I had a lot of fun writing this towards the end, at least with the combat scenes. I was fulling planning to go through with Asasaki's desires, but when I started writing it just came out a different way. More notes regarding some reflection at the end.
A groan emanated from my throat when I woke. In the process of dealing with the botched tapestry of life last night, I had forgotten to move into the stables. My health was hovering around 60% and I had a status effect labeled «Hypothermia: Light». "Yup. Real proud," I mumbled, letting out a slew of half formed curses and grumbles as I stretched out the kinks in my body.
I picked up my sword, sending it back into my inventory before starting off on a few laps around the hamlet. My clock interface, located underneath my map window on my upper left, informed me it was around 5:50. The sky was slowly changing from purple and black, the artificial light simulating morning twilight.
"Didn't I threaten people yesterday?" I flicked open my menu, tapping over to the «Friends» section. During our meals I had gone through the process of adding everybody to my list, familiarizing myself with that aspect of the interface. Deciding it would be best to start off with Klein, I activated the «Track» function, walking towards the inverted yellow triangle over the hay filled room we were sharing with Choryu.
I knelt beside Mr. Scuffles, wondering how I should go about waking him up. Deciding that kicking him awake would be cruel and unusual, I settled for covering his nose and mouth with a hand.
"Morning, Sleepy head!" I waved cheerfully when he shot up, using the smile as a cover for the toothy grin I wanted to show. "Bright new day! Goblins to kill, Boars to run away from, Plants to harvest. Go get the others ready, okay?" I tapped his forehead, standing up.
"Is this going to be a daily occurrence?" He asked groggily.
"If we have a late night, I'll be sure to give you at least seven hours of sleep, maybe three or four if we're busy with something." I waved once more as I left, heading into the «Charbroiled Boar».
"Mornin'. It's a little surprising seeing somebody from the «Town» getting up so early." I looked over at the NPC running the pub, returning his greeting.
"It's best if we have an early start to the day. There's only so much light we can work with," I explained, pulling out eight «Boar Meat». "Is there anything you could do with these?" I handed one of the sacks over, wondering if all unworked items would appear as bags.
"Mm, yes. I can cook these up for you, for a slight cost. Cheaper than buying them outright, of course." I handed over the stated cor, asking that he hold off on cooking them until at least four others arrived.
"It's official. Little miss ninja-developer is also a masochist." Issin waved with his other hand as he covered a yawn, resting his head on the table when he got to his seat.
"Little miss ninja is also helping provide for breakfast this morning, so be nice," I countered, telling him to make sure he ordered something on the side. "Sleep well?"
"About as well as I could sleeping on hay. What I'd do for a nice memory foam mattress."
"I think quilted straw is about the best you'll get around here. Remember that at its core this is still a medieval based world, so finding something like that will probably have to be player made." I sipped at my water, eyeing the door for the others to arrive.
"Then I'll figure out what skills I need to create that bed! I'll save up enough money to buy a house and make all the furniture as comfortable as possible!" Issin raised a fist in the air, riding on the emotional high of his dream.
"When you do, remember to sell me stuff at a discount for giving you the spark to invent that." The two of us shared a smile, greeting Kunimittz and Dynamm when they entered.
"Asasaki, you're a sadist." I rested my head on my hand, eyes curling with glee as I met Kunimittz' gaze.
"I'm not the one that woke you up, though. Plus, even if this is virtual reality, you should still treat it like the real thing. Which means waking with the sun!" I flashed a V sign, grinning.
"Which means sleeping until two hours before I need to leave for something," Issin countered.
"And I need you at the crack of dawn. It's not like I can take blows, after all. Somebody has to be the decoy." I nudged Issin with a foot, grin turning true as I surrounded myself in the camaraderie.
"Gee, how charming. You must be a riot at parties."
"Don't be too upset, Kuni. I'll make sure to split the drops fairly. And if I get some extra cash on the side, I'll help chip in for supplies." I waved his concerns off, taking another sip. "What about you, Dynamm? Have anything to add?"
"I'm treating you like an annoying employee that I have to cover for after working night shift. I hate you with all my heart and am waiting for you to screw up somewhere so I can report you to my supervisor and get you fired."
I pressed my knuckles to my mouth, holding in my laughter. "What if I said I was good at getting people to sign up for our rewards program?"
"I'd still be irritated with you." He turned his head to face back down, resting on his arms.
"I promise I'll make it up to you," I assauged, opening my menu to make a note about it.
"Consider the favor paid if we get at least two of us outfitted with enhanced gear." I looked up at Klein, the «Curved Sword» user yawning as he sat down, Choryu taking seat across from him. "Harry and I were thinking that we'll save the leather collection to do as a group. It might take relatively longer, but we can rotate people to deal with the «Livid Boars»."
"So who should take care of which quest first?" Issin raised his head, propping it on both hands.
"I was talking it over with Harry, and we're thinking that my group should head off into the «Wandering Woods». I can level up my «Searching» skill that way while you guys grind the «Vernal Mandragora». When we finish or it starts getting close to noon, we'll meet up back here for lunch and head off to take care of the «Livid Boars» as a group. After that we'll either take a break for the remainder of the day, probably sparring or practicing our sword skills. It might be too late go head out and finish off the collection and tracking quests." Dale and Harry walked in as Klein spoke, taking the last two seats.
"Doing it the other way around wouldn't be a bad idea either, but if Klein's group does the tracking portion first, he can start leveling up his skill today as opposed to later on." I waved at the owner as Harry spoke, giving a grateful nod when he moved over to the grill to start cooking.
"Let me know if you notice anything while you're using that skill. Might help me out tomorrow when it's my turn to hunt." I placed an order for the usual tea, remembering to ask the chef to try out the «Lily Petal Fragments» later today.
Little conversation happened during breakfast. Apparently while Klein and I were having our conversation last night, the others had pooled their gold together to buy potions. When Harry and Dale started passed them out, I handed two potions of my own over to my secondary damage soaker.
"Happy hunting, guys." Klein's party headed off first, the rest of my group deciding to try out the tea I had been constantly ordering.
"Eugh, wow. You were not joking about that bitter thing." Issin made a face, recoiling away. I took a sip, motioning my cup towards him.
"Should smell it. Not sure if it'll help the taste, but if nothing else it's a nice way to relax." The three of them took a sniff, expressing some form of bewilderment before inhaling once more.
"I don't know if I'd get it all the time, but I certainly see why you like it. What I'd do for a nice cup of coffee though." Harry stared at his drink, swirling it around.
"Coffee sounds great right about now. Think we'll be able to find it on one of the upper floors?" Issin took another sip, eyeing the cup longingly.
"I wouldn't be surprised. There's 100 floors here. There's bound to be at least two or three unique items for each one." I downed my cup, looking through my quest log. "You know, it looks like I only need three more «Mandragora Fronds». I'm one over for the other two items."
"We'll see what we need to do after our first hunt then. We need to check the spawn rate anyway. We only hit up that location twice after all." Harry stood up, equipping all his gear. "I'll meet you guys on the trail."
"It'll be nice once I hit level six today. I think I'll get the «Guard» skill next." Dale closed out of his menu, adjusting the straps of his sword.
"Weren't you planning on getting «Battle Healing» too?" Issin asked, downing the rest of his tea.
"Yeah. But since we have to level it up while our hp is in the red, I think I'd be better off trying to raise my defensive abilities first." The two started heading out after moving the other tables back to their original spots. "Plus, if I'm going to be on the front lines I can get started on leveling the skill up."
I materialized a handful of cor from my pouch, clinking them on the table as I left. I wasn't sure how the NPC's would handle tips, but I imagined that at least this far away from urbanized areas they wouldn't take too much offense.
"Same strategy as last time then? I take care of a mandrake and then we pile on whatever remains?" We stopped a few feet away from the clearing, Harry having gone to take a peek at what lay ahead.
"If that's what they end up as, probably. What took you so long, anyway?" Issin leaned towards me, fists resting on his waist.
"I got distracted by nature," I said, growly quietly at Issin's disbelieving look. "I like my walks, okay? My family would go camping every couple of weeks when I was a child."
"Sounds pretty nice. And I think I can understand a little bit about why you go for killing blows. I'm guessing you probably did actual hunting?" Dale turned to look at me, uncrossing his arms.
"Mhm. Sometimes I'd do simple noose or rock traps, hunting with a bow and arrow, experimented with a sling and slingshots. Once I grew older I started using a hunting rifle. You learned to make your shots count after the first few times you had to mercy kill your target." I pulled down on my tunic, smoothing out some of the wrinkles.
"Change of plans. There's only two «Vernal Mandragora» this time around. Asasaki, work with Dale to take down the one on the left. Issin, we'll pull ours to the northern half of the clearing. Remember to keep their attention opposite each other. Wouldn't want them to take pot shots at the other group." Harry drew his sword, keeping it pointed downward as he led us to our marks.
"I guess I'll follow up on your lead," I told Dale. Even though I've been with this party for a day or two, I had relatively little experience team fighting with them.
"I'll be tanking it's leaf barrage attack. It's capable of attacking all those nearby with its roots, not just a single person, so keep an eye out for that. Oh right, you'll need to be farther away than me in order for me to get the targeting. If you end up being targeted, remember to run away from me so I can move in to attack safely."
I sounded off, mockingly saluting him.
"We'll be going in first. Good luck, guys." Harry and Issin broke off, circling around the clearing to the north side. They took a page out of my book, Issin using a few rocks to drag their «Mandragora» over to them.
"Looks like that's our cue. I'll be right behind you." I drew my sword, shifting from foot to foot.
"Start off with a few rocks to grab its attention before its moves over to Harry." Dale started moving up, sword held before him with both hands.
"No problem." I knelt down and scooped up a few pebbles, flinging them between the mandrake's eye folds. For a blunt, improvised weapon, I counted the 3% damage they dealt each as a critical hit.
"I'm starting to think Issin's right about you being a developer. You're too good at this!" Dale charged in, screaming a war cry. The purplish-red and green plant bent back, revealing a gaping maw of darkness. The plant leaned forward, bud unfurling to reveal a core of light that was charging up.
"Just think of them like humans! If it'd hurt you, it'd probably hurt them!" I split off to the right, mirroring Dale's advance. A series of rings shot out from the plant's head, pulsating as they traveled. I drove my blade through its upper arm, redirecting the momentum to circle into a slice on its torso before running away.
The creature slowly righted itself, a single line of disturbed earth burrowing towards me. I dodged the piercing root with a backstep, slicing through it as I dashed forward. As I ran up its body, twisting to jam my sword into its right "eye", I couldn't help but wonder exactly what it would do if it ever managed to catch me in its roots. Likely it would squeeze me or scratch me up. Worst case scenario, it would slowly damage me while it prepared for a ranged attack.
I kicked off its face, rolling on my right shoulder as I landed to create some more distance. When I fixed my orientation, I watched as Dale braced his sword in front of him, wincing in preparation for the stream of leaves.
When the «Mandragora» started to unwind, I ran back in, taking a knee and bracing my sword to let its spinning motion do the work of driving my blade through its leafy kilt. When it's attack stopped, I pulled myself up using one of the petals as a handhold, stabbing my blade through its other eye.
"Incoming!" I looked around for the attack, realizing I wouldn't be able to evade the plant's right arm.
I withdrew my weapon, flinging it away to prevent accidental damage when I landed. Something in my mind clicked as I flew through the air. I knew how to perform a kip up, but I wasn't sure if I could ordinarily do what my body was commanding me to do. I curled mid-air, arms coiling as I landed head first and launching me back onto my feet. "Unarmed!" I yelled, noticing that I had lost only 7% of my hp, a stark contrast to the 30% I had taken last time around..
"Roots!" True to Dale's call, a single tuber started making its way towards me. Without a weapon, all I could do was dodge and try to reclaim my sword.
Oddly, it seemed that if I didn't stand still and dodge during that brief moment between its stopping and appearance, it would continue to follow me. "How annoying," I hissed, cutting it as it shot out of the earth. The sound something heavy slamming into the ground reached my ears. When I looked behind, I realized that the «Vernal Mandragora» was preparing for an enhanced root attack
I dodged each one with a side step, slashing through the three of them with a «Rage Spike». "You are seriously starting to bore me," I turned my attention back to the mandrake, firing off a «Sonic Leap». The attack landed on the very bottom of my spin, my momentum throwing me past it. "Leaf barrage this, root attack that, arm grab here, screech attack there. Show some variance, damn you!"
In the corner of my vision I saw Dale's health dip a significant amount. After recovering from the «Post Motion» I discovered that he had blocked a leaf blade attack from the right arm. I personally felt that he should have dodged, but I supposed he didn't have the numbers to do that safely.
I took a quick breath, waiting for the root attack to start before running back in. I dashed left, orbiting with the creature's turn to slice off its arm. The frond it was holding slunk into the ground, derezzing after a few moments.
I pulled myself back on it, jamming my sword into its stalk. Idly, I heard Dale suggest that I get off, but I ignored it in favor of wriggling my blade around. When its body started twitching, I kicked off, moving behind my partner.
"Looks like we only have 20% to go," I said, minimizing my profile when the plant uncoiled. "Shouldn't you try and dodge at least some of it? Better than taking," I shot out, angling to leap onto its face, "all of the leaves, isn't it?!" I stuck my blade into its right eye fold, changing my grip to wrench it upwards as I pushed off. As I soared through the air, I watched Dale unleash a «Vertical» and «Slant» along its body and dress, backing cautiously after the attacks landed.
The «Mandragora» flumped back onto the ground, releasing a trio of roots each at Dale and I. Our combined attacks on our respective roots left the plant with a sliver of health left, something I took care with another «Sonic Leap», leaning back when I started it to make it a linear attack instead of spiraling.
"Few more hits on theirs and we're good!" Dale charged past me, unleashing a «Rage Spike». I added my own, feeling a sense of glee when Issin landed his attack around the same time as me.
"Is it just me or did that seem a little harder than our previous attempts?" Harry asked once the sound of pixelating data faded.
"I feel like its attack pattern changed a little bit. It might be because we had two dedicated fighters this time instead of having somebody swap out, that or it's a special case for them spawning in a group of two as opposed to three." Dale chugged down a potion, looking in his upper left anxiously.
"We got a lot of materials from that," I mumbled, looking through my after action screen. I separated the excess materials into my third box, wondering if all monsters would drop items relevant to the attacked locations.
"What's up?" Issin stepped closer towards me, exiting out of his own windows.
"I got a lot of materials out of that. Two «Vernal Fruit», three «Fronds», and six or so «Bitter Roots», and that's after topping off my own requirements." I contemplated materializing the items to trade but decided against it, figuring that it would be safer to do it back at the hamlet.
"I'm about the same, aside from the «Bitter Roots». Guess that's something we should remember to tell Harry's group. Attacking the roots that sprout up give one «Bitter Root» for each on attacked." Dale hummed, looking over at Harry.
"I think we have enough items for everybody now. Do you guys wanna head over to the «Wandering Woods» and try to meet up with Klein's group?" Our shield user sent his empty vial to his inventory, tapping over to something else.
"If we do, I'll run ahead and try to find a goblin trail or two. Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to beat Klein's «Tracking» skill," I said with a smile.
"No offense, Asasaki, but I don't think you'll be able to beat something assisted by the System." Issin chuckled as he massaged my shoulders with his hands. "Then again, Little Miss Developer probably knows all the ways to get around the system because of real life. Gotta have as many references as possible, right?"
I grumbled and shrugged his hands off. "Get me a needle, a few spools of thread, some good cloth, and I'll show you beating the system. I'll have you know I made Halloween costumes for my younger cousins!" I pointed my sword in his direction, making sure my smile wasn't too threatening.
"I sent a message to Klein, letting him know that we're going to try and meet up with them ahead of time. You can go ahead if you want to, Asasaki." Harry had to speak up over Dale and Issin's chuckles, the latter being significantly more nervous about it.
"I'll let you know if I find anything useful. No promises on whether or not I'll let you guys in on the fun though." I headed off with a wave, moving into a light jog. The trip past the hamlet was quiet. The ambiance of the forest blended in with my foot falls, and I only realized how far I had gone when the text box «Wandering Woods» appeared in my vision.
#Tracking. Don't panic when I find you.# I opened up my «Friends List», summoning a marker on my map to guide me towards Klein. I slowed down my pace to a walk, keeping an eye out for any signs of travel. "You seem different," I muttered to myself, crouching down to look at a large footprint. The markings seemed like it was made from a fully covered foot, not just a cloth wrapped or bare appendage. I followed the trail, realizing that the boot was accompanied by three individual sets.
#Three goblins, with larger monster. Gathering info.# I closed out of my messaging system to Harry, pressing forward with caution. It was safe to assume that the higher quality gear was due to something stronger than normal goblins, if not a few levels higher than a goblinoid of another species.
The clearing came into view, and instead of seeing bipeds I found large winged insects easily dwarfing me, my full body barely equally the center of their thorax. "Shit." The trio of insects were level five, and I doubted that even a two handed sword block could fully stand up their charge.
I slowly backed away, hoping conditions were favorable. When their antennae started twitching, I knew I only had moments to react. "Fucking hell!" I jolted up and started sprinting, taking the shortest path towards what was probably my closest allies.
I dared not look behind, the sound of buzzing wings never far behind, not even for a moment. So long as I kept one foot in front of the other, eyes pulling me along the trail and body keeping myself from tripping over anything, I would probably survive. I put on another burst of speed when familiar labels appeared in my vision, drawing my blade as I slid past Klein. "Shields up! Swords ready! Wasps approaching!"
"What are you-" Klein looked from me to the following insects, struck dumb by shock for a moment before calling out orders. "Dynamm, Kunimittz, with me! Choryu, Asasaki, wait for us to get their attention before attacking!"
We moved into a loose fleur de lis formation, Klein in the front center with Dynamm on his left. "Block their attack, Rear, from the sides!" Our forwards raised their defenses, blocking the stingers as best as they could. In the brief moment I had before I acted, I saw their health dip at least 8%.
I danced around Kunimittz, bringing my sword up at the base of his «Giant Wasp's» stinger before reversing its momentum back down into a «Vertical». The raven haired male, pushing blue, shoved his opponent away before driving his weapon into its stinger with a stab. Those attacks alone took some 24% of its health away, but it seemed to be enough to drive the creature off.
With Klein, he had managed to deflect the flying insect's attack over him, landing a two handed «Slant» on its wings as it passed, dropping it to the ground and dealing an incredible 20% damage with the single strike. I instinctively followed up with a «Rage Spike» between the stumps of its wings, slicing another 16% off it.
"Stingers and Wings are its weak points!" Klein yelled. I didn't stop my assault, pulling out my blade as I performed a quick hop and drove my sword through its head with a «Stone Sheath». Its health plummeted to under 10%, and what remained was dribbling away slowly.
"How much you want to bet we can forge something from this?" I asked, hacking away at its stinger. I only got two hits in before it died, but I received a pop up that I had acquired three «Wasp Stinger Fragments» alongside 14 cor. When I stood back up I realized that Klein had moved over to Dynamm and Choryu, his face animated inquiring about their health.
"No, we're fine. I might need to chug a health pot before we deal with the boars, but my defenses held up." Dynamm sheathed his weapons, offering a hand to help our lone «Dagger» user up.
"Where'd those come from, anyway?" It took me a moment to realize Klein was probably talking to me.
"One of the clearings I was investigating had them sitting there. They sensed me somehow and I ran to the closest confirmed source of assistance." I turned off the marker, wondering how much panic they must have had when I shot towards them.
"I'd say you should've given us a warning, but I imagine that would've been hard on the run." Klein folded his arms, directing his full attention on me. "A bit odd that two of them flew away though."
"Not that odd. They chased me for a couple minutes while I was at a dead run. The only reason we managed to kill one was because you dropped it to the ground." I materialized a «Stinger Fragment», pulling it out of the bag. "I bet we could make a dagger or throwing dart out of this," I said, brandishing the shard.
"Doesn't look like it'll be very durable though." Kunimittz leaned in to look at it, measuring it with his fingers. "Maybe if we got a bigger piece we could use it for an actual weapon, but something that small might only be worth a single dart, and I don't think any of us plan on picking that skill up."
"It's odd though because how often is it that the monsters run away? Usually it's the players that flee." Klein closed out of a window, looking around. "That doesn't happen unless it was part of a scripted event."
I gave a long hum, digesting his thought process. "When you put it that way, it makes sense. I was thinking of how in real life, once you get past a certain point, most animals will stop chasing you, either because you're no longer worth the effort of hunting down or you're no long out of their territory." I dismissed the fragment, making a mental note to ask the blacksmith in the hamlet what they could do with the materials.
"We're going to wait here for the others to arrive in case other «Wasps» are in the area. Keep your weapons out just in case, alright guys?" Klein's precaution ended up being unnecessary, several minutes passing in which our tension slipped until the rest of my group rejoined us.
"So Little Miss Developer found and helped kill a group of «Giant Wasps», huh? We sure she didn't just spawn them out of thin air?" Issin moved behind me pulling me into a light headlock and rubbing his knuckles against my head.
"We did see that swarm of wasps a few days ago. There's probably a quest about clearing out their somewhere around the region." I struggled against Issin's grip, mostly ignoring Harry's musings while I debated the merits of actually fighting back.
"Wait, why are you calling her honorable little sister and developer?" I shifted slightly, getting more leverage. Klein's question was one I had thought about a few times, but had chalked it up to a translation issue or a trend I never caught on to. "You know she's the oldest out of all of us, right?"
"She's like only a hundred fifty seven centimeters, that makes her little! And honorable because she's probably the strongest in our group, and I'm willing to bet that she'll be working right alongside Harry in gathering information." I ceased my struggling, taking in Issin's response.
"Thank you for your compliments, but I'm still going to take offense to the first part." The other damage dealer in my party was only able able to give a single questioning sound before I slipped out of the hold, kicking his legs out from underneath him. Before he slammed into the ground, I caught his right arm, tugging roughly to reduce the force of the impact.
"Th-thanks." I took a step back and pulled him back up, winking at him.
"The rest of my HP should recover on the way. I'm ready to head out when you are, Klein." The samurai-hopeful nodded at Dynamm, calling for all of us to start heading out.
"How's your «Searching» coming along?" I asked Klein as we walked. Our group of eight was causing a fair amount of noise, but with no need to be quiet for tracking or hiding purposes I didn't make mention of it.
"I'm still in the single digits, but each time I found a group of goblins I managed to get a level up. At this low level sometimes it'd fizzle out on me and I'd have to wait a couple seconds before I could reactivate it." Klein and I had moved into the center of the ground, our shield users in front while Choryu moved to our very rear.
"We were able to walk alongside him while he was searching. Either we found one or we didn't and any waiting was just for him to get the skill backup." I nodded at Kunimittz' explanation.
"When Asasaki was looking around for tracks we just waited around at the previous location. She told us that it might take some time between each one so we decided it would be better to just wait instead of walking along the trail and potentially going past her." I felt mildly insulted when Dale juxtaposed their experience against Klein's.
"How are we planning on taking care of the boars?" I inquired. At our current pace we'd be back on the fields in around ten minutes.
"I'm thinking we each take one boar each and then have our lowest level players take the last two before regrouping for the «Livid Boar»." Harry cupped his chin. "We should test whether they spawn based on how many got killed in the region or if they're locked to how many parties involved in the quest killed."
"If I remember right, weren't we sitting on two more before we spawned one of the big ones?" Issin raised a finger, leaning forward to meet my gaze.
Klein hemmed and hawed for a few seconds."If that's the case then I guess we'll have my team kill two «Frenzy Boars» first and see what happens from there."
When we stepped out of the trees, I stared up at the ceiling, forcing my eyes to adjust to the artificial light. "Do I have free reign or will you guys be swapping Forward?" I drew my blade, looking back down to see who was going to take care of the test.
"Free reign?" Klein glanced at me, unsheathing his sword.
"As in, am I taking care of it by myself or will we be using a "Block tusks, attack in the interim" strategy?" Choryu side stepped his boar several times, looking over at Harry after each dodge.
"We'll be using a "Block, attack" strategy. If you want to take care of a boar on your own we can let you do that towards the end, but for now let's do this quick and efficient." Harry raised a hand during Klein's response, Choryu slashing his sword through the boar's head.
"And you guys were questioning my brutality?" I deadpanned, slowly moving my gaze towards Harry.
"Your methods are crude, but effective. It'll probably save us a lot of trouble once we figure out the weak points for monsters later on." The black haired shield user jogged forward, taking a stance beside Dynamm.
I sniffed in offense, moving off to the side with Kunimittz. "So what are you going for?" Dale and Harry moved closer up to the spawning circle, Klein and Dynamm flanking them.
"I'm going to attack its side."
"Alright. I'll go for its belly then." We maintained our positions for a few seconds. When it became apparent that the boar wouldn't be spawning, Harry gave me the go ahead to kill two boars.
Like its previous incarnations, a bone shaking roar heralded its arrival. Dale and Harry met its tusks with their sword and shield respectively, digging their feet to stops its movement. The rest of us rushed in and delivered a slash or two, backing off when the boar broke off to circle around.
Klein and Dynamm met the charge next, being pushed back a few feet before we were able go in for an assault. After each attack, we would fall back, letting our forwards be the closest to the «Livid Boar» to prevent it from attacking somebody it wasn't supposed to.
In two more cycles the beast had fallen, and after counting out our drops we had received a total of four «Rough Leather» and three «Uncooked Boar Meat» across the eight of us.
"If I solo a «Livid Boar», I think I'll do it on my own time or if you guys get roughed up too much. My method would take much longer." I stopped in front of Klein, watching his health bar refill after he downed a potion.
"How would you even handle that?" He asked, telling Choyu to take care of an extra boar.
"I'd jump or roll out of the way until I could get the boar to charge into a tree. When it gets stunned I'd make my way on top of it and attack its side, jumping off when it eventually tries to crush me between its body and another tree." I called out for the «Dagger» user to go ahead and take care of mine as well. "Didn't I tell you this before?"
"I think so. Probably last night. You mentioned that your Dex stat was probably what let you get away with it." Klein sat down, right leg folded under his left.
I gave a grunt of acknowledgement, sitting in seiza beside him. "Say we average 15 «Ragged Furs» every ten boars. For eight people we need at least 80, 24, 104 «Furs». How many furs did we get the past two days?" I looked up from the ground, putting my calculations on hold.
"Something like forty or fifty. Harry has your split still, by the way."
"Oh, really? Guess I'll get it out of him when we're done here."
"We're ready for the next one, Klein!" Kunimittz raised his sword above his head as he called out to us. Behind him, Harry was using his shield to keep a «Frenzy Boar» under control.
"Alright! Go ahead and start it!" Klein stood up, offering me a hand. "What if we let you solo the last one before we leave? I wanna see how how you go about it for myself."
I took his hand, drawing my blade when I got to my feet. "Alright. Give me a heads up if you guys decide to help out." The next four «Livid Boar» spawns went by without anything of note. While I still disagreed with the practice of having people take damage when taking none at all was a perfectly viable option, I had to concede the value of being able to consistently allow 75% of our force a free attack or two without any consequence.
"This is boring," I droned, arching my back to crack my spine. "I'm not complaining about the method, but what I'd do for some dynamics in this." I knelt down and picked my blade up, striding over to Klein. "Can I take the next «Livid» by myself?"
"Hm," Klein tabbed through a few windows, checking something. "Yeah. We could use some extra time letting our health restore. Anything we should keep in mind when you take a whack at it?"
"Stay behind the tree line. At least two or three trees. I use them to let the boar stun itself." I started tapping a foot, psyching myself up for the fight.
"Alright. I'll let everybody know. We'll leave the last two «Frenzy Boars» for you to kill." Klein flashed me a grin before jogging off to inform the rest of our group.
I hummed tunelessly to myself, moving farther away from the natural divider of plain and forest. When Klein yelled that I was good to go, I responded by waving my sword in the air before finishing the spawn requirements with a «Rage Spike».
This far away from the tree line, I was only able to make out the retreating figures of Klein and Harry, their arms raised in what was probably a good luck sign. I took a breath, ignoring the roar of the «Livid Boar». It stared at me, and from this far away its size didn't impose much of a threat.
The corner of my lip twitched into a smirk, and I moved onto the front of my feet, tracing out how I'd lead this fight back to the trees. The beast padded at the ground a few times before charging at me, head lowered to allow its tusks easier access for goring me.
I leapt to the side early, catching my momentum and breaking into a run alongside the beast. One step, two steps. I leapt, stabbing my blade into its side and pulling myself onto its back. The beast slowed its charge, realizing that its prey was nowhere to be seen. I twisted my torso around, snapping the edge of my blade into its underside. The boar squealed and bucked, artificial muscles propelling it away from the trees.
"Wrong way, you asinine hunk of meat." I kept my gaze forward, bouncing in time with the creature's rise and fall as well as flicking my sword into its flank from time to time. The creature continued running the wrong way, starting to convulse its body from side to side in an attempt to throw me off.
"Fine, if you're going to be like that," I leaned forward, grasping my left hand on the side of its neck and sunk my weapon into the other side, wrenching my torso counter clockwise to tear it out.
The beast let out a wet roar, losing momentum. "Oh, don't like that, do you?!" I repeated the method, creating the red outline of a rectangle opening towards the ground with the second attack. When the boar started tipping over, I kicked off and landed in a roll, shooting back in with a «Rage Spike» to its belly. When the «Post Motion» faded, I pulled my blade upwards with both hands, moving into a right-left «Slant» followed by a «Vertical» before stabbing back in with with my left hand pushing on the bottom of the hilt.
I back away when its legs kicked, noting that it was slightly under 50% health. "Just go down already! Behave like you should and exsanguinate!" I tensed my legs, the «Sword Skill» tracing a spiraling vertical line of blue that ended in an angry red incision parallel to its spine. I ran farther up, making a short hop and releasing a «Stone Sheath» into its skull.
The «Livid Boar» collapsed back to the ground, its forelegs giving out underneath it. "Take the hint and pixelate already! You should be dead thrice over!" I spiraled back to its neck, unleashing a «Vertical» as I fell. With some 25% remaining, I grabbed ahold of its neck fur, driving my sword in and out like a jackhammer before yanking it upwards with another two-handed grip.
#Acquired: five «Rough Fur», six «Raw Boar meat», 40 cor.# I exited out of the window, idly flicking my blade to remove most of the imaginary fluid before wiping its faces on my pants.
"Hey! Asasaki! You okay!?" The roving sausage fest were all running towards me, Klein waving his hand as he spoke. I raised my hand in return, calmly walking towards them. Klein stopped in front of me and hunched over, huffing as he spoke. "What happened? I thought your plan was to ride it into the trees?"
"No plan fully survives contact with the enemy. I had to improvise." I moved my thumb under his chin, slowly forcing him into a standing position. "Crouching like that restricts your breathing. I got five «Rough Fur» out of that by the way. We calling it here or try to get more «Ragged Fur» from the common boars?"
"We should get more «Ragged Fur», using the «Rough Fur» to enhance what we can," Harry said, turning to look at the stragglers from our group. "I think using the normal method for any «Livid Boars» would be better though. You gave us all a panic attack when yours ran away without turning back."
I gave a small apology at that, moving to the other side of Klein as we started walking back. "But thanks for the rush though. Shame that it didn't take the hint and just die after I struck its neck like that."
"Maybe when you reach level ten or twenty you can come back down here and one shot them," Klein joked, ruffling my hair.
"I should smack you for that," I told him, trying to smoothen out the mess. "Not appreciating the short insulations."
"But Asasaski, it's our way of expressing how cute you are!" I growled at Issin's remark, gently shoving him away after breaking out of his attempted head hold.
"Cute is my nieces or nephews when they try to play the sibling card on me when I'm chaperoning for them!" I paused for a moment, looking to the side. "Or when I decide to dress up. But I am not cute right now! I am an angry bundle of adrenaline and I will stab you for continuing to say otherwise!" I waited a few beats before leaping forward a step and turning around to look at them. "Mostly. Jokingly. But please stop with the short stuff." I gave an amused smile, bringing my hand up to finger the hilt of my sword.
"Right. Got it. No more short jokes, Little Miss Developer." I groaned, meeting Issin's gaze before rolling my eyes.
"Fine. You get to keep the nickname if I get to call you Brush." I folded my hands behind my head, pleased with the comparison.
"Eh!? Why Brush?!" Issin quickened his pace, moving in front of me.
"Your hair. It looks like a brush that's been well used." A little mean, but I had a follow up compliment if he took too much offense.
"Euh. Fine, I guess I can accept that. Little Miss."
"Now guys, play nice. We're still working together for the next couple of days." Klein wrapped an arm around our necks, a grin on his face.
"We're playing nice," The two of us said at the same time, sharing a smile afterwards.
We continued our hunt for two more «Livid» spawns, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to do one more spawn for extra «Rough Fur» before heading back for lack of potions. During one of the interims, we had decided to hand our tanks some of our potions to help us get through the remainder of the quest.
"So enhanced gear for our front lines, and standard for everybody else, right?" I asked, slowly advancing forward as I pivoted in half circles from foot to foot.
"Yup! That's the plan." Klein was in the center of our group, staring at me in amusement from time to time with glowing green eyes as he scanned the forest. We decided that if we came across a goblin trail on the way back we'd take care of it, but if we had to go out of our way for it we wouldn't follow it.
"We still need to get 16 more goblins, right Klein?" Dale turned his head back towards us, sword held out as a precaution.
"Something like that. It's the same thing for you guys, right?"
"We only need 14 more. We were supposed to have less, but Asasaki came across those «Wasps» instead," Harry responded.
"I have a question though," I started, stopping my spins to face Klein. "Isn't this quest called «Goblinoid Extermination»? There's other species aside from goblins that are included in that term, isn't there?"
"There's normal goblins, hobgoblins, depending on the source material sometimes orks get included in that, and then usually various races within those categories." I looked over at Harry, eyeing the progress text for the quest.
"Wonder what'll other types of monsters we'll find." I twirled to face forward, hands folded behind my back. "Oh hey, don't you have part of my split for furs, Harry?" A window appeared in my vision, stating that our information specialist wanted to trade with me. A few seconds later, the rest of the furs that I needed were deposited into my inventory. "Thank you." At Harry's direction, Dale and Dynamm led us down the path towards the leather worker's house.
"Excuse us! Is anybody home?" Klein knocked on door of the building, looking around.
"Hello?" The boyish face of Jakob peered out from the doorway, expressing pleasant surprise before fully opening it. "Oh, hello there, Lady Asasaki. Have you gathered all the materials?"
I gave a slightly pained smile and nodded, ignoring Issin's snirk. "We also have some extra «Rough Fur» and were planned on using it to enhance some of the final products. Hopefully enough to fully enhance four sets, but if there's not enough materials," I trailed off, pointedly looking at Harry.
"Then we'll be fine reducing the amount of upgrades done. At the very least, the chest and leg pieces should be upgraded." The lone headgear user in our group, not counting whatever miniscule amount of numbers Klein and Dynamm's bandana's probably had, continued.
Jakob nodded, repeating our customizations. "Sure, we can do that. So full sets for everybody, and if we can't completely enhance four sets then at least enhance the chest pieces and leg guards, right?" Harry confirmed our request, causing a screen to appear in front of all of us.
I set the value for «Rough Fur» used to zero, confirming the option for excess materials to be distributed to the remainder of my party. Once I confirmed my selections, I opened up my quest log, grateful that I had left was tracking down goblins.
"I don't know about you guys, but I kind of want to take the rest of the day off. I've enough excitement for now." Klein led the way back to the hamlet, the majority of our group agreeing with him. While I personally wished to continue hunting goblins, the potential of encountering more «Giant Wasps» and unknown goblinoids deterred me from voicing my desires.
"Might as well go over our «Sword Skills». Maybe Asasaki can drill us on some practical techniques." I quietly groaned at Harry's comment.
"Sure, sure. Give me like thirty or sixty minutes though so I can figure out a list of things to start you guys out with." I flicked open my «Notes», putting down ideas and concepts that I could teach in a day.
"Maybe we should use the «Forest of Tranquility» instead of here? It might worry the NPC's," Dale suggested.
"Hm. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Klein opened the door of the «Charbroiled Boar» for us, ruffling my hair when I passed.
"Just for that, I'm teaching you all how to recover from a fall," I remarked, adding it to my list.
I blocked Klein's thrust with the flat of my blade, swinging myself underneath his outstretched arm and tossing him over me. "Take notes, guys. «Sword Skills» might be fast and strong, but if somebody's smart enough to memorize the activation process they can block it preemptively." I backed away several steps, eyeing Klein's health bar. "Try approaching me again. Without using «Rage Spike» or «Reaver» like the last three times if you please."
"So what, actually walk up to you?" He stared at me incredulously, apparently having a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept.
"Yes. If you use a «Sword Skill» against me and I block it, the «Post Motion» is long enough for me to punish you for it. So stop using «Sword Skills» and start using the basics that I taught you guys." It only took a few minutes into our group training before I confronted Harry and Klein about the lack of basic attacks. While I agreed with the philosophy of getting used to the "triggers" for each move, I insisted that they start work on mastering the unassisted forms on their own.
Klein stared me down, sword held out to the side, ready to move into a «Sword Skill». Eventually he scoffed and charged at me with a war cry, sword raising up to his shoulder in a two handed grip good for stabbing or slashing.
I blocked the attack in the same manner as before, knocking him back with a push kick. "Good attempt. Next time don't project so much though." I moved my sword so that it pointed back at the ground, turning my head to give Choryu advice on his swings.
Klein charged back at me during that time, my only warning for his thrust being the sound of his feet digging into the ground. I aborted my elbow to his head, rotating the momentum of my backstep to face towards him, slapping him across the head with the flat of my sword.
"Very nice. I applaud your eagerness. Now that you know I'll dodge or block, why not try a more controlled attack such as a two handed slice so you can move into another attack or block if I decide to counter?" Klein rubbed his head and returned to his starting position, grumbling all the while.
He broke into a sprint, sword moving into the same position as before. While ordinarily I would have assumed he was going to repeat a tactic, that he had adjusted whenever I gave advice kept me from committing to a block. Instead I moved onto the balls of my feet, sword drifting towards the center of my body.
The flat of his blade crashed against mine, and he surged forward to take advantage of the opening. I slapped the weapon away from us, spinning in the same direction towards his left and bringing the back of my hand into his thigh. "Excellent attempt. Just because it's called "attacking" doesn't mean it can't be defensive." I smirked at how he rubbed his leg, struggling to stand back up. "And yes, attacking certain areas has a chance to inflict «Stun» as you're experiencing. Just another reason to add variance to your strikes."
"Now time for blocking. I won't tell you what I'm going to be doing, but I will be telegraphing a little bit to make it easier for you. Also, I'll only be attacking with my sword, so no worries for my other hand or feet." I squared up, slowly tottering my way towards him. He held his weapon in both hands, the method I taught them to practice with for the time being.
I took a step to the left, twisting my wrist as I stroke to land the flat of my blade instead of the edge. Our weapons sung when he blocked, and I chambered back into my sparring position. The only reason I was dueling Klein was because he had been pressuring me for it, stating that he learned better from practical stuff over theoretical.
I moved my left hand to the side twisting my torso counter clockwise and extending my right hand to attack his left. He grunted in annoyance when my blade slapped against his arm. "A proper attack chambers from the same start, ending in multiple ways. The less tells you can develop, the better." I rocked back a few steps, raising my blade into an overhead strike.
"I'm not complaining much," I started firing off attacks, giving a brief moment between each signal before going through with the strike, "but why are you training us like this? You're making it seem like we're going to be fighting other players."
I flicked my blade towards his left, halting its momentum part way and lunging forward into a crouch. My arm moved in a vague "Z" pattern, driving the pommel of my sword into his stomach. "There are goblins in these woods. They're not much right now, but imagine if they were higher levels. Or if on the upper floors their fighting style becomes much more fluid and dynamic. Like a human. We can control them easily now because they're so low, but what would you do if you didn't know how to fight like this when we reach those floors? When we come across monsters fast enough that they can counter «Sword Skills» with lower «Post Motions»?"
I sheathed my sword, guiding Klein back into a standing position with his hands folded above his head so that his arms created a circle. "I'm just preparing you guys for what might lie ahead. I know you're civilians and all, but if I'm going to be with you guys for now I'd rather see you all when we get out of here, and not on some tower of data." My voice fell to a whisper as I told him that, my gaze moving to the ground. In between gasps for breath, Klein told me he appreciated my efforts, even though right now all he wanted was to deck me and tickle me until I cried Uncle.
"We can end the duel now. There's no need for me to keep beating on you like this. Practice your forms for now. 50 a day for each one should do the trick. Every week or so tack on another ten. I know we don't exactly have muscles in this world, but at the very least your brain will create the electrical patterns to perform the actions." I handed him one of the potions I had received from the «Plant Collection» quest. Over the course of our spar I had reduced him to 60% or so.
Irritably, my blocks didn't prevent all damage from coming through, as much as it should have. In return, Klein had damaged me some 25% or so. While a good portion of me baulked at the idea that without even trying he had damaged me so much, I took solace in the knowledge that I wasn't aiming to hurt him, only teach.
I sat down against a tree, mindful of the sword tied around my torso. Klein's group, who I discovered would often form a guild or clan under the name of "FuRinKaZan", and organized into a rectangular formation, Klein and Harry in the front as they led the other four through the strikes and blocks, calling out the number they were on.
Separated from the group, Mr. Trendy slowly moved through the motions I had taught him. Though I had an inkling as to why he was moving so slow, it would be better to confirm my suspicions as opposed to overestimating him.
"Muscles giving out?" I asked, deciding to go for a pseudo joke.
"Hm? Ah, no. I'm fine, Ms. Asasaki." Choryu snapped back into his forms when I dryly remarked on not giving him permission to stop.
"I have an idea or two, but is there any reason why you're going so slow?" I fell in beside him, performing the same actions at around his pace, pouring over the way my mind processed the information.
"You mentioned doing it enough times to make our brains used to the motion. In my work, I had to memorize a lot of formulas and patterns until I knew them well enough to feel safe about using them as short cuts. I couldn't reach that point until I wrote them out enough times though. I'm figuring that if I'm doing what you're telling me to do slowly, it'll let me learn it faster."
"Practice slow to perform it fast," I muttered, performing the downward slice with both hands. "What did you do for your job again?"
"I was in charge of finances. Since I could work from home, my boss was fine with me staying at home for a couple of days so long as I got ahead of my projects at the time." I responded with a simple breath of understanding.
I calmed my breathing, slowly moving into the stances for «Horizontal», «Slant», and «Vertical». There was around a one to two tenths of a second «Post Motion» for each one. Alone it wasn't that bad, but combined with the small delay for the system to register the stance it wouldn't be useful in fast paced combat. I lost myself in the motions, the cries of Klein's group serving as a focus for my partial meditation.
I blinked out of my trance, bringing my sword to my side. "Yes?"
"Everybody's already headed back. You plan on staying out here much longer?" Klein stared at me, tilting his head.
"Mm." I droned out my hum, taking a look at the evening twilight. "Probably not. If there's no artificial lighting, there's no good reason to be up past sunset." I sheathed my blade, moving to Klein's side. "How long were you waiting?"
"Around half an hour. You feeling hungry?" I grunted in admission. "I think I'll order a stew. I wouldn't mind something warm in my belly when I go to bed."
"I think I'll join you. Some bread sounds nice to go along with it, but I don't think they have that here."
"Oh, right. We still need to get everybody's input, but apparently the person we're supposed to escort to the next town is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Harry and I were thinking that if we can get the rest of the goblins in the morning, we might be able to leave in the afternoon." I stared up at the sky, wondering whether the splattering of lights properly represented the sky in this world.
"Might end up leaving the day after that. If our armor isn't supposed to be ready until tomorrow at the earliest, I feel like whoever's supposed to arrive will want to relax, maybe spend time with the locals." I initiated a trade with Klein, tapping the plus sign next to the "cor" box. "10 cor if we talk to them we get a small quest out of it."
"No deal. But if it doesn't happen in the village, then I think it'll happen while we're travelling." Klein tapped on the handle a few times, opening the door to the «Charbroiled Boar» for me.
"One sec." I walked up to the counter, placing the sacks of «Petal Fragments» on the table. "Hilde mentioned that you might be able to make a tea out of these?" I pulled out a few coins, placing them on the table.
"These petals," the chef stared at them intently for a few seconds, "I could make a tea out of this, but we use it around these parts as and energy drink for days when we don't feel like getting out of bed. You sure you want me to make it now?"
I made a noise of embarrassment, raising my hand up. "Ah, maybe tomorrow in the morning then?" When he confirmed that he could do that, I paid the cor he required, placing an order for a simple root-based vegetable and meat stew.
"This game is so weird," Klein muttered, visually tracking me as I returned to our table.
"How so?"
"There's like two or three different ways you could go about interfacing with it. There's the standard "use your menu for everything" or "make the relevant gesture" but then there's also the "Fully interact with what's around you" method like what you usually do." I blinked at Klein's gesture, trying to figure out the issue.
"Is interactivity kind of a strange thing in the games you played?" I thanked the old man when he placed our dishes in front of us. "I feel like in this day and age, games would be much more complex than the binary storyline most used to have."
"Well some games have fully interactive stuff where you can choose what you want to do, when you want to do it, but those are kind of far and few between. If anything, most games usually have a guided free roam." Klein looked up from his meal, staring off blankly as he processed his line of thought. "Actually, I guess it isn't that weird. Must just be the first person perspective of it."
I hummed in understanding, staring at the purple flesh of the vegetable. "The weird parts are still a game?" I offered, biting down on the soft root.
"There we go! Reality has a good grasp on this place, but some stuff is just pure fantasy. Like watching somebody spin towards a target and launch herself a few meters into the air above it." Klein pointed his spoon at me, beaming with pride that we solved the issue.
"You amuse easily, you know that?" I took another spoonful, letting it rest in my mouth a few seconds before swallowing.
"Gotta find the humor somewhere in this game. As fun as it is, we're still fighting for our lives, y'know?"
I looked back at him, holding his gaze for several moments before speaking. "We'll make it out of here," I said. "There's nothing wrong with backing away from an unfavorable situation. Just call it advancing towards future victories." I smiled and finished off my meal, licking my lips to savor the mild bite the herbs used had.
"I'll see you at the room, Scruffles." I waved my hand as I left, chuckling when Klein finally responded to my nickname for me. "We will make it out of here. Eventually." I stopped outside the door, staring at the darkened ceiling. Out of 100 floors, we were still on floor one, and it was already halfway through the second week. How much time would be lost in this artificial world?
"I'm going to sleep now. You should stop asking yourself existential questions before bed, Dawn." I huffed and headed off towards the stables, intent on clocking out as soon as my head hid the covered bundle of straw I was using for a pillow.
There was an article I read regarding the presentation of RPG's and how the scenes you present need to have a Yes/No Dramatic Question in order to be worth going into detail. Does the party escape, does the party acquire all seven gems and survive, does the party discover where the thief went. This mostly being a SoC exercise, some of the scenes won't have that in mind, but now that I remembered that bit of information hopefully the various scenes have a better feel to them, even if it's just me not going "how do I continue this?!"
Next chapter should be out July 14th-15th.