Pasta And Training

“Here you go. Freshly made pasta. Enjoy!” Mia exclaims, giving a bowl to Skylar and another to me. I thank her, taking the small container of Parmesan cheese off the coffee table and sprinkling a copious amount onto my pasta. Skylar raises an eyebrow. “That’s a lot of cheese.” “There can never be too much cheese!” Mia declares, taking the container from me after I’m finished and doing the same. Mia and I dig in, watching Skylar for her reaction. She takes her first bite and a wide smile breaks out on her face, before she suppresses it quickly.

I exchange a confused glance with Mia, before she asks, “How is it?” Skylar nods. “Good, thank you.” She remarks, taking another bite. I suggest we watch something, to which they both agree. We put on a random episode of South Park while we eat. Skylar tells us that she’s never seen the show before, and throughout the episode, she’s both appalled and amused at Eric Cartman’s antics. “I don’t get it, why is he such a dick?” Skylar asks. “A few reasons.” Mia responds.

“His mum is too soft on him, and she’s also a horrible role model. He has no father figure around, so he has no good role models in his life. With her behaviour, she teaches him that it doesn’t matter if you screw over other people, as long as you get what you want, if you follow.” “Since when did you get into media analysis?” I ask, an eyebrow raised. “Hey, don’t think cause I’m super positive that I’m stupid.” She fires back, a grin on her face. She pronounces the word as “stoopid” rather than “stew-pid”, and for some reason, that amuses me greatly. I snort and she starts laughing, with Skylar still looking slightly confused.

After we finish our pasta, I help Mia do the dishes, while Skylar keeps watching tv. “I like her.” Mia says in a low voice. I look at her, drying a plate. “Why’s that?” I respond in the same low tone. “She’s trying. She wants to open up to us and be friends with us, but she doesn’t seem sure how. She’s trying though, and she seems a nice person, despite the mask she puts on. You saw it slip the same I did.” She says. “I saw the huge smile she had for a split second, but how do you know everything else?”

She looks me in the eyes and boops me on the nose, leaving it damp from the water. “I’m just better at social interaction. Trust me on this.” I shrug. “Sure I guess. Are we still training this afternoon?” “Damn right we are. How does she fight?” Mia asks. “Imagine Green Lantern but with shadows instead of hard light constructs.” I reply. “You are such a nerd, but fair enough.” Mia teases. “Takes a nerd to get that reference, so aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black?” I fire right back, causing her to laugh and splash me with water lightly.

We finish up the dishes and head back into the living room. Skylar looks up at us when we walk in. “We’re going to train for a bit now. Ready? Hopefully it’ll help you get stronger too.” I say. Skylar nods and stands up. “Sure, let’s go. What are we training against?” She asks. “Miss bullshit over here, has a power that lets us fight monsters for experience. Cause we’re in her party, we get our own levels, which is like a number for our strength, the same as a video game. When we fight with her, we get experience from monsters in barriers, the same as her.” Mia remarks.

Skylar looks at me incredulously. “That is bullshit. What monsters are we fighting then?” “Well, we’ve fought rats the past few times we’ve trained. Unless you’re bored, I see no reason to stop now?” I respond, shooting a questioning glance at Mia. She shakes her head. “Nah not yet, those things are fun for the moment.” She says.

The grinding session seems to go pretty well, all things considered. The rats are level 14 this time, presumably allowing for Skylar pulling the average party level up higher, as well as being an extra party member herself. The rats also seem to adjust tactics in response to the presence of Skylar, coming out of hiding three at a time instead of two. They aren’t very intelligent, but they seem designed to be a relatively fair encounter for us.

The level difference means I have to be much more careful than last time, conserving mana and relying on my knife more. Mia, being the highest level out of all of us, is still having a pretty easy time of things. Skylar fights with a determined look on her face, her focus never once wavering. I’m impressed at her dedication.

We fight in relative silence, all focusing on our individual battles. The boss notification comes and I warn them both, getting closer so we’re more ready to protect each other.

LEVEL UP!

I’m both happy and not happy at seeing that notification. Level ups are amazing, the 5 new statpoints I have to spend are extremely useful at my level when every statpoint counts. I could’ve used the resource refills a little later though, as my health is still mostly topped off and my mana still a third full. I mentally shrug and quickly assign my statpoints.

I’ve already resolved that my next goal is to make my stats round numbers, because it satisfies the perfectionist in me. Therefore, I spend 2 points on Strength, 2 on Endurance and 1 on Libido. This gets my stats at nice round numbers, gives me some more strength, which will be useful in melee combat, and some extra health. I now have 100HP, which is going to be extremely useful in the coming fight.

You have killed enough rats to awaken the attention of the Queen

Boss monster spawned: Rat Queen

Rat Queen, lvl 25 (elite)

The Rat Queen is much bigger and much tougher than her subjects. She can coordinate their attacks and turn a rabble into a dangerous horde.

Especially since this Rat Queen is 10 levels higher than the last one. A roar signifies it’s anger and it charges, flanked by 6 of its smaller subjects. “That thing is level 25, be careful! Mia, stun it the same as before! Skylar, focus on dodging the big one’s attacks and taking care of the smaller rats!” I shout. Mia wastes no time, sweeping herself upwards with gesture and a gust of wind.

I throw a few mana arrows at one of the rats, sacrificing the freezing effect of an icicle for the superior damage of the arrows. The magically formed arrows hit their mark and the rat goes down. Skylar puts up a wall in front of the charging creatures to slow them down for a second while she gathers shadows. I move away while she winds up, the rats busting through the wall a split second later.

A fist of shadows hurtles through the air, catapulting one of the rats into a nearby tree, where it lies still, dissolving a second later. She too dodges the rats as Mia comes down hard on the head of the Queen with a barrier of solid air. The rats lose their cohesiveness for a moment, which Skylar and I use to our advantage by dispatching of another one of them.

There’s only 3 of the smaller rats left as the Queen recovers, howling again and charging. I find myself grinning. This is scary and dangerous as hell but something about it is absolutely exhilarating! I dive roll to the side as the Queen charges past, stabbing one of it’s companions. It screeches and I feel sharp teeth around my leg, relieving me of 24HP. I cry out in pain and Skylar punches the rat. It lets go and I scramble backwards. Another mana arrow turns the wounded rat into dust.

With 2 more smaller rats left plus the Queen, Skylar and I retreat a little more, as Mia crashes down again on the Queen. If it were a real creature, I’m sure it would have brain damage by now. I can tell that it’s movements are starting to slow slightly as it is, but it is by no means slow. Skylar sends more fists of darkness hurtling at the rats, leaving deep impacts in their sides. The Queen charges again, and we dart backwards. I send a few more mana arrows their way, taking down one of the rats, leaving just the Queen and a single companion.

I decide to do something stupid in the spur of the moment. I run towards the Queen as it charges, drawing my knife. At the last moment, I duck under the swipe of it’s claws and slide along the ground, raking my knife through it’s underside. Blood spurts out and I get a faceful of rat innards. I sputter in an extremely undignified manner, hearing the howling laughter of Mia as the Queen treads on my arm with it’s back leg, taking off 4HP.

“Why did you think that was a good idea?” She laughs, after visually confirming that I’m okay. “Shut it, it worked!” I respond, dodging the sharp teeth of the smaller rat by a hair. I punch it in the side of the head, hoping that will do something.

I feel a dull pain in my fist as the impact reverberates through my arm, costing me another 1HP from the bad form. I shake out my fist and the rat hisses. Skylar bats the rat away and Mia redoubles her laughter. “Dude, you aren’t a hand to hand fighter yet, stop trying to be one!” “Shut up!” I say, giggling despite myself.

I dart backwards again and throw mana arrows at the stunned smaller rat. Skylar readies herself for the Queen’s next charge as the smaller rat disintegrates. Mia, having managed to pull herself together, slams down once more on the Queen with a wall of solid air. Skylar gathers shadows and sends more fists at the bloodied Queen, further bloodying the giant rat. Having learnt from my recent attempts at melee, I bombard it with mana arrows, flicking through the air with a slight purple shimmer.

It roars again, but it’s clearly weakened. It gathers itself to charge again. I send a few freezing blast waves out, hoping to slow it down enough for Skylar and Mia to finish it off. The freezing effect doesn’t kick in, but I can see little icicles forming on it’s fur.

Skylar winds up and unleashes several punches with giant columns of shadow, stunning and damaging it further. I send more mana arrows and Mia screams in one final attack. She crashes down directly on it’s head with what must be a concentrated wall of solid air. The Queen’s skull caves slightly, before the beast falls limp, disintegrating.

1000xp

Mia falls on the floor, slightly exhausted. “Woooo, heck yeah!” She exclaims tiredly, and I can only smile. I offer a high five to Skylar, and she returns the gesture with a slightly satisfied look. It seems like she’s quite happy with the way this session has gone. My spirits are high as I walk over to Mia. “Having fun there?” I ask amusedly. She looks up at me. “Oh yeah, just give me a sec.”

“One.” I count sarcastically, then offer her my hand.

“Smartass.” She remarks, taking my hand and letting me pull her to her feet. The extra couple of strength points seem to help in this regard. “Let’s check out the loot!” Mia exclaims after taking a deep breath. Skylar whips her head around so fast that I’m surprised she doesn’t get whiplash. “Loot?” She asks. “Part of my power gives me loot from enemies in barriers I create.” I explain. Skylar shakes her head in wonder. “Mia was right. You are miss bullshit.”