The Furball

Darkest Hour?

I meowed frantically in dismay, as Kirin came tramping towards me. But even if I ran as quickly as I could, I just couldn’t put a distance between me and the enormous monster, claiming to be the king among gods. The air was damp, filled with memories of past battles. I looked around, desperate to find shelter from the monster chasing me. We’re coming, I could hear in the background; my friends assuring me they’d help me out of harms way. But right then and there, their words didn’t reach my mind. I was panicking, praying to Goddess Altana that she would spare me just this once.

I looked back, trying to judge the distance between me and Kirin. At this rate he’d reach me in only seconds. Turning back was a fatal mistake though, as I quickly realized that I had run into a corner. I meowed, crouched down and started shivering. I closed my eyes, trying to cover my face with my hands. Tears started rolling down the sides of my face, and my whole body felt numb. The loud, tramping steps came to a halt, and I could sense tremendous creature stand just a few feet away from me.

Run like there’s a 50% off sale, someone suddenly shouted. I slowly opened one of my eyes, peeking to see what was going on. Kirin had stopped moving, and seemed to be casting a powerful spell. My body wouldn’t move, still terrorized by what had just happened. Kirin’s spell was interrupted, as my party had run out of range long ago. The notorious monster roared in anger, making me crouch down even tighter.

I could hear steps of someone or something approaching me slowly. A hand, gently resting on my head. Are you okay? a friendly voice asked. I opened my eyes again, slowly. It was Nicia, smiling gently at me. Aww, what did that big mean creature do to you, she continued, looking through her pocket with her right hand. She pulled out a handkerchief, carefully wiping the tears off my face. It’s all right now, kitten. It’s gone now, she reassured. Even in my most desperate hour, a kind soul reached out a hand to help me.

Nicia helped me get back up on my feet, petting me on my head. I purrred faintly, mostly because I was nervous though. Meow! My tanks, I stuttered! I suddenly realized that I had left the tanks to fend for themselves while I had been feared for my life alone. I bowed courteously to Nicia, thanking her for looking after me.

After slaying the enormous monster, our linkshell sat down to rest. It hadn’t been a particularly hard battle, but it had certainly put a dent in my pride. Everyone was sitting in a big ring, having something to eat. I have an announcement to make, Ravenclaw suddenly said, standing up. Ravenclaw looked around, playing a few tones on his harp before continuing. Everyone was looking curiously at him, hoping he wouldn’t start asking popsicle jokes.

Ravenclaw cleared his throat, before cheerfully telling the linkshell that I have been promoted to pearlsack. Everyone shifted their attention to me, staring at me in disbelief. Oh god no, I could hear someone say jokingly. Everyone started clapping their hands, congratulating me. I blushed, and tried to hide my face. But deep down I felt really happy!

Playing with Dolls

A small river flowed gently by me, glittering in the morning sun. The gardens of Ru’Aun was filled with tranquility, and I felt an inner peace as I walked down the ancient grounds of the Zilartians. Mighty guardians were lined up on each side of me, surrounded by a radiant blue light. The living statues seemed inactive, but I knew deep down they’d wake up if their limited motion detector were to go off. A few birds were flying cheerfully by, chirping to their hearts’ content. I smiled, thinking how they’d make a delightful dinner.

I had read an interesting article a few days earlier that peeked my curiosity. The author, Kimiko the tarutaru, explained how she had fought against the living statues, the Groundkeepers, and gotten some decent experience. I decided I’d give the dolls a spin, hoping they’d help me become a better Black Mage.

A Field Manual at the entrance listed eleven dolls as a viable training regiment, which was purrrfect as completing such a regiment would net me a nice bonus.

I felt really nervous as I walked toward the first groundkeeper. The enormous doll was completely oblivious to my presence and just continued to patrol. I looked around, making sure there were no other creatures nearby. Uh.. here goes… I guess, I said to myself as I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I concentrated as hard as I could, beginning to mold my mana into an enfeebling spell. A dark emptiness engulfed the doll, slowing it’s movement like magical glue.

I opened my eyes, looking at the groundkeeper. It chased after me, and I could hear a faint hum from inside it’s heavy armor. Intruder alert, the doll said, moving seemingly untouched by spell I had just cast on it. Aww, rats! I meowed in dismay, running away from the armored doll.

Once at a distance I cast a quick Stun to stop it from moving temporarily. I closed my eyes again and concentrated even harder, casting a binding spell this time. The spell once again failed to take effect, and I was starting to get quite nervous about this camp. I was at a loss, and decided to sleep the monster with a powerful soporific spell I had once learned. The doll stopped moving, standing completely still. Finally, I thought to myself. I deliberated on what to do for a few moments, deciding to take a different approach when casting my spells. With some minor adjustments to my chants, I was hoping I would be able successfully land the enfeebling spells.

Using an elemental seal, I cast a new gravitation field at it, using an ancient black spell. The spell finally went unresisted, and I knew I was safe. I closed my eyes again, concentrating on borrowing some of mother nature’s powers. My body was tingling, and around me I could feel the air become filled with small sparks of lightning. I kept concentrating, making sure the impact would be as big as possible. Suddenly a brilliant burst of lightning shot down on the groundkeeper, piercing through it. The doll roared, enraged by the attack. It walked toward me, in sluggish pace as the gravity field weighed it down.

I put some distance between the groundkeeper and myself, and started concentrating again. The enormous doll’s footsteps became louder and louder, and I sensed that it was but a mere seconds away from reaching me. The air around me became cold, almost bone-chilling. A hundred shards of crystal-like ice-taps shot through the groundkeeper, damaging it’s internal systems. By now I had managed to get it down just below half capacity. The damage from my freezing attack woke the doll back to life, and once again it began to chase after me.

With two rounds of tier IV spells I finally knocked it out, just like Kimi~taru said. I was a little proud of myself, having soloed a doll of my own for the very first time.

In the future I hope I can expand my knowledge of the black magic and become a better Black Mage. Hopefully the linkshell will take notice once I build a bit more experience, so I’m hoping for the best.

Melancholy

The night sky was filled with thousands of glittering stars, gleaming in the streaming water. It was quiet, and I could feel an inner tranquility, and happiness over being alive. A carpet of clouds were starting to form under the floating sky palace of Ru’Aun Gardens. I smiled, as I patiently meditated to regain some of my mana. I could hear a few birds flying by nearby, and the hum from the hovering magical urns. Life is good, I thought to myself.

I could hear a clunk in the distance, from a fight perhaps. I decided to investigate the matter further and got up on my feet. The sounds seemed to come from the north east, from one of the platforms. I walked toward the sound, and noticed two people fighting a bird. There goes dinner, I thought to myself, guess I’ll go with some fish and fruits instead.

Greever waved to me, as he dealt the finishing blow to the bird. The bird dropped to the ground, and I actually felt a little sorry for it. Granted, flamingos aren’t really my favorites as their meat are quite tough and tasteless. Now colibris, on the other hand, are a treat! Greever invited me into his little party, and I started whispering a chant. My party started attacking a different flamingo, which gave me time to concentrate. I closed my eyes, and could feel small sparks of lightning appear in the palm of my hand. I continued to focus more of mana into the sparks. I opened my eyes again, directing my attention on the bird. I pointed my hand toward the bird, spread my fingers, releasing a burst of thunder bolt toward the bird.

We continued to fight the birds till early morning. The sky was getting brighter, and was now light blue. The sun appeared on the horizon, and I could hear adventurers in awe by the beautiful morning sun. It’s a sight that brings joy to my heart, as I can celebrate the beginning of a new and eventful day—hopefully with lots and lots of delicious fishies!

Our party members were starting to grow in numbers, and we were getting increasingly closer to being able to start the linkshell event. We were now fighting dolls, mighty machines set to guard these ancient grounds. It’s going to blow, someone suddenly screamed. The doll we were fighting exploded, making a thundering sound reverb through the garden. The chirping birds flew away, scared by the loud noise.

Two of our party members got knocked out by the explosion, and although I saw it coming, there was little I could do. I had just saved my fellow black mage from one of the monsters, so my Stun was nowhere near being ready. Our leader got quiet for a moment, and I hoped that a nearby party would help raise our fallen comrades. Sadly, there was no response.

I was asked to return to sky as a White Mage. All I could feel was sorrow as I put my Cleric’s Briault on and went back.

Dancing with the Puppeteer

Ravenclaw clapped his hands as I moved over the floor with charming grace, dancing a waltz with his automaton. I had a glowing smile on my face, as I was in a particularly good mood today. Bravo! Bravo, Ravenclaw cheered. His automaton, one of the latest models on the market, was moving gallantly around on it’s slender feet.

I looked over at Serenade, the automaton, and petted it on the head. She is quite something, isn’t she, I told Ravenclaw. He is a very good companion in my adventurers, he explained. Serenade bowed graciously to me before it said in a very quirky voice, thank you for the dance, ma’am. I laughed cheerfully, thanking it as well. Serenade is just a bit shorter than me, but packs quite the punch while in battle. Automatons have a very diverse set of uses, and can both damage, heal and nuke. And although the way they operate puzzles me, they also interest me greatly—not that I’m nearly smart enough to control one myself.

Hello there, a voice suddenly said. I looked behind me, finding Greever and a bunch of others had appeared. We were gathering in the Ru’Avitau shrine for a diorite farming run. Me and Ravenclaw were the first to get there, and had been waiting for the others to reach us. We had already warned the other linkshell members that Faust was patrolling the hallway below, hoping that no one would die on their way up.

I thanked the linkshell for arranging a farming run in sky as it is one of the few ways I try to keep my White Mage’s experience afloat with—not that I get knocked out much anymore. But farming in sky is generally a relaxing experience where I can get some of the experience back.

The leaders sent us into the big circular hall in the middle, where another linkshell was farming as well. Some of my linkshell’s members were a little upset over the other party pulling more monsters than they could handle, so we started chasing down all the statues, killing them off as quickly as possible. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for a diorite to drop. The chunk of stone sparkled, even though it was nearly pitch black. Lucky, one of the linkshell members cheered, as these stones can be quite rare. We fought for nearly two and a half hour, but we only managed to get one.

But a Mere Mortal

The water sparkled brilliantly as it reflected some of the bright light from the sun. I could hear several waterfalls in the distance as I walked around in the gardens of Ru’Aun. The sky was clear and the birds were chirping playfully, I couldn’t help but smile. Ah, how I’ve longed for this, I thought to myself.

I had offered to come help Galadrial with her linkshell’s Kirin fight, and although she hadn’t been able to clear it with her superiors, I still offered to come help raise people. I walked inside the Ru’Avitau shrine and sneaked past some of the monsters that lurked around there. Fearsome animated weapons, ready to rip you apart. As long as I could keep my presence quiet I would be fine, though, so I had nothing to be afraid of. I walked down the corridor leading to the floor above, and I was a bit worried that the porter would malfunction and send me elsewhere. Sadly, the porters to Kirin isn’t very reliable, so getting to the correct floor can be quite the chore sometimes.

Luck was with me today, though, and I got there on the first attempt. I waved to Galadrial and ran over to her to wish her and the rest of her linkshell good luck with the battle. I was huffing and puffing from all the running as I had rushed up here to help her. Galadrial is a long time friend of mine, and someone I really care for. She has always been there for me when I needed her help, and I always enjoy our talks. Finally, I would get a chance to return the favor, I thought.

The kiting party, which Galadrial was part of, invited me to join them. I was a bit surprised as I hadn’t expected to be invited, but I happily accepted the offer. I bowed respectfully to the linkshell before I greeted them properly. So many unfamiliar faces, but I was still happy to be offered the chance to help. I walked back over to my own party and gathered them around me for my protective spells. The protective shell wrapped around each of my party members, giving them a glowing tint.

Kirin roared as he appeared before us, screaming I am Kirin, master of the Shijin. The one who stands above all. You, who have risen above your mortal status to contend with the gods… It is time to reap your reward. He was clearly not very happy with us showing up. He tried to get ahold of Galadrial, but missed. He then started chasing after the kiters as they ran as fast as they could away from him. The shear size of the beast made him able to leap great distances with little effort, and with a nearly endless amount of mana meant that he could cast a hefty amount of spells before eventually running out.

Sadly, though, Kirin got ahold of the whole party and put us to the ground, beating us over and over till we got knocked out. The rest of the linkshell’s alliance could do nothing, as they were already fighting two mobs of their own. The whole alliance were defeated, something that made me feel really horrible inside. I was afraid that I had somehow screwed things up for them, and was terrified that I’d be called out.