Northern Perimeter, Ujax Forest

Angelus

Taking up the relative rear to the rest of the group, I suppress a yawn, eyeing Jade from the corner of my eye, finding her to be oddly subdued compared to my perception of her as being someone very tightly wound, ready to burst into movement or a barb of some kind. Following her gaze, I note that she's staring pretty intently at Silver's back as he chats with Grand and Windy.

"Is there a spider on his back or something?" I ask mildly.

Jade flinches, "What?"

"You're staring," I inform her, "And you've been oddly quiet, besides."

"...What's it to you?" the small woman glares up at me, her indignation making her seem rather childish.

"Idle curiosity," I reply evenly, "Do you have a crush on him or something?"

Jade chokes, "Heeellll nooo! The fuck gave you that idea?!"

"You act like a schoolyard bully too timid to be sincere with their emotions most of the time," I raise a brow, "If not for that, then your actions and behaviour make little sense."

"It ain't like that at all, you're off. Way off. The ball is in a park three solar systems away," she insists, genuinely disgusted, "Not in this lifetime or any other."

"Then a penny for your thoughts, if you would," I take a bite of dry bread, "I'm listening."

"None of your business, frankly," Jade breaks eye contact and closes off.

"Interesting conversation back here," Horizon butts into the conversation, slowing down to match pace with the two of us, "Protesting a lot, aren't we?"

"Fuck off," Jade flips her the bird, "Get off my case."

"Inquiring minds need to know, sweetie~" Horizon giggles, "Are you even interested in anyone besides a bottle of bubbly?"

The fox woman stomps her foot, "Knock it off, or I'm telling Hen- Grand about September '05."

Horizon scowls, "That's a low-blow, and you know it."

"Then leave well enough a-fuckin-lone! Jesus..." Jade exhales, frustrated, "My love life and inner thoughts are not a topic of public discussion. And just in case I wasn't already clear, I do not have a crush on the fuckin' Tour Guide. Just, no."

"Alright, alright," I sigh, "Forget we asked."

Rather than respond, she stomps off while grumbling under her breath, moving further ahead in the procession, leaving me alone - so to speak - with Horizon.

"I take it you know her fairly well?" I hedge, segueing into a new conversation.

"So-so. She works with my boyfriend and she's friends with Win," Horizon smiles, "Before you ask, yes, she is always this high-strung."

"I figured," I shake my head, "Any idea what's going through her head right now?"

"Not a clue," she shrugs, "Besides colourful insults at our expense, that is. Oh, but, I don't think we've been introduced?"

"Ah," I laugh sheepishly, "Angelus, pleased to meet you. I'm the guild's one and only healer."

"That so?" Horizon reaches back a hand while walking, and we shake, "I'll be counting on you to keep my boyfriend from killing himself then."

"Oh?" I blink, "Let me guess, he's the type to jump the gun and aggro more than he should?"

"'It's fine I have a lot of CC'" she imitates his voice, badly, "Words frequently spoken about five seconds before his demise."

Ah. Perfect.

"Yeah, that sounds...uncomfortably familiar," I recall numerous variations on that exact scenario that led to my own death as well, "Jupiter isn't that different, come to think of it. Entirely too enamoured with large damage numbers."

"I heard my name," the Wizard in question pops his head between us, "And also, I refuse to change my ways. I take the approach that 'it can't kill me if it's already been atomised by a ball of lightning that'd give Nikola Tesla's ashes a boner'."

"While I can see the logic, it's hardly a reliable strategy right now," I chide, thinking back to our first expedition's run-in with Dire Wolves, "Since it's predicated on the assumption you have the ability to one-shot any aggressor you encounter. Which you do not. At all."

"I mean...Sure, but..." Jupiter struggles to come up with a counter-point, "Look, it's just what I find the most appealing in video games, aight?"

"Doesn't make it correct or unilaterally appropriate," I hammer the point home, "If you're going to be part of a Guild, you'll have to learn some consideration for your teammates eventually."

"I guess," he deflates momentarily, before his pride immediately recovers to address Horizon in grandiose fashion, "Also, hi. Jupiter, most powerful Wizard in the playerbase at the moment probably. Potentially the only one, come to think of it."

"Nice to meet you," Horizon smiles, amused, "I take it Wizard is what comes after Hedge Mage?"

"It's one option, yeah. Then you've got Ange here who became a Beacon, and all sorts of other options depending on what you wanna do. No idea what all the possibilities are, but I'm told - by Silver - that The First Step is like the general 'archetype' or whatever of your starting class's theme. So, generalist schmuck Hedge Mage becomes one flavour of spellcaster that incrementally specifies and specialises for each subsequent evolution, not including whatever the fuck a Legacy Class does," Jupiter rambles, channelling the spirit of our Guildmaster for a moment.

"I see," Horizon looks off to the side for a moment, "Makes sense I guess. What's a Legacy Class, though? He didn't mention it when he brought us up to speed on the basics."

"Special classes you get from a type of dungeon in the world, or something along those lines, supposedly," I answer in Jupiter's place, "Apparently, Little Miss Vixen is going to be getting one around Level 20 from her Guide, to do with magitech and guns."

She inhales sharply, "Oh, yeah, guns are a thing in this game. Think I can get a sniper rifle?"

"Don't see why not," I shrug, unsure of what exactly the technological progression of civilisation is in Astral Reckoning. Everything we've seen so far has been pretty generically western fantasy, with nary a hint of a gear or a computer chip.

"Great, awesome," Horizon beams, "I'm not a very good archer. Was thinking of picking up a crossbow if it didn't work out."

"You'll have to bring it up with Jade, if and when she does gain the ability to manufacture firearms," I add, "I get the impression it's supposed to be mid-to-late game equipment under normal circumstances."

"At which point I'll be hucking city-sized fireballs at my problems," Jupiter proclaims, "Wonder how they compare?"

"Question for another day," I yawn, "Oof, I feel like I've run a marathon. Guess all this action is catching up to my Vessel."

"Hear that," Jupiter rubs his neck, rolling his head this way and that to work out some kinks, "Gotta wonder how Windy and Silver're holding up by comparison."

"I doubt they'll be too much better. Their attributes may be weighted towards enhancing their physical bodies, but they've also been making more consistent use of them and taking more punishment by contrast," I guess, "Still, they don't look like they're taking it too badly, just from a glance."

"Mind catching me up to speed?" Horizon asks politely, her eyes flicking away to our surroundings as we enter the canopy.

"Sure."

---

 

Ujax Proper, Ujax Forest

"Hold," one of the forward scouts calls out, jogging back to the main host, "Vexitt pack. I counted five."

"Understood," Mr Fathom nods, then looks to me, "They're a little like small foxes, very fast, very skittish."

I'm aware of them. Average Level 9, they're pretty weak and they're not worth much in terms of Carcass or Experience - maybe 60 Stone Copper for a pristine carcass, and about 150 Experience? They're basically impossible to catch for melee combatants, and their elongated ears make them excellent at picking up on the encroachment of predators and projectiles. In other words, you need a very strong bow or crossbow that can take them out from outside their detection range before they can react in time.

However, I recall the words I heard from a Wolf Hunt guide back when I was tagging along as a tank in WLR groups. Vexitts are never where a predator is, but a predator will always be where a Vexitt is. Which, while it sounds paradoxical, basically means that if you encounter a group of Vexitt minding their own business in one spot, you should assume that a Dire Wolf patrol will find them, and you, very quickly.

Viewed another way, Vexitt are like a naturally occurring proximity alarm.

"We should prepare for battle with a patrol," I warn Mr Fathom, unsure whether or not the current Wolf Hunt have learned small tricks like this, "If they've had enough time to idle, then it won't be long before predators come looking for their victuals."

"Is that so?" Mr Fathom questions rhetorically, "Very well."

Placing his thumb and forefinger to his lips, Mr Fathom whistles sharply enough that standing next to him I can feel my inner-ear twinge, "Form up, possible patrol incoming!"

With a little grumbling, the expedition crowd together and slowly shuffle their way into their assigned positions. With the weakest among us, our cute little bus passengers in the centre, along with most of our ranged contingent, save for Jade and one of the scouts from Wolf Hunt that bring up our flank, and all melee combatants on the rear and vanguard.

For my part, I'm stood in the front. just behind Windy and one of the Wolf Hunt tanks, a bulky wyvernblood woman equipped with a mix of Copper-Tier dross and Beginner's Bronze. Hardly an ideal set of equipment, but we've yet to make public our sale of Feardrinker or Terrorsteel and the local teams have only just started making their way through the Pool of Desire. It ought to be fine, so long as it is a smaller pack. The larger patrols commonly found in Dire Straight are a trickier prospect seeing as Dire Wolf Betas are guaranteed to be with them, but just barely manageable if we can get a few of the Wolf Hunt players on the precipice of Level 10 over the threshold - I believe that amounts to three Fighters, a Hedge Mage and a Trapper looking to transition into some sort of Ranger-themed class.

I'll be honest, I wasn't paying as much attention as I probably should have when Mr Fathom was explaining the composition of his people. I'm starting to feel the effects of the near-constant running around and battle of the past couple of weeks on this side as well, as represented by a slight debuff to my maximum Stamina. Only a dip of maybe ten points now, so I can live with it, but the Body Adaptability System isn't for show, so I can expect my Attributes to be hit directly in their Level Efficiency fairly soon if not dealt with.

Typically, that means partaking of higher quality food and drink and using higher-tiered recuperation facilities, in addition to or instead of just taking a day-off. Even so, our bodies can take a lot more abuse than the NPCs on the whole prior to Alchemical Marvels introducing an enhanced injury and disease system - 'for the sake of consistency with the established setting'. As if desperately fighting with two broken thumbs and a fractured wrist is in any way preferable to the current day.

Still, it largely put a stop to the 'human wave tactics' that larger Guilds were employing against their problems since some of the injuries incurred followed you through death, such as missing limbs when disarmed (heh) by certain attacks, particularly at higher levels where the loss of a single Level can represent an entire month of concerted effort going up in smoke, or worse.

Whether or not that can be taken to be a good thing is up to personal interpretation.

---

 

Northern Perimeter, Ujax Forest

Olrica

"Keep up, Olrica," Harn Terr grumbles, hopping a small shrub-like plant, "We're flagging too far behind them."

"Yeah, yeah, stop nagging," I huff, rolling my ankle mid-stride, still aching a little after almost faceplanting from a hidden tree root in a pile of dead leaves, "Not like they're going very fast. Or in any direction other than 'directly ahead'."

Besides, the idea is to follow them without being noticed. If we speed up too much we'll be close enough to grope their asses. And then get the shit kicked out of us as a direct result of that, and I don't know, I don't really feel like catching even more shit from that jackass Hadrian. Bad enough he decided to take away my bonus for the month, the petty bastard.

"The fuck is even the point of this?" I ask, not really expecting an answer, "Not like we don't know exactly what they're doing. Not like we can't do the exact same thing ourselves, because Lord knows beating our head against Miner's Nightmare over and over again is getting dull."

"Boss's orders," Harn sighs, letting out a little frustration himself, "We're not being employed to tell him 'No', we're being paid to jump when he tells us to."

"Which, ordinarily, I'd be fine with, but he's so fixated on what Silver is doing his capacity for imagination-" I duck a low branch, "Has gone walkabout. We could be at Farmer's Secret by now, or getting mad gains from the forest here, but nope, gotta get A-rank Satisfaction from Miner's Nightmare. Gotta stalk Silver, find out his basically non-existent 'secret plans'."

"While I do understand what you're trying to say, please remember for a moment that I am in fact obligated to report and act on insubordination," Harn warns, "So stop complaining and walk."

"Sir, suck my exhaust pipe, sir," I roll my eyes.

"Last warning Olrica," He throws a glare over his shoulder.

Understanding that I've toed the line enough, I keep my mouth shut. Still, my irritation continues, and my imagination comes up with all sorts of colourful things to say to Hadrian's smug, oh so punchable face.

Y'know, before I punch him.

God I wanna punch him.

"They've slowed down, I think they're about to start fighting," Harn peers around a thick tree trunk.

Finally, some action, I feel relief, before my instincts warn me to the presence of a third party behind me.

You have died.