[PP-F2] <<Breaking the Unbreakable>> (COMPLETE)

[Killia 0]

"I'm not doing it," I stated with firm resolve.

"Listen, if you're not going to pick up a weapon, you need to do this." Clevis punctuated his sentence for emphasis, but the choked back laugh did little to enforce his point.

"Nope, not if its going to make me look like an idiot." I mean, paint whiskers on my face? Sounds like something Mr. Miagi would do once senility finally took hold. 

"Alright, whatever. Do what you want, but I'm telling you. If you're going to insist on punching your way through life on SAO, you'll need to take this quest. Without it, you will die, or you'll be stuck on the lower floors when the mob respawns die out. Your call." Clevis tightened the strap across his shoulder which attached to the rig holding his dagger. "I need to get back to the front lines and keep leveling myself or I'll be stuck in the dust. For this one, you're on your own."

"Wait, what?" Alone? Punching a rock? And how the hell does he expect me to find this hermit on a cliff top? Just climb every mountain until I find some senile old man in a rocker?

"Yup. Teleport! Taft!" Then, Clevis was gone, leaving a very confused and frankly, rather irritated me in front of the town portal.

"Great..." I ran my hand though my hair and felt the sensation of a creeping migraine in the back of my skull. Maybe I was lucky and the NerveGear was deciding to fry my brain prematurely in anticipation of me falling to my death or dying of utter embarrassment. I let out a deep sigh and looked around at my foreign surroundings. I spent most of my time on the first floor, I didn't know where to start here or even what to expect. I guess dodge any conflict? This is why I have trust issues.

"Alright, punching a rock. Guess I have some stress relief to look forward to at the least," I muttered beneath my breath. I was too wrapped up in my moment of self pity to notice the player who had phased in behind me. His voice stirred my attention abruptly to what I initially thought was a mirror's reflection judging by his blue hair. The falcon perched on his shoulder equally stole the words from my lips despite my gaping maw preparing to say... something. Anything really. Hello perhaps? Or, nice bird? 

Spoiler

@Calrex

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

"Ok...so what was it I was going to do here on the thirteenth floor? Not like there's any new quests I can take here..."

Calrex gave a small sigh as he contemplated his next course of action while materializing within the settlement of Taft, looking left and right. This time, for some reason, Roc had decided to appear perched on his shoulder, rather than his typical position of flying above, "Guess you need a break every once and while too huh?"

As he looked back forward the corner of his peripherals glanced at a tuft of blue hair, something that other than his own was usually a rare occurrence in SAO from his recalling. There weren't many players that decided to opt for the striking hue. Turning his eyes to center the owner of the hair he saw someone that...seemed to be both confused and too low in level to be on the thirteenth floor. It wasn't unusual as of late, since each of the teleportation plazas were located in the safe zones, so there was no real threat from monsters, giving the entire community the chance to explore the upper floor settlements.

"Guess I should find out if he needs a hand though."

"Hey...uh...did you need a hand with something?"

@Killia

[Killia 0]

A hand? Yeah, I guess you could say that. How about a sledge hammer? Dynamite maybe? I mean, we’re breaking a rock here and can’t use weapons. Is this some Matrix level Quest where there is no rock? Come on...

"Uh, maybe? A friend of mine said I needed to complete some quest involving a crazy old man and punching a rock?" I held up my hands and balled them into fists. The cloth wrapping tightened against the knuckles with a soft, audible strain.

"Said if I refused to take up a weapon, it was the only way to be relevant?" I dropped my hands, opting to ruffle my hair in frustration instead. I don't even know why I was talking to this stranger anyway. Maybe he's like Clevis? Hopefully not a backstabber... didn't seem the type. The bird though... The jury was still out on that thing.

"Sorry, you are?" I gestured to my chest. "I'm Killia. I'm not usually this chatty. Uh... nice bird?"

Edited May 13, 2020 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

"Oh, Roc? Yeah don't worry about him. He's usually off doing his own thing. I'm Calrex, nice to meet you Killlia."

Looking down at the player's fists as he clenched and reopened them, talking about a quest involving punching a rock. Immediately, after the past times he had done the quest, Calrex recognized the particular one the young man was talking about, "You must be referring to Breaking the Unbreakable. It's the quest you take if you want to obtain the Extra Skill known as Martial Arts. So yeah, your friend was correct on that info. It is a rather tedious quest however, since the rock is particularly durable. You might be at it for a while if this is the first thing you're planning on tackling."

Thinking about his tasks at the moment the bluenette gave it some thought before resuming, "If you want I could help you wear it down. I actually took the quest myself when I was first starting out, so at the least I could break it partway so that you could finish it off to complete the quest."

[Killia 0]

"Great," I commented at the mention of taking a while. This guy was kind. So, when he said "while" what he meant was longer than a game of Monopoly with Grandma playing the banker. Senile old bat...

"Really?" My words were hesitant. Was he like Clevis or like those bastards in high school? Yeah, let's go check out the cheerleaders practicing in the gym. One black eye and a broken hand later...

"I mean, you probably have other things to do." He seemed genuine, but who's to really know? "Although, I have no idea where this quest is at all. Just that I have to climb a mountain."

I let out a sigh, pressing my face into my hand. What if this guy really would help? It's not uncommon to think there's more people like Clevis. I mean, people were nice to me before... Well... That's not a problem here. They can't go about googling or messing on facebook. Not like rumors cover the globe. 

I pulled away from my palm and had a change of heart.

"Actually, yeah." God, don't let this be a mistake. "I'll take you up on that offer. Thanks, Calrex."

[Calrex 0]

Giving a nod at Killia's approval to grant assistance, Calrex game a small smile before gesturing towards the teleportation plaza, "Well, I'll tell you this, it's certainly not in this floor. The quest actually takes place on the second floor, since it's one that's apparently designed for lower level players to take up, should they not find any of the weapon skills to be of interest."

"He definitely seems hesitant to ask for help. Guessing that might be something from before he even got into this game. Normally that isn't the case in games, since you're hiding behind the guise of an avatar. But Kayaba's stunt really changed that dynamic, since we have, for all intents and purposes, become our characters. While we may not feel pain due to the dampeners, any bit of damage we take brings us one step closer to death, at least from what we can perceive. I have heard of players that think we actually don't die when he are killed, but are actually ejected. Personally I find that to be a rather dangerous bet to play, since anyone that has died can't log back in to tell us otherwise."

"Also, don't worry about it. At the level I'm at, the amount of quests that I can take on for full rewards has dwindled to a minimum. I guess you can say I kind of hit the ground running in here for various reasons, and now I'm kind of dealing with the benefits and consequences of that. Either way, if you don't have another combat skill at the moment, let's see if we can get you the skill ASAP."

[Killia 0]

"Second Floor?" Then why the heck did he leave me here? "Alright, meet you there then?"

My face soured, thinking of Clevis. If I did learn whatever skill this was for unarmed combat, I'd be sure to test it out on his gut. Then again, if he really was from the front lines, I'd probably have better luck punching more rocks. I approached the town gate and vaguely remembered the procedures for transport.

"Teleport, Urbus." White light filled my peripherals until all vision was washed away. I felt light and weightless, followed by the slamming weight of reappearing. New sounds flooded my ears and the brisk aroma of pine filled the air. I shook my head in an effort to get that tingling sensation out of the back of my skull. Apparently, temporal shifts were a bit of a doozy. Who knew, right?

As I waited, I eyed the jagged horizon. Just about everything around here was a mountain and Urbus sat in the middle like a nested tick in a dog's ear.

"Great..."

Before long, Calrex appeared.

"Well, where do we start?" I asked. Meanwhile, the prospect of being painted on weighed heavily on me. Maybe I could swing it to where this guy got to wear the kitty paint. On the other hand, I'd get to look like a complete fool in front of what I'm 100% certain is one of the stronger players in the game. I mean, how high of a level do you have to be to not benefit from quests?

"Wait," I muttered. My mind remembered something. Before Clevis, I remember hanging out at those town hall meetings where they go over new info from the player's handbook. I could have sworn they said the highest level guy right now was Calrex. I looked to him and narrowed my eyes. Nah... No way. Couldn't of been. That guy's probably got his boot halfway up some sub-boss monster's brown eye. 

"Nevermind..."

Edited July 21, 2017 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

Giving a small sigh as he felt his avatar fully materialize in the second floor plaza Calrex looked forward, seeing that Killia had appeared moments before he had, "Alright then, so the quest takes place a short distance from the safe zone, over on a low hill that way."

Directing towards one of the safe zone gates he began moving forward, "With my current level difference, none of the monsters in the immediate area should be attracted to us. Plus if they do I can always quickly draw my sword and eliminate them before Killia is targeted. There's multiple precautions I can take at least."

Looking upwards he saw that Roc had appeared in a flash of light, hovering overhead, "This is Roc's original home after all. He always tends to get excited when we get back, although we have yet to see any trace of his original flock. Hopefully we'll encounter them again one day."

Looking back over at Killia the bluenette continued, "Once we get to the quest area, it's just as you had learned. The old man NPC merely observes while we wear down the rock. Once it is destroyed you should receive the skill and be able to invest skill points into it."

[Killia 0]

ID# 87182: BD8+3 <<-1 EN, HIT>> [4 Damage]

I nodded at Calrex's information. Compared to Clevis' broad suggestions and lack of detail, it felt relieving to work with someone knowledgeable. Still, I couldn't help but take an opportunity here and there to observe him as we walked. Despite his earlier comment, the stranger kept his guard up. Part of me felt safer, but the other part felt slightly unnerved. Everyone knew to keep their eyes open in the fields for random field bosses of even surprise attack mobs, but to add fuel to the fire, rumors of increased PKing had been floating around. I guess the longer people were here, the more they thought like Clevis' friend.

Maybe if we die here, we actually get to wake up.

A wave of chills crawled down my back at the thought. Not the thought exactly, but my mind seemed to accept the idea. I felt fear only because it didn't seem illogical. But to take the risk...

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Thankfully, we crested the low hill and I laid eyes on the objective. A cliff just a few stories high topped off in a plateau. Atop it, a boulder about twelve feet tall stood with shrine tape around it. Now, just a brief climb and we were there.

"Quick climb and we're there," I repeated aloud. "Thanks for helping by the way."

As we continued, and made it up the cliff, an old geezer greeted us. As much as I absolutely detested the idea, he breached the gap in a matter of seconds and slapped black cat whiskers across my face. I let loose a long drawn sigh. 

"If you want to take off the paint, you have to split this rock in half!" the NPC directed, pointing his blackened brush for emphasis. Up close, it was a lot bigger than I thought. Already, the walk and climb proved to warm the muscles and bones. To think I'd have to demolish a boulder... Well, it's not the worst thing I've done in one of these survival games.

"Alright, here we go." I assumed a rooted stance and recalled a rather favorite memory of knocking this one bully's teeth out. My fist shot out, slammed into the stone, and a small health bar appeared. The green bar dwindled slightly and my knuckles throbbed from the blow.

"Nice shot, boyo!" exclaimed the NPC. "I can't wait for this thing to be gone from my view!"

I looked to Calrex with a grin which felt stupid considering what he was about to do.

<<The Boulder>> 46/50 HP

Edited July 24, 2017 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

ID: 87207
Battle Dice: 2 (Accuracy +4) = 6
Basic Attack

As they arrived at the spot where the quest took place Calrex swiped on is menu, casually going through his skill mods, "I could probably blow this boulder away with All Might, but that wouldn't exactly be a good idea. After all Killia needs to take likely the starting and finishing strikes on this thing. However I should probably make sure that I don't miss...at least often."

Making sure <<Athletics>> and <<Precision>> were equipped he gave a calm nod in response to his teammate's grin, stretching his arms for a moment before stepping forward. He lowered himself into a combat stance, closing his eyes for a moment as he took a long breath to center his focus. Slowly opening his eyes the bluenette brought his arm back, hand clenched into a fist. With explosive speed he shot his arm forward, slamming his fist into the rock, watching as a chunk of the boulder's health fell away.

With that he stepped to the side, letting Killia take the next attack.

<<The Boulder>> 37/50 HP

[Killia 0]

ID# 87233: BD6+3 <<-1EN, HIT>> [+1 EN] [4 Damage]

It was like watching a ball of meat and bone launched from a cannon. Calrex shot out and bludgeoned the boulder with much better form and follow through than what I just put forward. I mean, I could have been putting him on a pedestal for being a higher level and all, but the health bar of the thing dropped twice as low from his blow as mine. Meaning, he had some firepower behind that fist of his.

"Jesus," my lips spilled unintentionally.

I shook off the thought of his fist entering my forehead and exiting my skull effortlessly and saw this as a challenge. You want to go, old man? (not that old really, and I totally forgot about the makeup on my face) Then, let's go!

I scrunched my brows and in an effort to mimic his form, I drew back a fist and gunned it into the stone. Another sliver of HP fell off the bar. With a firm look of determination, I stepped back and watched for Calex to go again.

<<The Boulder>> 33/50 HP

Edited July 25, 2017 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

ID: 87234
Battle Dice: 3 (Accuracy +4) = 7
Basic Attack

"Well, this is certainly going a lot smoother than the past times. For some reason there's always still that chance you could miss on an immobile target. I guess that's true in real life as well, but I don't think I've seen it happen as often as I have while being trapped here."

As Killia took his turn and removed some more health from the rock Calrex gave a nod before stepping forward. Switching with the fellow bluenette he gave a small exhale, falling into the same stance once again. Bringing his fist back it felt almost like muscle memory, quickly following through the entirety of the movement to drive his fist into the rock once again.

At this point the boulder appeared to have dropped below half of its HP, and as a result a long fracture became visible, climbing up to the outline. It certainly wasn't going to last much longer under these conditions.

Taking a step back Calrex gave a nod, "Looks like we're about halfway there."

<<The Boulder>> 24/50 HP

[Killia 0]

 ID# 87410: BD5+3 <<-1EN,HIT>> [+1EN] [+4 Damage]

"Yeah," I replied to Calrex. "Thanks again."

Were it not for his help, I may have spent the better part of a day punching this rock. My little chunks of HP versus his were pathetic. Then again, this world made it well known - that gap of power. My fist open and closed as though it ached. It should ache. But it didn't. Here, there was no pain, just a faint tingle. Just that faint indication that something happened. My health was full, but my hand tingled. Surely, were this the other side, I'd have broken a finger by now.

"Can't wait to get this makeup off my face..."

The whole reason I didn't want to do this in the first place. As we hacked away at this boulder, cracks starting to form, that smug NPC just sat hunched to the side, giggling to himself like the senile old bastard it was. I could kill it when this was all over. It'd respawn, right? My luck, the damn thing is programmed with a OHKO move set. Talk about a pain in the rear...

I exhaled and cocked my arm for another blow. Released, it slammed into the stone and fragments of rock leapt from the growing crack. One step closer.

<<The Boulder>> 20/50 HP

Edited July 31, 2017 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

ID: 87424
Battle Dice: 2 (Accuracy +4) = 6
Basic Attack

As Killia took another shot, removing more HP from the boulder Calrex gave a small sigh to himself as he recalled the first time he took on this quest by himself. SAO had gone through a lot of changes from when he first decided to start venturing out from the Starting City. It was obvious to his understanding that he was certainly not one of the first. There were many others that had taken that leap before him, because the eleventh floor was in the process of being unlocked by the time his level had reached the double digits. Back then things seemed be a little looser in terms of the possibilities of quest progression. For his luck, unfortunately that meant the boulder he would fight could actually hit back. After the opening punch the rock had become a golem that he defeated while being drawn within a few inches of his life. It was far too close a call, and something he had hoped to not have happen once again to anyone under his protection. There had been times he had failed in that charge, but it was still something he strived for.

Stepping forward the bluenette gave a calming exhale, clenching his right hand into a fist once again before driving it forward with his elbow extension. As it traveled through space he could feel the trajectory was off of the mark from before, although he was lucky that his Accuracy managed to bring it back enough that it still connected with a glancing blow off the boulder. Such a thing in real life would have likely scraped a decent amount of skin off of his hand, but luckily SAO lacked such finer...and potentially more painful details.

<<The Boulder>> 11/50 HP

[Killia 0]

Spoiler

<<+1EN>>
ID# 146696: BD9+3ACC <<-1EN,HIT,CRIT!>> [4 Damage +1 Critical]

The taste of victory was nearly palpable. The HP whittled down little by little and finally had more empty than full. Were this the health of a player, everyone would be worried. But Killia had a strange suspicion that everyone loved to see this boulder die. Keeping that image in mind, the future pugilist squared his fists to his side, took a half breath, and thrust his fist with a sharp exhale. He could immediately tell by the impact, the percussion down his arm and rooted in his core, that his blow was nearly perfect. Some the cracks grew, flakes of stone shuddered and chimed loose from the massive formation and the HP bar dipped into the red.

"Whoo, that felt good," Killia stated after blowing another lungful of air through pursed lips. "I think this thing is almost toast."

He took a few steps back and away from the stone and massaged the tingling sensation in his knuckles. Then, kept his eyes on Calrex in anticipation. Kilia was ready to move onto greener pastures. Literally. 

<<The Boulder>> 6/50 HP

@Calrex

Edited May 7, 2020 by Killia

[Calrex 0]

Spoiler

ID: 146701
BD: 9 (+4 Accuracy) = 13 / +1 Damage to Boulder

With the boulder almost reduced to zero hit points, Calrex gave a nod to Killia, the young pugilist seemingly anxious to be done with the quest. An understandable sentiment, since to some level the quest itself was rather monotonous. It was the embodiment of banging one's head against a wall until it gave. "Seems like it, well if I don't miss, then most likely this rock's gonna be pebbles by the time I'm done."

Stepping up the already massively cracked rock he slid his foot back, raising his lead hand while giving a calming breath, closing his rear hand into a tight fist. Tensing his virtual muscles the bluenette's vision focused on the center of the target. Faint lights emanated from his fist before he stepped forward, shooting his fist at the same time. The impact slammed hard into the boulder, a noticeable crater being formed. Gradually the cracks that emanated from the impact point grew larger and larger until the entire rock crumbled to pieces.

Putting his hands back into his jacket pockets, Calrex gave a nod, "Well I believe that means we're done with the quest right?"

@Killia

<<The Boulder>> 0/50 HP

[Killia 0]

Killia shot a fist into the air.

"*&%! Yeah!" He blurted with fervor. Immediately, he pushed his face into his forearm and vigorously worked the paint from his face the old man forced him to wear. Believing it had all been removed, Killia turned to the old man and pointed. "Suck it old man!"

The NPC chortled. Doubled over, and pointed his walking stick at the bluenette. Difficult to see, Killia only managed to severely smear the ink all over his face instead of remove it. Once he regained his composure, he cleared his throat and bowed.

"Thank you, you two, you've been a great help." At those words, the smeared ink on Killia's face lifted off and shattered into dust. A notification popped up in Killia's field of view summarizing the completed quest. Martial Arts Proficiency had been obtained as well as some experience and currency.

"Nice," Killia spoke under his breath. He dismissed the notification and turned to Calrex.

"Hey, thanks." The teen paused for a moment before mustering up his next few words. "You think you'd be willing to help me out with some other quests now that I have some offensive capabilities?"

He felt weak to be asking Calrex for help. Killia kept to himself for a reason, but something about Calrex exuded trust.

@Calrex 

[Calrex 0]

With the quest completed, the bluenette gave a small smile and a nod, watching as Killia expressed a great sense of relief, taking the time even get as much ink from the quest NPC off as he could. He felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head, "Guess he really wanted to be done with this...although I don't recall the ink from before. Granted mine wouldn't exactly be called standard either. Maybe I really just got unlucky and got a glitched quest or something. At least I was able to survive it."

As the fellow blue-haired player walked over, expressing his thanks, the young man also asked if the Ultramarine Knight would be up for assisting him with some more quests. With the fact that Killia now had a combat skill, this meant that the pugilist...was actually a pugilist. "Hm...I can't think of anything else I was really planning on doing today, plus it would be a good idea to at least help a new player out until they're able to handle most mobs on their own without threat of being killed."

"Sure, I think I've got time to be able to help out some more. Were there any particular quests you wanted to get knocked out?"

"It might be best if he takes on the field boss monster quests, but his Martial Arts is still only at the first level, so if he were to do so it would be best if he either had assistance or strengthened a bit more. Killia have access to some Sword Arts now, but they're nowhere near the power level of a grandmastered weapon skill, that from what I recall some of the monsters have abilities that deal more damage than a Rank 1 Sword Art."

@Killia

[Killia 0]

Smudged and looking ridiculous, Killia let a grin crack at the corner of his lips. His amber eyes lit up with excitement.

"Aw, man, yeah." Killia's tone exuded relief. "I really haven't done any quests."

He paused for a moment remembering why. He looked down to his hands which were numb instead of consumed with searing pain. Numb felt right. He scoffed.

"You know?" The teen rubbed at his knuckles, a habit he had from before the game. "Can we tackle something tough?"

The request left his lips as overconfidence but the boy lined it with guilt. His expression fell flat. The cold expression on his face easily looked to be determination. Killia had a point to prove.

"I'll have to rely on you for suggestions. Thanks again for lending a hand." The teen held out his hand for a handshake. Red polygons fluttered from his knuckles, slowly shrinking as time passed out of combat. 

@Calrex

[Calrex 0]

"Something tough huh?"

Calrex crossed his arms for a quick moment, going through the various quests he had completed in the past. It was almost certain they were changed at some point, or if not they would be a lot easier than he remembered, especially with the advent of Sword Arts long ago, a lot of the field bosses became very short encounters, "Well we might as well take on something field boss related."

"I think as tough might not be the same from what I recall, so it may be best to take on one of the field bosses. Those tend to work well, plus they give a good amount of skill points as well. There should be one called Long Live the Queen which is also found on this floor you can take a crack at."

"It's probably still not too bad, but maybe if I only take a tanking role and let him handle the damage it might be a good way to ease him into that type of combat. Since he just unlocked Martial Arts, the battle will still be a bit longer than a one-shot and done encounter."

@Killia