[PP-01] Kickstard <<SMOTF>>

[Kirbs 0]

Kirbs clasped her hands around the shaft of her spear as she gazed outside of the village fences. She promised that she would do this quest with Kat a while ago, but damn, she needed to finish it as soon as possible. As much as she wanted to see Kat, it just wasn't worth the pain of dealing with an extra two Nepents. Those thing were a pain in the arse to kill, even if she could one shot them now. She sighed and looked at the forest cautiously. This quest had certainly been a pain to attempt to finish last time, but she wasn't sure why she had put it off for so long. She had so many free days and it hurt to think about what she could've been doing other than pigging out.

The redhead sighed and face-palmed herself. This quest would be over in the blink of an eye, and that's why she was so aggravated. She hated doing easy quests. There was no fun in it! But, overall, this quest did give some good EXP, so she'll just have it help it.

@Morningstar

[Morningstar 0]

Morningstar eyed the fields beyond the small village that he was in. He'd overheard some low level players discussing a quest nearby and was interested to know more.

They two players explained to him that the goal of the quest was to kill a bunch of "Nepents" (whatever the hell those are) and bring back the medicine that they drop. It didn't seem too challenging. That being said, anything can happen when you're outside of a safezone. He thought back to the most recent time he'd come face to face with death.

That was the last time he saw her. Lexa. His half-smile faded as he thought of her long blonde hair. She'd always wear it down; in fact, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her style it a different way. Morningstar sighed, returning to reality. She was gone now. It was time to move forward. He looked to his left and noticed another player also staring out at the forest in the distance. Could she also be looking to take on this quest? She seems like she's too high of a level to be here alone.

Morningstar pulled down the hood of his green cloak and ran his hand through his light brown hair. Underneath the cloak, he wore a brown leather jacket—actually, it was his favorite leather jacket. It was rare to see him without it. The man moved towards the woman curiously. "Hey there," he started, "I'm looking for some help with a quest and I was wondering if you'd be interested."

@Kirbs

[Kirbs 0]

Kirbs nearly yelped when an unfamiliar voice spoke to her. Whipping around, she inhaled sharply. Yep, she did not know this dude. "Actually, I was going to-" she started, holding up a finger before slowly putting it down with a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, you can tag along," she mumbled, blinking a few times. As much as she wanted to do this alone, the girl can't say no. Two letters! Two itty witty tiny letters, and she still couldn't say it! She silently sobbed inside as she thought about how mentally weak she was. 

Finally sucking it up, she turned back the unfamiliar player and sucked in a breath through her teeth. He didn't look too much of a player, yet. And as far as she was concerned, he could still be level one-- but that was just fine and dandy! She could carry! She's done it before... right? "Uhm, my name-- well, my username, duh, is Kirbs," she grinned, her mood doing a complete one-eighty as she outstretched her hand for him to shake. She nodded her head towards her familiar, Scarfy, who was snaked around her shoulders like-- well, a scarf. "And that's my good old chum, Scarfy," she added, earning a glare from the thing. Not wanting to come off as rude, but still wanting to know the answer to her important question, she asked bluntly, "I take it you're level one?"

[Morningstar 0]

The woman looked a little... disappointed, to say the least. Morningstar didn't take it to heart, however. He realized that his level was significantly lower than hers and he probably would not put up much of a fight against any larger monsters. He smiled at the woman.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," he told the redhead. That was truthful. While he may have been able to take on the quest solo, it would have been quite the risk—one that he was not too interested in taking. You don't come back after you die, of course, and he still had no idea what a Nepent was. Morningstar's eyes moved from her face, to the snake wrapped around her (somehow, he only just noticed it), and then once again met the girl's eyes. "Nice to meet you Kirbs and Scarfy. I'm Morningstar," he paused for a moment before meeting her hand, as if recalling something, "Call me Star."

The inquiry involving his level was only fair; she knew nothing about him. "Yep. You're talking to a level one, in the flesh. Hope that's alright with you," he gave a small laugh. Star really needed to grind out some levels so he didn't have to tell people that.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Morningstar

[Kirbs 0]

"Cute name," she commented, grinning. She shook his hands a few times before retracting it. "Okay, Star, so what makes you want to take this quest? Those Nepent things are gross," she made a face, her nose wrinkling is disgust. They're like those living carnivorous plants, y'know? Bah, the name was far too long for her to even remember it, but even those freaked her out.

She waved him off and chuckled. "It's fine. We were all there at some point. I'm level fourteen and I still feel like I'm straight out of the... virtual womb..." she cringed, already regretting what she had said in the past three seconds. The redhead's face heated up-- almost to the point where it was as bright as her hair-- as she covered her pink face with her hands. Her voice rose a few octaves as she giggled nervously, switching to a new subject. "A-anyway! We should get going!" She finally declared, removing her hands from her still pink face, as she pointed out and into the forest. "Things get spoopy here at night and I prefer to have anyone die under my watch," she laughed a few times before gesturing for him to follow as she walked out of the village.

[Morningstar 0]

Star smiled. Cute was one way of describing his name, he supposed. Not once had anyone said it to him before, though. "Thank you," he told her. She asked him why he wanted to take the quest. His reason was simple really: he needed the experience and quests were a good way to get it. "I heard some other players discussing it earlier and it interested me. How gross could a Nepent really be?" He asked, sliding his hands into the pockets of his grey pants. If he was reading her expression correctly, then Nepents were extremely disgusting creatures.

Another thing nobody had said to Morningstar was "virtual womb". Thankfully, he wasn't drinking anything, because he would have spat it out. His eyes moved onto her and he began to chuckle at her embarrassment. When he was able to stop himself from laughing, he decided it was best for him to pretend he never heard her say it. Then, they entered the moonlit world beyond the safezone.

"So, Kirbs," Star began, "were you going to do this quest alone? What do you get out of it?" It could not be more than just experience or perhaps a drop of some sort. It was a quest that he thought seemed too easy for someone of her skill level. "I believe I told you my reasoning, so I think I've earned an answer from you," he grinned.

[Kirbs 0]

“I suppose it does give some good EXP,” she pondered for a bit before making the same face again. “Oh, they’re horrible,” she remarked, already getting ready to rant about them. “They’re like giant plants that half these really, really gross vine arm things, y’know? I remember watching this documentary back in the real world— don’t ask why, by the way— and it was about this little kind of carnivorous plant, right? Not the Venus fly trap though, this one is different! It’s like a bloody tube, and there’s like this oil or wax on the inside that prevents the bug form getting out and-“ she inhaled sharply before continuing again, “a they showed the video clip of a fly falling in there and it slowly bloody disintegrating in the acids of the plant and into was so, so, so gross,” she almost gagged— only for dramatic affect, of course. “So basically, they look like giant versions of that! But with... arms,” she sighed, face-palming herself. ‘Twas a very detailed description, indeed. 

After the shade of her face finally toned the hell down, she cleared her throat, ready to answer this dude’s question. “Well, for starters, I was going to do it alone because there’d be less Nepents... but it’s okay. I’m fine with dealing with two more. They’re gross but they're pretty weak monsters,” she shrugged. “Ah, as much as I don’t want to do this quest, it’s gives a good amount of EXP. So I’m taking it just to be safe. I’m shooting high. Frontlines, y’know?”

@Morningstar

[Morningstar 0]

Her description of Nepents didn't really please him much. That being said, he liked the girl's energy. Morningstar thought for a moment. He couldn't think of the right words to describe Kirbs, but he knew whatever they were would be positive. "That's probably good, to be honest. Easier to kill gross and ugly things compared to something cute. I'd rather not have to spend my night killing giant rabbits." He laughed

There conversation shifted to something that interested Star quite a bit. "Frontlines, huh? Doesn't sound easy, but I wish you luck," he told her. Unlike most players, the brunette wasn't sure if the frontlines were his end goal. Sure, helping get the players out of the game was important; however, was it what he wanted to do? Aincrad was his chance at making a new life for himself, away from the spotlight. A large part of him wanted to live quietly in the mountains somewhere, or build a tree house in this forest that they were now beginning to enter.

The only way he'd truly figure out what he wanted, however, was by trying things out. "Why did you choose to aim for the frontlines?" Morningstar asked. Although he thought he could probably guess her answer with relative ease, he was still curious.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Morningstar

[Kirbs 0]

"Thank you," she beamed. Being a front-liner has practically been her goal since day one of this hell hole and she swore to herself that she was going to make it over there one day. Sure, she had her shop and all... but, how long would it really be until she eventually started losing passion for crafting? She sighed, knowing that the answer was closer than she would've liked. It felt like she was already losing that spark she had worked so hard to earn. She had already closed her shop down... for now, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to open it back up again. She felt more free battling some random wolf than crafting a pair of earrings, after all!

"Well," she scratched her cheek, losing herself in thought, again. "I suppose it's a very common goal for many people, huh?" She mumbled her eyes casting down to the ground. She shrugged, not really sure if even she knew the answer to such a simple question. "I suppose it's because I've always been such a potato all my life, y'know?" She remarked, laughing humorously to herself as she thought about it more. "I never really had a purpose back in the real world, and when we got stuck in here, I thought it would be a perfect place and time to finally do something with my life. Gaming never really saved people back in the real world," she laughed, gesturing to the forest around them, "but in here!  I could actually save people. I don't know, I just feel stupid for talking about it," she whined, running her palms down her face in embarrassment. 

Just as she was about to make a comment about it, her ears perked at the sound of something rustling among them. She held her hand out in front of Star and made a 'shush' gesture. She retracted her hand and placed it on her spear. They were both in a clearing by now, and she knew exactly what was going to happen next. Plant like monsters sprouted from the ground and she mentally cursed. "Nepents, ugh," she muttered. Unlike her time with Kat, the monsters didn't come in heats. All four of them were here, but she was completely fine with that! 

She turned to Star one last time and grinned. "Alright, you take out what you can, okay? And pretty please, don't die. It'd suck if I have to watch you get torn apart by these... things," said made another face. Shaking her thoughts away, she gave him one last wink before rushing off. No sword art was really needed for this, because she knew she would be able to one-shot these things if she landed-- which was a pretty sure chance unless lady luck really hated her that day. She weaved through the small crowd of Nepents, narrowly avoiding their attacks as she aimed for the one in the very back. She let out a small battle cry before impaling the sickly creature, also earning a shrill shriek from it. She giggled in triumph as it vaporized into dozens of blue shards into the air. "One down, three to go!"
 

Spoiler

 

Kirbs 1/0/0/0: HP: 280/280 | EN: 28/28 | 7 DMG | 14 MIT | 2 ACC | 1 EVA | 2 PAR | 2 Bleed | 2 REC

@Morningstar 0/0/0/0 | HP: 20/20 | EN: 2/2

ID: 118417

BD: 7, Success!

Basic Attack- 7-7=0 HP

Nepent #1 0/0: HP: 0/7 | 3 DMG -7 HP

MD: 6

Nepent #2 0/0: HP: 7/7 | 3 DMG

ID:118418 MD: 2, Fail

Nepent #3 0/0: HP: 7/7 | 3 DMG

ID:118419 MD: 3, Fail

Nepent #4 0/0: HP: 7/7 | 3 DMG

ID: 118420 MD: 4, Fail

 

 

[Morningstar 0]

still r0lling

Edited September 6, 2019 by Morningstar