[F2-SP] Owl vs Dragon <<Dragon Hunter Anthology - Dragon Hunt 2: the Quartz Hatchling>>

[Noctua 0]

Spoiler

Noctua
Level: 29
HP: 580/580 | EN: 58/58 | DMG: 11 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 24 | BLT: 24 | REGN: 10

Equipped:
» Jack's Graceful Repose [T2 Demonic Rapier [Burn // Blight // Cursed // Burn]]
» Winged Armor [T2 Demonic Light Armor Coat [Cursed / EVA / EVA / Regen]]
» Silver Wolf Necklace [T1 Perfect Necklace [Accuracy // Accuracy // Accuracy]]

Battle Ready Inventory:
» (3) Starter Healing Potions
» (5) Tier One Health Potions of Uncommon Quality (+40HP)

Skills:
» Rapier - Rank 5

• Rapier Finesse - Rank 3

» First Aid - Rank 1

Extra Skills:
» Fighter - Rank 3
» Survival

She had gotten the message about the second dragon after defeating the first one with Koga. But, time never let her go and fight it since she wasn't at a safe level at the time. Then, the fall-outs all happened, basically at once. Now, she was told to not worry about the one person whom she should be worrying about. She sighed as she grabbed her things, and looked at Athena. "You're coming with me, right?" The owl looked at Noctua, didn't say anything, but did move closer.

"I'll take that as a yes." Noctua had been blocking her emotions for a bit now, so, it was no surprise to her that the snowy white owl was still mad at her. "One day, you'll forgive me Athena." No sound came from the owl, but Noctua pushed that to the side as she walked to the inn door and opened it. Athena quickly flew out of the room first, apparently still not wanting to touch Noctua at all, which did hurt a little still. But nothing that she could do about it at this point.

[Noctua 0]

The walk was silent as she started to leave the town. She had left a note at the shop, just in case Koga decided to try and worry, which she doubted at this point. She shrugged that thought off quickly. If he cared, he'd know how and why she was like how she is now. He'd know what hurt her that day they found each other again. He'd just... know. But he didn't know. He didn't care, even if he tried to act like he did.

She knew that he was just pretending and lying. Something was just telling her. But, at the same time, there was still that feeling that she was just being rude. She didn't believe that though, and she probably never would unless something horrible happens to her. But, that won't ever happen, because she doesn't plan on putting herself out there anymore to be hurt. Koga broke what had once been there.

[Noctua 0]

She needed to stop thinking about that. Instead of dwelling on the broken-hearted, she started to focus on what it was that she could do. That was why she was out here. She was out here, about to go and fight a dragon alone, so that she could be as strong as she could possibly be, to become the best her that she could be. She didn't need to have that help anymore, she knew that she could do it.

She just needed to look at the skills that she had, and try to figure out how to make herself better. She knew the first thing that she needed to do though, save up to get that accuracy buff from a weapons mod. Her accuracy has always been lacking, and well, she needed to fix that. She knew that her accuracy was lacking, which was why she was wearing the horrible reminder of a necklace around her neck right now.

[Noctua 0]

Absentmindedly, almost as if the feelings that she had been denying for almost a week now, she touched the pendent that was on the necklace. It had been made to remind her why she couldn't miss anything. Why she had to hit things. But now, it wasn't a good reminder. She took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She wasn't about to delve back into the mindset that she had when she went into that cave to save that stupid child.

There was no point. The past was the past, and that was where she needed to keep it. So, she looked at Athena, the white owl was at least starting to fly a little closer to Noctua. That was a bonus. It meant that her relationship with the owl was a good thing. That meant that she was at least going to have one person, or animal, in her court. Maybe.

[Noctua 0]

Thinking on that, took her mind to what she wanted to do when the game was officially going to be done. She kind of wanted to go to the beach first, she was certain that she'd be able to find one before leaving Japan. She wanted to see the actual stars, hear the actual waves crashing on the sand. To hear the actual sounds of the world that she's been missing so long. Just the thought of the stars and the ocean made Noctua smile lightly.

She couldn't wait for that day to come. She couldn't wait to be able to crack a mythology book open again. She wanted to learn everything that she could, and she was going to, mainly because she knew what it was that she wanted to do. She might not have the person whom she wanted to do it with anymore, but she could happily do it on her own. Wouldn't be the first time that she's done things alone after all.

[Noctua 0]

She stopped walking for a moment, because she needed to remind herself where the general area of this dragon was. She had heard that it was a trickster, but that was fine, she'd handle that when it came to it. But, it was the not getting lost getting there that was the issue for her. She read over the message and nodded, a forest. Awesome. Another forest. Just perfect. She sighed as she closed the message and shook her head.

This was going to be fun. Maybe she could avoid hitting a tree this time. Maybe. She shall see. Her luck wasn't always the best in fights, which was what was going to make this a little dicey probably. That's why she brought her potions. She can't use her first aid on herself, which sucks a little, perhaps she should look into battle healing? She shrugged lightly as she started to walk once more, keeping an eye out for this pine forest that the dragon was supposed to be in.

[Noctua 0]

After what seemed like a lifetime, she finally reached a pine forest. If she was lucky, this was going to be the one that she needed to be in. She wanted to see how well she could do this without needing the help of someone else. Athena, not liking that they were in a pine forest now, felt defeated as she perched herself on Noctua's shoulder. But to Noctua, this felt normal, right. It made her feel like she was somewhat whole once more.

She just needed that one other person to no longer hate her to feel completely whole. Perhaps she's being too mean to him? Not likely. She just kept walking in the forest, looking for any sign of this dragon. It had to be somewhere, and if it was the same size as the last one, she should be able to see it at some point. It was just finding the thing that was proving to be a little evil right now.

[Noctua 0]

Wait, was that a broke tree? She walked closer to the tree and noticed one thing. It hadn't fallen because of age or anything, but because something clawed it down. She knew that a bear wouldn't be able to do this, plus the claws were bigger than a bears would be. That only meant one thing, the dragon was near. She looked around, noticing a new trail of destroyed things. She had a feeling that she was on the right track now, and she followed it.

Athena seemed to be worried a bit, but Noctua just lightly stroked the owl's feathered wing. "We'll be fine Athena. I have faith in us. Besides, we need to be able to do things on our own. It's not like we have Koga to journey with anymore." Not to mention, he has probably found new people to journey with anyways. She tossed that to the side, it wasn't like she had a reason to be jealous anymore.

[Noctua 0]

There it was, the dragon. Right now, he seemed to be sleeping, which was good. That meant that she could take a few moments to attempt to come up with a game plan. Game plans were a good thing when someone wanted to stay alive after all. So that meant that she was going to be able to do this, all because she was thinking ahead instead of just charging in, right? Just the thought of charging in made her shake her head lightly, it reminded her of when she had to go and save Koga's baby sister from her own stupidity.

Some things might never change, but at least the sounds of Tala changing was a good thing for Koga. It meant that he didn't need to worry about anyone anymore. She closed her eyes, and gripped the hilt of her rapier before starting to walk toward the dragon. That was when she realized that he hadn't been sleeping, but watching her, and just waiting.

[Noctua 0]

Spoiler

Noctua: HP: 515 (580-65)/580 | EN: 56 (58-2)/58 | DMG: 11 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 24 | BLT: 24 | REGN: 10

Zylara: HP: 175/175 | MIT: 35 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 | DMG: 65
Abilities:
<<Mend Mini-Twigs>> : On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

Noctua uses Over Radiation against Zylara and Misses!
Zylara attacks Noctua and Hits!
Miniature sticks form in front of Noctua!
Noctua's HP Regen begins!

Spoiler

ID: 185296
BD: 4 (1+3)
DMG: Miss

ID: 185297
MD: 6 (7-2+1)
LD: 16
DMG: 65

 

Was the dragon waiting for her to attack first? Was this a part of its trickster nature? Letting its opponent think that it has the upper hand? She didn't want to think that, so she started to walk toward the dragon, then run as her rapier glowed black. She did kind of miss the purple that it used to glow, but that wasn't what was important here. No, it was making sure that she had the upper hand on... the... dra- her rapier just stabbed into the dirt.

The very thing that she was trying not to have happen, just happened. She let the fact that the dragon was letting her go first, get to her head. She stared at the tip of her rapier, which was stuck in the dirt at the moment, and she just blinked. How did that even go so wrong? It didn't matter, because she felt the dragon's claws hit her, and she was tossed to the side. At least her rapier came with her. As she stood up though, she watched as sticks started to form in front of her, and she just stared at them, confused.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Noctua

[Noctua 0]

Spoiler

Noctua: HP: 525 (515+10)/580 | EN: 47 (56+1-10)/58 | DMG: 11 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 24 | BLT: 24 | REGN: 10
[REGEN 2/3]

Zylara: HP: 56 (175-119)/175 | MIT: 35 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 | DMG: 65
Abilities:
<<Mend Mini-Twigs>> : On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

Noctua uses Over Radiation against Zylara and Hits!
Zylara attacks Noctua and Misses!
Miniature sticks form in front of Noctua!

Spoiler

ID: 185298
BD: 8 (6-1+3)
DMG: 119 (11*14-35)

ID: 185299
MD: 2 (3-2+1)
LD: 18
DMG: Miss

 

She was starting to see why this dragon was called a trickster. These sticks were just plain annoying, it was making her want to just kill the dragon even faster. So, she moved around kicked the sticks one by one out of her way, charging her sword art along the way, and when she reached the dragon, her rapier's black blade gave a barrage of hits to the dragon. Now, the attack didn't do as much damage as she would have liked, but that was okay, she still watched as the dragon's health dropped quite a bit.

So, it was weak. One more hit, and she should be able to get rid of the thing and these stupid sticks that were following her apparently. Because just as she moved out of the way of the dragon's attack, more sticks formed in front of her, and it just made her grumble something about hating forests even more.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Noctua

[Noctua 0]

Spoiler

Noctua: HP: 470 (525+10-65)/580 | EN: 46 (47+1-2)/58 | DMG: 11 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 24 | BLT: 24 | REGN: 10
[REGEN 3/3]

Zylara: HP: 56/175 | MIT: 35 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 | DMG: 65
Abilities:
<<Mend Mini-Twigs>> : On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

Noctua uses Over Radiation against Zylara and Misses!
Zylara attacks Noctua and Hits!
Noctua's HP Regen refreshes!

Spoiler

ID: 185300
BD: 3 (1-1+3)
DMG: Miss

ID: 185301
MD: 6 (7-2+1)
LD: 2
DMG: 65

 

One more hit. That was all that she needed to land on this dragon. That shouldn't be too hard really. She just needed to get around these dumb sticks, and that should be easy to do. She started to charge her sword art as she tried to move past the sticks, only for them to trip her, the sword art fizzling away. "Damn it!" She glared at the sticks before they just vanished, and the next thing that she knew, she was being thrown once more.

Alright, this dragon was so dead at this point. It was just pissing her off, and almost everyone knew that the moment Noctua got too mad, she suddenly was able to hit almost everything and anything, yes, still including the ground and trees. She pushed herself to her feet, happy to see that there weren't any sticks about to be in her way this time. That meant that she had a clear shot, and she was going to take it.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Noctua

[Noctua 0]

Spoiler

Noctua: HP: 480 (470+10)/580 | EN: 37 (46+1-10)/58 | DMG: 11 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | BRN: 24 | BLT: 24 | REGN: 10
[REGEN 2/3]

Zylara: HP: 0 (56-119)/175 | MIT: 35 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 | DMG: 65 >>Dead<<
Abilities:
<<Mend Mini-Twigs>> : On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

Noctua uses Over Radiation against Zylara and Hits!
Zylara dies!
Noctua gains <Zylara’s Quartz>!

Spoiler

ID: 185302
BD: 11 (8+3)
DMG: 119 (11*14-35)

 

With her gaze just staring down this dragon, she didn't wait very long before her sword art started to charge, and she was running at the dragon. She was muttering some profanities under her breath, all pointed at the dragon that she now wanted dead and gone. At this point, she didn't even care about it's jewel, she just wanted this trickster dragon to be gone and out of her damned way. The moment she was near enough to the dragon, she let loose, hitting it over and over until the last of its health was gone, and the dragon as well.

Noticing that there was nothing else for her to hit, she sheathed her rapier and bent down, picking up the quartz that had been left behind. "Good. Damn dragon." She saw that there were still some remnants of the sticks that had blocked her path a few times, and she kicked them out of her way.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Noctua

[Noctua 0]

She looked over at Athena, who had found a tree branch to make her perch for the time, and she smiled a little, knowing that the owl hadn't left her after all. "Are you ready to go ho-." Ding! Noctua blinked as she opened the message that was sent to her. It was the general location and information of the next dragon. She closed that message and walked over to Athena. "Maybe another day. I feel like going home and making some mac and cheese. How does that sound Athena?"

There was no sound that came from the familiar, and it made Noctua sigh. Back to the silent treatment it seemed like. She was starting to get used to this. The day that Athena spoke to her again, Noctua would probably wait for the game to end and everything to be back in the real world. Not being able to hold a conversation with Athena was a scary thought, but she wasn't going to push the owl. Let the owl hold her temper tantrum.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Noctua

[Noctua 0]

At least Athena was perched on her shoulder during the walk out of the pines. The trees seemed to be thicker leaving than they had been getting to the dragon. Did that mean that Noctua just went the wrong way? She really hoped not, but she kept walking anyways. She had time to kill after all. It wasn't like she had customers anymore, that had been seen to it felt like. Not by anyone but her own stupidity for staying away for so long.

She shrugged lightly as she walked, noticing that the trees were starting to thin once more. That was good, it meant that she would be able to breathe again without worrying about inhaling a pine needle. No matter how good some might think pine needles smelt, they felt horrible going into your nose. Don't ask her how she knows this, because she will just look at you like you're crazy.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Noctua

[Noctua 0]

Once she was out of the pine tree forest, she felt Athena leave her shoulder. Nope, that meant that the pair weren't back on good terms at all. Noctua had just been a means of a way to not get lost in a forest. That sounded about right when she thought about it. It just sucked at the same time. Noctua stopped walking and looked at the owl, "Are you ever going to forgive me?" Athena just stared at Noctua, not saying anything vocally, but if the owl's eyes could talk, then the things that they'd be saying.

"Listen, he's the one who lied to me about everything. He's the one who told me not to worry, you know what that means to me!" So, there was a little part of Noctua's emotions starting to show once more, since it was just her and Athena, she didn't care. But when she got back to town, this wasn't going to happen, so it was best to have it happen now.

[Noctua 0]

There was a classic stare down happening just outside the pine tree forest now. Who was going to win? The player, or the AI? Noctua wanted to think that it was going to be her, but she also knew better at this point. She just sighed and shook her head, "Whatever Athena." With that, Noctua just started to walk again, not really wanting to turn back to see if the owl was following her or not. But since Noctua still had the fighter skill showing, she knew that the owl wasn't far behind her.

That was a good sign, it meant that at least Noctua wasn't going to be alone, even if she didn't have someone to talk to. "You know, I do miss talking to you Athena. You gave the best advice." Granted, that advice came from Noctua's own mind as she talked to the owl, but it was some kind of attempt to get the owl to talk to her once more.

[Noctua 0]

She got absolutely nothing from Athena in response, and she sighed once more. She didn't say a word and just started to walk back toward Urbus. Not only that, but she just walked in silence, trying to find a way to make things up with Athena. If the owl wanted her to make up with Koga, then that wasn't going to happen for a very long time. Noctua didn't know how to explain to Koga that she was irritated with him for him basically telling her to go away.

He probably didn't see it like that, but he also hasn't attempted to ask or talk to her about it. Their conversations have been all about avoiding what had happened. That wasn't going to solve anything, and she knew it, but she also didn't think that she needed to be the one to apologize again. She did that already, twice, she didn't think that she could do it a third time.

[Noctua 0]

There, Urbus, she smiled a little, only for it to vanish the moment that she crossed into the safe zone. She was hungry, and she needed to find a place to eat. But at the same time, she didn't know if she wanted to eat just yet. So instead, she just kept walking around the town, thinking and debating on things. Should she attempt to talk to Koga? Or should she just not bother anymore? These were both thoughts that made her really think, and because of that, she went to sit down on a bench.

She wanted to talk to Koga, to at least be friends with him still, but she had a feeling that that wasn't about to happen either. She had her feelings, and they weren't going to go away ever. Some might think that someone could sway her away from him, but no, she was his, even if he wasn't hers anymore.

[Noctua 0]

She looked at Athena, the owl just staring at her, "Alright, I think I understand what you want, but I just can't Athena. I can't be the only one putting in the effort to understand things. I can't be the only one who is going to be calm and actually listen. I just can't... be the only one trying." That got to the owl, and it was easy to be seen because Athena moved over to Noctua and settled in the woman's lap.

Noctua spoke her heart, only before locking it back up. She lightly stroked the owl's feathers, trying to figure out how to fix things. But she really couldn't find a way to do so. She also was trying to say that she was the only one trying, but was she even trying anymore at this point? Was she listening? Was she attempting? No, but that wasn't going to be admitted right now, not when she finally had the comfort of her owl once more.

"Come on, let's go back to the inn." With Athena in her arms, Noctua stood up and walked back to her inn room on the floor, settling in for the night.

Thread Summary:

Spoiler

3 SP (1 Thread + 1 Quest + 1 Quarantine)
1000 Col (400 Thread + 600 Quest)
<Zylara’s Quartz> [Vanity Quest Item] : 1 of 9, collect all 9 and meet whom that waits before you, only then will you get the grand prize.