Complete Providence Hunt or be hunted

[Fina Drago]

The travel was pretty long and, once near their desired location, a bit more arduous as well. The rocky mountainous terrain of Providence was nothing like the calm forests of Eastern Brisshal that Fina was so used to by now. With heavy breaths, she still carried herself wherever they needed to go, though. "Haah… haah… this game could really use… haah… an easy fast travel system..!" Complaining between her breaths, it didn't take long before the girl stopped to get a bit of a breather. The fact that one could get tired inside of the game was a cherry on top of the whole situation.

"At least we're not far now… if the map provided is accurate at all. If it's really a wolf that's completely outside of its usual territory, then it could have run god-knows-where by now." The girl complained a bit to work out her frustration from having to walk for so long, but it wasn't like she was about to fold and suggest that they just don't bother. The quest was accepted, and she was ready to see it through to the end. However, the concern might have been valid. A single wolf was an awfully mobile target that might not stand in one place for too long.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Their job had taken them to a place that neither of them had been to before, though Cleo was managing the journey just a tiny bit better that Fina was. Still, even she was struggling to keep up the pace that they were moving at, considering that they'd picked up a pretty fast pace in an attempt to make it to the last known location of the wolf without giving it a chance to flee. If they took too long, there was a good chance that they'd never run into the thing.

I'm sure the map will be accurate enough. People seemed to want this thing gone enough to have at least made the map as accurate as they could.

There was still no real clue as to why the wolf was so far away from the habitat that they were known to be found in, though Cleo was pretty sure she wouldn't like the answer either way.

The lancer doubled over to rub at her calves, to soothe them from the walking that the two of them had done, to get to this particular spot.

Since we're close now, we should probably start keeping an eye out more actively. I wouldn't want to be snuck up on by this thing...

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Taking a very short pause to regain their energy was probably a good idea for now. Finding the nearest flat rock to sit on, Fina's ears would twitch a few times as she looked at Cleo. "Shouldn't be able to sneak up on us unless it's really good at masking its presence. Both my ears and nose are far better than yours, thanks to the beastfolk traits. Probably will be useful in tracking the thing down." Though for now, she heard nor smelled anything out of the ordinary. Of course, her eyes were also enhanced, but that was not quite as relevant at the moment.

"Hey, do you have any experience tracking animals?" As was the case with most global games, Fina figured the largest population was the American one. Also known as the nutcases, who were often into things like hunting. Having that real-world experience would probably come in useful right now, given how realistic this game was meant to be. "It'd be pretty bad if we came all this way only to spend the rest of our time trying to find it and fail."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Whilst Fina sat down to recover, Cleo continued to try and massage any soreness or stiffness out of her muscles, stretching out to make sure that she didn't develop a cramp or anything by going from heavy activity to no activity practically instantly.

That's fair enough. I wish I had something useful from my race, but so far there hasn't really been anything that has helped out. I guess people aren't wrong when they describe humans as being the boring choice in video games and stuff.

Well it served her right for not being creative at all, she supposed. She could have had cat ears, or even fairy wings, or something, but she'd decided to not even touch character creation. There was nobody that she could really blame but herself. When Fina asked if she had any experience with tracking animals, Cleo hummed, shrugging.

I know the theory about it, at the very least. I'm good at spotting clues and stuff, so it shouldn't be too hard to spot some paw prints or animal tracks. Especially ones that look out of place.

She was expecting that a gemstone wolf would likely be heavier than a regular wolf, so she would be looking for tracks that sank deeper into the dirt than was usual.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Fina didn't stay seated for too long. They didn't exactly have that much time, after all. Aside from the wolf itself, they needed to consider how much time they each had before needing to log off after such a long journey. "Okay… then I'm nominating you the leader of the expedition. I know it was me who accepted the quest and all, but… to be honest, I don't really know how to find this thing." If she were here alone, her best strategy would be to walk around until she found it.

The whole situation was actually a bit embarrassing and truly showcased just how unprepared she was for this kind of quest. The Red Fever event might have ignited an adventurous spark inside of her, but it did not magically make her perfect at the game. In fact, there might have been a whole new level of danger for the girl. She was still quite level-headed and careful, but the newfound lust for things that her physical body could not could easily land in her more dangerous situations than anything she had faced before.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well that was a lot of pressure, but also not something that Cleo hadn't expected, so she just nodded at that. Being made the leader of the expedition just made sense, if she was the one that was going to have to actually track down their target. It was time to see if her detective skills would make her anything of a decent tracker.

God she wished Mizuki were here.

Right, okay, if you're feeling rested enough to go looking for it, then let's go and see if we can track this thing down.

And with that, she led the way, though it was another thirty minutes of walking before Cleo finally spotted a set of unusually heavy looking wolf tracks. She raised a hand to stop Fina, before pointing out the tracks, leading the girl in the direction that the tracks were heading.

The tracks led the pair to a small stream, where the wolf was lapping up water, unawares of the two players that had tracked it down. There were patches of red around its muzzle, the creature having clearly fed recently, though the monster's gemstone hide was covered in scratches, cracks and chips. Perhaps it wasn't healing correctly, being outside of its natural habitat? Cleo turned to Fina to whisper.

Okay, we'll engage it when you're ready. I've got your back with healing and stuff!

@Fina Drago

Rolls

Expertise Check
1d100 (98) + 40 = 138
Awareness | Cleo Looker | 798 | Tracking

Play Sheet

 

[Fina Drago]

115 / 140

-25 HP from retaliation
Glittering wounds (-10 on all attack rolls)

"As rested as I'll be." It wasn't like she was at the end of her wits from just walking. There was a certain joy from the movement, if nothing else. And her body was about as fit as it could possibly be. Following closely behind Cleo, the feline was sure to keep all of her senses sharp to ensure that they would not be caught off-guard by the wolf or anything else. She could even smell their target once they found the tracks. It was honestly a bit weird of an ability that made her question things.

It didn't take too long from then to find the thing. Unaware of their presence, it left itself vulnerable as well. "Okay. Let's make this a quick and easy one-!" Trying to take advantage of their position, Fina summoned two daggers, one for each hand, and charged. A surprise attack seemed like a good opener, inflicting heavy damage and immediately disadvantaging the opponent. But it was just not meant to be.

The stones around the stream ensured that the poor girl would slip up. She managed to recover, but the wolf was quickly alerted to her presence and parried the blades with its own sharp fangs, inflicting more damage on Fina than she inflicted on it. Backing away, her grip on the weapons would righten as crystals formed on her hands around the freshly inflicted wounds. "Damn it all to hell, again—!"

Rolls

Sneak Attack
1d100 (7) + 15 + 15 = 37
37 damage
Sneak Attack unsuccessful! You have disadvantage on your next save roll
Slash Weapons | Fina Drago | 798C1

TerraSphere Build Editor

terrarp.com

Wounded Moonstone Wolf
5 LP | 50 DC | 25 Retal
​

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

135 / 160

-25 HP from retaliation
Glittering wounds (-10 on all attack rolls)

Allowing Fina to take the lead on the attack, daggers seemed like the better weapons to launch a surprise attack with after all, but it seemed that the easy first strike that the catgirl had intended wasn't to be. Fina tripped or slipped over something, perhaps a damp stone from the river, but it was the only alert that the Moonstone wolf needed to turn around and face the oncoming attacker.

Cleo cursed as she watched the clash, knowing instantly that Fina had come out of it worse off, multiple arcane spears being summoned behind her to lauch at the wolf, in an attempt to force its attention away from Fina, which succeeded enough to have the creature descend upon her, sporting fresh wounds as one spear carved into its side a fresh line, a whirlwind of fangs and claws, which she quickly tried to beat away with a spear. Like Fina, she ended up with a fresh coating of crystals as a reward, making her hiss.

Shit! Each of its attacks spread these damn crystals! I'll cover you!

She backed off again, a collection of spears gathered around her, preparing to shoot off to inhibit the wolf's attacks against Fina as Cleo focused.

Preparing to alter time...

Rolls

Protect
1d100 (50) + 20 + 20 + 20 = 110
110 damage
Give @Fina Drago ally in your zone the Protected status
Arcanamancy | Cleo Looker | 798C1

Wounded Moonstone Wolf LP: 3/5

 

[Fina Drago]

112 / 140

-3 HP from retaliation
Glittering wounds (-20 on all attack rolls)

Considering the kind of enemy they were facing, it was of utmost importance that they ended things quickly. Especially after the discovery that the beast's attacks spread whatever crystal it was made out of. They might have been only faintly present on Fina's hands right now, but even then, they were sharply cutting into her flesh. The pain made it difficult to wield her weapons, and her combat ability would be drastically reduced if things continued. It even seemed to appear as a debuff on her UI as she quickly glanced.

"Making me look like an idiot again… just stay still and accept defeat!" With her war shout, the daggers in Fina's hand would shatter and be replaced with something much bigger. An all-too-familiar war-ax. But that was only part of it. Connected to it were two other pieces that extended the blades significantly, almost making the weapon into a strange-looking shield. As the wolf charged, its fangs would only meet the arcane construct, barely making a dent as the feline put all of her strength into a push back against it.

Sending it flying, its crystal body would crack in several spots as it hit the hard stone floor. "I think it's almost dispatched!" Shouting back at Cleo, Fina smiled. She was honestly doing better than what she expected of herself, bar the attempted sneak attack. Not if she could just keep it up for a bit longer!

Rolls

Counter
1d100 (89) + 15 + 15 + 20 - 10 = 129
129 damage
Counter successful! 20 damage added. Take 10 less damage
Arcanamancy | Fina Drago | 798C2

TerraSphere Build Editor

terrarp.com

​

Wounded Moonstone Wolf - 1 / 5 LP

​

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

110 / 160

-25 HP from retaliation
Glittering wounds (-10 on all attack rolls)

She had to take care of those crystals that were growing into Fina's hands before they took hold too much for her to do anything about. After all, her healing wasn't exactly regular healing. She wasn't actually fixing any of the damage that had been done to her teammate, not directly at least. This spell wouldn't even affect Fina's body directly. Cleo was aiming for something else, something that wasn't physical, that couldn't quite be interacted with through the material world.

She reached out a hand, focusing on Fina as the girl continued to engage the wolf, swapping daggers for a familiar war-axe. Though it looked different from the last time that she'd seen it, more geared towards being used as a defensive implement, rather than a weapon of raw aggression like it had been before.

And then, Cleo's spell snaked out, the wounds on Fina seeming to heal as the state of the girl's body was rewound, back to before the beast had ever even so much as brushed against her, her hands now completely free of that parasitic crystal growth.

Finish it!

Rolls

Heal (Single)
1d20 (17) + 15 + 20 = 52
+52 HP and cleared Glittering Wounds Debuff to @Fina Drago
Chronomancy | Cleo Looker | 798C2

Wounded Moonstone Wolf LP: 1/5

 

[Fina Drago]

115 / 140

+52 HP from healing
-25 HP from retaliation

With the beast injured both from Cleo's initial attack and Fina's offensive defense, it seemed that the end of the fight was near. It was apparent when looking at their enemy, who took much longer to get back up and start growling. Its reactions were almost instant before, but now they were growing more and more delayed. Then again, there was that saying that an injured animal was the most dangerous. There was no time to relax, and as the crimson lancer shouted, it was about time they finished the poor thing.

The crystal-covered wold would make its move first again, leaping to the side before going directly at Fina, the biggest threat currently present to it. Instead of defending or going for a counterattack, the feline gripped her ax tightly and suddenly swung it to the ground. If they were to finish the thing, they had to do it properly. And what was the weak spot of most animals that were heavily armored? Their belly. The moment the weapon made contact with the ground, it would shatter and reform as countless spikes of arcane energy went up, piercing the wolf mid-air from below.

Its whimper was the last sound the girls heard as only a motionless corpse remained impaled on the spikes. "Ugh… still doesn't feel great." Fina wasn't exactly an animal person outside of the game, but even she didn't enjoy hearing that sound it made as its digital life expired. Taking a few steps back, the constructs broke apart, and Fina exhaled, looking over at Cleo.

Rolls

Steady Attack
6d20 exploding (2 + 12 + 2 + 4 + 17 + 14) + 15 + 15 = 81
81 damage (Explosions: 0)
Arcanamancy | Fina Drago | 798C3

TerraSphere Build Editor

terrarp.com

​

Wounded Moonstone Wolf - 0 / 5 LP (Defeated)

​

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

And with a spectacular finishing move, Fina had managed to bring down the wolf, her axe shattering and reforming into spikes of arcane energy that pierced the wolf through its soft underbelly, where the crystalline coating over its body was thinner. The two women were treated the signature sickening squelch of something penetrating flesh, the signature cracks and pops of bone breaking, before the wolf when silent and still after one final whimper, impaled on the spikes.

Nice work Fina. I've never thought of breaking down and reforming my constructs after I've already made them, so I think I'll be stealing that little trick for the future.

The closest she'd ever gotten to that was making additions to existing constructs, like the chains that she could attach to her spears after she'd made them. Cleo hummed, looking down at her hands, then at Fina's, noting the way that crystals were growing over both of them.

Let me take care of this crystal debuff. It should only take a couple of minutes.

With that, she sat down, patting the grass next to her and, if Fina sat down, she would take the girl's hands and hold onto them, slowly reversing the damage done with her time magic.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

A few more breaths later, the girl felt her adrenalin returning back to normal. The fight might have been rather exciting and high-tension but ultimately did not last very long. Fina expected she would expend much more energy than she did, which was probably good since they now had a long way back to the city. As Cleo gestured, the feline would nod and walk over to plant her butt in the grass right next to the lancer and offer her right hand for healing. The left one managed to get off without an injury in that last attack.

"Go ahead. Not like it's my signature move or anything. Just something I quickly thought of to make use of its weak spot." It felt like a natural way of thinking with a versatile mastery like Arcanamancy. And unlike many other players, even after getting her skills quite high up and learning how to fight quite well, Fina never came up with a special attack that would warrant a name. Somehow she just couldn't see herself doing that unless she managed to pull off something incredibly cool. But given her track record, even including today's botched sneak attack, it felt unlikely. "Are you okay?"

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

With Fina's hand wrapped between her own, Cleo began to reverse time, being slower this time and taking greater care, to make sure that not even a single shard of crystal remained on or inside of the girl's hand. It was good that only the one hand was hurt, though. It meant that she wouldn't have to take as long healing the girl and could then move on to her own crystal coated hands.

It's still a really good idea and one that I'm going to practice with a lot. I tend to not really do anything with my projections once I've made them, since usually I'm just chucking them at things.

It made her feel like perhaps she hadn't made the smartest decisions, when it came to her masteries and how she used them, but at the very least she could use Fina as inspiration and come up with new things. And plus, that whole idea seemed like it could be the basis of an entirely new fighting style. Using arcane projections that constantly reformed and reshaped would keep any intelligent enemy guessing and unsure how the threat was going to be adapted to them.

Though when asked if she was okay, Cleo looked down at her hands, coated in crystal, then at Fina's hand, the crystals basically completely vanished now.

I think I'm fine. They don't seem to get any worse on their own, at least.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Having her hand healed by reversing time rather than actual healing magic felt… a bit strange. Quite different from Vina's healing, at the very least. Which was the only type of healing she could compare it to, as no kind stranger dared to help the feline with potential injuries yet. "I guess that's my payment to you for dragging you all the way out here for a silly quest, then."

Cleo might have been doing this out of her own free will and compassion, but it didn't sit super well with Fina regardless. But if the other woman could figure out how to improve her fighting style thanks to this expedition, then at the very least, it wasn't for nothing. Once the girl's hands seemed fine and there was no hint of pain left, she would remove them from Cleo's grasp so the group healer could focus on herself for a bit. "That's good. I would feel awful if something bad happened because of me."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Cleo waved a hand, as much as she could whilst she was casting time magic, at least, when Fina mentioned that the technique she'd be copying would be the payment for dragging her out for a quest. Though Cleo wouldn't call it a silly quest, far from it. She was glad that they'd hunted down the wolf, it had made this place a little bit safer and they had gotten just a little bit stronger, and closer, as a result.

Ah well, I don't really need payment for doing things like this anyway. Helping out is its own reward, for me at least.

She gave Fina's hand one last look, glancing over them until she was sure that no crystals remained, before she let go of it and focused on her own hands, slowly rewinding their own time until the crystals began to slowly recede. It was always harder to rewind her own time. She had to make sure she didn't rewind her casting of the spell.

You've improved since our last training session. You must have really been putting in some serious work.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

"Feeling good after helping someone doesn't put bread on the table. Nor help you defeat mobs in the future, in this case." Fina just kind of blurted it out as a side-note, but it was how she really felt. Helping others just for the sake of it was nice and all, but she always believed that one should not do it at the expense of themselves. Or that they had ulterior motives for helping. Thankfully she was a bit more willing to believe that was not the case inside of the game, but it was often how she responded to those who wanted to help her in the physical world.

When she was suddenly praised, it didn't quite help the girl's slightly flustered state either as a blush crept up her face, and her gaze was averted from Cleo. "N-not really. You saw me fumble at the start, so I still have plenty of improvements ahead of me. The rank of my masteries just went up naturally over time, is all." And perhaps her ability to think on the fly improved as well, as demonstrated by the move that Cleo would be copying. Of course, there were other improvements as well, especially in the area of Fina handling her own digital body. But as those changes felt so natural to her, she almost did not even realize they ever happened.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well, y'know, it kind of did help me defeat mobs. Any combat experience is more experience than you had before you fought. This is how fighting in games works, really. Gathering experience is always a good thing and there's no such thing as being overlevelled, or so I've been told. Though, I'll accept that you still feel the need to repay the favor. I can't not accept it when I'd be the exact same.

She'd always been that way, willing to help others but struggling to accept any help from others. Cleo couldn't help but grin, though, as Fina had to avert her gaze from the lancer at the praise. The agent was trying to tread carefully, Fina had blown up at her last time she'd been so positive or heaped praise on the girl, but she did feel like the girl had earned it.

The fumble was unfortunate, yes, but you managed to recover well after it. And at the vert least, it gives you an idea of the things you need to focus on. You've gotten a lot better at piloting your avatar, though.

Cleo smiled, grinning once her hands were free of crystals and reaching one up to stroke one of Fina's ears softly, leaning to the side to bump their shoulders together.

You were quite the sight out there. I'm happy that we got to partner up for this.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

At least they had some form of understanding. Trying to convince one another to change their ways was just pointless, but arriving at a compromise was good enough. They were both helping the other, which had to be good enough for the time being.

"It'd be pretty bad if I wasn't getting the hang of this body… it's the reason I even started playing this game, after all." She muttered it under her breath a bit but probably loud enough to be heard. It really was quite the transformation, though. Her first few steps in this world were with wobbly feet as she had to hold onto a nearby tree to ensure she would not fall down. Now she could dash around faster than most athletes in the physical world.

Then, Cleo once again reached out for one of Fina's weak spots, making her body tense up for a brief moment as the lightning bolt of energy ran down her entire body, from the ear all the way to her toes. "Hnn—" As the crimson lancer even leaned against the feline, Fina started internally panicking, unsure of what to do at all. So she sort of just gazed ahead with a blank expression, yet one wearing a red mask of a blush. "T—thanks."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well she definitely caught that last bit about the body being the whole reason that Fina started playing this game. There was definitely a story there, though it wasn't one that Cleo was all too eager to intrude on until Fina was ready to tell her and actually came forward with it by herself. So she decided that she would just leave that topic completely alone for now and let Fina be the one to approach it, if it was ever going to be approached between the two of them. It was a good time to temper her curioisity about everything anyway.

Instead, she focused on busying herself with Fina's ears, stroking and petting them, softly rubbing them between her fingers and thumb. Fina seemed to really react to the sensation, but last time she'd stopped, things had gotten awkward between them.

So this time she wouldn't stop.

She leaned against the girl, rubbing and petting Fina's ears softly, fingers dancing along the soft and fluffy features, before she leaned down to press her lips against the girl's cheek, lingering for a second or two before she pulled back.

That's your reward for bringing me along with you. I'm sorry I couldn't get you any money or goods. Though I can reward you more, if you'd like?~

@Fina Drago