[PP|F3] <<Treant Rivalries>>

[ChaseR 0]

Chase was on his own after he'd rested a little, only with the aid of his pangolin in his search to look through the forest and eventually find an NPC. He'd pick up a good quest from there, as well as some consumable item to use in harder quests he wanted to tackle further down the line. On top of the free item, it was said to scale with the player too, so now that Chase was in the second tier, it'd probably be even more useful than it would in the first- he hoped at least. He eventually stumbled across the NPC, receiving the quest flag just fine.

He accepted the quest without a second thought and turned to Blizz to give a quick nod, only to see his familiar looking to the side at a female player just a few steps further away he hadn't noticed was heading right here too. She too, seemed to be just picking the quest up. The bluehead remained silent, just staring rather suspiciously and cautiously beginning to move his right hand to his back in case she began to make any sudden moves. @NIGHT seemed much more calm and at ease about him on the other hand, which didn't help relieve his suspicions any. "... She probably doesn't want anything to do with me. But just in case...", he thought to himself and quietly took a step further away, continuing to look at her through his squinted eyes suspiciously in complete silence.

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 25
HP: 500/500
EN: 50/50

Stats:
Damage: 12
Mitigation: 5
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
REC:2
PARA:1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Sky Slasher>> (T1/Perfect/2HSS): DMG II; PAR I
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 5]
Light Armor [Rank 1]
Battle Healing [Rank 1]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
T1 Mochi (LD +3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
Spyglass (2/3)*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:

 

[NIGHT 0]

<<Treant Rivalries>>

Some elves on the third floor? Lame.

It was in her half-woken daze that a striking blue caught her eye. Not so much she was paying attention, more so that the muddied form broke up the naturalistic greens and browns of the environment so much that she just had to pay attention. What was once an isolated trip to knock out a handful of monsters now turned into a coincidental meeting of sorts. Some other player?

Psshaw. Free experience for them.

NIGHT didn't mind the cautious gaze and the narrowed eyes. Welcomed it, in fact, for she knew she would've done the same too if she were expecting to take on the hunt solo and came well prepared. But as she swung her blade rested on her shoulders across the battlefield, the tear only signified one thing.

She was more than capable of ripping apart the creatures without a second thought.

@ChaseR

Spoiler

ID: 161819 | BD: 1
NIGHT missed!

ID: 161820 | BD: 9 (5, +4)
<<Calamity Disaster>> vs Elvish Soldier #3.
20 * 12 = 240 DMG | 240 - 30 = 210 DMG

ID: 161821 | BD: 11 (7, +4)
<<Calamity Disaster>> vs Elvish Soldier #2.
20 * 12 = 240 DMG | 240 - 30 = 210 DMG

ID: 161822 | BD: 14 (10, +4)
<<Calamity Disaster>> vs Elvish Soldier #1.
20 + 2 = 22 DMG | 22 * 12 = 264 DMG | 264 - 30 = 234 DMG

Elvish Soldier #1 | HP: -169/65 | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30 | PARALYZED
Elvish Soldier #2 | HP: -145/65 | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30
Elvish Soldier #3 | HP: -145/65 | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30
Elvish Soldier #4 | HP: 65/65 | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30

NIGHT | HP: 1345/1345 | EN: 116/130 (-14) | DMG: 20 | MIT: 99 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | BH: 65 | PARA-V: 8-10 | LD: 3
ChaseR | HP: 500/500 | EN: 50/50 | DMG: 12 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | REC: 2 | PARA: 9-10

 

	NIGHT   | HP: 1345/1345 | EN: 130/130   | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 2 | MIT: 99 | BH: 65   | PARA-V: 8-10 | LD: 3   | Stealth Detection: 3 | Stealth Rating: 7   | Dungeon Search: 2
- - -
[Examine] [Equipment] Thunderstorm -- [ Paralytic Venom I | Natural successful attack rolls of 8-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Keen | After a successful attack, gain +1 BD until your next successful attack, at which point this bonus is removed. Another successful attack will reactivate this enhancement. ] -- [ Accuracy I | +1 ACC. ] Reinforced Steel Plate Armor -- [ Mitigation III | +81 MIT. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ] Skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Heavy Armor | Passive | RANK 3/5  > Athletics Searching | Passive | RANK 3/5 > Reveal Hiding | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 4/5 [Extra] Survival | Passive  Concentration | Active -- CD: 3 Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 3/3 Consumed Buffs Spoiler Kumatetsu Statue | +1 DMG Misc. Buffs Spoiler Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Hiding | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests.

[ChaseR 0]

It didn't take long before Chase picked up on the other player's signals. She too had a sword, a two handed one as he did at that. Whatever sword arts he possessed, she did too, so getting caught off guard by her would hardly be a problem. With her first swing at the elves, he saw two more approach from the distance and smirked just a bit. Even if he was considerably weaker, judging by how a single swing of her blade swiftly drained the monsters' HP much faster than his attacks would, he knew he could dish out quite the damage himself.

"Allies it is.", he commented under his breath before taking his blade out. His familiar seemed to breathe on it before he swung with everything he had, a bright red glow reflecting onto the thin layer of ice that'd formed over the blade to add much more impact to his attack. The ice shattered as the swings he threw connected, and the little bits of it left on his blade slid off with a quick whip to his side. Once the fight was over, he grinned a bit and sent the girl a party request. "Just in case."

Elvish Soldier #4 | HP: 0/65 (-65) | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30
Elvish Soldier #5 | HP: 0/65 (-65) | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30
Elvish Soldier #6 | HP: 0/65 (-65) | DMG: 15 | MIT: 30

NIGHT | HP: 1345/1345 | EN: 116/130 | DMG: 20 | MIT: 99 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | BH: 65 | PARA-V: 8-10 | LD: 3
ChaseR | HP: 500/500 | EN: 35/50 (-15) | DMG: 12 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | REC: 2 | BH: 5 | PARA: 9-10

@NIGHT

Edited July 28, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

Party invitation accepted. Forfeiting the quest rewards was only a matter of a handful of col. Plus, she already knew someone in the business. Mitigation potions wouldn't be too tough to come by.

The man's grin was met with a sleepy glance, before her vision was torn away by the emergence of a new presence, and then some. For their efforts on culling the elven army so quickly, not only did their leader come out to play, but the crowned ruler beyond them, a gleaming cutlass in hand.

"Begone, foul humans!"

-- Not even a second after the line was delivered and their king was found dead. Around them the rest of the guard left standing seem to scramble to their feet and go, or turn tail from their advances to retreat. Meanwhile, NIGHT found herself pushing back her fringe with an exhale, and struggled to force back a yawn.

Job done for the day.

@ChaseR

Spoiler

ID: 161833 | BD: 9 (5, +4)
<<Calamity Disaster>> vs Elvish Commander.
20 * 12 = 240 DMG | 240 - 55 = 195 DMG

ID: 161834 | BD: 13 (9, +4)
<<Calamity Disaster>> vs Elvish King.
20 + 1 = 21 DMG | 21 * 12 = 252 DMG | 252 - 75 = 177

Elvish Commander | HP: -95/100 | DMG: 20 | MIT: 55
Elvish King | HP: -27/150 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 75

NIGHT | HP: 1345/1345 | EN: 105/130 (+1, -12) | DMG: 20 | MIT: 99 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | BH: 65 | PARA-V: 8-10 | LD: 3
ChaseR | HP: 500/500 | EN: 35/50 | DMG: 12 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | REC: 2 | PARA: 9-10

[ChaseR 0]

The sleepy glance was enough to catch Chase off guard. She seemed cocky, but she was strong enough to act as such. Bad memories began to resurface, but the boy simply shook his head and tried to shoo any pinkheads away from the back of his mind as best as he could. "... NIGHT...", he silently read the name of the player, his attention getting caught by a voice further ahead. He lifted his head to see what appeared to be a commander as well as an elf with a crown atop his head beginning to approach the two, ready to slash them down.

As soon as they'd opened their mouth, blue's grin widened only to be wiped away in a mere second with her slash that took the two down almost effortlessly. The boy's sword nearly slipped from his grip as he shook his head, squinting his eyes at the female and beginning to feel just slightly miffed. It was cool that she could kill them and all, but... "Y-You're fucking joking...", he mumbled under his breath, starting to laugh awkwardly as he sheathed his sword back in. Blizz simply watched entertained, sitting atop Chase's head.

@NIGHT

Edited July 28, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

It was the chuckle that made her look, a flash of light desummoning her blade from reality. What was it that was so funny? Now that she had time to focus on her surroundings, the silence of the forest was eerily quiet. NIGHT didn't appreciate the third floor well, but she'd outgrown the place. She could afford to lower her guard.

A brief check of her party member informed her that it was a new face. ChaseR, was it? His presence and strength wasn't necessary in her completion of the fight, though the convenience that came with having the second wave punched out so quickly was very much appreciated by the woman. What drew her interest more to the man was...

With a tilt of her head, she raised a hand. All but a stern look had evaporated from her face. Yet, her gesture was lackadaisical, casual.

NIGHT pointed to his jacket.

"Where'd you get your track suit from?"

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

It honestly surprised Chase just what he was being questioned about. For a few moments, he was at a lack of words. Everything had become so tense until she actually blurted out her question and made him want to use a sword skill to slam the flat of his blade right onto his face rather than simply facepalm. "Sh-She's nothing like Yuki... She's not taunting me, she just doesn't care any..! What the hell is on her mind even, coming out to hack and slash like that and just thinking about tracksuits?!", the boy's thoughts went on and on before he looked to the side and began to awkwardly rub the back of his neck.

"S-Some tailor lad... I had it modelled after my clothes in the real world.", he responded and let his eyes scan her figure in full now that the two were in a party and no longer in danger of an imminent attack, noticing how she herself wore a tracksuit all the same. "T-Tell me that's not why... For the love of everything holy, tell me tracksuits aren't the only thing on her mind.", he practically winced at the thought, while at the same time seeming to hold back a strong urge to cackle like a damn witch.

@NIGHT

Edited July 28, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

"'Some tailor lad'...?"

'Some tailor lad' was pretty vague. Then again, NIGHT could count the number of tailors she personally knew on one finger. Not that there was anything wrong with Bahr's handiwork, but she'd been wondering if there might've been new threads in the works lately. As she cooped her hands back into her pockets, her gaze went to the canopy, wondering if, by chance, it had been the same man who'd made her new acquaintance's clothes.

The mention that it mirrored his style in real life only peaked her curiosity even more.

"You too, huh?"

Her hum was more in amusement afterwards than thoughtfulness. "That's cool," she added, already taking her strides to leave the clearing. "You're like the second person..."

-- Hey, didn't Raidou switch to a great sword too?

The moment that registered with her, NIGHT wondered if it was a growing pattern within the player base of Aincrad. A trend that she started? Nah, couldn't be. But it did leave some questions to be answered.

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

For as little as he normally spoke himself, it was funny just how much more comfortable he felt now that she finally decided to open her mouth and try conversing a bit. Getting back to her words though, it was nice that he wasn't the only person trying to be more at ease with himself, his clothing, this world in general. "... Helps you feel comfortable?", he questioned her on the topic of wearing clothes similar to the ones they would back in the real world, before getting trapped here.

She stopped her second sentence rather abruptly, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. "Second person to wear a tracksuit? Just us two?", the boy's mind ran to a conclusion straight away, assuming that maybe she was just as shortspoken as he and Shay were too. Considering his only partner was just as laconic as he, it made him feel more at ease, if not remind him of Shay a tiny bit. "We fight the same.", he pointed out in a weak attempt to keep the conversation moving, his social ineptitude starting to show when it came to words. It was kind of hard to keep up a convo as he walked alongside her, making sure not to stay behind.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"Something like that," she returned. There was a briefest glimpse of a memory coming to light in her eyes, but with a blink, it was gone. NIGHT burrowed closer into her jacket, taking note of ChaseR's words. "Us three," she found herself correcting. "You, me, and another player named Raidou." The woman winced as she slipped in his name. It was more so the debt that was venomous on her tongue than the memory of the man himself. "You might've heard of him. Runs Firm Anima, has an insurmountable capital?"

"We three do." What was this, the track suit gang initiation? Her lips quirked up a slight smirk as the idea dawned on her. "Raidou's more a tank, though. I assume you're on somewhat of a similar route? Or--"

The only other users of the greatsword she could recall were Freyd and Bahr. She hadn't checked in with her former friend in a while, but her guildmate's build was standard. Devastating, even.

"--Pure damage?"

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

The boy shook his head at the question. He could have sworn the name rang a bell, but nothing really came to mind, so it was just his memory playing a trick on him most likely. Still, somebody that rich and a guild master at that, and he hadn't even known his name up to now. Probably had to do with him avoiding guilds and players like the plague. "I haven't talked around a lot. Nada.", he simply blurted out, albeit noticing her reaction to him. It was one of the few reactions she had so far, so it must have meant she was probably not on the best of terms with the man.

"... Mix. I want to protect. But I don't want to be useless on my own.", he clarified, not going into further detail about the build himself and Shay had discussed and come up with. "I've a friend. I'll be tanking for her and she'll dodge and support. We both attack though.". He did go into more detail in the end, but... Then again, that still wasn't helpful at all. "You? Tank or damage."

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

It was easy enough to answer with words.

But where's the fun in that?

She drew out another sword from thin air at his question. It'd begun to appear at her finger tips first, hilt woven from gentle tendrils as her digits found their way around its grip. Jack's Executioner came forth in a flash, the make up of the sword a heavy block of black metal with an ugly orange lining struck on its edge. NIGHT waved it around with a hand, stopping at an unfortunate tree. A nod of her head towards it, the player carving a light mark on its bark.

"Watch closely. ...Oh, and stand back."

The system erased her from sight at her will. One second, then two and three -- from mid air she'd sprung out the darkness and against the inanimate target. A blast of fire, earth and shadows mixed to conjure an unholy scene alight; the grass set ablaze and charred in the passing moment, the form of nature dismantled in the blink of an eye. When NIGHT landed, she cast her sword's catastrophic energy aside with a brandish, before setting it to her shoulders once more.

If there was anything to mark her cockiness, this had to have been it.

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

At this point, it wasn't even a matter of being cocky or not. At least unlike with Yuki, he could tell that she had good reason for it- this wasn't a matter of being too unknowledgeable to understand what the hell just happened, it was a matter of raw strength to him. And he didn't even have enough to be able to see her during her attack like that. He was surprised, maybe left in too much awe alongside his pangolin as they both gave an amused stare. It took a few seconds by the time NIGHT was done showing off, and the silence was broken by Chase clapping his hands together.

Her sword looked monstrous, and all of the attacks she'd used should have been registered in his own sword art list but nothing was to be found. "C-Could she be a unique skill wielder, like the tank and the dual wielder that died..?", he began to wonder as the conversation he'd had with Ariel started to resurface in his mind. "That was a unique skill, right?", he asked with wide eyes, a hint of excitement in his voice as he took a step closer.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"... A what?"

She'd shot him a raised brow, paired with an expression caught between curiosity and suspicion. Such things were only rumor, she'd believed, if the player had even heard it at all. "No," NIGHT continued. The sound of the concept itself made her somewhat uneasy, even just at the mention of it. "I don't think so."

Mayhaps it would be better if she did elaborate on her strategy in the first place, after all. Two fingers slid over the surface of her masterpiece, once she'd lowered the blade to her chest level. "This sword inflicts a variety of debuffs on the enemy. Damage over time; my specialty. But they're tough to bring out of any weapon without sheer luck -- or, unless you have a build for it."

"That's where stealth comes into play. Up on the ladder there's a mod that plays on bringing forth status ailments with reliability. And so far... I think I'm the only one to have beheld such a thing."

NIGHT waved away her weapon. "Of course, I could be wrong. It's not the deadliest thing out there by far. But it works well in my hands; that's all that really matters for a damage-dealer."

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

A variety of emotions quickly washed over Chase's expression. At first, he was stuck with complete disappointment and even slight disbelief- that wasn't because he considered her no longer 'fascinating'. Rather, because if this was not a unique skill, it meant she was much better at handling her skills and abilities in this game. But once she was done explaining, a smile began to cross his face. "... So I can do it too then.", he stated, crossing his arms afterwards. Remaining amused and in awe all the same, his eyes darted all over her figure and her weapon's structure. Sure, he didn't have the same weapon, skills and mods for this to work, but if it wasn't a unique skill...

"That means it's possible for me too. Then it's nothing I can't handle. I just have to get my numbers up.", he reassured himself before shaking his head to clear such thoughts. Although he was caught up in his own world, he looked back at her expression moments ago. "What was the look for?", blue asked her with a slight frown on his face, having seen this disbelief on the matter of Unique Skills which he took for granted in this world as a first. It wasn't like he'd mentioned this to Shay or anybody else other than Ariel, but he didn't have enough reason to understand what made her react the way she did. "Did I say something..? That look... What was it for?"

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"... So I can do it too then."

"Easily. Two-handed sword users like us seem to go far." Her head dipped to the side slightly, hands finding their way to her pockets once more. "Either that, or I appear to be more biased to our kinship than I realized." The fact that their weapon class afforded an equal amount of utility and damage on a balanced scale meant much to NIGHT. She couldn't say it was the same that interested the other players she'd become familiar with, but they had to have picked up the zweihander for one reason or another.

"What was the look for?"

His tone was subtle. Two dissatisfactory parties in a foggy, swirling forest. "Never heard of it," the woman remarked, starting to pick up her pace once again. "And even if I did, I haven't met anyone with them, either. Sounds like it's baseless conjecture... Otherwise we'd see more agents seeking them out."

"Don't you think so? Where'd you hear it from?"

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

He gave a slow nod to her, just now realising that they actually offered plenty of moves- single target attacks, area of effect strikes and a lot of stuns to go along with them. It was a lot, for sure, and he hadn't seen many other players use one-handed weapons if they weren't a tank. Needless to say, weapons with smaller blades and overall sizes would be much harder to perform a variety of moves with that many effects to pair, too... "You're right. There haven't been many players with one-handers from my experience."

The boy replied with a shrug and a small grin, before getting caught off guard by what she said. She seemed stronger than Ariel based on destructive power only, but the crowned lion was only trying to tank the one time they went into combat themselves. But... She wouldn't lie to him, right? "Baseless conjecture..? A frontliner told me they knew a few people with unique skills. One of them died, he could dual wield. The other is a tank. Achilles. I think.", he responded with a small frown, crossing his arms with a slightly worried expression. "... There's a third, katana wielder too. I don't know about her though."

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"A front-liner?" There it was. The ideals of all the refugees in Aincrad boiled down into a single term. She'd scoffed when she heard it, almost smirking in irony as she reflected upon her own standpoint. And to think, something as important as that hadn't made its way into the mainstream. Why?

Closeted beasts. The only question she had to his revelation was, "Which one?"

ChaseR ran over the specs. Dual wielding (as though the game would cut out certain exceptions to mechanics just for one player to deal with. Inconceivable), Achilles (how apt), and an unnamed katana-specific skill. Her past broker instincts started to stitch forth a picture: that none of them seemed to have much in common. No trends, little names and very little detail to them. Sort of like a fairy tale, a treasure to be highly sought after by people at their wits end.

"A lack of hard evidence doesn't spell well for this rumor," NIGHT replied from over her shoulder. "Though I don't blame you for buying into it. You can do much without them though, and I'd rather take those any day of the week than a fantasy to believe in."

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

"I know the name of one of the holders.", he stopped her with a serious expression and a small frown on his face as he dropped both of his hands. He slowly slid them into his shorts' pockets, thinking back to his talk before he answered both of her questions at once. "Ariel said his name was Calrex. The Achilles tank.", blue blurted out with a deep sigh before opening his eyes again to give her a determined look. "I want to grow strong enough to take him down on my own. That'll mean I'm stronger without handicaps, if I do.". Seeing as she didn't believe in him too much, he decided it wouldn't be that bad to elaborate on what little he knew.

"His girlfriend was... Teary? She's the katana wielder. Battotzutzu or something around those lines. Her unique skill. It was vampiric, if I remember correctly. I still don't know what it did or what stats it went off of.", he finished off with a small frown once more and looked down at the ground. "The dual wielder is long dead and Calrex doesn't show up much. I was thinking though, if Unique Skills don't exist... What if he's an NPC? Then he's real, but it's not a 'unique skill' if it's not accessible to players. Is it?"

@NIGHT

Edited July 29, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

Ariel? The fighter had been the most promising in terms of information during the boss raid meeting for the twenty-fifth. She mulled over ChaseR's words a little further with that bit of leverage on his side.

Well well well. Maybe the idea had some bite to it after all. But the ridiculousness of what came after Calrex's name drop sounded much more like shaky ground. And just when her gaze was starting to wander--

"What if he's an NPC? Then he's real, but it's not a 'unique skill' if it's not accessible to players. Is it?"

'Course he had to step on one of her own specialties. NPCs, she could believe in.

"Maybe." Nothing else in the morning had woken her up more than that line did. Her incisors bit the side of her tongue, and it was a dull numbness that fueled her energy for the discussion back up. "Characters like that are out of place, but they do exist to my knowledge. You'd have to be sure, though, if you've ever seen them." NIGHT gestured to the cursor above her head. "Their indicators would always be yellow. You familiar with it?"

@ChaseR