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[PP - F2] Time to Clear My Mind (Symphony)


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Jomei could not help but express a sincere grin when Symphony asked about his own safety, "Yes, I am safe. Well, for now at least. Can't say the same thing during the boss raid in a few days." His mind began to linger on the upcoming fight a bit longer than he was hoping, before Symphony's jest about not allowing herself on the higher floors brought him back. He could not help but laugh a bit, "Definitely wouldn't want that to happen. Hopefully soon you'll be able to venture out into the wilderness up there alone.. For now, don't do anything that'll get you killed." Jomei turned to see an NPC waitress walking to their table with a tray of food and two glasses of amber liquid. The chicken skewers and one ale were placed in front of Jomei, while the larger portion of steak, potatoes, and macaroni was set down in front of the woman. Jomei chuckled, "Quite an appetite you've got there." 

Jomei's grasped at the ale before him and rose it to his lips, closing his eyes as the amber liquid poured down his throat. As he placed the glass back down on the table, he looked across at Symphony for a moment. "You know, you remind me of an old friend of mine." he said with a small smirk as he brought one of the skewers he had ordered to his mouth.

@Symphony

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Symphony smiled and replied, "No promises~" when the man told her to be safe. Then the waitress walked over and brought their food. She said thank you to the kind NPC and then took a long swig of her ale, enjoying the smoothness and taste. She was already digging into the steak and potatoes when she realized that Jomei had commented on her appetite. She swallowed quickly and looked over at him, smiling. "I'm always ravished after a hunt. I went on one this morning before I met you in fact." She then took another bite and chewed it before continuing on. "And in the real world, I always had a high metabolism, so I could eat nearly as much as I wanted without gaining much. Seems it's the same here in game." She smiled happily and dug back into her meal. However, her interest was peaked again and she paused her eating when Jomei said that she had reminded him of someone. Her head tilted as a sign of curiosity and she asked, "So, who do I remind you of?"

@Jomei

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With the skewer of chicken up to his mouth, Jomei ripped a morsel of the teriyaki covered meat and began to chew on it. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure gaining weight isn't something to worry about in this world.. At least thats a plus. So we get the nutrition and the taste of the food without the draw backs." The man swallowed a mouthful of food before wrapping his fingers around his drink again and letting out a heavy sigh, "Bad side of that... not everything effects you the way it should in the real world.." Raising the glass to his lips once again, Jomei took another long drink of ale, "There are definitely a lot of days passed that I wish alcohol had any effect on us" he laughed somewhat sheepishly.

The subject of conversation had shifted with Jomei's out-of-the-blue observation about Symphony. "Just, a woman I was once very close with.. Her name was Carmine.. Wore similar, leather armor, used a dagger too. Kinda similar mannerisms too." he added with a small shake of his head. 

@Symphony

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Symphony took a swig of her ale while Jomei mentioned wishing alcohol had an affect on them. She laughed and a dark look passed through her eyes as she chugged the rest of the tall glass. "Tell me about it..." she muttered, half to herself. She put the glass down and motioned for a water from the waitress. "Trust me, I may seem innocent. But there are things I wish I could forget to," her face and tone turning serious for a brief moment as she looked Jomei in the eyes. 

The look was gone by the time he mentioned the other woman that she was similar to. A sad smile crossed her lips. "She must have been quite the woman, huh?" She took a sip of water. She tried to make a joke out of the situation. "Though I doubt she was as clutzy or air-headed as I am sometimes. Now that's something hard to master." She teasingly winked at him and laughed. 

@Jomei

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Jomei was both a bit shocked and impressed to see Symphony down the rest of her ale like that. The ginger smirked and considered doing the same, but remembered that it really would not do anything to their in game avatars. Instead, he just took another long swig to enjoy the taste of his beverage. "Well, maybe lets hold the dark backstories for a different meeting. I wouldn't want to go scaring off a new friend." he added with a raised brow. "Unless you feel like sharing, then I'm all ears." 

Continuing on the conversation about how Symphony reminded Jomei a tad bit of Carmine, he could not help but smile. "Yeah, she was pretty great." he could not help but agree. "No, she definitely was not clutzy or air-headed, I can tell you that much. She was actually pretty sharp. Though, I think it may be the sense of humor and the go-get-em attitude that reminds me of her." The ginger looked into his mostly finished ale for a moment, a look of remorse passed over his face as he stared into the amber liquid that settled at the bottom of the glass. Taking the cup in his hands, he brought it up to his lips again and tilted his head back to pour the rest of it down his gullet. "But the past is the past, nothing I can do to change that." His eyes then rose to the girl across the table, "Enough about me. Whats your story?" 

@Symphony

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Symphony looked into the water and smiled at the mention of sharing dark stories. I have plenty to go around, she thought to herself while taking another sip of water. She looked over at him as he spoke and noticed the look he gave the rest of the ale in his glass. She frowned. "You use past-tense verbs to describe her," she said, noticing his specific choice of words. "Did you kill whoever did that to her? Or whatever?" she asked while signaling for the barkeep to bring her over another beer. She thought for a second, before she spoke again. 

"I was trapped her in game just like the rest of you," she said, her eyes staring into someplace distant. "I joined because of my lover. Turns out he was a real piece of [censored]." She paused to take a swig of her new beer. "I spent two years looking for him until I finally found him." She laughed and brought out her dagger, twirling it in her hand. "I found him alright. He was the bandit king of a group that... treated women like slaves. He nearly brain washed me." She frowned, her eyes growing cold. "I should have killed him while I had the chance..." Her voice drifted away and she looked back over at Jomei, the smile that was once on her face noticeably replaced by a solemn expression. "Your turn."

@Jomei

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Jomei simply shook his head with a small, amused smile "No no, it wasn't another player. From what the Monument of Life says, it was a monster of some sort. Thats all I really know aside from that. But like I said, this was a long time ago. I hadn't seen her in months before I found out she had died. It was just that.. she was around we were close." The smile he shone was a bit truer. His mourning was not for that of a potential lover, it was for that of a friend. Sadly, though, she was not the only friend on that list. 

Unexpectedly, Symphony's story truly was a 'dark backstory', all Jomei's joking aside. His brow lowered in concern as she revealed the state an old lover of hers, whom she seemed to have entered the game with. The apparent leader of a group of bandits, who enslaved other players, specifically women. Jomei's once relaxed fingers curled into a shuddering fist. Jomei turned to the waitress once again as she made a pass, ordering himself another beer as well. He wished he could order something stronger for this now slightly morbid conversation, but all it would do is burn his throat and leave him with regrets and a few col poorer. 

"Can't say that my upbringing in Aincrad was dark.. I spent most of it in taverns like this.. Heh, pretty much the first Seven or Eight floors, I just spent drinking. Too scared to even try and step foot outside the town of beginnings. After that, things lightened up.. for a bit at least." The waitress had returned by now with his drink, and after thanking her, he took a long sip to wet his throat. "After I joined the front lines, thats when things started to become a bit tougher. I started to see close friends die, murdered by Aincrad's creatures, and other players who I thought were friends, right before my eyes." He looked up to Symphony for a moment, deciding to leave out a few of the finer details, and instead speaking of a certain situation that he felt may hit home and relate with her situation more. "I too was held captive, by a group of player slavers. Hit me with some paralyzing attack when I wasn't looking and dragged me from right outside of a boss room. Spent the next few months in a cold cell, thinking my friends forgot about me. It was all revenge for rescuing two of my closest friends from that same prison.. ended up taking my first real life that night." The man took another long sip of his drink. "When I finally escaped, and a few friends had found me, I learned that my best friend had been murdered. I went through a pretty dark time in my life after that.." he looked down at the table for a moment, the tension from sharing depressing stories thick enough to cut with his rapier. With a look across the table again, he let out a small laugh, "But things have been much different lately, much less depressing." 

@Symphony

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Symphony's expression grew more serious as the man explained his own dark backstory. She knew everyone here had a similar one to tell. It hurt to think about how many others had been killed and tormented in this world. She reached out with her hand when the man had finished talking as a sign of comfort. She managed to smile a little as she said, "At least we're in a good patch now, huh?" She took another swig of her beer and thought for a moment. "Though I too was captured before I was released by my ex lover and his group." She visibly shuddered and shook her head clear of the memories. "Now what happened there," she paused to look around. "Should never be spoken of in public." 

She decided to quickly change the topic. "So what are you focusing on now? Any long term goals, or are you just looking on enjoying yourself for the time being?" 

@Jomei

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Jomei was not sure if Symphony's last comment about her situation was an invitation for Jomei to ask, or her own way to try and part ways with the memories for the time being. As curious as Jomei was to press the subject farther, it seemed that her captivity may have scarred her. So whatever it was that would scar a young woman like that was probably something that would only cause pain to dive into again. He could only imagine what went on in that bandit camp she was released from. The change of topic was definitely a mood changer with the thought of what the future held for the two of them. The ginger's smile returned genuinely after he took another sip of his ale and took another bite of his chicken skewer. "Well, for one, my focus is on the next boss fight" he swallowed his food and took another sip to wash it down. "I was put in charge of the meeting earlier this week, so my mind has been stuck on the plans we all set in place and if they will actually work or not" he paused for a moment, trying not to think of the worst case scenario. "After that, however, I plan to finally settle down and plan the wedding my fiance and I have been talking about for months now" the man said with a small chuckle. "These fights kept getting in our way of being able to actually figure it out, so I figured this would be the last one before finally sitting down and starting our life together." 

 

@Symphony

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Symphony smiled and laughed. "Man, I forget that people plan out fights. Guess I won't really fit the frontliner ideals, huh? Mine are usually spontaneous and well... just whatever works at that moment." She was used to fighting alone or in pairs, so a big boss fight wasn't something she was really familiar with. She had tried to take down the easter boss as a group because she was too weak to do it herself, but it turned out mainly a mess. She was used to trusting herself and no one else besides her familiar. She cut another piece of steak and savored it, chewing slowly as she thought. 

"Congratulations on the future wedding as well. I'm planning mine right now, too. Fun things weddings are." She let a small smile play across her lips, thinking of her love. She sighed and then took another bite of mashed potatoes with gravy before she looked over at Jomei. "So do you have any questions about me?" She had seen that questioning look pass over his face when she had talked about her past. 

@Jomei

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Jomei nodded his head, "Yeah. These fights definitely need planning and cooperation with the amount of players that join up to fight the boss. If not, a lot more people would die" he said with a bit more seriousness in his voice. "I've seen plenty of players jump into the fray without learning anything from the meeting and just expecting to be protected, only to end up causing disarray and getting killed." The ginger let out a heavy sigh before picking up his drink and taking another long sip, "Hopefully we don't have to deal with any of that this time around.."  

The man smiled at Symphony's congratulations about his future wedding, also bringing up her own ceremony to come. "Well congratulations to you as well. It's good to see that there are some people here that are still holding on to hope and making things work in this world." Finishing off the last of his skewer, Symphony had asked if Jomei had any questions for her. The man's eyes rose to meet her's, searching them for a moment before swallowing and deciding to ask about the matter from earlier. "You... mentioned what happened at that camp you were held at.. If its not my right to ask then stop me but.. what exactly happened?"  Not only was he curious about just how dark some of the players here were, but he also wondered if the group that kidnapped him and the one she was held captive in were one in the same.

@Symphony

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As Symphony listened to him speak about the fight ahead, she said, "I hope there aren't any idiots like that in the next boss fight. It'll save us all a bit of trouble." She took a swig of her drink and then said, "Thank you," when he congratulated her in turn for the wedding. "It's better to die together than to die alone in this world," she muttered under her breath. 

When he asked her about the camp, Symphony's eyes seemed to darken and her expression grew serious. She called for another beer after she chugged the one she had. "Well... I had a past in the real world that made me fall for what you would call bad guys." She looked into the distance at nothing. "So I got with this guy. We were together for a while, and he's the one that got me into the game. He wasn't the best in the real world, but he was good enough. Well... I was attached to him. You know how young and stupid people are." She laughed and took a sip of the new beer that the waitress had just brought over. "So I spent the past two years looking for him. I found him in a cave while looking for materials. At first, I was happy and so excited to see him. But... then his minions tied me up and... tortured me, [censored] me. I don't know how long this went on. I was trapped in the dark, blindfolded the whole time. It could have been hours or days for all I know." Her expression was empty and cold. "But I do remember that once they broke me, he told them it was his turn... He did what they did but worse. I'll... show you the scars later if you like." She sighed and looked down at her clenched hand on the table. "The guard wasn't looking one time. I had been [censored] til I passed out that day. But somehow, just somehow I had the energy to stab him from behind and kill him. Then I killed the next one, and the next one, and..." She took a deep breath and dug her nails into her fist. She looked up into Jomei's eyes. "I killed all of the women he had hoarded for himself and used as sex slaves. But I couldn't bring myself to kill him. He taunted me. Tried to hurt me. But I couldn't do it. I still loved him..." 

She took a moment to drink a little more beer. "But, when I see him again, I won't hesitate to ram this dagger straight through his heart!" As she said this, she slammed her dagger down on the table with enough force to drive it nearly all the way through. Her eyes were fiery and she had a fearsome expression on her face. Luckily, no other customers were in the tavern, and the barkeep just kept washing glasses. 

@Jomei

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The man nodded along to Symphony's story about how she had fallen for a not so ideal man in the outside world. It usually was unlike a person to reveal something so pivotal to who they were this early after meeting someone, but if she wished to speak of it then he would not stop her. However, the story truly went darker than he had expected, for it was something that definitely should not have been discussed in public. Jomei's eyes went wide, his mouth slightly agape as he continued to listen to the horror story of the group that kept her and other women as slaves. The torture that she went through from her once lover and his men.. it was disgusting and outrageous. He had never heard a story so horrid from anyone, it made him sick to his stomach. What made it churn even more was how she ended up escaping. She had apparently killed everyone in the camp, not just the men, but the women that were being kept as slaves as well. Jomei swallowed hard, not breaking eye contact with the woman as she finished the rest of her story. 

In a small bit of rage, the girl pulled her dagger out and jammed it into the table, causing their glasses and plates to shudder with the impact. Jomei froze in his seat and slowly turned around, luckily for them, all other players had left, leaving just the two of them in the restaurant alone. Turning to look back at Symphony, Jomei let out a heavy sigh, "I... had no idea it was that bad.." The man reached across the table slowly and placed a gentle hand on the woman's arm, looking into her eyes. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that.. No one should have to deal with what you did. You have a very strong will to have gone through that and still be here, I commend you for that." His hand lightly squeezed her arm in support, "He will get what he deserves, one way or another."

@Symphony

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His words and kind touch brought her back to her senses. She shook her head and fell back in her chair, exhausted from the memories that were brought up with the story telling. "Your kind words help. You're actually the first one that I've told this to. Not even my love knows." She sighed and drank the rest of her beer. "Strange how I can tell such things to a near stranger but can't bring myself to bring it up with him.." She ran her finger along the rim of her glass thoughtfully. "Though, I do plan on going back and killing that guy when I get to a higher level." A twisted grin came to her face. "Then I can absolutely destroy him." 

She stretched in her seat and then looked over at Jomei. "My apologies for going into such detail. Seems I lost a bit of control there." She pulled her knife out of the table and tucked it into the holder at her waist. "Hm... do you want to go hunt or something? I'm restless from all this talk and need to take my frustration out on something." 

@Jomei

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The ginger blinked in surprise when she revealed to him that she had not told anyone else this story before. Lifting his glass and tilting it back, the ginger finished the rest of his drink. "Maybe its because we've been in similar circumstances?" the Irishman replied. "Nonetheless, I appreciate you opening up to me.. and don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your history." Jomei looked down at his empty glass for a moment before shifting his eyes back up to Symphony, "..But you should consider telling him.. before you get married. What you were put through was a terrible.. terrible thing, and the men who did it to you deserved what happened. However.." Jomei placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward, lowering his voice so only she could hear, "Many people do not take kindly to killing other players... despite the circumstances. Make sure to make your future husband understand that you are not a murderer, and that they got what they deserved. As for your ex lover.. well.. I can't stop you from doing what you think is best, just don't let your revenge get to your head. The last thing I want to see is other players hunting you down because your crystal turns orange." he pointed up at the green crystal that rotated above the girl's avatar. 

When the woman suggested possibly heading out of the city to blow off some steam, Jomei reluctantly nodded. "I'll go with you.. though fighting things on this floor honestly won't due me much good aside from practice with my blade." he added with a small chuckle. As the two stood from their table, Jomei walked to the bartender and summoned his inventory to pay for the two's drinks and food. "Alright, lead the way." 

 

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Symphony frowned as Jomei mentioned the player killers and being hunted. As much as she hated the idea of becoming wanted by the police and being labelled as a murderer, she still felt conflicted. She wanted to kill that man. "Don't worry about me," she said, looking up and forcing a smile at Jomei. "I told my love the gist of what happened but not the details. If I told him such, I feel like he would want to kill the man himself. He'll most likely be there when that cruel being draws his last breath around my blade." With that last sentence she got up and headed towards the door, holding the door open as she waited for Jomei to follow her. 

Once they were outside, she spoke again. "Oh, by the way, I know neither of us can gain anything from hunting on these floors. Instead, let's head up to floor 12. Should be a challenge for me, but probably quite easy for you. If it's too easy, just give the word. Then we can climb to a higher level, though then my life will be in your hands at that point." 

They headed towards the teleporter and went up to the twelfth floor. 

@Jomei

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"Floor Twelve it is then" Jomei said with a nod before following after Symphony. The two trailed back through the Town of Beginnings to the large central plaza of the town. Before he stepped up onto the platform after Symphony, he took a long glance at the Black Iron Palace in the distance, which served as a major contrast to the bright colored walls of the adjacent buildings. With all this talk of death, he thought of the Monument of Life sitting inside, and all of his friends that had perished. With one final breath, the man stepped onto the platform. "Try not to get sick this time." the man said with a playful smirk. "Warp, Floor Twelve." 

The main settlement of Floor Twelve was the town of Lazaro, and the two players had appeared on the first floor of a large plantation-like house. The front entryway was wide and without a door, to allow players to easily enter and exit the building. The town was built atop a swamp, and the easiest way to travel through the 'streets' was by catching a ride atop a simple, flat raft. Jomei remained silent for most of the trip, as the two players moved from canal to canal, making their way towards the tall, haggard fence that served as the town's barriers. 

The swamp water outside of the city was much less clear, and Jomei did not want to know what type of creatures lurked within it. "Alright, lets be a bit weary. Not sure of the last time I was on this floor, so I don't know what type of enemies to expect." Reaching across his body, the ginger wrapped his fingers around the dark purple handle of his rapier, ready to strike the moment an enemy showed themselves. 

@Symphony

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Immediately after they stepped out of the teleporter, Symphony popped a stick of mint gum in her mouth and starting chewing frantically. She looked over at Jomei and said, "Mint helps ease the stomach. This is the only thing that helps with that stupid thing." As they made their way through the town, Symphony looked around with curiosity as well as caution. She took note of anything around them that could harm them.  

When Symphony heard Jomei mention he didn't know the type of creatures that were on this floor, she replied with, "I've never been here, so your guess is as good as mine. Though I feel like alligators are a solid guess." She looked around and stepped carefully on the muddy land, getting her combat boots all dirty. 

As Symphony stooped down to get her boot unstuck from a thick patch of mud, she looked forward, and her eyes met with those of a giant boa constrictor. It was at least 20 feet long. It lunged for her, but she managed to dodge out of the way in time. Her blade glowed light blue as she slashed into the snake with her blade four times. "Watch out!" she called to Jomei. 

@Jomei

Spoiler

Roll ID#: 116420
BD: 5 + 1 = 6 
fad edge sword art: 6*4=24 DMG
MD: 4 (fail)

Symphony: 240/240 HP | 20/24 EN | 6 DMG | 14 MIT | +1 ACC | 9-10 PLYZ | +5 REGEN

vs. 

Giant Boa Constrictor: 96/120 HP | 36 DMG

Rank 1

  • [x2 Stun] Side Bite (5 Energy) - Stab your opponent in both sides, pincing nerves, stunning opponent.
  • [x2] Round Accel (2 Energy) - Dash around target at high speeds, delivering two slash/stabs into target.

Rank 2

  • [x3] Tri Pierce (3 Energy) - Stab target three times, slashing diagonally to cause a triangle effect on each one
  • [x4] Fad Edge (4 Energy) - The user swiftly strikes the opponent with four thrusts in brisk succession.
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Jomei spun around as soon as he heard Symphony call out to him, pulling the long, thin blade from the scabbard on his hip. A large serpent, about twenty feet long had lunged at Symphony, but just barely missed. The woman's blade caught the snake and jammed into its scaled hide multiple times, dropping its health bar just a little bit. Jomei watched the creatures motions as it crashed back into the mud and began to slither about the tall grass and shrubs that grew here. The creature seemed to keep its focus on his companion as is quickly made its way around them. Jomei's eyes followed the snake before pushing off of the mud to lunge and attack...at least he tried to. Jomei's front foot, which he was putting most of his weight on, had sunk deep into the mud, and the ginger needed to catch himself with his hands to avoid falling flat on his face. The palms of his hands, and his rapier, sunk into the sludge for a second before he affixed himself upright with a groan. "You've gotta be kidding me.." he said under his breath as he shook his hands and sword clean.

ID 116423 | BD 1 | Rip Ravine 


[0]Jomei: 1430/1430 HP | 152/153 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 72 B. Healing

[1]Symphony: 240/240 HP | 20/24 EN | 6 DMG | 14 MIT | +1 ACC | 9-10 PLYZ | +5 REGEN

vs. 

Giant Boa Constrictor: 96/120 HP | 36 DMG

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Symphony laughed as she watched Jomei get stuck in teh mud. "Not too light on your feet, huh?" she teased, giving him a hand to get up. However, as she was pulling him up, the snake saw the perfect chance to charge. The monster was a few inches from her face when she dropped Jomei's hand and brought her dagger across its body, paralyzing and damaging the creature. Now that the thing couldn't move, she took another shot at helping Jomei up. With a struggle and a groan, she finally got him out of the mud. "Geez, you're a heavy one, aren't ya?"

Once she had freed him, she poked the beast with her stick. It let out a tiny hiss, but could not move at all. "Well, you can go ahead and take a shot at it now. If you miss, I'm gonna... Well, I can't say I won't be mildly disappointed." She smiled and patted Jomei on the back. 

@Jomei

Spoiler

Roll ID#: 116432
BD: 8 + 1 = 9 (+1 crit)
fad edge sword art: 7*4 = 28
MD: paralyzed

[0]Jomei: 1430/1430 HP | 152/153 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 72 B. Healing

[3]Symphony: 240/240 HP | 20/24 EN | 6 DMG | 14 MIT | +1 ACC | 9-10 PLYZ | +5 REGEN

vs. 

Giant Boa Constrictor: 68/120 HP | 36 DMG

Rank 1

  • [x2 Stun] Side Bite (5 Energy) - Stab your opponent in both sides, pincing nerves, stunning opponent.
  • [x2] Round Accel (2 Energy) - Dash around target at high speeds, delivering two slash/stabs into target.

Rank 2

  • [x3] Tri Pierce (3 Energy) - Stab target three times, slashing diagonally to cause a triangle effect on each one
  • [x4] Fad Edge (4 Energy) - The user swiftly strikes the opponent with four thrusts in brisk succession.

Edited 1 hour ago by Symphony

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