[PP-F1] The Green One <<DHA:1>>

[Birdie 0]

Quote

 

Hi Ruby,

Hope I wasn't interrupting anything! There's this questline, Dragon Hunter Anthology, and I was wondering if you wanted to have at it? The first few look super easy. You can pick it up at the announcement board.

I'm on the first floor, just outside the East gate. Message me back if you're interested!

 

1

"Aaand..." As Birdie pressed down on the 'Send' button, the message window disappeared in a flash, and a system jingle rang out shortly after. Having sat herself down on a bench outside of the <<Town of Beginnings>> rightmost exit, she slumped further into the backrest and kicked up her feet. The artificial Sun beamed down brightly on her avatar's skin, causing a calm sensation to wash over her as she awaited a reply from Ruby.

They had bumped into each other at a bar on the third floor, having pursued complete opposite goals for the evening. It started with Birdie tagging along for the woman's quest and ended with the formation of a brand new friendship, and to that, she smiled. Good allies were in such fickle supply, so it was more than reassuring to know that such people still existed in the game.

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby after chilling out and slammed down a drink from the pub she had received a message from a new friend she had made... Birdie, with eager she had opened the message and read it, and after reading it she had clicked "Reply" and wrote to her with a smile:

Spoiler

To: Birdie

Topic: DHA

Details: I knew you would get lonely eventually~ lol nah, you didn't interrupt anything! I am down to take on the Dragon Hunter Anthology quest line with you! That sounds like a great time! Are you wanting to take all of them with me or just the one?

She then sent the message to immediately go to the message board to find the Dragon Hunter Anthology parts and took them to take now and at a later time, she had spent the time walking to where she was reading up on all of them to figure out what they all entail, however the only part she couldn't research upon was the last part... all it said when opening it, it said [[REDACTED]] which made her more iffy about it but she still wanted to spend time with Birdie. Eventually she had gotten to the gate she was at and with a raised hand waving her hand she had yelled out "Hey there cutie!" she laughed at her own silly comment and walked up to her and said "Hey Birdie, thank you again for the items..." she bowed again showing her respect towards her and said "I really really appreciate it."

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

A message window appeared before Birdie and she tapped on the button to open it up, hoping dearly that Ruby had at least considered the invitation. Much to her excitement, the woman accepted in jest and asked if it would be a one-time thing or whether they'd be doing the entire series together. Quickly, she whipped up the reply window and tapped away.

To: Ruby

Topic: Re:DHA

Details: All of them of course!

Seeing as the woman would arrive sometime soon, Birdie didn't feel as if including much detail was necessary, and she sent the message without so much as a second thought. Minutes later, as she'd been admiring the clouds and the Level 2 Boars roaming the fields, a familiar voice called out from behind. Turning quickly, she spotted Ruby off in the distance, though the gap between them was closing rapidly. "You're welcome, those stones were just old spares I was planning to sell to a junk merchant anyway. N-not that they're junk or anything! Th-they're really great- I mean, th-they work, obviously..." Birdie sighed in resignation, her embarrassment highlighted by a light shade of pink fading into her cheeks.

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had received another message from Birdie explaining how she wanted to do all of them with her, which had brought a smile on her face... doing a set of quests with a cute girl that helped her out? Sign her up! Eventually she had made her way to the gate where she had made her silly comment and thanked her again, then Birdie had tried to explain how it was no use of here and she would have just sold it to a merchant, however she was failing to explain it the way she wants her to and she began to blush which had brought a smile to her face "Geez, you look too cute when you are blushing." she toyed with her trying to get her to blush more, eventually she cut the silly comments and said to her "I understand what you were trying to say Birdie, they had no use to you so it would have been a better idea to get some col from it. What you consider junk is another man or woman's treasure!" she had said with a smile and giggle.

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Rather than succumb to Ruby's teasing, Birdie took the woman's words in jest. She let out a sigh of relief, "R-right, that's what I was trying to say. I'd offer you some more freebies but honestly, most of the stuff in my inventory really is just a bunch of junk, like.. failed crafts, bad items... I'm pretty sure I have a Doughnut in there from week one still?" She gave a puzzled look.

Not wanting to stick around on the outskirts of town for too long, she turned and took a few steps toward the fields, hoping Ruby would follow. "S-so, what do you think of the bangle. Does it fit properly? Did I get the colours right?" Though Birdie was far from a dedicated Craftswoman, she felt it important to receive proper feedback every now and then; There was no way of knowing which areas to improve on without first asking the customer. 

@Ruby

 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had blinked, first off she didn't really know what she meant by she still had a doughnut from week one, does she mean a literal doughnut...? Or an item that so happens to be a doughnut? Either way she had shrugged it off and said to Birdie "You have given me enough to at least try to get back on my feet. And I just cannot thank you enough Birdie. Seriously, I cannot thank you enough." she had bowed before her again, she was basically worshiping her at this point. Eventually they had stepped out of the safe zone and walked right into the fields, hopefully Birdie knows the exact direction to the Dragon in which the quest had talked about because Ruby is not good with reading maps... like at all. Ruby had looked over when Birdie had began to speak and out of curiosity she had began to ask if the trinket was good enough, Ruby had nodded her head and said "It is absolutely perfect! Thank you again for making it for me!"

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

Never had she been bombarded with so much word of thanks. As Ruby continually insisted, the scout was starting to become quite flustered, to the point where she had to mask her embarrassment for a moment and calm down before looking back. "W-well, it was n-no trouble, Ruby. Now you can show me a real attack! I have a feeling you won't miss this time." The chance was still there, of course, but the dragon didn't appear to a tough enemy - nobody had mentioned it be as much, anyway. "I'm glad you like it!"

ID# 87038 - LD: 8+7 | Found 4 [T1 Mats]

Using her time effectively, Birdie activated her Search skill like she always did when walking outside the safe zones - there really was no penalty for keeping it on 24/7. Thanks in part to her luck-enhancing gear, a small white flash appeared a few dozen feet away, next to the base of a fallen tree. Birdie smiled and moved to retrieve them before returning to Ruby's side not long later, and she gazed out into the open fields beyond. "I'm not too sure where to look for the dragon. The quest objective says it spawns in the field somewhere, so I guess we just go looking around for it?" She shrugged, "A-anyway. How have you been? Have you taken any more quests yet?"

@Ruby

Edited July 22, 2017 by Birdie

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had chuckled when Birdie had mentioned that she can show her a real attack, provided she doesn't miss. Ruby had given Birdie another wink and said "Hey, I promise to show you a real attack. Only if it makes you impressed with me~" she giggled. Ruby had watched as Birdie as they had walked out of the safe zone to retrieve something that she had spotted from the distance... which Ruby can only assume was some form of materials, Ruby remembers how Materials were impossibly hard without any equipment, and now with her items she could find them just a lot better than she can before, again something she was proud of and couldn't thank Birdie enough. She had eventually broke the silence when she had gotten back to see how she has been, Ruby giggled "Ah ya know same ole same ole missing you~" she shook her head with a laugh "But no, really. I have been fine trying to complete as many quests as I can to climb the latter and get more skills."

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

As luck would have it, whilst Birdie headed back to @Ruby's side, another four materials presented themselves a little further along the path. She wouldn't need to move away or deviate from the trail to retrieve them, and she happily bagged all four up.

Ruby's initial reply gained an eye roll and a casual smile from Birdie, and she nodded in acknowledgement as the woman mentioned quests and gaining more skills. "I see, it does feel like quests are the best way to gain experience points. I'm kinda in the same boat, I've been knocking a few out here and there... it's just really slow going, ya know?" Birdie sighed, swinging her eyes to the path ahead. "But hey- at least we can do this questline together! I hear not many people have gotten that far into it yet. Maybe nobody's finished it before... wonder what the reward is for reaching the end?"

Birdie stopped suddenly, her vision focused on a small green blob in the distance. The woman placed a hand on Tempest Fleuret's hilt as she spoke, "Hey, can you see that...? Think it's our objective?"

-----

ID# 87095 - LD: 20+3 | Found 4 [T1 Mats]

Loot:

• 8 [T2 Mats]

~~~~~

Birdie - HP: 680/680 - EN: 68/68

Ruby - HP: ???/??? - EN: ??/??

Rhaegal, the Emerald Hatchling - HP: 125/125 - MIT: 25 - DMG: 50

Edited July 23, 2017 by Birdie

[Ruby 0]

Once more Birdie had gone off to try to find some more materials as they had continued down the path, eventually she had gotten back for her to make her statement only for her to chuckle at Birdie's eye roll she knows what that was intended for. She had continued to speak to her and pretty much she was preaching the choir and was saying things she could only say amen towards. And eventually she had mentioned that at least they would be able to do this quest line together then had wondered what was at the end of the quest line waiting for them, Ruby had shrugged her guess was as good as her own. "I dunno, it's gotta be something worth while to go through so many dragons though, wouldn't you think?" she said with a smile, eventually they had made it to the dragon that had hatched from its egg, Birdie had looked back to Ruby asking if she had thought that was the dragon for the quest line, without a second thought she had moved up to hit the dragon with All Might removing 95% of its HP bar and looked back to Birdie and said "I mean, it hatched from a gemstone. I only assume so. Plus it lived one of my attacks."

@Birdie

-----

ID: 87121 - BD: 7+3=10

Sword Art Used: All Might [Damage: 9*15=135-25=110]

Birdie - HP: 680/680 - EN: 68/68

Ruby - HP: 840/840 - EN: 84/84

Rhaegal, the Emerald Hatchling - HP: 15/125 - MIT: 25 - DMG: 50

[Birdie 0]

She nodded, smiling. "I hope it's a cave full of unclaimed treasure and gold, what I wouldn't do with all that Col..."

Birdie blinked twice, once as Ruby strolled up casually to the dragon and again as the woman socked its frail form. To see an innocent creature succumb to such harm tugged at her heartstrings, though Rhaegal's adorable attempts at a fierce roar did suggest it intended to kill them both. "I guess, can't say it feels right to kill such a harmless little thing... didn't you think it was going to be, I dunno, bigger?"

Contrary to her merciful words, Birdie followed up with a swift Quadruple Pain - a thrusting art that automatically struck the target's limbs four times - and the baby dragon flopped helplessly to the floor, smashing into thousands of tiny digital fragments. A 'Congratulations!' window appeared before both players, highlighting the fact they'd completed the quest criteria. The bluenette sighed, "Talk about easy. Nice moves by the way! I don't think I've seen that Sword Art before... uh, Fist Art?" she half-asked, half-corrected herself.

-----

ID: 87131 - BD: 2+3+1 (Concentration used)

Sword Art Used: Quadruple Pain [Damage: 12*4=48-25=23]

Birdie - HP: 680/680 - EN: 64/68

Ruby - HP: 840/840 - EN: 67/84

Rhaegal, the Emerald Hatchling - HP: -8/125 - MIT: 25 - DMG: 50

@Ruby

Edited July 24, 2017 by Birdie

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had chuckled at what Birdie hopes for it to be, and of course she doesn't believe its going to be a cave full of gemstones and pretty much a col mine, she had looked at Birdie with a smile and said to her "You have quite the imagination Birdie... you going for fame and fortune now?" she had giggled and winked at her "I would be too, however I doubt the game would give that to you.". After the dragon hatching Birdie would have thought that the little guy would have been a bit... bigger, however down the line many different baby dragons can be either easy... or a headache. However, the general consensus about dragons, the older they are... the more tough they are. She had looked to Birdie as she had finished off the dragon and said to her "I am actually kind of glad that its not bigger, the general knowledge about them is... well the older they are, the tougher they are. Meaning this boss actually would have caused commotion if it was any stronger." then she had chuckled and gave her a wink as she had then said to her after her last comment "Hey, I am just a master at using my hands for numerous things~"

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

"A girl's gotta hope," Birdie replied, wearing the same old smile if a bit less enthused than before. Earning a brief lesson on dragons and the correlation between growth stages and their tendency to be a pain, Birdie couldn't say she was all that surprised. "Mmm... I suppose you're right. Maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up that they'll all be this easy," she joked, a short laugh escaping her throat. "There's no doubt the last boss will be pretty troublesome. If it's so strong that we can't take it out ourselves... do you think there's anyone else who would have gotten that far?" Despite instilling the idea that they'd do it together, that didn't necessarily mean without the aid of others. The blonde's last comment breezed over Birdie's mind and she gave a simple smile instead, turning back to the path they'd followed. Materials sprouted by a nearby tree and she made haste to retrieve them, briefly pardoning herself from Ruby before returning.

-----

ID# 87137 - LD: 19+3 | Found 4 <<T1 Mats>>

Loot:

• 12 <<T1 Mats>>

@Ruby

Edited July 24, 2017 by Birdie

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had chuckled at Birdie's comment stating that a girl's gotta hope, because for the majority of her life she had basically lived behind that statement... even if she never really wanted to in the first place. "Yeah, that's all a girl can do in my opinion." she had chuckled at the comment, then had listen to her as she had pretty much agreed with her thanking that is was merely a child, the last thing Ruby honestly wanted was to spend hours in the day fighting a boss. Birdie had asked if there was anyone she had knew that could take on a troublesome dragon if it had brought some troubles towards Ruby and Birdie, she had thought to herself, the only person she could really think of was the guy that had stole all her stuff after tricking her to party with her for a while. She had shook her head and said to Birdie before she had gone off to find materials "Not really I don't really know anyone besides that asshole that had took all my stuff." 

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

"A-ah, I'm sorry I asked..." She averted her gaze, knowing better than to breach that particular topic again. Not so long ago, Birdie bore witness to the blonde's breakdown due to reminiscing on losing equipment at the hands of her old friends, and it wasn't the bluebird's goal to make a new friend feel upset. "In that case, we'll just have to toughen up a little!" She beamed, leaning forwards to initiate the short haul back to town. "We still have a bunch of quests to go and I'm sure we won't finish them all back-to-back, so that leaves tons of room for levelling up before the last one is due. I'm nearly Level 35 at the moment, but if we play our cards right, I'm sure we can go up five levels each at least." Although she felt bad for it, the bluenette had checked over all of Ruby's stats she could see in the friend menu. Only seven levels separated them, though the power divide was bound to grow as Ruby gathered more equipment.

@Ruby

 

[Ruby 0]

After Birdie had apologized, she had moved her hand to Birdie to say "No, no. You didn't mean it with malicious intent you are fine." she had offered her a smile. From the distance on a hill a player stepped out from the shadows as he had over heard their conversations, simply after hearing her words he had let out a chuckle "Yes... yes, keep talking those words." then he had turned around not to be found. Ruby had chuckled after Birdie's comments stating how she could grow at least 5 levels if they play their cards right, "Yeah! At least that would be nice anyways, I just need to finish some skills for my build is all. However getting to Tier 3 is also a priority of mine, I need to get there to truly become a part of the front lines anyways." she had giggled as she had continued behind Birdie, she had noticed she had been checking her menu's however that was none of her business to get into.

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

As the blonde dispelled any notion that Birdie caused her harm, the bluenette briefly closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. No materials appeared in the immediate area, much to the scout's disappointment, though the wind did seem to pick up for a moment leading a chill to run through her spine- she was more than ready to return to <<Town of Beginnigns>> now. Ruby mentioning the third tier caused Birdie to nonchalantly look over, nodding in realisation. "Oh! Right, I totally forgot that you're actually kinda close to 50. So you plan to join the front runners too?" At that point, most players over the mid-thirty milestone were intent on joining SAO's clearing faction, nobody who trained that hard was playing to settle down and live peacefully. "You'll be an awesome DPS, I know it. Maybe you can give me some tips when I catch up?" she said with a small laugh, swinging her eyes around to the unassuming road ahead.

@Ruby

Edited July 24, 2017 by Birdie

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had looked over when Birdie had gone on about being close to level 50, with a smile she had said to her as she had stretched her arms upwards "Why of course, I too want to get out of this game. If it means helping the progression of moving forward I will help out as much as I can." then she had laughed as she had called her a DPS, which was not the build she is going for. She had patted Birdie on her back and said to her "Honey. I am not a DPS. I am a healer, see?" she had raised a hand shifting the color from her hands to white to dark red, to blue. "I am going to be a support class, the only reason why I have rank 5 in any weapon for that matter is because I want to be able to carry myself instead of relying on others all the time." she then looked around the main settlement, while this was the safest place to be, she just wouldn't imagine she would be on this floor at her level, however... there wasn't much she could really do about it.

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

"Mhm, it's what every sane player wants. Then you have some groups like Laughing Coffin and Black Adder doing everything in their power to halt that progression...It makes me sick just thinking about them." She could rant for days about the PK'ing groups, those who seemed to enjoy a life of confinement in SAO's floating castle of Aincrad. What's worse, Birdie thought, they were the types who'd be locked up in real life if it weren't for the death game and its lack of laws outside of the safe zones. It was wholly illegal to kill another player but with such a union of like-minded murderers and lawbreakers running rampant, those who did shine orange had a place they'd be welcomed with open arms.

"O-oh, oh! I-I'm sorry for making assumptions, I just assumed... A-anyway, that's awesome too! The front lines are in need of support types, no doubt, and I'm sure they'll like the fact that you can take care of yourself. Break some legs out there! And uh... heal some too, I suppose." She beamed a grin once more, stopping before the Eastern gates of the <<Town of Beginnings>>. "Looks like we're here- thanks for agreeing to this. Are you free anytime soon for the next quest?"

@Ruby