[SP-F6]The Geminot <Quest: The Gemini> Completed

[Red_Rose 0]

Floor 6

Jungle Clearing

 

The Teleport gate erupted with a blinding flash of blue white light, illuminating the area around it for several seconds before simply fading out. As the light dimmed the form of a player could be seen and before long she was entirely visible. Red left the warp platform huffing heavily as she leaned up on a nearby tree for support. one hand was placed gingerly on her hip as she gasped for breath. The act of teleporting was still something she needed to get used to if she was going to survive here. After a few moments the girl managed to stand up straight stretching out her back with a gentle moan before returning to a more relaxed posture. "so this is the 6th floor eh?" She asked out loud to no one in particular. She had not been expecting such a lush and tropical environment, In truth she hated humidity and heat, but the warmth had certainly been welcomed over the frigid climate of floor 4.

 

Today Red was simple going to all the floors she could, learning about them, and getting an idea of what this game actually held in store for her. So far she had climbed from floor 1 up to hear with no problems. She had made sure to stay within the varied safe zones so as not to draw agro from hostile mobs. This floor however despite the heat and humidity seemed to be alright looking, at least to say it was aesthetically pleasing. She had even decided to have a bite to eat here, given that it was just after midday, and she hadn't eaten since sun up on floor 1.

 

With no real purpose in mind Red wandered away from the gate, strolling harmlessly through the Village that it had been built in. A community full of female NPC's. This was supposed to be an Amazonian village, or so she determined from the females walking briskly around, with not a single male in sight. In fact pulling up her recently populated info on the town revealed her suspicion to be true. She giggled to herself thinking about how it would be to live here, while she walked on, waving to the NPC's or players that she saw. Before long she was at one edge of the village, with a large clearing on the side. Not too far off in the distance sat the freeline that marked the start of the hostile jungle.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Red_Rose

[Red_Rose 0]

Red didn't have much in the form of possessions. Her clothing, a few loafs of bread, and water, A single basic spear and the Perfect shield given to her by Takao the day before. Aside form that she was considerably under prepared for any floor after floor 1. Despite that she was here, learning and gaining experience to become more powerful. That was how these things worked, or at least how she thought they did. Red was a woman with something to prove. She hated games, and was only here out of spite. Naturally it figured that she would get stuck here and need to fight for her survival while her no account ex was out with his mistress. The girls fists clenched as she thought about how much of a laugh he must be having at her expense. That's why she needed to get better, so she could survive, and eventually get to tell him what a dolt he was.

 

In a bid to calm herself she decided to have a  seat on a nearby rock and have her food here. the rock itself was outside the safety of the town, but the clearing allowed her the option to see around her so that she would not be ambushed by a random mob or player. As Red seated herself she noticed a dual going on not far from her. A pair of players, who looked incredibly evenly matched were trading blows back and forth while a third watched on. She had heard of these duals, often they were nothing more than dick measuring contests, but in rare circumstances they were serious. As she pulled a loaf of bread from her inventory she casually wondered what kind of dual this was. At the very least she wondered what had caused the players to fight, as they both seemed to have an intensity that suggested something serious was happening.

[Red_Rose 0]

For a few moments Red became distracted by a small lizard that had snuck up on her, perching neatly on the rock beside her. It seemed to be oblivious to her presence and sat with its bright orange and yellow back to her. With a curiosity that rivaled that of a child she leaned over to get a better look at the animal that had invaded her picnic. Despite her now being only a few inches away from her it continued to ignore her, closing its eyes, as if to suggest it hadn't a care in the world. "Funny little beast, ain't ya?" She said gently as she poked it with her finger a couple of times. Still it ignored her, even as she prodded the little creatures side trying to get it to move.

 

A smile crept accross Red's face as she sat back up again. "You might have the right idea there little guy." She said as she tore a piece of bread from her loaf and placed it in front of the lizard, before returning her gaze back to the dual the seemed to be winding down. One of the players had been struck hard, and seemed to slow down considerably now. Clearly the fight was nearing an end and the players would no doubt go their separate ways. The victor would take his spoils and the loser would limp off to lick his wounds and train harder. That's how these things worked.

 

As the last bite of bread disappeared behind her red lips, she returned to her menu and drew a water bottle from it. Red cracked the cap gently and took a quick drink, allowing the cool sweet water to fill her mouth, refreshing her from the inside out. It was a good thing she hadn't done this on the 4th floor or her water might have frozen.

[Red_Rose 0]

It was a scream that caught Red's attention now as she cast a quick look back to the dual. The stronger player had impaled the other on his sword. She coughed violently as she had tried to gasp, only to choke on her water. The impaled player fell to his knees while the other placed his boot neatly on his shoulder and pressed his wounded opponent free of the blade as if he were nothing more than trash. The wounded player fell over onto his side before exploding into a thousand pixels like the boars from floor 1. The spectating player seemed to be distraught and let out another scream that sounded similar to the first one she had heard, so as of this point she couldn't tell if the defeated player or the spectator had made the first scream. Either way he ran now, towards her, towards the village, and what she assumed was towards the gate.

 

AS he past her she heard him scream for her to run or be killed too. A threat that now seemed very real to her given what she had just seen. On that note she had not seen another player die before, this was new. For a few moments she wasn't sure what to do as she only stared off after the other player who had passed her. This was very serious, was she supposed to report this? on that note who would she report it to? Better yet the question remained, should she do something about this. No doubt the victor was wounded by now, she had after all seen him take many shots before he won. Did she stand a chance? Maybe with her shield he might think her to be bigger and simply surrender. Or maybe he was a powerhouse just racking up victims.

[Red_Rose 0]

Either way it was a gamble and she would need to do something, either walk away or intervene. After another few moments she decided to do something. This was one of those moments that would define her career here in Aincrad. She wanted to be strong, to have a name, and to show how good she really was. More though she wanted stories to tell her friends so that her Ex would hear. "Alright, I'll do it." She said determinedly, while casting a glance to the lizard that still sat obliviously next to her. She smiled again, giving it a last pat on the head before standing up. Red took a last sip of her water before tipping the bottle over onto the rock, in case her new little friend had been thirsty. "Wish me luck." she said as her menu re opened and she equipped her spear and shield.

 

It was now or never, and there was no time to waste Red thought as she started walking towards the victorious player. Strangely as she neared him he began to take on the form of a feeble old man, slouching forward and having a general look of instability. Perhaps she was right, he was wounded, she could take him in, or take him down if he tried to fight. The clearing still remained empty and she looked back over her shoulder one last time, confirming her path was clear if she needed to flee. Once satisfied she looked back to the older man, who was now much closer than before, before yelling out to him. "Hey... That was a dick move. We are not supposed to kill each other."

[Red_Rose 0]

The man turned his gaze to her and smiled in a friendly manner. "Well hello young lady. Fancy a friendly duel to help an old man sharpen his skills?" Red stopped in her tracks now as she realized that this man was just a creature mod. It was obviously a human NPC combatant, and not a player as it lacked an indicator. She let out a light hearted laugh as she shook her head marveling at her own stupidity for thinking this to be a player. It was then that she remembered that this creature had just killed someone, and was now weakened. If anything it was the perfect thing to fight to help her level up. Odds are with how bad it looked it would only have a hit or two left, and with her shield she could now take a few shots herself. She could imagine the loot and XP she would get now, not to mention being able to tell the player that fled, that his friend had been avenged.

 

Red stood thinking for a moment while the old man continued to approach her. No doubt she had triggered it's AI when she spoke to it, so naturally it would approach her. What it would do when it got to her was a mystery to her. If she was going to do this she would need to make it fast. "How about it? we will keep it friendly and maybe both learn something?" The man propositioned again stopping 10 feet from her and looking like he could be easily defeated.

 

Red sneered at his words. She had just seen him kill someone, so the duels were clearly not friendly. Obviously this was a trap to lure her into a fight and kill her. Had she not seen what happened she would have been surprised. She had also seen him use a sword, and shield. From what she knew that would limit his range, giving her an edge over him. And with him wounded it was now looking like a sure thing. "Alright then old man. I'll finish what the other guy started."

[Red_Rose 0]

The old man smiled as he faded to a dull metallic grey color. Red watched in horror as his body seemed to morph right before her, he was turning into her.  Given that she was so short he actually seemed to lose a few inches off his height, which had she not been so shocked would actually be funny. Before long he finished, and she had to look again, or risk believing she was staring into a mirror. His weapons had changed as well, from that sword she had seen him kill the other player with to a spear like her own, effectively nullifying her reach advantage. To make matters worse, above his head sat a full health bar. "Alright child, I hope you made piece with your god, because i'll be sending you to him." The creature said emulating her voice.

 

Red got a chill as she heard her own voice come from her opponent, to be honest it scared her, she was certain now that she was in way too much trouble to survive this fight. How could this happen? she had been so dumb, and now there was nothing she could do. No that wasn't true. There was something she could do. She could fight and win. Though the odds were not in her favor, she had to win. Her ex would never let it down if she was bested so easily. "Alright... But please..." The doppelganger sneered as if expecting her to beg for mercy. "I wont go easy on you." It said in that same cold voice that made her shiver.

 

Red hesitated a moment before speaking up again. "No... Please leave God out of this. He wants no part of whats going to happen here today." she said raising her glance to the copy. This is it, it's time to do this, to stand up and be counted, she thought with a renewed fire as she charged at the creature. As Red neared it she raised her spear and shield falling into the strike pattern that activated her Focused Strike. Once she felt the click of the system taking over she relaxed and allowed the system to guide her along.

 

ID# 31353 results:

Battle: 3

MOB: 3

Result: Both Miss

 

Red allowed the attack to go, but somehow things were different, she didn't feel the connection she had when she was striking boars. In fact it felt more like when she was practicing and hitting the air. A sudden wave of panic show through her as she realized she had missed. No doubt any moment now she would feel the strike of her opponent punishing her for her error, but it never came. Perhaps the Gemini was caught off guard by the sudden ferocity of her attack, or maybe it just wasn't comfortable with spears, but it too missed. Its attack went wide by a few inches allowing both girls to slide past each other unharmed.

 

 

Red_Rose HP: 4

Red_Rose SP: 0

Gemini HP: 4

Gemini SP: 0

 

[Red_Rose 0]

Start of Turn

Replenish 1 SP

 

Red spun quickly on the spot as she prepared to engage the Gemini again. Her feet slid along the loose dirt as she came to a stop kicking of a cloud of dust. She cursed out loud again, though this time in frustration for her miss. The Gemini acted similarly, sliding to a stop with a spin, though rather than curse it only sneered. "You missed child. I think you wont last so good here." It said imitating her own giggle in a twisted manner. Red only cast her a sarcastic smile before issuing her own taunt. "Yeah, I'm still new to this. Whats your excuse." Her voice had a sinister crack to it and her own smile widened at the words. The pair both adjust their stances simultaneously before charging again.

 

ID# 31360 results:

Battle: 10

Loot: 2

MOB: 10

Results: Both Super Crit

Red_Rose deals 4 Damage <Focused Strike 2x1+2=4>

Gemini Deals 3 Damage <Focused Strike 1x1+2=3>

 

Red burst forward with her shield raised again. The Gemini responded in kind, coming at her in a similar manner. To any who may have watched the altercation it would certainly look like Red was in trouble. Perhaps she was but she had no intention of allowing this creature to beat her without at least earning a good scar. As they neared each other Once again she raised her spear, until she felt the familiar click of the system taking over. This time however she had no intention of simply passively allowing it to work for her, instead she wanted to move with it, using her own strength to drive the point home, both literally and figuratively. The Gemini continued to follow suit as it raised its own spear and thrust along its projected lines.

 

 

As Red's strike began to go she pushed her arm along the known path, adding her own strength to the systems path for the Focused Strike. Doing this removed the feeling of simply being guided, and replaced it with the power of actually doing it herself. And it was with that that she found her mark, striking the Gemini cleanly in the torso, running it through from front to back. Her strike had been perfect not just landing, but hitting for a super critical. Unfortunately in this instance she had let her guard down and it had caused her to be hit in return. The wide open target she had presented had allowed the Gemini to land a super critical as well.

 

Red was powerless to watch her health bar deplete, down to 1 quarter of itself. She was shocked had her opponent only struck for 3 damage, but relieved to still be alive. She watched also as the Gemini's health dropped off to nothing before fading to nothing. She knew now there was only a few fleeting seconds before it disappeared so if she wanted to say to it she needed to do it now. "If you can't keep up, You shouldn't have stepped up." She said with a smile as her opponent exploded in a hail of shattered fragments.

 

Red_Rose HP: 1/4

Red_Rose SP: 0

Gemini HP: 0/4

Gemini SP: 0

 

Red_Rose Wins

Concentration Skill Unlocked

Edited September 13, 2015 by Red_Rose
Forgot to add loot dice values

[Red_Rose 0]

Start of Turn

Replenish 1 SP

Replenish 3 HP

 

Red fell to her hands and knees breathing heavily and shaking violently. She felt as though she had run a couple of miles, or climbed a small mountain. Still despite the unpleasantness of these physical symptoms she felt light good inside. She had done it, she had actually accomplished something special all on her own. There were so many things that a victory like this would do for her. It would boost her confidence immensely not to mention get her name out to others who could help her. She smiled as she pressed off her hands so that she was simply kneeling in the clearing. The wound that had been inflicted on her hadn't actually hurt and even now her HP had started to regenerate on its own. She had been lucky this time though, and despite the confidence boost she was aware of her fortune in this duel. It could have, and almost should have ended differently.

 

After a few moments kneeling alone in the clearing she got up slowly using her spear as a support for her still shaking body. She took a look around ensuring that nothing had snuck along to block her path back to the village, and after confirming her safety she began the walk back.

[Red_Rose 0]

It wasn't long before she was nearing the rock where she had first witnessed the Gemini killing another player. Red let out a little sigh as she decided to sit down and have another drink of water. Strangely enough the little lizard that had been there before had remained unmoved from his previous perch. Though now the bred she had left seemed to have disappeared. She smiled as she took her seat back down on the rock, while placing her spear and shield next to her. "Didja at least enjoy the show?" She asked while sending a glance at the lizard. She knew it wouldn't respond, and if it hadn't moved by now was in no hurry do do so.

 

She let out a sigh as she opened her menu and produced another water bottle."Ya know It wouldn't kill ya to at least act a little interested" She gave the creature another small poke while she spoke. Surprisingly this time it did respond. Lazily the small animal opened its eyes and turned to look out towards the clearing again. Despite moving it continued to ignore Red as she offered it another poke though this one was much firmer. Clearly it had been programmed to ignore players, or rather had not been programmed with any way to interact with them.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red looked up to see where the little creatures gaze had gone. The clearing was still empty except for an old man wandering about. She froze on the spot at as it clicked in what she was actually looking at. The old man was back, the Gemini had already respawned. A sudden rush of terror flooded her body as she watched the tired looking old man walk in a lazy circle in the field. Had he come back for her? Was he out for revenge? Perhaps she should have left here right after killing it. How was this possible even? She knew creatures respawned, but this fast? it was too quick to be normal so then what was going on.

 

After several fear filled moments Red finally stirred from her spot. The Old man had not approached her, nor had he payed her any heed. So clearly it wasn't a monster with a Vendetta for her. But then again maybe she needed to get within it's agro range to activate it. What would it do then< would it fight her on sight or would it offer her the same duel it had before? She continued to sit now, trying to decide what to do. After another moment or two the same wave of courage she had ridden before seemed to return to her and she decided to investigate the Gemini again.

[Red_Rose 0]

With her spear and shield back in hand she stood up again. It seemed like only a second had passed since she sat down. Her heart hadn't even stopped racing from the actual fight. Still with her shield she felt confident she could take on anything and that was a good feeling. With a small grunt she dropped off her rock landing neatly on the soft earth. The fall had not been more than 3 feet high so no fall damage had occurred. Cautiously Red approached the old man who had now spotted her, and begun walking towards her in the same tired manner he had earlier. As the pair neared She raised her spear in preparation for a surprise attack. "Well hello young lady. Fancy a friendly duel to help an old man sharpen his skills?" He asked again in the same tired voice.

 

Red hesitated a moment before responding, choosing to try and sound unafraid. "I know your tricks old man. I beat you once already." She said, her voice shaking a bit. Still the old man approached her walking slowly, looking like a simple hermit. This must be his pre programmed sequence she thought as he came to a halt in front of her. For another few seconds he stood still, as if waiting for her to say a specific phrase to activate his duel. So he wasn't angry or revenge focused. He was just a programmed monster or trap. "How about it? we will keep it friendly and maybe both learn something?" The man asked in the same form he had before.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red only stared at the man. He seemed exactly as feeble as he was, but she was aware of his tricks now. he was going to match her and attack again. Strangely though she wanted to do it again, knowing what he was, knowing how he would do things. Perhaps she wanted to repeat her victory, or perhaps his frail sirens song, promised easy xp and loot. Either way she raised her shield and accepted his challenge a second time. "I've beaten you once before I'll do it again." She said as she waited for him to transform.

 

The old man smiled at her, and rather than transform he simply shook his head and spoke. "I'm sorry dear. I must say I hadn't recognized you there. I remember how you beat me once already. An old man  like me can not take such punishment from you young pups. Go enjoy your skill reward and leave me to my training." And with that he turned away from her and began walking off. Red was confused now, what skill reward? She hadn't gotten anything from him. Perhaps his AI was damaged. She laughed now, both relieved and disappointed at the denial of the fight. Perhaps she had beaten him so bad she had broken him. This thought made her laugh harder as she turned and began to walk away.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red took her time now returning to the rock where she had shared some bread with a harmless reptile. What had the Gemini meant by telling her to enjoy her new skill. She hadn't done anything special, not that she knew of anyways. A few steps later and a new thought arose in her mind. Without skipping a beat the Blonde pulled open her menu to inspect the skills menu and gasped when she saw in plain sight "Concentration" as a passive buff. The description read that it was able to grant a player a 1 in 5 chance to increase their attack accuracy for a single strike. She was shocked by this turn of events, and quickly shut her menu, only to open it again and check to see if the skill was there. Sure enough, it was still in the same place she had left it, much like the lizard that had been ignoring her this entire time.

 

Red squealed delightedly as she went deeper through her menu to her completed quests. Sure enough, there was one marked as "The Gemini". Beside it was today's date and time. She had actually done it, a quest that is, on her own. Perhaps she wasn't so bad at these things after all. Perhaps she did actually stand a chance at this. At this point she swore they could see her smile all the way back at the village, as she practically skipped back to her rock to tell her apathetic friend. "You see that, I did it. And you doubted me." She laughed while poking it gently again. This time the lizard responded sticking out its tongue and turning its head away from her again.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red frowned now as she slumped down on the rock next to the creature. She knew it was silly to think it would be excited with her achievement, but it was depressing that it failed to care at all. That's when she remembered her friend from earlier. Takao. He is the one who had given her the shield in the first place, thus allowing her the chance to do this quest and gain this skill. She needed to tell him. Her smile returned as she popped open her menu and pulled up his name from her friends list. With it came the option to group up with him, message him, and unfriend him. Clearly the choice was simple as she clicked on the message button.

 

Moments later a small keyboard popped up with an empty window. Red immediately began typing out a message for him.

Takao

Hey, thought Id say Hi and thank you again for the shield. I put it to good use today and beat a quest called "The Gemini". It spawned a creature that was a direct copy of me, but your shield saved me. Hope all is going well for you, and to see you soon.

Red

The message was simple enough but it did well to convey her excitement. She bet it wasn't often he received messages to tell him how he had helped someone, so she hoped he would appreciate the gesture.

[Red_Rose 0]

With her message sent Red sat still for a moment, looking out over the clearing again. It was funny to think how afraid she had been earlier. And how she now felt so full of life and confidence. This was clearly the feeling the people addicted to RPG's got when they did things, and no doubt its what caused them to stay. She liked this feeling, it was like accomplishment, but different. In the real world if you did something it felt good, you knew you were moving forward. But here, if you did something it was an achievement. You became tougher, or more powerful. You felt tangibly better than you were before hand. Even without the risk of dieing she could see why people would like this.

 

Still there was more to do. Now she wanted to back track and do quests on the lower floors. Get comfortable with herself and others. She wanted to fight more, and become stronger and well known. It was hard to imagine life before this. This is what she wanted, Now at least. Red let out a pleased sigh as she looked up at the sky. The good thing about being in this clearing is that she could see up. There wasn't much up though mind you, just the bottom of the next floor. Above that however was another floor, and above that another still. She was in a world of promise, where she could excel further than her dreams had allowed her before. And somewhere up at the very top the 100th floor sat waiting for her.

[Red_Rose 0]

Her eyes closed now while she thought of the floors above her. There were still 94 waiting to explore. What could they be? "You wouldn't know would you? And if you did you wouldn't tell me would you?" She asked out loud to the lizard. Even without looking she knew it had not moved, that like her it was now just lazily waiting for nothing to happen, enjoying the small moment of piece and quiet contemplation that could be found right here, right now. She sighed again, opening her eyes for a moment to look back up at the sky above. She wondered now how long it would take to get there. Or for that matter how long had it been already. The truth was she had lost track a while ago. Days and nights had merged together in some cases, and weeks and months seemed to have simply vanished. In a way this was much the way a good MMO would effect people in real life. She had read a few stories about people who had lost their lives playing these games. The irony of course was that she like the others here didn't have a choice.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red now took the opportunity to lay back on the rock. Her recent alertness was now dulled by her own thoughts on the game and its progress. Till this point she had never really stopped to think about it. She had always been just waiting in the starter town for the better players to finish things so they could all go home. It figured though that now she was actually working for something she would think of these things. At least in some regards. In truth she had never wanted to think about these things. She had seen how others obsessed over them, and how it had driven some to suicide or despair. She didn't feel that now though. She was beginning to see things better. Now she felt like she could be here, maybe she wasn't the best, but she could be good. Good enough to make friends, good enough to be known. She wanted stories. Now though they wern't just stories to brag about, instead she wanted stories to share with other SAO survivors. She wanted to sit around and have a few drinks and remember the times they had here. This Gemini was her first. It was an accomplishment and others who had beaten it would know what she was talking about. It could be an inside story, maybe even a joke, she was level 1 after all.

[Red_Rose 0]

Suddenly she sat up a new query in her mind. She had just completed a quest, and obtained a reward. She had also defeated a supposedly powerful monster with a surprising loophole. She should have gained some experience here. Something should have happened. Red pulled up her menu again and looked at her personal stats She was shocked to see that she was now level 4 after defeating the Gemini. She wasn't entirely sure what to do at first. Normally what she had seen with games was her boyfriend gaining a level and then announcing it to all other players by shouting ding into his headset. In this instance she had no one to share her achievement with but still she wanted to do something. That's when she remembered the Lizard. Sure enough it was still in its spot looking off into nothingness as if the world simply didn't exist.

 

Red smiled as she gave it a poke. "Hey... Guess what." She said enthusiastically before poking it three more times. "Ding, Ding, Ding... Ouch" During the last poke the Lizard had clearly had enough and it snapped its tiny jaws shut on her finger rather fiercly. Red cussed out loud as the Lizard bolted from the rock disappearing into a nearby bush.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red gingerly placed her now bitten finger in her mouth. It was an old habit from real life that she often did when faced with a paper cut or any sort of minute injury to her fingers. Naturally this being a game, the bite had not actually hurt, but rather she had reacted to it in the manner most fitting. In this case to pull away, say ouch and suck on her finger. After a second or two she pulled the finger from her lips and looked at it. A red bite mark still sat looking pix-elated and broken over the tip of her finger from where the critter had managed to catch her. She sighed again placing it back in her mouth. "Stupid Lizard..." She mumbled in a rather loud and unpleasant manner.

 

Strangely now though she began to feel uneasy. Something was wrong. Red tried to stand only to find her body refused to work properly and she fell over landing in a huddled mass on the soft earth floor. "What the Hell is going on?" She asked out loud before noticing something strange. Beside the green bar that marked her now increased health was an indicator that looked as though it were a little yellow lightning bolt. Her eyes went wide as she realized what had happened. The Lizard had bitten her, and now she was paralyzed. She cursed loudly now directing her screams of frustration at the small animal that was nowhere to be seen.