[PP-F3] Ooh, Fresh Meat! (Training Carambit)

[Grave 0]

I stood at the edge of Delilah, the Third Floor's town.  I'd received a request from Mack to train a new recruit, Carambit, to initiate him into the guild.  Me, little old Grave, getting chosen to teach someone. It was simultaneously exhilirating and nerve-wracking. I tugged impatiently at the sheriff badge-shaped pendant around my neck.  How long did I have to wait?  Was I early?  Had he already headed out to get a head start on me? There's no way. I contemplated making a quick stop at my diner, but then I'd most likely miss Carambit.  My coat and crimson cloak billowed out behind me from the strong breeze coming along from the North. I was not sure how this would go. I had never met the kid before. I hadn't even pre-planned the recruit's training program - the whole thing was going to be improvised.

But improv's something I do best.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

Carambit followed the directions provided by the vague message, searching for the player 'Grave' who would show him the ropes for joining the guild. This was his first time on the third floor, and he didn't know his way around very well as of yet, but it wasn't too long before he found the player he was supposed to meet up with. "Hey! Sorry I'm late, hope I didn't keep you waiting long." he nervously scratched the back of his head and took in the sight of the player before him that was to become his new guild instructor. He was of a slender build and had grey wind swept hair. He looked tough, which was good and bad at the same time. It was good in that Carambit had a tough mentor to look up to, but also bad because he couldn't let him down, as Carambit's failure would be a reflection on the image of his trainer. Upon realizing this Carambit felt a wave of self doubt and insecurity sweep over him. Hopefully he was up to the task.

[Grave 0]

I extended a hand to the man who approached, brushing off his apology for being late with a dismissing shrug.  "Hey, the name's Grave.  Carambit, right?  It's nice to meet you, and great to hear you want to join our guild." I introduced myself, my voice hardly muffled by the buttoned up high collar.  I took a step back to size him up.  He didn't look too well equipped, but I guessed it'd do.

"I have been assigned to train you and test your skills to see whether you are worthy to enter the guild." I began to explain. "Our session today will consist of fighting a few monsters up here, and your aim is to slay three unaided.  I will be on standby to assist, gathering materials and keeping a watchful eye on your status.  Do you think you can handle it?" Sure, I was putting up a tough façade, but inside I was shaking in my boots.  What else was I supposed to make him do?!

[Carambit 0]

Carambit gladly took the hand in his and smiled. "Yeah I'm Carambit. Nice to meet you too." he released the hand and stood upright. "Well, hopefully I can handle it. I haven't been around this floor yet, so hopefully all goes to plan. Shouldn't be too hard." He had his new sword now, provided by Mack, and he could now hit things a little easier. He couldn't wait to give it a few swings. "What kind of enemies will we be facing?" he asked curiously, extending an arm, indicating for Grave to lead the way toward the fields. As Carambit didn't know his way around here very well yet, he decided it was in his best interest to let the more experienced player guide him as much as possible.

[Grave 0]

"Nah, you'll be fine.  I'm here to intervene if necessary.  Just give me a holler if you're having trouble." I told him, giving him a comforting smile. "I take it you already have your cloak and pendant?  Put them on, this is a guild activity after all." I commanded him.  Damn, I was still nervous.  Was I doing okay?  I had never been assigned a leader position, so I was still new to the whole thing. Damnit Mack, why me?

"Well, we'll fight some Beowolves, some Weasel Mages, maybe a Roc, just anything wandering around, really." I explained, mentioning only a few of he monsters roaming the Third Floor.  Soon enough, our first target appeared; a giant werewolf-like beast, with navy blue fur and a set of giant, pearly-white jaws.

I motioned to the creature. "Knock yourself out, recruit." I leaned against a nearby tree, just so I could watch how Carambit engaged his target.

(Customise the Beowolf's health and damage at your leisure, as long as it had at least 10 HP and 2 DMG)

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

[ID# 29137]
[BD=6 (+1 ACC) =7] (Hit)
[MD=5 (-1 EVA) =4] (Miss)

Carambit: 21/21
Beowolf: 8/11 (1DMG + 1 Weapon Skill + 1 DMG enhancement)

Carambit had equipped his new cloak and pendant, and got ready for battle. He drew The Entling and held it by his side, charging a sword skill attack as the beast in front of him began to increase speed toward him and growl viciously. He took a step forward to meet with the beast and ducked out of the way of it's ferocious swing, a fistful of claws narrowly gliding past his head. The player let out a grunt as he brought his sword upward and cleaved through the side of it's rib cage with all of his might. The wolf howled and began to swing with a flurry of near misses toward the ducking and dodging brunet. He didn't know just how much damage the monsters on this floor did, and he certainly didn't want to leap into harm's way to find out.

[Grave 0]

"Not bad.  Nice clean hit." I complimented the player.  He actually seemed pretty skilled, coupled with the buffs from his equipment. He anticipated the incoming attack and delivered a skilled strike of his own, so he was already on the right track. He wouldn't require much training from me, to be fair.

While he fought, I scouted a tree, with small red berries hanging from its leaves.  I reached up and yanked one off.  I inspected it closely; it had these weird black spots all over it.  It wouldn't even be any good for cooking, so I just chucked it away into the grass and returned my attention to the recruit. I idly cracked my knuckles in front of me and stretched my arms across my chest. I was raring for a fight, but I knew this was Carambit's time to shine and I wasn't about to steal his spotlight.

---

ID: 29140

LD: 6 = Check how something tastes before throwing it away, maybe?

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

[ID# 29282]
[BD=8 (+1 ACC) =9] (Hit)
[MD=7 (-1 EVA) =6] (Hit)

Carambit: 19/21
Beowolf: 5/11 (1DMG +1 Weapon Skill +1 Enhancement)

Carambit looked to Grave for a split second to acknowledge his compliment, and immediately snapped back to the battle, however this was unfortunately enough of a lapse in judgement to allow the beast to land a strike on him with it's left claw, raking across his chest. The brunet took a step back and used his sword to parry the beast's right hand swing. After blocking the other attack, he stepped; spinning back around and carving another piece out of the monster. The vicious thing howled out in pain and leapt backward, clutching it's side with it's right hand. "Yeah didn't like that, did ya? Come on, let's go again!" he taunted the monster, now confident he could take it on.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Carambit
because of crits

[Grave 0]

(No, enhancements can't turn successes into crits or vice versa, nor can it change a 1 into a success.  Also, challenge yourself a little with the next mob, will you? XD Maybe try make it at least half my health so you have a shot at loot, eh?)

The beast blindsided Carambit, while his attention was focused on me.  Real bad move.  I had to bite my lip to keep from cracking up; that would give a bad first impression as his superior.  I couldn't laugh at the suffering of my student, that would just be poor form. Instead, I turned back to the bush and yanked another berry off.  I raised it to my eyes and inspected it.  It looked fine, until it literally imploded in my fingers.  

I tried to wipe the red residue from my fingers. It was really sticky. Like, unbelievably sticky. What the hell happened to this one? I tried to wipe it on my trousers, but it had already dried like superglue. I stood there, stunned. A moment later, the residue shattered into blue crystals as the fruit's durability hit zero, and I released a heavy sigh of relief. Now un-sticky, I turned back to the recruit.

---

ID: 29283

LD: 13 = SQUISH!

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

((How much health do you have? 31? Ok will do :P))
[ID# 29287]
[BD= 7 (+1 ACC) =8] (Hit)
[MD=3] (Miss)

Carambit: 19/21
Beowolf: 2/11 (1DMG +1 weapon skill +1 enhancement)

The beowolf gladly fell for his taunt, and charged at him. The fact that it had run in to attack blindly meant that it would project it's moves before it made them, which made dodging it's swings much easier for Carambit, which was exactly what he wanted. It swung left and right furiously at him while the player dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodged out of the way. As soon as Carambit saw an opening he took it, parrying an attack and this time slicing the other side of the beowolf. Once again the beast howled in pain, and took an angry swipe at it's opponent. Carambit parried the attack with the broad side of his sword and took a few steps back, away from the beast. "Pff you're not so tough. You talk a mean game but you can't even hit me. Come on try harder!" he taunted it again. It felt good to know he was on top of a fight for once.

[Grave 0]

Damn, the guy was good.  He landed every single attack. It was great to know he could hold his own in a fight. He had room for improvement, mostly regarding his technique, but he would grow fast. I was kind of itching for a fight myself.  Maybe next time I'd fight a monster as well. Would be much more interesting than trying to find materials and failing. 

I rifled through the leaves of the tree again. I shoved runts and dead berries away. I noticed a beautiful crimson sheen deep in the canopy - I reached out and snatched it. It was perfect. No abnormalities. No super-squishy flesh. No superglue juices. Smiling, I deposited the fruit in my inventory, and watched Carambit as he prepared to finish the humanoid wolf off. He kept taunting the wolf. A boy after my own heart. But if he wasn't careful, he'd catch a claw or a tooth.

---

ID: 29290

LD: 17 = +1 Bloodberry (Mat)

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

[ID# 29293]
[BD=2 (+1 ACC) =3] (Ah well, it was bound to happen eventually)
[MD=9] (Hit +1)

Carambit: 16/21
Beowolf: 2/11

And try harder it did. The beast charged for him, getting down on all fours and breaking out into a sprint. Carambit raised his weapon but he wasn't quick enough to match the beast's speed. It dragged it's claws down his arm and he took some damage. He parried another swing from the beast and began to dodge it's furious flurry of attacks. It tried swiping at him, biting him, grappling him, but he was lucky enough to evade all of these attacks and only be hit by the first. After it bit at his face he was able to catch a look at it's jaws, and boy did he not want to feel what it was like to get bitten by this thing. Shuddering at the thought, he placed both hands on the monster's chest and shoved it back, leaving him with enough space to be able to swing at it again if it decided to make another attack. "Okay..." he admitted to himself "Maybe no more taunting. It seems to have adverse effects."

[Grave 0]

Okay, that was naughty of me.  I laughed my ass off when Carambit's taunt worked a little too well on the beowolf.  I kept trying to speak, but couldn't through my constant chuckling. Eventually, once Carambit had positioned himself a safe distance away, I managed to catch enough breath for a sentence.

"If... You taunt, you... Need to be... Prepared for the... Retaliation!" I shouted through chuckles.  I wasn't going to need to jump in, I knew that much.  I really wanted to sink my plated fist into something though. I calmed myself, standing up straight and coughing into my fist to clear my throat. "Please continue. Finish the ugly mutt." I tucked my hands behind me and stood tall.

I could not slip like that again. He probably already thought I was a horrible role model - who laughs at their recruits? I could not afford to lose Carambit's trust and comraderie by making a joke of him.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

[ID# 29442]
[BD=2 (+1 ACC) =3] (Miss)
[MD=4 (-1 EVA) =3] (Miss)

Carambit: 16/21
Beowolf: 2/11

He tried to give the werewolf a taste of it's own medicine, charging at it and slinging a flurry of wild slashes and chops at many different angles. "Take! A! Hit!" he growled as he struggled to land anything on the beast. It seemed to dodge just as well as he did, stepping side to side and ducking it's head under the blade that Carambit wielded. "Stop copying me!" he yelled while pulling a sour face. The monsters in this game were much cheekier than Carambit had first thought; if they continued to do this to him he felt like his blood pressure would kill him sooner than the dangerous beasts would.

[Grave 0]

It was hilarious to watch the beowolf and Carambit trade strikes that found purchase on nothing but air. The player's teasing worked out for the worse, as the two just couldn't hit each other at all at that rate. I'd decided to just completely stop picking fruit and instead watch the amusing scene unfold before my eyes.  One combatant was going to have to land an attack sooner or later, otherwise the day would be over and Carambit wouldn't have achieved the goal required to enter the guild!

Still, as amused as I was, I kept my composure. I watched like a hawk - or like a mother goose? I didn't quite know which. As much as this was Carambit's mission, I hoped he knew he could rely on me if things felt too hairy for his liking. Even lower leveled monsters could be a pain if you lost your focus.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

[ID# 29473]  ((Had a bit of a problem with my internet connection, my brother reset the router when I was trying to roll and I've come back to see like 4 rolls there, so I'll just use the first one...))
[BD=2] (Damn son. We'll be here for days.)
[MD=1] (Epic fail.)

Carambit: 16/21
Beowolf: 2/11

The pair continued to swing and slash and charge at one another. It felt like an eternity before anything useful happened, finally the beowolf made a grievous error in judgement. It tried for an uppercut with a handful of claw to try and knock Carambit over, but with it's crouched positioning and it's long, lanky arms, the beast's claw scooped up a handful of dirt and became wedged in the ground. Both combatants froze, looked at each other, both looked at the claw, then returned to each other's gaze. This had never happened before, and Carambit knew the beast was stuck. This player fought by a code, he knew it was an NPC, but it deserved a fair chance. Carambit wouldn't attack an enemy that was incapacitated or unable to fight back, that wasn't fair. He held his sword back and rushed at the beast, throwing his shoulder into it's chest. It wasn't enough force to injure it, but it was enough to knock it's arm free and push it back a few feet.

[Grave 0]

I burst out into roaring laughter when the beowolf imprisoned it's clawed fist in the earth. Sometimes the AI really was stupid. This is something I didn't mind laughing about - this way I wasn't laughing over my student's suffering, which hopefully would restore any trust he may have lost in me. 

Carambit seemed to want to give the monster a chance, as he swiftly knocked it free of its incarceration. I sure hoped I wouldn't need to step in, but at the same time, I did. I desperately wanted to punch something in the face - preferably an orc, as they don't have a maw full of knife-sized teeth. Yeah, I was definitely going to take on a monster of my own once Carambit was done. If he ever did get done. This wolf was giving him far more trouble than I expected it to, but he was far from danger, so I continued to watch carefully.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Grave
Bumping for 150

[Carambit 0]

[ID# 29485]
[BD=5 (+1 ACC) =6] (Hit)
[MD=10] (Hit +2)
[LD=10] (Ba-baooooo)

Carambit: 12/21
Beowolf: dead/11

Carambit had to put an end to this. He had to take on three enemies by the time this was over or he wasn't going to get into the guild. He wanted so badly to be a part of a larger community of tighter knit players and so he would try at this with all of his might. The werewolf began to swing at him again, and Carambit did nothing to attempt to dodge out of the way as he charged a sword skill attack up. His blade glowed blue as the beast struck him with its claws, first with it's right, then across with it's left. It damaged him, but with this he would finish it. Once the weapon was ready he swung across horizontally, cleaving the beast in two before it could land a third strike. It shattered into shards of data and floated off into the sky. "Well," he said to Grave "one down, only two more to go." he smiled to his instructor "Let's hope the next ones go a little smoother than this one did."

[Grave 0]

I waltzed out of the treeline and approached Carambit, hands in my coat pockets while my cloak billowed out behind me. Seriously, we needed to have the cloaks become other items. Not everyone liked to wear cloaks.

"Hopefully the next ones should. This time I'm gonna actually take a monster on alongside you, so I'm not watching the grass grow." I teased, my cocky smirk hidden under my coat's collar. I led us back through the treeline and out the other side, where we came face to face with a pair of not-so-happy looking (and rather giant) preying mantises; the Killer Mantis. I looked to Carambit, my eyes telling him to heal up before engaging. I, on the other hand, charged the left Killer Mantis and drove a plated fist into the oversized bug's jaw in an uppercut, sending it sprawling.

I held my fist. It didn't feel damaged at all. The Killer Mantis heads were so light, it felt like I had punched a small bird.  I trained my eyes back on my foe, keeping my stance balanced but very casual.

(You can choose whether you engage right away or wait a few turns to heal up a little. The Killer Mantises will have 17 HP each, as I now have 33, and they will each have 2 DMG)

---

ID: 29489

BD: 8 = Success (3 DMG)

Grave: 33/33 HP

Carambit: 13/21 HP (Nat. Healing)

Killer Mantis #1: 14/17 HP

Killer Mantis #2: 17/17 HP

[Carambit 0]

(How much HP do I regenerate per turn? I'll take a couple to build it back up.)

Carambit had never seen another player fight like this before, so he took the chance to observe and learn from his mentor, after all that's what they were for right? The other player drove a fist into the Killer Mantis' face with an almighty uppercut, sending it reeling back like it had been struck by a train. "Bloody hell so this is what it's like when someone actually knows what they're doing..." he couldn't help but say. Carambit wanted to start applauding, but instead decided to wait and see how the rest of the battle played out.