[F6-PP] Playing With Fire <<Deforestation>>

[Nephthys 0]

Spoiler

Nephthys
Level: 17
HP: 340/340 | EN: 34/34 | DMG: 10 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 3 | THORNS: 18 | HEAVY MOMENTUM: 1

Equipped:
» Mahklab [Perfect T1 2H Assault Spear[Damage // Damage // Damage]]
» Hawk Bracelet [Perfect T1 Bracelet [Accuracy // Accuracy // Accuracy]]
» Qadhaf [Perfect T1 Heavy Armor [Thorns // Thorns // Heavy Momentum]]

Battle Ready Inventory:
» (5) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)
» (5) Tier One Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP)
» 1 Fish with +1 Vitality snack (+2 Energy Regenerated in Combat for one Thread)

Skills:
» Two Handed Assault Spear - Rank 4

• Finesse - Rank 2

Extra Skills:
» Familiar Mastery: Protector - Rank 1

She had decided to travel to the sixth floor, just to see what was available to her for questing. She didn't know if she was going to find something that was going to help her get stronger alone, or if maybe she would call upon Chase for his help. Just the thought that someone had managed to suffer her company long enough to not try to stab her in the back was a good thing for her. Perhaps, just perhaps, she would be able to trust people after all.

Plus, Bast seemed to not mind him being around, which was probably a good thing. Nephthys just shrugged as she walked around the floor, only to start hearing about a field boss that was torching the forests. She stopped, and she listened to what the NPCs were saying. A giant flame tiger. Well, that was something that she could probably handle, but she didn't want to take the chance, so she opened her messenger.

Quote

Hey Chase,
There's talk of a flame tiger destroying some forest on the 6th floor, want to come help me take care of it?
-Nep

Just as she sent the message to Chase, one of the Amazon NPCs walked over to her and asked her to help take down the flame tiger. Neph nodded as she accepted the quest, if Chase needed it, she was certain that there was a way to share the quest with him. Or the NPC will just stay here as she waited for her, possible, friend to show up.

@ChaseR

[ChaseR 0]

Chase had just gotten a fair good bit of rest in, and it definitely paid off. After a long stretch, he checked his inbox to see that Nep wanted to go questing again. Maybe this was the best way to get into the groove of things after all. He stretched his fingers and got to typing, sending her a message and beginning to head for the teleport plaza not too far away from his estate by the 21st.

ChaseR: I'm on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes tops.

His message was, at the very least, true. It wasn't even ten minutes before he showed up, letting out a yawn and waving at Nep while he approached her. His little blue pinecone was with him, sitting atop his head and croaking at the sight of the lady and her panther. "You're hunting Byokko, right?", he asked to make sure he hadn't confused the quests and that they were all on board. As far as he could remember, no special preparations were to be made for a quest this early on. They were gonna be fine to go, and in the worst case scenario, Blizz would be able to shield the group from a hit or two using his frost breath. "Note to self, don't kill the monster, and don't just tap it either. Do some damage this time but let Nep do a thing or two too.", he remarked to himself and kept a rather blank and not forced at all smirk on his face, the edge of his lips twitching somewhat. 

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 84
HP: 1710/1710
EN: 168/168

Stats:
Damage: 20
Mitigation: 43
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
BH:85
VAMP DEF:85
PARA:1
HLY:12
HLY BLS:16
LD:5

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Fragmented Blade>> (T3/Perfect/2HSS): PARA I, HOLY II
Armor: <<Azure Overcoat>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): V.DEF I, HBS I, MIT I
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Demonic/Trinket): EVA II, ACC II

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Searching [Rank 4]
Charge [Rank 5]
Hiding [Rank 5]
Parry [Obtained]
Extended Mod Limit [Obtained]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]
Extended Weight Limit [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise
Meditation

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision
Athletics
Sprint & Acrobatics
Ferocity
Focused Howl
Surprise Attack (Assassin)
Vanish

Battle Ready Inventory:
Imugi's Inspiration (Mass HP Recovery)*1
Insta-Life ++ (T2/Perfect/HP REC III)*1
Woodland Armor (T3/Perfect) MIT III (1/3)*1
Gugnir's Shard (T3/Instant/HP REC III)*5
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
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.
Skylight (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring:

 

[Nephthys 0]

She didn't reply to his message, and honestly, she wouldn't have minded if he was a few minutes late. She knew that it wasn't always easy to navigate these floors, or perhaps that was just for her since she was new to exploring them. But, he had stayed true to the words that he stated in his reply. She noticed that there was a blue pinecone on his head, and did it just croak? She watched what she was assuming was his familiar on his head before he asked her a question.

Her gaze went back to him as she nodded lightly. "Yeah. Guess he's burning the forests here and the Amazons want help getting rid of him." Of course, she knew that he was just going to respawn, but at least at that point, she wouldn't be approached for the quest. Not that she wouldn't mind just going and destroying it again to protect the forest. Bast chirped before the panther seemed to shrink in size again, pawing at Neph's leg.

She just bent down and picked up the now kitten sized panther and looked at Chase. "Do you know if there is a certain place where Byokko likes to frequent, or is it just any patch of forest it finds?" She was more wondering for it this was going to be a wander all the forests day, or if there was a certain place that Chase knew where it liked to sit and sleep so to say.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase quietly looked down from the plaza and into the forest, shaking his head. "No, I don't think it frequents anywhere. Uh. Just look for a fire and start from there. It stops spreading when Blokko dies.", he nodded to himself and hearing another croak from Blizz in agreement, he raised a hand to grab the pangolin from atop his head, holding it in his palm. A round little guy with tiny arms, looking at him before turning over to Nep.

"This guy's Blizz. He's a bit lazy but he helps out a fair bit. He might be cold to touch, but he's friendly. Helps me take down monsters.", he gave a brief explanation of his familiar, letting her pet it if she wished before putting it back on his shoulder, watching it use its claws to grip tightly as it always did. "Let's get moving. We can track down smoke first, then run over.", he tried to lay out a small plan and began to head towards the 'edge', if one could even call it that, of the village, heading down the stairs and closer to the ground so they could get looking. "You're pretty low in level, but got Bust this early on anyways?", he tried to start up a conversation, knowing he didn't get his familiar until a bit into the second tier. He couldn't even remember what level he was, just that he went in a small adventure around the fourth to get Blizz out of the snow.

[Nephthys 0]

She nodded and looked back the edge of the village. Right now, she saw nothing, but that could all change the moment that they leave the village and actually start walking. She looked at Blizz though and smiled a little, before reaching out to lightly pet the familiar. He really was cold to the touch, but nothing that was too cold.

As he mentioned to get moving, she quickly sent him a party invitation. She figured that it would be best to be in a party, just in case. "Smoke, that shouldn't be too hard to find. As long as it looks the same in game as it does in real life." That was probably bad humor, but it was an attempt at humor, something that she hadn't done in a while. She looked at the kitten sized panther that had climbed onto her shoulder, the claws of the cat digging into the leather straps that it was able to find on her armor.

"I got Bast because I planned on going at this game purely solo. No parties, no anything really. Just me and her. I trained her to be a protector, so I have that extra mitigation on top of what my armor skill will give me when I put points into it." She lightly pet Bast's tiny head. "She's been my only friend honestly. My brother is in the game too, but he's got his group, so getting her early was a way to not be alone anymore." She stopped petting the panther's head as she looked around, trying to see if she could spot any sign of smoke yet.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Nephthys

[ChaseR 0]

Just as anything that didn't have the joke label slapped on top of it, Chase tried to reassure Nep, having taken her joke as an actual concern. "It thankfully looks the same. We'll find it, no worries.". The other part she mentioned about her brother being in game but the two having separated from one another, and willingly on top, he didn't understand too well. Why stay apart when you're both trapped in a death game together?

"Is there a reason he just ditched you?", the bluehead asked with genuine concern, crossing his arms as they continued to walk, looking for any trace of the berserk beast running rampant in the forest. Nothing yet though. Talk could fill in the gaps and wandering around. He accepted the party request as well, letting out another yawn and scratching the back of his head. "Familiars make everything much less lonely. Right? Although I usually worry about Blizz and leave him at home. I'm not one to talk.", he replied to himself and looked down at the ground, moving a hand to scratch the back of his head while Blizz croaked. Was it in agreement? Was it in some form of attempt to make him forget it? He couldn't tell. There was no way the little critter didn't mind being parked at home all day.

[Nephthys 0]

He didn't catch what she said as a joke, and that might have been a good thing with how horribly it sounded in her own mind. She thought of her brother, and shook her head, "I don't know if I can call it him ditching me. He came in with friends, like I did, and his friends don't exactly like me. So, I think it could be more called me separating myself from more problems." She just blurted that all out, absentmindedly, and of course, she didn't know that her brother's friends had died already. She never got that far into a conversation with him since everything happened with Lethia.

She looked at him when he yawned, and instantly worried if she had woken him up or stopped him from being able to sleep. "I didn't disturb your rest, did I?" She was actually worried about that, because that was a fast way for her to become an enemy to some, to be a bother. No matter how many times she had to tell herself that someone wouldn't answer if they didn't want to.

"Bast can't talk back like a person can, but I've been learning the differences in the sounds that she does respond with. It's kind of amazing, all the different sounds that a panther might be able to make." Of course, there was a theme behind her name and Bast's, but that was probably a conversation best left alone. She looked ahead, and squinted a little, "It looks like we might be headed in the right direction." She pointed ahead of them, but slightly to the right, there was some smoke, but it still seemed a little far from them currently.

[ChaseR 0]

In Chase's eyes, it still was on her brother for not deciding to tag along with his sister. It only makes sense that family sticks together when they do well, right? Then again, the same way he couldn't comment any on familiars being good company, it wasn't like he'd stuck to his own family outside of SAO all the same. Were things really all that different after all?

"I see... Do you just get along better with Bast and yourself? I kinda understand that.", he asked before being taken aback by the question that came out of nowhere. His rest? The one that had lasted for two or so weeks now? "N-No, nothing like that. I've been struggling to get moving because of my own troubles and I'm just getting back into the habit. It feels like I've done anything I could on my own here. All I can do is kill stuff now.", he tried to explain and looked to the side, trying to find some form of distraction. "If anything, thanks for asking me to come over. I needed this.". And then came the little bit of smoke that Nep noticed. Turning to look back at her and then wherever she was looking at, he could see what she meant at the far, far distance. They had to travel a bit more to make their way over, but it would spread towards them and with a bit of luck (at least now), Byakko would start heading right their way. "You're right. Let's pick up the pace.", he gestured her to follow and began to head right over, taking his sword out and keeping it in one hand, gripped tightly. "Blizz just kinda... croaks. That's all the noises he makes. Not sure how to understand his mood and all..."

[Nephthys 0]

She looked at Bast and smiled a little, "Yeah, she's been the only one on my side since Lethia tried to kill me. It's been easier to talk to her than another player." She hadn't noticed that she dropped her old best friend's name, but she didn't seem to care about that. She was still worried about him, wanting to be sure that he wasn't skipping sleep to help her with this.

"In that case, you're welcome. The company is still something I'm not entirely used to, but, it's nice really." She looked toward the smoke, and she wondered how fast it would be until they were upon the fire, and ultimately, Byakko. She looked at Chase and nodded as she started to follow him, her hand gripping her spear a little tighter than it had been before. It wasn't that she was scared of forests, it was more that fire bothered her, but she wasn't about to let that stop her from helping those who needed her help.

She chuckled a little though, "I've seen some familiars who don't talk at all. Each one is different, and they tend to take after their player more than anything else. Bast only talks so much because she was my only conversational partner." It was the truth, Bast was a talkative panther because of her. So that meant that she should probably talk less, right? Nah, she was going to continue to talk to the panther about everything and anything at this point.

[ChaseR 0]

Lethia? Was that the reason that Nep was now all alone? It sounds like she was backstabbed, and there was admittedly little room for interpretation. "Lethia tried to... So an orange player?", this wasn't like Mari. If someone made a genuine, honest attempt to kill someone, there was no room for 'good' in them. Tsk... not that it was his problem though. After butting in the orange's life enough, maybe it was time he let others take care of their own troubles. For his sake and theirs. This would all be just an afterthought if he were ever asked, of course. The duality of man, right?

"I wish I was out there still. But at least we're not all alone in here. Familiars feel like they're here for us. Makes me lose myself sometimes.", he responded, looking behind him at Bast silently and reaching a hand on to his shoulder to slowly glide over Blizz' scaly back. Maybe he should take Blizz out more and stop being worried about him all the time. That train of thought was cut short when he heard something in the distance. Something that was a bit more urgent than when to and when to not take his familiar for a trip. "Up ahead.", he notified Nep and looked forward again, seeing a small wave of fire start to spread towards them, every tree catching on quicker than the ones before. Byakko was well on his way towards them, it seemed. "Attack him first and I'll try to stun.", he gave her the pass and gestured forwards with his head, stepping aside so she had all the room she needed- unlike last time.

[Nephthys 0]

Spoiler

Nephthys: HP: 340/340 | EN: 25 (34-9)/34 | DMG: 10 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 3 | THORNS: 18 | HEAVY MOMENTUM: 1

ChaseR: HP: 1710/1710 | EN: 168/168 | DMG: 20 | MIT: 43 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH:85 | VAMP DEF:85 | PARA:1 | HLY:12 | HLY BLS:16 | LD:5

Byakko: HP: 90 (150-60)/150 | DMG: 60 | MIT: 40
On MD rolls of 9 or 10, half the damage dealt is instead dealt as burn damage, which ignores mitigation as a status. This has no DoT.

Vent Forth vs Byakko

ID: 185443
BD: 8 (5+3)
DMG: 60 (10*10-40)

Ah, so she had said the name, "I don't know if she is or isn't honestly, I haven't seen her since day one. Kind of want to keep it that way." She really didn't want to see that woman again, there was no friendship that could be salvaged after that attempt on Neph's life. She was happy to let that topic go though, because it wasn't something that she wanted in her mind twenty-four seven after all.

She nodded in agreement after a few moments though, she did wish that she was outside this game as well. "Life almost seemed easier out there than in here." There was a tiny shrug that came from her afterwards. She looked toward the fire when Chase brought it to her attention. In fact, there was Byakko not too far behind the fire. He wanted her to attack first again, and she nodded, "Alright." She didn't know what to fully expect, but she didn't mind that.

She at least had someone on her side who was going to help her out if things got rough. The moment that she saw Byakko fully, she did a silent prayer, hoping that the new mod that she had, was going to truly help her right now. Her spear started to channel her sword art as she rushed the giant fire tiger. With speed, she let the skill go, hitting the boss for a good amount of its health. She then quickly moved back a few paces, giving Chase room, and only then realizing that Bast was a full-grown panther once more, watching Byakko.

She knew one thing, "Getting that mod was a good idea." She had watched as her energy dropped less than it had the last time she used this sword art.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Nephthys

[ChaseR 0]

There was no reason to stick to such a rotten bad memory, after all. Chase fully agreed with Nep. As long as she was safe now, all was good. She was no Mari, but the last thing the bluehead needed right now was people dying. "Got it. If anything ever comes up, tell me. I don't want anyone dying.", he replied with genuine interest, although his words might seem a bit less caring than intended.

And then came Byakko. A jab from the spear wielder, and its health dropped almost to half. What could he do now to not mortally wound the tiger? He raised his sword in the air, and although his body instinctively went for a deadly downwards slash, he instead stopped himself and used Back Rush by slamming the flat of his stone weapon into Byakko's side. He definitely got a whimper out of the beast who retaliated with a nasty bite, except a step back and the tiger fell off balance, missing and growling at the duo. To stop the two from being surrounded by any fire, Blizz jumped off the blueberry and began to breathe out small shards of ice, extinguishing anything that would get them trapped. "... It's really been a while since I was your level huh. Three weeks and already...", his voice was faint and his tone low, but he gave himself a small smile. Time flies, yet it's barely passing, huh?

Spoiler

ChaseR uses Back Rush! (BD: 4+3=7)
20 * 5 - 40 = 100 - 40 = 60

Byakko attacks ChaseR! (MD: 2-3=1)
ATTACK MISSED

[1] Nephthys: HP: 340/340 | EN: 25/34 | DMG: 10 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 3 | THORNS: 18 | HEAVY MOMENTUM: 1

[2] ChaseR: HP: 1710/1710 | EN: 167/168 (-1) | DMG: 20 | MIT: 43 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH:85 | VAMP DEF:85 | PARA:1 | HLY:12 | HLY BLS:16 | LD:5

Byakko: HP: 30/150 (-60) | DMG: 60 | MIT: 40
On MD rolls of 9 or 10, half the damage dealt is instead dealt as burn damage, which ignores mitigation as a status. This has no DoT.

 

[Nephthys 0]

Spoiler

[1] Nephthys: HP: 340/340 | EN: 17 (25+1-9)/34 | DMG: 10 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 3 | THORNS: 18 | HEAVY MOMENTUM: 1

[2] ChaseR: HP: 1710/1710 | EN: 167/168 | DMG: 20 | MIT: 43 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH:85 | VAMP DEF:85 | PARA:1 | HLY:12 | HLY BLS:16 | LD:5

Byakko: HP: 0 (-60)/150 | DMG: 60 | MIT: 40 >>Dead<<
On MD rolls of 9 or 10, half the damage dealt is instead dealt as burn damage, which ignores mitigation as a status. This has no DoT.

Vent Forth vs Byakko

ID: 185445
BD: 9 (6+3)
DMG: 60 (10*10-40)

She smiled lightly, giving him a small nod, "I'll be sure to let you know." If she couldn't manage to run away that is. She was good at that, running. It had become something that she could easily do to get away from people and monsters. But, as she stared down Byakko, she didn't feel like running at the moment. She wanted to fight, and she wanted to win. Was this how it felt to actually have someone on her side instead of against?

She watched Chase and Byakko, noticing that the beast's health was almost depleted. That was a good thing, this could end in one more good hit, and the forests should be safe, at least until it respawned again. She did feel bad though when the beast whimpered from Chase's hit, but, it was also the beasts fault for lighting a forest on fire for no true reason. She looked at the fire that was starting to try and threaten them, wondering how she could stop it, when she watched some ice start to put out some flames. Chase's familiar was pretty interesting, and very helpful against fire.

She looked at Chase and chuckled before she focused back on Byakko. She'd focus on that reply once the beast was dead, mainly because she didn't feel like getting hit by fire or anything. Using her skill once more, she hit Byakko, having to adjust a little when he tried to move from her attack, but he got hit, and his health fell to one. The fire's around them vanished as Byakko vanished from their view. "I can't tell if you're impressed or not." She looked at Chase as she walked over, commenting on his remark about it being a while since he was her level.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Nephthys

[ChaseR 0]

Before long had passed by any stretch of the imagination, the beast was felled and the fire around them stopped. A task way easier than what he remembered it being like, honestly. "Impre- Oh no, that's not it. It's the first time I've seen a low level spear. I like it, it's new to me.", he awkwardly tried to make up for any lack of enthusiasm he might have been showing up to now. It wasn't on the forefront of his mind after all, especially seeing as his level was much, much, much higher.

"I just... remember struggling with this. A lot. I was with Shay and we were both around your level but it took us three times the tries. You're strong.", he tried to reassure her and gave a few nods, smiling slightly. But it wasn't long before the smile faded and he moved a hand behind his head, scratching it as he lifted his sword in front of him and looked at its stone figure. "... Did I push myself too much? I don't feel tired but I did way too much way too quickly. There's so much to be done and I've done it all. Did I do wrong..?", his muttering continued as he lowered his sword again, sheathing it and looking where Byakko stood before breaking apart into tons of tiny crystals, sighing and turning back to Nep. "... Sorry. We should go back to get your rewards.", he tried to keep the group moving with as little awkwardness as possible, although he'd definitely failed on that part so far. "You did good though. Nice job."

[Nephthys 0]

She looked at her spear and nodded a little, "It suits the theme that I went with when I created my character." She smiled a little thinking back to when the game wasn't attempting to kill them for good. But, that time was far in the past at this point. "Honestly, I struggled a bit at first still. The energy cost was a lot at first, so there was really not much I could do." She thought back to when she first started to fight things to get stronger, and she shook her head. She wondered if all weapon skills were like that.

She heard him muttering to himself, but she didn't comment on it. There were just some things that she wasn't meant to hear or ask about. She looked at him and offered a soft smile, "It's alright." She started to walk after him, trying to think of something to say, but at the same time, they both had admitted that they are more used to the quiet. She looked at him, "Thank you. I took the energy drain to heart last time and grabbed a mod to help lower that. It seems to have helped right now. You did great too. It's nice to not feel like I'm going to be in trouble if things go sour."

[ChaseR 0]

"Yeah. The last thing we need is trouble.", he agreed and stuffed both his hands in his pockets, feeling Blizz climbing up onto his body again by clawing up his pants, reaching his shoulder and watching the two quietly, letting out a small croak before he curled up as best as he could while staying fixed on Chase. Trouble... Keeping others out of trouble, maybe he should- nah. Not his affairs. She seemed smart, there was no way even a guild could get to her. She didn't seem like the type of person to go to a guild either, after all.

"If you want me to amp it up, I can. I just don't want to leave you in the dust.". Humble, but at least the intent was good- and obvious, thank god for it. "It sucks to feel useless.", stating the obvious as he was, but he had some experience when it came to being the odd one out. Starting out the game was a good start. At least he was past that point now, and doing much, much better at that too. "You want to keep leveling, right? I can come along with your next quest right now if you have one in mind.", he stretched out an offer for his new company, giving a small grin as the town up ahead began to come into the two's line of sight. The NPC would be somewhere up there, but first, they'd have to walk up the wooden stairs. The world still looked as good as ever, even if he had gotten used to it. That was something at the very, very least. 

[Nephthys 0]

"I can agree with that," her agreement with his statement was fast. She wasn't one who wanted to deal with more trouble. She knew that there would probably be less trouble for her if she were to actually give a guild a thought, but that involved a level of trust that she didn't know if she could hand out still. With Chase alone, she was still slowly feeling like Lethia wasn't about to just jump out of a tree and stab her to death. She knew one thing though, if she saw Lethia's name on the Monument, she wouldn't know if she should feel relieved or sad. Feelings were complicated, and this game just seemed to make that complicated feeling worse.

"It's appreciated, but if you feel like I might be biting off more than I can chew, feel free to go full out." She really did appreciate the fact that he was trying to make sure that she didn't feel useless, but at the same time, what was that making him feel right now. "I do hope that you aren't feeling useless right now. I don't want you to feel that way either." She was just kind in that way, she liked to make others feel included, when she wasn't looking over her shoulder to make sure that a certain white haired snake wasn't behind her.

She took a moment to glance at her experience, how much she would get for this quest, and what the next higher leveled quest was. "If I get the experience I should, we could always go to the seventh floor and do Case of Wurms." She looked at him, a small smile seeming to be on her face, "Thank you, for offering to come along."

[ChaseR 0]

It wouldn't make much sense to feel useless when he's helping out a newbie make her life much easier, clearing any threat in her path with the safety net that Chase was right now, right? "I'm here to make sure you don't die, and that you're not alone. I'm not feeling useless, since I'm helping.", he responded, and then he saw the smile. It really meant that much to her, huh? Once again, it felt like he'd already been in this place. But from her point of view.

"Don't mention it.", he casually told her back and stuffed his hands in his pockets, stopping once the NPC was in sight and letting Nep continue going on ahead to get her rewards. In the meantime, Chase had to open up his menu and start sifting through the quest log to make sure that it was the same mission they were thinking about- it had been much too long since he saw the Case of Wurms quest, after all. "Yeah, the one with the two headed serpent. I remember it well enough. We shouldn't have any trouble, hell, she should be able to do it all by herself even if I don't help. So I should keep holding back and let her do her part.", he finished his thoughts and by the time he had, Nep was already back from the NPC. Assuming all had gone well, they would be wasting little time sitting by idly before they move on to the seventh. "You got everything, right?"

[Nephthys 0]

He at least had a good outlook on helping her out, which was probably better than some others might think or feel. She wasn't going to fight it really, if just following her was making him feel useful, then that was all that mattered. Of course, she didn't mind his company either at least, she was starting to feel more and more like she didn't need to worry about being killed by either a monster or a player with him around at this point. It was making her think that perhaps reaching out to others to level with them would be a smart and good idea as well. "As long as you feel useful, then I won't mind you keeping me company."

She walked into the town and found the NPC easily. She walked over, talking to the Amazon about how Byakko was dead now. The NPC seemed to be genuinely happy about that, but for long would it last was the real question on that. But, once she got her rewards, she walked over to where Chase waited for her. "Yep, we should be good to go to the next floor." Perhaps she should have done this a while ago, go through the quests and do them. She knew that she missed some lower leveled quests, but she'd just kill them easily later, or perhaps help someone who needed to do the quest as well.

[ChaseR 0]

As long as he felt useful? She sure had a way with words that even he managed not to. It was odd, accepting someone's help under the condition they're 'not wasting their time'. "Even if I didn't, I'm enjoying this. I'm four levels away from the maximum. There's nothing left to do.", he told her with a small grin, trying to make her feel less like she was wasting his time and more like she was just good company.

"Let's go on to the next floor then. The boss has two heads and looks like a snake. Its health is very low though.", he tried to prepare her for what was to come, walking over to the teleportation plaza and waiting until she got on before they were sent straight to the seventh. It was another quest to just check off the list, and one that this time would be more fun to do- without him around, and with even better company. It just felt nice and like a good change of pace to be going through the same things he had three weeks ago, but from the lens of a higher level player. Someone more knowledgeable and experienced enough to stop accidents from just happening whatsoever.

Spoiler

Thread Rewards:

• Everyone: Tiger Rage (+2 DMG for one thread, takes post action to apply.)
• Nephthys: 5 SP (1 page, 1 event, 3 quest), 400 Col
• ChaseR: 2 SP (1 page, 1 event)