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A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- Philippines
...
1221 Words.
Garbled shouts echoed in the clearing. Distant in his ears for all he could hear was the lance unlodging itself from the Rotspawn beneath him. His eyes told him he still held the weapon, more than the unfelt grip around it. There was a crackle in his ear, a stream of questions soon followed. He moved a step forward and faced in full the remaining Elite Rotspawn.
It was a hideous thing. Tall as a house, with far too much muscle. Its four legs exuded strength beyond compare, as if one swipe could tear down an entire convoy. Toxic breath billowed from its opened maw, lined with yellowed and rotten fangs. Even as it stalked to the side, its hide showcased, the beast belied no straightforward weakness. And, far as these things went, there would be some form of trump card.
A deep breath had color return to the world. Alongside came words. With them, understanding of how overwhelming the monsters before him were. Though injured on both sides, only his own had maimed and crippled fighters. Jennifer had been kind enough to rattle out specifics. Loss of limbs. Expended equipment. 'An actual raft with no paddle up shit creak.'
Nine always did feel envy at her eloquence.
"Run." The mercenary, youngest of them all, ordered. Intent and pressure, a blade that cut apart the hysterics. He swung his broken lance, as it brimmed with so much power that it practically glowed. Faint light traced in its wake. His body loose, despite the exhaustion of his very soul. A figure that brooked no argument.
But one did not live to become a leader without being headstrong. And much like their leader, the others too sounded out their disagreements. It was an array of dissent. Disbelief and concern. Snark and bitterness. Yet all of them, all the same, wanted everyone to survive. Including the brat who tried to wear a pair of boots too big.
"I'll catch up. I Promise."
There was no other choice. No other feasible plan. He had agreed himself into forging ahead despite the risks. Pushed the idea into fruition. Therefore, he held a responsibility that others did not pay for his actions. Hans was not here. Kennedy was in no position to assist. Him staying behind, then, was no leap of logic. Besides. He made a promise. Those weren't meant to be broken, in spite of what others might say.
The concord in his ear died out. Silenced. "Fffuck, Nines. Don't make Izmerel cry." And with those words, the line went dead. Affirmation enough that they were on board with this suicidal plan of his. Immediately did his mind tear them away. Unburdened his ailing strength from notions and ideas that did not contribute to piercing through.
Man and Rotspawn locked gazes. Naught but ferocity reflected. Crimson eyes roared.
Experience molded his form. Intent forged his strike. Nine numbed himself from the pain and exhaustion, and tore at the strength that dared to hide from him. The faint glow of his lance became incandescent. "Come on, Nine...!"A quiet scream ripped itself from his lips as he fired the broken lance. Razor sharp lines formed into an ethereal arrowhead, tails of lightning coalescing into a singular point.
Distance immaterial; the projectile lined up to pierce through the exposed throat.
Yet was the Rotspawn a mere target? Were it not given a nomenclature of an Elite? Attempts at its life required more than just the bravado of a child. Its wild mane, seemingly inert, moved. Petals of fur that hardened enough to push the projectile down, ricocheting it to the earth. The impact gouged out the soil even as the Rotspawn lunged forward. Its bound was a sight that promoted fear. Encompassing in its size, no optimistic falsehood existed where a normal human would survive upon its landing.
A wall of capsules turned lances barred its entrance.
"I am!" Its dive halted, the Rotspawn was a moment too slow. "Sick and tired!" A fourth lance blurred by its leg, Nine following soon after. Both arms swung with all their might, a cleaving strike that left a spray of blood in its wake. "Of you Astral-damned fucks!" The force behind the swing bled into momentum as Nine spun the lance and dug the back to the earth. Again, the lance head burned with energy as the frightful paw came swiping.
The mercenary braced both himself and his lance. Hardened rot-flesh gave way to the lance, even as the strength of the swipe followed through. Smacked away from his position, his pathetic body absorbed what force the weapon could not. Bones broke while his insides screamed. It felt as if molten flames trickled down his veins.
He heard not his own screams nor succumbed to the ending sensation. By sheer force of will did Nine force his broken left to respond. As if renewed with vigor did it respond. More spare lances came into play as the red eyed mercenary began to treat them as arrows. One after the other, filled to the brim with strength taken from his very being, struck at the Rotspawn. Some, the beast deflected with its mane. Others, lodged into its form.
A walking pincushion of lances yet its strength did not wane. With equal severity did it exchange strikes with the bag of flesh. Claws had rend apart armor and flesh. Its sharpened fangs clipped past narrow dodges, even as noxious blood began to drip from its gums. It took so little strength to rip apart entire trees from its roots, what more for meat unstrengthen? But for reasons it could not fathom, the bug continued to attack.
Little things, these lances. It stung, and it hurt. Yet these toothpicks forced it to obey. To change course. To adapt to something that need not be adapted to. The continued escalation bewildered it, however. Every strike contained even more power. Its own blood leaving its body faster than before. Its maw opened, a chasm of futility. But the jaws of defeat oft found itself subverted through narrative influence. And for Nine, who dared write a story beyond his own means, cared little for what stood in his way.
Uncontainable. A lance raised forth by a boy, thrown by he who now was a Man. His path had been found. Heart, in full acceptance of what he was. There were no need for heroic dreams. To be untarnished. A symbol of hope and peace. Through his own blood. His own sacrifice. Each scar a memory. Each injury a lesson. All he needed to do was pick up his lance. And fight. And fight. And fight until his goal was achieved. Even death would be denied, if only until in service of his objective.
It carried the heat of a thousand suns. Of a life time of hardships and his own future thereof. A mundane lance, now a bolt of lightning. Blood red. Grander than even salvation. Elevate to something even further beyond. To a realm not meant for humanity. For but a moment, become the brightest flame.
Bequeathed with all that he was, is, and could ever be, the lance flew.
"Just a bit more. I'll be back, soon enough."
Onwards, for everyone's tomorrow.
…
…
...
-----
… [9] The Promises Of A Man.
It was a hideous thing. Tall as a house, with far too much muscle. Its four legs exuded strength beyond compare, as if one swipe could tear down an entire convoy. Toxic breath billowed from its opened maw, lined with yellowed and rotten fangs. Even as it stalked to the side, its hide showcased, the beast belied no straightforward weakness. And, far as these things went, there would be some form of trump card.
A deep breath had color return to the world. Alongside came words. With them, understanding of how overwhelming the monsters before him were. Though injured on both sides, only his own had maimed and crippled fighters. Jennifer had been kind enough to rattle out specifics. Loss of limbs. Expended equipment. 'An actual raft with no paddle up shit creak.'
Nine always did feel envy at her eloquence.
"Run." The mercenary, youngest of them all, ordered. Intent and pressure, a blade that cut apart the hysterics. He swung his broken lance, as it brimmed with so much power that it practically glowed. Faint light traced in its wake. His body loose, despite the exhaustion of his very soul. A figure that brooked no argument.
But one did not live to become a leader without being headstrong. And much like their leader, the others too sounded out their disagreements. It was an array of dissent. Disbelief and concern. Snark and bitterness. Yet all of them, all the same, wanted everyone to survive. Including the brat who tried to wear a pair of boots too big.
"I'll catch up. I Promise."
There was no other choice. No other feasible plan. He had agreed himself into forging ahead despite the risks. Pushed the idea into fruition. Therefore, he held a responsibility that others did not pay for his actions. Hans was not here. Kennedy was in no position to assist. Him staying behind, then, was no leap of logic. Besides. He made a promise. Those weren't meant to be broken, in spite of what others might say.
The concord in his ear died out. Silenced. "Fffuck, Nines. Don't make Izmerel cry." And with those words, the line went dead. Affirmation enough that they were on board with this suicidal plan of his. Immediately did his mind tear them away. Unburdened his ailing strength from notions and ideas that did not contribute to piercing through.
Man and Rotspawn locked gazes. Naught but ferocity reflected. Crimson eyes roared.
Experience molded his form. Intent forged his strike. Nine numbed himself from the pain and exhaustion, and tore at the strength that dared to hide from him. The faint glow of his lance became incandescent. "Come on, Nine...!"A quiet scream ripped itself from his lips as he fired the broken lance. Razor sharp lines formed into an ethereal arrowhead, tails of lightning coalescing into a singular point.
Distance immaterial; the projectile lined up to pierce through the exposed throat.
Yet was the Rotspawn a mere target? Were it not given a nomenclature of an Elite? Attempts at its life required more than just the bravado of a child. Its wild mane, seemingly inert, moved. Petals of fur that hardened enough to push the projectile down, ricocheting it to the earth. The impact gouged out the soil even as the Rotspawn lunged forward. Its bound was a sight that promoted fear. Encompassing in its size, no optimistic falsehood existed where a normal human would survive upon its landing.
A wall of capsules turned lances barred its entrance.
"I am!" Its dive halted, the Rotspawn was a moment too slow. "Sick and tired!" A fourth lance blurred by its leg, Nine following soon after. Both arms swung with all their might, a cleaving strike that left a spray of blood in its wake. "Of you Astral-damned fucks!" The force behind the swing bled into momentum as Nine spun the lance and dug the back to the earth. Again, the lance head burned with energy as the frightful paw came swiping.
The mercenary braced both himself and his lance. Hardened rot-flesh gave way to the lance, even as the strength of the swipe followed through. Smacked away from his position, his pathetic body absorbed what force the weapon could not. Bones broke while his insides screamed. It felt as if molten flames trickled down his veins.
He heard not his own screams nor succumbed to the ending sensation. By sheer force of will did Nine force his broken left to respond. As if renewed with vigor did it respond. More spare lances came into play as the red eyed mercenary began to treat them as arrows. One after the other, filled to the brim with strength taken from his very being, struck at the Rotspawn. Some, the beast deflected with its mane. Others, lodged into its form.
A walking pincushion of lances yet its strength did not wane. With equal severity did it exchange strikes with the bag of flesh. Claws had rend apart armor and flesh. Its sharpened fangs clipped past narrow dodges, even as noxious blood began to drip from its gums. It took so little strength to rip apart entire trees from its roots, what more for meat unstrengthen? But for reasons it could not fathom, the bug continued to attack.
Little things, these lances. It stung, and it hurt. Yet these toothpicks forced it to obey. To change course. To adapt to something that need not be adapted to. The continued escalation bewildered it, however. Every strike contained even more power. Its own blood leaving its body faster than before. Its maw opened, a chasm of futility. But the jaws of defeat oft found itself subverted through narrative influence. And for Nine, who dared write a story beyond his own means, cared little for what stood in his way.
Uncontainable. A lance raised forth by a boy, thrown by he who now was a Man. His path had been found. Heart, in full acceptance of what he was. There were no need for heroic dreams. To be untarnished. A symbol of hope and peace. Through his own blood. His own sacrifice. Each scar a memory. Each injury a lesson. All he needed to do was pick up his lance. And fight. And fight. And fight until his goal was achieved. Even death would be denied, if only until in service of his objective.
It carried the heat of a thousand suns. Of a life time of hardships and his own future thereof. A mundane lance, now a bolt of lightning. Blood red. Grander than even salvation. Elevate to something even further beyond. To a realm not meant for humanity. For but a moment, become the brightest flame.
Bequeathed with all that he was, is, and could ever be, the lance flew.
"Just a bit more. I'll be back, soon enough."
Onwards, for everyone's tomorrow.
…
…
...
-----
… [9] The Promises Of A Man.
1221 Words.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I mean, I gotta say...
I want Hunger to be able to heal, and to not turn into an imitation Tyrant.
Rune King means an injury that never heals. I'm... not really a fan of those. And tripling down on Blade EFBs means we are very much likely to start finding ourselves mirroring the Forebear in more than just an indomitable juggernaut combat style. The combat style is very badass, but there's more to this quest than just the fighting, even if our choices so far have forced us to put the fighting at the forefront.
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891 words reaction to Promenade of Glory 2
So this guy has some major Vendetta going against us. We have slain his apprentice and also slain his only friend (considering his social ineptitude I doubt this guy is fun at parties). He thinks that the higher ups in the Temple are worthless but he will do his utmost to protect their way of life. This Duty shit could be used against him. Gisena can sweet talk him into abandoning his revenge against us because… reasons. I am pretty sure if our supernaturally beautiful sorceress hugs Gondor arms and flutter her eyelashes at him, he will be putty in her hands in less than 10 seconds.
He will also hunt us in the wilderness which is a double edged problem. He can find us before we find him but he will be alone without support of the Temple. A giant robot, High Sorceress and a Cursebearer against a guy with a bow.
Also his build suggests a kiting build which is the most annoying build that you can fight against.
Still I have the feeling he has issues with the thrust, which of course is another avenue that Gisena can attack socially and absolutely convince him that we are harmless.
Still how mother$#%#@ socially inept you have to be that a guy that killed your apprentice, one and only friend and laid siege to your civilization and way of life can convince you that he is harmless. The call of the ring must have scrambled his brain because I don`t have any other explanation.
Generally a safe option that we can reasonably deal with.
Cool old guy that has retired and just wants to tend to his garden. I am sure the garden has some bushes that are regularly collected into a rolled paper and smoked. When the High Marshal smoke those bushes he is a lot more mellow for some time. The Temple official discard this issue as a simple quirk due to his past history.
The guy is just too old to care. He wants to be back at his house and yell at kids to get off his lawn. Still he is a serious threat if provoked and his massive Rank provides him some key benefits. They can get together with Hunger and complain about the zoomers that post on MoonBook and Moonstagram constantly.
High Risk and high reward, generally an opponent that I would advise against, but is better than the alternative below.
I imagine the girl to be a stereotypical Valley Girl. Please don`t hate me Rihaku for what I am about to post
"As you may have guessed from that chick name, Selune is actually a super, fer shure super distant cousin of your super own Letrizia von Artriez. That fox is like wow, excited to meet another member of that chick family, fer shure especially from Outside - and positively ecstatic to witness their family legacy, like thuh legendary Devourin' Armament, like, wow in action herself! Oh, wow! Like, ya know, this is like wow, her first major assignment ya know. That fox politicked herself onto thuh post due to goin' stir-crazy from thuh circumscribed lifestyle of an Inner Temple heiress. Though that fox is like, ya know, powerful for that chick age, mostly that chick techniques are unrefined, man havin' never been exposed to thuh fires of true battle. Surely like, ya know, this misunderstandin' between Hunger and thuh Temple can be ya know, like, quickly resolved now that she's on thuh case. That fox thinks Hunger is like totally awesome and could be convinced to escort that dude past all manner of security checks, fer shure wavin' off thuh concerns of that chick fellows by virtue of that chick Council-granted privilege."
Also the idea to spend four Arete and depending on the rolls we might lose them makes me gag even more than the text I have written above.
Let`s translate this to actual English
Azure ring: You B-dawg, is your homie with you. I have a situation here
Blood Ring: Sup Blue, yeah he is with me. Hanging out in the spa with the pilot chick and the side ho.
Azure ring: Some weird hippies are using me man, help a Ring out. Your bearer is cool dude, but he is not returning my Call.
Blood Ring: I don`t know man, what`s in it for me?
Azure ring: For the next Primacy Rap Battle I will vote for you.
Blood Ring: Say no more fam.
Honestly seems like a nice pick and avoid the dreaded contest of primacy. The blood gang will be satisfied and we can heal our mech and make Letrizia have a long life. What is there not to like. It helps with the primary objective in this world – conquering the Human Sphere. Offer of quadrupled life is extremely tempting to pretty much every world that has been hit with Decimation.
Also we would gain +.7 Rank increase and make mooks comatose with a gesture. Become the blood lord we always wanted to be. Side effect may include the need to make blood puns. A vital decision. The plot thickens. And more. May be a con or pro depending on the person.
It is an Evening Sky advancement. It will not be picked, no matter how tempting it is. And yes I am still salty about InkSky
2354 words more till the vow is kept.
So this guy has some major Vendetta going against us. We have slain his apprentice and also slain his only friend (considering his social ineptitude I doubt this guy is fun at parties). He thinks that the higher ups in the Temple are worthless but he will do his utmost to protect their way of life. This Duty shit could be used against him. Gisena can sweet talk him into abandoning his revenge against us because… reasons. I am pretty sure if our supernaturally beautiful sorceress hugs Gondor arms and flutter her eyelashes at him, he will be putty in her hands in less than 10 seconds.
He will also hunt us in the wilderness which is a double edged problem. He can find us before we find him but he will be alone without support of the Temple. A giant robot, High Sorceress and a Cursebearer against a guy with a bow.
Also his build suggests a kiting build which is the most annoying build that you can fight against.
Still I have the feeling he has issues with the thrust, which of course is another avenue that Gisena can attack socially and absolutely convince him that we are harmless.
Still how mother$#%#@ socially inept you have to be that a guy that killed your apprentice, one and only friend and laid siege to your civilization and way of life can convince you that he is harmless. The call of the ring must have scrambled his brain because I don`t have any other explanation.
Generally a safe option that we can reasonably deal with.
Cool old guy that has retired and just wants to tend to his garden. I am sure the garden has some bushes that are regularly collected into a rolled paper and smoked. When the High Marshal smoke those bushes he is a lot more mellow for some time. The Temple official discard this issue as a simple quirk due to his past history.
The guy is just too old to care. He wants to be back at his house and yell at kids to get off his lawn. Still he is a serious threat if provoked and his massive Rank provides him some key benefits. They can get together with Hunger and complain about the zoomers that post on MoonBook and Moonstagram constantly.
High Risk and high reward, generally an opponent that I would advise against, but is better than the alternative below.
I imagine the girl to be a stereotypical Valley Girl. Please don`t hate me Rihaku for what I am about to post
"As you may have guessed from that chick name, Selune is actually a super, fer shure super distant cousin of your super own Letrizia von Artriez. That fox is like wow, excited to meet another member of that chick family, fer shure especially from Outside - and positively ecstatic to witness their family legacy, like thuh legendary Devourin' Armament, like, wow in action herself! Oh, wow! Like, ya know, this is like wow, her first major assignment ya know. That fox politicked herself onto thuh post due to goin' stir-crazy from thuh circumscribed lifestyle of an Inner Temple heiress. Though that fox is like, ya know, powerful for that chick age, mostly that chick techniques are unrefined, man havin' never been exposed to thuh fires of true battle. Surely like, ya know, this misunderstandin' between Hunger and thuh Temple can be ya know, like, quickly resolved now that she's on thuh case. That fox thinks Hunger is like totally awesome and could be convinced to escort that dude past all manner of security checks, fer shure wavin' off thuh concerns of that chick fellows by virtue of that chick Council-granted privilege."
Also the idea to spend four Arete and depending on the rolls we might lose them makes me gag even more than the text I have written above.
Let`s translate this to actual English
Azure ring: You B-dawg, is your homie with you. I have a situation here
Blood Ring: Sup Blue, yeah he is with me. Hanging out in the spa with the pilot chick and the side ho.
Azure ring: Some weird hippies are using me man, help a Ring out. Your bearer is cool dude, but he is not returning my Call.
Blood Ring: I don`t know man, what`s in it for me?
Azure ring: For the next Primacy Rap Battle I will vote for you.
Blood Ring: Say no more fam.
Honestly seems like a nice pick and avoid the dreaded contest of primacy. The blood gang will be satisfied and we can heal our mech and make Letrizia have a long life. What is there not to like. It helps with the primary objective in this world – conquering the Human Sphere. Offer of quadrupled life is extremely tempting to pretty much every world that has been hit with Decimation.
Also we would gain +.7 Rank increase and make mooks comatose with a gesture. Become the blood lord we always wanted to be. Side effect may include the need to make blood puns. A vital decision. The plot thickens. And more. May be a con or pro depending on the person.
It is an Evening Sky advancement. It will not be picked, no matter how tempting it is. And yes I am still salty about InkSky
2354 words more till the vow is kept.
Talace
It must be raining somewhere else!
Fanwork #2521 words
Urgh, I think I'll be sticking to images from now on. Drawing is just much more enjoyable!
Already, the red text is ominous. Someday I'll do some research as to the kind of votes and updates found under red text, and whether or not they are as dangerous as they seem.
This seems more like a setting for a baseball game than anything. Gisena being cute aside, I find it suspicious that the kids are asking Letrizia questions now. Like, did they not know that it was gonna be us fighting them, or did they just not expect us to look like that?
Temporize. What a nice word, how Rihaku-esque. The warm-up seems pretty interesting as a dueling rule, probably so that Hunger can get a feel for how they react and use their tactics against them.
I suppose it makes sense that the students pay less than Hunger. Wouldn't do to be extorting kids out of too much money, would it?
Reasonable stuff, I suppose the generous scoring thing is just so that they have a better incentive to teach us?
A cursory Google search for the meaning of Aobaru gives… nothing. Well, there's a Fanfiction account named Aobaru, but aside that, nothing. Google Translate gives me, Blue Bar? Well, I hope someone tells me what it means later on.
Vigorflame, how interesting. You could use this in all sorts of ways, like temporarily strengthening a projectile to make the impact stronger, then using a time-delay to make it explode for extra damage. Additionally, perhaps he's capable of splitting the effects of his Imaginary Element? Or maybe he's capable of creating a recursive loop within the Vigorflame to make each flame massively potent, and as such instantly overload the opponent. Interesting.
WE ARE TOO COOL FOR FISTBUMPS—FIVE FINGERS MAKE A FIST AND FISTS ARE FOR PUNCHING
What bantz, what light ribbing! The kid seems like he's got a good head on, even if he's a bit rough.
Intelligent application. Was it going directly up, and he stepped into it, or was it that it bounced at an angle and flew back at him? Either way, this is directly useful for us.
I have a ridiculous image in my head where Hunger is just dancing around the kid while messing up even the most basic of the blasts and just ragdolling himself into the air. The explosive dome might come in handy, though. We probably need more control.
They probably weren't a mistake, Hunger! You can learn the preliminary tactic in a low-consequence environment, and then use it after some light practice in an environment that fits the needs of the Ring! A true adventurer has a balanced appetite of risk and safety, and all you eat is risk, like a child that refuses to eat their vegetables. Then again, that's a bit hypocritical of us given what vote won this update…
Only at a hundredth of his normal speed could the boy become peer-level in Agility. Those stat gains have really been paying off, huh. Playing it lowkey so that the kids brings out his final form? How devious, and expected of a Tyrant.
A bit surprised this didn't proc Tyrant.
A reckoner is "a table or device designed to assist with calculation," so I'm pretty sure the title comes from giving someone their reckoning, which is "the avenging or punishing of past mistakes or misdeeds." I'm a fan of collecting a lot of titles so that they're displayed in satisfying scrolling fashion by the end of the quest. I suspect that this will be convertible to Rank in some way, something like Feat: Reckoner in the next fight.
The secret benefits of spamming STATs each vote—mental reflexes good enough to prevent even micro reactions that might damage our rep. Although, Reckoner is a pretty cringy title, no doubt a product of a teenager's naming sense. At least our boy's looking at the bright side! The man makes the name, not the other way around, and we've got plenty of time to make the cringe become fear! Interestingly enough, notoriety doesn't directly improve Astral Rank, but "primes" it to increase gains when a substantial feat is accomplished. I wonder if there's a cap to how much additional gains you can derive from notoriety.
Limited edition collectibles, now selling on Patreon! Made with real blood (the same ink we use for red votes)!
We're operating under at least seven layers of irony, here.
Okay, we definitely have to wreck him.
Added onto our list of crimes: match fixing. A minor addition, but relevant nonetheless.
She definitely thinks it's cool, and she definitely likes the name. I bet she even came up with it herself!
I like that Hunger's intelligently pushing the limits of the Ring, and using it to his advantage as much as possible. Growth rests on a knife's edge, and finding the knife is half the trouble!
Hmm… at least he's taking this fight seriously.
Wow, we just won the fight right there. If we outstat our opponent, then we don't have to care about accidentally buffing them since the difference between us widens anyway! How formidable. One-fiftieth of stats is apparently still way too strong for Aobaru—or perhaps our Agility is just too buff? Or maybe, it's just our battle experience giving us the edge.
Okay, now we're actually just playing with our food. This kind of reminds me of the levelling up style of Final Fantasy 2, where you only get stat and proficiency gains from attacking/casting and not actually winning the fight. This gave the player a weird incentive to keep weak fights going as long as possible, farming points in their weapon of choice and claiming free stat gains along the way. Used well, and with enough patience, this could get you to a ridiculous level before you even get into the meat of the game. There's probably some internal mechanic here that prevents that from happening.
This kid's got it right! Knowing that your enemy could beat you at your current level trivially is not an excuse to give up—merely a reason to push yourself to the absolute limits! For some reason, I'm starting to like Aobaru! Go, my shounen friend!
Also, Staying and Training ended up being pretty productive, I suppose.
Oh, so this is what allows him that to do that technique mentioned in the introduction. By making it semi-inert, you can keep some but not all of their properties, and use them to direct the more volatile form. I wonder if we can turn them into a semi-liquid state, to be imbibed? Probably not though, at least at our level. Imagine all the stuff we could do with this, like hiding solid projectiles of Arete in what seems like a self buffing column to launch a surprise feint attack at the opponent.
That sad thing is that this guy's probably right.
Do they have middle fingers in this part of the world? Or is it some other kind of rude gesture, like a raspberry or some combination of finger movements?
This kid should probably be more concerned about his own safety than ours.
Oh, so we already knew how to do it. Or maybe we're a genius and intuited the first principles of his technique just by seeing something similar! Now that they mention that though, maybe we could try and do the reverse, making shields that also buff the stats of the people behind them.
We really do learn faster under pressure! Is this product of the Ring, or just our own mind?
Huh. Smart move, pretending to be tired and weakened. Even though it didn't work, if we had a lower WITS score maybe things might not have turned out so well for us.
The density stuff is interesting, since it increases the potency of unique effects in a way that simply having more in an area does not? Perhaps density increases the "imaginary purity" of the element, and thus expresses its will on the world with more ease?
Can we set up several orbs, and put them in different parts of our body? What does an Edeldross overload look like? I hope it doesn't explode us.
I suppose that's a smarter way of doing it. There's something to be said about how it's easier to change before it's summoned—I suppose that an Imaginary Element is easier to shift and play with while in the imagination. Although, there must be a limit to how dense you can create it, right?
If we create superdense shields, do they become extra inert and extra hard, or something else?
That's a Rasengan, he threw a Rasengan at us. I suspect he was gathering energy and buffing himself while talking.
We can probably concentrate it even more, with sustained combat and practice. Can we put this orb into other people? Moreover, can we throw them to do damage as well?
Just wanna note, perhaps a crystal of sufficient density would be enough to induce Coalescence? We'd have to shear off some of the un-findrossy qualities, but now that I'm thinking about it, an Edeldross singularity sounds promising.
Good to see that we can deflect fire, but surprised to see that Aobaru was holding back. What an ominous image—this kid could turn out to be pretty strong when he grows up. I wonder why he made a wall only to walk through it? Perhaps to set up the orbs, and doubling as a buffing mechanic?
Yeouch, good hits on Hunger.
A moment's hesitation is all that it takes, really. Hunger's battlefield experience winning the day for him. The palm is probably to show that he could blast his head with inert Edeldross and just paste him?
I was really hoping for the answer to be "no". Also, does sealing the magic also seal the stat benefits from Quickening?
I love and hate this dynamic at the same time. Hunger truly is the embodiment of Boomer Dad, cringing at the dumb nicknames these kids come up with.
Suffusion, huh? Sounds kind of like the Wake of the Monarch, almost. This sounds like it takes an inhuman amount of control, and might even be risky if it collapses. This branches out to other ideas, like Edeldross clones, and even creating an Edeldross suffusion of Versch. The possibilities are immense! Can we make a suffusion for an Edeldross construct? Although, I suspect that would give diminishing returns.
Hunger also musing on the properties of Suffusion. Here are some ideas: Imaginary Elements and Surgecrafting rely on emotion and will to power them, and suffusing yourself in that element puts you in the right mindset. Surgecrafting is imaginary in nature, and when you are wrapped in your own element, the space is wholly imaginary and thus the effects are less tainted by reality. Imaginary Elements derive their power from your person, and as such grow stronger in terms of efficiency when totally suffused.
Using her new powers well. Also, we really are teaching Letrizia bad habits. The worst bodyguard, getting their charge into gambling.
If my reading is correct, we lost some of the practice bouts but none of the real matches, huh? Nice. Although, it's sad to hear that Aobaru was the only one at his level, and the others were less competent. Maybe we're already desensitized to how cool they are?
She… really is a ninja. Black hair, pale skin, katana(?), professional. Archetypes coming out in full force, but at least she's of the [Nervous] flavor which is a bit rarer.
These kids have such weird names. Are they Japanese-themed or Arabic/Indian? Or maybe they're multi-ethnic, which would probably make sense for a breakway state made of colonists. Aside from being the name of a Mabinogi character, Aeira as a name supposedly means respectful or noble, one half of which fits her demeanor. Is she shaking because she is tired or because she's shy?
How respectful! Interesting that it works against automated systems, and that she can beat a Sovereignty Armor in direct combat. I guess its hard to fight against someone you can't even see, especially if you're stuck in a bulky piece of armor.
They are indeed fascinating! I suspect that at higher levels, this can massively improve its infohazardous properties, such as erasing even the faintest traces of her presence! What does a battlefield flooded with this look like, I wonder…
Ugh, this makes me want to bring her along. If we generate enough Arete for Crimson Flare, I'd be amenable to it, but I don't know if she's worth 1 pick and +0.8 Arete, like seriously.
---
Now that we know a little bit more about her abilities, I'm not sure what it can give us compared to increased Arete and picks.
Perhaps there's something to be said about cloaking ourselves and bombarding enemies from a distance, but I don't know if foes we can handle that way are worth taking out.
Ugh, the trials of being a Ranklet. If he can be convinced of our sincerity, we shouldn't have to worry too much about fighting him. Some ideas to present ourselves:
Maximum safety, kind of undesirable given that we're sinking 14 Arete into options we'd rather not pursue. Even by the metric of 3 Blade EFB build, it's anti-synergistic, but it reduces the risk of social fallout. Overall optimized for this encounter, but not much else.
Same comments as above.
More likely to win in a fight, at least. Now we're really regretting not taking King Stands Alone, I suppose.
GREED GREED GREED
Interesting, interesting, interesting. I love these blurbs, I love the idea of getting all the stances, getting a really really high Rank, and just, using all of them at the same time. Guile would have been useful for Hunger back in Isekai world, and in general these Stances are super amazing against the thing they're built to fight.
This leaves one last question: did Forebear take A-DS or F-DS? Probably, both.
Urgh, I think I'll be sticking to images from now on. Drawing is just much more enjoyable!
Already, the red text is ominous. Someday I'll do some research as to the kind of votes and updates found under red text, and whether or not they are as dangerous as they seem.
This seems more like a setting for a baseball game than anything. Gisena being cute aside, I find it suspicious that the kids are asking Letrizia questions now. Like, did they not know that it was gonna be us fighting them, or did they just not expect us to look like that?
Temporize. What a nice word, how Rihaku-esque. The warm-up seems pretty interesting as a dueling rule, probably so that Hunger can get a feel for how they react and use their tactics against them.
I suppose it makes sense that the students pay less than Hunger. Wouldn't do to be extorting kids out of too much money, would it?
Reasonable stuff, I suppose the generous scoring thing is just so that they have a better incentive to teach us?
A cursory Google search for the meaning of Aobaru gives… nothing. Well, there's a Fanfiction account named Aobaru, but aside that, nothing. Google Translate gives me, Blue Bar? Well, I hope someone tells me what it means later on.
Vigorflame, how interesting. You could use this in all sorts of ways, like temporarily strengthening a projectile to make the impact stronger, then using a time-delay to make it explode for extra damage. Additionally, perhaps he's capable of splitting the effects of his Imaginary Element? Or maybe he's capable of creating a recursive loop within the Vigorflame to make each flame massively potent, and as such instantly overload the opponent. Interesting.
WE ARE TOO COOL FOR FISTBUMPS—FIVE FINGERS MAKE A FIST AND FISTS ARE FOR PUNCHING
What bantz, what light ribbing! The kid seems like he's got a good head on, even if he's a bit rough.
Intelligent application. Was it going directly up, and he stepped into it, or was it that it bounced at an angle and flew back at him? Either way, this is directly useful for us.
I have a ridiculous image in my head where Hunger is just dancing around the kid while messing up even the most basic of the blasts and just ragdolling himself into the air. The explosive dome might come in handy, though. We probably need more control.
They probably weren't a mistake, Hunger! You can learn the preliminary tactic in a low-consequence environment, and then use it after some light practice in an environment that fits the needs of the Ring! A true adventurer has a balanced appetite of risk and safety, and all you eat is risk, like a child that refuses to eat their vegetables. Then again, that's a bit hypocritical of us given what vote won this update…
Only at a hundredth of his normal speed could the boy become peer-level in Agility. Those stat gains have really been paying off, huh. Playing it lowkey so that the kids brings out his final form? How devious, and expected of a Tyrant.
A bit surprised this didn't proc Tyrant.
A reckoner is "a table or device designed to assist with calculation," so I'm pretty sure the title comes from giving someone their reckoning, which is "the avenging or punishing of past mistakes or misdeeds." I'm a fan of collecting a lot of titles so that they're displayed in satisfying scrolling fashion by the end of the quest. I suspect that this will be convertible to Rank in some way, something like Feat: Reckoner in the next fight.
The secret benefits of spamming STATs each vote—mental reflexes good enough to prevent even micro reactions that might damage our rep. Although, Reckoner is a pretty cringy title, no doubt a product of a teenager's naming sense. At least our boy's looking at the bright side! The man makes the name, not the other way around, and we've got plenty of time to make the cringe become fear! Interestingly enough, notoriety doesn't directly improve Astral Rank, but "primes" it to increase gains when a substantial feat is accomplished. I wonder if there's a cap to how much additional gains you can derive from notoriety.
Limited edition collectibles, now selling on Patreon! Made with real blood (the same ink we use for red votes)!
We're operating under at least seven layers of irony, here.
Okay, we definitely have to wreck him.
Added onto our list of crimes: match fixing. A minor addition, but relevant nonetheless.
She definitely thinks it's cool, and she definitely likes the name. I bet she even came up with it herself!
I like that Hunger's intelligently pushing the limits of the Ring, and using it to his advantage as much as possible. Growth rests on a knife's edge, and finding the knife is half the trouble!
Hmm… at least he's taking this fight seriously.
Wow, we just won the fight right there. If we outstat our opponent, then we don't have to care about accidentally buffing them since the difference between us widens anyway! How formidable. One-fiftieth of stats is apparently still way too strong for Aobaru—or perhaps our Agility is just too buff? Or maybe, it's just our battle experience giving us the edge.
Okay, now we're actually just playing with our food. This kind of reminds me of the levelling up style of Final Fantasy 2, where you only get stat and proficiency gains from attacking/casting and not actually winning the fight. This gave the player a weird incentive to keep weak fights going as long as possible, farming points in their weapon of choice and claiming free stat gains along the way. Used well, and with enough patience, this could get you to a ridiculous level before you even get into the meat of the game. There's probably some internal mechanic here that prevents that from happening.
This kid's got it right! Knowing that your enemy could beat you at your current level trivially is not an excuse to give up—merely a reason to push yourself to the absolute limits! For some reason, I'm starting to like Aobaru! Go, my shounen friend!
Also, Staying and Training ended up being pretty productive, I suppose.
Oh, so this is what allows him that to do that technique mentioned in the introduction. By making it semi-inert, you can keep some but not all of their properties, and use them to direct the more volatile form. I wonder if we can turn them into a semi-liquid state, to be imbibed? Probably not though, at least at our level. Imagine all the stuff we could do with this, like hiding solid projectiles of Arete in what seems like a self buffing column to launch a surprise feint attack at the opponent.
That sad thing is that this guy's probably right.
Do they have middle fingers in this part of the world? Or is it some other kind of rude gesture, like a raspberry or some combination of finger movements?
This kid should probably be more concerned about his own safety than ours.
Oh, so we already knew how to do it. Or maybe we're a genius and intuited the first principles of his technique just by seeing something similar! Now that they mention that though, maybe we could try and do the reverse, making shields that also buff the stats of the people behind them.
We really do learn faster under pressure! Is this product of the Ring, or just our own mind?
Huh. Smart move, pretending to be tired and weakened. Even though it didn't work, if we had a lower WITS score maybe things might not have turned out so well for us.
The density stuff is interesting, since it increases the potency of unique effects in a way that simply having more in an area does not? Perhaps density increases the "imaginary purity" of the element, and thus expresses its will on the world with more ease?
Can we set up several orbs, and put them in different parts of our body? What does an Edeldross overload look like? I hope it doesn't explode us.
I suppose that's a smarter way of doing it. There's something to be said about how it's easier to change before it's summoned—I suppose that an Imaginary Element is easier to shift and play with while in the imagination. Although, there must be a limit to how dense you can create it, right?
If we create superdense shields, do they become extra inert and extra hard, or something else?
That's a Rasengan, he threw a Rasengan at us. I suspect he was gathering energy and buffing himself while talking.
We can probably concentrate it even more, with sustained combat and practice. Can we put this orb into other people? Moreover, can we throw them to do damage as well?
Just wanna note, perhaps a crystal of sufficient density would be enough to induce Coalescence? We'd have to shear off some of the un-findrossy qualities, but now that I'm thinking about it, an Edeldross singularity sounds promising.
Good to see that we can deflect fire, but surprised to see that Aobaru was holding back. What an ominous image—this kid could turn out to be pretty strong when he grows up. I wonder why he made a wall only to walk through it? Perhaps to set up the orbs, and doubling as a buffing mechanic?
Yeouch, good hits on Hunger.
A moment's hesitation is all that it takes, really. Hunger's battlefield experience winning the day for him. The palm is probably to show that he could blast his head with inert Edeldross and just paste him?
I was really hoping for the answer to be "no". Also, does sealing the magic also seal the stat benefits from Quickening?
I love and hate this dynamic at the same time. Hunger truly is the embodiment of Boomer Dad, cringing at the dumb nicknames these kids come up with.
Suffusion, huh? Sounds kind of like the Wake of the Monarch, almost. This sounds like it takes an inhuman amount of control, and might even be risky if it collapses. This branches out to other ideas, like Edeldross clones, and even creating an Edeldross suffusion of Versch. The possibilities are immense! Can we make a suffusion for an Edeldross construct? Although, I suspect that would give diminishing returns.
Hunger also musing on the properties of Suffusion. Here are some ideas: Imaginary Elements and Surgecrafting rely on emotion and will to power them, and suffusing yourself in that element puts you in the right mindset. Surgecrafting is imaginary in nature, and when you are wrapped in your own element, the space is wholly imaginary and thus the effects are less tainted by reality. Imaginary Elements derive their power from your person, and as such grow stronger in terms of efficiency when totally suffused.
Using her new powers well. Also, we really are teaching Letrizia bad habits. The worst bodyguard, getting their charge into gambling.
If my reading is correct, we lost some of the practice bouts but none of the real matches, huh? Nice. Although, it's sad to hear that Aobaru was the only one at his level, and the others were less competent. Maybe we're already desensitized to how cool they are?
She… really is a ninja. Black hair, pale skin, katana(?), professional. Archetypes coming out in full force, but at least she's of the [Nervous] flavor which is a bit rarer.
These kids have such weird names. Are they Japanese-themed or Arabic/Indian? Or maybe they're multi-ethnic, which would probably make sense for a breakway state made of colonists. Aside from being the name of a Mabinogi character, Aeira as a name supposedly means respectful or noble, one half of which fits her demeanor. Is she shaking because she is tired or because she's shy?
How respectful! Interesting that it works against automated systems, and that she can beat a Sovereignty Armor in direct combat. I guess its hard to fight against someone you can't even see, especially if you're stuck in a bulky piece of armor.
They are indeed fascinating! I suspect that at higher levels, this can massively improve its infohazardous properties, such as erasing even the faintest traces of her presence! What does a battlefield flooded with this look like, I wonder…
Ugh, this makes me want to bring her along. If we generate enough Arete for Crimson Flare, I'd be amenable to it, but I don't know if she's worth 1 pick and +0.8 Arete, like seriously.
---
Now that we know a little bit more about her abilities, I'm not sure what it can give us compared to increased Arete and picks.
Perhaps there's something to be said about cloaking ourselves and bombarding enemies from a distance, but I don't know if foes we can handle that way are worth taking out.
Ugh, the trials of being a Ranklet. If he can be convinced of our sincerity, we shouldn't have to worry too much about fighting him. Some ideas to present ourselves:
- Speak plainly and use truths about our situation (being plucked out of our home reality, finding the map in a fish and coming to the Temple, respecting Vanreir)
- Explain that motivationally speaking, we have little incentive to destroy the Temple. There are millions of people inside, and killing all of them would be a bad thing. Point to most of our desire to raid stemming from hearing the call of the Lunar Ring, and that our desired outcome would not be to destroy them, but to simply save the Ring from suffering. Explain that we are resilient to means of ignoring the Call, and that we would like to learn more about the Ring in the first place.
- We want a safe place to grow, since we are regularly beleaguered by Apocryphal procs.
- We might get hunted down by Ber, and Vanreir's friends. We want to assure safety for ourselves.
- We would provide massive utility options to the Outriders, healing wounds and giving buffs that are inarguably of tremendous use to that civilization.
Maximum safety, kind of undesirable given that we're sinking 14 Arete into options we'd rather not pursue. Even by the metric of 3 Blade EFB build, it's anti-synergistic, but it reduces the risk of social fallout. Overall optimized for this encounter, but not much else.
Same comments as above.
More likely to win in a fight, at least. Now we're really regretting not taking King Stands Alone, I suppose.
GREED GREED GREED
- Not as greedy if we get Crimson Flare, and still safer than Somewhat Safe!
- Retreating isn't as bad! We outspeed him besides, and we can pretty comfortably regenerate a lot of our wounds.
Interesting, interesting, interesting. I love these blurbs, I love the idea of getting all the stances, getting a really really high Rank, and just, using all of them at the same time. Guile would have been useful for Hunger back in Isekai world, and in general these Stances are super amazing against the thing they're built to fight.
This leaves one last question: did Forebear take A-DS or F-DS? Probably, both.
DkArthas
CAPITAL IS TO BLAME
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- They
[X] Unacceptable
[X] Maximum Safety
All the salt. But this is exactly what I warned would happen. Selune was always the option to take if you wanted an EFB safely-ish. Before that Shadowcord was the option to minimize the chances of getting into an situation like this. It's almost like the obsession with SAVING at all cost just takes us further from the EFB in practice.
Spend to minimize danger, save during the safety that spending brought you. It isn't that hard.
Edit: Unacceptable is the best choice with maximal greed and I am willing to jump ship, if you guys can get enough Arete in time.
[X] Maximum Safety
All the salt. But this is exactly what I warned would happen. Selune was always the option to take if you wanted an EFB safely-ish. Before that Shadowcord was the option to minimize the chances of getting into an situation like this. It's almost like the obsession with SAVING at all cost just takes us further from the EFB in practice.
Spend to minimize danger, save during the safety that spending brought you. It isn't that hard.
Edit: Unacceptable is the best choice with maximal greed and I am willing to jump ship, if you guys can get enough Arete in time.
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Duquette7
I am Fire, and I am Rain
Ok, lets turn this on it's head, because a lot of the debate about this options comes down to peoples characterization of Hunger.
Hunger is healed, fully sound in mind and body, and he is then offered Odin's Price, his eye, for supernatural talent at all forms of magic, able to learn it at speeds that boggle the mind, and break all conceptual limits binding its potency.
Does he take it? Would you? Keep in mind that Hunger is no stranger to sacrifice, and that the foes who destroyed his life yet live, his wife is yet within her grave, as is his child, and Capital M Magic is his best chance to right all three of these wrongs, before the cruelties of the worlds, the harshness of his task, and the curses bound to his soul can kill him, or force him to become something that no one could love.
To me both questions are simple, yes, and yes. If you have a different answer I respect that, but my personal characterization of Hunger leads me to fight for this option every time it is offered, and for as long as I have breath.
- Location
- Philippines
Urgh.
Writing that hurt more than I thought it would. Made a few minute edits for some colored text. Wiped a bit of salt from my eyes.
Debated a bit over a few things but, might, will, probably, something, ultimately do them later. I think.
Way toooo many Arash parallels.
Writing that hurt more than I thought it would. Made a few minute edits for some colored text. Wiped a bit of salt from my eyes.
Debated a bit over a few things but, might, will, probably, something, ultimately do them later. I think.
Way toooo many Arash parallels.
- Location
- Pindorama
A man is more than his Vengeance, however much it may consume him. It would do us well to remember that.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
[X] Unacceptable
[X] Maximum Safety
[X] Maximal Greed
I'll pick depending on if we get enough Arete. I want the EFB but at the same time I'm kinda completely burned out on hope, and this quest is just... work. I think I've decided I don't like Rihaku's method of judging thread participation. It generated activity but at a serious cost to at least some of the player's fun.
[X] Maximum Safety
[X] Maximal Greed
I'll pick depending on if we get enough Arete. I want the EFB but at the same time I'm kinda completely burned out on hope, and this quest is just... work. I think I've decided I don't like Rihaku's method of judging thread participation. It generated activity but at a serious cost to at least some of the player's fun.
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[X] Unacceptable
[X] Maximal Greed
The thread wanted a bike? Now pedal!
[X] Maximal Greed
The thread wanted a bike? Now pedal!
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
You only have the right to say that if you're joining in.
Talace
It must be raining somewhere else!
NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE NOOOOOOOOO
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
It's just a physical wound, a small and negligible price for magic. I'd be a lot more concerned about mental influences, really, like every Doom-type curse or options with 'mental contamination'. I mean like if it was me personally taking the option anyway. In a quest format, mind-altering effects are only of minor consequence, since reading about characters influenced by them is interesting.
Duquette7
I am Fire, and I am Rain
Note the passing mentions of his Wife's current state? His Child's? One might think that powerful magic could address both those issues, and that spending once, on talent for all, saves time, and resources while he looks for a type of magic that can save them, whisk then across space and time, and all without alerting his prey that he Hungers for Them!
Such a magic will be difficult to find, will Hunger know it at first glance? Would we? Unless specifically spelled out for us in blurb? How many possibilities are there for such a feat of Miraculous proportion, and might not the limit breaking nature of To Shatter Heaven push more of those many, many systems over that conceptual edge?
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
He wouldn't. Not until he is sure he can keep them safe. By which point having such magic is a foregone conclusion.
Besides which, we literally already have a magic system that can do it, no TSH required.
- Location
- Pindorama
We can't revive them without drawing the attention of the Hidden Ones anyway. To a Progression-type, sacrifice is not necessary for advancement. There's no need to throw ourselves out for something like that, and I speak as someone who likes Rune King. I just think revenge is insufficient as a reason.
DkArthas
CAPITAL IS TO BLAME
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- They
I want Rune King, it's bloody amazing and mutilating yourself for power is like the coolest shit ever. Especially when it's the eye!
Yeah. No. It's not guaranteed we will draw there attention at all. It may draw there attention or it may not.
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Why should I?
I didn't vote for Crimson Flare or the High Marshall. Those who got the thread in this situation in the first place are the ones responsible.
Which means either churning out Omakes or picking Maximum Safety. Not exactly rocket science.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
No. No it is not. It is more or less the most horrifying thing ever, and I am greatly disturbed by the people who are so willing to trade mutilation for power.
And this is coming from someone with no attachment to their humanity whatsoever.
For the same reason I'm trying despite having begged people to not take the Marshal: It's a dick move to intentionally throw the thread to the dogs because you didn't get what you want, and force other people to do the work of stopping it from being suicidal.
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It probably is! But I'll note that writing a huge (2000+ reaction) in a "single breath" is kind of a special sort of suffering, and reduces writing efficiency regardless. A lot of small breaks really help to actually somewhat enjoy the process, instead of feeling like you are working in a reaction-writing Gulag.
Writing reactions and writing a lot of reactions, in particular, is not a race, but a marathon.
DkArthas
CAPITAL IS TO BLAME
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- They
I mean Hunger has already done so. Doom of the Tyrant is greater and deeper than losing body parts.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
it does indeed. Though some reactions are going to suck regardless. Like my most recent one was really fucking depressing. The mindset Hunger had to get Cut Through just solidifies my desire to stay far, far away from the forebear.