[PP-F5] Sandstorm Shenanigans <<The Traveler>>

[Yona 0]

Sometimes there's too much to do, other times, there's not nearly enough to do.

From what she's been hearing, most things are either too strong or too weak for Yona...meaning she would need to look for more things to do that didn't involve what was too weak or too strong. Sure, she could take on the weaker quests on her own, but that may or may not end up being a problem...but she just had to do something.

And now she was back here, in the scorching desert floor, floor 5, within its safe zone, leaning her back against a building, wondering why she was back here in this wasteland. Now that she thought about it, the only things to do around here were just to tackle an occasional big enemy, or, in Yona's case, explore a ruin that can only be explored one for something shrouded in mystery that might not be of any practical or statistical use...but Yona hadn't given up on Shaxus yet, so she hadn't decided to throw away the Binding Stone.

"Maybe coming back here was a mistake..." She thought aloud.

@Nora

 

Stats and Equipment:

Spoiler

Level: 13

 

HP: 260

Energy: 44

Base Damage: 14(CS R5[7], CM: Damage[6])

Mitigation: 24(Moonsliver Veil[12], Cloth Armor Rank 3[12])

Accuracy: 1(Resplendent Falchion)

Evasion: 2(Moonsliver Veil)

Loot Die: 3(Thuban's Eye)

 

 

Equipment:

[T2]Resplendent Falchion(Curved Sword, Accuracy, Bleed, Paralyze)[Equipped]

[T2]Moonsliver Veil(Cloth Armor, 1 MIT, 2 EVA)[Equipped]

[T1]Thuban's eye(Trinket, 3 LD)[Equipped]

 

 

Consumables:

Teleport Crystal x1

Starter Healing Potion(Restores 50 HP) x3

 

 

Skills:

Curved Sword Rank 5(30 SP)

Cloth Armor Rank 3(14 SP)

Combat Mastery: Damage(13 SP)

 

[Nora 0]

After a long journey through floor 2, Nora finally gathers enough courage to venture further into the world of SAO. She wants to push her limits as far as she can, so she keeps climbing the floors. Skipping floor 4 and heading directly towards floor 5, where she was stopped in her track by the unforgiving desert wind and sand. She took a sharp deep breath and for a moment, she questioned herself about whether she was actually ready for this floor. She was on this floor once before, but with the protection of a much more veteran player, it had seemed safe then. But now that she is on her own, everything seems more scary than before and she was, for a moment, unsure of herself. She briefly considered heading back to the main settlement, when she heard a voice calling out to her. 

----the quest----

"Are you an adventurer?" You turn to see a man with a long, white beard and a slight hunch to his back. Despite being wrapped in a heavy wool cloak, unusual given the floor's hot climate, his entire body shakes. "I am terribly sorry to bother you, but I need help. I-" the NPC, whose name appears to be Zamek, coughs violently for a moment. After a few long, shaky breaths, he continues. "I have a treasure chest of sorts, buried in the desert, at the base of some uniquely shaped rocks. The contents are incredibly important to me, but I am too ill to make the journey alone. Would you escort me there? Though I cannot offer you much col.  But, should you offer your assistance, I would be eternally grateful."

---------

A quest!!

That is exactly what she needed, something to get her familiarized with this floor and also get some rewards along the way.

"Of course! I would be glad to help. Sir, you can call me Nora. How should I address you?" Nora inquired politely. 

"You may call me Zamek...hm...young lady, I'm grateful for you to offer your help, but the desert is a harsh place. Do you have a teammate? I will feel more comfortable if we travel in a group."

A team...that's...that actually sounded like a great idea, and the more logical solution. After all, I am still new at this. I don't think I could protect this gentleman on my own. But I don't know anyone on this floor...

"Hm...I don't have a teammate yet, but could we go back to the main settlement? I'm sure there will be lots of people willing to help?" 

Zamek did not look pleased with Nora's response, but because there was no one else nearby, he hesitantly agreed to come back to the main settlement with Nora.

Truth to be told, Nora thought that she had this in a bag. Surely, finding a teammate wouldn't be an issue, there's always lots of players on the first and second floors willing to help. But Nora underestimated the desert. Apparently, it was an unpopular place. Having walked around the main road and finding no one wanting to take on the mission, Nora was feeling a bit discouraged. She spotted a young lady leaning against the city wall and hesitantly approached her and the simple act seemed to take the last of the social battery out of her.

"Good morning...hm....sorry to bother you. This gentleman over here has a treasure chest buried in the desert. It is very important to him. I'm too new to escort him by myself. Would you be willing to join us on this mission? We could split the rewards 50/50." Well, there's probably a more tactical way of putting out the request. Unfortunately, being sociable happens to be one of Nora's weak points. She will have to hear the response to see where to go next.  

@Yona

 

 

Level 12, 240 HP/42 EN

Rank 2 Battle Healing and Rending Familiar

Katana Sword Skill Rank 5(30 SP)

• [x12] ST-I (12 EN) | A single-target sword art.
• [x15] ST-II (15 EN) | A powerful single-target sword art. Only available for use when ST-I was used and successfully struck an enemy the previous turn or if ST-II had been used and had missed the previous turn.
• [x20] ST-B (20 EN) | A devastating single-target sword art. Can only be used if the sword art used the previous turn is not ST-B and had rolled a natural CD9+. When performing an AoE attack, use only the first roll.
• [x11] AOE-I (11 + [2 * targets] EN) | AOE | A sword art that strikes multiple targets at once.
• [x14] AOE-II (14 + [2 * targets] EN) | AOE | A powerful sword art that strikes multiple targets at once. Only available for use when AOE-I was used and successfully struck an enemy the previous turn or if AOE-II had been used and had missed the previous turn.
• [x12] TECH-A (13 EN) | STUN | A single-target sword art that stuns an enemy.
• [x12] TECH-B (12 EN) | DELAY | A single-target sword art that, on a successful strike, applies [Delay] on the enemy. [Delay] is a status condition that reduces the enemy’s ACC by 1 for one turn.

Equipment:

• Houou: T1 Odachi, perfect quality [Bleed/Bleed/Paralysis]
   
• Nightmare Armor: T1 heavy armor of perfect quality [Thorn/Mit/Mit] 

• Silver Eagle Enamel Pin: T1 trinket of perfect quality [Acc/Acc/Acc] 

Battle Ready Items:

• (5) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)
• Teleportation Crystal

 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Nora

[Yona 0]

   Yona's patience was waning, but it lasted long enough for something to happen. A girl approached Yona hesitantly, before explaining the situation. If there's anything about quests with this kind of background, there was bound to be trouble...and that's exactly was Yona was looking for. Whether or not she was within level range or too powerful had yet to be seen, but if things became an absolute mess, she always had a Teleport Crystal for emergencies.

  "Sure, of course I'll help." Yona began, a soft smile towards the girl. "I'm sure it won't be too difficult." She assured, thinking that most of the enemies around the area were weak, with the exception of a few select quest targets, as well as the floor's field boss. "All we'd need to do before setting out is to start a party, we can keep an eye on each others' health that way." She pointed out, just in case the girl was as new as she claimed to be. "I go by Yona, nice to meet you." Yona added, just in case this girl was hoping to be the party leader. She was the one who was initially taking the quest, wasn't she?

@Nora

[Nora 0]

Finally!! Someone accepted the quest! Nora claps her hands together in excitement. "Wonderful! You have no idea how much this will help. I am Nora and this is Zamek. Um...Zamek, do you want to find another teammate or are we OK setting out by ourselves now?" Nora asked hesitantly. She could only approach strangers so many times per day, and by the look of it, she had already reached her daily quota. 

Zamek frowned and looked up at the sky. Nora looked up at the sky as well. She thinks that she sort of gets his concern. He would probably feel more secure with more bodyguards, I guess, but we are approaching noon soon. When Nora reached floor 5, it was in the early morning. However, by traveling back to the main settlement and walking around aimlessly trying to find a teammate, they probably wasted a good couple of hours already. Time is valuable here on the fifth floor. When it gets dark, it gets very very cold and it would be very hard to figure out the direction in the desert, what with the lack of land marks and what not. It could be dangerous, there will be monsters active during the night time and they will be at a disadvantage fighting in the dark. If they set out to find more teammates, they risk not finding anyone and waste even more valuable time. If this treasure is as important to Zamek as he claims to be, he would want to retrieve it as soon as possible and probably wouldn't want to waste another day at the settlement. If they start now, they can still make it back before nightfall, if the place is close enough and if they are lucky enough to not encounter any monsters.

Nora slaps Zamek in the back gently. "Alright Zamek, I think we have enough fire power to set out now. It is floor 5, it shouldn't be that hard. I trust you know the way? Please lead." She then turns to Yona. "I came to "this place" quite some time ago, but because I was a coward and hid in the safe zone, I truly don't know as much as I should be. I think I remember how to set up a party?" She clicks a few times, her transparent screen lights up, hopefully that sets up the party. "I hope we can work together and complete this mission smoothly. Right, Zamek? Zamke..? Wait for me...!"

Nora turns around to find Zamek already heading out towards the desert, clearly getting impatient with all the standing round. Nora hurried to catch up with him. Once she steps out into the desert, a strong gasp of wind blows across the desert plain, rearranging the desert sand. A white-tailed eagle takes off high into the sky. Nora blinks a few times to get used to the blinding sunlight and raises a hand to cover her face from the wind. "Are you ready?" She asks Yona over the wind.

@Yona