[Unleash a flurry of Basic Attacks to defeat the Bad Apples.]
I ignored the prompt, switching to the Mage class and settling into a defensive stance. First, I would see what damage my regular attacks could do. The Bad Apples scurried about, scattering around the arena and hopping rapidly between their feet. As I was hoping from the tutorial, they didn’t attack.
I let out a long, controlled breath and let my gaze land on the Bad Apple closest to me. With tightly would muscles, I waited until it got within arm’s reach and sent a punch flying toward its cheek in a move I’d practiced a few times on dummies but had never attempted on a living being–If these particular Bad Apples could be considered alive.
My fist punched through the soft skin of the apple, breaking into the mushy rotten core at its center. Poison dripped onto my hands, lightly singing my skin, and the Bad Apple went flying.
The world around me froze and turned to static.
[Error: Unable to calculate damage. Retrying…]
[Error: Unable to calculate damage. Retrying…]
[Error. Converted to Basic Attack. Retrying…]
[Success! You have landed one basic attack on a Bad Apple! Unleash a flurry of basic attacks to defeat your enemies.]
My lips curled into a satisfied smile as the world stabilized around me, and the Bad Apples began to move once more. I kicked, punched, elbowed, and kneed the Bad Apples until they were quite literal pulps on the floor.
[Session completed successfully. Retry?]
“Yes.”
Bad Apples phased back into place around me. This time, I used a whisper of power to strengthen my attacks, counting the seconds as I went, determining if the boost was worth the energy as my limbs sizzled and burned beneath the poison.
[You’ve used an ability to boost your strength! Strength 50 -> 60]
With one satisfying final punch, I slammed the final Bad Apple into the ground, poison splashing like blood up to meet my face. As with the rest of the burns, it stung like a sunburn, my skin turning a deep red where it struck. A chemical burn.
[Session completed successfully. Retry?]
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I took stock of my injuries and energy levels of for a moment, weighing my options. Deciding I’d rather discover now than later, I pulled a potion from my pocket and dumped it down my throat. It tickled my throat, and I cringed as my skin itched and ached, the burns disappearing in seconds.
[Potions: 5 -> 4]
[Hayden: 75 hp -> 100 hp]
I rolled my shoulders once more, testing for any lingering aches and pains as I ran my fingers along my skin, searching through sight and touch for any remnants of the poison burns. Satisfaction reared once again in my chest as I discovered none. The red line that lingered from the bullet was gone as well, without so much as a scar.
“No,” I decided, flexing my fingers as Cove did. This time, I selected the defense practice.
[Block five hits before the timer runs out!]
[Time remaining:5:00]
[Time remaining:4:59]
[Time remaining:4:58]
I readied my defensive stance, and waited. A single Bad Apple appeared before me, it’s stick legs flexing and springing as it rushed toward me. At the last second, I moved an open hand in an almost-half-circle, my eyes fluttering shut as my wrist sliced aginst the rough wood of the Bad Apple’s arm. Leaves crunched to my right as the Bad Apple stumbled past me, the force of it’s attack redirected by my own hands. I shifted my weight on my left foot, swinging my right a little counter clockwise so my gaze would follow the Bad Apple.
[Blocked 1 Attack! 4/5 remaining]
[Time remaining: 4:36]
This time, I vowed to keep my eyes open.
The Bad Apple rushed me again, and I swung my arm in the same half-circle motion. It was bad timing. The Bad Apple’s punch landed solidly against my chest, sending me careening back onto rear, taking an unfortunate 25 hp as I fell.
[Time remaining: 4:01]
I scrambled to my feet and readied myself.
The Bad Apple threw another punch. My eyes slid shut of their own accord as I braced for impact, shifting into a block.
[Blocked 2 Attacks! 3/5 remaining]
[Time remaining: 3:43]
I gnashed my teeth together in dissatisfaction. It felt almost as though I were learning to control Blaze again, trying over and over and over with little success.
[Blocked 5 attacks! Retry?]
“Yes.”
I repeated the blocking over and over. Eventually, I managed to succeed in a round where I kept my eyes open for each block, and I considered it a success.
[Blocked 5 attacks! Retry?]
“No.”
[Session complete.]
Stealth training, I decided, would be next. I tapped on the prompt. A cool, moist breeze rushed past my face, and the trees and grass morphed to stone. Light faded as the sun above shifted into one of the moons. A cross breeze struck me from the left, as it wove through the canyon. Gaping wounds on either side of the canyon opened up into tunnels marred by greenish glows that flickered and dimmed. It was the tell-tale mark of the Spinning Wheels, poisonous wooden monsters created by the witch to curse Sleeping Beauty.
[The minimap is displayed in the upper left-hand corner. Combine it and your stealth to sneak up behind some enemies, vanquishing them in a single hit!]
I ducked behind a boulder, watching the Spinning Wheels move through the interconnected tunnels. I waited until they’d come full circle, each symbol back to where it was when I’d started. Their routes memorized, I took the first opportunity, waiting for the green light of the Spinning Wheel to vanish in the tunnel. I kept my footsteps light and followed, pausing to slip into a shadowed alcove less than twenty feet in.
Moments later, another Spinning Wheel rounded the corner, setting the alcove alight. It passed by without notice, and I slipped behind it, sending a kick to the fragile wooden supports that acted as legs. The Spinning Wheel shattered, toppling tot he ground.
Cloaking myself in shadows and using the minimap as my guide, I himself once more. Navigating by watching the map alone was difficult but not impossible. After a few incidents, I got the hang of it, and the number of Spinning Wheels quickly dwindled to nothing before me. I was in my element, relying on my brain rather than brute force, and it was over all too quickly.
[10/10 Spinning Wheels were destroyed without being noticed. Retry?]
“No.”
With a solid foundation, it was time to try the specialized class attacks.