Week 1 (7)
Week 1 (7)
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=1, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d6=12, Ursus's Speed Dice: 1d6=3 *
Valerie acts first. *
One enemy, but it's huge.
The beast's massive body swells up even larger upon spotting fresh prey.
In the fixed 1st Layer biome, 'Forest', perhaps due to the difficulty scaling, the beast-type monsters that appear are the least eroded and twisted—ones that look almost identical to their original forms.
Mostly, they just get fiercer, with increased aggression and ferocity—relatively ordinary mutations.
But if a beast that was already a top predator gets influenced by the Labyrinth, it doesn't stop at something you could call a mere 'basic mutation.'
Anyone watching that giant bear spew hot breath right in front of them would probably agree.
[Swiftness] Valerie gains 1 Power Dice. *
Valerie's [Breakthrough]: 4d6=14 > 2d6=6: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 8 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 32. *
Valerie advances to the front line. *
"Tch."
Valerie clicked her tongue, having dealt less damage than expected thanks to the enemy's tough hide.
The bear monster 'Ursus' essentially serves as the mid-boss of the Forest biome.
It always appears as a single entity and isn't particularly fast, but in exchange, it boasts powerful durability and damage output.
The number of Life Tokens floating above its head is 40—four times that of a single Hound.
On top of that, unlike Evasion Dice, it has two Defense Dice that reliably reduce damage.
It's disgustingly tough, and in the early game when you lack the power to punch through two Defense Dice, nothing's as annoying as this guy.
Bad matchup.
Ursus acts. *
Ursus's [Front Paw Swing]: 3d6=7 < 2d6=8: Valerie's Evasion *
Valerie loses 0 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 13. *
Far from taking a hit from the last attack, it only pissed her off more, and the bear swung its front paw viciously in retaliation.
But Valerie lightly kicked off the ground, as if she'd already predicted it.
That brief motion was just enough to barely dodge the attack whistling through the air.
She'd evaded it well, but maybe she thought it was too close for comfort— in the slowed time, I could see Valerie letting out a hollow laugh.
She dodged it so effortlessly, but that was a peak-damage attack worth 18 Life Tokens.
If it had landed wrong, she could've dropped dead on the spot—no exaggeration, the impact would've been insane.
Anyway, without missing the opening, Ray charged in.
Ray acts. *
Ray's [Schneiden]: 2d6=6 > 1d6=3: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 3 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 29. *
Judgment Dice 1d20=11 > 8+ *
Ursus gains Bleeding 2 (4 turns). *
[Knight Order Swordsmanship] Ursus gains Rupture 1 (2 turns). *
Ray seized the opening and closed in tight, gripping his longsword's blade with his gauntlet before slamming it into the beast's body.
Then, he swiftly dragged it across.
Suddenly, part of its glossy hide tore open, and blood started gushing out.
With it bleeding like that, even if it blocks attacks, the damage will steadily accumulate.
To reflect that, the 'Bleeding' status effect removes Life Tokens equal to its value from the target every time it gets attacked, ignoring Defense Dice.
Plus, Aurantius Guild mercenaries— in other words, the 'Homo' species' racial keyword 'Cruelty'— increases the turn count for Bleeding and other damage-over-time effects.
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=6, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d6=17, Ursus's Speed Dice: 1d6=3 *
Valerie acts first. *
[Swiftness] Valerie gains 1 Power Dice. *
Valerie's [Skill]: 5d6=16 > 2d6=7(-1-1)=5: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 11 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 21. *
Ursus loses 2 Life Tokens from Bleeding 2 (4 turns). Remaining Life Tokens: 19. *
As expected from a partner, Valerie didn't miss the spot where Ray had torn open its hide, narrow as it was.
She slithered in like a snake in an instant, then drove her reverse-gripped dagger into the ripped flesh.
Finally, the beast let out a pain-filled roar for the first time.
Meaningful damage this time.
Right after, Ray, seizing the chance, raised his sword high.
Ray acts. *
Ray's [Mort]: 2d20=6 < 2d20=10(-1-1)=8: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 0 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 19. *
Ursus loses 2 Life Tokens from Bleeding 2 (3 turns). Remaining Life Tokens: 17. *
Judgment Dice 1d20=2 < 10 *
Ursus resists Stun. *
[Knight Order Swordsmanship] Ursus gains Rupture 1 (2 turns). *
The longsword's pommel smashed into the bear's head in a flash.
But it resisted Stun this time too.
Stun is a powerful status that can waste an entire turn, but its judgment difficulties are generally high as a result.
Ray's [Mort] has a straight 50% chance—just roll over 10 on the judgment dice—and it's still solid for an early skill, yet here we are.
The somewhat wounded bear roared ferociously and charged.
Ursus acts. *
Ursus's [Charge]: 3d6=12 > 2d6=7: Valerie's Evasion *
Valerie loses 12 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 1. *
Valerie's Desire rises by 2d10=12. Current Desire: 23/100. *
In a twist of fortunes, Valerie couldn't dodge this one—her body got flung away.
"Kuhk, kulk!"
That deep cough reeked of blood.
Luckily, her Life Tokens didn't hit zero— she avoided going down—but our party's healing options are super limited right now.
This is pretty bad.
I could feel anxiety creeping in, but now's the time for cool-headed judgment.
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=3, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d20=7, Ursus's Speed Dice: 1d6=3, reroll for tie: 1d6=6, 1d6=1—Ray acts faster. *
Valerie acts first. *
[Swiftness] Valerie gains 1 Power Dice. *
Valerie's [Breakthrough]: 4d6=12 > 2d6=10(-1-1)=8: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 4 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 13. *
Ursus loses 2 Life Tokens from Bleeding 2 (2 turns). Remaining Life Tokens: 11. *
Once again, she closed in in a flash, Valerie targeting its weak point.
But this one was a bit shallow. She instinctively knew it wasn't as effective as before and grimaced.
Even in the sluggishly flowing time like a snail, I could see her lips twisting as if spitting curses.
Ray acts. *
Ray's [Unter]: 2d6=5 < 2d6=8(-1-1)=6: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 0 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 11. *
Ray's [Unter/Scheitel] is a combo, but only if the first hit—the upward slash [Unter]—lands.
If the upward slash gets fully blocked, you can't follow up with the downward one.
With Ray's skill set balanced for dealing and tanking, piercing this defense-focused hide is just too tough.
It swung its arm, batting away Ray's longsword, its red eyes flashing.
Ursus acts. *
Ursus's [Front Paw Swing]: 3d6=4 < 2d6=6: Valerie's Evasion *
Valerie loses 0 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 1. *
Dodged this time.
Even while bleeding out, her stubborn footwork paid off.
Valerie leaped back with all her might, evading the bear's front paw whistling in like it had her dead to rights.
By the barest paper-thin margin, she avoided a fatal crush—her eyes gleamed with excitement.
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=1, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d6=18, Ursus's Speed Dice: 1d6=5 *
Valerie acts first. *
[Swiftness] Valerie gains 1 Power Dice. *
Valerie's [Skill]: 5d6=15 > 2d6=9: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 6 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 5. *
Ursus acts. *
Ursus's [Front Paw Swing]: 3d20=13 > 2d20=4: Ray's Defense *
Ray loses 9 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 26. *
Ray's Desire rises by 2d10=6. Current Desire: 14/100. *
Ray acts. *
Ray's [Mort]: 2d6=6 < 2d6=8: Ursus's Defense *
Judgment Dice 1d20=3 < 10 *
Ursus resists Stun. *
Ursus loses 0 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 5 *
Valerie's attack packed overwhelming power at this point and dealt some solid damage, but Ray's [Mort] failed to pierce its durability again.
Well, even ignoring the game system, just looking at it—a bear the size of a tank—no surprise there.
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=1, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d20=14, Ursus's Speed Dice: 1d6=1, reroll for tie: 1d6=4, 1d6=3—Ray acts faster. *
Valerie acts first. *
[Swiftness] Valerie gains 1 Power Dice. *
Valerie's [Breakthrough]: 4d6=15 > 2d6=7: Ursus's Defense *
Ursus loses 8 Life Tokens. Remaining Life Tokens: 0. *
Ursus is dead. *
Valerie's Desire decreases by 1d10=5. Current Desire: 18/100. *
The woman shot forward like a bullet, spinning like she was dancing.
The Ember's light flashed off her blade.
Even the thick hide meant for top predators lost all meaning in this moment—Valerie's dagger, swung in a truly beautiful arc, sliced its throat without any interference.
Its artery cleanly severed, the beast thrashed about with gurgling death roars, flailing its lolling head.
But that was less an attack and more a death throe.
The phrase 'cutting off its air' was made for this—soon, its body went limp.
Drowned in its own blood.
Only then did I hurriedly rush to Valerie.
"Y-You okay? The blood..."
Overwhelmed by exhaustion, she flopped down right there.
Then, she just turned her head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood.
And with a cool look at my panicked self, she said,
"See, I heard your voice again. For sure this time."
"H-Huh?"
"That's how it felt."
Even Ray, back after finishing off Ursus, nodded in agreement.
By then, it was clear what she meant.
"Some kind of ability? That... 'Ember Keeper' thing?"
Valerie added the exotic term like it was foreign on her tongue.
'Ember Keeper'—still felt a bit awkward, and it seemed the same for this world's people.
"Yeah, I'm not totally sure myself... but probably."
I answered honestly, and Ray elaborated.
"You mean that voice in your head right before acting in combat?"
"Yeah. Hard to notice if you're not paying attention... but right before killing that thing, I definitely heard it. Not sure what it said, but the moment I did, it felt like that's how I had to move."
So that's how my Interface instructions come through to them.
Whether to call this the Ember Keeper's power or the Possessor's, I'm not sure yet.
"H-Huh?"
Just then, Valerie— who'd spat toughly and was trying to get up— suddenly made a weird noise and keeled over.
What the— again? Feels like I've seen this exact scene a few times in that short span.
I hurriedly supported her, meanwhile pulling up her Interface in my view.
[Valerie McBain]
Life Tokens 1/20, Desire 18/100
"No, just... felt weird for a sec."
Looking flustered herself, she tilted her head, then suddenly flushed red and subtly pushed me away.
"Ah, I don't need help."
It wasn't just shyness around the opposite sex— she'd been casually close since we met.
No way she'd get embarrassed about support now, so this was almost certainly the Labyrinth's influence.
With my logical deduction spot-on, I stared at her seriously, and Valerie— looking a bit uneasy, averting her eyes— muttered,
"'Cause I'm not wearing underwear..."
Uh, um. Way more girly reason than expected.
A bit awkward, sure, but that didn't mean my reasoning was totally off.
Proof: Valerie's 'Desire' on the Interface is at 18.
If this system matches Tombstone's 'Stress' like I think, when that Desire hits the limit of 100, a 'Collapse' event triggers.
In the 1st Layer Forest biome— practically no mental attacks— after just two fights, Desire's piling up pretty high, one member's down to 1 Life Token, and our party's recovery is pathetic...
From a vet's perspective, this expedition is seriously dicey.
With only two mercenaries in the lineup, if even one Collapses, retreat's off the table— total party wipe is basically inevitable.
In an expedition that already demands extra caution, clearing the 1st Layer this time might be impossible.