[F21-PP] Visible Anger (Feeding Your Enemy)

[Celeste 1]

After a short conversation had to lead her to a gypsy, she'd found her way up quite a number of floors. She knew she'd need some creature that would offer her greater power, and with the time between she'd aim for something to kill time. Celeste needed cash and the resources on this floor were quite high quality. So she'd camp the place and keep her eye peeled for anything she could pocket either living or not. Her setup was almost complete and it was only a matter of time before she would get the ball fully rolling in her favor. But first she needed to take care of this one last chore, getting a pet and teaching it to augment her capabilities. The redhead had long destroyed all the other tutorial style affairs and this was the only one left on her plate left to finish. Removing a tiny array of tools from her pockets they all trigger and supply the needed buffs.

Celeste Consumes: Berry Crumb Bars [T1/Dessert/Perfect] - Loot Dice 3, The Stars Collide [T1/Salve/Perfect] - Pheromone, Spring (The Four Seasons) [T1/Support Song/Perfect] - Familiar Sight, Spyglass 1 Charge [2/3 Charges Remain]

Celeste | HP:20/20 | EN:2/2 | DMG:6 | ACC:3 | BLD:12 | LD:6

Spoiler

Celeste - The Crimson Tide
Level: 1
HP: 20/20
EN: 2/2

Stats:
Damage: 6
Accuracy: 3
BLD:12
LD:6

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Adrenaline Billhook [T1/2HBA/Perfect] - Damage 2, Bleed 1
Armor: Red Omamori [T1/Trinket/Perfect] - Loot Dice 3
Misc: Platinum Buckle [T1/Trinket/Perfect]: Accuracy 3

Skills:
Two Handed Battle Axe [Rank 1]

Battle Ready Inventory:
Raspberry Smoothie [T1/Dessert/Perfect] - Loot Dice 3 *2
Immolation [T1/Unique] - Thorns 10*1

 

[Celeste 1]

A short exchange with the NPC leaves her with a handful of food stuck in her hands, to which she had no idea what the hell to do with it. Eyeballing the questing object with a sway of her red hair, reading its description in what looked like a handful of birdseed in a brown leather sack. "Huh, the crap the game designer came up with." The redhead quipped shifting her arms to force it to vanish. Ushering up to higher floors, eager to claim something powerful and bind to her for good. Weak just wouldn't cut it in the end, she needed the best if she wished to grow quickly. Despite the clear danger that came along with it, it was worth the risk for a bigger reward. A flash of the warp gate tears her from floor 6 upward rather quickly, bending reality around her in an instant.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

To an unknown floor filled with a parade of assaults to the senses. The first thing she encounters is the smell, she was rather versed and heightened in this regard. It smelled of oil and sulfur, of damp mugginess like laundry that spent too much time in a washer after cleaning. A hint of mold-like spice lingered in it. Then the sights, which took the shape of a myriad of bodies parading about the place with seemingly no directions. Just bumbling around like idiots, bumping into each other and staring off into space without care. What a waste of time... Celeste thought, hoping from the gate and ushering toward the gates that held the settlement of Tomoika from the rest of the ring of aincrad. The dim glow of multiple different crystals of varied hues provides light as she wandered deeper and further from the safety that the village provided.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Through the narrow walks that held deeper and darker into the catacombs of stone, the lighting becoming more vague and eerie with each step. Celeste was determined as visible through an unfazed demeanor latched to her face. To some, this would invoke fear, but the girl was too focused and ambitious for such feelings. An echoing shout and sounds of exchanges in violence rack the halls. Conflict seemed active on this floor, as most higher levels used this floor, in particular, to grind their eyes out, unannounced to Celeste who would find that out soon enough. For now, though she was on a mission, one more 'tutorial' style quest left to complete after this one and she was eager to put them all behind her. This does however draw some intrigue, as she removes an axe and preps for the possibility. Unfortunately she was on the gathering part of this place.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

An axe held tightly in her clutches, her hands growing taught around the handle with each passing step. The screams and smashing, the slashes and chimes grew louder and the taste of the possibility of a tussle was wetting her tongue. A couple of ticking discharges of her available stamina causes her weapon to flicker and ring as she needlessly wastes some of her available energy. Celeste was about to be sorely disappointed. There would be no conflict for her here for her ignorance was showing.

This was the purely gathering half of floor 21, and she unknowingly shuffled completely to the wrong side. But she was none the wiser and on edge for no damn reason. Well excluding the fact that she was a low level on a floor with hostiles large enough to eat her in a single damn bite, maybe that had something to do with it. If she wasn't such a damn idiot that she'd willingly risk such a thing for the chance at a dollar.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Pressing her slender frame through narrow cracks and sliding through, into a darker crevice to which there was little light. She squints trying her best to make out its internal composition. There were a few dormant and slightly touched nodes, signs of wear, and dislodged chunks of ore on crags that jut from the rock walls. A mining outcropping that had been found and harvested. The thought was not palatable in the slightest to the bloodthirsty wench. 

Dismissing her axe and rubbing a hand along them, purely at circumstances alone then looking for a concrete issue with it. They were rough and coarse to her skin, she found spots where they were smoothed though. More than likely from a pickaxe or blunt object sheering clean a section. "Ore, do I look like a smith?" Celeste remarked to the cave as if it could hear her regret. She had chosen the wrong direction.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Flipping a 180 she makes back for the entry, all that this cavern had to offer was nothing she was interested in. Mentally she cursed the quest for not giving her any real direction or location. Here she was actually fumbling around in the dark, with no grounds to stand on. Would it have killed big purple flying idiot to put just a bit more of a guide to what the hell she was supposed to be doing. Celeste didn't give a crap what it looked like, or what it ate she just needed it for the strength it was supposed to offer her.

"Damn Gypsy, useless piece of shit"

She murmured which bounced off the walls and spoke back to her, along with the sounds of her clothes dragging along the surface of the opening. Right back where she started, choosing a direction at seemingly random because it was.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

The redheaded girl was moving deeper and deeper into uncharted areas of the floor, into a thicker yellow miasma that after a single tick of damage she learns to cover her mouth and nose. "It stinks." Celeste speaks through her hand in a muffle, pushing through the thickened mess and into the obscurity it offered. This place was a far way from happiness and sunshine like floor 1-3 were, hell even floor 6 in its huge amount of angsty weather and sticky humidity were more hospitable to guests. The girl was sure that the scent would be stuck in her clothes for quite a while, and dreaded the thought that it was all she owned. She'd be carrying this crap with her for quite some time afterward, pressing further beyond and down the trails the system provided her to get lost in. It was as if there was no end to how far it went.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Each step seemed heavier as the girl did her best to keep her mouth covered, pushing back the yellow fog that kept its same thickness with each step forward. She held not a weapon and as she pressed on she found a slight glint to her side, ushering into the hole with earnest she attempted to see what was in store. A ripe hole filled with a multitude of nodes untouched by man. The girl was no gatherer but she could tell money when it jumped up and bit her. "Jackpot." Celeste quipped moving toward the wall and pushing away at a stone with an earnest attempt to break some loose unsure what it was. It shakes a bit before breaking off, offering a single ripe colored crystal into her hand. A flick of her wrist causes it to vanish in red light, burning away in an instant and adding a single nugget of worth to her pocket.

ID# 181749 results: Loot: 12+6=18, Success!
+1 T3 Material Obtained

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

A twist of the cavern causes her pause, a subtle sound that was not from her. Eyeing her hand as she listened carefully before a sudden cable of bright red latches to her index finger and pulls her whole arm forward. Celeste struggles, fighting back against the tendril cable that stemmed away. Her eyes quickly trace the line and pull back, from a darkened crevice with shadows thick enough to obscure one's vision. A single solid tug as she puts a boot to the wall frees the proprietor of the weapon and she fights to peel free its grasp. A single flick of her wrist does nothing, as it pours down her skin and almost burns as it becomes more and more encasing. A single bag of food from a gypsy falls and shatters upon the rough stone floor, followed by the girl's knees. Fighting back against the advancing ichor, with a color like blood that was boiled in magma.

ID# 181508 results: Loot: 18+8=26, Familiar Found!

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Reaching at the stuff with her left as she rolled onto her back, she grabs a handful and begins to tug. Like molasses, it gets gunked to her hands, like a pair of handcuffs it forms around them both. Bleeding down on her from above, a vile hiss as it moves toward her face, that same burning feeling making her skin feel like fire. Celeste contemplates if this was to be the end, no fear but the feeling of not reaching her goals was becoming more prominent. Unacceptable

Ringing in her head like an anthem as she pushes every ounce of her will to fight against it, it consumes her eyes and her face. A blazing red hair becomes nothing more than a blob of red ooze before shaping away to a smooth sphere. Darkness, and then the vision. As if her own sight, it was no different but as she looks toward emboldened hands, the flesh still burned hot like coal. A soft exhale produces a multitoned chorus of voice with a hiss attached. Sharpened claws compose her fingertips, she felt stronger but untamed. Wild and free like a raging bull.

She was chaos

ID# 181509 results: Craft: 10+1=11, Familiar Taming Success!

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Unsure how to respond, her first instinct is to peel at the skin and remove it. Digging the bestowed claws into her arm, it peels back just a bit before snapping back to her forearm like a rubber band. It then proceeds to slink back, pushing toward the place where the food had fallen. It flows over it and consumes what morsels were left. "So you then?" Celeste remarks rather quickly at the animal now on the leash. It shutters then moves for her ankles. She hesitates and peels away, but then it vanishes into her armor and clothes. Celeste could feel the fire of its presence, egging her to test it on for size without a word. A tick of the quest rounding complete confirms her suspicion and with it a slight change in color to her damage value in her status screen. "Guess that's it." She comments eyeing the chamber and seeing its worth. Perhaps a few more for the road.

ID# 181750 results: Loot: 16+6=22, Success!
+1 T3 Material Obtained

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

A heave of her hand forces the claws to appear, the familiar already bestowing its owner with a gift. It shreds through clean the stone she was working on before, akin to tiny knives that would serve nothing against tougher hides. But useful nonetheless for tiny tasks such as these. Leaning down and clasping the hunk of the same stuff she'd peeled prior to being actually attacked by the thing she assumed was what she sought. What kinda quest was this? Without warning, she was dragged to her knees and buried under this mass of squishy mud and now it was playing underwear. That damned gypsy failed to mention that fact, did she know before? All these questions she'd not hesitate to get answers to once she'd had her fill with this place. Another punch of those serrated needles dig in deep, this time with feeling as the puncture the stone and maintain solidarity on her hand alone.

ID# 181751 results: Loot: 11+6=17, Success!
+1 T3 Material Obtained

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Pushing harshly toward the node causes it to shutter, a twist of her wrist digs in like a bore. The hunk of stone trembles and shatters, leaving another ripe piece for the taking. Evaporating into her sleeve and out of sight returns a peach complexion of her hand. The familiar lines of her skin, it was gone and she leans down to pluck the value from the floor below. An easy success and a welcome ode to a path of triumph. This would be quite the tool for time to come, and the slight improvement in how her body felt was divine. Celeste couldn't help but thrive beneath this new skin, like a warm blanket the fatigue of the floor seemed to wash away just a bit. The weight in her feet felt lighter, her very frame felt lighter. Delighted for a first real reward that vastly worked to dwarf the lessons quest in an instant.

ID# 181752 results: Loot: 14+6=20, Success!
+1 T3 Material Obtained

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

It proves a distraction as she thinks at what it was, what this small contraption could be. A reach of her left arm up toward her right shoulder beneath her sleeve she finds it. A gentle tug shows her intention and it releases but wraps tightly around her hand, greedily not wanting to let go. As a cable, it is bent and pulled thin, like syrup from a bottle that spent too long in a freezer it was thick. Color close to her hair but with a dull orange glow like smoldering charcoal. "What are you supposed to be?" Celeste asked it unsure if it could answer, becoming laxer and manifested in her palm. A line of serrated teeth forms upon the gelatinous frame, like a toothed maw of a drake or crocodile. The teeth slide apart, as pure amber-like lights form where one would expect eyes. It was horrifying, and the girl liked it.

ID# 181757 results: Loot: 8+6=14, Failure!

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

It seems to slither and slide the lips like a bear trap on a face, fainting words but with no voice. "So you can't speak, I don't know what I was expecting." Celeste quips as it attempts to charade in a mockery of her own moving parts. Lifting her left hand she presses it into a fist to see its response, before sliding her right through it like a glove. It takes, and latches on as if spreading paste. "You fit like a glove." Celeste remarks peering down at the bladed fingertips now held fast on her right, dragging the sharpened claws against the floor beneath her with a grim smile.  "Only to serve me, I think I could get used to this." This thing was inflating her ego through its servitude, something that was already so large it almost forced her to topple and needed to grow no larger.

ID# 181759 results: Loot: 5+6=11, Failure!

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

"Show me more, I want to see more." Celeste spoke to it like an order, a decree to her newly peeled servant. It sprays out like a net and she lifts her hand removing her axe in a display of light. A spinning pirouette, the lines latch about the place in a vibrant latching to the world around her. It forces the twirl with bladed extension to come quicker, A single rip forward peels a stone in at a quick tug. A sudden tear forces her arm up, like a handshake between her and it guiding the strike it sprays a flay of pebbles. They ricochet upon the stonework in bite-size pieces. It was forcing everything into a quicker succession, allowing her intentions to become reality. There was a power behind it, there was a strength within the fibers in her arms. She was its new mother, and this was its gift to her.

ID# 181760 results: Loot: 3+6=9, Failure!

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

"I need to give you direction, you need to be taught." Celeste spoke bluntly to it. Right now it was just acting on impulse and she could feel a slight disjoint in the attack and felt as though with a bit of practice, she may just produce a more refined version of what it was offering. The crimson tide's mind was ripe with possibility, with new heights and an undeniability in her actions. The axe she allows it to hang to which the cords hold below the head and the very bottom to keep it raised with minimal effort from her. An excellent butler to carry her burden. "How would I go about that?" Celeste asked the cavern without a direction, assuming that despite the question being spoken it would give her no answer. It was rhetorical and food for thought. A grab of the handle of her axe in an instant, to check the response.

ID# 181761 results: Loot: 1+6=7, Failure!

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

A sudden lunge and slam of the weapon against the back wall cause a spray and a film of grey to riddle the place, the creature using its spindly appendages to force her upward in an instant before latching behind her target and ripping her forward. The gravity of the strike alone causes the whole place to jostle beneath the impact. A collection of cascading stone in jagged pieces, a single gemstone among the rough. "We are going to get along just fine, aren't we?" Celeste spoke to her companion beneath her sleeve as the cords sprung from her back began to fade away and slink out of view. It did not matter if it could not speak, for it seemed to understand her well enough to get the gist of her intentions. But more importantly, it obeyed them and that is exactly what she desired from it. A weapon.

ID# 181762 results: Loot: 20+6=26, Success!
+1 T3 Material Obtained

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste

[Celeste 1]

Slinking out from the crevice, having her fill and leaving the whole place in disarray. A trail beginning back for Tomoika village as quick as extracted from, a warmth beneath her gloves and across her stomach that was undeniable. The click of her boots through the thick yellow mists, covering her mouth to abstain from its harmful grasp. A thought in her head as she moves. A glance down as she removes her hand from her face, allowing the toxin to deal a single tick of damage. "I guess it's only right that a servant has something to be made aware that it is being sought." A twist of her lips into a smile, concentration triggering with a grim letter, and a shared hunger for power are built by them both.

She had it on the tip of her tongue and as it produced but a single line that produced that line of jagged teeth, it shared in her grin with its gruesome face. "I shall call you, Zuggtmoy"

ID# 181763 results: Loot: 8+6=14, Failure!

Quest Complete:
3*SP (1 Thread Closure, 1 Event Bonus, 1 Quest Reward)
400*Col (400 Thread Closure)
5*T3 Materials (5 Gathered)

Zuggtmoy - Fighter Familiar/Slime

Edited January 29, 2021 by Celeste