Ceres

The lake wasn't anything fancy - none of the ones around here were - Ceres knew if she ventured further to the South-East there'd probably be more, as they opened up to a small marshland. That was the beauty of the first floor. There was a bit of everything here - one just had to be patient enough to make the trek to get there.

But this was all that she needed. Without bothering to remove her clothes or her shoes, Ceres wadded slowly into the lake till she was at waist height. She didn’t want to go out much further, in fear of underwater mobs - this would do.

The redheaded woman began to rinse herself off. It wasn’t a hot shower - or a nice warm bath, but it would do. Besides - it wasn’t like she needed soap. The water was enough in this world. It made her feel cleaner nonetheless.

Ceres dipped her head into the water, allowing it to wash through her hair….all in all it only took several minutes to clean herself of the dirt and grime of batte. So Ceres left the lake, and without worrying about drying off too much - headed back to town.

“Perhaps they should call me lady of the lake...been there twice already today…” She mused.

Ceres picked up the Boar Pup Tusk and threw herself backwards into the grass. Landing on her back. "Finally...the third one..." She held it up to the sky, blocking the sun with it. "It's amazing how stupidly long this quest took compared to the other...It's almost too difficult to do this alone..."

Alone...

The small smile that Ceres wore disappered as she lowered the tusk, placing it safely into her inventory. Alone...yeh, she kind of resolved to do this entire thing alone, didn't she? Ceres had spoken to a few people here and there - but most of them were either asking for directions, or wanted to form a party to participate in a raid battle. At the time, Ceres had no levels. Hell, even now she had no real armour or weapons.

“To solo such a game…” Ceres rolled over onto her side. “Its kinda lonely.”

Ceres wasn’t one to dwell on such solemn thoughts. Instead, she pushed herself up off the grass. “Let’s just finish this quest first…” She opened up her map and scratched her chin. “Mmm….there’s another small lake on the way back to Town, I could scrub up there...then get back to the blacksmith before the late afternoon.”

The Boar Pup kicked up and away, leaving flurry of dirt and grass in its wake as it tried to gain some distance between itself and Ceres. She knew why, the attack patterns were so terribly obvious now - hell even after riding one of the beasts - they held the same moveset.

It wanted to charge at her. “I’m not going to let that happen this time.” Ceres hissed as she gave chase. No. Not with her second wind keeping her going - adreneline could only keep the body going for so long and she wasn’t about to let that high disappear and turn into another tedious battle with another several boars.

“Ha!” Ceres caught up to the Boar - only just. She grabbed onto its tail and yanked, as the Boar turned around to bite her - Ceres drew the tiny dagger across its face and just like that…

Just like that it was gone….

Exploded in a flurry of red crystals and data.

Ceres sunk to her knees with a relieved sigh. “Good… at least that one is dead…”

Now to see if it left a....

YES

The third and FINAL tusk she needed.

She had fallen flat on her booty, but so had the Boar Pup. If Ceres acted fast she should abe able to take a good swipe at it before it was up again. It was almost amusing really - the Boar Pup rolling to and fro - struggling to right itself. It reminded her of a turtle. Except it was far less cute.

The redheaded woman wasted no time in pushing herself up off the grass. She was a little out of breath, her hair completely disheveled, messy and tangled - looking akin to a birds nest. Her face covered in dirt and grime, and her once clean clothes were covered in scuff marks, and grass stains. But that wouldn’t stop her.

Hell, she’d have to loose an arm to even contemplate stopping. Ceres as a terribly obtuse woman.

She approached the Boar Pup and managed to strike it, just as it had righted itself up. The Boar Pup retaliated in its usual way - a short snap - a bite on her forearm.

“UGh…” Ceres lifted her foot and kicked ot off and away. An inward shiver at the feeling of slimy drool on her arm didn’t stop her - nope.

THere was that rush of adrenaline again - and Ceres was gonna ride it out. Cleaning could come after.

Seven…

Seven DAMN stupid slobbery, ugly, slimy, snot-nosed - bristle furred gross BEASTS. And they were considered ‘Pups’ Babies? Hah! That was a laugh. Ceres didn’t for a single second believe these creatures deserved to be called Pups. Nasty creatures.

At least Ceres had a second wind, thanks to her break.

The Boar Pup, despite its initial surprise attack - had fallen in line to the pattern Ceres expected from it. It gave a loud bellow from deep within its haunches then scratched at the ground three times with cloven feet. The Boar Pup lowered its head and snorted before charging.

Now this is where Ceres would usually wait for it to come close enough for her to dart out the way, then scrape it. But she kinda had enough of that. She’d done it enough times already.

So, instead- Ceres charged. Flimsy dagger high above her head. And BAM- The Boar hit her square in the chest and knocked her back, right back onto her butt. She landed with a a heavy ‘OMph’

But the charge had been a success, the lowered green bar above the boars head suggested that her strike had been equally successful.

“Just one more hit...one more hit and for the love of all that is holy let it drop a damn tusk.”

The seventh Boar pup's head shot up the moment Ceres took a step toward it. Pointed ears swiveled around to her followed quickly by its head. The red glint of its eyes narrowed and the blur fur on its back bristled.

Oh

Was this gonna be a tough one?

The Boar Pup charged without warning. There was no tell-tale screech, no three scratches at the ground just a quick and angry charge. Oh? Was it actually trying to get the first attack in?

Not a chance.

Ceres wanted to get the first strike, make the first move - it gave her the higher ground - the better opportunities. More chances to strike down her opponent. The woman knew the attack would probably fail, it had twice before when she did this - but hey - that stood equally true for the Boar Pup.

Ceres charged at the Boar Pup, and just as his tusks barely grazed her, her dagger barely brushed against its bristled hair. The both of them had missed.

The beast rolled around on the floor, to and fro as it tried to right itself up. After the ordeal with the previous Boar Pup, Ceres had to admit she felt pretty satisfied watching this one squirm. But there was no time to sit back and watch - She bought the dagger down into its stomach before the Boar Pup had a chance to get back up. Thanks to teh Critical hit earlier - it exploded in a flurry of pixels.

"Didn't drop another Tusk....dammit I only need one more...." Ceres lifted her fringe out of her face with her hand and let it sit atop her head for a moment. Her lilac eyes landed on the closest Boar Pup, happily munching away on some tall grass. "At least this one went down quite quickly. No doubt thanks to that short break I had...well, back to the drawing board..." Ceres said as she drew her weapon and approached the what was this now?

SEVENTH BOAR PUP!?

 

And a darn break, is exactly what Ceres took. She sat right down on the grass with a heavy 'pompf' Blades of grass flew up and around her, before being carried away with the wind. A small smile fell across her lips as she watched the blades dance further and further away. This was...nice...Ceres should attempt to take more breaks like this, especially on long quests. Otherwise she'd go mad.

She took out a loaf of bread, stale, nearing the end of its durability and picked at it. Placing pieces into her mouth. After this...she’d need to try and buy herself a hot meal. Or just take the next quest, pending on how hard that one would be. For now - this flavourless lump of bread would have to do.

The woman relished the moments of rest - and felt better with food in her belly. “I should probably get back to the grind…” She mused, and, as if the game was responding to her - a single Boar Pup wandered into her line of sight. “Perfect.”

Ceres threw the last half of the bread loaf at the Boar Pup, it shook its head and gave a surprised snort. Blinking as it searched to and fro, trying to figure out just what happened.

During that time, Ceres kicked up off the ground and charged - feeling much, much better after her short reprise. The dagger tore through the Boar’s side - landing a powerful critical it. The boar fell onto the floor squealing as it tried to right itself back up.

“Ha!” Ceres exclaimed triumphantly.

"You know what? I'm done. Come at me however the hell you want. Dumb pup." Ceres yelled at the monster. She was sick and tired of them both hitting and missing each other constantly. It was just a stupid dance - her luck was terrible when it came to this sort of thing. At least the material gathering was simple. At least it didn't require her getting hit - or drooled on.

Ceres huffed as she sat down, sitting cross legged and her arms folded over her chest. Let the stupid boar come. Let it kick her, let it bite her - whatever. She was done with strategy, with rolling out the way - and with tip-toeing around the stupid thing. It was Just a damn Boar Pup

As she expected, it charged at her. Ceres didn't bother moving from her seated position. Instead- as it drew closer she lifted up her knife and held it steady, outward toward the boar. The dumb thing charged straight into it. Then exploded into a sea of red pixels. "About time..."

Much to her surprise...the Boar Pup Tusk fell promptly into her lap.

"About f**king time..." She mumbled as she picked it up, letting her hands run over its smooth surface. The woman wasn't expecting this boar to be so bothersome...the first four had been more or less a walk in the park but this one? This was three times as hard. Weren't battles meant to get easier the more you did them?

Ceres drummed her fingers against the bone of the tusk. "I suppose it wasn't exactly hard....just...tedious...." She mused. "As long as the other one isn't as tedious as this, I should almost be done..."

Ceres opened up her menu, double checking the quest requirements. She only needed 3 of the tusks, and she now had two of them.

"I think I need a break..."

With another growl, and another one- two - three scratches at the ground the Boar Pup lowered its head and charged at Ceres. This was a very predictable move, and she was ready to dodge, it almost too ready. Ceres anticipated the attack, and managed to avoid it with a quick step to the side.

Ceres threw herself out the way of the charging boar- with perhaps a little too much gusto - she didn’t get a chance to strike back. Ceres was too far away for that. There wasn’t even a point in trying. By the time she had turned around the Boar had already veered away and began circling her, ready to strike again.  The woman slapped her face with a loud groan. “Just. How. Much. More. Can. This. Damn. Boar. Take.

Ceres wasn’t sure how much more she could take, if she weren’t so damn stubborn she would have walked away from this quest, and come back to it later, but no - she wouldn’t let it beat her. Not something stupid and inane like this.

Still on the ground, Ceres barely had time to hoist herself back up before the Boar Pup struck again - this time it stomped on her a second time. Sending a static jolt through her body. At this rate - the woman would almost want to be hit - just for the sake of it giving her a rush of adrenelene and waking her up enough to strike back, especially in such a monotonous quest.

"Ommmff...."

Ceres lifted herself up off the ground and tried to swipe at the boar in retaliation but it had already ran off, veering away. No doubt to create some distance so it could charge at her again.
 

Ceres decided to do something different - if she didnt she'd go insane. Instead of waiting for it to veer completely away - she decided to grab onto one of its ears - it squealed in pain as she used it to haul herself onto its back. It may have been a baby, but it was still big enough to ride. The fur was bristly and uncomfortable. Not at all like a cute fuzzy dog, cat, or even fox.

"Gross creature...." Ceres mumbled. She tried to swipe at it whilst on top of it - but missed- Ceres was having a hard enough time holding on let alone doing that and attacking. The Boar kicked her off and went to stomp on her - but Ceres rolled out of the way - just in time.

At least this was better than charging and dodging constantly.
 

Round and round the Boar Pup ran. This was very similar to one of the first few she had fought - It circled her to gain speed. Probably an attempt to land a critical attack. Didn't they do this before when they were low on health? She probably shouldn't have let it gain so much distance from her. Ceres still had a substantial amount of health.

Just like before she dug one of her feet into the ground for support- and pivoted, round and round - following the Boar. It may not have been the smartest strategy, as she was growing dizzy, but it was better than letting her enemy get behind her. Always keep the adversary within sight. RIght?

The Boar Pup did its typical battle cry - lowered its head and charged- and of course - having been through this countless times before, Ceres was ready for it. The redhead easily stepped to the side, missing its attack- this time however - it veered in the opposite direction. Causing her to miss her strike.

Dammit...

It only needed a single hit to die.


 

And repeat the same thing they did...

The boar, as expected made a loud snarling sound - a warning to players that it was going to attack. Then, once again...its stupid cloven hoof scratched at the ground. Ceres watched with a bored expression as she counted. One, two, three, scratches. Then it dipped its head and finally - it charged. The entire set of moves took mere seconds but for her it felt like a damn lifetime, especially as it was something she had seen time and time again.

Hell, if Ceres wanted to - she could almost do this blindfolded.

"You're going to miss." She predicted, then stepped to the side. This time to shake things up a bit - she shifted to the right instead of the left. Hey - gotta get some entertainment out of this - right? Her arm lashed out at the Boars side, and once again it made some animalistic noise...and veered off and away. Ready to now doubt charge again.

Ceres rolled her eyes.

"I really wish this had some sort of automation...."

Just like the time before, and the time before that - The Boar Pup gave a strained noise akin to a garbled growl, scratched at the ground with its hoof then started to run right at her. Yup. Predictable.

"Well...If I wanted to be an information Broker at least I could write up some information on how Boar Pups work..." She muttered. Not that anyone would really be interested in that. Hell, even she wasn't interested in it. This particular one was specifically bothersome - normally she'd have managed to kill it off by now, but it was being as stubborn as she was.

The only positive Ceres saw from this situation is that if the battle was continually being drawn out maybe, just maybe the damn thing would change up its moveset.

With A solemn sigh Ceres stepped out the way of its charge and struck it in its side. And - as expected the Boar gave a mighty cry of pain, and veered off to the side.

"Good!" Ceres muttered. "Now, let's just repeat that exact same thing again and get it over with, shall we?"

Perhaps Ceres was too comfortable in her position - or too bored. She was barely paying attention to the battle now. Normally the woman was observant - stubborn, and kept her eye on her surroundings because she found a form of enjoyment from studying the world and creatures around her. But when the creatures around her were just carbon copies of each other, and just did what everything else did.

Why Bother?

Ceres rose her dagger to strike down into the Boars head again - but this time, she missed. Her eyes widened in mild shock. "Oh?" The boar retaliated with a short but hard butt into her torso. The electric shock that spread through her torso woke her up and snapped her out of her bored stupour.

"Oh...yeh... adaptive AI's right?" She asked the Boar as she tilted her head to the side. "Does it learn from the death of its predecessors? Or just from the actions of our single battle?" Ceres mused to herself.

The Boar backed away from her whilst she was distracted by her thought process. Ceres blinked. Watching as it gained enough distance to prepare a charge.  So if it were to charge.. that would be....three charges then two bites....right?

"Fine..." Ceres said.

"Let's try to finish this quickly."

'POMPF'

A sudden fuzzy feeling against her legs caused Ceres to snap out of her stupour. Lilac eyes glanced down to a giant dog? She squinted. No - it's features were cainine but they weren't that of a domestic breed. This was a familiar, right? She had heard of these. People would quest for their familiars and have all sorts of crazy beasts following them. "Hello, Pompf." Ceres said as she reached out to press her hand into the brown fur of the wolf.

It's fur was soft, not quite as soft as say, a cat or a rabbit but it held a pleasant warmth that seeped into her fingertips. 'Pompf' didn't mind so much either - the wolf eagerly wagged it's tail, long tongue hangng out the side of his muzzle.

A slender arm reached out and pulled the wolf away from Ceres. "Ah." Ceres stood and brushed her clothing down. She straightened her back and came face to face with a woman who was practically eye height with her. This is where one of Ceres' flaws came into play. The redheaded woman didn't say anything straight away. She simply stared at the other woman. Her eyes taking in her features. She had long blonde hair that had been tied back in a neat ponytail that elegantly hung behind her - wisps of gold framed an almond shaped face. Her eyes were wide and blue, and if Ceres were being honest - they kinda sparkled. With a friendliness and warmth. It felt like when she smiled, she was smiling with her entire being, and not just to save face. "You're pretty." Ceres said simply.

It was then, she apologized for her familiars behavior.

"Riker?" So that was the wolfs name? What should she say in this situation. Ceres wasn't exactly good at conversing with others. She could hold an entire conversation with herself, because she knew herself - and her responses. But strangers? "Yes." Ceres said in response as she turned back to the girl. "I'd name him Pompf...because of the..." She tried to gesture with her hands, the feeling of his fluffy fur- but it ended up being a series of meaningless hand gestures. "Like...the feeling...of ...Pompf'  You feel. I'm..."

Oh. This conversation wasn't working. Ceres quickly shut her mouth and pursed her lips. Right. Introductions. That's what people did.  She held out her hand toward the blonde woman. "I am Ceres."

@Lessa

"Right...onto the fifth one I guess..." Ceres said absently as she pushed disheveled hair away from her face. This would be easier, far easier if she had something that helped boost the stats of drop-rate. But... Ceres didn't count on herself being in too many battles. So why invest anything in such a skill?

So far the close-combat and attack-first strategies were working well for her. Why change what wasn't broken. Ceres would use these two on the next Boar Pup, and the next - till she had to change and adapt to anything that was quite literally thrown at her.

But for now...all she could do was continue fighting. "I'm not a big fan of the actual fighting part..." She mused to herself. Especially now that it was getting a tad repetitive.

The next Boar Pup was a little more alert. It's beady red eyes set on her as Ceres charged forward - It whinnied at her before stepping out the way - but much like its predecessor the boar tried to retaliate with a bite. Ceres was ready for it and had managed to dodge it just in time. So, would close combat result in more biting? Or headbutts? Her brows furrowed. Ceres wanted to avoid getting any more slobber on her, she wanted to end this stupid quest.  "Tiresome."
 

Over and over, and over, and over.

It was a good thing Ceres wasn't some famous NewTuber - or Switch Streamer...or that someone had to read her exploits because at this point it was almost laughable at how repetitive they were becoming. Her movements were virtually a direct copy paste of the previous action. Luckily, that wasn't the case - no one was reading her exploits. No one knew she was grossed out a few battles ago by thick viscous white goop that had seeped from the boars mouth, and no one knew how quickly she was falling into boredom.

SLASH

Another swipe at the Boar and it was dead. Ceres had to give the damn beast a little credit - right before it exploded into a flurry of pixels it had tried to lunge at heer - but a simple step backwards left it snapping at thin air.

And....of course...it left nothing...

No Boar Pup Tusks.

"Dammit."
 

"I'm just gonna stay...close to you..." Ceres said in a bored tone as rose her dagger again - she was still within striking distance - so she may as well try to let this fight end as quickly as possible. All she wanted was to finish. But at this rate, there was no finish in sight. Why was there so little loot drops? The first was a fluke? At this rate there wouldn't be any baby boars left.

The dagger once again landed directly into the boars head, right between its beady red eyes, and in a practiced fashion - because the woman literally performed the exact same move just a few minutes ago, she stepped away as the Boar Pup snapped at her. It's counter-attacks didn't have a high hit ratio. Probably because it was a weak mob.

"If I stay close - this will all end quicker. The quicker I kill you all, the quicker I can get this loot and go."
 

How many was this now? Four...

Ceres shook her head, she didn't like this. How many more did she have to go through? 6? 12? If she had to fight 12 of these damn beasts she'd probably go mad. There was only so much 'fun' that could be had doing the same thing over and over. There was only so much variety that could come from charge, dodge, attack, charge, dodge, attack - maybe throw in a few bites - oh? Another charge?

Oh how very Predictable

At Least she was getting the hang of this now. Even if it was growing dull and uninteresting. So much for that adreneline rush she felt earlier. Ceres approached the next Boar Pup and quickly rose her flimsy little dagger - striking it once in the head and stepping back to the side - without a second thought to avoid the initial counter attack. Ceres was barely paying attention at this point. 

"You little things are quite....boring now aren't you?"

The Boar Pup was disorientated, it shook its head free, whinnying as it stumbled to and fro. Wouldn't this be a good chance to get another hit in? This wasn't exactly a turn based system, it was live combat. Even if it were turn based - it was technically her turn. The boar tried to attack and failed, that left the cards solely in her hands.
Utilizing the opportunity Ceres struck again- another close blow down the side of the boar - it made a pained sound before exploding in an array of red. The critical hit she had landed earlier must have been enough to allow her to knock it out in just two blows.

Ceres straightened her back and tapped her chin. On average, they took three swipes to kill...landing any form of critical hit would mean they'd die in two. At her level...with her stats...there was no way she'd be able to knock them out in a single blow. Even with the potion sitting in her inventory.

The redhead wasn't expecting to find anything, even so...as she looked around for any loot drops and found none - she felt...disappointed. Maybe her first assumption of the drop being lowered for the quest had been wrong? She'd only killed 3 of the boars - and her health was still a healthy green. She didn't need to use her damage potion, nor her health extension potion. If this kept up...even with the loot drop rate being a 1 in 3 chance...she'd be able to get by and return to town without depleting her potion supply.


"So, I should keep attacking first..." Ceres mused as she approached the next one.

Sure...this was exhilarating, Ceres could feel her heart pumping hard in her chest - and she couldn't lie and say it wasn't at least somewhat exciting. Because it was. Ceres liked to analyze things - enjoyed working out pieces to the puzzles that others often missed. Being able to watch attack patterns behind a screen was one thing, this was a whole other.

"I should only have to fight one more..." Ceres said to herself as she finally sat up. Feeling around for...nothing. "Oh." She stopped looking. Knowing exactly what had happened. The Boar Pup hadn't dropped anything. So, she still had to fight. How many would she have to fight till she had what she needed?

Ceres was hoping to finish this smoothly and quickly, but that wasn't the case - not when RNG was involved. With a deep breath Ceres stood back up, and tapped her foot a few times on the ground to loosen the drool off.

"This won't stop me."

Another Boar Pup wasn't too far off, with their attack patterns in mind, Ceres wasn't going to let them attack first- this time she'd be the one to strike first. How did people do this in those cartoons? They'd run up screaming with their weapon held high - maybe spout some sort of line of justice.

Right.

Ceres imitated that, minus the foolhardy scream - she ran at the boar and drove the dagger into it's side before the boar had a chance to turn around. The mob gave a pitiful squeal before shaking itself loose of the blade, the boar tried to nip at her but Ceres had already moved a few feet away.

"If they charge...maybe I should stay close - see what their close combat move set is..."

 

The boar pup scratched at the ground with its cloven hoof a few times - Ceres' narrowed her eyes. Oh... OH It was definitely going to bite her now. They may have adaptive AI - But their moves ets were still more or less the same. Charge three times, Bite twice, then...well she hadn't gotten much further than that - the first Boar fell after the second bite.

This one...She wanted it to fall Before that happened. Or at least let it bite a part of her that wouldn't be so...open to being drenched in slime. Ceres grimaced...She wasn't wearing armour - that slobber would leak right through her cotton pants. Still - that was better than her bare skin. Right? Right. Ceres gave a resolute nod as she pushed her hair back up and out of her face. She'd let the damn thing bite her.

Just as the Boar charged, opening its maw to bite Ceres followed suit, this time she lowered her body and began to slide toward it, foot outstretched.

BAMF

Her foot landed right into its mouth - and as expected, the beast chomped down hard - the tingling sensation of being hit climbed up her leg like pins and needles- but the sensation of wet slobber was dulled. Ha! There she had it. All it took was for her to calm down and observe her surroundings, like she always did.

Battling wasn't as bad as she had first thought - bu these were not the frontlines these were quite literally the weakest mobs in the game. Ceres pulled her leg up, and the Boar Pup followed suit, still latched on with his grimy maw - Ceres could see the glistening snot around its large nostrils.

SWISH

And with that - the beast was no more. Her strike had been a critical one - the words 'critical blow' flashed above the boars head before the flimsy dagger tore through the side of its skull. Ceres was thankful this was not a gore-riddled game. It was nauseating enough seeing the Boar Pups snot, let alone its innards. Red tinted pixels danced around her as Ceres rolled onto her back. Staring up at the sky.

Two down...people did this daily?

How?

The boar continued to circle, gaining speed and momentum - if it charged at her now - there was a high chance she woudldn't be able to dodge it - her flimsy armour didn't really have enough of an evasion boost to aid her - and if it were to hit her...Ceres knew it'd be with a force that would render her useless -and her attack would fail.

Knowing this, knowing all of this she shut her eyes and charged forward to collide head on with the boar. May as well go out swinging, as they say. Ceres was prepared for the hit, even so - it had knocked her back a few paces and caused her to loose her balance.  Ceres rolled her body as it landed on the floor. The strange tingle ran through her torso - "That is a feeling I don't want to get used to..." Ceres groaned as she pushed herself up.

Her hair had been shaken loose, and was making it harder to see.  But she wasn't going to let this scuffle stop her. No. She'd finish this stupid quest. Hell... She'd finish EVERY single stupid quest she could. Screw the aloof quiet route - let's go for the competitionist route.

Ceres pushed herself onto one foot, then the other.

I swear if this little sh*t bites me .....

Battle Information