[F1-SP] Sacrifices to improve. <<Katana acquisition thread>>

[Mars 0]

He makes his way through the first floor at a rather relaxed pace in the search for something that is supposedly meant to occur upon this floor when one has a rank within the curved sword skill which he had done at he sacrifice of giving up his martial arts to do. Supposedly the katana is meant to be available if one does this and i plan to get it. he says softly towards himself as his familiar lets out a puff of flame and a low growl as his gaze shifts towards his familiar and gives it a small glare of a look before continuing forward through the town at a steady rate not moving to fast as he can see the looks upon peoples faces the ones of worry and wondering about what they are going to do about the news of frontliners turning. Of his rival turning upon these people as a killer alongside that hidden woman who had done something as well to get the APD's attention. 'APD to begin with interesting that they start now after the friends turn. Interesting how the events after one boss fight can create a landslide before the next boss is even found and a meeting is held.' He thinks to himself in amusement more so than anything else as he keeps his hands within his pockets.

[Mars 0]

With that in mind he continues moving forward through the area taking his time as he does so walking at a slow pace just observing his surroundings as he sees mixes of fear, worry, and pride from some of the more well equipped players those who think themselves heroes an warriors that can take down any sort of criminal that walks among them. 'Yet they don't even know when somebody supports such killers and will misdirect them to the far reaches of Aincrad far away from the killers in question without so much as a possibility of getting away from them.' He thinks to himself in amusement at those thoughts before looking away from the scared people upon the first floor and more importantly the overly arrogant the ones who have confidence in their skills with no proof of them being sufficient enough to actually aid them when the coins are cast and the dice are rolled for their fates to be determined by the end.

[Mars 0]

Finally after long bits of walking he watches a man with a wizened look to himself and a beard to match the stereotype approaches him as he just looks towards the creature that is a NPC from the way that it has a yellow crystal above its head as he hears the creature out so he can get his katana. Well than young lad you must be that of a adventurer in need of some help getting the weapon that he is in need of. How about this if i can help you like my teacher had helped me once before. Go towards the north of the woods deep within a cave is creatures who will test your might, will, and savvy, and other delicate things needed for the power of this blade. Only than will you be able to retrieve it and learn the true secrets that hide within the blade that you will acquire. It is a blade that has been passed on through generations and i expect you to treat it with the respect of having such a blade. The man says as Mars himself just nods his head in a calm manner with a kind smile to give ease towards the man who nods and than points in the direction of the cave with only a parting wave goodbye from the player before he heads towards the cave. jackpot.

[Mars 0]

He makes his way through the town at a quickened speed moving through the hail of players with the fleet footedness of a trained fisticuffs fighter that has been within fights against other opponents. He moves his body left and right and weaving in and out of the crowd while moving forward the movements of a hand to hand fighter rather than that of a master of the blade the black haired man a martial artist at heart and enjoying the fact he can always just punch an enemy into pieces before anything else now having to move past that to gather more strength. 'I need this blade for strength martial arts has been surpassed by the katana so i must get that katana to stay relevant within fights if it can do everything that martial arts can but even better.' He thinks to himself with a small grin across his face at the idea of having more strength of using less energy, more varied options for moves with such a blade the only thing that will be needed is training with the attacks, and he already has a perfect partner to do it with.

[Mars 0]

Moving forward the martial artist could only push himself further in physical athleticism to move swifter once the crowds of players thinned out the closer that he had got towards the exit of the town of beginnings as he rushes forward with a grin upon his face all the while doing so. He moves through the streets of the town of beginnings running more so than anything else as the familiar that mars has the fire liger keeps up with the man with practices ease as the duo of owner and pet exit the town of beginnings into the large open plains of boars and other creatures that are meant to terrify the lower levels quiver in fear towards the powerful duo. Rushing his way towards the location his familiar instead takes the time out of its day to torture the local wildlife with flames of fire to burn away at the creatures causing them to shatter and dispense minuscule amounts of EXP that barely affect his bar that it would barely be worth the breathe and milisecond to look at the destroyed creatures.

[Mars 0]

Traveling across the plains and through the forests of the 1st floor he pays no attention towards the details or the things that he comes across viewing them as just a waste of his time to look at since there is only one prize to focus upon and he is going to acquire it at all costs. As he would arrive at the location that the old man NPC had told him he looks towards the cave that opens downwards towards something that is dark and hard to see into but his familiar's flames cast a light downwards to reveal what lies inside which is just more cave. 'At the very least i won't trip or anything of that nature from what i can see.' He thinks to himself as he slowly enters the cave at a slow pace since it slopes downwards at a rather drastic angle preventing him from running to avoid just falling flat on his face and rolling down the hill with the risk of dying by the falling mechanic that the world of Aincrad has as part of its death trap for those who jump.

[Mars 0]

As he slowly makes his descent into the cave in a controlled manner he just looks down and waits patiently as his hand presses against the rock as a way to force momentum slow down if need be if he starts falling to fast for his liking. His familiar right beside him as the duo kick up dirt along the way until they hit the bottom of the slope that leads into just a open cave with the area opening immediately up to just a large open area with a door on the other side of the room from where he is standing. He glances towards his familiar who starts making its way across the room running at top neck speeds as the ground underneath it crumbles away and falls into a bottomless trap hole as Mars just nods his head and bends low to the ground in a runner's stance preparing to just sprint across the distance as he focuses upon the goal before sprinting forward and as soon as his first foot hit the ground with a thunderous strength of pushing against it. The ground quickly start collapsing as it becomes a game of less so running across the ground and more so pushing against falling debris and having to act fast on his feet and react quickly in his mind to keep him afloat.

[Mars 0]

The black haired martial artist kicks off of the falling ground as he lands upon another platform only to kick off of that quickly as it starts to fall as he jumps from one platform to the next as he glances down to see that it isn't a bottomless traphole but instead a series of large big ol spikes that would be threatening to pierce his body through entirely a bit away down into the pit. Mars can only keep reacting and acting pushing himself to move faster and faster as seemingly the floor follows suit as he is just reacting slowly but surely within moment split second making decisions to get across the room. Eventually Mars reach the other side exhausted physically from having to do that both physically and mentally from the stress that accompanied that as he looks up and pushes himself forward into the next part of the cave not going to let himself stop from just something as mundane as a death trap stop him from pushing forward.

[Mars 0]

Mars enters into the next part of the cave that seems more like a series of tests rather quickly as he can see a few golems standing upon small platforms as once more his familiar as if following a pre-programmed response on what to do jumps from one platform to the next without triggering the hostile creatures within the room. With a sigh Mars crouches low and jumps towards the first platform where the first golem is as it quickly goes for a head strike as he bends back low to avoid the strike only to see the thing aiming for his feet as he hops over the attack and uses his hand to hold onto the platform before jumping up and goes for a spinning strike. Getting into the habit of his sword art only to see nothing happen for a glow as he is reminded what he has payed for in terms of strength. That in terms of trading what he is used to he is gaining the use of a sword that he would be unfamiliar with by every account of such a thing.

[Mars 0]

He watches his leg connect against the creatures as it slams into the bottom of his leg right where the knee is as he just grits his teeth as he can only imagine the pain he would be experiencing if this was the real world as he forces himself towards the back of the golem thinking he would have the advantage in that scenario. However, to his surprise the golem as if always knowing of what to do swings around with impressive burst of movement and slams into his side causing Mars to get off-balanced threatening his ability to stay upon the platform as the creature then slams downwards with its elbow knocking mars off of the platform to leave him to plummet to his doom. A burst of flame shoots out from the familiar striking against the golem who had attacked the king of the pride as Mars grips the edge of teh stage for dear life as he just glares upwards wondering what this is meant to test at all if this is a test.

[Mars 0]

Reacting Mars gets back up onto the stage quickly and slams his shoulders into the stone golem pushed it off the edge as Mars just secures the victory by kicking it further away once it had been knocked off the edge to fall towards its doom as Mars quickly jumps towards the next platform where the next one is as it just stares down at him. With a shrug Mars goes to punch the golem out of the ring only to have his arm grabbed in a instant and quickly slammed onto the ground behind the golem as he just glares at the creature as it lets go of his arm and just stands there once more just staring down at him. With a low growl of aggression he lunges forward with a low sweeping kick to knock the golem off of its feet only for it to move its leg out and strike against the offending limb stopping it in its track before quickly and suddenly slamming its foot down towards the martial arts user as he can only push himself underneath the golem to get towards its backside. 'reactionary good to know' he thinks to himself.

[Mars 0]

Thinking upon his feet he quickly and suddenly just starts jumping back from one platform to the next avoiding the creatures all together ducking under offending swinging limbs that would aim to knock at his mid section or head by pushing off against the limb to continue his momentum forward or bending his back to avoid strikes to the head. The black haired martial artist just dodging the room entirely and getting to the otherside where a katana lay on the ground as he would pick up the item and the game would register it within his inventory. Expectingly Cassius looks towards the obvious door entrance that should open up but it fails to do so as he just stares at it in aggression and goes to strike with his fist only to find it..really..really hurting. GOD *********. The usually calm fighter says in anger as he can feel the pain once more of punching that boulder on that mountain the reverberations along his arm and the slight shaking that followed suit. He looks towards the katana and than back to his skills and finds that he lost all his skills in martial arts except for the mod which lies useless to him now as he is stuck with a katana with 0 ranks in it and a forced rank into the curved sword as soon as he touched it. His gaze slowly shifts towards the golems that appear on the stable ground in which he resides with them holding katanas that look more like giant greatswords as he can only silently curse to himself once more.

[Mars 0]

Looking down at his katana he just gets into a battle ready stance that is not a stance at all something much more fitting for that of a hand to hand man rather than the calm arts of the katana. Mars' initial stance only copying that of a golem before he rushes in towards the creature and swings the blade like one would their fist and more fitting of a rapier like weapon. He feels his hand get caught by the golem and tugged and thrown towards a wall as he lets out a slight grunt of pain at the impact as he lands upon the ground and quickly gets up onto his feet once more. Running forward once more with very little thinking he starts swinging the blade in diagonal swings with no consistent pattern or even a style being associated with what he is doing the martial artist just swinging a blade he has never touched in his life just randomly as each attack gets parried or knocked away with very little effort upon the golems part that doesn't even react from being made of stone.  This fact just causing Cassius to become more and more angrier and pushing the offensive more and more with very little reaction.

[Mars 0]

'This is annoying.' Is the first thought that enters his mind as he continues to attack the golem that deflects each of his attacks one by one  The martial arts fighter slowly pushes himself more with the katana he is holding using it as recklessly as one would use their fists in a bar fight, but it seems that brute strength is not wining this exchange as each one is parried and knocking him away with ease. Eventually once more out of instinct he tries to mix a punch in with the use of the sword only to feel the same almost mind numbing reverberations from trying to do that without martial arts. SON OF B***! He just screams to himself as it echoes through the cave slightly as he just sighs in a frustrated manner. You know what. F*** it. I'm just going to go and read some books about this. He says in a annoyed tone before dashing from the platforms again and making his way out of the cave as fast as his form would let him not going to bother fighting something repeatedly just to have nothing happen.

[Mars 0]

He would make his way up the steep incline towards the exit of the cave as he slowly climbs up with difficulty as he can hear the sounds of the thundering footsteps of the golems as he would use his now acquired katana to slowly help push him up towards the top slowly but surely. His liger quick to follow and easily climbing up compared to him as he makes a game out of trying to surpass his familiar which increases his pace but doesn't outmatch his familiar in getting to the top but at least getting away from the golems as he just breathes slowly and heavily with a annoyed look within his eyes. I can't believe i am doing this just for some stupid better sword arts. grrr i still need to go to that blacksmith people have been talking about some orange player that frontliners are heading towards. He mutter softly towards himself while standing in front of the cave while gazing forward towards the open grasslands of the first floor where he can see some wolves prowling about.

[Mars 0]

He would start to make his way towards the main settlement of this floor while now having a katana in his right hand holding the long blade with only one hand with relative ease even if it is a two handed weapon. He looks at the weapon with some curiosity and swings the blade with one hand and finds him being pulled along with the swings of the blade as he just nods his head seeing that the weight of the weapon when swinging it around would just be dangerous since he could fall on his face. As he would travel with his familiar the liger fire elemental would burn through and attack any creature that would get close wanting to destroy them with flames and claws since he is strong enough to do that himself. Meanwhile mars looks over the katana trying to analyze the design to understand what is the purpose of the blade having not read up on anything related to this weapon and thus not having the best ability to wield such a thing. 'I wish i could just stick to MA.'

[Mars 0]

Making his way through the settlement he heads in the direction of the settlement making his way through the trees and the many plains where the boars and wolves reside with his liger just murdering one after the other with a fiery bite as he is just trying to test the strength of the blade. Testing it against any mobs that could towards him with either a lunge like piercing stab or a quick swing of the blade to cut through it as a slashing attack. He can quickly see that the piercing option is a horribly one and that the blade is obviously meant for slashing enemies rather than anything else. 'That just leaves me having to figure out what is a any kind of style that i can form from this thing since i have nothing at all for this type of thing.' He thinks to himself in some irritation as he tries to slash at the air and just watches the blade cut through the as he slowly arrives at the main settlement and enters into its walls.

[Mars 0]

Making his way through the main settlement he heads towards the nearest Aincrad library to read through the recommendations of different fighting styles for how to use a katana and fight with it. As he would make his way through the settlement he would gaze at the various players just walking around and not seemingly doing anything. As he would arrive at the library he would ignore the NPC trying to greet him as he would make it to the katana section and picks up a book about the fighting styles of the blade as he would than make his way towards a table. Reading through the styles he would focus upon something called Iaojutsu as he reads it carefully he gets the vibe that it might be something about a offensive style of attacking with powerful and precise strikes. 'Doesn't sound to different than how i fought against other people usually so i would just needs to figure this out a bit more easily.'

[Mars 0]

After reading about the blade he nods his head at that and gets up onto his feet and starts to make his way out of the library towards the location of some trash mobs on higher floors to cut them up with the blade he holds within his hands. As he would step upon the teleport gate he would say the symbol command phrase. Teleport, floor twenty four. As he would say that he would find himself taken to the new floor's main settlement some kind of city with a coliseum as he would see that he would grin and make his way into the coliseum entirely willing to fight something that awaits him on the inside of it. Oh no. Here i go. Murdering innocent monsters again. Or Gladiators who knows. He says with a shrug of his shoulders and a smile on his face.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Mars

[Mars 0]

As he would enter into the coliseum with his katana in hand he would smile as he would see gladiator like NPCs turn hostile towards him as he holds his blade within both of his hands with a smirk across his face as his eyes slowly narrow as he stares down the creatures in question. With a kick off the ground he would go into melee range with the enemies and go for a quick, and swift strike as he would turn towards the next and try to attack the weapon being swung at him to knock it out of the way. Only to his surprise for the thing to press against the blade as he would be forced to take a few backpedaling steps away from the opposition ignoring the gladiator that burst into red pixels as it dies from the single strike. Interesting lets try that again. He says calmly as he moves forward with the speed of a hand to hand fighter and starts swinging the blade as fight and with enough force to cut through the enemy as he would dance around the enemies and focus on those swift and precise strikes. After 15 repetitions he would be in a room by himself and make his way out with a grin on his success and a day well spent.

Summary:
400 COL, 1 SP