- Location
- PA
That is a really good question. I hadn't thought of it, but it does sound thematically appropriate.
A Green Keychain (Jumpchain, Dawn-centric)
- Thread starter dingbat779
- Start date
That is a really good question. I hadn't thought of it, but it does sound thematically appropriate.
Huh, didn't know Ivalice was also in other FF games besides Tactics, Tactics Advance, and Tactics A2... Apparently it showed up in a later FF numbered game...
Anyway, I mainly brought up Advance since any instances made from it would have rules, but you'd only be kicked out with no chance to return instead of being completely unable to go against the rules. A2, which was also accessed through a book, would likely give instances where following the rule gives you an additional reward at the end.
...Ivalice's timeline seems interesting...
Anyway, I mainly brought up Advance since any instances made from it would have rules, but you'd only be kicked out with no chance to return instead of being completely unable to go against the rules. A2, which was also accessed through a book, would likely give instances where following the rule gives you an additional reward at the end.
...Ivalice's timeline seems interesting...
- Final Fantasy XII
- Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
- Final Fantays Tactics A2: Grimoire of the RIft (Everything in Ivalice, including several characters that show up from XII. Luso uses the Grimoire of the RIft, sending him to Ivalice until he fills it up?)
- Final Fantasy Tactics (Luso the MC from A2 shows up apparently?)
- Vagrant Story (Not an official FF game, but made by the same person who made XII)
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Mewt creates a dream version of Ivalice using the Gran Grimoire found in St. Ivalice? He might have turned St. Ivalice into the dream Ivalice? But then characters related to those in A2 also seem to appear, so whether it was a dream version or not is also up in the air?)
- Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (Everything in St. Ivalice, including Mewt giving Luso the Gran Grimoire to try to meet his friends, sending him to Tactics?)
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Candyturtle
Turtle Wizard
- Location
- Home
- Pronouns
- He/Him
great story I do want to see more please
First Key 1.9
- Location
- PA
First Key 1.9
Trying to become a Technopagan like Willow and Jenny was very tempting. The Gamer power pretty much meant she could become an expert in anything with enough time. There was just one problem with that. They didn't have a lot of time. Even abusing time dilation couldn't avoid that simple fact. Dawn decided to prioritize the magic she knew now and become better at combat. Teleportation was something else she wanted to improve. She remembered how to use the Time Mage's Teleport with her 100 Int. The idea she had was to improve her teleportation magic in case something disastrous happened.
"Dawn? Do you have anything that could just find Angel for us?" Buffy asked.
"It's starting to get late…or early I guess…" Mom noticed the time with a bewildered expression.
"Okay, let me try to scry for him. Do you have anything I can use?" Dawn inquired. Buffy handed her a nice silver crucifix.
"He gave it to me. Well, it was still in the box, but I think of him when I wear it…" Buffy blushed bashfully.
"That's fine," Dawn assured her. Objects didn't have to belong to the person being sought. All that was required was a strong emotional connection. The thought occurred that he might not feel the same and the point was moot, but she kept that to herself.
She had the memory of scrying from Dawn Orlandaeu's memories. The Skill was understandably under-leveled because it wasn't part of her normal spell kit. Wasn't she just thinking about tightening her focus more? Dawn mentally sighed. Scrying was important for anti-scrying too. She could check on her hunches without exposing herself. More importantly, this was for Buffy. In the original timeline, her sister didn't ask for much. No more than the next person. She just wanted them to have a normal life and for their mother to come home. If her sister wanted Dawn to magically search for Angel then she would. The good news was that Angel did love Buffy. Using that she was able to narrow down his current location.
"He's at home?" Dawn blurted out.
"But we were just there!" Buffy complained.
"We knocked. Buffy said she didn't hear anyone inside. I couldn't sense anything either," Joyce said.
"He could have just stood very still. Vampires don't have a heartbeat or need to breathe," Dawn pointed out.
"Do you want to go back and check?" Joyce asked gently. Buffy seriously considered it before giving a defeated sigh.
"...No," Buffy whispered.
Dawn almost said "Fuck that" and went back to that apartment herself. She started to go back but Joyce grabbed her arm. The Summers matriarch slowly shook her head sadly. This was Buffy's decision. The younger girl's face set in a mulish frown but she relented. It pissed her off that he was hiding from someone who loved him. She knew how their relationship ended originally, but it didn't have to be that way. There were all sorts of new and exciting magics they could try. Stuff to bind his soul to the vessel and kick out the demon. Because of her mother's implied command, she was full of pent-up aggression with no outlet. Gamer's Mind kept her acting irrationally, but it didn't calm her down. She knew it was possible to get pissed off with what you see on the screen. No amount of disconnect could fix that. While Buffy and Joyce went to bed, Dawn stepped into an Instant Dungeon set for 10:1 dilation. Instead of jumping back into Ivalice or a zombie dungeon, she chose Parasite Eve. The requirements said she needed to find a theater to start.
[A Nightmare at the Opera]
Details: What should have been a night of artistic appreciation has turned into one of terror. A strange monster in the body of a young ingenue began burning everyone alive. You are the sole survivor in the wake of this tragedy.
Number of Party Members: 1
Rewards: Mitochondrial Power, 10,000 XP
Accept: Y/N?
Dropped right into the thick of things. The scent of burning flesh invaded her nose. She was vaguely aware of shapes moving in the smoke. People were screaming in panic and pain as they died. Dawn tapped in her magic to heal as many as she could reach. Pandemona briefly appeared to blow the smoke away so that she could target the fires directly. Leviathan in his smaller form made short work of them with pinpoint splashes. She could see the enemy up on stage. Her Level was 5 with the name 'Melissa Pearce/Eve.' The beautiful woman wore a red dress. Green eyes stared at her with malevolence and a hint of amusement. Since she wasn't approaching, Dawn took the chance to loot the area. Right by her starting position was a small chest with a M84F handgun. She didn't know guns that well, but it was free. There was also a bulletproof vest with a small amount of energy protection. It went on easily under her current outfit.
{Be careful. Being too confident is worse than not being confident enough.} Ramuh cautioned.
Dawn cast all of her protective spells including one derived from Ifrit: Barfire. She had Carbuncle use Shell just to be safe. All of that should have protected her from a fire elemental. There was just one problem. The game's lore basically shot down Mitochondrial Powers as being magic in origin. That was why she had the entirely unpleasant experience of spontaneously catching fire. Dawn's scream echoed in the empty theater as every cell superheated and combusted. Troll's Regeneration was instantly neutralized. The Regen spell still worked like it was supposed to which is why she didn't die in the first thirty seconds. She panicked and cast an overpowered Thundaga spell in her tormentor's direction. There was a sharp crack of actinic light before the fires stopped. Dawn wasn't even aware of falling to her knees.
[You have survived being turned into a charcoal briquette!]
"Fuck you…" Dawn moaned.
[You have awakened "Parasite Energy!"]
Parasite Energy ran off her Constitution much like another health bar. She didn't know how to classify it since it wasn't like Ki or Magic, but something else entirely. It was a purely biological power with mystical components and even tied to her soul. Somehow. The first Parasite Power she learned was Heal. Useful since it erased the traces of scarring that Regen didn't fix. Yunhon Soul Recovery or sleeping in a bed would have done the trick. At least she had something for people without Gamer's Body. The next chest she found backstage had medicine and 60 rounds of ammo.
"What the heck?" Dawn stared at the ammo in confusion. It was listed as 'untyped' with the effect of conforming to whatever gun it's loaded into. That did nearly sidestep the logical fallacy of one-size-fits-all bullets. The medicine acted like a healing potion.
The whole dungeon was like a recreation of the first stage of Parasite Eve. Down in the basement, she found the same enemies. Mutant rats and mutant parrots might not sound too bad, but they were incredibly fast and vicious. Good thing Dawn was at such a high level or it might have been more difficult. The real danger was the constant Mitochondrial Field Effect. Her Parasite Energy Skill was increasing rapidly at least. The other constant was the health drain. Even with her increasing resistance Eve's presence constantly sapped her HP. She had to maintain Regen the whole time. She found another gun as well as some armor. The rats dropped lots of ammo as well.
"I really need to work on my firearms skills…" Dawn lamented. It grated at her to have access to new resources and be unable to use them.
Challenging Eve the second time was easier than the first, but not by much. She kept trying to immolate Dawn directly. The Summers girl was torn. If she told her family and friends they'd yell at her. If she didn't then it could deny them a potential asset. Dawn really didn't want to get in trouble, but she wasn't that petty. Eve finally fell to a last Blizzard-enhanced sword slash. The mutated menace blew straight through the floor and fled into the sewers.
Fighting in the sewers sucked. The dungeon was incredibly realistic in that the sights and smells were authentic. Thankfully it didn't have realistic waste. Just the smell was bad enough. The freakishly huge frogs would have made Willow run screaming for the hills. They did the same for Dawn actually. Without all that training their whip-fast tongues would have made short work of her. There was one thing in this whole game she wanted. Even better, it was in the first section.
Items Found:
x 2 Revive - Restores Life when you die.
Dawn left the dungeon and went back in to farm Revives. Her mother caught her on the fourth attempt and promptly grounded the girl.
"You went into a new dungeon, alone, without telling anyone! I thought you had more sense than that!" Joyce waved her hands agitatedly.
"But I found Revives…!" Dawn tried to say only to get shouted down.
"We might have gone along with your plan if you'd said something! Asking forgiveness is not easier than getting permission!" Joyce jammed a finger at her.
"You don't want to know what a Revive is, do you?" Dawn asked.
"I do…" Buffy raised a hand before retracting sheepishly at her mother's glare.
"They can bring the holder back to life!" Dawn took the opening and dived in fast. Joyce and Buffy whipped around in shock.
"WHAT!?" They exclaimed.
Now that was the reaction she was hoping for!
"You're still grounded young lady!" Joyce quickly reiterated.
Dawn sulked. She really hoped her mother wasn't serious about that. One more run was all she needed to give a Revive to each of them. The safer option would be to wait until Angel Rings showed up in the Tactics dungeon. Didn't she almost die because Eve's powers ignored her defenses? Being grounded also meant the date with Willow was canceled. She had no one to blame but herself for that. Hopefully, Willow understood. Oh Hell, she would probably be as pissed off as her mother. Next time she had the brilliant idea to challenge a new dungeon alone she wouldn't. It just wasn't worth the headache. At least the Espers weren't upset with her which was a plus.
"How about this? I never go back to the dungeon again. The party limit is just one person. You're right to be mad at me. It's a really dangerous place," Dawn gave up. She did feel a sense of relief given just how dangerous it was. No doubt it would've grown even worse as the story battles progressed. Just because she had Parasite Energy didn't make her immune to Eve's power. All it did was make her resistant.
"Why don't we ask her how the Revives work?" Buffy asked their mom.
"Do you have to actually do something to activate it?" Joyce sighed.
"No. Just hold onto it and it activates instantly. There's no cooldown either. In the game, the only restriction was Inventory space, but my Inventory stacks items," Dawn explained.
"Damn it…" Joyce bit her knuckle thoughtfully. It was abundantly clear she didn't like this. "Fine. You're still grounded, but you can go on your date with Willow. I can't be too angry with everything you're doing to keep us safe. How much longer would you need to pick up more Revives?"
"The encounter only spawns once a trip. Each time I go in it starts me back at the beginning. Maybe an hour to collect enough so each of us would have three apiece?" Dawn shrugged.
"Just be careful, okay? I'm too old to be an only child now," Buffy teased even if her eyes were filled with worry.
The times they survived by the skin of their teeth back home were too many to count. Dawn was serious in that she wasn't going to return to the Parasite Eve dungeons again. The Revives were just too tempting to ignore. She even had her mother's blessing to grab enough for everyone. Of course, the temptation was there to go further than that, but she wasn't suicidal. Once she finished claiming her prizes it was time for bed. They needed to be up bright and early for school the next day after all. Dawn cheated by using another time-dilated ID to get more sleep and practice with her Parasite Energy. Parasite Energy wasn't limited to what was available in the game. With it, she could control the body in a myriad of ways. Biokinesis. All that was left to do was find time to experiment before trying it out on anyone. So while the PE dungeon caused a lot of drama it did have some fantastic benefits. Which unsurprisingly didn't tempt Dawn to explore it any further. Being turned into a charcoal briquette or undergoing horrific body horror didn't appeal to her. Funny thing that.
The gang got together after school to share their experiences. As it turns out, Dawn didn't have a monopoly on truly stupid ideas. While the Summers girls were at home the rest of the Scoobies decided to challenge some dungeons as well. They went into a vampire dungeon and almost got killed off by Darla. The vampire Boss was even more terrifying than the original with preternatural speed and a nasty gun. No one was killed, or even maimed, but it was closer than anyone would've liked.
"We should make an agreement. No more solo dungeons. Either we all go together or not at all. Allowances can be made, but only for dungeons we've explored before. This has been quite the wake-up call," Giles said once the stories were told.
"Definitely," Dawn agreed quickly.
"That it has," Joyce nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you've got a point. Even with Dawn bringing us Revives, and the Phoenix Downs, it's too dangerous to keep jumping in like that," Xander concluded ruefully.
It was a bitter pill to swallow. The only saving grace was they learned their lesson and no one had to die first. Their training for the day was going to be something a lot safer. Finishing their Intelligence and Wisdom training for the ones who weren't there yet. There was still the matter of Faith, Kendra, and Tara. Giles' contacts within the Watcher's Council reacted with surprise and dismay over what the Abyss knew about them. At least not everyone on the Council had their head up their ass. Joyce called Tara's mom to warn her of what was coming. Luckily the woman believed her. She planned on packing up her family and heading to Sunnydale as soon as possible. Jenny and Willow worked some magic to mislead anyone trying to find the family, but it wouldn't last long. The Abyss could chew through their best efforts with ease, but only if they knew to look. Kendra's Watcher didn't reply to Giles' call at all which was worrying. As for Faith's Watcher, Donna, she also swore to come straight to Sunnydale immediately.
Scribing Skills until they critically succeeded and generally taking it easy. They did have the needed Wisdom to learn the Secrets of the Primal and the Crystal Skill Book. Now all enemies they defeated would drop Primal Spirit Gems and Crystals. Of course, Dawn still wanted to take that a step further. Good thing her Luck was so high, but it still took a beastly long time to combine the two Skills. The only problem she saw was that the Job Crystals used the Primal Spirit Gem slot. That meant they could equip a Primal Spirit or a Job Crystal but not both. Her slot had Ruby Knight already equipped.
[Job Crystal: Ruby Knight]
Str + 10
Vit + 10
Dex + 20
Int + 30
Wis + 30
Soul of the Red Mage: +20% Physical and Magical Damage
Why did this stuff only appear now and not earlier?
"Hey Dawn! We got a Quest for the Abyss Auction!" Willow bounced over excitedly. Dawn almost jumped out of her skin but managed to avoid screaming.
"Uh, what?" Dawn blinked bemusedly. Willow showed her the pop-up.
Quest: Buy something from every section of the Abyss Auction.
Spellbooks - Complete
Ingredients - Incomplete
Weapons & Armor - Incomplete
Accessories - Incomplete
Information - Complete
Slaves - Incomplete
Sell something through the Abyss Auction - Complete
"Slaves!?" Dawn yelped.
"I know, right? Can we just go smash them up?" Buffy demanded.
"Not unless you want every magic user on the planet, and from multiple dimensions, hunting us down," Giles remarked bitterly. The tone wasn't for Buffy, but because it sucked. They were still little fish in a very big ocean.
Xander looked over at Jenny and Giles worriedly, "I don't think we can afford to pass this up… you can release people you buy on the Abyss Auction right?"
Giles thought about how he had used the soul recovery to break the Mark of Eyghon. "It depends on how the seller set things up, I'm willing to wager that you can break most any enchantment given time with Yunhon Soul Recovery."
Jenny asked, "Iron Will?"
Willow said, "In various games, Iron Will gives you a bonus against mind control or makes you immune depending on the system, either of which would be very useful…. and this is a quest for the whole group - it gives these rewards for everyone."
Buffy frowned, "Buying people, that's just…"
Xander shrugged, "Wrong? Illegal? Bad? Sure, but they're going to be sold to someone or someTHING anyway, and at least we can give them a few thousand dollars and break the slavery enchantment so they can start over, and we definitely won't chop them up for parts, put them in a mana farm or eat them."
Willow said, "Or we give them some training first to make sure it never happens again."
"I thought that part was implied?" Xander shrugged.
Jenny said, "It won't hurt to look…"
"And with Willow and Xander's Gamer abilities as long as the person is trustworthy we have a fairly unique opportunity to help whoever we wind up choosing prevent this from ever happening again." Joyce sighed helplessly.
Dawn bit her lip thoughtfully. Someone else joining the group would be a big help even if it was only temporary. A group this large had the advantage of numbers, but it was also a weakness. Smaller groups fared better against larger organizations because it was easier to remain hidden. There was a whole risk/reward in that it was possible to grow so powerful no one screwed with you. They weren't at that point yet. By general consensus, they agreed to start with the slaves. The temptation was strong to buy a bunch of them, but their resources would be spread way too thin. Whoever they took in would need therapy at a minimum. Of course, that was when the universe threw Dawn another curveball. One of the slaves was Winnifred Burkle. The same woman Angel rescued from Pylea in the original world. What was she doing here? Admittedly it was probably for the best that she was here. How would they have rescued her otherwise? If Angel didn't go to LA then a lot of the good he did wouldn't get done. Good thing she couldn't have a panic attack!
The group moved on to purchasing ingredients. Thanks to all the sharp and pointy things from Ivalice, plus the healing potions, they were flush with cash. They bought more sharkskin, spider silk, and various metal ingots than were strictly necessary. At least until Xander pointed out they could make their own gear. The stuff they were using now was serviceable, but it would be better if they could customize their stuff. There were also magic cell phones and laptops. Jenny got enough for all of them plus a few extra just in case. The armor consisted of stuff like Boots of Skull Stomping and armored blue jeans. One of them stood out and not in a good way.
"T-shirt of wife-beating? Helps convince the cops you didn't do it?" Jenny read off incredulously.
"Real misogynist bastard of an enchanter no doubt… Some woman did a major number on him at some point." Xander murmured, only to receive glares from every female in the room. "Hey, I didn't say he was right to name his stuff that way, just that for him to have so much hatred for women some woman had to do a real number on that guy." He raised his hands in surrender.
"He might just be a bastard without a reason too," Dawn pointed out tartly.
Giles scowled, "I think we'll skip that item."
Jenny looked over the other options, "Okay, a pair of boxing gloves that increases the chance to knock someone out, initials 'MT' on the cuffs."
"Guess that explains some things," Xander continued his commentary.
Buffy frowned, "I'm not wearing boxing gloves."
Dawn asked, "What about armored shirts?"
Jenny frowned, "Here's a 100 dollar item, boots of water walking... it's from the bayou and includes jungle rot free of charge."
"Pass, jungle rot is nasty." Cordelia snorted.
Xander snorted, "We'll take it."
The girls turned to look at him dubiously.
"What?! We could use it to figure out the enchantment, and as long as no one puts them on the fungus doesn't matter. Plus, it fulfills our quest requirement for something out of this section cheaply and we aren't paying the misogynist bastard."
Joyce frowned, "I'll get a plastic bag…"
Thankfully the Quest was fulfilled without any mishaps. The Orb of Iron Will would prove invaluable in the future as it bolstered Mental Resistance by 50% right away with a +1% per level. Even more importantly they could remove the slave brand from Winnifred "Fred" Burkle. She wanted to be trained so badly that it was almost painful. As much as she wanted to go home, her old life was pretty much over. Now all she could do was train so no one could take her again. At least she could talk to her parents on the phone and even visit them eventually. Rehabilitation would take some time. Dawn hated how these things kept blindsiding her. She knew this world wouldn't follow her own beat by beat, but it seemed hellbent on being dark. They say the only easy day is yesterday. Truer words were never spoken.
Name: Dawn Summers
Age: 15
Job: The Gamer
Level: 19
Title: Ruby Knight of the Order of the Southern Sky
HP: 1600/1600
Starting HP: (Vit x 10) + 50 per level
MP: 13,800/13,800
Starting MP: (Int x 50) + 50 per level
PE: 1600/1600
Starting PE: (Vit x 10) + 50 per level
Str: 50 + 10
Vit: 50 + 10
Dex: 50 + 20
Int: 100 + 30
Wis: 50 + 30
Luck: 86
CP: 30
Traits:
Lucky Bitch: + 50 to Luck + 1 Luck per level and +50% to Luck Training
Magic Practitioner - Utility: + 50% to Training/Effect of Utility Spells
Mage: Increase spell effectiveness by 30% and reduce cost by 30%. Starting MP increases to Int x 50. ((Int x 50) + 50 per level) x 2
Job Crystal: Ruby Knight
Str + 10
Vit + 10
Dex + 20
Int + 30
Wis + 30
Soul of the Red Mage: +20% Physical and Magical Damage
AN: Phwee…Sorry for the delays in my posts. I'm pretty much working almost constantly. Please help me lighten the load by donating to my Patreon. Otherwise I just won't have time to produce quality content. Thanks!
Name: Dawn Summers
Age: 15
Job: The Gamer
Level: 17
Title: Ruby Knight of the Order of the Southern Sky
HP: 1300/1300
Starting HP: (Vit x 10) + 50 per level
MP: 11,600/11,600
Starting MP: (Int x 50) + 50 per level
Str: 50
Vit: 50
Dex: 50
Int: 100
Wis: 50
Luck: 83
CP: 25
Traits:
Lucky Bitch: + 50 to Luck + 1 Luck per level and +50% to Luck Training
Magic Practitioner - Utility: + 50% to Training/Effect of Utility Spells
Mage: Increase spell effectiveness by 30% and reduce cost by 30%. Starting MP increases to Int x 50. ((Int x 50) + 50 per level) x 2
Age: 15
Job: The Gamer
Level: 17
Title: Ruby Knight of the Order of the Southern Sky
HP: 1300/1300
Starting HP: (Vit x 10) + 50 per level
MP: 11,600/11,600
Starting MP: (Int x 50) + 50 per level
Str: 50
Vit: 50
Dex: 50
Int: 100
Wis: 50
Luck: 83
CP: 25
Traits:
Lucky Bitch: + 50 to Luck + 1 Luck per level and +50% to Luck Training
Magic Practitioner - Utility: + 50% to Training/Effect of Utility Spells
Mage: Increase spell effectiveness by 30% and reduce cost by 30%. Starting MP increases to Int x 50. ((Int x 50) + 50 per level) x 2
Trying to become a Technopagan like Willow and Jenny was very tempting. The Gamer power pretty much meant she could become an expert in anything with enough time. There was just one problem with that. They didn't have a lot of time. Even abusing time dilation couldn't avoid that simple fact. Dawn decided to prioritize the magic she knew now and become better at combat. Teleportation was something else she wanted to improve. She remembered how to use the Time Mage's Teleport with her 100 Int. The idea she had was to improve her teleportation magic in case something disastrous happened.
"Dawn? Do you have anything that could just find Angel for us?" Buffy asked.
"It's starting to get late…or early I guess…" Mom noticed the time with a bewildered expression.
"Okay, let me try to scry for him. Do you have anything I can use?" Dawn inquired. Buffy handed her a nice silver crucifix.
"He gave it to me. Well, it was still in the box, but I think of him when I wear it…" Buffy blushed bashfully.
"That's fine," Dawn assured her. Objects didn't have to belong to the person being sought. All that was required was a strong emotional connection. The thought occurred that he might not feel the same and the point was moot, but she kept that to herself.
She had the memory of scrying from Dawn Orlandaeu's memories. The Skill was understandably under-leveled because it wasn't part of her normal spell kit. Wasn't she just thinking about tightening her focus more? Dawn mentally sighed. Scrying was important for anti-scrying too. She could check on her hunches without exposing herself. More importantly, this was for Buffy. In the original timeline, her sister didn't ask for much. No more than the next person. She just wanted them to have a normal life and for their mother to come home. If her sister wanted Dawn to magically search for Angel then she would. The good news was that Angel did love Buffy. Using that she was able to narrow down his current location.
"He's at home?" Dawn blurted out.
"But we were just there!" Buffy complained.
"We knocked. Buffy said she didn't hear anyone inside. I couldn't sense anything either," Joyce said.
"He could have just stood very still. Vampires don't have a heartbeat or need to breathe," Dawn pointed out.
"Do you want to go back and check?" Joyce asked gently. Buffy seriously considered it before giving a defeated sigh.
"...No," Buffy whispered.
Dawn almost said "Fuck that" and went back to that apartment herself. She started to go back but Joyce grabbed her arm. The Summers matriarch slowly shook her head sadly. This was Buffy's decision. The younger girl's face set in a mulish frown but she relented. It pissed her off that he was hiding from someone who loved him. She knew how their relationship ended originally, but it didn't have to be that way. There were all sorts of new and exciting magics they could try. Stuff to bind his soul to the vessel and kick out the demon. Because of her mother's implied command, she was full of pent-up aggression with no outlet. Gamer's Mind kept her acting irrationally, but it didn't calm her down. She knew it was possible to get pissed off with what you see on the screen. No amount of disconnect could fix that. While Buffy and Joyce went to bed, Dawn stepped into an Instant Dungeon set for 10:1 dilation. Instead of jumping back into Ivalice or a zombie dungeon, she chose Parasite Eve. The requirements said she needed to find a theater to start.
[A Nightmare at the Opera]
Details: What should have been a night of artistic appreciation has turned into one of terror. A strange monster in the body of a young ingenue began burning everyone alive. You are the sole survivor in the wake of this tragedy.
Number of Party Members: 1
Rewards: Mitochondrial Power, 10,000 XP
Accept: Y/N?
Dropped right into the thick of things. The scent of burning flesh invaded her nose. She was vaguely aware of shapes moving in the smoke. People were screaming in panic and pain as they died. Dawn tapped in her magic to heal as many as she could reach. Pandemona briefly appeared to blow the smoke away so that she could target the fires directly. Leviathan in his smaller form made short work of them with pinpoint splashes. She could see the enemy up on stage. Her Level was 5 with the name 'Melissa Pearce/Eve.' The beautiful woman wore a red dress. Green eyes stared at her with malevolence and a hint of amusement. Since she wasn't approaching, Dawn took the chance to loot the area. Right by her starting position was a small chest with a M84F handgun. She didn't know guns that well, but it was free. There was also a bulletproof vest with a small amount of energy protection. It went on easily under her current outfit.
{Be careful. Being too confident is worse than not being confident enough.} Ramuh cautioned.
Dawn cast all of her protective spells including one derived from Ifrit: Barfire. She had Carbuncle use Shell just to be safe. All of that should have protected her from a fire elemental. There was just one problem. The game's lore basically shot down Mitochondrial Powers as being magic in origin. That was why she had the entirely unpleasant experience of spontaneously catching fire. Dawn's scream echoed in the empty theater as every cell superheated and combusted. Troll's Regeneration was instantly neutralized. The Regen spell still worked like it was supposed to which is why she didn't die in the first thirty seconds. She panicked and cast an overpowered Thundaga spell in her tormentor's direction. There was a sharp crack of actinic light before the fires stopped. Dawn wasn't even aware of falling to her knees.
[You have survived being turned into a charcoal briquette!]
"Fuck you…" Dawn moaned.
[You have awakened "Parasite Energy!"]
Parasite Energy ran off her Constitution much like another health bar. She didn't know how to classify it since it wasn't like Ki or Magic, but something else entirely. It was a purely biological power with mystical components and even tied to her soul. Somehow. The first Parasite Power she learned was Heal. Useful since it erased the traces of scarring that Regen didn't fix. Yunhon Soul Recovery or sleeping in a bed would have done the trick. At least she had something for people without Gamer's Body. The next chest she found backstage had medicine and 60 rounds of ammo.
"What the heck?" Dawn stared at the ammo in confusion. It was listed as 'untyped' with the effect of conforming to whatever gun it's loaded into. That did nearly sidestep the logical fallacy of one-size-fits-all bullets. The medicine acted like a healing potion.
The whole dungeon was like a recreation of the first stage of Parasite Eve. Down in the basement, she found the same enemies. Mutant rats and mutant parrots might not sound too bad, but they were incredibly fast and vicious. Good thing Dawn was at such a high level or it might have been more difficult. The real danger was the constant Mitochondrial Field Effect. Her Parasite Energy Skill was increasing rapidly at least. The other constant was the health drain. Even with her increasing resistance Eve's presence constantly sapped her HP. She had to maintain Regen the whole time. She found another gun as well as some armor. The rats dropped lots of ammo as well.
"I really need to work on my firearms skills…" Dawn lamented. It grated at her to have access to new resources and be unable to use them.
Challenging Eve the second time was easier than the first, but not by much. She kept trying to immolate Dawn directly. The Summers girl was torn. If she told her family and friends they'd yell at her. If she didn't then it could deny them a potential asset. Dawn really didn't want to get in trouble, but she wasn't that petty. Eve finally fell to a last Blizzard-enhanced sword slash. The mutated menace blew straight through the floor and fled into the sewers.
Fighting in the sewers sucked. The dungeon was incredibly realistic in that the sights and smells were authentic. Thankfully it didn't have realistic waste. Just the smell was bad enough. The freakishly huge frogs would have made Willow run screaming for the hills. They did the same for Dawn actually. Without all that training their whip-fast tongues would have made short work of her. There was one thing in this whole game she wanted. Even better, it was in the first section.
Items Found:
x 2 Revive - Restores Life when you die.
Dawn left the dungeon and went back in to farm Revives. Her mother caught her on the fourth attempt and promptly grounded the girl.
"You went into a new dungeon, alone, without telling anyone! I thought you had more sense than that!" Joyce waved her hands agitatedly.
"But I found Revives…!" Dawn tried to say only to get shouted down.
"We might have gone along with your plan if you'd said something! Asking forgiveness is not easier than getting permission!" Joyce jammed a finger at her.
"You don't want to know what a Revive is, do you?" Dawn asked.
"I do…" Buffy raised a hand before retracting sheepishly at her mother's glare.
"They can bring the holder back to life!" Dawn took the opening and dived in fast. Joyce and Buffy whipped around in shock.
"WHAT!?" They exclaimed.
Now that was the reaction she was hoping for!
"You're still grounded young lady!" Joyce quickly reiterated.
Dawn sulked. She really hoped her mother wasn't serious about that. One more run was all she needed to give a Revive to each of them. The safer option would be to wait until Angel Rings showed up in the Tactics dungeon. Didn't she almost die because Eve's powers ignored her defenses? Being grounded also meant the date with Willow was canceled. She had no one to blame but herself for that. Hopefully, Willow understood. Oh Hell, she would probably be as pissed off as her mother. Next time she had the brilliant idea to challenge a new dungeon alone she wouldn't. It just wasn't worth the headache. At least the Espers weren't upset with her which was a plus.
"How about this? I never go back to the dungeon again. The party limit is just one person. You're right to be mad at me. It's a really dangerous place," Dawn gave up. She did feel a sense of relief given just how dangerous it was. No doubt it would've grown even worse as the story battles progressed. Just because she had Parasite Energy didn't make her immune to Eve's power. All it did was make her resistant.
"Why don't we ask her how the Revives work?" Buffy asked their mom.
"Do you have to actually do something to activate it?" Joyce sighed.
"No. Just hold onto it and it activates instantly. There's no cooldown either. In the game, the only restriction was Inventory space, but my Inventory stacks items," Dawn explained.
"Damn it…" Joyce bit her knuckle thoughtfully. It was abundantly clear she didn't like this. "Fine. You're still grounded, but you can go on your date with Willow. I can't be too angry with everything you're doing to keep us safe. How much longer would you need to pick up more Revives?"
"The encounter only spawns once a trip. Each time I go in it starts me back at the beginning. Maybe an hour to collect enough so each of us would have three apiece?" Dawn shrugged.
"Just be careful, okay? I'm too old to be an only child now," Buffy teased even if her eyes were filled with worry.
The times they survived by the skin of their teeth back home were too many to count. Dawn was serious in that she wasn't going to return to the Parasite Eve dungeons again. The Revives were just too tempting to ignore. She even had her mother's blessing to grab enough for everyone. Of course, the temptation was there to go further than that, but she wasn't suicidal. Once she finished claiming her prizes it was time for bed. They needed to be up bright and early for school the next day after all. Dawn cheated by using another time-dilated ID to get more sleep and practice with her Parasite Energy. Parasite Energy wasn't limited to what was available in the game. With it, she could control the body in a myriad of ways. Biokinesis. All that was left to do was find time to experiment before trying it out on anyone. So while the PE dungeon caused a lot of drama it did have some fantastic benefits. Which unsurprisingly didn't tempt Dawn to explore it any further. Being turned into a charcoal briquette or undergoing horrific body horror didn't appeal to her. Funny thing that.
The gang got together after school to share their experiences. As it turns out, Dawn didn't have a monopoly on truly stupid ideas. While the Summers girls were at home the rest of the Scoobies decided to challenge some dungeons as well. They went into a vampire dungeon and almost got killed off by Darla. The vampire Boss was even more terrifying than the original with preternatural speed and a nasty gun. No one was killed, or even maimed, but it was closer than anyone would've liked.
"We should make an agreement. No more solo dungeons. Either we all go together or not at all. Allowances can be made, but only for dungeons we've explored before. This has been quite the wake-up call," Giles said once the stories were told.
"Definitely," Dawn agreed quickly.
"That it has," Joyce nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you've got a point. Even with Dawn bringing us Revives, and the Phoenix Downs, it's too dangerous to keep jumping in like that," Xander concluded ruefully.
It was a bitter pill to swallow. The only saving grace was they learned their lesson and no one had to die first. Their training for the day was going to be something a lot safer. Finishing their Intelligence and Wisdom training for the ones who weren't there yet. There was still the matter of Faith, Kendra, and Tara. Giles' contacts within the Watcher's Council reacted with surprise and dismay over what the Abyss knew about them. At least not everyone on the Council had their head up their ass. Joyce called Tara's mom to warn her of what was coming. Luckily the woman believed her. She planned on packing up her family and heading to Sunnydale as soon as possible. Jenny and Willow worked some magic to mislead anyone trying to find the family, but it wouldn't last long. The Abyss could chew through their best efforts with ease, but only if they knew to look. Kendra's Watcher didn't reply to Giles' call at all which was worrying. As for Faith's Watcher, Donna, she also swore to come straight to Sunnydale immediately.
Scribing Skills until they critically succeeded and generally taking it easy. They did have the needed Wisdom to learn the Secrets of the Primal and the Crystal Skill Book. Now all enemies they defeated would drop Primal Spirit Gems and Crystals. Of course, Dawn still wanted to take that a step further. Good thing her Luck was so high, but it still took a beastly long time to combine the two Skills. The only problem she saw was that the Job Crystals used the Primal Spirit Gem slot. That meant they could equip a Primal Spirit or a Job Crystal but not both. Her slot had Ruby Knight already equipped.
[Job Crystal: Ruby Knight]
Str + 10
Vit + 10
Dex + 20
Int + 30
Wis + 30
Soul of the Red Mage: +20% Physical and Magical Damage
Why did this stuff only appear now and not earlier?
"Hey Dawn! We got a Quest for the Abyss Auction!" Willow bounced over excitedly. Dawn almost jumped out of her skin but managed to avoid screaming.
"Uh, what?" Dawn blinked bemusedly. Willow showed her the pop-up.
Quest: Buy something from every section of the Abyss Auction.
Spellbooks - Complete
Ingredients - Incomplete
Weapons & Armor - Incomplete
Accessories - Incomplete
Information - Complete
Slaves - Incomplete
Sell something through the Abyss Auction - Complete
"Slaves!?" Dawn yelped.
"I know, right? Can we just go smash them up?" Buffy demanded.
"Not unless you want every magic user on the planet, and from multiple dimensions, hunting us down," Giles remarked bitterly. The tone wasn't for Buffy, but because it sucked. They were still little fish in a very big ocean.
Xander looked over at Jenny and Giles worriedly, "I don't think we can afford to pass this up… you can release people you buy on the Abyss Auction right?"
Giles thought about how he had used the soul recovery to break the Mark of Eyghon. "It depends on how the seller set things up, I'm willing to wager that you can break most any enchantment given time with Yunhon Soul Recovery."
Jenny asked, "Iron Will?"
Willow said, "In various games, Iron Will gives you a bonus against mind control or makes you immune depending on the system, either of which would be very useful…. and this is a quest for the whole group - it gives these rewards for everyone."
Buffy frowned, "Buying people, that's just…"
Xander shrugged, "Wrong? Illegal? Bad? Sure, but they're going to be sold to someone or someTHING anyway, and at least we can give them a few thousand dollars and break the slavery enchantment so they can start over, and we definitely won't chop them up for parts, put them in a mana farm or eat them."
Willow said, "Or we give them some training first to make sure it never happens again."
"I thought that part was implied?" Xander shrugged.
Jenny said, "It won't hurt to look…"
"And with Willow and Xander's Gamer abilities as long as the person is trustworthy we have a fairly unique opportunity to help whoever we wind up choosing prevent this from ever happening again." Joyce sighed helplessly.
Dawn bit her lip thoughtfully. Someone else joining the group would be a big help even if it was only temporary. A group this large had the advantage of numbers, but it was also a weakness. Smaller groups fared better against larger organizations because it was easier to remain hidden. There was a whole risk/reward in that it was possible to grow so powerful no one screwed with you. They weren't at that point yet. By general consensus, they agreed to start with the slaves. The temptation was strong to buy a bunch of them, but their resources would be spread way too thin. Whoever they took in would need therapy at a minimum. Of course, that was when the universe threw Dawn another curveball. One of the slaves was Winnifred Burkle. The same woman Angel rescued from Pylea in the original world. What was she doing here? Admittedly it was probably for the best that she was here. How would they have rescued her otherwise? If Angel didn't go to LA then a lot of the good he did wouldn't get done. Good thing she couldn't have a panic attack!
The group moved on to purchasing ingredients. Thanks to all the sharp and pointy things from Ivalice, plus the healing potions, they were flush with cash. They bought more sharkskin, spider silk, and various metal ingots than were strictly necessary. At least until Xander pointed out they could make their own gear. The stuff they were using now was serviceable, but it would be better if they could customize their stuff. There were also magic cell phones and laptops. Jenny got enough for all of them plus a few extra just in case. The armor consisted of stuff like Boots of Skull Stomping and armored blue jeans. One of them stood out and not in a good way.
"T-shirt of wife-beating? Helps convince the cops you didn't do it?" Jenny read off incredulously.
"Real misogynist bastard of an enchanter no doubt… Some woman did a major number on him at some point." Xander murmured, only to receive glares from every female in the room. "Hey, I didn't say he was right to name his stuff that way, just that for him to have so much hatred for women some woman had to do a real number on that guy." He raised his hands in surrender.
"He might just be a bastard without a reason too," Dawn pointed out tartly.
Giles scowled, "I think we'll skip that item."
Jenny looked over the other options, "Okay, a pair of boxing gloves that increases the chance to knock someone out, initials 'MT' on the cuffs."
"Guess that explains some things," Xander continued his commentary.
Buffy frowned, "I'm not wearing boxing gloves."
Dawn asked, "What about armored shirts?"
Jenny frowned, "Here's a 100 dollar item, boots of water walking... it's from the bayou and includes jungle rot free of charge."
"Pass, jungle rot is nasty." Cordelia snorted.
Xander snorted, "We'll take it."
The girls turned to look at him dubiously.
"What?! We could use it to figure out the enchantment, and as long as no one puts them on the fungus doesn't matter. Plus, it fulfills our quest requirement for something out of this section cheaply and we aren't paying the misogynist bastard."
Joyce frowned, "I'll get a plastic bag…"
Thankfully the Quest was fulfilled without any mishaps. The Orb of Iron Will would prove invaluable in the future as it bolstered Mental Resistance by 50% right away with a +1% per level. Even more importantly they could remove the slave brand from Winnifred "Fred" Burkle. She wanted to be trained so badly that it was almost painful. As much as she wanted to go home, her old life was pretty much over. Now all she could do was train so no one could take her again. At least she could talk to her parents on the phone and even visit them eventually. Rehabilitation would take some time. Dawn hated how these things kept blindsiding her. She knew this world wouldn't follow her own beat by beat, but it seemed hellbent on being dark. They say the only easy day is yesterday. Truer words were never spoken.
Name: Dawn Summers
Age: 15
Job: The Gamer
Level: 19
Title: Ruby Knight of the Order of the Southern Sky
HP: 1600/1600
Starting HP: (Vit x 10) + 50 per level
MP: 13,800/13,800
Starting MP: (Int x 50) + 50 per level
PE: 1600/1600
Starting PE: (Vit x 10) + 50 per level
Str: 50 + 10
Vit: 50 + 10
Dex: 50 + 20
Int: 100 + 30
Wis: 50 + 30
Luck: 86
CP: 30
Traits:
Lucky Bitch: + 50 to Luck + 1 Luck per level and +50% to Luck Training
Magic Practitioner - Utility: + 50% to Training/Effect of Utility Spells
Mage: Increase spell effectiveness by 30% and reduce cost by 30%. Starting MP increases to Int x 50. ((Int x 50) + 50 per level) x 2
Job Crystal: Ruby Knight
Str + 10
Vit + 10
Dex + 20
Int + 30
Wis + 30
Soul of the Red Mage: +20% Physical and Magical Damage
AN: Phwee…Sorry for the delays in my posts. I'm pretty much working almost constantly. Please help me lighten the load by donating to my Patreon. Otherwise I just won't have time to produce quality content. Thanks!