[PP-F01] Bears and Otters | <<Training Your Friend>>

[Acanthus 0]

Acanthus kicked her feet on a bench in the Town of Beginnings. It was the same bench she had waited on for NIGHT so that they could find her familiar. Kumaki laid on her lap, snoring steadily. The bear cub was a little too big to actually fit on Acanthus’ lap, so Kumaki’s head draped off the side of the bench. My legs are starting to go to sleep as well, she frowned. But one look at the sleeping cub and she decided she could handle it.

Now that she had her familiar, the next step was to train her. Acanthus saw that she would need to complete yet another quest to train Kumaki. But the open-ended nature of the quest was counterintuitive to her thinking—Acanthus preferred direct goals and tasks. So she decided to ask for help. Last week, she had posted on the player request board that she would be here, looking to train her familiar, and rounding out the post by welcoming anyone else looking to train. In reality, Acanthus was hoping for some ideas or suggestions on how to train Kumaki. All that was left was to wait and see if anyone would be interested.

Spoiler

 

Acanthus | Lvl 47 (33/14) | HP: 740/740 | EN: 88/88 | DMG: 21 | MIT:78 | ACC:2 | REC: 4 | BLD: 48  | PARA | LD:8
Forager Rank 5 | Greenhouse (+2EXP and +1 CD/LD to foraging attempts)

Equipment Ajisai | T4 Bastard Sword | BLD 1 | PARA 2 Resilient Thistle | T4 Light Armor | MIT 2 | REC 1 Locating Charm | Trinket | LD 3	Skills Straight Sword R5 Addon: Focus Addon: Precision Light Armor R5 Addon: Resolve Mod: Meticulous Searching R5 Mod: Night Vision Hiding R5 Addon: Surprise Attack: Trickster First Aid R1 Combat Mastery: Damage R3 TECH Shift
Battle-Ready Inventory None Consumables Used None taken	Skills Unlocked <<Disguise>> <<Assault Mode>> <<Photosynthesize>> <<Survival>>

 

                 

Edited September 28 by Acanthus

[KnightessCiela 0]

Ciela was not the best at navigating, but she knew the Town of Beginnings well. She and Perlita were just walking through the town. She and Perlita would stop every so often to reminisce over Ciela's journey since all of this began. That was when she saw the most adorable duo. The woman couldn't have been much older than she was, and on her lap was a cute bear cub. 

Ciela covered her mouth as it looked as if the little cub was tired. She approached the two. "You're Acanthus right? I saw your request on the PRB." She smiled at the woman. "I'm Ciela. And this little hungry girl is Perlita. I'm actually looking to retrain her so I figured we could help each other out." She swiped through her menus and pulled out a small tin and offered it to the girl. "I also never show up empty handed. Here's some cookies." 

* * *

Spoiler

"Name: KnightessCiela
True Tier: 3
Level: 24
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 525/525
EN: 66/66

Stats:
Damage: 11
Mitigation: 121
Accuracy: 2
Stealth Rating: -5
TAUNT REGEN: 23
REC: 3

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Defender's Longsword | T3 Perfect Straight Sword | ACC II | DMG I
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Frightening Rosethorn | T3 Perfect Heavy Armor | Taunt | Thorns II
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Rejuvenating Kite Shield | T3 Perfect Shield | Recovery | Regen II

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Mitigation R3

Combat Shift:
  - 

Familiar Skill:
  - Protector Familiar

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Heavy Armor R5
  - Howl
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Block R3
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Survival
  - Frozen Hide

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Focused Howl
  - Iron Skin

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Nepent's Ovule x3
  - T1 Rare Health Potion: Heals 10% MAX HP x5
  - T1 Uncommon Health Potions: Heals 5% of MAX HP x1
  - T1 Uncommon Overhealth Potion: Adds 5% of MAX HP to users x1
  - Teleport Crystal x1

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
 - Cooking[401exp] R6
Gathering Profession:
 - Forager[66exp] R2"                                                                                                                            

 

[Acanthus 0]

“Thank you,” Acanthus said gratefully. She took the tin delicately and cracked the lid to look inside. At the first whiff of food, Kumaki’s eyes shot open. She peered up at Acanthus, over to Ciela, and then finally back to the tin. Acanthus laughed, quickly putting the lid back on the tin. “She likes food, in case you can’t tell. We’re saving that for later,” she jokingly scolded the cub as its nose wandered over to the closed treats. “Cookies were a wonderful idea. You would think that as food-motivated as Kumaki is, I would have thought of it myself.” Acanthus seemed to catch herself mid-thought before standing up to give a quick bow. Kumaki slid off her lap, landing on the bench with a *flump*.

“I’m sorry, I completely skipped introducing myself. Yes, I am Acanthus, this is Kumaki; she’s my familiar.” Looking over to Perlita, she held out her hand to let the otter catch her scent. She didn’t know if that’s what otters did, but it seemed like the right thing to do. “Perlita is a lovely name, and she seems like a wonderful familiar.”

“Retrain? So you’ve done this before?” Acanthus internally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks for answering my post. To be honest, I’m not really even sure where to begin with training. Do we need to have the skill chosen before we begin? And can we train here, or do we need to go outside the safe zone?”

[KnightessCiela 0]

Ciela chuckled as the bear cub woke up. "I actually make treats specifically for our familiars. Perlita loves my fish shaped salmon croissants." Ciela fiddled with her menus and pulled one out, placing it in Acanthus' hand. "I trained Perlita and my husband's familiar with these." Ciela watched as Kumaki slid onto the ground. She pulled another treat out from her menu and held it in front of the bear cub. 

"It's fine. Don't apologize. Training your familiar can be quite stressful." Perlita immediately grabbed onto Acanthus' hand gently, petting her finger. "Perlita seems quite taken with you. She's never really interacted with anyone outside of my husband and Freyd." Ciela smiled at Acanthus and Perlita. "She's a great familiar, and she's very obedient when she wants to be. She's accompanied me along many adventures."

Ciela listened intently to each of Acanthus' questions. After Acanthus finished asking her questions Ciela slowly answered each one in detail. "I trained Perlita to be a Protector Familiar." Ciela looked to Perlita. "Well. She sometimes has a mind of her own and wanders off. But when I need her she's there." She looked to the bear cub she was crouched in front of. "Training is more or less what you want, for example initially I wanted Perlita to be a protector familiar. The problem with that is I'm a tank, so I rarely take damage. She rarely sees battle, which is fine but there's other skills that may be more useful to me specifically." Ciela pulled out a snack for herself and Perlita. Perlita then squeaks and happily eats her snack. Ciela follows. "No. You don't have to choose that right away. It will just help with the specific training styles. For example, I did a lot of running and jumping and swimming with Perlita. We can definitely stay in the safe zone. You look pretty capable of handling yourself but we can do this wherever. Where we go doesn't matter to me. We could even go hang out with the kids at the orphanage if we wanted."

Edited October 1 by KnightessCiela

[Acanthus 0]

Acanthus stroked Perlita’s fur gently. “I would have a hard time sending something this cute into battle. And Kumaki…” The bear rolled around on the bench, playing with the tin of treats. “I think she’s not really suited for combat. But as food-oriented as she is, I think I could maybe train her to hunt.” Scooping Kumaki off the ground and separating her from the treats, she gave Ciela another smile. “The orphanage sounds nice. I’ve never actually been there. I’m sure they would love to see some new faces.”

Acanthus entered the monastery, and was nearly bowled over by a familiar little boy. “Acanthus! It’s been forever!! I thought you died!”

“Braveheart? Look at you!” She hadn’t seen him since their quest on floor two nearly a month ago. She should have realized he would be here—he’d mentioned that his parents weren’t in the game. Braveheart beamed at her. “What are you doing today?”

“I’m here to say hello.” Kumaki peeked out from behind Acanthus. “And I’m here to train my familiar. Do you want to help?”

The boy’s eyes went as round as dinner plates. “He’s so fluffy.”

Acanthus laughed. “He’s a she. I want you to do me a favor, ok?” She pulled one of Ciela’s cookies out of the tin. “Go and hide this quickly. We’re going to see how fast little Kumaki can sniff it out.” Braveheart snatched the cookie, eager to be a part of the action. He immediately bolted deeper into the orphanage.

Acanthus looked apologetically to Ciela. “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce you. He’s a nice boy—we went on a quest together about a month ago. I should have known he’d be here. Do you happen to know anybody here? Or was there another reason you suggested the orphanage?” As she finished the question, Braveheart came running back. "All hidden! I hid it in the bushes outside near the fountain and—” He clapped his hands over his mouth, looking at Kumaki. Kumaki, for her part, appeared perplexed.

Acanthus waved the tin under Kumaki’s nose. Picking up the scent, she started to wander along the path Braveheart took. “Go and find the cookie, girl. I know you can do it.”

Post Action: Training Kumaki
234263 | CD 3. Failure. Requirement reduced by 2 (now CD 5+)

Edited October 1 by Acanthus

[KnightessCiela 0]

"Thankfully, I don't send her into battle much. I rarely even use her ability, which is why I’m thinking of changing it," Ciela said with a smile, her gaze shifting between her companions. Her smile widened into a chuckle as Kumaki, as she started nudging the treat tin, trying to pry it open with clumsy paws. "I was considering turning Perlita into a hunting familiar, but... I think I’ll make her a Rending Familiar instead. That way, she can actually deal some damage."

As they continued walking, Ciela and Acanthus made their way toward the orphanage. The atmosphere subtly shifted as they approached, the playful banter fading into a more serious mood. They hadn’t gone far when a boy named Braveheart ran up to greet Acanthus, his eyes full of excitement. Ciela held back, staying silent as the two talked. She couldn’t help but smile at the warmth of the interaction, but her thoughts drifted elsewhere, carried by the sight of the children playing around the orphanage.

Her heart ached. All those kids, trapped in the game, just like the rest of them. Ciela’s mind flickered back to something @Kiluia Seiko had once told her, how he visited the orphanage often, doing what he could to provide for the kids. She wished she had done the same. Between the wedding preparations and the raids she hadn’t found the time. But this, right now, felt like a chance. I should have come here sooner, she thought, guilt tugging at her.

Acanthus turned to her, drawing her back to the moment. "Oh, don’t worry about it," he said with a reassuring smile. "I love kids."

Ciela smiled, but it was softer now, more thoughtful. She reached down, running her fingers through Perlita's fur as the otter snuggled up to her. "A friend of mine volunteers here a lot," she explained, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "I’ve been so busy with the wedding and the raid prep that I haven’t had a chance to come by. But I know the kids love ‘tormenting’ his penguin familiar, so I figured maybe we could turn it into a training program. Let the kids have fun with it, make it something they can look forward to."

Her eyes dropped for a moment, and her voice grew quiet. "If I’m being honest, I’ve always wanted kids in real life. But since that’s not possible here... helping these kids, even just a little, feels like something I can do."

Perlita, ever the opportunist, managed to sneak a cookie from the tin while Ciela was distracted, munching on it quietly as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Ciela hadn’t noticed, her thoughts still wrapped around the idea of helping the children, making some kind of difference in this strange and dangerous world they were all stuck in.

* * *

Training Perlita;

ID: 235961 | CD: 9
Success!
Training Post 1/3

Edited October 20 by KnightessCiela

[Acanthus 0]

Kumaki had wandered off. Best to let her hunt a little on her own for a bit. She leaned against one of the tables, taking in the orphanage. Despite the name, it was a happy place. The children seemed to enjoy their time, and Acanthus was surprised to see a few books tucked under tables and strewn on the floor. The people running the orphanage seemed intent to offer a semblance of real life for the children, which warmed Acanthus’ heart.

“Congratulations on the wedding. It’s a good thing to find happiness wherever you can take it.” Easier for her to tell other people than to live that herself. “May I ask who the lucky husband is? Or wife,” she quickly corrected.

Quote

Her eyes dropped for a moment, and her voice grew quiet. "If I’m being honest, I’ve always wanted kids in real life. But since that’s not possible here... helping these kids, even just a little, feels like something I can do."

Acanthus took a moment in the silence. The children continued shrieking with excitement as they played with Perlita, who was currently taking advantage of the lull to sneak a cookie from Ciela. A commotion near the far door told Acanthus that Kumaki was running back without a cookie or the little boy in tow. There was more work to be done.

Acanthus smiled reassuringly at Ciela. “For what it’s worth, I think you’d be a wonderful mother. You’re already doing so much for these children. I just know that someone would be lucky to have you as a mom. I hope you get that opportunity.”

[KnightessCiela 0]

Ciela laid out an array of pastel pink tins across a long table, each tin filled with treats for the kids. She had prepared a mix of savory and sweet foods. Sandwiches with homemade potato chips, mini cucumber and carrot trays, along with cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and buttery croissants. Seeing the table brimming with food, Ciela’s heart swelled. She had always loved children; even as a kid herself, she’d helped look after her younger cousins, cherishing those moments.

"Oh, thank you!" she replied to Acanthus’s compliment, a gentle smile lighting her face. "You might know my husband-to-be actually, he’s one of the frontliners. His name is Wulfrin. Our wedding reception is doubling as the raid meeting," she added, a touch of laughter in her voice. "I was actually planning to deliver your invite in person. The more the merrier you know?" She rummaged through her inventory and pulled out a sleek, white envelope trimmed in gold. The name "Acanthus" was written on the front in elegant calligraphy.

Once she’d finished setting out the tins, she called over to Sasha, the woman who runs the orphanage, "Alright, Sasha! Go ahead and round up the kids, they’re free to dig in!" She then handed Acanthus a separate tin meant just for her. "I made lunch for us, too," she said with a smile. Inside Acanthus' tin was a fresh sandwich with a side of homemade chips, crisp cucumber slices, carrots with a side of ranch, and three of her signature double chocolate chip cookies. "Enjoy!" she said, taking a bite of her own lunch as she watched the children eagerly line up at the table.

As Acanthus commented that she’d make a good mother, Ciela’s eyes welled up. "Oh my gosh… Acanthus, you’re so sweet." She dabbed at her eyes, fanning herself as she tried to keep the tears at bay. "I really appreciate that. Honestly, I’ve thought about taking one of them under my wing." She laughed softly, her cheeks tinged pink. "But that’s not a decision I can make without talking to Wulfrin, of course. Though… I have heard it’s sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

As she sat back, she watched the children enjoying the food, their laughter and smiles filling her with warmth. Kil had told her Sasha always appreciated any help she could get, and seeing the difference a small gesture could make brought Ciela a deep sense of purpose. She wanted to do whatever she could to help these kids and lighten the load for the people who cared for them.

Edited November 1 by KnightessCiela

[Acanthus 0]

“This invitation… It’s very beautiful. You really didn’t have to.” Acanthus turned the white envelope over in her hand. And the calligraphy appeared to be actually hand-drawn, rather than one of Cardinal’s fonts.

Quote

Honestly, I’ve thought about taking one of them under my wing." She laughed softly, her cheeks tinged pink. "But that’s not a decision I can make without talking to Wulfrin, of course. Though… I have heard it’s sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

(Sometimes Acanthus was too serious for her own good. This was one of those moments.) “A pet is one thing, but I would be terrified if someone brought home a child for me to care for without telling me first. You know your fiancé best, but perhaps a small conversation about it first would be a good start to your marriage.”

“I believe I’ve seen a man in red around, but I don’t think we’ve met just yet. I am still meeting quite a few people here, and I know I’ve missed quite a few introductions. I will be sure to find him and say hello the next time we cross paths."

Kumaki crept up on her tin of treats. Acanthus heaved the cub up into the air and redirected her back out to the hunting. “You need to try one more time before you earn another treat. Win or lose, you have to try, little bear.”

Kumaki disappeared once more, and Acanthus returned her attention to Ciela. “You seem very familiar with the children. How often do you come by to visit?”