Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 3643/5650 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Ah, cock. This samurai had some kind of spell-absorption skill going on. How wonderful. Leif would be giving him so much shit over this later. The rest of the battlefield wasn't going as well as it had been but a few moments earlier, either. Mags got trapped in a cuckshed, Raime was about to go for a mutual kill, and, alright, well, at least Ames was moving to help. That left Amulak a split second to decide his next move.

With the amount of time he had and the resources available to him...oh, wait. His meatbag golem was back within spell range. Perfect. Amulak had a good card to play, but it was only limited to one target. Raime had a shot at killing the crusader bard, so helping would be redundant. Leif and Mags were both nearly dead, but Leif still had a fighting chance. Mags was locked down, so her it was. Sure, if Leif died, so did his own link to the party, but he had to go for the play that had the better chance of finishing the fight.

Amulak's remaining Earthrot golem lumbered up toward the kannushi, with the necromancer himself casting Deathly Toll as soon as possible, binding the kannushi's life to the golem's. The moment the carrion construct was in explosion range, he snapped his fingers from his hiding place and detonated that bitch, hopefully comboing off the last of this prick's life.

White light flooded out of runic inscriptions and magma-black cracks within the Jewel of the Valiant, all three energies within Raime surging out to fill his Nuclei up to the brim. The fusion reactor within the divine relic booted up with a violent roar, his arm trembling with the restrained force as he leveled it towards the bard.

But even a short moment to charge up was too slow, when the beheading stroke was already in motion. In diluted time, Raime could only watch as the blade of the gargantuan crusader descended upon his neck.

The shriek of a vengeful firebird sounded as the whirling death-blade that the Phoenix-Blight Guandao had transformed into flew through the air, arcing for the bard. Sensing the danger that its master was in, the spearhead crusader redirected its sword immediately, slamming hallowed steel against bloodstained obsidian. Sparks scattered like a meteor shower as two forces clashed, and then with a definitive grunt, the crusader parried it upwards, sending the whirling blade flying off. But that was the moment Raime needed, the moment he shone. In the palm of his armored hand, a star sparked, then burst.

Before the bard could mutter so much as an ‘oh’, his body exploded from inside out, light flooding out of his body and reducing him to a charred silhouette. The Nuclei disappeared at the same time, and Raime fell to the ground, his ribs still broken, but his head still attached.

In the vacuum of Claiomh Solais’s beam blast, Arion’s engine deafened the world, accelerating to over 900 AGI as it flew over turf with nightmare flames in its wake. Slamming wheel first into the kannushi, the motorbike Nuclei drove him back step by step…and yet did not appear to inflict a single ounce of damage. After all, 900 AGI was impressive, but Arion did not possess any inherent STR, nor any damage source either. Once again, the juxtaposition between Cacophony Concord as a game and as a mimicry of reality caused decisions that were, perhaps, poor in retrospect. Yet while the Black Beast did not do any damage, the distraction it provided was just long enough for Amulak’s Earthrot Golem to take the kannushi from behind, its gravedirt arms wrapping around him in a shoddy embrace. From a safe distance, the necromancer wove his profane words once more, the centipede monstrosity within Leif’s body mimicking its master’s movements as sanguine ribbons floated around the Undead construct, as unholy energies caused its body to balloon out.

“Full Guard!”

A Necrotic Explosion sent Arion flying away, and yet within the poisonous debris, bright light shone out, the four-sided barrier of the kannushi holding strong against the point-blank blast. He let out a sigh of relief, then jolted forwards, one hand raised up to stifle the blood that seeped from his mouth. Internal damage? How could it be? He stumbled, stepped, and then realized…the seawater that lapped at his sandals.

A kannushi’s barriers were powerful. They were a support caster class focused on damage mitigation, after all, and against those of equal levels, in most circumstances it would take more than just a single strike to destroy one of their powerful barrier techniques. Magpie, however, was not ordinary. She was a monkey, a barbarian, a buffoon, a maniac that had pumped an obscene amount of her attribute points into her STR stat, and then further bumped it up by solely leveling up her Physical Conditioning passive. The spectral crowd roared once as her left fist smashed through the barriers as if they were naught more than sugar glass. They cheered as she sprinted through the warm waters of Pentozali. They laughed as the kannushi looked up, having no time to mutter another incantation.

And Magpie still had her right fist to go.

Thunderous applause sounded as the plated tekko slammed downwards into the kannushi’s face, driving his entire body into the Mediterranean waters. A geyser rose in response, before the sheer might of Magpie’s punch bounced him up 75 meters into the sky. He exploded into chromatic pixels, showering the champion with glittering glory.

Only one clash remained.

The eldritch beast rose upon the surging tide of his spectral packmates, monstrous paws kicking off ghostly bodies to reach his airborne foe. Even with the sword held between her teeth, Leif could see that the samurai was grinning, a fellow connoisseur of artful violence. Time seemed to slow even further for the two of them, as a flurry of actions were exchanged within the blink of an eye.

He kicked the sword out of her mouth.

She swung her left arm out.

He bite in with crushing force, and yet crunched against the arm rather than the neck.

She kicked out with her foot, catching her katana by the base of the hilt and kicking it back up.

Right to his exposed underbelly.

Death c-

Pow!

A blinding light filled the sky, fire flowers blossoming all around. Both combatants squeezed their eyes shut at the sight, but Leif’s heightened senses could smell the burnt sugar that clung to Ames’s overcoat. The phantom swordsman had saved him. Not once, but twice. For the spectral form of Ames’s Duo Self had flown up, not to strike the samurai, but to knock her sword away in that moment of flinching. Like that, her main weapon was gone. But so what?! She had her side arm, and the paralysis from the Calamitous Revelations had faded now! She drew the tanto in her sash, imbued it with what remained of her SP, and drove it towards the direwolf’s underjaw.

Leif, however, had already won.

The Phoenix-Blight Guandao screeched out its battlecry and returned to its owner, slicing the samurai from waist down. Her eyes widened in surprise, then her mouth formed a smirk.

“Well-played, shitheel.”

Only one of them landed on the ground.

aмeℓιa

_{HP: 1887/1920 - MP: 1720/1920 - SP: 1471/1920}
^{_________________} _[X] ^{_________________}
Ames' sprint slowed to a jog, and finally to a stop nearby where Pentozali's waters were beginning to dry up. Magpie's opponent had burst into pixels, and around them the other two players in the kannushi's party had as well. Pleased that everyone in her own party had survived, even if most of them were just barely hanging onto life, Ames let out a whoop and raised both fists into the air.

"Hey, we did it!" she said, clapping her hands a few times over her head. "And I really hope those were the kind of people we were after!"

It was hard to tell if the trio had been supply runners just from the items that dropped after their deaths. There was a lot of food, which seemed suspect because as far as Ames was aware they didn't need to actually eat. So maybe it was for the Rien troops. Or maybe they just liked the sensation of eating, which Ames definitely understood - after all since obtaining the Sweet Maid she'd enjoyed eating there as often as she could, even if it wasn't exactly michelin star quality. There were also quite a few weapons among their belongings, but that was a type of gamer too wasn't it? The hoarder. Unfortunately there was no kind of wooden mission tablet that Ames could find that spelled it out for them.

"What do you guys think?" she asked once everyone regrouped. If she was being optimistic, which she was, then she would just consider this a successful attack on the supply chain and think no more on it until the next one. But if her friends thought differently then maybe they needed a new strategy that wasn't "kill the first people we find."

Outside of battle their HP and the like was starting to recover, but three out of the five of them would probably appreciate a break all the same. "Y'know Bri and the inn aren't that far if we want a breather before someone comes and does to us what we did to those guys. I do still got plenty of MP for my healing ability if we need it though." She scratched the back of her head while mentioning the last bit. It was probably the hundredth time she'd considered going further into support and healing considering, well everything.

---

With a dull thud, he landed flat on his back. Only intensifying the pain he experienced from the fractured ribs. "Hooray...victory." Raime said as he reached into his item pouch and pulled out a vial of strong painkillers and consumed the contents of the glass container and felt the drug take effect and relieve him from the pain. "That ought to give me a little pep in my step until health regen kicks in." Standing up from his prone position, he walks to the drops and begins inspecting the loot of the trio they had bested. Raime was a little disappointed that most of the drops were common weapons and lots of food. "Lots of common weapons and even more food. Either they were a very important supply runner group or they were gankers that did our job for us and attacked other supply runner groups." Regardless these supplies were now Mora-Sho property.

Ames then suggested taking a little break. "I second the idea. Only safe zone we have in the area anyway." Plus they can deposit the supplies they gathered there and leave it inside. Also he was rather curious to what the inn looked like on the inside.

---

---

It was over. As it turns out, being a strength monkey did have its benefits. Who would have thought that she could negate restraint forms of CC by just ungabungaing them? While their drops were essentially useless besides flavour, it was still nice to get a big W against players. It was a great benchmark on what she could do. She didn't think that she could jump so high, but she did. She didn't think that she could slam people so high in the air that they flew, but she did. At this point, she felt like Joe Yabuki. She slowly drifted down and lay on the ground. Her eyes closed, pentazotl fading from underneath.

Then Ames suggested a break. Instantly, she got the Ashita no Joe good ending. With a quick flick of her legs, she shot back on her feet and regrouped with the rest of the gang.

"At this point, a stray shot could probably take me out. A break sounds good," she said. It was especially good because she had spent so much poop-sock grinding that she didn't know what it looked like. She wanted to see how her magic puddle compared to a housekeeping NPC + moving building combo, especially since dealing with the motherfucker with his own personal sun. Her jealousy was off the charts at this point.

Though in fairness, if she had either of those nuclei, then she would just end up using them as weapons. Such was the monkey brain.

"It would be pretty funny if these guys were part of a charity for war orphans, though." She said to the group as they inspected the common weapons. "You know. Supplying weapons to orphan soldiers."

---

As quickly as he had shifted, Leif turned back into his human form as he landed, clenching the flaming polearm in his hand as its fires died down. He groaned in pain as he stretched out, allowing the passive healing to take its course. As soon as the battle had concluded, Leif's wolves gave a nice goodbye howl before fading into the wind as well. They had acheived victory, and alongside it, the spoils of war.

Given the gear they were carrying, Leif wondered if they were fighting actual supply-runners, or just some shitty gankers. They could have even ended up team-killing, which would have honestly been hilarious. Eh, they weren't hired to check for badges or anything. As far as Leif was concerned, if they came back with some supplies, they'd get pair for the job.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure, and the fight itself was quite exhilarating, if not over in a flash. He'd throw the Samurai an add, both to help him practice some PvP later as well as to maybe bug them about just what their party's deal was.

"Well, don't know about all you, but that was fun! Maybe I might join up after all, kicking other players' asses is sure as shit more fun than killing bears all day." Leif laughed, pulling out the same lotuses he had consumed earlier for mana and jamming a handful of them into his mouth. "I'll work on healing everyone up so we aren't surprised on the way back."

Spitting in the palms of his hands and rubbing them together, Leif created an orb of swirling water between his palms as he whispered some strange incantations. Streams of soothing water swirled through the most injured of the group, healing everyone as they passed through each person, Leif would repeat this spell for a bit until everyone was at least decently healed enough for their natural healing to take the rest.

"My bad on keeping track of my mana. If I had summoned less wolves, I might have had enough to heal us up a bit in that fight, maybe give Mags a shield of ice to deal with that fire. Ah, hell, you live and you learn, right?"

With a whistle, Leif beckoned Arion over to him, hopping onto the black beast and giving its engine a crack.

"Heading over to your little inn's probably our best bet for now, though, Ames. Will help us better rethink our plan and heal up. Plus I gotta go kick someone's ass for almost letting that Samurai kill me, haha!"

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 3643/5650 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

As the battle ended, Amulak relaxed, slumping slightly in his hiding spot. That had been more of a pain in the ass than he'd been expecting, really. Judging by what the others were saying, they wanted to take a quick break, and really, he was all for it. Being two thousand mana above where he was at right now sounded better than going into another fight at nearly a half tank and with half the party nearly dead.

The loot the party dropped was more or less what he'd expected. Raime was right. Either these guys were actual supply runners or they'd just performed the group's duties for them. Either way, the party was technically doing their jobs, so, mission accomplished.

"I will meet you all at inn." Amulak communicated telepathically to Leif through Weishaupt.
"Also, go fuck yourself. I am supposed to know random samurai can absorb magic? You are definitely in Africa and not Thai red light district, my friend."

aмeℓιa

_{HP: 1920/1920 - MP: 1920/1920 - SP: 1920/1920}
^{_________________} _[X] ^{_________________}
The decision was unanimous, for once.

"Great! Then let's get going," she said. "It's about halfway between here and Nyu-Taro. Bri, we're coming back! Make room for six!" Just after Klein suddenly blinked out of the world and his status showed Offline. "Um, make that five!"

The squire's response was only heard inside of her head. There was no doubt that it was an affirmative, as Ames motioned for the party to follow her and began leading the way back to the inn. It wasn't too long of a trek, and thankfully there were no ambushes along the way. Eventually they approached the sunny open spot Ames and Britomart had chosen, and where the Sweet Maid currently stood.

For some of the group, the wooden exterior of the Maid was familiar. It's construction, though ultimately fantastical, called to mind the Eastern cultural elements that Horogi was based on. It's design was simple, rectangular with a ground floor slightly smaller than it's upper level, which made it look almost like two tiered cake flipped upside down. Sloped gabled roofs spread wide over the top of the inn, with a matching covered porch under which sat a duo of tables and chairs. In several areas of the wall were wooden slats that made for simple windows, and from one side the scent of something mild cooking wafted out. Though unlit now, a few lanterns hung from the corners of the building's roof. There were a few cutesy signs posted around the inn that didn't quite fit the aesthetic of the whole thing, reading the establishment's name and it's status. There were a couple of steps leading to the entrance, and at the front door hung some welcoming messages and a swatch of rich red cloth.

Britomart herself stood beside the entry, dressed in her waitress ensemble. The closer the party got the more awkward the squire seemed to become. The girl fidgeted slightly at her post, perhaps unused to so many people seeing her without her armor at once.

"Welcome back, my liege," she said, bowing her head as Ames lead the group up. "And honored guests."

"Don't have to be formal with them. Anybody that hasn't met Britomart yet, she's the 'maiden of the castle' and she's the best." Ames gestured to the girl, and Bri bowed again. She appeared slightly flustered by her lord's words, but her voice didn't betray it. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

With the quick introduction out of the way, it was time to get inside and relax. Ames paused in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at the group.

"I'm still kind of like, trying to figure out how I want the inside to look so it's... well it's like a work in progress, um..." The animist seemed a bit embarrassed as she spoke, and she ended by bringing a fist up to her mouth with a quick cough to cover the reddening of her cheeks. "But it's gonna look really good soon. Just don't get our hopes up right now."

Ames' words were made obvious as soon as the group stepped inside. The aesthetic of the interior was very... confused, to put it lightly. There was a mix of Eastern design elements that better fit the exterior's aesthetic, with the Western fantasy that the Sweet Maid's proprietor was more familiar with. To the inn's righthand side was a wooden bar counter that claimed most of the wall, and beyond it the kitchen where various ingredients hung from rafters and waited on countertops. A sizeable winerack sat closer to the bar, and further back was a stone oven and cast iron utensils. On the lefthand side was a sizeable irori and various kinds of seating ranging from chairs to cushions to a couch, as well as the staircase that lead up to the second floor. The rest of the first floor was taken up by a stage that didn't seem to have been touched yet, besides a few boxes of supplies tucked away toward the back of it. It was certainly an interesting looking tavern, but with some work it would probably look cute.

Britomart entered once everyone else was inside, making her way to the kitchen.

"I took the liberty of baking bread for your arrival, it should be ready soon."

"Aw, yay!" As Britomart went about her task, Ames swept her arms to the space at large. "So there you have it. Once I get some more money I'm gonna give the place an overhaul ^_again, just gotta decide which way I wanna go."

After all there were probably many inns with an Eastern aesthetic in Horogi, so maybe one that didn't match would be more interesting. Then again, when in Rome, right?

---

Raime couldn't hold back an impressed whistle when they finally arrived at Ames' fortress-type nuclei. His eyes wandered all throughout the beautifully detailed structure of the building just as they were greeted by the little knight Britomart at the entryway. "Ames is right Britomart. You've seen most, if not all, of us naked. There is no need for formalities." The scout punctuated his joke with a good natured smile and a chuckle. He'd already thought Amelia to be quite creative due to the exterior appearance of the Sweet Maiden, but the interior had him slack-jawed. "Wow...Amelia, you really ought to consider becoming an architect or an interior designer. You have a talent for it to say the least." If he had both his hands, he'd be giving the place and Ames a double thumbs up.

His gawking was suddenly stopped by the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread. Even if the virtual bodies of their avatars did not require sustenance from the food nor drink, the experience was still highly sought after. Especially by epicures like Raymond. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'll be helping Britomart in the kitchen making us something to eat." Raime disappeared from the group and reappeared in the kitchen a blink of an eye. "Hope you don't mind an extra helping hand." The one armed scout joked with the little knight, hoping that she'd feel less awkward in the presence of players. Plus it would give him practice in the extremely unlikely chance that he would lose one of his arms in real life and, as a bonus, give his overseas buddies a taste of what his family's restaurant offered.

---

---

If there was a physical expression for the concept of seething, Mags would have been the image of a textbook of it. Yea, she knew that her nuclei was probably better in a straight fight than Ames, but it was so much cooler. Well, Mags threw that out of her mind pretty quickly, especially since Ames revealed that this place was actually a Sims money sink.

"I unno, it's nice." Mags replied to an embarrassed Ames. She definitely wasn't as brown-nosing as Raime, though. "My virtual houses usually end up as surreal nightmares of hundreds of tables forming a maze to trap people."

However, the proposition of freshly cooked bread--even if virtual-- was enough to shift Mags' mood to enjoyment. Damn, she liked bread. Black vinegar was a bit gross as the acidity reminded her more of vomit if anything. However, fresh bread and olive oil. That was a certified classic.

Almost immediately taking up the majority of the couch, Mags could finally get some R&R after so much poopsocking.

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5650/5650 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Given that he hadn't been with the party proper, Amulak arrived later than the rest to Ames's home away from home. He audibly whistled upon entering, nodding in approval. Confused design elements aside, it was a rather comfy place. Useless for combat, certainly, but as someone with a utility Nucleus himself, Amulak could see the utility in it. An established base could do wonders for restocking and regrouping in otherwise contested or hostile territory for a dedicated group of gankers. Or even just for PvEers exploring uncharted territory.

"Very good!" He nodded to Ames, picking a chair to kick back and relax in as he sniffed the delectable aroma of fresh bread. Mmm...hopefully it was a nice rye. "I do not suppose you have beer too? Could do with kicking back with cold one, yes?"

aмeℓιa

_{HP: 1920/1920 - MP: 1920/1920 - SP: 1920/1920}
^{_________________} _[X] ^{_________________}
Ames' heart was warmed with her friends' words, from the simple praise to the more flattering. "Aw, hehe. You guys will have to keep visiting to see my progress."

She was definitely the type to take those kinds of simulation games seriously. Many hours were sunk into meticulous housing decoration... although there was once or twice when Amelia did indulge in murder rooms or the like. Still it was all for fun, she never seriously considered it as something to pursue in real life. And even now, it wasn't something to think about - maybe once she logged off, but for the moment they were all still in CaCo and had to plan their next attack! Plan it over drinks, as their mage suggested.

"Oh, yeah, one sec." Ames followed Raime into the kitchen area, though she only lingered for a moment to grab a trio of glasses. Britomart was still a bit stiff, and Raime's comment about already having seen them naked had not lightened the mood as he might have hoped, but she was perfectly cordial all the same.

"Not at all. Your expertise is appreciated," she said.

And while the food was being prepared, Ames returned to the sitting area and dropped a few rishi into each cup, where they transformed into amber colored liquid. "It's like cheap stuff, can't really make complex food or drinks this way but, here ya go." She offered a glass each to Amulak and Magpie.

"Once Leif is done doing his doggy business outside, we can plan our next move?"

---

Leif kicked back at the ground with his hind paws, letting out a triumphant howl at the completion of his "business." While everyone was chilling out in Ames' Nuclei, the shaman had elected to set up a nice little protective zone around it. It would only keep out monsters, sure, but between Leif's [Boundaries of the Pack] and the ten [Spirit Wolves] he summoned, Leif figured he would at least get a better idea of the surrounding area, much more efficiently through the use of his [Wolfkin Blessing]. He had set up his wolves around the perimeter of his marked zone as well, having ordered them to howl and return if they spot any threats nearby.

Turning back into his bipedal form, Leif walked over to Arion, leaning back on his obsidian steed with his arms behind his head. He was always the outdoorsy type, after all, not content to remain confined indoors... of course, that is his excuse. In reality, Leif figured he'd look way cooler if he volunteered to be on guard duty and all. Besides, he never really got to use that ability as much.

"Yo, Amulak. Let everyone know I'll be sticking around outside in case some cheeky fucks decide to pay a visit to our little party uninvited." Leif hollered over, knowing Amulak was able to hear him through his weird ass Nuclei. He then chuckled after realizing Amulak probably saw Leif literally pissing around the place. "I can probably do some solo scouting around the area, see if I can flag down more Mora-Sho on the field to get a better idea on who's who and what's going down. Just let everyone know if they're fine with me flying solo. I'll try and go at a steady place so I don't outrange your shit again, eh?"

While there was certainly some degree of care taken to select well-designed furniture for his new estate, there was no question about it: Ames had shallow pockets and no furnishings of distinguished quality. It was ultimately just a tavern populated with Common rarity items, after all, lacking in any fanciful designs or comfortable textiles. Rustic then, could sum up the Sweet Maid. Simple and unassuming, if one ignored the erratic cultural clash. Still, compared to squatting out in the plains, having a cushioned chair and a mug of beer, as well as a cute maid delivering steaming bread to your table, Ames’s Nuclei was certainly one of great luxury. Time was whiled away there as discussions were had over battle plans, but in the end, there was only one alpha-sigma chad-male amongst them.

Whereas everyone else enjoyed freshly baked bread straight from a firewood oven, Leif was working as hard as always. Who cared for moneysink real estate decorations, when one needed to piss his virtual scent over the dirt and then drive off to get shit done? Mission over bitches, that was the way of the alpha pack boss, and with his bladder empty, his MP full, he let the rest of those loser betas stagnate in the embrace of the Sweet Maid as he drove off into the daylight once more, Arion fuming like a thundercloud.

Cruising through the plains at a comfortable pace, the Wolfpack Shaman did a good job at avoiding any monster encounters as he crested over the small hills that popped here and there. The perimeter that he drew around the Sweet Maid looked to be fairly bereft of noteworthy targets, however. The plains, flat as they were, offered little in the form of actual cover, and while Leif managed to spot a couple more parties off in the distance, chasing after them would bring him much too far away. The most frustrating thing, however, was the lack of any obvious identifiers from any traveller in the area. Nothing screamed ‘Mora-Sho’ or ‘Gakui-Re’, especially when the main army had already passed by the area. It really did appear as if only unaffiliated Immortals, seeking to profit from war without being permanently tied to a particular side, had been hired for the work of both maintaining and disrupting supply lines. Which, of course, was a problem.

Did the Mora-Sho seriously expect his party to indiscriminately PK any other party that was travelling in this direction?

As Leif contemplated such thoughts, however, he saw a glimmer of light from the mountain range. A glimmer of light, growing brighter and brighter. A glimmer of light? No! A twitch of his wrists upon the handlebars, and Arion drifted to the side, moments before a beam struck the space he had been moments before, detonating in a blast of psychic energy!

From the mountaintops, someone was sniping him!

…

The smell of baking bread out in the middle of literal nowhere attracted more than just the appetites of those who were friendly with Ames. A party of six, looking as ragtag as any crew of Immortals, practically collapsed into the tavern, their boots tracking dirt and their cloaks soaked with what definitely appeared to be many battles worth of blood and mud.

“Phew, safe!” spoke the one at the front of the group, a short-haired youth with a metal headband.

The five others murmured their own sighs of relief, pulling their cloaks off and jamming them into their inventory pouches. “Thank god for a safe spot here,” a more scholarly-looking individual said.

“Hey,” waved a dual-axe wielder at Britomart. “How much is a couple of rooms here?”

---

The ingredients were here for the most part...well something for a light snack at least. As time passed while Raime cooked, his brow furrowed as he realized that cooking with only one functioning arm was quite tricky. Tricky but not impossible...and he wasn't one for quitting. It was awkward at first; with the lack of modern kitchen utilities and conveniences he was used to, but after a little while the man managed to get a good flow. He'd probably try cooking with one arm back in real life just to see if he could replicate the process again.

Not long after the little knight delivered the bread to his friends, his appetizer soon followed. "The Brava Patatas has been served. Buen provecho. Hope everyone likes it." It was high time for the party to brainstorm about their next plan of action. No better time to brainstorm while having a good meal. "I suggest that we keep doing what we do and kill whichever players we encounter. Sad to say that we can't really distinguish a Mora-Sho aligned player from a Gakui-Re one. It's not like the Mora-Sho have an agreed upon countersign for for us mooks to determine who or who not to kill." Raime says while placing his mask down and instead picking up his share of the baked bread. He savored each bite of the virtual bread. For something in augmented reality, the man considered that this was some good quality bread.

Just as he finished the loaf of bread and was reaching for a wooden fork for the fried potatoes, the sound of the inn's door opening caught his attention. Thinking that it was Leif getting second thoughts about the snacks, the scout turned to look back only to see a party of six unfamiliar immortals fresh from a battle. The friendly smile he intended for Leif faltered for a moment before Raime realized that keeping the façade on would be for the best for the moment being. He gives the new group a polite nod before facing back to the others. He'd send their group chat in Discord a message while keeping the act up. All the while his hand finding itself resting atop his Chihanashi Mk II, ready to fight.

---

---

aмeℓιa

_{HP: 1920/1920 - MP: 1920/1920 - SP: 1920/1920}
^{_________________} _[X] ^{_________________}
Chilling with the crew in the Sweet Maid felt pretty damn good. Ames wondered if she could convince Raime to work there too, or if it was too close to his real life responsibilities to consider. Still, the food was great and the company was... well it was the same old party, Ames thought, and left it at that. They talked shop and traded crass jokes. Britomart cleaned up the kitchen in the mean time, and when she was finished she stood nearby with her lips pursed in concentration, listening the group's discussion about strategies. As per usual with them their plans ranged from reasonable to completely stupid. But they had more experience than the squire, and so she just absorbed the information.

And then, the sound of people coming in.

Ames blinked, momentarily forgetting that her Nuclei was technically a place of business. After all, she hadn't had any customers yet, and mostly just concerned herself with decorating and not advertising. Once the scene sunk in and she registered there was a group looking to make use of the inn, she gaped like a fish and looked back and forth between her friends. These were the Sweet Maid's first real guests! It was happening! She was only knocked out of her stupor when Raime's message appeared, and her expression when from flabbergasted to straight up affronted. While she quickly replied to the message, the young squire stepped towards the group and offered them a shallow bow.

"Greetings," she said, "We would be happy to host you. The price of a room is..."

At that moment Britomart was bombarded with the telepathic messages of her lord.

Bri! It's happening! Okay, we researched this! And - and we're going with Prime Rate plus one! No! Wait that's for loans! Oh man, what was the price of that one place in Nyu-Taro on the street with the flower shop? Should we price higher or lower than that?!

Sir... I believe you mentioned wanting to start with a lower price until the Sweet Maid was well established...?

Oh, oh yeah. Okay, tell them it's...

...it's...?

Aaah, hold on I'm just thinking it over again.

Sir Ames... Was that a touch of pity that Ames thought she heard in Britomart's mind-voice? The inn's master took in a breath through her nose to recenter herself.

Okay. Okay, tell them it's...

The brief conversation took place over the span of just a second or two. Britomart's eye twitched, but then she carried on speaking aloud. "...600 Rishi."

And now the duo would either prepare for guests, or prepare to console a disappointed Ames. The red head in question sunk lower into her seat for a couple seconds before suddenly leaning forward toward the group.

"If you guys wanna head back out into the field I'll catch up," Ames whispered. Though she wouldn't mind if they stuck around a little longer either, as long as they didn't do anything to mess up the burgeoning business opportunity.

Ames' inn was actually getting visitors. That was something you didn't see every day. It made sense that a world as open as Cacaphony would allow for player ran businesses.

With their discord popping off at the prospect of Raime wanting to become a modern man's H. H. Holmes, Mags had to take a few breaths to avoid laughing at the idea of a moving murder hotel. To Ames, this was a pretty big moment. Raime wanting to go immediately down the route of murder hobo was pretty good. Though, in this case, would it be murder hotelier?

Well, Mags would do her best to support her friend. They've been through thick and thin together, especially when they accidentally performed a mating dance with oni.

Good times.

With a smile and a wave of strange brew in her hand, she greeted the new arrivals.

"Hey hey, what brings you to this lil corner of a warzone?" She was at least amiable and not about to rustle and tussle with strangers.

Though, her actual intentions for staying around weren't entirely pure. A small part of her was hoping that the party ended up being a group of much weaker murder hobos. Then, Mags could play the part of a bouncer. It would be pretty fun to pick people up and toss them out of the hotel. Though, at this rate, the only person she'd have to toss out of the hotel would be Raime.

---

Leif was less than pleased that they were being sent off to just fuck around with a bunch of other lowish-level PvPers. For a game as advanced as Cacophony Concord, he found this huge world event somewhat dull. Perhaps the real goodies were saved for high-leveled PvP connoisseurs. Ah well, something to worry about in the future. For now, Leif knew he had to grind out a bit before he can truly appreciate the upper echelons of PvP combat. Maybe he could become a cool badass batlefield general or something.

Currently, Leif was riding his bike in an open field, in the sights of a sniper. Normally he'd be more than fine to try and break the distance himself, trusting in his wolf-like agility to dodge this sharpshooter's attacks. He wasn't as keen on doing such a risky play with his current cargo, however. Klein had hopped on with Leif to scout around and all, and it'd be a real dick move if he got one of his buddies in trouble for wanting to do something reckless. He could also go back to the party and report his findings, but that's real pussy shit. Instead, another completely reckless thing would pop up to Leif's head.

"We got a sniper, Klein! Keep your head down and follow my lead!" Leif hollered as he focused on evasive maneuvers. Once again, his head shifted into that of a wolf. He would track down those with lower health, as per usual, except this time he'd try and single out a relatively weaker party. He couldn't tell who was particularly weaker at a baseline, but he could have a soft estimate based on how fast they regenerated. It was still faulty and imprecise, all things considered, but such things required practice to really work out.

Whatever he would find, Leif would raise his glaive at the sniper as high in the air as he can before pointing it directly in the direction of whoever he'd triangulate. Hopefully they'd be able to single out that target before their healing brought them up to full. Of course, this was all with the fragile hope that the sniper would catch on to his idea in the first place. It was simple, really. Leif was a tracker, and this man was a sniper. If their quarry ran away, Leif had the advantage of speed. Overall,

Leif saw a potential partnership out of this and only hoped that the sniper saw it the same way.

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5650/5650 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Kicking back with a beer and bread was Stanislaw's idea of a great time, and Amulak enjoyed himself as he just sat back and hung out with the rest of the group. Minus Leif, who, last time he checked, was quite literally pissing outside. Motherfucker. Wouldn't be checking on the connection through Weishaupt anytime soon unless Leif actually had something to say. At this point, Amulak was half afraid he'd peek in on Leif jacking it.

Of course, their good time had to be interrupted. Only in this case, it was by some random players who thought this was a legitimate inn. Damn. Of course, this could all just be a setup. The thought had crossed Amulak's mind, just before Raime's message. But if that had been the case, why even bother walking in all friendly-like? Most gankers would just charge inside, weapons drawn.

That, and Ames couldn't exactly afford to outright murder the first prospective customers the Sweet Maid ever had. As a MMO with an actual sense of community, word would get around sooner or later about an inn run by a paranoid murderhobo, and then the venture would die before it ever began. The group couldn't afford to strike first, and Amulak responded quickly in party chat before casually waving from his seat.

"No point in leaving now. We provide security, in case Raime is right. If random guys attack, we need footage that we did not fire first shot, yes?" Amulak replied in whispers back to Ames's message before he spoke out loud.

"Welcome, pull in! There is bread in oven and beer on tap. For cheap price, of course!"

Klein kept his head down, and Leif kept his nose up, their two bodies pressed close as Arion fumed and flew over the plains. Every second or so, another blast of psychic energy cratered the ground, but at this distance at least, there was still enough of a delay between the flash atop the mountain and the actual impact for the Wolfpack Shaman to maneuver, dodging by the nick of his skin even as he continued to burn out his resources slowly. In combat, after all, one’s MP did not regenerate naturally, and Arion was chugging through his MP in order to make it out alive.

So, what did he do? Simply sacrifice others.

One second elapsed, and the shot did not come. It streaked elsewhere instead, accompanied by the faintly visible rising of threads in the distance. Another second elapsed, and the sniper shot dogged his heel once more, as if to remind him that he was not off the hook yet. And so it continued, Leif chased by a sniper whose bullets traced him so long as he did not point elsewhere. Perhaps it was cruel, unusual. Perhaps Klein simply continued to bitch about how OP ranged was. But Leif’s strange partnership appeared to be working out, at least. And as Arion’s tank ran empty, as his own MP reserves dropped and he could no longer sustain his activities…the expected shot did not arrive.

Instead, there was a ping in his mind.

Killer Gram has sent a friend request.

…

“600 rishi? Dang, sounds good.” As the axeman figured out payments and rooming arrangements with Britomart, the others settled down at another table, happy to just be able to chill. The metalband youth turned to face Magpie as she spoke up, nodding in appreciation of her aesthetic.

“Just travelling through ourselves. We're off to join the war effort, yeah? The actual jobs sounded sorta bullshit n all.” A couple of them nodded in agreement, as the cloaks were stowed away and the weapons that any half-noteworthy Immortal would have glimmered in the Sweet Maid’s lighting.

“Crazy place though,” commented the sage of the group, a wand hanging from his beaded sash. “Literal inn in the middle of nowhere. No roads or anything. How did y’all find this place?”

A more rogue-like figure with a demonic half-mask covering the lower half of their face flicked out a couple of coins and waved at Britomart. “Round o’ fruit juice, pretty miss~”