[F8-PP] Ha, Please (SoW1)

[Gaius 0]

Looking at earnest at the board, milling through what was left. A new spear in his hand, a rather gaudy looking thing but he was eager to give it a spin. It was assured that the thing was leagues past the strength of his old one. Now he'd play the waiting game, a ripe early breakfast still settling in his stomach. He had a bit of time before he'd grow hungry again. When Freya would finally show, she could join him for the ride. Selecting the toughest looking quest off the board, he was eager to get this thing battle tested. Finding the rim of the floor's fountain, the jungle outside the walls staring back at him from above. An early morning barely breaking through the canopy, no storm had yet to swell. An oddity on this floor, as most the time there was a storm brewing somewhere in the sky. The hunt was on, and Gaius was ready to give this thing a whirl.

(Poached Egg/Meal) Accuracy +2: 176290-1
(Fish with Anchovy Paste/Meal) Mitigation +3 (T3): 170930-1
(Well Done Steal/Meal) Protein +2: 182485
(Titan's Strength/Potion) Damage +3: 181529-2
Mega Slime Farm Activated: +2 SP upon Thread Closure

Gaius | HP:1045/1045 | EN:115/115 | DMG:24 | MIT:55 | H.M.:6 | REC:3 | FLN:6 | BLD:36 | LD:3

Spoiler

Gaius, The Fulminating Storm
Level: 50
HP: 1045/1045
EN: 115/115

Stats:
Damage: 24
Mitigation: 55
H.M.:6
REC:3
FLN:6
BLD:36
LD:3

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Eye of the Gale - Brionac [2HAS] (T3/Perfect) Fallen 1, Bleed 2 (8-10)
Armor: Dragoon's Mantle - Fervor [Heavy] (T3/Perfect) 1 Recovery, 2 Heavy Momentum
Misc: Boar Hide Belt [Trinket] (T1/Perfect) [+3 Loot Dice]

Skills:
Two Handed Assault Spear [Rank 5]
Heavy Armor [Rank 5]
Charge [Rank 1]
Energist [Obtained]
Energize [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Disguise
Familiar Fighter R1

Mods:
Finesse Rank 3
Ferocity
Athletics
Stamina
Hyperactive

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal*1
Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [T1/Perfect/Support/Instant] +60 HP*2
Bird Seed (T2/Rare/Snack) Vitality 2*1

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]

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.

 

[Freya 0]

Freya staying up a bit too late, sleeps in a little longer. Ko in her tiny form hops on the bed where Freya lays covering her face from the sun that was reflecting off her window. Ko sits on the bed and gives out a small coo. "Five more minutes Ko," Freya says softly. Ko didn't like that answer very much. She starts to drag the covers off Freya face. "No Ko just a little longer..." Ko gives a small huff and at that moment she turns into her large form without the flames present and flops herself on Freya's chest. "OMG KO YOUR SO FAT..." At this point Ko hops off the bed and drags the covers completely off Freya and runs off with the blanket out of the room. Freya is now just staring at the ceiling as she says "RUDE, fine, I'm awake." A thought goes through her mind before she says "SHIT" and hops out of bed and gathers her things quickly. She had just remembered that Gaius and her were going to do a thing today. She runs out of the room now and grabs a honey roll from the kitchen. Running past Ko as she opens the door. Ko runs out with her as she slams the door behind her. To the shop, entering she saw the dishes in the sink... "Damn it," as she shuts Ko in the shop with Boris and heads to the floor that Gaius and she talked about yesterday before she went to bed.

Freya | HP:900/900 | EN:88/88 | DMG:16 | EVA:2 | ACC:3 | BLD:24 | REC:1

Spoiler

Freya
Level: 44
HP: 900/900
EN: 88/88

Stats:
Damage: 16
Evasion: 2
ACC:3
BLD:24
REC:1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Grim Reminder - Sorrow (T2/Perfect/2HBA): Damage 2, Bleed 1
Armor: Dark Embrace - Sacrifice (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): Evasion 2, Recovery 1
Misc: Bringer (Tierless/Perfect/Trinket): Accuracy 3

Skills:
Two-Handed Battle Axe [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 3]
Charge [Rank 5]

Extra Skills:
Concentration
Familiar Fighter (Rank 1)
Survival (No SP used yet)

Mods:
Finesse Rank 3
Ferocity
Athletics

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal*1
Resistance Plate - Lily (T1/Perfect/HA): Mitigation 27
Silver Band - Farore's Wind: (T1/Perfect/Trinket) Loot Dice 3

Housing Buffs:
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Tasty: Turn 2 identical food items into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]

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 March 24, 2021 by Freya

[Gaius 0]

Time was beginning to pass, and Gaius was expecting her to be a little late. She was completely down for the count from the day prior, and he was using this time to quietly reflect. His memories dart back to his encounter with Griswold in that tower. He made a promise then to do right by the girl. The recollection shifts forward into Val Halla, remembering what he was capable of doing once he set his mind on something. A tightening of his grip around the handle of a new spear, matched with new armor. A new tier, a new weapon and new armor. A flash of his thoughts to the discussion and argument with Raidou and Freyd.

What he did back then meant something. His calls to Kasumi had affirmed her to make the most of it, they were working together. It was a far cry from when he had first met the girl and she clocked him one upside the head. Even his reaction in the most recent hearing of Chase was different. He approached it differently, and he knew that he had. There was an excitement under it all, not only for him. But if he could change, and the captains were offering that same outlook to others. What would they become?

With all this new equipment, was he new as well?

Vanity Tag: @Freyd

[Freya 0]

A bun is her face as she steps on the teleporting pad. "Floor 8" she says with her mouth full. Reappearing on floor 8 and she snaps a buckle on her armor. Looking toward the quest board not seeing him she says "Fuck" as she glances around in a small panic... A glance to the left and then right as she finds him nearly right next to her sitting on the fountain. She takes a exhale of breath, calming her nerves. She finishes her small breakfast and rubs her eyes not fully awake yet. "Sorry I am late. I didn't realize what time it was..." She felt bad that she was not awake to make him breakfast but she was really beat from yesterday. "So what are we doing today." She yawns as she leans against the board trying to wake... She regrets now now having coffee, but she would manage maybe... She looks to the rising sun as the sky was orange. She smiles, enjoying the view. To be honest, there was nowhere she would rather be today. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by Freya

[Gaius 0]

A rise from him as Freya finally had shown up, leaning forward to help him stand. A bun hanging out of her mouth, he couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Don't worry about it, its only been a little while. We're hunting some bear. Supposed to be tough. But I think we can handle it." Gaius remarked as he targeted the girl and sent her a party invite alongside a quest share. Spinning his spear up and moving toward the gate, keeping an eye on Freya to assure that she was tagging along with him. It was still early so it was easy to forgive her. His temperament had changed, before he would have lost his mind. Somehow, it was finally ok. There was a goal stuck behind his gaze, something to strive for. He wanted to test himself on for size, this new version of himself curious to what it might be. He had learned something.

[Freya 0]

The chuckle from him was refreshing as she smiles. Freya accepts everything and follows beside him as they walk out the gates. Her heart sunk just a bit... She thought for sure that Gaius would have yelled or something at her and a crazy weird part of her actually wanted him to. Biting her bottom lip softly as she breaks the gaze from him to look at the ground they walked upon. It was weird, Freya had no issues yelling at him and arguing with him to prove a point, but when it came to talking about her feeling to him it was difficult to find the right words... She knew that something was happening between them with the conversation prior with her father and that kiss, but they never took the time to actually figure it out. 

She nudges him playfully trying to break the tension she felt, "Are you okay? You seem a bit off?"

[Gaius 0]

A playful jab from the girl beckons him to twist slightly, her elbow making him turn. "Yeah I'm fine, just a lot to process." He dismisses her acknowledgement of the shift. "It's weird right, I know. I am just trying to figure out all this crap I've been told is all. I hunted down some creepy spire fucks with Freyd and Raidou, and, uh It was me who got Kasumi on track. I didn't think that I had it in me." Gaius offered her the honesty, still unsure what it meant. He never considered himself any kind of leader. But it worked, more than it should have right? His eyes were a solid fixation forward, pushing himself into the birth of the floor with an odd determination. He was standing tall and seemed oddly motivated toward the goal he had set for himself. He wanted to see where this road would lead, if it was just a coincidence or if the captains had shown him something he hadn't seen until then.

ID# 186357 results: Loot: 3+3=6, No Bear

Edited March 24, 2021 by Gaius

[Freya 0]

"You don't think you had it in you. That is bogus I think. That first time you saw me after what happened to me, you are the one that helped me push through the pain I felt." These words came easy to her because everything she said was true. "You helped me stay calm. Every time after that when I got so full of rage I would stop and listen to your words from that day and breath." She wasn't surprised at the least that he had that effect on others besides her. She takes his free hand in hers, tilting her head slightly trying to look into his eyes as they walked. "You help me through the worst time of my life and for that I thank you." Freya started to get a warm feeling inside as she gives him a smile. "I'm glad to have you in my life Gaius because without you, I don't know where I would be right now." The warm feeling turns to heat as her chest tighten. This happened every time she was with Gaius and it was nothing that she had ever felt for anyone before. She knew what she wanted to say, but she still couldn't find those words... Her eyes shift the ground... "If anything this should prove that you had it in you. You really do have a way with words..." she says in a small voice as she grips his hand tighter not wanting to let go but she would if he pulled away.

ID# 186358 results: Loot: 12 (NO BEAR)

Edited March 24, 2021 by Freya

[Gaius 0]

Rustling from the brush in an instant, they had stumbled right into the thick of the things lair. Kumatetsu raises onto its hind legs, offering a ferocious roar meant to dishearten the players and frighten them. Gaius shrugs as he turns. "Gimme a moment. Hold that thought." He ushers his spear out to one side, and with enough force to fire him up like a missile. The weapon finds strength as he pulls it over his right shoulder, a lime green burst of energy like a solar flare. It suddenly charges at a rapid pace, catching Gaius off guard in that flash. "Well shit." Gaius comments with a grin, tearing his hand down and the air crashes as it breaches it in a sonic boom. The ground becomes destroyed as the weapon passes clean through with no resistance despite how tough it's hide was. Once the dust clears, its nothing but Gaius and a spear being plucked from the soil.

"You were saying?"

ID# 186359 results: Loot: 14+3=17, BEAR

Dimension Stampede [x15], -14 EN (17 - [Finesse 3])

ID# 186360 results: Battle: 9, Minor Critical [+1 DMG] vs. Kumatetsu dealing 25x15=375-50=325 DEAD

Players:
Gaius | HP:1045/1045 | EN:101/115 | DMG:24 | MIT:55 | H.M.:6 | REC:3 | FLN:6 | BLD:36 | LD:3
Freya | HP:900/900 | EN:88/88 | DMG:16 | EVA:2 | ACC:3  | BLD:24 | REC:1

Boss:
Kumatetsu | HP:300/300 | DMG:75 | MIT:50 | ACC:1 | EVA:2
Dodge and Parry: On a player's natural attack roll of 10, the attack will miss «Kumatetsu». Instead «Kumatetsu» will gain a +2 Accuracy and +15 Damage for his next attack.
Beast Form: When «Kumatetsu» is reduced to 150 (or lower) health, he will transform and turn into a bulked-up creature, increasing his damage to 100, but losing his Accuracy and half of his mitigation
Ferocious Roar: When «Kumatetsu» rolls a CD of 10+, he lets out a mighty roar instead of his attack, paralyzing the party.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Gaius

[Freya 0]

Freya couldn't help but start laughing at the sight. The threat was just gone before it even starting. The large open forest became oddly quiet as birds flew outside the tree lines to get out of the blast radius. Freya walks to Gaius staring to the ground where it did stand. Freya was dancing around what she wanted to say for so long. It was time it came out. They were alone now... She pressed her lips together... God, why was this so hard...

Freya takes a deep breath... As she recalls the events out loud. "You kissed me, like really kissed me and then you made a scene with my father about me. You let me into your home and I treat you with food every morning that I can." She could feel her chest pound from every word she said. "We work as if we were one..." She turns to face Gaius now as her face becomes flushed. "How do you really feel about me?" Her eyes turn to a saddish squint as she waits... 

[Gaius 0]

"That it?" Gaius offers rather easily "I thought that was pretty clear, I am going to be a good enough man that your dad has no issue with it. I am going to figure myself out, understand what it is all these guys are trying to tell me. It's all just a jumbled up mess right now." The dragoon replies just allowing his conscious to just pour out, laying it on the line with no filter. "When I am good enough, and I understand who I am. What it is they see. Then we will talk, and I think I'm going to make a choice. I need to be sure first." Spoke as he begins to move toward the city of the village on this floor. "So don't get your panties all bunched up about it, let me figure it out. You coming? This is going to be a long day, which is why I started so damn early."

[Freya 0]

Freya stands there for a moment, thinking... When he is good enough, when he knows who he is... What the hell was that suppose to mean. She thinks back about what he said prior to the bear crushing. He needed to find himself. Soul searching maybe... Whatever the case may have been, she was going to help to the best of her ability. Maybe along the way she would figure out a thing or two about herself. "Oh, uh, yea." Running to his side saying "I am going to get some coffee first. From the sounds of it, it is going to be a very long day," saying with a small chuckle.

As the approach the settlement she practically runs to the closest Inn and orders a French Vanilla Coffee and a hot Breakfast Blend Tea with a few honey rolls. As she waits for her order, she looks out the doorway at Gaius. He was right, it was obvious how he felt. She exhales softly as she turns and grabs her orders walking out with a few col pieces placed on the counter top. "I am with you 100% of the way then, let's go soul searching." She hands Gaius the tea and a roll as she takes a sip of her coffee.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Freya

[Gaius 0]

Taking a swig of the thing in a paper cup, he could taste just a bit of the paper in the brew. He didn't like it, something about that palette of his would pick the garbage data out of anything. It was adequate, but if he was home this would have ended up in a trash can. Taking another sip, trying to convince himself that little bit of strange flavor wasn't there, he takes the rim of the fountain leaving the joint before he lost his cool. The place needed to figure out how to make their shit better. "Soul searching, sure." Gaius wouldn't call it that, but wasn't really sure what to call it if not. It seemed accurate enough, that he couldn't argue with it. "So the moral is these are some of the toughest quests the game has to offer, if we pass them then I'll know I'm strong enough." He spoke to the plan he had come up with.

[Freya 0]

Freya makes a funny face as she takes a sip of her coffee. It was very bland... and tasted like paper rather that Vanilla as it should be... "Oh, that is what you meant by that." She came to realize what he was talking about now. Taking another sip of her coffee, she swallows hard, forcing it down. "Okay, I really can't do this. I keep forgetting that they brew things like shit. I'll be right back..." She takes the tea from Gaius and throws both the cups in the garbage. 

She is gone for about 10 minutes, but coming back to Gaius's side, she has 2 large cups, one with strong brew Vanilla Caramel Coffee and a well blended Breakfast blend tea the she had made. Taking a sip of this coffee as she hands Gaius his she says, "Much better..." as she takes another sip. "I have read very little on these chained quests, but your right, they are tough compared to the others that we have faced. So what is next then now that the bear is dead." She wanted to prove that she could be strong and of use too. Maybe this path was just the way to do so. She has for the most part learned to control this anger inside of her. Maybe to could learn to channel it too.

[Gaius 0]

A twist of his head as the girl rushed off, homeward bound. A few minutes later she ends back up on the floor, leaving Gaius to dwell in his thoughts for a little bit in silence. "How are the shit heads, they get into anything?" Gaius remarks taking the cup from Freya. Much better. "Some skeleton thing on floor 10, makes a bunch of tiny uglies that make the bigger one worse. Way I see it, you smash them to pieces and I'll punch the boss into the next floor." he comments to another drink. A solid and intense stare toward the soil, clearly milling around in his dome as his gaze seemed to extend for 1000 yards. "I can do this, can't I." The words came off small and soft "We can do this." he was speaking it to convince himself of it as a truth. Remembering Rhino as if it just happened, a mistake that he'd like to learn from.

[Freya 0]

She gives a small chuckle at the mess that the fur balls made back home. "Yea, that is an understatement. They got into the flour again, I figured I would clean it up when we actually got home..." Remembering the knocked over tables and chairs with flour that littered about the place and up the stairs. White tiny prints everywhere. Freya eyes close as she gives a small huff. Listening to the attack plan she smiles. "Sounds like a plan," as her eyes open and then his voice changes. Almost sad but determined at the same time. It wasn't like him, but the words that came with that tone caught her attention. "I believe in you Gaius, I always have..." She interlocks her free hand with his free hand. "I believe in us, we are in this together now. Whatever it takes..." She leans her head on his shoulder. She knew they would be moving soon, but she would take what she could get. 

[Gaius 0]

"Of course they did." It was spoken shortly before a chuckle, they were quite the handful like children. "I get it." Gaius offered as a defusal before continuing. "But I need to believe in myself. I just never saw myself as any sort of leader." He remarked, looking to the spear at his side, the images of Kasumi playing through his head and that strange influence he had on her in that moment. The words spoken by Raidou still ringing in his ears, not just the ones shortly before, but what he'd been saying all along. Like a chorus. "Hell a while ago I wasn't even taking this remotely seriously, just kinda living day by day yunno." Even on this floor, he just sort of wandered around and went through the motions with not much direction. Now that he had found some, he was a little shocked on what he should do next.

[Freya 0]

She knew exactly what he was saying. "When I first got here in this game, I treated it as a huge joke too." She holds his hand a bit tighter remembering what she had gone through and what she had to do to get to where she was at right now. "When Raidou saved me from that cave, I felt like I got a second chance. Anything could have happened, but the best of the worse took place." Taking a sip of her coffee and then looking out into the open where Gaius's gaze was. "I want to only move forward now. Let the past stay where it lays. Live every day to its fullest so that no moment is a waste." Being here with him now she was glad that Gaius asked her to come. She royally fucked up on that first relationship. She wasn't going to let that happen again. She would help Gaius get through this rough patch he was going through. God only knows how much he had helped her.

[Gaius 0]

"I guess your right, we're both kinda fuck ups." He smiled taking another sip of tea, sliding his attentions to her. A soft breeze and a rumble of a storm in the distance. One of the many that played on this place on the regular. A typhoon of current, makes his hair begin to jump and with it the outcry of thunder. "When I was just rummaging around, Raidou chewed my ass out. Then again in Rhino with you. Then shortly after during snake out of water." He recalled them to her. "The worst at the time. But maybe his refusal to let me fuck around, was the best thing that could have happened to me." He reaches out with his left hand allowing his spear fall into the soil, making a move for the thing that was more important than the power it provided.

"We will move forward, and then our life will continue outside. To the fullest and beyond. To the stars." he clutched her hand with his own. The place was alive, breathing around them. That stream of air, carrying with it a past with its leaves and moving them on.

The winds of change

[Freya 0]

Passion, it was what she felt when he looked into her eyes. She started to get a warm feeling within her chest. As he drops his weapon, instead of the arm she was latched to, he grabs her hand in his. Their eyes locked, she couldn't look away. It felt like the entire world had stopped for this moment alone. The storm was brewing around them, dark gray clouds fill the sky, flashes of lightning strike within them. It starts to pour down, the cold rain as they become soaked, but they never looked away. The silence between them, it was like for the very first time, someone actually saw Freya for who she was and not for what she has done. Just a bit longer, she didn't want this feeling to stop, the warmth through the cold rain. The gaze that made everything clear. Gaius was the one... The only one... 

Quest Complete:
Gaius:
6*SP (1 Page Count, 1 Event Bonus, 2 Quest Reward, 2 Mega Slimefarm)
Kumatetsu Statue

Freya:
4*SP (1 Page Count, 1 Event Bonus, 2 Quest Reward)
Kumatetsu Statue

Simmone- Guild Treasury:
4,400*Col (2000*2 for reward, 400 for Page)

Edited March 26, 2021 by Freya