[SP-F1] Cheating the System <<Earning a Living: Merchant>>

[Andromeda 0]

"Pssst, hey!"

 

On her way to meet an acquaintance, An was stopped by a small NPC. A child of maybe 12 or 13 who called her attention with a loud whisper. It leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile as if it was about to let her in on a secret. Red eyes blinked curiously. NPCs didn't often initiate interactions with strangers unless they had a quest to give.

 

She wasn't too interested in taking quests; most of them, even the ones on Floor 1, were too high-leveled for her to attempt. However, An was interested in what the child who'd approached her out of nowhere had to offer. Adjusting her shoulder bag, the silver-haired player tilted her head. "What is it?"

 

"Wanna learn how to cheat the sy--" It cleared its throat. Then grinned and continued despite its poorly-written slip up. "I mean, wanna learn how to make good sales?"

 

"Oookay?"

 

Honestly though? It had her at 'cheat the system.'

 

"Okay!" the NPC chirped back. It clapped its hands and beckoned her forward. "Follow me."

 

Spoiler

LEVEL 1
20/20 HP | 2/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

SKILLS

• Rapier -- Rank 1

EQUIPPED

• Dawn -- T1 Perfect Rapier -- [x3] Damage -- [reference] Marking the first steps of a young adventurer's new journey. A rapier that is rather plain in every aspect except for its elegant swept hilt made of brass.
• Starter Light Armor -- T1 Rare Light Armor -- [x2] Mitigation -- A leather chest guard that offers minimal protection to the wearer.
• Dice of Blessing -- T1 Perfect Trinket -- [x3] LD --  [reference] The modern adventurer's mark of providence or misfortune - depending on how much Lady Luck likes you. The trinket itself is an acrylic D20 painted brown with gold numbers and an attached chain that allows it to be clipped onto the user's clothing. When thrown, it often lands on '20'. 

BATTLE-READY INVENTORY

• [x3] Starter Healing Potions -- Heals 50 HP

SWORD ARTS

Rank 1

[x2] Rip Ravine (2 Energy) - Two quick slashes into a target

Edited September 29, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

The little NPC skipped down the street. She followed it, passing a few buildings as they went. Her bright inquisitive gaze strayed to any vaguely-interesting looking structures to the side and she could barely quell her excitement as she was led even further. Here? An looked down an alleyway, ominous - but by video game terms, sure to contain a secret passage of sorts! One she hadn't even discovered! Here? She peeked into a settlement, startling the NPC that happened to be standing by its window. ...here? The little kid had slowed near the inn. They did say some secrets were hidden in plain sight after all.

 

But still, it didn't bat an eye.

 

A little impatient, An pouted and decided to give up on making guesses.

 

The NPC - Billy, she had learned its name a little while earlier - suddenly spun around and pointed to a small nondescript building next to the inn. "In here!"

Edited September 10, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

Entering the small stone building, the silver-haired player was greeted with an almost random assortment of items. On the shelves, some of the larger wares on the floor and propped up against the wall, and even a few laid out on a wooden counter near the back of the room. It seemed like an establishment of sorts, and at the same time, a secret base of a precocious child with a penchant for gathering discarded things which they thought still had some value - or simply wanted to keep as a pretty thing they could look at from time to time. Really, the sheer variety had her convinced of the latter. Weapons, shields, compasses, rolled-up scrolls, small sculptures, backpacks, boxes with labels taped to the side, crystals with duller glows than the usual, and various other knick-knacks. Even her childhood hobby of collecting pretty things didn't yield her as much in terms of quantity.

An was curious!

The NPC had opened a door to the backroom, prompting her to follow with a childlike grin. She beamed in return and carefully set down the small statue she had been inspecting. Her steps left a light pitter-patter sound on the floor as she walked after it and stopped by the doorway. "Ooooh." Starry red eyes widened in wonder. The backroom contained an even wider selection of items, ranging from herbs in small sacks to grains, crystals, and what looked like... ore? She strayed from her spot in the doorway to examine a leather armor piece. Turning it over in her hands, she blinked curiously at the semi-transparent options that now hovered in front of her as soon as she held the item upright.

"Now if you really want to be a merchant," began Billy. It had pulled on a silly little hat from a pile and quickly discarded it, ears turning red, as soon as she turned to face it. "You've got to be crafty and smart for this. You best know what you are doing."

An stared.

Oh, she knew exactly where this was going [because they were kind of there already]. This wasn't the fun adventure she had been hoping for; and she'd even marked it down as a possibility that it would be a quest related to one of the more mysterious-looking artifacts at the main shop. 

"A... merchant?"

It was one of those plain old profession quests.

Edited September 12, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

Business. Ew. She should have realized this when Billy mentioned making good sales, but she thought there was more to it after the NPC's slip-up. An had her fair share of business classes in the real world and she failed them all. They were quite boring. She was too impatient to sit through a lecture on finance or draft a proposal, and maybe she also wasn't savvy enough to grasp the concepts of supply and demand.

 

So here she was, disappointed and a bit annoyed at having wasted her time, and heading right out the door.

 

"I don't get it!" Billy stomped its foot behind her, the NPC's frustration reverting it into a more childish sort of personality. "They're always convinced when I say you can identify items."

 

"And exactly what part of it is cheating the system?" An groused. "Becoming a part of the system isn't cheating it. This is why I hate marketers... they make things look a lot better than they actually are. Anyways, I'm not interested." She whirled around briefly to give the NPC a flippant wave of goodbye. "Crafting is too tedious. I'd rather focus on exploring."

 

"I haven't mentioned uniques yet!" The small child looked up at her with a hint of hope. "Do you know what those are? Strong enhancements that other crafters normally can't give their crafts. But! Merchants can acquire them through identifications. We're the go-to people when players loot unidentified equipment from outside. It's our niche!"

 

Still unimpressed, the silver-haired player rolled her eyes. "Maaaybe you should've started with that."

Edited November 17, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

"I'll take that into consideration, thank you ma'am!"

 

The NPC grinned and gave a little salute. At least it knew how to handle criticism. There was hope - and a slight hint of eagerness - in its eyes, at least for only a few moments. Its triumphant expression faltered when An continued making for the door. Billy trailed after her, pouting like the small child it was programmed to be, its pride and stubbornness simply not wanting to allow a player who'd come so close to accepting its quest slip right out of its grasp.

 

"But if it's a niche, someone would've filled it in already. People haven't exactly been standing around doing nothing these past two years."

 

"You would be surprised!"

 

"And I'm not interested in filling it. I don't want to manage a business. It's too much investment! Too much skills! I don't need any of those." The silver-haired player waved a hand in front of her dismissively with a huff. "Sorry, no thanks. I only like science and exploring and even then I'm not too sold on alchemists either. Do you know how tedious it is at lower craft levels? Of course you don't, you're an NPC."

 

"Did you say exploring?" Oh, it was looking up at her with that big grin again. "Most explorers who don't have time to dedicate themselves to crafting take this as their profession!"

 

"Bandwagon."

 

"What does that even mean?" Billy furrowed its brow, visibly frustrated at the unfamiliar term. Nevertheless, it continued. "They do their own identifications, with the Col and gear they gathered from their adventures. Identified gear sells for more than unidentified, and you might even end up with one you can use yourself. Who knows? It's a profession that grows with you as you level up and identifying doesn't take much time and effort either."

 

An paused.

 

"Plus! As your profession level goes up, more and more players would start coming in to buy and sell from you, giving you more resources to level up and help you along your adventures."

 

A self-perpetuating circle... if that was the right term for it. And it could help her with her adventures? With considerably less investment? She whirled around, eyes sparkling with renewed interest.

 

"Tell me more!"

Edited September 16, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

So in the end, she followed the little NPC back into the shop's inner room. An took one look at the small child's expression of triumph and her eyes sort of glazed over. Yeah, Harriette. After all that time spent telling it you did not want to be a merchant, you're just heading right back. You just lost to a little kid. You go, girl. Part of her wanted to spin on her heel and walk right the door, but that would mean all of this time spent here would have been for nothing and she would be coming back at a later date anyway now that this was the only profession she could ever imagine herself having, but she stubbornly wanted to walk out the door just for today so the both of them would have wasted time. It'd be fair... even though it was't exactly rational of her.

The silver-haired player expressed her conflicting emotions with a small sigh. She opened her menus with a flick of her hand and quickly sent a message to her waiting friend.

Meanwhile, Billy rummaged about its mess of items. It had taken a look at one conspicuously empty table when they reentered the inner room earlier, then scratched its head and started looking through the weapons, armor, and crystals scattered about. She drew closer and picked up an item herself, turning it over in her hands then tapping an option that revealed its stats. Already identified. An turned back to the NPC. "Problem?"

Edited September 17, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

"No! I mean, yes!" The little blond kid spun around and gave its signature pout. Uh-oh. "I'm all out!"

A chance to leave early! An smiled in understanding. "So gather your items and I'll come back some other time?"

"Hey, I think you've forgotten I'm the one teaching you here!" Billy toddled after her as soon as she moved towards the door for what seemed like... the second time today or something. "So as your mentor, I say we keep things fair! An equal exchange!"

An had seen enough generic MMO quest lines to know where this was going.

"So..."

"Gather three unidentified items for me and I'll teach you how to identify them." Billy crossed its arms with a triumphant grin. It really was the smartest little thing, wasn't it. "Oh, while we're at it, you'll have to leave two of them behind once you're done. It's only a fair price for my teaching you, right?"

She had to grudgingly admit, it was actually kind of fair.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

An was a curious person. Nothing that came by was allowed to pass without her having some sort of question or two. Okay, correction: the things that held some value to her anyway. Her mentors had frequently advised that the key to learning more was being inquisitive. It was the second step in the scientific method, coming after--naturally--making an observation. Every discovery that's been made so far has likely been the result of someone pausing to ask a question, and while she wasn't currently so concerned with the grander scale, she thought it led to her understanding more about herself and the world around her.

She was concerned about many things, whatwith the outer-SAO and leveling nonsense she'd decided to jump into. But the most glaring one at the current moment...

--Had to be how she even became friends with one of the scariest people she'd ever met in Aincrad.

Seated across her was a tall woman who appeared to be in her late 20s. She had all the aspects that might lead to a few whistles on the street: long flowing locks of red hair, unusual crimson eyes that An knew people found endearing nowadays, and an uhhh- attractive figure. A simple acknowledgment from her could bring men to their knees, and they kind of already were... for the wrong reason. The perpetually stern expression on her face--like she was always angry about something, and considering they were stuck in a guild, it was kind of reasonable--and her demeanor and terrifying skill at wielding a spear and shield combo frightened more people than endeared them. An also heard a few whispers that she was probably into... stepping on people or something.

She was not going to test that hypothesis.

[Andromeda 0]

"Thirty. Minutes," the woman in question pronounced. She crossed her legs and leaned back on her chair, posture straight and rigid as always. On the table in front of her was a half-finished steak and a drink. Wait, was that another steak plate to the side? And it was... empty? Oop- "I went through all that trouble shifting around my schedule for the usual and you don't even show up for half of it. Where the hell did you wander off to this time?"

An was visibly sweating.

"Uhhh..."

"Seriously, kid. Keep up that airhead act and you won't get anywhere in life. Take that from me--" Oh, An realized. The drink in front of her was beer. An airhead though? She refrained from commenting and smiled apologetically. Uneasily. "--So be more considerate. Whatever your excuse, people don't like waiting. Accepting a regular quest shouldn't even take that long. Got it?"

"U-understood, ma'am!"

"Don't call me that. I've already got enough of the novices doing so." There was a sort of rare warmth to her tone that had the silver-haired player feeling more at ease. "And you're no longer one of them, disappointing as that entire trial period was.

"It's just Leah for you."

And An looked at the woman who was now visibly more relaxed, slicing down on her steak with that sort of lack of enthusiasm that implied she'd already gotten sick of it after eating too much, and remembered that Leah had been her only constant companion these past few months - even if they did only meet on a weekly basis. That despite her rough edges, there really was nothing malicious surrounding her, and that she did show a slight hint of her softer side sometimes. And suddenly, her own question wasn't so hard to answer anymore. 

"So what have you been up to?"

[Andromeda 0]

"So that's what took you so long," Leah mused.

 

It had taken a few more minutes of light conversation before An brought up the events of the earlier morning. And the circumstances behind her lateness. Somehow, the stern guild leader was in a good mood now. She always toned down a bit eventually, 

 

"Yeah, I accepted the one for merchants!" An happily sliced down on her own slab of steak. Thankfully, food didn't turn cold as quick as it did in the real world; so she wasn't too concerned about pausing to talk. "I've been considering the requirements for a bit and I was thinking, if your guild has some spare unidentified items - even the uncommon ones - maybe that would--"

 

"What? No, the game won't let you cop out of the quest like that!" Leah frowned impatiently and breathed out an exasperated sigh, like she'd had this conversation a thousand times already. Half of those would probably be with her, An thought, eyes glazing over. "Listen. When an NPC tells you to gather something for it, you have to do it. Yourself. The game can pick up on whether it was you or another player."

 

Her or another player... An lit up.

 

"I'll buy them off an NPC general store!"

 

"Were you even listening?!"

Edited September 25, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

So that left her with no easy way to get those identifieds. She would have to go about killing monsters and hoping they would drop loot... which was not only tedious but also considerably hard for her, given her lack of combat experience. "Why wouldn't it be satisfied with any sort of material, anyway?" An puffed out her cheeks and speared a bit of steak with her fork. "I'm giving it exactly what it asked for."

"It's just how the game says it should go. No more, no less," Leah answered her complaints with a sigh. "If there's no conceivable way to change it, don't even bother asking questions. Spares you a load of headache."

"Alright..." An smiled uneasily. Let's try this again. What else could she ask of someone who knew the outside and the mechanics of the game better than her? Asking Leah to come along and help was out of the question. She had the strange sense her lack of combat experience would just mean... a lot of drill sergeant-like yelling. "Then, do you know of any place where unidentifieds could just be lying around and stuff?"

Leah frowned.

"Uh, or maybe I should just look for a treasure chest..."

An squirmed in her seat at the guild leader's unsettling lack of response. Then Leah raised her head and the silver-haired player realized her unlikely friend had just been thinking. 

"Actually, one of the guild novices found a cave the other day..." Leah began. "But before I say anything, you have to promise me you and your air-headed self wouldn't go skipping there alone."

[Andromeda 0]

An went alone.

And boy, did she feel guilty. She did look around... as she was readying her equipment by the town gates. Not one player passed by unscrutinized, but luck would simply not be on her side today. Low levels already in teams, and players with flashier equipment who couldn't be bothered were the only ones she saw heading out by themselves. Yeah, no. An wanted this done as soon as possible. An wanted progress!

Go to the location, defeat the guards, grab the unidentifieds. Easy-peasy.

She listed off the objectives in her mind as she left the safe zone and walked, pushing her concerns over breaking the small promise she made to Leah aside. Bad idea. However, it was always more comforting to forget about a problem she couldn't avoid than to overthink! ...until the consequences were thrown right in her face anyway. 

Grasslands transitioned into a mountainous region. From there, it was easy to locate the spot Leah had marked down on her map earlier: a rock shelter that supposedly contained a haul of treasures and items that would have otherwise been registered as vanity if she never accepted the profession quest. A single goblin stood guard. It was about half her size but the wooden club it wielded made it appear just as menacing as she imagined.

It was also... not the most pleasing sight.

An unsheathed her rapier. She'd come all this way, she was at least going to come back with good results! Taking a stance, the silver-haired player poured her energy into the Sword Art. It manifested in the form of a weak golden glow, flickering like an old light bulb struggling to come to life. The goblin had looked up and noticed her by now, and it waved its club in the air angrily. 

It was going to attack.

An froze.

This was a bad idea. Very bad idea. Her weapon's aura fizzled out with a disappointed hiss. What was she thinking, heading out by herself? Leah wouldn't have made her promise without reason. Now that she thought about it, Leah rarely ever asked her to make a promise. 

Harriette, you dense, stubborn, air-headed little--

The goblin raised its club and charged forward with an incomprehensible battle cry - and An realized freezing up was not going to help. She'd be in the path of its attack at the very least. Now that she started it, there was no way out but to fight.

She steeled her nerves and steadied her breathing.

And her weapon ignited.

Spoiler

ID: 124722 | BD: 10 [crit, +2] | MD: 1

Rip Ravine: (5 + 2) * 2 = 14 DMG

An: 20/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin: 0/10 HP | 3 DMG

********************************************

ID: 124724 | LD: 10 + 3 = 13 | CD: 3

LOOT:

• 50 Col
• 2 T1 Mats
• 1 Rare Trinket

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

The unfortunate goblin disintegrated. 

Wait. An blinked once. Twice. She looked down at her rapier - a simple weapon with a golden hilt appropriately named Dawn. Did she just...? With one hit--? The silver-haired player stared at the spot the goblin had previously occupied, baffled. Seconds of stunned silence passed by. Then she pumped a fist in the air and cheered.

Yesss!!

Combat was a piece of cake after all! An didn't even know what got her so worried earlier. Grinning, she checked her loot drops - a fair amount, considering her level - and entered the cave. Sweet, sweet loot. Goblins seemed to have no sense of order: everything - from weapons, shields, vials of unknown substances - was all just stacked on top of each other haphazardly. But stars were shining in her eyes nonetheless. Going out with directions from her friend, defeating a gate guard, then finding a cave full of treasure... this felt like the ideal first adventure she'd always been looking forward to!

An picked a shield off the pile. 

Things were looking good.

Spoiler

ID: 124817 | LD: 3 + 3 = 6 | CD: 9

An: 20/20 HP | 1/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

LOOT:

• 50 Col
• 2 T1 Mats
• T1 Rare Trinket

UNIDENTIFIEDS FOR QUEST:

• T1 Uncommon Shield

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

An hummed a happy little tune to herself as she decided what to grab next. Definitely not any of the weapons - if she was going to be identifying them later, she wanted to at least be able to use each of them and then she would choose based on the enhancements she got. She already had a weapon and she wasn't going to replace the rapier she was quickly growing fond of anytime soon.

She heard the series of rough high-pitched yaps before a small figure appeared at the rock shelter's opening, casting a shadow over the silver-haired player. Uh-oh. As a big fan of RPGs, she would recognize that distinctive speech and it wasn't difficult to narrow it down when she remembered where she was.

"Uhhh," An smiled guiltily, "I'm just taking three, then I'll be out! So let's be nice and--"

Goblin No. 2 charged forward and raised its wooden club with a shrill cry. Caught unprepared, she attempted to charge a Sword Art but the enraged goblin got to her first, bashing its weapon at her with vigor.

Things were not looking good.

Spoiler

ID: 127804 | BD: 2 | MD: 7 | 3 - 18 = 1 DMG on An

An: 19/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin 2: 10/10 HP | 3 DMG

LOOT:

• 50 Col
• 2 T1 Mats
• T1 Rare Trinket

UNIDENTIFIEDS FOR QUEST:

• T1 Uncommon Shield

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

"Eeeeeee! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!"

Complete panic mode. An thought she had done well the first time she encountered a goblin and she'd even felt a bit confident with the idea of future encounters, but now she realized it just went so smoothly because she had gotten the jump on it. Now that the thing was actually hitting back though? The amateur rapier-user was an absolute mess. She stumbled around the litter on the floor, knocking stacks of items over, and almost backed up into an enormous pile of trinkets she would have had trouble digging out of.

A suit of armor - what was that doing in here?! - clattered to the floor, scattering more junk on where it landed and An pried one crimson eye open, dreading what she would find. 

"I wouldn't have knocked it over if you weren't chasing me!!"

Bad dialogue choice. The goblin looked twice as angry as before! It flew into a rage, howling some sentences that ran into each other to the point of unintelligibility but she thought she at least deciphered the word 'treasure.' 

Somehow, her wild flailing must have had an effect; amidst their struggle, An saw its HP bar drop below half.

Spoiler

ID: 127898 | BD: 9 | MD: 8 | 5 + 1 = 6 DMG on Goblin 2 | 3 - 18 = 1 DMG on An

An: 18/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin 2: 4/10 HP | 3 DMG

LOOT:

• 50 Col
• 2 T1 Mats
• T1 Rare Trinket

UNIDENTIFIEDS FOR QUEST:

• T1 Uncommon Shield

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

Oh geez, oh man. She clumsily threw herself out of the way of another attack and almost fell over. No wonder Leah didn't want her running around alone! What if it had reinforcements? Surely, if there was one of them there might just be another following behind, right? The very thought filled her with dread. She wasn't confident enough in her abilities to take two at a time.

Another wild swing of a rapier -- and an enraged howl.

An pried one eye open to see the goblin disintegrating into blue dust. Oh. A rewards window appeared. Right at her feet was an unidentified armor drop, which she quickly stooped to pick up. A glance at her health bar and she realized that all this time, the goblin had only dealt two HP's worth of damage. OH.

Just as she thought!

The silver-haired player gave a pleased, almost smug, hum. Her worries had been all for nothing.

Spoiler

ID: 127954 | BD: 10 | 5 + 2 = 7 DMG on Goblin 2

An: 18/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin 2: 0/10 HP | 3 DMG

ID: 127956 | LD: 8 + 3 = 11 | CD: 10

LOOT:

• 140 Col
• 2 T1 Mats
• T1 Rare Trinket
• T1 Rare Armor

UNIDENTIFIEDS FOR QUEST:

• T1 Uncommon Shield

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

"Now... where is it?" With that trouble out of the way, An was free to turn back to the piles of goblin haul. She felt proud. Though the guild leader wasn't here, she thought she showed just how competent she could be on her own! She rummaged through the pile, then frowned. "I swear it was just here a moment ago!"

That was before she had that unlucky encounter with the goblin. Somewhat guiltily, she realized why it had gotten so mad when she stumbled around and made a mess of things earlier; whatever miniscule sense of order the goblins' haul had was completely gone. And so were the consumables she had been eyeing, buried beneath piles of larger weapons and equipment.

An's eyes sort of glazed over. Harriette, you idiot. And they looked really good, too!

Alright, what else did this place have at her immediate reach? 

Digging through the piles a bit more, a bundle of leather and cloth caught her interest. An tugged it free from the pile and hopped back with a cringe as the displacement allowed it to collapse even further with the signature clatter of weapon and steel. She turned it over in her hands curiously. What do goblins even want to do with something like human armor?!

Spoiler

ID: 128044 | LD: 15 + 3 = 18 | CD: 5

LOOT:

• 140 Col
• 2 T1 Mats
• T1 Rare Trinket
• T1 Rare Armor

UNIDENTIFIEDS FOR QUEST:

• T1 Perfect Light Armor
• T1 Uncommon Shield

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

And there it was again. That telltale howl of rage as another small figure cast a shadow at the entrance. Needless to say, An had just been... half expecting it. "Oooh, come on! It's not like you guys can use all this stuff, anyway," she complained, rather uselessly. She picked herself up from the pile and dismissed the light armor to her inventory, only angering the hoarding goblin even more. "If you don't want your stuff to be stolen, then hide it better!"

Those poor goblins just wanted some nice things to hoard and she'd killed two of them now. What a bully.

But, wait! Weren't the stuff goblins hoarded also stolen? It's not like they could make these by themselves. An felt a bit more determined. She was stealing it back for better uses! Like a Robin Hood!

That's not the point of Robin Hood, but An hadn't ever known anything past that story's summary.

Charging up a Sword Art, she sprinted forward and thrust her blade... at empty air. The goblin cackled at her amateurish fumbling and bashed down at her with its club.

Spoiler

ID: 128114 | BD: 5 | MD: 9 | 3 + 1 = 4 - 18 = 1 DMG on An

An: 19/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin 3: 10/10 HP | 3 DMG

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

The angry goblin had her cornered. Or did she have it cornered? They had fought to a standstill, clumsy swings of a club clashing against equally clumsy rapier thrusts. She had her back to the rock shelter's side walls and the opening was just a little off to her left. Now An wasn't the type to run away as soon as things didn't go her way, but the goblin's full HP bar sure made the prospect very tempting.

An kind of wanted to go home and sleep. Why did she even think this would be easy anyway?

"Stay still already!" The goblin only cackled and taunted her with its club, and An puffed her cheeks out in frustration. Why was this thing so hard to hit? Why did she fail so much at combat? As far as she knew, she just needed to wave a pointy stick around until she hit something! Prepping her rapier, she pressed forward for another attempt.

Spoiler

ID: 128231 | BD: 2 | MD: 2

An: 19/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin 3: 10/10 HP | 3 DMG

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Andromeda

[Andromeda 0]

"Eeeep! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry!!"

A series of comical crashes and a very flustered player's repeated apologies.

It was safe to say that An had absolutely no idea what she was doing. Piles of goods were falling apart or being trampled underfoot as she darted in and out of the goblin's way, though to varying degrees of success. Another one collapsed - to her disappointment, that had a consumable she would've wanted to grab. She was trying not to, but they were making more of a mess of this place! 

The silver-haired player stepped on a shield and slipped, but somehow - somehow, she managed to spin around before her back could hit the ground and deliver a straight thrust to the goblin that had followed right after. Her heart raced with a surge of pride, but her newfound enthusiasm faltered when the goblin cackled and raised its club over its head.

Spoiler

ID: 128324 | BD: 8 | MD: 7 | 5 DMG on Goblin 3 | 3 - 18 = 1 DMG on An

An: 18/20 HP | 0/2 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 3 LD

Goblin 3: 5/10 HP | 3 DMG

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Andromeda