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A Simple Transaction I

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Elero said:
Hasn't it been years since the Hero slew the Tyrant? And even if not, it is going to take a long, long time until Hunger has both the power to bring them back and the power and setup to feel comfortable doing it, knowing he can keep them safe.

Would his beloved really want him to spend millions of years robbed of love or affection in her memory? Not to mention Gisena, who wants to step out from the shadow of the Maiden and stop being...well, a maiden. Would you really rob her of experiencing love, now that she has finally found someone her equal? You saw how she talked about the pathetic lordlings trying and failing horrible to get into her pants!

And finally, have you considered how the power of progression can be applied to this little issue? All we need is to find a source of the most elusive of stat +'s, we need a +Harem slot and we're all set!
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Rihaku has said that we can ressurect his wife in this geas task I believe.
 
Elero said:
Hasn't it been years since the Hero slew the Tyrant? And even if not, it is going to take a long, long time until Hunger has both the power to bring them back and the power and setup to feel comfortable doing it, knowing he can keep them safe.

Would his beloved really want him to spend millions of years robbed of love or affection in her memory? Not to mention Gisena, who wants to step out from the shadow of the Maiden and stop being...well, a maiden. Would you really rob her of experiencing love, now that she has finally found someone her equal? You saw how she talked about the pathetic lordlings trying and failing horrible to get into her pants!

And finally, have you considered how the power of progression can be applied to this little issue? All we need is to find a source of the most elusive of stat +'s, we need a +Harem slot and we're all set!
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Truly, I hadn't considered the previous ++ all stats possibly having a Harem modifier. I will have to consult the think tank on that one!

Yet even still, if we truly love Gisena, should we not bend our powers of progression toward her happiness instead? A life with us, as you well know, is destined to be fraught with peril. Nearly unmitigated disaster is but our morning tea, and uncompromising ambition an afternoon biscuit. By evening what will she have left to give should we drag her with us?

Instead - we could bend causality to her benefit, find her someone who can love her, far, far away from us. To truly love her, perhaps we need to set her free.
 
Elero said:
What we'll do with the moon ring once we rescue it?
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The ring can decide what it wants to do on its own, I think. What would a ring want, though, other than to not be tortured and be on a finger? We could put it on our other hand. Wait, no.

We have to put the False Moon in the Evening Sky, that's obviously fitting.
Elero said:
Waifus?
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My waifu is deeeeaaaadddd
Elero said:
Speculation about background things?
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Well, it's not really speculation, but the +Debuffs on Uttermost are incredibly self-centered, if not in a bad way. Willpower and Rank are obviously expressions of the self. Charisma? Taking into account the opinions of others as default? Cut. Wisdom? Understanding how the world works? Cut. Luck? Relying on external circumstance rather than w i l l? Cut. Protection? Putting something between my self and the world? Cut.

The last one's a bit funky, because theoretically the Evening Sky is just another part of Hunger, but in the general case it's true.
 
Taka said:
That's some Kuroko No Basket level shit my dude. I'd say I approve but jesus Christ that anime didn't do the traditional "5 episode flashback during the span of time where the ball is about to go inside the basket" ala Slam Dunk style.
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It's been years since I watched that anime, but I actually loved it. Never watched basketball a day in my life, but I couldn't put it down.
 
DkArthas said:
Rihaku has said that we can ressurect his wife in this geas task I believe.
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Being able to do it doesn't mean it is smart or a thing we will actually do. It will require trade-offs, opportunities mixed, powerups we cannot afford...and think of the risk. What if we resurrect her and then the curse procs and puts her in mortal danger? Much better to wait until we have thoroughly outscaled out curses and mitigated them, for to lose his wife a second time would no doubt break Hunger!

Projectile said:
The ring can decide what it wants to do on its own, I think. What would a ring want, though, other than to not be tortured and be on a finger? We could put it on our other hand. Wait, no.
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How do we hope to seize the ruling ring if we are not ready to force our will upon another ring!
 
Elero said:
Being able to do it doesn't mean it is smart or a thing we will actually do. It will require trade-offs, opportunities mixed, powerups we cannot afford...and think of the risk. What if we resurrect her and then the curse procs and puts her in mortal danger? Much better to wait until we have thoroughly outscaled out curses and mitigated them, for to lose his wife a second time would no doubt break Hunger!


How do we hope to seize the ruling ring if we are not ready to force our will upon another ring!
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Hunger's wife is not an weakling. She was the Tyrant's adopted daughter and was the last of his companion to fall.
 
Also everyone - whether we go or not we should probably have some vacation destinations in mind. I'm just brainstorming here, but some possible hangouts:

A haunted house!
The beach!
an adventurers Inn!
An old abandoned mine shaft - filled with glimmering crystals!
Perhaps a desert oasis with a traveling caravan of entertainers could catch our eye!
A skiing resort made for giants!
A completely normal town, just like the one Hunger grew up in!
A wizardry school where Gisena enrolls as a substitute teacher and we take classes!
 
You know what kind of Village would be nice to visit? One that isn't hidden in the leaves.

It'd be pretty nice to visit some snowy hamlet, whose main business is Blacksmithing in order to properly outfit their homegrown adventurers to go around hunting monsters, which then feeds back into the cycle. And that the premier hunter has a little piggy for a pet. And has a story about how he didn't receive any form of Fall Damage despite getting tossed off a cliff by an orange drake-headed beast in the snowy caps of the nearby mountain range.

Yes, this is Monster Hunter. I really want more big monster fights.
 
Microwave MKII said:
in this vote:

Hunger definitely doesn't have a problem.
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This is the best meme so far.

Elero said:
Since non-vote related discussion generates Arete and since I don't care too much about the current vote: Who wants to have a multi-page argument over some matter unrelated to the current vote? Waifus? Speculation about background things? What we'll do with the moon ring once we rescue it? The choices are endless!
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Gisena is best girl and we should marry her prove me wrong!
Elero said:
All we need is to find a source of the most elusive of stat +'s, we need a +Harem slot and we're all set!
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I was with you right up until you said this and then I wasn't with you at all. Harems are trash.

Sad that no one's voting for Null Slice. I mean sure we don't have nearly enough arete for it but maybe Rihaku will let us sacrifice a lung and a leg for it so we can complete the curse of the maimed at the same time!
 
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LordOfMurder said:
This is the best meme so far.

Gisena is best girl and we should marry her prove me wrong!
I was with you right up until you said this and then I wasn't with you at all. Harems are trash.

Sad that no one's voting for Null Slice. I mean sure we don't have nearly enough arete for it but maybe Rihaku will let us sacrifice a lung and a leg for it so we can complete the curse of the maimed at the same time!
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I wonder what the Accursed would give us if we go begging him for another curse? has such a thing ever been done?
 
Rihaku said:
If you guys want a break from the Temple, Vacation could be pretty nice! You could potentially earn more time for Arete generation by taking sidequests! Time is Arete!

Fishing's pretty dangerous, I gotta say. Sometimes you do need to go hard... Is this one of them?
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One big bonus of vacation, as eluded to here, is some breathing room. Now now, I hear you saying already "but we only have 9~ days of Apocryphal free time left!" and you would be correct, but how can we take a vacation with that sort of a curse hanging over our heads? In a way, this is one of those rare few moments we CAN take a vacation.

The other benefit, just imagine this with me folks. Just for a second I want you to picture not one, not two, but perhaps THREE updates without us on the precipice of death! Holy cow, we can have a weekend off folks! By the time we're stepping into the Temple again, we'll have a nice full purse of Arete, a fully rejuvinated Hunger, a tricked out Gisena and we'll be even better friends with Letrizia.

It's time friends, lets kick back and fire up the OVA. I've heard there is some really high quality animation in this one!
 
LordOfMurder said:
I was with you right up until you said this and then I wasn't with you at all. Harems are trash.
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pssst, it's just strategic arguing so we don't miss out on Gisena no matter what.

DkArthas said:
Hunger's wife is not an weakling. She was the Tyrant's adopted daughter and was the last of his companion to fall.
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Do you expect her to be revived at full power? Do you think she didn't burn any of her own self like Hunger did to save him, in the final fight against the Tyrant?
 
Elero said:
pssst, it's just strategic arguing so we don't miss out on Gisena no matter what.


Do you expect her to be revived at full power? Do you think she didn't burn any of her own self like Hunger did to save him, in the final fight against the Tyrant?
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Who knows. One can't say one way or another. Our hero is the one who is supposed to be the expert of forbidden arts, better than the Tyrant infact. She might not even be capable of burning your selfhood technique.
 
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Well, she was the Tyrant's daughter, so she should have had plenty of chances to get access to forbidden and lost arts and techniques!
 
Realistically we can't resurrect Hunger's wife and actually bring her with us until we've at the very least outscaled everything in the dimension we're in at the time. She's pregnant for one thing so bringing her along with us while we're constantly attracting level appropriate danger from the Apocryphal seems unwise and after that someone will have to take care of the baby and it's not going to be hunger because of all the curses. We shouldn't even go near the baby unless we've got the decimation supressed anyway.

She might actually not get outscaled for a while though if she was still relevant in the final battles between hunger and the Tyrant.

Speaking of the decimation, Huntress is looking like much better value after seeing how long it takes for a month to pass!
 
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None of these build options are really interesting to me.

Now, for action... "Hunger's fishing problem" is genuinely hilarious as a concept, but...

[X] Vacation

Have to follow my top priorities. Vacation has been stated to be good at Arete generation, and maybe we'll unlock a mage-option from sidequests. A small hope, but one nonetheless. Even without a mage-option more Arete makes us more able to pick up cool things (For example, I actually find the martial stances pretty cool when they are not competing with a magic system).

Also, taking a break would be good for Hunger. Fishing Contest is also a break, but it's a more intense break, where as Vacation is more chill.
 
It seems I am disappointed. Oh well.

People, don't let Rihaku's devilish arguments get to you! The fact that Dominion isn't crucial right now is exactly why we should pick it, especially if we decide not to fish! Saving now just means we will be easier to lead astray next time an Arete option is offered! Let's take advantage of this lull to take something that doesn't help us immediately. Then, choosing Ring options in the future will be much easier and less fraught. Invest in your future peace of mind people!
 
Yeah, I'm not overwhelmingly compelled to optimize for vacation. Unlike fights, where the choice of a single pick could be life or death in the next update, long-term planning isn't the same as greed.
 
Circle

Just as he had fell asleep, Hunger awoke without much fanfare. Though the moon had briefly escaped, ushered away by the warm hand of dawn, the edifice of the temple itself still hung over the small party. It tickled the back of his mind. His dreams were haunted by its constant vigil, and waking to its looming presence was no great help to his recovery.

He stood slowly, feeling the throbbing sensation in his liver flare up briefly as he stood. Nothing he couldn't live with. Certainly, compared to the Self he had burned away against the Tyrant, this sort of pain was comforting. It was his, even if it hurt - the pain was his to keep.

Versch felt warm against his back. Even garbed in the Evening itself he could feel the warmth of life, of power within. Reaching out through his ring, he felt the connection between them. It wasn't a physical thing, and he had nothing better to do, so he let his mind drift as he leaned back and thought of far off places, just the fragments of ideas he once had.

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The sun was gleaming in the sky, fully overhead now. Beneath the shadow of Versch, Hunger opened his eyes. He could see Gisena and Letrizia sitting not too far away, under a crop of trees not much taller than Versch himself. If they noticed him stir, they gave no sign of it and continued chatting as the wind caught gently upon the land and whisked it about them.

It had only been a few hours, from morning till noon, yet already Versch felt more whole than before. It felt as though his desire for places elsewhere and elsewhen had guided their connection, and in turn the healing he had wrought. It was a small thing, very small indeed, but Hunger smiled. Turning his back on the temple, at least for now, he stepped towards his friends.

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It hadn't taken much convincing. He had scarcely uttered "excursion" before Letrizia had riposte with a swift "vacation!" The two eyed each other for a moment before a prodigal sorceress threw her hat into the ring. Whatever his intentions had been, it seemed the end result had already been determined. They were going to go have some fun. Somewhere far beyond the looming reach of the temple.

Had they planned this together? As he slept, had the two conspired together for his well being? He couldn't be upset if that was truth. Gisena was immensely wise. It was entirely possible after her Sorceress advancement that she had already determined he was currently unfit for battle within the Inner temple. Sharing such with Letrizia, it would have been an easy thing to get her on board.

Swiftly after the... "discussion", the temple receded behind them. Drifting into the past. not out of mind, an impossibility, but at least out of sight. Perhaps far enough away he could dream of something other than the shackled halo above the Temple. With the help of his friends, it just may be possible.

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Here is a short one for funsies, never underestimate the power of +friendship!
 
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