[PP-F2] <<The Venomous Warg>> Toxic Redheads

[Mari 1]

Quest

Mari sat, leaning against a rock in the High Fields of Crossing. A safe zone for all, Pkers and Players alike - no monsters would spawn here, and no guards would chase her down. The weather was amicable and after recent treks and getting caught in a sandstorm. Tripping over Macradon and getting sand in every conceivable nook and cranny...had not been fun... *but* it resulted in another few level ups - Mari now sat at a cool 55 on the level front. Wonder what Macradon would say to that... Mari thought to herself.

And now, she was completing yet another quest she had yet to finish...The Venomous Warg. Mari wouldn't get the spoils of this quest but she was willing to do it - the meticulous competitionist in her wanted to complete them all - and...more and more people were answering her offer on the Player Request Board. This time, it was a familiar name. Minako.

Minako...

A Brazen redhead who had approached Mari at the Gala; Mari never really understood it. She didn't find herself as someone who had been attractive, in looks or personality. Yet that night...that night she was swarmed by women. She still wasn't entirely sure why.  

Still...Minako had reached out and asked for help for the Quest; and Mari accepted. It'd be nice to have some more female company for a change.

@Minako

 

 

STATS

 

General
Level: 55 | HP: 1140  |Energy: 110

STATS
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

SKILLS
Rank 5 Weapon (+5 DMG)
-Weapon Mod: Precision (+1 ACC)
Rank 5 Charge (+5 Damage -1 ACC)
Charge Mod BULL RUSH: Successful charge stuns target 1 turn
Rank 5 Light Armor (+25 MIT)
SURVIVAL

EQUIPPED
Name: Kusanagi | Item Type: Dagger | Tier 2
Enhancements: Bleed 2 | Damage 2
'Bleed Damage of 24 for 2 turns on a roll of 8-10'

Name: Beacon Necklace | Item Type: Pendant | Tier 2
Enhancements  +3 ACC 

Name: Infernal Shadow | Item Type: Light Armour | Tier 3
Enhancements:  +2 Eva | +1 Flame Aura
'Effect: Prevent (6 per slot * Tier) damage per slot from successful attacks against you. Successful non-critical attacks against you deal (5 per slot * Tier) unmitigated burn damage to the attacking enemy.

 

 

 

[Minako 0]

Minako made her way out to meet up with Mari. She had met the woman once before at the gala, and the pair had quickly hit it off. She had posted saying that she needed help for a quest as she was quite underleveled for it, and who else but Mari decided to help her. Stepping out of the safe zone, Minako changed out into her armor. She kept the school girl uniform on when she didn't need to be in combat as she was still trying to get used to how it weighed against her body.

Marching across a bit of tall grass, Minako could see a familiar face out in the distance. At first she didn't recognize her, not without the fancy clothes at least. "Hey! Mari!" Minako said calling out her name before breaking into a light jog to close the distance. The armor was heavy, but every day it seemed to be getting lighter and lighter. After reaching Mari, Minako gave a small wave. Minako had already taken a look at the quest beforehand and gotten the specifics from a few other people who had completed it. The monsters could possibly chunk Minako down, but she had a small stash of potions still along with the antidote she received from the quest giver. And with Mari by her side, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Minako wrapped her hands behind her head as she crossed her legs in a standing fashion. "How you been?" She asked curious as to what her friend had been up to. Jevi had gone dark, possibly dealing with guild stuff and Quinn, another person she had met at the gala, had disappeared entirely without even so much as saying a word to her.

@Mari

STATS

Spoiler

 

Level: 6
[0] Minako: 120/120 HP | 12/12 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 0 ACC | 0 EVA | Recovery: 2| Burn: 1| Blight: 1 | Heavy Momentum: 2

Equipped
Jack's Naginata¹ (Two-handed Assault Spear) [Burn - Blight - Cursed]
Wyrm's Calling Armor¹ (Heavy Armor) [Recovery - Heavy Momentum - Heavy Momentum]
Wyvern's Circlet¹ (Heavy Armor) [Recovery - Mitigation - Mitigation]

Battle Inventory
-(5) Healing Potions [Post Action to use; Heals 50HP on use]
-(1) Antidote [Post Action to use; Reduces the duration of a single Poison, Bleed, or Paralysis effect by one turn. If used out of combat, reduces the duration of the next Poison, Bleed, or Paralysis effect that would affect you by one turn.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Minako

[Mari 1]

Mari stood, offering Minako a small wave. She wasn't exactly used to all the enthusiasm that she had been surrounded with lately. "Minako." Mari said in return. "You're looking, uh...well." She added, albeit a little awkwardly. Mari wasn't exactly the best with this sort of thing - and she hadn't really had any female companionship. She adored her friendship with Macradon, but he could get a little..smelly at times. "I've been...mmm damn where do I even begin with that..." Mari said with a sigh as she ran a hand through her shoulder length hair. "I've somehow been roped into becoming a teacher of all things. Me a f**king teacher..."  Mari took a few steps back and forward, pacing - "First Quinn, then Yuki - now someone named Shay... I'm gonna accidentally corrupt all these minds. Gods...I was an idiot to agree." 

Mari shook her head. "Sorry...sorry... you wanted to do this Venomous Warg quest thing...did you get the antidote from the quest giver?"

@Minako

[Minako 0]

Minako nodded as Mari explained everything, placing a hand on her chin. "I personally think that teaching is a very respectable profession and I'm glad that you're making a bunch of new friends." Minako said nodding her head once. "Fortunately, I don't think I want a teacher. Just, someone to hang out with and kill bad things with. Then go out for," She paused and thought for a moment. "I dunno, whatever it is that friends go out and do." She said waving a hand around.

Her mind snapped back to attention as Mari mentioned the actual quest itself. "Oh right!" She said, fumbling through the drop down menus and retrieving the antidote. She showed the small vial of herbal medicine to Mari before adding it back to her inventory. "Yep, got it. I've also got a few potions that I've managed to scrounge up." She said, double checking her inventory. Minako tugged on her armor a bit and adjusted her spear before heading off into the direction of the quest marker. "A teacher huh? Were you that before the game, or something else?" Minako asked.

@Mari

Edited March 10, 2020 by Minako

[Mari 1]

Respectable? Maybe...but Mari didn't think she was really cut out for it. Not now, not with what she had done. "Friends..." Mari shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I...don't really think it so much as friends." Mari knew she sounded cold saying that, but she didn't want people to get the wrong idea. "I'm helping them...yeh, and I guess they probably consider me a friend - but I can't say I share the same sentiment."  There was a pause. Gods...she really sounded like a b**tch didn't she?  Mari released her arms and tugged on her hair. "Don't...get me wrong, I just - don't really trust many people enough to call them my friend. The few I've had have literally stabbed me. LIterally. After the say, third time - it kinda...makes you loose trust in people around you."

Minako was so bright and exuberant, it was almost a delight to be around - and as such Mari didn't really want to ruin it with her pessimism. She showed Mari the antidote before putting it way. "Ah...good, but you should probably take that sooner rather than later." Mari suggested as she began to walk side by side. "I was...actually..." Mari said. "I used to teach English in Japan, as one of those working tourism visas...I'd love to have stayed, the work was very very stressful and hard - but I enjoyed it...I wanted to study the language and return to do a guide job. But my bastard ex husband happened and , well that didn't end up happening." 

Mari shook her head, "But enough of that..what about you? Did you enjoy the rest of the gala? It was...a little insane wasn't it?"

 

@Minako

[Minako 0]

Minako quickly fumbled back through the menu as she retrieved the antidote again, quickly uncorked it, and downed it. She tossed the bottle aside and as it shattered into blue crystals she shrugged. "I mean, I can't blame you. I don't think I could call someone friend and be a teacher at the same time. What if I said something that hurt our friendship? What would I focus on bettering them or friendship? It's too much." Minako said, thinking about the situation.

"I used to be a streamer. But, maybe I still am?" Minako said turning and walking backwards to face Mari as they spoke. "I turned on my equipment before I dove in, so maybe I've been streaming this whole time?" Minako said, chuckling. "But, I really doubt it. They'd have us in hospitals or something, and remove us from the internet." Minako said, spinning back around and walking normally. "Wait. You can speak english? That's amazing!" She exclaimed. "I always wanted to learn, expand my language horizons a bit, but it's all just so hard." She said, almost defeated.

Minako's tone changed. "Yeah the Gala was a lot of fun. Especially if some dingy broad and her idiot lover think that they can walk all over everyone just because they have some dingy dragons." Minako said through almost clenched teeth. "God, I hate people like that." She said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "Like, who just slaps someone because they didn't like what they said? You just leave! Ugh!" Minako said, not realizing that she had begun ranting.

@Mari

 

[Mari 1]

As Minako downed the antidote Mari pulled out two potions of her own; both damage potions. She figured she wouldn't really need them - but it was better to be safe than sorry. "Here, splash this on your weapon." Mari said to Minako as she chucked one over to her. "It's really not much, but better than nothing - and I could craft something just like that in my store, not like anyone comes to it anyway.."  Mari pulled out something else, this time a damage crystal - since she was out of potions. She crushed it in her hand.

+1 Damage

Minako didn't blame Mari for not calling people friends; although Mari wondered if perhaps the redhead didn't quite understand. Mari didn't care if they were a student or not - she just...found it hard to call anyone a friend. It was both a mystery and a miracle that she considered Macradon one. "Its not exactly that, it's more of a trust thing." Mari corrected. "If anything I feel if it was a friend - they'd understand if I said something crappy - and we'd talk it out."

It was then that Minako said she was a streamer. "Oh...that's...uh...a thing..." Mari had no idea how to comment on that, she knew those sorta people existed - but she never really watched those sort of things. "I mean, It's great - I just, don't really watch that. I doubt you'd be streaming - I mean, this is a full dive system. I wouldn't think there'd be a way to stream that?" Mari asked, genuinely curious. "We're definitely all in some specialty hospitals - no doubt as test subjects or something." Mari said.

"Oh - yeh. English is my native language. I have a decent grasp on Japanese - and a little on mandarin, but I'd really want to be more confident in those sort of things. It's about the only thing I'm good at." She had forgotten that there were people who no doubt hailed from all over the world within this game, and that generally - it had an automatic translation function. It was a shame they couldn't use it in every day situations.

"Yeh.." Mari muttered with bitterness. "Being blasted in cold air wasn't exactly thrilling - It's a shame about the auction though. I was looking forward to it. And - wait, you got slapped?"

@Minako

-Given
1x Matriachs Stinger to Minako
used:
T1 Damage Crystal | +1 Damage (#ID 136997)

@Mari

[Minako 0]

Minako looked at the stinger and it's gland and thought nothing of it as she retrieved the spear from her back. Rubbing the gland to her weapon she could see the temporary status effect being added in the form of more damage. Nice. It would help a lot since the quest was already a challenge to do, she needed all the help she could get.

Minako nodded. "Yeah. It's a pain sometimes." She said before explaining more. "In order for it to work with my capture software I had to jury rig a couple of HDMI splices and with enough zip ties to get it to work. I couldn't see the chat while I was in game though, but I had people who had dev kits who were working a system mod that let me do that. Sword Art was supposed to be just the tip of the iceberg. But it ended up like this." She said, a bit melancholy.

Minako shook her head. "No, I wasn't slapped a friend of mine was. I told her about the dragon attack and she confronted the guy. Apparently, he had a girlfriend who was just a stupid as he was, and she slapped him." Minako said, throwing her hands into the air dramatically. "I did throw some punch on her though and was ready to throw hands. I have never hated someone that much in my life." She admitted before trying to cool down.

+1 damage (base increased to 6 from 5)

@Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari nodded as though she understood it; of course - she didn't. She had no idea how streamer setups worked. She knew what capture cards were - because she had used them before. Useful little things you could essentially plug into a computer and capture the device that was plugged into the card. But rigging up things with splices and zip ties and who knows what else? Mari was completely and utterly lost.

Maybe this is one of those moments where I'm too old to know what the heck people are doing online these days

"So...you had dev mods working on an ever changing algorithm like SAO?" Mari scratched her head. "Damn...I don't know much about that sort of thing, but I know Aincrad must be insane - code that updates thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of times a second - and you got a dev mod for that?  That must have cost you a small fortune."  Was she one of those top percentile people? The cream of the crop? Ones who actually made enough to invest in housing and who knows what?  Mari was curious, but she wasn't going to ask.

The conversation moved to that of the Gala. "Ohh, yeh I didn't see any of that. I'd have probably dragged the person who slapped your friend to the NPC lady hosting the event, and asked her to escort her outta there. Like - yeh. I get I was stuffing my face with food - but that happens at every event. Even the posh ones. I've had to go to a few myself thanks to my dumb ass ex husband. There's always those few people who linger by the food table. But slapping people."  Mari turned her eyes to Minako. "And throwing drinks, might I add.  That's...almost too far - honestly, I'm surprised a bunch of us weren't removed."

Mari shrugged as she kicked a stone. "Oh well, that's past us, instead - we should look forward." Mari gestured to the place before them, growling could be heard from between the treeline they were approaching. "Since, yanno, we'll probably be attacked soon."

 

@Minako

[Minako 0]

Minako nodded her head. "Well, a lot of them were just volunteers really. I asked about it on stream one time and a few people claiming to have dev kits just popped up. A few of them I've worked with before on other VR kits, but never for something as complex as the Nerve Gear." She said, thinking. "I bet some of them now are trying to help us get out of here." She said to herself with a touch of melancholy to her words.

Minako shrunk into herself slightly as Mari's gaze cut into her when she mentioned the throwing of drinks. "I guess it was a unladylike thing to do. Especially at a gala like that." She tapped a finger to her shin. "I guess such fancy affairs just aren't my thing." She admitted. She had never gone to a party, let alone a formal gala like that one. Regardless, Mari was right.  She should've behaved better than what she had. Mari had stopped walking suddenly and gestured to the woods. Minako swallowed her nervousness away. "Yeah, I think you're right." She said, grabbing the spear from her back.

Three wolves leapt from the underbrush and quickly surrounded the two women, a larger much more colorful beast stepped out slowly from the shadowed woods. Minako pointed her spear at the beasts, readying herself up for a fight. "Alright Mari." She said her voice full of hesitation and nervousness. "On your lead yeah?" She asked. @Mari

[0] Minako: 120/120 HP | 12/12 EN | 6 DMG | 18 MIT | 0 ACC | 0 EVA | Recovery: 2| Burn: 1| Blight: 1 | Heavy Momentum: 2
[0] Mari: 1140/1140 HP | 110/110 EN | 11 DMG | 43 MIT | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 

Wolf[1] 40/40 HP | DMG: 25
Wolf[2] 40/40 HP | DMG: 25
Wolf[3] 40/40 HP | DMG: 25
Venom Snapper 150/150 HP | DMG: 35(50 on crit) | EVA: 1
- Venomous Bite: Natural MD of 9-10 poisons the target, dealing 10 unmitigatable damage at the start of their turn for 3 turns.
- Feral Strike: Every time a <<Wolf>> is slain, <<Venom Snapper>>’s next attack becomes AoE. This ability can stack (if 2 wolves die at the same time, <<Venom Snapper>>’s next 2 attacks become AoE). “Venomous Bite” can still trigger on AoE attacks.