[F2-PP] <<Breaking the Unbreakable>> Time To Find Inner Peace! Or at Least a Bruised Fist.

[Astreya 0]

The girl paused, standing at the base of the mountain as she looked up, frowning as she saw just how high it was going.  "Ugh," she spoke slightly as she shifted her armor on her body, the young woman not really looking forward to this at all.  Someone had let her know that there was a necessary quest to use some of the Sword Arts for all the different weapons, and that required them to have Martial Arts.

Apparently this Quest was present before the system update, but Astreya hadn't realized that it had been here.  But once it had been mentioned once people were looking at all of their new skills and gear and everything, it had come out that one needed Martial Arts for some of the Sword Arts... which brought her here.

"Man, rock climbing was kind of whatever when I had a harness and visible handholds and all that," she spoke aloud, a habit that she'd gotten into once she was in this world.  Since she'd decided she was going to start up going to the front lines, she'd been on her own a lot more... and that led to her just talking out loud to be able to listen to someone talking- it might as well be her.  

She took a half-step forward, setting one plated boot on the mountain path.  She supposed that the longer she whined about it (to nobody in particular) the longer it would take before she was able to reach the top of this thing.  Reaching back, Astreya checked the binding on her weapon, making sure that it was secured to her back and that the blade wouldn't slide out of the scabbard  on her way up.  Much as she'd guessed... everything was set.  She just needed to quit delaying and get on with this climb.

 

Spoiler

--Level 11
--HP: 220
--NRG: 40

--Base Damage: 8
--Mitigation: 30
--Regeneration: 1% (Currently 2)
--Accuracy: 3
--Thorns: 18
--EN Recovery: 2 (On CD rolls of 7+)
--Taunt: 2

Gear:
»Silver Frost [2H Straight Sword] | Rare T2
[Damage] - Gain +2 base damage per slot.
[Accuracy] - Add 1 onto your BD rolls (Cannot cause crits)

»Battle Dress | Rare T2 Heavy Armor
[Mitigation] - Prevent 12 damage from successful attacks against you.
[Thorns] - Successful non-critical attacks against you deal 18 unmitigated damage to the attacking enemy. Only activates on damage dealing, melee attacks.

»Dodgeball | Rare T1 Trinket
[Accuracy II] - Add 2 onto your BD rolls (Cannot cause crits)

»Spotlight | Rare T2 Trinket
[Taunt] - Adds 1 Hate generated from successful attacks, Howl and Furious Howl.
[Recovery] - Regain 2 additional energy on natural CD rolls of 7+. 

Consumables:
»Starter Healer Potions | Heals 50 HP
[3 Total]
»Tier One Damage Potion of Uncommon quality. (+1 Damage)
[1 Total]
»Tier One Health Potions of Rare quality. (+10% HP)
[3 Total]
»Tier One Immolation Potion (+10 Thorns Damage)
[1 Total]
»Fixer Upper (Salve) | Antidote I
[1 Total]

 

[Zandra 0]

Stats:

Spoiler

Name: Zandra
Level: 31
Paragon level: 57
HP: 900 (840(level)+60(armor mod))
Energy: 102
Damage: 23(1(base)+7(2h-skill)+12(combat mastery)+1(Impetus)+2(Ferocity))
Mitigation: 100 (35(skill)+15(mod)+48(armor mit)+32(flame aura))
Defensive dmg: 16 (16(flame aura))
Accuracy: 3 (3(gear))
Fallen: 16 (16(warhammer))
Burn: 56(8-10) (56(8-10)(Warhammer)) 

Skills:

Warhammer r5
Heavy armor r5
Combat mastery: Damage r3
Extended Mod limit

Mods:

-Stamina
-Ferocity
-Iron skin
-Purify
-Energize | Hyperactive
-Barrier
-Field medic

Equipment:

-Teseleths fury: 2 Fallen | 2 Burn
-Inferno: 2 Flame aura | 2 mitigation
-Handwraps of accuracy: +3 ACC

Extra skills:

-First Aid
-Leadership
-
-

Battle ready inventory

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Dimensional backpack
-Dimensional pouch

Consumable

-
-
-
-
-

Guild hall/house buff

-Col Despoit: +5% bonus col drop
-Well rested: -1 energy cost 3 first expenditures/combat
-Squeaky clean: -25% DoT dmg from first DoT attack/thread
-Hard working: +2 Crafting EXP and +1 attempt/day
-Practiced angler: +2 EXP fishing, +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts
-Delicious: Turn 3 food into a 6player-feast
-Mega slime farm: +10% EXP one thread/month
-Filling: +1 t1 slot to a food buff
-Item stash: +1 BR inventory slot
-Relaxed: +20 HP ooc regen, energy full refill 2 posts
-Col stash: +5% col from monster kills and treasure chests

Others:

-

Zandra laid on her bed, looking at the roof above her. So much had change in the span of just twenty four hours. This giant update that have totally ruined her whole build. She couldn’t be like she was before. Before she could be basically whatever she wanted. She was a scout, tank, dps and healer at the same time thanks to her huge amount of skill points. Now everything was changed and she had some serious thinking to do. She sat up and scratched her head. She cant lay here all day she thougth to herself. ‘’Well, I guess some fresh mountain-air would work with this.’’ She said to herself.

An hour later she had portaled down twenty floors to number two. She stepped out of the warp portal, took a deep breath and sighed. ‘’Perfect.’’ She said to herself when the mountain air filled her lungs. But even if it was good here at the plaza, she needed to get out in the wilderness to get that amazing air she haven’t felt in what felt like forever.

When she headed out outside the city she picked up a few words. "Man, rock climbing was kind of whatever when I had a harness and visible handholds and all that," Came from somewhere to her left. She turned her focus that way and spotted a girl. About the same height as he but with a younger look. She as well had long, black hair, but this girls had eyes like a sapphires instead of Zandra’s rubies. Zandra walked up to her. She cleared her throat so to not scare her. ‘’Excuse me, couldn’t avoid to hear. Do you have experience of rock climbing before entering this death-game?’’

Words: 287

Edited April 5, 2021 by Zandra

[Astreya 0]

Astreya wasn't exactly used to other people being the ones to approach her.  Or at least, not here in the game world.  She had a positive enough attitude in the real world that most people didn't mind or even think anything of coming up to talk to her, but here in the game world, because she looked like a newb (which admittedly she very much was) she had a lot of people that would just sort of ignore her when it came to doing things like quests and so forth.  Not that she minded, really, and kind of understood.  If you had already put a lot of time into the game, you didn't really want to have to babysit a newbie.

So when a new voice spoke up and made it clear that they were in response to the words that she'd spoken a moment ago, Astreya blinked, turning to face the new speaker.  A woman with similar properties to herself- but with eyes of red instead of blue.  All the same, Astreya didn't even balk, a wide grin moving across her features as the question was posed.

"Yeah!  Not a lot, but I did it sometimes with the rest of the team," she spoke, before pausing, backtracking a step.  "I'm the captain of a volleyball team at the college I go to.  Or went to.  I'm not really sure what the proper, like, way to say it is," the girl spoke, shaking her head slightly.  

She had heard the other girl refer to this as a 'death game' and while that was decidedly true, it was the first time that Astreya had ever heard anyone else refer to it in that way.  But all the same, a friend was a friend.  "I'm Ir-" she began, before pausing.  Right.  They told her that it wasn't good to share her real name... but no one had yet been able to tell her why.  "Astreya," she finished.  She paused then, glancing back at the mountain.  "Are you on this quest too?" she asked, curiously.

 

TWC: 648

Edited April 4, 2021 by Astreya

[Zandra 0]

The girl infront of her seemed to not get scared or go into a defence mood like so many people do when a random stranger comes up to them and starts talking with them without a reason. She listened the young woman. It sounded like she was quite an active person back in the real world. Both mountainclimbing and being a captain of a volleyball team. ‘’I see. I hvnt tried it out myself thou. But it would be fun to try some day. Just have to get to the hundredth floor first.’’ Zandra let out short sigh as she thinked about the one hundred floors they need to climb. All the work she had put in, and she had only helped with ten of the floors, and they still had seventy five left. Well, didn’t mattered now, cuz now she was busy with getting to know a new player.

The other girl introduced herself so Zandra gave a short nod. ‘’Hi Irastreya, it is nice to meet you. Myself I am Zandra. And no, Im not at any quest at the moment. I take the question as you are thou? If you wont company I wont mind joining you thou if that’s okay?’’

Words: 205

[Astreya 0]

The thought of having to climb to the hundredth floor was still enormously daunting, and Astreya exhaled slowly at just how bleakly this other girl made it seem.  "Yeah.  That's part of why I'm trying to get up some levels.  I'd been one of those hiding out in the Town of Beginnings but it hit me the other day that if people... um, if they don't do well on the front lines, that there aren't replacements.  That means we could be stuck in here forever so...like, even if I'm scared, I'm going to try," she spoke, nodding.

Irastreya.  That was a new one.  

Of course, given the fact that she'd shifted her name part of the way through, she supposed that wasn't all that unexpected.  She felt a red flush blossoming up on her cheeks and shook her head swiftly, as if to dispel the notion entirely.  "Sorry, it's just Astreya.  I'm still getting used to all of these unwritten game rules.  Like don't give out your first name.  I still don't see why not, though," the girl responded, moving a hand up to move a few strands of hair that had fallen onto her face from her headshake.  

"But anyway, it's nice to meet you, Zandra.  And I'm not on a quest... yet anyway."  She turned, glancing back up at the mountain.  "I heard that there was some sorta skill you could get by climbing up here.  And I figured that questing is probably the quickest way to get the levels to get to the Front Lines, right?" she asked, the girl seeking a confirmation as much as she was actually wanting to make sure her logic was sound.  "I don't really play a lot of these games, so I don't know if that's the best way but it makes sense to me."

TWC: 952

Edited April 5, 2021 by Astreya
Wordcount

[Zandra 0]

So, it seemed this was a girl she soon would be seeing on the frontlines. She looked like a dedicated person and like she had decided to herself. Would there be another blackhaired girl on the frontline. Would Irastrya join next floor boss? Maybe that will be too soon, or not. Zandra still had to get used to this new system. Like her level have dropped by over fifty, was this making each level harder? Or what plans did Kayaba have for them. Well, the one that lives will see. And Zandra was gonna make herself one of those. Irastrya reminded her thou that it wasn’t sure that Zandra would survive to the hundredth floor. ‘’Yeah, it was awhile since we lost someone to a floor boss. There is actually more common that people decides to just not show up. Retiring or something. But it is always good to be as many as possible. The more players we are, the faster it will go and shorter time for the boss to… yeah.’’

Then Irastreya blushed and shaked her head. Zandra got confused at first. Was it something she said? But she quickly understood. ‘’ooooh, Im sorry. Let me correct myself then.’’ She cleared her throath. ‘’Hi Astreya, nice to meet you.’’

It seemed she was on a quest, or something else, to get a skill. The only skill she could remember from floor two was the martial arts. But that quest wasn’t on that mountain. It was on a grassfield the opposite way. ‘’Well, it sounds you have better info about this then I do. I don’t remember anything about a skill unlocking on this mountain. Maybe I should give this a shot as well. You lead the way. Well, if it is okay I tag along. Or maybe you prefer to do it alone?’’ she asked Astreya with a friendly tone. ‘’I know a few players that prefer to go questing alone.’’ She added.

words: 325

[Astreya 0]

At the response from Zandra, that it was more common that people just didn't show up, Astreya had to struggle to keep her jaw from just dropping at that.  "Whaaat?  Are you serious?" she asked, the mountain temporarily forgotten.  "That's crazy!  I'm trying really hard to be able to help out on the front lines- I can't believe that some people might not show up to help.  Maybe they've given up?  That's really sad," the girl spoke with a small frown, unable to believe that was the case... but she guessed that it might be- she had no way of knowing what people had going on at that time.  Even if they wanted to get out of here, there could be some who have a difficult time staying focused or whatnot, so she supposed she could understand that.

"Of course it's okay if you tag along!  Doing these quests Solo is so boring," the dark-haired girl spoke, shaking her head.  "Like, don't get me wrong, sometimes I gotta do it because that's the only option that's there.  But I'd super rather have a friend along to chat with along the way," she spoke, giving a wide grin back at Zandra.  She didn't know if Zandra would yet consider her a friend given the fact that they had literally just met, but Astreya was that sort of person, to call someone a friend even if they'd only exchanged a few words.

She glanced back up at the mountain and the trail that led up it.  "Sorry that our first fun time together has to be climbing this big old mountain," she continued, before she shifted her weight again, setting one foot up and beginning to climb. "There better be something really cool up here.  I don't know how important martial arts is to using a sword and shield, but I guess it's a quest and that'll help me level up some more," she murmured as she began to make her way up the mountain.  "You already get Martial Arts before this patch?" she asked, curious.

(Post 1 of 3 of climbing the mountain)

TWC: 1,296

[Zandra 0]

Zandra gave Astreya a sad smile when she herd the reaction about the frontliners. ‘’Yeah, Ive been present at about a dozen floor boss fights by now, and Ive seen people growing, reaching the frontlines, fighting a few floor bosses, then just disappeared. I don’t know what have happened with them. They not dead because they still on the monument. But maybe they got some other business, or thougth that they have helped, now other players can do the rest of the work. I honestly don’t know.’’

With a smile and thumb up Zandra sent a party invite to Astreya. ‘’Awesome. And I totally agree with that. Solo questing and adventuring can be very boring. But sometimes it can be good to clear ones mind and just relax a bit. Today isn’t one of those days thou. Questing is also a good way to meet new person and befriend them.’’ She said as she thougth to herself if she would send a friend request as well. But no, she maybe going to look way to pushy if doing that, so she decided to hold back when it came to that.

‘’So, time to head upwards then I guess.’’ She said and started to climb slightly to the right of Astreya. She sent another glance at the mountain as she apologized for their first time would be to be climbing the old mountain. ‘’Apology accepted, maybe you can teach me some off the climbing tips or trix from real world while we are at it.’’ She replied. ‘’And yeah, I do have the Martial Arts. Thou before it wasn’t on this mountain. When I did the quest, before this huge patch, it was just to punch a boulder until it broke. This seems to be on another, harder to reach, location. Maybe it will be more fun then  just hit a rock until it breaks. And to be honest, I never had any use of the  martial arts skill, mainly because I didn’t picked up that weapon style and my weapon style wasn’t affected by it in any way at all. Just got it for the extra skill point.’’ She said with a giggle at the end as her legs moved her higher up the mountain, towards the goal that was the top.

Words: 382

Edited April 10, 2021 by Zandra

[Astreya 0]

As she shifted around a little bit to get started in climbing, she glanced back as Zandra noted about the other Frontliners that just... seemed to do a few bosses and then vacate.  That didn't make any sense to her- although she supposed she couldn't really blame them, or even really consider her own thoughts on the matter when it came to what they had decided to do so.  She could say now that she wouldn't ever do something like that and keep people hanging, but who knew what might happen with her in the future?  She frowned, looking back up as she began to shift her weight to continue up the mountain.

"Oh hey, party invite.  Yes please," the girl spoke with a grin as she accepted, able to now see more information on Zandra than she had before when they had just been talking.  "And yeah, totally!  I did all of the newbie quests with like... Zakariah and Lyle and all that on my own but man that would have been a lot better with a friend, that's for sure," the woman spoke, shaking her head slightly.  "Especially hunting all those herbs.  Zakariah I'm gonna beat you up later," she murmured under her breath.  "But I'd always like to do these with someone else if I could.  Doing them on my own is just, like, so totally boring, y'know?"

At Zandra's explanation on how the quest had been before, the young woman snorted.  "Punching a boulder til it broke?  Man that sounds boring as all heck," the young woman spoke, shaking her head.  "You'd like... man," she continued, pausing as she held onto a tree root, mostly just trying to think that through.  "I guess in a game world that makes a little more sense.  I was just thinking about that in the real world and how that... well, one- totally wouldn't work.  And then two, you couldn't learn martial arts from that.  Maybe how to throw a punch, I guess?" she murmured.

"Oh!  And as for climbing, it seems real obvious but look for handholds, and like, totally don't overreach.  Because your handholds are gonna, like, become your footholds.  So don't reach too far!" Astreya called out.

WC: 1,666

(Part 2 of 3 of mountain climbing)

Edited April 28, 2021 by Astreya