Teach this cat to thrust

[lukavminaev]

The world is always big. I know it. Whether it is real world or game world, there always be something surprising, something new, something that makes me feel I am not alone, like trapped inside a stone box, where the world seems simple and everything can be controlled. No. I am still alone, but I am aware for the length I can reach, and so I know where to start to improve my limit.  

The woods of Windsor is still same as yesterday with all clashing sounds from the battles somewhere inside it. I don’t go today. Not because I have too much gold and don’t care about hunting some minions anymore, but rather, today I have sent a request and currently waiting for someone to shows up. Someone to teach me how to wield a sword. This cat has used too many punches from previous battle with rock monsters and my fist now is numb. I should start thinking about creating a pair of battle gloves, but before that, this sword, I should start to learn how to use it first. There is a bit of curiosity when I look at other players who use swords or similar thing as their main weapon. Therefore, I want to know if I can swing my sword like them. 

The blaze of sunlight failed to travel across the trees where I sit on, right now. My ears flickering as the tingled poke of wind came across. I hold my curiosity and look at the city entrance, waiting for someone to shows up. 

---

Words : 260

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

It was one of those days were he was bored of doing nothing, as if such a thing were possible for one as lazy as himself. Still, being inactive while knowing others were working hard and were already way better than him irked the gamer's soul inside him, so he decided that he should, at least, get out to train every once in a while.

He had not been in the field for quite a few days now. After thinking for a bit, he decided to head to Windsor Greatwood, if only to ascertain that his skills had not quite rotted away just yet. If it had, the worst thing that could happen would be a painful charge from a boar or two.

Heading for the Windsor Greatwood, he noticed a somewhat familiar Werecat Monk waiting just outside the safety of the no-combat zone in Londinium. Why was the Monk only somewhat familiar? Well, he had only met the Monk once when he ordered new equipment, and once more when collecting them. A new pleasantries here and there were essentially all he had spoken to the Monk apart from business. As such, he could not really call the Monk a friend, yet. Perhaps this may change in the long run.

Still, one cannot ignore an acquaintance, even if the relationship was limited to being a crafter and a customer. "Lukav!" he called the Monk by name, having learned of it before and thus having no need to get close enough to see the status screen. "What are you doing there?"

From what he had said, it was obvious that the Swashbuckler had not even seen the request put up by Lukav. It was only a coincidence that he had chosen to take the same path Lukav happened to be at whilst waiting for someone who had taken the request to show up.

Still, the end result of this encounter would depend on two things: Firstly, the Werecat Monk's reaction to a random Swashbuckler who does not know what was going on, and secondly, whether or not someone takes the actual request.

~

Word count: 351
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 702
Notes: Bank interest is broken for me; reposting again for the third time.
Tags: lukavminaev

[lukavminaev]

I take my time observing people, reminiscing the old time where I am just alone and doing nothing. The sparse road suddenly filled in with an appearance of a recent customer. A rather familiar customer since I am still remember the weapons I craft for the request. Something that made me curious about how he use it in actual battle. “Heyya” I wave my hand, or paw regardless the condition, greeting him. “I am uh… I want to know how to use this weapon” I produce the weapon from my inventory, and it’s now materialized in my hand. “I have put the request in town, but it seems no one comes yet” (grumbled) I wave the weapon, flailing to the side. “well, I know this is still early, but nyeh, it sure felt long while waiting” I put the sword back into my inventory when I said that. Hmm, today is sure a busy day, I wonder if there still be someone who not busy going outside to hunt. I also wonder if he also on his way to go outside for hunting. Ah, come to think about it. I remember his name, it’s Icy, Icyferno if I am not mistaken. It was written on request, and so we have talk with each other in business manner. What’s he doing today. “Where are you going?” I immediately regret my question. Isn’t it obvious, he is about to hunt for gold like other adventurers. Ah, I may be mistaken. 

I shift my gaze, measuring his appearance, wondering what kind of skills he can pull out there in hunting area. My curiosity lead me to open his status panel and explore it with my finger. Ah, he use sword as main weapon. Damn it, that should be obvious since he ordered a set of weapon back then. I raise my arm, want to ask him if he want to teach me instead, but something hold me to do so, and I end up flailing it, trying to diverse the awkward situation. 

---

Words : 339

Tagged : Icyferno

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

On the Monk's part, all he seemed to be doing was grumbling about how he did not know how to wield a sword. That in itself was baffling, considering Monks do not usually swing swords around as much as some of the other classes simply due to the fact that most of their skills were designed based on the assumption that someone of this class would use either their bare limbs or possibly attachments such as claws to attack.

As such, his reply to Lukav was to scratch his head and say, "Not to be rude, but why do you want to learn how to use a sword? Even if you have the Mastery skill for it, there aren't all that many sword skills a Monk can perform."

Oh well. Since he was only going to a low level area to grind, he might as well hear Lukav out. Perhaps he might find something interesting to do, or at least something better than kicking what was probably the hundredth boar butt in his time trapped in this world. Picking up the conversation, he continued as he closed the distance between them.

"As to where I am going, I was heading to the Windsor Greatwood to grind for a bit, though I'm wondering about the request you mentioned. What is it about?"

Some may say he was just saying that to be polite. That was partially correct. The truth of the matter is, since he hardly appeared in the central parts of Londinium, he was often out of the loop when it comes to current trends in town. Any bonus information he got would obviously mean less travelling to the capital, so if an opportunity to make idle chatter with someone appeared, he saw no reason to not take it.

In any case, he hoped he was doing this right. Last time he pulled this off on someone, it did not end well, with the other party giving him a funny look when he accidentally said the wrong things. But that is a story for another time. Right here, right now, he was going to do his best to give a proper conversation, and nothing was going to stop him save his silly brain.

~

Word count: 373
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 702 + 746 = 1448
Notes: Is this supposed to be an open thread? Nothing is reflected in the title. Just sayin'. Now pardon my anti-social character.
Tags: lukavminaev

[lukavminaev]

I am frowning, curving my lips. “Hmm, you know… I’ve seen ‘this’ two-handed wielder not so long ago when I was grinding, and so when I looked at him, I thought swinging that big sword seems awesome. I have thinking about mimicking what he was did with this weapon. Also, I can’t just let this sword always sits in my inventory. This is… a memento” the moment I’ve said that, the blurry scenery of past comes into my mind. I take my time reminiscing for a while, but my attempt quickly stopped when Icy mentioned about his reason to go outside. I make a wide smile when he also mentioned about his interest with my request. That simplify things. I has been wondering about asking him a moment ago, but I cannot interrupt him if he is on his way to go for important business. 

“Actually… I never wield sword in real world” I close both of my fists, place it one in front of another, and then swing it up and down mimicking the process of wood chopping using delusionary axe. I keep repeating the chopping, curious if I can figure out something. This is as far I can go, “I had seen some movies in real world but, somehow I cannot figure out how to do something like that” I shift my gaze toward Icy while scratch my head. “All I can catch is the sword swung all over the place” I said that while circling both of my point fingers up in the air. “Ah, do you know the movie too?” normally, I hesitant to ask other people about real world. I thought it will just add the grim toward some adventurers, or even makes another awkward moment if I accidentally ask it toward lander. Is Icy lander or adventurer? I can’t even investigate it with my current head. All, I know he had ordered the set of weapon that made me think he is about to go all out with monster, or rather a clever strategy. I thought Icy is cool, and so he won’t process my words with hot head. A man that everyone can always talk with. 

Some of the sunlight successfully trespassing thorough the tree. It makes me realize how hot the day current temperature. I shift my gaze toward the area outside, and found it like as scorching earth. If not for the wind that naturally travel from cold area to hot area on the middle of natural environment, this place while felt like a place somewhere in middle earth, which I can only see on TV back then in real world. I open my menu again and click the previous sword I have shown him. The sharp part is wide enough for me to give a faint of fresh air, when I swing it sideways and point it toward my head. Ah, now that cool, I can think clearly. Not that much of fresh air, but it’s enough for a little cooling before the next wind will come again. I close my eyes for a while and enjoy my little fresh air, before I drop the sword stabbing at the ground and I look at Icy again, giving myself courage, and asking. “Icy, please teach me how to use sword. I don’t mind how. I may also figure something if I see you use your sword. With explanation of course, ehehehe” I am narrowing my eyes, laughing, while hoping he will agree with my request. 

---

Words : 584

Tagged : Icyferno

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

To say this was the strangest conversation he had had in a while was not far from the truth. Most MMORPGs often had fixed classes, some of which allowed for different play styles depending on what skills were chosen by the character. In this case, here he was, speaking to a queer individual who pretty much only had access to Bare-Hand skills with the exception of general Sword Skills, yet wanted to wield a two-handed sword, of all things.

Nothing came to mind when Lukav mentioned why he wanted to wield a sword, and a two-handed one at that. If one were to go by the logic of, 'doing whatever seemed cool', he would not want to imagine the Werecat seeing some Summoner call forth a massive creature and trying to do the same even though he very obviously lacked every Summoner skill there was to have.

"Actually, I'm fairly certain most of the Adventurers in the Weapon Specialist classes and the Warrior classes have never wielded a weapon before. Relying on the auto-attack feature until they get the hang of things is a lot faster than simply experimenting on your own. As to the movie, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lukav drew the sword from his inventory again, and promptly slammed it into the ground like some Warrior class Adventurers would do when trying to intimidate others, though in this case he presumed Lukav was trying to, um, gather courage? Make a firm statement? He would never understand people. He then went on to do the strangest thing.

Firstly, he asked the Swashbuckler to teach him how to wield a sword. Why the Monk could not learn through trail and error using the auto-attack, he did not know. Secondly, Lukav narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to say, "you had better help me", which contradicts the third and final point, which was that he was laughing at the same time. Icyferno had no idea which cue to take. What was the Werecat Monk trying to convey? Either today was just not his day, or the Monk was just being plain confusing.

He quickly summarized what the Monk said in his brain. Lukav wants to learn to use a sword. Check. Lukav is doing this because he saw someone look cool while using one. Um, Check. Lukav never wielded a sword before this, much like most of the Adventurers using melee weapons after the Catastrophe. Check. Lukav is talking about some movie he probably never watched before. Check. Lukav slams sword on the ground. Check. Lukav asks after how to use a sword. Check. Lukav narrows his eyes and laughs. Check.

In short, everything sort of made sense all the way till the last part, when the Monk laughed while squinting and trying to be intimidating at the same time. He did not know whether to take this seriously or casually. Confusing people are confusing, he thought to himself.

"Well, if you just want to see me use a sword..." he began, confused about the whole situation but wary at the same time. The activity of Player Killers may have dipped recently, but they were still a threat to everybody. While he was not the type to be cautious of everything, neither was he the type to trust people easily. For all he knew, this spot might be watched over by someone dangerous, and Lukav was somehow involved, willing or not.

In that case, using a standard Swashbuckler skill should be sufficient.

Without a word, he launched himself into 「Dart-Tack Target」 using only the Fire-enchanted blade, jabbing the air four times before coming to a stop in his original position. After the 'performance', he turned to Lukav, waiting for him to spew forth a torrent of questions, though he hoped it would not come to that.

~

Word count: 640
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 702 + 746 + 1280  = 2728
Notes: N/A
Tags: lukavminaev

[lukavminaev]

Ah, was my train of thought failed to connect? I don’t know. I didn’t suddenly added a vampire noble that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attached nicely to the adventurer without any of his effort like she really wanted to be his slave, nor I add more wolves as addition to ensure I can command animal without the proper skill so I can gain advantage and be above other players that start from same limitation. However, I don’t have to count these thought.
 

---

I look at Icy which seems against my attempt to use sword. Sure it strange. I also thought it is outside my field, but even I can only use two or three skill with it, different than proper class with bunch of sword skills, it will add more variation toward my character play style. I still play in close range combat, not different than when I use my fist. Also, I have learnt about this character limitation, and thus I know this class cannot do magic like usual magic class character. from what I have observed, there is no such thing as omnipotent character. Everyone start at the same ground. The difficulties in life often just a mere play from someone with power. I have seen those kind of scheme in real world, and so I wonder if Icy also changed because of that. Ah, I obviously cannot see what other people thinking, and so I can just guess. “I thought so, but I still want to play this built as backup. Because it seems I can’t use my usual punches and kicks skills when I equip this sword” I scratch my chin, and observe the stabbed sword in worry. This sword is heavy, it just barely noticed since with adventurer strength, lifting it was easy for me. When I release it and let it guided by gravity, of course it will be stabbed into the tender dirt. 

My attention shifted toward Icy again as he announces that he is about to performs his skills. He draws his blade, which suddenly shine as the sign that the skill will start. Icy then thrusts his sword to the air 4 times in 2 sec. “Oooooh” I clapped after he has done and shifts his eyes toward m. “Ok, let me try” I draw my sword, and then jump not so far from him. About enough distance from his side, facing the same direction as him. I point my sword forward, and then thrust it to the air 4 times, mimicking what Icy did. The sword swung slowly forward and backward, as each thrust need 2 sec to perform, makes it 8 sec in total. “Strange” I look at the sword in confusion, since I cannot perform similar as he was. “Let me try again” The sword is swung forward and backward again. I am sure I have made my effort to make it quicker, but I cannot past the 2 sec per attack limit. “Nyeh, it seems I cannot do as fast as you” I scratch my chin again. So it really is different for a class that not specialized in wielding the sword to perform similar move. I intrigued to try one of my attack skill that seems don’t have to use my fist or my leg to perform, but I safe that for later. “Can I see your other sword skill? Well, only if you don’t mind” I have been wondering if it is really because our class is different, (OOC : This is my character train of thoughts. He cannot suddenly understand each class is different in using sword) but I need to see it myself to understand. 

“Ah, we can take a rest for moment if you want” I take a sit on my previous spot, wondering if Icy will perform another move while I am watching from here, or he will also take a sit and enjoy casual chat, before continue training again. Now that I think about it, I didn’t buy anything to eat for time like this. I should take a look at the city more, and hunt for delicious foods. Although I still prefer handmade foods from other players, because it will sure delicious. I wonder if it was because the influences from real world, and so the foods made are vary. I can’t stop this thought about encountering a super spicy food like in real world somewhere if I search enough, but yeah I must hold myself since we are currently in training, and I wonder if Icy is the strict type teacher or friendly one. I just afraid if I say something wrong and then there will be a train of offenses coming and then I must answer with a train of defenses, and thus I trapped in this maze and cannot improve. My stomach grumbled. I want to ask Icy if he has bought those foods, but the atmosphere holds me to do so. I frowned at my sitting position, with the sword on my side, looking at Icy to see what will he decides. 

---

Words : 745

Tagged : Icyferno

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

In general, large, bulky swords were often meant to be wielded with two hands as the sheer weight of the weapon would make using it with one hand extremely difficult. The much heavier weight of the sword almost meant that it was more difficult to do stuff like parry, unless one were talking about the sleeker katana Samurais used. But for all the problems a big, heavy sword brought, the might of its swing far outclassed that of a lighter blade, which translated to a greater damage output. With the right enchantments, it could possibly match blades in the lighter categories in terms of speed.

The comment about wanting to use a sword as his backup was the most confusing thing the Monk said that day, even more so than the one about why he wanted to use a sword. Obviously, the game would not allow him to use his bare hands when equipping a sword. There was a reason why the most a Monk ever equipped was claws, since chains don't seem to count.

Thus came his slightly weary reply. "Equipping a sword is the same as 'equipping' your fists. You can't have both equipped at the same time."

..It was almost as if the Werecat had never played games before. He did not need to delve into MMORPGs to find single-player games which clearly did not allow one to equip two weapons in one hand.

Watching the Werecat Monk attempt to copy a Swashbuckler skill was almost strange in itself. For starters, the Monk clearly did not have the somewhat decent imitation of the Swashbuckler's 「Dart-Tack Target」, 「Sword Rain Flurry」. It was clear that the only move the Werecat had that was compatible with swords was the basic 「Auto Attack」. It was quite comparable to the first time he had tried swinging a sword, though a sword meant to be held in one hand would clearly be lighter than the sword the Monk carried. He did not say this out loud, but he assumed that the problem with the lack of speed would probably lie in the characteristics of the heavier sword the Monk wanted to wield. As mentioned earlier, the strength of a heavy sword lies not in the speed of its swings, but the power of its swings.

Lukav tried to copy the Swashbuckler's move and failed, which was within expectations. Physical skills were different from normal attacks in the sense that there were additional effects that came with the mana cost, such as having a chance to inflict a debuff on an opponent, or attacking at a rate much faster than originally possible. In this case, though, 「Dart-Tack Target」 was not all that different from his current attack speed, though he attributed that to the internal modifiers which allowed dual wielders to attack at a faster rate.

Of course, he said none of that out loud. He was never the type to trust people with his thoughts right off the bat. Also, there was no way to prove he was right, for even if he were to use a two-handed blade, he would incur penalties which would affect the results. As for someone who would incur penalties on both weapons like Lukav, he did not know whether the extent of the penalties were the same, or if they were even of the same type of penalty. It would be awkward if he were to say something now, only to be proven wrong later. So in the end, he said nothing about the matter, until Lukav asked him to show another skill and at the same time, invited him for a break. Was the Monk always this confusing? Also, it would not hurt to mention that if he left for the Windsor Greatwood already in need of a break, that would make for a poor outing. "I'm fine. There's no need for a break."

Icyferno's brow furrowed when he said that. While there are many Swashbuckler skills which required the use of swords, most of them often dealt in dealing debuffs and what nots, which was, in his opinion, not all that different from normal attacks.

Then it struck him. How could he forget? There was always 「Shuffle Windmill」. Making sure there was enough space around him, he activated the skill, spinning on the spot four times in the span of two minutes. It was a simple skill which basically amounted to spinning, but in terms of the number of hits, it was eight hits in two seconds thanks to him wielding two swords. Welp, he was stumped when it came to figuring out what Lukav was thinking. It was like trying to figure out the next digit in π after 100 digits. He was already leaning towards "running the hell away from here", but was still in the process of figuring out the exact way to go about achieving that.

~

Word count: 814
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 702 + 746 + 1280 + 1628 = 4356
Notes: Aaaand already no more ideas. Also, I have no idea what was going on in your last post.
Tags: lukavminaev

[lukavminaev]

Well, this is the usual responses when I am about to socialize. So, I am fine with it. I can get hurt. I am human, unlike some individuals. I just frown when I try to figure out the way of Icy thinking, like why his opinion degraded every time he is about to response on my actions. Did I do something wrong? I admit, I have met many individuals which rather different than usual ‘normal’ standard. I choose to get along with them, and avoid any topic that somewhat contradicts with major agreement. It does like I am walking on the side line, looking at the scenery where people usually avoid it, plunge myself in it, then I come out saying ‘see, this is what will happen if you plunge in it’ and clean myself before going back to the line. That’s how I can answer most of the questions, since I ‘experience’ it. I thought I cannot say anything since me myself have no experiences in MMO before elder tale, as I have stated before. Wait, that might be the time before I meet Icy, and that time I’ve talked to someone else. So, that maybe why Icy expect my character knowing about game’s rule overall. I think, we must chat about this sometimes. 

I am surprised when Icy talks about how to equip weapon. Now that I think about it, this fist is too good for me. I seriously never think anyone would get jealous over my punching power. Then after Icy finished stating about the punching power, I grip my right wrist with my left hand, trying to remove it in attempt to switch with the sword, while mumbling “Really? I thought everyone get same punching power in bare hand. I usually depend on my offensive skills and self buff to increase my damage output” while I am still looking at my right fist. This is hard, I cannot get it off, and so I’ve come to the idea that Icy was teasing me. Well, that one hard teasing actions. If I have my job like I was in real life, and someone teasing me like that, I will just go back doing my job and abandon it for a while, since socializing is mostly intended for fun, not adding more stress. With that in mind, I decide to play along “I cannot forge my hands to get effect you know” I switch my gaze toward Icy and quickly looking back at my hands before he notices. “Well, I am not surprised if for some reason there is an actual mastery that increase my bare fist attack power by 25% mwahahaha” that was pretty much what I can think about it. I am here, as player in Elder Tale, don’t know very much about general rule, and I walk based on what already written, while knowing mostly what can I touch and what I cannot based on other sources. However, there is always flaw in everything, moreover if someone meant to search it, and that individual is pretty good at making up words with has no intention to pay attention on the facts. That ability should directed for doing something good rather than to torture people. The term of ‘freedom within limit, without feeling of limitation’ is there for people with positive thinking. That also part of how I can carve my background like that. Seeing me in the past, it was like I can see the end of rainbow. 

I am still with my sword when Icy demonstrating another of his offensive skill. He swings his blades in circle on the spot, turning out like some dances I have know of. I will guess that he has performed eight slashes, if I don’t see that he has been in dual wielding swords since before. The swords swing cleanly, as if the wielder himself has trained for long times. That will be the convenience of skills, I’ve sensed it since the first time I punched the boar. It does guide the body, and locks it to stated animation. It just doesn’t give too much noticeable feeling for someone who has trained in real world. Well, I myself don’t know how far it affects, and so I just read the skill description if it states the way it animates. So, I am clapping again when Icy finishes his second move. “My turn” as I said that, I move toward a place, not far from where we have been before, about twice or thrice of my sword’s reach. I position the sword horizontally in front of me, and then swing it in circle, slooooooowlyy. Then, after a while, I finished my eight circled moves. Eh… did I overdoing it? I scratch my head and grumbled. “Yeah, it looks like I can’t get past everyone which specializing in sword” it is shame that I cannot mimic that awesome guy in the past. Experimenting like this, reminds me that with my current character now, I meant more to forge than to wield. “But you know” I grin, “I still want to use this sword. Even with all those limitation” with compatible skill to provide, “I thought it will be good for testing my new creation in the wild”  

I put my sword back in my inventory and walk to Icy. “Thank you for demonstrations, I meant it, nyahahaha” I offer my hand for handshake regardless if it is accepted or not. “So, where do you want to go after this?” that was just a pick up lines. I thought, whether Icy decides to go or not, he can lets out anything in his mind. I am not about to eat or to do any sort of things, even sometimes my face giving the vibe of different meaning. I am aware of it, and secretly want someone to notices and understand what I truly meant. “Me? Well, I think I will wait here a bit longer in case someone actually picks up the request. They will disappoint if they come and cannot find me” 

---

Words : 1012

notes : ^^ yeah, I also kind of getting limited resource to answer and thus I have tried to create few opening on what your character can do in case for some reason you cannot express yourself fully here
tagged : Icyferno