[PP|F2] <<The Venomous Warg>> Poisonous

[ChaseR 0]

Albeit having gotten tired yesterday, Chase had awoken much more energised than before today. Hell, he couldn't get any sleep after waking up rather early in the morning, so he got caught up in mischief throughout the morning, and... Well, he was rather worried about the reaction that would get out of his partner. Whatever the case, he was alive and that's what mattered hopefully. For the most part. Having just finished with some quests he got admittedly, dragged into by his own stupidity, in the second floor, he sent @Shay a message to come meet him, although riddled with a few awkward apologies here and there.

"Let's hope she doesn't kill me herself.", he thought as he waited in front of the teleporter in Urbus, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently and keeping his arms crossed while nervously checking his menu every so often. It was more so because he didn't want to look like a fool while waiting rather than because he expected a reply or something like a stat of his to change.

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 15
HP: 300/300
EN: 30/30

Stats:
Damage: 10
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Cloud Cutter>> (T1/Perfect/2HSS): DMG III
Armor: <<Sky Blue Apparel>> (T1/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I; REC II
Misc: <<Warm Earmuffs>> (T1/Perfect/Trinket): ACC III

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 4]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*5
Field Rations*1
Immolation Potion*1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 2
Requires Extended Weight Limit 3
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[Shay 0]

Gathering her usually equipment took almost no time. The healing crystals that she had made would help with this boss. She couldn't benefit from it's rewards anymore thanks to the level restrictions, which were present in basically no other quests even though there were harder ones than this, however, questing in general still offered the girl experience and that was all that really mattered. After this, they will have already done all the quests that they need to catch Chase up to her.

Finally she had made it to Urbus, and Chase was already waiting for her. Good, he was getting around just fine. "Ohaiyo." She said simply, walking over to him with a wave. She seemed in a much better mood today than she did most of the day yesterday. "Gotta finish this last quest before you reach the level cap. The experience isn't anything that special, but hopefully it will help you get closer to me. We're nearly the same level already."

Spoiler

Name: Shay
Level: 18
HP: 360/360
EN: 36/36

Stats:
Damage: 8+1
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 1
BLD:12
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: (Katana)Murasame α: BLD 2; DMG 1
Armor: Leather Overcoat: EVA 3
Misc: Deep Red Tie: Recovery 2; ACC 1

Skills:
Curved Sword [Rank 1]
Katana [Rank 4]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleportation Crystal*1
T1 Mass HP Rec. II*1
T1 HP Rec. I*2
T1 Instant HP Rec. I*2
T1 Lullaby II*1
Matriarch's Stinger*1 < Using

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[ChaseR 0]

It was a neat change of pace to see her in a more cheerful mood than usual. With how serious and stern her expression usually looked, he thought she looked much more friendly when she was relaxed and happy like this. "Yup, she definitely didn't even care. Doesn't make me feel any less guilty, but... It is what it is.", he finished his own train of thought before giving her a nod with a growing smile, realising that he was beginning to catch up fairly fast. Then again, that kind of brought him back to why he'd apologised so much beforehand. 

"Right, I just... I got caught up in some trouble. With quests and everything, sorry for doing a few alone. I didn't put myself in any real danger though.", he attempted to reassure her, although the boy was probably making a much bigger deal out of it than she would or could, really. That's mostly cause he took the promises he made quite seriously, and it was a promise to go out into the fields with her most of the time if not always. Well, definitely not always given how things had gone up to now. Getting back on track though, he gave a dry cough and tried to relax. "Well, more fighting experience is always good."

[Shay 0]

"As long as you don't go too far ahead of my level, I won't mind. I'm almost level 19 and you are level 15. We're doing fine right now." She mentioned before taking the lead towards the tavern where they would meet the old fart that was supposed to give them some antidote potion to help them fight this enemy. It was known for having poisonous attacks, so anything would be helpful.

"Listen, this boss is likely the hardest you've faced up to this point. Whatever you do, don't be scared and believe in your power. It might be strong, but if you keep your head in the game and do what you need to do, nothing bad will happen alright? With us both doing what we need to, we'll defeat this boss with one fell swoop." Her reassurance was met with a hint of strategy. She didn't want him to under estimate anything because he was getting stronger, but she didn't want him to think they were in any danger.

[ChaseR 0]

"If we can defeat it in a single attack, it's not strong. Let's do it.", the bluehead replied with a confident voice and a faint hint of trust in her words. Sure, he trusted her but he couldn't really leave his life all up to Shay at any given point. He was beginning to open up to her due to her superior knowledge of the game, her larger amount of experience, literally and stat-wise and all the help she'd given him thus far. "Don't die, that's the plan.", he gave a small smile with that, shrugging and looking down at his sword quietly.

It hadn't been too long since he began to use it, barely a day or so, but he was already growing more and more used of it, keen of the blade and the stance he'd have to take when wielding it. A big part of the familiarity was because he saw just how strong he could be when using it, be it because of his own strength or the system assist, but... It was certainly nothing to be scoffed at. It made him feel safer, though. Safer than he'd ever felt back in the Town of Beginnings all this time.

[Shay 0]

Shay walked into the inn of the floor, taking note of what Chase had to say, but she didn't seem to comment on it. They could easily kill this boss with a single strike - if everything went as planned. If not, they might be in a little bit of danger, just nothing mortal. This was the whole reason that she brought the crystals with her. And the whole reason they were stopping to see this NPC merchant.

After a short conversation with him, he passes Shay and ChaseR a free vial of antidote. Shay herself opens the glass containing the green liquid and downs it right then and there. Once she is finished, Chase can see by her health bar that a status buff had been put next to her name. "Drinking some potions will apply and effect on you. The one that this one gives will negate a status effect coming at you. This group of enemies has an attack that might inflict poison, so I suggest you drink it just in case."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase hadn't previously consumed a potion like this, only the mochi that she had offered him before going looking for the tutorial quests' materials. With a short nod, he popped the antidote open and chugged it down, making no comment on the texture and processing its taste for a moment. Honestly, thinking about it was more effort than would be worth it. No point in getting even more tired before the fight were to begin. With the buff appearing right under his health bar too, he looked over at Shay and nodded again.

"Let's go then. Where is our objective?", he asked her, still relatively unfamiliar with guiding himself around the quests and their target objectives, monsters, whatever they had to do in order to finish a quest. He was still new to the GUI and navigating the world overall, but at least he could use the teleporters and crystals, if he really had to. As they exited the inn, the boy looked left and right, hoping that he'd find some indicator as to where to go.

Edited July 12, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

"Just a group of mobs. When we begin, we're going to focus damage on to the one that looks different from the others. It has a special tactic if the other wolves die before it, so we should bypass that by just murdering that one out right." It wasn't that far of a walk from town, considering it was a quest made for lower level players. The group found the wolves and Shay removed her blade from the sheath it sat snug inside.

Shay was fast. Her sheath fell to the ground, Chase probably saw it, but when he looked back up to her position, she was gone. The black blur of hair and crimson eyes met face to face with the helpless being that was about to get cut completely in half. "Shi-ne." She said as she slashed forward. Her blade barely missed as it hopped back, but the moment its paws left the ground, she was on top of it. Her blade slashed through it's stomach, nearly leaving it in two pieces. She moved back and looked to Chase. "Now! Hit them all!"

---

Shay | HP: 360/360 | EN: 28/36 -(8) | DMG: 9 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1
ChaseR | 

Wolf 1: 40/40 | 25 DMG
Wolf 2: 40/40 | 25 DMG
Wolf 3: 40/40 | 25 DMG
Venom Snapper: 50/150 -((11*8)+12) | DMG: 35(9-10: 50) | EVA: 1

[ChaseR 0]

Although they weren't even going that fast, Chase had gone through enough today alone to get a little lost in thought on their way there. He'd barely realised just how much time had passed before they'd arrived, and it wasn't long that they'd engaged into battle either. Shay was already gone by the time he'd taken his weapon out of his sheathe, and before he knew it, he was being asked to deliver the final strike to take them all out. Although uncertain whether he'd manage to do it or not, he took a deep breath and turned his blade to the side, almost mimicking Shay's posture when wielding her katana.

Taking a deep breath, he dug his hind leg into the ground and kicked off, running right at them and turning his blade to its flat before it met with the first of the monsters. "Hoooo!", the bluehead heaved and slammed the flat of his blade onto two of the wolves, as well as the Venom Snapper, finishing the job that Shay had started. Before he could pull back though, the second wolf of the initial three had jumped above his blade and managed to land a scratch on the boy's chest, knocking him back and dealing some light damage, getting a groan out of him. It was the first time his HP had dropped any in front of Shay.

Shay | HP: 360/360 | EN: 28/36 | DMG: 9 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1
ChaseR | HP: 273/300 (-27) | EN: 14/30 (-16) | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1

Wolf 1: 0/40 (-40) | 25 DMG
Wolf 2: 40/40 | 25 DMG
Wolf 3: 0/40 (-40) | 25 DMG
Venom Snapper: 0/150 (-50) | DMG: 35 (9-10: 50) | EVA: 1

Loot: Venom Vial (T1, Uncommon Potion)

Edited July 12, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

The wolf snarled over the boy, ready to bite down on his head while he was vulnerable, but was forced to move as a red slash of sharp blade landed where it once was. Shay looked down at him, making sure he was alright. Once that was confirmed she got back into battle to give him enough time to get to his feet. Her blade came up short almost every single time she slashed at the beast. You would think that it was the actually boss, but she nearly split that one into two pieces the moment she saw it.

Chase was still getting used to the game, so letting him take an attack wouldn't be a bad thing. However, she wasn't going to sit there and let maul on him either. The damage was hardly anything to him compared to what he could do to it. She continued to to give the thing a run for its money while dodging every single attack that it made at her with grace and ease.

---

Shay | HP: 360/360 | EN: 26/36 -(2) | DMG: 9 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1
ChaseR | HP: 273/300 | EN: 14/30 | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1

Wolf 1: 0/40 (-40) | 25 DMG
Wolf 2: 40/40 | 25 DMG
Wolf 3: 0/40 (-40) | 25 DMG
Venom Snapper: 0/150 (-50) | DMG: 35 (9-10: 50) | EVA: 1

[ChaseR 0]

Having watched the wolf just dodge another hit from Shay, Chase seemed relatively unfazed by the hit he'd taken and quickly ran towards it to close the gap that had grown between the two, putting all his weight onto the back of his heel and letting out another battle cry as a glow appeared around his sword before he began to spin wildly, cutting anything around him and hopefully, the wolf as well.

It finally appeared to have gotten hit by one of the attacks, and shortly after, three more spins and subsequent attacks followed, going off of his momentum. When he was done, he planted his feet into the ground to stop himself, keeping his sword stretched to the side and gasping for air as his energy had began to run low. It was the first time he'd used Tempest, and it most certainly got a lot out of him. It only made sense though, given how strong an attack it was. As the wolf disappeared into shards and they exited combat, he turned to look at Shay with a sharp glare. "A-Are you alright?", he asked calmly, trying to catch up to his breath. It was obvious he'd gotten an adrenaline rush, and it had gotten him to look much more savage than he normally would.

Shay | HP: 360/360 | EN: 26/36 | DMG: 9 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1
ChaseR | HP: 273/300 | EN: 11/30 (+1, -4) | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | Antidote: 1

Wolf 1: 0/40 | 25 DMG
Wolf 2: 0/40 (-40) | 25 DMG
Wolf 3: 0/40 | 25 DMG
Venom Snapper: 0/150 | DMG: 35 (9-10: 50) | EVA: 1

Loot: Venom Vial (T1, Uncommon Potion)

Edited July 13, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

Shay took a deep breath, looking nearly unphased by how fast paced the battle was for her dodging and striking at the wolf that had remained. She had a little more time to develop her combat skills than Chase did, so this was practically nothing for her. She met his sharp gaze with crimson irises. 

"This was nothing so far." She said, not so much in a cocky way, but more as a way of saying that she was just fine. Still, her communication skills lacked to the point where what she was saying came off much differently than what she meant. "That went much more smoothly than I assumed it would, in all honesty. Critical attacks can really change the pace of a fight for the better. Or even for the worse if you're on the receiving end. Glad fortune favored our side rather than their's." Shay grabbed her sheath from the ground and returned her blade to its rightful place.

[ChaseR 0]

The loot confirmation window for the boss drop appeared in front of Chase, which he quietly looked at and shrugged before accepting it, sheathing his sword in and taking a moment of silence to calm himself down. He could feel his face so tensed up that he was practically ready to growl, like an animal in distress, filled with fear and anger. "Get yourself together, damn. I shouldn't let battles get to me that easily."

After a brief moment or two, he calmed down in full and looked behind at her, giving a nod with a small frown. "... So it gets worse.", he mumbled, even though she was right. This really was nothing. It wasn't so much that he was shook by the battle, but seeing a monster dodge so many attacks one after the other, even at no risk on their side... It was rather worrysome. "I won't let that happen again.", the boy tried to comfort her, taking the blame onto himself, stupidly enough. "I won't miss again."

Loot: Venom Vial (T1, Uncommon Potion)

Edited July 13, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

"Don't say dumb stuff like that." Shay said crossing her arms after returning her weapon to her hammer space. She started to lead the way back to their objective. They would need to speak to the old man again to tell him that the problem has been dealt with completely. "You just saw me miss tons of attacks. Your enemies aren't going to stand there and let you murder them. Be ready for what you can, but don't always expect perfection. It may have been easy now, and it may only get harder from here on out, but that's why we have each other. Also, it isn't as if we're going to stay this weak forever. Maybe one day you never will miss."

Shay was still bad as ever with her words, but she knew that he would understand what she was trying to say. He was pushing himself a little too hard again.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase quietly looked at her, listening to what she had to say with a frown. Then again... Her words were enough to encourage him. Maybe it wasn't his fault that the monster didn't sit still, he could only stun them for so long at a time, and each seemed to have some sort of immunity to stuns shortly after being afflicted with one. "Maybe... Let's focus on getting stronger for now.", he finished off, proposing the obvious and starting to head back towards the town where they'd found the old geezer that gave them the quest from the start.

Aincrad wasn't ceasing to amaze him though. All these monsters, some looking human while others don't, with scary and beast-like designs but feeling so natural and integrated into the system as entities rather than just code... It was captivating, especially when this was the only thing you had, your only true 'possession' in this world. "Do you like it here?", he blurted out, looking to the side at her as they walked.

[Shay 0]

Shay was rather quiet on her way back to the town, which was just in view, but Chase's question obviously got her thinking. The idea of the world was a really nice one, and she was sure that if it wasn't a death game, she might actually have answered that question without hesitation. The world was beautifully made and had it's own deceptive captivation. Comparing it to the real world didn't seem like a fair comparison though. They weren't really the same kinds of places, even if they seem so.

"I guess. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but compared to what I have waiting on the other side, I'd say I prefer it here. Is that a bad thing? I don't think that I want to die here, of course, but I still am having more fun living here than I ever was living in the real world. What about you?"

[ChaseR 0]

"She prefers it here... So I'm going to displease a few people, Shay included, the closer to clearing the game I get...", he looked down at the ground thoughtfully, unsure what to answer for a fair bit. His own emotions on the world they now lived in were very mixed and confused. "I don't know. I don't understand it, but I don't need to. If Lily wasn't waiting for me... Maybe then I'd like it. It feels like I've a purpose here, even if I was neglecting it for so long.", he uttered, looking at her with a somewhat hesitant and confused expression.

It was clear that he didn't have a clear answer to give her, which felt rather embarrassing. To ask a question but be unable to answer it all the same. "I guess I don't. Just because I wasn't ready to leave the real world behind.", he finished, averting his gaze to the sword hanging by his hip and quietly staring it down. "But like it or not, here I am. And that won't change."

[Shay 0]

"Do what you need to do Chase. If I cared so much about this world that I wanted to live here for the rest of my life, I would be cutting down just about any player that wanted to clear the game. We will get out of this game and I will find the new thing to move on to in life. That's just how it works." She explained as they passed through the barrier into town. A short talk with the merchant and the two of them were rewarded with their experience and skill points.

"Well, that was all the quests we needed to do before you hit level 16, and you should have just obtained that level from it. Glad that I got to help someone do them all since I didn't get the experience for them." Shay took a moment to think. She hadn't much planned to do now that they had finished these up. The best they could do now was to wreck havoc on smaller bosses until they hit the second tier, and then do harder stuff. "Well, we only just started for today, but now that those quests are done, I don't mind taking it slower. Anything you had in mind that you wanted to do?"

[ChaseR 0]

Hearing her words was fairly endearing to him as he quietly listened, giving her a warm look. "... She's right. I'm still here after all.", he smiled a bit, giving her a nod and accepting the experience and skill points they were rewarded for the quest. Once he opened his inventory to look at his level, he grinned a little and gave her a simple shrug. "Is there any quest you've got in mind? We can take it slower, but I still want to get stronger."

The boy stated, stuffing his hands into his jackets' pockets and giving it some thought. It's not like he lost much health, but waiting for the natural regen was quite bothersome to put it simply. "Is there anything we can do to regenerate health faster? Other than stock up on potions.", he asked her with an eyebrow raised, although he didn't expect much of a positive answer.

[Shay 0]

"The best that we can do is try not to take too much damage. I think there are a few ways to increase how much health points you regenerate over time, but you have to either buy a skill, get a piece of equipment with a specific buff, or to buy something else that is pretty expensive in order to get that kind of benefit. As of right now, combat ends pretty quickly for the two of us. It makes it really easy. As long as we keep mowing down enemies when they come at us, we'll be completely alright. We both have a pretty high HP pool for now."

Looking at her menu, she had written down quite a few easy quests for the two to do now that they had finally finished off these quests before level 15. In fact, it was all done pretty fast. Like, in a matter of 24 hours fast.  "We can go to either the fifth floor and fight a shark that swims in the sand, or we can go up a few floors and fight a dark elf that either of us could kill without even using a sword art. You pick."

Spoiler

Rewards:

SP: 1 quest; 1 page; 1 bonus
Col: 700 each
Tier 1 Materials: 4
Venom Vial > Chase