[PP-F1] <<Earning a Living>> Forged to Perfection

[Teion 0]

Teion held her hands at her hips, her head darting back and forth a few times. "Okay, so it should be somewhere over here..." The woman mumbled to herself, still getting her bearings in the first floor's massive city. She was never good with directions. She was about to start retracing her steps when she spotted a large forge among the many shops that littered the area. Determined that she had managed to find the right place after all, Teion walked up to the counter and was greeted by an NPC.

"What can I do for you, Miss?" The older man with a worn face spoke his predetermined dialogue.

"Can you teach me how to become a blacksmith?" 

The old man's eyes squinted at her, as if surveying her. "Well, you certainly look capable enough." The NPC seemed to think for a moment before speaking again. "How's this. I have a work order due and I'm running short on materials. Bring me two chunks of iron ore and one boar's tusk. Then I'll show you how to make a dagger." When the man finished speaking, a window popped up in front of Teion with an "Accept" and "Decline" option. Above that read the text, "Will you accept this quest?" Teion selected to accept, and the window disappeared. The old man simply nodded in approval, and she turned to head back to the main area of town.

Teion stopped in front of a large inn, looking around nervously for a moment before leaning against a wooden support beam and scanning the nearby players. Since her initial meeting with Mack, he had been gracious enough to offer his help and teach her the basics of smithing. She hoped she was at the right spot to meet him, but quickly considered how impossible it was to miss such a landmark. She still couldn't understand why a complete stranger was so eager to help her out so much, considering she practically just started leveling. She had heard him talking about a guild before--maybe he was trying to find more members? The thought made her uneasy, but she would give his friendly advice the benefit of the doubt for now. Despite her desire to be self-sufficient, she just couldn't resist when he basically dropped a shiny new battleaxe in her lap. Letting her thoughts wander, she crossed her arms and kept an eye out for his approach.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Teion

[Mack 0]

As his offering assistance to Teion today was to be considered a Guild event for the Crimson Blades, Mack was currently clad in the crimson cloak of the Blades which was flapping gently in the gentle breeze that was currently blowing through the City of Beginnings. The hood of the cloak was thrown back to reveal the massive blacksmith's face and blonde hair, making it readily apparent to everyone that saw him that he was not, in fact, the man responsible for having trapped everyone in the world of Sword Art Online. His two-handed bearded axe was sheathed at his back and the sun was shining down on him as Chewie padded along at his side, occasionally stopping to try and beg a snack from passing players.

Moving down the wide cobblestone streets of the city, Mack made his way towards the place where he had arranged to meet Teion as she completed her quest to take on the blacksmithing career today. As he neared the place where they had arranged to meet, Mack kept his storm grey eyes moving on the lookout for the only other two-handed axe wielder he had yet to meet. He had asked her to go ahead and pick up the quest from an NPC blacksmith prior to their meeting and assumed that she would have already taken care of that. After a few minutes of searching, he spotted the woman and made his way over to her as the crowds parted before his prestigious size.

"I assume you've already picked up the quest from an NPC, so we can leave town whenever you're ready," the blonde man rumbled as Chewie approached the now familiar figure of Teion and, promptly, began to beg for some kind of treat.

[Teion 0]

Teion spotted the large man as he approached, pushing herself off the pillar she was leaning against. She uncrossed her arms as he came up and spoke to her, and she gave a small nod in response. "Mmhm. Sounds good, would you prefer to lead the way?" She was a bit rusty when it came to speaking casually with people, but she had decided if someone as intimidating as Mack was kind enough to help her as much as he already had, he could probably be trusted.

As the two made their way out of town to go looking for materials, Teion's nerves started surfacing. There were questions she wanted to ask the man, but she couldn't bring herself to attempt small talk. She assumed he was higher level then her, and therefore more experienced. He was a skilled blacksmith, judging by what she had seen of his shop. She admired the axe he had so readily given her, still questioning in the back of her mind why he would so willingly give equipment away to strangers. Again, she thought about speaking, but stopped herself.

[Mack 0]

When Teion asked if he wanted to lead the way, Mack shrugged his massive shoulders. He'd already completed the quest, so he didn't really mind leading. But, if he led, then Teion would never learn to do things for herself. "I can lead, for now," he said after a moment's consideration. Without another word the blonde man began to head for the eastern gate of the City of Beginnings, trusting the Teion would keep up and either follow in his wake or walk beside him. They passed their way through the city, people were quick to scatter out of their path. Reaching the gates, Mack stopped walking and turned to face Teion.

"This is your quest, you lead from here. I'm only here to collect materials from the wider world, protect you, and to answer questions," he rumbled, his grey eyes taking in the whole of Teion's appearance. At the moment, the only noteworthy gear she had was the axe that he had given her, Midnight Eclipse. If she were to join the Crimson Blades, she'd be able to get an immediate armor upgrade to help her in her travels. "Lead the way, Teion."

[Teion 0]

Teion walked closely behind Mack as he headed for the gate. When he stopped and spoke to her, she nodded again. "Mm--Right." With his response, she grew nervous again, wondering if she was inconveniencing him by asking for his assistance. She was capable of adventuring alone, especially again such low-level  content, but remembering her first and last experience with venturing outside the city's walls, she loved the idea of someone to watch her back. Being alone in the middle of battle, especially when things aren't going so well, was now a terrifying thought.

She inhaled, trying not to let her thoughts show through her expression, and as she lead the way beyond the city's walls they came upon the grassy hills that marked the territory they would find boars. 'Maybe that's just his personality...' Teion drifted back to her thoughts, reflecting again on how Mack spoke. So far she's always seen him as a very stoic person, with an unusual kindness that she didn't think she deserved. She shook her head lightly, drawing her new axe and gripping the handle firmly. "This shouldn't be too hard." She was more reassuring herself, thinking back to her last time out here. Scanning the fields, she eyed a boar and readied her weapon.

((OOC: I'll be starting combat rolls next post~))

[Mack 0]

OOC: Sounds good.

"Here, this will help," the burly blonde man said as the pair of them entered the fields where the low level mobs resided. Reaching up to the antler pendant that was tied around his neck on a simple leather string, he removed the item and then took one of Teion's smaller hands in one of his own massive mitts. As he did so he mentally reflected that she really was a bit of an odd choice to be a two-handed axe wielder and a blacksmith. But, to each their own. Mack deposited the charm in Teion's open palm. He wasn't about to tie it around her neck personally, that was much to intimate a thing to do for so new an acquaintance. "This will boost your accuracy by a point, but I want it back at the end of your quest today."

[Teion 0]

Teion seemed a little flustered when Mack took her free hand and placed his necklace in it, and she gazed at the item for a moment. Realizing it was a piece of equipment and hearing his explanation on its bonuses, her eyes began to sparkle. She loved items, stat boosts, numbers... Gaining new skills and hitting things harder in games was so exciting to her, and the trinket helped to remind her that she was technically still in a game. It eased her a bit, and she tied it around her neck before stiffening and realizing that she had completely forgotten her manners. She bowed towards him, not quite sure how to properly express her gratitude. "Uh--um, thank you! I appreciate it..." She stumbled her words a bit, but then tried to recover. "I'll be sure to put it to good use." Her eyes narrowed in determination, and she turned to approach one of the boars. Picking one to target, she ran towards it and readied her axe.

• ID#: 29436
• BD: 6 (+1=7) (Success)
• MD: 1 (Critical Fail)
• Teion HP: 11/11
• Boar HP: 6/6 -> 3/6 (3 Dmg)
• Level Up! Teion's health has increased to 13/13

Teion caught the monster completely off guard as she swiftly approached. A strong swing of her axe left a bright red gash along the boar's side, and it squealed angrily in response. Giving a snort, the animal attempted to lunge at her with a poor jab of its tusks. She easily sidestepped it and lifted her weapon upwards, readying another swing.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Teion

[Mack 0]

ID: 29698-702
LD: 16, 5, 10, 6, 13 (+1 Mat.)

Mack watched as Teion singled out a target from among the many boar mobs that were populating the field around the City of Beginnings. His grey eyes followed the movement of the violet haired woman as she sprinted forward and slammed the ebony blade of Midnight Eclipse into the side of the boar, causing the smallest of smiles to grace Mack's features. It looked as if the weapon was going to serve Teion as ably and well as it had served him before he had obtained Guillotine. Since it seemed clear from the fact that Teion had blasted the animal down into the yellow on its health bar with one swing of the axe. She, clearly, was in no danger of dying at the moment and, not wanting to interfere with her ability to gather loot and materials from the boar if he didn't have to, Mack began probing about in the loose dirt and grass nearby looking for crafting materials. It had worked before and, no sooner had he jabbed the iron butt cap of his weapon into the ground then there was a metallic thunk. Kneeling, he scooped away at the dirt with his hands and retrieved the ore chunk, adding it to his inventory.

[Teion 0]

Teion vs. Boar

• ID#: 29759

• BD: 3 (+1=4) (Fail)

• MD: 7 (-1=6) (Success)

• Teion HP: 13/13 -> 12/13

• Boar HP: 3/6

Midnight Eclipse was poised above Teion’s head, ready to swing down on the boar’s skull. The monster’s reactions were faster than she anticipated, however, and as she brought the weapon down the boar rushed to the side and sliced her right leg. Her balance wavered and the blade came down just short of its target, lodging in the ground. Teion scowled, pulling the axe from the grass and readying it level to the boar, preparing to swing across her body. The boar stomped a hoof in response, holding its ground to attempt the same tactic again.

[Mack 0]

ID: 29776-78, 80, 82
LD: 14, 5, 3, 15, 16

After he had picked up the first of the crafting materials he had found, Mack stopped in his rooting around for a moment and turned his storm grey eyes on the continuing conflict between Teion and the boar. With Midnight Eclipse in her hands, she would only need to hit the beast twice to kill it and, if she landed a critical strike she could kill the beast in one blow with the bleed damage that the weapon dealt. "Try more horizontal swings, like a baseball bat. Gives you a wider striking area," Mack called, before resuming his rooting around in the dirt. As the fight between the purple haired woman and the boar continued the blonde axe wielder succeeded in finding himself another pair of crafting materials, which were quickly added to his inventory.

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 29912
• BD: 7 (+1=8) (Success)
• MD: 6 (-1=5) (Fail)
• LD: 16 (1 crafting material, 30 Col)
• Teion HP: 12/13
• Boar HP: 3/6 -> 0/6
• Level Up! Teion's health has increased to 14/15

Teion heard the blacksmith call out his advice, gripping the handle of her weapon appropriately. "Right!" She called in response. Bringing the blade across her body, she connected with the boar's hide and made a clean slice, dropping its HP to zero. Teion smiled as the beast vanished in a burst of light and a small window appeared in front of her. "Boar's Tusk", the crafting material she needed, was displayed on the screen. She sheathed her weapon behind her back and jogged over to where Mack was looking for materials. "First try! Must be beginner's luck." Teion smiled a bit nervously. "Now I just need to gather a couple of ores," She was about to keep speaking before it looked like she remembered something. "Oh," She reached behind her neck and untied the antler pendant, holding it out to him. "Since I've already gotten the material from fighting, I can return this now. Thank you."

[Mack 0]

"Well done," Mack called out from where he was rooting around in the soil with his weapon, ever on the search for mats. He looked up from what he was doing in time to see Teion deal the final blow to the boar with Midnight Eclipse. "You can try rooting around in the dirt, like I am, to retrieve mats, but it really isn't the most effective way of trying to find ore. You should really check out the mines about two or three miles to the west of here," he continued, holding out his hand to accept the amulet back from Teion. With the amulet back in his hand it was only a moment before it found its way tied back around his neck. That done he shouldered his axe and waited for Teion to make a decision as to where they would be heading next.

[Teion 0]

• Out of combat regeneration - Teion HP: 14/15 -> 15/15
• ID#: 30261
• LD: 5 (no loot)

Teion face the direction of the mine Mack said was off in the distance. She took a quick look in the area around and in front of her before deciding to head off in that direction. Along the way, she tried keeping an eye out for anything noticeable in the grassy field. "So..." She started, "You use heavy armor, right? Do you think it's better than light armor?" She was genuinely curious as she fiddled with the hem of her leather tunic. She had started out with light armor, but still hadn't invested any points into armor class. She wondered if there was any advantage to a certain type. She thought heavy armor was more fitting with the idea of an axe wielder, but honestly the light and leather armor was comfortable, so she didn't love the idea of wearing bulkier clothes.

[Mack 0]

ID: 30394
LD: 16

"It really depends on what you want to do with your armor," Mack replied, after a moment's thought. "I went with heavy armor, in part, because I can forge it myself. Therefore, I don't have to spend col on purchasing armor and I can save it back for other expenses, like healing items. As a blacksmith you can forge weapons, armor, shields, and tools." The blonde man paused for a moment and then swung Guillotine down into a nearby ore vein, which produced a chunk of ore that the blonde man quickly scooped up and added to his inventory. "Heavy armor lets you lower the amount of damage you take from enemy strikes, but it doesn't make you any more difficult to hit. Light armor let's you add evasiveness, which will make the mobs miss more often, but you don't get to reduce the damage you take by quite as much. It's a trade off.

"But, since you're wielding a two-handed axe, like me, I would go with heavy armor since you'll never be able to get the damage mitigation bonus that a shield provides and you should focus on a Glass Cannon or DPS build like mine and then travel with a tank when you need to team up. It's part of what makes joining a guild, like the Crimson Blades, appealing. You have teammates to help you and a guild bank to draw resources from," the hulking blonde man continued, swinging the topic of conversation back around to his guild. "You're welcome to join us, if you're so inclined. In general terms the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 30578
• LD: 3 (no loot)

Teion nodded as the man spoke, considering his words and weighing her possibilities. "Hmm, alright..." She mused. As he mentioned his guild, she recalled when he spoke of it before. "Do you have a lot of members already?" Teion was starting to get curious, wanting to know more about the Crimson Blades. "Are you the guild leader?" She made the assumption, but from what she'd seen of Mack he just seemed like the type of person to take charge and be able to run a guild. She stopped herself from asking too many questions, allowing him to respond. As they got closer to the mines, Teion spotted what she thought was another ore vein. Imitating Mack, she took Midnight Eclipse and swung downward, only to slice through a chunk of rock, which promptly crumbled under her blade. Embarrassed, Teion put her weapon away and gave a small scowl under her breath as she trudged forward.

[Mack 0]

ID: 30623
LD: 11 (No Loot)

"Mining or farming for mats through any method other than killing mobs can be pretty miserable," Mack rumbled, watching through storm grey eyes as Teion swung Midnight Eclipse down and into a different ore vein, only to fail. "The only guaranteed way to get mats every time is through killing mobs that have an HP pool at least half of your own and that have a base damage rating at least half that of the floor you're on." Mack swung Guillotine down into another ore vein for emphasis. The bearded head of the blade struck sparks off of the ground, but there was no production of a crafting material. "See?"

"As for the Crimson Blades, we're always looking for new recruits and we'll gladly take on just about anyone that's not clearly murdering other players just for personal gain," Mack said easily, regarding the violet haired woman for a moment with a penetrating gaze. "Currently, we've got a five member council that includes the Grandmaster, which is me, and the Seneschal which is Xion. Our total membership is eleven, mostly filled with recruits at the moment which is where you'd start out if you were to decide to join us."

[Teion 0]

• ID#: 30761
• LD: 3

Watching as Mack attempted and failed a gather made Teion feel a little relief. At least it was mostly up to chance, and the odds were just not in her favor. They were still a fair distance away from the mine area, and as her gathering efforts were showing no signs of improving, she started scanning the area for nearby mobs, listening to Mack explain mob loot. "Oh yeah, monsters can drop crafting material, too..." Teion remembered she had picked up some materials in the past while fighting boars. She was still coming up completely empty-handed with her normal gathering attempts, so she figured she would go back to what she was good at--killing mobs. She took out Midnight Eclipse and turned the handle a few times while listening to Mack talk about the Crimson Blades. She looked at the blade as he finished, feeling grateful that he was helping her so much. At this rate, she thought herself strange for not already accepting his offer, but then the idea still made her uneasy. "Thank you for helping me this much." She said just loud enough for him to hear. "I'm sorry I can't give you my answer sooner." The thought of joining a guild made her feelings mix. She knew from a logical standpoint she had everything to gain and nothing to lose, but from a social standpoint she was cursing this game for her inability to fight alone. She hated the idea of using Mack's kindness, so she spoke up again, "I'll tell you my decision before I complete the quest." She gripped the axe in her hands, preparing to start fighting again.

[Mack 0]

ID: 30792
LD: 9

"There's no rush on deciding, Teion. The offer is an open ended one," Mack replied, shrugging his broad shoulders and probing around in the dirt with the iron butt cap of Guillotine though, once again, he failed to turn up any kind of crafting materials. "Of course, if you're worried about being the only girl in the Guild, you shouldn't be. Opal and Shirosu are both Guild members, I don't know if you've met them yet or not. Shirosu's even received her first guild promotion so she's no longer a recruit, but a soldier. Our system is set up so that the only promotion that has to be accomplished through a Council vote is the promotion to a seat on the Guild Council itself. We also don't use our low-level players for menial farming tasks to fuel the higher level players. You have certain requirements, of course, if you want to be promoted and reach the upper tiers of the Guild. But, in the end, the only limit to how far you can go in the Guild's hierarchy is your own willingness to put in the necessary work to receive the promotions." Mack glanced sideways at Teion and noticed that she seemed to be gripping Midnight Eclipse in a combat ready manner. "Is the plan to return to fighting mobs," he asked.

[Teion 0]

Teion mulled over his explanation. She had to admit, she admired the system he described. When he finished going over all the information, she grew both excited and a little worried, thinking over all the possibilities. She knew joining a guild would be necessary in this game, but she was surprised to receive such an invitation so quickly. She was also afraid her overachieving nature would get her in over her head--just the thought of working her way up to being on a guild council sounded incredibly cool. She had to remind herself again that this place was much more serious than just a game now, Dismissing her thoughts of power and grandeur, she focused again on the axe held firmly in her hands. Teion nodded as he noticed her pull out the weapon. [color=#7401DF]"I have to admit, I seem to be better at it than normal gathering." [/color[She realized she was being impatient, but she also felt confident this strategy would work, so she didn't give it a second thought. After she spoke, she set forward and picked out another boar among the mobs scattered about.

• ID#: 31101
• BD: 4 (Fail)
• MD: 1 (Critical Fail)
• Teion HP: 17/17
• Boar HP: 9/9

She picked out an enemy that looked to be close to her in level and approached, swinging her axe across her. The boar responded to her by raising its tusk and the two clashed, beginning their combat.

((From what I understand, it's old combat rules for the remainder of the thread, right?))

Edited September 12, 2015 by Teion

[Mack 0]

OOC: Yes, we use the old system for this thread.

ID: 31188
LD: 10

"No one's going to force you to join, of course," Mack said in an even tone as Teion went into her stalking the beast mode in the pursuit of another boar. "But, there are quiet rumors that Kayaba and the GM's will be patching the combat system soon and that the new patch will place a hefty emphasis on not traveling and fighting alone since it will bring the various player roles of healer, tank, and glass cannon. Tanks will get their damage nerfed, Glass Cannons will get a damage spike, and new healing abilities will be added. If the rumors are true that is," Mack concluded with a shrug of his broad shoulders as Teion set off in search of the next boar which was easily within sight. Falling silent as she began her hunt, Mack began to experimentally prod the dirt around his feet in search for crafting materials.