When she was preparing for tournaments, Valerie had read, read, and read. She looked through opening databases and watched recreations of famous games, watched how computer programs learned chess to figure out how they optimized their choices. There weren't any manuals or instruction booklets that would teach her to use a sword and shield, though. At least, not that she could find. There was supposedly this big city that would probably have a good library or two, but Val didn't know if she could reach there anytime soon. And besides, who would let a little kid just wander into a library on her own looking for the section about using weapons? So, there was only one other thing to do! And that was learning by doing! And that was the story of how Valdrada found herself wandering about in a weird mushroom land. There were basically no plants except for strange mushrooms of all shapes, sizes, and colors sprouting from the ground. She'd heard this land described as a forest by some other people she overheard, but there weren't many trees around. A lot of tree-sized fungi, though. And there weren't very many creatures about. She thought that she saw little rabbits and some bugs around, but she couldn't fight those! The bunnies were cute, and they weren't harmful, and there was no reason that she should try stabbing them with her sword. And the bugs, while somewhat more terrifying than the bunnies, wouldn't teach her anything if she tried fighting them. What she needed was a challenge, but still something that she could handle. So, not a bear, as had already been very well-established when she first logged into Terrasphere. And not a giant stone angel monster. As she was wondering what she could possibly try fighting, she continued walking through the odd landscape of Esuilus. As alien as everything was, Valdrada never noticed the hulking, fungal creature blending in among the rest, not until a giant fist slammed into her back and sent her slamming into the ground with a shriek. @Seigi
To become a truly great and heroic hero of Justice, one had to always seek out greater and greater dangers. From tame woodlands to spicy volcanoes. From spider invested caves to corrupted mountains. Terrasphere had everything. Everything that a certain midget needed to challenge to truly call herself a hero. This untamed mushroom plane was, of course, no exception. Thus, it came to no surprise that Seigi was walking around as her mouth was drooling. Everywhere she looked was simply food and more food. Yes, Seigi Ling Ling was truly here for the sake of exercising and getting stronger. Totally not because she heard of some really rare mushroom ingredients that were used to make one of the tastiest of all meals. "Mushroom mushroom mushroom~, moo~ moo~, shroomoomoo~" Seigi was silently humming as she continued her way. With so much shroom she wasn't even sure where to start until... she heard some commotion not too far away! ... "IT IS I, SEI- TASTY!" Screw the entire deal about a Hero needing to be fashionably late. This...thing... fit the description pretty close. Wiping away some of her drool Seigi regained most of her senses as she looked at the cat-girl for a second. "You alright? You're safe now!" Were all the words she gave the blue-hair before pulling something out of her inventory. It was an item of quite a fortune. Sure, Seigi was a tinker, but by no means an alchemist. So if she wanted a concoction that was specially made to 'burn just right' and turn a certain type of Shroom monster into delicious food, she had to simply buy it. Nonetheless, it was supposed to be worth it. "BEHOLD, defiant Foodsource, for it is I, Seigi Li- HEY, DON'T RUN!" For being so colossal it sure could run... . With the limited intelligence, the monstrosity had it realized all too quickly what Seigi had pulled out of her digital inventory. It was an item of mass-destruction. Meant to bring extinction to their glorious mushroom-race. The monster had seen countless of its friends and family be burned alive by it. Devoured in the flames of war. A single hit, a single critical. It was too much. The only option was to run. To get away. To escape. Maybe it was a loss for the shroom, but, was it really? Because, at the end of the day, it was most likely Seigi who would end up without roasted mushroom in her tummy. That was, unless the heroine decided to give chase. Which was exactly what Seigi did for around 10 meters until her justice senses started tingling. It took a whole lot of will-power to let the supposedly rare mushroom go just to be the Hero that Valdrada needed but not deserved. The sacrifices Seigi had to make. Worse than having her first kiss stolen in a theatrical play. "It's dangerous to come alone!" Seigi now stepped closer to Valdrada and helped her, if needed, up. "You're lucky a heroic heroine such as I, Seigi Ling Ling, was around to help precisely people like you!" Yup. Totally. It wasn't even a lie! A hero had to always be prepared to do good. Right, she didn't introduce herself yet? "I am Seigi Ling Ling! Hero of Justice! With Guts and Effort." With her introduction out of the way, the all too curious girl now asked. "What are you doing here anyway?!" Maybe she was a mushroom lover such as her?! @Valdrada
Just as Valdrada had spun around to try and see what had hit her, it looked like she was saved. From her position on the ground, she saw the other girl pull something out and hold it in her hands as she shouted at the mushroom thing that had attacked her. Wide-eyed, Val just stared as the mushroom creature ran off, surprisingly agile despite its size. Though it seemed like a large lumbering figure, it quickly vanished in the fungal landscape, blending in among the rest of the strangeness. Valdrada sighed in relief when it vanished. She picked herself up, brushing off the dirt from her newly acquired set of armor. Thankfully she wasn't hurt. Maybe she'd have a bruise come the next morning, but otherwise she was okay. Now, to thank her savior. Though it looked like the other girl was rocketing on ahead to the introductions. "O-oh. Thanks. I'm Valdrada, but Val is fine." So, she couldn't handle a mushroom creature either, then. Valdrada glanced down at her sword. "I was, uh, trying to find a monster to fight. For practicing, or something. I'm kind of new, so I thought that I could find something here. I guess I really wasn't ready..." Then how was she supposed to get better if she really couldn't handle a single thing? "And what are you doing here?" Was Seigi alone out here too? But didn't she say it was dangerous to be alone? Her first instinct was to think that the other girl was a hypocrite, but seeing as how she just singlehandedly caused that monster to run away, maybe she really was just that powerful that she didn't have to worry about getting attacked by monsters. Hm. Maybe a bit of learning through observation was in order... @Seigi
"A monster to fight? Here?" Seigi looked at Val in utter confusion for a second before her face displayed a big, fat grin. "That's the spirit! Challenge yourself! Why be happy with a mountain if you can reach for the sky!" Yeah, why should someone who is new to the game fight poor, innocent slimes, when they can instead challenge gigantic mushroom creatures! "I know a place that has a gigantic flying alligator of Doom if you want to fight it with me!" Clearly, Seigi needed allies to tame the mighty beast rather sooner than later. "That said, for being new you wandered pretty far, no?" Seigi wasn't all too sure about how far a beginner-friendly place and this one were apart, but, it had to be pretty far, no? Games were designed that one progressed into more and more difficult zones naturally. Unless, of course, someone played something like Blood Souls or Dark Borne. "And I was on a great journey of food! That mushroom thing you saw is quite tasty! Though my heroic duties, like seeing to your safety, obviously come first!" With that, Seigi's grin just became wider. "Since you're new you most likely haven't heard of the great hero that I, Seigi Ling Ling, am! I can give you an Autograph if you want?" @Valdrada
Trial by fire was an expression for a reason. What better way to improve than throwing yourself into the deep end and just going to town and figuring things out on your own? Although, it hadn't worked out very well for her. But maybe, now with a self-proclaimed hero to learn from, she could do better? "I- I guess. I was in Dormont a while ago, so I just started walking from there. This place looked interesting." Food? Seriously? Looking at any of these mushrooms around, food was the last thing on Valdrada's mind. Especially not that enormous thing that had attacked her. That thing did not look tasty in the slightest, and that was coming from someone who normally loved mushrooms. "Thank you again, for saving me." She was... rather dubious about getting an autograph. "Um, if you don't mind... Could I come along with you? You said there was a Flying Alligator of Doom that we could fight?" It sounded a worse than a giant mushroom monster, and a whole lot worse than a simple bear, but! If Seigi really was a hero of justice like she said, then obviously it would be no problem, right? "I- I want to get better! So if it's okay with you, could we try to fight that together?" @Seigi
Right, Seigi did just suggest to fight the Flying Alligator of Doom, Death, and Destruction together. The kitten even picked up on it! Perfect. The hero girl got an even grander idea about this entire situation. Anyone thinking her wide, grinning, smile couldn't become any... wider... were just proven wrong! Under certain circumstances, one could call what the supposed-to-be Hero was about to do even evil?! Exploiting somebodies innocence? No way. Seigi was awesome. So why should anyone be worried about that? "Alright, Val! I really, really like how you're showing no fear despite nearly getting stomped to death by the delicious mushroom creature! You're the kind of mountain-climber that Terrasphere needs! Shoot for the stars and let no one tell you otherwise! I, the great Seigi Ling Ling, will allow you to accompany me on my greatest adventures! Together we're going to achieve heights that have yet to be attained! You, my now trusty side-kick, and me. I will share with you all my heroic wisdom. Oohhh this is going to be great." Was... the orange girl even talking to Valdrada anymore? Or did she long go off on her fantasies? "BUT before that, do you even like mushrooms?" It was all too obvious where this question would lead to. @Valdrada
Well, that was easy. Valdrada gave Seigi a smile and a nod. "Thank you!" The sidekick bit didn't sound too flattering, if she was being honest. But Val could overlook that for the time being. And it was true that she wasn't really anywhere near as skilled or knowledgable as Seigi was. So the fact that Seigi was letting her come along with her was an enormous plus. The next question after that was... odd, if Val was being honest. But, uh, well, who was she to argue with Seigi? "Yeah, I like them. They're good, on pizza, or some other things." Oh, right. Seigi did say that she was here on a food expedition, didn't she? Upon realizing that, Valdrada looked around curiously. Now that there wasn't any danger of getting ambushed by another monster--or was there??--she started wondering if any of these mushrooms were edible after all. There had to be some, right? With this many mushrooms around, some of them had to be good to eat. And she couldn't really expect Seigi to be able to teach her anything if the elder girl was starving. All right then. Val knew her first mission! This would be easy!
"Good! You're truly worthy to be my disciple. A fellow mushroom-lover and all." Seigi nodded. What would she have done if Valdrada didn't like mushrooms? It would have been truly difficult to not be judgemental in that case. "And here is your first piece of wisdom to become one of the GREATEST: Do not go questing on an empty stomach!" Now that wasn't too hard to figure out oneself BUT it was only the beginning, wasn't it? "That said, as much mushrooms as there is around here, the monster that ran away earlier is supposed to be a delicacy! I even bought this flaming potion to roast it just right." Yeah, Seigi actually still had it in her hand. "I had been searching 5 hours to find one!" Having said that it actually made her wonder if these things were a protected species but... "NOW. It is totally not like me to give up BUT clearly, we don't want to keep the flying alligators... of doom... waiting, right? If you're being super awesome you can even ride one as a pet!" That, after all, was Seigi's goal all along. "So how about I, we, just settle for something else instead? Like... this mushroom tree thing there!" Seigi pointed at a random tree that looked like a mushroom. "Being the ever generous hero, I even let you take the first bite!" Which would lead to lesson number two. Seigi actually didn't know if that tree was edible. The localnotsolocalguide who sold her the potion warned her about some poisonous ones BUT a hero was always risking their lives and had to always show courage! Seigi waited with crossed arm for Val to take action. Was Seigi... expecting her to take a raw bite or something?
Uhhh. Was Valdrada hearing that right? She had ignored the bit about liking mushrooms apparently being the key quality that Seigi was looking for in a disciple. Lots of experts in their field had their eccentricities after all, and it wasn't like whether or not you liked mushrooms affected how well you could fight. Val could forgive that. She could forgive mostly anything after finding out that one of her coaches watched some weird colorful bear cartoon every weekend, and had a whole collection of plush toys. But, this? About actually eating a random mushroom tree thing out in the wild? In a weird place where everything looked like mushrooms, even the monsters? But... that meant it was probably safe to eat. No way would anyone go around saying, "hey, just go eat that!" to other people about weird things if they didn't 100% know it was all right to eat. It was probably icky to eat raw, though. And it was basically like a tree, how was she even going to take a bite out of it? She frowned in thought, glancing back to the potion that Seigi carried. It probably... Hmm... "It's going to be difficult to eat it just like that," she said. "I'll cut it down with my sword, and then we could use your potion to cook it, so it won't be raw. And I can even cut it into pieces, so that we can both eat together."
"Difficult, but not impossible! The word 'impossible' isn't part of a hero's vocabulary! You just gotta believe and put all your guts and effort into it." More great Seigi teachings, wasn't that just great? "Sounds like a plan! Not like I'd use that potion for anything else anymore anyways." Not waiting all too long for Val to actually cut the mushroom tree with her sword Seigi, without even giving much of a warning, threw her potion at it as it went up in flames! "I hope you like explosions!" Being just made for that though there wasn't even any worry to start a wild-fire of the like or the shroom...wood... getting charred. No, the magical fire potion with magical properties would allow anyone to become a real cook anywhere! "Well then, my ever trustful and great companion, being the great and generous hero that I am, I shall allow you to take the first bite!" Yes, no way anyone would go around and say 'Hey, just eat that!' to other people without knowing it'd be 100% safe. Totally. Especially if the person in question wasn't even a villain!
Okay! Given the go ahead, Val took out her sword and started chopping. It was a bit of a pain, since her sword seemed to be mainly meant for stabbing. She did eventually figure out that she could stab a lot of little holes in a line to weaken the whole thing, and then pull out chunks. It was a lot of work, but she thought she was doing pretty good work. At least, up until the fire started. Valdrada turned around when she heard breaking glass behind her, and couldn't help but shout as she saw yellow-orange flames rise up from a puddle on the ground. She jumped away from the fire, staring wide-eyed at the mushroom tree as it burnt up. She then turned to look at Seigi, who seemed entirely unrepentant. "Hey! You almost burned me with that!" The offer of the first taste of the mushrooms wouldn't be enough to placate her! ...Though the meaty, roasted smell in the air did smell delicious... And the fire seemed to be almost supernatural in how thoroughly it toasted the mushroom, turning it a delicious golden-brown... Valdrada felt her will crumbling. "O-okay. Fine. I'll just try a piece." She picked up one that wasn't directly touching the ground, not wanting to eat a dirt-covered mushroom. It was still a little hot, but after blowing on it for a bit, she figured it was fine. Taking a bite, she chewed thoughtfully. It tasted pretty good. No, more than that, it was delicious! "It's good!" she said, when she'd finished off her piece. "You should have some too." (it's your choice whether the mushroom has any side effects or not!)
"Is it really? I mean, of course, it is! This potion was practically made to cook mushrooms. Quite expensive too. But a hero has to be ever generous, keep that in mind!" Seigi nodded in self-praise as she went closer to take a piece of the mushroom into her own hands. ...Was it really edible? "So, Val, feeling anything weird yet? No? Good! You see, here's another lesson to be a truly heroic hero...!" As Seigi continued to teach Val, the Felis started to feel a tad strange. Did Seigi always have the head of an eagle? "Takes on any and all challenges! Don't know whats behind Door Number One? Open it. Don't know what that button does? PUSH IT. No clue if some piece of meat tastes good? EAT IT." Despite Seigi's lecture, all that Valdrada could hear were elephant noises from Seigi before even the colors in her vision started to change! The rather muddy and earth colored surroundings turned into a visit to candy-kingdom while Seigi's orange became... was that even a color?! Nonetheless, with the docile and spacing out(?) Val Seigi had no doubts about this mushroom. "And MOST importantly, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! You wanted to get stronger, no?" About to eat a piece of it too, it was only the Felis's good-will that would stop Seigi from doing something she might regret. That is, if she was even capable of recognizing things enough in the first place.
Valdrada felt kinda dizzy. She was about to tell Seigi that she didn't feel too good after eating that piece of mushroom, but when she looked in where she thought she remembered Seigi standing, there was only a giant bird. Valdrada blinked slowly, and tried to rub her eyes. She missed her eyes and her hands ended up scrubbing at her temples instead. That didn't really help, but it felt kinda nice so she just kept at it. And the bird was saying stuff. What was it saying? Why was a bird talking in the first place? That was funny. Yeah, funny, just like the way that the sky was turning bright pink, and the ground a bright and bubbly orange. Valdrada began giggling as the eagle kept talking in Seigi's voice. Aww, why was this eagle being so funny? She was still dizzy and laughing made it even worse, but she couldn't stop. Who even cared what it was saying, it was a talking bird! Everything was just too funny! "Bird," she said through her laughter, trying to reach out to pet it. It looked so soft even though it was so big. "Come here birdie~"
Seigi wasn't too sure if she had really a bird on her head but what the girl knew for sure was how hungry she was. With Valdrada still on her feet, it clearly couldn't be that bad. Without further delay, the deed was finally done as Seigi munched on the tasty mushroom. "Say, Val, how did you manage to get shifting hair?" If the character creation allowed hair to constantly change colors then Seigi would have been a living rainbow! Just... how did she do it? Or maybe a super ultra rare deluxe drop? Did this color even have a name?! "And how did you turn this mushroom into a b-..." B... what? Burger? No, it wasn't a B but rather a P. A Pie! Pineapple Pie Pizza? Or... did it even matter? Did anything matter? This was only the beginning of a wild adventure that would soon turn into a foggy memory. In a far, far away land. There was a Story. In a place made out of strawberry lakes, gumdrop roads, blueberry clouds, fudgsicle street lamps and caramel carousels. In a place that was not supposed to be visited by mere mortals.... . The young hero wouldn't even remember if she faced off alone against the omnipotent being only known as Duke King President or if her trusty side-kick was at her side. In the end, though, it did not matter. After all, it was just a pleasant dream... or was it? It had to be a miracle that the two of them were apparently unharmed as Seigi's senses slowly returned to reality. Slowly standing up and stretching her limbs the young hero turned to Valdrada. Right, what just even happened was... "That. Was. AWESOME!" Seigi simply continued on before asking. "How are you feeling? You're definitely worthy. Yes. Totally! I'll love having you around." Did the blue-hair even do anything...? Nonetheless, this was definitely a compliment! "Today, this Mushroom Forest. Tomorrow, the World!"
"Urghhh." Valdrada groaned as she found herself curled up on the ground, ears twitching frantically for what appeared to be no discernible reason. Her vision was fuzzy, there was an odd aftertaste in her mouth, and eughhhh. She just felt pretty weird all over, like her body was just slightly a different size than it used to be. She squinted to try and focus on the moving shape next to her- Seigi? That was Seigi, wasn't it? "What was that?" she asked, when she could make her mouth form words again. "I don't really remember..." Well, Seigi seemed perky about something, at least. Val guessed that whatever happened, it couldn't have been too bad. She wasn't hurt, after all. Just had a bit of a headache. But maybe she'd just never do it again, if it left her feeling all sluggish and weird. "Um. Okay?" She tried to remember what else they were going to do, but it was hard to think through this weird haze. "So, uh, um. Where are we going next?"
