[PP-F01] <<Earning a Living>> "Fishin' Friends"

[Astra 0]

Before him was an endless expanse of an azure sky. The sky seemingly stretched along for miles. Underneath his feet was a never ending body of water, crystalline and rippling. It looked like an ocean, but glossed over and solid. He wasn't sinking or falling into the water, he was standing right on top of it. With each step he took more ripples would appear underneath his feet. There was a sense of tranquility here. No fear, no doubts, and no land in sight. Just an expanse of the heavens and the sea. As he reached his destination, which looked no different than his starting point, bubbles started to ascend from the water below, dancing their way around his frame. He looked down at the water below, and in the deep cerulean water there was a glow. The glow moved quickly toward him, but with purpose. What was the source? It shimmered and sparkled as it drew near. The closer it got, he could make out the form of a large piscean creature. An iridescent fish with beautiful gleaming scales. It swam in circles around his feet for a little while, before the picturesque world around him started to fade. 

Astra awoke in his bed from yet another strange dream. He sat upright and sighed, temporarily pushing his white hair back from his forehead, before letting it fall back into place once more. Maybe he needed to stop eating snacks before bed. Maybe it was the books he was reading before bed. Maybe he was just bound to have strange ethereal dreams. All he knew is that this dream reminded him of something, and he should take it as a sign. Today he was going to learn how to fish in Aincrad. 

The rest of his morning was business as usual. Open up his inventory, select his outfit, equip his equipment, eat a light breakfast. From there he made his way back to Floor 1, where there were some perfect bodies of water that seemed like great fishing spots. He was excited to learn how to fish, but fishing seemed like it would be just as peaceful and fun with company. Why not invite someone he knew who loved to fish? That had to be Wulfrin. He was always taking the time to fish. 

Astra opened up his menu and sent a message to his friend: 

Spoiler

 

Message to: Wulfrin

"Hey Wulfrin! Going to acquire the fishing skill today. Figured you might want to tag along and catch some things. Wanna join in?" 

-Astra

 

Now it was a waiting game, to see if his friend would show up and accompany him. Honestly, he was pretty thankful for that weird dream. It seemed like the perfect day to go fishing with a friend. 

***

Spoiler

Astra | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 5 | MIT:0| ACC: 1 |

Spoiler

 

Main Stats:

Level: 1

Paragon Level: 0

Experience: 0

To next level: 500

Paragon Rewards:

[None]

 

Total Skill Points: 5

Available Skill Points: 1

Spent Skill Points: 4

 

Battle Stats:

HP: 20

Energy: 20

Base Damage: 5

Mitigation: 0

Accuracy: 1

Evasion: 0

LD: 0

 

Sword Arts: 

•  ST-I (4 EN) | A single-target sword art.
•  AOE-I (1 + [2 * targets] EN) | AOE | A sword art that strikes multiple targets at once.
•  TECH-A (5 EN) | STUN | A single-target sword art that stuns an enemy.

Skills:

Straight Sword Mastery Rank 1

Extra Skills: 

None yet.

Mods:

Add-Ons: 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:27 PM by Astra

[Wulfrin 0]

<< Floor 22 | Sentinel Armaments >>

Wulfrin was hard at work in his workshop when he got a message ping on his HUD. One of the newer players he had helped out, Astra, was requesting his presence for a bit of fishing. Looking at his stores of items, he could use a fishing trip that was more than just a handful of minutes while some newer players searched for materials. He looked over to his main bench where a freshly sharpened blade and set of light armor lay waiting.

"Good a time as any to give it to him right?" Wulfrin asked out to no one in particular.

"Perhaps give the guy a lesson in sword play," Wulfrin's gemini saod as they materialized before him. "Astra will need it in preparation for the Terra Firma fight."

"Dude wants to follow in my footsteps. Guess it's time I put some of those classes I took as a kid to use."

Wulfrin collected the items and stored them in his inventory before donning his own main combat kit. After a short walk he found his way to the teleport gate in Coral.

<< Floor 1 >>

"Next time," Wulfrin sighed as he approached Astra. "Try and include a meeting point in your message. If it weren't for the friend's list tracking feature, I'd have never found you."

Wulfrin chuckled a bit as he started fumbling through his inventory to produce the armor and sword he had finished crafting a few days prior.

"These are for you," Wulfrin handed over the sword and light armor. "I tried to base them off the gear you were using in The First Lessons. It's pretty similar to the kit I ran at your level. I assume you'll be undertaking the fishing profession quest today, so maybe we can squeeze some training in later to help you adjust to the gear. It'll also be a decent prep for Sharkbait."

Another wave of his fingers through his menu and a fishing pole appeared in his hand.

"Today's all you. Lead the way party leader."

* * *

Wulfrin gives Astra the following:

Swordsman's Splendor | T1 Perfect Light Armor | ID 236735 | MIT 2 | REC 1
Desc. A set of light weight armor designed to provide significant defense without sacrificing agility.

Honed Longsword | ID 236286 | T1 Perfect Weapon (Straight Sword) | ACC 2 | DMG 1
Desc. A longsword crafted from tempered steel. It is perfectly balanced to allow it's strikes to hit true.

* * * 

Wulfrin uses Elven Armor Salve.

Note: CS Shades of the Gemini is in use. If a player objects they should note such in their first post and the skill will be considered inactive.

Wulfrin | HP: 760/760 | EN: 110/110 | DMG: 21 | MIT:78 | ACC:5 | AA  | BH:25 | FRB: 40 | FRZ: 64 | LD:3 | Elf-S

Spoiler

"Name: Wulfrin
True Tier: 6
Level: 33
Paragon Level: 19
HP: 760/760
EN: 110/110

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 78
Accuracy: 5
Battle Healing: 25
Loot Die: 3
Stealth Rating: -2
AA FRB: 40 FRZ: 64
Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Icingdeath | T4 Demonic Straight Sword | Freeze 2 | Frostbite | AA
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Fallen Angel Garb | T4 Demonic LA | MIT 2 | REC 2
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Dioscuri | T1 PErfect Trinket | ACC 3

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - TECH Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - Rending Familiar

Custom Skill:
  - Shades of the Gemini

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R3
  - Charge
  - Energist
  - Light Armor R5
  - Searching R3
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Disguise
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Survival
  - Meditation

Inactive Extra Skills:
  - Frozen Hide
  - Brawler
  - Assault Mode

Addons:
  - Focus
  - Precision
  - Resolve
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Meticulous
  - Night Vision

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Crystal of Divine Light x5
  - Imugi's Inspiration | Mass Healing x5
  - Popcorn | T4 Vitality 2 x5
  - Rhino's Horn x1
  - TP Crystals x1

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
 - Blacksmith[1896exp] R8
Gathering Profession:
 - Fishing[509exp] R5"                                                                                                                            

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:52 PM by Wulfrin

[Astra 0]

Astra rubbed the back of his head and chuckled a bit as Wulfrin playfully chastised him for forgetting to include location details in his message. It makes sense, if it weren't for the tracking features he would virtually have no way of finding Astra. Astra didn't even stay in Coral, he just started wandering into the wilderness. What a goofball move. "Heh, sorry about that. Completely slipped my mind." 

When Wulfrin produced the new sword and armor that he had crafted for Astra, Astra's eyes widened. He was incredibly thankful for Wulfrin helping him out. Not only teaching him how to survive in Aincrad, but also crafting him some better gear so he can get his footing. He felt slightly guilty for the generosity, but he knew that eventually he'd be able to repay his teacher-figure. One of the best ways of repaying him would be to get stronger so he could contribute to scouting and clearing. "Thanks! These look great, it'll help me out a ton." Thumbing through his inventory, he equipped the new gear. He already felt a bit more confident in his abilities just from this new gear alone. 

"I'd be down to do some training after the fishing profession quest. More training would never hurt. Especially for whatever Sharkbait will bring." 

Astra led the way for the both of them, towards the fishing hut where the profession quest would be started. It was a homely looking fishing hut, sat on top of a lake. It looked like the perfect place to let your mind wander and do some fishing. As the two approached the hut, a fisherman made his way towards them, waving a hand in greeting. As he got closer to the two, he glanced them over up and down. This NPC had definitely seen Wulfrin before, but this would be his first time meeting Astra. 

"Anthony Gill, at your service," he announces, executing a quick bow. "Let me guess, you were looking for someone old, with a long white beard, and a pipe?"

Astra looked away sheepishly, "To be honest, kind of." 

"Sorry to disappoint. Now, what can I do for you?" The fisherman asked. 

"I'm looking to learn some more about fishing! I'd like to be able to become a fisherman myself. My friend here is already pretty good at it, so I figured I'd try too."

Anthony smiled at the mention that the young man wanted to get into fishing. "I am honored you would come to me for help. Since we're friends, I'll let you in on a little secret." Astra leaned closer to Anthony at the mention of a secret. Reaching into his pocket, Anthony draws out a small tin, then offers it to Astra. "This is a special bait, because a local priest prays over it in a top-secret ceremony.  I'm the only one in the world who has it, so don't bother looking for it anywhere else. If you use it, you'll catch the rare any mysterious Rainbow Fish, which you can harvest for Gleaming Scales. Catch the fish, bring me a scale, and you'll know all there is to know about fishing." 

Astra couldn't help but think back to the shimmering rainbow fish that appeared in his dream. He was happy to know it was real, too. Now it was time to go and catch it. 

"Great, thanks Anthony. We'll be back soon!" Astra replied, flashing a thumbs up. With that, he grabbed a fishing rod and began to leave the shack. He looked towards Wulfrin and asked, "So, which spot should we head to to find this Rainbow Fish?" 

***

Astra obtains: Bless Bait
Astra equips: 

Swordsman's Splendor | T1 Perfect Light Armor | ID 236735 | MIT 2 | REC 1
Desc. A set of light weight armor designed to provide significant defense without sacrificing agility.

Honed Longsword | ID 236286 | T1 Perfect Weapon (Straight Sword) | ACC 2 | DMG 1
Desc. A longsword crafted from tempered steel. It is perfectly balanced to allow it's strikes to hit true.

***

Astra | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 2 | ACC: 2 | REC: 1 |

[Wulfrin 0]

"Over there actually," Wulfrin pointed towards a large lake not to far from the fisher's hut. "It's actually the end of the river we were at during the First Lessons."

Wulfrin led the duo to a small dock that extended a good ways into the lake. It was just wide enough the two could fish without interfering with each other. Wulfrin materialized a couple of chairs and a cooler. Before gesturing Astra to join him.

"Get comfortable," Wulfrin said with a sigh. "Even with Anthony's 'Special Bait' catching the fish necessary for the gleaming scale will be a long grind. Took me several hours to find it."

The air quotes could be heard in Wulfrin's voice even with out him making them. He was now ranked high enough in fishing to know Anthony's little secret, but he wasn't going to let the discovery get ruined. He leaned back in his chair and cast his line out into the gently churning lake. His bobber moved gently up and down with the waves, but showed no signs of a nibble.

"You ever bait a hook, Astra?" Wulfrin asked as he looked over to his companion. "Here in Aincrad it's a simple quick gesture through menus. Way simpler than real life."

* * *

Fishing Attempt (Success CD 4+ | Chest LD 8+ | Scale CD 12+ and LD 17+)
Rank: 5 Grand Master Angler
Bonuses: +5 LD when opening Chest

Roll:
ID 239133 | CD 2 | LD 18

Result:
Nothing

Edited 16 hours ago by Wulfrin