[SP-F2] Diverging Paths, Part One: The Return

[Astralin 0]

       Astralin had not been to Floor Two in a long time. Knowing this, she considered returning to see if there was anything worth looking into.

   Now that she had returned to the mountainous floor, however, it would seem that something had been waiting for her. She hadn't been back in Urbus for longer than five minutes when an NPC approached her. "I've been looking for you, got something I'm supposed to deliver, your hands only." Astralin was a bit confused at first, who on this floor would want to contact her? Is it a quest prompt, or something else? "Let's see here..."

    Astralin waited a few seconds to see what this NPC was here to deliver. "Yeah, just this note. There was some kind of trainee looking fellow, looking for you, so he kinda gave me this note in case I ever found you, something about needing to return to his teacher. Well, looks like that's it, got to go."

The NPC was gone in seconds, leaving Astralin standing there with a note he'd handed her. Astralin blinked several times, then opened up the note.

Spoiler

   Astralin,

If you're able or willing, come back to the Dojo on the mountain. Since you've recently caught our teacher's attention with your exploits thus far, we are intrigued to know what you've found, and should you agree to return, we eagerly await to train alongside you.

"..."

Astralin was undoubtedly confused. Had things changed significantly since Astralin had broken that boulder so long ago? What could possibly be waiting for her back there?

 

Stats and Equipment:

Spoiler

Level: 32

Paragon Level: 9

Paragon Rewards:

Lv. 5 - Laurel Wreath (Earn Col equivalent to 15% of player’s EXP earned in thread)

 

Battle Stats:

HP: 660

Energy: 84

Base Damage: 23(MA Rank 5[7], CM: DMG[12], MA Ferocity[2], Athletics[1])

Mitigation: 20(Cloth Armor Rank 5)

Accuracy: 3(Amulet of Aknossoth, Zero Degree Chill)

Evasion: 2(Nebula Librae)

Loot Die: 0

 

Additional conditions:

[None Yet]

 

Equipment:

[T3] Glowing Embers(Burn)

[T3] Zero Degree Chill(Freeze, Accuracy)[Equipped]

[T4]Nebula Librae(2 EVA, 1 REC)[Equipped]

[T3]Amulet of Aknossoth(2 ACC, 1 REC)[Equipped]

 

Consumables:

(3) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)

Teleport Crystal x1

 

 

Skills:

Martial Arts Rank 5(30 SP)

Combat Mastery: Damage(13 SP)

Cloth Armor Rank 5(30 SP)

Quick Change(8 SP)

 

Extra Skills:

First Aid Rank 5(30 SP)

 

 

Mods:

Athletics(4 SP)

Energize(5 SP)

Barrier(6 SP)

 

Addons:

Martial Arts Ferocity(6 SP)

Martial Arts Stamina(4 SP)

Nimble(6 SP)

Field Medic(6 SP)

 

[Astralin 0]

   Her next destination had basically been decided for her, so it was time to set out again. It was up that tall, tall mountain for her, though she knew not the reason, aside from potential further training...even though Astralin herself had no clue why she'd need more. She might live within a warrior's world, but she herself is no warrior.

      Astralin pulled her Skillbook out of her inventory, and looked through both the fire and ice sections she'd been writing. She could use more variety to some of all the sections she'd been putting down for sword arts, as seemed to have one set of sword arts per section, even if their effects and damage output were generally the same. She closed her Skillbook, wondering if there was anything she was missing in general. She'd simply been experimenting and hoping for the best, but maybe this whole thing was the Cardinal giving her an opportunity...even if they were probably some conventional martial arts tactics, she might be able to bend them more to her style with enough time and effort.

[Astralin 0]

   Once this was over, Astralin might need to get a move on and become an Alchemist. Maybe she could look for someone who could help her with that other strange book, too. Speaking of which...

   Astralin placed the Skillbook back into her inventory and pulled out the odd book. That VII on it, it clearly seemed to suggest there were more. She wondered if she'd ever find the others, and whatever they were tied to...but if only she could get past the glaringly obvious problem... She pulled out the key she found with the book, and used it to unlock the book. Upon opening it up, just like last time the writing seemed to be something she couldn't translate. Not even the system seemed to offer any words of what it might be. "There's gotta be some way I can read this...I can't translate the symbols to my own language, so it could either be unique, or tied to another language. Well, it doesn't look like I'll be able to understand this thing anytime soon..." She thought aloud as she turned pages, with all sorts of illustration and what might be notes along with the base info, but there was still not enough to guess whatever the dubious symbols and words meant. Not to mention the odd patterns in the exact middle of the book. Turning the pages to that section again, she'd look back at it to see all those shapes, lines and designs again, along with more symbols here and there. The six pointed star in the exact center seemed to suggest that this wasn't a loose collection of shapes or lines, but a part of something greater; incomplete.

....But just what was it, then?

[Astralin 0]

   Seeing that she was getting nowhere with this, Astralin closed the book and locked it again before putting both book and key in her inventory. It was past time to get going. It took a fair while to traverse the rocky floor, and most of the floor's local monsters were easy to avoid the aggro range of, but this was a game, so of course there would be a few moments...

   Such as the moment when there were some ruins near the road, and goblins showed up when Astralin was close to passing by. "Hold! This toll road. You pay, you pass. No pay, no pass. Toll Five Hundred." One of the goblins spoke up. Astralin crossed her arms inquisitively and gave the goblin a look. "And? You'd have evidence of your position if you were doing official tolls. If any form of civilizations' governance didn't put you up to this, then this is just harassment, conning and petty theft." She countered. The Goblins looked at each other as though realizing they didn't think this through well enough, and the goblin that spoke up earlier responded with, "I follow orders. Five Hundred Col or no pass."

   Astralin smirked. "So you think that avoiding the question's gonna help, or do you not have any proof?" She shot back. "Since you don't have any feasible proof, I guess I might as well pass." Astralin started to move, but the goblin who spoke pulled out a spear. "No. No pay, no pass." Astralin knew exactly what to do here. "Alright then, I see how it is." She then readied one of her single target sword arts. "Errasifr!" Astralin called out as she unleashed her attack, obliterating the target. The other goblins jumped back. "Anyone else feel like pressing this any further?" Astralin asked. The remaining goblins, in unison, answered "Nope!" and ran for the ruins as fast as their legs could carry them.

[Astralin 0]

       There wasn't that much of an issue reaching the mountain from then on, but then came the climb itself.

  This was something Astralin did not miss. Not even Vigilon's shop was difficult to reach, just a half-hour walk. This, however, was a much different climb. At least Vigilon was willing to help with all the hard parts back then...now Astralin had to make the climb herself. Some time later, however, she found herself at what seemed like a dead end...no, this was no dead end, something was blocking the way, and it wasn't made of stone.

     Astralin swatted at the false stone, and wings flapped. The false stone, revealed to be a camouflaging giant moth, turned around to face Astralin, who readied her sword art. "Errasifr!" She called out as she activated said sword art. A chilling blast accompanied the impact, and the Giant Moth was encased in a layer of ice.

ID# 212385 BD: 9(Critical, +1 Base Damage, Inflicted Freeze), CD: 11(ST-B Available!), MD: 5-2=3(miss)

ST-I: 24x12=288 Damage to Giant Moth!

 

Astralin: HP 660/660, EN 72/84 | 23 DMG | 20 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 4 REC | T3 Freeze

 

Giant Moth: HP 312/600 | 128 Damage | {Frozen}

Edited February 1, 2023 by Astralin

[Astralin 0]

    Astralin took this chance while she could, and prepared another sword art. "Ikiarra!" She called out as she activated the sword art, finishing off the Giant Moth.

     Well, that was easier than expected. Now it was time to continue on- wait, who was that over there in the distance?

  Astralin walked a bit closer to see this person, finding a young woman, who was revealed by her green cursor to be a player.

Spoiler

 

The girl looked confused to see Astralin at first, so maybe a kind greeting might ease her. "Hi," Astralin began. "I'm just heading up the mountain, nothing to worry about!"

   The violet haired girl's confusion faded quickly. "Oh, for a second, I thought you were someone else. Anyway, I was kind of sent here to take care of some obstacles getting in the way of the path up, but it looks like you dealt with that straggler there already." She explained. The girl appeared to have a similar apparel style to that of Krysta's, as she looked like a Princess, with the shimmering, flowing dress(probably some kind of cloth armor, like Astralin's), she wore, the silver tiara on her head, decorated with Amethysts and Aquamarines. Her dress was sleeveless and asymmetric, and she seemed to also be wearing knee-high stockings, and fingerless gloves that extended across the forearms, too, not to mention a pair of wedges. As though to complete the outfit, there was also a rose made of amethyst gemstones(clearly the work of an Artisan) that was the centerpiece of a necklace she wore.

 

ID# 212386 BD: 3+3+1=7(hit), MD: 6-2-4(miss)

ST-II: 23x15+48=393 Damage to Giant Moth!

ID# 212387 CD: 7, LD: 2(3000 Col, 2 Materials)

 

Astralin: HP 660/660, EN 61/84 | 23 DMG | 20 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 4 REC | T3 Freeze

 

Giant Moth: HP 0/600 | 128 Damage 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Astralin

[Astralin 0]

    "Straggler? There were more of them?" Astralin asked. "Of course!" The girl claimed. "Why, there was a small swarm of them scattered around the path to the summit! I was tasked with taking them all down, as I said before, and uh, yeah, good work on dealing with that straggler, I guess." She added, one hand on her hip, the other holding her weapon, and she seemed to look Astralin up and down.

   "I see." Astralin responded. "Well, thanks for clearing the path! ...wait, I didn't exactly catch your name. I'm Astralin, nice to meet you!" She added with a warm smile. The girl, at first, didn't seem to know what to think, but upon Astralin's introduction, she put on a smile as anyone could tell she immediately knew what to say next. "And I'm Evelina, I don't know if you've heard about me yet, but I'm sure you'll hear more of me later!" Unusual response, but ok. "...Say, are you here to make your way to the Dojo?" She asked. "It's totally up to you if you'd want to, but you might be biting off more than you can chew if you do." She added.

Evelina then began making her way back up, and would soon disappear from Astralin's view. "She's clearly going to keep heading to the summit...hmm, maybe I'll 'test' her..." She muttered to herself. A smirk would appear on her expression as she reveled in this idea. "Eheheh, she'll never know what hit her..."

Edited March 11, 2023 by Astralin

[Astralin 0]

      Astralin continued up the path, but she soon saw Evelina standing in the middle of the path, as if she were waiting for her. "I had a feeling you'd continue anyway, so..." Evelina then turned around to face Astralin. She then pulled up her menu and began preparing a request. "I suppose I should make sure if you're ready for whatever lies ahead of you." She said, sending a duel challenge to Astralin.

    "Alright then, I'm fine with a quick spar, let's do it!" Astralin answered, accepting the challenge and preparing the ruleset for the duel. Both players would take position, and Evelina seemed pretty confident, judging by her expression. Well, one way to deal with this now, and that was to claim victory.

     The players waited for the preparation timer to end, and <<Fight!>> would appear between the two. Both players would rush towards each other as they readied their sword arts. "Errasifr!" Astralin called out as her sword art activated. While Evelina ended up getting hit, there was no way she was letting this just happen. She retaliated with her own sword art, dealing a fair bit of damage to Astralin. To make matters more difficult, the status Ailment symbol for poison appeared next to Astralin's HP. "Uh oh, that's not good." Astralin thought.

   Evelina chuckled. "How's that for a first impression? Consider that a gift from me to you!" She said, winking at the end of her sentence. Well, now Astralin was taking damage over time, so she'd have to take evasive action, plenty of it, too.

[Astralin 0]

      Astralin needed to focus on avoiding Evelina's attacks if she was to win this duel. To keep getting hit would have a chance at refreshing the status ailment. "Alright, so if I need to make my timing right, maybe I should use..."

  With a sword art now in mind, she gestured for Evelina to come closer. Evelina would hesitate, but would come closer, only to jump back the moment Astralin moved. Luckily, this is just was Astralin was waiting for. "Arriora!!" Astralin called out as she activated her sword art. Her opponent would be stricken with Delay, giving Astralin an evasive advantage. Evelina blinked, realizing what Astralin was doing whenever she used sword arts. "Uh, are you giving your Sword Arts weird names or something?" She asked. Astralin shrugged with a smile. "Well, yes and no, they have different names, but I have a different way to speak them as I use them." She explained. "It's just how I prefer to do it."

    Evelina looked confused. "Weird Flex, but uh, you do you I guess."

[Astralin 0]

    Evelina attempted another attack, but the Delay had done its job, as Astralin dodged the attack. Astralin would then utilize quick change to swap handwraps. If she was lucky, she might be able to give this opponent a taste of her own medicine...

   Astralin activated her Sword Art. "Larrahi!"

 With a burst of flame, Astralin's sword art struck her intended target, inflicting burn in the process. That was good news. "H-hey! Watch it with the flames!" Evelina exclaimed.

   The bad news however, was that the poison status refreshed. "What the? I, I wasn't even hit? But how??" Astralin thought aloud, confused. Evelina chuckled to the point where it was almost a cackle. "Some ailments can be on defensive gear! Watch where you crit, or you'll get another dose of my poison!" She remarked. This was quickly turning into a problem. If this ailment didn't wear off soon, Evelina wouldn't need many more hits against Astralin in order to claim Victory. Astralin needed a better plan.

[Astralin 0]

   There had to be a way around this, these ailments were more than enough of a problem. Astralin was taking damage over time, so she had to avoid getting hit. Delay had already worn off, so Astralin needed to do something fast. Evelina readied her next sword art, and Astralin noticed, as she attempted to dodge, that her most powerful type of sword art was now available. "That's right, I'd almost forgotten about that!" She thought. Distracted by this realization, she ended up getting hit by her opponent's sword art. "Looks like this fight's about to be in the bag!" Evelina claimed with confidence.

       Astralin prepared her Sword Art. "It's in a bag, all right." She remarked. "But it's not your bag." Astralin then unleashed the sword art. "Vyerherri!!!!"

  Astralin's handwraps were cloaked in flames as she unleashed a barrage of strikes, and Evelina turned out to be caught off guard by this blazing onslaught. The final hit knocked Evelina several meters backward, and when she got back up, the burn damage from the attack before dropped her HP down low enough for a winner to be declared.

   While Evelina wasn't too pleased about this result, she at least got close. "Whew, that was a good match, you really put up a fight and almost gave me a run for my money!" Astralin remarked. "You're really good, I didn't see much of that coming at all!"

    Evelina's mild scowl was replaced with a pleasant shock, as though she wasn't expecting the compliments due to her loss. "Er...ah, likewise!" She uttered out, putting on a smile as she did so. "I guess you might be potentially capable...eeeeven if I was only going easy on you." She then pulled something out of her inventory, and placed it in Astralin's hand. "Go ahead and take this, consider it as thanks for both being a good sport and giving it your all." She then turned around to go on ahead, yet didn't expect Astralin to follow, due to her next words being, "Well, have a nice rest of your day! See you never!"