[PP-09] <<Guardian of Fire>> w/ Oscar

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia sniffed as she looked at the vast expanse of pure molten lava and rock. She sighed as she looked at her hands. Two days worth of walking. Walking on just pure rock. Geez, that is going to suck a lot. 

Well, she supposed that Pacco could always keep her company, but she was going to go crazy if she had only a bird to talk to for two days straight. She was basically only going to be talking to herself! 

The blonde sighed to herself. She accepted her fate. Maybe she needed some alone time or something, she didn't know. 

The girl looked through her inventory, well-- her pretty barren inventory, really. She barely had anything but some gear and unidentified things she had yet to give to a merchant. Meh, that was enough, right? She knew she could go two days without any food. Her daily coffee might be an issue, however... Well, it'll mean that she'll be more furious when she does fight!

STATS/BATTLE INVENTORY:

Spoiler

LVL: 21 | HP: 420/420 | EN: 42/42 | 9 DMG | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 2 KEEN

Inventory:

☆ T1 Rapier | Star Saber: 3 DMG

☆ T1 Light Armor | Coat of a Husk: 2 EVA, 1 SAVVY

☆ T1 Jewelry | Aura Sensors: 1 EVA, 2 KEEN

Battle Ready: 

[5] Standard Healing Potions [Heals 50 HP]

Consumed:

☆ R5 Rapier Skill: [+5 DMG/+1 BASE]

☆ Disguise: [Gain +1 EVA until the start of your next turn]

☆ Survival: [Increases out of combat health regeneration to (15 * Tier) per post. Grants immunity to most damage dealing environmental attacks/effects.]

Consumed:

 

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

STATS
400 HP
40 EN
8 DMG
3 EVA
2 ACC
18 MIT

EQUIPMENT
<<Bloody Howl>> 2 BLD, DMG
<<Librarium Overcoat>> 3 EVA
<<Azure Tights>> 2 MIT, Savvy

BATTLE-READY INVENTORY
>>  3 HEALING POTIONS
>>  1 T1 OVERHEALTH POTION
>> FOCUSED VITAL HOT DOG

NORMAL INVENTORY
>>  5 UNCOMMON T1 HEALING POTION
>> UNIDENTIFIED PERFECT WEAPON ID: 121755
>> BEGINNER DUNGEON MAP
>> INTERMEDIATE DUNGEON MAP
>> ADVANCED DUNGEON MAP
>> 3x ULTRA PROSPEROUS HOT DOG
>> ULTRA LUCKY HOT DOG
>> 3x NEGATION DOG
>> 3x ULTRA PROSPEROUS HOT DOG
>> 2x FOCUSED ELUSIVE HOT DOG
>> STEEL-INFUSED HOTDOG

<<The Guardian of Fire>> was a quest Oscar had always wanted to take on. He heard the boss and its minions were pretty strong and wanted to challenge himself. But it walking two days straight with only Leeroy and Jenkins to keep him company was going to test his patience. This walk was the true boss. He loved the mountains, but he hated hot ones. He just hated the heat in general. But then he saw a familiar figure in the distance. What was Cordelia doing all the way out here? Probably doing the same thing he was. Why not keep her company so that neither one of them went insane during the journey? He dashed up, slowing down behind her and poking her shoulder. When she turned he would offer his brightest smile, tilting his head to the side. "You gotta stop following me around Cordelia," he teased. "It's getting a little weird." He stuck out his tongue playfully after saying that, hoping his joke would land properly.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Oscar

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia blinked as something- or something poked her shoulder. She turned around was immediately greeted by a very familiar face. "I think it's the other way around," she joked, sticking her tongue right back at him.

She broke out into a smile as she bowed slightly in greeting. "It's nice to see you again, Oscar. Are you doing the quest with the three headed dog, too?" Her gazed spiraled down towards his own familiar. "Won't your familiar get a bit offended?" She whispered as she scrunched up her brows. Who knows, maybe this quest mob was its big brother! 

"Let's do this quest together!" She said with a bright grin. "It was going to get pretty boring, anyway." She whistled lowly as she turned to look at the sky. "Two days of long walking. That's got to suck a little bit," Cordelia mumbled, pursing her lips. "It won't be so bad now, though. I got you!"

[Oscar 0]

"I dunno. Their brothers and sisters treated him pretty badly." Leeroy and Jenkins was the "red-headed stepchild" of his litter. All but abandoned by its mother, the familiar was left to fend for itself, until Oscar found it. It was half starved and on low health. It took to the feed very quickly, thankful for a meal for the first time in days. From then on, Oscar took care of it and it took care of him. "I think they might have a score or two to settle, honestly." He looked up at the sky with Cordelia, thinking long and hard about how much this walk was going to suck. Well, would have sucked. He really enjoyed Cordelia's company - and not because he was crushing on her. She was actually fun to be around and had proven to be a staunch ally over these past weeks. "I agree completely, Cordelia. I'm glad to have you accompanying me on this one. I heard that it's pretty challenging."
 

[Cordelia 0]

"Aw, poor thing," she mumbled, bending down to give each of the dog's head a small pat. "It's okay. I'll get you justice," she whispered, holding Leeroy's--or at least she thought it was Leeroy, she was still confused on who was who-- head in her palms before letting him go. 

"Yeah, me too, but don't worry. We'll be able to take them down, I'm sure of it! Maybe we could do a bit of hunting after we finish this quest, too!" She chirped, grinning like an idiot. She didn't really need any Col or materials, but she could use some unidentifiables. Who knows what some merchant can hook up? 

"Anyway, let's get going. The sooner we leave the sooner we can get to the cave, plus with our Survival skill, we don't have to worry about the environmental damage!" She said excitedly, jumping up and down with enthusiasm, who wouldn't?

[Oscar 0]

That's cute, Oscar thought as the dumb grin spread across her face. He chuckled at her last quip about the Survival skill. "If only we didn't have to brave the God-awful heat to put it to good use!" He frowned at the thought of braving the heat of the beast's lair. But once he was in a fight, that would probably be disregarded. Especially because of the Survival skill preventing him from taking any actual damage. Which reminded him. He pulled out a Negation Dog and handed it to Cordelia. "Sorry it's a Hot Dog. I made it to sell in my shop, but I think it'll be of use here. I enhanced it with Antioxidants, which will negate some Damage-Over-Time effects. Might be useful fighting a fiery three-headed dog." He had another two he could use, which meant they could go into the cave fully buffed and ready to rock. "Let's get going then!" And off he marched.

[Cordelia 0]

She sniffed as she took the hotdog from him. They weren't terrible, so she could probably manage to eat it if she had some time. 

"Alright," she wobbled after him, slowly taking a bite of the hotdog with a small smile. 

"So, uh," she mumbled, her voice slightly muffled from like, y'know, eating. She used her hand to cover her mouth as she thought of some conversation starters. "How was life in the real world for you? Were you anything exciting?" She asked, her interests perking slightly. She liked learning about people, okay? 

She gulped down the food in her mouth and looked at him expectantly. "Did you run a hot dog shop in the real world, too?" She teased, giving him a joking smile as she continued to walk.

She had already expected him to ask her how her own life was back at the real world, it was basically she had practiced a million times in her head. Plus, everyone always ask the same question back at you! That always weirded her out sometimes.

[Oscar 0]

Oscar took a deep breath. It was a bit of a sore subject, even after all this time. But if he wanted anyone to know, it would be her. "I was a social worker. I worked with at-risk youth in the inner city. These kids had it rough. But I'm proud to say that with my help, a lot of them were able to move past their circumstances. It was hard work. Really emotional work. But in the end, it was worth it." Oscar left out the parts about Tyson. He didn't really particularly want to dredge that up again. So he shifted the subject. "How about you? What were you in the real world? If I had to hazard a guess, I'd probably say a model or something. You're really quite stunning." He almost stopped dead in his tracks. How could he have been so cavalier about that. The best thing to do was to let it ride, but it was such a difficult thing to do. All he could do was hope she didn't read too much into it.

[Cordelia 0]

“Ah, I see,” she murmured, smiling softly to herself the more she thought about it. “It’s a very honorable job, if I might say,” she beamed, turning her head to him as she put on an ear to ear grin. 

Ah, there’s the question.

”A model?” She mumbled, more to herself. “I haven’t modeled in quite some time,” she muttered, tapping the side of her cheek the more she put thought into it. “I could say that I did do it... as a kid, but that’s it.”

”I wasn’t even an adult yet when the game started, but my life before this was... mediocre,” she bit out, finding this a lot harder to say to someone she knew— or hoped she knew— versus a total stranger. “I enjoy my life here, though. Isn’t that weird?” She asked with a far off look in her eyes. 

“Life here is... exciting and wonderful. Even if it’s a life or death situation everyday. Even if it means we’re stuck here. I still like it.”

[Oscar 0]

Oscar could get behind her line of thinking. Other than the constant looming threat of death and being forced to stay here, there wasn't much to worry about. No bills to pay, no job to go to. It was kinda liberating. He still wanted to go home, but there was simply no way he would have this kind of adventure back home. Perhaps it would be best to focus on enjoying the ride. Oscar chuckled and shook his head. "You have a point. Responsibilities are almost nil here. I'm only responsible for keeping myself and the people next to me alive. It's definitely not the worst thing I ever did." He was beginning to move past his initial infatuation, caught off guard by the sudden wisdom offered by the blonde-haired girl to his left. But he couldn't help but notice that she skirted the question. Perhaps she didn't like talking about what she was in the real world. Oscar was forthcoming with the information regarding his past, but a lot of people were more tight-lipped about it. He wanted to address it, but didn't want to press her for any information that she wasn't willing to offer on her own. Without taking his eyes off of where they were going, he spoke. "You were really vague about your past though. You don't have to go into any detail, but I just want you to know that it's not going to change my opinion of you. I think you're a fine person regardless."

[Cordelia 0]

"Yeah," she mumbled, hugging herself. "No responsibilities."

She felt like she didn't even have any responsibilities back in the real world. "I don't like being in charge for other people's safety," she muttered, her eyes narrowing slightly. Was her mindset different from the average person? If they can't defend themselves, then they shouldn't even be worth helping, right? If she built up too many alliances with weak people, then they were just going to slow her down, she couldn't risk that!

Maybe she was messed up.

Cordelia felt her mind go blank for a second. Just fine?

"Thank you," she murmured, smiling at him softly before turning her attention back to walking. 

"So, what have you been doing ever since you got to SAO?" She asked, "I mean, other than training and everything. I can't believe we're the same level!" She exclaimed, her mouth gaping. "I feel like I've done nothing for two years."

 

[Oscar 0]

"Nor should you be expected to be. It's a lot of pressure to put yourself in charge of everyone's safety. But the man who raised me once said that 'it takes brass balls to show compassion.' Kindness isn't a weakness."

He saw her pause when he mentioned that she was a fine person. For just a brief moment, he wondered if she had taken it the wrong way. Oscar was relieved when she spoke again, changing the subject to something else entirely. She inquired about what he had done for the past two years. "I mostly spent most of my time cobbling together all the Col I could to buy a house. I'd do odd jobs in the Town of Beginnings. After two years of saving up, I managed to snag a Manor up on Floor 7 and add some rooms to it. That was around the time I really started training."

[Cordelia 0]

"He sounds like a good man," she said with a bittersweet smile. "I'm sure you look up to a person like that, most people would, anyway."

"Lucky you," she joked, kicking a few dark gray rocks away from her as she continued talking to him. "Sounds like you scrapped up quite the amount of money to be buying a house like that," she said in awe as she clapped her hands together. "That's pretty neat!"

She wasn't really keen on ever living in a big house, again. Houses like those were too spacious to her. So much space yet never enough stuff to ever fill it. Plus, it really just creeps her out in general. The halls are too long and the ceilings are too high. Why would people ever need to walk more in your house, and it wasn't like you're going to have flippin' giants in your house, too!

[Oscar 0]

"It took a lot of penny-pinching, I assure you. I went hungry more than a few nights. That's kinda why I'm a cook. This way I can make my own food!" Oscar laughed. The hike was beginning to wear on him. It was probably time to stop and rest. He found an outcropping of rocks and started setting up a campfire to make them a rudimentary meal. Stew was the dish of the day, not hot dogs. He figured Cordelia would be quite grateful for that. He even filled a kettle with crappy camp coffee since he knew she enjoyed it so much. As it all started to boil, Oscar sat down on a rock, stirring the stew occasionally.

"You know, my offer still stands. It's really hard to live in a house that big by yourself. It's just me and the boys right here. I certainly would appreciate your company." He had said "your" company. As in Cordelia's company specifically. It wasn't as if anyone would do. He could certainly see himself rooming with Bahr, but the man already had his own place. Cordelia didn't. Why not share what he had with someone he enjoyed being around?

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia sat on the ground, she honestly preferred it this way. Rocks made her legs go numb after a while. She crossed her legs and stared intently at the flickering fire. Was that weird? She didn't know. She just liked staring at fire... sometimes? 

"I know," she said with a small smile on her face, eyes still focused on the fire. 

It wasn't like she didn't like Oscar, no, no. He was a nice fellow! But she wasn't ready to live with anyone at the moment. Things like that took time for her. Living with someone was kind of something new to her. Plus, she didn't know if he had a spacious house or not, he probably did if he had been saving up for two years. She was getting woozy just from thinking about roaming endless hallways again. She never liked that.

She hoped that Oscar didn't get the wrong idea.

[Oscar 0]

He could tell that Cordelia was still mulling it over. Oscar wouldn't press the issue any further. The food was done, in any case. He filled their bowls to the brim with the stew and handed Cordelia her bowl. He took a moment to thank a higher power for this bounty. He wasn't particularly religious, but nature needed to be given its proper respect. Oscar then tucked into his food with ravenous gusto. Once he was done, he noticed there was enough for a second helping and helped himself, hoping that Cordelia would do the same if she was still hungry. After they ate and had their coffee, it was time to rest up for the next leg of the journey. They were about halfway through now, tomorrow evening they would arrive at the cave.

The next morning, Oscar prepared a simple breakfast and off they went. The two of them chatted while they walked. They joked, talked about their pasts, their futures. It was truly a wonderful time. All too quickly they had arrived. Oscar wanted to continue talking, but the quest called. The sweltering heat from the cave was real. Without their Survival skills, they would almost assuredly take damage from the heat. Oscar went in first, chomping down a Steel-Infused Hot Dog to boost his Mitigation and a Negation Dog to protect him from any damage-over-time effects. With his lunch fresh in his belly, Oscar descended into the bowels of the cave, ready to fight.

STEEL-INFUSED HOT DOG CONSUMED
NEGATION DOG CONSUMED

Edited September 9, 2019 by Oscar

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia muttered a small thank you as she took the bowl from him. She didn't particularly feel hungry anymore. She wasn't really that hungry in the first place, anyway. She sighed and set the bowl down on the ground, feeling pretty bad for leaving food go to waste, but she couldn't help it. She just decided to call it a night after she had a sip or two of coffee. 

Tomorrow will be better. 

Cordelia didn't hesitate to jump down into the pits of the cave. She had been battle-deprived for two days, after all, so of course she wanted to do something! She skid to a halt as three large dogs appeared right in front of her, all growling menacingly. They had to fight six of these? 

Shooing her thoughts to the side, she charged after the closest dog, her rapier flying wildly beside her as it glowed a bright hue. 

She missed. 

She let out a small and choked gasp as the hound whirled around and slammed into her with such a force, it send her barreling straight into the cave wall. "Frick," she uttered, watching her health bar slowly drain to about fourth fifths of her original health. She was so preoccupied with her health that she didn't see the two other hounds charging right at her, their canines baring furiously at her. 

"Well dang, what did I ever do to you two?" She muttered with a small frown as she narrowly avoided their large bodies. 

Spoiler

ID: 123600
BD: 4, Miss
MD: 9, Hit! 

ID: 123601
MD: 2, Miss [+1 BD Next Turn] [SAVVY]

ID: 123602
MD: 8-3=5, Miss [+1 BD Next Turn] [SAVVY]

Cordelia: HP: 345/420 | EN: 41/42 | 9 DMG | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 2 KEEN
Oscar: HP: [too lazy to go find it]

Hell Hound #1: 30/30 HP | 50 DMG
Hell Hound #2: 30/30 HP | 50 DMG
Hell Hound #3: 30/30 HP | 50 DMG

 

[Oscar 0]

Oscar came dashing into the room, positioning himself equidistantly between the three Hell Hounds. Cordelia definitely needed some breathing room and it didn't appear as if she had any Mitigation to soften their blows. Oscar, on the other hand had that in spades. He used <<Tsumuji Gurama>>, spinning around on his heels and slicing in all directions. He managed to land solid hits on two of the hellhounds, which turned their attention towards him. The other one, however, was still focused solely on Cordelia. "Alright puppies. Come at me!" Oscar stepped back a few paces, dragging the angry hounds away from Cordelia so she could focus on her target. He felt pretty confident that he could deal with these two. Even if they had high damage output, between his Evasion and his Mitigation, he'd be fine. He silently took the time to thank Bahr for this armor. He was definitely putting it to the test today.

Spoiler

Cordelia: HP: 345/420 | EN: 41/42 | 9 DMG | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 2 KEEN
Oscar: HP: 420/420 | EN: 35/42 | 8 DMG | 2 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 28 MIT

<<Tsumuji Gurama>> vs Hell Hound 1 HP 30 | DMG 50 BD1. Miss. DMG ID: 123603
<<Tsumuji Gurama>> vs Hell Hound 2 HP 20/30 | DMG 50 BD10. Deal 10 DMG ID: 123604
<<Tsumuji Gurama>> vs Hell Hound 3 HP 22/30 | DMG 50 BD5+2. Deal 8 DMG ID: 123605

Edited September 9, 2019 by Oscar

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia mumbled a small 'curse' as she charged after the first hound that had attacked her, her rapier all fired up and ready to go beside her. 

"Stupid mutts!" She growled, her rapier slashing away at the hound's limbs. Each leg was given a clean slice and all of them detached from the dog's body before exploding into the air along with the first fire hound.

She looked over to see how Oscar was doing, which was really quite good. He was evading the attacks just as she had earlier with the same hounds, and he even managed to drop each of their health bar's to two thirds.

"Remember, we still have three more hounds to go after this!" She called, turning her attention back to the remaining two hounds. It was ridiculous how they had to fight six dogs and another three heads. Ridiculous! She didn't have any AOE and Oscar's multiplier for his wasn't that high. 

Spoiler

ID: 123607
BD: 8 [+2 ACC Next Turn] [KEEN]
MD:

ID: 123608
MD: 7-3=4, Miss

ID: 123609
MD: 8-3= 5, Miss

0/0/0 Cordelia: HP: 345/420 | EN: 38/42 | 9 DMG | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 2 KEEN
0/2/1 Oscar: HP: 420/420 | EN: 35/42 | 8 DMG | 2 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 28 MIT

Hell Hound #1: 0/30 HP | 50 DMG
Hell Hound #2: 20/30 HP | 50 DMG
Hell Hound #3: 20/30 HP | 50 DMG

 

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Cordelia: HP: 345/420 | EN: 41/42 | 9 DMG | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 2 KEEN
Oscar: HP: 420/420 | EN: 33/42 | 8 DMG | 2 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 SAVVY | 28 MIT

Hell Hound 1 HP 0/30 | DMG 50 
Hi Ougi to Hell Hound 2 HP 0/30 | DMG 50 BD7+3. Deal 24 DMG ID: 123610
Hell Hound 3 HP 22/30 | DMG 50

Oscar switched up from his AoE to a weak single target Sword Art. These things didn't have a lot of health, but he still needed to conserve his Energy for the boss. The rumor was you had to fight two waves of these things before you would be able to fight the boss, which also had three heads that you had to take down. So he didn't wanna burn through his energy too quickly. But he also wanted to make sure Cordelia was well-protected. He delivered a combo of slices punctuated by a thrust to one of the hounds. It burst into an explosion of flame and smoke upon Oscar's dealing the killing blow. Oscar laughed as he danced past the remaining doggo, posting up next to Cordelia. "Maybe we should have waited until I got Grandmaster Katana. I'd have decent AoE then!" True enough, Oscar was enjoying himself. Between the two of them, they could make short work of the hounds and move onto the boss.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Oscar