[PP-F6] Feeding the Enemy (Miaki, Nikki)

[Nikki Styx 0]

"Ok.. so me and my buddy were exploring floor 6 right. And after like a day of hacking through the jungle we found a clearing okay. In this clearing there was this really big looking boar. I mean thing was massive, Bigger en you fer sure. Anyways we just bugged right the hell outta there, no point n gettin killed fer an empty spot of land right"

That was the conversation that Nikki had over heard at the Tavern on floor 4. It seemed that a couple of low level players had stumbled across some epic creature and been too afraid to fight it. They had left it alone and now the Blue haired woman was on her way to try and find it herself. She had been to floor 6 before, to complete an amazing and difficult quest, but had not done much venturing around. Now she had the chance to search and she was not going to pass it up.

What really brought her out here was the chance to defeat a creature that up until this point had not been beaten. She could be the first, and if it was as special as she had heard, she might even be the only one to do it. She had been wondering what it would drop when beaten, maybe a trophy? or even a custom cloak? The potential for loot was amazing. Something she hadn't considered yet was one of her in completed quests. Months ago she had crossed a gypsy and accepted the quest to gain a familiar. Not understanding what it meant she had simply forgotten about the soon to be life altering task.

Luckily Nikki was not out here Alone, as she had managed to recruit one of her friends to come along on this boar hunt. Miaki, who up until recently had been a ranked member of the Azure Brigade, had been nice enough to accompany her through the jungle. While she felt confident enough to fight everything here it was nice to have a bigger tougher friend just in case.

[Miaki 0]

The sixth floor was always abuzz with activity. It was one of the two floors currently liberated in Aincrad that Miaki enjoyed, next to the fourth floor for it's winter landscaping. The birds in the air, beasts in the jungle, bugs everywhere in between, and ambient noise jungle noise that seemed to be everywhere on the sixth floor. The humid climate was a little sticky for the <> as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Think it might be smart to change to something more comfortable on this floor." He said has he took his two forefingers and opened his equipment and inventory menu. He removed the trench coat and was wearing and replaced it with something more accomadating to the humidity. He wore a thin khaki long-sleeve, sandy colored cargos, and thick brown leather boots. He also wore a <> that kept his strawberry blonde hair out of his face. "That's much better." He said as the coat vanished and was instantly replaced with the new attire in a small flash.

Miaki was on leave from his time in the <> and uncertain whether or not he would return. He took this time to free himself of some of the responsibilities that came with his role in the group and see what becomes of him. When Nikki told him of some of her recent plans Miaki was more than willing to tag along and help at any capacity he could achieve.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki nodded in agreement at Miaki's statement. It was far too hot and Humid on this floor for such normal garments. Luckily Her clothing was already open enough to keep her from over heating. She did however need to braid her long blue hair, having learned a lesson from her last time here, that if it were loose she would be picking things out of it for a week. Aside from that there was not too much else she needed to do to get ready for this quest.

They had left early in the morning, in an attempt to beat the heat. Nikki's map was completed up on one side of the jungle so she knew that the clearing wasn't there. Her suspicion was that it was located in the far north next to a mountain range. She had pointed it out when they had ported in as it was large enough to see from the starter zone. In fact it was almost tall enough to touch the next floor. After entering the jungle itself and loosing sight of the horizon the pair had been following a river north. Now it was just after lunch and they had made great progress towards their destination.

Nikki stopped now looking up at the sky, or rather what little of it she could see through the dense foliage. She did this from time to time mostly for her own re assurances. This time though rather than return to walking she sat down. "Maybe we should have a quick rest" She said thoughtfully as she pulled up her inventory window and after searching through it produced two flasks of water. She handed one to Miaki and then took a deep drink of her own. She was thankful for his company, doing this alone might have been unbearable.

"I promise itll be worth it when we slay that boar" She tried to said in a reassuring tone as she took another drink.

[Miaki 0]

Taking a drink from the flask of water, Miaki cleared his throat, wiping away the little bit at dripped from his mouth. "Oh I'm sure it will. No matter what happens this expedition should be fruitful I'm certain." Taking another large gulp from the flask Miaki began coughing from taking in the contents too quickly. "Opps,went down the wrong pipe." He said in a raspy voice as coughed up a little bit.

Miaki sat on a large trunk running along horizontally. He glanced up at the canvas of jungle foliage hanging high above them. The sound of nature around them could be heard everywhere all with a unique style of background music consisting of snare drums and an instrument he thought to be maracas playing faintly in the distance. The floor was full of life no matter where one went. "We've been out here for quite some time. Fortunately, this river here is helping us keep our bearings in addition to the interactive map." He said opening the map window himself. "Looks like we still have a ways to go before we get to this place. Glad to be of good company for you Nikki. Thank you for inviting me to join you." The young adventurer said.

[Nikki Styx 0]

For a moment Nikki was lost in thought, or at least she looked as though she was. A recent meeting with another player had opened her eyes to the beauty of Aincrad and now she was going to try and take more in. There was so much beauty here that she had missed last time. Everything from flowers and trees, right on up to some of the local creatures that roamed the dense jungle. All of it was beautiful, and all worth seeing. Of course she was here to slay a giant boar, but she could still find it beautiful too.

She looked over to Miaki and then opened her map. She could see where they were heading, and where they had already been. Luckily the river had also granted them a less dense path to trek through. After a moment or two of study she closed her menu."Not too far now I don't think. Though I think we should use our teleport crystals to leave when we are done, I don't fancy getting caught here after dark." Luckily theyt still had several hours of daylight left and getting caught after hours was not going to be an issue.

Nikki waited a few more moments stretching out where she sat before getting back up. She pulled up her inventory again and stowed her flask of water. "If yer up fer it we can keep on going again." She spoke cheerily. The thought of fighting a creature that no one else had was exciting enough to push her onwards, it even kept a smile on her face.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki added his flask of water to his inventory screen and stood up stretching his body. Rotating his neck and swinging his body left and right Miaki felt his muscles gain some relief and his bones crackle. "Well I am here at your aid Nikki. Where you go I will follow." He bowed cracking a small smile as he did so. "Consider me, Miaki Murakami the <> at your service Nikki Styx of the Ebon Vanguard." He glanced at the time in his field of vision and then checked out their current location on the map.

"Well considering how long it has taken us to get out here and how long it will take us to get to our destination, it will be impossible to get back before dark. I'm totally fine with us using crystal to get back to civilization later when we are done."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki nodded in agreement before starting to follow the river again. The water itself looked cool and refreshing and had this been any other adventure she might have stopped to take a dip in its slow moving current. However she desperately wanted to see this animal, and feared others might be trying to find it as she thought. Naturally this was all her own paranoia as fast of the occupants of Aincrad were far too conservative to venture this far out. Still though better to be safe than sorry.

Several minutes went by in silence, strange silence. It was not just Nikki who was silent, but it seemed to be everything. Where once the calls of animals and the eerie jungle melody could be heard was now only the sound of running water. Somewhere something had happened, something had silenced everything, and it sent a shiver up the young woman's spine."Miaki, be ready... I think there is something here with us." That had to be it, something had to be nearby to frighten all the animals into silence. And to make everything go silent it had to be serious.

Continuing on, Nikki opened up her inventory and equipped her spear, just in case. The shield itself would be too bulky in the tight jungle, and would disrupt too much of her vision to be of any help right now. She felt naked and exposed without it, and said a silent prayer that they find open ground soon.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki's mind was wondering a bit so his senses were low. Having not encountered anything exciting he was beginning to relax as he looked around at everything around them. He scanned the tree lines and the forest floor all the while searching for anything relevant to their being out in the thickness of the jungle, deep in the region. But so far nothing at been happening. At all. Miaki was trying to think of something to bring up when he noticed Nikki drawing her spear and cautioning Miaki of a possible threat.

Miaki reached for his scabbard with his left hand and kept his right hand hovered over the handle. Ready to draw at a moments notice. Miaki then noticed that the back ground music had either stopped or was playing at a lower volume. "Steady Miaki. Steady." Miaki brought himself into focus and scanned for any threats. "I think you might be right. We need better ground to work with otherwise we're gonna be in serious trouble. Should we make a break for it and hope for the best? There might be a clearing further up." Miaki checked his menu and saw the they were going through a patch of the region that was unmapped. "I've got nothing on my map..."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki hesitated for a moment, weighing out the options. If they kept along the river they almost certainly had their backs to a wall. If they ventured away from it they might become lost. But they could always teleport so lost was not such a bad thing."Ok.. Miaki, Lets bolt off towards that less dense patch over there. At least then we will have room to fight if something happens." She spoke just above a whisper, keeping her gaze locked on the patch of jungle she had pointed at. It wasn't far from them, maybe 60 or 70 feet, but that was still a long time for something to happen.

In the back of her mind Nikki knew that both herself and Miaki would be fine, they were both competent fighters, and experienced in many situations. It was the fear of being lost and separated that got her. This was the last place she wanted to be alone. "We just need to try and keep together" She broke her gaze from her spot for a moment to look at him, as if to try and show him without admitting that she did not want to be alone.

Finally after another moment or two of silent mental preparation Nikki took a single step. "You ready?... NOW" She shouted as she bolted off. Suddenly the jungle came alive, animals were screaming, trees were shaking birds were fleeing the area. It felt like something was there, like it had been waiting for them to run. They couldn't stop now though, they had to get to the less dense area and then they could fight.

"faster, run faster" Nikki thought as she leapt over fallen branches and pushed through the brush. She could hear footsteps and hoped that they belonged to Miaki. every step brought her closer to what she hoped was open ground and in anticipation of it she opened her inventory while she bolted. A second later she burst through the brush, and into a huge clearing. Without thinking she dug herself into the ground and equipped her shield all the while spinning to face the jungle she had just come from.

[Miaki 0]

As soon as they started running from where they stood. Miaki noticed everything happen at once. Rustling in the trees everywhere as animals started running around for new cover. It was as if everything around them knew they were being watched and wouldn't move unless they felt discovered and were now discovered. He could hear growling, cawing, screeching, yowling, howling, and other loud noises as the creatures rushed around. He monitored their surrounds for anything threatening. Small animals were rushing about from seemingly nowhere and making a break for every other direction around them.

Miaki rushed through the jungle growth trying to keep up with Nikki as best as he could. Although he knew she could probably hold her own, Miaki made a commitment not to let her down. He couldn't allow himself to fail her and sensed her concern with being lost out on her own. Miaki knew all about that fear as he experienced his fair share of it himself. He would never wish that feeling on anyone else. Ever.

30 feet away from the break in the line of trees heading out to the small clearing Miaki tripped suddenly over an oversized root and somersaulted forward. He hit his head on something, maybe a rock he thought, and came up looking for Nikki after nearly losing his sense of direction. He saw the trees just a few degrees off to the right shifting around and assumed that was where Nikki just was.

Miaki bolted from his kneeling position to the clearing. "Please tell me I didn't lose her. Please be over there." He prayed as he got closer and closer. With the last few feet, Miaki jumped forward as if jumping a large gorge. As he entered the clearing, Miaki could see Nikki kneeling with her shield and spear at the ready. "It's me!" He shouted as he landed on the ground and rushed to her side, drawing his katana as he ran.

The bright silver flash that occurred as he drew <> was bright as ever for a quick moment as it left its scabbard. Miaki made it beside Nikki and looked for anything following them. He looked up at the sky and saw birds flying out of the jungle. "Birds. How could I forget." Miaki slapped himself in his head as he remembered his familiar <>. "I'm calling in back up!" Miaki reached into a pocket on his shirt and took out a <> bringing it to his lips and blowing on it. Out of the jungle came another bird, a silver-winged falcon, this was Miaki's familiar. The falcon flew around and circled over the two fighters as they tensed themselves and prepared for whatever was hiding or hunting them.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki stood ready for anything to burst through the foliage, or at least she thought she was. However when it turned out to be Miaki she nearly fell over. Up until this point she had assumed he was right beside her and was shocked that she had managed to get so far ahead of him. There was no time to marvel at that however as something was still out there, and getting closer faster. Miaki had called his familiar, who now circled overhead, an eye in the sky as it were. For a moment she questioned its effectiveness in the jungle, until she realized that they had actually slipped into a rather large clearing. This was it, it had to be the place.

Nikkis thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a small tree snapping and falling towards them. "LOOK OUT" She shouted as she went to push Miaki clear, before leaping to out of the way herself. She hit the ground with a roll, coming to a stop on her knees. She was about to ask if her friend was ok, when she heard a loud displeased snort. Looking up Nikki was met with the sight of a giant boar right where the base of the fallen tree had been. It had pushed the tree over in an attempt to wound them. It was smart.

Nikki raised her shield now, and slowly got up to her feet. There was a tree between her and Miaki, so she wasn't able to access him easily, not without going around it. Perhaps it hadn't meant to cause damage, perhaps it only meant to separate them. "I think we found it..." Nikki said in a low quiet voice to her companion.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki heard a loud SNAP and a crackling sound followed by a shout from Nikki and the screeching of his falcon. Miaki began to turn as Nikki pushed him away from where he stood. He fell to the ground and rolled on his side in recovery, coming up in a combat ready stance. A large tree now later between Nikki and Miaki down by something clearly very strong. Looking where he tree previously stood, Miaki saw that where a large stump now stood was a massive tusked boar. Miaki had to focus on it to identify it's name and health bar.

"I think we found it..."

"Yeah I think so too. Silverwing! Prepare for combat!" Miaki shouted.

First thing Miaki had to do was get back to his ally's side. He could probably climb over the tree if he had a running start but then they would have only two ways to run from a charge attack from the boar and might run into each other. Miaki ran towards the tree trunk and leapt on top of the trunk. "Are you okay Nikki?" He shouted to his comrade who was facing the boar with a calm focus which she must have had in battle.

[Nikki Styx 0]

It hadn't taken Miaki long to get back to her side and she was thankful for it, especially now. For a moment she could even see why no one had fought this boar yet. It stood just over 6 feet at the shoulders, and was probably nearly 12 feet from tip of tail to tip of snout. It looked as though it could have easily weighed 1000 lbs if not more. Its tusks looked to be a foot and a half long, and the snout was filled with jagged teeth. It was a monster built for destruction. But her courage could not falter here, after all in this game such things were simply aesthetic at best, after all it look bad but really be a level 5 pushover.

Nikki focused on the beast and quickly saw that it was not such an easy target. Its health and level soon displayed, along with its name.

DIRE BOAR -Lvl 15-

Nikki almost choked when its info displayed. This thing was almost a world boss. It certainly was the largest normal creature she had fought so far. "Im alright, How're you?" She responded to Miaki's question without blinking or taking her eyes from the animal. It had started to paw at the ground, ripping up chunks of earth with its razor sharp hooves. Then without warning it charged.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki walked forward a few steps along the top of the downed tree. "No damage taken to my HP. Just gonna have to get more dirt out of my hair later than I had planned. But it could've been much worse than a cosmetic problem." He told Nikki. "A lot worse..." He thought of what could have happened if the tree had hit him. "Thanks for the save. I owe you one now."

Miaki bent both his knees and assumed a modified fighting stance with his katana in his right behind him. "Okay, this is to be a tough one." Gripping his weapon Miaki furrowed his brows and faced the <>. The system automatically targeted the beast and displayed its information. "I never knew boars could get that big. How do you want to handle this? What's the plan Nikki?" The <> began to charge forward.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki had only a moment to think about how she wanted to do this. She knew that normal boars were strong, and damn near invincible when they charged, the trick was stopping them, but that took muscle. This boar was far too big for even both of them to try that. With that in her mind she could think of only one immediate acion. "EVADE!" She yelled as she leapt to the side again narrowly missing the boars tusks. She rolled clear to safety, and looked over to confirm that Miaki had made it too.

This was going to be a tough fight, Nikki was unsure if normal tactics would work on an animal so large and powerful. The boar itself had charged deeper into the field and turned to face them again. It pawed at the ground and snorted fiercely before letting out a loud snarl. It raised its head as if to show its tusks before swinging them left and right in a menacing fashion.

"I want to try something.. I think I can stop its charge." As Nikki spoke she raised her shield and braced her shoulder into it. she pressed her spear against the inside of it as well allowing her to effectively balance the impact through her entire body. "Im immune to knock backs... If I can stop it, ill hold it in place and you can attack it." She was not sure if this would work, and it could be heard in her voice. She had never attempted to stop something this large before, but now was the perfect chance to do it. Besides Miaki would be there to make sure she was ok, so she hoped.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki leapt into the air from the tree trunk as the <> smashed through their ranks. Miaki landed on the grassy ground and spun around to see the boar readying for another attack. "Okay Miaki, focus. Think! Boars one and only attack is charging right? Well besides tearing to apart if they catch you which this one certainly can. So it's all a matter of stopping it or catching it before or after a charge attack." As Miaki was about to relay his thoughts to Nikki he saw her brace herself for an impact.

"Im immune to knock backs... If I can stop it, ill hold it in place and you can attack it." She said.

Miaki didn't question her and hoped that she would only try something if she thought it could work. "Let's hope that immunity is enough to stop him. Alright Nikki "the River" Styx. Don't let that beast cross you."

Miaki positioned himself several meters behind Nikki, planted his feet, and held his sword at the ready, charging a sword skill. He wasn't sure how much time he would have as soon as the boar charged so he would make his first attack count. The <> snarled and rushed the two combatants.

[Nikki Styx 0]

The boar was not about to wait for them to plan their next attack, and instead kicked free of its spot, charging the pair with everything it could muster. Miaki had now moved behind Nikki, preparing himself to attack the animal. She knew the risk he was taking now, if she couldn't stop it then it would pass through her right into him, they could both be hurt if this didn't work. She tightened her grip on her shield now preparing herself for what she anticipated to be the most severe impact she had ever dealt with. All that was left now was to close her eyes and pray.

Sure enough the Dire Boar slammed its dusked face into her shield. Nikki let out a yell as she felt the monumental impact, and threw her weight back into it. The sound alone echoed across the open field, as if to let the whole world know that some fool tried to stand in the boars way. After a moment of feeling the strain of the boar against her she opened her eyes. Nikki half expected to be dead and watching herself fragment away, but instead she was still in the same spot, locked into place with the boar trying to push through her with everything it had.

For a moment Nikki silently pushed back, feeling the animals hot breath wrap around her shield as it tried in vain to push her back. Finally she broke the silence. "MIAKI NOW" She shouted as she continued to press against it.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki was dumbfounded for a instant. His blade was charging his attack but he couldnt take his eyes off of Nikki as the <> charged her down. It was like a train wreak accident. Such a horrifying scene but one you just couldn't take your eyes off of. Miaki closed his eyes at the last second, too afraid to watch as the boar made contact with Nikki. His scream joined hers as her heard the crashing impact.

When he opened his eyes, Miaki saw that in fact the boar halted and Nikki was still kneeling in place. "She did it!?"

"MIAKI NOW!"

Miaki snapped to at the sound of Nikki's voice. He heard his sword humming loudly and felt the blade begin to vibrate in his hands. Miaki rushed forward and leapt over Nikki with his feet high in the sky and his head facing down. He saw Nikki struggling to keep the advantage she now had over the beast. Miaki began to get above the beast saw it's tough hide. Taking his blade, Miaki sliced across the beasts back as he was still airborne, releasing his sword skill. He yelled at the top of his lungs as she was striking the boar. Miaki began to feel the momentum of his jump and shifted his weigh in order to land back on his feet properly.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki continued to press against the beast, even as Miaki launched his attack striking it on the back. For a moment the boar was distracted and Nikki used that opportunity to press back again. She looked down and could see the imprints from her feet in the ground, beyond her shield she could see the torn up grass from the boars hooves. This meant that the boar had less traction than she did, or maybe it was just that she was immovable at this point. Either way she was holding a narrow advantage. As she pressed she began tilting her shield to the side, pressing it at an angle to leave the animal unbalanced.

She continued to press until finally the Boars legs seemed to give out. It seemed it used so much effort trying to run them down that it had exhausted itself. It may have even been running for a while in the jungle. It hit the ground with a crash and thrashed about for a moment, tearing up chunks of earth with its tusks. It was almost sad to watch it trash around like that. After a moment or two it just stopped moving. If not for the fact that it appeared to be breathing Nikki would have thought it to be dead.

SHe walked up to it now and tapped it with the tip of her spear, watching as one damage ticked off of its health bar. She could easily kill it now, just a bunch of quick taps and it was done. But that was not what she wanted, not how she wanted to win. Rather than keep going she stopped and looked at Miaki. "I don't get it.. Ive never seen a MoB act like this before... We cant kill it like this." She sounded almost regretful now. She didn't know what to do, why was this one so different from the others.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki landed on the ground feet first and gracefully spun around ready to attack again. However before he could move in he saw just how massive the beast was up close. Miaki couldn't see Nikki past the <> because of it's size but he could tell that she was fighting back and he watched as the boar began to dig it's feet into the ground, trying to gain traction and have an advantage. "The armor really works! I don't believe it!"

Suddenly the boar was thrown to the side and Miaki watched the beast thrash about with it's legs going wild. Miaki ducked low as a precaution and kept himself and his blade ready for the next move but Nikki was hesitant to attack. Miaki slowly stood up straight.

"I don't get it.. Ive never seen a MoB act like this before... We cant kill it like this." She said to him.

Miaki saw the <> give up as if on life itself and was excepting what would happen next. The image itself was rather sad and Miaki didn't want to deal the final blow either. Forget the drops one could get from this creature. He couldn't pull himself to do it. Especially seeing how the action would hurt Nikki inside. "Yeah, it just... Doesn't seem right." He said to Nikki.

Silverwing flew down and landed on Miaki's left shoulder. He turned his head and looked at his familiar. "Hang on." He thought. "Nikki, did you ever get any item that was like food for an animal or something?" He asked her.