PP-F3 <<Treant Rivalries>> 'Stupid Elves'

[Mari 1]

Treant Rivalries

 

Mari had received a message from Yuki - the friendly girl from the Gala. She had actually asked Mari if there were any quests that she wanted to do. In turn, Mari had sent Yuki a list of quests she had yet to complete. There was a sort of rivalry quest that had piqued Mari's interest - so she had suggested that. She figured she'd be able to help Yuki throughout it, seeing the quest info, she figured she could one shot most, if not all the enemies.  It was a shame she didn't have an AoE move - but Mari stuck to her guns and refused to change from Dagger. At least she knew Hikoru also enjoyed using the tiny weapon - and sometimes...you just had to go with what you preferred, rather than try to go for the optimum system results.

Mari wasn't sure how she felt...about going on a quest like this - she knew what side she'd pick - the Treants. Because f**k those pompous arrogant tall, lithe, snooty, bastards that were the Elves. But, she'd have to convince Yuki of the same.  Most people loved Elves. Bloody loved them. Not Mari - she always liked Dwarves better - rugged, strong, and the beards?  Ticked all her boxes.

The ginger haired woman wore her new attire; a black scarf that looked as though it had been burned. Thigh high gradient socks - her trusted harness that had flame Aura; and of course the regular  black boots. It was different to the usual 'black shorts and black shirt' that she had become used to wearing, but now that she was ready for the frontlines, Mari figured she may as well try to look the part, rather than look like she had just crawled out of bed. 

The woman was contemplating on growing out her hair, aka - buying a potion that'd make it longer. She was leaning against a tree waiting for her companion as she tugged on it.

"Mmm..." Maybe switching from pink hair to orange had been a mistake. "S'not like anyone would even care, nor notice." Mari muttered to herself as she waited for her companion.

General
Level: 53 | HP: 1090  |Energy: 106

STATS
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

SKILLS
Rank 5 Weapon (+5 DMG)
-Weapon Mod: Precision (+1 ACC)
Rank 5 Charge (+5 Damage -1 ACC)
Charge Mod BULL RUSH: Successful charge stuns target 1 turn
Rank 5 Light Armor (+25 MIT)
SURVIVAL

EQUIPPED
Name: Kusanagi | Item Type: Dagger | Tier 2
Enhancements: Bleed 2 | Damage 2
'Bleed Damage of 24 for 2 turns on a roll of 8-10'

Name: Beacon Necklace | Item Type: Pendant | Tier 2
Enhancements  +3 ACC 

Name: Infernal Shadow | Item Type: Light Armour | Tier 3
Enhancements:  +2 Eva | +1 Flame Aura
'Effect: Prevent (6 per slot * Tier) damage per slot from successful attacks against you. Successful non-critical attacks against you deal (5 per slot * Tier) unmitigated burn damage to the attacking enemy.

@Zajcica

Edited February 27, 2020 by Mari

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki snuck up behind the orange donned woman. She spoke up, just barely caught the end of that last sentence. Her pink hair shined luscious through the trees in its glorious pink wrapped up with bows and the locks locked into a braid.

"Notice what?" Her voice popped up behind her companion.

"Yush, gomen, chikokudesunee? Didn't mean to keep you waiting longer than usual, you look so much different when you aren't wearing beautiful Gala dresses." Funny to say the same thing could be said about her. She probably expected Yuki to be appearing in a set of light armor ready with healing skills. While she planned on being able to heal in the future, her main focus was on tanking. Hence the massive amount of plated armor. She was ready to take on anything this quest dished at her.

"You actually look quite nice like that. You are like a fantasy ninja, and me like a samurai." She laughed the connection seeming way too real. "Anyway, I read some of the quest. There's a land dispute going on with some forest spirits and some elves?"

Yuki inspected her inventory to made sure she had everything she needed. Equipping her sword and her shield to the open slots, she dusted it off making sure it was ready for battle."I'm not sure if you took me for a tank, but I will be your shield, that is if you don't murder everything before that is even needed.

 

 

Spoiler

General
Level: 4 | HP:  80 | Energy: 8

Stats
DMG: 4 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 27 | ACC: +2

Equipment
Regal Cuirass(Heavy Armor): 1MIT, 2 Thorns
Aegis(Shield): 2MIT, 1 Regen
Saber(OHSS): 2 ACC, 1 DMG
Silver Ring: +1 LD

Consumables
3) Starter Healing Potions(50HP)

@Mari

[Mari 1]

Notice what?" 

Mari had heard her approach, the crunching of the leaves and twigs beneath foot. But they weren't of any concern to her, Mari long since stopped caring if anyone had tried to, or succeeded to sneak up and attack her. Mari turned to glance at Yuki from over her shoulder before pivoting her body to completely face the other woman.

Her voice popped up behind her companion. Chikoku... What did that mean again? Mari recalled it had something to do with time, and based on the situation...maybe she was apologizing for being late?  Mari shook her head. "No, you didn't." Mari's usual doe-eyed expression widened as the compliments began to flow from the other woman. Was she mad? "I uh...Normally just wear t-shirt and jeans, but I was told I should maybe dress a little more of the part of a frontliner. I guess."

Fantasy Ninja?

"Aren't Ninja's supposed ta be stealthy?" Mari asked incredulously. "I mean...Bright orange isn't exactly sneaky."  Yuki quickly shifted the conversation to the quest at hand, and Mari inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeh...bloody elves." Mari muttered. "Ok so we have these Treant guys, and the Elves moved onto or into their territory or whatever...and they probably did something to piss off the Treants beause now the big ol' trees have had enough of that." Mari shrugged. "I can't blame them, Elves are pompous, arrogant and self righteous. I know we get to pick which side, but frankly - I'd really rather not help out the Elves."

"A tank?" Mari shook her head, "I didn't really take you for anything, if I'm being honest - last we spoke you had only just left the beginning town. I'd probably easily take care of most things, and if I'm dealing the most damage - I'd generate the most hate." Mari tucked a finger into her harness. "This beautiful and inconspicuous thing will damage anything that attacks it, and my weapons will make most anything bleed."

Mari paused, she didn't mean to steamroll Yuki, she cleared her throat. "I think a tank build would be useful though. The frontlines are definitely lacking a strong tank."

@Zajcica

 

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki smiled over the talk of ninja. She remembers her teachers crushing the dreams of younger boys that would tell her they wanted to grow up and become like a ninja. She never cared for that stuff as much as they did though.

"Actually ninja were traditionally farmers or stable hands that were hired by richer people to preform unscrupulous tasks for great sums of money. The originally used farm tools like scythes as weapons as opposed to what people think, they don't use katana or shurikan." She explained like she was reliving a history lesson through her own words. "I simply meant the style of your outfit reminded me of what people believed ninja were like."

She listened to the description of the quest as Mari told out, then her implication about Yuki being almost needless for it, all things considered. She shrunk at that slightly, but Mari had warned her before about not being the best company, and to be fair, she was correct. The pinkette was no where near Mari's caliber and she could only dream of being an actual help to her.

"I... I apologize. I had hoped that we would have gotten to meet again once my level had risen higher, alas I have only gained three so far. I might as well just stand off to the side and be a witness with you in the party." The deflated tone escaped her breath, she let out a quiet sigh.

@Mari

[Mari 1]

Yuki perked up, feeling the need to correct Mari - Mari wasn't...exactly bothered by it, but not too thrilled by it either. She didn't really come here for a history lesson - But how was Yuki supposed to know that Mari had studied Japanese History along with the language? It wasn't fair to blame the pinkette for that. "Yeh." Mari said with a small smile. "I remember hearing something like that - Honestly I was just wanting to keep with the whole sunset colour scheme I had going on, since its my favorite time of day. Shoulda made the connection that it looked a little like some crazy loud mothed animated ninja, right?" She joked.

It was then, that Yuki shrank back into herself.

Good f**king job, watch her drift away from you just like everyone else. Did you really think you'd be able to keep some sort of companion or friend just because you lucked out with Macradon?

Mari inwardly flinched as she watched Yuki deflate, despite her attempts to try and talk the girl up again with her last comment about the frontlines... it seemed to still discourage her. Mari really wasn't good with words. Her first thought was to say 'well I did warn you' But that was a bit of a d**k move, and quite frankly, close to blaming Yuki for having a perfectly normal emotive response. "You really shouldn't apologize." Mari said as she shifted her gaze away. "I tend to be a little blunt with my words. There are nicer ways of saying things, they just tend to allude me." 

Then came the self defeating comment, about how she should just stand to the side. Mari felt frustrated. If that  was how she felt, why not just let her bloody do what she wanted? 
No...No That wasn't very friendship-like was it.  Mari audibly sighed. "Yuki... I can't control what you do in this quest, but don't feel useless just because of what one person says, yeh?"

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki took a deep breath and collected herself. It was true that she wouldn’t do nearly as much as Mari could do comparatively but that didn’t make her absolutely useless. She carried Luna through a boss that should have mutilated the both of them in just a few hits, Yuki could have died to a single attack.

”R-Right. You did warn me that you were quite the realist and don’t like tip-toeing around the truth. I guess lying to make people feel better isn’t always the best thing. But if it bolsters someones spirit I figure it would just rally people to try their hardest.” She vented a bit about her own attitude towards these situations. “G-Gomen. I may not be on your caliber, but I refuse to be useless no matter how little I can provide!”

Yuki’s attitude seems to be shifting a lot. She wondered how her body was in the real world. Was someone providing her the hormone pills she needed? It wasn’t good when she missed taking them. It made her easily depressed. Or would that even affect her consciousness in this world? Probably not.

”Shinpai nai! I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I’ll do what I can to aid you in whatever way you need!” She proclaimed boldly, trying to shake off the bad mood.

@Mari

[Mari 1]

"I don't believe in false hopes Yuki." Mari said bluntly. "It only hurts...much worse in the end." She muttered with a tone of bitterness. She had been lied to before, multiple times. But perhaps the most painful of all had been when Alkor lied about how he felt. He didn't love her, he didn't want to share those kisses or brief moments where they held each other in their arms. He just wanted to bolster Mari, to make her feel better. But in the end, it only made her doubt herself more, and made her feel absolutely terrible about herself. So Mari saw no reason to lie.

"I don't lie. So you know I tell the truth when I say I don't think you're useless. Could I do this quest alone? Yeh. But I think it's much more bearable to do it with someone else. Honestly, I'd loose my mind having to deal with some of these NPCs alone."

She had no idea what 'Shinpai nai' meant it wasn't something Mari was familiar with, but Yuki continued on after the exclamation saying she'd be fine and not to worry about her. Not that Mari was entirely worried. She was just...trying to not make a complete ass of herself.  "Okay...okay..." Mari said as she rubbed a single temple with her fingers. "Let's just first focus on which side we're fighting for - As I said, I'd personally side with the Treants, they are the original owners of the land, and were invaded without permission by some arrogant elves. But Hey - We're meant to be a team so what do you think about it Yuki?" Extend the olive branch, Mari didn't want to traipse around and walk all over the other woman. Despite her prickly demeanor - Mari did mean well, and did want to her what the other woman had to say.

Even if it meant the possibility of working with some dumb ass elves. 

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki smiled as she could see Mari attempting to make light of what was probably just bad use of wording. She decided it was best to just take what the ginger-haired player said with a grain of salt. She never meant to outwardly harm Yuki’s feelings, just didn’t phrase what she intended to communicate in quite the nicest way. It simply caught Yuki off guard.

”The elves invaded the treant’s forest? That hardly seems kind at all. These elves don’t sound like nice people at all. Although, elves in fiction are generally known to be snobs and self-righteous.” The girl thought out loud. ”Inevitably, you are the party leader and whatever side you pick is the side I pick. Watashino iken? I think the treants deserve the help. They’re the ones getting their homes invaded.”

The pink paladin placed her hands on her hips. She wondered if Mari was surprised that she would agree with her on the subject. If she had expected Yuki to side the same as her, she would have asked if that was okay to do, rather than asking what side she wanted to go with.

@Mari

[Mari 1]

"Yeh." Mari said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean, I guess I see why elves are so popular - they're meant to be the ideal form of beauty, but when you're a short ass like myself, you kinda don't see it the same way." Mari said with an amused snort. Yuki said she'd pick whichever side Mari picked. Well, that was easier than first thought. "At least we don't have to debate on which side is better. Treants it is." Mari said as she released her hands and took a few steps forward toward the forest.

"Let's see...." Mari mumbled to herself as she started to look through the quest. "It looks like the party leader gets a really nice item, here..." Mari stepped closer to Yuki so she could see Mari's HUD. "Woodland Armour... it gives you your tier times 15. I don't really need it, thanks to the Unique skill on my harness. DId you want it?" She asked Yuki.

Mari shifted her eyes to the deeper parts of the forest. "If there are any consumables you want to take - now would be the perfect time - since from here on out we'll be runnin' into the Elves. I can't do any AoE - if you can, and we run into more than one would you be comfortable in doing that, and I'll come in and take care of any remaining damage?"  Mari kept in mind what Yuki said about wanting to be a tank. "It means you'd have the hate though I guess that's a tanks job, right?"

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki shrank slightly again when she was reminded of being the controller of hate, as tanks should, yet she had no reliable way to generate hate like tanks should. Her voice only slightly out of character.

”G-Gomen, I invested my only SP into a weapon skill without understanding what a tank needed to succeed, or else I would have allocated them to hate generation.” She mumbled, “However, I do have a single AoE sword art available for use. Im not very strong or anything, so I doubt my damage will matter at all, but that should allow me to pull hate on multiple targets and distract them for you, at least. Mottomo fukai shazai. My options are limited. One day you’ll see me strong though! I promise that to myself!”

Yuki seemed to be trying to make light of her situations the best she could. It seemed like she didn’t want to look so weak in front of Mari.

“Watashiwa yowai kobamimasu..” The pink paladin mumbled to herself, seemingly. She didn’t explain the translation, if Mari even heard her say that.

@Mari

Edited February 28, 2020 by Zajcica

[Mari 1]

"Why are you apologizing?" Mari asked. "If you're gonna fight you sorta need the ability to do that. You're still fresh out the town. You did what was completely normal. Investing in a skill which helps you protect yourself. If you don't have Howl or whatever - we'll work with what we got." Mari said in an attempt to cheer Yuki up. It seemed that no matter what she said, the other kept spiraling further and further down. 

Macradon thought she'd make a good teacher? He clearly misjudged her - she couldn't even walk Yuki through this quest properly.
Since she didn't say she needed to buff herself up, or gave no indication of such Mari began to lead them slowly through the forest.

"You're not weak." Mari said without realizing that Yuki had spoken in another language. "The level difference between us is vast, but there's no point in comparing apples to peaches."

Peaches... 

Mari inwardly groaned at the accidental wordplay, Mephisto had constantly called her peaches - because of her hair colour. Whilst Yuki's hair wasn't exactly an apple, Mari couldn't help but think the phrase was more literal in this sense. The phrase was 'apples to oranges' not 'peaches' Mari made a mental note to throttle the lanky bastard later, even if it wasn't his fault.

"I can't hold your hand every step of the way." Mari said, her words harsh but her tone gentle. "If you have that kind of attitude you won't survive long on the frontlines...but, you're still quite a way from that yet - so focus on yourself too. Numbers are great, but - don't loose yourself in that whole climbing the ladder thing." 

Mari held out her arm; blocking their path. She could see it; in the distance. Two Elvish Soldiers were in a small clearing just ahead, one was on the ground - kneeling against the tree. It looked like he was taking a snooze. The other was casually leaning against the very same tree trunk - but his golden eyes were alert. Searching higher as he scanned the treeline. 

"He's probably looking for Treeants." Mari whispered to Yuki. "Luckily, his eyes are focused upward. I'm gonna try to attack that first one- you said you wanna prove you aren't weak, right? Have a go at fighting the second. Get your feet wet - then the next few we come across - you can try to do an AoE if you like." 


Mari could have charged at the soldier, bolstering her attack but instead she chose not to; she pulled out her dagger which glinted in the speckled light of the forest - a blade as red as blood. It flashed as she activated <<Accel Raid>> Mari shifted a few paces away from Yuki before dashing out from their cover - she charged at the Soldier - who barely had time to sheathe his sword.

Her dagger darted in and out of him in quick succession, a rapid flurry of thrusts. Mari almost felt bad for him. Almost  The NPCs were sometimes way too humanoid for her liking, but this? Mari had a little vendetta against the elves so she didn't have a problem. His heath quickly dropped to zero and he burst into a flurry of data. 

Mari didn't call out to Yuki but she glanced over her shoulder and gave a small nod of encouragement in Yuki's direction.

She could do it. Mari believed she could.

@Zajcica
----


MARI STATS  HP: 1090/1090  | Energy: 106/106
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

YUKI STATS:  HP:  80/80   ENERGY 8/8
DAM: 4  | EVA 0  | MIT 27  | ACC 2

Accel Raid (9 Energy) - A rapid flurry of thrusts from the dagger finished by one reverse slash at high speeds.
11 x 11 = 121 - 30 = 91 

ID:136897  BD: 7 + 4=11  SUCCESS 

ELVISH SOLDIER 1   65/65
ELVISH SOLDIER 2  65/65

Notes:
Name: Elvish Soldier -  HP: 65  - MIT: 30  -  Damage Per hit: 15

Edited February 29, 2020 by Mari

[Zajcica 0]

 

"Go-" The pinkette was about to apologize again when she noticed Mari giving her a glare. The word sunk down her throat and she cleared her voice. It was hard for her to accept that she would be doing anything any time soon, it was like trying to grab the stars out of the sky. "I'll do my best, Mari-chan, that is all I can promise."

Her eyes widened as Mari responded to her Japanese without the slightest hesitation. Up until that point, she was using pretty standard Japanese the most anyone could know, but it was clear now that Mari knew more Japanese than she had originally thought. She was just about to test her skill in the language when she bumped into her arm. Everything happened so fast. 

Mari's blinding speed was so impressive to behold. Yuki's chin was basically scraping the dirt as she watched her hands move faster than her eyes could track. Stunned in silence, Yuki saw Mari look back to her, expectant of her coming attack. 

Don't screw it up, stupid, stay focused.

She raised her sword herself and ran into the combat. The blade glowed pink as she started up the sword art. Although she felt confident, she couldn't hide the nervous eyes from her observer. The snoozing elf barely had time to react. Yuki's pretty-pink blade dashed into his abdomen like a razor of a rose pedal. It wasn't precise or anything amazing, but she had succeeded.

...and dealt a single point of damage.

The elf scowled down on her, being what felt like an entire meter taller than herself. His sword slashed across her chest, Yuki flinched back in slight pain. She looked up at her own health, glad to see the running gag of a single point of damage being continued so far. That was until the thorns triggered, the elves health bar took a much bigger prick from that than her sword art.

The pink paladin let out a sigh, and nodded at Mari, assuming her usual defensive stance.

 

Spoiler

MARI STATS  HP: 1090/1090  | Energy: 106/106
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

YUKI STATS:  HP:  79/80   ENERGY 5/8
DAM: 4  | EVA 0  | MIT 27  | ACC 2

Snake Bite (3 Energy) - The user quickly strikes the target with three brisk angled slashes.
4 x 3 = 12 - 30 = 1

Thorns = 18

ID#136899 BD = 4+2 = 6 Success
MD = 6 Success

ELVISH SOLDIER 1   65/65
ELVISH SOLDIER 2  46/65 -19

Notes:
Name: Elvish Soldier -  HP: 65  - MIT: 30  -  Damage Per hit: 15

Edited February 29, 2020 by Zajcica

[Mari 1]

Mari didn't like seeing people get hurt in front of her, but it was a reality of the game - and it was only a single point of damage. Things in this game always looked worse than they were. Mari stifled an amused giggle, instead snorting. "You have to admit, it's kinda funny that it was all mitigated to one damage a piece." Mari pushed her fringe back. "But yanno... those thorns can be pretty deadly - that's a good thing to have. I used to rely heavily on them myself."

Mari stepped between the elf and Yuki, her dagger illuminated as she used the same skill <<Accel Raid>>  Did she need to go to that extreme? No, but hey, Mari was meticulous - she'd rather make sure it was completely taken care of. She lunged forward and in a flurry of strikes the Elf gargled and collapsed to the ground. Mari didn't wait to watch it explode - she turned to Yuki.

"You did good." Mari said. "I know that it may feel like the Sword Art did nothing, but I think it's good to kinda get a feel for those sort of things in a controlled situation like this. It helps you get used to quickly assessing what skills you have and which would be best in the situation. In other battles you have a split second to make that decision." Mari kept her dagger in her hand. "I'm not well versed on all the weapons and their associated arts... do you have any AoE's at your level?" Mari gestured to the dagger she held. "It looks strong, but realistically - the dagger is probably the weakest weapon. I'm just too stubborn to change it - I don't have the ability to do any sort of area damage, and it makes sense. It is a dagger after all."  Mari shrugged as she went to lean against the tree;  She was in no real rush to complete the quest. 

If she waited a few moments for Yuki's health and energy to regenerate a little it'd put the woman more at ease, knowing the girl who was under her care would be safe. "You know...a friend of mine thinks I'd be a good teacher - I think he's stark raving mad."

@Zajcica
 

MARI STATS  HP: 1090/1090  | Energy: 88/106
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

YUKI STATS:  HP:  79/80   ENERGY 5/8
DAM: 4  | EVA 0  | MIT 27  | ACC 2

Accel Raid (9 Energy) - A rapid flurry of thrusts from the dagger finished by one reverse slash at high speeds.
11 x 11 = 121 - 30 = 91 

ID:136900  BD: 5 + 4=9  SUCCESS 

ELVISH SOLDIER 1   65/65
ELVISH SOLDIER 2  46/65 -19

Notes:
Name: Elvish Soldier -  HP: 65  - MIT: 30  -  Damage Per hit: 15

Edited February 29, 2020 by Mari

[Zajcica 0]

It was done in a flash. Thinking back to her battle with the wolves on floor one, or the wasp on floor two with Luna, she could have just used some Sword Arts to end combat quicker. Why did she not try it? Perhaps it wasn't on her mind that the mechanic was meant to be used.  It wasn't absolutely encouraging to see that her strongest attack was mitigated almost entirely. She looked at the ground the back up to her companion.

"Yowaidesuyo, demo... kaizen shimasu." Her voice in a quiet, but solemn tone. "I have learned a lot thanks to you. I don't think that you're a bad teacher. I am a bad student. I'm hardly giving myself a chance. I can't be a symbol to others and be there when they need to hear that things will be better if I'm making myself suffer."

Seeing as how Mari was relaxing for a moment, Yuki took her time to sit herself on her knees and meditate on everything that just happened. Her green bar pinged back up to full momentarily, but not her energy.

"Those were only the whelps of the group, I'm sure. I wonder for how long Macradon's craftsmanship will keep me alive." She remarked looking over the armor she was wearing. "It's only because of this armor that I've been able to survive for this long, or else those wolves would have mauled me on floor one"

@Mari

Edited February 29, 2020 by Zajcica

[Mari 1]

Yuki said she was weak again, and Mari didn't want to repeat herself; the girl was beating herself up enough without Mari chastising her.  "I mean, we're always changing aren't we?" Mari asked as she lifted her gaze to glance over Yuki's head. There was no real sign of movement. The two Dark Elves posted here were probably just stationed guards, and until their next rotation it looked like Mari and Yuki were safe.  "Being a symbol is silly." Mari said as she lowered her gaze back to Yuki. "A part of that change would probably be trying to change that mindset of yours - but..." Mari crossed her arms as her voice turned reticent. "I know all too well how hard that is..." 

Yuki made herself comfortable on the ground but Mari remained standing. Partly to keep an eye out and partly because she knew if she sat down she wouldn't want to bother getting up. The pinkette said Mari would be a good teacher, but Mari still wasn't so sure - how could she be a good teacher if she couldn't even perk up the one person? Her demeanor was too prickly.  "I think the point is; that we try and as long as we try then we'll grow."  Mari offered Yuki a wry smile as she mentioned Macradon's name. "Mac's a bit of a goofy idiot - but he takes pride in his work. I'm sure your armour will last you for as long as you need it to."

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki smiled warmly to Mari. It may not have seemed Mari was cheering her up with her more stern tones, but in Yuki's mind, she needed this reality check. She wasn't invincible and if she kept pushing herself too hard without worrying about her own sanity, she would kill herself with her own depression. 

" I can't say I talked with him long, but he treats new players rather well. I'm proud to have gear made by him." Yuki explained. "Also, I'm surprised with your Japanese recognition. You caught me off guard responding to my snarky, self-hating comments without a second thought. I didn't take you for a native or anything." 

The pink paladin rose to her feet, armor jangling against it's own segmented pieces. She gestured deeper into the forest and gave Mari a smile and a nod.

"Not getting anything done sitting around here. I don't have all my energy back yet, but that's fine. I'm sure that if I get into trouble, somehow, you'll protect me."

@Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari nodded at Yuki's description of Macradon. "Yeh, when I first met him I think I told him to piss off about half a dozen times. Kept accusing him of things, questioning him - it was my first time back from isolation so I was very on edge and nervous - before I went into hiding there was a lotta bounties on me, I was expecting him to up and try to murder me like the others." Mari closed her eyes and smiled. "But no, he just sat and put up with my sh*t. Now I'm quite confident to call him a friend."

Her Japanese recognition?

Mari opened her eyes, offering Yuki a quizzical look. Had...Yuki been speaking Japanese? Mari caught parts of it at the start of their trek, but had assumed she defaulted to English. "I did?" Mari sounded as shocked as Yuki was. "Ah ...yeh..." She scratched her cheek. "I lived in Japan for about 11 months teaching English in a small rural town. Before I went I tried to learn as much of the language as I could. And when no one around you speaks English you sorta pick up on a lot of phrases and stuff via assimilation and context."

Yuki stood, seemingly ready to go. Mari's eyes flicked to her health and energy - as they both pinged back to full she pushed herself off the tree. "Right then, let's press on before they change their rotation."

The two headed deeper into the forest. There were clear signs of territorial struggle. The women followed a path which had been patted down into the earth - there were also a few trees that looked like they had been messily cut down - Mari swore she even saw a dead Treant - but since they were trees it was a little hard to tell without stopping. "You know..." Mari began, trying to start light conversation.  "If I ever get out of here; I'm considering moving back to Japan - I may be able to get a garantor...failing that I'm sure they'd want people who have been in this game to talk an work through things."

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki laughed as she told her about her first impressions of Macradon. It made Yuki feel kind of nice, because the situation reminded her of how she acted towards Mari when the two first met at the gala.

"The way you explain Macradon's attitude towards you eerily reminds me of my own attitude towards you in original meeting. You attempted to push me away so easily, but I was too stubborn to walk away." She laughed reminiscing to that night. "Does that mean you are confident to call me a friend as well?" The way she said that was rather lackadaisical, like she already knew the answer herself.

"I wonder if maybe we had ever passed by each other in the real world. Likely not, but a funny thought. You think if you do ever return to Japan that we'll meet? That is if we.. Uh, no- yeah, that would be fun." Yuki swallowed that "if" quickly. 

@Mari

[Mari 1]

Mari laughed soflty. "Yeh... I have a habit of trying to push people away, I like keeping people at arms length - it's less painful for me that way."  Yuki asked if Mari considered her a friend, and with the tone of voice she used, it sounded like she already knew the answer - but wanted to chance the question anyway. Mari knew this would probably come at some point. Quinn was the same - insisting she saw Mari as a friend, even though Mari clearly stated she wasn't very good at making them.  Mari's next words revealed a little of her past, and why she was so ornery of late.

"You should know this isn't against you, Yuki. But I've had people I consider friends literally try to stab me in the back. Manipulate me and take advantage of me, purely to get items, levels, or to kill the 'renowned Mari' " She added bitterly. But Mari's tone softened when she shifted her gaze back to Yuki. "So please, don't take it to heart when I say I don't think I can call you a friend yet - that's my own trust issues I'm working on, and it doesn't mean I won't consider you one in the future." Mari shrugged her shoulders and gave Yuki a smile. "As for if we've met, who knows - but if I return to Japan and we so happen to meet - let's go to a small Izakaya and eat our fill." 

Mari would have continued the conversation, but they had quite literally stumbled upon a single dark elf; he looked just as shocked as Mari did. He stood in the middle of the path - golden hair pulled back into a top knot - eyes wide as she pointed at Mari. Ready to shout something out at her, but before he could Mari reacted- pulling her blade from her side, it flashed with a sword art <<Cross Edge>> 

Mari caught the elf unawares, landing critical strikes as she managed to fell the enemy before he was able to draw his blade. He collapsed to his knees before he shattered into fields of data.

"There's probably another nearby, we should probably keep our guard up."

@Zajcica

MARI STATS  HP: 1090/1090  | Energy: 99/106
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

YUKI STATS:  HP:  80/80   ENERGY 8/8
DAM: 4  | EVA 0  | MIT 27  | ACC 2

[x8] Cross Edge (7 Energy) - The user makes an X pattern on the enemies chest with two quick slashes.
13 x 11 = 143- 30 = 110 

ID:136902  BD:10 + 4=9  CRIT SUCCESS 

ELVISH SOLDIER 3   65/65


Notes:
Name: Elvish Soldier -  HP: 65  - MIT: 30  -  Damage Per hit: 15

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Mari

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki drew her sword from it's scabbard. The white blade glinted it off the sun when it peered through the trees. Her guard was up and she would be ready for anything... She hoped. 

Her ears perked up. It was quiet but she could hear the footsteps behind her, very close. She turned around in her defensive posture two swords coming for her neck. Both blocked by her shield at the same time, halted instantly. Yuki's face was stern and focused, when push came to shove and there was a sense of danger her attitude flopped on its head. 

Her shoulder pushed into the two swords, sending them back into the air, her blade hued in pink again.

"Your lethargic attempts at staying surreptitious behind the trees won't catch me off guard!" Yuki growled, swinging her sword horizontally one way and then back they other way through bother their chests. She stood tall her blade ready for the next attack, if need be. She had even forgotten Mari was there, but her confidence shone radiance in her spirit.

@Mari

Spoiler

MARI STATS  HP: 1090/1090  | Energy: 99/106
DAM: 11 | EVA 3  | MIT 43 | ACC 4 | 

YUKI STATS:  HP:  80/80   ENERGY 4/8 Hate: 1
DAM: 4  | EVA 0  | MIT 27  | ACC 2

[x2 AoE] Rage Spike (2 Energy +2 per target hit) - Strike each target in the vicinity twice in a blinding fit of uncontrolled rage.
2 x 6 = 12 - 30 = 1

ELVISH SOLDIER 4   64/65
ELVISH SOLDIER 5   65/65

Notes:
Name: Elvish Soldier -  HP: 65  - MIT: 30  -  Damage Per hit: 15

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by Zajcica