[PP-F2] Stepping Back Into the Light <<Let There Be Light>>

[Fae 0]

Fae, a player who was likely just a distant memory for many of the players still in Aincrad, was finally making the decision to come out of her shell again. After a whole bunch of hiding and waiting for everyone to hopefully forget her stupid decisions, Fae decided that now was the time to get back to grinding up. But this time, she wasn't going to let herself mess up just as badly as she had before. She had just purchased her new dagger recently, so she already felt like she was going to get better results going forward. As soon as she walked into Urbus after arriving on the floor, she was greeted by the crying woman NPC Choshi who began to tell her about the situation with her child getting lost in the cave. Normally, Fae would have been much more distraught to hear that this kind of thing had happened, but this was an NPC. It wasn't too bad right? "Don't worry miss! Fae will help you out!" Fae told Choshi, having plenty of energy in her voice as she accepted the quest. Choshi thanked her afterwards and stopped crying, which then came the important part. The location of Koko popped up on Fae's map, which obviously led out of Urbus and to the cave that meat of the quest would take place in. Fae turned around now that she had her quest accepted, ready to head out of the walled city and find this lost child.

Stats and Equipment:

Spoiler

Fae: Lv: 5 | HP: 100 | En: 28 | DMG: 4 | MIT: 2 | EVA: 1

Equipped Items:

- Assassin's Blade | T1 Rare Dagger | Damge +1, Bleed

- Divine Dragon's Cloak | T2 Perfect Light Armor | Evasion, Mitigation, Light Momentum

Battle Ready Inventory:

- Double Fudge Cookie | Snack | +3 MIT

@Hestia

[Hestia 0]

Curiosity is her simple desire and want for understanding the world around her and thus brought her towards floor two to try and grasp what is going on if this floor had also changed in some significant way when compared to the likes of floor eight. Gazing around the main town of Urbus she could comfortably say that might not have been the case at first glance everything looked similar beyond maybe the addition of walls, but maybe they always had been there? She wasn't in particular a regular of this floor to begin with never really had much going for it in terms of excitement at least with her eyes. She smiles a bit seeing the kids that run around this floor something that brought a smile to her face even if they were just npcs it made her happy to see the happiness upon their faces. Making her way into the village she spots something right away some pink haired child declaring they will help out some older woman who looked deeply distressed about something. Making her way forward towards the duo of player and npc spotting the crystal over the pink haired child's head. 'It's easy to forget kids could've gotten trapped here not just the adults and us teenagers.' A frown flashing across her face with a sullen gaze as she quickly tries to bury that for now to do something she hadn't asked in awhile at least on this floor.

Excuse me i was wondering if you would want some help the name is Hestia. The raven haired girl with a cerulean colored gaze speaks with a gentle tone of voice as she hears the npcs words soon after which quickly let her know what quest this was and the minor difficulty that could occur a kindly smile appears on her face as she gets onto one knee and rests her hand upon the woman's shoulder. Fear not ma'am i'll be helping you out no pay is needed So please rest for now knowing things will be handled. The kindly tone never leaving her voice as her lion familiar of monochromatic colors just rests believing that i'm taking a rest. The npc gives her a overjoyed look. "I swear even if you don't want a reward i'll find something since my child means the world to me! Paying something be it even just a meal is too little for your kindness!" The woman says before going on her way to find a reward.

The raven haired girl sighs and gets up to her feet her heavy armor made of bronze wreathed in flames like a everburning light campfire. A shield strapped to her back being held there by a leather strap across her chest and a snowglobe resting against her body with a crescent moon pendant hanging just below the globe.

Combat info:

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Skills

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Combat Skills

[36 SP] BH rank 5 MOD: emergency (45 HP, 90 emergency)  mod eng cost=10

[10 SP] Fighting Spirit [passive]

[15 SP] Howl+ADDON Focused howl [+4 aoe, +6 single]  [2eng CD:2, 4eng CD:4]

Armor Skills

[36 SP] HA rank5 MOD: iron skin (+15 mit, 60 HP)= 50 mit, 60 HP

Combat Mastery

[13 SP] Mitigation:6*tier mit=72 mit

Familiar skills

[10 SP] Protector familiar: 10% final damage free action CD:3

Extra Skills [tier* total]

[52 SP] First aid [15 eng, post action]= 20% max health of target   (costs 2 slots)
MODS:
Barrier=ENG: 15, CD:3, post action=15% party final damage reduction
Field Medic eng 15, CD:3, post action=heal party 25% max hp
Energize: post action, eng 10  [restore 8 hp] ADDON:hyperactive (post action, eng 5, CD:3)=passive regen of target +3

ACTIVE MODS: Iron skin, rampart, barrier, field medic, emergency

 

Equipment

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<<Lun'Rael's Insignia>> (Unique Vanity Item): A small badge bearing Queen Lun'Rael's seal: a crescent moon with a single twinkle of starlight. The pendant is quite ornate, decorated with a single diamond gemstone.

Item Name: Winter's Dream
Item Tier: 4
Item Type: Trinket
Item Enhancements: Life Mending+2, +1 accuracy
Description: A small snowglobe that can be worn around the neck that gives off a faint sensation of calm like a winter's dream from so long ago.

Name: Aegis
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 98814
Roll: 9
Item Type: Shield
Quality: perfect
Tier: 4
Enhancements: +2 Thorns, +1 Recovery
Description: A shield modeled after the Aegis shield of Athena with jagged bits of metal along it in the form of teeth.

Name: Prometheus' Blessing
Tier: 4
Item Type: Heavy Armor
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: Flame Aura / Taunt / Heavy Momentum
Description: A constant light aura of flames wraps around the armor like a cape of flames. The armor depicting Prometheus giving humanity their flames of intelligence and creativity.
Link: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/16227-f17-rank-5-merchant-valkyries-ascension/?do=findComment&amp;comment=572872 

 

Stats:

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Hestia: HP:900/900 EN:102/102  Mit:163[FA:16] Thorns:80[FA:8]  BH:45  emergency:90 when 225 hp or lower  Recovery: +4 eng CD: 7+

Paragon bonus=col equal to 10% exp reward, +3%EXP gain

House bonus= Attic(storage)=+5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests,  Master bedroom(-1 energy to first three expendetures in combat)

 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Hestia

[Fae 0]

Fae was about to march off on her own to get this quest done when she heard a different voice tell the same NPC that they were going to be helping her out and find her lost child. It was a familiar voice, and Fae soon recognized it as soon as she turned around and saw her. Last time she had seen her was at that winter festival from what felt like forever ago. Hestia and Fae weren't on the best terms from what she could remember, but being nice could help maybe? Hopefully Hestia wouldn't remember her as well as Fae remembered her. "Hi miss Hestia! It's been a while since Fae last saw you!" Fae greeted Hestia excitedly, waving at her. All she could do was take the optimistic route with this reencounter. Compared to Hestia and her majestic heavy armor, Fae was much less bulky with her tan cloak made of leather. She had her dagger ready inside of her cloak, although like most of her body, it couldn't be seen thanks to the cloak. Fae was wondering what would bring someone as strong as Hestia in her eyes to come down to the 2nd floor. Maybe it was just quest cleanup like Fae?

[Hestia 0]

The young girl lets out a voice as she looks down towards the young cloaked girl and stands staring at her for a few seconds a bit bewildered by the face that the girl before her apparently knows of her in having met before, but she herself is unable to exactly place where she had met this girl before. She just smiles in a friendly manner towards her and waves back not returning the same levels of enthusiasm but certainly attempting to match the kindness that had been shown within the greeting that was given. Hello to you as well Fae though i'm a bit sad to say i don't have as strong a memory as you apparently, but if you want i can accompany you on doing this quest if you would like that. How have you been though, and maybe if you could be kind enough to refresh my memory and last we met that would be appreciated. The raven haired girl says in a embarrassed tone of voice as she rubs the back of her neck while gazing towards the child her mind wandering slightly towards the quest going over the fact that unlike the monkey king this quest seemingly at its start hasn't changed that much compared to others.

[Fae 0]

Fae was relieved that Hestia's reaction to her was pretty normal, since her memory of Fae wasn't that vivid. Although she asked for a refresher, which conflicted Fae a bit now on whether or not to tell the truth. If everyone else had a similar view on Fae now like Hestia did, then hopefully there'd be no way to fact. "Well we saw each other at a lot of the holiday events, we did that desert quest in the sand together with Pinny too!" Fae gave her little refresher, leaving out all the other stuff that could make this turn sour. Pinball was someone she had wanted to see, but things between them were definitely complicated. Hestia was willing to accompany her on this quest, which was an offer that Fae just couldn't turn down, since it'd make things so much easier. Maybe she wouldn't even have to use her cookie on this quest. Keeping the quest in mind, Fae started to get back to walking to the main exit of Urbus that led to the cave they needed to go to while looking back at Hestia. "Fae would love having someone come along, so sure! It makes the quest that much more fun if you're doing it with a friend right?" Fae accepted the offer, smiling brightly and then gesturing for Hestia to follow her with one arm.

[Hestia 0]

Nodding her head gently when hearing that as her mind drifts towards the various events that have occurred within this game months ago when she was doing them quite frequently to just socialize with other players as she nods even if her memories are foggy beyond the one vivid memory of some cloaked person tackling a player with a orange cursor who snuck into a christmas event. The second half though clues it in to a time very long ago a time where Pinball wasn't a murderer and she could be okay with traveling with him without having to wonder why he did what he did and to some extent to a point where she could never forgive him no matter how much time would pass on. One murder could be explained away, but many murders of innocent players is damning and not tolerable in her eyes no matter the excuse he would say and try to defend himself with. Well i'm glad to see that you're doing okay, and of course quests are more fun with friends around makes the walks a lot less boring when you can have people to talk to. The raven haired girl says kindly with a smile upon her face while walking alongside Fae towards the cave letting Fae take the lead since there is really no harm in the prospect of doing so since she could just howl at any monsters that would try to attack the young girl to make sure she would take the hits. Leaving through the only exit of Urbus they make their way into the forests that surround the town and once outside she swears that she could spot the sight of mountains in the distance on the edge of her sight while staring down the road.

[Fae 0]

Fae wasn't fully aware of everything Pinball had done, as she still saw him as friend who just made some bad choices like she did. Of course, the orange cursor was dead giveaway that he had done plenty wrong, but Fae still refused to believe that her friend was a full on murderer. "Yup! So what have you been up to lately miss Hestia? Just getting stronger and stronger I'm guessing? Fae has just been trying stay out of trouble, so not much to say here." Fae asked, stepping into the fairly lush forests of the second floor once they were out of Urbus. The mountain in the distance Fae could see far off as well, and the map that Choshi had given them clearly indicated that this was the way to find Koko. Over time, Fae would start to skip instead of just walk, looking up at the trees above them and keeping an eye out just in case any mobs were around. The quest did have some kind of bat monster, so Fae wasn't sure if it was capable of leaving it's cave to come after someone when they accepted the quest.

[Hestia 0]

Making their way through the forest she doesn't pay much mind to her surroundings confident that whatever could and would occur would be dealt with swiftly by herself through the use of howl if it came within her peripheral vision. Thus, she just strolls forward without much of a care in the world having long sense not felt threatened by much beyond the floor bosses that she would participate in and the event bosses that would follow in their wake during certain times of the year. Well i've mainly just been taking a break from the frontlines lately, but since we met there is quite a lot i have done. It would be hard to talk about where to begin if i'm going to be honest since i could talk about floor bosses, event bosses, a few tales of me hanging out with some friends be it casual or questing if you would want to hear of some quests that were around before the system change. Could even talk about a few players that have long since past, or tales of the old days of what the old frontlines were like back when they were clearing floor two and three. She offers honestly with a smile having learned a lot when she is scouring the floors for knowledge for trying to grasp anything and everything that she could try to understand why things came to the way they are right now. A history was certainly there, but pieces still felt like they were missing for her to understand most events that had occurred beyond just the bosses themselves.

[Fae 0]

Fae didn't know just how much stronger Hestia had gotten since they last saw each other, so she still wanted to be at least somewhat cautious. At the end of the day, she was still fairly low leveled and didn't want to have things take a wrong turn. Listening to what Hestia had been up to, it dawned on Fae just how much things had progressed. Multiple floor bosses had gone by and she just completely missed them since she was just in her own little bubble. "Wow, that's a lot of work you've gotten done! Maybe Fae can get to that level someday. Fae doesn't know how long that would take, but maybe Fae could catch up by the time you all get to floor 40? That sounds pretty fun, getting all that experience and those memories from fighting bosses. But how were those bosses like back then?" Fae replied, sounding impressed with how much Hestia had done. The idea of talking about players who were long gone made her a bit uncomfortable, so she just didn't comment on that part. If someone was long in the past, then could they be dead? Fae just preferred not to have that answer.

[Hestia 0]

She nods her head gently with a smile as she would swipe open her menu and flick her finger down through the list slowly making sure to avoid skipping over the item in question softly muttering to herself under her breathe all the while. I know it was somewhere here. I hope i didn't leave it home..no it's here i wouldn't be that forgetful. Then her face brightens up and clicks upon her screen as a journal appears in the her hand as she would then open it up the book being a simple leather bound journal with little strips of colored paper. One being red, one being blue, one being green, and one being purple with those four colors having various lengths based upon distance within this journal of hers with the raven haired player opening up towards a short blue strip of paper. Well lets start with what i was told by an old player whose name is not even legend it's that faded from what players do know, though his name was Ryujin.  The first ever floor boss sounded quite terrifying the name was Puppet Master Hanzo instead of controlling dolls as you might expect he controlled players instead death followed in the wake of that frontline fight, and seemingly the penchant from mind games started there by having the boss give promises of being free to players it captured. She starts off reading through the information that was given to her towards the younger player not feeling the need to hold back any details since if one survived this long in SAO in her mind they had a stomach for the chaos that comes with the fights and could handle the concept of death in their own way. You could say the bosses brought chaos wherever they went both towards players and to the floor itself with the actions they could do, for the next boss it brought an idea of weak points to these creatures since it was a completely armored bug whose only weak point was a soft underbelly where you had to strike with your sword arts to deal damage to it. This boss was basically a big beetle and i don't wish to try and pronounce it's name. She says reading her notes and realizing she would probably butcher the pronunciation to the high heavens if she attempted to even do so.

While explaining all of this Hestia would be noticeably a bit more animated in her movements and gestures as if trying to explain visually while also audibly what these bosses information was. Having raised her hand into a pupperteering motion when speaking of Hanzo, and rubbing her abdominal area when talking about the second boss.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Hestia

[Fae 0]

Fae's eyes lit up with curiosity as Hestia opened up her menu and pulled out a journal. The thought of having one even just for notes sounded fun, so now it was put into Fae's mind for consideration when they would be done with this quest. Judging by the strips of paper that probably served as bookmarks, Hestia had already gotten a lengthy amount of content inside of it. Hearing about the first boss though, that sounded pretty crazy compared to what she heard was on the frontlines now. That kind of manipulation from a boss on the first floor? Talk about a difficulty curve. "Controlling players by lying to them? That sounds pretty harsh, especially since it worked and players died. Do you think the devs realized how messed up that was and toned down the bosses? From what Fae heard, the bosses now are more so just really long fights. Even with the one after Hanzo, that's much more tame." Fae wondered what the thought process was behind making the bosses, although that wasn't a question that was really going to get answered. The movements from Hestia to further show what was up with these bosses helped, with Fae nodding along and paying close attention.

[Hestia 0]

It's hard to tell what they thought of making that the first boss of all things since it certainly has changed overtime with each boss since each is meant to have its own flavor but it never reached the state of mind control again from what i know at least. That seemed like a one off thing, but maybe there was some mobs who could do that as well or some kind of effect that was there that just got patched out due to some abuse of it or something since in the past as well. Something we don't have currently is the ability to teleport other people to specified location. Their use to be the idea of prison teleport crystals that supposedly stopped working at some point from what i got told. She offers with a shrug of her shoulders and a nod of understanding since it is worrying be it for future bosses and enemies that could lurk and use that ancient skill again, or for the sake of knowing at one point people could be manipulated to such a heavy extent by just AI. Making their way through the forest the cave slowly comes into view of the duo of players as hestia slowly takes out her shield just encase anything comes charging out of the cave or if they get ready to walk into it. In regards to current floor bosses they are long and hard to get through in terms of weathering the storm. They each have had their own little flare of uniqueness a unicorn that could control lightning and put the healers to the test with aoes and i think even paralysis being frequent. Then their was the dark elf council that was like an anti player party having their own versions of rogues, healers, tanks, dps all those kind of people. Then their was Leviathan a giant serpent that required coordination and torrential rain that hampered our ability to fight and a ability that summoned a tsunami to try and drown us out.

@Fae

Edited April 14, 2021 by Hestia

[Fae 0]

Fae could vaguely remember the idea of prison teleport crystals. That was back when there was a lot more order among the playerbase and 'police' groups arresting PKers. For how it ruined the experience for said PKers, even if they deserved it, it made sense for those teleport crystals to stop working like that. Fae had missed a good amount of the early changes that happened in the game, but she still knew about some of them at least. As they neared the cave, Fae got a better grip on her dagger and prepared herself just in case something jumped out. Whatever monster was in there would hopefully be going for them soon instead of Koko. Since they would probably lose the quest and have to deal with the guilt of letting an NPC die like that. "Oh the AoEs would have to be annoying for sure when trying to deal with a boss. Everyone probably wastes a lot of items on bosses since so many people get hit don't they? That's probably not ever gonna change, since someone could just howl and be a sole tank." Fae commented, just picturing how expensive all of those items would be. That was another mental note Fae logged into her head, to gather up more items for her future quests for healing.

[Hestia 0]

Hestia enters into the cave as she undoes the strap that holds her shield against her back holding the shield in her right hand the only guidance she gets when moving into that cave being the faint glow of her armor's flames. The flames dancing along her armor giving only a slight cocoon around her barely an inch of light emitting form her just only enough time to see the face of something that would attack as it appeared in front of her. Well depends how you view wasting items Fae since if you mean for healing not really at least in the past. Healer's like myself keeps them healthy, but it would help if people brought their own healing items since Leviathan proved to us that healers aren't enough sometimes though maybe floor twenty five changed that. However, the real item sink is all the buffs people buy for the raid damage, mitigation, overhealth, evasion, accurayc, protein. Then their is even quest drops that people farm to help give them an edge their is always more one could do it feels like to be slightly more prepared for the fight it's just how much time you're willing to spend doing it. She says honestly with a shrug of her shoulders knowing that truly their is always more work to be done that could give people more of an edge during boss fight. Debuffs that performers could craft, quest items that drop buffs to give more damage or mitigation, and with the addition of field bosses even those could give something worthwhile depending what they drop.The sound of a piercing screech echos off of the walls the enemy having found them seemingly, or if the quest has stayed the same trying to find them since it's just a giant bat. The tank gets ready bracing herself for an attack that will hit her once she activates howl.

@Fae

Edited April 22, 2021 by Hestia