[F: 03-04] [SP] Feed the enemy - My Little Tomato

[Lonzo 0]

Spoiler

Level: 12
Hp: 240
Eng: 24
Mit: 26
Dmg 6
Acc 3
Eva 0
Luck 0

3/3 equip slots used
Armor: Onyx Armor Black Onyx Armor: 1thorns (9dmg on normal melee hits against me) Mit2 (18dmg mit)

Weapon 2 handed axe +3dmg

Accessory: Golden Eye Ring - +3 ACC

Skills
Rank 3: two-handed Axe 6

Rank 1: Heavy armor +8mit (armor has +18 so total is 26Mit)

Inventory
Vanity Armor
* +

Sharp Hot Cocoa, LD+4
* +  Blackthorn Rose Shampoo +1cd rolls feeding the enemy
* 1 Tier One Damage Potion. (+1 Damage)
* (3) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)
* 5 Tier One Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP)

Spoiler

Rewards List (So I remember when, Where, What)
 

He heard a fun rhythmic beat and something forced Lonzo to freeze in his tracks. A whole troupe of monsters. In a TOWN! He stood there wide eyed and not sure what was happening. Was this some sort of raid? What kind of event was this. A woman sauntered with a man with a mustache and she pulled out a whip with thorns and waved it over her head and which a crack the monsters danced in the sky if they had wings or made patterns on the ground. It was a sight to behold as other NPCs juggled fire as she danced with what looked like a dragon. Lonzo looked her up and down. She was tan with a golden metalic tattoo on her hip and thigh similar to a Celtic circle. He moved closer and listened to her shout orders at the monsters and they followed without hesitation creating ribbons of fire and ice. He found himself and other players in a fog. It was then he heard a tambourine and in an instant the fog was sucked into the trunk of a large elephant like monster who then raised it up and made a trumpet like noise as fireworks shot up into the air.
A woman in a tribal like white silk outfit danced, it was the same woman but without her whip. A large red ribbon in a bow for a belt adorned with small bells that chimed as she moved. Lonzo was captivated by how she moved and then it struck him. He looked up at her eyes. The sides were crow feet. This woman was likely in her 60s but looked 30s at most.
He had to blink a few times to snap himself out of the daze. How wasn't he use to such amazing performances by now?

Edited January 1, 2020 by Lonzo

[Lonzo 0]

He continued to watch the show impressed and he looked at all the chatter about gaining a familiar. He loved the idea. Thought about it because he had read about a flying eagle with a horn on it's head that ate it's own eggs. He didn't want the eggs to be endangered. They were also a food source for even bigger monsters and he knew it. It bothered him and he wanted to see if he could procure on for himself. A part of him wanted to cook an egg up as well but he couldn't bring himself to do it in the end. He wanted to rescue the poor bird. At least one. He listened as there was a story teller who spoke about the great Gypsy Queen Rosexilla (Row-shella), and how the horn adornment on her crown was used to control the monsters now that her alluring beauty was failing. Lonzo would mentally disagree with that though he found the woman very alluring regardless of age. She looked good and this person deserved a punch to the face. Still though he listened. He eyed the black horn that protruded from her forehead it was long and sharp but he realized now it wasn't what he thought, it was a type of crown. A jet black horn. With a string of sapphires wrapped around it with thin gold chain that looped intricately with her hair. He could already hear someone tell him to pick his tongue off the floor. This woman was stunning and wore everything perfectly. 

"So how'd she get the monster to follow her before?" he asked the story teller.

He was in multi color clothes and the biggest hat Lonzo had ever seen, so big it cast a shadow of five feet in every direction because of the long brim. The NPC was clearly on stilts and was too thin to be human. Lonzo wasn't sure who he was more impressed with. The woman or this man's design.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Lonzo

[Lonzo 0]

"Well you see!" The man brought out a large pop up book and let it float down wards so that players could look at it. There were cute cut out of the monsters and they moved somehow on their own, bouncing on top of the pages. "Her kindness gleaned their attention. Everyone would kill and kill and kill but this woman has the purest heart of all. Beaten up by monsters she would always say the same thing. Yet it's a secret. I can't tell you."

Lonzo watched as the monsters on the page seemed to harass the young woman on the page and she would turn around as if to turn the other cheek to them. Lonzo watched that impressed. So far he was unable to preform such a feet to anything in this game. 
He reached out and turned the page and watched as a roaring large unrecognizable beast seemed to stop it's charge when faced with the woman on the page. Lonzo looked up from the book to the woman still dancing and using the whip. The whip never touched a monster, and was used for show. The noise like the snap of a conductor's wand. Just an extension of her alluring nature. So she said something to get them to stop? What? Brutality.exe crash? He shook his head at the lame joke and watched her again. Eventually she went into a tent to tell fortunes while the monsters put on their own show. Players flocked to the tent with significant others or on their own. He saw a small guild even go in.

Lonzo waited his turn and once there he sat down in front of the woman.

"Heluha travalure." she said quietly and with an accent.
"Helu- Hello miss...May I ask where you gained such a magnificent crown?"
"A parting gift from a monster who would now bow. I lost my innocence to that creature, but I managed to retain my humanity."  

[Lonzo 0]

He wasn't sure what that meant but it was clear she'd only speak in riddles with him. He stood up and waved. He didn't want to waste her time if she was going to waste his. As he approached the tent door she spoke to him.

"Travalure, you had more questions. I know this. You wish to know how I can control the monsters that plague the towns and stop you from getting home. Is dis true?"

Lonzo felt his teeth clench. He was getting a little tired of people knowing him so well without even saying hello. He looked over his shoulder with a light glare his true self showing. One ready to fight verbally should it get ugly.

"Did I offend you travalure?" she asked putting a hand over her heart.
"A little. Nice guess, but I'm willing to bet it's something only an NPC can do. So far my friends have told me or shown my their pets. They're small and from what I can tell not useful. They claim they are but lets be realistic, something big like the monsters outside would be far more useful." Lonzo stated.
"That would beyond your depth of skills I'm afraid." she admitted.
"Then I believe this conversation is over."
"You'd rather have no aid than some? Very well."
"What could something so small possibly help me with?"
"An edge to an attack, or even health at a crucial moment." She explained. "Do not be hasty to judge those you do not yet see."

His shoulders dropped hearing those words. He understood them on a personal level.

"What did you say that made them stop?" Lonzo asked.
"I'm sorry."
"I asked what did you say to make them stop."
"I'm sorry."

Lonzo was silent until it sank in and he stared at her.

"Are they not trapped here with you as well? Forced to die to give you experience? Given a code to follow habitat, eating methods, and destructive paths. Much like your own genetics. You are coded by your environment and by so many things. How are they different? To them you are the intruder and you're the one in the wrong. Including myself. So I said I'm sorry and turned away. Until they saw I would not hurt them and I fed them." She explained.
 

[Lonzo 0]

Lonzo looked down. It was true this place brought out the worst in him and he was coming to terms with that. He was turning into a monster and used a charming smile to hide it. That he was slowly using courtroom and war tactics to his advantage. His hand balled up into a fist and he closed his eyes. Could it be so easy to handle this passively. 

"I'm not you. I'm human. Not an NPC. I'm sorry but I have to live." He explained. "I have to wake up. If that means turning into something I can't stand I'll do it. I have to."
"I know, but try to remember that in the end a part of you is sorry. That's enough. Don't you see?" She asked him.
".....I don't." Lonzo admitted not following.
"You did not care for the edge in battle. So I doubt you know some monsters provide aid in crafting as well. So what was your purpose to even have a familiar?" She asked him.
"I...Heard that birds were attacking their own eggs....Killing their own young because other beasts around them would just steal them and eat them or players would cook them. I'll be honest I considered it but I'd rather rescue it."
"But you gave up once your pride waz part ov it?" she asked.

Lonzo opened his eyes and looked up at her. This woman could dance circles around him in the courtroom. So passive aggressive. He kind of liked it. He just smiled at her as he started to remember himself.

"I'd have gone looking for the egg anyway. I'd be too curious not to and my conscious would force my hand. I'm not going to let a monster group to die out because the odds were against them. I'm already in that boat all too much. In my past and now. I'm going to retrieve that egg."
"And you know how to care for dis bird?"
"Yes actually. I've read up on their eating habits and what they like to sleep on. I've set up a place already in the bar just for them." 
"Then let me aid you in what you may need to help in the trials to come."

[Lonzo 0]

"You will need an open heart to take in a creature created to kill you. It's the nature of things. You two are rivals foremost, but eventually a skill will open up. If you picked a job like alchemist it works similar to it to capture the creatures heart and mind. It will open when you are ready."

Lonzo opened up his HUD and did see locked skills and then looked back at the woman nodding. So it was possible to unlock things he thought he couldn't learn. He'd have to learn more about that. The more he was able to do the better he'd be at the game and the quicker he could wake up.

He nodded and realized this was an interesting tutorial.

"Is there anything else I need?" He asked curiously.
"Monster food. I have a bag of it for you." She got it for him. "But return it when you've gained your friend, and I'd like to see the bird you speak of."
"Sure thing." He nodded and went over to her taking the bag from her and putting it into his inventory.
"Please make sure you're ready. I've had people return to me with their failed tales and I'd like to hear a victory tonight."
"As you wish madam." he gave her an exaggerated bow. "By the way, you look stunning, and thank you." He winked feeling in his own element again.

He made his wait out of the tent and went to the gates of the town and opened up his inventory and had the hot drink in his hands.

"I won't fail. Not this time. Hang in there egg, I'm coming to get you out of there....You need a chance. Like I did." He sipped the hot drink and let the warmth fill him up. He kept walking and knew where he'd have to go. Lonzo walked to his next destination knowing what he needed. 

+4 LOOT for the Thread added

[Lonzo 0]

His next place was the hot springs or rather one he found nestled away from monsters. He was lucky but kept his HUD open just in case. It felt good to wash up finally, and as he washed his own hair and body he used the shampoo he had ordered. A salve like shampoo meant to help him on the quest. He was more than a little prepared. He read and listened to his friends chat about this quest so much that he came prepared at least he'd like to think so. Once out of the waters he saw his crafting had gone up slightly. It was enough for now he supposed. There wasn't much in the game that allowed him to increase his crafting, after all he wasn't trying to actually cook the egg. He trekked out of the water and got his armor and new axe ready. He was afraid to use the new weapon but he needed to. He'd have to test it against the birds attacking the eggs. He was sure of that. He then went towards the mountains. It'd be a long journey but well worth it.

+1 cd added to buffs!

[Lonzo 0]

Once at Snowfrost he wondered the streets and looked at the cozy cabins. He could retire in a place like this. Most people hated the cold but it was an excuse to never go out, in his mind. He sighed and watched the vapor leave his lips. He smiled at the memory of smoking and reached up and pulled down a twig from a tree and just huffed out air in memory of his lost addiction. His straightened as he walked and could almost feel his long coat over his shoulders, and a scarf around his neck. He stopped and looked at his surroundings. the warm light gave everything a yellow like glow in the winter wonderland and he looked down at his armor and his dream was over. He was no longer in his winter attire. 

"You never miss something till it's ripped right out of your hands huh?" he admitted.

He worked pretty hard for everything he wanted. All that money. Where did it get him now? No where.
'This was why the true rich stayed rich. They are in fact very cheap. Had he played that card instead of trying to indulge in playing a game. He'd never be here, and he'd be out in the real world. Catching bad people and throwing them away.

"If only life was really that simple." he closed his eyes as he walked out of the town.