[F21-SP] chat. <<Trouble in the Mines>>

[NIGHT 0]

<<Trouble in the Mines>>

a simple request. in fact, if it were up to night to consider, it was the most standard, straightforward and arbitrary mmo quest that she'd ever seen in this game. the proposition of hunting for little more its own sake.

"anyway, they've really been bogging up the caves nearby..."

and night would be lying if she said this was for anything further than the ease of it all. sure, the minerals that the miners harvested could've gone to a purpose far greater than its operations, much like the reintegration on the twenty-sixth for example, but while she knew that effort was on the player's behalf to fulfill, the woman wasn't exactly here for such a magnanimous purpose.

rather, the task looked brain-dead enough for her to have completed within a heartbeat.

the foreman gestured towards the entrance she was supposed to take to venture further into the floor, where the drakes lurked. something about a bait-and-lure trap, but night was much more interested in testing her mettle. not for the challenge, of course -- that wasn't so much her style. perhaps once upon a time, but this was her tale instead.

| NIGHT  | Lv. 137 >> P. 105, Lv. 32  | Status: is this related to dragon hunting...?  Notes:  april slime farm.

Spoiler NIGHT | HP: 1242/1242 | EN: 146/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 | Stealth Rating: 6 equipped oathkeeper. FLN II, HLY II (16) pretense. REGEN, VAMP-D II Silver Crescent Necklace ACC II, EVA II battle-ready inventory Cosmic Devourer+1  ABS. ACC, ACC III Imugi's Inspiration (5) | Instant | MASS HP RECOVERY [+30*Tier HP] Imugi's Inspiration (5) | Instant | MASS HP RECOVERY [+30*Tier HP] Teleport Crystal (3) | Instant | TELEPORT skills Spoiler mod count: 7/7 2HSS | RANK 5/5 focus, stamina, precision shift: aoe CLOTH ARMOR | RANK 5/5 athletics, nimble COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | RANK 3/3 SEARCHING | RANK 4+1/5 reveal, tracking, detect, night vision BATTLE HEALING | RANK 5/5 ENERGIST FAMILIAR: PROFESSION QUICK CHANGE CHARGE EXTENDED MOD LIMIT extra SURVIVAL CONCENTRATION HIDING untraceable, vanish, surprise attack-t buffs Spoiler statue KUMATETSU | +1 DMG consumables  Crème Brûlée | ACCURACY III* | filled.  Smores | EVASION II | [#175597]  Beef Stew | OVERHEALTH III  Breakfast Fry | PROTEIN II paragon Lv. 5 | Gain additional col equivalent to 15% of EXP earned in that thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to looting. sword arts Spoiler en cost matches multiplier unless stated otherwise. shift underlined. ST | x12 -> x15 | x20 AOE | x15 -> x18 TECH-A | x12 | STUN | 13EN TECH-B | x12 | DELAY TECH-D | x12 | SHATTER TECH-G | x12 | BURN misc. Spoiler housing Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. gathering Greenhouse | +2 G.EXP, +1 CD&LD to gathering attempts. Familiar: Profession | +2 G.EXP Demeter's Cornucopia | +1 CD to gathering attempts.

 

[NIGHT 0]

there was little reason to be out solo. even fewer that she decided on not bringing company, for having other players around did seem to be her operandi nowadays. but something in her contemplated on the idea of being too cushy amongst a party -- was she losing her touch for being alone? it had been difficult to determine, stuck in a throe, and so the isolation was a welcome breath of air to her daily rhythm.

still, her mind would not be unbothered by what her peers were up to. between nari, koga, day and chase -- bistro, even, despite the fact she disliked the broker and her never ending requests. her walk into the depths of the cavern were filled with curiosities to their activities and whereabouts, hands tucked away in her tracksuit, the world around her falling away as she stuck to listening to her own thoughts inside her head.

---

ID208758 | ld4+6 = 10 | n/a.

[NIGHT 0]

bait-and-lure traps were for the wisened. culling the drakelings directly were for the air-headed. and night was to be effective -- getting to the root of the problem as soon as possible through locating their overseers' nests. guardian or otherwise, parent or not, these enemies seen as a threat to the miner's activities meant a slow production of what metals some other player might visit them for.

right. but as established before, she wasn't here to help them specifically. just mostly out to see things get done. and at the sight of a cluster of stone fashioned in the shape of a ring, she approached it haphazardly, unaware of the surroundings at her current position. in the dark, she could still see; arbitrary skill point investments, one might argue, but they had been effects she'd been eyeing since the beginning of her journey. now -- and only now -- did she see their value fit for purpose.

---

ID208759 | ld7+6 = 13 | nest #1 found.

[NIGHT 0]

but it would also be unusually cruel to purchase a vision mod just so she could wander into a cave and destroy some homes.

night blinked away the thought. peering into the makeshift nest, it was filled with all manners of dried stuff -- twigs, lint, fallen leaves from one place or another. which made the nest questionable in the first place -- this was a cavern floor. where in the world did the floral elements come from? but no cardinal entity was there to respond to her about her querying whims, and so it mattered not what the answer was in return.

the player kicked at it, almost bored in the action; the heel of her foot, though it made her unsteady, was used to push around the different types of stone used in the nest's construction. some were too heavy to move, and thus went neglected. others she could pelt with the tip of her shoe and gravel would start flying. most of them merely rolled around, unsettled as easily as a pile of tumbled stones.

---

3/20. breaking the nest.

[NIGHT 0]

so that was nest one. she hadn't bothered to want to touch the fluffings inside, despite the idea that it was probably best to have done so; part of her wondered if it was too cruel an act to have done, tarnish that last bit of warmth the drakelings had of their home, before they would be inevitably extinguished by one entity -- player or construct -- if not by her hand. but night considered torching the bulk, too, knowing that a simple sword art could send the dry bits and pieces up in flames.

she could play arson some day else, the woman decided, taking a hike and wandering further into the network. almost half asleep in her gander, the way she drifted upon the balls of her feet to lead her forward, gaze steady on the road ahead of her, not meandering, as a proper adventurer was usually expected or supposed to.

---

ID208760 | ld19+6 = 25 | nest #2 found.

[NIGHT 0]

she supposed, if questioned, night wouldn't have seen a reason why she should've done so.

after all, the cave system seemed incredibly boring. not for lack of activity, nor nodes for materials, nor even the lack of presence of monsters nearby. but perhaps this was her revelation in stepping out alone on this day, unabashedly aware of the fact that she hadn't any one else to pay attention to for the time being. it was different, being on her own again, and that sort of difference was a thing she believed needed time for one to get used to after being apart from it for so long.

speaking of aparts, the player hence quickly found her second nest. pulling it apart seemed just as easy as her first attempt; actions replicated, the pieces came apart just as quickly and steadily as it once did before. but it was a screech from beyond her notice that finally stirred the woman to wake.

---

5/20. breaking the nest.

[NIGHT 0]

because what she was doing could have been considered immoral, depending on the person you were talking to. either immoral, because the home belonged to someone else who prized it so dearly, or none at all, because this was a game with its residents unfeeling, all ones and zeroes despite the fact that it mattered to them.

and night was no stranger to the argument. almost felt like an expert on the issue, 'thank you very much'. so when that notion was challenged, that cruel notion finally observed by its homeowners, there was a brief flash in the woman from her empathetic nature -- what exactly had she done?

then, it was very quickly overwritten by the reminder that these drakelings were pests in the floor, in the context that they were spawned in. cardinal condemned only some to live for the sake of living, and others to die, either to serve a narrative or for some other players' enjoyment.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AoE-I

ID208761 | bd5+6 = 11 | cd9 | -> Matriarch #1

15 + (2*1) -2 = 15 EN

24 * 15 = 360 DMG
360 - 125 = 235 DMG 

---

ID208762 | md2+2-5 = -1 | -> NIGHT
ID208763 | md2+2-5 = -1 | -> NIGHT

---

Drake Matriarch #1 | HP: 1015/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA
Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 1250/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA

NIGHT | HP: 1242/1242 | EN: 131/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 | [ST-B]

 

[NIGHT 0]

so she jumped backwards. her back almost struck a wall, with the way she was being cornered by the matriarch that had suddenly swooped in from above. and as though one wasn't enough to threaten her conscience, a second one, too, drifted in after its ally. perhaps it was the owner of the nest she'd destroyed before. a witch hunt? maybe. but night wouldn't allow the opponent to question her moralities for that.

no. perhaps it wasn't her tale to tell, after all. perhaps night needed to close her eyes for a moment, somnus take over her, and focus only on the fight before her. but she wanted the pen in her hand to stay.

okay; if such was decided. a blink, and the debate of who or what was in control was over. night had always been the type to take responsibility for her actions, after all. and if that meant destroying a couple of nests for the sake of it, then so be it.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: ST-B

ID208772 | bd1 | -> Matriarch #1

-2+4 = +2 EN

---

ID208773 | md10 | -> NIGHT
ID208774 | md1 | -> NIGHT

275+2 = 277 DMG

---

Drake Matriarch #1 | HP: 1015/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA
Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 1250/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA

NIGHT | HP: 965/1242 | EN: 133/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 | [ST-B]

 

[NIGHT 0]

moral, immoral -- it was all night left to bear it, after all, at the end of the day. the grey in betweens; those were what made her human.

hence without mercy, she raised the new-forged blade in her hand and struck one of her attackers backwards. a lash forward from its companion, and night pushed it away with the flat of her blade, trying to get herself into the open, stake her offense on a better position. a mound was all she could find in the cavern opening the newly destructed nest was found in, and from that nigh slightly-elevated spot, the wyrms were starting to swarm her, one on her front and the other at the back.

one at a time. then so be it, she figured. the player readied another charge towards the enemy party, taking a swing at the one most bruised and battered. what followed was a howl, hollow, brutal, as though a report to her current location to the other members of its family.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AOE-I

ID208774 | bd8+6 = 14 | -> Matriarch #1

15 + (2*1) -2-4 = 11 EN

(24+16+1) * 15 = 615 DMG
615 - 125 = 490 DMG 

ID208776 | cd11 | recovery roll.

965 + 124 + 68 = 1157 HP

---

ID208777 | md9 | -> NIGHT
ID208778 | md1 | -> NIGHT

275+1 = 276 DMG

---

Drake Matriarch #1 | HP: 525/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA
Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 1250/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA

NIGHT | HP: 881/1242 | EN: 122/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 

 

[NIGHT 0]

mm. not good. it could've been done better, had it been to night's liking. the last time she had to attack each entity individually was at cerberus, and even there it was a fatalistic move. nari and herself; they'd almost paid the price dearly for such an attempt against the hound, and it was luck on the side of the two of them that they hadn't managed to bite the dust in the end.

this quest... would not be of a similar vein to that. and she'd had terrible luck before, swinging her edge in hopes of it striking something -- the practice of how to wield it here would come into play, with the help of buffs or without.

her blade found scale once again. and oathkeeper rang, as it always did, as though it was a bell that tolled, tolled for the quarry she were to face in combat.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AOE-II

ID208787 | bd7+6 = 13 | -> Matriarch #1

18 + (2*1) -2-4 = 14 EN

(24+16) * 18 = 720 DMG
720 - 125 = 595 DMG 

ID208788 | cd7 | recovery roll.

881 + 68 = 949 HP

---

ID208789 | md6+2-5 = 3 | -> NIGHT

---

Drake Matriarch #1 | HP: -70/1250 | DMG: 275 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA
Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 1250/1250 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 3 | DIVIDE/CONQUER | METAPORPHOSIS: +25 DMG, +3 EVA

NIGHT | HP: 949/1242 | EN: 108/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 

 

[NIGHT 0]

let woe betide the ones who stood before her, or something to that affect, she guessed. each pulse of the attack against the drake was a darkened hue, a shockwave through the air in a form of a circle, thinning and fading out over time. only darkness echoed in those strikes, as she felt its steel land against something solid. then again, could it really constitute as something akin to steel? most of the weapon, just as before, had folded together into something a brilliant and pure white, and very little else of it spoke of any detail beyond the silhouette of the sword itself.

she let her mind fill in the details as she wondered over the weapon's make. nothing changed, however, to that edge in her hands. it just rang, clattered against lizard skin and surface, this time striking a point vulnerable that caused the matriarch to disintegrate.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AOE-I

ID208790 | bd8+6-3 = 11 | -> Matriarch #2

15 + (2*1) -2-4 = 11 EN

(24+16+1) * 15 = 615 DMG
615 - 125 = 490 DMG 

ID208791 | cd12 | recovery roll.

949 + 124 + 68 = 1141 HP

---

ID208792 | md5+2-5 = 2 | -> NIGHT

---

Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 760/1250 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 3 | DIVIDE/CONQUER

NIGHT | HP: 1141/1242 | EN: 97/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 

 

[NIGHT 0]

one down. that meant another to go. and either her movements had been agile enough to have avoided her second opponent's strikes up to their current skirmish, or the drake had decided to be polite and patient, waiting her turn. it was hard to tell, really, but if it was willing to oblige, then perhaps night too was willing to bow her head towards it.

not out of respect nor submission, however. shifting into a stance where she held her blade outwards -- unusual as it did feel, as opposed to her natural and default defensive pose, her gaze met the drake's own eyes, purple gemstone gleaming against faded lavender hues.

and it hadn't bothered night how the creature squirmed for intimidation, the way it spread its wings as though trying to gain size upon her, teeth bared and body mass shifted onto its tinier legs and weighty tail. if anything, night glanced at the part it stood on for only a moment, deciding it a weak point for her next dive in an attack.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AOE-II

ID208793 | bd1 | -> Matriarch #2

-2+4 = +2 EN

(24+16+1) * 15 = 615 DMG
615 - 125 = 490 DMG 

ID208791 | cd10 | recovery roll.

1141 + 124 + 68 >= 1242 HP

---

ID208792 | md8+2-5 = 5 | -> NIGHT

---

Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 760/1250 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 3 | DIVIDE/CONQUER

NIGHT | HP: 1242/1242 | EN: 99/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 

 

[NIGHT 0]

she wondered then, too, if there was the possibility of carving out body parts from the creature, the way that other games had done so, if only to gain some sort of benefit from its make. meat from its flesh, perhaps? or armor crafted out of its hide?

as an artisan, night barely ever had the thought of dismantlement and disfiguration of a living beast as part of her mind. the part of her that squirmed, a hint of empathetic -- though she knew it was from fear of handling something so visceral and intimate -- put the growing idea to rest, the rest of her body following through on a dodge roll the moment the creature up against her lunged for double-clawed attack.

she was certain to have paid the fight attention, had she believed she was in any modicum of danger at all, but the player only let out a huff as she steadied herself on the cavern floor, a hand to the ground, the other filled with a blade humming excitement.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AOE-I

ID208802 | bd6+6-3 = 9 | -> Matriarch #2

15 + (2*1) -2-4 = 11 EN

(24+16) * 15 = 600 DMG
600 - 125 = 475 DMG 

---

ID208803 | md10 | -> NIGHT

300 + 2 = 302 DMG

---

Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: 285/1250 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 3 | DIVIDE/CONQUER

NIGHT | HP: 940/1242 | EN: 88/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 

 

[NIGHT 0]

a dash leading into an uppercut, and it was all over. sometimes, her blade would ring true with a light so dazzling it would've looked similar to holy fire. other times, oathkeeper would've bled fire such as these -- similar, but not equal to the way her executioner, its counterpart, would've done.

because when the world was shimmered in an unnatural darkness, the gravity pull of an enemy's defeat drawn into the slice of her sword, seemingly tarnished in a black curve in a line following her strike, what was left behind was a tear in reality. for a split moment, even quicker than the blink of an eye, that rip was something akin to a piece of the night sky, split out of the heavens, furnished local and made anew. it left the matriarch in screeches, gasping for air after her blow, and some parts of her mark dismantling into fragments only came to break and flit to match with that linear gash.

Spoiler

> POST ACTION: AOE-II

ID208802 | bd4+6-3 = 7 | -> Matriarch #2

18 + (2*1) -2-4 = 14 EN

24 * 18 = 432 DMG
432 - 125 = 297 DMG 

---

Drake Matriarch #2 | HP: -12/1250 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 125 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 3 | DIVIDE/CONQUER

NIGHT | HP: 1008/1242 | EN: 74/146 | DMG: 24 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 5 | VAMP-D: 124 | HLY/FLN: 16 | LD: 6 | BH: 68 

 

[NIGHT 0]

then, the darkness would fade, swallowing the sparkles of memorial whole, leaving only the rest of its body to shimmer against the cooler, visible hues of the environment around it.

the drake's body broke apart; naturally, of course, as entities in the system were known to do upon being pronounced dead, health hitting zero. and night squatted, half dropping her blade to the ground, eyes only loosening their vivacity once the threat had been eliminated, the weapon uncared for returning to storage before its guard struck the ground.

what remained of the matriarch was a handful of teeth, splayed across the floor, an unnatural sight. each fang was large, much larger than the size of her hand whole -- it almost felt like looking at a miniature horn, the kind she knew her pink paladin would've used to call for attention towards herself. the player clutched the item by its curve, considering in slackened lucidity, the presence of her friend now lost in aincrad.

[NIGHT 0]

she thought upon the irony of finding the players best suited for her -- how, in her local circle of the alphabet mafia, of course they'd both be tanks, affection thrown her way. and she wondered, for a moment, if there was some regret lingering from how she hadn't managed to cherish yuki well enough that remained in how she treated nari -- the thought that she was building upon something lost that she wished she should've chased upon with her other friend only revisited in that shared affection.

or was it just her mind playing tricks on her again, for overthinking, considering on her own love life this much?

when night rose, it was with the pair of teeth lodged fast in her hands. bone sharpened to a tee -- its shape and size made them feel unnatural to hold. and, while it was better to have sent them both to her inventory for the walk back home, she merely allowed her right to clutch onto them, sides rubbing against each other in protest for their carrying method, though night didn't speak in item and textures to understand her misgivings upon them.

[NIGHT 0]

so came the way home. and night knew which route to take despite having half the fear that she would get lost -- because part of her knew that she was good with spaces, if not directions, that at least in her memory she could trust to know that she was going the right way. that her mind was good at creating landmarks where there shouldn't be any, good at remembering that the road she came from had at least one disheveled nest that was now tarnished, definitely her fault, and it lingered with a guilt she didn't wish to carry but felt it her responsibility to do so, anyway.

passing it, she stopped, giving the shambled mess a look. she could have left the onus behind. and the teeth in her hands slipped, placement growing uneven in her fingers, almost threatening to fall from her grip. a sigh and a turn towards the road ahead, and night knew which option she had preferred to set on.

[NIGHT 0]

as quietly as she started out on her journey, her exiting the cave entrance was to as much fanfare. she felt the glow of the floor return to her sights, and night needed to blink twice, maybe more, in order for her gaze to adjust to colours once again. almost like being greeted by the sun in a long while, despite the saturation not being her problem, the exhale she released, light as it was, went to appreciate the fact that she hadn't chosen to bury herself underground in any regard. because the last she could recall of the twenty-first was route zero, and its peculiarities aside, it did seem like a delightful adventuring hellhole.

if only she had a boat or something. if only the place did turn up once again. if only the place was able to exist as she once knew it.

she wondered if she should be contacting the bumblebee for more information upon their whereabouts for that strange, mysterious location.

[NIGHT 0]

her hold on reality was failing her. only a matter of time no less than ten minutes away from people, and she was already on several trains of thought that she wished to get off from, knowing that she was in light of some npc else. but what else was to be asked of her -- a handover of the fangs in her hands, and it would've been completed, right?

night's thoughts were foggy when the foreman offered his hand out as she approached him, something about her job passing through his lips. and she'd wanted to say something to fill in the gaps -- usually, that's what players were meant to do, weren't they? almost expected of them -- yet night preferred to front a hollowness as a player to the entity, quietly turning over the teeth from her possession, watching the miner examine one with an eye closed, gaze intrepid. hell, if he'd taken the time to pull out a magnifying glass or another -- one even she had back in the shop to test for quality -- the act went past her notice in her haze.

[NIGHT 0]

because all that mattered at the end of the day was the reward she'd get from cardinal. something about good work for having slain the drakes' mothers, and she wondered for a brief moment if cardinal knew just how dark that prospect sounded, if it knew of the guilt it would leave behind on players who thought upon it too much, sympathized with the drakes a little too hard. and part of her mind went drifting to a poor little boy, now a grown man -- the kind of person who'd sworn to brave only the darkest aspects of humanity, to build a home for the ones wanting shelter out of it, the man who had a backbone of steel and darkness and venom and, now, held a strong morality worth questioning.

night merely bowed her head in acceptance of the rewards offered to her, listed clean and without grace upon a white menu.

in her absent-mindedness, she stared at it for a long time, before her index hit the acceptance button. a blink, the sound of bells, and that was all for the day.