“Nothing, I just didn’t believe you’d calm down so quickly.” Firliam nods to himself before stepping to the side, and promptly off of the platform.
Exclusive Quest (1/1000), Beatdown-complete!
Determining rewards…
And thus the curtain is called on this little impromptu encounter. Or well, at least it has been for this fight I suppose.
You are the first player to complete exclusive quest “Beatdown”!
+3 Strength!
…Oh, hey, first time I’ve gotten something other than luck! Cool, cool, very nice…
So… gonna give me those rewards any time soon, game, or are we just…
…No?
Damn, really? Alright… maybe it just… needs some outside factors to properly calculate the rewards or whatever? I suppose Firliam did say something about making amends, so…
Sheathing the twin blades I’d been granted for the “spar”, I as well prepare to step down and off of the arena. Only to be met by the unblinking stares of about, I dunno give or take twenty or so monsters?
I’m not sure when such a crowd gathered. It’s not like either of us told anybody about the fight we were about to have? Firliam handed me two swords, the game gave me a quest, they led me to this room, and wallah shit went down!
All in all the fight was really short, like, only fifteen seconds tops. So… what, did everybody just teleport here on the spot?
…Actually, did they? Jasper has a teleport, that jackass apparently has a teleport, is it just a commonality between huntsmen? Supposedly they all have somewhat similar abilities, just with variations based on their classes, so… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But still-what the heck?
Pausing before I step off of the platform, I clear my throat. “Ah-he-hem…” I rap my chest twice, before speaking up loud and clear. “So is everybody just going to keep staring, ooooor?”
They all look amongst themselves for a moment, but instead of making way posthaste, one of them actually speak up. Something along the lines of an octopus from the looks of it, at the least it has tentacles? It’s an odd chortling sound, and certainly amongst the most difficult to understand compared to every other monster I’ve heard.
“That *!@ an *())_!@*$^ display. I respect !*&^ skill.”
“Thanks?” …I think?
Though I’m not left to fill in the blanks for too long, with the rest of the monsters in my way speaking up a moment later, along with almost every monster in the room.
“Respect to undeniable prowess!”
…? Alright, what the hell are we on about here? I’ve got a mans to rob of rewards, come on! Places to go, things to see, randoms to ignore, out of my way!
Without waiting a moment longer for any of them to disperse, I simply walk down and into the crowd, making my way towards Firliam, who coincidentally does the same! We both wade through the crowd, avoiding accidentally stepping on any eensy teensy monsters that may or may not be around, and attempting to not walk into pokey bits…
Bada bing, bada boom, made it through!
“You’ll have to forgive their enthusiasm.” The Kobold smiles gently, before weaving their way around a stout canine of some sort. “I’d hurry up, wouldn’t be surprised if our little spar lit a fire under all of them. Likely won’t be long before they all start fighting amongst themselves.”
“...Like, a brawl?” I tilt my head confusedly as I make my way after them in short order.
“Hah!” Firliam barks out, turning my way as he backpedals out of the room and back towards the main hall. “No, of course not! We’re monsters, but we’re not mindless beasts. Do you truly believe the remnants of The Hunt would go about killing themselves?”
I simply shrug in response, having just about zero clue what the “remnants of The Hunt” even are to begin with. Jasper doesn’t tell me jack shit, so how should I know anything?
“So, duels then?” I amend my guess within short order, raising a brow at the sudden shift in tone. Moments ago, and by moments ago I mean before the fight, this prick seemed just about ready to lop my head off, but now they’re talking to me like I’m somehow their friend?
“Indeed. I imagine you’d have been asked back into battle should we have remained in there a moment longer.” They muse to themselves, gently stroking their chin as they once more step foot-er, paw into the main hall.
“Anyways…” I drawl as I follow their path, “you said something about making amends?”
“Ah, yes of course. For harming your ally… what was their name?” They mumble to themselves, gently tapping the carpeted floor as they think it over.
“The bird that was on my shoulder? Their name’s Screech.”
Whipping back around to face me, they ask most incredulously; “That’s their name???”
“...Yes?”
“Who called them that!?”
“...Me?”
“...”
…
“What’s wrong with Screech?” The Screech in question questions.
“Nothing’s wrong with Screech.”
Maybe naming her Screech was a little bit messed up.
Slowly, ever so slowly, they turn back around, mumbling under their breath, “thank The Hunt you didn’t get to name Jasper.”
Yeesh, it’s not THAT bad. Even if she didn’t have a name I’d have probably called her… uhhhhhh, what would I have called her? Lazy? No, she’s not THAT lazy… Mmmm-no, making fun of speech impediments isn’t cool.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Hm…
Alright, you know what? We’re just gonna move on from this one, call it a draw.
…
“...Amends, we were talking about ‘amends’, yes?”
“Right,” they nod, motioning toward toward the flickering flame, the centerpiece of the hall.
“What about it?”
“The swords, toss them into it.”
I blink once, twice, and not quite thrice before letting out a confused “pardon?”
“The two swords I gave you for the fight, throw them into the flame.” Firliam reiterates, once more waving towards the fire with a paw.
“...Er, whhhhhy?”
Their mouth opens, presumably to answer, but before they speak our attention is collectively drawn by an echoing growl.
“I’m well aware it’s a heavy price to pay.” They grunt, turning to face Jasper.
I didn’t even realize she was here at first, I sort of just figured she’d followed the crowd, but no, she’s still here in the main hall. I hadn’t been paying her any mind through our link, so that’s on me, but… what was that she said?
“It is my right as division commander to command the energy of the hunt. If you’d rather I didn’t, then you must stay.”
So, as per usual, I’ve still got precisely zero clue what they’re on about, but I’m gonna hazard a guess and say this is of some mild importance?
“You,” they bark at me once more, “swords, in the fire!”
Welp…
Wildforged Longblade (Uncommon LVL 30, 100 Mana.)
Blade forged with the use of The Wild Hunt’s power. It holds a spiritual power alongside its cutting edge.
-Inflicts 20% of physical damage as magical damage.
-Bypasses insubstantial defenses of enemies with less MP than the user.
(You do not meet the requirements to use this weapon. Its abilities are reduced, its effects are sealed.)
Two of these beauties chucked into nothingness, huh? Eh, can’t use 'em properly anyways. Yeet!
Unsheathing both of them, I do as told and chuck them both into the flames. And they melt, INSTANTLY. Like, literally reduced to slag the instant they even touched the flames.
“Hey could I get a look at that?”
Screech popping out right about now doesn’t really surprise me all that much, and I don’t have much of a reason to tell her no, so…
[Summon]
“OH MY MORRIGALA!”
Gh-
“What!?”
“The amount of mana concentrated in that tiny space is absurd! It looks like it’s basically about to explode!”
“HAH??? Wait-wait, how do you know it’ll explode?”
“That’s kind of what it looks like when I concentrate MP for a spell. You know when I make a really big fireball?”
“Yes?”
“Okay. So basically when I do that the space that’s about… I dunno about a fifth as large as my wing,” she proceeds to raise her wing for emphasis, “is packed full of mana and it’s discharged after I either let go of it or lose control of it. Now that thing right in front of us is like uhhhhh give or take a few hundred times the size of that and it’s also even more densely packed! I think I’d lose control of a spell at about a thousand times of the intensity less than that. It’s a miracle we’re not all dead! Or well that I’m not dead you wouldn’t die right?”
“Holy moly.”
A good half of that flew over my head, I don’t really know how this mana shaping works or whatever, but what I’m getting is that that’s basically a nuclear forge.
“Holy moly,” she fervently nods her agreement. “I didn’t get a closer look at it earlier. I thought it was just a lot of mana but this is absurd! I don’t know how this is existing without imploding or scattering its energy every… everywhere… oh my Morrigala.”
“...Do you even like, pray to Morrigala?”
Random thought, but she got her class from an item of sorts, didn’t she?
“No just feels natural to say it. Anyways it HAS been leaking everywhere this whole time! Every little loose bit of mana that’s been permeating this whole place is all coming from THIS! This is incredible…”
As Screech’s lecture on the nature of mana or whatever continues to ring in my head, I turn my focus back to Firliam. Watching the… confrontation of sorts going down between them and Jasper.
“If you will not stay here, then I refuse to let you go without some sort of protection in exchange. This is not negotiable. It simply helps that if the fool you’re choosing to travel with grows stronger, then you in return will be safer.”
In comparison to every other monster, Jasper’s grunts and groans are… incredibly difficult to decipher, and I really have no clue why? You’d think she’d be easier to understand than some H. P. Lovecraft beast? But, no apparently not, but… I do my best anyways.
“!@($ will !*!@%$ !*#($) you lose @!(* a !%@#$%^(&% piece of the !(@$& may be ()**&^# your !#%*# of mind. I will not !*(% &)@, but !@(^ duty is to !(*@# who )!(@ here now.”
“I know.”