[SP-F02] Ara ara? Ora Ora? Ra Ra Rasputin? <<Breaking the Unbreakable>>

[Astreya 0]

Astreya paused at the foot of the mountain, looking up as far as she could see, squinting as she did so.  This was going to be one annoying climb.  She frowned slightly as she rolled out her shoulder, glancing around the area.  There was a lot going on, it seemed, when it came to unearthing all of Aincrad's mysteries.  She'd heard through the grapevine that there was something neat on the top of the mountain, and so after verifying it with a few other sources, she decided to go on and take a look herself.  

As she was about to take a step, suddenly there was the sound of flapping wings and she blinked, glancing up to see her pet vulture swooping in, holding onto a large bag.  "We just left town like five minutes ago!" she called up to the bird, who merely gave her a 'caw' in response before dropping the Col and other items into the girl's inventory, before hurtling off once more.  "Okay, bye!"

----

Foraging/Familiar-

Spoiler

Hunting Familiar:
ID: 202914
CD: 12 (528 Col)
LD: 14 (528 Col)
793 Col

Rare Armor/Shield (1)
Additional Col (528)
Cooldown: 0/5

Foraging Roll:
ID: 202913
CD: 11
LD: 7 (Failure! +3 EXP!)

-----

Thread Stats-

Spoiler

 

-Level 22
-HP: 485
-- 440 (Base) + 45 (Iron Skin)
-NRG: 62

-Base Damage: 14
-- 1(Base) + 6 (Weapon Skill) + 1 (Impetus) + 6 (Weapon)
-Mitigation: 104
-- 0(Base) + 35 (Armor Skill) + 15 (Iron Skin) + 54 (Armor)
-Regeneration: 2% (Currently 9)
-- 0(Base) + 2% (Battle Healing II)
-Accuracy: 3
-- 0(Base) + 1 (Weapon) + 2 (Accessory)
-Thorns: 0
-- 0(Base)
--EN Recovery: 0
--Taunt: 1

»Glacial Blade  [2H Straight Sword] | Perfect T3
[Damage] - Gain +3 base damage per slot
[Damage] - Gain +3 base damage per slot
[Accuracy] - Add 1 onto your BD rolls (Cannot cause crits)

»Battle Dress Mk II | Perfect T3 Heavy Armor
[Mitigation] - Prevent 18 damage from successful attacks against you.
[Mitigation] - Prevent 18 damage from successful attacks against you.
[Mitigation] - Prevent 18 damage from successful attacks against you.

»Hoya of the West | Perfect T1 Trinket
[Accuracy II] - Add 2 onto your BD rolls (Cannot cause crits)
[Prosperity] - Gain +1 to the base multiplier when receiving col from killing an enemy.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She gave a soft grunt as she began to move, setting one hand above the other to climb the mountainside.  It wasn't exactly a difficult climb- or rather it wouldn't have been if she didn't have her armor weighing her down.  She considered taking it off, but then again, as she had no idea what somber of nasties would be coming up after her, she didn't really want to risk not having it.  The steady movement upward was about what she had been expecting this to be, and thankfully with everything that she'd done up until now, she felt equipped to handle it.

The girl's brilliant blue eyes narrowed slightly as she shifted her grip, grasping ahold of a nearby outcropping.  This was just like climbing the rock walls during the team-building exercises with the rest of the volleyball team.  She felt a small sadness start to rise up but she squashed it as soon as it arose- she didn't have time to be sad!

Mountain 1/3

--------

Foraging/Familiar:

Spoiler

Hunting Familiar:
Cooldown: 1/5

Foraging Roll: 
ID: 202915
CD: 8
LD: 5 (Failure!  +3 EXP!)

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The rock wall analogy wasn't too far off.  There was more than once where she had found herself at a point where there just weren't handholds to proceed upward.  Because of that, she'd needed to adjust where she was going, drop back down a little, scoot over to the right or to the left and keep going upward, after where she'd seen the handholds to climb. 

It was a little weird, in the fact that she was having to struggle up this wall.  She wondered if there were some sort of climbing mechanics at all?  Or if she was just supposed to go about it this way.  The line between 'simulation' and 'game' kept getting blurred the more things that Astreya saw of this game world, and she wondered if maybe that's why some of the people she'd met previously were in the same boat with that or not.  

When they all woke up... how much of a difficult time was it going to be for everyone to adjust?

Mountain 2/3

-------

Foraging/Familiar:

Spoiler

Hunting Familiar:
Cooldown: 2/5

Foraging Roll: 
ID: 202916
CD: 5
LD: 10 (Failure!  +3 EXP!)

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

As she climbed up higher, Astreya started to notice that the landscape was changing a bit, and becoming colder.  That was fine- but the thing that she also saw was a large outcropping of rock up above her... and the further up she went, the more she saw that there was a building up here.  Was this what they were talking about before?  She frowned as she continued up the mountain, struggling to get higher up and to see what was up there.

As she came closer, she saw the building in its full glory.  Or rather, not really glory, but just a humble little temple up here.  "Huh," she spoke as she pulled herself up onto the ledge, looking out at it.  She noticed a small glowing material and she leaned down, picking it up and slipping it into her inventory before she began to move forward toward the building.

"Hello?  Anyone up here?" she called out, putting her hands behind her back as she leaned forward, curious.

Mountain 3/3

-------

Foraging/Familiar:

Spoiler

Hunting Familiar:
Cooldown: 3/5

Foraging Roll: 
ID: 202919
CD: 1
LD: 19 (Success!  +1 Material! +5 EXP)

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Her voice echoed back toward her from the mountainside, and she realized there wasn't much out here to break up the voice around the area, which meant if she yelled again, it would continue to echo.  She was very tempted to just yell the word 'echo' outward as loud as she could, but if someone lived up here, she imagined they wouldn't take kindly to that.

But it didn't take long from her initial shout for a figure to start to approach her.  An older gentleman in a monk's robe, he seemed quite comfortable despite the chilly weather.  Astreya noted that she was too, for whatever reason, but she didn't linger on it very long as the man came closer.  "Welcome to my mountain.  Would you mind terribly if I inquired as to the nature of your visit?"

"Oh I dunno," Astreya answered honestly.  "Someone said there was, like, something totally cool up here on the mountain, so I came to check it out," the girl admitted with a sheepish grin.

-------

Foraging/Familiar:

Spoiler

Hunting Familiar:
Cooldown: 4/5

Foraging Roll: 
ID: 202921
CD: 1
LD: 2 (Failure! +3 EXP)

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The older gentleman watched Astreya for a long moment before he threw back his head and laughed for a long moment in response to the woman's words.  She blinked, not quite sure what she was expecting by coming up here, but that certainly wasn't it.  "I appreciate your candor, young lady.  Here I teach disciples the way of martial arts.  If you are willing to learn, then I am willing to teach.  I will only train those who prove that they are ready."

Astreya's head tilted to the side.  Martial Arts?  Well, she got the quest indicator, so she might as well.  "Sure!  I'll prove I'm ready.  What do I need to do?" she asked.

The older fellow bowed his head, turning and heading back toward the building.  "First, follow me.  The tests lay this way."

As she followed along, the woman blinked, seeing something glinting in the snow. Reaching down to touch it, she got the tag for '2 Materials' and was about to stand up when Frosty dropped off a bag at her feet.  "Thanks," she called after the bird, putting the Col away and following the old man.

----

Foraging/Familiar:

Spoiler

Hunting Familiar:

ID: 202923
CD: 4 (528 Col)
LD: 3 (2 Materials)
793 Col
Cooldown: 0/5


Foraging Roll: 
ID: 20292211
CD: 11 (Bonus!)
LD: 16 (Success! +2 Materials! +8 EXP)

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The mountainside dojo was interesting, to her, as she stepped along with him.  Not that she was expecting anything too wild or crazy up here, but all she had known is that there was some sort of quest here... and now she had the opportunity to check it out.  But things were rather... almost expected?  She didn't know how else to put it, and not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but it supremely felt like this was a dojo placed here on the mountainside, rather than something being built due to it being close to resources or whatever.

"Frosty, you heading down?" she asked the bird, noting that the vulture was flying further away from her, and she gave a small sound as the creature began to head down the mountain.  "I thought you liked the cold!" she called after it before frowning and shaking her head.  Stupid bird- it needed to listen better.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Astreya moved to follow along with the older fellow, he brought the young woman to a field with several tall, wooden cylinders set deep into the ground.  "To learn martial arts, your body must be a weapon.  You cannot rely on other weaponry to harm others.  So for this, you will not use that sword, but your fists and feet," the old man spoke.  

Astreya crinkled her nose, but she was no stranger to this.  Her dad put her through lots of different exercises, and boxing was one of them.  She shifted, pulling her hand back before letting it snap outward...and winced.  "Ow!  What the heck?" she asked, shaking her hand.  

The man, however, gave a slight approving nod.  "You have good form.  Here, adjust yourself like so," he indicated, and Astreya followed along, and this time when her fist connected, the wood splintered, cracking beneath her armored fist.  "I see you have the basics already.  Very well, let's move on," he mused, leading her onward.

----

Training Roll 1: 202937
CD: 4 [Failure!]

Training Roll 2: 202938
CD: 8 [Success!]

[Astreya 0]

The young woman shook her hand a few times, still stinging from where she'd decked that log and it hadn't budged.  "So, like, what's next?" she asked as she came up behind the fellow.

"Your body is strong, but your mind must also be," he mused as they approached a growling sound that continued to get louder as they approached, and soon she realized it was a waterfall.  "So you will meditate beneath this waterfall, ensuring to keep focused throughout."  

"What in the...yeah, sure," she spoke, gesturing toward the waterfall.  This whole quest was weird, so far as she was concerned, but she'd deal with it.  With a small breath she made her way toward the water.  It was quite cold, but she didn't feel it freezing through her skin as she knelt beneath it.  With all of the training her father had instilled into her, the young woman had virtually no difficulty in keeping her concentration, and honestly, she had just started to get bored after awhile.  "Is that good enough?"

The old man gave another small laugh.  "Very well.  Come.  The final challenge awaits."

----

Training Roll 1: 202941
LD: 14 (Success!)

Training Roll 2: 202942
LD: 18 (Success!)

Training Roll 3: 202943
LD: 8 (Failure!)

Total: 6 bonus damage against the boulder!

Edited December 31, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Astreya came along with the older fellow, not quite sure what was about to come up, but she figured that whatever test came next, it'd be about at the same level of weird.  Not that she was totally against learning all of this martial arts stuff, but at the same time, she didn't really know why she was here, beyond the quest itself.  It wasn't like she was going to actually even use the martial arts skill, although she supposed maybe it might be helpful in case she ever got disarmed.

Soon, they arrived at a large boulder, and the girl arched a brow as she looked at it, and then back to the older fellow.  "Am I supposed to, like, roll this all around or something?"

"A bit more straight-forward.  You will break it with your attacks.  No weapon- just your fists and feet," the fellow spoke evenly, and Astreya's eyebrow slowly rose in her suspicion.
--

Attack: 202945
BD: 1 (whomp whomp)

Boulder HP 75/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She pulled the heavy blade from her back and spun it once before planting it in the ground.  "Can I like, keep my armor on?" she asked.  "I don't wanna break my hands on this thing," she continued, making a gesture toward the rock.

The old man nodded, and so she shifted, pulling her stance back slightly before moving, throwing her entire weight into the blow.  She wanted to make sure she was doing it not only as the old man had instructed her before, but also from what she'd learned from her dad.  Strike as if you're punching through your target, to help maximize your force.

The woman's gauntleted hand slammed into the rock, and while there was absolutely no damage shown on it, she could feel the insides of it changing.  Not only that, it was targeted like an enemy or NPC, and she saw the health bar drop slightly.  "Ouch.  This'll take, like, a minute," she spoke, shaking out her hand.

----

Attack: 202946
BD: 5 (2+6 = 8 Damage)

Boulder HP 67/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

"Take your time.  There is no fast path to the mastery of martial arts," the man spoke, even as Astreya threw another fist and a kick to follow up on it, the young woman not exactly inexperienced when it came to hand-to-hand, due to her own experience in the real world.

The problem was, she didn't know any of the motions for the Sword Arts for this.  She had learned them for the Straight Sword and that allowed her to do what she needed to attack many targets at once, or one target very very hard, and she didn't have that luxury with slamming her gauntlets and greaves against this thing over and over again.

"Well, like, sure, but I got other things I can totally be doing that isn't smashing up this rock," the woman responded with a small grin. She wasn't actually all that upset about it, it was just a long, trying process, whittling down the rock's HP.

-----

Attack: 202947
BD: 8 (Hit!  2+6 = 8 Damage!)

Boulder HP 59/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She took a step back away from the rock for a moment, watching it.  She could see there were some cracks starting to develop within it, and that was a good thing- that meant she was going to be able to find some other weak points within it.  The young woman's eyes closed for a moment as she took in a deep breath, concentrating as her father had taught her to do, and that had only come back to her mind with that waterfall thing.

Still, she changed up her stance slightly, and as she did, the old man's eyes widened just a tad before she threw her fist forward into the rock.  The force behind it was considerably higher and she actually felt her fist getting purchase.  The whole thing shifted, cracking slightly and breaking as a large slab of the rock fell off, hitting the ground.  "Dang.  I thought that would've, like, broken it," she spoke, pouting slightly.

------

Attack: 202948
BD: 10 (Crit! 2+2+6 = 10 Damage!)

Boulder HP 49/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

She took a small step backward as she examined the rock again.  The large piece that had fallen off had been the part she'd been aiming to break off, and now it was sitting normally, the thing about three quarters the size it had been.  But that had removed any of its weak points as well and she frowned as she looked on at it, wondering if she could find another easy place to strike.

Unfortunately she was not able to, and instead shifted her body forward, just pummeling the rock as hard and as fast as she could.  Each blow sent chips of stone flying off in a random direction, and she knew that hitting it like this was a waste of energy, but she was trying to make some headway, and to cause some weakened point to appear on this somewhere.  But so far, there was nothing showing as she took a slight breather, frowning at the rock.

----

Attack: 202949
BD: 7 (Hit! 2+6 = 8 Damage)

Boulder HP 41/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The girl panted as she watched the large object before her for a moment longer, as if trying to determine the best (or easiest) way of breaking on through it.  Unfortunately, it didn't seem to much matter no matter how much she examined it, there just wasn't a weak point showing.  "Man, this like, sucks," she admitted aloud as she looked over at the older man, who was watching her with some interest.  "Hitting a rock that doesn't fight back, I mean."

The older fellow let out a laugh. "It is understandable, but the patience and power you are showing is quite admirable.  You are making considerable progress.  You will manage to complete this, of this I am certain."

"Oh yeah, me too," Astreya spoke as she lifted her foot, slamming it into the rock.  "I'm just saying that this is gonna, like, take awhile," she added, frowning slightly as she looked at it again.

---

Attack: 202950
BD: 3 (hit!  2+6 = 8 Damage)


Boulder HP 33/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

With the kick flaking off another small piece, Astreya decided to take her luck further and began to once more go full on into attacking it with everything she had, trying to get somewhere with it.  Each strike did a little bit but she wasn't really making any headway at all on the thing, and it was starting to frustrate her a bit and so the woman began to take a step back as she once more felt her own struggles with the large thing before her.

She needed a few moments to really just...change her plan of attack.  The first part had been mindless hits until the boulder had shown a weak point and she'd jumped up on it...but now she felt like she was in a different phase of the fight.  Kind of like the bosses that Zack had always told her about.  She needed to really get somewhere with it, and maybe taking her time would work better, like the old guy said.

----

Attack: 202952
BD: 5 (Hit! 2+6 = 8 Damage)

Boulder HP 25/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

"You think I should, like, totally focus a bit more, instead of just hitting it over and over?" she asked him, curious what he thought.  Supposedly he was the one training her for this quest that she was on and she realized she hadn't asked any of his opinions at this point.  She had just been stubbornly hitting it over and over again until she had gotten some sort of something from the rock itself.

"I would.  I see what you're trying to do.  Weaken it slightly to find a better way to attack, but take it slow and think it through.  Make sure your stance is in place, and focus.  Then when you feel that you have reached the best state, deliver single, decisive strikes.  Random strikes will work, but the process will take you longer."

Astreya frowned as she looked back at the giant boulder as if it were taunting her.  "All right.  Like, let's give this a shot," she murmured.

----

Attack: 202953
BD: 1 (Whomp whomp)

Boulder HP 25/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The woman exhaled slowly as she took up an even, almost practiced stance.  It was one that she'd used time and time again, but that was back in the real world.  Sure, she felt the appraising eye of the old dude watching her, but she didn't mind.  She was going to take his advice here.  He'd suggested she take it slower, so that's what she would do.

Pulling a hand back, she could feel the changes in her breathing, and while she wasn't exactly spiritual enough to really embrace martial arts, she did know how to make a punch hurt.  The stance and the breathing were things her mom (who did do all the spiritual mumbo jumbo) had passed down to her, and so the young woman was trying to emulate that.

Her fist flew forward, hammering deep into the rock and causing a large crack to appear from that singular blow.  "Dang!" she called out.

---

Attack: 202954
BD: 2 (Hit! 2+6 = 8 Damage)
CD: 12 (+5 Damage!)

Boulder HP 12/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

As she connected though, she felt something slightly with the movement.  As if she were on the edges of feeling out a Sword Art for the martial arts.  It felt kind of silly to call them Sword Arts when there wasn't a weapon, let alone a sword, involved, but she wasn't going to criticize the game itself.  It wasn't the game's fault.

Instead she tried to emulate what she'd just done again, following the same movement, but as her fist connected, it felt off.  She didn't get that same surge.  Frowning, the woman took a step backward, practicing a few different strikes to see if she could feel that same sort of energy that she had in the first one.

It took her a few moments of practice, but she began to feel the power welling up with one particular style, and she realized she'd inadvertently stumbled upon the motions for a Sword Art for these.  "All right!" she cheered.

---

Attack: 202955
BD: 7 (Hit! 2+6 = 8 Damage)

Boulder HP 4/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

The boulder seemed to be in bad shape, but Astreya had this figured out now.  She shifted inward, pulling her fist close before lashing out with a singular, powerful strike that slammed hard into the center of the remaining boulder.  There was a brief hesitation after her strike, as if the attack hadn't done anything at all... before the remnants of the boulder exploded backward away from her, washing over the greenery and the woman exhaled slowly, giving the older fellow a wink and a thumbs-up.  "Got it!" she cheered.

The older fellow nodded with a smile.  "You've done well.  With this, I would say you have started on the path to be a martial artist.  You may consider your training with me completed, but your training in the rest of the way still has time to go," he spoke evenly, and Astreya nodded... even if she didn't plan at all to keep this up.

"Thanks!  It was fun!  Sorta!" the woman called before grabbing her blade and heading off to hop back down the mountain.

---

Attack: 202956
BD: 9 (Crit! 2+1+6 = 9 Damage!)
CD: 12 (+5 damage)

Boulder HP -10/75

Edited January 6, 2022 by Astreya