Graded [Ryken City] - Stones and Pulp

[NeramoDJI]

Sage looked towards the beast, having been wary when he saw the mist creatures running away, holding his mattock close while looking at the car sized beast, realizing this would be a very difficult fight. He saw the blood in the beasts jaws, realizing this was a rather traveled beast most likely, as it doesn't get that big without a few kills and deaths on it's hands. However, he was confident they could fight off the beast, if they were lucky, even kill it. Bringing that back to the guild would be worth quite a bit of reputation, at least, for a low level adventurer for himself. So, steeling himself, he kept his eyes on the beast, battle being more of an instinct for him than something he was really trained for.

"Does anyone know what it is? L-Like, books ow stuff?" He asked, trying to see if anyone had information on it, since information was power in this sort of situation. Knowing the tendencies and behavior of beasts was a good method to know how to counter it, though thinking confidently was difficult when he was staring into those red hellish eyes. He slowly flapped his wings in place, his wings lightly reflecting the moonlight as he looked towards the giant beast.

"S-Stay behind me miss sophie, I'll pwotect you." He said, thinking sophie wouldn't be that good of a fighter from how she appeared, though that was ironic coming from him. "You think we can beat it?" He asked michael, wanting to get a general consensus of his teams thought process. He wasn't very smart in general, but when it came to battle he had a good head on his shoulders.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia glanced from the fairy to the monster. She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she watched the fairy swing the mattock. "Use the pick if its hide is thick, but other than that the wider end is going to be better for the job at hand." She scooched back, her eyes still looking over the monster as the girl did her best to try and pick anything up about the monster with her appraisal skill in order to answer her guardian's question.

 

[Novama]

Time: 7:01 pm
Weather: freezing, slight breeze, cloudy with cold fog
Mentions: @Zankoku NeramoDJI Silent Angel @Koyayako
OOC: First up. Will have to narrate michael and the beast together so flow of combat may feel a little weird.
Post Listenings:

South of Ryken

Michael​

Michael's jaw clenched as tightly as his fingers on the hilts of his blades. The beast gave off an air of malicious intelligence. Unlike some stupid goblin or random magical beast, this creature's eyes looked right at them, pierced through what they were and Michael could swear the beast smiled at them. It was the sort of nightmare scene that Michael was nearly completed arrested by encroaching fears and anxieties he never knew in the previous world. He unconsciously took a step back, bumping into a stack of camp supplies and knocking them over. The noise broke him from his trance like the pop gun at the beginning of a track race. As if he was there the whole time and not 1000 miles away in his mind, Michael roared as he moved forward in an instant,

"Protect the camp! Don't let the fire go out or leave its light!"

The Beast lumbered toward the camp and Michael who was in the lead. It wasn't close enough to Appraise but the stats it likely had made it too high a level for Michael or the camp to Appraise anyway. The way the beast moved, however, was odd. There was a certain natural gait to an animal or person that seemed right and felt smooth when you watched it. An example would be the steady beat and relatively even gallop of a horse that propelled it forward while reducing drag and unnecessary motion that would throw off the run. This beast, however, was all over the place. As it moved toward the camp, its head bobbed up, down, left, right and the back end similarly shifted around, not inline with the front at all. It was like watching a human man walking on all fours and making a mess of it. The wings of the creature beat in a similarly uneven pattern and independent of each other as stabilizers for the creature's awkward movements.

Michael was a small and agile fighter compared to the hulking size of the creature barreling down on him. Rather than attempting to take the charge of the creature head on, he dashed forward and to the side of the approaching monster to the edge of the camp light. Rather than lunging for Michael and the camp at the same time, the beast was forced to suddenly change direction enough to cut some of its built up momentum, what momentum there was, and lunge at Michael from the side with claws and jaws snapping at the human wildly.

With his life flashing before his eyes, Michael noted a few things that were overpowering to the sense and demanded his attention. First thing was the creature smelled absolutely filthy. It was unnaturally smelly, but he noted something else that lent itself to the smell: half the creatures body seemed to be victim to some severe burns. Patches of fur were missing and revealing raw or cauterized flesh. Other areas just had burnt fur. Was unclear which parts smelled worse, but it was safe to say the creature was not going to smell appetizing on a spit. He then realized he would not be able to dodge the creature.

The monster's odd way of moving threw Michael's perceptions off. He didn't think it was moving particularly fast or efficiently, but the creature's size and power more than made up for what it lacked in grace. Its agility was greater than Michael's. Michael didn't even have time to curse as he was forced to mount a desperate counter.

"Blender!"

Just before the beast's claws and teeth could dig into the adventurer's soft tissue, Michael became a blur of speed and blade. His weapons faintly glowed blue in the moonlight as he spun like a top with his weapons. When the beast came into contact with the spinning Michael, it was forcefully repelled as was Michael. The pair violently shot apart with mithril shrapnel flying in all directions as Michael's blades broke as a consequence of using the advanced technique on a creature with hardy defenses. The result was a panting and slightly winded Michael crouching on one knee some yards away from the camp fire. His swords were now unevenly broken stumps of mithril attached to the warped hilts. In the dim light, it looked like Michael may have received some cuts on his face from his swords bursting. The beast was sent in the opposite direction away from the camp. Faint scraps of blue stuck out of the creature's body in the areas that were burnt and less protected by the matted hide of the beast. Its wings were also peppered with holes from where shrapnel pierced the wings.

The already injured beast was now even more injured, no matter how slight, and it looked at the camp differently. It's facial expression was still a grotesque snarl, but there was a sense it was less confident in its odds of taking the camp. Perhaps that was just a hope of those in the camp, though. The beast rose to its feet, but didn't immediately make a move as it loomed at the edge of the camp.

 

[NeramoDJI]

Sage's eyes scanned the battlefield around them, trying to think of things to do, before he heard the command to not leave the light, nodding, though it was likely too small to actually see with focus on the monster. He saw the charge coming, and got an idea, moving towards where he believed it would be landing, planting the mattock down in the ground with a kick to try and spike it on it's way towards it, fluttering back to the cart and grabbing another mattock, before getting another idea, fluttering to the fire and putting the mattock tip over the flame, trying to heat it to the point it would glow. While he let that sit there, he grabbed the one he left in front of the beast before, looking towards it, hoping it would dive towards him, thinking he could put the mattock between it's jaws when it tried, his eyes not leaving the beast the entire time.

"Those jagged movements mean it can't be that coordinated, maybe an attack on two sides might get it." He recommended, thinking the beast must not be able to be very dexterous with those jagged movements and shaky steps. "He probably won't be able to focus on you and hit me at the same time." He said, trying to coordinate the attack on the beast. "I can try to light a torch and use that on it since it doesn't like fire." He offered, still looking for potential strategies to use.

He didn't have any techniques of his own like Michael did, but he did have quick thinking as a good tool of his own, and he was rushing through any ideas he could on how to beat the monster, though things were slowly becoming more and more clear on how to beat the beast with watching it's movements and attempts at attacking them.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith
The spider girl glanced at Michael before glancing back to the monster. She hadn't noticed the thing be afraid of their fire, since after all it's still was attacking them and didn't seem to be shying away from it, but she shrugged. Maybe he knew more about it than her. She cupped her hands, blowing into the fire, causing it to flare up more and more with each breath. She glanced at the fairy sticking a mattock into the fire and mentally crossed her fingers that it wouldn't light the haft up.

She heard the grating sound of swords shattering and looked over, eyebrows raised. She saw the man's swords completely shattered, causing her eyes to widen further. She stood up, pushing herself away from the fire and towards the cart, where she grabbed a mattock. "Hey, catch!" She tossed the tool towards Michael, knowing it wouldn't be as familiar in his hands, but it was better than the shattered swords.

 

[Novama]

Time: 7:01 pm
Weather: freezing, slight breeze, cloudy with cold fog
Mentions: @Zankoku NeramoDJI Silent Angel @Koyayako
OOC: It's all up to Sophia and Sage now
TLDR: Michael collected himself and the mattock thrown to him. Agreeing to Sage's plan of attacking it from both sides, Michael initiated with drawing the beasts attention again and going in for an attack in hopes he would be backed up by sage and/or sophia. If the party fails to severely injure the beast here, the fate of the group will rest in the monster's claws.
Post Listenings:

South of Ryken

Michael​

Michael was still taking a knew while Sage was scheming and Sophia was throwing tools around. Michael wasn't in the mood. His mind was still racing with the thought he nearly died. He had made a mistake. He underestimated the beast and allowed its sloppy movements and behavior to throw him off his game.You never underestimated the opponent. Never. You always assumed they were training just as hard and would go even hard than you. The best you could ever hope for was geting a tie and that was assuming you did better than your previous best. That was how it used to be. That's how it should be. Despite not being a full-fledged adventurer and having his mistakes forgiven for being a rookie, Michael visibly shivered at the thought that his failure just now could have meant the death of anyone in the party including himself. He was still breathing though. Michael would need to snap out of it if he wished to keep breathing.

"I nearly died a moment ago! I can't use my best skills anymore either. Any chance we have to kill this thing will come down to us following through with your plan and hoping it has been weakened enough. Aim for its exposed flesh. The monster was injured already by something!"

Michael called to Sage as he rose to his feet, he had already caught his breath and moved to the mattock that he picked up. Everything about the tool was off to Michael. While he had the strength to carry it, he did not have the means to bring out the true potential of the weapon nor could he use it with his sword arts. The length was wrong, the blades too small, the grip too big, the weight was off, and he only had the one on hand. Holding the wooden haft of the weapon in both hands, the weight was heavy on the hammer side of the tool. He shifted it around a bit in the air as he got a feel for it, his eyes never truly leaving the beast that was gathering its senses and making a call on what to do next. Its wicked smile homed in on Michael who was wounded, winded, and already defeated once. Between the camp and Michael who stood at the dimly lit outskirts, it was an obvious choice for where to begin weakening the defenses.

Michael swallowed hard. His mouth was dry except for a faint taste of blood. His hands held the unfamiliar weapon tightly as his whole body, aching and bruised tensed to meet the oncoming attack of the beast charging toward him for a 2nd time. It never occured to Michael to run away. He no doubt could, but there were some moral and realistic problems with the idea even had he considered it. Adrenaline pumping and heart racing, Michael tried to focus on the plan and activating his skills as he learned how to when he came to world.

To activate a skill there were a couple options, but in Michael's case in that moment, he had to do the Active method. He had to actively focus his mind on the skills he wished to activate. The mental exercise of channeling thoughts was not unlike what wizards had to do to work with their mana. This particular method was like a precursor to channeling mana. It caused the body to take on a heightened state that prepped it for whatever skill was being activated. In the case of casters, it made the body ready to channel mana. In the case of Michael in that moment, it made his body ready to perform the maneuvers he had in mind to get in close to the beast to take his shot. He would not likely survive another attack from the creature unless it was sufficiently weaker, so the best defense was a stronger offense where he and Sage would attack it first. To attack it first, Michael would need to do something unexpected since the beast already had him in its sights as it barreled at him in its awkward way.

Placing all his trust in strangers and committing himself to action so he would not cower nor stagnate in his walk to survive this world, he would force his body to do all it could, taxed as it was from his prior use of [Blender]. Activating his [Fast] skill first he would dash forward to meet the beast. Muddy, snowy earth was kicked up in the wake of the sudden take off. It was a miracle Michael didn't slip and fall right there. He then immediately activated [Jump] causing the muscles in his legs to suddenly increase in tension and explode out, propelling him into the air. Both times his body fought him on the activations and prevented him from using them at their strongest grade. His body wasn't ready. With both hands on the mattock and the mattock being dragged through the air behind him as his body was sent hurtling some 30ft while being about 10ft off the ground, he was on a crash course with the beast, his attack would end in the maw of an expectant monster with bloody claws and jaw ready for Michael's arrival. His fate would be sealed, his attack would be ineffective, and the party would likely be doomed. Or it would have been had that been the extent of Michael's plan. His jump attack was more predictable and less powerful than his first, a rouse he concocted to insight the beast to hold its ground and ready a counter move. In this way, the beasts attention was focused on Michael and waiting on Michael to behave in a very particular way. This was the opening Sage would need to seize with Michael if he could.

"Reverse Corkscrew Mattock Special!"

Michael yelled as he neared his final destination mid-air. HIs thoughts focused more easily with the words and his body reacted to active the skills in a chain. Joining [Fast] and [Jump] was [Fancy Falling Special Movement] which turned the air, itself, into a medium on which Michael could briefly and somewhat effectively maneuver on. At the same time [Wall Bouncing Special Movement] and [Acrobatics] came online. Michael's body began to twist and spin in mid-air seemingly without anything to push off of and the sudden and violent spin was fueled by the momentum of the lunge created by [fast] and [jump]. Like a curveball arcing through the air under the momentum of its own spin, Michael slipped past the waiting clutches of the winged monster and came in at a perpendicular angle to slam headlong into the more vulnerable and already wounded side of the beast, mattock first, with all the strength and energy he had built up to that point.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

The spider girl glanced around at anything she could do to help. She glanced to the mattocks, thinking about using one of those, but decided against it, knowing she didn't have the strength to be useful there. She kept searching before her eyes stopped on her tent. With a grumble, she raced over, grabbing it and pulling, dragging it off of the stakes in the ground. She spun, rushing forward and throwing the tar ridden cloth at the monster, hoping to get it caught and tangled in the fabric. As she did so, she glanced at the fairy, knowing he was going for the fire, and yelled, "Light up the tent!"

 

[NeramoDJI]

Sage saw the opening Michael provided at great cost to his own self, seizing his mattock from the flames and flying towards the beast, flying up a moment before spinning in the air to gain momentum, remaining silent so as to not alert the beast to his attack. He kept spinning before he swung the mattock towards the beasts open side, trying to match with Michael's strike to power through the wounded section, using the sharper more pointed edge of the mattock to reach deeper, hoping to strike some kind of vital organ of the beast, and if he couldn't, he had one last ditch effort in his head. However, as he was using the heated mattock that was in direct flame with it's metal head, he was also hoping it would ignite the tarp on the beast.

Sage knew usually his strength would likely only barely be enough to do considerable damage, so he hoped his spinning to gain momentum would be enough of an edge to sever the creatures spinal chord. Though, he knew if this attack failed, Michael was at great risk due to being the one the beast focused on, so he had desperately hoped this attack would work in order to prevent harm to his comrades.

"Spiwal Piecew!" He called out, trying to replicate Michael's own callout of the attack, though his own coolness factor was quite reduced by his speech impediment. "Go back fwom whence you came!"

 

[Novama]

Time: ???
Weather: freezing, slight breeze, clear
Mentions: @Zankoku NeramoDJI Silent Angel @Koyayako
OOC: Good job. we didn't have to play out what happened if we didn't all work together on that round.
TLDR: Capn it here
Post Listenings:

South of Ryken and Guild

Michael​

*Crunch*

The beast was sturdy, but it was already wounded. Its thick coat of fur and muscled body was mostly seared and flaking away on the wind in some spots. Sage and Michael's attacks collided in the general area of the creature's lower torso at the same time. The ribs audibly crunched and the blade portion of the mattocks slipped in just enough to do a little bleeding damage. The monster violently twisted and vomited blood. The tent that was thrown over top the beast also caught on fire by the flammable materials that coated it by the heat imbued into Sage's mattock. The monster violently bucked around as its fur and flesh burned and it coughed up more blood as it tried to catch its breath. The confident glares and snarls turned into yelps and howls of pain. The fairy and Michael were forced back the violent thrashing of the beast. It did not know 'stop, drop, and roll'

Some minutes later, a severely weakened and badly burnt beast collapsed into the icy bank not from from the camp. It fouled the air with its stench and looked equally hideous as pieces of charred flesh fell away into black flakes that were caught in the wind. It twitched and weakly whimpered as the last of the flames were nothing but dying embers in its fur. It's wings were burnt the worst, being nothing but broken and charred bone that could no longer be used to stabilize the beast. Short of its toothy maw, the beast didn't seem like a threat anymore to Michael who had stood back and watched anxiously.

Appraisal revealed nothing on the creature to Michael. It was clearly stronger than any of the party, but how strong and what it was would remain a mystery. When the animal finally succumbed to its wounds and seemingly died, Michael appraised it again. While he was able to appraise it this time, he did not get the creature and its statistics, but the parts of the beast. Unfortunately, the flame and prior battle scars made the monster damaged goods at best. There was little to harvest of any value and what value there was would be further reduced during transport. At best, they were able to harvest a trophy that clearly indicated their encounter and victory of the beast of the adventurer's guild.

Wrapping what they kept and burrying the rest in snow, the party was able to finish their rest that evening with the smell and grizzly events prior put to rest. The next day was sunny and clear although still cold. They quickly found the field iron and gathered what they needed. Some shenanigans ensued where the two men did their best to duplicate their abilities on the stone with the mattocks to see if they could similarly break the rock apart more easily. They instead narrowly missed each other and shaved some years off sophia's lifespan. Her tools were never so poorly treated.

Stones acquired, the party departed the fields to the south of Ryken to return to the city and the guild. The journey was slower going with a much fuller and more heavy kart, but nothing waylaid them for what looked like a pile of rocks. At the guild, the party was able to drop off the ore supply in the station Sophia would be using to smith guild supplies. It was an easy assignment and the 3 fulfilled it by the book. The guild clerk smiled at them warmly as she informed them of their job well-done. She then informed the party of each of their evaluations after appraising the stones and getting a report from Sophia. It was during the discussion that Michael revealed the wrapped skull of the monster they slew. The guild girl and the appraiser she called in had never seen the like. Taking their statements of the incident, they offered the party additional rewards, and offered to give the two adventurers higher placements than F. So marked the beginning of the trio's guild careers.

 

[Novama]

Isekai Hell RP Grade
​

Rp was a simple one with some market place time and character to character banter. The rp was then capped off with a combat that was short and to the point. The only disappointing part was the flakes that were left behind on the way.

Aftermath
Michael and Sage became adventurers of the Ryken Adventurer's guild. Despite their fresh join, both were acknowledged as being above average when it came to being new recruits. Both showed extreme promise. What's more, the guild became aware of Michael's suspicious number of skills. They would have eyes on him for the future as individuals with above average numbers of skills in diverse areas typically meant an abnormality. All broken gear was fixed and lost health was restored unless rp'er wishes it otherwise. Sophia's tent was completely destroyed however and will need removed from item list unless replaced.

Rewards
Novama - 48 points (bonus for narrating applied) - optional title acquired [Ryken Adventurer E] - character is an adventurer of the ryken adventurer guild. known for being proficient in a number of terrains including water, Ryken adventurers tend to be diverse and capable. E grade means the character has shown promise for the life and is no longer required to participate in basic trainings or mundane odd jobs. While they still have a ways to go, they at least know the basics now.

Sage - 20 points - optional title acquired [Ryken Adventurer E] - character is an adventurer of the ryken adventurer guild. known for being proficient in a number of terrains including water, Ryken adventurers tend to be diverse and capable. E grade means the character has shown promise for the life and is no longer required to participate in basic trainings or mundane odd jobs. While they still have a ways to go, they at least know the basics now.

Sophia - 18 points - optional title acquired [Ryken Adventuring Artisan] - Unlike the pure crafters that spend all their hours in busy merchant guild halls and similar establishments, the character is a crafter tough enough to venture into the outside world. They can guarantee the quality of their products and their source, as well as seek out the more precious materials themselves if need be. Typically employed by the Adventurer's faction rather than Merchants, they are a source of contention between the factions of Ryke.