind. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was kind of enjoying his time here as well. He only half listened to the rest of what she said. He was still thinking on the question he had asked himself. It wasn't a pretty question, and the answer was difficult and potentially ugly. When Opal directly asked him a question though, he was snapped out of his thoughts and he turned to look at her. "My reasons...?" He thought of his daughter. She had already turned one and she kept getting older while he was trapped in here. It hit him then, no matter how much fun he was having here, he still had to get back to the real world. There was someone out there that depended on him, so he needed to go back. "I have a daughter." He said finally. "She turned one not long after I got here. I missed her first birthday. I might even miss her second. Or third. Or I might never get out of here and miss them all." He paused. "I don't have much out there, you know? But I have her. That's the reason why I need to return. For her sake."

[Opal 0]

Opal did not think that the conversation would have turned so serious. She did realize that these players were not just video gamers. They were flesh and blood outside this game, with real lives just as she once had. Her violet eyes drooped a bit, she almost felt sorry for him. "A daughter, huh? Sounds like a certain someone I used to know. But that is what you speak of; a daughter and nothing more. I imagine the mother is not in your lives any longer? Excuse the personal question. Answering is not necessary." The would gestured with her hand as to dismiss the question all together. The sun above them screamed with hot laughter, those golden rays which were fit to break down their coil would not make a dent in their tempered environment thanks to the potions they had used. Keeping cool in such a hot and dry place, the woman lifted her hand over her eyes to get a better view of the desert.

"Yep, just as I thought...More sand." She explained, although pointing a finger upwards and trailing a smile back at Cygnus, "but we are rather close to where we need to be. I suspect things to get interesting pretty soon, isn't that right, Jaken?" The small imp perked up at the question, his robes gathering sand as his small bare feet shuffled through the sand as he nodded his head quickly, "Yes! I believe the Legendary Pharaoh sleeps near by. Rumors says that if we continue to follow the sun in front of us, we should start to see a pyramid pretty soon." 

Opal nodded, "That's good. Cygnus, keep an eye out for a Pyramid. Because I am guessing that is going to be obvious once we see it in view." 

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus looked up at the sun, holding his hand in front of his eyes to block the worst of the rays. This potion really did work miracles. He noticed the heat rising from a nearby slab of stone. It was so hot in this godforsaken desert, it looked like they could cook their lunch on it. Figuratively speaking of course. He had been in this game long enough to know that wasn't how cooking worked. Opal commented about how someone she knew also had a daughter-- or at least a kid. Cygnus was about to say something in reply when she brought up that it seemed the mother wasn't in their lives anymore. He almost stopped in his tracks, a familiar feeling of sadness washing over him. He was so used to being in this world, it was almost like he had to be reminded that Miki was gone. He was actually relieved when Opal dropped the question. He wasn't near ready to talk about his fiance yet. He had only mentioned her in passing a few times here, but he never truly talked about her. That was fine by him, though. That was all he could really do at this point; focus on the game and focus on getting out so Himiko could have at least one parent in her life. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Opal's familiar, Jaken, who stated that someone called the "Legendary Pharaoh" slept nearby and that they should be on the lookout for a pyramid. That seemed easy enough. Follow the sun, keep an eye out for the pyramid. Cygnus figured that whoever this legendary Pharaoh was, they had to be the one that dropped a hammer. He nodded when Opal told him to keep his eyes peeled for the Pyramid. "I understand. I'll keep an eye out. So, does this legendary Pharaoh drop that hammer you mentioned?"

[Opal 0]

ID: 63689
LD: 6 =/ no mats

Opal had nearly punted a rather large skull from the sand, lobbing the object into the horizon line and plopping back down into the hot red sand as the desert continued to swim with heated intent. Her violet eyes sank low in their sockets as she yawned and stretched her arms, clearly bored with the scenario she was in, "Damn. You'd think there would be a little bit more excitement out in this desert. Like camels humping or some [censored], or perhaps some weird looking mobs that might try and hurt us. No signs of a pyramid though," the woman gestured with her hands outward, only around them was hot and coarse grains of the stuff. 

She let out a typical sigh, "Here is some food for thought, back in the ancient days of the Egyptians, when prominent people were buried in their tombs or mummified or whatever, they were buried with their fortunes to go back to the immortal plans. But they were also buried along with mummified crocodiles so that they would eat the bad spirits...I remember reading something like that in a book once in school. As you can tell, I didn't pay much attention to it. But it's interesting none the less." The woman shrugged her shoulders at the bit of conversation she had stirred up, she didn't want to feel too chatty but this desert...And all this sand. And she did not feel like making light conversation with Jaken.  

"Yes." Spoke up the Imp to Cygnus' earlier question, "It is said that the Pharaoh drops a mighty and ornate hammer made of gold and other precious metals. We would have to kill the Legendary Pharaoh in order to get such a prize as that." Jaken was a carrier of words, he knew the lore from quest objectives that Opal had picked up and then retold to give the story and rumors more excitement to the adventurer.

Opal looked down at her familiar, "Well, aren't you full of surprises." her eyes turning to the Imp briefly before coming back to her Lordly partner.  

Edited July 13, 2016 by Opal

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus let out a light chuckle when Opal mentioned camels humping. "Yes, the desert isn't all they make it out to be in old movies. They fail to mention that along with the brief period of adventure, there is a long, dragging period of boredom while you look for the adventure." His interest was piqued when she mentioned history, however. It was a strange direction for the conversation to turn, but he went with it. "Indeed, the ancient Egyptians viewed death far differently than we do today. The condition of your soul was directly tied to the condition of your corpse. That is why mummification was so popular. It wasn't just wealth they were buried with either you know. Favored beasts of burden, pets, and even spouses and servants were all entombed with them. Whether it was their time or not. I don't know if you would consider them wealth, but they might have." He chuckled at the amusing detour their conversation took. The woman's familiar eventually spoke up, answering his question about the hammer drop. It sounded like something he would certainly like to have. A golden hammer would be a mighty boon for a blacksmith just starting out. The way Jaken stated the lore too was more... immersive. Most times, he was perfectly aware that he was playing a game, but Jaken's speech made that fact a little less obvious. "We have to kill the guy, huh? Is he a mummy? I envision him as a mummy. If he is, that would make killing him rather difficult. Seeing as how he is already not of the living." He laughed at his joke, following up shortly thereafter with a "I am joking, of course." He kept his gaze on the horizon, watching for the promised pyramid.

[Opal 0]

ID: 63801
LD: 20+4+2 = Advanced Dungeon

Opal gave a sideward glance at Cygnus as he spoke, his mood and demeanor shifting as he spoke. He was more casual with her now or perhaps more comfortable with being around her? In either case, he didn't seem like much of a stiff as she had first thought him to be. It was pretty clear, he was much like everyone else; taking the days as they go. With a black curling smirk, she nodded, "I guess we'll have to wait and see what sort of person this Pharaoh is...But..." the woman, with precision and a short pointing finger poked from her hand as she extended her arm outwards and gestured to Cynus as they came up a rolling dune, "Looks like we found our Pyramid. Now..." the woman unsheathed her weapon from the ornate saya. The long thing katana blade placed gently upon her shoulder as she looked back to Cygnus, "Yeah, we'll have to fight our way through if we wanna get to the Pharaoh and get that drop. So, stay behind me and be careful not to provoke the mobs. Leave that to me." 

The imp by her side took a few steps forward and brought his green hands up to his eyes, "Looks like a lot of scorpions milling about, Master Opal. Do try and be careful of those stingers. They are a bit more potent since we stumbled upon a bigger pyramid than usual." 

Her sharp eyes keen on the scorpions and their dripping with poison tails, she grumbled lightly and nodded, "You heard the King. Careful of those venomous tails. I have a few antidotes on me, but not that many. [censored]...should have brought more. In any case, let's start sweeping them out." 

 

 

 

1. Participants must fight a total of fifteen floor strength monsters of their own design before moving on to the boss.
2. Participants must fight a boss monster with the following statistics in order to qualify for the reward:
   HP = floor * 70 | Damage = floor * 11

 

Rewards

3 SP upon completion
A Col value of ((floor + loot die) * 100)
6 Materials

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Opal

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus looked up at the massive pyramid before them, a giant smile on his face. At last, they had found it. The long trek seemed to last forever, but here they were. Cygnus gazed in awe at the massive size of the pyramid. The Pharaoh buried here must be powerful indeed. He decided to take Opal's advice and keep his distance from these scorpions. He loved a good fight, but there was such a thing as fighting a losing battle; and since these mobs were scaled to his partner's level, he was certain that he would stand no chance against them, and indeed, he would just get in the way. He decided to reject his small, but present urge to fight and simply drew his sword in the effort he would have to make a futile attempt to defend himself. He kept his eye on the area around to be sure that any mobs were sneaking up on him. "Well then, you take care of them. I'll be right back here." He gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck. Go get 'em."

[Opal 0]

Sweeping the long blade of the Masamune. Opal took lead of the party and charged with her katana. Nothing was comparable to the first attack in battle, as her body became a visage of something horrible (disguise skill) as the blade began to glow a violent purple. Eyes forward and arms moving, the quick and precise slashes of her sword created a three powerful strikes, carving orange and red lines into the poisonous insectoids. Their bodies shook and degraded when the final attack commenced from the three hit combo, withering away in the hot breeze. Somehow or another amongst the attack, Opal had been stung by those scorpions. A nice pre emptive attack before she was able to use the full force of her own blade. Shaking off the tiny damage like it was nothing, she hefted the weighted blade to her shoulder and gestured for Cygnus, "Let's go...plenty more to kill before we arrive at the temple."

<<Battle Engaged>> 

Opals HP: 200/204
EN: 39/51
Sword Art: Gen Getsu || 12 EN || 108 Dmg - 5 = 103

x4 Guard Scorpions: 0/20 HP || Mit: 5 || Dmg: 25

ID: 64281
BD: 2+3+1 = 6
MD: 9 [+1 Dmg]
4/15 Defeated

Edited July 20, 2016 by Opal