[F2 - PP] Punching Rocks Again <<Breaking the Unbreakable>> [Completed]

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

<<Breaking the Unbreakable>>

This quest takes place on Floor 2

This quest is repeatable (to help only)

This RP will not count in the benchmark

To start the quest, the player must first find the quest NPC that has taken residence in a hut near the summit of an exceptionally high mountain at the southern edge of the 2nd Floor. If the player accepts the quest, the NPC takes the player outside to a 2 meter-high rock with a diameter of about 1.5 meters and almost as tough as an Immortal Object. There, the NPC reveals that the player must split the rock into two using only their fists and then proceeds to paint whiskers with quick-drying paint on the player’s face, claiming that the whiskers cannot be removed until the rock is split. If the player does manage to split the rock, they are rewarded with the Extra Skill.

Good luck Players!

Requirements:

-At least one [1] Page (21 or more posts)

-Must destroy <<The Boulder>> using only your fists. Thus damage bonuses such as Athletics apply, but your weapon skill rank does not, nor can you use any sword arts.

The Boulder Information:

<<The Boulder>> is a respawning Quest object and has the following statistics:

HP: 50

Rewards:

1. Party Leader will be gifted the Extra Skill, <<Martial Arts>>

2. 1 Skill Point

It was hard to believe that Shield was headed back to the second floor again, and of all reasons, to punch that lousy boulder again. He had initially balked at the idea, but there were indeed weapons including his own whose higher level sword arts required the martial arts skill, and that was one of the few unlockables that Shield had not managed to acquire. Heaving a heavy sigh, he made his way to the teleport plaza and grumbled out his destination.

Taking a seat in the town plaza, he put out a bulletin, petitioning players for help.

"Anyone feel like punching a rock? I'll be on the second floor for the next hour at the following coordinates. Ask for 'Shield.' Damage consumables recommended."

He sent the bulletin out and unslung Norbert from his back, plopping the turtle down in the fountain before sitting and resting his back against the side.

"I'd be amazed if anyone actually volunteered to help us out on this one, Norbert," Shield sighed.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Shield

[Atzo 0]

There was a bulletin coming though, it was priority in Atzo’s HUD seeing as it was from Shield. “punching rocks?” Atzo asked himself and shrugged “I don’t have anything better to do.” He Swiftly ran through the mountain forest to the town. Finally arriving he slowed down his run to a trot. “now, where to find him?” He looked back to the bulletin and got the coordinates. Following his map he was able to find Shield and the large turtle. “Howdy ho, old man, need help with something?” Atzo said once he reached Shield, his voice was clearly in a joking tone and he wore a warm smile. “What’s this about punching rocks? I could help if you need, though I’ve never been good with my fists.” Atzo’s father always took advantage of how bad Atzo was at fighting in the real world, knowing that he was much better than Atzo. But Atzo couldn’t say no to helping Shield.

@Vale

Edited March 12, 2017 by Atzo

[Vale 1]

Vale was laying on a branch in a tree, her body arched against the wood for a more comfortable position. Thankfully due to the height of the tree, the feline didn't have to deal with unwanted lookers. A notice appeared just infront of her eyes, "This 'HUD' thing is still something that is hard to get used to." She told herself under her breath. Sighing she pressed against the notice to enlarge it so she could read the message. A grin curled on her mouth in much a vixen-esque manner, "So another person is learning the path of martial arts, I could give some of my real life knowledge of Martial Arts to help smooth it over." After speaking once again to herself she quickly got up and began pouncing down the tree like a cat.

The Panther slinked her way around town, making her way toward the location noted in the notification details. It didn't take her too long to find the spot, and there stood an incredibly familiar face, Atzo. She quickly and deftly snuck up behind him, "Boo!" She shouted just as she placed Atzo's back of his head inbetween her legs as she sat upon his shoulders, "So you know him, Nya~?" She asked her oddity of a friend in her mind. She remembered something that she forgot to do on their adventure with damien, she quickly sent Atzo a friend request. She then cleared her throat and leaned forward resting her arms on Atzo's head, "Tis a pleasure to meet you my dapper fellow, I'm Vale." She winked at him and smiled, "Heard you were punching a Rock. Thought I could be of assistance in teaching you the ways of Martial Arts, this one here has seen my fists go to work in person." She giggled as she carefully tapped the top of Atzo's head with her razor sharp claws as to not scratch the poor boy's head.

@Shield

Edited March 13, 2017 by Vale

[Shield 0]

Today was certainly an exercise in Shield's ability to remain impassive to situations. Not only was there a mountain of apprehension at the thought of having to spend the rest of the day punching the same old stone, but now with the newcomer, there were a lot of questioning looks and incredulity that he had to swallow in order to present for the unconventional greeting.

"Shield," he said, slightly inclining his head. "I take it you're familiar with Atzo. If you're already a martial artist, that's going to be a huge boon to us today."

He reached down into the fountain, pulling the great, reluctant snapping turtle out of the water by the handle of shell just behind its head. Norbert hissed, gaping his mouth as a show of aggression as his dripping carapace emerged from the water.

"Oh, quit your whining," Shield scolded, buckling his familiar into the sling that he wore on his back and hoisting it into place as he turned back to the others. "Well, we've got plenty to do and I'd prefer not to be doing it until after dark. Let's move."

He followed the familiar path out of town, winding along, further and further up into the hills until they encountered the same old monk from Shield's very first quest in the game

"Greetings, wanderers," the shaven headed old man said with a deep bow. "Do you seek to accomplish that is impossible?"

The dialog box to initiate the mission popped into view, and he tapped the button to accept before squaring up with the boulder. He let out a sigh.

Here we go.

Spoiler

ID# 79241 results: Battle: 3 - Miss

With a thud, his fist collided harmlessly with the boulder.

This is entirely too familiar. I guess it wasn't THAT long ago, now was it?

@Atzo

Edited March 12, 2017 by Shield

[Atzo 0]

Atempting to sneak up on him someone behind him said “boo” then proceeded to jump onto Atzo’s shoulders. “Its ether Vale or Miss Mestophales…. It’s probably Vale, seeing as Vale is smaller and therefore lighter than Miss Mestophales would be.” Atzo though as he allowed Vale to climb on his shoulders. “I feel as though if you were to stay there, Vale, you would not do so well in terms of punching this rock” Atzo said in an emotionless tone while grabbing her legs to ensure that she didn’t fall off. “Though I will not put you down. Instead, I will allow your being on my shoulders to be your own choice.” They walked for a while, Shield seemed as though he was trying harder than usual to quell his emotions. “How is it going Shield?” Atzo asked, his tone returning to a relaxed state though it was still very emotionless. “You seem out of it” Shield didn’t seem to have much time to answer as they approached the rock. Atzo let Shield attack it before Atzo did himself. Making sure not to let Vale fall off his shoulder , Atzo punched the rock solidly sending a very small fragment flying.

ID# 79273

Spoiler

Battle 7 (Hit)

Boulder 49/50 hp

@Vale

Edited March 13, 2017 by Atzo

[Vale 1]

Atzo seemed rather complacent with Vale's tomfoolery, he allowed her to get up upon his shoulders. All she could do was giggle when he grabbed her catlike legs which seemed far more natural now. Her eyes twitched when the red head commented on having a difficult time punching the rock, "Oh come on Atzo, I bet you haven't practiced martial arts a day in your life." Her tail swashed around in the air. Her attention immediately turned to Shield who seemed to be in a rush of sorts. She shrugged as Atzo walked the gorgeous fit woman across the long winding path to the man who watched over the boulders.

She bowed respectfully to the man who she trained under for her martial arts skill. Who in return bowed back and came to watch the spectacle. Vale watched as both Atzo and Shield lazily punched the rock, "No, no, no... Both of you need to square up and get your stances correct." She backflipped off Atzo's shoulder suddenly, slipping her legs out from his arms. She pressed her body against the back of Shield, trying to adjust his stance to a simple boxing one, "When you throw your fist, you have to follow through with your punch." She stated as she pulled herself away and launched her fist at a pinpoint spot. The sheer force behind her fist caused the entire rock to crack much like a spiderweb would look, "You too Atzo, get your stance right!" She coached them directly.

ID: 79284 | BD: 4+3 = 7 (Hit) Charge Activated

Boulder 42/50 hp -7

@Shield

Edited March 13, 2017 by Vale

[Shield 0]

Shield's eyebrow twitched, but with his back to the other players, that would hopefully be less visible. Every fiber of his being was telling him to just stand back and let the other players take over, but he kept himself in check. The sooner he finished with this, the sooner he could put this behind him and never have to punch the stupid rock again.

He kept his body low, putting his' body's height behind his fist as he drove it forward.

Spoiler

ID# 79296 results: Battle: 2 - Miss

His frustrations were clearly getting the better of him, and as he threw his weight forward, his fist glanced off. Had this been real life, he knew he would have lost a considerable amount of skill off of his knuckles from the strike.

I'm just glad we have an actual martial artist on this quest. Last time around, Rain didn't show up until much later into the task.

Taking a step back, he took a moment off to the side, crouching to the ground and taking a few slow breaths to clear his head.

This shouldn't take long. Just stay the course.

@Atzo

Edited March 13, 2017 by Shield

[Atzo 0]

Vale jumped off Atzo’s shoulders. She started trying to instruct him on martial arts. “Actually, Vale, I have indeed learn martial arts, though I was never good at it.” He began to think back to his father beating him. Vale kept talking while Atzo was stuck in memory. Suddenly, Vale touched his back. He shaped back to reality “Vale… Stop” He said, his voice was stern and forceful. “Don’t try to instruct me, it won’t end well for ether of us.” He looked at the rock but couldn’t even focus enough to attack. Feeling Misguidance at his waist, he just kept hearing his father’s voice. “Look at you, you can’t even get your footing right. You are more of a piece of [censored] then Ren.” He heard his father say before feeling the forceful fist to his spine. Atzo physically winced when this happened though only Shield would be able to see it. He intentionally had his back to Vale, trying not to see his father’s face on her body.

ID# 79306 

Spoiler

Battle 2+1=3 (miss)

@Vale

Edited March 13, 2017 by Atzo

[Vale 1]

Vale noticed the two of them were becoming frustrated, Atzo's was more apparent and Vale knew precisely why, "I-I'm sorry Atzo... i forgot about that..." Her voice trailed off as she placed her kitty paw on his upper arm gently, "I am not him. Please remember that, I was just trying to help. I'll be quiet now..." She bit her lip exposing one of her catlike fangs. She looked over at Shield who was hunched down, all she could come to the conclusion to was that she was making the both of them miserable. She flicked her eyes back on the rock, slow and easy Vale got into her Western style boxing stance. One deep breath, one slow exhale.

She closed her eyes as she took another slow deep inhale, her eyes opened wide with her focus square precisely on the focal point of the crack she had made with her first stike. As she exhaled she thrust her fist forward, it gave off the impression with how violent she slammed in her fist into the rock that she was aiming at a point past it. She drove her fist in with enough power that her arm was practically eaten in the rock. With effort she pulled her arm out, "I remember being alone up here punching this boulder." She stated without thinking, her mind began to travel as she took a few steps back from the rock so the boys could take another chance at punching the rock. She didn't know if they would learn from her stance or not, but she would see this through since she had a decent friendship built with Atzo, and he seemed to be friends with the man known as Shield.

ID: 79379 | BD: 9+3 = 12 (Crit)

Boulder 35/50 hp -7

@Shield

Edited March 14, 2017 by Vale

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 79391 results: Battle: 3 - Miss

"This isn't my first time punching this monstrosity either," Shield replied, taking one last breath before straightening up and focusing on the task at hand. "Didn't get the skill, though. That was when Beat started down his path as a martial artist, so since he was taking point, he got the skill."

He tried to square himself up as best he could, but his mind still wasn't focused, and he didn't commit to the punch. It collided with the boulder hard, and he could feel the jamming of his joints as the momentum tried to carry through, but there was nowhere for the energy to go but into the joints of his wrist and elbow.

"If I really do commit to the axe as my weapon, though, it seems like martial arts are in my future," he sighed, inspecting his fist as if it would uncover the mystery of his ineffective attacks. "And if nothing else, it's one of the few unlockables I haven't managed to unlock so far."

@Atzo

Edited March 14, 2017 by Shield

[Atzo 0]

Atzo had clearly upset Vale. What was he to do? On one hand he needed her to stop in order for him to keep his sanity, on the other he had hurt a friend. “Its fine, you didn't mean to” Atzo said as he took a deep breath. “We all make mistakes. I am sorry I was so forceful, I just was scared of what the outcome would have been had I let you continue. Anyways, How have you been Vale? Making a name for yourself? Or keeping to the shadows?” He did his best to find his old Okichitaw stance and smashed his fist hard into the Rock. It was by far the best hit he would do, it didn't do much though. “I really hate martial arts” he thought to himself “They are hard and just never really suited my style of fighting. I always prefered bringing dance into fighting. Every move is a different position.”

ID# 79428

Spoiler

Battle 10+1=11 (Crit+2) [DMG=3]

Boulder 32/50 hp

@Vale

Edited March 14, 2017 by Atzo

[Vale 1]

The Neko's ears twitched as Atzo began his apology toward the Martial Artist. Vale hadn't exactly gained complete control of her tail, it was swashing around somewhat erractically. The situation was playing in her head a lot, and feeling like she upset someone she was considering to be her friends wasn't exactly her favorite thing. Her tail began to tuck itself inbetween her legs, "You don't need to apologize to me Atzo. I know when I crossed a line." She said in with a weak tone of voice. Atzo tried to change the topic, Vale thought to follow along as it would probably be the wisest decision to keep the conversation in the air mostly jovial, "I've got someone I have to prove my Martial Arts prowess too." She stated as her tail perked up.

She looked over at Shield who continued to struggle with his work as a Martial Artist, "So who is this Beat person?" She asked the dapper fellow, her left ear would twitch every now and again. Watching the man look at his fist and his determination for the Martial Arts skill, "Any weapon in reality is utilized through a form of Martial Arts. having an extensive knowledge of it will only enhance your weapon techniques to the next degree." She turned to the Rock and took her Muay Thai stance, "Since you use an axe-" She interrupted herself halfway through to lift her Feline paw on her leg over her head to do a powerful slam down causing the entire rock to look as though it were ready to split in two as the cracks shaped out more, "Executioners Slam." She grinned.

ID: 79431 | BD: 8+3 = 11(Hit)

Boulder 26/50 hp -6

@Shield

 

Edited March 15, 2017 by Vale

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 79433 results: Battle: 3 - Miss

Shield let out a long breath, letting his mind wander to the question in order to clear his head of his frustrations with the boulder.

"Beat was my old rival before joining SAO," he explained. "We were the leaders of opposing guilds, though each of us took a different route. I was a tank, he was a DPS."

Throwing his fist forward, it collided and his arm buckled under the force, failing to drive into the boulder enough to damage it.

"We were both stubborn though, and competitive. We clashed constantly," he went on, taking another breath and walking away from the boulder to get some air. "People used to call us the Unstoppable Force and the Immovable Object, though I think those nicknames were more tongue-in-cheek than anything. It's funny, because they consider that metaphor to be the clearest example of paradox, and now the rivals are now friends. There's certainly a little bit of paradox there."

@Atzo

Edited March 15, 2017 by Shield

[Atzo 0]

Atzo watched as the clearly uneasy Vale walked over to Shield. “This is who you are Atzo” he thought as he rid himself of emotion and allowed himself to harden his mind. There was too many thoughts swelling in his mind, too much for him to try to focus on any one thing. “You will always be like this” He heard his father tell him in his mind “I made you this way so that you will never worry about others. They don't affect you, they don't care about you. Why should you care about them?” He shook his head. He didn't really believe this, did he? Everything was becoming fuzzy, he grabbed his face and took another deep breath. How much time had passed? How long was he standing there stuck? He couldn't focus, couldn't think, What more could he do but be stuck there? There was nothing. He fell back onto his butt, still gripping his face as he tried to process everything.

@Vale

ID# 80129

Spoiler

Battle 1 (Crit Fail)

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by Atzo

[Vale 1]

Vale was distraught at the moment, she didn’t know whom she should be trying to console. There was one man who seemed to be on a mission to learning the ways of Martial Arts, but seemed to be struggling mightily. And Atzo who seemed to be having a moment of sorts within his own head, probably a relation to his past which he loosely explained to Vale. The Neko girl wanted to know more about the red headed boy, and now she wanted to know about his friend that was punching the rock with them. Though Shield seemed to want to give information all on his own without Vale needing to pry into the man’s mind.

She took a deep breath and delivered a swift punch into the rock that increased the shatter zone of the crack. The entire outer shell of the rock was cracked all around, and one spot was a massive hole which was her strike. Once she retracted her fist she quickly and hastily moved just in front of Atzo. The Panther woman placed both of her paws upon the cheek of the recently stumbled redheaded boy, “I am sorry Atzo. I didn’t mean to cause you any mental Anguish.” She apologized, with her claws retracted, her paws felt smooth to the touch. She turned her attention of Shield, “Take a moment to say no words and focus squarely on the spot you want to take Shield. You’re doing good at following through with your punches. But you need to square up your mind just as much as your shoulders need to. Which reminds me to say again, Square up your shoulders.” She stated sweetly to him, with a smile. She quickly turned her attention back to Atzo, brushing the back of her paw across his face, “Just relax boy. Everything is fine.” It was almost as if she was being somewhat motherly toward Atzo

ID: 80135 | BD 6+3=9

Boulder: 20/50 -6

@Shield

Edited March 21, 2017 by Vale

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 80137 results: Battle: 9 - Hit!

1 dmg + 1 = 2

Boulder: 18/50

"Confirmation bias," Shield responded offhandedly, waving the advice away with his hand. "Sword Art Online and its players' success is based on your stats. I can square my shoulders and follow through all day, but without any accuracy items or damage enhancements, it's a crap shoot as to whether I do much of anything."

He let out a sigh, putting his hands on his hips as he looked the boulder up and down. He hadn't managed to put a scratch on it.

"Treating the combat system the same as an actual martial art doesn't quite work as well as you might hope. Sure, you can concentrate and deliver a powerful hit, but it's much easier to remember the time that you concentrated and nothing different happened. It's the same phenomenon that led to the myth that crime rates and violence increases during a full moon. When in reality..."

Pulling back his fist, he drove it into the cracked surface and for once, he could feel his fist connect the right way. Several stone splinters fragmented off and spun a couple of feet away to land in the grass.

"...the numbers don't support it, no matter how hard you aim. Statisticians are a pain, I know," he said with a little shrug. "You can't tell us anything because we think we know everything."

@Atzo

Edited March 22, 2017 by Shield

[Atzo 0]

He snapped back to reality, why was Vale touching his face? Why was she talking to him in such a way? He waited for her to step back slightly before Kicking himself up and shaking his head violently, ruffling his hair. “What just happened?” He asked Vale confused but monotone as he approached the rock. He needed to help Shield out, there was no reason for him to be sitting. He punched the rock thought he didn't do much. Shield was saying something about statistics. Atzo seemed out of it, he was no longer trying to hide anything. This was his normal feeling. His eyes were almost glazed over, his movement was robotic. He feel both unaware and completely aware of the world around him at the same time. He could sense everything around him without seeing it. He didn't really know where he was. His true consciousness was buried somewhere deep in his mind

@Vale

ID# 80587

Spoiler

Battle 7 (Hit)

Boulder: 17/50

Edited March 27, 2017 by Atzo

[Vale 1]

Atzo didn't look quite so well, and he seemed rather wishful of getting his breath unsure of whether he would want to come back or so Vale thought. She turned around from Atzo to talk to Shield, "You can go on, time and again about stats and the small things that matter...But somewhere in there, you have to see what your efforts can contribute. Those stats should have some manner of meaning behind them." She said with some pride in her words, "Anything can give you that feeling, so if stats don't really matter. Then there has to be something in your heart that has to feel something right?" She asked him with intrigue, her deep amethyst eyes focused towards his face to try to get his attention. She stood and flicked her fist at the rock missing miserably. She looked at her hand and blushed slight, "Aha, what a perfect time to mess that up." She laughed.

ID: 88650  | BD 1+3=LOL

Boulder: 17/50

Edited September 26, 2017 by Vale

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Attacking Boulder:

ID# 88723 results:

 Battle: 9 - Hit! - 17 HP - 2 dmg = 15/50 HP

"The stats do have meaning behind them," Shield said, crossing his arms over his chest and walking around to a slightly less damaged portion of the stone. "They're what got me where I am. Even in the game Beat and I played before joining SAO, despite being chained to a full time job, I could still keep pace with his indomitable will by strategizing my time use. We were pretty much evenly matched despite my limitations."

Taking a deep breath, Shield bent his knees and threw his fist forward. This time, instead of a crack, his fist left an indentation with lines spiderwebbing away from the point of impact. Vale was clearly pulling most of the weight, but he wasn't freeloading anymore.

"That's what earned us our nicknames back then, and in a lot of ways, they've carried on to SAO as well, if nothing else because of how we built our characters," he added with a nod, inspecting the remaining health bar. It seemed to be only a matter of time.

"And yes, there are other things that matter, even if the stats didn't have meaning on their own," he added, though for now he held his tongue as to what. Only Beat knew for sure that he was a father, and Shield had told him very little beyond that.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Shield

[Vale 1]

Vale listened to Shield intently, he made mention of some person named Beat. But the name sounded completely unfamiliar to her, thus she decided to quietly listen and wait for appropriate times to respond to the man. When he spoke about limitations, Vale nodded, "I can loosely understand what you're talking about. Me personally, this is the first ever video game I have actually played. Not that I wanted to be doing this alone. But I was left with a large amount of limitation myself." She smiled after a moment, "But I realized if I put my everything into it and follow my heart." She looked forward delivering another massive blow to the rock, nearly splitting the entire thing in half, "Well, I can surpass the limitations and reach new heights." She finished saying.

She looked back at Shield who had just gave the rock a good strike with his fist while he continued to speak. There was something charming about the man, he seemed to have a good even head upon his shoulders, something Vale could respect. She looked back at the rock which was beginning to cave in on itself, "In life, everyone needs something that matters to them. Or we're objectless beings floating about pointlessly." She gripped her hand and smiled, "Which ironically makes me wonder, what do you do for your profession if you don't mind me asking Shield-san?"

ID: 88725  | BD 8+3=11

Boulder: 9/50 -6

Edited September 26, 2017 by Vale