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

[Astreya 0]

The Pyre Vulture seemed to take some serious offense at being told that it needed to do 'better' than it was currently, and gave a series of angry squawks at her.  "Well if you weren't such a bad aim then maybe you would be doing better!" the girl called, as if she could understand anything that it was saying toward her.  Despite this, the creature either seemed to understand her or her tone, if nothing else, as it began to pick itself back up, soot and lava both dripping off of its form as its wings heavily flapped a few times, trying to get lifted back up into the air.

The creature shuddered, and Astreya had started to learn that's what it looked like just before it attacked, and she readied herself to defend against it.  She wished, for a moment, that she had a shield of some kind.  She didn't think that she was ready to do a full change of weaponry, but at least for the moment, she wondered if she could use a shield there in her off-hand, eventually.  But there was no time to plan further as the Pyre Vulture came hurtling in toward her.

She could see that it was basically banking on doing a kamikaze rush, and so she just readied herself for it, digging in her heels a little as she allowed it to slam into her- and used that to give her a perfect leverage into her own counter attack.  "Take this, ya jerk!" she called out as she slammed her weapon into it, and as she did so, the creature let out a pained sound, fluttering away, but it was clear from its health that it wasn't in a good way.  She almost had this thing beat!  Just a little bit more and she'd win.

---

Astreya uses Back Rush (T2 Sword Art!):
ID# 188522 results:
Battle: 9 (Crit!  9*8 = 72 Damage Dealt!)
MOB: 7 (Hit! 36 Damage Dealt!  18 Thorns Damage Taken!)

Astreya:
HP: 152/220 | EN: 15/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Cooldown: Lightning 1/2 | 
Cooldown: Back Rush 2/2 | 

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 10/220 | DMG: 66 Edited April 15, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The Pyre Vulture was definitely hurt badly, but the fight wasn't over yet.  She was glad that she didn't really feel things like exhaustion too hard- it was a lot easier for her to be able to deal with things like this when she could just keep going and swinging until she was out of Energy.  It wasn't like she was actually tired, but more like the system was just going to tell her that she couldn't do something again.  And that was a lot easier for her to deal with- and allowed her to just keep attacking without end.

And that's exactly what she did as she swung her weapon around, slamming it into the Pyre Vulture with one last hurrah, giving a small breath of excitement as she saw the creature explode into a bunch of smoke, particles and other things.  "Whew!" she spoke, whirling her blade around as she flipped it back over her shoulder and slotted it onto her back.  "That was a little more intense than I was expecting," she admitted, tilting her head to the side, before she noted that there was some loot left over from beating this thing.  "Nice!  I wonder what I'll get?" she mused to herself, about to leave, when she noted that a single feather still remained from the Pyre Vulture.

She blinked, squatting down near it and giving it a small poke.  The feather quivered and danced a bit, and hopped a bit out toward where she had seen the flock of Pyre Vultures going earlier.  Blinking, she reached down and picked the item up off the ground.  It didn't add to her inventory or anything, but as she held onto it, it was... pulling her in the direction of the rest of the flock.  

Her eyes lit up then, and she grinned.  "The familiar!  Or rather, the Familiar that'll be mine!" she called out loud, ignoring the looks from the other things around her as she began to follow the feather as it drew her onward.

 

Astreya uses Scooped! (T1 Sword Art!):
ID# 188523 results:
Battle: 6+3 = 9 (Hit!  3*8 = 24 Damage Dealt!  Monster defeated!)
MOB: 4

Astreya:
HP: 154/220 | EN: 13/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Cooldown: Lightning 0/2 | Ready! 
Cooldown: Back Rush 1/2 | 

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 0/220 | DMG: 66

Loot!
Col: 660
ID# 188531 results:
Craft: 5 (2 Materials)
Loot: 18 (440 Col)

Rare Consumable (1)
Rare Armor/Shield (1)

Edited April 15, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188583 results:
Loot: 14 (Fug u treasure box)

---

The young woman's footsteps quickened as she began to follow along the path that the feather had guided her on.  It almost felt like it was trying to reconnect with the flock at large, rather than to lead her there itself.  She hadn't been on this floor before, nor had she been someone that would have researched first before coming here.  She was sort of a 'go with the flow' type of individual, and that became very clear as she went along with this feather, without actually knowing where it was leading her, and just hoping that it would take her to the right place.

She wondered if, perhaps, she should get some sort of helper along with her.  She didn't really like to do things on her own if she could help it, and it was getting steadily more apparently that doing things on her own was dangerous- and that there was going to one day be a limit to just how much she could get done.  But for now, tracking down this flock of Pyre Vultures seemed to be where her path was leading her.  That's what the Gypsy woman had said, at any rate, and while Astreya wasn't sure if she could fully trust the NPC, she supposed she could try.

Besides, the woman had indicated there was something here, on this floor, for her.  And while Astreya wasn't entirely sure what that meant or what that might be... as soon as she'd arrived she'd found that strange thing in the flock of Pyre Vultures.  That alone made her aware of the fact that the Gyspy might know more than she was letting on.  "Let's see what I can find!  C'mon you weird feather thing!  To adventure!" the young woman called out to no one in particular as her plated boots followed the path it led her on.

---

HP: 174/220 | EN: 14/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18

Edited April 15, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188629 results:
Loot: 6 (No material)

---

The path that she was following across the broken landscape was not an easy one, but Astreya was starting to, at the very least, get used to the way that things were setup here.  The way the lava flowed would put a number of different broken cracks in the ground and several tributaries of the glowing red death itself, but she was finding the ways to slip around them so as to not fall in and take who knew how much damage from it.  She was tempted to see if it would actually hurt, but on the off-chance it depleted her life faster than she could get out, she didn't want to chance it.

She shifted the sword on her back as she walked through the landscape, before turning to glance behind her.  She'd been out here in this field for awhile now, and vaguely wondered how long she would be out here before she had a chance to locate what she was after.  The feather was still pulling her along toward the distant cliffside, and she wondered if the whole flock was going to be there or not, all waiting for her to approach- that seemed rather dangerous.

One Pyre Vulture had been already kind of a difficult fight for her, but to have to deal with multiple at once just seemed like it was a dangerous game to play.  "Maybe I can just beat up a whole bunch of them at once easy peasy.  I did that with the boars.  Problem is..." she murmured as she glanced back at the feather that was pulling her onward.  "You guys hit way harder than the boars did," she muttered under her breath as she kept moving forward, noting that the heat felt like it was steadily increasing the closer to this mountain she came.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188630 results:
Loot: 16 (+1 Material)

"...Oh," the young woman spoke as she looked down over the cliffside.  Well that certainly explained why it was getting so much hotter around here.  She looked out over a rather large lake of lava, the whole of it stretching far out before her, and covering an incredible amount of area.  The young woman frowned in response to this, her arms now folded over her chest as she looked down at it.  "Well that's not cool," she mused out loud as she looked down at it, on the precipice on the edge of the cliff that she was standing upon.

Her gaze flickered to and fro as she began to try and find away to cross this.  Obviously a boat wasn't going to cut it.  Anything that she tried to put on the lava was going to burn or melt or both- and that wasn't viable.  She frowned, unfolding her arms for a moment, looking around for something that she could use, before she sighed- she wasn't able to see much from up here, and so she shifted, coming down from the cliffside, the young woman standing in the 'canyon' that had been formed from the lava cutting through the landscape.  

As she made her way 'upstream,' she glanced at small chunk of ore lying on the ground.  She reached toward it, and the popup for '1 Material' on her HUD.  "Huh.  Cool!" she cheered slightly, the finding of the Material actually lifting her mood a bit as she began to continue her trek 'upstream' on the lava river feeding into the lava lake, trying to see what she could find to cross this with!

Edited April 17, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188631 results:
Loot: 1 (No Material)

---

The walk up the 'river' of lava that was feeding into the lake was a bit longer than Astreya had wanted, but she didn't have any way to cross over the lava before then.  There were no boats or any bridges or anything of any kind.  She frowned slightly as she glanced back at where she'd come from, thinking that maybe she should have gone downstream instead.  Maybe there would have been a better way to cross.

"Man.  All I want is to find that bird.  All this walking around stinks," she muttered as she kicked at a pebble on the ground, the rock striking a large formation up ahead.  She expected the 'Immortal Object' sign to come up once the rock had connected, but no such thing appeared.  "Wait.  What?" she asked aloud, mostly just to hear some sound of talking as she approached the rocky pillar.  Her fists weren't exactly strong weapons, but she didn't want to pull out her sword for this in case it was just a fluke.  As she struck the rocky pillar, bits chipped off, and it showed a bit of damage pop up.

"What the heck!  Are these bridges?" she asked aloud as she pulled out her weapon then.  She took a stance before cleaving downward at an angle.  There was a loud cracking sound that echoed out once the weapon connected, and as it did so, the rock formation beginning to shift and slide before it hit the ground and toppled over, forming a bridge over the lava river.  "All right!" she cheered, hopping up into the air, before she began to pick her way across the rock, moving carefully so as to not fall in, but before too much longer, she found herself on the other side.  "Made it across!  Let's go!" she called to herself, before beginning to make her way forward.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188632 results:
Loot: 10 (No Material)

---

The feather pointed her off back toward the way she'd been coming from, and began to make her way back off to what was now her left.  She had gone right to go up the lava river, and as such, there was a great deal of back tracking that she'd need to do now in order to get back to being on the trail of the bird.  The feather was still pulling her along and so she couldn't help but to be curious as to what connection this feather had to the rest of the flock.  

However, as she drew closer to a large pile of rubble, there was the sound of what could have been mistaken for a small avalanche, and the pieces of the rubble began to clack themselves together, one after the other.  "What the heck?" the girl called as she hopped backwards, her free hand moving up to her sword, eyes widening as she tried to see exactly what was happening here.  She hadn't seen any of the golems yet, but this was clearly shaping up into being some sort of monster made completely of stones and rocks.  They formed a face which had two glowing eyes where its eye sockets would have been, if it were organic.

"Look you, I'm not here for a fight.  I'm just trying to get on my way to-" she began, fussing at the golem, when it took a step forward, swinging one of its big rocky arms toward her.  "Aiiie!" Astreya called, diving to the side.  She hit the ground and rolled, coming up to her feet in a crouching position as she reached back to pull her weapon free from its holster on her back.  "All right.  I guess you're here for a fight.  I took down one of those birds and I can take you down too!"

Edited April 19, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

 ID# 188633 results:
Loot: 15 (+1 Material)

---

Astreya hadn't ever dealt with an opponent made entirely of rocks before, but thankfully, she could tell that this thing was made of the same type of rocks that had been part of that rocky column she'd smashed apart just a few minutes ago.  That meant it was going to be kind of difficult to deal with, but nothing she couldn't handle.  The big rocky arms were going to be the biggest issue.  If she got hit by one of them, she'd probably get her head rattled more than a little bit.  But it would just be a sense of 'stick and move' if nothing else.

She shifted slightly as the golem swung again.  It was basically the exact same as last time, and so the young woman shifted, ducking around it.  "Set and... spike!" she called out as he brought her weapon down on the joint where two of the rocky bits connected.  The crash of it sent a slight jolt up her arms, but nowhere near as bad as it would have been if she had tried to actually do that with a sword.  The creature's arm simply fell right off with the attack, and Astreya pressed forward, ignoring her EN remaining as she swung several times at the creature, hewing off chunks of rock and keeping it staggered.

Eventually she breathed out, panting slightly, realizing that she had reduced it to rubble, and pulled her weapon back, resheathing it.  "That's what you get for messing with me, you jerk," she spoke, sticking out her tongue at the rocks.  However, as she was about to get back to what she was doing, she noticed a glittering object left behind from the Golem's chest.  Blinking, she reached down, and as she did so, a pop-up appeared.  '+1 Material'

"Aw heck yeah!" the girl cheered.

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

ID# 188634 results:
Loot: 16 (+1 Material)

---

Astreya made her way from the Stone Golem, her health and energy recharging after she had gone all out on the thing.  She exhaled slowly as she followed the path that the feather was directing her on, and it wasn't too much longer before she'd found herself at a cliffside.  She glanced upwards, realizing that was where she was going to need to go next as the feather was starting to pull her up that way.  "More rock climbing, eh?" she asked aloud, mostly to herself before she shifted slightly, beginning to start the ascent up the side of the mountain.

She didn't take too much longer to reach the top of it, as thankfully there were several quite clearly defined hand holds for her to go up with, grabbing another material along the way.  She wondered if this was something that was set for players to climb if they wanted or needed to for whatever reason, but before long, she reached an outcropping of rock and pulled herself up, giving a low grunt as she lay on her back for a bit.  "Whew.  I should have taken the armor off first before I started that," she murmured to herself before she sat up slowly, giving a small sound as she looked further inside the area.  There was a rather large cave mouth just before her now, and as she looked inside, she could see where patterns of red trickled along the inside of the cave.

"Woah... that's super cool," the girl spoke aloud, before she took a hesitant step toward it.  The feather was pulling her deeper toward it, and she could feel her grip on it starting to slacken a bit, with how much it was struggling to get away from her.  A flash of blue emanated from deep within the cave, and the heat around suddenly vanished for a brief moment... before the heat returned.  "What is that..?" she murmured.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Familiar Search 2 (DC 12)
ID# 188635 results:
Loot: 4 (Fail, DC reduced to 9)

---

She peered deeper into the cavern, and another surge of crimson followed all the way down into the depths of the cave, and now that she was closer (and her eyes had adjusted somewhat) she could see that the red flickering down the cave wall was just the view of the innards of the Pyre Vultures that were roosted inside.  They were just in some sort of weird timing thing, where each of them cackled with their fiery energy in a pulsing manner, allowing the energy that they kept within themselves to shudder deeper into the cavern, steadily building heat... and then a flash of blue would come from within, and the heat would all vanish.

She frowned as she took a step inside, curious about what was deep within the cave that was getting rid of all of this heat, but as the girl was only part of the way down, there was a sudden cry, and then a flurry of feathers and other movement as the Pyre Vultures all suddenly seemed to realize they were no longer alone.  Astreya let out a cry as she stumbled backward out of the cave, the Pyre Vultures ignoring her for the moment as they poured out of the cavern, a rush of heat coming by as well.  But as they did, just behind them was something else.

This is what she'd caught sight of before, but while it was only a brief glimpse- this time she was able to see it in full.  The thing looked like a Pyre Vulture, but its plumage was far more refined and it lacked some of the... 'grossness' if she had to give it a term.  Beyond that, its insides were undulating with a cool blue aura, and Astreya could feel a rush of cold wind pass by her before the creature flew on by, and she was left standing on the rocky outcropping.

"Okay.  That thing is mine.  I want it," the girl declared, pointing out toward it.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering-
ID: 189552
LD: 5 (Fail)
 

---

 

The girl looked down the mountainside then, realizing then she now had to climb all the way back down after she had just gotten up here.  She let out an irritated sound, somewhere between a grunt and a sigh, as she shifted herself down onto her belly and moved her legs back over the edge of the cliffside.  It took her a few moments to actually find a place to stick her feet, but once she did, she was able to find a new place to lower herself down and then use those same foot holds as hand holds.

The armor she wore didn't make life any easier, of course, with the heavy armored dress keeping her from being able to freely move around as much.  Still, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and her lessons in rock climbing helped a good bit as she was able to make her way steadily down from the mountain and with a small breath, she hopped the last little bit, landing on the rocky ground just beside it.  "Well that was something," she murmured under her breath, glancing down at the feather she still had in-hand.  At least she still had this to guide her by.

She looked down at the feather, watching where it pointed as it started to shift this way and that, straining to get out of her grip, but the girl didn't let it go, mostly just wanting to ensure that it was going to take her the right way.  With a few seconds' of waiting, she could see that it had settled on a location and she nodded to herself as she began to follow the path that had been put before her, ready to hunt down whatever stood in her way to find that blue bird!

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Lightning Against Rock Golem! (9 EN)
ID#189556
BD: 10 (Major Crit! ((8+2)*7) = 70 Damage Dealt! Stun inflicted!
MD: 3 Stun

 

It seemed that she hadn't gotten very far at all when there was, in fact, something that decided to stand in her way.  She had been making her way along when she had thought she'd heard something coming along with her.  She paused, looking back over her shoulder but all she could see for miles around was just rocks, debris and lava.  She frowned slightly, reaching back to scratch her head.  "Maybe I kicked a rock or something," she murmured under her breath.  Nonetheless, she moved a hand back up over her shoulder, gripping the handle of the blade that she wielded.

It hadn't been but a few steps more that she heard the sounds again of something coming after her, and the woman frowned, pausing as she stopped once more.  As she turned, she saw a rock still moving, seemingly of its own volition as it rolled toward her.  She blinked, realizing what it was at the last second as she leapt backward.  As she did so, rocks from all over the area surged together, forming a giant creature of rock and stone- yet another stone golem.  "Augh!  You guys are so annoying!" the girl called out as she pulled her blade from its holster on her back.

As it came forward, she swung her blade up, parrying the attack from the creature's arm and damaging it at the same time before her weapon flashed, striking the rocky beast three more times and managing to push it back a few steps.  "I'm not afraid of you guys sneaking up on me.  You're just annoying more than you are dangerous," the girl called out toward her opponent.  It didn't respond, at least not verbally, merely making weird sounds similar to a bunch of gravel rolling down a rocky slope as it stood opposite her.

---

Astreya:
HP: 220 | EN: 31/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 0/2

Rock Golem:
HP: 150 | DMG: 66 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Edited April 21, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Back Rush Against Rock Golem (EN: 8)
ID#189669
BD: 5+3 (Hit! 8 * 8 = 64 Damage Dealt!)
MD: 9 (Crit! 66-30 = 36 Damage Dealt!)

The stone monolith gave another rumbling sound as it readied itself against the swordswoman.  Astreya wasn't really sure what it was doing as it stood there, almost unmoving for a few moments.  "Hey if we're gonna fight, then quit stalling over there," the girl spoke, trying to get something happening, here.  She wasn't the biggest fan of fighting, but at the same time, she needed to learn more about it so she could handle herself better on the Front Lines.  If she was struggling with the enemies on the 9th floor, who knew what trouble she'd be having against the stronger enemies!

The golem didn't move for several long moments, but then it suddenly shifted forward, taking a step, and Astreya braced herself, ready to counter-attack whatever came at her.  However, what she didn't expect was the sudden shift of rocks behind her, slamming into her lower back and sending her stumbling forward.  "Augh!  That was a dirty trick!" she called out toward the golem as she moved.  But she was starting to get the hang of the Sword Arts and so as she  moved forward, she adjusted her body weight and stance, moving to steadily face away from the golem that had attacked her.

She felt the Sword Art starting as she engaged the Back Rush art, and spun around quickly, using the momentum of the movement to swing the blade vertically, taking out a big chunk of its body.  "Serves you right, for that!" the girl called out as she used the blade's momentum to actually pull herself backward, hopping a bit as she did so.  The weapon was now parallel with the ground, and she held it tightly in both hands as she looked on toward her opponent, her eyes narrowed slightly.  She decided, just now, that she didn't like golems.

---

Astreya:
HP: 184 | EN: 24/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 1/2
Back Rush CD: 0/2

Rock Golem:
HP: 86 | DMG: 66 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Edited April 21, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Straight @ Rock Golem (EN: 5) EN: 2 (Miss)
ID#189670
BD: 2+3 (Miss!)
MD: 4+1 (Miss!)

The young woman held herself at the ready, her grip tight on the handle of her blade.  The golem too seemed to be taking things a bit more seriously, given the fact that it was now watching Astreya with a bit more safety than it had been previously.  It seemed that the two blows that she had rained upon it in this short timespan had made it realize that she was a bit of a dangerous foe, and that going in to attack as freely as it had wasn't exactly the best option in the matter.  And so it stood steadily, waiting for the young woman to make her move.

However, opposite the creature, Astreya stood in a similar stance, the young woman's sapphire eyes narrowed as she watched the golem, waiting for it to do something else to her.  Her gaze occasionally flickered behind her then, as if she were waiting for something else to occur, but there was, at least so far, nothing that she could see.  The golem seemed to be waiting for her to make a move, just as much as she was waiting for it to do so.  She was a defensive fighter- she wasn't going to run out of her safety zone to do an attack.

It seemed that the two of them were stuck in their respective defensive stances, neither one of them willing to yield for the other.  Astreya was quite certain that if this was a western, there'd be a tumbleweed that would roll in between the both of them, but right now it was jut the two that squared off with one another, each waiting for the other one to make a move.  "C'mon, if you're going to attack me out of the blue, then you better attack.  Otherwise I'm gonna just walk on outta here," the girl called, trying to bait something.

---

Astreya:
HP: 186 | EN: 23/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 2/2
Back Rush CD: 1/2
Straight CD: 0/1

Rock Golem:
HP: 86 | DMG: 66 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Edited April 21, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Lightning Against Rock Golem! (9 EN)
ID#189671
BD: 7+3 (Hit! 8 * 7 = 56 Damage!)
MD: 8+1 (Hit!  66-30 = 36 Damage!  18 Thorns Damage Taken!)
 

The golem seemed to finally take the hint that if it didn't attack, that she would just leave, and so the creature gave a low rumbling sound of annoyance before it shifted forward, coming toward her like an Avalanche.  She held her ground, not retreating backward as was her initial reaction to this and readied her weapon.  She had managed to keep it back through sheer force before- surely she could do it again.  And so as the rocky avalanche of a golem surged forward, she kept her stance, readying her sword art for the attack and about to hack her foe to pieces.

She slid forward, swinging her blade up toward its approaching arm, and as she did so, the brute seemed to know what she was doing- not that it was unexpected given that she'd done this before, swinging her weapon around to try and cut through the golem and push it back with aggression.  However, each strike seemed to glance off its armaments and she realized that while she was chipping away at its armor she wasn't stunning it like she had the first time.  A curse came out from her lips and she was unable to keep up her guard as one of her own attacks glanced off, sending her weapon way out wide.

The fist connected with her breastplate a moment later, causing the young woman to stumble backward, barely maintaining her grip on her blade as the rocky monster gave a clattering roar of aggression.  It seemed that being able to take the hits from her and unleash its own had emboldened it somewhat as it began to stomp forward further toward her.  She frowned as she readied her weapon against it- if nothing else, she could probably outlast it in a slugging match.  But she could feel the pressure on all parts of her from the damage she'd taken.

Astreya:
HP: 152 | EN: 15/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 0/2
Back Rush CD: 2/2
Straight CD: 1/1

Rock Golem:
HP: 12 | DMG: 66 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Edited April 21, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Scooped Against Rock Golem (2 EN)
ID# 189672
BD: 9 (Crit! ((8+1)*3) = 27 Damage!
MD: 6 (ded) (660 Col)

Loot Roll:
ID# 189673
CD: 6 (440 Col)
LD: 4 (440 Col)

Total: 1540 Col

She grunted, her breathing a little labored.  She wasn't really sure how Cardinal measured effort and the EN as equated to how tired she felt, but she had to admit that she felt pretty exhausted at the moment.  She frowned as she shifted her stance slightly, glaring at the rocky creature opposite her.  "I've been in volley ball matches tougher than you!" she called at the creature, trying to taunt it somehow, here.  But Astreya knew that it wasn't going to be too much longer- she could very well tell that the golem was about to fall apart.  All the damage she'd done with her blade made it relatively weak-looking right now.

Keeping the blade low, she sprinted forward, adjusting her grip on the handle at the last moment before she swung it upward, aiming to cleave the thing in two.  The golem moved its arms in the way to block, but the weakened limbs weren't able to do much against her and she broke through its guard, swinging again and again  with a series of rising strikes before she finally broke through its defense completely, and the creature stumbled backward, before falling back and erupting into a burst of glowing sparkles indicating that it was defeated.

She exhaled slowly as she watched it all fade away, noting the Col that was on the body, before she frowned, cocking her head to the side.  Was there seriously... no loot off of that thing?  "Are you kidding me?" the girl whined, flipping her sword around and letting it set once more into the holster on her back.  "Look you stupid golem, all you had to do was be cool and give me something neat after beating you up after you tried to jump me like some sorta mugger you creep," she huffed, kicking the ground where the sparkles had been.

Astreya:
HP: 154 | EN: 12/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 1/2

Rock Golem:
HP: 0 | DMG: 66 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0

Edited April 25, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189674
LD: 3 (Fail)

After her little tantrum, Astreya exhaled slowly before she glanced around for a place to just sit and rest for a moment.  With a little searching, she found a rock that was pretty decent for sitting- or at least she hoped it wasn't another Golem in disguise.  But with a little luck, she'd be fine to just find a chair to sit on, and nothing else.  

The nervegear made everything (except for pain) feel exceedingly real to deal with.  And the fatigue that she was feeling now was tied intrinsically with her EN levels, but she was used to having things be more than a little difficult.  After all, as captain of the Volleyball team, she was actively involved in sports and running around on the court for hours, if not more.  But there was something different about fighting when your life was on the line.  Or maybe it was because she was fighting in heavy armor with a heavy two-handed sword as opposed to a jersey and shorts?  

"Man.  I need a drink," she murmured under her breath, searching through her inventory for a moment before pursing her lips.  She just had water, it seemed like and so the girl sighed in annoyance as she retrieved it, taking a long drink of one of the items in the stack.  She supposed that, if this were the real world, something like a sports drink would be better- the electrolytes would keep the water inside of her longer if she sweat.  But water worked just the same in the game world, and while she wasn't exactly sure of the 'need' to eat or drink (as far as how it would affect her stats) they were both relatively cheap (as long as you didn't want any with buffs) so she stocked up on as many sweets as she could.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID #189676
LD: 17 (Success! +1 Material)

Speaking of sweets, the girl pulled a piece of pie out as well from within her inventory.  If she had milk on her, she might have gone with some cake, but having only water to drink meant that a fruit pie was probably going to be her best bet.  She shifted it to the edge of the plate, being bereft of silverware, and began to chomp down on it, not really caring what it looked like to the outside observer.  After all, there wasn't anyone else out here that she'd seen.  The higher up one went in the floors, the less people she tended to see.

She closed her yees for a moment, remembering the chat she had with the dude with the glasses when she'd gone way up in the floors.  Raidou, had been his name, and she'd been genuinely surprised to see someone there when she had gone several floors without meeting another person.  But he had been quite clear in his thoughts on how things should go for those who were seeking the path out.  Take things slow and steady, and not push oneself into dangerous situations.  There was no coming back from death, and so going slowly was the proper way to go.

She frowned as she chewed the pie, thinking that over again.  So far, she hadn't been in such a bad way.  She'd been able to deal with things pretty well here so far- so she didn't feel like she was out of her depth.  Who new what the next floor would bring, though.  The girl finished her food and stood up, ready to continue when a strange flower caught her eye.  She leaned over toward it, reaching a hand out to pluck it when it turned to data, and gave her a '1 Material' pop up message.  Smirking, Astreya turned toward her destination, heading out once more.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID# 189686
LD: 10 (Fail)

 

The feather she was using to guide her way suddenly started to turn, pointing directly to her left instead of straight in front of her, and the girl blinked, cocking her head to the side.  "Wha?" she asked aloud, but of course, the feather couldn't answer for its crimes.  As such, the young girl moved, beginning to follow it instead, not entirely sure what she would find at the new direction... but she figured she might as well.  So far, the feather hadn't steered her wrong.  She just didn't know how long it was going to last... or if there was even a time limit for it.

As she made her way over a few rocky crags, she realized that she was coming up on what seemed like an entire nest of the Pyre Vultures.  The creatures were all roosting here and she realized that there was a chance that this group was the same group that she'd been tracking.  The fiery red lines amidst their bodies emanated outward and flashed here and there for a moment.  It wasn't synchronized as it had been before, in the cave.  She frowned as she took another step forward, before a sudden warning cry came from one of the Vultures that was apparently standing guard.

The single caw became a cacophonous roar of screeches, honks and other loud avian noises as everything began to glow bright red from their proximity and anger, and Astreya didn't bother to stick around for long to see the entire group mobilized.  She turned around, sprinting away as the creatures suddenly began to take skyward, and as they did so, a number of feathers began to drop around her, and the young woman frowned slightly as she looked at them all, before she picked up one of the feathers.  It turned to face the fleeing cloud of Pyre Vultures, leading her to frown.

However, after a moment, it began to steadily turn back- all of them did, in the direction she'd been heading.  "All right.  Winner winner!" she called.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189687
LD: 10 (Fail)

She began to reach down, collecting as many of the feathers as she could.  One, because the plumage was actually really interesting to look at, but two, because just in case the feather she'd been using suddenly ran out of juice, she wanted to have more backups along with her to help find her target.  She realized that in the direction she'd been heading, there must have been a sudden situation where this secondary flock had been closer, if only for a moment, than the one she'd been tracking all this time.  That had left her with a small curiosity that was starting to grow larger as far as why all of these feathers were attracted to their brethren.

Honestly, it didn't even seem to make a whole lot of sense.  Then again, she realized, looking down at the feathers themselves.  The rest of hte Pyre Vulture would vanish when she defeated one in battle, for example, and yet these ones still stuck around.  These ones weren't even from defeated Vultures (although one could argue them fleeing the scene could count as a loss, she supposed.)  Frowning, she realized that there were a lot of little things about Aincrad that she didn't know yet.

She had gathered nearly a dozen before she could feel them with enough pressure to actually pull her arm a little bit.  It wasn't enough to move her, but there was still definite pulling in toward the other group.  That was something interesting- she wondered if she could get enough if it would just pull her along without needing to actually walk.  "I'd probably need a cart then if that was the case.  Plus I doubt there's enough here to pull me and a cart both," she spoke aloud, frowning as she looked down at the remaining scattered plumage.  "But let's see where you guys take me," she announced.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya