NIGHT

instead of thinking about the alternative ways of eliminating the threat, ahead, however, night should've been considering how lucky she was, that the sea of squirrels hadn't also been targets, for given the mass of individual actors they surely would've been overwhelmed before spying the amalgamation, worn down by the scouting units on their own. whilst she wasn't paying attention, giving the squirrel strikes off her blade, it started to separate, sinking into the sea, and she'd almost unleashed a blow where the other had been found on the other side of the would've-been creature. day du

with one combatant on each side, the mass of prey was definitely at a disadvantage, if it didn't react as cognizant as they were -- day pushed forth with a swing of the same mace, dismantling part of its hind legs that started to reform with even more squirrels latching onto the core body. and that was also the question too, as night continued forward too with an attack of her own. if the ones at her feet were particles, then it made sense that they shouldn't have been able to interact with the main figure, what consisted of multiple creatures, most of the smaller units almost inoperable to th

to fight against the grain instead -- that was what she chose to focus on before thinking about its ecological implications. and day, too, followed up once night had her blade brandished, choosing to tackle the enemy with a number of skips and leaps than a regular run. mace in hand, she chased that shifting figure that faded into obscurity, leaving day the deer in headlights -- just how she liked it, centre of attention. one swipe wasn't good enough to catch the all-knowing, and it took two before the first few squirrels fell from their positions on the beast. the thump of steel against a

"they're just squirrels, night!" because they knew the player couldn't tell, not so quickly, not in the dark. and squirrels were never meant to be in abundance in a single location, so when they came crashing over the party like a wave up to calf height she understood how such tiny figures could've been monstrous. two eyes, glowing gold in the dark were finally seen as night hobbled towards the source of the flood, day holding onto her with every step, and the king of squirrels looked exactly like a writhing mess out of nightmares, but still distinctively a giant autonomous unit in itself

but it wasn't enough, as night would soon find out. multiple attacks from various angles, and the player had to stop on occasion in her shifting, simply because she felt a misstep, ground giving way. moving with caution gave her an advantage, and she took it, hurtling down stem after stem after stem. more bones only added themselves to her inventory. and then she could feel the massive threat that day had warned her about earlier. once most of the structure had been eliminated by the trunk, the entire field looked as though it had been snapped to a clean, undisturbed wilderness inste

night shrugged her concerns off. part of it was in trusting her doppel, but the other was in trying not to juggle the mental load of their situation in the moment. there were many things to consider, regarding what to deliver -- the best thing, bistro would've said, albeit a smidge too haughtily, was to deliver herself back safely from the unknown. and if they were going to take out the stampede (or whatever) it was beyond hurtling themselves towards this way, then so be it -- no traps in the environment. which meant the auxiliary baskets had to be eliminated first. the player swung her b

"i meant the wave of creatures coming up behind it, actually." day glanced to the baskets and the pitfalls, lost in pause. "there's going to be a lot of them. and sure -- the plant's going to consume part of that horde--" "that thing is a plant?" "-- but i'm pretty sure they're capable of scurrying out of it without an issue." night but blinked, trying to estimate the foreign creatures' time of arrival. "with that mass of materials," day reasoned absentmindedly, "i'm also sure you could show up that client, whoever they are." the system was right, but night was thinkin

a "what is it?" whispered to day, with the latter turning her sword into a mace. night followed her gaze to the tree trunk, noticing an odd silhouette there, too, that was obscuring part of the tree from view. almost as though it was a wire mesh model of demolished ruins, incomplete, structured out from the floor like coral. night drew closer to it for inspection. then tripped on something -- that was when day's hand grabbed her back, fingers on her collar, and the player did her best to balance herself on two feet once more. where she was standing was a hole, dug through the dirt, with w

the third burst in the air, from an upwards cut once it was raised, too, jaw lowered further than night had initially expected -- and two canines fell from there, only picked up by the outstretched hand of her companion. the fourth had sent night stumbling backwards, it coiling around her legs when she hadn't been paying attention. and in her concern, she faltered, in time to see it lunge towards her in her moment of weakness, though she recovered faster than it expected. one pierce, clumsy despite, and it too shattered into pieces, leaving only the interface to contend with the efforts of the

night struck first, at the tell, despite not knowing where her foe was going to be. but she figured it to be the orb of light, and the snake that jumped at her struck back, along with several others that had happened to find themselves lurking in the same spot. a roll backwards -- and so too did her secondary lunge. a single-handed side sword of light that cut through the dark, enough to illuminate just barely the lack of skin that their opponents had. translucent, and in the flash night could've caught the innards of their foe -- and the sight was gone, once the first of the pack had bee

"oh of course you would--" so they continued, day's arms slung over the back of her head, grin towards the would-be sky. and night's gaze scanned the path ahead of their steps, before it drifted to the side, and she caught a glimpse of some round objects where what little light that would've been reflected in the area was caught on its edge, gleaming round like mirrors. the moment night started to approach them with a -- "this way," day started to lower her arms. "wow, night," she said, following. her tone was hushed, eyes narrowed with the spark of her weapon flaring up. "you s

eventually, night waved the interface away, grumbling, to the light chuckle of her companion. an eyebrow raised, and a sour mood, night couldn't help but ask -- "what?" "you like what you see?" "the map? no--" and her eyes went back to check where the interface was. nothing registered in the first place. then day shifted, hand holding herself beneath the cloak and where the cloth hadn't folded was exactly the spot she was using to verify the data-- night simply recoiled, skin prickling. day shifted her weight onto one foot. "i-- i wasn't looking." "oh, you don't have t

so the estimation: she still wasn't sure. the marker stopping had almost tipped her off that the area seemed to work a little differently. instead of a moving icon whilst the player shifted too outside of the forest, perhaps within it, there were certain points of depth. hence, the game was spelling out how the environment worked simply through the interface as they advanced. then surely, this was a clue that anyone could've deciphered through wandering the woods as they did, right? but if given that the game was running off of waypoints than position, the map data wouldn't be incred

it wasn't a miracle that night hissed and began to raise her hand, then, once she realized the flaw in both her speech and her map. "wait-- no, not like that!" and day stopped. "huh?" "keep your cloak on! why would i ask for it to be off in the middle of a forest like this?!" night met day's gaze if only to emphasize her bark back, just as the cloak was lowered, slow. "we're literally in the middle of a danger zone!" day paused, blinking just as calmly. "because my combat capability is completely made up and my numbers don't matter." was that sarcasm? a beat passed, just

how much further did they have to go? the more night examined the map, the more irritated she got, realizing the black of the map info's absence blended into the ambient night, and so too did it take on a strange appearance in such a low light environment. the duo were walking, easily taking long strides, and as much as night had wanted to consider the loot they'd gotten for any seemingly useful materials, right now all she wanted to do was figure when to tap out, excluding the use of teleport crystals for the time being. "day, stop walking for a moment." a strange request, and day d

night's progression on the map appeared to be going smoothly. if only the raw data was considered, then alongside the party's string of loot, perhaps the answer to that question was yes, things seemed to be going alright, after all. the reality was a little more complicated. the trees were growing sparser, by now, though it would've been difficult to tell to any outsider that wandered in without night vision. they were larger gaps between them, for as night were to look up to re-verify their time of day, it was because the height of the trees were extending beyond their usual means just p

"...really?" the player only rubbed the back of her neck, giving her companion a side-eye. even if nari hadn't meant to, night definitely felt the mood sour -- but only because the waters were mentioned. "you should've told me sooner. i would've brought a swimsuit." but in reality, night was better prepared for the fight, at least inventory wise, given her stock of spare clothes. the comment made for small talk, at least, while her mind was still set on what needed to be done. "well, these quests always start out with looking for the dragon's nest, too, of some sort. if we look out f

so optimistic. night stayed silent through that part, but bowed her head all the same, because she found that she couldn't disagree. and as they walked, finally then, side by side, her brows furrowed at the comment thrown out about their upcoming quest. "Plus, if I was really angry I'd do something like feed you to a dragon. So you've nothing to worry about." there was some hesitation in her return. "so much for trusting my life to yours." "Err...if I was planning to do that, I probably wouldn't have told you we're doing the Dragon Hunting quest. So...like I said, no worries."

oh of course things would go down hill immediately with a ""by any chance, have you seen my fiancé around?" whatever traces of guilt remained in night's eyes, surely that was enough of a wake-up call to have cleaned it up -- because night surely hadn't seen anyone's partners anywhere at all. even though she should've. once nari let go, the player's hand immediately darted to rub at her cheek, then dropped her hand once hirru was addressing the party. thank goodness for his summary. night hadn't been present since forever ago. but to crow specifically -- "no, i haven't." and that was

night followed without question, after her eyes had left the familiar hand wave. hand on her sword, she was more certain the blade was for her own, now, instead of in defense. because-- "I wanted to talk, and I figured the Dragon quest would be the perfect lure out. About us. The talking, I mean." -- she didn't come expecting a lack of pretense. had expected the issue to be addressed earlier. had expected to bury misgivings where she couldn't see them, in the footsteps left behind as they walked. "We're over, aren't we?" past the gate, it was only night's eyes to nari's bac

thread summary. total. + 6454xp | (461 * 14 * 1) + 386,913col | (128,000) + (257,945) + (xp * 0.15) + 137 materials | 98+38+1 + combat loot. | + 4 scales | + 6 shards

patience was the key. patience, as the light dug into the mesoursine until it reared its head back, opting to dart for its aggressor instead. final mistake -- for night took the opportunity to draw the sword back into her hand and pull out another crystal, just to ensure she'd put the beast down for good. a simple click of the button to the consumable's side, and an overhead swing, blade's weight in one hand. day had successfully danced around the bites of their target, taking into the air in her stride -- one leap, soaring over the creature, and she somersaulted into a dodge roll behind

another snap of the bear's jaw, now right upon her shoulder as night tried to duck out of the way. despite her struggle, it seemed without an intent of letting go. night had nearly dropped her sword in the strike, just as day's spear switched over to a set of claws, the construct's eyes set upon the maw locked onto its prey a struggle of outlasting. staying calm was difficult, yet achievable. the tip of night's sword found rest on the ground, inches deep, whilst her hand pulled forth a crystal to shatter just in case the extraction wasn't possible. the eyes on the bear started to close on

poor move. day could handle multiple processes at once, but still she only had one voice, and it went, "move!" without an answer, the one thing night sorely needed. even with a shove, the player remained transfixed at the horrendous thing as it swerved around, gunning for the only source of light it knew in its lifetime. only then, after it turned around, did night finally take heed of the advice given to her, blade at the ready. this happened to her once -- and it would not happen again in her life time, not if she could help it. "it's a meso-ursine! heightened senses with a lack of eyes

players were rarely shocked upon the battlefield, the intensity of war a bigger issue than one's nerves about frights. yet, the sudden widening of the various wounds proved them to be more than that -- eyes -- full black beady eyes that showed no signs of scleras, and the sharpest set of teeth and ferocity that a regular animal would show to her. no -- this thing couldn't even be called normal, given its apparent propensity for sight. and yet even as night's swipe against it loosened the beast's jaw upon her shoulders, it barely staggered as were most mobs to do, keeping sturdy as it fell back