Acanthus

She paused in the grove. Something compelled her to sit and listen. A calling she had heard less of late. “Mom, what are those noises?” Haru’s mom closed her eyes, listening intently. She smiled. “Haru, dear, close your eyes. They won’t help you listen.” Haru squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing hold of her mom’s hand. As her vision melted away, she began to “see” the sounds. The wind rustled the trees in various waves of green. The taller the tree, the darker green the wave. Something vaguely brown moved in the bushes. How it was brown, she didn’t know. It just sounded that way. Then, a chor

Acanthus continued her slaughter, her mind occupied with memories. There hadn’t been anytime to give Kara a funeral. Acanthus didn’t know if the others blamed her. They were NPCs: could they hold such a human emotion? Acanthus did not detect any change from the rest of the group. Somber, yes, but to them, her death was simply a fact of life. “We’re almost there.” Greyson led the caravan down the path to the heart of the woods, where they would find the materials she needed for her blade. Whether it was fate or circumstance, Acanthus now found herself at the very same place. The tide

The higanbana blossomed in the murky pools of the boss room, dappling the landscape like flecks of blood. Her mom loved spider lilies. Even after she had lost the ability to care for the garden, mom tended the spider lilies every September like clockwork. Acanthus waded out to the lilies and picked one without a thought. As she lifted it to her face, the flower slowly turned to blue dust. YOU'LL BE NEXT, LITTLE FLOWER. Hatred mocked her with her own mother’s voice. The sea of red withered as an agonized howl rolled through the mire. A bear, covered with necrotic wounds wriggling with

But I’m done dragging them down. Dispatching another round of monsters, she planned out her next course of action. I should have a few shards and scales after this. I can work on setting up the perfect equipment for the boss fight. Maybe then I won't be useless. Like I was back in the forest on floor three. Or… The next few hours of travel went by with very little happening. Grile and Kara took to the front, Greyson on the rear, and Stubs focused on their two horses. Acanthus continued collected samples of leaves and other things she could get her hands on. As she put her tools away, Stub

When are you going to address it? The problem that has been weighing on your heart since you escaped without Edict? Grile unfolded a large vellum map. “Looks like we’re making pretty good time. I think we’ll get to the campsite before dusk.” Stubs grunted. “We won’t. Every time you say that, some mob of diseased find us and pin us down for too damn long.” Kara elbowed him. “It can’t happen every time. Besides, we’ve got a good luck charm here.” You’re a curse to the people around you. Acanthus pointed to herself, as if asking a question. Kara laughed. “Yes, you. And if you’re no

Acanthus wasted no time in her journey across floor thirteen. She moved as she fought the mobs, deeper and deeper into the wilds. She did not want to spend time looking idly at the different plants. They were all the same. True to Greyson’s word, they left quickly. Although they kept a good pace, the caravan made frequent stops to gather. Acanthus learned that what looked like a singular field of green was actually lots of different vines and plants. “These here, notice how the vines are a bit thicker where they split off. Almost like knots.” Greyson had pulled up a massive length of

Acanthus relished being a dervish of death. Killing made her feel useful. Driving another flock of villagers into the ground, she prepared herself for another wave of massacring the walking loot sacks. Stubs interrupted. “Kara, you best pull your own weight. She’s not going to kill everything that hits the caravan.” Kara shot back, “Stubs, I always pull my own weight. I’m just worried about you.” Stubs made a gruff noise, and returned to checking the packs. Kara looked back to Acanthus. “Don’t mind him. Dozens of ventures out to the wildlands and he still thinks disaster is around every c

More villagers; this time, they appeared fresher. There was very little plant life clinging to them. They almost seemed human, except for the gray and decaying skin. Blocking out their human qualities, Acanthus threw herself into the fight, prepared to grind them into money and materials. They all looked the same to her. The game probably just reset the asset models for any villager that turned into a diseased mob. Acanthus wandered over and met the three other people. They all wore similar clothes to Greyson. Grile was tall and lanky. Stubs was much shorter, but still had a wiry build. K

The minutes raced by as she prepared herself to leave Wanderer’s Rest. Her stay had been pleasant. She’d even taken a little time to talk to other NPCs. They all seemed to have little idiosyncrasies of their own. Ratwa had a funny little hiccup that had persisted since her childhood. Gruger the butcher kept the few chickens and pigs in the town, and treated the animals like royalty right up until the end. The complicated lives of the villagers reminded Acanthus of her walk through Tolbana with the mayor. But those people lived in safety. These poor villagers lived day to day with what little h

Winded, Acanthus collapsed onto a nearby log yet again. The breaks were proving worse than the fighting itself. Having to stop every few minutes just to let her energy rise was maddening. I’m not even running or exerting myself in real life, she thought miserably. At least let me be a superhuman here. A few of the villagers milled around on the road ahead of her. They really did look like props from a bad zombie movie. They limped and shambled in circles, muttering to each other until a player drew their attention. The only difference was that rather than the putrid stench of decaying fle

Another stunning whirlwind sent the villagers back. Undeterred, they shambled toward her again. A chilling wind cut through her, and she once again missed NIGHT’s cloak. Acanthus awoke from her tent the next day. She was immediately given a mug of tea as she exited. These people are really big on their hot drinks. Not that she minded. The morning was just a little too chilly, and the tea was a pleasant way to wake up. Greyson approached with his own mug and raised it in greeting. She returned the gesture. “Morning! Grile and Stubs are packing the horses right now. Kara is checki

More waves of monsters. All the same health bars, all the same damage. More of them crept out of the bushes, drawn to the sound of combat. Every villager’s death rattle inspired more to give chase. “No way. You just got done telling me just how dangerous it was out there. I don’t want to risk you on my errands.” “I’m not some damsel, adventurer.” He smiled wanly. “Gatherers have to know how to fight. Besides, it wouldn’t just be for your quest. There’s some acidic moss near that grove that we use to keep the vegetation at bay. We’ve been running low for the past few months, and we’re

“Sorry, bonfire time is supposed to be comforting, and here I am sharing ghost stories with you.” “Thank you for telling me about it. I can’t imagine living with this every day.” The villagers here had it so easy. They didn’t have anything to escape. They were molded by their misery, and better off for it. She cracked open a diseased villager’s head, and termites poured out of the festering vegetation. Greyson took a long swig from his mug. “It is what it is. We’ll survive. We survived the worst of it, and we’ll survive what’s left of the plague. But enough of that. What brings

“That’s it. The plants take over. The lucky ones inhale enough to die on the spot. If you’re less than fortunate, then you have to be put down.” “Put down?” “Yea. We call them ‘the diseased.’ They look human, but its the plants that have taken over. They attack or maul anything that isn’t green. They’ll drag you into the undergrowth. And then you feed the plants.” Even with her warm drink, Acanthus felt chills. The heat of battle began to bring life back to her numb extremities. Her rampage really felt more like a light jog. Her energy bar depleted bit by bit. That was the

The chill of the floor permeated her bones. She’d have killed for a warm drink. She was killing anyways—four more diseased villagers fell to her sword. There was no end to them. Acanthus sat with a hot green tea pushed into her hand by the man. He had introduced himself as Grayson. He was one of the new gatherers in Wanderer’s Rest. He had taken over for a veteran that got lost a few weeks back and didn’t return. “It’s not an easy life out here,” he explained while they nursed their drinks. “Most people outside Angel’s Point don’t last long. Us included.” His bluntness shocked Acanth

The warm fire beckoned her closer. It took the chilly edge from the evening, and the warm red glow eased her nerves about the previous encounter. Wait, what encounter? Acanthus, we need to talk about this. What did Hatred say that day? The bonfire was as much peace as she’d ever felt in the game. It reminded her of her camping trip in the mountain with college friends. They’d all packed tents when the air was just getting chilly and ventured out for a small taste of nature. Next time I grind, I’ll have to find a more accommodating floor. Acanthus shook creeping vines from her boot. E

Her energy bar was almost gone again. Acanthus sat down with a frustrated sigh. She had enough energy to take on the straggling pack of diseased, but she dismissed the idea as inefficient. There weren’t four of them. Four was the number she could strike at any given time. And given how hard the villagers could hit, she didn’t feel the need to take any risks with more. Traveling down the road, Acanthus almost felt daring. The floor offered her a fair number of challenges. At level ten, floor thirteen could be dangerous if she weren’t careful. Even being here felt forbidden. But after tripl

Another group of villagers littered the path ahead of her. She swept through them without a second thought. The whole thing was becoming a little too repetitive, even for her—and Kayaba knew she loved a good routine. But the monsters were thinning out and so was her health bar. She could lament the monotony while she sat to recover her health. It wouldn’t be long before she wished that she were back up and killing more. The last group had dropped another demonic shard. Not as many as she had hoped so far. But the col and materials flowed freely at least. And some dungeon maps as well? She

The villagers worked their mouths open and closed, as if consuming some imaginary feast. She thought it looked humorous, like some b-grade zombie flick. Acanthus paled. “H… Hungry?” The man nodded again. “Some of that vegetation creeps up on ya. We’ve lost a few late gatherers to Devil’s Creeper. But you’re safe. Let’s move to the campfire and talk about something else.” The evening campfire at Breath of Life seemed like a social event. She suspected those gathered comprised most of the town. They sat in concentric rings around the bonfire, chatting warmly and sharing stories about the da

She wasn’t sure where she was. Opening her eyes, a young man stood over her. He was dressed in the same hemp as the people of Angel’s Point. An NPC, then. His eyes were light and his face furrowed. She felt like she was about to be fussed over. Sure enough, she was. “Alright, sit up miss. Up you go. Do you need some food? Water? We don’t have much and it certainly won’t be delicious, but it’ll fill you up.” Acanthus waved him off. “Thank you, but I have rations. I was in a hurry to make it here before dark.” The man nodded. “I hear that. The plants get hungry when they don’t hav

After a brief, engaging conversation with Zandra, she had excused herself to open the scavenger hunt. A look of determination flashed across Acanthus' face. Current quest objective: win the scavenger hunt. Bonus objective: by a landslide. She rummaged through her basket to find the handle, and with a violent tug, pulled it from the comically small basket. She then slung the thing over her shoulder. It was almost as tall as she was. With a robotic fixation, Acanthus traced a line across the surf, digging half-meter holes approximately one meter apart. On her seventeenth hole, she turn

Kumaki had wandered off. Best to let her hunt a little on her own for a bit. She leaned against one of the tables, taking in the orphanage. Despite the name, it was a happy place. The children seemed to enjoy their time, and Acanthus was surprised to see a few books tucked under tables and strewn on the floor. The people running the orphanage seemed intent to offer a semblance of real life for the children, which warmed Acanthus’ heart. “Congratulations on the wedding. It’s a good thing to find happiness wherever you can take it.” Easier for her to tell other people than to live that hers

Acanthus smiled. She remembered how much of a struggle her first attempt at gathering had been. It was strange to feel nostalgic over something so recent, but in many ways it felt like a lifetime ago. She watched as Tiye pulled up a rock and found a crystal. “Just when I get help, I find one all by myself.” The girl rolled her eyes. "Typical." “Sometimes, it feels like Cardinal has a sense of humor that way. I’m sure if that man hadn’t come along, you’d still be looking for your first crystal. But you’ve got one down already, and that’s really good. I think I took quite a while for m

Crafts all refer to 10/22 crafts, found here. Round 1: Item Fusions 236232 + 236231 = 236249 (Perfect Masterpiece) 236228 + 236226 = 236250 (Rare) 236250 (Rare) + 236235 = 236251 (Perfect) 236234 + 236233 + 236251 (Perfect) = 236252 (Perfect Masterpiece) 236247 + 236243 = 236253 (Perfect Masterpiece) 236246 + 236245 = 236254 (Rare) 236254 (Rare) + 236239 + 226368 (Old Craft) = 236255 (Perfect Masterpiece) (Tossing in some old HP Recovery 2s for a few more on top) 234980 + 235048 + 235047 = 236256 (Perfect Masterpiece) 235045 + 235041 + 235039 = 236257 (Perfect Ma

Crafting for 10/22/2024 Extended Workshop. (+3 EXP total from Trinket | Tuning Fork + Hard Working) Roll: ID# CD: LD: Quality Count Experience Ambition Mod 1 236236 CD: 11 +1 LD: 19 Perfect (Mast) - 11 (+3 Ambition) 2 236235 CD: 7 +1