[PP|F5] <<Blood in the Sand>> Blindness

[ChaseR 0]

The boy pondered the two choices that Shay had given him. He could either go for the elf, which would prove too easy, leaving them with more time to waste, or he could try to sharpen his skills just a little bit more with the shark. No matter its power, if it could swim in sand, it certainly was quite a feat to take it down, even if in a single strike. It was all about managing to land a hit on it, after all. "Let's do the shark. The elf can wait. As for the skill to get health back faster... Let's do that next."

He finished, making a small bucketlist inside of his head and trying to put everything in order. He knew that this wouldn't prove to be too much of an issue, but he wanted this to be done in a way that his unlocked skills helped him go at his own pace, while not slacking off all the same. Slower health regeneration meant more slacking off, and still having his sense of urgency, he didn't want to be a sitting duck for too long. "What floor is the shark in? I haven't seen any sand yet."

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 19
HP: 380/380
EN: 38/38

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
Spyglass (3/3)*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]

"We're going to floor 5. It's a desert so get ready to sweat." Shay said, summoning a long black cloak to her hand and wrapping the cloth around her. There was  no risk of being sun burnt, obviously, but it still didn't feel nice to be pelted by sand. The cloak would provide minimal protect against the harsh floor, so as long as there was no heavy sand storms right now, they would be fine.

"I hate the heat." She mentioned as she began walking towards the floor's teleporter, bringing the hood back to her shoulders and looking over at her duo partner. He seemed to be doing alright for the most part. He was leveling up fast. She was actually starting to get a little bit envious. "What level are you now?" She asked, genuinely curious. She could guess that he was just a level or two shorter of her for now.

Spoiler

Name: Shay
Level: 19
HP: 380/380
EN: 38/38

Stats:
Damage: 8
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
Incarceration*2

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[ChaseR 0]

Although he didn't have a cloak or any other protective clothing for such environments, he was sure he'd find something laying around for some reasonable price. At least for future endeavors in such floors. "My clothes should be okay, but... I'll get a cloak later.", he reassured her, unzipping his jacket to reveal a black t-shirt under. Yeah, he'd get sand on all of his clothes, but preferred that to being so hot he'd just sweat endlessly.

"I prefer the cold too.", he added to her comment as the two reached the teleporter, looking to the side at her with an eyebrow raised. "Ah, well...". The boy slid his fingers downwards in front of him to open up the menu, seeing his level and telling her with a slightly puffed up chest and smile on his face. "Level nineteen. You?". He wasn't actually aware they were quite literally on the same amount of skill points, so he felt curious to know- he was assuming for some reason that she'd be around level twenty one or so by now.

[Shay 0]

Shay cleared her throat. She had no idea that Chase was the same level as her now. How depressing that she couldn't even stay ahead of him. Well, to be fair, he had more skill potential than she did thanks to getting extra experience from the starter lessons, like she told him he would.

"I'm, uh. Level nineteen as well. You are now as experienced as me." She said half jokingly. Even if they were on the same level, their knowledge of the game was still centered around the girl. "It's not that important, I just wanted to be sure that you would be fine to fight this boss. Since there's only one of him and not four like the last one, it should be even easier. I'm much better when it comes to dealing direct damage than I am at dealing area of effect. Don't sweat yourself if you miss an attack or two. I'm fast and that boss will have to do good if he want's to catch me out of position."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase was actually taken back much more than she was, at least on the looks, based on what she just told him. "S-Same level as Shay..? She was almost my level when we started, and now we're on the same exact level after a single day... Wh-What?". He froze for a moment. He didn't want to sound rude whatsoever, but she was so knowledgeable, yet weak in her stats. Sure, the game was certainly not revolving around the numbers in full, but... As they stopped on the teleporter, he gave her a somewhat doubtful look. He didn't want to, but he was a bit taken aback.

Too much so to even pay attention to his expressions. "S-Say, what were you doing so long..? You were level sixteen when we met, weren't you?", he asked her with a frown, beginning to feel more stressed out by how horrible he was with words. He didn't want to come off as rude, but there was no other way of going about it or doing so with much more integrity.

[Shay 0]

"I was? What of it?" She asked folding her arms over her chest and looking at him with her piercing crimson gaze. "Every quest we have done up to this point has been a quest that either I've already done, or couldn't get the rewards from. I told you from the beginning that doing these quests were to get you closer to my level with out getting me too high so that we could be around the same level."

She sighed thinking about what she had been doing for weeks. After Titan had left her, she was feeling awful. She didn't have feelings for him or anything but he was a really nice guy who was pushing her out of her shell. When he vanished, that shell came back and was denser than ever. She didn't want to see anyone's stupid face at that point. "Look. We are the same level now. That was the intent of doing all those quests. What I was doing for the last years and weeks since I started leveling isn't fucking important anymore. I'm trying my best and my best is barely fucking good enough." The girl turned and started to make her way out of Fortaleza.

[ChaseR 0]

He followed right behind her, frowning and clenching his fists. If this were the real world, he'd certainly be digging his nails into them. With an ache in his chest, he remained silent for a moment. It didn't take more than a few steps out of the town before he said with a shaky voice, feeling like it was his fault for making her feel this way. "Sorry for dragging you down like this... You're not barely good enough.", he tried to encourage her, looking at her with a frown just as saddened as when they'd first met back out on the fields in front of the Town of Beginnings.

"You can do much better than I can. I wouldn't be out of the inn for any longer than the past few months if we hadn't met. You're strong.", the boy finished, not wanting her to feel like she was 'barely good enough'. Without her knowledge, he wouldn't have managed to do anything, and knowing that but still treating her this way, even if by accident... It hurt him. It made him want to disappear for a moment and just cry, like every single day back in the inn, locked up in his room and eating while waiting for someone to save him. "I've just been holding her back from getting stronger... Maybe that's why I caught up, someone else was doing the same before..."

[Shay 0]

Shay whipped around and decked him in the face. A force field protected his body from damage, but he still felt the concussive impact of her fist. Her breathing got heavy as her nostrils flared. At first, it my have looked like she was pissed about him arguing with her, yet again, but that wasn't the reason she couldn't control herself from doing something as stupid a punching at him.

"Stop degrading yourself." She huffed as she calmed down. "You and are no different to the system. No one is special; no one is gifted.I don't care if my leveling was slowed down because I chose to help someone not fucking die while they learned the game. You're making it really hard not to wail on you. Believe in yourself, the way that I believe in you, you idiot!" Shay whipped back around and continued on her way. At least they were still on the edge of the safe zone when she hit him.

[ChaseR 0]

With a muffled cry, Chase got knocked back slightly and stumbled, trying to regain his balance but ending up falling on the ground flat on his rear. Regardless of whether his health bar had been damaged or not, he was left speechless for a moment. He got up again, rubbing his cheek silently and looking at her as he gulped dryly once more. "Th-That's not what I'm saying though..!", he attempted to argue back, although with much hesitation. Where as he usually didn't stutter without reason, her scary reaction was enough reason to fret any further responses.

"I believe in myself and I know we can clear the game, but your knowledge has carried me all the way. This is my first game, I would struggle to pick up what's only natural for you. It's not a matter of the system, it's that I'm not used to games like this.", the bluehead stubbornly continued, although his tone lowered more and more until when he finished his sentence, his voice had completely drowned out and his eyes began to close just slightly in anticipation of a second jab coming his way.

[Shay 0]

"So then stop acting like we aren't equals. I might have the knowledge, but any thing I know I relay to you and it becomes permanent. No matter what you think, as long as we're in the same level range, than we're both just as strong as one another." Shay approached the area where the boss monster was known to encamp itself. A crater of sand cragged with rocks scattered around the arena. The boss wasn't hard, and she was about to slice the fucker in half to vent her disgruntled mood.

"Come on." She says as she hops down into the large bowl of sand and rushed directly towards the shark. It notices her instantly, swimming through the sands quickly and directly towards her. It jumped out at her, much more quickly than she expected. With a side step, she easily dodges it. Quickly, she follows up by slashing at it's side. By then, it had already dug back into the sand. 

---

Shay | HP: 380/380 | EN: 38/38 | DMG: 8 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR | 

Sand Shark | 125/125 | 50 DMG

[ChaseR 0]

Seeing just how quickly the two were progressing, Chase got very little room for feeling down and trying to catch with everything up himself. Shay had already jumped right into the fray and began to fight with the shark, and that left him no choice but to support her. "That's not true... I won't always have you by my side to give me help with anything I can't figure out by myself, damn it.", his thoughts continued even if he knew he shouldn't think about it too much, torturing him while he unsheathed his sword and hopped on right behind her.

When the Sand Shark was still roaming around the sand, he quickly saw it jump out and tried to react in time to slash it down, leaving it open for an attack from his partner at the very least. He managed to let loose a barrage of slashes its way, holding it in the air for a bit longer, just enough for Shay to attempt getting a hit in while it's still stunned and unable to react too much. "Now!"

Shay | HP: 380/380 | EN: 38/38 | DMG: 8 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR | HP: 380/380 | EN: 31/38 (-9, +2) | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2

Sand Shark | 65/125 (-60) | 50 DMG (STUNNED)
Cooldowns: Stun (3 posts)

Edited July 17, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

She watched the beast get served up on a silver platter all she had to do was slash it in half. Her blade glowed a vibrant crimson as she readied her sword art. Leaping off the sand, bringing up a wave of a force behind her, she barely misjudges her attack, slashing through the air just below her target. Soon she lands in the sand and the stun on her target wears off.

A light curse escapes her lips in a mumble as she tried to recover from her fall. The shark was focused on Chase now that it was free of his stunned grace. That was fine, he was the tank of the two of them at least. Though somehow she believed that he would hardly have as much ease as she did dodging the attacks. Still, the damage that this boss did to them was insignificant compared to what they could do to it.

---

Shay | HP: 380/380 | EN: 38/38 -(2)+3 | DMG: 8 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR | HP: 380/380 | EN: 31/38 | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2

Sand Shark | 65/125 | 50 DMG | (STUN)[CD: 3/3]

[ChaseR 0]

Seeing the Shark swimming in circles around the two only made the boy worry more about his partner. He didn't want to feel as if he was weighing her down further, and by the looks of it, the monster was contemplating attacking his friend. Just as it jumped out of the sand, he tightened his grip on the sword and ran right towards her, his blade starting to glow a bright orange as he approached closer and closer. He quickly attempted to slash at the monster with another chain of attacks, weaving a few thrusts between the three sweeps of his blade. "D-Did it connect?!"

What he didn't notice was that he'd slipped on the sand, causing him to miss his attack. Just then he realized the shark was focused on him all along, trying to bite him but getting met with the flat of his blade. As a result, the monster slid onto his blade, the two parrying one another like so before it sunk back into the sand. "D-Damn it! The sand's making it hard to hit properly..!"

Shay | HP: 380/380 | EN: 35/38 | DMG: 8 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR | HP: 380/380 | EN: 32/38 (-2, +3) | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2

Sand Shark | 65/125 | 50 DMG | [Stun CD: 2/3]

Edited July 17, 2020 by ChaseR

[Shay 0]

"It's mine." The rogue says as she shifts through battlefield with grace and speed. A flash of light in the shape of slashed cover her target in every direction. Red marks soon turn into cuts, and the beast peels apart into about 20 different pieces of shark. Shay's blade grinds back into it's saya and with a click of it being returned to its home, the beast fades away into the Cardinal. Shay stands there with her back turned from her partner momentarily, soaking in the victory, wondering if she should say anything about the conversation they had before the battle began.

After a few seconds, she decided not to make a comment and just started to make her way out of the bowl of sand. She climbs up out of it, assuming that her partner was following her out of the battlefield as well. No words said, she begins to trek back to Fortazela.

---

Shay | HP: 380/380 | EN: 30/38 | DMG: 8 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 1 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR | HP: 380/380 | EN: 32/38 | DMG: 10 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2

Sand Shark | 65/125 -(72) | 50 DMG | [Stun CD: 2/3]

[ChaseR 0]

Although he'd normally be surprised with her performance, he really didn't have much he wanted to say or felt like saying. Being as rough with his wording as she was, if not worse, he didn't want to speak any and worsen the situation further. He silently sheathed his blade once more, looking at the monster disappear and turning around to see Shay already leaving. If the punch he got to the face didn't hurt, this certainly did. "I-It's cause we both suck at speaking, it's alright... H-Hopefully... Probably not...", he began to mop around, feeling free to start berating himself now that nobody was in danger.

On their way back, her silence spoke incredibly much for Chase's pessimistic thoughts to get going. He almost limped behind her, dragging his feet along the sand with a wide frown on his face, his eyes almost completely covered by his bangs that had now fallen to hide them. "Nice... You did it again, fucking idiot..."

[Shay 0]

In silence, Shay was at her best. Speaking to others was more difficult than she could stand, even if it hurt their feelings when she did talk to them. If her words only cut deep, than it was best not to use them more than often.

Though, perhaps she may have overreacted with the punch. He had only been trying to say that he had a long way to go to reach her expertise with these types of games. Abruptly, she stops, letting Chase bump into her as he moped behind her. Another moment of silence went by before she turned back to him, looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry for hitting you. It was out of line." She said, thinking more about the things that he had said when they were walking out here.

"If you must know why I really haven't been trying harder to level up, it's because of an old player I used to run with. He left after I had gotten this far with him. I didn't know what to think so I wasted time in my house. Can we just drop the whole thing now, please? We're this far and we're working together. I am...having fun."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase was a bit surprised with her abrupt stop, lifting his head to look at her only to be met with her eyes once more, his own weary and teary look sinking right in. "... Yeah. I promise, I won't leave. I'm having fun too, but... I won't leave.", he mumbled lowly in response, managing a small smile. It was more to know about her now that she'd explained it, but he didn't care for it as much as he did for not weighing her down constantly and keeping her further behind. Although with them both being at the same level, it was hard to even say he could keep her behind, but his innate pessimism made up for that little obstacle.

He just wanted to somehow always know he's not keeping her from going all out, being a burden and worsening their case. There wasn't anything he could do to foolproof that though. All he could do, was just have his faith in himself and her, and hope for the best. "Sorry for pushing you like this. To talk about it.", he apologised, feeling guilt for getting a punch out of her of all reactions he could have drawn out.

[Shay 0]

"Stop apologizing." Shay says, twirling on her heel back in the direction of Fortazela. They both had a lot to work on, probably Shay more than Chase, but they wouldn't be stopped easily with this duo that they started.

Another awkward silence went by as Shay thought about it. "Hey, it wouldn't cost too much to get you a mattress at my shop. I don't know how comfortable it would be to stay in an inn's bed cause I haven't slept on one in quite some time, but the offer is on the table." She says making her way through town. Unless there was any other quests in this town that they needed to do, she wanted to get out of it. This floor sucked because of the sand. She would rather be laying naked face first in the cold snow of the fourth floor than be on this floor.

[ChaseR 0]

With the back of his hands, he wiped some tears off of his face and gave her a quick nod, following right behind. The silence wasn't really as awkward as he'd expect it to be, feeling more settled down from before already. He had these emotional swings from time to time, but they were more so due to how overwhelmed he felt from everything, trying to take in this much knowledge while completely unfamiliar with the game, in no more than two days as well. Hearing her offer though, he brightened up and helped contribute to the conversation.

"A mattress... I could get used to not paying for an inn every night. Thanks.", he smiled at her and almost went back to silence before stopping momentarily. He looked around, feeling as if he was almost forgetting something before remembering exactly what it was he wanted to propose. "Say... That quest about healing faster... Where can we pick it up?"

[Shay 0]

The extra skill quest? She didn't really have the skill points to allot to that skill just yet, but she could go ahead and get it over with. It was supposed to be a non-combat one anyways, and was basically free experience.

"Sure, let's get it done so I don't have to deal with this hot floor for awhile." She said, looking around for the quest's giver.

It was nice to see that he was willing to take up her offer. Perhaps having another person that she can actually somewhat tolerate being around close to her would help improve her mood and her social skills. "I'll get you a mattress then and we can set it up in the storage closet. It's bigger than it sounds. Might have to move somethings around though to make it fit. Hopefully I'll get enough money soon to purchase a legitimate plot and build a house on. Then I could actually have a bedroom."

Spoiler

Rewards:

3 quest; 1 page; 1 event
Col: 200 per player
Sand Armor Potion - Both players