[PP-F3] On the Hunt <<Feeding Your Enemy>> (Koga)

[Oji 0]

A nod of agreement is what Koga would find as he said it would help him with crafting. If he could get any buffs to his shop, he felt that it would help him draw in business. A cute mascot wouldn't hurt his shop at all, and his crafting he had done solo had become a tad dull. He enjoyed it still but it didn't have the same shine as it did when he first started. Once he had passed the Tea over to Koga and helped himself to some coffee, Koga asked him a question he had seen coming, and he laughed at the ending of his question.

"I wouldn't say I was "drawn in", per say." He chuckled. He took a sip of his coffee, the lulling sound of the river in the background "I come from a big family, and I'm actually the youngest, if that tells you anything. My oldest sister had a niece, the first grandchild in our family and I loved her so much. She called me "Shainī Ojisan" because I always brought her small little trinkets in the jewelry shop I worked at." His smile wavered a bit. He had probably missed her birthday again. "So, when SAO was announced, she was really interested in it. And I bought it for her for her birthday, as a surprise. But, my sister was worried about this whole "Dive" feature, and I promised her I'd check it out beforehand, to make sure it's safe." He did a small laugh "But obviously, it wasn't safe. I'm thankful she's not stuck in here, but I do miss her and my family."

He wiped a quick tear. He did his best to not think about her often because it always got him a tad emotional. He turned to Koga "So what about you? What drew you in?"

Edited February 6, 2022 by Oji

[Koga 0]

Koga was about to open mouth and say something extraordinarily stupid like, 'I'm glad its you in here, and not her. That woulda been worse,' but for some reason, the man had a feeling that that wasn't quite socially acceptable. And even if it was, he didn't want to risk it. Instead he went with a safer response. "I hope you see them again." Simple. Honest. And a whole lot less liable to put him on Santa's naughty list.

"I grew up pretty distant from my family, if I'm being honest," Koga began to explain, setting the cup of tea down beside him, turning to look across the water. "I wasn't really happy ever, so I used games as a kind of escape for pretty much my whole life. A couple friends and I decided to give it a go 'cause we were excited about full-dive VR. That and we all loved fantasy settings. Just seemed like it would be a fun game to play." Koga let out a small chuckle. "Man, who woulda thought we'd be stuck in here just trying not to die."

[Oji 0]

Oji nodded in thanks as Koga hoped he would see them again, and took his last drink of coffee. It had been a long time since he had even walked in the real world. His body was "shut off" from what he understood, so he didn't flail around and hurt himself. So, that means his muscles have probably grown a lot weaker. Would he be able to walk again once he got out? It was a haunting thought. He held onto this in the back of his mind as Koga told his side of the story. Coming into a game to play with friends, he nodded and gave a small laugh.

"I don't think anybody could have predicted that we'd get stuck in here. That wasn't in the game description." He jested. He went back into his inventory and grabbed his coffee, topping up his mug and putting a small spoonful of sugar into it. "So, if I may be so inclined to ask, what happened to your friends?" he asked, genuinely curious about the young man's past. He felt there was a lot more than he was letting on, but he didn't want to make assumptions, as he knew it wouldn't be the right thing to do.

[Koga 0]

Koga started chuckling at what Oji had said. "What? C'mon! You didn't see the big ass warning that said 'Will most likely result in being trapped in a death game with no escape?' It was, like, the biggest feature!" he joked back, trying to make light of their situation. However many years had passed, it still was not the easiest thing to come to terms with, not with all the death that surrounded them

That was way Koga's good cheer quickly left at the older man's next question. "They uh...they didn't make it," Koga said solemnly, picking up his drink and taking another sip with closed eyes. "Hik...Musashi died pretty early on, just before the announcement, actually." Koga stated, eyes fixed on some distant point beyond the river, deep within the woods. "Venus was a bit later. I...I couldn't do anything for them back then. Nothing but watch." The man spat the words out bitterly, but the taste remained, staining his tongue nonetheless.

Silence followed, as Koga took a deep breath, and reminded himself of the promises he'd made in recent weeks. To look to the future, not the past. And to live, if only to remember those who'd passed. He opened his eyes once more, the light a little too bright. "That's in the past though. Now, at least I can fight. In the fields, on the Front. Whatever it takes to get us out and help others."

[Oji 0]

Oji lightly heated as the young man did, and pretended to hold a game case to his eyes "It must have been in the fine print, because my old eyes can't see them." He chuckled, but the conversation soon turned somber as the younger man explained that he had lost his friends. Oji could only faintly understand losing someone close. He had lost one of his brothers at a young age so he didn't remember him well, but he knew the pain could always be seen on his parents faces when his death date arrived.

He tenderly placed a hand onto Kogas shoulder, no other words but that for a few moments, mainly to give him time to find the right words. But eventually they came. "I have been lucky in my life to only lose a few people, so I can't imagine the pain. But, I do see the strength in you from it. Keep pushing, for them too kid. And hell, maybe this old man will come help some day on the front lines." He spoke, a sly smile on his face. "But, you've done well through it all, but remember that grief is normal and an okay thing to go through, in case your trying to shove that stuff down til 'after the game is over.'" He patted his back with his resting hand, then retreated it from him, trying to not be weird about it too much.

[Koga 0]

The comforting hand on his shoulder, though well meaning, did little to allay the longing that accompanied memories of his long since friends. Koga began to wonder if every name he swore to carry would feel that way should the worst come to pass. Even still, it was the burden he'd sworn to carry, and it was an oath he hadn't taken lightly.

"Thanks, Oji," Koga said, forcing a small smile to appear on his face. "I appreciate it."

Koga then rolled his shoulders, tilted his head, stretching his neck. "Anyways," he said, "we've got a long way to go before we make it out. I expect to see you in a boss raid before the end." Seventy three floors. And at the rate the Front was currently moving, it seemed possible they might spend the rest of their natural lives in here. A strange thought, and one Koga hadn't really ever considered before.

"You don't seem much for dealing damage, or tanking it either, so I'm guessing you'd wanna fill some kinda support roll, right?"

[Oji 0]

For some reason, Oji felt like an actual adult for the first time in a long time. While it wasn't anything major, and he didn't even think he had done anything to "change" the young man at his side, passing on wisdom made him feel like an old man, and maybe that was a good thing. He hoped that his words stuck somewhere and he would remember, but he knew that it wasn't the best idea to press the matter, lest the young man shut his lips like an angry clam and never speak about it again. Maybe it would come up in conversation at a later date and they would get to the heart of the matter. Who knows?

"Right, best we carry on then." He said, and with a groan stood up, stretching his back a bit, as it had gotten stuff sitting at such a slouched angle. The two of them started walking down the road quietly as Koga brought up a question. He asked what his job on the frontlines would be. "Oh, are you talking about one of those 'builds' I hear other people talk about? Like my player function?" He said, trying to use the words he had learned. "Well, right now all I'm doing is getting my Search level up. Y'know help me find stuff to fund my shop and all that." He pulled out his pocket watch he made. "But other skills? I got no clue what I could do. I cant deal damage like you said, and as of this moment, I've never taken a punch, and I'd like to keep it that way." He chuckled. "So maybe healing, but I haven't found a skill that lets me do that yet."

[Koga 0]

The pair got up from their spots in the grass and started walking once more (after Oji got his well deserved stretch. Those old bones needed to stay mobile after all). "Player function," Koga repeated. "Huh, never thought of it that way, but yeah, pretty much." That was probably the most concise way of thinking about it. "I think there's the first aid skill," Koga said as he thought about other support builds he'd seen so far, "but I think most of the time people focus on buffing their team, and mostly heal through the use of crystals." At least, that's what Hirru had seemed to be doing when they'd fought Gabrandr.

"You could always take that route," Koga suggested. That was probably the most viable option at least, unless the man somehow had gotten a hidden skill by some stroke of luck. Unlikely, however. "On the other hand, you could always switch it up and smack the shit out of things with me."

[Oji 0]

Oji walked a ways and opened his HUD, trying to search for the "First Aid" skill. But, he couldn't find it at all. Maybe he wasn't high enough level for it? Maybe that made sense, but he wasn't sure. "Does that skill need a level requirement? My eyes are not what they used to be." He chuckled, closing the HUD and looking around. This seemed like a nice place to look. He started to keep his eyes peeled for any burrows within the riverside beneath the trees, his eyes scanning back and forth.

"I uh, i'll be honest i'm not the biggest fan of smacking things." He looked at the river. "I prefer fishing or heck even just standing there and watching people fight. Some of these things are like watching baseball." He laughed a bit, remembering his times at the Inn "Some players used to share some clips from the frontlines to me, and man some of those battles are crazy, but super fun to watch." A bead of sweat was swept away from his forehead with his arm, realizing that it's starting to turn midday. "Not to say that people's lives on the line is the right form of entertainment, but there's not much else to enjoy here."

[Koga 0]

"Uh, I don't think so?" Koga answered back, eyes drifting skyward as he tried to recall what little knowledge he had about First Aid. "I think you just need enough Skill Points to spec into it, but I could be wrong." Koga couldn't even recall the last time he'd even looked at any skill tree out side of the combat branch. Once upon a time, he'd planned on doing some light tanking, and had been helping Noct plan out her build as a pseudo-support, but that had been a long time ago.

Koga chuckled at the comparison of a battle to baseball. "Don't worry about it," Koga replied. "I'm not one to judge, I love watching a good fight too. Admittedly, the fact that the home team losing means immediate death does put a bit of a damper on the whole thing, but that doesn't change the fact its amazing to watch sometimes." There really were some impressive players up on the Front. The things they could do simply blew the man right out of the water. "Ya know, I'm surprised no one has tried to set up a fight ring in Aincrad or something," Koga suddenly said, the thought just occurring to him. "I mean, this is the place to do it. Fifty percent duels, no one dies. Pretty easy to regulate, I'd imagine. And its not like an orange player can just...walk in without getting noticed."

[Oji 0]

As Oji continued to look around, he couldn't help but agree with Koga about the fighting ring set up. It wouldn't be a bad idea, hell he could help try to set it up. "You know, that's a fair point." He said, looking at trees by the riverside intently, but anything that almost looked like a burrow never seemed to be what he was looking for. "We could always start one up, I'm a pretty fair judge" He spoke with a chuckle. "Get some regulated armor with the same.... what are they called." He asked, blanking on the name of the things that go on armor. "Uh.... Spells? No, no that's not it." his mind was drawing a blank. "Anyways, get that on weapons and armor, make it as fair of a fight as we can. Maybe limit the sword techniques while we're at it." 

As he looked up, he saw that the sun was exactly above him, mid day. It meant that it was just about lunch time, and as he thought about food his stomach let out a semi-loud gurgle, and he patted his chest. "Sorry, I haven't eaten yet today, barely had time this morning." He awkwardly chuckled, and turned to Koga "Well, I know we just stopped a ways back, but maybe some food would be a good idea. Who knows? It could draw out the little rascals."

ID: 203693 LD:8+3=11 (NO SO CLOSE)

Edited February 16, 2022 by Oji

[Koga 0]

"It's a good idea," Koga agreed, with a nod. "I'm not much of a mind for business though." That kind of stuff just went right over the man's head. He was good at dealing with the short term. Completing the objective, whatever it was. But long term plans? He couldn't quite think as far ahead, or as many steps ahead, as was required for that. He preferred to take things one step at a time.

It was just about then that Oji's stomach began to growl. "Food sounds good to me," Koga said unconcerned with their frequent rests. "Do you have anything to cook with by any chance? I can make decent meal or two, but I didn't really bring anything with me...although, knowing how my last few attempts at this quest have gone, I should have known better." Honestly, a whole day without food was known to make Koga hangry. He was a little surprised he or Aki hadn't tried to kill one another every time they'd gotten stuck out in the wilds looking for a familiar.

[Oji 0]

Oji just chuckled. "Leave the business stuff to the older guy, I owned my own shop for awhile, so I'm pretty sure I could get it set up just fine." He jested, chuckling as he thought about it. Owning a fighting ring would be pretty fun. Hell he didn't have to fight in it, just make sure things were fair. Maybe that wasn't a bad idea.

After thinking about this for a few moments, he sat down real quick and opened his HUD, grabbing a few leaves and twigs that were near his feet, and grabbed a small flint and steel he had bought awhile back, and started a small fire, feeding it twigs slowly, letting the fire build. As he did, he opened his HUD and got a small pot with a small stand, and set it over. Taking a billycan he also held, he went over to the river after checking it was clean, scooped up some water and poured it into the pot, filling it halfway. He covered the pot, and searched for any ingredients, but as he did, he saw that he barely had any.

"So, good news. I've got the seasoning." he scratched his heat. "But, I have no meat, veggies, or anything that's actually edible." he saw that the water was starting to simmer, and he looked at Koga. "You think you could get some? I'm sure there are plenty of things to kill a ways away. Just uh, don't kill any of the ones that look like my little guy will ya? They're hiding pretty well as it is." He chuckled and set the pack of familiar food a ways from the fire. "I'll stay here and work on getting this soup set up. Whatever you find for meat is what kind of soup it'll be."

[Koga 0]

"You won't here any arguments from me," Koga said with a chuckle. Hypothetical or not, the whole idea was entertaining. They could be the founders and kings of Aincrad's version the UFC. Not that Koga had any idea what he'd do with that kind of money. Probably nothing. He liked killing mobs to much to stop farming.

Which, speaking of..."How 'bout I go get us some meat, and you see about getting us some spices? I haven't had English food, and I'm not about to make today the day I do. I've heard its terrible." Seriously...why the hell did the British bother stealing everyone else's spices for?

Koga turned to the forest, Okami at his side, the wolf wearing a devilish grin as he practically salivated at the idea of sinking his fangs into something meaty. "We'll be back in a bit, stay safe, yeh?" The sweet music of Koga drawing his sword as he strode into the forest was the last thing Oji would hear before losing sight of the player.

[Oji 0]

After checking the water in the pot and making sure it was heating correctly, Oji shot a nod to Koga as he turned into the woods and disappeared. Oji stood and brushed off his knees, the pixels of dirt fading into the wind and he looked to the edges of the woods, opposite the direction of where Koga went. He started to poke around, finding a few items to cook with and a single spice that he knew as good in a soup. He decided that he would gather a few different variants of spices and herbs to be prepared for any creature that Koga brought.

"There's some Bajiru..." He muttered to himself. "Now to see if I can find some Paseri" he chuckled. He found a few grubs under some rocks, and he yoinked them in case he decided to go fishing. He hadn't put any of the skill thingies into it, but he knew that he could still do it, just not gain any benefits other than basic fish. But still, some fish on the side of a soup wouldn't hurt, and he could dry them for a quick snack later in the evening.

[Koga 0]

Koga and Okami tread through the woods, eyes keenly searching for any thing that could serve as some tasty meat for their meal. At first, they found nothing. Just a whole lot of trees and bushes. Dirt. Some rocks too, but none of these interested Koga or the wolf.

It wasn't until they came across the sounds of hoofs scraping at dirt, and the distinctive snorting huffs that they knew that they'd found their prey. Peering through the brush, they saw them. Two fat boars, tusks easy a foot long each, and enough meat on their bloated bodies, they and Oji would be able to eat like kings for days. They practically salivated at the site.

Koga sprung forward, a quick slash to the nearest Boar before either could react. The loud squeals sent a flock of birds high into the air from the trees, their fluttering serving as background music as the two dinners charged at Koga. He didn't even have to move though. In their panic, they flew past the man, only to skid to a stop and turn back to the man who wore a devilish smile on his face. He was hangry.

Spoiler

Koga | HP: 700/700 | EN: 96/108 (108 -12) | DMG: 23 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 56 | BLT: 32/20 | FALN: 8 | REGN 13 | B.HEALING: 38/77 (SURV)

 

Boar 1 | HP: 26/371 (371 -345) | DMG: 124

Boar 2 | HP: 371/371 | DMG: 124

---

Koga uses ST-I against Boar 1
  | 203819, BD 2 +4
  | DMG 23 * 15
Boar 1 takes 345 DMG

Boar 1 attacks Koga
  | 203820, MD 3 -2
Boar 1 misses

Boar 2 attacks Koga
  | 203821, MD 5 -2
Boar 2 misses

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Koga

[Oji 0]

Oji crawls around in the dirt for awhile, and eventually he finds a few different herbs and spices that can be used in the soup, and decides to call it there. He goes over to the pot that's now starting to boil at a steady rate, and he takes a cooking knife he had swiped, and starts to chop up the spices and slowly filters them in, leaving a few out to see what kind of soup this would turn into. Dragon soup, boar soup, hell he could somehow come up with a troll for troll soup. The possibilities were both endless, but a tad limited. Being in a forest only spawned so little mobs compared to the rest of the environment, but he knew if they decided to do this on another floor, there would be a lot different choices.

But for now, he let the water boil as he chopped and added some potatoes, carrots and added a special sauce that was served at the inn. It added a higher quality to the soup and changed the color and flavor to a nice dark brown. He stirred it a bit, mixing in the ingredients and then covered it with a lid, and decided that now would be a good time to fish. He picked up the rickety fishing rod he had spawned with. it had no enchantments and was pretty worthless, but it worked for what he needed. Grabbing one of the grubs from earlier, he attached it to the hook and threw the line into the river, sitting at the edge and waiting to see what would come from the murky waters.

[Koga 0]

The Boars seemed unhappy with Koga's aggression, and took turns charging at the man. Side step to side step, Koga danced around them, until he saw his opening. They both charged at the same time, heads down, blindly rushing the man as he brought his blade around to strike.

One boar was faster than the other though, and managed to sneak ahead of Koga's attack, avoiding it, even as the sharp edge of Tsuki no Hikari bit viciously into it's friend's hide. Undeterred by the fact that his companion was injured, the feral beast rammed it's tusks into Koga's chest, forcing him backwards, one step, two until he managed to steady himself from the blow.

The second boar decides to try and follow up on his successful brethren's attack and so too charges at Koga, but the man was quick on his feet, leaping to the side and rolling until he popped up, back to his feet unscathed.

Spoiler

Koga | HP: 574/700 (700 -126) | EN: 56/108 (96 +1 -11) | DMG: 23 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 56 | BLT: 32/20 | FALN: 8 | REGN 13 | B.HEALING: 38/77 (SURV)

 

Boar 1 | HP: 26/371 | DMG: 124

Boar 2 | HP: 92/371 (371 -279) | DMG: 124

 

---

Koga uses AOE-I
  | 203891, BD nat1
  | 203892, BD nat8 +4
  | DMG  ((23 +8) * 9)
Koga Critically misses Boar 1
Boar 2 takes 279 Fallen damage

Boar 1 attacks Koga
  | 203893, MD nat9
Koga takes 126 Critical damage
 

Boar 2 attacks Koga
  | 203894, MD nat7 -2
Boar 2 misses

 

Edited February 21, 2022 by Koga

[Oji 0]

Oji sat aside the river, his feet only a few inches from touching the water as he reeled his line in and out of the waves. So far, he hadn't been lucky in catching any of the desired fish, but he was enjoying the quiet time. It gave him time to think about important things. Like what he was going to have for dinner, what would he make in his shop when he get home. And when he would possibly be useful for those fighting on the frontlines. Sure, his shop made nice trinkets that some players could come and get for combat, but other than that he was fairly useless. He wanted to be able to help when their fighting, maybe even get to the frontlines some day.

"Maybe a healer isn't a bad idea..." He muttered, thinking to himself about how well it would be for him. Giving his allies health and energy, it would give his pool of health a reason to exist. Hopefully he could get that build done correctly, if he messed up it could be life or death. Oji was so in thought of this that he almost didn't notice the fish on the line. He perked back up and reeled it in, and pulled out a nice fat salmon. A smile on his face, he knew what he would make with this.

[Koga 0]

This was it. Just a few short moments between them and a hot tasty meal. Koga couldn't wait. But his eagerness would have to be controlled until the food was cooked on the table. For now, he and Okami would have to sate themselves on the kills alone.

The Boars didn't stand a chance.

If blood effects were present in the game, there would have been a whirlwind of it, splattering across the ground, the trees, droplets flying off into the distance. But, because this game was supposed to be 'family-friendly' and since blood was not considered such, but trapping and killing said family in said game was 'family-friendly' there were no fun blood effects to be had. No dead family either. Well, maybe the boars...Koga and his sister were still alive though...heck she wasn't even here to be made un-alive.

Whatever, point is, they had their food now, and so, Koga and Okami began to walk back to the riverside.

Spoiler

Koga | HP: 574/700 | EN: 38/108 (56 -18) | DMG: 23 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 56 | BLT: 32/20 | FALN: 8 | REGN 13 | B.HEALING: 38/77 (SURV)

 

Boar 1 | HP: 0/371 (26 -322) | DMG: 124

Boar 2 | HP: 0/371 (92 -322) | DMG: 124

---

Koga uses AOE-II
  | 203957, BD nat3 +4
  | DMG 23 * 14
  | 203958, BD nat3 +4
  | DMG 23 * 14
Boar 1 takes 322 damage
Boar 1 dies
Boar 2 takes 322 damage
Boar 2 dies

Koga loots Boar 1
  | 203959, LD9, CD4
Koga receives 1855 Col, T4 Materials (2), T4 Uncommon Consumable (1)

Koga loots Boar 2
  | 203960, LD20, CD3
Koga receives 1855 Col, T4 Materials (2), T4 Perfect Consumable (1), T4 Rare Trinket (1)

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Koga