[F24/SP] The Hot Dog Ninja <<Incognito Analysis>>

[Oscar 0]

<<Incognito Analysis>>

Oscar and stealth didn't really belong in the same sentence with one another. Unless the sentence was: "Oscar dresses too well and is too gorgeous to ever be able to successfully stealth." Either way, a Stealth mission was all that was standing in between Oscar and copious amounts of that sweet, sweet SP. He just needed to put on his big boy britches and knock it out. So he got his warm-up in at his Mega Slime Farm and headed into town to warp up to Floor 24. Last time he'd been here on a quest, Oscar had been tasked with fighting a buff Rhino. He supposed that being a sneaky boi would be a nice change of pace from that. But then again, somehow he felt as if he was in for a bad time. Either way, it was simply too much SP to pass up. If the last stealth-based quest was anything to go one, he'd definitely have to work for it.

Spoiler

Oscar - Lvl 72
1470 HP
142 Energy
3 Accuracy (+1 Mod, +2 Gear)
3 Evasion (+1 Mod, +2 Gear)
19 Base Damage - (1 Base +7 Skill +1 Ferocity +9 Familiar +1 Athletics)
106 Mitigation 
12 Fallen
2 Burn

Equipment
Tesseleth’s Fury [Tier 3 Demonic Two-Handed Battleaxe] | Fallen, Fallen, Burn, Burn
Money Shot [Tier 3 Perfect Two-Handed Battleaxe] | Absolute Accuracy, ACC, Bleed
Tactical Outfitting Mk.III [Tier 3 Demonic Light Armor] | Vampiric (Defensive), Para Immune, Rec, Rec
Mythril Greaves [Tier 3 Perfect Heavy Armor] |  +81 MIT
Gloves of Caerus [Tier 1 Perfect Light Armor] | +3 Loot Die
Ivory Gold Leaf Ring [Tier 1 Demonic Trinket] | ACC, ACC, EVA, EVA

Familiar
Leeroy & Jenkins - Familiar: +9 DMG

Battle Ready Inventory
Teleportation Crystal
Empty Inventory Slot |
Empty Inventory Slot |
Empty Inventory Slot |
Empty Inventory Slot |
Empty Inventory Slot |

Buffs
Well-Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat.
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight: Expertise - Rank 5 Searching
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25%

Skills
2HBA - Rank 5: +8 Damage
Light Armor - Rank 5: +25 Damage Mitigation
Battle Healing - Rank 5: Recover 5% of Max HP every round while in combat
Searching - Rank 5: +5 LD, +5 Stealth Detection
Concentration: +1 to your BD (3 turn cooldown)
Survival: Heal 15*Tier HP when out of battle
Parry: 2-turn CD, 5 EN Half damage of next attack and remove Stun/Paralysis effects
First Aid: Rank 5: Restore 20% of target’s max health [Cost: 4% of healing done]

Skill Mods
Ferocity: +1 Base Damage
Athletics: +1 Base Damage, Max HP by 10*tier
Precision: +1 ACC
Justified Riposte:  Successful Parries Stun Opponent, 3 Turn CD
Finesse Rank 3: -3 EN on 2HBA Sword Arts
Sprint & Acrobatics: +1 EVA
Field Medic: Restore 20% of the party’s max health, 12+4 per target EN Cost 2 turn CD

Buffs
Mega Slime Farm used [+2 SP to thread]

 

[Oscar 0]

The only way to get started, Oscar surmised, was to get started. To that end, he located the quest NPC and formally accepted the task. He was supposed to infiltrate some dude named Uso-tsuki's inner circle. The quest was even nice enough to give him a waypoint to find the guy. Unfortunately, the infiltration part would be what vexed Oscar endlessly. Rather than skulk around like a dummy, Oscar decided to try a different tactic. He located Uso-tsuki's entourage and just slowly slid into the group. They weren't talking about anything interesting, but no one had seemed to notice him. At least not overtly. Uso-tsuki looked at him through the corner of his eye, his gaze lingering, but continued to speak with his entourage about the rather important but otherwise innocuous subject they had previously.

Spoiler

ID: 169811 LD1, 1/3 Fails Roll purpose is incorrect. "Hogo-Sha" should be "Uso-tsuki."

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

ID: 169812 LD6 Fail 2/3 Roll purpose incorrect. "Hogo-Sha" should be "Uso-tsuki."

It seemed as if Oscar's attempt to fly under the radar by not doing anything suspicious was in and of itself suspicious. He felt like he was playing that old viral game about crew members and imposters in space with the way Uso-tsuki and his entourage were eyeballing him. Despite his obvious suspicious presence, they didn't make any overt efforts to push him out of the group. They merely lowered their voices and froze him out. Oscar would be upset at his failure if he had even really been trying in the first place. These quests always came with some sort of secondary method of completion. Oscar didn't find himself too fussed over it. If he succeeded, he succeeded. If not, well there was more than one way to skin a man. Was that how that saying went? Definitely. I'm totally not just trying to fill in words here. Nope. Not at all.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

ID: 169814 LD7 Fail 3/3

It seemed that his oppressive presence had finally cause the entourage to react to his being there. Not surprising considering the fact that he didn't even try to hide the fact that he was creeping on them. A large, heavily armored man stepped forward and got nose to nose with him. While he did that, Uso-tsuki and the rest of the group departed. Presumably, they trusted in this absolute unit's ability to keep Oscar busy while they retired to a locale without so many prying ears. His quest tracker updated. Since he had failed to gather the information through steal, he would have to resort to other, indelicate means of getting the information he desired. What other means could Oscar be considering? The explosive kind. Oscar, in all of his infinite wisdom reached up and booped the man on his nose. Such an act would provoke aggro from the target and get this fight started right.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar HP: 1470/1470 | EN: 136/144 | DMG: 19 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 106 | 12 FLN | 36 BRN [8-10]

Explode Catapult [x14] -12 EN

Hogo-Sha HP: 808/1000 | DMG: 100 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 50 | ID: 169815 | BD: 7+3-1, Deal 192 DMG | ID: 169816 | MD: 2, Miss.

Tesseleth's Fury was in Oscar's hand quick as a flash. The obsidian blade glinted in the sunlight as Oscar spun the massive weapon with precision and ease. The blade of the axe swung up from the ground and caught Hogo-Sha under the chin. It wasn't a clean hit, however. The man that he was fighting was an experienced warrior. Therefore, he was able to move his shield in such a way as to throw the trajectory of the axe off ever so slightly. The attack still hit, but it had enough force sapped from it that it didn't really drive home. Hogo-Sha staggered backward. Surpringly enough, the NPC was able to keep his wits about him long enough to ready his sword and shield and recover fast enough to attempt to deliver an advancing thrust on Oscar. Problem with thrusting attacks was so long as you kept the point of the blade away, you were relatively safe. Using his superior strength, Oscar swatted the sword away with the pole of his axe and stepped forward to meet Hogo-Sha's advance.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar HP: 1253/1470 | EN: 125/144 | DMG: 19 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 106 | 12 FLN | 36 BRN [8-10]

Explode Catapult [x14] -12 EN

Hogo-Sha HP: 616/1000 | DMG: 100 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 50 | ID: 169817 | BD: 7+3-1, Deal 192 DMG | ID: 169818 | MD: 1, Deal 1 DMG; CD12, Parry - Deal 217 DMG

The pair clashed, their battle moving at a frighteningly-quick pace. Oscar couldn't remember the last time he'd fought a mob that was this skilled. Tesseleth's Fury came flying in once more, this time in a downward slice towards the enemy's shoulder. With surprising speed and deftness, Hogo-Sha pitched to the right and tried to deflect Oscar's attack with his sword. Oscar, however, had the benefit of strength. His axe thundered down, driving the flat of Hogo-Sha's blade into his shoulder. The blade prevented his weapon from biting cleanly into Hogo-Sha's shoulder. Hogo-Sha buckled and then adjusted is footing, throwing his full weight and power into his shield that he then used to bash Oscar in the face. The blonde giant weathered the blow, pushing back in equal measure as Hogo-Sha kept up the pressure on his shield. Oscar wasn't going to move unless he wanted to.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar HP: 1327/1470 | EN: 114/144 | DMG: 19 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 106 | 12 FLN | 36 BRN [8-10]

Explode Catapult [x14] -12 EN

Hogo-Sha HP: 400/1000 | DMG: 100 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 50 | ID: 169820 | BD: 4+3-1, Deal 216 DMG | ID: 169821 | MD: 3+3-3, miss

With his left arm, Oscar brushed away Hogo-Sha's shield. To gain distance, he then delivered a sharp kick to the center of the NPC's breastplate. He struck with such force that his foot left a sizable dent in the metal. Hogo-Sha staggered backward, but Oscar wasn't done yet. Using Tesseleth's Fury like a hook, Oscar looped the bottom of the weapon around Hogo-Sha's leg and quickly pulled it out from under him. The warrior went prone, slamming into his back and losing his shield in the process. Oscar spun Tesseleth's Fury over the back of his hand and then brought it down squarely onto Hogo-sha's dented breastplate. The blade of the axe cleaved the already badly-damaged armor in twain. Hogo-Sha attempted to scramble to his feet, shards of twisted metal falling to the ground as he did. Despite Oscar giving the best he could, Hogo-Sha was still only just under half. But he had the advantage now.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar HP: 1327/1470 | EN: 102/144 | DMG: 19 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 106 | 12 FLN | 36 BRN [8-10]

Explode Catapult [x14] -13 EN

Hogo-Sha HP: 16/1000 | DMG: 100 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 50 | ID: 169822 | BD: 7+3-1, Deal 384 DMG | ID: 169823 | MD: 3+3-3, miss

Credit where credit was due, Hogo-Sha had proven himself to be a most vexing opponent. While not having the stopping power of the Quest bosses Oscar had previously encountered, his fighting ability was a cut above the rest. If more enemies had Hogo-Sha's skill and the power of even a normal high level mob, what chance would the Players of SAO have? This entire time, Hogo-Sha had said nothing. Programmed to defend Uso-tsuki till the end. Oscar spun his weapon up to a ready position, summoning the Wrath of the Tyrant to the axe's obsidian blade. Black flame coiled and writhed around the weapon, licking at the deadly edge of the axe. Oscar rushed forward, pushing himself to move as swiftly as he could so as to catch Hogo-Sha off guard. The blitz was successful. Oscar swung Tesseleth's Fury into Hogo-Sha and ignited an eruption of black flame that engulfed the pair.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar HP: 1327/1470 | EN: 103/144 | DMG: 19 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 106 | 12 FLN | 36 BRN [8-10]

Explode Catapult [x14] -13 EN

Hogo-Sha HP: 0/1000 | DMG: 100 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 50 | ID: 169830 | BD: 4+3-1, Deal 216 DMG

Oscar had the benefit of his weapon not being able to damage him. Hogo-Sha was not so lucky. Ebonflame licked at his form, searing his digital flesh with the heat and hatred of Tesseleth the Tyrant. Blinded by his own attack, Oscar could do little more than swing towards where he thought Hogo-Sha would be. He felt his weapon find purchase, lingering as if held fast by a vice. Then, the pressure lifted and Oscar's axe sank into the brickwork beneath his feet with a loud thunk. Oscar wrested his weapon from the ground and tapped the butt of the axe against the ground. Almost immediately, the black flames that raged all around him cleared - summoned back into the obsidian weapon. Where Hogo-Sha once stood, there was only soot covered brick. In the center of that was a scroll. Oscar put his weapon away and collected the item from the ground. A cursory glance revealed that it was written in nothing short of gibberish. Yet, it seemed rather relevant to the quest.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Decoding Missive
169832 - LD4, Fail
169833 - LD1, Fail
169834 - LD13, Fail
169835 - LD7, Fail
169836 - LD18, Success

Oscar's experience with Conciliator had taught him something of decoding messages. After her run-in with Tyson's men, the young woman had made it a point to ensure that both Oscar and Bahr had been inducted into the decryption club. Perhaps had she not sent an encoded message in the first place, Bahr and he would not have arrived at the last moment. But she had been in no mood to hear about that particular criticism. On a separate piece of parchment, Oscar began to work on deciphering the missive that had just come into his ownership. It wasn't exactly easy - especially when it had been written in an entirely made-up language, but after several attempts and much paper, Oscar was finally able to make it work. He let out an annoyed sigh. Of course he would need to translate it. Some of these quests threw up just the most annoying roadblocks.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Translating Missive
169837 - LD14, Fail
169838 - LD20, Success

Of course, actually being able to read the damned missive was going to be a problem. It had been a miracle that he was even able to decipher it in the first place. Now, he needed to find someone who could translate it from the native language into words he could actually read. Perhaps the Arena would be a good place to start. He remembered the place where he'd fought the Rhino was also on this floor. He headed towards the entrance and approached the entry desk. The man running the counter blanched at Oscar's approach. Oscar didn't say a word, merely plopping the paper down on the counter. He wasn't here to exterminate all of the beasts of war that the Arena had on offer. The man seemed to get the gist of what Oscar was asking and quickly translated the missive to a new page. Oscar took both pieces of parchment back and slid the man a small pouch of coin for his trouble. Now, it was time for the easy part.

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Reading Missive
169839 - LD20, Success

Oscar compared both the native missive and the translated one together. They seemed to have line breaks in the same spots, the text relatively similar in length. The translated missive noted a plot to kill the chief who had originally assigned the task to Oscar. Which begged the question: If the Chief already knew that Uso-Tsuki was planning something, why did Oscar have to go through all of the riggamarole in the first place? Some questions were better left to his betters, he decided. Now that he'd finished the quest, it was time to report back to the Chief and get his next task. I was probably going to be killing Uso-tsuki or something to that effect. After all, why go through all this trouble to get an outsider involved if the Chief wasn't going to have him go all the way with it? Or it could be over now and the Chief would just execute the dude. Oscar really didn't know at this point.

[Oscar 0]

The massive double doors that led to the Chief's audience chambers were flung open at his arrival. A massive man sat in a rather plain, yet masterfully-crafted chair. His bicep was about the size of Oscar's thigh and he was just a head shorter than the man sitting in his chair. Intimidating would be an understatement, if it applied at all. After you'd killed a mountain and a monster that was more blade than flesh, you stopped being intimidated by humanoids. How anyone would manage to kill someone like this was beyond him though. He doubted that even Tesseleth's Fury would be able to hack through the dense muscles to hit anything vital. It was a good thing, then, that the Chief wasn't his target. Oscar approached the man, both the original missive and the translated copy in his hands. He held them out to the man, not saying anything. His task had been to gather intel and he'd done just that.

[Oscar 0]

The Chief took the two scraps of parchment from Oscar's hands. He read over the original missive. Then he read over the translation. Then the original. Then the translation. Each time he swapped documents, his face grew more and more red. Finally, after about the seventh swap, he crumpled up the paper and slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair. It was clear that he was trying to rein in his fury. The Chief had to be in a fairly delicate position. By Oscar's reckoning, Uso-tsuki was a high-ranking member of their society. Even though the Chief was the Chief, he couldn't just smoke one of his nobles without there being some sort of severe backlash. As the man attempt to find a solution to his problem, Oscar cleared his throat. It was evident where this quest was going. He just wanted to speed it along a bit. He didn't have the time to sit here and watch and NPC emote for 10 minutes.

[Oscar 0]

"I could probably take him out for you," Oscar said calmly. "Keeps you from having to get your hands dirty. After all, outsiders like me come in and wreck up the place all the time. Chalk it up to the rising crime rate in the area." Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "Might even give you the perfect excuse to tighten the noose around Uso-tsuki's coconspirators."  It really wasn't a bad deal for the Chief. Perhaps that was why as soon as he'd clicked through the quest complete interface, another popped up in short succession. But Oscar refrained from taking that particular quest on. He'd already done his one quest for the day, so there was no way in Hell he was taking on another. At least not before he got some lunch. There was some food made by ths tribe that he absolutely had to sample before going on about his day. Maybe he'd double back and hit up the Chief. Maybe he'd just come back some other day. He really didn't know. All depended on where the day took him.

[Oscar 0]

He left the Chief hanging as he made his exit from the chamber. He knew where the start for the next quest was and his current quest was already complete. Since he had no intentions of accepting the next one immediately, he could just leave it here for when he was ready to deal with it. Which wasn't now. Now was the time for hanging meats doled out from a suspicious wagon on the side of the road. He'd passed by it on his way to trail Uso-tsuki. The scent of the grilled meats had been intoxicating but he had a job to do. Now, he had no job to do and a bunch of Col burning a hole in his pocket. It would be a crime not to enjoy the succulent sausages on such a serene day like to day. Nothing got the mind calmer than some good ol' fashioned NPC murderation. Now he could enjoy his meal in peace. Hopefully. Sometimes, life had a way of throwing curveballs.

[Oscar 0]

Oscar arrived at the stall and dropped his money on the counter. How much money? Not much. Only enough to buy out the shop owner's entire stock. The vendor eyed the Col with bright delight. He'd probably never seen this amount in his life. He could open an entire restaurant with what Oscar had just dropped onto his counter. Oscar began helping himself to the meats hanging from racks on the stall. As soon as he took a chain of sausages down, Oscar hoovered them into his greedy gullet. The taste was just sublime. Oscar could see himself using these sausages for his own hot dogs at some point in the future. It was just fantastic. It would really elevate his dishes to a new level. Perhaps he could con the spice blend out of the vendor. With the way the man seemed to freeze when Oscar paid him, somehow he doubted that. It didn't matter though. Oscar could recreate the flavor profile from memory. One of the perks of being a Grandmaster Cook.

[Oscar 0]

Once Oscar had completely inhaled the contents of the cart, he decided to meander for a bit. He hadn't really spent much time on Floor 24. Other than the Rhino. And that meeting at Baldur's place. Which was completely weird. Everyone just went completely silent for months. Oscar was convinced that they had all been possessed by demons and thus he was afraid to speak at all lest they get their ritual daggers and turn his innards into outtards. Thank God that was over. It wasn't a bad place to be. It was serene and idyllic. Water as far as the eye could see. The Raid boss - by all accounts - had been a water dragon dude who was way too durable thanks to the fact it could dive 2.2 thousand meters beneath the surface and leave the party chipping away at its back fat. He hoped the next Raid wouldn't be that crazy. Oscar didn't know how much more boss grooming he had in him.

[Oscar 0]

Finally, Oscar reached a decision about what he was going to do about the next quest. And that was: nothing. He really didn't have the energy to take on an entire additional quest today and he really wanted to get home to his bed. Leeroy and Jenkins had devolved into chasing their tails, which was strange considering Jenkins' propensity to not do silly stuff like they. They must have been so incredibly bored. Oscar looked down at them with a knowing smile and gestured towards the town square where the Teleportation Platform was. "Come on guys. Lets go get you two a nice juicy steak." At the word "steak" the two of them yipped happily and dashed off towards the platform. Oscar chuckled and followed along. They were a handful when steak was involved. But they had earned it. After all, mentioning them helped me squeeze out an entire extra post when I'm running low on ideas.

[Oscar 0]

It didn't take Oscar and his buddy long to reach the Teleportation Platform. Leeroy and Jenkins arrived before him, sitting dutifully on the stone dias and wagging their tails excitedly. Oscar patted them both on the head and then trigger the transport sequence. Floor 24 was left in the dust and they arrived home on Floor 7 in short order. Oscar and his familiar headed up the same trail that they took every time they had to come and go from town. Eventually, Oscar's estate stretched out in front of them. The pair wasted no time heading inside. Once there, Leeroy and Jenkins dashed for the kitchen as Oscar set his axe by the door and hung his coat up on the rack to the left of it. He let out a small chuckle and rolled up his sleeves, getting ready to prep the steak to end all steaks for his most trustworthy companion. He'd certainly earned it. That was 300 words now instead of 150. What a great day.

Thread Summary
9 SP [5 Quest, 1 Page, 1 Bonus, 2 Farm]
5000 Col