[PP-F2] <<The Venemous Warg>> Toxic Perspectives

[Ceres 0]

Ceres sat outside a small cafe. Her back resting against a white wooden chair - in front of her sat a cup of English Breakfast tea, and two shortbread biscuits. She was enjoying the sunny weather that Urbus was having. Oscar was meeting her her soon, and Ceres had much to tell him. Her lips broke into a small sigh as she shut her lilac eyes. Absently a slender hand reached out to grasp a shortbread biscuit, dipping it in the tea then rising it to her mouth to eat. The sun warmed her skin, and it sent a pleasant wave of heat through her body.

Ceres had easily completed a quest just hours earlier. All by herself. And whilst she had psyched herself up before, and after the quest... the words that were uttered by that Dark Elf mob during it bothered. her.

The Dark Elf, skin gray as charcoal and eyes a soulless black laughed in her face. It's breath smelt of rotting fruit and decay. "You will die alone...nobody cares..." It spoke those harsh words to the trembling redhead in the heat of battle - and it took great glee in seeing her falter, seeing its scathing words affect her, penetrate her like a noxious toxin.


Ceres' eyes shot open - she didn't want to think about that right now. No - now she wanted to enjoy the company of a friend...she'd tell him, and he'd reassure her that it was ok.

The thought of seeing Oscar again, and that stupid lop-sided grin of his - and the boisterous laugh that he would have when Ceres told him about her skills, and her journey - it tugged at the corners of her mouth and despite what she felt...she found herself smiling softly.

'sometimes, all we need is the presence of another. Is it really so bad to be able to rely on others like that?

'I'm not alone, right?'




 

 

STATS
LEVEL 13 | HP 240 | 26

EQUIPPED ITEMS
PROMISE RING +1 ACC | LEATHER CHESTPLATE +1 EVA | 1H SWORD +1 DAM

BATTLE READY INVENTORY
4 Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)
 

 

@Oscar

 

Edited December 19, 2019 by Ceres

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar - Lvl 44
900 HP
88 Energy
2 Accuracy (+1 Weapon +1 Precision)
3 Evasion
16 Base Damage - (1 Base +7 Skill +1 Ferocity +6 Familiar +1 Athletics)
48 Mitigation 

Items
Chaos Eater ............ // Bleed, Bleed, ACC
Librarium Overcoat ................. // +3 EVA
Plated Azure Tights ............... // +36 MIT, +3 Recovery

Leeroy & Jenkins - Familiar ............. // +3*Tier DMG

Battle Ready Inventory
Teleportation Crystal .............. // 
3 Healing Potions   ............ // +30 HP Recovery
3 Healing Potion of Healing Healingness ............ // T2 HP Recovery
Empty Inventory Slot ............. // 
Empty inventory slot ............ //
Empty inventory slot ............ //

Buffs
Rested ........................... // -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat.
Filling .......................... // Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed .......................... // Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.

Skills
2HBA                      | Rank 5: +8 Damage
Light Armor                | Rank 3: +12 Damage Mitigation
Concentration                   | +1 to your BD (3 turn cooldown)
Survival                   | Heal 15*Tier HP when out of battle
Parry                        | 2-turn CD, 5 EN Half damage of next attack and remove Stun/Paralysis effects

Skill Mods
Ferocity                   | Increases Base Damage by 1
Athletics                  | Increases Base Damage by 1, Max HP by 10*tier
Precision                 | Increases Accuracy by 1
Justified Riposte      | Successful Parries Stun Opponent

Oscar did a fair few things that made little sense. For one, he lived all the way on the seventh floor when he conducted most of his business in the Town of Beginnings. Why would one willingly trek through a mile or so of rocky country when they could just as easily place their home in a more convenient locale? Idyllic as the scenery was, one would wager that it would get old after some time. Another thing he did that made no sense was wandering down into the town of Urbus to see if he could help anyone with the quest offered at the tavern. You see, though he was a mere NPC, Oscar held some small measure of pity for Gatsly the Merchant. The man was cursed to have his caravans constantly assailed by ferocious foes. Had he been a real person, the man would have been destitute by now. But no, he had a most tortuous existence. Doomed to forever be on the verge of bankruptcy. The stress must be unimaginable.

So Oscar sauntered into the tavern, hoping someone was taking the quest and needed the help. Of course, before his attention was inexorably pulled to the portly merchant in the corner, he spied the familiar pink locks of a new friend of his. Ceres. He tilted his head to the side, wondering for a moment what she was doing up here. But then he noticed the spark of sorrow in her furrowed brow, the abyssal emptiness in her eyes. It was something he was all to familiar with. Clearly hers was the more pressing concern compared to an NPC. Without a word, he sat down at the table and locked eyes with her. It was as if he were trying to transmit good vibes straight into her eye sockets. After a long, painful, awkward silence, he finally spoke up.

"Sooooo. Who kicked your puppy?"

[Ceres 0]

"Oh!"

Ceres blinked, Oscar had snapped her out of her stupour. She tried to give him a smile. "It's good to see you, Oscar." Her smile faded, for a few moments as he pointed out that she was not her usual cheery self. Ceres coughed, cleared her throat then forced out a laugh. It...did not sound right.

"Caught me!" Ceres said as she poked her tongue out him. "I just...did this Worn out Welcome Quest and uhm..."  Ceres leaned forward, fidgeting with her hands. "I had to fight this Dark Elf and he uhm...s-stabbed me and then told me I'd die alone in battle..." Ceres tried to play it off like it wasn't bothering her. "It's so silly right?" She tried to laugh again, but it came out warbled and shaken.

"W-why would it say that?" She finally asked him. Ceres didn't want the meeting to go like this, she wanted them to go on a quest together and talk about what she should do when she opened her store. She didn't want their greeting to be marred with such...inconsequential issues. "S-sorry I'm being silly...aren't I?"

@Oscar

[Oscar 0]

"NPCs talk a lot of crap, to be completely honest. I'm sure it was just a pre-recorded line," came Oscar's reply. Not that it would help much. Clearly the NPC's words had struck a cord with Ceres. Possible abandonment issues? It was a common enough affliction. Probably some underlying anxiety that worsened the condition. Ceres didn't like fighting and, perhaps, being in such an situation placed her in a vulnerable state, thus lending more weight to the NPC's words. Oscar stretched out in his chair and shook his head. "Statistically, it's unlikely that you're going to die alone anyway. I think you're worried about no one missing you when you're gone. Which is just foolish." 

What an odd place to be contemplating mortality. Then again, death was an ever-looming threat in this game, so perhaps it wasn't so far out of left field. He let out a heavy sigh. It was definitely a morbid conversation topic, even considering that. "Besides, you don't have to worry about it Ceres. I'd miss you if you went and died on me." The most anyone can hope for is that they would have made enough of an impact for someone, anyone, to miss them when they died. If you want someone to hold your hand while you drift off into that good night, then you're probably out of luck. But if you want to be mourned, to be remembered. Well, that's easy.

Oscar had had enough of confronting mortality for the day. Clearly, the only thing to do was to force something else to face its own mortality. He drummed his fingers over the surface of the table as his eyes darted over to Gatsly. Then an idea struck him. "Say Ceres, have you done The Venomous Warg quest?" He pointed over to the merchant wringing his hands in the corner. "Go talk to that guy. We're gonna go hunt us some wolves. And I'll prove to you that you have nothing to worry about."

@Ceres

[Ceres 0]

She gave him a wary smile, one that didn't have the usual sweet exuberance she had. "If that...was a prerecorded line then...it's awfully scary to think about. It was so pointed. It felt like it keyed in on exactly what I was feeling at the time. I wonder if that's just something the Cardinal system does?"  It...kind of made sense...this was a very immersive game. "It's...scary to think that the system could pick on your insecurities and thoughts like that. It's far too close to mind reading."   she Oscar was so...calavier about the whole thing. Ceres envied that she wished she could just brush the incident off without a second thought. But it was then, that he mentioned that she was worried no one would miss her when she was gone.

...

Crudsticks.

He was right. Ceres shrank at the mention of it. "H-Homerun Oscar." Ceres said with a forced and warbled laugh. Damn...how could she not even realize it herself until someone else pointed it out. He told her he would miss her if she went and died on him, and Ceres ...strangely enough - felt better. "Thanks Oscar. I appreciate it." She wasn't sure if he was serious or not, they'd only met each other a few times - but she knew if it were the other way around she'd be sad and miss him - so why couldn't the same apply for her?  

To perhaps distract her, Oscar asked her about a quest "Venomous....what?" her gaze followed his pointed finger. Ah... some merchant man? Yeh. She could do that. "Okay!" Ceres said as she stood, smiling at Oscar. It seemed that her energy and innocence was slowly returning.

Ceres stood and headed over to the NPC. He reached out to her with a small bottle in his hands. "You've com efor the bill I posted? Bless you child. I am Gatsly. I am buta mere merchant making just enough to support me and my family." He sighed heavily as he ran a spare hand through his graying hair. "But lately all of my supply caravans have been destroyed or chased away by a ferocious beast. I don't have much but if you could slay the beast...I'd pay you."

Ceres accepted, and the coordinates appeared on her map. He handed her a vial and when she accepted that she noticed it was some sort of strange green antidote. Ceres told the NPC she'd help and left to return to Oscar. A confused look scrunched up on her face. "He gave me an antidote. I guess I'll probably need this later, right?"


@Oscar

 

 

 

[Oscar 0]

When she returned, Oscar beamed up at her from his seat happily. "Nah, you probably won't need that thing at all." There was a devilish gleam in his eye. As if he knew something she didn't. And he did. He'd done this quest twice. When he'd done it on his own, the Venom Snapper's minions had come out one at a time. But then, with a partner, they had all come out together. Which was preferable to the other method. One solid cleave and she'd have some free experience and he would have blown off a little steam. Win/Win. He rose from his seat and beckoned for her to follow. As they weaved through the streets, her comment about Cardinal reading her mind was starting to make sense. Oscar hadn't noticed anything weird. But then again, he had other things on his mind back then.

"You know. Now that you mention it. It does make sense that Cardinal would tailor your experience to undermine your own personal issues. But I really don't know how Cardinal would come across that information. It's not like you did a full psych profile on sign-up or anything." While there was something to be said about neurons and brain chemistry impacting personality, it was completely ludicrous to think that a man-made AI would have an understanding of the human psyche that humanity itself lacked. Or was it? How advanced was the Cardinal System anyway? Could it really develop a psychological profile of someone by them merely diving into the game. Holy [censored]. That's terrifying.

"But it's more likely that the elf just had pre-recorded lines and one of them just struck a cord with you," he quickly stated. He didn't know who he was trying to convince with that line. He would much prefer to believe the simplest solution than to go down the rabbit hole of robot overlords and malicious AI. "I didn't really notice anything strange when I did the quest. But then again, I was busy fighting with my girlfriend so I probably wasn't paying too much attention."

[Ceres 0]

Ceres blinked when Oscar said she wouldn't need that thing at all. "R-really!?" she asked as she blinked. "I uhm..." She tilted her head as she stared at the item. "It seems kiiinda important though. Doesn't it?" she stared at it a few moments longer before sighing and placing it safely away in her inventory. Perhaps it'd be of use later. She shrugged and gave Oscar a wry grin. "You're just that confident aren't you?" she said with a laugh. "I'm glad I have you to rely on.  I'm really not geared toward fighting..." She tugged on her hair, feeling embarassed. "I feel like I've come so far...but at the same time...its like...even with the extra skill points... I want to focus things into searching for stuff, is that so bad?"

Oscar further explained the system to her, and chances were, that the Elf was just a bunch of pre recorded lines. It still...bothered Ceres but she didn't want to let it get to her. "Okay." She said with a smaller smile. "L-lets forget about that stupid elf. We got some wargs to..uhm...get rid of!" She gave a heroic pose, feeling a little silly for doing so, but it was her way of lightening the mood that hung over her like a heavy mist.

Oscar had stood from his seat, and Ceres quickly followed, first behind him till she sped up her stead and walked beside him. Swinging her arms freely at her sides. "Fighting with your girlfriend..." Ceres laughed and snorted. "hahah Yeh I guess that would be a pretty good distraction...so Oscar, have you done this quest before? You probably have right? I mean you are super strong."

 

@Oscar

[Oscar 0]

"It takes all types," came Oscar's reply. "Truly. There's no sense being self-conscious about your choices. If you want to have non-combat skills, you'll still fill an important function. It comes with its trade-offs. Strength comes in many forms, Ceres. There's more to this game than just making enemy health bars reach zero."

At her urging, she and Oscar rose from the table and headed for the forest. If the last bout with the Venom Snapper was any indication, he might very well find himself involved in a long, frustrating bout. "I should note that there's a small amount of danger involved here. If I don't manage to take out the Venom Snapper with my first attack, but also kill its minions, its next three attacks will have an AoE effect. That being said, it doesn't hit hard at all. Worst case scenario, you'll be knocked into the yellow. But that's the absolute worst case. Even if we factor in the possible poison damage and it critting every single round, it'll only dish out roughly 190 Damage. I'm breaking down the math because, if it actually goes down like that, there is absolutely no reason to panic. Remember, if you have more than 1 HP, you're ready to go."

@Ceres

[Ceres 0]

They were now out of the hustle and bustle of the town. Ceres drew in a deep breath - enjoying the fresh air. She thought about his words, and how she shouldn't be so self conscious... Oscar was right, she just began to doubt herself a little after the Dark Elf had said such pointed things to her. "I appreciate those words Oscar." Ceres said with a small skip to her step to keep up with his long broad, sweeping steps. "I don't like battling, but I love just taking my time and collecting things, and I guess it does well. Whenever I Get back from a gathering expedition I sell out of my mats right away!."

Her light mood darkened, just a little, when Oscar said there was a little danger - something about it being an AoE effect. Ceres pulled out the antidote that the old lady had given her. "S-should I take this just to be safe then?" She asked.  Ceres was ok with being knocked into the yellow - she had been before with the Swordfish fight. But into the red? Worse- with just 1 hp? She really, really didn't like the sound of that.  

"Ok but ahahaha..lets not let us get to 1HP Please."

@Oscar

[Oscar 0]

Spoiler

Oscar 900/900 HP | 88/88 EN | 16 DMG | 2 ACC | 3 EVA | 48 MIT
Ceres 240/240 HP | 26 EN | 2 DMG | 1 ACC | 1 EVA

Explode Catapult vs Wolf1 ID: 136940 BD2+2 Miss
Explode Catapult vs Wolf2 ID: 136941 BD9 Deal 238 DMG
Explode Catapult vs Wolf3 ID: 136942 BD3+2 Miss
Explode Catapult vs Venom Snapper ID: 136943 BD4+2-1 Miss

Wolf1 40/40 HP | 25 DMG
Wolf2 0/40 HP | 25 DMG
Wolf3 40/40 HP | 25 DMG
Venom Snapper 150/150 HP | 35 DMG | 1 EVA

"It might be a good idea, but make sure to time it for when you're certain all of the possible poison debuffs have landed. You can survive a few ticks. And go ahead and pop a potion if you get nervous. I might not be able to kill all the wolves in one go, in which case their aggro is going to go crazy."

It was less a matter of damage and more the fact that the lithe little assholes were, well, lithe little assholes. Their gaunt frames were notoriously difficult to hit and being in a party meant that there would be no less than three of them accompanying the boss. He would need to time his strikes in respect to their flitting around the two of them with an abnormal swiftness. Then, of course, there was the Venom Snapper itself to worry about.

Before he could finish formulating a plan of action if everything went completely wrong, the pack padded out from the underbrush. Their frames were low to the ground as they slowly advanced upon Oscar and Ceres. The air reverberated with the sounds of their chorus of snarls. Oscar wasted no time in engaging, throwing out a Sword Art that was definitely more powerful than the situation called for. Alas, the worst possible outcome occurred. He'd only managed to slay one of the wolves. This meant that next turn, the Venom Snapper would gain an AoE effect to its attack and there were two more minions to worry about.

"Why do I always do this quest without buffing my accuracy? Heads up Ceres! Damage incoming."