Private Eastern Brisshal Digging A Hole

[Kaminari Arashi]

Enmity was in her last year of college and had definitely contracted the college form of senioritis. Or perhaps she was just getting addicted to this feeling of inner peace that she wasn't accustomed to in the real world. Here she felt like she could be herself without fear, the character she was playing disassociating herself from her actions just enough that her social anxiety didn't set in. In the real world just thinking about social interaction was enough to set off her flight or fight response. Here she was able to just relax and be herself for herself.

She had logged in for the first time a day or two before, and leaving the game and having to be her timid scared self during school was torture in itself. Knowing that the fear was irrational didn't help, so far the only thing that seemed to help was coming here.

She had spent next to no time learning the game systems or even paying attention to what she was supposed to be doing here. Rather, it had served more as a meditation and self reflection time. Her fingers twitched, a loud crackle interrupting the sounds of the forest as electricity crackled between her fingers. She glanced down, mesmerized by the arcing blue light, beginning to twist and shape it without even thinking about it. She kept doing this kind of thing without thinking about it consciously and it seemed to take actual mental effort to stop. It was similar to when she would twirl her pens or roll coins over her fingers in the real world, except here there wasn't the fear of judgement to stop her.

It was kind of cool anyway. As long as she didn't burn down the forest that is.

She plopped down, leaning up against a tree, her giant white witch hat pulled down to cover her eyes despite the fact that her bangs were already doing a fantastic job of hiding them. She wasn't really self conscious of how artificial they looked, in fact she thought they were incredibly cool, but she wasn't sure how others would react. She stared down at her fingers, an unfamiliar feeling welling up within her. A smile grew on her face as she watched the lighting jump from one finger to the other, her free hand forming a small orb of water tossing it up and down playfully.

@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

Trissayne was not a woman of the forest. The swamp, perhaps, but these tall trees with their thick canopies and the grass that had grown just over her ankles? She didn't know about that, didn't understand it, and hated that the Sensation had tugged her in this direction.

She hadn't figured out what caused it, what made it bubble up in her chest and sit heavy, immovable until she went in the direction that it demanded. So far, it hadn't led her into danger, nor had she met anyone that had put a bad taste in her mouth, but she was still a fresh face in what was, apparently, a very old world.

That woman, however, in the distance, the one slumped by that tree looked to be about Trissayne's level. She tsks at the thought and shakes her head even as her feet continue to march her forward, her arms swinging, legs pumping, chest heaving. It had been a very long walk. Maybe she could rent a horse or tame some...animal so she could get around faster.

A carriage would be supreme—

"Ya be hurt?" Triss calls out some 90 feet from the girl, one hand up and shielding her eyes from the sunlight so she could see clearer. "Ya be needing help? Ain't too sure why ya out here, alone, in dis damned forest unless ya hurt or crazy."

She pauses.

"It's da latter, ain't it?"

@Kaminari Arashi

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

Enmity was not sure exactly how long she had been sitting there when her rather strange meditation was interrupted by someone calling out to her. Other people... So far her experience with other players in this game had been minimal, but the few that she had met had been very strange. She doubted this woman would be an exception.

There was a soft groan as the young woman slowly got to her feet, grass and leaves rustling underneath her feet. The other woman had stopped about 90 feet away which was definitely too far for her (specifically) to have a conversation from. Raising her voice wasn't something she thought was even capable of. She slowly meandered closer, bangs occasionally parting to reveal her unnatural eyes. She stopped about 10 feet away, crossing her arms and staring the woman down, unaware that this was potentially rude or off-putting.

"I'm afraid I haven't been outside of this forest yet. I don't know about damned, its very peaceful."
She said quietly, raising an eyebrow. "Also sanity is a societal construct judged on social norms and expectations. Although to answer your question, probably."
@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

...Perhaps she should stop listening to the Sensation. Sure, the people she had met so far when tugged into a specific direction had been pleasant, to a degree. Still, there were only so many wins Triss could accumulate before karma demanded that she experience a loss.

Was this that loss? From the stink-eye this other woman was giving her, she would bet her left shoe that it was.

"Societal construct, eh?" she replies with an arched eyebrow, her hand lowering from shield her face from the sun. The younger woman was easier to see now that she was closer. She also looked completely unharmed, so Triss had to question why she had been dragged out here? What was she supposed to do? That buzzing, humming, skittering sensation inside her chest had disappeared completely.

Damn game not having a fucking tutori—

"Ya just be logging in for da first time?" she asks instead. "A new playah? Am Trissayne, Triss for short. Da forest may be peaceful now, but I be tinking dere are bears around. Big wuns. We should head back ta da road for safety, hm?"

@Kaminari Arashi

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

There was a loud crackle as a band of electricity wove in and out of the slender fingers of her left hand. The magia adjusted her hat brim to keep the sun out of her eyes. It really didn't seem all that bright to her, but the other woman was obviously bothered. More than likely it was just the fact that her eyes weren't organic, so it made sense that they wouldn't be as sensitive to the light.

It occurred to her that maybe Triss ought to get a hat too.

"That's a beautiful name, like something right out of a fantasy novel." The mage responded quietly. "My name is Kaminari. I think it'd be going a little far to say you can call me Kami." She let out a small laugh under her breath. She definitely thought her username was cool at the time, but she hadn't even considered that others might call her by it. "Call me whatever you want. That shit is a mouthful."

She motioned for Triss to lead the way. "I'm not worried about any bears, but we should at least find some nice shade. I am newer, what about you?"
@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

Triss grins at the compliment, her shoulders rolling back and her spine straightening ever so slightly. What girl didn't like be complimented on the beauty of her name? "Name generatahs can be a best friend," she tells the other woman with a nod of her head.

"Nice ta be meeting ya Kami." There is no handshake because Triss is too busy glancing around, looking for those bears that she's sure will pop out at any moment. When she spots one, neither high nor low, she wonders if Kami may be correct. They were close to the starter zone so, technically, having something as dangerous as a bear around to kill newbies would drive your sales into the ground.

But if anything Lucia had told her had any weight whatsoever, bears wouldn't be limited to only one section of the map. They would migrate and that meant they could go everywhere.

"Ah, am tinking I've been playing for about a week? Maybe a bit more. It's, ah, different. Exciting. Unlike anyting I've ever played before—"

And then, cutting her off is the pissed-off roar of that Bear she had just been looking for and not finding. And, as video game monsters often do, it began to charge right at them.

"Run or fite, Kami?"

@Kaminari Arashi

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

70 / 100

"So youve been playing about twice as long as I have." She responded, more to herself than anyone. This was her third day here and with the exception of a small incident on her first day logged in here time here has been anything but exciting. And she didn't mind it that way at all.

Her eyes narrowed a bit, attempting to follow Triss's constantly shifting gaze. The woman was obviously still hung up on the dangerous bear thing. The other day she had had a quite literal run in with a bear, but that was the only one she had seen. Somehow it seemed the other woman was right on point with her worries. Their new companion had reared up to an intimidating height, matted brown fur bristling as it roared. Kaminari could see the spittle flying out of it's mouth from where they were.

"I'm not really the type to back down." She muttered to Triss, an image of the two of them sprinting in panic looking very stupid playing in her head for a brief moment. Not going to happen.

"I've got your back, just do whatever it is you can." The frail magia woman raised her arms, her robes fluttering in a sudden wind. She braced herself, frost spreading out around her feet and instantly shriveling the grass she stood on. One hand faced palm out towards the charging bear, the other towards Trissayne. The bear collided with her, teeth moving to slam shut around her arm.

She had experienced this before and she was ready for it this time. As the bear's mouth slammed shut, there was a loud cracking noise and her arm covered itself in a gauntlet of ice. At the same time the winds seemed to come alive, surrounding Triss with a gust of wind that would hopefully impede any attack heading her way. A massive blast of lightning seemed to come from the heavens themselves, smashing into the bear and dislodging it.

Kami shook her ice covered arm, black blood seeping from the cracks. Still, it was nothing she couldn't handle and certainly nothing like the other day.

Bear:
LP: 2/3
DC: 40
Retaliation: 30

Rolls

Protect
1d100 (67) + 0 + 5 + 10 = 82
82 damage
Give 1 ally in your zone the Protected status

@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

100 / 115

-15 from Kami's Protect

"Ya, I thot as much," Triss mutters in a light-hearted reply, her gaze on the hulking beast standing in front of them. She can't help but wince, the anxiety of facing down a monster singing through her veins like bourbon. It's electrifying, yes, but Lucia's voice remains in the back of her mind, reminding her that this game was deadly.

Maybe running for their lives would've been the smarter plan.

Wide emerald eyes immediately swing in Kami's direction. "ME?!" she shouts just as the bear collides with Kami and wraps its slender muzzle around her arm. The sound of bones crunching makes the thin hair along her arms stand up and her mouth immediately goes dry. She wasn't prepared for this, she wasn't prepared for this at all!

But she couldn't just...let this girl bleed out.

Blood. Kami's black blood immediately snags her attention and it's impossible for her to look away, for her to summon that little spirit fox that she had with Zel a lifetime ago. Kami's blood sings to her, calls for her to be used and not wasted on the forest floor.

Trissayne listens, one hand jutting forward as the word forms on her lips, her voice a snarl of sound than any word that made sense in a language.

The blood lifts, turning into a black dagger that twirls through the air and sinks into the bear's side.

A cruel smile slips unbidden across her mouth as blood pours from the wound. And she's so wrapped up in this exhilaration, that she doesn't see the bear's paw swipe at her until it's too late.

Bear
LP: 1/3
DC: 40
Retal: 30

@Kaminari Arashi

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

10 / 100

Her eyes widened, seeing her own blood forming into a weapon and sliding deep into the bear's side. Her new acquaintance had some sort of blood magic and Kami was more than a little surprised to see that whatever this blood magic was worked with her own inhuman blood. She sensed a moment of weakness from the bear as its grip on her arm seemed to loosen slightly.

Time for the finishing blow. She would show this beast what it meant to mess with a literal force of nature. Maybe she should be a little more humble, but her arm was being ripped off and she was starting to get a little pissed off with how much of a habit this was seeming to become. The bear jerked, causing her to stumble off her feet. she screamed with pain as her arm was yanked violently. A strange humming noise started to pick up in the air around her as she vocalized, her eyes starting to shine a bright blue. She found her footing, bracing against the ground and shoved her entire arm down the bears throat.

"Eat this!"

The bear's teeth tore the skin of her arm, but she kept shoving. The humming reached a fever pitch... Then the explosion! Lightning from the skies above slammed down onto Kaminari and for a moment it seemed like she merged with it, channeling it through her arm and directly into the bear from the inside.

The silence after seemed to last forever as the bear slowly slumped down to the ground, revealing Kaminari's torn to shred arms and the strange machinery hidden underneath the her unnatural black blood and tattered skin. She moved to kick the Bear in the snout even though the smoking husk was obviously dead. "Still hungry bitch?" Instead totally missing and slipping in her own blood to end up on the ground.

Bear
LP: 0/3
DC: 40
Retal: 30

Rolls

Reckless Attack
2d100 (62 + 39) + 10 + 5 + 10 = 126
126 damage
Gain the Vulnerable state

@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

Slowly, Trissayne lowers her hand from covering her eyes. She blinks through the sunspots and haze that seem to cloud her vision and winces at the scent of burned fur and flesh that assaults her nose. The smoking corpse of the bear immediately draws her attention, but it is quick to divert to Kami, laying prone on the ground next to said dead bear.

And she looked like shit.

Gingerly, Triss moved forward, extending a hand to help the woman to her feet, but her attention was pinned to the arm with missing flesh and the blood that still leaked from obvious wounds. "So ya not be human den?" she asks, glancing from the exposed machine parts to Kami's face. "Dat was quite a light show. I can be trying ta patch ya up if you want? Cept, mmm, I don't be knowing if I can put flesh back on ya arm."

With a wave of her hand, Triss seems to pluck a bit of smoke that is wafting off of the bear from the air. She twists it between her fingers, specifically her thumb, index, and middle until it morphs into a small ball, something that takes on a soft teal light. She exhales a soft breath, her brows pinching together, and the light glows brighter between her fingers. Glancing up, she nods to it before extending it to the injured woman.

"Is a bit of ya magic, my magic, and the bear's, ah, essence? Mana? I dunno. But it'll help ya not feel so bad. If ya want it?"

@Kaminari Arashi

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

She didn't feel any pain. None at all. Those pain limiters she had heard about must be doing a fantastic job. She sat up slowly. Yeah no, no pain, just an incredible sense of nausea, like she was going to throw up. She could hear her heart beating heavily, and as the nausea started to fade out the pain started to fade in. No, that wasn't the pain limiters, it was just her adrenaline. She retched a little, only keeping it together by reminding herself this was just a game. It helped a little that she had already been through something similar, although she hadn't been near this injured.

She grinned at Triss. "It was pretty cool, wasn't it? We showed that bear." The frail Magia woman shivered, only now realizing she was trembling a little. With her working arm she started ripping strips of cloth off of the bottom of her patchwork robe and moving to wrap her slashed up arm up. "W-whatever you can do I'd appreciate it." Triss seemed to be waiting for her permission, so she gave it. "I'm sure it will all heal back just fine. I just need some rest near a source of magic."

She placed her uninjured hand on her face, pinching the bridge of her nose and letting out a shuddery sigh. She couldn't stop thinking. that was so dumb. why did i do that. what came over me. Why on earth had she thought it would be a good idea to shove her her arm further down the bears mouth. "Maybe I'll leave feeding the animals to trained professionals next time..."

@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

Triss clicks her tongue in what some might assume amusement, but the way her eyebrows were arched and the narrowed quality of her gaze, it would be hard to say for sure. Still, having Kami's permission to use this magic on her, she pinches the ball between her fingers while holding it over Kami's injured arm.

Cool mist erupts from it, spraying down upon the torn flesh like water from a faucet. Once it touches the wounds, it swirls around them like mist before being absorbed directly into Kami's body.

Trissayne blinks. She had never healed anyone before, not to mention that she didn't even know she could do that. Yes, she had that little fox spirit that sometimes helped her out, but that was the extent of her knowledge concerning Spirit Magic. It could also patch up wounds? Even help knit flesh back together?

"Ah, dat was pretty cool," she whispers, glancing from her fingers to Kami and back again. Shaking her hand, she allows it to flop to her side before clearing her throat. "I not be knowing where a source of magic might be. If ya got any ideas, I don't mind escorting ya there. Just in case there might be more bears, ya know? Gotta...make sure ya don't be trying ta feed dem more lightning."

@Kaminari Arashi

Healed 25 HP

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

It seemed like Triss was just as enamored by the magical powers they had been bestowed by the game. She for one was very glad that the woman seemed to have some sort of healing powers. As soon as the mist touched her skin she started to feel better. Still shitty, but better. The pain was much more manageable now. Kaminari groaned quietly as she forced herself to her feet, understandably feeling a little sore. It wasn't everyday you went head to head with a bear. Well, unless you were her it seemed.

The Magia woman bent down, retrieving her hat from where it had fallen and setting it gently back on her head to hid the little mechanical horns that barely poked out from her hair.

She leaned against a nearby tree, rough bark biting into her skin but it was still better than standing by her own strength. "Do you know those big oval stones, with all the carvings on them?" She asked her companion, gently running her hand over the bandages on her arm as though it might ease the pain a bit. "I'm not one hundred percent sure but I think being near one of those might help. I'm still pretty new to this, like you." This whole thing was just one big mess. Kaminari wondered if meeting people was the same in the real world. Somehow she didn't doubt it.

@Trissayne Lavelle

 

[Nyx]

Trissayne can only stare at the other woman's explanation.

If these stones were as big as Kami made them seem, surely she must have passed a few on her way to and from the various towns and villages she passed through, right? And if they were needed by Kami's group of people, then there had to be one in the starting area. But as Triss glances away from the other woman and back in the direction that she had walked to get here initially, she cannot recall such a stone.

Then again, maybe she saw it and didn't realize its significance?

Brows tense, she clears her throat and shoves a hand back through her hair, pushing a few locks from her face. "Uh, I don't be remembering any stones," she says slowly before offering a small smile. "But maybe dere be somewun in da starter zone dat can help? Dey should be knowing ware da stone is so we can get cha all fixed up."

Inclining her head, she sets her shoulders, determined for the next step of this impromptu adventure.

"Lets get moving. We wanna be trying ta beat da sun."
@Kaminari Arashi

 

[Kaminari Arashi]

As far as Kaminari was aware the runed stones were all over the place in this region of Falderen. Maybe she had been mistaken. To top it off she wasnt really sure if those counted as a source of magic anyway, although it made plenty of sense. She ran a hand through her hair, sighing loudly. She probably should have payed more attention when she was designing her character, and she was sure there was something somewhere in the UI that would explain it to her, but she wasn't the most tech savvy. Pretty much all she knew how to do was log out. Maybe that would help.

If she logged out now, and then came back the next day would her wound have healed? This was a videogame, and she had seen it go both ways. "Thanks for you help Triss, I think I'll figure it out on my own though."

She glanced up at the sky, noting that the sun was getting close to the horizon. Had that much time really passed since she had logged into the game? The magia cradled her injured arm closer to her, swiping to pull up her UI. "I've got some homework to finish up anyway. Maybe we'll run into each other again soon?" She said, her tone wavering a little, unsure if that was a question or a statement on her part. Her eyes flicked to the still smoking corpse of the bear, obviously a little unsettled by the sight now that she had calmed down.

@Trissayne Lavelle