[PP-F01] Try not to die <<The Second Lesson>>

[Melodie le Breton 0]

 Melodie le Breton had slept poorly. All through the night she lay awake knowing that the very next day might well be her last. True, the tutorial enemies were unlikely to be particularly dangerous. But, the stakes were high since if she ran out of HP at any point, death would be here reward and her body would shatter. Game over in this world and the old one. Yet if she wanted to avoid any accusation of cowardice then she had no viable alternative. After all, if they ever made it out of the game and her whole contribution to defeating it had been crying behind a wall till the noise stopped then it would be rather humiliating. Death in a virtual world or life but social disgrace in the old one, though she very much preferred to stay alive, Mel supposed death might be a better alternative. At least none could say then that she had been a coward.

So with that rather grim conclusion in mind, she had set forth from her current lodgings to meet with Astreya near the town gate before embarking on this fateful quest. At least she happened to be a higher level now, with all the perks that contained. Same sword and gear though for the present moment, though at some point she needed to get hold of some armour. Yet for the moment, speed was going to be her ally, that and Astreya. Having a heavily armed, armoured and high level player hovering nearby would certainly help to keep her alive. Plus if anything managed to kill Astreya that was lurking on the top floor then... Well it would be game over for them both at any rate. 

She was the first to arrive, slipping through the crowds of NPCs and any potential players as she headed towards the meeting spot. Though if Astreya was already present, Mel could not see her due to her short stature and the crowd present. The sooner they met up, the sooner they might get on the road and start this quest to slay some boars. Besides, being out there might help prevent her from deciding against this whole adventure. Being with Astreya certainly would. It was one thing to be afraid alone, it happened to be a different matter to be afraid when in the company of another person. 

She sighed and leaned against the town wall, positioning herself near the gate so that she might manage to observe her friend and be somewhat out of the crowd. Mel folded her arms, resting her right foot against the wall as she waited. Would she be the next player to die? To fall before she even managed to begin to become a hero? 

 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

Edited January 8, 2022 by Melodie le Breton

[Astreya 0]

Unlike her friend and charge, Astreya had slept quite soundly, having no problems at all.  Granted, most of that was just due to the fact that they were going to be going around on the first floor, and that wasn't any real danger, so far as she was aware.  There was little that could actually affect her on this floor, which was nice.  She knew, of course, that Melodie wasn't nearly as defensible as she had been when's he'd first started, but that was neither here nor there.  If anything too dangerous showed up, Astreya would be certain to kick it into next week!  She didn't want there to be any danger to her friend at all, and she was tempted to go out and clear the area of any of the boars and other dangers that lurked there, but she also didn't want that to affect things for the quest, either.

As she had gotten up, the room she was staying at in the inn had become something of her home over the years.  She didn't really have a house of her own yet, although she had considered getting one.  So far, though, she just used the inn room to keep all of her stuff together.  She paused slightly as she looked over the collection of loot that she'd amassed over the time she'd been playing, and she wondered if there was something in here that Melodie could use.  She gave a small sound as she looked things over for several long moments, before a smile spread across her features, pocketing one of the items to give to her at their meet up.

As she glanced at the HUD for the in-game clock though, she blinked, realizing that she was almost late.  "Aw crap," she muttered under her breath.  Thankfully since everything here was digital, there wasn't a need to 'get ready' for anything.  She shifted over toward the window, pushing it open and letting Frosty out to just fly around as the vulture liked to do before closing it behind herself and made her way downstairs.  Pulling out some sweets, she snacked on them on the way, coming outside the inn and heading toward the front gates.  

She saw Melodie leaning up against the gates, trying to stay out from underfoot.  Astreya herself wasn't especially tall, but the heavy armor she wore gave her more than enough push to get through the crowd, with a lot of the NPCs and lower leveled players trying to stay out of her way.  Not that she was mean, of course, but just normal instinct to avoid the stronger individual if need be.  "Hey Mel!" she cheered as she came closer.  "Ready to go and beat up some boars and learn how the combat does?" she asked with a small smile.  She knew how terrifying it had been for her- she could only imagine how much fear the other girl might be feeling at this.  "Don't worry- I'll keep anything not from the quest off your back!"

 

Astreya Thread Stats

Spoiler

 

Stats:
-Level 26
-HP: 565
-- 520(Base) + 45 (Iron Skin)
-NRG: 70

-Base Damage: 15
-- 1(Base) + 7 (Weapon Skill) + 1 (Impetus) + 6 (Weapon)
-Mitigation: 104
-- 0(Base) + 35 (Armor Skill) + 15 (Iron Skin) + 54 (Armor)
-Regeneration: 4% (Currently 22)
-- 0(Base) + 4% (Battle Healing II)
-Accuracy: 3
-- 0(Base) + 1 (Weapon) + 2 (Accessory)
-Thorns: 0
-- 0(Base)
-EN Recovery: 0
-Taunt: 1
--0(Base) + 1 (Fighting Spirit)
===
Gear:
Item name: Glacial Blade (ID# 202819)
Item type: 2H Straight Sword
Quality: T3 | Perfect 
Enhancement(s): [ACC][DMG][DMG]
Description: A two-handed blade with what appears to be a hilt wrapped around a growth of icy crystal.  A large central crystal comes from the center, with two smaller ones forming the guard. While it doesn't hold any Cold enhancements on its own, it nonetheless seems to give off a slight fog from the chilled blade.

Item name: Battle Dress Mk II (ID# 202878)
Item type: Heavy Armor
Quality: T3 | Perfect 
Enhancement(s): [MIT][MIT][MIT]
Description: Keeping in with the design of her previous armor, the heavy-yet-fashionable heavy plate keeps the young woman well-protected, allowing her to ignore blows from her opponents with ease!  

»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 January 9, 2022 by Astreya

[Melodie le Breton 0]

  Astreya finally arrived, just when Melodie had reached the point of wishing she had brought a book with her to read or wondering if she should shoot her friend a DM. It was always difficult when messaging others, what if they needed some time to themselves? What if they were asleep? Or what if they did not want a message? However, she could push such worries aside for Astreya made it. "Hey." She called back, quieter than her friend, self conscious of the crowd and not wishing to draw more attention to herself than necessary. At the mention of the combat, her previous worries came back to the fore. Nothing like the prospect of imminent death to ruin the day. Still, the alternative was to attempt to back out and that would mean admitting that she was a coward, not to just herself, but publicly. The latter could not stand. Besides, wasn't bravery all about doing the right thing on a difficult day. 

"You know it. Shame I don't have a good cooking skill, we could have pork chops afterwards." She joked poorly, assuming of course she managed to survive the boar hunt today. "Please do, though I may have to try and get the last attack bonus if it is a high level creature." Another joke, Mel's real plan if someone truly dangerous to them both came across was to tactically withdraw, also known as run away as fast as her agility stat might allow. 

But, now they were together there was only one option left, to do the thing. "Let's get going then unless there was anything you needed to do first?" Melodie knew the sooner they started, the sooner they could be back in the comforting confines of the safe zone. She needed to reach the frontlines. However to do that, she needed to level up and get better gear, weapons, armour, equipment, more money etc etc. She might be late to the fight, but Melodie le Breton was finally mobilizing, riding out of the gates to answer the clarion call of battle. She would not let her entire contribution to beating this game be sitting around like some damned princess in a tower, awaiting to be rescued. Mel did the rescuing around here. 

If they were going to get out of this game of death then she would be a part of it, hopefully there at the finish to be able to claim her fair share of glory and acclaim too. 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

 

[Astreya 0]

As the girl arrived, she grinned at her new friend, happy to see her now that they were inside the gates and ready to start the next part of the quest.  This one used to be four parts long but one of the updates to the system had cut it down to being only three, which was fine.  The sooner they got out of the introductory stuff and into the actual fun parts of the quests, the better.  Plus adventuring around and doing a bunch of other things could be a lot of fun with a friend- usually Astreya's companion was her bird, more than anyone else.

But as the other mentioned a cooking skill, Astreya's eyes danced in excitement.  "Oh man!  That would be, like, so totally cool if you did!  You could make some seriously good stuff I'm sure," the girl spoke excitedly.  They'd discussed the idea of tailoring for lighter armor yesterday, as well as blacksmithing to help with any weapons, but all the same it was clear to Astreya that clearly food would be the best way to go.  Of course, Astreya herself didn't think to pick up cooking for herself, and while she was fairly sure she could switch, she was at least starting to get a hang (very slowly) of singing.

"I'll do what I can to let you get that last hit in, sure!" Astreya agreed, missing both the fact that Mel would likely be hiding behind Astreya or running in another direction, or the gamer joke about the last hitting in MOBA-styled games.  "I didn't run into anything crazy when I did this though, so hopefully you don't either!" she agreed, beginning to look toward the gates.  But as Melodie asked about if there was anything more that Astreya had to do first, the girl's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah!  I had a present for you.  A good luck charm, one sec," she spoke as she reached into her inventory, handing over a small charm which was shaped like a little dodgeball.  "Here, I had used this for a little while and it really helped me through some of the early parts of leveling up.  Maybe it'll help you too!" the girl spoke, giving a small grin toward her friend, handing the trinket over.

Gift from Astreya to Melodie-

Spoiler

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

"Once you've got that equipped we'll be good to go find some boars!" the girl cheered, excited to see her friend be able to fight and how well she handled herself.

[Melodie le Breton 0]

 Melodie nodded in agreement, though she was unsure if she wished to waste a skill slot and all that time with a profession that probably had little to do with helping her survive a battle. True, becoming a world famous chef in SAO might not be too bad, but she would still need ingredients and it would give her the excuse to stay behind. After all, why should a chef fight on the front lines? She need only stay nearby in a safe zone to provide them with hearty food and a good drink when they returned. Yet, it still smacked of retreating, of giving up on being a hero. If she decided to learn how to cook, then it would be part of the battlefield and not another reason to stay behind. She had done enough of sitting this out whilst others fought and died. "We'll see. I'm going to get to the front first." She told her friend with a small, but uncertain smile. 

"Thanks, I'd share the loot with you of course. It's... It is more for the exp than the loot." She explained quietly. The sooner her level became higher the better, the more health she would have, the harder it was going to be for the Mobs and Bosses to take her out. But to get that sweet experience, she needed to go out there, to take the fight to the foe and complete the quests. "We can hope, fingers crossed they have not updated it with any unexpected surprises." Though given the fact this game was one of death, she knew the possibility of a sneaky new deadly update in the tutorial could not be ignored. It would just be like the designers of this horror to do that. Cut off the supply of reinforcements to the front lines, keep the players trapped in the lower levels and floors to the point where the conquest halted altogether. 

Mel looked quite surprised by the offer of a present. She accepted it cautiously as if worried this might be some manner of weird prank or joke she did not yet understand. She quickly equipped the item however, noting it's stats. "Thank you... I... I don't have anything to give you in return." She admitted awkwardly, not knowing that they were going to be giving presents to one another. "Yeah. Let's go get some pork chops." Mel attempted to sound eager, yet to her own ears she sounded hesitant and worried. It was one thing to pick flowers in this game, it would be another matter entirely to fight something capable of fighting back. 

She crossed the threshold from the safe zone and into the wilds, instinctively letting her hand fall to the hilt of her sword. 

 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

Spoiler

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Melodie le Breton

[Astreya 0]

Astreya grinned in response to Mel suggesting that she'd share the loot, but didn't verbally respond.  She wasn't sure if there was anything on this floor that would do her any good to loot from or not.  It seemed like everything that was here was going to be below her pay grade anyway, and she really didn't want to junk it all if she didn't have to.  It was easier if she could just go alongside Melodie for the experience, more than anything, which is what the girl followed up with, nodding along with her on that note, curious to see what would come of it.

"I'd really hope not," she spoke, before frowning slightly.  She'd done this recently with a few other people, but she didn't seem to recall anything too out of sorts happening.  "But if so, I'll, like, be your knight in shining armor!" the girl cheered, making sure that her skills were setup properly.  If needed, she was definitely going to want to be sure she could stack up Hate on whatever would come out and allow her friend to fight it with her just acting as a veritable shield wall if nothing else.  

"What?  Don't worry about it!  I'm just happy to like, have someone to talk to," the girl spoke, giving the other a small nudge.  "All the cool kids are like, totally. hanging out on the front lines and I'm not there yet.  So while they're working on things, I've gotta, like, keep trying to get the experience to get a higher level, y'know?" she spoke.  Not that Astreya's reason for getting to the top was a social one, but it was a rather lonely existence when there wasn't a lot going on.  Not to mention she felt bad asking some of the people who were trying to keep at the front lines to help her with stuff.

As they made their way into the fields, Astreya glanced at her friend and nodded.  "It'll be fine!  We can lure 'em out one at a time til, like, you get more comfortable with it," the girl spoke.  She knew that Mel didn't have armor like she had, but she also wasn't about to suggest it, either.  Her friend already had stated she wanted to fight with a more agile style, and not be weighed down by armor too much if she couldn't help it.  Astreya wanted even more armor if she could get it, but she wasn't going to slouch her friend's choices.

"Just keep your focus as, like, best you can, and smack them down!" she cheered.

[Melodie le Breton 0]

  Mel found herself chuckling at the thought. "What does that make me?" She inquired amused. "Hopefully not the princess in need of rescuing. I'm thinking perhaps a Han Solo type, daring smuggler in it for the money." She laughed lightly, the joke in reality probably was not particularly funny. But she happened to be nervous and the tension needed to be let out before the pressure built to the point she broke. She managed a smile at what Astreya said next feeling the other girl nudge her. "Well when I make it there with you, I'll finally be with the cool kids." Melodie joked, she had not exactly been rolling in popularity at school. To be honest it felt more as if she had been invisible in education, the bullies and brutes overlooked her, most people seemed to ignore her or look right through her. In the end her friendship circle had been an odd assortment of gamers and techies. 

"One at a time seems best." Mel agreed slowing to a halt. "Maybe I should practice the sword skill before we get to the monsters?" She suggested, looking at the blade held in her right hand. "I want to get it right so you know... I don't die horribly." Somehow getting killed by a pig would be just galling. She would rather die from standing on a camp fire or falling down a deep pit, a stupid death like that would be preferred than dying to the starting enemy. At least death in combat would prevent any accusation of cowardice, though given a choice Mel preferred the live hero option. 

"I'll try my best to. I made a choice to stand up and fight back, cannot do much fighting back if I won't take the fight to the foe." Melodie attempted to sound determined as she stared at her reflection in the blade. "Maybe it is better to practice the motion in actual battle rather than with no real target to face." She muttered quietly. 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

Spoiler

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

 

[Astreya 0]

"What, no way!  You can be the big scary dragon that's like, guarding the handsome prince," she spoke with a teasing grin, before the other mentioned Han Solo and Astreya's eyes widened a little.  "Ohmigosh, yes.  Smuggler and bounty hunter!  Wait then maybe I can be the uh. The big hairy guy that's with him," the girl spoke, showing her complete utter lack of nerd credit as she couldn't recall the name for Chewbacca.  "Anyway, he's big and tough, and so am I.  That works way better," she agreed, unable to stop a small laugh at the whole situation and conversation both.

"We'll both be cool kids.  Sunglasses and everything," she agreed, moving along with the girl as they headed out of the town, but before too long, Melodie started to slow down a bit, and began to voice some of the concerns that were roiling around inside of her.  Astreya knew what the girl was feeling- of course.  It was the same emotions and fear that she'd felt when she had first gone out to do this as well, so she didn't want to poke fun at all.  "Totally!  Hey, come with me," Astreya spoke, reaching down to her friend's hand, beginning to pull her toward the light forested area a little ways from the gate.

Astreya paused slightly, looking around a bit before her sapphire eyes widened in recognition of the path, and soon they had come to what looked like a well-worn training area, with a few training dummies setup in the area.  "Okay!  You wanna figure out how it all works, right?  This is where I practiced too," the girl spoke proudly, setting her hands on her hips.  "So here's what we'll do!  I'll keep an eye out for any nasties that wanna come crash our party.  And you practice til you feel you're ready to smash some boars to pieces," she offered with a grin, leading the other girl toward the center of the area.

The single dummy stood in the middle of the area, not really geared for any sort of combat but mostly was likely just for players to test how much damage they could put out in a short amount of time.  "Just keep an eye on your energy and, like, don't over-extend.  You'll get the hang of it!" Astreya called with a cheer as she took a step back, letting Melodie have the floor.  "Just smack it til you're bored or you defeat it!"

--

Dummy 1-
HP: 100/100 | DMG: 0 | MIT: 0 | EVA: -3

Edited January 13, 2022 by Astreya

[Melodie le Breton 0]

 She shook her head at that, amusement clearly written across her features. "I'm many things but I'm not exactly big or scary." Melodie responded quietly, normally she got labelled shy, sometimes cute but usually awkward. The latter she seemed to have perfected to the point it might as well be an art form for her. "Chewbacca." Mel informed her, finding it funny that Astreya did not know who he was. If they made it out of this game alive, she would have to sit her friend down to watch some serious sci fi, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and probably some others. Maybe a few fantasy shows as well, but since they were trapped in a fantasy game of death, it might be a little too soon for those sorts of shows. 

"Can you get sunglasses in this game?" Mel asked, genuinely wondering if such a vanity item happened to be possible. She doubted it, since the world was more a fantasy themed one but who could say for certain? She had not really stopped to study the none armour or weapon related stuff. After all, whether she wore stylish clothes or not was irrelevant to those who might seek to do her harm and the AI simply would not care of how she was dressed when she closed into range with them. 

Seeing as she had little choice but to follow her friend, since she grabbed her hand Mel went with her. She suspected, even if she had resisted Astreya's higher stats would have enabled her to be dragged along regardless. The training dummies were a good idea, as much as Melodie liked to imagine herself a powerful swordswoman, she knew she needed to practice, to train, to get to grips with the motions. Besides, a dummy would be unlikely to try and kill her. 

"That's good. I'll give it a few quick swings and we'll be on the way." Mel attempted to sound confident, almost cocky. "Besides, I quite like the sound of pork chops for lunch." She added as she marched over towards the target dummy. She tightened the grip on her sword, letting the game queue up a sword skill before lunging into an attack on the target. It was far from a very successful attack. 

Roll ID #203015
Battle Dice: 1

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

 

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Melodie le Breton

[Astreya 0]

"Bah you don't need to be big or scary to dish out lots of damage!" the girl cheered, giving her friend a grin.  "But I think you could totally be a dragon if you wanted to.  There's totally dragons in this game, like, another guy and I went and helped this other dragon with a problem she had with a mean dragon," she spoke, the girl's conversation seeming to slide all over the place as she spoke.  "Granted his girlfriend was really mad at the meaner dragon and just took him out in, like, one shot.  It was really cool to see," she admitted, giving a small grin.  "Wasn't something I could've done at the time, but man, it was really awesome to see that."

At the correction from Mel, Astreya's eyes widened as she nodded.  "Yeah, yeah!  Chewbacca.  Waghrgergrg," she called, doing a (admittedly very poor) impression of the wookie's classic cry.  "I would have to, like, get a whole new outfit if I was gonna be that, though," she spoke, looking down at herself.

As she pulled Mel along, Astreya gave a small sound of thought while they walked.  "I don't think I've ever seen anyone on here with sunglasses," she mused, but gave a small thought. "It's probably not, like, impossible though?  Maybe some sorta alchemy thing on some glass or something?  I don't really know what the, like, extent of the alchemist profession can do," she admitted with a little grin.

However, once they made it to the training area, Astreya nodded and took a few steps back, waiting to see how her friend might handle herself with the training dummy.  Not that she expected Mel to be a fantastic fighter first off, but there was certainly a learning curve to Sword Art Online... and Melodie had found that out first-hand as her attack was all-but effective on the dummy.

"Hey, we'll get those pork chops!  It takes some practice and sometimes when you're in the middle of a battle it can be really scary and you panic and you do something dumb anyway.  Or I do.  Like all the time," the girl spoke, shaking her head.  "Let's give it another go.  I'll show ya," she spoke, pulling her own blade off of her shoulder.  Since they were both users of the two-handed straight sword, she could help her friend out!  "Just try to do it like this," Astreya spoke, going through the motions nice and slow for Melodie to see. "Okay, let's try it again!"

[Melodie le Breton 0]

 "I've heard it helps though." Melodie countered quietly, if she were but tall and powerfully built it might be enough to keep away any potential Pkers and serve to discourage people from talking to her. Sadly, she was neither tall or powerfully built and generally felt as dangerous and deadly appearing as a cuddly puppy. "I... I think I'll save the dragon fighting till I am a higher level and have a mount of some kind." Mel said, half frightened by the idea of fighting a dragon, half interested in the idea. 

Mel shrugged at the mention of outfits. "You'd be better off by yourself than involving me in that one." She commented with a small smile. Fashion whether it was too appear good or to look more like a character from Star Wars was not her strongest subject, probably one of her more weaker areas. 

"Me neither." Mel said though till recently she had been all but content to remain securely at the start of this game. Had she not had the thought that if the game ended sooner rather than later and her contribution had been little more than cried in a corner, thus outing her to the entire world and herself as little more than a poltroon... Well... Perhaps death in combat was a far more braver end to go, at least no one then could claim her to be a coward. Even if she strongly desire to live. 

Mel watched uncertainly as her friend attacked the target, she made no move to strike it again herself though. "Can you check my stance before I attack?" She asked nervously, though she had yet to adopt the fighting stance or attempt to queue up the sword skill. 

 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

 

Spoiler

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

 

[Astreya 0]

"Pshaw.  Maybe in the real world but here in the game, like, everything's down to the stats and junk.  More stats you have, the better you are.  So even if, like, you look like you're not able to do well, you can totally cave some big dude's head in if they try to be rude," the girl spoke, nodding to herself at the words.  "But yeah, the dragon dude is totally a jerk.  I just need to make sure I'm at that same strong level one day so I can deal with him and cut it to ribbons on my own!" she cheered.  

She wasn't sure if Melodie was feeling concerned with everything going on, or the missed attack had damaged her courage, but she seemed even more withdrawn than normal, and the woman couldn't help but to feel a little protective of her friend, even if it hadn't really been anyone's fault that she wasn't able to make the attack.  "Yeah, definitely!" Astreya spoke, in response to the request to check her stance over.  The young woman bounced back over toward where Melodie stood, nodding to her a few times as she gestured for the girl to start to adopt the attack.

"Okay, so like, let's try this..." she murmured, not at all being shy about reaching forward to touch the other girl, adjusting the stance and the way she held her weapon and held herself.  She had her own history with being sporty and physically active, so having played a lot of softball, she had some experience at swinging her sword like a baseball bat... and then had gotten better over time, so she helped to provide that experience to Melodie.  "Okay.  And then kinda swing it like, mostly down but a little diagonal too.  The tip should aim for the ground just, like, to the outside of your foot," she spoke.  "But up by the dummy.  Wanna try to swing through it!"

[Melodie le Breton 0]

"It's almost like it's a game." Melodie muttered sarcastically more as a result from nerves, rather than anything her friend had said. "I'm sure you will one day." Mel attempted to encourage her, though personally she would prefer to stick with surviving the game. Yet, part of her wanted to be more than a mere survivor, she wanted to be a hero, prove to herself and others that she was not some coward. She had taken the step to put her life on the line and fight back, but it was not going to be enough. She needed to be more... She, would have to do more if she wanted to be seen as brave, as strong, as a hero. She might have made a name inspired from a famous fantasy hero, but she hoped now that such a name might imbue her with some of their courage and strength. 

Heroes, particularly at the start surely felt as though their quests were all but impossible right? Could she really help to beat this game? Fight bosses? Slay monsters? Save lives? Or was she fooling herself with delusions of fame and grandeur in an attempt to ignore the grim reality of this nightmare situation they all found themselves in?  

Melodie felt her cheeks grow warm at the sudden contact as Astreya helped to adjust her stance. In the real world and the game world, Mel tended to dislike being touched, hugged, cuddled or even high fived. She quite enjoyed her personal space, but she gritted her teeth and let Astreya do her thing to help her. After all, such things might one day save her life and Astreya was the first real friend she made in this place. "Thanks. I think I have it." She said, trying to sound more confident than she in fact felt. With that she leapt into the attack. 

Roll ID #203191
Battle Dice: 8

 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

 

 

[Astreya 0]

"Right!" Astreya agreed, although if she missed the sarcasm or was just playing along as if she had, it was hard to tell as she gave the girl a small nod, agreeing along with it.  She couldn't help but to be excited about the fact that Melodie seemed to be learning how to handle herself a little bit better with each go-round.  It was a hard system to get used to, but that muscle memory eventually became just that- so ingrained that it was very difficult to fail in what you were doing.  With that said...

"Okay!  Just keep in mind that, like, if you are in combat, sometimes when you get these monsters totally trying to chew on you and junk, that like, it can be hard to remember the stance and everything for the Sword Art but, like, that's totally okay!  They won't be able to do too much to you so just take it one at a time, until like, you feel more comfortable, y'know?" the girl spoke, giving her friend a small cheer before bouncing slightly in her mailed boots.

She turned out toward the forest then, making a grand gesture, sweeping with both arms.  "Okay so like, the boarlets are out here somewheres.  If you just kinda... go out there, they should, like, spawn for you, because you're on the quest for 'em, y'know?  I won't be able to see 'em, because I'm not, so if you see more than like, one or two, don't try to fight with 'em until, like you're comfortable, right?" she spoke, giving the other girl a smile.

She didn't know how uncomfortable Melodie was at this point, but all the same... they could hopefully just snag a few of them, call it a day and then head back!  For CAKE!

[Melodie le Breton 0]

"If it is all the same I'll try to not get chewed on if possible." Melodie said, not really wanting to see herself being snacked on by some monster or worse the in game sensations it might bring. True, it could not cause any real pain, save for the terror of being closer to death as her health bar ticked closer to zero. But the idea of having her arm in a beast's mouth, unsettled her quite considerably. Though not as much as being labelled a coward. She was going to be a hero, she would reach the frontlines and from there be one of the top players in this game, complete with good armour, fancy steed, powerful sword and maybe a good big house somewhere, with a sign saying 'no admittance except on party business.' 

"Oh okay, I'll let you know if I see any." Mel tried to not sound too put out by this news. Her strategy largely relied upon using Astreya to kill the monsters and get the needed EXP that way. Sadly, it was not going to be possible. She should have known better really. "No time but the present to do it then." Melodie told her new best friend and gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on her sword as the first of the wild boarlets came into view. 

 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

  Hide contents

 

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Melodie le Breton

[Astreya 0]

Astreya could see that her friend's attention was focused on something and she imagined that Melodie had seen one of the boarlets.  "Okay, so like, since I'm not on the quest, I can't see them or like help or anything," the girl spoke, adjusting her blade on her back.  If something were to happen, she wouldn't really be able to step in and help her friend against the baby boar but hopefully that wouldn't be an issue at all.

"So just take it slow, ready the sword art and then, like, smack it!  If you do it right you can take it out in one shot!" the girl cheered, excited for her friend.  This was her first real combat, so Astreya wanted to help however she could.  Of course, the main danger was the fact that she couldn't actively see the boar at all.  She'd be able to see her friend's health, if nothing else, so she could help to maybe keep her spirits (and health!) up if it came down to that.

[Melodie le Breton 0]

"There goes the plan of letting you hit them till they were near death and I swoop in at the end." Melodie joked nervously, not taking her eye off of the boarlet in front of her. Okay, it was just a basic slim monster in reality. After all, she had killed dozens if not hundreds, or even thousands of basic starting monsters in other games. The only difference here was the fact that if she screwed up, game over. Game over for her life. 

"You make it sound so simple." The brunette said, tightening her grip on her sword and trying to will her body to fight. Run away, said a voice in her head, run, run, run away. After all, why was she doing this? It was just a game, she need only sit it out at the beginning and wait to be rescued. She tried to crush the voice, she was no coward, no fairy tale damsel waiting to be rescued. If there was going to be any rescuing, she wanted to be one of the rescuers, not the person being rescued. 

Melodie leapt into the attack, striking at the boar, but did not use a Sword Skill. 

 

 

ID: 203451    

Battle Dice: 10

 

Level: 6
Tier: 1
HP: 120
EN: 30
Dmg: 8 (R5 Weapon Skill)
Acc:  2(Gear: weapon)

  Hide contents

 

Name: Dodge Ball
Item ID: 186153
Identifying ID: 186720
Item Type: Trinket
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare 
Enhancements: ACC II (+2 to BD Rolls)
Description: A small trinket that resembles a red dodgeball.

[Astreya 0]

Astreya could practically see the other girl trying to psyche herself up for this.  She supposed she couldn't blame her- this was the first real combat she was getting into and that was going to cause a certain amount of trepidation.  Astreya had felt it too- when she'd first been out here.  She knew the danger and fear and everything that mixed together into a cocktail of emotions when you were taking your first swings at an opponent, and she couldn't help but to smile in empathy- she knew how that felt.

But then it seemed all of that winding up, emotions coiling within Mel finally sprung as the girl launched forward and she struck the boar with the weapon.  It wasn't... quite a Sword Art, but it would still do the job as Melodie bonked the poor boarlet on the head as it fell into little bits of data, leaving them both alone on the battlefield.  Or at least, that's what Astreya presumed happened, given how easy she recalled it was to defeat them.

"Nice job!" the girl cheered.  "One down, I think?  Maybe two more to go?" she added.  She hadn't done the quest in its current iteration... so trying to remember exactly what it was now proved difficult.