[PP-F01] <<The Third Lesson>> and Hopefully the Last

[Marius 0]

Previous Thread

Not only had Marius succeeded in completing <<The First Lesson>> but they had even gone as far as to complete <<The Second Lesson>> in what had felt like record breaking time! Both of those quests had been rather instrumental in enhancing his level to the point in which it had been now and they would be known to him as some of the priority quests that had ensured that he have the ability to protect his grandson in this world. That said though, both of these quests had been rather tiring with how quickly he had tried to persevere through them. Hopefully this would be the last major quest in this quest line before he could move on to other, larger quests. "Right, right. So let's see.... It has already become clear to me that both Zackariah and Lyle didn't have the mayor's money. Since we have crossed those two off of the list than I am going to need to just continue following along with what information had been given to me so... my final stop should be at a dock? Or would I have to go and look for a river of sorts? Where could you be hiding, Pete Larkin?"

Admittedly, Marius wasn't quite sure how he was going to track down this fisherman. He had more or less understood where the fisherman could have been but there were still going to be a few places here and there in which he might actually be located. "If we are keeping to the theme of the central NPCs being located in the <<Town of Beginnings>> than I should probably just choose a dock in the city first, right?" The question was spoken aloud to no one in particular but he was sure that it would at least gift him with some degree of answers. If not that than at least he would have the satisfaction of someone listening to his ideas; even if that person was himself.

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Marius | Lv. 10 | HP: 215/215 | EN: 38/38 | DMG: 3 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 | LD: 3 | MIT: 56

Equipped Items:

• Tealeaf Blade | T1 Uncommon One-Handed Straight Sword | DMG I
• Breastplate of Wrathful Protection | Tier 1 Rare Heavy Armor | MITIGATION I | THORNS I
• Small Konpeito Sack | Tier 1 Perfect Trinket | Loot III

Battle-Ready Inventory:

• Healing Potion (3) | Tier 1 Starter Potion | HP RECOVERY I [+50 HP]
• Invigorating Tune | Tier 1 Rare Consumable | HP RECOVERY II [+10% HP]

Consumed Items:

• N/A

Skills:

• Heavy Armor | RANK 5/5
  • Mod: 35 MIT
• Heavy Armor Mod: Impetus
  • Gain +1 base Damage.
• Heavy Armor Mod: Iron Skin
  • Gain +15 Mitigation and +15 * Tier HP

Misc. Buffs:

• Treasury | Firm Anima Guild Bonus | +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Battle Effects:

• Thorns: 9 Unmitigated Damage

 

[ChaseR 0]

<<The Third Lesson>>

Just having finished cleaning his workshop up and putting everything in some form of order, Chase happened to stumble upon one of the oddest, most out there scenes possible. He was heading back to the teleport plaza to head home on the 21st, when he managed to spot what seemed like a grandpa, walking around fully armored and with a weapon on his back too. "What in the mother of..."

And here he was, thinking aloud about how to pick up the final lesson quest. He was truly speechless. One day, he'd seen a tiny gremlin of a child and began to think how out of place and wrong this was. And now, he was seeing the other extreme end of this, someone too old to be pulling the stunts SAO asked you too, right here to do exactly that. He approached him quietly and coughed to get his attention, his eyes still open wide. "You're uh. Looking for the fisherman?". He didn't have a way with words, but by god now he'd seen it all. "He's by the docks that way.", he continued and pointed towards the docks, looking at that direction to make sure it was the right one and then back at the elder. "Do you want any uh... company?". Was it because he was older? Was it because he offered to help newbies out more? Chase was more than deathly afraid of how tech savvy the old man could be, seeing as he himself barely knew how to do anything before someone grabbed him by the hand and just guided him through it all. He knew the game's cruelty to the first timers quite well.

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Word Count: 279

 

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ChaseR,
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 57
HP: 840/840
EN: 102/102

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 69
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
Battle Healing: 46
Loot Dice: 5
HLY BLS: 18
HLY: 16
PHASE
V.D.: 46
V.O.: 92

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Chase's Star>> (T4/SS/Demonic): HOLY II, PHASE, V.OFF I
Armor: <<Azure Getup>> (T4/CA/Perfect): VDEF I, HBS I, MIT I
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Trinket/Demonic): ACC II, EVA II

Custom Skill:
Custom Test

Skills:
Straight Sword R5
Cloth Armor R5
Battle Healing R5
Searching R4
Fighting Spirit
Charge
Howl

Active Mods:
Athletics

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Stamina
Precision
Ferocity
Nimble
Focused Howl

Active Extra Skills:
Disguise
Forgotten King’s Authority
Meditation
Survival

Inactive Extra Skills:
Restorative Strike

Battle Ready Inventory:
Imugi's Inspiration (Mass HP Recovery) x1
Insta-Life ++ (T2/Perfect/HP REC III) x1
Woodland Armor (T3/Perfect) MIT III (1/3) x1

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching skill.
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:
Tanos Statue: +25 Mitigation for a thread.

Wedding Ring:

 

[Marius 0]

Having been a little lost in his thoughts, this elderly gentleman would jump briefly at the sound of a young man's voice. His line of questioning wasn't one that he had really anticipated anyone answering for him so the advice had been appreciated but the sudden appearance had assuredly caught him off guard. "O-oh! My apologies young man, I hadn't seen you there." A bit of an awkward laugh would escape from Marius's lips as he had begun to rub at the back of his head. "The fisherman is down by the docks, you say? I suppose that that does indeed make some sense. Thank you for the assistance!" 

It was around the time that the blue haired lad asked if he would like any company that Marius would catch himself slipping a bit. He hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings since he had been located in a safe zone. That wasn't always a luxury that one was going to have though and as such, he was going to need to ensure that he was on top of his game when it had come to such a thing. "If you are willing to accompany me on my journey to track down Mr. Larkin than I would gladly have you along. It seems to be a much better idea to have company than to not do so. It would also just be nice to have someone around with me since my grandson has chosen to seclude himself in the <<Town of Beginnings>> until the game has been completed. All that I can really do now is try and help the others with their tasks and grow stronger while completing my own, y'know? I'm Marius by the way. Not all that skilled at the moment... Just a level ten "newb" that specializes in defense."

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[ChaseR 0]

There was something endearing about the way that Marius spoke, and then there was the more modern vocabulary even Chase himself wasn't used to. In a way, it made his soul crawl right up his spine and fly out of his body to the high heavens. It felt so wrong to see someone the elder's age speak like that and behave... well... more casually than he initially anticipated. Yeah, definitely that.

"Ah, good to meet you Mr. Marius. I'm ChaseR. Just Chase works.", he blurted out and shared an awkward laugh, stretching a hand out to shake his hand. "I'm Para-", hold on. He wouldn't even know what Paragon levels are, so there wasn't any point in confusing him like that. "Er... Around level 90.", he tried to put it more plainly, although this would probably create some form of confusion later down the line. "You started the game with your grandson?", he asked in a more relaxed fashion, looking around them in the safezone and letting out a small sigh (of relief). Thank goodness Marius wasn't stuck here alone, but with how wimpy his grandson sounded, maybe it wasn't that big of a difference after all. "Wait, how old is he?". That was the immediate question that came to mind when he rushed to think of the boy as a wimp. Maybe he was even younger than Chase himself, he didn't know quite yet.

And only now did he realise he was supposed to escort the man but he'd gotten sidelined by his own curiosity. Another sigh, a pinch of his nose and a few steps towards the docks as he put both of his hands in his jacket's pockets. "Over this way."

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Word Count: 284

 

[Marius 0]

Not wanting to be rude, the elderly gentleman would go out of his way to shake ChaseR's hand. This was probably the most at ease that he had been around another person on this game, aside from his grandson. The fact that he had really only met one other person that he had managed to get along with up to this point definitely contributed to that factor though. "Level ninety huh? That is certainly a rather impressive feat! You must be working quite hard to clear the game at this point. I commend you for this fact, Chase." It was likely going to take quite a bit of time before Marius could ever catch up to this young man but that was a goal that he had now set for himself. He couldn't just leave the hard things to the younger generation. No, he was going to need to stand up and be of use to them. He had over seventy four years to live his life before all of this so he might as well ensure that they could live the rest of their lives in some degree of comfort.

"The age of my grandson? Well Erebus is about twenty five now, if I recall correctly? Likely older than you for sure. I must admit though that some of these things elude me at times. I'm surprised that RECT kept me on as long as they have considering that fact! Ahahaha..." It was thanks to the company that he had previously worked for that this old man had been as technically adept and caught up on the lingo of this current generation as he had been. If not for those things, he likely would have been a typical old man and probably never would have joined this game alongside his grandson. Not that this could ever really be changed. For the time being, thanks to his choices, both he and his grandson would remain trapped in this virtual world and it is what it is.

Marius would than follow suit as he had proceeded towards the docks alongside his new companion. Upon arrival to the docks, the duo would come across a rugged old fisherman on the end of the dock. He had seemed to have been quite up there in age, much like Marius and the two NPCs that he had met beforehand while on this questline. "I suppose that this is him? If it's alright with you, I think that we should head on over and approach him about the quest."

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Word Count: 424

 

[ChaseR 0]

The age of my grandson? Well Erebus is about twenty five now, if I recall correctly?". Ah, so he was a wimp. The very idea of Chase leaving his own grandpa to do something like quite literally go around slashing things in his stead made him shake to the very core, but he wasn't one to comment on others behaviors' when his was just barely fixed as of recent. "Uuh, thank you, thank you.", he accepted the congratulatory words from the elder, smiling awkwardly at him. The whole scenario still felt rather unrealistic, but it was happening alright.

He knew he recognised that company name somewhere, but it took him until they'd reached the fisherman to fully process it all. He hadn't figured the old man worked right next to Kayaba basically, and it hit kinda hard. Just who was this guy? All he knew was that whoever he was, he'd fallen victim to the game master's plans all the same. And that surely had to sting some more for him than it did for the blueberry. "Oh no, sure. Let's.", he turned to Marius as he broke out of his train of thought and gave him a nod, before heading closer to Larkin. "Is that two of ye I see? Normally I don't see plenty comin' in pairs, but if I've to guess it's about Dorian's dirty work, eh?", the fisherman was quick to start talking to the duo, getting a brief nod out of Chase who tried to stay quiet and let the grandpa take over for a change. It was his levelling quest after all, not blue's.

"Gah, that'll do. So, in case ye weren't aware, there's a fish out 'ere I've been trying to catch for god knows how long now. Take any potion ye want and as soon as I fish it outta the waters, make sure to give it all y'got. She'll make a beautiful meal, trust me when I say that! Any minute now, I can already tell she's nearby...", Pete slowly averted his gaze back to the waters, looking at them like a bird scanning for pray with its sharp vision. "You should take some consumable.", he advised his companion and gave him a small smile, waiting to see how he'd react to the situation.

[ChaseR hands over a Creme Brulee [RARE/TIERLESS/ACC II] to Marius.]

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Word Count: 383

 

[Marius 0]

Unsurprisingly, Marius hadn't exactly gone out of his way to prepare anything in particular for this quest. He hadn't known what he was getting himself in for but chose not to worry about all of that in the beginning, considering the fact that most things on the first floor couldn't exactly harm him in any meaningful way. Well... There was that dragon that he had seen Freyd and his familiar take on upon their initial meeting but that didn't exactly seem to be the kind of thing that would appear in the docks. "Right, of course, consumables. I have a few of those but they are really only for healing, y'know?"

"There she is!" 

Before Marius could even continue to speak on the matter, Larkin would shout aloud and shove his fishing pole in the elderly gentleman's hands. While this wasn't exactly the first time that Marius had gone fishing in this game, he still wasn't quite sure if he was all that prepared for this. "You take that, 'n' I'll grab my harpoon. I can't believe Big Bertha's finally reared her beautiful head! You got any of those potion things? We'll need all the help we can get to bring Bertha down." Marius's gaze would fall upon ChaseR for a moment before he had found himself preparing to fish. Simultaneously though, Marius would partake in a Creme Brulee and allow for its effects to wash over him. One way or another, he had planned on overcoming this quest.

[Marius accepts the Creme Brulee [RARE/TIERLESS/ACC II] from ChaseR]
[Marius uses the Creme Brulee [RARE/TIERLESS/ACC II]

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Word Count: 212

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Marius

[ChaseR 0]

Chase scratched his chin, certain that the previous quests used to reward damage and mitigation consumables. Maybe he just wasn't remembering correctly, but the boar ones should have gone that way... If they didn't, Kayaba definitely messed that up. By the time he could decide he just didn't remember though, the bluehead realised the elder was already holding the fishing rod firmly and preparing to get the swordfish out of the waters.

He would have handled the fishing himself, but the fisherman seemed to be ignoring him, as though he wasn't even present. That was definitely odd, as he remembered Shay having helped him cut the monster down, but he would put his hand in once the beast was out of the waters so the elder didn't have too much trouble exercising to reach it with his... "Aah, a one handed straight sword? I guess that makes sense.", he commented as kindly as he could, but it probably sounded like a comment on his age. He really just wouldn't go for the shorter alternative, but it's not like his stone-made two handed sword of choice was any better itself. After all, it was probably much easier to use and swing around, even if it couldn't block as well. With how ironclad the grandpa was though, he'd probably pick a shield to match it with- or maybe not.

"So... Try to pull it out of the water and if you do, the fight will begin. If it's giving you trouble, I'll slash it out of the way and you should have finished the quest, alright?", he tried to reassure his fellow party member and just gave a small smile, curious to see how this was going to go. Although it wasn't the same form of prepared as Chase, Marius appeared to have a slower and more well mannered, almost gentleman-like behavior of preparing himself. Slow and steady does the trick, as he remembered his own grandfather tell him. 

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[Marius 0]

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Word Count: 
ID: 199095 | CD: 11

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Marius