[PP-F2] when the stars align thrice.

[Andromeda 0]

[quest: Long Live the Queen]

An had no idea how she did it, but she found the needle in the haystack.

Him.

It was in some nondescript grove, with the warm afternoon sun peeking through the trees above that she'd spotted a familiar figure dressed in white and ventured a little closer to investigate. She was still a little miffed with their previous interaction; that customer really couldn't wait an extra five minutes for his identification order of a single rare trinket? "Oh, it's you--!" Stepping out of the forest's shade, the silver-haired merchant approached, a rapier dangling from her hip and an auburn shield at her arm. As soon as she made eye contact though, her confidence melted away -- in typical An fashion.

There were a couple of implications he could draw from this, and none of them were any good.

She'd swear on her entire dignity as a merchant that she was not actually out looking for him!!

"H-hey~," An greeted, her lips pulling up to a nervous half-smile as she gave a tiny wave of her hand. "Fancy meeting you here~. Um, an hour after you gave that trinket." How was that for something totally non-suspicious and causal? That sounded horrible. Horrible, horrible, horrible. She could already imagine someone adding 'Certified Stalker' to her list of embarrassing titles. Heat began to rise up her face and she found sudden interest in looking everywhere but him. "I-I couldn't contact you when I finished so I got frustrated and went up here for a walk instead. Isn't it cool how it just led me to finding you out of nowhere? Ahahaha..."

He had to be an idiot if he didn't have any suspicions at this point.

What are you even saying?

"Uh, right." The trinket. That was all he needed. She'd hand it to him, then run back to the safety of Pandora's Wares at light speed. And she wouldn't ever handle customers in the morning ever again. A flick of her hand, and a summoned inventory window hovering between her red face and the man's visage felt like a safety barrier. In a very similar fashion to her distracted nature from earlier, she searched the inventory unaware that the soft buzzing both would have previously dismissed as an ambient sound effect from the forest was slowly drawing closer. "I, don't... do deliveries like this. At all. But since I already ran into you, here -- have this!"

An placed the ring on his palm. Stepping back just as quick, she dipped into a bow and blurted out the rest of the usual spiel -- because hey, it would be even weirder if she just ran, right?

"Th-that would be all! Thanks-for-availing-of-my-services-I'll-be-leaving-now!"

[traded to Kuruyama:]

Nimrod's Band
T1 Rare Trinket -- Recovery | Keen
A slightly rusted metallic ring, painted black. Mounted on its bezel is a fragment of a [Frenzy Boar]'s tusk. | [✦]

 

Andromeda (LEVEL 14: 34 SP)   | 280/280 HP | 28/28 EN | 7 DMG   | 33 MIT | 1 LM   | Frost Thorns | Frost Aura

Spoiler [equipped:] Spoiler Dawn T1 Perfect Rapier -- [x3] Damage Marking the first steps of a young adventurer's new journey. A rapier that is rather plain in every aspect except for its elegant swept hilt made of brass. | [✦] Svalinn T1 Demonic Shield -- Cursed | Frost Thorns | Frost Aura | Mitigation "The shield which once stood before the sun and kept the Earth from being set aflame." A small round shield perpetually encased in a thick layer of unyielding ice. Its surface is uneven, with sharp ice crystals jutting out and rising up, and any attack aimed at it would sure result in a nasty counter-effect. Attacks made from afar or otherwise aren't left without retribution either, as the opponent would feel themselves surrounded by an intense chill. When equipped alongside any item with a flame enhancement, the ice becomes dyed with an auburn hue but does not lose any of its intensity. | [✦] Rugged Leather Jerkin  T1 Perfect Light Armor -- [x2] Mitigation | Light Momentum Contrary to the amateur merchant's belief, this light armor was crafted by the goblins themselves. It is made of fibre leather and a few frayed edges imply a rather clumsy craftsmanship. But it's light and covers the important places, and the merchant insists it's completely fine to wear! | [✦] [battle-ready inventory:] Spoiler Dice of Blessing  T1 Perfect Trinket -- [x3] LD [reference] The modern adventurer's mark of providence or misfortune - depending on how much Lady Luck likes you. The trinket itself is an acrylic D20 painted brown with gold numbers and an attached chain that allows it to be clipped onto the user's clothing. When thrown, it often lands on '20'. | [✦] [x5] Golden Key A single-use item that grants +2 LD when opening a Treasure Chest. | [5] [x1] Teleportation Crystal  Use a post action to activate a teleport crystal. Teleports the player to the town or designated teleportation area they specify. | [✦] [skills:] Spoiler [used sp: 23 | unused sp: 11] 01. Rapier -- Rank 3 [sword arts:] Spoiler [r1:] [x2] Rip Ravine (2 Energy) - Two quick slashes into a target. [r2:] [x3] Accel Stab - (3 Energy) - A chain of three nimble thrusts aimed at the target's torso. [x4] Quadruple Pain - (4 Energy) - Four thrusts are made, each aimed at the limbs of the opponent. [r3:] [x5] Neutron - (5 Energy) - A single high-powered thrust, that pierces the opponents body. [x6] Crucifixion - (6 Energy) - A six-hit thrusting sword art that traces the pattern of a cross into the target. [x5 MA Stun] Twilight Resurrection - (8 Energy) - Four high-speed thrusts, followed by striking the opponent in the head with the back of the fist.

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Andromeda

[Kuruyama 0]

Kuruyama was out in a shaded grove thinking about the encounter with the merchant that he just had, man, I must've come off as rude and I didn't think anything of it. Thinking this he put his hand on his face and mumbled to himself, "I'm such an idiot... if I had just stayed and waited for just a tad bit longer... but surely she had other customers and a backlog of orders to fill..." Entranced in his own thoughts he almost didn't notice the silver-haired girl making her way over to him, 

could that be? No, it must be a coincidence.

and at that moment when she said, "Oh, it's you!" He knew that yes it was indeed the girl from the shop. Kuruyama checked the time on his interface and it was only about an hour since he left the shop, had she already finished the orders that she had? As she moved closer he sat up and waved sheepishly. She was the first to speak and it sounded like she was a bit nervous. "Heya, yeah sorry about bolting out of there like that, I, unfortunately, had something come up, and after leaving I didn't realize that I didn't give you any way to contact me." He started to blush a bit from a bit of embarrassment. "Ya know, I don't find it all that odd that you ended up running into me here. I like to come here to just get away from everything for a bit ya know? Of course, you know, if you didn't you wouldn't be standing here in front of me!" He chuckled slightly putting a hand behind his head and smiling softly. 

There was just a moment of silence until she spoke once again and opening her inventory, "I, don't... do deliveries like this. At all. But since I already ran into you, here -- have this!" and she took hold of his palm and placed a black metallic ring in the center and she stepped back once finished. "Thank you so very much, I will admit that I planned on coming back tomorrow because I had thought that you might have been swamped with orders. I wanted to give you as much time to complete it as possible, but thank you again." he smiled at her once more and moved to put the ring in his pocket. "Most people don't come to do this sort of thing, which is why, I will admit, I was a bit shocked when I saw you approaching. To be honest, I thought you were hunting me down a because I didn't pay enough." He chuckled lightly.

"Since I didn't get to introduce myself to you then, I shall take this opportunity to do so now. My name is Kuruyama, It is a pleasure to meet someone as cute as you."

You didn't just say that did you?!

After the words left his mouth he knew that it was too late to take them back and she had probably, no, she definitely heard him say that. "I, um... would you, umm...." He couldn't seem to get his thoughts together to form a coherent sentence. He cleared his throat a bit, "Ahem... If you would like, I mean, if you have the time it's not every day that I get to interact with someone else. I totally understand if you have to go back to running your shop, but once again thank you for bringing this to me. It does mean a lot." He then moved to open his interface and within a few moments an interface popped up in front of her,

«Kuruyama would like to be your friend. Accept | Decline»

@Andromeda

Stats:

«Kuruyama»

| Lv: 5 | HP: 100/100 | Energy: 10 | DMG: 6 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 26 | ACC: 1 | THN: 9 | Recovery: 1 | Keen: 1

«Equipped»

| Main Hand: «Dornavver» | Armor: «Daemon's Ebon Chestplate»  | Trinket: «Nimrod's Band»

«Vanity Items»

| Blood Red Cloak |

«Battle Ready Inventory»

| x3 Starter Healing Potions (+50 HP) | x5 T1 Healing potions (+40 HP) | x1 T1 Damage Potion (+1 DMG) | x1 T1 Over-Healing Potion (+50 temp HP) | 

[Andromeda 0]

“–Of course, you know, if you didn’t you wouldn’t be standing here in front of me–”

Eep. This was the worst transaction ever. “Hold on a sec!! I–” Perhaps not realizing it was just a good-natured tease, the merchant girl waved her hands so frantically you would’ve thought she was physically trying to dispel all the misunderstandings in the air. “M-my shop, Pandora’s! My shop’s on Floor 1, so I couldn’t have guessed, right? Right?”

Wait, why was she phrasing that as a question in the first place–

“–It is a pleasure to meet someone as cute as you."

An sputtered, all attempts to retreat forgotten. “C-c-c-cute? I… pardon, I must have–” Face flaming red, she cupped her cheeks in both hands, unable to stop the stupid smile spreading on her face (if only running away wasn’t considered so rude). This appearance was ‘cute’? Well, now that she thought about it, that same hair color didn’t look so bad on him. “–I mean, thanksandyou’rewelcome,you’rekindadishy,too!” 

Harriette!

Before she could bemoan her response or wonder how their conversation went straight from ‘An-is-totally-not-a-stalker’ to awkwardly complimenting each other’s good looks, a friend request window appeared in front of her. The merchant girl blinked, trying to unscramble her mind for a response. Did this guy genuinely believe her explanation or was he just fine befriending silver-haired weirdos? “If I have the time,” An began. “Then what?”

Whack.

An spun around so fast the friend request disappeared. “Hey, what gives?!” she yelled up at the gigantic wasp that had followed her. It hovered menacingly before the pair, a debilitating chill from her cursed shield’s enhancement surrounding it. Maybe she’d picked up its aggro from somewhere? An was more concerned with unruffling her hair than the damage it dealt to her HP, but as soon as it started buzzing angrily in response, she unsheathed her weaker rapier. “Ohhh, you attacked first! Quad. Pain!”

Spoiler

Wasp Queen:
ID: 152964 | MD: 10 | 20 + 2 = 22 - 33 = 1 DMG -> Andromeda | 7 Thorns -> Wasp Queen [Frost]

Quadruple Pain (4 EN)
ID: 152965 | BD: 7 | 7 * 4 = 28 DMG -> Wasp Queen

[H:1] Andromeda: 279/280 HP | 24/28 EN | 7 DMG | 33 MIT | 1 LM | Frost Thorns | Frost Aura
[H:0] Kuruyama:  100/100 HP | 10/10 EN | 6 DMG | 26 MIT | 1 ACC | 9 THRNS | Rec. | Keen

Wasp Queen: 15/50 HP | 20 DMG [0/2 Frost]

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Andromeda