Looking For A Challenge? (SAO) [Hiatus]

[Shisei Tenshi]

I Am: Lv. 3 Medic Exp. 1000 EXP Needed For Next Level: 500 EXP
Health: ████████████████████ 600/600 Status: Normal
I'm With: PoH, Geki, Keiyo, and Itsuki
I'm Doing: Venturing deeper in the the dungeon
My Inventory: Equipped: Two Handed Staff, Cloth Armor. Misc: HP Potion 30% X 12 AntiVenom X 10 Money: 00
OOC: Had bad asthma attack yesterday so I didn't get online. I'm feeling better today so I'm going to catch up. Thankfully didn't miss too much.

Canias ... Just call me Cai.

Cai was relieved that Keiyo allowed Itsuki to join them and then shortly after the group started into the dungeon. Cai took the back row holding his staff up in a guard position as he heard Itsuki warn about enemies ahead. He was constantly watching the health bars of his teammates while looking for enemies that maybe hiding to ambush as they went into the room. Cai watched as Itsuki took on the skeletons with quick sword strikes and deflections until only one remained. Geki stepped forward slicing the last skeleton down the middle causing it to vanish while granting him a level up. PoH had attempted to finish the skeleton with a throwing knife a half second too slow and Cai had to look away as the knife went racing towards Geki missing him by a few centimeters. PoH retrieved her weapon asking why her help was needed. Cai was starting to feel the same way, but hoped there would be a chance for him to help out too sooner or later. "Well done. That was quite impressive. There's hardly a scratch on either of you." Cai said trying to encourage his teammates. He was surprised how strong they were even though there was only a few levels difference between them. The Medic class did have it's disadvantages when it came to stats and close combat, but his specialty came more so during tough battles or after everything was finished to patch up the battle scars.

"I wonder how many rooms there are until we find that miniboss... and the Mandrakes." Cai hoped the right herbs showed up after venturing so far in. It would be a total drag if only Bloodmoss or Grassweed was found. Grassweed was often found in wide open fields in shaded areas while Bloodmoss could be found near rivers or small bodies of water. Mandrakes however were only found in dungeons, and more abundantly in the harder floors of such. He already had quite a stock of Bloodmoss and Grassweed back home so if he did find some Mandrakes he could whip up a batch of twenty potions to tide him over for awhile. Maybe he could make a few potions for his party mates as well in exchange for their help. Sadly that would be all he could offer since he had no money with him. Cai became so wrapped up in thinking about the herbs he started to fall slightly behind faintly hearing Itsuki mention he had not ventured further than where they currently stood and Geki had never been in a dungeon before. At least Cai wasn't the only first timer, which gave him a little more comfort. "Yes potion making is one of my class skills, but I'll need to get the herbs first. If you want I can teach you how to make better potions PoH. I have an idea about how to improve them further so your welcome to help if you want. After we get out of here of course." Cai was glad to find someone else interested in making medicine.

[CloudxHimura]

Player: Itsuki
Level: 5
Health: ████████████████████ 985 / 1050


Itsuki turned around to thank his fellow party members when he was blindsided by three rather large Kobolds. He was sent flying a few feet by one of the Kobolds' axes. "Bastards!" He said as he got up, unsheathing his blade and charging the beasts. They had dealt a bit more damage then he had wanted to take and had angered him. He had brought his blade up just in time to parry the ax that had struck him. "I could care less about the other two, this one's mine." He stated to his fellow party members. He kicked the beast in its chest, knocking it off its guard for a moment before unleashing a ten hit combo on the beast, following it up with an uppercut using the hilt of his blade to the beasts jaw. The kobold was airborne as Itsuki landed, calming down a bit as the beast exploded into fragments, dropping Col and some bits of its hide. He calmly gathered the items and brought his attention towards his fellow party members. "Well, how about this, I'll craft a new piece of equipment for whomever kills the Kobolds the fastest." He said, looking towards Geki and PoH. His murderous aura could almost be seen as he smiled, planting his Washizaki firmly into the dungeon floor.

[Gamebrain25]

Player: Geki
Level: 5
HP: 785/800
Floor: 1
OOC:

"WHOA!" Geki jumped about a foot in the air when Itsuki was suddenly attacked by three large Kobolds. But what was really surprising was when Itsuki got back up and unleashed a ten-hit combo, mowing down the Kobold. That was a high level skill Itsuki just unleashed. "Dude! That was sweet!" But things took a turn for the worse as the remaining Kobolds turned their attention to Geki and PoH. And apparently, Itsuki wasn't going to help. "Oh. How generous of you." With that, Geki decided to confront the Kobold on the right just as it decided to swing its axe downward. Geki managed to dodge in time, but the axe made a huge gash in the floor. This gave Geki the perfect opening to do a Horizontal slash into the Kobold's arm.

[I_See_You_Monster]

PoH ██████████▀▀▀
_________________700 / 1050 | LV: 5

_____________________________________

PoH responded to Cai's offer with a subtle grin. "I believe you and I may specialize in different kinds of potions." she said her grin widening. This seemed to amuse her greatly as if it were an inside joke she had with herself. "Health potions are something I just happen to make to rank higher, though I'd like to learn more so your help could be very useful ." As she spoke the group was rushed by Kobolds out of nowhere, PoH dodged out of the way rather quickly jumping far back. Her eyes quickly darted around as if automatically assessing the scenario.

It seemed the new guy was making fairly quick work of one of the kobolds, while Geki watched. There was no grave danger caused by three kobolds in a party so big. Up until now PoH had been soloing half the dungeon and had encountered purely kobolds and she was very used to their attacking patterns still if one managed to hit her it would do a great deal of damage.

As one of the Kobolds looked at Cai PoH quickly threw a dagger connecting with the beast's eye. The kobold turned to look at PoH immediately charging as it's agro toggled to focus on her. PoH stood in place dodging to the side as the beast slashed down at her and then again jumping back when it did another horizontal cut. PoH had yet to truly attack and her throwing dagger did very little damage. PoH dodged 2 more attacks all the while fiddling with a dagger pulling out a bottle and using it. The beast swung with it's right arm PoH dodging to the outside of the arm to stay out of the way of the other she lunged forward cutting the beast with 2 daggers. A streak of blue light moved behind her, the trail left by her sword skill. The damage was low, less than a quarter of the kobolds health, it was merely a sliver however the beast stopped moving and froze in place.

PoH turned with a huge grin her daggers glowing as she unleashed a flurry of attacks each doing pitiful damage but combined with their speed the kobolds health gradually and steadily fell. After a few seconds the kobold swung around at her becoming unfrozen, it's ax landed a hit on her torso taking off a substantial amount of her health compared to what the other players lost. PoH dodged a few more attacks fairly easily it was almost as if it was just a common dance to her she seemed to exert little effort in dodging and while when hit her health fell a great deal she was seldom ever hit.

After dodging another horizontal slash by jumping back PoH threw another dagger immediately drawing another to replace it in her now empty hand. She then charged up a sword skill, both her daggers glowing as she dashed past one side of the kobold cutting it in an "x" pattern taking off a good chunk of it's health in what was presumably a crit. Now behind the kobold she spun around both her daggers moving to cut the back of the kobolds neck in unison in an arc that glowed blue. After landing the hit PoH lost her balance and fell. The Kobold turned bringing it's ax down upon her chest for huge damage. PoH's expression was that of great pain the ax now partially hidden inside her chest. It was not but a moment before the Kobold exploded that what happened would be revealed, and how PoH's reflexes were unwavering even in times of error. As the beast's blade came down on her PoH had not stopped for a moment and sunk her dagger into the side of it's neck at the moment of impact delivering an awkward but sufficient final blow..

PoH lay on the ground breathing heavily, looking at the ceiling of the dungeon as if she were thinking about something. She was rather elegant in her fighting style and spent most of her time dodging and waiting for openings, however the last sword skill where she spun was something she had never done before and was entirely new. While not being as flashy as Itsuki's strikes after so much dodging and familiar footwork a new skill with new steps threw everything off. All things considered she handled the kobold despite the cost to her health from her lack of training in her final skill.

"I win." PoH said flatly still laying on the ground completely aware of how ridiculous she sounded. She may have been fairly quick and somewhat elegant in her kill but the end was quite embarrassing and unsightly in comparison to her earlier footwork.

[Gamebrain25]

Player: Geki
Level: 5
HP: 695/800
Floor: 1
OOC:

While PoH was slowly but surely whittling away her Kobold's health, Geki was tearing through his Kobold's HP one swipe at a time. The only mistake he made was when he got clotheslined by the axe handle, fell on his back, then nearly got chopped in half by the big lug's axe. After Geki rolled away in time, he rushed at the Kobold and performed another Rage Spike, reducing its HP to zero and shattering it. Geki pumped his fist in victory, but only for a short while as he realized PoH killed hers first. He went over and offered a hand. "You all right?" he asked while the orange pixilated gash on his chest slowly faded.

[CloudxHimura]

Player: Itsuki
Level: 5
Health: ████████████████████ 1050 / 1050


Itsuki was quite impressed by the duo's strategies in defeating the Kobolds. He then uprooted his washizaki from the ground and sheathed it before opening up his inventory to craft the item he had promised the victor. "Looking for any particular piece of equipment Poh?" He asked, his eyes darting from one item to the next in his inventory screen. "I can assure you that my crafted equipment will be better than most you'll find on this floor." He stated as three 30% health potions appeared in his hand. He tossed one to PoH and the second to Geki, drinking the third one himself. It was the least he could do for them after making them play his little game.

[I_See_You_Monster]

PoH ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________1050 / 1050 | LV: 5

_____________________________________

PoH slowly held up her hand catching the potion Itsuki threw. "A better dagger, mine are junk." she said flatly unamused by the method in which she won most ungracefully. PoH then drank the potion which filled up most of her health. Reaching into her robe PoH brought out a potion of her own to restore the rest. It was one of her first potions and restored a small amount but it was the perfect size to top off her HP bar.

Looking up PoH saw Geki holding out his hand. She looked at it a moment wondering why he was making such a gesture then as it dawned on her PoH's expression became one of nervousness her eyes widening slightly as she reached out. As Geki would help her up the hood of PoH's robe fell down for the first time revealing her face. PoH's character did not look the least bit threatening especially given she was blushing, not being used to company in games let alone someone offering help.

"I-I'm fine. It was a skill I hadn't executed before... I wasn't quite prepared for it." She said shyly looking away still embarassed by Geki's kind gesture and her falling flat on her back.

[CloudxHimura]

Player: Itsuki
Level: 5
Health: ████████████████████ 1050 / 1050


"Fine, a new dagger it is." He said as he picked up one of the Kobolds' Axes and broke it down into raw material. He then opened up his menu, selecting the various ores and tools needed for crafting said weapon. Once the tools were gathered and laid out, he began to hammer the refined ores until they took the shape he wanted. The Daggers that appeared were a tiny bit larger then the ones she had now, the blades seemed to curve slightly at the tip in the opposite direction as the handles did giving them a slight's' shape. He picked up one of them and placed the mid-section on top of his pointer finger to show that they were well-balanced. Itsuki then sheathed the two daggers and brought up the trade menu with PoH, placing the items in the trade menu, and awaited her confirmation.

[Takarashi]

_____________________________________

Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________850 / 850 | LV: 4

_____________________________________

Lag was a horrendous thing. Keiyo had spent the entire fight on the sidelines while he watched the rest of the group battle their way through the skeletons and kobolds in a jittery fashion. "I really hate my connection sometimes."

Once the swordsman's internet had stabilized he went to join the rest of the group. He was prepared to apologize for not helping, but no one seemed to be complaining. PoH had earned herself a new weapon from Itsuki, and Geki had handled himself just fine, so everything worked out in the end.

While everyone else collected themselves, Keiyo decided to look around a little bit. He kept a firm grip on his weapon in the event that one of the Enchanted Chains, or anything else, decided to surprise him again, but the room seemed still for the moment. He could see a lone treasure chest sitting in the middle of a slightly larger room in the direction they were headed. He nodded to himself and returned to the rest of the group. "The room with the miniboss is up ahead. The chest is the trigger for it. It's gonna fall from the ceiling the instant we touch it and engage us." He took a moment to recall the other details. "It's a big spider called Bronze Arachnid. It's not particularly hard to defend against, but it's faster than it looks. It can attack freely with any of its legs, too, so I don't recommend trying to flank it. I think its attack pattern changes when it's almost dead, too, so be wary of that."

Keiyo popped open his menu to summon a few potions. He clipped them to his belt for easy access. "I'm not letting that b*****d kill me again. I'm ready for it this time." He thought as he patted the pair of recovery items. "I'm ready when the rest of you are."

[Gamebrain25]

Player: Geki
Level: 5
HP: 800/800
Floor: 1
OOC:

Geki managed to catch Itsuki's potion with his other hand and ingested it while helping PoH to her feet. At the same time, while his HP went back up to full strength, PoH's hood fell down, revealing her face for the first time. And to Geki's surprise, PoH's face was surprisingly cute, especially given her cold, quiet demeanor from earlier. "Hey, it's all right. You can still hone it before we reach the boss." It was at that point Geki realized he was still holding her hand. He quickly let go and watched Itsuki crafting her daggers. This guy was turning out to be a jack of all trades. Once Itsuki was done, Geki turned back to Keiyo, who explained what would happen in the room with the miniboss. He wasn't going to ask Keiyo what kept him. After all, Geki also kept him waiting before while doing chores in real life. "I'm fully healed and ready to go."

[I_See_You_Monster]

PoH ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________1050 / 1050 | LV: 5

_____________________________________

PoH listened to Geki talk blinking nervously her cheeks a bright red. Did this game really have to emulate emotions so well? PoH thought to herself. Thankfully Geki let go of her hand, PoH in a polite gesture bowed ever so slightly. "T-thank you." She struggled to find any other words to say not knowing how to react to such a situation. As she stood awkwardly for what felt like an eternity a trade request popped up. PoH was grateful for the escape and looked at the menu with interest as she pressed "accept".

In the trade window were two daggers that looked much different than her straight plain noob daggers. PoH hastily pressed accept and equipped them the blades appearing in her hands. She looked at them as if they were some foreign object she had never seen examining them. PoH's fighting style relied heavily on her being comfortable with everything and fully understanding her weapons and movement. The handle curve threw her off a bit as she held her daggers blade down given when she striked she generally did it as a passing-by dash forward, seldom ever making regular frontal strikes.

After a few seconds of examination PoH spun the daggers so they were how she held her other daggers as if she were going to stab in a downward thrust. The handle's curve forward made the weapon feel more powerful and naturally pushed the blade out further forward for a deeper cut. As soon as she gripped them her eyes widened looking like a child at christmas. These were perfect for slashing which PoH did all the time.

"Finally, something that hits harder!" PoH said excitedly, looking like she was ready for battle. That is until she heard Keiyo offer to open the chest.

"I rely on dodging as I take damage very poorly. I'll try to work with you as best as I can but I'm used to soloing, this is admittedly my first boss. Would poisons be useful in this battle? I doubt I could paralyze it but regular poison?" PoH asked Keiyo as he seemed to have experience and knowledge about this boss. To emphasize her point she pulled out a glass bottle that was slightly smaller than an HP potion with a greenish purple colour. It looked like something you would not want to drink, PoH grinned slightly, proud of the fact she was the only character she had seen using poisons or even having them given they were a specialty inside of potion making. She wondered if Cai was also able to make poisons or if his medic talent only boosted curative potions.

[Takarashi]

_____________________________________

Keiyo ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________850 / 850 | LV: 4

_____________________________________

"I didn't see anyone use status ailments during the last fight, so I don't know if they can be afflicted." Keiyo said as he glanced at PoH. "Every RPG I've ever played had bosses be immune to them. But then, the rules are sometimes different for minibosses. They often become common enemies later on. I guess it's worth a shot." He finished with a shrug.

[I_See_You_Monster]

PoH ██████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
_________________1050 / 1050 | LV: 5

_____________________________________

"I guess we'll have to find out the fun way then." PoH said folding her arms. She was standing further back than most of the others still next to Geki she had no intent of being at the front lines when the chest was open. She would need to observe it's movements for at least a moment before charging into it. Besides, Itsuki seemed to take hits quite well and would likely act as a good buffer.

"I'm ready." PoH said, her expression flat and seemingly uninterested in what was to come. However for the moments she waited for everyone else's response PoH was actually quite nervous. If she couldn't learn to doge quickly she was likely to die. She would be harder to protect than Cai who didn't move alot and dying in front of everyone was not something she wanted. How many hits could she take before she hit zero she wondered to herself now feeling what could only be called performance anxiety. If PoH messed up on her own no one saw her failure, however if she died in front of all these people... How pathetic would she look?

[Shisei Tenshi]

I Am: Lv. 3 Medic Exp. 1250 EXP Needed For Next Level: 250 EXP
Health: ████████████████████ 600/600 Status: Normal
I'm With: PoH, Geki, Keiyo, and Itsuki
I'm Doing: Venturing deeper in the the dungeon
My Inventory: Equipped: Two Handed Staff, Cloth Armor. Misc: HP Potion 30% X 12 AntiVenom X 10 Money: 00
OOC: --

Canias ... Just call me Cai.

Cai felt a little out of place watching the others fight against the kobolts until finally they reached a slightly larger room. Keiyo gave some advise about the monster ahead that would appear after opening a chest in the room. He seemed to know a lot about it probably because he faced it before. Cai watched quietly as the group made their preparations for the battle ahead. "Why did I came again? I'm not strong and I can't attack like they do. Am I really helping them at all?" Cai thought to himself while Itsuki crafted a new dagger for PoH who seemed to be the winner of their friendly competition. Cai couldn't help but to smile as he watched PoH playing around with her daggers looking eager to put the to use. Cai looked at the poison bottle PoH pulled out finding the coloring fascinating. He had yet to successfully make a poison potion. His success rate was rather low on them and the ingredients were difficult to find or expensive to buy. PoH must do a lot of adventuring to have discovered the ingredients. When she asked if poison would be effective against the miniboss Keiyo added most of the bosses were immune, but the miniboss might not be. If this would be a common foe on the higher floors Cai would have to get much stronger and make better potions then he had now. "Let me poison it PoH. I can distract it then you guys can sneak up on it. You are all better fighters than me so I don't mind being a decoy." Cai knew if he got to close it would be very easy for the miniboss to cut him down, but if he was careful he could buy some time and hopefully save his teammates from injury. Cai took a step closer towards the box then stopped. "I played a game like this once. We went too far in and got trapped in the boss room. I drew the monsters attention while my partner run up its back and cut off the beasts head. It was pretty cool. Listen... When I open the box move back so it doesn't see you okay?" Cai wanted to help, but was this the right way? Would the same trick work more than once he wondered. He wouldn't know until he tried.

[Gamebrain25]

Player: Geki
Level: 5
HP: 1000/1000
Floor: 1
OOC:

To his surprise, right before they could go in, Cai actually volunteered to be a decoy and open the treasure box. Geki supposed that Cai wanted to make up for his lack of active action, but that really took some guts. "Are you sure you wanna do that, Cai? I mean, don't get me wrong. That's a bold plan, but..."