The Port City - Part 10 + Interlude
Terran Imperium
[French]
- Location
- Southern France
I just want to expand on this. Not all abilities-merge do this. Some merely would require the 10 AP investment and you would get an improved one. To explain it better, an ability would 'absorb' the other. To give an example, the Way of the Asura would absorb its sub-ability 'Defensive Form' and get the same result as a 15 AP investment with two non-related abilities.
Also, just as a quick reminder. An ability is no longer available only once you go to the next stage of the Monk class tree which you'll reach at 15 levels so that doesn't entirely dismiss 'Meditation'. You can still put points in it in your next level up if you so wish to.
Now, to the update. This one is a bit more about Karen's next day. You voted for your entire session to be entirely for grinding so that doesn't leave me much to write about and I doubt anyone would appreciate me going into detail about grinding EXP of all things.
Warning! As you're aware of Karen's overall personality; rather crude language up ahead.
You had a restful nights sleep and didn't wake up once the entire night, however, you overslept and didn't even go running early this morning. You look over at the clock beside your bed and you find that its already 11 AM. You really were tired after yesterday. You hook up your brain to the NNI (Neural Nano-Interface) and soon enough, you're made aware of a message. That has come directly from an agency named Praeclara Forma? You recognize that its Latin but you're not quite sure what it means. Once you do read the message, you realize embarrassingly that isthe name of the agency that hired you as a model and actress. You do a quick search and you do find a translation of the agency's name, itapparently means 'Transcendent Beauty/Shape/Figure' and so on. Rather fancy.
Anyway, getting back to the message. They're apparently asking for you to come down to the agency's building so that you can get accustomed to the work environment and get to know your fellow co-workers there. Dammit, does that mean you'll have to socialize?
"Fuck the hell no," would be your usual answer but you don't have much of a say in this.
This is your job and you can't exactly just brush it off as if it was fucking nothing. Well, no you can and you're pretty sure you'll get away with it. They're not going to fire you over that but its almost certain it will leave a bad impression on both your co-workers and the upper management of the agency about you.
You get out of your worthless apartment and find a black car waiting for you right outside with Shawn in the driver's seat. You blink in surprise since when was he waiting for you to get out? You enter the car which pressurizes itself as soon as you close the door and you can then take off your breathing mask. Today, you're wearing your casual clothes, a t-shirt, shorts that reach your knees and black sports shoes. In fact, you look more like a delinquent than anything and you're painfully aware of it since everyone seems to be commenting about your appearance recently.
"Hey, Mr. Shawn. Are you the creepy sort of person that hangs out outside of people's homes?" you ask jokingly although your tone had a slight mocking edge in it.
Mr. Shawn doesn't seem to mind, it seemed like he already got used to you and your sense of humour. You're pretty sure anyone would be offended in some way or another at your little comment.
"No. I was just notified when you opened our agency's message. Fortunately, I was nearby and I drove to your apartment quickly to bring you to the agency," he says in a rather cheery tone which grates on you for some reason.
What is he so happy about? You do realize he's finally getting to work and not just some guy filled into the reserve back rows of the agency but that's nothing to be all that happy about or so you think. You put it out of your mind for now as you drive through Houston with Shawn's cheerful humming in the background as you look at the city's scenery through the car's window. You're in the wealthier part of the city and you do get to see a few ships taking off into space from in-between the fuck-ass huge skyscrapers.
You soon arrive at the agency where Shawn just mercilessly dumps you off in the garage while he walks off to somewhere in the office. You're not sure what you're supposed to do now. He did tell you to just wait but waiting is not one of your best talents. Fortunately, you're spared from the boredom of just standing around waiting like an idiot, when someone finally arrives, it's a woman in a professional and neat looking businesssuit. She tells you to follow her and you do so with a shrug. You don't miss her disdainful glances she is sending your way particularly at your tattoos and your general appearance. You know what? She can shove those condescending glances and her o-so superior attitude right up in her ass.
She takes you to some sort of lounge, It's apparently where the girls go to just relax during their breaks. You find inside the relatively large and comfortable room with sofas, vending machines, game platforms, TVs and all that sort of thing, it's relatively empty until you settle your eyes on a young woman who's sitting on one of the sofas. She seems to be just looking at you curiously until her eyes seem to brighten somewhat as she seems to realize something.
She's dressed rather outrageously and you feel a sudden pang of irritation when you notice, that she synthesized her hair into a natural pink color. Your thoughts are drawn back to that pink-haired elf you encountered a day ago in the Tomb in YGGDRASIL. However paranoid you are, this woman can't be her. The pink elf was speaking perfect Japanese with some sort of regional accent. Still, what is it with people these days and pink hair? Now, you are starting to sound like some old grandma with all this bitching. Still, she is what people would describe as 'dangerously attractive or hot'.
"Oh, so you're the newbie I heard about," the pink-haired woman rise up from her sofa, with a smirk plastered on her face.
For fuck's sake! Is this gonna be that annoying cliché of the bad girl being all disdainful and mocking of the new girl? What does she think this is? High school?
"Nice to meetcha. I'm Ashley Jones. What's yours?" she greets you in a friendly tone while extending a hand for you to shake. You can't help but blink in surprise at that. Did media tropes twist your image of people that much?
"I'm Karen Natalia, I'm sorta new around here," you say introducing yourself and shaking her hand.
You're not sure what to say from there but Ashley who is inspecting you rather intently, picks up pretty quickly as she speaks up again, "I've got to say, you got the bad girl vibe down and you're not even putting on black make-up or dying your hair purple," she comments and you have to stop yourself from frowning. You're not trying to pull up some sort of cliché look, that just who you really are.
When you're about to tell her off for what she said, she does something wired and completely off the fucking wall, she suddenly lifts up your shirt.
"Hm. Nice defined abs, great figure. Do you run often?" she comments as she looks at your bare body. You pull down your shirt quickly, your face is flushed in both anger and embarrassment. What the fuck is wrong with this hoe? Is she INSANE or Does she have some kind of DEATH WISH!
"What the hell?! Are you some kind of lez pervert?!" you say hotly as you raise your clenched fist ready to strike out. You gave an impressive smoldering glare that could have melted steel easily and here you were thinking you found a rather cool friendly co-worker but in fact, it was just an insane massive perverted weirdo. Ashley raises her hands placatingly and despite what she did and your relatively threatening tone and posture, she still showed an easy smile.
"Heya, cool off, babe. I was just checking you out. I've got to say, I'm a bit disappointed, you're not bold enough to come here braless," she says in that same friendly tone she greeted you with.
You feel something snap in your head and can't help but blush further in embarrassment at her words and actions. Yeah, you're not definitely not going to deal with this hoe. If you hang around her, next thing you know, she's feeling you up or something worse. Unfortunately for her, you're not into women and it's not like you're interested in romance, love and all that crap at the moment and at the moment you'd rather be on your own right now anyway.
"Look. First of all, I'm not 'babe', you're gonna call me by my proper name 'Karen'. Second, if you pull that shit on me again, I'll make you kiss the floor and maybe even lose a few teeth along the way. We clear, Ashley?" you say fiercely as you walk up to her threateningly.
She doesn't actually have any collar for you to grab so you just grab both of her suspenders and pull her towards your face looking her dead in the eyes. There are only a few inches separating both of your faces and you can feel her breath slightly quickening up. You notice her eyes widening in surprise at how you reacted. She certainly didn't expect this you can literally hear her mentally screams, 'not as fucking planned! Abort! Abort!'
"Alright, alright. Sorry." she apologies pretty damn quickly and you release her brusquely.
Good. You're not one who just lets people walk over you. Rather, you walk over those sorts of people who like to do that sort of shit. Not the other way around. You don't say anything as you exit the room and slam the door behind you. You're pretty much free to go anywhere you want right now in the agency as long as you don't disturb people while they're working.
[] Walk around aimlessly till you find Shawn.
[] You know the way to the studio from your last visit yesterday. Go take a look.
[] Write-in?
~~This Evening~~
You're glad you're back at your apartment, its where you feel the most comfortable. Obviously, since its where you live. Fredy and Eye were online this time, so are your Jap friends. They weren't exactly pleased you went away so quickly. You just took the reward and shared it between yourselves although they were thankful for you to have kept their part of the reward and once they made sure, they weren't just being led on, you got back to your usual gameplay routine with your friends. Nofuku was a bit grumpy the damn gaijins didn't trust them but to be honest, you'd have the same reaction as them, perhaps a bit more violent and bloody, though.
You just did your usual grinding of low-level quests and now since you don't have fixed hours of work anymore, you actually played a lot more than before. Half of the afternoon and the rest of the evening till midnight, you were grinding and grinding until you're pretty sure you exhausted the low-level quests in the region. In the Dalsfjoror region, it took you multiple days to complete all of the quests since you had limited time. Anyway, all your heavy grinding paid off rather handsomely.
Monk - Level 4 --> Monk - Level 10
18 unspent Stat Points!
6 unspent Ability Points!
[] Unlock 'Meditation':
"Meditation": Your character will settle in the ground in a Lotus posture and meditate. You are highly vulnerable in this state but you can recover HP, MP and even nullify some status effects. As your understanding of this ability grows, you can even enter a state of hibernation here you will not move for centuries or even thousands of years and come out of it like it was a good night's sleep.
[] Unlock 'Splendid Water Fist'
"Splendid Water Fist": An elegant attack using the element of Water, the movement flow like pure tranquil water as your fist extends and projects jets of high-pressure water. This allows you to attack both at range, far and close since it has melee advantages as well. +5 to Melee Attacks and Damage
[] Unlock 'Fiery Thunder Sword'
"Fiery Thunder Sword": A brutal technique. Your hands become as sharp as swords, they become coated in the element of Fire. After further improvements, your hands would crackle with high-powered charges of electricity. +5 to Melee Attacks and Damage
[] Unlock 'Rumbling Earth Palm'
"Rumbling Earth Palm": A firm and efficient technique. Your palm is both a weapon and a shield, with a simple powerful push, you can send someone flying. Striking the ground with the palm of your hands can also cause seismic activity and destabilize your enemies. +5 to Melee Attacks and Damage
[] Unlock 'Azure Metal Kick'
"Azure Metal Kick": Your legs literally take on a metallic azure color, as they become incredibly powerful. You can break small mountains with the force you hold inside of you. +5 to Melee Attacks and Damage
[] Unlock 'Supreme Jade Wood'
"Supreme Jade Wood": With smooth natural movements, you can nullify other elemental attacks against yourself as long as you are of a higher level than the enemy. +5 to Melee Attacks and Damage
What do you for the next day?
[] Find some pretty big extermination quest to do with your friends.
[] Go directly to the Branch of the World Tree. (Divine Blood Star Quest)
-[] Get your friends to go along with you.
[] Go to the South-East, you heard that there were some pretty heavy PvP areas there and in the edges of it, it was pretty light and good enough for rookies. You can try your luck.
-[] Do some side-quests along the way.
-[] Get your friends to go along with you.
[] Write-in
Note: I'm really starting to run on fumes for abilities, to be honest. I think I'll focus more on the 'special attacks' side of things since you took Monk. It'll refreshen me up for a bit for new ideas.
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