[SP-F9] Feeding the Enemy, or Feeding the Soul? (Complete)

[Tyger 0]

Ever since the battle with the white, red eyed wolf, Tyger kept wondering to herself. Was there a way to get Icarus here with me?

 

"Gah I miss my pet."

 

She murmured aloud, walking along the floor. Where was she anyways? The 4th Floor? As she walked through the town, she could hear something following her. Their feet shuffled behind her painfully, like someone attempting to make themselves heard, or to at least annoy those within earshot. Her shoulders tensed up, and Tyger ran through her options. This person probably wants me to turn around and talk to them, or they could be something else... I can't be hurt in a safe zone, right? They have to be shuffling pretty hard for me to hear them through the snow... Coming to her conclusion, she whipped around, expecting to see an Orange Player stalking her. What she saw though was far from it. An old lady NPC.

 

"Uhh, can I help you?"

 

Even in real life, Tyger didn't like people following her. Or trying to run down stairs to catch her, because that stuff just irritated her or made her nervous. Baldur did it anyways.

[Tyger 0]

The old lady, who was certainly not Baldur trying to mess with her, smiled warmly at Tyger when the girl turned to face her. 

 

"This old gypsy couldn't help but overhear your problems..."

 

The woman started, and Tyger held up her hands. 

 

"Yeah, thanks, but i'll have to pass. I don't really have time for a fortune reading right now, but I can totally come back after my hunting. I need to blow off some steam."

 

Tyger didn't want to cut the lady short, but she really didn't have time. The NPC gave her a flat look, and turned away.

 

"Fine, fine, I was going to tell you how to get a familiar, since you are so lonely, but..."

 

Tyger's mouth dropped, and she chased after the woman.

 

"Wait! I'm sorry, i'm sorry. I thought you were trying to get me to come with you for a fortune telling. I didn't mean to cut you off."

[Tyger 0]

The gypsy looked her up and down, and finally crossed her arms.

 

"Fine. When you are out in the field, have you ever noticed that sometimes, the monsters will look at you weird?"

 

The images of the white wolf with red eyes popped into her head. Tyger merely nodded, allowing the gypsy to continue.

 

"Should you attempt to feed these creatures, sometimes they will follow you, and become your familiar."

 

All she had to do was feed them? The simplicity of the quest must've crossed Tyger's face, and the woman shook her head.

 

"No no, it's not as easy as you're thinking. It takes time, and sometimes, they'll attack you and blow out half your health in one shot. They don't take fondly to strangers."

 

Imagining herself losing half her HP with one attack... That was brutal, even for her. It really made her consider this carefully.

[Tyger 0]

"How big can they get? Could I get like, a horse familiar, and ride it around?"

 

It would save her from these imaginary sores on her imaginary feet, for sure. But, the way the gypsy NPC shook her head dowsed that dream in flames. 

 

"They get as big as German Shepherds, in the real world. Or, as small as a sugar glider..."

 

The shock of the woman's statement had left it's mark as Tyger eyed her, dumbfounded. How did she know what kind of pet Tyger had in the real world? It didn't make any sense!

 

"How did you..."

 

But the woman was gone, leaving Tyger to contemplate the idea of a familiar. Could she really get some sort of companion to help in the game? Where would she go, and what would she seek out?

 

She ran to the quickest merchant she could find, guilty that it hadn't been Baldur, to purchase a few pieces of bread. 

 

-200 Col for 4 Bread

[Tyger 0]

"Teleport. Floor 9."

 

Something just called Tyger here. Call it fate, call it whatever you want, but something pulled Tyger here that she just couldn't explain. Everything that the gypsy said in her mind rattled around like loose change, causing her to begin to doubt her role here in the game. I could have a familiar, which means I could have a friend like Icarus here with me... The idea of having a sugar glider familiar was amusing, and she'd loved the idea immediately.

 

But why the 9th floor? 

 

She'd heard it was hot, hot, hot. And, what did she deal with? The Forge. Perhaps a familiar found on this floor could help her in the forge? It'd be happy, using any heat or fire power that it might have, and besides. Why not? It gave her a chance to explore the newest floor, albeit carefully.

 

"Hooo boy. Baldur would kill me right about now."

[Tyger 0]

The NPC's she passed wore strange clothing, like something a blacksmith and a tailor would mix for comfort or protection. Being on the ridge that they're on, Tyger assumed that part of the reasoning for the clothing was to beat the heat. But, wouldn't the metal on their clothing get hot? Akin to how she was cooking like a pot roast in the middle of her armor. The boss fight would happen on this floor soon, and she didn't like the idea of what that large, hot, firey creature might be. But, here she was as well, probably under prepared for what she was about to face. Her fingers looped around the teleportation crystal she had in her inventory. She could use this to escape once she found something, right? 

 

"Excuse me, miss..."

 

She tried to get the attention of a passing NPC, but they hurried around her, clearly busy with the work at hand. The metal buildings and industrial feel made her blacksmith heart proud, but right now the heart was hurting, which was why she was here in the first place. Find a friend, go home, name it Icarus. Find a friend, go home, name it Icarus. As she walked, the little cadence in her head played on, helping her continue through the floor. She was going to do her best to avoid as many things as possible.

[Tyger 0]

"Jason! Jason! Icarus ate a treat from my mouth! Okay, yeah, I know i've become -that- weird pet owner, but still! It was so cool! He didn't bite or anything!

 

Memories of her pet back home flashed through her mind, as melodramatic as they might seem. Icarus jumping from shoulder to shoulder, Baldur finally becoming part of the family colony to Icarus, whenever he'd crawl up on Baldur's shoulder and pee just to spite him... Those were the days, indeed. They were something she longed for, and her heart just hurt. Today was going to be one of those days where the game just sapped her energy and made her hate the game even more for what it was. Hate it so much, in fact, she'd stumbled into a mob without even realizing.

 

The large fiery elemental hissed in anger at the tresspasser, and Tyger immediately fumbled for her shield and sword, nervous as can be. 

 

"Uh, i'm really sorry mister Elemental... I uh..."

 

The reply was a blast of fire, that just barely missed her. Narrowing her eyes, Tyger snarled. 

 

"Fine, be that way!"

 

Her attack left it's mark, and actually seemed to put a dent into the angry elemental.

 

ID 8158, BD 10, MD 7-2=5 Miss

 

Tyger - Hits for 7 HP, +2 Damage with Thorns

Fire Elemental - Misses

 

Tyger - 22/22

Fire Elemental - 9/18

[Tyger 0]

Clearly this Elemental didn't want to be her familiar. 

 

It made Tyger certain when it released a blast of fire that almost felt like it could melt her shield. She yipped in fear, feeling the heat seep in through her armor. Luckily, she'd get out with a little bit less than a scratch. However, her attack hit it's mark, and angrily too. The line of damage seemed to blend in with the fires of the fiery demon, but watching it's HP drop gave Tyger the confirmation she needed. This thing was huge, and it was going to try and hurt her, so any little bit of damage she could deal was fine with her. 

 

With the attacks finished, Tyger felt her HP rise with her battle Healing. Perfect. Not a scratch anymore, stupid elemental! I can actually beat this thing! I'm on the highest floor, defeating a monster! Her heart fluttered with anticipation.

 

 

ID 8159, BD 6, MD 9, CD 10

 

Tyger - Hits for 5 HP, +1 HP Battle Healing

Fire Elemental - Crits for 2 HP, 1 HP Mitigated

 

Tyger - 22/22

Fire Elemental - 4/18

[Tyger 0]

Tyger wanted this to be finished early, before the elemental did something ridiculous like split into another elemental with full health, or turn the whole floor into lava while she died slowly... Yeah, there were plenty of rumors floating around on the lower floors about some of the mobs you could come across. Tyger didn't think they were all right, but even some lies had a grain of truth in them, right? She didn't want to take any chances, which meant finish this beast off early. She went to attack it, Tiberius Surge held high in a power attack, but the creature disappeared. 

 

Just, disappeared.

 

It reappeared in a puddle of fire it had created when Tyger dodged earlier, and spat a fireball at Tyger's open back. She gritted her teeth and growled, punching at the creature with her shield. She missed, but the thorn enhancement from her shield did it's work well enough.

 

"I love my old shield, but this one just saves my ass so much more."

 

Especially against mobs that are much more powerful than you.

 

 

ID 8160, BD 3, MD 8

 

Tyger - Misses, +2 Damage Thorns

Fire Elemental - Hits for 1 HP

 

Tyger - 21/22

Fire Elemental - 2/18

[Tyger 0]

With the fire elemental's little teleport to fire trick, this made things a bit deadlier than Tyger wanted. Granted, she had the upper hand currently, but that was no reason to get cocky. She needed to bunker down, concentrate, and take this sucker out before anything else happened. 

 

"Thank you for giving me a good fight."

 

The elemental probably didn't care, but Tyger did. This was a huge confidence boost. She took out half the HP of a mob on the 9th floor, the highest open, with one turn. It was an incredibly lucky turn, but a turn none the less. It was enough confidence needed to charge towards the fiery fiend once more. Her sword was quicker than his teleport though, and as it tried to move, it exploded into the glimmering shards. The Col that dropped from it startled Tyger, although she definitely didn't mind that. The material that dropped would go into her sword, that she just knew. She put it off to the side in her inventory, and looked around before continuing on the quest for a friend.

 

 

ID 8161, BD 8, MD 3, LD 13

 

Tyger - Hits for 5 HP

Fire Elemental - Dead

 

Tyger - 21/22

Fire Elemental - 0/18 (Drops 90 Col, 1 Mat)

[Tyger 0]

Standing outside of creature Aggro zones was intimidating to say the least. Elementals, fiery wolves and creatures of all sorts, even a high level dragon flew overhead once, probably just to scare some of the players. She wasn't sure how someone would get the aggro of the creature in the sky, unless they threw a weapon at it or something? Either way, it was out of reach and too high for her to deal with. As she walked around, nothing really took to her. She stayed on the outskirts, but the fiery wolf that she'd liked merely turned to walk away since she wasn't in the aggro zone. 

 

"I need a fiery sugar glider, then. I don't need a stupid fire wolf anyway..."

 

She mumbled to herself, kicking a little molten rock infront of her. It bounced a few times, and then disappeared into a hole. When Tyger went to see where it went, the hole was in fact made from some sort of large footprint. The rock sat in the middle, like the pit that had just formed in her stomach. Fear clutched at it, and she backed away slowly. 

 

"Yeah.... no thanks..."

[Tyger 0]

Fiery sugar glider. That would actually hurt, wouldn't it?

 

Back home, Icarus loved to snuggle in a pouch around Tyger's neck, or would sometimes crawl into her shirt and sleep there. He would always nestle close to Tyger's heart, so he could hear her heartbeat. Apparently, it was a sugar glider think they'd picked up from birth. They loved the sound of their mother's heartbeat when they were in her pouch, since they were marsupials. It was only natural for the little critter to want to put itself in the same situation. 

 

"Well, no reason to follow those prints. Way bigger than something i'd want."

 

All she wanted was something to help in the forge. Was that too much to ask?

[Tyger 0]

As she walked away from the giant indent, a sound scurried behind her. She turned around, expecting to see the old Gypsy lady once more, but instead, it was a little creature. It had pounced on the rock once Tyger had turned away, and was currently playing with it, as if it were some sort of new, fascinating toy. Making a quick sweep around the area, Tyger made sure that there was nothing that would walk closer to her and put her in aggro range. When she deemed it all clear, she sat down and watched the little creature play.

 

It was almost like a large lizard. Like, a dragon without wings. It looked like a dragon made out of coal, and then when fired up, the heat simmered down it's body to create multiple cracks in a forge. If blacksmithing was personified into a mob or creature in this game, this was it. It nibbled at the rock, and then picked it up in it's mouth to take it away. However, when it turned it's head, it noticed Tyger sitting on the ground across from it. It's eyes widened, and then narrowed, but the rock was still in it's mouth. It made no attempt to walk forward, nor to run away. Instead, they just stared at eachother. Tyger, getting ahead of herself, imagined what life at the forge would be like with something like that, lighting the fires of the forge. 

 

"Uh... Hi?"

[Tyger 0]

The creature was the size of a large housecat, but small enough to be carried by it's mother, if it had one. It looked like a baby, but perhaps it wasn't. It had claws, fangs, and walked around like it was comfortable in it's own skin, so perhaps that was as big as it got? 

 

The dragon opened it's mouth and dropped the rock, bringing Tyger back to her own little reality. It looked at her, and then sat down, staring at her as if it was looking straight through her. It was the same look the White wolf with Red eyes Baldur had defeated had given her. Perhaps this was what the old Gypsy lady was talking about?! Frantic panic clawed at her mind. She could try and feed the creature, and possibly have it become her familiar. OR, it could turn on her and obliterate her HP to half. Being on this floor was bad enough with full HP. If she were knocked to half, she wouldn't survive getting back to the teleportation zone easy. 

 

While Tyger had this moral dilemma, the dragon started to creep forward, slowly, as if unsure of what would happen next. When Tyger's hand moved to her bag at her side, the dragon snarled and bared it's teeth. The player flinched, unsure of what to do next. Her heart pounded in her hears, and roared at her, telling her to flee, run, and get away before she did something dumb. Stupid. Regrettable.

[Tyger 0]

Tyger's hand fished for the bread in her bag, and when she pulled out a piece, she held it in front of her cautiously. The dragon's eyes widened, and it paused mid step, as if calculating what it wanted to do. It's chest seemed to burn brighter, and the fires inside it's body seemed to glow even moreso. Was it charging up an attack? Was it about to blow her into next week with some sort of fire attack? Her hand started to shake nervously, and she dropped the bread accidentally. In a flash, the dragon made it's move. Tyger's mouth opened in a quiet scream, but nothing came out, and there was no pain. Her eyes had closed in fear, but when they opened, the dragon was in front of her, simply chowing down on the bread she'd given it. For good measure, Tyger pulled out another piece and gave it to the creature, who ate from her hand with no problem.

 

ID 8149, LD 19

 

A small message box appeared. 

 

Will you take Magma Dragon - Small as your Familiar?

 

The face of the old Gypsy lady crossed her mind, and she saw her scowl at Tyger when the player had thought it would be easy to catch a familiar. Maybe she'd stop by the floor she'd seen the Gypsy on, and show off her new friend she'd made. Tyger pressed 'yes' on the menu, and she got a Quest Completed notification.

 

-2 Bread

[Tyger 0]

The quest rewards popped up, and Tyger whistled. She got the familar, and a title behind her name. 'Dragon' Tamer. She didn't like it. It was too flashy. Besides, Tyger didn't want any more attention to herself. Magma Dragon - Small put it's front claws onto her leg and sniffed up at Tyger's chin, curiously. Tyger put a hand on the creature's back, hesitant about being burned. But, to her amazement, it wasn't hot at all. It did leave a nice smear of charcoal on her hand though. And, when Magma Dragon - Small removed it's... paws? from Tyger's leg, her pants had the charcoal smears too. 

 

"You're a messy thing, aren't you?"

 

-

 

You're a messy thing, aren't you! Tyger teased Icarus when she first brought him home, watching him eat silently. The creature took nibbles of his food, and then spat the food out after sucking out all of the water. It created a huge mess, and Tyger had to clean it up until she had the bright idea to put his food in a tupperware bowl, that way his slingings were caught.

 

-

 

She couldn't name this dragon 'Bruiser' or 'Flare' or even 'Galactic President Superstar McAwesomeville.' The only name that seemed fitting to her was a word she had gotten used to for so long. She pressed the Dragon's name, and re-input the name 'Icarus'.

[Tyger 0]

Familiar Name: Icarus

Species: Magma Dragon

Size - Large Housecat

Description - A Small breed of Magma Dragon. His exterior hide is made out of a charcoalesque substance which rubs off on anything that he touches. His claws and feet are padded with the same substance, which may leave footprints. Magma trails in veins down his body, encased inside the charcoal. The brighter the veins, the hotter the fire and magma produced in an attack. Favorite snacks include coal. But the super burnt pieces are the best.

Effect - +1 Accuracy

 

"Glad that didn't get messy..."

 

Tyger snickered, carrying the little dragon with her. Soot and Coal dust covered her entirely, and she would have to get used to that, probably. 

 

"So, do you uh, drink water? Or do you eat old coals or something?"

 

She had water, but if the dragon ate coals, then that would work. No more cleaning out her forge daily! Just let Icarus get to it, and things would be set! The dragon didn't answer, and instead, cocked its head to the side in confusion as she spoke. It probably didn't quite understand what she was asking yet. To find out, she paused and sat the dragon on the ground. She pulled a bottle of water out, and tilted the chin of the dragon up. The water bottle tipped over a little into the mouth of the dragon, who drank happily. Well, they drink water at least. Tyger drank a few sips herself, and then gave the bottle back to the dragon, who just chomped it down and ate it, completely. Plastic and all. 

 

"Well then."

[Tyger 0]

The bottle had fought valiantly, but it was no match for the terrible, tyrannical Icarus. Before Tyger could question whether or not the item was safe for the creature to eat, the dragon burped quietly and rubbed it's face against Tyger's pants. He left a large, black smear that would probably not come out. Either way, she was starting to grow fond of the little tag along. Together, they both did their best to avoid mobs, but when something startled Icarus, he quickly scrambed up Tyger's leg and torso to wrap itself across her shoulders, like a sooty scarf.

 

"... I'm uh, pretty sure that Baldur is going to kill me for bringing you home."

 

They wouldn't get this charcoal dust off of them for weeks, at least. But, it was cute. And, as she reached the town, the soot and dust became less and less of a worry with the new distraction. Leaving the first floor and going back to the forge would be nice, right?

[Tyger 0]

There was a rumbling sound as Tyger approached the town. It was juuust on the horizon, but the way the ground crumbled, cracked and billowed in front of her was quite the bad sign. Icarus jumped off of her shoulder, startled, but kept to her side instead of running away. 

 

"What's going on?!"

 

Tyger gasped, taking a few steps back to give whatever was coming out of the earth some room. Glowing red hands pulled the magma elemental out from the depths of the ground, and it spat out burning hot magma at Tyger. Before she could react, the hot oozing pain ran up her arm, caking on her equipment. It didn't hurt too much, but it was enough to shock her. 

 

"Uh... Alrighty then."

 

Icarus wouldn't stand a chance against this creature, so he stayed behind Tyger and the protection of her shield. Perhaps his potential hadn't been realized in battle just yet. Still stinging with the pain, Tyger ran forward and hacked part of the hardened magma off.

 

ID 8226, BD 8, MD 9

 

Tyger - Hits for 5 HP

Magma Elemental- Hits for 2 HP, 1 Mitigated

 

Tyger- 21/22

Magma Elemental- 13/18

[Tyger 0]

The Magma Elemental opened it's mouth in a wide, gaping smile, smoke and fire oozing out of it's mouth with untouched glee. Perhaps it saw Tyger as easy prey, all alone on this particular floor. Or maybe it could feel Tyger's fear, and it fed off of it to make itself stronger. Whatever it was, the Elemental was already writing Tyger off for dinner.

 

"Easy you bag of, uh, magma... You're not getting me that easy!"

 

She looked behind her shoulder over at Icarus, who had his fangs bared into a snarl, fires in his body making his streaks brighter and brighter. As if in reply, the Magma Elemental burned the spot where Tyger was standing, trying to melt her feet to the ground. A quick jump avoided that though. Quick... that was something this elemental probably wasn't good at. Tyger nimbly jumped forward, slicing at the lower half of the Elemental. It shrieked in pain, while Tyger bounced away unscathed.

 

 

ID 8237, BD 7, MD 2

 

Tyger - Hits for 5 HP

Magma Elemental- Misses

 

Tyger- 21/22

Magma Elemental- 8/18