[PP - F15] The Right Thing

[Lilik 0]

 
 

The woman moved from table to table, inserting herself into conversations, and shouldering her way into gatherings of people. She would say something, eyes wide, hands moving wildly, before being dismissed, and the cycle would continue. Typically, the other patrons simply shook their heads, or motioned her away with flicks of their wrists. In a couple of instances, however, the woman was physically shoved, catching an elbow to the chest, or a none-too-gentle shoulder check. Apparently undeterred by such interactions, she went on speaking to anyone who would listen (or rather, those who would not).

Lilik watched the scene from her perch atop a barstool, her amber cat-eyes tracking the strange Player's movements. Who was she? Some sort of prostitute, propositioning herself and getting rejected? A beggar, asking for col, and also getting rejected? A lonely soul hoping to find a friend? Fat chance, in a hellhole like this. Lilik took a pull from her tankard of barley wine, wincing at the thick sweetness, and once again wishing for the saltiest of margaritas. But this tavern specialized in the barley wine, so when in Rome. It was also the cheapest, and Lilik was nothing if not dirt-poor.

So... a prostitute, a beggar, or a sad person? Lilik pursed her lips in silent thought, not entirely sure which option was the most pathetic. Granted, everything in The Tashi was pathetic. Its bad food, its horrible stench, its terrible location in a bad part of town, and all the brainless muscle daddies who frequented it. And Lilik, if she was getting technical about it. She was also pathetic.

As the mysterious woman drew closer to the bar, Lilik found herself leaning slightly toward her, eager to finally hear what the woman was saying. And how much she was charging (purely for research purposes). As soon as the words finally reached her, the barley wine soured in Lilik's gut.

"Please, my sister. She went on a trip to the Temple of Kunchen, and she hasn't come back yet."

The beast of a man to Lilik’s left gave an annoyed snarl, glancing up from the turkey leg he was desecrating. For a split second, he looked like he might chew the skin off the poor Player next. “No one gives a fuck,” he spat, sending spittle and turkey bits flying into the woman’s face. For whatever reason, that disrespect was what finally pushed Lilik over the edge.

She reached over and placed a hand on the man’s broad shoulder. Once he turned to her, she gave him her sunniest smile. “Pardon the interruption,” she began, “but maybe you could stop speaking for the whole class?”

Lilik moved her steady gaze back to the other female’s, that smile never wavering. “What shit-for-brains here actually meant to say was ‘of course, we’d love to help your sister.’”

Spoiler

Lilik
Level: 17
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 340/340
EN: 52/52

Stats:
Damage: 8

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Vanity Whip
Armor: Vanity Armor
Misc: 

Custom Skill:

Skills:
Whip R5

Active Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Addons:

Active Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:                               

 

[Oscar 0]

Rowdy bars were not Oscar’s usual climate, but he went where the card games were. On the higher floors, the players were better. But the struggle was still the same. Losing a few thousand Col on a game of Hold ‘Em was a bit of charity he could get behind. Problem was, he was staring down pocket Aces with the Ace of Hearts on the river. His constant losses up til this point had made the Players at the table bolder, throwing in on ballsy bets to take more of his money. His hand rested on his cards, occasionally lifting the corners to double check. He looked nervous and unlike the other times he feigned his emotion, he actually was. A second all-in joined the pot and Oscar hesitated on the Call. Doing some quick math, he realized he was at risk of earning back all the Col he’d just spent most of the evening losing to these people.

“All-in,” he said flatly. There was no way he could fold on this hand. The moment he showed his cards, he knew the jig would be up. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw the exchange. The frantic woman, the brute of a man. At the man’s snarl, Oscar rose from his seat. It was a welcome diversion, one that allowed him to continue losing the rest of his cash on the game. Leaving the table forfeited his bet, after all. Ordinarily, there would be protests. But with a pot this large, everyone was happy to see someone leave the table. Especially when he glanced back and saw them all blanche as they revealed his cards.

As Oscar made his approach, the pair were joined by another woman. His focus allowed him to pick out their voices from the crowd. A lost sister and an entirely apathetic bar. And one benevolent soul offering a helping hand. Though, Oscar had to disagree with her intent to rope the man into it all. Not because it wasn’t the right thing to do, but because…

“You could do with a better quality companion, I think,” Oscar said loudly as he strode up to the bar. He adjusted his jacket, fastening a loose button before cutting his eyes at the brute. “Guy like this probably wouldn’t know what to do if a slime crossed his path. Total liability when it comes to finding missing sisters.”

The duel notification flashed across his screen as the man hoisted himself up from the bar. He wheeled around, only to find himself eye level to Oscar’s chest. The man slowly looked up, finally coming into eye contact with his would-be opponent. Oscar had to fight back the urge to laugh as he saw the fight disappear out of his eyes. Duels, you see, put both Player’s levels on display. Only they would be able to see it. But the difference between the two was, frankly, insurmountable.

“You don’t want this,” Oscar said with a warning tone. “I’ll give it to you, but you don’t want it.” The window disappeared as the challenger canceled the challenge. “Good boy. Now.” Oscar placed his hands on the man’s shoulders. Whipping him around, he forced the brute to sit back down on the stool. “Sit down and enjoy your meal while the adults talk.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he headed for the door. Oscar had taken a few steps before he realized the two women were lagging behind. He stopped cold and did a half turn back to face them.

“Ladies? I thought this was an emergency. You coming to talk details or what?”

 

Spoiler

Oscar
Level: 33
Paragon Level: 52
HP: 920/920
EN: 124/124

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 147
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 2
Battle Healing: 50
Loot Dice: 5
REC: 4

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: << BRASS DUSTERS >> VANITY HANDWRAPS
Armor: <<TACTICAL UNDER ARMOR>> T4 HEAVY ARMOR//MIT/MIT/MIT/REC
Misc: <<IVORY GOLD LEAF RING>> T1 TRINKET//ACC/ACC/EVA/EVA

Custom Skill:
Veteran - MA

Skills:
Katana R5
Battle Healing R5
Heavy Armor R5
Searching R5
Energist
Fighting Spirit
Howl
Quick Change

Active Mods:
Impetus

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Stamina
Ferocity
Iron Skin
Focused Howl

Active Extra Skills:
Parry
Meditation
Survival
Restorative Strike
Forgotten King’s Authority

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:
<<Kyūketsuki>> T4 KATANA//ABS.ACC/PHASE/VAMP2

Housing Buffs:
Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
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.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +10% Exp 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 []: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:
Tanos Statue: +25 Mitigation for a thread.

Wedding Ring:"                                                

 

Edited August 1 by Oscar

[Lilik 0]

Total liability when it comes to finding missing sisters.

Cool, another white knight. Where was he when the woman was asking the entire bar for help? Did he only feel a need to offer his apparent expertise when there were two damsels in distress? A sharp retort sprung to Lilik's lips, but as she whirled to fling the verbal darts, she found herself facing a barrel in men's clothing. It took a long, long climb before her gaze finally settled on his face. And "I wanna fuck this guy up" gave way to "I want to fuck this guy".

But for all of Lilik's faults, she still had some self respect. So she simply turned to sneer at the lesser-brute, taking immense pleasure in the way that he wilted beneath the other man's hard stare. What Lilik could only assume was a duel request populated, then died just as quickly. Is Sasquatch here really just that intimidating? Lilik found herself wondering. Or does he have the levels to back it up? Regardless, having Mister Tall, Dark, and Sassy on her side wasn't a bad move as she ventured into the the fifteenth floor's wilderness. As only a level seventeen Player herself, she was really opening herself up to potential danger. Any mob could come out of the trees and attack her, and she wouldn't be able to defend herself. Granted, any Player could do the same, including Goliath here. But was that risk worth letting the woman's sibling stay missing?

If the image of Rainey's smiling face hadn't swam into Lilik's mind, she probably would have said yes, and gone back to drinking her shitty wine.

Lilik motioned for the frightened woman to lead the way, and gave the dejected man a hearty slap on the shoulder as she passed. "Thanks for nothin."

Once the trio stood outside the bar, Lilik guided the woman to a nearby bench. It was dirty, and she was shocked there wasn't a hobo sleeping on it, but the other Player looked like she might collapse. Lilik dropped onto the other end, draping her arms over the back of the bench, and crossing her legs. The casual demeanor perfectly matched the casual question. "So what's going on?"

The woman clasped her hands in her lap, trembling a bit as she looked from Lilik to her companion, then back again. "Well, like I said, April left first thing this morning for the Temple of Kunchen. She is deeply spiritual, and goes this time every week. She's always back by dark, normally even around lunch-time, but she's not back yet. I don't know what happened." Large, tear-filled eyes blinked hopefully at Lilik. "Thank you so much for bringing my sister back to me."

Instinctively, Lilik held up both hands, palms forward. "Whoa there, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Look, uh..."

"My name is June," the Player offered helpfully.

"April and June. Cute." Lilik blew out a hard breath, then leaned forward. "I can't promise anything, except that we'll look for her."

[Oscar 0]

It caught him off guard when the woman whirled around. Oscar had been altogether too used to having to crane his neck down at an awkward angle in order to meet someone’s eyeline. It was interesting to meet another freak of nature. And as she glared up at him, Oscar merely cocked an eyebrow. The silent exchange barely lasted a moment before she turned her efforts back towards bullying the poor, impotent man. It was quite endearing, but it put him off his game. Too many bleeding hearts and all.

Together, the trio left the chaos of the bar. Oscar didn’t make an effort to join them on the bench. It was already full with just the two of them and, as they said, three was a crowd. So, while June explained her situation, Oscar merely leaned against a lamp post and scanned the city streets. While June and the hitherto unnamed woman spoke, Oscar’s eyes flashed yellow. He activated his Searching Skill, hoping to get some sort of heading.

Criss-crossed lines spiderwebbed across the streets, visible only to Oscar. The paths that the Players and NPCs took that day. The NPCs were also in yellow and Oscar was able to easily tune those out. That left lines of green and orange and red. A concerning view, that. Most cities were filled with only green. Orange and red indicated that this particular town was a hotbed for Player-Killer activity. Oscar exhaled forcefully and canceled the kill.

“We’re on it,” he said quickly. He wouldn’t mention what he’d discovered - not in front of June. There was no cause to make her worry quite yet. “If I was a betting man, I’d say April’s probably stuck in some cave somewhere with a bad patrol outside.” A lie, and an optimistic one at that. His tone remained neutral, hiding the urgency that arced through his body like electricity. His hand snapped out, grasping Lilik by the wrist. A quick turn with a small contortion and he had her pulled onto his back in one fluid motion. “Back in two shakes,” he said with a grin.

And then he was off. His feet left the ground, sending Oscar up like a rocket to the roof of the nearest building. Despite his size, he was incredibly agile as he leapt and vaulted over the rooftops. Eventually, he alighted just outside of town. As he stooped down to allow Lilik to remove herself from her piggyback perch, Oscar’s eyes took on that same golden hue. He scanned the ground, searching for a trail to latch onto.

“I apologize for the manhandling,” Oscar said, his focus remaining on the ground in the middle distance. “It’s not quite so fun if it’s not consensual. We needed to hurry up and get at it. I’m worried her sister has had herself a run-in with some PKers.” Oscar scowled and deactivated his skill. There was simply too much activity so close to town to make heads or tails of it all. Instead, he turned and offered the woman an apologetic smile as he held out his hand in greeting. “I’m Oscar, by the way. Pleasure’s mine.”
 

[Lilik 0]

She almost believed him.

The lack of expression on his handsome face, and the relaxed way in which he addressed June, worked wonders to put the other Player at ease. Lilik, however, noticed the faintest pull at the corner of his thin lips. Was that his tell? Then of course, there was the fact that "bad patrols" rarely left helpless young women alone in caves. The man was lying to June, which didn't bother Lilik quite as much as it might have normally. The plum-haired Player typically detested dishonesty, especially when it was directed her way. But was there truly any harm in keeping the woman in the dark?

Yes, some dark part of her answered. She deserves the truth, just like you did. But instead, Lessa told you she'd save Rainey.

Lilik's hands clasped into fists at her side, and her expression hardened. "June, I don't want to be the bad guy, but you-"

The words died on her lips as Godzilla snagged her wrist, lugged her up, and draped her across his back.

Oh! Ohhhhh.

Had a man ever picked her up like this before? A tiny, selfish piece of her had always been envious of petite girls who could be tossed around like dolls. Scooped up and carried across thresholds, to beds, whatever - she figured her height would forever exclude her from such experiences. So even as the strong independent woman who didn't need no man inside of her rioted against the manhandling, Lilik merely swiveled to prop her head up a bit. No point in going along blindly. She gave a very embarrassing squeak of surprise as he took to the rooftops, but to her credit, she didn't give into the desire to burry her face in his broad shoulder.

When he finally came to a stop, and allowed her to slide gently from his back, she pinned him with a stare. The way he stared off into the distance suggested a skill of some sort, though she was far too low-level for such thing. She remained silent, her arms crossed tightly across her chest, letting him think aloud. When he offered a hand, she knocked it aside, stepped into his personal space, and slammed the side of her fist into his sturdy chest. It likely did nothing to him, but she hoped it might get her point across. Plus, it felt good to give her frustration a physical outlet. She had to rock onto her tiptoes, but she managed to get into his face when she sneered, "Never do that again, do you understand me?"

Just as quickly, she stepped out of his reach. "Lilik," she offered simply. "I assumed PKers, too. Are you strong enough to deal with them?"

[Oscar 0]

"So do that at every available opportunity, got it," Oscar teased. He had already shown remarkable restraint by not pointing out her rather embarrassing squeak. No one could fault him for going a different, less insulting direction with his japes. His expression of smiles and laugher turned on a dime, his demeanor shifting to match the gravity of the situation. "Are you?" It was a fair response. Oscar had never seen any "slain by Lilik" on his many visits to the Monument. He'd read that thing dozens or hundreds of times over. He doubted he would have missed the name.

"It doesn't matter," Oscar said coolly. "We're in this one together. Let's hope my lie was the truth and the sisters get their happy ending." He shoved his hands into his pockets, reigniting his Searching Skill to find a heading. He focused on a single orange thread. The Temple of Kunchen wasn't very far away. If he could get a heading and find a thread leading in the direction...

"Got it," Oscar said suddenly. "Let's go." The temptation was to break off into a sprint. But there were so few Players even of his level that had figured out they were in a video game with the power of God and anime on their side. He wasn't certain that Lilik would keep up. Instead, he kept his speed down to a steady jog. Of course, the moment they reached the end of the bridge out of the city - and therefore the edge of the safe zone - Oscar spied two Orange diamonds poking out from behind a rock. He supposed the owners of the icons thought themselves smart, hiding by the road ready to waylay anyone who unfortunate enough to pass by them.

And, to their credit, neither Oscar nor Lilik were draped in the fineries of the Frontlines. Oscar, for his part, kept himself understated specifically for this exact situation. It remained to be seen whether Lilik did the same. But, more and more she was showing her colors. Or, more specifically, her numbers. As Oscar proceeded undaunted, offering himself up as bait, he found it odd that she didn't say anything.

Didn't question why he was suddenly so quiet.

Didn't question why his hand was open by his side as if to grab something.

And then it happened. The hum of Sword Arts spooling up. The thudding of feet upon the ground. Oscar's position shuffled, placing himself in between Lilik and the pair. Were they the PKers they were hunting? Or was it more of Oscar's baggage? They would find out soon enough. His katana flashed to life in his hand as they closed in. The tip sunk into the ground, red light illuminating the dark blade of The Vampire. Oscar flicked his wrist, blasting the pair with a storm of stone and dirt and shrapnel. A useful tool, the ability to stun groups. That Martial Arts skill was paying for itself.

The pair froze in place, allowing Oscar a moment to take measure of the situation. Their health bars had been largely depleted by his Art. Just barely still in the yellow. Oscar let out a sigh and shouldered his sword. "Not the sharpest knives in the crayon box, are we? How often does that actually work?"

Reality seemed to begin to dawn on them. Malice gave way to surprise and gave way to fear. Oscar had that effect on Player-Killers it seemed. It was sinking in that, in a single counterattack, they'd almost lost their lives. They couldn't be any higher than level ten. Maybe fifteen. No way Oscar did that much damage to anyone at a reasonably-high level. "Lookin' for a girl. Goes to the Temple every day. You guys seen her? Seems like you've been camped out all day. No way you would have passed that up."

"Y-you talkin' about April? N-no. We don't fuck with her. She brings us food out here since the guards would kill us in town," one of them said.

"Please man, you gotta believe us! We ain't never killed anyone. We just rough 'em. Scare 'em a little to give up their items," the second added in.

Oscar thought for a moment. He leveled his sword in their direction. They were right. They weren't killers. And Oscar only killed the killers. Lilik on the other hand... "What do you think, Lilik? Reckon these fine gentlemen might be two extra sets of eyes on this little excursion of ours. Or you could kill 'em. Don't really care which one. But we need to keep moving. I had no idea how infested this Floor was." The pair opened their mouths, presumably to plead for their lives. Oscar simply raised his free hand and shook his head. "No, no. If you're man enough to swing, you can die like one. Consequences, gentlemen."

Edited August 8 by Oscar