[SP-F5] This Place is Hot

[Azide 0]

"God, this place is hot." Azide held a hand over his head to block the sun from his eyes, but the minute amount of shade provided by the gesture did little to alleviate the desert heat. He'd come to the desert in search of restocking his supplies back at the lab. He'd been planning on departing to the third floor instead, in search of the Hoya pendant he'd heard about, but had decided to put that little venture on hold until his new equipment was finished. In the meantime, he decided it'd be worth his time to work on something until then. This happened to be that something. He spotted something in the distance and began walking toward it, thankful for the lack of sandstorms and such today.

[Azide 0]

From here, Azide spotted a mid-sized dust cloud headed in his direction. "Actually, it's kind of self-centered to think that it's heading for me, isn't it? Maybe it's on its way somewhere else, and I just happen to be in the way," he mused. In any case, whatever it was eventually came close enough that he could begin to see through the dust. Spotting what appeared to be some sort of large lizard skittering across the surface of the sand, he released Quantum Slicer from its sheath. Finally, the Sand Lizard came within his range and leapt forward with an attempted tackle, but missed as the player sidestepped its efforts. Doing one it one better, Azide slashed at the creature's side during the same motion, dealing a respectable amount of damage.

ID: 8426

BD: 9 (Crit +1)

MD: 2 (Miss)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Lizard) = 7 (Base+Rapier+Skills) + 1 (Crit +1) = 8

Azide HP: 22/22 (-0)

Sand Lizard HP: 6/14 (-8)

[Azide 0]

With little difficulty, Azide easily rolled out of the way of another one of the creature's attempts on his life. After quickly recuperating, Azide managed to catch the lizard in a vulnerable state following its failed strike. With a quick thrust of his sword, he dispatched the frail creature with little thought. Such enemies had since become somewhat mindless work, and would no doubt grow even more mindless upon the arrival of his updated gear. "With all of this mindlessness, I'm certainly glad to have somewhere to keep my mind sharp," he thought, thinking of his lab back on the first floor. As the creature vanished, he was awarded with not only the expected material, but also a fair amount of col along with a second material. Sending them quickly to his inventory, he carried through the desert.

ID: 8430

BD: 7 (Hit)

MD: 2 (Miss)

LD: 20 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Lizard) = 7

Azide HP: 22/22 (-0)

Sand Lizard HP: -1/14 (-7) [Dead]

*1 material acquired + 1 bonus material

** Lizard HP (14) * 5 = 70 Col acquired.

[Azide 0]

Soon enough, he was rushed by yet another creature of the desert, albeit a bit sooner than expected. It proved to be of little concern however, as he'd kept Quantum Slicer at hand in case of any sudden intrusions. A large scorpion came from somewhere behind him, alerting him to its presence with the scurry of its footsteps just in time for him to avoid its deadly strike. He rolled out of the way as its hooked stinger came plunging downwards, striking where he'd been just fractions of a moment earlier. "If I'd been wearing something a little heavier, I figure I might've just taken a bit of damage just now." Shaking it off, he maneuvered over to the newly appeared foe and stabbed it straight through the face, then withdrew his blade. "As long as this thing is still alive, I can't afford to stay within its striking distance," he reasoned, keeping its tail within view.

ID: 8433

BD: 5 (+1 Accuracy) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 6 (+1 Evasion) = 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Scorpion) = 7 (Base+Rapier+Skills)

Azide HP: 22/22 (-0)

Sand Scorpion HP: 7/14 (-7)

[Azide 0]

Deciding to take the risk, Azide moved into the scorpion's range once more. Once within its circle of space, he managed to evade the snaps of its pincers with a combination of rolls and leaps, as well as simply stepping out of their path. As he prepared to strike the creature with his blade, however, he was hit through the chest by the tip of its stinger. Luckily, the was a thicker portion of his jacket, so said attack only resulted in the loss of a single health point. "But any loss is regrettable." After clutching his chest and catching his breath, leapt out of the way as the beast swiped at him with its pincers. Immediately afterwards, he jumped atop of the creature and sliced off the end of its tail, then followed the action by driving his blade through the top of its head like a spike. The creature shattered, leaving him behind with some poison from its stinger, as well as some extra col. He sent both to his inventory, then continued yet again.

ID: 8435

BD: 8 (Hit)

MD: 7 (Hit)

LD: 16 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Base) - 2 (Mitigation) = 1 (Min)

Damage taken (Scorpion) = 7

Azide HP: 21/22 (-1)

Scorpion HP: 0/14 (-7)

*1 material acquired (3 materials acquired, total).

** Scorpion HP (14) * 5 = 70 Col acquired (140 Col total).

[Azide 0]

Deciding to take a break from being assaulted left and right by desert monsters, he decided to stop where he was, so as to at least not attract any additional attention for the time being. He crouched down and looked at the silky desert sand. "It's finer than any sand I've ever seen back in that other world, that's for sure. But as fine as it is, I can still tell that it's made from all sorts of minerals and crystals. Minerals and crystals that might still lay around under the sand, somewhere." He dug around in the sand, finding no success at first. As he was about to stand up and leave, he noticed something peeking out half-sunk a few feet away. Walking over, he pulled it up and held it in his hand. "This is just the thing I was looking for," he thought. He sent the mineral to his inventory, where it would sit until he returned back to the laboratory.

ID: 8437

LD: 17 (Material found)

*1 material acquired (4 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

After a short amount of relatively peaceful travel, Azide found himself attacked by yet another creature. This time, however, the creature had emerged from underneath him. He'd heard a rumbling sound, as if something was digging around underneath the desert. The rumbling had quickly grown closer and closer, until he'd realized that it was likely the source was precisely below his feet. As a mole-like creature emerged from its burrow in the sand, he'd leapt out of the way just in time to escape its ambush. "First in front of me, then behind me, and now from underneath? This place is pretty hostile. No wonder it doesn't get many tourists." Azide quickly returned to his feet, then sprinted over and impaled the creature before it could return back into the safety of the underground.

ID: 8440

BD: 9 (Crit +1)

MD: 6 (+1 Evasion) = 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Desert Mole) = 7 + 1 (Crit +1) = 8

Azide HP: 21/22 (-0)

Desert Mole HP: 6/14 (-8)

[Azide 0]

Soon after he'd withdrawn his sword, the mole-like creature had been quick to retreat underneath the sands of the desert. However, it soon returned, apparently unsatisfied with simply surviving the encounter. Instead, the creature seemed unappeased by anything less than complete victory. It must've been disappointed, if that were the case, as Azide evaded its ambush once again. "An ambush usually doesn't work twice in a row in the same battle," he reflected. Having been aware of the mole's tricks, he'd simply listened and waited for the creature's approach before escaping at the last moment. This time, the ease had only grown, and he was back up on his feet before the creature had fully even emerged. Azide quickly turned, then ran a path straight to the creature, impaling it's skull with the end of his rapier. He watched as the creature shattered, leaving behind a bit of sandy material, which he added to his inventory.

ID: 8444

BD: 8 (Hit)

MD: 4 (Miss)

LD: 2 (Nothing)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Mole) = 7

Azide HP: 21/22 (-0)

Mole HP: 0/14 (-7)

*1 material acquired (5 materials acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

This time, it was Azide that had made the first move. He'd spotted another scorpion scurrying around in the distance and moved under the cover of a passing dust cloud. Once he'd made his way to within sprinting distance of the creature, he'd simply sped off at the thing full-speed. This haphazard approach however, was a double-edged sword. On one hand, he'd managed to strike the creature at a critical point, dealing more than half of its health in his strike. On the other, the creature had also managed to strike him in a similarly critical area. This was, however, mitigated by the armor he wore. "I have no regrets," he thought, withdrawing his blade from the creature's exoskeleton.

ID: 8446

BD: 9 (Crit +1)

MD: 9 (Crit +1)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Base) + 1 (Crit +1) - 2 (Mitigation) = 1 (Min)

Damage taken (Scorpion) = 7 (Base+Rapier+Skills) + 1 (Crit +1) = 8

Azide HP: 20/22 (-1)

Scorpion HP: 6/14 (-8)

[Azide 0]

Tearing the stinger from out of his body, he plunged Quantum Slicer deep into the creature once again, managing to avoid the frantic snaps of the dying creature's pincers. As the scorpion shattered and disappeared, it left behind the stinger he'd previously held in his hand. He sent the material off to his inventory, noting today to be going his way, for the most part. "This material gathering is going almost shockingly well." Finding himself highly pleased, he decided it'd be a fine idea to continue his trek through the desert. "I'll take whatever materials I can get my hands on."

ID: 8448

BD: 7 (Hit)

MD: 1 (Miss)

LD: 7 (Nothing)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Scorpion) = 7

Azide HP: 20/22 (-0)

Scorpion HP: -1/14 (-7) [Dead]

*1 material acquired (6 acquired, total).

[Azide 0]

A while later, Azide spotted a peculiar sight for a desert such as this one, and at first thought himself to be seeing a mirage. He rubbed his eyes, and soon the image disappeared. Supposedly confirming his theory, he continued for a while longer figuring it'd just been a trick of environment, until he spotted the creature once again. "It looks like a fish..." he thought. "Out here, in the desert?" By now, the creature must've spotted him, and was traveling through the fine sand as if it were a sort of liquid. It dove under and over the sand repeatedly, leaping into the air before diving back down into the ground. Azide thought it moved similarly to a dolphin.

During one of these described adventures out of the sand, the fish-creature attempted to plunge through the player's armor with a beak resembling that of a swordfish's. It missed, however, and was struck through the side with a well-placed swing of Azide's sword. It soon landed back in the sand, however, ready for another go.

ID: 8450

BD: 7 (Hit)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Sand Fish) = 7 (Base+Rapier+Skills)

Azide HP: 20/22 (-0)

Sand Fish HP: 7/14 (-7)

[Azide 0]

Azide kept light on his feet, ready to leave abandon his position at the first sight of the creature's return. Feeling the vibrations of the fish's travel below, he sprinted out of the way as the creature emerged from under the sand. Because the creature had exited the ground at an angle, rather than the expected perpendicular exit, the fish had actually come quite close to hitting him. Close, but no cigar. As he escaped the reach of its beak, he swung back at the beast, only for the narrow structure to deflect his blade.

ID: 8452

BD: 3 (Miss)

MD: 6 (+1 Evasion) = 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Misses)

Azide HP: 20/22 (-0)

Fish HP: 7/14 (-0)

[Azide 0]

Bringing the battle to a close, Azide waited for the fish to emerge once more. "You have to come up sometime, buddy." Then again, he wasn't quite sure if that was true. Did the fish need to come up for air? Regular fish didn't come up for air. But then again, regular fish also didn't swim around in the sand either. "Hmm, that's quite the dilemma." In any case, the fish eventually did spring back up from under the sand, allowing Azide to land a clean strike against the beast. The end of his slim blade skewered the creature's heart, making it shatter into pieces. He found himself rewarded by a scale, along with a similar amount of col he'd gotten from two of the other creatures. He quickly sent these things to his inventory and journeyed onwards.

ID: 8473

BD: 5 (+1 Accuracy) = 6 (Hit)

MD: 2 (Miss)

LD: 18 (Loot found)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Fish) = 7 (Base+Rapier+Skills)

Azide HP: 20/22 (-0)

Fish HP: 0/14 (-7)

*1 material acquired (7 materials acquired, total).

** Fish HP (14) * 5 = 70 Col acquired (210 Col total).

[Azide 0]

"Is that... buzzing?" thought Azide. Such a sound seemed completely out of place here in the desert. "But hey, I just finished fishing here a few minutes ago, so that point is pretty much invalid by now," he thought, shrugging. He craned his neck around in search for whatever was making that awful droning noise. "It reminds me of those awful vuvuzelas." Suddenly, a shadow passed by overhead and he looked up. "Well, the explains the droning." Above him was, sure enough, a drone. Or rather, a wasp drone. In any case, it dove down straight at him, taking advantage of its higher ground. He felt a stinger plunge into his arm and swung out of retaliation, but missed because of the blinding light above.

ID: 8475

BD: 3 (Miss)

MD: 7 (Hit)

Damage taken (Azide) = 1 (Base) -2 (Mitigation) = 1 (Min)

Damage taken (Desert Wasp) = 0 (Miss)

Azide HP: 19/22 (-1)

Wasp HP: 14/14 (-0)

[Azide 0]

Azide swung another fruitless swing that missed the flying insect by a decent margin. Luckily, however, the wasp missed him as well. As the player's sword whooshed through the air, the insect simply hovered out of the way in a flash. "Hitting a moving target is one thing," he thought. "Hitting a flying one is another one altogether." The wasp was fighting in its natural habit: the sky. Meanwhile, Azide found himself struggling to combat something that forced him to squint, just so that he wouldn't go blind keeping his eyes on it.

ID: 8480

BD: 3 (Miss)

MD: 4 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Misses)

Azide HP: 19/22 (-0)

Wasp HP: 14/14 (-0)

[Azide 0]

Azide raised a hand over his eyes. "This is extremely unorthodox, and no doubt bad form, but visibility is important in this battle." With the refuge of shade acquired, he managed to lock onto his target, so to speak, and the resulting slash made contact with the creature. His blade had been on-target, and sent the flying insect crashing to the ground. Unfortunately, it'd crashed a little too far away for the player to reach in time for a follow-up, but the damage had been done. As he neared the creature, it had taken off back into the air and attempted a counterattack, but missed as Azide leaned out of the way just in the nick of time.

ID: 8481

BD: 10 (Crit +2)

MD: 6 (+1 Evasion) = 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Azide) = 0 (Miss)

Damage taken (Wasp) = 7 (Base+Rapier+Skills) + 2 (Crit +2) = 9

Azide HP: 19/22 (-0)

Wasp HP: 5/14 (-9)

[Azide 0]

The next bout proved less decisive, with neither party managing to come very close to dealing any damage. Although Azide was clearly in the lead by far, the momentum of the last strike had been used, and the swift end he'd hope to bring seemed to disappear. "The result of this battle was decided before I'd even set foot in this place. But the real question is, when will it result?" He'd swung at the insect, but couldn't seem to get down the timing. Each swing he'd take would just lead to slicing through the air that'd held the insect moments before. At the very least, the same problem seemed to curse the bug as well.

ID: 8482

BD: 2 (Miss)

MD: 2 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Misses)

Azide HP: 19/22 (-0)

Wasp HP: 5/14 (-0)

[Azide 0]

Nothing happened in the following bout either. Both combatants struggled to accomplish very much at all as a dust cloud enveloped them. Aside from that, it was somewhat unclear what'd come over the two. "I think I might've jinxed myself with that earlier comment," thought Azide, remembering how earlier he'd noted how well everything had went. The lack of complications had been most unusual for him. "It seems as if the universe is correcting itself." Meanwhile, both foes continued advancing at each other with little progress.

ID: 8489

BD: 1 (Miss)

MD: 2 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Misses)

Azide HP: 19/22 (-0)

Wasp HP: 5/14 (-0)

[Azide 0]

Very similar, and by now, expected events proceeded to happen. Nothing of interest took place during this round, with the dust cloud's continued presence causing both parties to flail around uselessly, accomplishing nothing. Azide could vaguely spot the wasp through the dust, making it hard to actually approach the creature when factored in with its continuous and erratic movement. On the other hand, the wasp suffered similar issues. Once again, to reiterate, nothing of interest or importance happened here. "I'm getting a little tired of this, thought Azide." He'd done enough material collecting for today. After this little pest was cleared, he was prepared to call it a day.

ID: 8490

BD: 3 (Miss)

BD: 2 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Misses)

Azide HP: 19/22

Wasp HP: 5/14

[Azide 0]

Once again, the dust cloud still loomed, and nothing could be done about it. "Man, this dust cloud seems to have slowed the pace of this little adventure of mine quite a bit. In fact, it's really becoming quite the drag." He attempted to strike the flying creature yet again, but missed, yet again. "No dice," he thought. To be fair, however, the creature did in fact manage to come somewhat close to landing a hit. "But more importantly, it didn't land the hit. So really, nothing impressive was accomplished here." He twirled Quantum Slicer in his hand, feeling more than ready to put an end to this ridiculousness.

ID: 8491

BD: 2 (Miss)

MD: 5 (Miss)

Damage taken (Both) = 0 (Misses)

Azide HP: 19/22

Wasp HP: 5/14