Adventurer's Guild Adventurer's Guild - OOC Room

[Epsil]

Pfffft, Lianna is fun to read about, I doubt it will be boring~

Boring is reading how the super mega ultra OP character that has descended to this world is now exterminating rats with its mega OP powers that completely go beyond the acceptable guidelines. That one was boring.

... Well, that was why I failed it... Ehehehehehee~

*Takes one mega super op character and changes it into 3 - 4 normal characters with potential . Which are still a bit op."

 

[GDLiZy]

We all are the most strict critics of our own works. For example, my quest report was poorly written in my opinion but a couple of my friends liked it really much. After all this strictness to ourselves is what drives us forward in creative work

Then there is me. I loved it so much, but my friends hate it to the bones.

They say it's okay in quality, but the tragedy really isn't a popular genre...

 

[Drevart]

Then there is me. I loved it so much, but my friends hate it to the bones.

They say it's okay in quality, but the tragedy really isn't a popular genre...

Tragedy is a unique case) I was talking not about the genre but about the style and wording

 

[AliceShiki]

Me looking at my puny 400 word report.

As long as you have fun writing it, it's all good~

Honestly, keeping track of longest reports is just for fun, it's not really my intent to make people make longer and longer reports... Rather, longer reports take longer to read... >.>

Also, people with more experience with writing and/or roleplaying with this format usually have the habit of making longer stuff... So... Don't worry too much about it, almost everyone on the top scores are old timers~

*Takes one mega super op character and changes it into 3 - 4 normal characters with potential ."

That's the spirit~

Then there is me. I loved it so much, but my friends hate it to the bones.

They say it's okay in quality, but the tragedy really isn't a popular genre...

Oof, but the classics are filled with tragedy! They need to learn to appreciate it! >.<

I mean, I do love good endings, but that doesn't make me unable to appreciate a good tragedy~ <3

 

[Drevart]

As long as you have fun writing it, it's all good~

Honestly, keeping track of longest reports is just for fun, it's not really my intent to make people make longer and longer reports... Rather, longer reports take longer to read... >.>

Also, people with more experience with writing and/or roleplaying with this format usually have the habit of making longer stuff... So... Don't worry too much about it, almost everyone on the top scores are old timers~

I'm a moderate old-timer and my reports are still puny in comparison you know >_> Well I was never going for the length of the report. It would be too dragged out in my case and boring. Keeping nice pace and all...

 

[Nahrenne]

Me looking at my puny 400 word report.

*huggles*
Size doesn't matter, as long as it arouses feelings.

We all are the most strict critics of our own works. For example, my quest report was poorly written in my opinion but a couple of my friends liked it really much. After all this strictness to ourselves is what drives us forward in creative work

Mm, but I've been happy with all of my other reports and ss's.
This one...I'm just not.
It feels really sloppy, imo.

Then there is me. I loved it so much, but my friends hate it to the bones.

They say it's okay in quality, but the tragedy really isn't a popular genre...

*inserts no_mouth reaction*
'-'

Tbh, I'm also not a fan of tragedy.
It always makes me feel more empty inside.

X

 

[Drevart]

It feels really sloppy, imo.

This! This is how I felt with my first report in this version of AG XD

 

[AliceShiki]

Oof, but the classics are filled with tragedy! They need to learn to appreciate it! >.<

I mean, I do love good endings, but that doesn't make me unable to appreciate a good tragedy~ <3

Besides, in AG V1, my character was basically an amalgamation of traumas and near-death experiences that got depressed a few times, lost memories, had its existence almost collapsing upon itself and doubted the people that were meant to be closest to her...

Poor girl, I still pity her even now, she never got her happy ending because I was no longer able to write for her because she was in a mega depressive moment of her life and I had a really hard time entering her character at that point... >.>

Still, I really enjoyed her and writing for her, even if it was a bit hard to get in the mood and enter the depressive state to write for her at the end of the game's life.

So uhn... I think sad tragic stories can be pretty fun to read and write about! You just need to be in the right mood for it! \(^^)/

I'm a moderate old-timer and my reports are still puny in comparison you know >_> Well I was never going for the length of the report. It would be too dragged out in my case and boring. Keeping nice pace and all...

Hence the "usually" part! It's not everyone! xD

 

[Drevart]

Tbh, I'm also not a fan of tragedy.
It always makes me feel more empty inside.

Same for me, but I was able to appreciate tragedy in ISSTH

 

[Vanus]

This! This is how I felt with my first report in this version of AG XD

That is just the nerves created by the Astral dwarves from Aberdeen~

 

[Nahrenne]

That is just the nerves created by the Astral dwarves from Aberdeen~

'-'
I'm curious, where are you from?
I ask because sometimes the words you use in your reports are British - like 'wanker'.
Then mentioning Aberdeen - a place in Scotland.
'-'

Or am I just missing a reference with the dwarves and you just like using British insults?

X

 

[Vanus]

'-'
I'm curious, where are you from?
I ask because sometimes the words you use in your reports are British - like 'wanker'.
Then mentioning Aberdeen - a place in Scotland.
'-'

Or am I just missing a reference with the dwarves and you just like using British insults?

X

You are missing a reference I was listening to that and so I just said it XD

 

[AliceShiki]

!roll 1, 6, 1

 

[justabot]

SHF Dice Roller

Min: 1
Max: 6
Number of Dice: 1

@AliceShiki, you rolled: 4

 

[Nahrenne]

You are missing a reference I was listening to that and so I just said it XD

Oh...
*hangs head low in disappointment*
...I see...

...x...

 

[AliceShiki]

SHF Dice Roller


Min: 1

Max: 6

Number of Dice: 1


@AliceShiki, you rolled: 4

Yay, it's already live! \(^^)/

Head to the dice test thread that Tony-chan made if you wanna test more btw, I just wanted to see if it worked on other threads.

 

[Nahrenne]

You are missing a reference I was listening to that and so I just said it XD

Also...the video won't play in my country...
orz

X

 

[Nyan_sempai]

@Nyan_sempai Dont leave your wife!!!

????

 

[AliceShiki]

????

It was a joke with the quest's goals, you don't need to worry too much about it~

 

[GDLiZy]

OOC: Quoting f**ked up. I'm on mobile so I'm not gonna try fixing it

Spoiler: Innocent Monster

Even amongst the various Operators at her former workplace, Vicious had a rather good track record for mission completion. Most of them were solo ones, of course, for she did better by herself. But she would be assigned to join in other Operators for large scale operations on a fairly regular basis, and on a few occasions she was assigned to lead out on the field. Thus, despite her tendency to keep to herself the Liberi Operator had plenty of chances to work with her fellows, and kept up her satisfactory performance. The girl wasn’t very sociable and something about her always scared a few others, but when the after-action reports found their way to the desk…

‘Easy to work with. The face is a bit frightening though.’

‘Can be relied on...please stop staring at me, it scares me! I have a gun and I’m not afraid to shoot myself!’

‘Firenearlywentoutofcontrol. Playedanintegralpartincontrollingthespreadandpreventingitfromgettingbigger.’

‘Satisfactory as usual. Can hold down an entire lane by herself while we beat up the rest, hahaha!’

Of course, Vicious herself would also write up after-action reports for the others...

‘Trustworthy. Now if only she’d stop looking away when I try to talk to her…’

‘Way too timid. Prone to making mistakes. Needs a reliable partner to back her up so that she can grow some confidence. And no, I’m not volunteering.’

‘Needs to talk slower. I don’t understand what she’s saying half the time. It’s fine to take longer to deliver the message once than to deliver the same message three times and still not get it across.’

‘Send me some Arts support, you f***. I know I can lock down the whole lane while you guys deal with the others, but at least send me some backup after you guys finish up on your end. It ain’t fun killing those fat boys solo, you know.’

Generally, she got along with the others quite well when she was tasked to work in a team, so despite the high fatality rate of the exam, Vicious was aiming to get at least half of the team back alive. And when she got to the dwarven party that she would be fighting alongside for the exam, the girl was relieved to find out that she was somewhat acquainted with just about all of them. At least there wouldn’t be too much issues in terms of disagreements simply due to being strangers.

Unfortunately, however...

“Vicious! I missed you sooooo much!”

Faced with that energetic greeting, the only answer she could muster up as she stared at the not-unfamiliar face was---

“Why are YOU here? You DO know where we’re going today, right?”

“Nope!”

The E-rank Healer from her previous quest had also shown up. By the way, it had been about two days since that tunnel rescue quest, and Vicious had been positively plagued by the girl, who had shown up the morning after that first day and intruded into her inn room. That had been several firsts for the Liberi---first scream in another world, first uncensored cuss, first property damage fine (although it was waived, circumstances considering), first unintentional near murder, and first trauma.

Although, Vicious really regretted not murdering the girl accidentally. At least she would have enjoyed two days of peace if she did.

By the way, the healer’s name is Mallory, if anyone’s curious. Not that it’d matter in about twenty hours. The party made their last preparations, secured the items they were bringing along, and left the city, talking spiritedly despite the dreadful task that was looming up ahead of them.

*****​

Once they arrived at the tunnel just before the cavern where the Abandoned District was located and mopped up a few of the idling monsters that were hanging around the place, Vicious got to work immediately. She asked Mallory to keep an eye on the other end of the tunnel which led into the district itself, while she herself took out a map and several sheets of paper. She then asked the dwarves to gather up, and while she wasn’t actually affiliated with the dwarven army, the party surprisingly listened to what she had to say.

“Wait, but...I’m not your commanding officer, though?”

“No, but most of us here are more used to fighting defensive battles with the support of high walls. It’s clear that you’re more well-versed in this kind of battle than us, so it’s natural to take your experience into consideration. We’re relying on you to make the battle plans, so If there’s something we can help with, just ask.”

“U-Umu...I’ll do my best, then. First, could I have a look at exactly what’s in our arsenal?”

“No problem. Boys, make a pile!”

As one of the older dwarves waved his hand, the carts they had brought along were unloaded and their contents left on the ground in neat rows. Just as Vicious was about to start counting, another passed her the list with everything written on it.

That was fast. These guys would be great workers in the base. Now, let’s see here. A few boxes of firebombs, the charges used to blow up the tunnel, crossbow bolts, a wall-mounted tar spr---

“......”

...I’ll pretend I didn’t see that. Next, refills for the tar sprayer...another of these green blob things, huh. Well, it should help out quite a bit, so I won't complain. Mines…there's an entire disassembled scorpion ballista here.

"Say, I don't think there were these many things provided on the official request, were there? For instance, according to this paper, we should only have been allocated one box of firebombs, and nothing else."

The wizened old dwarf grinned, holding up a few bolts.

"The excess came from individual dwarf craftsmen. The tar sprayer came from the dwarf crew at the gates. Said we'd need it more than they did."

Well, I’m not complaining. More means more.

"Alright, please pack them back into the carts, and gather up around here, everyone. Mallory! Come over here as well. Here's how we're gonna carry out this operation…"

*****​

Snakes were idly milling about the Abandoned District, not doing anything in particular. A few grass vipers bumped each other in a mock fight, while a rattlesnake shook it's rattle warningly at a coral viper that was about to step into its territory. The coral viper hissed in defiance, but backed up anyway. The rattlesnake gave one more warning hiss to warn off potential trespassers, then placed it's head back down to rest.

No sooner had it started dozing off when a loud blast echoed through the huge cavern, and out rushed the party in full armour, pushing out several carts. Most of the dwarves then fanned out in a shield formation while some of them took out the tunnel charges from a cart, and started priming them by the mouth of the tunnel which they had entered from.

'First, we'll break in and secure our end of the cavern. Then we'll proceed with the tunnel collapse immediately.'

"Lass! I've found where the entry points are! Large numbers of garden snakes on their way up!"

'Then, one of you will use the orb to locate where the snakes are entering the cavern from. Also, here's some notes I've collected regarding the hydra's minions. If you see any, identify them using their characteristics, and shout it to us. We're not as pushed at the start, so just focus on keeping a lookout. Information is power, after all.'

"Aye, message received! Everyone, change formations according to the plan!"

The shield formation re-organized themselves into a semicircle, their backs to the tunnel mouth. Swords and shields went up at the ready, prepared to receive the enemy.

*BOOM!*

The tunnel which they'd entered from collapsed into a pile of rubble. Not just the mouth, either; Vicious had spread out the charges at regular intervals, so that the entire tunnel had caved in. This way, it would take the snakes even longer to break through.

It also meant they were stuck in here with the snakes, most likely until the next day.

'We'll split up into four teams of eight dwarves each, and each team will be in charge of holding down a specific point. Once we've secured our exit and mopped up the initial wave, Team 1 will stay behind to guard that point. Remember to do that.'

With their weapons at the ready and knowledge of the enemy, the party mopped up the first waves with relative ease, while the aforementioned Team 1 dwarves were hard at work, pushing out the bigger pieces of rubble to create makeshift barriers. Meanwhile, the rest headed down the slope, heading for the second point marked on the girl's map.

'This cluster of houses are taller than the others, and give a good vantage point of the whole cavern too. Team 2, you guys will take this point. Arrange yourselves on the ground level first, and hold it.'

One they had reached, the second team stayed behind, arranging themselves to fight in narrow spaces while the others continued onwards. There was a clearing somewhere in the centre.

'The old plaza. There's a lot of nooks and crannies, which means you'll have to spread out and enemies could come from many directions, but the buildings and fixtures will greatly hinder the larger monsters. Team 3, you guys will hold this point.'

Mopping up the snakes in the area, the eight dwarves in Team 3 fanned out with their backs to a dried up fountain, watching all sides with their weapons ready.

'Team 4, we'll be heading for the absolute frontline, where the bulk of the snakes will be coming in from. Me and Mallory will join you. This will be the point that'll heat up the fastest, so be prepared for action.'

Finally, the remaining dwarves and the two adventurers arrived at their destination; the opened tunnel on the other end of the cavern. The place was flooded with water up to the knees, so the group of ten got into positions, and waited.

It didn't take long for the hissing to reach their ears.

*****​

"The bigger snakes are starting to show up! Cover me while I signal the others!"

The short blast of a hunting horn echoed throughout the cavern.

'Every team will take one of these hunting horns! At the early phases, one of the dwarves in Team 1 can focus entirely on being the lookout! Us in Team 4 will most likely see the enemies at the same time as you do, so the horns are mostly to alert Teams 2 and 3! Remember the different signals for different types of snakes!'

*Fweee*

"Big ones! Some of you, keep the swords and draw your polearms!"

"We'll switch formations to prepare for the larger snakes!"

As the two teams in the cavern central areas prepared to receive enemies that had gotten past Team 4, the team in question on the other hand was…

"Cover me!"

Vicious leapt out from the line and ran into the horde while dodging the bigger snakes on her way. The smaller ones she trod under her foot and as she neared the water's edge, the Liberi jumped and chucked the green orb into the tunnel as far as she could.

Following a silent countdown in her head as she rushed back to rejoin the others, a small popping explosion rang out in the tunnel, and a familiar green jelly started expanding outwards, sucking up the water as it grew.

"Alright, we can take a breather while those snakes take their time digging their way through the jelly! If the tunnels beneath are all flooded, then I would imagine the jelly will grow quite large! It'll buy us quite some time!"

*Fuuuuuuuuuu*

"Ah! Team 4 has set off the gel bomb! Hurry and assemble the ballista and mount the tar sprayer while we have time! Team 2 will be joining us in a while to help set up more fortifications! Hurry! We must finish this before those snakes start getting through!"

Around four hours had passed since they'd sealed off the cavern.

*****​

With the jelly in place, constantly growing further as it absorbed more and more water down in the tunnels, the party had passed the 6 hour mark safely. By then the scorpion ballista had been mounted onto the makeshift platform which overlooked the cavern, loaded and ready to fire. Similarly, at the front of the fortified walls (made of stones taken from the rubble of the collapsed tunnel) was the tar sprayer, manned by the lookout. The dwarves also took the opportunity to rest up and replenish their stamina, and have a quick meal. Most of them had worked with Vicious enough times to take her word that 'the real fun starts when about three-quarters of a horde has been eliminated, because that's when the big guys show up in large numbers'.

*Fweeeeeh*

"Team 4 is engaging the new waves of enemies! Prepare to intercept the ones that slip by as well!"

And so the operation passed the 7-hour mark, and that's when Vicious was proven correct. But even the girl herself didn't expect the sheer numbers that were crawling out of the jelly...and then it happened.

'Everyone, use your swords and spears to engage in melee combat for as long as possible. I've marked down the weaknesses of snakes that attack from range, so try to save the bolts for when those types attack. Same goes for the tar and ballista! Large group of enemies and huge enemies only!'

*Fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeh* *Fweeh*

"Tunnel Worm popping up near Team 3! Load the ballista! Take careful aim...fire!"

Team 3, who was engaging the Tunnel Worm, managed to finish it off when the ballista bolt pinned it into the ground, restricting much of its movement. However, the Tunnel Worm hadn't gone ahead alone. Out of the hole it dug came a veritable horde of snakes.

"Can we hold them here?"

"Not without support!"

"Alright, use the horn to signal the lass!"

*Fweee*

'Of course, it's possible that we'll get overwhelmed by an unexpectedly large enemy force. If that happens, we'll have to give ground accordingly. The order is this: Team 3, Team 2, Team 4, Team 1. I'll leave the decision to retreat up to the individual discretion of each team; remember, don't throw your lives away randomly. One needs to be alive to strike a blow to the enemies.'

"Everyone, we'll head over to Point 2! Don't fall behind!"

Meanwhile, the defenders at Point 2 were having issues of their own.

"Damned mites! There's a whole bunch of them in here! Prioritize killing those first!"

As the ground started to be riddled with holes, Team 2 changed their focus to the annoying little tunnelers, leaving two or three dwarves to deal with the snakes.

"Slippery little shits!"

"Don't lose your calm! Take careful aim, finish them off, and we'll retreat to the rooftops!"

“Yeah! Watch your six while moving!”

*Fweeeeeeeeh!*

“That’s the signal for flying snakes! Four of you get up to the roof first, and---you guys are from Team 3? What happened?”

“No time to explain! We have to get up to the roof and hold this area before they catch up!”

*****​

By then they'd passed the 8-hour mark quite a while ago. If things kept up, there was a chance that many would make it out alive. The team of ten had started on their share of firebombs and bolts, having dwarves alternate between melee fighting and crossbow firing every so often. By the 10-hour mark, they were still going strong.

But the girl had made a very elementary mistake on her part. There was one thing in the equation that couldn't be met, and not being able to fulfil that singular condition was fatal.

The quality of her teammates. She was unknowingly demanding too much of the dwarves.

The battle plan she had made was extremely concise and allowed no mistakes. It required for the defenders to wipe out a certain number of attackers under an allocated time limit, and then repeat that for several more times---several dozen more times, maybe, depending on the time limit. Teams also had to know when to retreat and when to hold the line to the last man.

And that sort of plan required extremely good coordination. Even excess movements were wastage, and keeping up required people who knew her mannerisms very well. For instance, she loved working with a certain Sarkaz Sniper, thanks to how superbly well their fighting styles meshed together, and on the field they basically required no communication to carry out coordinated attacks. Things like that were part and parcel of how the organisation planned their operations even with a small pool of active personnel to draw from.

If she had seven of her former colleagues standing with her as of that moment, they would probably have been able to hold down the place for eight hours without taking any losses. And with a steady stream of fire support coming in, plus another eight more Operators, reaching a full twenty-four with zero casualties was doable as well.

Alas, as of this moment she was the only one present, and most Vanguards couldn't do a Caster's work. The dwarves fought hard in their own right, but they weren't of the same ilk as the teammates she'd gotten used to. There were plenty of tanks in the dwarf party with her, but asking them to hold down more than two enemies at any one time was already a lot, and by the 12-hour mark...

Too many of them are getting past the line!

She’d gotten spoiled by her Defender colleagues, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Even now she was thinking about how much she wanted a fellow colleague around. Her baseball partner in crime. The push-pull quartet. Fidget spinner ninja girl. All of which would be a welcome sight now. But it was pointless to desire what wasn't available.

‘Remember, it’s okay to let enemies go past us, so long as they don’t do so in a huge group! Let one or two slip through every so often if you can’t keep up, and the teams behind us will take care of it! Remember, only Team 1 has to kill everything that approaches them, so as long as we whittle down the numbers between the three teams at the three points, we will be fine!’

Reluctantly the girl brought her bat down, finishing off a rather long viper, before turning to shout.

"Everyone, to me! We'll retreat to the first point, and hold them there!"

But even she herself was filled with an unease that she couldn't quite put into words. Something about the whole situation wasn't right, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Then Mallory, who was on her back, gasped breathlessly.

"Should we...sound the horn? Warn the others that we’re congregating?"

F***.

Vicious came to an abrupt standstill, causing her healer tag along to quickly grow worried.

"The horns! Has anyone heard a horn in the last thirty minutes? No, right? We'll be taking some detours to check on the second and third points! Hurry!"

*****​

The third point was smoking ruins. There was a gigantic pit where the fountain once was, and they found six dwarf corpses amongst the snake corpses. Skin that was turning purple and blood that was pitch-black...Poison. Vicious furrowed her brows as she motioned for the team to continue on to the second point, carrying whatever firebombs and bolts were left behind by the third team.

Then she heard it.

*Fweeee---*

The horn cut off abruptly. Either the hornblower had dropped the horn to do something else, or something had forcefully interrupted. Vicious faltered.

Take the detour and check the second point, or rush back to the first point? She hesitated a bit before making up her mind on the fly.

“Mallory! You guys! Remember the path we took, when we arrived at a junction? Go on, and turn right at the junction instead of going straight on! That’s a shortcut that’ll bring you right to the first point. I’ll go check on the second point, then meet you guys there!

The dwarves nodded grimly, and after a bit the healer nodded as well, getting off her back. She did keep looking behind to check on Vicious until they disappeared around a corner, however. Then Vicious turned and sped off towards the second point.

…

There wasn’t a second point anymore. The whole place, houses and everything, was buried under several tons of rubble. Judging by the number of snake corpses scattered everywhere with arrows and burning wounds, some dwarves from Team 3 had managed to escape to Team 2’s area, before joining in with the desperate defence. Ultimately, however, they had gotten overran, and one of the last dwarves must have triggered a collapse to bury everything with them.

With a silent click of her tongue, the girl turned and ran for the first point.

A pity she didn’t quite make it there before a massive explosion shook the cavern, and she could see, even from where she stood, that the section where the first point was had now collapsed and was wholly buried in rubble.

“...”

Slamming a fist into a wall, Vicious entered one of the houses, got onto the roof, and started leaping across the roofs in order to get to her destination faster. She had to find Team 4.

*****​

Eighteen hours had passed. Vicious found Mallory, who was hiding away in the upper floor of one of the taller houses. The rest of her team hadn’t fared as well, unfortunately. She’d discovered the first dwarf corpse, followed by a second and quickly a third...the team had been felled one after another, in front of one house in particular. She’d raced inside, trying her best not to start shouting, and discovered the remaining corpses.

Excluding the bodies that were buried by the two artificial cave-ins, everything was there and accounted for. Except Mallory, and Vicious felt surprisingly relieved when she found the girl alive. Scared out of her mind, but alive.

“Oi, get up. I’m getting you out of here."

The healer remained frozen to the floor in fright, and Vicious groaned. She was already having flashbacks from the tunnel request.

“Get up, you idiot. Do you want to die here?"

Even though she said that, Vicious was already lifting Mallory up to rest on her back, and preparing to leave. Yet the two had barely left the house when Vicious felt the girl's weight disappear, and Mallory hopped off her back.

"I'm sorry, Vicious."

"Now's not the time! Save it for when we get out of this place---"

*Rumble*

A shove came from behind. From the healer girl, with no hostile intent. Which was why her senses didn't detect it at all, and Vicious stumbled a few steps forward, more out of surprise than any force behind the push itself.

She watched as the healer girl smiled, and a Tunnel worm erupted out of the ground. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Vicious tried to reach a hand out, but her instincts already told her that it was way too late.

Then Mallory mouthed something faintly, and Vicious silently turned away, avoiding eye contact as the healer disappeared into the mouth of the tunnel worm, which then ducked back into the earth.

And then she was truly alone.

*****​

The girl had some trump cards, but all of them had self-imposed conditions attached to their usage. A common trait shared by many of them was that their exact nature had to remain a secret even after usage.

Which meant that, now that no allies were watching, her most reliable trump cards could come into play.

In a way, it was quite ironic. The girl kept this ability under wraps in fear of others seeing it---seeing her as a monster. But because she’d held back, the others had died, which was why she was now free to let loose without the fear of her secret being exposed. And yet, if she was given a chance to go back a few hours and choose between her secret and the dwarves…

...I'm a horrible person.

She would still have chosen to keep her secret and watch the dwarves get slaughtered all over again. Not allowing anyone else to personally witness it was just that important to her...but before that, they would have died regardless of whether she had shown it or not. She was sure of that. Thus she held back, hoping that by some miracle they'd be able to pull through without using it.

No, that wasn't quite correct.

That was what she was telling herself in order to feel better. Because if she had entertained the notion that she might have just saved a few by pulling out even her weakest ace...then it would be the end of her.

No, mourning would have to wait until she was out, and alive. One has to be alive in order to grieve over the passing of the dead.

In fact, when she’d used it unwillingly the previous few times, she’d gone as far as omitting the details from her reports. And unless something happened, she had been planning to do the same this time round.

But she didn't account for Mallory. Didn't even expect her presence in this exam. And yet the inexperienced healer girl had tagged along anyway, not because she was also going to rank up as well, but because she wanted to help Vicious. On the second day of her short break, after she'd managed to ditch the healer elsewhere in the city, Vicious had gone to the local guild branch for a drink and some information. While they couldn’t tell her the details, one of them did mention that Mallory was nowhere near the requirements for taking the D rank exam. Then the very person popped into the branch, and Vicious highlighted it out of there.

Now she wished she’d at least taken the time to properly interact with the girl. Funny how something so insignificant at the time would come back to bite in the most unexpected way possible, and the girl experienced an intense surge of sadness. Yet she did not shed any tears.

One needed to be alive to mourn the dead. And so she pulled one of her trump cards.

At some corner of the mind which she hadn’t quite grasped yet, the facade of normalcy was still holding on, protesting this decision; surely there was still something else that could be done before resorting to this method.

Vicious took a deep breath. Then she told herself to suck it up and roll with it---trying to pass off as a normal person at this point wouldn’t be very helpful if she was dead.

The bat was quite a good piece of work, and she’d been using it for quite a while. Which is why she somewhat loathed what she was about to do to it. Regardless, she held it in a posture level with the ground, before planting the battering end firmly into the ground. A small explosion of wind with her in the centre, blowing away smaller snakes and restricting the movements of larger ones momentarily. Then the side of her which she usually tucked away, the side that earned her that codename, showed itself to all that was around to see.

Vanguard Operator Vicious was a Liberi. Part bird, or in her case, part ostrich. A mild animal on usual occasions, preferring to settle confrontations by escaping. A pair of powerful legs allowed them to run very fast, for prolonged durations of time, and sharp eyes let them see for great distances. Flightless, but possessed a strong beak and could generate some extremely powerful kicks. Dangerous enough to kill humans with one kick.

And sometimes, a cornered ostrich could kill even apex predators, like lions.

Remember how I said that most Vanguards couldn’t do a Caster’s work? Which also means that some can. And Vicious herself was part of that niche some.

“I wasn’t really that close with these people.”

Even though they had probably taken a job or drank a round together, the dwarves which had fallen didn’t make too deep an impression on her.

“In fact, I don’t even know many of their names.”

Even though she’d spent quite a while in the dwarven city, the girl was only starting to pick up on the minute differences between dwarves. At first, every dwarf in the city, male or female or otherwise, had the same face to her, and it made looking for any one dwarf extremely difficult.

“If something happened that threatened everyone, I’d probably put my own survival first.”

Because they were only at the level of acquaintances, she didn’t feel nearly as much anger as she should have as compared to if a close friend or colleague had died. The whole party of 32 dwarves didn’t upset her nearly as much as when a rescue party had come back the previous year with the Doctor, yet with the exact same numbers as they’d started out with. She’d known the dead security guard on a first-name basis, and her reaction when she’d learned of his passing had surprised herself and most of her colleagues. Vicious didn’t quite believe that she could hold a grudge until that point.

“But that doesn’t mean you can just waltz in here like the sons of bitches you are, and expect to go through without any resistance.”

The entire bat had been covered in black crystals by then.

“This is my lane, and I’ll damn well hold it.”

What am I doing, talking to snakes. They won’t give me any replies, after all. But I’ve already said this much, might as well take the opportunity to look cool before I die.

Laughing as she thought that to herself, Vicious swung the crystal-encrusted bat and rested it on her shoulders. She waved a lazy hand towards the mass of approaching snakes, taunting them all.

“If you want your head smashed in, step on up.”

*****​

"That's not it, V. I asked you to come here today because I wanted to ask you something. You got quite banged up on the last mission, didn't you?"

"......"

"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. What I meant to talk about was...well, pride, actually."

Seeing that Vicious had a clueless expression on, the girl hastened to elaborate.

"I mean, I'm going entirely from observation, but you don't have enough pride in your work, V."

"This is a murderer's job. I think it's fine if I don't feel proud of it, even if it is a necessity. Or do you wish for me to be someone like that mad dog, who has nothing in her brains except fighting and sex?"

"God, no. Please don't add to our growing list of troublemakers, or the Doctor will cry for sure. Besides, I don't mean that kind of pride. More of it being the pride in the skills you have."

"Skills used for killing?"

“You know what I’m speaking of, V. Your skills in holding the front. Vanguards usually don’t do well without support, but you manage fine. I do read the reports occasionally, you know.”

Vicious settled into the chair, toying with a lump of some kind of material.

“If you read the reports, then assign me a partner already. Doing everything by myself is boring.”

“You’ll have to take that request up to the Doctor. And let’s be honest here, who is a suitable partner for you?”

“That Caster with dual personalities.”

“She has to go to school, you know. You can’t just yank her out of class every time you get a mission---How will she ever get a proper education?”

“Then, vampire nurse.”

“Absolutely not. Don’t think I don’t know what happened the last time.”

“Pocky messenger?”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t just admit to wanting to die by picking a fight with the wrong Operators.”

“...How about our resident law enforcement officer?”

“Let’s be honest here---do you really want her for a partner, or are you asking just for the sake of asking?”

She had a point. Vicious and her would probably work well together on the job, but there was nothing beyond that. Watching as the Liberi struggled to think of more, her conversation partner grinned and leaned in, giving her own suggestions.

“How about Kokoda---”

“Rejected.”

“Then, our resident singer.”

“Which one, the idols or the rapper? Rejected on both counts, by the way.”

“Maybe the girl from the deep blue, then?”

“Heh.”

Vicious began, sneering an uncharacteristic sneer at the mention. She definitely wasn’t a fan of the idea.

“I think it’ll be more of me cleaning up her messes and babysitting. And don’t even suggest the other girl to me; I’m not a certified psychologist.”

"Then there's always the little red riding hood. And she's good in her field, too."

"Maybe...actually, nevermind. I'd rather not have a syringe up my ass."

“Well, there’s not many left if you’re that picky. Sometimes you have to learn to be accepting of others, V.”

“You don’t get to talk. You have the donkey.”

The other girl sighed in mock disappointment, but her grin made it clear she wasn’t really bothered by the remark.

“Not you too, V. She’s not a donkey.”

“Whatever you say. If you don’t have anything else for me, I’m leaving.”

She’d gotten halfway through the open doorway before the girl spoke again.

“Think on it a little when you have the time, V. Everyone has something they take pride in."

*****​

Well, fuck you too. And you still don’t get to talk, you little shit.

Despite herself, Vicious grinned at that fond memory, tossing aside the bat which was now disintegrating into crystals, and then into black dust. Then she scooped up whatever dust remained and stored it into a pouch.

Like it or not, it was still Origium powder. And that was the essential component for the Remington's bullets---if she survived to forge them, that is.

Well, it wasn't as if she was planning to go down without a fight. Vicious snatched a lunging snake out of the air with her hands, grabbed it by the tail and swung it into another snake, and waded right into the advancing tide with naught but a heavily damaged dwarven shield.

And thus she fought alone, always on the move. Ducking and weaving between buildings, where the larger snakes were forced to approach in single rows compared to mobbing her in twos and threes. The girl bashed away until her shield broke over the head of a large rattlesnake, so she threw the two halves in its face, before making for the position where Team 2 had been decimated. Once she’d gotten there, she picked up another shield and started bashing her way over to Team 3’s position.

Vicious kept travelling back and forth between the four points she’d assigned, breaking her weapons on the snakes during the trips and restocking on new ones from the fallen dwarves at each point. If a path was blocked by a particularly troublesome group, she’d take detours, crossing roofs and vaulting over crumbling fences.

Yet it was just a stopgap, and she knew. At the start she’d been more daring, jumping across rooftops to get to the next place, and when she got there, she’d hold the point for a little while until her weapon broke from excess usage, and then pick up a new one while leaving. But now she was slowing down, breaking weapons faster than she should from sloppy usage, and she barely had the strength to leap over rooftops anymore. Her steady hike dropped to a casual walk, and then turned into a slow, stumbling trek. It’d been over nineteen hours since she’d gotten any sleep, and fatigue was catching up.

Strains of Oripathy differed according to individual, and Vicious was no exception. And the effects they had on the body differed accordingly, as well. Physical factors such as eyesight and hearing were common afflictions. Rarer cases include the deterioration of the psyche, or more simply insanity. Then there were unique conditions, and Vicious was one of those.

At first glance, her Oripathy granted her heightened resistance to poisons, but that was just scratching the surface. And yet the girl had been partly candid in her guild registration and reports, leaving single lines of descriptions that hinted at it’s true nature.

To fight poison with poison. But it’s effects weren't just limited to poisons; almost anything detrimental to the body, such as drugs that knocked out the user, or potions that paralysed the nerves, and other sorts of status effects---the dominant disease in the body would quickly overpower, corrode, and then devour them. The only things it couldn’t directly eliminate were mental debuffs, because they didn’t have substantial forms to devour.

Yet like most of her Operator fellows, Vicious possessed a Talent that covered for this weakness. Hers was:

Spoiler

Pride of the Vanguard: When subject is the last allied combatant standing, the only way to bring the subject down is to physically kill the subject. In this state, subject's physical stats are bumped up by one rank or the equivalent.

On the flip side, it was still a life-threatening disease, just that it had a slow activation period. And like all diseases, it adapts in response to attempts made to cure it, intentional or otherwise; every time it is triggered and gets rid of a detrimental effect plaguing Vicious, it gets a little stronger. And taking into consideration her fighting style, which was to recklessly break through enemy lines, well...it had plenty of things to feed on.

And that wasn’t it. Whenever Vicious resorted to using Origium Arts, it fed the disease as well. Because Oripathy is the condition that allows the usage of strong Origium Arts in the first place---something she was using right now as she gripped the snake by its head, forcing its mouth closed.

"Go play with your own fellows if you want to roughhouse around so much, f***er. Have a load of this."

Holding the giant snake's mouth closed, a grey haze emitted from the black crystal patches on her hands, very gradually spreading across the snake's face, whose reptilian eyes had widened in alarm and was trying it's best to tug itself free. The smaller surrounding snakes backed up collectively, watching as the black haze enveloped the entirety of the massive thrashing snake.

"Go f*** yourself.”

Then it's movements started slowing down, and after a short while the massive snake was still, black crystals covering the entirety of its head and a portion of its neck---nay, not covering.

The snake's skin was turning into crystal. When it blinked, the irises beneath were made of crystals as well. It slowly regained the ability to move, and for a few moments it looked around, staring at...something. Not seeming to find anything. The crystals continued to make their way down its body, turning scales, blood and cartilage into crystals.

Meanwhile, the girl stared at her own hands which were also densely covered by crystals, to the point where she looked like she was wearing crystal gloves. That got a giggle out of her; one which was very shortly followed by pained groans and a bloody cough.

Now’s not the time for this...while they’re still backing off due to fear…

Gritting her teeth, the girl took out a spear she’d borrowed off a dead dwarf. She climbed onto the crystallizing snake, which lowered its head to make it easier for her, and nudged it with her shoes. Her snake mount obliged noiselessly.

We’ll kill off as many as we can before the snake disintegrates!

She dug her feet in, and the giant snake lunged forward with a very cooperative roar, knocking aside the smaller ones as it crashed through a building. Vicious cussed quietly before raising her borrowed spear in a warcry as well.

“Ikuwayo!”

*****​

It was a quiet day in the dwarven neighbourhood...just kidding. Right now it was more like something right from the pits of hell. The cavern’s walls provided nice acoustics, allowing the people within to hear exactly what was going on, but magnified to echo back even louder. The Liberi was trying her best to ignore the gradually built-up migraine, and swung her spear---sword, sorry. Somewhere down the line she’d left the spear buried handle deep in the maw of a dead tunnel worm.

“HAAAAAAAAAAA!”

With a tail whip, the crystal snake lashed several more flying, before getting into a tangle with another giant snake. Vicious jumped and planted the sword in the enemy’s eye, causing it to flail about wildly. Her own mount took this opportunity to catch the opponent by the neck with it’s own jaws, and snapped down hard.

*CRUNCH*

The lifeless giant snake collapsed to the floor, burying several smaller ones as Vicious’ mount slithered away in pursuit of more big ones. A tunnel worm breached the floor beside them, and as it charged towards them with its ugly maw opened for her to see---

“Eat this!”

*BOOM!*

The round tore a hole through the worm from one end and exited from the other, causing it to fall and spasm as it died. On her mount, Vicious laughed. At this rate, they might just have a chance.

Hahaha.

Absolutely not. And she knew. She’d already fired off three Origium Rounds within the same hour, and her own blood was starting to drip out of her orifices, mingling with sweat and tears. The crystals growing all over her body were tinged crimson, and it was starting to hurt a lot. Even the wind generated by the slithering mount was stinging her cheeks as it brushed them, and a feeling of numbness was starting to seize her limbs.

Then two tunnel worms lunged out of the floor, slammed into her mount, and the crystal snake shattered into powder. Vicious was tossed flying at the same speed at which her mount had been travelling just seconds prior, and she wasn’t well enough to break her fall. So the girl ploughed right through the walls of a house, crashed into the furniture (all made of stone) and came to a halt inside the house, thrown against the wall on the other end.

“Gah!”

She’d definitely broken a few ribs. Judging by the white hot pain that struck her when she tried to prop herself up, the shoulder was dislocated as well. Vicious gritted her teeth and leaned against the wall, forcing herself into a sitting position. She’d lost count of the time, but it was probably over twenty hours, and her body was crying out for rest. Her eyelids were doing their best to shut.

I can’t fall here.

One of her arms was bent the wrong way. Definitely broken, so she grabbed it, braced herself...and broke it again. The bone had to be realigned before it setted the wrong way, and the pain woke her up.

“AGH!”

Ripping away part of her shirt, she fashioned a triangle sling to immobilize her arm with, and after much trying and pain-filled cussing, Vicious managed to do an okay job. She then grabbed the lunging snake by the jaw, crushed it’s head and took a closer look at the type of snake she’d caught…then she stuck the still poison-oozing fangs into her dislocated shoulder.

“Grrrrrrrrr---!”

It was still painful as hell, but at least the Oripathy kicked in and she could move the shoulder again, so Vicious wasted no time grabbing half of her spear and hobbling out of the house. Soon as she did, a Tunnel Worm broke the surface and wiped out the entire house.

Pretty nice of them to wait until I patched myself up. Oh wait, they didn’t. F*** you, then. No gratitude for you.

*****​

Somewhere back near where point 1 used to be, a girl flew out of a house and crashed into the floor, bleeding just about everywhere. The dagger in her hand had snapped at the hilt, and there weren't any weapons nearby.

It's over. I can't move my legs anymore…Like hell!

For the last time, the girl forced herself up, leaning on rubble for support. Her legs shook unsteadily, and she was down to throwing stones. As the viper neared her and poised to strike, the girl gripped a piece of rock, prepared to go down fighting.

*Boom*

The lunging snake exploded into bloody pieces. Then the snakes around her exploded into bloody pieces, and even as the dumbfounded girl looked around a voice came from behind her.

"We're here, lass!"

Scores of dwarves ran out of the now-opened tunnel, heading over to her. Most of them were carrying something that resembled an old matchlock gun. One of them took off his own helmet, revealing a familiar face. The old dwarf she'd met on her first mission in Gelderholm.

"Let's get you out of here and back to the city. The sappers have blown up the breach point and sealed it; the snakes currently in this cavern are the last ones, and we'll take care of them."

"...I have a better idea. Anyone have a potion and an extra spear? Let me have them."

The old dwarf blinked, but soon started laughing as he handed over the items the girl requested.

"I didn't know you were this fond of killing snakes."

"Hah! Not really. It's just, they've taken something from me and I want it back. I wonder if that worm is still around somewhere…"

Cutting her hand and letting blood soak the ground, Vicious crouched to press her ears on the ground and listened. A grin came over her face as she heard the unmistakable rumbling, chugging the potion and tossing the vial away, and tore the sling away. Her arms were feeling better---well enough to down a few more, at the very least. Then there was that one tunnel worm in particular.

She motioned for the dwarves to stand back a little, before dodging the worm that shot out of the ground. The potion gave her some stamina back, and she tested it out by sending the worm flying with a kick. Watching it land heavily with her signature smile.

"I owe that girl one, so the least I can do is see to her proper burial. Plus, it's the last legs, so how can I pass up the opportunity to clean off the remainder?"

There it is! The First D-ranked adventurer! At least the first one that player control!