[PP|F4] <<The Essence of Steel>> Wrapping Up

[ChaseR 0]

It was slightly hard not to laugh at the question. "Well, I like the cold. I prefer it much more than usual. And... It just happened to be a freeze item. I wouldn't mind if I managed to get any freeze related items, seeing as my colors are already... You know, fitting.", he himself seemed to acknowledge that casually, shrugging it off. There should probably be some enchantment though, like NIGHT said. Then again, that's what they had Bistro around for. He quickly opened up his menu and decided to shoot her a message, to see whether she'd know anything or not while the other two went to finish up this detour with a nice, unique weapon for the boy.

ChaseR: Hey, Bistro. Do you know of any freeze related enchantments for light armor?

Closing his menu up again, he coughed to clear his throat and stashed the newly acquired weapon into his backpack as he crossed his arms. "Anyways, the last one I heard was like... a puzzle, or something. Essence of Steel, the item I'm looking for too. And the drop is a last hit bonus, so... Let me handle it all the way, alright? I just picked up a new mod I want to try out, too.", he asked of the swordswoman, giving her a cheeky grin.

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 43
HP: 880/880
EN: 86/86

Stats:
Damage: 15
Mitigation: 25
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 4
REC:2
PARA:1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Star Splitter>> (T2/Perfect/2HSS): ACC II, PAR I
Armor: <<Wind Dweller>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I, REC II
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 1]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision
Athletics

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Spyglass (2/3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
Woodland Armor (T2/Perfect) MIT III (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:
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (-): +1 Rank to the - skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[NIGHT 0]

Before NIGHT was even able to get a reply in, her interface buzzed with a familiar tone, one that dictated a message had been received. It was likewise for ChaseR, if he'd opened to check his interface. Bistro's speed for sending off texts was parallel to none.

Bistro: 'Frost Aura. It harms your enemies at the expense of some mitigation.'
Bistro: A quote from my resources. Not that I've seen it, but take it as you will.

And on the other hand, to NIGHT:

Bistro: I am not aware of any such magic.
Bistro: I hope you're not planning to eat them. That was so 10 years ago.
Bistro: But you're welcome to add some to my collection, if you're able to get some information on these cleansing crystals. Store's always open. :)

"Um, yeah," the woman trailed off, trying to wave away the interruption from their chat. "Sure. We're already on the appropriate floor for it, anyway. Though I think its position on the floor changes once in a while..."

	NIGHT   | HP: 1450/1450 | EN: 157/157   | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 72 | BH: 71   | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 4   | Stealth Detection: 4 | Stealth Rating: 7   | Dungeon Search: 2
- - -
[Examine] [Equipment] Dragon's Gaze -- [ 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. ] -- [ Paralyze I | Natural successful attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Absolute Accuracy | +1 ACC. Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. ] Reinforced Black Tracksuit -- [ Mitigation I | +54 MIT. ] -- [ Evasion I | +1 EVA. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ] [Battle-Ready Inventory] - - - - - - - - - Skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Light Armor | Passive | RANK 4/5  > Athletics Searching | Passive | RANK 4/5 > Reveal Hiding | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 5/5 Energist | Passive Quick Change | Active [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]

Chase quickly opened up his interface again, reading through the texts and scratching his chin curiously. "At the expense of mitigation..? I thought that Light Armor can only take two mitigation enchantments either way, so if it's on a perfect, it should be able to have both mitigation and frost aura... Am I wrong..?". After musing it for a moment or two with himself, he picked up the keyboard and sent another mess of a message right at Bistro's way. 

ChaseR: Light Armor can have only 2 mitgiation enchantments so can't I have both of them and Frost Aura if I'm lucky?

He then turned his attention over to NIGHT, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I don't know what it's meant to look like, but hopefully you do... Right? The thought process was to knock off two birds with one stone by coming to this floor though, yeah. Theoretically, if we manage to find it, I can replace my scheduled third tier weapon, the Star Splitter, with this perfect weapon... Since Freeze works the same way as Stun, if I manage to get an offensive enchantment on it, I can be even stronger and with a unique enchantment to boot. What do you think of my idea?", he asked, his chest almost swollen up with pride from his little strategic plan.

[NIGHT 0]

"Star Splitter?" A curious name. Though it wasn't as though her sense for labeling objects was any better. "I'd seen the beast before, yes. Though I wouldn't say it'd be easy to track down, personally. It's in a state of stasis quite often; when its hibernating, it squeezes itself into its skull, making the search a rather lengthy endeavor to begin with."

NIGHT started making her way around the lake, beckoning ChaseR to follow along behind her. "As for your weapon, I wouldn't hedge my bets on a weapon just for its unique label. Freeze is equal to Paralyze to an extent, however, so it makes it as good a weapon as any out there." The woman shot him a shrug, expression remaining neutral. "I'd much rather keep an eye out for anything with one of the stronger enhancements though, even if it takes me a while: Fallen, Holy, Phase for example."

 

Bistro: 'Frost Aura acts like a partial mitigation enhancement. It stacks on top of regular mitigation enhancements.'
Bistro: Just forwarding a message.

[ChaseR 0]

With his arms crossed, he let out a sigh and just shrugged. "I'm not saying I'll settle with this for the rest of the game, but since my Star Splitter already has double accuracy and a paralyze enchantment, that means a freeze weapon with accuracy and whatever else I can nab- let alone pick- is much better. Plus... It's not about the item. It's about its enchantment. It's... you know, unique. Literally.", he gave her a toothy grin and held a thumb up in response, even if contradictory to the title, this was anything but unique. Anybody could get it as many times as they pleased by repeating the quest, and it was always the same.

"There are some more quests I'd like to do, yeah... For other... weapons, I could use. With uniques, of course, just... I'll need to get stronger so I can earn them myself next time around. My icicle is but the start of it all.", he almost dramatically monologued, before noticing the familiar buzz and opening his menu to read Bistro's message. He simply typed in a plain "Thank you." and let her rest in peace- from his behalf at least.

[NIGHT 0]

From their wide-open basin, the scenery transitioned to a rather flat wasteland, with rows upon rows of snow field stretching onto the horizon and beyond. What bordered around them were only a number of trees from the nearby forests, coupled with several rocks and a few ditches that NIGHT only knew the approximate locations of. "You sure have a focus on labels, huh?" A half-hearted comment, the woman more focused on trying to search for the mark at hand for the time being. At the very least, them getting the upgrade from their target meant well as a gift to ChaseR; hopefully enough to offset that accidental strike from Absolute Zero earlier.

"A heightened disposition for accuracy is reasonable in its own right. Same with paralyze, but only if you get lucky." She'd summoned Dragon's Gaze to her fingers, grasping its hilt tight, blade pointed upwards. "The accuracy's what makes it reliable, and that's what I'm more keen on counting on. Similar to the edge I've been relying on as of late."

[ChaseR 0]

The comment did sting a bit, getting him to frown and awkwardly rub the back of his head. "I mean... If 'labels' are what I need to protect Shay even better, then yeah, I guess I have a focus on them...", he muttered lowly before looking over at her sword and nodding silently. "I see... I just think another accuracy slot on the weapon will be overkill... Probably for the safest, but if I'm relying on luck, it's alright. As long as I can actually impact battles and rival my partner from here on out, I'll be fine with it.". It was true, all he wanted was damage that could at least be on par with Shay's.

He wasn't quite sure what he would try to get for his final perfect slot on his weapon- a bleed effect, more accuracy or what? He'd think it up in due time, for sure. But for now, they had to get the item in the first place. He looke around the barren wasteland, sighing and stuffing both of his hands in his jackets' pockets. "This floor is empty, huh? Shay's shop is around here... unless it's the other side of it I'm thinking of."

[NIGHT 0]

"There're a few players who hide away in the forest. Things are safer there in cases of a blizzard, so I don't blame them for stowing themselves like that."

At the thought of Shay's shop, Cordelia's shop immediately came to mind for the Tarot member. "If you're starving afterwards, I've got a guild mate around here who's focused on making ramen these days. Treat'll be on me," NIGHT offered, with an open palm and a glance back towards her companion. The blade in her hand disintegrated away, her wishes to keep it around meek on the point of inconvenience.

As much as the player hated to get a move on looking out for their missing beast, she'd continued to walk onwards aimlessly, into the heart of the white desert in begrudging earnest. "I've heard that it goes on patrols sometimes," she explained, "though I'm not fortunate enough to see that first hand, since it barely moves at all in the first place. Keep an eye out."

[ChaseR 0]

A sigh followed her tip as Chase began to realise just what sort of a trip this would be- a long one, that's the kind. "Aah... Let's hope we get it then. As for the food, I did get a vanity potion that-", he started to describe, opening his menu and after seeing just how much of a mess his inventory was, closing it once more. "... I'll take you up on the offer. I owe you a lot by this point though, damn... You best let me pay back sooner or later, alright?", he asked her with furrowed eyebrows and crossed arms shortly after again, continuing to wander alongside her.

If she hadn't seen the monster ever on her own travels around the fourth, which was incredibly wide compared to the floors above, meaning there was more ground to cover, the chances of seeing it wander about were slim to none. By now, the bluehead didn't care much though. As long or short as a trip was, he hadn't found any perfect weapons to identify at gran, so it was best that he could get one guaranteed, even if he did use NIGHT's help in an unorthodox way to fulfill the quest. It was free experience and a weapon- yet another handout from this new companion of his. "I really want to pay you back somehow. Come by my house at some point, I guess?"

[NIGHT 0]

The player hummed an agreement to his request. House visits were always an entertaining insight to their residents, NIGHT imagined; everything from its decorum to its layout were products of each owner's personal design. Especially so in the case of living in Aincrad, given that the customizability of owning a home was much more flexible than in real life, on account of not having to bother much with renovations nor budgets at all. One could always expand and improve their lodgings if they so chose after getting their hands on enough col, a luxury she understood only a small number of people would have if they were not in a game.

On account of their adventure, her first stop was to examine an odd boulder that had gathered near their entry point to the fields, the player dusting off the snow on its surface after a bit of weathering. Was it metal, or just stone that was cool to the touch?

[ChaseR 0]

The hum didn't really serve as too clear of an answer but Chase took it as an 'alright' nonetheless. When the two had reached the weird boulder, he raised an eyebrow and approached it, tapping it a few times with his hand. "You think this is it?", he asked as a very small tremble began and quickly gave them the answer they needed. While they were stepping back, he quickly took his blade out of its sheathe, holding it tightly in both hands with a wide grin, excitement written all over his face "Alright then, let me handle it."

The very rock that they'd found seemed to be only the skull of the beast, starting to emerge from underneath. It appeared to wear armor of sorts, but he knew that was no problem. It wouldn't be one or two hits at best, until he managed to wipe the monster in front of him out clean and get the final hit drop. Taking a deep breath, Chase quickly threw himself at the monster and slammed it with the flat of his blade, chipping off some of its ice-covered body just like that. He managed to knock it off balance, seeing it stammer. "Damn... It's weak."

ChaseR: HP: 880/880 | EN: 79/86 (-7) | DMG: 15 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 4 | REC: 2 | MIT: 25 | BH: 8 | PAR: 1

Frost Beast: HP: 130/250 (-120) | DMG: 160 [Stun CD; 3/3] (Stun)

Edited August 30, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

Talk about lucky. The moment a miniature quake began, NIGHT took a step back, dusting her gloves of frost. With ChaseR's newfound blade came a child-like excitement, the woman noted, and folded her arms in solidarity of his motivation to cull their target himself. "Go for it."

It was no Avalanche, the creature of magic and metal. Yet it was an adequate training dummy all the same, especially if one were to focus in on their arts moreso than their equipment line up. A fine use of Tempest reminded the woman that she'd not practiced the maneuver herself in such a long time; the overwhelming strength in her numbers was capable of dismantling most of her opponents, so stuns weren't necessary until she'd stumbled upon an exception.

Still, what notion the woman had held about her own training was lost in a beat when her ears registered the horrendous ringing of steel against hollow steel. NIGHT continued to retreat to give her companion space, eyes still stuck ever forward on their battle.

[ChaseR 0]

The bluehead didn't even need to think about his actions in a battle- every single time, he felt that stunning before anything was the best opener he could do, his attacks not being strong enough to let him brute force through fights. He still had more room to improve, so for now he stuck with what appeared to be safest- knocking enemies off balance and then sweeping up the kill. Like that, he raised his sword up in the air with a diagonal angle and brought it down onto the monster, cutting it clean in half.

It shattered into crystals as the loot window appeared before the boy, finally rewarding him with the item that he sought to find so badly. He threw a fist up in the air and looked back at NIGHT, simply smiling at her and holding a thumbs up. It looked like their job on this little detour was done- he'd get to upgrading the item right away and put it to use on their way towards the Monkey King.

ChaseR: HP: 880/880 | EN: 74/86 (+5, -10) | DMG: 15 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 4 | REC: 2 | MIT: 25 | BH: 8 | PAR: 1

Frost Beast: HP: 0/250 (-195) | DMG: 160 [Stun CD; 2/3]

Edited August 30, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

She nodded to her companion as he'd shot her a thumbs up. "Nice work." Though, in retrospect, she shouldn't have been too surprised by the quick kill; it was hard to keep in mind that loot minimum monsters were oft the more dangerous kind of enemies to face off, the Frost Beast holding nary a candle to their efforts when it came to hunting for col. And ChaseR himself had been out on an expedition like so in the past.

"Time for lunch, then?" NIGHT started making her way out of the wasteland, hands tucked away in her jacket's pockets. If it wasn't to pick up food on their way back, the direction they would head in still lead the players towards the settlement, though they'd round the lake once more instead of heading into the thicket. "We could always get takeaway, if you'd prefer to eat on the go. That's what I do sometimes, especially when I need my stats buffed on the way to a hunt."

[ChaseR 0]

The only answer she got in return was a shrug and the growl of his stomach. He put his blade back on his back and began to follow right behind her, putting his own hands in his jacket and furrowing his eyebrows. "I usually just eat bread. Uh... Yeah, bread or foods with buffs from Gaius or... Zacjaca... Zajci... S-Some cook on the first. Yeah.", he responded, and when he got to talking about the pink paladin, he didn't seem to pleased- it was like his already rather monotone voice with hints of excitement completely turned around and just got filled with negative thoughts.

"Let's sit for lunch. We don't need any buffs, do we?", he questioned and raised his eyebrows, yawning and stretching quickly before pulling his body back into the warmth of his own clothes and pockets. "... Speaking of which, I haven't paid either a visit in two or so days, huh? I wonder how they're doing... F-Fucking pink though...", his grumbling continued mentally, as he grunted and thought about his jolly good time with Yuki.

[NIGHT 0]

"I usually just eat bread."

"That's not a healthy diet." Jokes about their nutrition in a virtual setting aside, it probably wasn't pleasant either to snack on bread for days. NIGHT had been in the same situation herself, and in seconds the taste of wet cardboard grew on her palette. How dissatisfying.

"Uh... Yeah, bread or foods with buffs from Gaius or... Zacjaca... Zajci..."

"Ah, you mean Yuki?" She paused, brows furrowed, realizing a misunderstanding. "Wait, her shop's not on the first. Was it?" Maybe the cook had started up a stall back in the Town of Beginnings, and NIGHT just never happened to hear about its grand opening. "--If it's a tank we're talking about, that's more likely her; my friend and bulwark. I usually stop by her home on the twenty-second though. Able to skip lines that way."

Not like many players bought and sold much food these days, but that was beside the point.

"What's left on our clearance list, Sun Wukong?" The player shook her head at the thought; Cardinal needed a stronger foe to convince her it was the monkey king himself. "I won't need buffs for him, but I'll probably replenish my supplies while I'm there. Cordelia's food is delightful, anyway. It'd be nice to feast on it once again within the week."

[ChaseR 0]

Yeah, he was most certainly not up for conversation on the matter of Yuki. Quickly trying to shut NIGHT down, he almost got abrupt before she mentioned they were friends. "Well, I don't care wherever the-". Ah. So she was somehow able to bear her. Different folks, different strokes he guessed. "Er... Right. Wherever it is, I usually go by her. Yuki..? I-Is that how you read the name? What language even...", he almost raised his hands to hold his head, starting to grow more confused with the pinkette by the minute.

And then it struck him again- more unfamiliarity! "... Who is Sun Wukong? Is that the name for the boss..? N-No, it doesn't seem to be...", Chase mumbled on his own, scratching the back of his head while he looked through his quest log in the menu. "Cordelia... Never heard of her anyways. So what's her shop like? What food does it serve?", he tried to get his mind off of the many things clouding his thoughts now that she'd given him yet another fresh existential crisis, hoping that at least no unfamiliar terms would hit him now that it wasn't about some monkey, pink or otherwise.

[NIGHT 0]

"It's just easier to refer to her that way. Uh, her handle? Zay--Zay-chi-sa?" NIGHT fumbled with the pronunciation, though it felt right on her tongue saying it that way. Maybe her memory wasn't as faulty as she'd chalked it up to be. "Something like that. The meaning..."

Her words trailed off a moment, before her ears grew warm. "... Y-Yeah, let's just pass over that for now..."

On the other hand, the topic of their mark came up again. "Ever heard of 'Journey to the West'? The main character's an inspiration to many; his name's Sun Wukong, and he's supposedly a tough demon to beat. But Cardinal made him incredibly easy to topple. Which feels like a mockery, because in the stories he's basically indestructible." The woman sighed, however, continuing her paces through the woods. "The reference was made clear the moment it labelled him the 'Monkey King'. Seriously..."

NIGHT hummed, eying Cordelia's stall in the distance; set in the midst of the trees, with a small clearance of space out front for passersby to identify its territory. The shack was cozy, a warm glow leaking out from underneath its front curtains. Even from this far away, she could pick up the scent of shoyu broth being brewed on the stove piping hot.

"Why don't you take a look over it yourself? Like I'd said, it's ramen, mostly, but there's a few choice sides too. Japanese food. -- Please tell me you've tried some before."

[ChaseR 0]

Watching her go off on a small rant about some story was... definitely something. "Huh, looks like you're passionate about it.", he commented before her question hit him. "I-I, er... L-Look, I can't- I try but- N-Not- Yeah!". No, no he hadn't. His stammering was mostly due to embarrassment at the mere thought of trying to read over the catalogue filled with what would feel like gibberish to him, and his multi-cultural background wasn't anything to go by either. Truly worthy of the title Mr. Worldwide after all.

"Ramen is like... spaghetti, right? Pasta.". For once he managed to pronounce it properly, but it was rather obvious he hadn't really gone out shopping once, at least with eyes out on anything other than the few plans he made before every trip. He usually didn't tag along with his family though, sticking to Lily and just hanging out after home or in between part time gigs that they started to get the money they needed. That's how they bought the NerveGear after all. "Sorry for being a bit uh... uncultured, overall. I don't... Yeah. I'm bad with words. Sorry."

[NIGHT 0]

Stunned. NIGHT was truly stunned. She'd nearly dragged ChaseR in by the wrist the moment he'd confused ramen with pasta, eyes clouded over with darkness and horror.

When they entered, she'd set a pouch of col on the counter for her guild mate. "Two bowls of shoyu. Extra cha shu. If you have a side serving of Takoyaki, hand it to us."

A large order, but it was clear to NIGHT what her aim of the hour would be. How could someone not have known about Japanese cuisine before? The thought was otherworldly to the woman. "Where'd you live back in the real world again?" She needed to make sure just in case the man was joking with her -- an unlikely possibility, but the thought of it happening continued to plague her thoughts. "It's nothing like pasta. Far from it, in fact. You drink the broth alongside your meal; the oils in the soup make it light, salty and savoury all at the same time."