[PP] [F01-F07] Wait, what? «Case of Wyrms»

[Tsurei 0]

Spoiler

Stats

Level: 4

Hit Points: 80

Energy: 8

Combat Stats

Damage: 1

Mitigation: 0

Accuracy: 0

Evasion: 0

Weapons

Spoiler - None

Armour

Spoiler - None

Battle Ready Items

Spoiler 5 x [T1] [Uncommon] Health Potions  (+40hp) 1 x [T1] Damage Potion (+1 Damage) 1 x [T1] Over-Health Potion (+50 Temp HP)

 

@Cordelia

Rei and the others started on their way through the cold city, keeping their eyes forward and trying to not glance over at the children scattered along the streets and alleyways, they served as a constant reminder of the state of the place and even their elation and relief at finally completing their first quest, levelling up a bit and getting some money, was beginning to dampen and drop.

Their Quota was essentially met, at the very least, it was at the point where they could sit back and relax for today.

But, they had all made a decision, it was time to act. Their levels were high enough to brave the simple wilds beyond the town walls, they were moving forward, well, all but one of them.

“Hey, we have enough money for a few days now, right? Let’s head back,” Takumi yawned, stretching his limbs,

“What? Weren’t we going to do the second quest with the blacksmith or whatever?” Kenji frowned,

“Yeah, come on, don’t be lazy,” Yuta nodded,

Rei couldn’t say that the thought of lazing around after that passed through his mind...

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tsurei

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia hummed as she stroked Pacco's head feathers while he was in her lap. 

"Case of the Wyrms, huh," she mumbled under her breath, leaning back against the bench with a thoughtful sigh. "From what Hynes said. . . it shouldn't be too hard," she smiled to herself as she checked through her inventory with her free hand. 

This quest should be more than easy. She could kill the thing in two hits if she wanted to, maybe even three if she could land her holy proc on it. 

Her eyes glanced up, spotting a group of nearby players walking through the town. They couldn't have possibly been a very high level since they were still. . . here. She sighed and ruffed Pacco's head before letting him climb up her shoulders. 

"Hey!" She called, brushing off her lap before she stood up to walk over to the group. "You guys are pretty low leveled, right? Say, you guys want to travel to floor seven with me?" She beamed, tilting her head as she clasped her hands behind her back. "I assure you that you won't get hurt in any possible, just don't get in my way while I'm fighting, 'kay?"

[Tsurei 0]

Just as they were about to make their case, resolve themselves and head onto the next step of their first proper introduction to the game, A voice that didn’t belong to an npc rang out in the chilly afternoon, it was nearby and it seemed to be directing itself at them so they quickly jumped slightly, casting their gazes around they fell on a strange young woman. On this chilly day a simply dressed woman with fierce looking eyes and a determined expression, of silver hair, light pink-purplish eyes, and on her sides were rather impressive blades approached them.

 This was the first floor, anyone that looked that impressive should be far from here by now. In this place of despair and hopelessness, a cheerful voice and beaming expression like hers seemed greatly out of place. Their guards were quickply even knowing that this was a safe zone and if it came down to it, sheer statistics of the system applied, they wouldn't be able to do anything if they tried to resist.

“…And who are you?” Yuta frowned, asking the question directly as Rei looked around to make sure it was actually them being addressed.

"Floor 7 seems a little out of our league," Rei smiles awkwardly.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tsurei

[Cordelia 0]

She extended her hand to Yuta and beamed. "You can call me Cordelia," she said excitedly, then pointing to the larger than average raven on her shoulder, "and this is Pacco. Don't worry about him, though. He rarely does anything but mimic me anymore," she mumbled, sighing as she turned to Rei.

"Oh, no, no. Don't worry about it! I'll keep all of you guys safe!" She chirped, nodding her head. "It's a bunch of experience points. I'm sure you guys could level up a bunch. You won't have to do anything," she added, clapping her hands together. 

She really failed to mention that the mob they were supposed to encounter could probably kill them three times over but that didn't really matter. This bunch seemed to stiff! They needed to lighten up! Live a little.

"I promise that it will be worth your time. You just need to stand on the sidelines and not get in the middle of fighting!"

[Tsurei 0]

Yuta very awkwardly shakes her hand, stunned as Rei glanced around and at her cursor, it was green, she was high levelled and yet to kill anyone, that probably has some merit to it at least, still, as cheerful as she was, it struck a cord, people who moved on beyond this town were strikingly different from the ones that remained, stuck in their despair. It was both a warming and awe-inducing sight, but it also seemed odd.

“What’s in this for you?” Takumi asked carefully,

Indeed, there seemed to be no benefit to this for her at all, and at the very least, no one here believed in the good of someone’s heart. Everything had a catch, without exception.

They levelled up now, they can take a hit, but that wouldn’t remain true for the floors above. The proposition was appealing, if strikingly one-sided beneficial.

“Well, we won’t say no to some experience points, it’ll certainly make lives easy for us, but yeah, what’s the catch?” Rei smiled amicably, still believing that this could just be a joke or a trap.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia raised an eyebrow and sighed, placing a hand on her cheek with pursed lips. "Nothing is in it for me," she mumbled, rolling her eyes as her demeanor got a tad lit less friendlier. Why couldn't they just accept the help when people gave it to them?

"Of course, I'm getting EXP for this quest, too, but I guess shame on me for wanting to help a bunch of newbies," she sighed, shrugging her shoulders. 

"What?" She asked, leaning her head in to squint at Rei so that their faces were only a few inches away. She tilted her head-- so did Pacco cause he just loves doing that. "Do you think I'm trying to pull something on you guys?" She asked seriously, before she broke out in a laugh. She pulled her body back and giggled. 

"Honey, there are far worse people you should be worrying about," she said with a small smile. "Don't worry, people like you aren't targeted," she sniffed, scratching her cheek. "No one kills for fun anymore. . . odd, isn't it?" She muttered quizzically before she looked back at the group. "So is it a yay or nay?"

[Tsurei 0]

Rei looks at Pacco with a small smile, familiars were a thing he remembered seeing in the manual, dragons, wolves and the like, he wondered what familiar everyone would end up with if given the chance.

…

Yeah, if given the chance, they needed to survive first and foremost. Besides, people no longer killing for fun, preposterous. But in the off chance they were going to get help without a catch, they should take it, they’ve already decided to walk on this road anyway, and he couldn’t image that the four of them would be able to handle everything on their own, noobs as they were.

“Alright, alright,” Rei sighs as he backs off to a comfortable distance, “We’ll take whatever we can get. What’s the quest?”

“Rei! Are you serious!” Yuta cried out,

“This could be a trap and we’ll die, it’s not worth it,” Takumi stated,

“H-hey… maybe she really does just want to help?” Kenji weakly persuades,

Yeah, they have a prime example of someone right here who was too willing to help others for his own good. They share this message with a knowing glance and inwardly sigh,

“Look, we need to get stronger, the faster we do, the less problems we’ll have, for a while,” Rei looks at her with a carefree smile, “Well, if you’re gonna kill us, do it painlessly, yeah?”

“Rei… Don’t be an idiot, I’m not going with her,” Takumi strides past,

“… Sorry, it’s a trap, I can’t come with you either,” Yuta follows after him.

Rei looks over at Kenji with a raised brow,

“I…I’ll trust her as well,”

“Well then, I guess that’s that, ball’s in your court,” Rei shrugs, looking back at Cordellia. "How are gonna do this then?"

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia narrowed her eyes as she watched two of the players walk past the two. 

"Shame," she sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Whatever, those two are going to miss out," she chuckled, turning back to Rei and Kenji with a bright smile. 

"It's kinda of sad how they just left you here. If I was a real PKer, then those two would've had the burden of knowing that they weren't there when their two precious friends died," she mumbled, shrugging her shoulders again with a soft chuckle.

"Ah, right!" She nodded, intertwinging her hands together in front of her. "Just follow me to floor seven, but keep your distance once we leave the safezone. "My sources tells me that this thing can pop out of the ground, so stay away if you want to, y'know, live," she said, winking at the two before she gestured to the teleport gate which really wasn't too far away.

"Let's go, yeah?" She asked, a giddy smile on her face as she bounded over to the pad.

"Oh, and make sure not to attack it, because I'm sure that this thing has quite a bit of armor, and I heard that it spits out poison, just keep that in mind! See you two there!" She chirped, waving at the two of them before she was transported away in a beam of light.

[Tsurei 0]

“Heh, if you were a real PKer, I think by now you would be orange,” Rei laughs, “But even still, those guys made the right decision to leave, I don’t really hold them against it,”

“Y-yeah…” Kenji nodded,

“So the 7^th floor and we’re just to stay with you and out of your way, sounds easy enough. Hopefully,” Rei concludes,

“W-what kind of monster are we f-facing?” Kenji worriedly asks,

“The teleport gate huh… I’ve never used it, don’t we need to have visited the floor beforehand?”

The 7^th floor… the mountainous floor, full of mountain ranges and horrible terrain, the monsters there have the very least have over 50hp and attack power in the 20s… for low levels like them, the weakest monsters might not kill them outright, but any quest monster up there is like to destroy them several times over, what was it… 90+ damage was the max for that floor?

The beta tester’s guidebook gave him a good idea of what to face for the next 10 floors, though he read it over and over, he only bothered to remember for the 1^st floors he would face for the moment, he looked at the structure of the gate and smiled wryly, he should’ve remembered, if only he had good memory like Takumi.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia sighed in relief as she hopped off of the teleportation pad. She really hated the gloomy feeling of the first floor sometimes. It made her just want to barf sometimes, but floor seven was what she needed! Nature! Fresh air! A giant snake that pops out of the ground and spits venom at you!

"Oh, I didn't tell you guys?" She asked, tilting her head. "It's supposed to be a giant two headed serpent that jumps out of the ground and attacks you. So when you see the earth moving, just be sure to get out of the way and leave it to me. Wouldn't want to be responsible for getting a couple of newbies killed, eh?" She asked, giving them a carefree smile as she made a beeline for the town's exit.

"It shouldn't be long until we encounter the thing, so keep your ears perked, 'kay?" She asked, giving the two an odd look before she equipped her katana and haori.

[Tsurei 0]

“A-a giant snake!?” Kenji cries out,

“Venom, how great,” Rei sighs and chuckles helplessly,

They both breathe in sharply as the shockingly cold, fresh air fills their lungs and hits their face, like a wave of tiny little daggers cutting into them,

“Whoa!” Rei exclaims,

“Brrr!” Kenji immediately shudders so hard, it nearly looks like he’s convulsing,

“Even in game, that never changes,”

“Y-yeah…”

Rei’s eyes widen as he realises from their previous mission they have some potions, if they were lucky to not get one-shot, they might still have a chance to recover. Of course, Rei glanced over at Cordelia, seeing her getting equipped with her rather retro Japanese gear, he smiles slightly, a Haori is pretty old fashioned and colourful, it fitted her rather well, oddly enough, his eyes fall to the katana and his eyes glint slightly, there it is, a katana at last, he hardly ever seen one though he knows they’re in the game, it must be a rare item of some kind, probably given a lot of love considering this was a game made in japan.

In any case, the scenery was certainly awe-inspiring, he breathed as he looked around, if he recalled, screen-shots could only be taken by special crystals. Pity. The pair quickly follow after Cordelia keeping a certain degree of distance and closeness.

"What was the quest called?" Rei wonders flipping through the system to get the guidebook,

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tsurei

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia halted in her steps and unsheathed her katana, feeling the ground shake slightly. 

"Alright!" She began, whipping her head to look at the two players behind her. "You two! Stay back!" She ordered. She was barely given enough time to let Pacco lift himself into the air before the ground below her erupted, sending rock and debris in every direction.

Her teeth gritted together as she bounded away, just barely avoiding Amphis Serpens' snapping jaws. She huffed, propping up on leg behind her, letting her skid to a halt, tracking dust all around her. 

Her eyes glowed a bright red-- courtesy to Pacco, of course. Seeing that the mob was vulnerable in the air, she darted forward, preparing her most powerful sword art.

Cordelia propelled herself into the air as she raised her katana above her. With a spinning strike, she brought her katana down on to the serpents' head, launching it back down on to the ground with a loud crash. By the time the dust had settled, the quest mob had already burrowed itself back into the ground.

"What a coward," she muttered under her breath, landing on the ground softly as she felt for more vibrations.

ID: 132820
BD: 7, Hit
MD: 7-3=4, Miss

12x15=180-45=135 175-135=40 HP

Cordelia: HP: 620/620 | EN: 48/62 | 12 DMG | 5 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY 

Amphis Serpens: HP: 40/175 | 45 MIT | 70 DMG

[Tsurei 0]

The eruption of dust as a huge twin headed snake shot from the ground beneath Cordelia’s feet was akin to an explosion, their venom dripping fangs seemed to barely miss as a faint blueish light from her enhanced equipment helped her avoid it by a hair’s breadth. She skidded to a halt and leapt several meters into the air, drawing her blade as she went down light a lightning strike, a flash of light and a thunderous boom, the earth rumbled as the snake tunnelled back into it’s safe zone.

Rei barely had the time to see the snake’s appearance, sure it was two headed, but certainly not in the way he first thought, it was like twin snakes coiled together, rather than a conjoined mutation as he thought, the monster was like a serpent or a dragon, it had small front clawed legs and comparatively small leathered wings that boosted it’s speed when it charged above ground.

When the strike landed, creating a huge single red digital gash across the snake’s body, Rei was in awe, this was a game after all, feats like that and monsters like that were nothing out of the ordinary. This was the first floor, just what kind of monsters thrive on the 20^th? The 50^th? The very top?

The pair quickly held their breathes, calming their rapidly beating hearts in an attempt to listen out, no matter how pointless it would be in the end considering the snake’s speed and their lack of reflexes for this situation.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tsurei

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia was quick to learn that the snake just loved attacking from below her, which really wasn’t much of a surprise when it did it, again.

By the time Amphis Serpens had bursted from the ground below her, Cordelia had already been airborne, preparing another sword art that would most definitely obliterate the mob.

Her figure dive straight down as she lashed at the snake once again, slashing with her katana. 

Mad the sword pieces the serpents’ tough scales, it let out an ear piercing screech and hiss, almost distracting Cordelia from finishing her attack, but she pushed on, no matter how much her eardrums protested. 

By the time she had finished her attack, the snakes’ body had already been split in half, red gashes forming over what should’ve been bones and guts.

Cordelia huffed as she fell to the ground, much more clumsily than she had to the prior attack. She lowered her katana and smiled to herself.

”Not too bad, eh?” She asked, turning her head to the two players.

ID: 132821

BD: 7

ITS DED 

[Tsurei 0]

“Y-yeah…” Kenji murmured, his mouth agape. Before Rei answered, he was right to take a look at his friend’s reaction, hiding a small smile he also agreed,

“Yeah, that was pretty impressive, you're definitely used to this, huh?” Rei chuckled slightly before opening up his menu, his eyes flitting through until he found the spot he was looking for. Amphis Serpens, 175hp, 45 mitigation and a whole 70 points of damage, certainly, if they got hit by that, there was very little chance of survival. It was great that it turned out so easy for the lady, it was an awesome fight, though short lived and extremely one sided.

His eyes glanced over to her, just what was her level? What did it take to make a monster like that trivial? Well, he was still tackling the 1^st floor, he’ll give it time, maybe one day, he and the others could become someone that can help others, particularly those that come from the 1^st floor.

“By the way-“ Rei wanted to ask her about the katana and what sword art she just used but his words were cut short as the ground began to rumble all around them, “…There was only one of them, right?” he slowly forced out the words with a half smile as several sand serpents erupted from the ground around them, though not as large as the boss, they were probably minions of a kind.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tsurei

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia smiles sheepishly, using her free hand to rub the back of her head sheepishly as she nodded. “I guess you could say that,” she said, earning a small laugh. “I’m certainly no expert but I guess I know a bit of combat.”

Were they impressed? She’s tackled mobs that could just breath on the Amphis Serpens and K.O. it. 

“Huh?” Cordelia asked, furrowing her brows as she watched the ground around them erupt in a similar fashion to the Amphis Serpens. “Oh, [doo-doo],” she cursed, sighing in irritation as she stepped in front of the two players.

”Do not engage, okay?” She said demandingly as she looked back at the two of them. “I’ll handle this.”

Cordelia huffed and turn her attention back to the two serpents, who unlike their much larger cousin, didn’t burrow underground the moment she raised her katana. All the more easier, she guessed.

”Alright, I’ll lead them away,” she murmured, dashing back into battle. First priority was to lead them away from Rei and Kenji, which proved to be a lot more easier than she expected. A front kick her and a roundhouse kick there launched them both backwards several meters away, which was a perfect opportunity for her to use another sword art.

She followed after the two snakes and unleashed her AoE attack, which mainly just consisted of fast cuts and slashes.

The sound of her blade whizzing through the air filled the empty sound around her as she delivered attacks that were too quick for the human eye.

ID: 132822
BD: 5+3=8
MD: 3

ID: 132823
BD: 3+3=6
MD: 4

12x8= 96 310-96= 214 HP

Cordelia: HP: 620/620 | EN: 23/62 | 12 DMG | 5 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY 

Lesser Sand Serpent#1: HP: 214/310 | 93 DMG

Lesser Sand Serpent#2: HP: 214/310 | 93 DMG

[Tsurei 0]

As the sound of a slicing whirlwind cried through the desert sands, ripping through the howling of the gale that whipped at their clothing, Kenji and Rei both grimaced as the racket of hundreds of metallic slashes, cracks, zings and whooshes gathered and expanded into a visible torrent, shredding the bodies of the two serpents, adorning them with a myriad of small red gashes all over their body.

The serpents did not fall after the first attack and they don’t seem particularly injured either, if injury is even something that can happen or whether it’s just based on numbers and little else. As expected, multi-target attacks were weaker than single targets, more over, he wasn’t entirely sure what the energy consumption must be like for her right now. People get physically fatigued in this world, but does it happen if energy gets too low as well? Or is it just a mp bar to take note of?

Either way, the pair were in the way and decided to heed her words and retreat somewhat. their eyes locked on the combat, in Kenji's case, he was awed, he didn't see much action nor did he play many games, this kind of display was far beyond what he imagined or experienced. Rei glanced around the area in case of an ambush, it was hopeless to try and hear the rumble of another sand serpent as well, so he crouched down and pressed his hand on the ground at least so he could feel it coming. His eyes glanced over at Cordelia's movements, he may not be high leveled or anythimg and this may not be reality, but at the very least, he's had some sword training in real life.

Seeing the techniques and moves that people developed in the higher floors due to fighting for their lives would be educational

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tsurei

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia huffed tiredly, feeling her limbs grow tired. It might That her energy is draining like a water in a sink, or maybe it was because she was like, physically tired? She wasn’t sure. 

She wasn’t going to last long enough to kill these things. . . She was going to have to dip. As much as she hated it, but she couldn’t really spend more time on these things. 

Even if so, she had managed to only hit one of the two serpents this time, which was really good.

She looked over her shoulder and sighed in relief. Thank God these people actually listened. She turned her attention back to the reptiles, biting her lip in frustration. 

Her chances were low when it came to running away, but she was willing to accept those chances. It’s not like these things had a very high chance of hitting her either.

ID: 132824
BD: 5+3=8, Hit
MD: 2

ID: 132825
BD: 1, Miss
MD: 3

12x8= 96 214-96= 118 HP

Cordelia: HP: 620/620 | EN: 14/62 | 12 DMG | 5 MIT | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 1 PARA VNM | 2 KEEN | 4 HLY 

Lesser Sand Serpent#1: HP: 118/310 | 93 DMG

Lesser Sand Serpent#2: HP: 214/310 | 93 DMG

[Tsurei 0]

Two lazy diagonal strikes, the blade was then lowered to her side and unleashed in a enhanced spin strike overwhelmingly quick, executed several times faster than physically possible with the help of the system. When the whirlwind died down and the dust settled, both serpents were still standing, one of the serpent’s drooped it’s head low, it was injured. The second one… didn’t seem to change, did the attack miss?

As the two snakes lunged for Cordelia continuously, tirelessly and repeatedly, it was clear from her stance, from her breathing, that this was not going well, usage of Arts definitely reduced real physical stamina, this was troubling news. Was it impossible to fight without sword arts?

Rei frowned, strange. Were these serpents hardier and faster than the quest boss she had just killed so effortlessly? No, that would be overstating things, she unleashed a powerful Art, was it her strongest attack? In a bide to nova the enemy before they could do anything, now faced with another battle, she was running low.

Her glance back at them was filled with slight worry and a hint of relief, even now she was still concerned with them? That being the case and this fight was turning sour, they needed to run.

If they ran now, they would be out of her hair and let her safely retreat as well without being concerned with their safety. But If they ran now, would it look like they were abandoning her? He couldn't call out either, it would distract her.

What should he do?

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia sheathed her katana, kicking away a serpent that had just lunged at her.

If she had any chance to run, it would be right now. Using the last bit of her energy, she dashed away, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure that those freaking damn things weren’t following her.

Bu the time she had reached the two players again, she was out of breath, her face flushed with exhaustion and body heaving.

”[No-no word],” she cursed, placing her hands on her knees as she gulped. “A-are you guys okay?” She wheezed, looking up at the two players. “Did they hurt you?” She asked, her eyes flickering to their healthbars before she sighed in relief.

She leaned back and puffed. “Sorry. . . I didn’t know that there would be more coming after Amphis Serpens,” she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. 

ID: 132830

LD: 16, Successful