[F01 - PP] Getting stuff done ≪SotW: KoF≫

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

A new dawn starts shinning over the tranquil valley of the lion. As per usual, the early sun rays find the master of the domain with her sword in hand, honing her skills against an imaginary foe materialized over a training dummy. Undisturbed, Ariel executes her enemy with one last horizontal slash that threatened to decapitate the dummy if it wasn't for it's extremely high and seemingly unending HP bar. A soft ping alerted her a while back that someone entered her territory. As she opened her eyes at the end of the mock battle, she motioned for that person to approach. 

When she first joined the Shirajishi-ryū, Mili was bewildered by her master. Now, being summoned despite the best of her abilities to get close undetected, as to not disturb Ariel during her training: she wasn't surprised anymore. She stepped forward and delivered the result of her 'investigation'.

"Good morning, master." came a formal greeting, accompanied by a bow. A overly formal opener, despite Ariel telling everyone they didn't need to follow strict etiquette. "And here I thought I was an early bird." muttered the blonde as she dismissed Mili with a wave of a hand, the rogue-like figure visibly relaxing. "A pleasant surprise, care to join me in my morning training?" she ask with a grin. Throwing a glance at the blonde's current opponent, Millicent swallows a dry knot, knowing full well how it feels to be in place of the training dummy versus her. "Perhaps another time" she replies with faux tone of indifference. " I come from the first floor where I've been gathering some information. I found something that might interest sensei since I know you barely descend that low nowadays. " She managed to finish with a slight smile, accentuated by the rising sun rays. "Do tell." came an interested reply, as Ariel seemed to completely stop her current actions and take a sit on the nearby wooden floor, motioning Mili to sit beside her.

Mili did exactly as she was told and sat beside her master, her two ponytails resting on her back. " I've been investigating the changes in SAO after the new update." she started explaining as she started spinning a small dagger between her fingers like one would do with a pen. In return the blonde nodded and watched her observed her dexterity exercise. "It seems that one of the quests had been altered, one called ≪Scents of the Wild≫, do you know about it?" she asked, suddenly stopping and grabbing her dagger in a reverse grip, before placing it beside her.
Ariel frowned a little and closed her eyes as she folded her hands in front of her, trying to remember the name. But without any other detail, after a few seconds, she shook her head then suddenly opened her eyes as if remembering something. After a quick few gestures on her HUD, she nodded with a grin and materialized a rock piece between them.

A little surprised, Millicent gingerly went for the greenish item and after Ariel's nod grabbed and examined it. Item name: ≪Kumatetsu Key≫ it's description pretty straightforward: 'One of six, resembles a massive bear claw. '. She then threw Ariel a complicated look, as if asking for more details. The blonde caught up and began explaining: "This wasn't a rock but a totem before, the first of a series of trials in which u had to defeat a number of enemies. First boss was a bear!" a bit surprised, Milli's imagination would picture her master locking grips, in a hand to hand combat with a massive bear and overpowering it. She let out a soft smile and a subdued laugh, earning herself a raised eyebrow. As she felt Ariel's judging eyes on her, she faked a cough trying to cast away the image in her mind and pose the next question: "So you already completed the quest?" 

She maintained the raise eyebrow and the intense gaze for a couple of seconds more before dismissing her question with a small wave in front her her. " Not by far, I went after the next boss but never found it. Near the Stygian river. I got distracted with other things and then joined th frontlines effort again. " Milli would notice the fondness and pride in her words, growing a little more impressed with her master. The blonde then makes her HUD visible and shows her pupil. "But I think the quest reset because now it sends me to the 1st floor not the 10th like before." To that, the brunette rogue copied her master's actions and replied: "I have the same quest, the intel I got sent me to a tree inside a small cavern. " the blonde nodded and stood up. "Then that's where we're headed next!"

---

Ariel | HP: 840/840 | EN: 102/102 | DMG: 23 (+8) | MIT: 12 | AA | ACC: 3(5) | EVA: 1 | +45 BH | +9 LD | Fallen (1) | Keen (2)
   (Well Rested, ST Shift)

Spoiler

Skills:                                                                                                            

Stats: 
HP: 840/840 | EN: 102/102 | DMG: 23 (+8) | MIT: 12 | AA | ACC: 3(5) | EVA: 1 | +35 HB | +45 BH | +9 LD | Fallen (1) | Keen (2)

Spoiler Level 31 +55 (Paragon) 840 HP (620 +20*11) | 102 Energy(80 +2*11) 30 Mitigation (30[skill]) +3(5) Accuracy (1[weapon] +2[trinket] +2(keen)) +1 Evasion (+1[addon]) 23 Base Damage (1[base] +7[weapon skill] +1[athletics] +12[mastery] +2[ferocity]) +8 Fallen Damage (Successful BD: 6-8 (before modifiers) add fallen damage to your total base damage.) +36 HP Holy Blessing +Survival (After taking damage, heal HP at the beginning of your next turn. Can only trigger once per round.) +46 HP Battle Healing +Survival (While in combat, recover 5% of your maximum HP (rounded down) at the beginning of your turn.) +9 LD (+5LD [skill] +3LD[item] +1LD[addon] /+2SD[mod] /+1LD[looting] /+3 LD[mods] -> dungeons: 10 5 posts CD & labyrinth: 3 posts CD) Absolute Accuracy (Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. Gain +1 to the BD when attacking. Cannot be used to trigger a critical hit.) Keen (After a successful attack, gain +1 BD until your next successful attack, at which point this bonus is removed.)

 

 Equipment: 

≪Onimaru Shi#187508≫			≪Guardian Cloak#187511≫			≪Keen Eye#151723≫
T4: Absolute Accuracy | Keen | Fallen (Katana)			T1: Loot Die | Loot Die | Loot Die (Cloth)			T1: Accuracy | Accuracy | Keen (Trinket)
An odachi with it's saya made of polished maple, adorned with brilliant golden colour etchings and ceremonially decorated with tufts of white feathers. The long blade itself is black as the shadows and the flaming etchings on the steel seem to come alive at the wielder's will.			A gray cloak with silver trims, on its backside lay four guild icons all crossed with a blood red X. pic.			A obsidian ring with thin parallel silver linings, that is said to increase one's eyesight.

  Inventory:  

Spoiler 5x ≪Tier 4 Blank Dungeon Map≫	Spoiler Empty	Spoiler Empty
Spoiler ≪Leonidas' Strength#151568≫ T4: Holy Blessing | Holy Blessing | Risky | Risky (Cloth) A blood red cape with a black inverted V design in the middle of the back, if worn as light armor; one of the trademark items worn by the Spartans that fought until the last man.	Spoiler ≪Mothbrand#156715≫ T3: Vampiric (Off) | Vampiric (Off) | Accuracy | Accuracy (1HSS) An antenna taken from Mothra's corpse, sharpened that could be used as a weapon.The grip is orange and yellow-like colored while the blade itself is blood red with orange runes in the middle.	Spoiler ≪Shirajishi-ryū Keikogi#189021≫         T1: Evasion | Evasion | Evasion (Cloth)         Initially designed as a uwagi, some creative liberties transformed it into a high low hem jacket. The long pristine white backside with blue accents and black trims, reaches down to ground level. Branded with 白獅子流 (white lion style) kanji on the back, it brings the item closer to the initial design.

Spoiler 2x ≪Teleport [Crystal]≫

 Buffs: 

• Search IV -> V: "Skylight"
• +15% XP-> Col [Laurel Wreath]: "Paragon lvl. 5"
• +1 LD to Looting: "Paragon lvl. 10"
• -1 EN [3/3]: "Well Rested"
• -25% DoT [1/1]: "Squeaky Clean"
• +20 HP & [2/2] EN OOC regen: "Relaxed" 
• +1 BRI slot: ≪Dimensional Backpack≫
• +1 BRI slot: "Item Stash"
• +10% EXP: "Advanced Training" 
• -5 posts dungeon/field boss CD:≪Spyglass# 201969≫

Quest:  https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/20487-f01-f22/?do=findComment&comment=631331

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Dracul 0]

Another fail... this 'experiment' was going nowhere fast and I could sense myself getting a little more infuriated after each attempt. " Milord, maybe we should take a break. " came the pertinent suggestion from my assistant, Darius, who was cleaning up the workbench after our last 'mishap'. Turning towards him, my index in the air as I opened my mouth to reply when a soft ping distracted me. I changed the direction of my finger as I gesticulated a pause then opened the new alert. It was a party invitation from Millicent. With a frown I dismiss it and once more focus on Darius. As I prepare to speak another ping interrupts me for the second time. "O for the love of..." I stop my cursing and frown as I see that I received another party invitation. This time from the master of the domain, a fair blonde warrior maiden. With a sigh I accept it and see that two blue marks are approaching my lab's premises. Finally I turn towards Darius and with half a smile I nod and reply: "it seems we'll be taking a break whether we like it or not." the next second I see him grinning like an idiot as he was added to the party by Ariel.

---

Dracul | HP: 400/400 | EN: 58/58 | DMG: 4 | MIT: 0 | LD:+3 | REC (2) | Taunt

Spoiler

✠ Level: 20  ❤ Health: 400  ✽ Energy: 58  ◈ Taunt  ❋ Recovery: +2 / CD 6+
⚔ Damage: 4  ♜ Mitigation: 0  ☣ Thorns: 0  ❋ Loot: +3

✿ Equipped Items:

Spoiler

≪Blue Rose#58993≫
T2: Damage | Damage | Damage
An elegant two handed straight sword with a bluish blade and a rose placed on top to the side of the hilt.

≪Feline Helper#13453≫
T1: Loot Die | Loot Die | Loot Die
Custom made plushie in the form of a white lioness. A small crown logo marking its origin at 'The Lion's Den'.

≪Memory Fragment#134713-1≫
T1: Recovery | Recovery | Taunt
A thin bracelet with a blue crystal as its centerpiece. It lightly glows when any of its enchantments proc.

No skills learned

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Dracul

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Without hesitation (or knocking) the blonde enters the premises of the « Lion's Share », one of the annexes in the form of a alchemy shop on the Shirajishi-ryū Valley grounds. Seeing two new member addition to the party, entered with a smile, taking a second to look around. " Definitely an improvement from your last place. " she claimed, resting her eyes on the shop owner in formal black themed attire below his lab coat. Almost in complete contrast with the white theme interior of the shop. A low growl came as a reply from Dracul who frowned at her. " Good morning miss Ariel, miss Millicent! " a more formal and appropriate greeting coming from his assistant, which also started blushing. Both the girls replied to Darius with a small nod, the blonde pointing her thumb at him while addressing Dracul: " You could learn a thing or two from him. " while the brunette drew a bit closer to her male counterpart and muttered: " I told you before... call me Milli. ". 

[Dracul 0]

I ignored the girl's plea and focused instead on my reply to the blonde: " I'll keep that in mind. " an ingenious answer followed by a question of my own: " What would you have us do now? " I had a few answers in my mind but was expecting confirmation from her. With the corner of my eye I see Darius walk next to Millicent and gently rub her back, my indifference clearly having an effect on her. With a raised eyebrow Ariel finally replies after a few seconds that I for one, found unnecessarily long: " You're going to put that big brain of yours to use and help me on a quest on the 1st floor. "

What a surprise, I'd like to say but in reality.. it wasn't. Nonetheless, I've been through this many times before and accepted with a shrug. Then turning to face Darius, Ariel added: " Of course, you're coming too, right? "