[SP-F1] Boar Night

[Natalia 0]

It was a starry night, something that Natalia found to be commonplace on the first floor. Having slept throughout most of the day, she was wide awake as she gazed into the glimmering sky. She found herself lying within the grass atop a hill she had visited earlier in the week, though unlike the last time, she was quite alone. Not that that was a problem She had no real preference in regards to having people around; sometimes she found herself in a party, sometimes she found herself alone. Either way, she found ways to keep herself entertained. Tonight, for example, she would enjoy the comforting darkness as she fought a couple of boar.

She stretched her arms out, and, with a yawn, slowly rose from the ground and onto her feet. With her left hand, she rubbed her neck, which felt a little sore, and with her right, she drew her simple blade. The hill she stood upon overlooked a rather field, and even in the dark, she could make out the silhouettes of the wild pigs, grazing, as they could usually be found. Perhaps she'd manage to get a few hides off them. Regardless, slaughtering them would allow her to gain the experience needed to move on in the world, and that was good enough for her.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Natalia shouted as she chased down a familiar pair glowing red-eyes that could only have been the eyes of a <>.

[Natalia 0]

As she grew closer to the creature, Natalia brought her arm down to her side and tilted her wrist forward. When the <> was only yards away, she raised the blade to her shoulder, and her sword began to glow as the system recognized her strike as the simple <> sword skill. When the skill was fully charged, she slashed the blade down at the creature, which was facing perpendicular to Natalia herself.

Her strike, however, was not prepared to adjust for the boar's convenient movement forward, and she simply grazed the backside of the boar. Though her strike did no damage, her blade had touched enough of the boar for it to recognize Natalia as a target, and the overgrown pig kicked her with its back foot as she moved past it, knocking off one her health points. "Are you freakin' kidding me?" Natalia uttered in disbelief at her luck.

BD: 1

Natalia - 8/9

Boar: 5/5

[Natalia 0]

Immediately after accidentally passing the creature and being kicked in the leg because of it, Natalia spun around to face the creature, which was seemingly staring into her soul with those menacing red-eyes. For what is possibly the easiest enemy in the game, it sure does look menacing. As their programming followed, the boar entered a dash towards Natalia, its sharp tusks ready to pierce through her legs.

Not this time. Natalia raised her blade to the air. The blade glowed a pale-green as <> activated. In a flash of motion, Natalia leaped through the air as the blade slashed at the face of the boar, leaving the usual glimmering red mark to signify where her blade had hit. The boar's life gauge lowered 3/5ths of the way, and a proud smirk engulfed Natalia's face. She had made a decent comeback.

BD: 9

DMG: 1 (Basic Sword) + 1 (One-Handed Sword Skill: Rank 1) + 1 (Critical Hit) = 3

Natalia - 8/9

Boar - 2/5

[Natalia 0]

With Natalia's first successful strike taking down most of the pig's health, the pig shook its body for a moment, dazed. Natalia, still in motion from her last attack, ran a few steps forward before making a running turn back towards the <>. Both of her attacks had been vertical attacks as of yet, so, not wanting to repeat her attacks, she brought the blade of her sword across her chest, with the blade perpendicular to her shoulder. One more powerful strike, and this runt is done with.

Yet, as with her first move, the boar simply made an unexpected movement, causing her to miss yet again, though in the movement, her leg ran directly into one of the boar's tusks, causing her to tumble and land on her back. Two health points gone, but seven left. There's no way I'll manage to die against just this simple creature.

Natalia - 7/9

Boar 2/5

BD: 5 (Miss)

DMG: 0 (Miss)

[Natalia 0]

Before she even had a chance to stand back up, Natalia found the boar directly above her. It raised its hooves and brought them crashing down directly onto the unarmored portion of her stomach. Damn it! I shouldn't be having trouble with such a simple creature! Had anyone else been around to witness this, she would have been utterly embarrassed. The lack of witnesses was one of the better parts of traveling alone.

Natalia - 6/9

Boar - 5/5

BD: 3

DMG: 0 (Miss)

[Natalia 0]

After its attack, the boar distanced itself from Natalia before turning back to face her. She had barely sat back up when she found the boar charging directly at her. During the earlier struggle, the boar had knocked her sword from her grasp. In desperation, the girl, who's heart was at this point racing, crawled towards the blade. In a swift motion, she grabbed the hilt of the blade, rolled onto her back, and raised it in the direction of the incoming boar. The boar didn't have enough time to react, and impaled itself upon her blade. The creature stood there for a second before shattering into hundreds of tiny little polygons.

It's about time. Natalia shook her head, disappointed in her own abilities, before rising to her feet once again. She had lost three HP in a fight that shouldn't have been remotely threatening. Not ready to give up just yet, she scanned the area for another one of the creatures.

Natalia - 6/9

Boar - 0/0 (Dead)

BD: 6

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (One-Handed Sword Skill: Rank 1) = 2

LD: 2 (No Loot)

[Natalia 0]

It wasn't long before Natalia caught sight of another one of the creatures. They were hard to miss with their occasional oinks, and terrifying eyes. I'm gonna try something a little different with this one. Instead of charging towards it, as she had done prior, she just casually stepped towards it. When it was within arm's reach, she activated <>, the simple diagonal strike, and directed the attack towards the overgrown creature. As if the system simply hated her, her slash missed her target. This time, the pig did not recognize Natalia as an attacker, and continued grazing on the moonlit grass.

Natalia - 6/9

Boar - 5/5

BD: 2

DMG: 0 (Miss)

[Natalia 0]

Please, for the love of all things, let me hit my damn target. With every missed strike, Natalia grew more and more frustrated. However, as the creature wasn't attacking her just yet, she didn't care, and activated <> a second time, hoping to have better luck than the first. Her odds couldn't be that awful, could they? And they weren't. Her strike landed, both aggroing the creature, and decreasing its health two points closer to its death.

BD: 8

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (One-Handed Sword: Rank 1) = 2

Natalia - 6/9

Boar: 3/5

[Natalia 0]

Because of her landed strike, her boar was now preparing to attack her. With its most common attack being the charge she had witnessed oh so many times that night, she knew what to expect. It turned its head to face her and rubbed its hooves upon the ground. The <> grunted, and in a dash of speed, it ran at her. Just as it was about to hit her, she side-stepped and turned her body towards the boar, which ran directly in front of her, and diagonally slashed it twice, in the shape of an X. It let out a disgusting squeal of desperation, which, for Natalia, was music to her ears.

BD: 6

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (One-Handed: Rank 1) = 2

Natalia : 6/9

Boar: 1/5

[Natalia 0]

Like the first boar, Natalia found herself at the point where even if she landed a relatively weak attack, the boar would be killed. Not even giving the creature an opportunity to turn around, she dashed towards it and slashed at it from bottom to top. The strike catching it off guard, she managed to score a critical hit, and she watched as the second creature she fought today evaporated into several, beautiful, shiny polygons.

BD: 10

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (One-Handed: Rank 1) + 2 (Perfect Critical Hit) = 4

Boar: -3/5

Natalia: 6/9

[Natalia 0]

No longer in combat, Natalia decided now would be a relatively decent opportunity to take a break. After defeating that last boar, she had leveled up, and as such, two hit points were added to her maximum level, as well as her HP bar being entirely refreshed. Well, that makes things a little easier. She pushed the 'O' on the HUD Message that informed her of her level increase, signifying that she understood. The following fights would be just a little less risky, now that she could take a few more hits than before.

[Natalia 0]

When she felt ready again, Natalia caught sight of her next target. There were a few wolves nearby, but she hardly knew their attack patterns and found yet another boar, doing what every other boar she had seen was doing: grazing. For the most part, all she'd fought as of yet were boar. No need to change things up now. Little did she know that that thought was her own worst enemy. Not only was she not going to change her target, but she also wouldn't land her first strike. She fell, embarrassingly, once again.

Natalia: 11/11

Boar: 5/5

BD: 1

DMG: 0 (Miss)

[Natalia 0]

The frustration that had already been building up throughout the night had probably hit its peak with the most recent miss in her attack pattern. Without even activating a sword skill, she attempted to slash from the ground up at the creature, but without the game's assistance, she didn't even come close to her target. The <> itself, effortlessly lifted its leg and kicked her in the shin, not even taking the effort to face her.

Natalia: 10/11

Boar: 5/5

BD: 3

DMG: 0 (Miss)

[Natalia 0]

Natalia grunted, both in a small bit of pain, and agitation. I am so freakin' done with these damned pigs. She activated <> and slashed diagonally at the pig with her glowing blade. This time, her blade's attack hit, leaving a rather massive red, glowing mark upon the virtual boar. She couldn't help but feel a little better, now that she could say she actually managed to hit her target.

Natalia: 10/11

Boar: 3/5

BD: 6

DMG: 1 (Hit) + 1 (Rank 1 OHS) = 2