[F1-SP] <<Feeding Your Enemy>> Finding a New Friend!

[Astreya 0]

 

There were a great deal of things about this world that Astreya hadn't yet learned.  One of those things was the fact that she had seen a whole mess of people with a pet of some kind.  For awhiel, she had mostly ignored it, figuring that once she hit a certain level or something then she'd get the opportunity to get one.  But she'd passed level 10 and was now 11, and still hadn't gotten a single scrap of information regarding it.  The girl was a bit antsy to have something to help call her own, and so she couldn't help but to be a little bit... pushy when it came to finding out information.

Thankfully, there were a few other players that were more than willing to work with her to tell her what she needed to do in order to find how to get a pet.  From what she'd been told, there was a gypsy-like woman (who Astreya had tried to tell them that was a slur and she should be called Romanian but then they had all agreed that there probably weren't Romanians in Sword Art: Online and so Gypsy was probably fine to call her) who taught people how to tame some of the monsters as their own pets.  

Granted, they had also told her that the woman was kind of weird and off-putting and so if she was going to try that she should make sure she was ready to deal with such a thing.  But Astreya was someone who was always rather open and kind anyway, and due to that, she didn't figure she'd run into any sort of issue in getting through to the woman.  The biggest issue was going to be finding her, as she apparently just wandered all the floors and was sometimes just completely unseen for any length of time.

Astreya figured she'd just start by going floor by floor, checking out the areas outside of the towns as well as the towns themselves, and eventually she'd run into the lady.  If nothing else, all of the adventuring would allow her to hopefully gain a level or two in the meantime.  At least, she hoped that's all that it would be and that she wouldn't be stuck adventuring all over the place looking for what would amount to a proverbial ghost.  It wasn't that she didn't trust the players who had given her the information, but it was more that there was no way to tell where this woman would end up.

"I guess I should go over this town first," Astreya spoke aloud, looking over the Town of Beginnings.  There wasn't much other choice than to just hunt the woman down so she could get the help she needed.  She didn't know why such a quest was left up to this kind of RNG, but she'd started to accept that was going to be a constant place in her life now if she wanted to get to the top.  Or at least up to the Front Lines.
 

WC: 508
 

Spoiler

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

--Base Damage: 8
--Mitigation: 30
--Regeneration: 1% (Currently 2)
--Accuracy: 3
--Thorns: 18
--Taunt: 1

---

Skills:
»2H Straight Sword [Journeyman]
--Base Damage +4
--T1 and T2 Sword Arts

»Battle Healing [Novice]
--1% HP Regen (Currently 2)

»Fighting Spirit:
--Attacking and using Howl or Focused Howl generates +1 additional Hate.

»Howl:
--Adds +2 Hate each against up to 4 targets. | 2 Energy | 2turn Cooldown
--»Focused Howl: Adds +4 Hate against a single target. | 4 Energy | 4turn Cooldown

»Heavy Armor [Expert]
--Mitigation +18
--»Impetus: Base Damage +1

»Concentration
--As a free action, gain Absolute Accuracy on your next attack. Effect lasts until the start of next turn. | 0 Energy | 5-Turn Cooldown

---

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]

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Astreya
Stats

[Astreya 0]

The young woman decided that it would make the most sense to start near the middle of the town and work her way outwards- that would allow her to do the best sweep of the town, and beyond that, it would also allow her to be able to see if there was any sort of wild gypsy woman that was nearby.  She figured if she could catch sight of the woman moving through or even leaving the town, she'd have a better way of making sure that she was able to catch her.  It made sense to her, really- she just hoped it worked.

The town square was her first destination, and as she came closer to it, memories of that first day with The Game Master showing up and letting them all know that this was going to be for real and not just a game flooded back to her.  Of course, Astreya hadn't really been paying him much attention- it was a little bit embarrassing to admit but she had been focused on other things at the time, and so when the announcement had come, she hadn't quite understood (at first) why everyone was freaking out as bad as they were.

However, once she had learned the situation, panic had started to set in, and that had led from one thing to another with Zack desperately trying to keep her safe but also level as fast as possible and that had-

She paused, shaking her head.  No need to dwell on those memories- she'd done so long enough after she'd lost him.  It had taken her some time afterward to come to terms with the situation, and longer to get up the courage to leave the Town of Beginnings- she sure as heck wasn't going to go back down that same road.

But as she arrived in the Town Square, she could see a number of other people still just hanging around.  Judging from the gear they wore, it was all sorts of levels that were here, and that was something that she expected.  The Town of Beginnings was a fairly popular hangout for all levels, just because it was so familiar to everyone.  Glancing around at people, her gaze flickered over a few of them before deciding who to approach.  Someone that looked moderately well-leveled, but not someone who didn't seem like they'd be friendly was the key.

'Hey~" the girl called out toward a group that were sitting around and discussing something- she hadn't been clear what, but three out of the four of them had a pet with them.  The group realized they were being hailed and looked up at the young woman, curious as to what she wanted, as it seemed like it was just her alone.  They already had a full party, so someone approaching them out of the blue like that was kind of weird... but none of them rebuffed her as she approached.  "Got a quick question for you guys, if that's okay?" she asked.

TWC: 1012

[Astreya 0]

The group glanced up at her with some confusion on their faces, not entirely sure why she'd be approaching them, but at the same time, she seemed nice and open enough.  It wasn't as if she was going to suddenly attack them or anything- and besides, they were in the Town of Beginnings anyway.  "Uh.  Sure, what's up?" one of the folks asked.  It was a guy who looked like he was in his late 20s or so, and he had a kind smile.  Astreya liked him pretty well right off the bat, but she didn't push anything about that. 

"Hey, so I'm looking to get a Familiar, like you guys got.  I heard here and there that there's some sorta lady that goes around and offers to teach you how to get one?" she asked, curious if they might know anything.  "You guys seen her at all in your travels around and can point a girl in the right direction?" she asked, giving them all a grin.

The fellow who'd spoken up blinked at her relative forwardness about the situation.  Most people that played MMOs either did so with friends or generally weren't very social... but she seemed to be on her own and was just approaching them out of the blue like this.  "Uh.  I haven't seen her recently, no.  It's been a few months- especially after the update I don't think I've seen her at all," the man responded.

"Ugh.  That stinks.  I was hoping that there would be something easy to find her.  I guess not," she mused to herself for a moment, before she glanced back at the group.

"I've seen her," one of the others spoke up.  He looked a little more moody and difficult, but at least he was offering up some information.  "It was up on... I think Floor Three or Four?  I forget exactly where, but I saw her talking with some other players.  There was something really off about her though.  She didn't seem like the same NPC as before," the man commented, his expression dark.  "I feel like she might've been an imposter almost, if I didn't see one of them come back with a familiar some time later.  I don't know.  I think they changed the quest."

The girl frowned at the news, folding her arms over her chest before she tilted her head to one side.  "So she's definitely not here on Floor One?" she asked after a moment, and the one who had been speaking shook his head.

"Well, we can't really say she's definitely not here.  She always just kind of wandered before.  But if Jastere thinks that he saw her up there, you might want to start there first.  It's kinda..." the first guy began, gesturing with a hand toward her, as if he weren't sure how to say it.  "It's like I said, she wanders around.  It's possible she might be down here somewhere if you look for her, y'know?" he offered, trying to help out where he could.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Astreya
Typo

[Astreya 0]

Astreya rolled her eyes at the responses she got from them all.  "Okay so that didn't really help me at all," she spoke, before she followed that up with a grin at the lot of them.  "I appreciate the help, but at least I guess it let me know she's probably somewhere on these first four or maybe five floors.  At least that helps in sorting out just how far up I'll need to go," the woman spoke, before she looked back at the main gate for The Town of Beginnings, as if having to resign herself to the fact that she was going to have to go out and about all over the place to find the woman.  

"We could help you out, maybe," the first man spoke, glancing at the girl.  "You've got some gear, I can see, but for the most part you don't look like you're very high level," he continued.  "It'd be safer in a group."

At that, Astreya had to war with herself for a moment.  While on one hand, he was right, and the fact that she was kind of a social butterfly, being in a group felt like it was the obvious choice.  On the other hand, she wasn't sure how long she could keep deflecting away questions that would get too close to what she wanted to protect. And with that, this guy seemed like he was already trying to crush on her a little bit... and she didn't really want to deal with any memories of Zack if she didn't have to.

"I'm like level eleven, and the new update gave me, like, a whole bunch of SP so I'm sure I'll be fine on the first few floors.  Thank you though!" she called cheerfully as she raised a hand to wave at the group, making her way away from them, exhaling slowly.  She hated turning people down if they wanted to help, but there was always so many things that could cause an issue for her if she let people get in too close.  The armor she wore wasn't impenetrable- and if someone was able to get within, she wasn't going to be able to back off without coming off as rude.

It was easier just to keep people at arm's length, now.  And this journey was partly due to some of that from the people she'd talked to thus far.  She just needed some time away from people for a bit to really sit and gather her thoughts and determine what she was going to do, moving forward.  She'd learned a good bit already in talking with people about the update and the fact that it had changed a lot of their stats around, which had actually caused the build she was going for to be slightly weaker, as a tank, but she'd keep on that path anyway.  That's the armor that Zack had gotten for her... and so she'd keep pushing toward that end goal, no matter how hard it might be.

[Astreya 0]

Astreya had spent the next several hours combing over each and every part of The Town of Beginnings, but as she went, there was nowhere that had seen the gyspy woman lately, which meant that it was quite clear she wasn't here.  Or, at the very least, she wasn't in this town.  The fact that she might be wandering all around the area in the grasslands or the forests or something as well wasn't exactly heartening.  That just made it that much harder for Astreya to miss her.  That was annoying, and made this whole Quest all the more difficult for her to find an ending for.

She sighed as she stood at the gates, before she glanced over at the gate guard that she had a somewhat shared history with Freyd.  She opened her mouth, as if she were going to say something to him, but ultimately closed it again, not really sure why she thought that talking to the NPC.  She already knew that "Marv" didn't respond to anything said, so she wasn't sure what had possessed her to very nearly try and talk with him.  

The young woman's gaze flickered over to Marv again for a moment, the NPC guard looking as stock-still as always and eventually she shook her head, moving past him out of the Town of Beginnings into the great field that lay beyond.  There were a fair number of creatures that were out here roaming around, and the young woman realized that just about every other time she'd come outside before she was on a Quest, and wondered if that made a special overworld for her.  She forgot the term that Zack had tried to tell her about- it started with the letter 'i' but beyond that, she couldn't say what it might have been.  Insync'd or something.

She sighed a little, the young woman not enough of a gamer to be able to keep up with all the terms that were thrown around for everything.  Glancing back over her shoulder, she was tempted to go back and check on the group that she'd been talking with originally.  Then again she didn't really didn't want to 'out' herself as a non-gamer in this instance.  She worked much better in one-on-one scenarios with people, or maybe a group of three... but a group of five was just too much for her- she didn't think she'd ever be able to feel comfortable with that many strangers at once.

Maybe if she knew everyone from the get-go it wouldn't be so bad.  She hoped that would be the case whenever she reached the point where she could actually help on the front lines.  She already knew Freyd... and assuming the kooky guy was telling the truth about going up to the front lines for a raid, that meant she knew exactly one person who did so.  And while Freyd wasn't the most sociable guy, he was at least someone that she knew.  And that was definitely better than nothing at all.

[Astreya 0]

"Well, I suppose I can get over to Horunka next.  That's territory that I'm familiar with," she spoke to herself- the girl needing to talk to someone if she was going to be spending quite awhile on her own.  Granted, she could have talked with Marv on her way out, but that didn't really clear the issue at hand.  But it was still kind of sad to be on her own for this- she supposed that it might be nice, then, to eventually get this familiar of hers.  Even if it couldn't talk back- it was at least something that she could talk to.  

But to get to Horunka, she'd need to go through the forest, which is where all the boars tended to make their home.  She didn't fancy going through that way, but that was going to be the quickest way on through.  And so the young woman shouldered her weapon, beginning to make the trek on through the forest, her footsteps falling one after the other as she moved toward where Horunka was located.

She didn't really understand why there was a quest like this- which would involve having to actually hunt down and find an NPC to talk to first.  It seemed like having the gypsy woman just be available around somewhere would be the easiest way... but she supposed that the Familiar was a really nice benefit to have.  It just seemed like a nice way to have some support for yourself- and that was nice.

As she made her way through the forest, however, she became aware of several rustling sounds, and she wondered if the boars were going to go out of their way to attack her.  She knew that they were relatively aggressive if they felt threatened, and while when she had first done the quest for Lyle she'd been quite... against having to kill the baby boars, but after they'd just vanished in a burst of light after having gone down, and it wasn't like their bodies remained behind- that kind of helped to remove the negative feelings that were associated with the action itself.

She wondered, vaguely, if the mother boar was seeking revenge or anything from when she and Etherial had come out here and had fought against her?  She didn't really think that was the case, that the NPC monsters could hold a grudge like that, but she hadn't had too much difficulty last time in dealing with the mother boar.  If it wanted to have another go at her...

"Hey, if you're hiding out there in the trees and you monsters want a piece, I'm right here," the girl called out, not sure if that would scare them off or cause them to attack, but all the same, she lifted a hand back to her weapon, narrowing her eyes at the trees on if they were going to come out after her or not.  She kept her stance ready, waiting to see what was going to start coming her way- and cut them down!

[Astreya 0]

It didn't take long for her taunt to make it to the beasts in the forest line.  She didn't think that there was anything here on the first floor that could really challenge her, but all the same, she still felt the flutters of trepidation in her heart.  The concept of battle at any time was something she found incredibly dangerous and the fact that there had been several individuals who had lost their lives to some of these basic creatures was a terrifying thought to consider.

She shifted her stance slightly as she waited, holding her weapon at the ready.  And, just as she had predicted, there were suddenly the sounds of several boars coming out of the forest toward her.  These ones weren't quite as big as the big angry mama boar, but at the same time, they were also a good bit bigger than the basic boar babies that she had fought earlier.  "Okay you little jerks.  I'm just trying to pass through but if you're going to make life difficult for me, then I'm going to have to make it worse for you!" she called out.

The first of the boars headed right toward her and as it drew close it leapt upward toward her and slammed itself directly into her chest plate.  The woman winced, as if expecting it to be a lot worse, but her HP only dropped by one.  The Mitigation between her armor and her armaments made this a lot easier, and these creatures were going to have to just eat the Thorns damage that was connected to her gear as well.

It yelped in pain as the Thorns struck it, and while it didn't go down, it was clear that it was taking some serious damage from the armor.  She shifted, her weapon beginning to glow as she got into her stance for the sword art.  She was getting better at this, learning to just roll with the attacks and adjust accordingly as her weapon began to gather the technique it needed.  

And then she let loose with two major sweeping strikes, aimed at all three of the boars that had come out toward her.  The first one- the one that had struck her initially- had gone down in a burst of light, but the other two still managed to hang on.  "Damn.  I guess I'm still not strong enough," she murmured under her breath as she shifted her stance, being a bit more open with it and avoiding being able to dodge her opponents.

She fully opened herself up to the attacks, and as the two boars still remaining slammed into her, each of them took the reprisal in the form of the Thorns damage, causing each of them to screech out in pain before hitting the ground and also dispersing into light.  She exhaled slowly as she sheathed her blade, waiting for her health to recover, before she blinked.  "Hey.  Where's the loot from these guys?" she asked, looking around.  The last time she'd been in a fight with the boars she'd gotten something.  What the heck?

[Astreya 0]

The young woman frowned as she looked down at the boars, waiting to see if there was some sort of delayed looting mechanic, but so far there was absolutely nothing.  That was more than annoying- that was ridiculous.  "How did that even happen?" she asked aloud, looking to see if she could figure out why before something dawned on her.  She had gotten a lot of levels since the last time she'd gone after the boars.  

Was there actually something in place that would keep her from being able to get loot from lower level creatures?  She supposed that was... actually kind of fair.  She wouldn't be able to just keep getting loot over and over again, which made sense.  That would force her up to the higher floors where things were mildly more dangerous.  Still- "That's really lame, Cardinal," she called out to the system at large, waiting to see if there was some sort of response, but alas, there was none.

So instead, she simply began to resume her trek to Horunka, the girl making her way through the forest, noting with some amusement that none of the creatures seemed to be bothering her now that she was actually well out of their ability to attack.  It hadn't even taken her long at all to fully recover from the wounds taken- the Battle Healing Skill she had was an immediate boon to her, and she couldn't help but to find that it was way more helpful than she had originally anticipated.

Thankfully, Horunka wasn't that much further away, and as she approached the quiet little village, she realized that this was going to be a pretty quick search for the Gypsy with how few buildings there were.  She poked her head into a few of the businesses before coming back out and then finally decided that the woman wasn't here at all.  She sighed, glancing toward where the Labyrinth was that would lead to the Second Floor.  She knew there was a town that way, too.

"She was really weird though, right?  I mean, I appreciate her help getting Barkbark here, but I still feel like she's watching me, even now."

The words were spoken by a woman who appeared to be in her mid-to-late 20s, relaxing with what looked like a wolfhound.  Opposite her was a guy probably closer to Astreya's age, who was looking at her with some concern at hearing what she was talking about.  "I didn't think she was all that weird.  But I already had a familiar from the old gypsy from before the update," the guy said, shrugging slightly.  "I'm just glad that you were able to get one without any difficulty."

That was all that Astreya needed to hear.  Luck was on her side today- at least so far, as she made her way over to the... couple?  She didn't really know (and she wasn't one to judge either) as she approached.  "Hey!  Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop but I'm actually looking for that Gypsy too," she spoke, giving the pair a wide smile.

[Astreya 0]

The woman glanced to the younger man that was with her, before she gestured to a chair near them.  "Well then, come and have a seat, young lady," she offered, giving Astreya a kind smile.  "I imagine that if you're overhearing us and came to chat, then you  must be looking to get a familiar for yourself, is that right?  You don't have any little thing sitting around you, so I just assume that's the case," the woman spoke, smiling at Astreya.

The young woman nodded in response.  "Yes ma'am, you got it!  I've been seeing so many other people with cool or cute little pets and they look like they'd be super helpful, so like, I just totally wanna get one for myself," she returned, grinning widely.  "I don't know where it'll be at, or what I'll find, but I figure that it'll be a good way to test things out, y'know?  I'm gunning for the front lines, after all.  I need all the help I can get."

Opposite her, the older woman smiled, clearly amused by the rush of excitement by the younger woman.  "Well if you think that you won't run into any issues in what you might need to do.  She's very... different," the older woman said, frowning slightly.  "I'd helped Alfred here get his some time before back before the update and she was a lot more genuine.  Whatever they changed in her is quite unsettling," the woman admitted, glancing back to the young man 'Alfred.'

He frowned at that, nodding.  "Yeah, I can agree with that.  If you feel like you want to go and get a Familiar, I'd recommend doing it back in the 2.6 time," the man spoke, and Astreya glanced to him, holding his gaze for a long moment before she rolled her eyes at him.  "Look, I'm just saying.  There's something very weird about that NPC now.  She feels way different than she used to.  I don't think it's a good idea to keep engaging her- I tried to tell Stella here, but-"

"But nothing.  She was certainly odd but there was nothing bad that's happened.  All I said is it felt as if she were still watching me, even now.  But that can't be the case- we left her back up on the sixth floor.  Which, if that's what you're looking for, sweetie, that's where I would be headed to next," the woman said, glancing back to Astreya.  "She'll certainly be up there still- I just don't know where you might find her on the floor."

"Well that's way more help than I've gotten from anyone else so far, so that's no problem at all for me!" Astreya called with a slight grin as she stood up then, offering the pair a grin.  "Thank you so much for the information!  That's more than I've gotten hunting all over the floor," she called, the pair of players merely watching her go as the girl turned to sprint back, heading for the Town of Beginnings to hit up the teleporter.

"Well, let's hope she's able to find the Gypsy," Stella mused.  Alfred didn't respond, just watching the girl go.

[Astreya 0]

After she had gotten back to town, she had run int Melissa, and had offered to help the young woman through her Introductory quests, just to make sure that nothing attacked her while she was gathering the herbs.  Astreya didn't stop there, assisting her (and Etherial too!) through the full chain of the starter quests before she began to head upward.  While she knew that the woman was likely on the Sixth Floor, as that's what she had been told by Stella, she still had a slight need to stop off on the Second FLoor for something.  

Of course, it was during that time while roaming about that she had ran into Freyd again and they'd had their... adventure in the dark cavern, before they had been accosted by the bandits, and everything that had happened there.  Afterward, she'd needed a bit of time to breathe and relax and just sort of recover from all of that, and once she had been about to jump up to Floor Six, Freyd had sent her a message, asking about assistance with something on the Third Floor, and so she had gone to help out with the Hoya.

But now all of that was done and behind her and she was finally able to get back onto her initial quest that she was looking for- which was to actually see if she could find a Familiar of her own to tame.  She knew that the Gypsy woman was on the Sixth Floor, and so that was where she chose to come to... although as she came out of the teleporter, the young woman immediately frowned at the hot, sticky heat that seemed to permeate this entire floor.

"Ugh.  This is way too hot," the girl muttered under her breath.  "And sticky.  Who the heck thought it was a good idea to make a floor like this?" she continued, moving to reach back to her hair and pull it up into a high ponytail, at the very least allowing some airflow over the back of her neck.  "Geez," she muttered under her breath before she glanced over at some of the other people here, as far as the NPCs.  They didn't much seem to mind the heat, but they also seemed like they were quite used to it as well, and Astreya shook her head.  "No way.  I need to get through this as soon as possible," she murmured under her breath.

The young woman moved, beginning to make her way out of the main area of the town, and looked into the deeper undergrowth that existed just beyond.  She blinked, frowning as she reached back to the weapon on her back.  "This is crazy," she murmured under her breath.  She hadn't ever seen so much greenery in one place before.  She had grown up mostly in the city and had parking lots and malls in her backyard, more or less.  Seeing something with this much undergrowth and overgrowth, and just green growth everywhere intimidated her in a way she hadn't quite expected.

[Astreya 0]

She took a probing step forward into the overgrowth before she tried to push herself through it a bit more... but the whole of it was unyielding, like a living wall of vines, plant matter and other rubbish.  "I don't know how I'm supposed to find anyone in all of this," she muttered, frowning slightly as she reached a hand up toward one of the vines and gave it a pull, the whole thing coming down in a heap around her.  She gave a small shriek and leapt backwards, moving one hand back up to the hilt of her sword.

"You aren't going to be getting anywhere with that sword.  You'd need something a lot smaller to cut through the vines in there," a voice called from behind her, and Astreya felt a small sound in the back of her throat start to rise.  She didn't want to have to use a different sword.  She really liked this one, but she wasn't sure if that was going to be something she could keep using in a place like this.  "You're also a bit too armored for this environment.  Perhaps you should seek to change your style if you want to survive here?"

Astreya frowned, turning around to face the speaker, when one of the vines lashed out from within the forest toward her.  She shifted, raising her hand up to avoid its initial attack and did so, the vie managing to wrap around her arm and hold her tight, but it didn't really seem to be doing any damage to her.  The problem was, that was her sword arm, and while she couldn't really swing her blade in a single hand, she could at least use it as a tool, she was pretty sure, to hack away at this vine that had her.

But then she recalled the NPC that was behind her.  "Hey, if you've got one of those smaller swords, now would totally be a good time for you to, like, use it," she called at the speaker over her shoulder, grunting as she tried to pull her wrist back from the vine again, but to no avail.  Whatever this plant was, it had her fast.  She hissed slightly, adjusting herself once more before she tried to wrench her arm away, but the grip was far too strong- she was stuck here.  Maybe she could try to bite through it?

It was then that the figure began to make themselves known in her vision.  Astreya saw the woman heading toward the vine, but she didn't seem to have a weapon in hand.  But that hardly seemed to matter, as the woman came closer to the vine and began to sing.  It was soft and quiet, but Astreya could hear it and could tell that the woman's voice was melodious and quiet, the wondrousness of it causing the vine to start to recede back to ward the forest, leaving Astreya standing with the woman, who had a quiet, kind... but unsettling aura around her, and Astreya's eyes widened.  Was this... the Gypsy woman?

[Astreya 0]

Astreya watched the woman for a long moment as if she were trying to judge who this person was before she spoke.  She didn't have any way to tell that this was her... but from the way she acted, the way she was able to get the monster to let her go, and the fact she was an NPC and on the floor that she was directed to... everything was lining up.  She swallowed, before exhaling, pushing out all of the uncertainty as she put on a wide smile.  "Okay, so question for you then- are you the one who's able to help players get a Familiar?  Because I've super been trying to get one for awhile now and I haven't had much luck," Astreya spoke, watching her.

The woman was pretty, borderline beautiful even, but there was a strange sense of unease that was starting to trickle down Astreya's back as she spoke words to the woman.  The look she received back was kind in the face, with a gentle smile that moved over her features... but it never reached her eyes.  It was as if she were being eyed by another animal, another beast- this one just happened to be wearing the skin of a human.  Or an NPC in this case.  "I am she," the woman responded simply, spreading her hands to either side and giving Astreya a slight bow.  "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" she asked simply, quietly, with an air of sophistication.

"Oh, me?  My name's Astreya," she spoke, finding it far more... necessary to use her in-game name, rather than her actual one.  So far she still hadn't been able to find a reason why she shouldn't use her real name- no one had been able to tell her up until this point.  But all the same, with this NPC, Astreya felt weirded out enough that just giving her in-game name was more than enough.  "If you are willing though, I'd really like to be able to figure out what to do with this whole familiar thing.  It's like, everyone else has one and I really want to find something that'll do well to suit me, y'know?" she asked, looking to the woman.

The gypsy smiled that same passive, eerie smile as she nodded.  "Yes.  Astreya," she spoke, repeating the young woman's name in a way that made her genuinely uncomfortable.  It was like it was a monster trying to learn to mimic human speech, rather than someone just using her name in conversation.  "Should you wish, I have some opportunity for you to learn how to locate, and train a monster of your own.  It will become a familiar to you, bonding tightly to you and becoming something that you can call upon no matter how dire the situation.  A truer friend and more trusted ally than any," the woman continued, and Astreya got the feeling that this lady was really into monsters- so much so that she kept talking them up.

[Astreya 0]

"Here," the gypsy woman spoke, extending a hand out to the young woman who sought to learn from her.  In her hand she held a small satchel, which seemed to be almost too full for what was likely to be contained inside.  "Here," the woman repeated, and Astreya hesitated a hand as she looked at what was being held at her.  The bag itself was relatively plain, but it just felt off- much like the rest of the woman.  

"What is it?" she asked after a moment, when the gypsy woman's arm didn't drop down at all or stop the offering that was made.  The young woman frowned, not moving to step back or to stand away from the other, but at the same time it was relatively off-putting to be on the receiving end of this.  "I don't want to take it unless I know what it is," Astreya further explained, when her initial rebuff was met with a silent, unblinking stare from the Gypsy.

"This is food for the Familiar that you wish to tame.  By feeding it, it will grow indebted to you and thus serve as your companion going forward," the woman spoke, and Astreya was about to ask for some clarification on that, when the Gypsy repeated her word, watching Astreya with that same unblinking gaze.  "Here."

The young woman swallowed, reaching out a hand toward the Gypsy, when the quest prompt came up onto her screen.  Well, that was something at least- that let her know that this was actually a part of Aincrad and Sword Art: Online.  That this wasn't just some weird haunted game cartridge or whatever.  Still, the way the Gypsy acted was certainly offputting, and the young woman didn't know if agreeing to this was going to cause some sort of binding contract. 

"Here."

The repeated use of the word was unnatural as well, but honestly, if Astreya wanted to have a Familiar, this was the way to go and do it.  No matter how weird the Gypsy woman was... although she supposed now she understood a bit more about what Stella and Alfred had been talking about, back down on the First Floor.  Just being in this woman's presence was certainly disquieting.  All the same, Astreya allowed her hand to come out further, taking ahold of the bag and pulling it to herself, allowing it to become part of her inventory.  "Okay.  So now what?  I go and find a familiar?"

The monster tamer watched Astreya for a long moment, the long, unsetting stare broken after several uncomfortable seconds by that same empty smile.  "No.  The Familiar will find you," the woman spoke quietly after a moment.  "But not here.  Not on this floor," the woman spoke, before she looked upward toward the roof.  Astreya, despite herself allowed her own gaze to lift upward as well, curious on what she was looking at as there was only sky above them, it seemed like... and yet the gypsy's gaze was clearly fixated on something that could not be seen.

[Astreya 0]

"Okay.  Then where will this Familiar find me?" the young woman asked, curious on what was going to be found out here.  There were a number of different floors that stood between here and the top of the... well, game world, she supposed, spiraling upward as far as one could imagine.  "It better not be up past the highest floor.  Which is what, twenty-five?  It better not be past that or I'm going to be really annoyed," the girl spoke, trying to keep some pep in her despite the constant weirdness that surrounded the Gypsy as she stared upward even now.

"No.  Not that far," she responded, and it was then that Astreya noticed that while the woman's neck was still craned backwards to look at the sky, her eyes had shifted over to Astreya herself.  "You will find your Familiar on the Ninth Floor, Astreya," she continued, and once more, Astreya felt a little unnerved by the way that her name was used.  She didn't particularly care for it- and there was a disquieting feeling that was beginning to descend around her from this woman's words.  Everything about the gypsy just felt like it was wrong in some way or another.

"I haven't been up to the ninth floor.  Well, I have, but not very long," she spoke, having ascended up to the twentieth floor or so some weeks back in an attempt to settle things to herself and to keep focused on the Front Lines.  She wanted to see what was up there, but some of the monsters she had started to see were way too strong for her and so she had ended up skedaddling back to safely after heading up that far.  "That's the floor with the lava and the volcanoes and everything in between?"

"That is correct."  The woman's words were empty as her smile, and once more Astreya wondered if there was something with the woman- but at the same time it was something to remember that this was a game- and while the initial logical part of her mind indicated that nothing could hurt her inside the game, she knew that wasn't true.  In fact it was possible for people to die inside the game, if they took enough damage.  And then if so, they were simply dead in the real world, without any fanfare or anything surrounding it.

"I can feel its call from here.  There was much for you to do and to see upon the Ninth Floor.  You will go and find your Familiar," the woman spoke evenly, her gaze having reverted from Astreya to the roof above, standing with her mouth agape as if she could see some event going on above them that no one else could.  

"Well... okay then.  You're the quest giver so I'll take your word for it.  Floor Nine, here I come.  Are you going to still be here when i'm done?" she asked, looking to the gypsy who didn't respond verbally and simply nodded.  Astreya nodded back, before turning and heading for the teleporter.

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188285 results:
Loot: 4 (Fail)

---

-FLOOR 9-

If the heat hadn't been bad enough in the sweltering jungle, here it was somehow even worse.  Lava flowed openly in cracks in the ground, showing a red, glowing ground beneath the obsidian landscape.   Several large mountains loomed in the distance and Astreya was almost certain that they were going to be Volcanoes.  It was a rather... difficult terrain for her to be able to move all around in, but at the same time, she felt like this really wasn't too bad, overall.  At least it wasn't as claustrophobic as the jungle had been.

Of course, the woman was rather... unsure about the fact that the Gypsy woman had told her to come here to find whatever awaited her.  Not that she was one to listen to NPCs at their word, but she felt like there should be something here that she could sink her teeth into.  Not literally, of course, but figuratively.  There was a massive amount of creatures that populated the landscape, and she had no idea what all would actually (or even 'could' actually) be found in this endless hellscape of a volcanic wasteland.

The young woman's weapon rested on her back, and she lifted her hand back toward it, mostly just to make sure that it was still there.  Thankfully, it was, and she nodded to herself as she began to move further into this wasteland.  The woman's footsteps brought her up toward the precipice that led down into a ravine, where lava flowed freely.  Of course, while this area had environmental hazards, it didn't seem to do much damage to her (at all really) just from being in its proximity.  She imagined she'd need to actually get down and dirty in the lava if she was going to be taking some constant tick damage there.

She shifted her stance, looking for a way down, when suddenly the sound of cawing came from beneath her and a burst of blackened birds hurtled out from the cliff face, headed for the distance.  However, as they flew, Astreya's gaze lingered on them for a moment.  They moved like a cloud of shadows or soot, but there was something that almost... glimmered, in the midst of them.  Like they were defending whatever was at the center of their flock.  She couldn't get eyes on it for long before it left, the rest of those buzzards surrounding and defending it.

Apparently she had come up right on one of their nests and hadn't realized it... and she didn't realize just how lucky she was that the whole flock of them hadn't turned around on her and attacked.  There would have been no way that she'd have been able to deal with that many creatures all at once.  But if nothing else, she was glad that she hadn't been harmed all too badly... and at the moment, she was still just watching that glimmering thing in the center, before her eyes narrowed and a small grin flickered over her features.  "That was my goal.  Now I just need to get it."

Edited April 14, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She paused in her sudden elation, before realizing if that's what she was after, she was going to have to actually cross this landscape to chase after them, and that was going to be a pain in a half.  Not only was the floor here uneven and difficult to move on, but they were able to fly a lot faster than she could run.  Still, she couldn't just give up that easily.  She'd been told that was where she needed to go in order to find what she was looking for, and then she'd almost immediately run into that- tis couldn't be a coincidence.

Shifting, she began to find the best way down the cliffside, the young woman using her natural athleticism, in concert with what she knew as far as rock climbing, on top of her experience with that quest where she'd had to climb up that mountain.  She shifted herself as she began to make her way down, the young woman finding handhold after handhold, and before long she had made it to the ground, landing with a huff and a loud metal clanging as she hit it.  "Geez.  Okay, well, that was something.  Let me see... can I still see them?" she asked, peering into the sky.

It was hard to see, in the darkness, but she could pick out a dark cloud on the horizon that was steadily getting further away.  That had to be it.  She began to move as fast as her plated legs would carry her, then, the woman darting forward over the landscape as she dodged whatever was trying to get up to come and accost her, or at least, that had been the plan while she was sprinting forward as she was.  But it seemed like one of the flock had noticed her in her fervent chasing attempts.

The singular Pyre Vulture had swooped down toward the young woman, and there was a very real sense of danger as she faced it.  She didn't think she'd ever actually seen something like this before, and it was likely that it was quite skilled in the art of combat, given the fact that this whole area was harsh and unforgiving- a creature like this would need to be strong in order to survive and the reason it brought up the rear likely gave it some strength as well.

The creature let out an angry cry as it drew closer, aiming to dive down onto Astreya right away, but the young woman moved and her blade was in her hand in the barest of moments.  "You're going down, bird brain," she called out toward the buzzard as she realized that none of the other creatures had attacked- it was lmost as if they were waiting to see how this particular fight played out and if Astreya were worth attacking or not.  That was smarter than she gave these creatures credit for, but that just made her all the more excited to fight as well as she drew her weapon, holding it at the ready!

Edited April 14, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The creature loomed forward, the feathery creature looking like an amalgamation of lava, flames and a covering of obsidian shavings instead of feathers.  It was still somehow able to fly, and the young woman's eyes narrowed as she shifted her stance away from the creature slightly, not wanting to let it get too close to her, as she was fairly certain that the fire that lingered in its body was going to be more than enough to deal some significant damage to her.  The woman's eyes narrowed as the creature let out a cry and then shot down toward her, hurtling toward the young woman.

She let out a slight curse, shifting herself backward away from its initial flight path, before she swung her weapon up at it, aiming to catch it after it had moved away.  However, the weapon sailed through the air, missing the creature entirely, ending up with neither of them being able to actually hit one another.  Astreya couldn't help but to smirk slightly at that before she started forward again, chasing after the creature, the weapon in her hands ready for combat further as she leapt up at the creature as it struggled to gain height, swinging the heavy blade back toward it. Unfortunately, there was no chance of victory here either as the weapon managed to catch nothing but air, and the creature twisted, gaining further altitude.

It roared- or rather, squawked- at her, and the creature then shifted forward, its beak parted open to try and slice her to ribbons with that natural weapon.  Astreya shifted her steps backward once more. It could stand to be far more aggressive than she was with how  easily it could move around and dodge in the air, as opposed to her, who had to fight on the ground.

---

Astreya uses Lightning (T2 Sword Art)!
ID# 188510 results:
Battle: 1 (Miss!)
MOB: 2 (Miss!)

Astreya:
HP: 220 | EN: 38/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Cooldown: Lightning 2/2

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 220 | DMG: 66

Edited April 14, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She wasn't about to just let herself lose this fight though as she shifted, her stance moving up and around before she darted forward toward her opponent.  It was headed back toward her, and she was just going to have to capitalize on that.  "C'mon you jerk!  You couldn't hit the broad sign of a barn!" she called up to the bird as it began to screech once more, beginning to hurtle downward toward the young woman.  She grinned slightly, her eyes flashing.  "Come to mama," she murmured under her breath before she turned into the attack, letting the Sword Art guide her before she spun back around, letting her weapon cleave upward.

The attack caught the beast, causing it to cry out in pain and she couldn't help but to give a cheer of delight as she saw it careening off course, having to struggle to get back aloft.  "Yeah that's what I thought!" she called out, the young woman cheering to herself as the vulture's wing had taken some damage from the attack.  Granted, it seemed like the flight wasn't impacted nearly as much as she would have wanted it to be as it managed to get the hot vented air back up under its wings, going back aloft for a moment and being far skyward.  

"Come on down and fight me like a man!" she called out, the weapon in her hand thrust up toward the sky, trying to get her opponent to come back down from the clouds it had shot up into.

Astreya uses Back Rush (T2 Sword Art)!
ID# 188516 results:
Battle: 5+3 = 8 Hit! 8*8= 64 Damage Dealt!
MOB: 1 (Miss!)

Astreya:
HP: 220 | EN: 31/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Cooldown: Lightning 1/2
Cooldown: Back Rush 2/2

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 156/220 | DMG: 66

Edited April 14, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The skies above were overcast with the heavy, soot-filled clouds from the volcanic ash tossed this way and that, and the young woman's eyes had started to burn from staring up at them for so long.  She frowned, her hand tightening on her weapon as she waited for any sign of movement from above, to see when it might come hurtling down toward her.  But there was nothing that she could see, and as the seconds drew on, the young woman wondered if perhaps that she had missed wherever it had come out.

Of course, as she began to lower her weapon, the stance she was holding starting to fall, the woman saw too late as the creature began to hurtle downward toward her then, streaking like a bullet fired from a gun, headed right toward her.  Astreya cursed softly under her breath, having not expected this from it.  "How did you even see where I was?" she called out as the thing shot downward toward her and at the last moment, opened its wings, catching an updraft and vanishing again back up into the clouds above.

This was impossible.  There weren't any ranged weapons in Sword Art: Online, or any magic.  Everything was to be fought with weapons and armor and yet there was no way that she could see herself being able to catch this thing.  She grunted, about to look for a rock when she caught a flash of movement behind her too late as the bird slammed into her, the Pyre Vulture sending her sprawling across the ground for a moment before she finally landed and caught herself, grasping her sword.  "Not cool," she called out at the bird.

---

Astreya uses Straight (T1 Sword Art!)
ID# 188517 results:
Battle: 1 (Miss!)
MOB: 10 (Hit! 36 Damage Taken!)

Astreya:
HP: 184/220 | EN: 30/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Cooldown: Lightning 0/2 | Ready!
Cooldown: Back Rush 1/2
Cooldown: Straight 1/1

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 156/220 | DMG: 66 Edited April 14, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The young woman noticed that her HP had dropped a good chunk- a bit more than she was expecting it to, really.  It seemed that even with her heavy armor and her skills in the namesake skill, she was still taking some real damage when she was hit.  That was kind of annoying, and she didn't know if that meant she was going to need some better gear, or if she was going to need to level up more... or both?  It was hard to say.

She had already learned that the boars on the first floor didn't drop any loot for her- which meant that things were going to be a bit more difficult going forward if she was going to need to keep pushing forward.  It seemed like there wasn't going to be a chance to let herself rest.  That was the grind, though.  Maybe once she got to the new level cap (she was pretty sure she remembered reading 31 somewhere in all the patch notes) that she could finally start to settle down and really focus on getting her gear setup.

Of course, right now she had something else to deal with- and she vaguely wondered if beating it would give her some special pieces of equipment.  "Quit hiding up in those clouds and come and fight me!" she called up toward the billowing cloud cover above.  And perhaps with her call, the bird that was up there was incensed to come down and fight, or it was strictly coincidental as it hurtled downward toward her.  But this time, she was ready, and as it shot downward, she brought her weapon to bear against it, causing the creature to be knocked back away, squawking and fluttering its wings in confusion.  "C'mon!  You gotta do better than that!"


Astreya uses Lightning (T2 Sword Art!):
ID# 188518 results:
Battle: 6 (Hit! 7*8 = 56 Damage Dealt!  Stun!)
MOB: 4 (Stunned)

Astreya:
HP: 186/220 | EN: 22/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Cooldown: Lightning 2/2 | 
Cooldown: Back Rush 0/2 | Ready!
Cooldown: Straight 0/1 | Ready!

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 100/220 | DMG: 66

Edited April 15, 2021 by Astreya