[PP-F4] The Essence of Steel (Oikawa) [Complete]

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had been hanging out with information brokers lately, and heard that there was a chance she could upgrade an item up another level. Knowing that her trinket was the only rare item that she had, she was going to take the risk to see if it was possible. She had heard about the boss, how bulky he was. However, she was not going to do it alone, as she preferred not to take on bigger monsters than her by herself if they were larger.

 

She did not recall anyone ever taking the quest before, but knew that it could all be a rumor.

[Oikawa 1]

The cool breeze of the fourth floor had become a comfort for the blonde. He rested easy, knowing that midst all the chaos and uproar Aincrad had to offer, serenity and calm lay no further than the snowy fields of the fourth floor. He had become rather inactive the last few days. Trudging around the city doing nothing more than random meandering. A soft furry cub stroked it's tail along Oikawa's legs. Looking down, he smiled at the familiar sight of his companion King. "Were quite overdue for an adventure huh?" 

 

The cub purred and nudged Oikawa as if to tell him to do something about their apparent boredom. Scrolling through his guild list, he stopped on a name he had only just come to put  a face with. Rebekah. I wonder what she's been up to lately? Hmm let's see. Typing up a message, he pecked the send button and awaited her reply. I hope I'm not bothering her.

 

 

To: Rebekah

From: Oikawa - The Faint

 

Subject: Hey!

 

Hey well long time no see. You busy with anything at the moment?

[Rebekah 0]

It had been a while since she had went on an adventure with someone. That was the thing she needed, someone to work with to finish a quest, as it was hard to do something when you are all alone. It had been forever since she had felt confident in tackling a monster that was bigger than she was. It would take a lot of work, as the monster in front of her, was not just any, but was one of the strongest outside of any raids that she had known so far. It was said to be strong, but she wanted to see for herself, as well as any loots that may be retrieved from the boss.

 

She replied to Oikawa, "sure, meet me on the 4th floor." as she typed away. She could in her own mind solo the boss, but that was too risky for someone such as herself to attempt it alone.

[Oikawa 1]

*Ping* A notification appeared on his HUD. Swiping his hand through the air, he lightly tapped the visual envelope to open his most recent message. A trip to the fourth floor again. It's official. I'm moving my shop haha. Then again, I may wait until the next set of floors become available. Oikawa picked up his grey companion and perched him atop his head. Dimming the lights, he flipped the sign to close and left his shop.

 

He and King meandered through the city. They quickly arrived at the center of the city where the teleport gate was located. Stepping onto the platform, he spoke the words necessary to allow travel. "Teleport: Snowfrost town!" Bright lights flashed by as Oikawa and his familiar were swirled from one floor to the next. As the motion settled down, Oikawa noticed the blanket of snow that lay before them. Ahh we're here. Now to find Rebekah.

 

Oikawa brought up his menu and selected the Friend Tracker. The map then became highlighted with a few arrows. Obviously the one closest to him would appropriately Rebekah. Oikawa then stalked off towards his partner for the day.

[Rebekah 0]

She waited near the teleportation portal on Snowfrost Town for Oikawa. She knew that this was a risky endeavor, but it would be all worth it in the end. Rebekah was one of the ones who blindly believed in information brokers, looking for every chance to find an extra advantage in this game. Of course, she was striving to be one of the top female players in this game, but she knew she had a long way to go since Kiru, Mari, Ariel were all ahead of her in terms of pure strength, at least those were the active players. She wished to join the upper echelon of top players, but knew that having a rare item in her inventory would not be enough.

 

She looked at her trinket, knowing fully well that it was a good deal, only 400 Col for a rare item, and the possibility to upgrade it for free, instead of paying extra was an added bonus. From the small bits of information she gathered, and her own personal instincts, it was a lot better to duo in a party then solo quests by herself, especially at around this level. If she was slightly stronger, than it would have been completely different for her.

[Oikawa 1]

OOC: Why stop at top female player? Why not just a top player in general?

 

His walk was short as the blonde was considerably closer than he had early assumed. King purred as he recognized her from a quest they had completed before. "Hey there Rebekah! It's been a minute eh?" He tossed out his hand, gesturing for a handshake. Once their hellos were said, Oikawa changed subjects. "So whata re we doing here on the fourth floor today? Anything particular like a quest or are we just adventuring ?"

 

he readjusted the tiny leopard perched on his head as he waited for her reply.

[Rebekah 0]

Oikawa was seemingly eager to start today's miniature quest raid, and she quickly summarized the details, or the tiny bits of information that she had. Rebekah spoke, "It looks like a snow beast, has about 100 HP, hits deal 5 damage, but will always hit at least 3 even with full mitigation." That was what the information brokers had told her, but she trusted that information. This would save her about 1,000 col and time, and upgrading her weapon this way was more efficient for her than going through that long process. She had nothing against the shop keepers, but its just that things take time, and sometimes time is at the utmost urgency, before certain raids that would happen in the near future.

[Oikawa 1]

"About 100 HP, 5 DMG, 3 at the minimum even with MIT, and that's it? Let's get to it then. He doesn't sound to awful haha." Oikawa joked a little more than usual. He knew that the fight was still going to be a tough battle but he wanted to keep their morale up. He checked his gear and petted King before asking Rebekah another question. "So where can we find this snowy monster? If you don't mind, could you lead the way?"

 

Oikawa's Stats:

HP: 41/ DMG: 8/ ACC: 3/ EVA: 3/ MIT: 3

Battle Healing R1 (+1 HP on CD 10+)

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah quickly spoke, "follow me," as they made their way out of Snowfrost Town. It was rather nice to be on the 4th floor, the outskirts of the boundaries of this town is not that far away from the teleportation gate. This was a stark contrast to the Town of Beginning, where there were many little alleyways and roads that would lead one around the town over and over again. They quickly made their way through the snow, and headed towards where she had thought the monster was. It would be a relatively long walk, as if this monster was more common, then she would have heard more information, thus it must have been either hard to find, or really far away.

 

Rebekah would consider herself one of the pioneers who would often explore this floor, but this piece of information had only attracted her attention just last week, meaning that she had not fully explored the floor yet. That was a big surprise to her, as she knew that was what she had completely thought. She did not have mapping data of this floor, but from what she knew, she had more data on this floor than most of the other players who would often avoid the 4th and 5th floor due to their extreme climates.

[Oikawa 1]

She motioned for him to follow her and led him through the town and out the gates. The snow crunched lightly beneath their footsteps. They trek documented with each lifting and placing of the foot. They crossed snowy fields for quite some time. Oikawa had never ventured this far on the fourth floor, even though he frequently found himself adventuring on the floor. In fact this is King's home floor. He reached up to pet King. The leopard sat alert but allowed himself to be soothed by the rhythmic scratching of his fur.

 

Rebekah seemed to know the way but at the same time it felt like they were walking into endless snow covered lands. "No wonder I rarely hear of this quest. Let alone someone completing it. The monster seems to be out in the literal middle of nowhere. Not to much further right?"

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah does not like to pay for mapping data, and typically would explore the region herself after hearing the summary or at least the general direction of the location. It was just the way she had liked to function, avoid spending Col on needless stuff as she knew that there was a chance that the col she had collected would be worth something. She knew of a few players who used to be rich, but did not know where most of their wealth had come from.

 

As they were arrived, she led him to a rock that was just out of view of the snowbeast. "Just over the hill is the monster, you will attack first, and I will follow up on it afterwards. We will try to split the aggro, but I'm sure neither of us will be too badly hurt by the monster." Rebekah spoke. However, something was off, the beast was not sleeping in the cave, but out in the valley, perhaps it was looking for food, or it was defending its territory. "Be careful, it might be more aggressive than usual."

[Oikawa 1]

Rebekah motioned for him to crouch behind the rock with her as they observed a creature just over the hill in front of them. So I'll be running lead then sounds fine with me. "Alright. Lets get this over with." Oikawa then leaped over the rock and ran down the hillside to the beast that awaited him.

 

The monster was clearly several feet tall. Mammoth sized, with fur whiter than the snow falling around them. Blue gleaming eyes glared at the boy as he approached the fearsome beast. Two health bars hovered overhead. One for each increment of 50 HP it had. Oikawa gulped then took a calming breath. The beast roared and pounded it's chest. Both combatants had readied themselves. Oikawa watched as a shiny flake of snow danced about in the wind. It fell gracefully and smoothly as it swayed back and forth.

 

As the flake touched the ground, Oikawa left it. He exploded from the ground. leaving nothing but an afterimage as he rocketed through the air. The Faint appeared to have caught the Beast off guard as he sent his blade burrowing into its shoulder. He quickly retracted the blade and darted back until he was a safe distance away. He knew Rebekah was trailing him so she should be flying by him at any moment.

 

[14133] BD: 8

 

Oikawa: 41/41

Rebekah: 49/49

 

<Snow Beast> 92/100 (-8)

[Rebekah 0]

Before she knew anything else that was going on, Oikawa had sprinted towards the boss and dealt a normal attack on the giant monster. Rebekah did not want to be left behind, as she charged her way up to the boss after him, in an attempt to land two quick successive strikes to start this battle.

 

However before Rebekah could get anywhere close to the boss, she slid and fell on the icy path as she made her way towards the boss. Thus she had to struggle to get back on her feet, luckily, she knew how to ice skate and was able to quickly get bacon onto her feet. However, by that time, the Snow Beast had began to attack Oikawa, but the attack was telegraph to him as it swung its giants arms at Oikawa slowly, giving him enough time to avoid the attack.

 

[iD=14138]

BD=1 (Miss)

Mob=7-3=4

 

Oikawa: 41/41

Rebekah: 49/49

 

Snow Beast: 92/100

 

[OOC: Not picking on you, but since you landed an attack, aggro's is on you]

[Oikawa 1]

(OOC: It's fine haha!)

 

Fly by him she did, as it appeared she had slipped and fell. She slowly but surely rose to her feet. Once Oikawa judged that she was alright, he darted after the beast again. The yeti like creature swung its massive arms at Oikawa. However, the attacks were slow and Oikawa easily increased his speed to dodge the blows. He brought his rapier to shoulder height. He then plunged his blade into the shin of the beast causing it to falter slightly.

 

Roaring, the Snow Beast seemed to increase the wind and snowfall speed. Almost as if it was capable of causing a blizzard. "Keep your eyes peeled Beks. This could get ugly!" 

 

[14139] BD: 7

 

H1 Oikawa: 41/41

H0 Rebekah: 49/49

 

<Snow Beast> 84/100 (-8)

[Rebekah 0]

As she got back on her feet, Rebekah made sure to charge at the boss, but not on the iciest path that she could take, there were many potential routes that she could take, but she had preferred one that was not so slippery. She knew she needed to land an attack since it was Oikawa doing all the heavy lifting in this party at the moment.

 

As Rebekah approached the boss, she knew that it was distracted, as he was the only one officially in the battle according to the boss, and she would not be noticed, no matter where she went, thus, she had an advantage. These were the little bit of things that she had when she did not register an attack for tripping over the ice, and she made sure to land a crit, as the boss would not be expecting her. She jumped and attacked with her rapier from the back side, enough to deal damage, and as it turned around to swat at her, Rebekah easily dodged the attack.

 

[iD=14173]

BD= 9

Mob=5 - 2 = 3

 

Oikawa: 41/41

Rebekah: 49/49

 

Snow Beast: 74/100

[Oikawa 1]

Oikawa held the beasts attention as Rebekah made her way around the Mob and stuck a critical blow against it. The Snow Beast cringed and faltered, as it tried to swat at the female blonde. Missing it's target, the creature roared as it became progressively more enraged. Now that Rebekah had it's attention, Oikawa made a sneak attack of his own.

 

Running along the snow covered path, Oikawa brandished his blade and lunged for the lower back of snow monster. He sank his blade into the Mob and quickly removed it so he could get a safe distance back. "Alright Rebekah switch!"

 

[14174] BD: 7 [4+3]

 

H2 Oikawa: 41/41

H2 Rebekah: 49/49

 

<Snow Beast> 66/100 (-8)

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah looked up at the boss in front of her, she could easily see that they had already withered the boss down to about two third of its hit points, after landing just a few strikes. However, she was a bit worried when it might change up its pattern. Currently, all it had been doing was slowly flinging its arms, which had a long windup time, enough for both of them to dodge the attacks. She was prepared for it, but perhaps she was again over thinking again during a battle.

 

This time the beast was focused on her, and she had the timing of its attack down to the exact second, so Rebekah waited for the attack to start, then she would dodge the attack, and attack right at that moment. It was a risky gamble, as she would have made her vulnerable to attack, but it was not something hard. She did not mind baiting the monster into an attack, it was all about seeing if these boss were a lot smarter.

 

[iD=14226]

BD= 3 + 3 = 6

Mob= 4 - 2 = 2

 

Oikawa: 41/41

Rebekah: 49/49

 

Snow Beast: 57/100

[Oikawa 1]

Oikawa watched as Rebekah successfully baited and evaded an attack from the beast. The creature's wild flailing arms smacked snow and air as Rebekah dodged the swing and sent her rapier slicing into the beast. As she retracted her blade, she jumped back and allowed for Oikawa to follow up with the next attack.

 

Dashing through snow, Oikawa raised his blade. Over the hill he goes, speeding all the way. As he drew in close, he held his blade high. He brought to the air, crashing from the sky. The monster screamed in pain, anger in its eyes. Roaring through the snow, echoed its battle cry. 

 

Oikawa quickly disengaged the mob in combat and stepped back to nod at Rebekah for her to strike.

 

(OOC: OMG HAD TO DO IT :lol:)

 

[14394] BD: 9 [9+3]

 

H4 Oikawa: 41/41

H3 Rebekah: 49/49

 

<Snow Beast> 48/100 (-9)

[Rebekah 0]

As the Snow Beast's hit points drop below fifty percent, Rebekah was ready for a change in attack pattern, or that was what the guide had told her. However, she had not heard of anyone who had successfully tackle this boss out of beta, and the only few estimates were from the beta testing period. It was a rather risky but she knew that she had to be careful. There was nothing that she could do, other than try to anticipate its new attack, while it was quite difficult to begin with.

 

But there was something she could do, Rebekah continued to attack knowing that she could wither the boss down before it could respond again. As she attack, she knew that Oikawa had the agro, for landing multiple crits, and more attacks, it was something that she had kept track of, and knew that she was safe from being attacked, so she began to be a bit reckless, trying to land a crit, but she barely missed landing the crit.

 

[iD=11451]

BD=6 + 3 = 8

Mob = 1

 

Oikawa 41/41

Rebekah 49/49

 

Snow Beast 39/100

[Oikawa 1]

The storm kicked up as the beast released a monstrous roar. It's HP had finally dropped below 50% and Oikawa was ready to taste victory. Rebekah quickly followed his attack with a wild strike of her own. Reckless, but she knows I have the aggro so she can attack with pure confidence right now. His thoughts must've been accurate as she barely dodged a blow from the mobs new attack pattern. Luckily her attack landed as the beasts HP neared the 33% percent mark.

 

Almost dead..Lets keep the ball rolling then! Oikawa dashed towards the creature. As snow flew up in his wake, he skidded to a halt as a sudden boulder sized snowball came hurling towards him. Dodging to the left, he rolled behind a rock and shouted to Rebekah, "Be careful! Not only does it attack faster, it's now throwing projectiles!" Having missed his opportunity, Oikawa could only hope that Rebekah would score another hit on the Mob.

 

[14480] BD: 1

 

H4 Oikawa: 41/41

H4 Rebekah: 49/49

 

<Snow Beast> 39/100 (-0)