Sera frowned as she paced around the tiny forge which she was... borrowing... or at least attempting to use, whether she had permission or not. But, as she paced, she mumbled that it probably didn't matter because she wasn't actually using it anyway. Why wasn't she using it? Well, she had nothing to use on it! After being essentially robbed, as far as she was concerned, over the prices for some basic crafting recipes and the exchange rate of materials, she was left with no money to her name and not even half as many materials as she would need to craft even a tiny dagger. She put her hands on her hips and let out an angry sigh, staring at the forge. "You're useless to me, you know that?" She asked, tapping her foot. She let out a heavy breath of disappointment. She had come into this world with excitement, looking forward to working her way up and becoming a princess, or even better, a queen, of a region that she had conquered with a loyal band of men and women, all of whom had been promised (though sworn to secrecy) that once she had been instated as the rightful ruler, they would sit in the throne beside her's. Of course, perhaps one of those people would truly earn that right, but the rest would find themselves faced with a choice: join her harem without complaint, or be banned from her kingdom. Well, maybe not that exactly. But certainly, something along those lines. Her fantasy might have gotten away from her as it progressed... "Well, to do any of that, I'm gonna need money. To get money, I'm gonna need customers. To get customers, I'm going to have to actually craft something... which of course, leads right back into the fact that to craft something, I'm going to need money... Gah! Why does this world hate me?" she asked, throwing her hands up in the air, before folding them across her chest. What to do... what to do... @Lucia Mierz
Lucia had spent her time adjusting her equipment, looking over her tools, though she was lacking, she made an effort to cover her logistical weaknesses with ability. Her Malefimancy was a good and shining corner stone of her kit when it came to that. Her arrows that were normal metal tipped tools were cursed left right and upside down, each one in her quiver was cursed with a powerful rotting hex that would debilitate those that were cut by it. Though she'd have more curses and hexes as she leveled, it didn't erase the weakness of her current tools and equipment. It made her sigh as she dragged her Mats behind her knowing they were largely dead weight. It was only until she found someone who seemed overly eager and emotional that Lucia couldn't help a sweet chuckle, a smooth grin coming to her face seeing this girl enjoying 'life' a little too much in the game. It was something Lucia could relate to though, that much was clear. Her intense hatred for 'real life' was enough to make her celebrate in the streets here. The only reason she didn't do something so silly was because she tried to keep her facade as elegant and mature as possible. Reaching out a hand she could only let out a sweet melodious chuckle knowing this person was likely neck deep in their own thoughts. Trying to pat the girl's head in an effort to be reassuring she shook her head causing her wavy hair to shake. "Now now, if you keep shouting like that the world might look at you strangely even if it hates you." She tried to tease a little before pulling her things forward with a happy grin. She'd prepared her items for crafting the best she could, but she knew she'd need to put in even more work from now on, her skills and abilities weren't anywhere near where she wanted them. She'd need more to take away as much spotlight as possible.
Sera's face instinctively turned into that of a pout when she felt a hand touch her head, but she quickly caught herself and corrected it into a defiant scowl before turning around to see a beautiful, dark haired woman standing before her. Her scowl turned into a look of awe briefly, and she hoped the woman would think it was about the fact that she finally had a customer. "A customer!" She finally forced herself to say. "Welcome, uh... I don't have a name for my shop yet, I'm still working on that, sorry, uh, I am training in the use of weaponsmithing, and I can currently craft martial weapons for one hand, or ranged weapons of any size. If either of those suits your needs, I'm your girl!" she said with a smile, finally having some conscious control over her face again. Sera examined the girl for a long moment. "Okay, I see you have some quivers full of arrows. I guess that means you're probably going to be wanting a bow to shoot them with, huh?" she asked. She mused for a moment. "I know it's around here, somewhere..." she muttered. She began rummaging around the forge, knocking aside papers and tools and miscellaneous items that Sera wasn't necessarily sure she could think of reasons as to why they would be in a forge. Finally, she found a long, thick string with lines marked at regular intervals. "Are you thinking a short bow, long bow, or - am I getting ahead of myself?" she sighed and let her shoulders droop. "Sorry, I'm very new at this. Let me try again." She cleared her throat and straightened to her full height - which really wasn't much - and looked straight into the woman's face. "Hello there! Welcome to the forge of Sera Phim, name still a work in progress. I am the aforementioned Sera Phim, artisan of fine weapons suitable for various combat situation, both for those who like to keep their distance, as well as those who prefer their combat to happen at a more personal range. How can I help you, today?" @Lucia Mierz
Seeing Sera's sudden awe, Lucia felt her grin widen a little. After all, spotlight was a big reason of why Lucia played, people adoring her and experiencing awe was just satisfying her desires properly. She'd put a great deal of work into her avatar, every wave of the hair, every faint curve, even the way her frame looked in the clothing she wore. It was all a very meticulous process that had been done and done and done yet again. Seeing people react to her hard work was always a very fulfilling expression. Even as the woman was awed though she only continued petting her head with a reassuring grin, not really bothered about the reason, just glad she had that effect. "Relax, Relax dear... Really, you're tensing up just because someone walked in the door?" She couldn't help a soft sigh looking at Sera like someone who had had too much sugar. It wasn't as if she wasn't respecting the girl's age or seeing her as someone immature, after all, didn't everyone have moments when they were flustered? Lucia's facade was one that drove her to try and calm the girl, after all, those who are most modest are typically those who are even more superior then their prideful counterparts. "But yes, I came here for something like that... Though it seems this place... needs a little bit of work mm?" Lucia mused taking a cursory glance around, it looked as if it was something that was thrown together at the last minute for someone to rent for a short while. When the woman tried to rewind and go back through everything once more for good measure though, Lucia could only shake her head and lift her hand up to pat the girl once more trying to be reassuring. "Just be natural. That's always the best." She offered advice, lying through her teeth knowing she hated her own natural and had to put up a facade. That didn't matter too much to her though, instead she only nodded back thinking about her bow. "That's right though-- I do need a bow, something that will be able to shoot these without weakening." She admitted pulling one of the arrows from her quiver slowly and carefully since she was so close to someone else. A cursed object wasn't exactly something that should be passed around. The arrow itself seemed very normal, typical, not unusual at the very least. There wasn't much you would normally expect from the arrow that was so clearly meant for beginners. Instead though, the arrow head seemed to have a sinister glint to it that had nothing to do with the material it was made of or the light that shined on it. It wa a result of the hex, that rotted those that were cut or slit by it. "I have a lot of unique arrows to use, and I need something that will give me safety in distance, but will let me move when fighting another ranger." She explained her particular demands. Neither short or long bow, she hoped for a hunter's bow that could move easily but wasn't meant for close use or horseback combat. "Do you think you could manage something like that cutie?" She asked as her grin widened into an urging smile.
Sera wasn't completely sure how to react to the furthered patting of her head. On the one hand, it very clearly felt diminitive of her size, which usually she would try to use that to her advantage - let a person underestimate her for being short. Yoda did it, why couldn't she? On the other hand... the gentle touches to her head did feel reassuring and relaxing. Should she feel angered, calmed, cunning, or just flattered? Sera grinned sheepishly when the woman mentioned that the place might need some work. "Well, if I'm going to be completely honest, and this is part of the reason I tensed up a bit... I don't know if I'm really supposed to be using this forge," she said. "There's an NPC who owns it, but he doesn't lock up or anything, just leaves it open. So I figured.... if he wasn't gonna be using it at this time, why shouldn't I? Though he definitely could clean the place a bit better, couldn't he?" she asked, looking around the place and wrinkling her nose a bit. Sera couldn't help but bark a laugh when the woman told her to be natural. "Natural? I get plenty of natural at my day job in the real world. Natural is boring. I'm here to be someone I can't be there. Aren't we all?" She asked. She examined Lucia's arrow closely. At first, she reached her hand toward it, but decided against it. Something about the arrow felt strange, wrong. Maybe even evil, perhaps? Then again, this was a game. Good and evil were just sides so players knew which other players they could declare war on, or something like that. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that arrow doesn't really seem like something that would get used in a fair fight." She smirked. "Which I suppose means you're someone who's not exactly interested in a fair fight. Good, those people get killed. Dead customer are bad for business - well, actually, I guess if people can respawn, not so much? Still, you last longer if you don't try to give your opponents a fair chance, either way." A look of thoughtfulness rose to Sera's face as she pondered the best way to go about making the woman's request. "So a medium sized bow, long enough to let you have some good range, but short enough you can move with it. While I don't intend to err, if I had to err, which would you rather me err on the side of, range or mobility?" She asked. "Personally, I'd suggest mobility, as that way you can move closer or further away as needed, where with range it only helps when they're within your sights but you're not within theirs." With that, Sera would match the woman's smile and hold up her marked string once again. "Right then, I'm gonna need some measurements, then. Mass crafted bows typically aim for averages, which is why they don't always serve their purposes as well. Let's see... if a longbow is typically just shy of the height of the user, and a short bow is usually the size of their torso... For a medium length bow, I'm thinking from your shoulder to your thigh? Then, I'm going to need the measurement from your wrist to your cheekbone so that I know how much flexibility to put into the bow for the sake of the draw string, and if you'd want me to make any more arrows. Be sure not to hyper extend your arm for that measurement. Now..." Sera extended the measurement string. "Do you want me to measure you, or do you want to measure yourself?" She asked with a grin. The woman had seemed to be flirting with her, so she certainly going to flirt back.
The talk about the NPC made Lucia cock her head faintly, her wavy hair moving with the gesture as she glanced once more across the forge. It was a little strange, this girl seemed to be trying to run a business out of a stranger's house? Would it not be better to join up with some kind of guild or become an associate or apprentice? Instead this person seemed to just hijack others' facilities without their permission. It was certainly strange in Lucia's eyes, there was nothing wrong with going through the proper channels after all. "... You know, it might just be easier to find someone to sponsor you, and someone to teach you the craft. That way you can have money from the sponsor fighting the wild beasts, and then you'd be able to work in the teacher's home-- This might be a game honey but it's praised for it's AI and social/political maneuvering for a reason." Lucia offered with a mellow chuckle thinking that this poor girl was too used to normal MMOs where people could come and go as they pleased without anyone caring. "After all, if you got caught here and were accused of something bad it would negatively effect you right?" Lucia added thinking that such a thing would be bad for business. Though the talk about the real world made Lucia sneer internally. Indeed, the real world was tragic, toxic even, but someone who was in the spotlight wouldn't think that way. It would no doubt be incredibly rude and crack her facade. Rather then that, only shook her head with a soft breath. "Playing and acting are apples and oranges you know? Though I suppose if it's fun, as long as you're happy." She urged with a bright vibrant grin. "As for 'fairness', I don't think what I'm doing is too bad. Compared to people lobbing fire balls or growing arms back, rotting arrows aren't all that special." She confessed. There were a great many different kinds of skills after all, Lucia's own skills, while toxic, weren't what you could call 'overwhelming'. Lucia's greatest advantage in combat didn't come from overpowered explosive skills or keen sweeps of a blade that kept the opponent on their toes. Instead, her abilities revolved around preparing rituals, and arranging formations while the arrows slowed her opponent down. If the rot killed them, all well and good, but archery was merely her bread and butter. Compared to the skills she used to end things decisively, it wasn't at all the same level of power. It would only be when those skills reared themselves that 'unfair' would really appear. Though when she asked about the type of bow she wanted, Lucia giggled knowing that her request must be peculiar for Sera to be so unsure. With a shrug, Lucia herself didn't mind as long as she was mobile. She was someone intending to be an expert kiter after all. "I want the mobility to outrun things. I don't need to be too fast, but just fast enough." She admitted, her style usually revolved around tiring her opponents to death, which considering her skills wasn't exactly difficult. There were quite a few mobs who fought against her that died without wounds. Though when talk about measuring came up, Lucia was equally uncaring, either way, the poor girl's efforts to flirt only made her grin like a predator. "Oh? Well, I don't mind, whichever works. Feel free to do the measuring, just be careful of the girls alright?" She commented bringing her hands to her modest chest, giving herself a brief squeeze while Sera watched. "Ready?" She asked with a musing tone as her tongue finished rounding her upper lip.
Sera mused at the woman mentioned that she really ought to have a sponsor. "I would do almost anything to get one," she said. "But I really haven't seen anywhere that I might go about looking for someone to do that sort of thing." She frowned slightly. "Though... I will admit, I'd forgotten that it wasn't like normal games, being able to just go in whereever and use whatever, so long you don't necessarily steal anything... Though, the man who does run this forge does seem like the kind type. I think if he did catch me, and I explained, he would be understanding, though I definitely don't want to count on that. I just couldn't figure out any other way to get started. You need money for a forge, need a forge to make money." At the woman's talk of apples and oranges and their connection between acting and playing, Sera pursed her lips. "I'm not sure I entirely understand what you're saying. I don't want to play or act as anything. I want to be it here. Isn't that the whole appeal? Because of how life-like everything is, if I were to set myself up somehow as the lady of a realm, I wouldn't just be playing as one. I would actually be handling all the responsibilities and privileges that carries, right?" Sera tilted her head and raised her shoulders in a shrug. "I suppose magic like that also doesn't particularly count as fair in a fight either, so I see your point. I still haven't completely figured out how to use the magic I have, yet, so I plan on just avoiding any form of situations where I might need to fight altogether, if I can. At least for a bit longer." Sera didn't know why she was sharing that information with the woman. Was it a bad idea to tell someone who she knew hardly anything about that she couldn't do much in a fight? Then again, the woman had offered some decent advice so far, so she couldn't be that bad. And, even if she did have some wicked plot in mind for Sera, the one spell that Sera was confident in using was the ability she had to teleport herself. If she needed to, that could certainly get her out of a binding situation. "The mobility to outrun things. Then erring on the side of a bit shorter would definitely be better than erring on the side of longer. Though, like I said. I don't plan to err," she said. And she didn't - this would be her first real commission that she wasn't doing for someone she already knew. As a result, she wanted the bow to be the best thing she had made yet. That, and she found herself wanting to impress this woman. Maybe it was her dark hair, maybe it was the air around her, maybe it was the tiny voice in Sera's head warning that she might be dangerous, maybe it was a number of things, but there was something quiet alluring about the woman. She seemed to Sera at least to be the type of person who might not exactly enter a room to trumpets and fanfare, but would definitely be noticed before she left the room - unless she didn't want to be. Sera smiled at the slight show the woman gave her. "I will certainly be careful, and not just with the girls. All works of art should be treated with care," she said. Oh, god. That was too cheesy, wasn't it? Sera grimaced internally. She was really bad at this, wasn't she? Even so, she took her time taking the woman's measurements, first from the top of the woman's shoulder down to her thigh, followed by the length from the woman's wrist to her cheekbone. It wouldn't do for her to get the measures wrong, for sure, though that definitely wasn't the only reason. Finally, Sera took a step back. "Right then, there's one final thing before I can get started. Well, two things. The first is a matter of payment. I am just getting started, so I will admit that I don't have my prices particularly nailed down at this point. But, a bow, regardless of size, costs about seventy-five gold pieces worth of materials, so I'm going to have to ask for at least that much. Once the weapon is finished, I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's worth anything more than that. I'm not worried about being underpaid or anything like that. I don't have a reputation yet to qualify me to charge much beyond cost anyway. As for the last thing," Sera paused for a moment. How should she word this part - should she lean toward the business, the pleasure, or a bit of both? "As for the last thing," she repeated. "I'm going to need a name for the order. I can't just put 'beautiful' down for my records, now can I?" She asked.
Lucia gave a sweet laugh reaching a hand out to Sera's shoulder grabbing on to give a gentle shake with her hand as she spoke. "Well, I'll sponsor you then, you can take care of my weapon needs and I'll take care of mats so you can practice." She offered with a bright grin feeling it wasn't a bad deal. Lucia would be collecting plenty anyway, there was no reason to horde them all for herself if Sera could grow and provide her with better equipment for it it was a win win situation. Though if it came to actual GP, Lucia wasn't lacking in that department either. Though she wasn't at a point where she could buy things like a business, she didn't have any needed expenses with her skill set. While others were out looking for food, clean water, places to sleep, potions for energy and health, Lucia just directly drained what she needed out of her victims like a vampire. Malefimancy was there just for that sort of thing after all! Though the talk of apples and oranges again made her chuckle and shake her head. This person seemed to idolize the high life, it was cute, something that Lucia could get behind too, but it naturally posed problems in some ways. "Of course, but that wouldn't change whether or not you had talent or ability in such a role. That would depend on your core wouldn't it?" Lucia tried to explain, people could act as much as they could, but they would always find their way back to their origin somehow. As much as Lucia didn't want to return to her mediocre and mundane lifestyle, even now she found herself struggling to bring herself ahead of others to really shine. She wasn't weak, not strong, not popular, not scorned, a sense of bitterness welled up inside of her for that. There wasn't much she could do to change it either unfortunately. Though the talk of not understanding her own skills was amusing, Lucia could only stare blankly briefly looking at Sera as if she were crazy. It was a bizarre thing to Lucia to find someone who didn't understand their own skills-- It was the feature of a newb after all, one that Lucia didn't have purely due to her experience in gaming as a shut in. "You didn't read up on the ability before choosing it? Maybe I can help then, if you're struggling so much it'll be a disaster if someone hurts you." Lucia answered with a soft hand gesture beckoning for Sera to explain where she was lost as she continued. "My skill trees were pretty complicated too, but I managed to build them up properly after a little bit of reading. You should be fine too." She explained wanting Sera to not approach the topic from a place of being overwhelmed. While understanding her abilities and skills was a little taxing, Lucia eventually developed a unique skill set based around rot damage and meter draining. Eventually she might even reach further for attribute draining. Lucia nodded back though when talk returned back to the bow, it was something that was important, Lucia would be moving a lot as she waited for her opponent to die from any manner of meter loss. "My combat style drains the enemy's meters-- Health and Energy, but I can also drain Hunger and Thirst, as well as Rest. I need something to stay on the move with I swallow all of that up~" Lucia explained, her tongue again rounding her lips at the thought. Most of her victims thus far hadn't been very strong, but she was looking forward to one day slaying big fish with this method, the helplessness of chasing after a target that was getting stronger as you were getting weaker. It was a sadism that Lucia could only satisfy in this imaginary world, but one that didn't belong to her real mediocre and vanilla self in reality that didn't understand. She could only enjoy this twisted feeling of playing with prey in this world, but she quickly swallowed up those dark feelings thinking that Sera might be uncomfortable. Though when Sera called her art and started talking about how she was a piece of art, Lucia brought her hands to her hips, musing about how she did an amazing job on her avatar. Truly that work had paid for itself time and time again, praising herself internally, she smiled at Sera spoke sweetly without hesitating. "Well now, I can't say I'm that spectacular yet. When I am good enough to be up on a pedestal though, it would be very nice to have someone to keep the dust off if you wanted the position." She teased back with a coy wink after all every great needed someone's support to stay great. There was no need to stress herself with these business deals if she could have someone else's help. That was just one step of the plan though, Lucia's ambitions for spotlight ran particularly deep after all. Though when Sera talked about payment, Lucia was almost unconcerned completely. There was nothing that she really needed her own gold for, her tools were really the only important thing she needed. Beyond that, she had to spend money for consumables, but how much would she really need when every living creature plant and object was her consumable? She had a surplus of expendable cash. "Mm, I have the materials already right here, as for the pay, I'll try to make sure you're properly satisfied as always." She teased with a chuckle though the 'always' didn't mean they weren't strangers, but just a playful and cheeky comment on how Lucia didn't like to leave the cuties she dealt with unsatisfied. Though the more Sera seemed to struggle to ask her name, Lucia's brow furrowed waiting for her to find the right words until she finally laughed at her anxiety and nervousness. Was there really a way to take it too far with Lucia? Even the girl herself didn't know, as long as it wasn't boring and normal, she practically had no cares. "I wouldn't mind beautiful, sweet heart, Ideal girl, any of those are very nice." She couldn't help taunting before stretching out a slender arm. "My name's Lucia though."
Sera gasped with shock that the woman would offer to sponsor her. "That would be amazing! How would the logistics of that work?" She asked. It was an intriguing offer. Common sense might warn that it was far too good to be true. But if risks weren't taken, how could anything be achieved? "Likewise, would regularly maintained weaponry really be all you'd want out of that? Seems pretty onesided in my favor, not that I'm complaining about that." "Well, that's where an important distinction comes in. Sure, at our core, we all have things about ourselves that we can't change. But we have things about ourselves we can change as well that are pretty core to us as well. Yeah, there definitely is a certain extend of 'A man has to be what a man has to be,' and 'Don't try to be something you're not,' but at the same time, I think we're able to grow past our roots, if we really work at it, and get lucky. Otherwise, our society would still consist entirely of foragers," Sera said. Sera smiled sheepishly in regards to not understanding her own abilities. "Well... okay, so, I'm a bit of a huge fan of old comic books and stuff. This might be a tad embarrassing, but... when I was reading the brief summary of some of the advanced masteries that we can work up to, I realized one of them was basically exactly what one of my favorite superheroes could do." She had said "hero", though that wasn't completely true. More specifically, it was the villian character that she preferred from the comics, but the two of them had the same powers, so it wasn't really a lie to say it was the hero. "So... I thought it would be fun to be able to do that. Problem is... the ability that works up to it is kind of consfusing." Sera opened up her menu and navigated to her spells. She activated the second one on her list. Her character spoke a word she didn't understand, and a prism of light appeared in Sera's hand, flashing each color of the rainbow slowly. "Sure, it's pretty, and I've tried throwing it at things, but something different happens every single time I do," she said. "So you're something like a vampire, then?" Sera asked with a chuckle. "I don't need to keep you out of the sunlight or anything, do I?" She asked with a grin. She drew serious again. "That's an interesting style, though. Sapping the strength of your opponent, taking the natural timers that tell us our limits and making them move faster than they should..." Sera shivered slightly. "Watching them as they know that their time must be coming, growing weaker and weaker by the second... they must be so helpless by the time you finally kill them.... All their hope gone..." she shivered again, and this time it was more noticeable that the shiver was not of fear or cold, but a sense of dark excitement. "Even if you were to hunt another player character like that... when they respawned, would they even have the will to try to come after you, with how lifelike this game is?" She asked. "Oh? Are you offering to share that pedestal, or just let me clean it for you?" Sera asked. "Because I have to say, I plan on being on a pedestal myself, and preferably my own. That being said, I'm fine with being the pedestal behind the pedestal, if you know what I mean, and I don't need mine to be the fanciest in the world. Too much focus and attention, and a girl can't have any secrets. That being said... I wouldn't mind keeping the dust off where you sit," she said and matched the woman's wink. "They say it gets lonely at the top, so if you can't have someone beside you, right underneath isn't too bad of an option." When the woman finally gave her name, Sera smiled. "Lucia? Alright then. When do you think you'll need this by, abosultely? This would be the first bow I make in game, but I have put a decent number of Mastery points into crafting. I just wanna be able to do a practice run before making the real thing, make sure there's nothing weird with the process, unless you really don't have time for that. With that practice run..." Sera pulled up her menu and looked at the time. It was nearly evening. "I could have you the second draft of the bow for you by morning. Would that be satisfactory?"
Lucia's expression softened at the girl's surprise and excitement. Disadvantageous? Perhaps, but Lucia's greatest desire was always fame, there was no reason to covet money and other useless trinkets. The adoration, affection and attention from the public was all Lucia ever needed. Thinking that Sera might be a little put off though, Lucia rubbed her chin before her smile brightened. "Well, if you feel a little bad, why don't you wave my weapon crafting fees too?" She offered with a sweet smile, Lucia wouldn't have to pay for her weapons or maintenance and Sera could play with and practice using the mats she didn't need, it seemed like a fair deal. Though hearing her talking philosophy, it wasn't a thing that Lucia would ever be out done in, she was particularly learned and had studied a great many things, though she was mediocre in her knowledge base, she had enough to at least sound like she knew what she was talking about. "Don't forget dear, they all died as foragers, died as carpenters, died as soldiers. It was their children that were also foragers, carpenters and soldiers. IT took years, generations, ages to change didn't it?... It would be such a beautiful thing if we could change our stars though." Lucia confessed with a soft longing sigh. She herself was struggling to fight it, but no matter how hard she fought, she always just seemed to end up being mediocre and average. That momentary bliss of imagining a different life was bright and dazzling but unfortunately didn't last. Though her talk about her abilities made Lucia rub her chin in a him. Her brow furrowed and eyes narrowed with focus. Her thinking look was particularly attractive as she considered the answers to Sera's struggle. Though the rainbow colors were something strange, foreign, there was no skill like that in the list that Lucia knew so well enough to recite their descriptions by now. "I see, it's not a typical skill it seems. But-- I imagine it can't be so hard to figure out. Like my skill Malefimancy-- There's a lot that can be done with it, but the most important part is experimenting. Coming up with what is best used with what. That was how I came to start using formations in the first place rather then throwing dark foggy balls around like some others are." She explained with a hand gesture. There was a great deal of freedom to use however one pleased. If they were creative enough their skill tree would simply open itself up to show them the possibilities. That was how Lucia's five layered draining formation came to be. Though the talk of vampire and such, Lucia only shook her head knowing what she was thinking. While she did fancy herself a vampire in some ways maybe, she wouldn't be vulnerable to sunlight. Instead, she was intending to become one of the dead like that, but that wouldn't be for a long time. "No no, it's nothing that would give me such silly weaknesses." She teased, but seeing Sera slowly understand the viciousness of her unlocked skill tree, her grin curled delightfully, it was always nice to have someone who understood clearly, this one seemed quick on the uptake as well. "That's right-- but it's also not right. While their's ticks away faster, mine start to fill up. If I'm hurt? I'll just take their health-- Hungry? Help myself to their food-- Tired? I'll take their alertness~ What's mine is mine, and what's their's will be mine too. That's the nature of my skill set at least~" Lucia explained the cruel and vicious nature of her magical formations, but that was only for her low leveled form. At higher levels she might even be able to rob people of their attributes, for now though she had to rely on rotting as her bread and butter which was why she had such stringent requirements for her bow. Though the talk of pedestals again made Lucia giggle once more, this person seemed determined to stand up tall as well. It wasn't something Lucia hated, and the more people on pedestals around her the more brightly her own would shine. "I don't mind if you're on a pedestal dear or the floor, as long as you're beneath me-- no, as long as you're comfortable and happy beneath me, then I'd be happy to have you there." She spoke, her words dropping into a low sultry whisper as she explained to Sera who seemed concerned about such a thing. To really drive her point home, she lifted a hand to the girl's chin, a few gentle fingertips brushing along the underside of her chin to tilt the girl's head up softly. "What do you say?~" She whispered leaning in slowly, though not to kiss, it would certainly look like one as Lucia's smile curled at the ends. "As for timing, i'm not impatient dear. Go ahead and do your best, I'll watch and cheer you on. I've got nothing but time for your work." She urged close enough for Sera to feel her gentle breath against her lips, but rather then kissing her, she let her chin down gently and stood back up petting her on the head again. "I'm counting on you okay partner?" She added gently, but without that alluring tone from before, believing Sera wasn't yet ready or warmed up enough for that kind of talk to last long.
"That sounds perfectly fair!" Sera said with a smile. "So what all will this sponsorship entail? I mean, obviously anything is better than my current situation, especially if you're part of the deal." She nodded when the woman pointed out that it took generations for the human species to adapt from foragers. "That's true. But that long journey could have only been taken if everyone took steps, however small. So maybe I can only move a single step away from where I began, and if that's all I can do, then that's all I can do. But I am sure as hell not giving up without giving it a try. I'd rather regret the mistakes I made than the opportunities I missed." Sera was really starting to like this woman's intelligence. Sure, her body was crafted to specifically look like it did, but from where Sera was standing, the woman definitely did seem to have the entire deal. "Currently, I'm just calling it 'my sexuality, the spell,' but I'm not really sure if that's the best name to give it. I think its effect when I use it has something to do with what color it's shining when it hits something. When it shined red, it exploded a part of a tree it hit. When it shined violet, it seemed to make a wolf it hit fight on my side, but only for the briefest of moments, enough time for it to attack it's companion once," She reported. "I haven't seen the other colors yet. Haven't had the time to test them, especially since I never know what color it's going to be when it hits something," she said. As if to prove her point, the prism's color changing sped up and then suddenly slowed down, until it was just a little slower than it had been before, those close observation would note it was slowly speeding up again, and would continue to do so. "So what do you mean by formations, with your spells? Like, drawing images and stuff, and using that to channel your magic?" Sera smiled in awe at the woman's explanation of her ability. "Wait, so you don't only take away what the other person has, but you make yourself stronger in the progress? That's incredible..." With this woman's ability, she would certainly draw a fair bit of attention before too long, but the ability seemed powerful enough that said attention wouldn't be a bother to the woman at all, and instead might be exactly what she wanted. In fact, with a power like that, it would be easier for her to conquer an entire region, if she wanted. With that in mind, Sera resolved to stick as close to Lucia as she could, as well as to stay on her good side. She froze though, at the woman's tempting words. Her mind went nearly blank as the woman's fingers brushed against her chin, and her breath on Sera's lips made Sera shiver once more. What had they been talking about? Right - Sera, being beneath this woman, happy and comfortable. "That sounds... perfect..." Sera said in a dreamy voice. Sera's head cleared almost the moment the woman's hand left her face, though she certainly did not regret her words during that time. Rather, a blush would rise to her face that she had admitted so easily, and how distracted she had gotten from the crafting of the bow. "Uh... uh, yeah. I'll... I'll get started right now. I think. Maybe?" Her heart was pounding. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat. "Uh, I'll get started in just a moment. Clearing my head. Bow. Bow, bow, bow, bow. Bow! Right!" Sera laced her fingers together, turned her hands away from her, and pushed her arms out as far as she could, resulting in a popping noise from her shoulders, elbows, wrists, and knuckles. "Time to make you the best bow you've ever seen."
Lucia only laughed at this poor girl's willingness to jump into the fire for her. Nodding back, Lucia only dusted her hands off happily. "Easy, all of my mats aren't useful for bows, like metals and ores, I'll just give you those, and you can play with them, in return, just look after me mm?" She offered with a sly wink ready to take care of her cute partner's material needs to keep herself fit for future crafts. Hearing Sera trying to argue about step taking and small distances made over time, Lucia could only giggle again and shake her head. It was a nice idea to think about but the chances were impossibly slim. It always took something 'special' something unique about someone, something unchanging. There was a reason famous artists became famous, philosophers were renowned. Even if it was the last step, it took that uniqueness to make it. "Maybe, but we're all that kind of person at our core, whether or not your the type who can make that step, only the real you should know right? Not this you." She teased with a warm grin, bringing the conversation back full circle, thinking that Sera might have gotten lost somewhere in all of the philosophy and psychology. Lucia was certainly smart, clever even, but she wasn't a genius, her cleverness couldn't be praised as 'unique' or 'uncommon'. Lucia hummed, it was complicated, but interesting, certainly unique. Lucia couldn't help applaud a little. If she didn't need a good cover, she would have certainly wanted something so strange herself. Unfortunately she needed something to shield herself from the locals, pretending to be an alchemist and an archer was the best option. Though when she asked about her formations, Lucia turned her head up with a hum. "Formations are simple arrangements of symbols that create a field. Like a trap, when things are inside of that field, they start to experience my debuffs. As long as they're inside the formation, they're being drained slowly but surely, and all of that energy is sucked down into the formation that travels through the lines back to me." She explained the basic principle, the bare bones of her work before grinning brightly. "That way all I have to do is run around in that field and watch large groups of enemies wear themselves out to death. The more they chase to kill me, the weaker they get, the harder it becomes to hurt me. The only way they can be safe, is by running-- Otherwise I'll shoot them down from afar, or they'll have to chase me through my territory." She explained with a firm nod. It took quite a lot of thinking and practice to develop this style, but it was something unique to Lucia. "The scariest part... Is that I can lay all five fields on top of each other-- Making it that much more threatening~" Though seeing how excited Sera was about her ability, Lucia chuckled back shaking her head, it wasn't that simple after all, a power as great as her's wouldn't be so freely given right? "It does, but it's unfortunately unwieldy, like I said, once the formation is set, it won't move, and it does take a while to lay even one down, let alone five. It's a trade-- Great power for great time wasted. People could probably cut down a wolf before I finished laying the formation." Lucia admitted, her formations weren't useful against small fights and skirmishes. That made her bow that much more important; if she didn't have time for big formations, she'd have to flee to make time or whittle her opponent down with single target weaker spells and arrows. "It's a great skill set though, my be all end all, but sadly not my bread and butter." She added with a chuckle maintaining modesty the best she could. Seeing Sera so dazed and dazzled though, Lucia felt content. Reaching out a hand she tried to give the girl's butt a gentle pat of encouragement to send her off with high spirits. "Good girl, make me proud okay?" Lucia spoke, though Sera recovered her mental state, Lucia felt a little concerned, as if this girl hadn't fallen far enough. Lucia wanted more, someone who would give her attention without asking, she felt Sera hadn't been pushed far enough just yet. Trying to drape her arms over the girl's shoulders, sliding close enough for Sera to feel her chest at her back, Lucia whispered sweetly to her once more. "Work hard for me princess, I'm counting on you~" She urged before slipping away as if she was a cape that Sera had been wearing that happened to come untied. Sliding free from Sera, Lucia made her way to a close stool, a gentle sway in her step as she sat down. Swinging one leg over the other, a prim and proper position, she swung her hair back on one side. Relaxed but firm practiced posture, she sat with a grace and elegance you might expect from high society before she reached down to her hip to unbuckle the bound book that hung there. She took the time to carefully unwrap it before cracking it open with a musing expression. If Sera was still standing there stunned though, she'd glance over her book, blowing a kiss before looking back down, coyly urging Sera to give her best shot.
Lucia's offer in regards to her materials sounded perfectly reasonable to her. "Sounds like a deal, then. I will look after you to the best of my ability, since you'll be looking out for me." With all the extra spare materials the woman would be giving her, Sera would be able to practice a lot more, which would in turn let her get a lot better at making weapons, which would allow her to make Lucia a better bow. It made logical sense, and satisfied what both of them desired. Ah, the wonders of capitalism... Sera grew a little flustered at the second part of the conversation once more. She had indeed gotten lost somewhere in the conversation, and had felt like she was one step behind the entire time anyway. She didn't want to seem argumentative to the woman, rather she had been hoping to show that she could hold a conversation worthy of intellectuals, but the fact that it had gotten away from her made her embarrassed. Would she seem weak willed if she deferred to the woman now? "I... I suppose you're right," she said finally, figuring that, with everything else going on, by this point bending on a philosophical discussion where in she wasn't even sure they were discussion the same thing would be the least influential thing for the woman's opinion of her. "So then you could affect more than one person with these formations of yours?" Sera asked. "Say you wanted to wipe out a garrison of troops, so that you could conquer an enemy castle. If you had a way to get that garrison caught in the trap, you could make that spell affect all of them at once?" She asked. The entire concept of this power amazed her. "That's incredible. You could conquer an entire region by yourself, make yourself the queen there..." Sera listened to the woman explain the drawback of her magic and nodded slowly. "Which is why you need the bow. You need a weapon which you can use while either buying time to set up the traps, or for when you are unable to set the traps. The rot of your arrows slows them down, making it easier for you to get distance. That distance can then either be used for you to escape, or set the trap..." Sera shivered again. "Your mind is frightening," she said with a grin. "And I think I may know another way which I can make myself useful to you, in the future," she added. She wouldn't share what that way was quite yet. She wasn't one hundred percent sure if it would work, but more importantly, she wanted to give herself at least a slight air of mystery, even if it paled compared to the air Lucia carried with her. Sera's heart leapt strangely within her chest at the women's physical and verbal encouragement, as well as the request to make Lucia proud. She wanted to make Lucia proud. More than anything she'd wanted in a while, she was starting to feel. She thought back to the woman's earlier offer. Yes - even if she was on the floor at the foot of Lucia's pedestal, she knew she would be happy. In fact, a part of her was starting to largely think that in fact she'd rather prefer it to be that way. She was taken away from this train of thought by Lucia's arms draped over her, Lucia's chest against her back, and Lucia's voice floating into her ear once more. Sera couldn't help but release a slight whimper at the experience. She felt weak in this woman's presense, but it didn't feel wrong to be weak. She wanted to be, and a part of her told her that she would be stronger if she accepted that weakness for Lucia. With that in mind, Sera clenched her fists. This bow she crafted would be the best bow that Lucia had ever seen. It had to be. Sera shifted through the materials until she found where the wood was. She mused, examining her different options. At her current skill levels, oak wood would be the best bet. Oak wood was sturdy and quiet unlikely to have any issues that could cause a person to suddenly be weaponless in the middle of a fight. With an oak bow, cracks would be visible long before the bow needed to be replaced, and it was the most forgiving material for crafting anyway. With the type of wood chosen, Sera pulled out the oak wood that was present. This was where the fact that this did indeed take place inside a game world would become most apparent. The wood currently was a normal shaped log, about the size of some firewood. But Sera opened her weaponsmithing menu, tapped on the center of the block of wood with one hand, and then spread her hands out until it was the exact distance that she had measured for Lucia's height of her shoulder to her thigh. The wood shifted it's shape until it was a long stick, the exact length that she had measured before. At this point, Sera looked up at Lucia. "You look like a queen, or maybe an empress, sitting like that..." she couldn't help but point out. She blushed when the woman blew her a kiss, and quickly looked back down to her work. She lifted the oak stick up and set the bottom of it on the ground and put her left hand on the top of the stick. Then with her right hand, she pushed the center of the stick. The stick would spin so that it's natural curve, despite how slight it was, faced away from Sera, exactly how a bow should face. She then removed her left hand from the top of the bow and tapped the stick three inches above and then three inches below the center of her right hand on the stick, which was directly in the middle. Small marks appeared to distinguish that this area was indeed the handle of the bow. Sera then put her left hand back on top of the bow and removed her right hand. Putting her foot against the bottom of the bow, Sera began to push against certain places of the bow with her right hand, starting from the bottom and moving slowly up. Every now and then, after a push, the stick would seem to reduce in diameter at that place a portion. This happened more toward the top and bottom than in the center. With that done, Sera set the bow back down upon the table and returned to the bag of materials. She fished out some some leather skins. She tapped one of them, as well as a few buttons in her menu, and then stretched her arms out to be the same length as her measurement of Lucia's shoulder to thigh, yet again. The leather would transform into a tight string, which Sera would carry over to the bow and tap both ends of the bow with an end of the string. As she did, the string tied itself to the bow and fused together. Once she was finished with that, Sera picked the bow up and felt it's weight. It felt sturdy enough. She raised the bow above her and pulled the draw string down as far as she could in a straight line, observing the curve of the bow. It was nearly perfect. That was incredible, even to her. The bare minimum now done, Sera decided to press on. She grabbed a second piece of leather and tapped it. This time, the leather would break into strips. She wrapped several of the strips around the handle of the bow, creating a much more comfortable grip than simple wood would have been. The leather fused into the wood much the same way as the string had. Finally, Sera ran her hand down along the length of the bow. The wood and leather would slowly stain, following the trace of her fingers, a deep black that seemed to match Lucia's hair. The bow complete, Sera turned to face the woman, holding the bow out before her. "So..." she began. "That didn't take quiet as long as I had thought it would take..."
Lucia nodded back, seeing Sera understood, she was pleased to some extent that Sera could make such an arrangement. Though whether or not Lucia would lose out from selling the ores or not, she was more focused on attention as always. It was a weakness but at the same time, it was her desire, she felt no need to try to hide or change anything. She happily continued on down this course contented. "Good, then we're in business~" She answered happily. Though when she saw how lost or confused Sera seemed, it wasn't surprising, not because she thought less of the other girl, but Lucia was used to people fading in and out of her talking in reality. She would be forgotten even if she was providing directions, being lost in her conversation was nothing new at least for different reasons. She bowled through it rather easily not minding or sweating the small things as she nodded. "Don't worry, this sort of thing might seem complicated, but really it's 'follow your heart, not your head' advice." Lucia explained trying to simplify her intentions just a little. After all people needed to stay in their lane most of the time, but if there was a way to branch out and do what you wanted, why not try? The most important part was making sure you were ready and cut out for that branch. When Sera began unraveling her technique and methodology, she cracked a sly grin, nodding back with a playfully proud demeanor when Sera figured it out. "That's right~ The bow is just a tool to get me from point A to point B, the draining spells I specialize in are really what do the job. The rest is just there to make sure that they work without a hitch." She confirmed, though being called frightening made her giggle. "It's good synergy-- A part of good gaming is having a good skill set, so I prioritized making one that's useful~" She answered, though being told that Sera could be useful in multiple ways wasn't surprising, Lucia didn't try to pry for information either. Merely smiling back with a nod, a silent confirmation and understanding that this woman wanted to be useful to her. When Sera practically melted under her teasing though, Lucia was finally contented, this was the reaction she was hoping for, this level of dedication and commitment to supporting her. Why accept less when she could have as much attention as she wanted by provoking a bit more? She felt at peace in her heart, glad that this poor girl seemed to feeble and unable to fight back against her teasing. The more she pushed, it seemed, the easier it was to play with her, it was something that made Lucia nod with satisfaction even as Sera clenched her fists tightly. She would have to become a dazzling treasure on a proper pedestal to make sure she was worthy of adoration. While Sera worked though, Lucia waited patiently, as if waiting for her turn at the salon or to get her nails done, it was an unrushed and unbothered wait. With a sweet hum she patiently let Sera work while reading god knows what, the book that Lucia had cracked open though was particularly ominous, when bound it wasn't that strange, but with it's pages fluttering it was easier to notice that the book was bound in three different types of materials, each one sewn together as if roughly stitched or stapled. The three materials appeared to be leather, but one was faintly furry, and another was strangely pale. It was ominous to the point where it made one wonder what kind of leather it was made from, but at the same time not dare to ask. This was the only tool Lucia'd ever made for herself, a place holder for what would become her grimoire of the future, anyone who saw it would have a hard time recognizing it as the newb gear handed out in the beginner outpost. Being called an empress made her crack a grin though, musing with a coy tone, she answered a little lazily, as if in passing. "Do I? I like to think I have a bit of regal grace to me-- I don't think I could handle the responsibility though. If it was just your queen though, I think I could manage." Lucia continued to tease, as if any missed opportunity would be a disaster she didn't hold back. Instead she only waited patiently and tried to find the best snappy comeback to meet every observation. It was only when the bow was actually finished that Lucia would slowly lift her gaze again, closing her book in satisfaction. The process to bind it back up was trying, but she didn't seem bothered as she slowly wrapped it back up to try the bow for the first time. She held a hand out, naturally, as if asking a squire to arm her she'd take the bow if it was given to her. Sizing it up, turning her wrist with it in hand. she raised and lowered it a few times, tested the tension. As if she really knew about bows, she looked it over, in truth however she was merely getting comfortable with it since it would be her weapon from now on. It would have to survive her cursed arrows, it would have to be an object that was also cursed. "Very good, thank you." She voiced kindly, reaching a hand up to once more pet Sera reassuringly.
When the woman told her that her advice boiled down to 'follow your heart', Sera chuckled softly. "Well, my heart says find a beautiful woman, and then rule a queendom together. Though maybe let her do most the ruling," she added sheepishly, in deference to Lucia. Sera felt a twang of disappointment that Lucia didn't ask how exactly it was that Sera could be more useful to her. Not disappointment at the woman, but a disappointment in herself which sparked once more a desire to do better. "I haven't tested the spell much, but I can teleport. I know it takes everything on me with it, but I'm not certain if I can bring other people along with me. It's only short range, but it's instantaneous. Even if I can't take someone else with me, so to help you escape or something, I'd be able to lead enemies into your traps, and then teleport myself out of them before I was affected too badly!" She offered. She was aware that she was offering to do something that, from all of her understanding, was rather dangerous, but knowing that it could be a useful tool for Lucia made it not concern her. Beside, as a player, she would just respawn if the worst happen and she died, only a little worse for the wear. Lucia's response to Sera calling her a queen or empress caused another shiver of excitement down Sera's spine. "Is that what we'll be then? You'll be my queen, I'll be your princess?" She asked shyly. The comparison between the two of them certainly wasn't the difference between the top of a pedestal and the floor, it was more the difference between two pedestals where one was a little taller. Dimly, Sera was aware of the fact that it wasn't too long ago that she had insisted that such was her preference, and that it wasn't until Lucia herself had mentioned Sera being on the floor that Sera had considered the idea that such might be how she preferred it. At Lucia's request for the bow, Sera would kneel and give it to the woman. Whether the kneeling was that like a squire, or a servant, or anything else, didn't concern her. It just felt right that she knelt to hand her queen the weapon. Sera beamed at Lucia's words of praise of her work. At the touch of her hand upon Sera's head, she would close her eyes, still kneeling. Yes, this is where she wanted to be.
