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[PP - F22] Monkey Noises《 Witch of the West 》


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"-Did you hear about the supposed Witch that curses this floor?"

A phrase that caught Boreas' attention when he strolled the 22nd floor looking for a location for him to set up shop, stopping in his tracks he looked over to the two people having a conversation. "A witch? Here? What would she be doing here?" the man responded to their friend.

"Bro its real! I heard about it through someone that deep into the Forest of Memories here there is a Witch that has a castle! But you have to find a hidden tome to be even be able to see it!" they replied. "Sounds like some myth to me, were you wanting to go into the forest to find out?" Boreas placed his finger on his chin thinking about it for a moment, regardless of their answer Boreas continued to walk after hearing enough to satiate his curiosity "Hm... if this is true it could be a good starting point for me to get stronger or prove how strong I have become... I might look into this rumor myself." he thought to himself, then looked through his menu's to his map looking for the location of the Forest of Memories and started walking towards that area still looking around at the area for a good spot to open up shop along the way.

@Morningstar

Boreas's Stats and Equipment for Thread:

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Word Count: 225

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There were no physical threats in the Forest of Memories, except for the occasional hungry bear. Players could explore, safe from monsters, if they wished. It was one of the few non-safe zones where this was possible. The old, weathered book, hidden deep within the forest, was an exception to the rule. Any passerby could come across it, pick it up, and explore its contents, woefully unaware of the consequences of such actions. The forest was tricky. It played games with unsuspecting players, using their own memories against them and baiting them into deadly traps.

Morningstar had seen it firsthand, when an underleveled Morrigan stumbled across the Witch's tome. She was lucky—Star arrived just in time to help her through the quest. One could only wonder how many others had found themselves alone, overlooking the ocean outside the Witch's castle.

He never checked in on Morrigan again after their quest. He figured that if she needed his help, she would ask. No message ever came through.

When he was afforded the time, Morningstar idled near the book, waiting for players to stumble upon it. Many of them came prepared, full of broker-provided information and adequate consumables. Others had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Sun filtered through the dense foliage, illuminating the boulder that Morningstar frequently used as a backrest. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it beat leaning against a tree and ruining his coat with sap. His head was lost in a leather-bound journal, which he so often read from.

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It didn't take Boreas too long before reaching the Forest of Memories, if his own memory served him correctly, there isn't too much threatening in the forest so the rumor seemed a bit... odd. However, Boreas didn't mind the peace and quiet as he walked around and investigated the area, with his new rapier at his side and wearing his usual attire he walked around looking for anything that could be the supposed Tome from the rumor that he heard. Eventually he strolled into the area in question where the book was located and a visitor not known by Boreas, he took a moment to scan the area however something had caught his glance, he walked over to what appeared to be a book that was buried in leaves and ivy. Going down on one knee, he brushed the leaves and pulled the ivy away from the book and tried to look for a title on the cover or spine. "Witches Guide to Better Brewing" with a slight concerned face, he picked up the Tome but yet to open and read its contents as he looked around and said out to himself "Guess it wasn't a rumor, a supposed Witch does live in these wood. But why would something come to a peaceful land such as this?" he inspected the book before opening to see its condition, it had looked mostly fine like your usual old book would with the scent of old pages and dust, however from the page side it appeared that a few or handful of pages were removed at one point. Before long, Boreas would open the book to see what contents that still remained within its text.

Word Count: 282

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Morningstar nodded in acknowledgement to the player who arrived in the clearing. He looked capable enough, equipped with gear beyond the standard issue. The way he approached the book told Star that he was on a mission, that he had come to the forest intent on finding the witch.

Star thought it worthwhile to warn the man regardless. An open tome meant trouble was on its way. "Just a heads up—and feel free to ignore me—but you're about to get whisked away to the witch's castle," he said, avoiding frivolous exposition. "Ever seen The Wizard of Oz?"

The quest didn't give the players much time to talk things through. The wind kicked up first, and only slightly. Had he not known what was coming, Morningstar might not have thought much of it. A bit of bad weather never killed anyone, right? Then came the loud roaring noise, followed by the sky darkening to a sickly green hue.

They had another minute or so, he thought. "Now's the perfect time to send a party invite if you need a hand with the quest."

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After a few moments of reading he had looked over towards the voice that exclaimed out to him, with a bit of a concerned look he said out to them "Get... whisked away? Might you be the fabled Witch from the rumors people have been talking about?" However not long after the wind started to pick up and the man spoke once more, this time around Boreas was a bit more certain that this person was not a Witch but instead a player who was wanting to extend their help, quickly as he could still holding onto the tome, he sent a party request to the man that had offered his help and said out to him "I may not know who you are Sir, however your help is most appreciated-

His words were cut short as the tornado appeared to sweep both Boreas and the new party member he had acquired basically last minute and they were taken turbulently to a darker mountain like range with a castle at its very peak. Once the storm had passed, Boreas took a moment to breathe then look to the player he had just met "Might you be alright? I didn't quite except an actual tornado to take us here. I guess names are in order-" he straightened himself and patted himself to knock the dirt and dust that might've gotten onto him from the Tornado then placed a hand on his chest with a bow "Boreas, at your service." after their greetings were given he looked up to the castle then back to the man "Have you been here before?"

Word Count: 269 (2nice)

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Morningstar stared at the man beneath furrowed brows. "Do I look like a witch?"

Thankfully, time stopped the man from answering. Hearing a "yes" would have bummed Morningstar. He accepted the party invitation just before impact and was suddenly swept off his feet by the oncoming storm.

They awoke later on a cliffside, a bit of a walk from the castle. Morningstar, who could never take the trip without ruining his jacket, fiddled with a large rip in his right sleeve. He desperately needed a tailor.

Dusting himself off, he made his way over to his new partner. The formalities caught him off guard, but he poised himself and made an effort out of his introduction. "I'm Morningstar. And, yeah, the game doesn't play around. Freaked me out the first time too," he smiled. "I've done this quest a handful of times. The drop is pretty useful if you're a crafter."

A sword materialized at his waist. "I gather that this is your first time, then? I tell everyone this, but watch out for the fireballs."

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With a slight smile Boreas replied back "It is a pleasure of meeting you sir Morningstar, apologies for the accusation to think you were a witch. I will be a crafter within time, I had come here to this floor originally to find a good place to put my store, however I ended up hearing other players or NPC's talk about a weird rumor about the forest which ended me up here with you. I have not had knowledge this was a quest of some kind." after a moment he blinked a couple times trying to process what he had mentioned, but it slowly made a little more sense given Witches in past games tend to toss fireballs "I will keep note about fireballs then." then positioned himself towards the path to walk towards the castle looming over their heads.

While walking Boreas thought it would be a good time to bring up a small conversation before they reached their conversation "What brought you to the location of the witches book? Were you also after another of these items at the end of this road, possibly waiting for someone outside of me?"

Word Count: 192

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Morningstar hummed. "I wasn't waiting for anyone in particular. I needed a Witch's Brew and thought I'd wait around to see if anyone else turned up. Didn't take long. It's a strong item. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it though--it's a bit niche."

Under the veil of night, they followed a winding path to the witch's castle. Curiously, Star prodded Boreas with questions. "Coral's a good place to open up shop. I have friends with businesses in the area. What profession are you considering? Or have you already chosen?"

Flapping wings stole Morningstar's attention. "Oh, they're here a bit early," he said, giving his arms a quick stretch. A group of flying monkeys descended on the pair, jagged curved swords and daggers in their leathery hands. One screeched as it swiped at Morningstar, but its blade tasted nothing but air. He retaliated with a jab to its chest and immediately moved on to dispatching the rest of the troop.

Waving away their disintegrating remains, Morningstar cleared his throat. "Sorry--you were saying?"

---

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"I see." Boreas replied "I have been preoccupied with a lot of things in months prior that took me away from getting to know a lot of things, I still have quite a bit to learn when it comes to these quests it would seem."

Eventually as they continued to walk up the windy scale, Star returned with his own questions to fill the gaps, without much hesitation and with a slight smile he replied "Performer, I used to play a fair amount of musical instruments back home, with the severe lack of musicians in Aincrad at the moment I think I could bring a sense of peace and therapy through song."

However, not long after he replied honestly to Morningstar, he looked forward and up to the sound of flapping wings and saw 4 flying monkeys descend onto the party, Boreas immediately pulled out his rapier however before he could act he watched as Morningstar tore into each of them leaving none for Boreas to attack. Boreas was a bit surprised and shocked at this mans capability to cut down monsters extremely fast, however his nerves cooled quickly as they came and replied to Morningstar as he looked towards him "My good sir, might you be one of the frontliners? I haven't quite seen someone tear apart a group of enemies so easily as you today."

But, only after a handful of moments after Boreas had asked his question they were met with flapping wings once more as two more flying monkeys descended upon the two, however these ones looked like they were more capable than the previous four. Not wasting anytime, Boreas lunged straight into action with his rapier glowing with a sword art prepared, the Elite Monkey with a roar tried to swipe at Boreas however he quickly dodged out of the way and with a piercing thrust, one pierce turned into several as the Elite Monkey eventually dropped to zero HP and exploded into data crystals into the air. However, one Elite Monkey still stood, looking angry upon Boreas after killing its friend in arms.

Word Count: 349

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"Performer, huh? Small world. I'm an appraiser here, but I did a bit of acting back home," Morningstar said.

Morningstar cocked his head, noticing the reinforcements cutting across the sky to greet them. They hadn't even reached the courtyard and the full force of the witch's cavalry had been sent for them.

"Yeah, I am. I took part in the last couple raids. I prioritize scouting, though. I run a guild down on Eleven."

Boreas impressively cut down one of of the elite monkeys that swooped in on them. Morningstar took that as his queue to engage with the other. While it was busy glaring angrily, he slammed his fist through its jaw, shattering the mob into sparkling pixels. With the lesser mobs defeated, the witch was free game.

He shoved open the gates to the courtyard and peered inside, confirming that no new mobs had been stuffed in the quest since his last playthrough. Then, he gestured inside, offering Boreas first go at the boss inside the castle. "Shall we?"

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"That is most quite interesting, for what kind of acting did you perform?" Boreas replied interested in Morningstar's previous stint in acting. 

After the battle had been won, Boreas still continued to hold his rapier in his hand just on the off chance anything else would come before the encounter with the Witch herself. Unsurprisingly, Morningstar took care of the 2nd monkey rather quickly and with little effort which Boreas continued to feel a touch outclassed at being good at AoE and single target kills. However he cleared his mind of any negative thoughts about himself and said to Morningstar "I see, I'd love to participate in the Frontlines, it was what my old guild wished to accomplish. Now, its just me, and I don't want to back down from what I started.

Eventually, the duo had found their way to the courtyard of the castle, Boreas took a moment to scan the area to see if anything else were around but found nothing. Facing Morningstar he slightly bowed and said in response "We shall." then was the first to walk inside the courtyard. The moment Morningstar walked in himself and the gates closed, the Witch in the distance let out a cackling laugh before appearing before them. Boreas looked upon her with a slightly angered look and figured any sort of conversation with the being would be absolutely fruitless. Instead Boreas charging forward with a bit more speed charged up one of his sword arts and attacked the Witch, same as before with the Elite Monkey, once pierce turned into several as he attacked the Witch dealing a decent amount to her. The Witch continued to laugh as it would seem she had been preparing something despite taking the damage she did.

Word Count: 293 

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"A bit of theatre, a bit of film. I think I did a fast food commercial once. A little of everything, really."

Morningstar took the lead, familiar with the grounds of the castle. A crow cawed atop a grotesque and damaged stone fountain. Never had he successfully made out what it was supposed to portray. They treaded over dead grass, chatting until they reached the entrance. "If raids are your goal, I'm happy to invite you to the next meeting. We're always low on frontliners. The more, the merrier," Star said.

The witch attacked quicker than Morningstar had expected. Everything about the quest's pacing felt off today. It was inexplicable. Boreas engaged with a reliable strike, but the witch powered through the damage regardless.

Morningstar bolted, following up on Boreas' attack. He moved like lightning from the entryway to within arms reach of the witch. Then, he made contact. Something cracked beneath his fist, dropping her to the ground. Her body turned ice-blue and stiff as rock.

"Whew. First time I've landed that," he grinned, massaging his hand.

--

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"I see, you must've made a good name for yourself then." Boreas said with a slight smile.

Boreas as he followed Morningstar through the grounds of the castle looked from right to left then toward the location where the crow cawed with his rapier pointed in that direction, however he eased himself when he didn't see much of anything outside of the bird. Looking back to the man he bowed slightly "That would be most appreciated, I would certainly like to attend such a meeting and see if I am of any use. I would like to think that I am strong enough to at least be considerable."

After Boreas charged forward and attacked he took a leap back to let Morningstar do his thing, however to Boreas' surprise the Witch had completely turned to ice, a sight not common to Boreas. "I've...  never seen that before, might that be a different form of Paralysis?" he asked Morningstar. But, there wasn't much time to waste at least he thought that eventually the Witch would melt away from her icy prison, moving forward once again Boreas attempted to pierce the witch, however with a metallic clang hitting the ice it would appear that Boreas had accomplished nothing with his sword art. "What!? How could-" before he could finish his sentence the Witch had begun to cackle as the ice surrounding her began to melt as he gazed upon Boreas. 

Word Count: 238

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"It's a variation, yeah. It's called Freeze. A little less consistent than Paralytic Venom, but the shattering effect it has is a nice touch. It's new to me; I'm still getting a feel for it. I'm predominantly a straight sword user, but I've been training martial arts as a secondary. It's experimental."

Boreas struck the witch, but his sword had no effect. He wondered if it had to do with the icy shell that coated her frail body. Maybe it was Star's fault.

The witch unfroze and floated back up to a standing position. She cackled, and two bright fireballs expanded in her palms. She launched them at the blonde, but he was quick. Star sidestepped each spell, closing the gap between them expeditiously. He laid into her with one last combo and she was reduced to dust.

"Congratulations. That's the end of the quest," Morningstar said, after catching his breath. "You're pretty good. I'm surprised I haven't seen you at a raid before."

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"I see. Most interesting, I have pretty much haven't seen any sort of Unique Enhancements before, I have always only ever seen regular equipment before now, wonder how to get my hands on a rare weapon such as yours." he remarked placing a finger on his chin.

After his pierce had absolutely no effect to his surprise, with a slight growl Boreas had simply jumped back and switched to Morningstar to take care of the rest, in which not surprisingly Morningstar had completely torn the Witch to shreds reducing her into ash of data. Before long a pop up had appeared before Boreas stating that the quest was completed and his rewards, a sight he hadn't seen in quite some time. Looking back to Morningstar with a slight smile he bowed "I greatly appreciate your assistance and your compliment. I spent a while helping my friends getting to the frontlines, so I didn't exactly have time... nor a invitation to said event before. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps we could also fight something else before we parted ways?"

Word Count: 178

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Boreas exposed his interest in unique enhancements. "Coincidentally, you see people like me for uniques. I've got a shop on Floor 8. Stop by, if you can find it," Star said. His store, Honeydew & Hushwind, was deep in the Forest of the Great Tree. Finding it alone as a first time visitor was a challenge in itself. If he could do that, Morningstar figured he was ready for equipment of a higher value.

"Sure. I've got something in mind, actually--if that's okay with you."

They traveled upwards, to Floor 23. Morningstar was no more a fan of the Underdark than anyone else; however, the field boss that lived there was exceptionally useful to DPS players such as themselves. He intended to introduce Boreas to his old friend, Ugzeke.

They could hear the troll's groans echoing through the caverns. They approached from a cliffside, a safe vantage point from which they could scout the surrounding area before engaging. While slow, the boss was a sufficiently heavy hitter. Morningstar preferred not to be distracted by other mobs while engaged with it.

"Have you ever wanted to know what a train accident feels like? Neither have I. Don't get hit, if you can avoid it."

When he determined the coast to be clear, Morningstar dropped from the ledge. Midway to the ground, a blade materialized in his grip. He caught Ugzeke off guard (which wasn't difficult, even without a surprise attack), cleaving through him with a wide-arcing sword art.

-> Traveling to Floor 23

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Boreas' eyes had widen a touch as he exclaimed out hearing his reply "O-oh I see, I'll be sure to try to find you and see your services and see if I can get my hands on something a bit more special." he then took a moment to burn into memory his storefront being located on Floor 8 when he is to find him next for business.

Boreas nodded his head and slightly bowed with the reply "It is, after you good sir." then proceeded to follow Morningstar onto the next floor. 

Floor 23 was drastically different than its previous floor, it had also been Boreas' first time stepping out onto the 23rd floor so the change was surprising to him, there was a slight clash in different temperature and climate, then changed more as they stepping into the caverns of the Underdark "This floor is certainly... different than the previous." he said to Morningstar being mindful not to grab the attention of anything that might've happened to be around.

Boreas nodded towards him understanding... slightly what he meant, the terminology was still rather new to Boreas however he still concluded he meant to say that the boss would hit like if you were to be hit by a train. Once the combat had begun, Boreas exclaimed "I'm on it!" then lunged forward after Morningstar with a large and quick pierce then followed by a myriad of slashing motions onto the troll, with its slashes showing that it had begun to start bleeding slightly. 

Word Count: 254

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Morningstar's paralytic venom coursed through Ugzeke, delaying his initial reaction while Boreas followed up. They did what damage they could before the status effect wore off, taking a chunk out of its considerable health bar.

The troll stood, its breathing heavy. It didn't seem to acknowledge its deep wounds. It let out a bloodcurdling roar that lasted until it finally exhausted itself. Morningstar swiped at it, nicking its waist with the tip of his sword. Red pixels floated off, but Ugzeke ignored him entirely, focused on neither of the players in particular.

"Careful. He looks like he's just about ready to swing," Morningstar said, stepping back to a distance he deemed safe. The troll was slower than both he and Boreas. For the time being, the fight would be straight forward. They could move in while the troll recharged, pressuring its weak points, and play back when it attacked with its monstrous strength. 

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Morningstar and Boreas had done quite the chunk of damage to the boss already, this caused Boreas to slightly smile a bit as he felt like he was finally impressing someone to make it onto the frontlines somehow. He looked over as Morningstar exclaimed it were about to swing, Boreas with a serious look nodded then looked forward as the troll charged forward toward Boreas. While he charged towards Boreas, he too charged towards the boss as he felt like he could take advantage of how the boss was currently moving. Charging up his rapier with a blue color he looked up with a determined glare and pierced directly through the bosses chest as it slammed its weapon onto the ground with a loud thud and a audible groan. Boreas grinned at his success and pulled his weapon from the bosses chest, blood spewing from the exit wound he created then taking a leap back he exclaimed out to Morningstar "You're up! Show them no mercy!" in the heat of the moment.

Word Count: 172

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Once again, Boreas left Morningstar feeling impressed. Where most would have evaded, Boreas met Ugzeke's attack head on. His stab did the trick, shutting down the troll's rampage for the time being. Ugzeke lumbered at the end of its charge, exhausted--probably from his sheer weight. Morningstar could only imagine how difficult it was to move around at his size. "Nice!" Morningstar cheered, moving in to land his third and final stack of shatter.

Dying Sun lit up, engulfed by his sword art's energy. He lunged for a clean hit on Ugzeke, striking straight through his back. Little by little, they were wearing the troll down. Soon enough, it's rampage would begin, and their gameplan would need adjusting.

Star eyed their energy bars and mentally noted the approximate amount of sword arts each player had left in them. He had plenty, especially when recovery was taken into account. But closing out the fight as soon as possible was still in their best interest, for Boreas' energy reserve was a bit smaller than Morningstar's.

"I'll swap back to martial arts. Keep it up!"

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