[PP-F1] Secret Medicine of The Forest

[Saix 0]

The crimson mantle cape that the swordsman wore fanned out behind him like a red blur as he charged forward, sword and shield in hand. His target, <>, seemed just as eager to initiate battle, as it gave a strange growl and lashed out with whip like vines. There was a time where he might have been scared, but now all he felt was the rush of impending combat. Days of squaring off against the mobs of the first floor had done well to temper his resolve and prepare him for the dangers of combat in this digital prison. So as the attack came flying towards him Saix cooly raised his shield, little more than an iron rimmed circle of wood with a handle, which began to glow as he activated the parry skill.

[Saix 0]

With an impact spark and a dull thunk, the attack hit the glowing blue shield and was repelled backwards by a rather good example of the Parry Skill. <> was knocked off balance, giving a strange warbling cry as it entered it's own Post Motion Frame, helpless for a sliver of a second until it could recover from the failed use of the skill. Normally Saix would rush the attack, attempting to knock as much health off as he could with the use of one of his more powerful <>, but today he was in a party, and he had fulfilled his job as forward, so it was time to let someone else take the attack. "Alright! <>!" He said, leaping back and to the side, and leaving room for his party member to rush forward into an attack on the defenseless <>.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives followed into battle after Saix' lead but minding his distance. his clutched his shield in his left hand in front to brace for an attack but knew Saix would be able to hold agro for the inital exchange. He drew his blade in his right moving radially to the creatures right. He pulled his blade back behind him to charge then waited for the signal. "<>" he heard then launched forward at the stunned creature activating <> slashing upward and to the left diagonally.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives blade ripped through in a flash of light knocking the creatures hp in half. He slid threw the attack lowing his center of gravity and pulling his shield up to prepare for an onslaught as his threat level raised making him the new agro. <> he called as he rolled backwards and out of the creatures attack range. With any luck the creature wouldn't see the final attack. In any event with the creatures health now halved it would only be a matter of time before he had what he came for.

[Saix 0]

Saix brought his sword up over his shoulder, settling himself in a balanced, low, stance. 9Lives' attack enraged the creature, but his quick backwards roll took him out of range, causing the <> to shuffle forward to attack. This brought the creature in range for Saix's own attempted Sword Skill, the One-Handed Straight Sword's Sonic Leap. Activating his skill, Saix shot forward and into the sky, his trajectory bringing him down right before his target, the sword cleaving over his shoulder and downward in a diagonal arc across the creature's body in a mighty leaping slash before the <> could attack 9Lives.

[Saix 0]

The Iron Shortsword tore through the creature in a digital spray of red, as Saix brought his shield up before him and hopped backwards, wary of another attack. He needn't have worried, because even before he had completed his hopping retreat, the <> dissolved into a sudden spray of polygons with a sound like breaking glass. Party victory! Standing tall, he turned back to 9Lives who stood behind and too the side of him. "Gratz" He said, knowing that the xp from the kill had likely got him closer to reaching level 2, probably a good quarter of the way. Though he wasn't on the same quest, and would have no need for the Anneal Blade, the xp from the mob kills would go a long way towards ensuring his friend earned something from lending a hand along the quest.

<> was a somewhat difficult quest offered on the First Floor. Saix was of high enough level that it likely wouldn't offer much trouble, but it proved an excellent method for testing the fruits of his research. So many players had died by rushing off into the game without proper preparation, scrambling for what little XP they could gather. Most of the 'clearing players' had already swarmed past the first floor in search of higher leveled mobs for greater Xp. But Saix was a meticulous gamer, and before he moved on he was aiming to ensure he understood the ins and outs of how the game itself functioned. So he had researched everything he could, using all the information provided by other players and the guide books he found for free at the item shops.

But technique would only get you so far. If he truly planned on surviving the Death Game, he would need the proper equipment. Thus he had stumbled upon the quest <> with the <> as a reward. This sword was still rather basic as far as starter equipment went, but it boasted a huge amount of available enhancement slots for it's level, with 8 possible enhancements. This made it a viable weapon for use past floor one, if it were properly maintained. For Saix, who favored the one-handed straight sword and shield; it was the perfect weapon to begin his journey through the world of Sword Art Online. So he had accepted the quest on the spot, and invited his real life friend 9Lives along for the ride in case he ended up in over his head. Thus far they were carving their way through the enemies they encountered with little risk. But all that could change in an instant, especially if this quest had some form of mini or event boss.

[9Lives 0]

There is nothing better than the shattering sound of a defeated foe as it explodes into thousands of bits. as he dropped his guard and stood up, 9Lives looked down at the rubble of the kill silently with a smile on his face. His time spent analyzing the game had paid off in an astonishingly easy victory. It was almost disappointing but he could appreciate the efficiency at use. the fragments quickly derezzed and he shook his head wishing to enjoy his handy work for longer. His fixation was only broken by the call of "Gratz" form his partner. 9Lives looked up at Saix and smiled. Same. he responded nodding his head. So where to next? he said wanting to take on the next creature.

[Saix 0]

A quick flick of his right hand opened the SAO menu, and a simple scroll through the options available brought up Saix's map. The majority of the First Floor had already been explored, and he had downloaded the latest available map data from the merchants back in Starting City, so he was not too worried about being lost. Besides, he was relatively certain that they were in the right place, <> mobs milled all across the area, including their target, a substantially tougher variation of the <> distinguished by a large flower blooming on it's head. Still, they had come a relatively long way since he had first picked up the quest, fighting their way through various mobs. The two worked well together, better than a random <> anyway. No doubt their was a certain measure of trust that came from knowing your fellow player from the outside world. "Not far now, we are getting close. We should probably make sure we clear the roaming mobs around the quest point though. I don't want to draw any additional aggro once we aggro the mission boss." He said, glancing up from his map to the nearest enemies, who were lazily making their way along their little predetermined paths.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives folded his arms looking around at mob roaming patterns while keeping track of re spawn rates. While Saix plotted their coarse he wanted to remain vigilant. It was odd working with someone and under other circumstances he would never have agreed. Saix wasn't just some player who was trapped in the game. The two knew each other before the game form school and running in the same gaming circles. Still 9lives remained distant despite the familiarity of the partnership. It wasn't that he didn't trust Saix but that he didn't want to let anyone in. He would rather appear a cold hearted jerk than be pitched for his torments or treated as a leper or a threat. 9Lives want known for his chit chat which worked well with Saix. His friend didn't push him to socialize. 9Lives in fact believed that Saix rather enjoyed the sound of his own voice and was more than happy to do all the talking for the both of them. 9Lives eyes remained on the creatures as they moved across teh zone. Agreed he responded to the plan.

[Saix 0]

Saix didn't seem to expect any more of a reply than the rather abrupt Agreed, but it didn't bother him. He merely focused on the nearest of the plant monsters and drew his Iron Shortsword. They had killed a few of the <> mobs today, and it seemed their work was not quite done. By his estimation, a further four mobs remained before he would feel comfortably moving to the quest marker and drawing aggro from the tougher <> that would drop the required item to complete his quest. Setting his feet, he banged the flat of his sword upon his shield with a resounding clash, drawing the attention of the strange creature, a large plant like stalk with whip arms, grubby roots serving as feet, and a wide mouth. <> gave a wail of agitation, before trundling towards them on tiny legs and lashing out with it's <> attack. Saix's shield glowed with a blue light, as he tried to time his <> perfectly.

[Saix 0]

The thorn covered whip impacted the shield with a flash of light and a clang of sound, before the perfectly timed <> drove the whip like vine back, the spike like thorn's flashing red then dissolving into a fine spray of polygons as the parry destroyed the natural 'weapons' at the end of the vine, stun locking their enemy for a precious half second. Saix dropped low, and stepped to the side hurriedly, not wanting to waste precious time and called out "Switch!" so that his partner might capitalize on the <> temporary stunned state. Between the two of them, he couldn't imagine any of these low level mobs giving them trouble.

[9Lives 0]

The clang of the metal sword on Saix's shield to draw in the creatures attention signaled 9Lives' preparation to stroke. He pulled his sword back behind him to charge. The blade once again began glow the golden color of the attack and he strafed to the right to clear Saix' line of attack. The when Saix called for Switch! he activated the strike hurling forward striking at <> diagonally following through off the momentum to dive into a roll taking him out of the creatures range.

[9Lives 0]

The flash of golden light slashed through the creature for a hit as its health dropped to half. The creature came out of stun form the impact and turned lashing out with its <> attack less the dangerous thorns due to Saix' defense. The vine traveled just behind 9Lives as he dove rolling out but limited out as he cleared its reach. Switch! he called slid to his feet pulling his shield up to guard. The Creature now completely focused on 9Lives and ready to be finished.

[Saix 0]

Perfect, they were doing perfect so far. 9Live's attack shifted aggro, and he was able to evade the retaliatory attack easily enough. That meant <> was in <> unable to move after activating it's attack skill. Of course, it was a very low level attack skill, no doubt the <> only lasted a few 10th's of a second, but learning to play this game meant learning to exploit every opportunity presented. Thankfully, he was close enough to strike already, and without the need to utilize a charge skill, so Saix cocked his arm back, readying his <> skill, his sword blazed blue, then he released the basic 2 hit combo.

[Saix 0]

His sword hurtled downward in a diagonal slash that cleaved through the body of <> from top-left to bottom middle, before his sword could impact the ground, he turned his wrist and brought it right back upwards from the bottom-middle to the top-right, in a two hit combo that traced a Letter V from inside the creature's body, hence the name <>. In truth, it ended up being something of an overkill move, as the first hit alone might have succeeded in destroying the target. But as the <> burst into a scattering cloud of polygons Saix believed that their was no kill quite like overkill.

[9Lives 0]

Wasting no time as the <> cascaded into digital oblivion, 9 Lives charged towards the next of its kind in the way from the two and their quest completion. As he approached head on the creature immediately tracked on his movements. 9Lives' shield began to glow blue as he prepares to <> the inevitable attack. The > attack came in an arc lashing towards 9Lives as he slid to a stop bracing for impact and timing the skill then activating <> just as the strike was to hit the shield.

[9Lives 0]

The < glanced off his shield stun locking the creature as they so perfectly continued to execute. it was becoming instinct in battle. He called Switch! as he followed the motion of the deflected vine to clear for Saix' attack. It was impressive the efficiency they put to use as they cleared the low level creatures out. the true test of their tactics wouldn't be seen until they reached the quest boss.

[Saix 0]

Saix cocked his blade high over his shoulder, feeling the skill lock and build as 9Lives seamlessly slipped into the position of forward that Saix himself had been playing thus far. Being able to reliably hold aggro was a very important skill, one that a party or guild would depend on. Saix had never doubted 9Lives' ability to take on this role, but some players still had trouble with the concept of willingly endangering themselves by drawing the attention of an enemy. As his friend slipped away and called for the <> Saix released his skill, trusting in the second nature of SAO's System Assist to help bring the hurt to the <>.

[Saix 0]

Dashing forward at high speed Saix's crimson cloak seemed to stretch like a blur behind him as he launched into the One-Handed Sword Skill <>. Unfortunately, the attack failed to connect... Dammit, misjudged the distance..." He cursed, realizing too late that he should have used his second charge skill, the weaker but longer range Rage Spike... Still, though he had failed to actually draw close enough for the strike too land, having misjudged the distance, he had still managed to peel aggro of his friend, which was the main goal. Then again, he didn't even have time to parry, and instead simply threw his shield up before him in a quick attempt to prevent the incoming <> from reaching his body and dealing damage.

[Saix 0]

In a sense he was lucky they had been facing so many spawns of <> today, for even without the assistance of the <> he knew the attack patterns well enough to be able to place the iron rimmed shield between his body and the incoming attack. Still, the impact of the blow as enough to rattle him. When using the <> Skill he automatically deflected the incoming attack, actually using the shield to block was something completely different, and new. It was even a little invigorating, he had just blocked an attack from a creature that was trying to kill him all by himself, without having to use the <> at all. He grinned, recklessly, at the thought that he was becoming a real swordsman. As tempted as he was to press the attack, he called out "<>" and backed away, forcing <> to follow him now that he had drawn aggro. It was more efficient to rely on team strategy, even if he was feeling like a real warrior after successfully blocking on his own. Too many players had died as it was without him getting caught up in his elation of learning to use the shield on his own.