[F05 - PP] Testing My Strength <<Blood in the Sands>>

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro

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LEVEL 22
440 HP | 44 EN | 11 DMG | 3 ACC | 18 MIT | 3 EVA | 1 REG 

Skills:
2H Straight Sword - Rk 4

Skill Mods:
Familiar Mastery Accurate Rk 3

Equipped:

• "Sterondight" - 2H Straight Sword (T1 Perfect) DMG x3
• "Nightmare Overcoat" - Light Armor (T1 - Perfect) MIT x2 Prevent 18 damage from successful attacks against you | REG x1 After taking damage, gain Regen at the beginning of your next turn. Heal 5 HP every turn for three rounds. Damage over time effects (Bleed, Poison) will not trigger Regen. Does not stack with Battle Healing. Taking damage while Regen is active will refresh it to its full duration.
• "Ravenfeather Treads" - Light Armor (T1 - Perfect) EVA x3 Reduces the die value by 3 on an enemy’s attack against you. Cannot be used to avoid a critical hit.

Equipped Vanity Items:

• "Amber Clover Pendant" - Vanity - LD x2
• "Witcher's Vambraces" - Vanity - Thorns x2

Familiar: 

• Yumi - Familiar Mastery: Accurate rk 3 - ACC x3

Battle-ready Items:

T1 Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP) x5
Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP) x3
Crystal of Agile Dragon Wings (Teleport crystal) x2
T1 Damage Potion. (+1 Damage) x1
T1 Over-Health Potion (+50 Temp. HP) x2

Yukiro had met with Fleur, his go to info broker. As far as he knew she actually knew all of the latest info, but only distributed knowledge to those she thought could tackle it. That was the reason Yukiro kept going to her; she had more interest in keeping others alive than she did in actually making money.
She had told him about yet another floor boss, this one on floor 5. It was a sand shark of sorts. It appears in a certain area to attack whatever shows up. He'd paid her for the location of the monster and geared himself up for the assault. It didn't look like a particularly life-threatening mission, but it wasn't going to be easy either. It was best he forgo the sand cloak this time. Ease of maneuverability would be more important. 
After equipping just coat, boots, and sword he headed out to slay the sand shark. Better to get this done and over with quick. 

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro - 440 HP | 44 EN | 11 DMG | 3 ACC | 18 MIT | 3 EVA | 1 REG

Yukiro's tapped the front of his boots on the ground a few times, just to make sure everything was all right and tight. Once he was done that he undid his jacket in the front so that the heat wouldn't get to him as easily. In a desert that could be a real concern, so he shouldn't take it lightly. 
Walking through the floor players and NPCs were bustling everywhere. Players were geared up, wearing from everything from t-shirts to full body plate armor. It would be quite the sight to behold for anyone who wasn't used to the place. Yukiro was used to it at this point, so the sight barely registered in his mind. There were also various weapons, varying between massive swords and axes and spears to small knives and more realistic looking swords, even the odd mace here and there. Yukiro had been used to the sight of weapons since he was very, very young so these had even less of n impact on his mind. 

[Yukiro 0]

At that current moment Yukiro was solely focused on the task of finding the field boss and slaying it. It was his goal to be capable of defeating much more powerful foes than the swimming sand shark, so this was a good chance to test what he was capable of now. And he had even forced himself to pay Fleur, the info broker, extra just so that he could go do this quest without being interrupted by others who she might tell. That's why he had to go and do it today, and do it alone. He expressly avoided places that he knew people he knew could show up. It was his goal to make it all the way to the field boss alone, fight and defeat it alone, and make it back alone. It might have been unreasonable for him to go and do things like this alone, but he actually preferred to fight alone. 

[Yukiro 0]

Besides that, it was also very hard to test your own strength when you have to fight alongside others at almost all times. Yukiro stopped beside a certain group of shops. They were "The Ring and The Sword" and "Tala's Covers and Originals". The reason he stopped was because he knew those inside. Koga and his partner Noctua lived in "The Ring and The Sword". Tala, Koga's sister and Yukiro's crush (were they dating? He really wasn't sure anymore), lived in... Well, the lived in "Tala's Covers and Originals". Hm. Maybe he should ask for a playlist of her songs. That would be nice to listen to. 
Shaking off the spell of temptation to enter Tala's shop Yukiro continued on to his quest. He had to go fight this thing before Fleur started talking about it to others again. All he'd asked for was three hours, and he wasn't sure how well she'd stuck to that number. 

[Yukiro 0]

Finally, after all the delays and stalling, Yukiro was on his way to the teleporting station near the center of town. It was there that his journey would really start. He double checked that everything he had on his person was ready for the desert travel. His coat was as cool as it was going to get, so check. His boots had enough tread and surface area to make desert travel as easy as it would get. Yumi was asleep in his shirt pocket, and probably going to be very angry with him for going into the desert. Check. His sword was hanging on his waist, still sharp and in good repair. Good, all his gear was ready to go. With a deep breath he looked up to see that he was almost in the teleporter. He was ready. All he had to do now was go and fight. And that was what he did best. 

[Yukiro 0]

He stepped forward into the teleporter and closed his eyes, avoiding the moving, fluid blue light. 
"Teleport Fortaleza!" 
As he finished his words the teleporting sphere glowed brighter and brighter until it suddenly started to dim. When Yukiro opened his eyes he was on the hot, dry, desert floor, amidst it's most major settlement. Just the same as the first floor, there were many buildings that formed streets, though it was a much smaller town. Which was good for Yukiro; it meant there was less chance of getting lost. Unlike the first floor, however, the ground, the building, and the city walls were all made of the same material; sandstone. The only reason he knew it was sandstone was because he had asked an NPC at one point. 
Well, no time to stand here and think about the make and layout of the city. He had more pressing concerns. Specifically, a giant field boss in the form of a sand shark that he needed to slay. 

[Yukiro 0]

Taking his first step forward Yukiro exited the swirling light of the teleportation platform. The bright blue light faded behind him. He walked down the step that led off the tall platform and continued down the main road. A group of players was crowding over something in a shop window. A major item, maybe? Or a player doing something they thought was amazing? He didn't really know. Nor did he really care enough to stop and find out. Yukiro walked past the group without sparing a second glance. 
There was also a sort of restaurant. The only food it made had to be eaten in the restaurant to avoid getting sand in it. Normally Yukiro would detour just to get something to eat, but today he had to hurry if he wanted to fight the boss before anyone else got to it. Again, Fleur was respectable, but he wasn't sure how quickly she'd send players after him. It was her way of making sure Yukiro stayed safe. 

[Yukiro 0]

Fortunately, the towns on floors above the first floor generally had much smaller cities than the Ton of Beginnings. Which meant it took next to no time to reach the city limits, relatively speaking. This was good for Yukiro. He had a lot of ground to cover and not much time to do it. 
He passed by the guards of the city's walls. They didn't even react when he passed by them. For some reason that irritated Yukiro. He didn't really know why. But it really did. Odd, how the smallest things would bug him like that. It didn't make sense to him. But then again, not much was making sense recently. The biggest example of this was his feelings for Tala. He accepted them, but he also knew he wasn't supposed to have them. That knowledge kept eating at the back of his mind. He did his best to ignore it though. 

[Yukiro 0]

Finally he stepped out of the city limits and into the sandy desert where he would have to travel for quite a long ways. And he had just taken his first step. Only thousands more to go. 
Yukiro started walking on the sand. It was hard. His boots would sink in the loose ground and become difficult to lift back up again. His face and hands were lightly but steadily buffeted by a breeze of sand that wore away at his face. The sun beat down on him, trying to convince him to take a break. But Yukiro ignored the urge. He had to cover all this ground and he'd rather do it before a different player showed up to try and kill the sand shark field boss. This would be his first solo fight in a long time and he wanted it to be uninterrupted. 
Though knowing his luck NIGHT was already there. She wasn't quite the level to do this quest though. 

[Yukiro 0]

Yukiro looked around. Not much you could see in the desert. Not much to describe. Not much other than the sand, the sky, the sun. The occasional rock and cactus. Monsters felt like they should be more common then they were here. But that was just Yukiro's thoughts. Maybe an artist or someone with a more keen eye for these things would find more interesting things in the desert. 'Cause he certainly couldn't. 
He passed by a cactus. The thing was a vibrant green against the dull sand, so it stood out like a spotlight in the dark. It would have been great for leaning against if it weren't covered in thousand of sharp, needle-like spines. It was also surprising how tall it was. Yukiro, who stood at 6'7", had to crane his head to see the top of it. It must have been at least twelve feet tall. What a giant. 

[Yukiro 0]

Yukiro had stopped for a moment to just admire the cactus when he remembered something. Cacti were supposed to have water reserves inside of them. If he could cut into this one he could get something to drink. And drinking water was essential in the desert. 
Yukiro drew his sword and slashed into the cactus. The blade sliced cleanly through the towering plant, the top of which slid a bit on its base before tilting and falling over. 
I cut through it..? Hm. It must not be a very difficult thing to cut. I'll keep that in mind. 
He raised his sword and made two more cuts into the cactus, this time cutting free a wedge. Being careful not to touch the sharp parts of the thing Yukiro picked up the wedge and used his sword to peel off the needled parts. He brought the thing to his lips and slurped up the water that was beginning to leak out of the wedge. 
Hm. It wasn't that bad. 
He sliced off a few more wedges and added them to his inventory.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Yukiro

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro - 440 HP | 44 EN | 11 DMG | 3 ACC | 18 MIT | 3 EVA | 1 REG
Sand Shark - 125 HP | 50 DMG

The cactus water reminded Yukiro of coconut water. Not because of the taste. The flavor was very different. But cactus water and coconut water had very similar names, so it only made sense that one would remind him of the other. 
Off in the distance, Yukiro noticed something moving through the sand. The only reason he could see it was because it was moving; if it hadn't been moving Yukiro might have just assumed it was the shadow of a particularly high dune. 
It was dark in coloration and seemed to be fairly large after you consider the distance. But it was still quite the trek away. Yukiro didn't relish the fact that he'd have to walk another however long it took to reach the field boss, but at least he successfully located it. 
Then, without warning, the thing started to move towards Yukiro with unprecedented speed. Ah ha, it looked like the fight was starting. 

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro - 440 HP | 44 EN | 11 DMG | 3 ACC | 18 MIT | 3 EVA | 1 REG
Sand Shark - 125 HP | 50 DMG
ID# 130490 | BD: 10 MD: 1
Yukiro: HP 440/440 | EN 34/44 (-10)
Sand Shark: HP 21/125 (-104 Dmg) (Stunned)
(11+2=13*8=104 DMG)

Yukiro drew his sword, glancing around. This was it..! Nobody else here. Just him and what's supposed to be a major opponent. Nothing to interrupt. Nothing to trip him up. Nothing holding him back, nothing pushing him onward. It was time for a true test of his abilities. 
Grinning, Yukiro-- no, he could be himself here. Zeldris looked the charging Sand Shark straight in the eye and set his sword in an open low stance. His aura shifted from haphazard to fierce. The massive beast opened it's mouth as it got closer, preparing to swallow him whole. 
One moment more... 
Zeldris' sword whirled around his twisting body, slashing upwards cleaving through the Sand Shark's bottom jaw, sending it's top half careening into the air. A massive red line crossed up the field boss' head, dividing it vertically in two. 
What incredible power..! This was far, far beyond a human's natural capabilities! Zeldris looked down over at his still-raised sword hand. 
This was the power he had been searching for. 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Yukiro

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro - 440 HP | 44 EN | 11 DMG | 3 ACC | 18 MIT | 3 EVA | 1 REG
Sand Shark - 125 HP | 50 DMG
ID# 130491 | BD: 10 MD 4 (7-3)
Yukiro: HP 440/440 | EN 32/44 (-3+1)
Sand Shark: HP 0/125 (-39)
11+2=13*3= 39 DMG

Zeldris shifted his feet as the Sand Shark came crashing down on its side against the desert floor. His sword's tip hovered just over the sand's surface as he kicked off the ground, lunging at the giant piscine monster and slashing his sword into its bottom jaw. 
Not yet. 
He kept moving forward, picking up speed as he went. The blade of his sword sliced cleanly through the monsters, leaving a thin red line behind it. 
Not yet... 
With a final burst of speed, he shot beyond the creature, swinging his sword so that it finally cut cleanly and completely through the side of the giant shark, making the straight red line-span across its entire body. 
Zeldris stopped and turned his sword at the ready and prepared to make another strike. But the blade lowered when he saw it's HP drop to zero. The creature gave a loud, piercing, shrieking noise as it began to glow brightly and, finally, shattered into thousands of fragments of light. 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Yukiro

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro: HP 440/440 | EN 33/44 (+1)

The area where the Sand Shark had landed was left with a massive crater in the sand. Zeldris stared down into the crater, then up at the sky, then out at the horizons. He'd done it. No, he'd done more than simply win. He'd just completely obliterated the field boss on his own, as though the piscine had been rendered helpless. 
Had he really grown this strong? This fast? For a moment Zeldris could hardly believe it. 
A small window popped up in front of him, displaying his rewards. He'd gotten a little col and some kind of item, but what really caught his attention was the obscene amount of exp that was listed. 
Was that what happened when you slew a field boss on your own? 
Apparently it was. 
...I did it. 
He felt like he should be a lot more excited than he was. But the thing he felt most was relief. Relief that he could now say, with confidence, that he wasn't weak. That he wasn't useless. His once shattered pride was slowly beginning to be restored. 

[Yukiro 0]

Spoiler

Yukiro: HP 440/440 | EN 34/44 (+1)

...What now? 
He'd already beaten the Sand Shark. That was all he had planned for today, so he really didn't know what to do anymore. 
...I guess I'll go. 
Sheathing his sword Zeldris started off towards the town again, going around the giant pit of sand. Getting stuck in an antlion trap was not on his list of things to do. As he walked off Zeldris flipped open his menu and pulled out a new wedge of cactus and started snacking on it. It wasn't incredible, but he couldn't call it bad too. Maybe if it was mixed with this or that, maybe some fruits. He would have to ask someone to experiment with cactus as a food sometime. It might turn out to be interesting. 
He walked for quite a while. He must have been in this desert for at least two and a half hours by this point. Oh, it was getting to the time when Fleur should be sharing the boss information again. 

[Yukiro 0]

He spotted something approaching in the distance. He knew it wasn't a clump of a bunch of cacti because there hadn't been many cacti on the way to the field boss. So it must be either players or mobs. Hopefully players. 
Sure enough, it was a group of four players. Two of them were heavily armored, one with a big shield and a one-handed ax and the other with a long spear, and two of them wore light armor, one with a one handed sword and the other with a club of sorts. 
Zeldris stopped them once they got closer. "Hey, where are you guys headed?" he asked, pretty sure he knew already. 
The players stopped. One of the heavily armored guys, a tall, bulky man with a cheerful face, answered, "We're going to fight the field boss. Apparently it drops some kind of rare item." 
Ah, Fleur. Always right on time with that sort of stuff. She must have wanted them to help him once he was already fighting.

[Yukiro 0]

Zeldris smiled at the group. 
"Actually, about that, I just finished beating it a bit ago. I'm just on my way back," he told them cheerfully. The four players stared at him in shock. 
"Ah... Haha, really? That's certainly not good for us." 
One of the players in lighter gear, the one with the sword, spoke next. "I'm calling it. He didn't actually beat it, he just gave up and came back. Any player capable of beating a field boss alone has already moved up a few floors." 
That warmed Zeldris' heart a little bit. The fact that others thought he was capable of being a fighter on a higher floor gave him another small boost in pride. 
"Alright, we might as well check. Good job out there. Erm, if you did do it."
"Come on, let's go get this over with."
"Right. May our paths cross again! Farewell!" 
Zeldris nodded and waved as they passed by. "Best of luck. Don't travel too far." 
With that he turned back in the direction he was travelling and started off again.

[Yukiro 0]

Zeldris kept walking through the harsh conditions of the desert. He didn't unequip his jacket, that would leave him vulnerable to attack. He couldn't equip his sand cloak, he'd left that at home. All he could do was keep walking, with the sun beating down on him and making him sweat. Sweat that made his brightly colored hair stick to his forehead. That heaven he hadn't brought Tala along, he really didn't want her to see him in this condition; exhausted and dirty, basically looking like he couldn't protect himself from a light breeze. 
Actually, a light breeze would be really nice right about now. 
He passed by the cactus he cut down earlier. Huh, guess it would grow back eventually. It was a good landmark, so that was good. And that meant he could harvest cactus to give to cooks so they could make him cactus foods. Cactus foods sounded really good. 

[Yukiro 0]

Soon enough, in the distance Zeldris could see the city's sandstone wall of the main city of floor five. He was almost done this adventure. It was nearly time to go home. 
As he walked he sent a message to Fleur, the info broker who'd sold him the information, then sent a party of players to go help him. 

To: Fleur
Hey, it's me. I killed the Sand Shark. Alone, without any help. So you don't have to worry about that anymore. It was actually over very, very quickly; most of my time gone has just been spent walking. It's a long, hot, painful walk. But anyways, I'll be contacting you again soon if you don't reach out to me first. Thanks for letting me do this one alone. 
From: Yukiro

Zeldris smiled and sent the message. It seemed a little passive-aggressive, but surely it wouldn't be catastrophic if he were to say what he did.