[SP-F6] Feeding the Enemy

[Azide 0]

"Is that so?" asked Azide. He stroked his chin with one hand, while the other remained by his hip. It wasn't as if he mistrusted the woman- it was the simple fact that the last time an NPC had approached in him the jungle, he'd been attacked. "By my own doppleganger, of all the things that could attack me."

But even if she were to transform and lunge at him, he doubted he'd be in very much trouble. After all, he'd grown leaps and bounds since that time. "But I'm not number one yet," he reminded himself quietly. No, he certainly wasn't. Despite word of the disappearance of Azure's Zelrius, there were still a healthy amount of players above him in terms of level- even within the ranks of Square One.

It was petty, but a part of him still needed the title. Being the best- it was something that he missed.

Azide nodded. "Fine, I'll take your quest. And no, I don't care to hear about how dangerous it might be," he answered, arching a brow. "I'll be just fine, I'm sure." With that, he made his way past the woman and began walking, in search of a competent enough cook to supply him with what he needed.

[Azide 0]

He entered the shop in the way that'd become customary for him in this world. That is to say, he'd simply barged in uninvited and unannounced, with the expectation that the owner wouldn't actually care. As heavy wooden doors swung shut behind him, he walked up to the counter and glanced around. There were carcasses of various mobs hanging all about, and he could heard the heavy swings of what he could only assume was a butcher's knife. Each dull thud echoed out from the back room.

"This place is kind of morbid, you know," remarked Azide. He doubted the shopkeeper could hear him, but he was being honest. True- he'd only ever visited the shops of two cooks in all of his time at Aincrad, this one not included- but neither had been butchers. Alyss had chosen to open up a bakery (where he'd ironically ordered a steak, but instead received a measly cheeseburger), while Rebekah was the proud owner of a cafe. In comparison, this place seemed so... primitive.

[Azide 0]

He twiddled this thumbs as the sounds of hacking continued (not to be confused with the more technological variety), and he hoped that it was the flesh of a mob, rather than some unfortunate player. "Actually, depending on the mob, that still sounds absolutely repulsive," he thought. But either way, he wasn't here to address his own food needs today.

Azide drummed his fingers against the countertop and began tapping his feet against the wooden floor. He cleared his throat somewhat loudly, but failed to draw the shopkeeper's attention. He sighed, and began looking through the cuts that had already been prepared. "Preferably, I'd like a stronger companion- meaning what I'm looking for is likely going to be carnivorous," he thought, silently dismissing herbivores and vegans alike.

[Azide 0]

He walked over to the large cooler and opened it. Inside, among the ice, he was greeted with the sight of creatures that were now unidentifiable. "It sounds gruesome when you put it like that, but I actually prefer not being able to tell what animal it used to be...' He thought about the people who'd leave their fish with their heads on and shuddered. "You might as well be leaving the chicken's head on while you're at it." Azide shook his head. "No, it's most certainly better this way," he mumbled.

Reaching inside the freezer, he dislodged the ice cubes which had frozen together before digging around. After brushing away some of the loose pieces of ice, he uncovered a bag of cubed meat- just what he'd been looking for. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for yet, but it'd probably be in his best interest to find something on the smaller side. "I don't want it to be a liability, after all..."

[Azide 0]

"What can I do for ya?" grumbled a voice from behind him.

He turned around, still clutching the bag of meat, and saw that his addressor was about what you'd expect your butcher to look like. Big-boned, plenty of bulk and dressed in white with the occasional splotches of red. Silently, he'd found himself wondering for a moment if he'd instead wandered into the shop of some sort of player killer, but he quickly dismissed the ridiculous notion. "No matter how sketchy the bloodstains might look, I'm willing to chalk them up to the less glamorous aspects of working with raw meat."

Not to mention that they were both currently standing in the midst of a safezone- something which would be quite impossible if the player had been anything but green.

[Azide 0]

Azide cleared his throat, but didn't move away from the cooler. He held out his bag of choice to the shopkeeper. "I'm interesting in purchasing this- no need to tell me what it is, I'd almost rather not know. But before you ask, I'm just purchasing a bit of bait. Think of it as a hunting trip, of sorts."

The butcher scratched his head, leaving a streak of red across his white cap. His lips twitched, before becoming a toothy grin. "You huntin' for worms or somethin', boy? 'Cause those itty-bitty pieces of rat meat ain't gonna get you nothin'!" The man slapped the counter in front of him, and a hearty laugh bubbled from out of his belly.

"Not worms," he corrected. His lips curled to form a faint closed-lipped smile. "Snakes."

[Azide 0]

After haggling the shopkeep down on the price, he took his leave from the shop. It wasn't exactly the sort of place he fancied, and he certainly didn't wish to stick around any longer than he had to. He rolled the bag up and sent it to his inventory. Perhaps it would've been wiser to keep it on-hand an in his pocket, but he didn't want his coat smelling like meat. Somehow, the idea of that was quite unsavory.

"There it is," he thought, looking ahead. Once again, he stood at the edge of the lush green wall- the jungle. He thought back to the time that he'd entered this place with Oikawa, and how they'd nearly been trapped there- but then again, that was a different section of the place altogether. "I'm in no rush to re-enter Amazon's Folly..."

-100 col

[Azide 0]

He parted some low hanging branches, but found them stubbornly elastic. As he drew his hands away, they simply snapped back together, and he was left with no entryway. Rather than take the risk of being needlessly scratched up, he decided instead to simply carve out an opening with the sharp edge of his blade.

A few quick strokes were all that it took, and he slipped inside without much further trouble. If anything, he was thankful to have avoided any immortal objects thus far. "I most definitely don't want to be left wasting time waiting until a giant serpent passes by," he thought. He could live without a repeat of his last adventure on this floor.

[Azide 0]

Upon entering the forest, he found himself immediately attacked by some sort of crazed primate. "A bonobo?" he wondered as he caught a brief glimpse of the thing. He shook his head. "How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not a biologist..."

Whatever the creature was, it'd missed him by quite the large margin, allowing him to score a devastating counterattack against it. He watched as the creature's health bar was whittled down to half. "Sorry mister monkey, but I don't think I'd like you to be my animal companion." He raised his sword and prepared to launch another strike. "It's not you, it's me." And it was true, in a way- monkeys just weren't his type.

ID: 13604

BD: 10 (Crit +2)

MD: 6 (-3) = 3 (Miss)

Damage taken (Bush Monkey) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 4 (Sword Skills) + 1 (Athletics) + 2 (BD 10) = 11

Azide HP: 43/43

Bush Monkey HP: 11/22 (-11)

[Azide 0]

He failed to repeat the success of his last swing- missing his follow up completely. "What the hell happened just now?" He swore under his breath- if he'd been concentrating, perhaps he might've been able to finish the stand off just now, rather than drag it out. With a bit of luck, however, he'd at least managed to avoid falling victim to the creature's teeth or claws.

"Though I can't help but feel this thing is relatively harmless, with how much more punishment I can take nowadays." He reckoned that with his stats, he could trudge through armies of these things before having to turn back.

ID: 13605

BD: 1 (Miss)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (both) = 0

Azide HP: 43/43

Monkey HP: 11/22

[Azide 0]

The humanoid creature charged at him once again. Rather than make a run for his ankles, it launched itself into the air and clung to his chest. Somewhere in the depths of his mind, a voice whispered to him to tell the creature to 'quit monkeying around', but he ignored the temptation. "Some things are best left for the appropriate time," he reminded himself.

The rabid beast sank its teeth into his arm and wrapped itself around his limb like it was an outstretched tree branch. A burning sensation crept up his arm like a swarm of fire ants, and he shook his appendage until the creature unlatched its jaws. "You little piece of..." he muttered, before leaping forward. He thrusted Quantum Slicer at the crazed monkey, and was pleased to see that his blade had found its target.

He drew back his rapier, and the beast shattered, leaving behind nothing more than a bit of crafting material.

ID: 13606

BD: 10 (Crit +2)

MD: 9 (Crit +1)

LD: 2 (Nothing)

Damage taken (Azide) = 3 (Base) + 1 (BD 9) - 2 (Mitigation) = 2

Damage taken (Monkey) = 1 (Base) + 3 (Rapier) + 4 (Sword Skill) + 1 (Athletic) + 2 (BD 10) = 11

Azide HP: 41/43

Monkey HP: 0/22 (-11) [Dead]

*1 material acquired.

[Azide 0]

As I continued walking, I heard a rustling in the bushes and turned my head. Nothing. "Being incredibly genre savvy, I wouldn't be too surprised if something were to pop up on the other side of me right about-"

From out the opposite row of vegetation, another Bush Monkey came darting out. I hopped aside, managing to avoid taking another hit as it went speeding right past me. Attacks were no good if they failed to be landed. With a slash of my sword, I severed the creature's tail and grabbed it out of the air- it shattered in my hand just a moment later, and I prepared to make my next move. "This thing seems... weaker, but only slightly so," I thought.

ID: 13607

BD: 5 (+3) = 8 (Hit)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Monkey) = 9 (Base + Rapier + Skills)

Azide HP: 41/43

Monkey HP: 9/18 (-9)

[Azide 0]

"For whatever reason, I feel like I just had a sudden change of perspective just now..." He shook his head- it was time to focus, not waste time entertaining pointless thoughts that would lead to nowhere. As he prepared to attack, he stumbled over a stray root.

Before he could inspect it, the monkey came running straight at him, somehow missed him entirely. "How the hell did that just happen?" he wondered. He hadn't even been moving when it'd set out. He sighed, then crouched down and freed the root from the soil and sent it to his inventory. Perhaps he could use it in his laboratory- he'd been running short on materials lately, after all.

ID: 13608

MD: 1 (Miss)

LD: 18 (Material found)

Damage taken (both) = 0

Azide HP: 41/43

Monkey: 9/18

*1 material acquired (2 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

"Ugh, where are my priorities?" he muttered, standing back up. He dusted himself off, then adjusted himself to stance better suited for fighting. He sped toward the creature, who offered a relatively small target, and slipped out of his reach at the last moment. It lunged at him, but missed as he spun out of its way and delivered a well-placed slash at its back.

Had this been real life, rather than a game, he mused that his last hit would've ended the fight there and then. "With the force and I angle I used, the thing should've been cut clean in two." He shook his head. If there were any positive side to this drudgery, it was that one more well-aimed hit would be all that it took for him to move on.

He dashed forward and caught the creature off guard, then stabbed the creature straight through its chest. It shattered almost instantly, leaving behind a simple crafting material.

ID: 13612

BD: 8 (Hit)

MD: 8 (-3) = 5 (Miss)

CD: 10 (+1 HP)

LD: 19 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Monkey) = 9

Azide HP: 42/43 (+1)

Monkey HP: 0/18 (-9) [Dead]

*1 material acquired (3 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

As he finished up with the Bush Monkey, he sheathed Quantum Slicer and continued about his way- which was to say, he carried on with his aimless ambling. "Admittedly, I have absolutely no idea of where I'm supposed to go to find these things," he thought. "Last time I was here, they sort of just flung themselves at me." For once, maybe he'd left too much of his plan to luck, rather than planning. Had he not given this endeavor enough thought?

People often said that he didn't believe in coincidences, but Azide had always been in the opposite camp. Absent the sudden revelation of a heavenly, godly body, fate hardly seemed plausible. After all, most things could be explained through either a dismiss hand wave, and the label of coincidence- or it could be drummed up to an underlying correlation: a common factor, if you would.

But just this once, he allowed himself to question his long-held belief. Maybe, just maybe there was somebody looking out for him, somewhere in the universe. "Then again, I'm in Kayaba's universe. It's a whole different ballgame in Sword Art Online- I know for sure that it's possible for him to manipulate our fates."

In any case, a snake came crawling from out of the bushes and began slithering over to him. Under normal circumstances, he would've immediately drawn his sword and sliced it in two, as he had with countless other snakes.

But instead, he immediately materialized the bag of meat from his inventory, then pulled the drawstring open and reached inside with his hand. Gingerly, he pulled out a few chunks of the rat meat he'd purchased earlier from the butcher, then tossed a trail of the morsels leading all the way back to him.

Immediately, the snake expressed curiosity, and he was hopeful in spite of the overwhelming odds. The snake unhinged its jaw as it arrived at each shred of meat and swallowed it before moving onto the next. He held its breath as it finished the very last of the pieces and lifted its head to him and flicked out its tongue.

Was it not going to attack him? He knelt down tentatively, aware that he could handle a bit of damage in the case that the creature bit him anyway, but it expressed no sign of resistance.

Gently, he touched a finger to its head and stroked its smooth scales slowly, and the creature seemed to enjoy it. It swayed its body back and forth, and though it had no eyelids- he felt that it might've closed its eyes in contentment if biology had allowed for it.

That just about confirmed it. The beast had been tamed, and life was good.

ID: 13624

LD: 20 (OH MY GOD, YES!)

*1 Familiar acquired.

[Azide 0]

Feeling particularly daring, Azide set his hand against the ground and allowed the creature to coil its way up his arm. Its head reached out toward him as he raised his arm so that it was parallel against the ground. It extended its neck out toward him and eyed him with quiet curiosity, and occasionally flicked its tongue out, but otherwise was completely docile.

The creature was a bright green with a white-ish underbelly. The length of its entire body wore the occasional black stripe, and its bore large rounded eyes that gave it an almost deceivingly friendly appearance. The slender serpent couldn't have been longer than three feet in all, though its slight frame made it look longer.

He stroked his chin and he stared into the creature's unblinking eyes. It was strange, that he should feel a kinship with a snake, when he'd never been able to feel the same way about the more usual pets.

"Cats, dogs, mice, rabbits and even monkeys- all just animals I'd see on a regular basis, never to feel any attachment to." They were all mammals, and as such, were frequently used in place of humans for the more experimental stages of chemical testing. He'd worked with hundreds over the years, with the majority of them taking place during his time as an intern.

It was stupid to get attached to the critters. One never knew how they'd turn out, in the end.

[Azide 0]

He rocked his arm slowly to the left, then to the right. It seemed to put the creature at further ease, and it swayed its slender body to and fro, as if mimicking the methodic motions. "Could you possibly have any soul?" he wondered. He thought back to the bandits that he'd faced a while back, and how he'd declared that they had none of their own. "But that's not exactly true- I said that they had 'mechanical souls.' But could they ever possibly be as real as ours?"

If he accepted that this little snake had a unique consciousness of its own, he'd have to accept the possibility that the same was true for all mobs in Aincrad.

Azide shook his head. That was a dilemma he could address at a later time. For now, he simply gazed into the wide eyes of his newfound companion.

"I think I'm already becoming fond of you." He spoke in a hushed voice, as though expressing a secret to be kept between the two of them alone.

[Azide 0]

But there was still a certain question, which he deemed to be important enough to bring his advance to a temporary halt. He tilted his head as his eyes remained locked on the snake's. "I've never really named an animal before," he reflected. "Well, I guess that's not entirely true now, is it?" But then again, it was debatable if numbers and barcodes constituted actual names, no matter how catchy some of them might've been.

"Two-four-six-O-one was a pretty good one," he said, thinking out loud. His serpentine companion said nothing in reply, though it would've been quite disconcerting if it had. "I'd name you snake, but I have a feeling that would say a little too much about my creativity..." He shook his head. That wouldn't do at all. But what to choose?

[Azide 0]

The two stood there in that meadow for quite some time, bouncing idea after idea off of the other. Well, only one of them was actually standing, or bouncing any ideas. But he felt the serpent made a very good listener. "Actually, this sort of reminds me of when I spent a night talking with Rebekah. Me rambling on about whatever, and you mostly listening," he said, laughing at his own joke. The snake flicked its tongue out at him, but otherwise had a very placid reaction. He joked about it, but in fact, it really did.

"I'm sure you'll get to meet her sometime," he said. "She's joined the guild since that night- but I'm not sure how she feels about snakes. Actually, I don't know how well received you might be by the majority of the population, but hopefully everyone's exposure to much more frightening creatures has softened their phobias by now."

[Azide 0]

Azide blinked- something that his companion did not mimic, as it lacked the eyelids to do so. "Guildmates... now there's a thought." His mind zeroed in on one specific member, whose name he felt comfortable with using due to her absence. "How about Lucifer?" he asked. The snake said nothing, as usual, but he carried on with the thought regardless. He hadn't seen the girl in what felt like ages, and he'd actually been feeling rather worried lately. In fact, nobody from the guild had seen or her from her- but he took solace in the fact that she'd at least been confirmed to still be alive. Somewhere.

On the other hand, he didn't want to let a perfectly good name go to waste. "I'm not usually one to make biblical references, but this one will serve as a double entendre- to Lucifer the serpent, and Lucifer the devil- er, Lucifer the council member. Same difference, really." He chuckled. "Lucifer..." he said, focusing on the sound of it.

The snake shifted its head slowly, as if tilting it to the side. It flicked its tongue out.

"It's settled then- Lucifer it is." He stroked the underside of Lucifer's head tenderly, in the way one might do with a dog.