[SP-F17] Patience over Strength <<Challenge of Olympus>>

[Itzal 0]

Itzal was standing in the slime farm of his house, in the back yard on floor two.  The slimes he was fighting were unable to drop any loot of any sort, but that wasn't Itzal's biggest concern.  He was training.  The slimes had taken forms of humanoid beings, their right hands morphed into swords both curved and straight.  He waited in silence for them to spawn, as they would appear at random.  He heard movement up ahead and leaped back just in time to avoid the slime's attack from the trees.  They couldn't do any permanent damage to him, but the point of this exercise was to avoid being hit at all.  He charged at it but when he did the slime leaped back and he shifted his attention to his surroundings.  A trap?  He rolled to his right to avoid three attacks from his left, and had to hold his blade up in a block position to stop the attack from his right.  This continued for a while until he was finally able to defeat the slimes.  He panted for a moment as the training session was completed for today.  Now it was time to head to floor seventeen he thought.  He traveled to the town, boarded the teleport pad, and teleported to the Greek floor.

+2 SP (Mega Slime Farm)

[Itzal 0]

Itzal was on the seventeenth floor now that the material searching was over.  He was looking for the quest that supposedly had the specialty item that gave him a plus one on the CD counter.  With it he could craft items far, far easier than before.  And now that he had a house and workshop, he had an additional crafting attempt as well as a higher experience boost.  He was hoping to have this item and craft all the way to rank five...  Since for some reason his profession only hit five ranks and not ten.  That however was another matter entirely.  Completely different topic.  Itzal walked through the town as he was, rather unsure how this quest was supposed to start.  He didn't know where the npc was.  He didn't know who or what the npc was.  He simply walked around looking for any npc that he did not recognize.  Velnia was resting on his shoulder along with him.  All of the npc's looked at Velnia nervously as always.  Creatures that were not ordinary animals they expected to be monsters of this Greek world and would shy away or run from her.  She didn't mind though.  She was bobbing her head along happily as she munched on a sandwich Itzal made for her.

[Itzal 0]

As Itzal walked around however he heard a commotion begin to rise up from a distance...  And people's exclamations, cries of surprise and such began to get closer and closer to Itzal.  He didn't need to worry about anything dangerous as he was in the town so he was pretty safe as safe could be.  Soon enough he saw a..  A Satyr appear, running through the crowds looking left and right.  He seemed to be searching for someone though who that person was he didn't know.  Then he realized:  He'd never seen a Satyr on this floor before...  Was this the new npc who'd start the quest?  He began to walk up to the Satyr but before he could say anything, the npc saw his face and rushed over.  "Excuse me!  You there, mortal!  You are Itzal, the Beacon of Hope are you not?"  Itzal blinked in total shock and confusion.  The username he understood, but how on earth did the system even know about that title?  Barely anyone mentioned it, and those who did were either missing or..  Well something or other.  Itzal was totally confused and, a bit unhinged at how the npc could possibly know his name..  Velnia thought it was cool though, so he supposed he should just accept it.

[Itzal 0]

"Uh, yeah that's, me."  The Satyr gave out a sigh of relief.  "Oh thank the gods.  I actually found you.  I have a message for you from the God Apollo."  Itzal blinked in surprise.  A message for Itzal specifically?  From the- THE GOD OF THE SUN AND MUSIC?  APOLLO?  The game sure had stepped things up in gear it seems.  He was freaking messaged by one of the Greek Gods for crying out loud.  His surprise was clear of course so the Satyr replied with a chuckle.  "The gods see all, and Apollo is rather, impressed with your work Itzal.  He knows your skill as a craftsman and wishes to compete with you.  You are to meet him at the gates of Olympus and compete with him to see who can craft the best song.  You shall be rather well rewarded."  "Can I take a guess at what the item is?"  The satyr appeared confused at first but Itzal went ahead anyways.  "Is it an item that will make my crafting even better?"  It was now the Satyr's turn to be astonished.  "How could you know that?  Are you an all knowing god yourse-"  "No, no I'm not don't even suggest I'm a god.  Let's just say that I have a friend who knows things."  A.K.A. the Cardinal.

[Itzal 0]

The Satyr seemed, satisfied with the answer and nodded.  "Please hurry, the gods do not at all like to wait.  I myself have more pressing duties to attend to.  I wish you luck Itzal!"  Itzal waved goodbye to the Satyr and stood there for a moment, still trying to accept what he'd heard.  He was challenged to a craft off with a god, the god Apollo no less.  The reward would be a plus CD item no doubt about it.  More than likely they would have the necessary instruments Itzal would need waiting for him.  Both ancient, medieval, and modern.  He didn't know how many attempts he could make, but he was guessing Apollo would not be making many mistakes, if any at all.  More than likely he'd have to be very creative in how he beat the God of music.  Itzal sighed and looked at Velnia.  "Well?  Should we head out now?"  Velnia nodded as she took another nibble at her sandwich and Itzal began to walk for the gate of the town.  Once he reached it he would start looking for some materials.  Itzal spotted two materials that he could use and added them to his inventory.

ID#  96557  CD:  2  LD:  15  +2 MAT

[Itzal 0]

As Itzal and Velnia made their way across the floor, he couldn't help but think of how excited he was for his profession.  He had new enhancements, revised enhancements, and even a new system to his crafting!  Two items he would most likely spam making were the loot consumables.  One increased the chances of loot on the monsters LD chart, and the other increased the chances of loot on the monsters CD chart.  Both were incredibly important for looting monsters, and Itzal was a scout.  He had the highest loot chance out of everyone.  If he used the LD and CD consumables, as well as the LD food consumable, he'd have what.  Plus twelve LD and plus one CD for looting chances.  Not only that but he also had the prosperity item, and the basement buff of his house would give him a single bonus per day that amplified his LD, or prosperity.  He was realizing that he may now be the greatest looter in all of Aincrad if this was true.  The idea made him excited.  Itzal noticed four more materials and picked them up, adding them to his inventory.

ID#  96559  CD:  12  LD:  16  +4 MAT

6 total

[Itzal 0]

Then there were the updates to the debuff items.  Now they didn't last for only four posts, but the entire combat length.  If Itzal was up against a boss or a loot leveled mob, he could use a debuff to increase the potency of his damage over time effects.  The two enhancements that did so basically either increased the duration of DoT effects, or doubled the damage of damage over time effects.  He was hoping to craft the DoT debuffs since Hestia was planning to craft some evasion debuffs.  He just hoped that the debuffs would work against the boss this time around.  Another debuff reduced the damage dealt by an enemy by ten percent..  After mitigation was applied that is.  This was also extremely useful and he hoped to be able to craft said item.  The last two debuffs were the usual including reduced evasion and reduced accuracy.  They were better mainly because the effect lasted a full battle rather than only four rounds.  Itzal was definitely excited to craft again.  Itzal spotted another three materials and added them to his inventory.

ID#  96561  CD:  9  LD:  7+8  +3 MAT

9 MAT total

[Itzal 0]

And finally there was the masterpiece system that had been added, which Itzal was most excited about.  Whenever he crafted items, there was a chance for them to turn out as a masterpiece.  Crafting the items used a CD system, but obtaining a masterpiece was the result of the LD chart.  If he was successful he'd craft a perfect masterpiece item.  There were two types of masterpieces and he'd need to choose specifically what he wanted.  The first was Mass.  Mass masterpiece consumables were items that affected a full party.  In other words, if you were in a party you could use the masterpiece crystal to heal yourself, and up to five other players depending on who was in your party.  Either that or you could use the masterpiece crystal to apply debuffs to up to four enemies you were fighting against.  The second type of masterpiece was instant.  Instead of having to wait a moment to activate the song, which took up combat time, it would be activated instantly allowing you to still fight or use other actions.  It was awesome and he was quite excited to craft one. 

ID#  96562  LD:  2

9 MAT

[Itzal 0]

It wasn't long after this when he saw the entrance to Olympus.  The entrance was very very high up, on a floating mountain tip..  He was being serious, it was the tip of a mountain with no mountain under it.  There was a massive staircase that went up to it, though it became translucent the further up it went.  This was designed so that unless you were up against the base of the stairs, you wouldn't see the rest of it.  Itzal began to walk up the stairs towards the gates of Olympus.  He was excited for crafting again, and excited to get this item.  But he would have to wait another day before he could use it.  He had made an attempt to craft a perfect for somebody way early in the morning due to his excitement, and he failed.  He sighed as he needed that boost sooner rather than later.  Especially if he was going to be crafting for the front lines for crying out loud.  At least he was able to craft a rare item or two.  The reduced accuracy would be important in his opinion.

[Itzal 0]

Pretty soon he reached the gates.  In front of the gates as a very large platform, so you'd have to be legitimately trying if you were going to fall off of the edge.  Waiting outside was what seemed to be a young man with golden hair, a laurel wreath, a white tunic and an orange scarf.  His eyes were golden like the sun, and he was clearly alive with energy and vigor.  He seemed pleased to see Itzal and held a goblet of wine out to him.  "Welcome Itzal!  Beacon of hope and artist of music!  Come let us drink before we begin shall we?"  Itzal chuckled a little, pleased to see that the God was pleasant and kind hearted.  "Thanks, though I-"  "Don't drink alcoholic beverages yes I know.  While I find it boring, I got you this."  He handed Itzal another goblet that had chocolate milk inside of it.  Itzal laughed at the sight and nodded to the god of sun and music.  "Thank you very much Apollo.  I must say this is the most interesting experience I've had in Aincrad."  The god chuckled with a smile before they saluted one another with their drinks and downed them.  Afterwards Apollo grinned mischievously.  "Now to business..."

[Itzal 0]

Itzal nodded and heard a woosh of some sort, turned and saw a chair exactly the way he enjoyed them.  He sat down and put on a business face...  Well the best he had that is.  Apollo kept smiling.  "Here is how it will work.  You and I will take turns playing and singing into a recording crystal.  You'll have all the tools and instruments you need, all the materials you require.  I will start first, and then you'll do a song.  We go back and forth until we either hit ten songs, or you play one that impresses me.  If I feel you've beaten me, then you will win and get, this:"  He held up a lyre.  A specially designed one too.  It was gold and very, very fancy.  He grinned at Itzal.  "You know what this is of course?"  "Apollo's Lyre.  More than likely either a perfect or demonic item.  Plus one CD as an enhancement.  I can only get it from this quest."  He nodded with a grin.  "You've got one shot at this, so don't blow it.  Well then, I suppose I should get started then?"  Apollo started playing his Lyre and the sound coming from it was so beautiful Itzal was amazed.  Apollo started off with a poem, specifically about the peaceful war of competition.  It really was a masterpiece and Itzal was beginning to worry if what he had planned on the way here was going to be enough.  Apollo grinned when he finished, playing the song recording and it came out perfectly.  "Now your turn."

[Itzal 0]

Itzal nodded and looked at the collection of instruments.  He looked over them carefully before picking up a pair of bongo like drums.  He started the song crystal and....  Didn't do much at first.  Every ten seconds he'd hit them very lightly before going silent.  Then he did nothing for a while.  When he resumed his music, it was very simple.  Simply something designed to keep the beat with a few kicks to it.  Apollo's smile started to fade as he believed this was not going to be very fun at all.  Itzal reached a point where the drums kicked up the beat a little but not by much.  It was very steady and simple through the song and when he finished he played the crystal.  It came out perfectly.  Apollo stared at him.  "...That's it?  Jeez this is such a disappointment.  Well then I suppose it's my turn now isn't it?"  Apollo then took his lyre and played his own instrumental music.  It was a perfect combination of strong, beautiful, and gentle, and many would fall in love with the music and the one playing it.  Itzal remained calm and composed through all of this while Velnia couldn't help but dance to the God's music.  He grinned at seeing Velnia do so.  He finished and looked at Itzal.  "Please don't disappoint me any more."

[Itzal 0]

Itzal looked at the instruments yet again, while placing the crystal to the side.  He took a special instrument that, when he activated it, made a sort of, chime or sparkling sound.  When he began the recording...  He did nothing.  It looked like he was waiting forever as seconds turned into half a minute.  In fact, he only used the instrument about, what.  Three, maybe four times throughout the entire thing?  He ended the song recording two seconds longer than the first one and placed it beside the first.  At this point Apollo was confused rather than annoyed.  Clearly he was doing this on purpose, but was it to spite the god?  Itzal didn't seem like that kind of person.  Was it because he was giving up?  Not that either.  So what was he doing?  "Pfft.  I expected more from you Itzal."  He picked up his Lyre and began recording another song, this one again the opposite of what Itzal did.  This one had a note for each second, and was so lively Itzal had to fight the urge not to tap along or dance with it like Velnia was doing.  Apollo could see this resistance but he didn't understand it.  Soon enough the song was over and he placed the crystal down.  He smirked at Itzal.  "Are you just going to sit there all day?"

[Itzal 0]

Itzal looked at the instruments and picked up the flute this time.  He once again played the instrument, but like the drums there was no complexity.  Just very simple, very soft and background like.  Sometimes he increased the volume and added a few extra notes..  Actually this one had more complexity than the drums did.  It sounded a bit more like a song than the drums one did.  Soon enough he finished the song crystal, four seconds longer than the previous one and placed it beside the second.  Apollo was watching him carefully at this point, trying to decipher what Itzal was trying to accomplish.  There was a pattern here, and it was clearly not a mistake.  Everything was so carefully done.  And what was the extra seconds per crystal for anyways?  Apollo started playing his Lyre, and this time he played the music in a way to sound like both a guitar and harp was playing.  Itzal was getting a bit worried at that but when he looked at his song crystals his confidence began to return and he simply waited for Apollo to finish.  Soon enough he had and he placed the crystal down without a word.  Waiting for Itzal to go again.

[Itzal 0]

Three more instruments left to work with Itzal thought to himself.  He picked up the guitar next and Apollo wondered if Itzal was going to have this instrument be used more but it was not so.  In fact, Itzal used the guitar less than the drums, only picking at certain cords over time.  Far more simple than the drums with no complexity of any sort.  Apollo was seriously confused, especially the bit about the type of instruments Itzal used.  Itzal finished and Apollo made a song, but it was short as he wanted to see what Itzal would do next.  Itzal picked the harp this time and played far more often than the others, and with a lot more variety.  Apollo played his song again and waited to see what Itzal would do with his next choice.  He kept the harp this time and played lighter notes.  Apollo noticed that the first time he used the harp, he used deeper notes, while this time he used lighter ones.  Apollo made another attempt but when it was Itzal's turn again he didn't reach for any instrument.  Instead he stood up.  Walked over to the crystals.  Placed them around a recording crystal.  And activated all of them.  He started with the song crystals, starting with the longest ones to the shortest ones.  By the time he reached the shortest song they began to play together, and the recording crystal absorbed every one of their sounds.

[Itzal 0]

Apollo stared in surprise at what Itzal was doing, but then switched to a smile at the sheer genius of it.  Itzal had recorded multiple instruments into individual song crystals.  This way he could add in more than just one instrument for the song.  When the song finished, Itzal picked it up, played it out loud, and smiled as the music played for Apollo to hear.

Spoiler

 

Apollo's smile grew as he listened to the music.  It was perfectly balanced, perfectly timed.  Each instrument not overdoing or underdoing it.  Itzal had taken his time with each one and played them individually to keep from messing up the music.  The end result was a beautiful instrumental song.  Apollo let the song finish before he clapped to Itzal with a smile.  "Well dang it all kid, you actually impressed me.  Well done sir, well done indeed.  I'm glad you understand the importance of more than just one instrument."  "Certain music compliments other music.  To only use one type of instrument limits your ability to write and play songs with powerful movement to them."  Apollo nodded with a smile and shook Itzal's hand, the sun seeming to radiate off of him as he did so.  "Yes indeed my good sir.  You have impressed me and thus have won this contest my friend!  Come here, I'll give you your reward." 

[Itzal 0]

Itzal walked over to Apollo, noting that everything else:  The chairs, the instruments, the materials, and even the song crystals he crafted.  They were all gone.  Apollo pulled out his Lyre and presented it to Itzal.  "This is my Lyre.  As you already know, it will increase your success rate of crafting items by a small amount.  It's up to you whether or not you succeed or fail however.  Use it well, and don't be afraid to use other instruments with it either.  Your method of multiple instruments will lead you to very grand success Itzal.  Don't fail me."  He reached over to hand it to Itzal.  As Itzal reached for the Lyre, the instrument's flashy and over fancy appearance began to change.  When it was given to Itzal, the lyre was a simple wooden instrument, with only a few designs, markings and symbols that gave it a very ancient and elegant feel to it.  Simple, yet beautiful.  He smiled at seeing it and looked up to Apollo.  "Thank you Apollo.  I won't fail you.  This has been the most fun I've had in a while.  I wonder if cardinal will allow us to run into each other in the future."  Apollo laughed for a moment and said, "Nope!"  Itzal blinked and, he was on the surface floor again with no trace of Olympus or the stair case.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal blinked at the sheer weirdness of everything that had occurred just now...  But it was fun.  And he now had the plus one CD item.  He opened it's menu and saw that it indeed was a perfect item with the +1 CD symbol on it.  The name of it was Apollo's Lyre.  He wondered if he should give it another name but decided against it.  He enjoyed that little competition and he enjoyed seeing that type of personality on Apollo, god of the sun and music.  He wanted to remember this occasion so he'd keep the name the same.  The appearance had changed enough after all.  He just stood there thinking for a while, before starting to get excited again.  He would have a better chance at crafting perfects now that he had this item with him.  There was of course a consumable CD out there somewhere, but he didn't have the time to chase after that.  He needed to craft as many items as he could, as well as gather as many materials as he could as well.  There wasn't much time to waste so he started making his way home seeing as how he didn't have any teleport crystals on him at the moment.  Itzal spotted another two materials as he walked and added them to his inventory.

ID#  96565  CD:  2  LD:  13+8  +2 MAT

11 total

[Itzal 0]

He was seeing the town come into view and continued to look for materials.  They needed items for as many front liners as possible, so many consumables would be used up.  Though since there were changes in the damage buffs, he figured there would be significantly less tier three materials required.  All the same, the more materials they had the better.  What should he attempt to craft first?  The evasion and accuracy debuff enhancements were capped at rare quality so he wouldn't need to worry much about those enhancements.  He could probably make loads of them, though he hoped to make masterpieces as well.  Any non masterpiece he could use for his own combat means outside of the raids.  Itzal found another three materials and added them to his inventory.  He hadn't been excited about crafting like this since.  Well he forgot how long it's been really.  This was awesome!!  So many new and upgraded things to try out it was so exciting!  Not only that but there were enhancements that helped with his looting ability as well.

ID#  96566  CD:  8  LD:  8+8  +3 MAT

14 total

[Itzal 0]

On the way to the town he thought he saw a chest but...  He realized he didn't.  There wasn't anything actually there.  So much was happening now.  He had found the boss room.  Performers got an overhaul.  Itzal bought the house for Kasier and he.  And yet, Kasier wasn't really active that much.  He was hoping she would be soon as he wanted to do more quests with her.  If she reached the front lines he would do his best to protect her but she wasn't there yet.  She hadn't reached tier three just yet.  So many updates he was worried she may miss something.  Still as long as she was safe he was fine with that.  He worked hard to keep up in levels so that he would always be strong enough to protect her and anyone else who needed said protection.  Hikoru wasn't in the guild anymore and Jonathan seemed to be distancing himself now.  He wondered if he would end up stepping down as paladin too.  He hoped not.  All he did know was this:  He didn't want the joy of being with his friends to end.