"What have you got there-" Blood started before Identifying the item and exclaiming, "HOLY SHIT!"
"Yeah, pretty crazy," Beth said, handing the heart to her.
Blood took the object and inspected it closely for a minute before handing it back to Beth, saying, "Weird that it doesn't have a description. What are we supposed to do with it?"
"We'll have to ask Baelvyr about it, but I kn...
2024-07-30 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostBeth's next call was one she should have made a while ago, and she chided herself with a slight wince as the communicator connected.
"Hello, Beth," Sabs's sweet voice came over the line. "Please tell me you're okay."
"Yes, sorry, I'm fine," Beth answered a little nervously, glad she could have the conversation in her head or Blood would be laughing at her.
"I'm glad to hear that," Sabs said. "It's b...
2024-07-29 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post"What the actual fuck?" Beth exclaimed after reading the description, causing Blood to inspect it as well, Beth able to tell she was Identifying it based on the fact her eyes glowed faintly for a second.
"What the fuck?" Blood exclaimed after reading the description.
"I know, right?" Beth said, still staring at the cube in her right hand.
"So, what are you upgrading?" Blood asked.&nbs...
2024-07-25 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNot that there was anything dangerous there, or much of anything, really. The underworks were mostly empty, with only a handful of lizardmen, none of them special types, and not much else down there. That also included loot, as they were unable to find almost anything as they mapped the area, but Beth hadn't forgotten her first thought, namely that of the power generation system. She wouldn't go snooping into something like that normally, not wanting Jaq showing up waving a knife angrily at h...
2024-07-24 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostShe was surprised when the beast didn't react immediately, not even when she got fairly close, and Beth wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She charged up as powerful of a Crush as she could while sprinting forward, already running Beastly Body and Swift with as much mana as she could pump into her body. When she got to within a dozen feet of the beast, she called forth her Presence, that moment of twisting and chur...
2024-07-23 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThey each had taken some time to sleep, Beth needing it somewhat more than Blood with just how much her Presence drained her stamina, but Blood certainly pushed herself as well. When the other was sleeping, the one staying awake on watch meditated lightly, deep enough that they could focus and restore resources, especially mana, faster, but not deep enough that they wouldn't be alerted to a beast coming up on them. It was about seven hours later they were both on their feet and ready to go, h...
2024-07-22 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBeth opened the righthand of the two large doors at the back of the warehouse, nearly taking a spear to the armor over her gut for the trouble. They were right back into the middle of the endless war from that attack onward, fighting through battle after battle as they slowly made progress through the city over the next couple days. They had to deal with several more elite enemies during the course of those few days, Beth continually surprised by just how tough they were. They weren't necessa...
2024-07-18 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe wolf eventually finished, nearly five minutes later, shaking some eponymous fluid from her claws before saying, "That sucked. Way too slow."
"Bet the experience was pretty good," Beth replied from where she still stood, arms crossed over her chest.
"Hmph," Blood grunted. "Good experience doesn't matter if a single kill takes an hour."
"It wasn't that bad."
"Clo...
2024-07-17 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBeth left the room with Sabs a bit later in the morning, leaving Blood to stew in her mild hangover alone. While Sabs went out to fight and work on her level a bit, Beth returned to the forge to work on her smithing. She knew that only through a ton of hard work and practice could she slowly climb the ranks with a crafting skill, as they were honestly even more demanding than a weaponskill, and she wanted to put as much dedication and time in as she could afford. She had some goals outlined f...
2024-07-16 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThey spent the rest of the afternoon in training, Beth having the others use their Presences, though they weren't able to replicate her methods just yet. That had them end a bit early, at least compared to Beth's usual schedule, and this time Soph was alert enough to head back to their family home with Kim without feeling it was dangerous. Beth, Blood, and Sabs headed back to their room to clean up, eat, and hit the sack for the night, with Beth expressing to Sabs that they were going to go b...
2024-07-15 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post"How about that?" Soph exclaimed, turning to stick her nose up in the air at Beth.
"Better, but how much mana do you have right now?" Beth replied with a slight shake of her head.
"Uh," Soph's eyebrows scrunched as she concentrated for just a second. "About a third."
"So, could you win the same fight again, right now?" Beth asked.
"If I meditated-" Soph started. 2024-07-11 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
They settled down for a longer break this time at the Hall, Beth getting quite cozy with Sabs the first night. They were interrupted, though not at night, by her sisters, who had a request that originated with Lyrissa, of all people. They had all been doing training, but Lyrissa insisted that Soph needed some experience sparring against and fighting other people, and she had suggested it was often easier to start with people somebody knew. Navere had also told Kim it would be a good idea for ...
2024-07-10 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey all cycled through the shower quickly, able to get into a fully filled tub thanks to Soph's foresight. Beth continued as they relaxed, Sabs nestled on her lap, "That means Blood and I need to hit two-twenty this time, and I am not looking forward to those extra twenty levels above two hundred. We'll also have to see just how crazy the demands for the True Rebirth are this time."
"What did it cost you last time?" Sabs asked curiously, idly playing with one o...
2024-07-09 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey all slept in the suite again, Kim having informed their parents at some point that they were busy at the Hall and wouldn't be home. That was apparently nothing new these days, as Soph and Kim had both been wrapped up in things at various points that kept them from returning home for extended periods. It was a bit of precise timing as well, since Soph's birthday had been two weeks before and Kim's wasn't until mid-October. That put Soph at sixteen, though she was rather mature for sixteen...
2024-07-08 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostIt was really just Beth and Blood messing with the flow, as the other three were still rather used to working together. It was tougher for the three to work around Beth and Blood, as they were so fast and so strong that they didn't fight alongside the three. Kim and Sabs had to adjust the most, as they had to work around Beth and basically let Blood do her own thing, while Soph was able to continue mostly the same. Beth and Blood also had some experience with working alongside spellcasters, s...
2024-07-04 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostShe immediately put word to deed, having healed her shoulder sufficiently to get back into the action. She and Blood move a little counterclockwise around the field, giving Soph and Kim a bit of space to get back to their own farming, hopefully far enough that they wouldn't be counted in the kills. They picked a level ninety-one for their next target, Blood starting the fight by darting in and slashing it with a series of claw attacks. She had started to take advantage of the fact that the at...
2024-07-03 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day was bright and clear, and they had finally had enough forced idleness or, as others called it, rest, that they were allowed out of the house. Beth and Blood were going to do an insane power-level just over the next couple days, absolutely blowing through the first few dozen levels or more. They would have to slow down once they hit about fifty and sort themselves out, as that was around the point where they would be even, in terms of stats, with the other girls. It would be inter...
2024-07-02 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning wasn't as early as their usual, this time mostly thanks to Beth and Blood, though Sabs really enjoyed every opportunity she could get to snuggle with Beth. She eventually had to get up, which was enough disturbance to get Beth fully up, which started their day. They got through the whole morning routine rather quickly, Beth sneaking a quick look at Sabs's level, noting that she was getting awfully close to one hundred, which would be a nice little bonus.
&nb...
2024-07-01 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey found the room empty, though said cyborg quickly appeared from the middle door with a dour look plastered across his face. He halted behind the counter and simply glared at them as they stopped in front of him, his hands clasped behind his back in an at-ease stance. Beth gave him a quick once over before glancing around the shop, making sure that nobody else was there.
"I would ask 'What?', but I know what," he said. "Show me the list."
&...
2024-06-27 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostShe walked around the area, making sure that none of the 'captives' were about to die, and Blood moved out to scout. Beth moved upwind of the seven then, not wanting to think too much about what her punches had done to their insides, particularly that girl with the polearm. Smelled like a bunch of her insides had wound up on her outsides; specifically in her underwear. Beth wasn't envious of that clean-up job.
None of the seven stirred in the next five minutes w...
2024-06-26 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostBeth and Blood moved forward at the same time, weaving back and forth to confuse the seven before slamming into them again. Bronson wasn't very proficient in his skill, or it actually had some kind of cooldown, as he didn't use it this second contact. The two girls reached the formation at the same time, but Beth teleported just as she threw her first punch, not holding anything back and slamming a fist empowered by Celestial Annihilation into the back of one of the seve...
2024-06-25 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostNow that they had that taken care of, it was time to actually tackle the toughest and last of their Silver missions. Not that they wouldn't be doing more missions eventually, even before going for Gold-rank, but they weren't planning on doing any for a while. Blood was leading the way northward as they closed in on the coordinates, it taking well over an hour for them to move through the rugged terrain of upstate New York to their destination.
The area the...
2024-06-24 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe only other thing that stood out was her Ancient World Gate power had jumped a level after that previous two-week binge, and she was curious what was different with it. It wasn't too hard to find a chance to test it, stopping Blood before they headed back, even though Beth was a little weary, and opening the menu. She scrolled through, a bit disappointed that there was no new time compression feature, but then again, ten-to-one was already pretty insane, especially si...
2024-06-20 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostBeth yawned and stretched as they arrived back in the basement of 'their' Hall, Baelvyr having brought them back without any further interruptions, including from his old drinking buddy, Boros. The ogre took off as soon as they were back, telling them he had things to work on and that they should check with Tazeen for another mission before bothering him again. That didn't get Beth's hopes up, considering the only mission she knew was still sitting there was the diplomatic one, but she resign...
2024-06-19 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post"Wha-" was all she had time to get out before the ogre answered.
"Ya got one-shot, girlie," he said coldly. "Ya should've never charged her like that; rookie mistake. She's got way more combat experience than all six of ya combined; there was no way ya were gonna take her out with such a sloppy charge. That, and yer anger majorly clouded yer judgement."
Bai just nodded numbly, watching as the infuriating American tore her tea...
2024-06-18 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe others cleared out and Bai resumed her place, waiting for Tana's starting spiel before readying herself, nodding at the appropriate time. This time, when Tana signaled the start of the match, Bai was much more cautious, moving forward at a moderate pace and watching the other girl intensely. The tall foreigner didn't seem to mind, moving forward slowly herself with her sword held ready, waiting for Bai to act. Well, if that was how she wanted to play it, Bai was happy to play along, surgi...
2024-06-17 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBai Qi watched as the two weird girls walked back into the Hall, elbowing Li Feng in the side as they did so. That caught the attention of the rest of their friend group, the six of them all sitting together in a corner of the lobby while they waited for news about some new dungeon that was supposed to be opening to the west of the city. There had been two teams that had set out to scout the day before, and they were both supposed to report back at some point today, but that was for later. No...
2024-06-13 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post"Uh, I don't think this is gonna be fun," Beth muttered, seeing one ear flicking on top of Blood’s head as her only response.
"So…" Blood continued after another minute of staring. "Are we going to do it?"
"Of course," Beth replied with a shrug, mana coursing through her body as she stepped forward. "I don't see anything, literally anything, else at all around here…and that includes a way back out of this place. Let's start t...
2024-06-12 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis was another of the big problems that slowed peoples' advancement: numbers. A big reason why groups would form and operate together, people like Team Dream Snake, was to simply handle the overwhelming numbers. Not everyone was a prodigy, nor an elite, nor even a generally skilled fighter, and even the best of the best often had gaps or weaknesses they were still trying to iron out. Most people simply weren't as determined, as experienced, as insane as Beth and Blood, to throw themselves a...
2024-06-11 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAfter a minute they arrived in a large room with several pads on the floor and a control panel near each of them. If it wasn't obvious from just that, Beth noted the huge words in Universal Standard on the back wall spelling out “Teleportation Room” in large, block-font letters. Baelvyr strolled over to the platform and control interface on the far left of the room and tapped away at it for a moment before gesturing for the other two to stand on the platform. Beth glanced at Blood, but th...
2024-06-10 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post