Private Eastern Brisshal Investigating the Consequences

[Ueno Mizuki]

I hope you're correct because otherwise a lot of the appeal of this world is going to disappear. Of course, I imagine that's exactly what you'd want, so...

Mizuki could only shrug kind of awkwardly as their different opinions on Terrasphere caused them to have different views on other topics. For Cleo, it would only be a good thing if people lost interest in Terrasphere because it stopped being a fantasy where everyone could be a hero with might and magic. Fewer people for her to worry about, after all. It might even get Mizuki to leave if it came to that.

Using Chronomancy to create copies of your spear would be useful against a group or large targets, yes. It's a versatile mastery, so it's a good idea to experiment with it and develop it. And if your own spear is real you could take Weapon Arts: the benefits you'd get from strengthening your spear would be echoed in the copies you'd create with Arcanamancy and Chronomancy.

As for other options that enhance your firepower... Hmmm...

Mizuki paused for several seconds before speaking up again.

Since you're planning to primarily create and launch spears instead of fighting with them yourself I don't think Battle Spirits would be a good fit. Dynamism is also for those who plan to move their own body, so I'd suggest against that. Corrupt is straight out for obvious reasons. Of the options that come to mind, I'd suggest Evoke, Weapon Arts, or Hyper Sense. Evoke boosts your magical abilities, so more spears and more time warping, Weapon Arts makes your weapon stronger and gives it abilities connected to your other masteries, and Hyper Sense would make your shots much more accurate, so that's more pragmatic.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

That hurt a little bit, Cleo shuffling her feet at that little remark, coughing lightly. Having it worded like that made her seem like upsetting others was what she wanted, or was what would make her happy. It had her clearing her throat, shaking her head.

I mean, I don't want things to just be unappealing, I just want them to be safe. It's not like I'd take much joy in players leaving the game because it was unfun for them and was making them upset or depressed or something. In an ideal world, the thing that kills players after three deaths would be patched out and people would be free to enjoy the game in any way that they want to enjoy it.

Would it have the positive side-effect that it would prevent many preventable deaths? Yes, but that didn't mean that it was the outcome that she was hoping for and having that idea thrown in her face felt very much like she was being attacked with it, just because her point of view didn't align with somebody who was, by their own admission, very far from being the norm when it came to their mannerisms and their thoughts.

Cleo frowned, but ultimately let it go in favor of allowing the conversation to progress, listening to Mizuki's suggestions and humming along to each one. She would, at least, read through Corrupt a lot before she made her final choice. It'd be an opportunity to do some more thorough research on it.

As would taking it and experiencing it firsthand...

Right, I'll be sure to look into those three. Evoke, Weapon Arts and Hyper Sense, was it? Those could all be pretty good additions to my arsenal, by the sounds of it, so I'll have a look at them when the time comes to make that choice.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Mizuki genuinely thought that Cleo would prefer having everyone leave the game because it stopped being fun over letting it continue to kill people, especially given her own attitude towards the game, but from the looks of it, she had misjudged the detective a bit. The wolfess looked a bit guilty as Cleo explained that she wasn't out to kill everyone else's fun, glancing to the side as she scratched the back of her head.

Sorry, I just thought that since you don't like Terrasphere and think it's too dangerous you'd consider it acceptable if people were discouraged from being here.

The other topic was a lot better, and Mizuki tried to leave that awkward moment behind as she answered Cleo's nod.

The other Alters can also be useful, but if you want to specialize those seem like the best options. Personally I'd go for Hyper Sense since it's good for hunting and remaining alert, but Evoke is probably the most impressive of the three.

She raised one hand and focused briefly, black and white fur sprouting on her hand and down her arm all the way to the elbow while her nails turned into sharp claws.

It's a bit similar to my Metamorph, but less like a controlled transformation and more like you're pushing your magic to the limit. At least, that's how I understand it. The mastery also said something about how you could be possessed by a spirit tied to the type of magic you're using, but I don't really get how that works and you wouldn't want that anyway.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

She would let that whole thing go with Mizuki's apology, not wanting to make the beastkin out as the villain of this conversation any more than she herself wanted to be painted as the villain just because she didn't exactly have a positive view of the game. It was better to just let that kind of topic die on their tongues and move on from it without saying anything else. Because she would find it kind of acceptable that people would be driven from the game, but that wasn't the same as being pleased by it, especially considering the states that some of these people were likely operating under in their everyday life.

Healthy people rarely tried to escape their reality, after all.

Well I don't really see myself doing a lot of hunting anyway, I'm not much of a huntress and my senses are already pretty sharp. This Evoke thing that you mentioned sounds pretty interesting though.

She had no clue what was meant by Evoke being the most impressive of the three, but if it was flashy or not, she didn't particularly care about that. She just wanted something that could make her more effective at protecting people and winning battles. Any other potential uses were really secondary in her mind, if they even came up at all. She thought of her abilities solely in terms of what they could do for her in combat and hadn't really spent any time thinking of anything else.

She wasn't sure she was a fan of the idea of being possessed by any type of spirit, though. The thought had the agent shaking her head, a soft frown on her face as the mental image of herself, not under her own control, flashed through her mind.

I'd probably use the former method of Evoke rather than the latter. Not entirely sure I'm a fan of the idea of not having control over myself, or opening myself up to being influenced by some fake AI spirit thing. Though I will take a look at the other Alter masteries first, just in case something calls my name more.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

I do wonder to what extent this world copies your senses back on Earth. People without legs can walk in here, so clearly, your self in here is not a direct replica of your Earth self even disregarding the cosmetic differences.

Mizuki doubted that Cleo's senses compared to her own, but the lancer was probably correct in assuming that she didn't need Hyper Sense to be an accurate ranged combatant.

You don't need Hyper Sense to be good at hitting things, Hyper Sense just allows you to perform feats of accuracy and perception that would otherwise be impossible. Even my transformations don't allow me to imitate that.

There were plenty of animals with extremely good senses, but Hyper Sense beat them all. Mizuki looked a tad disappointed when Cleo emphasized that she had no plans to start hunting, but that expression quickly disappeared as she used one hand to bring up the menu which allowed her to access the wiki. She couldn't share the view with Cleo, since these pop-ups were personalized, but she could at least look things up.

Aside from the ones I mentioned before there's Aura, Mend, and Summon.

She was reading straight from the wiki as she continued.

Aura is defensive in nature and allows you to manifest your other masteries in a way that you can effectively defend both yourself and your nearby allies. So if you create spears you could have the effect that spears will automatically form to block or shoot down incoming attacks.

Mend alters your other masteries so they can be used for healing and supporting others or strengthening masteries that can already do these things. I guess with Pierce Weapons that might mean supernaturally powerful acupuncture?

Summon is about calling forth actual beings to help you out. I don't think that's really what you want unless you're into the idea of summoning a spirit which can throw spears for you while you also shoot your own spears.

One of her ears twitched when Cleo called the possession thing fake, but since the detective had already made it clear that she didn't consider people in the game real she wasn't going to call it out. Instead she nodded in agreement.

I wouldn't go for the possession thing either. If you're lucky you get a helpful spirit, but otherwise it'd just get in the way and constantly try to take over or make life difficult for you.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well I dunno quite how I feel about feats of unmatched accuracy when I'm throwing spears, of all things. Maybe if I was slinging darts or firing bullets, but there's a bit of a limit to how far I can huck these suckers, even shooting them with magic. The air still pushes on them and gravity is obviously still a thing, so eventually they dip and sink into the ground, no matter how much force I try to put behind them.

There was probably never going to be a situation in which Cleo needed that kind of accuracy whilst also wielding a spear and planning to essentially carpet bomb her way to victory with as many summoned spears as she could get away with using. Her natural accuracy, ability to focus and aim would be more than enough for the reasons that she wanted to throw spears and the ways that she wanted to fight her battles, so it was all probably fine on that front.

And then Mizuki seemed to essentially start reading the masteries out from some list, which did remind her to actually look things up before she made a decision, though it was nice of the woman to actually take the time to bother looking up these things for her.

Mend sounded weird, she wasn't sure it'd fit into her build at all. It wasn't like she was going to be performing acupuncture with her spears unless they were hitting something the size of Godzilla.

God she hoped that didn't happen...

Nothing really stands out for me. Huh, I guess this is going to be harder than I thought. They all seem unfitting or to have some serious downsides to them.

Cleo sighed, a hand rubbing at her face. Why couldn't these kinds of decisions just be easy? It was going to cost a lot to change her mind, if she ever did.

I don't know what to pick. I've never really put any thought into anything other than eliminating threats to keep people safe, or protecting them from harm, or healing them to keep them from dying. I never really thought about HOW I would do those things, y'know?

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Cleo made a good point about if she was shooting spears accuracy wasn't the greatest concern. The only time that would really be relevant is if she was trying to hit something really far away, which wasn't impossible but it would be a bit niche to pick her mastery solely for that.

Hyper Sense might also help with investigating and finding things, but I agree that it's probably not your best fit. As for the other masteries... the system is designed so people can combine masteries to obtain whatever ability or style they're interested in, like with me and my combination of Martial Arts, Beast Arts, and Metamorph. If you joined this world while only thinking of practical uses you just have to pick one of the ones that are most effective for taking down monsters and hostile players.

Mizuki folded her arms as she thought about Cleo's current issue, namely the choosing of an Alter mastery. Idly looking around at their surroundings her gaze lingered on the many trees, and the sticks that remained embedded in the ground around the campfire now that all the meats had been retrieved.

If you only want to optimize your fighting style of burying enemies in spears I'd suggest either Evoke or Weapon Arts, depending on whether you want to go for quantity of spears or quality of spears.

She gave Cleo a comforting and understanding smile, her tail lazily swishing from side to side behind her.

I understand. If you're not certain you can wait with choosing your Alter. Once you've experienced more of what this world has to offer you might have a better idea of how you want to further develop your strategy of dealing with the bad guys. And I know you have no interest in integrating in this world, but I don't think it would hurt if you explored a bit more to better understand how to achieve your goal of keeping Travelers safe.

Given that Cleo had objected to the idea that she'd consider Terrasphere becoming unlikeable an acceptable tradeoff to make people stop endangering themselves Mizuki could at the very least do her best to help the detective do something which, by all measures, was an ethically good thing.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

That was the thing, really. Having to pick for pragmatism was great and all, but she really had no clue what would be the best way to take down hostile players and monsters. Really, a combination of Hyper Sense and Ranged Weapons would be probably the most effective thing. Snipers had been absolutely lethal in battlefields for a long time now. Nothing was harder to defeat than an enemy you couldn't see or find, but they could see you and hit you in the worst possible places that you could be hit in. The fact that they were still used in warfare today was just further proof of their effectiveness in combat.

Evoke or Weapon Arts if I want to optimize burying enemies in spears. Got it. That's pretty much all I do, so it's gonna be real awkward the first time I run into something that my spears can't hurt. I honestly don't know if specializing so heavily is the smartest thing to do, if I want to make sure there's always something that I can do.

Though it wasn't likely that an Alter would grant her many more ways of attacking or dealing damage that she didn't already have.

I don't really see what else there is to experience in this world, though. I've seen fighting and I've seen potentially lethal threats. I dunno if I particularly want to wait for the truly dangerous stuff before trying to power myself up more.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Mizuki rubbed her chin as Cleo mentioned the possibility of something being immune to her spears. It wasn't an impossibility, but...

I think the only way for something to be immune to your spears would be for it to be completely incorporeal, which would limit its ability to affect you as well. Even then, since your spears are a product of Arcanamancy you should be able to affect ethereal beings in a limited fashion. And aside from that, there aren't going to be many things that are resistant to Chronomancy.

She gave Cleo a reassuring smile. The lupine huntress could understand the concern of your greatest weapon being ineffective against an enemy, but she didn't think Cleo really needed to worry about that.

You should be fine as long as you develop your magical masteries alongside your spear throwing ability. And there's a lot more to this world than combat and threats. For example, what is something you like to do in your spare time Cleo?

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Mizuki had some decent points there, though she hadn't actually thought of using her Chronomancy offensively at all. How was she supposed to leverage time as a weapon against something? It was hard to think of any direct offensive uses for a magic like that. It was like she could shoot blasts of raw time energy or something like that. At least, she didn't think that was something that'd be possible with Chronomancy. Still, even just having access to Arcanamancy meant that she'd have the ability to hurt things that perhaps wouldn't be affected by her actual physical weapons. It was probably time to start focusing on brushing up her magical skills a bit more.

You have a point, yeah. Keeping my magical skills up to par with my martial masteries is probably going to be my best idea.

Though she paused when Mizuki mentioned that there was more to the world than combat and threats, shaking her head, instantly dismissing the notion that there could possibly be more things to do in Terrasphere than fight threats to protect people. Unlike others, she wasn't here because she wanted to play the game, after all. This was her job, logging on to protect people and look for clues inside of the game.

I don't really get much spare time. When I'm not at work I eat and sleep, pretty much.

She paused, before shrugging,

And I guess log into this game, but that feels like work anyway. People seem pretty desperate to get themselves killed.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

It's a sound approach if you want to make sure you're prepared for all eventualities. Especially since your magic and your physical skills synergize well, so strengthening your magic also makes your standard combat style more effective.

Mizuki blinked as Cleo mentioned that she had basically no free time. She knew that police could be busy, but seriously?

I didn't realize that work was so busy. That said, is there really nothing you can think of that you'd like to do?

She was hoping to give an example how the systems existing within Terrasphere could have a positive influence on already enjoyable activities, but if Cleo didn't have any hobbies that could get difficult.

We're not trying to die though, so that's incorrect. But as for what I mean with what this game has to offer... There are people who use their masteries to create thing that couldn't exist on Earth, or they use masteries such as Harmonic Magic and Illusion Magic to perform and entertain. In my case, I use Metamorph to turn into a wolf but I can also communicate with other wolves using Beast Arts, and I'm learning a lot about how the animals of this world behave and what goes on in their heads.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Right, that was a good point. Her skills were kind of cyclical, her magic fed into her martial skills and her martial skills fed into her magic, though the latter was to a lesser extent. It wasn't as if she could draw magical power from her physical prowess, or if she could, she hadn't figured out how she could do that. Pierce Weapons did allow her to kind of shunt magic through her body in order to amplify her physicality, usually speed and momentum. It was kind of life feeding air or fuel into a jet engine to achieve jet propulsion. Probably. Cleo wasn't an engineer.

Work gets super busy. The people that force people like me to do their jobs don't exactly take days off, you know. So yeah, I can't really think of stuff that I'd like to do.

And it wasn't like there were things that she couldn't do in real life that this game could offer. She wasn't under any kinds of conditions in reality that would prevent her from actively enjoying some aspects of her life. So long as something was legal, she had the time and funding to do it, if she wanted to.

Though Mizuki seemed convinced that there was something that she could do here that she couldn't in the real world. And though she listed a few suggestions, she hadn't said anything that stirred Cleo at all. The agent just shrugged.

I've not got any masteries that are applicable for those kinds of things, nor do I have any interests that go in those directions. My only purpose for being here is to fight things, exterminate threats and keep people safe. I can't exactly afford to take a break, especially when there's nothing I would even be doing with that break.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

I know, but that sounds like your state needs to expand the budget for the police department. However, that's neither here nor there."

Mizuki frowned as she first looked at Cleo, then into the distance, lost in thought for a couple of seconds before shrugging and exhaling.

Sounds like you need to try some things to see if anything interests you. Leaving Terrasphere aside, I don't think it's healthy for someone to only ever be busy with their work. Even before this world became a thing I already had some hobbies.

No wonder Cleo was so focused on treating this world like it was just part of her job if her entire life was structured around her job. The wolfess looked up at the skies, trying to gauge the time of day. It was still afternoon, but they were beginning to head towards the end of the afternoon, where the sky would slowly become darker as the sun began to approach the horizon.

Not that I'm in any position to dictate how you should live your life. If you're happy with the current situation I'm not going to push for you to expand your horizons. But you shouldn't be surprised if other people see a lot more in Terrasphere because they aren't as focused as you.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

I think it's actually a pretty common problem. We can get all the budget in the world, but that won't really change a thing if there aren't enough officers around to deal with everything without some people having to pull double shifts or something as equally ridiculous and spirit crushing. I should know, I've had to pull double shifts multiple times. Plus, technically you're always on the clock, unless you specifically have time off, so even if I did have free time, I'd still be able to be called in if there was an emergency or even just a shortage of staff that needed filling.

Cleo shrugged. That was just kind of how it went with law enforcement. It was a good job, but just not popular enough to fill the numbers it needed, especially with crime looking more and more appealing to people as time went on and life continued to screw them over.

I'm pretty satisfied with how my life is right now, so I don['t think I need to find any hobbies or anything like that. I joined this game knowing all too well that people would be against my viewpoint, some people even violently so.

She shrugged again, as if saying there was just nothing that she could do about it, briefly following Mizuki's gaze. Telling time by the sun? Really? How was the beastkin not hurting her eyes? Cleo breathed a sigh, rolling her shoulders.

I think more people need to take a serious look at what they're putting at risk when they play this game. Ask themselves if some fun is really worth risking their lives for, risking leaving behind all of the people that loved them. Having been on the other end, where I have to talk to some of said grieving family members, it's tough. Every time I look at a player, I can only think that people will grieve them when they die.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Mizuki didn't have any personal experience with law enforcement, but Cleo's words did make sense.

Sounds like you have it even worse than us office folk. I've had to stay up late more than a few times to get a report done on time, but at least I don't have to worry about being called in.

With Cleo showing no desire to expand her horizons Mizuki didn't really have any idea how she could get the redhead to try and learn more about Terrasphere beyond just treating it as a place of danger. The wolfess thought about it for a bit longer then shook her head.

You have a point there, but I don't think there'll be many people who'd change their mind. For my part, I do understand that people would be sad if I were gone, and I have no intention of actually dying here, but am I supposed to live my life only for the sake of those who care about me, never thinking about what I want?

Altruism was good, but was it really worth it if you sacrificed all your own passion and happiness? Mizuki didn't know the answer, but so far it hadn't been enough to make her stop wanting to be part of this world. She looked straight at Cleo.

That aside, I'd like to train together with you. I can't teach you about using your spears for ranged attacks, but it'd be a good idea to also become more comfortable using your spears in close combat. I might also have some hints for how to best use your abilities in this world.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well I wouldn't wanna make too many assumptions, but I think I'd agree that we have it worse than office folk, since we essentially have to do office work ourselves at times. Filing cases and sorting through evidence and registering arrests are all pretty office-y jobs that most people don't think of when they think of a police officer. All of that on top of being able to be called in at any given moment is, well, it's a doozy.

Though she hadn't had to deal with that in a while. Now that she was with the VRSA, she had something that resembled more normal hours, plus she was being paid to essentially play a video game. Even if that game was a murderous thing, it was still the kind of thing that most people would dream about.

Cleo shrugged when Mizuki mentioned that very few people would change their minds about the game, but the way of thinking that the woman had described was pretty selfish, the agent had to admit. Still, she couldn't do anything other than shrug.

It's not my job to tell people how they should live their lives, but if even a small number of people end up changing their minds, then that'd be more lives saved that there would have been otherwise.

And then Mizuki brought up the idea of training together, which was, frankly, the first reasonable suggestion that the beastkin had come up with today. Cleo nodded, standing up to brush her butt down, covered in dust from the log she'd been sat on.

I'll take any offer for training that I can sink my teeth into. I've been focusing on my throwing technique, but it'd be a good idea to brush up on close combat and my other skills too.

With a flick of her wrist, she sent a friend request to Mizuki, giving the Japanese woman a bow, before she began to walk away.

Contact me when you're ready to train. I'm heading off in search of more people to save.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

That's true, although I'm not sure your paperwork is as overwhelming as what we office workers have to deal with at times. Not that we should be competing for whose work is the most time-consuming.

That would be a really strange thing to hold a pissing contest over, so Mizuki made a dismissive motion with her hand. It was enough to know that Cleo lived a busy life and that her being assigned to investigate Terrasphere from the inside might actually give her more freedom than she would usually have.

She quickly accepted the incoming friend request, as it would make meeting up with Cleo at a later date a lot easier. Mizuki suppressed a sigh when the detective emphasized how she'd keep treating this entire thing as nothing more than an opportunity to save people, instead giving the redhaired beauty a quick nod.

I wish you good luck in your efforts then, and I'll try to contact you soon so we can get that training done.

Cleo's bow was answered by Mizuki's own bow before the two of them parted ways. Shaking her head Mizuki looked at Cleo's name on her friend list, then closed the menu and turned away. It wasn't her responsibility to make Cleo unwind, although she did hope that the detective would become a little bit less zealous as she met more people and realized that this world had more than just combat to it.

@Cleo Looker