(PP-F3) <<Worn out Welcome>> (Zelrius)

[Ayumu 0]

So, the first time she had been on another floor besides the first. Not bad.

Ayumu was rather excited. Partially concerning the fact that she was on another floor, and partially concerning that there was an Armorsmith here that took orders...for no price. Mind. Blown. Who does that sort of thing? Despite the fact that it was rather unusual, and probably had a catch to it, Ayumu was going for it anyways. There was probably some quest involved where you were sent to fight some monster or something, but whatever. As she walked entered one of the huge baobab buildings in Zumfut (or maybe it was called "an arboreal mess?"), she hummed lightly to herself, a slight spring in her step. Hopefully, the shop where this particular armor smith was would stand out, so she wouldn't have to check every shop. Her eyes scanned the inside of the "tree-building," she was in, trying to find a shop with a signifying sign.

I'm not sure whether I think this place is odd, or just very unique. Everything is trees, just three, hallow trees arranged in a triangle shape. She smirked to herself. Heh, illuminati confirmed...and now I feel like a Youtube commenter back in the real world. She shook her head a little, chuckling quietly as she continued through the tree.

(not sure if this is the right setting for the quest or not. XD Had to look up what was on floor three because honestly I've forgotten already)

[Zelrius 0]

(You said the post was short and you lied to me. It is actually a decent length.)

Zelrius found himself among the prairies and elves that ran about the Floor of Third. Flowers and farm animals dotted the land with great abundance. This floor was different, given it had no actual cities and had a bunch of rural single family homes. This was both good and bad. It was good because that meant that the entire floor was littered with randomly placed Safe Zones, but at the same time, the floor was short in the supply of Items and shops. The elves that inhabited the few villages were kind people and seemed to find themselves often out of harm's way for the most part. The enemies here were even more peaceful than the Boars of floor one, have an extremely lower aggro range and hitting slightly less harder. Grinning, Zelrius made his way into one of the afore mentioned solitude buildings, placed neatly in between three trees. The boy entered the shop, slightly fiddling with his bow tie and giving his cloak a shake to get it straightened. The shake had caused his pendants and sheaths to jingle slightly, just as every click of his dress shoes did. Zelrius was about to speak up when the boy realized a familiar figure was already talking to Griswold. For a moment, the golden haired boy merely stood back, trying to identify just who it was and how he recognized the player. During Zelrius' last adventure with Ayumu, he hadn't really gotten a look at her without the cloak, given the rain and stuff, so he had no idea who she was.

[Ayumu 0]

(Looks like I need to re-evaluate my definition of long and short posts. XD)

After a bit, she had finally found the shop. Entering she looked around in mild awe at the various armor and durable clothing displays. It took her a moment to decide what she wanted to place an order for, since this was completely free, but eventually her mind settled on something. With a smile, she went up to the counter, and began talking to the Armorsmith Griswold.  As she began to place her order for a light, leather coat, someone entered the shop. Peering out of the corner of her eye, Ayumu recognized him immediately - anybody would. Temporarily excusing herself from her conversation with Griswold, she turned a little, she smiling and waving a little at him,

"Well hey! Fancy you being here. What's up?" she greeted him cheerfully.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius glanced at the figure, and it was upon her turning to him that Zelrius was able to put a name to the face. Smiling, this one being of slight actual comfort rather than the fake arrogance he wore around all the time, the boy took a slight bow. "Fancy you being here as well, Lady Ayumu. I was simply wandering around the third floor, looking for anything to do to kill time before the Boss fight tomorrow morning. If it is no bother to you, May I ask what it is you are doing here?" Zelrius spoke, though he already had a fairly good guess, given he had heard about the <<Worn out Welcome>> quest from his times as a low level. So long ago, damn how things have changed since. He thought, in light of his memories of clearing the first few floor bosses with Zauis, Shark, and Ryujin. Zelrius pointed a gloved finger at the NPC man Griswold and gave another slight bow. "Lady Ayumu, forgive me, but I think I was rude in interuppting your conversation with this nice NPC man here." Of course, Zelrius knew that Quest NPCs had feelings not. Let alone them not knowing the difference between rude and polite. Sure, normal NPCs had that sense, but Quest NPCs were to remain mostly unbiased as instructed by Cardinal, to allow even the most loathsome personalities a chance at everything. 

[Ayumu 0]

"Just taking advantage of a free order at this shop," she shrugged, "so I suppose that would be the <<Worn out Welcome>> quest," then raising an eyebrow, "a boss fight? Going to floor thirteen then, huh? Wow, that's pretty cool," then waving his apology away, "nah, nah - you're good. I was just wrapping up anyways and about to accept the quest. Supposedly I have to collect some materials and fight a Dark Elf...but I guess you already knew that about the quest. Perhaps its a bit of a risk, since I'm just at level three, but its way more entertaining than prancing around floor one hunting boars or something. Besides, I don't prance, so that's not really an option anyways. I'd like to start doing more quests anyways." she couldn't help but laugh a little as she said the latter.

And now I'm actually being humorous. Don't tell me I'm actually settling in this place...that would be disturbing, since I have so much waiting for me back at home in the real world. She mentally scolded herself.

[Zelrius 0]

"Free order? You realize if you wanted armor or gear made, all you had to do was shoot me a message. I like helping out the lower-levels and would be more than willing to get some equipment made for you." Zelrius glanced once more at Griswold than back to Ayumu. "Aye, a boss fight. It seems like nowadays, Boss fights are the only thing that keep me from sitting in my inn room all day rotting away," Though he said it in a humorous tone, his facial expressions didn't match, simply because it was true. It was his minor form of excitement every once in while, and the only form of anything that wasn't boredom. Enemies had rarely posed a challenge, and it was only every blue moon or so that Zelrius seemed to find someone interesting or half way decent to speak to. He was snapped back for a moment at her comment about prancing. "I think I more or less swagger, but hell, I'd be willing to learn Prancing." Again, the humor was in his voice, but not his expression. Giving a slight sigh, the boy spoke up once more. "Well, mind if I accompany you for another quest? This time I swear I will let you have some of the fun too." 

[Ayumu 0]

"Well I would hate for you to rot, that would be a shame," she grinned a little, "and I think if you stuck with swagger, that would be best. As for doing the quest together: Sure! If you feel like it," she shrugged wile accepting the quest as the prompt screen appeared, "and I would sure hope so. Last time you did all of the work and I just watched. Not that I really minded, since some of your fighting skills are impressive. Still, I need to keep in practice and not have others do everything for me. So, I guess off to put the Dark Elf thing, or whatever to rest. He has...twelve HP, I think, so it shouldn't be too bad. His attacks do take away 9 health, but I have a health potion I got from a friend, so I should be good. Anyways, if I don't take risks, then life here would be boring."

[Zelrius 0]

"I'd hate for me to rot as well. Not to mention, Life is full of too many surprises to waste it rotting." He said throwing a pat at each sword to give them a slight jingle. "Why would that be best? Wouldn't you like to see Zelrius, Commandant of the Azure Brigade, prancing?" His voice taking on a slightly more teasing and humorous tone. The boy chuckled and gave a slight bow at her final comments. "Very well then, I shall only travel with out, and intervene if things begin to go sour. Other than that, you have my word that the two blades at my sides will remain within their glorious sheaths." The boy stopped, looking to Griswold once more than glancing around the place just a bit. The third floor really is something else... He thought in light of how quirky and odd everything seemed, including the architecture of the Floor. Zelrius looked back to Ayumu, a slight bit of concern on his face. "Twelve HP and Nine damage? Have you invested in your weapon skill at all-?" He stopped short then went through an expression as if changing what he had said. "Better question: Have you figured out what Build/Role you plan on going for, Lady Ayumu?" The golden haired Commandant's dark blue eyes peered at her in inquiry.

[Ayumu 0]

"Um, no. Just no," she chuckled and shook her head in regards to the comment after the first, "that's not a comforting mental picture, sorry." Ayumu laughed a little. Straightening her countenance, she did her best to take on at least a slightly more serious expression. "Thanks, I appreciate it. I may need your help, but I hope I can take it on my own. The feeling of being weak kind of sucks you know. At this rate though, that should hopefully pass as I get more experience," then with a slightly embarrassed tone, "as for skills...er...no, I haven't done anything with that yet. I suppose I should..." she winced, "I guess I should get that out of the way. Do you...have any suggestions regarding skills? I mean, I can figure it out on my own...but some advice would be nice."

[Zelrius 0]

Letting out another laugh Zelrius responded "No prancing? I think it'd be quite comical to see a Level 45 Frontliner jumping and frolicking among the flowers of this floor. All loaded out in full gear and stuff. Reminds me of the old cartoons I watched when I was younger." For a moment, the boy was lost in his memories back in the old world. Within moments, he shook them away and hurriedly try to switch his focus elsewhere. Builds and stats Zelrius thought, Something I am quite good at, if I do say so myself, His mind whispered as he responded to her question, starting with a slight chuckle "Advice is all I can give, the choice is ultimately left up to you. Well, for starters, I need an idea of what you plan for, out of the Three main roles. There is Tank, DPS, and Support. All of which have their extremes, and their in betweens. While having a little bit of everything is nice, I can tell you right now: Going all even on the three is a bad idea. Pick one of the three roles, and invest deeply in it, else-wise you'd be useless in battle. There simply isn't time and experience to waste investing in everything. If you want DPS, focus your Sword Skill and Evasion. If you want Tank, Armor and Healing, and if you want Support, First Aid and minor protection for yourself. There are plenty of skills like Search and Detect that don't quite fall into any catergory, you're better off leaving those until you're specialized in your area. Think of it like a Triangle, The closer to corners the corners of each you get, the more you need one of the other two roles. However, the closer to the center you get, the least likely you are to be of any use."

[Ayumu 0]

She shook her head with a small laugh. It would probably would be best if she didn't say anything else on that matter, lest she might fuel it more. Ayumu wanted to sleep tonight, and wouldn't be able to if she still had that playing in her head. As he began to describe stats, she perked up a little, listening intently.

Hmm...I wonder what there's a need of right now? I suppose all of those roles. Its going to be a tough choice...what should I pick? I guess I should decide soon. Having skills would make it a lot easier to fight and level up.

"Huh, okay. I see. Thanks, that's helpful," she nodded, "I'm thinking I should get on that after this. Do you know what roles there is a need for? I mean, I don't want to be useless if I go with, say...Supporter, and there's already a bunch of players with that role - so much so that I wouldn't be needed. I mean, I can still pick anything, but I want to be useful."

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius looked at his feet, still partially thinking about prancing before a mischievous grin came across his face. The boy stored the thought he had just come across for later, prehaps he'd need it. His attention was once again grabbed from his own thoughts to Ayumu's voice. "Was it really helpful? I feel like I just said a bunch of wishwash..." The comment seeming more directed at himself than to her. It was true enough that he felt like what he had just said was long-winded and ultimately unnecessary. He gave it some thought before responding to her question. "With the recent spike in Supports, I suppose we have most every role covered. Though there are only a handful of supports known, I personally believe that it is enough. So as of right now, Any role you'd like to play would be of any help. Tanks are always needed to take damage, DPS are always needed to deal damage, and Supports are always needed to heal and Support the other two classes. Your call entirely by this point. Hell, if you tell me what it is you want in terms of build, I can even go get equipment made for you, that is, if you're wanting to join the Frontlines." 

[Ayumu 0]

"I see," she nodded, "alright, I'll get started on that yet. I'm still not sure what I want to do, but I'll decide soon. And thank you for the offer...I think considering the Frontlines is a little bit of a stretch right now, since I've pretty much just started. But I suppose that's my eventual goal...I'll keep your offer in mind," then after a pause, "I guess we should get going. Standing around in here won't do much," Ayumu smirked a little, "off to get some mats for this guy and defeat an elf-thing," she started walking out of the shop, "I like the quests the developers made for SAO, they're unique. Most games just have your stereotypical ones, like find the lost thing for the guy and you get money. Or save the cat and you can pass through a gate that was once locked. They're not like that in this game though, and that's good."

[Zelrius 0]

(Short post, Sorry)

"Fantastic, just let me know what it is you come up with, and I will help if you need it." The boy spoke, his smile expanding to an actually visible size. He felt like a moron smiling so much, and his grin quickly retracted to it's arrogant curve. "Material grinding is such a pain. Though I suppose I will get over my hate for it, given I do not have anything else to be doing, and I find you to be more enjoyable than most people I run into." He actually hadn't meant that as a compliment, simply as he was speaking his mind. It was true: Most if not all low levels annoyed him to the point of little to no return. "Aye, let us be off. My blades shall remain in their sheaths until you request my assistance, Lady Ayumu. I will merely follow behind, attempting not to be bored." 

[Ayumu 0]

(You're good. :3)

"Well gee, thanks. A least I can serve as a little enjoyment to someone," she smirked, "and I agree: let's go to the Forest of Wavering Mist and get this over with," she started walking out of the shop, "sounds kind of spooky, but I'm okay with that. So, I'm either going to get my butt whooped by this thing, or vice verca. I'm hoping its the former."

They both left the sleepy little town, and headed to said forest. What the NPC had told her was right - it was a rather eerie place. As the name of the woods implied, a thick mist hung over the place, making visibility more difficult. Weird sound echoed within the place...sounding almost like screams. Ayumu couldn't tell, and she really didn't want to think about it.

"Okay, I guess this is the place," she did her best to maintain an unphased, unemotional poker-face, "now to find the Dark Elf."

[Zelrius 0]

"Forest of Wavering Mist... how Generic." Zelrius laughed to himself aloud thinking of the name of the place. I Suppose it's not an RPG game unless it has locations named like that... His thoughts whispered in his mind, and sadly enough it was true. My this point in life, most things "Original" and "Unique" about RPGs had been long taken up and used. Only very few ideas remained left, and Aincrad picked some of the good ideas remaining. Sure, there were plenty of other things that RPG makers could do, but for the most part, they were bad. Hence why they were still new ideas and weren't used yet. Snapping out of his overthinking thoughts about RPG games, Zelrius nodded an affirmative to Ayumu. "I prefer you didn't get your 'butt whopped', as you say it, by a Low leveled Dark elf. Then I will have to like draw my sword and do effort and stuff." His tone was as filled with humor and joking as always. Suddenly, the Business Savvy side of Zelrius struck and he spoke up his thoughts once more. "It's amazing no one had made a farm of this place yet. There would be lots of money to be made off of a 1 Mat = 1 Item guarantee quest like this. Low levels would buy it all up, Or even if no Players bought the items, NPC Merchants would happily take it off of your hands." 

[Ayumu 0]

"No kidding," she snorted with laughter, "generic as they get," Ayumu nodded in agreement. "And yeah - I also would rather not have a whopped butt, saving you a lot of work. Doing stuff isn't easy you know," she joked as well, then pausing to think about his latter statement, "huh, I suppose you're right. Someone could easily get this down to a system, and reap the costant rewards. Sounds almost too easy." Ayumu thought aloud. With no reason to wait or linger any longer, she decided to enter the creepy yet generic forest in order to get the quest done and over with. Opening her menu, she took her simple, basic sword out of her inventory. She took it in her other hand, readying herself to fight. As she walked along, she kept her eyes peeled for the creature she needed to encounter in order to get the mat to finish the quest. Hearing an odd noise to her right, Ayumu went in that direction with a small frown. Sure enough, the Dark Elf was there. Unlike all the other times she had used her sword, she wasn't attacking an animal or plant creature. The foe was your standard, pretty predictable elf. He had the whole white hair, red eyes, and darker skin deal...being a dark elf and all. She wasn't noticed by the elf yet, and so taking a deep breath, and was about to go straight into an attack, when she stopped, rather nervous.

This thing has an attack of nine...and I only have twelve health. Am I really ready for something like this?

[Zelrius 0]

"Eh, It's easy enough for me, just not feeling effort today. " He said, his left hand trailing along the sheath of the curved blade of Lucifer on the same hip. His memories were brought aback to his battle with the two Archangels. Takao had been there to help, and they were still in a tight stretch. Giving out a sigh, Their harmonized words echoed in his mind. Stay Strong. The way they said it gave the golden haired boy the chills. The words themselves weren't all that ominous, No. The tone was not that of a suggestion or a command, It was more or less a Challenge. Or rather, that was the only word for it. It just seemed they were either doubtful that the Commandant would stay powerful, Or that he would seem weak in comparison to the enemies to come. Or they were simply just telling you not to get lazy. The optimistic side of his mind whispered. Zelrius snapped back into reality as Ayumu walked into the Wavering Mists. It seemed he had been getting lost in his own thoughts quite a bit lately. 

"I don't know the exact stats of this enemy. Don't be afraid to ask for my assistance if you need it." He stopped to look at her. Taking a second to continue. "I am being serious. Don't make me witness another person die." Realizing how dark that sounded, Zelrius decided to throw in a humorous comment. "Now go on, kick this forest fairy's arse." 

[Ayumu 0]

She couldn't help but blink in surprise. Another person die? So...he had witnessed multiple deaths already. Ayumu wondered how long it would take before someone she was with died too. Unless that person dying was her, but it was best not to think like that.

"R-Right!" she pushed away her thoughts, "okay - let's get this over with." Ayumu said with resolve. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to deliver her first attack...

ID: #38678

BD: 2 ( :| )

...and failed miserably. As she tried to take a swing, she lost her footing and almost tripped, thankfully grabbing a nearby branch suspended so she wouldn't fall on her face. Embarrassed, she huffed a little, stepping back while keeping a cautious eye on the Dark Elf.

MD: 2

To her surprise, he didn't do anything. He just stood there, looking quite unamused, with an expression that read "seriously?" The elf didn't even try to attack, as he just didn't seem to really care or give a flying, flipping fudge. She was relieved by this, who wouldn't be? Thankfully, she got to live another day, and have another chance to actually give the foe a good whack or two.

 

Dark Elf: 12/12

Ayumu: HP: 12/12, EN: 2/3

Zelrius: HP: 184/184, EN: 46/46

Edited November 15, 2015 by Ayumu

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius watched as Ayumu attempted an attack and tried not to laugh. He felt bad for finding something like this Comical, especially since it really was a semi-dangerous situation for her. He continued to fiddle with the sheath on his left hip, his hand finally resting on the golden and black pommel. Pulling it out slight, the boy exposed a bit of the red stripe and black curved metal. Zelrius simply stared intently at the Dark elf, daring it to make a move. One wrong step and you're mine Fairy. He jested in his mind. Throwing a quick glance at Ayumu and returning his gaze to the Dark Elf, Zelrius spoke before she took a step back, "Hang on to that tree any longer, and I will begin to think you want it to hit you." His words had meant to be in a light tease, but his voice didn't come out quite that way. Zelrius had reached the point that he wasn't even going to wait for her permission to intervene. Fully drawing his weapon, Zelrius didn't poise to attack. He still intended to wait until the Dark elf hit her to do anything of that sort.