[PP - F3] No Longer Naked! <<Worn Out Welcome>>

[Seul 1]

Alright. Things were starting to look up. Reaching the gates of Delilah Village earlier that day had been an easy feat. Seul had accomplished quite a few things over the past few days. The once measly health bar that sat on the corner of his vision was growing by the day and his aptitude for fighting had improved as well. The next matter of business was his equipment though. He had made it far with just the bare minimum but it was nowhere near enough. Should he decide to eventually partake in boss battles or duels of any kind he'd need something that was more... Reliable. But that's why he was up on the third floor now. Rumors spread quickly around Aincrad and this one was no different. An NPC couple with a custom armor shop; practically giving away pieces of gear for free! What could have been better? Nothing that's what. The thought of saving his hard earned col was exciting to no end. In fact so exciting that his daydream caused him to smack into the side of another player as he walked.

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh made an 'oof' noise as he felt another player collide with him, looking over at the new person with curiosity more than outrage. The longer he started the sooner he started to notice how little armor he was wearing. With a little bit of close thought he realized why this player was on this part of town, saying to him. "Oh, hello to you." He says as he turns to face the player properly. "Let me guess... You need better armor so the boars don't get you too soon?" He winked teasingly and starts tapping through menus and then the new player's icon. Seul got a party request! "I can help if you want. Shouldn't be too tough if you have strong backup!" He said proudly, fairly certain he could handle the presumed quest as he had done it solo.

[Seul 1]

Well, this certainly was an unexpected turn of events. Usually it was Seul who'd be inviting strangers along on his travels and misadventures. In a way he supposed he still was as this man clearly knew his motives and even offered up his help. Though he did appreciate the gesture he couldn't help but feel his face get hot at the teasing. "...I can fight boars just fine. But anything helps, ya know?" He said while lazily raising a finger to accept the invite. The man, Kalesh, didn't seem like the most powerful player around, but as someone with such intuition and confidence he seemed reliable enough to handle whatever challenges that lied ahead.

[Kalesh 0]

He nodded and looked up into the corner of his vision to see a name and health bar appear beside his own. He grins to the previous stranger and says "Well, nice to meet you, Seul. You go ahead and pick up the quest from the smiths and I'll make sure that you are at least not attacked from behind or surrounded." The other player's instincts weren't wrong. He was not that powerful but he was more than strong enough to handle at least up to floor four or five on his own. Provided he kept his cool and didn't do anything overly stupid. Continuing the walk towards the smithy he casually says "I roll light armor and a scimitar, soon a katana... you?" he looks to the other player curiously.

[Seul 1]

"Just this worn out, old dagger." He states. Acknowledging the weakness of his own gear came easy to him these days. He knew it would only be a matter of time though before he got his hands on some higher end equipment and the quest the pair was headed for marked the first step toward achieving that goal. The path toward strength may have been a slow and daunting one, but he travelled it anyway. As they closed in on the smith's shop he turned to Kalesh and gave a 'wait here' hand signal before continuing ono his way.

The shop's interior had a cozy feel to it. Much more than he had originally envisioned. It was almost as if someone had just set up displays of armor in the middle of their living room. A large man sat behind the counter on the other side of the room tending to a gauntlet in desperate need of repairs. "Um... Hi?" At hid words the man perked up before serving up an inviting smile. "Ah, welcome traveler. The name's Griswold and this here's my shop. How can I help you today?" Well, he was in the right place. Seul approached the counter casually and removed a slip of paper from his pocket. Unfolding it revealed an amateur sketch of a stick figured labeled 'ME' wearing a poorly drawn article of clothing labelled as 'LEATHER COAT. "My current gear has had a good run, but it's time I got an upgrade. Do you think you can make this?' It was obvious the man was holding back his urge to bust into uncontrollable laughter for the sake of not wanting to lose a customer. He spent a few seconds examining the drawing before giving an approving nod. "I could make this with one arm tied behind my back and my eyes closed kid. I won't even charge for something this simple. Just go gather the materials for me. When you leave here, head to the Forest of Wavering Mists and slay a dark elf. Secure its soul and bring hit back here. Easy.' Before he could say anything else a quest window appeared which Seul quickly dismissed with the accept button. Easy?! Well, on paper it sounded pretty simple. But it was one thing to talk about fighting and another to actually feel the rush of combat. Without another word he left the shop and waved down Kalesh who he assumed would already know what the deal was.

[Kalesh 0]

He shrugged his shoulders and nodded when gestured to wait outside.  He had no particular reason to enter anyways. He had everything he needed from this quest, still wearing the jacket he asked to have made from that very quest. He had a keen respect for how much effort and failure a crafter must have to go through sometimes. It was the sole reason he wasn't properly armored in a perfect set, after all! He did puzzle over the other player when he mentioned his weapon was a dagger. That pretty much cemented who the player would become he figured. It wasn't like a greatsword where heavy or light armor could go either way. He had picked a weapon that would only look hilarious when paired with a heavy suit of armor. He did momentarily wonder if Seul would get a buckler or something, or if he would instead choose to further armor himself or get a stat boosting accessory. Sky was the limit, after all. While waiting for Seul to exit the shop he momentarily wondered if he would take part in the fight with his scimitar or his katana. After a brief moment he settled on scimitar and made sure he had the correct weapon on his back. "Ready when you are..." He mutters to himself while staring up into the sky.

[Seul 1]

"Then away we go!" He called before pounding a fist against his chest. "Just um... Which way is it?" His face was probably the most serious it had been in a while and he looked around like a child who had been separated from his parents at the store. Proud wasn't exactly the word he'd use to describe his memory, or lack thereof, but there was no point in trying to hide it. They'd figure out where to go eventually. The floor was only so big, how hard could it to have been to locate a forest? Still he wanted Kalesh's input on the matter if only to save them both the time it would take under his own lead..

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh grinned mischievously when Seul came out, starting to swap through menus until a small item appeared in his hand. He held it out to Seul and said "Use this, it's my map data for this floor. Just a copy so you can see the jist of the area." He smiled and tried to recall the location of the very special forest. "It's in this direction." He pointed towards a one of the city's gates, happily adding. "We'll want to keep close though. The entire forest is covered in mist, so visibility won't be perfect..." He goes ahead and lists off the horror story details, just to spook him. "They say that some areas are guarded by minotaur field bosses too, and you can hear screams echoing every now and then!" He smiles cheerily as he reaches back and draws his serrated scimitar. "Well, onward to adventure!" He says confidently as he begins leading the way, gesturing for Seul to follow as he grinned like an idiot.

[Seul 1]

Field bosses, eh...? There were far worse names the developers could have chosen for a death trap area like "Forest of Really Bad Things that Kill a Lot' or the 'Forest of Everyone Who Enters Dies'. Seul wasn't worried. As long as they were careful he figured they'd be able to handle whatever the forest had to throw at them. That didn't change the fact that Kalesh seemed to be enjoying the whole situation. He smiled at his enthusiasm before starting a casual stroll after him. "We'll be fine." He noted while pulling up the copy of map data. The forest didn't seem to far off once they got past the gates but there was no way to know for sure until they actually got there. In the meantime he decided to strike up a conversation to fill the otherwise silent void. "So what made you want to use curved swords?"

[Kalesh 0]

He took it in stride when Seul didn't seem that spooked by the rumors he flung around at the less experienced player. They were all true, of course, not just idle threats to intimidate Seul or something. When questioned why he liked curved swords he couldn't help but smile as he looked his sword over. "A few things." He stated before continuing once the blunt end of the leg-sized blade was on his shoulder. "I love desert settings." He looked back and started his little blurb. "Arabian, Egyptian, Persian, India... So many places known for deserts, and all of them have curved swords." He smiled up at the sky. "Making a living from nothing, standing in defiance of the elements... I have a deep respect for that kind of thing, and so, I mimic it by using a curved sword... Although..." He starts going through menus and reveals a katana which he held in his left hand for a moment. "If you train curved swords, you also unlock katanas. That was a welcome surprise for me." He chuckled happily "I am honestly going to switch to katana ASAP... Although if we are technical, katanas are treated as "two handed curved swords" so I can get any style I want." He takes a breath, realizing he might have been talking Seul's ear off. He returns the katana to his inventory. By this point they were past the gates and out of the safe zones. "Why did you pick dagger?" He asked out of pure curiosity, turning the question back to the originator in a way.

[Seul 1]

He let the information sink in before pondering over his own weapon of choice. From a cosmetic standpoint, the role of the thief or rogue always appealed to him more than that of a warrior or armored fighter. The way they graced the battlefield mixing combat with an artful dance of death and carnage was a sight to see. "Daggers have the potential for high damage outputs if properly trained. Winners in fights are often determined by just how well and fast one person is able to inflict damage on the on  their opponent. Having a weapon with hard hitting skills can only serve to help later on when enemies have higher health values. Also I want to go for an evasion based build, which means a lot of dodging. Lugging around a huge weapon would slow me down, where with a dagger I can ideally get well within an opponent's strike zone, hit 'em, and get away without suffering any damage." He figured it was a sound explanation. Using daggers just suited his personality. If he could pick off enemies on his own he wouldn't need to seek out other players for help. Duels also played a big part in his decision as he'd eventually want to test his skill against the other players. Having a high attack stat would be pointless against someone that you can never hit and if he wanted to stand any chance against the heavily armored tanks he'd need to counteract it with his own high attack stat. 

[Kalesh 0]

He nodded in understanding as Seul explained. They were all good reasons, even if they were the opposite of why he chose his weapon. There was nothing wrong with it, just different methods to their madness. "Makes sense. You look at things from a practical point of view, very nice. That'll keep you alive for a nice long while I'd wager." With that said he quickly adds "But our builds are going to be similar then, it seems." He taps his armor "Evasion." He takes out a monocle-like accessory in his pocket "And Accuracy." He pockets the accessory again and looks his sword over. "Two damage, one bleed." He sets it back onto his shoulder as they approached the border of the misted forest. "It's a fairly common build. I am considering getting other parts, just so I am always prepared... but I need to perfect what I have first." Only his sword was of perfect quality, and it was in need of replacement unfortunately for when he dedicated himself to katanas more thoroughly. He idly considered what he would do with the sword once it was of no real use to him. Maybe a merchant would take it off his hands. Put it out into the economy a little. "We are getting close, keep your eyes open... Its an elf, so don't be surprised if a throwing knife is tossed out at some point, and keep your eyes open." He warned the other player while scanning around in search for any signs of their prey.

[Seul 1]

It would be his first time fighting battling something that was even remotely humanoid. Up till now it had only been a few plants and fuzzy animals. The thought of facing something that could hold enough intelligence to execute preemptive attacks was unsettling, but it had to be done. Taking heed of Kalesh's warning, he drew his dagger and kept it close as they made their way inside. The name certainly didn't lie. Within minutes the visibility had been cut to a minimum and the once clear path to the exit had disappeared from sight. "How the heck are we supposed to fight in this?"

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh grinned and shrugged his shoulders, saying to Seul "Hard and fast. Don't rely too heavily on your eyes. There are skills for this type of scenario, but we don't know them." He smirked as he stepped through the forest at a leisurely pace, fighting the urge to hum or anything like that. He needed to pay attention and... ignore the ominous screams. He silently cursed Kayaba for okaying the decision to make spooky atmospheres. Kalesh took a deep breath as he walked through the forest but heard the rustling of leaves to his right. His eyes shot wide as he saw a silhouette! Instinctively, Kalesh turned and suddenly shoves Seul backwards with his foot, easily looking like a kick or something. He didn't know Seul's level or HP, but he couldn't take a hit as well as Kalesh did he figured. He at least had some armor!

A half-second later a dagger had embed itself into his ankle, making Kalesh hiss in frustration. "Found it!!" He yelled as he threw his sword into the air through some fit of apparent madness to the untrained eye. Both his right hand and the blade of the weapon glowed as he did it. Kalesh charged towards the apparent elf in hiding and nailed it in the face with his fist, stunning it, and then sliced the monster in half with his sword after catching it midair! With a sigh of satisfaction Kalesh looked back to the no-doubt surprised Seul while yelling "Heeey! That count for your quest completion? I killed it!" He grinned, sure that if it did the stolen material would appear in his inventory soon.

[ID# 33837][BD: 7+2=9][MD: 8-1=7]

Energy: 3/12 -9 (Meteor Strike used.  2x3 Stun)

Kalesh: 44/48HP -4 HP (9-5=4)
Dark Elf: Dead/12 HP -36 HP (6x6=36)

Edited October 3, 2015 by Kalesh

[Seul 1]

"U-Um..." No other words could manage to find their way out as he tried to process the events that had unfolded. Before he knew it he had  been knocked back by Kalesh's kick, narrowly escaping being impaled by the stray dragger. For someone without any search related skills it was incredible that he even noticed the attack at all let alone used it to find the elf's location in the fog. His own perception had failed him this time. Despite that, the match went smoother than he figured it would've but that really wasn't something to complain about. After snapping back to reality he opened up his menu and scrolled to the inventory where the freshly made elf's soul now resided. "Looks like it worked!" He called back. "Still gotta bring this thing back to the shop though! You comin'?"

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh nodded as he took a breath, having already known the elf's tactics from doing the quest himself but he had gotten lucky for the most part. When asked if he was coming he said "Yeah! Just give me a moment!" He knelt down and tugged the dagger from his ankle, hating the weird sensation of having a wound. He limped a bit like his foot was asleep until the crimson mark disappeared and he was back to normal. "You have the map, you lead!" He grinned as he followed after Seul this time, giving him a chance to be the leader while he tried to get his spent energy back. Considering his level, he had used a lot of energy, almost all of it. It was a gamble, but it was one he was happy to make it seemed. Especially since it worked out in the end. "Sorry about that kick. It's just you would have lost a large chunk, if not all, your HP depending on your level." He chuckled softly, the elves were glass cannons to be sure. "I have armor, I can take a hit." He smiled, making it clear he only did it to protect him.

[Seul 1]

"Eh, don't worry about it. The kick was nothing compared to what that knife would've did. But you won't be the only one with fancy armor for long!" There was no doubt in his mind that bringing Kalesh along was the right choice. He possessed good intuition when it came to fighting and was able to make calls in a matter of seconds that turned the tide of the match in their favor. On top of that, it was great that neither of them suffered any major injuries over the course of the mission and Seul gave him a nod before turning to head back down the path out of the forest after pulling up his map. Hopefully.

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh was rather glad there were no hard feelings. Some people would probably have taken it as an assault or something on principle. The icon over his head was still green so he knew he hadn't done any real damage to the other player thankfully. It would have made things awkward until the status faded away. Then again on the other hand he was used to relaxing outside of the capitals. Staying in town too long made him anxious, like he'd slip back into complicity or something silly like that. He idly glanced into the corner of his vision now and then to confirm their location on the map as well as his own HP from time to time. He healed the elf's damage almost instantly once out of combat. "Thanks for forgiving me! Ohh, my next set is going to be much fancier. Hopefully yours lives up to your expectations! There are lots of different ways to go with enhancements." He smirked, sheathing his sword into the scabbard on his back and putting his hands into his jacket pockets while they walked.

[Seul 1]

Seul had thought long and hard about the direction he wanted to take with his skills. Maxing out his dagger took priority over all else but once the leather coat was in his possession he'd invest in the light armor skill for the mitigation. "So I've heard. I can't wait to try out one of those perfect pieces." Progress never felt so good before. He'd be able to make riskier moves with less fear of death thanks to his defense. But he had to actually obtain the gear first so he pushed aside his thoughts to focus on the road ahead until they were out of the forest and on the road back to town. When they arrived he shot Kalesh a smile before booking it off to the armor smiths, leaving behind a dust cloud in his wake as he ran.

It was a wonder how the door managed to stay on its hinges and Seul busted it open. Before Griswold or Hanna could say anything he presented to them the material they needed to forge his coat and placed it on the counter. "Alright, wait here." Griswold said while taking up the dark elf's souls in one hand and moving to the backroom.

[Kalesh 0]

He shot Seul a thumbs up while leaving him to get his armor, standing just outside. He didn't want to risk triggering some weird event like them whining that he is being greedy since he already did the quest. With that in mind he propped himself against one of the building's outer walls and hummed a tune to himself, smiling up at the sky as he watched the virtual clouds go by. He decided that if the clouds made a shape that it was Kayaba trying to tell them something, even if his logical mind had him fully convinced it was no possible. He really enjoyed being a hypocrite! You can think fun things and do them, but not have any faith that they will work or feel silly afterward! After his momentary mental distraction he tilted his head and glanced inside through a window, wondering what kind of jacket Seul had decided on to serve him as his first piece of armor!