Dealing With Clumsiness [MasteryQuest]

Wowzers! Mushrooms... mushrooms everywhere!

This was amazing! Magi Heart had not explored this area yet, and now she wishes she had sooner. It was like a fairy tale land! The magical girl walked through the forest of towering mushrooms and stoped occasionally to poke at a cute little shroom or two! This was fun! According to what she had heard, this place was dangerous but how dangerous could cute mushrooms be? Magi did not try to eat any though. No telling which ones were poisonous. The cutest ones were definitely the spotted ones! It was like Super Mario!

"Bubububup!"

Magi Heart made her impression of Mario getting bigger from grabbing a super mushroom. Down to posing sideways like Mario would in the classic game. Her brother loved retro so that was the only reason she even knew about it. She was more into Ultimate Candy Storm Evolution herself. Today was a good day she felt. Magi was trying hard to forget her worries and just enjoy this. It was funny that only when she was away from a bunch of players did she have fun. That was not cool though, she wanted to play with everyone else but they kept doing such horrible things. It was hard being Magi.

As she continued on her way. She saw the most adorable mushroom ever! Running up to it she poked it to see if it wobbled to be even cuter! The smiley face on it wiggled back and forth and Magi laughed... until a poof of spores came from it! Oh no! Magi tried to jump back as the thick burst of spores fell on her. But instead of dodging she fell back onto her butt hard. Ouch! Luckily the spores did not do anything... at least not yet.

"Good going Magi..."

She muttered to herself. Her fun ruined by the wake up call that she sucked at being a good hero. Magical Girl falling on her butt? Gee whiz.

@Amrita

 

So the stories she'd been told by the the drunken adventurers stumbling out of one of Stokbon's taverns may have been quite exaggerated. "'Magical kingdom of mushrooms'," Amrita muttered sourly, looking around at this region full of nothing except mushrooms. Well, that last part of the statement was definitely true. It was the 'magical kingdom' part that she had an issue with. Looks like she'd been had. That was the last time she would take travel advice from one of those players.

Well, she probably should make the most of it. It wasn't like everywhere across the continent could be glamorous. That was travel for you.

Something creaked as she stood up. Huh. She'd have to be a bit more careful about her knees, then, she thought with a wince. Anyway, time to get going. So many mushrooms to see, so little time...

Haha. Trying ton inject any enthusiasm into this was a futile measure. Amrita resolved to stop trying and just go on her way, most likely with some requisite grumpiness. She'd been wandering near the borders of Esuilus with... what was that called know, that forest had a different name now, Ast-something? Eh, she'd find someone to ask on her way back.

An hour of leisurely wandering around found her deeper into the strange fungal landscape. There was a red and purple mushroom that was sort of a cylindrical shape. A few clustered together in a formation that could sort of suggest the possibility of a castle. Which, if that was said magical mushroom kingdom that she was promised, was a bit misleading.

But, interestingly, there was something else. Or rather, someone else. Amrita's eyebrows rose as she watched the young pink-haired girl trip over something and fall over. What was a child like that doing out here? And with no guardians in sight?

Well, this couldn't do. "Excuse me," Amrita called to @Magi Heart. "Are you all right?"

 

"Excuse me? Are you all right?"

The voice of a elderly person quickly made Wendy think of her grandma! Oh boy, she was really getting tired wasn't she? Or maybe it was the spores? A shadow fell over her and she looked up to see a old lady's face staring down at her... and she had huge ears!

"....Um hello?"

Magi said a bit embarrassed and a bit shocked to find a granny out here. Wendy loved old people! They told lots of awesome stories! Like how much better it used to be and how they would get television through something called analag... uh anolloog? Analog, yeah that! Oh and phones with twisty wires! Those sounded fun but kinda inconvenient to drag around with you...

"Oh no! I'm good! Thank you!"

Magi Heart got up off the dirt and dusted off her skirt. The she made her magical girl pose with two fingers in front of her forehead and legs apart like a kind of Sailor Moon clone.

"I'm Magi Heart, bringer of love and justice! How can I help you miss? ... are you lost?"

Magi hoped her falling on her butt did not ruin her chance to look cool here. Old ladies always need help crossing the street right? Magi's eyes darted back and forth real quick without her moving. Hmmm.. nope, no roads. Just going to have to improvise somehow. Exiting her pose, Magi made a thoughtful look and then made a statement that probably gave away her own ineptness...

"So... we should be careful if a powerful monster shows up. I'll try to keep it from catching us... but I think we might be in trouble trying to escape... hmmmm... oh! I do have a special move for that though!"

Magi quickly showed her pose for her White Clearance Light spell. She looked at the very slow looking elder, and thought about her own likely hood of tripping over her own feet.... that spell would probably be needed eventually here. Truly though, Magi did not even know what the woman was here for? Nor did she think to check if she was a NPC or not.

@Amrita

 

Lost? Absolutely not! Amrita huffed, completely ignoring the fact that she hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to what route she had taken on her way here. She'd find her way back eventually, as long as she headed... south? Southwest? Southeast? Somewhere southernly, at any rate. "I am not lost," Amrita said crossly. "I'm exploring."

Didn't look like the girl had broken or twisted anything from her little spill, though. Good. Kids' bones were fragile and if someone had to break one, there were very few places worse to do this than a desolate mushroom wasteland.

When @Magi Heart mentioned monsters, Amrita frowned. She hadn't heard anything about monsters in these parts. And for that matter, she didn't hear much of anything, either. Her ears twitched and swiveled around, searching for any sounds to pick up on. The wind was picking up a bit, but otherwise Amrita didn't hear much.

"Don't hear anything out there," she said, looking around as well. "If there's anything out there trying to sneak up on us, these ears will catch them." She gently flicked at her right ear, letting it twitch a bit. "I used to be able to hear my boys trying to sneak into the house after curfew from three rooms down. And no monster could be quieter than a pair of teenaged boys who've been trying to hide that they've done something wrong from their mother," she added, suppressing a fond smile at the memory.

So what if that was decades ago? Her senses were still as sharp as ever!

Enough of that, though. It was all right when it was just her out here, but this was no place for a child to be wandering about unsupervised. Time to get a head start on figuring out how to get out of this mushroom hellhole.

Amrita took a glance up at the sky, trying to figure out which direction would lead them back to civilization. Absently, she asked, "So, what kind of love and justice were you doing out here?" No harm in indulging a child with their games of pretend. Better to keep the child occupied with a bit of chatter while she tried to work out the angles and such.

 

Magi listened politely and nodded as the old lady talked about her past. This was something old people did, Wendy knew from her own grandma. Sometimes her mom and dad would complain in private about the stories. Wendy loved them though. Tales of a before time... it was not like she could ever be there to see those things. TV and the internet was around but still, it was really nice to hear it from someone who was actually there!

Then she asked what Magi was doing out here and what exactly it had to do with love and justice. Magi did not really have a answer for that one. If she outright said why she was not doing her magical girl duty... would this lady understand? Old people were smart and kind usually... Magi dug the toe of her shoe into the dirt as she held her arms behind her and tried to explain like a kid telling a parent when they had misbehaved.

"...Um well. I'm having some trouble with this game."

Magi admitted not at all aware of if this was a NPC or not. She decided to just tell the truth because that was what she did. Magi was a honest girl.

"It's hard to save the day in this game. I can't find any real baddies and there are so many wars and.. and ... it's complicated.... I don't know..."

Thinking it over, it was so hard to explain just how deep the serious concerns she had went , it would probably be a few more days before she could. There was that rumor of a legendary magical girl statue that she really wanted to look into. Maybe it could help her understand somehow. Magi needed inspiration and guidance from a great heroine, badly.

Magi would try to continue but her words were interrupted by a sudden sound! Actually several sounds! Magi's eyes widened as she tried to yell out a warning to the old bunny lady. Hopefully her ears were as good as she had said because...

"Look out! It's a...."

"HAAHAAAAAA!"

A man came leaping from mushroom top to mushroom top and performed a very over the top flipping dive kick right towards the back of the old lady's head! Magi quickly took out her bow from her equipment and aimed it at him. Her hands shaking some from the sudden change in the setting. She did not want to shoot at the man but he was attacking a elderly person! That was really super duper mean! She fired a arrow at him and he quickly dodged it by spinning to the side and landing with his hand on the ground and legs split apart... again hyper dramatically.

"HAHAHAHA! I AM PRETTY LUCKY! LOOK AT THIS? A LITTLE GIRL AND A OLD BAG! L-O-L OR WHATEVER THE KIDS SAY THESE DAYS!"

The man was dressed like some kind of ninja. His face was covered by a mask and had a long dagger in one hand and a shorter one in the other. His voice, his poses, he was just over the top like a comical relief villain. Wait... hopefully Magi did not come off anything like that with her own speeches and poses....

"NOW THEN! IF YOU WANT TO LIVE! GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR GOLD! CHOP CHOP! STARTING WITH YOU HAG!"

He spun his daggers and started to do a kind of sword dance to show off how cool he was.... Magi was in awe and just stared at him not thinking about the danger due to his antics.

@Amrita

 

So if she turned left they would probably be able to- Oh, hm? @Magi Heart was talking about some sort of game she was playing. That was nice. Amrita was about to ask what kind of game it was, but the words died in her throat as the young girl continued on about wars?

What was a child doing in a war? Who were her guardians? Amrita had a bone to pick with them.

Just as Amrita was about to respond--actually, she didn't even know how to respond, what could she even say to a child who was convinced that they had to "save the day" and fight against 'baddies'?--her ears picked up on some very loud shouting, very nearby.

She ducked just in time to miss the brunt of the attack aimed for her head, but it still grazed the back of her skull and sent her tumbling forwards. As the pain slowly died out, she cursed under her breath and tried to get back up again. "What the f-"

Whoever the absolute ass was, he was so loud that she couldn't even hear her own swearing. Her vision was still slightly off-kilter from the blow so whoever it was just looked like an indistinct blob of asinine theatrics, idiotic clothing choices, and a general sense of being an annoying bastard. And he even had the nerve to demand all her money. "Like hell I will," she spat at him, grabbing her crossbow and loading it as best she could while still struggling from the knock to her head.

Amrita spared a glance towards Magi. The girl had a bow of her own out--Amrita's list of people who deserved a good walloping grew, because who was giving children actual weapons--but she was just staring at the nutcase on top of the mushroom instead of doing something smart, like, oh, say...

"Run!" she barked at Magi. "Get out of here!"

 

Oh wow! The old lady was mad now. This guy was going to get it! Wendy's grandma was pretty scary when she got mad. Magi refocused on her aim. She really hated shooting at people unless it was completely necessary. In this case it probably was. Drop kicking the elderly in the head is pretty severe...

"Pink Heart Power! We can't give up!"

Magi healed the woman while she yelled at Magi to run but how could she? Magi Heart was the one who needed to protect her! This guy was not a giant spider or snake, or anything but just a big dumb poopy head trying to take people's money! Magi can handle this one!

"...D-don't worry! I'll save us! Okay you! Stop being a bad person... or Magi Heart will stop you and cure you of your dark heart!"

Wait did that speech really make sense? If he already had a dark heart, maybe she was supposed to just jump straight to curing him? Sigh, this never really worked the way it was supposed to. The ninja thief guy made a back flip and laughed at the two females.

"HAHAHAHA! THE HELL IS THIS? I DO NOT PLAY GAMES! NO GOLD?! NO LIVING! HAHAHAHAHA! "

The thief performed another back flip onto a tall mushroom and then leaped forward high into the air. Spinning and twisting his body in a display of his extraordinary mad skillz. Magi arced her back and brought her bow up trying to keep him in her sights but he was so fast... She started to shoot her bow scared of what his attack might be.

"DIVE KICK OF DOOOOOOOOOM!"

The ninja came flying downward with his foot pointed like a knife right at Magi! She gasped but kept shooting. Her arrows were missing! Then it happened. Bullseye! Cool beans! a arrow hit him square in the foot and he fell down right in front of the girl. He landed on his other foot. Which was pretty impressive in and off itself. He started to hop around holding his shot foot in his hands.

"OWWWW! WHY DID YOU DO THAT! YOU LITTLE BRAT! OWOWOWOWOWOW!"

Magi suddenly felt sorry for him. She did not mean to hurt him that badly!

"Oh don't worry I'll get it out! ....um... stay still mister thief ninja guy..."

Magi hoped this was a good idea. She was about to help him when he pulled it out himself.

"FORGET IT YOU DUMBASS KID! I AM HANZO! I AM THE BEST! YOUR LITTLE ARROWS DO NOTHING TO ME HAHAHAHAHA!"

Magi began to worry about whether he was alright in other ways... she looked to the old lady and a drop came down the side of her head. Who was this guy? It was really out of place considering everything else in the game was so serious and realistic.

"WHATEVER! YOU ARE LUCKY! I NEED TO GO MEND MY WOUND BUT I SHALL RETURN! FOR YOUR GOLD! HAHAHAHAHA!"

The weird Hanzo ninja tried to spin away and look cool, but when his injured foot hit the ground he yelped again and had to hop away. Oh he dropped something!

"Um wait...!"

Magi ran up and picked up what looked like a small scroll. Ooooh a ninja scroll? That's kind of cool! The ninja ignored her and hoped out of sight. Magi sighed, she did try to help him. Maybe she can give it back to him later. She tuned to the bunny lady. A small tired but content smile on her face.

"I guess we won? Are you okay miss? ...this game is so weird. I think I'm used to it though at this point... maybe."

Then came a alert that made Magi jump a little. Huh? It said loot found! Rogue Mastery Scroll! Oh wow! Magi suddenly became preoccupied with her menus while she checked her stats in front of the old woman.

@Amrita

 

After telling @Magi Heart to run, Amrita turned her attention back to trying to sort herself out. She gave her head a good shake to try and clear it, though it didn't o any favors for the awful pain in the back of her skull. But that with a few good blinks helped get her vision back under control well enough to aim for the-

Oh. Well. Now able to hear clearly again after that rather unwelcome jolt to the head, she heard the... whoever that would-be crazed mugger was shouting at Magi, yanking an arrow from his foot.

Huh. So, not only did Magi have a bow and arrow, but she was well-trained enough with it to hit the foot of a moving target. So, she must have practiced with it for a good long time.

Starting young with weapons wasn't unusual. Her own Mida was waving around a sword as a young boy, but that was just a wooden training sword and always under the watchful gaze of his instructor or Iden. She was definitely sure that Mida had never wandered around inhospitable mushroom landscapes with no adult supervision in sight.

"Good riddance," Amrita said after a scoff, watching the man limp away. She growled as she tucked her crossbow back down. Getting another shot in was tempting, but she needed to conserve bolts. It wasn't worth wasting one of her two dozen or so bolts on him.

"You're good with that bow," she said to Magi, scratching at an ear. "Thanks for that. Don't worry about him, I'm sure he's just a-" Now, Amrita had no problem swearing in front of children, but what she was going to call him was probably a bit too extreme. She coughed. "Anyway-"

Then there the girl was again, talking about some sort of game. Shooting someone in the foot, toughing it out in the mushroom wilds, this was quite the dangerous game. She vaguely recalled that at some point or another one of the neighborhood hoodlums was daring other children to go out into the grasslands nearby on their own, at night. Thank goodness that neither of her boys was ever caught up in that, but she'd seen the poor victims come running back home crying with a big gash down their arms from running afoul of a territorial wildcat or similar. Was this situation like that?

She turned back to Magi, trying to sort out the words in her head to see if maybe there was some neighborhood child bullying her, but frowned at what she saw. She'd been seeing this behavior more and more often, lately, of people just staring straight into their own hands like there were particularly riveting books hidden in their palm lines.

...Oh. Right. She first saw that in one of those 'players' she ran into, way back when. So lack of survival instinct seemed to be an inherent trait among 'players'. Amrita certainly felt she had enough evidence to determine that much. She didn't think that children so young would get caught up in this 'player' business, but at least she knew there were others similar to the girl out there that she'd probably be looked after.

Now to actually get them out of here, though. Amrita coughed again. "If you're done, we ought to get going. Try and find one of the other 'players' like you."

 

Magi had to admit, as her status page updated with the new mastery. Rogue. Even if it was a big fat zero, it was cool beans to actually gain a mastery! That was like a pretty big deal from what others had told her. Wowzers... four masteries. Magi Heart had to stop for a minute in her excitement and wonder why she was so far from her dream if her stats were going okay? At least she wasn't messing up quite as bad anymore... right?

Closing her palm with one of the most satisfied smiles she has had in awhile. Magi ran up and hugged the old lady. Why? No real reason, she was happy for once and the old lady had helped her right? Magi was also successful in protecting her elders! That was enough of a reason!

"Thanks so much miss! I got my next mastery! I don't really know how they work but... um...miss?"

Magi realized she did not know the ladies name. She pulled away from her before she could go into asking for a name, the old woman spoke first. Find more players like her...? Oh boy. That was kinda a weird way to put it. Wendy was luckily in a good mood now, so she did not jump too far into the negative.

"Oh ummmmm... we could head for a town or something? I came here from one! I was actually trying to stay on my own for awhile, but maybe I should go back. I mean... there are other players but they aren't really like me. Hahaha, I guess I'm one of a kind!"

Sadly, she thought as she said that. Other than Eldhi, no one really became all that friendly with her. She definitely never met someone really, really like her. It was fine though. Sometimes a heroine must fight for love and justice alone until the rest of the team shows up. That's how many mahou shoujo's go anyways!

@Amrita

 

Uh. Amrita hadn't been hugged in a very, very long time, much less by children as young as @Magi Heart seemed to be. In her surprise, old instincts had her automatically going for a quick pat on the head, but the girl disengaged soon enough.

"Sure...?" Amrita had no clue what the girl was talking about, with Masteries, whatever that meant, but it certainly seemed to bring a bit of life and vigor back into the girl. This turnabout of emotion was confusing but more reassuring, at least. "Don't bother with miss, or ma'am. My name's Amrita, that's enough for me."

So enough of names and introductions, there were a number of things that Amrita needed to address. "What do you mean 'or something?' Where do you live?" The orphan theory was looking more and more plausible by the moment: no mention of parents or guardians, the girl was making plans to stay out here in the middle of fungal nowhere on her own. Regardless if she was one of the strange players or not, there was no way that just letting a kid wander off where they pleased was acceptable.

"You can't stay out here by yourself. If that crazy man comes back, or if there are more of them roaming around here..." Amrita scowled in disgust. Sure Magi had handled herself well, but there was something fundamentally not right about leaving a young girl by herself when there were people out there who would be willing to rob her, or worse.

Amrita hadn't fared so well in that last encounter, but the ache at the back of her head had faded enough for now that it wouldn't affect her aim. She kept her crossbow out and ready just in case. Never know with strange and desperate men like that.

"We should be able to get out of this godsforsaken land if we go that way," Amrita said, gesturing in a vaguely southern direction. "Shouldn't take too long." At least, she hoped not. Keeping her ears and eyes out, she started along the path back to civilization.