Complete Eastern Brisshal To me, loyal companion!

[Lily]

The answer was quite an unexpected one. So much so that it made Charlotte pause for a good while as she processed it in her mind. And even once she did, it was as if she still couldn't fully understand. After all, she wanted to improve her behavior, and to that effect, she mostly stopped bullying the girl in the real world. But now she was claiming… that she wanted to be bullied? What the hell?

In a moment of complete blindness created by feelings that the beast girl could not even rightly describe, she turned Delice around, grabbed her just below the shoulders, and pinned her to the wall next to them. Her eyes were squarely fixated on her prey as if she was trying to hypnotize her and prevent her from looking away, even though she knew that Delice would do so no matter what.

"Bully you? Bully you… how? The same as before… or do you want me to… bully you even more than I did back then? And more importantly… why?"

The girl better think carefully about her answer.

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

For a while, she worried that she'd said something wrong and that Charlotte was freaked out or even broken by the admission, though eventually there was a sudden blur of motion and hands seized her below the shoulders, before her back was pressed against a wall and her eyes were locked with Charlotte's eyes. She couldn't break her gaze away for a moment, looking into Charlotte's eyes, before she finally let her gaze drift downwards as Charlotte questioned her.

I...I...I...I

She froze, panicking, eyes wide as she her feet dangled, pinned to the wall by the taller and physically stronger girl. She'd been in this situation before, even in the real world. She was no stranger to being manhandled and having no choice but to accept it.

I-I want...to be useful...to you. If I can...take your frustrations...your worries...your insecurities...then it'd make me so happy. If you could...receive joy from...controlling me, a-and maybe even hurting me...

Her cheeks filled with heat, her hands pressing to them in embarrassment as words came slipping out, her brain totally unable to stop or modify them before they left her mouth.

I-I....more than before...in this world...can't you do anything without consequence? Isn't...that what you said? I-I could be...your most useful...tool...

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

The sound of people talking outside of the alley, birds singing, the wind gently brushing against the walls and flowers nearby - all of it had disappeared. Charlotte could only focus on what Delice was saying, and once it was all said, she remained still. She could feel a certain heat inside of her chest, spreading. She'd let the girl go, only to then grab her hand by the wrist and start dragging her outside of the town where no one would interrupt them.

Coincidentally, the spot where they emerged appeared to be some kind of small party campsite. A few logs were carved to be used as places to sit, a fireplace in the middle… and scars and gashes all around on the ground as if someone considerably more powerful used this place to train or something. No matter, using her strength, the fox girl almost tossed Delice onto the grass as she sat herself down on one of the logs, grin wide.

"Then… why don't we test just how useful of a tool can you be, hmm~?"

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦​

The whole thing took at least a couple of hours, with a good while of rest afterward. But at least the snow-white fox now knew that Delice was at least somewhat physically capable and would not just break. That was good… for multiple reasons. But as the amount of time they had shortened, it was best that they would return to things they had originally planned. This place was as good as any to play around with their masteries. Once Delice was coherent enough, Charlotte would start things off.

"Alright, we wanted to test your masteries… why don't you get your alchemy kit ready? We should figure out some basics first."

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

Her wrist was suddenly seized, causing Delice to squeak, having expected that Charlotte was just letting her go, maybe annoyed with her or something. Instead she was dragged out of town, to some kind of small campsite with carved log benches and a fireplace in the middle. It was a strange place but, well, Delice didn't have time to contemplate that as she was tossed down into the grass, before Charlotte was advancing on her.

---

A couple of hours later, after they'd had a chance to rest which Delice had sorely needed, they were apparently ready to start off with mastery stuff. Upon suggestion, Delice retrieved her alchemy kit from her inventory and placed it in front of her, opening it to retrieve different pouches of reagents and alchemy bottles, along with a small brewing stand and a smaller fireplace over which she could place it.

R-Right, how d-do we figure out the basics of brewing potions? I-I didn't see a list of recipes in the mastery description when I checked...

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

It was honestly a good question. Charlotte's masteries were rather simple, and combat-oriented. If she took a sword into her hands, the system would help her auto-complete specific combos. If she wanted to conjure a fireball and a water whirlwind, she just had to imagine it, and the system would once again guide her. But alchemy was different as it needed ingredients in the first place.

"Mmm, imagination seems to do a lot in this kind of game. The headset is directly connected to the brain, so it makes sense… maybe just try to focus on what effect you would like to get?"

Perhaps then the game would let her imagine the ingredients she needed as well. That would certainly be helpful. Alternatively, they could just walk around and pick whatever looked brewable before tossing it together and trying to make something out of it. Granted, that version did sound a bit dangerous…

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

That did make some kind of sense, though it was definitely an alien thought, to just assume that the relevant information would appear in her brain when she wanted it to. She definitely had ingredients on hand thanks to the new alchemy kit, but the problem was knowing what to use and when to use it. Still, she really didn't have any better advice, so all she could do was focus on it. She was still pretty tired, so a potion that would restore stamina would be ideal for this kind of test.

O-Okay, I'm focusing on the kind of potion that I want to make...

And then her hand was moving without her consciously guiding it, placing it above the brewing stand, before a steady stream of pure, drinkable water began to flow from one finger into a bottle that she had placed on the stand. It was nothing compared to the water a Hydromancer could create, but it wasn't meant for combat anyway. Just for giving her a potable liquid base for her potions.

And then, her vision changed as action assist forced her to enter investigation mode, though rather than displaying things like names and stats, it displayed the qualities and effects of certain ingredients in her field of view.

A sprinkle of grass and some powder, that her special sight had flagged as something called "Crushed Wanderer's Root" apparently, into the bottled water. A flick of her fingers created a spark, enough to ignite the flame used for brewing.

This was amazing! She was brewing a potion!

Delice broke out into a bright, heartwarming smile.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Not having a whole lot to do during the entire process, Charlotte just squatted down and stared at Delice doing her own thing. It was almost as if the other girl was in a trance of some sort. And, unlike before, there was no hint of fear or anxiety. She moved with purpose and decisiveness to brew the potion. Sure, it might have been the game itself pulling the strings, but it was still Delice performing the actions with her own body.

Not to mention the smile that appeared afterward. It honestly made the fox smile as well. As mean as she was not too long ago, she had mellowed out again and couldn't find it in herself to interrupt the process. She wanted to preserve that enthusiasm and happiness, only hoping that her classmate could approach more things in this game with those emotions. And perhaps, if she kept at it… it would all give her the necessary confidence to succeed in things for once.

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

As the bottle began to bubble and the clear liquid inside began to become a bright, slightly opaque yellow in hue, there wasn't anything left for the system to do but wait, though it hadn't quite let Delice go from its grasp yet, so she was still a kind of passenger in her own body. She learned why that was a few moments later, though, when suddenly her body reached out to take the bubbling potion off of the stand, swirling it around to make sure everything was well mixed, before it began to glow slightly in her hands.

And when the glow faded, control of her body was passed back to her, leaving her standing there, clutching this bottle of bubbling liquid, which rapidly cooled in her hand until it was safe to drink. Once she had it, she hesitated briefly, before holding it out for Charlotte to take.

H-Here! One low quality energy potion. I-I wanted to make something that would help you recover. Sorry it's only l-low quality...

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

The show went on for a little while longer, but it was still over in what felt like a blink of an eye. It was strange how Charlotte felt, that she could watch this kind of scene over and over again but not ever get tired of it. Ah well. When the potion was offered to her, she smiled and just shook her head.

"Aren't you the one who needs that, hm?"

All things considered, the fox was definitely far better off as far as stamina went. That said, the attempt was most definitely successful, so some praise was due.

"That said, good job! I told ya, you'd be able to do it as soon as you put your mind to it. The game will teach you how to do things, and then you can disable the guidance and do it on your own once you properly remember how to."

At least that was how Charlotte understood it. Even she didn't disable the assistance yet, since she was hardly adept at martial arts of anything of the sort.

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

When her potion was rejected and instead offered back to her, Delice took it, raising it to her lips and chugging it. The taste...was dreadful, honestly, like drinking water that had been infused with chunky dirt. This, it seemed, was just one of the many downsides of a low quality potion, for what good that did. Still, as she chugged it, she noticed her energy bar filling just a little bit. Or rather, it drained her food and rest in order to fill her energy faster.

Though if she had a tail, it would have been wagging, based off of the praise that Charlotte was giving her. The fox girl was right, she could do it! Apparently all she had to do was focus on the outcome that she wanted and the system would show her how to brew a potion suited for that reason, if it was one that was within her skill and capabilities to make.

Thank you, Charlotte. I...I hope that I can increase the quality soon, though. That...really tasted nasty...

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

When Delice mentioned that the potion tasted nasty, Charlotte couldn't help but laugh. It was actually a somewhat common trope that helpful potions and concoctions tasted horrible, at least as far as fiction went. But then again, medicine in the real world also often tasted pretty bad, at least the liquid type. So it seemed they all had that in common.

"Well, maybe that'll go away with a higher rank, as you say. Or maybe it could get better with extra ingredients. Maybe honey?"

Though there was probably no way, they could just get honey where they were. Once they earned some coin, they could experiment with that more. But for now, it was good that the girl could control her mastery to some degree.

"Either way, we were able to test your alchemy pretty easily. Beast Arts… might not be quite as easy. Unless you want to go back into the forest and try to turn a bear into a pet."

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

Well it was probably less that the potion tasted bad because it was good for her and more that the potion tasted bad because it was just low quality and not really made with a whole lot of skill or care. Of course, she definitely didn't want to just produce potions that tasted like absolute slop, considering that they wouldn't help anybody if that person couldn't even keep them down or swallow them.

I definitely hope that it'll taste better when I get better at making them, or with some added ingredients, if they don't actually ruin whatever potion I end up making.

It would take some experimentation, but that could come later, when they had money and some form of stability when it came to their economics.

Well I think that turning a bear into a pet is a bit far beyond me, considering that I've only just joined when I've never even had a dog before...

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

It only took a single potion, but the girl was already displaying a lot more confidence in both her actions and speech in regard to the subject. The power of experience truly was terrifying at times with how it could change a person. That said, it really was to be expected that trying to tame the local wildlife was perhaps a step too far at the moment. Especially if neither of them had a reliable way to immobilize said wildlife as they would attempt to make it friendly through the mastery.

"Yeah, something like that. But with at least one mastery tested, I think we're good for now. Beast arts can come later, when we've got better access to… whatever we would like to use it on. As for mend, I think that one is meant to enhance other masteries?"

If that was really the case, then there was no point in trying it out by itself. It would just end with Delice making another potion that had a healing effect instead of an enhancing one, not very exciting.

"Well, that is that, I suppose. How about we head out now? Alchemy aside, I think we already wasted plenty of time here. The beach might be pretty far, and I want to explore how water works in an ultra-realistic game!"

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

Well, she was full glad that they weren't going to be trying to test out her Beast Arts when she had no idea how to use them, or even how to tame or look after an animal. Maybe they could start her off on something easy, like a bird or a chicken, rather than a bear or anything dangerous? She wasn't really sure why she would need something that was dangerous, considering that she had no intentions on hurting people or getting into fights if she could somehow avoid them.

I think Mend is intended for enhancing healing masteries and stuff, yes. When I looked at it, it said some stuff about regeneration and making healing more effective, of making other powers capable of healing.

She had no clue how that worked. Maybe it would combine with Pyromancy to make healing flames or something like that? Not that such a thing really helped her, since she didn't have Pyromancy and had no intentions of taking Pyromancy.

Fire was scary.

Sure! We can head out! But um, don't you think water would just work like water? And, um, do you have anything to swim in? Because I don't....

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

The way Delice described her understanding of the Mend mastery pretty much perfectly aligned with what Charlotte had in mind as well. This meant that, for the time being, it would likely be used to produce healing potions of higher quality than alchemy by itself could offer. Or, if they actually found some cute and easily tamable animal along the way, perhaps it could acquire a healing ability? Well, that was all for the future. The big thing right now was their trip, and the fox froze up as the fae mentioned a few things.

"Ah—"

Yeah, she didn't have anything to swim in, either. And now that she was thinking about it, the sea would probably be pretty far away as well? She didn't see any kind of teleporting station or NPC when she was exploring around before. That could prove to be a bit more problematic than anything else. That said, she was not one to be dissuaded.

"I'm sure we'll find a shop selling swimsuits around the sea. And if not, who needs to wear clothes when going swimming anyway! That said, we should probably get horses here…"

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

Those were similar things to what Delice had been thinking, that her healing potions would be enhanced and that perhaps a beast she tamed would end up developing some kind of healing ability, somehow. She wasn't exactly sure how that would work. Maybe a snake which had a powerful healing venom or something like that? She wasn't sure why a creature would evolve to be able to heal the things it bit, but she wasn't going to question it. At the very least, it wasn't magic.

Magic seemed so confusing and scary...

Though Charlotte seemed to pause when she'd mentioned the fact that they didn't have swimsuits or anything of the short, leading Delice to blink. Had the girl really not thought about that? It was also going to be a bit of a walk.

The talk about horses was exciting though! She could even test out her beast taming!

Getting horses is a good idea! I might even be able to help with that!

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Yes, horses were a fantastic idea! In the end, everything was working out perfectly, after all! They would get means of shortening the journey, and Delice would get to try out her second mastery, both right now and throughout their traveling as well. The only thing they had to do was actually acquire said horses.

"Alright, follow me! Time to find ourselves a stable!"

There had to be one in a town this large and filled with players. Sure enough, it didn't take too long before they found one toward a different edge of the town. Approaching it from behind, given their training location, Charlotte would look over one of the corners to spot a man she assumed to be the owner chatting away with a group of other people. It was then that an idea hatched inside of her head. Beckoning Delice over, she gestured toward one of the many open windows leading inside.

"Alright, we'll get inside and get ourselves two horses, then we gallop toward the beach! You're tiny, so come here. I'll boost you up and follow behind you!"

@Delice Sergia

 

[Delice Sergia]

Well, with that said, it was time to follow Charlotte to a stable. She assumed that the beastkin girl had an idea, maybe it was possible to rent horses or something, like in the regular mmo's where players could pay a small fee and get like, a temporary mount that took them to a predetermined destination. Something like that was probably what Charlotte was after, or at least, that was what the faerin girl had assumed.

A short walk later and she was forced to heavily rethink that when Charlotte mentioned getting inside. After approaching a stable from behind, given where they'd come from, they had approached an open window, before Charlotte had mentioned boosting her up. Wasn't this stealing!? Delice blinked, about to voice a complaint, before it dawned on her.

This was just a game, wasn't it? Having fun with her...friend was more important than any dumb law.

Instead, she approached Charlotte, allowing the girl to boost her up, before offering a hand down to help Charlotte climb through herself.

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Lily]

Somewhat surprised at the eagerness with which Delice approached the situation, Charlotte would nod alongside a smile as she did just how she promised. As soon as the fae was through the smaller opening, the beastkin would use her own acrobatic prowess to get through the window herself. It seemed that infiltration was a great success! And the stable was packed full of horses, this seemed to be their lucky break.

"Alright! Pick one that you like, and we can bust out of here, they'll never catch up~!"

With the encouragement, she would make sure that Delice managed to get on top of a horse first. She probably had no idea how to ride one, but neither did Charlotte, and she was plenty confident that it could not be that difficult.

"Once we're out, you can just follow me, since I'm the one with the map. We'll be where we want to be in an instant like this!"

@Charlotte Ann Marie

 

[Delice Sergia]

Well it seemed that Charlotte didn't need her help getting in, though of course she didn't. Her body was so much more athletic than Delice's body was, of course she didn't need any help climbing through a window, of all things. Especially when she was so much taller than Delice was in this game too! Delice retracted her hand when it was clear that Charlotte didn't need her help, hoping that the offer hadn't offended the girl or made her think that Delice thought she wasn't capable of doing things by herself.

Instead she dropped inside and, as commanded by Charlotte, Delice quickly scanned the available horses, before selecting a powerfu chocolate colored stallion, thick with muscle and with a strange gentle confidence to his gaze. Climbing up onto it with the help of Charlotte, she quickly pointed out a horse that had a temperment that she was certain that Charlotte could deal with.

Why did she know how to ride these horses?

J-Just crack the reins to make them go faster and pull on the reins to slow them!

And then she gave the reins a crack and her horse began to trot. Then, when they were outside, another crack transitioned the trot to a gallop, tearing past the guards who were on foot. She made her way for the edge of town, hoping that Charlotte had followed her, so that the beastkin could take the lead.

@Charlotte Ann Marie