[PP|F2] <<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 2: the Quartz Hatchling>> Way Long Name

[ChaseR 0]

<<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 2: the Quartz Hatchling>>

It hadn't been too long since the two last went on a mission, but knowing how much Chase himself could get done in a day, he was well aware that Oz was probably the same. Then again, he was theoretically faster than most other swordsmen in Aincrad, so hell if he knew. For now, all he knew was that he found himself inviting the man out to the fields once more, although this time a floor past their previous target, with intent to keep progressing in their dragon hunting trip. Another hatchling to kill, means another gem stone closer to unlocking that darned castle on the tenth floor.

Thoughts and questions about what was about to happen started to swirl in the back of Chase's head while he waited in Urbus, wondering if there would be more dragons, maybe actually big ones like Smaug, guarding whatever treasure was in the castle. Then again, while Aincrad wasn't the most inspired of settings, it wasn't that generic either- making him feel even more at a dilemma. "I wish this was like one of those movies after all... Damn it, why do we need to go through this process one at a time instead of all at once?!"

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 72
HP: 1470/1470
EN: 144/144

Stats:
Damage: 19
Mitigation: 43
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
BH:73
VAMP DEF:73
PARA:1
HLY:12
HLY BLS:16
LD:5

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Fragmented Blade>> (T3/Perfect/2HSS): PARA I, HOLY II
Armor: <<Azure Overcoat>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): V.DEF I, HBS I, MIT I
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Demonic/Trinket): EVA II, ACC II

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Searching [Rank 4]
Charge [Rank 5]
Howl [Obtained]
Parry [Obtained]
Extended Mod Limit [Obtained]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision
Athletics
Sprint & Acrobatics
Ferocity
Focused Howl



Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Insta-Life ++ (T2/Perfect/HP REC III)*1
Woodland Armor (T3/Perfect) MIT III (1/3)*1
Teleport Crystal [F21]*1
Imugi's Inspiration (Mass HP Recovery)*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:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
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 (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching 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
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring:

 

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald received the message from Chase asking if he wanted to join him on another one of the dragon hunts that they needed to do to unlock the castle on the tenth floor. Sending back a message confirming that he wanted to join Ozwald wrapped up all of the work he had left at his shop. Ozwald equipped all of his armor and weapons, exiting the mausoleum that was his shop he made his way to the teleport gate on the first floor. It had been a few days since Ozwald had worked with Chase, and he felt like he was somewhat more powerful than he was at the time, and was excited to show Chase what he could do. Calling out the name Urbus teleported Ozwald to the second floor where he saw Chase relaxing waiting for him "Sorry am I late?" Ozwald asked stepping up to the blue haired man.

Spoiler

Name: Grimm Reaper
Level: 17
HP: 340/340
EN: 34/34

Stats:
Damage: 10
Mitigation: 5
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Soul Devourer(tier 1/Perfect/Hand Wraps)[DAM 3]
Armor: Death's Shroud(Tier 1/Perfect/Light Armor)[EVA 1][REC 2]
Misc: Damned Souls(Tier 1/perfect/trinket)[ACC 3]

Skills:
Martial Arts [Rank 4]
Light Armor [Rank 1]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(+50 hp)*3
[T1]Health potions(rare)(+40 HP)*5
[T1]Damage potion(uncommon)(+1 DAM)*1

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[ChaseR 0]

Of course, he hadn't been nearly as late as he'd like to believe. Chase was silently waiting with his hands stuffed in his pockets, looking into the distance out of the settlement at the mountain range. Somewhere around there, there should be the hatchling in another cave, maybe an altar or some other special structure.

And as soon as he heard Ozwald's familiar voice, he looked over his shoulder to see him. With a curt smile, he shook his head and turned back to facing the exit of the settlement once more. "No, not late whatsoever. We're good to go if anything, really. Got your gear all packed up? It's the same deal as before, except this time it's somewhere in the forest, maybe the plains under the mountain range... It'll stick out like before.". Nothing new to be heard of there, but once more he seemed to be overflowing with vigor. Something that honestly, had he seen Chase on any other day, would be perfectly abnormal and out of the ordinary. He was just having too much fun coming back to the earlier floors though. It brought back vivid but very nice memories.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald was glad to be working with chase again. It had only been a few days since he departed from Chase after their first dragon hunt, but he enjoyed working with the blue haired individual so it was nice being able to help him at all. Ozwald was relieved that he was on time, he didn't like making people wait on him especially when he was the weak link in the party. 

Ozwald looked over at the mountains that Chase had gestured towards, they weren't close, but they also weren't particularly far away. "Shall we go then?" Ozwald inquired stepping towards the edge of the town that they were in, Urbus. Ozwald had his hands in his pocket, questing with Chase was always so chill to him, it was very different from when he was with Valentine where he had to put more energy into not dying of embarrassment. Ozwald blushed and grew uncomfortable at the thoughts in his head, shaking it to try and push them away.

[ChaseR 0]

And so, the two took off. Walking out of the settlement and about the fields lingering outside of the safezone, they moved straight towards a small forest with a little clearing in the middle. Maybe they'd find the dragon there. Halfway through walking over, the silent man looked over his shoulder at the brawler to look back at the guild emblem that he bore next to his name.

"... You decided to join Firm Anima. Why's that?", he took a deep breath and proceeded to ask, sounding somewhat distraught although he did his best to mask it. He didn't want to involve Ozwald with the guild, but if he had joined, the image they pushed out for themselves must have, at the very least, been fairly alluring to buy into. "Of all the guilds, them again...". He buried these thoughts in the back of his mind though, there was no reason to keep this anything but chitchat. After all, it was happy times, Chase running off to rescue the girl from the cave bats, being still weak and having no knowledge of the world. Just like Mari had told him. A deep breath, and it all went down a lot easier. And so he did.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald was honestly surprised by the question, he spent such little time with the guild he had almost forgotten he had joined it. "Oh, Firm Anima? Simple, I needed gear and they said they'd give me free stuff if I joined. And now I can't leave even if I wanted to" Ozwald explained his fairly selfish reason for joining Firm Anima. Ozwald had joined on a whim really, while perusing the shopping district on the first floor Ozwald had happened to bump into the guild leader who offered to give him the items he was looking for if he joined them, and so he did. Ozwald was glad he joined though, it gave him more of a sense of purpose, and helped him meet someone who he refused to lose. Ozwald looked over at his blue haired friend "Do you have history with them?" Ozwald asked noticing the slight distraught tone in the man's voice.

[ChaseR 0]

His walking pace slowed down a fair bit as he was somewhat discouraged with the question, unsure how much he should reveal. For now, it was a day to be nostalgic about himself, not one to start mopping or getting livid with Freyd again. Every single interaction with Firm Anima members, bar two, had gone horribly so far either way, so... He just hoped this wouldn't end up the same.

"... Yeah, something like that.", he mumbled under his breath, awkwardly slipping both of his hands inside of his jacket's pockets and letting out a drawn out sigh. "I'm not a big fan of some members it has- most. That's all.", he nodded to himself, thinking this was a good moment to stop talking about it. And as forcibly as ever, he tried his best to desperately switch the topic at hand, looking to the side and trying to walk faster again. "Either way, did you pick up any new skills? Or do any more quests?". How quickly he was looking to move on spoke volumes on its own, even if he now did a decent job at hiding the sour feeling in his gut.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald wasn't a stupid man, and he could tell when a topic had overstayed its welcome. Gracefully switching topics along with the blue haired man at his side "Oh, I completely forgot to show you." Ozwald said in slight disdain, it probably wasn't exciting to Chase, but to ozwald it was still something new and exciting. Ozwald let out a shrill high pitched whistle looking up into the sky. From fairly high up in the air a creature came shooting down landing on Ozwald's outstretched forearm. The creature that Chase saw before him was mostly chicken in nature, but a little bit more lean, with the only odd part being the dragon's tail that the creature possessed. "Ryoto meet Chase. Chase meet Ryoto." Ozwald introduced his new familiar to his friend "I picked this little guy up on the tenth floor, after a date. I also raised my Martial Arts and Light armor skills." Ozwald moved the creature to his shoulder earning a caw from the chicken creature.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[ChaseR 0]

Chase expected some form of unique gear belonging to Grimm's tier to be shown, but instead what he showed him was... a familiar?! Chase was left completely awestruck. Nothing to say, but just looking at the cockatrice with wide eyes and a confused expression.

"H-He's still not even tier two but he already got a familiar? What the fuck are they doing in Firm Anima?!". He'd waited until fairly later on to get a familiar, and even then he thought that he was rushing things too much. But to already possess one when he's barely at the level Shay was when she and Chase first met, holy shit. The surprise showed even in Chase's normally blank expression, as he stopped to face him in full and began to clap his hands. "Holy shit. It took me a fair while past your level before I thought to take a familiar, you've basically covered the bare essentials. What are you going to teach the little guy?". The fact he went on a date was negligible in comparison to the fact he got a damned familiar already. He'd be a powerhouse in terms of efficiency at this rate, this guy.

Edited October 23, 2020 by ChaseR

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald smiled at the little bit of praise that he had received from Chase. Chase being the first frontliner that Ozwald had ever met meant that his opinion mattered a lot to him. "I honestly didn't mean to get him, I was just in the woods when some old gypsy gave me weird meat and told me to give it to an animal nearby. I was thinking about teaching him to attack my opponents in order to distract them allowing me to focus more on damage." Ozwald explained both how he came across the companion that he was currently wearing as a feathery scarf, and how he planned on making the beast useful in combat. Ozwald reached his hand up scratching the cat sized Cockatrices head to the creature's enjoyment. "I figured it would be nice to have someone keeping me company in my shop." Ozwald decided to let Ryoto sleep on his shoulders while they walked to their destination, rather than have him fly above their heads.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase himself had a familiar of his own too, but he avoided going out with him. More so because he didn't want to put Blizz in danger rather than anything else, really. That and he couldn't constantly look after a pet alongside himself when it was a life or death situation. It was just too much of a bother for him to really try.

"So a damage familiar? I have one too, they'll help you plenty. No more need for damage enhancements on your gear, so you can start looking for better options like accuracy, keen, or unique enhancements. Same way I got my blade basically.", he explained briefly and patted his left hip, with a broken blade out of stone sheathed inside its hard, leather scabbard. "I only recently found out what it's able to do against some bats up in the twenty first, but... It's a lot. When it works, it doubles my damage or more.", he laughed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, before coughing to clear his throat and looking over his shoulder into the distance. "Either way, let's go get the hatchling. Great job getting a familiar though."

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald thanked chase, grateful for his explanation as to exactly why having a familiar was a good thing. Ozwald began walking to the mountains with Chase, the silence between the two wasn't uncomfortable at all, and they reached the forest that was placed at the bottom of the mountain. "You said it might be in this forest?" Ozwald asked keeping his eyes open for anything similar to the last cave that they had found. Ozwald whispered to ryoto sending him out to help look for anything that could house the second dragon hatchling that they needed to gather a gem from. "I sent Ryoto out to help look." Ozwald informed the frontliner that he was accompanying on this quest. Ozwald was curious as to whether or not Chase would be able to one shot this dragon as well. Ozwald had been unable to help fight last time because of how strong Chase was.

[ChaseR 0]

The best that Chase could muster to help out was a sophisticated guess and an uncertain smile for Ozwald. While he wasn't aware, there was in fact a clearing and in it, a stone altar with a nest of twigs and branches at the very top- and inside, rested the hatchling that they were after this once. It wasn't too hard to find, nor should it take that long for Ryoto to return with its location.

 "Well, er... It's probably somewhere in there, yeah. I can't think of any other place where it could be and we wouldn't have seen it already. Like, think back to when we went for your unbreakable quest, the few others I've done around the floor, and you're left with little but this forest. So I'm guessing..? If it's not there, I'm not sure where to look. It wouldn't kill Kayaba to give some hints either...", he muttered the last part under his breath and sighed deeply, trying to look around with squinted eyes to see if he could spot anything himself.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Chase's point made a lot of sense to Ozwald, if they had already been everywhere else on this floor than it would have to be somewhere in this forest. Ozwald nodded beginning to search the area around them while waiting for Ryoto to come back and lead them to something that could potentially be the second dragon hatchling that they were looking for.

It didn't take long for the chicken like beast to return to Ozwald making it clear that he had found something, and that he wanted them to follow him. "Ryoto is back, and it looks like he found something." Ozwald called to the blue haired individual that was nearby. Waiting for Chase to get over to him Ozwald walked in the direction the Ryoto was flying, following the dragon chicken all the way to a clearing with a stone altar in the center. "This looks promising" Ozwald looked over at Chase.

[ChaseR 0]

Following right behind the martial artist, Chase simply nodded and looked at the altar that they were led to. With furrowed brows, he crossed his arms and gave it a bit of thought before moving his left hand right towards where the hilt of his sword was. Slowly unsheathing it, he approached to hear a cry and see a dragon swirl out of it and up towards the sky. It was still a tiny hatchling, but a dragon for all it mattered. 

"Looks like he did find the hatchling after all.", he said, and much like the previous one, this one seemed to have a necklace with its respective gemstone around its neck all the same. A deep breath and he raised his broken sword into the air. Some white wisps began to form around the blade, melting into a mist that began to get attracted to the blade. Oz would be able to catch only a glimpse of the radiant sword forming back normally once again, before the light got way too blinding. By the time it had faded, a cry had sounded and the familiar 'blip' of one's health bar dropping to zero. When his vision was restored, Chase seemed to have already defeated it, looking over his shoulder with a casual expression as per usual. "Er... Seems it's dealt with."

Spoiler

ChaseR uses Galaxy Destroyer on Zalara! (BD: 9)
(20 + 1 + 12) * 13 - 35 = 33 * 13 - 35 = 429 - 35 = 394

ChaseR: HP: 1470/1470 | EN: 134/144 | DMG: 19 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | MIT: 43 | BH: 73 | HOLY: 12 | PARA: 9-10 | V.(DEF): 73 | HBS: 16 | LD: 5
Grimm Reaper: HP:340/340 | EN:34/34 | DMG:10 | MIT:5 | EVA:1 | ACC:3 | REC:2

Zalara: HP: 0/175 | DMG: 65 | MIT: 35 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

<<Mend Mini-Twigs>> : On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by ChaseR

[Grimm Reaper 0]

"You know, if I didn't know you better, I would start to think you just asked me here for my company." Ozwald teased the stronger blue haired fellow. He knew that Chase didn't actually need his help, he could kill any single one of the dragon hatchlings in a single hit, and so Ozwald was really only there so that he could gain levels based on Chase's skills. Ozwald sighed, he understood that frontliners were supposed to be the strongest people in Aincrad, but he was upset at just how large that distance ended up being. Ozwald was nowhere near Chase's level and power, and it would take him a long time to reach that level and power. Knowing this made Ozwald only slightly more discouraged, he knew that he would manage to catch up someday, but he wanted it right now, not in months. Ozwald shook his head "What's next?" Ozwald asked looking over at Chase.

[ChaseR 0]

For as careless and horrible at reading others as Chase was, he picked up the gemstone out of the necklace only for the item to appear in both players' inventories. Once it had, he let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head rather awkwardly as he looked at Ozwald, stretching and giving it a bit of thought.

"Shall we go for the next hatchling? They get progressively harder, so the next one should take more hits before it can perish. Plus, this... What you saw was luck. My sword doesn't always do that, you know.", he tried to explain, knowing that he was probably feeling discouraged. Despite himself having seen how strong others like NIGHT really were and could be, he was well aware that what he possessed wasn't anything abnormal or complicated- it was just his numbers being high due to good luck. That was all. "... Let's head back to Urbus and towards the teleporter. You can tell me what's bothering you on the way there.", he sighed out, speaking almost too casually for his own usual self. He was horrible with words, even more so hearing others out- yet this all came off rather naturally, for once.

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald nodded his expression just as cheery as it normally was. "I mean nothing particularly is bothering me. I just wish I didn't have to wait to be as strong as you and the other frontliners." Ozwald sighed again, it wasn't like it was an actual issue, he just wanted to be able to help protect the people who can't protect themselves. "Either way we should head back to Urbus so we can move onto the third floor." Ozwald said getting back into a business mindset he walked into the forest, back to the main settlement on the second floor. Ozwald knew that they needed to take each and every one of these hatchlings down in order to get into the castle located on the 10th floor, but what about after that? What was inside the castle where the keys are guarded by dragons. Ozwald was excited, and a little scared to find out.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase knew exactly what it felt like, he was pretty much the same. He'd broken down to the harsh reality, or rather conviction, of others at the moment stronger than him telling him he'd never get up to the frontlines this quickly. And yet he had- outleveling them in the process even, in way too little time. Maybe he was taking things too quickly, or they were just not doing a good enough job.

"I don't think that it'd kill you to wait. I wanted to get it done fast, and I did. I got close to dying once, and I've never played a game before. I don't know any secrets, hints or tips. I saw whatever I could in front of me, took advice wherever I could and slashed every quest down. No hard feelings. I got help where it was offered and still feel I can improve when looking at people like NIGHT, a swordswoman I level with steadily. She uses stealth, like you want to.", he went off on a small monologue, only to look back at Ozwald afterwards while continuing to walk beside him. "I don't think you should rely on me to do all the work. As long as you aren't relying on me, you're growing. Watch and learn, or help out and learn in the process. Don't just watch by and do nothing. That's how I leveled up so hard and fast.". His message was generic, but... it made sense. From his perspective, this was the truth. Not that he was foolish and could never get to the frontlines as quickly. That was being stubborn and one-sided. What he'd accomplished, was due to hard effort and sheer willpower. Ozwald surely had some of that in himself too. Especially if he had the same mindset as Chase. 

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald completely agreed with everything that Chase said. "I know, I don't like just sitting on the sidelines letting people do all of the work. That is why I want to get to the frontlines, I don't want to keep watching on the sidelines as the people who are actually strong fight their way to the top to save me, when I could join them and help protect everyone who can't protect themselves." Ozwald didn't really know if he was oversharing his opinion, but it was the opinion that he had had since he first stepped out of the first floors gate into the wild areas. 

The pair reached the second floor"s settlement only a few minutes after they had left. Walking to the teleport beacon that was in the center of the town of Urbus on the second floor. Calling out the name of the third floor's main settlement, Delilah,  and teleporting to the third floor in a blinding flash of glowing blue light.

Spoiler

Thread Rewards:

• <Zylara’s Quartz> [Vanity Quest Item] (ChaseR, Grimm Reaper)
• 3 SP ( 1 quest, 1 page, 1 event) Grimm Reaper and ChaseR
• 1,000 Col (600 quest, 400 page) Grimm Reaper