[PP-F3]Beware of Giants Bearing Gifts

[Piera 0]

Piera's eyes drooped as Mack fell back asleep and eventually her hand slowed before stilling completely, resting on his head as she dozed sitting up. She was snapped back to full consciousness when she heard a yawn before beefy arms squeezed her waist, causing her to gasp sharply before she remembered what, or rather who, it was. Stiffening slightly as he turned his head, the brunette strained to hear what he asked before glancing over at their armor and clothing. She honestly couldn't tell. "I have to get up and check." This said, the alchemist gently pushed on his shoulders to encourage him to get off her. Assuming he did so, the young woman would extricate herself from the warm cocoon of bedrolls and pad over to where their gear was laid out by the fire, the shirt thankfully covering down to just above her knees. Crouching down nest to the armor and clothing, Piera pressed a hand to them each before picking them up and turning them over to feel the opposite side. "They seem pretty dry now. Um...don't look yet okay?" After ensuring that the blonde man would do as she asked, the brunette would turn and hurriedly equip her clothing and armor before turning back with his shirt, armor and cloak in arms. "Here you go. Nice and warm." The alchemist handed him his belongings before turning around and staring out at the cave's mouth, warming her hands by the fire. The blizzard had let up a little bit. There wasn't so much wind anymore, but still plenty of snowfall.

[Mack 0]

Mack groaned when Piera pushed lightly on his shoulders to get him to move. He was still not feeling very inclined to want to relinquish his hold on Piera, and for a second his arms tightened around her waist before he rolled off to one side. He watched as she went to check and see if everything had dried out yet, his grey eyes following the curve of her legs as she moved about the cave, being careful to make sure she never caught him staring. Once she finished checking stuff out, and declaring it dry Piera asked him not to look. Not that he had been planning on leching anyway since he doubted Piera would have appreciated that.

"Hang on," he said, grabbing the sleeping bag and pulling it up over his head to completely cover his face ad eyes so that even if he had intended on watching Piera dress herself he wouldn't have been able to. "Alright, I can't see a thing," he called to Piera, his voice muffled by the sleeping bag that was over his head. When she called out a few moments later that it was safe again, and that his armor was ready as well, Mack threw off the sleeping bag and stood up. Then he deliberately stretched his arms out in front of his body and above his head, deliberately flexing his muscles as he did so and throwing in a yawn to make it more believable. Crossing to his own gear he began to re-dress himself, not caring one bit if Piera watched him. In truth, he rather hoped that she would. One more excuse for her to eventually see that he, Mack, was the vastly superior man in every way to her current boy friend.

ID: 31704-05
LD: 18 (Yay Treasure Chest) - When we finish of this Mimic (since I found no loot, you can roll for your treasure chest)
LD: 5 (Boo Mimic!)
BD: 11 (10+1)
MD: 4
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: ?/?
Mimic: 20/30 (-10 Dam.)

"Alright, let's get moving," Mack rumbled, snatching up Guillotine once he had finished donning his armor and, honestly, taking just slightly longer to do that than was completely necessary. As they moved through the cave system the air grew steadily warmer, and more humid, as Mack had known that it would. As they rounded a bend Mack noticed a small alcove to one side. Motioning Piera to follow him, the blonde man indicated a treasure chest sitting in the middle of the room. It was a little bit too easy, but he advanced on the chest intending to open it when the item sprouted legs and attempted to attack.

"Mimic," he called to Piera, twirling Guillotine in his hands and burying the steel head of the axe in the chest with, surprisingly, a rather wooden sounding crunching noise as the weapon met the top of the mimic's trunk head.

[Piera 0]

Piera's eyes might have lingered a bit too long as the blonde man stretched but she tried not to seem as if she was staring. As Mack had showed her the courtesy of averting his eyes while she dressed, she did the same as soon as she realized that he was starting to get changed. Turning around, the brunette gathered their weapons, though ended up having to leave Guillotine as she quite simply couldn't pick it up. But soon Mack did so himself and she nodded as he announced that they should continue on their way once again. Following just two steps behind, the alchemist didn't hesitate when he motioned for her to follow him, eyes widening in pleasant surprise at the treasure chest. "Sweet." She would've attempted to open it first if Mack hadn't been the one leading and seen it first, but she was infinitely glad that she hadn't when the treasure chest sprouted legs and tried to eat them. "What the f***!" The alchemist exclaimed in complete shock and mild revulsion as Mack acted as if this were an every day occurance, informing her that it was a 'mimic' before chopping away at it. "Does...are these things common?" Piera asked warily before hesitantly stepping forward and stabbing downward at the odd creature, holding her lance by the lowest part of its staff as she could so as to not have to get closer. Thankfully this worked out in her favor as she scored a critical and caused it to bleed, bringing its health bar into the yellow.

ID: 31709
LD: 14+1=15 (barely made it! What'd I get? o.o)
BD: 10+1Acc=11
DMG: 3+2Crit=5
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 2)
Mimic: 15/30 (Bleeding)

Edited September 16, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

OOC: Roll another dice roll and then write down the LD number. When a chest is found the second LD number from another roll determines the outcome.

ID: 31755
BD: 3 (2+1)
MD: 6
Mack: 56/57 (Hate: 2) – (-1 Dam., Mit. 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 2)
Mimic: 9/30 (-4 Bleed, -2 Thorns)

“I’ve read about them in the Player’s Handbook. They’re minor trap beasts, and fairly common to MMO’s in general,” Mack called out to Piera. Seeing an opening to attack the mimic, Mack moved in to strike at the beast but it skittered to one side on its stumpy legs and Mack’s swing sailed wide before the creature slammed into him, dealing a few points of damage and, in return, getting stung by the thorns enchantment that imbued the Angelic Sheath.

“I think you can probably handle this fight from here,” Mack said in an easy tone, as the mimic’s health bar sank into the red zone. Piera needed to continue to learn to fight and defend herself, at least as far as the massive axe-man was concerned and she would learn best by doing in a safe environment which, now, had just presented itself.

[Piera 0]

Piera's eyebrows raised slightly before lowering, frowning at her own forgetfulness and inexperience. She had read the Player's Handbook as well but her memory was honestly about as good as a goldfish's at times. "S-Sorry, I must've forgotten that part... SAO's only the second MMO I've ever played actually." She hoped that her inexperience wouldn't damn herself too much in the guild leader's eyes, but considering that they were currently depending on each other it felt best to be upfront with her level of experience.

 

But when the blonde suddenly announced that she should take on the bizarre monster on her own, she had already been stepping forward to stab at it. The statement caught her off guard enough that she exclaimed, "Ehh?!" In surprise, losing balance and stabbing at the ground beside the weird chest monster.

ID: 31875
BD: 2+1Acc=3 (miss)
Mack: 56/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 2)
Mimic: 9/30
ID: 31876
LD: 6+1=7

Edited September 17, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

OOC: You found a Mimic too, Piera. :( No extra loot for us. We’ll tackle #2 after #1 is down. Also, since we both have equal hate numbers, I used the CD to figure out who got attacked this time, odd numbers for Piera and even for Mack. Not that it matters, since the mob missed.

ID: 31879 – Roll for My Post
MD: 3
LD: 18
CD: 11
Mack: 56/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 2)

“No need to apologize,” Mack called to Piera, moving back out of her way so she could finish tackling the Mimic on her own. His grey eyes scanned the surrounding chamber of the cave that they were currently inhabiting. Running along one of the walls of the cavern, the blonde man could just make out the thin golden line of an ore vein running through the limestone cave system. Perfect. While Piera finished off the mimic, Mack could do a bit of ore harvesting. Unless, of course, the dark-haired alchemist came up needing assistance, in which case he’d be happy to lend his support once again.

“Yes, if you’re going to learn to fight, you’ve got to practice and since the mimic is down into the red zone on its health this is about the safest environment you’re going to find,” Mack called to Piera, raising his axe above his head and striking the carbon steel head of Guillotine off of the ore vein which, happily, produced a perfectly suitable chunk of ore which the blonde man scooped up and added to his inventory before turning his storm grey eyes back on Piera.

“Deep breaths, focus your attention. There’s nothing else at all in the universe right now other than your enemy,” Mack called, planting the butt cap of Guillotine on the cavern floor and leaning on the head of the weapon as the mimic lunged for Piera and missed.

REWARD:

+1 Mat

[Piera 0]

{OOC: But..but....LOOT! D;  Stupid mimics...}

ID: 31915
BD: 4+1Acc=5 (miss)
Mack: 56/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 2)
Mimic: 9/30

Piera eyes eyes darted slightly away from the mimic as she heard and saw Mack move a bit away from them with her peripherals. The brunette's shoulders were tense as she glanced between the freak of nature and blonde man as the space between them grew. Her face twisted into an unhappy grimace as the guild leader stated that the chest monster would be good practice for her and that it was 'safe'. Her brain new this. It was already in the red and she was at full health. And Mack was here. She tried to listen as he commanded her to focus and take deep breaths, attempting to do so, her eyes boring down on the mimic. But at his next sentence, her heart lurched in panic. Nothing but her and something trying to kill her? The thought caused her to break out into cold sweat. When the mimic lurched out to attack her, Piera flinched and stepped away even though in hindsight, it hadn't come close enough to attack her properly.

Edited September 18, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 32094
MD: 2
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 2)
Mimic: 9/30

“Focus,” Mack called to Piera, momentarily abandoning his attempts to harvest ore from the gold ore vein in the cave. Planting the iron butt cap of Guillotine on the ground, he leaned on the head of the weapon and then spat on the cave floor. “This is as safe as it gets,” he continued, as the Mimic darted in at tried to bite him on the leg. “Get back,” Mack snarled, planting one of his massive white boots in the middle of the mimc’s trunk head and shoving it back with enough force to send it sliding across the cave floor on its stumpy little legs. The attack didn’t cause any damage to the mimic’s health pool, but at least it provided breathing space. “You can do this, nice and easy. Two hands on the spear and a simple jab. That’s all it takes.”

[Piera 0]

ID: 32242
BD: 5+1Acc=6
DMG: 3
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 29/29 (Hate: 3)
Mimic: 6/30

Piera almost glanced at Mack when she heard his voice call out for her to focus. But when she heard footsteps, her gaze was drawn to him briefly, grimacing slightly as he spat. His snarl made her wonder if he was angry at her or the monster. However his encouragement relaxed her slightly. She briefly closed her eyes and took an unsteady breath, attempting to do as she was told. It was just a stupid trap monster. Who's health was in the read. This was nothing. Just because she hadn't fought mobs solo before didn't mean that she never would. She was just as capable right now as she was before. The brunette's green eyes sharpened behind her oval glasses and her grip tightened on her spear's shaft before she side stepped the mimic to the left so that her left side was facing it. Drawing her Bleeding Lance back, Piera stepped her left foot toward the monster before her weapon shot out towards it, stabbing into the odd creature. Her face immediately brightened at the successful hit, but she didn't relax her stance, instead drawing back slightly and taking a more defensive stance, ready for a counter attack.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 32259
LD: 13 (No Mat)
MD: 7
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 28/29 (Hate: 3) - (-1 Dam., Mit. 1)
Mimic: 6/30

As Piera landed her hit the mimic moved into the opening. Even as the woman was readying herself into a defensive position the mimic skittered in and clamped down its toothy lid on one of the woman's ankles, remaining firmly attached to Piera like some sort of oddly grotesque and wooden tumor. "Nicely done," Mack called to Piera, checking her health gauge to make sure she was in no danger. Given that the mimic had only succeeded in lowering her total health pool by a single point, the blonde man was entirely confident that she could kill the creature before it could cause any serious harm to her. "Now, launch another attack. Clearly it can't cause you any kind of significant harm. Kill it." That said, Mack shouldered his axe and returned to the task of harvesting ore from the vein running through the cave, completely unworried that Piera would be injured or killed.

 

[Piera 0]

ID: 32270
BD: 8+1Acc=9 (no crit)
DMG: 3
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 28/29 (Hate: 4)
Mimic: 3/30 (Bleeding)

Piera wasn't fast enough to get her defense up as the mimic skittered in an arachnid like way towards her before biting her ankle and not letting go of her foot, leaving the brunette off balance. "Ugh!" She cried out in revulsion, wanting to get the thing off of her as soon as possible. Her first instinct was to flail her leg until the stupid thing let go, but she listened to Mack and nodded reluctantly. He was right, she only hoped it would die fast. She could swear she was starting to feel something wet on her toes.... Her upper clip curling slightly in a silent snarl, the bespectacled young woman used her leverage and the fact that it likely wouldn't move since it was clamped down on her to stab down deeply into the top of its trunk or head, applying her weapon's bleed status. Sadly though, it didn't die from the blow but now only had a sliver of red health bar left.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 32280
LD: 11 (No Mat)
MD: 8
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 27/29 (Hate: 5)
Mimic: 3/30 (Bleeding)

The peel of Guillotine's hardened steel blade on the ore vein in the cave rang out and Mack brought the bladed head of the two-handed bearded axe crashing down on the ore vein. Sadly, crafting materials were not forthcoming from the attempt to harvest them, and Mack growled in frustration at this, pausing in his efforts to farm to turn and face Piera and her mimic opponent. Even as the shapely brown-haired woman drove the point of her lance deep into the top of the mimic's head the creature refused to let go of her, stubbornly clamping down all the tighter on her foot. So much the better. "Go ahead and stab it again," Mack called to Piera. "If it's too stupid to let go, then it deserves to die."

[Piera 0]

ID: 32339
BD: 4+1Acc=5 (miss)
DMG: 2 Bleed
LD: 12+1=13
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 2)
Piera: 27/29 (Hate: 5)
Mimic: 0/30 (Bleeding)

Piera winced as she felt the pressure of the chest like monster's maw increase on her ankle, though of course it didn't hurt. It was annoying and uncomfortable though. The brunette readied her her lance at Mack's encouragement, though hesitated at his additional remark, letting out a snorting chortle. It sounded very much like something Lee would say. "Maybe it'll explode into tinier chests." She joked with a smile and was just about to finally stab the monster when it expired, shattering not into tiny chests, but standard bright blue particles. "Damn."

{OOC: It should've started bleeding last turn and been at 1 health at mine...at least I think so.}

Edited September 22, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 32446
LD: 6 (No Mat)

"If only it worked that way," Mack grunted, swinging Guillotine into the ore vein once again and, once again, failing top produce any kind of usable crafting material. He sighed and gazed around the space once again. Off in one deep dark corner of the small cavern they were inhabiting he could just make out another loot chest. Could there really be two in the same room? Surely, if the first one had been a mimic then this second one had to be the real deal. "Piera," he called across the room to the alchemist, pointing one finger in the direction of the other treasure chest. "I see another chest over there, why don't you check that one to see if it's loot. I doubt anyone would put two mimics in the same room."

[Piera 0]

ID: 32509
LD: 20+1=21 (The Mother-lode!)

Piera smiled slightly at her daydream, "I played a game once where that actually happened. It was magical." Shaking her slightly damp boot, the brunette leaned the pole of her lance against her shoulder before turning her head as her name was called. It still sounded odd to her ears, especially when someone other than Lee said it, but she reacted all the same. Her expression turned a little wary at the blonde man's suggestion though. "You underestimate Kayaba's sadism. But maybe he was having a good day when planning this cave out...finger's crossed." The alchemist walked over to where the muscled guild leader pointed and held her breath as she tentatively lifted the lid of the treasure chest before letting it rush out of her in a sigh. "Oh thank god it's just treasure. A fair amount too, four hundred col. Ah yes, and three mats! Hm...dang it's an odd number, how should we split it?" While the brunette mused on this predicament she then tilted her head to look back at Mack.  "Is this what we came for?" Piera asked curiously.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

OOC: Ready for your surprise? ;)

Mack watched as Piera went over to check out the treasure chest, his eyes checking out her rump as she went though he was careful not to allow his grey-eyed gaze to remain on her form for too long lest she catch him staring. As she threw open the lid of the chest Mack could see the reflected gleam of the col off of her glasses and he let out a sigh. He hadn't really been overly fond of the idea of the chest being another mimic and he was glad to see that this one didn't hold another trap for them. "Just dump it all into party storage and we can figure out how to divide it up later," he said as he crossed the room to where Piera knelt by the loot, resting a massive hand on her shoulder, squeezing ever so lightly. "But, this isn't what I wanted your help with, we need to go a bit further into the caves. This is just a little bonus."

Turning around, Mack led Piera out of the small side cavern and deeper through a winding, twisting maze of tunnels. Thankfully, they encountered no further monsters that were in need of being vanquished. At last, after another hour or so of uneventful travel by foot they came within sight of a soft glow at the end of the tunnel. Not wanting to make a sound, Mack reflexively threw out an arm to halt Piera's progress. Turning to face the woman, he pulled her into a very tight embrace and leaned down to speak directly in her ear. "Don't make a sound, the monster's up there and I don't know what rank it may have in search and detect. Follow me and stay close and stay silent," the massive blonde man hissed in a tone so low that even with his lips right next to her ear it was barely audible.

Slowly, he crept forward to the opening in the tunnel where the light was emanating from. Peeking his head just barely around the corner, Mack checked to see that the beast within was there before motioning Piera forward, keeping one hand ready to clamp over her mouth if it was necessary to do so. Inside the enormous cavern, easily large enough to house Grand Central Station in New York City, lay the sleeping form of a massive dragon. The sunlight filtering down into the cavern glittered off of the creature's navy blue scales and a gentle stream of smoke wafted from its nostrils as it lay sleeping upon the granite floor with its wings wrapped tightly about its body. 

This was what Mack had wanted help to tackle. The experience point boost from killing such a monster would be massive.

Slowly he backed up from the tunnel opening and slipped one beefy arm around Piera to withdraw her further back down the tunnel as well. They would need to discuss their plan of attack on the beast before proceeding. Mack wasn't sure he could take it by himself, but with the assistance of Piera he felt confident that they could safely bring down the lizard-like animal.

[Piera 0]

Piera's shoulders raised slightly in a shrug as she nodded in agreement with Mack's suggestion, simply accepting all of the loot into the party's collective storage when she felt a large hand rest on her shoulder, causing her to tense momentarily until she glanced up and saw who it was. Her eyebrows raised in curiosity as he stated that the treasure wasn't what he wanted her help with, which immediately made her wonder what he would need her help for. Standing, the brunette followed the tall blonde into a narrow tunnel that seemed to have innumerable twists and turns, as well as forks in the path. This made her uneasy as she had a terrible sense of direction as well as memory. "You've uh...been here before right? So you have like a map?" The last thing they needed after everything was to get lost.

The alchemist was about to crack a joke when an arm was suddenly thrown out a few inches in front of her, immediately causing her to stop. When Mack pulled her close and whispered into her ear, Piera squirmed uncomfortably at the sudden close and intimate contact but then stilled her movements as she strained to hear him. When he mentioned a monster and it might having search and detect, alarm bells rang in her head. Were they trying to sneak past this thing? That sounded extremely dangerous considering neither of them had the sneak skill. Her expression was concerned, but she followed the muscular man nonetheless, trusting that he knew what he was doing as he carefully crept towards the opening of the bright end of the tunnel.

Seeing him motion her forward after he peeked around the corner, Piera tip toed next to him before the sight that greeted her threw her eyes and jaw wide open, her breath taken from her as if she'd been kicked in the solar plexus. Her posture was rigid as she barely noticed Mack slip an arm around her, pulling her back into the darkness of the tunnel, her eyes unable to look away from the utterly lethal mythological creature until they backed away from view. That seemed to snap her out of her daze as the brunette immediately shook her head, though her lips were still pursed tightly shut, afraid to even make the tiniest bit of noise that would draw the dragon's attention. Instead she mimed a throat slashing motion and then crossing her arms over her chest and throwing them out, all while still shaking her head rapidly, her face white and her expression fearful.

[Mack 0]

"Just follow me in," Mack whispered, wrapping his arms around Piera again and pressing the tiny woman tight against his armored and muscular form. "It's not even a Field Boss, so it's stats can't be too crazy. Let me land a couple of hits to draw aggro and it'll leave you alone. Then we just whittle it down until it's gone. Honestly, I doubt it's got more than sixty HP though we won't know until we engage and since it's just a base mob there's no way it could have an area effect attack." Releasing Piera, and trusting that she would follow along behind him, Mack moved back towards the light coming from the tunnel's exit.

ID: 32549
BD: 8 (7+1)
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 1)
Piera: 29/29
Sapphire Dragon: 67/75 (-8 Dam.) - [BASE STATS: 75 HP, Dam. 4, No Area Effect, No Mitigation, No Thorns, No Bleed, No Freeze]

Reaching the mouth of the tunnel, Mack crept slowly out into the light. Slowly, and far more softly then one would have imagined, the massive Guildmaster crept up to the sleeping dragon. Standing next to the beast's enormous head, which by itself made Mack look small, the crimson cloaked axe-man raised Guillotine high above his head and then brought the blade of the weapon slamming down on the creature's neck. A very solid hit which awakened a suddenly very angry dragon. Tightening his grip on the axe, Mack backed off in a hurry as the creature thrashed to wakefulness.

[Piera 0]

Piera's lips pressed tightly together for fear of letting out a fearful whimper if she parted them to respond to Mack as he lead her to what she was certain was their doom. The guild leader's reassurances didn't soothe her worries much either. It was a dragon. There was no way it would be that easy. And there was only two of them! Though there might as well only be one and a half in her eyes. She tried to repeat what he said to her in her mind and prayed that he would be right. Readying her Bleeding Lance, the brunette watched at the mouth of the tunnel as the muscular blonde snuck right next to the winged lizard's head before using Guillotine as its namesake and bringing the axe down on the mythological creature's neck. Its HP bar was finally revealed to them and its health bar was definitely over sixty health points, causing the alchemist to look at her companion with mild panic. It wasn't too late to turn back. They could run through the tunnels back to the cave's entrance, she doubted the dragon could fit. But it didn't look like Mack would run any time soon. So she steeled what little will she had and stood stock still outside of the tunnel's entrance, waiting for the blonde to draw enough hate to himself before she would even try to attack.

ID: 32573
BD: 2+1=3
Mack: 57/57 (Hate: 1)
Piera: 29/29
Sapphire Dragon: 67/75

Edited September 24, 2015 by Piera

[Mack 0]

ID: 32577
BD: 6 (4+1+1) Concentration: 1/5
MD: 7
Mack: 55/57 (Hate: 2) - (-2 Dam., Mit. 2)
Piera: 29/29
Sapphire Dragon: 57/75 (-8 Dam., -2 Thorns)

Out of the corner of one grey eye Mack saw that Piera had advanced to the mouth of the tunnel. While it was true that the dragon possessed a larger health bar than that blonde man had expected it would there was no denying that the creature was well within the abilities of himself and Piera to defeat, so long as they didn't allow their fear of the massive creature to get the better of them. With an angry bellow, the dragon advanced across its lair, golden eyes narrowed to hateful slits as he bawled a challenge to the pathetically small creature that had dared to disturb its slumber. Moving quickly to the side, the axe-man darted in and slammed the bladed head of Guillotine into the side of the dragon, leaving a solid gash in the creature's side. The dragon retaliated by flicking out a fore paw and knocking Mack head over heels backward. The attack itself did little in the way of actual damage, but the sheer power behind it was still very impressive.

"Alright, he's good and pissed! Anytime now, Piera!"