<<Breaking The Unbreakable>> [SP-F2] The Dapper Art of Fisticuffs (Complete!)

[Emerath 0]

Emerath had heard tales from other players of a quest in the mountains of Floor 2. While Emerath didn't like the idea of risking a dangerous trek, he was very interested in the idea learning the martial arts skill. Since Emerath had taken the time to work on becoming a healer, he had decided that he really wasn't all that interested in wasting skill space on weaponry. But, he could take the martial arts skill, and didn't even need a weapon. It was win-win!

Excited at the prospect, but not really having any idea what to expect, Emerath made his way to the southern mountains of the second floor. It was a long journey, but at least the location wasn't hard to find, thanks to the exceptionally tall mountain that stuck out like a sore thumb in the distance. Emerath had begun his journey early in the morning, and had ended it with the sun high in the sky. But he managed to find the NPC's house at the base of the mountain, and gave the door a quick knock.

Out popped an old man with a long gray beard, ragged clothes, and wrinkled toes popping out of worn sandals. He had a staff in his hand and he smacked Emerath's hand that had knocked on the door. "Oy. No need to knock. I could hear you comin' from miles away. You adventurers have no sense of how to be quiet. You just go trodding along through the fields like you own them. Well you don't own this field! This is mine!" Emerath was a bit taken aback by the sudden outburst of the hermit, as he rubbed his hand. "Ah. Yes, well. I apologize for that. I'm here to learn martial arts."

The old man huffed. "Yeah, you and every other 'venturer. C'mon, before I change my mind." The old man waddled off behind his house and Emerath followed, unsure of what to expect. Finally, the old man stopped in front of an immense rock. "Oy. Break this. Only your fists. Gimme that rapier, kid." Emerath didn't like the idea of giving up his weapon, but he did as the old man bid him and unequipped the rapier and handed it over. Then in a flash, the old man had a paint brush in his hand, and suddenly Emerath's face was covered in cat-like whiskers. Emerath took a step back, and was rubbing his face furiously shouting, "Hey! What was that?! What'd you put on my face?" But the whiskers didn't come off. The paint was already dry. The old man laughed, "Just a bit of motivation to make sure you didn't waste my time. Finish this rock with your fists, and I take the whiskers off your face and teach you martial arts."

And just like that, the old man waddled back to his house, before Emerath could protest. Emerath sighed, and looked up at the rock. It was just a massive boulder, and Emerath was, well, a bit of a wimp. Can I really do this? he asked himself. Then he touched his cheek and felt the dry paint. I suppose I have to, now, or else be a cat for the rest of my time in this game.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31249
• BD: 3 (Failure) -2 EP

Emerath stood in front of the rock. He was trying to psyche himself up for the first punch. He doubted that he could break it on the first try, but that didn't stop him from trying. Emerath did a few stretches in preparation, and then stood in front of the rock. He threw the first punch with his noodly arms, not really expecting anything. His fist connected and after a moment he wondered if anything had happened. Then he felt the severe pain run through his entire hand. He yelped and jumped backwards, as if the rock had bit him. I don't think that worked...

Results:

• Rock: 50/50
• Emerath: Swollen Knuckles
  • EP: 4/4 -> 2/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31251
• BD: 5 (Failure) -2 EP

Emerath wasn't even sure how to approach this. He wasn't one who had spent much time honing his body for this type of thing. About all Emerath had was his mental willpower that came from endless hours of pursuing success. Nonetheless, he shook off his soreness from the last punch, and readied himself for another blow. He sent his fist flying into the rock once again, and this time there was no delay in the reverberation sent back through his arm. He cried out in pain again and took another step back, rubbing his arm.

Results:

• Rock: 50/50
• Emerath: Arm Soreness
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 2/4 -> 3/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31252
• BD: 9 (Critical Success) +1 DMG -1 EP

Emerath knew he could do this. He had seen enough action movies to know that with enough patience, and training, he could do this. He worked the stiffness from his arm from the last punch and readied himself again. He mentally prepared himself. Deep breaths, focus. Be one with the rock. Something something action movies. And then Emerath sent his fist flying forward into the rock. He could feel the connection go through his entire body as the fist landed on the rock, but to Emerath's delight, he saw a splinter go flying from the rock. Despite the pain he felt in his knuckles, Emerath was happy. Progress!

Results:

• Rock: 50/50 -> 48/50
• Emerath: Now Has Hope
  • +1 EP Regen
  • 1/4 -> 2/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31253
• BD: 10 (Critical Success) +2 DMG -1 EP

Emerath was thrilled by his first initial success. So much so he pushed himself to keep going. He threw out his other fist and then his right, then his left. Back and forth until he could feel a nice throbbing in his fists, but he was even more thrilled to see that he had made a few decent sized dents in the stone. He gave a leap for joy. He was making serious progress! He would be a martial artist before he knew it! But for now, he needed to take a short rest for his arms.

Results:

• Rock: 48/50 -> 45/50
• Emerath: Happy for a break.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 1/4 -> 2/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31255
• BD: 2 (Critical Failure) -2 EP

Emerath had taken a moment to sit down and rest on a nearby smaller rock. He sighed, this was probably going to take him quite a while to actually finish, and he would never be able to finish if he didn't take an occasional rest. He wondered idly if the hermit would get mad at him for sleeping here. He couldn't image that to be the case. He was an NPC after all. He probably had predefined rules to allow people plenty of time to finish the quest. Though in this game, Emerath never could be too sure.

Feeling that he had rested enough, Emerath stood up once more and made his way to the rock. He prepared himself for another strike, and sent his fist at the rock. No results this time, as the throbbing that he had initially felt when he started came back. Maybe I rested too much...?

Results:

• Rock: 45/50
• Emerath: Suddenly Discouraged
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 1/4 -> 2/4 -> 0/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31258
• BD: 9 (Critical Success) +1 DMG -1 EP

Emerath stood there trying to pump himself up, but this was such a grinding experience. He supposed learning any new skill was, which made sense. But that didn't necessarily make it any easier to deal with. He let out a bit of a groan as he stood in front of the rock, looking at the dents that he had managed to leave. But then he started to shake his body up. He did a couple of light jumps around and shook his arms and legs. He had this. He would do this. He leapt forward with a battle cry as his fist struck the rock once more. It appeared to have made more of a difference this time than the last, as he saw more rock splinters fly from the rock, leaving another dent.

He shook his hands and cracked his knuckles. He would take it.

Results:

• Rock: 45/50 -> 43/50
• Emerath: Starting to Realize How Long This Will Take
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 0/4 -> 1/4 -> 0/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31260
• BD: 9 (Critical Success) +1 DMG -1 EP

Emerath was starting to realize that he was just fighting with a training dummy. This rock didn't move, and the most damage he could do to himself was if he pushed himself too far past his own limits. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he did a few punches in the air. He was starting to get the hang of this, and he could tell with each swing at the rock. The rock was just an obstacle to be overcome, and he would do so no matter how long it took. He threw a few more air punches, before he gave a loud battle cry and threw his body forward, his fist connecting with the rock again, sending more splinters and dust into the air. Another dent, another success.

Results:

• Rock: 43/50 -> 41/50
• Emerath: Stunned by his own success.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 0/4 -> 1/4 -> 0/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31261
• BD: 9 (Critical Success) +1 DMG -1 EP

As Emerath prepared himself for another strike, air boxing with the rock some more. He remembered an old song from the real world, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". He continued to bounce on the balls of his feet, swinging the air, taking the words of the song to heart as he shook his hands out for the next actual strike. It gave him energy and he knew he could do this. With another shout, and another swing, Emerath stood in yet another dust cloud as pieces of rock swirled around him from the strike. I can do this! This rock will be beaten!

Results:

• Rock: 41/50 -> 39/50
• Emerath: Mentally listening to Daft Punk as he fights the rock.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 0/4 -> 1/4 -> 0/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31263
• BD: 1 (Critical Failure) -2 EP

There is such a thing as cockiness. Emerath was highly prone to it when on a roll, and he always hit walls in the worst way when he suddenly experienced failure. Unfortunately for Emerath, this was more of an actual wall. Emerath continued to bounce around and swing at the air. But this time, no matter how much he yelled. No matter how hard he hit. No matter how much Daft Punk he had running through his head. It just wasn't enough to deal with the physical fatigue that his arms were feeling. He threw his fist forward, and he heard a loud crack. At first, he thought it was the rock, finally splitting in two. But then he felt the hot fire run through his arm as his brain registered what had happened. Emerath gave a loud cry as he fell backwards into the dirt, writhing in pain.

Results:

• Rock: 39/50
• Emerath: Lost in pain.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 0/4 -> 1/4 -> 0/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

Emerath lay on the ground after his last hit writhing around on the ground. He was certain since his HP bar didn't go down that nothing was actually broken, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell. He held his wrist and gritted his teeth as he tried to will the pain from his hand. After rolling around the dirt for a few minutes, the pain finally subsided for the most part. Emerath then just lay on his back in the dirt and was breathing heavily. He hadn't realized how hard he had been pushing himself until just this moment. He took some deep breaths and just lay there for a while, trying to recuperate enough to get up and face the rock once more.

Results:

• Rock: Judging Emerath with cold indifference.
  • 39/50
• Emerath: Taking a break.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 0/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31264
• BD: 8 (Success) -1 EP

After a while of rest, Emerath felt it was time to get up and try again. And so he did. He took a bit more of a calm approach to the strike this time. He stood in more of a combat stance, rather than just some random pose, and actually readied the strike against the rock. He was beginning to learn how to focus himself for these strikes. He supposed this was what martial arts was really like. In the heat of combat, one could move like lighting, but in those cases all it took was one misstep and it would spell the end of things there. Perhaps that was why he always saw martial arts combatants always be calm and collected when they fought. Even when in the middle of lightening strikes, they seemed as if they were just floating on a lake of still water.

Emerath took a deep breath, gave a "KIYAH!" as he sent his fist into the rock, and sure enough, his fist broke into the rock once more.

Results:

• Rock: 39/50 -> 38/50
• Emerath: Back in the groove. (For now.)
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 1/4 -> 2/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31265
• BD: 6 (Success) -1 EP

Emerath was liking the idea of a still mind more than the "boxing" he was doing earlier. Not that he disliked the idea of boxing, but he was starting to tell himself that to box he would need to first learn how to calm himself in the midst of combat. He couldn't let his emotions overwhelm him too much. Only enough to get the most out of his strikes. Emerath switched his combat stance to the other hand, and though he was a bit concerned he wouldn't be successful with his other fist, he would need to learn to use it.

Emerath steadied himself, and sent his fist forward with another cry. It landed hard, and to Emerath's delight more shards went flying off the rock, despite that it was his off-hand.

Results:

• Rock: 38/50 -> 37/50
• Emerath: Forging ahead, one punch at a time.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 1/4 -> 2/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31267
• BD: 2 (Critical Failure) -2 EP

Emerath steeled himself for the next punch, but his mind had begun to wander, and his meditative state wasn't doing as much to help him succeed, so much as it was just making him a bit sleepy. Emerath pushed himself to stay awake and make the next strike, but between the day's trek and the exhaustion of fighting this rock, Emerath just wasn't feeling it. The next punch landed like a wet noodle. Which granted, that was better than pain, but it still didn't get him any further to succeeding.

Emerath sighed, and flopped back down into the dirt. At least this time by choice rather than due to pain.

Results:

• Rock: 37/50
• Emerath: Losing focus.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 1/4 -> 2/4 -> 0/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

Emerath stared at the sky, and went through the events of the day. He was a long way away from his shop, his brother, and all the things that were safe. He was laying on the ground in front of a giant rock that he had to try and somehow crack in two using only his fists. He had whiskers on his face that made him look like a cat, and would probably elicit laughter from both his brother and his friend Teion should they see him like that. He couldn't quit, no matter how long it took, no matter how painful it was. He had to press forward. Emerath attempted to get up again to face the rock, but instead, he drifted off to sleep, staring at the dusky sky.

Results:

• Rock: Wishing Emerath sweet dreams, despite the pain he has caused it.
  • 37/50
• Emerath: Naptime
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 0/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

Emerath woke up a bit later, not entirely sure where he was for a moment. He sat up, his heart racing, believing that he had been kidnapped or taken to some strange location by another player. He had heard stories of people who PKed other players by approving duels when they were sleeping, and he knew it was dangerous to fall asleep in strange places. When Emerath looked up at the rock though, he remembered exactly where he was and why. He ran a finger along his cheek, and confirmed that the paint was still there. He gave a light sigh, as he stood to his feet. Regardless of his initial fears, the nap had felt great, and Emerath was beginning to feel rejuvenated.

Results:

• Rock: Preparing itself for more punches.
  • 37/50
• Emerath: Raring to go again.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 1/4 -> 2/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

Rather than jump right into a combat stance and begin to punch the rock some more, Emerath told himself that it might be best to do some stretching and limber up a bit before training some more. Emerath began to reach for the sky, and reach for his toes. He did forward lunges and pulled on his shoulders and arms to loosen them up. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck and his knuckles, keeping his eyes on the rock the entire time. Focusing his gaze on the dents he had already managed to make. They were growing, and getting deeper the more he struck, and it was only a matter of time before one of two things happened. EIther he would split the rock, or he would drill a hole through it with his fists. He wondered if the latter was an acceptable way to beat the quest. He laughed a bit at himself in response to those thoughts and it helped him relax for the task ahead.

Results:

• Rock: Waiting patiently for Emerath's next move.
  • 37/50
• Emerath: Stretching and preparing.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 2/4 -> 3/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

Emerath thought he might be ready. He put himself in a combat stance, and readied himself. He took some deep breaths and tried to relax after the stretches. But that's when he found that he was a bit shaky. He looked at his fists, and they were clearly shaking a bit. Excitement, or...? Emerath asked himself as he attempted to steady himself. It was no use. Emerath was certainly nervous about something. Perhaps it was the idea of failure. Maybe he would never be able to do this. Maybe he'd have cat whiskers on his face for the rest of his in-game life.

No, he couldn't think that way. He would do this. It was possible for other people, it was possible for him.

Results:

• Rock: Taking whatever combat stance rocks take.
  • 37/50
• Emerath: Finally ready.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 3/4 -> 4/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31268
• BD: 4 (Failure) -2 EP

Emerath was ready. He threw a few punches into the air, and he could feel his hands steadying. Emerath took some deep breaths and then sent his fist into the rock. Nothing. He sent his other fist into the rock. Nothing. He grunted, and threw another punch. No dice. Emerath gave a huff. It's ok. I'm just warming up! I got this! He backed off and switched his stance to his main hand and threw a few more punches. He could do this. He could, and he knew it. He just had to get himself ready mentally to do it right.

Results:

• Rock: 37/50
• Emerath: Just warming up.
  • EP: 4/4 -> 2/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath

[Emerath 0]

Emerath vs. Massive Rock

• ID: 31269
• BD: 1 (Critical Failure) -2 EP

Emerath continued to pound at the rock, with little to no success. What am I doing wrong? It doesn't hurt like it used to, but I'm also not making any dents. I'm not even affecting it now. He couldn't imagine that it was because he was still tired. He threw a few more punches with no change, and took a step back, huffing and puffing a bit. This is ridiculous. I take a nap and all my power is gone? That is completely backwards. But the more Emerath thought about it, the more he figured it was probably something mental. He had to be too afraid of failure to actually succeed at this point. He was afraid of hurting himself, or perhaps of even just not being able to do it.

Emerath gave a sigh and sat down on a nearby rock, his head in his hands. I can't be like this. I need to succeed. I can't be afraid to fail!

Results:

• Rock: 37/50
• Emerath: Frustration kicking in.
  • +1 EP Regen
  • EP: 2/4 -> 3/4 -> 1/4

Edited September 13, 2015 by Emerath