(OOC: Sorry for the late reply!) Meruru became to collect one head of lettuce after another. They fit into her bag perfectly... somehow. It was kinda like magic. Maybe Meruru's bag had some kind of powers? It was given to her by her mother, or was it? It just seemed to always be something she had around. At least it was useful! Small numbers ticked off in her head as she was collecting. Again, really weird but that was the word of the day so she went with it. After gathering, she noticed that the field had vanished. It was now small sprouts just poking out of the grass. So... this is normal right? You pick a veggie and it just kinda... resets so you can grow it again? Yeah, totally normal. Meruru looked back with her task completed for now. She saw a pile of bones, probably the left over boar and the others still nearby. Yay, they did not leave her here to go hunting more... and wow. The bacon was done so thoroughly. Did Kyupin do that? Completely cleaned the meat of the bone? That was so we-... nevermind. She hurried over just as Garta was speaking about what to do next. He found some tracks. That sounded like a plan to her. "Okay, take the lead Garta! I found a good amount of lettuce actually. We should just need tomatoes and a few more boars. Hopefully." @Kyupin Felnya @Garta
Startled by all of the 'game jargon' being thrown her way, Kyupin had no time to respond, simply blinking as Garta spoke louder as if to finally included Meruru in the conversation again. That was... Huh. Interesting. She mentally shook off the curiosity budding in her at the odd behavior, instead nodding along with Meruru. "You seem to know where to begin looking," she agreed. Double checking her person and surroundings, Kyupin counted over the arrows in her quiver. While she'd snapped one in half trying to remove it from the boar, the other had simply dropped back into her inventory after skinning it. Still plenty of arrows the job. Satisfied, Kyupin stretched her body, warming up for another trek and possible battle. ... But wait. Though she was more than ready to take off and finish the quest, and then possibly reflect over her actions, a second glance at Meruru had her bringing up her hand like a little school girl. "Maybe we should keep an order. Garta, lead. Meruru, middle. Me, rear?" she suggested, voice uncertain. "That way Garta can walk where he needs and we'll follow without, uh, getting in the way?" Her face flushed, words slowly dying off. It sounded like a weak excuse, but anything to keep Meruru from running off into danger again, right? Oh god. What if they thought she was acting like an ass? @Garta @Meruru Blanchimont
Meruru seemed to have gotten all the lettuce she needed, which was good. Now they just needed the tomatoes and more bacon. Easy enough. Kyupin proposed an idea, one that made decent sense to Garta. He should lead them deeper into the woods, with Meruru in the middle, and Kyupin bringing up the rear. He might not be what people would call a 'natural born leader', but he was probably the best one to be up front in their small group. More boars, that should be easy. That's all they needed him to do. He scratched the side of his head looking deeper into the forest. "I suppose if it's what you guys want, I'll take the lead." He said, looking at the forest floor to see lingering tracks of the boar that just attacked them. He could see the tracks trail off into the distance. The trail went off for a bit that he could see. That boar must have just been wandering and then heard Meruru nearby when it decided to rush her. Garta was glad he got between them in time, no telling what that thing could have done. He tried to shake it off, but part of him thought NPC probably didn't get a second chance if they were killed, so he would not have forgiven himself if she'd died on his watch. He shook his head, shaking that thought from his mind. It was so morbid, and he wasn't normally like that. Instead he pushed forward, making his way to the front of their little party and leading them into the forest some more. They didn't get far however, as he stepped on a twig. The snapping of the small stick seemed to resonate throughout the ocean of wood around them, followed by a low grunt. With a snort and a huff, the ground started to shake underneath their feet. Garta's heart started to pound wildly as he looked toward what he thought was the source. A moment later a massive boar came crashing from between two trees, nearly splintering them in two as it charged Garta. No sooner could Garta get his sword up, did the boar knock him on his ass, taking a fair chunk out of his health points. He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked toward the thing. It had the biggest health bar he'd seen since he'd wandered into the siege event, and it's title read 'Boar Lord'. Truly, this must be some sort of rare encounter. One he might regret wandering into. He readied his sword, sure the beast was going to attack at any moment. He couldn't very much dodge out of the way, then it might go after one of the girls. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he instead opted to make the first move. "Careful, girls! Stay behind me if you can!" Garta howled, rushing at the boar with fervor in his eyes. This thing had to be twice the size of the already impressive looking boar that attacked them before. Stepping into range of the beast, Garta brought his sword up hard into it's snout. He wanted to break it's tusks, maybe get rid of some of the lethality of the creature, however the blow didn't seemed to have that much of an effect. It took a bit of health off the thing, but it still had both gory-looking tusks jutting out of it's mouth. It should go without saying, they really didn't want to end up on the end of one of those. He hoped he could keep them all safe, but this might be a bit much for him to handle, even with the help of his two companions. Something deep inside him burned, telling him not to give up. Whether it was some sort of latent warrior spirit within him, or just some game mechanic, he felt determined to beat this thing, or die trying! He grit his teeth and readied his sword. This might be a hard fight, but he had faith in himself and his friends to make it through. @Meruru Blanchimont @Kyupin Felnya
The group had made the decision to make a formation. That was probably a good idea. Meruru was no strategist but she did not need to be reminded what happened the last time a boar showed up and Garta was obviously the best fighter here. She quickly got into a good position and followed the group along. All the while keeping a eye out for a gathering spot for tomatoes. The lettuce was easy enough to find so tomatoes should be too right? It was weird, like everything else was, that these items were so easy to get when the damaged farm was so close by. Were these also made by farmers? Eh she was not sure of anything anymore. It would not be long before a new encounter would occur. Meruru's eyes widened in shock at the sheer size of the boar that was attacking them now. It was the biggest boar ever! It was, it was, the king of all boars or something! Garta was pushed onto his butt but got back into the fight pretty quick. Meruru did not know what to do to help. She had no items other than the lettuce she collected. The boar was big and mean and tough. If she ran up and tried to beat it to death again... would it work so well this time? Oh boy. Meruru looked around desperate to find something useful she could use for this. She then saw them... Brisshal had them too. Yes! This was great! Unis! She rushed over to a bush that had a ton of them growing in it (don't ask how this is possible). The alchemedic princess did not have much time. Picking unis always hurt ones hands if they did not do it carefully but she had to hurry! Grimacing as she stung her fingers on the spiky items. Meruru would make sure a good amount was in her bag. Okay! Time to start hurling for great justice! Or something like that! "Get ready! A barrage is coming! Take this! UNI!!!" She began to hurl unis with fury at the boar's side. The spiked urchins causing bloody gashes in the beasts sides. It backed off of Garta and shook trying to shake off the pointy little balls.Oh oh... it may have decided to change targets now. She kept throwing them at it while backing into a tree. Maybe this was sorta kinda a bad idea? @Kyupin Felnya @Garta
A 'Boar Lord'. Of course they'd get a massive boss spawn. Kyupin's laugh came out harsh, slightly (note: incredibly) overwhelmed by the entire thing. The game was trying to kill them! Sure, they'd respawn eventually, probably, but dying still had to hurt, right? And still, the two fought with a courage Kyupin struggled to find inside of herself. Were they so brave because life was infinite in this world? Or were they like that in real life too? As the boar's sight flicked over to Meruru, Kyupin had the sinking realization she would have to do something to help. The urge to run away swirled inside of her, but she couldn't just abandon her friends. Not even if they were doing something incredibly stupid, like fighting big angry boars. Oh. She was hyperventilating. Kyupin worked on slowing her breathing, focusing on each inhale and exhale as she nocked an arrow and drew the bow. The boar looked ready to charge, nostrils flaring in its (justified) anger. She whimpered, then let loose. "Leave my friend alone!" she cried out. The first shot was the hardest to pull off, and with it, Kyupin found the courage to prep her next arrow, and then the next, then the next. Before she knew it, four arrows were pierced into the thick boar hide, arrow heads completely submerged. The boar turned to her. Well... it was listening to her and leaving Meruru alone, right? "Are we sure this is a good idea?" she called out to her partners. Kyupin laughed awkwardly, lowering her bow as she tensed, prepping her body to try and dodge. @Meruru Blanchimont @Garta
Damn, guess the directions were harder to follow in the heat of battle. Especially if you're not really ready for this type of thing. Combat clearly wasn't the strong suit of the companions Garta had come across. That being said, he at least felt as though he was important to the team, if not integral. Meruru was able to collect the vegetables, and Kyupin could cook, but what about the killing? Garta was here for the killing. His grip tightened around his sword's hilt as he watched it move toward Meruru. Garta rushed at the boar, once again trying to cut it off from goring the princess. Unfortunately, this boar was a bit faster than the last, and it didn't seem likely Garta was going to be able to cut it off, that is until their archer friend shot it with a couple of arrows. Garta looked over to the Felis, surprised as can be. He smiled, but remembered they had to stop this thing before it killed one of them. He used the pause caused by the arrows to move between the boar and Meruru. If this thing was going to fight them, it was going to be on their terms. "Hey you big ugly pig! Stay away from her already!" Garta growled, bringing his sword to bare against the swine's flesh. He brought the sword up hard, cutting it's chin. The already nearly half-health boar was stricken with a bleed effect, slowly dwindling its health even further. Garta flipped his sword in his grip, then swung it hard. The flat side of the sword crashed against the tusks. In a rain of spittle and bone, the tusks shattered, bringing a few of the boars teeth with them. It was like a small, condensed hail storm had shot out of the boar's mouth. The boar was stunned, and Garta saw his opportunity to finish this thing. He stepped up, planting his left boot on the bridge of the stunned boar's nose, then drove his sword down, hard, aiming for the brain stem. His sword pierced fatty flesh, bone, and then got to the gooey center. Surrendering instantly to death, the boar collapsed beneath him. Subsequently sending him to his butt once again, but this time Garta was a little less worried about it. They'd won, quite apparently. Meruru was saved, once again, and Kyupin was seeming to get over her fear of conflict, if only when her friends were in danger. It was better than nothing, right? "Gotta say, that one was a little bit scarier than I'd have liked." Garta said with a playful laugh as he picked himself up out of the dirt, then dusted himself off. "But, I think the important thing is we're all okay, right?" He added, walking over to the corpse of the boar and pulling his sword out of the thing's head/neck region. It was a bit hard to get it out, but Garta managed just fine. However the bloody mess it made probably wasn't something that the girls would be happy about. He frowned and did his best to stand between their line of sight and the mess he'd made. Thankfully the boar was big enough that, on it's side, they couldn't really see over it. "So, bacon time?" Garta asked playfully. He'd hoped this boar might give them all the bacon they needed. Maybe they'd have to go find another, it was really luck of the draw at this point. @Meruru Blanchimont @Kyupin Felnya
In a flash of steel, Garta defeated the boar with a cool move! That was pretty awesome! Meruru dropped to her knees and panted a little. Her hands scratched up from tossing the spiky projectiles. The boar was once again about to become bacon. Hopefully a ton of it. This quest was exhausting... and it was not even supposed to be that hard. Wow, Meruru had a lot of improving to do. Especially if she wanted to gather in more dangerous areas, like ones with real monsters instead of just wild animals. Getting back up she let out a deep sigh of relief and went over to the party. The other two looked a bit tired too but not as much as her. These people were tougher somehow... again it was just plain weird. "Thanks so much Garta! This questing thing is pretty hard ha ha. So... I think we have enough bacon after this. Hmmmm.... where could we find the tomatoes? If only they were like... right there or something? Wait...wow!" Meruru's face lit up as she made a small leap of joy. There was a patch of tomatoes right nearby, between some trees. She would rush over to gather from the spot, but she sped to a sudden stop before getting there. She was doing it again. Maybe she should wait. She turned and waved with both arms back at them. "Hey guys. Come with me so I can get the last thing! I uh... don't want to rush off alone." Meruru then went to gather hoping they would be close. Please no more boars! @Kyupin Felnya @Garta [OOC: Want to call it a thread after the next round?]
Somehow, they had defeated the hulking beast. And wasn't that a nice word? Defeated. When in reality they had... kill... killed it. But as long as Kyupin didn't think of that, didn't linger on the fact that it was dead, she could manage. Maybe. Kind of. At least the other two were... mostly... cheerful about the entire situation. Using their optimism as an anchor, Kyupin willed herself to the massive boar, and checked through its loot. Bacon, bacon, and more bacon. Her eyes darted to the side of her UI, relieved to see that they'd gathered more than enough bacon for the quest. And killed enough boars. She smiled weakly at Meruru, feeling the exhaustion in her body. She'd burnt a lot of energy in that fight. "Nice eye," she said, genuinely meaning it. Quickly, she scaled the boar to collect her arrows, doggedly ignoring the holes they'd left and the sickening squelch that sounded when she tugged. The arrows came loose easily enough, but still. It was... ugh. No, she had friends to focus on! Turning around, she slid down the boar's body, trotting closer to her two party mates. "After this we should be done, and can head back to the farm with our stuff," she informed them, the relief in her tone of voice evident. They were alive, everything was sorted out, and Kyupin wasn't feeling too horrible about the dead boar—the Felis girl turned to a shrub and emptied her stomach, heaving. Never mind. She felt terrible about it. Wiping at her mouth, she straightened up once the heaving had come to a stop. No point worrying her friends. She could cry about it later, when she was alone. @Garta @Meruru Blanchimont ( OOC: That's fine with me! :'D )
The Felis girl seemed pretty excited as she opened the loot for the massive boar they'd just killed. In a moment Garta discovered why as she accepted the loot, and their quest objective completed. Garta smiled, stoked to have been done with that, if only to not have to kill anymore while Kyupin was around. He knew she had a problem with it last time, and this time she seemed to be putting on a brave face, but he could tell she wasn't cool with what happened. Meruru on the other hand, was just excited to be done with that part of the quest, and she spotted some tomatoes nearby. "I'll come with you Meruru, it shouldn't be too dangerous. If that thing had backup coming, I think we'd have heard it by now." He said, making light of the situation in an attempt to relieve some stress from the group. He understood the Felis' plight. This was not her thing, not her strong suit. It wasn't right for them to judge. This was just a game, but it looked very real. If this was Garta's first game, he was sure he'd be having similar reactions. He grew up with games, though. Killing monsters, wild animals, and occasionally other people wasn't really an issue. This was just a game. If this game was like Sword Art, maybe then he'd hesitate about getting them into danger, and he'd probably not kill a person unless they were trying to kill him. Stakes were a lot lower here in Terrasphere. This was just for fun. Garta followed Meruru toward the tomatoes, and in the distance he could hear Kyupin's wretches. It made him frown. He wished he could let her see thing through his eyes. Maybe she didn't even like games, and she was just looking for an escape. Or maybe she was just playing to impress some boy. Garta rolled his eyes at the latter thought. Girls that did stuff like that didn't realize they could end up doing more harm than good. Pretending to like something just to get someone to like you more? That's the most fake thing you could do. Garta didn't really think Kyupin was that kind of person, but he was having a hard time placing really what her deal was. Maybe if the killing stuff part of the game doesn't appeal to her, she should have chosen masteries that didn't rerquire her to go outside of the cities and hunt creatures. But that's none of his business. He is just some guy, they bumped into each other for a quest. He shouldn't be evaluating her motives so much, perhaps he was just overly curious. @Meruru Blanchimont @Kyupin Felnya
