[PP-F3]Beware of Giants Bearing Gifts

[Piera 0]

As Piera began to use her spear to lean on as she picked herself up, she looked up at the troll's back to see him begin to turn towards her and her blood ran cold even as she instinctively brought up her spear to defend herself. She hadn't thought that it would notice her at all since her attack missed but apparently she still garnered some attention, at least until Mack swung his hefty axe into the monster's head with a war cry. The blow dealt some serious damage to the ice troll as his health bar sank into the yellow zone. But it also earned the monster's ire as it swung the gigantic club into the blonde man.

The force of the hit caused the brunette's eyes to bulge as she watched Mack go flying before landing in the snow. "Mack!" Piera cried out in mild panic, thinking that the force of the blow had to correlate with how much damage he must have taken and being so focused on the monster that she didn't even glance at the party's health bars.

Glaring from behind her glasses, the alchemist darted forward after the ice troll with her lance held over handed as she jumped up to try and make sure she landed a hit and a solid one at that. But the snowy ground was still impeding her, not giving her good enough traction and her stab fell short, the spear's tip sinking into the snow, barely missing the troll's ankle as he sped towards her companion. "Look out!" She yelled in warning as she hurriedly tried to tug her weapon out from the ground.

ID: 28325
BD: 4+1Acc=5 (miss)
Mack: 37/40 - Hate: 3
Piera: 27/27
Ice Troll: 13/30

[Mack 0]

ID: 28328
BD: 6 (4+1 Charm+1 Concentration) [Begin 5 Turn Cool Down]
MD: 7
Mack: 36/40 - Hate: 4
Piera: 27/27
Ice Troll: 3/30 (-6 Dam, -2 Thorns, -2 Bleed)

Mack picked himself up off of the ground remarkably fast for someone that had just been knocked fifteen feet through the air. Using the haft and iron butt cap of Guillotine as a sort of modified walking stick as he climbed to his feet. Meanwhile, the ice troll was eating up the ground between them at an impressive rate, blood streaming from its ruined jaw. At least the creature was no longer concerned, even slightly, with Piera. Mission accomplished. Hauling himself to his feet, the blonde brute stumbled slightly, on purpose, giving the impression that the blow had done more damage that it actually had. In truth, the axe-man hadn't even lost an eighth of his health bar yet.

Reaching up, he plucked the hat from his head and flung it in the troll's face. The creature snapped out a dinner plate sized hand and batted the wholly ineffective missile out of the air. Then the ice troll's arm intersected with the blade of of Guillotine, which neatly severed the creature's left hand at the wrist. The limb flopped on the ground for a moment before exploding in a shower of pixels. Even though the mob wouldn't understand the gesture, Mack flipped the troll a gesture that said, quite clearly, that the blonde man thought the troll was number one.

The troll bellowed and swung its mighty cudgel with its one remaining hand. Mack swung the haft of Guillotine around to block again, but the weight of the weapon and the blow were simply of such an overwhelming amount of force that the club blasted through the Mack's defenses and knocked the hefty blonde man back into a tree, his head smacking against the trunk with nearly the exact same sound as someone's knuckles rapping on a coconut.

[Piera 0]

Piera wrenched her spear's blade out of the snowy ground as she somewhat apprehensively watched the ice troll jog straight for Mack's fallen form, which was just now unsteadily getting to his feet with the support of his axe's shaft. The act was so convincing that the alchemist herself believed it and continued running after the monster as the blonde distracted it somehow. She couldn't see as the troll's massive form was all but blocking all view of her companion now. All she knew was that it hesitated upon reaching the man before she saw its hand fall before shattering. The monster didn't take kindly to this apparently, or perhaps some other unseen reason, and swung the massive wooden club at Mack, knocking him into a tree with a loud 'thunk' noise.

"Oh no you don't." She stated quietly as she rapidly approached behind the troll before leaping up to stab it in a particularly vulnerable part for nearly every creature, the back of the neck. With the additional stats that her items and critical damage, she took out the rest of the frost troll's health bar, it freezing for half a second before exploding in small bright blue pixels that rained down on her as she landed and caught herself, just barely managing not to fall into the snow yet again in front of Mack. A window popped up in front of her informing her of the extra experience points she had earned for scoring the last hit as well as the loot that the monster had dropped. It wasn't much, but she was pretty happy with it. The brunette's face broke out into a smile that may not have been visible due to the white face mask except for the crinkling of her eyes as she stated with happiness, "I got a mat!"

Then she looked back at Mack and checked his health bar and was relieved to see that he barely even had five hit points missing. "Sorry for the KS, I wasn't paying attention to the HUD in battle and you seemed like you were taking some damage considering how much that thing was knocking you around. Thanks for the save though. That could've gone ugly if it had gotten a sneak attack on me at the beginning. From behind no less." Piera grimaced at the thought before she noticed that the hat Mack had been wearing was in the snow and she bent down to pick it up, shaking the white powder from it before handing it back to him.

ID: 28408
LD: 11+1=12
BD: 10+1Acc=11
DMG: 3+2Crit+2Bleed=7
Mack: 36/40 - Hate: 4
Piera: 27/27
Ice Troll: 0/30

Rewards:
+150 col
+1 material

[Mack 0]

"I don't care who kills it, so long as its dead," Mack grunted, accepting the hat back from Piera and fitting it back onto his head over his blonde hair. "As for any loot we come up with, I think we can divide it up evenly at the end. I admit that I fail to see how a blacksmith could make use of a troll's tooth as a crafting material, and you don't have to thank me for doing my job," he continued, reaching up to his chest and wrapping a massive hand around a small medallion in the form of a scarlet battle axe that had come out from under his armor during the course of the battle. Mack quickly tucked the little item back out of sight beneath his armor.

"I'm guessing that little symbol next to your health bar means you already belong to a guild," the burly smith asked, eyeing the small purple and black symbol next to Piera's name on her status bar as he retrieved Guillotine from the snow. Picking up the weapon he rapped on it a few times with his knuckles to knock off the loose snow that had accumulated on it and then shouldered the weapon before turning to continue in the direction of the still distant mountains, trusting that Piera would keep up. If the symbol next to her name wasn't a guild symbol then, perhaps, he'd ask her if she was interested in joining the Crimson Blades. As far as the guild leader knew, there still wasn't an alchemist among the guild members. Therefore, adding someone with that skill set to their ranks would prove to be beneficial. With his luck, though, it was a guild symbol and more than likely her boyfriend wasn't in the same guild and so Mack would probably wind up having to take on the guy as a recruit with the Blades which, when he thought on it, might actually prove to be beneficial.

[Piera 0]

Piera's mouth quirked into an amused lopsided smile, unseen behind the white face mask, though her shoulders jumped slightly as she let out a chuckle. "That's the kind of attitude every ADC should have." She hadn't yet had any complaints of kill stealing in this game but since there was still bonus experience and loot for the person to actually take down the monster with the last hit, she figured there would always be complaints when a person who didn't do as much of the work in the fight 'stole' the kill. Not many people took Mack's attitude on the matter, but it was refreshing.

The brunette nodded in agreement as he proposed the idea of splitting up the collective loot at the end of their journey. "Sounds fair." When he stated that he didn't know how he would use a troll's tooth as a craft in blacksmithing, she explained, "Maybe it can be used as a part of gauntlets or something? But for alchemists, they can be used as an ingredient in potions or crystals that would boost your mitigation or attack stat depending on how you make it." As he ended with saying that she didn't have to thank him for doing his job, her eyebrow quirked in confusion. "Your job? Am I paying you and you forgot to tell me?" She joked, watching with vague curiosity as he tucked a small red medallion back into his armor.

Before she could ask about it, he posed her a question about the dark purple and black circular smiley face next to her health bar. "Ah, yeah." The alchemist replied affirmatively to the question, feeling somewhat bashful for some reason as she explained, "It's the symbol for the small guild that I'm in, 'the Velvet Room'. And before you ask, no we do not actually have a room with any sort of velvet in it. Sadly." She was still firmly on the stance that the name of the guild felt like false advertising until they did. As she spoke, she glanced at Mack's own health bar and asked politely in turn, "I assume that you're also in a guild?" 

Piera followed the hulking blonde man as he continued towards the mountains and as they walked, she suddenly realized that she didn't remember seeing that symbol when she had first met him. He must have just recently joined. The brunette leaned her spear against her shoulder as they trudged through the snow, the area quiet for now but for their voices.

[Mack 0]

ID: 28626
LD: 19

"You're not paying me anything," Mack admitted in a low rumble as they continued to move through the snow frosted forest. "However, you're obviously not the tank," Mack continued, turning for a moment and swinging Guillotine easily into a tree for a moment. It would be easier to address her other question with his hands free, since he would need to fish out the Guild Medallion for the Crimson Blades and he'd need a free hand to do that. To his surprise, there was a spray of wood chips that splattered the snow which was quickly accompanied by a piece of lumber chipping off the tree that would be suitable for crafting. Quickly picking it up, Mack added it to the party's loot.

"The Velvet Room," Mack asked, swinging the topic around to the guild discussion. He thought the name a bit of an odd one for a guild, but to each their own. After all, people were free to choose their screen names and guild names in whatever fashion they wished. "I assume that the Velvet Room isn't a player killing guild," he asked, his storm grey eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He'd heard rumors of some people who had been going around using green decoys to lure players out to where the orange players could kill them and take their items. "If they are, we may have a problem," he continued in a free and easy tone, extracting Guillotine from the tree and planting the butt cap in the snow to lean on the top of the blade's head as he spoke.

"I'm the Grandmaster of the Crimson Blades," he said in an easy tone, extracting the medallion of a crimson axe that served as his badge of office so Piera would be able to see it. "Beoreson is in the guild as well." Activating his inventory, Mack scrolled through the items until he found the Cloak of the Blades and activated the item, though it had no buffs. A crimson hooded cloak appeared around him, trimmed in gold along the hood and hem. At the right breast there were two golden patches, a cat's head and a hammer and chisel, the latter of which had several bonus devices upon it. At the left shoulder of the cloak there was a jet black smith's hammer to denote Mack's profession.

"Assuming, of course, that our guild's share similar goals, perhaps an alliance can be forged," Mack continued, still leaning on the top of the head of Guillotine and keeping a wary eye out for an ambush until Piera confirmed that her guild was not a player killing guild. Mack didn't see how they could be that type of guild, not unless Piera was some kind of award-winning actress in real life. Still, the grizzled soldier was wary and ready for any eventuality.

Rewards:

150 Col
2 Mats

[Piera 0]

Piera was silent as she nodded in admission of Mack's very true statement that she wasn't the tank, though a small smile tugged at her lips under the warm face mask. The young woman paused in her stride as she heard her companion's footfalls go silent in the snow and turned before jumping in the abruptness that he swung his axe into a tree for apparently no reason. Blinking at the spray of woodchips and sizeable chunk of wood, the brunette waited patiently as he picked up said wood chunk before stating the name of her guild, as if tasting the name on his tongue before asking her a rather odd question.

The spearwoman's eyes widened behind her oval glasses. "Wh-? How can y-!" But her protests quieted as she pursed her lips together to quiet her verbal shock and affront as he spoke his mild threat. Piera's posture was stiff as she drew herself up to her full meager height of five foot and three inches, planting the butt of her two handed lance into the snow as she replied professionally and concisely, "The Velvet Room is not a guild based on killing players, nor do we condone player killing unless used in defense whether of oneself or another." She tried not to think of her friend's orange cursor as she spoke, feeling comforted that what she said was completely true, but wondered how Mack would feel if he knew, or even if she herself had an orange cursor. Lowenthal's actions were making her think a bit differently on the matter that wasn't so black and white any longer in her eyes.

The alchemist hesitated for a moment as the blonde man pulled a necklace of some sort out from under his armor and showed it to her, explaining its significance. She relaxed slightly and stepped closer to look at the medallion, her eyes softening at the red axe, glancing at Mack's own axe and thinking of the name of his guild. Her eyebrows raised slightly in vague surprise at his statement of their mutual acquaintances being in his guild as well. "I see you've been busy. Congratu-" Her words stuck in her throat as it contracted in instinctual unease as a large crimson hooded cloak appeared on Mack's figure. Similar to one they had all seen before.

Clearing her throat, Piera tried again, "Congratulations. It looks very nice." She complimented his garment. It seemed very well made and the little details caught her interest and soothed her worries enough to be able to say honestly, "Though I'm personally not a big fan of the color. It's a popular color though." It'd sure draw attention in a crowd, she thought wryly. 

At Mack's proposal, the brunette's eyebrows rose in surprise before settling and remaining silent for a moment as she thought and chewed on the inside of her cheek. Finally she stated in her professional tone of voice yet again, "I appreciate the invitation. Though I don't have the authority to give you an answer currently, I'll be sure to bring it before my guild's council and let you know the results." She hoped that her reply didn't sound too cold, she wanted to make sure that she would handle the prospective alliance professionally and that they would be a guild worthy of it, though in all honesty, she wasn't sure how it would be received.

"As for our goals...." She allowed a loose shrug before explaining, "We don't really have any real goals I don't think. We're not clearers, we don't all have professions, but we're not a sort of guild to go out there and help more inexperienced players. At least not unless one of us feels like it. It started out as a guild of friends and it seems to have remained that. Haven't heard from some of the members in quite a while though..." The alchemist knew they weren't on par with other guilds and sometimes that bothered her, but she reasoned that she didn't join to fight big boss battles or try to clear the higher floors. She just wanted to survive and enjoy her time here.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

"One can never be too careful with guilds in MMO's, nor pretty women that play such games," Mack rumbled in reply to Piera's affront at the question he had asked concerning her guild and player killing. The remark was the closest thing she was going to get to an apology for what he had said. "It sounds to me like your guild takes the same view on player killing as the Crimson Blades," he continued, standing up properly and extracting Guillotine from the snow to shoulder the weapon and continue trudging in the direction of the still distant mountains, tugging up the crimson hood of the cloak as he started to walk, as he had expected Piera had a comment about the cloak's appearance and its color, as so many people did.

"The Crimson Blades fight a complete battle, that includes the psychological effect produced by wearing a garment that so closely resembles Kyaba's," Mack said in answer to Piera's comments about the cloak. He suspected that it would have a startling effect on weaker willed players that would cause them to either not be such a problem for the guild or that would cause them to want to join the guild for the protection that it would offer. If it was the latter reason that motivated such players then they could join and be crafted by the guild into a strong army with Mack at the head of the troops. The blonde man then fell silent for a time as Piera described her Guild. A guild without direction, a guild in name only without goals. Mack found such things disturbing, nonetheless an alliance with them would represent a net strengthening of the Crimson Blades, if for no other reason than that it would be one less group of players to worry about.

"By all means, take it before your council. I would have to do the same in any case. Still, an alliance could prove to be something that would be mutually beneficial for both guilds while allowing each to maintain their individuality," Mack said in an easy tone before suddenly going silent and tensing as he stared off into the middle distance at a slight blur of movement that had drawn his attention. A second later a bone chilling howl rent the chilly afternoon air.

"Ice wolves," Mack snarled, swinging Guillotine up into position as the first of the trio of white furred beasts emerged from the woods and pounced in Mack's direction. The hulking blonde man ducked, and the first wolf went sailing over his head. As he turned to face it a second wolf emerged from the tree's and pounced on his back, followed by a third that was much smaller. "Take the little one," he growled to Piera, "I've got these two." The crimson cloaked man then suited action to words by slamming his back, with the wolf still on it, against a tree and dislodging the creature before burying his axe in its side.

ID: 28780
BD: 6 (5+1)
MD: 7
Mack: 41/42 (-1 Dam., 2 Mit.) - Hate: 1
Piera: 27/27
Wolf 1: 22/22
Wolf 2: 14/22 (-6 Dam., -2 Thorns)
Wolf 3: 14/14

Rewards:

150 Col
2 Mats

[Piera 0]

Piera stared at Mack as he made a statement about MMO guilds or pretty women that played such games, not sure whether to take it as a compliment or be offended. She stayed firmly in the middle ground and simply shrugged and was glad for a change in topic. "That's good to hear." She replied after Mack stated their guilds had the same stance on PKing. The brunette followed after her large blonde companion, feeling a little awkward now, as if their dynamic had changed now that they were in guilds, or rather now that they both knew they were in guilds. That shouldn't change anything between them...should it?

The bespectacled young woman looked sidelong as he explained the reason for the cloaks. So it had been intentional. "....So you're like Batman." She stated, her eyes crinkling in amusement. "Shrouding yourselves in that what you feared most at one time or another and inflict inspiration or terror on others." Now that she had made that conclusion, for some reason the red cloak didn't cause her as much unease. She couldn't stop thinking of the hulking man as SAO's Batman.  As Mack continued to say that an alliance would be beneficial for both guilds while still maintaining each guild's individuality, she nodded. "I can't think of a reason why not to, but we have a voting system in place so it's majority rules."

Seeing his head turn, she looked in that direction as well before a shiver ran up her spine as a howl echoed around them. When the first wolf jumped right over Mack's head, the brunette stumbled a few feet back on instinct before a second one jumped on his back. Immediately spinning her spear in hand and holding it at the ready, Piera was about to stab at the one on him before nodding in agreement at Mack's order. "Got it." 

Turning towards the littlest wolf as her companion took care of the one clutching to him, the alchemist made a wide circle around the larger wolves as they focused on Mack while she lunged towards her designated prey, attempting to stab it before it could take more notice of her companion. But it was in the process of jumping forward, causing her stab to miss abysmally, though thankfully she didn't manage to get her spear stuck in the ground this time. The brunette quickly recovered and prepared for the attack that was likely coming now that she had gotten the wolf's attention.

ID: 28783
BD: 2(+1Acc)=3 (miss)
Mack: 41/42 - Hate: 1
Piera: 27/27
Wolf 1: 22/22
Wolf 2: 14/22
Wolf 3: 14/14

Edited August 25, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

OOC: Wanna see somethin' funny? Total damage dealt across all enemies: 12

ID: 28796, 28797, 28798
BD: 7 (6+1)
MD: 8, 8, 6
Mack: 38/42 (-4 Dam., Mit. 2) - Hate: 2
Piera: 27/27
Wolf 1: 20/22 (-2 Thorns)
Wolf 2: 6/22 (-6 Dam., -2 Thorns)
Wolf 3: 12/14 (-2 Thorns)

As Piera turned her attention to the smallest of the two wolves, Mack turned to square off against his two opponents. Of course, with Sword Art's hate mechanic being what it was, since he had landed the first blow against the trio of wolves they would be far more concerned with him than they would be with Piera. To Mack's way of thinking, that was how it should be. Even the smallest wolf, which was Piera's designated target, had decided to try and take a bite out of the blonde axe-man. As the three canine beasts moved to encircle Mack, he threw back the crimson hood of his cloak so it wouldn't obscure his field of vision. As he was shaking the scarlet hood from his head the smallest of the three wolves lunged in an latched its jaws around Mack's right leg. Just as quickly it released the bite with a yelp of pain.

Taking the opening offered by the smallest wolf's attack the other two wolves dashed in and made their attacks as well, each clamping their jaws around a separate leg belonging to the blonde warrior and maintaining their hold even though the thorn damage from the Angelic Sheath hit them both. Mack responded with a vicious snarl and buried the blade of Guillotine in the back of the wolf he'd already struck, sending the animal's health bar plummeting down into the red. Realizing the precarious nature of its position wolf wisely relinquished its grip. Mack then turned his attention to the wolf that was still gnawing on his leg, slamming the iron butt cap of Guillotine into the creature's ribs which caused it to release his leg. Swinging Guillotine into position, Mack readied himself to attach again.

[Piera 0]

Piera was a bit worried as all three wolves focused their attacks on Mack, sure that they would be able to at least widdle his health away with their numbers, but every time they attacked, it seemed to hurt him. He must have forged thorns into his armor, she realized and smirked. I guess this is the power of heavy armor, huh? But he still seems to do so much damage, the brunette thought as she observed her companion swing his heavy axe into one of the wolves, bringing its health into the red zone. She wondered if she could be as impressive when she got to his level, but sadly doubted it due to their different builds.

The young woman gave her head a mental shake to clear her thoughts. She needed to concentrate on the battle. Focus. The white clad alchemist circled around the wolves, finding her smaller target before lunging forward with spear outstretched. But of course, it was never that simple. Perhaps it was a number of combination of things, or perhaps Piera was simply still unskilled in battle, but the end result was the same. She jabbed her lance forward to attempt to hit the smaller wolf and missed rather spectacularly, striking at the air where it had been a few seconds ago. "Tch." The brunette made a noise of annoyance, feeling her stomach tighten in personal disappointment at her folly.

ID: 28807
BD: 2(+1Acc)=3 (miss)
Mack: 38/42 - Hate: 2
Piera: 27/27
Wolf 1: 20/22
Wolf 2: 6/22
Wolf 3: 12/14

{OOC: Thorns OP! ....and RNGesus OP T~T I just wana hit something....}

Edited August 25, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 28813
BD: 9 (8+1)
MD: 3, 4, 4
Mack: 38/42 - Hate: 4
Piera: 27/27
Wolf 1: 13/22 (-7 Dam.)
Wolf 2: 6/22
Wolf 3: 12/14

"It's no good if you can't hit them," Mack rumbled with a chuckle that was partly in jest at Piera missing again and partly in teasing anger directed at the wolves. As Piera lunged forward with her spear to attack the smallest wolf with her spear the animal lunged at Mack, causing the alchemist to miss wildly again. As the wolf sailed through the air, Mack released his right hand from its grip on Guillotine and caught the animal by its throat in one white gloved hand. Just as quickly, he tossed it behind his body and into a tree with a dull thud. He doubted he'd done any real damage to the wolf when he'd thrown it, but at least it would have to regather itself before trying to attack again.

No sooner was the first of the wolves out of the way than the one that Mack had been focusing on also lunged. The giant warrior neatly stepped to one side and the wolf went sailing on by. As the third, and final, of the wolves lunged Mack brought Guillotine slamming down in the middle of the creature's back. It yelped and gave a sort of half jump instead of a full pounce. As Mack ripped the bladed head of the bearded axe free from the wolf's body he was pleased to see a thin trickle of blood trailing from the wound.

[Piera 0]

Piera glared at her companion after he made a smart comment about her accuracy, her pouting lips hidden behind the face mask as she retorted, "Well we can't all be as awesome as you. Maybe you should put them on leashes so I can hit one." She was seriously reconsidering getting another item with major accuracy enhancements though. This was starting to get ridiculous. She watched as the wolf she had been aiming for jumped up to bite at Mack, only to be stopped, caught roughly by its throat by the hulking man. The brunette was fairly sure that both she and the wolf thought that its seconds were numbered, but the blonde man only threw it over him, causing the smaller wolf to yelp as it hit a tree, scrambling to recover from its fall. The alchemist had to appreciate her companion's combat abilities. He definitely seemed to be a natural at this. Which shouldn't be too much of a surprise to her, considering what little she knew about him.

Wincing as he delivered a punishing blow to one of the other wolves, Piera circled around them yet again to reach the wolf she had been told to target, glad that it had yet to recover. The alchemist capitalized on this and swung for the wolf's exposed throat, triggering the game's system to acknowledge her critical hit in the weak area and simulating blood coming from the bright angry red wound that let her know that her weapon's bleed damage was coming into affect. Allowing herself a small smile of grim satisfaction at having taken her prey's health into the red, Piera balanced her weight as she prepared for the counter attack that was sure to come.

ID: 28833
BD: 10(+1Acc)=11 (crit)
DMG: 3(+2 crit, +2 Bleed)=7
Mack: 38/42 - Hate: 4
Piera: 27/27
Wolf 1: 13/22
Wolf 2: 6/22
Wolf 3: 5/14

Edited August 25, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

OOC: A new record... Combined Damage: 16. Wolf 1 Bleeds out on my next turn and Wolf 3 will bleed out the post after your next one since you Crit. it. :)

ID: 28852, 53, 54
BD: 9 (8+1)
MD: 7, 10, 6
Mack: 32/42 - (-6 Dam.) Hate: 6
Piera: 27/27 - Hate: 1
Wolf 1: 1/22 (-8 Dam., -2 Bleed, -2 Thorns)
Wolf 2: 4/22 (-2 Thorns)
Wolf 3: 3/14 (-2 Thorns)

Apparently, Mack's rather lighthearted jab at Piera's inability to hit the wolf she was targeting at struck a nerve with the brunette woman, as she proceeded to ram the tip of her spear into the throat of the third wolf. "Not too bad, watch this..." As the words were leaving the blonde man's mouth the wolf that Piera had just struck lunged. Not even trying to block the attack, Mack held out his right forearm and allowed the wolf to chomp down on it. The little thing yelped, and quickly released its hold and backed away. It was followed by the wolf Mack had initially attacked. Mack repeated the process and deliberately allowed the wolf to bite him. This one held on a bit longer until the blonde warrior punched it in the head, which caused the animal to release its grip and back off.

"Apparently I don't taste very good," the axe-man said in an off-handed manner to Piera, speaking in a rather dry tone. Then the first wolf took its turn. Mack again obligingly held out a limb, a leg this time, and deliberately allowed the wolf to bite him. Then, planting Guillotine in the snow by the iron butt cap, Mack reached down with both of his hands and physically pried the canine's jaws off from around his leg with a sharp ripping motion. There was a rather disgusting sounding crack and pop as the wolf's jaw was first broken and then dislocated. In a single fluid motion, the warrior then snatched his weapon up from the snow and buried the blade in the offending wolf's back, drawing a stream of blood from the wound as he ripped the weapon free.

[Piera 0]

At Mack's half praise, Piera's eyes turned up to show her smile even though her mouth was covered before watching the wolf that she thought she had cornered against the tree leaped past her to bite at the walking target. But the blonde man didn't attempt to strike or block or dodge, instead he held out his arm like an offering, the appendage catching the wolf's jaw as it bit down before immediately giving a yelp of pain and opened its jaws to drop and dart away. The two others of its pack quickly took their own turn as well, but the result was the same as the first much to the brunette's surprise. Watching her companion's health bar carefully she was impressed that he was barely taking any damage. It might be partly due to the fact that his health bar was fairly substantial due to his higher level, but she was willing to bet that the more deciding factor was his well enhanced heavy armor.

At his joke comment, the alchemist's eyes rolled behind her glasses, tempted to simply cross her arms and let the wolves have him but instead she replied, "I can't imagine monsters liking the taste of thorns. Or pain. You're probably too tough anyway. All gristle." Her green orbs danced in amusement before suddenly wincing at the particularly nasty cracking noise as Mack roughly yanked the last wolf's jaws off of his arm before cutting into its spine with his axe, causing massive amounts of bleed damage.

The alchemist felt a rare and fleeting amount of pity for the monster, wishing she could put it out of both of their misery, but she knew she should follow her companion's suggestion of sticking with the smaller one. Seeing it get back up and circling Mack, the brunette tracked its movements as she also circled around it as it focused back on the blonde. Then taking the initiative, Piera rushed silently over the powdered ground to slash at the already open and bleeding wound she had caused. However she hadn't expected the wolf to stagger, weak from blood loss apparently, causing her strike to not do more than rustle its fur, but her bleed damage was still ticking away at its health, leaving only barley a sliver left as it tried to hang on.

ID: 28874
BD: 4(+1Acc)=5(miss)
Mack: 32/42 - Hate: 6
Piera: 27/27 - Hate: 1
Wolf 1: 1/22
Wolf 2: 4/22
Wolf 3: 1/14 (-2 Bleed)

Edited August 26, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 28906, 28907, 28908
BD: 7 (6+1)
MD: 2 (Wolf 1), 7 (Wolf 2), 1 (Wolf 3)
LD: 3 (Wolf 1), 20 (Wolf 2)
Mack: 31/42 - (-1 Dam., Mit. 2) Hate: 7
Piera: 27/27 - Hate: 1
Wolf 1: -1/22 (-2 Bleed)
Wolf 2: -5/22 (-7 Dam., -2 Thorns)
Wolf 3: 1/14

Mack watched through storm grey eyes as a last second change of position on the part of the smallest wolf caused Piera's attack to just barely miss. Meanwhile, the lead wolf gave a strangled growl and keeled over before disappearing in a shower of pixels as accumulated damage from weapon strikes and bleed caused by Guillotine killed it. That left just one of the big wolves and, as if the canine creature sensed it needed to strike while the iron was hot if it was going to have any kind of chance at all, the beast pounced. Obligingly, Mack held out his left arm and the wolf clamped down on it, taking two damage straight away from the thorns. With a massive growl, Mack lifted the wolf from the ground as it was clamped on his left arm and slid his right hand up the haft of Guillotine, using the blade's beard as a vicious facsimile of brass knuckles. Bringing his right fist back he rammed it home into the wolf's skull and the animal disappeared.

The smallest wolf then pounced towards Mack. Almost effortlessly, the blonde man dropped Guillotine and caught the beast by the throat before slamming it to the ground in a mini avalanche of snow. As the axe-man pinned the creature to the ground by its throat the wolf scrabbled helplessly at the behemoth's arms with it's paws. "This one's yours, Piera. Care to do the honors?"

[Piera 0]

Piera glanced up as she heard a monster explode and for a moment thought that it was the one she had been targeting had expired from blood loss, but it was one of its larger pack mates that Mack had been attacked before. Again Mack used his arm as a chew toy to distract the remaining large wolf while he dispatched it with a rather vicious move, holding his unwieldy two handed axe like a toy as he bashed the animal's skull in, triggering another death animation. That just left the littlest wolf, enraged at the death of its pack as it lunged at Mack, only to be caught as the man dropped his weapon and pinned the wolf to the ground.

At the blonde man's words and offer, Piera blinked with wide eyes at him before looking back down at the struggling wolf. Wincing slightly at its helplessness, the brunette stepped forward before stabbing deep into the monster's chest cavity, giving the little wolf a quick and easy death. As the bright blue particles exploded around the two players, the alchemist was silent as she observed the window that informed her of the experience points she had earned from the kill before glancing at the blood stained snow that their fight had simulated. But then it slowly faded away as if it had never happened. Realizing that she was being perhaps a bit too quiet, Piera stated a bit blankly, "You're a good fighter." The statement was a bit awkward, but nonetheless true.

ID: 28958
BD: 8(+1Acc)=9
LD: 2
Mack: 31/42 - Hate: 7
Piera: 27/27 - Hate: 1
Wolf 3: 0/14

Edited August 26, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

"Thanks," Mack rumbled in reply, rising from his place in the snow after he had added the three crafting materials that they had gained from the battle with the wolves to the group's inventory. "I've had more practice and training in combat than most people in SAO have, both in the game with the two-handed battleaxe and in the real world," the blonde warrior said, rolling his head around on his neck which caused an audible popping sound. Once that was done he reached back and grabbed the crimson hood of his cloak and pulled it back over his head. "Also, I couldn't be expected to lead a mercenary guild like the Crimson Blades if I weren't a skilled fighter."

The pair of them, Mack and Piera, proceeded in silence for a few moments, continuing on their way to the cave system that Mack had discovered. After several moments of silence, the massive warrior glanced around at the sun which was slowly, but steadily, beginning to sink behind the horizon. "I doubt we will be able to make it to the caves before dark. The mobs have slowed us down too much, we're also too far from Snowfrost Town to make it back before nightfall, at this point. We should begin to look for a campsite, and you should contact your boyfriend and guild to let them know that you are alright and will return to your shop tomorrow," Mack rumbled in his steady, trademarked, low tone of voice.

So far, the plan was proceeding exactly as Mack wanted it to. The blonde man was certain he was a more impressive individual than Piera's boyfriend was. Also, just as he had suspected, the mobs had slowed them down enough to the point that they would have to camp out for the evening before completing the trip and clearing the cave would have to wait until the following day. Unless, of course, Piera wanted to push on without sleep and clear everything to return back to her shop in the wee hours of the morning.

Rewards:

150 Col
5 Mats

[Piera 0]

Piera watched Mack's movements critically as he cracked his neck and explained that he had more combat experience both in game and in life. "So you are a soldier. I'd suspected, but..." She shrugged indifferently, not having been able to truly confirm it until he did it for her. "I didn't know it was a mercenary guild though. You'll probably be getting requests to fight on the front lines soon enough."

As they continued their journey, the brunette shrugged the large white cloak around her shoulders tighter, holding the front pieces together with her left hand while leaning her lance against her shoulder with her right. The shadows of the forest's trees lengthened against the snow as the sun sunk further down, but it didn't truly register in her mind until Mack spoke after a while. Slowing her stride as what he said began to sink in, the alchemist looked back at their fading footsteps and then at Mack and then forward towards the mountains and then down at her feet. Very quiet mumbling could be heard through the muffling of the facemask as she struggled with her internal struggle. It was actually a full minute and a half before the spearwoman's shoulders slumped and she nodded. "If you're sure." It wasn't quite that she didn't trust his judgement, she just wasn't happy about the situation and honestly felt more than a bit uneasy. She had never slept outside of a safe zone before.

Reluctantly, the brunette swiped the air in front of her and pulled up her menu, utilizing the materialized keyboard to type out a message to Lee explaining what had happened and what the new plan was, apologizing profusely and asking for all of the luck and good thoughts to be sent her way. Once that was sent off, she didn't see a point in sending a message to anyone in her guild as they hadn't any plans the next day or anything and if they wondered where she was, they would likely just message herself or Lee.

Once she had dismissed her menu, Piera would look back at Mack and ask somewhat rhetorically, "Do you have anyone you should message to say you'll be out for the night?"  After he answered or ignored it and simply sent or didn't send his own messages, she would lead to another topic with a bit of worry in her tone. "Where are we going to sleep? I'm not sure how this works...I've never done this sort of thing before."  She hoped she didn't sound annoying to the more experienced man.

[Mack 0]

"Sergeant, U.S. Army," the blonde man replied, fully confirming Piera's suspicions as to his background. "I've done combat tours, I'm better trained and psychologically stronger than most of the players in SAO," the blacksmith continued, shrugging his shoulders. Everything he did, well nearly everything he did, was calculated with one goal in mind. To raise his level in the game as quickly as possible, reach the front lines, and begin working with the Assault Teams to clear Aincrad and escape from the game. "The front lines are the goal, naturally, but we won't neglect the more vulnerable players either. Those who are capable have a moral obligation to those who require assistance. They also have a moral obligation to address wrongs committed by players against one another." The pair of players continued on in silence for a few moments as Piera sent her message.

"I don't need to contact anyone, Xion can capably lead things while I'm on this adventure," the blonde man said, with the smallest of smiles. "If he becomes worried, we'll likely simply run into him at some point and then we'll have a proper tank." As the discussion between Mack and Piera had been ongoing the sun's downward path through the sky had dramatically increased, darkness would soon be upon them. Scanning his storm grey eyes around them, Mack spotted a small clearing that would do nicely.

"We'll set up camp in that clearing over there," he said gruffly, pointing. The question Piera had asked was a valid one and while Mack had not camped outside of a safe zone in SAO, he had plenty of experience living in hostile environments thanks to his background. As he led Piera over to the clearing he used Guillotine to snap and sever plenty of firewood from the trees they passed. On entering the clearing, Mack set about making camp and used a simple flint and tinder to start the fire burning before opening his inventory and producing a simple cast iron pan and a pair of bedrolls, one of which he tossed to Piera.

"Afraid I'm not much of a cook, but I have been holding on to a pair of boar meat pork chops for awhile. May as well eat them. If SAO works anything like the real world, then most animals and mobs will be repelled by the presence of the fire because, at night we'd have nocturnal creatures which won't care for the light of the fire. Even so, we'll need to set a watch, still there shouldn't be anything on this floor that we'd need to worry about," Mack continued, producing the pork chops and tossing them into the pan to begin to fry. "You're lucky that Chewie doesn't know I have these."