[PP-F5] Mirage Images <<Blood in the Sand>>

[Sey 0]

Blood in the Sand, dejavu would wash all over him once again as he would then read the quest again, seeing if he was not reading it incorrectly. But the stats of the monster were most certainly confirmed to be as low as he was reading, and now he felt so shamed to not be able to handle it, and to rely on a tank to take on the boss while he stood on the side. Well those embarrassing times were over, so he decided to obtain revenge by accepting the quest once again. Besides, there was an extra item that was attached to it before he equipped the no longer Memorilia coat, but the new Blessing coat he had that identified as a heavy armor. Yeah, life was strange with identity. Placing his hands in his pocket, the snow-haired player would walk away from the quest board and walk through the streets for a bit to see what there was to do before he departed. Yeah, this floor did not make him too eventful a player.

@Ivory Lotus

Edited January 19, 2017 by Sey

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory hummed a tune to herself as she walked, wondering if she could find someone to take her on a quest. There was a downside to being a completely support based build, mainly that she couldn't do much by herself. She was a protector, not after glory. She gripped the book that she had been reading, the green cover standing out against her white shirt and blue skirt. He hair streamed behind her in the wind as she made her way towards the quest board to see if anyone there was looking for a partner for a quest. She didn't have any gear equipped, but despite that she was a pretty high level, especially for not actually having any gear at all. Still, she generally prioritized others before herself. She believed that everyone deserved happiness, and helping others achieve that was what made her happy. She opened up her book, walking with her eye staring intently at the book, not paying attention to where she was walking and almost bumping into another player with white hair. "Whoops, sorry." She said, not looking up from her book.

@Sey

[Sey 0]

A sudden player would bump in front of him in the process as he was a bit lost in his thoughts, forcing him to wake up from the daydreams that he was having back in the past. But then he would look down to see… Another snow-haired player. One of… Identical hair color like his. But that was the first element he noticed, since he continued to look down towards her eyes… The colors… And then her clothing… What…? The confusion on his face as he thought that one awkward word in his mind was just priceless as he would continue to look down to see what type of being this was. There was no way this was a player. Perhaps Gemini took another form? Wait, no… There was a crystal above this player, a green one no less as well. That meant that this being was truly a human… “Er… It’s fine. Hm, what kind of book is that, if I may ask?” Sey himself had on like that…

[Ivory Lotus 0]

She looked up from her book and smiled at the other player who was staring at her in a kind of weird way. She ignored it though as he finally spoke. "Its a book on herbology, specifically an ingredient called elwind." She explained. "My parents are both healers of a sort in the real world. They make potions and stuff to help people using herbs. I'm interested in it too, and that transferred to this game." She frowned momentarily. "Of course, potionmaking in this game is, sadly, a lot simpler than I would like." She stated, closing the book and holding it by her side. "Is there something you need though? Most players wouldn't stop someone just to inquire about the book their reading, not unless its a well known demonic or the like. I'd be happy to help you with anything you might want help with." She said with a warm, friendly smile to him.

@Sey

[Sey 0]

"Oh? Hm, perhaps it was just a coincidence. Mine..." He would pluck out hia inventory to reveal an equally red covered book in his grip. "It is not solely for medicines. Though it teaches that, it advances further into spear weaponry, defenses against impact, and how to study surroundings and see treasures no one else sees." But then he realized that he was probably being a little rude with that, he did stop her for her looks being... Oddly similar to his. But she seems to have her own personality and seemed to be lot more collected than him right now. Perhaps the similaroty was not so obvious to her. Shaking his head to the side, he would proceed to aplogize. "Shoot, now I am just rambling. Sorry to interrupt, but I was about to embark on a quest. I have some unfinished business. Have you heard of Blood in the Sand before?" He would ask as his head would tilt to the side, a small calm smile returning her warm and open one.

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory nodded to him. "It makes sense that they would be different, although the design of the cover, bar the color, is very similar. Mainly it makes sense because I'm not a fighter. I don't really have any books on weapons or fighting. I want to protect, not harm." She explained. She put the book back in her inventory and pulled out her starter shield, her lack of equipment making it seem as though she was a low level, or a new player. "And sure I know that one. I'd appreciate it if youd let me help you out. So even if you don't want my help you could do it a favor to me. I do need more skill points so I can do my job better." She stated with a smile. He seemed like a nice guy, but she couldn't figure out why he kept looking at her as though she were familiar. She was certain she had never met him before. Still, for his sake and to spare him an awkward conversation she refrained from mentioning it.

[Sey 0]

"That's a nice moral compass you have, something that I wish many other players could share." Sey explained as he would let a small sigh emit from his lips with his eyes closed, thinking of one player in particular player who seemed ready to kill anything to get in the way. Fortunately, he earned their favor and proved his worth, even when he was just one hit from death. "My books consist in as much as I could gather in the game. It's certainly going to be a long buildup for sure, but I'm ambitious. Something that I have noticed that not many other players have unfortunately." He explained as he would then place his book back into the inventory before she then asked if she could come along and help him, making his job far easier than he expected. The last part was not even needed, if he could help anyone, he'd do it without giving it a second thought. "All right, welcome aboard. I like your style. Call me Sey. Just... Sey. Any nicknames I may call you by?"

[Ivory Lotus 0]

"Yay!" She said excitedly, the exclamation completely sincere, although childlike. "You can call me whatever you want. Neve, Ivory, Kit-kat, I've gone by all of them." She said with a smile, not giving a second thought to giving her real name out. "And if it makes you happy gathering information, that sounds great." She said, wondering if he would be upset when they finally escaped and all of his work was for nothing. She debated asking him, but decided not to. Maybe he got pleasure from being able to help others through is information gathering rather than the information gathering itself. "I might start a book myself someday. I don't have any idea what I might put in it though. I don't really have anything that I can think of off the top of my head." She nodded ahead. "We should probably get started with this though. Probably is best to do it as early as possible just in case there are any complications."

[Sey 0]

"Not a problem! I'll call you Never then, nice to meet ya." He explained before then placing his left hand in his pocket, using his right one to open up his inventory while listening. While doing so, he would pluck out a one-handed Memorilia spear from the inventory, a basic weapon that can inflict a little bit more damage whenever he used it as opposed to anything else.  "Well, this game probably will provide a writer with all sorts of ideas. The fact that you're a survivor in this game would be enough to make it sell. But if you really want to test your skill, I suggest going under a pen name. Trust me, it will make all of the difference." Pen names were used for all sorts of authors to keep themselves and their lives a secret from the world. There were all sorts of reasons for it, but in this one, it was just to hide. And so with that, he would proceed to walk towards the borders of the town. "Follow me, I don't think it's too far from here."

[Ivory Lotus 0]

She let out a "Hmmm..." Thoughtfully in reply to what he had said. "Well, publishing a book would certainly help with paying for college." She stated, letting slip another fact about herself. She just didn't really care if others knew about her in the real world, especially if they were all going to be stuck in this game for a few more years. She let the shield hang by her side as they walked. She didn't like the idea of being stuck here for that long, but there wasn't anything that anyone could do about it except to get stronger and keep pushing forward. Too many people had already given up. "Cool. Ill try to take the hits, but I don't have howl yet... In fact, you probably have more mitigation then me too." She said, thinking as she spoke. The only thing she could really do was heal him, and she could certainly do that well. She had grandmastered it after all.

[Sey 0]

"The income would be able to pay off way more than college. Because of this game, our lives would have an insane amount of value. It probably would have you set for life." Sey would reinforce positively as he would look through the desert to see what he could locate in that area. "I might as well tell you about me a bit. I am a Senior in my high school, nearly at college. I probably should be inside of a colleged campus right now." But was the game worth it? Sey could not 100% say no. He had fun in the game, even a medial task like quest monster searching with a girl that looked like a mirrored version of him. Any hints to help speed up the search. He had a feeling that there would be an enemy around them, his stats enhanced to identify the location of an usual being, but not enough to pinpoint whether it was or was not their objective. "I dont have howl either, so if you just so happened to have a lot of hate, I would gladly appreciate your help in taking damage. Ill heal you if your health is shot down far too much." And so the search was on.

[Ivory Lotus 0]

"I don't think it would be. I'm sure plenty of other people have the same idea, and while there might be hype about it for a while it'll die down and so will any profits you might make." She stated, looking around. "And I'll heal you back. Sounds like a pretty overpowered team, two people with first aid." She said with a smile and a wink to him. They continued to walk, her glancing around, looking for the enemy. She disliked walking in the sand, but some things had to be done. "I'm in college in Japan right now. I'm getting a degree in medicine. I guess I'm a little bit older than you." She stated. She had turned twenty one that same year. She wondered how her schooling would work if/when they eventually got out of the game. She imagined that her mind would take a while to grasp the material again. Maybe she'd even need to take some remedial courses. She didn't think that that would be very fun.

[Sey 0]

"I guess it all depends on who ends up living. Ten thousand people is not too much in the first place, and the amount of lives lost are plentiful. We are just on the 20th floor as well, we have a lot to expect and prepared for." The amount of people to live by the end of the game were not going to be too huge of a number if he had to take a stab at guessing. It would have a huge wave of players killed from that handful as well. Sey did not need to become one of them, but unfortunately did not mind if he just so happened to end up going down that path anyways. "Yup. Its a loop, looks like neither of us will bite the dust then. Oh, and perhaps a little. About three years perhaps. I wanted to major in computer scie-" his sentence was then cut short as he would then hear the incoming monster approaching in the sand. "Brace yourself! Incoming Sand Shark!" Oh how did he know that? Its not like he took the quest before or - ohhhhh.

Sey: 640/640 HP l 12 Dmg l 3 Acc l 57 Mit l 64 NRG

Ivory: ???/???

Sand Shark: 125/125 l 50 Dmg

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory took a step back behind Sey as he called out that the sand shark was approaching them. Despite her desire to protect and help she recognized the fact that she sorely lacked the necessary equipment to fight the enemy head on. In fact, she had little doubt that Sey had more mitigation than her, although in all likelihood she probably healed more than him. Because that was the case it was only logical that she stay back. The only way she would be helpful to him in this fight would be to heal him. That would be safest for both of them. She could imagine that it would hurt him if she died while they were teaming, even if he could heal her. It was always a possibility, although she sincerely doubted it. "We've already had the worst of the casualties. Those that have died have been those who have failed to be careful or play it safe. Probably the majority of us left are the careful ones, the thinkers and the strategists. And of course, those who have grinded until its basically impossible for them to be killed. Ill eave the shark to you. I don't do damage and you probably have more mit than me. Ill heal you."

Sey: 640/640 HP l 12 Dmg l 3 Acc l 57 Mit l 64 NRG

Ivory: 460/460 HP 46/46 EN | Mit: 13 | 1 Dmg

Sand Shark: 125/125 l 50 Dmg

[Sey 0]

"That's a very optimistic thought train, but not everyone is going to be so merciful. There are Player Killers. And if its not the fault of the killer, its the fault of the one they killed in self defense... Anyways, don't worry about this. Give me a few seconds and..." And with that cutoff, he coated his spear in light blue at the tip as he already triggered his ultimate sword art. He rushed the shark as it would leap out from the sand, only for him to slice it midair and knock it against the sand. "Too slow!" He continued the barrage of basic hits at once by slicing through the shark in a line constantly back and forth, changing his angle in the process. "This is it!" The final attack was him leaping into the air with his spear in hand before slamming it down onto the body of the Npc monster, resulting in the end of the quest as the monster shattered to little pieces of light that gently float away, dissolving in the air.

@Ivory Lotus

Spoiler

 

Id: 74797

Bd: 4 + 3 = 7

SA: Merciless Fury (12 x 1)

Dmg: 12 x 12 = 144

Md: 7

Dmg: 50 - 57 mit = 1 dmg

Sey: 639/640 HP l 12 Dmg l 3 Acc l 57 Mit l 52 NRG

Ivory: 460/460 HP 46/46 EN | Mit: 13 | 1 Dmg

Sand Shark: 0/125 l 50 Dmg

 

 

Edited January 28, 2017 by Sey

[Ivory Lotus 0]

The fight was over incredibly quickly. It seemed as Sey had put all of his skill points into his damage before he turned to other things like the first aid he had mentioned earlier. "Well, I guess my healing wont be needed until I join an event or something. People always seem to be one shotting stuff when I'm around." She stated. she found it a bit funny how he had commentated the fight by himself, saying stuff like too slow. It just seemed to be a stereotypical video game character thing to do. She hadn't actually thought that people actually did that sort of thing, and now that she was witnessing it she found it kind of cute in an innocent sort of way. "I shouldn't have worried about being held up with this quest. That took all of then minutes. We might even have time to find and do another quest before the day is over." She paused. "Well, if your up for another one that is."

@Sey

[Sey 0]

The irony behind this was that he was trying to be a unique sort of player in the game, yet in the heat of battle, he said the most generic things. If he were to reflect on what he said while in the battle, he most likely would have cringed a bit. "Sorry about that, I don't like to waste time, especially when it comes to helping other players. As for another quest, fo you have another one in mind? I'll gladly take it on with ya if you show me." The snow-haired player explained to the... other snow-haired player as he would then look around to see where the drop was located. It was some sand armor potion, he remembered it well. Upon seeing a glow in the dirt, he would then see the item that he was looking for before walking up to it. "Look! The sand armor potion. This should help you out with your tank half of the hybrid build, right?" He asked as he would pick it up and walk over to her, outstretching his hand with the item so she could take it.

Edited January 21, 2017 by Sey

[Ivory Lotus 0]

She accepted the potions with a smile before shaking her head. "I don't actually have any clue what other quests we could do. I just know that I need about four more SP, if you know of a quest we could do that has a reward like that. I really haven't done many of them." She explained to him. She reached a hand up and ran it through her long white hair, ivory colored, just like her username. She unequipped her shield before motioning back towards the settlement. "If you cant think of one off the top of your head we can go check the quest board. I want to get stronger so that I can help others better, and right now I really need some gear. But I'm so close to tier two that it doesn't seem like a good idea to get it right before transitioning, and then have to get more gear of a different tier." She stated. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say? That's why I'm kind of in a rush to do another quest."

[Sey 0]

"Ohhhhhhh, in that case, I know plenty that we could do. Come on, let's go back to the quest board of a different floor, I'm sure we can arrange those four skill points for you with just one more quest and a few minutes." And just like that, he already felt like he was serving his purpose for helping out the player. So with that, he would depart from the desert, hopefully with her following along as well. There was plenty of time to get her up to the new tier, that was where many players wanted to end up, and he was definitely not going to blame them for something like that. Sey was one of them, and he then obtained it. "None of the quests are particularly easy though, so be prepared to battle at all times with the book in hand for healing, just in case I can't do a oneshot to a monster like that. It would be shameful, but even the best players can have the worst of luck in a battle and miss a simple boar."

[Ivory Lotus 0]

Ivory nodded, smiling thankfully. "I really appreciate it. My build doesn't really let me do things on my own. Its focused almost completely on supporting other players, although until I get howl and tier two equipment I wont be able to do that very well either." She said, following him back towards the settlement. She agreed with what he was saying about bad luck. "Yeah, too many people have died from silly things just because of bad luck or making risky moves that just didn't pay off." She stated in agreement to what he had said. "Tier two isn't my end goal, but I need to get there before I can start actually doing things in this game. Theres a lot someone with my build can do for people. I just have to get there though." She said with a frown, the daunting task ahead of her seeming all the more difficult now that she thought about it and talked about it with someone.